The Śālistamba-sūtra is one of the Mahāyāna sūtras devoted to the clarification of the doctrine of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda). Although the Sanskrit text of the sūtra has not survived in its entirety, five Chinese (Taishō 708–712) and Tibetan translations are extant. One can render the compound śālistamba, comprised of the word śāli (“rice plant”) and stamba (“clump”), as “a clump of rice plant.” It is worth noting that the titles of the Chinese and Tibetan translations of the Śālistamba-sūtra do not always have the same meaning as the title of the original Sanskrit. The aim of this paper is to address why the Chinese and Tibetan translatiors did not always provide an accurate translation of the title of the Sanskrit text, examining the meanings of the Chinese and Tibetan words used to translate the titles of the Śālistamba-sūtra. A closer scrutiny of the titles reveals the following:
(1) Out of the five Chinese translations, the earliest one bears a title which is not a translation of the title Śālistamba-sūtra, i.e., Leben shengsi jing 了本生死經 (Taishō 708), and that by Shihu 施護 bears a title which is a transliteration of the Sanskrit śālistamba, namely, the Dasheng shelisuodanmo jing 大乘舍黎娑擔摩經 (Taishō 711). The rest (Taishō 709, 710, and 712) contain in their titles the word dao 稲 corresponding to the Sanskrit śāli, i.e, daoyu 稲芋, daogan 稲𦼮, daogan 稲芉, daogan 稲稈 and daoqian 稲芊. These words can be classified into three groups: (a) daoyu 稲芋 and daoqian 稲芊 (“a vigorous look of rice plant”), (b) daogan 稲𦼮 and daogan 稲稈 (“a stem or stalk of rice plant”), (c) daogan 稲芉 (“rice plant and a seed of adlay”). The word daogan 稲芉, which makes no sense, seems to be a scribal error for the word daoqian 稲芊.
(2) Tibetan translations of the Śālistamba-sūtra contain in their titles the words sā lu’i ljang pa (“rice seedling”). The word sā lu’i ljang pa does not correspond to the Sanskrit śālistamba (“a clump of rice plant).
In conclusion: (i) Chinese translations classified into Group (a) provide an accurate translation of the Sanskrit śālistamba. (ii) Group (b) and the Tibetan translations, whose titles are similar in meaning, contain in their titles words which are not used for the Sanskrit śālistamba. (iii) It is highly likely that the translators of the translations in question confused the word śālistamba (“ a clump of rice plant”) with the word śālistambha (“a stem of rice plant”), whose second member stambha means “a post, stem.” One may, therefore, reasonably suppose that the translators of Chinese translations classified into Group (b) and Tibetan translation translate the word śālistambha instead of śālistamba.
