Sangrahalayसंग्रहालय

Sūtra → Margin Is Part of the Text

Margin Is Part of the Text

हाशिया भी पाठ है

04 Jun 2025

Sūtra

The note in the margin is not secondary by position alone. Many traditions survive because the edge was used as a second page.

  1. A manuscript page teaches two readings: the central line and the response it gathers at the edge. To ignore the margin is to mistake transmission for repetition.

  2. Students, copyists, and commentators leave signs of use where there is room, not where theory assigns importance. The archive should respect this economy of space.

  3. Therefore catalog the margin as action: gloss, correction, ownership, route mark, or memory aid. Form is evidence of function.