Chiasmus in the
Early Prajñāpāramitā:
Literary Parallelism Connecting
Criticism & Hermeneutics
in an Early Mahāyāna Sūtra
Shì Hùifēng (釋慧峰) / M B Orsborn
for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy
at The University of Hong Kong
in December 2011
at The University of Hong Kong
in December 2011
Abstract
This study examines
the early Prajñāpāramitā sūtras
through the theory of “chiasmus”. Chiasmic
methodology analyses a text into two parallel halves, identifying complementary
“prologue” (A) and “conclusion” (A’), and highlighting the critical “central
point” (X), with sub-themes paralleled in the two halves (A-B-C-D…X…D’-C’-B’-A’). Through chiasmus theory, many ancient texts
formerly considered fragmentary and incoherent have been shown to be
structurally sophisticated wholes.
The modern text-critical
approach has re-written the traditional account of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras. Several
scholars have proposed theories regarding a pre-textual “ur-sūtra”, though with little consensus on
this. In general, most agree that after
the formation of an “ur-sūtra” the
main body of the text was then chaotically compiled from various fragmentary
sub-texts, with the Sadāprarudita Avadāna
finally appended at the end. The result is
the presently extant smaller sūtra.
This modern scholarship then claims gradual growth through expansion
into the medium and larger sūtras. The modern academic “discourse on emptiness”
portrays the Prajñāpāramitā as
focusing on the doctrine of “emptiness” (śūnyatā). This study challenges many of these
claims.
On analysis, primary
and secondary chiasmi were identified in the first two chapters of the sūtra.
Their scope is the authority of teaching and training in the Prajñāpāramitā, and maintenance of the
lineage of the Buddhas. Their central
climax is definitions of “bodhisattva”,
“mahāsattva” and “mahāyāna”, in the rhetorical formula “XY
is ~Y”. Clearly paralleled sub-themes
include “samādhi”, “the illusory”, “Māra”
and “entrance into certitude”.
A second chiasmus
comprising the entire Avadāna at the
end of the sūtra was also identified. The scope is Sadāprarudita’s quest for Prajñāpāramitā, “to see and hear the
Tathāgatas”. The central climax is his
seeing and hearing the “Tathāgata” as one who has realized “suchness” (tathatā) or “dependent origination” (pratītyasaṃutpāda), again expressed in
the form “XY is ~Y”. Paralleled
sub-themes include “samādhi”, “Māra”
and “giving”.
These two chiasmi
are similar in scope, centers which define key terms through the rhetorical
formula “XY is ~Y”, and sub-themes. This
suggests a larger chiasmus which spans the entire text, with these chiasmi as
prologue and conclusion respectively.
While not conclusive, there is evidence for a central climax centered at
“suchness” (tathatā), attainment of
which results in the bodhisattva’s status
of irreversibility. This connects the
prologue and concluding chiasmi, “bodhisattvas” to “Tathāgatas”,
respectively. Numerous paralleled
sub-themes are more or less salient.
There are major
implications from the discovery of chiasmus in the Prajñāpāramitā. Critically,
it suggests that the sūtra was
initially composed as a complete chiasmic whole, rather than from accumulated
fragmentary parts. Hermeneutically, the
core message may be understood more systematically than earlier methods. It proposes “suchness” (tathatā) as the central theme, rather than “emptiness” (śūnyatā). It also rejects the genre designation of the Prajñāpāramitā as a “philosophical”
rather than “religious” text. This study
also offers direction for uncovering other cases of chiasmus in early Mahāyāna and Buddhist literature in
general, with examples. If a range of
chiasmi can be analyzed, a general theory of Buddhist chiasmus can be established
for use as a standard Buddhological tool.
