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| Kanjur | |
|---|---|
| Name | Kanjur |
| Language | Tibetan |
| Date | 8th–13th centuries |
| Place | Tibet, Nepal |
| Tradition | Tibetan Buddhism |
Kanjur
The Kanjur is the canonical collection of Buddhist scriptures held in high regard within Tibetan Buddhism, associated with the transmission from Indian masters like Nagarjuna and Atisha and preserved in monasteries such as Drepung Monastery, Ganden Monastery, and Sera Monastery. It serves as a foundational library alongside the Tengyur, informing scholastic curricula at institutions including Samye and influencing liturgical practice at centers like Tashilhunpo Monastery and Rumtek Monastery. The corpus shaped commentarial traditions linked to figures such as Tsongkhapa, Padmasambhava, Marpa Lotsawa, and Je Tsongkhapa.
The collection is organized as a corpus of canonical texts analogous to the Tripiṭaka transmitted into Tibetan from sources such as Nāgārjuna, Asanga, and Vasubandhu and reflects lineages associated with translators like Vairotsana, Vimalamitra, Kumarajiva, and Bodhisena. Preserved in editions produced at printing houses in Lhasa, Derge, Peking, and Tashilhunpo, the Kanjur functions in monastic libraries alongside commentaries by Shantarakshita, Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana, and later exponents including Longchenpa and Ju Mipham.
Compilation narratives link royal patrons such as King Trisong Detsen and translators such as Śāntarakṣita and Padmasambhava to the initial institutionalization of canonical texts during the Samye period, with redactional activity continuing through the tenure of Tibetan kings and sponsors like Ralpachen and Lde gtsug patrons. Subsequent catalogues and inventories were produced under abbots and scholars including Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, Rangjung Dorje, and printers at the Derge Parkhang established by the Kingdom of Derge. Editions were influenced by collation with manuscripts from Naraka and manuscripts acquired via pilgrims to Nalanda and Odantapuri as well as later exchanges with Nepal and Bhutan.
The Kanjur is traditionally divided into several sections comparable to sutra, vinaya, and abhidharma divisions found in collections linked to Sarvastivada and Mahasamghika lineages, but its internal taxonomy reflects Indian sources like Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Prajnaparamita Sutras, and tantric works associated with Hevajra and Kalachakra. It includes texts attributed to figures such as Vasubandhu, Haribhadra, Aryadeva, and Bhavaviveka, together with ritual texts used by schools such as Sakya, Kagyu, Nyingma, and Gelug. The corpus contains dharani texts, debates recorded by scholars like Butön Rinchen Drub, and legal or disciplinary materials referenced by abbots from Ganden Tripa lineages.
Major print editions include the Derge Kangyur, the Lhasa Kangyur, and editions produced with imperial patronage in Beijing; manuscripts circulated in formats such as pecha at scriptoria like Tashilhunpo and private collections of families such as the Khyentse lineage. Critical collation projects by philologists working in institutions such as Bodleian Library, Library of Congress, and National Library of China compare copies from repositories including Sikkim Royal Library, Kathmandu Durbar Library, and Royal Library of Bhutan. Modern critical editions and digital projects engage scholars associated with SOAS, Columbia University, University of Vienna, and Dharmakirti Institute to reconcile variants and to produce concordances used by researchers like Erik Zürcher and Jan Nattier.
The texts are primarily in Classical Tibetan rendered in scripts like Uchen and Ume, with orthographic features reflecting efforts by translators including Rinchen Zangpo and Lotsawa Marpa. Many works were translated from Sanskrit sources such as manuscripts preserved at Nalanda, Vikramashila, and Valabhi; parallel traditions include Newar Sanskrit manuscripts from Kathmandu and recensions in Tibetan and Mongolian produced under patrons like the Yuan dynasty and Qing dynasty. Modern translations into English, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian have been undertaken by scholars at Harvard University, SOAS University of London, École Française d'Extrême-Orient, and Soka University.
Monastic communities at institutions such as Drepung, Ganden, Sera, Mindrolling, and Zongkar Choede use selections from the collection for daily puja recitations, debate curricula at colleges like Loseling and Jangtse, and ritual enactments led by tulkus including Dalai Lama and Karmapa figures. Ritual manuals and liturgies draw on tantric sections used in empowerments performed at centers such as Tsechok and festival cycles observed during events like Losar and Monlam Chenmo. Lay ritualists and bka' ma lineages employ texts in practices associated with masters such as Khyentse Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse.
Academic inquiry spans philology, codicology, and hermeneutics with contributions from scholars linked to University of Oxford, Princeton University, University of Tokyo, and Leiden University. Research addresses canonical formation, redactional history, and transmission networks traced through archives such as Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center and museum collections at Smithsonian Institution and British Library. Interdisciplinary studies involve comparisons with Sanskrit corpora from Pali Canon repositories, critical apparatuses developed by projects at Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, and dissertations by specialists such as Geoffrey Waldron and David Germano exploring doctrinal genealogy and the role of the collection in rites adjudicated by abbots in the Gelug tradition.
Category:Tibetan Buddhist texts