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The Rasāvahinī and the Sahassavatthu: a Comparison

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The Rasāvahinī and the Sahassavatthu: a Comparison THE JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BUDDHIST STUDIES EDITOR-IN-CHIEF A. K. Narain University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA EDITORS Alexander W. Macdonald Ernst Steinkellner Universite de Paris X University of Vienna Nanterre, France Wien, Austria Bardwell Smith Jikido Takasaki Carleton College University of Tokyo Northfield, Minnesota, USA Tokyo, Japan Robert Thurman Amherst College Amherst, Massachusetts, USA ASSISTANT EDITOR Roger Jackson , oi*y Volume 7 1984 Number 2 CONTENTS I. ARTICLES 1. The Buddhist Path to Liberation: An Analysis of the Listing of Stages, by Rod Bucknell 7 2. Temporary Ordination in Sri Lanka, by Richard Gom- brich 41 3. The Symbolism of the Early Stupa, by Peter Harvey 67 4. Reason as the Prime Principle in Tsong kha pa's Delineation of Deity Yoga as the Demarcation Between Sutra and Tantra, by Jeffrey Hopkins 95 5. Buddhism and Belief in Atma, by Y. Krishan 117 6. Giuseppe Tucci (1894-1984), by Luciano Petech 137 7. Kokan Shiren and Muso Soseki: "Chineseness" vs. "Japaneseness" in Thirteenth and Fourteenth Century Japan, by David Pollack 143 8. The Rasavahini and the Sahassavatthu: A Comparison, by Telwatte Rahula 169 9. A Study of the Theories of Ydvad-bhdvikatd and Yathd- vad-bhdvikatd in the Abhidharmasamuccaya, by Ah-yueh Yeh 185 II. BOOK REVIEWS Alone With Others: An Existential Approach to Buddhism, by Stephen Batchelor; The Way of Siddhartha: A Life of the Buddha, by David J. and Indrani Kalu- pahana (reviewed by Roger Jackson) 208 The Buddha, by Michael Carrithers (reviewed by Paul Griffiths) 216 3. Buddhist and Western Psychology, edited by Nathan Katz (reviewed by Paul Griffiths) 219 4. A Lamp for the Path and Commentary, by AtlSa, trans­ lated and annotated by Richard Sherburne (reviewed by Jos£ Cabez6n) 224 5. Religious Festivals in South India and Sri Lanka, edited and prefaced by Guy R. Welbon and Glenn E. Yocum (reviewed by Peter Claus) 226 III. NOTES AND NEWS 1. 7th Conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 230 2. L.M.Joshi: A Brief Communication 232 3. I.A.B.S., Inc. Treasurer's Report 233 OBITUARY John Brough (1917-1984) 236 Contributors 239 The Rasavdhini and the Sahassavatthu: A comparison by Telwatte Rahula The Rasavdhini (abbreviated as Rv.) is a non-canonical Buddhist work, belonging to the pakarana (Skt. prakarana) class of the Pali literature. The title, translated as "Stream of Delights,"1 is ap­ propriate, for it endeavours to produce the taste of the nectar of the Dhamma. Ancient teachers of Sri Lanka maintain that the work is called Rasavdhini because it produces the essence of the Dhamma and of material accomplishment (attha).'2lhe pre­ amble invites "good men" (sujand) to listen to it, as it is "indeed delightful" (abhimuddvahd). The text, consisting of 32 bhana- vdras* aims to produce this delight through one hundred and three simple narratives concerning monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen of the past, historical or otherwise, who either at­ tained to mundane and spiritual happiness or became subject to various misfortunes as the result of their deeds. The text is divided into two major parts. The first part, called Jambudlpuppattivatthu, contains forty stories originating in Jambudlpa; the second part, called Slhaladipuppattivatthu, embodies sixty-three stories of similar character originating in the island of Slhala.4 Although characters and events in some stories in each part extend to the country of origin assigned to the other, the division seems to be a reasonable one. Each part is again divided into chapters (vaggas). This division, however, is not based on any strict plan, as themes of the stories in all chapters seem to overlap. There are four chapters in the first part, and six in the second. Each chapter contains ten stories. Three additional stories, followed by the colophon, are given at the end of the tenth chapter. The colophon claims that the work was completed unhindered by any obstacle. This is, however, not an original work. The proem clearly 169 170 JIABS VOL. 7 NO. 2 states that the entire text is a revision of an earlier Pali work by the Elder named Ratihapala, "a mine of the virtues of moral conduct," who was an inmate of the Guttavamka:> monastic resi­ dence of the Great Monastery in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. The Pali compilation was found to be corrupt throughout (sab- bam dkulam) with repetitions and such other defects; and the Rv. is the result of an attempt to remove these defects from that popular work. The proem does not mention the name of that compilation, but informs us that it was, in its turn, merely a Pali translation of ancient stories which had been narrated by ar- hants and recorded in Sinhala. We know nothing about that old Sinhala collection of stories which, if it ever existed in the form of a book, is now lost. The Pali translation of the Elder Rat^ha- pala, on the other hand, is supposed to be the work known as the Sahassavatthu Atthakatha. Our knowledge of the Sahassavatthu Atthakatha is based mainly on the few references to it found in the Mafidvarnsa 7T/wi.(i Some details in the Mahdvamsa Tika, quoted from the Sahassa­ vatthu Atthakatha, are found in the second part of the Rv. in toto? This work bearing the name Atthakatha is generally con­ sidered to be very old work, and, in any case, the Mahdvamsa Tika is assigned to about the 8th or 9th century A.C.* A Pali work bearing the name Sahassavatthuppakarana is extant, and that text includes some of the details which the Mahdvamsa rfikd quotes from the Sahassavatthu Atthakatha. The very fact that this work embodies 93 stories, 92 of which are found in the Rv., enhances the view that the Elder Ratthapala's compilation was the authority which the Mahdvamsa Tika refers to by the name of Sahassavatthu Atthakatha. The author of the Rv., the Elder Vedeha (13th century), does not mention this work by name. The Sahassavatthuppakar­ ana (abbreviated as Sv.)-' does not mention the author's name. The Sv. is generally thought to be the basis of the Rv. Ven. Buddfradatta, who edited the text, is convinced that it un­ doubtedly is the prototype of the Rv. A number of other schol­ ars, beginning with Hugh Neville, do think that the Sv. repre­ sents the prototype of the Rv.M,It can, of course, be argued that the Sv., like Ratthapala's compilation, professes to follow the tradition of Sinhala commentaries and the expositions of the teachers (sihalatthakathdnayam ganhitvdcariyavddan ca).u A THE RASAVAHINI AND THE SAHASSAVATTHU 171 monk of the Great Monastery like the Elder Ratthapala is the most likely person to have had access to these traditions and lores. Presentation of the stories in the Sv. is not uniform, and the subject-matter is not arranged in any proper order. This confirms the Elder Vedeha's statement regarding the confused character of the original. The text apparently has nine chap­ ters, but after the fourth, chapters are not numbered; and the last two groups, with ten stories in each, are not called chapters at all. Four stories in the first chapter have verses, and the gdthd in the first story is followed by a short commentary. This fea­ ture does not appear again. The second and third chapters have no verses at all, and among the stories from no. 53 to no. 95, only one story (no. 87) contains any verse. The fourth chap­ ter introduces an altogether new format. The first seven stories (nos. 31-37) begin and end with a versified outline of the nar­ rative which follows. Nos. 38, 39, and the next (no. 40 in the Sv., but the text does not count it as a separate entity) begin in the same style, but omit the repetition at the end. Again, the first story in this chapter has the phrase 'Ham yathd'nusuyate" after the introductory verse, but nos. 32-35 and 38 have "tam katham ti ce?" instead. The story of King Kakavanna Tissa ends as the "ninth," disregarding the independent story of Vejusu- mana within it. As for the tenth story, to be expected in its natural sequence, the reader is referred to the Mhv. The his­ torical accounts connected with the great national hero, unnec­ essarily disrupted by no. 41, continues through nos. 42-45. One would not expect to find the story of King Duuhagamani, for it was already mentioned at the end of the fourth chapter (p. 89), but no. 46 narrates it "briefly" {samkhepena). Then fol­ lows the sentence: "The story of the royal prince Sali should be known exactly in the way it is told in the Mahavamsa." This one sentence is called "Sdlirdja-kumdra-vatthu dutiyam" The next sto­ ry, which is either the third from no. 46 or the ninth from no. 41, is mysteriously called the "fifth." Another chapter has elev­ en stories (nos. 67—75), but the last one has already appeared as no. 41.'* Internal inconsistencies of a more serious character are also noticed. Some stories bear different names in the begin­ ning and at the end. The Buddheniyd vatthu (no. 7) becomes 172 JIABS VOL. 7 NO. 2 Buddheniyydmaka-vatthu at the end. Duggatitthiyd vatthu (no. 33) turns to be the story of Dhamma. After the introductory verse in this story, there occurs the curious sentence: "yathd Dham- mdya vatthu, tathd jdnitabbam." This would lead one to believe that the author is referring to another story, but in fact the story called Duggatitthiyd vatthu is none other than the story of Dhamma. Story no. 68 has the title Yakkhassa paldyita vatthu in the beginning, but concludes as the Saranagamana-vatthu.
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