The aim of this paper is to consider the theoretical relationship between the Mahāsamnipātasūtra and the Bodhisattvabhūmi (BBh) that is suggested by the term an-/nir-abhilāpya, which plays in both texts as important a role as any other term and can be regarded as having been used as a special term in arguing their main ideas. Modern scholars have generally assumed that the theories of the BBh developed under the influence of the Cū?asuññatasutta solely on the basis of an alleged quotation from this sutra. But the passage in question is so commonly known in Buddhist literature that we cannot identify with any certainty the particular source from which the BBh actually quoted it. What makes us more skeptical of the direct influence of the latter on the former is the fact that the Cū?asuññatasutta lacks the term nimbhilāpya, without which the main ideas of the BBh cannot be formutalted. Some scholars refer to the influence of the Prajñāpāramrtāsūtra on the BBh, but this argument seemes not to be supported by any actual investigation and does not go beyond general impressions. It must be noted that the author of the Bodhisattvabhūmivyākhyā, a commentary on the BBh, expressly states that the sutras cited in the BBh are "the Ak?ayamatinirdc?a and the like," and the commentator regards the BBh as having been produced under the influence of the sutras which belong to the Mahāsamnipāta group. Taking the fact into consideration that some of the Mabāsamnipātasūtmas use the term an-/nir-abhilāpya when discussing one of their main subjects, it seems very plausible that the Mahāsamnipāta and BBh share a theoretical background. In order to investigate the oldest theories of the Mahāsamnipāta, the present paper takes up three particular sutras, the Ak?ayamatmirdes?a, Ratnadārikāsūtra and Dhāra?ī?vararājasūtra, all of which are the oldest Chinese translations by Dharmarak?a among the group, and examines the usage of the term anabhilāpya by comparing it with nirabhilāpya in the BBh. Two points are made in conclusion: 1)We find the oldest example of nirabhilāpya in the Ak?ayamatinirde?a, where it means that "the Buddha's teachings are not to be expressed in any words," and this is different from its meaning in the BBh, where it implies "there exists something inexpressible." 2)There are some cases attested to in the Chinese versions by Dharmarak?a which suggest that the word anupalambha used in an earlier stage was later changed to anabhilāpya. It is remarkable that, judging from the age of the Chinese translations (late 3 CE to early 4 CE), this alternation seems to have occurred almost at the same time when the BBh was compiled, and in addition the same change in wording took place in the Prajñapāramnitāsūtra at almost the same time.
