CHAPTER THREE: SOME IMPORTANT FEATURES OF THE DĪGHA-NIKĀYA

I. The General Outlook

The Dīgha-Nikāya (D), the first book of the Sutta Piṭaka is a collection of 34 suttas most of which are considerably long (dīgha) and hence its name. The whole collection is divided into three parts (vagga). They are Sīlakkhandha-Vagga, Mahā-Vagga, and Pāṭika-Vagga which contain thirteen (D1-13), ten (D14-23) and eleven (D24-34) suttas respectively. The arrangement of the suttas points to an attempt by the compilers to group together, as far as possible, suttas related in content. The heterogeneous character of the suttas seems to have made the compiler’s task difficult. Not only in content, even in form the D is of heterogeneous character.192 In form the Sīlakkhandha-Vagga on the whole is in prose, while the suttas of other two vaggas are a mixture of prose and verse, a form so popular in India. Winternitz points out, “The verses are either ballad verses (as in D16, D18, D19, and D21) or momentous utterances (as in D16, D17). Elsewhere we find (as in D30, D31) a consonant interchange between prose and gāthās, such as we shall frequently come across in Sanskrit and half Sanskrit . Suttas D20 and D32 are almost entirely in verse.”193

192 EB. IV. p. 610 193 Winternitz, M., A history of Indian literature, Vol. II. Eng. Trans. By Srinivasa Sarma, V., Motilal, Rep. 1993, Delhi. p. 35 81

G. K. Wijesekera comments, “A perusal of the text reveals that unlike the other four divisions of the sutta-piṭaka, the D on the whole abounds with material ABOUT Buddhism than ON Buddhism itself. This becomes very obvious when one compares the contents of the D with that of the Majjhima-Nikāya, consisting of a large number of suttas devoted to the discussion of doctrinal problems forming the crux of the Buddha’s teaching. It is not suggested that the D is completely devoid of doctrinal discussion; what is meant is that, on the whole, background information about the Buddhism preponderate over doctrinal discussion.”194

The D, thus, could justifiably be called a mine of information about the religious, social, economic and political conditions of India prior to and during the time of the Buddha. It also helps one to get an idea of the numerous forces the Buddha had to contend with, the prevalent social and religious views which he had to debunk and the methods he had to adopt in successfully propagating his teaching.195 Each individual sutta treats intensively some particular points of doctrine and could be as well considered as an independent work. Therefore some suttas such as Brahmajāla (D1), Mahānidāna (D15), Mahāparinibbāna (D16), Siṇgālovāda (D31) and so on are separately translated by various translators in China and prevailed to the northern Buddhist countries.196

The chronology of the suttas in the D is a much vexed problem. Yet, however, there is no consensus of opinion among scholars with regard to

194 EB. IV. p. 611 195 Ibid. 196 Cf. Chizen Akanuma, The Comparative Catalogue of Chinese Āgamas & Pāli Nikāyas, Hajinkaku-Shobo, 1958, Tokyo 82

the exact chronological order of the suttas. Winternitz says, “The three vaggas of the D contain earlier and later strata of tradition. The earliest stratum is represented principally in the first book, and the later one, mainly in the third book, whilst the second book is composed of the longest suttas, some of which have grown into their present bulk owing to interpolation”.197 P.V. Bapat is of opinion, “the whole work differs in contents and character, but all of which contain earlier and later strata of tradition.”198 G.C. Pande making a general observation states, “the order of the Pāli sutta groups seem to show roughly the historical phenomena of later writings being added to earlier ones since the third and the second books of the Pāli Dīgha-Nikāya are on the whole recognizably later than the first”.199 B.C. Law also remarks, “We may, then, be justified in assigning the whole of the Dīgha-Nikāya to a pre-Aśokan age, there being no trace of any historical event or development which might have happened after King Aśoka. The only exception that one has to make is in the case of the concluding verses of the Mahāparinibbāna suttanta200 which were interpolated, according to Buddhaghosa, in Ceylon by the teachers of that island. Like the first volume of the D, the whole of the Majjhima-Nikāya strikes us as the most authoritative and original among the collection of the Buddha’s teaching”.201

197 Winternitz, M., ibid., p. 35 198 Bapat, P. V., Different Strata in the Literary Material of the Dīgha-Nikāya, BORI. Vol. VIII. 1926, Pune, p. 1 ff. 199 Pande, G.C., Studies in Origin of Buddhism, Motilal, 1974, Delhi, p. 79 200 In Pāli Suttanta and Sutta are the same, having equal sense of a thread, string, a dialogue, a discourse, a rule, or an aphorism. 201 Law, B.C., A history of Pāli literature, Indica Publication, Ed. 2000, Varanasi. p. 56 83

The problem of chronology becomes still complicated by the fact that certain suttas are remade up of portions belonging to early and late periods and this is exemplified by the Mahāparinibbāna sutta (D16) which contains a fairly detailed account of the last year of Buddha’s life. Suttas such as the Mahāpadāna (D14) and Lakkhaṇa (D30) whose contents reflect a stage in the development of Docetism could reasonably say to be of comparatively late origin. Perhaps, the Saṇgīti (D33) and Dasuttara (D34) suttas drawn up in a new format resembling the plan adopted regularly in the Aṅguttara-nikāya which enumerate and group main items numerically, in arithmetic progression could be justifiably assigned to a late period.202

II. The Formation of the Dīgha-Nikāya The standard for being included in the D is merely being ‘long’. All the 34 suttas of the D meet this standard. They are divided into three divisions and the lines below are for the statement of the formation of the D.

The places where the suttas are preached are: fourteen times, Kosala ten, Sakka, Kuru, Campā and Malla twice each, Vesālī and Kosāmbi once each. Those who preach the suttas are: Buddha twenty eight times, Sāriputta thrice, Ānanda, Kumāra-Kassapa, and deva (Pañcassika of the gandhabbas) once. The people who listen to the teaching of the suttas are: bhikkhus fourteen times, brahmins seven, ascetics five, king or governor thrice, wealthy householder twice, deva

202 EB. IV. p. 611 84

(Inda) once, and the Buddha twice. Furthermore the following table would be supportive of the account given above.203

No. Division Sutta Place Preacher Listener Remark 1 Brahmajāla Magadha Buddha Bhikkhus Bhikkhu 2 Sāmaññaphala Magadha Buddha Ajātasattu King 3 Ambaṭṭha Kosala Buddha Ambaṭṭha Brahmin 4 Soṇadaṇḍa Campā Buddha Soṇadaṇḍa Brahmin 5 Kūṭadanta Magadha Buddha Kūṭadanta Brahmin 6 Sīla Mahāli Vesālī Buddha Mahāli Governor 7 Khandha Jāliya Kosāmbi Buddha Jāiya etc. Ascetic 8 Vagga Kassapa-Sīhanāda Kosala Buddha Kassapa Ascetic 9 Poṭṭhapāda Kosala Buddha Poṭṭhapāda Ascetic 10 Subha Kosala Ānanda Subha Brahmin 11 Kevaddha Magadha Buddha Kevaddha Householder 12 Lohicca Kosala Buddha Lohicca Brahmin 13 Tevijja Kosala Buddha Vāseṭṭha etc. Brahmin 14 Mahāpadāna Kosala Buddha Bhikkhus Bhikkhu 15 Mahānidāna Kuru Buddha Bhikkhus Bhikkhu 16 Mahā-parinibbāna Magadha Buddha Bhikkhus Bhikkhu 17 Mahāsudassana Magadha Buddha Ānanda Bhikkhu Mahā 18 Janavasubha Magadha Buddha Ānanda Bhikkhu Vagga 19 Mahāgovinda Magadha Pañcassika Buddha Buddha 20 Mahāsamaya Sakka Buddha Bhikkhus Bhikkhu 21 Sakkapañha Magadha Buddha Sakka deva 22 Mahā-satipaṭṭhāna Kuru Buddha Bhikkhus Bhikkhu

203 Kyak-Muk, Dīgha-Nikāya, Vol. I., The Early Buddhist’s Text Institute, 2006, Ulsan, pp.19-23 85

Kumāra- 23 Pāyāsi Kosala Pāyāsi Governor Kassapa Bhaggava- 24 Pāṭika Malla Buddha Ascetic gotta Udumbarika- 25 Magadha Buddha Nigrodha Ascetic Sīhanāda Cakkavatti- 26 Magadha Buddha Bhikkhus Bhikkhu Sīhanāda 27 Pāṭika Aggañña Kosala Buddha Vāseṭṭha etc. Brahmin 28 Vagga Sampasādanīya Magadha Sāriputa Buddha Buddha 29 Pāsādika Sakka Buddha Cunda Bhikkhu 30 Lakkhaṇa Kosala Buddha Bhikkhus Bhikkhu 31 Siṇgālovāda Magadha Buddha Siṇgāla Householder 32 Āṭānāṭiya Magadha Buddha Bhikkhus Bhikkhu 33 Sangīti Malla Sāriputta Bhikkhus Bhikkhu 34 Dasuttara Campā Sāriputta Bhikkhus Bhikkhu

The six suttas out of thirty-four in the D are preached by Buddha’s great disciples, Sāriputta, Ānanda, and Kumāra-Kassapa and devas, which could be called supplementary suttas. One may think the whole of Sutta- Piṭaka is the word of the Buddha. The sutta, just like the , should have only contained Buddha’s teaching. But it is not the case. If we compare the D with the Vinaya, we find that Vinaya is established by the Buddha alone in view of transgression by monks and nuns. The questionable point is about putting disciples’ discourses in the D. If we examine a bit closely, then we find that there is some historical significance of including these six suttas into the D. According to T.W. Rhys Davids the four great Nikāyas cannot have reached their final form

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till about fifty years afterwards (Buddha’s passing). Other sayings and verses, most of them ascribed not to the Buddha himself, but to the disciples, were put into a supplementary Nikāya. We know of slight additions made to this Nikāya (D) as late as the time of Aśoka.204

According to Buddhist tradition the record of the first Buddhist council owns some doubtful issues.205 The reason why has two grounds. First, it is too early to put disciple’s sermon into the collection of sutta because it was the time when the tradition was so strong and a mainstream of the Saṅgha, and the community of the Buddhist monks and nuns. Second, the number and the amount of the Buddha’s discourses in different collections is not at all fixed and uniform, which means that there is possibility to add and subtract. If we look at the ending part that is the second and third volume in the D, we find that discourses of the disciples, especially which of Sāriputta and Ānanda, have found their way. Probably these discourses are inserted by the disciples of Sāriputta or Ānanda, who had been much more in number than any other when they had recompiled the Buddhist canon collected in the first council. The probability of putting their master’s discourses in the D or Sutta-Piṭaka, I presume, is very high by the group or community following Sāriputta or Ānanda.

204 Rhys Davids, T.W., Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. I, Eng. Trans. of the D, 1st Indian Edn., 2000, Delhi, p. xvii; cf. ibid, pp. viii-x, the Kathā-Vatthu was composed by Moggaliputta Tissa in the middle of the third century B.C., at the court of king Aśoka, which all the five Nikāyas were extent. 205 The first Buddhist council based on these works: CV. XI. LII = Vin. II. 284 ff.; Dpvs. IV-V. 54, VII. 34 ff.; Mhvs. III-V.; DA. I. 2 ff.; SnA. 67, 483 87

The historical circumstances as well as the division of Buddhist sects in the first and second , in particular, are quite uncertain206. In general, the divided early Buddhist sects had their own canon as we now know. That is why King Aśoka decreed against the schismatists in some of his edicts that heretical monks and nuns shall be excommunicated.207

Winternitz states, “The reliability of this first Buddhist council, particularly in its oldest form, as it is transmitted to us in the Tipiṭaka itself is rendered already questionable by the fact that it expects us to believe too much, namely that Sutta-piṭaka and Vinaya-piṭaka have existed essentially just as we find them in our Pāli canon even shortly after the death of Buddha, which is simply impossible.”208 H. Oldenberg first compared the Cullavagga with the Mahāparinibbāna sutta (D16) and then commented, “We are able to prove it by comparing another text which is older than the Cullavagga, … This sutta gives the story – in long passages word for word the same as in the Cullavagga, … except that there is no allusion to the Kassapa’s proposal for holding the council. … There is not the slightest trace of any such allusion to this first Buddhist council. This silence is as valuable as the most direct testimony: it shows

206 Cf. Rhys Davids, T.W., Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. I, ibid., pp. vii-xviii.; Winternitz, M., A history of Indian literature, Vol. II., ibid., p. 6 ff.; other opinions against the credibility of the tradition of the first Buddhist council have been mentioned by H. Oldenberg Eng. trans. (Vin. I. p. xxv ff.) 207 Smith, V.A., Aśoka, 2nd edn. 1909, Oxford, London, p. 195 ff.; cf. Winternitz, M., ibid., p. 8 208 Winternitz, M., A history of Indian literature, Vol. II., ibid., p. 6 88

that the author of the Mahāparinibbāna sutta did not know anything of the first council.”209

On the other hand, another interesting thing in the D is that the number of the Buddha’s discourses to laypeople including brahmins, ascetics, kings or governors and wealthy householders, seventeen, is more than those to bhikkhus. This indicates that the transmission of Dhamma was through close social activity. However, there is no much account of the farmer group. It is probably because the Buddha dwelled mostly in urban areas.

III. Some Important Features

1. Long Debate The D is the collection of the long discourses of the Buddha and his disciples. The other Nikāyas like Majjhima, Saṃyutta, Aṅguttara and Khuddaka are restricted by the length and then the subject. They are not large enough to accommodate the long debates. What is the most significant aspect of the D? It is the collection of discourses upon the entire views that man can have, and genesis of the universe, human beings, their life or history and the transmigration, and the practical ways of attaining the final and noble aim called Nibbāna. Without limit the D gives detailed explanation about philosophical and sophisticated issues. This kind of approach or talk might have never been before. We can also get clear answers by the Buddha about what we wonder most.

209 Hermann Oldenberg, Vinaya Piṭaka, Vol. I., Eng. Trans. 1995, PTS Oxford, London, pp. xxvi-xxviii 89

The first sutta called the Brahmajāla sutta (D1) demonstrates the sixty- two wrong views. Eighteen of these compose the group of wrong views which are based on the past existence, and the remaining forty-four compose the group of wrong views which are thoughts or speculations on the future. The Buddha extensively expounds on all the sixty-two views which the human can have. Therefore it is called ‘the net of View’, ‘the net of Brahma’, or ‘the net of Perfect Wisdom’.210 The Buddha points out that these wrong views are the cause of the round of rebirths. After all those suffering processes, he also guides us to the realization of the Dhamma surpassing all these wrong views. What is the answer on the Dhamma? That is the teaching of ‘the dependent origination’ with eight factors or links beginning with the six faculties. The Buddha suggests, “If a bhikkhu understands the arising, passing away, satisfaction, peril, and the escape of the six bases of contact, as they really are, then he surely goes beyond all these sixty-two wrong views.”211 From all these things the disciples of the Buddha must keep a distance just as a skilled fisherman, casting his net with fine mashes in a pond, can catch all fishes, big and small. Winternitz states that the very first sutta, the Brahajāla sutta, is of the greatest significance not only for the Buddhist religion but also for the whole religious life and thinking in ancient India.212

The Sāmaññaphala sutta (D2) contains the most important religious information of some famous ascetics called the ‘six-teachers’ such as Pūrana Kassapa, Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambala, Pakudha Kaccāyana, Sañcaya Belaṭṭhaputta, and Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta. This sutta

210 D. I. 46 211 D. I. 45 212 Winternitz, M., A history of Indian literature, Vol. II. Eng. Trans. Ibid., pp. 35-41 90

exposes their teachings collectively and in the process the Buddha gives reasons for the foundation of his own Order, enunciation of the Vinaya and points out in what respects recluse in his Order is superior to that of any other. This sutta, simply speaking, is about the benefit of the ascetic- life (samaṇa-ājiva). What is renunciation? What to do after doing a renunciation? Which ways are fit for living of ascetic? And what is the fruit of living of ascetic? It is certainly a long debate dealing with the lifestyle and mostly everything of ascetic. Here being an ascetic means not only a Buddhist disciple but includes all recluses at that time of the Buddha. It was delivered by the Buddha specifically to king Ajātasattu of Magadha.213

The large scale of account about great life-histories of the past seven Buddhas including the first Buddha named ‘Vipassī’ and himself the last, Gotamo Buddha is revealed in the Mahāpadāna sutta (D14). The Buddha vividly recollected with his supernatural psychic power and clearly presented their names, the world-cycle in which they arose, their lineage, their life span, the names of their parents, the country in which they were born, the Bodhi tree where they attained enlightenment, their chief disciples and also the number of assemblies of disciples held during their lifetime. Therefore the Mahāpadāna sutta is commented as ‘the king of suttas (suttanta-rājā)’ in the DA, for the reason that it has total 126 bhāṇavāras which means the longest sutta among all others.214

213 Cf. Law, B.C., A history of Pāli literature, ibid. p. 106; this should be further noted that the literary art of the Sāmaññaphala sutta (D2) was plagiarized later on in the Milinda-Pañha, the method of the question and the answer done by a king and a wise person. 214 D. II. 480, the term ‘bhāṇavāra’ which means ‘recital’ is a section of the books of the Pāli canon, divided probably by its early reciters (bhāṇaka-s) for purposes of 91

The Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda sutta (D26) and the Aggañña sutta (D27) demonstrate in detail that how humankind are corrupted and elevated, and what the beginning of life is in the process of the contraction and expansion of the world. They deal with a kind of the Buddhist creation theory and evolution or cosmology regarding the world, the mankind, and the society. We may not accept the historical accuracy of some portion of these suttas. A number of eminent Buddhist scholar argued that this kind of teaching is likely fairy tale or fable.215 If those expositions are not the Buddha’s in reality, it would be at least Buddhistic standpoint represented in the suttas. We anyway can ascertain that they are the genesis theory of the time and space dependant on the Buddha’s insight. T.W. Rhys Davids states that the Aggañña sutta (D27) is also preserved in the Mahāvastu probably later on.216 Nonetheless, the Buddha very clearly emphasizes the importance of the Dhamma all the way through giving his teaching. He instructs his disciples to practice four satipaṭṭhānas ultimately along with the moral at the beginning and the end of discourse in the Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda sutta (D26). On the other hand, on the standpoint of social issue, the Aggañña sutta (D27) deals with the origin of the four castes and concludes by preaching that there is no difference between the brahmins and others if they behave badly, and therefore the good conduct is higher than any noble caste.

recitation. A bhāṇavāra usually consists of eight thousand syllables, generally counted in terms of stanzas, even when text is in prose. Thus, two hundred and fifty stanzas of thirty-two syllables – stanza consisting of four feet of eight syllables each – form a ‘bhāṇavāra’. A ‘bhāṇavāra’ in the recitation known as ‘sara-bhañña’ (intonation) would occupy, in time, half an hour; cf. EB. II. p. 690 215 Cf. Rhys Davids, T.W., Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. III, ibid., pp. 53-58; Law, B.C., A history of Pāli literature, ibid., p. 129 ff.; Maurice, W., the long Discourses of the Buddha, Wisdom, 1995, Boston, p. 62 216 Rhys Davids, T.W., Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. I, ibid., p. 105: ft. 3 92

The Mahā-Parinibbāna sutta (D16) shows really long story in the other style of the Buddhstic talk. It describes the journey of the last year of the Buddha’s life starting from Rājagaha and ending in Kusinārā. The last words of the Buddha given below are very significant to all. “The Doctrine and Discipline I have taught and laid down to all of you will be your Teacher when I am gone.”217; “All conditioned and compounded things have the nature of decay and disintegration. With mindfulness endeavor diligently.”218

2. Elaborate Systematization of the Discourse There are some perfect formulae which are systematically organized very well in order to keep the Buddha’s teaching as the D is long enough to make long debate. The Buddha sets up the largest frame of three practices of Buddhism such as the morality (sīla), the concentration (samādhi), and the wisdom (paññā). Put together, they are an unshakable path or course to attain the last goal from the beginning to the end, ‘Arahat’ or ‘Sammāsambuddha’ in the Buddhism.

The Sāmmaññaphala sutta (D2 §40-§98) unfolds them with the twenty- threefold detailed fixed formula. It also appears in the M and other Nikāyas. But there is nothing compared to the D for the reason that it spreads out the three practices through the three moralities (sīla) – the four absorptions (jhāna) – the eight intuitive knowledges (abhiññā), along with comparison by means of set patterns of the twenty-threefold. The lines below are the brief outline.

217 D. II. 154, “mayā dhammo ca vinaya ca desito paññatto, so vo mam’ accayena satthā” 218 Ibid., p. 156, “vaya dhammā saṅkhārā, appamādena sampādetha” 93

① There arises in this world the Buddha (tathāgata) … He makes clear the completeness and purity of the noble practice. (D2 §40)

② A householder or his son or anyone belonging to any caste, listens to that dhamma. … He becomes a recluse leading the homeless life. (D2 §41)

③ When he has thus become a samaṇa, he practices self-restraint in accordance with the fundamental precepts (pātimokkha-saṅvara sīla) … . (D2 §42)

④ Minor Morality (cūla sīla) – 26 kinds. (D2 §43-§45)

⑤ Middle Morality (majjhima sīla) – 10 kinds. (D2 §46-§55)

⑥ Major Morality (mahā sīla) – 7kinds. (D2 §56-§62)

⑦ Being endowed with Morality (sīla sampanna) – (D2 §63)

⑧ Guarding Sense Faculties (indriya saṅvara) – (D2 §64)

⑨ Mindfulness and Awareness (satisampajañña) – (D2 §65)

⑩ Contentment (santosa) – (D2 §66-§67)

⑪ Dissociation from the five Hindrances (nīvaraṇappahāna) – (D2 §68-§74)

⑫ The first Absorption (paṭhama jhāna) – (D2 §75-§76)

⑬ The second Absorption (dutīya jhāna) – (D2 §77-§78)

⑭ The third Absorption (tatiya jhāna) – (D2 §79-§80)

⑮ The fourth Absorption (catutha jhāna) – (D2 §81-§82) 16. Insight Knowledge (vipassanā ñāṇa) – (D2 §83-§84) 17. Knowledge of the Supernatural Power by Mind (manomayiddhi ñāṇa) – (D2 §85-§86) 18. Knowledge of Psychic Power (iddhivida ñāṇa) – (D. ii.§87-§88) 19. Knowledge of Divine Power of Hearing (dibbasota ñāṇa) – (D2 §89-§90)

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20. Knowledge of Penetrating of others’ Mind (cetopariya ñāṇa) – (D2 §91- §92) 21. Knowledge of Past Experiences (pubbenivāsānussati ñāṇa) – (D2 §93- §94) 22. Knowledge of Divine Power of Sight (dibbacakkhu ñāṇa) – (D2 §95- §96) 23. Knowledge of Extinction of Corruptions (āsavakkhaya ñāṇa) – (D2 §97- §98) In the Subha sutta (D10) Ānanda fixes up the morality aggregation (sīla- khandha) from §1 to §7, the absorption aggregation (samādhi-khandha) from §8 to §15, and the wisdom aggregation (paññā-khandha) from §16 to §23. Needless to say, there could be difference of opinions in classification. Some can make it less or more according to their views, for example §11 ‘dissociation from the five hindrances (nīvaraṇappahāna)’ can be added to §12 ‘the first jhāna’. And also parts of §4-§7 can be made into one. But this classification of the twenty-threefold detailed fixed formula would be better in relation to other suttas in the D.

If we especially observe all thirteen suttas in the first volume, sīla-vagga, they all suttas also apply twenty-three sorts of the fixed form of the three practices such as the morality (sīla), the concentration (samādhi) and the wisdom (paññā) just as the classification above, except three such as the Brahmajāla sutta (D1), the Poṭṭhapāda sutta (D9) and the Tevijja sutta (D13). These three suttas, however, hold the part of the morality (sīla) with others as well.

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One of the most important duties of the Buddhist is certainly ‘Mindfulness (sati)’. 219 In the , the four kinds of mindfulness are expounded in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna sutta (D22).220 In brief, it deals with the body (kāya), sensation (vedanā), mind (citta) and dhamma. This sutta is the exercise manual or the practice of the Buddhist.221 It is held by many to be the most important sutta in the Buddhist canon as well as the most famous on practice of the dhamma. Herein the four bases of mindfulness are enumerated into forty-four ways in detail. There are fourteen ways of contemplating body, nine ways of contemplating sensation, sixteen ways of contemplating mind, and five ways of contemplating dhamma. The following is its arrangement.

(1) Body (kāya) – 14 kinds

① breathing

② four postures

③ four kinds of clear comprehension

④ thirty-two kinds of consideration on the repulsive

219 Rhys Davids, T.W. (‘Dialogues of the Buddha’, Vol. II, ibid., p. 323) states that ‘sati’ does not occur in any ethical sense in pre-Buddhist literature. 220 A word ‘bhikkhu’ mentioned in this sutta doesn’t mean only monks and nuns in the Order. It widely means one who accomplishes ‘practice (paṭipatti)’. Anyone can be called like ‘bhikkhu’ who practices the mindfulness (sati), no matter whether it is god or a man. (DA. III. 755) 221 There are three suttas such as the great discourse on the bases of mindfulness (Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna sutta, D22), the discourse on inbreathing and outbreathing of mindfulness (Ānapānasati sutta, M118), and the discourse on the body of mindfulness (Kāyagatisati sutta, M119) to the exercise manual of meditation in the Sutta-Piṭaka. They can be called as ‘the three suttas to practice’ in general. Herein the Satipaṭṭhāna sutta (M10) is excluded for it is identified with this sutta except the part of the truth of suffering (dukkha-ariyasacca) among the four noble truths (catāri-ariyasaccāni). Representing ‘mindfulness’, the Vipassanā meditation known as the way to practice in the early Buddhism is based upon these suttas. 96

⑤ four primary elements

⑥ – ⑭ nine charnel-grounds contemplation

(2) Sensation (vedanā) – 9 kinds

① pleasant sensation

② unpleasant sensation

③ sensation neither pleasant nor unpleasant

④ pleasant sensation concerning sensual desire

⑤ pleasant sensation non-concerning sensual desire

⑥ unpleasant sensation concerning sensual desire

⑦ unpleasant sensation non-concerning sensual desire

⑧ sensation neither pleasant nor unpleasant concerning sensual desire

⑨ sensation neither pleasant nor unpleasant non-concerning sensual desire

(3) Mind (citta) – 16 kinds

① lustful mind

② mind free from lust

③ hating mind

④ mind free from hate

⑤ deluded mind

⑥ non-deluded mind

⑦ contracted mind

⑧ distracted mind

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⑨ developed mind

⑩ undeveloped mind

⑪ surpassed mind

⑫ unsurpassed mind

⑬ concentrated mind

⑭ non-concentrated mind

⑮ liberated mind 16. non-liberated mind

(4) dhamma (dhamma) – 5 kinds

① five hindrances

② five aggregates

③ twelve sense-bases

④ seven factors of enlightenment

⑤ four noble truths

In fact, this sutta (D22) certainly is a cornerstone for practice. So at the end, the Buddha proclaimed, “Bhikkhus, this is the one and the only way for the purification of beings, for overcoming sorrow and lamentation, for the complete destruction of pain and distress, for attainment of the noble path, and for the realization of Nibbāna. That is the practice of the four bases of mindfulness (cattāro satipaṭṭhāna).”222 It demonstrates that the practice of the four bases of mindfulness is the most key teaching of the

222 D. II. 315 98

Buddha in many other suttas such as the Mahāparinibbāna sutta (D16/ II. 94-95, 100), the Pāsādika sutta (D29/ III. 141) and so on. As for the subject to practice or meditation there are twenty-one bases as well (DA. III. 805).223

The Lakkhaṇa sutta (D30) deals with the thirty-two special signs of a great person (mahāpurisa lakkhaṇa) together with several discourses224 in other texts. Several scholars regard this discourse to be a later addition, and also generally accept them as being part of brahmanical prognostic lore and being pre-Buddhist.225 What is interesting in this sutta is that the Buddha describes the karmic causes of each of the signs and the advantages conferred to the person who possesses them. The description is first done in prose, which is attributed to the Buddha himself, and then in verse. The Buddha has given a pure ethical interpretation in very systematic way to the thirty-two signs of a Great Person. Whereas such a conception was not found in the brahmanic texts. In reality, the religious teachers of other persuasions know about those signs, but ignore the karmic reason for gaining them. They emphasized the mystical powers of the person who possesses the thirty-two signs.226

Human beings always live in perception and it develops further into various views. We have many different views. If so, we can have query on it. What is a view? And then what is a right view? Can human beings live

223 Cf. “… ti ekavīsati kammaṭṭhānāni” 224 D. I. 89, 114, 120; A. I. 163; M. II. 136; Sn 690, 1000; Miln. 10 225 Cf. Rhys Davids, T.W., Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. III, ibid., pp. 132-136; Winternitz, M., A history of Indian literature, Vol. II. Eng. Trans. Ibid., p. 41 226 EB. VI. pp. 272-274; ibid., p. 41 99

in this world without a view? According to these kinds of questions which are able to be, the Buddha elaborates upon them in the Brahmajāla sutta (D1), wherein he explains that humankind can have extensively sixty-two views, eighteen of these form the group of wrong views based on the past existences and the remaining forty-four form the group of wrong views which are thoughts on the future. The brief classification of sixty-two views is as follows.

(1) Eighteen Views relating to the Past (pubbantakappikā)

① Four kinds of Eternity View (sassata vādā)

② Four Views of Eternity and Non-Eternity (ekaccasassatikā ekaccāsassatikā)

③ Four Views of the World being Finite or Infinite (antānantikā)

④ Four kinds of Indecisive Evasion (amarāvikkhepikā)

⑤ Two Doctrines of Non-Causality (adhiccasamuppannikā)

(2) Forty-Four Views relating to the Future (aparantakappikā)

① Sixteen kinds of Belief in the Existence of Perception after death (uddhamāghātanikā saññivādā)

② Eight kinds of Belief in the Non- Existence of Perception after death (uddhamāghātanikā asaññivādā)

③ Eight kinds of Belief in the Existence of Neither Perception Nor Non- Perception after death (uddhamāghātanikā nevasaññināsaññivādā)

④ Seven kinds of Belief in Annihilation (ucchedavādā)

100

⑤ Five kinds of Belief in Nibbāna as Realizable in this Very Life (diṭṭhadhammanibbānavādā)

The Buddha also points out wherefrom all those views come up. These wrong views are the cause of the rebirths. They are all based on the contact (phussa) of the six sense bases and their objects. Contact conditions craving and further all sorts of suffering. In the conclusion, the sutta calls itself ‘veyyākaraṇa’ which denotes ‘commentary’ or ‘exposition’.227 Pande points out the significance of this term that is a scholastic exposition, no doubt, but based on much older traditions.228

There are two suttas which must not be fallen down in systematization of the Buddha’s teaching in the D. They are the Saṅgīti sutta (D33) dealing with 230 dhamma as a whole and Dasuttara sutta (D34) dealing with detailed elaboration upon the dhammas. T.W. Rhys Davids states, “In the two features they have in common, of catechism as a monologue by the catechumen, and of the absence of narrative, this further interest attaches to these last suttantas, that they become practically Abhidhamma rather than Sutta-Piṭaka.”229 He further says, “They arrange a sort of thematic index to the dhammas scattered through the other four Nikāyas and follow the Aṅguttara method that where chief items brought forward are grouped numerically and in arithmetical progression. They also contain here and there matter which suggests that they took their present shape at a later

227 D. I. 46 228 Pande, G.C., Studies in the Origins of Buddhism, Motilal, 1983, Delhi, p. 82 229 Rhys Davids, T.W., Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. III, ibid., p. 199 101

date than the bulk of the rest of the D.” 230 Probably by means of length although two suttas belong to the D, they methodologically pursue the way of the A. The followings are brief example for the statement above.

(1) Saṅgīti sutta (D33)

① 2 dhammas relating to no. one

② 33 dhammas relating to no. two

③ 60 dhammas relating to no. three

④ 50 dhammas relating to no. four

⑤ 26 dhammas relating to no. five

⑥ 22 dhammas relating to no. six

⑦ 14 dhammas relating to no. seven

⑧ 11 dhammas relating to no. eight

⑨ 6 dhammas relating to no. nine

⑩ 6 dhammas relating to no. ten * Tatal : 230 dhammas.

(2) Dasuttara sutta (D34) Sariputta expands decades to each number to ten, e.g. (1x10) + (2x10) + (3x10) + … + (10x10), and then expounds arranged under ten heads to be studied by bhikkhus as follows.231

230 Ibid.; cf. Law, B.C., A history of Pāli literature, ibid., p. 132 ff. 231 Ibid., pp. 198-200, there is a note why the numerical compilation of doctrinal items in grouping should have been attributed to Sāriputta. T.W. Rhys Davids has some reasons for that which he has manifold powers or ability to summarize as well as expand as a teacher. He always prefers the numerical method just as the Sampasādaniya sutta (D28). The other reason is that he witnesses the embarrassed situation happened after death of the Jainism leader, Nigaṇtha-Nātaputta and probably 102

① dhamma that greatly helps (bahukāro)

② dhamma to be developed (bhāvetabbo)

③ dhamma to be thoroughly known (pariññeyya)

④ dhamma to be abandoned (pahātabbo)

⑤ dhamma that conduces to diminution (hāna-bhāgiyo)

⑥ dhamma that conduces to distinction (visesa-bhāgiyo)

⑦ dhamma hard to penetrate (duppaṭivijjho)

⑧ dhamma to be made to arise (uppādetabbo)

⑨ dhamma to be thoroughly learnt (abhiññeyyo)

⑩ dhamma to be realized (sacchikātabbo)

3. Buddhist Challenge and Transition from the Existing Civilization The Buddhism was born in India. It then naturally adopted many existing thoughts, religions, and cultures in India. In addition, it simultaneously criticized Indian’s traditional products. While doing so, the both sides had give-and-take an influence one another. One might call that phenomena cultural communication or battle. The Indianization, adoption, revolution of the Buddhism had begun from the realization of the Buddha, indeed. The Buddha stayed most of his time in Rājagaha and Sāvatthī, the capitals of Magadha and Kosala kingdoms, which were the strongholds of brahmanical influence. The Buddhism was unfolded trying

knows it that passes away earlier than the Buddha. So he is naturally deeply concerned to get a correct catalogue of such summaries for maintaining and propagating the inherited Buddha’s dhamma. 103

to reform and change the existing Indian culture actively and reasonably. The D gives an idea about these phenomena.

3.1. Critique upon the Caste System and Brahmanism According to , “Caste in the days of the Buddha was, probably, quite near to the class system. The Brahmin, always the kingpin of the caste system, was then, purely the sacrificial priest. The purpose of the sacrifice was propitiation of the gods, and naturally, the grandest sacrificial ceremonies would be for success in war. That at least is the picture we get from the stories associated with the oldest Buddhistic canonical literature.” 232 Kariyawasam states that when the Buddha appeared, the Indian caste system had come to stay and its place in society had become both functional and hereditary. However, this claim was challenged by the Kṣatriyas, who took the vanguard in the right against this brāhmanic attitude, when their power as the rulers of society increased.233

The Buddha had to face many opposites when he set rolling a novel teaching and a revolutionary set of social values. The main front of opposition came from the brahmins who had enjoyed undue privileges and benefits by propagating doctrines to suit their moves. The cornerstone of their beliefs were the (a) existence of a Supreme God, (b) theory of divine creation, (c) sanctity of the Veda, (d) efficacy of sacrifices and (e) the divinely ordained institution of caste.234 In fact, as seen from the D,

232 Kosambi, D.D., On History and Society: Problems of Interpretation, Dep. of History, Uni. of Bombay, 1989, Bombay, p.129 233 EB. III. p. 691 234 Ibid., IV. P. 612, this is from Wijesekera’s article. 104

prevalence and stability of Brahmanism was to a large extent dependent upon the acceptance of the caste system and in the belief in the efficacy of the ritual sacrifice. Therefore, as the three suttas: the Ambaṭṭha sutta (D3), the Sonadaṇḍa sutta (D4), and the Kūṭadanta sutta (D5) illustrate, the Buddha was consistently directing his attacks at those beliefs. Both the Ambaṭṭha and Sonadaṇḍa not only ridicule and demolish the brahmin concept of caste, but also established the Buddhist point of view that birth is of no importance and what really matters is morality and conduct.235

The Ambaṭṭha sutta is the main source on the subject of brāhmanism, which contains references to the origin of the Sākyas from the king Okkāka (Skt. Ikshvāku). Ambaṭṭha is a learned brahmin in brahmin lore, who goes to see the Buddha on the order of his teacher. He is so proud of his brahmin birth and behaves stupidly and arrogantly towards the Buddha. He says, “Sir Gotama, there are four castes: the khattiyas, the brahmins, the merchants (vessa), and the artisans (sudda). And of these four castes (vaṇṇa) three – the khattiyas, the merchants, and the artisans are certainly servants to the brahmins. It is not proper that Sākyas being lower do not pay respect to brahmins.”236 In the course of argument the Buddha makes him realize that in lineage the khattiyas are superior to the brahmins.

In the same manner the Kūṭadanta shows the uselessness of the sacrifice (yañña) and invocation wherein are destroyed the lives of many innocent animals. These are very important aspect of the religion. One of the most

235 Ibid. 236 D. I. 91 (§15) 105

remarkable cultural phenomena in India would be the sacrifice. In fact, the sacrifice is very common to all cultural regions in those days. Some historians and some social scientists point out that Buddhism had hugely and quickly spread out to the ancient Indian society due to the simplification of the ritual and sacrifice put forward a new concept of sacrifice wherein no living thing is injured. The Buddhistic standpoint on sacrifice is described in the Kūṭadanta sutta (D5). The brahmin Kūṭadanta approaches to the Buddha so that he hold a great sacrifice with the slaughter of many hundreds of beasts. He, then, asks the Buddha the threefold accomplishment of sacrifice and sixteen supporting factors. The Buddha tells him the story of an ancient king Mahavijita and his brahmin chaplain who performed a purely symbolic, bloodless sacrifice. The Buddha further guides him through more profitable ways: (a) donating to virtuous ascetics, (b) providing shelter for the in the four directions, (c) taking refuge in the Buddha, in the Dhamma and in the Sangha, (d) undertaking five moral precepts with faith and (e) accomplishing the twenty-three factors: the three moralities (sīla), the four absorptions (jhāna) and the eight intuitive knowledge (abhiññā). He eventually emphasizes realization of the four noble truths, destruction of all intoxications (āsava) and attainment of liberation that is the highest of all sacrifices. The Buddha’s ideal sacrifice is basically to perform the threefold practice of moral, concentration and wisdom. Thus the word ‘yañña’, in the Buddhist point of view, designates not only the offerings of food etc. given to gods, recluses etc. but also the various milestones on the path to Nibbāna which is a sort of symbolic interpretation.

106

On the other hand, it is interesting to know that T.W. Rhys Davids indicates that even in the Vedas themselves there is already the germ of view in the mental attitude as regards ‘Aditi’ and ‘Varuṇa’. And in the pre- Buddhistic Chandogya, in the mystic identification of the sacrifice with man237, we find certain moral states placed on equality with certain parts of the sacrificial procedure. And among these moral states, ‘ahiṃsa’, the habit of causing no injury to any living thing, is especially mentioned.238

Lohicca sutta (D12) and Tevijja sutta (D13) are the two other suttas that contain severe criticism of Brahmanism. The Aggañña sutta (D27) which is a sort of Buddhist book of genesis, mainly deals with the evolution of the world, of men and of society. It criticizes the brahmanic theory of divine-creation, examines and rejects its claim to be the heirs of Brahmā and declares righteousness to be superior to linage. 239 The Buddha attributes the cause of this idea of divine origins and consequent superiority of the brahmins to mere ignorance of history and of the evolution of beings and society.240 The Buddha, in general, disagrees with a particular fixed point of the begining and end of history or time of beings. In the Saṃyutta Nikāya he says, “O bhikkhus, saṃsāra which the beginning is unthinkable, its first point is not knowable.”241

237 Chandogya-Upanishad III. 16, 17; cf. Swāmī Swāhananda, Chandogya-Upanishad, 8th impression, Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1996, Mylapore, India, pp. 230-247 238 Rhys Davids, T.W., Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. I, ibid., pp. 164-165 239 EB. IV. p. 612 240 Ibid., I. p. 259, this is an article by Bandula Jayawardhana. 241 S. II. 178, “anamataggāyaṃ bhikkhave saṃsāro pubbākoṭi na paññāyati avijjānīvaraṇānaṃ sattānaṃ taṇhāsaṃyojanānaṃ saudhāvataṃ saṃsarataṃ” 107

In the Tevijja sutta (D13), two brahmin youths, Vāseṭṭha and Bhāradvāja, come to Buddha because they are confused with it that different teachers speak of different ways of attaining union of Brahmā which to them is the highest goal. They discuss seriously about the paths as laid down by brahmins who were well-versed in the Vedas. But none of them convince the other over these views. Thus they approach to the Buddha. The Buddha, at the request of Vāseṭṭha, tells them that none of their teachers, or even those from whom the tradition stems, have ever seen Brahmā face to face. And then he gives them discourse on the way to union with the Brahmā which is not the goal of Buddhism. However, in this sutta the Buddha instructs two young brahmins without the discourse of concentration and wisdom but only with the three moralities (sīla), dispelling of five hindrances (nīvaraṇa), and the four kinds of boundless mind: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. This indicates that the contemporary intellectual opinion felt that an enlightened person or Buddha should answer such metaphysical questions. Probably that is why a famous and respectful brahmin Pokkharasāti, Ambaṭṭha’s teacher, asks his disciple to check first whether Gotama has thirty-two characters of the Great Person. According to Y.P. Varma, “eminent brahmin teachers flocked to him and looked up to him as a person of enlightenment and moral perfection.”242

All the suttas above are preached by the Buddha to brahmins learned and cultured. We may not accept the historical accuracy of this theory just like

242 Varma, V.P., Early Buddhism and its Origins, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1973, Delhi, p. 357 108

what T.W. Rhys Davids mentions. In his introduction243 in the Ambaṭṭha sutta (D3) he states, “The disastrous effects, from the ethical, social, and political point of view, of these restrictions, and of castes as a whole, have been often grossly exaggerated, and the benefits of the system ignored. An accurate statement of the corresponding facts, if any, at the time of Gotama, has yet to be drawn up.”244 What we find then, in the Buddha’s time, is caste in the making. The great mass of the people were distinguished quite roughly into four classes — social strata — of which the boundary lines were vague and uncertain.245

3.2. Buddhistic Transformation of the Brahmanic Thought K.R. Norman states that much Buddhist terminology is, in form, identical with that of Brahmanism even if some of the technical terms of Buddhism are exclusive to that religion, e.g. paṭisambhidā.246 At the same time it must be recognized that, although the Buddha took over some of the terminology of Brahmanism, he gave it a new Buddhist sense moral and ethical.247

There are some terms taken over by the Buddha but used with changed sense. The term ‘brahamacariya’ denotes ‘the practice of a brāhmaṇa’, i.e. to live a celibate life, learning the Vedas. The Buddha used this compound

243 Rhys Davids, T.W., Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. I, ibid., pp. 96-107; herein are much more information over the subject of caste system. 244 Ibid., pp. 96-97 245 Ibid., p. 101 246 Dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppanna), this condition-ness or conditionality (idappaccayatā), the present (paccuppanna) and expression (paññatti) etc. are terms not found in the Indian language before the Buddha. 247 Norman, K.R., Theravāda Buddhism and brahmanical Hinduism; Brahmanical terms in a Buddhist guise, The Buddhist Forum, Vol. II, (ed.) T. Skorupski. London, 1991, p. 193 109

in the general sense of “to live holy life or chaste and moral life”. The term “brahma-vihāra” literally means “dwelling in or with brahman or Brahmā”. It seems to mean a state of union with the god Brahmā which appears into the “brahma-sahavyatā” in the Tevijja sutta (D13). The “brahma-vihāra” also comes out in the Mahā-Sudassana sutta (D17), “so cattāro brahma-vihāre bhāvetvā kāyassa bhedā paraṃ maraṇā brahmalokūpago ahosi”248 and herein the Buddha newly interprets it ‘the four kinds of boundless mind’ which is the way to obtain Brahmā-world, whereas the four means are also called the “brahma-patha”.

According to R. Gombrich the term “veda” has been used to refer to certain texts, but its original meaning is simply “knowledge”. Another term for the Veda, those texts which constituted the knowledge which really counted, is brahman. A “brahman person” is a brāhmaṇa. The Veda had appeared among men through the mouths of such people and in the Buddha’s day (and long after) access to it still only lay in the same quarter. The Veda, embodying true knowledge, was the source of all authority; but what the Veda said – and indeed what it meant – one could learn only from bramins. To deny the authority of the Veda, therefore, was to deny the authority of brahmins, and vice versa. This is precisely what the Buddha did.249

248 D. II. 196 249 Gombrich, R., Recovering the Buddha’s message, The Buddhist Forum, Vol. I, (ed.) T. Skorupski. London, 1990, p. 12 110

The term “tevijja” (three Vedas)250 which Brahmanism considers best are suggested into the Buddhist style, converting their meaning in the Saṅgīti sutta (D33) and the Dasuttara sutta (D34) into the form of “tisso vijja”. In Ambaṭṭha sutta the phrase “tiṇṇaṃ vedānaṃ pāragu” is used for Ambaṭṭha and “tevijja” for his master Pokkharasāti.251 Its meaning was originally applicable to a brahmin who possesses the knowledge of threefold Vedas. In the Ambaṭṭha sutta (D3), Sonadaṇḍa sutta (D4), Tevijja sutta (D13) and Aggañña sutta (D27) brahmins with “tevijjā” are criticized by the Buddha. This meaning then semantically changes into the Buddhistic style or interpretation with three senses: “tisso vijja. pubbe- nivāsānussati-ñāṇaṃ vijjā, sattānaṃ cutūpapāte ñāṇaṃ vijjā, āsavānaṃ khaye ñāṇaṃ vijjā”.252

The Buddhism often positively transformed the Brahmanic thoughts after converting it. In the Kūṭadanta sutta (D5) the Buddha suggests new concept of sacrifice as following lists.

① Alms-giving in constant practice, the traditional sacrifice dedicated to ascetics endowed with morality

② Donation of a monastery

③ Taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Saṅgha

④ Observance of moral precepts

⑤ Sacrifice relating to attainment of Jhānas

250 ‘Tevijja’ means Ṛg Veda, Sāma Veda, and Yajur Veda. AtharvaVeda is on the black magic. The four Vedas are not admitted at first. 251 D. I. 88, §3 252 D. III. 220, 275, “the knowledge of recollecting past lives, the knowledge of the passing away and re-appearance of beings (the divine eye), and the knowledge of the destruction of the cankers” 111

⑥ Sacrifice leading to attainment of Āsavakkhaya Ñāna, which is the excellent and the most eminent perfection in sacrifice.

We observe the changed sense of self-mortification by the Buddha in the Kassapa-sīhanāda sutta (D8) and Udumbarika-sīhanāda sutta (D25). The naked ascetic Kassapa asks the Buddha regarding asceticism. Ascetic practices of self-mortification are normally taken by the ascetics to be the tasks of samaṇas and brahmins in those days. Such practices include action like going naked, taking food at intervals of one or two days or even fifteen days, living on pot-herbs or grains of millet, wearing hempen cloth, etc. Besides, there is a discussion on how and when one becomes a real samaṇa or brahmin. The Buddha instructs, “One cannot become a true samaṇa or brahmin by the practice of self-mortification. The bhikkhu is called a samaṇa or a brahmin, who cultivates a mind of non-hatred, non-malice and loving kindness and dwells in the realization of the mind and of emancipation by insight due to extinction of āsavas. This is the true samaṇa or brahmin who is endowed with morality, concentration, and knowledge.”253 The term “brāhmaṇa” shown right above, indicating a brahmin, shows different interpretation, according I.B. Horner, “the word brāhmaṇa was developing for Sakya, the meaning of the best, the highest person, not because of birth and lineage, but because of spiritual endeavor and attainment.”254

253 D. I. 168 (§15) 254 Horner, I.B., The Book of The Discipline Vol. I., reprinted 1982, PTS, Oxford, London, p. liii 112

3.3. Harmony between Buddhism and Indian Mythology The religious Buddhism is proved more in the D. It must have been strongly related to the general characters of the people in those days. A numbers of gods in India were extended much more passing through the Mahābharata and the Purāṇas, starting from the Vedic texts. Afterwards they all became unified under three great gods such as Brahma, Viṣṇu, and Śiva in the way of that all demigods small and middle and gods from other religions became the incarnations of the great three: wives, guardians, servants and so on. All gods in India had been shown again in Caste-system. It had already started from the Ṛgveda-Saṅhita.

Wijesekera points out, “We could see many suttas demonstrating of ancient Indian mythological skills to transmit the Buddha’s teaching in the D. Criticism and refutation of the views and theories of other religious teachers were not the only methods adopted by the Buddha to facilitate the spread of his teaching.”255 Many suttas are mythological (D17-28); they take us into the world of the gods and are meant to prove that even the gods owe their heavenly splendor to the fact that in an earlier birth they have been good Buddhist.256 As the Janavasuba sutta (D18), the Mahāgovinda sutta (D19), the Mahāsamaya sutta (D20), and the Āṭānāṭiya sutta (D32) illustrate, the Buddha, in order to take his message to the masses, conceded to blend with Buddhism certain prevalent beliefs which were not in conflict with his fundamental teaching. These suttas

255 EB. IV. p. 613 256 Just as the Purāṇas and in some sectarian sections of the epic, Indra is presented as paying homage to God Śiva or Viṣṇu, so in these suttas, we find Indra and the other Gods and demigods as devout worshipers of the Buddha; cf. Winternitz, M., A history of Indian literature, Vol. II, Eng. Trans., ibid., p. 42 113

show how the Buddha held out to the masses birth in heavenly worlds as a reward for following his teaching and how he identified non-believers with dark, evil forces, and how he admitted numerous popular gods into the Buddhist fold. Besides, when the number of lay adherents increased, a setting-up of a general code of disciple for them became necessary and this need is fulfilled by the Sigālovāda sutta (D31).257

The name Govinda is a name of Kṛṣṇa known as another incarnation of the great god Viṣṇu in general. He is adopted in Buddhism as the predecessor of the Buddha in the Mahāgovinda sutta (D19). The Sakka is called as “devānam Inda”258, king of gods in the Sakkapañhā sutta (D21). It means Indra shown as king of gods in Indian mythology. The Sakka is shown therein not yet free from desire, hatred and ignorance, or from anxiety. So he is still subject to death and rebirth. With company of gods he seeks the course of practice leading to Nibbāna to the Buddha, wherein the group of perception that prolongs the cycle of rebirth ceases. At last the Sakka attains clear and undefiled eye of dhamma (dhamma – cakkhu).

Buddhism had to contend with other religious schools which had a long history at those days. And, hence, as seen from the Mahāpadāna sutta (D14), it may have become necessary for Buddhism also to trace its history to great antiquity, thus evolving the concept of past Buddhas.259 There are the last seven Buddhas provided with numerous miracles, going back ‘ninety-one eons’ in time, including the Gotama Buddha beginning from the Vipassī Buddha. And the prospective Buddha Matteyya, the

257 EB. IV. p. 613 258 D. II. 263 259 EB. IV. p. 613 114

Buddhistic Messiah is mentioned in the Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda sutta (D26) as well.

Regarding the protective Mantra (rakkha-manta) is mentioned in the Āṭānāṭiya sutta (D32).260 The mantra is one of the very common religious phenomena in India in those days. The whole portion of the Ṛgveda is collection of mantras to dedicate to gods. The Atharvaveda especially owns mantra of black magic to be able to destroy the foes. Some gods, gandhabbas, and yakkhas who are not pleased with the Buddha are also stated therein. The protective mantra drives them away if they attack Buddhists. In the Suttanipāta the Maṅgala sutta (Sn.258-269) and the Metta sutta (Sn.143-152) are the examples to mantras in the early Buddhism along with the Aṅgulimāla sutta (M. II. 97 ff.) and the Dhajagga-Paritta (S. I. 218 f.).261

Though some suttas in the D have the mythological elements, if we eliminate them from those suttas, then we could see the main frameworks such as the Eightfold Noble Path, the Four Bases of Mindfulness, the Three Practices of Buddhism such as the morality (sīla), the concentration (samādhi), and the wisdom (paññā), the thirty-three ways to enlightenment and so on. Thus the Buddhism sewed its seed in the Indian soil and developed in succession.

260 The original word for the protective mantra is the ‘rakkha’ (√rakṣ, to protect). However, the commentary (DA) shows the ‘paritta’ (pari, around + √trā, to rescue, to protect) instead. The ‘paritta’ which is used in the Ātānāṭiya sutta (D32) is more used than its synonym ‘rakkha’. The Buddhist text that the ‘paritta’ first appears in the Tipiṭaka is the Cullavagga (= Vin. II. 110). Before the ‘paritta’, the term ‘rakkha’ also appears in the same line. 261 Cf. Rhys Davids, T.W., Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. III, ibid,, pp. 185-187 115

4. Repetition of Fixed Expressions The heart of the Buddha’s teaching is contained in names, terms, and the repetitions of contents in suttas, of those phrases, sentences, paragraphs and passages. R. Combrich states, “The earliest Buddhist prose texts are clogged with repetitions.” K.M. Gupta comments, “We find literary or colloquial passages finding their repetition at various places verbatim.”262 According to W. Geiger, “the schematic character of the canon and the numerous repetitions occur in the nature of an oral tradition. Much of what repeatedly occurs in the text was without doubt compulsory for the monks to learn.”263 The Buddha’s discourses were not transmitted with a form of letter. In those days, the record of a letter was not the regular mean of communication. From the first Buddhist council they put the Buddha’s teaching on the air by chant in perfect harmony (saṅgīti) and then the central teachings are mostly come into view like that. According to Mark Allon, “In the nature of the early Buddhist community and the social background of its members,… Repetition was the vehicle chosen by the early Buddhists to ensure the successful transmission of the Buddha’s teaching by individuals of mixed social and educational background.”264

In language, Bloomfield portrays, “symbolic forms have a connotation of somehow illustrating the meaning more immediately than do ordinary speech-forms. A specific type of symbolic form, which is quite widely distributed, is the repetition of the form with some phonetic variation.

262 Gupta, K.M., Linguistics in Pāli. Sundeep, 2003, Dehli, p. 63 263 Geiger, W., Pāli Literature and Language, Eng. Trans. by Batakrishna, G., Munshiram Manoharlal, Ed. 2004, Delhi, p. 11 264 M. Allon, Style and Function, IIBR of ICABS, 1997, Tokyo, p. 363 116

Closely akin to these are imitative or onomatopoetic intense forms, which denote a sound or an object which gives out a sound.” 265 Most manuscripts and editions of Pāli canonical texts abbreviate repeated passages. So we can often see ‘pe’, three dots or - ‘(hyphen)’ in edited Pāli manuscripts. The ‘pe’ is abbreviation of ‘peyyāla’, where we would say ‘etc.’ to indicate that a passage has to be repeated either from proceeding contexts, or to be supplied from memories, if well known. The literal meaning would be ‘here follows the formula (pariyāya)’.266

Though the D is collection of long suttas, numerous repetitions in it are also shown as striking feature of the original. Repetition is undoubtedly a mnemonic device. The Buddha himself developed it as a standard form for sermons, which he doubtless uttered verbatim. His disciples will then have extended this principle into a system of rigidly stereotyped phrases. On the other hand, the repetition will have been inherent in the oral tradition itself. This is always characterized by long repetitive passages and stereotyped epithets and descriptions.267 R. Combrich comments, “The Buddhist texts were composed to be memorized. This inevitably introduces certain formalization: such features as versification, numbered

265 Leonard Bloomfield, Language, motilal, 2005, Delhi. p. 156 266 Cf, PED. pp. 876-877; we also often find the ‘pa’ for ‘pe’ e.g. A. V. 242, 270, 338, 339, 355 and sometimes ‘pa’ + ‘pe’ combined, e.g. S. V. 466. As the ‘pe’ is the first syllable of the ‘peyyāla’ and the ‘la’ is the last which is used in the same sense. The ‘la’ is found e.g. S. V. 448, 267 ff. The variance is according to predilection of certain MSS (=Münchener Studien zur Sprachvissenschaft). On the syllable ‘pe’ Trenckner, Notes 66, says: “The sign of abridgment. ‘pe’, or as it is written in Burmese copies, ‘pa’, means ‘peyyāla’ which is not an imperative ‘insert, fill up the gap,’ but a substantive, ‘peyyālo’ or ‘peyyālaŋ’, signifying a phrase to be repeated over & over again. I consider it a popular corruption of the synonymous ‘pariyāya’, passing through ‘payyāya’, with ‘-eyy-’ for ‘-ayy-’, like ‘seyyā’, Skt. ‘śayyā’.” 267 Walshe, M, the long Discourses of the Buddha, Wisdom, 1995, Boston, pp. 49-50 117

lists, repetitions and stock formulae are all aids to memory.”268 The Buddhist probably chose “redundancy” because of their stress on the meaning of the texts.269 According to T.W. Rhys Davids, “the four Nikāyas contain a number of stoke passages, which are constantly recurring, and in which some ethical state is set out or described. A number of them are found in each of the thirteen suttantas in the first volume of the D.”270

Numerous fixed expressions, as pointed out by scholars, repeatedly appear in the same sutta or in others in the D. For example, a fixed expression of the Ten Epithets for the Buddha occurs 26 times entirely including abbreviated parts: “iti pi so bhagavā arahaṃ sammā- sambuddho vijjā-caraṇa-sampanno sugato lokavidū anuttaro purisa- damma-sārathi satthā-deva-manussānaṃ buddho bhagavā ti”. 271 The subsequent parable-like formula below appears 15 times in different suttas: “seyyathā pi bhante nikkujjitaṃ vā ukkujjeyya, paticchannaṃ vā vivareyya, mūḷhassa vā maggaṃ ācikkheyya andhakāre vā telapajjotaṃ dhāreyya cakkhumanto rūpāni dakkhinti.”272 Besides, the sentence below

268 Combrich, R., ibid., p. 7 269 Ibid., p. 24 270 Rhys Davids, T.W., Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. I, ibid., preface pp. xii-xiii 271 “the Exalted One is thus a worthy one, perfectly enlightened, endowed with knowledge and conduct, accomplished, a knower of the world, unsurpassed, trainer of people to be tamed, teacher of the gods and people, enlightened and exalted.” It means the Ten Epithets for the Buddha; cf. D2 §8, §40; D3 §1.2, §1.4, §2.2; D4 §2, §3, §6, §23; D5 §27; D6 §1, §16; D7 §2; D8 §18; D9 §7; D10 §1.7; D11 §9; D12 §3, §20; D13 §7, §40; D16 §29; D24 §1.6; D26 §25; D33 §1.11; D34 §1.6 272 “suppose one would set up what has been overturned, or reveal what has been hidden, or point out the right path to one who has been lost, or bring an oil-lamp into a dark place so that those with insight could see forms.”; cf. D2 §99; D3 §2.22; D4 §24; D5 §28; D8 §23; D9 §54, §55; D10 §2.38; D12 §78; D13 §82; D14 §3.12; D16 §4.34, §5.28; D23 §30; D31 §35 118

appears 4 times, “atta-dīpā viharatha atta-saraṇā anañña-saraṇā, dhamma-dīpā dhamma-saraṇā anañña-saraṇā.”273

We have already seen a brief summary of the twenty-three fixed formula that is about the three practices in the Sāmmaññaphala sutta (D2 §40- §98)274: the three moralities (sīla), four concentrations (jhāna) and eight intuitive knowledges (abhiññā). This very large portion appears in most suttas of the first volume called ‘sīlavagga’.275 Some suttas (D3 §2.2, D4 §23, D5 §27, D8 §18-§20, D11 §9-§66) in the first volume of the D are identified with this standard formula in the Sāmmaññaphala sutta. But on the other hand, some have minor modifications such as D6 §16-§19, D7 §2-§5, D10 §1.7-§2.36, and D12 §53-§77. The D6 is the same as the D7 that these two suttas add a little bit of lines in the last section only. Some according to the character of the sutta have important modifications as if D9 §7-§16 and D13 §43-§75: the Poṭṭhapāda sutta (D9) takes out the eight intuitive knowledge as well as the Tevijja sutta (D13) the four absorptions and the eight intuitive knowledge because the subject or goal of this sutta (D13) is not Nibbāna but the Brahmā-world for brahmins like Vāstṭṭha etc. In this way, repetition of fixed expressions thus thoroughly permeates every aspect in the D.

273 “Live considering yourself as an island and as a refuge, not depending on any other refuges; live considering the dhamma as an island, a dhamma as a refuge, not depending on any other refuges.”; cf. D16 §2.26 274(1) “tathāgata loke upajjati. … kevala-paripuṇṇaṃ parisuddhaṃ brahmacaryaṃ pakāseti”; (23) “…āsavānaṃ khaya-ñāṇāya cittaṃ abhinīharati abhininnāmeti … khīṇā jāti vusitaṃ brahmacariyaṃ kataṃ karaṇīyaṃ nāparaṃ itthattāyāti pajānāti” 275 The enormous portion of §43-§98 in the Sāmmaññaphala sutta (D2) is the standard formula. Its repetitions in other suttas are D3 §2.2, D4 §23, D5 §27, D6 §16-§19, D7 §2-§5, D8 §18-§20, D10 §1.7-§2.36, D11 §9-§66, D12 §53-§77 119