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Buddhism arose in the world 2,500 years ago and has grown side by
side with the human race ever since. The Buddha’s teaching has been
adopted by people of many races and languages. The teaching has been
tested and verified in all manner of ways during its 2,500 year
history. Its durability has proven the fact that the Buddha’s
teaching is truly deathless. For Buddhists it represents the Teacher
himself. The words spoken by the Buddha over the mere 45 year period
after his enlightenment until his final passing away (parinibbana)
are said to cover 84,000 topics (dhammakkhandha), and these are
collected and arranged in the scriptures that Buddhists revere most
highly, known as the Tipitaka, and it is here that they have been
preserved up to the present time. The preservation of the Tipitaka
has been undertaken in accordance with the technology available in
each age. For instance, in the Buddha’s time, instruments for
writing were scarce, so the preservation of the Tipitaka at that
time was done by the method known as mukhapatha—recitation and
memorization. As time went on other methods were developed to
preserve the teachings. Stone inscriptions, metal plates, leaf
scriptures, cloth, paper and other materials—whatever was available
in each age—were all used in the effort to accurately preserve these
holy texts. |
Because
the Tipitaka is so vast, its inscription, preservation and use for study
has always presented great difficulty. Thus the idea of using modern
computer technology to preserve the texts seems to be a natural
conclusion. The Mahidol University Computing Center began this project
by creating the world’s first digital edition of Tipitaka in 1988, and
since then it has continuously developed and expanded the project in
order to make the preservation of the Buddhist scriptures more abreast
of the times, thus ensuring that the Buddha’s teaching and discipline
(Dhammavinaya) is truly “akaliko” timeless. Initially presented on hard
disk, then WORM (Write Once Read Many) disk, the Tipitaka is now
available on CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) disk, which is the
most technologically advanced medium available at present.
Apart
from the Tipitaka, the Atthakatha (Commentaries) and some portions of
the Tika (Sub Commentaries), which are the scriptures that expand on and
explain the Tipitaka texts, other important texts have also been
included in the set, making it a truly comprehensive and indispensable
aid for study and research.
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A manual of user guide is provided to aid the use of this digital
version of the Tipitaka and Atthakatha on CD-ROM and also the
program BUDSIR IV (Buddhist Scriptures Information Retrieval version
IV) in its newly developed form under the Windows platform, which is
capable of displaying several windows at one time. Moreover, this
version also includes the capacity to give audio readouts of the
Pali texts as an extra aid in research. |
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The
BUDSIR user manual is divided into four main sections. The first chapter
deals with the history and development of the digital version of the
Tipitaka and Atthakatha up until the development of BUDSIR IV for
Windows, the program’s general features and capabilities, the basic
computer hardware and software requirements, opening up the program,
quitting the program and getting help when problems arise. The second
chapter explains the different menu commands in BUDSIR IV for Windows.
The third chapter gives examples of searching the Tipitaka and
Atthakatha by word/phrase, by volume/passage/page, and also other
features of the program. The last section of the manual contains
appendices, comprising an appendix on getting help via the Internet, a
comparative table of the volumes of the Tipitaka and Atthakatha, current
projects at the Mahidol University Computing Center and planned projects
for the future development of the digital version of the Tipitaka and
Atthakatha.
The
Computing Center is exceedingly grateful for the gracious kindness His
Majesty the King has shown in initiating this project and graciously
donating some of his own funds towards its successful implementation.
The
Computing Center would also like to reverentially give thanks to Somdet
Nyanasamvara, His Holiness the Sangharaja, who was the project’s
Honorary Advisor, and Venerable Chao Khun Phra Dhammapitaka (Prayudh
Payutto), who helped the project with suggestions and advise about many
of the problems that arose during the implementation of the project so
that all problems were eventually overcome. The Computing Center also
extends its thanks to Professor Dr. Natth Bhamarapravati, former
President of Mahidol University, who began the project and supported and
encouraged it while he was President of the University. Thanks also to
Prem Sumetpong, Songpol Moonsanit and Lersun Kuvareewong for their
contributions in the software development. This manual could not be made
possible without the editing efforts of the following persons: Jiraporn
Kiatpibool, Bang-orn Kornwirat and Bruce Evans, special thanks go to all
of them. Lastly, let us not forget the users of the first version of
BUDSIR, who pointed out its mistakes and shortcomings and provided us
with advice and suggestions for its improvement, all of which were
invaluable for the development of BUDSIR IV for Windows.
The
Computing Center is proud to have played a part in the continued
preservation of the treasury of priceless wisdom that is the Tipitaka,
and hopes that BUDSIR IV for Windows and its manual will aid the user,
at least to some extent, in his or her research, and we are happy to
receive corrections or suggestions in order to improve future versions
of BUDSIR IV for Windows.
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