The present forms of the root kram are ˚krāma-ti in the active and ˚krama-te in the middle, respectively (Goto 1987: 116–120). In Pāli literature the form (˚k)kama-ti is fairly common. The active forms are frequently attested in the Mahāvastu.
The forms are different in editions of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra. The root kram is regularly inflected as ˚krama-ti in the metrical portion and ˚krāma-ti in the prose portion, with some exceptions. However, the ˚krama-stem is almost consistent in the Kashgar manuscript, both in metrical and prose passages.
We can conclude that ˚kram was conjugated as ˚krama-ti in the original “Lotus Sūtra,” as the Kashgar manuscript shows. For example, Kashgar IV: 114b3–4 prakrrameya might be the original reading, and its parallel, Gilgit A 47,30 apakrameta (= B 230, 12, KN 111, 2, WT 103, 15), is a Sanskritized form. The very characteristic form at Gilgit A 101,18 upasaṃkrāmante, is a result of hyper-Sanskritization. Editions read XXIp atikrameta. This should be judged as pseudo-BHS because early manuscripts give BHS atikramet. We should examine in detail the grammar behind the formations before re-editing the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra.
