Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1nd does incline to zeal, exertion, perseverance, and struggle. ' But whosesoever mind inclineth towards zeal, exertion, perseverance, and struggle, he has become free from this fifth spiritual bondage. ' It is such a one, O Bhikkhus, who has broken through the five kinds of spiritual bondage. 25. 4 Whatsoever brother, O Bhikkhus, has be- come quite free from the five kinds of mental barrenness, has altogether broken through the five kinds of spiritual bondage — that such a one should reach up to the full advantage of, should attain to full growth in, to full breadth in, this doctrine and discipline — that can well be ! 26. 'He practises the (first) road to saintship 1 , which is accompanied by the union of the will to acquire it with earnest contemplation, and with the struggle against sin. He practises the (second) road to saintship, which is accompanied by the union of exertion with earnest contemplation, and with the struggle against sin. He practises the (third) road to saintship, which is accompanied by the union of thought with earnest contemplation, and with the struggle against sin. He practises the (fourth) road to saintship, which is accompanied by the union of investigation with earnest con- 1 lddhip£daw. Here Iddhi must be (spiritual) welfare. JSTETOKHILA SUTTA. 233 templation and the struggle against sin 1 , — and strong determination too as a fifth. 27. 'The brother, O Bhikkhus, thus endowed with fifteenfold determination 2 becomes destined to come forth into the light, capable of the higher wisdom, sure of attaining to the supreme security 3 . 28. 'Just, O Bhikkhus, as when a hen has eight or ten or twelve eggs, and the hen has pro- perly brooded over them, properly sat upon them, properly sat herself round them, however much such a wish may arise on her heart as this, " O would that my little chickens should break open the egg- shell with the points of their claws, or with their beaks, and come forth into the light in safety ! " yet all the while those little chickens are sure to break the egg-shell with the points of their claws, or with their beaks, and to come forth into the light in safety. 29. 'Just even so, a brother thus endowed with fifteenfold determination is sure to come forth into the light, sure to reach up to the higher wisdom, sure to attain to the supreme security 4 ! ' 1 The text of this section, so far, will be found in Childers's dictionary, sub voce Iddhip&do. 2 That is, the four Iddhipadas, and Usso/^i, each multiplied by three. 3 Anuttarassa Yogakkhemassa ; that is, Nirvawa. Com- pare Dhammapada, ver. 23 and p. 180. 4 The tertium quid of the parable is the absolute certainty of the event which will follow on the hen having duly and diligently followed the law of her instinct, even though she, meanwhile, in her ignorance, be full of doubt and desire. The certainty of the delivery of a woman with child is not unfrequently used as a symbol of what can be absolutely depended upon.
2event which will follow on the hen having duly and diligently followed the law of her instinct, even though she, meanwhile, in her ignorance, be full of doubt and desire. The certainty of the delivery of a woman with child is not unfrequently used as a symbol of what can be absolutely depended upon. So of 'the word of the glorious Buddhas/ which endureth for ever, in ' Bud- dhist Birth Stories/ p. 18. I have attempted to imitate the play in the text upon the two words for the c coming forth into the light/ 234 BARRENNESS AND BONDAGE. — — ] 30. Thus spake the Blessed One. And those Brethren, delighted in heart, exalted the word of the Blessed One. End of the Sutta, the sixth, on barrenness and bondage. figuratively and literally, of the disciple and of the little chicken. The first is in Pali bhabbo abhinibbidaya (from vid), the latter is aho vata . . . sotthini abhinibbhi^eyyan (from bhid). On sammi-paribhavitdni, here applied to the a»</ani, see above, Mahdparinibbana Sutta, Chap. I, § 12, note. I MAHA-SUDASSANA- T SUTTA. INTRODUCTION TO THE MAHA-SUDASSANA sutta. The following translation is made from a text based on three MSS. from the same sources as those referred to at the commencement of the Tevi^gga Sutta, and referred to in my notes by the same letters. This Sutta follows in the Digha NikAya immediately after the Book of the Great Decease, and is based on the same legend as the Mahd-Sudassana 6&taka, No. 95 in Mr. Fausboll's edition. As the latter differs in several important particulars from our Sutta, it is probably not taken directly from it, but is merely derived from the same source. To facilitate comparison between the two I add here a translation of the (7£taka, which has not been reached as yet in my * Buddhist Birth Stories/ and which is very short. The part enclosed in brackets [ ] is the comment, which was probably written in Ceylon in the fifth century of our era, and I have included that part of the comment which is explanatory of the words in the verse, as it is of more than usual interest. There is every reason to believe, for the reasons given in the Introduction to the * Buddhist Birth Stories,' that the stories themselves belong to a very early period in the history of Buddhism ; and we may be sure that if this particular story had been abstracted by the author of the commentary from our Sutta, he would not have ventured to introduce such serious changes into what he regarded as sacred writ. 238 MAHA-SUDASSANA SUTTA. MAHA-SUDASSANA GATAKA. THE GREAT KING OF GLORY. ['How transient are all component things/ This the Master told when lying on his death-couch, con- cerning that word of Ananda the Thera, when he said, ' Do not, O Blessed One, die in this little town/ and so on.
3238 MAHA-SUDASSANA SUTTA. MAHA-SUDASSANA GATAKA. THE GREAT KING OF GLORY. ['How transient are all component things/ This the Master told when lying on his death-couch, con- cerning that word of Ananda the Thera, when he said, ' Do not, O Blessed One, die in this little town/ and so on. When the Tathdgata was at the <7etavana 1 he thought ' the Thera Sdriputta, who was born at NAlagima, has died, on the day of the full moon in the month of Kattika, in that very village 2 ; and Mahd Moggall&na in the latter, the dark half of that same month. As my two chief disciples are thus dead, I too will pass away at Kusin&rA/ There- upon he proceeded straight on to that place, and lay down on the Uttara-sisaka couch, between the twin SAla trees, never to rise again. Then the venerable Ananda besought him, saying, * Let 1 It is not easy with cur present materials to reconcile the apparently con- flicting statements with regard to the Buddha's last journey. According to the Malalankara-vatthu this refers here to a residence at the Gfetavana, which took place between the end of § 30 in Chap. II, in the Book of the Great Decease, and the beginning of § 31. It will be noticed that § 31 speaks of * the monastery/ which is apparently an undesigned confirmation of this tra- dition. (Such undesigned circumstances, however really undesigned, are very far, of course, from proving the actual truth of the tradition. They would only show that it was older than the time when the works in which they occur were put into their present shape.) Mr. Fausboll, by his punctuation, includes these words in the following thought ascribed to the Blessed One, but I think they only describe the time at which the thought is supposed to have arisen. 2 Or perhaps 'at Varaka.' I do not understand the word varaka, which has puzzled Mr. Fausboll. The modern name of the village, afterwards the site of the famous Buddhist university of Nalanda, is Baragaon. The full- moon day in Kattika is the 1st of December. An account of the death of Sariputta will be found in the Malalankara-vatthu (Bigandet, ' Legend,' &c, 3rd ed., II, 1-25), and of the murder of Moggallana by the NigaoMas in the Dhammapada commentary (Fausboll, p. 298 seq.), of which Spence Hardy's account (' Manual of Buddhism,' p. 338) is nearly a translation ; and Bigandet's account (loc. cit. pp. 25-27) is an abridgment. INTRODUCTION. 239 not the Blessed One die in this little township 1 , in this little town in the jungle, in this branch township. Let the Blessed One die in one of the other great cities, such as Ra^agaha, and the rest ! ' But the Master answered, ' Say not, Ananda, that this is a little township, a little town in the jungle, a branch town- ship.
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.
1nd does incline to zeal, exertion, perseverance, and struggle. ' But whosesoever mind inclineth towards zeal, exertion, perseverance, and struggle, he has become free from this fifth spiritual bondage. ' It is such a one, O Bhikkhus, who has broken through the five kinds of spiritual bondage. 25. 4 Whatsoever brother, O Bhikkhus, has be- come quite free from the five kinds of mental barrenness, has altogether broken through the five kinds of spiritual bondage — that such a one should reach up to the full advantage of, should attain to full growth in, to full breadth in, this doctrine and discipline — that can well be ! 26. 'He practises the (first) road to saintship 1 , which is accompanied by the union of the will to acquire it with earnest contemplation, and with the struggle against sin. He practises the (second) road to saintship, which is accompanied by the union of exertion with earnest contemplation, and with the struggle against sin. He practises the (third) road to saintship, which is accompanied by the union of thought with earnest contemplation, and with the struggle against sin. He practises the (fourth) road to saintship, which is accompanied by the union of investigation with earnest con- 1 lddhip£daw. Here Iddhi must be (spiritual) welfare. JSTETOKHILA SUTTA. 233 templation and the struggle against sin 1 , — and strong determination too as a fifth. 27. 'The brother, O Bhikkhus, thus endowed with fifteenfold determination 2 becomes destined to come forth into the light, capable of the higher wisdom, sure of attaining to the supreme security 3 . 28. 'Just, O Bhikkhus, as when a hen has eight or ten or twelve eggs, and the hen has pro- perly brooded over them, properly sat upon them, properly sat herself round them, however much such a wish may arise on her heart as this, " O would that my little chickens should break open the egg- shell with the points of their claws, or with their beaks, and come forth into the light in safety ! " yet all the while those little chickens are sure to break the egg-shell with the points of their claws, or with their beaks, and to come forth into the light in safety. 29. 'Just even so, a brother thus endowed with fifteenfold determination is sure to come forth into the light, sure to reach up to the higher wisdom, sure to attain to the supreme security 4 ! ' 1 The text of this section, so far, will be found in Childers's dictionary, sub voce Iddhip&do. 2 That is, the four Iddhipadas, and Usso/^i, each multiplied by three. 3 Anuttarassa Yogakkhemassa ; that is, Nirvawa. Com- pare Dhammapada, ver. 23 and p. 180. 4 The tertium quid of the parable is the absolute certainty of the event which will follow on the hen having duly and diligently followed the law of her instinct, even though she, meanwhile, in her ignorance, be full of doubt and desire. The certainty of the delivery of a woman with child is not unfrequently used as a symbol of what can be absolutely depended upon.
2event which will follow on the hen having duly and diligently followed the law of her instinct, even though she, meanwhile, in her ignorance, be full of doubt and desire. The certainty of the delivery of a woman with child is not unfrequently used as a symbol of what can be absolutely depended upon. So of 'the word of the glorious Buddhas/ which endureth for ever, in ' Bud- dhist Birth Stories/ p. 18. I have attempted to imitate the play in the text upon the two words for the c coming forth into the light/ 234 BARRENNESS AND BONDAGE. — — ] 30. Thus spake the Blessed One. And those Brethren, delighted in heart, exalted the word of the Blessed One. End of the Sutta, the sixth, on barrenness and bondage. figuratively and literally, of the disciple and of the little chicken. The first is in Pali bhabbo abhinibbidaya (from vid), the latter is aho vata . . . sotthini abhinibbhi^eyyan (from bhid). On sammi-paribhavitdni, here applied to the a»</ani, see above, Mahdparinibbana Sutta, Chap. I, § 12, note. I MAHA-SUDASSANA- T SUTTA. INTRODUCTION TO THE MAHA-SUDASSANA sutta. The following translation is made from a text based on three MSS. from the same sources as those referred to at the commencement of the Tevi^gga Sutta, and referred to in my notes by the same letters. This Sutta follows in the Digha NikAya immediately after the Book of the Great Decease, and is based on the same legend as the Mahd-Sudassana 6&taka, No. 95 in Mr. Fausboll's edition. As the latter differs in several important particulars from our Sutta, it is probably not taken directly from it, but is merely derived from the same source. To facilitate comparison between the two I add here a translation of the (7£taka, which has not been reached as yet in my * Buddhist Birth Stories/ and which is very short. The part enclosed in brackets [ ] is the comment, which was probably written in Ceylon in the fifth century of our era, and I have included that part of the comment which is explanatory of the words in the verse, as it is of more than usual interest. There is every reason to believe, for the reasons given in the Introduction to the * Buddhist Birth Stories,' that the stories themselves belong to a very early period in the history of Buddhism ; and we may be sure that if this particular story had been abstracted by the author of the commentary from our Sutta, he would not have ventured to introduce such serious changes into what he regarded as sacred writ. 238 MAHA-SUDASSANA SUTTA. MAHA-SUDASSANA GATAKA. THE GREAT KING OF GLORY. ['How transient are all component things/ This the Master told when lying on his death-couch, con- cerning that word of Ananda the Thera, when he said, ' Do not, O Blessed One, die in this little town/ and so on.
3238 MAHA-SUDASSANA SUTTA. MAHA-SUDASSANA GATAKA. THE GREAT KING OF GLORY. ['How transient are all component things/ This the Master told when lying on his death-couch, con- cerning that word of Ananda the Thera, when he said, ' Do not, O Blessed One, die in this little town/ and so on. When the Tathdgata was at the <7etavana 1 he thought ' the Thera Sdriputta, who was born at NAlagima, has died, on the day of the full moon in the month of Kattika, in that very village 2 ; and Mahd Moggall&na in the latter, the dark half of that same month. As my two chief disciples are thus dead, I too will pass away at Kusin&rA/ There- upon he proceeded straight on to that place, and lay down on the Uttara-sisaka couch, between the twin SAla trees, never to rise again. Then the venerable Ananda besought him, saying, * Let 1 It is not easy with cur present materials to reconcile the apparently con- flicting statements with regard to the Buddha's last journey. According to the Malalankara-vatthu this refers here to a residence at the Gfetavana, which took place between the end of § 30 in Chap. II, in the Book of the Great Decease, and the beginning of § 31. It will be noticed that § 31 speaks of * the monastery/ which is apparently an undesigned confirmation of this tra- dition. (Such undesigned circumstances, however really undesigned, are very far, of course, from proving the actual truth of the tradition. They would only show that it was older than the time when the works in which they occur were put into their present shape.) Mr. Fausboll, by his punctuation, includes these words in the following thought ascribed to the Blessed One, but I think they only describe the time at which the thought is supposed to have arisen. 2 Or perhaps 'at Varaka.' I do not understand the word varaka, which has puzzled Mr. Fausboll. The modern name of the village, afterwards the site of the famous Buddhist university of Nalanda, is Baragaon. The full- moon day in Kattika is the 1st of December. An account of the death of Sariputta will be found in the Malalankara-vatthu (Bigandet, ' Legend,' &c, 3rd ed., II, 1-25), and of the murder of Moggallana by the NigaoMas in the Dhammapada commentary (Fausboll, p. 298 seq.), of which Spence Hardy's account (' Manual of Buddhism,' p. 338) is nearly a translation ; and Bigandet's account (loc. cit. pp. 25-27) is an abridgment. INTRODUCTION. 239 not the Blessed One die in this little township 1 , in this little town in the jungle, in this branch township. Let the Blessed One die in one of the other great cities, such as Ra^agaha, and the rest ! ' But the Master answered, ' Say not, Ananda, that this is a little township, a little town in the jungle, a branch town- ship.
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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