THT-fragments of Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka: Current state of the topic and some new identifications

Acta Orientalia. 2025. Vol. 78. No. 1. P. 85–113.

Иткин И. Б., Kuritsyna A., Wilkens J., Nugteren H.

The Buddhist drama Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka is one of the most important Tocharian A texts, and the most
important text about the life of Maitreya, the Future Buddha, in Central Asia. Interestingly, it has an equivalent
in the Old Uyghur (prose) text Maitrisimit nom bitig. Although the Tocharian A fragments are often
very small, incomplete parts of the text can sometimes be emended by comparing them with parallel passages
in Uyghur. The present article for the first time provides an overview of the Tocharian A fragments
from the Berlin Turfansammlung which were not included in the edition of Tocharian A texts by E. Sieg and
W. Siegling ‘THT-fragments’). Some new Tocharian A materials are identified, edited and discussed here
with the aid of the Uyghur parallels, which hitherto have not been published with an English translation.
 

Ключевые слова: Tocharian A, Maitreyasamiti-nataka, Old Uyghur, Maitrisimit nom bitig, Central Asian Buddhism, Maitreya