This dissertation charts a range of normative assumptions impacting the rhetorical form and topical content of later Indian Buddhist commentarial literature. It is designed to serve as a prolegomenon to the study of Buddhist sutra commentary, but contains material that may be found useful by those who study Buddhist philosophy, rhetoric, hermeneutics, homiletics, and education.; Focusing principally on the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, the dissertation excavates and interrogates protocols for speaking, teaching, and interpreting texts that appear to have been current during that time. These protocols were drawn from a wide variety of earlier textual sources, and the dissertation examines several of these sources in detail. Some (e.g., Matrceta's Satapancasatka and the Mulasarvastivadin Pratimoksasutra) have not previously been surveyed for their philosophical content and implications; others (e,g., the Vyakhyayukti and the Abhidharmasamuccayabhasya) have been largely ignored by modern scholars in the West. Translations of excerpts from the latter two works are provided as appendices.
展开▼
