I.B. Horner Memorial Lecture 2026
The Pali Text Societyās 21st I.B. Horner Memorial Lecture will take place on Friday 25th September at the University of Oxford.
Time: 17:00-18:30 BST
Venue: Gillis Lecture Theatre, Balliol College, Oxford, OX1 3BJ
For those unable to attend in person, the lecture will be livestreamed via Microsoft Teams. Please note the AGM that precedes the lecture will not be livestreamed.
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The Pubbayoga of the MilindapaƱha: Parallel transmissions in Siam from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries CE
Eng Jin Ooi, International Buddhist College
Abstract
The MilindapaƱha (Questions of Milinda) textual tradition in Pali has been preserved across various genres of texts in Siam. These include the MilindapaƱha (vitthÄra), its condensed version, the MilindapaƱha Saį¹ khepa (Mil-s), a segment of another text in verse, the Vaį¹samÄlinÄ«, and the first chapter of the chronicle of the celebrated Emerald Buddha, the Ratanabimbavaį¹sa. Furthermore, even within the longer vitthÄra versions, several recensions have circulated, specifically the Ayutthaya, Lamphun, and Bangkok recensions. These recensions show noticeable differences in content, length, syntax, and style. On the other hand, Mil-s is not just a section of the longer version; a significant part of its content is absent from the three recensions mentioned. Conversely, the Ratanabimbavaį¹sa, written in Northern Thailand during the fifteenth century, transmitted a brief opening section of the MilindapaƱha, the Pubbayoga, which recounts the historical connection between the two main interlocutors of the text, the monk NÄgasena and King Milinda. Some of these texts have been transmitted together since the fifteenth century. As a result, the development of the Siamese MilindapaƱha Pali textual tradition can be traced from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries, covering nearly five hundred years. This lecture provides an initial comparative analysis of the literary traditions of these texts found in palm-leaf manuscripts preserved in Thailand, with a primary focus on the Pubbayoga. The analysis reveals a complex, multilayered interweaving of texts, redactorsā innovations, and the complementary roles these texts play in maintaining the literary tradition. Therefore, the textual tradition of MilindapaƱha has not remained unchanged over the centuries in the hands of dynamic and autonomous literary centres across pre-modern Thailand, and the surviving manuscripts reflect its evolution over time and place. This suggests the need for closer examination of other recensions transmitted within different textual communities.
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