Sunday, May 4, 2008

Buddh- goes global

For those with the bug, I found this little handout really useful.


FROM:
Instructor: Professor Vyacheslav V. Ivanov
The UCLA Program in Indo-European Studies/ a Winter 2001 seminar
Indo-European Studies 280A (Seminar: Indo-European Linguistics):
INTRODUCTION TO CENTRAL ASIAN BUDDHIST
TEXTS AND TERMINOLOGY
(Buddhist Sanskrit, Kroraini Prakrit, Tocharian A and B, Old Turkic=
Uigur, Tibetan, Sogdian, Khotanese and Murtuq Saka, Bactrian)


I. Names of Buddha
A. Sanskrit (Skt) Buddha —enlightened, awakened one; buddha“
1. Historical Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama
2. An epithet of those who successfully break the hold of ignorance,
liberate themselves from cyclic existence, and teach others the path to
liberation
Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit (BH Skt) Buddha —an Enlightened one“
(Edgerton, F.E. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary, vol.2.
Dictionary. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953, p.400)
A 1. Skt Buddha : etymology
Skt budh- —to awaken“ (verbal root) +-ta- (a suffix of a Past Partciple)>
buddha- —awakened=enlightened, wise“.
The meaning ”to wake“, —to awake“ is attested in Rgveda (RV), for
instance in connection to Dawns in the hymn IV, 51, 8 and 10 (in 10 in a
combination prati-+ budh- —to awake towards“, cf. Skt prati-+ bodh-a/
BH Skt prati-+ bodh-i —realization, compensation“). In Nuristani (Nur)) the
same meaning is seen in Waigali(Wg) buj-—to wake“, but the nouns as
büdü, büt —mind, intention“, Kati (Kt) bidī —mind“ show the general
intellectual meaning maybe due to an Indo-Aryan influence (see on
Nuristani and Modern Indo-Aryan forms: R.L. Turner. Comparative
Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, 1989, p. 525).
Indo-European (I-E) root * bheudh- probably meant —to be awake= not
to sleep, to awaken“: this meaning is shared by Baltic (Lithuanian[Lith]
budėti —to be awake“, bùdinti ) and Slavic (Old Church Slavonic [OCS]
buditi —to awaken“). Grassmann (Wörterbuch zum Rig-Veda,Leipzig, 1873,
p. 907) has stated that the main meaning is —to wake, to awaken“ as seen in
Rgveda and Balto-Slavic; the other meanings as he suggested could be
deduced from this one (the idea is repeated in several recent dictionaries,
but there are opposite suggestions). But in Avestan the meaning —to wake“
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has been preserved only in a (common I-E) combination with a preverb
*pro-> fra- (Bartholomae, Altiranisches Wörterbuch, p. 918); the general
meaning of the verb is —sentire“ (to perceive, to have different kinds of
perceptions or feelings). In Slavic the general meaning —to observe, to pay
attention to“ is also attested in such forms as OCS bljudoN —I watch“.
A meaning — to be aware, to make aware, to get information, to
understand‘ is reconstructed on the base of Skt bódhati —observe,
understand“ (also —wake“) and Avestan (Av) baoδayeiti —indicate“ and a
cognate Homeric Greek (HGk) πεύθ−ο−µαι
θ−ο−µαι
θ−ο−µαι
θ−ο−µαι —learn by inquiry, ascertain,
hear“, Gk —examine, experience“ (in Greek as in Indo-Iranian the sequence
*bh… dh is dissimilated according to Grassmann‘s law giving Indian
b…dh, Gk π..θ
π..θ
π..θ
π..θ). In Indo-Iranian (I-I) and Gk thematic verbal forms of this
root are identical and can be traced back to Eastern I-E protoforms.
According to Porzig (Die Gliederung d. Indo-germanischen
Sprachgebiets, 1954) in the Western I-E dialects- in Germanic and Celtic a
semantic shift —awake, observe“>“point out, warn“>“order“ can be
supposed: Gothic (Goth) ana-biudan —order, command“, Old English (OE)
on-bēodan —order, proclaim“, Goth faur-biudan —forbid“, OE for-bēodan
—to forbid“> Modern English (ME) (to) forbid, Old High German (OHG)
far-biotan> Modern German verboten; OE bēodan —to proclaim“> ME
(to) bid, OE boda ”messenger‘, bodian ”to announce‘> ME bode; OE bydel
”messenger, herald‘>ME beadle; ONorse bo¦ ”order, command, message‘;
Old Irish ro-bud —warning, advice“, as-boind —refuse“; semantic
developments leading to a legal semantic field in Gk dialects (such as
Cretan) and in Lith are considered to be parallel although they may point to
an ancient social use of the root. Tocharian (Toch) A pot<*pout, B paut-
—honor, flatter“ has been compared by several scholars to the same root, but
semantic connection (*—to pay attention“> —to flatter“?) is not clear and there
is a possibility that Tocharian terms go back to an Iranian borrowing,
although their phonetic shape may be seen as speaking for an I-E origin.
A 2.Translations and variants of the name Buddha:
Pali Buddha
Middle Indo-Aryan language of the inscriptions of Aśoka Budhe,
Singhalese Bud(u)-, But-
Tocharian A ptā(-)ñkät/ pättā(-)ñkät —Buddha-(god)“
Tocharian B pud(-)ñäkte —Buddha-(god)“ (poetic), prose form pañäkte
Sogdian pwty
Murtuq Saka bārsa-, Saka Khotanese balysä (-lys-<*-rz-)
Tibetan saʼns rgyas
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Chinese fo <*bvur (<*bud-)
Old Turkic burxan, furxan (b/furJapanese butsu
Tocharian had borrowed the name before the shift of all the stop
consonants to the voiceless class. Also the non-stressed reduced u had
coincided with the non-labial neutral vowel in the allegro coloquial forms in
both the languages and later was lost in some forms in Tocharian B.
Although the consonants in the Sogdian form are identical to those in
Tocharian it should not be necessarily explained by a Tocharian influence
(or the influence of Kroraini prakrit that reflected a similar phonological
pattern as ProtoTocharian). Tocharian (including also the dialect that had
been a sustrate of Kroraini prakrit) had merged all the stops into the
voiceless class while Sogdian shifted the voiced stops to fricatives
(spirants): *b>β.
Tocharian A ptā(-)ñkät/ pättā(-)ñkät —Buddha-(god)“ and Tocharian B
pud(-)ñäkte —Buddha-(god)“ (poetic), prose form pañäkte are compounds
with the second element having the meaning —god‘. Such compounds in
Tocharian usually render Indian names of the gods that might be used in
combination with Skt deva-”god‘. (BH) Skt deva buddha —Buddha-(god)“
corresponds to Tocharian names of Buddha as well as to such constructions
with the formula —god of the gods“ as
Toch A ñäkt-aśśi pätā(-)ññäkt-es —Buddha-(god) , the god of the gods“,
Toch B ñäktem=nts ñäkte pud(-)ñäkte —Buddha-god, the god of the gods“,
ñikteñ ñikte —the god of gods“.
This type is present also in :
Sogdian bγ‘nbγtm pwty —Buddha (pwty), the most divine of the gods‘
(Vessantara Jātaka. Texte sogdien.Ed. E. Benveniste. Paris, 1946, pp. 84-85,
lines 1472, 1498, 1500, 1503: in this Sogdian Buddhist text the name of
Buddha is used only in this combination repeated 4 times in a final passage);
Saka Khotanese gyastānu gyastä- gyastänu gyastibalysi —Buddha, the god
of the gods“
Old Turkic (Uigur) tŋgri tŋgrusi burxan —Buddha, the god of the gods“,
Bactrian Ýαουαυ Ýαο —the god of gods“ (the title of the king Kanishka on
the Kushan coins)= Prakrit rajati rajaja —the king of the kings“ in the
trilingual inscription from Afghanistan.
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Tibetan saʼns rgyas
is derived from the stem of the verb
o
tsáʼn-ba II perf. saʼns :
o
tsáʼn-rgyá-bar
o
gyúr-ba —to become Buddha“,
o
tsáʼn-rgyá-bar
o
dód-pa —to aim at Buddhaship“, saʼns rgyas —(having
become) Buddha“ (H.A. Jashke —A Tibetan-English Dictionary“, Delhi 1987
reprint, pp.457-458 with further semantic hypotheses on the original
meaning in Tibetan).
B. Sanskrit Siddhārtha Gautama
Pali Siddhattha Gotama
cf. Tocharian A Gautam, Siddhārthe
cf. Tocharian B Gautamäññe/ Gotamñe —belonging to Gautama“,
Siddhārthe
Tibetan Don-grub Gaú-ta-ma (Jaschke ib., p. 571)
the given name of Śākyamuni Buddha
C.Sanskrit Śākyamuni Buddha
Pali Sakkamuni
Tocharian A Śākyamuni
Tocharian B Śākyamuni, śakkeññe rşāke
Tibetan Śā-kya t‘ub- pa (Jashke, p.571)
Chinese Shih-cha-mo-ni
Japanese Shaka Nyorai
Vietnamese Thích-Ca Phâąt-Đài
—sage of the Śākyas“
The historical Buddha whose name at birth was Siddhārtha Gautama. He
belonged to the Śākya clan.
A 3. Sanskrit bodhi
Pali bodhi
Tibetan byang- čúb ”the highest perfection and holiness‘ (Jashke, p. 374)
Chinese p‘u -t‘i
Japanese bodai
—awakening“ from the sleep of ignorance in which most beings spend theit
lives
According to the Buddhist tradition Siddhārtha Gautama, the historical
Buddha attained this state in the town of Bodhgaya while sitting in
meditation under the Bodhi tree (Bodhi-vŗkşa)
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A4.Skt Bodhi-vŗkşa
Pali Bodhi-rukkha
Tibetan byang- čúb-śíng
—Tree of awakening“
The holy fig tree (ficus religiosa, cf. Skt aśvattha) in Bodhgaya under
which Siddhārtha Gautama, the historical Buddha, attained complete
enlightment.
D. Sanskrit tathāgata-
Pāli tathāgata-
Tocharian A tämne-wäknā kakmu
Tibetan de bzhin gsegs pa
— thus-gone-one“
An epithet of buddhas, which signifies their attainment of awakening bodhi
Sanskrit tathāgata-garbha
Pāli tathāgata-
Tibetan de bzhin gsegs pa‘i snying po
Chinese ju-lai tsang
—embryo of the tathāgata“= —containing buddhahood within itself“
= the innate potential of buddhahood that is present in all beings.
Mahāyana concept to the effect that the Buddha in the form of his
dharma-kaya body , who is identical to the ultimate reality, dwells in all
sentient beings
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II. Three characteristics
Skt tri-lakşana-
Pali ti-lakkhana
Tibetan mt‘san-nyid γsum
—the 3 (Tib. γsum= Skt tri-) marks“
1. Skt duhkha-
Pali dukkha
Tibetan sdug bsngal
Chinese k‘u
—suffering, unsatisfactoriness“
2.Skt anitya-
Pali anicca
Tibetan mi rtág- pa (Jashke, p.212)
”impermanence‘= —non-durable“
3. Skt an-ātman
Pali an-attā
Tibetan bdag med
Chinese wu-wo
—no-soul“
Skt an-ātman: etymology
Skt an-
Skt ātman —soul“:
I-E *Hot- —to blow, To breathe, to have a breathing stuff inside“
German Atem
Hittite hatt-atar —soul“ (=Hurrian mat-i)
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III. Skt dharma-
Pāli dhamma
Tocharian A märkampal
Tocharian B pelaikne
Tibetan chos
Chinese fa
Japanese hō or datsuma
—doctrine, truth“
a general term referring to Buddhist doctrine and practice; in this meaning it
is one of the —three jewels“ (Skt tri-ratna-) or —three refuges“ (tri-śarana-)
on which Buddhisn relies (the others being the Buddha and Sangha)
abhi-dharma-
philosophic and scholastic treatises that codify and systematize doctrines
expressed in the sūtra literature
Sanskrit abhi-dharma-
Tibetan chos mngon —higher doctrine“
Chinese A p‘i ta mo
Japanese Abi datsuma
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IV. Sanskrit (Skt) skandha-
Pāli khandha
Tocharian B ānts-e (Pl œi), also —shoulder“, -skant (in rūpa-skant)
Tibetan phung po
—group, aggregate, heap“
V.Skt nirvāna
Pali nibbāna
Tocharian A, B nervām=n
Tibetan mya ngan las ”das pa
Jap nehan
—cessationPage 9
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VI. Sanskrit (Skt) dhyāna
Pāli ch'an-na
Tocharian A plyaskem/ņ
Tocharian B ompalskoññe
Tibetan bsam gtan
Chinese ch'an-na/ ch'an
Japanese zenna/ zen
Korean sŏn
Vietnamese thiè/ên
”concentration, meditation, meditative absorption‘
In Theravada meditative literature, this refers to four meditative states that
lead to elimination of defilements (Sanskrit āsrava -
Pāli āsava
defilement)
Sanskrit āsrava -
Pāli āsava
defilement
VII. Sanskrit (Skt) dhātu
Pāli dhātu
Tocharian A dhātu
Tocharian B dhātu
Tibetan khams
—realm, element, sphere“
VIII. Sanskrit āyatana
Pāli āyatana
Tocharian A āyatam=n
Tocharian B āyatam=n
Tibetan skye mched
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Chinese ch‘u
«sense sphere
»
The six abodes of perception or sensation
IX. Sanskrit rūpa
Pāli rūpa
Tocharian A rūp
Tocharian B rū/up, rūpa- (in rūpa-skant)
Sanskrit rūpa-dhātu (=rūpa-loka)
Tocharian A rūpa-dhātu
Tocharian B rūpa-dhātu
Tibetan gZugs khams
—Form Realm“ —sphere of desireless corporeality or form“
X. Sanskrit smŗtyupasthāna-
Pāli sati- paţţhāna
Tocharian A smŗtyupasthām=n
Tocharian B smŗtyupasthām=n
Tibetan dran pa nye bar gzhag pa
—establishment of mindfulness“

2 comments:

Daniel said...

The derivation of the Tibetan sangs rgyas given here is, as far as i can tell, just hopelessly wrong. (a) 'gyur = become. or, will be. not-necessarily-translatable future marker. it can even stand in for the verb to be. to say that 'gyur = to be (a buddha) is roughly equivalent to saying that the verb "to eat" can mean "to eat (a buddha)."

As for the "tsang" - i have no frickin idea where that is coming from. your fellow may ultimately be right, i'll grant that; but his estimation is in vast and profound disagreement with every single native Tibetan commentator.

The traditional etymology of sangs rgyas is worth noting, exactly because it is a non-obvious rendering of "buddha." like many Tibetan renderings of sanskrit terms, it aims for (what was conceived to be, c. 750 CE) the sense rather than the literal meaning of the word. THDL glosses "sangs" as: "wiped out, cleansed, purified, awakened, free from." it may or may not be related to "sang" - recover OR remove. "rgyas" is a very common word in classical Tibetan meaning "increase." The Buddha is one who has sangs'd (ie, removed) all that is to be removed, and rgyas'd (ie, increased, produced) all that must be produced. the definition is just endemically mahayana; the first syllable signifies the purification of obscurations to affliction, the second obscurations to omniscience. likewise, the first refers to removing defilements, the second to accumulating the... well, the accumulations.

This is a very long and roundabout way of saying that the etymology of "sangs rgyas" given here is (a) very likely bogus, and (b) at the least, not what the entire Tibetan tradition - which, all things considered, it's amazing they agree, and to my knowledge they do - thinks it means.

FYI. :p

Sonam Kachru said...

Daniel,

Thanks for the comment. 'My guy', however, is not a Tibetanist, and is being led here (as he says) by
our dictionaries:

"saʼns rgyas —(having
become) Buddha“ (H.A. Jashke —A Tibetan-English Dictionary“, Delhi 1987
reprint, pp.457-458 with further semantic hypotheses on the original
meaning in Tibetan)."

He should have consulted Das, but there you have it. In any event, I was less interested in his notes on Tibetan, but more in his notes on Central Asian languages, which seem on the money.

W/r/t sangs rgyas, I think you are absolutely right that the term probably (a) translates a nirukti of Buddha in Sanskrit, and not the term, as is so common with Tibetan translations, and that (b) it is understood to consist in two distinct clauses, such as:

Def. by Jamgön Kongtrül: {sangs pa dang rgyas pa gnyis ka la 'jug pas sangs rgyas zhes brjod pa}; one, such as Shakyamuni, who has purified obscurations {sangs} and developed pristine cognition {rgyas}.

But what the exact clauses where, I think, is not obvious, and we should not mistake late definitions for the original translation. There is very early a defintion in the *Madhyavyutpati, (Sgra-shyor bam-po gnyis pa), first half of the 9th century, which has the explanation that sangs rgyas can refer either to a person who has a particular experience, or just the experience, where the experience =

"where impediments to [awakening] have subsided (sangs) whereby the vision of what there is becomes expanded (rgyas)."
(n17, in Leonard W. J. Van der Kuijp, "An Early Tibetan View of the Soteriology of Buddhist Epistemology: The Case of 'Bri-gung 'jig-rten mgon-po*")

The really helpful thing would be to find a nirukti in Sanskrit which explains the translation, and the precise grammatical forms used in sangs and rgyas.

Thanks again.