Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives (Volume 1). Aryashura
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of giving. On the contrary, ________
as Ohnuma has observed (2007: 91ff.), such stories often seek to emphasize the transcendent, and at times transgressive, nature of the Bodhi·sattva’s gifts by portraying them as unconventional actions that lead to conflicts with kings, ministers, and other representatives of society’s norms.24
Perhaps the most striking instance of this is expressed in “The Birth-Story of Vishvan·tara” (9), in which the Bodhi·sattva gives away his wife and children to a brahmin as slaves. As Steven Collins has emphasized (1998: 497ff.), this is an act of renunciation that fundamentally jars with social values and the text portrays with sensitive detail the suffering caused by this absolute form of giving, including stirring scenes in which the Bodhi·sattva’s children tearfully try to dissuade their father from his gift and in which his wife becomes hysterical with distress. Nor is the Bodhi·sattva himself unaffected by the pain involved in his dedication to renunciant values:25
The Bodhi·sattva’s mind was shaken by the children’s pitiable lament. Although he told himself that one should feel no regret after giving a gift, his heart burned with an incurable fire of sorrow. His mind seized up, like someone fainting from a powerful poison, and he collapsed there and then.(9.143)
Although it is significant that the Bodhi·sattva’s wife ultimately gives her approval (anumodana) to her husband’s gift of their children, thereby bringing resolution to the story and in fact enabling the Bodhi·sattva to complete his gift when she too is given away, the ambiguities raised by the ________
text mean that one cannot take the story simply as a glorification of the Bodhi·sattva’s practice of giving.
While the “Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives” is fervent in its devotion for the Bodhi·sattva’s deeds, it also thus invites its audience to explore some of the difficulties involved in a soteriological path that transcends conventional values, as exemplified by the Bodhi·sattva’s extreme and miraculous feats. Far from diluting the devotional tone of the text, however, this transcendent aspect serves to heighten it further. For it is precisely the fact that the Bodhi·sattva’s deeds are extraordinary and “unable to be imitated” (1.5 [4]) that they are so astounding and awe-inspiring, filling the audience with devotion for their heroic savior and his renunciant path.
The Sanskrit Text
It has been my good fortune to benefit from the excellent critical edition of the Jatakamala by Albrecht Hanisch, who consults not only the extant Sanskrit manuscripts but also Tibetan translations of the Jatakamala, as well as the Sanskrit and Tibetan tika commentaries. For a detailed analysis of variants and other textual issues, I refer the reader to this extremely useful work. Unfortunately, Hanisch’s edition is not yet complete and presently ends at story 15. For stories 16–34, I have used Heinrich Kern’s edition, which I have frequently emended by referring to manuscript readings listed in Khoroche’s “Towards a New Edition of Arya·Sura’s Jatakamala” (1987), taking particular advantage of the older and more reliable readings provided by ________
manuscripts N and T. All such departures from Kern’s edition are listed at the end of this volume. Hahn’s text-critical comments (2001) on stories 33 and 34 have also been invaluable. Finally, the Jatakamala translations by J.S. Speyer (1895) and Khoroche (1989), both of them pioneering works in their own time, have been constant sources of help and inspiration.
Notes
1The present Thai king, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, recently produced an adapted translation of the Mahajanaka Jataka, a scene from which is depicted on cinema screens throughout Thailand during the royal anthem.
2Luders (1941: 139) discusses an inscription of a verse from the Andabhutajataka at Bharhut. This is one of the earliest surviving written citations of a canonical text.
3K.R. Norman (1997: 104f.) argues that the Sanskrit word bodhi/sattva is a back formation from the Prakrit bodhi/satta, the Sanskrit equivalent of which is either bodhi/sakta or bodhi/sakta. These two compounds can be translated as “aspiring for awakening” (literally “attached to awakening”) and “capable of awakening” respectively. The compound bodhi/sattva has the significantly different meaning of “awakening being,” or to use Monier-Williams’ translation: “one whose essence is perfect knowledge” (see Monier-Williams s.v.).
4Royalty: stories 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11 (Shakra, king of the gods), 13, 15 (fish king), 17 (Shakra), 22 (goose king), 27 (monkey king), 32, 33. Brahmin: stories 1, 7, 12, 19, 21. God: stories 11, 17, 29. Ascetic: stories 1, 7, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 28, 32. Animal: stories 6, 15, 16, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 33, 34.
5The word arya is a term of respect. Sura is also called Acarya Sura and Bhadanta Sura. See Khoroche (1985: 63).
6 Khoroche (1985: 63) notes that the date of the text is unknown, but that it cannot be earlier than 700 ce since it refers to Dandin.
7See Meadows (1986: 4) and Khoroche (1989: xii–xiii) for a summary.
8A second title is also used: Bodhisattvavadanamala, “a garland of the Bodhi·sattva’s exploits.”
9See Hahn (1992), (2007) and Meadows (1986: 5). See also verses 7–8 in Somendra’s preface to Kshemendra’s Bodhisattvava- danakalpalata, cited in Hahn (1992: 13), in which we are told that there exist many Jatakamalas that have been composed by “Gopa·datta and other teachers.”
10Bhikkhu Dhammajoti (1998: 71ff.). I am also grateful to Bhikkhu Dhammajoti for a reference to the *Samyuktabhidharmahrdaya (116), in which the tri/yana (“three vehicles”) are mentioned. For a translation of this text, see Dessein (1999). I am grateful to Peter Skilling for his comments on this matter.
11Lamotte (1988: 626). The six perfections are: giving (dana), virtue (sila), forbearance (ksanti), vigor (virya), meditation (dhyana), and wisdom (prajna).
12It is debatable whether the expectation for a climactic conclusion is justified when dealing with this type of literature, especially when it is a collection. A counter-example, however, is provided by the Jatakatthavannana, in which the Vessantarajataka (547) does appear to produce something of a dramatic finale.
13There is a danger of overestimating the importance of the perfections. Indeed, it is noteworthy that the word paramita is never mentioned in the entire Jatakamala. Moreover, the story (particularly the maxim) often needs to be interpreted first, sometimes heavily, before the relevant perfection is gleaned. The Jatakatthavannana again provides an interesting comparison. There the issue of perfections is often irrelevant, or at best ambiguous, being instead the concern of the meta-interpretations of commentarial exegesis.
14See Basu (1988) for a literary analysis of the Jatakamala. See also Harn (2007), who lists examples of Hari·bhatta’s style. See gerow (1971) for a summary of literary devices in Indian literature.
15Dating the Jatakatthavannana is problematic since it developed within an oral culture. The verses are traditionally considered canonical and can be given a lower limit of the first century bce (although many must be earlier), whereas the prose is commentarial and has a lower limit of approximately the fifth century ce (although again much must date back far earlier).
There are major differences between the Jatakatthavannana and Jatakamala. The Jatakamala’s stories are not spoken by the Buddha and consequently do not have a frame-story set in the present, linking the Buddha’s life with the jataka. Arya·shura’s text usually identifies only the Buddha’s past life character, whereas the Jatakatthavannana often identifies the past life characters of others contemporary to the Buddha, including his chief monks and nuns, as well as his wife and child. Both texts agree in not portraying a chronological sequence of past lives. But whereas the Jatakatthavannana orders its stories according to their number of verses, the Jatakamala is ordered on thematic concerns.
It could be argued that the Jatakatthavannana’s mixture of verse and prose, often described as akhyana, provides a precedent for campu. In contrast to the Jatakamala, however, verses in akhyana literature often rely on the prose for their meaning to be understood. Campu literature is also more refined in literary expression and has no strict hierarchy of verse and prose.