Comparison of the Khom Script Manuscripts of the Majjhimanikāya Found in Thailand and Cambodia

Abstract

     The Pāli canon palm-leaf manuscripts have four main lineages: Sinhalese, Burmese, Khom and Tham (which have been found in are a of previous Lan Na, Lan Chang such as Northeastern Thailand and Laos). The Khom script is a script for inscribing the Pāli canon in palm-leaf manuscripts for centuries, especially in Siam (Thailand) and Khmer (Cambodia). It is unclear whether Khom manuscripts found in both countries belong to the same lineage and whether they have any significant differences. Moreover, our basic question is whether we need make use of Khom manuscripts from both countries for creating a database of palm-leaf manuscripts to produce a critical edition of the Pāli canon.
     In this paper, a portion of the Mūlapaṇṇāsa of the Majjhimanikāya will be focused for a comparative study of the Khom script manuscripts found in both countries. Five sets of Khom script manuscript of the Pāli Canon from Thailand and one set from Cambodia are selected as research materials. Based on the palm-leaf Manuscript found in Cambodia, the area of comparison will be focused on the Sīhanādavagga of the Mūlapaṇṇāsa in the Majjhimanikāya texts beginning from the end of the Mahāsīhanādasutta to the end of the Anumānasutta. To clarify the issue, there is a transmission of the Pāli canon of Khom manuscripts in Thailand and Cambodia.
     The comparison result demonstrates that a certain Pāli Canon of Khom script manuscripts in Cambodia and Thailand come from the same lineage. It seems that there are no significant differences between them and the Khom script manuscripts of Pāli canon in Cambodia and in Thailand are influenced by each other. To our basic question whether we need make use of Khom manuscripts from both countries for creating a database of palm-leaf manuscripts to produce a critical edition of the Pāli canon, based on the information I have studied, it is good enough to mainly use Khom script manuscripts from Thailand.