「如是我聞」か「如是我聞一時」か──六朝隋唐の「如是我聞」解釋史への新視角──

Abstract

經典冒頭の定型句「如是我聞一時佛在」云々は，中國佛教史においては伝統的に「如是我聞」の四字を一句とし，「一時」は「佛在」以下に繫がると理解されてきた。一方，近年のインド佛教研究においては「一時」は前句と後句の兩方と連關し，全體として「ある時，私はこう聞いた。（その時）世尊は……に住していた」という意味に理解する傾向が強まっている。かかるインド佛教をめぐる近年の議論では，インドと類似の説は中國には皆無であったことが暗黙の前提とされている。しかし今回の考察により，六朝時代には「如是我聞」を一句とする理解も確かに存在していたが，極めて興味深いことに，同時に「如是我聞一時」の六字を一句とする解釋も相當の影響力を有する形で普及していたことが明らかになった。前者の例は僧祐や鳩摩羅什の自説であり，後者の例は鳩摩羅什譯『大智度論』や梁代成立の『大般涅槃經集解』に見える南朝涅槃學の説であった。就中，五世紀前半から六世紀前半頃の建康では「如是我聞一時」を一句とする解釋が廣く普及していた蓋然性が大きい。 「一時」を「我聞」と繫げる解釋の場合，「一時」とは「聽經時」であると注釋される。他方，「一時」を「佛在」と繫げる解釋においては「一時」は「説經時」と注釋される。そして「一時」がその前後の兩方に繫がることを示す説明方法としては，「一時」とは「説聽時」である──すなわち佛の説經時であり，同時にかつ佛弟子（阿難等）の聽經時である──と説明された。この解釋法は唐代の重要な幾つかの注釋に明記されている。このような「一時」を「説聽時」と説明し，前後の句に係るとする解釋法は，インドの８世紀の注釋書に見られる説と内容において基本的共通性を有する。

The set passage ＂如是我聞一時佛在 …＂ occurring at the opening of Buddhist sūtras has traditionally been understood in Chinese Buddhism as, ＂Thus have I heard. One time, when the Buddha was staying at ...＂ In this interpretation, ＂one time＂ is associated with the phrase following it, rather than with the four-character phrase, ＂thus have I heard.＂ In recent years, there has been an increasingly dominant trend in Indian Buddhist studies to interpret the expression ＂one time＂ as being associated with both the phrase preceding it and the phrase following it. In this interpretation, it is understood as ＂Thus have I heard at one time when the World-honored One was staying at ...＂ These discussions of Indian Buddhism implicitly assume that there has never been a similar theory in China. In the current study, it is shown that the interpretation of ＂thus have I heard,＂ as a phrase independent of ＂one time,＂ does indeed exist in the Six Dynasties period (222-589), but it is of great interest to note that during the same period, the interpretation ＂thus have I heard at one time＂ was becoming increasingly common and influential. Instances of the former are found in works by Sengyou and in the views of Kumārajīva as his own. Instances of the latter are seen in the Da zhidu lun 大智度論 translated by Kumārajīva and in texts relating to the Nirvāņa sūtra exegetics of the Southern dynasties as found in the Daban niepan jing jijie 大般涅槃經集解 composed in the Liang (502-557). Particularly, there is a high probability that the interpretation of ＂thus have I heard at one time＂ as a single phrase was widespread in Jiankang (present day Nanjing) from the first half of the fifth century to the first half of the sixth century. When ＂one time＂ is associated with ＂I heard,＂ it is explained as referring to ＂the time when the sūtra was heard.＂ On the other hand, when ＂one time＂ is associated with ＂the Buddha resided at,＂ it is explained as referring to ＂the time when the sūtra was spoken.＂ In several important Tang dynasty commentaries, ＂one time＂ is understood to refer to the time in which the sūtra was both spoken by the Buddha and heard by his disciples such as Ānanda. This interpretation, in which ＂one time＂ is taken to modify both the time of hearing and the time of speaking, shares basic commonalities with ideas found in eighth century Indian commentarial literature.