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The Bodhicaryāvatāra The transmission of the Bodhicaryāvatāra The history, diffusion, and influence of a Mahāyāna Buddhist text by Fredrik Liland A thesis presented to the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo, in partial fulfilment (60 sp) of the requirements for the Master’s Degree in History of Religions, Spring 2009. Thesis supervisor: Professor Jens Erland Braarvig Contents Abbreviations 3 Introduction 5 The purpose of the investigation 5 Previous work 6 Sources and methodology 7 The Bodhicaryāvatāra 9 1. India 13 Śāntideva 14 The Indian commentators 17 Two abbreviated versions 19 2. Nepal 21 Early traces 22 The Malla-period 23 Modern Nepal 24 3. Tibet 26 The translation process 26 The revisions 29 Atiśa and the bKa’ gdams pas 31 The BCA in a meditation-manual 33 Philosophical controversies 34 A contemporary example 36 4. China 37 Translations during the Sòng dynasty 38 Tiān Xīzāi 40 The Chinese BCA 42 5. Mongolia 45 The introduction of Buddhism 46 Čosgi Odser 47 Later editions and translations 49 6. Recent developments 51 Academic translations 54 Religious translations 55 Academic work 57 Religious commentaries and self-help books 58 7. A teaching on the BCA by the 14th Dalai Lama 59 The setting 59 1 The lecture 62 Continuing the tradition 70 8. Manuscripts of the BCA 72 Previous manuscript-work 73 Manuscripts in the catalogue of the NGMCP 77 The Sanskrit BCA in Nepal 79 A comparison 81 Prospects for a new edition of the BCA 88 Sanskrit commentaries 88 Manuscripts in Newari 91 Conclusion 92 Appendix: List of manuscripts 94 Cambridge (Cambridge University Library) 94 Kolkata (Asiatic Society) 94 Kyoto (Kyoto University) 95 London (British Library) 95 Nepal1 (NGMCP) 95 Nepal2 (Manuscripts in the Asha Archives, Patan) 98 Paris (Bibliothéque Nationale) 99 Patna(/Tibet) (Patna Museum) 99 Stony Brook, New York (IASW) 99 Tokyo (Tokyo University Library) 100 Unknown location (St Petersburg?) 100 Bibliography 100 Synopsis 115 2 Abbreviations Ash. – Ms. in the Asha archives, Kathmandu; see Yoshizaki (1991). BCA – Bodhicaryāvatāra by Śāntideva (7th Century CE). BCA1 – The earlier version of the BCA as preserved in Tibetan translation in BCATib1. BCA2 – The later version of the BCA; see Minayev (1889), etc. BCABh – Bodhicaryāvatārabhāṣā, Newari commentary to the BCA by Ratna Bahādur Vajrācārya (early 20th Century); see NGMCP E 10/3 and E 1374/25-1375/1. BCAChi – Pútíxíng Jīng 菩提行經 (Chinese translation of BCA) by Tiān Xīzāi 天息災 (985); see T 1662. BCAMon – The Mongolian translation of the BCA; see Vladimircov (1929), etc. BCANew – Newari translation of the BCA; see Divyavajra (1986) and NGMCP E 1375/3, E 1709/5, and E 1789/39. BCAṢP – Bodhisattvacaryāvatāraṣattriṃśātapiṇḍārtha by Dharmapāla (c. 1000 CE) of Sumatra (abbreviated version of BCA); preserved in Tibetan translation in Tg sha 188a7-191b3. BCAP – Bodhicaryāvatārapañjikā by Prajñākaramatī (10th Century); see La Vallée Poussin (1901-14). BCAPiṇ – Bodhisattvacaryāvatārapiṇḍārtha by Dharmapāla (c. 1000 CE) of Dharmapāla (c. 1000 CE) of Sumatra (abbreviated version of BCA); preserved in Tibetan translation in Tg sha 191b3-192b6. BCAṬ – Bodhicaryāvatāraṭīka; the title for BCAP ch. 9, when kept separate. BCATay – Bodhistw-a Čari-a Awatar-un Tayilbur, Mongolian commentary to the BCA by Čosgi Odser (1912). BCATib – The Tibetan translation of the BCA. BCATib1 – The Tibetan translation of BCA1 preserved in the mss. from Dūnhuáng; see Saito (1993 and 2000), and the mss. Lon. IOL Tib J 628-630 and Par. Pt. 794. BCATib2 – The Tibetan translation of BCA2 preserved at Tabo monastery; see Saito (1999). BCATib3 – The Tibetan translation of BCA2 preserved in Tg, etc. BCAṬIP – Bodhicaryāvatāraṭippaṇi (unknown author); see NGMCP B 23/4. BCATPVD – Bodhicaryāvatāratātparyapañjikāviśeṣadyotanī by Vibhūtichandra’s (12th-13th Century). 3 BCAV – Bodhisattvacaryāvatāravivṛttipañjikā (unknown author); commentary to BCA1 preserved only in Tibetan translation; see Saito (1993). BhK – Bhāvanākrama by Kamalaśīla (8th Century). Cam. – Ms. at the Cambridge University Library. CIHTS – Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi. IASW – Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions, Stony Brook, New York. Kol. – Ms. at the Asiatic Society, Kolkata. Lon. – Ms. at the British Library, London. Ms. – Manuscript NE – Nepal Era (nepāla saṃvat), the official calendar of Nepal; add 880 years for CE. NGMCP – Nepal-German Manuscript Cataloguing Project. Par. – Ms. at Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris. ŚS – Śikṣāsamuccaya by Śāntideva (7th Century CE); see Bendall (1902). T – Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō 大正新修大藏經, Tokyo, 1926-34. Tg – bsTan ‘gyur (Derge edition), the śāstra-section of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. Unk. – Ms. of unknown location. VE – Vikram Era (vikrama saṃvat), the calendar initiated by the Indian emperor Vikramaditya (102 BCE-15 CE); subtract 57 years for CE. 4 Introduction The Bodhicaryāvatāra (BCA) first came to my attention while studying Buddhism at a Tibetan monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 2002 until 2006.1 The BCA was an integral part of the education of the Buddhist monks at the monastery, and was also part of the syllabus taught by Tibetan khenpos (mkhan po; monk-professor) to the visiting foreign students. The BCA struck me as more easily accessible than a lot of the other texts taught at the monastery, most of them tending to be overly dry and complicated philosophical elaborations. The BCA, on the other hand, engaged my fascination due to its altruistic sentiment, its vivid use of imagery, and its engaging philosophical considerations. The interest remained, and when the possibility opened for me to undertake the writing of a master’s thesis there was no doubt in my mind about what topic to chose. The only question was how to approach the text. I began by studying the Sanskrit edition together with its translations into Tibetan and Chinese, as well as the modern translations available in English. The fruit of this initial labour was a quadrilingual edition of the text, with each verse arranged parallel with its equivalent in the other languages. The experiences I drew from reading this, and other multilingual texts, in several seminars organized by Professor Jens Braarvig at the University of Oslo in 2007 and 2008 convinced me to focus on a broader perspective, one that would take into consideration the text as it has been transmitted through various cultures and times, as a vehicle for cultural exchange. The purpose of the investigation Much has been written on the BCA. What is then the purpose of yet another contribution? First of all, no work that I am aware of has approached the BCA in a comprehensive manner, taking into account the whole range of areas and languages where the text has had an impact. The text’s history in, for instance, Nepal and China have barely been discussed, and its Mongolian translation has, as far as I can see, never left the field of Altaic studies and placed within its broader context. The Sanskrit edition of the BCA is also badly in need of an update, as the handful of manuscripts that were the basis of the first two editions, now over a century old, have been joined by many more discoveries lately. There have also been many works over the past 25 years that has given us a much better understanding of the history and philosophy of the BCA, and an attempt to begin to collect these results and place them in a 1 During this time I studied for a BA (Hon.) degree in Buddhist Studies at the Centre for Buddhist Studies at the Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling Monastery in Boudhanath, Kathmandu, a centre affiliated with Kathmandu University. 5 broader perspective can be beneficial for further inquiries. What this thesis then will attempt is to place the BCA in its historical context, to the extent that our present knowledge allows, and to show where and how it has had an impact. It will also expose the many areas where further research is needed, and at least inspire the author to continue his research on this intriguing and influential work of literature. To quote the humble words of the author of the BCA himself: “There is nothing here that has not been said before, nor have I any skill in composition. Therefore, I have made this not with the intent of other’s benefit, but in order to develop my own mind.”2 Previous work Since its first introduction on the international scholarly stage in the groundbreaking edition by the Russian Indologist Ivan P. Minayev in 1889, the BCA has been a favourite topic in research on Mahāyāna Buddhism. The first translation into a modern language was begun by the Belgian scholar Louis de la Vallée Poussin in 1892, who translated chapters 1-4 and 10 into French, and since then partial and complete translations have appeared in a range of languages. La Vallée Poussin’s edition of the Bodhicaryāvatārapañjikā (BCAP), a 10th Century commentary to the BCA, begun in 1901 has also been of crucial importance to the research of the BCA in particular, as well as Mahāyāna in general. The many translations published have been supplemented by introductory discussions on the author, the historical role of the text within Mahāyāna Buddhism, and with technical aspects on the language and contents. There has also been done work on particular chapters of the BCA, such as Michael J. Sweets influential doctoral thesis from 1977 which focuses on the 9th chapter. Other works have taken up specific topics from the BCA, such as Paul Williams (2000) who in a range of articles have discussed the philosophical ramifications of particular verses, especially from chapters 8 and 9, or Francis Brassard (2000) who has discussed the ethical aspects of the text. One of the main contributions that have been made lately towards an understanding of the history of the BCA is the several articles by Akira Saito (1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000) discussing the existence of an earlier and shorter version, now only available in Tibetan translation, which was presumably added to by later editors in India.
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