This is the precise problem the INRIA project seeks to tackle. According to Patte, one software will compare all the versions of a text and analyse the discrepancies, while a second software will propose a genealogy, which will enable the scholars to trace the manuscripts from which the copies originate. The algorithm used for the comparison will be very similar to the one used to compare DNA in biology.

“Once all the differences are known, the editors of the text will choose the version they believe to be correct and publish it as the critical edition. The omissions will also be mentioned. With many copies being made through the ages, we can find families and reconstruct the history of the text using the second software,” says Patte.

But why the Kasika Vritti? Bhate, the academic supervisor of the project, explains: “Besides being written originally in a meta-language that makes for easier computer-adaptability, Kasika Vritti is also a voluminous project, involving 200 manuscripts. We want to see if the computer can take on the challenge of tackling the large number of manuscripts and scripts.”

Underway since last June, the project will be completing its first phase by the month-end. “Till now we have collated only 50 manuscripts. These are just part of the alphabet sutras, we still have to venture into the grammar sutras,” says Bhate.

Though the language will be Sanskrit, the script will be Roman, which is more computer-friendly. Once the work on Kasika Vritti is completed the project will be extended to other Asian texts as well.

... contd.