A Study of Svatantrika by Donald S. Lopez Jr

Author:Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shambhala

TRANSLATION OF THE SVĀTANTRIKA CHAPTER OF JANG-GYA’S PRESENTATION OF TENETS

Introduction to the Translation

Jang-gya Röl-bay-dor-jay (lCang-skya Rol-pa’i-rdo-rje), also known as the Second Jang-gya Hu-tuk-tu (Hu-thog-thu) was born in modern Xinghai province in 1717. In 1721 he was recognized as the incarnation of Jang-gya Nga-wang-lo-sang-chö-den (Ngag-dbang-blo-bzang-chos-ldan). At the age of nine he was taken to China, where he began his monastic studies and the study of Manchu, Chinese, and Mongolian. During this period, one of his fellow students was the fourth son of the Yung-cheng emperor who would later become the Ch’ien-lung emperor. In 1735, Jang-gya went to Tibet where he studied under the Seventh Dalai Lama and took his final monastic vows from the Second Panchen Lama. Upon his return to China in 1736, his boyhood friend, now Emperor, appointed him Lama of the Seal, the highest Tibetan clerical post in China. With imperial encouragement, Jang-gya began to compile an extensive Tibetan-Mongol dictionary. Upon its completion, he oversaw the translation and revision of the Mongolian edition of the Indian treatises (bstans ’gyur). Completed in 1749, the translation into Mongolian comprises 108, 016 folios. In 1744, the Emperor and Jang-gya established the Ganden Jin-chak-ling (dGa’-ldan Byin-chags-gling) in Peking, a teaching monastery modeled after the Ge-luk monastic universities of Tibet. Between 1736 and 1746 he composed his best known work, the Presentation of Tenets (Grub mtha’i rnam par bzhag pa). Between 1772 and 1779 Jang-gya supervised the translation of the entire Word of the Buddha (bka’ ’gyur) into Manchu. He died in 1786.1

Jang-gya was a prolific author, his collected works filling seven volumes. In addition to the Presentation of Tenets, his other well-known works include the Song of the View (lTa ba’i mgur), his commentary to the Deeds of Samantabhadra (Bhadracarī), and his commentary to Tsong-kha-pa’s Praise of Dependent Arising (rTen ’brel ’bstod pa).

The Presentation of Tenets begins with discussions of what constitutes a tenet (grub mtha’) and how Buddhists are distinguished from non-Buddhists. He then goes on to set forth briefly the tenets of nine non-Buddhist schools: Ayata (Cārvāka), Sāṃkhya, Brāhmana (which includes Vedānta), Vaiśṇava, Mīmāṃsaka, Aiśvara, Vaiśeṣika, Naiyāyika, and Nirgrantha (Jaina). The second section of the Presentation, which begins with a brief history of the Buddhist doctrine, is devoted to the two Hīnayāna schools, Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika. The third section provides a rather extensive treatment of the Cittamātra school, after dealing briefly with the rise of the Mahāyāna. The final section is devoted to Mādhyamika and concludes with a short presentation of Mantrayāna. Roughly half of the final section (and one fourth of the entire Presentation of Tenets) is translated here, beginning with Jang-gya’s discussion of Mādhyamika in general and proceeding through his presentation of Svātantrika.

In the first chapter (chapter divisions and titles have been interpolated by the translator), Jang-gya provides a brief biography of Nāgārjuna, drawn primarily from Bu-dön’s (Bu-ston, 1290-1364) History of the Doctrine (Chos ’byung). Jang-gya follows the traditional view that Nāgārjuna lived for 600 years. Tibetan scholars are not unaware of apparent disparities among the views set

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