ABSTRACT

This chapter presents some of the differences between the three renderings: Vasubandhu's original Sanskrit verses, Param-ürtha's Chinese rendition, and Hsüan-tsang's Chinese version while offering some comments about the basic ideas and terms found in the Triṃśikā. Even a cursory glance at the three versions, however, reveals important variations. Both Chinese versions add terms and concepts to Vasubandhu's terse verses. Since those additions reflect the interpretive orientations of the translators, they are useful markers for delineating differences between them that highlight some of the crucial details of those orientations. When Paramartha arrived in China in the mid-sixth century, Yogacara controversies ostensibly linked to the Ti Lun debates were already occupying Chinese Buddhists. Hsüan-tsangalso apparently admired 'The Awakening of Faith', a work purporting to be a translation by Paramartha from a Sanskrit original written by Asvaghosa. Hsüan-tsang's version, while occasionally glossing some terms, stays fairly close to Vasubandhu.