A Study of the Palm-Leaf Manuscript “Mahākappinavaṇṇanā” from Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit

Abstract

Mahākappinavaṇṇanā is a Pali literary work classified as a pakaraṇa-
visesa within the Sutta tradition, and may be described as an apocryphal sutta. The text praises the Buddha’s virtues, especially his wisdom and skill in training persons, using as u ruler of Sirimatī. In this narrative, the Buddha is said to assume the form of a universal sovereign in order to subdue the king’s pride and wrong perspective. The work has been recognized in modern studies for its thematic similarity to the Mahājambūpatisutta. At present, eighteen palm-leaf manuscripts of this text have been identified in Thailand. This article employs as its principal source the
“rak-thuep” series from Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit, Bangkok, in order to compare its contents with other related texts and to establish the approximate chronological date of the work.
The study of the “rak-thuep” series from Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit showed that its Khom script, both in the calligraphic Khom Banchong and Kasian styles, exhibits consonantal and vocalic letter-forms datable to the early 17th century through the mid-18th century. This makes it the oldest known palm-leaf manuscript of Mahākappinavaṇṇanā currently available. The
manuscript also preserves consonant and vowel forms reflecting orthographic spellings that diverge from modern standard Pali practice. Within the text itself, there appear up to twelve words in compound formation or samāsa, newly coined verbal constructions modeled on Thai, non-standard Pali syntactic
patterns, a wide range of metrical forms, and diction resembling that found in the Cāmadevivaṃsa. A comparison of this Pali work with the Mahākappinavatthu in the Dhammapadaṭṭhakathā, the Kapphiṇāvadāna in the Avadānaśataka, the account of Mahākappina in, and the Mahājambūpatisutta indicates that this text was influenced by the Avadānaśataka. Therefore, it was likely composed in the Lanna kingdom around the 16th–17th centuries, a period regarded as a golden age of Pali literature in Lanna, and later exerted influence on the Mahājambūpatisutta.