This winter I purchased a Burmese palm-leaf manuscript copied in 1843. Manuscripts dating back to before the Fifth Burmese Council (1871) may have some philological significance, which is why I report on my holding. Key points are as follows: The title in the margins is “Viny: Mahāvā. pāḷito”. The title in faint pencil on the first leaf is “Vinaya. Mahāvā. pāḷito” Size: 53.3×6.5cm. Gilded edges with a middle band of vermillion; 10 lines; small Burmese script. Two red lacquered flat wooden covers. There are 216 leaves: fols. ka-v, 1b－dha-r, 217a without ñō, 118ab. Beginning text: ‘namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammā-sambuddhassa // tena samayena buddho bhagavā uruvelāyaṃ viharati nijjā Nerañjarāya tire bodhirukkhamūle pathamābhisambuddho //’. This is the opening of the Mahāvagga chapter of the Vinaya. Fol. ño-v, 117b10 ends ‘// khayā dosassa vitadosattā taṇha-kkhyayādhimutto hoti //’ and fol. ñaṃ-r, 119a1 starts ‘yo dhārenti // mahānāmarattavaddhikā upāhanāyo dhārenti // manussā…’. Therefore the manuscript is missing the text equivalent to the PTS’s Vinaya I: 184,16－186,3. I have recently acquired several other manuscripts that may be of interest in the history of modern Japanese Buddhism － manuscripts owned by KOJIMA Kaihō. A brief report of the collection is attached below.

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The verb anu-mod/mud is conjugated in the middle voice as 3 sg. ind. anumodate, 2 pl. ipv. anumodadhvam etc. since the RV. However, there are several active forms such as 1 pl. ind. anumodāmo, 3 sg. opt. anumodet in the metrical and prose portions of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra. Of course, active forms are fairly common in Pāli and BHS literature. So how should we analyze Saddhp III 36a anumodāma, VII 55c anumodāmo and XVIV 3ab anumodāmahe? This paper concludes that the verb was originally conjugated in the active voice throughout the literature. Not only in the Kashgar manuscript but also in the Gilgit-Nepalese manuscripts, many of them show the active forms. Many of the middle forms in prose are found in the newer manuscripts, and their positions often do not coincide with those in the older manuscripts. Saddhp XVII 1c abhyanumodeyā is the original reading and Gilgit A: 128,6 abhyanumodeta is the result of its Sanskritization. This paper is one of a series of small attempts to collect material for a future revised edition of the Lotus Sutra.

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Present stem of sparś/spr̥ś is originally conjugated in the active voice as RV I 36,3d spr̥śanti, TS VI 3,4,8 aspr̥śat etc. However, middle forms occur sporadically in later literature, e.g. PraśUp IV 2 spr̥śate. KN VII: 177,15m reads agrāṃ bodhiṃ spr̥śemahi and KN’s footnote says “spr̥śeṣata A.W. spr̥semahi B. K. spr̥hemahi Cb. spr̥śematha O., probably more original”. Which is the correct reading? There are two instances of 3 sg. opt. spr̥śe or spr̥śet in the metrical portion of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra. Probably Kashg 170b5 spr̥śematha is the original reading as KN’s footnote suggests. Nepalese spr̥śemahi is the result of its Sanskritization. This paper concludes that the present stem was originally conjugated in the active voice throughout the literature. This paper is an attempt to reveal the author’s methodology for analyzing the language of the Lotus Sutra.

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In order to teach literary reading comprehension to science students, we propose a teaching model that uses multiple texts while keeping in mind the female perspective.

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This article is a record of my education and research on microelectronics for 35 years at Sendai National College of Technology. At the end of 1971, Intel Co. Ltd. proposed a 4-bit microprocessor. Subsequent developments in micro-electronics have continued remarkably to this day. I had the opportunity to do research on it from the time microelectronics sprouted. The process of trial and error for my 35 years of education and research is described.

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