日本で発見されたオリヤー語の『マハーバーラタ』について

抄録

A palm leaf manuscript of the Oriya Mahabharata written by the famous Oriya poet Sudramuni Srisaraladasa of the mid 15^th c. was transmitted to Tsusima-cho of Ehime prefecture in Japan during the 18^th century A. D. It ia ssumed that the manuscript was transcribed in the beginning of the 17^th c. It was written in the medieval Oriya language using the medieval Oriya script except the invocation to Lord Ganesa, which is in Sanskrit. It consists of 221 leaves (transcribed on both sides), a few blank leaves and a bamboo cover. In the beginning and the end of the manuscript it mentions clearly that it is the first part of the Aranyakaparba of the Mahabharata. It is a typical manuscript of Orissa, an Eastern state in India. The most interesting point to note is that it is not just an Oriya translation of the Sanskrit Mahabharata, but is an Oriya version of it. Since 2001, I have been working on its romanized edition and Japanese translation along with Mr. Nobuyuki Kashiwahara and Prof. Hojun Nagasaki as the chief. A new relationship between Orissa and Japan is expected to be explored from the research of this manuscript.