Sanskrit Manuscripts : Vyavahārasūtra with a ṭabo

Sanskrit Manuscripts

<p style='text-align: justify;'> This manuscript contains the <i>Vyavahārasūtra</i>, a Chedasūtra of the Śvetāmbara canon dealing with monastic atonements, in its original Ardhamāgadhī Prakrit together with a Gujarati quasi-literal translation. This is a type of commentary known as <i>ṭabo</i> because of its layout: the Gujarati part is above each line of the main text, written in smaller script, and is divided into small compartments where the Prakrit words are referred to only by their initial syllable. The manuscript lacks folios 15-17, hence part of chapter 4 is missing. The commentary has no title. The date is given as V.S. 1765, and seems to have been written by the hand who wrote the Gujarati translation. The Prakrit spelling is somewhat erratic. This type of manuscript is interesting as it shows how the reading of canonical texts was kept alive through translations in vernaculars which are close to reading notes. </p>