Book Reviews Nagarjuna's Sutrasamuccaya: a Critical Edition
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Book Reviews Nagarjuna's Sutrasamuccaya: • Chone (Institute for Advanced A Critical Edition of the Mdo Studies of World Religions, New Kun Las Btus Pa York, USA) • Derge (Toyo Bunko, Tokyo, Japan and Oriental Institute of the By Bhikkhu Pilsildika Academy of Science, Prague, Academic Forlag Kobenhavn 1989 Czech Republic) • Marthang (Blockprint, Columbia Bhikkhu Pasadika's deep interest in University, New York, USA) and Nagarjuna's Sutrasamuccaya had lasted • Peking (red Peking printing and three decades. His translation of this very black Peking print) important Mahayana treatise as "to a considerable extent a preliminary version" None of the texts were found to be free was published m late 1970's in from errors; the editor had not adopted any installments in Linh-Ion-Publication of them as the base text. As "no negligible d' etudes bouddhologiques from 1978 to number of Sanskrit passages corresponding 1982. Realizing that a critical edition was to Sutrasamuccaya is preserved in other a prerequisite for a better translation, he Buddhist Sanskrit works, he could take the understook the task. It was a well-planned Sanskrit passages as the base text. But it and seriously executed project. In addition was no easy task as he had to deal with to the Peking edition of the Tibetan text abridgements and amendments which which he used for his preliminary created doubts as to whether a text was translation, Bhikkhu Pasadika obtained corrupt or still intelligible. through the courtesy of renowned Buddhist scholars such as L. M. Joshi and To a student of Sutrasamuccaya as found in Venerable Acarya Lozang Jamspal, Tibetan, Bhikkhu Pasadika's version of the text from Tokyo, Prague, thoughtfulness has a special benefit. He has New York and Paris. painstakingly identified each sutra with the original Sanskrit text. Bhikkhu Pasadika follows the most advanced norms of textual criticism and Christian Lindtner, in his Foreword delves into Chinese and Japanese underscores the urgency of publishing traditions, Indo-Tibetan lexicographical reliable critical editions and translations material and an extensive array of (not just translations) of the early secondary sources. He has also conducted a comparative study of corresponding Mahayana sutras, "the importance of which is seen from their manifest influence upon Sanskrit passges in other texts as Siksasamuccaya and Gandavyuha. later sastras, through citations, terminology, etc." Sutrasamuccaya is certainly one of them. One would wholeheartedly agree The Tibetan text as worked out by with Lindtner that Bhikkhu Pasadika's Bhikkhu Pasadika emerges from four contribution in this respect stands out as Tibetan editions identified as one of the most notable. --Ananda W. P. Guruge .