Buddhist Critiques of the Veda and Vedic Sacrifice: A Study of Bhāviveka’s Mīmāṃsā Chapter of the Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā and Tarkajvālā by Hyoung Seok Ham A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Asian Languages and Cultures) in the University of Michigan 2016 Doctoral Committee: Professor Madhav M. Deshpande, Chair Assistant Professor Benjamin Brose Professor Donald S. Lopez Jr. Emeritus Professor Thomas R. Trautmann yasya kasya taror mūlaṃ yena kenāpi miśritam/ yasmai kasmai pradātavyaṃ yad vā tad vā bhavisyati// One mixes the root of this or that tree with this or that. It is to be given to somebody. Then something will happen. (Subhāṣitam from Madhav M. Deshpande’s Saṃskṛtasubodhinī, p. 414) © Hyoung Seok Ham 2016 DEDICATION To Minkyung who dreamed the same dream with me ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am fortunate to have the following gurus on my dissertation committee. Professor Madhav Deshpande, my advisor, taught me the dharma of being a Sanskrit scholar. He showed me the world of Sanskrit, inspired me to experience the depth of each line of text, and taught me to appreciate its beauty. Professor Donald Lopez taught me the dharma of professionalism. He guided me to face the real problem and to take the right path. Most importantly, they both demonstrated to me what it means to be a scholar with the manner in which they live their everyday lives. This dissertation is mainly a product of my encounter with these two masters. Professor Benjamin Brose was a key source of encouragement during the difficult times. His seminar on Modern Chinese Buddhism planted a seed of a grand-scale project in me; I hope this seed will bear fruit in the future. Professor Thomas Trautmann generously agreed to serve on my Committee during his retirement and spared no effort in sharing his thoughtful comments up until the completion of this project. My trip to China in 2011 had a significant impact on this dissertation. Thought- provoking seminars with Professor Saerji, Professor Shaoyong Ye, Professor Gyu Eon Jang, and other graduate students at Peking University deepened my interest in the Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā and the Tarkajvālā. Professor Akira Saito generously provided me with copies of his articles on Bhāviveka. Professor Huanhuan He showed me an incomparable spirit of fellowship by sharing her database on Bhāviveka; I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to her. Professor Harunaga Isaacson and Professor Kashinath Nyaupane reinvigorated my enthusiasm for Sanskrit during the Sanskrit retreat at Baofeng Buddhist temple. Their passion for Sanskrit left an indelible imprint on my mind. I also thank the venerable monks at the temple for having hosted such an extraordinary event and for having made the rich resources of the iii temple available to its participants. My former teachers and friends in Korea were also great sources of support during my study abroad. Professor Sungtaek Cho is responsible for laying the foundation for my knowledge of Buddhism. He tamed the “rebellious” parts of me, trained me as a graduate student with his characteristic open mind, and put me back on track whenever I went astray. I thank him for his generosity and I am grateful that he never stopped supporting me. Professor Changhwan Park is my mentor. I would like to express my deepest respect for his relentless scholarly pursuits and rigorous academic standards. I appreciate his consistent confidence in me and I dream of reading Sanskrit with him again. Dr. Hyongchol Kang, with his expertise on Sāṃkhya philosophy, untiringly answered my questions for a year. Professor Youngjin Lee, my first Sanskrit teacher, helped resolve a few textual questions for me. Professor Sangyeob Cha inspired me with his ever cheerful mood and clarified several complex Tibetan passages. My two former colleagues at Korea University, Haeryoon Ma and Sangmin Lee, were sources of encouragement throughout the dissertation writing process. Among my acquaintances in Ann Arbor, Anna Johnson suffered the most during my dissertation writing. Her keen eyes did not overlook even minor mistakes and her critical comments always forced me to further disentangle my knotted thoughts. I thank her for having lent her analytical mind for this project. Dr. Martino Dibeltulo and Professor Aaron Proffitt helped me take on the role of teacher on Fridays; I thank them for their teamwork and support. I thank Irhe Sohn for his friendship, Kevin Mulholland for having survived with me, and Rebecca Bloom for her bright smile. Professor Varuni Bhatia was always very informative and I will never forget my many delightful memories of teaching for her courses as a GSI. Professor Juhn Ahn was always willing to listen to my long stories and gave me thoughtful advice. Professor Micah Auerback showed earnest interest in my project whenever we ran into each other and iv offered valuable suggestions. I would like to extend my gratitude to the faculty members at the Sweetland Center for Writing, especially Paul Barron and Dr. Gina Brandolino, who not only taught me how to write English prose but also how to think to write. I gratefully acknowledge the following financial support. The department of Asian Languages and Cultures enabled my education at the University of Michigan. The fellowships from the Rackham Graduate School during the last one and a half years allowed me to fully concentrate on dissertation writing. The Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies generously funded my study of Tibetan language at the University of Virginia (2010), the research trip to China (2011), and a textual research project (2012). Lastly, I wish to convey my love and gratitude to my family members. I do not know how to express my gratitude in words to my parents, Youngseek Ham and Professor Insook Lee, for the innumerable things that they have given to me. The value of sincerity is what they have emphasized throughout my life; the only way I know to thank them is to lead my life with this principle in heart. I thank my brother, Dr. Hyoungjun Ham, for leading a promising career and for telling me that he is coming to fully appreciate what science is. I bless his new life with Dr. Debra Lynn Evans. My mother-in-law, Ock Choi, provided me with the irreplaceable service of taking care of two newborn babies who were restless especially during the first three months of their lives. Without her sacrifice, this dissertation could never have been completed. I thank, with no reservation, my two little princesses, Dhana Ham and Ina Ham, for having successfully transformed me into a morning person. Thanks to them, I could laugh. Minkyung Lee, my wife, was with me at every stage of this project. We dreamed the same dream and we continue on our journey towards that ideal. I thank her for being my companion and, as a small token of my appreciation, I dedicate this dissertation to her. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... x Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Buddhist Forerunners to Bhāviveka’s Critique of Mīmāṃsā ........................ 12 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 12 1.2 The Buddha: Problematizations of the Veda and Vedic sacrifice ........................... 15 1.3 The Mahāvibhāṣā: Separate Circulations of the Two Critiques ............................. 21 1.4 Harivarman’s Tattvasiddhi: Connecting the Two ..................................................... 27 1.5 Saṅghabhadra’s Nyāyānusāra: Emergence of the Mīmāṃsakas ............................ 35 1.6 Conclusion.................................................................................................................... 46 Chapter Two: How Mīmāṃsaka is MHK 9? ............................................................................ 50 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 50 2.2 A Brief Note on the Structure of MHK 9 .................................................................. 52 2.3 An Overview of the Official Pūrva-Uttarapakṣas ...................................................... 55 2.4 An Overview of the Independent Discussions on MHK 9.11 ................................... 62 2.5 Is Bhāviveka’s Critique Directed against the Fifth Veda? Measuring the Mīmāṃsaka-ness of the Independent Discussions ..................................................................... 71 2.6 Who is the Mīmāṃsaka in MHK 9? Measuring the Mīmāṃsaka-ness of the Official Pūrva-uttarapakṣas ......................................................................................................... 83 vi 2.7 Conclusion.................................................................................................................... 95 Chapter Three: Decline of the Buddhist Critique of the Veda for its Evil Authorship