Book Reviews

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

Page 29

REVIEWS
Heinz Bechert (ed.), Die Sprache der ältesten buddhistischen Überlieferung / The Language of the Earliest Buddhist Tradition (Symposien zur Buddhismusforschung, II). (Abh.d.Ak.d. Wiss. in Göttingen, Phil. -hist. Ki., Dritte Folge, Nr. 117). Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1980. 193 pp. DM 66,--
The second symposium on Buddhist studies was held in Göttingen on July 4th-7th 1976. The theme of the symposium was the language of the earliest Buddhist tradition. The present volume contains the papers read at the symposium and a report on the discussions which followed the lectures (pp. 182-189). The problems relating to the linguistic character of the early Buddhist tradition have been discussed for more than one hundred years and, as Heinz Bechert remarks in his introduction, the contributions to this symposium show that there are disagreements of opinion among the expects.
One of the points of disagreement is the interpretation of the famous passage of Cullavagga V.33 on the recitation of Buddhist texts by the Yameļutekulā brothers. Brough (Sakaya Niruttiya: Cauld kale het. pp. 35-42) rejects Norman's explanation of chandaso as from chanda- in the sense of "wish, desire". According to him, MI chanda- derives from Skt. chandas-. Brough translates chandaso as in the manner of the Brahmanical religious texts". So far I feel myself in complete agreement with Brough. However, I am unable to share his opinion that this means "into Sanskrit". I believe it is not possible to explain this passage without taking into account the many other passages on the recitation of Buddhist texts. Some of them have been translated and studied by Sylvain Lévi (JA, 1915, I, pp. 401-447). Others are to be found in the article bombai by Demiéville in the Hôbôgirin (fascicules I-II, 1929-1930, pp. 93-95). According to these texts the Buddha forbids the reciting or chanting of Buddhist texts in the way in which Vedic texts are recited or chanted. The Chinese versions which are parallel to Cullavaggå V.33 speak of two brahman brothers expert in Vedic chanting. Only the Dharmagupta Vinaya does not mention Vedic chanting. Sylvain Lévi translates: "Je désire que Bhagavat nous permette d'arranger les textes sacrés dans le beau parler des gens du monde" (op. cit., p. 442). Brough translates: "in accordance with the fine language (texts?) of the world" (p. 39). It is certainly necessary to translate the word lun "treatise, text". The "texts in the fine language of the world" are undoubtedly the Vedic texts.
Cullavagga V.33 and the parallel Chinese versions refer to Vedic chanting, and the interpretation of chandas given by Helmer Smith and Louis Renou is fully confirmed by the texts quoted by Sylvain Lévi and Demiéville (cf. Ét. Lamotte, Histoire du bouddhisme indien, I, Louvain, 1958, p. 611).
Brough discusses the names of the brahmans. The name Utsäha is found in the Vinaya of the Dharmaguptas and the Vinayamātļkā. The Vinaya of the Sarvāstivādins has Gova and Yava. Brough tries to explain both the name of the first brahman in the Pali text, Yame, and the name of Yava as derived from a hypothetical *Java with the meaning "strength". Brough writes: "It is then possible that in these four versions *Java and Utsäha are used as approximate synonyms for the same personal name." Is it likely that in different versions of a story synonyms are used for a personal name? One would rather expect to find distorted forms of the same name or entirely different names as is usually the case.
In his paper (Ardha-Māgadhī, pp. 17-23) Ludwig Alsdorf examines two groups of stanzas in the Uttarajjhayana-Nijjutti and the Manipaticarita written in a metre called Māgahiyā, Māgadhikā. The language of these stanzas is true Ardhamāgadhi because it has two of the three characteristics of Māgadhỉ: nominative singular in -e; and I instead of r. According to Alsdorf