Paṇḍit Sundarānanda and the Seven Newar Buddhist Manuscripts Kept in the Tokyo University Library

Abstract

Sundarānanda was younger brother of Amṛtānanda, who is known as the Paṇḍit of B. H. Hodgson. Although they were born in the Śākya family of Mahābuddha in Patan, they were given the title of Vajrācārya by the King of Nepal. There are seven manuscripts copied, or presumed to have been copied, by Sundarānanda in the collection of Newar Buddhist manuscripts kept in the Tokyo University Library.

[1] The ms. of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā （Tokyo, no. 52） was copied by Sundarānanda of Mahābuddha in N.S. 921. [2] The ms. of the Lokeśvara-śataka （no. 342） was copied by Sundarānanda in N.S. 915. But we cannot confirm the place name, Mahābuddha, in the colophon.

The mss. of [3] the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra （no. 410） and [4] the Samādhirājaṃ nāma mahāyānasūtra （no. 424） were copied by Jagaj-jitānanda and Pūrṇānanda from Mahābuddha in N.S. 927. The other three mss., [5] of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā （no. 51）, [6] Daśabhūmīśvaro nāma mahāyānasūtra-ratnarāja （no. 166） and [7] Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra （no. 329）, are missing some folios. But the surviving colophons have the same contents as [3] and [4].

Based on Mr. Maheśarāja Pant’s suggestion and the description of the last folio of [3] and [4], I suppose that Pūrṇānanda was another name for Sundarānanda. Sundarānanda was given the title of Vajrācārya in N.S. 927. In the same year the Nava Dharma/Ratna Granthas （the Nine Holy Scriptures in Newar Buddhism） including the mss. [3]~[7] were copied.

The father of the donor of these five mss. commissioned a painting of the foot-print of the Buddha in N.S. 9[35] to commemorate the great work of Amṛtānanda. But the mss. say that his father had already died in N.S. 927.