A Late Mahayana Text on Being without Self—with Special Reference to the Chinese Versions of the Nairatma-pariprccha (T846, T1643)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsrv.21811Keywords:
nairātma paripṛcchā, nairātmya paripṛcchā, late Mahāyāna texts, Buddhist translationAbstract
The late Mahayana text Nairatma-pariprccha “Questions regarding No-Self” is available to us in a cluster of four versions: one in Sanskrit, one in Tibetan, and two in Chinese. The text is relevant as a witness to Buddhist debates with non-Buddhists in the second half of the first millennium. After reviewing previous research on the text, a discussion aims to delineate the identities of the speaker and his questioners, as well as a rough date for the text. A final section provides an annotated translation of one of the Chinese versions (T1643).
References
Barrett, Timothy. 2020. “The Chinese Perception of Jainism.” In Indo-China: Intersecting Universalities, edited by Anne Cheng, Sanchit Kumar, 1–16. Paris: Collège de France (Series Institut des civilisations).
Bhattacharya, Biswanath. 1966. “A Critical Appraisal of the Nairatmya-pariprccha ascribed to Asvaghosa.” Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Süd- und Ostasiens und Archiv für indische Philosophie 10: 220–223.
Böthlingk, Otto, Rudolph Roth. 1855–1875. Sanskrit-Wörterbuch herausgegeben von der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. St. Petersburg: Buchdruck der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Borgen, Robert. 2021. “A Japanese Pilgrim’s Visit to Wutai in the Winter of 1072.” In The Transnational Cult of Mount Wutai – Historical and Comparative Perspectives, edited by S. Andrews, J. Chen and G. Kuan, 127–169. Leiden: Brill.
Boucher, Daniel. 2008. Bodhisattvas of the Forest and the Formation of the Mahayana—A Study and Translation of the Rastrapalapariprccha-sutra. Honolulu: Hawai‘i University Press.
Buddhist Association of China (ed.). 2000. Fangshan shijing. Beijing: Huaxia.
Burnouf, Émile-Louis. 1866. Dictionnaire Classique Sanscrit-francais. Paris: Maisonneuve.
Coblin, South. 1994. A Compendium of Phonetics in Northwest Chinese. Journal of Chinese Linguistics Monograph Series 7.
Colebrooke, Henry Thomas, ed. 1887. The Sankhya Karika by Iswara Krishna. Bombay: Tatya.
———. 1891. Kosha or Dictionary of the Sanskrit Language by Umura Singha. Third edition. Calcutta: Banerjee.
Darling, Gregory J. 1987. An Evaluation of the Vedantic Critique of Buddhism. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Davidson, Ronald M. 2002. Indian Esoteric Buddhism – A Social History of the Tantric Movement. New York: Columbia University Press.
Delhey, Martin. 2016. “From Sanskrit to Chinese and Back Again: Remarks on Xuanzang’s Translations of the Yogacarabhumi and Closely Related Philosophical Treatises.” In Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts: Theories and Practices of Translation, edited by D. Wangchuk, 51–79. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg.
Dharmasagara Translation Group. 2021. The Noble Mahayana Sutra - Questions on Selflessness. Online: 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://read.84000.co/translation/toh173.html. Accessed November 2021.
Eckel, Malcolm D. 2008. Bhaviveka and his Buddhist Opponents. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Edgerton, Franklin. 1953. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
English, Elizabeth. 2002. Vajrayogini: Her Visualizations, Rituals, & Forms : A Study of the Cult of Vajrayogini in India. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.
Fallick, Eric. 1999. “The Question of Not-self in the Exposition of The Great Path (‘attributed’ to Asvaghosa)—Translation from Sanskrit of the Nairatmyapariprccha.” Buddhist Studies Review 16(1): 1–5.
Flügel, Peter. 2005. “The Invention of Jainism: A Short History of Jaina Studies.” International Journal of Jaina Studies 1(1): 1–14.
Freer, Léon. 1883. Fragments extraits du Kandjour, traduits du tibétain. Paris: Leroux. (Annales du Musée Guimet 50.)
Hirakawa Akira. 1997. Bukkyo kanbon daijiten [Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary]. Tokyo: Reiyukai.
Imanishi, Junkichi, ed. 2006. Nihon genzon hasshu issaikyo taisho mokuroku. Tokyo: Kokuzai bukkyogaku daigaku daigakuin [PDF online].
Izumi, Hokei, trans. 1932. “Gedo mon shodaijoho mugagi kyo.” Kokuyaku issaikyo (Kyoshubu 15), 241–244. Tokyo: Daito Shuppansha.
Jamspal, Lozang, trans., Paul G. Hackett, ed. 2010. The Range of the Bodhisattva, A Mahayana Sutra (Arya-bodhisattva-gocara) The Teachings of the Nirgrantha Satyaka. New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies.
Jones, Christopher V. 2021. The Buddhist Self: On Tathagatagarbha and Atman. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
Jones, Christopher V. 2021. “Translating the Tirthika: Enduring ‘Heresy’ in Buddhist Studies.” In Translating Buddhism: Historical and Contextual Perspectives, edited by Alice Collett, 195–227. New York: State University of New York Press.
Kamata Shigeo et al. eds. 1998. Daizokyo zen kaisetsu daijiten. Tokyo: Yusankaku.
King, Richard. 1995. Early Advaita Vedanta and Buddhism: The Mahayana Context of Gaudapadiya-karika. New York: State University of New York Press.
La Vallée Poussin, Louis de. 1934. “Reviews of Books: Sujitkumar Mukhopadhyaya, Nairatmyapariprccha.” The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2: 355–356.
Liang, Tianxi. 2003. Beisong chuan fa yuan ji qi yi jing zhidu. Hongkong: Zhilian jingyuan.
Lévi, Sylvain M. 1928. “Encore Asvaghosa” Journal Asiatique 1928 (Oct–Dec.): 193–216.
MacDonell, Arthur. 1926. A Sanskrit Grammar for Students. Third edition. Oxford: Clarendon.
de Mallmann, Marie-Thérèse. 1986. Introduction a l’Iconographie du Tantrisme Bouddhique. Paris: Maisonneuve.
Monier-Williams, Monier. 1899. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nakamura, Hajime. 1983. A History of Early Vedanta Philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Nakano, Gisho, trans. 1934. “Nikenshi mon mugagi kyo.” In: Kokuyaku issai kyo (Ronshubu 2), 395–398.
Nairatmapariprccha Study Group. 2019. “Nairatmapariprccha — (Nairatmapariprccha: Re-editing Sanskrit text collated with Tibetan and Chinese translations).” Journal of Indian and Tibetan Studies 22: 111–152.
Nattier, Jan. 2003. A Few Good Men – The Bodhisattva Path according to the Inquiry of Ugra (Ugrapariprccha). Honolulu: Hawai‘i University Press.
Ono, Genmyo. 1933. Bussho kaisetsu daijiten. Tokyo: Daito shuppansha. Vol.1–11 (1933–1935), Addenda Vol. 12, 13 (1975, 1978).
Petech, Luciano. 1996. “Review: A History of Tibet by Ngag-dbang Blo-bzang rGya-mtsho, Fifth Dalai Lama of Tibet, (Indiana University Oriental series, vol. VII) by Zahiruddin Ahmad.” Central Asiatic Journal 40(2): 291–298.
Pulleyblank, Edwin G. 1991. Lexicon of Reconstructed Pronunciation in Early Middle Chinese, Late Middle Chinese and Early Mandarin. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
Qvarnström, Olle. 1989. Hindu Philosophy in Buddhist Perspective. Lund: Plus Ultra. Lund Studies in African and Asian Religions Vol.4.
Sakaki Ryozaburo. 1916 [1962]. Hon’yaku myogi daishu. Bon–Zo–Kan–Wa yon'yaku taiko [=Mahavyutpatti]. Kyoto: Shingonshu Kyoto Daigaku, 1916. Reprint 1962.
Sakurabe Bunkyo. 1932. “Gedo mon shodaijoho mugagi kyo.” Bukkyo shoten sosho Vol. 10. Kososha.
Sen, Tansen. 2002. “The Revival and Failure of Buddhist Translations during the Song Dynasty.” T’oung Pao, Second Series, vol. 88, fasc. 1/3 (2002): 27–80.
Skilling, Peter. 1997. Mahasutras: Great Discourses of the Buddha. Oxford: Pali Text Society.
———. (Bhadra Rujirathat). 2020. “‘Discourse on the Relative Value of the Varieties of Knowledge’ (Vidyasthanopama-sutra): A Translation.” In Research on the Samyukta-agama, edited by Dhammadinna, 327-358. Taipei: Dharma Drum.
———. 2021. Questioning the Buddha—A Selection of Twenty-Five Sutras. Somerville, MA: Wisdom.
Snellgrove, David L. and Tadeusz Skorupski. 1980. The Cultural Heritage of Ladakh. Vol. 2 (Zangskar and the cave temples of Ladakh). Warminster: Aris & Phillips.
Thibaut, George. 1890–1904. The Vedanta-Sutras. 3 Vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Vaidya, P.L. 1961. Mahayana-sutra-samgrahah. Part 1. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute 1961 (Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, 17).
Yinshun. 1968. Shuoyiqieyoubu weizhu de lunshu yu lunshi zhi yanjiu. Taipei: Zhengwen [7th reprint 1992].
———. 1993. Huayu ji. 5 Vols. Taipei: Zhengwen.