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Bibliotheca Sacra Birmanica

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Bibliotheca Sacra Birmanica

This is a collaboration between Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies and the École francaise d`Extrême-Orient. A total of 245 palm-leaf manuscripts were catalogued. They were inscribed in one script but in two languages: Pāli and Burmese. Some are in Pāli only, which are texts, commentaries of the Theravādin Tripiṭaka, as well as independent compositions. Some texts are in Burmese only, and others in Pāli and Burmese, in the form of phrase-by-phrase translation and commentary on Pāli texts. The oldest manuscript is dated 1724, the youngest one is dated 1930.

Feature:

Catalogue and information on 245 palmleaf manuscripts in two languages: Pāli and Burmese, covering commentaries, history and grammar.

About:

This is a collaboration between Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies and the École francaise d`Extrême-Orient. A total of 245 palm-leaf manuscripts were catalogued. They were inscribed in one script but in two languages: Pāli and Burmese. Some are in Pāli only, which are texts, commentaries of the Theravādin Tripiṭaka, as well as independent compositions. Some texts are in Burmese only, and others in Pāli and Burmese, in the form of phrase-by-phrase translation and commentary on Pāli texts. The oldest manuscript is dated 1724, the youngest one is dated 1930.

Content:

Most texts – 127 titles – belong to the Vinaya. Texts related to Suttantapitaka are represented by 66 titles, while 67 texts belong to the Abhidhamma. Next to narrative literature, poetry and historiographical works the collection includes 49 grammars or lexical works. Texts include the Sīhalavatthu(ppakaraṇa) (a collection of narratives), the devotional poetry of the Jinālavkāra and the compendium Sāratthasavgaha. There is a nearly complete set of the Sri Lankan chronicles including the rare Nalātadhātuvaṃsa (Chronicle of the frontal bone relic of the Buddha) never critically edited. There are many Pāli-Burmese nissaya, most of them unknown to other catalogues. Finally grammars or lexical works including Abhidhānappadīpikā, Kaccāyanapakaraṇa, Kaccāyanavutti and Saddanīti, covering essential fields like history and grammar.

Annoucement:

Distributed in CD-ROM since 2002. Kindly contact the Digital Archive Group for more information: da@dila.edu.tw