Ernst Steinkellner, 2013
Dharmakīrtis frühe Logik: Annotierte Übersetzung der logischen Teile von Pramāṇavārttika 1 mit der Vṛtti. Tokyo: The International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 2013. (I. Introduction, Übersetzung, Analyse. II. Introduction, Anmerkungen, Anhänge etc. [Studia Philologica Buddhica. Monograph Series XXIXa,b]. I. pp. xliv + 142, II. pp. ix + 454 S.)
This volume offers the first complete translation of all the strophes on logic as found in the first chapter of Dharmakīrti’s Pramāṇavārttika, together with their elaboration in prose. Not included are the two long digressions on apoha (kk. 43–185) and parts of the refutation of the Veda’s being authorless (apauruṣeyatva) (kk. 214–268 and 283cd–338). Dharmakīrti’s main subject is the logical reason or evidence (hetu). Basing himself on two real relationships – factual identity and causality – he presents here for the first time his innovative theory that evidence is threefold (trividhā).
The last fifty years have seen continued and growing interest in the work of Dharmakīrti. Many partial translations of this text have been published, as well as numerous shorter and longer studies. Moreover, between 1982 and 2014, five International Dharmakīrti Conferences have taken place around the world. Yet a complete translation of this text, a translation attempting to closely represent Dharmakīrti’s expressions and intentions, has been long a desideratum.
The present publication is in two volumes. The first contains an introduction in English, followed by the translation as well as a detailed analysis of the text’s structure, both in German. The translation is based on the excellent edition by Raniero Gnoli (Rome 1960), although a few emendations and different choices of variants are offered. The introduction discusses the manuscripts, the commentaries, the question of an autograph, Dharmakīrti as a creative commentator on Dignāga’s theory on logic in its final form, Dharmakīrti’s dates, and various important terms, such as svabhāva, anupalabdhi, sattva and vināśa.
The second volume contains a short English introduction, followed by extensive annotations on the translation, which include philological arguments and explanations, as well as interpretational remarks that take the current state of research into account, again in German. Of the two appendices, one is dedicated to Dharmottara’s explanation of how a causal relation can be determined as found in his Pramāṇaviniścayaṭīkā, the other to corrections to Sāṅkṛtyāyana’s edition of Karṇakagomin’s Ṭīkā on Dharmakīrti’s text. The work concludes with a bibliography and several indices.