Studies on language and writings about issues that affect nations, such as religion, politics, the economy, and war, are regarded as the most significant documents that shape national identity because they foster national consciousness, transmit culture to future generations, and advance human civilization in general. can be carried.
The pre-Islamic eras of Turkish history, which are poorly understood, include Altun Yaruk. This Chinese translation of a Sanskrit original has a special value because it preserves and modernizes Turkish culture, history, life, and customs.
Characteristics of Altun Yaruk in general
The title of the work is “Suvarnaprabhasa” in Sanskrit, “Jin Guangming Zuisheng Wang Jing” in Chinese, and “Golden anterior slit ketchup nom marrow” in Uyghur, which both translate to “Golden colored, brightly illuminated, supreme sutra* ruler.” it is translated. The short name of the piece in Turkish sources is “Altun Yaruk.” An essential text for Buddhism as well as Turkish language and literature is Altun Yaruk. due to the fact that it is the most ancient and extensive work on Buddhism written in old Uighur.
As is well known, “gold” has always been a metaphor that attracts attention due to its glistening color and value, describing sublimity as well as the location and prominence of gold in Buddhist and Far Eastern temples. Altn means “sublime, superior, otherworldly” when we look at the words that make up the work’s name; Yaruk means “light, light, holy path” when we do the same. It is known as “Golden Light” in Turkish. Although the exact date of composition is unknown, it is known that the work was translated from Sanskrit to Chinese in the eighth century and into Uyghur by an Uighur author by the name of Singku Seli Tutung with Five Fishes at the start of the tenth century. Here, it is helpful to focus on the Singku Seli Tutung and its place in Uyghur texts because it contains both the biography of Hsüan-Tsang and the extremely lengthy text Altub Yaruk. Hsüan-Tsang is described as a Chinese Buddhist traveler who dedicated his life to serving as a missionary and tried to spread Buddhism. likewise converted a Chinese text currently used at Mainz Academy into Uighur. As a person who has dedicated his life to Buddhism, Shingko Seli Tutung has not only translated but also successfully translated the religious concepts and terms from Chinese into Uighur. That is why, in addition to being a translator, language scholars like Reşit Rahmeti Arat consider him to be a successful man of letters. Altun Yaruk was discovered in a Buddhist temple in the 17th century by the Russian scholar and Turkologist Sergey Malov close to a small village called Wun-fi-gu, close to the city of Su-cou, in the Gansu region of China, despite having been translated in the 10th century. St. Petersburg and Berlin versions of Altun Yaruk’s Uyghur translation exist. The St. Petersburg copy of Altun Yaruk is regarded as the best and most complete copy. In St. Petersburg, the biggest copy is still present.
Being a religious text, Altun Yaruk has also been translated into Tibetan and Mongolian, two languages that are close to the region where the Uyghurs reside. Altun Yaruk is a collection of 10 books and 31 chapters that presents the fundamental ideas of Buddhism as well as brief didactic legends. Researchers have called it the most extensive and comprehensive work among the Buddhist sacred texts.
The first translation of the text was done by Wilhelm Radlof and Sergey Malov, two Russian philologists. In our case, M. conducted the initial research on Altun Yaruk. Fuad Köprü. Reşit Rahmeti Arat was the first to work on the work after Fuat Köprülü informed us of its existence. She translated the short story “Open Bars” and popularized it in books with this section up until the present day. Additionally, S. Çağatay, Ş. Sertkaya, M.; Tekin, O. F. Ölmez, C. E. Uçar, Kaya. Researchers E. and Ayazl. Altun Yaruk was the subject of numerous studies by Etin.
When we consider Altun Yaruk’s content as a whole, we can see that the work has a prose structure in general and that the dialogue and emotional passages are written in verse, much like in folktales. Although there are many stories in Altun Yaruk that deal with religious topics and have didactic elements, our literature primarily addresses these issues in the following three tales:
The most frequently cited tale when Altun Yaruk is mentioned in the sources is The Story of the Prince and the Open Pars. The tale centers on a self-sacrificing prince who wants to save a starving leopard (we discover at the book’s conclusion that this prince is Buddha himself). In order to prevent the leopard from passing away from starvation and wounds, the prince feeds himself to it. The language in the story flows smoothly and is engrossing.
The conflict between good and evil is discussed in The Story of Cestani Begi as well. The struggle of eştani Bey with those who inflict illnesses and cause problems for the populace of his nation is described in the tale, which is reminiscent of religious parables in which everyone in us discovers what they have done. The story does a fantastic job of illustrating evil characters and demons.
The Story of Dantipali Bey: Similar to the Hungry Pars tale, this one features some truly amazing adventures and a compelling storyline. Another deer who gave his life to save the deer under his command is mentioned in the story that contains religious messages. Dantipali Bey was consumed by dreadful flames after killing the deer who gave his life to save the other deer.
Giving examples from the verse sections, particularly from the Story of ‘ehzade and Aç Pars, would be appropriate to fully understand the work.
When the prince in the Mahasatvi, also known as the story of the hungry pars, feeds himself to the pars, the earth and the sky tremble and an enormous earthquake occurs. The elder brother of Mahasatvi then yells to the middle brother:
Butur teprayr Yagz yir
I’m sorry, but the tags keep breaking off.
Darkened bulge
Esz Bolt kün tengri
The greasy ground completely trembles.
Mountains and rivers are present together;
Every corner is getting darker.
Day God faded.
Köktin gets rid of tengridem
Bugle hua ceckes
power inimizing odgurak
trembling rhyme of Et’ozin
God descending from the sky
successive roses and blooms;
(These) belong to our brother?
signs that you’re sacrificing your body
The middle brother replies to his brother after hearing what he has to say:
Invoking Esidtim men Mahasatvi
Maintain your word.
Timinki had no sight.
Small open bars, toruk
I’m familiar with Mahasatvi.
His actual words
merely seeing you
weak, helpless, and ravenous leopard
Note: In Buddhism, texts containing Gautam Buddha’s teachings and purportedly quoting the Buddha’s words directly are known as sutras or sudras.
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