No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:
Among the numerous Sanskrit texts (more than 1000 titles, comprising approximately 50000 palmyra leaves) that have recently been brought to light in and around Lhasa there are also a few tantalizing titles that are bound to create a stir of expectation among Buddhologists all around the globe. Speaking of Madhyamaka śāstras there are complete Sanskrit manuscripts of Nāgārjuna's Ratnāvali, of Dharmadhātustava ascribed to that author, of Bhavya's Madhyamakahṛdaya(kārikā), Candrakīrti's Madhyamakāvatāra, and of Abhayākaragupta's Munimatālaṃkāra and Madhyamakamañjarī. There are also manuscripts of texts already available in Sanskrit such as Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Vigrahavyāvartanī, Prasannapadā, Śikṣāsamuccaya, Bodhi(sattva)caryāvatāra, etc. On the other hand, we in vain look for manuscripts containing the works of Āryadeva, Buddhapālita, Kamalaśīla (apart from Bhāvanākrama I) and Śāntarakṣita (apart from a fragment containing his commentary on the Bodhisattvasaṃvaraviṃśaka, and the complete commentary on the Vādanyaya).
Also other trends of Buddhist thought are represented. Here I shall have to confine myself to the most important: The commentary of Sthiramati on Vasubandhu's Pañcaskandhaka and that of Jinendrabuddhi on Dignaga's Pramāṇasamuccaya (286 leaves); there is also a fragment of his Nyāyamukha, but no trace of his other works. When it comes to Dharmakīrti, all his works are represented, including complete manuscripts of his Pramāṇaviniścaya, Hetubindu, Sambandhaparīkṣā and Samtānāntarasiddhi (fragment). Fate has been kind to Vinitadeva: His commentaries are available on Nyāyabindu, Hetubindu, Sambandhaparīkṣā and Samtānāntarasiddhi.
A large number of Mahāyānasūtras have also been discovered. Among the most interesting is the Bodhisattvapiṭaka, a text very important for the early Mādhyamikas.
While most of these manuscripts are still in Tibet, a smaller portion (ca. 250 manuscripts) were brought to Beijing in 1960. Nearly all these manuscripts have already been described, copied or even edited (especially Jñānaśrī and Ratnakīrti) by the great Rāhuljī back in the thirties. (Cf. Michael Torsten Much, A Visit to Rāhula Sāṅkṛtyāyana's Collection of Negatives at the Bihar Research Society, Wien 1988.) Unfortunately, many of Rāhuljī's copies (and editions) are of a very poor quality, and some texts were not even copied by him at all. Hence the main value of the collection of Sanskrit manuscripts in Beijing consists in the fact that it enables us to fill out lacunae left by Rāhuljī.
In this paper I intend, for a start, to report the variant readings found in one of these manuscripts. It is a complete copy (23 leaves) of Śāntideva's (or Śāntadeva's) celebrated Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra, generally known under the abbreviated title Bodhicaryāvatāra. The text has often been edited and translated. Unfortunately, in most cases. the translators have got the title wrong. It is not "Entering the Path of Enlightenment", or some such thing, but rather "A Presentation of (An Introduction to) the Career of a Bodhisattva (i.e. an adherent of Mahāyāna)". For details about manuscripts, editions, etc. I may refer to Amalia Pezzali, Śāntideva — mystique bouddhiste des VIIe et VIIIe siecles, Firenze 1968.
