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TSHAD MA'I SKYES BU.
MEANING AND HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TERM
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by
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E.STEINKELLNER (VIENNA)
The term tshad ma'i skyes bu occurs in numerous passages1 of the works of rGyal tshab rje (1364-1432) and mKhas grub rje (1385-1438) that belong to the epistemological and logical literature, the "tshad ma"-literature, and is well-used in the later kindred literature of the dGe lugs pas. The "earliest" text it can be found in, is rGyal tshab's Tshad ma'i brjed byan chen mo; and this text is a compilation of notes taken down by rGyal tshab at the occasion of Tson kha pa's lectures on tshad
ma.
275
Man unterschätze den Terminus nicht!
Quod non est in verbo, non est in cogitatione.
(Friedrich Kainz, Philosophische Etymologie und historische Semantik, 22)
The term is easy enough to understand and to interprete within its context. The genitive characterizing the compound is simply attributive; the word literally means, therefore, that the person (skyes bu) is a means of valid cognition (tshad ma), and I translate the term as "a person of authority". The word designates the Buddha, of course, the authority par
E.g. in the Tshad ma'i lam khrid of rGyal tshab (Ca/VIII, 1b5, 3a1 and passim) and of mKhas grub (Ta/VI, 1b3, 4a4 and passim). For rGyal tshab's and mKhas grub's works I am using the microfiches of the Lhasa-edition of the Yab sras gsuns 'bum prepared by the Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions, New York.
2 E.g. 3b5.
It is therefore often included in Tson kha pa's collected works too (cf. Tohoku 5400 5438, Lhasa Pha/VII = Rgyal Tshab NA/III).
Although written by rGyal tshab these notes could be considered as representing a truthful mirror of the contents of Tson kha pa's lectures. Since our term does not occur in Tson kha pa's only tshad ma-work, the sDe bdun la 'jug pa'i sgo, its appearance in the Tshad ma' brjed byah can indeed be considered as the "earliest".
