Sample Translations
Verses 24–26 of the Gāndhārī "Rhinoceros Sutra" (*Khargaviṣaṇa-sutra); from R. Salomon, A Gāndhārī Version of the Rhinoceros Sutra: British Library Kharoṣṭhī Fragment 5B. Gandhāran Buddhist Texts 1. Seattle: University of Washington Press. 2000.
bhayea mitra paḍibhaṇavaṃta
baho-ṣuda dhaṃma-dhara uraḍa
(*annae dhammaṃ vi)yigitsa prahae
ek(*o care khargaviṣaṇagapo)
One should cultivate a friend who is intelligent,
learned, a master of the dharma, noble.
(*Having understood the dharma)
[and] abandoned doubt, (*one should wander) alone (*like
the rhinoceros.)
sayi labhea ṇivago sahayo
sardhacare sas̱ovihari dhiro
(*abhibhuya) sarvaṇi pariṣeaṇi
carea ten' atamaṇa svad(*ima')
If one should find a wise companion,
a well-behaved, strong fellow,
[then] (*overcoming) all dangers,
one should wander along with him, satisfied at heart,
mindful.
ṇo ya labhea ṇivag(*o) sahayo
sardhacare sas̱ovihari dhiro
(*raya va ratha) viyidaṃ prahae
eko care khargaviṣaṇagap(*o)
If one should not find a wise companion,
a well-behaved, strong fellow,
[then] (*like a king who) has abandoned (*the realm)
[which he had] conquered,
one should wander alone like the rhinoceros.
The Pali Dhammapada is probably one of the most widely known and most beloved Buddhist texts in the world today. In antiquity too, Dhammapada-type texts were apparently quite popular among the members of the Buddhist community. It is, therefore, not too surprising that among the texts preserved in the British Library collection of Gāndhārī manuscripts is a portion of a Gāndhārī version of a Dhammapada-type text. The following is verse 12 of the new Gāndhārī Dharmapada from T. Lenz, A New Version of the Gāndhārī Dharmapada and a Collection of Previous-Birth Stories: British Library Kharoṣṭhī Fragments 16+25. Gandhāran Buddhist Texts 3. Seattle: University of Washington Press. 2003:
[13] (*yasa) baṇaheae ṇa sati kae •
viṇivadha bhavea [14] (*hedugha)tva
so bhikh(*u) jahadi (o*)ra-paro
oragha jiṇam i(*va tvaya) purano ○
Corresponding Pali Verse (Sutta-nipata, vs. 16)
yassa vanathajā na santi keci
vinibandhāya bhavāya hetu-kappā
so bhikkhu jahāti ora-pāraṃ
urago jiṇṇam iva tacaṃ purāṇaṃ
(*That monk who has) no desires,
(*that are causes) for the bondage of the mind that
[will] lead to rebirth,
he leaves behind this world and the next,
just as a snake [leaves behind] his old worn-out skin.
[See also Downloadable Images for unreduced images of the above manuscript fragments both before and after computer manipulation]