Ludwig Alsdorfs Studies In Arya

Author(s): Klaus Bruhn
Publisher: Klaus Bruhn

Page 20

K. Bruhn
Ludwig Alsdorf's Studies in the Arya
233) his belief that prosody can, and ought to be used as the surest guide to the restoration of a corrupt text. With this as his basis, and with a fine feeling for the correct reading, he succeeded in producing emendations for almost every corrupt passage in texts composed in the arya metre in Pali" (NORMAN AI: 102; see also NORMAN La: 177). It should be added that A. also paid due attention to the various forms of repetition, a structural rather than a historical subject (p. 34-36: Cullasutasomajātaka; pp. 38-50: Khandahālajātaka; pp. 81-86: Guttila-Vimana). That A.'s views on the oriental editions may occasionally require modification (FALK Te: 7071) does not affect his studies in the Pali ärya.s.
BEMERKUNGEN ZU EINEM METRISCHEN FRAGMENT DES MAHĀPARINIRVANASOTRA. A. pp. 266-69. LAI no. 35 (1955). The subject of this paper is a sequence of twelve arya.s which occur both in the MPS and in the Samyuktagama and which are concerned with the seven bodhyanga.s. The verses had already been studied by E. WALDSCHMIDT. A. now shows that the careful
alysis of the metre leads to a few improvements in our understanding of the text.
- () In the next section, A. restores the nine verses of the aggisala episode (defeat of the någa in Unuvela-Kassapa's fire-temple). He demonstrates that the preceding prose is secondary (more general observations on this point are given in fn. 2 on p. 60), but that there are later repercussions of the prose version on the verse version. The verses are missing in the Catusparişatsūtra, which shows that its redactor did not yet know the new dryd metre. - (iii) In section three, A. points out that the first of five arya.s sung by Sakra (on the Buddha's entering of Rajagrha) must be read in the more correct version of the verse as found in the Nidānakatha. A. gives also a short reference to the versions of the Mahišásaka.s and Dharmagupta. (p. 63, fn. 4). - (iv) The subject of section four is the conversion of Sariputta and Mogallána. After a detailed analysis of the three verses of the preceding Assaji-Sariputta dialogue (appam và.... ye dhamma..., eseva dhammo ...). A. restores the two arya.s of the Buddha's prophecy concerning his two main disciples S. and M. (there is again a preceding prose version: p. 68). - (v) Section five is a study of the etha-bhikkhavo formula (ordination formula). Part of the formula (p. 71) shows the äryä metre ( caratha ... antakiriylya - Arya pada.s a.b), is formed on the basis of the old chi-bhikkhu phrase ("ehitvam, bhikkhu" plus imperative), and forms an integral part of the Mahavagga which was not incorporated in CPS. On account of its arya.s, the Mahavagga is a comparatively late text, and the use of the famous) etha-bhikkhavo formula in it, and only in it, is a departure from earlier usage (labheyyaham formula). A. concludes sec tion five with the observation that the CPS version of the beginning of Mahavagga is obviously later than the corresponding Pali text, and that the Pali version is possibly the earliest extant version (but see DE JONG Re supra). Furthermore, A. had already stated on p. 66 of ALSDORF Et that the Mahāvagga text with its drys must be dated much later than the Mahaparinibbanasutta, which does not contain a single arya.
The remaining part of ALSDORF Pa (pp. 319-31) is devoted to the arya.s (and verses with arya elements) in Samyutta-Nikaya, Vimanavatthu, and Apadina.
In Th and Pa, ALSDORF makes ample use of the "oriental editions" which had previously hardly been available (Pa: 13-14). C. CAILLAT (Re 1969) summarizes ALSDORF Pa with the following words: "S'aidant systématiquement des éditions orientales dont il confronte les traditions et lectures avec celles qu'ont diffusées les éditions européennes, L.A. met en évidence et regroupe quelque trois cents Arya p.. dont plusieurs n'avaient pas été jusqu'ici reconnues" (p. 22). Refer for the oriental editions also to OBERLIES JA II. K.R. NORMAN feels that "The aspect of Alsdorf's work which is likely to have the greatest impact upon Pali studies in the long run is the writing about metre, especially his study of the dryd metre, published in 1968, which deals with all the examples of the äryä metre, old and classical alike, in the Canon, except for those in the Thera- and Theri-gatha. ... He stated there [1966, p.
VERKANNTE MAHÅVASTU-STROPHEN. A. pp. *370-79. LAI no. 41 (1968/69). A. restore the twenty-one arya.s of the upasampada section at the beginning of the Mahāvastu which had already been recognized by LEUMANN (see Ernst Leumann Kleine Schriften). Afterwards he analyzes the verses (two arya.s et aliud) in the story of the conversion of Sariputra and Maudgalyāyana. At the beginning of the paper, A. stresses the need for a critical edition of the Mahāvastu. He seems to feel that the Mahāvastu offers considerable scope not only for the metrical restoration of known verses, but also for the detection of new verses.
Acknowledgement The very nature of the present essay necessitated frequent contacts with collegues who are working in the same field. In most cases, an acknowledgement has already been made in the text, but I would like to express my indebtedness also in a comprehensive manner.
As on previous occasions I am grateful to R. RADZINSKI for improving with great care the language of my paper.