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The Varṇārhavarṇa Stotra of Mātṛceṭa (II)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 December 2009
Extract
For the remaining eight sections of this stotra the Tibetan text has not been published. The version here reproduced is that of the Snar than edition of the Bstan hgyur (Bstod pa, folios 100–110), for the loan of which I am indebted to the Librarian of the Commonwealth Relations Office. It contains a thirteenth chapter of thirty-two slokas for which the Sanskrit MSS. have no equivalent (cf. JRAS., 1948, p. 57), and which is therefore omitted here.
Perhaps the most interesting of these sections is the seventh, with its elaborate (and to European taste frigid) parallels between Brahmanical and Buddhist vocabulary. In establishing Mātṛceṭa's identity and date, Sect. VIII, v. 23, which proves him to have been a Mahāyānist, is of capital importance. I should add that my own conclusions, summarized on p. 672, n. 2, of the last issue of this journal, were reached independently of this (corroborative) piece of evidence.
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- Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , February 1951 , pp. 947 - 1003
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- Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1951
References
page 947 note 1 For these I am solely responsible. Dr. Siegling's suggestions (v. p. 672 of my earlier paper) are confined to the first four sections of the Stotra.
page 948 note 1 pas X.
page 948 note 2 tin X.
page 948 note 3 dbogs X.
page 949 note 1 bkḥ, (vacas) can, of course, imply the whole body of recorded teaching.
page 949 note 2 That a proposition is, is not, is and is not, neither is nor is not: cf. Sarriyutta III, 116.
page 949 note 3 Cf. Digha III, 229.
page 950 note 1 bzad X.
page 950 note 2 minaḥ X.
page 950 note 3 sic.
page 951 note 1 For this meaning of asakta of. Aśv. BC. ix, 72, and my note on Śat. 150.
page 951 note 2 Cf. Śat. 52, diptam apratighāti ca.
page 951 note 3 Cf. Śat. 123, anādikālaprahatā bahvyaḥ prakṛlayo nṛṇām | tvayā … parivartitāḥ.
page 952 note 1 dkaḥ X.
page 952 note 2 kho na bo X.
page 953 note 1 Cf. Śat. 82, ādimadhyāntakalyāṇaṃ … śāsanam.
page 953 note 2 Cf. Śat. 90.
page 953 note 3 I.e. it is adapted to the differing capacities of the recipients.
page 953 note 4 I.e. this was the consummation of the Law.
page 954 note 1 byed X.
page 955 note 1 For kṛtaprahaṇana (goms par bgyis kyan) I can quote no adequate authority; but of. goms pa = prahata in Sat. 123 and V, 18, supra.
page 955 note 2 Cf. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, iii, p. 160. I owe the reference to Professor Bailey.
page 955 note 3 So I understand the compound; but there may be allusion to the technical use of padasthāna (padaṭṭḥāna) for which v. P.T.S. Dictionary, s.v.
page 957 note 1 I.e. challenge, as did the Six Heretical Teachers and their like.
page 959 note 1 ākalayitvā. The sense seems clear though T cannot quote an exact parallel. T. = “Having fixed a time for disputing.”
page 959 note 2 In the Cūla-Saccaka Sutta, Saccaka is compared to a crab with broken claws: v. Malalasekara, Diet, of Pāli Proper Names, sub nom.
page 959 note 3 T. = “by the fullness of the Perfect Path” (i.e. by walking in it?).
page 960 note 1 rgyu X.
page 960 note 2 ḥdor X.
page 961 note 1 So T. gandhayati in this sense seems unparalleled, though it is found in the meaning “make odorous”.
page 962 note 1 dpaḥo X.
page 962 note 2 dbaḥ X.
page 962 note 3 Read na?
page 963 note 1 It seems unnecessary and hardly possible to adhere to a single English equivalent for words with so many nuances as vāda and vādin. The fundamental idea, of course, is that of a “speaker” who maintains a thesis.
page 964 note 1 mithun X.
page 965 note 1 More literally “in conformity with brahma”. Other interpretations are possible.
page 965 note 2 The comparison is between, on the one hand, the twelve-linked Causal Chain counted both ways from avidyā to jarāmaraṇa (anuloma, pravṛtti) and in reverse (pratiloma, nivṛtti); and on the other hand, the ∊āvitrī stanza of twenty-four syllables.
page 965 note 3 Or “of the dharmas”.
page 965 note 4 Cf. Law, B. C., “Formulation of Pratītya-Samutpīda,” JRAS., 1937.Google Scholar
page 965 note 5 The triṣṭubh contains 4 χ 11 alcṣaras. aupapādika, the term regularly applied to gods and other beings not created by normal processes of birth, is here apparently applied to the tenth nidāna, which seems to be considered as arising independently of the rest of the series; on what grounds I do not know.
page 965 note 6 4 X 12 akṣaras.
page 965 note 7 The first brahma signifies mantra or sacred knowledge, the second presumably the Absolute.
page 967 note 1 śaihṣya = one who has entered upon the darśanamārga.
page 967 note 2 aśaikṣya = Arhat.
page 967 note 3 Majjh. II, 84, Digha, II, 81.
page 967 note 4 I.e. the three Vedas.
page 967 note 5 The thread, robe, and skin; or, perhaps, the three daṇjdas.
page 967 note 6 v. P.O.W., s.v. and Max Mūller, Hist. Sansk. Lit., pp. 386–8.
page 971 note 1 The Tibetan would normally represent aśubhabhācanā, which would be metrieally irregular here. For ādyānām ef. Śat. 128 dānakathādyabhiḥ.
page 971 note 2 Perhaps there is a reference to the Māhāyānist Path of Accumulation (saṃbhāramārga): cf. Obermiller, “Doctrine of Prajñāpāramitā,” Act. Or. II, pp. 18 ff.
page 971 note 3 upakleśa here apparently = kleśa.
page 971 note 4 Cf. Pāli upanisā.
page 972 note 1 gtubs X.
page 973 note 1 Clearly a reference to the eight constituents of the Noble Path and their opposites; there is also apparently a secondary reference to the training of horses.
page 973 note 2 T. dag pa mdzad, however, = “purified”.
page 974 note 1 arid X.
page 975 note 1 Lit. “brought to non-material satisfaction”.
page 975 note 2 We are reminded of the story of the Prodigal Son in the Saddharmapuṇḍarika.
page 975 note 3 I.e. became Bodhisattvas. The verse seems to show that Mātṛceṭa was himself a Mahāyānist. See above, p. 947.
page 975 note 4 The reference is to the four pratisaṃvids; the first two items (dharma and artha) may bear a more technical meaning than is suggested by my translation: cf. Har Dayal, Bodhisattva Doctrine, pp. 263 ff. In the fourth pāda T. implies a reading sarvadilc.
page 975 note 5 Cf. Śat. 137, apramattḥ pramattānāṃ sattvānāṃ bhadrābandhavaḥ.
page 975 note 6 Or “understand that you are their protector”; so T.
page 976 note 1 spyod X.
page 976 note 2 Read sgom?
page 977 note 1 I.e. the Buddha alone benefits all created beings.
page 978 note 1 Read de?
page 979 note 1 This seems to be the literal sense of T.; but I suspect the Sanskrit had something like sarvasampattipūrṇena na tyājyaṃ nāsti kiṃcana, giving tyaj (btan) its usual Buddhist sense of “sacrifice”.
page 979 note 2 Lit, “possessing pure dharma”.
page 979 note 3 T. = bhāgino bhavantīti = “thinking ‘they are qualified (to receive teaching)’”.
page 979 note 4 I.e. the teaching is for all, but not all avail themselves of it.
page 979 note 5 T. dar par ?
page 979 note 6 Or ḥdul ba dag la might mean “to prospective converts (vaineya)”.
page 980 note 1 kyi X.
page 980 note 2 paḥi X.
page 980 note 3 Read pa?
page 981 note 1 I.e. “to Buddhahood”
page 981 note 2 I.e. nasaṃjñānaivāsaṃjñāyatana.
page 981 note 3 T. sgrub = “procure”. pratanoty eva is, of course, conjectural; the MS. reading, as transcribed by Siegling seems impossible.
page 981 note 4 The four dhyānas.
page 983 note 1 I.e. Devaputramāra.
page 983 note 2 I.e. Kleśamāra.
page 983 note 3 I.e. Skandhamāra.
page 983 note 4 This must signify the last ānanntaryamārga, the penultimate stage of the bhāvanāmārga immediately preceding the preceding the attainment of bodhi (Kośa, VI, 44d–45a).
page 983 note 5 I.e. Mṛtyumāra.
page 983 note 6 Lit. of “warrriors and super-warriors”.
page 983 note 7 I.e. Māra?
page 983 note 8 Both lips contribute equally to the ensemble; why then the difference of position.
page 984 note 1 Read Kyis?
page 984 note 2 ta X.
page 984 note 3 gan X.
page 984 note 4 kyis X.
page 985 note 1 Lit. “engendered by others”; but the meaning is obscure.
page 986 note 1 bor X.
page 986 note 2 Read hygis?
page 986 note 3 pas X.
page 987 note 1 aviraladanta is one of the Buddha's thirty-two auspicious marks.
page 987 note 2 The reference seems to be to śamatha and vipaśyanā; the Sanskrit equivalent of rtogs is doubtful.
page 988 note 1 yi X.
page 988 note 2 kyis X.
page 989 note 1 Cf. Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra, trs. Lamotte, p. 275 kośagatavastiguhyaḥ tad yathā varagotra ājāneyo hasty, ājāneyo vāśvaḥ.
page 989 note 2 Reconstruction of the second half of v. 29 is very doubtful. The Tibetan is unintelligible to me.
page 989 note 3 Such as the Brahmans Ambaṭṭha, Brahmāyu, and Sela.
page 990 note 1 ba X.
page 991 note 1 cetanā seems here to imply karma, which accords with the definitions quoted in P.T.S. Dictionary, s.v. tadanya is puzzling; perhaps tvadanya should be substituted.
page 991 note 3 I.e. the visible signs are so numerous and splendid that the concealment of the privy member passess unnoticed.
page 991 note 4 Note that prubhūtā throughout this seciton = prabhūtajihvā.
page 991 note 5 The dhātus include the objects of perception; the tongue of the Buddha now enters the dhātus include the objects of perception; the tongue of the Buddha now enters the dhātus of the writer, thereby enlarging his adhimukti (“religious inclination, faith”) and āśaya (“religous frame of mind”).
page 992 note 1 da X.
page 993 note 1 Also “sovereignty connnected with the Law (dharma)”.
page 993 note 2 Cf. the incident related in the Brahmadārikāvadāna (Divy. p. 71).
page 993 note 3 The reading is conjectural; cf. App. Crit.
page 993 note 4 And so licensed to go where it pleases.
page 994 note 1 rigs X.
page 994 note 2 Read bas?
page 995 note 1 For these terms v. Lévi, Sūtrālaṃkāra, p. 161.
page 995 note 2 For the first hemistich T. has “whatever dharmas you, having taken thought (dgons te for naṃbhūya?), tell to it”; good sense but hardly to elicited from the Sanskrit, which if the MSS. reading be correct, is exceptionally harsch and obsecure.
page 995 note 3 (upāya) kauśalyam.
page 998 note 1 ājāneyatayā. The allusion to horses is taken up by samavāhini (“pulling evenly”).
page 998 note 2 Or “famed”, reading vighuṣṭābhyāṃ, as did T.
page 999 note 1 The meaning of T. is very dubious.
page 999 note 2 Lit. “become flavourless”.
page 999 note 3 T. has “Praise of Him who awakens the Terror of Existence”.
page 999 note 4 Cf. Śat. 133, yasmān naivaṃvidhaṃ kṣetraṃ triṣu lokeṣu vidyate.
page 999 note 5 paṅktipāvanapāvanaḥ.
page 1001 note 1 Cf. Śat. 138 uktaṃ saṃsūradaurātmyam.
page 1001 note 2 vaśī, i.e. able to prolong his life if he chose.
page 1001 note 3 netrī = dharma.
page 1002 note 1 I.e. Śrotaāpannas, etc. and Arhats.
page 1002 note 2 Reconstruction here is hazardous. T. seems to mean “if you were not present, O Lord of the World, yet (your word?) would not greatly suffer, like the night sky emptied of the moon but lit up by stars”. This, however, is clearly not what Matrceta intended.