Going Off the Map
‘Transcendental Dependent Arising’ in the Nettippakarana
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsrv.38816Keywords:
Dependent Arising, Nettippakaraṇa, Buddhist hermeneuticsAbstract
The early Buddhist exegetical text, the Nettippakarana, apparently uniquely, describes the stages of the path as ‘transcendental dependent arising’ (lokuttara paticca-samuppada), in contrast with the twelve nidanas, called ‘worldly dependent arising’ (lokiya paticca-samuppada). A close reading of the Nettippakarana in relation to another, related, exegetical text, the Petakopadesa, reveals that the latter interprets the same stages of the path in a different way. More broadly, while the Petakopadesa takes paticca-samuppada to refer only to the twelve nidanas, the Nettippakarana’s exegetical strategy takes paticca-samuppada to refer to an over-arching principle of conditionality, both ‘worldly’ and ‘transcendental’. This exegesis has proved popular with modern western Buddhist exegetes.
References
Anandajyoti, Bhikkhu. 2003. A Comparison of the Pali Udanas and the Sanskritised Udanavarga. http://bit.ly/2vnkZ8v.
Attwood, Jayarava. 2013. ‘The Spiral Path or Lokuttara Paticca-Samuppada’. Western Buddhist Review 6: 1–34.
Barua, Arabinda, ed. 1982. The Petakopadesa. 2nd ed. London: Pali Text Society.
Baums, Stefan. 2009. ‘A Gandhari Commentary on Early Buddhist Verses: British Library Kharosthi Fragments 7, 9, 13 and 18’. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Washington.
———. 2014. ‘Truth and Scripture in Early Buddhism: Categorial Reduction as Exegetical Method in Ancient Gandhara and Beyond’. In Buddhism Across Asia: Networks of Material, Intellectual and Culture Exchange, Vol.1, edited by Tansen Sen, 19–38. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. https://doi.org/10.1355/9789814519335-003
Bingenheimer, Marcus, Bhikkhu Analayo, and Roderick Bucknell, trans. 2013. The Madhyama Agama (Middle-Length Discourses) Volume 1 (Taisho Volume 1, Number 26). Moraga, CA: BDK America.
Bodhi, Bhikkhu. 1980. ‘Transcendental Dependent Arising’. The Wheel Vol. 277/8. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. https://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/upanisa_sutta.pdf.
———, trans. 2000. The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.
———, trans. 2012. The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Anguttara-Nikaya. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.
Bond, George D. 1979. ‘The Nature and Meaning of the Netti-Pakarana’. In Studies in Pali and Buddhism: A Memorial Volume in Honor of Bhikkhu Jagdish Kashyap, edited by A. K. Narain, 29–39. Delhi: B.R. Publishing Corporation.
———. 1980. ‘The Netti-Pakarana: A Theravada Method of Interpretation’. In Buddhist Studies in Honour of Walpola Rahula, edited by Somaratna Balasooriya, 16–28. London: Gordon Fraser.
———. 1982. The Word of the Buddha: The Tripitaka and Its Interpretation in Theravada Buddhism. Colombo: Gunasena.
———. 1988. ‘The Gradual Path as a Hermeneutical Approach to the Dhamma’. In Buddhist Hermeneutics, edited by Donald S. Lopez, 29–46. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
Brahmali, Bhikkhu. 2013. Dependent Liberation. http://samita.be/en/media/books/.
Carpenter, J. E., ed. 1910. Digha-Nikaya. Vol. 3. London: Pali Text Society.
Caudron, Marian W. 2000. ‘A Guide to Skillful Means: Reexamining the Netti-Pakarana’s Modes and Methods.’ Unpublished PhD thesis, Northwestern University.
Chalmers, R., ed. 1898 and 1899. Majjhima-Nikaya. Vols. 2 and 3. London: Pali Text Society.
Cone, Margaret. 2001. Dictionary of Pali. Vol. 1. Oxford: Pali Text Society.
———. 2010. Dictionary of Pali. Vol. 2. Bristol: Pali Text Society.
Féer, L., ed. 1884–1898. Samyutta-Nikaya. Vol. 1–5. London: Pali Text Society.
Hardy, E., ed. 1902. Nettipakarana: With Extracts from Dhammapala’s Commentary. London: Pali Text Society.
Hinüber, Oscar von. 1996. A Handbook of Pali Literature. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110814989
Hinüber, O. von, and K. R. Norman, eds. 1994. Dhammapada. Oxford: Pali Text Society.
Ireland, John D., trans. 1990. The Udana. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society.
Jackson, Peter. 2006. ‘The Canonicity of the Netti and Other Works’. Journal of the Pali Text Society 28: 61–62.
Jones, Dhivan Thomas. 2011. This Being, That Becomes: The Buddha’s Teaching on Conditionality. Cambridge: Windhorse Publications.
———. 2016. ‘ “That Bhikkhu Lets Go Both the Near and Far Shores”: Meaning and Metaphor in the Refrain from the Uraga Verses’. Journal of the Oxford Centre of Buddhist Studies 11: 71–107.
———. 2019. ‘“Preconditions”: The Upanisa Sutta in Context’. Journal of the Oxford Centre of Buddhist Studies 17: 30–62.
Khema, Ayya. 1991. When the Iron Eagle Flies: Buddhism for the West. London: Arkana/Penguin Books.
———. 2014. Know Where You’re Going: A Complete Buddhist Guide to Meditation, Faith, and Everyday Transcendence. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications.
Monier-Williams, Monier. 1899. Sanskrit-English Dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Morris, R., and E. Hardy, eds. 1885–1900. Anguttara-Nikaya. Vol. I–V. London: Pali Text Society.
Ñanamoli, Bhikkhu, trans. 1962. The Guide (Nettipakarana According to Kaccana Thera). London: Pali Text Society.
———, trans. 1964. The Pitaka-Disclosure (Petakopadesa). London: Pali Text Society.
Ñanamoli, Bhikkhu, and Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans. 1995. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.
Norman, K. R. 1983. Pali Literature. Vol. VII fasc. 2. A History of Indian Literature. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
———, trans. 2007. Elders’ Verses I: Theragatha. 2nd ed. Lancaster: Pali Text Society.
Oldenberg, Hermann, Richard Pischel, K. R. Norman, and L. Alsdorf, eds. 1966. The Thera- and Theri-Gatha (Stanzas Ascribed to Elders of the Buddhist Order of Recluses). 2nd ed. Oxford: Pali Text Society.
Rhys Davids, T. W., and J. E. Carpenter, eds. 1890 and 1903. Digha-Nikaya. Vols. 1 and 2. London: Pali Text Society.
Rhys Davids, T. W., and William Stede. 1921. The Pali Text Society’s Pali-English Dictionary. Chipstead: Pali Text Society.
Salomon, Richard. 2018. The Buddhist Literature of Ancient Gandhara: An Introduction with Selected Translations. Classics of Ancient Buddhism. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications.
Sangharakshita. 2018 [1957]. Complete Works Vol.1: A Survey of Buddhism and The Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path. 10th ed. Cambridge: Windhorse Publications.
Stede, W., ed. 1918. Niddesa II (Cullaniddesa). London: Pali Text Society.
Steinthal, P. 1885. Udana. London: Pali Text Society.
Trenckner, V., ed. 1888. Majjhima-Nikaya. Vol. 1. London: Pali Text Society.
Vallée Poussin, L. de la, and E. J. Thomas, eds. 1916. Niddesa I (Mahaniddesa). London: Pali Text Society.
Walshe, Maurice, trans. 1987. The Long Discourses of the Buddha. London: Wisdom Publications.
Zaccheti, Stefano. 2002a. ‘An Early Chinese Translation Corresponding to Chapter 6 of the Petakopadesa: An Shigao’s “Yin Chi Ru Jing” T 603 and Its Indian Original: A Preliminary Survey’. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 65(1): 74–98. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X02000046
———. 2002b. ‘Some Remarks on the Petaka Passages in the Da Zhidu Lun and Their Relation to the Pali Petakopadesa’. Annual Report of the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology 5: 67–85.
