Takeda Kōgaku 武田浩学. "Daichidoron no chosha wa yahari Ryūju de wa nakatta noka? 『大智度論』の著者はやはり龍樹ではなかったのか." Kokusai Bukkyōgaku daigakuin daigaku kenkyū kiyō 国際仏教学大学院大学研究紀要 3 (2000): 211-243.
| Assertion | Argument | Place in source |
|---|---|---|
|
Takeda argues that the author of MPPU T1509 is more likely to be Nāgārjuna than Kumārajīva. He bases his arguments on similarities in doctrinal content with the Bodhisaṃbhāra-śāstra 菩提資糧論 T1660, held by Uryūzu Takao 瓜生津隆雄 (1985) to be an authentic work of Nāgārjuna; especially the relation between the concepts of non-retrogression (butuizhuan 不退轉, avaivartika) and the pratyutpannasamādhi 般舟三昧, an idea unique to T1509. The state of non-regression is normally founded upon the achievement of anutpattikadharmakṣānti 無生法忍 and the bestowal of a vyākāraṇa 受記. In the Sanskrit Aṣṭasāhasrikā and in Chapter 3 (習應品第三) of MPPU T1509, the connection or conjunction between non-retrogression and prajñāpāramitā is termed prajñāpāramitāpratisaṃyukta 般若波羅蜜相應. One who pratices with this prajñāpāramitāpratisaṃyukta either already has a status equivalent to the receipt of a prediction to Buddhahood, or is very close to such a prediction (當知是菩薩如受記無異，若近受記, 334c25). The connection between pratyupannasamādhi and non-retrogression is mediated via the idea of "benefiting others", and an associated model of choices of rebirth. In contrast to T227/Aṣṭa, Takeda maintains, MPPU and T223 (the "Larger" PP, and root text of MPPU) focus on practice for the benefit of others (利他 vs 自利), and in MPPU, non-retrogression corresponds to entry into this phase of bodhisatva practice. This is reflected in the view of rebirth (往生) in MPPU T1509. It is possible to be reborn either in the kāmadhātu 欲界, in worlds where there is no Buddha (無佛國土), or in lands which do have a Buddha (有佛國土) (菩薩有二種：一者、有慈悲心，多為眾生；二者、多集諸佛功德。樂多集諸佛功德者，至一乘清淨無量壽世界；好多為眾生者，至無佛法眾處, 342b1-4). T1509 emphasizes the superiority of the "other-benefiting" bodhisattva who chooses to stay in the kāmadhatu, despite the possibility of being reborn in the realm of the Buddhas, in order to transform sentient beings (是菩薩雖離欲得諸禪定，以方便力故，為眾生生欲界有現在佛處, 578c15-19). Here we see the link to the pratyupannasamādhi, which MPPU T1509 mentions as one of the expedient means (方便) of rebirth (往生) in the kāmadhātu. In a sense, the pratyupannasamādhi substitutes for rebirth in Buddha-lands; the goal of both to hear the teachings (聞法). This means that the samādhi enables bodhisatvas who choose, for the benefit of others, to remain in the kāmadhātu, nonetheless still to have access to the teachings of the Buddhas. In this connection, the text makes the statement "for this reason, the Buddhas take prajñā as their mother, and the pratyupannasamādhi as their father" 是故佛以般若為母、般舟三昧為父 (314a22-23). Here, the pratyupannasamādhi replaces the more common upāyakauśalya as the father. This peculiarity is also found in Nāgārjuna's Bodhisaṃbhāra-śāstra 菩提資糧論 T1660. According to Uryūzu Takao 瓜生津隆雄 (1985), T1660 is an authentic work of Nāgārjuna. The four indicators of the state of non-regression (不退轉位) all feature in T1660 as well: (1) pratyutpannasamādhi得無生法忍 (527c04-05) (2) prajñāpāramitāsaṃyukta般若波羅蜜相應 (529c19-20) (3) apratisthita-nirvāṇa不住涅槃の思想 (532b3-4) (4) rebirth under one's own vow in order to benefit others 利他のための願力受生 (533c23-24). Takeda suggests that if MPPU T1509 were composed by Kumārajīva, this unique understanding of the pratyutpannasamādhi 般舟三昧 should have been already reflected in the Dasheng dayi zhang 大乘大義章 T1856 and the Zhu Weimojie jing 注維摩詰經 T1775. But no similar thought is found in T1856 and T1775. The fact that the concepts discussed above are connected with each other in both MPPU T1509 and T1660 therefore makes it more likely that the author is Nāgārjuna, not Kumārajīva. Citations in MPPU T1509 from the Śata-śastra 百論 T1569 and the Catuḥśataka 四百論 in T1509 possibly represent Kumārajīva's own remarks or interpolations during the translation process (加筆), rather than evidence for Kumārajīva's authorship. |