ལས་ཀྱ་རྣམ་པར་འགྱར་བ་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་ཆས་ཀྱ་གཞང notes.108

notes.108

108. Tibetan dbang chung ngu, from Buddhist Sanskrit alpeśākhya (Pāli appesakkha); cf. CPD, s.v. appesakkha; BHSD, s.v. alpeśākhya. The word originally meant “unrespected, insignificant; of little esteem” (It has been accepted that the Middle Indic form of the term is derived from an original Sanskrit form alpa-/mahā-yaśas-ka). The respective Sanskrit form of the word (alpa-/mahāśakya vs. alpe-/maheśākhya) can be an indicator of a text’s school affiliation (see O. von Hinüber, “Die Bestimmung der Schulzugehörigkeit buddhistischer Texte nach sprachlichen Kritertien,” 1985, in Bechert 1985). The form alpa-/mahāśakya is surmised by F. Edgerton to have originated as a folk-etymological alteration of alpe-/maheśākhya (see BHSD, s.v. mahāśakya). It is predominantly found in the texts affiliated with the Sarvāstivādins. The traditional derivation or analysis of the term is alpa-īśa-ākhya (with maheśākhya being an analogical formation), perhaps meaning literally “named after an insignificant chief or master, or low origin” (see Apte, s.v.). This meaning is reflected in the standardized Tibetan translation as given in the Mvy. (Sakaki 6412): dbang chung bar grags pa. The Tibetan form present here, however, dbang chung ngu appears to be closer to Sanskrit alpaśakya, or perhaps even Chinese shao shi 少勢.