Difference between revisions of "Aaa"
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− | + | The first requirement in a [[debate]] is that a challenge should | |
− | + | be issued. When the [[Buddha]] receives a challenge he may | |
− | + | accept it and respond directly, answering point by point, as in | |
+ | the [[Samannaphala Sutta]] (D 2) when he shows his [[thirty-two marks]], the [[Kutadanta Sutta]] (D 5) where he describes the higher | ||
+ | [[Wikipedia:sacrifice|sacrifice]], the MahSli [[Sutta]] (D 6) where he explains the | ||
+ | relationship between achieving the hearing of [[heavenly sounds]] | ||
+ | and the [[seeing]] of [[heavenly]] sights, the Potjhapada [[Sutta]] 32 where | ||
+ | he answers PottHapada’s questions on the summits of | ||
+ | [[consciousness]] 33 , and many further occasions. | ||
− | + | The [[Buddha]] may, however, reject a challenge. The grounds | |
− | [[ | + | for this are that it is misplaced, i.e. he will reject a challenge on |
− | + | [[subjects]] with regard to which he has made no claims. This | |
− | + | demonstrates a convention, not directly named in the [[suttas]], that | |
− | + | a challenge on a position that was never asserted could right¬ | |
− | + | fully be dismissed. Into this category comes the [[Buddha’s]] re¬ | |
− | + | fusal to answer certain questions, for example the avya- | |
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− | + | 33 sannagga. | |
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+ | (I "2- [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, 2 (1992) • Manne | ||
− | + | [[kata]] questions ([[Potthapada Sutta]] 34 ) because they do not conform | |
+ | to the {{Wiki|purpose}} of his [[teaching]] 35 . Also in this category is his | ||
+ | refusal in the Patika [[Sutta]] 36 to reveal the [[Knowledge]] of the | ||
+ | Beginning 37 , and his refusal in the [[Kevaddha Sutta]] (D ll) and the | ||
+ | Patika [[Sutta]] (D 24, § 4) to produce [[miracles]] 38 . The [[Buddha]] may | ||
+ | simply reject a challenge on this ground, or he may first reject | ||
+ | it and then redefine it and answer it ([[Kevaddha Sutta]]: the | ||
+ | [[mystic]] [[wonder]]) 39 . The [[Buddha]] may use the technique of both | ||
+ | issuing and answering his [[own]] challenge. He does this in the | ||
+ | [[form]] of a [[Wikipedia:Rhetoric|rhetorical]] question 40 , or by referring to a challenge | ||
+ | made by a {{Wiki|hypothetical}} opponent 41 . | ||
− | + | The technique of the question-challenge is fundamental to a | |
− | + | further strategy that the [[Buddha]] uses. He will accept his | |
− | + | adversary’s position and then, by posing {{Wiki|subtle}} questions, lead | |
− | + | him him ta refute his [[own]] position through his [[own]] answers 42 . | |
− | to | + | In this way he gets him to cede point after point, and then uses |
− | + | ,what is left of the adversary’s position to his [[own]] advantage 43 . | |
− | + | In a similar way, the [[Buddha]] will prove his case by asking a | |
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− | + | 34 D 9 (I 187f, §§ 25-271 | |
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− | + | 35 Defined in this sum, § 28. | |
+ | 36 D 24 (III 4, § 51 | ||
− | + | 37 aggannam panhdpetL | |
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− | + | 38 iddhi’patihariycL | |
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− | + | 39 . The Patika [[Sutta]], D 24, however, demonstrates that although the [[Buddha]] | |
− | + | may refuse to perform [[miracles]] and to reveal the [[Knowledge]] of the | |
+ | Beginning, he both performs the former and [[knows]] the [[latter]]. | ||
− | [[ | + | 40 [[Brahmajala Sutta]], D 1; [[Kevaddha Sutta]], D 11; [[Lohicca Sutta]], D 1Z |
+ | 41 [[Potthapada Sutta]], D 9 [l 197, § 43l Pare ce . . amhe evam puccheyyum . . . | ||
− | + | 42 Potthapada’s position on the soul/self, [[Potthapada Sutta]], D 9, S 21-23; the | |
− | + | limitations of [[ascetic practices]], Udumbarika-Sihanada [[Sutta]], D 25. | |
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− | + | 43 [[Sonadanda Sutta]], D 4. | |
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− | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, 1 (1992) - Manne |
− | + | sequence of [[Wikipedia:Rhetoric|rhetorical]] questions to which he will provide | |
− | + | answers. These answers add increasing {{Wiki|weight}} to his argument, | |
− | the [[ | + | and point by point he gets his adversary to agree with him 42 . |
− | + | He will also use simile and analogy strategically in his argument | |
− | + | to attain this goal. He will provide an analogy with the case | |
− | [[ | + | presented, and get the adversary to agree to his [[own]] (i.e. the |
− | + | [[Buddha’s]]) position in terms of the analogy. The [[Buddha]] will | |
− | [[ | + | then relate the analogy to the opponent’s position, and in this |
− | + | way show that the [[latter]] has condemned himself 0 . | |
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− | + | | The [[Buddha]] is also successful at eliciting questions from his | |
− | [[ | + | opponent, the requirement of the third point in the [[Kassapa]]- |
− | + | Sfhanada [[Sutta]]. This occurs so generally in the [[debate]] [[suttas]] | |
− | + | tlijit it is not worth citing examples. What is noteworthy in the | |
− | + | [[Buddha’s]] use of this strategy is his ability to force from his | |
− | + | adversary a question which demonstrates the latter’s [[ignorance]], | |
− | + | and hence the [[Buddha’s]] [[superior knowledge]] 44 . So Sonadan<Ja, | |
− | the | + | having been led to reduce the number of qualities that permit a |
− | + | person to be defined as a brahman to two, is forced to ask the | |
− | + | Buddha to explain these qualities 45 . v | |
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− | + | There are a variety of further strategies or conventions* | |
− | the | + | which occur regularly in the debates but which have not been |
− | + | specifically mentioned in any of the suttas cited above. Two | |
− | + | strategies especially favoured by the Buddha are those of | |
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− | + | 42 Samannaphala Suita, D Z | |
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− | + | 43 Simannaphila SulU. S§ 35. 37; Potthapada Sulla, S 34-38; Lohicca Sulla D | |
+ | 12; Tevijji Sulla, D 13. | ||
− | + | 44 See Witzel, 1987, for ihe importance of this strategy and its occurrence | |
− | + | in ihe brahman lexis. | |
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+ | 45 Sonadanda Sulla, D I 124, $ 2Z | ||
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− | + | *) w-1 Buddhtsl Studies Review 9, 1 (1992) - Nlanne | |
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− | + | appealing to authority, both his own and that of another person, | |
− | + | and of undermining the opponent’s authority and status. | |
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− | + | The Buddha will appeal to his own authority as Tathagata. | |
− | + | He will enhance his authority by telling the story of a previous | |
− | + | lifetime in which his competence to answer the present chal¬ | |
+ | lenge is established, and he is proved to be an expert on the | ||
+ | subject (Kutadanta Sutta: when he was the brahman chaplain in | ||
+ | charge of the sacrifice). He will present the adversary’s position | ||
+ | exhaustively and systematically, and then put himself above it | ||
+ | because of his knowledge and achievements 44 . He will resort to | ||
+ | his transcendental vision 47 . He will put himself forward as the | ||
+ | example that is also the ultimate proof of his own position: | ||
+ | ‘Could such a bhikkhu (i.e. one who has achieved the described | ||
+ | advanced state) say that?’... ‘But I am such a bhikkhu and I do | ||
+ | not speak thus 10 . Similarly he puts his discipline above and out | ||
+ | of reach of that of certain adversaries 4 ’. In this context too | ||
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− | + | 46 Brahma jala Sulla. Aithi bhikkave ahn eva dhamma gambhird duddasa | |
− | + | duranubodhd sqnta partita atakkdvacara nipund pandit a-ved aniyd, ye Taihdgatv | |
− | + | sayam abhinhd sacchikavtd pavedeli ... D 1 [I 12. S 28], and Ime ditthdnd | |
− | + | evam-gahitd evam pardmatthd evam-gatikd bhavissanii evanuibhisampwdya ti\ | |
− | + | Tan ca T at hag at o pajanati, tato ca uitaritararn pajanali, tan ca pajananam | |
− | + | na pardmasati, apardmasato cassa pacettam yeva nibbuti vidita , vedandnam | |
− | + | samudaych ca atthagamah ca asshdah ca adinavah ca nissaranah ca | |
− | + | yatha-bhutam viditva anupadd vimuUo, bhikkhave Tathdgaio. D I 16f. | |
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− | + | 4 T Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta. D 8 [1 161f. § 3): . . . dibbena cakkhund | |
− | + | visi idhena alikkanla-rndnusakena, „ | |
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− | + | 48 Mahali Sutta. D 6 (I 157. § 16] and variously; Jaliya Sulla. D 7: Yo nu kho | |
− | + | 4 avusa bhikkhu evam Jdndti evam passati kailam nu kho tass‘ etam vacandya | |
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− | + | Aham kho pan etam . . evam janami evam passami. Atha ca pandham na | |
+ | vaddmi . * | ||
− | + | 49 Udumbarika-Sihanada Suita, D 25 (111 39f, § 7J: Dujjdnam kho etam | |
− | + | Nigrodha taya ahha-ditthikena ahha-khantikena ahha-ruccikena ahhalr ayogena | |
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− | + | Buddhist Studies Review 9, 1 (1992) - Marine | |
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− | + | come the Buddha’s assertions that he is ‘the greatest!* 50 | |
+ | The Buddha quotes or resorts to external or non-present | ||
+ | authorities to enhance his authority. He cites the gods in the | ||
+ | Ambattha Sutta 51 , where he quotes a versq by Brahma Sanam- | ||
+ | kumara and agrees with it, and in the Patika Sutta 52 where lie | ||
+ | supports his assertion .hat he knows by adding that he has also | ||
+ | been told this by a deva. He tells a story which shows that the | ||
+ | highest god recognises that only the Buddha can answer a cer¬ | ||
+ | tain question 55 . In the Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta 54 , he imputes a | ||
+ | decision in his favour to ‘the wise’. Also in this sutta 55 , he | ||
+ | invokes Nigrodha’s support, although the latter is absent, when | ||
+ | he refers to an occasion when Nigrodha found an answer that | ||
+ | he (the Buddha) gave very satisfying. | ||
− | + | The strategy of undermining or reducing the adversary’s | |
− | + | status and authority is also frequently used. In the Ambattha | |
− | and | + | Sutta 54 , the Buddha humiliates Ambattha by revealing the latier’s |
− | + | humble origins; in the same sutta 57 he reveals that | |
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− | + | ahhatr dcariyakena yenaham sdvake vinemi . . | |
− | + | 50 Cf. Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta, D 8 [I 1745 211 and variously. Yavata Kas- | |
− | + | sapa Qriya parama vimutti, naham tallha altano samasamam samanupassami | |
− | + | kuto bhiyyo. Cf. On the claim to be the best, Witzel, 1987, p365. quoting the | |
− | + | Taittiriya Brahmana 3.10.5. Also, ‘One cannot just claim to be belter than the | |
− | + | rest . . . Mere brazen assertion does not suffice; one must be able to prove | |
− | + | one's knowledge.' p372f. | |
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+ | 7 Buddhist Studies Review 9, 1 (1992) • Manne | ||
− | + | Pokkharasadi, Ambauha’s teacher, is not sufficiently respected to | |
+ | be permitted into the direct presence of the king. Also in this | ||
+ | sutta he tells Ambattha that the ability to recite mantras of the | ||
+ | ancient rishis does not make him a rishi 5 *. He resorts to | ||
+ | ridicule of brahman knowledge and habits in the Tevijja Sutta | ||
+ | (D 13). Similarly, Kassapa ridicules his adversary when he tells | ||
+ | him, ‘I have never seen or heard anyone professing such a | ||
+ | position, such a view’ 59 . | ||
+ | There are further general strategies in use. The Buddha will | ||
+ | establish the criteria for winning the debate and then maintain | ||
+ | that "he conforms to them, as in the Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta 40 , | ||
+ | where he defines the criteria for the appellation ‘samana’ or | ||
+ | ‘brahmana’, and in the Udumbarika-SIhanada Sutta, where he | ||
+ | defines true asceticism 41 . The Buddha will show both the pros | ||
+ | and cons in the adversary’s position, and then demonstrate that | ||
+ | his own position is still stronger 42 . Like Kumara Kassapa, but | ||
+ | ’hot so explicitly, the Buddha will use similes and analogy. He | ||
+ | may use these poetically, to reinforce the ideas he is presenting, | ||
+ | as the many similes in the Samanfiaphala Sutta. He may also | ||
+ | use these strategically in his argument, especially with the goal | ||
+ | of getting the opponent to refute his own position. The Buddha | ||
+ | can also be reasonable. In the Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta, when | ||
+ | Kassapa challenges him whether he condemns all asceticism, he | ||
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− | + | 58 ... tydham manle adhxyami sacariyako ti lav at a tvam bhavissasi hi vd | |
+ | isitiaya va patipanno ti n etam thanam vijjati . D 3 [I 104. §§ 8. 10l | ||
− | + | 59 Naham Rajahha evam-vadim evam-ditthim addasam va assosin | |
+ | va (Payasi Sulla. D 23 III 319, S 5l | ||
− | + | 60 D 8 [I 167, § 151 | |
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+ | 61 tapo-jigghuccha parisuddha. | ||
− | + | 62 Kassapa-Sihanada Sulla, D 8; Udumbarika-Sihanada Sulla, D 25. | |
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− | + | Buddhist Studies Review 9, 1 (1992) • Manne | |
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− | + | replies, ‘How then could I, O Kassapa, who am thus aware, as | |
+ | they really are, of the states whence men have come, and | ||
+ | whither they will go, as they pass away from one form of | ||
+ | existence, and take shape in another, — how could 1 disparage | ||
+ | all penance; or bluntly revile and find fault with every ascetic, | ||
+ | with every one who lives a life that is hard?* 3 The Buddha can | ||
+ | open himself up to the judgment of others. Also in the | ||
+ | Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta, he tells Kassapa of an occasion when in | ||
+ | discussion with certain samanas and brahmana^ he offered | ||
+ | them to put aside all the subjects on which they held mutually | ||
+ | incompatible views, and to judge solely with regard to those | ||
+ | qualities that they mutually agreed were unskilful ( akusala ), | ||
+ | blameworthy ( savajja ), ignoble ( nalam-ariya ) and wicked | ||
+ | 0 Unha), whether the Buddha was not the one among them who | ||
+ | had most completely abandoned them ( anavasesam pahaya | ||
+ | vattatfr*. | ||
− | + | An interesting feature that occurs in two of the debates is | |
+ | the sub-challenge. | ||
− | + | Sub-challenges have a particular character. They occur | |
− | + | when the followers of an adversary interfere in a debate.. The | |
− | + | Buddha responds to these sub-challenges in a standard way. He | |
− | + | counters by challenging his adversary’s supporters to debate with | |
− | + | him themselves, if they think that their leader is not performing | |
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− | + | 63 thc«»!”>p»-Sih«nid» Suit*. D I 161f. § 3 :Yo 'harp [[Kassapa]] imescm | |
− | + | tapaislnam evam a gal in ca gatin ca cutin ca uppattin ca yathabhutam | |
− | + | pajknami. so 'ham [[kim]] sabbam tapam garahissami sammam tappasim | |
− | + | litkhajivam ekamsena upakkosissami upavadissami? Tr. [[Wikipedia:Thomas William Rhys Davids|Rhys Davids]], | |
+ | Dialogues 1, p-224. | ||
+ | 64 j Le. in a [[debate]] with potential opponents. See Manne, 1990, p38f. | ||
− | + | 65 Kassapa-Sihanada [[Sutta]]. D 1 163, $ 5. | |
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− | + | Buddbbt Studies Review 9, 1 (1992) ■ Manne | |
− | + | adequately. | |
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− | . | + | The sub-challenges occur only in [[debates]] with [[brahmans]] 66 . |
+ | In the [[Ambattha Sutta]], once the [[Buddha]] has accused [[Ambattha]] | ||
+ | of being descended from the slave of a [[Sakyan]] 67 , Ambattha’s | ||
+ | followers defend him. The [[Buddha]] then challenges them: ‘If | ||
+ | you, young [[brahmans]], think that the young [[brahman]] [[Ambattha]] | ||
+ | is ill-born, not of good [[family]], not learned, not a fine reciter, | ||
+ | without [[wisdom]], and not able to [[debate]] with me, then let him | ||
+ | be [[silent]], and you [[debate]] with me. If you think the opposite, | ||
+ | then you be [[silent]] and let [[Ambattha]] [[debate]] with me* 8 . | ||
+ | Ambattha’s companions are [[silent]]. In the [[Sonadanda Sutta]] (D 4) | ||
+ | the [[Buddha]] extracts from [[Sonadanda]] the concession that only | ||
+ | two [[attributes]] are [[essential]] for a man to claim truthfully to be a | ||
+ | [[brahman]]. Sonadanda’s companions accuse him of betraying | ||
+ | them: ‘Do not, [[Venerable]] [[Sonadanda]], speak in this way. The | ||
+ | [[Venerable]] [[Sonadanda]] rejects our [[caste]]; he rejects our [[sacred]] | ||
+ | verses, he rejects our [[birth]]!* 9 The [[Buddha’s]] reply is the same as | ||
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+ | 66 Manavas, [[Ambattha Sutta]]* D 3; [[brahmanas]], [[Sonadanda Sutta]], D 4. | ||
− | + | 68 Sact kho tumhakam [[manavaka]] evam hoti, "Dujjaio ca Ambattho mrnavo, | |
+ | akulaputta ca Ambatlho manavo , appassuio ca Ambaitho manavo. akalyana- | ||
+ | vakkarano ca Ambattho manavo, duppahho ca Ambaitho manavo, na ca pahoti | ||
+ | Ambatlho manavo samantna Gotamena saddhim asmim vacant paiimanieiun | ||
+ | ft t titthaiu Ambattho manavo, tumhe [[maya]] suddhim asmim vacane maniavho. | ||
+ | Sace kho tumhakam [[manavaka]] evam hoti, "Sujaio ca Ambattho manavo , kola- | ||
+ | 'putla ca Ambattho manavo, bahussuto ca Ambcutho manavo, kalyana-vdkkarano | ||
− | + | ca Ambattho manavo, pandito ca Ambattho manavo, ca pahoti Ambattho | |
− | + | manavo samanena Gotamena saddhim asmim vacane paiimantetun tr, titthatha | |
− | + | tumhe, Ambattho manavo [[maya]] saddhim mantetuti. D I 93f, § 18. | |
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− | + | 69 Ma bhavam Sonadando evam uvaca! Apavadat' eva bhavam [[Sonadanda]] | |
− | + | vannam apavadati monte apavadati jatim ... D l 122, § 17. | |
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− | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, 1 (1992) - Marine |
+ | in the [[Ambattha Sutta]], but without the opening remarks about | ||
+ | [[birth]] and [[family]] 70 . | ||
− | + | The style of [[debate]] is remarkably consistent in all the | |
− | (D 23), | + | [[debate]] [[suttas]], with the single exception of the [[Payasi]] [[Sutta]] (D . |
− | + | 23), where [[Kumara Kassapa]], and not the [[Buddha]], is the | |
− | + | {{Wiki|protagonist}}. This enables us to compare the [[Buddha’s]] [[debating]] | |
+ | style and [[techniques]] with those of one of his [[disciples]]. The | ||
+ | style of the [[Payasi]] [[Sutta]] is qualitatively different from that of | ||
+ | the [[suttas]] in which the [[Buddha]] is the {{Wiki|protagonist}}. Where | ||
+ | [[Kumara Kassapa]] says, ‘I, {{Wiki|Prince}}, have neither seen or heard of | ||
+ | any one holding such a view, such an opinion’ 71 , the [[Buddha]] is | ||
+ | never surprised by a view expressed by his adversary. Where | ||
+ | [[Kumara Kassapa]] asks the adversary his [[reasons]] 12 the [[Buddha]] | ||
+ | never invites extensive {{Wiki|representations}} of the opponent’s [[views]]. | ||
+ | It is his style rather to ask brief pointed questions to which only | ||
+ | one answer is possible and which leads to the rebuttal by the | ||
+ | adversary himself of his [[own]] position. [[Kumara Kassapa]] thus | ||
+ | pays more [[attention]] to the details of his adversary’s case, while | ||
+ | the [[Buddha]] goes straight to the weak point of his adversary’s | ||
+ | argument. | ||
− | + | [[Kumara]] [[Kassapa’s]] is a poor imitation of the [[Buddha’s]] | |
− | + | method of asking a series of questions whose answers | |
− | + | manoeuvre the adversary into denying his [[own]] position: he | |
+ | takes much longer to convince his adversary than the [[Buddha]] | ||
+ | ever does. [[Kumara]] [[Kassapa’s]] arguments contain notably less | ||
+ | [[Buddhist teaching]] than those of the [[Buddha]]. Where the [[Buddha]] | ||
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− | + | 70 Ibid , S HI | |
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− | + | 71 See n.61 Tr. [[Wikipedia:Thomas William Rhys Davids|Rhys Davids]]. Dialogues II, p351. | |
− | + | 72 pariyaya , §§ 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16. | |
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− | + | Buddhlst Studies Review 9, 1 (1992) - Manne | |
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− | + | produces similes, without explicitly saying that he is doing so, | |
+ | [[Kumara Kassapa]] is explicit (§ 9). In every way the [[Buddha]] is | ||
+ | both more {{Wiki|subtle}} and more [[skilful]] than [[Kumara Kassapa]] in his | ||
+ | use of [[debating]] [[techniques]] and strategies. | ||
− | + | Fully half of the [[debates]] in the [[Digha]] are with [[brahmans]] (D | |
+ | 1, 3-5, 10, 12, 13, 23). [[Debates]] [[exist]] also in the BrShmanas and | ||
+ | the Upani$ads. They appear too in the earliest [[Vedic literature]], | ||
+ | the {{Wiki|Rgveda}}, as {{Wiki|Speech}} Contests 73 . So far the {{Wiki|rules}} for these | ||
+ | have not yet been fully described by [[scholars]]. Insofar as they | ||
+ | have been 74 , they show that this is another case 7 * where we | ||
+ | need [[Buddhist]] te'xts to help us understand [[brahmanical]] {{Wiki|literature}}. | ||
− | |||
− | + | 73 F.B.J. Kuiper, ‘The [[Ancient]] [[Aryan]] [[Verbal]] Contest’, Indo-lrcnian | |
+ | Journal IV. 1960, pp.217-81. | ||
− | + | 74 Witzel, 1987. | |
+ | 75 See J. Bronkhorst, ‘The [[Mahabhasya]] and the [[Development]] of [[Indian Philosophy]]' in Three Problems pertaining to the [[Mahabhasya]], Poona 1987, | ||
+ | third lecture. | ||
− | 10 | + | The [[Udana]] or inspired Utterances’ is the third [[book]] of the |
+ | [[Khuddaka Nikaya]] or [[Minor Collection]]. It consists of eighty | ||
+ | short [[suttas]] or [[discourses]] of the [[Buddha]], divided into-eight | ||
+ | groups ( [[vagga]] ) of ten [[suttas]] each. The title refers to the | ||
+ | pronouncement, usually in verse, made at the end of each [[sutta]] | ||
+ | arid prefaced by the words; ‘Then, on realising its significance, | ||
+ | the Lord uttered on that occasion this [[inspired utterance]]’ (atha | ||
+ | kho [[bhagava]] etam attham viditva tayarp velayarp imatp | ||
+ | udanam udanesi). Here it is the [[Buddha]] who pronounces them, | ||
+ | although others are sometimes so inspired (e.g. in Ud. 2.10 and | ||
+ | 3.7). Such utterances also occur elsewhere in the [[Sutta]] Pijaka | ||
+ | (eg. MI 508; M II 104-5. 209; S I 20, 27-8, etc.). | ||
− | + | The prose [[suttas]] which precede the ‘inspired utterances’ | |
− | + | themselves could be regarded as a kind -of commentary, | |
− | + | supplying the introductory circumstances to the [[essential]] | |
− | + | Dhamma-teachings found in the utterances. Because they are | |
− | + | introductory, relating circumstances and containing little | |
− | + | [[doctrinal]] material, they betray their lateness in a variety of | |
+ | ways and strongly suggest they are actually an [[ancient]] | ||
− | [[ | + | 1 The {{Wiki|present}} essay was compiled from notes made and problems |
+ | encountered while preparing a translation of the [[Udana]]. This translation, to | ||
+ | which the references herein are made, was published as The [[Udana]]. Inspired | ||
+ | Utterances of the [[Buddha]] (BPS. [[Kandy]] 1990), and was reviewed in BSR 9. 1 | ||
+ | (1992). | ||
+ | 1 [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, 2 (1992) - [[Ireland]] | ||
+ | commentary. Sometimes the utterances do not appear to fit | ||
+ | neatly into the context in which they are set (e.g. 5.2, 5.5), | ||
+ | though in other cases the story and the udana-utterance are | ||
+ | integral to each other (e.g. 1.8, 45, etc.). Being {{Wiki|expressions}} of the | ||
+ | [[Buddha’s teaching]], the utterances often allow for a wider | ||
+ | [[interpretation]] than the circumstances surrounding them suggest | ||
+ | and have, moreover, multiple meanings and {{Wiki|allusions}} to the | ||
+ | teachings referred to in other portions of the [[Sutta]] Pi|aka. The | ||
+ | fact is there [[exists]] an intricate network of cross-references | ||
+ | throughout the [[Tipitaka]] and no one passage can be studied in | ||
+ | isolation. A particular topic or aspect of the [[teaching]] found in | ||
+ | one place begins to become meaningful only when everything | ||
+ | else that has been said about it is known. Everywhere the | ||
+ | [[Dhamma]] is spoken of in brief and no one place can be pointed | ||
+ | to as being exhaustive and definitive of any aspect of the | ||
+ | [[Dhamma]]. When a topic, [[word]] or [[phrase]] is come across and | ||
+ | occurs apparently nowhere else in the [[Canon]], it always presents | ||
+ | the problem of determining its exact meaning and significance. | ||
+ | An example would be [[kappa]], [[ayu-kappa]] in 6.1. We have to | ||
+ | rely on the Commentary to tell us that [[kappa]] does not mean | ||
+ | the [[aeon]] in this context, but the normal [[human]] life(dyu)-span. | ||
+ | However, there is no {{Wiki|certainty}} that it was always so interpreted. | ||
− | + | Could the udona-verses once have existed as a collection | |
− | + | apart from the introductory [[sutta]], like the verses of the | |
− | + | [[Dhammapada]]? These verses are also described as | |
+ | Buddha-udana, but the stories supplied to explain when and | ||
+ | where they were spoken are found in the Commentary and are | ||
+ | pot reckoned as the [[word of the Buddha]]. In the first [[vagga]] of | ||
+ | the [[Udana]], the [[Bodhivagga]], the uddna-utterances [[form]] a group | ||
+ | united by the common [[word]] ‘[[brahmin]]’ ( [[brahmana]] ), which is | ||
+ | obvious when they are read apart from the introductory [[suttas]]. | ||
− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, 2 (1992) - [[Ireland]] | |
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− | + | So this [[vagga]] could well have, been called Brahmanavagga, | |
− | + | following on from the last [[vagga]] of the [[Dhammapada]], the | |
− | + | preceding work in the [[Khuddaka Nikaya]]. Similarly, the second | |
+ | [[vagga]] has the unifying theme of sukhcc,. [[happiness]], bliss.j | ||
+ | Subsequently there is no obviously discernible theme linking the | ||
+ | utterances. However, there is a suggestion of an overall plan to | ||
+ | the work as a whole, in that the beginning of the first | ||
+ | [[vagga]] does deal with the start of the [[Buddha’s]] career beneath | ||
+ | the [[Bodhi tree]]. Additionally, the final [[vagga]] contains material | ||
+ | also, to be found in the [[Mahaparinibbana Suttanta]] of the [[DIgha]] | ||
+ | [[Nikaya]], which recounts the last days of the [[Teacher]] before he | ||
+ | passed away. The first [[sutta]] of the sixth [[vagga]] is also an | ||
+ | important episode in the [[life of the Buddha]]. It is found in the | ||
+ | [[Mahaparinibbana Suttanta]] too and is the beginning of the events | ||
+ | leading up to the passing away of the [[Buddha]] and contains | ||
+ | [[Ananda’s]] failure in not requesting him to delay his departure | ||
+ | from this [[world]]. | ||
+ | As well as being uplifting and inspiring, the stories from the | ||
+ | [[Udana]] also reveal much [[humour]]. For example, the response of | ||
+ | [[Nanda]] on being asked to compare those pink-footed [[nymphs]] | ||
+ | with that [[Sakyan]] girl, ‘the loveliest in the land’. Again, in the | ||
+ | story of [[Suppavasa]], when the [[Budha]] elicits from her the | ||
+ | response that she would like another seven sons, despite the | ||
+ | trouble and [[pain]] she had to undergo to produce just one — all | ||
+ | forgotten in the [[pride]] of motherhood! And then there is the | ||
+ | incongruity of a new-born baby being able to hold a | ||
+ | [[conversation]]. These, and other {{Wiki|subtle}} touches, reveal the | ||
+ | inspiration, [[humour]], [[joy]] and [[delight]] — and devout [[faith]] too — | ||
+ | of those [[ancient]] and unknown story-tellers who collected and | ||
+ | put together this {{Wiki|literature}}. Also noticeable is their [[love]] of puns | ||
+ | and {{Wiki|allusions}}, the word-play and the ingenuity involved. Thus in | ||
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− | + | J [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, 2 (1992) - [[Ireland]] | |
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− | + | l 1-8, the pun on Sangamaji’s [[name]], and, in the ‘Bull-Eleph mt’ | |
− | |||
− | [[ | + | | story (4.5) the play on the [[word]] [[naga]] , meaning both perfected |
+ | | one and [[elephant]]. In this last is also the [[charming]] {{Wiki|touch}} of the | ||
− | + | | [[elephant]] bringing [[water]] ‘for the Lord’s use’ with his trunk. | |
− | + | I Then there are the similes and [[parables]], like that of the [[blind]] | |
− | + | man and the [[elephant]] (6.4), that are both entertaining and | |
+ | instructive. Although it should be pointed out that this [[parable]] | ||
+ | is best suited to [[Jain]] rather than [[Buddhist doctrine]] — a {{Wiki|theory}} | ||
+ | of partial [[truth]] being somewhat un-Buddhistic — the story is | ||
+ | probably older than both [[Jainism]] and [[Buddhism]] and is.still used | ||
+ | today by {{Wiki|modern}} [[Hindu]] [[teachers]] (e.g. by {{Wiki|Ramakrishna}}). | ||
− | + | The [[thought]] {{Wiki|processes}} of the compilers of the [[Pali Canon]] | |
− | + | are also reveajed when it is discovered that there is a | |
+ | [[connection]], between two adjacent [[suttas]], although this may not | ||
+ | be too obvious at first [[sight]]. One example in the [[Udana]] is | ||
+ | between [[suttas]] 5.8 and 5.9 where a reference to [[Devadatta’s]] | ||
+ | [[schism]] is followed in the next [[sutta]] by the inclusion of a verse | ||
+ | that is found elsewhere (e.g. Vin. I, p349) in the context of the | ||
+ | [[Kosambi]] rift. Other examples may be found in the [[Anguttara Nikaya]]. These connections are 9 ften so well hidden they need | ||
+ | great ingenuity to discover them. They would also constitute | ||
+ | necessary aids to [[memory]] in an oral {{Wiki|literature}} and an indication | ||
+ | of how it was gradually put together, a [[word]] or [[phrase]] in one | ||
+ | [[sutta]] acting as a cue or trigger for the next. Also to be found | ||
+ | are connections and {{Wiki|allusions}} within the same [[sutta]] that are not | ||
+ | at first obvious; some so {{Wiki|subtle}} that one could be forgiven for | ||
+ | [[thinking]] they are accidental rather than deliberate. An example | ||
+ | is contained in Ud. 5.4. What is more natural than for little | ||
+ | boys, caught out in some misdemeanour (‘tormenting {{Wiki|fish}} in a | ||
+ | pond’) by a passerby, attempting to run away, as is suggested in | ||
+ | the last line of the verse: | ||
− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, 2 (1992) - [[Ireland]] | |
− | + | If you have done a bad [[deed]] or do one now. | |
− | |||
− | + | You will not escape [[pain]], though you try to flee.’ | |
− | |||
− | + | Another device the [[ancient]] compilers of the [[Canon]] have | |
− | + | employed is the occasional interposing of lines of explanatory | |
+ | {{Wiki|narrative}} prose, or verse that repeats what was previously said | ||
+ | in* prose. This has been done in the [[Cunda Sutta]] (8.5.), | ||
+ | heightening the solemnity of the events being describee! with | ||
+ | dramatic effect. This [[sutta]] also has a number of curious | ||
+ | features. It consists of four separate pieces, actually four short | ||
+ | [[suttas]] that have been strung together. The composition of | ||
+ | s&karamaddava, the [[Buddha’s]] last meal, has been the [[subject]] of | ||
+ | continuing [[controversy]] from the earliest times and much has | ||
+ | been written about it. Although it is [[thought]] to have been the | ||
+ | capse of the [[Buddha’s]] [[sickness]], this is not borne out by a careful | ||
+ | {{Wiki|examination}} of the {{Wiki|commentarial}} [[tradition]]. It was possibly | ||
+ | {{Wiki|medicinal}} in [[nature]] and acted as a purge and was prepared >by | ||
+ | [[Cunda]] with the {{Wiki|purpose}} of prolonging the [[Buddha’s]] [[life]]. In any | ||
+ | case the [[Mahaparinibbana Suttanta]] suggests the JJuddha fell ill | ||
+ | during the last *[[rains-retreat]], prior to informing- [[Mara]] he would | ||
+ | pass away in three months* time and the visit to [[Cunda]] s | ||
+ | dwelling. The [[remorse]] of [[Cunda]] was probably because his | ||
+ | preparation did not succeed. Another feature of the [[Cunda Sutta]] is the sudden [[appearance]] of the [[venerable]] Cundaka as the | ||
+ | [[Buddha’s]] attendant, whilst the final section reverts to [[Ananda]] | ||
+ | again. An intriguing question is whether there is any | ||
+ | [[connection]] between [[Cunda]] the Smith ([[Cunda]] Kamm&raputta) | ||
+ | and the [[venerable]] Cunda(ka). Thus, is there a portion of the | ||
+ | story missing where [[Cunda]] the Smith ‘goes forth’ and becomes | ||
+ | the [[venerable]] [[Cunda]] or Cundaka? Moreover, are the {{Wiki|narrative}} | ||
+ | verses actually fragments of an alternative verse recension of | ||
+ | the story? The text we have is very much an edited and | ||
− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, 2 (1992) - [[Ireland]] | |
− | [[ | ||
− | + | selected version of the whole {{Wiki|mass}} of floating oral material, | |
+ | much of it now lost forever. An example of some of this | ||
+ | material is the survival of the [[Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit]] work, | ||
+ | the [[Mahavastu]], which gives a glimpse of the extent and richness | ||
+ | of it. Herein are to be found both prose and verse alternative | ||
+ | versions of various tales and episodes within the [[Buddhist tradition]], many of which are absent from [[Pali literature]] | ||
+ | altogether 1 . | ||
+ | In the Commentary to the [[Suppavasa]] [[Sutta]] (2.8) it is said | ||
+ | Koliyaputta was the son ([[putta]]) of the [[Koliyan]] [[king]]. However, | ||
+ | this is anachronistic as the [[Koliyans]], like the [[Sakyans]] their | ||
+ | neighbours, formed a {{Wiki|republic}} during the [[lifetime]] of the [[Buddha]]. | ||
+ | As [[Suppavasa]] herself is designated Koliyadhlta (‘a [[Koliyan]] | ||
+ | daughter’), this might then give the [[impression]] that they were | ||
+ | brother and sister instead of husband and wife! The [[word]] | ||
+ | [[putta]] (as also dhita) when used as a suffix to a [[name]], here and | ||
+ | elsewhere, seems to mean 'a member of, ‘belonging to’ or ‘one | ||
+ | born in’, a certain [[family]] or {{Wiki|clan}}, rather than the ‘son’ or ‘child’ | ||
+ | of a particular [[person]]. It is used especially by [[khattiya]] [[clans]] | ||
+ | such as the [[Koliyans]] and [[Sakyans]] in whose republic-states 3 there | ||
+ | was a legislative assembly ( [[sahgha]] ) of leading members, heads | ||
+ | of families. These members are called [[rajas]], whilst the other | ||
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− | + | 2 I disagree now with my observation in the introduction to the [[Udana]] | |
+ | translation 'p.8) that. The [[Udana]] is an {{Wiki|anthology}}, many pieces being taken | ||
+ | from elsewhere in the [[Pali Canon]] . . which is misleading. Neither the | ||
+ | [[Mahaparinibbana Suttanta]] nor the [[Udana]] can be pointed to as the original | ||
+ | source for those [[suttas]] they have in common. | ||
− | + | 3 These are either truly tribal, ruled by the elected ciders of a council, or | |
+ | republican slates governed by an {{Wiki|aristocratic}} (Le. Uwmya-born) oligarchy. | ||
− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, 2 (1992) - [[Ireland]] | |
− | |||
− | + | {{Wiki|male}} members of the {{Wiki|clan}} were the puttas or rajaputtas, the | |
− | [[ | + | ‘sons’ of the [[rajas]]. That the [[Buddha]] was a rajaputta would not |
+ | necessarily mean that he was a ‘{{Wiki|prince}}’ as the later [[tradition]] ( | ||
+ | would have it, the son of [[King Suddhodana]], but merely that he* | ||
+ | was a member of the [[Sakyan]] {{Wiki|clan}}. He was a Sakyaputta or | ||
+ | Rajaputta, that is, he belonged to a {{Wiki|clan}} or tribe that was | ||
+ | governed by an assembly of [[rajas]] .; a [[Rajput]] tribe in {{Wiki|modern}} | ||
+ | parlance. A remnant of such a tribe, the [[Forest]] Rajputs, still | ||
+ | existed in recent times in the foothills of the [[Himalayas]] on the | ||
+ | , borders of [[Nepal]]. Their origin had much in common with the | ||
+ | [[ancient]] [[traditions]] recorded in Pili, {{Wiki|literature}} of the origin of the | ||
+ | [[Sakyans]], whose home was that very same region. | ||
− | + | This system of government of the [[Koliyans]] and [[Sakyans]] is | |
− | + | also reflected in the [[heavenly]] [[worlds]] with the {{Wiki|distinction}} | |
+ | between ‘[[devas]]’ and ‘[[devaputtas]]’. The leader of the [[devas]], the | ||
+ | [[devaraja]] of the [[Tavatimsa]] (the ‘Assembly of the [[Thirty-three]]’) | ||
+ | reveals in the [[name]] of ‘[[Sakka]]’ his [[connection]] with the [[Sakyans]]. | ||
+ | Possibly he was originally a tribal [[god]], [[hero]] or [[ancestor]], who in | ||
+ | later times came to be identified with the Indo-Ariyan | ||
+ | thunder-god, [[Indra]]. Because of this tribal [[connection]] it is | ||
+ | appropriate that [[Sakka]] should have become the special {{Wiki|patron}} | ||
+ | and [[protector]] of the [[Buddhadhamma]], the [[teaching]] of the Great | ||
+ | [[Sage]] ( [[[mahamuni]] ) Sakyaputta [[Gotama]], .the [[Sakyamuni]], the [[Sage]] | ||
+ | of the [[Sakyans]]. The [[devas]], it may be [[gathered]], lived an idyllic | ||
+ | [[existence]] as [[rajas]], in {{Wiki|aristocratic}} or ‘regal’ [[splendour]], attended | ||
+ | by {{Wiki|retinues}} of [[devaputtas]], [[celestial maidens]] ( devakahhd ) or | ||
+ | devadhitas (the ‘daughters’, also called acchara or [[nymphs]]), | ||
+ | musicians ( [[gandhabba]] ), etc. Here, as in the [[human world]] which | ||
+ | it mirrors, there is to be seen the transition in the actual | ||
+ | meaning of the term [[raja]], from the original tribal/republican | ||
+ | connotation to the [[idea]] of ‘[[kingship]]’, the single {{Wiki|rule}} of a | ||
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+ | [[maharaja]], when {{Wiki|kingdoms}} replaced the tribal territories. | ||
− | [[ | + | i References to [[devatas]] or [[devaputtas]] belonging to ‘a [[Tavatimsa]] |
+ | company’ (Jdvatirpsa-kdyikd [[devata]]) may be taken to mean | ||
+ | referring to this [[heaven]] as organised into presumably | ||
+ | | [[thirty-three]] companies or divisions. Each of these are headed | ||
− | + | I by a ‘[[deva]]’ as the leader which, like that of the overall leader | |
− | + | ! [[Sakka]] himself, is an office held by that [[deva]] and who is | |
+ | I; replaced upon his decease. The term ‘[[devaputta]]’ then refers to | ||
+ | ; the other members of the various companies under the | ||
+ | [[leadership]] of a particular [[deva]]. These companies also resemble | ||
+ | !; {{Wiki|military}} battalions and are so employed in the [[mythical]] warfare | ||
+ | that takes place betwden the [[devas]] and the [[asuras]]. As well as | ||
+ | this [[warrior]] Ikhattiya [[ethos]], the [[Tavatimsa]] is characterised by its | ||
+ | {{Wiki|sensual}} delights which here reach [[unsurpassed]] heights of | ||
+ | {{Wiki|indulgence}} and" [[perfection]]. | ||
− | + | In the [[Udana]] (3.7) there is a reference to [[Sakka’s]] [[consort]], | |
− | + | [[Suja]] the [[asura]] maiden. In 3.2 [[Sakka]] is revealed being | |
− | + | ministered to by five hundred beautiful pink-footed [[nymphs]] | |
− | + | C acchara ,) or the Kakuta-padani, literally, ‘the Dove-footed | |
− | [[ | + | Ones’, referring to their delicacy and complexion, rather than |
− | + | any bird-like [[characteristics]]. Some texts (e.g. the [[Burmese]] 4 ) | |
− | [[ | + | have [[kukkuta]] - (‘chicken’), instead of kakuta - (‘dove’). In the |
− | + | Commentary (UdA, p.172) it is stated that their feet were of a | |
+ | reddish or pinkish {{Wiki|colour}} ‘like the feet of a {{Wiki|pigeon}}’ | ||
+ | ( parapata-pada-sadisa ), whilst the PTS edition of the [[Udana]] | ||
+ | reads padini instead of padanl - the only reference to these | ||
+ | [[nymphs]], in the [[Sutta Pitaka]], making the correct reading difficult | ||
+ | to ascertain. | ||
− | + | 4 [[Khuddakanikaya]] I, Chaithasangayana ed. 1956. | |
− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, 2 (1992) - [[Ireland]] | |
− | + | i - Some other [[words and phrases]] of [[interest]] in the [[Udana]] are | |
+ | the following: | ||
− | + | sabbattha ekarattiparivasa (1.10). This seems to-mean | |
+ | ‘staying one night at each place (upon the journey)’. However, | ||
+ | the Commentary takes it to mean ‘taking (but) one night to | ||
+ | complete the journey’, despite sabbattha which ought to mean | ||
+ | ‘everywhere’, ‘each place’. | ||
− | + | In 1.10 also occurs the [[phrase]] gavi tarunavaccha: ‘a {{Wiki|cow}} | |
+ | accompanied by a young calf. This should pose no particular | ||
+ | problem, except that Woodward mistranslated the sentence, | ||
+ | implying that [[Bahiya]] (and also [[Suppabuddha]] in 53) was killed | ||
+ | b.y ‘a calf instead of ‘a {{Wiki|cow}} with a calf*, the [[latter]] being more | ||
+ | plausible. Normally gentle and inoffensive, a {{Wiki|cow}} can be | ||
+ | [[dangerous]] and unpredictable when she has a young calf to | ||
+ | {{Wiki|protect}}. Woodward’s- mistake seems to have gone unnoticed for | ||
+ | it is found repeated in [[books]] and articles by other authors when | ||
+ | referring to the [[deaths]] of [[Bahiya]] and [[Suppabuddha]]. [[Pukkusati]] | ||
+ | (M 140) and TambadSthika (DhA II 203f.) were'also similarly | ||
+ | .killed by cows, the former by a {{Wiki|cow}} rushing to {{Wiki|protect}} her calf | ||
+ | according to the Commentary (MA V 62). | ||
− | + | Janapadakalytyl (3.2) meaning ‘the loveliest in the land* is | |
+ | taken by the Commentary to be the personal [[name]] of the | ||
+ | [[Sakyan]] girl with whom [[Nanda]] is infatuated, rather than merely | ||
+ | descriptive. One [[feels]] the Commentary is stretching a point | ||
+ | here but it had to fit the manifestly late and absurd tale of | ||
− | |||
− | + | 5 Fi.. Woodward. Minor Anthologies of the [[Pali Canon]] II: [[Verses of Uplift]], | |
− | + | PTS 1935. pJl. | |
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− | [[ | ||
− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 9, 2 (1992) - [[Ireland]] | |
− | + | N’anda’s going forth as found in DhA. | |
− | + | In 3.9 occurs a list of crafts. The fifth is muddasippa: | |
+ | communicating by gestures. The Commentary is of little help, | ||
− | + | merely adding ‘[[hand gestures]]’. Woodward’s explanation of it as | |
− | [[ | + | bargaining by [[signs]] or hand-touching employed by {{Wiki|merchants}} 4 is |
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− | + | far-fetched and quite wrong according to the late [[I.B. Horner]] in | |
− | |||
+ | ! a personal [[communication]]. Possibly it may have had a {{Wiki|military}} | ||
− | + | significance as do the previous crafts, i.e. directing the course of | |
− | + | the {{Wiki|battle}} by signalling commands. T.W. [[Wikipedia:Thomas William Rhys Davids|Rhys Davids]]’ proposal | |
− | + | that [[lokayata]] means ‘[[nature]] lore’ has been disposed of by | |
− | + | [[Jayatilleke]] who has shown that it originally meant ‘the [[art]] of | |
− | + | [[debate]]’ as a branch of brahminica! {{Wiki|learning}} 7 . [[Wikipedia:Cārvāka|Lokayata]] came to | |
− | + | < mean materialism at the time of the Pali commentators and, | |
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− | + | t outside Buddhism, it is also used as a term for materialism. It is | |
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− | + | • so described in Haribhadra’s Saddarsanasamuccaya (8th cent. | |
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− | in | ||
− | |||
− | ( | + | C.E.) and in the Vedantin Mahadeva’s Sarvadarsanasamgraha |
+ | (14th cent.). There are two distinct readings of the final craft | ||
+ | mentioned: (1) khattavijja: political science or statecraft, the | ||
+ | craft of the ruling or warrior class ( khattiya ); (2) khettavijja): | ||
+ | the knowledge of, or the ability to locate, suitable sites for | ||
+ | building upon. There is also a possible reading of | ||
+ | ; nakhattavijja (astrology). | ||
+ | Most translations of the verse beginning abhutavadi | ||
+ | nirayam upeti (4.8; also found in Dhp 306 and It. 48), render | ||
+ | this line: ‘The liar goes to hell’. However, this does not clearly | ||
+ | differentiate the subject from the person of the next line. That | ||
− | |||
− | + | 6 Woodward, ibid^ p38, ti2. | |
− | |||
− | + | 1 JCN. Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge , London 1963, p.48f | |
+ | Buddhist Studies Review 9 f 2 (1992) - Ireland | ||
− | + | the . verse should be translated as: | |
+ | The false accuser goes to hell | ||
− | and | + | And he who denies the deed he did ...’ |
+ | is suggested by the story of SundarlVmurder (also fouifd in | ||
+ | DhpA) and also the prose of It 48. | ||
− | In the | + | In 5.9 occurs the phrase saddayam&narupa, ‘making an |
+ | uproar’, in the PTS edition of the text. However, on consulting | ||
+ | the various readings noted by the texts, none of the Mss used in | ||
+ | its preparation actually has this reading. Paul Steinthal, the PTS | ||
+ | editor, apparently took saddaya- from the Commentary which | ||
+ | gives this as an alternative, possibly because he considered his | ||
+ | Ms reading meaningless. These various readings are: | ||
+ | padhaya-, pat hay a-, vadhdya-, saddhdya-. More recent Oriental | ||
+ | printed editions of the text are of little help in resolving the | ||
+ | problem. The Burmese edition has sadhaya -, as does the | ||
+ | Nalanda edition*, and this may be equated with padhaya -, | ||
+ | because sa and pa are similar in the Brahml script and easily | ||
+ | confused. There is a verb sadh - (Skt. srdh-) meaning ‘abuse’, | ||
+ | which ought to give the Pali present indicative saddhati , not | ||
+ | sadhatP. The Udana Commentary'® gives the reading vadhdya-, | ||
+ | meaning ‘harm’, ‘injury*, but ‘harm by verbal abuse’, which | ||
+ | seems to be what is intended, would be a peculiar use of the | ||
+ | word. To establish the correct form of the text is a complicated | ||
+ | problem and cannot be resolved with the material available. | ||
− | + | Parulha-kaccha-nakha-loma: ‘with long-grown nails and hair’ | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | | Buddhist Studies Review 9, 2 (1992) - Ireland | |
− | + | (6.2). Woodward translated as ‘with long nails and hairy | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | I armpits’ (‘Verses of Uplift’, p.78), and at Kindred Sayings I | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
+ | | (p.104) it appears as ‘with hairy bodies and long nails’. There | ||
− | + | I seems to be uncertainty as to the meaning and derivation of | |
− | + | t kaccha, as either ‘marshy land’, ‘the long grass’, etc, growing in | |
− | + | | such a place, or‘a hollow’such as‘an armpit’, etc. 11 . The whole | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 5 ; phrase appears to imply being unkempt, dirty, sweaty and smelly | |
− | |||
+ | j; (‘hairy = sweaty armpits, caked with dust’, eta 12 ). Later in the | ||
− | + | i sutta the king says, *... when they have washed off the dust and | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | r mud, are well-bathed and perfumed, and have trimmed their | |
− | + | , hair and beards ...’, which seems to support this interpretation. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | The | + | i Kohco khirapako va ninnagatp (8.7). I translate!, ‘as a |
− | + | i fully-fledged heron leaves the marshy ground’. However, | |
− | + | r khirapako- actually means ‘milk-fed’, i.e, ‘a sucklingf-calf)* and | |
− | + | i: seems hardly appropriate for a bird, although possibly it could | |
− | + | l prefer to a fledgling being fed with regurgitated food by its | |
+ | i parents, but far-fetched. The Commentary (UdA, p.427) refers | ||
+ | to the notion of certain birds (heron, goose or swan, eta) having | ||
+ | the ability to separate milk from water, leaving the water | ||
+ | behind (ninnaga = udaka). Another possibility is that kohea is | ||
+ | not a heron at all, but an'elephant. See PED J koncct n . | ||
+ | trumpeting (of elephants; also the sounds made by certain | ||
+ | water-birds that are similar, cf Milindapanha chap 6, *. . . an | ||
+ | elephant’s sound is like a heron’s’), kohe’a = koheandda | ||
+ | (kuheanada ). kohea / kuhea / kuhja / kuhjarcc. an elephant | ||
+ | 8 Khuddakanikaya L Nalanda Devanagari Pali Series, Bihar Government, 1959. | ||
− | + | 9 Private communication from KJL Norman, Cambridge. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 10 Both PTS, and Simon Hewavitarne Bequest ed. 1920. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | The | + | 11 Cf PED kacchJ- l \ kacchiP\ also kacchantara, upakaccha, and Ski. |
− | are | + | kaccha, kaksa, kaca. |
+ | |||
+ | 12 This interpretation was suggested to the writer by the late Ven. H. | ||
+ | Saddhatissa. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Buddhist Studies Review 9, 2 (1992) - Ireland | ||
+ | |||
+ | However, it seems best to accept the commentarial explanation j. | ||
+ | here. Although it has not been possible to locate the concept of | | ||
+ | the milk-drinking heron elsewhere in - any Pali work, it is a j | ||
+ | |||
+ | known convention in Sanskrit literature 13 . It is used as a simile • | ||
+ | |||
+ | for accepting the good but rejecting the bad, thus: ‘He takes the f | ||
+ | good utterances (away from the bad) as the goose takes milk | ||
+ | from water’ (Mahabharata I 69JO) and, The royal goose drinks j‘ | ||
+ | mi|k, (but) avoids water’ (Subha$itaratnakosa, 1374). Therefore, | | ||
+ | the Udana passage should be amended to translate as: *(the wise | | ||
+ | man . . . abandons evil) as the milk-drinking heron leaves the g | ||
+ | water behind’ 14 . However, the substitution of ‘heron’ for the | | ||
+ | more usual ‘goose’ (or ‘swan’) does leave the suspicion that this | | ||
+ | interpretation may not be entirely correct. Perhaps it would be > | ||
+ | going too far to consider this as another example of the [[Pali]] | ||
+ | redactor’s {{Wiki|subtle}} [[humour]]! | ||
+ | |||
+ | [[Sutta]] 8.6. betrays its lateness by the {{Wiki|prophecy}} about | ||
+ | Pajaliputta ({{Wiki|modern}} [[Patna]]) put into the {{Wiki|mouth}} of the [[Buddha]], . | ||
+ | concerning its {{Wiki|future}} greatness when it was to become the j | ||
+ | capital of [[Magadha]] and the centre of the Aspfcan [[empire]]. The | ||
+ | sudden introduction of the [[name]] Pftyaliputta itself, and also the | ||
+ | explanation calling one of the entrances to the city the [[Gotama]] | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | 13 Th»t this wis t widespread [[belief]] is substantiated by the fact that it is | ||
+ | actually mentioned in a 9th cent. {{Wiki|Chinese}} ([[Tang Dynasty]]) [[Buddhist]] source. | ||
+ | Afer hearing a report of a [[conversation]] with the Ch*an [[master]] [[Huang-po]], | ||
+ | another remarks. ‘That {{Wiki|swan}} , is able to extract the [[pure]] milk from the | ||
+ | adulterated mixture . . .’ 0. [[Blofeld]], The [[Zen]] [[Teaching]] of [[Huang Po]], [[London]] | ||
+ | 1958, pJOl). | ||
+ | |||
+ | This [[information]] and the references were supplied by K.R. Norman in a | ||
+ | personal [[communication]]. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gate, look very much like a late interpolation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In conclusion, a [[word]] should be added regarding the text | ||
+ | and translation of the [[Udana]]. The PTS edition is in a very | ||
+ | unsatisfactory [[state]]. It was prepared by P. Steinthal in 1885 from | ||
+ | three Mss (two [[Sinhalese]] and a [[Burmese]]), all containing many | ||
+ | defects. An attempt was made to improve the text by F.. | ||
+ | Windisch who produced a list of alternative readings 15 . This list | ||
+ | was subsequently further improved and added to by F.L. | ||
+ | Woodward when he made his edition of the Commentary | ||
+ | (1925). Despite these attempts, the fact is that there is still much | ||
+ | left to be [[desired]] in the text and what is really needed is a | ||
+ | completely new edition to replace Steinthal. There are now in | ||
+ | [[existence]] several {{Wiki|Oriental}} printed editions; such as that | ||
+ | contained in the [[Burmese]] [[Chatthasangayana]] edition of the | ||
+ | Tipi^aka (1956), that are more satisfactory or at least ‘readable’ | ||
+ | compared with many portions of the PTS text. This [[Burmese]] | ||
+ | edition, the NalandS Devanagarl edition and the [[Sinhalese]] | ||
+ | [[Buddha Jayanti]] [[Tripitaka]] Series edition were consulted by the | ||
+ | {{Wiki|present}} writer in preparing his translation of the [[Udana]]. The | ||
+ | initial {{Wiki|purpose}} of this translation was to ‘improve upon’ | ||
+ | Woodward’s 1935 versionv(‘Verses of Uplift’) which is | ||
+ | unsatisfactory in many respects. However, I have refrained | ||
+ | from being overtly critical of Woodward’s work for, although | ||
+ | many of the errors in his translation have been corrected, this | ||
+ | [[new translation]] has produced a new crop of errors. These were | ||
+ | discovered only subsequent to publication and hopefully may be | ||
+ | corrected in a {{Wiki|future}} edition. | ||
+ | |||
+ | 15 ‘Notes on the Edition of the [[Udana]]’, JPTS 1890, pp.9l-108. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A NOTE ON THE ORIGIN OF THE PffU DHAMMAPADA VERSES | ||
+ | |||
+ | Nissim Cohen | ||
+ | |||
+ | The {{Wiki|purpose}} of this 'note' is twofold: first, to provide up- | ||
+ | to-date material on the parallels to the PSli Dha*mmapada (Dhp) | ||
+ | and between the various Dharmapadas, as well as comments on their | ||
+ | [[relative]] antiquity; second, to develop a {{Wiki|thesis}} on the origin | ||
+ | of the Dhp, hinted at elsewhere*, and which is basad on con¬ | ||
+ | textual and {{Wiki|literary}} {{Wiki|evidence}}. It may stimulate further investi¬ | ||
+ | gations on this {{Wiki|matter}} and, if carried out by more able resear¬ | ||
+ | chers, the outcome may prove fruitful and our [[knowledge]] [[concern]]¬ | ||
+ | ing the origin of the [[Pali]] Dhp [[stanzas]] enriched. | ||
+ | |||
+ | 1. The Dhp is, admittedly, the most widely translated and read | ||
+ | of the [[Wikipedia:canonical|canonical]] texts. Notwithstanding its [[popularity]], the | ||
+ | greater part of the research work done so far gravitates, with | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | a few exceptions, towards the parallels to the Dhp and the simi¬ | ||
+ | larities between the various extant Dharmapadas, to the [[exclusion of other]] {{Wiki|linguistic}} and {{Wiki|literary}} studies. One of the most out¬ | ||
+ | [[standing]] contributions in the field of contemporary studies in | ||
+ | recent years is the work published by [[Professor]] K. [[Mizuno]] 2 ; more | ||
+ | Important still, his research has helped to resolve the question | ||
+ | of the antiquity of the Dhp in [[relation]] to the Dharmapadas of | ||
+ | other schools. My aim in this section is to produce complemen¬ | ||
+ | tary material, based on my [[own]] studies,and in a systemised manner | ||
+ | to comment on the [[relative]] age of these texts. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Usually, editors and [[translators]] supply references to other | ||
+ | texts. However, besides the inconvenience of being scattered | ||
+ | throughout the texts, these references are sometimes incomplete | ||
+ | and even misleading 3 . The author of this article has, in recent | ||
+ | years, surveyed the [[Pali]] [[Wikipedia:canonical|canonical]] and non-canonical texts as | ||
+ | well as [[Dharmapada]] texts for parallels to tha Dhp, trying to | ||
+ | discover and identify additional similarities or parallels. | ||
+ | The outcome is presented here in the [[form]] of Tables I-III*. | ||
+ | |||
+ | To my [[knowledge]], this is the most complete inventory of the | ||
+ | Dhammapada’s parallels so far published 5 . It. will also be noted | ||
+ | that the [[Wikipedia:canonical|canonical]] texts have been divided into two groups, [[CANON]]¬ | ||
+ | ICAL TEXTS-I (CT-I) comprising those texts whose final composi- | ||
+ | |||
+ | tion dates are considered, by certain [[scholars]], to be earlier | ||
+ | than or, in a few cases ([[Udana]], [[Itivuttaka]]?), contemporary with | ||
+ | the Dhp. In CANONICAL TEXTS-II (CT-II) have been included texts | ||
+ | which are, in all {{Wiki|probability}}, later than Dhp. | ||
+ | |||
+ | A question that may arise in this [[connection]] is why the [[Jata]]- | ||
+ | kas have been listed as non-canonical. It is well known that | ||
+ | there is still no consensus as to what should be cop? idered as | ||
+ | [[Wikipedia:canonical|canonical]] in the [[Jatakas]], and what as {{Wiki|commentarial}} {{Wiki|literature}}. | ||
+ | |||
+ | As our [[concern]] here is to define the probable sources of the | ||
+ | Dhp verses, it should suffice to mention that we have the testi¬ | ||
+ | mony of the [[Jatakas]] proper which, in some cases,, [[state]] clearly | ||
+ | that the verses have been pointed out by the [[Buddha]] from the | ||
+ | Dhp and not the other way round (for example, [[Ja]] I 76, 132 ; II | ||
+ | 441; III 73, 3J3) 6 .* | ||
+ | |||
+ | Let me now {{Wiki|present}} some remarks related to the work of Prof, | ||
+ | [[Mizuno]] and^ the editors of other [[Dharmapada]] texts on this topic. | ||
+ | According to [[Mizuno]], in the [[Pali]] [[Wikipedia:canonical|canonical]] texts there are alto¬ | ||
+ | gether 137 [[gathas]] (non-repetitive), and in the non-canonical | ||
+ | *• texts, J9 in all 7 . It will be seen from the ‘Table I-Summary: | ||
+ | Sources and Parallels to the [[Pali]] [[Dhammapada]] Verses' that I have | ||
+ | found these numbers to be 123 and 60 respectively; however, as | ||
+ | he does not give exact references, no further comment is possible | ||
+ | here (incidentally, in his reckoning he does not include the | ||
+ | VimSnavatthu). We see in tl\,c table that the total number of | ||
+ | single Dhp [[stanzas]] traceable to the [[Wikipedia:canonical|canonical]] texts are 110, | ||
+ | if CT-I only is cqnsidered; this is about 26% of the total. | ||
+ | |||
+ | J. Brough, in his The Candharx [[Dharmapada]] (GDhp), states that | ||
+ | 'Of. 350 {{Wiki|Prakrit}} [[stanzas]], between 225 and 2 30 are shared with | ||
+ | the [[Dhammapada]]* 8 . This figure is higher by about 31% from that | ||
+ | in Table I (177) and may be attributed, first, to the errors | ||
+ | found in his identification and reckoning of the parallels as | ||
+ | registered in Concordance II (p.287): about two dozen partial | ||
+ | [[stanzas]] (one, two or three lines) have been considered as exact | ||
+ | equivalents to [[Pali]] Dhp; second, to the inclusion, in this reckon— | ||
+ | ing, of fragmentary [[stanzas]] whose equivalence to the Dhp cannot | ||
+ | be asserted. The {{Wiki|manuscript}} of the GDhp contains quite a tew | ||
+ | fragmentary [[stanzas]] of one and, to a lesser extent, two lines. | ||
+ | |||
+ | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 6, 2 (1989) | ||
+ | |||
+ | similar to the [[Pali]] Dhp. Further, Brough assumes (p.23), based | ||
+ | on the proportions in the surviving {{Wiki|Prakrit}}, the text to have | ||
+ | shared between 350 and 360 verses with the Dhp, We may safely | ||
+ | [[state]] that, in view of the former considerations, this figure | ||
+ | could not be higher than 250. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In his translation of the [[Tibetan]] version of the [[Udanavarga]] 9 , | ||
+ | Rockhi11 identified 306 parallels with Dhp (which, deducting | ||
+ | the* fev: errors found, becomes 297). I identified seven : more. | ||
+ | Brough, in his GDhp (p.23, n.l), noted just over 50 others which | ||
+ | are no| included in the tables of [[Rockhill]] - a figure that seems | ||
+ | t^o high. | ||
+ | |||
+ | [[Dharmapada]] text; in mixed [[Sanskrit]], brought from [[Tibet]] and | ||
+ | deposited at the [[Bihar]] Research [[Society]] of [[Patna]], has been edited | ||
+ | twice, more or less simultaneously: The [[Patna]] [[Dharmapada]] (PDhp) | ||
+ | by C. Roth, and The Huddhist [[Wikipedia:Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit|Hybrid Sanskrit]] [[Dharmapada]] (BHSDhp) | ||
+ | by N.S. [[Shukla]] 1 * 1 . The former comprises 415 [[stanzas]], the [[latter]], | ||
+ | 4j4; this is due to a difference in the method of arrangement | ||
+ | of the verses adopted by the two editors. They mention that | ||
+ | ih the colophon of the {{Wiki|manuscript}} the [[gathas]] are referred to | ||
+ | as being 502 ; a h*int as to a possible explanation to account | ||
+ | for this discrepancy may be had, perhaps, by a comparative study | ||
+ | of Dhp and PDhp 11 . Roth believes that . PDhp is based on | ||
+ | a Prakrit-Pali version which is older than the [[existing]] [[Pali]] | ||
+ | Dhp. Besides, there arc also other differences in the verses | ||
+ | |||
+ | <;\i | ||
+ | |||
+ | themselves an.d the sequence of their order which exclude the | ||
+ | Pali Dhp in its present form as the direct source of PDhp' (p.94). | ||
+ | Shukla is of the opinion that the present version of the BHSDhp | ||
+ | can have the distinction of being regarded as an earlier Dharma¬ | ||
+ | pada: *... The division found in the Pali text and other versions | ||
+ | ... indicates that it was at a very late stage that these texts | ||
+ | gained a streamlined form, and for this purpose they must have | ||
+ | depended * on one common base' (p.viil). I do not know whether | ||
+ | the author carried out his intended study which would prove the | ||
+ | anteriority of this text; meanwhile, Mlzuno has given us a com¬ | ||
+ | parative study of the Dharmapadas, wherein this matter is discus¬ | ||
+ | sed and an attempt made to prove the anteriority of the Pali | ||
+ | Dhp in relation to other Dharmapadas 12 . | ||
+ | |||
+ | Origin of Dhamraapada Verses | ||
+ | |||
+ | Another way of . looking at this problem of anteriority, or,; | ||
+ | one that could give us the chronology of compilation of thes< | ||
+ | texts., would be to pick up a doctrinal issue and examine ho*, | ||
+ | it is tackled in them. As an example, let us take the case oi | ||
+ | the Arahant. The Dhp has an Ara/ranta v'aaya, verses tin | ||
+ | |||
+ | term is expressly mentioned only in stanza 98. PDhp has equiva | ||
+ | |||
+ | lent stanzas, not grouped together, but scattered throughou | ||
+ | |||
+ | different chapters; its parallel verse 245 also mentions i iu | ||
+ | term a rahanto* Udanavarga has, instead, i i e term, a r y j (XXIX. IS 5 | ||
+ | |||
+ | 1 in it we find only five out of ten stanzas. The GDhp has noru | ||
+ | |||
+ | J of- these stanzas. We may, therefore, try to establish tiu chtono | ||
+ | |||
+ | j ' logy of these texts, based on the historical evolution oi iht | ||
+ | |||
+ | ideal of perfect man, which started with that ol Arahatusnip | ||
+ | turned out to be an issue of controversy some time after chi | ||
+ | |||
+ | Parinibbana of the Buddha, and ended with the emergence of th. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ideal of the Bodhisaitva in Mahay ana schools. The orde: wu 1 | ||
+ | be: Dhp PDhp (or PDhp -> Dhp) Ud ODhp, which is slight 1 | ||
+ | different from that given by [[Mizuno]], viz. Dhp PDhp GDhp | ||
+ | urther help for the establishment of the [[relative]] c hvono.|*'*g | ||
+ | of the Dharmapadas may be found in the uuJdhu vj , vv, i ?'■> | ||
+ | 196* CDhp has parallels to only two of them i I b 2 , 193); signif: | ||
+ | cantXy enough, vv. 188-192 , which deal with the Threefold Refugr | ||
+ | are absent in it. There are no parallels to w, I v> - *- : r. a: | ||
+ | |||
+ | of the Dharmapadas (on these, see later). We thus have coutnrr. | ||
+ | tion of the {{Wiki|chronology}} we tried to establish above | ||
+ | |||
+ | As to the parallels found in PDhp-BHSDhp, my tompa i a i :v<• ; . | ||
+ | |||
+ | of the texts shows these to total 285 - a figure diiteiest *: | ||
+ | that found In the references of both, edited texts, due i | ||
+ | errors and omissions contained therein which will not be (Gdu | ||
+ | ted on tfere. Since the former text is very akin to Dhp. | ||
+ | expect the divisional {{Wiki|structure}} of the [[stanzas]], which are para | ||
+ | lels to Dhp, to be similarly related in its edited fort. - vhi | ||
+ | is not always the case. For instance, PDHp 2 3 — 26 have, respe | ||
+ | tively, 6-4-4-4 [[padas]]; rearrangement into 4-4-A-6 pSdas vou | ||
+ | |||
+ | make 23 and 24 the exact parallels to Dnp 31, 327, and 1 i | ||
+ | |||
+ | a partial parallel to Dhp 27 | ||
+ | |||
+ | 134 [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 6, 2 (1989) |
Revision as of 17:29, 30 November 2020
The first requirement in a debate is that a challenge should be issued. When the Buddha receives a challenge he may accept it and respond directly, answering point by point, as in the Samannaphala Sutta (D 2) when he shows his thirty-two marks, the Kutadanta Sutta (D 5) where he describes the higher sacrifice, the MahSli Sutta (D 6) where he explains the relationship between achieving the hearing of heavenly sounds and the seeing of heavenly sights, the Potjhapada Sutta 32 where he answers PottHapada’s questions on the summits of consciousness 33 , and many further occasions.
The Buddha may, however, reject a challenge. The grounds for this are that it is misplaced, i.e. he will reject a challenge on subjects with regard to which he has made no claims. This demonstrates a convention, not directly named in the suttas, that a challenge on a position that was never asserted could right¬ fully be dismissed. Into this category comes the Buddha’s re¬ fusal to answer certain questions, for example the avya-
33 sannagga.
(I "2- Buddhist Studies Review 9, 2 (1992) • Manne
kata questions (Potthapada Sutta 34 ) because they do not conform to the purpose of his teaching 35 . Also in this category is his refusal in the Patika Sutta 36 to reveal the Knowledge of the Beginning 37 , and his refusal in the Kevaddha Sutta (D ll) and the Patika Sutta (D 24, § 4) to produce miracles 38 . The Buddha may simply reject a challenge on this ground, or he may first reject it and then redefine it and answer it (Kevaddha Sutta: the mystic wonder) 39 . The Buddha may use the technique of both issuing and answering his own challenge. He does this in the form of a rhetorical question 40 , or by referring to a challenge made by a hypothetical opponent 41 .
The technique of the question-challenge is fundamental to a further strategy that the Buddha uses. He will accept his adversary’s position and then, by posing subtle questions, lead him him ta refute his own position through his own answers 42 . In this way he gets him to cede point after point, and then uses ,what is left of the adversary’s position to his own advantage 43 . In a similar way, the Buddha will prove his case by asking a
34 D 9 (I 187f, §§ 25-271
35 Defined in this sum, § 28.
36 D 24 (III 4, § 51
37 aggannam panhdpetL
38 iddhi’patihariycL
39 . The Patika Sutta, D 24, however, demonstrates that although the Buddha may refuse to perform miracles and to reveal the Knowledge of the Beginning, he both performs the former and knows the latter.
40 Brahmajala Sutta, D 1; Kevaddha Sutta, D 11; Lohicca Sutta, D 1Z
41 Potthapada Sutta, D 9 [l 197, § 43l Pare ce . . amhe evam puccheyyum . . .
42 Potthapada’s position on the soul/self, Potthapada Sutta, D 9, S 21-23; the limitations of ascetic practices, Udumbarika-Sihanada Sutta, D 25.
43 Sonadanda Sutta, D 4.
Buddhist Studies Review 9, 1 (1992) - Manne
sequence of rhetorical questions to which he will provide answers. These answers add increasing weight to his argument, and point by point he gets his adversary to agree with him 42 . He will also use simile and analogy strategically in his argument to attain this goal. He will provide an analogy with the case presented, and get the adversary to agree to his own (i.e. the Buddha’s) position in terms of the analogy. The Buddha will then relate the analogy to the opponent’s position, and in this way show that the latter has condemned himself 0 .
| The Buddha is also successful at eliciting questions from his opponent, the requirement of the third point in the Kassapa- Sfhanada Sutta. This occurs so generally in the debate suttas tlijit it is not worth citing examples. What is noteworthy in the Buddha’s use of this strategy is his ability to force from his adversary a question which demonstrates the latter’s ignorance, and hence the Buddha’s superior knowledge 44 . So Sonadan<Ja, having been led to reduce the number of qualities that permit a person to be defined as a brahman to two, is forced to ask the Buddha to explain these qualities 45 . v
There are a variety of further strategies or conventions* which occur regularly in the debates but which have not been specifically mentioned in any of the suttas cited above. Two strategies especially favoured by the Buddha are those of
42 Samannaphala Suita, D Z
43 Simannaphila SulU. S§ 35. 37; Potthapada Sulla, S 34-38; Lohicca Sulla D 12; Tevijji Sulla, D 13.
44 See Witzel, 1987, for ihe importance of this strategy and its occurrence in ihe brahman lexis.
45 Sonadanda Sulla, D I 124, $ 2Z
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appealing to authority, both his own and that of another person, and of undermining the opponent’s authority and status.
The Buddha will appeal to his own authority as Tathagata. He will enhance his authority by telling the story of a previous lifetime in which his competence to answer the present chal¬ lenge is established, and he is proved to be an expert on the subject (Kutadanta Sutta: when he was the brahman chaplain in charge of the sacrifice). He will present the adversary’s position exhaustively and systematically, and then put himself above it because of his knowledge and achievements 44 . He will resort to his transcendental vision 47 . He will put himself forward as the example that is also the ultimate proof of his own position: ‘Could such a bhikkhu (i.e. one who has achieved the described advanced state) say that?’... ‘But I am such a bhikkhu and I do not speak thus 10 . Similarly he puts his discipline above and out of reach of that of certain adversaries 4 ’. In this context too
46 Brahma jala Sulla. Aithi bhikkave ahn eva dhamma gambhird duddasa
duranubodhd sqnta partita atakkdvacara nipund pandit a-ved aniyd, ye Taihdgatv
sayam abhinhd sacchikavtd pavedeli ... D 1 [I 12. S 28], and Ime ditthdnd
evam-gahitd evam pardmatthd evam-gatikd bhavissanii evanuibhisampwdya ti\
Tan ca T at hag at o pajanati, tato ca uitaritararn pajanali, tan ca pajananam
na pardmasati, apardmasato cassa pacettam yeva nibbuti vidita , vedandnam
samudaych ca atthagamah ca asshdah ca adinavah ca nissaranah ca
yatha-bhutam viditva anupadd vimuUo, bhikkhave Tathdgaio. D I 16f.
4 T Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta. D 8 [1 161f. § 3): . . . dibbena cakkhund visi idhena alikkanla-rndnusakena, „
48 Mahali Sutta. D 6 (I 157. § 16] and variously; Jaliya Sulla. D 7: Yo nu kho 4 avusa bhikkhu evam Jdndti evam passati kailam nu kho tass‘ etam vacandya
Aham kho pan etam . . evam janami evam passami. Atha ca pandham na vaddmi . *
49 Udumbarika-Sihanada Suita, D 25 (111 39f, § 7J: Dujjdnam kho etam Nigrodha taya ahha-ditthikena ahha-khantikena ahha-ruccikena ahhalr ayogena
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come the Buddha’s assertions that he is ‘the greatest!* 50
The Buddha quotes or resorts to external or non-present authorities to enhance his authority. He cites the gods in the Ambattha Sutta 51 , where he quotes a versq by Brahma Sanam- kumara and agrees with it, and in the Patika Sutta 52 where lie supports his assertion .hat he knows by adding that he has also been told this by a deva. He tells a story which shows that the highest god recognises that only the Buddha can answer a cer¬ tain question 55 . In the Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta 54 , he imputes a decision in his favour to ‘the wise’. Also in this sutta 55 , he invokes Nigrodha’s support, although the latter is absent, when he refers to an occasion when Nigrodha found an answer that he (the Buddha) gave very satisfying.
The strategy of undermining or reducing the adversary’s status and authority is also frequently used. In the Ambattha Sutta 54 , the Buddha humiliates Ambattha by revealing the latier’s humble origins; in the same sutta 57 he reveals that
ahhatr dcariyakena yenaham sdvake vinemi . .
50 Cf. Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta, D 8 [I 1745 211 and variously. Yavata Kas- sapa Qriya parama vimutti, naham tallha altano samasamam samanupassami kuto bhiyyo. Cf. On the claim to be the best, Witzel, 1987, p365. quoting the Taittiriya Brahmana 3.10.5. Also, ‘One cannot just claim to be belter than the rest . . . Mere brazen assertion does not suffice; one must be able to prove one's knowledge.' p372f.
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Pokkharasadi, Ambauha’s teacher, is not sufficiently respected to be permitted into the direct presence of the king. Also in this sutta he tells Ambattha that the ability to recite mantras of the ancient rishis does not make him a rishi 5 *. He resorts to ridicule of brahman knowledge and habits in the Tevijja Sutta (D 13). Similarly, Kassapa ridicules his adversary when he tells him, ‘I have never seen or heard anyone professing such a position, such a view’ 59 .
There are further general strategies in use. The Buddha will establish the criteria for winning the debate and then maintain that "he conforms to them, as in the Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta 40 , where he defines the criteria for the appellation ‘samana’ or ‘brahmana’, and in the Udumbarika-SIhanada Sutta, where he defines true asceticism 41 . The Buddha will show both the pros and cons in the adversary’s position, and then demonstrate that his own position is still stronger 42 . Like Kumara Kassapa, but ’hot so explicitly, the Buddha will use similes and analogy. He may use these poetically, to reinforce the ideas he is presenting, as the many similes in the Samanfiaphala Sutta. He may also use these strategically in his argument, especially with the goal of getting the opponent to refute his own position. The Buddha can also be reasonable. In the Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta, when Kassapa challenges him whether he condemns all asceticism, he
58 ... tydham manle adhxyami sacariyako ti lav at a tvam bhavissasi hi vd
isitiaya va patipanno ti n etam thanam vijjati . D 3 [I 104. §§ 8. 10l
59 Naham Rajahha evam-vadim evam-ditthim addasam va assosin va (Payasi Sulla. D 23 III 319, S 5l
60 D 8 [I 167, § 151
61 tapo-jigghuccha parisuddha.
62 Kassapa-Sihanada Sulla, D 8; Udumbarika-Sihanada Sulla, D 25.
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replies, ‘How then could I, O Kassapa, who am thus aware, as
they really are, of the states whence men have come, and
whither they will go, as they pass away from one form of
existence, and take shape in another, — how could 1 disparage
all penance; or bluntly revile and find fault with every ascetic,
with every one who lives a life that is hard?* 3 The Buddha can
open himself up to the judgment of others. Also in the
Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta, he tells Kassapa of an occasion when in
discussion with certain samanas and brahmana^ he offered
them to put aside all the subjects on which they held mutually
incompatible views, and to judge solely with regard to those
qualities that they mutually agreed were unskilful ( akusala ),
blameworthy ( savajja ), ignoble ( nalam-ariya ) and wicked
0 Unha), whether the Buddha was not the one among them who
had most completely abandoned them ( anavasesam pahaya
vattatfr*.
An interesting feature that occurs in two of the debates is the sub-challenge.
Sub-challenges have a particular character. They occur when the followers of an adversary interfere in a debate.. The Buddha responds to these sub-challenges in a standard way. He counters by challenging his adversary’s supporters to debate with him themselves, if they think that their leader is not performing
63 thc«»!”>p»-Sih«nid» Suit*. D I 161f. § 3 :Yo 'harp Kassapa imescm tapaislnam evam a gal in ca gatin ca cutin ca uppattin ca yathabhutam pajknami. so 'ham kim sabbam tapam garahissami sammam tappasim litkhajivam ekamsena upakkosissami upavadissami? Tr. Rhys Davids, Dialogues 1, p-224.
64 j Le. in a debate with potential opponents. See Manne, 1990, p38f.
65 Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta. D 1 163, $ 5.
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adequately.
The sub-challenges occur only in debates with brahmans 66 . In the Ambattha Sutta, once the Buddha has accused Ambattha of being descended from the slave of a Sakyan 67 , Ambattha’s followers defend him. The Buddha then challenges them: ‘If you, young brahmans, think that the young brahman Ambattha is ill-born, not of good family, not learned, not a fine reciter, without wisdom, and not able to debate with me, then let him be silent, and you debate with me. If you think the opposite, then you be silent and let Ambattha debate with me* 8 . Ambattha’s companions are silent. In the Sonadanda Sutta (D 4) the Buddha extracts from Sonadanda the concession that only two attributes are essential for a man to claim truthfully to be a brahman. Sonadanda’s companions accuse him of betraying them: ‘Do not, Venerable Sonadanda, speak in this way. The Venerable Sonadanda rejects our caste; he rejects our sacred verses, he rejects our birth!* 9 The Buddha’s reply is the same as
66 Manavas, Ambattha Sutta* D 3; brahmanas, Sonadanda Sutta, D 4.
68 Sact kho tumhakam manavaka evam hoti, "Dujjaio ca Ambattho mrnavo, akulaputta ca Ambatlho manavo , appassuio ca Ambaitho manavo. akalyana- vakkarano ca Ambattho manavo, duppahho ca Ambaitho manavo, na ca pahoti Ambatlho manavo samantna Gotamena saddhim asmim vacant paiimanieiun ft t titthaiu Ambattho manavo, tumhe maya suddhim asmim vacane maniavho. Sace kho tumhakam manavaka evam hoti, "Sujaio ca Ambattho manavo , kola- 'putla ca Ambattho manavo, bahussuto ca Ambcutho manavo, kalyana-vdkkarano
ca Ambattho manavo, pandito ca Ambattho manavo, ca pahoti Ambattho manavo samanena Gotamena saddhim asmim vacane paiimantetun tr, titthatha tumhe, Ambattho manavo maya saddhim mantetuti. D I 93f, § 18.
69 Ma bhavam Sonadando evam uvaca! Apavadat' eva bhavam Sonadanda vannam apavadati monte apavadati jatim ... D l 122, § 17.
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in the Ambattha Sutta, but without the opening remarks about birth and family 70 .
The style of debate is remarkably consistent in all the debate suttas, with the single exception of the Payasi Sutta (D . 23), where Kumara Kassapa, and not the Buddha, is the protagonist. This enables us to compare the Buddha’s debating style and techniques with those of one of his disciples. The style of the Payasi Sutta is qualitatively different from that of the suttas in which the Buddha is the protagonist. Where Kumara Kassapa says, ‘I, Prince, have neither seen or heard of any one holding such a view, such an opinion’ 71 , the Buddha is never surprised by a view expressed by his adversary. Where Kumara Kassapa asks the adversary his reasons 12 the Buddha never invites extensive representations of the opponent’s views. It is his style rather to ask brief pointed questions to which only one answer is possible and which leads to the rebuttal by the adversary himself of his own position. Kumara Kassapa thus pays more attention to the details of his adversary’s case, while the Buddha goes straight to the weak point of his adversary’s argument.
Kumara Kassapa’s is a poor imitation of the Buddha’s method of asking a series of questions whose answers manoeuvre the adversary into denying his own position: he takes much longer to convince his adversary than the Buddha ever does. Kumara Kassapa’s arguments contain notably less Buddhist teaching than those of the Buddha. Where the Buddha
70 Ibid , S HI
71 See n.61 Tr. Rhys Davids. Dialogues II, p351.
72 pariyaya , §§ 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16.
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produces similes, without explicitly saying that he is doing so, Kumara Kassapa is explicit (§ 9). In every way the Buddha is both more subtle and more skilful than Kumara Kassapa in his use of debating techniques and strategies.
Fully half of the debates in the Digha are with brahmans (D 1, 3-5, 10, 12, 13, 23). Debates exist also in the BrShmanas and the Upani$ads. They appear too in the earliest Vedic literature, the Rgveda, as Speech Contests 73 . So far the rules for these have not yet been fully described by scholars. Insofar as they have been 74 , they show that this is another case 7 * where we need Buddhist te'xts to help us understand brahmanical literature.
73 F.B.J. Kuiper, ‘The Ancient Aryan Verbal Contest’, Indo-lrcnian
Journal IV. 1960, pp.217-81.
74 Witzel, 1987.
75 See J. Bronkhorst, ‘The Mahabhasya and the Development of Indian Philosophy' in Three Problems pertaining to the Mahabhasya, Poona 1987, third lecture.
The Udana or inspired Utterances’ is the third book of the Khuddaka Nikaya or Minor Collection. It consists of eighty short suttas or discourses of the Buddha, divided into-eight groups ( vagga ) of ten suttas each. The title refers to the pronouncement, usually in verse, made at the end of each sutta arid prefaced by the words; ‘Then, on realising its significance, the Lord uttered on that occasion this inspired utterance’ (atha kho bhagava etam attham viditva tayarp velayarp imatp udanam udanesi). Here it is the Buddha who pronounces them, although others are sometimes so inspired (e.g. in Ud. 2.10 and 3.7). Such utterances also occur elsewhere in the Sutta Pijaka (eg. MI 508; M II 104-5. 209; S I 20, 27-8, etc.).
The prose suttas which precede the ‘inspired utterances’ themselves could be regarded as a kind -of commentary, supplying the introductory circumstances to the essential Dhamma-teachings found in the utterances. Because they are introductory, relating circumstances and containing little doctrinal material, they betray their lateness in a variety of ways and strongly suggest they are actually an ancient
1 The present essay was compiled from notes made and problems encountered while preparing a translation of the Udana. This translation, to which the references herein are made, was published as The Udana. Inspired Utterances of the Buddha (BPS. Kandy 1990), and was reviewed in BSR 9. 1 (1992).
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commentary. Sometimes the utterances do not appear to fit neatly into the context in which they are set (e.g. 5.2, 5.5), though in other cases the story and the udana-utterance are integral to each other (e.g. 1.8, 45, etc.). Being expressions of the Buddha’s teaching, the utterances often allow for a wider interpretation than the circumstances surrounding them suggest and have, moreover, multiple meanings and allusions to the teachings referred to in other portions of the Sutta Pi|aka. The fact is there exists an intricate network of cross-references throughout the Tipitaka and no one passage can be studied in isolation. A particular topic or aspect of the teaching found in one place begins to become meaningful only when everything else that has been said about it is known. Everywhere the Dhamma is spoken of in brief and no one place can be pointed to as being exhaustive and definitive of any aspect of the Dhamma. When a topic, word or phrase is come across and occurs apparently nowhere else in the Canon, it always presents the problem of determining its exact meaning and significance. An example would be kappa, ayu-kappa in 6.1. We have to rely on the Commentary to tell us that kappa does not mean the aeon in this context, but the normal human life(dyu)-span. However, there is no certainty that it was always so interpreted.
Could the udona-verses once have existed as a collection apart from the introductory sutta, like the verses of the Dhammapada? These verses are also described as Buddha-udana, but the stories supplied to explain when and where they were spoken are found in the Commentary and are pot reckoned as the word of the Buddha. In the first vagga of the Udana, the Bodhivagga, the uddna-utterances form a group united by the common word ‘brahmin’ ( brahmana ), which is obvious when they are read apart from the introductory suttas.
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So this vagga could well have, been called Brahmanavagga, following on from the last vagga of the Dhammapada, the preceding work in the Khuddaka Nikaya. Similarly, the second vagga has the unifying theme of sukhcc,. happiness, bliss.j Subsequently there is no obviously discernible theme linking the utterances. However, there is a suggestion of an overall plan to the work as a whole, in that the beginning of the first vagga does deal with the start of the Buddha’s career beneath the Bodhi tree. Additionally, the final vagga contains material also, to be found in the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta of the DIgha Nikaya, which recounts the last days of the Teacher before he passed away. The first sutta of the sixth vagga is also an important episode in the life of the Buddha. It is found in the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta too and is the beginning of the events leading up to the passing away of the Buddha and contains Ananda’s failure in not requesting him to delay his departure from this world.
As well as being uplifting and inspiring, the stories from the Udana also reveal much humour. For example, the response of Nanda on being asked to compare those pink-footed nymphs with that Sakyan girl, ‘the loveliest in the land’. Again, in the story of Suppavasa, when the Budha elicits from her the response that she would like another seven sons, despite the trouble and pain she had to undergo to produce just one — all forgotten in the pride of motherhood! And then there is the incongruity of a new-born baby being able to hold a conversation. These, and other subtle touches, reveal the inspiration, humour, joy and delight — and devout faith too — of those ancient and unknown story-tellers who collected and put together this literature. Also noticeable is their love of puns and allusions, the word-play and the ingenuity involved. Thus in
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l 1-8, the pun on Sangamaji’s name, and, in the ‘Bull-Eleph mt’
| story (4.5) the play on the word naga , meaning both perfected | one and elephant. In this last is also the charming touch of the
| elephant bringing water ‘for the Lord’s use’ with his trunk.
I Then there are the similes and parables, like that of the blind man and the elephant (6.4), that are both entertaining and instructive. Although it should be pointed out that this parable is best suited to Jain rather than Buddhist doctrine — a theory of partial truth being somewhat un-Buddhistic — the story is probably older than both Jainism and Buddhism and is.still used today by modern Hindu teachers (e.g. by Ramakrishna).
The thought processes of the compilers of the Pali Canon are also reveajed when it is discovered that there is a connection, between two adjacent suttas, although this may not be too obvious at first sight. One example in the Udana is between suttas 5.8 and 5.9 where a reference to Devadatta’s schism is followed in the next sutta by the inclusion of a verse that is found elsewhere (e.g. Vin. I, p349) in the context of the Kosambi rift. Other examples may be found in the Anguttara Nikaya. These connections are 9 ften so well hidden they need great ingenuity to discover them. They would also constitute necessary aids to memory in an oral literature and an indication of how it was gradually put together, a word or phrase in one sutta acting as a cue or trigger for the next. Also to be found are connections and allusions within the same sutta that are not at first obvious; some so subtle that one could be forgiven for thinking they are accidental rather than deliberate. An example is contained in Ud. 5.4. What is more natural than for little boys, caught out in some misdemeanour (‘tormenting fish in a pond’) by a passerby, attempting to run away, as is suggested in the last line of the verse:
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If you have done a bad deed or do one now.
You will not escape pain, though you try to flee.’
Another device the ancient compilers of the Canon have employed is the occasional interposing of lines of explanatory narrative prose, or verse that repeats what was previously said in* prose. This has been done in the Cunda Sutta (8.5.), heightening the solemnity of the events being describee! with dramatic effect. This sutta also has a number of curious features. It consists of four separate pieces, actually four short suttas that have been strung together. The composition of s&karamaddava, the Buddha’s last meal, has been the subject of continuing controversy from the earliest times and much has been written about it. Although it is thought to have been the capse of the Buddha’s sickness, this is not borne out by a careful examination of the commentarial tradition. It was possibly medicinal in nature and acted as a purge and was prepared >by Cunda with the purpose of prolonging the Buddha’s life. In any case the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta suggests the JJuddha fell ill during the last *rains-retreat, prior to informing- Mara he would pass away in three months* time and the visit to Cunda s dwelling. The remorse of Cunda was probably because his preparation did not succeed. Another feature of the Cunda Sutta is the sudden appearance of the venerable Cundaka as the Buddha’s attendant, whilst the final section reverts to Ananda again. An intriguing question is whether there is any connection between Cunda the Smith (Cunda Kamm&raputta) and the venerable Cunda(ka). Thus, is there a portion of the story missing where Cunda the Smith ‘goes forth’ and becomes the venerable Cunda or Cundaka? Moreover, are the narrative verses actually fragments of an alternative verse recension of the story? The text we have is very much an edited and
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selected version of the whole mass of floating oral material, much of it now lost forever. An example of some of this material is the survival of the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit work, the Mahavastu, which gives a glimpse of the extent and richness of it. Herein are to be found both prose and verse alternative versions of various tales and episodes within the Buddhist tradition, many of which are absent from Pali literature altogether 1 .
In the Commentary to the Suppavasa Sutta (2.8) it is said Koliyaputta was the son (putta) of the Koliyan king. However, this is anachronistic as the Koliyans, like the Sakyans their neighbours, formed a republic during the lifetime of the Buddha. As Suppavasa herself is designated Koliyadhlta (‘a Koliyan daughter’), this might then give the impression that they were brother and sister instead of husband and wife! The word putta (as also dhita) when used as a suffix to a name, here and elsewhere, seems to mean 'a member of, ‘belonging to’ or ‘one born in’, a certain family or clan, rather than the ‘son’ or ‘child’ of a particular person. It is used especially by khattiya clans such as the Koliyans and Sakyans in whose republic-states 3 there was a legislative assembly ( sahgha ) of leading members, heads of families. These members are called rajas, whilst the other
2 I disagree now with my observation in the introduction to the Udana
translation 'p.8) that. The Udana is an anthology, many pieces being taken
from elsewhere in the Pali Canon . . which is misleading. Neither the
Mahaparinibbana Suttanta nor the Udana can be pointed to as the original
source for those suttas they have in common.
3 These are either truly tribal, ruled by the elected ciders of a council, or republican slates governed by an aristocratic (Le. Uwmya-born) oligarchy.
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male members of the clan were the puttas or rajaputtas, the ‘sons’ of the rajas. That the Buddha was a rajaputta would not necessarily mean that he was a ‘prince’ as the later tradition ( would have it, the son of King Suddhodana, but merely that he* was a member of the Sakyan clan. He was a Sakyaputta or Rajaputta, that is, he belonged to a clan or tribe that was governed by an assembly of rajas .; a Rajput tribe in modern parlance. A remnant of such a tribe, the Forest Rajputs, still existed in recent times in the foothills of the Himalayas on the , borders of Nepal. Their origin had much in common with the ancient traditions recorded in Pili, literature of the origin of the Sakyans, whose home was that very same region.
This system of government of the Koliyans and Sakyans is also reflected in the heavenly worlds with the distinction between ‘devas’ and ‘devaputtas’. The leader of the devas, the devaraja of the Tavatimsa (the ‘Assembly of the Thirty-three’) reveals in the name of ‘Sakka’ his connection with the Sakyans. Possibly he was originally a tribal god, hero or ancestor, who in later times came to be identified with the Indo-Ariyan thunder-god, Indra. Because of this tribal connection it is appropriate that Sakka should have become the special patron and protector of the Buddhadhamma, the teaching of the Great Sage ( [[[mahamuni]] ) Sakyaputta Gotama, .the Sakyamuni, the Sage of the Sakyans. The devas, it may be gathered, lived an idyllic existence as rajas, in aristocratic or ‘regal’ splendour, attended by retinues of devaputtas, celestial maidens ( devakahhd ) or devadhitas (the ‘daughters’, also called acchara or nymphs), musicians ( gandhabba ), etc. Here, as in the human world which it mirrors, there is to be seen the transition in the actual meaning of the term raja, from the original tribal/republican connotation to the idea of ‘kingship’, the single rule of a
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maharaja, when kingdoms replaced the tribal territories.
i References to devatas or devaputtas belonging to ‘a Tavatimsa company’ (Jdvatirpsa-kdyikd devata) may be taken to mean referring to this heaven as organised into presumably | thirty-three companies or divisions. Each of these are headed
I by a ‘deva’ as the leader which, like that of the overall leader
! Sakka himself, is an office held by that deva and who is I; replaced upon his decease. The term ‘devaputta’ then refers to
- the other members of the various companies under the
leadership of a particular deva. These companies also resemble !; military battalions and are so employed in the mythical warfare that takes place betwden the devas and the asuras. As well as this warrior Ikhattiya ethos, the Tavatimsa is characterised by its sensual delights which here reach unsurpassed heights of indulgence and" perfection.
In the Udana (3.7) there is a reference to Sakka’s consort, Suja the asura maiden. In 3.2 Sakka is revealed being ministered to by five hundred beautiful pink-footed nymphs C acchara ,) or the Kakuta-padani, literally, ‘the Dove-footed Ones’, referring to their delicacy and complexion, rather than any bird-like characteristics. Some texts (e.g. the Burmese 4 ) have kukkuta - (‘chicken’), instead of kakuta - (‘dove’). In the Commentary (UdA, p.172) it is stated that their feet were of a reddish or pinkish colour ‘like the feet of a pigeon’ ( parapata-pada-sadisa ), whilst the PTS edition of the Udana reads padini instead of padanl - the only reference to these nymphs, in the Sutta Pitaka, making the correct reading difficult to ascertain.
4 Khuddakanikaya I, Chaithasangayana ed. 1956.
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i - Some other words and phrases of interest in the Udana are the following:
sabbattha ekarattiparivasa (1.10). This seems to-mean ‘staying one night at each place (upon the journey)’. However, the Commentary takes it to mean ‘taking (but) one night to complete the journey’, despite sabbattha which ought to mean ‘everywhere’, ‘each place’.
In 1.10 also occurs the phrase gavi tarunavaccha: ‘a cow accompanied by a young calf. This should pose no particular problem, except that Woodward mistranslated the sentence, implying that Bahiya (and also Suppabuddha in 53) was killed b.y ‘a calf instead of ‘a cow with a calf*, the latter being more plausible. Normally gentle and inoffensive, a cow can be dangerous and unpredictable when she has a young calf to protect. Woodward’s- mistake seems to have gone unnoticed for it is found repeated in books and articles by other authors when referring to the deaths of Bahiya and Suppabuddha. Pukkusati (M 140) and TambadSthika (DhA II 203f.) were'also similarly .killed by cows, the former by a cow rushing to protect her calf according to the Commentary (MA V 62).
Janapadakalytyl (3.2) meaning ‘the loveliest in the land* is taken by the Commentary to be the personal name of the Sakyan girl with whom Nanda is infatuated, rather than merely descriptive. One feels the Commentary is stretching a point here but it had to fit the manifestly late and absurd tale of
5 Fi.. Woodward. Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon II: Verses of Uplift,
PTS 1935. pJl.
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N’anda’s going forth as found in DhA.
In 3.9 occurs a list of crafts. The fifth is muddasippa: communicating by gestures. The Commentary is of little help,
merely adding ‘hand gestures’. Woodward’s explanation of it as bargaining by signs or hand-touching employed by merchants 4 is
far-fetched and quite wrong according to the late I.B. Horner in
! a personal communication. Possibly it may have had a military
significance as do the previous crafts, i.e. directing the course of
the battle by signalling commands. T.W. Rhys Davids’ proposal that lokayata means ‘nature lore’ has been disposed of by Jayatilleke who has shown that it originally meant ‘the art of debate’ as a branch of brahminica! learning 7 . Lokayata came to < mean materialism at the time of the Pali commentators and,
t outside Buddhism, it is also used as a term for materialism. It is
• so described in Haribhadra’s Saddarsanasamuccaya (8th cent.
C.E.) and in the Vedantin Mahadeva’s Sarvadarsanasamgraha (14th cent.). There are two distinct readings of the final craft mentioned: (1) khattavijja: political science or statecraft, the craft of the ruling or warrior class ( khattiya ); (2) khettavijja): the knowledge of, or the ability to locate, suitable sites for building upon. There is also a possible reading of
- nakhattavijja (astrology).
Most translations of the verse beginning abhutavadi nirayam upeti (4.8; also found in Dhp 306 and It. 48), render this line: ‘The liar goes to hell’. However, this does not clearly differentiate the subject from the person of the next line. That
6 Woodward, ibid^ p38, ti2.
1 JCN. Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge , London 1963, p.48f
Buddhist Studies Review 9 f 2 (1992) - Ireland
the . verse should be translated as:
The false accuser goes to hell
And he who denies the deed he did ...’ is suggested by the story of SundarlVmurder (also fouifd in DhpA) and also the prose of It 48.
In 5.9 occurs the phrase saddayam&narupa, ‘making an uproar’, in the PTS edition of the text. However, on consulting the various readings noted by the texts, none of the Mss used in its preparation actually has this reading. Paul Steinthal, the PTS editor, apparently took saddaya- from the Commentary which gives this as an alternative, possibly because he considered his Ms reading meaningless. These various readings are: padhaya-, pat hay a-, vadhdya-, saddhdya-. More recent Oriental printed editions of the text are of little help in resolving the problem. The Burmese edition has sadhaya -, as does the Nalanda edition*, and this may be equated with padhaya -, because sa and pa are similar in the Brahml script and easily confused. There is a verb sadh - (Skt. srdh-) meaning ‘abuse’, which ought to give the Pali present indicative saddhati , not sadhatP. The Udana Commentary'® gives the reading vadhdya-, meaning ‘harm’, ‘injury*, but ‘harm by verbal abuse’, which seems to be what is intended, would be a peculiar use of the word. To establish the correct form of the text is a complicated problem and cannot be resolved with the material available.
Parulha-kaccha-nakha-loma: ‘with long-grown nails and hair’
| Buddhist Studies Review 9, 2 (1992) - Ireland
(6.2). Woodward translated as ‘with long nails and hairy
I armpits’ (‘Verses of Uplift’, p.78), and at Kindred Sayings I
| (p.104) it appears as ‘with hairy bodies and long nails’. There
I seems to be uncertainty as to the meaning and derivation of
t kaccha, as either ‘marshy land’, ‘the long grass’, etc, growing in
| such a place, or‘a hollow’such as‘an armpit’, etc. 11 . The whole
5 ; phrase appears to imply being unkempt, dirty, sweaty and smelly
j; (‘hairy = sweaty armpits, caked with dust’, eta 12 ). Later in the
i sutta the king says, *... when they have washed off the dust and
r mud, are well-bathed and perfumed, and have trimmed their , hair and beards ...’, which seems to support this interpretation.
i Kohco khirapako va ninnagatp (8.7). I translate!, ‘as a i fully-fledged heron leaves the marshy ground’. However, r khirapako- actually means ‘milk-fed’, i.e, ‘a sucklingf-calf)* and i: seems hardly appropriate for a bird, although possibly it could l prefer to a fledgling being fed with regurgitated food by its i parents, but far-fetched. The Commentary (UdA, p.427) refers to the notion of certain birds (heron, goose or swan, eta) having the ability to separate milk from water, leaving the water behind (ninnaga = udaka). Another possibility is that kohea is not a heron at all, but an'elephant. See PED J koncct n . trumpeting (of elephants; also the sounds made by certain water-birds that are similar, cf Milindapanha chap 6, *. . . an elephant’s sound is like a heron’s’), kohe’a = koheandda (kuheanada ). kohea / kuhea / kuhja / kuhjarcc. an elephant
8 Khuddakanikaya L Nalanda Devanagari Pali Series, Bihar Government, 1959.
9 Private communication from KJL Norman, Cambridge.
10 Both PTS, and Simon Hewavitarne Bequest ed. 1920.
11 Cf PED kacchJ- l \ kacchiP\ also kacchantara, upakaccha, and Ski.
kaccha, kaksa, kaca.
12 This interpretation was suggested to the writer by the late Ven. H. Saddhatissa.
Buddhist Studies Review 9, 2 (1992) - Ireland
However, it seems best to accept the commentarial explanation j. here. Although it has not been possible to locate the concept of | the milk-drinking heron elsewhere in - any Pali work, it is a j
known convention in Sanskrit literature 13 . It is used as a simile •
for accepting the good but rejecting the bad, thus: ‘He takes the f good utterances (away from the bad) as the goose takes milk from water’ (Mahabharata I 69JO) and, The royal goose drinks j‘ mi|k, (but) avoids water’ (Subha$itaratnakosa, 1374). Therefore, | the Udana passage should be amended to translate as: *(the wise | man . . . abandons evil) as the milk-drinking heron leaves the g water behind’ 14 . However, the substitution of ‘heron’ for the | more usual ‘goose’ (or ‘swan’) does leave the suspicion that this | interpretation may not be entirely correct. Perhaps it would be > going too far to consider this as another example of the Pali redactor’s subtle humour!
Sutta 8.6. betrays its lateness by the prophecy about Pajaliputta (modern Patna) put into the mouth of the Buddha, . concerning its future greatness when it was to become the j capital of Magadha and the centre of the Aspfcan empire. The sudden introduction of the name Pftyaliputta itself, and also the explanation calling one of the entrances to the city the Gotama
13 Th»t this wis t widespread belief is substantiated by the fact that it is
actually mentioned in a 9th cent. Chinese (Tang Dynasty) Buddhist source.
Afer hearing a report of a conversation with the Ch*an master Huang-po,
another remarks. ‘That swan , is able to extract the pure milk from the
adulterated mixture . . .’ 0. Blofeld, The Zen Teaching of Huang Po, London
1958, pJOl).
This information and the references were supplied by K.R. Norman in a personal communication.
Gate, look very much like a late interpolation.
In conclusion, a word should be added regarding the text and translation of the Udana. The PTS edition is in a very unsatisfactory state. It was prepared by P. Steinthal in 1885 from three Mss (two Sinhalese and a Burmese), all containing many defects. An attempt was made to improve the text by F.. Windisch who produced a list of alternative readings 15 . This list was subsequently further improved and added to by F.L. Woodward when he made his edition of the Commentary (1925). Despite these attempts, the fact is that there is still much left to be desired in the text and what is really needed is a completely new edition to replace Steinthal. There are now in existence several Oriental printed editions; such as that contained in the Burmese Chatthasangayana edition of the Tipi^aka (1956), that are more satisfactory or at least ‘readable’ compared with many portions of the PTS text. This Burmese edition, the NalandS Devanagarl edition and the Sinhalese Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series edition were consulted by the present writer in preparing his translation of the Udana. The initial purpose of this translation was to ‘improve upon’ Woodward’s 1935 versionv(‘Verses of Uplift’) which is unsatisfactory in many respects. However, I have refrained from being overtly critical of Woodward’s work for, although many of the errors in his translation have been corrected, this new translation has produced a new crop of errors. These were discovered only subsequent to publication and hopefully may be corrected in a future edition.
15 ‘Notes on the Edition of the Udana’, JPTS 1890, pp.9l-108.
A NOTE ON THE ORIGIN OF THE PffU DHAMMAPADA VERSES
Nissim Cohen
The purpose of this 'note' is twofold: first, to provide up- to-date material on the parallels to the PSli Dha*mmapada (Dhp) and between the various Dharmapadas, as well as comments on their relative antiquity; second, to develop a thesis on the origin of the Dhp, hinted at elsewhere*, and which is basad on con¬ textual and literary evidence. It may stimulate further investi¬ gations on this matter and, if carried out by more able resear¬ chers, the outcome may prove fruitful and our knowledge concern¬ ing the origin of the Pali Dhp stanzas enriched.
1. The Dhp is, admittedly, the most widely translated and read of the canonical texts. Notwithstanding its popularity, the greater part of the research work done so far gravitates, with
a few exceptions, towards the parallels to the Dhp and the simi¬ larities between the various extant Dharmapadas, to the exclusion of other linguistic and literary studies. One of the most out¬ standing contributions in the field of contemporary studies in recent years is the work published by Professor K. Mizuno 2 ; more Important still, his research has helped to resolve the question of the antiquity of the Dhp in relation to the Dharmapadas of other schools. My aim in this section is to produce complemen¬ tary material, based on my own studies,and in a systemised manner to comment on the relative age of these texts.
Usually, editors and translators supply references to other texts. However, besides the inconvenience of being scattered throughout the texts, these references are sometimes incomplete and even misleading 3 . The author of this article has, in recent years, surveyed the Pali canonical and non-canonical texts as well as Dharmapada texts for parallels to tha Dhp, trying to discover and identify additional similarities or parallels. The outcome is presented here in the form of Tables I-III*.
To my knowledge, this is the most complete inventory of the Dhammapada’s parallels so far published 5 . It. will also be noted that the canonical texts have been divided into two groups, CANON¬ ICAL TEXTS-I (CT-I) comprising those texts whose final composi-
tion dates are considered, by certain scholars, to be earlier than or, in a few cases (Udana, Itivuttaka?), contemporary with the Dhp. In CANONICAL TEXTS-II (CT-II) have been included texts which are, in all probability, later than Dhp.
A question that may arise in this connection is why the Jata- kas have been listed as non-canonical. It is well known that there is still no consensus as to what should be cop? idered as canonical in the Jatakas, and what as commentarial literature.
As our concern here is to define the probable sources of the Dhp verses, it should suffice to mention that we have the testi¬ mony of the Jatakas proper which, in some cases,, state clearly that the verses have been pointed out by the Buddha from the Dhp and not the other way round (for example, Ja I 76, 132 ; II 441; III 73, 3J3) 6 .*
Let me now present some remarks related to the work of Prof, Mizuno and^ the editors of other Dharmapada texts on this topic. According to Mizuno, in the Pali canonical texts there are alto¬ gether 137 gathas (non-repetitive), and in the non-canonical
- • texts, J9 in all 7 . It will be seen from the ‘Table I-Summary:
Sources and Parallels to the Pali Dhammapada Verses' that I have found these numbers to be 123 and 60 respectively; however, as he does not give exact references, no further comment is possible here (incidentally, in his reckoning he does not include the VimSnavatthu). We see in tl\,c table that the total number of single Dhp stanzas traceable to the canonical texts are 110, if CT-I only is cqnsidered; this is about 26% of the total.
J. Brough, in his The Candharx Dharmapada (GDhp), states that 'Of. 350 Prakrit stanzas, between 225 and 2 30 are shared with the Dhammapada* 8 . This figure is higher by about 31% from that in Table I (177) and may be attributed, first, to the errors found in his identification and reckoning of the parallels as registered in Concordance II (p.287): about two dozen partial stanzas (one, two or three lines) have been considered as exact equivalents to Pali Dhp; second, to the inclusion, in this reckon— ing, of fragmentary stanzas whose equivalence to the Dhp cannot be asserted. The manuscript of the GDhp contains quite a tew fragmentary stanzas of one and, to a lesser extent, two lines.
Buddhist Studies Review 6, 2 (1989)
similar to the Pali Dhp. Further, Brough assumes (p.23), based on the proportions in the surviving Prakrit, the text to have shared between 350 and 360 verses with the Dhp, We may safely state that, in view of the former considerations, this figure could not be higher than 250.
In his translation of the Tibetan version of the Udanavarga 9 , Rockhi11 identified 306 parallels with Dhp (which, deducting the* fev: errors found, becomes 297). I identified seven : more. Brough, in his GDhp (p.23, n.l), noted just over 50 others which are no| included in the tables of Rockhill - a figure that seems t^o high.
Dharmapada text; in mixed Sanskrit, brought from Tibet and deposited at the Bihar Research Society of Patna, has been edited twice, more or less simultaneously: The Patna Dharmapada (PDhp) by C. Roth, and The Huddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dharmapada (BHSDhp) by N.S. Shukla 1 * 1 . The former comprises 415 stanzas, the latter, 4j4; this is due to a difference in the method of arrangement of the verses adopted by the two editors. They mention that ih the colophon of the manuscript the gathas are referred to as being 502 ; a h*int as to a possible explanation to account for this discrepancy may be had, perhaps, by a comparative study of Dhp and PDhp 11 . Roth believes that . PDhp is based on a Prakrit-Pali version which is older than the existing Pali Dhp. Besides, there arc also other differences in the verses
<;\i
themselves an.d the sequence of their order which exclude the Pali Dhp in its present form as the direct source of PDhp' (p.94). Shukla is of the opinion that the present version of the BHSDhp can have the distinction of being regarded as an earlier Dharma¬ pada: *... The division found in the Pali text and other versions ... indicates that it was at a very late stage that these texts gained a streamlined form, and for this purpose they must have depended * on one common base' (p.viil). I do not know whether the author carried out his intended study which would prove the anteriority of this text; meanwhile, Mlzuno has given us a com¬ parative study of the Dharmapadas, wherein this matter is discus¬ sed and an attempt made to prove the anteriority of the Pali Dhp in relation to other Dharmapadas 12 .
Origin of Dhamraapada Verses
Another way of . looking at this problem of anteriority, or,; one that could give us the chronology of compilation of thes< texts., would be to pick up a doctrinal issue and examine ho*, it is tackled in them. As an example, let us take the case oi the Arahant. The Dhp has an Ara/ranta v'aaya, verses tin
term is expressly mentioned only in stanza 98. PDhp has equiva
lent stanzas, not grouped together, but scattered throughou
different chapters; its parallel verse 245 also mentions i iu term a rahanto* Udanavarga has, instead, i i e term, a r y j (XXIX. IS 5
1 in it we find only five out of ten stanzas. The GDhp has noru
J of- these stanzas. We may, therefore, try to establish tiu chtono
j ' logy of these texts, based on the historical evolution oi iht
ideal of perfect man, which started with that ol Arahatusnip turned out to be an issue of controversy some time after chi
Parinibbana of the Buddha, and ended with the emergence of th.
ideal of the Bodhisaitva in Mahay ana schools. The orde: wu 1 be: Dhp PDhp (or PDhp -> Dhp) Ud ODhp, which is slight 1 different from that given by Mizuno, viz. Dhp PDhp GDhp urther help for the establishment of the relative c hvono.|*'*g of the Dharmapadas may be found in the uuJdhu vj , vv, i ?'■> 196* CDhp has parallels to only two of them i I b 2 , 193); signif: cantXy enough, vv. 188-192 , which deal with the Threefold Refugr are absent in it. There are no parallels to w, I v> - *- : r. a:
of the Dharmapadas (on these, see later). We thus have coutnrr. tion of the chronology we tried to establish above
As to the parallels found in PDhp-BHSDhp, my tompa i a i :v<• ; .
of the texts shows these to total 285 - a figure diiteiest *: that found In the references of both, edited texts, due i errors and omissions contained therein which will not be (Gdu ted on tfere. Since the former text is very akin to Dhp. expect the divisional structure of the stanzas, which are para lels to Dhp, to be similarly related in its edited fort. - vhi is not always the case. For instance, PDHp 2 3 — 26 have, respe tively, 6-4-4-4 padas; rearrangement into 4-4-A-6 pSdas vou
make 23 and 24 the exact parallels to Dnp 31, 327, and 1 i
a partial parallel to Dhp 27
134 Buddhist Studies Review 6, 2 (1989)