________________
E. Steinkellner
Samdhinirmocanasutra
for, a logical text;48 as a text of logic the official interest in it would be quite incomprehensible.
If the king had any part in the creation of this text it is confined to a possibly direct authorship of the intention behind the introduction, the first part of which has been studied already by MACDONALD and STEIN.49 This introduction runs from P 64a4 - 65b7, but the last folio has not been taken into consideration so far although it is there where the reasons for composing this particular work and especially for presenting the "four methods" (rigs pa bãi) as found in the Samdhinirmocanasūtra are stated.50
48 LAMOTTE calls that part of the Sūtra's tenth chapter which is explained here an
"exposé de logique bouddhique" (SNSú 262, n. 22) or "un petit traité de logique" (SNSū 24). TUCCI 1958, p. 151 goes so far as to denounce the contents of the bka' yan dag pa'i tshad ma as "merely logical". Mme MACDONALD follows and calls it a "traduction d'un ouvrage de logique" (MACDONALD 1971, p. 367). Only STEIN does not follow this misleading and falsely simplifying characterization in his in
troduction (STEIN 1980, p. 333). 49 P 64b8-65a6 is translated in MACDONALD 1971, pp. 367f.; and P 64a5-64b8 is
summarized and P 64b8-65a8 translated in STEIN 1980, pp. 331-333. 50 P 65a8-65b7, compared with the version of Derge (D) (in the Nying ma Edition of
the sDe-dge bka''gyur and bsTan-gyur, Oakland 1980, Vol. 104, No. 4352, p. 384/3/1-5 (sNa-tshogs, Vol. Co, 74b1-5) and of Cone (C) (in the microfiche edition of the Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions, New York, Vol. 125 (Co), 74b5-75a2):
so so'i bsam pa rdzogs par 'gyur bas na gan 'jig rten las 'das pa'i phun sum tshogs pa 'dod kyan run / jig rten gyi phun sum tshogs pa 'dod kyan run / sgra dan yi ge'i 'bru la mkhas pa 'dod kyan run / chos thams cad kyi mtshan nid tshad ma dar sbyar zin rtogs par bya ba la sogs te gan 'dod kyan run / de bzin gśegs pa'i bstan pa la mñan pa dan bsam pa dan goms par bya ba las 'da'ba med do //
sans rgyas bcom ldan 'das kyi gsun rab Ita bu zab cin rgya che ste / zad mi ses pa la bdag 'dra ba'i ses pa rgya chun zin rmons pas dgons pa'i don go ba lob tu • bśad pa ni rgya mtsho chen po la bya gag gi rtsal gyis gcod (DC: gtsod P) par rtsol
ba dan 'dra ste mi nus par mnon pa la bdag gi tshod mi 'dzin par ci'i phyir bśad ce na 1 'jig rten na tshad mar byed pa rnams dan l'phags pa dGons pa nes par (DC: pa P) 'grel pa'i mdo las rigs (DC: rig P) pa bżi 'yun ba mthoń na bśad pa 'di dag 'ri (: 'dri PDC) bar yaň mi sems pa žig ste / 'jig rten dag bka' (om.P.) yan dag pa'i tshad'ma rin po che 'di Ita bu mi spyod par sans rgyas la sogs pa mu stegs can rnams bdag bdag gi ran bzos (1/P) jig rten slu żin tshad mar ston pa'i lugs mthon nas gsun rab kyi tshad ma bcabs na dkon mchog gsum la sñin rin ba dan / sems can la 'khus (C: 'khrus PD) par 'gyur te </>de'i phyir mi bzod pa ni mig tu gra ma'i dum bu son ba dan 'dra bar rtag tu nams (: nam PDC) na nas mkhas pa dag la bskul ba'i rkyen tsam du 'di bris so //
The following translation is only an attempt to show the general intentions of the king. STEIN remarked that "la langage du roi est alambiqué" (STEIN 1980,
243
