The aim of the present study is to shed light on why the citation taken from Saraha's Dohākosagīti and occurring in the Madhyamakaratnapradīpa, chapter 7, opens the door to some fundamental reflections concerning the authority and the "nature" of this latter text. On the basis of a historical and doctrinal analysis, here a new interpretation is put forward, according to which the Madhyamakaratnapradīpa should be considered a tenth century CE handbook, written by some unknown Buddhist teacher perhaps as a manual for his lessons. The primary purpose of this teacher seems to have been the discussion—in the light of textual sources compiled up to this time—of the doctrinal and philosophical perspectives contained in the sixth century CE Bhāviveka's Madhyamakahṛdayakānkā and Tarkajvālā. The Madhyamakaratnapradīpa could have been composed on the basis of notes written down for the benefit of this teacher's students. Moreover, the analysis of the general style and quotes or references of the text, on the one hand, compared with the passage containing the quote from Saraha, on the other hand, lead us to take seriously into consideration the possibility that the citation borrowed from the Dohākosagīti could have been embedded into the text a little after its composition, by someone different from its original author.
目次
1 General Introduction 511 1.1 The Text and Its Author 512 1.1.1 The Text, Its Content, Its Scope 512 1.1.2 The Author of the MRP and His Epoch 514 1.1.3 What Kind of Text is the MRP? A Working Hypothesis, and Again on Its Author 517 1.1.4 In Support of the Thesis: Some Textual Clues 519 1.2 The Cultural Horizon of the MRP, Chapter 7, as can be Inferred from Its Quotations 521 1.2.1 List of Quotations of Textual Material, Titles and Authors in the MRP, Chapter 7 521 1.2.2 Analysis of the Scriptural References: A General Assessment 540 2 The Quotation from the DKG 541 2.1 The Context into Which the Quotation is Inserted 541 2.2 Reflections and Considerations 1: The Title *Paramārthanyāyagīti 547 2.3 Reflections and Considerations 2: Saraha and the Expression bla ma’i bla ma 548 2.4 Reflections and Considerations 3: Saraha and Madhyamaka 550 2.5 Reflections and Considerations 4: Some Stylistic and Chronological Annotations (in Form of Conclusion) 552 2.5.1 Let Us Imagine… 554
