This article argues for a new interpretation of the Sanskrit compound
gaṇḍa-vyūha as it is used in the common title of the Mahāyāna text the
Gaṇḍavyūha-Sūtra.The author begins by providing a brief history of the sūtra’s appellations in Chinese and Tibetan sources. Next, the meanings
of gaṇḍa (the problematic member of the compound) are explored. The author proposes that contemporary scholars have overlooked
a meaning of
gaṇḍa occurring in some compounds, wherein
gaṇḍa can mean simply “great,” “big” or “massive.” This general sense is particularly common in the compound
gaṇda-śaila (a “massive rock” or “boulder”) and is found in such texts as the
Bhāgavata Purāṇa, the Harivaṃśa and the
Harṣacarita. Following the discussion of
Gaṇḍa, the author examines the term
vyūha (“array”) as it is used in the
Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra. The article concludes with the suggestion that a more appropriate translation of the
Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra would be “The Supreme array Scripture.”
Keywords
Gaṇḍa
-
Vyūha
-
Gaṇḍavyūha
- Mahāyāna - Sūtra