Shan- Chien- P'i- P'o- Sha of A Chinese Version by Sanghabhadra of Samantapasadika (Commentary on Pali Vinaya Translated Into English For The First Time)

The study of the text Shen Chien-P’i-P’o-sha I commenced in Feb. 1945 and I completed my first reading of the same before April 1948. I could do the same with the help of several Chinese colleagues of mine at Cheena bhavan, Shantiniketan. Among those who helped me, I must prominently meation Ven. Fa-fang, Ven. Pai-hui, Ven. Fa-Chow (now Shri Pa-Chow of the Univerity of Ceylon, Peradeniya, Ceylon), Shri Shu-Hu (now in Pondicherry) and Shri Chu-who all were them working as research-scholars At Cheena-bhavan.

Soon after completing my stay at Shantiniketan, I got ill. The illness became more and more serious and I thought it was going to be fatal. I believed my days were numbered and so I thought: Before I breathed my last, I should give to the world at least a brief outline of the results of my comparative study of this Chinese text with Samanta-pasadika. I typed a paper from what I considered to be my death-bed and sent it to the University of Ceylon Review, where it was published in April 1949.

I recovered from my illness and started again my work in Ferguson College, Poona. On account of pressure of work at the Ferguson college and at Poona University, I could not pursue my work on this Chinese text. After retiring from Fergusson College in 1954, I started my work on the same. But it was interrupted again. From 1957-60 I was busy organising the Department of Buddhist Studies in the University of Delhi. When I retired in July 1960 from Delhi University, I re-started my work on the same.

Originally I had the idea of giving only a detailed comparative study of this Chinese text and the Pali Samanta-pasadika. Subsequently, at the suggestion of some friends, I decided to give a complete translation into English. I worked on the same until the first draft was completed in 1964. During the course of this work I thought it would be better if I could secure the collaboration of some Buddhist Scholar from the Far-East. I got in touch with Prof. A. Hirakawa of the University of Tokyo, Japan. I had met him (1959) during my visit to Japan and had come to know of his work on Buddhist Vinaya. He readily agreed (1963).

In the meanwhile, the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, made a special case in selecting me as one of the beneficiaries for their Research Grant for two years (1965 and 1966). I also approached the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, New Delhi, for providing the necessary funds to enable Prof. Hirakawa to stay in Poona and work with me for a few months. Prof. Hirakawa came for four months and we went over the whole draft of my English Translation (1966), making changes where necessary. Then came the problem of seeking the resources for the publication of this work.

Shan-Chien-P’i-P'o-Sha is mentioned under No. 1125 in Nanjio's Catalogue which gives Sudarsano-Vibhasa as the Sanskrit rendering of the title of the text. Hobogirin's Catalogue also mentions this text as No. 1462 in the Taisho edition, vol. 24 of the Chinese Tripitaka edited by Prof. J. Takakusu, Dr. Watanabe and others. It gives Samanta-pasadika us the corresponding title. Prof. J. Takakusu has reviewd this text in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, London, 1896, pp. 415-439, and has shown that this text is a Chinese version of the Pali Samanta-pasadika, which is a commentary on Pali Vinaya. The author of this Chinese version is one Sanghabhadra about whom little is known except that he came from a foreign country in the West. This text alone is put to his credit and is supposed to have been completed in 489 A. D. Some sources also mention that his collaborator was one Samanera named Seng-yi and that he worked on this text in Kuangchou (Canton) in the temple Chu-lin (Veluvana).

This text is divided into 18 fascicles or books the limit of each fascicle being determined more by the size than by a logical division of the topical contents. Sometimes, this division assumes a height of absurdity as at the end of Book II (p. 59). It is observed that the corresponding Pali sentence at the end of Book II is fantastically split up in two parts (pp. 59-60). The sentence in Pali Samanta-pasadika (i. 81) reads: Nandanavane Anamataggiyani kathesi. The Chinese Book II ends with Nandanavana and Book III of the same commences with the rendering of the remaining part of the Pali sentence. Also see our note 40 on p. 304 in a similar connection.

For my book I have used the block-print edition in bold characters of the Chinese text printed in the 12th year of the Chinese Republic (1923 A. D.) at the temple of T'ien Ning (Heavenly Peace) at Chang-chou in the province of Kiang-su. References given in this translation are to the Book, folio and column of this edition. In the margin on each page of this volume, side by side with references to this edition, I have also given references to the corresponding portion in vol. XXIV of the Taisho edition of the Chinese Tripitaka (page, section of each page and line), which has now gained international reputation, and which, consequently, is expected to be available in all standard libraries of oriental learning. For the Pali text, I have given references to the edition of Samanta-pasadika published by the Pali Text Society, London, also of international fame, though now more scholarly edited copies are available. At the commencement of each book, references to portions covered in each book, are given to Taisho (T) and Shanghai (indicated by P'ing) editions of the Chinese Triptaka and for the Pali Text I have given references not only to the PTS edition but also to Sinhalese edition (S) of Simon Hewavitarne Bequest and to the Devanagari edition (N) of Nava Nalanda Mahavihara of Nalanda, Bihar, India. For the portion covered in the Bahira-nidana-vannana (pp. 1-78), I have also given references to the pages and paragraphs of the Devanagari edition (K) of Dharmanand Kosambi. These references will facilitate the study of this text in countries where these editions are easily available.

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