The Dharma's Gatekeepers: Sakya Pa??ita on Buddhist Scholarship in Tibet

The Dharma's Gatekeepers offers an incisive analysis of one of the most important works in Tibetan Buddhist intellectual history: Sakya Pa??ita's Gateway to Learning (Mkhas pa 'jug pa'i sgo). Writing in a time when a distinctively Tibetan tradition of Buddhism was first emerging, Sakya Pa??ita wanted to present Tibetan intellectuals with what he took to be an authentically Indian (and therefore, authentically Buddhist) understanding of the nature and tasks of intellectual life—with a view of how scholarship was understood and practiced in the great monastic colleges of India. In The Dharma's Gatekeepers, we see Sakya Pa??ita building the intellectual foundation for Tibetan scholasticism through a series of subtle, brilliant, and quintessentially Buddhist arguments about the nature of learning itself, with his elaboration of a model of scholastic education skillfully drawing together ideas in Buddhist epistemology, philosophy of language, translation theory, hermeneutics, and literary theory. In this study of Sakya Pa??ita's remarkable work, Jonathan C. Gold shows that the Gateway to Learning addresses issues that remain of concern to contemporary intellectuals; this thirteenth-century work has much to contribute to our understanding of such issues as translation and translatability, theories of reading and authorship, the connections between religious values and academic institutions, and theories of language and literary aesthetics. The book includes a translation of significant parts of Sakya Pa??ita's text.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments 1. The Lion's Roar in the Assembly: Sa-pan's Scholarly Ideal Introduction The Gateway in the History of Tibetan Learning Sakyasribhadra and the Indianization of Tibet The Five Sciences and the Goal of Scholarly Perfection 2. Beware of the Dharma in Translation: A Warning to Interpreters Introduction: Translation in Tibet and in the Gateway Obscure Vocabulary The Techniques of Translators Translation Mistakes Unintelligible Context Untranslatability Denied 3. The Dharma Is Only Words: A Philosophical Authorization of the Linguist Introduction Skill in Means in the Gateway The "Term Generality" at the Foundation of Grammar The "Term Generality" in Sakyapa Epistemology Sa-pan and Saussure on the Conceptuality and Conventionality of Language Sa-pan and Sonam Tsemo on the Dharma as Language Linguistics as the Study of Convention: The "Speech Intention" 4. The Expert Knows the Context: Sa-pan's Appeals to Buddhist Hermeneutics Introduction: Sa-pan's Contribution to Buddhist Hermeneutics Tantric Hermeneutics in the Background of the Gateway How Words Get Their Meaning Sa-pan's Previous Position: Linguistic Analysis in the Treasury Sa-pan's Predecessors on "Well Known in the World" and "Well Known in Treatises" Well-known Terminology and Linguistic Convention Sa-pan's General Theory of the "Well Known" and Tantric Hermeneutics Which Scholars Form the Community of Interpreters? Conclusion 5. The Message in the Medium: Intellectual Norms and Protocols Introduction The Three Kinds of Meaning in a Good Verse of Reverence Introductory Verses and the Social Function of Rhetoric Synopsis as a Display of Mastery Ensuring Excellence by Declaring a Legitimate Purpose How to Make Meaning Evident Conclusion 6. Appealing to the Translocal: Sanskrit Poetics for a Tibetan Buddhist Elite Introduction Sa-pan's Buddhicization of the Rasas Applying the Rasas Poetics in Defense of the Dharma Introducing Poetics to Tibetans Conclusion: Who Benefits from Aesthetic Cultivation? 7. Conclusion: Thoughts on a Future Comparative Intellectual History Appendixes: A: Outline B: The Gateway to Learning Notes Tibetan Orthographic Equivalents Abbreviations Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Jonathan C. Gold is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Drew University.

Review :
"Sa-pan played a central part in the transfer of Buddhist culture to Tibet. Gold's book provides a valuable window into how this great scholar understood the enterprise of cultural translation in which he was engaged. It should be of interest not only to Tibetanists, but to many concerned with similar processes of cultural translation and adaptation in other contexts." - Religions of South Asia "Gold has taken us a step forward in the exploration of the Tibetan intellectual history, and particularly of Sakyapa learning." - Journal of the American Oriental Society "This book is a study of the Gateway to Learning ... The writing throughout is elegant and entertaining. The book is naturally of specialist interest, but it also deals with larger issues surrounding translation, religious authority and language. The way these have been approached will appeal to everyone interested in the history of religion and Indian literature." - Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society "To its credit, this book poses a host of questions to the fields of translation studies, theoretical linguistics, and hermeneutics in addition to Indian and Tibetan Buddhist intellectual history." - Journal of the American Academy of Religion "The Dharma's Gatekeepers strikes an impressive balance. Gold details the very specific concerns of a thirteenth-century Tibetan Buddhist scholar driven to maintain traditions adopted from ancient India. In the process, he casts light on currently debated issues in translation, aesthetics, hermeneutics, and authority." - H-Net Reviews "The Gateway is not an easy text to understand. Happily ... Gold has risen to the challenge. His translations are accurate and readable, and his penetrating analysis of the text elegantly connects Sakya Pandita's claims to issues in translation studies, the epistemology of testimony, linguistics and linguistic anthropology, hermeneutics, rhetoric, poetics, education, and the study of the aesthetic dimensions of political power in India and Tibet ... a very fine book and one that deserves a wide readership." - International Journal of Hindu Studies "Although parts of this important text have been previously translated and examined, Gold's analysis of what he calls Sakya Pandita's 'neoconservatism' is a fresh contribution, offering a fine examination of the ideals, methods, and anxieties of the Tibetan scholastic community." - Buddhadharma "This is a fascinating study of a major work in Tibetan intellectual history. Written with nuance and grace, it is poised to make a major contribution to the study of some of the key conceptual and ethical foundations of Tibetan Buddhist scholasticism and its relation to the intellectual traditions of India. In wider terms, it contributes to important discussions in the humanities." - Janet Gyatso, coeditor of Women in Tibet