Early Tibetan Ideas On Ascertainment Of Validity

Author(s): Ernst Steinkellner
Publisher: Ernst Steinkellner

Page 5

Early Tibetan Ideas on the Ascertainment of Validity (nges byed kyi tshad ma)
261
With the exception of g Tsang nag pa's treatment,28) fragments and/or paraphrases from the works of Tibetan epistemologists preceding Sa pan's work can be gathered mainly from Sa pan's work itself and the many commentaries written on it, 29) above all from the large commentary of Shakya mchog Idan already referred to.
In the following I shall therefore present only the essentials of Sa skya Pandita's explanations, first of his own position and then of the earlier statements criticized by him. For these I shall supplement the information from other sources, but only as far as it facilitates an understanding of Sa pan's arguments.
Finally I shall look at the three kinds of valid cognitions held to be extrinsically ascertained (gzhan las nges) by Sa pan. Here the alleged dependency of Sa pan on Dharmottara can be examined more closely.
* * *
Our theme is dealt with by Sa pan in the third section of the third part of Chapter VIII.50) This section has the title "the valid cognition which ascertains the definition in case of the exemplificate" (mtshan gzhi la mtshan nyid nges pa'i tshad ma)).
The structure of this section is as follows: III. mtshan gzhi la mtshan nyid nges pa'i tshad ma
100a6-102al 1. dri ba dgod pa (putting the question)
100b1-2 2. lan (answer)
100b2-102al a. gzhan gyi lan dgag (refuting the answer of others)
100b2-5 b. rang gi lan (own answer)
100b5-101b2 c. de la rtsod pa spang ba (rejecting contentions against this [answer]) 10152-102al
The question is put forth in Rigs gter VIII 54bc: "If it be asked), whether an ascertainment of these valid cognitions is known intrinsically (rang) or extrinsically (gzhan)"52) and is explained as raising the problem in the commentary: If its validity was known intrinsically, it would be futile to teach its definition. And if it was known extrinsically, an infinite regression would be unavoidable.33)
Sa pan's own position is expressed in Rigs gter VIII 550-57a.54) Accordingly he distinguishes the following valid cognitions that are either intrinsically or extrinsically ascertained in their validity:35)
28) bs Dus pa 26a 2-27b6 with the title mtshan) gzhi la mtshan nyid nges byed bsams pa. 29) For these cf. David P. Jackson, Commentaries on the Writings of Sa-skya Pandita. A Bibliographical Sketch, in: The
Tibet Journal 8/3, 1983, (3-23) 8-12. Additions: No. (15) 1 has in the meantime been published: Mus chen rab 'byams pa Thurgs rje dpal bzang, Rigs gter 'grel pa rigs lam rab gsal, Dehradun 1985. Also No. (19) by Ngag dbang chos
grags, New Delhi 1988. 30) For an analysis of the Rigs gter cf. Zoltán Horváth, Structure and Content of the chad-ma rigs-pa'i gter, an
Epistemological Treatise of Saskya Pandita, in: Tibetan and Buddhist Studies Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of the
Birth of Alexander Csoma de Körös, ed. by Louis Ligeti, Vol. 1, Budapest 1984, 267-302. 31) Rang 'grel 100a6-102al. 32) Rigs gter VIII 54bc:/ ishad ma de dag nges pa ni /
/ rang gzhan gang las rtogs she na / 33) Rang 'grel 100blf.: nges shes Ishad ma de nyid kyi stobs kyis 'dren nam gzhan gyi stobs kyis 'dren / de nyid kyis 'dren na tshad ma'i
mtshan nyid la mi mthun pa med par 'gyur la gzhan las nges na thug med du 'gyur ro zhes zer ro. Cf. Go ram pa, rNam bshad 127a2f., and Mus rab 'byams pa, Rab gsal 166,6f.
The question and its explanation are given in substantially the same way by gTsang nag pa (bs Dus pa 26a 2-3). It is possible, because of the referential way of presenting it (...zhes zer ro) that Sa paņ is referring to gTsang nag pa here.
But lacking other indications we cannot say so for certain. 34) Rigs gter VIII 550-57a:/ don rig gnyis dang rang rig dang (55)
/ rjes su dpag pa rang las (: la) nges / / dang po pa dang yid ma gtad / / 'khrul rgyu can mnams gzhan las nges / I don byed pa dang goms pa can (56)
Irjes su dpag pas nges par byed / 35) Cf. Rang 'grel 10065-6.