On a Factor for the Occurrence of Variant Readings in the Tibetan Canon

Abstract

One can reasonably imagine that Tibetan scribes transcribed manuscripts from the original, first in shorthand (skung yig) , then reinstated the original words to complete the final products. This must have been the case with Buddhist scriptures as well. In the process of reverting the working drafts to the original with standard spellings, unexpected words might happen to be reconstructed, leading to the creation of new variant readings. Such variants do not reflect any differences among the original Sanskrit texts, nor are they simple technical mistranscriptions. We should consider them as "transmissional" variants (as opposed to "recentional" ones) caused by the process of reproducing the original text based on stenographic notations. In this essay, I will point out occurances of this possibility in the Tibetan Buddhist canon.