Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1u say/ An ordering a number of magnificent carriages to b made ready, he mounted one of them, left R^agah with his train, and went to the Vulture's Peal riding as far as the ground was passable for ca 1 Evammahiddhike evammah&nubhave. There is nothii supernatural about the iddhi here referred to. Etena tes$ samagga-bhdvan kathesi says the commentator simply: th referring the former adjective to the power of union, as he do the second to the power derived from practice in military tacti (hatthisippddlhi). The epithets are, indeed, most commor applied to the supernatural powers of Devatas, Nagas, and oth fairy-like beings ; but they are also used, sometimes in the simj sense of this passage, and sometimes in the other sense, of Buddh and of other Arahats. See M. P. S. 12, 43; M. Sud. S. 49-5 Gii. I, 34, 35> 39, 4i. I. MAHA-PARINIBBANA-SUTTA. 3 Wages, and then alighting and proceeding on foot to the place where the Blessed One was. On arriving there he exchanged with the Blessed One the greetings and compliments of friendship and civility, sat down respectfully by his side [and then delivered to him the message even as the king had commanded 4. Now at that time the venerable Ananda was standing behind the Blessed One, and fanning him. And the Blessed One said to him : ' Have you heard, Ananda, that the Varans hold full and frequent public assemblies ? ' ' Lord, so I have heard/ replied he. ' So long, Ananda/ rejoined the Blessed One, ' as the Va^ians hold these full and frequent public assemblies ; so long may they be expected not to decline, but to prosper/ [And in like manner questioning Ananda, and receiving a similar reply, the Blessed One declared as follows the other conditions which would ensure the welfare of the Va^ian confederacy 2 .] ' So long, Ananda, as the Vagfians meet together in concord, and rise in concord, and carry out their undertakings in concord — so long as they enact nothing not already established, abrogate nothing that has been already enacted, and act in accordance with the ancient institutions of the Vaggians as established in former days — so long as they honour and esteem and revere and support the Vaggian elders, and hold it a point of duty to hearken to their words — so long as no women or girls 1 § 2 repeated. 8 In the text there is a question, answer, and reply with each clause. B 2 4 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH. belonging to their clans are detained among them by force or abduction — so long as they honour and esteem and revere and support the Vaggian shrines 1 in town or country, and allow not the proper offerings and rites, as formerly given and performed, to fall into desuetude — so long as the rightful protection, defence, and support shall be fully provided for the Arahats among them, so that Arahats from a distance may enter the realm, and the Arahats therein may live at ease — so long may the Va^^ians be expected not to decline, but to prosper/ 5.
2fall into desuetude — so long as the rightful protection, defence, and support shall be fully provided for the Arahats among them, so that Arahats from a distance may enter the realm, and the Arahats therein may live at ease — so long may the Va^^ians be expected not to decline, but to prosper/ 5. Then the Blessed One addressed VassakHra the Brahman, and said : ' When I was once staying, O Brahman, at Vesdli at the Sfirandada Temple 2 , I taught the Va^ians these conditions of welfare ; and so long as those conditions shall continue to exist among the Va^*- ^ians, so long as the Va^fians shall be well instructed in those conditions, so long may we expect them not to decline, but to prosper/ * We may expect then/ answered the Brdhman, 'the welfare and not the decline of the V avians when they are possessed of any one of these conditions of welfare, how much more so when they are possessed of all the $even. So, Gotama, the Vaggians cannot be overcome by the king of Magadha ; that is, not in battle, without diplomacy or breaking up their alliance 3 . And now, Gotama, we must go ; we are busy, and have much to do/ 1 jffetiyani, which Sum. Vil. explains as Yakkha-^etiyani. 2 The commentator adds that this was a vihdra erected on the site of a former temple of the Yakkha Sarandada. 3 'Overcome' is literally 'done' (akarawiyd), but the word evidently has a similar sense to that which ' done ' occasionally has I. maha-parinibbAna sutta. 5 'Whatever you think most fitting, O Brahman,' was the reply. And the Brdhman Vassaldira, de- lighted and pleased with the words of the Blessed One, rose from his seat, and went his way. 6. Now soon after he had gone the Blessed One addressed the venerable Ananda, and said : ' Go now, Ananda, and assemble in the Service Hall such of the Brethren 1 as live in the neighbourhood of RS^agaha/ in colloquial English. The Sum. Vil. (fol. /i) says akarawryji, akatabba agahetabbd: yadidah, nip&ta-mattan : yudd'has- sati, karawatthe sami-va£anan, abhimukhena yuddhena gahetuh na sakka* ti attho. Upalapana, which I have only met with here, must mean ' humbug, cajolery, diplomacy ; ' see the use of the verb upa-l&peti, at Mah& VaggaV, 2, 21 ; Gat. II, 266, 267 ; Pdt. in the 70th P&£. Sum. Vil. explains it, at some length, as making an alliance, by gifts, with hostile intent, which comes to much the same thing. The root I think is li. 1 The word translated ' brethren ' throughout is in the original bhikkhu, a word most difficult to render adequately by any word which would not, to Christians and in Europe, connote something different from the Buddhist idea. A bhikkhu, literally 'beggar,' was a disciple who had joined Gotama's order ; but the word refers to their renunciation of worldly things, rather than to their conse- quent mendicancy; and they did not really beg in our modem sense of the word.
3pe, connote something different from the Buddhist idea. A bhikkhu, literally 'beggar,' was a disciple who had joined Gotama's order ; but the word refers to their renunciation of worldly things, rather than to their conse- quent mendicancy; and they did not really beg in our modem sense of the word. Hardy has 'priests;' I have elsewhere used 4 monks ' and sometimes ' beggars ' and ' members of the order/ This last is, I think, the best rendering ; but it is too long for con- stant repetition, as in this passage, and too complex to be a really good version of bhikkhu. The members of the order were not priests, for they had no priestly powers. They were not monks, for they took no vow of obedience, and could, leave the order (and constantly did so and do so still) whenever they chose. They were not beggars, for they had none of the mental and moral qualities associated with that word. ' Brethren ' connotes very much the position in which they stood to one another ; but I wish there were a better word to use in rendering bhikkhu. 6 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH. And he did so ; and returned to the Blessed One, and informed him, saying : 'The company of the Brethren, Lord, is assem- bled, let the Blessed One do as seemeth to him fit/ And the Blessed One arose, and went to the Service Hall ; and when he was seated, he addressed the Brethren, and said : ' 1 will teach you, O mendicants, seven conditions of the welfare of a community. Listen well and attend, and I will speak/ ' Even so, Lord/ said the Brethren, in assent, to the Blessed One ; and he spake as follows : 'So long, O mendicants, as the brethren meet together in full and frequent assemblies — so long as they meet together in concord, and rise in con- cord, and carry out in concord the duties of the order — so long as the brethren shall establish nothing that has not been already prescribed, and abrogate nothing that has been already established, and act in accordance with the rules of the order as now laid down — so long as the brethren honour and esteem and revere and support the elders of expe- rience and long standing, the fathers and leaders of the order, and hold it a point of duty to hearken to their words — so long as the brethren fall not under the influence of that craving which, springing" up within them, would give rise to renewed exist- ence 1 — so long as the brethren delight in a life of solitude — so long as the brethren so train their minds 2 that good and holy men shall come to them, and those who have come shall dwell at ease 1 ' Ponobhavika' punabbhava-d&yika. (S. V. fol. /ti.) 2 'Pa££attaw yeva satiw upa/Mapessanti ' ti attano ab- bhantare satiw upa/Mapessanti. (S. V. fol. /ft.) mahA-parinibbana-sutta. 7 — so long may the brethren be expected, not to decline, but to prosper.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1u say/ An ordering a number of magnificent carriages to b made ready, he mounted one of them, left R^agah with his train, and went to the Vulture's Peal riding as far as the ground was passable for ca 1 Evammahiddhike evammah&nubhave. There is nothii supernatural about the iddhi here referred to. Etena tes$ samagga-bhdvan kathesi says the commentator simply: th referring the former adjective to the power of union, as he do the second to the power derived from practice in military tacti (hatthisippddlhi). The epithets are, indeed, most commor applied to the supernatural powers of Devatas, Nagas, and oth fairy-like beings ; but they are also used, sometimes in the simj sense of this passage, and sometimes in the other sense, of Buddh and of other Arahats. See M. P. S. 12, 43; M. Sud. S. 49-5 Gii. I, 34, 35> 39, 4i. I. MAHA-PARINIBBANA-SUTTA. 3 Wages, and then alighting and proceeding on foot to the place where the Blessed One was. On arriving there he exchanged with the Blessed One the greetings and compliments of friendship and civility, sat down respectfully by his side [and then delivered to him the message even as the king had commanded 4. Now at that time the venerable Ananda was standing behind the Blessed One, and fanning him. And the Blessed One said to him : ' Have you heard, Ananda, that the Varans hold full and frequent public assemblies ? ' ' Lord, so I have heard/ replied he. ' So long, Ananda/ rejoined the Blessed One, ' as the Va^ians hold these full and frequent public assemblies ; so long may they be expected not to decline, but to prosper/ [And in like manner questioning Ananda, and receiving a similar reply, the Blessed One declared as follows the other conditions which would ensure the welfare of the Va^ian confederacy 2 .] ' So long, Ananda, as the Vagfians meet together in concord, and rise in concord, and carry out their undertakings in concord — so long as they enact nothing not already established, abrogate nothing that has been already enacted, and act in accordance with the ancient institutions of the Vaggians as established in former days — so long as they honour and esteem and revere and support the Vaggian elders, and hold it a point of duty to hearken to their words — so long as no women or girls 1 § 2 repeated. 8 In the text there is a question, answer, and reply with each clause. B 2 4 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH. belonging to their clans are detained among them by force or abduction — so long as they honour and esteem and revere and support the Vaggian shrines 1 in town or country, and allow not the proper offerings and rites, as formerly given and performed, to fall into desuetude — so long as the rightful protection, defence, and support shall be fully provided for the Arahats among them, so that Arahats from a distance may enter the realm, and the Arahats therein may live at ease — so long may the Va^^ians be expected not to decline, but to prosper/ 5.
2fall into desuetude — so long as the rightful protection, defence, and support shall be fully provided for the Arahats among them, so that Arahats from a distance may enter the realm, and the Arahats therein may live at ease — so long may the Va^^ians be expected not to decline, but to prosper/ 5. Then the Blessed One addressed VassakHra the Brahman, and said : ' When I was once staying, O Brahman, at Vesdli at the Sfirandada Temple 2 , I taught the Va^ians these conditions of welfare ; and so long as those conditions shall continue to exist among the Va^*- ^ians, so long as the Va^fians shall be well instructed in those conditions, so long may we expect them not to decline, but to prosper/ * We may expect then/ answered the Brdhman, 'the welfare and not the decline of the V avians when they are possessed of any one of these conditions of welfare, how much more so when they are possessed of all the $even. So, Gotama, the Vaggians cannot be overcome by the king of Magadha ; that is, not in battle, without diplomacy or breaking up their alliance 3 . And now, Gotama, we must go ; we are busy, and have much to do/ 1 jffetiyani, which Sum. Vil. explains as Yakkha-^etiyani. 2 The commentator adds that this was a vihdra erected on the site of a former temple of the Yakkha Sarandada. 3 'Overcome' is literally 'done' (akarawiyd), but the word evidently has a similar sense to that which ' done ' occasionally has I. maha-parinibbAna sutta. 5 'Whatever you think most fitting, O Brahman,' was the reply. And the Brdhman Vassaldira, de- lighted and pleased with the words of the Blessed One, rose from his seat, and went his way. 6. Now soon after he had gone the Blessed One addressed the venerable Ananda, and said : ' Go now, Ananda, and assemble in the Service Hall such of the Brethren 1 as live in the neighbourhood of RS^agaha/ in colloquial English. The Sum. Vil. (fol. /i) says akarawryji, akatabba agahetabbd: yadidah, nip&ta-mattan : yudd'has- sati, karawatthe sami-va£anan, abhimukhena yuddhena gahetuh na sakka* ti attho. Upalapana, which I have only met with here, must mean ' humbug, cajolery, diplomacy ; ' see the use of the verb upa-l&peti, at Mah& VaggaV, 2, 21 ; Gat. II, 266, 267 ; Pdt. in the 70th P&£. Sum. Vil. explains it, at some length, as making an alliance, by gifts, with hostile intent, which comes to much the same thing. The root I think is li. 1 The word translated ' brethren ' throughout is in the original bhikkhu, a word most difficult to render adequately by any word which would not, to Christians and in Europe, connote something different from the Buddhist idea. A bhikkhu, literally 'beggar,' was a disciple who had joined Gotama's order ; but the word refers to their renunciation of worldly things, rather than to their conse- quent mendicancy; and they did not really beg in our modem sense of the word.
3pe, connote something different from the Buddhist idea. A bhikkhu, literally 'beggar,' was a disciple who had joined Gotama's order ; but the word refers to their renunciation of worldly things, rather than to their conse- quent mendicancy; and they did not really beg in our modem sense of the word. Hardy has 'priests;' I have elsewhere used 4 monks ' and sometimes ' beggars ' and ' members of the order/ This last is, I think, the best rendering ; but it is too long for con- stant repetition, as in this passage, and too complex to be a really good version of bhikkhu. The members of the order were not priests, for they had no priestly powers. They were not monks, for they took no vow of obedience, and could, leave the order (and constantly did so and do so still) whenever they chose. They were not beggars, for they had none of the mental and moral qualities associated with that word. ' Brethren ' connotes very much the position in which they stood to one another ; but I wish there were a better word to use in rendering bhikkhu. 6 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH. And he did so ; and returned to the Blessed One, and informed him, saying : 'The company of the Brethren, Lord, is assem- bled, let the Blessed One do as seemeth to him fit/ And the Blessed One arose, and went to the Service Hall ; and when he was seated, he addressed the Brethren, and said : ' 1 will teach you, O mendicants, seven conditions of the welfare of a community. Listen well and attend, and I will speak/ ' Even so, Lord/ said the Brethren, in assent, to the Blessed One ; and he spake as follows : 'So long, O mendicants, as the brethren meet together in full and frequent assemblies — so long as they meet together in concord, and rise in con- cord, and carry out in concord the duties of the order — so long as the brethren shall establish nothing that has not been already prescribed, and abrogate nothing that has been already established, and act in accordance with the rules of the order as now laid down — so long as the brethren honour and esteem and revere and support the elders of expe- rience and long standing, the fathers and leaders of the order, and hold it a point of duty to hearken to their words — so long as the brethren fall not under the influence of that craving which, springing" up within them, would give rise to renewed exist- ence 1 — so long as the brethren delight in a life of solitude — so long as the brethren so train their minds 2 that good and holy men shall come to them, and those who have come shall dwell at ease 1 ' Ponobhavika' punabbhava-d&yika. (S. V. fol. /ti.) 2 'Pa££attaw yeva satiw upa/Mapessanti ' ti attano ab- bhantare satiw upa/Mapessanti. (S. V. fol. /ft.) mahA-parinibbana-sutta. 7 — so long may the brethren be expected, not to decline, but to prosper.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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