Book Reviews Of Scripture Of Lotus Blossom Of Fine Dharma

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/269302/1

Page #1
BOOK REVIEWS SCRIPTURE OF THE LOTUS BLOSSOM OF THE FINE DHARMA (The Lotus Sutra). Translated from the Chinese of Kumarajiva. By Leon Hurvitz. Columbia University Press: New York, 1976, XXXVIII +421 pp. Leon Hurvitz's translation of Kumarajiva's version of the Saddharmapundarika is the third English translation of this famous text. The translations by Kato and Murano, published respectively in 1971 and 1974, were reviewed in a previous issue (Vol. VIII, No. 2, pp. 154-159). Hurvitz's work comprises a preface, the translation of the Chinese text, a glossary, notes on the Sanskrit text and an index. In the preface Hurvitz explains that he has attempted to satisfy two demands simultaneously, that of the series to which the present translation belongs and that of the translator's philological conscience. For this reason Hurvitz has added Sanskrit words and phrases either in parentheses or in notes in the back of the book for the benefit of "Sanskrit-oriented readers." In addition to this, where the difference between the two versions is sufficient to merit comment, the Sanskrit is given in English translation in the notes. * Alas, Hurvitz has been badly guided by his philological conscience for it is obvious that his knowledge of Sanskrit is definitely inadequate. Elementary howlers abound. To illustrate this a few examples may suffice. Kern-Nanjio p. 245.8-10 contains the following passage: tena khalu punah samayeneyam trisahasramahasahasri lokadhatus tathagataparipurnabhun na tavad bhagavatah sakyamunes tathagatasyatmabhavanirmita ekasmad api digbhagat sarva agata abhuvan. Hurvitz translates: "Then indeed at that time the sphere of this thousandmillionfold world was filled with Thus Gone Ones. Nor is this to say that those fashioned from the Body of the Thus Gone One Sakyamuni arrived even from one quarter" (p. 374). Hurvitz adds the following comments: "I am by no means certain of the meaning of this. Two possibilities come to mind: (1) From no direction, no not one, did any Buddhas arrive who had been fashioned by Sakyamuni. This is as much as to say that they were all self-created. (2) Not by any means did they all come from any particular quarter, but from all 169

Page #2
THE EASTERN BUDDHIST sides at once." Of course, the text says that they had not yet all arrived, even from a single quarter. In order to accommodate the Tathagatas who keep on arriving the Buddha creates twenty thousand kotis of nayutas of Buddha-fields. After having done this the Buddha creates again in this way in every direction the same number of Buddha-fields (Kern-Nanjio p. 246.11: anena paryayena punar aparani....). This sentence is the first of a new passage which repeats the previous passage. However, in Hurvitz's translation, the same sentence is rendered as if it concludes the first passage: "Moreover, in that way Sakyamuni the Thus Gone One cleared twenty kotis of nayutas of hundreds of thousands of world-spheres to provide accommodation for those Thus Gone Ones who had arrived" (p. 375). Hurvitz omits the words ekaikasyam disi (Kern-Nanjio, p. 247.1). On the same page Hurvitz translates dharmanetri by "eye of Dharma." (cf. Kern-Nanjio p. 251.6). Expressions which one can find in Sanskrit dictionaries create great difficulties for Hurvitz. For instance, the expression yathecchaya "according to wish", cf. Kern-Nanjio p. 264.5: yathecchaya me sambodhih saksi me 'tra tathagatah (Kern's translation: "I have obtained enlightenment according to my wish; the Tathagata can bear witness to it."). Hurvitz translates: "Mine is perfect enlightened intuition, as if it were at will, and my witness thereof is the Thus Gone One" (pp. 378-379). He adds the following comments: "The first ardhasloka of 51 is far from a certainty. It may also mean: How my sambodhi is a matter of the will, of that the Thus Gone One is an eyewitness." There is no point in multiplying examples of elementary mistakes made by Hurvitz in his translations of the Sanskrit text. Even when the meaning of the text is quite obvious, the translation is often completely wrong. If one wants to consult a translation of the Sanskrit text, Burnouf's and Kern's translations (published in 1852 and 1884) are infinitely preferable even though they are based upon Nepalese manuscripts and are not free from misunderstandings. Much work has still to be done with regard to a good translation of the Sanskrit text. Edgerton's Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary will be of great assistance but even his indications have to be examined critically. Kern-Nanjio p. 301.5 reads: abadhavipramukto 'si sparsah kaye tavanagha. Kern notes in his critical apparatus that O. (the Kashgar manuscript) has sparsam but all other manuscripts sparsa. Following the reading sparsakaye Burnouf translates: "Es-tu, o toi qu es sans peche, libre d'obstacles dans les contacts que tu rencontres ?" Kern's translation is very free: "Dost thou feel free from bodily disease, O Perfect One?" Reading sparsah, Hurvitz translates: "Are you free of obstacles? Do 170

Page #3
BOOK REVIEWS the things that touch your body cause it no illness?" (p. 386). This is, of course, complete gibberish. Edgerton proposes to read sparsakaye and translates as follows: "Are you free from trouble in your group-of-sensory-contacts?" (op.cit., s.v. sparsa-kaya). Edgerton overlooked the fact that this half-verse repeats what has been said before in prose: kaccid bhagavato 'lpabadhata mandaglanata sukhasamsparsaviharata (Kern-Nanjio p. 300.17-301.1). The correct reading is given by manuscript O. which has sparsam, a Sanskritization of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit phasam or phasam. The latter occurs in the corresponding passage of the Gilgit manuscript edited by Watanabe Shoko (Tokyo, 1975, p. 102). The meaning and etymology of Pali phasu and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit phasa have recently been explained in detail by Colette Caillat (Journal asiatique, 1960, pp. 41-55; 1961, pp. 497-502) and by R. L. Turner (Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 36, 1973, pp. 424-428; Collected Papers, London, 1975, pp. 430-435). The Tibetan translator correctly translated this half-verse: gnod-las rnam-par rab-grol lam sdig-pa mi-mrah sku bde 'am "Are you free from injury? O, sinless one, are you comfortable in your body?" Even more disturbing than Hurvitz's poor knowledge of Sanskrit is the fact that his knowledge of Buddhist literature seems to be rather limited. The well-known expression "the eighty-four thousand dharmaskandha" is being discussed by him in the following way: "Let them dwell with all the traditional verbose commentary on all eighty-four dharmas. (The Theravada school, for example, lists the dharmas at eighty-four). If it comes to that, let them multiply their precious dharma-catalogue by a thousand. What's so so hard about that?" (p. 377). On p. 409 Hurvitz quotes the Sanskrit text of the well-known comparison between the chance of encountering a Buddha and the chance of a tortoise putting his neck through the hole of a yoke in the ocean. Hurvitz remarks that yuga (cosmic age) is not a Buddhist term, and that the compound is hard to construe. This is no wonder if one does not know that yuga here means "yoke". This comparison occurs in quite a few texts and has been studied by many scholars (for references see Toung Pao, 42, 1954, p. 404 and Indo-Iranian Journal, 18, 1976, p. 317). Hurvitz's translation of Kumarajiva's version is an excellent piece of work. In the chapters which I compared with the Chinese text chapters 11-16) there are only very few places where one would prefer a different rendering. For instance, p. 183 "Tamalapatracandana scent"; read "the scent of Tamalapattra and sandal." P. 211, line 1: "Or those who seek to display passage into extinction." The Sanskrit text has: ya nirvitim gavesanti drste dharme upasikah. 171

Page #4
THE EASTERN BUDDHIST Chinese hsien stands for hsien-fa drstadharma. The Chinese text corresponds exactly to the Sanskrit: "seek extinction in their present life." According to the preface (p. xxv) Hurvitz made use of Akamatsu Koyo's Kunten kosei Myoho renge kyo (Kyoto, 1891), an edition which I have been unable to consult. On p. 219 (6th line from below) Hurvitz seems to have read wang instead of wang. However, the Taisho edition has and does not record any variant. It is clear that is the correct reading as it is also found in the verses, cf. Hurvitz p. 221, line 18: "Would not set it forth recklessly.' On p. 201, line 1 Hurvitz has: "The Path of the Buddha is remote and cavernous." The Taisho edition has "The path of the Buddha is remote." One wonders whether Hurvitz's text is different. As in many other instances Hurvitz translates here a binom with two words. The tendency to translate each single character with an English equivalent makes the translation sometimes heavy reading. For instance, Hurvitz translates everywhere chi-yueh with "skilfully played music" whereas other translators, and rightly so, have "music". On p. 221 (last two lines) Hurvitz translates 404M as follows: "Nor shall he be born into poverty, want, lowliness, degradation, ugliness or restriction." The same passage is rendered by Kato as follows: "He will not be born poor, humble, or ugly." Similarly Murano: "He will not be poor or humble or ugly." Kato's and Murano's translations are to be preferred to the one given by Hurvitz. On p. 186 (line 11) Hurvitz omits to translate four characters. A much longer passage (cf. Taisho Daizokyo, Ix, p. 36a16-18) is left out on p. 203 (line 5). The translation is provided with very few notes. In view of the fact that it is meant to be used in undergraduate courses it is certainly necessary to explain, for instance, the term anutpattikadharmaksanti. Hurvitz's "acceptance of [the doctrine of] the unborn" (p. 197, line 17) will not be very comprehensible to the uninitiated reader. It is very much to be hoped that there will be such a demand for Hurvitz's work that a second and revised edition will soon be forthcoming. In that case it would be advisable to omit entirely the appendix, containing the Notes on the Sanskrit, to add a number of explanatory notes and to pay more attention to the translation of binoms. If that is done, then Hurvitz's translation will be able to render useful service for a long time to come. To conclude this review I would like to make some brief comments on Hurvitz's discussion of the word pratyekabuddha and its Chinese renderings (p. xix). Hurvitz remarks that Kumarajiva either transcribes pi-chi-fo or translates yuan-chueh, "condition perceiver". According to him "The Pali 172 55

Page #5
BOOK REVIEWS form of the word is paccekabuddha, which could as easily go back to pratyayikabuddha, 'Buddha related to causes and] conditions,' as to pratyekabuddha. The latter is obviously a sanskritization postdating Kumarajiva or rejected by him." It is perhaps not superfluous to point out that no form pratyayikabuddha is found in any text and that of course Pali paccekabuddha goes back to pratyekabuddha. It is therefore absurd to say that pratyekabuddha is a sanskritization postdating Kumarajiva or rejected by him. How to explain the rendering of pratyekabuddha by yuan-chuch? Fujita pointed out that in early Mahayana texts (especially in verses) we find pratyaya or pratyayabuddha used instead of pratyekabuddha ("Sanjo no seiritsu ni tsuite," Indogaku bukkyogaku kenkyu, vol. 5, 1957, p. 426, n. 19; "Ichijo to sanjo", Ocho Enichi (ed.), Hokke shiso, 1969, p. 377). The latter article was translated by Hurvitz ("One Vehicle or Three," Journal of Indian Philosophy, 3, 1975, pp. 79-166). The examples quoted by Fujita are to be found in the verses of three texts only. Fujita is careful to refrain from stating that yuan-chueh is a translation of pratyayabuddha. He draws attention to the fact that in early Mahayana there is a connection between the twelve causes and conditions and the pratyekabuddha. Especially interesting is a passage of the Saddharmapundarikasutra quoted by him: anye sattva anacaryakam jnanam damasamatham akariksamana atmaparinirvanahetor hetupratyayanubodhaya tathagatasasane 'bhiyujyante / ta ucyante pratyekabuddhayanam akariksamanas (KernNanjio p. 80.8-9). However, the widespread use of the term yuan-chueh cannot be explained by the occasional occurrence of the term pratyayabuddha in a few texts or by early Mahayana theories about the pratyekabuddha. The explanation is to be sought in another direction. Fujita mentions in passing that Dharmaraksa once translates pratyekabuddha by yuan i chieh - (Hokke shisa, p. 378). His only comment is that this translation which seems to combine pratyaya with the eka in pratyeka is not correct (Hurvitz's translation of this sentence fails to render accurately the original). However, it is important to point out that yuan a chueh is found in many translations of the second and third century. According to the indices of the Taisho Daizokyo it is used in the following texts: Nos. 152, 225, 263, 313, 361, 442, 460, 474, 585, 635, 816 and 1507 which, probably, were all translated in that period. The only occurrences in translations belonging to the fourth and fifth centuries are found in No. 26 (Taisho Daizokyvol. I, p. 722b16 and 25) and No. 640 (vol. xv, p. 62 1 b28). It seems therefore very likely that the term yuan-chieh does not go back immediately to a Sanskrit original but has to be explained as a simplification of the term yuan i chieh. Chinese has a preference for two-character 173

Page #6
THE EASTERN BUDDHIST compounds and yuan-chueh sounds much better to Chinese ears. Hurvitz renders yuan-chueh by "condition perceiver" but Demieville interprets it as "awakened by conditions" (eveille par les conditions). Demieville remarks that the pratyekabuddha has become Buddha through the effect of his anterior conditions and not by the teaching of another Buddha ("La Yogacarabhumi de Sangharaksa," Bulletin de l'Ecole francaise d'Extreme-Orient, XLIV, 1954, p. 425, n.5). Demieville refers to a passage in the Ta chih tu lun E (p. 191a), translated by Lamotte as follows: "A une epoque ou les Buddha n'apparaissent pas et ou la Loi du Buddha a disparu, les Pratyekabuddha, en raison des causes anterieures (purvajanmahetupratyaya), produisent seuls- la sagesse, sans l'avoir entendu des autres" (Le traite de la grande vertu de sagesse; Tome II, Louvain, 1949, p. 1068). In the same passage the Ta chih tu lun distinguishes two kinds of pratyekabuddha: the tu-chueh 9 and the yin-yuan chueh *TE. Lamotte translates the latter as "celui qui est illumine a la suite d'un evenement (nidana)". According to the Ta chih tu lun only a t "small motive (nidana)" is sometimes sufficient for somebody to become a pratyekabuddha (cf. p. 191b4 and 266c9). However, the Ta chih tu lun mentions also that the Buddha preaches the twelve nidana to the future pratyekabuddha (p. 295b11-12). Therefore two different theories about the pratyekabuddha were known to the author of the Ta chih tu lun. According to the first a pratyekabuddha is somebody who has accumulated merit in former lives so that a small motive is sufficient for him to become a pratyekabuddha. According to the second one becomes a pratyekabuddha through the understanding of the twelve nidana. The existence of these two theories may have contributed to the ready acceptance of the term yuan-chueh which can be interpreted in two different ways, either as "awakened through (the effect of former] conditions" or as "awakened through [the understanding of] conditions." J. W. DE JONG. 174