Aaa

The first requirement in a debate is that a challenge should be issued. When the Buddha receives a challenge he may accept it and respond directly, answering point by point, as in the Samannaphala Sutta (D 2) when he shows his thirty-two marks, the Kutadanta Sutta (D 5) where he describes the higher sacrifice, the MahSli Sutta (D 6) where he explains the relationship between achieving the hearing of heavenly sounds and the seeing of heavenly sights, the Potjhapada Sutta 32 where he answers PottHapada’s questions on the summits of consciousness 33 , and many further occasions.

The Buddha may, however, reject a challenge. The grounds for this are that it is misplaced, i.e. he will reject a challenge on subjects with regard to which he has made no claims. This demonstrates a convention, not directly named in the suttas, that a challenge on a position that was never asserted could right¬ fully be dismissed. Into this category comes the Buddha’s re¬ fusal to answer certain questions, for example the avya-

33 sannagga.

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kata questions (Potthapada Sutta 34 ) because they do not conform to the purpose of his teaching 35 . Also in this category is his refusal in the Patika Sutta 36 to reveal the Knowledge of the Beginning 37 , and his refusal in the Kevaddha Sutta (D ll) and the Patika Sutta (D 24, § 4) to produce miracles 38 . The Buddha may simply reject a challenge on this ground, or he may first reject it and then redefine it and answer it (Kevaddha Sutta: the mystic wonder) 39 . The Buddha may use the technique of both issuing and answering his own challenge. He does this in the form of a rhetorical question 40 , or by referring to a challenge made by a hypothetical opponent 41 .

The technique of the question-challenge is fundamental to a further strategy that the Buddha uses. He will accept his adversary’s position and then, by posing subtle questions, lead him him ta refute his own position through his own answers 42 . In this way he gets him to cede point after point, and then uses ,what is left of the adversary’s position to his own advantage 43 . In a similar way, the Buddha will prove his case by asking a

34 D 9 (I 187f, §§ 25-271

35 Defined in this sum, § 28.

36 D 24 (III 4, § 51

37 aggannam panhdpetL

38 iddhi’patihariycL

39 . The Patika Sutta, D 24, however, demonstrates that although the Buddha may refuse to perform miracles and to reveal the Knowledge of the Beginning, he both performs the former and knows the latter.

40 Brahmajala Sutta, D 1; Kevaddha Sutta, D 11; Lohicca Sutta, D 1Z

41 Potthapada Sutta, D 9 [l 197, § 43l Pare ce . . amhe evam puccheyyum . . .

42 Potthapada’s position on the soul/self, Potthapada Sutta, D 9, S 21-23; the limitations of ascetic practices, Udumbarika-Sihanada Sutta, D 25.

43 Sonadanda Sutta, D 4.

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sequence of rhetorical questions to which he will provide answers. These answers add increasing weight to his argument, and point by point he gets his adversary to agree with him 42 . He will also use simile and analogy strategically in his argument to attain this goal. He will provide an analogy with the case presented, and get the adversary to agree to his own (i.e. the Buddha’s) position in terms of the analogy. The Buddha will then relate the analogy to the opponent’s position, and in this way show that the latter has condemned himself 0 .

| The Buddha is also successful at eliciting questions from his opponent, the requirement of the third point in the Kassapa- Sfhanada Sutta. This occurs so generally in the debate suttas tlijit it is not worth citing examples. What is noteworthy in the Buddha’s use of this strategy is his ability to force from his adversary a question which demonstrates the latter’s ignorance, and hence the Buddha’s superior knowledge 44 . So Sonadan<Ja, having been led to reduce the number of qualities that permit a person to be defined as a brahman to two, is forced to ask the Buddha to explain these qualities 45 . v

There are a variety of further strategies or conventions* which occur regularly in the debates but which have not been specifically mentioned in any of the suttas cited above. Two strategies especially favoured by the Buddha are those of

42 Samannaphala Suita, D Z

43 Simannaphila SulU. S§ 35. 37; Potthapada Sulla, S 34-38; Lohicca Sulla D 12; Tevijji Sulla, D 13.

44 See Witzel, 1987, for ihe importance of this strategy and its occurrence in ihe brahman lexis.

45 Sonadanda Sulla, D I 124, $ 2Z

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appealing to authority, both his own and that of another person, and of undermining the opponent’s authority and status.

The Buddha will appeal to his own authority as Tathagata. He will enhance his authority by telling the story of a previous lifetime in which his competence to answer the present chal¬ lenge is established, and he is proved to be an expert on the subject (Kutadanta Sutta: when he was the brahman chaplain in charge of the sacrifice). He will present the adversary’s position exhaustively and systematically, and then put himself above it because of his knowledge and achievements 44 . He will resort to his transcendental vision 47 . He will put himself forward as the example that is also the ultimate proof of his own position: ‘Could such a bhikkhu (i.e. one who has achieved the described advanced state) say that?’... ‘But I am such a bhikkhu and I do not speak thus 10 . Similarly he puts his discipline above and out of reach of that of certain adversaries 4 ’. In this context too

46 Brahma jala Sulla. Aithi bhikkave ahn eva dhamma gambhird duddasa duranubodhd sqnta partita atakkdvacara nipund pandit a-ved aniyd, ye Taihdgatv sayam abhinhd sacchikavtd pavedeli ... D 1 [I 12. S 28], and Ime ditthdnd evam-gahitd evam pardmatthd evam-gatikd bhavissanii evanuibhisampwdya ti\ Tan ca T at hag at o pajanati, tato ca uitaritararn pajanali, tan ca pajananam na pardmasati, apardmasato cassa pacettam yeva nibbuti vidita , vedandnam samudaych ca atthagamah ca asshdah ca adinavah ca nissaranah ca yatha-bhutam viditva anupadd vimuUo, bhikkhave Tathdgaio. D I 16f.

4 T Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta. D 8 [1 161f. § 3): . . . dibbena cakkhund visi idhena alikkanla-rndnusakena, „

48 Mahali Sutta. D 6 (I 157. § 16] and variously; Jaliya Sulla. D 7: Yo nu kho 4 avusa bhikkhu evam Jdndti evam passati kailam nu kho tass‘ etam vacandya

Aham kho pan etam . . evam janami evam passami. Atha ca pandham na vaddmi . *

49 Udumbarika-Sihanada Suita, D 25 (111 39f, § 7J: Dujjdnam kho etam Nigrodha taya ahha-ditthikena ahha-khantikena ahha-ruccikena ahhalr ayogena

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come the Buddha’s assertions that he is ‘the greatest!* 50

The Buddha quotes or resorts to external or non-present authorities to enhance his authority. He cites the gods in the Ambattha Sutta 51 , where he quotes a versq by Brahma Sanam- kumara and agrees with it, and in the Patika Sutta 52 where lie supports his assertion .hat he knows by adding that he has also been told this by a deva. He tells a story which shows that the highest god recognises that only the Buddha can answer a cer¬ tain question 55 . In the Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta 54 , he imputes a decision in his favour to ‘the wise’. Also in this sutta 55 , he invokes Nigrodha’s support, although the latter is absent, when he refers to an occasion when Nigrodha found an answer that he (the Buddha) gave very satisfying.

The strategy of undermining or reducing the adversary’s status and authority is also frequently used. In the Ambattha Sutta 54 , the Buddha humiliates Ambattha by revealing the latier’s humble origins; in the same sutta 57 he reveals that

ahhatr dcariyakena yenaham sdvake vinemi . .

50 Cf. Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta, D 8 [I 1745 211 and variously. Yavata Kas- sapa Qriya parama vimutti, naham tallha altano samasamam samanupassami kuto bhiyyo. Cf. On the claim to be the best, Witzel, 1987, p365. quoting the Taittiriya Brahmana 3.10.5. Also, ‘One cannot just claim to be belter than the rest . . . Mere brazen assertion does not suffice; one must be able to prove one's knowledge.' p372f.

7 Buddhist Studies Review 9, 1 (1992) • Manne

Pokkharasadi, Ambauha’s teacher, is not sufficiently respected to be permitted into the direct presence of the king. Also in this sutta he tells Ambattha that the ability to recite mantras of the ancient rishis does not make him a rishi 5 *. He resorts to ridicule of brahman knowledge and habits in the Tevijja Sutta (D 13). Similarly, Kassapa ridicules his adversary when he tells him, ‘I have never seen or heard anyone professing such a position, such a view’ 59 .

There are further general strategies in use. The Buddha will establish the criteria for winning the debate and then maintain that "he conforms to them, as in the Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta 40 , where he defines the criteria for the appellation ‘samana’ or ‘brahmana’, and in the Udumbarika-SIhanada Sutta, where he defines true asceticism 41 . The Buddha will show both the pros and cons in the adversary’s position, and then demonstrate that his own position is still stronger 42 . Like Kumara Kassapa, but ’hot so explicitly, the Buddha will use similes and analogy. He may use these poetically, to reinforce the ideas he is presenting, as the many similes in the Samanfiaphala Sutta. He may also use these strategically in his argument, especially with the goal of getting the opponent to refute his own position. The Buddha can also be reasonable. In the Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta, when Kassapa challenges him whether he condemns all asceticism, he

58 ... tydham manle adhxyami sacariyako ti lav at a tvam bhavissasi hi vd isitiaya va patipanno ti n etam thanam vijjati . D 3 [I 104. §§ 8. 10l

59 Naham Rajahha evam-vadim evam-ditthim addasam va assosin va (Payasi Sulla. D 23 III 319, S 5l

60 D 8 [I 167, § 151

61 tapo-jigghuccha parisuddha.

62 Kassapa-Sihanada Sulla, D 8; Udumbarika-Sihanada Sulla, D 25.

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replies, ‘How then could I, O Kassapa, who am thus aware, as they really are, of the states whence men have come, and whither they will go, as they pass away from one form of existence, and take shape in another, — how could 1 disparage all penance; or bluntly revile and find fault with every ascetic, with every one who lives a life that is hard?* 3 The Buddha can open himself up to the judgment of others. Also in the Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta, he tells Kassapa of an occasion when in discussion with certain samanas and brahmana^ he offered them to put aside all the subjects on which they held mutually incompatible views, and to judge solely with regard to those qualities that they mutually agreed were unskilful ( akusala ), blameworthy ( savajja ), ignoble ( nalam-ariya ) and wicked 0 Unha), whether the Buddha was not the one among them who had most completely abandoned them ( anavasesam pahaya vattatfr*.

An interesting feature that occurs in two of the debates is the sub-challenge.

Sub-challenges have a particular character. They occur when the followers of an adversary interfere in a debate.. The Buddha responds to these sub-challenges in a standard way. He counters by challenging his adversary’s supporters to debate with him themselves, if they think that their leader is not performing

63 thc«»!”>p»-Sih«nid» Suit*. D I 161f. § 3 :Yo 'harp Kassapa imescm tapaislnam evam a gal in ca gatin ca cutin ca uppattin ca yathabhutam pajknami. so 'ham kim sabbam tapam garahissami sammam tappasim litkhajivam ekamsena upakkosissami upavadissami? Tr. Rhys Davids, Dialogues 1, p-224.

64 j Le. in a debate with potential opponents. See Manne, 1990, p38f.

65 Kassapa-Sihanada Sutta. D 1 163, $ 5.

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adequately.

The sub-challenges occur only in debates with brahmans 66 . In the Ambattha Sutta, once the Buddha has accused Ambattha of being descended from the slave of a Sakyan 67 , Ambattha’s followers defend him. The Buddha then challenges them: ‘If you, young brahmans, think that the young brahman Ambattha is ill-born, not of good family, not learned, not a fine reciter, without wisdom, and not able to debate with me, then let him be silent, and you debate with me. If you think the opposite, then you be silent and let Ambattha debate with me* 8 . Ambattha’s companions are silent. In the Sonadanda Sutta (D 4) the Buddha extracts from Sonadanda the concession that only two attributes are essential for a man to claim truthfully to be a brahman. Sonadanda’s companions accuse him of betraying them: ‘Do not, Venerable Sonadanda, speak in this way. The Venerable Sonadanda rejects our caste; he rejects our sacred verses, he rejects our birth!* 9 The Buddha’s reply is the same as

66 Manavas, Ambattha Sutta* D 3; brahmanas, Sonadanda Sutta, D 4.

68 Sact kho tumhakam manavaka evam hoti, "Dujjaio ca Ambattho mrnavo, akulaputta ca Ambatlho manavo , appassuio ca Ambaitho manavo. akalyana- vakkarano ca Ambattho manavo, duppahho ca Ambaitho manavo, na ca pahoti Ambatlho manavo samantna Gotamena saddhim asmim vacant paiimanieiun ft t titthaiu Ambattho manavo, tumhe maya suddhim asmim vacane maniavho. Sace kho tumhakam manavaka evam hoti, "Sujaio ca Ambattho manavo , kola- 'putla ca Ambattho manavo, bahussuto ca Ambcutho manavo, kalyana-vdkkarano

ca Ambattho manavo, pandito ca Ambattho manavo, ca pahoti Ambattho manavo samanena Gotamena saddhim asmim vacane paiimantetun tr, titthatha tumhe, Ambattho manavo maya saddhim mantetuti. D I 93f, § 18.

69 Ma bhavam Sonadando evam uvaca! Apavadat' eva bhavam Sonadanda vannam apavadati monte apavadati jatim ... D l 122, § 17.

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in the Ambattha Sutta, but without the opening remarks about birth and family 70 .

The style of debate is remarkably consistent in all the debate suttas, with the single exception of the Payasi Sutta (D . 23), where Kumara Kassapa, and not the Buddha, is the protagonist. This enables us to compare the Buddha’s debating style and techniques with those of one of his disciples. The style of the Payasi Sutta is qualitatively different from that of the suttas in which the Buddha is the protagonist. Where Kumara Kassapa says, ‘I, Prince, have neither seen or heard of any one holding such a view, such an opinion’ 71 , the Buddha is never surprised by a view expressed by his adversary. Where Kumara Kassapa asks the adversary his reasons 12 the Buddha never invites extensive representations of the opponent’s views. It is his style rather to ask brief pointed questions to which only one answer is possible and which leads to the rebuttal by the adversary himself of his own position. Kumara Kassapa thus pays more attention to the details of his adversary’s case, while the Buddha goes straight to the weak point of his adversary’s argument.

Kumara Kassapa’s is a poor imitation of the Buddha’s method of asking a series of questions whose answers manoeuvre the adversary into denying his own position: he takes much longer to convince his adversary than the Buddha ever does. Kumara Kassapa’s arguments contain notably less Buddhist teaching than those of the Buddha. Where the Buddha

70 Ibid , S HI

71 See n.61 Tr. Rhys Davids. Dialogues II, p351.

72 pariyaya , §§ 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16.

Buddhlst Studies Review 9, 1 (1992) - Manne

produces similes, without explicitly saying that he is doing so, Kumara Kassapa is explicit (§ 9). In every way the Buddha is both more subtle and more skilful than Kumara Kassapa in his use of debating techniques and strategies.

Fully half of the debates in the Digha are with brahmans (D 1, 3-5, 10, 12, 13, 23). Debates exist also in the BrShmanas and the Upani$ads. They appear too in the earliest Vedic literature, the Rgveda, as Speech Contests 73 . So far the rules for these have not yet been fully described by scholars. Insofar as they have been 74 , they show that this is another case 7 * where we need Buddhist te'xts to help us understand brahmanical literature.

73 F.B.J. Kuiper, ‘The Ancient Aryan Verbal Contest’, Indo-lrcnian Journal IV. 1960, pp.217-81.

74 Witzel, 1987.

75 See J. Bronkhorst, ‘The Mahabhasya and the Development of Indian Philosophy' in Three Problems pertaining to the Mahabhasya, Poona 1987, third lecture.

The Udana or inspired Utterances’ is the third book of the Khuddaka Nikaya or Minor Collection. It consists of eighty short suttas or discourses of the Buddha, divided into-eight groups ( vagga ) of ten suttas each. The title refers to the pronouncement, usually in verse, made at the end of each sutta arid prefaced by the words; ‘Then, on realising its significance, the Lord uttered on that occasion this inspired utterance’ (atha kho bhagava etam attham viditva tayarp velayarp imatp udanam udanesi). Here it is the Buddha who pronounces them, although others are sometimes so inspired (e.g. in Ud. 2.10 and 3.7). Such utterances also occur elsewhere in the Sutta Pijaka (eg. MI 508; M II 104-5. 209; S I 20, 27-8, etc.).

The prose suttas which precede the ‘inspired utterances’ themselves could be regarded as a kind -of commentary, supplying the introductory circumstances to the essential Dhamma-teachings found in the utterances. Because they are introductory, relating circumstances and containing little doctrinal material, they betray their lateness in a variety of ways and strongly suggest they are actually an ancient

1 The present essay was compiled from notes made and problems encountered while preparing a translation of the Udana. This translation, to which the references herein are made, was published as The Udana. Inspired Utterances of the Buddha (BPS. Kandy 1990), and was reviewed in BSR 9. 1 (1992).

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commentary. Sometimes the utterances do not appear to fit neatly into the context in which they are set (e.g. 5.2, 5.5), though in other cases the story and the udana-utterance are integral to each other (e.g. 1.8, 45, etc.). Being expressions of the Buddha’s teaching, the utterances often allow for a wider interpretation than the circumstances surrounding them suggest and have, moreover, multiple meanings and allusions to the teachings referred to in other portions of the Sutta Pi|aka. The fact is there exists an intricate network of cross-references throughout the Tipitaka and no one passage can be studied in isolation. A particular topic or aspect of the teaching found in one place begins to become meaningful only when everything else that has been said about it is known. Everywhere the Dhamma is spoken of in brief and no one place can be pointed to as being exhaustive and definitive of any aspect of the Dhamma. When a topic, word or phrase is come across and occurs apparently nowhere else in the Canon, it always presents the problem of determining its exact meaning and significance. An example would be kappa, ayu-kappa in 6.1. We have to rely on the Commentary to tell us that kappa does not mean the aeon in this context, but the normal human life(dyu)-span. However, there is no certainty that it was always so interpreted.

Could the udona-verses once have existed as a collection apart from the introductory sutta, like the verses of the Dhammapada? These verses are also described as Buddha-udana, but the stories supplied to explain when and where they were spoken are found in the Commentary and are pot reckoned as the word of the Buddha. In the first vagga of the Udana, the Bodhivagga, the uddna-utterances form a group united by the common word ‘brahmin’ ( brahmana ), which is obvious when they are read apart from the introductory suttas.

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So this vagga could well have, been called Brahmanavagga, following on from the last vagga of the Dhammapada, the preceding work in the Khuddaka Nikaya. Similarly, the second vagga has the unifying theme of sukhcc,. happiness, bliss.j Subsequently there is no obviously discernible theme linking the utterances. However, there is a suggestion of an overall plan to the work as a whole, in that the beginning of the first vagga does deal with the start of the Buddha’s career beneath the Bodhi tree. Additionally, the final vagga contains material also, to be found in the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta of the DIgha Nikaya, which recounts the last days of the Teacher before he passed away. The first sutta of the sixth vagga is also an important episode in the life of the Buddha. It is found in the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta too and is the beginning of the events leading up to the passing away of the Buddha and contains Ananda’s failure in not requesting him to delay his departure from this world.

As well as being uplifting and inspiring, the stories from the Udana also reveal much humour. For example, the response of Nanda on being asked to compare those pink-footed nymphs with that Sakyan girl, ‘the loveliest in the land’. Again, in the story of Suppavasa, when the Budha elicits from her the response that she would like another seven sons, despite the trouble and pain she had to undergo to produce just one — all forgotten in the pride of motherhood! And then there is the incongruity of a new-born baby being able to hold a conversation. These, and other subtle touches, reveal the inspiration, humour, joy and delight — and devout faith too — of those ancient and unknown story-tellers who collected and put together this literature. Also noticeable is their love of puns and allusions, the word-play and the ingenuity involved. Thus in

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l 1-8, the pun on Sangamaji’s name, and, in the ‘Bull-Eleph mt’

| story (4.5) the play on the word naga , meaning both perfected | one and elephant. In this last is also the charming touch of the

| elephant bringing water ‘for the Lord’s use’ with his trunk.

I Then there are the similes and parables, like that of the blind man and the elephant (6.4), that are both entertaining and instructive. Although it should be pointed out that this parable is best suited to Jain rather than Buddhist doctrine — a theory of partial truth being somewhat un-Buddhistic — the story is probably older than both Jainism and Buddhism and is.still used today by modern Hindu teachers (e.g. by Ramakrishna).

The thought processes of the compilers of the Pali Canon are also reveajed when it is discovered that there is a connection, between two adjacent suttas, although this may not be too obvious at first sight. One example in the Udana is between suttas 5.8 and 5.9 where a reference to Devadatta’s schism is followed in the next sutta by the inclusion of a verse that is found elsewhere (e.g. Vin. I, p349) in the context of the Kosambi rift. Other examples may be found in the Anguttara Nikaya. These connections are 9 ften so well hidden they need great ingenuity to discover them. They would also constitute necessary aids to memory in an oral literature and an indication of how it was gradually put together, a word or phrase in one sutta acting as a cue or trigger for the next. Also to be found are connections and allusions within the same sutta that are not at first obvious; some so subtle that one could be forgiven for thinking they are accidental rather than deliberate. An example is contained in Ud. 5.4. What is more natural than for little boys, caught out in some misdemeanour (‘tormenting fish in a pond’) by a passerby, attempting to run away, as is suggested in the last line of the verse:

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If you have done a bad deed or do one now.

You will not escape pain, though you try to flee.’

Another device the ancient compilers of the Canon have employed is the occasional interposing of lines of explanatory narrative prose, or verse that repeats what was previously said in* prose. This has been done in the Cunda Sutta (8.5.), heightening the solemnity of the events being describee! with dramatic effect. This sutta also has a number of curious features. It consists of four separate pieces, actually four short suttas that have been strung together. The composition of s&karamaddava, the Buddha’s last meal, has been the subject of continuing controversy from the earliest times and much has been written about it. Although it is thought to have been the capse of the Buddha’s sickness, this is not borne out by a careful examination of the commentarial tradition. It was possibly medicinal in nature and acted as a purge and was prepared >by Cunda with the purpose of prolonging the Buddha’s life. In any case the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta suggests the JJuddha fell ill during the last *rains-retreat, prior to informing- Mara he would pass away in three months* time and the visit to Cunda s dwelling. The remorse of Cunda was probably because his preparation did not succeed. Another feature of the Cunda Sutta is the sudden appearance of the venerable Cundaka as the Buddha’s attendant, whilst the final section reverts to Ananda again. An intriguing question is whether there is any connection between Cunda the Smith (Cunda Kamm&raputta) and the venerable Cunda(ka). Thus, is there a portion of the story missing where Cunda the Smith ‘goes forth’ and becomes the venerable Cunda or Cundaka? Moreover, are the narrative verses actually fragments of an alternative verse recension of the story? The text we have is very much an edited and

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selected version of the whole mass of floating oral material, much of it now lost forever. An example of some of this material is the survival of the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit work, the Mahavastu, which gives a glimpse of the extent and richness of it. Herein are to be found both prose and verse alternative versions of various tales and episodes within the Buddhist tradition, many of which are absent from Pali literature altogether 1 .

In the Commentary to the Suppavasa Sutta (2.8) it is said Koliyaputta was the son (putta) of the Koliyan king. However, this is anachronistic as the Koliyans, like the Sakyans their neighbours, formed a republic during the lifetime of the Buddha. As Suppavasa herself is designated Koliyadhlta (‘a Koliyan daughter’), this might then give the impression that they were brother and sister instead of husband and wife! The word putta (as also dhita) when used as a suffix to a name, here and elsewhere, seems to mean 'a member of, ‘belonging to’ or ‘one born in’, a certain family or clan, rather than the ‘son’ or ‘child’ of a particular person. It is used especially by khattiya clans such as the Koliyans and Sakyans in whose republic-states 3 there was a legislative assembly ( sahgha ) of leading members, heads of families. These members are called rajas, whilst the other

2 I disagree now with my observation in the introduction to the Udana translation 'p.8) that. The Udana is an anthology, many pieces being taken from elsewhere in the Pali Canon . . which is misleading. Neither the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta nor the Udana can be pointed to as the original source for those suttas they have in common.

3 These are either truly tribal, ruled by the elected ciders of a council, or republican slates governed by an aristocratic (Le. Uwmya-born) oligarchy.

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male members of the clan were the puttas or rajaputtas, the ‘sons’ of the rajas. That the Buddha was a rajaputta would not necessarily mean that he was a ‘prince’ as the later tradition ( would have it, the son of King Suddhodana, but merely that he* was a member of the Sakyan clan. He was a Sakyaputta or Rajaputta, that is, he belonged to a clan or tribe that was governed by an assembly of rajas .; a Rajput tribe in modern parlance. A remnant of such a tribe, the Forest Rajputs, still existed in recent times in the foothills of the Himalayas on the , borders of Nepal. Their origin had much in common with the ancient traditions recorded in Pili, literature of the origin of the Sakyans, whose home was that very same region.

This system of government of the Koliyans and Sakyans is also reflected in the heavenly worlds with the distinction between ‘devas’ and ‘devaputtas’. The leader of the devas, the devaraja of the Tavatimsa (the ‘Assembly of the Thirty-three’) reveals in the name of ‘Sakka’ his connection with the Sakyans. Possibly he was originally a tribal god, hero or ancestor, who in later times came to be identified with the Indo-Ariyan thunder-god, Indra. Because of this tribal connection it is appropriate that Sakka should have become the special patron and protector of the Buddhadhamma, the teaching of the Great Sage ( [[[mahamuni]] ) Sakyaputta Gotama, .the Sakyamuni, the Sage of the Sakyans. The devas, it may be gathered, lived an idyllic existence as rajas, in aristocratic or ‘regal’ splendour, attended by retinues of devaputtas, celestial maidens ( devakahhd ) or devadhitas (the ‘daughters’, also called acchara or nymphs), musicians ( gandhabba ), etc. Here, as in the human world which it mirrors, there is to be seen the transition in the actual meaning of the term raja, from the original tribal/republican connotation to the idea of ‘kingship’, the single rule of a

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maharaja, when kingdoms replaced the tribal territories.

i References to devatas or devaputtas belonging to ‘a Tavatimsa company’ (Jdvatirpsa-kdyikd devata) may be taken to mean referring to this heaven as organised into presumably | thirty-three companies or divisions. Each of these are headed

I by a ‘deva’ as the leader which, like that of the overall leader

! Sakka himself, is an office held by that deva and who is I; replaced upon his decease. The term ‘devaputta’ then refers to

the other members of the various companies under the

leadership of a particular deva. These companies also resemble !; military battalions and are so employed in the mythical warfare that takes place betwden the devas and the asuras. As well as this warrior Ikhattiya ethos, the Tavatimsa is characterised by its sensual delights which here reach unsurpassed heights of indulgence and" perfection.

In the Udana (3.7) there is a reference to Sakka’s consort, Suja the asura maiden. In 3.2 Sakka is revealed being ministered to by five hundred beautiful pink-footed nymphs C acchara ,) or the Kakuta-padani, literally, ‘the Dove-footed Ones’, referring to their delicacy and complexion, rather than any bird-like characteristics. Some texts (e.g. the Burmese 4 ) have kukkuta - (‘chicken’), instead of kakuta - (‘dove’). In the Commentary (UdA, p.172) it is stated that their feet were of a reddish or pinkish colour ‘like the feet of a pigeon’ ( parapata-pada-sadisa ), whilst the PTS edition of the Udana reads padini instead of padanl - the only reference to these nymphs, in the Sutta Pitaka, making the correct reading difficult to ascertain.

4 Khuddakanikaya I, Chaithasangayana ed. 1956.

Buddhist Studies Review 9, 2 (1992) - Ireland

i - Some other words and phrases of interest in the Udana are the following:

sabbattha ekarattiparivasa (1.10). This seems to-mean ‘staying one night at each place (upon the journey)’. However, the Commentary takes it to mean ‘taking (but) one night to complete the journey’, despite sabbattha which ought to mean ‘everywhere’, ‘each place’.

In 1.10 also occurs the phrase gavi tarunavaccha: ‘a cow accompanied by a young calf. This should pose no particular problem, except that Woodward mistranslated the sentence, implying that Bahiya (and also Suppabuddha in 53) was killed b.y ‘a calf instead of ‘a cow with a calf*, the latter being more plausible. Normally gentle and inoffensive, a cow can be dangerous and unpredictable when she has a young calf to protect. Woodward’s- mistake seems to have gone unnoticed for it is found repeated in books and articles by other authors when referring to the deaths of Bahiya and Suppabuddha. Pukkusati (M 140) and TambadSthika (DhA II 203f.) were'also similarly .killed by cows, the former by a cow rushing to protect her calf according to the Commentary (MA V 62).

Janapadakalytyl (3.2) meaning ‘the loveliest in the land* is taken by the Commentary to be the personal name of the Sakyan girl with whom Nanda is infatuated, rather than merely descriptive. One feels the Commentary is stretching a point here but it had to fit the manifestly late and absurd tale of

5 Fi.. Woodward. Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon II: Verses of Uplift, PTS 1935. pJl.

Buddhist Studies Review 9, 2 (1992) - Ireland

N’anda’s going forth as found in DhA.

In 3.9 occurs a list of crafts. The fifth is muddasippa: communicating by gestures. The Commentary is of little help,

merely adding ‘hand gestures’. Woodward’s explanation of it as bargaining by signs or hand-touching employed by merchants 4 is

far-fetched and quite wrong according to the late I.B. Horner in

! a personal communication. Possibly it may have had a military

significance as do the previous crafts, i.e. directing the course of

the battle by signalling commands. T.W. Rhys Davids’ proposal that lokayata means ‘nature lore’ has been disposed of by Jayatilleke who has shown that it originally meant ‘the art of debate’ as a branch of brahminica! learning 7 . Lokayata came to < mean materialism at the time of the Pali commentators and,

t outside Buddhism, it is also used as a term for materialism. It is

• so described in Haribhadra’s Saddarsanasamuccaya (8th cent.

C.E.) and in the Vedantin Mahadeva’s Sarvadarsanasamgraha (14th cent.). There are two distinct readings of the final craft mentioned: (1) khattavijja: political science or statecraft, the craft of the ruling or warrior class ( khattiya ); (2) khettavijja): the knowledge of, or the ability to locate, suitable sites for building upon. There is also a possible reading of

nakhattavijja (astrology).

Most translations of the verse beginning abhutavadi nirayam upeti (4.8; also found in Dhp 306 and It. 48), render this line: ‘The liar goes to hell’. However, this does not clearly differentiate the subject from the person of the next line. That

6 Woodward, ibid^ p38, ti2.

1 JCN. Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge , London 1963, p.48f

Buddhist Studies Review 9 f 2 (1992) - Ireland

the . verse should be translated as:

The false accuser goes to hell

And he who denies the deed he did ...’ is suggested by the story of SundarlVmurder (also fouifd in DhpA) and also the prose of It 48.

In 5.9 occurs the phrase saddayam&narupa, ‘making an uproar’, in the PTS edition of the text. However, on consulting the various readings noted by the texts, none of the Mss used in its preparation actually has this reading. Paul Steinthal, the PTS editor, apparently took saddaya- from the Commentary which gives this as an alternative, possibly because he considered his Ms reading meaningless. These various readings are: padhaya-, pat hay a-, vadhdya-, saddhdya-. More recent Oriental printed editions of the text are of little help in resolving the problem. The Burmese edition has sadhaya -, as does the Nalanda edition*, and this may be equated with padhaya -, because sa and pa are similar in the Brahml script and easily confused. There is a verb sadh - (Skt. srdh-) meaning ‘abuse’, which ought to give the Pali present indicative saddhati , not sadhatP. The Udana Commentary'® gives the reading vadhdya-, meaning ‘harm’, ‘injury*, but ‘harm by verbal abuse’, which seems to be what is intended, would be a peculiar use of the word. To establish the correct form of the text is a complicated problem and cannot be resolved with the material available.

Parulha-kaccha-nakha-loma: ‘with long-grown nails and hair’

| Buddhist Studies Review 9, 2 (1992) - Ireland

(6.2). Woodward translated as ‘with long nails and hairy 

I armpits’ (‘Verses of Uplift’, p.78), and at Kindred Sayings I

| (p.104) it appears as ‘with hairy bodies and long nails’. There

I seems to be uncertainty as to the meaning and derivation of

t kaccha, as either ‘marshy land’, ‘the long grass’, etc, growing in

| such a place, or‘a hollow’such as‘an armpit’, etc. 11 . The whole

5 ; phrase appears to imply being unkempt, dirty, sweaty and smelly

j; (‘hairy = sweaty armpits, caked with dust’, eta 12 ). Later in the

i sutta the king says, *... when they have washed off the dust and

r mud, are well-bathed and perfumed, and have trimmed their , hair and beards ...’, which seems to support this interpretation.

i Kohco khirapako va ninnagatp (8.7). I translate!, ‘as a i fully-fledged heron leaves the marshy ground’. However, r khirapako- actually means ‘milk-fed’, i.e, ‘a sucklingf-calf)* and i: seems hardly appropriate for a bird, although possibly it could l prefer to a fledgling being fed with regurgitated food by its i parents, but far-fetched. The Commentary (UdA, p.427) refers to the notion of certain birds (heron, goose or swan, eta) having the ability to separate milk from water, leaving the water behind (ninnaga = udaka). Another possibility is that kohea is not a heron at all, but an'elephant. See PED J koncct n . trumpeting (of elephants; also the sounds made by certain water-birds that are similar, cf Milindapanha chap 6, *. . . an elephant’s sound is like a heron’s’), kohe’a = koheandda (kuheanada ). kohea / kuhea / kuhja / kuhjarcc. an elephant

8 Khuddakanikaya L Nalanda Devanagari Pali Series, Bihar Government, 1959.

9 Private communication from KJL Norman, Cambridge.

10 Both PTS, and Simon Hewavitarne Bequest ed. 1920.

11 Cf PED kacchJ- l \ kacchiP\ also kacchantara, upakaccha, and Ski. kaccha, kaksa, kaca.

12 This interpretation was suggested to the writer by the late Ven. H. Saddhatissa.

Buddhist Studies Review 9, 2 (1992) - Ireland

However, it seems best to accept the commentarial explanation j. here. Although it has not been possible to locate the concept of | the milk-drinking heron elsewhere in - any Pali work, it is a j

known convention in Sanskrit literature 13 . It is used as a simile •

for accepting the good but rejecting the bad, thus: ‘He takes the f good utterances (away from the bad) as the goose takes milk from water’ (Mahabharata I 69JO) and, The royal goose drinks j‘ mi|k, (but) avoids water’ (Subha$itaratnakosa, 1374). Therefore, | the Udana passage should be amended to translate as: *(the wise | man . . . abandons evil) as the milk-drinking heron leaves the g water behind’ 14 . However, the substitution of ‘heron’ for the | more usual ‘goose’ (or ‘swan’) does leave the suspicion that this | interpretation may not be entirely correct. Perhaps it would be > going too far to consider this as another example of the Pali redactor’s subtle humour!

Sutta 8.6. betrays its lateness by the prophecy about Pajaliputta (modern Patna) put into the mouth of the Buddha, . concerning its future greatness when it was to become the j capital of Magadha and the centre of the Aspfcan empire. The sudden introduction of the name Pftyaliputta itself, and also the explanation calling one of the entrances to the city the Gotama

13 Th»t this wis t widespread belief is substantiated by the fact that it is actually mentioned in a 9th cent. Chinese (Tang Dynasty) Buddhist source. Afer hearing a report of a conversation with the Ch*an master Huang-po, another remarks. ‘That swan , is able to extract the pure milk from the adulterated mixture . . .’ 0. Blofeld, The Zen Teaching of Huang Po, London 1958, pJOl).

This information and the references were supplied by K.R. Norman in a personal communication.

Gate, look very much like a late interpolation.

In conclusion, a word should be added regarding the text and translation of the Udana. The PTS edition is in a very unsatisfactory state. It was prepared by P. Steinthal in 1885 from three Mss (two Sinhalese and a Burmese), all containing many defects. An attempt was made to improve the text by F.. Windisch who produced a list of alternative readings 15 . This list was subsequently further improved and added to by F.L. Woodward when he made his edition of the Commentary (1925). Despite these attempts, the fact is that there is still much left to be desired in the text and what is really needed is a completely new edition to replace Steinthal. There are now in existence several Oriental printed editions; such as that contained in the Burmese Chatthasangayana edition of the Tipi^aka (1956), that are more satisfactory or at least ‘readable’ compared with many portions of the PTS text. This Burmese edition, the NalandS Devanagarl edition and the Sinhalese Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka Series edition were consulted by the present writer in preparing his translation of the Udana. The initial purpose of this translation was to ‘improve upon’ Woodward’s 1935 versionv(‘Verses of Uplift’) which is unsatisfactory in many respects. However, I have refrained from being overtly critical of Woodward’s work for, although many of the errors in his translation have been corrected, this new translation has produced a new crop of errors. These were discovered only subsequent to publication and hopefully may be corrected in a future edition.

15 ‘Notes on the Edition of the Udana’, JPTS 1890, pp.9l-108.

A NOTE ON THE ORIGIN OF THE PffU DHAMMAPADA VERSES

Nissim Cohen

The purpose of this 'note' is twofold: first, to provide up- to-date material on the parallels to the PSli Dha*mmapada (Dhp) and between the various Dharmapadas, as well as comments on their relative antiquity; second, to develop a thesis on the origin of the Dhp, hinted at elsewhere*, and which is basad on con¬ textual and literary evidence. It may stimulate further investi¬ gations on this matter and, if carried out by more able resear¬ chers, the outcome may prove fruitful and our knowledge concern¬ ing the origin of the Pali Dhp stanzas enriched.

1. The Dhp is, admittedly, the most widely translated and read of the canonical texts. Notwithstanding its popularity, the greater part of the research work done so far gravitates, with

a few exceptions, towards the parallels to the Dhp and the simi¬ larities between the various extant Dharmapadas, to the exclusion of other linguistic and literary studies. One of the most out¬ standing contributions in the field of contemporary studies in recent years is the work published by Professor K. Mizuno 2 ; more Important still, his research has helped to resolve the question of the antiquity of the Dhp in relation to the Dharmapadas of other schools. My aim in this section is to produce complemen¬ tary material, based on my own studies,and in a systemised manner to comment on the relative age of these texts.

Usually, editors and translators supply references to other texts. However, besides the inconvenience of being scattered throughout the texts, these references are sometimes incomplete and even misleading 3 . The author of this article has, in recent years, surveyed the Pali canonical and non-canonical texts as well as Dharmapada texts for parallels to tha Dhp, trying to discover and identify additional similarities or parallels. The outcome is presented here in the form of Tables I-III*.

To my knowledge, this is the most complete inventory of the Dhammapada’s parallels so far published 5 . It. will also be noted that the canonical texts have been divided into two groups, CANON¬ ICAL TEXTS-I (CT-I) comprising those texts whose final composi-

tion dates are considered, by certain scholars, to be earlier than or, in a few cases (Udana, Itivuttaka?), contemporary with the Dhp. In CANONICAL TEXTS-II (CT-II) have been included texts which are, in all probability, later than Dhp.

A question that may arise in this connection is why the Jata- kas have been listed as non-canonical. It is well known that there is still no consensus as to what should be cop? idered as canonical in the Jatakas, and what as commentarial literature.

As our concern here is to define the probable sources of the Dhp verses, it should suffice to mention that we have the testi¬ mony of the Jatakas proper which, in some cases,, state clearly that the verses have been pointed out by the Buddha from the Dhp and not the other way round (for example, Ja I 76, 132 ; II 441; III 73, 3J3) 6 .*

Let me now present some remarks related to the work of Prof, Mizuno and^ the editors of other Dharmapada texts on this topic. According to Mizuno, in the Pali canonical texts there are alto¬ gether 137 gathas (non-repetitive), and in the non-canonical

• • texts, J9 in all 7 . It will be seen from the ‘Table I-Summary:

Sources and Parallels to the Pali Dhammapada Verses' that I have found these numbers to be 123 and 60 respectively; however, as he does not give exact references, no further comment is possible here (incidentally, in his reckoning he does not include the VimSnavatthu). We see in tl\,c table that the total number of single Dhp stanzas traceable to the canonical texts are 110, if CT-I only is cqnsidered; this is about 26% of the total.

J. Brough, in his The Candharx Dharmapada (GDhp), states that 'Of. 350 Prakrit stanzas, between 225 and 2 30 are shared with the Dhammapada* 8 . This figure is higher by about 31% from that in Table I (177) and may be attributed, first, to the errors found in his identification and reckoning of the parallels as registered in Concordance II (p.287): about two dozen partial stanzas (one, two or three lines) have been considered as exact equivalents to Pali Dhp; second, to the inclusion, in this reckon— ing, of fragmentary stanzas whose equivalence to the Dhp cannot be asserted. The manuscript of the GDhp contains quite a tew fragmentary stanzas of one and, to a lesser extent, two lines.

Buddhist Studies Review 6, 2 (1989)

similar to the Pali Dhp. Further, Brough assumes (p.23), based on the proportions in the surviving Prakrit, the text to have shared between 350 and 360 verses with the Dhp, We may safely state that, in view of the former considerations, this figure could not be higher than 250.

In his translation of the Tibetan version of the Udanavarga 9 , Rockhi11 identified 306 parallels with Dhp (which, deducting the* fev: errors found, becomes 297). I identified seven : more. Brough, in his GDhp (p.23, n.l), noted just over 50 others which are no| included in the tables of Rockhill - a figure that seems t^o high.

Dharmapada text; in mixed Sanskrit, brought from Tibet and deposited at the Bihar Research Society of Patna, has been edited twice, more or less simultaneously: The Patna Dharmapada (PDhp) by C. Roth, and The Huddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dharmapada (BHSDhp) by N.S. Shukla 1 * 1 . The former comprises 415 stanzas, the latter, 4j4; this is due to a difference in the method of arrangement of the verses adopted by the two editors. They mention that ih the colophon of the manuscript the gathas are referred to as being 502 ; a h*int as to a possible explanation to account for this discrepancy may be had, perhaps, by a comparative study of Dhp and PDhp 11 . Roth believes that . PDhp is based on a Prakrit-Pali version which is older than the existing Pali Dhp. Besides, there arc also other differences in the verses

<;\i

themselves an.d the sequence of their order which exclude the Pali Dhp in its present form as the direct source of PDhp' (p.94). Shukla is of the opinion that the present version of the BHSDhp can have the distinction of being regarded as an earlier Dharma¬ pada: *... The division found in the Pali text and other versions ... indicates that it was at a very late stage that these texts gained a streamlined form, and for this purpose they must have depended * on one common base' (p.viil). I do not know whether the author carried out his intended study which would prove the anteriority of this text; meanwhile, Mlzuno has given us a com¬ parative study of the Dharmapadas, wherein this matter is discus¬ sed and an attempt made to prove the anteriority of the Pali Dhp in relation to other Dharmapadas 12 .

Origin of Dhamraapada Verses

Another way of . looking at this problem of anteriority, or,; one that could give us the chronology of compilation of thes< texts., would be to pick up a doctrinal issue and examine ho*, it is tackled in them. As an example, let us take the case oi the Arahant. The Dhp has an Ara/ranta v'aaya, verses tin

term is expressly mentioned only in stanza 98. PDhp has equiva

lent stanzas, not grouped together, but scattered throughou

different chapters; its parallel verse 245 also mentions i iu term a rahanto* Udanavarga has, instead, i i e term, a r y j (XXIX. IS 5

1 in it we find only five out of ten stanzas. The GDhp has noru

J of- these stanzas. We may, therefore, try to establish tiu chtono

j ' logy of these texts, based on the historical evolution oi iht

ideal of perfect man, which started with that ol Arahatusnip turned out to be an issue of controversy some time after chi

Parinibbana of the Buddha, and ended with the emergence of th.

ideal of the Bodhisaitva in Mahay ana schools. The orde: wu 1 be: Dhp PDhp (or PDhp -> Dhp) Ud ODhp, which is slight 1 different from that given by Mizuno, viz. Dhp PDhp GDhp urther help for the establishment of the relative c hvono.|*'*g of the Dharmapadas may be found in the uuJdhu vj , vv, i ?'■> 196* CDhp has parallels to only two of them i I b 2 , 193); signif: cantXy enough, vv. 188-192 , which deal with the Threefold Refugr are absent in it. There are no parallels to w, I v> - *- : r. a:

of the Dharmapadas (on these, see later). We thus have coutnrr. tion of the chronology we tried to establish above

As to the parallels found in PDhp-BHSDhp, my tompa i a i :v<• ; .

of the texts shows these to total 285 - a figure diiteiest *: that found In the references of both, edited texts, due i errors and omissions contained therein which will not be (Gdu ted on tfere. Since the former text is very akin to Dhp. expect the divisional structure of the stanzas, which are para lels to Dhp, to be similarly related in its edited fort. - vhi is not always the case. For instance, PDHp 2 3 — 26 have, respe tively, 6-4-4-4 padas; rearrangement into 4-4-A-6 pSdas vou

make 23 and 24 the exact parallels to Dnp 31, 327, and 1 i

a partial parallel to Dhp 27

134 Buddhist Studies Review 6, 2 (1989)