Ēpídámó jùshèlùn shíyì shū 阿毗達磨俱舍論實義疏
Tattvārtha — A True-Meaning Commentary on the Abhidharmakośa by 安慧 (Sthiramati, 造); critical edition by 蘇軍 (整理)
About the work
A Sanskrit Tattvārtha (Shíyì shū 實義疏) commentary on Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya, by the great Yogācāra master Sthiramati (c. 510–570). The Chinese translation is by an unknown hand, and only the third fascicle survives in Chinese. In it Sthiramati comments verse-by-verse on the Jiè-pǐn 界品 and the Gēn-pǐn 根品 sections of the Kośa, taking sides against the orthodox Sarvāstivādin Saṅghabhadra (Zhòng Xián 眾賢) of the Nyāyānusāra (《順正理論》, 正理師) on a long series of disputed abhidharma points, while also showing willingness to adopt elements of Saṅghabhadra’s argument when they support Vasubandhu.
Abstract
The Chinese version is unknown to all Chinese scriptural catalogues; the Wéishí shùjì 唯識述記 of Kuíjī 窺基 mentions Sthiramati’s having “synthesised the Abhidharmasamuccaya, defended the Kośa, and refuted the orthodox Nyāya masters,” which is the only canonical attestation. Two Dūnhuáng manuscripts of the Chinese have been identified: Beijing Library L3736 + Běi-xīn 1440 (the base text of the present edition; one originally a torn-off fragment of the other, recently rejoined; signed zūn-zhě Ān-huì zào 尊者安惠造 and dated by hand and paper to the late Táng), and a Pelliot manuscript covering a partial five-fascicle excerpt (Taishō 29 no. 1561 was set from this Pelliot version, but only as a jié-chāo 節抄 — an excerpt). Of the surviving fascicle-three text, the present Beijing-Library witness is therefore complete where the Taishō text is excerpted. There is also an Old Uighur translation in the British Library (Or.8128–75A/75B, two booklets, with Chinese pagination — clearly translated from a Chinese Vorlage).
The catalog meta gives the author as “尊者安惠”; “Ānhuì” 安惠 is the orthography on this manuscript, but the standard Chinese rendering of Sthiramati is 安慧 (Ānhuì). Both forms refer to the same person. Sthiramati’s lifedates are conventionally given as c. 470–550 in older scholarship; the consensus following Hattori Masaaki and Lambert Schmithausen is c. 510–570.
Translations and research
- Pāsādika Bhikkhu, “Sthiramati’s Abhidharmakośa-Tattvārthā,” Buddhist Studies Review 6.2 (1989) — survey of the Sanskrit-Tibetan-Chinese-Uighur transmission.
- Hakamaya Noriaki 袴谷憲昭, Yuishiki bunken kenkyū 唯識文献研究 (Tōkyō: Daizō, 2001) — Sthiramati’s Yogācāra works.
- Pruden, Leo M., trans., Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam of Vasubandhu, 4 vols. (Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1988–1990) — context on the Kośa and its commentaries.
- Sū Jūn 蘇軍, “Ēpídámó jùshèlùn shíyì shū 整理本前言,” in Zàngwài fójiào wénxiàn vol. 1 (Beijing: Zōngjiào wénhuà, 1995).
Other points of interest
The Old Uighur version — separately edited as Tattvārtha (Tezcan 1974) — is the principal monument of Old Uighur philosophical translation literature and confirms the strong tenth-century Yogācāra culture of the Turfan oasis.
Links
- CBETA
- Host text: T29n1558 (Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya in Xuánzàng’s translation)
- Cf. T29n1561 (the older fragmentary Taishō recension)