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Japanese Association

of
of
Indian
Indian
and
and Buddhist
Buddhist Studies
Studies

(188)

Jburnai ofincfian
andBucldhist

StudiesVbl.63,No. 3,March 2015

Were BuddhistTextsRewritten?
bie:yiqu)
intheMahavibhdsd
(you

From theViewpoint
of"There Are OtherMeanings"

IsHiDAKazuhiro

1.The Aim

of

In Buddhist

This Essay
think that Buddhist texts were

studies we

identified
the earliest

scholars

the earliest. In vinayas

the primitive
Pratimoksasatras
basedon hisrigorous

sumed

to comparative

cording

studies about

Buddhist

or revised.

Buddhistliterature.
In Satrasthe Aethakavaggaand

existing

in the Sutta-IVipdtaare

the Pardyanavagga

rewritten

i)

studies.

ChineseBuddhisttexts,we

Hirakawa Akira

as-

In Abhidharmas,acthatthe San-

understand

zulun
Perede)and the Dharmashanctha (jFbyun
2illwtre
gitiparydya(Ji
yimen zulun fise.
th)are older than other Abhidharma texts.Accordingto an example of revising a text

Sasaki Shizuka pointed,the

which

basedon

revised

the change

of the

of

chapter

kandhakainthe Mahasampghika P7naya was

2)
definition
of Sarpghabheda. These

partinBuddhist textsand as new partwas

Itisobvious that Buddhist texts were rewritten

studies elucidated

that there isthe earliest

added

text was

or revised.

organized.

However itisdifTicult
to explain
rewriting

or reyising

liketo exarnine

can

findthe passage

This passage which

appears

by the Vaibh5rpika
against

when

rewritten

or revised, or when

Buddhisttext continue

Buddhisttextstops to be rewritten

to be

at some

re-

point.

Abhidharma texts were finallyfixedin this essay.

some

that means

They understood

"there

are other

bielyigu
inthe MVi.
aBUPtas)
(you

meanings"

29 times inthe MVi isused to defendthe passage maintained

criticism
by other groups or scholars. The Vaibhfisika
uses this

by others. In other
partisindicated
in the Vaibhasika'sreading.
there isa mistake or room fbrinterpretation
oftheir reading and the accuracy ofvariant, so that they
an insufficiency

passage intheMVi
words,

Buddhist text was

existing

Are Other Meanings" in the Maha'vthha-s.

a-

2."There
We

Buddhist text was finished.

Can

I think,no itcannot

written or revised?

Then I would

when

there,an

when

the variant reading ofthe

same

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The JapaneseAssociation
The
Japanese Association

of
of
Indian
Indian
and
and Buddhist
Buddhist Studies
Studies

Rewritten? (K.
IsHiDA)
Were Buddhist[[lexts

used

the passage "there

(189)

to defendtheirtraditional
reading.

are other meanings"

Exarnple 1
Now I show

an

example

passage as fo11ows:

ofthis

1:
Question

wnat are intrinsic

natures
Answer 1 :

ofomnipresent
(svabhava)

defilements
?
(sarvatraga-anuSaya)

doubt <vicikitsa)
and igno(paffca-d;$ti)
rance
inthe [aenictions]
eradicated
by insight
intothetmth ofsuffering (duhkha-darSana(avidyE)
heya) and mistaken view (mithya-drsti)
attachment
to one's own view (d;sti-parEmarSa)
doubt
and ignorance in the [afflictions]
by insightintothe truthoferigin ofsuffering (samuThere

are eleven

in the kama-dhatu, namely

fiveviews

eradicated

daya-darSana-heya).There are the same

eleven

thek5ma-dh5tuinthe r[ipa-dhatu

as

dhatu.The ignoranceinthispassage means the one associated

distinct
one. Itismentioned
intheAbhidharma:prakaraea that

with

t`In

threeare

emnipresent,

and

sixty-five

fiveviews

thearUpya-

and

doubt, and the

or

defilements,
thirty-

ninety-eight

are non-ornnipresent."

2:
Question

Inignoranceinthe [arnictions]
eradi ated by insight
intothe truth oforigin ofsuffering, [there
are
two types of ignorance,]
one isomnipresent,
the other isnon-omnipresent.
wny isitmentioned
in
theAbhictharma-prakarapa that
are omnipresent,
and sixty-five are non-omnipresent"?
Answer 2:
The western Venerablerecites as fbllows: ninety-eight defilements,
twenty-seven are omnipresent, sixty-five are non-orrmipresent,
and six are inferable.
There are omnipresent
or non-omnipresent in the igriorance
in the [aMictions]
eradicated by insight
intothetruthof origin of suffering.
What isthe omnipresent?
Itis the ignorance thatis not associated with non-onmipresent inthe [a"
fiictions]
eradicated
by insight
intothe truthoforigin ofsufiering. What isthenon-omnipresent? lt
isthe ignorancethatisassociated with non-omnipresent
inthe [aMictions]
eradicated
by insight
"thirty-three

"In

intothetruthof origjn ofsuffering."

[[Ihis
westem
passage[ofthe

M:nerable] iscorrect in meaning.

wny do not the scholars inKashmir

We
"There

should

recite

are other meanings"

not recite the same

over

do

we

not

do itbecause there

in this passage means

passage as the

their passageabout onmipresent

this passage?

recite

this passage.However,

.. .

western

are other meanings.

Kashmirischolars do

the reason why

Venerable.Kashmiri

defilements,
especially

the

scholars

understand

igriorance,
isnot

correct.

theyrecognize thatthe passage recited by the western Venerableismore

able than theirs.However,

they do not

correct

ings.Afterthispassage,Kashmirischolars
likethe western

Venerable.Here the passage

-

theirpassagebecausethereare

enumerate
"there

theirreasons

3)

why

are other meanings"

they
shows

that

More-

understandother mean-

do not

recite

the Kash-

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of
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and
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Buddhist Studies
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(190)

Were BuddhistIbxtsRewritten?(K,lsHiDA)

didnot

miri scholars

knew the

correct

passage.The AP

the AP(G), two Chinese versions of the Abhictharma-prakararpa,

read the same

and
sage

AP

rewrite their texts though they

as

the

(X)and

about

Venerable.4)We

western

theAP

(G)was

revised

should

think that the Sanskritoriginal

not

scholars]
[Kashmiri

"We

passageofthe

Venerable.However,

western

ings:'According to this passage,they

did not

absolutely

5)

ments

as

thirty-three. Moreover, in the Ny, the theory

ments

as

twenty-sevenwas

down to posterity.
This isevidence
fiveare

non-omnipresenV'

or understandings

was

about

The theory

"thirty-three

We

other mean-

defile-

ofomnipresent

Kashmiri scholars

of

was

certainly

defilehanded

and sixty-

are omnipresent,

can understand

the

recite

definedonmipresent

which

that the passage

not revised.

should

their passage.Actually,

change

theAbhidharma-avatdira
and the A5,dya-anusara
definedthe number

criticized.

theirmistake

do not do itbecausethereare

we

pas-

text of the

by Kashmirischolars becausethey accept

the passage.In the MVi, they stated that

(X)

that there are two

passages

defilements
from the periodof the MVi. Not being

omnipresent

two passagesexisted together.

rewritten,

Example 2
Next I shall

examine

another

inrelation

example

to the abandonment

of

defilements.

1:
Question
Is the abandonment
or

inthe pathofimmediate
(samyojana)

ofbonds

succession

(anantaryamatga)

in the pathof liberation(vimuktimarga)

?

Answer 1:
Why do you askus?

2:
Question
It isbecausebothanswers
If there is the

have a
of

abandonment

mistake.

bonds in the path of immediate

[Bond]chapter [ofthe

"there

are

.lfianaprasthana,]

reality of sufftiringor

by subsequent

cognition

succession,

bondseradicated

isthe passage in this

by cognition

ofthe
(jfiEna)

of the path"6) consistent

(anvayajfiana)

with

this

answer?

isthe passagejnthe Wisdom chapter

Ifthercisthe abandonment
ofbonds in the pathof liberation,
JfiP] isbonds eradicated by insight
intothe truth of suffering thatare not eradicated by
[ofthe
Or bonds eradicated by
cognition
ofsuffering
or are eradicated
by acceptance (ksanti)
ofsuffering.
insight
intothe tmth of the paththat are not eradicated by cognition of thepath,or are eradicated by
"it

acceptance

ofthe

7)

path"

consistent

with

thisanswer?

Answer2:
There

should

be an

answer

as

fbllows:there isonly the abandonment

ofbonds

inthe path ofimme-

diatesuccession.
-

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Buddhist Studies
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Were BuddhisttcxtsRewritten?(K.IsHiDA)

(191)

3:
Question
isconsistent with the passage in theWlsdom chapter. However, how can itbe consistent with thepassagc inthis[Bond]
chapter?
Answer 3:
Thispassage should be written as fo11ows:
are nine divisions
ofbond,
namely
the [bond]
eradicated
by acceptance ofcognition of thereality of suffering or by aceeptance
ofcognition of the
8)
path."However, itisnot rewritten so, becausethere are other meanings.
Ybur

answer

"there

From thisdiscussion,
we
intheBond chapter

sage

and the ether

(sarpyojanaskkanda)

The passagein the Bond

The passageinthe Wisdom chapter
skkanda)

thatthereisno

can understand

states that

chapter

betweenone pasintheWisdom chapter (Prajfi5consistency

bonds are

states that bondsare eradicated

by cognition.

eradicated

by acceptance. The lat-

teris right basedon the theory of the SarvEstivEdin.

Therefbrethe formerpassagein the
JfiPquoted in the MVi
sage which

ismore

appropriate

corrected,

or

then the MVi proposes an

and

pas-

alternative

than thatpassage.

Orginalpassage
are nine divisions
ofbond,
[There
ityofsuffering

be

should

by subsequent

bonds eradicated by

namely]
cognition

of

cognition

ofthe

real-

the path.

Alternativepassage
are nine
[There
nition ofthe

divisions
ofbond,

reality ef suffering or

However,the above

ings."After this passagesome

appears

with exarnples.

derstanding
an error

That

ofthis

by acceptance

passage was

alternative

reasons
means

the

namely]

bond eradicated by acceptance

ofcognition

not adopted

path.

ofthe

because

of cog-

"there

are other mean-

passagein the Bond chapter iscorrected

of the MVi didnot rewrite
thepassage,un-

the

why

compilers

passage.

3. The Text Was Not Rewritten

I examined
ments.

The

two examples
second

in the MVi. The firstisa discussion

about

isa discussionabout an abandonment

omnipresent

defile-

ofbonds.

In the first
discussion,
two passagesabout omnipresent
defilementswhich were queted
from the Abhidharma7prakara4a do not agree. One passageisquoted fi:omthe Abhidharma-

prakara4a recited by Kashmiri

Kashmiri scholars
correct meaning.

evaluated

However,

scholars;

the other

the passage ofthe

western

isrecited by the western

Venerablebecausethatpassagehas

a correct altemative

understanding

Venerable.

they didnot
passage,

adopt

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of
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Indian
and
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Buddhist Studies
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Were Buddliist
fextsRewritten?(K.
IsHiDA)

(192)
thatbecause

"there

This passage

are other meanings."

that they do not opt

fbrmore

"there

passage,butalso

appropriate

is not

are other meanings"

only

an excuse

they

keep theirtraditionalreading. I presurnethat Kashmiri scholars

could

that

statement

their

not change

Their tradition made in

passagebecausethey think tradition ismore importantthan logic.
the history
of the Sarvastivadinin Kashmir is the way how to recite or understand
their
scriptures.

Because they

were

in that tradition,they

were

Kashmiri

Therefbre

scholars.

As an altemative
to correcting
passage even ifitisnot logical.
theirpassage,theydevelopedto interpret
unclear or incorrect
passage as correct meaning.
they

As

could

in the AA

a result,

though

their

change

not

and

the Ny, the number

itshould be logically
twenty-seven. On

are omnipresent,

related to

prakararpaare

Gandharascholars,

the

the other

sixty-five are non-omnipresent,

the AP(G). This is evidence

and

of omnipresent

there. That means

at

is thirty-three
defilements

hand,the passage

"twenty-seven

and six are

that two existing Chinese versions

of the

AbhicViarma-

the western Venerable.

Probably,as the western Venerablemeans

Sanskrit
text ofthe AP

the original

least
there are

(X)and

theAP

(G)was

sage

isnot

itshows

alternative correct

because

chosen

the JfiPwas

texts are not always

tained

"there

9)

accurate,

fora longtime

without

passage isproposed in the MVi, buteven

includingincorrect
passage.We
and

an

can

JfiP

ofthe
so

that pas-

This isan interesting

matter

are other meanings."

compiled

retained

two types ofthe Abhiciharma-prakara4a in India.

Inthe second discussion,

itisascertained thatthe passage in the Bond chapter
isincorrect.
Thus

(X)

inferable"
exists inthe AP

that

so

think thatBuddhist

incorrect
part in the Buddhisttexthas been main-

modification.

incorrect
passageinthe JfiPretained by them
rather than to correct
it.

Actually,Kashmiri
to rights.

scholars

They chose

didnot put their

to maintain

that passage

4.Conclusion
I examined
nation, we

the passage "there

can understand an attitude made

inthe MVi. According to thisexami-

in theirhistory
and

treatmentof theirtexts.

an incorrect
Kashmirischolars isthat they interpreted
partintheirtextsas
meaning."
However, a discoverer
of thatmeaning
is
becausethat parthad

The attitude

of

"another

correct

none

are other meanings"

other than

the Kasimirischolars. They

interpretation
when
theyunderstood
written.

maintain

their passageto be correct

with

the passage isinapt.

Therefbre theirtextsare

their
not

re-

An incorrect
partintheirtextsisretained.
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TheJapanese
The
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Associationof
of Indian
ndian
andBuddhist
BuddhistStudies
Studies
and

IsHIDA
Were BuddhistTextsRewritten
K

of
theirtextsisthepreservation
of
theirtraditional
Thetreatment

isan incorrect
partThe Kashmirischolars

ings1xts fixed
as scriptures could
findtwo versions

created

of thesame

inwhich

reading

to
theinterpretation
preservetheirread

the 4bhidhar

In
other words
theGandharaintheMVi

2a

tWo versions
theMVi defined

we

can

of theKashmir

praka

berewritten intheSarvastivadin

Hence

there

not

text namely

193

and

of theAbhidharma

Examining
existing Sarv
stiv din
textsin
order toundersta
dthe
prakara4a as scripture
history
of their
textswe can presume
thattheMVi defined
some texts
The MVi as com

mentary

made

thehistory
ofSarv

stiv dintextswhich

were

impossible
toberewritten

1234FD
Hirakawa 1999
2000
Sasaki

MVi
P 91 c
X p 702cAP
G p637c
AP
AA p 9830Ny p 611a

0are
Thispassageis
theabridged
JfiPp 940c

the JP
The original

om
quotation

bonds
eradicated
bycognition
ofthe reality of
suffering or by cultjvation
7 JfipP 963b

is
passage

6there

8 MVi

p 333c
lshida
g Cf
2009

Abbreviations

AAAP

no
Abhidharmvatbra
Ru a idamo lun
isho
1554vel 28

G Abhidharma prakara4atranslatedby Gupabhadra with Bodhiya a Zhongshifen

Taishono 1541vol 26

AP
X Abhidharma
rakarana
1542

vol

translatedby Xuanzang

1 inleizulun

lun

Taishone

26

JfianaprasthbnaFazhi lun
Taisho no 1544vol
26

MahavibhaSaDa piposhalun
Taisho no 1545
vol
27
Nydyaanusara
Shun
zhengli
tun

1
Taisho no
vol

1562
29

apiian

Bibliography

HirakawaAkira 1999
Ritsuzno kenkyfi 1
Hirakawa Akira chosakushn

9 Tokyo Shunjasha

Kazuhiro
Ishida
2009
Honmiron tosaih6

shoshi

The

relation

a and Gandhfira
o nen
SankjBunkaKenkyilJ
betWeenAbhidharma prakarai
Annual ofthe SankoResearch lnstitute
fortheStudiesofBuddhism

40 171 209

SasakiShizuka 2000
lndoBukkyO hen
iron Naze Bukky wa
tayoJka shiianoka

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Were Buddhist Texts Rewritten

Tokyo

K
IsHIDA

Daiz6 Shuppall

Key words
Mah vibhdS
prakarapa
Jfianaprastha
na Gandhara

Abhidharma
ResearchFeliow
theInstitute
for
Comprehensive
Studies
ofBuddhism

TaishoUniversity

New Publication

Akira
Saito
ed

Debate
TheDevelopmentof Mah y na Buddhism
Background inTerms of
ReligioPhilosophical
History
and lts
lO8
ActaAsiatica

Buddhism

and

18
2 25
7cm

99 pp4 300
T6h6 Gakkai 2015
v

Tokyo The

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