Akṣobhyavyūha an Early Mahāyāna Sūtra in Kharoṣṭhī (Manuscript) from Gandhāra

A Palaeographic Study

Abstract

Akṣobhyavyūha is a lengthy known Kharoṣṭhī manuscript consisted of approximately 638 lines written on both sides of the birch bark. The manuscript is currently owned by Muhammad Nasim Khan, former Professor and Chairman of the Department of Archaeology, University of Peshawar, who collected it from Mian Kalay, a village located in Dir District. In this collection of manuscripts, it is marked as Fragment no. 7. The manuscript is based on religious instructions given by Buddha to his favourite disciple Śariputra, who later on became Buddha Akṣobhya. Thus, the whole manuscript narrates the conversation occurred between the Buddha and Śariputra. The main objective of the present research is to highlight the palaeography of the Kharoṣṭhī script used in the manuscript under-discussion because this script is commonly found in Gandhāra and other parts of the sub-Continent. It is consisted of nineteen fragments of an early Mahāyāna sūtra and it deals with Akṣobhya, one of the five wisdom Buddhas. The palaeographic study of this manuscript is presented here with addition of the description of sentences which obviously provides a comprehensive knowledge about the letter variations found in Kharoṣṭhī script. Moreover, this manuscript also yields important information about Buddhism and its promulgation in Gandhāra and surrounding regions.