Manjidharma wrote: ↑Mon Oct 10, 2022 6:34 pm
Hello. First I want to say thank you for working on translating the Mahāsaṃnipāta. I bought both of your other two translations from Lulu, and I'm really excited to see you finish this one.
Thank you Manjidharma. I should state again (as I think I might have mentioned in the intros to those) that I am doing this as an amateur in a way, although I also consider sūtra translation to be my vocation in that I would rather spend my life doing it rather than a day job.
Anyway, so far, Dharmakṣema's Buddhist Chinese has been excellent and almost without any ambiguities. It is truly a pleasure to read and translate his work. But the product is still something that I hope can be revised with suggestions from readers and not considered a final product. I think it is best to put forth as best a preliminary translation of as much of the tripiṭaka as we can and then go into the weeds more when we are revising (like we might do with the Vajracchedikā at this point).
Manjidharma wrote: ↑Mon Oct 10, 2022 6:34 pm
-In the śāstra there is: 22. forty teeth; 23. close teeth; 24. white teeth.
-If I understand the Chinese, the Ratnadārikā has: 17. forty teeth; 18. close teeth; 19. even teeth; 20. two white fangs.
So I think maybe two of those should be merged.
Also the last one, 34. he gains the power of Nārāyaṇa, doesn't seem to appear in the śāstra's list at all, but ironically in the later haphazard list, the author concludes by saying "Moreover...the physical strength of the body of the Buddha surpasses ten myriads of white gandhahastins" with a footnote that says "The Buddha has the physical strength of Nārāyana, equal to myriads of white elephants in rut." So I'm thinking maybe that last one shouldn't be numbered, but is just an additional statement.
Right, these are all good points. I am inclined towards merging the teeth. At the moment I am just listing the last two as 33 and 34 in square brackets.
I think the Mahāprajñāpāramitāśastra version looks like its coming from a bit too much of a different direction with these, maybe a different recension of the list developed in different regions. It should have occurred to me to check Dharmarakṣa's (DR) Ratnadarikā, which is definitely more akin to what we see in Dharmakṣema (DK), which I annotated lightly.
[0468c27] 佛告寶女：「吾往古世行無量德合集眾行，如來由是逮得三十有二大人之相遍布于體。今粗舉要。如來之相足安平立大人之相者，乃往古世堅固勸助而不退轉，未曾覆蔽他人功故 [1 flat feet]。如來手足而有法輪大人相者，乃往古世興設若干種種施故 [2 Dharma wheel on hands and feet。如來至真指纖長好大人相者，乃往古世則說經義救護眾生令無患故 [3 even, long, beautiful fingers]。如來手足生網幔理大人相者，乃往古世未曾破壞他人眷屬故 [4 webbed fingers and feet]。如來手足柔軟微妙大人相者，乃往古世而以惠施，若干種衣細軟服故 [5 flexible and subtle hands]。如來而有七合充滿大人相者，乃往古世廣設眾施，供諸乏故 [6 fullness in seven places]。如來之膝平正無節，[蹲-酋+(十/田/ㄙ)]腸如鹿大人相者，乃往古世奉受經典不違失故 [7 deerlike thighs]。如來之身其陰馬藏大人相者，乃往古世謹慎己身遠欲法故 [8 withdrawn male organ]。如來之身頰車充滿，猶如師子大人相者，乃往古世廣修淨業修行備故 [9 upper body like a lion]。如來至真常於胸前自然卍字大人相者，乃往古世蠲除穢濁不善行故 [10 swastika on his chest]。如來肢體具足成就大人相者，乃往古世施以無畏安慰人故 [11 perfectly proportioned limbs]。如來手臂長出於膝大人相者，乃往古世人有所作，佐助勸故 [12 arms reach his knees]。如來身淨而無瑕玼大人相者，乃往古世奉行十善無厭足故 [13 body is pure and without stain]。如來腦戶充滿弘備大人相者，乃往古世其有病者，若干種藥瞻視療故 [14 mouth filled ... not so clear but I think it is the mark where he tastes food fully]。如來師子步大人相者，乃往古世殖眾德本具足備故 [15 lion's gait]。如來四十齒白大人相者，乃往古世志性等仁於眾生故 [16 40 white teeth]。如來牙齒無有間疏大人相者，乃往古世設人諍鬪令合和故 [17 teeth without spaces]。如來頷牙大人相者，乃往古世則以微妙可意之物而興施故 [18 cheek teeth (canine?)]。如來清白美好髮眉大人相者，乃往古世善自護己身口心故 [19 clear, beautiful hair and eyebrows]。如來廣長舌大人相者，乃往古世所言至誠護口之過故 [20 long broad tongue]。如來舋舋大人相者，以無量福供養究竟心行仁和，與眾生願使得覆蓋 [21 splits?, might be the mark of three kinds of taste]。如來梵聲哀鸞之音大人相者，乃往古世言語柔和，與眾人言護口節辭，無央數人聞其所語無不悅故 [22 Brahmā-like voice]。如來瞳子紺青色大人相者，乃往古世常以慈目察眾人故 [23 deep blue eyes]。如來之眼如月初生大人相者，乃往古世無麁暴志，心性和順故 [24 eyes like a new moon (first time I heard this one)]。如來眉間白毫大人相者，乃往古世咨嗟歌誦閑居之德眾人行故 [25 ūrṇā]。如來頂上肉髻自然大人相者，乃往古世敬奉賢聖禮尊長故 [26 naturally proportioned uṣṇīṣa]。如來肌體柔軟妙好大人相者，乃往古世心念念集法品藏故 [27 flexible and subtle body] 。如來身形紫磨金色大人相者，乃往古世多施衣服臥具床故 [28 purplish-gold body]。如來之體一一毛生大人相者，乃往古世離於集會眾閙之故 [29 one hair per pore]。如來之毛上向右旋大人相者，乃往古世尊敬於師，受善友教稽首從故 [30 hairs turn to the right]。如來頭髮紺青色大人相者，乃往古世愍傷群黎，不以刀杖而加害故 [31 purplish blue hair]。如來之身平正方圓，無有阿曲大人相者，乃往古世己身眾生勸化安之令定意故 [32 even and round body]。如來之脊如大鉤鎖，普有威曜巍巍之德大人相者，乃往古世為諸正覺，興立形像繕修壞寺，其離散者勸使和合施無畏懼，其諍訟者化令相順故 [[33] a back like a great hook and chain? maybe this is some reference to Nārāyaṇa—as you suggest, this might be best to consider an additional comment]。女欲知之吾往世時，行於無量不可計會眾德之本，如來宿世奉行如斯，乃能致此三十有二大人之相。」
Reading through it, I am thankful I am focusing on DK's translation since that's pretty puzzling in many places.
Differences from DR in DK:
#3 = long heels
#11 (in the #10 position for Dharmarakṣa) = being evenly filled in his boneless parts. DK has no Swastika mark.
#16 (in the #15 position for DR) = jaws of a lion, clearly lion's gait doesn't belong there.
#19 (after close teeth) = straight teeth
No DR's "clear, beautiful hair and eyebrows"
No DR's "eyes like a new moon"
#25 (after blue eyes) = gait of an ox king
#31 hair point upwards rather than to the right
No DR's purplish blue hair, rather the mark of a golden colour (actually, DR's 28 is a purplish gold radiance in DK).
In light of this, I think I would incline towards counting straight teeth as going with close teeth and Nārāyaṇa as an additional comment. But this is far from settled, and every list has some differences.
Thank you for your help and interest.
