142219 UE Vilasavajra‘s Namamantrarthavalokini (2024W)

Goal of the LV is the introduction to trantric Buddhist texts. We will read Vilāsavajra’s Nāmamantrārthāvalokinī. It is rich in which essentially embeds the root text, the famous Nāmasaṃgīti, into an elaborate sādhana based on the Vajradhātumaṇḍala of the Tattvasaṃgraha (Tribe 2016: 3f.). While the NS is, grammatically speaking, fairly straightforward with its verses predominantly consisting of nominal sentences with many compounds, it is, as mentioned, content-wise very elusive and open to more than one interpretation. It is this aspect of the text that makes reference to the readings and analyses of the commentarial tradition especially important. Therefore, Vilāsavajra in his NMAA, besides the many fascinating doctrine developed and sources being cited, devotes a substantial percentage to compound analysis, a particular feature of this commentary. However, among the many important commercial works Vilāsavajra’s NMAA has received a fair amount of scholarly attention, especially by the work of Tribe, who, besides having published several papers, translated the first five chapters of the NMAA, making it the only Sanskrit commentary of the NS that is partially available in English. The remaining chapters have not yet been made available, neither in the form of editions, not been translated, while many of the other important commentators have not received noteworthy attention. We will read the sixth chapter of this earliest available Sanskrit commentary on a Tantra. This section is so far unedited and unpublished.