Book Reviews

SR No.: 269686
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong
Total Pages: 26
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 4 MB

Page 12

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REVIEWS
"imagined by them" (p. 211). On p. 526 Candrakirti quotes a half-verse: nasamskṛto hi vidyate bhavaḥ kva cana kaścana. He continues: kva canety adhikarane deśa kale siddhante vā kaścanety adheye adhyatmiko bāhyātmiko vety arthaḥ. Stcherbatsky translates: "Nowhere and none the entity is found which would not be produced by causes. The word 'nowhere' refers to location, the place, or the time. It might be also taken (as referring to) a philosophic system. The word 'none' refers to the located thing, whether it be an object of the external world or a mental phenomenon." In one point this translation has to be rectified: "The word 'nowhere' refers to the locus, i.e. the place, the time or a philosophical system." Sprung translates this passage as follows: "No ontic existent whatsoever exists anywhere which is not compound.' The expression 'anywhere' refers to place, time, or philosophical argument. The expression 'no ontic existent whatsoever' refers both to the subject realm and the object realm. This is his meaning." It is obvious that even with the help of his Hindu collaborator Sprung was not capable of producing a correct translation of this chapter.
It would be easy to point out many other errors in the other chapters translated by Sprung in collaboration with T. R. V. Murti or U. S. Vyas. The translation of one chapter (XVIII; XIV in Sprung's book) is much better. In reading this chapter Sprung was assisted by two prominent Japanese specialists, G. M. Nagao and N. Aramaki. In several places Sprung's English translation is an improvement upon the French translation published by the reviewer in 1949 (Cinq chapitres de la Prasannapada, Paris, pp. 1-36). However, it is not possible to agree always with Sprung's translation of which the final version was probably not seen by the two Japanese scholars. P. 351.13: dharmam samasato himṣām varnayanti tathāgataḥ "The perfectly realized ones hold, in brief, that the Buddhist truth is harmless (Sprung, p. 173). P. 356.3: mūlaudanodakakinvadidravyaviseṣaparipākamātrapratyayotpannamadamurcchadisämarthyaviseṣānugatamadyapānopalambhavat "even as the gestation of various substances like roots, boiled rice and water results in intoxicating drink, anal wind and so on" (Sprung, p. 175). P. 356.7: sattva upapaduka "individual creature" (Spring, ibid.). P. 356.8: satatasamitam akusalakarmābhisamskaranapravṛtta "they incessantly and forever perform ill deeds because of their innate disposition" (Sprung, ibid.). P. 356.9: caturasīticittacaritasahasra "8,400 categories of creature" (Sprung, ibid.). P. 366.5: bahuvidhabuddhinalinīvanavibodhini "he awakens the lotus of enlightenment in its many forms" (Sprung, p. 179). It seems to me that the French translation of these passages is still preferable to Sprung's renderings (Cinq chapitres, p. 16, line 22 read "quatre-vingt quatre mille états d'esprit différents"). On p. 370 Candrakirti declares that for pedagogical reasons Buddha taught that the skandhas, etc. are real (tathya). He did this not "with an eye on the higher truth" (Sprung, p. 181) but "out of regard for their views" (taddarśanapekṣaya), i.e. the views of the people to be converted (vineyajana). On p. 376 Candrakirti explains that if the seed and the sprout were identical this would have unacceptable consequences: ananyatvāc cankurāvasthāyām ankuravad bijagrahanam api syat. Sprung translates: "If there is no difference one would take the seed to exist in the sprout phase, i.e. as sprout" (p. 185). The meaning is as follows: "If there is no difference one would find in the sprout phase not only the sprout but the seed as well." On p. 379 Candrakirti says that a wise man ought even to give up his life in the search for the truth of the true doctrine (arhati prajñaḥ pranan api parityajya saddharmatattvam paryeṣitum). Sprung translates: "it is possible for the man of wisdom to turn his back on the everyday world and to go in search of the way of the truth of truths" (p. 186).
Sprung's translation of the 'essential chapters' of the Prasannapada is not a book to be recommended to 'philosophers who read English'. There is undoubtedly a need for a good English translation, if not of the entire Prasannapada, at least of the more important sections. It is much to be hoped that such a translation will be undertaken by a scholar who possesses the necessary qualifications.
Australian National University
J. W. DE JONG