Reviews Of Diffeent Books

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

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REVIEWS
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have been possible even without consulting the Sanskrit text if Sparham were familiar not only with the technical language of the text but also with Sanskrit Buddhist terminology. In chapter 19, verse 2, one finds the expression rig dan rkan-par Idan. Sparham translates: "with insight and mobility" and explains that insight provides the ‘mobility', literally "legs' of ethics. Rig dan rkan-par ldan translates Sanskrit vidyācaranasampanna “perfected in wisdom and good conduct and the translation of carana with the word rkar-pa 'foot' or 'leg' is due to the fact that Sanskrit carana means both 'foot' and conduct and has nothing to do with insight providing mobility.
There is no point in enumerating the numerous mistranslations found in Sparham's translation. As long as it is believed that serious Buddhist scholarship must base itself primarily on Tibetan sources and use extant Sanskrit texts as an aid, we can expect to see similar works continue to be published.
Needless to say, Sparham is unaware of the fact that the Tibetan Udānavarga has been published in 1911 by Beckh and the Tibetan Udānavargavivarana in 1984 by Michael Balk (cf. IIJ 30, pp. 236-237). There is, however, need for a critical edition of the Tibetan version for Beckh's edition was based upon a single edition of the Kanjur and a single edition of the Tanjur. This would be very useful for the study of the Udānavarga, a text which presents many still unsolved problems.
Australian National University
J. W. DE JONG
NOTES
| Sparham mentions only the 1892 edition. 2. Zu den Rezensionen des Udānavargah', WZKS 14 (1970), pp. 47-127. 3 Franz Bernhard, Udänavarga. Göttingen, 1965-1968. + Sparham has used the Narthang and Derge editions of the Kanjur and does not seem to have discovered that the Udanavarga is also found in the Tanjur preceding the Udänavargavivarana.
Gerhard Ehlers, Alttürkische Handschriften. Teil 2: Das Goldglanzsūtra und der buddhistische Legendenzyklus Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā (Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, Band XIII, 10). Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH., 1987. IX, 170 pp., 40 pl. DM 128,-.
According to the preface by Klaus Röhrborn, the two collections of Old
Indo-Iranian Journal 32: 1989.