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The Seventy Stanzas on Emptiness (Shūnyatāsaptatikārikānāma) are a Mahāyāna Buddhist text attributed to the second and third century Indian monk Nāgārjuna. The text deals with concepts such as the Skandha, the interconnectedness of ignorance and Karmic formations, and Śūnyatā- specifically the dichotomy of inherent existence (svabhāva-śūnya) and non-substantiality (niḥsvabhāva)/ dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda).[1][2]
History edit
The 70 Stanzas were most likely written around the second or third century CE. They are considered with much of Nāgārjuna's work as foundational to the development of "Middle-Way" thought (Madhyamāpratipada), which forms the basis of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhist philosophy. Overall, these Stanzas contribute to the basis expanded upon by later Mahāyāna thinkers such as Āryadeva and Chandrakirti.[2]
In 1987, the translator David Ross Komito published an English-language translation of the 70 Stanzas in collaboration with the Venerable Geshe Tenzin Dorjee and the Tibetan monk Geshe Sonam Rinchen. The complete book, A Buddhist Psychology of Emptiness, is the first English-language work of its kind, and includes detailed contextualization and commentary on the text from all three contributors.[1] Komito was introduced to the Shūnyatāsaptatikārikānāma by Geshe Rinchen while studying under him in the 80s at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala, India.[1] Their book remains an influential translation in the West today.
Authorship edit
The body of work attributed to Nāgārjuna is broad and sometimes meshed with works written later in time by disciples or commentators. Additionally, there have likely been many individuals named "Nāgārjuna" or "Chandra" since the original creation of treatises such as this, which makes attribution and authorship of a number of early Mahayana works dubious and difficult. Therefore, the exact authorship of some of Nāgārjuna's work has been debated or contradicted in more recent centuries. However, the 70 Stanzas are thought to be one of their least controversial attributions.[3]
The Shūnyatāsaptatikā belongs to the "Yukti-Corpus", and one of works directly referenced by Chandrakirti, another influential Mahayana monk and writer of the 7th century CE, as written by Nagarjuna himself.[2] The existence of a credible written record for this text's origin makes it much more likely that Nāgārjuna is the true author. Scholarship continues to illuminate problems of authorship in the Mahayana school in the contemporary era.[2]
Contents edit
Many of the Stanzas are framed as question-answer conversations between an interlocutor/novice monk asking for clarification- or positing a contradiction or flaw in the previous stanza or the text's broader logic- and the author themself, who responds in the current or succeeding stanza.
The Text begins with a lengthy discussion of the meaningless nature of concepts- such as 'existing' or 'non-existing' - conventionally understood to be different, distinct, and opposite. As the text progresses, Nagarjuna expounds upon this at great length by explaining that all things posses an inherent "emptiness'; this is a notion not limited to just living beings, but non-living phenomena, causes and effects, etc.[1] Nagarjuna continues to explain this notion at great length for the remainder of the text.
Conventional Phenomena edit
Emptiness is related to non-substantiality (niḥsvabhāva). However, Nagarjuna repeatedly emphasizes that there are phenomena that we perceive during the sensory experience of our material world, that while ultimately sharing the universal conditions of emptiness and dependent origination, can be understood as a "conventional truth" (Saṃvṛti ), as opposed to the "ultimate truth" of emptiness (śūnyatā) of all things (dharma).[1]
Skandha, Sense Perception, and Consciousness edit
Nagarjuna, as well as the contributors to Komito's translation, frequently reference the Skandha (Pañcupādānakkhandhā), or 5 aggregates, as evidence of emptiness. They explain that the skandha- form, sensations, perception, mental activity, discernment- and their individual arisings both cause our perception of certain things as inherently existent and unique, as well as exemplifying the 'reality' that these perceptions are finite, temporary 'risings' of the same five fundamental aggregates time and time again across millennia.[1]
External Links edit
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f Nāgārjuna (1987). Seventy Stanzas on Emptiness: A Buddhist Psychology of Emptiness (PDF). Translated by Komito/Ven. Dorjee, David R. (1st ed.). Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 0-937-938-39-4.
- ^ a b c d Ruegg, David Seyfort (1981). Gonda, Jan (ed.). A History of Indian Literature Vol. VII: The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy in India. Weisbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. pp. 4–50. ISBN 3-447-02204-3.
- ^ Burton, David F. (2015-10-23). Emptiness Appraised. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-72323-3.