Bodhisattvacharyavatara

by Andreas Kretschmar | 246,740 words

The English translation of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara (“entering the conduct of the bodhisattvas”), a Sanskrit text with Tibetan commentary. This book explains the bodhisattva concept and gives guidance to the Buddhist practitioner following the Mahāyāna path towards the attainment of enlightenment. The text was written in Sanskrit by Shantideva ...

Remarks About The Transliteration

Remarks About the Transliteration of the Tibetan Text

The Tibetan root text of the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra, spyod ’jug rtsa ba, was established with the help of the Peking Tangyur edition (P), the Derge Tangyur edition (D), and two modern computer generated editions, one printed by Sichuan People’s Publishing House (S) and one printed by Dharma Publishing (Y).[1]

spyod ’jug rtsa ba (Peking edition): byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa, written by Śāntideva, Peking Tangyur No. 5272, Vol. 99, pages 243.1.1262.2.7, folio 1-45a7, mDo ’grel (dbu ma) XXVI, La. This Peking edition of the Kangyur and Tangyur was begun in 1737 under the Qianlong emperor, reprinted and catalogued between 1955 and 1961, and published as The Tibetan Tripitaka. In the footnotes to the transliteration of the Tibetan root text we refer to this edition as text ‘P’.

spyod ’jug rtsa ba (Derge edition): byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa, written by Śāntideva, Derge Tangyur, mDo ’grel (dbu ma), La. The printing of the Derge Kangyur was begun under Situ Chökyi Jungne[2] and the King of Derge, Tenpa Tsering,[3] in 1733. The Derge Tangyur was printed between 1737-1744. In the footnotes to the transliteration of the Tibetan root text we refer to this edition as text ‘D’.

spyod ’jug rtsa ba (si khron mi rigs edition): byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa, written by Śāntideva, computer generated print by si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Sichuan People’s Publishing House, Chengdu, P. R. of China, by Zenkar Rinpoche, 1982, pages 1-134. In the footnotes to the transliteration of the Tibetan root text we refer to this edition as text ‘S’

spyod ’jug rtsa ba (ye shes sde edition): byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa, written by Śāntideva, computer generated print by Dharma Publishing, Yeshe De, 95 folios. In the footnotes to the transliteration of the Tibetan commentary we refer to this edition as text ‘Y’.

We were further able to get hold of four Tibetan editions of Khenpo Kunpal’s texts. Among these four texts, the edition of the Zhechen Monastery, probably printed in the forties or early fifties of the 20th century in East Tibet, is the oldest:

kun dpal ’grel pa (zhe chen edition): byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa’i tshig ’grel ’jam dbyangs bla ma’i zhal lung bdud rtsi’i thig pa, written by Khenpo Kunpal, originally printed in Zhechen Monastery, East Tibet, off-set reprint of the Zhechen woodblock print [zhe chen spar ma], 371 folios, published by Lama Ngödrup for Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. In the footnotes to the transliteration of the Tibetan commentary we refer to this edition as text ‘A’.

We further used a modern reprint of the zhe chen edition, computer generated and published through Sichuan People’s Publishing House, Chengdu, P. R. of China, by Zenkar Rinpoche:

kun dpal ’grel pa (si khron mi rigs edition): byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa’i tshig ’grel ’jam dbyangs bla ma’i zhal lung bdud rtsi’i thig pa, written by Khenpo Kunpal, computer generated print by si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1982, pages 137-817. In the footnotes to the transliteration of the Tibetan commentary we refer to this edition as text ‘B’.

This edition must be treated with caution by any user. The editors have added titles in bold typeface to the sub-sections of the text. If one is not familiar with the original zhe chen edition, it is difficult to distinguish which titles were written by Khenpo Kunpal and which were added by the editors.

Tarthang Tulku published in the late nineties of the 20th century a computer generated reprint of the zhe chen edition:

kun dpal ’grel pa (ye shes sde edition): byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa’i tshig ’grel ’jam dbyangs bla ma’i zhal lung bdud rtsi’i thig pa, written by Khenpo Kunpal, computer generated print by Dharma Publishing, Yeshe De, 512 folios. In the footnotes to the transliteration of the Tibetan commentary we refer to this edition as text ‘C’.

We based our transliteration of the Tibetan text mainly on the zhe chen edition of Khenpo Kunpal’s commentary and have given variations in spelling and words in the footnotes, consulting the other two editions, following Wylie’s transliteration system.

The fourth text, printed by Sangye Tendzin, 1963, in Nepal, proved not to be of any help for the transliteration of the zhe chen edition. This text seems to be a complete rephrasing of Khenpo Kunpal’s text. A careful comparison has shown that almost every sentence has been rewritten. Sangye Tendzin himself studied in Zhechen Monastery as a young man. If he had gotten hold of an entirely different version of Khenpo Kunpal’s commentary, we can presume that he would have stated so in his colophon. It is more likely that he himself rewrote the commentary, which accounts for the fact that present day khenpos do not consider this edition as being reliable. Still, Sangye Tendzin’s edition is helpful to translators since it often gives different readings and interpretations of the text:

kun dpal ’grel pa (sangs rgyas bstan ’dzin edition): byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa’i tshig ’grel ’jam dbyangs bla ma’i zhal lung bdud rtsi’i thig pa, written by Khenpo Kunpal, woodblock print by sangs rgyas bstan ‘dzin, in 1963 (16th rab byung chu mo yos kyi lo), Nepal, 345 folios. In the footnotes to the transliteration of the Tibetan commentary we refer to this edition as text ‘T’.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The most recently published bka’ bstan dpe bsdur ma edition has not yet been integrated into this edition of the Tibetan root text. See spyod ’jug rtsa ba (bsdur ma edition) (PD), krung go’i bod kyi shes rig zhib ’jug lte gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang gis dpe bsdur zhus, published by krung go’i bod kyi shes rig dpe skrun khang, bstan ’gyur Vol. 61, pages 951-1048, dBu ma, La. This edition contains different readings from four Tangyur editions, namely Derge (D) [sde dge], Peking (P) [pe cin], Narthang (N) [snar thang] and Cone (C) [co ne].

[2]:

si tu chos kyi ’byung gnas (1699-1774).

[3]:

sde dge’i chos rgyal bstan pa tshe ring

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