Aaa
foreign navigators, retained by their commercial activities at the ppr^s.'vhardly ventured into the Interior of the Indian lands.
We know, however, from the periplus, that they were acquainted with some half-dozen Indian kingdoms on the central mainland
was referred to above (.Periplus , No.41); 2. The Dakhinabades
(DakslnSpatha) under Saraganus or rather the Satakarnls or Sita- vahanas of the Deccan (Nos 50, 52); 3. Limyrice or Dimyrice (Tao- ilakam, Dravida) including the whole of the coast of Malabar (Nos 31, 32 , 47) and containing the kingdoms of Cerebothros or Keralaputra (No.54), Pandlon or Pandya (Nos 54, 59), Argalos or Uragapura (No.59); 4. Maisolia or the modern district of Masu¬ lipatam (No.62); 5. Dosarene (Da$arna) or the region of Tosall
(No.62).
Fifty years later, under the Antonine dynasty (96-192 A.C.), foreign traders, gaining in assurance, ventured further inland, and the Indian kingdoms listed in Book VII, chapter . of the
Ccographia by Ptolemy are more than a dozen in number: l.'Ozene (UjjayinI), the royal town of Tiastenes* (VII, 1, 63), the Maha-
ksatrapa rajan Castana who ruled about the year 130 A.C., and
who left coins and Sanskrit inscriptions on which he bears the
sonorous titles of Lord {svamin) , Well-Named {sugrhltanaman ) and August Visage (nnadraraukha ) 78 . - 2. ’Kingdom of Baithana
(Pratisthana) ruled by Sir! Ptolemaius’ (VII, 1. 82),-more pre¬
cisely Vasisthlputra Sri Puluraayi, whose reign lasted for at
Buddhist Studies Review 6, ] ( ]989^
least tventy-iour years (c.131-155 A.C.). and who left numerous
inscriptions at KSnheri, Nasik, Karli, Dharanikot and AmarSvatT 79 .
“ 3 »' 'Kingdom of Hippokoura (Kolhapur) governed by Beleokouros* (VII, 1, 6 and 82), Vilivayakura , a royal title appearing on certair coins of Gautamfputra and Vasisthlputra 88 . - 4. Kingdom of Hus opallis in Canarene country (VII, 1, 84). - 5. Kingdom of Karoura (Karuvur) governed by Cerebothros or Keralaputra (VII,
1. 86). - 6. Pounnata in southern Mysore (VII, 1, 86). - 7, King¬ dom of the Aiol , capital Kottiara, to the south of Travancore (VII, 1, 9 and 87). - 8. Kingdom of the Kareoi in the valley of Tamraparn* (VII t 1, 10 and 88). - 9. Kingdom of Modura (Madura) governed by the Pandions or Pandyas (VII, 1, 89). - 10. Kingdom of the Batoi, capital Nikama (VII, 1, 12, 74 and 90). - 11. King¬ dom of Orthura (URandei) ruled by a Sornas or Cola (VII, l, 91).
2. Kingdom of Sora (Cola), governed by Arkatos (VII, 1, 68).
13 • Kingdom of Malanga (Mavilangai? Kanchl?) ruled by Barsaro- nax (VII, 1, 92). - 14. Kingdom of Pitura or Pithuda (VII, l, 93).
Indian evidence, - The Creek and Latin naturalists and geogra¬ phers were not alone in emphasising the Importance ^>f the trade initiated at the beginning of the Christian era> between West and East; the fact is also stressed by the Tamil Sangam writers 81 , discoveries of Roman coins in the Deccan area and the cosmopoli¬ tan nature of harbour establishments on the Indian coast.
The Tamil Sangam literature, which describes events that occur¬ red during the first two or three centuries of the Christian era, celebrates the abounding prosperity of MuciRi 'where fine vessels, masterpieces of Yavana workmanship, arrive with gold and depart with pepper' 82 . It is the town 'where fish is sold, where rice is amassed, where sacks of pepper accumulate, where liquor abounds, and which presents all comers with a confusion of goods from the mountains and goods from the sea’ 83 . At KoRkei, a town of the Pandya king, 'fine pearls, precious marvels greatly esteemed^ throughout the world, grow and mature in brilliant shells ; there is savoured 'teRal (wine) of sweet perfume, brought by the fine Yavana vessels' 8 ^.
The rapid Increase of- wealth in Rome at the beginning of the Empire created an unprecedented demand for- Eastern merchandise:
Early Relations II
spices, pearls, ivory, wood and silk. The measures taken by Tiberius to check this spread of luxury which carried Roman money to foreign and hostile peoples failed lamentably . India, China and Arabia relieved the Empire of an hundred millions sesterces a year 87 ; Indian alone drained half this sum against local mer¬ chandise sold in Italy and an hundred times its value . Imperial currency abounded in the ports of Malabar, Muzlris* Nelcynde and Bacarc 89 . Of the eighty-odd treasure-troves of Roman coins found on Indian and Sinhalese soil, the richest were discovered
in the Deccan** thirty-six in the State of Madras, four in Mysore,
and twenty-two in Ceylon, the majority of them being denarii
of Augustus (14 A.C.), Tiberius (37 A.C.) and Claudius (54 A.C.).
The bleeding of the currency continued until the. end of the fourth century: at SIgiriya, in Sri Lanka, 1,675 coins have been collected, the last of which dates from the reign of Emperor Honorius (395-423).
Recent excavations undertaken in ,the region of Pondicherry at VIrapatnam 91 , also known to archaeologists as Kakayentope or Arikamedu, and which possibly corresponds to the ancient Poduce of the .Periplus and of Ptolemy, have, in the northern sector of the site, brought to light the ruins of a huge warehouse, 150 feet in length, and in the southern sector, traces of a *us- lin manufactory enclosed by walls and containing bottomless wells, with a vast network of canals for the draining of water. Indica¬ tions of an archaeological nature serve to situate the warehouse in about 50 B.C. and the manufactory in approximately 50 A.C. This latter date appears to be confirmed by the few Brahml in¬ scriptions in middle Indian or Tamil discovered on site: one of them bears the figure 275, in which J. Filliozat sees a date referring to the introduction of ASokan culture in the tamll region in approximately 251 B.C. The inscriptions would there¬ fore date frofc the year 24 A.C. The most important finds consist of minor objects made, of terracotta, metal, stone and glass. Alongside local Indian artefacts are others of foreign origin: a Roman terracotta lamp, some wooden bowls,- a cornallne ring setting engraved with the effigy of Augustus, a quartz intaglio representing Cupid, and especially Italic pottery bearing the seal of the workshops of Arretiun (Arezzo in Tuscany): vibll, Camuri, rtta. etc. In the opinion of R.F. Faucbeux and (Sir)
Buddhist Studies Review 6, 1 (1989)
Mortimer Wheeler. VIrapatnam was a Roman factory, a branch of the great Italic workshops which the slump of Arrentine pottery in Western markets from the year 50 A.C. made them decide to expatriate. The existence of a Roman emporium in the Gulf of Bengal at the beginning of the Christian era implies that, accor¬ ding to M. Wheeler, the south-west monsoon was known and utilised by Western navigators at a period much earlier than had generally been presumed. However, we have already expressed the opinion that the movement of the cteslan winds was known to the companies of Alexander, in particular to Nearchus, and that the new sea- routes opened up by Hippalus in the reign of Tiberius consisted simply in making use of the monsoon for voyages on the high seas. Furthermore, the hypothesis which suggests that VIrapatnam was a #Roman factory is not tenable: according to the judicious remark made by J. Filliozat, the Indians were sufficiently skilled and active to create by themselves an industry imitating the luxury ar ticles imported fron the Mediterranean world. The presence in VIrapatnam of millstones, polishers and rough or semi-carved stones proves that the lapidarist craft was practised on the spot; while continuing to manufacture Indian objects, the local craftsmen could well have reproduced articles of foreign origin. The problem posed by VIrapatnam is connected with that of the workshops of Central Asia: at Rawak, Yotkan and in the Niya Val¬ ley have been found, alongside intaglios of Indo-Scythian or Partho-Sassanid inspiration, other intaglios derived directly from the classical tradition representing Zeus, Athene, Eros and Herakles. It may be wondered whether these seals were impor¬ ted directly from the workshops of Bactria and Roman Syria or whether they were not rather made on the spot by local artists and itinerant lapidarists. As for the Arretine pottery discover¬ ed at VIrapatnam, it could have come from old stock sold off at the Indian markets after the closure of the Western bazaars in which, after the. year 50 A.C., this merchandise found no ta¬ kers.
Indian navigation . - While not displaying anything like the same amount of activity as the Graeco-Alexandrian navigators, Indian sailors occupied an honorable place on the sea-routes, whether as simple coastal traffic, as attested to from the highest anti¬ quity, or as expeditions out to sea. Unfortunately, accounts
Early Relations II
of voyages consigned co Indian texts are so surrounded by legend and lacking i-n chronological indications that there is little upon which # to depend.
The Sinhalese chronicles of the DIpa- and Mahavamsa demonstrate how easy and frequent relations between the Indian sub-continent and the island of Ceylon were. In the sixth century B.C., in the remote times of the Buddha, a group of Simhaias, natives of La la or Lata (Gulf of Cambay) embarked at the port of SurpSra- ka; after a long expedition, they set foot in Ceylon and gave the island their name, 'Island of the Simhala' (Simhaladvlpa), and their dialect, Sinhalese, closely linked t‘o the language of Kathiawar 92 . After the ninth year of his rule (252 B.C.), Agoka sent his messengers of the Dharma to TamraparnI, thus estab¬ lishing relations with the kings of Ceylon which were never to be broken 93 ,. Ten years later (242 B.C.), Devanarapiyatissa des¬ patched to Pataliputra an embassy which returned to him laden with gifts and bearing a pressing invitation to embrace the*Doc¬ trine of the Buddha 94 . That same year the Buddhist monk Mahinda,
ASoka's* son, and his companions landed in Ceylon and began their teaching tours which were rapidly to culminate in the inversion of the island 95 . The novice Sumana soon returned to Pataliputra where he acquired relics of the Buddha 96 ; he was followed almost immediately by Arittha, the king of Ceylon’s nephew,^ who was sent to ASoka to obtain the assignment of Buddhist nuns . These last, with Samgharaitta, ASoka's own daughter, at their head immedi¬ ately embarked at TamraliptI and, after a day’s crossing, landed at Jambukola, carrying a Bodhi tree with them 8 . These religious conquests were to be succeeded by other less peaceful ones: during the last centuries of the pre-Christian era, Ceylon was invaded as many as three times by Tamil conquerors from the mainland who succeeded in remaining on the island for several decades: Sena and Guttika from 172 to 150 99 ; the Cola prince Elira from 140 to 96 100 ; his nephew Bhalluka, who disembarked with an expedi¬ tionary force of 60,000 men but was promptly repulsed back to sea by Dutthagamani 101 ; the five Damilas, Pulahatta, etc., who ruled in Anuradhapura from 39 to 24
In the Vinayas, Jatakas and Avadanas we find several accounts of voyages on the high *eas, but the present state of the documen-
Buddhist~Stifdi.es Review 6, I ( 1989)
tacion does not enable us to d*ate them precisely. This liters-
j ture is both fantasist and stereotyped. The heroes, whom they
! call Mahatyagavat, Kalyaijakarin and Papakarin, Maitrakanyaka
or Maitrayajha . performed exploits or underwent adventures,
j 1 the setting of which was fixed in advance. A group of merchants,
invariably numbering five hundred, plan an expedition and choose fjj a young man of great virtue as their captain. His parents or
betrothed attempt in vain to put him off the voyage. The mer- chants assemble at a port and ensure the services of an old half*
this new venture will be his last, 'since a man has never been I seen who, having returned from the high seas safe and sound with
| his boat six times, has returned a seventh.* The ship anchored
- } ln Port is attached by seven mooring-ropes and, once the departure
j ;! has been decided, one of them is cut each day; on the seventh
day . propelling wind rises which drives the ship out to sea,
- be great ocean is divided into three superimposed zones, shelter¬
ing sharks, shark-eaters and finally cetaceans of monstrous pro- ij portions. The makara, which dwells in the deepest waters but
yv which sometimes emerges on the surface, has a. head a high as
tbe sky, from a distance its eyes resemble two sjins in the firma¬ ment, and its teeth, steep cliffs. When it opens its jaws, fish, tortoises, dolphins and sea-horses are engulfed as a whole, and i a ship that sails too close runs the great danger of being swal-
! lowed by it. If it avoids that danger, it then encounters a
tempest which generally breaks out seven days after departure,
when the ship has already sailed seven hundred leagues. The
five hundred merchants perish in the shipwreck and the captain alone escapes the catastrophe. However, his adventures continue an< * takes him seven weeks to reach the end of his journey;
for seven days he swims in deep water until he reaches shore; for three weeks he continues his way submerged up to the neck, up to the hips and then up to the knees; for a further three weeks^ he successfully crosses a mud-bank, a lotus park, then a lair of poisonous snakes. He finally arrives at a marvellous
- * town, made of seven Jewels and defended by seven trenches. There
he finds coveted treasure, precious gens or the philosopher's stone. On the way back, his treasure is usually stolen from him b y Na gas and, in order to recover it, he undertakes to empty
Early Relations II
the sea with his hands. His energy is then recompensed and hia treasure returned to him. Once .back hone, he rediscovers his old parents, who have been blinded by tears, and his betrothed who has waited for him. : •_* #
A Timingilajataka or 'Jataka of the Leviathan' is represented on a medallion at Bharhut with the mention: 'Vasugupta taken to the shore after having been rescued from the stomach of the leviathan through the intervention of Mahadeva' . The medallion was made about'the year 150 B.C., and the legend In question is recorded at length In several texts 105 : the monk Dharmaruci, having been reborn in the form of a gigantic whale, was On the point of swallovaing a ship when the distressed passengers invoked the Buddha. The former monk, recalling his previous vows, closed his jaws and the ship was spared.
The ports of embarkation most frequented by- Indian sailors were those of Tararaliptl (Tamluk) on the east coast, Bharukaccha (Broach) and Surparaka (Sopara) on the west coast. At the time of the Periplus , access to the last-named was reserved for In¬ dians, and Greek ships which ventured there were seised end taken under escort to Barygaza 106 . Local navigation used many other ports, the list of which is found in the Mahanlddeea, Milindapanh; and Brhatkatha 107 ; it contains close analogies with Ptolemaic nomenclature and like it must date from the second century A.C. Sylvain L6vi, who studied it in detail 108 , remarks that it deve¬ loped as the plotting of a huge periplus which sots out from the Far East, touches the coasts of India and loses itself in the depths of the West. If, he says, we find in it some names as yet little known or unknown, we nonetheless have sure referen¬ ces to Java, Suppara, Bharukaccha, Surattha, Tona and Allasanda (Alexandria).
Indian # merchants seem to have been particularly attracted to the markets of Babylonia, wood from Timor and gold from Suvarna- bhumi. Merchants from Varanasi went to Baveru (the Babiru of the w cuneiform texts, ancient Babylonia) where, for gold, they sold peacocks which they used together with crows to guide their navigation 109 . Dealers in the wood of Surpiraka attempted t< exploit the great forest of Godlrsa sandalwood, located beyonc distant oceans; they regularly encountered terrible storms.
Buddhist Studies Review 6, 1 (1989)
as did Dharukarnln who, on the open sea, was subjected to a hurri¬
cane unleashed against him by the yaksa Mahe&vara and he owed
his escape only to the intervention of his brother Purna; that
holy man flew through the air to the distressed ship and, seated
cross-legged above the vessel, soon calmed the fury of the
waves . However, according to the evidence of the Mahakarraa-
vibhaAga, it was especially for Ceylon, the islands of the Archi¬
pelago. and Suvarnabhumi that the sailors of the Great Ocean
made . Suvarnabhumi, the Chryse Chersonesos of the Periplus
and Ptolemy, which is vaguely situated in Burma or Malaysia,
by tunn attracted merchants from Varanasi such as Sankha, from
Campa Such as Mahajanaka and even a musician from Surparaka,
such as Sagga . The Sinhalese chronicles claim that Suvarna¬ bhumi was converted to Buddhism shortly after the Council of Pataliputra (c.242 B.C.), by the missionaries Sona and Uttara 113 ; but other sources have no hesitation in dating that conversion as far back as the time of the Buddha himself, who supposedly entrusted the holy Gavampati with teaching the Dharma to the population of Suvarnabhumi over an area of an hundred leagues.
The legend recorded in the KarmavibhaAga is still widespread
In Bftrma today . In fact, however, the Indiani 3 ation of Burma dates from no earlier than the fifth century A.C. 115 , and it is most unlikely that Buddhist propaganda could have reached the region before then* 16 .
The foregoing brief account, in which the history of the re¬
lations between India and China should also have found its
place**^, is enough to demonstrate that, in the first years of
the Christian era, India came out of her millenary isolation
and entered the world complex. New routes were thus opened up
to religious propaganda, particularly to the Doctrine of the Buddha which was able to make use of the possibilities offered to it, but only in part. For reasons which we shall explain elsewhere, it disdained the Western world, which, was indifferent or hostile to the Good Word, and turned all its solicitude to China and the Far East, ready to receive the teachings of tht Buddha.
(Concluded )
Translated by Sara Boin-L'ebb with thanks to the Buddhist Society of London
Early Relations 11
52 Strabo. XVII, 1. 13 <tr. after Tardleu).
53 Strabo, XVII, 1, 45.
5 * Strabo, II, 5, 12.
55 - Strabo, XV, 1, 4.
58 Periplus, 38-39.
57 Strabo. XV, 1, 73; cf. XV. I, 4; Dio Cassius, UV. 9 .
58 Periplus, .57: ToCror <5{ iXo, I i* tl en plvo, n'gtnXovY iso Keviji xailtrjC Eitotpo*o •A t ap( a { of pi* <ngixtgot> p,xQoxl e ei( xXotoif ju e .xoAW{om C IsXto*. x f <i»o { ii */>o lot xvfite*<lxfi(, xara»oi}oa{ xi)r Olatr rm* Ipnogla)* xa) t i oxipa xfjt OaXiaatic, xi* die
,niXiyov ( ittOgt nXoi*jif o i xai wn.xiic l* <ixco*oO <pia<i*xo>*. Ini.] xatd xaifi* ni irrfitxov iv x$ 7v<5ixy ntXdytt Xifidvoxot (palvtxai <uinaXot> n e oc ovofidCiaOax \dnA nQourjyoQlat xov nQu>xo>t itevQr}K6xos xAv\&tdnXow\. ’Ay' o&/iixQt xui xtvi
^piv tiOAt'dnA Kavfj, tivic M dnd x&v\*AQtoydxiov d 9 (ev re;, ol piv tit AwvQtxt)* nXiovx ini nXtto*'x Q axvM otrts ' ot di Bagtyata* ot xt tit rxvOtav ov nXtlov fj XQtlt fjpigat dv Xovot xai xd Xotnov f naQtnKfigov ngdt dgdfiov vynXoi lx t»]c x&qa Cttid tow Uw9t* [y
naQanXiovot tods ngottQrjfiivovt xdXnovt .
59 Poriplus, 40.
60 Poriplus, 44.
61 E.J. Rapson, Indian Coins , $178-79 and pi.Ill, l.
62 II. Lvidere, 'List of Brahral InscrlptIons’ ( Bpigraphia Indica t X, Appendix) ■Nos 1099, 1131-1136, 1174.
63 Cf. the CurnI by JlnadSsagani, a commentary upon a gffthj by Bhadraba.m .paasage edited'and translated by S. Uvl. •Kanlsk. et Sgt.vdhan.’. Journo Aslatlque, Jan.-Mar. 1936. pp.67-70. ,
6A See the inscriptions of Gautamlputra Sri Sitakarni and Vflsisthlputra Si Pulumayi at Nflslk (Luders, op. cit.. Nos 1125 and 1123).
65 periplus, 41.
Periplus, 48
P<*riplus % 40 and 51.
PHny, VI, 10!.
Early Relations II
Feriplus, 49, 56.
R.E.M. Wheeler, 'Roman Coins, first century B.C. to fourth century A.D., found in India and Ceylon', Ancient India, No.2, Delhi 1946, Appendix 1, pp.
On the excavations at Vlrapatnam, see R.F. Facheux, Una vieijle citd in-
dienne prds de Pondich^ry, Vlrapatnam, Pondicherry 1945; R.E.M. Wheeler, *Ari~
kamedu: an Indo Roman Trading Station on the East Coast of India 1 , Ancient
India , No.2, Delhi 1946, pp.17-124; J. Filliozat, 'les Inscriptions de Vlra-
patnam', Ccmptes-Rendus de 1'Academic d'Inscriptions, Jan. 1947, pp.110-18;
’Les ^changes de 1'Inde*, Revue historique , Jan.-Mar. 1949, pp.16-23.
DCpavamsa, IX, 1-37; MahSvamsa, VI.
Thirteenth Rock Edict; J. Bloch, p.130.
DIpavamsa, XII, 25-40; MahSvamsa, XI, 18-41. DIpavamsa, XII, 35-39; MahSvamsa, XIII, 18-21. Dlpavamsa, XV, 6-28; MahSvamsa, XVII,. 9-21. DIpavamsa, XV, 81-95; MahSvamsa, XVIII, 1-8. Dlpavamsa, XVI, 3-7; MahSvamsa, XIX, 17-23. DIpavamsa, XVIII, 47; MahSvamsa, XXI, 10.
DIpavamsa, XVIII, 49; MahSvamsa, XXI, 13; XXVII, 6.
MahSvamsa, XXV, 77 ff.
DIpavamsa, XX, 15-17; MahSvamsa, XXXIII, 56-61.
On the adventures of Mahstysgavat, KalySnakSrln and PSpakSrin, see the references in the Traite de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse de NSgSrjuna , II, Lou¬ vain 1949, pp.755-7, notes; on those of Maitrakanyaka, see S. Uvi, Mahikama- vibhanga , Paris 1932, p.51.
A. Cunningham, The St0pa at BhSrhut, London 1879 {repr. Varanaei 1962], pl.XXXIV, 2; S. Barua and K. Simha, Bharhut Inscriptions , Calcutta 1926* p.6l.
DlvySvadSna, pp.231-3; MahSvastu, I* pp.244-6; AvadSnakalpalatS. n
Buddhist Studies Review 6 , 1 (1909)
pp.777-8; Apadana, 11, p.430, Traite, I, pp.410-14.
Periplus, 52.
MahJnldd.sa, I, p.154; mundapaflha. p.359; BrhatkathJ of Buddhasvamin, XVIII, vv .428 ff.
108
S. Uvi. 'PtoIonAe, Le Niddesa ec la Brhatkatha’, Etudes Aalatiques, Paris 1925, II, pp.l- 55 .
Baverujataka, No.339, III. p.126; on 'land-sighting crows', see also DIgha, 1 , p. 222 .
On -he adventures of Dharukarnin, also called Stavakarnlka, cf. Hllasar- vastlvadln Vinaya. T 1448. ch.3, p,13a; DlvyavadSna, pp.41-2; Avadanasataka, n. P.166; Buddhacarlta, XXI, v.22. in E. Johnston, 'The Buddha's Mission and Last Journey', Acta Orientals, XV, 1937, p.55 [Included In The Buddhacar- ita or Acts of the Buddha, Delhi 1984 ).
5. Levi t Mahikarmavibhanga , pp.51, 53
SamkaJ3taka, No.442 (IV, p.15); Mah3janakaJ 3 taka, No .539 (V?, p.30);
Sussondijataka, No.360 (III, p.187).
Dlpavamsa, VIII, 12; Mahavamsa, XII, 6 and 44; Samantapas3dik3, 1, p.64. 114
HahBkarmavibhanga , p.62; P. Bigandct, Vie ou Lcgendo de Caudama, lo Doud- dha des Birmans, Paris 1878 p.371 [English ed., Rangoon 1858, repr. Varanasi 1979).
Cf. C. Coed 6 s, Los Etats hindcuises d^lndochine ci d'lndonesie, Paris 1948, p.37 [English ed. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia, Honolulu 1968]
The small amount of information assembled here on Indian navigation should
not allow us to forget that, at least for mainland India, prejudice against
the sea persisted for a long time. On this subject, see the authoritative
remarks by L. Rcnou, La civilisation dc l'Indc ancicnnc , Paris 1950, pp.202-3,
117 ^
On this subject, sec J.V. Mills, ‘Notes of Early Chinese Voy. gos\ Jour¬ nal of the Regal Asiatic Society , 1951. Parts 1 and 2. pp.3-25, where a good bibliography can be found.
MASTER JU-MAN FU-KUANG OF LOYANG
A Short Record from the Ching-te Ch'uan-teng tu
During a courtesy visit to the Master's monastery, the Emperoi Shun-tsung asked Ju-man, 'Where did the Buddha come from, anc where did he go at his passing? As it is said that he is eter¬ nally abiding in thxs world, then where is the Buddha now?'
The Master replied, 'The Buddha came from his transcendents: state, and returned to that transcendental state at his passing The Dharma-body is absolutely empty, eternally existent, vitUou room for thought. Existing thoughts should be returned to no thought; existing things thought of as having an abiding plac
should be returned to (the Mind of) 'non-abiding'. Sentien
beings c'ome'" into existence and cease to be, but the immaculat Bhutatathata-ocean's tranquil substance abides forever. On thi "the wise ones skilfully meditate, without giving rise to furthc doubtful fears.'
The Fmperor further asked, 'The Buddha was born in a royr palace, and entered Nirvana between two sala trees (at Ku$inag« ra). He dwelt in the world for forty-nine years after his et lightenment in order to teach, yet he also said that he had i
fixed Dharma. The mountains, rivers and great oceans, the un: verse, the sun and moon - all must eventually pass away, so wl
is it said that there is 'no birth and death ? As I still ha*
doubts about this, would the wise Master kindly explain further?
The Master replied, 'The Buddha's body is fundamentally 'no acting'. Any such distinctions (such as you have made) are err neous. The Dharma-body is like empty space and has never be subject to 'birth and death'. When there is an appropriate cau for it, a Buddha appears in the world; when there is no furih cause to stay, the Buddha enters Nirvana. The Buddha's teachi influences sentient beings everywhere, but it is like the reflc tion of the moon in water (and not the real moon). There neither 'permanence' nor 'impermanence , neither birth t 'death*. Living beings are never really 'born'; those that
nniV'r r^.il W nans avav. Understand c tv
CATURARAKKHA : The Fourfold Protection*
Translated by Hammalava Saddhatlssa
Buddhanussati metta ca asubham maranassati , iti iraa caturarakkha bhikkhu bhaveyya sllava.
Duddhanussa ti
1. Anantavittharagunam gunato ’nussaram munirn,
bhaveyya buddhima bhikkhu buddhanussatim adito,
2. Savasane kilese so eko sabbe nighatiya, ahu susuddhasantano pujanan ca sadaraho.
3. Sabbakalagate dhararae sabbe samma sayam munini, sabbakarena bujjhitva eko sabbannutam gato.
4. Vipassanadlvijjahi siladicaranehi ca susamiddhchi sarapanno gaganabhehi nayako.
5. Samma gato subham thanam amoghavacano ca so, tivldhassapl lokassa nata niravasesato.
6. Anckehl gunoghehl sabbasattuttarao ahu, anekchi upayehi naradarame damesi ca.
7. Eko sabbassa lokassa sabba-atthanusasako, bhagyaissarlyadlnam gunanam paramo nidhi .
8. Pannassa sabbadhammesu karunasabbajantusu, ittatthanam paratthanam sadhlka gunajetthika.
9. Dayaya paraml citva pannay' attanam uddharl, uddharl sabbadhamme ca dayay’anne ca uddharl.
10. Dissamano pi tav’assa rupakayo acintiyo,
Translation j
The virtuous monk should meditate on these four pioiections:
Recollections of the Buddha, of Lovingkindness, of Impurites
of the Body and the Recollection of Death. '
The Recollection of the Buddha
1. The intelligent monk should at the outset meditate on the Buddha, endowed with infinite and pervasive qualities, re¬ flecting on these qualities.
2.. The Buddha alone has destroyed all the defilements together with their habits and, with an extremely pure mind, is always worthy £f offerings.
3. The Buddha has rightly realised by himself, in every way,
^ all matters pertaining to all times and has attained omni¬ science alone.
4. The Lord is endowed with insight, knowledge, as well as vir¬
tue and pure conduct as widespread as the sky.
5. The Buddha has rightly gone to the blissful place. He is
endowed with treasured speech. He has known the three worlds in their entirety.
6. The Buddha has become supreme among all beings by his mani¬ fold qualities. He has subdued by various means those who
should be subdued.
7. The Buddha alone is a teacher to the entire world in all
matters. He is a repository of such qualities as fortune and prosperity.
8. The Buddha's wisdom is directed towards all matters and his
compassion over all beings. He is beneficial for himself
and others. He is supreme in all qualities.
9. That Buddha elevated himself by the wisdom gained through the perfection so attained by preaching the Doctrine in all its aspects; and elevated others through compassion.
10. The body of form of that Buddha which is visible in itself
Buddhist Studies Review, 5, i (1988)
asadharanananaddhe dhamraakaye katha va ka ti.
Met tanussati
Attupamaya sabbesam sattanam sukhakamatam, passitva kamato mettam sabbasattesu bhavaye.
Sukhi bhaveyyam niddukkho aham niccara aham viya hita ca me sukhi hontu raajjhatta c'atha verino.
Imamhi gamakkhettamhi satta hontu sukhi sada, ' tato parah ca rajjesu cakkavalesu jantuno.
Samania cakkavalesu satta 'nantesu panino, sukhino puggala bhuta attabhavagata siyum.
Tatha itthipuma e'eva ariya anariya pi ca , deva nara apayattha tatha dasadisasu ca ti.
Asup/ianussa t i
Avinnana 'subhanibham savinnana 'subham imam, kayam asubhato passam asubham bhavaye yati.
Vannasanthanagandhehi asayokasato tatha,
paiikkulani kaye me kunapani dvisolasa.
Patitaraha pi kunapa jeguccham kayanissitam, adharo hi sucl tassr kayo tu kunape thitam.
Milhe kimi va kayo 'yam asucimhi samutthito, anio a sueisampunno punnavaccakutI viya.
AsucI sandate niccam yatha raedakatha1ika, nanak imikulavaso pakkacandanika viya.
Gandabhuto rogabhuto vanabhuto samussayo, atckiccho 'tijeguccho pabhinnakunapupamo ti.
Ca turarakkha
cannot be conceptualised. How much more would it be with regard to his body of Doctrine endowed with unique wisdom.
The Recollection of Lovingkindness
1. Having compared oneself with others, one should practise lovingkindness towards all beings realising that everyone desires happiness .
2. May 1 be free from sorrow and always be happy: may those who desire my welfare, those who are indifferent towards me and those who hate me, also be happy!
3. May all beings who live in other regions in this world-system be happy!
4. May all fteings living in every world-system and each element of life within each system be happy having achieved the high¬ est bliss!
5. Likewise women, men, the noble and ignoble ones, gods, and those in woeful states and those living in the ten directions - may all these beings be happy!
The Recollection of Che Impurities of the Body
1. The monk, perceiving this body as repugnant as a conscious and non-conscious entity, should meditate on its repugnapee.
2. The thirty-two Impurities of my body are abhorrent in respect
of colour, form, associated elements and space.
3. The impurities within the body l re more abhorrent than those that fall from the body since in the case of the latter, that upon which they fall is pure, while the body itself incorporates impurities.
4. Like a worm born in excreta, this body is also born in ex-
- creta*. Like a cesspit that is full up, this body is full
of impurity.
5. Just as fat pours overflowing from a pot full of fat* even so impure matter flows out of this body. Like a cesspit, this body is an abode of the hosts of bacilli.
6. This body is like a boil, a disease, a wound, it is incurable. It is extremely abhorrent. It IS comparable to a decomposed corpse.
Buddhist Studies Review, 5, 1 (1908)
Marananvssa ti
Pavatadlpatulyaya sayusantatiyakkhayam, parupamaya sampassam bhavaye maranassatim.
Mahasampattisampatta yatha satta mata idha, tatha aham marissami maranam mama hessati.
Uppattiya sahevedam maranam agatam sada, maranatthaya okasam vadhako viya esati.
Isakart anivattantam sacatam gamanussukam Ji.vitam udaya attham suriyo viya dhavati.
ViJJubuDbulaussS va ja larajIparLkkhayam, -ghatako va ripu tassa sabbattha pi avariyo.
Suyasatthamapunhiddhi-buddhivuddhi jinadvayam, ghatesi maranam khippam ka tu madisake katha.
Paccayanan ca ve.kalya bahirajjattupaddava, maramoram n'lmcsa pi maramano anukkhanan ti.
Bhavetva caturarakkha avajjeyya anantaram, mahasamvegavatthuri i attha atthita vlriyo.
JotijaravyadhicutI-apaya
atlta-appattakavattadukkham,
4.dani aha ragave t thidukkham samvegavatthuni imani attha.
Pato ca sayam api c’eva imam vidhinno asevate satatam attahitabhilasI, pappoti so 'tivipulam hataparipantho settham sukham munivisitthamatam sukhena.
Caturarakkha
The Recollection of Death
Seeing, with wisdom, the end of life In others, comparable to a lamp kept in a draughty place, one should meditate on death.
Just as in this world, beings who once enjoyed great prosper¬ ity will die, even so will I, too, die. Death will indeed come to me.
This death has come along with birth. Therefore, like an executioner, death always seeks an opportunity.
Life, without halting for a moment, and ever keen on continu¬ ing, moves like the sun that hastens to set after rising.
This life come to an end like a streak of lightning, a bubble of water, a dew drop on a leaf or a line drawn on water. Like an eperay intent on killing, death can'never be avoided.
If death came instantly to the Buddha, the teacher of the , one and only way, endowed with great glory, prowess, merit, supernormal powers and wisdom, what could be said of me?
Dying every moment, I shall die within the twinkling of an eye, either without food or through internal ailments or
external injuries.
The Recolloction of the Light Sorrowful Stages of Lite
Having practised this fourfold protective meditation, the monk who has put forth effort should reflect, on the eightfold sorrowful stages of life.
The sorrow pertaining to birth, old age, disease, death,
the spirit world, the past cycles of births and the future
cycle of birth and sorrow, difficulty experienced in the
search for food in the present life - these are the eight sorrowful stages of life.
A person who, desirous of his own welfare and knowing the types of meditation, practises this regularly in the morning and evening, will, having destroyed the impediments, happily attain the supreme state of Nibbanu, extolled as the highest bliss by the Buddha.
Buddhist Studies Review, 5, 1 (1988)
£d.* These stanzas are recited twice every day in the viharas
of Sri Lanka where they were originally composed. They constitute
devotional meditation in that the first recollection strengthens
one's confidence in the Buddha as supreme teacher ‘and guide;
the second counters illwill and promotes feelings of compassion;
the third weakens bodily attachment and restrains sensual desire;
and the fourth emphasises awareness and exertion to utilise the
advantages of human birth.
See Cj turara£*h ( i tf/iavana . The four protective meditations.
Pali te/xt and translation by Bhikkhu Bodhi; commentary (by Pelene
Siri Vajiranana) translated by F.M. Rajakaruna. Bhikkhu Training
Centre, Maharagama 1984.
No-one seriously interested in Buddhist teaching or prac¬
tice can overlook the work of Nyanaponika Thera, a scholar
with an extraordinary gift of clarifying <1 iff leu It con¬
cepts and making the Theravada intelligible, meaningful
and easily accessible lo the Western reader.
T 11 K VISION OF P H A h M A
is an anthology of his writings which first appeared
through the Buddhist. Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, *
and apart from eight short essays comprises the following, *
Wheel scries: The Worn-out Skin, The Power of N Mindfulness, *
The Boots of Good and Kvil, The Four Nutriments of Life,
The Threefold Refuge, The Four Sublime States, Anattfi * and Nibbana. Pp . xxv, 2 6 7. t.7.9 5
CKNTIJRY HUTCHINSON LTD.
rookmount House,
62-65 Chandos Place, *
London WC2N 4NW *
l. ’Ainsi ai-je entendu. Lorsque le Bouddha , le Blenheureux, rAsidait dans le pare d'Anathapindada A SravastI, 11 dlsalt A ses bhiksu: 0 bhiksu! Une mAre ayant un enfant unique, sa pre¬ occupation prlncipale est de rAflechir sur la maniA're d'eduquer son fils pour qu'i1 devienne un jour un homme utile pour la so- ciAtjA. Les btfiksu demartdaient alors: Nous vous prioas, 6 Bien- heureux, de bien voulolr nous expliquer votre pcnsAc pour quo nous puissions'benAficier de votre prAcieux ervseignement.
Le Blenheureux rApondait*. Je vais accAder A votre demande, Alors ocoutez-mot blen et rAflAchissez bien. Quant aux upasaka, on dolt saivre .1'cxcmplc de Citra CrhapatL et dc Gaja Kumara, Ces deux personnes sont dec laics qui ont mi.s leur foi dans le Dharma et ont suivl avec application les ense ignemnt s. Si l*on veut entrer on religion et porter les trois habits de religieux (kasaya)\ on doit prendre cxemple sur Sariputra et Maha-Maudgal- yayana. Pourquoi? Parce qu’ils ont etudie assidOment le Dharma, n'ont pas commis d'actes rAprAhensibles au Dharma ou AbauchA des idAes contraires A leur conscience. Si par hasard de3 idAes erronees survenaient dans leur rAflexion, ils seraient condaranAs
a retourner dans les trois mauvalses voles .
Si vous vous appliquez a faire du bien, vour rAcolterez les bonnes consequences dans un proche avenir. C'est pourquoi les offrandes pAsent tres lourdes car elles peuvent empAcher les bhiksu d’atteindre le but visA. Alors, vous ne devez pas aimer recevoir les offrandes, si vous y cprouvez dAJA du plaisir, detruisez ce sentiment le plus vite possible. Ayant entendu ces paroles du Bouddha, les bhiksu etaient heureux et les met- taient respectueusement en pratique.
HOW IS THE BUDDHA DIFFEREHT FROM AN ARAHANT IN THERAVADA BUDDtflSM ||
Arvind Sliurm * i
At the second annual conference cf the Australian Association for the Study of i
Religions, Dr Tolyatte Rahula of the University of Melbourne Cnov at McGill ?
i
- lr.iverzLV/, V^r.^real, 'Tar.vla'2, *-hs had hirr.seIf fcrnerly been a mor.k in Sri ;
Lanka, read a paper entitled: "The Buddhist Arahant: Is his attainment of tfir- $
vana as perfect ,as the Buddha's Enlightenment?" He concluded that though st>me scholars maintain that "the arohonts were not as fully emancipated as the Buddha" *, "so far as the Dali canon is concerned, there is absolutely no ground even to suggest that the essence of the arahant’s attainment was dif¬ ferent from that of the Fully Awakened One... they all without exception claia
to, huve realized the threefold knowledge" *, this threefold knowledge consist¬ ing of :
(i) the knowledge of one’s own previous births
(ii) the knowledge of the rebirths of others ^; and
(iii) Knowledge regarding the utter cessation of asavas or mental intoxicants.
Nevertheless, although the Buddha and nrahants arc seen as identical in the achievement of salvation in the state of Nibbana, it is clear that in some ways the Buddha is more than an arahant. This paper i3 an effort to identify the ways in which he may be regarded as different from an arahant in the Theravada tradition. " • .
At first there seems to have been virtually no distinction between the Buddha and the arahants. Thus, "In the Buddhist movement the Buddha was the first arahant. He war. regarded as an arahant, along with other arahants, with¬ out any distinction. Thus after the conversion of the group of five monks [paheavaggiya) , the first converts to the teaching of Gotama, it is stated that there were six uruhants in the world (Vin.I, lM, the Buddha bein
reckoned one of them
The last sentence provides the clue to the first line of differentiation between the Buddha and nrahants. The Buddha was the first arahant arid the ara¬ hants subsequent Buddhas. In the Theragatha, for instance, the arahants are described as buddhanubuddha:
"... the Buddha as well as his disciples follow the same path and reach the same goal, and the distinction between the Buddha and the disciples who be¬ came arahants is not with regard to the attainment, but with regard to the fuct that the Buddha rediscovered the age-old path (puranam ahjasom) to the city of flibbana, while the disciples come to the come city having followed the
How is the Buddha different fron an Arahant...?
path discovered by the Buddha. The Buddha is, therefore, called the revealor of the path (magrgrassa akkhata) . He is the teacher (satt/w) who teaches th * disci¬ ples to attain the same ideal as attained by him"
Dr Rahuln amplifies this point of distinction. After maintaining that,
"An arahant may even with Justification be called a Buddha", he adds:
"It s.juld be admitted that the arahant's status was never regarded to be equal to that of the the Buddha. The Buddha is esteemed as unparalleled (asama) equal only to those who are themselves unequalled Buddhas (asamasama). Disciples can¬ not be the equals of the Master who finds the path for the Tirst time. Being, the pioneer and path-finder, he deserves to be venerated as such. Apart from that, the early strata of the Pali cation make no distinction between the Budd¬ ha^ attainment of nirvana and that of the arahant . Although he was later re¬ garded as omniscient in the popular sense of the word the Buddha himself
never claimed to be so" .
The question of the Buddha's omniscience may be postponed awhile to con¬ sider another significant fact hero. The Budilin, though he spent some time with.Alara Kulama and Uddaka RamapuLta, hud no Master as such; it is equally important to realise that none succeeded to his position in the Buddhist tm«ye- ment. For, "After the parinirvana his place as Way-shower {itajjhima-nikaya \\\
6 ) was to be taken, not by any monk (Majjhima-Nikaya , Guttn No. loft), for, be¬ ing Way-followers, not one of them resembled him, but by Dharma: 'Pharma h; our support' ,{or mainstay, Majjhima-Nikaya iii 9), n3 monks arc recorded U> have said after the teacher had died. This statement Tully accords with the in¬ junction the Buddha had given to Ananda, hie constant companion, shortly be¬ fore this event: 'The Dharma I have taught and the Vinaya I have laid down - that after my passing is to be your Teacher' {Digha-Nikaya II l r jh ) " Not - tiiy
is the Buddha unique by virtue of being the first Teacher, he was also unique, in the coulcxt of the early community, in being the last.
The claim to omniscience which the Buddha did make was that hr knew .-ill
that war. to be known to achieve salvation. Guch a claim could not. be made by the arahunts. Thus another dimension to the distinction between the Hud<">i and the arahants enters the picture now. Not only *s the Buddha different from an arahant in that he was the pioneer of the spiritual path they followed; because he wus a Teacher, as distinguished from disciples, or a leader as distinguished from followers but also different in the comprehensiveness of his knowledge. There are suggestions in the Pali texts that he knew more than he taught. Hr did not have the closed fist of teacher only where matters of sulvific signifi¬ cance were concerned for we ore told that "once when sitting under a simsupa tree, Buddha took a few of its leaves in his hand and asked his disciples that
Buddhist Studies Review 1, 1 ( 1983-4)
had assembl'd there to tell him whether they were all the simsupa leaves or
whether there were more or* the tree. When they replied that there were surely
T.a:;y more, :.e r.aid: ' i\s-a\ ~vl'J do I know more than what I have told you*. But
he did r.u dwell upon all that he knew, since he saw no practical utility in
doir.r, so. It would on the contrary, he thought, only make hie hearers idly
curious »»:td delay their sotting about the task of exterminating evil. 'And
wherefore, my d!noiploa, have J not told you that? Because, my disciples, it
brings you no profit, it does not ccnduce to progress in holiness, because it
docs not lead to the turning from the earthly, to the subjection of all desire,
U* th'* co:;nation of the transitory, to peace, to knowledge, to illumination,
to Nirvana; therefore have I not declared it unto you
It seems that the line of differentiation between the Buddha and the ara- hantn , originating in the fact of the Buddha being the Master and the arahants being the disciples, must have been accentuated by the formation of the Order or tho Bungiiu. Not only was the Buddha to be distinguished as the first ara- hnnt; n'»t only wan ho to be uistingulshed as soteriologically omniscient but once the corpus of his discourses began to take shape he also became further distinguished by the fact that a body of doctrines va3 associated with him as distinguished from nn urahant; a body of doctrine in the emergence of which the ca.ly followers may or may not havd had enough part to play to Justify C.A.K.Hhys Duvid 3 calling them the co-founders of Buddhism, but a body 0<f doc¬ trine in any case uniquely associated with him. As I.B.Horner points out, "the epithet of dharma-kaya ( Digha-Nikaya 111 81<), the body of pharma,, was applic¬ able to the Buddhu nlone". 11 This point is picked up by the Milindapufttia. One of the pieces of conversation between Nagasena and King Menander runs as
"The king said: 'Is there such a person ah the Buddha, Ndgasena?’
'Can he then, Nagusena, be pointed out ac being here or there?'
'The Blessed One, 0 king, has passed away by that kind or passing away .in which nothing remains which could tend to the formation of another individual. It is not possible to point out the Blessed One as being here or there.'
'fJiv*.* me an illustration.'
'Now what do you think, 0 king? When there is a great body of fire blazing, i;; it. possible to point out that any one flame has gone out, that it is here or there?'
'No, Sir. That flame has ceased, it has vanished.'
'dust no, great king, has the Blessed One passed away by that kind of passing away in which no root remains for the formation of another
How is the Buddha different from an /rahant...?
individual. The Blessed One has come to an end, and it cannot be pointed out of him that he is here or there. But in the body of his doctrine he can, O king, be tainted out. For the doctrine was preached by the Blessed
'Very good, Nagascna!'"
Thus the statement that the Buddha was different from the arahants in that he was the Master is easily made but its ramifications are far-reaching in setting the Buddha apart from ttic arahants.
Thus one obvious way in which the Buddha is different from the arahants
consists in his having shown the path to them and hio ability to show it to
everyone else. This seems to represent the first stage in the differentiation
between the Buddha and the arahants. But as Wceraratne points.out:
"...as time passed, the Buddha-concept developed and.special attributes were
assigned to the Buddha. A Buddha possesses the sixfold superknowledge (chni-
aWiifinS); he has matured the.thirty-seven limbs of enlightenment (bodhipakkhiya
dhamma); in him compassion (Aaruud) ;itfd insight ( paftha ) develop to their full¬ est; all the major and minor characteristics of a great man (mahapurisa ) appear on his body; he is possessed of the tci. powers {dasa bale) and the four confid¬ ences (catu vcsarajja)\ and he has had to practise the ten perfections (jura- «ita) during a long time in the past.
• "When speaking of arahants these attributes are never mentioned together, though a particular arahant may have one, two or more or the attributes dis¬ cussed in connection with the Buddha (B 11 217, 222)." ^
The distinction here now turns on the question of the possession of super¬
normal powers by the Buddha and the arahants. However, as Dr Rahula points out:
"Now the position of the great arahants endowed with supernormal powers is still , not equuted with that of the Buddha, in the Angullaru Njkiiyu there is a list of
chief disciples who are declared by the Buddha to be pre-eminent in particular
achievements or talents, e.g., intelligence, meditation, energy, confidence and so on. Sariputta is thus proclaimed to be superior in wisdom, Moggallana in magical powers and Kassapa the Great in ascetic practices. They are foremost, the Buddha declares, in these achievements amongst*my disciples* (mama sairaJka- naig), implying that the Master remains above comparison. This superiority of the Buddha's powers is maintained, with an increasing emphasis, throughout the post-canonical literature. Hariputta, the pre-eminent in wisulom, fails to re¬ commend to a monk a subject or meditate that would suit his character and sends him to the Buddha. Moggallana, dernite his superior magical powers, has to be advised by the Buddha while taming a stubborn naga . After Pindola Bharn- .dvaja’s performance, again, the Buddha displayed his wonderful supernormal |*ow-
20 Buddhist Studies Review 1, 1 (1983-4) 1
ers, unsurpassed by anyone else in the world. Such episodes may reflect the / I stronp, tendency to hold the Master above his disciples in all matters; never- l thelcss, the attitude of the early Buddhist literature scem3 to be rather am¬ biguous in this regard, for we find on some occasions the Buddha conceding to individual arahants unreserved pre-eminence in certain qualities or personal virtues. The arahant Slvali is highly praised for his power to receive gifts, and Kassapa the Great is extolled for his strict adherence to ascetic practlc-.
cs. It is probable that in such references survives thq memory of an early tr^a-
dition which held that individual arahants may claim equality with the Buddha in spiritual attainments. On the other hand, it is not unusual of the Buddha
„ IN
to praise someone or something merely in order to encourage others.
The superior psychic attainments of the Buddha may be taken to constitute another possible point of distinction with the aruhant. But the Juxtaposition of the adverse happening:; overtaking, both Mogga 1 lanu and the Buddha provides an interesting occasion for introducLng aunt* relevant material from the "Quest¬ ions of King Milindu", which takes us into the consideration of another point: is there any difference karmically between the Buddha and the arahants after they have attained llibbuna? On this point of the post-Nibbanic state ol karma. Luma Anuguriku Govlndu remarks:
"Still, in most cases, a last unresolved remainder will be left over, for even ( if the mind has already come to a state of peace aiul harmony, that is, if the karmic after-effect:; are equilibrated, or, removed through a change of attitude, the karma that is bound in corporeal form may still for a long time go on vi¬ brating before complete harmonizing within the same (in form or corporeal per¬ fection, as fur as this is possible), or complete emancipation takes place. To the saint it is naturally given fr* withdraw himself from lx id 11y pains with the aid of concentration; but, generally speaking, so long us the body exists, so long, exists also the possibilit> of the sensation of pain, not no much o.-. ac¬ count of organic disturbances (illnesses) which hardly come into consideration
- for mental well-being (saintliness) signifies also bodily well-being (health)
- as rather the ground of external influences, such as, in the case of the Buddha, was the partaking of unwholesome food, or in the case of Angulimala, wounding through stone-throwing and the like. That, however, here also the ex¬ ternal influence, the apparently external happening, does not dispense with the inner, late-like connexion, is clearly evident from the story of Angulimala.
The robber (converted by the Buddha) who, in consequence of the knowledge that suddenly dawned within him, had become a saint, one day on his round for alms of food is recognized by the crowd and ill-treated so that he comes to the Buddha, all streaming with blood." ^
The interesting point here is that Govinda docs not connect the Buddha’s
How is the Buddha different from an Arahant...?
dysentery due to external agency to any "inner, fate-like connexion". Does he imply that in the case of the Buddha there in no r.uch connection, while it ex¬ ists in the case of the arahant? Govinda in not specific on the point but the fact that "Moggallana ... was murdered by hired assassins and the Buddha him¬ self had to encounter a number of unfavourable things" does indicate that both the arahant and the Buddha'are subject to post-Nibbanic adversity. This is a common point between the two. What, if any, is the difference?
This point emerges clearly from a comparison of two dilemmas presented to Nagasena by King Menander. The first, of these is the 31st dilemma: How could Moggallana have possessed miraculous powers seeing that lie was murdered?
From the point of view of this paper, the significant fact is that he was one of the Buddha’s chief disciples ^ and an arahant and that in spite of being an arahant "his death took place by his being beaten with club:;, so that his skull was broken, and his bones ground to powder, and all his* flesh and nerves bruised and rounded together". ^ And Nagasena attributes this end of Moggallana to the power of karma as "no other influence can avail the man in whom Karma is working out its inevitable end. That is why the venerable one, groat king, the great Moggallana, grout king, at a time vhm hr war. porr.orr.cd by Karma, he was d?eing beaten to death, war yet unable to make use of his power of Iddhi". 20
Moggallanu’s case may be compared with that of the Buddha in the 8th u.- lemma: The Buddha’s sinlcssncss and his sufferings. An Menander put it to Nagasena:
"...if the Tathagata, on his becoming a Buddha, lias destroyed all evil in him¬ self - thi3 other statement that his foot was pierced by a splinter, that he hud dysentery, and no on, must l:* . Hut i •’ the;* nr t.»rc thru lie enntud
have been free from evil, for there is no paiu without Karma. Ail pain has its root in Karma; it is on account of Kama that suffering arisen."
In this case Nagasena maintains that, "It is not ail suffering that has its root in Karma" and shows how some of it might uri3e from natural or pre¬ sent causes, lie lists eight causes by which suffering may arise:
"And what are the eight? Superabundance of wind, and of bile, and of phlegm, the union of these humours, variations in temperature, the avoiding of dis¬ similarities, external agency, and Karma. From each of these arc come suffer¬ ings that arise, and these are the eight causes by which many beings suffer pain. And therein whosoever maintains that it is Karma that injures beings,
and besides it there is no other reason Tor pain, his proposition is false."
And he goes on to show that all the sufferings the Buddha underwent were on account of factors other than his karma. To take the case of the Buddha’s foot-bed ng^hurt:
Buddhist Studies Review 1,1 (1983-4)
"Mow when the Blessed One's foot was torn by a splinter of rock, the pain that
followed van not produced by any other of the eight causes I have mentioned,
but only by external agency. For Devadatta, 0 king, had harboured hatred
against the Tathagata during a succession of hundreds of thousands of births.
It van in his hatred that he seized hold of a mighty mass of rock, and pushed it over vith the hope that it would fall upon his head. But two other rocks j
cane together, and intercepted it before it had reached the Tathagata; and by force of their impact a splinter was torn ctff, and fell upon the Blessed One's loot, and made it bleed. Mow this pain must have been produced in the Blessed One either a:: Uie result of his own Karma, or of someone elsc's act. For beyond these two there can be no other kind of pain. It is as when a seed does not germinate - that must be due to vhe badness of the soil, or to a defect in the coca. Or it is as when food in not digested- that must be due to either a de¬ fect in the stomach, or to the badness of the food.
"But a 1 though tire Blessed One never suffered pain which wan the result of hi:; own Karma, or* brought about the uvoidunce of dissimilarity, yet he suffer¬ ed p.iin from each of the other six causes. And by the pain he could suffer it war. not possible to deprive him of his Ufe. There come to this body of ours,
0 king, compounded of the four elements, sensations desirable and the reverse, unpleasant and pleasant. Suppose, 0 king, a clod.of earth were to be thrown in¬ to the air, and to fall again on the ground. Would it be a consequence of any act it had previously done that it would so fall?
"Mo, ::i r. There ino reason in the broad earth by ^ which it could exper¬ ience the result nf an act either good or e/il. It would be by reason of a present cause independent of Karma that the clod would full to earth again.
"Well, 0 king, the Tathagata should be regarded as the broad earth. And as ‘the clod would fall on it irrespective of any uct done by it, so also wuo it irrespective of any uct done by him that that splinter of rock fell upon his foot.
"Again, 0 king, men tear up and plough the earth. But is that a result of any act previously done?
"Certainly not, Ilir.
"Just so wjth the falling of that splinter. And the dysentery that attack¬ ed him was in the same way the result of no previous act, it arose from the union of the three humours. And whatsoever bodily disease fell upon him, that had its origin, not in Karma, but in one or other of the six causes referred to." 2U
In other words, while arahants had to undergo the results of residual kurma, it vus not so with the Buddha, who "had burnt out all evil from within
How is the Buddha different from an Arahant...?
him".
It is clear, therefore, that although the Nibbann of the Buddha and of
the arahants i3 the same in Theravada Buddhism, the .Buddha is different from
the arahants in the various ways pointed out above.
Notes
1 Religious Traditions [Dept of Religious Studies, University of Sydney],
Vol.l, No.l (April 1978), P-39.
2 Ibid .
3 W.C.Woeraratne, "Arahant" in Encyclopaedia of Buddhism II, 1 (Colombo 1966), p .42.
4 Wcerarutne, "Asamkkhaya-Nana", ibid., p.155.
5 Woeraratnc, "Arahant", op.ci l., p.'»J.
6 lbid. x p.42. 4
7 T.Ruhulu in Religious Traditions, op.cit., p.4o.
8 J.B.Horner, "Buddhism: The Theravada” in R.C.Zaehner (ed.) The Concise Encyclopaedia of Living Faiths (Boston 19*39), p.?0?.
9 Ibid., p.301.
10 II.Hi riyunnu, Outlines of Indian Philosophy (London 193?), |>.137. For ;• detailed discussion of the concept of the Buddha's omniscience in the Pali Canon see K. N.Juyutilicke, Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge (London 196]), pp.376-81, etc.
11 Horner, op.cit., p.202.
12 Ilf. *i.l0: tr. T.W.Rhys Davids in The Questions of King tlilindo (repr.Delhi 1969), pp.113-4 - emphasis added. It is interesting to note that the fire
i metaphor is used in the Puli text ir» the context of the discussion of the post-mortem state of the arahants und not Just of the Buddha (KaJJhima Nikaya, Sutta 72).
13 Wcerarutne, "Arahant", op.cit . „ p.4?.
14 T.Ruhulu, op.cit. ,»pp.38-9- Dr Rahulu goes on to add: "Granted that the
\ Buddha was in fact superior to his disciples, the arahants , in these psy-
] chic attainments, still it would not affect the early Buddhist ideal of
3 # perfect liberation, materialized by the great arahants. The Buddha himself
vus not interested in magical performances, and actually made it an offense
against the disciplinary rules for u monk to display such powers. A person' j ' spiritual quality cannot be Judged by his supernormal attainments alone.
Buddhist Studies Review 1, 1 (1983*4) *
and even an evil person like Devadatta could acquire them. Moggallana, the best authority in such powers, was'murdered by hired assassins, and the Buddha himself had to encounter a number of unfavourable things”
(iJbid., p.39).
15 Lama Anagarika Govinda, The Psychological Attitude of Early Buddhist Philosophy (London 1961)* pp.110-1.
16 T.W.Rhys Davids, op,cit. t pp.261-3*
17 Edward Conze, Buddhism, Its Essence and Development (repr. New York 1959), p.l4.
18 Kenneth W.Morgan (ed.) The Path of the Buddha (New York 1956), p.48.
19 T.W.Rhys Davids, op.cit ., p.26l.
20 Ibid., p.263.
21 Ibid., p.190.
22 Ibid ., p.191*
23 Ibid .
24 Ibid., pp.193-5*
25 Two final observations may be made, one common, the other somewhat un¬ common. One difference between the Buddha and the arahant is so patent that it has not even been mentioned hitherto in the paper, that in a pre¬ vious existence the aspirant to Buddhahood resolves to become a Buddha and thenceforth becomes a Bodhisatta. No such resolution is associated with an arahant. The other difference is that while there can be a female arahant there can be no female Buddha in Theravada Buddhism.
VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST LITERATURE: An Introduction
Russel] WoU) *
The literature of Vietnam is'as distinctive as the prevalent indigenous Budd¬ hist trudition which is u remarkably successful and influential amalgam or Ch*an (Zen) and Ch*ing-tu (Jodo), known locally as Thien and Tinh-4>o respectively.
In comparison to the attention lavished on the neighbouring Indian-based and Chinese Buddhist traditions, however, very little has been written on either. Buddhism in Vietnam or its canonical and cxcgotical works. This observation al¬ so applies to‘the otherwise unique achievements of the Kcole fraucaisc d'Extreme -Orient which, based at Hanoi and later Gaigon for half a century, rarely con¬ tributed studies relevant to Buddhism in the region other than describing the popular observances. However, this attitude may have resulted from the fact that a Confucian veneer overlaid Vietnamese society at the time and that u resurg¬ ence or a dynamic and nationalistic Buddhism, accompanied by popular writings in the adopted romanised script, did not begin to surface until the 1920s and 1930s.
Buddhism first penetrated the northernmost region of Uiuo-Chau (Tonkin) from the end of the second century A.C. The most notable Dharmadutas were, in chronological order, as follows;
"Slau-Po (Mau-Bac or Mau-Tu^ from Han China ( 1 G 9 A.C.').
K*ang Seng-Hui (Khu’d ng-Tang-Hoi), a Cogdian who subsequently settled in Nanking, China, in 247.
Kalyunaruci (Cubng-Lubhg-Luu), a Yiieh^Chi (or indo-Gcythian) who translated the Saddharmasamadhisutra etc. into Chinese Trom 255.
Marajivaka (Ma-La-Ky-Vufc), an Indian who went on to Loyang, China, c. 306 .
Vinltaruci (Ty-Ni-Pa-Lub-Chi), an Indian who trained in China before coming to I'liap-Vari temple, lla- Pong province, lie translated into Chinese the Mahuyunavaipulyudhuranlsutra and founded the first Thien (Ch'an) school ir Vietnam in 580.
Wu-Yen-Tung (Vo Ngon-Thong), a Chinese who settled at Kien-So* temple, Bdc- Ninh province, in 820, and founded the second school of Thien.
Ts*ao-Tang (Thao- Pu®hg), a Chinese monk captured during a defensive campaign against Champa (an Indianiscd region which became a vassal state of Annam) in 1069. Appointed National Teacher (Quoc Su* ), he resided in the capital Thang-Long (now Hanoi) and established the unified practice of Thien and
King Tran Nhan-Ton (1258-1308) CTue-Trung Thubhg-Gt, according to Thich Nhat-
Hqnh) founded the Truc-Lam (’Bamboo forest*) school which fused Confucian¬
ism and Taoism with a dominant Buddhism_and resulted in a humanistic ami
26 Buddhist Studies Review 1, 1 (19S3-6)
nationalistic religion.
Nguycn-Thieu (d.1712) fled the Manchu invasion of China and settled in Hue (1665) where he founded a school of Lin-Chi (Lam-To or Hinzai Zen) which was, in turn, systematised by Lieu-Qudn (d.17^3).
From the establishment of the nutio n % a Tirst independent dynasties - the Wgo (939-90*7) and 4>inh (968-98O), the bhiksus who comprised the learned dlite composed most of the indigenous prose and poetry* either in Chinese or in the partly modified script of ChCP-Nom ("popular writing"). Such writers included at least one Gangharaja, Chan-LuU (d.1011), whilst Buddhist literary endeavours continued to flourish during the Le (980-1009) and L# (1010-1229) dynasties which spanned the golden age of the Buddhadharma in Vietnam. Society was enrich¬ ed by such activities of the bhiksus who were influential in affairs of state and provided educational facilities in the temples where their spiritual and narrative literature was imparted.
The treasures of Vietnamese literature are largely inaccessible to a vide readership because they have rarely been translated into Western languages* Ex¬ ceptions include the sixteenth century collection of jataka literature, the Truyeri Kj Man Luc, translated by Nguyen Trun-Huan under the title* Vaste Rocu- ' oil des Lcgcndcs merveiIleuses (Paris 1962)* and the national epic poem* Kim- Van-Kieu (or Truyen Kieu, The Tale of Kieu). Although its author, Nguyen-Du (I765-I&X))* was a Confucian scholar* this ever popular work incorporatee v the themes of karma, anitya and duhkha. It hac been lauded as "...a masterpiece which enjoys unrivalled popularity because of its lively musical quality, the
beauty of its verse which is Incomparable, and above all because of its rich treasurehouse of thoughts from noble Buddhist inspiration. It would be no ex¬ aggeration to state that this poem which elaborates a theme which is akin to the life of the country, has of itself achieved much more than thousands of treat¬ ises on morals or philosophy as regards the good fight it led for the triumph of goodness, forgiveness, purity, of thoughts, and loftiness of ideals. Even now a hundred years later and in spite of the attractions of modern culture, it still is for some a sort or encyclopaedia of the Vietnamese language or a sort of literary Bible, and for others a civic and moral code, and finally for the whole world a manual of elementary and practical Buddhism". **
The poem was first transcribed in Quoc-NgCP (the romanised "national Lan¬ guage" deviuod by Catholic missionaries <n the seventeenth century but not of¬ ficially recognised until 1910) in 1875. From the Tir-st modern edition by Ngu¬ yen Duy-NguVig and Vu -Dinh-Long (Hanoi 1928), several versions and studies have appeared as listed in the full bibliography of Hujnh Sanh-Thong's English trans¬ lation (New York 1973; revised edition with Vietnamese text, Yale University Press, New Haven 1983). The only other English translation was made by Le Xuip-
Vietnamese Buddhist Literature
Thuy {Goigun I960), whilst five French versions were made by Abel des Michels
(Paris 180*4-5), Hene Crayssac (Hanoi 1926), Nguyen Van-VTnh (Hanoi 19*43), Xuan-
Phuc and Xuan-yViet (Puria 196l) u d Nguyen Khuc-Viyn (Hanoi 1965). To celebrate
the bi-centenary of the poet's birth, Maurice Durand edited a collection of
essays entitled Melanges sur Nguyen Du (EFKO, Paris 1966).
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, French academic circles and the colonial authorities began to take a serious interest in Vietnamese culture.
A Bulletin do la Societe Academique Indo-chinoise was published in Paris and this was followed by the entnbl inlwnrnl in Gnigon of the Societe den etudes indo- chinoioes, as evidenced by the regular appearance of its Bulletin from 1883- 1975* These developments were, however, overshadowed by the foundation in Hanoi of the Ecole franc&ise d 1 Extreme-Orient. Its world renowned quarterly Bulletin was launched in the same year (1901).
Beginning with Histoire ancicnne et moderne dc 1 *Annam, Tong-King et
Cochin-chine Ctiu? throe mat* pr«'viin»rt; of Vi»M,nmnl (Turin IBM) hy Adrien Ijiu-
nuy, a majority of French nutiolaai concmtratrd on Uu* art ami archaeology of
Indochina. However, a substantial number of works appeared on ihe religious of
the region in general and Buddhism in particular. Gustave Dumouticr described,
inter alia, Le Grand-Bouddha de Hanoi . Etude historique, orchcologiquc et epi- yraphiquo sur la pagodc dc Tran-Vu (Hanoi 1888), Los eultes annamites {Hanoi 1907) and "Le clorec et les temples bouddliiqucs au Tonkin" (flevuc Indochinoisc X, Hanoi 1913) and contributed some "Notes sur le Bouddhisme tonkinois" (Pevue d*Ethnographic VII, Paris 1888). These were followed by Edouard J.J.Diguet Les annamites: societe, couttmes, religions (Paris 1906), Charles-Georges Cor- dier Litterature annamite (Hanoi 191*0 and Etudes de litterature annamite (Sai¬ gon 1933), Paul Mus "Les religions de l’Indochine" (in S.Levi Indochine, Paris 1931), A.Coul "Doctrines et c£r€monios rcligieuscs du pays d'Annam" (Bulletin de la Society des etudes indochinoiscs , NS VIII, Saigon 1933), Emile Gnspnrdone } "Bibliographic annamite" Cincluding Buddhism and its literature! (BEFE0 , Hanoi 193*0', Lucien Escalere Le Bouddhisme et eultes d'Annam (Shanghai 1937), Leopoid- Michel Cadiere Croyances et pratiques rcligieuses des Vietnamiens (I - Saigon 19M, repr.1958; XI - Saigon 1955; III - EFE0, Paris 1957), Maurice Dura,.^ "Litterature vietnamienne" (ln R .Quencau Nistoirc des litteraturcs I, Paris 1955) and, with Nguyen Tran-Huan, the definitive Introduction a la litterature vietnamienne (Paris 19^9). The last-named study constitutes a detailed histo¬ rical survey where the Buddhist comj»onent is noticeable iu the chapters on "Litterature folklorique" and "Le Kim Van Kieu et les romans en vers", A unique forty-page biographical dictionary is also featured and it was upon that basis that Dr Ivo Vasiljiev of The Oriental Institute at the Charles University (Pra¬ gue) contributed several entries on Vietnamese writers to the Dictionary of
Buddhist Studies Review I, 1 (1983-4)
Vietnamese Buddhist Literature
Oriental Literatures II (ed. D.Zbavitel, London 197**), including the moat pro¬
minent Buddhist poet in this century, Khai Huhg (l896-19**7). Editions *?hanh-^
Long, a Vietnamese distributor in Brussels, have published two relevant works by Jacques Baruch: Essai sur la litterature du Viet-Nam (1963) and Bibliographic des traductions frangaises des litteratures du Viet-Nam et du Cambodge (1968)•
The foregoing activity served as a stimulus to indigenous scholars and writers. General works from their pens include La Civilisation annamite (Hpnoi 19***‘) by Nguyen Van-Huyen and Le Viet-Nam, histoire et civilisation (ParitT 1955) by Le Thanh-Khoi, whilst Tran Vun-Ciap contributed "Lc Bouddhisme on Annum. DSs origincc at; XIHe sieclc" (BKFEO, Hanoi 1932)* "Les deux sources du Bouddhisme annamite. lies rapports uvee l’lnde et la Chine" (Cahiers de l'EFEO XXXIII,
Hanoi 19**2) and Contribution a l'etude des livres bouddhiques annamites conser¬ ves a l'EFEO (Tokyo I9U3). However, almost every other item relevant to this field of study has appeared in Vietnamese. During the 1920s and *30s Nguyen V&n- Hgoc and his brother, Nguyen Quang-Oanh, promoted the series, Viet-Van Thu^-XS ("Library of Vietnamese literature") and Co-Kim Thu L Xa ("Library of old and new works"). Vv also have on record the following studies: Phan Ke-Binh, Viet-//an Van Khao ("A study of Lino-Vietnamese literature", Hanoi 1918* repr.1930); Viet- | ram Ph5t -Divn Tung Son ("A collection or Vietnamese Buddhist literature", Hoi Viet-Nam Phat-Giuo CVietnamese Buddhist Association! and EFEO, Hanoi 1936);*0So Duy-Ahh, Viet-Nam Van \\oa Su* Cubhg ("History of the evolution or Vietnamese civilisation", Hanoi? 1938), Phan Van-Hum, Phat-Giao Tri<*t-W<?c ("The philosophy or Buddhism", Hanoi? 19*‘l), Ngo Tut-To, Viet-Nam Van-lloc-S\i ("History or Viet¬ namese literature", Hanoi? 19**2), Thich Mat-The, Viet-Nam Phat-Giao Su L Iubfc ("History of Buddhism in Vietnam", Saigon 19**2, 8th ed., Nha-Trang 196U), Dubhg Quang-Ham, viet-Wam Van-Hoc Su L Feu ("Summary of the history of Vietnamese lit- .
eraturc", Hanoi 19UU, repr.1951), Nghiera-Toan, Viet-Nam Van-Hoc-Su' trich yeu (ibid., Saigon 19>»9) and, with Hoang Xuan-H5n, Thi Van Viet-Nam ("Vietnamese literature", Hanoi 1951); Vun-Tan et al.. Set Thao Lich Su’Van-lloc Viet-Nam ("Out¬ line of u history of Vietnamese literature", Hanoi 1957).* ^Lam Vun-Dieu, Van-lfoc Viet-Nam ("Vietnamese literature 1 *, Saigon i960) and Thich Thien-An, Llch-S\f Phat -Ciao Viet-Nam ("History of Buddhism in Vietnam", Saigon 1965)* Gia-Tri Triet - Hoc Ton-Giao trong Truyen Kieu ("Philosophical and religious values in the Tale of Kieu", Saigon 19C6) and Anh Huihg Phat-Giao trong Van-Chubhg Truyen Kieu ("Influence of Buddhism in Vietnamese literature with reference to the Tale of Kieu", ?).
The Tripitaka (-Dai-Tang Kinh) was imported from China in the late tenth century and several studies and translations from both this corpus and the Pall > Cancn have been made by Vietnamese bhiksus in recent years. Such work was fact- 7 litated by the establishment of the Institute of Higher Buddhist Studies in
Saigon (196*0 and this was shortly transformed into Van Hanh University. This centre was soon recognised as the most prestigious of its kind and ullowcd for exchange scholarships with external universities, us a result of which some bhiksu students were enabled to pursue higher studies in which the U3e of Eng¬ lish or French led to a wider dissemination of their writings. (For further de¬ tails of Van Hanh see pp.98-109 in International Seminar on Higher education in Buddhism, VfFB Books Series 17, Bangkok 1968.)
The Rector of Van Hanh University (- since 1975 changed to the status of "Institute"), Thich Minh-Chau, had written on the "influence of Buddhism on Vietnamese Literature" {The Hahn Uodhi 66, Calcutta 1958) before enrolling at the Nava Halanda Muhavihfira - a post-graduate institute of Pali and allied studies in Patna. In affiliation with the University of Bihar, he obtained his Ph.D. in 1961 for a study and partial translation of The Chinese Hadhuatna Agaou 1 and the Pali Majjhima uikaga (published Caigon 196**). This was -followed by a comparative study of the W.Uindapanha and Nagasenabhikshusutra (Calcutta 196*0. Thereafter he devoted all his energy to translating the entire Sutta Pi taka in¬ to Vietnamese. By 1975 both the Dlghu and Mn,J!hima Nikuyas wore printed with
the original texts and within the next three years the Bamyuttu and Anguttara
Nikuyas, Dhaiam^wida, Udrinu and UuM.u-Niputu were translated and published in cyclostyle format. The remaining l*iokn of the Khuddaka Nikaya have now been translated and duplicated In Vietnam. In collaboration with hit; students, A.P. Buddhudutta',0 New Pali Course and Higher Pali Course have also been translated.
Thich Huyen-Vi, the spiritual supervisor of TuMMOn I.inh-Goh in Paris (and President of Linh-Soh Buddhist Association in France and England), obtained his doctorate In 1970 from Mugadh University (Bodh-Guya) for A Critical Study of the Lite and Works of Sariputta Thera (published Saigon 1972) - an unique sur¬ vey in need of reprinting. He has also produced a study based on the Abhldhumma- tthasangaha. The Four Abhidhammic Reals (Li nh-SoVt, 1982); Lubt Su' To Do- f>o f>a t - Ha ("History of Muster Uodhldluirma" , Saigon 1961); Tu Si va Hna-Si trvn Hat Phat ("The Buddhist Monk and the Painter hi the Buddha-Lund", Suoi ‘Tu*
Phat-Ly Can-Ban ("The Basis of Buddhist Doctrines", Huohg-Dao 197*0; Cubho Sang Ngubl Xu'a ("The Bright Mirrors or the Predecessv :*s", Hufctoe- -Dao 1975). A fellow bhiksu at Magadh University, Thich Thi on Thanh, has also obtained Ph.D. for "A comparative study of the Pali Plgha-Nikaya and Chinese Dlrghugama" (e.1976), whilst Thai Van-Chai was awarded his doctorate in 1972 for an "Early History of Buddhism in Vietnam".
Thich Thien-Chau, the spiritual director of the Association des ;k>uddhistes Vietnamiens en France and incumbent of Chua Truc-Lum in Puris, has been honour¬ ed with two doctorates from the Sorboimc: for a translation of a Chine 1!-
galavudin troutlsc, "-Lc TrldharmakaSastra" (Ph.D. 1971), and a pioneer survey
of "La 1itteraturc dec perconnaXistes (Pudgalavadin) du Bouddhisme ancien" (D.
Lltt. .1977). He has also translated the Pali Dl.ammapada into Vietnamese.
Apart from the foregoing, only privately produced secondary translations have ap eared, such as George Grimm's Die Lchre dcs Buddho as Tue-Giac Cua-Phat (Saigon 1964), liaradu Mahathcra's authoritative version of the Dhammapada (from English, Gaigon 1971), his exposition of Theravada Buddhism, The Buddha and His Teachings (translated, Saigon 1970) and his translation of the Abhidhomraa- tthacangahn, A Hanual ot Buddhism (translated, 2 vols, Saigon 1973/5)-
In the course of preparing this essay, the author gratefully acknowledges the advice of Vcn.Thich Huycn-Vi and Bhikkhu Pasad^ka. To the former he owes his knowledge of the intricacies of Vietnamese diacritical marks even if they could not all be reproduced accurately here.
GENERAL WORKS CONSULTED
