e is like the English long a, as in make.
i is pronounced as in machine.
o is pronounced as in vote.
u is pronounced like the English oo sound, as in moon.
A macron over a vowel, such as ā or ū, does not change the intrinsic sound, but indicates that the sound is to be held longer.
Consonants:
Mostly as in English. Exceptions to note:
c is pronounced like the English ch as in chop.
v is pronounced like a soft English w, as in week.
ñ is pronounced as in canyon.
ṃ is the pure nasal sound, close to the English ng as in song.
A dot under other consonants indicates that it is a “retroflex” sound, meaning that the tip of the tongue is held back against the hard palate. This refinement can be safely ignored for a first approximation at sounding out the words.
h following another consonant, e.g. kh, th, bh etc. is not to be read as a separate letter but indicates that the preceding consonant is “aspirated” meaning that it is pronounced with a breath of air making it softer.
Doubled consonants are always pronounced separately and distinctly, as the t’s in the English phrase hot tar.
0:10 ABOUT THE SOURCES USED IN THIS BOOK
This book is based for the most part on primary sources; particularly the Pali canon and commentaries.
The Pali Canon
The collection of texts known as the Pali Canon represents the most complete version of early Buddhist teachings still extant. They are divided into three piṭakas (“baskets”): the Sutta Piṭaka which is the record of the Buddha’s discourses, the Vinaya Piṭaka which contains the rules and legal procedures for the bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs (monks and nuns) and the Abhidhamma Piṭaka which is a collection of technical and psychological teachings written in dry and precise language. The sources for this book are mostly found in the Sutta Piṭaka but the other two piṭakas have been cited where needed. The Sutta Piṭaka is divided into five nikāyas: the Dīgha, Majjhima, Saṃyutta, Aṅguttara and Khuddaka Nikāya. The first four of these are sometimes referred to as the “principal nikāyas.” The Khuddaka Nikāya is a miscellany of mostly short books, some of which are certainly late additions.
Some of the principal texts of the sutta piṭaka which have especial interest in the study of Buddhist cosmology are:
Dīgha Nikāya 26 & 27, the Aggañña and Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda suttas which deal with cosmic time; origins, evolution and destruction.
Dīgha Nikāya 20, the Mahāsamaya Sutta recounts a visit of many devas and brahmās to the Buddha and includes a long list of their names. DN 32 is similar.
Dīgha Nikāya 18 recounts a visit of a brahmā being to the deva world.
Aṅguttara Nikāya 7:66 which deals with the end of the world-system
Aṅguttara Nikāya 3: 81 which is the best canonical description of the multiple world-systems
The Saṃyutta Nikāya has several sections dealing with specific types of beings; Devas (SN 1), Brahmās (6), Yakkhas (10), Nāgas (29), Supaṇṇas (30) and Gandhabbas (31)
The Majjhima Nikāya includes a few suttas with narrative portions relating to various aspects of the cosmological background. For example, MN 50 is a very interesting encounter between Māra and Moggallāna and MN 37 one between Moggallāna and Sakka.
This list is very incomplete but should be sufficient to demonstrate that the basic framework of the cosmology is found in the canon itself, even if many details are added by the commentaries.
The Commentaries—Aṭṭhakathā
The commentaries (aṭṭhakathā) are adjuncts to the canonical texts which serve to explain and expand on the original material. In part, they consist of word definitions which are often extremely useful for translating doubtful passages. More importantly for our purposes, the commentaries contain a wealth of stories full of fascinating detail. The commentaries to the first four nikāyas (Dīgha, Majjhima, Aṅguttara and Saṃyutta) are the work of Buddhaghosa,10 a great scholar of the early fifth century A.D. Buddhaghosa, a North Indian, worked in Sri Lanka. There he found old commentaries (now lost) written in the Sinhalese language although based on Pali sources which were no longer extant. These he translated into Pali, collated and edited. We have no way of knowing how much of the commentaries we have are true reflections of the lost old commentaries from immediately after the Buddha’s time, and how much represent Buddhaghosa’s editorial license. Buddhaghosa appears to have been a careful and conservative scholar and it is doubtful therefore that he invented much of this material. All we can say for certain is that the commentaries became the orthodox position of Theravāda in later times, and that they incorporate much older material.
Buddhaghosa also produced a masterful summary of the teachings in the Visuddhimagga, a work principally dealing with meditation but which includes significant cosmological details and is often cited in this book.
Four texts of the Khuddaka Nikāya are of particular interest for the themes of this book; the Jātakas, the Dhammapada, the Vimānavatthu and the Petavatthu. The canonical parts of these four books are entirely in verse to which the commentaries have appended stories. The Jātaka and Dhammapada commentaries were among those composed by Buddhaghosa, those of the Vimānavatthu and the Petavatthu were produced by another great scholar, Dhammapāla, who lived some time after Buddhaghosa, probably in the seventh century A.D. The canonical verses of these four books are sometimes very cryptic and the stories are skilfully woven around them. The Jātakas are stories of the Buddha’s previous births. The Dhammapada stories cover many topics and are used to illustrate various points of Dhamma raised by the verses. The Vimānavatthu stories are all about the deva realms, mostly descriptions of the pleasures of Tāvatiṃsa. The Petavatthu stories concern beings in the Peta realm (ghosts). Although these stories were composed quite late, they incorporate much older material. In the case of the Jātakas, some of the stories show signs of being Buddhist reworks of very old pre-Buddhist tales.
The Subcommentaries—Ṭīkā
Dhammapāla is also credited with composing a set of subcommentaries to Buddhaghosa’s commentaries, known as the ṭīkā. I have not cited the ṭīkā very often in this book, because they represent late texts which stretch the already broad chronological framework of the cosmological view presented. In some cases they provide invaluable clarification to obscure passages in the primary text or the commentary, and in a very few instances long passages from the ṭīkā have been judged worth reproducing because of their intrinsic interest and the wealth of detail they provide.
The Abhidharmakośa
I have not been able to avoid using one source outside the Pali texts and that is the Abhidharmakośa, this Sanskrit text was composed by Vasubandhu, who lived in the fourth century C.E., and was therefore roughly contemporary with Buddhaghosa. It consists of two parts, first a text entirely in verse, the Abhidharmakośakārikā, and then a little later Vasubandhu’s own prose commentary on the verses, the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. Vasubandhu represents a transitional figure in Buddhism. The Abhidharmakośa is generally considered a text of the Sarvāstivāda School, one of the original eighteen schools of original Buddhism and doctrinally not far from the Theravāda. However, already in the prose commentary there are other influences present, particularly of the Sautrāntika School. Later in his life Vasubandhu converted to Mahāyāna and together with his brother Asaṅga founded the Yogācāra School. It is the prose commentary that I have mostly used here.11
It was not really possible to omit using this text even though it is somewhat outside the purview of the Theravāda. Vasubandhu presented a more systematically developed cosmological framework in the Abhidharmakośa than anything found in the Pali sources and can often help clarify the picture. The Abhidharmakośa does, however, sometimes diverge from the Theravāda system and these differences are indicated where necessary in the relevant places of this book. I have used exclusively the translation by Louis De La
Valleé Poussin and Leo M. Pruden.
Important Secondary Sources
Two reference works were invaluable for the composition of this book.
The Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, G.P. Malalasekera, originally published by the Pali Text Society in 1938. This is an astonishing piece of scholarship, listing almost every proper name in the canon and commentaries together with sometimes lengthy synopses of the relevant sources together with references. It includes persons and places as well as notes on some of the classes of beings such as nāgas, supaṇṇas, the various kinds of devas etc. This is all the more impressive because it was composed before the invention of computers.
The Pali texts themselves were from the digitized canon produced by the Vipassana Research Institute: http://www.tipitaka.org. They were accessed via the Digital Pali Reader of Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu.
OVERVIEW
The textual basis of this book represents the nearly one thousand year span between the the time of the Buddha and that of Buddhaghosa and Vasubandhu with a little added clarification from the time of Dhammapāla.. The picture presented here is the view of the universe and its inhabitants held by Buddhists of that period. This picture remained substantially unchanged until the impact of modern science. In most of the Buddhist world this was not until the nineteenth century. It is hoped the reader will be able to suspend the use of hindsight and immerse himself in the perceptual world of those times.
0:11 ABBREVIATIONS
The following abbreviations are used in the notes. Numbering indicates the chapter and sutta and follows the Burmese recension. Where this differs from the numbers used in the most commonly accessible English translations, the numbers in the translation are given in brackets as (Eng. x, y). Numbers in references to the commentaries follow the chapter numbers in the main text, not in the commentary itself.
References to the Abhidharmakośa always include chapter and section number as well as page reference to the Asian Humanities Press edition of Poussin and Pruden’s translation.
§ this mark indicates an internal reference to another section of this book.
-a after another abbreviation; indicates the Aṭṭhakātha or commentary.
AENV The All-Embracing Net of Views, (Brahmajāla Commentary) tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi
AK Abhidharmakośa. English translation by Poussin and Pruden.
AN Aṅguttara Nikāya; English translation: NDB
Ap Apadāna
Abhidh-s Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha; English translation: CMA
BPS Buddhist Publication Society
Bv Buddhavaṃsa
CDB Connected Discourses of the Buddha, tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi
Ch Chapter
CMA A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma, tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi.
Cv Cūḷavagga (Vinaya)
Dhp Dhammapada
Dhs Dhammasaṅgaṇī (Abhidhamma)
DN Dīgha Nikāya, sutta number; English translation: LDB.
DN-a Dīgha Commentary; the Sumangalavilāsanī
DPPN Dictionary of Pali Proper Names
eng English; in footnotes refers to the English translation.
GGB The Great Chronicle of Buddhas
It Itivuttaka
Jāt Jātaka Commentary, story number, English translation, PTS edition, E.B. Cowell, editor.
Khp Khuddakapāṭha
Kv Kathāvatthu
LDB Long Discourses of the Buddha, tr. Maurice Walshe.
Mil Milindapañha, English translation: I.B. Horner, PTS.
MLDB Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi.
MN Majjhima Nikāya; English translation: MLDB.
MN-a Majjhima Commentary; the Papañcasūdanī
Mv Mahāvagga
Nidd Niddesa
-nid Nidānakathā; following another abbreviation refers to the introductory section of a text.
NDB Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, tr. Bhikkhu Bodhi
Pāc Pācittiya (section of Vinaya Suttavibhaṅga)
Pār Pārājika (section of Vinaya Suttavibhaṅga)
PED Pali Text Society’s Pali-English Dictionary
Pp Puggalapaññatti
PTS Pali Text Society
Pv Petavatthu
Sd Saṅghādisesa (section of SV)
Skt Sanskrit
SN Saṃyutta Nikāya; English translation: CDB
SN-a Saṃyutta Commentary; the Sāratthappakāsinī
Sn Suttanipāta
Sn-a Suttanipāta commentary; the Paramatthajotikā
Vin-a Samantapāsādikā, the Vinaya Commentary
-ṭ after another abbreviation; indicates the Ṭīkā or sub-commentary.
Th Theragāthā
Thī Therīgāthā
Ud Udāna
Ud-a Udāna Commentary
Vibh Vibhaṅga (Abhidhamma)
Vibh-a Vibhaṅga Commentary, the Atthasālinī
Vin Vinaya
Vism Visuddhimagga
Vism-mhṭ Visuddhimagga Commentary; the Paramatthamañjūsā
Vv Vimānavatthu
Part One—Cosmic Space
1:1 THE BUDDHIST COSMOS
The primary realities in Buddhism are saṃsāra and nibbāna.12 Saṃsāra consists of conditioned (saṅkhata) phenomena and nibbāna is the unconditioned (asaṅkhata). Of nibbāna this book will have comparatively little to say.13 The entire cosmos, from top to bottom, encompassing all its fascinating and terrifying variety, is saṃsāra. It is the arena of all manifestation, action (kamma) and result of action (vipāka). It is dependently arisen, contingent, imperfect, and all forms within it are impermanent and subject to change and dissolution. Every realm, every being, every formation (saṅkhāra) is marked by the three characteristics of imperfection (dukkha), impermanence (anicca) and emptiness of any self-essence (anattā). Saṃsāra is suffering and change and it is all, in the last analysis, void.
The noun saṃsāra is derived from the verb saṃsarati, “to move about continuously, to come again and again.”14 This is the essence of the idea of saṃsāra, that all the beings in the cosmos are continually engaged in endless transformation and movement. There is no real satisfaction to be found anywhere within it, all this “faring on” is ultimately pointless. The goal of Buddhism is not found anywhere within these fantastically multiplied struggles and changes, but in making an end of it all and finding the ultimate peace and quiescence of nibbāna.
Saṃsāra is the cosmos; it encompasses the entirety of conditioned existence from the lowest to the highest realms of being. An important theme to grasp, and one often spoken about by the Buddha, is the incomprehensible vastness of saṃsāra:
Bhikkhus, the beginning of this saṃsāra cannot be known. Suppose a man were to gather all the grass, sticks and branches in this continent of Jambudīpa and, having cut them into four inch pieces and placed them in a single heap, were to put them aside one by one, counting “This is my mother, this is my mother’s mother, this is her mother …” That man would exhaust his pile of sticks before he reached the beginning of this saṃsāra. Why is this? It is because the beginning of this saṃsāra is not to be known. The first point of beings, wandering and passing from existence to existence (saṃsarati), obstructed by ignorance and bound by craving, is unknowable. For such a long time, bhikkhus, have you endured suffering, pain and misery, filling up the cemeteries (SN 15:1).
For such a long time have you wandered and passed from existence to existence that the streams of blood flowing from having your head cut off is greater than the volume of water in the four great oceans. In this long time, bhikkhus, you have existed as cows, oxen, goats, sheep, chickens or pigs and had your head cut off. In this long time, you have existed as robbers and thieves and being taken, had your head cut off. (SN 15:13).
The beginning of this saṃsāra is not to known. It is not easy to find a being who in this great long time has not previously been your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, your son or your daughter. For such a long time, bhikkhus, have you endu
red suffering, pain and misery, filling up the cemeteries. Enough! Develop weariness (nibbindati) with all formations. Enough! Become dispassionate towards them. Enough! Become liberated from them. (SN 15:14 f.)
These quotations demonstrate that the problem of saṃsāra is not just a personal one. It is intrinsic to the nature of the cosmos. While the solution to suffering is personal (ajjhatta—“internal”), suffering itself is universal (bahiddha—“external”). We could say, without exaggeration, that all of manifest reality is a kind of dysfunction. The study of the cosmos is in essence a study of the First Noble Truth, the truth of dukkha or suffering. The Buddha enjoined us to comprehend the truth of dukkha (SN 56:11) and this means understanding saṃsāra. In this book we will be examining this reality in terms of the way the ancient Buddhists of India understood it. We need to begin by setting the stage, so to speak, and describing the physical arena in which the great cosmic drama of saṃsāra is played out.
1:2 THE FOUR GREAT ELEMENTS
Before we begin considering the details of the material universe, it may be useful to consider at least briefly the underlying physics on which it is based, according to the ancient Buddhist texts. The basic building blocks of matter are the four great elements (mahābhutā). These are earth (paṭhavī), water (āpo), air, or more correctly wind (vāyo), and fire (tejo). To these are sometimes added space (ākāsa15 ) and consciousness (viññāṇa) to make a list of six elements (DN 3).
The system of four or five elements (with space) is not unique to Buddhism and in fact predates it by many centuries. For example, the Taittirīyaka Upanishad states:
From that Self (Brahman) sprang ether (ākāsa, that through which we hear); from ether air (that through which we hear and feel); from air fire (that through which we hear, feel, and see); from fire water (that through which we hear, feel, see, and taste); from water earth (that through which we hear, feel, see, taste, and smell). From earth herbs, from herbs food, from food seed, from seed man. Man thus consists of the essence of food.16
The Buddhist Cosmos Page 3