On Presenting Characters and the Representation of Persons
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On Presenting Characters and the Representation of Persons A Narratological Study of Characters in Narrative Suttas of the Majjhima Nik āya Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Bonn vorgelegt von Bruno Galasek aus Dernbach Bonn 2016 Gedruckt mit der Genehmigung der Philosophischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn Zusammensetzung der Prüfungskommission : Prof. Dr. Stephan Conermann, Institut für Orient- und Asienwissenschaften, Abteilung für Islamwissen- schaften (Vorsitzender) Prof. Dr. Konrad Klaus, Institut für Orient- und Asienwissenschaften, Abteilung für Indologie (Betreuer/Gutachter) Prof. Dr. Peter Schwieger, Institut für Orient- und Asienwissenschaften, Abteilung für Tibetologie (Gutachter) Prof. Dr. Julia A. B. Hegewald, Institut für Orient- und Asienwissenschaften, Abteilung für Asiatische und Islamische Kunstgeschichte (weiteres prüfungsberechtigtes Mitglied) Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 6. September 2013 “Life is a series of interwoven stories, not a set of concepts. Ideas are generalizations, always some distance from the truth. A story, with its array of meanings and richness of detail, is recognizably much closer to real life. That is why we relate more easily to stories than to abstract theories. We love a good yarn.” (Ajahn Brahm 2005: xvii) Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................1 Part I ...................................................................................................... 14 1. Persons – East and West ................................................................... 15 1.1 The Problem of Personal Identity (PI) and the Buddhist Philosophical View of Persons .............................................................................................................................. 22 1.2 “Selfless Persons” or Impersonal Selves? Is the ‘Eastern Self’ peculiar? ...... 33 Part II .................................................................................................... 50 2. Narratology ........................................................................................................... 51 2.1 Focalization ..................................................................................................... 58 3. Narratology of Characters ..................................................................................... 62 3.1 ‘Basis type’...................................................................................................... 64 3.2 Theories of Characters .................................................................................... 66 3.3 Characterisation ............................................................................................... 73 3.4 James Phelan’s rhetorical approach to characters: Reading People, Reading Plots ........................................................................................................................................... 84 Part III ................................................................................................... 92 The presentation of characters in selected Sutta s of the Majjhima Nik āya ......................................................................................................................... 93 4. The presentation of characters in the Gha ṭīkāra Sutta (MN 81) ........................... 94 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 94 4.2 The Commentary ............................................................................................. 95 4.3 Content of the sutta & narrative structure ....................................................... 97 4.4 Comparison with the Jyotip āla S ūtra , Mah āvastu ........................................ 111 4.5 “Ur-Jātaka ” ................................................................................................... 114 4.6 Narrative Progression .................................................................................... 115 4.7 Character analysis ......................................................................................... 119 4.8 Interpretation ................................................................................................. 150 4.9 Conclusion..................................................................................................... 154 5. The Presentation of Characters in the Aṅgulim āla Sutta (MN 86) ..................... 161 5.1 Introduction & the Commentaries ................................................................. 161 5.2 Content of the sutta & its Narrative Structure .............................................. 163 5.3 Richard Gombrich: “Who was A ṅgulim āla?” ............................................... 183 5.4 Monika Zin .................................................................................................... 188 5.5 A Critical Verse ............................................................................................. 202 5.6 A “paper-being” named A ṅgulim āla ............................................................. 215 5.7 Internal Focalization ...................................................................................... 225 5.8 Conclusion and Prospects ............................................................................. 235 6. The presentation of characters in the Piyaj ātika Sutta (MN 87) ......................... 239 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 239 6.2 The Commentary ........................................................................................... 240 6.3 Content of the sutta & its Narrative Structure: ............................................. 243 6.4 “ Leitmotivik ” and the characterisation of the Buddha ................................... 252 6.5 The Embedded Narrative .............................................................................. 260 6.6 The Householder ( gahapati ) (MN I 339-413) .............................................. 261 6.7 Narrative progression: ‘Mimetic dimension’ and ‘thematic functions’ ........ 272 6.8 The Gamblers: ............................................................................................... 278 6.9 Queen Mallik ā ............................................................................................... 281 6.10 The ‘Brahmin’ Nāl̥ ija ṅgha .......................................................................... 286 6.11 Pasenadi....................................................................................................... 288 6.12 Interpretation ............................................................................................... 290 6.13 Conclusion................................................................................................... 292 7. Conclusion ....................................................................................... 294 7.1 Individuality and focalisation ............................................................................ 297 7.2 The Nature of the Characters ............................................................................ 305 Bibliography ........................................................................................ 309 Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... 309 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 310 Introduction Beginning in medias res : In the Cūl̥ ata ṇhāsa ṅkhaya Sutta (MN 37), Sakka (= Skt. Indra), king of the gods, gets straight to the point – for kings, and even more so kings of the gods, have much to do and are chronically short of time – by asking the Buddha: “Venerable sir, how in brief is a [monk] liberated in the destruction of craving, one who has reached the ultimate end, the ultimate security from bond- age, the ultimate holy life, the ultimate goal, one who is foremost among gods and humans?” 1 While the Buddha is explaining, one of the Buddha’s most prominent disciples, Mah ā Mog- gall āna accidentally eavesdrops on their conversation. Since the Buddha and his disciples are al- ways intent on helping others on the spiritual path and gods are generally known for their poor receptiveness, Mah ā Moggall āna decides to test Sakka on his understanding of the Buddha’s les- son: “5. Now on that occasion the venerable Mah ā Moggall āna was sitting not far from the Blessed One. Then he considered: ‘Did that spirit penetrate to the meaning of the Blessed One’s words when he re- joiced, or did he not? [ Ascription of psychological state. ] Suppose I found out whether he did or not.’ 6. Then, just as quickly as a strong man extended his flexed arm or flexed his extended arm, the vener- able Mah ā Moggall āna vanished from the Palace of Mig āra’s Mother in the Eastern Park and appeared among the gods of the Thirty-three. Now on that occasion Sakka, ruler of the gods, was furnished and endowed a hundredfold with the five kinds of heavenly music, and he was enjoying it in the Pleasure Park of the Single Lotus. [ Character sketch – gods like to distract themselves by enjoying sense pleasures. ] When he saw the venerable Mah ā Moggall āna coming in the distance, he dismissed the music, went to the venerable Mah ā Moggall