Prakrit Prajñāpāramitās: Northwest, South, and Center: Gleanings from Avalokitavrata

and Haribhadra
Author(s): PETER SKILLING
Source: Bulletin of the Asia Institute , 2009, New Series, Vol. 23 (2009), pp. 199-208
Published by: Bulletin of the Asia Institute, a Non-Profit Corporation

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 Prakrit Prajnapäramitas: Northwest, South, and Center:
Gleanings from Avalokitavrata and Haribhadra
PETER SKILLING

DIRECTEUR DETUDES, ECOLE FRANgAISE D EXTREME-ORIENT, BANGKOK, THAILAND

It is a great pleasure to publish this short article overview," first published by Wassili Pawlowitsch
in a volume of papers honoring Richard Salomon, Wassiljew in his native Russian in 1857, and s
whose career exemplifies not only perfect translated into German (Wassiljew 1860) an
intelligence, but also the perfections of modesty French (Vassilief 1863).3 Wassiljew writes (Do
and all other perfections. ments 1A, IB):4

The Mahäyänists point out that their doctrine is in

Part I.' Narratives line with a book of the Mahäsämghikas, called the
"Great Statute"5 (Mahävastu), where the ten Bhümi
One of the most remarkable additions to the [Levels] and the notions of the Perfections are alrea
growing corpus of the Buddhist literature of discussed. They further submit that two sects of th
Gandhära is a fragmentary Prajnäpäramitä scroll, school, the Pürvasailas and the Aparasailas, posse
believed to be from Bajaur Agency in Northwest the Prajnäpäramitä and other Mahäyäna sütras written
Pakistan. Written in the Kharosthl script on birch in ^ Prakrit language.
bark in Gändhäri Prakrit, it has been assigned , ,
a first century c.e. date (fig. 1).' In this article, Wassiljew is summarizing
I place the scroll in the context of information of Tenets of 'Jam dbyang
given about Prakrit Prajüäpäramitäs by the sev- whom see below'· This rea
enteenth/eighteenth-century Tibetan scholar
,τ ι, Iii r λ ι ,ι .ι / In particular, the commentaries say:
Jam dbyangs bzhad pa ι rdo rie and the seventh/ ; _ _ . . , , ,. ,
• ι, τ ι. .Ii- 1. The Mahayana is included in the source known as
eighth-century Indian commentators Avaloki- the Great ch
tavrata and Haribhadra. school itself, because the latter contains [sections]
characteristic [of the Mahäyäna like] the Sütra on
the Ten Levels (Dasabhümika-sütra) and the Perfec
The Prakrit Prajnäpäramitä of the tions (Päramitä);
Mahäsämghikas 2 yhe Pürvasaila and the Aparasaila schools of
this very Mahäsämghika school possess Mahäyäna
The idea that the Mahäsamghikas transmit- sütras like the Perfection of Wisdom in the Prak
ted a "Prakrit Prajnäpäramitä" has circulated language;
widely in Buddhist studies for over one hundred And,
years. The source is always given as Wassiljew's ~ [A , , _. ι f u- - l-i
„ c :' ? T ,, ,,, ' 3. Among the Pitakas of the Mahasamghika
Buddhism' -for example by La Vallee Pous- school ltself;
sin (1869-1938), Etienne Lamotte (1903-1983), Lokottaravädin
Edward Conze (1904-1979), and A. K. Warder Summary of th
(1924-2013).2 The reference is to "Buddhism, its and the S
doctrines, history, and literature, Part I, General sütra), etc

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 skilling: Prakrit Prajnaparamitas: Northwest, South, and Center

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Fig. 1. Gandhan Prakrit Prajnaparamita written in Kharosthi script on birch bark, ca. 1st century c.e. For
transcription and study, see Falk and Karashima 2013. Photo: Courtesy of Harry Falk.

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 S Κ I L L I Ν g : Prakrit Prajnaparamitas: Northwest, South, and Cente

4. [The ten stages are mentioned] in the Vaipulya frames the Ten Bhümis
Pitaka of the Bhadrayänlya school resident in post-Nirväna events, incl
Dhanyakataka city: hundred arhats (vasibhüta) at Räjagrha. It does
Gaining mastery of the powers [bala] and direct in- nQt seem t0 be styled «sütra" anywhe
sights [abhijna] ^ Mahävastu itself. As a narrative verse account
T~ ■ 1V1U11UV UdLU ILdCll. d UdildUVC Vtiat dttUUHL

e sun[-1of post-Nirväna e] events,

abides in the ten stages, *Samantabhadra, etc. '
sage, it has some of the t
qualities of certain other early narratives.
And,

5. The *Dasasähasrika Pitaka of the Arya Abhayagiri *****

Sthaviras says:

Having donned the suit of great armor Jam dbyangs bzhad pa i rdo rje (1648
Obtaining inconceivable power born in lower Amdo (eastern Tibet, n
After fulfilling the ten perfections hai Province, China). He received h
The Buddha dharmas were realized. in central Tibet and graduated from the Gomang
College of Drepung monastery in Lhasa. A pro
ne**** lific writer, one of his immortal contributions to
knowledge is his massive "Great Exposition
A lot of information is packed into this short pas- Tenets" the ful1 ,tltlc of ™Mch
sage, including the titles of texts and scriptural Tenets. Sun of the Land of Sa
divisions with their school affiliations. In order liantly Illuminating All of Our O
of appearance, 'Jam dbyangs bzhad pa refers to the Tfnets and the, Meaning of th
following Pitakas· (" Scripture and Reasoning Fulfilling
All Beings," which he completed in 1699.13
- the Mahäsämghika Pitaka; 'Jam dbyangs bzhad pa returned to A
- the Lokottaravädin Mahäsämghika Pitaka/ he founded the Labrang Drash
(in present-day Xiahe County, Gansu prov
- the Vaipulya Pitaka of the Bhadrayänlya China). He worked energetically
Mahäsämghika;8 education until his death at age seventy-four.
- the *Dasasähasrika Pitaka of the Abhayagiri , No"e of the texts or Pitakas that 'Jam d
Sthaviras 9 bzhad pa mentions are known to have been trans
lated into Tibetan, or even into Chinese. The tit
- He refers to the following titles: and school affiliation of the Mahävastu were not
- the Mahävastu, and, within it, known t0 modern scholars until the nineteenth
- the Dasabhümikasütra; century." 'Jam dbyangs bzhad pa never travelled
abroad, even to Beijing, let alone to India or Ne
- the Prakrit Prajüäpäramitä; pal; and he did not learn Sanskrit. What, then,
- the Summary of the Mahäyäna (*Mahäyäna was thc souroe °f his information?
Mätrkä) Before and after this passage, 'Jam dbyangs
bzhad pa cites Bhäviveka's Taikajvälä. But
Among these titles, the only text extant today the citations discussed above are not from t
is the Mahävastu of the Lokottaravädin Vinaya Taikajvälä. Where, then, are these passages
Pitaka. The section on the Ten Bhümis of the from? They are from the Piajnäpiadlpa-tlkä
Mahävastu is an independent or, at least, au- by Avalokitavrata.15 Lost in the original San
tonomous text.10 The preceding section ends skrit and preserved in Tibetan only, the Tlkä is
with "here one should relate the Ten Bhümis and a commentary on Bhäviveka's Piajnäpiadlpa,
the Chapter on Dipamkara." This is followed by which is itself a commentary on Nägärjuna's Cel
an expression of homage to the Buddha and the ebrated Mülamadhyamaka-kärikäs. The Tlkä is
arhats, and the announcement that "this is the the only known work of Avalokitavrata, about
beginning of the Ten Bhümis."11 Internally, the whom, as is so often the case, we know very
sections bear concluding titles like "the Third little. He has been tentatively dated to the sev
Bhümi in the Glorious Mahävastu Avadäna enth to eighth centuries.16 His long and learned
is completed," and so on.12 The text unit that commentary is replete with citations and refer

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 s κ ι l l ι ν g : Prakrit Prajnäpäramitäs: Northwest, South, and Center

FgC 12. F.I.4. Cnj

1·Ι(Τ9(ΦΧ<*ΗΙreSTOW sr«t*trtrcrf
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ti(Z*r%tgl$Atffiris-sifr&rHf&ft
tlfcxfflglSJffiirij-3i/T*jfif(frrt su r>i/rritrufir*vtiin
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n uzmufaffifjwutfattnzfagwyvzstvizzi
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l*ifftwy*iFt$ti}tHt>SSrtfif{[t, _ /$f,t3riiriflzf#'iTritttr$Gfjr;tagtffcvxztV3trft[afyg*T~
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t: rww^viflAix·]*!
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•< *sfwrw < #&■-*'*.%■ ·< *gt-*rx«wv-iwpasr'
-"• -·"·~
:w-«

Fig. 2. Bhagavad-ratnagunasamcayagäthä-paüjikä, Sanskrit in Siddhamätrkä scrip

passage reads, bhagavatä madhyodesagäthäbhir desitah, "taught by the Fortunate
nagari transcription see Banärsi Läl 2009: 121. Photo: Courtesy of CIHTS, Sarnath

ences. In the present case, 'Jam dbyangs bzhad logically, mo

pa's citations are from Avalokitavrata's explana- cally, and l
tion of Bhäviveka's commentary on Chapter 24 Among the
of Nägärjuna's Madhyamaka-kärikä, that is, the North India
"Examination of the Truths of the Noble Ones" tary on th
(Äiyasatyapailksä) (Document 3): ratnagunasamcayagäthä-panjikä.19 Not much is
known about Haribhadra, who flourished during
In this matter, when adherents of the Srävakayäna the reign of King Dharmapäla in North India, and
assert that "the Mahäyäna is not the teaching of is famed for several of his works, especially the
the Buddha (buddhavacana) because it is not in- Abhisamaya-älamkära-äloka, a commentary on
eluded in the eighteen schools, just as the teachings the Astasähasrikä Prajnäpäiamitä, which became
°ί » S^lkhya an,d ?^ers [T noVhe teac,hinf ,of very influential in Tibet. Haribhadra's commen
the Buddha or included in the eighteen schools," . · · ι j- , Λ n ,
, . . . ... „ ,. " tanes, including that on the Ratnagunasamcaya,
their proposition is not valid. For one thing, the , . „ , i '
Mahäyäna is included in the Mahävastu of the are
Mahäsämghika Pitaka, because it contains characte
istically [Mahäyäna material] like the "Sütra on the w
Ten Stages" (Dasabhümika-sütra) and the Perfections
(.päramitä). Further, the Pürvasaila and the Aparasaila the
schools of this same Mahäsämghika school possess ref
the Prajnäpäramitä and other Mahäyäna sütras in the (
Prakrit language.
In the last chapter of all, the F
Before the discovery of the Gändhärl Prajnäpära- rized
mitä, the only known Prajnäpäramitä not written [cit
in standard Sanskrit was the Ratnagunasamcaya- els" [R
-4--L- u· u · ι .ι ι π — - ·' t one place as a final chapter m verses in the language of
gatha, which is also the only Prainaparamita text ,. Τ , . „ ^ Τ. , , , ,, , 6 ,
, . 17 7 . . Madhyadesa. So, out of kindness [anugrana) for those of
composed in verse." The text is in what was weaker and m
once called the gatha language and is now 0f etc^ taught
generally called Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. Akira rately from his promu
Yuyama describes the Ratnagunasamcaya as "a
fine example of Buddhist Sanskrit literature in As it stands, th
its earliest stage."18 He states that the language gäthä, correct
"is perhaps even more corrupt and difficult than in the lang
that of the Mahävastu-avadäna ... It contains a Madhyadesa is
great many forms and constructions peculiar to defined by M
the Ratnagunasamcaya—prosodically, phono- tween the Him

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 SKILLIN g : Prakrit Prajftaparamitas: Northwes

the east of Vinasana and west of Prayäga, i

known as the 'Middle Region'."21 But this ref-
erence to "Madhyadesa" reminds us of another
phrase, madhy'uddesika/madhyoddesika, ab
which much has been written,22 especiall
with regard to the language of the scriptur
Lokottaraväda-Mahäsämghikas. With minimum
correction to the manuscript reading, the ph
becomes the properly Sanskritised equivalent
madhyoddesa. So far this expression has on
been noted in connection with Vinaya texts (in
cluding the Mahävastu) of the Lokottaraväd
Mahäsämghikas, referring to their use of
"middle language" for their textual—or a
their Vinaya—corpus, that is, their use of w
we today call Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.23 T
"middle language" (madhyoddesika) was to Pradesh.29
some degree grounded in the language of the This last version is no longer extant, and we do
"middle country" (madhyadesa) or Magadha, so not know whether it was in prose or in verse, or
that the two terms can be seen as overlapping. anything else about it.
In his History of the Dharma, Bu-ston Rin-chen
grub (1290-1364) rephrases the statement, to say The Gändhäri Astasähasrikä scroll dates to the
that Haribhadra's Commentary says that "at the first century c.e. It has only recently become acces
end [of the long prose Prajftä-päramitä], in order sible, but the implications of what we know about
to delight the four assemblies [monks, nuns, lay- its contents—in conjunction with other Gändhäri
men, and laywomen], [the Fortunate One] taught and Northwestern manuscripts—promise to rev
the Samcaya in the language of Magadha."24 This olutionize the textual study of Buddhism in gen
remark was noticed by Eugene Obermiller (1901- eral and of early Mahäyäna in particular. The first
1935), who wrote that "At the beginning of the modern edition of the Ratnagunasamcayagäthä
Subodhini [Haribhadra's commentary] we have was published by Obermiller in 1937, based
the interesting statement that the Samcaya had solely on a blockprint produced in China. Other
been first delivered in the dialect of Central India wise, the Ratnagunasamcayagäthä exists only
or, as we have it in Buston's History of Buddhism, in late Nepalese manuscripts, the oldest dat
in the dialect of Magadha. We could, perhaps, ing to 1174.30 That is, the manuscript evi
take this as an indication, that there must have dence for the Ratnagunasamcayagäthä is over
existed somewhere a Prakritic Prajnä-päramitä in 1,000 years younger than that for the Gändhäri
verse."25 Prajnäpäramitä. Nonetheless, Conze believed that
A. K. Warder suggested that the Ratnaguna- "the first two chapters
samcaya "may preserve parts of the old Saila represent the initial
text, though with later additions."26 Conze thought, and may wel
wrote that "the work is written in mixed San- and other theories abo
skrit. It contains many Prakritisms, and has and other trends of
hardly been Sanskritized at all. . . . Sometimes the first time be t
the language of this work resembles Pali, as cal evidence of Mah
when it gives daka for udaka, geha for grha, pari- We should not, how
khinna for pariksina, lena for lay ana, samkileso with their written
for samklesa, vuccati for ucyate. The treatment elude that the Rat
of the verb also shows many similarities to Vedas, whose "oldest
Pali . . ,".27 Yuyama produced a detailed gram- the same period, are c
mar of the Ratnagunasamcaya.28 It is evident that, in the eyes of Indian and Ti
betan scholars themselves, the Mahäsämghika
***** schools were closely associated with the rise of

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 s κ ι l l ι ν g : Prakrit Prajnaparamitas: Northwest, South, and Center

Mahäyäna. This is particularly clear in the case jnaparamita et les autres de la doctine du Makhaiana,
of the Saila schools, who transmitted Bodhisatva ecrits dans la langue des Prakrit ['phial skad}).
Pitakas. Although their Pitakas are no longer ex
tant, the few citations that survive bear close af- Note Makhaianistes = Mahäyänists; Makhacangika =
finities not only with Mahäyäna ideas, but even Mahäsämghika; Makhavagtou = Mahävastu-, Boumi
with extant texts now classified as Mahäyäna = Bhümi/ Pouryachaila = Pürvasaila; Aparachaila
□ ο T, · . . . ,r . μ π- ' ·ι = Aparasaila; Coutra = Sutra; Pradinaparamita =
sutras.0,3 It is not surprising that the Purvasaua p ... . .'
and the Aparasaila schools should "possess the ra)naparamita.
Prajüäpäramitä and other Mahäyäna sütras in the
Prakrit language," as Avalokitavrata states. „ ^ n ,T ,
λ *-u in--- ·<.- * * Document 2. Jam dbyangs bzhad pa ι rdo
As the early Prajnaparamita texts were pro- _ . ' . ι ι 11 ι
duced and began to circulate, different recen- Grub mtha 1
sions would have taken shape and been edited ma' P· 253.15
and revised at various centers in India. At pres- , , , , , , , , , ,
ent we know of three: Gandhära, Magadha, khyadpar grel bshad las |
and Andhra Pradesh. There was no single place dge ,dun phal chen sde nyid kyi sde snod k
of origin of the Mahäyäna, or of its scriptures. chen pQ zhes bya bad khongs su theg pa c
Advocates of the Mahäyäna participated in the de ny-d gt0gS te | de na sa bcu ba'j md
interchange of ideas and practices that took in- pha rol tu phyin #i msthan nyid dag ,by
creasing force across India in the second and first phyir dang |
centuries b.c.e. One of these practices was the
production of scriptures. dge 'dun phal chen sde nyid kyi shar gyi ri
sde dang | nub kyi ri bo'i sde dag las kyang | 'phral
skad du shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa la sogs pa
Part II: Documents theg pa chen po'i mdo sde dag 'byung ba'i phy
ro I zhes dang |
Document 1A. German version, Wassiljew
(1860): 291. dge 'dun phal chen sde snod dag gi 'jig rten smra
ba'i sde snod kyi gzhi chen po las kyang | theg
Sie [die Mahäjänisten] zeigen, dass ihre Lehre in die- chen po'i ma mo dang | sa bcu b
selbe Reihe mit dem Buche der Mahäsämghika ge- phal eher 'byung ste | zhes dang
hört, welches das grosse Statut (mahävastu, [gzhi
chen po]) genannt wird, wo bereits von den zehn dge 'dun phal chen pa'i bzang
Bhümi und den Ideen der Päramitä's gesprochen wird; brang dpal yon can na gnas pa'i shi
dazu fügem sie noch, dass zwei Sekten dieser Schule: sde snod las |
die Pürvasaila und die Aparasaila und andre aus der
Lehre des Mahäjäna, im Prakrit-Sprache abgefasst, stobs dang mngon shes dbang t
besassen. nyd ma rna\ 'ky0r pa |
Note Mahäjänisten = Mahäyänists; Mahäjäna = kun tu bzang
Mahäyäna. nas |
zhes dang | 'phags pa
Document IB. French version, Vass
(1863): 268.
go cha chen po'i go bgo
[Les makhaianistes] font voir que leur doctr
porte ä la disposition d'un livre des Makhasan
pele le grand Statut (Makhavagtou [gzhi c
il est dejä parle des dix Boumi et des idees d
ita ; ils y ajoutent que les deux sectes de cett
Pourvachaüla et Aparachaila, ont eu las £out

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 s κ ι l l ι ν g : Prakrit Prajnäparamitäs: Northwest, South, and Center

Document 3. Avalokitavrata (Spyan ras though the Tibetan Grub mtha' sources, and for helping
gzigs bitul shugs), Prajnäpradipatikä on me to locate the key reference in 'Jam dbyangs bzhad
pa (July 2009); Shrikant Bahulkar for kindly sending a
Chapter 24 of Nägärjuna's Madhyamaka
copy the relevant pages of Haribhadra's commentary
kärikä (Äryasatyapariksä): Shes rab sgron ma (October 2012); Diwakar Acharya for commenting on
rgya eher 'grel pa, Töhoku 3859, dbu ma, za, Haribhadra (2013). I am grateful to Harry Falk for sup
270a5-a7. plying photographs of the Gändhärl Prajnäpäramitä at
short notice, and I thank Saerji and Seishi Karashima
for po
'dir nyan thos kyi theg pa pa dag na re theg pa chen their comments and corrections.
ni sangs rgyas kyi bka' ma yin te | sde pa bco brgyad
1. The scroll has been published with copious ap
kyi khongs su ma gtogs pa'i phyir dper na grangs can la
paratus by Harry Falk and Seishi Karashima: see Falk
sogs pa'i bstan pa bzhin no zhes zer ba'i gtan tshigs de'i
and Karashima 2012: pp. 19-61 and pis. 5-7; Falk and
don kyang ma grub pa nyid yin te | 'di ltar dge 'dun phal
Karashima 2013: pp. 97-169 and pis. 52-53. See also
chen sde nyid kyi sde snod kyi gzhi chen po zhes bya
Karashima 2013. The Prajnäpäramitä manuscript be
ba'i khongs su theg pa chen po 'di yang gtogs te | de nas
longs to a collection that is divided among several own
sa bcu pa'i mdo dang pha rol tu phyin pa'i mtshan ers:
nyid
see Falk 2011: 13-23.
dag 'byung ba'i phyir dang | dge 'dun phal chen sde nyid
2. La Vallee Poussin 1929: 752; Lamotte 1954: 386
kyi shar gyi ri bo'i sde dang nub kyi ri bo'i sde dag las
87; Conze 1978: 1; Warder 1970: 365.
kyang 'phral skad du | shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa la
3. Wassili Pawlowitsch Wassiljew (BacHJiHH
sogs pa theg pa chen po'i mdo dag 'byung ba'i phyir ro ||
IlaBJioBHU BacHJibeB): born 20 February 1818, Nischni
Nowgorod, died 27 April 1900, St. Petersburg, was
one of the pioneering scholars of Asian and Buddhist
Document 4A. Banarsi Lai (2009): 117.12.studies of the nineteenth century. For his life and ca
reer, see Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya 2012: 189-94. His
cittotpädädiratnagunasaücayarüpäbhir ayamnameeka is variously spelled in Russian, German, and
desah sarvävasänabhütah parivarto bhagavatä madh
French.
yodesagäthäbhir desitah | tasmän mandamatinam 4. German version: Wassiljew 1860: 291; French
anugrahäya prthag eva sambandhädikam abhidhäya
version: Vassilief 1863: 268. The marginal page refer
vyäkhyäyate | ence for the original Russian edition (not seen) is 264.
For the German and French texts, see Part II, Docu
ments 1A and IB.

Document 4B. Bcom ldan 'das yon tan rin 5. "Statut" is the chosen term for vastu in both the
German and French translations.
po che sdud pa'i tshigs su bead pa'i dka'
6. I take stobs dang mngon shes dbang thob pa
'grel shes bya ba, Otani Catalogue No.
as something like *bala/vasita-abhijüä-präpta, rather
5190, Reprint Volume 90, sher phyin, ja,than taking dbang to equal dbang po, indiiya, for ex
2a2.
ample *indriya-piäpta, which seems less likely in the
(extremely meager) context.
sems bskyed pa la sogs pa'i yon tan rin po che bsdus 7. Tournier 2012a: 238 points out reasonably that
pa'i ngo bo tsam phyogs geig tu thams cad kyi tha mar Pitaka here refers to Vinaya Pitakas.
gyur pa'i le'u bcom ldan 'das kyis yul dbus kyi skad 8. For Vaipulya Pitaka and related terms, see Skill
kyis tshigs su bead pas mngon par bstan to || de bas na ing 2013.
bio dman pa rjes su bzung ba'i phyir 'brel pa la sogs 9. The same verse is cited by Bhäviveka in his
pa tha dad par bstan pa'i phyir so sor brgyad stong par Tarkajvälä. The Tibetan is identical, but the source is
brjod nas 'dir yang bshad par bya'o. given as 'phags pa gnas brtan pa 'jigs med ri la gnas pa
mams kyi sangs rgyas kyi rigs khri nyis stong las 'don
to, which I have provisionally rendered as "the Twelve
thousand Lineage of the Buddhas of the Ärya Sthavira
Notes
Abhayagiriväsins" (Skilling 1993: 169). See now Eckel
2008: 351-52.
Acknowledgements: Many people have helped me 10. The Dasabhümika of the Mahävastu is not to
during the long gestation of this small article. I thank
be confused with the Dasabhümika of the Buddhä
above all Gene Smith, who gave me a copy of 'Jam vatamsaka. For the former, see Senart 1882 (vol. 1): 63
dbyangs bzhad pa's Grub mtha' (Cambridge, Massachu 193, English translation in Jones 1949 [1973] (vol. 1):
setts, 3 June, 2000); Jeffrey Hopkins for his guidance
53-151.

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 ; κ ι l l ι ν g : Prakrit Prajnaparamitäs: Northwest, South, and Center

11. Mahävastu Tome 1 (Senart 1882): 63.15, atra 27. Conze 1978: 54, 55.
dasabhümiko kaitavyo dipamkazavastu ca || namo stu 28. Yuyama 1973.
buddhänäm namo 'rhatäm || dasabhümikasyädi. . . 29. For the Pürvasaila school in a verse from Can
12. Mahävastu Tome 1 (Senart 1882): 100.12, iti draklrti, see Skilling and Saerji 2013.
srimahävastu-avadäne trtiyä bhümih samäptä. For 30. Yuyama 1976: xxiii.
a clarification of the inaccurate description of the 31. Yuyama 1976: xix.
Mahävastu as an "Avadäna," a term only introduced 32. Such a mistake would never, needless to say, be
into later manuscripts, see Tournier 2012b. made by our honorand.
13. Information about 'Jam dbyangs bzhad pa and 33. See the citations from Bhäviveka in Eckel 2008:
translation of the title are from Hopkins 2003. 167-68 or from Abhayäkaragupta in Skilling and Saerji
14. There is no Chinese translation of the 2013:270-71.
Mahävastu, but the Fo ben xing jing (Taishö no. 190),
which was translated by *Jnänagupta during the Sui
dynasty at the end of the sixth century, contains text
units that are close in contents to the Mahävastu. Bibliography
These await study.
BanärsI Läl 2009 BanärsI Läl. "Ratnagu
15. Avalokitavrata (Spyan ras gzigs brtul shugs),
Shes tab sgron ma'i rgya chei 'giel pa, translated by nasaücayagäthävyäkhyä by
fnänagarbha and Cog ro Klu'i rgyal mtshan, Otani Ca Äcärya Haribhadra." Dhih Dur
talogue no. 5259 (repr. vols. 96-97); Töhoku Catalogue labhabauddhagranthasodha
no. 3859 [dbu ma, wa-za). patrikä/ Journal of the Rare
16. Tournier 2012a; p. 24 with n. 100. Buddhist Texts Research Unit
17. For interpretations of the title see Yuyama 1976: (Central Institute of Higher Ti
xiii-xiv. For a detailed bibliography see idem, and also betan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi)
Conze 1978: pp. 53-55, § 5A. In this article I have stan 47: 117-44 (English abstract:
dardized the spelling to samcaya. 148).
18. Yuyama 1976: xx. Yuyama invokes Edgerton's Bu ston Bu ston Rin chen grub. Bu ston
statement (1972, vol. 1, § 1.73) that "perhaps the most Rin chen grub 1988 chos 'byung gsung rab rin
difficult and corrupt, as also probably the oldest and po che'i mdzod. Edited by
most important, of all BHS works is the Mahävastu." Rdo rje rgyal po. Krung go Bod
19. Bcom ldan 'das yon tan tin po che sdud pa'i kyi shes rig Dpe Skrun khang
tshigs su bead pa'i dka' 'grel shes by a ba, Otani Cata [Gangs ljongs shes rig gi nyer
logue no. 5190 (Reprint vol. 90), sherphyin, ja. For a long bcud].
time only a single folio—the last leaf—of the Sanskrit Conze 1978 Ε. Conze. The PiajMpäramitä
manuscript was known to be available: see Jiang 2000 Literature. 2nd ed., rev. and
and Yuyama 2000. Recently, the Sanskrit has been enlarged. The Reiyukai Li
published by BanärsI Läl 2009 in consecutive issues of brary: Bibliographia Philologica
Dhih Duilabhabauddhagranthasodhapatrikä/Journal Buddhica Series Maior, vol. 1.
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näd api, pratyag eva prayägäc ca madhyadesah praklr Series, vol. 70, pt. 2 (transla
titah: text and translation from Olivelle 2005: 2:21. I tion) and pt. 3 (text). Cam
thank Diwakar Acharya for pointing this passage out to bridge, Mass.
me. Edgerton 1953 F. Edgerton. Buddhist
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