Commentary

1. “Burmese Script Editions of the Pāli Tipiṭaka and Its Commentaries owned by the Department of Indian Philosophy and Buddhist Studies”

At the Department of Indian Philosophy and Buddhist Studies of the University of Tokyo, there are numerous books of old Burmese script editions of the Tipiṭaka and its commentarial texts. All of these books were published before the Sixth Council (1954-1956) in Myanmar, and among them are rare items not found in other universities or research institutions. They consist of 21 Pāli texts, 10 Aṭṭhakathā texts, and 14 Ṭīka texts, all of which are publicly accessible through this database.

 

2. Construction of the Database

  • This database was constructed with the support of the operating expenses of the Department of Indian Philosophy and Buddhist Studies of the University of Tokyo and the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science under the projects titled as follows.
    • "Construction of a New Knowledge Base for Buddhist Studies: Presentation of an Advanced Model for the Next Generation of Humanities Research"(Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(S), Grant Number: 15H05725, Principal Investigator: Masahiro Shimoda, Fiscal Years: 2015-2018).
    • "Inheritance and development of the digital knowledge base of Buddhist studies"Scientific Research(A), Grant Number: 19H00516, Principal Investigator: Masahiro Shimoda, Fiscal Years: 2019-2022).
    • "From generality to specialization: a new phase of the knowledge environment for Buddhist studies in the digital medium"(Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(A), Grant Number: 23H00002, Principal Investigator: Masahiro Shimoda, Fiscal Years: 2023-2025).
  • We extend our sincere thanks to Phyo Phyo Wai (Independent Scholar) and Tony Scott (University of Toronto) for their contribution to the investigation of the copyright status. Additionally, we express our gratitude to Samuel Yhubun Yokota (a doctoral student at the Graduate School of the University of Tokyo) for his collaboration in creating metadata.
  • We would like to express our appreciation to the Digital Library Section of the Information Systems Department of the University of Tokyo for their dedicated efforts in the publication of the database.

 

3. Physical Books

The physical books of the collection are stored in one place at the Department of Indian Philosophy and Buddhist Studies of the University of Tokyo. Since more than 100 years have passed since their publication, their use is restricted to prevent deterioration.

 

4. References

  • Mizuno Kogen (1955), A Grammar of the Pali Language, Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin, pp. 208–213. (in Japanese)
  • Bollée, Willem B (1968) “Some Less Known Burmese Pāli Texts,” in J.C. Heesterman et al. (eds.), Pratidānam: Indian, Iranian and Indo-European Studies Presented to Franciscus Bernardus Jacobus Kuiper on his Sixtieth Birthday, Paris: Mouton, pp. 493–499.
  • Hamm, Frank Richard (1973) “On Some Recent Editions of the Pāli Tipiṭaka,” in the Cultural Dept. of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany New Delhi (ed.), German Scholars on India: contributions to Indian studies, vol. 1, Varanasi: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, pp. 123–135.
  • Wiles, Royce et al. (2021) “The Pāli Tipiṭaka Recension Carved on the Kuthodaw Pagoda Stelae and Its Relation to Other Burmese Versions,” Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. 34, pp. 155–226.