Mngon brjod in Tibet: Reading two Palm-leaf Manuscripts of the Amarakośa and Kāmadhenu

Abstract

This talk presents preliminary findings on two 12th–14th century palm-leaf manuscripts of Sanskrit lexical works transmitted from the subcontinent to Tibet: the Amarakośa and its commentary, the Kāmadhenu. These manuscripts serve as early witnesses to the formation of mngon brjod within the Tibetan scholastic system of the “Minor Five Sciences” during the Later Diffusion period.

Each manuscript is treated differently based on its material condition. While the Amarakośa manuscript is examined as a pedagogical artifact – revealing its circulation in the Tsang region and the local scholarly habits surrounding it through the physical structure and interlinear Tibetan notes – a strict textual approach is adopted for the Kāmadhenu manuscript. This involves deciphering its multi-layered colophon and collating the Sanskrit text against Situ Paṇchen’s (1699–1774) Tibetan translation, with the aim of producing a critical edition.