dfotittell Hiifemitg ptavg THE GIFT OF Au^ A.:AfHC^M iM^mUtfL 6896-3 Cornell University Library BL 1411.D5B36 1878 Texls from the B««'''*''s{,,?i}|)ffli|JM^|?iTj 3 1924 023 164 423 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023164423 THE ENGLISH AND FOREIGN PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY. VOLUME XII. TEXTS THj^BUDDHIST CANON, COMMONLY KNOWN AS DHAMMAPADA, WITH ACCOMPANYING NARRATIVES. SCransIatEli from tj&e (Tfjtnege ;(" '; SAMXJEL EEAL (b.a. tbin. coll. oamb.) PROFESSOR OF CHINESE, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. ^" BOSTON: HOUGHTON, OSGOOD, & COMPANY. 1878. ^.&s^^63v DEDICA TED TO HIS EXCELLENCY, IWAKURA TOMOMI, IN RECOGNITION OF HIS LIBERALITY IN PROCURING FOR THE LIBRARY OF THE INDIA OFFICE A COMPLETE COPY OF THE BUDDHIST TRIPlTAKA IN THE CHINESE LANGUAGE, FROM ONE VOLUME OF WHICH I Wt^z foIIflJnins Cranslatton HAS BEEN PREPARED. CONTENTS. INTBODUOTORY REMAEKS viii CONTENTS. INTEODUCTOEY EEMAEKS. Dhammapada (which, according to the Chinese Gloss, may be rendered " Scriptural Texts " or " Verses ") is a work of much importance in the study of Buddhism. It contains, as its title signifies, authentic Texts gathered from ancient canonical books—and these Texts are gener- ally connected with some incident or other in the His- tory of Buddha, helping to illustrate everyday life in India at the time when they were written, as well- as the method of teaching adopted by the Founder of this remarkable Religion. Not only does the general tone pervading these verses illustrate the spirit of Buddha's doctrine,! but by a, critical examination of particular passages, we are enabled to solve some of the difficul- ties which always attend the interpretation of words and phrases used in a religious sense. We already possess two translations of this work from the PaU,—one by V. Fausboll (1855), the other by Max MiiUer (1870)2— and in addition to these there are the criticisms of Mr. James D'Alwis and the late Professor Childers on the latter translation—so that for all necessary- purposes we have ^ Mr. Spence Hardy has observed ' Mr. Gogerly has also translated- that a collection might be made from 350 verses of Dhammapada (out of the prec^ts of this work, that in the 423).—Spence Hardy, "B. M." p. 28. purity of its ethics could scarcely [A. Weber's German translation ap- be equalled from any other heathen peaied in i3&o.] author.—"Eastern Monachism," 169 A 2 INTROD UCTOR Y REMARKS. sufficient material before us for a correct knowledge of tlie work in question. I should not under these circumstances have undertaken to produce another translation bearing the same title, but for the fact that no copy of Dhammapada, has hitherto been known to exist in China. It has been my good fortune to have had brought under my imme- diate examination the great body of books comprising the Chinese Buddhist Canon. Amongst these I found tfcere were four copies of a work bearing the title of "Law verses" or " Scriptural texts," which on examination were seen to resemble the Pali version of Dhammapada in many pa,r- ticulars. Supposing that some knowledge of these books would be acceptable to the student, I have undertaken the translation l of the siinplest of them, and with such notices of the other copies as are suggested by a brief comparison of them one with the other, I now offer my book for candid consideration. It may here be stated, in order literal translation of the Chinese to disarm unfriendly criticism, that Text, bnt only such an abstract of it I do not profess to have produced a as seemed necessary for my purpose. PEEFACE CHINESE VERSION OF DHAMMAPADA. There are four principal copies of Dhammapada in Chinese. The first, approaching most nearly to the P§,li, was made by a Shaman " Wei-chi-lan " (and oth'ers), who lived during the Wu dynasty, about the beginning of the third century of the Christian era. As this is the earliest version, we will consider it first. The title by which it is known is Fa-Tcheu-King^ that is, " The Sutra of Law Verses." The symbol kluu (*&]) <ioes not necessarily mean " a verse," but is applied " " to any sentence or phrase : the rendering Law texts or " Scripture texts " would therefore be more correct were it not that in the Preface to this work the symbol is explained by " Gkthk," which is stated by Clulders {sub voce) to mean " a verse or stanza," or generally " a gloka or anushtubh stanza." Nothing can be more precise than the language of the Chinese Preface (to which I have alluded in the "Report on the Catalogue of the Chinese Tripitaka," p. 113), in which it is stated that the work we are considering is the " Tan-po-kee," ^ §^ ^§, which can only be restored to Dharmaga- th§,padam, and as gElthapadam is used for "a stanza," we come back to the meaning of " Scripture, or Law- ' In the Encyclopcedia "CM-yuen- as "Fa.-tsah," i.e., "Scriptural Mis- fa-pao-kh^n-tung-tsung-lu" (Kiouen Cillanies." xi, foL V), tliis work is also quoted : 4 INTRODUCTION. stanzas." Of course, the Chinese affords no assistance in solving the question " whether ' pada/ in the singular, can ever mean a collection of verses,"! and the other difficulties attaching to the correct rendering of this word from the P§,li ; but as an independent testimony to the sense of the expression " Dhammapada," as it was understood by the old translators in China, it may be of value.2 The Preface further explains that these verses are "choice selections from aU. the Siitras," which agrees with what we kn6w from actual comparison, as also from the testimony of indepen- dent writers.3 The Chinese Sutras, e.g., contain many pas- sages found in Dhammapada—compare the following, p. 49 " As the bee collects nectar and departs without injuring the flower or its colour and scent, so let the sage dwell upon earth," with Catena, p. 150, "As the butterfly alights on the flower and destroys not its form or its sweetness, but takes a sip and then departs, so the mendicant follower of Buddha (sage) takes not nor hurts another's possessions." And the stanza following this (N"o. 50) is but a part of the same traditional record as coming -from a former Buddha {Wcssallid) : "Not the failure of others, nor their sins of commission or omission, but his own misdeeds and negligences should the sage take notice of" So in the Chinese " : He observes not another man's actions or omissions, looks only to his own behaviour and conduct." (Op. cit, p. 159.) Again, let us compare v. 183 with the Chinese record of Konagamana Buddha (Catena, 159), 1 But we must rememter the re- deuj.—" JuL M^thode," p. 71), where mark of the translator of " Sutta "pada" is equal to the Chinese Nip&ta," that in old PaU works the "tsi," which means "a trace," or singular is frequently used for the "footstep." (For other example's vide plural.—"Sutta NipMa," hf Sir N. the Chinese version of the "Lotus " Coom&ra Swami. Introd. xix. (Trub- compared with that by Eurnouf, p. ^^^l^Go.) 155. Also "Jul. Hiouen Thsang," ' It may be as well to state, how- iii. p. 498, &c.) ever, that the word "pada Is in ' " vari- Mr. James D'Alwis, for example ous compounds rendered by "traces," in his "Eeview of Max MiiUer's or "vestigia," in the Chinese, such, Dhammapada," pp. 92, 93 ss. and for example, as in the word " Kari- elsewhere. ' ' padadeva " [elephantis vestigia habens INTRODUCTION. 5 " Not to commit any sin, to do good, and to purify one's mind, this is the teaching of the Awakened ; " the Chinese is, " Practising no evil way, advancing in the exercise of virtue, purifying both mind and will, this is the doctrine of aU the Buddhas." Again, stanza 2 14 in the Pali is this, " From lust comes grief, from lust comes fear, he who is free from lust knows neither grief nor fear." This is evidently the same as the testimony of K§,syapa Buddha, " A man from lust engenders sorrow, and from sorrow guilty fear ; banish lust and there will be no sorrow, and if no sorrow then no guilty fear." {Catena, p. 200.) Without quoting further at length, we will simply note a few other agreements, e.g., compare stanza 239 with Catena, p. 201, § 34; stanza 281 with the record of K§,syapa {Catena, 159); stanza 292 with p. 264 {op. cit.) ; stanza 372 with p. 247 {op. cit.) ; and in many other cases. But perhaps the most curious agreement is to be found in various stanzas which occur in the Chinese version of the " Lank^vatara Sutra," which was translated into Chinese by a priest Gunabhadra, early in the Sung dynasty {Cire. 420 A.D.). Of these I shall only select one as throwing some light on a difficult verse in the Pali ; I refer to vv. 294, 295, which run thus: "A true Brahmaua, though he has lolled father and mother and two valiant kings, though he has destroyed a kingdom with all its subjects, is free from guUt." "A true Brahmana, though he has kiUed father and mother and two holy kings, and even a fifth man, is free from guilt." With respect to these verses, both Professor Max Miiller and Professor Childers are inclined to regard them as showing that a truly holy man who commits such sins as those specified is nevertheless guiltless.