Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1s temporary form in the heaven of delight and descends into his mothers womb, then is this earth made to quake and tremble and is shaken violently. These are the third causes, proximate or remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake 2 . more particularly referred to in the passage of the text. Here all kinds of devatas being referred to, and there being no word in English for them all, I have ventured to put the word devata* into my version, and to trouble the reader with this note. 1 Yassa paritt& paMavi-sawwd bhavit& hoti appam£»£ &posa#M, on which Buddhaghosa says simply, Paritta* ti dub- bald: appama^d ti balav&, and then goes on, as a note to kampeti, to tell a long story how Sangharakkhita S&ma«era, the nephew of Naga Thera, attained Arahatship on the day of his admission to the order; and at once proceeded to heaven, and standing on the pinnacle of the palace of the king of the gods, shook the whole place with his big toe ; to the great consternation and annoyance of the exalted dwellers therein! There is no doubt a real truth in the idea that deep thought can shake the universe, and make the palaces of the gods to tremble, just as faith is said in Matthew xxi. 21 to be able to remove mountains, and cause them to be cast into the sea. But these figurative expressions have, in Buddhism, become a fruitful soil for the outgrowth of superstitions and misunderstandings ; and the train of early Bud- dhist speculation in this field has yet to be elucidated. There is much about it in the Maha* Padh&na Sutta of the Digha Nik£ya, where Chap. Ill, §§ 1 1-20 recur. 2 The Bodhisatta's voluntary incarnation is looked upon by the Buddhists as a great act of renunciation, and curious legends have III. mahA-parinibbAna-sutta. 47 1 6. * Again, Ananda, when a Bodhisatta deliberately and consciously quits his mother s womb, then the earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the fourth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 1 7. ' Again, Ananda, when a Tathdgata arrives at the supreme and perfect enlightenment, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. gathered about it. One is that on the night when she conceived his mother dreamt that a white elephant entered her side. The account will be found at length in my ' Buddhist Birth Stories ' (pp. 62-64), an d the earthquake is there mentioned in terms identical with those in the text. The sacred event is also one of those represented on the ancient bas-reliefs round the Bharhut Thupa, a full description of which will be found in General Cunningham's most interesting work, ' The Stupa of Bharhut.' General Cunning- ham says of the description placed above this sculpture : * Above it in large characters is inscribed Bhagavatorukdanta, which may perhaps be translated, " Buddha as the sounding elephant," from ru, to sound, to make a particular sort of sound.' Now the first word of the inscription is in the genitive case, so that
2description placed above this sculpture : * Above it in large characters is inscribed Bhagavatorukdanta, which may perhaps be translated, " Buddha as the sounding elephant," from ru, to sound, to make a particular sort of sound.' Now the first word of the inscription is in the genitive case, so that if the second word could mean an elephant, the whole would signify, ' The Buddha's elephant.' But the characters which General Cunningham reads rukdanta are, I venture to suggest, okkanti (? ukkanti) ; and the inscription simply says, ' The descent of the blessed One.' As I have pointed out in 'Buddhism' (p. 184), the white elephant legend is one of those hallowed sun stories by which half-con- verted Hindus have striven to embellish the life story of the Teacher whose followers they had become. In the Lalita Vistara (Calc. ed. p. 63) the entrance of the elephant into Maya* precedes the dream ; but though the ignorant may have therefore accepted it as a fact, it is of course only a figure of speech — and I venture to think from the Hindu standpoint, a beautiful figure of speech — to express the incarnation of divine mildness and majesty in a human form. The use of such a figure is not confined to India. In the earliest of the Apocryphal Gospels, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the incarnation of the divine gentleness and love is expressed by saying that a dove from heaven 'entered into' the human form. 48 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH. This is the fifth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 1 8. * Again, Ananda, when a Tath&gata founds the sublime kingdom of righteousness, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the sixth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 19. * Again, Ananda, when a Tath&gata consciously and deliberately rejects the remainder of his life, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the seventh cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 20. * Again, Ananda, when a Tath&gata passes entirely away with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever is left behind, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the eighth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 21. ' Now of eight kinds, Ananda, are these as- semblies. Which are the eight 1 ? Assemblies of nobles, Brahma/zas, householders, and Samaras, and the angel hosts of the Guardian Angels, the Great Thirty-Three, Mara, and Brahma. 22. ' Now I call to mind, Ananda, how when I used to enter into an assembly of many hundred nobles, before I had seated myself there or talked to them or started a conversation with them, I used to become in colour like unto their colour, and in voice like unto their voice.
3Three, Mara, and Brahma. 22. ' Now I call to mind, Ananda, how when I used to enter into an assembly of many hundred nobles, before I had seated myself there or talked to them or started a conversation with them, I used to become in colour like unto their colour, and in voice like unto their voice. Then with religious discourse 1 The connection, or rather want of connection, between this and the last paragraph seems to me to be very suggestive as to the way in which the Sutta was composed. The narrative is resumed at paragraph 111, 43. On vanishing away, comp. I, 33. III. mahA-parinibbAna-sutta. 49 I used to instruct, incite, and quicken them, and fill them with gladness. 1 But they knew me not when I spoke, and would say, " Who may this be who thus speaks ? a man or a god ? " Then having instructed, incited, quickened, and gladdened them with reli- gious discourse, I would vanish away. But they knew me not even when I vanished away; and would say, " Who may this be who has thus vanished away ? a man or a god ? " ' 23. [And in the same words the Blessed One spake of how he had been used to enter into assem- blies of each of the other of the eight kinds, and of how he had not been made known to them either in speaking or in vanishing away.] ' Now these, Ananda, are the eight assemblies/ 24. * Now these, Ananda, are the eight positions of mastery [over the delusion arising from the apparent permanence of external things *]. What are the eight? 1 Abhibh&yatant ti abhibhavanakdra«&ni. Kim abhi- bhavanti? Pa££anika-dharame pi &rammaw£ni pi: tani hi pa/ipakkha-bhdvena pa££antka-dhamme abhibhavanti puggalassa «anuttaritaya aramma«£ni, says Buddhaghosa. (Sum. Vil. th\.) This and the next paragraph are based upon the Buddhist belief as to the long- vexed question between the Indian schools who represented more or less closely the European Idealists and Realists. When cleared of the many repetitions inserted for r the benefit of the repeaters or reciters, the fundamental idea seems to be that the great necessity is to get rid of the delusion that what one sees and feels is real and permanent. Nothing is real and permanent but character. The so-called eight Positions of Mastery are merely an expan- sion of the first two of the following eight Stages of Deliverance, and the whole argument is also expressed in another form in the [II] E 50 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH. 25. 4 When a man having subjectively the idea of form sees externally forms which are finite, and pleasant or unpleasant to the sight, and having mas- tered them, is conscious that he knows and sees — this is the first position of mastery. 26. ' When a man having subjectively the idea of form sees externally forms which are boundless, and pleasant or unpleasant to the sight, and having mas- tered them, is conscious that he knows and sees — this is the second position of mastery. 27.
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.
1s temporary form in the heaven of delight and descends into his mothers womb, then is this earth made to quake and tremble and is shaken violently. These are the third causes, proximate or remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake 2 . more particularly referred to in the passage of the text. Here all kinds of devatas being referred to, and there being no word in English for them all, I have ventured to put the word devata* into my version, and to trouble the reader with this note. 1 Yassa paritt& paMavi-sawwd bhavit& hoti appam£»£ &posa#M, on which Buddhaghosa says simply, Paritta* ti dub- bald: appama^d ti balav&, and then goes on, as a note to kampeti, to tell a long story how Sangharakkhita S&ma«era, the nephew of Naga Thera, attained Arahatship on the day of his admission to the order; and at once proceeded to heaven, and standing on the pinnacle of the palace of the king of the gods, shook the whole place with his big toe ; to the great consternation and annoyance of the exalted dwellers therein! There is no doubt a real truth in the idea that deep thought can shake the universe, and make the palaces of the gods to tremble, just as faith is said in Matthew xxi. 21 to be able to remove mountains, and cause them to be cast into the sea. But these figurative expressions have, in Buddhism, become a fruitful soil for the outgrowth of superstitions and misunderstandings ; and the train of early Bud- dhist speculation in this field has yet to be elucidated. There is much about it in the Maha* Padh&na Sutta of the Digha Nik£ya, where Chap. Ill, §§ 1 1-20 recur. 2 The Bodhisatta's voluntary incarnation is looked upon by the Buddhists as a great act of renunciation, and curious legends have III. mahA-parinibbAna-sutta. 47 1 6. * Again, Ananda, when a Bodhisatta deliberately and consciously quits his mother s womb, then the earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the fourth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 1 7. ' Again, Ananda, when a Tathdgata arrives at the supreme and perfect enlightenment, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. gathered about it. One is that on the night when she conceived his mother dreamt that a white elephant entered her side. The account will be found at length in my ' Buddhist Birth Stories ' (pp. 62-64), an d the earthquake is there mentioned in terms identical with those in the text. The sacred event is also one of those represented on the ancient bas-reliefs round the Bharhut Thupa, a full description of which will be found in General Cunningham's most interesting work, ' The Stupa of Bharhut.' General Cunning- ham says of the description placed above this sculpture : * Above it in large characters is inscribed Bhagavatorukdanta, which may perhaps be translated, " Buddha as the sounding elephant," from ru, to sound, to make a particular sort of sound.' Now the first word of the inscription is in the genitive case, so that
2description placed above this sculpture : * Above it in large characters is inscribed Bhagavatorukdanta, which may perhaps be translated, " Buddha as the sounding elephant," from ru, to sound, to make a particular sort of sound.' Now the first word of the inscription is in the genitive case, so that if the second word could mean an elephant, the whole would signify, ' The Buddha's elephant.' But the characters which General Cunningham reads rukdanta are, I venture to suggest, okkanti (? ukkanti) ; and the inscription simply says, ' The descent of the blessed One.' As I have pointed out in 'Buddhism' (p. 184), the white elephant legend is one of those hallowed sun stories by which half-con- verted Hindus have striven to embellish the life story of the Teacher whose followers they had become. In the Lalita Vistara (Calc. ed. p. 63) the entrance of the elephant into Maya* precedes the dream ; but though the ignorant may have therefore accepted it as a fact, it is of course only a figure of speech — and I venture to think from the Hindu standpoint, a beautiful figure of speech — to express the incarnation of divine mildness and majesty in a human form. The use of such a figure is not confined to India. In the earliest of the Apocryphal Gospels, the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the incarnation of the divine gentleness and love is expressed by saying that a dove from heaven 'entered into' the human form. 48 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH. This is the fifth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 1 8. * Again, Ananda, when a Tath&gata founds the sublime kingdom of righteousness, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the sixth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 19. * Again, Ananda, when a Tath&gata consciously and deliberately rejects the remainder of his life, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the seventh cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 20. * Again, Ananda, when a Tath&gata passes entirely away with that utter passing away in which nothing whatever is left behind, then this earth quakes and trembles and is shaken violently. This is the eighth cause, proximate and remote, of the appearance of a mighty earthquake. 21. ' Now of eight kinds, Ananda, are these as- semblies. Which are the eight 1 ? Assemblies of nobles, Brahma/zas, householders, and Samaras, and the angel hosts of the Guardian Angels, the Great Thirty-Three, Mara, and Brahma. 22. ' Now I call to mind, Ananda, how when I used to enter into an assembly of many hundred nobles, before I had seated myself there or talked to them or started a conversation with them, I used to become in colour like unto their colour, and in voice like unto their voice.
3Three, Mara, and Brahma. 22. ' Now I call to mind, Ananda, how when I used to enter into an assembly of many hundred nobles, before I had seated myself there or talked to them or started a conversation with them, I used to become in colour like unto their colour, and in voice like unto their voice. Then with religious discourse 1 The connection, or rather want of connection, between this and the last paragraph seems to me to be very suggestive as to the way in which the Sutta was composed. The narrative is resumed at paragraph 111, 43. On vanishing away, comp. I, 33. III. mahA-parinibbAna-sutta. 49 I used to instruct, incite, and quicken them, and fill them with gladness. 1 But they knew me not when I spoke, and would say, " Who may this be who thus speaks ? a man or a god ? " Then having instructed, incited, quickened, and gladdened them with reli- gious discourse, I would vanish away. But they knew me not even when I vanished away; and would say, " Who may this be who has thus vanished away ? a man or a god ? " ' 23. [And in the same words the Blessed One spake of how he had been used to enter into assem- blies of each of the other of the eight kinds, and of how he had not been made known to them either in speaking or in vanishing away.] ' Now these, Ananda, are the eight assemblies/ 24. * Now these, Ananda, are the eight positions of mastery [over the delusion arising from the apparent permanence of external things *]. What are the eight? 1 Abhibh&yatant ti abhibhavanakdra«&ni. Kim abhi- bhavanti? Pa££anika-dharame pi &rammaw£ni pi: tani hi pa/ipakkha-bhdvena pa££antka-dhamme abhibhavanti puggalassa «anuttaritaya aramma«£ni, says Buddhaghosa. (Sum. Vil. th\.) This and the next paragraph are based upon the Buddhist belief as to the long- vexed question between the Indian schools who represented more or less closely the European Idealists and Realists. When cleared of the many repetitions inserted for r the benefit of the repeaters or reciters, the fundamental idea seems to be that the great necessity is to get rid of the delusion that what one sees and feels is real and permanent. Nothing is real and permanent but character. The so-called eight Positions of Mastery are merely an expan- sion of the first two of the following eight Stages of Deliverance, and the whole argument is also expressed in another form in the [II] E 50 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH. 25. 4 When a man having subjectively the idea of form sees externally forms which are finite, and pleasant or unpleasant to the sight, and having mas- tered them, is conscious that he knows and sees — this is the first position of mastery. 26. ' When a man having subjectively the idea of form sees externally forms which are boundless, and pleasant or unpleasant to the sight, and having mas- tered them, is conscious that he knows and sees — this is the second position of mastery. 27.
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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