辩中边论

《辩中边论》（梵语：Madhyantavibhaga），又名《辨中边论》、《中边分别论》，传说是弥勒造颂（karika），无著于弥勒处得其教授，再由世亲造释（bhāsya），为瑜伽行唯识学派的要籍，“一本十支”的离僻彰中支，有藏语和蒙语译本，含有世亲释文的梵本亦存世。

译本

中边分别论，真谛于陈武永定二年（558）至天嘉三年（562）之间于临川译出

辩中边论颂，玄奘于龙朔元年（661）于玉华寺译出

辩中边论，玄奘于龙朔元年（661）于玉华寺译出

内容

辩（pariccheda）大乘中道之正行，辩相（lakṣaṇa）、辩障（āvaraṇa）、辩真实（tattva）、辩修对治（pratipakṣa-bhāvanā）、辩修分位（pratipakṣabhāvanāyām avasthā）、辩得果（phala-prāpti）、辨无上乘（yānānuttarya），共计有七品。全论共有一百一十五颂，本颂为一百一十三，归敬颂、回向颂及长行释文是世亲造。

由于传承不同，真谛本和玄奘本，在解释上有歧异。

地位

根据平川彰的《印度佛教史》，《大乘庄严经论》、《辩中边论颂》、《辨法法性论》，这三部颂论，思想内容很一致，应当是同一人（或同一团体的人）撰写的，是初期唯识思想的宝贵文献。

The Madhyāntavibhāgakārikā (Chinese: 辯中邊論頌; pinyin: Biàn zhōng biān lùn sòng), or Verses Distinguishing the Middle and the Extremes is a key work in Buddhist philosophy of the Yogacara school attributed in the Tibetan tradition to Maitreya-nātha and in other traditions to Asanga.

Text

The Madhyānta-vibhāga-kārikā consists of 112 verses (kārikā) which delineate the distinctions (vibhāga) and relationship between the middle (madhya) view and the extremes (anta); it contains five chapters: Attributes (laksana), Obscurations (āvarana), Reality (tattva), Cultivation of Antidotes (pratipakṣa-bhāvanā) and the Supreme Way (yānānuttarya). Along with Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian translations, the text survives in a single Sanskrit manuscript discovered in Tibet by the Indian Buddhologist and explorer, Rahul Sankrityayan. The Sanskrit version also included a commentary (bhāsya) by Vasubandhu. An important sub-commentary (tīkā) by Sthiramati also survives in Sanskrit as well as a Tibetan version.

Editions and translations

A Sanskrit edition was prepared by Gadjin M. Nagao in 1964. The Madhyāntavibhāga-kārikā has been translated into English at least nine times, often with the Indian commentaries, in the following volumes:

Mathyanta-Vibhanga, "Discource on Discrimination between Middle and Extremes" ascribed to Bodhisattva Maitreya and commented by Vasubhandu and Sthiramathi, translated from the sanscrit by Theodore Stcherbatsky, Bibliotheca Buddhica XXX, Academy of Sciences USSR Press, Moscow/Leningrad 1936.

Madhyāntavibhāga-ṭikā: An Analysis of the Middle Path and the Extremes by David Lasar Friedmann. Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden. 1937

A Buddhist Doctrine of Experience: A New Translation and Interpretation of the Works of Vasubandhu the Yogacarin by Thomas Kochumuttom. Motilal Banarsidass. Delhi: 1982.

Seven Works of Vasubandhu by Stefan Anacker. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi: 1984

The Principles of Buddhist Psychology by David J. Kalupahana. State University of New York Press. Albany: 1987

A Study of the Madhyāntavibhāga-bhāṣya-ṭikā by Richard Stanley. Doctoral dissertation, Australian National University, April, 1988

Mind Only: A Philosophical and Doctrinal Analysis of the Vijnanavada by Thomas E. Wood. University of Hawaii Press. 1991

Middle Beyond Extremes: Maitreya's Madhyantavibhaga with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Snow Lion Publications. Ithaca: 2007. ISBN 1-55939-270-3

Distinguishing the Middle and the Extremes by Asaṅga, Commentary by Vasubandhu: Draft Translation with brief annotations. by John D. Dunne. Unpublished.

Maitreya's Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes (Madhyāntavibhāga): Along with Vasubandhu's Commentary (Madhyāntavibhāga-Bhāṣya): A Study and Annotated Translation by D'Amato, Mario. New York, American Institute of Buddhist Studies 2012. ISBN 9781935011057