The History of Buddhist Thought c30.s1: The Canon

The History of Buddhist Thought c30.s1

Language: English

The Canon

Pali Works

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The Pāli Sutta-pitaka and Abhidhamma-pitaka have been published by the Pali Text Society between 1882 and 1927. The Vinaya-pitaka was edited by H. Oldenberg in 1879–83, and is now being re-issued by the Pali Text Society. The text and translation of the Pātimokkha was published by J. F. Dickson, *JRAS*., 1876, and the text by J. Minaev, St. Petersburg, 1869. The second part of the Vinaya, the Khandhakas, and the Pātimokkha were translated by Oldenberg and Rhys Davids in *Vinaya Texts*, Oxford, 1881–5. (SBE. 13, 17, 20.) The following parts of the Sutta-pitaka have been translated: *Dīgha-nikāya*. *Dialogues of the Buddha*, tr. by T. W. Rhys Davids and Mrs. Rhys Davids. 1899–1921. (SBB. 2–4.) *Majjhima-nikāya*. *Further Dialogues of the Buddha*, tr. by Lord Chalmers. 1926–7. (SBB. 5, 6.) *Saṃyutta-nikāya*. *The Book of the Kindred Sayings*, tr. by Mrs. Rhys Davids and F. L. Woodward. 1918–30. (PTS. Transl. Series, 7, 10, etc.) *Aṅguttara-nikāya*. *The Book of the Gradual Sayings*, tr. by F. L. Woodward, 1932 ff. (PTS. Transl. Series, 22, 24.) *Khuddakapāṭha*. Tr. by Childers, *JRAS*., 1870, 309 ff., and also by Mrs. Rhys Davids in the next. *Dhammapada*: *Verses on Dhamma*, and *Khuddaka-pāṭha*: *the text of the Minor Sayings*. Re-edited and tr. by Mrs. Rhys Davids. 1931. (SBB. 7.) *The Dhammapada*, tr. from Pāli by F. Max Müller. Oxford, 1898. (SBE. 10.) *Buddhist Legends*, tr. from the Dhammapada commentary by E. W. Burlingame. Cambridge, Mass., 1921. *The Udāna*, tr. from the Pāli by D. M. Strong. 1902. *The Itivuttaka*, tr. with an introduction and notes by J. H. More. New York, 1908. *The Sutta-nipāta*, tr. by V. Fausböll. Oxford, 1898. (SBE. 10.) *Thera- and Therī-gāthā*. *Psalms of the Brethren*, tr. by Mrs. Rhys Davids. 1913, and *Psalms of the Sisters*, by the same. 1909. (PTS. Transl. Series, 4, 1.) *The Jātaka together with its commentary*, edited by V. Fausböll. 1877–97. (Tr. under the editorship of E. B. Cowell. Cambridge, 1895–1913. The introduction, *Nidāna-kathā*, tr. by Rh. Davids in *Buddhist birth stories*, 1880, new ed. by Mrs. Rhys Davids, 1925.) Three of the Abhidhamma works have been translated:

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*A Buddhist manual of psychological ethics, being a translation of the first book in the Abhidhamma Piṭaka entitled Dhamma-saṅgaṇi.* With introductory essay and notes by C. A. F. Rhys Davids. 1900. The commentary, *Atthasālinī*, tr. as *The Expositor*, by P. M. Tin and Mrs. Rhys Davids. 1920-1. (PTS. Transl. Series, 8, 9.) *Puggala-paññatti*, designation of human types, tr. by B. C. Law. 1924. (PTS. Transl. Series, 12.) *Points of Controversy*, being a translation of the *Kathā-vatthu*, by S. Z. Aung and Mrs. Rhys Davids. 1915. (PTS. Transl. Series, 5.)

Sarvāstivāda Works

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*Prātimokṣa-sūtra*. Ed. by L. Finot, *JA.* i, 1913, 465 ff., with a translation from the Chinese by E. Huber. (Rockhill's *Life of the Buddha*, 1884, gives much material from the Tibetan Vinaya, the Dulva.) Analysis of the Dulva (Vinaya) by A. Csoma Kőrösi, in *Asiatic Researches*, xx, Calcutta, 1836. Some problems of the textual history of the Buddhist Scriptures, and the four Buddhist Āgamas in Chinese, by M. Anesaki, in *Trans. As. Soc. Japan*, xxxv, parts 2, 3, 1908. *The comparative catalogue of Chinese Āgamas and Pāli Nikāyas*. By C. Akanuma. Nagoya, 1929. *Le Sagātha-vagga du Saṃyutta-nikāya et ses versions chinoises*, par M. Anesaki, in *Muséon*, 1905, p. 23 ff. *Manuscript remains of Buddhist literature found in Eastern Turkestan*. Edited by A. F. R. Hoernle. Vol. i. Oxford, 1916. *Bruchstücke des Sanskritkanons der Buddhisten aus Idykutṣari*, in *Sitzb. der k. pr. Akad.*, 1904, p. 807 ff. *Avadānaśataka*, edited by J. S. Speyer. St. Petersburg, 1906-9. (There is a translation from the Tibetan by L. Feer, Paris, 1891.) *Karmaśataka*. Summarized in French from the Tibetan by L. Feer. *JA.*, 1901. *Divyāvadāna*, edited by E. B. Cowell and R. A. Neil. Cambridge, 1886. (Portions are translated in Burnouf's *Introduction*.) *Damamūka*. *Hdzans-blun oder der Weise und der Thor*. Aus dem Tibetischen übers. und mit dem Originaltexte hrsg. von I. J. Schmidt. St. Petersburg, 1843. *Aśokāvadāna*. Tr. in *La légende de l'empereur Açoka dans les textes indiens et chinois*, par J. Przyluski. Paris, 1923. *The Romantic Legend of Śākya Buddha*, tr. from the Chinese by S. Beal, 1875. See p. 281. J. Takakusu. On the Abhidharma literature of the Sarvāstivādins. *JPTS.*, 1905. (Contains summaries of the seven Abhidharma works.) *Documents d'Abhidharma*, trad. et annotés par L. de la Vallée Poussin. *BEFEO.*, xxx, 1931.

Mahāsaṅghika

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*Le Mahāvastu*, publié par É. Senart. Paris, 1882-97. (Contains a summary of the contents in French. Portions of it are tr. by B. C. Law in *A study of the Mahāvastu*. Calcutta and Simla, 1930.)

Mahāyāna

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Analysis of the Sher-chin [Prajñāpāramitā], Phal-chhen [Avataṃsaka], Dkon-séks [Ratnakūṭa], Do-dé [Sūtra], Nyáng-dás [Nirvāṇa], and Gyut [Tantra], being the 2nd—7th divisions of the Tibetan work, entitled the Kah-gyur, by A. Csoma Kőrösi, in *Asiatic Researches*, xx, Calcutta, 1839.

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*Analyse du Kandjour*. L. Feer. Lyon, 1881. (Based on the above and on the *Analysis of the Dulva*.)

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*A catalogue of the Chinese translation of the Buddhist Tripitaka*, by B. Nanjio. Oxford, 1883.

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*A comparative analytical catalogue of the Kanjur*, by B. Sakurabe and Professor Teramoto. Kyoto, 1930-2.

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*Śatasāhasrika-prajñāpāramitā*. Edited by P. Ghoṣa. Pt 1 ff. Calcutta, 1902 ff.

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*Aṣṭasāhasrika-prajñāpāramitā*. Edited by R. L. Mitra. Calcutta, 1888. (Tr. in part by M. Walleser as *Die Vollkommenheit der Erkenntnis*. Göttingen, 1914.)

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*Vajracchedikā*. Edited by F. Max Müller. Oxford, 1881.

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*Sukhāvatī-vyūha* (in two recensions). Edited by F. Max Müller and B. Nanjio. Oxford, 1883.

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*Buddhist Mahāyāna Texts*. Oxford, 1894, 1927. (SBE. 49.) (Contains translations of *Buddha-carita* of Aśvaghoṣa, larger and smaller *Sukhāvatīvyūha*, *Vajracchedikā*, larger and smaller *Prajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya-sūtra*, and *Amitāyurdhyāna-sūtra*.)

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*Saddharmapuṇḍarīka*, edited by H. Kern and B. Nanjio. St. Petersburg, 1908-12. (Tr. by H. Kern. Oxford, 1884. S.B.E. 21.)

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*Kāśyapaparivarta*, a *Mahāyānasūtra* of the *Ratnakūṭa* class, edited in the original Sanskrit, in Tibetan and in Chinese by Baron A. von Staël-Holstein. Shanghai, 1926.

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*Lalitavistara*. Edited by R. L. Mitra. Calcutta, 1877, and by S. Lefmann, Halle a. S., 1902-8. (P. Foucaux edited the Tibetan version with French tr. as *Rgya tch'er rol pa*. Paris, 1847-8, and a version from the Sanskrit in 1884.)

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*Kāraṇḍavyūha*. Edited by Satyabrata Samasrami, and pub. by Jibananda Vidyasagara. Calcutta, 1873.

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*Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra*, edited by B. Nanjio. Kyoto, 1923. (Tr. by D. T. Suzuki, 1932.)

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*Udānavarga*, tr. from the Tibetan by W. W. Rockhill. 1883.

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*Guhyasamāja-tantra*. See TANTRA below.

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*Aparimitāyurjñāna-sūtra*, mit der tib. und chines. Version hrsg. und übers. von M. Walleser. Heidelberg. 1916.

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*Megha-sūtra*, edited and tr. by C. Bendall. *JRAS*., 1880, p. 286 ff.

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*Suvarṇaprabhāsa-sūtra*, edited by H. Idzumi. Kyoto, 1931. (Analysed and partly tr. from the Mongolian by I. J. Schmidt in *Mém. de l'Acad. Imp. des Sciences*. 6e série, sciences polit. Tom. 1, p. 225 ff. St. Petersburg, 1832.)

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*Bhadrakalpikā-sūtra*. (Tr. by I. J. Schmidt in the above *Mémoires*, vol. 2, pp. 41-86. Analysed by F. Weller in *Tausend Buddhanamen des Bhadrakalpa, nach einer fünfsprachigen Polyglotte*. Leipzig, 1928.)

Tantra

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*Guhyasamāja-tantra* or *Tathāgataguhyaka*, edited by B. Bhattacharyya. Gaekwad's Or. Ser., 53. Baroda, 1931. (Professor Winternitz in an important article in *IHQ*. 1933, p. 1 ff., points out that the *Tathāgataguhyaka* quoted by Śāntideva in his *Śikṣāsamuccaya* is a different work. In the work here edited we find "the same unsavoury mixture of mysticism, occult pseudo-science, magic, and erotics, as in most of the other Buddhist Tantras". The editor, although he admits that the work definitely asks its followers to disregard all social laws, thinks that Yoga and the Tantras are regarded as the greatest contributions of Sanskrit to world culture. In his *Introduction to Buddhist esoterism* (1932) he declares that “the Tantric culture is the greatest of all cultures, because it aims at the spiritual perfection and psychic development of man, and as such no one can deny that the Tantric culture is the greatest contribution made by India towards the world’s civilization”. His views are not shared by all Indians.¹

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¹ Mr. Bhattacharyya’s views do not seem to be perfectly balanced. In his introduction to *Sādhanamālā*, vol. 2, p. xxxiii, he says, “it is indeed a pity that the Hindus, and also the Jainas to a certain extent, could not throw off the worthless and immoral practices enjoined in the Tantras even when Buddhism was stamped out of India.”

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Besides canonical works the following are important: *Matériaux pour servir à l’histoire de la déesse buddhique Tārā*, par G. de Blonay. Paris, 1895. *Adikarmapradīpa*. (In *Bouddhisme, études et matériaux*, par L. de la Vallée Poussin, 1898. This contains valuable studies on tantric rites, maithuna or sexual union, spells, and the relations of Tantra with Śaivism.) *Subhāsita-saṃgraha*. Edited by C. Bendall. Louvain, 1905. (The editor holds that this work explains the decay, decrepitude, and dotage of Buddhism as shown in the Tantra-literature. A more convincing account was given by Mm. Haraprasad Sastri. See the important account of his life and work given by Dr. N. N. Law in *IHQ*. ix, 1933, p. 307.) *Les chants mystiques de Kāṇha et de Saraha ; les Dohā-koṣa et les Caryā*, éd. et trad. par M. Shahidullah. Paris, 1928. (The author explains the “argot tantrique”, by which technical religious terms were applied in obscene senses. The best general treatment is by L. de la Vallée Poussin in *ERE*, art. “Tantrism”.) *The Post-Caitanya Sahajīā cult of Bengal*. By M. M. Bose. Calcutta, 1930. (A study of a modern tantric sect. The author has also published the Bengali texts of the sect in *Sahajiyā sāhitya*. Calcutta, 1932.)