Sumagadha-Avadāna and Some Aspects of Its Research in Russia and Worldwide: Analyzing The Legend of Sayin Magada from the Mongolian Kanjur

Abstract

Introduction. The Sumagadha-Avadāna (‘Avadāna of Sumagadha’) is often mentioned in Oriental studies, including works on the history of classical Mongolian literature examining writings of Indo-Tibetan origin. This text is included in both the Tibetan- and Mongolian-language canonical Kangyur (Kanjur) editions. Despite frequent references, the former has neither been translated into Russian, nor there are any descriptions of its structure and content. Goals. So, the article attempts to fill the gap and aims at considering the narrative about Sayin Magada through the analysis of The Legend of Sayin Magada (Mong. Sayin Magada-yin domuγ), the latter being integral to the canonical collection of Kanjur in Mongolian. The work explores the text, describes its genre characteristics, identifies its structure, reveals contents, and investigates data contained in the colophon. Materials. The study focuses on the text titled ‘Sayin Magada-yin domuγ-i ögülegči kemekü’ (‘[Sutra] Narrating the Legend of Sayin Magada’) from the Eldeb (‘Collection of Sutras’) section of the Mongolian Kanjur (vol. 91). Results. The textual and content analysis of works by Tibetologists, Mongolists, and Sinologists dealing with writings of the avadāna genre included in the canon makes it possible to reveal key characteristics of the genre, describe the structure of the Mongolian text, and outline its content.

Keywords

• buddhism
• written sources
• canon
• mongolian language
• kanjur
• sumagadha-avadāna
• legend of sayin magada
• oriental studies