User:Hanbud/Harada

Harada
Please use this space to provide English summaries of Harada Waso's works as they have not been translated into English yet. There is another section for comments.Hanbud (talk) 18:04, 5 May 2018 (UTC) If anyone has problems with this section, please read my talk page for why this section should remain unchanged (unless one has corrections to be made to Pat457's translation of Professor Harada Waso.Hanbud (talk) 18:25, 6 May 2018 (UTC)

Pat457's English Summary of Harada Waso's An Annotated Translation of the Prajnaparamitahrdaya from the Association of Esoteric Buddhist Studies (2002) Japanese speaker here. I'm just perusing through Harada's paper, and while I cannot give a full translation of it here (my translation skills aren't great, and it's very long and I'm lazy), I can give out at least the general gist of his arguments against Jan Nattier. Nattier doesn't give an answer as to why the shorter Sanskrit version does not contain the phrase 度一切苦厄 ("crossed over all suffering and affliction"). Harada cites Fumimasa Fukui's thesis (Hannya shingyō no kakushin (般若心経の核心 'The Core of the Heart Sūtra') in Toyo no Shisō to Shūkyō (東洋の思想と宗教 'Thought and Religion in the East') 4, Waseda Univ., 1987) that the core - the 'heart', if you will - of the Heart Sūtra is not so much the first half that speaks about emptiness, but the latter half that extols the merits of the Gate gate paragate... mantra. Fukui argues, and Harada apparently concurs, that the phrase 能除一切苦 ("able to remove all affliction") is actually the most important part of the sūtra - in fact, the very reason why the sūtra came to be so popular in China. The phrase 度一切苦厄 in the opening section - found in Kumarajiva (T. 0250) and Xuanzang (T. 0251), with equivalents in the longer versions of Prajñā and Li Yan (T. 0253: 離諸苦厄) and Prajñācakra (T. 0254: 離諸苦厄), but absent from other versions - is proposed to have been inserted by Kumarajiva in his version of the sūtra to prefigure 能除一切苦, which Xuanzang preserved in his own version. If, as Nattier said, the Sanskrit Heart Sūtra was a back-translation from Xuanzang's Chinese 'translation' (which in turn was based on Kumarajiva's Large Prajñāpāramita text) made in China, Harada argued that the omission of 度一切苦厄 would be an unthinkable move. (pp. 108-107/33-34) Harada answers Nattier's observation that the Heart Sūtra uses kṣaya for the Large Sūtra's nirodha by pointing out that the Sanskrit version of the Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines (Aṣṭasāhasrikā-Prajñāpāramitā) already uses the word akṣayatva (... avidyākṣayatvena subhūte bodhisattvena mahāsattvena prajñāpāramitā abhinirhartavyā / evaṃ saṃskārākṣayatvena vijñānākṣayatvena nāmarūpākṣayatvena ṣaḍāyatanākṣayatvena sparśākṣayatvena vedanākṣayatvena tṛṣṇākṣayatvena upādānākṣayatvena bhavākṣayatvena jātyakṣayatvena jarāmaraṇākṣayatvena śokaparidevaduḥkhadaurmanasyopāyāsākṣayatvena subhūte bodhisattvena mahāsattvena prajñāpāramitā abhinirhartavyā). Ergo, the Heart Sūtra's use of kṣaya is not unusual/without precedent. (pp. 96-95/45-46) Regarding Nattier's observation that while the general meaning of the Large Sūtra and the Heart Sūtra are the same but their vocabulary is not (the Large Sūtra employs singular verbal forms while the Heart Sūtra uses plural adjectival forms), Harada points out that such grammatical differences are natural, since the subject in the Large Sutra is śūnyatā (singular feminine), while in the Heart Sutra, the subject is sarva-dharmāḥ (plural masculine). Note that such grammatical differences do not exist in Chinese, so where the Sanskrit differs (na ... utpadyate na nirudhyate / anutpannā aniruddhā), the Chinese text of both the Large Sūtra and the Heart Sūtra simply just say 不生、不滅. Harada also makes the same observation as Nattier (p. 203) that while the Chinese versions say 不增不減 ("(they) do not increase, (they) do not decrease"), the Sanskrit formulates it in reverse: anūnā aparipūrṇāḥ "they do not decrease, they do not increase." While Nattier says that "it is difficult to explain this reversal no matter what direction of textual transmission is postulated," Harada points out how the Chinese title of the Anūnatva-Apūrṇatva-Nirdeśa shows the same quirk as the phrase in the Chinese Heart Sūtra: 不增不減經 - i.e. putting 'non-increase' (apūrṇatva 不增) before 'non-decrease' (anūnatva 不減). All in all, he proposes that the Heart Sūtra was indeed compiled in India and sees it very likely that its vocabulary was taken from a source/s different from that of the Large Sūtra (he proposes the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras (如来蔵経典)), thereby explaining the different word choices. (pp. 100-99/41-42) Regarding the differences in expression used between the Large Sūtra (na anya X anya Y "X is not other than Y") and the Heart Sūtra (X na pṛthak Y "Y is not distinct from X") despite their word-for-word similarity in Chinese (X不異Y), Harada pretty much argues that the similarity in the Chinese version could have been caused by Xuanzang being a conservative translator, citing how in his own translation of the Large Sūtra (T. 0220) Xuanzang retained Kumarajiva's 色不異空、空不異色. Harada adds, if the Sanskrit Heart Sutra was really back-translated from Xuanzang's text, why did the translator not render 空 as śūnyaṃ/śūnyān, but as śūnyatā/śūnyatā(ḥ), which would have been 空性 in Chinese? (pp. 106-105/35-36) Regarding the following excerpt: (clause Ia/b) rūpān na pṛthak śūnyatā śūnyatāyā na pṛthag rūpam; (clause IIa/b) evam eva vedanā saṃjñā saṃskāro vijñānaṃ; (clause IIIa/b) yad rūpaṃ sā śūnyatā yā śūnyatā tad rūpam, Harada makes the following points: (1) He refutes Nattier's claim that (Ia/b) rūpaṃ śūnyatā śūnyataiva rūpaṃ "is absent from all the Chinese versions of the text" (p. 203) by citing the translations of Amoghavajra (From a manuscript from Dunhuang: (Ia/b) 色空、色性是空. (IIa) 色不異空. (IIb) 空亦不異色. (IIIa) 是色彼空、(IIIb) 是空彼色. ), Dharmacandra (法月 Fayue, 738 - T. 0252: (Ia/b) 色性是空、空性是色 (IIa) 色不意空. (IIb) 空不意色. (IIIa) 色即是空、(IIIb) 空即是色. ) and Prajñācakra (智慧輪, after 855 CE - T. 0254: (Ia/b) 色空、空性見(?)色. (IIa) 色不意空. (IIb) 空不意色. (IIIa) 即色是空、(IIIb) 即空是色. ) (2) Harada agrees that many Nepalese manuscripts lack (IIIa/b) yad rūpaṃ sā śūnyatā yā śūnyatā tad rūpam. Among the Chinese translations, those of Facheng (法成, 8th c. - T. 0255: (Ia) 色即是空、(Ib) 空即是色. (IIa) 色不異空、(IIb) 空不異色. ) and Dānapāla (施護, after 982 CE - T. 0257: (Ia) 即色是空、(Ib) 即空是色. (IIa) 色無異於空. (IIb) 空無異於色. ) reflect this omission. Out of the Indian commentators on the Heart Sūtra, only Praśāstrasena has this third sentence; all others omit it. (3) Versions that include this third sentence (aside from Praśāstrasena's text) are the Hōryūji manuscript and the transliterations by Amoghavajra and Maitrībhadra (慈賢: 10th c.), the Chinese translations mentioned in (1), and a Tibetan manuscript of the short version found in Dunhuang. (4) The versions of Xuanzang and Prajñā+Li Yan, meanwhile, apparently omit the third sentence and switch the first two sentences around: (IIa) 色不異空、(IIb) 空不異色. (Ia) 色即是空、(Ib) 空即是色. (5) In both Kumarajiva's version of the Heart Sūtra and the Large Sūtra, however, the sentence structure is completely in reverse: (-IIIb') 色空故無惱壞相. 受空故無受相. 想空故無知相. 行空故無作相. 識空故無覺相. 何以故. (IIa) 舍利弗非色異空. (IIb) 非空異色. (Ia) 色即是空. (Ib) 空即是色.

Harada then proposes the following scenario: the original sentence order as found in the 25,000-verse Prajñāpāramitā and in the 'primitive Heart Sutra' (原初的な 『心経』) in which this section was incorporated was (-IIIb')-(IIa/b)-(Ia/b). (cf. Kumarajiva) At some point, (-IIIb') was excised, leaving only (IIa/b)-(Ia/b). (cf. Xuanzang, Prajna and Li Yan) Afterwards, a new sentence (IIIa/b) was inserted and the first two sentences were switched around, giving the structure (Ia/b)-(IIa/b)-(IIIa/b). (cf. Hōryūji and Dunhuang MSS, Amoghavajra, Maitrībhadra, Dharmacandra, Prajñācakra, Praśāstrasena) However, (IIIa/b) was finally dropped, leaving only (Ia/b)-(IIa/b). (cf. Facheng, Dānapāla, Nepalese and Indian MSS.) Harada thus argues that the shorter Sanskrit version cannot then have been a back-translation from Xuanzang's text as Nattier proposes: if that was the case, one should expect the text to reflect the (IIa/b)-(Ia/b) structure found in Xuanzang, whereas texts such as the Hōryūji MS or Amoghavajra's transliteration have the (Ia/b)-(IIa/b)-(IIIa/b) structure. (pp. 105-103/36-38) At the part "Because there is no attainment, the bodhisattva(s), relying on perfection of wisdom..." the Horyuji MS, Amoghavajra and Maitrībhadra all have bodhisatvānāṃ (genitive plural). The plural is also reflected in the Tibetan version (byaṅ-chub-sems-dpaḥ rnams), even if the word there is rendered in the nominative as the subject of thob-pa med-paḥi phyir ("because there is no attainment"). Harada asks, since Xuanzang's version reads 菩提薩埵 at this point, shouldn't have one expected the putative creator of the Sanskrit text to render it in the nominative singular (bodhisattvaḥ) instead of the plural bodhisattvānāṃ attested in the different versions? (p. 94/47) (Harada (pp. 49-50/92-91) answers the question about how to square the plural 'bodhisattvas' with āśritya viharati, which requires a singular nominative by saying that the subject of this portion is actually Avalokiteśvara mentioned in the prologue: in other words, Avalokiteśvara examined the five skandhas, the twelve ayatanas, the eighteen dhatus, the twelve nidanas, and the four noble truths, saw their 'emptiness', and as a result, he dwells (in saṃsāra to save sentient beings?) in a state of nirvāṇa, with an unobstructed mind. Harada declares that Avalokiteśvara must be the one referred to in this portion; otherwise it will appear that he just had a one-time cameo in the beginning and then inexplicably disappeared. "I cannot imagine the author of the Heart Sutra seriously thinking of such an incomprehensible and unsightly scenario." (『心経 』制作者がそんな不可解で無様なドラマのシナリオを本気で考えたとは想像できない. ) His rendering of this portion (p. 119/22) therefore pretty much runs like (note: not a word for word translation of his translation): "Because there is no attainment (of the arhathood held to be the ideal in Śrāvakayāna) for bodhisattvas, he (Avalokiteśvara), relying on the perfection of wisdom, (continues to) dwell (in saṃsāra) with an unobstructed mind. Because his mind is unobstructed, he is unafraid [of saṃsāra], having overcome perverse thoughts/views; (while still being in the saṃsāra world) he is in nirvāṇa. It is (after all) due to relying on the perfection of wisdom that all the buddhas of the three times have attained supreme, perfect awakening." Speaking of which, Harada also addresses another Japanese scholar (Shōgo Watanabe) who proposed back in 1991 - a year before Nattier! - that Kumarajiva's T. 0250 version was not a translation from the Sanskrit as is commonly thought, but a later work based on Kumarajiva's Large Prajñāpāramita Sūtra using Xuanzang's text as a model. That's pretty much what I can gather from the paper. Errors in representing his views are entirely my own.Pat457 (talk) 16:11, 25 July 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hanbud (talk • contribs)