Śamathadeva

Śamathadeva’s Abhidharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā (Upāyikā in short), Chos mngon paʼi mdzod kyi ʼgrel bshad nye bar mkho ba zhes bya ba in Tibetan (Derge no. 4094 / Peking no. 5595), or “The Essential Companion to the ‘Treasury of the Abhidharma’”, is a handbook for the study of the Abhidarmakośabhāṣya that quotes the passages from the Mūlasarvāstivāda Tripiṭaka cited by Vasubandhu. Preserved only in Tibetan translation, Śamathadeva’s work contains a wealth of early Buddhist discourse material. The project aims at making the discourses quoted in this text available in English translation, accompanied by comparative notes that draw attention to significant differences found in discourse parallels extant in Chinese, Pāli and Sanskrit etc. The project is undertaken by Bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā with the assistance of Bhikkhu Anālayo. Honjō Yoshifumi and Peter Skilling are occasionally consulted for advice and discussion of problematic passages. Translations of parallels to Saṃyukta-āgama discourses have appeared in the company of their Chinese parallels (Taishō 99) translated by Bhikkhu Anālayo in the Dharma Drum Journal of Buddhist Studies starting from 2012 (see below). An integral annotated translation is at present under preparation.

In addition to the translation project, from October 2011, with Hung Jenjou as project co-director and Bhikṣūṇī Deyuan and Ray Chou as research assistants, Dhammadinnā has been working on a collated digital edition and parallels database of the Abhidharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā, with the plan to make it freely available online in 2017 (in a preliminary version).

In the following are listed the already translated canonical quotations:

Madhyama-āgama

[Up 1005] Bhikkhu Anālayo 2011: “[[Chos] sbyin gyi mdo]], Bhikṣuṇī Dharmadinnā Proves Her Wisdom”, Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal, 24 (2011): 3–33 (id. 2012, Madhyama-āgama Studies (Dharma Drum Buddhist College Research Series, 5), Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation, 39–66).

[Up 4081 + introduction on the Upāyikā] Martini, Giuliana 2012: “The ‘Discourse on Accumulated Actions’ in Śamathadeva’s Abhidharmakośopāyikā”, The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 13 (2012): 49–79.

note: Up 4081 is also studied in Dhammadinnā, Sāmaṇerī 2014: “Semantics of Wholesomeness, Purification of Intention and the Soteriological Function of the Immeasurables (appamāṇas) in Chuang Kuo-pin (莊國彬) ed. Early Buddhist Thought”, in Buddhist Meditative Traditions, Their Origin and Development (Dharma Drum Buddhist College Special Series 2), Taipei: Shin Wen Feng Print Corporation (新文豐), 2014, 31–109, see 59–89.

[Up 4024] Dhammadinnā, Bhikkhunī 2016: “The Upasampadā of Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya and a Sūtra Quotation in Śamathadeva’s Abhidharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā”, Journal of the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Sri Lanka, 13 (2016), forthcoming.

[97+ Madhyama-āgama discourse quotations and references in the Upāyikā] Dhammadinnā, Bhikkhunī: The Madhyama-āgama in Śamathadeva’s Abhi­dharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā (Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts Research Series), Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation, in preparation.

[[[Madhyama-āgama]] & school affiliation of the Upāyikā] Dhammadinnā, Bhikkhunī and Bhikkhu Anālayo 2016: “The Madhyama-āgama and the Abhidharmakośopāyika-ṭīkā”, in Dhammadinnā (ed.), Research on the Madhyama-āgama (Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts Research Series, 5), Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation, forthcoming.

avadāna/Madhyama-āgama

[Up 4108] Dhammadinnā, Bhikkhunī 2016: “From a Liberated One to a Liberated One, An Avadāna Quotation in the Abhidharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā”, Dharma Drum Journal of Buddhist Studies, 19 (2016), forthcoming.

[Up 4069] Dhammadinnā, Bhikkhunī 2017: “Calling Monks ‘Women’, Change of Sex & the Bodhisattva Path in an avadāna Quotation in Śamathadeva’s Abhi­dharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā”, Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies, 18 (2017), in preparation.

Saṃyukta-āgama

[Up 9001, Up 6005, Up 2071, Up 9004, Up 1021, Up 2078 + introduction on the Upāyikā] Dhammadinnā, Sāmaṇerī 2012: “A Translation of the Quotations in Śama­tha­deva’s Abhidharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā Parallel to the Chinese Saṃ­yukta-āgama Discourses 8, 9, 11, 12, 17 and 28”, Dharma Drum Journal of Buddhist Studies, 11 (2012): 63–96.

[Up 4084] Dhammadinnā, Sāmaṇerī 2013: “A Translation of the Quotation in Śamathadeva’s Abhi­dharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā Parallel to the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama Discourse 265”, Dharma Drum Journal of Buddhist Studies, 12 (2013): 71–84.

[Up 1016, Up 2047, Up 5006, Up 9023, Up 2074, Up 5016, Up 6016] Dhammadinnā, Sāmaṇerī 2013: “A Translation of the Quotations in Śamathadeva’s Abhi­dharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā Parallel to the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama Discourses 61, 71, 73, 77, 79 and 81”, Dharma Drum Journal of Buddhist Studies, 13 (2013): 123–151.

[Up 1024, Up 3012, Up 6019, Up 6038, Up 5006a, Up 1014, Up 1009, Up 1004, Up 2042, Up 7006] Dhammadinnā, Sāmaṇerī 2014: “A Translation of a Discourse Quotation in the Tibetan Translation of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya Parallel to Chi­nese Saṃyukta-āgama Discourse 36 and of the Discourse Quotation in Śamathadeva’s Abhi­dharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā Parallel to the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama Discourses 39, 42, 45, 46, 55, 56, 57 and 58”, Dharma Drum Journal of Buddhist Studies, 14 (2014): 73–127.

[Up 6061, Up 5017, Up 6057, Up 9002, Up 1018 (A), Up 1018 (B), Up 9007, Up 1035, Up 4008, Up 8022] Dhammadinnā, Bhikkhunī 2016: “A Translation of the Quotations in Śamathadeva’s Abhi­dharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā Parallel to the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama Discourses 212, 222, 223, 224, 225 and 229”, Dharma Drum Journal of Buddhist Studies, 18 (2016): 63–82.