File:10th-century manuscript of 2nd-3rd century Prajnaparamita stotra, Mahayana Buddhism text, Sanskrit, Pala-Bengali-Nepali scripts.jpg

English: Prajnaparamita stotra (IAST: Prajñāpāramitāstotra, also called Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, lit. "Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines") is one of the earliest surviving Mahayana Buddhism texts. It was composed over a few centuries in the Sanskrit language, probably starting in late 1st-century BCE. The earliest available recension of the text is based on its translation into the Chinese language between 206-220 CE.

It is unclear where this text evolved in India, but the general scholarly view favors the central or southern India theory. The original text is a dialogue between the Buddha and arhat Subhuti. It discusses what "no-Self" (anatta) doctrine means. The text states that "not-Self" equals "no essential unchanging core, therefore no fundamentally real existence, as applied to all things without exception" (see Paul Williams (2009), pp. 50-52). This "no-Self" is a fundamental premise of both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism that contrasts with the teachings in Hinduism and Jainism that assert "atman/jiva exists, which they teach to be the essential unchanging core Self, soul" in every being. Later, some Buddhist subtraditions introduced a "Self/soul-like" concepts such as "Tathagatagarbha", but the mainstream Buddhism considers the not-Self principle as its central premise.

This palm-leaf manuscript was in parts originally painted (illuminated, illustrated, e.g. the bottom leaf in the image above). The text was written in an ornamental Pala script of the eastern states of India, likely in 985 CE (definitely before 1075 CE). Most of the leaves of the originally painted leaves went missing. A few centuries later, these missing leaves were replaced without miniatures and rewritten in another script. At another point, notes were added on some leaves on the margins, in Bengali script. Thus the manuscript has layers of pages in a mix of scripts. The manuscript has colorful wooden covers and cover pages, that evidence the Indian subcontinent had highly sophisticated, precision-oriented painters and painting materials/methods by the 10th-century. The manuscript was likely used by Buddhists in puja (worship) ceremonies, since the cover and leaves show evidence of trace quantities of worship and sacrificial offering materials.

Daniel Wright purchased this manuscript in December, 1875 in Nepal. The manuscript is now preserved as MS Add.1464 at the Cambridge University LIbrary.

Language: Sanskrit

Script: Pala, Bengali, Nepalaksara on different pages or margins

The photo above is of a 2D artwork created about 985 CE, itself a copy from a text that was authored between 1st and 3rd-century CE. The artwork and this 2D photograph, therefore, fall under Wikimedia Commons PD-Art licensing guidelines. Any rights I have as a photographer is herewith donated to wikimedia commons under CC 4.0 license.