Sukhvadiyin Oroni Bayidal Keyigēd Irel Tobči Xyrāngγu (‘A Short Compilation from the Description of the Land of Sukhavati and Well Wishes’): Archaeographic Description, Transliteration and Translation of the Clear Script Manuscript Stored at Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS

Introduction. The issues of identifying primary sources for handwritten Oirat-language (Clear Script) collections and selections of texts preserved by Kalmyks, delineating their constituent elements, finding correspondences between the former and Tibetan-language works still constitute a topical area of Oirat and Mongolian studies at large. Goals. The study aims to perform an archaeographic description, transliterate, and translate the text under consideration to introduce into scientific circulation this Oirat-language handwritten collection attesting to that the cult of Buddha Amitabha and his pure land has existed among Kalmyks. Materials. The work investigates the handwritten collection titled ‘Sukhvadiyin Oroni Bayidal Keyigēd Irel Tobči Xyrāngγu’ from scientific archives of Kalmyk Scientific Center RAS (O. Dordzhiev / Rev. Tugmyud Gavji Collection). Results. The manuscript comprises texts compiled at later stages of Clear Script’s dissemination among Kalmyks. It is characterized by erroneous spellings of graphemes, words, lack of punctuation marks, which complicates transliteration and translation efforts. It is the colophon that contains most interesting data about the author of the original Tibetan-language text which served as a basis for the Oirat translation included in the collection — Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, a renown Tibetan Buddhist preacher (late 13th – mid-14th cc.). This text is evidence that Kalmyk clerics did create short collections of compositions to perform various cults and practices, including those aimed at worshiping Buddha Amitabha, his pure land, and taking vows for rebirth in heavenly realms of Sukhavati.

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