Researches in Indian and Buddhist Philosophy

·期刊原文
Researches in Indian and Buddhist Philosophy. (book reviews)

by Frank J. Hoffman
Philosophy East and West

Vol.47 No.1

1997.01

Pp.90-91

Copyright by University of Hawaii

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One of the noteworthy features of Researches in Indian and Buddhist
Philosophy is an introduction, "A Biographical Sketch of Alex
Wayman," in which Wayman's life appears much more interesting and
convoluted than that of the average academic Sanskritist. That he
was for a time a shepherd in Peru and that he came to study Sanskrit
by way of mathematics and Mongolian are among the interesting facts
one can learn about his remarkable life. Beyond biographical detail,
this is a fine collection of essays in honor of Alex Wayman, with
sections on "Buddhist Philosophical Researches," "Jaina
Philosophical Researches," and "Hindu Philosophical Researches."
In the first part of the Buddhist section, "Miscellaneous," Andre
Bareau vindicates Wayman's view that Asanga belonged to the
Mahisasaka sect. Hajime Nakamura presents various views on the seven
principles of the Vajjian Republic according to the
Mahaparinibbana-sutta. Nakamura shows that when the seven principles
were rendered into Chinese, significant changes were made to make
them palatable to the Chinese, and that these changes were not
"arbitrarily" done but "due to some reasons." Michael Hahn writes on
Chandragomin, arguing for his own interpretation as against the
account of Mark Tatz. N. H. Samtani discusses part of the
Suttanipata, the first pada of the second verse (in the Uragasutta).
From a detailed mass of descriptive material, Samtani infers the
evaluative claim that Buddha has rightly stressed the elimination of
rage.
In the second part of the Buddhist section, "Karma Theory," Shinjo
Kawasaki writes on Bhavya's standpoint regarding the principle of
life, concluding that Bhavya is uninterested in Tathagatagarbha and
more interested in holding to a logically consistent traditional
Abhidharma understanding. H. S. Prasad writes on karma as a Buddhist
doctrine, and T. R. Sharma covers the Karmaphalapariksa of
Nagarjuna.
In the third part of the Buddhist section, "Dependent Origination,"
Collett Cox both translates Akira Hirakawa's paper on
paticcasamuppada and dhatu and contributes one of her own on
dependent origination. George Elder elaborates on dependent
origination in Buddhist Tantra.
The second section on Jainism consists only of papers by Padmanabh
S. Jaini and M. A. Dhaky. These scholars present detailed treatments
of Bhavasena and the Dasavaikalika-sutra, respectively.
In the third and larger section on Hinduism, K. Kunjunni Raja writes
on laksana in Buddhism and Vedanta. Kamaleswar Bhattacharya
discusses the Grammarians and the Philosophers. R. C. Dwivedi writes
on Kashmir Saivism and Sankara. T. S. Rukman analyzes siddhi-s in
Bhagavata Purana and Patanjali. R. K. Sharma writes on Indian Stotra
literature and discusses oral tradition. Bhagwan Das explores the
relation between pitta and agni in Aryuveda. R. V. Joshi writes on
the aham-artha doctrine.
In the limited compass of this review I can provide only a brief
outline of the essays and an assessment of the overall quality of
the volume. This reviewer found the volume stimulating, proofread to
a high standard, and nicely produced. It is a fitting tribute to
Professor Wayman's lifetime of scholarly endeavor. The bibliography
of Wayman's work (1952-1992) is a useful feature of this volume.
Since the bibliography ends at 1992, it understandably does not
include Alex Wayman's recent translation of the
Abbidhanavisvalocanam of Sridharasena (Monograph Series of the
Naritasan Institute for Buddhist Studies, 1112 [Chiba, Japan,
1994]). Since Wayman was a frequent reviewer, the volume would have
been slightly more useful had it included reviews by Wayman of the
works of other major scholars (such as G. Tucci). Examples of
Wayman's significant reviews are listed in the Bibliographie
Bouddhique (vole. 27-31), a work which itself is listed, since
Wayman was a contributor to that volume. While there is clearly more
here for the scholar than for the professional philosopher, there is
something for almost everyone whose work takes into account both
scholarship and philosophy on South Asia. In sum, the R. K. Sharma
festschrift for Alex Wayman is a fine work by a superlatively able
group of scholars. As such, it is highly recommended for acquisition
by libraries with significant holdings on South Asian thought.