A comparative study of the 'Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita.'

• Author: Watanabe, Shogo

It is a well-known fact that manuscripts of the Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita (PV) exist in both a revised and unrevised form. The former are those of the revised text that has been divided on the basis of Maitreya's Abhisamayalamkara (AA) and Haribhadra's Abhisamayalamkaraloka (AAA),(1) while the latter correspond to the original text of the PV, which is no longer extant in its complete form. Our manuscript from Central Asia is of the unrevised text of the PV.

The purpose of the following comparative study of the revised and unrevised PV is to elucidate the manner in which the original PV underwent changes - that is to say, the policies adopted and process undergone in revising the text. Furthermore, by examining this manuscript and clarifying its relation to other texts, we shall be able to ascertain an aspect of the style of the original PV that has been regarded as lost.

It is common knowledge that the PV is quoted in Indian Buddhist texts, as well as in their Tibetan translations, simply as the [Maha-]prajnaparamita.(2) In addition, we do not find quotations deriving from the Astadasasahasrika (AD) and PV in the same text, and it is not in fact possible to distinguish clearly manuscripts of the unrevised PV from those of the AD. We may conclude from these facts that the PV did not develop from the AD, and that both the AD and PV are variant texts deriving from the same source. We could, therefore, assume the existence of an Urtext of both the AD and the PV.

First, in order to facilitate our comparative study of the Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese versions, we shall list all the texts of the "AD-PV line,"(3) which represent variants deriving from the same source, and indicate the page or folio numbers and lines relevant to our Central Asian fragment.

1) AD: Astadasasahasrika Prajnaparamita, chapters 70 to 82, corresponding to the 6th, 7th and 8th Abhisamayas. Ed. E. Conze, Serie Orientale Roma 46 (Roma: IsMEO, 1974), p. 5, 1. 33-p. 8, 1. 22.

2) PV: Aryapancavimsatisahasrikayam Bhagavatyam Prajnaparamitayam Abhisamayalamkara-nusarena samsodhitayam, Anupurvabhisamaya-dhikara.h. Ed. Sh. Watanabe, Toyo Daigaku Diagakuin Kiyo, no. 25 (Tokyo, 1989), p. 167, 1. 1-p. 172, 1. 21.

3) Ta: 'Phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa khri brgyad stong pa. Tibetan Tripitaka (Peking Edition), vol. 20, no. 732, ch. 70; Phi ff. 50a8-53b1.

4) Tk: Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong nyi su lnga pa. Ibid., vol. 19, no. 731, ch. 59; Di ff. 75b3-80a8.

5) Tt: Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong nyi su lnga pa. Ibid., vol. 89, no. 5188, ch. 63; Ca ff. 224a5-229a3.

6) T220(2): Ta pan-jo po-lo-mi-to ching. Taisho Shinshu Daizokyo, vol. 7, no. 220-2, ch. 73; pp. 35665-358b15.

7) T220(3): Ta pan-jo po-lo-mi-to ching. Ibid., vol. 7, no. 220-3, ch. 28; pp. 710624-712a13.

8) T221: Fang-kuang pan-jo ching. Ibid., vol. 8, no. 221, ch. 76; p. 121a11-c2.

9) T222: Kuang-tsan ching. Ibid., vol. 8, no. 222; omits this chapter.

10) T223: Mo-ho pan-jo po-lo-mi ching. Ibid., vol. 8, no. 223, chs. 75-76; pp. 385c5-386b6.

Eight of the texts in the above list have affiliations with the unrevised PV, namely, the Sanskrit text of the AD (no. 1), the two Tibetan versions Ta and Tk (nos. 3 and 4), and the five Chinese versions (nos. 6-10). The remaining two texts - namely, the Sanskrit text of the PV (no. 2) and the Tibetan Tt found in the Tanjur (no. 5) - are of the same type as the revised PV.

Our fragment corresponds to part of chapter six of the revised PV. We shall, accordingly, first survey the structure of this chapter on the basis of the classification added in the revised PV itself and deriving from the AA and AAA.

Chapter Six: Anupurvabhisamaya (Gradual Intuition)

O. samanyenanupurvabhisamaya (Gradual Intuition in General)

The Six Perfections

1. danaparamita (The Perfection of Giving)

2. silaparamita (The Perfection of Morality)

3. ksantiparamita (The Recollection of Patience)

4. viryaparamita (The Perfection of Energy)

5. dhyanaparamita (The Perfection of Meditation)

6. prajnaparamita (The Perfection of Wisdom)

   The Six Recollections

7. buddhanusmrti (The Recollection of the Buddha)

8. dharmanusmrti (The Recollection of the Dharma)

9. sanghanusmrti (The Recollection of the Samgha)

10. silanusmrti (The Recollection of Morality)

11. tyaganusmrti (The Recollection of Renunciation)

12. devatanusmrti (The Recollection of Deities)

13. sarvadharmabhavasvabhava (The Nonexistence of Own-being in Dharmas)

    This chapter may be said to first explain the nonexistence of all beings, after which it goes on to describe the six perfections, the recollections (anusmrti), and progressive understanding by means of the knowledge that all beings have nonexistence as their own-being. Our manuscript corresponds to the latter half of the chapter, from section 7, buddhanusmrti to section 13, sarvadharmabhavasvabhava.(4)

    An examination of this part of the revised Sanskrit text and the manuscript of the original PV, etc., enables us to point out the following techniques employed in revising the text.

    1) The insertion of a set interrogative phrase calling for a reason - i.e., tat kasya hetoh (and why?) - and the addition of explanatory sentences before and/or after this phrase.

    2) The expansion of the list of dharmas.

    3) Additions and omissions. We find the addition of divisional indicators, based on the AA and AAA, only in the text of the revised PV; revisions of the PV may have occurred when it was recast in order that it might accord with the divisions of the AA.(5)

    4) Formal adjustments to set phrases relating to the categorized dharmas.

    We may, accordingly, cite the following passages as exemplifying the above techniques used in revising the text.

    1.1 The set phrase on nonexistence (abhava)

    tha hi tesa dharmanam svabhavo nasti yasya svabhavo nasti so abhavo *asmrti ama- (PV MS, recto 1. 8)

    [ta]tha hi team dharmanam svabhavo nasti yasya sva-bhavo nasti. sah abhavah.* a[bhava]smrty ama[- nasikaro hi dharmanusmrti.] (AD, p. 6, 11. 18-20)

    [ta]tha hi tesam dharmanam svabhavo nasti yesam sva-bhavo nasti te 'bhavah / tat kasya hetor asmrtir ama[- nasikara dharmanusmrtih/] (PV, p. 12, 11. 16-17)

    'di ltar chos de dag la ngo bo nyid med de / gang la ngo bo nyid med pa de ni dngos po reed pa'i phyir ro //* [de bas na chos rjes su dran pa ni] dran par bya ba ma yin shing yid la bya ba ma yin no / (Ta, Phi 51a3)

    de ni 'di ltar chos de dag la ngo bo nyid med do / gang la ngo bo nyid med pa de ni dngos po med pa'o / dngos po med pas ni dngos po med pa dran par mi nus te [ de ci'i phyir zhe ha/de ni 'di ltar dran pa med cing yid la bya ba reed pa [ni chos rjes su dran pa'o] (Tk, Di 76b1-2)

    de ni 'di ltar chos de nag la ngo bo nyid med do / gang la ngo bo nyid med pa de ni dngos po med pa'o / dngos po med pas ni dngos po med pa dran par mi nus te / de ci'i phyir zhe na / de ni 'di ltar dran pa reed cing rjes su dran pa reed pa [ni chos rjes su dran pa'o] (Tt, Ca 225a4-5)

    In reply to Subhuti's question on how the bodhisattva-mahasattva should develop the "recollection of dharmas (dharmanusmrti)," Sakyamuni expounds the concept of the non-own-beingness of dharmas from the standpoint of the recollection of dharmas. This is a passage typical of the PV line of texts.(6)

    In both the AD and the PV MS the exposition consists of three stages: [1] [Because] these dharmas have no own-being. [2] What has no own-being is nonexistent. [3) Because the recollection of dharmas is a nonrecollection [and nonattention]. In neither case is there, however, the phrase tat kasya hetoh, asking the reason for the nonexistence (abhava) of that which is without own-being. The Tibetan Ta is identical to the AD and PV MS except for the addition of the word "therefore (de bas na)" (= tasmat) between [2] and [3].

    By way of contrast, the revised PV contains the set phrase tat kasya hetoh, while the two Tibetan versions Tk and Tt insert the following explanatory comment before this phrase: "It is impossible to recollect the nonexistent by means of the nonexistent. And why? In this manner.... (dngos po med pas ni dngos po med pa dran par mi nus te/ de ci' i phyir zhe ha/de ni 'di ltar)." (It will also be noted that in [3] the Tt has rjes su dran pa reed pa [ananusmrti] instead of yid la bya ba med pa [amanasikara].)

    Ordinarily speaking, to recollect dharmas means to be attentive to and recall dharmas. But the later compilers of the Prajnaparamita-sutra feared that the paradoxical expression "the recollection of dharmas is a nonrecollection and nonattention (asmrty-amanasikaro hi dharmanusrmrti[h])" would be misunderstood, and they accordingly added the above explanatory comment in accordance with their own understanding of this passage. This passage may be assumed to have evolved in this manner.

    The corresponding passages in the Chinese translations are as follows:

    [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED]

    A glance at the above translations reveals that the more recent the date of translation, the longer the...