RE: Abhidharma tracts on dependent origination

Dear Ven. Yuttadhammo,

In the initial stage, I think I can find a few  scholars to check my
translations and fill in the gaps. We'll see later whether a private Wiki
would work (I wonder what that is, by the way--a few people working
collaboratively online on a project?).

With metta,
Bhikkhu Bodhi

-----Original Message-----
From: palistudy@yahoogroups.com [mailto:palistudy@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu
Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2013 7:58 PM
To: palistudy@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [palistudy] Abhidharma tracts on dependent origination

Bhante,

Thank you, it's much appreciated.  I'm not a language scholar, but if I can
help to set up some kind of online repository for the group, I'd be happy
to.  Maybe a private wiki would work?

Anjali,

Yuttadhammo
On Apr 3, 2013 9:26 AM, "Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi" <venbodhi@...>
wrote:

> **
>
>
> Dear Ven. Yuttadhammo,
>
> I finished a draft translation of the chapter on dependent origination
> (DO) from the Dharmaskandha-a book of the Sarvastivada Abhidharma
> Pitaka-and have almost finished a draft translation of the chapter on
> DO from the *Sariputrabhidharma Sastra (abbrev. SAS), which is
> generally believed to have been a canonical Abhidharma treatise of the
> Dharmaguptakas, who flourished in Gandhara. The exegetical principles
> of both treatises in their treatment of DO closely correspond with the
> Pali commentaries, though they develop details in quite different
> ways. These two treatises are much less "Abhidharmic" in flavor than
> the Visuddhimagga, even less so than the Abhidhamma-bhajaniya of the
> Vibhanga, chapter 6. They are still attempting to explain the standard
> formula for DO against the background of the sutras rather than in the
> light of a distinctly "Abhidhamma system," as both Vibhanga, 6.2 and
> Visuddhimagga chapter 17 do.
>
> Neither treatise applies a full scheme of conditional relations to the
> links between the factors in the way that the Visuddhimagga does. This
> is hardly surprising since it seems that when these tracts were
> written, a full-fledged system of conditions had not yet reached
> finality. However, In a few paragraphs of its chapter on DO, SAS tries
> to apply its conditions to dependent origination. SAS uses a scheme of
> ten conditions, which have counterparts among the twenty-four paccayas
> of the Patthana system. It might even be maintained that SAS offers us
> a fossilized version of the Patthana system while it was still in
> process of formation. For example, SAS has one condition that might be
> rendered in Pali as janaka-paccaya. This, apparently, was subdivided
> by the Pali Abhidhammikas into three conditions:
> sahajaata, purejaata, and pacchajaata (or perhaps four, if
> anyamanya-paccaya is added), thus adding to the total in the Patthana.
>
> As an appendix, I made a draft translation of the SAS section on the
> ten pratyayas, which is probably the treatise's counterpart to the
> Paccaya-niddesa of the Patthana. But some of the explanations here
> strike me as odd, and I don't know how to handle them. I'm not sure
> whether this is because my understanding of conditionality has been
> too strongly influenced by the Patthana system or because I simply am
> not reading the Chinese text correctly. The Chinese translation of the
> Sariputrabhidharma Sastra, the only one we have, seems to use an
> almost idiosyncratic style and terminology. Even a few Chinese pundits
> I questioned about it answered with uncertainty.
>
> I still have to line up the different treatments of dependent
> origination in these tracts and investigate their mutual
> relationships. The version in the Pali Vibhanga, chapter 6,
> Suttanta-bhajaniya, seems to be the earliest, the least detailed, and
> the closest to the Nikayas. But the Vibhanga's chapter 6,
> Abhidhamma-bhajaniya, seems to be the latest and the furthest removed
> from the sutras. Here dependent origination is being explored from a
> different angle, from the unique standpoint of the Theriya Abhidhamma
> system, whereas the other three (Dharmaskandha, SAS, and Madhyamaka
> Sastra) are still trying to explore DO as intended in the sutras.
>
> I could use the help of someone with more expertise in these works to
> answer questions and perhaps even check my drafts. If any of the
> members of this group are acquainted with the style of Chinese used in
> Abhidharma translations, please let me know. I would also like help
> with passages in the Prasannapada chapter on dependent origination.
> This is Candrakirti's commentary to Mula-madhyamika-karikas, chap. 26,
> but it is in the current of "mainstream Buddhism" and has nothing (or
> not much) distinctly Mahayanistic about it. I don't want to flood the
> airwaves of this discussion group with non-Pali queries. Perhaps I can
> make these files available to interested readers through Dropbox? Or
> is there a better utility that allows back and forth comments?
>
> With metta,
>
> Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
> Chuang Yen Monastery
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> 
>


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