6th International Symposium Oriental Studies

61 The 6 th International Symposium on Oriental Ancient Documents Studies Ogihara Hirotoshi New Fragment of the Vessantara-jātaka in Kuchean The Vessantara-jātaka is well known to the scholarly world owing to the fact that this story had been transmitted to the vast area from India to China. In addition to the Indian versions (Sanskrit, Pali and Gāndhārī), this story is also available in other languages including Chinese, Tibetan, Sogdian, Khotanese, Tumshuqese, Old Uighur, Mongolian, and two Tocharian languages (i.e. Kuchean and Agnean). The popularity of this story is confirmed by the fact that not a few mural paintings and the relief at those Buddhist temples dedicated to that story. Among the Tocharian Buddhist literature, two fragments kept in the German Turfan collection (one fragment in each Tocharian language) have already been identified with this story. In the course of my research on Tocharian fragments kept in the Russian collection, one Kuchean fragment was identified as a fragment of this story. In this presentation, this newly identified Vessantara-jātaka fragment will be discussed in comparison with the Kuchean version kept in the German Turfan collection. Key words: The Vessantara-jātaka , Tocharian Buddhist literature, the German Turfan collection, Tocharian languages, Kuchean, Agnean.