Dear list members, Matthew Kapstein and ( David Reigle using edition 1929 by Stcherbatsky and Obermiller) spell the word as *vīkṣiṣīraṃs* . Same text in GRETIL (different editions) spell it *vīkṣīṣīraṃ*s and *vīkṣiṣiraṃs*
Are these misprints or alternate spellings in GRETIL? *pratipatsīrann* is spelled the same in these etexts *Matthew Kapstein and ( David Reigle)* sarvākārajñatāmārgaḥ śāsitrā yo'tra deśitaḥ| dhīmanto vīkṣiṣīraṃs tam anālīḍhaṃ parair iti ||1|| smṛtau cādhāya sūtrārthaṃ dharmacaryāṃ daśātmikām | sukhena pratipatsīrann ity ārambhaprayojanam ||2|| -------------------------- *GRETIL abhisamayālaṃkaranāmaprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstram * https://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/corpustei/transformations/html/sa_maitreyanAtha-abhisamayAlaMkaranAmaprajJApAramitopadezazAstra.htm input by Christian Coseru (no source book given) has; sarvākārajñatāmārgaḥ śāsitrā yo 'tra deśita / dhīmantī vīkṣīṣīraṃstamanālīḍhaṃ parairiti // Abhs_1.1 // smṛtau cādhāya sūtrārthaṃ dharmacaryā daśātmikā / sūkhena pratipatsīrannityārambhaprayojanam // Abhs_1.2 // -------------------------------------- GRETIL Abhisamayālaṃkāra https://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/corpustei/transformations/html/sa_abhisamayAlaMkAra.htmData entry: members of the Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon Input Project Based on the ed. by Ramsankar Tripathi: Abhisamayalankaravrttih Sphutartha. Sarnath : Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), 1977. grānthārambhaprayojanam sarvākārajñatāmārgaḥ śāsitrā yo 'tra deśitaḥ / dhīmanto vīkṣiṣiraṃstamanālīḍhaṃ parairiti // asa_1.2 //smṛtau cādhāya sūtrārthaṃ dharmacaryāṃ daśātmikām / sukhena pratipatsīrannityārambhaprayojanam // asa_1.3 // Harry Spier On Thu, Mar 19, 2026 at 5:30 PM Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY < [email protected]> wrote: > Many thanks to all who replied on- and off-list. I am sorry that I was not > aware of David Reigle's paper, addressing my query so precisely, > beforehand, and I am grateful to him and to Asko Parpola for sharing it. > Walter Slaje's helpful remarks lend some support to my thought that the > benedictive form may have had an intentionally archaic nuance. > > Matthew > > Matthew T. Kapstein > Professor emeritus > Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris > > Associate > The University of Chicago Divinity School > > Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences > > https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein > > https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/ > > > https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1 > > > https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1 > > https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949 > > Sent with Proton Mail <https://proton.me/mail/home> secure email. > > On Thursday, March 19th, 2026 at 3:39 PM, Asko Parpola <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Dear Matthew, David Reigle ha written a paper (attached) on these very two > occurrences of the benedictive. > With best wishes, Asko > > On Thu, Mar 19, 2026 at 11:39 AM Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Dear friends, >> >> In the opening verses (given below) of the *Abhisamayālamkāra-śāstra *(ASA), >> an important Mahāyāna Buddhist treatise (said to have been revealed to >> Asaṅga by the bodhisattva Maitreya), we find two instances of verbs that I >> take to be examples of “precatives” or “benedictives” (*āśīrliṅ*) in the >> middle voice (*ātmanepāda*) third person plural. Whitney (925) and >> Macdonell (150) both flatly state that the precative middle, though current >> in Vedic, does not occur in Classical Sanskrit. Renou (330-331) does not >> affirm this categorically, but suggests that the *āśīrliṅ *(without >> specifying voice) is commonly met with in kāvya and epigraphy, though >> unknown to Buddhist usage. Edgerton, BHS Grammar, has nothing at all to say >> about the *āśīrliṅ*, probably due to its absence in the corpus that he >> consulted, though the ASA is not in any case written in “hybrid” Sanskrit; >> its terminology is distinctly Buddhist, of course, but without peculiarly >> BHS grammatical forms. >> >> Conze, in the vocabulary accompanying his summary translation of the ASA >> (SOR VI) offers no grammatical analysis, but treats *vīkṣiṣīran* as an >> aorist optative, “have been able to behold,” and *pratipatsīran* as a >> future optative, “will be able to make progress.” (It seems simpler to me >> to adopt a mildly benedictive reading of both, “that the wise may behold… >> and that they may easily master…”) >> >> What I wish to ask the vyākaraṇa specialists, however, is whether I am >> correct to take these verbs as middle voice *āśīrliṅ* third person >> plural? And, if so, are there other instances, whether in Buddhist or >> non-Buddhist works, that similarly call into question Whitney and >> Macdonell’s assertions? I would welcome any other observations about this >> apparently unusual form that you may be able to share. In particular, I am >> wondering if it is plausible to take its use here as a deliberately >> archaizing gesture. >> >> >> sarvākārajñatāmārgaḥ śāsitrā yo'tra deśitaḥ| >> >> dhīmanto *vīkṣiṣīraṃs* tam anālīḍhaṃ parair iti ||1|| >> >> smṛtau cādhāya sūtrārthaṃ dharmacaryāṃ daśātmikām | >> >> sukhena *pratipatsīrann* ity ārambhaprayojanam ||2|| >> >> with thanks in advance for your observations and insights, >> Matthew >> >> Matthew T. Kapstein >> Professor emeritus >> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris >> >> Associate >> The University of Chicago Divinity School >> >> Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences >> >> https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein >> >> https://vajrabookshop.com/product/the-life-and-work-of-auleshi/ >> >> >> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501716218/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-i/#bookTabs=1 >> >> >> https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501771255/tibetan-manuscripts-and-early-printed-books-volume-ii/#bookTabs=1 >> >> https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60949 >> >> Sent with Proton Mail <https://proton.me/mail/home> secure email. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> INDOLOGY mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >> > > > -- > Asko Parpola, [email protected] > http://www.helsinki.academia.edu/AskoParpola > > > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >
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