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THE RENEWAL OF MONGOLIAN BUDDHIST TERMINOLOGY
commissioned the work in order to standardize Tibetan language of translation. He
did soon the advice of ministers and councillors who judged the available idioms
inadequate to achieve consistent renderings of Sanskrit technical terminology. The
Indian contingent consisted of Jinamitra, Surendrabodhi, Silendrabodhi, Dänasila
and Bodhimitra. In addition, the king sequested the services of three Tibetan scho¬
lars: Kava Peltseg (Ska ba Dpal brtsegs), Chogro Lugyaltsen (Chog ro Klu’i rgyal
mtshan), Zhang Yeshede (Zhang Ye shes sde).
The original dictionary contains about 9600 lexical entries divided into 277 chap¬
ters, arranged according to certain subject matters under general headings. Later
on Chinese was also added to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. By the 17" century there
appeared five-language editions enlarged with Manchu and Mongolian equivalents.
The Mongolian part of the Mahdavyutpatti was prepared in the 17" and early 18"
centuries when the demand to translate and adapt canonical works flourished. The
large-scale translation activity was sponsored by the Manchu emperors, especially
by Kangxi and Qianlong (1711-1799) whose reign brought about a favourable at¬
mosphere for literary life. Special translator schools, committees and publishing
houses of different languages were set up to establish the uniformity of translation
of Buddhist technical terms.
The Mongolian Mahavyutpatti was neglected for a long time. The first edi¬
tion which contains the Mongolian part with an English translation was published
by Alice Sark6zi in 1995. Her publication was based on a manuscript version of
Mahavyutpatti preserved in St. Petersburg.*
The version of the Mahdavyutpatti incorporated into the Tanjur (Mdo class, Go
volume) shows some remarkable differences from the St. Petersburg manuscript so
I regard it as a separate vocabulary. It was prepared by Güüsi Jamyang tenpel (Güüsi
" Jam dbyangs bstan ’phel) in the Qutuy-i manduyuluy¢éi Monastery. The photocopy
of this version is preserved in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences,
the original one is preserved in Ulan Bator.
Comparing the two different versions, it can be stated that the St. Petersburg
manuscript reflects an earlier stage of language with some old, rare words. The Tanjur
version gives a reformed stage of terminology.’
Rolpe Dorje: The Source of Lexical Wisdom
The vivid interest in linguistics in the 17" and early 18" centuries brought to life
a number of dictionaries and grammatical works as aids to the translators of the
Dharma. The bilingual lists of terms served as normative prescriptions needed for the
translation activity. One of these terminological dictionaries was The Source of Lexi¬
cal Wisdom (Tib. Dag yig mkhas pa’i ’byung gnas, Mong. Merged yarqu-yin oron).
Sark6zi, Alice (ed. with the collaboration of Szerb, Janos): A Buddhist Terminological Dictionary.
The Mongolian Mahavyutpatti. (Bibliotheca Orientalis Hungarica XLII) Akadémiai Kiadö, Budapest
1995.
Sark6zi, Alice: A Buddhist Terminological Dictionary ..., V—Vvii.
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