Book Title: Jaina Exegetical Terminology Pk Vibhasa Detailed Exposition
Author(s): Nalini Balbir
Publisher: Nalini Balbir
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/269518/1

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Page #1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Jain Studies in Honour of Jozef Deleu Edited by Rudy Smet and Kenji Watanabe HON-NO-TOMOSHA, Tokyo 1993 Jaina Exegetical Terminology Pk. vibhasa 'Detailed Exposition' Nalini Balbir Study of Indian commentaries in their own right has recently emerged as a new and promising field of Indology which can throw light on methods of argumentation, ways of using and quoting traditional material, etc. Jainism also deserves to be included in this type of research. As is well-known, Jaina exegetical literature, especially in its earlier layers, is a bewildering body of texts endowed with a rather peculiar character. In the Prakrit verse-commentaries (niryuktis, bhasyas) and the Prakrit or Sanskrit prose-commentaries (curnis, tikas), the space occupied by the actual explanation of a given basic text (sutra) is rather limited. Their bulk consists in "scholastic elaborations, explanations, or extensions" so that they are in fact rather "pseudo-exegetical vis-a-vis the sutras." They form a well-interwoven and closed system having its own recurring analytic devices and schemes, to which belong for instance the niksepa and the caturbhanga, the lists of synonyms or the 'etymologies', as well as its own methodological vocabulary.2 Thus, to some extent they can be viewed as forming a specific branch of technical literature which would need special tools to handle it, such as lexica or indexes of the type we have, say, for Paninean grammar.3 A useful instance of what could be done is provided by W. Schubring's analysis of "150 Strophen Niryukti."4 His thorough investigation of the vocabulary found in the Dasavaikalikaniryukti also highlights the general processes of the niryukti-genre. As a first step the word vibhasa is selected here to initiate such a study, for it has the basic advantage of being well-documented in all strata of exegetical literature and being explained with the help of examples in two different sets of works, namely, the Avasyaka-corpus and the Brhatkalpabhasya. Thus, besides the actual usage of the word we also come to know about the way it is conceived as a technical term. Page #2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Nalini Balbir Vibhasa occurs as a member of a fivefold chain of terms centered around the idea of exposition (Pk. anuyoga) in an arya-stanza common to the Avasyakaniryukti (131) and the Bshatkalpabhasya (187): anuyogo ya niyogo bhasa vibhasa ya vattiyam c'eva: anuogassa u ee nama eg'atthiya panca. Disquisition in sequences, combined disquisition, exposition, detailed exposition and exhaustive exposition: these are the five equivalent designations of anuyoga. As is often the case with lists of 'synonyms' (eg'arthiya, Sk. ekarthika), or rather words belonging to a given semantic field, the semantic connection is strengthened by morphological or phonetic appariations. In the present case, the formal basis of distribution (-yoga-/-bhasa-), along with the place of the cesura (after niyogo), results in the formation of two distinct groups of two and three terms respectively, the fact that the last one is formally different from all the others not being an abnormal feature in such types of arrangements. Thus, vibhasa will not be explained individually but only in comparison with bhasa and vattiya with which it is contrasted. The amount of explanation and the way of presenting the material vary according to the exegetical layers one considers. The situation can be summarized in a tabular form: Defs. of the 3 terms Development of ills. AvN AVC VisAvBh AVTH=M. BkB p. 115.5-6 v. 1418-1420 p. 87a = 130a (Sk.) v. 196-200 (+ Sk. T) List of ills. v. 135 p. 115.7-116.14 1423 = AVN 135 AVN 135 v. 189 1424-1430 p. 96ab = 138ab (Sk.) v. 196-200 (+ Sk. ?) Since the Av.-niryukti alone is very brief and only provides a list of terms (AVN 131: s. above) and a list of examples (AVN 135: s. below), it seems preferable to first address the next exegetical layer. Thus, I shall start with a translation of the relevant part of the curni (115.5-116.14). It gives (1) a Page #3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Jaina exegetical terminology Pk. vibhasa general definition of vibhasa (+ bhasa and vattiya), and (2) an elaboration of the examples: 69 Bhasa, vibhasa and also vattiya: these three [terms] are discussed [now] as only members of a triad. Generally [speaking]: the bhasaga is a person who tells only one type of meaning. The vibhasaga is a person who tells certain types of meaning. The vatukaraga is a person who tells all types of meaning. Here are the examples: AVN 135: The piece of wood, the clay [modelling], the painting, the treasurehouse, the lotus, and the guide. These are the examples about the bhasaga, vibhasaga and the vallikarana. Suppose that Devadatta, who wants to make an image of Skanda or Rudra, determines whether a piece of wood (KATTHA-) of a size proper for the image is solid or hollow. When this same wood is chiselled with an axe, etc., it can be known whether [the figure of] a man or a woman will be made out of it. Similarly, the sutras can be compared with the wood. The person who explains only the meaning of the roots found in the paragraphs of the sutras is called a bhasaga. When this same piece of wood is prepared with an adze, thobhanaya (?), etc., the limbs, the secondary members, the shapes [of the figure] are well produced. Similarly, he who explains in detail the words and the meanings of a sutra in two, three or four different ways is called a vibhasaga. A knower of the 14 Purvas [is a vibhasaga] since he is able to explain the meaning in detail. An explanation with the maximum amount of details is a vattiya, when, in the case of this same piece of wood, the various niceties of the limbs and secondary members like the pores of the skin, the eyeball (ditthi-phalaga), etc., are produced, and when one explains a meaning with all possible processes, there is [thus] an exhaustive execution. The Omniscient Being is the vattikaraga par excellence. Others, however, say that the vattikaraga is the one who has heard and learnt an exposition (anuoga) in three or/to seven generations of transmission. So much for 'the wood'. For the clay [modelling] (POTTHA-): First the darbha grass, etc., has been mixed. It has been bound together and shaped according to the measure: this is bhasa. The limbs and secondary members have been formed as desired: this is vibhasa. When the full figure with eyes, etc., is accomplished, there is vattiya. And now the painting (CITTA-): On a wall the desired shape is outlined (tikkiya): this is bhasa. The limbs and secondary members are drawn: vibhasa. When the full figure with eyes, etc., is completed, it is vattiya. Page #4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Nalini Balbir The treasure-house (SIRIGHARIYA-): One person knows: "In this place there are jewels." Similarly, a learner of sutras knows that the sutra has indeed a deep meaning. Another attendant of the treasure-house knows: "This is such and such jewel." Similarly, a learner of sutras knows that this is the general meaning of the sutra. The one who thus knows the meaning of the sutra is a bhasaga. Another one knows their power and their value, he is a vibhasaga. Another one knows everything about them. He knows where and when to hide or to exhibit [?] it and so on. Similarly the valtiya knows everything: which meaning is to be applied at which place in his own doctrine, as a general rule or as an exception; where, when and how. The lotus (PONDA-): Such is also the sutra. When it blossoms a little, it is bhasaga. When the lotus blossoms (more), it is vibhasaga. When it is in full bloom with all its components, it is vattiya. The lotus has been explained. And now the guide (DESIYA-): Suppose, one man knows the way to Pasaliputra. Similarly the learner of sutras knows that there is some meaning in the sutra. Another person knows that the road leads to such and such town, but he does not know what lies in between. Similarly, the bhasaga knows that there is this meaning in the sutra). A third man knows the particular road: he knows where it is straight and where winding, he knows its length, it has so many gavyutas. Similarly, the vibhasaga knows the sutra having various components. A fourth one knows all these details about the road). He knows that there is danger coming from wild animals, from thieves and how to bypass them. Again he follows the road. Thus he knows it with all details. Similarly the vattiya. 'The explanation of one who, as if he were echoing, gives only one meaning of a sutra (containing words such as] samayika, bala, pandita, sadhu and yati, is called bhasa.' (=BKBh 196) As can be seen from this passage, the definition of our three terms is empirical. The process is similar in the Bshatkalpabhasya-corpus (bhasa: v. 196, s. above; vibhasa: v. 197-199ab, s. below; vattiya: v. 199cd-201),? but the examples are completely different. I shall confine myself to the stanzas relevant to vibhasa: The first (roofer) puts one leaf on the roof (= bhasaka). The second one puts several leaves (= vibhasaka). The third one thatches it with (leaves and) oil, tamarind and other materials (= vyaktikara). (197) The explanation of one who for one word gives two or more meanings is called Page #5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Jaina exegetical terminology Pk. vibhasa 71 vibhasa. (For instance:) it eats, and it runs fast but does not get tired, therefore it is (called) an asa [i.e. a horse). (198) Those who know the Purvas explain in full details the meaning of samayika. (199ab)8 The Visesavasyakabhasya marks a new step since it gives an analysis of the terms themselves. Thus for vibhasa: vividha visesao va hoi vibhasa dugai-pajjaya; jadha samaiyam: samao samayo va samayo va. (1419) Vibhasa is a manifold or specific exposition which uses two or more equivalent terms. For instance, (the word) samayika (can be analyzed in three different ways]: correct direction (= the fact of going on the path of Emancipation), gaining peace, equanimity. * Haribhadra argues similarly, and Malayagiri follows him, with an example common to different schools of Indian philosophy. Thus, according to them, bhasa is a statement refering to one characteristic of an object, e.g., the word ghata, derived from the root Vghat-, refers to the main characteristic of the pot. Vibhasa is explaining an object by employing various synonyms, e.g., the pot has three designations: ghata, kuta and kumbha. A vattiya (rendered as vartika: s. below) consists in enumerating all synonyms and thus bringing out all characteristics of an object.10 The following general remarks can be made at this stage: (1) The opinion that the Avasyakacumi and the Visesavasyakabhasya are "parallel undertakings" 11 is confirmed. Their wordings are very different, and it is hardly possible to detect any trace of reciprocal influence. It cannot be said here that the VisAvBh "is a mere versification of the prose tradition represented by the (curni)." 12 (2) The Sanskrit prose-commentaries of Haribhadra and Malayagiri clearly bear the mark of the Visesavasyakabhasya, which is actually quoted in Malayagiri's tika,13 but they cannot be considered as "changing the Prakrit language of the Curni to Sanskrit." 14 (3) Basically all the texts differentiate the three terms in the same way. Only the field of application does vary: the interpretation of the examples shows Page #6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 72 Nalini Balbir that it may affect either the number of (pseudo-) etymological explanations or the number of synonyms given for a word. (4) The word vattiya has been sanskritized both as vartika and vyakti (kara), the latter being a pseudo-Sanskritisation. Anyhow, the word varttika derives from the verb v vrt-, as does the term vrtti. (5) The difference in the illustrations proposed by the Avasyaka and the BKBh traditions probably shows that a certain amount of freedom was admitted among various groups of teachers, while a basic verse such as the one listing the five terms (above, p. 1) was kept identical. The redundancy of the illustrations (all demonstrate the same idea) should not be surprising. The verses which record lists of such examples should be viewed as kinds of stocks, from which the teacher could freely draw according to his requirement. All were most probably not used simultaneously. (6) From the viewpoint of literary classification, it is interesting to observe that the word bhasa has been used to designate a class of Jaina texts (e.g., Bihatkalpabhasya); the words vibhasa and vattiya are never found in a corresponding usage. (7) Besides the triad bhasa, vibhasa and vattiya, we come acro sthe triad sutta, vitit, vattiya (Sk. Sutra, vrtti, vartika) in the enumeration of twentynine pavasuyapasangas (occasions of coming into contact with wrong or improper learning).15 The list has been given, for instance, in the Avasyaka-commentaries where the term vatriya is explained by the word vakkhana (Sk. vyakhyana) and its size is said to be one crore (of units) or immeasurable (aparimiya-). 16 The interrelationship of the terms in both triads is of the same nature; they are differentiated on the basis of their respective extent, vattiya, common to both triads, being the largest type of exposition. Such are the semantic definitions proposed by the commentaries for bhasa, vibhasa and vattiya. Their usage may now be considered. With the aforesaid meanings the terms had varying luck, vibhasa being apparently the only one which can be followed up and traced in the texts. The conditions of its occurrence can be defined precisely. Vibhasa always occurs in the nominative singular, mostly by itself as forming a nominal sentence, or, rarely in a phrase of the type vibhasa kayavva (exchangeable with the corresponding verb, ... vibhasiyavva-). It has not been found in the Canon Page #7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Jaina exegetical terminology Pk. vibhasa (i.e. Angas, Upangas, Chedasutras, Mulasutras, Prakirnakas) and appears to be a term born along with the exegetical texts. The above mentioned discussion on vibhasa should have at least shown the commentators' wish to endow the word with the status of a methodological technical term and with a particular meaning which is not found outside Jainism. It can even be added that vibhasa as a living word is restricted to the Prakrit commentaries (niryuktis, bhasyas, curnis, Prakrit portions of the tikas) since the Sanskritisation into vibhasa), traceable only in glosses, does not occur independently from its Prakrit counterpart (or otherwise it has the same usual meanings as in Sanskrit). A semantic value close to the one described by the commentaries is preserved in an Avasyakaniryukti-stanza commenting upon a verse of the Av.-sutra (viz., second section: Cauvvisatthaya, v. 6cd)17 which it quotes: "arugga-bohi-labham samahi-varam uttamam ca me dentu": kim nu hu nianam eam ti? vibhasa ettha kayavva. (AvN 1094) "May (the Jinas) provide me with health and Enlightenment and also with the utmost concentration!" Is this a desire of a bad type? A detailed discussion on this point should be introduced. The corresponding curni makes it clear that vibhasa here announces a development to be read in the subsequent verses (vibhasa ettha bhavai tam jaha (AvC II 12.7]) where an answer is given to the question raised: the only justification for this wish is the bhakti of the follower. The Jinas have given what they could, namely the Teaching. Since as Siddhas they cannot be affected by any passion, they will not be able to give anything else. Hence the followers have their destiny in their own hands. The tikas hand down the following standard gloss of vibhasa, to which they stick whenever the word appears: vividha bhasa vibhasa, vinaya-vibhaga-vyavasthapanena vyakhyery arthah (AVTH 508b.2, etc.). An interesting proof of the fact that this meaning was specific to Svetambara exegesis only is provided by Vasunandin's commentary on Mulacara 7.6518 which is almost identical to AvN 1094. This commentator gives vibhasa the usual meaning of 'alternative' (kim punar idam nidanam na bhavati? na bhavaty eva. kasmad? vibhasatra vikalpo 'tra kartavyo yasmad iti). Page #8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 74 Nalini Balbir However, almost everywhere else, vibhasa works as an abridgment-mark used in order to avoid a repetition of something which has been said before or which can be easily deduced on the basis of the preceding. The addressees of the text are thus invited to supply the implicit statement. In itself the process is not fundamentally different from what is found in the Canon, where it is, however, expressed by other terms (e.g., ... bhaniyavva-, neyavva-, .evam padiuccareyavvam, etc.).19 For instance, out of the four combinations which would form a complete caturbhanga-argumentation, only two are explicitly mentioned as examples in the following verse. The remaining two have to be developed accordingly: ettham puna cau-bhango janaga-iarammi goni-naenam; suddhasuddha padham'antima u; sesesu a vibhasa. (AVN 1616) On this point there is a caturbhanga concerning (the problem of knowing whether the person who confers the pratyakhyana-atonement and the one who receives it) know (the process) or not. (It is to be developed) with the example of the cow. The first and the last (combinations) are (respectivelyl good and bad (i.e. when both persons know the process and when none of them knows it). For the others the detailed explanation has to be supplied. A similar process can be seen at work, now in the case of a niksepa-pattern: sambandhana-samjoge khettai-vibhasa ja bhaniya kheltaisu samjogo so c'eva vibhasiyavvo u. (UTIN 63) This rather awkward verse merely aims at establishing a parallel between two niksepas as far as the viewpoints 'place, etc. are concerned: (a) the niksepa of the compound sambandhana-samjoga which has been the subject of v. 47, and (b) the niksepa of the word samjoga which should be fully developed in the subsequent verses along the same lines.20 In these two examples, the exact contents of what is implied by vibhasa can be easily determined. Firstly, the words which occur in the verses are expanded in subsequent verses or in the prose-commentaries. Secondly, we are dealing with well-established scholastic patterns endowed with some regularity. Page #9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Jaina exegetical terminology Pk. vibhasa In other cases, the term vibhasa means that a detailed explanation is to be supplied on the basis of a pattern already developed within the text. The Av.-sutra, for instance, lists three cases of transgression of the digvrata: (a) going beyond the limits in an upward direction, (b) going beyond the limits in a downward direction, and (c) going beyond the limits in a horizontal direction.21 The prose-commentaries fully discuss the first and the third cases, the second one having to be discussed on the same model: uddham jam pamanam gahiyam ...; evam adhe vi kuviyadisu vibhasa ("similar full discussion regarding the downward direction also: for wells, etc.") ... ; tiriyam jam pamanam gahiyam ... (AyH 827b.7 = CII 294.12).22 The same process applies to narrative sections: tatth'eva viragam gayassa kevala-nanam uppannam. tae vi celie virago: vibhasa; agga-mahiste vi; ranno vi punar avatir jaya, virago: vibhasa. evam te cattari vi kevalt jaya siddha ya (AvH 3600.5; C 485.11 and M 4696.4 have vibhasa only once). Having reached indifference to worldly objects, he (i.e. Ilaputra) acquired Omniscience. The young girl also became indifferent: full description; and the chief queen too. The king too conceived remorse and indifference: full description. Thus all four became Omniscient and Emancipated.23 Elsewhere we know what is meant by vibhasa because the word is followed by a reference to a source work. This device is met with only in the prose-commentaries (not in the elliptic style of the verse-commentaries). Thus: etise vibhasa jaha Ohanijjuttie (BKBh-curni as quoted by Leumann: s. below, Appendix), or: imam udaharanam: do kappatthaga; jaha Avassae taha savvam vibhasiyavvam (DasavC 50. 17: s. below, p. 12-13.24 In many passages, however, the contents to be supplied remain vague (for us?). Such is the situation in narrative or descriptive passages where vibhasa occurs after a catch-word introducing a locus communis. It could perhaps be dealt with ad libitum by the teacher, who could either draw from well-known developments on the given topic without restriction or possibly invent new ones. I list here a few instances: sambuddho: vibhasa. pavvaio (E. Leumann, Die Av. -Erzahlungen, Leipzig 1987, 28.7): "He was Enlightened: full description. He renounced the world." Page #10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 76 Nalini Balbir so katthani kalunani vilavai: 'ehi putta, ma ma ujjhahi; evam adi vibhasa. tato Tisalae: vibhasa (AvH 217b.3 = C 305.7 = M 290a.4): "Der [i.e. Sangamaka] schluchzte mitleiderregende, traurige Worte: 'komm, Sohn!'-ausfuhrlicher Kommentar verlasse [mich] nicht!' Dann Tisala-ausfuhrlicher Kommentar-"25 tana pae muha-dhovanadi: vibhasa (AvC 469.7 H 355b.7 M 465.12): "[The son] washed their [i.e. his parents'] feet and mouths: full description." (Pasannacando) rodda-jjhanam pavanno. hatthina (AvH 487b.4; M 586a.4; vibhasa not in AvC 455.13 entered in the fearful meditation. Full description: he an elephant (a horse fight with a horse, add. M)." tahe Piyangu Sujayassa vesam karei abharana-vasanehim: vibhasa (AVC II 197.14; different wording in H): "Then P. dressed S. with clothes and ornaments: full description." 26 hatthim vivaei ti vibhasa Vasudevahindi 16.27): "P. made an elephant fight with Finally, the preceding investigation should help reconsidering a passage of Devendra's Uttaradhyayanatika included in Jacobi's Ausgewahlte Erzahlungen in Maharastri: io ya tena kappadiena suyam, jaha: Muladevena vi eriso sumino dittho, jariso mae [...]. so cintei: vaccami jattha goraso, tam pivitta suvami, java tani suminam puno vi pecchami. -avi so pecchejja, na ya manusao vibhasa. (VIII Muladeva 65.5-8) Meyer translates: "Now that beggar heard: 'Muladeva too has dreamed just such a dream as I.' [...] He thought: 'I shall go where there is milk and, having drunk that, I shall sleep, so that I may dream that dream again." Maybe he dreamed it: but there is no light to be got from a man." (my emphasis)27. He adds a comment on this "grand and profound thought" 28 and considers that "vibhasa would be the same in Skt." Similarly, Bloomfield ("As to whether he shall see it no man reporteth")29 and Charpentier ("vielleicht wird er ihn bekommen so was konnen ja die Menschen nicht wahlen"; "na ya manusao vibhasa ist mir nicht ganz klar")30 missed the point. Edgerton noted that the word was not recorded in Jacobi's 'Glossary' and, apparently not convinced by Meyer's proposal, wrote: "acc. to Meyer t[at]s[ama]; but perhaps rather vibhasa? Uncertain."31 In fact, for any reader who has only Jacobi's text at his disposal, it is not Page #11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Jaina exegetical terminology Pk. vibhasa 77 possible to understand this passage correctly: exactly as in the other instances reviewed above, vibhasa cannot be justified unless it is replaced in its original context. Devendra's account of Muladeva's career is a complete recast with considerable additional narrative material of a very brief and simple anecdote preserved both in Santisuri's Uttaradhyayanatika (the avowed model of Devendra) and in the Avasyaka prose-commentaries, where the only two characters involved are two anonymous beggars (kappadiya-).32 There were two beggars. The first beggar dreamt that he had drunk the moon and told it to (other) beggars. They said: "You will receive a cake the size of the moon." He got one from a householder's wife. Another [beggar) had the same dream. He bathed, took a fruit or some other present and reported to the interpreter of dreams who said: "You will become a king."33 Now, on the seventh day the king died without an heir. This beggar was feeling depressed when a consecrated (ahiyasio = Sk. adhivasita) horse came, who took him on its back. This is how he became the king. Then the (first) beggar came to know that (his companion) had such a dream and had become a king as a result of the prophecy (oesa-phalena). He thought: "Let me go where there is milk. I shall drink it and sleep." Will he again have the same dream? May be he will. In all versions, the story is the sixth of ten examples adduced to illustrate the difficulty of gaining human birth again (catch-word suvine, Sk. svapna: ULUN 160 = AvN 832). Each of them (among which the well-known parable of "the turte and the yoke-hole") 34 refers to an extremely difficult task or a very rare event. The conclusion, which is always the same, is expressed in explicit words for the first and the second stories. Thus: avi so vaccejja antam, na ya manusattanao bhatt ho puno manusattanam lahai (santisuri, Ut? p. 216, etc.): "He might come to an end (of his activity). However, one who has lost human existence, will not regain it so easily." Or, avi nama so jippejja na ya manusao bhattho puno manusattanam (ibidem): "It might be that he wins. However, one who has lost human existence will not regain it so easily." In other illustrations, the last part of the sentence, which remains the same, is not repeated, but the mention of vibhasa indicates that it has to be inferred. Page #12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 78 Nalini Balbir Thus, I would propose the following translation of Jacobi's Erzahlungen 65.7-8: "It might be that he dreams this again. But (once deprived) from human birth...: [supply the] full sentence (on the basis of what precedes for other illustrations]."35 When this story is utilized in later books for other didactic purposes and thus is not a member of a chain, the conclusion is given in full. See, for instance: kappadio suvin'atthi puna puna bhottuna gorasam sutto. avi so lahejja suvinam taha vi narattam puna vi du-laham.36 Wishing to have the same) dream the beggar took milk again and again and slept. He might get this dream. (To get] human birth again is however more difficult. To trace the destiny of vibhasa in later Prakrit is not an easy task. It is in fact unlikely that the word continued to be commonly used. Still; the two following instances, both found in Prakrit portions of Jinaprabhasuri's Vividhatirthakalpa (14th cent.),37 may be mentioned. They are in perfect agreement with the traditional use of vibhasa since they spare the repetition of what can be easily deduced from a given pattern: Angakumara-namenam Anga-deso jao. Kuru-namenam Kuru-khettam pasiddham. evam Vanga-Kalinga-Surasena-Avanti-m-aisu vibhasa. (27.6; No. 16 Hastinapura) The second passage records various diverging interpretations of people about an image of the Jina Suparsva, which they do not recognize as such because they are non-Jainas: "Some say: 'It is the god Svayambhu with Vasuki as his distinctive mark.' Others say: 'It is Narayana lying on Sesa'; evam Bambha-Dharaninda-Sura-Cand"aisu vibhasa," (17.24; No. 9 Mathura) Thus, we see that the word vibhasa which has been used as a technical term by the Jainas has to be rendered into English in a twofold way: (1) A medium size exposition, compared to bhasa (summary exposition) and vattiya (exhaustive exposition). This usage appears only in theoretical discussions. (2) A detailed exposition according to the context in order to fill in a gap. This usage is recorded over a long period of time. Page #13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Jaina exegetical terminology Pk. vibhasa 79 If it were to be placed in a dictionary, the present study would only be a part of the entry vibhasa covering a specific shade of meaning evolved in Jaina Prakrit commentaries which the usual Prakrit dictionaries do not record as such or for which they provide scarce material. A complete article would also take into account the weakening of this meaning (vibhasa tends to become an equivalent of vyakhya 'explanation')38 and would list usages and references nearer to what is found in Sanskrit (meaning: 'option', possibility').39 All of them are developed from the potentialities included in the preverb vi- which implies dissociation, completeness, and also deviation (cf. Sk. vibhasa as the name given to some Prakrit dialects of low-caste people, and the use of the term in Paninean grammar).40 Appendix As complementary material regarding the use of the word vibhasa, I wish to add an extract from E. Leumann's posthumous papers made available to me through the kind help of Prof. A. Wezler (Hamburg). It can be read on pp. 6-7 of a document which includes 22 leaves, very neatly written and apparently ready for the press. A reference found on p. 1 suggests that it was to be a part of the Ubersicht uber die Avasyaka-Literatur.41 Leumann's aim was to determine the relative chronology of the Avasyakacurni and the (Bshat)kalpacurni. In order to answer this question he undertook a detailed study of the language, especially of the terminology and the modi explicandi of this second curni. As usual, his work which extensively covers the first uddesaka of the BKBh-curni is entirely based on manuscripts ("P" and "B" referred to and described in A. Weber, Verzeichnis, 2. Band, 2. Abteilung, Nr. 1894). No progress has been made so far in the study of this curni which is still unpublished in 1993. Hinter vyakhya resp. vibhasa ist in einigen Fallen noch eine Pkt. oder Skt. Einleitung (z.B. nach dem Schema III 1, a)42 eingeschoben. Zuweilen folgt nicht die normale Text-Auffuhrung (nach der unten III 2 zu schildernden Methode), sondern eine erklarende Paraphrase; hinter etise vibhasa steht beidemal ein Hinweis auf die Oghaniryukti, (1) auf die auch sonst ofter verwiesen wird. Page #14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Nalini Balbir Abgesehen von den Varianten kommt asya vyakhya im ersten Uddesaka 204mal, assa vibhasa bloss 20mal vor. Das Wort vibhasa im Sinne der Schemata C & D erscheint uberhaupt nur bei I 114-899, und zwar (sechsmal) bei I 303-556 ohne mit vyakhya abzuwechseln; dagegen wird vibhasa zu I 877 und haufig von I 1128 an fur die Prosa-Ausfuhrungen des Commentars gebraucht, gewohnlich abkurzungsweise mit der Bedeutung "die Ausfuhrung soll gegeben werden" (z.B. heisst uvanaya-vibhasa "die Anwendung des Gleichnisses ist darzulegen," jam kahiti vibhasa "was er thun wird ist naher auszufuhren"). Diese zweite Verwendung des Wortes vibhasa ist, wie der Sprachgebrauch der Bhasyen zeigt, die ursprungliche; dagegen kann vibhasa in den Schemata C & D nur angesehen werden als ein dem Pkt. Zusammenhang zuliebe versuchsweise und eine Zeit lang mit Vorliebe gewahltes Aequivalent fur vyakhya. (1) iyanim "samghadae" iti daram, asya vyakhya: 897*, etlse vibhasa jaha Ohanijjuttie ... 898*, etise vibhasa jaha Ohanijjuttie ... 899*, kantha ... etesim daranam "sa-padipakkhassa" ya vibhasa jaha Ohanijjullie. "bhikkha" tti daram gayam. iyanim "kappa-karane ya" ni daram, asya (assa P] vyakhya: 900*. Abbreviations (Av)C Avayyakacurni in srimad Avasyakasutam. 2 Parts. Raulam, 1928-1929. (Av) H Haribhadra's Avasyakalika: see AvN. (Av) M Malayagiri's Avasyakavrtti. 3 Parts. Bombay: Agamodaya Samiti, 1928, 1932 and DLJP 1936. AVN Avasyakaniryukti (with Avasyakasutra and Haribhadra's tika). Bombay: Agamodaya Samiti, 1916-17. (Reprint in 2 vols. Bombay, vi. sam. 2508 with a different pagination.) BKBH Brhatkalpabhasya (with tika). Ed. Muni Caturvijayaji and Punyavijayaji. 6 Vols. Bhavnagar, 1933-1942. DasavC Dasavaikalikacurni. Ed. Muni Punyavijayaji. Varanasi-Ahmedabad, 1973. (Prakrit Text Society Series 20.) UIN Uttaradhyayananiryukti with santisuri's tika. Prathamo vibhagah. Surat, 1950. VisAvBh Jinabhadra's Visesavasyakabhasya with Auto-commentary. Ed. D.D. Malvania. Part I. Ahmedabad, 1966. (L.D. Series 10.) Page #15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Jaina exegetical terminology Pk. vibhasa 81 Notes 1. K. Bruhn, "Avasyaka Studies I," Studien zum Jainismus und Buddhismus: Gedenkschrift fur Ludwig Alsdorf, Wiesbaden 1981, 13-14. 2. "Synonymen-Listen sind namlich neben Erklarungsschematen, Aufzahlungen (...), Beispieltiteln, Erzahlungsgesprachen (...) und geringen Interpretationsandeutungen der wesentlichste Inhalt von Bhadrabahu's Originalstrophen": E. Leumann, "Dasavaikalika-sutra und -niryukti," ZDMG 46 (1892): 602; L. Alsdorf, "Niksepa -- A Jaina Contribution to Scholastic Methodology," JOI (Baroda) 22 (1973): 455-463 = Kleine Schriften, Wiesbaden 1974, 257-265; Niruktakosa, Ladnun 1984; Ekarthakakosa, Ladnun 1984. 3. E.g., L. Renou, Terminologie grammaticale du sanskrit, Paris: H. Champion, 1957. 4. Studia Indologica: Festschrift W. Kirfel, Bonn 1955 = Kleine Schriften, Wies baden 1977, 321-343. 5. For a discussion of this passage see N. Tatia's foreword to T. Hanaki, Anuogaddaraim (English translation), Vaishali 1970, and the English introduction (pp. 49-53) to Nandisuttam and Anuogaddaraim, Jaina-Agama-Series 1, Bombay 1968. 6. The tika on BKBh 196 gives popular etymologies of these five words, for instance: papat dinah palayitah: panditah. athava panda buddhih sa samjatasyeti panditah. 7. cauro khalu mankha-suya vatti-karanammi aharana. (199cd) phalag'ekko gahahim, biio taio ya vaiy'atthenam tinni vi a-kudumba-bhara, tiga-joga cautthao bharai. (200) je jammi juge pavara tesi sagasammi jena uggahiyam (...) vattikaro sa khalu. (201) "The examples about exhaustive exposition are the four adepts of the mankhagroup (s. A. L. Basham, History and Doctrine of the Ajivikas, London 1951, 35). The first one uses the tablet (where god-images are depicted only), the second one (only) sings, the third one (only) gives explanations. All these three do not sustain their families (i.e. earn no money). The fourth one who combines the three activities sustains it. He is a vattikara indeed, who has learnt from those who are prominent in the respective period." 8. ekkenam ekka-dalam tahim kayam biiyaena (so with v.1.; ed. biiena) bahutaraga, laiena chaiyam tam tell'ambila-m-ad'uvaehim. (197) Page #16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Nalini Balbir ega-pae u dugar jo atthe bhanai sa vibhasa u: asai ya asu ya dhavai, na ya sammai tena aso u. (198) samaiyassa attham puvva-dhara samattam-o vibhasei. (199ab) Especially for v. 197, my translation is highly dependent on the corresponding tika. 9. The translation of padas cd is based on what Hemacandra-Maladharin says in his Sanskrit commentary on the Visesavasyakabhasya, Pt. I, 2, Ahmedabad vi. sam. 2489, 528. 10. yatha ghatanat ghatah cestavan artho ghala iti; vividha bhasa vibhasa, paryaya-sabdaih tal-svarupa-kathanam, yatha ghatah kutah kumbha iti. (AvH 87a) 11. K. Bruhn, "Av. Studies I" (see above, n. 1), 15. 12. L. Alsdorf, "Jaina Exegetical Literature and the History of the Jaina Canon," Mahavira and His Teachings, ed. A.N. Upadhye et al., Bombay 1977, 5. 13. VisAvBh 1424-1425 quoted in Malayagiri's sika, p. 138b. 14. L. Alsdorf, op. cit. 15. See Samavayanga 29 (Jaina-Agama-Series ed., p. 379); Avasyakasutra (JAS ed., p. 341, 1.8); Uttaradhyayana 31, 19. 16. AvH 660b, samgrahani-verse 2: ... suttam vitti taha valtiyam ..., and two explanatory verses: ... suttam sahassa, lakkha ya vitti, taha kodi vakkhanam (1) angassa saya-sahassam suttam, vitti ya kodi vinneya, vakkhanam aparimiyam, iyam eva ya vattiyam jana. (2) Also compare AVC II 149. 17. Jaina-Agama-Series 15, Bombay 1977, 334. 18. E. Leumann, Ubersicht uber die Avasyaka-Literatur, Hamburg 1934, 172 = v. 568 in Shri Vattakeracharya's Mulachara, ed. by Kailash Chandra Shastri et al., translated into Hindi] by Venerable Aryikaratna Jnanmatiji, vol. 1, Delhi: Bharatiya Jnanapitha, 1984. 19. See, for instance, A. Weber, Uber ein Fragment der Bhagavati, Abh. d. Konigl. Ak. der Wiss. zu Berlin 1865, 1. Theil, Berlin 1866, 380-381. 20. This complicated niksepa has been briefly surveyed by Alsdorf, "Niksepa" (s. n. 2). 21. Avasyaka-sutra, Jaina-Agama-Series, p. 352; cp. R. Williams, Jaina Yoga, London 1963 (Reprint Delhi 1983), 99ff. 22. Other similar instances are: DasavN 154 (in Leumann's ed.: ZDMG 46 (1892) = v. 55 on p. 35 in DasavC); BKBh 404 (discussion which should explain why the Page #17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Jaina exegetical terminology Pk. vibhasa 83 verse first mentions the learned monk (bahussuya) and then the monk who has been initiated since long (cirapavvaia]); DasavC 10.22 (evam vibhasa). 23. See also AVC II 302.9 (= H 835a.8; the second example concerning the second siksapadavrata should be detailed as the first has been). 24. Other instance of this type: so hoi bhava-kao jiva-m-ajive vibhasa u. (AvN 1445 cd); jivajivayor vibhasa khalv agamanusarena karya. (H 770b) 25. Die Avasyaka-Erzahlungen uber die Upasargas des Mahavira im Vergleich mit den Versuchungen des Bodhisattva in der buddhistischen Literatur, Dissertation ... vorgelegt von K. Verclas, Hamburg 1978, 258. 26. See also AVC II 60.12: to ma gavvam kahisi: bahussuo evam adi vibhasa (vibhasa not in H 561a). 27. Hindu Tales: An English Translation of Jacobi's Ausgewahlte Erzahlungen in Maharashtri, London 1909, 219. 28. Meyer, Hindu Tales, 219 n. 1. 29. M. Bloomfield, "The Character and Adventures of Muladeva," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 52.212 (Nov.-Dec. 1913): 650. 30. Studien zur Indischen Erzahlungsliteratur 1: Paccekabuddhageschichten, Uppsala 1908, 75 and n. 2. 31. F. Edgerton, "Notes on Jaina Maharastri," Indian Studies in Honor of C.R. Lanman, Harvard 1929, 30. 32. The translation is based on the text of AvC 448.4-9. See also AvH 343a.1-7; M 452b.13-453a.5; santisuri's Uttaradhyayanatika 217-218. 33. Read bhavissasi for bhavissati. 34. See K. R. Norman, "Middle Indo-Aryan Studies IX," JOI (Baroda) 21 (1971-72): 331-335; A. N. Upadhye, "The Turtle and the Yoke-Hole," JOI (Baroda) 22.3 (March 1973): 323-326; M. Hara, "A Note on the Hindu Concept of Man," Journal of the Faculty of Letters (The University of Tokyo), Aesthetics 11 (1986): 45-60. 35. Vibhasa also at the end of the fourth and fifth examples in santisuri's and Devendra's tikas; at the end of the second, fourth and fifth in Avc. 36. Kumarapala-pratibodha of Somaprabhacharya, ed. by Muniraja Jinavijaya, GOS 14, Baroda 1920, 16. 37. Vividhatirthakalpa of Jinaprabhasuri, ed. by Jinavijaya, Singhi Jaina Series 10, Bombay 1934. 38. See below, Appendix; Jaina Laksanavali, vol. 3, Delhi 1979, 1011 (reference to the Digambara commentary called Jayadhavala). A similar meaning seems to be Page #18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 84 Nalini Balbir attested in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit: F. Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary, New Haven 1953, s.v. vibhasa: "extensive commentary; explanation in detail." 39. References to Pindaniryukui in H. Sheth, Paia-sadda-mahannavo, Varanasi 1963. See also AvN 719; Oghaniryukti 110, 1059, etc. 40. Cf. P. Kiparsky, Panini as a Variationist, Poona 1979, 3; Pa. vibhasa in Aggavamsa's Saddantti: H. Smith, vol. 4, Lund 1949, 87.3.2.3. "Nachdem wir oben pp. 31639-47 festgestellt haben, dass das Visesavas yaka-bhasya zeitlich zwischen das Kalpa-bhasya und die KalpaCumi hineingehort, liegt uns nun in erster Linie daran zu erfahren, ob die AvasyakaCurni alter oder junger als die KalpaCurni ist." 42. "III 1, a" and "C and D" below refer to various headings of Leumann's investi gation. Nalini Balbir (URA 1058)