Philological and Interdisciplinary Studies on Nibbana in Early Buddhism

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K12948
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 01020:Chinese philosophy, Indian philosophy and Buddhist philosophy-related
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Tomita Mariko 大阪大学, 大学院人文学研究科(人文学専攻、芸術学専攻、日本学専攻), 招へい研究員 (20837273)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: インド仏教 / 初期仏典 / パーリ聖典 / 涅槃 / スッタニパータ / 註釈 / パラマッタ・ジョーティカー / 仏塔

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research philologically analyzes Nibbana-related words in the Suttanipata and other early Buddhist suttas. My findings were compared with interpretations of the Commentaries. As a result, a new understanding was suggested: The sutta authors, unlike the authors of the Commentaries, often times do not intend to differentiate between Nibbana in the present life and Nibbana at and after the end of life.
While people were mostly concerned with the afterlife and connected liberation to the end of life, the Suttanipata and other early suttas sometimes emphasize that Nibbana can be attained during one's lifetime and sometimes do not express the time of Nibbana. In the latter case, the interpretation of Nibbana was left upon the listeners. This notion among people since early days was seemingly applied to the early Buddhist artifacts around 3 - 2 centuries B.C.

Free Research Field

仏教学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

初期経典で描かれる涅槃の諸相(生前, 時点が曖昧, 命終, 二種涅槃[1経のみ])と, 註釈で説かれる生前・命終で区別する確立された二種涅槃[界]の教義とは, その涅槃観が異なる場合も多いことが, これまでにない知見として明らかになった. その中で, ゴータマ・ブッダの真意が生前の涅槃であっても, 当初から人々の解釈が涅槃や修行の完成を命終と結びつける傾向が見受けられ, 信仰・祈りの場である遺跡の現場でも涅槃＝命終が求められたと推測できる.
涅槃は, 画一的に理解され得る概念ではないことを明示した本研究は, 従って, 学術的並びに社会的に, 意義が認められる.