[A study of the Arśapraśamanisūtra: analysis].

Abstract

The present paper focuses primarily on a philological and historical study of the Arśapraśamanisūtra ("The Sūtra of the Tranquilization of Hemorrhoids"). This Sūtra is one of the Buddhist scriptures that is characterized by the magico-religious treatment of various diseases, especially by means of "healing spells" (skt. dhāranī or mantra), as shown by the preliminary survey in our penultimate paper "The Tradition of Healing with Magical Spells as Seen in Buddhist Texts," Journal of the Japan Society of Medical History 55/1 (2009), 77-96. In our last paper "The Tradition of Healing with Magical Spells as Seen in Buddhist Texts (2): A Study of the Arśapraśamanisūtra: Edition and Japanese translation" we provided critically edited texts of the Tibetan and Chinese translations accompanied by their Japanese translations with critical notes and annotations. In this paper we analyze the descriptions of hemorrhoids as found in the Sūtra in comparison with those illustrated in classical Ayurveda literature, besides a detailed philological examination of the relevant passages available only in the Chinese translation of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-Vinaya. We also offer further observations about the methods and principles for the treatment and healing of hemorrhoids that are attested in Buddhist scriptures, as well as make an overview of the transmission and historical reception of the Arśapraśamanisūtra in Japan between the Nara and the Taishō periods.