A manuscript of Dhammapada written in Kharoshthi script was found from which of the following places?

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UGC NET Paper-2: History 9th Oct 2020 Shift 1
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  1. Turfan
  2. Kashagara
  3. Kuchi
  4. Khotan

Answer (Detailed Solution Below)

Option 4 : Khotan
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UGC NET Paper 1: Held on 21st August 2024 Shift 1
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Detailed Solution

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The correct answer is  Khotan.

Key Points

  • The first discovery of the Prakrit text of the Dhammapada in Kharosthi was made in 1892 by the French traveller Dutreuil de Hhins, he also founded altogether three fragments in Khotan, which lie despatched to Paris.
  • The Dhammapada is the only text of which a fragment has been preserved in Kharosthi, a script in which two recensions of Asoka's Rock Edicts, at Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra, are inscribed, and this is the only Buddhist text which has been hitherto found composed in a Prakrit dialect.
  • The manuscript is one of the earliest finds from Khotan.
  • Among later finds in Khotan, we have to mention a few documents containing dispositions and reports of local authorities, instructions, regulations, official and private correspondence — all inscribed in the Kharosthi script and drawn up in a Prakrit dialect.
  • "Dhammapada," is a compound term composed of dhamma and pada.
  • Dhamma refers to the Buddha's "doctrine" and Pada means "foot".

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  • Tufran- We do not find any manuscripts of Dhammapada in Kharoshti script.
  • Kashagara - Here also we do not find Dhammapada in Kharoshti script.
  • Kuchi- Similarly, we do not find Dhammapada in Kharoshti script here.                                                      
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