Foreword by Ernst Waldschmidt
It gives me great pleasure to introduce this edition of the Udānavarga prepared by Dr. Franz Bernhard. The completion of this work fulfills a long-held wish and concludes preparatory efforts undertaken by various scholars.
After Richard Pischel first published samples of the text in 1898 in the proceedings of the Berlin Academy but passed away shortly thereafter, Heinrich Lüders nearly finished an edition and, shortly before his death in May 1943, entrusted me with its completion and publication. Tragically, Lüders’ manuscript was lost when relocated to a salt mine at the end of the war, save for a few surviving pages – among them, fortunately, an overview of the manuscripts used up to that point. Years of labor were essentially undone, and nearly the entire work had to be redone.
I took on this task myself, making initial preparations with the support of Dr. Dietz Schlingloff (then in Berlin), who transcribed a large number of manuscript fragments, drafted a provisional text of Vargas 22–23, and compiled a preliminary glossary. When other commitments delayed progress, I felt further postponement would be unjustifiable and, a few years ago, entrusted my then-assistant, Dr. Franz Bernhard, with all materials to produce a critical edition of the Udānavarga Vulgate under his name, in close collaboration with me.
Before reconstructing the text, Dr. Bernhard meticulously transcribed all relevant manuscript fragments not yet available in transcribed form, as I prioritized a comprehensive textual foundation. While Lüders had referenced over 500 folios and fragments from roughly 100 manuscripts, further identifications – largely thanks to Dr. Schlingloff – now total nearly 700 folios and fragments from about 200 manuscripts in the Berlin collection. Significant unrecognized fragments are unlikely to emerge hereafter.
The present edition, the fruit of collective effort (with Dr. Bernhard as primary contributor), adheres to principles outlined in its introduction. I congratulate Dr. Bernhard on his successful work and extend heartfelt thanks to him and his predecessors. In reverence, I also honor the trailblazers of this edition: Richard Pischel and Heinrich Lüders.
Göttingen, June 1961
Ernst Waldschmidt