Dr. Toshio Horiuchi: “The Seven Bhāvasvabhāvas and Seven Paramārthas in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra: Methodological Remarks on the New Edition of Chapter II of the Laṅkāvatārasūtra”

9 November 2016

As for the Sanskrit text of the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, since more than 90 years have passed since the publication of Nanjio’s version (1923), it seems that creating a new edition that will take into consideration the manuscripts available to date is more than desirable. In my presentation, I would like to present my strategy for preparing a critical edition of Chapter II of the Laṅkāvatārasūtra by taking up a small paragraph in that chapter (Nanjio 39.9–40.10). This paragraph contains enumerations of seven bhāvasvabhāvas (natures of things) and seven paramārthas (ultimate truths) with no explanations to them. In the course of the text’s transmission the items of these two enumerative lists have changed greatly in the various witnesses, including the available Sanskrit manuscripts, as well as the text’s two Tibetan and three Chinese translations, and two commentaries preserved in their Tibetan versions. Therefore, I would also attempt to trace the changes in the text and investigate the reasons behind them.

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November 9th, 2016 - 16.00h
Universität Hamburg,
ESA-Ost, Raum 120, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, 20146 Hamburg
Free Entrance.