清辨的緣起觀：以《般若燈論．觀緣品》漢藏譯本差異為線索=Bhāviveka’s Concept of “Dependent Arising”： Examining the Differences Between Tibetan and Chinese Translations of Bhāviveka’s Prajñāpradīpa
Bhāviveka’s Prajñāpradīpa was translated from the original Sanskrit into Chinese by Prabhākaramitra in the seventh century. A Tibetan version by Jñānagarbha and Cog-ro Klu’i rgyal mtshan also appeared in the ninth century. Many scholars following Kenryu Tsukinowa consider the Tibetan version to be more reliable than the Chinese one. However, the two versions date from different periods and have dissimilar backgrounds. Moreover, the structures of Tibetan and Chinese language are different. Tibetan was created to conform to the grammatical model of Sanskrit whereas Chinese was not. These differences naturally affect the translations. The present study looks into the Chinese and Tibetan translations of Chapter One for definitions of the term pratītyasamutpāda (dependent-arising). In the Chinese version the definition is “things are produced by the combination of causes and conditions.” On the other hand, the definition in the Tibetan version is explained by idaṃpratyayatā and in doing so refutes competing Buddhist assertions, including one similar to the Chinese version. Since the expounding mentioned in the Chinese version is omitted in the Tibetan version, and vice versa, it is unclear how translators interpret their original meaning respectively. This study proposes that a statement derived from the Tibetan version, “the causes cannot be determined until the result is done,” is the key to Bhāviveka’s understanding of the relation between the meaning of dependent-arising and that of emptiness. In contrast, the definition presented in the Chinese version does not contain this concept.
