抄録
Originally the present stem of the verb han ‘to strike, kill’ was formed as a class II verb and was usually conjugated in the active voice. Therefore, the reading Saddhp VII 58ab parāhanasva is doubly unusual. However, Kashg III:19a7 nihanitvā suggests that, as is customary in Middle Indo-Aryan languages, this verb was also conjugated thematically. The original reading was likely Kashg 171b2 parāhanāhi, which was later altered in the Gilgit–Nepal tradition. Throughout the text, the verb han is consistently conjugated thematically.
In the prose sections, the C5 manuscript preserves a variant reading parāghnanti, which represents a bold emendation by the scribe in pursuit of grammatical correctness. We modern scholars share with the medieval scribes the same ongoing pursuit of establishing a better text. This paper will serve as a foundation for future grammatical analysis of the Lotus Sūtra.
