함석헌의 『바가바드 기타』 주석에 나타나는 인용 모음 주석법의 재해석

Abstract

This study aims at shedding new light on Ham Seok-heon’s commentarial method of collecting quotations in his commentary on the Bhagavad Gītā (henceforth Gītā). Although he leaves his own comments, Ham Seok-heon (1901-1989, henceforth Ham) mainly uses a particular kind of commentarial method; that is, he quotes passages from both other commentators’ commentaries and other religious texts as well as works of literature. Previously, several scholars interpreted this kind of commentarial method as a disorderly enumeration of quotations or as based on religious pluralism, and so on. This study, however, argues that it is rather a selected collection of quotations, by which he wants to help the readers of the commented text Gītā understand better. I suggest five reasons for this argument. First, mentioning Jiao Hong(焦竑)’s commentarial method in the 『老子翼』, Ham writes that Jiao Hong collected at one place selected good comments from different commentaries. Considering this record, it can be assumed that Ham also desired the readers of the Gītā to read at one place the selected good comments. Second, He makes a preface, which is a translation of two chapters from a different book, to the Gītā and the introductions to almost every chapter of It. Having an experience of reading it almost without any commentarial aid, Ham writes himself that he makes the preface and introductions for the sake of helping the readers understand the Gītā better. Third, he provides the difficult words, phrases, and sentences of the Gītā with various translations and comments. As he reveals that he is not conversant with Indian philosophy, the various translations and comments are for the readers themselves to decide the meaning of those difficult parts. Fourth, he quotes not only the logical and central ideas but also rich citations that other commentators provide. It can be conjectured that Ham wanted to include numerous citations, so that they facilitate the readers’ understanding of the Gītā. Finally, Ham depends most on Radhakrishnan’s comments, which are characterized as annotating the Gītā text, giving abundant citations from both the Eastern and the Western traditions, and quoting the medieval Indian commentators such as Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, and Madhva. Based on these five observations, this study intends to show that Ham’s commentarial method of collecting quotations was devised in order to help the readers of the Gītā acquire a better understanding of It.