Guruparamparā
Studies on Buddhism, India, Tibet and More in Honour of Professor Marek Mejor
Studies on Buddhism, India, Tibet and More in Honour of Professor Marek Mejor
Contributor(s): Katarzyna Marciniak (Editor), Stanisław Jan Kania (Editor), Małgorzata Wielińska-Soltwedel (Editor), Agata Bareja-Starzyńska (Editor)
Subject(s): Theology and Religion, Comparative Studies of Religion, Sociology of Religion, History of Religion
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Buddhism; Sanskrit; Asia; Tibet; India; China; Japan
Summary/Abstract: This volume is a Festschrift in honour of Professor Marek Mejor’s over forty years of remarkable contributions as a researcher in the field of Indian, Tibetan, and Buddhist studies, as well as a teacher, supervisor, organiser, and a vigorous participant in the scientific community, both in his native Poland and abroad. Edited by Marek Mejor’s long-time colleagues and former students, Guruparampara brings together a broad range of international scholars, whose learned essays reflect the vast diversity of Marek Mejor’s research interests: from textual studies and philology through religious and philosophical thought to history of Oriental Studies. The resulting anthology will also be of interest to researchers beyond those personally acquainted with the honouree.
- E-ISBN-13: 978-83-235-5869-9
- Print-ISBN-13: 978-83-235-5861-3
- Page Count: 538
- Publication Year: 2022
- Language: English, Polish
Marek Mejor: List of Publications
Marek Mejor: List of Publications
(Marek Mejor: List of Publications)
- Author(s):Katarzyna Marciniak, Stanisław Jan Kania, Małgorzata Wielińska-Soltwedel, Agata Bareja-Starzyńska
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:21-33
- No. of Pages:13
- Price: 1.50 €
Marek Mejor: Gallery
Marek Mejor: Gallery
(Marek Mejor: Gallery)
- Author(s):Katarzyna Marciniak, Stanisław Jan Kania, Małgorzata Wielińska-Soltwedel, Agata Bareja-Starzyńska
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:35-44
- No. of Pages:10
- Price: 1.00 €
Notes on the Survival of Buddhism in Communist Mongolia (1921–1989)
Notes on the Survival of Buddhism in Communist Mongolia (1921–1989)
(Notes on the Survival of Buddhism in Communist Mongolia (1921–1989))
- Author(s):Agata Bareja-Starzyńska, Byambaa Ragchaa
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:45-64
- No. of Pages:20
- Keywords:Mongolia; Buddhism; communism; political persecution; religious practice
- Summary/Abstract:The paper discusses how Buddhism survived in Mongolia from 1921 to 1989 regardless of the communists’ attempts to destroy it. It starts with a short account of the destruction of Buddhist institutions and mass repression and the condition of Buddhism after the battle: the remains of Buddhist heritage and the attitude of the Mongolian state to Buddhism. Then follows information about Buddhist institutions during the Mongolian People’s Republic and methods of Mongolian Buddhists to continue the religious practice – examples from Gandantegchenlin Monastery and depiction of some individual practices are provided, as well as a description of Buddhist rituals conducted in secret. Finally, as an epilogue, the revitalization of Buddhism, which started with the democratization process in Mongolia at the end of 1989, is briefly characterized.
- Price: 1.50 €
Filtered through Multiple Lenses: What We Think Buddhists Thought Ritual Specialists Did
Filtered through Multiple Lenses: What We Think Buddhists Thought Ritual Specialists Did
(Filtered through Multiple Lenses: What We Think Buddhists Thought Ritual Specialists Did)
- Author(s):Joanna Bialek
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:65-78
- No. of Pages:14
- Keywords:Old Tibetan; non-Buddhist funerary rites; Tibetan Empire; Tibetan Buddhism; ITJ 489; ITJ 562
- Summary/Abstract:The paper is a first attempt of a complete translation and interpretation of two short and only partially preserved manuscripts, ITJ 489v and ITJ 562r. In terms of their contents, ITJ 489v and ITJ 562r belong to the collection of Buddhist texts that were composed to discredit funeral practices and afterlife beliefs attributed to non-Buddhist ritual specialists and their community. The manuscripts have to be treated in the broader context of the spread of Buddhism on the Tibetan Plateau and the methodical replacement of local rites and customs by their Buddhist equivalents in practice and on the linguistic level by new, Buddhist interpretations.
- Price: 1.50 €
Shel dkar Chos sde Monastery of Ding ri, Tibet
Shel dkar Chos sde Monastery of Ding ri, Tibet
(Shel dkar Chos sde Monastery of Ding ri, Tibet)
- Author(s):Thupten Kunga Chashab
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:79-99
- No. of Pages:21
- Keywords:abbot; monastery; subsidies; recitation; Dge lugs pa; donations; exile; Sherpas; Sollu Khumbu; Baudhanath
- Summary/Abstract:The Shel dkar chos sde Monastery is located in the Southwest of Tibet, close to the Nepalese-Tibetan border at Kodari, Nepal. The monastery was founded and sponsored by a chieftain of La stod Lho, Si tu chos kyi rin chen in 1385 AD, on Rgyal mo shel ri Mountain in Ding ri Shel dkar. Prior to Si tu’s involvement in the establishment of this monastery, in the times of Dpang lo tsa ba in the 13th century, there was a small temple at the location. Before it was transformed into a Dge lugs pa school in the middle of the 17th century there were twenty-one colleges (grwa tshangs) of different Tibetan Buddhist traditions: the Sa skya pa, Bo dong, and Dga’ ldan pa practitioners. In 1959 the monastery was destroyed and the monks were resettled by the Chinese army. Out of around three hundred monks of the Shel dkar Monastery in Tibet, only forty-seven were able to escape into exile in Sollu Khumbu, Nepal. Thanks to donations given by the Tibetans, Sherpas, and Westerners the settlement monastery in Sho rong bde legs gling camp was built at Sollu Khumbu and assigned for the Shel dkar and Chu bzang monks to live in and continue their religious practices. In the middle of the 1980s, the Shel dkar monks decided to move to Kathmandu, Nepal. Nowadays the Shel dkar Monastery is in the vicinity of Tintsuli Baudhanath, Kathmandu. At present, there are around a hundred and ten monks at the monastery and the majority of the monks are from the Himalayan regions of Nepal and India. Only one-third of the monks are Tibetans from Tibet and the Tibetan community in exile.
- Price: 1.50 €
Cleaving the Darkness of Faults and Splitting the Blackness of Night (doṣāndhakārabhiduraḥ in Cāndravr̥tti 1.2.108)
Cleaving the Darkness of Faults and Splitting the Blackness of Night (doṣāndhakārabhiduraḥ in Cāndravr̥tti 1.2.108)
(Cleaving the Darkness of Faults and Splitting the Blackness of Night (doṣāndhakārabhiduraḥ in Cāndravr̥tti 1.2.108))
- Author(s):Dragomir Dimitrov
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:101-117
- No. of Pages:17
- Keywords:Sanskrit and Pali grammar; Cāndravyākaraṇa; Cāndravr̥tti; Cāndrapañjikā; Candragomin; Ratnamati; Moggallāna
- Summary/Abstract:In this article a simple rule from Candragominʼs Cāndrasūtra, namely Cān 1.2.108, identical with rule 3.2.162 in Pāṇiniʼs Aṣṭādhyāyī, and the comments on it presented in the Cāndravr̥tti are discussed in some detail. The main commentary on this sūtra turns out to be quite important and particularly revealing, since it contains an interesting literary example, namely doṣāndhakārabhidura- “cleaving the darkness of faults / splitting the blackness of night”, which is attested in Candragomin’s own Śiṣyalekha, or “Letter to a Disciple”. While this passage from the Cāndravyākaraṇa has already attracted the attention of earlier scholars, it is discussed here for the first time in the light of the later Cāndra tradition, in particular taking into consideration the lucid scholarly explanation found in Ratna’s Cāndrapañjikā and the treatment of the same grammatical issue in Pali dealt with in Moggallāna’s grammar and Saṃgharakkhita’s commentary on it. It is shown, among other things, that the passage in the main Sanskrit commentary on Cān 1.2.108 certainly does not contradict the old idea, first introduced by Bruno Liebich, about a common authorship of the Cāndrasūtra and the Cāndravr̥tti, and in fact rather supports this proposition, which – apparently in vain – a few later scholars were tempted to put in doubt.
- Price: 1.50 €
Reading Notes on the Vigrahavyāvartanī
Reading Notes on the Vigrahavyāvartanī
(Reading Notes on the Vigrahavyāvartanī)
- Author(s):Eli Franco
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:119-144
- No. of Pages:26
- Keywords:Nāgārjuna; Vigrahavyāvartanī; dṛṣṭānta; dṛṣṭāntavirodhaḥ; hetu; pratijñālakṣaṇa; six-pointed debate (ṣaṭkoṭiko vādaḥ); pramāṇas; skepticism; Nyāya semantics
- Summary/Abstract:This paper suggests a new understanding of some key-concepts used in the Vigrahavyāvartanī (VV), such as dṛṣtānta (reading note 1), pratijñālakṣaṇa (note 4) and hetu (note 6). It argues that contrary to the commonly held opinion, Nāgārjuna’s opponent was not a Naiyāyika inasmuch as the philosophical tradition of Nyāya did not yet exist, but rather an Ābhidharmika, yet not of the Sarvāstivāda tradition (note 5, cf. also note 12). In this connection, the paper underscores the fact that certain Buddhists held a theory of four pramāṇas, and explains how the rejection of pramāṇas by Nāgārjuna did not keep him from making use of dialectics and knowledge claims (note 8). Furthermore, it advances a nihilistic interpretation of the VV against the claims that Nāgārjuna was a prāsaṅgika (K. Bhattacharya) or a skeptic (E. Mills), or that he availed himself of special semantics (J. Westerhoff). The paper also argues that Nāgārjuna held a thesis, in fact a triple thesis, namely, that all things are empty, his own statement is included in all things, and empty things can perform actions (note 7). Finally, it distinguishes two different proofs of emptiness advanced in the VV (notes 9–10).
- Price: 2.00 €
The (Re-)Appearance of the “Discourse on the Salt River” (Kṣāranadī-sūtra)
The (Re-)Appearance of the “Discourse on the Salt River” (Kṣāranadī-sūtra)
(The (Re-)Appearance of the “Discourse on the Salt River” (Kṣāranadī-sūtra))
- Author(s):Jens-Uwe Hartmann
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:145-155
- No. of Pages:11
- Keywords:Kṣāranadī-sūtra; Tridaṇḍamālā; Saṃyuktāgama; Sattvārādhanastava; proto-Kanjur; Gondhla; Tholing
- Summary/Abstract:Although various sources have long indicated the existence of a canonical text with a probable Sanskrit title, Kṣāranadī-sūtra, “Discourse on the Salt River”, and even quoted from it, neither the title nor citations could be connected to any surviving text. Only the discovery of an unknown Tibetan translation, preserved in two of the so-called proto-Kanjurs, Gondhla and Tholing, brought to light a sūtra that contains one of the previously known quotations, and could thus be connected to the Sanskrit title. Shortly afterwards, the full Sanskrit text of the Kṣāranadī-sūtra was found in a so far unstudied text, the Tridaṇḍamālā ascribed to Aśvaghoṣa. The Sanskrit sūtra closely corresponds to the Tibetan translation. The body of evidence, including a related sūtra in the Chinese translation of the Saṃyuktāgama, shows that this version must belong to the (Mūla-)Sarvāstivādins.
- Price: 1.00 €
Two Notes on Tibetan √reg ‘shave’
Two Notes on Tibetan √reg ‘shave’
(Two Notes on Tibetan √reg ‘shave’)
- Author(s):Nathan W. Hill
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:157-160
- No. of Pages:4
- Keywords:Old Tibetan; Vinaya; verb morphology
- Summary/Abstract:On the basis of an edition of a short passage in the "Vinayakṣudrakavastu", this article argues that Tibetan has an intransitive verb regs ‘be shaven’ and a transitive verb ḥdreg, bregs, breg, reg(s) ‘shave’.
- Price: 0.50 €
Metaphor of River in the "Dhammapada"
Metaphor of River in the "Dhammapada"
(Metaphor of River in the "Dhammapada")
- Author(s):Joanna Jurewicz
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:161-173
- No. of Pages:13
- Keywords:Buddhism; Dhammapada; conceptual metonymy; conceptual metaphor; conceptual blending
- Summary/Abstract:The paper discusses the metaphor of river in the Dhammapada with the assumption of the embodied cognition and the use of the conceptual metaphor theory. Such an approach allows for reconstructing the enriched meaning of this metaphor and its conceptual relationship with the earlier Vedic tradition.
- Price: 1.50 €
Tattva-saṅgraha(-pañjikā) VIId Digambara-parikalpitâtma-parīkṣā
Tattva-saṅgraha(-pañjikā) VIId Digambara-parikalpitâtma-parīkṣā
(Tattva-saṅgraha(-pañjikā) VIId Digambara-parikalpitâtma-parīkṣā)
- Author(s):Stanisław Jan Kania
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:175-218
- No. of Pages:44
- Keywords:Śāntarakṣita; Kamalaśīla; Jaina; soul; ātman; jīva
- Summary/Abstract:The "Digambara-parikalpitâtma-parīkṣā" is a relatively brief section of the voluminous "Tattva-saṅgraha" of Śāntarakṣita. It presents a fictitious, idealised Mahāyānist-Jaina debate, its subject being the Jaina doctrine of the soul. The Sanskrit original of both Śāntarakṣita’s verses and Kamalaśīla’s prose commentary thereon, the "Pañjikā", has been edited twice thus far: in the complete editions of the two texts by E. Krishnamacharya (1926), and D. Shastri (1968). Both works are of limited reliability, and neither consults the Tibetan versions of these texts. The present article offers a new critical edition of said section of the "Tattva-saṅgraha(-pañjikā)", together with an annotated English translation.
- Price: 3.00 €
na sarvathā gatiḥ
na sarvathā gatiḥ
(na sarvathā gatiḥ)
- Author(s):Shoryu Katsura
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:219-225
- No. of Pages:7
- Keywords:Dignāga; Pramāṇasamuccaya; na sarvathā gatiḥ; perception; conceptual cognition; anyāpoha
- Summary/Abstract:In his “Dignāga, sein Werk und seine Entwicklung” (1959), Erich Frauwallner examines the theory of “the wheel of reasons” and that of “exclusion of others” in the logico-epistemological works of Dignāga, thereby establishing the historical order of those works; namely, "Hetucakraḍamaru, Nyāyamukha, Hetumukha", and "Pramāṇasamuccaya". It is amazing that he could come to such a conclusion primarily by means of Chinese and Tibetan translations of Dignāga’s works, with just a few fragmentary materials left in Sanskrit. Since then we have obtained more Sanskrit materials of Dignāga, especially from the Sanskrit version of Jinendrabuddhi’s "Pramāṇasamuccaya-ṭīkā". Thus, the aim of this paper is to clarify the difference between perception and conceptual cognition in Dignāga’s epistemology, by focusing on the phrase “Not known in toto” (na sarvathā gatiḥ) that appears three times in the "Pramāṇasamuccaya".
- Price: 1.00 €
“Radiant Sun Illuminating the Darkness of the Sentient Beings”
“Radiant Sun Illuminating the Darkness of the Sentient Beings”
(“Radiant Sun Illuminating the Darkness of the Sentient Beings”)
- Author(s):Karénina Kollmar-Paulenz
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:227-234
- No. of Pages:8
- Keywords:Mongolian Buddhism; Second sTong ‘khor Qutuγtu; Third Dalai Lama; Buddhist conversion narrative; dGe lugs pa; bKa’ brgyud pa
- Summary/Abstract:This contribution offers a glimpse into the life of the second sTong ‘khor Qutuɣtu Yon tan rgya mtsho (1556–1587), who arrived in Mongolia in the entourage of the Third Dalai Lama bSod nams rgya mtsho (1543–1588) and stayed on in the country for five years before returning to his native Tibet. Drawing on Mongolian historical sources and his Tibetan rnam thar, I provide, among other aspects, information about his ritual preferences, including the choice of protective deities he propagated among his Mongolian audience. The sources confirm the now familiar picture of the conversion techniques used by the dGe lugs pa in the Mongolian religious field. Furthermore, they point to a rather close connection of the dGe lugs pa with the bKa’ brgyud pa during the early conversion period.
- Price: 1.00 €
Analiza schematu aktu poznawczego w wybranych fragmentach tekstów śruti w kontekście kształtowania się nurtu protosankhji
Analiza schematu aktu poznawczego w wybranych fragmentach tekstów śruti w kontekście kształtowania się nurtu protosankhji
(An Analysis of Cognition Act Schemata in Selected Excerpts from śruti Texts in the Context of the Development of the protosankhya Current)
- Author(s):Marta Kudelska
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:235-248
- No. of Pages:14
- Keywords:cognitive act; ānvīkṣiki; protosāṁkhya; Uddala Aruni
- Summary/Abstract:In my reflections I refer to the broadest understanding of the sāṁkhya tradition. I place the sāṁkhya within one of the three traditions of ānvīkṣiki, which above all strove to explain reality in a rational way. For this purpose, various schemata were searched to make the description as simple and as clear as possible. One of them was the enumeration/numbering of the components of a given object of cognition by means of systematic reasoning. This clearly refers to the act of cognition itself. Its analysis determines the most basic components which are the starting point for the establishment of the principal numbers. For my consideration, the most important, apart from “one”, are numbers “two” and “three”. The key passages in the śruti texts that I refer to are the Vedic hymns I.164, X.90 and X.129 as well as the sixth book of "Chāndogyopaniṣad". I would argue that the teachings of Uddalaka Aruni may be considered a coherent protosankhya treatise.
- Price: 1.50 €
Nils Simonsson (1920–1994)
Nils Simonsson (1920–1994)
(Nils Simonsson (1920–1994))
- Author(s):Per Kværne
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:249-257
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:Indology; Tibetology; Indian philosophy; Indian grammatical theory
- Summary/Abstract:The Swedish Indologist and Tibetologist Nils Simonsson (1920–1994) taught as Professor, from 1964 at the University of Oslo, Norway, and from 1975 to 1985 at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. With the exception of his ground-breaking doctoral dissertation, "Indo-tibetische Studien. Die Methoden der tibetischen Übersetzer, untersucht im Hinblick auf die Bedeutung ihrer Übersetzungen für die Sanskritphilologie", Uppsala, 1957, his contribution to Oriental studies has not received the recognition it deserves, as most of his research was published in various journals. Important studies were published in Swedish, for example the "Sāṃkhyakārikā" together with Māṭhara’s commentary in 1955. His scholarly output, invariably the result of careful philological scrutiny, covered a wide range of topics in Indian philosophy and grammatical theory, using Hindu as well as Buddhist sources in several languages, principally Sanskrit and Tibetan, but also Prakrit. This article provides an overview of his entire scholarly production, and attempts to indicate its originality and importance.
- Price: 1.00 €
Emperors and Buddhist Canon
Emperors and Buddhist Canon
(Emperors and Buddhist Canon)
- Author(s):Darui Long
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:259-294
- No. of Pages:36
- Keywords:Yongle Northern Canon; Dragon Canon; literary inquisition; Kanjur; Emperor Yongle; Emperor Yongzheng
- Summary/Abstract:China has produced more than 18 editions of the Buddhist canon since the Song Dynasty (960–1279). This paper focuses on the Yongle Northern Canon prepared in the years 1421–1440 and 1584 and the Dragon Canon engraved in the years 1735–1738. Both canons were court editions. They were initiated, sponsored, and supervised by the imperial court. Chinese emperors, usually holding absolute power, had their decisive say on the fate of any scripture – i.e., whether it was to be included in the canon or excluded from it. Compilations of the Buddhist canon are one of the examples showing how emperors would select Buddhist works at their will. The paper addresses a number of issues: why did emperors include scriptures they preferred? Why did they remove works already in the canon? How did they control Buddhism and make it instrumental, particularly in the production of the Buddhist canon? What were the consequences of adding or removing scriptures? How do we evaluate Buddhist canonicity, authenticity, authority, and apocryphal activity?
- Price: 2.50 €
The Description of Hells in the "Mahāvastu" I 9–16
The Description of Hells in the "Mahāvastu" I 9–16
(The Description of Hells in the "Mahāvastu" I 9–16)
- Author(s):Katarzyna Marciniak
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:295-320
- No. of Pages:26
- Keywords:Mahāvastu; Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit; Buddhist hells; Lokapaññatti
- Summary/Abstract:The article presents a new edition and translation of a metrical description of Buddhist hells which occurs in the "Mahāvastu" I. 9–16, on the basis of the oldest preserved manuscript of the text, the manuscript Sa from Nepal, dated to ca. 12–13th century. Some of the stanzas have been preserved in Sanskrit fragments, edited by Prof. Kazunobu Matsuda as “Bonbun danpen Loka-prajñāpti ni tsuite” (梵文断片 Loka-prajñāpti について; Sanskrit Fragments of the Loka-prajñāpti). Through comparison of the verses preserved in the "Mahāvastu" with their parallels in the "Pāli Lokapaññatti" and the Chinese translation in Taishō no. 1644, it became possible to point out mistakes in Senart’s editio princeps of the text and propose demonstrably better readings.
- Price: 2.00 €
Sanskrit Text of the "Śivapathikāsūtra" in the "Madhyamāgama"
Sanskrit Text of the "Śivapathikāsūtra" in the "Madhyamāgama"
(Sanskrit Text of the "Śivapathikāsūtra" in the "Madhyamāgama")
- Author(s):Kazunobu Matsuda
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:321-326
- No. of Pages:6
- Keywords:Madhyamāgama; Śivapathikā; aśubha-bhāvanā meditation
- Summary/Abstract:The Sanskrit manuscript of the "Tridaṇḍamālā" preserved at sPos khang monastery in Tibet contains forty tridaṇḍas. A tridaṇḍa is a sūtra used for the purpose of liturgical chanting. In the "Tridaṇḍamālā", all forty sūtras are inserted between Aśvaghoṣa’s verses. Most of the sūtras come from the Sarvāstivāda "Saṃyuktāgama" and "Ekottarikāgama". Exceptionally, there are two instances of those from the Madhyamāgama. One of these two is the twenty-first tridaṇḍa that transmits the Chinese "Madhyamāgama" 139 (*"Śivapathikāsūtra"). This sūtra demonstrates the teaching on aśubha-bhāvanā and has no parallel in any other sūtras. It is often quoted in several Abhidharma texts. Neither its Pāli parallel, nor any Sanskrit fragments have been found in Central Asia. This paper presents its Sanskrit text for the first time.
- Price: 1.00 €
On Kumārila’s Reliance on the "Mahābhāṣya"
On Kumārila’s Reliance on the "Mahābhāṣya"
(On Kumārila’s Reliance on the "Mahābhāṣya")
- Author(s):Monika Nowakowska
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:327-342
- No. of Pages:16
- Keywords:dharma; Kumārila; mīmāṃsā; Patañjali; vyākaraṇa
- Summary/Abstract:A platform of direct communication between Patañjali’s "Mahābhāṣya" (MBh, ca. 200–150? BCE) and Kumārila’s "Tantravārttika" (TV, ca. 600 CE) was obviously the vyākaraṇādhikaraṇa (the chapter on “the topic of grammar”), which is Kumārila’s contribution to the discussion on the "Mīmāṃsāsūtras" 1.3.24–29 as commented on by the "Śabarabhāṣya" (ca. 500 CE). However, Kumārila’s links to the MBh, especially in the TV, also manifest themselves in other chapters and in subtler forms, not necessarily obvious at first sight. In the article we focus on the presence – or a shadow of the presence – of the MBh in Kumārila’s TV, unveiled mainly in relation to the research into the TV discussion of dharmamūlas (i.e. sources of human knowledge of dharma). The choice of instances was not supposed to be exhaustive, which would mean a study of the whole extant Kumārila’s literary production in search of his inspirations by Patañjali, but rather indicative. It also illustrates how important the MBh was to Kumārila as a fundamental source of linguistic and cultural knowledge in his project of (re)embedding the Aryan, Brahmanical tradition structure in the Vedic ritual ground.
- Price: 1.50 €
Mind and Heart in the "Buddhacarita"
Mind and Heart in the "Buddhacarita"
(Mind and Heart in the "Buddhacarita")
- Author(s):Sven Sellmer
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:343-353
- No. of Pages:11
- Keywords:Aśvaghoṣa; Buddhacarita; Mahābhārata; Rāmāyaṇa; Sanskrit epics; kāvya; mind; Sanskrit stylistics
- Summary/Abstract:This paper deals with the relation between Aśvaghoṣa’s "Buddhacarita" and the great Sanskrit epics "Mahābhārata" and "Rāmāyaṇa" by analysing expressions containing one or more of a group of nouns designating the “mind” in a wide sense: antarātman, citta, cetas, cetanā, manas, mānasa, mati, hṛd, and hṛdaya. In this respect, both continuities and differences can be observed. The most obvious changes concern those aspects of the epic psychological language that are closely related to the peculiar features of oral and oral-style poetry and consequently tend to vanish in the kāvya style. Other aspects with a more general usefulness for poets of various styles, like the existence of a quite large number of semantically close expressions in the semantic field of “mind”, are taken over from the epic language and continued.
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The Provenance and Scope of the Eightfold Path
The Provenance and Scope of the Eightfold Path
(The Provenance and Scope of the Eightfold Path)
- Author(s):Tadeusz Skorupski
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:355-402
- No. of Pages:48
- Keywords:eightfold path; paths of action; wholesome roots; five moral faculties; right view; morality; concentration; wisdom
- Summary/Abstract:Generally stated, the Buddhist tradition consistently attributes the discovery of the eightfold path to the Buddha himself, claiming that he proclaimed it in his first sermon, conventionally postulated to have taken place in the Deer Park near Vārāṇasī, approximately seven weeks after his enlightenment. Although the Buddha is credited with the discovery of the eightfold path, a number of his discourses contain diverse deliberations and statements which are salient indications that the eightfold path is the result of doctrinal developments that preceded its emergence. This paper gathers and analyses all such deliberations and statements, and presents them in thematically and conceptually correlated units, which jointly reflect the formative phases that eventually matured into the eightfold path in its universally acclaimed format. It bears indicating that this paper has no intention to undermine the integrity of the Buddhist tradition, but solely aims to unravel the provenance of the eightfold path, predominantly relying on Buddhist sources, most of which are placed under the Buddha’s authority. Nevertheless, conceptually and structurally, the eightfold path is a creative and ingenious reconfiguration of the daśakuśala. The paper evolves in three distinct but correlated sections. Sections I and II analyse two significant discourses of the Buddha, in which he discloses two innovative expositions of the inner composition and dynamics of the eightfold path. Section III surveys a broad range of Pāli sources which record a variety of doctrinal and related developments that eventually gave rise to the mature formula of the eightfold path.
- Price: 3.00 €
The Role of Superimposition in the Semantics of Negative Compounds in Sanskrit
The Role of Superimposition in the Semantics of Negative Compounds in Sanskrit
(The Role of Superimposition in the Semantics of Negative Compounds in Sanskrit)
- Author(s):Małgorzata Sulich-Cowley
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:403-414
- No. of Pages:12
- Keywords:negative compounds; superimposition; āropa; upacārasattā; Patañjali; Bhartṛhari
- Summary/Abstract:This article analyses the interpretation of Sanskrit negative compounds according to the school of vaiyākaraṇa in India. Firstly, it outlines the forming process of such compounds in Pāṇini’s "Aṣṭādhyāyī" and discusses their semantic interpretation proposed by Patañjali in the "Mahābhāṣya". The article further focuses on the notion of mistakes as crucial in determining the final meaning of a negative formation as well as delineating the mental process behind it. It presents the origin of the āropatva (“superimposition”) in the "Mahābhāṣya" and its development by Bhartṛhari in the "Vākyapādīya" as well as later compilation in Kaiyaṭa’s "Pradīpa".
- Price: 1.50 €
Kto strzegł obozu Pańćalów i Pandawów po wielkiej bitwie przed wielką nocną rzezią?
Kto strzegł obozu Pańćalów i Pandawów po wielkiej bitwie przed wielką nocną rzezią?
(Kto strzegł obozu Pańćalów i Pandawów po wielkiej bitwie przed wielką nocną rzezią?)
- Author(s):Przemysław Szczurek
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:415-435
- No. of Pages:21
- Keywords:Mahābhārata; Sauptikaparvan; Aśvatthāman; Śiva; Kṛṣṇa-Viṣṇu; epiphany
- Summary/Abstract:The paper discusses the events described in the "Mahābhārata" 10, 6–7 and the scene which is one of the most famous epic descriptions of epiphany – the vision of god. The author of the paper tries to answer the question of which god is hiding behind the illusionary form of a huge guardian protecting the Pañcālas and Pāṇḍavas’ military camp after the great battle, thus barring the way to the camp from Aśvatthāman, who wants to slaughter the sleeping warriors of the enemy army by night. Taking into account previous interpretations, but based primarily on the text of the epic, the identification of the great being with the god Śiva is particularly highlighted. The paper ends with the author’s translation into Polish of Mbh 10, 6–7.
- Price: 1.50 €
Methodology
Methodology
(Methodology)
- Author(s):Tom J.F. Tillemans
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:437-450
- No. of Pages:14
- Keywords:Buddhist Studies; philosophy; philology; linguistics; transitivity; Tibetan
- Summary/Abstract:There was a famous incident in the 1980s that sent shivers down spines. A prominent Princeton philosopher put a notice on his office door that philosophy students should just say “No” to the history of philosophy – Western and Eastern alike, no doubt. I am going to turn the tables and look at some arguments by historians for nay-saying to philosophy, in particular arguments by historians of Asian thought and specialists in Buddhist Studies. Such arguments, too, don’t fare well. I close with an instructive example from another field, i.e., linguistics, and a few morals to the story.
- Price: 1.50 €
Three Letters from the Type-Cutter J.G. Schelter (1775–1841) to Paul Ludwig von Canstadt
Three Letters from the Type-Cutter J.G. Schelter (1775–1841) to Paul Ludwig von Canstadt
(Three Letters from the Type-Cutter J.G. Schelter (1775–1841) to Paul Ludwig von Canstadt)
- Author(s):Hartmut Walravens
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:451-459
- No. of Pages:9
- Keywords:Schelter; Johann Gottfried; type-cutter; Schilling von Canstadt; printing pioneer; Manchu typography; Tibetan printing
- Summary/Abstract:The short letters to the Russian-German printing pioneer concern a Manchu font cut by Johann Gottfried Schelter, and mainly deal with the reasons why Schelter was late finishing his work. Thus a few details regarding the font, including, not insignificantly, the price, are revealed. An old riddle is solved, namely Rémusat’s statement that Carl Tauchnitz simultaneously had a Manchu font cut that was designed by Julius Klaproth. In addition, Schilling’s and Schelter’s role in the printing of three Tibetan texts is discussed.
- Price: 1.00 €
Heinrich Roth (1620–1668) and His Sanskrit Grammar
Heinrich Roth (1620–1668) and His Sanskrit Grammar
(Heinrich Roth (1620–1668) and His Sanskrit Grammar)
- Author(s):Małgorzata Wielińska-Soltwedel
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:461-488
- No. of Pages:18
- Keywords:Heinrich Roth; Grammatica linguae Sanscretanae; Sārasvata; early European Sanskrit grammars; history of Indology
- Summary/Abstract:Heinrich Roth is the author of the first known European Sanskrit grammar. Although his work is unique in its perfection and the author’s palpable admiration for and dependence on the indigenous Indian tradition (especially on the Sārasvata system), it has not yet been published and consequently has had little impact on the history of Indology. This paper attempts to highlight the great loss that Sanskrit studies have suffered as a result of this omission. It does so by analysing the first chapter of Roth’s treatise on the basis of the edition and translation currently being prepared by Johannes Schneider (Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities). After a detailed analysis, which includes the explanation of technical vocabulary, and after dealing with the general features of Roth’s grammar and his supposed and actual errors or inconsistencies, the way Roth presents his material is compared with the description in other early European grammars: four Latin (Hanxleden, Pons, Paulinus’ "Siddharubam" and "Vyàcarana") and four English (Colebrooke, Carey, Wilkins, Forster). The paper concludes with the slightly speculative question of what would have happened if Roth’s grammar had been published during his lifetime and had received the interest and recognition it deserved.
- Price: 1.50 €
Sutra kwiatu lotosu cudownego prawa , zwój drugi
Sutra kwiatu lotosu cudownego prawa , zwój drugi
(Sutra kwiatu lotosu cudownego prawa , zwój drugi)
- Author(s):Anna Zalewska
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:489-518
- No. of Pages:30
- Keywords:Buddhism; Lotus Sutra; Hokkekyō; Mahāyāna; parable
- Summary/Abstract:"The Lotus Sutra" ("The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law") is one of the most important and well-known texts of the Mahāyāna Buddhism. It has been one of the most popular texts for many schools of Buddhism in Japan, especially Tendai and Nichiren, but also Zen practitioners use parts of it for daily chanting practice. From the doctrinal point of view, in this sutra the most important is the teaching of One Vehicle (ekayāna, or ichijō in Japanese), which unites all the Buddhist teachings, because all the different paths lead to enlightenment. The Buddha guides people using different methods, the so-called upāya-kauśalya, or hōben in Japanese, meaning “skillful means”, in order to ease their suffering and make them understand the ultimate truth. These are also the main subjects of the third chapter, “The Parable of the Burning House”, one of the most famous Buddhist parables, often used also as a subject in art and literature. In this chapter the Buddha tells a story about the wealthy man who in order to lure his children out of the dangerous, burning house, promises to give them many beautiful carts, like those they always wanted to have, and when they finally do leave the house, he gives them one wonderful vehicle. The translation in this volume is based on the "Taishō Tripitaka" text, as published in "Butten Kōza", a series containing Chinese Buddhist texts accompanied by a yomikudashi bun transcription, translation into modern Japanese, studies, and commentaries. This is the first full and annotated translation of “The Parable of the Burning House” into the Polish language.
- Price: 2.50 €
Caves with Ancient Paintings in Kizil’s Periphery
Caves with Ancient Paintings in Kizil’s Periphery
(Caves with Ancient Paintings in Kizil’s Periphery)
- Author(s):Monika Zin
- Language:English
- Subject(s):Theology and Religion
- Page Range:519-538
- No. of Pages:20
- Keywords:Buddhist cave paintings; Kucha; Kizil; Tocharer; aśubhabhāvanā; mortuary rituals
- Summary/Abstract:It will take some time before research can finally settle the questions related to the relative chronology and absolute dating of Kucha paintings. Recently, several studies have approached the issue from different angles, be it a discussion of the school affiliations of the narratives illustrated in the caves or an attempt to establish by which trade routes lapis lazuli – which was used only after a certain date – was brought to Kucha. The present study cautions against the late dating of caves in the periphery of Kizil (whose paintings are to be classified as early for various reasons) merely due to their inconvenient locations and considers possible parallels with Indian monastic complexes, the oldest of which were built in the periphery, close to the burial grounds.
- Price: 1.50 €