The Rot Nam Daeng Copy of the Palm-Leaf Manuscript entitled Samantakūṭavaṇṇanā in the Reign of King Rama II: A Study of the Palm-Leaf Manuscript and A Review of the Printed Edition of the Pāli Text Society

Abstract

The Pāli literature entitled Samantakūṭavaṇṇanā was composed by Vedeha Thera in Lanka in the late 13th century, for the purpose of praising Mount Samantakuta. At present, there were 5 palm-leaf manuscripts found in Thailand. This paper focuses on the study of the manuscript no. 2298/ก/1-2, which was the Rot Nam Daeng Copy in the reign of King Rama II through the study of the characteristics of the palm-leaf manuscript, various markers, scribble script and text corrections together with the review of the printed edition of the Pāli Text Society in order to show the characteristics of the palm-leaf manuscript.

The results showed that this palm-leaf manuscript was unique because of the splendor of a red lacquered background on the front and back covers. The text has been edited in many formats, so this reflects that the palm-leaf manuscript was being used after it had been produced. The review of the printed edition of the Pāli Text Society revealed that there are 4 significant observations which are (1) the palm-leaf manuscript has a form of Pāli words which are different from the printed edition, (2) the palm-leaf manuscript helps to assume the correct wording for the printed edition in case of some defect caused by printing process, (3) the printed edition has more complete content than the palm-leaf manuscript, and (4) the transmission of both examples should be different recension. The review shows that although many Buddhist scriptures has been published at present, the study of palm-leaf manuscripts was still necessary and should not be abandoned.