Tripitaka of the Vipassana Research Institute

[L.S.Cousins]

Dr. Alexander v. Rospatt  writes:

>Because access to other Versions of the Tripitaka is limited in Nepal,
>it is most convinient for me to use the Tripitaka published since 1993
>by the "Vipassana Research Institute" (Igatpuri), which belongs to the
>vipassana movement of Sri Goenka. This edition reproduces the version
>decided upon at the Sixth Council held 1954 at Rangoon, i.e. the
>so-called "Burmese" or "Chattha-Sangayana" Version.

I do not have the printed volumes, but the CD (I have versions 1 and 2)
should be identical.

>Since the edition does regrettably not note alternative readings, I
>would be grateful for informed opinion on the following two points:
>
>1) As a general tendency, how to rate the readings of the Burmese
>edition from the perspective of higher textul criticism?

I do not think textual criticism has been employed to establish this
edition. It is very close to the text of the Fifth Council Edition. So it
is essentially an exemplar of the Burmese textual tradition alone. It is
best to view it as equivalent to a single very good manuscript, I suppose.

It is nowhere near as good as the better PTS editions which used a number
of manuscripts etc. It is often better that the worst PTS editions.

The major problem is that it tends to adopt the easiest or simplest reading
rather than the lectio dificilior.

>2) How reliable does the Tripitaka edition published by the "Vipassana
>Research
>Institute" reproduce the Burmese edition. I.e. how frequent are typos?
>Have readings anywhere by changed on purpose?

Whenever I have checked it against those Burmese editions I have, it has
had few or no errors. Occasionally a typographic error in the Burmese
edition has been corrected. I do not know if this is deliberate or
inadvertent !

>A last question in this respect, again for someone well acuainted with
>Tripitaka edition published by the "Vipassana Research Institute". :
>On p. [xviii] of the first volume (Dighanikaya, part 1), the editors
>state that their edition has been cross-referenced with that of the PTS.
>I fail, however, to find any reference to the pagination of the PTS
>edition in the running text of the Tripitaka edition published by the
>"Vipassana Research Institute". Is there a "trick" which has eluded me?

I can only speak for the CD. Version two has the pagination of the PTS
editions inserted - for most but not all texts of which the PTS has
published editions.

Lance Cousins

MANCHESTER, UK

CURRENT EMAIL ADDRESS:
Email: L.S.Cousins at nessie.mcc.ac.uk