The Legacy of É. Lamotte for the Study of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa

É. Lamotte (1903-1983) was a great Belgian Buddhist scholar who compiled some French translations from Mahāyāna texts including L'Explication des Mystères (Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra: 解深密経), Le Traité de l'Acte de Vasubandhu (Karmasiddhiprakaraṇa: 成業論), La Somme du Grand Vehicule (Mahāyānasaṃgraha: 摂大乗論), L'Enseignement de Vimalakīrti (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa: 維摩経), La Concentration de la marche héroïque (Śūrangamasamādhisūtra: 首楞厳三昧経), Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse (Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra: 大智度論) etc. Among them his translation of the Vkn with full annotations is indispensable for scholars of the Vkn. Lamotte suggested the close relationship between the Vkn and the Śgs. Although the chronological relationship between the two sūtras is not clear yet, it is presumed that both of them came into existence shortly after the appearance of the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra. Now that we have the Sanskrit Vkn in our hands, we should look with new eyes toward a comparative study of the two sūtras utilizing the legacy of Lamotte. Speaking of the sūtras relevant to the Vkn, we can list the Akṣobhyavyūha (阿閦仏国経)and the Viśeṣacinti-brahmaparipṛcchā-sūtra (思益梵天所問経) etc., which belong to the sūtras related to Mañjuśrī as well as the Śgs. Among those sūtras, we find words and acts after Vimalakīrti everywhere. We have to examine the Vkn as one of the Mañjuśrī group. In that case, Lamotte's study on ＂Mañjuśrī＂ would be an essential guidebook as well as Venerable Yin-shun's work of ＂The Mañjuśrī Dharma Teachings＂ (文殊師利法門) in his Origins and Development of Early Mahāyāna Buddhism (初期大乗仏教之起源與開展). It is true that the legacy of Lamotte is precious and indispensable to the study of the Vkn, however his work does not include the oldest Chinese translation of Zhi Qian (支謙). As not a few scholars have pointed out, the Vkn by Zhi Qian is a key to the study of the Vkn. Correctly reading of the oldest Chinese translation of Zhi Qian is essential to trace the original form of the Vkn.

關鍵字

Vimalakītrinirdeśa ； Śūrangamasamādhisūtra ； Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra ； Mañjuśrī ； Étienne Lamotte ； Yin-shun

並列摘要

É. Lamotte（1903-1983）是位偉大的比利時佛教學者，他譯出許多法文版的大乘經典，包括L'Explication des Mystères（《解深密經》）、Le Traité de l'Acte de Vasubandhu（《成業論》）、La Somme du Grand Vehicule（《攝大乘論》）、L'Enseignement de Vimalakīrti（《維摩經》）、La Concentration de la marche héroïque（《首楞嚴三昧經》）、Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse（《大智度論》）等等。其中，《維摩經》譯本裡許多豐富的註解，對研究《維摩經》的學者們而言是不可或缺的。Lamotte指出，《維摩經》和《首楞嚴三昧經》之間關係匪淺，儘管兩者在時間先後關係上還不明確，但可推定它們都是在般若經典出現之後隨即問世。現在我們已有梵本的《維摩經》，應該嘗試從新的角度對Lamotte留下的這兩部經典進行比較研究。談到與《維摩經》相關的經典，我們尚能列出Akṣobhyavyūha（《阿閦佛國經》）和 Viśeṣacinti-brahmaparipṛcchā-sūtra（《思益梵天所問經》）等等，都是相關於文殊經典的體系，《首楞嚴三昧經》也是。在這些經典當中可以發現許多有關於維摩詰言行的敘述。因此，我們應把《維摩經》視為文殊經典體系。就此而論，Lamotte的Mañjuśrī可視為研究此議題的必備指南，還有印順法師在《初期大乘佛教之起源與開展》中的〈文殊師利法門〉亦如是。的確，Lamotte的遺產在《維摩經》研究裡是極其寶貴且必不可少的，然而在其著作中並未涵蓋中國譯本中最早的支謙本。不少學者指出，支謙譯本對於《維摩經》研究而言是關鍵所在。若要追溯《維摩經》原初的形式，支謙譯本也是不可或缺的。