Material Heritage of the Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā: Manuscripts and Inscribed Tablets

Abstract

The Sagaramatipariprccha, "Questions of the Oceanic Intelligence," is the fifth chapter of the Mahasamnipata, "Great Collection," and is a canonical work belonging to the tradition of Mahayana sutra literature. This sutra is highly valued in the long history of Mahayana Buddhism for its thematic and metaphorical richness, as it personifies the ocean (Skt. sagara) to represent core aspects of the Mahayana doctrinal system. This paper presents two small Sanskrit fragments of the Sagaramatipariprccha recently identified in the Schoyen Collection, with transliteration and annotated translation. In order to provide a fuller picture of the textual history of the Sagaramatipariprccha, a quotation from the text on votive tablets from Kedah, Malaysia, is also discussed. These materials are employed as a case study within the context of tangible and intangible heritage. On the basis of the UNESCO declaration of 2003, it is argued that these two kinds of heritage are intrinsically interlinked, and that the categories and their pertaining definitions can be broadened so as to be relevant to more traditions and their heritage.