PIS'MENNYE
PAMYATNIKI
VOSTOKA

2 (25)
Spring 2016

Journal based in 2004
Issued quarterly

Selected Materials as a *.PDF file

PUBLICATIONS

R.N. Krapivina, N.S. Yakhontova. Tibeto-Mongolian Verses in the Tibetan-Mongolian Dictionary “Ocean of Names” — 5
The publication supplies a transliteration and translation of Tibetan-Mongolian four-lined verses included in the 3rd part of the Tibetan-Mongolian dictionary “Ocean of Names”. They precede the list of words for each letter and are a kind of Buddhist blessings given by the author to the readers. At the same time, they follow the tradition of special mnemonical verses assisting in memorizing the Tibetan alphabet. A brief linguistic account of Tibetan-Mongolian translation methods applied by the authors is provided as well.
Key words: Tibetan-Mongolian “Ocean of Names” dictionary, translations from Tibetan into Mongolian, Buddhist blessings, ka-preng tradition

Vasubandhu, “Abhidharmakośa” (“Encyclopaedia of Abhidharma”): The Prophetical Fragment of Section “Samādhi-nirdeśa” (“Teaching on Meditation”). Preface, Translation from Sanskrit and Commentary by H.P. Ostrovskaya — 28
Prophecies about the inevitable extinction of the Buddha’s teaching were made even in the earliest canonical texts and variously repeated over centuries, exerting serious ideological influence on the evolution of Buddhism. The present paper contains a commented translation of the prophetical fragment of Sanskrit text of “Samādhi-nirdeśa” from the eighth section of the Encyclopaedia of Abhidharma (Abhidharmakośa) ascribed to the Buddhist thinker Vasubandhu (4th–5th centuries). This is the first translation of the text, based on the edition: Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. Ed. by P. Pradhan. Poona, 1967, 459–460.
Key words: Abhidharma, Abhidharmakośa, Buddhism, Buddhist written heritage of early medieval India, Vasubandhu, Dharma, prophecies about the inevitable extinction of the Dharma, Samādhinirdeśa, Sanskrit

RESEARCH WORKS

K.M. Bogdanov. A Tangut Ritual Text with Non-Buddhist Religious Elements — 39
This article is a short description of an unknown ritual funeral text from IOM, RAS Tangut fund. This text is interesting because it probably contains Bon religion elements or archaic local belief traits transformed by Buddhist ritual. A complete and correct understanding of the text is difficult because of the specific characteristics of its language and content. In this article, I present only the first and general textological analysis of some more or less leg of the text and interpretation of its content. Without any doubt from the point of view of its historical and religious content, this text deserves further research work.
Key words: IOM, RAS Tangut collection, Bardo, Tangut Buddhism, Bon, funeral ritual

S.L. Burmistrov. Store Consciousness as a Basis for Saṃsāra and Nirvāṇa in Early Yogācāra — 58
The concept of store consciousness in early Yogācāra is a metaphor for both nirvāṇa and saṃsāra, which makes Yogācāra philosophy close to Mādhyamaka. Store consciousness forms saṃsāra, but also contains the seeds of good making every sentient being apt to gain Bodhi.
Key words: nirvāṇa, saṃsāra, store consciousness, ālayavijñāna, Asanga, Vijñānavāda

E.V. Tanonova. The Subject of the “Endless Clothes” of a Heroine in the “Mahābhārata” and in a Telugu Epic — 73
The article is dedicated to the popular story of “the miracle of endless clothes”. It is described in the book of Sabha how the rivals of the main heroes the Kauravas attempted to disrobe the spouse of the Pandavas Draupadi. The result of research is the emergence of God of law Dharma as an advocate of Draupadi, the relation of Dharma and clothes. The fact that the author of the Andhramahabharata, Nannaya Bhattudu, adopted these ancient models into a medieval literary work composed in the Telugu language stresses its importance.
Key words: Draupadī, violence towards a heroine, Dharma god, clothes in Indian epic, Mahābhārata, Andhramahābhārata

HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY

O.M. Chunakova. An Unpublished Sogdian Document SI 5396 from the Serindian Fund of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences — 83
The article deals with a previously unpublished Sogdian document SI 5396 from the Serindian Fund of the IOM, RAS, containing the Sogdian transcription of two Parthian Manichaean hymns. These hymns are parts of two cycles of the psalms attributed to Mani. The Sogdian document SI 5396 is unique because it is a very beautifully written text containing fragments of two Parthian hymns, which have virtually no gaps. It is important as it clarifies the reading of other manuscripts and has glosses which show that the user of this document was an educated man, who knew Parthian grammar. The article contains a transliteration and translation of the hymns

K.G. Marandjian. The Japanese Confucian Thinker Ito Jinsai and His “Questions from Children” (“Dojimon”) — 89
The article is focused on the writing of the Japanese Confucian thinker Ito Jinsai Questions from Children, which, in a concise form, states his interpretation of the Confucian learning. The special emphasis is laid upon the problem of “classical books” the choice of which marked the reader’s affiliation with various trends in Confucianism. The article is supplied with a translation of fragment (seven questions) from Questions from Children on the subject.
Key words: Japanese Confucianism, Ito Jinsai, Questions from Children, Dojimon, classical books

COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES

S.G. Elisséeff. Political Impressions of the summer of 1917. The Ministry of Terauti, the Diplomatic Council and the Japanese Trade in the First Half of 1917. Publication, Introduction and Commentaries by S.I. Marakhonova — 100
The work is housed in the Orientalists’ Archives of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences (F. 16, 1, No. 2) and dates back to the middle of October, 1917. Elisséeff’s report is based on the Japanese press data and deals with the political and especially economic situation in Japan a year after the signing of the Russian-Japanese alliance in the summer of 1916. The author gives a lot of statistics whereby the beginning of industrial increase of Japan during the First World War already is evident. He sees the premises of this fast growth in the great number of orders for military goods given to Japan by the fighting European countries and in transferring the Far Eastern sales markets to Japan.
Key words: S.G. Elisséeff, Japanese politics, Japanese economy, World War I, industrialization in Japan, archives

Documents on the Scholarly Work of V. S. Vorobyev- Desiatovskii from the Archives of Orientalists IOM, RAS. Preface, publication, footnotes by T.V. Ermakova — 112
The topic of the preface is a complex description of V. S. Vorobyev-Desiatovskii’s (1927–1956) contribution to the development of Indian paleography and especially to the description and cataloguing of the Buddhist part of Indian collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS. Vorobyev- Desiatovskii’s approach to description and cataloguing of manuscripts is considered at first. The core of his approach is not only paleographic description but also exposure of the historical and cultural value of a manuscript and investigation into the history of the collection. Documents on the scholarly work of V.S. Vorobyev-Desiatovskii and on his participation in Soviet-Indian cultural contacts from the Archives of Orientalists IOM, RAS, are published for the first time.
Key words: Indian collection of the Institute of Oriental manuscripts, RAS, V.S. Vorobyev- Desiatovskii, Soviet-Indian cultural connections, Indian paleography

ACADEMIC LIFE

I.V. Bazilenko. The Eighth European Conference of Iranian Studies (St. Petersburg, September 15–19, 2015) — 122

T.A. Pang. The Annual IOM Academic Session “The Written Heritage of the Orient as the Basis for Classical Tradition of Oriental Studies” (St. Petersburg, December 9–11, 2015) — 124

V.P. Ivanov. Open lectures of IOM RAS in 2015 — 130

REVIEWS

Olga V. Diakova. Pohai State: Archaeology, History, Politics. Moscow: Nauka; Vostochnaya Literatura, 2014. — 319 p.: ill. (T.A. Pang) — 135

M. Sergeev. The Theory of Religious Cycles: Tradition, Modernity, and the Baha’i Faith. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2015. — 161 p. (Yu.A. Ioannesyan) — 137

Ulrich Timme Kragh. Tibetan Yoga and Mysticism. A Textual Study of the Yogas of Nāropa and Mahāmudrā Meditation in the Medieval Tradition of Dags po. — Tokyo: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies of the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies (Studia Philologica Buddhica Monograph Series XXXII), 2015. — 708 p. (Ye.S. Bushuev) — 140

One Hundred and Eight Buddist Icons Housed at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS. M.B. Iokhvin, L.I. Kriakina, A.V. Zorin. Ed. by A.V. Zorin. Consultant A.A. Terentyev. — St. Petersburg: Peterburgskoie Vostokovedeniie, 2013. — 240 p. (E.V. Ivanova) — 144