Mahapadana Sutta Notes
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D 14 ▪ Mahāpadāna Sutta Sutta Notes 8b Mahā’padāna Sutta The Discourse on the Harvests of Great Acts | D 14 Theme: The lineage of the buddhas and the Buddha’s life1 Translated & annotated by Piya Tan ©2015 Sutta Notes (A modern commentary) Contents 1 Sutta summay 2 The Sutta highlights 3 Apadāna 4 Dhamma,dhātu 5 The Buddha’s assemblies 6 Vipassī’s life and significance 7 Vipassī and his teachings 8 The 7 buddhas 9 A legendary life of the Buddha 10 Lives of the buddhas 11 A psychology of the Buddha’s life 12 A historical life of the Buddha 13 The Buddha in Suddh’āvāsa 14 Mahā Brahmā and his roles 15 The nature of time in the suttas 16 The nature of numbers in the suttas 17 Appendix. Canonicity, authority and Buddhism [Bibliography: see end of SD 49c] 0 INTRODUCTIORY NOTES ON “BUDDHA,” “BUDDHA,” “BODHISATTVA, “BODHISATTVA” 0.1 “The Buddha” (with initial capital), as a rule, refers to Gotama Buddha, or, in some contexts to Mahāyāna Buddhas in general, while “buddha” (lower case) or “buddhas” (lower case, common noun) refers to any buddha of the 3 periods2 (including Gotama, where the context applies). When a specific Buddha, such as Gotama, is referred to, as in Mahā’padāna S, it is spelt with an initial capital. In this translation, “Buddha” with an initial capital, as a rule, refers to Siddhattha Gotama (Skt Siddhârtha Gautama). On the definition of buddha, see SD 36.2 (2). On the past buddhas and kappa, see SD 36.2 (3). 0.2 “The Bodhisattva,” as an anglicized term with initial capital, refers to Gotama Buddha or Siddhattha in his pre-awakening days.This is the equivalent of the Pali term bodhi,satta, or anglicized as “Bodhisatta” (but this form is not found in any standard English dictionary). In certain context, “Bodhisattva” refers to the Mahāyāna usage. The term “bodhisattva” (lower case) refers to any of the historical buddhas (including Gotama, where applicable) before their awakening.3 1 On the various approaches to Buddhism, see (17). 2 Ie, of the past, the present and the future. 3 On use of anglicization and modern language, see, SD 26.11 (3.3.1). http://dharmafarer.org 129 SD 49.8b D 14/2:1-54 • Mahāpadāna Sutta 1 Sutta summary 1.0 SUTTA CHAPTERS 1.0.1 The Sutta 1.0.1.1 The Mahā’padāna Sutta or the Discourse on the Great Legend is the 14th sutta of the Dīgha Nikāya. It gives an account of the Buddha’s hagiographical teachings to the monks at Sāvatthī. The Buddha recounts his meetings with the preceding 7 buddhas,4 and describes their lives in brief, except for that of the Buddha Vipassī.5 1.0.1.2 The Pali text of the Mahā’padāna Sutta is easily available today.6 A version is preserved in Chinese translation as the first Sūtra in the Dharmaguptaka recension of the Dīrgh’āgama.7 A Sanskrit version—the Mahā’vadāna Sūtra—has also been reconstructed from fragments, published in the SHT8 and the “Sanskrit fragments” (SF).9 Some of these texts are available online from Sutta Central.10 1.0.2 The 2 teachings 1.0.2.1 Teaching-wise, the Mahā’padāna Sutta is broady divided into two unequal parts: the 1st teaching and the 2nd teaching, that is, the two occasions that the Buddha addresses the monks in the Sutta: The 1st teaching [§§1.1-1.15] is the opening of what is called the “birth chapter” (jāti khaṇḍa) in the Burmese and European manuscripts. It is so called probably because “birth” (jati) is here broadly used to refer to the arising of the 7 buddhas and related information about them. 1.0.2.2 When the monks marvel and wonder at the Buddha’s knowledge of past lives, he informs them that his knowledge arises from his penetration of the “dharma-element” (dhamma,dhātu) [4] as well as being informed by the devas. [1.0.4.18] 1.0.2.3 The 2nd teaching [§§1.16-3.37] by the Buddha covers the rest of the Sutta, that is, beginning with the closing half of Chapter 1 [§1.16-1.42] and ending with the Conclusion [§§3.46-3.37]. The 2nd teaching is further divided into two unequal parts: (1) The Vipassī story. This is the longest continuous canonical biography of Vipassī or any buddha that we have. It begins with the Bodhisattva’s descent from Tusita, followed by his life as bodhisattva and then as buddha, up to his recitation of the ovāda pātimokkha [§§1.16-3.33]. The importance of this Vipassī story is that it forms the basis for the life of Gotama Buddha that we are so familiar with [9]. Such a Buddha biography (that of Gotama) has been examined elswhere.11 (2) Gotama Buddha’s visit to Suddh’āvāsa [§§3.34-3.45]. This unique account is only found here in the Mahā’padāna Sutta. This account is significant in at least two ways: (1) it mentions non-returners in Suddh’āvāsa who are disciples—hence, witnesses to the arising—of the 7 buddhas [8.2.4; 13], and (2) it 4 On the term “buddha” and the Buddha’s name, see Introdutory n (0.1). 5 For a Pali version of the Sutta, see Sutta Central. 6 This translation is from the Pali texts of the Pali Text Society, UK (Ee), the Myanmar or Burmese Chaṭṭha Saṅgīti Tipiṭaka (Be), the Buddha Jayanti Tipiṭaka (BJT) of Sri Lanka (Ce), and the Royal Siamese Tipiṭaka (Ce). The Pali text of the Sutta given by Sutta Central is from Be, but with the text numberings removed, which makes it difficult to refer to. For the original Be numbered version of the Sutta, view or download from here. 7 Chin versions: 大本經 Dà běn jīng DA 1 (T 1.1b11), 佛說七佛經 Fó shuō qī fó jīng T 2 (T1.150a3), 毘婆尸佛經 Pí pó shī fó jīng T 3 (T1.154b5); 七佛父母姓字經 Qī fó fù mǔ xìng zì jīng T 4 (T1.159a24); also EA 48.4 (T2.790/- T125.84.4). See SD 49 Biblio for other information. 8 Sanskrithandschriften aus den Turfanfunden [Sanskrit Manuscripts Discovered in Turfan]: Waldschmidt 1953: SHT 3, 768, 685 (94-119V), 690,916 165.41, 412.34, 1592, 2009,2032, 2033, 2034, 2172, 2446,2995; also cf ix p393 ff. SHT iv 165.14 is identified in SHT viii p119 | SHT vi 1592 is identified in SHT viii p209. For full Skt text. see SF 36. For Skt refs, see SD 49.15 (Biblio) under SHT. 9 Fukita 1982, 1985a, 1985b, 1987a, 1987b, 1987c, 1988a. The abbreviation “SF” is used in Sutta Central to refer to “Sanskrit fragments” in SHT, etc. For details, see SD 49.15 (Biblio) under Fukita. 10 For Chin versions, see (1.0.1.2) n. Skt fragments [SF]: SF 32 (Fukita 1987b), SF 250 (Waldschmidt 1953), SF 36 (Fukita 1993 full Skt), SF 28 (Fukita 1982), SF 33 (Fukita 1987b), SF 29 (Fukita 1985a), SF 296 (Wille 2006: 98, 94, 144), SF 30 (Fukita 1985b), SF 34 (Sukita 1988a), SF 56 (Hartmann 1991:198-216), SF 31 (Fukita 1987a), Uighur fragment (Shōgaito 1998:375-378). Source: https://suttacentral.net/. 11 See A miraculous life of the Buddha, SD 52.1. 130 http://dharmafarer.org D 14 ▪ Mahāpadāna Sutta Sutta Notes completes the Buddha’s journey in all samsara, as he has never visited Suddh’āvāsa (a realm inhabited only by non-returners). [13] 1.0.3 Episodes and chapters The Mahā,padāna Sutta is divided, by episodes or sets of episodes, in 9 chapters and the conclusion, as follows: Title Highlights References THE 1ST TEACHING: Chapter 1: The past lives chapter12 (1) The 7 buddhas; (2) Vipassī; (3) dhamma,dhātu §§1.1-1.16 THE 2ND TEACHING: Life of Vipassī Chapter 2: The bodhisattva chapter The buddha’s birth: its nature and related events §§1.17-1.32 Chapter 3: The destiny chapter The 2 destinies; the great man and his marks §§1.33-1.42 Chapter 4: The quest chapter The 4 signs; renunciation §§2.1-2.17 Chapter 5: The awakening chapter Vipassī’s awakening; key teachings §§2.18-2.22 Chapter 6: The “hesitation” chapter Reflection of the Dharma and teaching it §§3.1-3.11 Chapter 7: The teaching chapter The 2 chief disciples; the 3 communities §§3.12-3.26 Chapter 8: The sangha chapter The great commission; ovāda pātimokkha §§3.27-3.33 THE 3RD TEACHING: Chapter 9: The Suddh’āvāsa chapter The devas’ witness; the past buddhas §§3.34-3.45 Conclusion: The dharma-element Dhamma,dhātu and the buddha’s knowledge §§3.46-3.47 1.0.4 Chapter summaries 1 THE “7 BUDDHAS” CHAPTER [§1.1-1.15] 1.0.4.1 This Chapter opens with Chapter 1, on the 7 buddhas— Vipassī, Sikhī, Vessabhū, Kakusan- dha, Koṇāgamana, Kassapa, and Gotama—this is the “1st teaching” [1.0.4.2]. The Buddha recounts the lives of the past 6 buddhas and of his own [8.2.4], telling them about their epochs; their social classes [§1.5]; their clans [§1.6]; their lifespans [§1.7]; their bodhi trees [§1.8]; their pairs of chief disciples [§1.9]; their assemblies [§1.10]; their foremost monk attendant [§1.11]; their parents and their royal cities [§1.12]. [8.2.5; 10.2.1] 2 THE BODHISATTVA CHAPTER [§§1.16-1.32] 1.0.4.2 Then follows the beginning of the “2nd teaching,” dealing with a summary of information on Vipassī [1.16].