The Salistamba Sutra and Its Indian Commentaries.

• Author: Tatz, Mark
• Position: Review

By JEFFREY D. SCHOENING. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde, vols. 35.1, 35.2. Vienna: ARBEITSKREIS UNIVERSITAT WIEN FUR TIBETISCHE UND BUDDHISTISCHE STUDIEN, 1995. Pp. xx + 770, bibliography, tables, appendices, index.

The Buddha, gazing upon a rice plant sprouting, commented: "He who sees dependent arising sees the Dharma. He who sees the Dharma sees the Buddha." Such is the origin, and the core pronouncement, of this Mahayana sutra. Famous for its exposition of universal relativity, more technically, "dependent origination," it was translated from the original Sanskrit into Chinese (six versions) and Tibetan, and from Tibetan into Mongolian. Some ninety percent of it survives in Sanskrit, mostly in the form of citations in other works. The earliest date is established by the translation of a version into Chinese by the Central Asian scholar known as Chih-ch'ien between 220 and 280 C.E. This study relies upon Sanskrit and Tibetan versions of the Sutra and secondary literature.

In editing and translating the text and its major Indian commentaries, Dr. Schoening advances far beyond previous studies. He presents the edited Tibetan of a Tunhuang manuscript of the sutra, supplemented by four other Tunhuang manuscripts and thirteen classical (Kanjur) editions. This sets a new standard in text-critical thoroughness. The introduction contains a lengthy discourse on text-critical work, demonstrating, among other things, the importance of Tunhuang manuscripts for identifying corruption of the text in later canonical traditions. Interlinear comments from Tunhuang manuscripts are noted, and they are helpful. The introduction also analyzes the Kanjur and Tanjur, focusing upon style of sutra commentary. Here, Schoening is overly selective in his illustrative materials: use of Yogacarabhumi literature might have modified some of his generalizations.

Schoening also edits and translates three Indian commentaries: a seventy-verse summary of the Sutra plus a commentary, attributed to Nagarjuna, and portions of a commentary to the Sutra by Kamalasila (eighth century). These survive only in Tibetan, although the last was translated from Tibetan into Chinese in the ninth century at Tunhuang.

The verse summary and its commentary are attributed to Nagarjuna by Indian tradition (notably, by Bhavya) and Tibetan doxographers. Following conventional wisdom in the field, Schoening doubts the attribution on the grounds of doctrinal divergence from...