{"id":1261,"date":"2015-02-28T23:59:35","date_gmt":"2015-02-28T23:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/?p=1261"},"modified":"2015-04-19T18:12:50","modified_gmt":"2015-04-19T18:12:50","slug":"ratna-gotra-vibhaga-a-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/ratna-gotra-vibhaga-a-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga: A Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

(keywords: Ratnagotravibh\u0101ga<\/em>, Ratnagotravibhaga<\/em>)<\/p>\n

A new English translation of the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em> has now appeared in When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between S\u016btra and Tantra<\/em>, translated and introduced by Karl Brunnh\u00f6lzl (Snow Lion, 2014, released by the publisher in Jan. 2015 and at Amazon in Feb. 2015). This volume includes a translation of the accompanying Indian commentary, essential for correctly understanding the verses that comprise the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em> or Uttara-tantra<\/em>. It is the third English translation that includes this commentary, each of which was a major step forward. The first translation, by E. Obermiller published in 1931 (posted on this website under \u201cReferences\u201d), was competently made from the Tibetan translation before the Sanskrit original was discovered. This pioneering translation was a remarkable achievement, making this text available to the outside world for the first time, and doing so in a generally accurate manner. The second translation, by Jikido Takasaki published in 1966 (posted here under \u201cReferences\u201d), was the first to be made from the Sanskrit original. It, too, was a remarkable achievement, and well illustrates the improvements in understanding that the Sanskrit original makes possible. The third translation, just published, makes another major step forward. Despite being about transcendental subjects, the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em> is an analytical treatise using many technical terms in a precise manner. Translation terminology has advanced considerably in the last few decades, with the publication of so many Buddhist texts. Taking nothing away from the previous two translations, the use of more accurate and precise translation terminology in the third translation makes possible a much clearer understanding of the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The translation of the term dh\u0101tu<\/em>, the most central term of the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em>, is a prime example. Obermiller translated its Tibetan translation (khams<\/em>) in verse 1.1 as the \u201cGerm (of Buddhahood).\u201d \u201cGerm [of the Buddha]\u201d was used by Takasaki for the term gotra<\/em> (e.g., p. 288). Takasaki translated dh\u0101tu<\/em> in verse 1.1 as the \u201cEssence [of the Buddha].\u201d \u201cEssence of the Buddha\u201d was used by Obermiller for the term tath\u0101gata-garbha<\/em> (e.g., p. 89). Brunnh\u00f6lzl translates dh\u0101tu<\/em> as \u201cbasic element,\u201d similar to another translation of it used by Obermiller, \u201cfundamental element.\u201d The central meaning of dh\u0101tu<\/em> is \u201celement.\u201d To distinguish it from its common usage as applied to other elements, the word \u201cbasic\u201d was added for its use as a technical term applying to the one element. Translation terminology typically starts with what we may call \u201cball park\u201d translations, translations that are somewhere within the range of meanings of a particular term. They are thus \u201cin the ball park,\u201d a large playing field. As more and more texts become available, and the particular term can be seen in more and more different settings, it becomes possible to get closer and closer to the central meaning of the term. Brunnh\u00f6lzl very often uses translations that reflect the central meaning of a term rather than a peripheral meaning, as seen in his choice of \u201cbasic element\u201d for the term dh\u0101tu<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As a sample, we may look at a passage on the one basic element (eka-dh\u0101tu<\/em>) found in the accompanying Indian commentary on Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em> 1.12 in the three translations, preceded by the Sanskrit and Tibetan:<\/p>\n

evam e\u1e63\u0101\u1e43 b\u0101l\u0101n\u0101m anu\u015bayavat\u0101\u1e43 nimitta-gr\u0101hi\u1e47\u0101m \u0101ramba\u1e47a-carit\u0101n\u0101m ayoni\u015bo-manasik\u0101ra-samud\u0101c\u0101r\u0101t kle\u015ba-samudaya\u1e25 | kle\u015ba-samuday\u0101t karma-samudaya\u1e25 | karma-samuday\u0101j janma-samudayo bhavati | sa punar e\u1e63a sarv\u00e2k\u0101ra-kle\u015ba-karma-janma-sa\u1e43kle\u015bo b\u0101l\u0101n\u0101m ekasya dh\u0101tor yath\u0101-bh\u016btam aj\u00f1\u0101n\u0101d adar\u015ban\u0101c ca\u00a0 pravartate |<\/p>\n

de ltar na byis pa bag la nyal dang ldan pa mtshan mar \u2019dzin pa can | dmigs pa la spyod pa de dag la tshul bzhin ma yin pa yid la byed pa kun \u2019byung ba las nyon mongs pa kun \u2019byung ngo || nyon mongs pa kun \u2019byung ba las ni las kun \u2019byung ngo || las kun \u2019byung ba las ni skye ba kun \u2019byung bar \u2019gyur ro || byis pa rnams kyi* nyon mongs pa dang las dang skye ba\u2019i kun nas nyon mongs pa\u2019i rnam pa \u2019di thams cad kyang khams gcig yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin ma shes pas rab tu \u2019jug go ||\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*kyis in the Der-ge and Co-ne editions; Comparative Tengyur, vol. 70, p. 1003.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThus the ordinary worldly beings, possessed of the residues and seeds of the defiling forces and clinging to the reality of separate entities, are directed toward the (illusionary worldly) objects. Accordingly this gives rise to the wrong appreciation which is the origin of the passions. The latter in their turn call forth the deeds and these are the cause of (repeated) births. All these different forms of defilement peculiar to the worldlings, those of passions, deeds and repeated birth, manifest themselves in this world owing to the ignorance of the unique Germ (of Buddhahood) in its true character.\u201d (Obermiller, p. 136)<\/p>\n

\u201cThus these people, having tendencies [of Desire, Hatred and Ignorance], regarding the [unreal] characteristic [as real], and making it the basis of cognition, [affectionally] hanging on it, produce the Irrational Thought, from which consequently arises Defilement. Because of origination of Defilement, there arises Action; from the origination of Action, there arises Rebirth. And all kinds of impurity (sa<\/em>\u1e43kle\u015ba<\/em>) of these Defilements, Action, Rebirth, etc. come forth because people do not know, nor perceive the one [real] essence as it is.\u201d (Takasaki, p. 170)<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this way, improper mental engagement manifests in naive beings who possess those latencies, grasp at [certain] characteristics, and engage in them as their focal objects. From that, the afflictions arise. From the arising of the afflictions, actions arise. From the arising of actions, there is the arising of birth. So all aspects of the afflictiveness of afflictions, karma, and birth of naive beings operate by virtue of not realizing and not seeing the single basic element in just the way it is in true reality.\u201d (Brunnh\u00f6lzl, p. 344)<\/p>\n

As may be seen, the term dh\u0101tu<\/em>, Tibetan khams<\/em>, appears in Obermiller\u2019s translation as the \u201cGerm (of Buddhahood),\u201d in Takasaki\u2019s translation as the \u201c[real] essence,\u201d and in Brunnh\u00f6lzl\u2019s translation as the \u201cbasic element.\u201d For the technical term kle\u015ba<\/em>, Tibetan nyon mongs pa<\/em>, Obermiller uses \u201cpassions,\u201d Takasaki uses \u201cDefilement,\u201d and Brunnh\u00f6lzl uses \u201cafflictions.\u201d The latter, \u201caffliction,\u201d has now become widely used by translators of Buddhist texts, because it accords with the etymological meaning of kle\u015ba<\/em>. Of course, translators choose what seems best to them, and Brunnh\u00f6lzl\u2019s choices of translation terms do not always coincide with what is widely used. The key term in this literature, tath\u0101gata-garbha<\/em>, for which Obermiller had used both \u201cEssence of Buddhahood\/the Buddha\u201d and \u201cGerm of the Buddha,\u201d and for which Takasaki used \u201cMatrix of the Tath\u0101gata,\u201d is translated by Brunnh\u00f6lzl as \u201ctath\u0101gata heart.\u201d Most translators use words such as \u201cmatrix\u201d or \u201cembryo\u201d for garbha<\/em> in this compound. Elsewhere the word garbha<\/em> commonly means \u201cwomb.\u201d The meaning \u201cheart\u201d comes from snying po<\/em>, the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit garbha<\/em> here in this compound. The Tibetan word snying po<\/em> also frequently translates the Sanskrit word s\u0101ra<\/em>, meaning \u201cessence.\u201d It is apparently in the sense of \u201cessence\u201d that snying po<\/em> was chosen for garbha<\/em> in this compound by the early Tibetan translators, and it is apparently in the sense of \u201cessence\u201d that \u201cheart\u201d was chosen by Brunnh\u00f6lzl (see p. 53).<\/p>\n

Brunnh\u00f6lzl tells us in his Preface that he has translated this text \u201cfrom the Sanskrit and Tibetan\u201d (p. xi). He had there noted that Obermiller\u2019s translation was made \u201cfrom the Tibetan,\u201d and Takasaki\u2019s translation was made \u201cfrom the Sanskrit and Chinese.\u201d Actually, Takasaki\u2019s translation was made from the Sanskrit, under the guidance of V. V. Gokhale during Takasaki\u2019s stay in India from August 1954 to January 1957, as Takasaki tells us in his Preface (p. xi). He certainly used the Chinese translation thoroughly, as may be seen in his many footnotes, and he also used the Tibetan translation thoroughly, as may also be seen in his many footnotes. Takasaki\u2019s translation, however, was made from the Sanskrit. Brunnh\u00f6lzl\u2019s translation, as he tells us, was made from the Sanskrit and Tibetan. In many places his translation is clearly based on the Tibetan translation rather than on the Sanskrit original. Of course, he made full use of the Sanskrit original in conjunction with the Tibetan translation.<\/p>\n

Brunnh\u00f6lzl\u2019s translation has also made full use of all the advancements in our understanding of this unique text since the publication of the Sanskrit original in 1950, edited by E. H. Johnston (posted here under \u201cSanskrit Texts,\u201d along with Nakamura\u2019s 1961 Sanskrit edition with the Chinese translation, his corresponding edition of the Tibetan translation, and his two multi-lingual indexes). This includes all the corrections and proposed emendations to the published Sanskrit text. Johnston used for his edition photographs of two old Sanskrit manuscripts discovered in Tibet in the 1930s by R\u0101hula S\u0101\u1e45k\u1e5bity\u0101yana, one of which was missing more than half of its leaves, and the other \u201cdoes not reach the standard of accuracy of most Nepali MSS. of its period,\u201d in Johnston\u2019s words (p. vii). Johnston used both the Tibetan and Chinese translations in helping to establish the Sanskrit text. Johnston\u2019s edition was seen through the press after his death by T. Chowdhury, who provided the first corrections and emendations (pp. i-iii, xvi). Takasaki in the course of preparing his 1966 translation noted many more, listing them in an appendix, pp. 396-399 (see also the corrigenda to that book, here attached as: Ratnagotravibhaga, A Study on, Takasaki, corrigenda<\/a>). Then J. W. de Jong in a 1968 review of Takasaki\u2019s translation provided another large group of corrections and emendations (here attached as: Ratnagotravibhaga, A Study on, Takasaki, review by de Jong<\/a>). After that, Lambert Schmithausen in a long German article published in 1971 provided yet another large group of corrections and emendations (here attached as: Ratnagotravibhaga, Philologische Bemerkungen zum, Schmithausen 1971<\/a>). He was able to use photographs of the Sanskrit manuscripts for these. In 1985 the Sanskrit Mah\u0101y\u0101nottara-tantra-\u1e6dippa\u1e47\u012b<\/em> by Vairocana-rak\u1e63ita was published, edited by Zuiry\u016b Nakamura (posted here under \u201cSanskrit Texts\u201d). It provides many glosses on selected words and phrases, helpful for establishing both the meaning and the correct readings. Brunnh\u00f6lzl used a later edition of it found in Kazuo Kano\u2019s unpublished 2006 PhD dissertation. Brunnh\u00f6lzl gives glosses from it in the notes to his translation of the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em>. Yet another page of corrections to the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em> was given in Kano\u2019s 2006 dissertation that Brunnh\u00f6lzl acknowledges using (p. 1060, n. 1106). Kano recently informed me that he is preparing a new Sanskrit edition of the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em>. This will bring together all these many needed corrections, as Brunnh\u00f6lzl laboriously did for his careful translation, and more.<\/p>\n

Brunnh\u00f6lzl includes a translation of one more Sanskrit text in this book. In 1974 and 1975 Takasaki published the Sanskrit text of a brief upade\u015ba<\/em> or \u201cpith instruction\u201d in 37 verses by Sajjana on the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em>, also discovered in Tibet in the 1930s by R\u0101hula S\u0101\u1e45k\u1e5bity\u0101yana (posted here under \u201cSanskrit Texts\u201d). Brunnh\u00f6lzl\u2019s translation of this utilized a fuller Sanskrit edition including the interlinear glosses, found in the unpublished 2006 PhD dissertation by Kazuo Kano, and is based on Kano\u2019s unrevised and uncorrected preliminary draft translation. Kano will be publishing a revised and corrected translation of this text shortly.<\/p>\n

Brunnh\u00f6lzl\u2019s translation of the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em> is also informed by several Tibetan commentaries. Two of these are included in English translation in this 1334-page book. Valuable as these commentaries are, this review is limited to the Sanskrit materials, as was my review of the Mah\u0101y\u0101na-s\u016btr\u0101la\u1e43k\u0101ra<\/em> posted here on Dec. 31, 2014. Suffice it to say that the first of these Tibetan commentaries is a very early one apparently written by an anonymous student of the translator Mar pa do pa chos kyi dbang phyug (1042-1136). According to its colophon, it gives Mar pa do pa’s teachings and those of the Indian pandit Parahitabhadra. It is \u201cA Commentary on the Meaning of the Words of the \u2018Uttaratantra\u2019.\u201d Its English translation occupies pp. 473-694. The other one is by the Karma Kagyu teacher (B)dud mo bkra shis \u2019od zer (15th-16th century). It incorporates the otherwise unavailable topical outline of the Uttara-tantra<\/em> written by the Third Karmapa, Rang \u2019byung rdo rje (1284-1339). It occupies pp. 695-776. Following this are translations of six short Tibetan texts pertaining to the Uttara-tantra<\/em>, four of which are by the Kadampa teacher Skyo ston smon lam tshul khrims (1219-1299).\u00a0<\/p>\n

In conclusion, Brunnh\u00f6lzl has provided us with what is quite the most accurate English translation of the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga<\/em> and its essential accompanying Indian commentary now available. Takasaki\u2019s 1966 translation has deservedly held the field for nearly fifty years, and remains a necessary reference with its many grammatical notes. Brunnh\u00f6lzl has fully utilized all the refinements of the Sanskrit text that have been published in the interim, has fully utilized the wide Tibetan exegetical tradition, and has employed more accurate and precise translation terminology that the intervening years have made possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(keywords: Ratnagotravibh\u0101ga, Ratnagotravibhaga) A new English translation of the Ratna-gotra-vibh\u0101ga has now appeared in When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between S\u016btra and Tantra, translated and introduced by Karl Brunnh\u00f6lzl (Snow Lion, 2014, released by the publisher in Jan. 2015 and at Amazon in Feb. 2015). This volume […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-noteworthy-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1261"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1275,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1261\/revisions\/1275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}