Читать книгу Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives (Volume 1) - Aryashura - Страница 28

text mean that one cannot take the story simply as a glorification of the Bodhi·sattva’s practice of giving.

While the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives” is fervent in its devotion for the Bodhi·sattva’s deeds, it also thus invites its audience to explore some of the difficulties involved in a soteriological path that transcends conventional values, as exemplified by the Bodhi·sattva’s extreme and miraculous feats. Far from diluting the devotional tone of the text, however, this transcendent aspect serves to heighten it further. For it is precisely the fact that the Bodhi·sattva’s deeds are extraordinary and “unable to be imitated” (1.5 [4]) that they are so astounding and awe-inspiring, filling the audience with devotion for their heroic savior and his renunciant path.

The Sanskrit Text

It has been my good fortune to benefit from the excellent critical edition of the Jatakamala by Albrecht Hanisch, who consults not only the extant Sanskrit manuscripts but also Tibetan translations of the Jatakamala, as well as the Sanskrit and Tibetan tika commentaries. For a detailed analysis of variants and other textual issues, I refer the reader to this extremely useful work. Unfortunately, Hanisch’s edition is not yet complete and presently ends at story 15. For stories 16–34, I have used Heinrich Kern’s edition, which I have frequently emended by referring to manuscript readings listed in Khoroche’s “Towards a New Edition of Arya·Sura’s Jatakamala” (1987), taking particular advantage of the older and more reliable readings provided by ________