The Textual History of
Kavikumaravadana
The relations between the main texts, editions and
translations
Leif Asplund
Academic dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Indology at
Stockholm University to be publicly defended on Friday 29 November 2013
at 13:00 in Aulan, Kräftriket 4A, Stockholms universitet.
Abstract
This study consists of three main parts. Part I contains introductory matter and a presentation of the
manuscript material which contains stories about Kavikumāra, one of the Buddha’s earlier lives,
and a rough classification of the material. Part II contains editions and translations of some of the
texts containing this story and in addition one text which is the source of a part of one text. Part
III contains summaries and analyses of the main texts.
Part I begins with a characterization of the avadāna literature genre followed by definitions
of some terms used and a characterization of the texts treated in this study. All the known texts
containing a story about Kavikumāra and their manuscript sources are enumerated.
In Part II editions of some of the texts mentioned in Part I are found. Different types of
editions and the relations of those types with my editions are treated. The characteristics of
some of the manuscripts are described. The edition of the Tibetan translation of a part of the
Sanghabhedavastu of the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya is used as a check on Gnoli’s edition of the
Sanskrit text, which is translated. The central part of this study is the synoptic editions of chapter
26 of Kalpadrumāvadānamālā and a prose paraphrase of the text and their translations. Critical
editions of two more Tibetan texts and a diplomatic edition of two Sanskrit texts are also given.
In Part III summaries of and comparisons between three of the main texts containing stories
about Kavikumāra are made. The structure of the text in Kalpadrumāvadānamālā is described and
the sources for the different parts are indicated. This text has been chosen for analysis because it is
the earliest text which incorporates all the parts which are found in later texts containing the story.
The relations of an extremely fragmentary text with the other texts are treated. A comparison of
the stories about Kavikumāra and the Hero Story is made. The conclusion summarizes the main
findings.
Keywords: buddhism, avadana, editions, Sanskrit, Tibetan, manuscripts, philology, indology,
Nepal, NGMPP.
Stockholm 2013
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-94803
ISBN 978-91-7447-796-2
Department of Oriental Languages
Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm