Prospect & Future

Presented by :
Min Bahadur Shakya
Director
Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods
Chakupat, Lalitpur, Nepal
CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Exploring Sanskrit Buddhist canon
3. Nepal-Central Asia-Gilgit-Afganistan-Tibetan A. Region-People’s Republic of china
4. K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute-India
5. Sanskrit texts - Japan
6. Early Buddhist Manuscript Project -UK/USA
 Importance of Restoration of Sanskrit Buddhist texts
 Digitization of Sanskrit Buddhist Canon-DSBC
9. Significance of the Project
10. A pioneering resource for cultural and religious studies
11. Some highlights of the DSBC
12. Help us complete a successful project
13. Conclusion
ORIGIN OF THE PROJECT
The Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon (DSBC) Project was established in July 3rd, 2003 with
support from the University of the West and Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods.
DSBC MISSIONS
 The mission of DSBC Input project is to save the disappearing Sanskrit Buddhist texts
containing great ideas of philosophical principals and then make these texts and ideas
accessible to the world at large.
 To create, maintain and distribute free of charge an electronic version of Sanskrit Buddhist
Tripitaka.
AGREEMENT BETWEEN UWEST AND NIEM
A 14 Point Agreement was made on July 3rd, 2003 between UWEST and Nagarjuna
Institute represented by Prof. Dr. Lewis Lancaster for UWEST and Mr. Min Bahadur
Shakya, for Nagarjuna Institute – Kathmandu.Nepal
INTRODUCTION
 The University of the West is engaged in a ground-breaking project to gather, digitize and
distribute the original Sanskrit scriptures of the Buddhist faith.
 Although Buddhism disappeared from its Indian homeland hundreds of years ago, many of
its sacred texts were preserved in Nepal, the birth place of Lord Buddha. Now, with the
collaboration of Kathmandu’s Nagarjuna Institute, these texts are again being brought to
the world.
 The Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon, or DSBC, is an ambitious project to offer the
original intellectual and spiritual heritage of Buddhism in digital form. Currently over two
hundred scriptures are freely offered at our website.
 Our Online Resource - http://www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/
CHIEF PATRON

MASTER HSING YUN

CO-ORDINATOR

PROF. DR. LEWIS LANCASTER

PHOTOS OF INPUT STAFF

MILAN SHAKYA - PROJECT ASSISTENT

 PHOTOS OF INPUT STAFF

Mr. Uday Shakya – Input Staff Miss Roshana Bajracharya – Input Staff

Miss Anula Shakya – Input Staff Miss Rashmi Dangol – Input Staff
Miss Sajina Dangol – Input Staff
SCREENSHOT OF DSBC WEBSITE
WHAT IS THE DIGITAL BUDDHIST SANSCRIT CANON
2. TEXTS
 The e-texts are available both in Unicode Devanagari and Roman with diacritics.
 All e-texts can be easily searched and cut-and-pasted into other applications.
 Currently HTML is used for all texts.
 Our Other formats (eg. plain UTF8 text) may be used in future
 There is no markup. Separate files are used for separate chapters
 There are no notes, front/end matter or critical apparatus. The e-texts are simply searchable
indexes to the published texts.
 Priority is given to inputting the texts. Digital search tools and markup are future tasks.
SAMPLE E-TEXTS (ROMAN)
SAMPLE E-TEXTS (DEVANAGARI)
WHY BUDDHIST CANON ?
 In India, collections definitely existed in various monasteries, even though the contents of
these collections are not precisely known.
 In Nepal, a core group of nine Mahāyāna texts (the navasūtra or navadharma) is
recognized. These texts were the among the first to be input for the DSBC.
 Outside South Asia, in China and Tibet, canons of Buddhist texts were created for the
convenience of Buddhist institutions.
 A canon is useful for designating texts which are accepted for teaching, study and practice
 The DSBC aims to include all texts belonging to the Sanskrit tradition of Buddhism.
WHAT TEXTS ARE INCLUDED ?
 In A Sanskrit work is included if:
 It is spoken by a Buddha.
 Its author regards him/herself as Buddhist.
 It was used by Buddhists in preference to texts of other traditions eg. certain
grammars and medical texts (‘secular’ Buddhist literature)
WHAT TEXTS SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED ?
POOR QUALITY TEXTS
 The inclusion of very corrupt texts (eg. from very late manuscripts) can be misleading or
counter-productive.
 For this reason the DSBC depends on published texts.
 High quality editions of texts are often copyrighted works that authors.
 Our Other formats (eg. plain UTF8 text) may be used in future
 However, fragmentary or incomplete texts can provide useful data for research.
WHAT TEXTS SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED ?
3. VAJRAYANA TEXTS
 Many tantric texts were not intended to be openly transmitted, but:
 Several of these texts have already been published, so they are no longer secret.
 all Vajrayāna traditions maintain that initiation is essential to actually use tantric
texts.
 to distribute a tantric text digitally does not necessarily disrupt traditions of tantric
practice
 the common problem of tantric texts being misunderstood (without reference to living
tradition or commentaries) will not be solved simply by excluding tantric texts from
the canon; they can be easily obtained from libraries.
 Some kinds of tantric text, eg. dhāraṇīs and kriyātantras, are not secret and are
already being included.
 The DSBC is considering the inclusion of all published Vajrayāna texts.
WHO USES A BUDDHIST CANON IN SANSKRIT ?
1. THE MAHAYANA
 All Mahāyāna schools derive their authority from Sanskrit texts, even though translations
are used outside South Asia.
 In translated scriptures, questions of meaning, interpretation and authenticity are
sometimes only resolved by consulting the original Sanskrit.
 Mahāyāna traditions deriving from Sanskrit texts are very widespread:.
 East Asian: China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Chinese overseas
 Tibetan: Tibet, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the West.
 Old Javanese: Indonesia
 Some Buddhist traditions still use Sanskrit texts directly:
 Newar Buddhism: Nepal, Newar Diaspora areas (India, etc.)
 Sanskrit is also extremely important for the tantric Buddhist traditions:
 Mantranaya: Tibetan Buddhism, East Asia, Indonesia
WHO USES A BUDDHIST CANON IN SANSKRIT ?
2. THE SRAVAKAYANA
 Historically, some Śrāvakayāna schools used Sanskrit as well.
 A handful of non-doctrinal Sanskrit texts are still transmitted in areas that have become
totally Theravādin: Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia.
 Ironically, most Sanskrit manuscripts from Theravādin areas have no direct connection to
Buddhism.
 Yet many Sanskrit texts of Indian Buddhism are older than Pali commentarial works
 Thus Sanskrit texts have at least exegetical importance for Theravādin Buddhists
 Who uses a Buddhist canon in
Sanskrit?
(3) Beyond sectarianism
• The purpose of the DSBC is to provide a free, non-sectarian
resource for research and study
• The DSBC permits the entire Buddhist canon to be instantly
searched. This is an enormous breakthrough for scholarship
• Scholars, individuals and institutions are increasingly using the
DSBC in research
• Most research on Sanskrit Buddhist texts is now done in Japan and
Germany
• Most visitors to the DSBC’s website are from the USA
• In just two years, the website has received over a million page
impressions
• Population of areas where living religions are based directly on
Sanskrit texts:
• approx. 1.5 billion people (East Asia, Nepal)
• Population of areas where religious traditions are connected to
Sanskrit Buddhist texts:
• approx. 3 billion people (+India, Southeast Asia)
• picture of world map with Buddhist
areas highlighted
 A Classification Scheme
for the DSBC
• - The first phase of the DSBC uses three broad categories:
1. sūtras (62 texts)
• 2. śāstras (85 texts)
• 3. stotras (108 texts)
• A new classification scheme is needed:
• - to make texts easier to find
• - to convey a text’s approximate historical origin
• - to show a text’s traditional doctrinal position(s)
• The new classification scheme is being based mainly on
modern surveys:
• the Sanskrit Buddhist Literature series (Japan)
• the Systematic Survey series (Germany)
• the History of Indian Literature (Netherlands)
• Modern classifications order texts by period and author as
 Towards a Comprehensive
Sanskrit Canon
(1): Seeking Published Texts
• There is still no up-to-date bibliography of all published
Sanskrit texts
• Gaining access to published editions of Sanskrit texts
remains difficult
• Even texts which appear in print are often very hard to find
in libraries
• Most reliable editions published are published in the West,
and their distribution is constrained by copyright
• To incorporate these editions, resources are needed for the
time-consuming business of copyright clearance
• Some editions can only be used through the goodwill of
their editors or publishers
 Towards a Comprehensive
Sanskrit Canon (2): Buddhist
‘Secular’ Literature
• Buddhists composed texts on subjects not directly concerned with
Buddhism:
• - Grammar (vyākaraṇa) and lexicography (koṣa)
• - Poetry (kāvya) and poetics (alaṁkāra)
• - Medicine (ayurveda), etc.
• Yet texts on ‘secular’ subjects were written in line with Buddhist
principles:
• - Smaller and clearer grammars do without Vedic forms of
Sanskrit
• - Poetics is connected with theories of meaning
• - Medicine is of practical benefit to living beings
• Historically, Buddhist institutions transmitted many ‘secular’ texts
• - Manuscript collections in Nepal and Sri Lanka are evidence
for this
• That these texts are sometimes used outside Buddhism does not
diminish the Buddhist affiliation of their ideas or authors
 Towards a Comprehensive
Sanskrit Canon (3): Buddhist
Inscriptions
• Buddhist inscriptions in Sanskrit tell us how
Buddhism was actually practiced
• Buddhist inscriptions in Sanskrit appear as far
away as Korea, the Maldives, and Afghanistan
• Buddhist inscriptions in are also texts composed
by Buddhist authors
• These inscriptions contain language, ideas and
phrases from the Buddhist canon
• It is natural to study inscriptions along with
canonical texts
• The problems of locating, inputting and
distributing e-texts of inscriptions are similar to
those of canonical texts
 Towards a Comprehensive Sanskrit
Canon (4): Inputting from manuscripts
• A large number of texts have still not been published in any
form
• Before modern communications and digital photography,
access to manuscripts was limited
• It is now possible to input directly from digital scans of
manuscripts
• Many unpublished texts are clearly important within the
Sanskrit tradition
• - eg. Certain avadānas, stotras, and tantras
• A census of manuscripts is needed to determine the most
important unpublished texts, and the most reliable
manuscripts
• Texts input from manuscripts will be diplomatic
transcriptions, not editions
• Transcriptions provide useful data for future editions, and
Some MANUSCRIPTS collection

A Sample Text from Asa Archives, Kathmandu, Nepal

SOURCES OF DSBC (MANUSCRIPTS)

A Sample Text from Asa Archives, Kathmandu, Nepal

 Plans to complete the
Sanskrit Buddhist canon: 1(
goals)
• We aim to finish the input of texts in
2010
• Feedback from scholars is sought to
improve the integrity of the DSBC
• The final step will be to publish and
distribute a CD with digital search
tools
 Plans to complete the Sanskrit
Buddhist Canon (2): Seeking
feedback
• Feedback from scholars and users is
sought prior to completion:
• - on any texts that should be included
that have not been (or vice versa)
• - on the accuracy of input texts
• - on the classification of the canon
• - on digitally collating the texts with
translations in Chinese, Tibetan and
Western languages
Plans to complete the Sanskrit
Buddhist Canon (3): Needed
Resources
• Funding is still needed for the following tasks, in
order of priority:
• Accessing and inputting all remaining printed
texts
• Proofreading of texts already input
• Seeking copyright clearance for recent editions
published outside South Asia
• Creating custom digital search and study tools for
the whole canon
• Pressing and distribution of CDs for areas where
internet access is not widespread
• Long-term support for the internet presence of
the DSBC
CONCLUSION
 We understand that there is no complete closed Sanskrit Buddhist canon in Buddhist
history.
 Sanskrit literature in Buddhism is by no means exclusively Mahayanist.
 Various sects of Hinayana including Sarvastivada possess a canon of their own and a rich
literature in Sanskrit.
 Several original Sanskrit Buddhist Mss. are found in Nepal Archives dating from 11th
century to 20th century.
 Several fragments of a Sanskrit canon of the Buddhist are also discovered in Chinese
Dunhoung by Peliot, - Chinese Turkestan by Pischel, Central Asia by Stein and in Tibet by
Rahul Sankrityayana.
 The digitization of these Sanskrit Buddhist texts was considered a desirable but distant
goals for many celebrated Universities and organizations for many year.
 But now we are confident that UWEST/NIEM will achieve this goal in no time.
 UWEST will be premiere University who is producing Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon
for the first time in the history of electronic Buddhist world.
AKNOWLEDGMENT
 Thanks to the vision of Grand Master Hsing Yun who sponsored this project generously.
 Thanks to Prof. Lewis Lancaster, who initiated and inspired to work on this project.
 Extremely grateful to our respected UWEST past Presidents, Dr. Naichen, Prof. Roger
Smidth and patrons who put much efforts in actualizing this meritorious project a
successful venture.
 Thanks also to Dr. Guruge, Prof. Varnasuria, and his team who showed great concern in
actualizing this project a success.
 Finally, I’d like express my deep gratitude to respected Prof.Allen Houng, the chairman of
the University of the WEST who demonstrated great concern on this project and provided
me this opportunity for the presentation to our honorable sponsors and well wishers.
 On the last but the least, I’d like to thank for the organizer led by Ven. Huimin Bhiksu
and Dr. Marcus Biggenhimer who invited me in this august conference and have an
opportunity to share the missions of DSBC and for their kind and generous hospitality
during our sojourn in this beautiful Dharma drum Mountain.
 Also I owed a deep debt of gratitude to Mr. Aiming Tu whose expertise on digital world is
well known. I have learnt a lot with his association and close friendship.

Thank you