The Other Translation of Saṃyuktāgama 別譯雜阿含經 exists in two versions. The version preserved as text no. 100 in the Taishō edition of the Chinese canon is divided into sixteen fascicles, a format carried over from the Korean edition on which the compilers of the Taishō mainly relied. The other version, found in most editions produced in China itself, is instead divided into twenty fascicles. These two versions contain almost the same collection of sūtras, but differ in their arrangement. As regards the grouping into Saṃyuktas, the twenty-fascicle version is in good order while the sixteen-fascicle version is in disarray. This article examines the proposition by Anesaki (1908) that the sixteen-fascicle version resulted from accidental disarrangement of a text that closely resembled the twenty-fascicle version, and seeks to identify how and when this could have come about.

Monks, it is herein that consciousness comes, that it goes, that it stands, that it departs, that it grows, that it increases, that it flourishes.

Monks, I shall teach identity, the arising of identity, the cessation of identity and the path leading to cessation of identity. Listen and bear in mind what I shall expound…

Monks, one who meditates and develops patient acceptance with regard to this dharma with limited wisdom is called a ‘faith-follower’…

Monks, just as a large floating lump of foam is carried along by the current of the river Ganges…

The discourse quotations in the Abhidharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā stem from a Mūlasarvāstivāda lineage of transmission closely related to that of the Saṃyukta-āgama, though not identical to it. This article, before turning to the translation of the quotations counterpart to the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama discourses, first introduces the Abhidharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā as a primary source

Here I would like to give one example which may offer sufficient evidence to support the claim that the original texts of these Chinese Saṃyuktāgamas are indeed to be ascribed to the Sarvāstivādins.

The reaction of Anāthapiṇḍada in both the ChSA1 and the ClaSA2 is to have goose flesh upon hearing the sound or the name `Buddha’ for the first time. The same recension as these two sutras is found only in Sarvāstivādin texts, namely the Shisong-lu 十誦律 and the MSV.

I investigate the tale of the Buddhaʼs sojourn in the Heaven of the Thirty-three to teach his mother, based on a translation of a version of this episode in the Saṃyukta-āgama preserved in Chinese, with a view to discerning the gradual development and significance of this tale.

The Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad employs the chariot imagery in the service of a unitary notion of, and perpetual correspondence between, the different particles of being that make up the different dimensions of a person. The particles of intelligence (prajñā) and the breath are all fastened together just as in a chariot the rim is fastened to the spokes and the spokes to the hub.

Śailā puts all of this down to none other than a mass of duḥkha.

The assonances evoked by the reinterpretation of these Vedic and Upaniṣadic themes would have had a powerful effect in the ancient Indian oral culture, where the impact of a visual image invested with sacred meanings such as the chariot imagery would have had a deep resonance for the audience. This background puts into its broader ideological perspective the significance of the early Buddhist use of the chariot simile to illustrate the characteristic of absence of an unchanging and essentialised self in subjective experience, based on the analysis by way of the five-aggregates model.

… if a monk avoids positive or negative inclinations when using his senses, Mara would not get access, would not get a hold.

A brief description of Mahāmaudgalyāyana’s sermon on sense-restraint (SN 35.243 / SA 1176) along with a translated Sanskrit fragment of this sermon found in Turfan (Turpan).

the Buddhist reformulation of the annihilationist tenet can indeed serve as an inspired utterance for those aspiring to become arahants by annihilating even the subtlest forms of clinging in the form of any traces of conceit.

A comparative study of how no-self combats ideas of annihilation

… while the vast bulk of teachings is shared in common between the three versions, there are a few minor points of difference.

… similarities and differences in structure and doctrinal content [between] this samyutta in the Pāli version and its counterpart 相應 xiangying in the two Chinese versions

It may have originally contained just one discourse (on the standard five bala) and then later been expanded, independently in the two traditions.

… fundamental methodological points posed by the study of the Collections of Connected Discourses as windows into the formation of early Buddhist texts and the organisation of their transmission

Three sūtras in the SA which deal with emptiness especially attracted the attention of the author of the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa

… one of the most outstanding testimonies to the Buddha’s capability as a teacher is the conversion of the killer Aṅgulimāla.

… individual Brahmās (Sahāṃpati, Baka and an unnamed Brahmā) have different characters … lower than the Buddha and his great disciples[, their] individual names are a new design, not shared in the Vedic tradition of Brahmanism.

… the Theravāda version of events in the Nandakovāda-sutta conveys an attitude towards nuns that is considerably less favorable than the attitude underlying the parallel versions

How the Theravāda elders managed to make the suttas sound misogynistic through small redactions.

the circumstances surrounding the translation of the Zá āhán jīng has shown that while there are problems connecting the translation done by Guṇabhadra to the manuscript brought back by Fǎxiǎn, there is ample circumstantial evidence to support this claim.

The table is based on Yinshun’s original work on the SA in Chinese. You can find a discussion about the table on SuttaCentral here.

… revised versions of articles published previously. Each study is based on a partial or complete translation of the Saṃyukta-āgama discourse in question, followed by an examination of some aspects that I felt to be of further interest.

In this article I translate the first half of the ninth fascicle of the Saṃyukta-āgama, which contains discourses 230 to 249.

This article translates the eighth fascicle of the Saṃyukta-āgama, which contains discourses 188 to 229.

This article translates the seventh fascicle of the Saṃyukta-āgama, which contains discourses 139 to 187.

This article translates the sixth fascicle of the Saṃyukta-āgama, which contains discourses 111 to 138.

This article translates the fifth fascicle of the Saṃyukta-āgama, which contains discourses 103 to 110.

This article translates the fourth fascicle of the Saṃyukta-āgama, which contains discourses 33 to 58.

This article translates the third fascicle of the Saṃyukta-āgama, which contains discourses 59 to 87.

This article translates the second fascicle of the Saṃyukta-āgama, which contains discourses 256 to 272.

The translated section comprises the tenth fascicle of the Taishō edition of the Saṃyukta-āgama

This article translates the first fascicle of the Saṃyukta-āgama, which contains discourses 1 to 32.

In this article I translate the second half of the ninth fascicle of the Saṃyukta-āgama, which contains discourses 250 to 255.

This article contains annotated translations of canonical quotations in the Tibetan Abhidharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā that parallel discourses nos. 231, 238, 240, 245, 252 and 255 in the chapter on the six sense-bases of the Chinese translation of the Saṃyukta-āgama

Whatever does not belong to you and does not belong to others, these things should quickly be eradicated and relinquished.

A clever Bhikkhu quickly understands a pithy teaching.

The tale is best understood in the light of the need of the early Buddhist tradition to demarcate its position in the ancient Indian context vis-à-vis ascetic practices and ideology.

Bhikkhu Analayo teaches us how to read the Vinaya in light of the Suttas and parallels and against the background of its ancient Indian context.

If someone gives up this body to continue with another body, I say that this is indeed a serious fault. If someone has given up this body and does not continue with another body, I do not say that this is a serious fault.

It is wrong perception that leads to the concepts of being and nonbeing.

Have you seen the variegated and different colours of a caraṇa bird?

The Buddha encourages the monks to investigate the five aggregates, giving a few colorful similes to illustrate their nature.

The assumption of a rigid division between monastics as recipients of liberating teachings and laity instructed in the gaining of merit and the way to a good rebirth does not accurately reflect early Buddhist thought.