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Avadānaratnamālā
matsunami_27 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Nepālākṣara
This is an Avadāna text (Buddhist canonical stories). It contains all the stories, but the manuscript is incomplete (folios 175–177, 180, 181, 185–188 are missing). These stories were narrated by Upagupta to the Mauryan King Aśoka. This is a dated manuscript mentioning Saṃvat 919, which is most probably the Nepal Saṃvat, so the date of the manuscript could be 1798 CE. The scribe was Harṣabhadra, son of Jinīndabhadra.
Avadānaśataka
matsunami_28 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Nepālākṣara
This is an Avadāna text, a collection of hundred stories related to the Buddha, future Buddhahood, stories about pretas, pious persons, Arhats, and how good deeds and bad deeds affect lives. The text has ten main sections, and each section contains ten stories. Scholars believe that this text belongs to Theravāda Buddhism, while some believe it belongs to the Sarvāstivāda school of Buddhism. (Vaidya, 1958, pp. X-XI introduction).
Composite Manuscript (Avadāna and Kathā texts)
matsunami_29 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Nepālākṣara
This is a composite manuscript contains 27 Avadāna and Kathā texts: Brāhmaṇadārikāvadāna (4th chapter of the Divyāvadāna); Stutibrāhmaṇadārikāvadāna (5th chapter of the Divyāvadāna); Viśvantarāvadāna; Pānadānakathā (13th chapter of the Dvāviṃśaty-avadāna-kathā); Puṇyaprotsāhakathā (1st chapter of the Dvāviṃśaty-avadāna-kathā); praṇāmakathā-parivarta (16th chapter of the Dvāviṃśaty-avadāna-kathā); Maṇḍalakathā-parivarta (11th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Vastradānakathā-parivarta (14th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Kuṃkumādidānakathā-parivarta (7th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Dhātvavaropanakathā-parivarta/Dhātvāvalopanakathā-parivarta (10th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Vapuṣmāvadāna ( 21st chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Puṇyakāmakathā (5th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Jīrṇoddhāraṇastūpabimbakathā (6th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Dānakathā (the 4th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Chatradānakathā (9th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Annadānabhojanakathā-parivarta (12th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Puṣpārohaṇakathā (15th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Ujvālikādānakathā ( 17th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Suvarṇābhāvadāna (20th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Candanonāma-avadāna-kathā (22nd chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Vihāradānakathā (19th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Dīpadānakathā (18th chaptr of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Puṇyotsāhanakathā (24th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Snānakathā (7th chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Manuṣya-kathā-durlabha (part of the 3rd chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Dharmaśravaṇaprotsāhakathā ( part of the 2nd chapter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā); Surūponāmarājāvadāna (23rd chpter of the Dvāviṃśatyavadānakathā)
Avayavinirākaraṇa
matsunami_30 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Nepālākṣara
This is a Buddhist logic text in the form of a mini-monograph by Aśokācārya, a 10th-century Buddhist intellectual. The text critiques the Vaiśeṣika concept of the metaphysical unity of everyday objects. (Ferenc Ruzsa, Paṇḍita Aśoka - Avayavi-nirākaraṇa). The author Aśokācārya was the teacher of Candragomin. (NCC, Vol I, P. 432). Though the manuscript does not mention the author's name, the name can be found in manuscript 31, which is the same text as this.
Avayavinirākaraṇa
matsunami_31 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Devanāgarī
This is a Buddhist logic text in the form of a mini-monograph by Aśokācārya, a 10th-century Buddhist intellectual. The text critiques the Vaiśeṣika concept of the metaphysical unity of everyday objects. (Ferenc Ruzsa, Paṇḍita Aśoka - Avayavi-nirākaraṇa). The author Aśokācārya was the teacher of Candragomin. (NCC, Vol I, P. 432).
Aśokadamanāvadāna
matsunami_34 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Nepālākṣara
This text is the third chapter of the Aśokāvadāna. This narrates the story of the birth and life of the Mauryan king Aśoka.
Aśokāvadānamālā
matsunami_35 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Nepālākṣara
This narrates the story of the birth and life of the Mauryan king Aśoka.
Aśokāvadānamālā
matsunami_36 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Nepālākṣara
This manuscript contains chapters 22-25 of the Aśokāvadāna.
Aśokāvadānamālā
matsunami_37 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Devanāgarī
This narrates the story of the birth and life of the Mauryan king Aśoka.
Asṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā
matsunami_43 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Siddham (Kuṭila)
This is a Mahāyānasūtra text that contains 32 chapters, discussing the Buddhist concept of wisdom (Prajñā), the advantages of studying the text, and the possible obstacles in acquiring knowledge. It also describes the difficulties of finding a good teacher and a trained disciple (P.L. Vaidya, 1960. p. XX). This text holds immense significance in shaping the development of both the Mādhyamaka and Yogācāra schools of thought. Written in gold letters. Each of both the wooden plates is decorated with three padma-cakras and a picture of the life of the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas. The first leaf b-side has a picture of Śākyamuni, 2-a has a picture of Prajñāpāramitā, 114-b has that of Saṃvara(?), 115-a has that of Vajrajo ......, and 230-b has that of Mañjuśrī (Matsunami, 1965. p. 20). Though the image on folio 115a is a bit illegible, it may still be possible to read the goddess's name as Vajrajo[gīnī]. Additionally, folio 230a contains an image of Maitrī (Maitreya). Also the Padmacakras on the wooden plates are decorated with gems. In the colophon, the manuscript mentions the name of King Vīra Mahendra Malla, who ruled over the Patan area from 1709 to 1715 CE. It appears that Amṛta Siṃha ordered the production of this manuscript to be donated to the monastery for the wellbeing of himself and his family. It also mentions the name of the scribe Vajrācārya Vijayacandra, who belongs to Śrīkhaṇḍa Tarumūla Mahāvihāra, Kathmandu.
Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā
matsunami_46 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Nepālākṣara
This is a Mahāyānasūtra text that contains 32 chapters, discussing the Buddhist concept of wisdom (Prajñā), the advantages of studying the text, and the possible obstacles in acquiring knowledge. It also describes the difficulties of finding a good teacher and a trained disciple (P.L. Vaidya, 1960. p. XX). This text holds immense significance in shaping the development of both the Mādhyamaka and Yogācāra schools of thought. This manuscript contains chapter 1 and 3 out of 32. Folio 1b and 2a are illustrated with two Buddhist images (image 4).
Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā
matsunami_48 Language : Sanskrit Scripts : Nepālākṣara and Siddham (Kuṭila)
This is a Mahāyānasūtra text that contains 32 chapters, discussing the Buddhist concept of wisdom (Prajñā), the advantages of studying the text, and the possible obstacles in acquiring knowledge. It also describes the difficulties of finding a good teacher and a trained disciple (P.L. Vaidya, 1960. p. XX). This text holds immense significance in shaping the development of both the Mādhyamaka and Yogācāra schools of thought. It appears that this manuscript includes the first three folia, which are written on paper in Newari script, while the remainder of the manuscript is inscribed in the Siddham (Kuṭila) script on palm leaves. The paleography and materials indicate that this portion of the manuscript is exceptionally old. Although the manuscript is incomplete, it is plausible that manuscript no. 45 contains one folio from this text, which likely corresponds to image 183 in manuscript no. 45. If this hypothesis is correct, it could represent one of the oldest extant manuscripts of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, as the folio bears the name of King Nayapāladeva and notes that the manuscript was created during his reign in Nalanda.