Tibetan Citations Of Bhartrharis Verses And Problem Of His Date

SR No.: 269718
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hajime Nakamura
Publisher: Hajime Nakamura
Total Pages: 15
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 2 MB

Page 7

128
HAJIME NAKAMURA
(a
(fr. 19) lon ba rkan pahi tshod dpags kyis/
ñam nahi lam du rgyug pa Itar / rjes su dpag pa gtsor ḥdsin pa/ mam par Itun ba mi dkaho //
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shes bya ba Ita bur hgyur ro she na / de ni rigs pa ma yin te/
Avalokitavrata comments upon this as follows: don de ñid bsal bar bya bahi phyir slob dpon bha ndri ha ris rjes su dpag pa sun phyun baḥi khuns bstan pahi phyir/(a. a) shes bya ba smras te/dper na lon ba rkan pahi tshod dpag gis lam bde ba spans te ñam ñaḥi lam du rgyug pa sin la sogs pa dag gis brdos pa la rdeg ḥchaḥ śin rnam par ltun ba mi dkaḥ ba de bshin du/yid ches paḥi lun spans pa rjes su dpag pahi tshod dpag gis rtog ge skam poḥi lam du rgyug pa dag kyan tshe ḥdi la yan ḥkhrul pahi gcod par hgyur la/tshe phyi ma la yan hbras bu mi ḥdod par rnam par' Itun bar hgyúr ro shes zer ro/
The Sanskrit original of the cited verse spems to have been the following:
.
"hastasparśadibädhena visame (=girimärge, Comm.) 'py abhidhāvată/ anumānapradhanena vinipato na durlabhah //" (Vakyap. I, 42.)
"Just as a (blind) man who is running quickly on a dangerous pass (in the mountains) may fall down if he fails to cling by hand, so it is not impossible for a man who chiefly relies upon his own reasoning (lit. inference) to fall down (into a hell)."
The Tibetan version seems to have a free translation for the first quarter of the verse. Bhartṛhari asserted that the knowledge derived from scriptures alone is of absolute value, whereas that derived from other sources is of relative value. He denounced the validity of reasoning. (cf. Vakyap. I, 30; 31; 41, etc.)
Among the above-mentioned verses, fr. (1) and fr. (12) are nearly identical to each other. It is likely that the same original verse was cited in a slightly different way, as was mentioned, by the two scholars Asvabhāva and Jñānaśrībhadra, who lived in different periods. It is note-worthy that we can find the apparent Sanskrit originals of some of the fragments in the Vakyapadiya of Bhartṛhari. As for some other fragments also we find in this work verses of similar purport, as has been pointed out by the writer.résent
Moreover, we should add that a verse which might be regarded as the original of fr. (11) is cited in the Tattvasamgrahapanjika of Kamalasila. In the Sabdabrahmapariksa of the Tattva amgraha by Säntiraksita, the doctrine which admits Sabda-brahman as the world-principle is attacked. Kamalašila, the commentator, explains that the author attacks Bhartṛhari's doctrine in the verses beginning with v. 128, and that he attacks "the doctrine of the opponent"
Ad v. 144, p. 72 (ed. by Embar Krishnamacharya, Baroda 1926, GOS, 30).