Buddhist values in the P!li J!takas, with particular reference to the theme of renunciation Justin Meiland Linacre College Oxford University Thesis submitted for Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil) Trinity term 2003 Acknowledgements I am extremely thankful for the encouragement and advice given to me by my supervisor, Richard Gombrich, who has always urged me to have conviction in my work and allowed me the freedom to follow my interests. I am enormously grateful to Louise Nelstrop for her immeasurable support over the last four years and her tireless help with proofreading. Her generosity and kindness has been overwhelming. Thanks must also go to William Pruitt for his generous help with proofreading. I would especially like to thank my parents for their support throughout my education and these last four years of research. Without their love, this thesis would never have been written. Finally, I would like to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Board for funding my research. i Abbreviations All P!li texts cited are P!li Text Society editions, unless otherwise stated. For the J!takas, I use the P!li Text Society edition by Fausbøll (1877-1896), although I also refer to the Cha""hasa#g!yana for variant readings. For the Mah!bh!rata and R!m!ya$a, I use the Poona and Baroda critical editions respectively, unless otherwise stated. All translations of the J!takas are my own, except for the Vessantara J!taka, for which I use Margaret Cone’s translation in Cone and Gombrich 1977. I also cite (with occasional alterations) the Princeton translations of the R!m!ya$a by Goldman (1984), Goldman and Goldman (1996), Lefeber (1994) and Pollock (1986, 1991). A A#guttara-nik!ya Bv Buddhava%sa Cp Cariy!-pi"aka Cp-a Cariy!-pi"aka-a""hakath! D D&gha-nik!ya DP A dictionary of P!li: Part I a-kh by Margaret Cone (2001) Dhp-a Dhammapada-a""hakath! J J!taka (meaning the verses and the a""hava$$an!) M Majjhima-nik!ya Mbh Mah!bh!rata MJ M!ta#ga J!taka Mld Milindapañha Mp Manorathap'ra$& (A#guttara-nik!ya-a""hakath!) Nidd-a Niddesa-a""hakath! Pa†i-a Pa"isambhid!magga-a""hakath! ii PED The P!li Text Society’s P!li-English Dictionary by T.W. Rhys Davids and W. Stede (1921-5) Pj I Paramatthajotik! I (Khuddakap!"ha-a""hakath!) Pj II Paramatthajotik! II (Suttanip!ta-a""hakath!) Ps Papañcas#dan$ (Majjhima-nik!ya-a""hakath!) PTS P!li Text Society R!m R!m!ya%a S Sa&yutta-nik!ya SJ Sambul! J!taka Sn Suttanip!ta Spk S!ratthappak!sin$ (Sa&yutta-nik!ya-a""hakath!) Sv Suma'galavil!sin$ (D$gha-nik!ya-a""hakath!). ThG-a Therag!th!-a""hakath! Utt Uttarajjh!yana VJ Vessantara J!taka Vin Vinaya Vism Visuddhimagga YA Yasodhar! Apad!na iii Contents Acknowledgements i Abbreviations ii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Aims of the thesis 1 1.2 Background to the Jåtakas 2 1.3 The character and development of the Jåtakas 6 1.4 Reading the Jåtakas as narrative 15 1.5 The Jåtakas and non-Buddhist narrative traditions 21 1.6 Renunciation in the Jåtakas 26 1.7 Summary of chapters 33 Chapter 2: Gods and ascetics 35 2.1 Introduction 35 2.2 Gods and ascetics in Hindu myth 37 2.3 The anti-ascetic Sakka 41 2.3.1 The epics 41 2.3.2 The Jåtakas 45 2.4 The pro-ascetic Sakka 49 2.4.1 The Jåtakas 49 2.4.2 The epics 55 2.5 Daiva and karma 56 2.5.1 The triumph of human effort 56 2.5.2 Asceticism and divine happiness 62 2.5.3 The problem of divine boons 68 2.6 Fighting for the dhamma: Remaining aspects of the post-Vedic Indra 73 Chapter 3: Brahmins and ascetics 80 3.1 The portrayal of brahmins in the Jåtakas 80 3.2 The plot of the Måta©ga Jåtaka 83 3.2.1 The story of the present 83 3.2.2 The story of the past 84 3.2.2.1 Section one 84 3.2.2.2 Section two 85 3.2.2.3 Section three 86 3.2.2.4 Section four 86 3.2.3 The samodhåna 87 3.3 Pi!"olabhåradvåja and Måta©ga 87 3.4 Humiliating brahmins 89 3.4.1 Weddings and piggy-backs 89 3.4.2 Impersonating Brahmå 90 3.4.3 The brahmin outcaste 91 3.4.4 Leftovers 94 3.4.5 Toothsticks and matted hair 96 3.5 Wrathful asceticism 97 3.6 Taming and devotion 105 3.7 Taming from the outside 107 Chapter 4: Dåna: Individualist and relational giving 111 4.1 Introduction 111 4.2 Some exegetical analyses of dåna 112 4.2.1 Påramª, upapåramª and paramatthapåramª 112 4.2.2 Internal and external gifts 114 4.2.3 Giving and giving to 116 4.3 The donor 117 4.3.1 Giving as renunciation 117 4.3.2 The fruit of dåna 120 4.3.3 Giving as soteriological 125 4.3.4 Sacrifice 132 4.3.4.1 Giving as sacrifice 132 4.3.4.2 Individualist and relational sacrifice 136 4.3.5 Individualist giving and self-mortification 139 4.3.6 The independent donor 145 4.4 The recipient 148 4.4.1 Discriminatory giving 148 4.4.2 What makes an ideal recipient? 152 4.4.3 The ideal consumer 154 4.4.4 The danger in the gift 157 4.4.5 Restricted or personalised exchange 162 Chapter 5: Intimacy and devotion 168 5.1 Introduction 168 5.2 Giving through friendship 168 5.3 Devotion 173 5.3.1 Sacrificing oneself for one’s dependents 174 5.3.1.1 The Mahåkapi Jåtaka 174 5.3.1.2 The Nigrodhamiga Jåtaka 177 5.3.2 Sacrificing oneself for a superior 179 5.3.2.1 The Cullahaµsa Jåtaka 180 5.3.2.2 The Ummadantª Jåtaka 186 5.4. The Sambulå Jåtaka 190 5.4.1 The story of the present 191 5.4.2 The story of the past 192 5.4.3 The Sambulå Jåtaka and the Råmåya!a 194 Chapter 6: The Vessantara Jåtaka: Sacrificing one’s family for Buddhahood 203 6.1 Introduction 203 6.2 Opposing family and asceticism 204 6.2.1 The Mahåjanaka Jåtaka 204 6.2.2 The Sonaka Jåtaka 210 6.2.3 Dªghåvu and Maddª 212 6.3 Assimilating family and asceticism: The Sonananda Jåtaka 214 6.4 The Vessantara Jåtaka 216 6.4.1 Vessantara and individualist giving 216 6.4.2 The Vessantara Jåtaka and the Cariyåpi†aka-a††hakathå 221 6.4.3 Two ethics 222 6.4.4 Worshipping Vessantara 224 6.4.5 Renunciation and family love 228 6.4.6 The children 230 6.4.7 The willing gift 234 6.4.8 Turning to Maddª 236 6.4.9 Returning to relationships 241 6.4.10 Sacrificing oneself and one’s children for the Bodhisatta 244 6.4.11 Separation and reunion 248 6.5 The Vessantara Jåtaka and the Buddha’s life 253 Chapter 7: The Vessantara Jåtaka and the Råmåya!a 259 7.1 Background 259 7.2 Style and language 270 7.3 The Vessantara Jåtaka and the Ara!ya Kå!"a 271 7.3.1 The abduction scenes 273 7.3.2 The madness scenes 276 7.4 Comparing types of epic hero and heroine 280 7.4.1 The social hero and the quiescent hero 281 7.4.2 The renunciate hero and the martial hero 286 7.4.3 The hero as refuge 295 7.4.4 The devoted heroine 298 Concluding remarks 304 Appendix A: Linguistic correspondences between the Jåtakas and the Råmåya!a 308 Bibliography 321 Chapter 1 Introduction In the study of Hinduism, it would hardly be novel to insist on the fact that narratives are just as important as doctrinal or philosophical texts to our understanding of its intellectual history, as well as of its cultural and religious history more generally. […] In the study of Buddhism, however, this suggestion might still appear to be something new. Steven Collins 1998:121. 1.1 Aims of the thesis This thesis sets out to explore the theme of renunciation in the Jåtakas, or in Påli the Jåtaka††hava!!anå, one of the largest and most important collections of story literature in Theravåda Buddhism. Literally meaning ‘birth stories’, jåtakas are narratives that depict the past lives of the Buddha when he was still a Bodhisatta (‘one who aspires to awakening’) or Mahåsatta (‘great being’).1 Despite the vast popularity of the Jåtakas in Theravåda Buddhism, as well as the quantity and diversity of their material, the thematic content of this corpus of texts has largely been neglected. Indeed, the paucity of thematically based research on the Jåtakas reflects a general tendency in academia to overlook the importance of narrative texts as sources on Buddhist values. The present thesis hopes to contribute towards redressing this academic lacuna. The focus of the thesis is on the theme of renunciation in the Jåtakas and, in particular, on how renunciate values relate to the conventional world. Scholars have often noted that Buddhist renunciates have an ambiguous relationship with the society that they renounce, one that involves both conflict and unity. This thesis aims to explore that relationship 1 Bodhi-satta is the same as Sanskrit bodhi-sakta. Buddhist Sanskrit texts, however, use the term bodhi- sattva (‘enlightenment being’), which appears to be a wrong back formation from the Prakrit.