新書入港：菩提比丘《經集英譯》(The Suttanipāta)

藉助Yuan Chuan 代訂，終於拿到剛出版的菩提比丘《經集英譯》(The Suttanipāta)。
這本書厚達 6.5公分，篇幅 1612頁，加上菩提比丘另一本頁數為1924頁的《增支部英譯》，看來這一輩子不用再買書了，光是用力讀這兩本書就讀不完了。
菩提比丘《經集英譯》在〈前言〉裡頭說：
Linguistic and doctrinal evidence suggests that the Suttanipāta took shape through a gradual process of accretion spread out over three or four centuries. The anthology is unique to the Pāli Canon, though it contains discourses with parallels in other transmission lines among the schools of Early Buddhism. This implies that the Suttanipāta itself was compiled within the Pāli school from preexisting material. Several of its texts are considered to be among the most ancient specimens of Buddhist literature. Among these are two chapters, the Aṭṭhakavagga (chap. IV) and the Pārāyanavagga (chap. V), that are quoted in the Saṃyutta and Aṅguttara Nikāyas. These two chapters are, moreover, the subjects of a two-part expository text, the Niddesa, so old that it was included in the Khuddaka Nikāya.
從語言和經典上的證據顯示，巴利《經集》可能是在歷經三、四百年的傳誦過程累積附加而成。即使當中有些經典在其他佛教初期背誦傳承中有對應經典，這一「選集 anthology」(巴利《經集》)在巴利文獻當中仍然相當獨特。這似乎意味著巴利《經集》包含一些遵循巴利文獻的部派成型之前的經典資料，其中有些經文被認為是最古老的佛教文獻之一。特別是其中的第四品《義品》與第五品《彼岸道品》曾在《相應部》與《增支部》中引用。甚至，這兩品的註釋都古老到趕得上巴利《小部》的結集，而成為《大義釋》和《小義釋》。