Keiki Nakayama ( Kyoto University & Universität Hamburg ): Preliminary Survey on the Structure of the Paryāyasaṃgrahaṇī With its Special Focus on the Phenapiṇḍasūtra

27 May 2020

May 27 2020 16:00, online via Zoom

The Paryāyasaṃgrahaṇī (rNam grangs bsdu ba) constitutes one section of
the Yogācārabhūmi, the main text of the Yogācāra school. It collects synonyms—
correlated terms and stock phrases that are often found in the āgamas, especially in
the Saṃyuktāgama, for examples, avidyā (ma rig pa), ajñāna (ma śes pa), tamas (mun pa),
and so forth—and explains the semantic difference or distinction between them. This
section is useful in that one is able to get a clue as to how to differentiate the
Buddhist terms that seem similar, as well as in that one would be able know
on which scriptures the school relies. Few studies focusing on this section have been
published, mainly because it is too difficult to identify on which scripture the
explanations are based due to its brief commentary on each word. Previous studies
show that the summary verse of the Paryāyasaṃgrahaṇī enumerates 60 items to
be explained and that, roughly speaking, these items are arranged according to three
wisdoms (i.e., wisdoms consisting in learning, thinking, and cultivating). However, it
is sometimes hard to grasp the relationship between adjacent items, which in many
cases actually look independent from or irrelevant to each other. In this presentation,
I shall take as an example two items that are enumerated next to each other in the
summary verse—namely, anitya and phena—and show that these two are closely
connected, especially by proving that some terms commented upon in the last part of
anitya are found in the Phenapiṇḍasūtra, on which the commentary on phena is based.

By doing so, I shall support the hypothis implied by previous studies that the

Paryāyasaṃgrahaṇī lines up these 60 items intentionally and not randomly. I hope that
this viewpoint would make it easier for scholars to better understand the text and
identify the scriptures.

• Click here to download the invitation [PDF]

The lecture is held online via Zoom. For those who whish to participate, please write a short mail to Prof. Dr. Wangchuk: dorji.wangchuk@uni-hamburg.de

Prof. Dr. Dorji Wangchuk (Director)
Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS)
Abteilung für Kultur und Geschichte Indiens und Tibets, AAI, Universität Hamburg
Alsterterrasse 1, D-20354 Hamburg