Divine Stories Read online

  I have also benefited enormously from the labor of previous scholars, particularly the work of Stefan Baums (2002, 2016) on the Jyotiṣka-avadāna, Eugene Burnouf (1844: 90–98, 2010: 130–37) on the Kanakavarṇa-avadāna, Jens-Uwe Hartmann (1980) on the Candraprabhabodhisattvacaryā-avadāna, Dieter Maue (1996, 2010) on the Cūḍāpakṣa-avadāna, Johannes Nobel (1955) on the Rūdrāyaṇa-avadāna, Jonathan Silk (2008a) on the Dharmaruci-avadāna, Joel Tatelman (2005) on the Mākandika-avadāna, Claus Vogel and Klaus Wille (1996, 2002) on the Saṅgharakṣita-avadāna, and James R. Ware (1929) on the Dānādhikaraṇa-mahāyānasūtra. In addition, Cowell and Neil as well as Vaidya provided useful addenda to their editions, such as glossaries and notes, J. S. Speyer (1902) published critical remarks and corrections to the Divyāvadāna, and Franklin Edgerton (BHSD) compiled a monumental dictionary of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit that contains many references to the text.

  In the first note to each story in this volume, I provide references to the various editions, translations, studies, and parallels that I consulted to make my translation of that story. Each story is then annotated with numerous notes that record grammatical peculiarities, philological conundrums, textual issues, and possible alternate readings and reconstructions. This critical apparatus, which is much more extensive than the one I provided in Divine Stories, Part 1, is intended for specialists—for those already interested in these stories and for those who, after reading through these translations, one day might be.

  Conventions

  In my translation, I have tried to be consistent in following certain conventions, particularly in terms of methodology. Whenever possible I privilege the text of the Divyāvadāna, even when I think a reading preserved in the Sanskrit or Tibetan of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinayamight sound a little better or make a little more sense. My default, in other words, is to translate the text as written, erring on the side of minimal intervention. Many of the stories in the Divyāvadāna appear to be revised versions of their counterparts in the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya, so to “return” to a reading preserved in the latter may be an instance of bad faith or even bad philology.6 Nevertheless, there are plenty of instances when a copyist has apparently made a mistake, be it a revision or a transcription error, that renders the text obscure, if not opaque. In these cases, I follow the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya, another source, or even a best guess. In cases when I simply can’t make sense of a passage, whether this be the fault of a copyist or my own limited abilities, I follow the same protocol. Most of the notes in this volume contain critical notations of this kind: variant readings, followed or simply noted, and the consequent issues of translation. These notes are primarily intended for specialists.

  These notes, in total, are not intended to constitute a kind of critical edition; they are not comprehensive. The Divyāvadānacontains, for example, many abbreviated (and sometimes obscure) passages that occur in longer form in the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya. I note only some of these.7 Sometimes the text also plays a bit loose with classical Sanskrit grammar and syntax. I note these issues only when particularly egregious or relevant.

  In terms of style, I try to translate prose as prose and verse as verse, and I offset certain stereotypical passages for ease of reading. I do not translate proper names and place names, although the first time they occur in each story I include a translation in parentheses (if a translation is helpful or possible). Some of these names are found in the glossary, but not place names or the names of the heavens and hells. The former, when identifiable, are included in the “Map of Indian Places in the Divyāvadāna.” The latter are included in a table of the various realms of existence in the appendix.

  Technical terms have been translated when possible, and when not, they have been left in the original Sanskrit and italicized. There are, however, some exceptions. Terms that have been adopted in vernacular English, such as dharma, brahman, and saṃsāra, have been left untranslated and unitalicized, as have terms that appear frequently and are part of the naturalized lexicon of the text, such as arhat, bodhisattva, and tathāgata. Conversely, some rather technical terms have been translated, such as antigod (for asura), celestial musician (for gandharva), and great snake (for mahoraga). Although all of these terms could be usefully glossed, I think the vernacular understanding of the former and the translations of the latter are sufficient for the reader to understand these stories in their complexity. These technical terms, whether translated or not, can be found in the glossary.

  I have added subheadings within the stories to guide the reader. These interpolations, while not part of the text itself, nonetheless appear without brackets. As I noted in the introduction to Divine Stories, Part 1, these stories were meant to be recited orally; hence, I understand abbreviations such as “and so on as before” (pūrvavat yāvat) to be instructions to the reciter to fill in the requisite missing words. I therefore translate abbreviated passages in full. In my efforts to remain faithful to the voice of the text, I have also retained the repetitions and some of the idiosyncrasies of style in the Sanskrit text in my English translation.

  In the Sanskrit, Pāli, and Tibetan passages in my notes, the use of [ ] brackets indicates a gap in the text that has been filled. The use of < > brackets indicates a restoration or reconstruction based on another source.

  Abbreviations

  Aśokāv Aśokāvadāna. See Mukhopadhyaya 1963.

  BHSD Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary. See Edgerton 1993, vol. 2.

  D Derge edition of the Tibetan Tripiṭaka

  Divy Divyāvadāna. See Cowell and Neil 1886.

  Divy-V Divyāvadāna. See Vaidya 1959a.

  DPPN Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names. See Malalasekera 1995.

  DS Divine Stories, Part 1. See Rotman 2008.

  GBM Gilgit Buddhist Manuscripts. See Vira and Chandra 1995.

  G1 GBM, folios 1474–83

  G2 GBM, folios 1354–58

  GM-Saṅgh “The Final Leaves of the Pravrajyāvastu Portion of the Vinayavastu Manuscript Found near Gilgit: Part 1, Saṅgharakṣitāvadāna.” See Vogel and Wille 1996.

  GM-Nāga “The Final Leaves of the Pravrajyāvastu Portion of the Vinayavastu Manuscript Found near Gilgit: Part 2, Nāgakumārāvadāna.” See Vogel and Wille 2002.

  HA “Appendix A.” See Hiraoka 2007: ii, 1–32.

  HC “Text Critical Remarks on the Divyāvadāna (1).” See Hiraoka 2009.

  HD “Text Critical Remarks on the Divyāvadāna (2).” See Hiraoka 2010.

  ms. manuscript

  mss. manuscripts

  MSV Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya (= Gilgit Manuscripts, vol. 3, parts 1–4). See Dutt 1984.

  P Peking edition of the Tibetan Tripiṭaka

  PTSD The Pāli Text Society’s Pāli-English Dictionary. See Rhys Davids and Stede 1986.

  Skt. Sanskrit

  SWTF Sanskrit-Wörterbuch der buddhistischen Texte aus den Turfan-Funden und der kanonischen Literatur der Sarvāstivāda-Schule.See Waldschmidt et al. 1973–.

  Tib. Tibetan

  Sanskrit Pronunciation

  The vowels and consonants in Sanskrit listed below are pronounced much like the italicized letters in the English words that follow them. Note that an h after a consonant is not a separate letter. It signifies instead that the consonant it follows is to be aspirated. The Sanskrit letters are listed in Sanskrit alphabetical order.

  Vowels

  a but

  ā father

  i pit

  ī see

  u foot

  ū drool

  ṛ rig

  ṝ no obvious English equivalent; lengthened ṛ

  e ray

  ai high

  o hope

  au round

  Gutturals (pronounced by slightly raising the back of the tongue and closing off the throat)

  k kick

  kh blockhead

  g go

  gh doghouse

  ṅ ring

  Palatals (pronounced with the tongue lying on the bottom of the mou
th)

  c chip

  ch matchhead

  j job

  jh hedgehog

  ñ injury

  Retroflex (pronounced by curling the tip of the tongue to touch the roof of the mouth)

  ṭ try

  ṭh tart

  ḍ drum

  ḍh no obvious English equivalent; strongly aspirated ḍ

  ṇ tint

  Dentals (pronounced by placing the tip of the tongue against the back of the upper teeth)

  t stick

  th anthill

  d dinner

  dh roundhouse

  n nice

  Labials (pronounced with the lips together)

  p spin

  ph upheaval

  b bin

  bh clubhouse

  m mother

  Semivowels, sibilants, and additional sounds

  y yes

  r drama

  l life

  v a sound between English v and w(e.g., between vine and wine)

  ś ship

  ṣ retroflex ś

  s sip

  h hope

  ṃ anusvāra: nasalizes the preceding vowel

  ḥ visarga: an aspiration with an echoing of the preceding vowel (e.g., devaḥ as devaha)

  A Summary of the Stories

  18. The Story of Dharmaruci

  Dharmaruci-avadāna

  A huge sea creature named Timiṅgila is about to devour a boatload of merchants when he hears an invocation of the Buddha’s name and vows to refrain from eating. After his death, he is reborn in a brahman family and given the name Dharmaruci. Perpetually hungry, he eventually goes forth as a monk, whereby his hunger is finally satisfied and he attains arhatship. At the monks’ request, the Buddha recounts how he and Dharmaruci had previously met three times—long ago during the respective eras of Kṣemaṅkara Buddha, Dīpaṅkara Buddha, and Krakucchanda Buddha.

  19. The Story of Jyotiṣka

  Jyotiṣka-avadāna

  A householder questions the Buddha about his pregnant wife, and the Buddha foretells that she will give birth to a boy who will become a Buddhist monk and arhat. An evil Nirgrantha overhears this prediction and, to spite the Buddha, convinces the householder that his future son will bring him to ruin. Frightened, the householder kills his wife. During her cremation, a lotus arises from her stomach, and perched upon it is a boy, who is given the name Jyotiṣka and raised by King Bimbisāra. Jyotiṣka goes on to achieve great wealth, which he then renounces, becoming a Buddhist monk and arhat. Questioned by the monks, the Buddha recounts Jyotiṣka’s past life during the time of Vipaśyin Buddha.

  20. The Story of Kanakavarṇa

  Kanakavarṇa-avadāna

  King Kanakavarṇa rules all of Jambudvīpa, and it thrives until it is beset by a drought destined to last twelve years. The king has all the food in the kingdom collected and then distributed to the people, gradually and equally, but during the twelfth year the food runs out. Many people die. A solitary buddha arises and arrives before the king, asking for alms. Only a single serving of food remains in the kingdom; the king offers it to him nonetheless. As a result of that deed, rains of goodness fall upon the kingdom, illustrating the importance of charity.

  21. The Story of Sahasodgata

  Sahasodgata-avadāna

  A boy visits a monastery and sees a wheel of existence in the entrance hall. A monk explains to him the actions that lead to the various realms of existence, and the boy decides to feed the monastic community so he will be reborn among the gods. He gets a job as a day laborer, manages to feed the monastic community and please a group of merchants, and because of his merit is appointed guildmaster. He again feeds the monastics and, instructed by the Buddha, has a vision of truth. The Buddha then recounts the boy’s interactions in a previous lifetime with a solitary buddha that led to his present success.

  22. The Story of the Deeds of the Bodhisattva Candraprabha

  Candraprabhabodhisattvacaryā-avadāna

  King Candraprabha rules an enormous and prosperous kingdom, and he gives away so much that everyone in Jambudvīpa comes to possess treasures and look like kings themselves. His ministers begin to have nightmares about the king’s demise, and bad omens abound. Hearing that the king has vowed to give away everything, a brahman comes before the king and asks for his most prized possession: his head. The king is pleased; everyone else, aghast. To attain perfect awakening, the king then gives his head to the brahman. Witnessing his demise, many beings die and achieve a divine rebirth.

  23. The Story of Saṅgharakṣita, part 1

  Saṅgharakṣita-avadāna

  Stories 23–25 constitute a cycle about the monk Saṅgharakṣita. While he is the resident dharma teacher on an overseas voyage with five hundred merchants, his boat is seized by nāgas, who implore him to come to their watery realm and teach the four Āgamas. Teach them he does, and then he returns to the ship, which soon arrives ashore. Saṅgharakṣita then encounters various hell-beings suffering for the misdeeds they committed as monastic disciples of the Buddha Kāśyapa. Then he encounters five hundred seers, whom he converts, and the five hundred merchants from before, all of whom he brings to the Buddha for ordination.

  24. The Story of a Young Nāga

  Nāgakumāra-avadāna

  The monks question the Buddha about a young nāga, and he tells them how, in a previous lifetime, a nāga eventually became a monk under the Buddha Kāśyapa and attained arhatship. Thereby able to remember his past lives, he then goes to the nāga realm to visit his former parents, who are still mourning his death. At their request, he returns each day to consume a meal of divine ambrosia that they serve him. One day his novice attendant surreptitiously accompanies him and then becomes angry when he is served ordinary food instead of divine ambrosia. He curses the nāgas and vows to be reborn there.

  25. The Story of Saṅgharakṣita, part 2

  Saṅgharakṣita-avadāna

  The Buddha tells how Saṅgharakṣita also became a monk under the Buddha Kāśyapa but never attained spiritual distinction. On his deathbed, he makes a fervent aspiration to be reborn during the time of the Buddha Śākyamuni, to become a monk in his order, and to attain arhatship. His students and the citizens of his town make the same aspiration. The Buddha then reveals the present identities of those characters from the past.

  31. The Story of Five Hundred Farmers

  Pañcakārṣakaśata-avadāna

  The Buddha magically transforms a brahman’s offering of rice gruel such that it can feed the entire community, and the brahman becomes a stream-enterer. The Buddha then teaches and initiates five hundred farmers, who become arhats, and also teaches their cattle, who see the truth. The Buddha then travels to Toyikā and there, sitting upon the spot where the Buddha Kāśyapa lies buried, creates a site that is doubly venerable. Pilgrims venerate the shrine, and the Buddha explains the value of their offerings. A festival known as the Toyikāmaha is established there.

  32. The Story of Rūpāvatī

  Rūpāvatī-avadāna

  The Buddha offers a discourse on charity and then tells the story of Rūpāvatī. Seeing a starving mother about to eat her newborn child, Rūpāvatī cuts off her own breasts and feeds them to the mother to satisfy her hunger. She then performs two vows of truth, one that restores her breasts and a second that transforms her into a man—Rūpāvata. The Buddha then recounts Rūpāvata’s next two births: first as Candraprabha, who offers his eyes and body to a flock of birds, and then Brahmaprabha, who feeds himself to a starving tigress.

  34. The Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Topic of Giving

  Dānādhikaraṇa-mahāyānasūtra

  This sūtra enumerates thirty-seven gifts that a wise person may offer and the results that they generate.

  35. The Story of a Lonesome Fool

  Cūḍāpakṣa-avadāna

  Two brothers, Panthaka and Mahāpanthaka, become Buddhist monks, and while the latter flourishes, the former is disparaged as an idiot, unab
le to memorize even a single verse in three months. Pondering a single couplet, however, Panthaka attains arhatship and surpasses his seemingly wiser brother. The Buddha then recounts deeds from three of Panthaka’s past lives that led to his present situation. Jīvaka Kumārabhūta then disrespects Panthaka, which leads the Buddha to tell a story about a thoroughbred horse and a potter, who turn out to be Panthaka and Jīvaka in past lives.

  36. The Story of Mākandika

  Mākandika-avadāna

  Mākandika tries to marry his beautiful daughter Anupamā to the Buddha. The Buddha refuses her, and a lecherous old monk tries in vain to gain her hand. Then the Buddha tells two past-life stories about Anupamā and the old man. Anupamā then marries King Udayana and, jealous of her virtuous co-wife Śyāmāvatī, convinces her father Mākandika to arrange for Śyāmāvatī’s death while the king is away quelling a rebellion. The Buddha tells various past-life stories about Anupamā, Śyāmāvatī, and others involved to explain what led to the present circumstances.

  37. The Story of Rudrāyaṇa

  Rudrāyaṇa-avadāna

  Two kings, Bimbisāra and Rudrāyaṇa, exchange precious gifts, culminating with a gift of an image of the Buddha to Rudrāyaṇa, which leads him onto the Buddhist path. He becomes a monk, and his son Śikhaṇḍin takes the throne. The latter, under the influence of evil ministers, rules unjustly and oppresses the people. Rudrāyaṇa, now a monk, comes to intercede, and just as he attains arhatship is killed by assassins sent by his son. King Śikhaṇḍin then has the noble Mahākātyāyana buried alive, which leads to his entire capital being buried under a rain of dirt. The noble Mahākātyāyana nonetheless survives and continues to propagate the dharma. The Buddha then tells past-life stories about Rudrāyaṇa, Śikhaṇḍin, and others involved to explain what led to the current events.