Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives (Volume 1). Aryashura
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“a preoccupation with proper political rule,” whereby niti, politics based on personal gain (artha), is to be replaced by virtue (dharma). This is, for example, expressed in “The Birth-Story of Vishvan·tara,” in which the prince gives gifts, “unswayed by the falsehood of politics” (9.22 [10]). The ideal king should experience the pains and pleasures of his people as if they were his own (8.4 [1]) and should carefully guard his moral conduct since his behavior is imitated by his subjects (13.87 [38], 17.10 [4]). Meadows suggests that this preoccupation with advising kings “reflects a courtly milieu” (ibid.) for the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives.” Whether or not one accepts this argument, it is certainly the case that the notion of an ideal king who sacrifices everything for virtue is a prominent theme. In particular, this virtue is an absolute form of morality based on renunciant values of non-anger and non-desire, the direct opposite of the stereotyped behavior of the kshatriya class.
While kings are to incorporate renunciant values within their role as social paradigms, other stories express an antagonism between renunciation and society through the figure of the ascetic. This is particularly expressed in stories 18–20 which criticize the desire-based life of the householder in favor of asceticism. In “The Birth-Story of the Childless Ascetic,” for example, the Bodhi·sattva states:
The household life is a great discomfort,
for both the wealthy and the poor.
The wealthy suffer the toil of guarding money,
the poor suffer the toil of acquiring it.
As there is no happiness in such a life,
both for the wealthy and the poor,
to delight in it is a delusion.
Evil in fact is its source.(18.22 [11]–23 [12])
According to Arya·shura’s framework, ascetic renunciation is seen as an aspect of virtue (sila), the second perfection. The other seven stories treated within the perfection of virtue are structured around the five precepts, a set of restraints central to Buddhist morality. “The Birth-Story of Shakra” (11) thus portrays the precept against killing; “The Birth-Story of the Brahmin” the precept against stealing; “The Birth-Story of Unmadayanti” (13) the precept against immoral sexual conduct; “The Birth-Story of Suparaga” (14), “The Birth-Story of the Fish” (15), and “The Birth-Story of the Quail Chick” (16) the precept against lying; and “The Birth-Story on the Jar” (17) the precept against alcohol. The key feat performed by the Bodhi·sattva in stories 14–16 is an “affirmation of truth” (saty’/adhisthana), whereby a statement of truth produces a magical effect on the outside world.
If we turn to the first ten stories of the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives,” the importance of renunciant values, combined with the Bodhi·sattva’s role as a savior, becomes accentuated through the perfection of giving.20 The practice of giving is fundamental to the Buddhist path. Not only is it essential for the survival of the Buddhist monastic community, it is also the basis for cultivating morality and developing a renunciant attitude of non-attachment. This renunciant significance is highlighted by “The Birth-Story of Agastya” (7), in which the Bodhi·sattva’s main practice as an ascetic renouncer is, in fact, to give gifts.
Different types of gift are given by the Bodhi·sattva, including wealth and even his own body. Due to its transient nature, wealth is depicted negatively as a source of greed and attachment, which ascetics discard “as though it were chaff” (7.8). But while wealth is considered worthless, the act of giving is sometimes described as extracting the “essence” or “worth” (sara) out of wealth:21
Wealth itself is essenceless and trifling.
Its essence lies in being given by benefactors of the world.
When given, it becomes a treasure.
When ungiven, it ends only in loss.(2.91 [50])
This “essence” or “treasure” is merit, often portrayed as a purified, more permanent form of wealth, which, unlike material riches, can be taken to the next life:
Wealth must one day be left behind
and then it is of no use.
By giving up one’s wealth correctly,
one produces a kind of asset.(3.32. [20])
You should give to the virtuous,
gracing your gift with reverence.
For wealth deposited this way
cannot be lost and follows you after death. (9.70 [29])
Reiko Ohnuma (2007: 205ff.) has observed a similar theme when the body is given away. In such stories, the Bodhi·sattva is often said to make use of an otherwise useless and impure body by giving it away and thereby extracting its “essence” (8.71 [33]).
There are also different motivations behind the Bodhi·sattva’s gifts. Some stories (3 and 4) depict an alms offering,22 whereby a layperson offers food to a monk out of devotion and respect. In the majority of stories, however, the Bodhi·sattva gives either out of compassion or out of pure renunciation, as suits his role as a renunciant protector who is famed for his non-attachment and compassionate deeds. When the Bodhi·sattva gives out of pure renunciation, the dynamics of the gift differ radically from the devotional gift of an alms offering. In the latter case, the moral standing of the recipient is crucial; in the former case, the nature of the recipient is often irrelevant, the emphasis being on giving for giving’s sake. “Gifts should be given: that alone is why I give,” states the Bodhi·sattva in “The Birth-Story of Vishvan·tara” (9.61 [26]).
A striking example of a compassionate gift is provided by “The Birth-Story on the Tigress,” in which the Bodhi·sattva offers his body to a hungry tigress with the following motivation:
It is neither ambition, nor desire for fame,
nor the attainment of heaven, nor kingship,
nor my own perpetual happiness that motivates me.
My sole concern is to benefit others.(1.44 [30])
Likewise, in “The Birth-Story of Maitri·bala,” the Bodhi ·sattva joyfully gives his body to a group of demons, stating:
When I look at the helpless creatures
incessantly suffering bitter toils and woes,
my mind cannot be satisfied
merely by dispelling my own sorrows.(8.106 [54])
In both stories, however, the Bodhi·sattva’s concern is not limited solely to helping the recipients of his gift. The gift is instead viewed as part of a greater design aimed at attaining Buddhahood, or “omniscience,” and the benefit this brings the world. Immediately after the above verse, the Bodhi·sattva therefore states:
Through this pure deed, may I attain Omniscience.
By conquering the vices that are my enemies,
may I raise the world out of the ocean of existence
with its huge surging waves of old age, sickness,
and death.(8.107 [55])
The potential conflict between the needs of the recipient and the Bodhi·sattva’s focus on awakening is probed by “The Birth-Story of the Hare.” Here the Bodhi·sattva’s desire to fulfill his spiritual path contradicts the wishes of his recipient, who in fact requests the Bodhi·sattva not to sacrifice his body for him. The Bodhi·sattva responds thus:
Giving is a duty and my heart wishes to give.
And it is apt when I have a guest such as you.
An opportunity like this cannot easily be gained.
I rely on you to ensure my gift is not in vain.(6.55 [32])
Far from fulfilling the needs of the recipient, the emphasis is on the Bodhi·sattva’s pure renunciant attitude and the miraculous extent to which he is willing to give.23 In stories such as this the Bodhi·sattva performs an absolute form of giving that bears little or