Difference between revisions of "Aaa"
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− | + | arguing, namely that the concluding remark on [[dukkha]] might be “ein | |
+ | metaphy sischer Zusatz ” 1 \ | ||
− | + | Exit KOEPPEN, at least in this question, on the basis of an ex cathedra | |
+ | [[judgement]]. A questionable [[tradition]] of translating this remark in [[books]] | ||
+ | that pretend to deal with the [[Buddha’s teaching]] has been established here | ||
+ | and is still flourishing. To arrive at his [[judgement]] against KOEPPEN, | ||
+ | OLDENBERG had to forget (or to ignore) his [[own]] edition of the Malta - | ||
+ | [[vagga]]. He showed moreover, that he had not the slightest inkling of the | ||
+ | problem that vedand y the second of these ‘Objekte des Ergreifens’, is | ||
+ | often explained as consisting of [[pleasant]], [[unpleasant]] and [[neutral]] [[feeling]] | ||
+ | and that [[pleasant]] and [[neutral]] [[feeling]] cannot be characterized as ‘[[Leiden]]’ | ||
+ | and only in a slightly different [[sense]] as ‘Icidvoll’. 14 | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | [[ | + | H. “Koppcn (1, S.222, Annul) findet in dicscn Ictztcn Worlcn cincn *[[mela]]- |
− | + | physischcn Zusatz* zum urspriinglichcn Text der vicr Wahrhcitcn, ohne alien | |
+ | Grund. So viel metaphysischc Terminologic, wie in dicscn VVortcn liegt, hat der | ||
+ | Buddhlsmus von jehcr bcscssen.” | ||
− | + | 14, Already V.GLASENAPP, in his ‘Nachvvort* to OLDENBEKG’s [[Buddha]] [1959: 1 | |
+ | 474] hinted at this problem, by pointing to the Rahogatasutta (SN no.36.11), | ||
+ | though his approach is quite unhislorical. There, replying to a question, the | ||
+ | [[Buddha]] admits (SN IV 216.20) he has [[taught]] both: there arc three kinds of | ||
+ | [[feelings]], [[pleasant]], [[unpleasant]] and [[neutral]], and: whatever one [[feels]] belongs to the | ||
+ | [[unpleasant]] {yam kind vedayitam tam dukkhasmim). But “the [second] statement | ||
+ | has been made by me having in [[mind]] that satlkhdrd as such arc [[impermanent]] | ||
+ | (tnayd sarlkhdrdnam yeva aniccatam sandhaya bhdsitam )*\ Sec Lambert | ||
+ | SCHMITHAUSEN, “Zur buddhistischen Lehrc von der drcifachcn Lcidhaftigkcif, | ||
+ | ZDMG (Supplement 111.2) 1977: 918-931. J | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | PETER SKILLING | |
− | + | The Advent of [[Theravada Buddhism]] | |
+ | to Mainland South-east {{Wiki|Asia}} | ||
− | + | In the {{Wiki|present}} paper I examine {{Wiki|evidence}} for the school-affiliation of the | |
− | + | [[early Buddhism]] of mainland South-east {{Wiki|Asia}}, in the first millenium of the | |
− | + | [[Common Era]]. 1 Is the {{Wiki|evidence}} sufficient to establish that this school was | |
− | + | the TheravSda, and, if so, when and from where did it arrive in the | |
+ | region? | ||
− | + | For the [[Theravada]] of Ceylon—or more precisely, for the MahSvihSra | |
− | + | school of the Theravada—wo have the history as presented in the two | |
− | + | famous-chronicles, the Dlpavan.isa and [[Mahavamsa]] . [[Information]] may | |
+ | also be gleaned from references to historical events embedded in the | ||
+ | commentaries of Euddhaghosa and others, from {{Wiki|inscriptions}} in Old [[Sin]]- | ||
+ | hala and [[Sanskrit]], from {{Wiki|archaeological}} and {{Wiki|iconographical}} {{Wiki|evidence}}, and | ||
+ | froniChinese sources—in some cases first hand, such as that supplied by | ||
+ | the redoutable [[pilgrim]] [[Fa-hien]]. Altogether, we have at least in broad out¬ | ||
+ | line a continuous history of [[Theravada]] in [[Ceylon]] from its inception up to | ||
+ | the {{Wiki|present}} day. | ||
− | + | Outside of [[Ceylon]], the history of [[Theravada]] is obscure. For mainlan d | |
− | + | [[India]] we have almost no [[information]] at all. There are some—but not | |
− | [[ | + | many—references to [[Theravadin]] [[doctrines]] in the works of other schools, 2 |
− | + | but the historical information—such as that provided by {{Wiki|inscriptions}} or by | |
+ | the {{Wiki|Chinese}} [[pilgrims]] [[Hsiian-tsang]] and I-ching—is at best sketchy. | ||
+ | For the South-east {{Wiki|Asia}} of the early period we do not have any histori¬ | ||
+ | cal records comparable to those of [[Ceylon]]: no indigenous chronicles. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | This is a revised version of a paper given at the ficole franfaise d’Extrfimc- | |
+ | {{Wiki|Orient}}, {{Wiki|Phnom Penh}}, 6 July 1996. The title was inspired by Luce 1974. | ||
− | + | 1. That is, I do not discuss the [[Buddhism]] of peninsular and insular South-east | |
− | + | {{Wiki|Asia}}, or that of CampI (the coastal regions of present-day central and southern | |
− | + | [[Vietnam]]). In none of these areas is there any early {{Wiki|evidence}} for TheravSda | |
+ | [[Buddhism]]. | ||
− | + | 2. See Skilling 1987,1993a and b, and 1994 for some examples from [[Tibetan]] | |
− | + | sources. | |
− | + | whether in [[Pali]], [[Sanskrit]], or in vernaculars survive. The few extant his¬ | |
− | + | torical {{Wiki|inscriptions}} dcrnot give us any continuous history, and {{Wiki|Chinese}} | |
− | + | reports tell us little about the type of [[Buddhism]] practised on the mainland. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
+ | [[Pali]] Inscriptions from [[Burma]] and [[Siam]] | ||
− | + | The main {{Wiki|evidence}} [[lor]] the school-affiliation of [[early Buddhism]] in [[South]]¬ | |
+ | [[east]] {{Wiki|Asia}} comes from [[Pali]] {{Wiki|inscriptions}}. These are known from two main | ||
+ | areas: the [[Pyu]] {{Wiki|kingdom}} of Srik$etra in the vicinity of Prome in the lower | ||
+ | Irrawaddy valley of [[Burma]], and the Mon {{Wiki|kingdom}} of Dvaravatl in the | ||
+ | Chao Phraya basin of [[Siam]]. 3 The {{Wiki|inscriptions}} from [[Burma]] are engraved | ||
+ | on {{Wiki|gold}} plates (fashioned in imitation of palm-leaf [[manuscripts]]), a {{Wiki|silver}} | ||
+ | reliquary {[[stupa]]), terracotta tablets, and stone slabs. The {{Wiki|inscriptions}} | ||
+ | from [[Siam]] are engraved on stone dhammacakkas , [[octagonal]] pillars, stone | ||
+ | slabs, and clay tablets and reliquaries. The [[script]] used in both cases is | ||
+ | similar, and may be described as a variety of the [[South Indian]] [[Pallava]] | ||
+ | [[script]]. 4 The Srlksetra {{Wiki|inscriptions}} are dated to the 5th to 7th centuries CE, | ||
+ | the [[Siamese]] {{Wiki|inscriptions}} to the 6th to 8th centuries: that is, they are | ||
+ | broadly contemporary. 5 | ||
− | + | (1) Inscriptions from the region of £rik$ctra: 6 | |
+ | —the ye dhammd hetuppabhavd vers s {VinayaMahdvagga, 140.28-29) ; v | ||
+ | —the iti pi so bhagavd [[formula]] (cf. Dhajagga-sutta , SN1219.31-33); | ||
− | + | —the svdkkhato [[bhagavata]] [[dhammo]] [[formula]] (cf. Dhajagga-sutta , SN I | |
− | + | 220 . 1 - 2 );' * | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 3. In this paper I set aside the historical questions (of, for example, clironoiogy | |
+ | and geographical extent) [[attached]] to the names of these two {{Wiki|kingdoms}}, and | ||
+ | (with not a little reluctance) use the names as a [[Wikipedia:Convention (norm)|conventional]] shorthand. | ||
+ | 4. The [[script]] of the [[Pyu]] {{Wiki|inscriptions}} has in the {{Wiki|past}} been variously described as | ||
+ | [[Kadamba]], Telcgu-Canara, or Grantha: for a welcome reappraisal see Stargardt | ||
+ | 1995,204. | ||
− | + | 5. For the dating of the former see Stargardt 1995, for the [[latter]] e. g. Bauer | |
+ | 1991 and Skilling forthcoming (a). It should be stressed that the {{Wiki|inscriptions}} do | ||
+ | not bear any dates, and that those assigned to them are tentative and approxi¬ | ||
+ | mate. A comprehensive comparative palacographical analysis of the $rik$etra | ||
+ | with the Dvaravafi corpus remains a desideratum. | ||
− | + | 6. For details see Ray 1939,41-52; Luce 1974, 125-27; and Stargardt 1995. | |
+ | Most of the texts are brought together in U Tha Myat 1963. Note that several | ||
+ | of the passages arc known from more than one inscription. | ||
− | |||
− | + | SKILLING 95 | |
+ | —the [[formula]] of [[dependent arising]] ( [[paticcasamuppada]] : cf. [[Vinaya]] | ||
+ | Mahdvagga , 1 1.10—2.1); 7 | ||
− | + | —[[stanzas]] sung by [[Sakka]], Lord of the [[Gods]], in praise of the [[Buddha]] enter¬ | |
+ | ing [[Rajagaha]] ( [[Vinaya]] Mahdvagga , 138.15-23,29-30); | ||
− | + | —the maggdn atthaixgiko settho verse ( [[Dhammapada]] 273); | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | —verses from three popular paritta-s: the MangalaRatana -, and Mora- | |
− | + | [[sutta-s]]\% , | |
− | [[ | ||
+ | —the four confidences ( vesdrajja ) of a [[Buddha]] (MN I 71.32; AN II 8, | ||
+ | penult); | ||
− | + | —the 37 factors conducive to [[awakening]] ( bodhipakkhiya-dhammdY ; | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | —a list of miscellaneous numerically grouped items, in ascending order; | |
+ | —a list of the 14 [[Buddha]] nana-s (cf. Patisambhiddmagga 1 133.19-30); | ||
+ | —a fragment of a commentary on [[paticcasamuppada]] (cf. [[Vibhanga]] 144- | ||
+ | 45); | ||
− | + | —the opening of the [[matika]] : kusald [dhammd aku]sald dhammd | |
− | + | abydka[td\ dhammd (cf. [[Dhammasangani]] 1.4); | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | . | ||
− | 4 | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | —a fragment giving two of the 24 [[conditions]]: [adhi\patipaccayo arum- | |
− | + | tarapaccayo ; | |
− | |||
+ | 7. In addition to the [[paticcasamuppada]] inscribed on {{Wiki|gold}} plates from | ||
+ | $rik$etra, the [[Vinaya]] Mahdvagga version is known from a stone slab from' | ||
+ | Kunzeik, Shwegyin township, [[Pegu]]: see [[Aung]] Thaw 1978, 111. As far as I | ||
+ | know this handsome and well-preserved inscription has not been published, but | ||
+ | fortunately most of it can be descried from the photograph at [[Aung]] Thaw p. | ||
+ | 110. It opens (the readings here are preliminary) with the.introductory (l) | ||
+ | t(e)na samayena [[buddho]] bhaga(vd) uruveldyam viharati na(j)j(d) (nerahja- | ||
+ | rdya? unclear) [2] tire (or tire ?) bodhirukkhamule pathamdbhisatnbuddho atha | ||
+ | kho [[bhagava]] . . ., followed by the full [[paticcasamuppada]] [[formula]], both anu- | ||
+ | loma (lines 5-9) and [[patiloma]] (lines 9-14). The [[latter]] opens with the [[phrase]] | ||
+ | avijjaya tv eva asesavirdganirodhd , [[characteristic]] of the [[Theravadin]] ([[Pali]]) | ||
+ | version only, and not known in versions of other schools, such as the | ||
+ | (Mula)Sarvastivadins or [[Lokottaravadins]], or from the {{Wiki|Prakrit}} {{Wiki|inscriptions}} from | ||
+ | Devnlmori and {{Wiki|Ratnagiri}}, all of which open with equivalents of avijjd-nirodhd . | ||
+ | The patilomg. is followed by the yada have pdtubhavanti dhammd verse (lines | ||
+ | 15-18), known also from {{Wiki|inscriptions}} from [[Siam]]. The last two lines continue | ||
+ | with the prose text of the Mahdvagga—atha kho (bhaga)va tfattiyd) maj(jh) | ||
+ | imam (yd)mam [[paticca]] — suggesting that the slab is part of a longer inscription. | ||
+ | For the Devnlmori and {{Wiki|Ratnagiri}} {{Wiki|inscriptions}} see von Hinuber 1985; for a | ||
+ | suggestion that the former might be Vatslputriya or Sammariya, see Skilling | ||
+ | forthcoming (c). | ||
− | + | 8. For these see Skilling forthcoming (b). | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | —a list of seven of the eight vipassand fidna-s (cf. [[Visuddhimagga]] | |
− | + | XXI.1). | |
+ | (2) Inscriptions from the Chao Phraya basin: 9 | ||
+ | —the ye [[dhamma]] hetuppabhava verse; | ||
− | + | —the [[formula]] of [[dependent arising]] ( [[paticca-samuppada]] ); | |
− | + | —an {{Wiki|enumeration}} of the [[four truths]] of the [[noble]] ( [[ariya-sacca]] ), the [[twelve links of dependent arising]] ( [[paticcasamuppada]] ), and the 37 factors | |
+ | conducive to [[awakening]] ( [[bodhipakkhiya-dhamma]] ), inscribed together | ||
+ | on a rectangular stone bar from [[Nakhon Pathom]]; 10 | ||
+ | —extracts from the prose [[Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta]], the “first ser¬ | ||
+ | mon" spoken by the [[Buddha]] in the [[Deer Park]] at [[Sarnath]], found on | ||
+ | stone dhammacakkas ; 11 | ||
+ | —the three yada have pSlubhavanti [[dhamma]] verses ( [[Vinaya]] Mahdvagga, | ||
+ | 12.3-26); | ||
− | + | —the anekajaiisamsQran) verses ( Dliammapada 153—54); | |
+ | —the [[dukkham]] dukkhasamuppadam verse ( [[Dhammapada]] 191); 12 | ||
+ | —the abhiiiheyyam abhihhatam verse ( [[Suttanipata]] 558); | ||
− | + | —fragments of the 16 [[senses]] ( [[attha]] ) of the [[four truths]] (cf. | |
+ | Paiisambhidamagga 19.31-20.6), 13 | ||
+ | — nabddhakam yato [[dukkham]] ..., non-canonical verses on the [[four truths]] | ||
+ | (cited at [[Visuddhimagga]] XVI.25); | ||
− | + | — sacca-kicca-kata-hdnam .... a non-canonical verse on the twelve | |
+ | aspects ( dvadasakara ) of the [[four truths]] (cited in the Pathama- | ||
+ | [[sambodhi]] and Sdratthasamuccaya ); | ||
− | + | —three verses from the Telakatdha-gdthd . 14 | |
− | |||
+ | The {{Wiki|evidence}} of the {{Wiki|inscriptions}} may be examined from two aspects: lan¬ | ||
+ | guage and contents. The [[language]] of both the §rlk$etra and Dvaravat! | ||
+ | palatographs is [[Pali]]. Is the use of [[Pali]] sufficient to establish the presence | ||
+ | of the [[Theravada]]? Or could another [[Buddhist]] school have also transmitted | ||
− | + | 9. Most of the {{Wiki|inscriptions}} may be found in Supaphan na Bangchang 2529 | |
− | + | (1986), 15-40. As in the case of the Srik$etra {{Wiki|inscriptions}}, several of the | |
− | + | parages are known from more than one inscription. | |
+ | 10. See Skilling 1992. | ||
− | + | 11. See Skilling forthcoming (a) for references. | |
− | |||
− | |||
+ | 12. See Skilling 1991 and 1992. | ||
− | + | 13. Sec Skilling forthcoming (a) for this and the two following passages. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 14. See references below. The inscription is from Prachin Buri, and thus out¬ | |
+ | side of the Chao Phraya valley proper. | ||
− | |||
− | + | SKILLING 97 | |
− | |||
− | [[ | + | its [[sacred]] writ in PSli, and have been responsible for the {{Wiki|inscriptions}}? |
+ | From an early date, [[Buddhist tradition]] [[recognized]] {{Wiki|dialect}} as one of the | ||
+ | key distinguishing features of the different schools ( uikaya ). In the sec¬ | ||
+ | ond half of the first millenium of the [[Common Era]], [[tradition]] spoke of four | ||
+ | main schools, each transmitting its [[canon]] in a different Indie {{Wiki|dialect}}* | ||
+ | (MOla)SarvastivSdins, who used [[Sanskrit]]; MahSsSnighikas, who used an | ||
+ | [[intermediate]] [[language]]; Simmatlyas, who used [[Apabhramsa]]; and | ||
+ | [[Sthaviras]] (that is, [[Theras]]), who used PaisScI. is The [[tradition]] is confirmed | ||
+ | by the {{Wiki|distinctive}} and consistent {{Wiki|linguistic}} features of available texts of | ||
+ | the schools. On this {{Wiki|evidence}} I conclude that it is unlikely that another | ||
+ | school would have used PSli, and that the use of that [[language]] in the | ||
+ | {{Wiki|inscriptions}} is a strong indication of TheravSdin [[activity]] in the region. | ||
− | + | What about the contents of the {{Wiki|inscriptions}}? It is true that the [[Wikipedia:canonical|canonical]] | |
+ | extracts—such as the various [[formulas]], the Dhammacakkappavaltana - | ||
+ | [[sutta]], and the verses—belong to the common heritage of'Buddhism: but | ||
+ | our {{Wiki|epigraphs}} give them in their TheravSdin recensions, and they agree | ||
+ | very closely indeed with the received [[transmission]] that we know today. >4 | ||
+ | The “extracts" from the Abhidhammc and Pafisambhidamagga are rather | ||
+ | more indicative. As fai^as is known, the seven [[books]] of the TheravSdin | ||
+ | Abhidhdmma [[Pitaka]] are unique to that school, and employ a unique sys¬ | ||
+ | tem and technical vocabulary. The $rlk$etra {{Wiki|inscriptions}} preserve frag- | ||
+ | ments with counterparts in the [[Matika]], the [[Vibhanga]], and the list of 24 | ||
+ | [[conditions]] ([[paccaya]] ), all of which may be described as specifically | ||
+ | TheravSdin. Inscriptions from both Srik$etra and [[Siam]] employ technical | ||
+ | categories knowu from the Pa.tisambhiddmagga (whether or not they are | ||
+ | actual extracts is not clear), an [[ancient]] commentary transmitted in the | ||
+ | Khuddaka-nikdya of the PSli [[Canon]], and unique to the TheravSdin school. | ||
− | + | The non-canonical {{Wiki|inscriptions}} provide further convincing {{Wiki|evidence}} for | |
+ | a TheravSdin presence. The Sriksetra list of seven [[vipassana]] nd/ia-s has a | ||
+ | parallel in the [[Visuddhimagga]], and an inscribed [[octagonal]] pillar from U | ||
+ | Tapao gives a set of verses on the [[four truths]] that are cited in that work | ||
+ | and in other works of the school. 17 The [[Visuddhimagga]] is, of course, one | ||
+ | of the most representative and most authoritative texts of the MahSvihSra | ||
− | + | 15. See Skilling forthcoming (c) for references. The [[Theravadins]] [[traditionally]] | |
+ | describe the [[language]] of their texts as [[Magadhi]], “the [[language]] of [[Magadha]]": | ||
+ | see von Hinflber 1994. | ||
+ | 16. There are a very few {{Wiki|orthographic}} variants, for which see c. g. Skilling | ||
+ | 1992,84—with reference to the work of von Hiniibcr—and forthcoming (a). | ||
− | + | 17. See Skilling forthcoming (a) for references. | |
− | + | 98 J1ABS20.1 | |
− | + | Thcravada. An inscription found in association with a giant pair of Bud - | |
− | + | dhapada at Amphoc Si [[Maha]] Phot in Prachin Buri province gives three | |
+ | [[Pali]] [[stanzas]] in homage to the [[Buddha]], [[Dhamma]], and Sanjgha. The stan¬ | ||
+ | zas, in the vasaniaiilaka metre, are from the Telakataha-gathd , a work of | ||
+ | unknown authorship believed to have been composed in [[Ceylon]]. Accord¬ | ||
+ | ing to the opening {{Wiki|Khmer}} portion, the {{Wiki|epigraph}} was set up by one | ||
+ | [[Buddhasiri]] in CE 761. 18 The sacca-kicca-kata-ncmam verse is known | ||
+ | only from late [[Theravadin]] texts: it is noteworthy that the [[Siamese]] inscrip¬ | ||
+ | tions (the verse occurs several times) are much earlier than the known | ||
+ | texts that give the verse. 19 | ||
− | + | From the point of view of both [[language]] and contents, I conclude that | |
+ | the [[Pali]] {{Wiki|inscriptions}} of [[Burma]] and [[Siam]] give firm {{Wiki|evidence}} for a | ||
+ | [[Theravadin]] presence in the Irrawaddy and Chao Phraya basins, from | ||
+ | about the 5th century CE onwards. 20 From the extent and richness of the | ||
+ | {{Wiki|evidence}} it seems that the Thcravada was the predominant school, and | ||
+ | that it enjoyed the {{Wiki|patronage}} of ruling and economic elites. 21 But 1 do not | ||
+ | mean to suggest that [[religious]] [[society]] was monolithic: other schools may | ||
+ | well have been {{Wiki|present}}, or have come and gone, and there is ample evi¬ | ||
+ | dence for the practice of [[Mahayana]] and [[Brahmanism]] in the region. 22 | ||
− | |||
− | + | 18. See Charuk nai prathet [[thai]] 2529,1: 179-86 and Rohanadeera 1988. The*' | |
+ | Telakataha-gatha was edited by Edmund R. Goonaratne (1884). | ||
− | + | 19. See Skilling forthcoming (a) for references. . ^ „ , | |
+ | 20. We must wait for a comprehensive study of Indie loan-words in early Mon | ||
+ | {{Wiki|inscriptions}} from [[Siam]] before we can determine the [[degree]] to which they use | ||
+ | [[Sanskrit]] or [[Pali]]. An example of the former is the [[word]] [[punya]] , {{Wiki|ubiquitous}} in the | ||
+ | {{Wiki|epigraphs}}. A possible example of the [[latter]] is the term updjhay , derived more | ||
+ | probably from [[Pali]] [[upajjhaya]] (also upajjha and upajjha) than [[Sanskrit]] | ||
+ | upddhydya , in an inscription from Lopburi: see Cocdfcs 1961, 8, II (1). Another | ||
+ | [[form]], from two ca. 9th century “votive tablets” is pajhSy : Charuk nai prathet | ||
+ | [[thai]] 2529, II: 85-89, 90-94 (note that the [[word]] occurs side-by-side with | ||
+ | acaryya). | ||
− | + | 21. Stargardt (p. 200) remarks of the [[relic]] chamber of the “Khin Ba mound,” | |
+ | the source of a 20-leaf golden [[Pali]] text: “although many other [[relic]] chambers | ||
+ | were discovered at Sri K$etra, this was the only one to survive intact, and its | ||
+ | contents exceeded—in number, [[quality]] of workmanship, and [[concentration]] of | ||
+ | {{Wiki|precious metals}} and stones—even the [[relic]] chamber of the Bhatjiprolu stGpa in | ||
+ | [[Andhra]]” | ||
− | + | 22. The practice of MahSySna is compatible with any of the Yinaya schools, | |
+ | [[including]] the Thcravada, and [[brahmans]] played (and continue to play) an active | ||
+ | role in South-east {{Wiki|Asian}} “[[Buddhist]]” {{Wiki|societies}}, both court and common. The | ||
+ | schools or [[religious]] groups should be regarded as interactive and complemen- | ||
− | |||
− | + | i SKILLING 99 | |
− | + | 1 The Question of Origins | |
− | + | The [[Theravadin]] [[samgha]] of [[Ceylon]] was divided into two main rival | |
+ | branches, the Mahiiviharavasins and Abhayagirivasins. After more than a | ||
+ | thousand years of contention for legitimacy and {{Wiki|patronage}}, the former | ||
+ | won out, and absorbed the [[monks]] and [[monasteries]] of the [[latter]]. Most | ||
+ | regrettably for our purposes, the {{Wiki|literature}} of the [[Abhayagiri]], which | ||
+ | included a chronicle of the school, was allowed (or perhaps encouraged) | ||
+ | to disappear, with the result that no undisputed [[Pali]] text of the school sur¬ | ||
+ | vives. 23 The [[Theravada]] that we know today is the Mahivihara [[tradition]]," | ||
+ | as settled by the time of the prolific commentator [[Buddhaghosa]] in the 5th | ||
+ | century. The later [[Pali literature]] of the sub-commentaries (JikSs) and J | ||
+ | manuals, although [[subject]] to further [[development]] and a variety of influ¬ | ||
+ | ences, also belongs'to the [[Mahaviharavasin]] [[lineage]]. | ||
− | + | Both schools maintained contacts with [[India]]: with KSncipuram, | |
+ | [[Andhradesa]], and [[Magadha]]. Is there any {{Wiki|evidence}} for the presence of | ||
+ | either school in early South-east {{Wiki|Asia}}? The [[Wikipedia:canonical|canonical]] {{Wiki|inscriptions}}— | ||
+ | [[including]] the [[Abhidhamma]] “extracts”—could belong to either the | ||
+ | Abhayagirivasins or the [[Mahaviharavasins]], since both are believed to | ||
+ | have transmitted a similar [[canon]] in [[Pali]], and both held broadly similar | ||
+ | [[tenets]] and used a similar technical vocabulary. 24 It seems that the | ||
+ | [[Abhayagiri]] also transmitted the [[Patisambhidamagga]], or at least a similar | ||
+ | text, since passages cited i.i the [[Vimuttimagga]] (for which see below) have | ||
+ | parallels in that work. The nabadhakani yato dukkhanj, verses, known at | ||
+ | {{Wiki|present}} only from [[Mahavihara]] texts such as the [[Visuddhimagga]], are given | ||
+ | in citation, and are not original to the works in question: that is, *hey | ||
+ | originate from an earlier text that may have been accepted by both | ||
+ | schools. | ||
− | , | + | The [[Vimuttimagga]] , a treatise associated with the [[Abhayagiri]], was Well- |
+ | known outside of [[Ceylon]] (whether it was composed in that country or in | ||
+ | [[India]] remains under [[debate]]). A comprehensive manual of practice and | ||
− | |||
− | + | tary rather than mutually exclusive. For [[Avalokitesvara]] in South-east {{Wiki|Asia}} see | |
− | + | Chutiwongs 1984 (especially ch. 3 on [[Burma]] and ch. 4 on Central [[Thailand]]) | |
+ | and Chutiwongs and Leidy 1994; for [[brahmanism]] in the region see Dawee | ||
+ | 1982. .. | ||
− | + | 23. See Skilling 1993a. | |
− | |||
− | + | 24. The canons of the two schools were not [[identical]] (and is it not historically | |
+ | and humanly improbable, rather impossible, that two canons transmitted for | ||
+ | centuries from an early date—the [[Abhayagiri]] was founded in the 1st century | ||
+ | BCE—at separate [[monastic]] centres should be so?): see the important refer¬ | ||
+ | ences in von Hiniiber 1995, 36-38. | ||
− | it the [[ | + | {{Wiki|theory}}, composed by [[Upatissa]] (Skt. [[Upatisya]]) perhaps by the 2nd century |
+ | CE, it was translated into {{Wiki|Chinese}} in SIS. Interestingly, the [[translator]], | ||
+ | *Samghabhara, was a [[bhiksu]] of [[Funan]] (an early South-east {{Wiki|Asian}} polity | ||
+ | known from {{Wiki|Chinese}} sources, and located by the savants in the deltaic | ||
+ | regions of [[Cambodia]]). 25 The {{Wiki|manuscript}} of the [[Vimuttimagga]] , along with | ||
+ | the other texts translated by *Samghabhara, was brought to [[China]] in 503 | ||
+ | by another [[monk]] of [[Funan]], ♦Mandrasena. 26 Since none of the other texts | ||
+ | brought from [[Funan]] are [[Theravadin]], and some belong to the MahSyana, 27 | ||
+ | the fact that the [[Vimuttimagga]] was among them attests only to the avail¬ | ||
+ | ability of that text in [[Funan]]: it cannot be interpreted [[as evidence]] for a | ||
+ | (non-Mahavihara) [[Theravadin]] presence. 28 Since *Samghabhara did some | ||
+ | of his translation work in the “Funancse Pavilion," 2 * and enjoyed the | ||
+ | {{Wiki|patronage}} of the [[Emperor]], it seems that Funanese [[Buddhism]] was | ||
+ | accorded some esteem. | ||
− | + | (For insular South-east {{Wiki|Asia}}, we have one clear piece of {{Wiki|evidence}}: the | |
− | + | inscription from Ratu [[Baka]] in central {{Wiki|Java}}, dated CE 792, which refers to | |
+ | an “[[Abhayagiri]] -[[vihara]] built for the [[Sinhalese]] [[samgha]].” On the mainland, | ||
+ | but outside of our period, there is mention of an [[Abhayagiri]] in the con¬ | ||
+ | cluding {{Wiki|Khmer}} portion of a [[Vajrayanist]] [[Sanskrit]] palsograph, dated CE | ||
+ | 1066, from the vicinity of Nakhon Ratchasima [Korat] in Central [[Siam]]. 30 | ||
+ | The precise location of this [[Abhayagiri]] is unknown, and it is by no means | ||
+ | certain that the {{Wiki|toponym}} should be related to the [[Abhayagiri]] school: the | ||
+ | inscription names only an “[[Abhaya]] Mountain" [ [[giri]] : without the [[word]] | ||
+ | [[vihara]]], where images of “Buddhalokesvara” and others were installed | ||
+ | and later renovated.) | ||
− | + | 25. For the school-affiliation (and [[name]] of the translated and date of transla¬ | |
+ | tion, about which there has been some [[confusion]]) see Skilling 1994. | ||
− | + | 26. Li-tai [[san-pao]] chi, T. no. 2034, 49.98c.6-7; Kai-yiian shih-chiao lu, T. | |
+ | no. 2154,55.537c. 18—19. The Annals of the {{Wiki|Liang Dynasty}} confirm that [[Funan]] | ||
+ | was one of the countries that sent tribute in 503.1 am grateful to Bhikjuni | ||
+ | Virtita Tseng for checking the {{Wiki|Chinese}} sources. | ||
− | + | 27. The works are listed in [[Nanjio]] 1975, II §§ 101, 102; [[Bagchi]] 1927,414- | |
+ | 18; Repertoire du [[canon]] bouddhtque sino-japonais, Fascicule annexe du | ||
+ | HdbSgirin (1978) 267 (s. v. “Mandarasen"), 281 (s. v. “Sogyabara”). | ||
− | + | 28. The [[Vimuttimagga]] was also known in [[North India]]: the [[chapter]] on the | |
+ | [[dhutanga]] -s was translated into [[Tibetan]] under the title Dhutagunanirdesa | ||
+ | afound CE 800, and long [[sections]] were cited by DaSabalasrlmitra, a [[North]] | ||
+ | [[Indian scholar]], probably in the 12th century, in a work preserved only in | ||
+ | [[Tibetan translation]]: see Skilling 1987,1993b, and 1994 for references. | ||
− | + | 29. [[Bagchi]] 1927,416. | |
− | + | 30. See Chirapat 1990,12 (text line 32), 13 (tr.). | |
− | + | „ , i SKILLING 101 | |
− | + | I All told, there is no conclusive local {{Wiki|evidence}} that the early Theravida | |
+ | of South-east {{Wiki|Asia}} was affiliated with either the MahSvihiira or the | ||
+ | [[Abhayagiri]]. We may also note the absence of references to South-east | ||
+ | {{Wiki|Asia}} of the period in the chronicles of [[Ceylon]], 31 and reflect that in the | ||
+ | great period of reform (hat swept the region in the 14th and 15th ra»ntinfr s | ||
+ | the new [[ordination lineage]] was {{Wiki|distinguished}} by the [[name]] Sihala-sdsana. | ||
+ | Might this not suggest that the old [[tradition]] did not associate itself with | ||
+ | [[Ceylon]]? | ||
+ | It is therefore probably futile to try to trace the [[Theravada]] of the period' | ||
+ | to either of the [[Ceylon]] schools. It is likely that [[Buddhism]] arrived in the | ||
+ | area at an early date—perhaps even from the time of [[Sona]] and Uttara’s | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | [[mission]] to SuvawabhOmi during the reign of [[King Asoka]], as [[traditionally]] | |
− | [[ | + | held. Whether this [[Buddhism]] belonged to the TheravSdin [[lineage]] from |
− | + | the start, or whether that [[lineage]] asserted itself later, cannot be said (and | |
− | + | what did the term TheravSdin mean in the pre-Buddhaghosa period, and | |
− | as | + | outside of Ceylon?)—but there is no [[doubt]] that it evolved {{Wiki|independently}} |
− | [[ | + | of the [[Ceylon]] schools..Over the centuries it would have undergone mul¬ |
− | + | tiple [[influences]], as [[monks]] (and perhaps [[nuns]]) from different regions of | |
− | + | [[India]] criss-crossed the region, and as local [[monks]] travelled throughout the | |
+ | region and to different parts of [[India]]. 32 There is {{Wiki|evidence}} for connections | ||
+ | with Andhraclcsa and the [[South]], for example in the layout of early [[Pyu]] | ||
+ | [[stupas]] and [[viharas]], such as those from [[Beikthano]]. 33 There is also evi- | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
+ | 31. See here Ray 1939,52. Sirisena (1978,58) remarks that “[[Sri Lanka’s]] close | ||
+ | [[religious]] contacts with [[Burma]] started only from the eleventh century." His | ||
+ | work offers a [[wealth]] of information—from chronicles, inscriptions—on the | ||
+ | relations between [[Ceylon]] and South-east {{Wiki|Asia}} but, as the title indicates, all | ||
+ | from the later period. | ||
− | + | 32. If anything is clear from the time of our earliest records—the Tripifaka | |
− | [[ | + | itself (e. g. the Punnovada-sutta , MN 145)—up to. the {{Wiki|present}}, it is that [[monks]] |
− | + | travelled, even in the face of adversity or [[danger]]. The [[subject]] is addressed by | |
− | + | [[Vasubandhu]], who in his Vy&khy&yukti gives in verse seven [[reasons]] why the | |
+ | [[Buddha]] travelled (note the technical term, known from the [[canon]], carikdni | ||
+ | [[carati]]) and fifteen [[reasons]] why auditors ( [[sravaka]]) did so ({{Wiki|Peking}} edition of the | ||
+ | [[Tibetan Tripitaka]], vol. 113, {{Wiki|cat}}. no. 5562, [[sems tsam]] si, 44b6 foil.). The verses | ||
+ | are available in [[Sanskrit]] citation in [[Haribhadra]] 1960,271.30 and 274.19. | ||
− | + | 33. See e. g. Stargardt 1995, 200, 205. It is intriguing that the [[dukkham]] | |
− | + | dukkhasamuppadam verse, inscribed at least twice in [[Siam]], is also known (but | |
− | + | in a lightly [[Sanskritic]] [[form]]) from an inscription from [[Andhra]]: see Skilling | |
− | + | 1991 and 1992 for details. The use of the [[Pallava]] [[script]] cannot in itself be cited | |
− | + | [[as evidence]], since that [[script]] was employed from an early date throughout insu- | |
− | |||
− | [[ | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | J ki kuO 4.W. J | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | [[ | + | i dcnce for contacts with [[North India]]: the influence of [[Gupta]] idioms on |
+ | ! Dvaravati [[Buddha]] images, and the practice of enshrining the ye [[dhamma]] | ||
− | + | verse or the [[paticcasamuppada]] [[formula]] in [[stupas]], which was widespread | |
− | + | j throughout the [[North]], but rare in the [[South]] 34 and [[Ceylon]]. 35 The | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | [[ | ||
− | the | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | Telakataha verses suggest contacts with the [[latter]] country, as does, per- | |
− | + | | haps, a short and enigmatic Old Mon inscription from the Narai or Khao | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
+ | [[Wong]] [[cave]] in Saraburi, dated to circa 12th century BE (CE 550-650), | ||
− | [[ | + | ! which refers to an [[Anuradhapura]]. 36 Whether the reference is to the |
− | + | [[ancient]] capital of [[Ceylon]] or to a local site cannot be said, although the | |
− | + | | [[latter]] seems more likely: the important point is that the {{Wiki|toponym}} is oth- | |
− | + | j- erwise known only from [[Ceylon]]. 37 | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | | lar, peninsular, and mainland South-east {{Wiki|Asia}}, for {{Wiki|secular}} and [[religious]] (both | |
− | + | [[Brahmanical]] and [[Buddhistic]]) records. | |
− | + | 34. For some Southern examples in the [[Pallava]] [[script]] see Rea 1990, 149-80 | |
− | + | and pis. 51-64 (and also [[Mitra]] 1980, 218-20). The {{Wiki|inscriptions}} that I am able | |
− | + | to decipher from the Stygian reproduction of the plates give the ye dharmS | |
− | + | verse in [[Sanskrit]]. Rea describes [[die]] site as “one of the most remarkable groups | |
− | + | of [[Buddhist]] remains in the Presidency” (then in [[Madras]], the site is now in | |
+ | District [[Visakhapatnam]] of [[Andhra Pradesh]]). Further [[south]], at Gummadidurru | ||
+ | j (District [[Krishna]]) were found “127 clay tablets of the size of an eight-anna | ||
− | + | piece and bearing the [[Buddhist]] [[creed]] in {{Wiki|Nagari}} characters of the late tnediasval , | |
− | + | period" (.[[Archaeological Survey of India]], Annual Report, 1926-27-, Rpr. [[Delhi]]: | |
− | + | ja 1990, 155-56: see also [[Mitra]] 1980, 212). | |
− | + | i : 35. That the practice was not unknown to the late [[Ceylon]] Ther‘av3d4 miay be | |
− | + | seen from the SSratthadipanI (a text some centuries younger than our examples | |
+ | from the field), which defines a dhamma-cetiya as u [a [[cetiya]] ] built after | ||
+ | depositing a [[book]] inscribed with [[conditioned arising]], etc.*: Mah&makuta ed., | ||
+ | vol. 1 ([[Bangkok]]), 2511 [1968], p. 263, ult paticcasamupp&dadilikhitapottha- | ||
+ | kanf nidahitvS katam pana dhammaceliyany [[nama]]. (I am grateful to the late U | ||
+ | Bo Kay of {{Wiki|Pagan}} for the.reference.) We may compare the [[definition]] with | ||
+ | [[Candragomin]] (6th—7th century CE?) as cited by [[Haribhadra]] (late 8th century) | ||
+ | in his Abka (BST 4, 361.15) yatra hi [[nama]] pudgalanair&tmya-dyotikayd ye | ||
+ | [[dharma]] hetuprabhavd ity adigathaya adhif/hito bhUbhdgah stHpo matah . For | ||
+ | some of the few ye dhartnd {{Wiki|inscriptions}} known from [[Ceylon]], see Mudiyanse | ||
+ | 1967, 29-30 (in {{Wiki|Nagari}}, on images that Mudiyanse, with good [[reason]], deems | ||
+ | imported), 92-95 (in [[Sinhalese]] characters, possibly in [[Pali]]), and 97. [[Ceylon]] is | ||
+ | rich in deposited texts, but mostly in [[Sanskrit]], and of [[mantra]], dhdranl, or | ||
+ | [[Prajhaparamita]], rather than extracts from the [[Pali canon]]: see Mudiyanse 1967, | ||
+ | [[Schopen]] 1982, and von Hiniiber 1984. | ||
− | + | ! 36. Charuk naiprathet [[thai]] 2529,11:42-47. | |
− | + | 37. That is, no other references are given in {{Wiki|Monier-Williams}} 1976,37c, or in | |
− | + | i [[Malalasekera]] 1983, 83-85. | |
− | + | SKILLING | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | We should not regard the establishment and [[development]] of [[Buddhism]] | |
− | + | in the region as a mere mechanical process: it was rather a-hpman, and .... | |
− | + | hence unpredictable, progress in which decisions were made and acted | |
+ | upon by {{Wiki|individuals}} and communities. A single {{Wiki|charismatic}} moink could | ||
+ | attract followers and sponsors of {{Wiki|status}} to his school; a angle [[ruler]] could, | ||
+ | whether for {{Wiki|political}}, economic, or purely [[religious]] [[reasons]], decide to | ||
+ | favour a particular samgha.w Changing trade routes or {{Wiki|political}} alliances | ||
+ | could bring new patterns of {{Wiki|patronage}}. , | ||
− | + | Perhaps because of the absence of indigenous information—of contem¬ | |
+ | porary chronicles or histories—the [[Buddhism]] of early South-east {{Wiki|Asia}} is | ||
+ | all too often portrayed as an [[inanimate]] {{Wiki|cultural}} package that was passively | ||
+ | received from abroad. All the {{Wiki|evidence}}, however, is against this. The | ||
+ | [[Buddhism]] of the Chao Phraya plain was not a simple copy from [[Ceylon]] | ||
+ | or [[India]]: from the time of the very first {{Wiki|evidence}}, it already has a unique, | ||
+ | face, implying an earlier [[evolution]] for which no records remain. The sur¬ | ||
+ | viving {{Wiki|artifacts}} are {{Wiki|expressions}} of a mature and refined {{Wiki|culture}}, with spe¬ | ||
+ | cial features like the large and ornate stone dhammacakkas; the plan of | ||
+ | the [[stupas]] or [[caityas]], and the style of their {{Wiki|stucco}} [[art]]; the style of the | ||
+ | [[Buddha]] images; the rich terracotta [[art]] (the so-called votive tablets); and | ||
+ | motifs that remain to be explained, such as the so-called Banaspati image. | ||
+ | From this {{Wiki|evidence}} we can only deduce that the [[Buddhism]] of the Chao | ||
+ | Phraya valley is the flowering of a “local genius.” The same may be said | ||
+ | of the [[Buddhism]] of the [[Pyu]], which had its [[own]] [[architecture]] and terracotta | ||
+ | [[art]], and local practices such as the urn-burial of [[people]] of {{Wiki|status}}. The two | ||
+ | [[realms]] were flourishing centres of [[Buddhist]] {{Wiki|culture}}, in their [[own]] right, on | ||
+ | an {{Wiki|equal}} footing with contemporary centres like [[Anuradhapura]]. 39 | ||
− | + | To conclude, we may turn to [[Laos]] and [[Cambodia]]. Is there any {{Wiki|evidence}} | |
− | + | of early [[Theravadin]] [[activity]] in these countries? Very little [[information]] is | |
− | + | available for [[Laos]]. In 1968 a [[standing]] stone [[Buddha]] in Dvaravati style, | |
− | |||
− | + | 38. That a single [[monastic]] could make enormous and enduring contributions | |
− | + | to a culture—in manifold aspects—may be seen from countries for which we | |
− | [[ | + | have records. [[Atisa]] and [[Bu ston]] spring to [[mind]] for [[Tibet]], [[Kukai]] for [[Japan]]. |
− | [[ | ||
− | [[ | ||
− | + | 39. The situation was perhaps not much different from that of today, when the | |
+ | [[Buddhisms]] of [[die]] Mon, [[Burmese]], Central [[Thai]], Shan, [[Lanna]] Tai, Lao. and | ||
+ | {{Wiki|Khmer}} arc each quite {{Wiki|distinctive}}. We might also bear in [[mind]] that—from the | ||
+ | point of view of Madhyadesa—Ceylon, [[Andhra]], and South-east {{Wiki|Asia}} were | ||
+ | equally foreign cultures, and that there is no valid [[reason]] to relegate the last- | ||
+ | named to a lower rank. In a [[sense]] “local” and “foreign” arc modem constructs: | ||
+ | the South-east {{Wiki|Asian}} cultures that adopted [[Indian]] [[cosmology]] did not hesitate to | ||
+ | place themselves within Jambudlpa. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 190 cm. in height, was found at Ban Thalat in {{Wiki|Vientiane}} province. The | |
− | + | image and the accompanying Mon inscription have been dated to the 7th- | |
+ | 8th centuries. 4 ® The finds suggest that the Mon [[Buddhism]] of the right | ||
+ | bank of the Mekhong [[River]] (the Mun and Chi valleys) also spread to the | ||
+ | left bank, but much more research needs to be done into the [[nature]] of the | ||
+ | [[Buddhism]] of the middle Mekhong valley before anything more can be | ||
+ | said. | ||
− | + | In Cambodia—which is rich in structural remains and lithographs—no | |
+ | [[ancient]] P5li {{Wiki|inscriptions}} have been found, and [[scriptural]] extracts of the | ||
+ | type discussed above are unknown, with one exception. This is an epi¬ | ||
+ | graph of two lines, engraved in small “pro-Angkorian” letters on the back | ||
+ | of a [[standing]] [[Buddha]] image (90 cm. in height) from Tuol [[Preah]] Theat in | ||
+ | Kompong Speu province (now in the Musee Guimet). 4 * The text reads: 42 | ||
− | + | ye [[dhamma]] hetuprabhava tesam hetum tathagato avaca | |
− | + | tesaii cp yo nirodho evamvadi mahasamano. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | The verse differs from the [[Pali]] of the Mahdvagga ([[Vinaya]] 140) in giving | |
+ | hetuprabhava for hetuppabhava and avaca for aha, and cannot be cited [[as evidence]] for a [[Theravadin]] presence. 43 Otherwise, the earliest [[Pali]] | ||
+ | inscription dates from CE 1308—and thus belongs to the heyday of the | ||
+ | “[[Theravadin]] {{Wiki|renaissance}}” in Ramannadesa, [[Burma]], Central [[Siam]], the | ||
+ | [[Lanna]] {{Wiki|Kingdom}}, and other northern principalities. 44 | ||
− | |||
− | |||
+ | 40. Boun Souk 1971,14 (with photograph); Vothu Tinh 1983,42-43. | ||
+ | 41. It is not without [[interest]] that the ye [[dhamma]] verse is also inscribed (in | ||
+ | P51i) on the back of a [[standing]] Dvaravatl-style [[Buddha]] image (196 cm. in | ||
+ | height) from Ratchaburi, dated to ca. 12th century BE (CE 550-650): sec | ||
+ | Charuk nai prathet [[thai]] 2529,1:72-74. Another Dvaravati [[Buddha]] image with | ||
+ | a (fragmentary) [[Pali]] ye [[dhamma]] inscription “en caractfcres prerngkoriens peu | ||
+ | soignes” is in the Korat Museum: “Inscription sur une statue de [[Buddha]] du | ||
+ | Musee de Korat,” in Cccd&s 1964,162. | ||
− | + | i 42. Cades 1964,108. The image is illustrated in Dupont 1955, Pis. 45 B and | |
+ | ! 46 C. | ||
− | + | 43. Note that there are many examples of the ye [[dharma]] verse in a mixed or | |
+ | 1 [[Sanskritic]] [[Pali]] from [[India]], and that they have yet to be subjected to sustained | ||
+ | ' {{Wiki|linguistic}} and palxographic analysis. | ||
− | + | i 44. Cadfes 1989,282-89. The inscription is a {{Wiki|royal}} record of a [[religious]] foun- | |
+ | | dation, and not a [[scriptural]] extract. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | SKILLING 105 | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | There is certainly {{Wiki|evidence}} of the presence of [[Buddhism]] in the early | |
− | + | period: stone, metal, and wooden images Of the [[Buddha]], 45 of [[Maitreya]], 4 ® | |
+ | and of AvaiokitesVara, 47 and occasional mention in [[Sanskrit]] or {{Wiki|Khmer}} | ||
+ | dedicatory {{Wiki|inscriptions}}. {{Wiki|Chinese}} sources record that [[monks]] travelled back | ||
+ | and forth between [[Funan]] and the [[Middle Kingdom]], but say nothing about | ||
+ | their school-affiliation. The [[Vimuttimagga]] and other [[Buddhist texts]], | ||
+ | [[including]] some of the MahSyana, were sent to [[China]] from [[Funan]] in the | ||
+ | early 6th century. The opening verses of the Telakafaha-gatha are known | ||
+ | from an 8th century inscription from Prachin Buri, which may be said to | ||
+ | belong to the {{Wiki|Khmer}} {{Wiki|cultural}} [[sphere]]. Furthermore, some of the early | ||
+ | [[Buddha]] images of [[Cambodia]] are stylistically affiliated to those of | ||
+ | Dvaravatl. On the other hand, it is remarkable that in’ [[Cambodia]] there are | ||
+ | no ruins of monumental brick [[stupas]], so common in [[Pyu]] and Mon veas, | ||
+ | or even of smaller complexes of votive [[stupas]] . Poisselier has noted that | ||
+ | none of the [[ancient]] {{Wiki|epigraphs}} refer to [[stupas]] , and that none of the known | ||
+ | [[stupa]] remains are earlier than the 12th century. 43 Nor is there any evi¬ | ||
+ | dence of a practice shared by [[Pyu]] and Mon [[Buddhists]]: the mass-produc¬ | ||
+ | tion from moulds of clay “votive tablets.” Here too Boisselier remarks | ||
+ | that these prah patima are not well-attested until the 12th century. 4 ® In | ||
+ | sum, while [[Buddhists]] were certainly active in [[Cambodia]] during the early | ||
+ | period, it seems that the dominant ideology remained that of the brah¬ | ||
+ | mans, and that [[Buddhism]] or [[Buddhistic]] cu’ ture did not flourish among the | ||
+ | kJimer to the [[degree]] that it did among the [[Pyu]] and the Mon. | ||
− | + | BIBLIOGRAPHY | |
− | |||
− | + | References to [[Pali]] texts are to the editions of the [[Pali Text Society]], by page and | |
+ | line or by verse. BSR - [[Buddhist Studies]] Review ([[London]]); UJ ■ Indo-lranian | ||
+ | Journal ; JPTS - [[Journal of the Pali Text Society]] ([[Oxford]]); JSS ■ Journal of the | ||
+ | [[Siam]] [[Society]] ([[Bangkok]]). | ||
− | [[ | + | [[Aung]] Thaw. 1972. Historical Sites in [[Burma]]. [[[Rangoon]]]. |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | [[Bagchi]], Prabodh [[Chandra]]. 1927. Le [[canon]] bouddhique en Chine: Les traduc- | |
− | [[ | + | teurs et les traductions. Tome I. {{Wiki|Paris}}. |
− | |||
− | + | 45. See Dupont 1955,189f210. | |
− | |||
− | + | 46. Sec the examples in Chutiwongs and Leidy 1994, and Dupont 1955, pis. | |
− | + | 29 A and 30 A. | |
− | + | 47. For examples see Chutiwongs 1984 (chap. 5), Chutiwongs and Leidy | |
+ | 1994, and Dupont 1955, pis. 12 B. 22 AB, 28 A, 29 B, 30 B, and 31 A. | ||
− | + | 48. Boisselier 1966,97. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 49. Boisselier 1966* 300. For “Saintes Empreintes” in [[Cambodia]], see | |
− | + | Boisselier's §§ 219,256-57,303, and Fig. 70. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 100 J1ABS20.1 | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | Barcau, Andre. 1955. Les sectes bouddhiques du Petit Vehicule, Publications | |
− | + | de 1’Ecolc framjaise d’Extreme-Oricnt 37. {{Wiki|Paris}}. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | Bauer, [[Christian]]. 1991. “Notes on Mon {{Wiki|Epigraphy}}." JSS 79.1: 31-83. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | [ | + | Boisselier, J[canJ. 1966. Lc •:ambodge. Manuel d’archeologie d’Extreme- |
+ | {{Wiki|Orient}}, Premiere Partie: Asie du Sud-Est, Tome 1. {{Wiki|Paris}}. | ||
− | + | Boun Souk, Thao. 1971. Limage du [[Buddha]] dans lart lao . {{Wiki|Vientiane}}. | |
− | { | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | Charuk nai praihei [[thai]], 2529. [[Bangkok]] | |
− | |||
− | |||
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− | |||
− | + | Chirapat Prapandvidya. 1990. “The Sab Bak Inscription: {{Wiki|Evidence}} of an Early | |
− | + | [[Vajrayana]] [[Buddhist]] Presence in [[Thailand]] " JSS 78.2:10-14. | |
− | The | + | Chutiwongs, [[Nandana]]. 1984. The [[Iconography]] of Avalokiteivara in Mainland |
− | + | {{Wiki|South East Asia}} . Diss. U. of [[Leiden]]. | |
− | + | Chutiwongs, [[Nandana]], and Denise Patry Leidy. 1994. [[Buddha of the Future]] . | |
+ | [[New York]] and {{Wiki|Singapore}}. | ||
− | + | Copies, George. 1961. Recueil des Inscriptions du [[Siam]] , Deuxi&me Partie: | |
+ | Inscriptions de Dvdravati, de Qrivijaya et de Lavo . [[Bangkok]]. | ||
− | + | 1964. Inscriptions du Cambodge . Voi. 7. {{Wiki|Paris}}. | |
− | + | 1989. “La plus ancienne inscription en pSli du Cambodge." Articles | |
− | + | sur le pays khmer. {{Wiki|Paris}}: 282-89 (= Etudes cambodgiennes 32, originally | |
+ | published in BfifEO 36). | ||
− | + | Dawcc Dawcewam. 1982. [[Brahmanism]] in South-East {{Wiki|Asia}} (From the earliest | |
+ | time to 1445 A.D .). {{Wiki|New Delhi}}. | ||
− | + | Dupont, Pierre. 1955. La statuaire preangkorienne , Ascona. | |
− | + | [[Haribhadra]]. 1960. Abhisamayalanjikardloka. Ed. P. L. [[Vaidya]]. [[Buddhist]] San¬ | |
+ | skrit Texts 4. [[Darbhanga]]. | ||
− | [[ | + | von Hinuber, Oskar. 1984. Sieben Goldblatter einer PancavimSatisahasrika |
+ | [[Prajhaparamita]] aus Anurddhapura. Gottingen. ^ " | ||
− | + | -. 1985. “Epigraphical Varieties of Continental [[Pali]] from Devnimori | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | and {{Wiki|Ratnagiri}}” [[Buddhism]] and its [[Relation]] to Other [[Religions]]: Essays in | |
− | + | Honour of Dr, [[Shozen]] Kumoi on his Seventieth Birthday, {{Wiki|Kyoto}}: 185-200. | |
− | |||
− | [[ | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
+ | -—. 1994. “On the History of the [[Name]] of the [[Pali Language]]." Selected | ||
− | + | Papers on [[Pali]] Studies . [[Oxford]]: 76-90. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | -. 1595. “[[Buddhist Law]] According to the Theravada-Vinaya: A Sur¬ | |
− | + | vey Oa {{Wiki|Theory}} and Practice." JIABS 18.1:7-45. | |
− | |||
− | + | Goonaratnc, Edmund R., ed. 1884. “Telakataha-gatha " JPTS . Rpt. vol 1 | |
+ | ([[London]]: 1978)49-68. | ||
+ | Luce, G. H. 1974. “The Advent of [[Buddhism]] to [[Burma]].” [[Buddhist Studies]] in | ||
+ | Honour of /. B. Horner . Eds. L. Cousins et al Dordrecht and [[Boston]]: 119- | ||
+ | 38. | ||
− | + | [[Malalasekera]], G. P. 1983. {{Wiki|Dictionary}} of [[Pali]] Proper Names, Vol. 1. {{Wiki|New Delhi}}. 1st ed. 1937. | |
− | + | [[Mitra]], Debala. 1980. [[Buddhist]] Monuments, [[Calcutta]]. 1st pub. December 1971. | |
− | + | Monier-Wiliiams, Monier. 1976. A Sanskfit-English {{Wiki|Dictionary}}, [[Delhi]]. 1st ed. | |
+ | [[Oxford]]: 1899. | ||
− | + | Mudiyanse, Nandasena. 1967. [[Mahayana]] Monuments in [[Ceylon]]. {{Wiki|Colombo}}. | |
− | + | [[Nanjio]], Bunyiu. 1975. A Catalogue of the {{Wiki|Chinese}} Translation of the [[Buddhist Tripitaka]] , the [[Sacred]] [[Canon]] of the [[Buddhists]] in [[China]] and [[Japan]], [[San Francisco]]. 1st ed. [[Oxford]]: 1883. | |
− | + | Ray, Nihar-Ranjan. 1939. “Early Traces of [[Buddhism in Burma]] " Journal of | |
− | + | the Greater [[India]] [[Society]] 6.1 (Jan., 1939): 1-52. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | Rea, A. 1990. “A [[Buddhist Monastery]] on the Sankaram Hills, Vizagapatam | |
+ | District." [[Delhi]]. 1st ed. Archccological Survey of [[India]], Annual Report, | ||
+ | 1907-8, | ||
− | + | Rohanadeera, Mendis. 1988. “The Noen Sa Bua Inscription of Dong Si Mflha | |
− | + | Bo, Prachinburi." JSS 76:89-99. | |
− | |||
− | [[ | + | Schopcn, Gregory. 1982. “The Text on the f Dharai)I Stones from [[Abhaya]]- |
+ | giriya’: A Minor Contribution to the Study of MahaySna {{Wiki|Literature}} in | ||
+ | [[Ceylon]]." JIABS 5.1: 100-08. | ||
+ | Sirisena, W. M. 1978. [[Sri Lanka]] and South-east {{Wiki|Asia}} : {{Wiki|Political}} , [[Religious]] and | ||
+ | {{Wiki|Cultural}} Relations from A.D. c, WOO to c. 1500 . [[Leiden]]. | ||
− | + | Skilling, Peter. 1987. “The Saniskftasamskrta-viniscaya of Dasabalasrimitra.” | |
+ | BSR 4.1 :3-23. | ||
− | + | - . 199L “A [[Buddhist]] Verse Inscription from [[Andhra Pradesh]]." /D 34: | |
− | + | 239-46. | |
− | + | -. 1992. “Preliminary Report on a Recently Discovered [[Pali]] Inscrip¬ | |
− | + | tion.” Warasan chotmaikhuo samnak-lekhanukan Somdetphrasangharat, | |
+ | Vol. I, No. 1, Oct.-Dcc. 2535 [1992):83-86; revised version under the title | ||
+ | “A Recently Discovered [[Pali]] Inscription from [[Nakhon Pathom]] " forthcoming | ||
+ | in JPTS, | ||
− | + | - . 1993a. “A Citation from the * Buddhavanjisa Of the [[Abhayagiri]] | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | School." JPTS 18:165-75. | |
− | + | -. 1993b. “Thcravadln {{Wiki|Literature}} in [[Tibetan]] Translation." JPTS 19: | |
+ | 69-201. | ||
− | + | -. 1994. u [[Vimuttimagga]] and [[Abhayagiri]]: the form-aggregate according | |
− | |||
+ | to the Saniskrtdsamkftaviniscaya * JPTS 20: 171-210. | ||
− | + | -. Forthcoming (a). “[[Pali]] Inscriptions on a Stone Dhammacakka'and | |
− | + | an Octagonal Pillar from Chai Nat." Forthcoming in JPTS, | |
− | [[ | + | -. Forthcoming (b). “A [[Paritta]] Inscription from Srlk$etra in [[Burma]]." |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | Forthcoming in JPTS . | |
− | |||
− | + | -. Forthcoming (c). “On the School-affiliation of the Tatna [[Dhamma]] - | |
− | |||
− | |||
+ | paddT Forthcoming in JPTS, | ||
− | + | Stargardt, Janice. 1995. “The Oldest Known [[Pali]] Texts, 5th-6th century: | |
+ | Results of the [[Cambridge]] Symposium on the [[Pyu]] Golden [[Pali]] Text from Sri | ||
+ | K$etra, 1S-19 April 1995." JPTS 21:199-213. | ||
+ | Supaphan na Bangchang. 2529 (1986). Wiwathanakan [[ngan]] khian phasa [[bali]] | ||
+ | nai prathet [[thai]] : charuk tatnnan phongsawadan son prakat, [[Bangkok]]. | ||
+ | UThaMyat. 1963. [[Pyu]] Reader, [[Rangoon]]. | ||
− | + | Vothu Tinh. 1983. Les origines du [[Laos]], {{Wiki|Paris}}. | |
+ | Frontispiece: the {{Wiki|calligraphy}} in Sino-Vietnamese | ||
+ | characters (Norn) by Ven Thich Huyen-Vi reads: | ||
− | + | "Having transcended all [[illusions]], | |
+ | in the end he [the [[Bodhisattva]]] | ||
+ | attains to [[Nirvana]]." | ||
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− | + | The [[seals]], engraved by Ven. [[Bhikkhu]] [[Dhamma]]- | |
− | + | vlro of [[Thailand]], convey the same meaning as | |
− | of | + | the {{Wiki|calligraphy}}. |
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− | + | Vol. U, 1 | |
− | + | [[BUDDHIST]] STUDIES REVIEW | |
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− | + | 1995 | |
− | + | the [[asava]] and the ariya-savaka | |
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− | + | f nnctice of the [[Buddhist Path]], the | |
+ | An important {{Wiki|purpose}} of th P , f t l anc j [[mindfulness]] | ||
− | + | [[discipline]] of slla, the culuvauon of sdf^ntro^ ^ ^ | |
− | |||
− | + | and so forth, >s 10 .^"““thesJthlit dull 'he [[mind]] and prevent | |
+ | flow of [[defilements]]. » insieht The [[asava]] come to an | ||
− | + | the [[arising]] of underaupd'n^ mstght J ^ m ^ | |
− | + | end finally in the en g tkat overwhelms. It seems | |
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− | + | [[asava]] means‘influx or an f de fii e ments l and is | |
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− | + | t0 mean both ‘inf low and th ogfto than is perhaps | |
− | + | actually mote near y sy y bears one along in | |
− | + | recognised. The ogham flood » <“ . (Dhp 47)> that | |
− | |||
− | + | [[Samsara]], that ‘overwhelms * S J f„ ,he earlier [[suttas]] the term | |
+ | ‘drowns in the ocean of Sarpsara. in | ||
− | + | [[ogha]] occurs more frequently^ [[kamma]] await . | |
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− | + | [[Asava]] is J' Thas thc [[arahant]], by destroying the | |
− | + | mg [[fruition]] m futur * 1 . a that would otherwise produce | |
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− | + | [[asava]] has destroyed the kamm ttenuate it. See, for | |
− | + | its effect in {{Wiki|future}} [[lives]], or at .[[east]] | |
− | |||
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− | + | „ . for thc meaning of [[asava]] . | |
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− | + | 1 See l.B. Horner’s Middle *W ^ * evidcnl from a passage | |
− | [[ | + | 2 That the [[Jains]] understood theJerm [[Vappa]] says , •. . . there may |
− | [[ | + | in the Ahguttara [[Nikaya]], where t nQl (yel ) ripened, because of |
− | + | be. sir. a formerly done [[evil deed]]. [[suffering]] would flow in upon | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | which [[influxes]] ([[asava]]) to be exper.e d b possible the [[Buddhists]] | |
− | + | («yyum) a man in a {{Wiki|future}} [[life]] (AU. P. ^ | |
− | + | adopted the term from the [[Jains]]. b (i | |
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− | b | ||
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+ | oiuuio KCVACW i | ||
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+ | example, Angulimala’s [[suffering]] three blows to the head and the | ||
+ | .^[[Buddha’s]] remarks about it in M 86, that he should endure it as | ||
+ | he is experiencing the results of [[kamma]] that would otherwise | ||
+ | ,have resulted in him being born in [[hell]]. It is the d$ava-flow | ||
+ | that impels one on into {{Wiki|future}} [[births]] ( [[punabbhava]] ): the flow of | ||
+ | [[sensuality]] ( karna ), [[ignorance]] ( [[avijja]] ) and being ( [[bhava]] ). There' | ||
+ | is also a fourth, (wrong) [[views]] ( [[ditthi]] ), that was added to the | ||
+ | [[asava]], but this ought perhaps to be covered by [[avijja]]. It should | ||
+ | be noted that [[avijja]] is not merely the absence of [[knowledge]] or | ||
+ | [[ignorance]], but means false or wrong [[understanding]] resulting in | ||
+ | [[wrong views]] and speculative [[knowledge]]. The negative prefix'] | ||
+ | ‘a- has six different meanings of which absence is only one.J | ||
+ | The a - in [[avijja]] has the same function as in [[adhamma]] which | ||
+ | is recognised as not merely meaning the absence of ‘righteous¬ | ||
+ | ness’, but positive ‘wickedness’ as applied, for instance, to the | ||
+ | {{Wiki|behaviour}} of [[Devadatta]] 3 . Adharmah is the example given in | ||
+ | Saiiskrit {{Wiki|grammar}} for this use of the prefix l a-\ | ||
− | + | The [[arahant]], the khinasavo — ‘he in whom the [[asava]] arel | |
+ | destroyed’ — by realising that the [[asava]] are no rhore, can truly | ||
+ | affirm, Finished is [[birth]] ...’ khlnajati, etc., i.e. the [[kamma]] that | ||
+ | would otherwise lead - to another [[birth]] and keep it in being is no | ||
+ | more. Thus the realisation that the [[asava]] are destroyed is the | ||
+ | same as realising that [[rebirth]] will no longer occur, the necessary | ||
+ | [[reason]] or [[conditions]] for the {{Wiki|future}} [[birth]] no longer [[exist]]. If the | ||
+ | destruction is not complete, the alternative is anagamitaya , non¬ | ||
+ | returning. | ||
− | + | It is because the [[anagamin]] still has some Lhavasava that he | |
+ | continues to ‘become’ and arises in the [[Brahma-world]] of the | ||
+ | [[Pure Abodes]]. As the [[sotapanna]] and [[sakadagamin]] are not rid of | ||
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+ | See ltivutiaka, suua 89 | ||
− | + | [[Ireland]] — [[Asava]] and Arlya-Savaka | |
− | [[ | ||
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+ | the [[asava]] (specifically the kdmdsava ) they will continue to be | ||
+ | born among [[devas]] and men in the [[Kamaloka]]. However, much | ||
+ | of their {{Wiki|past}} [[kamma]] has been destroyed so they will not con¬ | ||
+ | tinue in [[Samsara]] for long and are completely excluded from the | ||
+ | [[lower realms]], the apdya. It is, apparently, at the [[moment]], of 1 | ||
+ | stepping onto the [[Path]], the [[ariya-magga]], that a large amount of | | ||
+ | the [[burden]] of {{Wiki|past}} [[kamma]] awaiting [[fruition]] is destroyed, altered ) | ||
+ | or oecomes inoperative. And therefore, it is at this [[moment]] | ||
+ | also that it is decided whether or not the dsava-flow will dry up | ||
+ | in that [[lifetime]] or will continue to flow for a little longer, but | ||
+ | not longer, than anqther seven [[births]], according to the [[Buddha]]. | ||
− | + | As it is connected with {{Wiki|past}} [[kamma]] which is so complex and | |
− | + | varied for each {{Wiki|individual}}, and as a [[deed]] already done cannot be | |
− | + | undone, a [[person]] has no choice in the {{Wiki|matter}} of whether he be- | |
− | + | comes a [[sotapanna]], [[sakadagamin]], [[anagamin]] or [[arahant]]. All this | |
− | [[ | + | leads to the startling conclusion that, at the time of the [[Buddha]], |
− | + | contrary to what came to be believed in later times, an in¬ | |
− | + | dividual did not progress from [[sotapanna]], etc., through to | |
− | + | [[arahant]], but that the [[four paths]] and {{Wiki|fruits}} were 1 originally | |
− | [[ | + | considered to be alternative [[attainments]]. By [[definition]] the |
− | + | [[arahant]] attains the [[fruition]] of the [[path]], arhatta-phala , and . | |
− | + | [[extinction]] ( parinibbuna ) ‘here and now’ in this {{Wiki|present}}, [[life]]. Tile | |
− | + | [[anagamin]], however, cannot do this, he has missed the oppor¬ | |
− | [[ | + | tunity and must continue on to the [[Pure Abodes]] and attain |
+ | [[extinction]] ‘there’, being unable to return ‘here’ to this [[life]] again. | ||
+ | For the [[sotapanna]] and [[sakadagamin]] it is not stated how they | ||
+ | will attain [[Parinibbana]], so it is uncertain as to their [[fate]]. It is | ||
+ | possible they will attain it at the [[moment of death]] at the end of | ||
+ | their last [[birth]]. | ||
− | + | The simile is given in the [[suttas]] (c.g. M 105) of a man | |
+ | struck with a poisoned arrow. A surgeon is obtained who | ||
+ | extracts the arrow, drains the [[poison]] and cleans up the wound. | ||
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− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 12, 1 (1995) | |
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− | + | wLhll fmmr patiem t0 l00k after the wound ’ 3001111 it and | |
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− | + | will hi! T T t,me ’ C0ver U and kee P ^ clean so that it | |
− | + | will heal completely. As the {{Wiki|patient}} follows this advice the | |
− | + | wound soon heals. In another case, although the wound was not | |
− | + | folh-)\ Cte \ ramed of the P°i son * thjs does not {{Wiki|matter}}. By | |
+ | following the surgeon’s advice of [[looking after]] the wound it | ||
+ | does heal as in the first case, although it might possibly take a | ||
+ | itUe longer to do so. However, the situation [[exists]] where | ||
+ | omcone else is treated by the surgeon and the arrow extracted | ||
+ | but he ignores the advice given to look after the' wound. The | ||
− | + | by* d°ust and'd rt ^ being conta ™nated | |
− | + | dLh oHhc padent ^ ^ | |
− | of [[ | + | The surgeon, of course, is the [[Buddha]]. The poisoned arrow |
+ | crav.ng, the [[cause of suffering]] or the [[state]] of needing treat- | ||
− | + | [[Buddha]] • y u XtraCtlnS the arrow and dra »ning the [[poison]] the | |
− | + | UD to the n, 1 " 8 1 iS ‘ [[health]] 0r Nibb3na - hereafter, it is | |
− | [[ | + | up to the [[person]] concerned to attend to his [[own]] wound that is |
− | + | sr„L P3,h n so r hu comp,eu hca,th « | |
− | + | maJly [[attained]] The first case is lhat of the [[arahant]]. the next in | |
+ | which a variable amount of [[poison]] ([[ignorance]], avijjtisava) still | ||
+ | remains behind are those on the three lower pate Really | ||
+ | ere is the [[person]] who ignores the advice of the [[Buddha]] does | ||
+ | no. enter the [[Path]] or goes off on a wrong [[path]] (seeT.'lOfl | ||
+ | He presumably by not stepping onto the [[Path]] does not become | ||
− | + | iner«« and*ff a “f h ' S o MVa C0 " tin “ e 10 and | |
− | |||
− | + | ncrease and [[accumulate]] Reverting or falling away, •giving un | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | the {{Wiki|training}}, ,s called '[[death]]’ elsewhere in the [[suttas]]. | |
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+ | That the [[sotapanna]] is said to be born only up to seven | ||
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− | + | [[Ireland]] — [[Asava]] and Arlya-Savaka | |
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− | + | The number seven mere* ™ ($ pI36 ) is | |
+ | ded to be preose. X ^“ of clay set beside the great | ||
+ | given the simile of t small am0U nt. Thus, for the | ||
− | + | [[earth]], meaninga t ^ awaiting fru ition, the huge [[burden]] | |
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− | + | £rief tem U >o Wrth, has all been wiped out and only a | |
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− | + | minute {{Wiki|quantity}} is left. | |
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− | + | The [[arahant]] is called an aseklu u, -^*0 hasjims^ | |
− | + | the {{Wiki|training}}. bu^theMteann^e^ ^ ^ (he ^ 0 f the] | |
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− | + | SX it is minima, and — ^ £££& | |
+ | technical difference between the owever> the ». | ||
− | + | were assumed to have attaine in cu uivating the | |
+ | factors of [[Right Knowledge]] and [[Deliverance]] possessed by the | ||
+ | [[arahant]]. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
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− | + | H.irod io seven days al the end of the Satipalthana | |
− | + | 4 Note the seven years re . uscd as a figure of {{Wiki|speech}} not to | |
+ | [[Sutta]]; the number seven is agai P clsewhere of being born a [[brahmin]] | ||
− | + | be taken literally. However, e number, although again still an | |
− | |||
− | |||
+ | back through seven generations means a large | ||
− | + | indefinite and arbitrary figure. | |
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− | + | THERIGATHA: ON FEMINISM, AESTHETICISM AND RELIGIOSITY IN AN EARLY [[BUDDHIST]] VERSE ANTHOLOGY (Part I) | |
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+ | The [[ancient]] [[Buddhist]] verse {{Wiki|anthology}} known as the [[Therigatha]] | ||
+ | ([[Thig]]) attracted the [[attention]] of some of the earliest [[Western]] | ||
+ | [[Pali]] [[scholars]] 1 and actually became the focus of many admiring | ||
+ | comments from a very notable woman among them, Caroline | ||
+ | [[Wikipedia:Thomas William Rhys Davids|Rhys Davids]] (who also rendered the {{Wiki|anthology}} into metrical | ||
+ | English 2 ). Enquirere into the {{Wiki|status}} of women within the [[Thera]]- | ||
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− | + | 1 [[Therigatha]], a [[gathering]] of 73 versified [[religious]] articulations in [[Wikipedia:canonical|canonical]] | |
− | + | [[Pali]], and attributed to women members of the [[Buddhist Order]] ([[theris]] or | |
− | + | bhikkhunls) are [[traditionally]] juxtaposed to a much larger companion collection | |
− | + | authored by their {{Wiki|male}} counterparts, the [[Theragatha]] ([[Thag]]). These jwo an¬ | |
− | + | thologies (which date back to the errliest period of [[Buddhist history]], though | |
− | + | committed to [[writing]] perhaps only around SO BCE), were first printed in the | |
− | + | [[West]] late in the 19th century in versions edited by R. Pischel and H. | |
− | + | [[Oldenberg]] respectively. Their conjoint edition revised with appendices by ICR. | |
− | + | Norman and L. Alsdorf (The [[Thera]] and Therl Gotha, PTS 1966) remains thd | |
+ | standard, text, and as such will be the source of our. references hereafter. | ||
+ | 2 Mrs [[Wikipedia:Thomas William Rhys Davids|Rhys Davids]] published her translation of [[Thig]] as [[Psalms of the Sisters]] (1909) and that of [[Thag]] as Psalms of the Brothers (1913), incorporating | ||
+ | into each {{Wiki|commentarial}} elucidations taken from Dhammapala’s ParamgUadipanl | ||
+ | This particular order (which reverses the [[traditional]] one) is still retained in the | ||
− | + | , single volume edition of the two translations now available as Psalms of the | |
− | + | Early [[Buddhists]] (PTS 1980). Although English prose versions of the two | |
− | + | {{Wiki|anthologies}} have been brought out (cf. K.R. Norman, tr„ [[Elders]]* Verses (PTS | |
− | + | 1969-71), this article will use the [[Wikipedia:Thomas William Rhys Davids|Rhys Davids]] translation. In citations hereafter | |
+ | (both in the text and footnotes), [[Psalms of the Sisters]] is abbreviated to PsS; | ||
+ | [[Psalms of the Brethren]] as PsB. it should be noted that in her Introduction to | ||
+ | PsS Mrs [[Wikipedia:Thomas William Rhys Davids|Rhys Davids]] went to some lengths in highlighting the [[uniqueness]] and | ||
+ | ‘FRAGILE PALM-LEAVES’ | ||
− | + | AN APPEAL TO PRESERVE [[BUDDHIST]] LITERATURE | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | The Fragile Palm-Leaves Project seeks to preserve the [[ancient]] [[Buddhist literature]] of South-east {{Wiki|Asia}}. Rapid [[modernization]] and the aggressive expansion | |
− | + | of consumer economies have brought in their wake sweeping {{Wiki|social}} changes, | |
− | + | which threaten the [[traditional]] [[monastic]] {{Wiki|environment}} [[Sacred]] [[objects]] are now | |
− | + | commercial commodities, up for sale as "antiques" to satisfy the evergrowing | |
− | + | [[thirst]] of collectors around the [[world]]. At this stage the primary aim of the | |
+ | project is to collect palm-leaf and paper [[manuscripts]] from antique markets in | ||
+ | [[Thailand]]^ in order to prevent the [[precious]] {{Wiki|literary}} heritage of [[Buddhism]] from | ||
+ | being dispersed to private or public collections around the* [[world]]. Materials | ||
+ | collected so far include palm-leaf and paper [[manuscripts]] in [[Pali]], [[Burmese]], Shan, | ||
+ | and other South-east {{Wiki|Asian}} [[languages]]. They include [[Wikipedia:canonical|canonical]] texts and | ||
+ | commentaries, as well as local {{Wiki|legends}} and historical materials. The [[manuscripts]] | ||
+ | will be kept together as a single collection, which will be catalogued and | ||
+ | reproduced, cither by microfilm or scanning. The materials will then be made | ||
+ | available internationally for research and publication. | ||
+ | The project operates under the {{Wiki|auspices}} of the [[Pali Text Society]] (UK) and the | ||
+ | Chulachakrabongse Foundation ([[Bangkok]]). It has no [[permanent]] funding, and | ||
+ | depends entirely on {{Wiki|donations}} from concerned {{Wiki|individuals}} or {{Wiki|institutions}}. The | ||
+ | need for funds is urgent, and all {{Wiki|donations}}, small or large, are welcomed and | ||
+ | will be pul to good use. for the [[benefit]] of {{Wiki|future}} generations. {{Wiki|Donations}} may be | ||
+ | sent to the following UK account: | ||
− | + | [[Pali Text Society]], Account number 9068 5887 | |
+ | Barclays Bank pic, [[Oxford]] [[East]] Branch | ||
+ | 105 [[London]] Road, Headington | ||
+ | [[Oxford]] 0X3 9AH | ||
+ | A [[letter]] or copy of the receipt should be sent to: | ||
− | + | Fragile Palm Leaves | |
+ | [[Pali Text Society]] | ||
+ | 73 Lime Walk | ||
+ | Headington | ||
+ | [[Oxford]] 0X3 7AD | ||
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− | + | Si HAN ADA - THE LION’S ROAR | |
− | + | OR WHAT THE [[BUDDHA]] WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WILLING TO DEFEND IN DEBATE* | |
− | + | [[Joy]] Manne | |
− | + | In the [[DIgha]] (D), [[Majjhima]] (M), Scmyutia (S) and Ahguttara (A) | |
+ | [[Nikayas]] the [[Buddha]] is frequently compared to a [[lion]], and like a | ||
+ | [[lion]] is said to roar. His roar takes place under [[conditions]] which | ||
+ | the texts relate to the [[debate]] situation. His roar has content. His | ||
+ | [[monks]], although not compared to [[lions]], may also utter a [[lion’s roar]]. They are encouraged to roar on one particular [[subject]] | ||
+ | specified by the [[Buddha]]. They may also roar on their [[own]] | ||
+ | initiative, although it is only of [[Sariputta’s]] ‘[[lion’s roar]]’ that the | ||
+ | texts contain 3 record. [[Suttas]] may themselves have the term | ||
+ | [[sihanada]], ‘liqn’s roar’, in their titles. An {{Wiki|examination}} of the | ||
+ | notion of the ‘[[lion’s roar]]’ shows the imaginative and [[creative way]] | ||
+ | Us reciters ([[bhanakas]]) treated the [[Buddha’s]] message within the | ||
+ | context of'their [[society]], relating it to its customs and [[traditions]]. | ||
− | + | 1. The [[Buddha’s]] '[[lion’s roar]]’. | |
− | + | The simile in which the [[Buddha]] is compared to a [[lion]] occurs | |
+ | frequently in the [[Sutta Pitaka]]. Occasionally the comparison is | ||
+ | simple — the [[Buddha]] simply is a [[lion]]: | ||
− | + | akkharam ekamckam ca buddharupasamain siya I | |
+ | tasma hi pandito poso rakkheyya pilakattayam I | ||
− | I | + | calurash 1 sahassani sambuddha parimanaka I |
+ | lima [[nama]] [[bhavissanti]] tiuhanic pitakattaye I | ||
− | + | Every single [[letter]] of ihe Dhatnma is {{Wiki|equal}} to an image of the [[Buddha]]: | |
− | + | Therefore a [[wise person]] should preserve the [[Tipitaka]]. | |
− | + | In the [[Dhamma]] of ihe [[Buddha]] there are 84,000 teachings. | |
− | + | Therefore, where there is a [[Tipitaka]] there are 84,000 [[Buddhas]]. | |
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− | + | 1 These investigations were supported by the Foundation for Research in the | |
− | + | field of {{Wiki|Theology}} and the [[Science]] of [[Religions]] in the {{Wiki|Netherlands}}, which is | |
− | + | subsidised by the {{Wiki|Netherlands}} [[Organization]] for the Advancement of [[Pure]] | |
+ | Research (Z.W.O.), and in part constitutes [[Chapter]] V of my doctoral {{Wiki|dissertation}}, | ||
+ | * [[Debates]] and Case Histories in the [[Pali Canon]] (Utrecht 1991). | ||
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− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 13, 1 (1996) | |
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− | + | (1) ‘Like a [[lion]] lonely faring . . P. | |
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− | + | ‘Lo, what a [[lion]] is the worshipful [[recluse]] [[Gotama]]! Tis by | |
− | + | his lion’s [[nature]] that he endures, [[mindful]] and discerning, the | |
+ | [[pains]] that have arisen in his [[body]], keen and sharp, acute, | ||
+ | distressing and unwelcome, and that he is not cast down’ 2 3 4 5 6 . | ||
− | + | 'You are a [[lion]] | |
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+ | ‘He is the [[Lord Buddha]] — he is an incomparable [[lion]] .. P. | ||
− | + | In these simple comparisons the [[Buddha]] is referred to by the | |
+ | [[epithet]] ‘[[Buddha]]’ or ‘[[Samana Gotama]]’. | ||
− | + | The comparison between the [[Buddha]] and a [[lion]], however, is | |
+ | most usually expressed in the [[formula]]: | ||
− | + | (2) ‘The [[lion]], [[monks]], the [[king]] of the {{Wiki|beasts}}, comes out of his lair | |
− | + | in the evening. After coming out of his lair, he yawns. | |
+ | After [[yawning]], he surveys the four quarters. After sur¬ | ||
+ | veying the four quarters, he roars his [[lion’s roar]] three times. | ||
+ | After roaring his [[lion’s roar]] three times, he goes [[hunting]]*. | ||
− | + | The simile is explained in this way, | |
− | + | (3) ‘"[[Lion]]", [[monks]], is a {{Wiki|metaphorical}} expression tor. the | |
+ | Tatnagata, the [[Arahant]], the [[Fully Enlightened One]]. And it is | ||
+ | in his [[lion’s roar]] that the [[Tathagata]] teaches [[Dhamma]] in the | ||
+ | assembly’ 7 . | ||
− | + | In this simile the [[Buddha]] is invariably referred to by the [[epithet]] | |
− | + | ‘[[Tathagata]]’, The {{Wiki|emphasis}} in this [[formula]] is on the utterance that | |
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− | [[ | + | 2 S 1 16; tr. C.A.F. [[Wikipedia:Thomas William Rhys Davids|Rhys Davids]], [[Kindred Sayings]] (KS) I 25. |
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− | + | Manue — [[The Lion’s Roar]] | |
− | + | the lion/Tathagata makes. The simile ([[formula]] 3) continues: | |
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− | + | (3A) ‘Just so, [[monks]], when a [[Tathagata]] arises in the [[world]], an | |
− | + | [[Arahant]], a [[Perfectly enlightened]] One, One. who has know¬ | |
− | + | ledge and (right) conduct. One who has [[attained]] [[bliss]]. One | |
+ | who [[knows]] the [[world]], the [[unsurpassed]] Trainer of men, | ||
+ | [[Teacher of devas]] and mankind, a [[Buddha]], an [[Exalted One]]. | ||
+ | He teaches [[Dhamma]]:.. .*. | ||
+ | On one occasion it is the way that the [[Buddha]] teaches that is | ||
+ | emphasised: the [[carefulness]] with which the [[Buddha]] teaches [[Dham]]¬ | ||
+ | ma is compared to the [[carefulness]] with which the [[lion]] strikes his | ||
+ | blow while [[hunting]]’. On a different occasion it is the effect of the | ||
+ | [[Buddha’s]] .[[Teaching]] tfiat is emphasised: the effect that the [[Buddha’s Teaching]] has on [[devas]] is compared with the effect that the [[sound]] | ||
+ | of the [[lion’s roar]] has on brute creatures: in both cases causing | ||
+ | {{Wiki|fear}}, [[agitation]] and trembling' 0 . Most usually, however, what is | ||
+ | emphasised is what the [[Buddha]], the [[Tathagata]], roars. The | ||
+ | [[Tathagata’s]] [[lion’s roar]] has content, and its content varies in the | ||
+ | different [[suttas]] that contain the simile | ||
− | + | There arc two particular [[formulas]] that introduce the content. | |
+ | .One of these is that of [[formula]] (3A) above where the [[Buddha]] is | ||
+ | simply said to teach [[Dhamma]]. The other is, | ||
− | + | (4) There are these [ten] Tathagata-fpowers] that belong to the | |
+ | [[Tathagata]]. Endowed with these [[[powers]]], the [[Tathagata]] | ||
+ | claims as his [[own]] 11 the bull’s place (the position of the | ||
+ | leader); he roars his [[lion’s roar]] in the assemblies; he sets in | ||
− | |||
− | + | 8 A II 33, etc. This [[formula]] [[exists]] also {{Wiki|independently}} of the [[lion]] simile | |
+ | ([[formula]] 3). | ||
− | + | : 9 Alll 121. | |
− | + | 10 A II 33. | |
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− | + | 11 {{Wiki|Monier-Williams}}, [[Sanskrit]] {{Wiki|Dictionary}} , s.v. [[prajna]]. | |
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− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 13, 1 (1996) | |
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+ | {{Wiki|motion}} the wiieel of [[Dhamma]]’ 12 . | ||
− | + | The words I have placed in square brackets change according to | |
+ | the context 13 . | ||
− | + | The {{Wiki|emphasis}} in the [[formula]], as in (3) above, is that the | |
− | + | [[Tathagata’s]] [[lion’s roar]] is uttered in assemblies. When the » | |
+ | [[Tathagata]] does this, he takes the position of leader, like a bull. By | ||
+ | uttering his [[lion’s roar]] in assemblies the [[Tathagata]] propagates his | ||
+ | [[Teaching]] and sets in {{Wiki|motion}} the [[wheel]] of [[Dhamma]]. | ||
− | + | Various groups of assemblies are referred to in this {{Wiki|literature}}. | |
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− | + | The Maha-Sihanada [[Sutta]] (M 12) refers to eight assemblies: the | |
− | + | assembly of [[nobles]], of [[brahmins]], of householders, of recluses, the | |
− | + | {{Wiki|retinues}} of the four great regents, the [[gods]] of the [[Thirty-three]], | |
− | + | the [[Maras]] and the [[Brahmas]] 14 . As it is a slhanada [[sutta]] we may | |
+ | perhaps infer from it that these arc the assemblies intended in the | ||
+ | ‘[[lion’s roar]]’ situation. In any case we may deduce from this that | ||
+ | the ‘[[lion’s roar]]’ is a particular type of utterance to be proclaimed | ||
+ | in public where particular prestigious groups [[gather]], and indeed i | ||
− | + | the Kassapa-SIhanada [[Sutta]] 15 confirms that this is the case. From ; | |
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− | + | the {{Wiki|rules}} that this [[sutta]] provides for satisfying the assembly it is : | |
− | for | ||
− | + | clear that a ‘[[lion’s roar]]’ is a challenge. In a sudden insert in this | |
− | + | [[sutta]], which gives no indication why the [[Buddha]] felt called upon | |
− | + | to vindicate himself at that particular [[moment]] and in that | |
− | + | particular situation, the [[Buddha]] enumerates and refutes potential | |
− | + | {{Wiki|criticisms}} that he suggests might be made against him by recluses | |
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− | + | 12 A 111 9. V 33; [[Vibhasa]] (Vhb) 318. | |
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− | + | 13 The [[subjects]] of [[confidence]] ( vesarajjant) of [[formula]] (11) are introduced by | |
− | [[ | + | this [[formula]]. |
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− | + | 14 M 1 72 | |
+ | 15 D 8 (I 1751. [[Suttas]] with [[sihanada]] in their titles are discussed in section 3 | ||
+ | below. | ||
+ | Mannc — [[The Lion’s Roar]] | ||
− | + | of divers schools. These potential {{Wiki|criticisms}} are that, although he | |
+ | utters his [[lions]]’ roar, i.e. issues his challenge 16 : | ||
− | + | (5) 1. ‘he does this in [[empty]] places, and not in public 17 ; | |
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− | + | 2. ‘he issues his challenge in assemblies, but he does it with¬ | |
− | + | out [[confidence]] 18 ; | |
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− | + | 3. ‘he challenges with [[confidence]] ... but [[people]] do not ask | |
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+ | him questions 19 ; | ||
− | + | 4. ‘[[people]] ask him questions, but he does not answer 20 ; | |
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− | + | 5. ‘he answers their question,... but he docs not win over | |
− | + | their [[minds]] with his [[exposition]] 21 ; | |
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− | + | 6. ‘he wins over their [[minds]] with his [[exposition]], . . .but | |
− | + | they do not find him worth hearing 22 ; | |
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− | + | 7. ‘they find him worth hearing but after they have heard | |
− | + | ' him they tu-e not convinced 23 ; | |
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− | + | 8. ‘having heard him, they are convinced,... but the [[faithful]] | |
− | + | . make no sign of their [[belief]] 24 ; | |
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− | + | 16 siha-nadam nadati, ‘utters his [[lion's roar]]', 'makes his [[assertion]]*, 'issues his | |
− | + | challenge*. See [[Nathan Katz]], [[Buddhist]] Images of [[Human]] [[Perfection]]: The | |
+ | [[Arahant]] of the [[Sutta Pitaka]] compared with the [[Bodhisattva]] and the Mahd- | ||
+ | [[siddha]] ([[Delhi]] 1982) 29ff, for further usages of this expression. | ||
− | + | 17 D l 175. | |
− | + | 18 Ibid . | |
− | + | 19 Ibid. | |
− | + | 20 Ibid. | |
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− | + | 21 Ibid. | |
− | + | 22 Ibid. | |
+ | 23 sotabbam c*assa mahhanti . . .na ca kho sulvd pasidanti . ibid. [[Pasidati]] 'a | ||
+ | [[mental]] altitude which unites deep [[feeling]], [[intellectual]] [[appreciation]] and satisfied | ||
+ | clarification of [[thought]] and [[attraction]] towards the [[teacher]]*. {{Wiki|K.N. Jayatilleke}}, | ||
+ | Early [[Buddhist]] {{Wiki|Theory}} of [[Knowledge]] ([[London]] 1963, {{Wiki|New Delhi}} 1989) § 655. | ||
− | + | 24 Ibid. Presumably this means that they utter no [[acceptance]] [[formula]], provide | |
+ | no meals for the [[bhikkhus]], etc. | ||
− | + | Manne — [[The Lion’s Roar]] | |
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− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 13, 1 (1996) | |
− | + | 9. ‘the [[faithful]] give the sign of their [[belief]], ... but they do | |
− | + | not follow the [[path]] to the [[Truth]] ([[Nibbana]]) 25 ; | |
− | + | 10. ‘they follow the [[Path]],... but they do not succeed’ 26 . | |
− | |||
− | + | These are clearly important accusations and the [[Buddha’s]] re¬ | |
− | + | futation of them is categorical. He asserts that in fact exactly the | |
+ | opposite is the case. | ||
− | + | The [[Buddha]] refutes further potential accusations regarding | |
− | + | his conduct when challenged in a different [[debate]] [[sutta]] (A 1187). | |
− | + | Sarabha, a {{Wiki|wanderer}}, who had recently stopped being a follower | |
− | + | of the [[Buddha]] is claiming that he left the [[Buddha’s teaching]] for | |
− | + | the very [[reason]] that he understood it 27 . This controversial ut¬ | |
− | + | terance is reported to the [[Buddha]] who seeks out Sarabha and | |
− | + | challenges him. The [[Buddha]] asks Sarabha whether the report is | |
− | + | true, and how Sarabha has understood the [[Dhamma]] 78 . Sarabha | |
− | + | remains [[silent]] throughout this inquisition ‘confused, dejected, | |
+ | hanging his head, downcast, cowed down’ 29 . The [[Buddha]] then | ||
+ | makes three assertions about himself. He asserts that* anyone | ||
+ | challenging him with regard to the following: (1) his claim to be | ||
+ | fully [[enlightened]] 30 , (2) his claim to be free of [[intoxicants]] 31 , and (3) | ||
+ | 28 The second question is put twice. The situation here is very similar to that | ||
+ | described by M. Witzel in The case of the shattered head* (Sludieh zur Indo- | ||
+ | togie und Iranisitk 13-14, 1987), pp. 363-415. although it does not include this | ||
+ | threat. This may be because the challenge is directed against a paribbdjaka , U is | ||
+ | worth noting that in the [[Buddhist texts]] this threat is directed solely against | ||
+ | [[brahmins]]. | ||
− | + | 29 A I 186. | |
+ | 30 [[sammasambuddha]]. | ||
− | + | 31 khJnasava. | |
+ | his claim .hat his [[Teaching]] leads a [[practitioner]] to the complete | ||
+ | destruction of [[suffering]] 32 , would end up in the same {{Wiki|pitiable}} | ||
+ | [[condition]] as Sarabha. The [[sutta]] continues, Then the [[Exalted One]], | ||
+ | having thrice uttered his [[lion’s roar]]... departed . .• .’ 33 . | ||
− | + | The situations discussed above shew that the context in | |
− | + | which the [[Tathagata]] utters his [[lion’s roar]] is a [[debate]] 34 . They also | |
− | + | show that it is as [[Tathagata]] that [[Gotama]] makes the claims upon | |
− | + | which he is willing to be challenged in public 33 . The [[Tathagata’s]] | |
− | + | [[lion’s roar]] is a particular type of challenge. It is an [[assertion]] [[thai]] | |
− | as | + | the [[Buddha]] is willing' to defend in public and this also accounts |
− | + | for the fact that it is uttered three times 36 . | |
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− | + | What are those points that the [[Buddha]] was willing to defend | |
+ | in public? Three of them are given above: (1) that he was fully | ||
+ | [[enlightened]], (2) that he was free from [[intoxicants]], and (3) that his | ||
+ | [[Teaching]] leads a [[practitioner]] to the complete destruction ol | ||
+ | [[suffering]] 37 . | ||
+ | 32 A 1 187. | ||
− | 1 | + | 33 Ibid« lr. Woodward, [[Gradual Sayings]] (GS) 1 169f. |
− | + | 34 See [[Joy]] Manne, ‘Categories of Suita in the [[Pali]] [[Nikayas]] and their im¬ | |
+ | plications for our [[appreciation]] of Use [[Buddhist Teaching]] and {{Wiki|Literature}}*, Journo | ||
+ | of the [[Pali Text Society]] XV, 1990, 29-87. See also Witzel, op. cit. | ||
− | + | 35 Further, the study of [[debate]] [[techniques]] in [[Joy]] Manne, The [[Digha]] Nikay; | |
+ | [[Debates]]; [[debating]] practices at the time of the [[Buddha]]' ( [[Buddhist]] Studie . | ||
+ | Reviep 9, 2, 1992, pp. 117-36) shows [[thai]] the [[Buddha]] regularly used his Taihagat. | ||
+ | {{Wiki|status}} to support his arguments in [[debates]]. | ||
− | + | 36 M. [[Hara]], in his article ‘Mittabi* [Three Times*! [[Bukkyo]] kyori no kenkyu | |
+ | Tamara [[Yoshida]] hakase kanreki kinen ronshu ([[Tokyo]] 1982, pp.527-43), shows tha | ||
+ | in [[Indian philosophy]] and {{Wiki|literature}} 'doing an [[action]] three times means that i | ||
+ | must be intentional and that one is therefore held responsible for the [[action]]*. | ||
− | + | am extremely grateful to Dr Tom [[Tillemans]] for providing a translation of thi | |
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− | + | 1 article, from which this quotation is taken. | |
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− | + | ltuddhisl Studies Review 13, 1 (1996) | |
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− | + | We have already met the two [[formulas]] that introduce the | |
+ | contents of the [[Tathagata’s]] [[lion’s roar]], (3 and 3A) together, and | ||
+ | (4). Each of these [[formulas]] introduces a different type of content | ||
+ | The contents of (3 and 3A) comprise the [[Teaching]] that the-j | ||
+ | [[Tathagata]] roars; the contents of (4) comprise the [[Tathagata’s]] % | ||
+ | qualities. Of these two [[formulas]] (the combination of (3 and 3A) is 5 | ||
− | + | the least frequently used. i | |
− | + | The aspects of the [[Teaching]] that are placed within (3 and 3A) | |
− | + | are." . | |
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+ | (6) ‘This is the [[body]], this is the [[arising]] of the [[body]], this is the | ||
− | + | ceasing of the [[body]] 3 *. This is [[feeling]] . . n [[perception]] . . ., | |
− | + | creative acts 3 ’..., this is [[consciousness]], this is the [[arising]] of | |
− | + | [[consciousness]], this is the ceasing of [[consciousness]]’ 40 , | |
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and | and | ||
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+ | the [[cessation]] of [[individuality]], this is the [[path]] leading to the | ||
+ | [[cessation]] of [[individuality]]’ 41 . | ||
− | + | The ensuing remarks by the [[devas]], [[identical]] in each of these | |
+ | [[suttas]], show that they understand this to be a [[Teaching]] about | ||
+ | [[impermanence]]: * . . . We know, indeed, sirs, that we are im¬ | ||
+ | [[permanent]], changing, not to last, taken in by [[individuality]]’ 41 . | ||
− | |||
− | + | 38 Sl-c Rune Johansson, The Dynamic {{Wiki|Psychology}} of [[Early Buddhism]] , [[London]] | |
+ | and Mai mo 1979, pp.29-34. | ||
− | + | 39 Johansson’s translation of [[sankhara]], ibid„ pp. 125ff. | |
− | + | 40 S 111 85. | |
− | |||
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− | + | 41 iii saUidyo iti sakkdyasamudayo ili sakkdyanirodho iti sakkayanirodhagamini | |
− | + | patipddd ti. A 11 33. sakkdya is defined to be the five ‘groups of gras¬ | |
− | [[ | + | ping partca upddanakkhandhd , which are [[rupa]], [[vedana]] , sanha, sahkhdra, vinndna. |
+ | M I 299. | ||
− | + | 42 .S III 85; ir. Woodward. KS 111 71. | |
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+ | imm | ||
− | + | Manne — The [[Lion's Roar]] | |
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− | + | The qualities of the [[Tathagata]] that warrant a [[lion’s roar]] arc | |
− | + | comprised either in a statement about the [[Tathagata’s]] [[powers]] | |
− | + | (, [[balani]] ) or in a statement about the [[subject]] concerning which he | |
− | + | has complete [[confidence]] in himself ( vesarajjani ) introduced as in | |
− | a | + | [[formula]] (4). |
− | |||
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+ | The [[powers]] the [[Tathagata]] is willing to claim for himself in | ||
+ | the assemblies are enumerated variously as ten, six or five. The | ||
+ | [[ten powers]] are; | ||
− | + | (8) i. ‘that the [[Tathagata]] [[knows]], as it really is, causal occasion | |
− | + | (of a thing) as such, and what is not causal .occasion as | |
− | + | such’ 43 , | |
− | |||
− | |||
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+ | ii. ‘the fruit of .[[actions]] {{Wiki|past}}, {{Wiki|future}} and {{Wiki|present}}, both in their | ||
+ | causal occasion and the [[conditions]] 44 , | ||
− | + | iii. ‘the [[directions]] whatsoever of each practice 45 , | |
− | + | iv. .'the .[[world]] as it really is, in its divers shapes and [[forms]]’ 46 , | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | v. ‘the divers characters of [[beings]]’ 47 , | |
− | + | vi. ‘the [[state]] of the [[faculties]] of other [[beings]]’ 48 , | |
− | |||
− | + | vii. '*the [[defilement]], the [[purification]], and the [[emergence]] of | |
− | the [[ | + | [[attainments]] in [[meditation]] ( [[jhana]] ), [[liberation]] (vin.okha) |
− | [[ | + | and [[concentration]] ( [[samadhi]] )’ 49 , |
− | |||
− | |||
− | [[ | + | viii. ‘The [[Tathagata]] can recall his many states of [[existence]], |
+ | thus: One [[birth]], two [[births]], three [[births]] and so on .;. up | ||
+ | to an hundred thousand [[births]]; likewise many evolutions | ||
− | + | 43 A V 33; tr. Woodward, GS V 24. Explained at [[Dhammasangani]] (Dhs) 1337. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | 4 | + | 44 Ibid 4 ir. ibid. Cf. [[Middle Length Sayings]] (MLS) 1 93f. |
− | |||
− | + | 45 Ibid ; tr. ibid. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
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− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 46 anckadhalunadhatudokam yathdbhutam pajbnati, A V 33f; tr. ibid. | |
− | + | * 47 A V 34; tr. ibid. | |
− | |||
− | + | 48 parasattdnam para pug galdnam indriyaparopariyattam yathdbhutam pa jd | |
− | + | [[nati]]. I bid:, tr. ibid. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | Marine — [[The Lion’s Roar]] | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 13, 1 (1996) | |
− | + | of [[aeons]], many dissolutions of [[aeons]], many evolutions | |
− | + | and dissolutions of [[aeons]], (remembering); At that time I | |
+ | had such a [[name]], was of such a [[family]], of such com¬ | ||
+ | plexion, was thus supported, thus and thus [[experienced]] | ||
+ | [[pleasure]] and [[suffering]], had such and such a [[lifespan]]. Pass¬ | ||
+ | ing away from that [[existence]], I arose in another [[state]] of | ||
+ | [[existence]]. And there, I had such a [[name]], was of such a | ||
+ | [[family]].. .Passing away from that [[existence]], I arose here’ 50 , | ||
− | + | ix. The [[Tathagata]] with [[divine]] [[vision]], [[purified]] and surpassing | |
+ | that of men, sees the deceasing and [[rising up]] again of | ||
+ | [[beings]], both low and [[exalted]], beautiful or ugly, gone to a | ||
+ | [[state of bliss]] or a bad [[state]] according to their [[deeds]]. He | ||
+ | [[knows]] [[beings]] thus; these [[beings]], sirs, who are given to | ||
+ | the practice of wrong conduct in [[body]], [[word]] and | ||
+ | [[thought]], who criticise the [[noble ones]], who are of [[wrong view]] and who acquire for themselves the {{Wiki|fruits}} of their | ||
+ | [[wrong view]], having passed away arise after [[death]] in a. | ||
+ | [[state]] of loss, a bad [[state]], a [[state]] of lower [[existence]], a | ||
+ | [[state]] of destruction, those [[beings]], sirs, who-a.re given to | ||
+ | the practice of [[right conduct]] in [[body]], [[word]] and [[thought]], | ||
+ | who do not criticise the [[noble ones]], who are of [[right view]] and who acquire for themselves the {{Wiki|fruits}} of their | ||
+ | [[right view]], having passed away arise after [[death]] in a | ||
+ | [[state of bliss]], in the [[heavenly]] [[world]]’ 51 , | ||
− | + | x. The [[Tathagata]], through destroying the [[intoxicants]], | |
− | [[ | + | having seen for himself in this very [[lifetime]], through his |
+ | [[own]] [[higher knowledge]], the [[release]] of the [[mind]] and the | ||
+ | [[release]] through [[wisdom]] that is free from [[intoxicants]]. | ||
− | + | remains in that [[attainment]]’ 52 . | |
− | + | This list of ten is supported in the Vibhahga where it occurs in • | |
+ | [[identical]] [[form]] with the exception of the ninth [[bala]] which is | ||
+ | expressed simply: | ||
− | + | > (9) ix. ‘[The [[Tathagata]]! [[knows]] as it really is the rebecoming of | |
− | + | [[beings]]’ 53 . | |
− | + | In the {{Wiki|commentarial}} section that follows this list, however, the | |
+ | [[exposition]] comprises thfc full text of the ninth [[bala]] as given in | ||
+ | the list of ten above 54 . When [[six powers]] are enumerated these are | ||
+ | Nos 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the list of ten 55 . The five- [[powers]] are | ||
+ | made up of a quite different list: | ||
− | + | (10) The [[powers]] of [[faith]], modesty, {{Wiki|conscience}} (shrinking back | |
− | + | from doing wrong), [[energy]] and [[wisdom]]’ 56 . | |
− | + | The [[four subjects]] of [[confidence]] (vesarajjani) that the [[Tatha]]¬ | |
+ | [[gata]] is willing to proclaim in the assemblies are expressed in the | ||
+ | [[form]] of a {{Wiki|denial}}. The [[Buddha]] says, ‘I do not behold the ground | ||
+ | on which a [[recluse]] or a [[brahmin]] or a [[deva]] or a [[Mara]] or [[Brahma]] | ||
+ | or anyone in the [[world]] will legitimately reprove me’ 57 . These | ||
+ | potential charges are: | ||
− | + | (11) i. ‘These [[dhammas]] are not [[enlightened]] in you, although you | |
+ | claim to be fully [[enlightened]]’ 5 *, | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 52 A V 36. The reference for ihe whole attestation is A V 32-6; cf. M 12 [1 | |
− | + | 69-711 Translation taken from Woodward, GS V 23ff as indicated. Otherwise 1 | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
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− | |||
− | + | have | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | used my [[own]]. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | Vbh 318. | |
− | |||
− | + | 54 | |
− | + | Vbh 343. | |
+ | A III 417ff. | ||
− | + | [[saddha]] balam , [[hiri]]- % oilappaviriya -, | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | - | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | pahnabalam. A 11 9. | |
− | + | 57 | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | Ibid . | |
− | |||
− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 13, 1 (1996) | |
− | ( | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
+ | ii. These [[intoxicants]] are not destroyed in you, although you | ||
+ | claim to be free from [[intoxicants]]’ 59 , | ||
− | + | iii. ‘There is no impediment for one who follows the [[dham]]- | |
+ | mas that you have called the [[dhammas]] that [[cause]] im¬ | ||
+ | pediment’ 60 , | ||
+ | iv. The [[Dhamma]] that you teach purportedly for this [[reason]] | ||
+ | does not lead to the complete destruction of all [[suffering]] | ||
+ | for the [[practitioner]]’ 61 . | ||
− | + | Because the Tathaguta sees no legitimate ground upon which he | |
+ | may be reproved, he is [[peaceful]], [[fearless]], convinced 62 concerning | ||
+ | potential charges that may be made against him. | ||
− | + | Two [[suttas]] in S (II 27 = Nos. 21, 28 = No.2.2) open with the | |
− | + | [[formula]] (4), adapting it so as to include both the [[ten powers]] | |
+ | {[[balani]]) and the four confidences (vesarajjani). Instead, however, | ||
+ | of listing these as we have seen them above, these [[suttas]] follow | ||
+ | the opening [[formula]] with the [[Dependent Origination]] ( [[paticca]] - | ||
+ | samuppacla). These [[suttas]] begin with (4) above 63 , and continue: | ||
− | + | (12) Thus, "this" being, "that" becomes, from the [[arising]] of this, | |
− | + | that arises; this not being; that becomes not; from the | |
− | [[ | + | ceasing of this, that ceases. That is to say, [[conditioned]] by |
− | + | [[ignorance]], [[activities]] come to pass, [[conditioned]] by [[activities]] | |
− | + | [[consciousness]] conies to pass, and so on: such is the uprising | |
+ | of this entire {{Wiki|mass}} of Ill. But from the utter fading out and | ||
+ | [[cessation]] of [[ignorance]], [[activities]] cease, from the ceasing of | ||
+ | [[activities]] [[consciousness]] ceases, and so on: such is the ceasing | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
+ | 59 I hid. | ||
− | + | 60 Ibid. | |
− | + | 61 Ibid. (A II Sf = M 1 710. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 62 A It 8f = M-1 71f. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 63 In full in No.21, indicated in brief in No.22. | |
− | + | Manne — The [[Lion's Roar]] | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | of this entire {{Wiki|mass}} of 111’ 64 . | |
− | |||
− | + | It is difficult to sec how the phrases quoted in these [[suttas]] com¬ | |
− | + | prised of (4) and (12) above contain [[ten powers]] ( [[balani]] ) and four | |
− | + | confidences ( vesarajjani ). This indicates some [[confusion]] in the | |
− | + | handing down of the [[tradition]]. | |
− | + | The above suggests that there were a number of points that | |
− | + | the [[Buddha]] was willing to defend in public. (There was also a list | |
− | the | + | of questions he refused to defend either in public or in private, |
− | + | the well-known unexplained ([[avyakata]]) questions.) The question is | |
− | + | whether these points have some particular importance in the | |
− | + | [[Buddha’s Teaching]] and should be regarded as its most important | |
− | + | features, or alternatively, whether these points are more relevant | |
− | + | to the [[debate]] procedures, topics and requirements of the time, | |
− | [[ | + | being permissable or required [[subjects]] in the context of the dis¬ |
− | + | cussion between contemporary [[religious]] movements 65 . With | |
− | + | regard to their importance as aspects of the [[Teaching]], the pro¬ | |
− | of {{Wiki| | + | blem is that records remaining to us in this {{Wiki|literature}} of topics |
− | [ | + | that conic within the category of ‘[[lion’s roar]]’ [[subjects]] are so |
+ | meagre that it is difficult to have any [[confidence]] in them, com¬ | ||
+ | prising as they do only the [[arising]] and ceasing of the [[five khandhas]], [[formula]] (6) and the [[arising]] and ceasing of ‘in¬ | ||
+ | dividuality’ ([[sakkaya]]), [[formula]] (7). With regard to the qualities of | ||
+ | the [[Tathagata]], on the other hand, there are relatively many | ||
+ | examples of lists of these, even though they are not always | ||
+ | mutually consistent. This {{Wiki|evidence}} suggests that it was primarily | ||
+ | those qualities and capacities that the [[Buddha]] claimed for himself | ||
+ | personally as [[Tathagata]], and that he would defend in public, that | ||
+ | comprised the content of the [[Buddha’s]] [[lion’s roar]], and that the | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 64 S II 27f. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 65 See Witzcl, op. cit. | |
− | + | flajuanaMil | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | [[Buddhist Studies]] Review 13, 1 (1996) | |
− | + | inclusion of ihc [[elements]] of the [[Teaching]] as material for a [[lion’s roar]] is spurious. | |
− | |||
− | + | 2. The [[monks]]' '[[lion's roar]]". | |
− | + | The [[debate]] [[suttas]], {{Wiki|reflecting}} the [[debate]] [[tradition]], show how | |
− | + | important the requirement was to assert and defend one's re¬ | |
− | + | ligious [[knowledge]]. Two [[suttas]] suggest that it was so important | |
− | + | that the [[Buddha]] instructed his [[monks]] regarding which aspects of | |
− | + | his [[Teaching]] they were rightly ( sammd ) allowed to proclaim in | |
+ | the [[form]] of a [[lion’s roar]], and also how to defend them* In the | ||
+ | Cujaslhanada [[Sutta]] 66 and in A II 238, § 239, the [[Buddha]] spe¬ | ||
+ | cifically permits the [[monks]] to make a certain claim in the [[form]] | ||
+ | of a [[lion’s roar]]: | ||
− | In the | + | (13) In this [[teaching]], [[monks]], the [[recluse]] is to be found, also the |
− | + | second, third and fourth (class) of [[recluse]]. [[Void]] of such | |
− | the | + | recluses are the systems of those who teach contrary [[views]]. |
− | + | Thus, [[monks]], do ye rightly roar the [[lion’s roar]].. .* 67 . * | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | In M 11 he teaches them the argument for its defence. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | Although these two [[suttas]] have this [[assertion]] itveommon | |
− | [[ | + | •hey differ completely with regard to content. The A [[sutta]] defines |
− | [[ | + | the four samai.ias in its subsequent verses as the ‘Sbeam-Enterer’. |
− | + | C [[sotapanna]] ), the ‘Oncc-Returner’ ( [[sakadagamin]] ), the ‘Non- | |
− | [[ | + | Returner’ ( [[opapatika]] , lit. ‘born by [[spontaneous generation]]’), and |
− | + | ‘one who, having destroyed the [[intoxicants]], [[lives]] in the [[attainment]] | |
− | + | of having [[experienced]] for himself through his [[own]] higher know¬ | |
− | [[ | + | ledge in this very [[life]] the [[release]] of the [[mind]], the [[release]] through |
− | + | [[wisdom]] that is free from [[intoxicants]]’ 68 . The M [[sutta]], which may | |
− | |||
− | + | 66 M 11. Sec below, soeiion 3. for a [[discussion]] of suutas called [[sihanada]]. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 67 A 11 238. $ 238 = M 11, I 63; tr. Woodward. GS 11 242. | |
− | + | 68 The text omits pahrumvi/nutli/n which belongs in this [[formula]]. | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | L - 1 '1 Manne-The [[Lion’s Roar]] | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | be categorised as a {{Wiki|sermon}}, teaches the [[monks]] how to refute, in | |
+ | [[debate]], practitioners who hold various contrary [[views]]?’. The | ||
+ | points made in this [[sutta]] have no [[relation]] to the definitions with | ||
+ | which it starts out and which it has in common with the A [[sutta]]. | ||
+ | The points on which others making the same claim may be re¬ | ||
+ | futed are divided into two: one concerns aspects of the [[Teaching]], | ||
+ | the other concerns lines of attack against the position of the | ||
+ | opponents. The first point is that the [[Buddhist monks]] make this | ||
+ | claim naving seen for themselves four things: that they have (i) | ||
+ | [[confidence]] in their [[Teacher]] and (ii) in their [[Dhamma]], (iii) that | ||
+ | they fulfil the [[moral]] requirements ( [[sila]] ), and (iv) that they have | ||
+ | good relations with their fellow [[monks]] and their lay supporters. | ||
+ | The second, a line of attack to be used in case the opponents | ||
+ | should make exactly the same claims about their relationship with | ||
+ | their leader and co-practitioners, comprises various challenges | ||
+ | regarding the [[nature]] of their goal. After these first two para¬ | ||
+ | graphs the [[sutta]] becomes a [[debate]] with potential opponents’® | ||
+ | against the [[views]] of becoming and {{Wiki|annihilation}} 71 , and the four | ||
+ | ' kinds of [[grasping]] 0 [[upadana]] ) 7J . The [[Buddha]] sums up by saying | ||
+ | that the holders of [[wrong views]] cannot fulfil the first group of | ||
+ | [[conditions]] above, because they are wrongly [[taught]] by a [[teacher]] | ||
+ | who is not [[completely enlightened]]. The [[sutta]] contains various | ||
+ | [[expositions]] of the [[Teaching]] rather than instructions in refutation. | ||
− | + | It is difficult to see how these points support the challenge, | |
− | + | the [[sihanada]], at the beginnng of this [[sutta]]. In fact the common | |
− | + | beginning and separate [[development]] of this pair of [[suttas]] suggests | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | + | 6§. See Manne (1990); 23. | |
− | |||
− | + | 70 See ibid; 23. | |
− | |||
+ | 71 M I 64. | ||
− | + | 72 M I 66. |
Revision as of 17:39, 30 November 2020
arguing, namely that the concluding remark on dukkha might be “ein metaphy sischer Zusatz ” 1 \
Exit KOEPPEN, at least in this question, on the basis of an ex cathedra judgement. A questionable tradition of translating this remark in books that pretend to deal with the Buddha’s teaching has been established here and is still flourishing. To arrive at his judgement against KOEPPEN, OLDENBERG had to forget (or to ignore) his own edition of the Malta - vagga. He showed moreover, that he had not the slightest inkling of the problem that vedand y the second of these ‘Objekte des Ergreifens’, is often explained as consisting of pleasant, unpleasant and neutral feeling and that pleasant and neutral feeling cannot be characterized as ‘Leiden’ and only in a slightly different sense as ‘Icidvoll’. 14
H. “Koppcn (1, S.222, Annul) findet in dicscn Ictztcn Worlcn cincn *mela-
physischcn Zusatz* zum urspriinglichcn Text der vicr Wahrhcitcn, ohne alien
Grund. So viel metaphysischc Terminologic, wie in dicscn VVortcn liegt, hat der
Buddhlsmus von jehcr bcscssen.”
14, Already V.GLASENAPP, in his ‘Nachvvort* to OLDENBEKG’s Buddha [1959: 1 474] hinted at this problem, by pointing to the Rahogatasutta (SN no.36.11), though his approach is quite unhislorical. There, replying to a question, the Buddha admits (SN IV 216.20) he has taught both: there arc three kinds of feelings, pleasant, unpleasant and neutral, and: whatever one feels belongs to the unpleasant {yam kind vedayitam tam dukkhasmim). But “the [second] statement has been made by me having in mind that satlkhdrd as such arc impermanent (tnayd sarlkhdrdnam yeva aniccatam sandhaya bhdsitam )*\ Sec Lambert SCHMITHAUSEN, “Zur buddhistischen Lehrc von der drcifachcn Lcidhaftigkcif, ZDMG (Supplement 111.2) 1977: 918-931. J
PETER SKILLING
The Advent of Theravada Buddhism to Mainland South-east Asia
In the present paper I examine evidence for the school-affiliation of the
early Buddhism of mainland South-east Asia, in the first millenium of the
Common Era. 1 Is the evidence sufficient to establish that this school was
the TheravSda, and, if so, when and from where did it arrive in the
region?
For the Theravada of Ceylon—or more precisely, for the MahSvihSra school of the Theravada—wo have the history as presented in the two famous-chronicles, the Dlpavan.isa and Mahavamsa . Information may also be gleaned from references to historical events embedded in the commentaries of Euddhaghosa and others, from inscriptions in Old Sin- hala and Sanskrit, from archaeological and iconographical evidence, and froniChinese sources—in some cases first hand, such as that supplied by the redoutable pilgrim Fa-hien. Altogether, we have at least in broad out¬ line a continuous history of Theravada in Ceylon from its inception up to the present day.
Outside of Ceylon, the history of Theravada is obscure. For mainlan d India we have almost no information at all. There are some—but not many—references to Theravadin doctrines in the works of other schools, 2 but the historical information—such as that provided by inscriptions or by the Chinese pilgrims Hsiian-tsang and I-ching—is at best sketchy.
For the South-east Asia of the early period we do not have any histori¬ cal records comparable to those of Ceylon: no indigenous chronicles.
This is a revised version of a paper given at the ficole franfaise d’Extrfimc-
Orient, Phnom Penh, 6 July 1996. The title was inspired by Luce 1974.
1. That is, I do not discuss the Buddhism of peninsular and insular South-east Asia, or that of CampI (the coastal regions of present-day central and southern Vietnam). In none of these areas is there any early evidence for TheravSda Buddhism.
2. See Skilling 1987,1993a and b, and 1994 for some examples from Tibetan sources.
whether in Pali, Sanskrit, or in vernaculars survive. The few extant his¬ torical inscriptions dcrnot give us any continuous history, and Chinese reports tell us little about the type of Buddhism practised on the mainland.
Pali Inscriptions from Burma and Siam
The main evidence lor the school-affiliation of early Buddhism in South¬ east Asia comes from Pali inscriptions. These are known from two main areas: the Pyu kingdom of Srik$etra in the vicinity of Prome in the lower Irrawaddy valley of Burma, and the Mon kingdom of Dvaravatl in the Chao Phraya basin of Siam. 3 The inscriptions from Burma are engraved on gold plates (fashioned in imitation of palm-leaf manuscripts), a silver reliquary {stupa), terracotta tablets, and stone slabs. The inscriptions from Siam are engraved on stone dhammacakkas , octagonal pillars, stone slabs, and clay tablets and reliquaries. The script used in both cases is similar, and may be described as a variety of the South Indian Pallava script. 4 The Srlksetra inscriptions are dated to the 5th to 7th centuries CE, the Siamese inscriptions to the 6th to 8th centuries: that is, they are broadly contemporary. 5
(1) Inscriptions from the region of £rik$ctra: 6
—the ye dhammd hetuppabhavd vers s {VinayaMahdvagga, 140.28-29) ; v —the iti pi so bhagavd formula (cf. Dhajagga-sutta , SN1219.31-33);
—the svdkkhato bhagavata dhammo formula (cf. Dhajagga-sutta , SN I 220 . 1 - 2 );' *
3. In this paper I set aside the historical questions (of, for example, clironoiogy
and geographical extent) attached to the names of these two kingdoms, and
(with not a little reluctance) use the names as a conventional shorthand.
4. The script of the Pyu inscriptions has in the past been variously described as Kadamba, Telcgu-Canara, or Grantha: for a welcome reappraisal see Stargardt 1995,204.
5. For the dating of the former see Stargardt 1995, for the latter e. g. Bauer 1991 and Skilling forthcoming (a). It should be stressed that the inscriptions do not bear any dates, and that those assigned to them are tentative and approxi¬ mate. A comprehensive comparative palacographical analysis of the $rik$etra with the Dvaravafi corpus remains a desideratum.
6. For details see Ray 1939,41-52; Luce 1974, 125-27; and Stargardt 1995. Most of the texts are brought together in U Tha Myat 1963. Note that several of the passages arc known from more than one inscription.
SKILLING 95
—the formula of dependent arising ( paticcasamuppada : cf. Vinaya Mahdvagga , 1 1.10—2.1); 7
—stanzas sung by Sakka, Lord of the Gods, in praise of the Buddha enter¬ ing Rajagaha ( Vinaya Mahdvagga , 138.15-23,29-30);
—the maggdn atthaixgiko settho verse ( Dhammapada 273);
—verses from three popular paritta-s: the MangalaRatana -, and Mora- sutta-s\% ,
—the four confidences ( vesdrajja ) of a Buddha (MN I 71.32; AN II 8, penult);
—the 37 factors conducive to awakening ( bodhipakkhiya-dhammdY ;
—a list of miscellaneous numerically grouped items, in ascending order; —a list of the 14 Buddha nana-s (cf. Patisambhiddmagga 1 133.19-30); —a fragment of a commentary on paticcasamuppada (cf. Vibhanga 144- 45);
—the opening of the matika : kusald [dhammd aku]sald dhammd abydka[td\ dhammd (cf. Dhammasangani 1.4);
—a fragment giving two of the 24 conditions: [adhi\patipaccayo arum- tarapaccayo ;
7. In addition to the paticcasamuppada inscribed on gold plates from
$rik$etra, the Vinaya Mahdvagga version is known from a stone slab from'
Kunzeik, Shwegyin township, Pegu: see Aung Thaw 1978, 111. As far as I
know this handsome and well-preserved inscription has not been published, but
fortunately most of it can be descried from the photograph at Aung Thaw p.
110. It opens (the readings here are preliminary) with the.introductory (l)
t(e)na samayena buddho bhaga(vd) uruveldyam viharati na(j)j(d) (nerahja-
rdya? unclear) [2] tire (or tire ?) bodhirukkhamule pathamdbhisatnbuddho atha
kho bhagava . . ., followed by the full paticcasamuppada formula, both anu-
loma (lines 5-9) and patiloma (lines 9-14). The latter opens with the phrase
avijjaya tv eva asesavirdganirodhd , characteristic of the Theravadin (Pali)
version only, and not known in versions of other schools, such as the
(Mula)Sarvastivadins or Lokottaravadins, or from the Prakrit inscriptions from
Devnlmori and Ratnagiri, all of which open with equivalents of avijjd-nirodhd .
The patilomg. is followed by the yada have pdtubhavanti dhammd verse (lines
15-18), known also from inscriptions from Siam. The last two lines continue
with the prose text of the Mahdvagga—atha kho (bhaga)va tfattiyd) maj(jh)
imam (yd)mam paticca — suggesting that the slab is part of a longer inscription.
For the Devnlmori and Ratnagiri inscriptions see von Hinuber 1985; for a
suggestion that the former might be Vatslputriya or Sammariya, see Skilling
forthcoming (c).
8. For these see Skilling forthcoming (b).
—a list of seven of the eight vipassand fidna-s (cf. Visuddhimagga XXI.1).
(2) Inscriptions from the Chao Phraya basin: 9 —the ye dhamma hetuppabhava verse;
—the formula of dependent arising ( paticca-samuppada );
—an enumeration of the four truths of the noble ( ariya-sacca ), the twelve links of dependent arising ( paticcasamuppada ), and the 37 factors conducive to awakening ( bodhipakkhiya-dhamma ), inscribed together on a rectangular stone bar from Nakhon Pathom; 10 —extracts from the prose Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta, the “first ser¬ mon" spoken by the Buddha in the Deer Park at Sarnath, found on stone dhammacakkas ; 11
—the three yada have pSlubhavanti dhamma verses ( Vinaya Mahdvagga, 12.3-26);
—the anekajaiisamsQran) verses ( Dliammapada 153—54);
—the dukkham dukkhasamuppadam verse ( Dhammapada 191); 12 —the abhiiiheyyam abhihhatam verse ( Suttanipata 558);
—fragments of the 16 senses ( attha ) of the four truths (cf. Paiisambhidamagga 19.31-20.6), 13
— nabddhakam yato dukkham ..., non-canonical verses on the four truths (cited at Visuddhimagga XVI.25);
— sacca-kicca-kata-hdnam .... a non-canonical verse on the twelve aspects ( dvadasakara ) of the four truths (cited in the Pathama- sambodhi and Sdratthasamuccaya );
—three verses from the Telakatdha-gdthd . 14
The evidence of the inscriptions may be examined from two aspects: lan¬ guage and contents. The language of both the §rlk$etra and Dvaravat! palatographs is Pali. Is the use of Pali sufficient to establish the presence of the Theravada? Or could another Buddhist school have also transmitted
9. Most of the inscriptions may be found in Supaphan na Bangchang 2529 (1986), 15-40. As in the case of the Srik$etra inscriptions, several of the parages are known from more than one inscription.
10. See Skilling 1992.
11. See Skilling forthcoming (a) for references.
12. See Skilling 1991 and 1992.
13. Sec Skilling forthcoming (a) for this and the two following passages.
14. See references below. The inscription is from Prachin Buri, and thus out¬ side of the Chao Phraya valley proper.
SKILLING 97
its sacred writ in PSli, and have been responsible for the inscriptions?
From an early date, Buddhist tradition recognized dialect as one of the
key distinguishing features of the different schools ( uikaya ). In the sec¬
ond half of the first millenium of the Common Era, tradition spoke of four
main schools, each transmitting its canon in a different Indie dialect*
(MOla)SarvastivSdins, who used Sanskrit; MahSsSnighikas, who used an
intermediate language; Simmatlyas, who used Apabhramsa; and
Sthaviras (that is, Theras), who used PaisScI. is The tradition is confirmed
by the distinctive and consistent linguistic features of available texts of
the schools. On this evidence I conclude that it is unlikely that another
school would have used PSli, and that the use of that language in the
inscriptions is a strong indication of TheravSdin activity in the region.
What about the contents of the inscriptions? It is true that the canonical extracts—such as the various formulas, the Dhammacakkappavaltana - sutta, and the verses—belong to the common heritage of'Buddhism: but our epigraphs give them in their TheravSdin recensions, and they agree very closely indeed with the received transmission that we know today. >4 The “extracts" from the Abhidhammc and Pafisambhidamagga are rather more indicative. As fai^as is known, the seven books of the TheravSdin Abhidhdmma Pitaka are unique to that school, and employ a unique sys¬ tem and technical vocabulary. The $rlk$etra inscriptions preserve frag- ments with counterparts in the Matika, the Vibhanga, and the list of 24 conditions (paccaya ), all of which may be described as specifically TheravSdin. Inscriptions from both Srik$etra and Siam employ technical categories knowu from the Pa.tisambhiddmagga (whether or not they are actual extracts is not clear), an ancient commentary transmitted in the Khuddaka-nikdya of the PSli Canon, and unique to the TheravSdin school.
The non-canonical inscriptions provide further convincing evidence for a TheravSdin presence. The Sriksetra list of seven vipassana nd/ia-s has a parallel in the Visuddhimagga, and an inscribed octagonal pillar from U Tapao gives a set of verses on the four truths that are cited in that work and in other works of the school. 17 The Visuddhimagga is, of course, one of the most representative and most authoritative texts of the MahSvihSra
15. See Skilling forthcoming (c) for references. The Theravadins traditionally describe the language of their texts as Magadhi, “the language of Magadha": see von Hinflber 1994.
16. There are a very few orthographic variants, for which see c. g. Skilling 1992,84—with reference to the work of von Hiniibcr—and forthcoming (a).
17. See Skilling forthcoming (a) for references. 98 J1ABS20.1
Thcravada. An inscription found in association with a giant pair of Bud - dhapada at Amphoc Si Maha Phot in Prachin Buri province gives three Pali stanzas in homage to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sanjgha. The stan¬ zas, in the vasaniaiilaka metre, are from the Telakataha-gathd , a work of unknown authorship believed to have been composed in Ceylon. Accord¬ ing to the opening Khmer portion, the epigraph was set up by one Buddhasiri in CE 761. 18 The sacca-kicca-kata-ncmam verse is known only from late Theravadin texts: it is noteworthy that the Siamese inscrip¬ tions (the verse occurs several times) are much earlier than the known texts that give the verse. 19
From the point of view of both language and contents, I conclude that the Pali inscriptions of Burma and Siam give firm evidence for a Theravadin presence in the Irrawaddy and Chao Phraya basins, from about the 5th century CE onwards. 20 From the extent and richness of the evidence it seems that the Thcravada was the predominant school, and that it enjoyed the patronage of ruling and economic elites. 21 But 1 do not mean to suggest that religious society was monolithic: other schools may well have been present, or have come and gone, and there is ample evi¬ dence for the practice of Mahayana and Brahmanism in the region. 22
18. See Charuk nai prathet thai 2529,1: 179-86 and Rohanadeera 1988. The*'
Telakataha-gatha was edited by Edmund R. Goonaratne (1884).
19. See Skilling forthcoming (a) for references. . ^ „ ,
20. We must wait for a comprehensive study of Indie loan-words in early Mon inscriptions from Siam before we can determine the degree to which they use Sanskrit or Pali. An example of the former is the word punya , ubiquitous in the epigraphs. A possible example of the latter is the term updjhay , derived more probably from Pali upajjhaya (also upajjha and upajjha) than Sanskrit upddhydya , in an inscription from Lopburi: see Cocdfcs 1961, 8, II (1). Another form, from two ca. 9th century “votive tablets” is pajhSy : Charuk nai prathet thai 2529, II: 85-89, 90-94 (note that the word occurs side-by-side with acaryya).
21. Stargardt (p. 200) remarks of the relic chamber of the “Khin Ba mound,” the source of a 20-leaf golden Pali text: “although many other relic chambers were discovered at Sri K$etra, this was the only one to survive intact, and its contents exceeded—in number, quality of workmanship, and concentration of precious metals and stones—even the relic chamber of the Bhatjiprolu stGpa in Andhra”
22. The practice of MahSySna is compatible with any of the Yinaya schools, including the Thcravada, and brahmans played (and continue to play) an active role in South-east Asian “Buddhist” societies, both court and common. The schools or religious groups should be regarded as interactive and complemen-
i SKILLING 99
1 The Question of Origins
The Theravadin samgha of Ceylon was divided into two main rival branches, the Mahiiviharavasins and Abhayagirivasins. After more than a thousand years of contention for legitimacy and patronage, the former won out, and absorbed the monks and monasteries of the latter. Most regrettably for our purposes, the literature of the Abhayagiri, which included a chronicle of the school, was allowed (or perhaps encouraged) to disappear, with the result that no undisputed Pali text of the school sur¬ vives. 23 The Theravada that we know today is the Mahivihara tradition," as settled by the time of the prolific commentator Buddhaghosa in the 5th century. The later Pali literature of the sub-commentaries (JikSs) and J manuals, although subject to further development and a variety of influ¬ ences, also belongs'to the Mahaviharavasin lineage.
Both schools maintained contacts with India: with KSncipuram, Andhradesa, and Magadha. Is there any evidence for the presence of either school in early South-east Asia? The canonical inscriptions— including the Abhidhamma “extracts”—could belong to either the Abhayagirivasins or the Mahaviharavasins, since both are believed to have transmitted a similar canon in Pali, and both held broadly similar tenets and used a similar technical vocabulary. 24 It seems that the Abhayagiri also transmitted the Patisambhidamagga, or at least a similar text, since passages cited i.i the Vimuttimagga (for which see below) have parallels in that work. The nabadhakani yato dukkhanj, verses, known at present only from Mahavihara texts such as the Visuddhimagga, are given in citation, and are not original to the works in question: that is, *hey originate from an earlier text that may have been accepted by both schools.
The Vimuttimagga , a treatise associated with the Abhayagiri, was Well- known outside of Ceylon (whether it was composed in that country or in India remains under debate). A comprehensive manual of practice and
tary rather than mutually exclusive. For Avalokitesvara in South-east Asia see
Chutiwongs 1984 (especially ch. 3 on Burma and ch. 4 on Central Thailand)
and Chutiwongs and Leidy 1994; for brahmanism in the region see Dawee
1982. ..
23. See Skilling 1993a.
24. The canons of the two schools were not identical (and is it not historically and humanly improbable, rather impossible, that two canons transmitted for centuries from an early date—the Abhayagiri was founded in the 1st century BCE—at separate monastic centres should be so?): see the important refer¬ ences in von Hiniiber 1995, 36-38.
theory, composed by Upatissa (Skt. Upatisya) perhaps by the 2nd century CE, it was translated into Chinese in SIS. Interestingly, the translator,
known from Chinese sources, and located by the savants in the deltaic regions of Cambodia). 25 The manuscript of the Vimuttimagga , along with the other texts translated by *Samghabhara, was brought to China in 503 by another monk of Funan, ♦Mandrasena. 26 Since none of the other texts brought from Funan are Theravadin, and some belong to the MahSyana, 27 the fact that the Vimuttimagga was among them attests only to the avail¬ ability of that text in Funan: it cannot be interpreted as evidence for a (non-Mahavihara) Theravadin presence. 28 Since *Samghabhara did some of his translation work in the “Funancse Pavilion," 2 * and enjoyed the patronage of the Emperor, it seems that Funanese Buddhism was accorded some esteem.
(For insular South-east Asia, we have one clear piece of evidence: the inscription from Ratu Baka in central Java, dated CE 792, which refers to an “Abhayagiri -vihara built for the Sinhalese samgha.” On the mainland, but outside of our period, there is mention of an Abhayagiri in the con¬ cluding Khmer portion of a Vajrayanist Sanskrit palsograph, dated CE 1066, from the vicinity of Nakhon Ratchasima [Korat] in Central Siam. 30 The precise location of this Abhayagiri is unknown, and it is by no means certain that the toponym should be related to the Abhayagiri school: the inscription names only an “Abhaya Mountain" [ giri : without the word vihara], where images of “Buddhalokesvara” and others were installed and later renovated.)
25. For the school-affiliation (and name of the translated and date of transla¬ tion, about which there has been some confusion) see Skilling 1994.
26. Li-tai san-pao chi, T. no. 2034, 49.98c.6-7; Kai-yiian shih-chiao lu, T. no. 2154,55.537c. 18—19. The Annals of the Liang Dynasty confirm that Funan was one of the countries that sent tribute in 503.1 am grateful to Bhikjuni Virtita Tseng for checking the Chinese sources.
27. The works are listed in Nanjio 1975, II §§ 101, 102; Bagchi 1927,414- 18; Repertoire du canon bouddhtque sino-japonais, Fascicule annexe du HdbSgirin (1978) 267 (s. v. “Mandarasen"), 281 (s. v. “Sogyabara”).
28. The Vimuttimagga was also known in North India: the chapter on the dhutanga -s was translated into Tibetan under the title Dhutagunanirdesa afound CE 800, and long sections were cited by DaSabalasrlmitra, a North Indian scholar, probably in the 12th century, in a work preserved only in Tibetan translation: see Skilling 1987,1993b, and 1994 for references.
29. Bagchi 1927,416.
30. See Chirapat 1990,12 (text line 32), 13 (tr.).
„ , i SKILLING 101
I All told, there is no conclusive local evidence that the early Theravida of South-east Asia was affiliated with either the MahSvihiira or the Abhayagiri. We may also note the absence of references to South-east Asia of the period in the chronicles of Ceylon, 31 and reflect that in the great period of reform (hat swept the region in the 14th and 15th ra»ntinfr s the new ordination lineage was distinguished by the name Sihala-sdsana. Might this not suggest that the old tradition did not associate itself with Ceylon?
It is therefore probably futile to try to trace the Theravada of the period' to either of the Ceylon schools. It is likely that Buddhism arrived in the area at an early date—perhaps even from the time of Sona and Uttara’s
mission to SuvawabhOmi during the reign of King Asoka, as traditionally held. Whether this Buddhism belonged to the TheravSdin lineage from the start, or whether that lineage asserted itself later, cannot be said (and what did the term TheravSdin mean in the pre-Buddhaghosa period, and outside of Ceylon?)—but there is no doubt that it evolved independently of the Ceylon schools..Over the centuries it would have undergone mul¬ tiple influences, as monks (and perhaps nuns) from different regions of India criss-crossed the region, and as local monks travelled throughout the region and to different parts of India. 32 There is evidence for connections with Andhraclcsa and the South, for example in the layout of early Pyu stupas and viharas, such as those from Beikthano. 33 There is also evi-
31. See here Ray 1939,52. Sirisena (1978,58) remarks that “Sri Lanka’s close
religious contacts with Burma started only from the eleventh century." His
work offers a wealth of information—from chronicles, inscriptions—on the
relations between Ceylon and South-east Asia but, as the title indicates, all
from the later period.
32. If anything is clear from the time of our earliest records—the Tripifaka itself (e. g. the Punnovada-sutta , MN 145)—up to. the present, it is that monks travelled, even in the face of adversity or danger. The subject is addressed by Vasubandhu, who in his Vy&khy&yukti gives in verse seven reasons why the Buddha travelled (note the technical term, known from the canon, carikdni carati) and fifteen reasons why auditors ( sravaka) did so (Peking edition of the Tibetan Tripitaka, vol. 113, cat. no. 5562, sems tsam si, 44b6 foil.). The verses are available in Sanskrit citation in Haribhadra 1960,271.30 and 274.19.
33. See e. g. Stargardt 1995, 200, 205. It is intriguing that the dukkham dukkhasamuppadam verse, inscribed at least twice in Siam, is also known (but in a lightly Sanskritic form) from an inscription from Andhra: see Skilling 1991 and 1992 for details. The use of the Pallava script cannot in itself be cited as evidence, since that script was employed from an early date throughout insu-
J ki kuO 4.W. J
i dcnce for contacts with North India: the influence of Gupta idioms on
! Dvaravati Buddha images, and the practice of enshrining the ye dhamma
verse or the paticcasamuppada formula in stupas, which was widespread j throughout the North, but rare in the South 34 and Ceylon. 35 The
Telakataha verses suggest contacts with the latter country, as does, per- | haps, a short and enigmatic Old Mon inscription from the Narai or Khao
Wong cave in Saraburi, dated to circa 12th century BE (CE 550-650),
! which refers to an Anuradhapura. 36 Whether the reference is to the
ancient capital of Ceylon or to a local site cannot be said, although the | latter seems more likely: the important point is that the toponym is oth-
j- erwise known only from Ceylon. 37
| lar, peninsular, and mainland South-east Asia, for secular and religious (both
Brahmanical and Buddhistic) records.
34. For some Southern examples in the Pallava script see Rea 1990, 149-80 and pis. 51-64 (and also Mitra 1980, 218-20). The inscriptions that I am able to decipher from the Stygian reproduction of the plates give the ye dharmS verse in Sanskrit. Rea describes die site as “one of the most remarkable groups
of Buddhist remains in the Presidency” (then in Madras, the site is now in District Visakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh). Further south, at Gummadidurru j (District Krishna) were found “127 clay tablets of the size of an eight-anna
piece and bearing the Buddhist creed in Nagari characters of the late tnediasval , period" (.Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report, 1926-27-, Rpr. Delhi: ja 1990, 155-56: see also Mitra 1980, 212).
i : 35. That the practice was not unknown to the late Ceylon Ther‘av3d4 miay be
seen from the SSratthadipanI (a text some centuries younger than our examples from the field), which defines a dhamma-cetiya as u [a cetiya ] built after depositing a book inscribed with conditioned arising, etc.*: Mah&makuta ed., vol. 1 (Bangkok), 2511 [1968], p. 263, ult paticcasamupp&dadilikhitapottha- kanf nidahitvS katam pana dhammaceliyany nama. (I am grateful to the late U Bo Kay of Pagan for the.reference.) We may compare the definition with Candragomin (6th—7th century CE?) as cited by Haribhadra (late 8th century) in his Abka (BST 4, 361.15) yatra hi nama pudgalanair&tmya-dyotikayd ye dharma hetuprabhavd ity adigathaya adhif/hito bhUbhdgah stHpo matah . For some of the few ye dhartnd inscriptions known from Ceylon, see Mudiyanse 1967, 29-30 (in Nagari, on images that Mudiyanse, with good reason, deems imported), 92-95 (in Sinhalese characters, possibly in Pali), and 97. Ceylon is rich in deposited texts, but mostly in Sanskrit, and of mantra, dhdranl, or Prajhaparamita, rather than extracts from the Pali canon: see Mudiyanse 1967, Schopen 1982, and von Hiniiber 1984.
! 36. Charuk naiprathet thai 2529,11:42-47.
37. That is, no other references are given in Monier-Williams 1976,37c, or in i Malalasekera 1983, 83-85.
SKILLING
We should not regard the establishment and development of Buddhism
in the region as a mere mechanical process: it was rather a-hpman, and ....
hence unpredictable, progress in which decisions were made and acted
upon by individuals and communities. A single charismatic moink could
attract followers and sponsors of status to his school; a angle ruler could,
whether for political, economic, or purely religious reasons, decide to
favour a particular samgha.w Changing trade routes or political alliances
could bring new patterns of patronage. ,
Perhaps because of the absence of indigenous information—of contem¬ porary chronicles or histories—the Buddhism of early South-east Asia is all too often portrayed as an inanimate cultural package that was passively received from abroad. All the evidence, however, is against this. The Buddhism of the Chao Phraya plain was not a simple copy from Ceylon or India: from the time of the very first evidence, it already has a unique, face, implying an earlier evolution for which no records remain. The sur¬ viving artifacts are expressions of a mature and refined culture, with spe¬ cial features like the large and ornate stone dhammacakkas; the plan of the stupas or caityas, and the style of their stucco art; the style of the Buddha images; the rich terracotta art (the so-called votive tablets); and motifs that remain to be explained, such as the so-called Banaspati image. From this evidence we can only deduce that the Buddhism of the Chao Phraya valley is the flowering of a “local genius.” The same may be said of the Buddhism of the Pyu, which had its own architecture and terracotta art, and local practices such as the urn-burial of people of status. The two realms were flourishing centres of Buddhist culture, in their own right, on an equal footing with contemporary centres like Anuradhapura. 39
To conclude, we may turn to Laos and Cambodia. Is there any evidence of early Theravadin activity in these countries? Very little information is available for Laos. In 1968 a standing stone Buddha in Dvaravati style,
38. That a single monastic could make enormous and enduring contributions
to a culture—in manifold aspects—may be seen from countries for which we
have records. Atisa and Bu ston spring to mind for Tibet, Kukai for Japan.
39. The situation was perhaps not much different from that of today, when the Buddhisms of die Mon, Burmese, Central Thai, Shan, Lanna Tai, Lao. and Khmer arc each quite distinctive. We might also bear in mind that—from the point of view of Madhyadesa—Ceylon, Andhra, and South-east Asia were equally foreign cultures, and that there is no valid reason to relegate the last- named to a lower rank. In a sense “local” and “foreign” arc modem constructs: the South-east Asian cultures that adopted Indian cosmology did not hesitate to place themselves within Jambudlpa.
190 cm. in height, was found at Ban Thalat in Vientiane province. The
image and the accompanying Mon inscription have been dated to the 7th-
8th centuries. 4 ® The finds suggest that the Mon Buddhism of the right
bank of the Mekhong River (the Mun and Chi valleys) also spread to the
left bank, but much more research needs to be done into the nature of the
Buddhism of the middle Mekhong valley before anything more can be
said.
In Cambodia—which is rich in structural remains and lithographs—no ancient P5li inscriptions have been found, and scriptural extracts of the type discussed above are unknown, with one exception. This is an epi¬ graph of two lines, engraved in small “pro-Angkorian” letters on the back of a standing Buddha image (90 cm. in height) from Tuol Preah Theat in Kompong Speu province (now in the Musee Guimet). 4 * The text reads: 42
ye dhamma hetuprabhava tesam hetum tathagato avaca
tesaii cp yo nirodho evamvadi mahasamano.
The verse differs from the Pali of the Mahdvagga (Vinaya 140) in giving hetuprabhava for hetuppabhava and avaca for aha, and cannot be cited as evidence for a Theravadin presence. 43 Otherwise, the earliest Pali inscription dates from CE 1308—and thus belongs to the heyday of the “Theravadin renaissance” in Ramannadesa, Burma, Central Siam, the Lanna Kingdom, and other northern principalities. 44
40. Boun Souk 1971,14 (with photograph); Vothu Tinh 1983,42-43.
41. It is not without interest that the ye dhamma verse is also inscribed (in P51i) on the back of a standing Dvaravatl-style Buddha image (196 cm. in height) from Ratchaburi, dated to ca. 12th century BE (CE 550-650): sec Charuk nai prathet thai 2529,1:72-74. Another Dvaravati Buddha image with a (fragmentary) Pali ye dhamma inscription “en caractfcres prerngkoriens peu soignes” is in the Korat Museum: “Inscription sur une statue de Buddha du Musee de Korat,” in Cccd&s 1964,162.
i 42. Cades 1964,108. The image is illustrated in Dupont 1955, Pis. 45 B and ! 46 C.
43. Note that there are many examples of the ye dharma verse in a mixed or 1 Sanskritic Pali from India, and that they have yet to be subjected to sustained ' linguistic and palxographic analysis.
i 44. Cadfes 1989,282-89. The inscription is a royal record of a religious foun- | dation, and not a scriptural extract.
SKILLING 105
There is certainly evidence of the presence of Buddhism in the early
period: stone, metal, and wooden images Of the Buddha, 45 of Maitreya, 4 ®
and of AvaiokitesVara, 47 and occasional mention in Sanskrit or Khmer
dedicatory inscriptions. Chinese sources record that monks travelled back
and forth between Funan and the Middle Kingdom, but say nothing about
their school-affiliation. The Vimuttimagga and other Buddhist texts,
including some of the MahSyana, were sent to China from Funan in the
early 6th century. The opening verses of the Telakafaha-gatha are known
from an 8th century inscription from Prachin Buri, which may be said to
belong to the Khmer cultural sphere. Furthermore, some of the early
Buddha images of Cambodia are stylistically affiliated to those of
Dvaravatl. On the other hand, it is remarkable that in’ Cambodia there are
no ruins of monumental brick stupas, so common in Pyu and Mon veas,
or even of smaller complexes of votive stupas . Poisselier has noted that
none of the ancient epigraphs refer to stupas , and that none of the known
stupa remains are earlier than the 12th century. 43 Nor is there any evi¬
dence of a practice shared by Pyu and Mon Buddhists: the mass-produc¬
tion from moulds of clay “votive tablets.” Here too Boisselier remarks
that these prah patima are not well-attested until the 12th century. 4 ® In
sum, while Buddhists were certainly active in Cambodia during the early
period, it seems that the dominant ideology remained that of the brah¬
mans, and that Buddhism or Buddhistic cu’ ture did not flourish among the
kJimer to the degree that it did among the Pyu and the Mon.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
References to Pali texts are to the editions of the Pali Text Society, by page and line or by verse. BSR - Buddhist Studies Review (London); UJ ■ Indo-lranian Journal ; JPTS - Journal of the Pali Text Society (Oxford); JSS ■ Journal of the Siam Society (Bangkok).
Aung Thaw. 1972. Historical Sites in Burma. [[[Rangoon]]].
Bagchi, Prabodh Chandra. 1927. Le canon bouddhique en Chine: Les traduc- teurs et les traductions. Tome I. Paris.
45. See Dupont 1955,189f210.
46. Sec the examples in Chutiwongs and Leidy 1994, and Dupont 1955, pis. 29 A and 30 A.
47. For examples see Chutiwongs 1984 (chap. 5), Chutiwongs and Leidy 1994, and Dupont 1955, pis. 12 B. 22 AB, 28 A, 29 B, 30 B, and 31 A.
48. Boisselier 1966,97.
49. Boisselier 1966* 300. For “Saintes Empreintes” in Cambodia, see Boisselier's §§ 219,256-57,303, and Fig. 70.
100 J1ABS20.1
Barcau, Andre. 1955. Les sectes bouddhiques du Petit Vehicule, Publications
de 1’Ecolc framjaise d’Extreme-Oricnt 37. Paris.
Bauer, Christian. 1991. “Notes on Mon Epigraphy." JSS 79.1: 31-83.
Boisselier, J[canJ. 1966. Lc •:ambodge. Manuel d’archeologie d’Extreme- Orient, Premiere Partie: Asie du Sud-Est, Tome 1. Paris.
Boun Souk, Thao. 1971. Limage du Buddha dans lart lao . Vientiane.
Charuk nai praihei thai, 2529. Bangkok
Chirapat Prapandvidya. 1990. “The Sab Bak Inscription: Evidence of an Early Vajrayana Buddhist Presence in Thailand " JSS 78.2:10-14.
Chutiwongs, Nandana. 1984. The Iconography of Avalokiteivara in Mainland South East Asia . Diss. U. of Leiden.
Chutiwongs, Nandana, and Denise Patry Leidy. 1994. Buddha of the Future . New York and Singapore.
Copies, George. 1961. Recueil des Inscriptions du Siam , Deuxi&me Partie: Inscriptions de Dvdravati, de Qrivijaya et de Lavo . Bangkok.
1964. Inscriptions du Cambodge . Voi. 7. Paris.
1989. “La plus ancienne inscription en pSli du Cambodge." Articles
sur le pays khmer. Paris: 282-89 (= Etudes cambodgiennes 32, originally published in BfifEO 36).
Dawcc Dawcewam. 1982. Brahmanism in South-East Asia (From the earliest time to 1445 A.D .). New Delhi.
Dupont, Pierre. 1955. La statuaire preangkorienne , Ascona.
Haribhadra. 1960. Abhisamayalanjikardloka. Ed. P. L. Vaidya. Buddhist San¬ skrit Texts 4. Darbhanga.
von Hinuber, Oskar. 1984. Sieben Goldblatter einer PancavimSatisahasrika Prajhaparamita aus Anurddhapura. Gottingen. ^ "
-. 1985. “Epigraphical Varieties of Continental Pali from Devnimori
and Ratnagiri” Buddhism and its Relation to Other Religions: Essays in Honour of Dr, Shozen Kumoi on his Seventieth Birthday, Kyoto: 185-200.
-—. 1994. “On the History of the Name of the Pali Language." Selected
Papers on Pali Studies . Oxford: 76-90.
-. 1595. “Buddhist Law According to the Theravada-Vinaya: A Sur¬ vey Oa Theory and Practice." JIABS 18.1:7-45.
Goonaratnc, Edmund R., ed. 1884. “Telakataha-gatha " JPTS . Rpt. vol 1 (London: 1978)49-68.
Luce, G. H. 1974. “The Advent of Buddhism to Burma.” Buddhist Studies in Honour of /. B. Horner . Eds. L. Cousins et al Dordrecht and Boston: 119- 38.
Malalasekera, G. P. 1983. Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, Vol. 1. New Delhi. 1st ed. 1937.
Mitra, Debala. 1980. Buddhist Monuments, Calcutta. 1st pub. December 1971. Monier-Wiliiams, Monier. 1976. A Sanskfit-English Dictionary, Delhi. 1st ed. Oxford: 1899.
Mudiyanse, Nandasena. 1967. Mahayana Monuments in Ceylon. Colombo.
Nanjio, Bunyiu. 1975. A Catalogue of the Chinese Translation of the Buddhist Tripitaka , the Sacred Canon of the Buddhists in China and Japan, San Francisco. 1st ed. Oxford: 1883.
Ray, Nihar-Ranjan. 1939. “Early Traces of Buddhism in Burma " Journal of the Greater India Society 6.1 (Jan., 1939): 1-52.
Rea, A. 1990. “A Buddhist Monastery on the Sankaram Hills, Vizagapatam District." Delhi. 1st ed. Archccological Survey of India, Annual Report, 1907-8,
Rohanadeera, Mendis. 1988. “The Noen Sa Bua Inscription of Dong Si Mflha Bo, Prachinburi." JSS 76:89-99.
Schopcn, Gregory. 1982. “The Text on the f Dharai)I Stones from Abhaya- giriya’: A Minor Contribution to the Study of MahaySna Literature in Ceylon." JIABS 5.1: 100-08.
Sirisena, W. M. 1978. Sri Lanka and South-east Asia : Political , Religious and Cultural Relations from A.D. c, WOO to c. 1500 . Leiden.
Skilling, Peter. 1987. “The Saniskftasamskrta-viniscaya of Dasabalasrimitra.” BSR 4.1 :3-23.
- . 199L “A Buddhist Verse Inscription from Andhra Pradesh." /D 34:
239-46.
-. 1992. “Preliminary Report on a Recently Discovered Pali Inscrip¬ tion.” Warasan chotmaikhuo samnak-lekhanukan Somdetphrasangharat, Vol. I, No. 1, Oct.-Dcc. 2535 [1992):83-86; revised version under the title “A Recently Discovered Pali Inscription from Nakhon Pathom " forthcoming in JPTS,
- . 1993a. “A Citation from the * Buddhavanjisa Of the Abhayagiri
School." JPTS 18:165-75.
-. 1993b. “Thcravadln Literature in Tibetan Translation." JPTS 19:
69-201.
-. 1994. u Vimuttimagga and Abhayagiri: the form-aggregate according
to the Saniskrtdsamkftaviniscaya * JPTS 20: 171-210.
-. Forthcoming (a). “Pali Inscriptions on a Stone Dhammacakka'and
an Octagonal Pillar from Chai Nat." Forthcoming in JPTS,
-. Forthcoming (b). “A Paritta Inscription from Srlk$etra in Burma."
Forthcoming in JPTS .
-. Forthcoming (c). “On the School-affiliation of the Tatna Dhamma -
paddT Forthcoming in JPTS,
Stargardt, Janice. 1995. “The Oldest Known Pali Texts, 5th-6th century: Results of the Cambridge Symposium on the Pyu Golden Pali Text from Sri K$etra, 1S-19 April 1995." JPTS 21:199-213.
Supaphan na Bangchang. 2529 (1986). Wiwathanakan ngan khian phasa bali nai prathet thai : charuk tatnnan phongsawadan son prakat, Bangkok. UThaMyat. 1963. Pyu Reader, Rangoon.
Vothu Tinh. 1983. Les origines du Laos, Paris.
Frontispiece: the calligraphy in Sino-Vietnamese characters (Norn) by Ven Thich Huyen-Vi reads:
"Having transcended all illusions, in the end he [the Bodhisattva] attains to Nirvana."
The seals, engraved by Ven. Bhikkhu Dhamma-
vlro of Thailand, convey the same meaning as
the calligraphy.
Vol. U, 1
BUDDHIST STUDIES REVIEW
1995
the asava and the ariya-savaka
f nnctice of the Buddhist Path, the
An important purpose of th P , f t l anc j mindfulness
discipline of slla, the culuvauon of sdf^ntro^ ^ ^
and so forth, >s 10 .^"““thesJthlit dull 'he mind and prevent flow of defilements. » insieht The asava come to an
the arising of underaupd'n^ mstght J ^ m ^
end finally in the en g tkat overwhelms. It seems
asava means‘influx or an f de fii e ments l and is
t0 mean both ‘inf low and th ogfto than is perhaps actually mote near y sy y bears one along in
recognised. The ogham flood » <“ . (Dhp 47)> that
Samsara, that ‘overwhelms * S J f„ ,he earlier suttas the term ‘drowns in the ocean of Sarpsara. in
ogha occurs more frequently^ kamma await .
Asava is J' Thas thc arahant, by destroying the
mg fruition m futur * 1 . a that would otherwise produce
asava has destroyed the kamm ttenuate it. See, for
its effect in future lives, or at .east
„ . for thc meaning of asava .
1 See l.B. Horner’s Middle *W ^ * evidcnl from a passage
2 That the Jains understood theJerm Vappa says , •. . . there may
in the Ahguttara Nikaya, where t nQl (yel ) ripened, because of
be. sir. a formerly done evil deed. suffering would flow in upon
which influxes (asava) to be exper.e d b possible the Buddhists
(«yyum) a man in a future life (AU. P. ^
adopted the term from the Jains. b (i
oiuuio KCVACW i
example, Angulimala’s suffering three blows to the head and the
.^Buddha’s remarks about it in M 86, that he should endure it as
he is experiencing the results of kamma that would otherwise
,have resulted in him being born in hell. It is the d$ava-flow
that impels one on into future births ( punabbhava ): the flow of
sensuality ( karna ), ignorance ( avijja ) and being ( bhava ). There'
is also a fourth, (wrong) views ( ditthi ), that was added to the
asava, but this ought perhaps to be covered by avijja. It should
be noted that avijja is not merely the absence of knowledge or
ignorance, but means false or wrong understanding resulting in
wrong views and speculative knowledge. The negative prefix']
‘a- has six different meanings of which absence is only one.J
The a - in avijja has the same function as in adhamma which
is recognised as not merely meaning the absence of ‘righteous¬
ness’, but positive ‘wickedness’ as applied, for instance, to the
behaviour of Devadatta 3 . Adharmah is the example given in
Saiiskrit grammar for this use of the prefix l a-\
The arahant, the khinasavo — ‘he in whom the asava arel destroyed’ — by realising that the asava are no rhore, can truly affirm, Finished is birth ...’ khlnajati, etc., i.e. the kamma that would otherwise lead - to another birth and keep it in being is no more. Thus the realisation that the asava are destroyed is the same as realising that rebirth will no longer occur, the necessary reason or conditions for the future birth no longer exist. If the destruction is not complete, the alternative is anagamitaya , non¬ returning.
It is because the anagamin still has some Lhavasava that he continues to ‘become’ and arises in the Brahma-world of the Pure Abodes. As the sotapanna and sakadagamin are not rid of
See ltivutiaka, suua 89
Ireland — Asava and Arlya-Savaka
the asava (specifically the kdmdsava ) they will continue to be
born among devas and men in the Kamaloka. However, much
of their past kamma has been destroyed so they will not con¬
tinue in Samsara for long and are completely excluded from the
lower realms, the apdya. It is, apparently, at the moment, of 1
stepping onto the Path, the ariya-magga, that a large amount of |
the burden of past kamma awaiting fruition is destroyed, altered )
or oecomes inoperative. And therefore, it is at this moment
also that it is decided whether or not the dsava-flow will dry up
in that lifetime or will continue to flow for a little longer, but
not longer, than anqther seven births, according to the Buddha.
As it is connected with past kamma which is so complex and varied for each individual, and as a deed already done cannot be undone, a person has no choice in the matter of whether he be- comes a sotapanna, sakadagamin, anagamin or arahant. All this leads to the startling conclusion that, at the time of the Buddha, contrary to what came to be believed in later times, an in¬ dividual did not progress from sotapanna, etc., through to arahant, but that the four paths and fruits were 1 originally considered to be alternative attainments. By definition the arahant attains the fruition of the path, arhatta-phala , and . extinction ( parinibbuna ) ‘here and now’ in this present, life. Tile anagamin, however, cannot do this, he has missed the oppor¬ tunity and must continue on to the Pure Abodes and attain extinction ‘there’, being unable to return ‘here’ to this life again. For the sotapanna and sakadagamin it is not stated how they will attain Parinibbana, so it is uncertain as to their fate. It is possible they will attain it at the moment of death at the end of their last birth.
The simile is given in the suttas (c.g. M 105) of a man struck with a poisoned arrow. A surgeon is obtained who extracts the arrow, drains the poison and cleans up the wound.
Buddhist Studies Review 12, 1 (1995)
wLhll fmmr patiem t0 l00k after the wound ’ 3001111 it and
will hi! T T t,me ’ C0ver U and kee P ^ clean so that it will heal completely. As the patient follows this advice the
wound soon heals. In another case, although the wound was not
folh-)\ Cte \ ramed of the P°i son * thjs does not matter. By following the surgeon’s advice of looking after the wound it does heal as in the first case, although it might possibly take a itUe longer to do so. However, the situation exists where omcone else is treated by the surgeon and the arrow extracted but he ignores the advice given to look after the' wound. The
by* d°ust and'd rt ^ being conta ™nated
dLh oHhc padent ^ ^
The surgeon, of course, is the Buddha. The poisoned arrow crav.ng, the cause of suffering or the state of needing treat-
Buddha • y u XtraCtlnS the arrow and dra »ning the poison the
UD to the n, 1 " 8 1 iS ‘ health 0r Nibb3na - hereafter, it is
up to the person concerned to attend to his own wound that is
sr„L P3,h n so r hu comp,eu hca,th «
maJly attained The first case is lhat of the arahant. the next in which a variable amount of poison (ignorance, avijjtisava) still remains behind are those on the three lower pate Really ere is the person who ignores the advice of the Buddha does no. enter the Path or goes off on a wrong path (seeT.'lOfl He presumably by not stepping onto the Path does not become
iner«« and*ff a “f h ' S o MVa C0 " tin “ e 10 and
ncrease and accumulate Reverting or falling away, •giving un
the training, ,s called 'death’ elsewhere in the suttas.
That the sotapanna is said to be born only up to seven
Ireland — Asava and Arlya-Savaka
The number seven mere* ™ ($ pI36 ) is
ded to be preose. X ^“ of clay set beside the great given the simile of t small am0U nt. Thus, for the
earth, meaninga t ^ awaiting fru ition, the huge burden
£rief tem U >o Wrth, has all been wiped out and only a
minute quantity is left.
The arahant is called an aseklu u, -^*0 hasjims^
the training. bu^theMteann^e^ ^ ^ (he ^ 0 f the]
SX it is minima, and — ^ £££& technical difference between the owever> the ».
were assumed to have attaine in cu uivating the
factors of Right Knowledge and Deliverance possessed by the arahant.
H.irod io seven days al the end of the Satipalthana
4 Note the seven years re . uscd as a figure of speech not to
Sutta; the number seven is agai P clsewhere of being born a brahmin
be taken literally. However, e number, although again still an
back through seven generations means a large
indefinite and arbitrary figure.
THERIGATHA: ON FEMINISM, AESTHETICISM AND RELIGIOSITY IN AN EARLY BUDDHIST VERSE ANTHOLOGY (Part I)
The ancient Buddhist verse anthology known as the Therigatha (Thig) attracted the attention of some of the earliest Western Pali scholars 1 and actually became the focus of many admiring comments from a very notable woman among them, Caroline Rhys Davids (who also rendered the anthology into metrical English 2 ). Enquirere into the status of women within the Thera-
1 Therigatha, a gathering of 73 versified religious articulations in canonical
Pali, and attributed to women members of the Buddhist Order (theris or
bhikkhunls) are traditionally juxtaposed to a much larger companion collection
authored by their male counterparts, the Theragatha (Thag). These jwo an¬
thologies (which date back to the errliest period of Buddhist history, though
committed to writing perhaps only around SO BCE), were first printed in the
West late in the 19th century in versions edited by R. Pischel and H.
Oldenberg respectively. Their conjoint edition revised with appendices by ICR.
Norman and L. Alsdorf (The Thera and Therl Gotha, PTS 1966) remains thd
standard, text, and as such will be the source of our. references hereafter.
2 Mrs Rhys Davids published her translation of Thig as Psalms of the Sisters (1909) and that of Thag as Psalms of the Brothers (1913), incorporating into each commentarial elucidations taken from Dhammapala’s ParamgUadipanl This particular order (which reverses the traditional one) is still retained in the
, single volume edition of the two translations now available as Psalms of the Early Buddhists (PTS 1980). Although English prose versions of the two anthologies have been brought out (cf. K.R. Norman, tr„ Elders* Verses (PTS 1969-71), this article will use the Rhys Davids translation. In citations hereafter (both in the text and footnotes), Psalms of the Sisters is abbreviated to PsS; Psalms of the Brethren as PsB. it should be noted that in her Introduction to PsS Mrs Rhys Davids went to some lengths in highlighting the uniqueness and
‘FRAGILE PALM-LEAVES’
AN APPEAL TO PRESERVE BUDDHIST LITERATURE
The Fragile Palm-Leaves Project seeks to preserve the ancient Buddhist literature of South-east Asia. Rapid modernization and the aggressive expansion of consumer economies have brought in their wake sweeping social changes, which threaten the traditional monastic environment Sacred objects are now commercial commodities, up for sale as "antiques" to satisfy the evergrowing thirst of collectors around the world. At this stage the primary aim of the project is to collect palm-leaf and paper manuscripts from antique markets in Thailand^ in order to prevent the precious literary heritage of Buddhism from being dispersed to private or public collections around the* world. Materials collected so far include palm-leaf and paper manuscripts in Pali, Burmese, Shan, and other South-east Asian languages. They include canonical texts and commentaries, as well as local legends and historical materials. The manuscripts will be kept together as a single collection, which will be catalogued and reproduced, cither by microfilm or scanning. The materials will then be made available internationally for research and publication.
The project operates under the auspices of the Pali Text Society (UK) and the Chulachakrabongse Foundation (Bangkok). It has no permanent funding, and depends entirely on donations from concerned individuals or institutions. The need for funds is urgent, and all donations, small or large, are welcomed and will be pul to good use. for the benefit of future generations. Donations may be sent to the following UK account:
Pali Text Society, Account number 9068 5887 Barclays Bank pic, Oxford East Branch 105 London Road, Headington Oxford 0X3 9AH
A letter or copy of the receipt should be sent to:
Fragile Palm Leaves Pali Text Society 73 Lime Walk Headington Oxford 0X3 7AD
Si HAN ADA - THE LION’S ROAR
OR WHAT THE BUDDHA WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WILLING TO DEFEND IN DEBATE*
Joy Manne
In the DIgha (D), Majjhima (M), Scmyutia (S) and Ahguttara (A) Nikayas the Buddha is frequently compared to a lion, and like a lion is said to roar. His roar takes place under conditions which the texts relate to the debate situation. His roar has content. His monks, although not compared to lions, may also utter a lion’s roar. They are encouraged to roar on one particular subject specified by the Buddha. They may also roar on their own initiative, although it is only of Sariputta’s ‘lion’s roar’ that the texts contain 3 record. Suttas may themselves have the term sihanada, ‘liqn’s roar’, in their titles. An examination of the notion of the ‘lion’s roar’ shows the imaginative and creative way Us reciters (bhanakas) treated the Buddha’s message within the context of'their society, relating it to its customs and traditions.
1. The Buddha’s 'lion’s roar’.
The simile in which the Buddha is compared to a lion occurs frequently in the Sutta Pitaka. Occasionally the comparison is simple — the Buddha simply is a lion:
akkharam ekamckam ca buddharupasamain siya I
tasma hi pandito poso rakkheyya pilakattayam I
calurash 1 sahassani sambuddha parimanaka I lima nama bhavissanti tiuhanic pitakattaye I
Every single letter of ihe Dhatnma is equal to an image of the Buddha: Therefore a wise person should preserve the Tipitaka.
In the Dhamma of ihe Buddha there are 84,000 teachings. Therefore, where there is a Tipitaka there are 84,000 Buddhas.
1 These investigations were supported by the Foundation for Research in the
field of Theology and the Science of Religions in the Netherlands, which is
subsidised by the Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Pure
Research (Z.W.O.), and in part constitutes Chapter V of my doctoral dissertation,
- Debates and Case Histories in the Pali Canon (Utrecht 1991).
Buddhist Studies Review 13, 1 (1996)
(1) ‘Like a lion lonely faring . . P.
‘Lo, what a lion is the worshipful recluse Gotama! Tis by his lion’s nature that he endures, mindful and discerning, the pains that have arisen in his body, keen and sharp, acute, distressing and unwelcome, and that he is not cast down’ 2 3 4 5 6 .
'You are a lion
‘He is the Lord Buddha — he is an incomparable lion .. P.
In these simple comparisons the Buddha is referred to by the epithet ‘Buddha’ or ‘Samana Gotama’.
The comparison between the Buddha and a lion, however, is most usually expressed in the formula:
(2) ‘The lion, monks, the king of the beasts, comes out of his lair
in the evening. After coming out of his lair, he yawns. After yawning, he surveys the four quarters. After sur¬ veying the four quarters, he roars his lion’s roar three times. After roaring his lion’s roar three times, he goes hunting*.
The simile is explained in this way,
(3) ‘"Lion", monks, is a metaphorical expression tor. the Tatnagata, the Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One. And it is in his lion’s roar that the Tathagata teaches Dhamma in the assembly’ 7 .
In this simile the Buddha is invariably referred to by the epithet ‘Tathagata’, The emphasis in this formula is on the utterance that
2 S 1 16; tr. C.A.F. Rhys Davids, Kindred Sayings (KS) I 25.
Manue — The Lion’s Roar
the lion/Tathagata makes. The simile (formula 3) continues:
(3A) ‘Just so, monks, when a Tathagata arises in the world, an Arahant, a Perfectly enlightened One, One. who has know¬ ledge and (right) conduct. One who has attained bliss. One who knows the world, the unsurpassed Trainer of men, Teacher of devas and mankind, a Buddha, an Exalted One. He teaches Dhamma:.. .*.
On one occasion it is the way that the Buddha teaches that is emphasised: the carefulness with which the Buddha teaches Dham¬ ma is compared to the carefulness with which the lion strikes his blow while hunting’. On a different occasion it is the effect of the Buddha’s .Teaching tfiat is emphasised: the effect that the Buddha’s Teaching has on devas is compared with the effect that the sound of the lion’s roar has on brute creatures: in both cases causing fear, agitation and trembling' 0 . Most usually, however, what is emphasised is what the Buddha, the Tathagata, roars. The Tathagata’s lion’s roar has content, and its content varies in the different suttas that contain the simile
There arc two particular formulas that introduce the content. .One of these is that of formula (3A) above where the Buddha is simply said to teach Dhamma. The other is,
(4) There are these [ten] Tathagata-fpowers] that belong to the Tathagata. Endowed with these [[[powers]]], the Tathagata claims as his own 11 the bull’s place (the position of the leader); he roars his lion’s roar in the assemblies; he sets in
8 A II 33, etc. This formula exists also independently of the lion simile
(formula 3).
- 9 Alll 121.
10 A II 33.
11 Monier-Williams, Sanskrit Dictionary , s.v. prajna.
Buddhist Studies Review 13, 1 (1996)
motion the wiieel of Dhamma’ 12 .
The words I have placed in square brackets change according to the context 13 .
The emphasis in the formula, as in (3) above, is that the Tathagata’s lion’s roar is uttered in assemblies. When the » Tathagata does this, he takes the position of leader, like a bull. By uttering his lion’s roar in assemblies the Tathagata propagates his Teaching and sets in motion the wheel of Dhamma.
Various groups of assemblies are referred to in this literature.
The Maha-Sihanada Sutta (M 12) refers to eight assemblies: the assembly of nobles, of brahmins, of householders, of recluses, the retinues of the four great regents, the gods of the Thirty-three, the Maras and the Brahmas 14 . As it is a slhanada sutta we may perhaps infer from it that these arc the assemblies intended in the ‘lion’s roar’ situation. In any case we may deduce from this that the ‘lion’s roar’ is a particular type of utterance to be proclaimed in public where particular prestigious groups gather, and indeed i
the Kassapa-SIhanada Sutta 15 confirms that this is the case. From ;
the rules that this sutta provides for satisfying the assembly it is :
clear that a ‘lion’s roar’ is a challenge. In a sudden insert in this sutta, which gives no indication why the Buddha felt called upon to vindicate himself at that particular moment and in that particular situation, the Buddha enumerates and refutes potential criticisms that he suggests might be made against him by recluses
12 A 111 9. V 33; Vibhasa (Vhb) 318.
13 The subjects of confidence ( vesarajjant) of formula (11) are introduced by this formula.
14 M 1 72
15 D 8 (I 1751. Suttas with sihanada in their titles are discussed in section 3 below. Mannc — The Lion’s Roar
of divers schools. These potential criticisms are that, although he utters his lions’ roar, i.e. issues his challenge 16 :
(5) 1. ‘he does this in empty places, and not in public 17 ;
2. ‘he issues his challenge in assemblies, but he does it with¬ out confidence 18 ;
3. ‘he challenges with confidence ... but people do not ask
him questions 19 ;
4. ‘people ask him questions, but he does not answer 20 ;
5. ‘he answers their question,... but he docs not win over their minds with his exposition 21 ;
6. ‘he wins over their minds with his exposition, . . .but they do not find him worth hearing 22 ;
7. ‘they find him worth hearing but after they have heard ' him they tu-e not convinced 23 ;
8. ‘having heard him, they are convinced,... but the faithful . make no sign of their belief 24 ;
16 siha-nadam nadati, ‘utters his lion's roar', 'makes his assertion*, 'issues his
challenge*. See Nathan Katz, Buddhist Images of Human Perfection: The
Arahant of the Sutta Pitaka compared with the Bodhisattva and the Mahd-
siddha (Delhi 1982) 29ff, for further usages of this expression.
17 D l 175.
18 Ibid .
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid.
21 Ibid.
22 Ibid.
23 sotabbam c*assa mahhanti . . .na ca kho sulvd pasidanti . ibid. Pasidati 'a mental altitude which unites deep feeling, intellectual appreciation and satisfied clarification of thought and attraction towards the teacher*. K.N. Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge (London 1963, New Delhi 1989) § 655.
24 Ibid. Presumably this means that they utter no acceptance formula, provide no meals for the bhikkhus, etc.
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Buddhist Studies Review 13, 1 (1996)
9. ‘the faithful give the sign of their belief, ... but they do not follow the path to the Truth (Nibbana) 25 ;
10. ‘they follow the Path,... but they do not succeed’ 26 .
These are clearly important accusations and the Buddha’s re¬ futation of them is categorical. He asserts that in fact exactly the opposite is the case.
The Buddha refutes further potential accusations regarding his conduct when challenged in a different debate sutta (A 1187). Sarabha, a wanderer, who had recently stopped being a follower of the Buddha is claiming that he left the Buddha’s teaching for the very reason that he understood it 27 . This controversial ut¬ terance is reported to the Buddha who seeks out Sarabha and challenges him. The Buddha asks Sarabha whether the report is true, and how Sarabha has understood the Dhamma 78 . Sarabha remains silent throughout this inquisition ‘confused, dejected, hanging his head, downcast, cowed down’ 29 . The Buddha then makes three assertions about himself. He asserts that* anyone challenging him with regard to the following: (1) his claim to be fully enlightened 30 , (2) his claim to be free of intoxicants 31 , and (3)
28 The second question is put twice. The situation here is very similar to that described by M. Witzel in The case of the shattered head* (Sludieh zur Indo- togie und Iranisitk 13-14, 1987), pp. 363-415. although it does not include this threat. This may be because the challenge is directed against a paribbdjaka , U is worth noting that in the Buddhist texts this threat is directed solely against brahmins.
29 A I 186.
30 sammasambuddha.
31 khJnasava.
his claim .hat his Teaching leads a practitioner to the complete destruction of suffering 32 , would end up in the same pitiable condition as Sarabha. The sutta continues, Then the Exalted One, having thrice uttered his lion’s roar... departed . .• .’ 33 .
The situations discussed above shew that the context in which the Tathagata utters his lion’s roar is a debate 34 . They also show that it is as Tathagata that Gotama makes the claims upon which he is willing to be challenged in public 33 . The Tathagata’s lion’s roar is a particular type of challenge. It is an assertion thai the Buddha is willing' to defend in public and this also accounts for the fact that it is uttered three times 36 .
What are those points that the Buddha was willing to defend in public? Three of them are given above: (1) that he was fully enlightened, (2) that he was free from intoxicants, and (3) that his Teaching leads a practitioner to the complete destruction ol suffering 37 .
32 A 1 187.
33 Ibid« lr. Woodward, Gradual Sayings (GS) 1 169f.
34 See Joy Manne, ‘Categories of Suita in the Pali Nikayas and their im¬ plications for our appreciation of Use Buddhist Teaching and Literature*, Journo of the Pali Text Society XV, 1990, 29-87. See also Witzel, op. cit.
35 Further, the study of debate techniques in Joy Manne, The Digha Nikay; Debates; debating practices at the time of the Buddha' ( Buddhist Studie . Reviep 9, 2, 1992, pp. 117-36) shows thai the Buddha regularly used his Taihagat. status to support his arguments in debates.
36 M. Hara, in his article ‘Mittabi* [Three Times*! Bukkyo kyori no kenkyu Tamara Yoshida hakase kanreki kinen ronshu (Tokyo 1982, pp.527-43), shows tha in Indian philosophy and literature 'doing an action three times means that i must be intentional and that one is therefore held responsible for the action*.
am extremely grateful to Dr Tom Tillemans for providing a translation of thi
1 article, from which this quotation is taken.
ltuddhisl Studies Review 13, 1 (1996)
We have already met the two formulas that introduce the contents of the Tathagata’s lion’s roar, (3 and 3A) together, and (4). Each of these formulas introduces a different type of content The contents of (3 and 3A) comprise the Teaching that the-j Tathagata roars; the contents of (4) comprise the Tathagata’s % qualities. Of these two formulas (the combination of (3 and 3A) is 5
the least frequently used. i
The aspects of the Teaching that are placed within (3 and 3A) are." .
(6) ‘This is the body, this is the arising of the body, this is the
ceasing of the body 3 *. This is feeling . . n perception . . ., creative acts 3 ’..., this is consciousness, this is the arising of consciousness, this is the ceasing of consciousness’ 40 , and
(7) ‘This is individuality: this is the origin of individuality, this is
the cessation of individuality, this is the path leading to the cessation of individuality’ 41 .
The ensuing remarks by the devas, identical in each of these suttas, show that they understand this to be a Teaching about impermanence: * . . . We know, indeed, sirs, that we are im¬ permanent, changing, not to last, taken in by individuality’ 41 .
38 Sl-c Rune Johansson, The Dynamic Psychology of Early Buddhism , London
and Mai mo 1979, pp.29-34.
39 Johansson’s translation of sankhara, ibid„ pp. 125ff.
40 S 111 85.
41 iii saUidyo iti sakkdyasamudayo ili sakkdyanirodho iti sakkayanirodhagamini patipddd ti. A 11 33. sakkdya is defined to be the five ‘groups of gras¬ ping partca upddanakkhandhd , which are rupa, vedana , sanha, sahkhdra, vinndna. M I 299.
42 .S III 85; ir. Woodward. KS 111 71.
imm
Manne — The Lion's Roar
The qualities of the Tathagata that warrant a lion’s roar arc comprised either in a statement about the Tathagata’s powers (, balani ) or in a statement about the subject concerning which he has complete confidence in himself ( vesarajjani ) introduced as in formula (4).
The powers the Tathagata is willing to claim for himself in the assemblies are enumerated variously as ten, six or five. The ten powers are;
(8) i. ‘that the Tathagata knows, as it really is, causal occasion (of a thing) as such, and what is not causal .occasion as such’ 43 ,
ii. ‘the fruit of .actions past, future and present, both in their causal occasion and the conditions 44 ,
iii. ‘the directions whatsoever of each practice 45 ,
iv. .'the .world as it really is, in its divers shapes and forms’ 46 ,
v. ‘the divers characters of beings’ 47 ,
vi. ‘the state of the faculties of other beings’ 48 ,
vii. '*the defilement, the purification, and the emergence of attainments in meditation ( jhana ), liberation (vin.okha) and concentration ( samadhi )’ 49 ,
viii. ‘The Tathagata can recall his many states of existence, thus: One birth, two births, three births and so on .;. up to an hundred thousand births; likewise many evolutions
43 A V 33; tr. Woodward, GS V 24. Explained at Dhammasangani (Dhs) 1337.
44 Ibid 4 ir. ibid. Cf. Middle Length Sayings (MLS) 1 93f.
45 Ibid ; tr. ibid.
46 anckadhalunadhatudokam yathdbhutam pajbnati, A V 33f; tr. ibid.
- 47 A V 34; tr. ibid.
48 parasattdnam para pug galdnam indriyaparopariyattam yathdbhutam pa jd nati. I bid:, tr. ibid.
Marine — The Lion’s Roar
Buddhist Studies Review 13, 1 (1996)
of aeons, many dissolutions of aeons, many evolutions and dissolutions of aeons, (remembering); At that time I had such a name, was of such a family, of such com¬ plexion, was thus supported, thus and thus experienced pleasure and suffering, had such and such a lifespan. Pass¬ ing away from that existence, I arose in another state of existence. And there, I had such a name, was of such a family.. .Passing away from that existence, I arose here’ 50 ,
ix. The Tathagata with divine vision, purified and surpassing that of men, sees the deceasing and rising up again of beings, both low and exalted, beautiful or ugly, gone to a state of bliss or a bad state according to their deeds. He knows beings thus; these beings, sirs, who are given to the practice of wrong conduct in body, word and thought, who criticise the noble ones, who are of wrong view and who acquire for themselves the fruits of their wrong view, having passed away arise after death in a. state of loss, a bad state, a state of lower existence, a state of destruction, those beings, sirs, who-a.re given to the practice of right conduct in body, word and thought, who do not criticise the noble ones, who are of right view and who acquire for themselves the fruits of their right view, having passed away arise after death in a state of bliss, in the heavenly world’ 51 ,
x. The Tathagata, through destroying the intoxicants, having seen for himself in this very lifetime, through his own higher knowledge, the release of the mind and the release through wisdom that is free from intoxicants.
remains in that attainment’ 52 .
This list of ten is supported in the Vibhahga where it occurs in • identical form with the exception of the ninth bala which is expressed simply:
> (9) ix. ‘[The Tathagata! knows as it really is the rebecoming of
beings’ 53 .
In the commentarial section that follows this list, however, the exposition comprises thfc full text of the ninth bala as given in the list of ten above 54 . When six powers are enumerated these are Nos 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the list of ten 55 . The five- powers are made up of a quite different list:
(10) The powers of faith, modesty, conscience (shrinking back
from doing wrong), energy and wisdom’ 56 .
The four subjects of confidence (vesarajjani) that the Tatha¬ gata is willing to proclaim in the assemblies are expressed in the form of a denial. The Buddha says, ‘I do not behold the ground on which a recluse or a brahmin or a deva or a Mara or Brahma or anyone in the world will legitimately reprove me’ 57 . These potential charges are:
(11) i. ‘These dhammas are not enlightened in you, although you claim to be fully enlightened’ 5 *,
52 A V 36. The reference for ihe whole attestation is A V 32-6; cf. M 12 [1
69-711 Translation taken from Woodward, GS V 23ff as indicated. Otherwise 1
have
used my own.
Vbh 318.
54
Vbh 343. A III 417ff.
saddha balam , hiri- % oilappaviriya -,
pahnabalam. A 11 9.
57
Ibid .
Buddhist Studies Review 13, 1 (1996)
ii. These intoxicants are not destroyed in you, although you
claim to be free from intoxicants’ 59 ,
iii. ‘There is no impediment for one who follows the dham- mas that you have called the dhammas that cause im¬ pediment’ 60 ,
iv. The Dhamma that you teach purportedly for this reason does not lead to the complete destruction of all suffering for the practitioner’ 61 .
Because the Tathaguta sees no legitimate ground upon which he may be reproved, he is peaceful, fearless, convinced 62 concerning potential charges that may be made against him.
Two suttas in S (II 27 = Nos. 21, 28 = No.2.2) open with the formula (4), adapting it so as to include both the ten powers {balani) and the four confidences (vesarajjani). Instead, however, of listing these as we have seen them above, these suttas follow the opening formula with the Dependent Origination ( paticca - samuppacla). These suttas begin with (4) above 63 , and continue:
(12) Thus, "this" being, "that" becomes, from the arising of this, that arises; this not being; that becomes not; from the ceasing of this, that ceases. That is to say, conditioned by ignorance, activities come to pass, conditioned by activities consciousness conies to pass, and so on: such is the uprising of this entire mass of Ill. But from the utter fading out and cessation of ignorance, activities cease, from the ceasing of activities consciousness ceases, and so on: such is the ceasing
59 I hid.
60 Ibid.
61 Ibid. (A II Sf = M 1 710.
62 A It 8f = M-1 71f.
63 In full in No.21, indicated in brief in No.22.
Manne — The Lion's Roar
of this entire mass of 111’ 64 .
It is difficult to sec how the phrases quoted in these suttas com¬ prised of (4) and (12) above contain ten powers ( balani ) and four confidences ( vesarajjani ). This indicates some confusion in the handing down of the tradition.
The above suggests that there were a number of points that the Buddha was willing to defend in public. (There was also a list of questions he refused to defend either in public or in private, the well-known unexplained (avyakata) questions.) The question is whether these points have some particular importance in the Buddha’s Teaching and should be regarded as its most important features, or alternatively, whether these points are more relevant to the debate procedures, topics and requirements of the time, being permissable or required subjects in the context of the dis¬ cussion between contemporary religious movements 65 . With regard to their importance as aspects of the Teaching, the pro¬ blem is that records remaining to us in this literature of topics that conic within the category of ‘lion’s roar’ subjects are so meagre that it is difficult to have any confidence in them, com¬ prising as they do only the arising and ceasing of the five khandhas, formula (6) and the arising and ceasing of ‘in¬ dividuality’ (sakkaya), formula (7). With regard to the qualities of the Tathagata, on the other hand, there are relatively many examples of lists of these, even though they are not always mutually consistent. This evidence suggests that it was primarily those qualities and capacities that the Buddha claimed for himself personally as Tathagata, and that he would defend in public, that comprised the content of the Buddha’s lion’s roar, and that the
64 S II 27f.
65 See Witzcl, op. cit.
flajuanaMil
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inclusion of ihc elements of the Teaching as material for a lion’s roar is spurious.
2. The monks' 'lion's roar".
The debate suttas, reflecting the debate tradition, show how important the requirement was to assert and defend one's re¬ ligious knowledge. Two suttas suggest that it was so important that the Buddha instructed his monks regarding which aspects of his Teaching they were rightly ( sammd ) allowed to proclaim in the form of a lion’s roar, and also how to defend them* In the Cujaslhanada Sutta 66 and in A II 238, § 239, the Buddha spe¬ cifically permits the monks to make a certain claim in the form of a lion’s roar:
(13) In this teaching, monks, the recluse is to be found, also the second, third and fourth (class) of recluse. Void of such recluses are the systems of those who teach contrary views. Thus, monks, do ye rightly roar the lion’s roar.. .* 67 . *
In M 11 he teaches them the argument for its defence.
Although these two suttas have this assertion itveommon •hey differ completely with regard to content. The A sutta defines the four samai.ias in its subsequent verses as the ‘Sbeam-Enterer’. C sotapanna ), the ‘Oncc-Returner’ ( sakadagamin ), the ‘Non- Returner’ ( opapatika , lit. ‘born by spontaneous generation’), and ‘one who, having destroyed the intoxicants, lives in the attainment of having experienced for himself through his own higher know¬ ledge in this very life the release of the mind, the release through wisdom that is free from intoxicants’ 68 . The M sutta, which may
66 M 11. Sec below, soeiion 3. for a discussion of suutas called sihanada.
67 A 11 238. $ 238 = M 11, I 63; tr. Woodward. GS 11 242.
68 The text omits pahrumvi/nutli/n which belongs in this formula.
L - 1 '1 Manne-The Lion’s Roar
be categorised as a sermon, teaches the monks how to refute, in debate, practitioners who hold various contrary views?’. The points made in this sutta have no relation to the definitions with which it starts out and which it has in common with the A sutta. The points on which others making the same claim may be re¬ futed are divided into two: one concerns aspects of the Teaching, the other concerns lines of attack against the position of the opponents. The first point is that the Buddhist monks make this claim naving seen for themselves four things: that they have (i) confidence in their Teacher and (ii) in their Dhamma, (iii) that they fulfil the moral requirements ( sila ), and (iv) that they have good relations with their fellow monks and their lay supporters. The second, a line of attack to be used in case the opponents should make exactly the same claims about their relationship with their leader and co-practitioners, comprises various challenges regarding the nature of their goal. After these first two para¬ graphs the sutta becomes a debate with potential opponents’® against the views of becoming and annihilation 71 , and the four ' kinds of grasping 0 upadana ) 7J . The Buddha sums up by saying that the holders of wrong views cannot fulfil the first group of conditions above, because they are wrongly taught by a teacher who is not completely enlightened. The sutta contains various expositions of the Teaching rather than instructions in refutation.
It is difficult to see how these points support the challenge, the sihanada, at the beginnng of this sutta. In fact the common beginning and separate development of this pair of suttas suggests
6§. See Manne (1990); 23.
70 See ibid; 23.
71 M I 64.
72 M I 66.