早期佛教經典的模板現象──以含佛陀證悟宣言定型文句經群為例

Textual Templates in Early Buddhist Texts: A Study of Suttas Associated with the Buddha's Enlightenment Announcement

早期佛教經典如何具有高度一致性，又包含許多變異？本文嘗試以模板與變項來解釋，鎖定巴利尼科耶中佛陀證悟宣言定型文句，先做定型文句分析比較，再由其相關經群探討經文模本現象；同時，也與漢譯阿含對應經比較。漢巴兩系經群，都有運用佛陀證悟宣言定型文句及相關經文模板；相形之下，巴利系經群較有朝向系統化編輯的趨勢，但也有少數未統一的經例。經文模板和定型文句很可能是早期佛經集成和口傳的工具，有固定模式方便經文編纂，也有助於記憶和口傳合誦；而隨主題而更動的變項則能兼顧解說、教學所需的彈性。透過經文模板分析經群的整體架構、定型文句以及變項，很容易觀察出以下情形：同主題，但教學架構不同而著重不同法義；或者不同主題，但運用同樣教學架構而強調同一法義。如含佛陀證悟宣言經群中，除不同版本的《轉法輪經》記載佛陀以如實證知四聖諦三轉十二行而悟入無上正等覺外，大部分是關於味患離的教學、及其結合四聖諦所衍生之集滅味患離教學。因此，運用經文模板和變項分析早期佛經，有助於早期佛教跨語言、跨部派對應經文的比較研究。 Why early Buddhist texts present highly consistency, but at the same time, they contain many variations? To answer this question, this paper provides a theory of textual templates and variables. The textual templates maintain the uniformity required for communal recitations; they function as a memory aid, an editorial tool, and a mechanism for oral transmission of early Buddhist texts. On the other hand, the variables contribute to the variety of early Buddhist texts. The change of variables is the main difference observed between one text and another. This study focuses on those suttas in the Pāli Nikāyas which include the fixed expressions for the Buddha's enlightenment announcement as a case study. Then, a comparative study between the Pāli suttas and their parallel texts in the Chinese Āgamas is also done. Both the Pāli texts and the Chinese texts apply the fi xed expressions and the textual templates associated with the Buddha's announcement of his enlightenment. Comparatively, the compliers of the Pāli Nikāyas use them more systematically than those of the Chinese Āgamas do. In these texts, one significant theme is the three turning of the four noble truths emphasised in various parallels of the Turning of the Dhamma Wheel Sutta. Besides, most of these suttas are affi liated with the teaching on the triad of gratifi cation, danger and escape, and the teaching that combines the triad with the four noble truths. The application of textual templates and variables is an effi cient and critical method to study early Buddhist texts. It can tell that some are in the same templates but different from their variables, and some are with the same variable, though in different templates. In this way, full or partial parallel texts can be easily detected from hundreds of texts in different Buddhist traditions and languages, which is crucial for comparative studies of early Buddhist texts.