Comparing Sanskrit Texts for Critical Editions: the sequences move problem

International audienceA critical edition takes into account various versions of the same text in order to show the differences between two distinct versions, in terms of words that have been missing, changed, omitted or displaced. Traditionally, Sanskrit is written without spaces between words, and the word order can be changed without altering the meaning of a sentence. This paper describes the characteristics which make Sanskrit text comparisons a specific matter. It presents two different methods for comparing Sanskrit texts, which can be used to develop a computer assisted critical edition. The first one method uses the L.C.S., while the second one uses the global alignment algorithm. Comparing them, we see that the second method provides better results, but that neither of these methods can detect when a word or a sentence fragment has been moved. We then present a method based on N-gram that can detect such a movement when it is not too far from its original location. We will see how the method behaves on several examples and look for future possible developments

Early Pyrrhonism as a Sect of Buddhism? A Case Study in the Methodology of Comparative Philosophy

We offer a sceptical examination of a thesis recently advanced in a monograph published by Princeton University Press, entitled Greek Buddha: Pyrrho’s Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia. In this dense and probing work, Christopher I. Beckwith, a professor of Central Eurasian studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, argues that Pyrrho of Elis adopted a form of early Buddhism during his years in Bactria and Gandhāra, and that early Pyrrhonism must be understood as a sect of early Buddhism. In making his case Beckwith claims that virtually all scholars of Greek, Indian, and Chinese philosophy have been operating under flawed assumptions and with flawed methodologies, and so have failed to notice obvious and undeniable correspondences between the philosophical views of the Buddha and of Pyrrho. In this study we take Beckwith’s proposal and challenge seriously, and we examine his textual basis and techniques of translation, his methods of examining passages, his construal of problems and his reconstruction of arguments. We find that his presuppositions are contentious and doubtful, his own methods are extremely flawed, and that he draws unreasonable conclusions. Although the result of our study is almost entirely negative, we think it illustrates some important general points about the methodology of comparative philosophy

An edition and critical study of the Salayatanasamyutta in the Samyuttanikaya of the Pali Canon

This thesis presents a new edition of a section of the Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta, which forms part of the Saṃyuttanikāya in the Pali canon, and documents the basic principles that should be used for producing a critical edition. It discusses the manuscripts and associated commentaries of the Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta that are listed in manuscript catalogues and describes the characteristics of the manuscripts and printed editions used for editing this text. The thesis also provides a critical study of the structure and content of the Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta as a whole. The new edition shows that, as is the case with other saṃyuttas and nikāyas, the Saḷāyatanasaṃyutta is structured to ensure faithful preservation and transmission. In addition, this text contains the major theme of Buddhist teachings, namely, the Four Noble Truths and dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda). The new edition is based on a greater number and range of witnesses than those used in Feer’s 1894 PTS edition. It also records the significant information contained in the colophons of the manuscripts, which Feer omitted, and corrects numerous errors in Feer’s edition. Although it is common practice to abbreviate repetitive passages in manuscripts and editions, the current edition always gives the text in full so that the original form of each sutta can be easily ascertained. All variant readings, both valid and invalid, are recorded in the critical apparatus and appendices, respectively. Unless there is sufficient supporting evidence, the present edition does not change or correct the text. The best reading is evaluated from both internal (the intrinsic value of the readings) and external (date, number of witness, etc.) forms of evidence. By displaying the unabbreviated text, this edition makes a significant contribution to the preservation of the text and the prevention of future corruption and loss

Mathematics and its Ancient Classics Worldwide: Translations, Appropriations, Reconstructions, Roles (hybrid meeting)

The workshop analyzes the constitution, recovery, and role of the classical texts in mathematical practice throughout history. It aims at problematizing the notion of "classic", to make it a historical category and to study the rhetorical, pedagogical, and institutional mechanisms that contribute to secure the status of classic to specific texts. So far, the focus of the historiography has dealt mostly with Greek classics and their impact on Western European societies. We aim to expand the focus of our enquiry culturally and chronologically in two ways. We want to address the reception and transformation of these "classics" outside Europe in different historical periods. We are particularly interested in the roles played by this classical tradition within Islamicate societies, South-East and East Asia. Secondly, we are interested in the ancient mathematical writings in Arabic, Chinese, Sanskrit and other languages that, at certain time periods in these other parts of the world and elsewhere, were perceived as classics. Widening the focus should allow us to inquire into questions such as: what did classical texts mean for various types of actors? How were they available to them? How did they read them? In the contexts of which institutions and with which expectations? The important role classical works have played in mathematical history pose deep methodological questions with far-reaching implications for the history and philosophy of mathematics. In mathematics conceptual and methodological innovations are thought to be legitimized only by appeal to mathematical arguments and consistency. Yet, legitimation has involved in many crucial episodes giving a prominent role to classical works. The mathematical classics have repeatedly been the source and grounds for new ideas and techniques. There is therefore a deep, complex tension between innovation and tradition. We are interested in how innovation has often been legitimized by re-reading old texts, concepts, and methods-old texts whose principles and methods were utterly different from the ones they contributed to sustain. What can this teach us about the nature of mathematical argument, and mathematical practice

Celebrating the generation of architectural ideas : tracing the lineage of Southeast Asian temples

From its early beginnings in the fifth century, the Brahmanic/Hindu tradition created a rich body of temples which spread across India and influenced temple building in Southeast Asia. The legacy of this ancient diasporic movement remains celebrated today in the admiration of Southeast Asian monuments such as Angkor Wat and Prambanan. However this architecture evolved over time through a process of long experimentation with philosophies, world-views, and methods. The architectural forms of such monuments have obvious Indian antecedents but the process of their development into distinctive indigenous forms remains difficult to ascertain. This is due both to the lack of textual accounts from the earliest Southeast Asian civilisations and because their architectural remains are fragmented or heavily eroded. This paper draws on a research project that pieces together fragments of evidence from diagrams and canonical descriptions to photogrammetry of temples in India and Southeast Asia. The intention of this is to establish the degree to which Southeast Asian temples are attributable to Brahmanic/Hindu lineage and influence. It will focus on the role of the early Southeast Asian temple site of Sambor Prei Kuk (lsanapura) in Cambodia. Comparing the relationships between cosmology, geometry and physical form in this earlier sites with both Indian and developed Southeast Asian models, it is intended that its generative role within Southeast Asian architectural historiography can be clarified and more fully celebrated

A Study of the Apadāna, Including an Edition and Annotated Translation of the Second, Third and Fourth Chapters

The Apadāna is a Theravāda Buddhist text in the Pāli language which contains a large collection of “autohagiographies” in verse. It is under-researched, partly because the Pali Text Society edition of this text is not of a high standard and partly because very few of its poems have been translated into any European language. The aim of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of the Apadāna’s content, its relationship to similar texts and the nature of its historical transmission. A series of textual comparisons revealed that the Apadāna has structural, stylistic and thematic similarities to a range of other early Buddhist texts. In particular, the system of karma underlying much of its narrative is reasonably consistent with that of several early Sanskrit avadāna collections, including its basic technical vocabulary. A major component of this thesis is an edition and annotated translation of the second, third and fourth chapters of the Apadāna. This new edition has been edited according to stemmatic principles, using a careful selection of nine palm leaf manuscripts (in Sinhala, Burmese and Khom scripts) and four printed editions (in Roman, Sinhala, Burmese and Thai scripts). The base text of this edition represents the reconstructed archetype of the selected manuscripts, corrected only where absolutely necessary. The corresponding annotated English translation has been produced with critical reference to the text’s primary commentary in Pāli, the Apadānaṭṭhakathā, and a word-by-word Burmese language nissaya translation. A major finding is that existing printed editions of the Apadāna not infrequently include silent emendations of the received text and also often reproduce the “smoother” and more easily understood readings first produced during the editorial preparations to the “fifth Buddhist council” of 1871 in Mandalay. More generally, this thesis demonstrates the indispensability of manuscripts for the historical study of Pāli language and literature

The Buddha’s Great Miracle at Śrāvastī: A Translation from the Tibetan \u3cem\u3eMūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya\u3c/em\u3e

This article offers an annotated translation of the story of the Buddha’s great miracle at Śrāvastī, as found in the Tibetan translation of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya. While miracles of the Buddha are many and various, the great miracle of Śrāvastī, one of the Buddha’s principal miracles, is almost the prototypical Buddhist miracle story, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya contains a significant version of it. Yet of the many versions preserved in a variety of languages, this is one of the last to garner much scholarly attention. This article makes it more widely accessible to an interested audience, thereby contributing to the further study of Buddhist miracle literature

Two Proposals for Critically Editing the Texts of the rNying ma'i rGyud 'bum

Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines Number 10, April 200