Notes On Bodhisattvabhumi

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

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J.w. de JONG
In his "Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary" (BHSD) Edgerton paid great attention to the vocabulary of the Bodhisattvabhūmi (Edgerton, 1953). It is difficult to know whether Edgerton had read the entire text or had mainly used Wogihara's detailed index to his edition. In any case, he made an important contribution to the lexicography of the Bodhi - sattvabhūmi. In 1961, H. Ui (1882-1963) published an index of the Bodhisattvabhūmi (Ui, 1961). His work consists of two parts, the first being a translation of selected passages (pp. 1-312) and the second an index of Sanskrit words accompanied by Hsüan-tsang's Chinese translation (Ch.) and Ui's Japanese translation (pp. 313-591). In many instances Ui discusses in some detail the meaning of difficult words. Ui relies very heavily on Hsuan-tsang's translation and does not take into account the Tibetan translation (T.). His work is useful, but only for those who are able to read Japanese.
In 1966 Nalinaksha Dutt (1893-1973) published a new edition (D.) based upon a manuscript photographed by Rahula Sānkstyāyana (R.) in 1938 in the Sha-lu monastery in Tibet. The readings of this manuscript are often superior to those found in the two manuscripts used by Wogihara (C. and K.), but Dutt's edition is established with much less care than Wogihara's edition. This has been shown convincingly by Gustav Roth who, on the basis of the same manuscript, published a new edition of the beginning (fol. lb-2a) of the text (Roth, 1977). Whereas Wogihara had carefully compared the Tibetan translation and Hsüan-tsang's translation, Dutt does not seem to have consulted either of them. His notes refer only to the manuscript and to Wogihara's edition. As a consequence there are cases in which Dutt adopts the reading of Wogihara's edition although the correct reading is to be found in his own manuscript. For instance, one finds the following passage in Wogihara's edition: "an-āpattiḥ par'ahstam anena sambhāvayatah yato nidānam asyotpadyeta vadho vā bandho vă dando vā jyānir garhaņā vā" (163.12 - 14). Dutt (III. 25-26) keeps the reading "anena" and relegates to a note the MS reading "anayena", although the Tibetan translation (88a2, "mirigs-par") confirms "anayena", which of course is the correct reading. In other places Dutt prefers the readings of his manuscript to those found in Wogihara's edition even though the latter are undoubtedly correct. For instance, Wogihara's edition has : "samvara-stho bodhisattvaḥ sattva-kstyeşv āghāta-cittaḥ pratigha-citto na sahāyibhāvam gacchati. yad uta krtya-samarthe vă adhva-gaman'āgamane vă samyag