Madhyama Agama

The Madhyama Āgama (Chinese: 中阿含經; pinyin: zhōng āhán jīng) is an early Indian Buddhist text, of which currently only a Chinese translation is extant (Taishō Tripiṭaka 26).[1] The title means "Middle Collection" and reflects the circumstance that the criterion for inclusion is the approximately medium length of its discourses.[2] It is one of the four Āgamas of the Sūtra Piṭaka located in the Chinese Buddhist Canon and contains 222 discourses in 18 chapters.[3] Its Pali equivalent, the Majjhima Nikāya, contains 152 discourses in 15 chapters.[3]

Origins and history

The extant Chinese translation of the Madhyama Āgama dates to 397–398 C.E.[3] P.V. Bapat believes the original source for the Chinese translation was in a form of Prakrit, closer to Pali than Sanskrit.[4] The text stems from a Sarvāstivāda reciter tradition.[5]

A groundbreaking study of the Madhyama Āgama was undertaken by Thich Minh Chau, comparing this collection with the Majjhima Nikāya,[6] based on his doctoral thesis completed in 1964. Although by now inevitably to some degree outdated, it remains an important reference point for those interested in the Madhyama Āgama.[7] Studying this collection can be of considerable help in providing perspectives on discourses in the Majjhima Nikāya.[8][9]

Parallels

There are numerous parallels between the discourses in the Madhyama Āgama and discourses in the Pali Sutta Piṭaka.[10]

...of the two hundred and twenty-two sutras of T. 26, only one hundred and three have their counterpart in the Majjhimanikāya; fourteen have their counterpart in the Dīghanikāya, seventeen in the Saṃyuttanikāya, and eighty-seven in the Aṅguttaranikāya. Fourteen of the two hundred and twenty-two sutras of T. 26 have no known parallel in the Pāli corpus.[10]

Particularly noteworthy is the high number of parallels in the Aṅguttara Nikāya, which reflects a substantially different distribution of discourses over the four Āgamas or Nikāyas.[11]

In addition, recent Gāndhārī manuscript findings inlude several parallels to Madhyama Āgama discourses.[12] Chung and Fukita in turn provide a detailed survey of Sanskrit manuscript parallels.[13] Individual Madhyama Āgama discourses are also extant in Chinese translation in the Āgama section of the Taishō Tripiṭaka as T 27 to T 98. Out of these, T 31, T 32, T 36, T 48, and T 57 are by An Shigao (安世高), thereby being part of the beginnings of Buddhist translation activities in China.[14] Portions of a Mūlasarvāstivāda recension of the Madhyama Āgama also survive in Tibetan translation. An example is a Tibetan version of the Cūḷavedalla Sutta (MN 44).[15] A version of the same discourse is also extant in the Chinese Madhyama Āgama, comparison with which shows distinct differences between the Mūlasarvāstivāda version extant in Tibetan and its Sarvāstivāda counterpart preserved in Chinese.[16] In addition, several Mūlasarvāstivāda parallels form part of the Mahāsūtra collection extant in Tibetan and edited by Skilling: A version of the Pañcattaya Sutta (MN 102),[17] a version of the Cūḷasuññata Sutta (MN 121),[18] and a version of the Mahāsuññata Sutta (MN 122).[19]

English translations

Translation of the Madhyama Āgama into English began in 2006 with Marcus Bingenheimer as chief editor and Bhikkhu Analayo and Rodney S. Bucknell as co-editors.[20] The first of four volumes was published in 2013. For the remaining three volumes, Bhikkhu Analayo and Rodney S. Bucknell continued as editors, with the second volume published in 2020, the third in 2022, and the fourth in 2023.

References

  1. ↑ Bingenheimer, Bucknell & Analayo 2013, p. xv.
  2. ↑ "Madhyama Agama". Oxford Reference. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Analayo 2012, p. 1.
  4. ↑ Bingenheimer, Bucknell & Analayo 2013, p. xix.
  5. ↑ Anālayo, Bhikkhu (2017). Dhammadinnā, Bhikkhunī (ed.). "The 'School Affiliation' of the Madhyama-āgama" (PDF). Research on the Madhyama-āgama. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation: 55–76.
  6. ↑ Minh Chau, Thich (1991). The Chinese Madhyama Āgama and the Pāli Majjhima Nikāya. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
  7. ↑ Anālayo, Bhikkhu (2008). "The Chinese Madhyama-āgama and the Pāli Majjhima-nikāya - In the Footsteps of Thich Minh Chau" (PDF). Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies. 9: 1–21.
  8. ↑ Anālayo, Bhikkhu (2016). "Selected Madhyama-āgama Discourse Passages and their Pāli Parallels" (PDF). Dharma Drum Journal of Buddhist Studies. 19: 1–61.
  9. ↑ Anālayo, Bhikkhu (2007). "Comparative Notes on the Madhyama-āgama" (PDF). Fuyan Buddhist Studies. 2: 33–56.
  10. 1 2 Bingenheimer, Bucknell & Analayo 2013, p. xvi.
  11. ↑ Bucknell, Roderick S. (2017). Dhammadinnā, Bhikkhunī (ed.). "Ekottarika-type Material in the Madhyama-āgama". Research on the Madhyama-āgama. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation: 77–112.
  12. ↑ Allon, Mark; Silverlock, Blair (2017). "Sūtras in the Senior Kharoṣṭhī Manuscript Collection with Parallels in the Majjhima-nikāya and/or Madhyama-āgama". Research on the Madhyama-āgama. Taipei: Dharma Drum Publishing Corporation: 1–54.
  13. ↑ Chung, Jin-il; Fukita, Takamichi (2011). A Survey of the Sanskrit Fragments Corresponding to the Chinese Madhyamāgama, Including References to Sanskrit Parallels, Citations, Numerical Categories of Doctrinal Concepts and Stock Phrases. Tokyo: Sankibo Press.
  14. ↑ Nattier, Jan (2008). A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations, Texts from the Eastern Han 東漢 and Three Kingdoms三國 Periods. Tokyo: International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University. p. 50. ISBN 978-4-904234-00-6.
  15. ↑ Anālayo, Bhikkhu (2011). "Chos sbyin gyi mdo, Bhikṣuṇī Dharmadinnā Proves Her Wisdom" (PDF). Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal. 24: 3–33.
  16. ↑ Anālayo, Bhikkhu (2019). "Comparing the Tibetan and Chinese Parallels to the Cūḷavedalla-sutta" (PDF). Investigating Principles: International Aspects of Buddhist Culture, Essays in Honour of Professor Charles Willemen. Hong Kong: The Buddha-Dharma Centre of Hong Kong: 1–36.
  17. ↑ Skilling, Peter (1994). Mahāsūtras: Great Discourses of the Buddha. Oxford: Pali Text Society. pp. 310–383.
  18. ↑ Skilling (1994), p. 146–181
  19. ↑ Skilling (1994), p. 188–263
  20. ↑ "Madhyama-āgama". Āgama Research Group. Retrieved August 3, 2019.

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