Charyapada

The Charyapada is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayāna tradition of Buddhism from the tāntric tradition in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.^[1]^{[page needed]}^[2]

It was compiled between the 8th and 12th centuries in late Apabhraṃśa or various Abahaṭ‌ṭhas and represents the formative period of the eastern Indo-Aryan languages.^[3]^[4]^[5] It was written during a period when the northeastern Prākrit languages had not yet differentiated into later forms, or they were just getting differentiated.^[6] Scholars of many eastern Indo-Aryan languages, such as Assamese, Bengali, Maithili, and Odia find features of these languages in the language of this work.^[7]^[8]^[9] A palm-leaf manuscript of the Charyāpada was rediscovered in the early 20th century by Haraprasād Shāstrī at the Nepal Royal Court Library.^[10] The Charyāpada was also preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon.^[11]

^ Shaw, Miranda; Shaw, Miranda (1995). Passionate Enlightenment::Women in Tantric Buddhism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-01090-8.
^ "Bengali literature | History, Rabindranath Tagore, Poetry, Novels, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 6 May 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
^ Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George (26 July 2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 433. ISBN 978-1-135-79710-2. The language of the Caryas is late Apabhramsa, and represents the formative period of the NIA languages including Asamiya.
^ Murshid, Ghulam (25 January 2018). Bengali Culture Over a Thousand Years. Niyogi Books. p. 34. ISBN 978-93-86906-12-0. Muhammad Shahidullah described the branch of Prakrit prevelant in the Bengal region as 'Gauri Prakrit'. This Prakrit gradually evolved into apabhramsa, and then into abahatta, which is, more or less, the language of the Charyapada.
^ Kitada, Makoto (2023). "On the 'New' Caryāpada". Orientalistische Literaturzeitung. 117 (4–5): 315–322. doi:10.1515/olzg-2022-0096.
^ "The language of [charyāpadas] was also claimed to be early Assamese and early Bihari (Eastern Hindi) by various scholars. Although no systematic scientific study has been undertaken on the basis of comparative reconstruction, a cursory look is enough to suggest that the language of these texts represents a stage when the North-Eastern Prākrit was either not differentiated or at an early stage of differentiation into the regional languages of Eastern and North-Eastern India." (Pattanayak 2016:127)
^ Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George (26 July 2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 525. ISBN 978-1-135-79710-2.
^ Comrie, Bernard (30 November 2022). The Major Languages of South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-93257-3. This is clearly evident, for instance, in the case of the celebrated Buddhist hymns called the Caryapada, composed in eastern India roughly between AD 1000 and 1200. Though the language of these hymns is Old Bengali, there are reference works on Assamese, Oriya and even Maithili that treat the same hymns as the earliest specimens of each of these languages and their literatures.
^ Dalby, Andrew (28 October 2015). Dictionary of Languages: The definitive reference to more than 400 languages. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-4081-0214-5. Around 1000 AD, when Bengali, Oriya and Assamese not yet distinguishable as separate languages, the remarkable, mystical Buddhist Charyapada songs were composed. They were discovered in a manuscript at Kathmandu and first published in 1916. They are claimed as the foundation of the literary tradition of all three languages.
^ Guhathakurta, Meghna; van Schendel, Willem (2013). The Bangladesh Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-8223-5318-8. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
^ Kværne, Per (2010). An Anthology of Buddhist Tantric Songs: A Study of the Caryāgīti. Orchid Press. ISBN 978-974-8299-34-1. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2016.

[1] Shaw, Miranda; Shaw, Miranda (1995). Passionate Enlightenment::Women in Tantric Buddhism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-01090-8.

[2] "Bengali literature | History, Rabindranath Tagore, Poetry, Novels, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 6 May 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.

[3] Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George (26 July 2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 433. ISBN 978-1-135-79710-2. The language of the Caryas is late Apabhramsa, and represents the formative period of the NIA languages including Asamiya.

[4] Murshid, Ghulam (25 January 2018). Bengali Culture Over a Thousand Years. Niyogi Books. p. 34. ISBN 978-93-86906-12-0. Muhammad Shahidullah described the branch of Prakrit prevelant in the Bengal region as 'Gauri Prakrit'. This Prakrit gradually evolved into apabhramsa, and then into abahatta, which is, more or less, the language of the Charyapada.

[5] Kitada, Makoto (2023). "On the 'New' Caryāpada". Orientalistische Literaturzeitung. 117 (4–5): 315–322. doi:10.1515/olzg-2022-0096.

[6] "The language of [charyāpadas] was also claimed to be early Assamese and early Bihari (Eastern Hindi) by various scholars. Although no systematic scientific study has been undertaken on the basis of comparative reconstruction, a cursory look is enough to suggest that the language of these texts represents a stage when the North-Eastern Prākrit was either not differentiated or at an early stage of differentiation into the regional languages of Eastern and North-Eastern India." (Pattanayak 2016:127)

[7] Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George (26 July 2007). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. p. 525. ISBN 978-1-135-79710-2.

[8] Comrie, Bernard (30 November 2022). The Major Languages of South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-93257-3. This is clearly evident, for instance, in the case of the celebrated Buddhist hymns called the Caryapada, composed in eastern India roughly between AD 1000 and 1200. Though the language of these hymns is Old Bengali, there are reference works on Assamese, Oriya and even Maithili that treat the same hymns as the earliest specimens of each of these languages and their literatures.

[9] Dalby, Andrew (28 October 2015). Dictionary of Languages: The definitive reference to more than 400 languages. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-4081-0214-5. Around 1000 AD, when Bengali, Oriya and Assamese not yet distinguishable as separate languages, the remarkable, mystical Buddhist Charyapada songs were composed. They were discovered in a manuscript at Kathmandu and first published in 1916. They are claimed as the foundation of the literary tradition of all three languages.

[GuhathakurtaSchendel2013-10] Guhathakurta, Meghna; van Schendel, Willem (2013). The Bangladesh Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Duke University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-8223-5318-8. Retrieved 13 February 2016.

[Kværne2010-11] Kværne, Per (2010). An Anthology of Buddhist Tantric Songs: A Study of the Caryāgīti. Orchid Press. ISBN 978-974-8299-34-1. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2016.

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