The Buddhist Cosmos

by Punnadhammo Mahathero

  The other reference is from the Brahmanimantanika Sutta, (MN 49) the story of Baka the Brahmā which we will treat more fully below (§ 3:6,11). In this context, we are only concerned with the episode where Baka, possessed of a false view of his own cosmic importance, is trying to convince the Buddha that he should worship him:

  (One of Baka’s subordinate brahmās, possessed by Māra, was speaking to the Buddha), “Before you, bhikkhu, there were samaṇas and brahmins who found fault with and criticized earth, water, fire, air, beings, devas, Pajāpati and Brahmā and after death they all took a lower rebirth. There were those who praised and delighted in earth, water, fire, air, beings, devas, Pajāpati and Brahmā and after death they all took a higher rebirth.”

  This is an abbreviated form of the list from the Mūlapariyāya Sutta: once again Pajāpati is included along with Brahmā somewhat in the sense of a generic deva.

  Varuṇa is a very common name in the sources. The DPPN has listings for eighteen beings named Varuṇa, including the deva. Two of the other Varuṇas are of interest here, in that there may be some remote connection to the deva. The two chief disciples of Revata Buddha were named Varuṇa and Brahmadeva.615 The names linking two powerful deities are at least interesting, and may or may not have any original connection with the gods.

  The other reference is from the Ghaṭa Jātaka, (Jāt 454) which is a curious tale that certainly has very old pre-Buddhist origins. A princess named Devagabbhā (“Womb of the Devas”) gives birth to ten sons by a father named Upasāgara (“Upon the Sea”). Most of these sons have names associated with deities; they are, in order of birth, Vāsudeva, Baladeva, Candādeva, Suriyadeva, Aggideva, Varuṇadeva, Ajjuna, Pajjuna, Ghaṭapaṇḍita and Aṅkuro. Vāsudeva is sometimes addressed as Kaṇha, the Pali form of Krishna. Bala and Ajjuna (Sanskrit Arjuna) are also characters from the Krishna stories. Aggi is the god of fire. These ten brothers were raised in secret by a servant so became known as the Ten Slave Brothers and were powerful heroes of the type seen in the early heroic age mythologies of many countries. In other words, they were not of a high moral character, following a career of robbery and conquest until they ruled all India, with various magical encounters along the way. The brothers came to a bad end, dying by violence mostly at each others hands. The whole story is not very Buddhist in tone and has more of the feel of an adventure tale from the early days of the Aryan conquest.616

  There is one ambiguous reference that may indicate that Varuṇa sometimes possessed people, perhaps in the capacity of a shamanic seer. In the Vessantara Jātaka (Jāt 547) when Queen Maddi is distraught over the loss of her children it is said that she trembled like a vāruṇī which the commentary explains is a sorceress (ikkhaṇikā) possessed by the yakkha. This is very little to base any conclusions on, but there is a resemblance here to the Delphic Oracle of Greece who was possessed by the god Apollo, who resembles the Vedic Varuṇa in that they are both rational and lawful gods in pantheons otherwise full of warrior types.

  Other than what has already been discussed, there seems to be no other references to Īsāna in the sources. Despite the later importance of Shiva in India, in the Buddhist sources the fourth deva of Tāvatiṃsa is a figure even sketchier than Pajāpati or Varuṇa.

  3:5:18 VISSAKAMMA

  Vissakamma is the architect or builder of the devas.617 Vissakamma derives from the Vedic deity Viśvakarman, the “All-Maker”, and his function remains similar, but more limited. We meet Vissakamma in very many episodes, but see little of his character. He plays a purely functional and subordinate role, almost always he is seen creating something, a hermitage or palace, for the use of the Bodhisatta in one of his births and doing so under instruction from Sakka.

  In at least eight Jātaka stories618 an almost identical sequence occurs. The Bodhisatta leaves home, intent on living the recluse life and proceeds to the Himavā, sometimes with a large train of followers. Sakka’s throne grows hot and investigating the cause, he sees that a great being has made a renunciation. Sakka than commissions Vissakamma to make a suitable hermitage for the use of the Bodhisatta and his followers. When Vissakamma makes anything the verb used is mapeti which means “to create” rather than “to build” implying that his work is done by purely magical means.

  As should be expected of anything made by the architect (vaḍḍhakī) of the devas, the hermitages made by Vissakamma are very beautiful:

  Sakka commanded Vissakamma, “Go and make a hermitage (assama) thirty-six by fifty yojana in size. And when you have made that, supply it with everything necessary for those who have left the home life (pabbajitaparikkhāra).” Vissakamma assented by saying “Sadhu!” and on a clear piece of land beside a pleasant river he created the hermitage. The huts he equipped with beds strewn with leaves and everything the hermits would need. Each hut had a door, a path for walking-meditation and a plank for hanging the robe. The whole was plastered with lime. Here and there were flowering plants and shrubs. At the end of each walking path was a well for drawing water and a fruit tree, each single tree bearing all kinds of fruits. This he did with his deva-powers (devatānubhāvena). Vissakamma made a sign in vermillion writing, “Whosever has abandoned the pleasures of the senses, may take these requisites” and posted it on the outer wall. Finally, he banished all noisy animals and birds and monstrous non-human beings (duddasika amanussa) from the area and returned to his own place. (Jāt 509)

  Vissakamma created other things as well. In previous ages of the world, he built at least three entire cities: Kāsika, Vebhāra and Sobhana.619 He has also created several palaces for righteous kings, always decorated with a great exuberance of gold and jewels:

  Sakka ordered Vissakamma, “Build King Mahāsudassana a dwelling, a palace to be named Dhamma.” “Very good, sire.” So Vissakamma left the place of the Thirty-Three and swiftly appeared before King Mahāsudassana. “I have come to build you a dwelling, a palace named Dhamma.” And the king consented in silence.

  The Dhamma Palace was a yojana in length and a half a yojana in width. The outside of the palace was covered with tiles of four colours; the tiles were made of gold, silver, lapis-lazuli and crystal and extended to three times the height of a man.

  The Dhamma Palace had eighty-four thousand pillars, a fourth of these were made of gold, and another fourth each of silver, lapis-lazuli and crystal. The flooring was of planks made of the same four precious substances. There were twenty-four staircases, also made of the same four things. The stairs of gold had newels and knobs of silver, the stairways of silver had newels and knobs of gold, those of lapis-lazuli had newels of crystal, those of crystal had newels of lapis-lazuli.

  The palace had eighty-four thousand chambers, (kūṭāgāra) some of gold, some of silver, some of lapis-lazuli and some of crystal. The gold chambers were furnished with silver divans, the gold rooms with silver divans, those of lapis-lazuli with ivory divans and the rooms of crystal had hard-wood divans. The golden chambers had silver doors, decorated with a figure of a silver palm-tree, its leaves and fruit were made of gold. The silver chambers had golden doors with silver palm-trees and golden fruit and leaves. The lapis-lazuli rooms had crystal doors with crystal palm-trees figured on the door, with its leaves and fruit of lapis-lazuli. The crystal rooms had lapis-lazuli doors with lapis-lazuli palm-trees bearing crystal fruit and leaves. (DN 17)

  As an architect, Vissakamma definitely decorates with a theme in mind. The small note of practicality where the pairing of substances is broken is interesting. Couches made of crystal or lapis-lazuli might be too easily broken, so ivory and hard-wood was used instead.

  We usually don’t get to see Vissakamma at work, but in one episode we do a get a glimpse of his methods:

  At that moment Sakka’s throne became hot, and knowing the cause he addressed Vissakamma. “Go sir, and make for Prince Mahāpanāda a jewel palace nine yojana long, eight yojana wide and twenty-five yojana high.” So Vissakamma taking the form of a mason (vaḍḍhakī) appeared among Prince Mahāpanāda�
��s workmen and said, “You can go and take your breakfast now.” Being alone on the work-site, Vissakamma struck the ground with his staff and in that instant the twenty-five yojana high palace appeared on that site. (Jāt 489)

  Vissakamma created other magical items. On two occasions, when the Buddha and a saṅgha of almost five hundred bhikkhus wanted to make a journey Vissakamma created five hundred pavilions (kūṭāgāra) during the night, so that they were in place on the monastery grounds in the morning. The Buddha and the saṅgha entered these and they flew through the air with great rapidity to their destination.620 On one of these occasions, we are informed of the detail that the pavilion used by the Buddha had four doors, those used by the two Chief Disciples had two, and those for the rest of the bhikkhus had but one (MN-a 145).

  After the Buddha’s parinibbāna, King Ajātasattu built a stupa over his share of the relics. Vissakamma created some kind of mechanical device to protect them, the Pali for this device is vāḷasaṅghāṭayantaṃ and the most likely interpretation is that it was a revolving sword-wheel.621 Several centuries later King Asoka wanted to collect all the relics of the Buddha and divide them up to put in eighty-four thousand stupas around his empire. When he approached the vāḷasaṅghāṭayantaṃ Vissakamma appeared in the guise of a village youth and shot an arrow into the heart of the mechanism to stop it and allow King Asoka entry. When the mechanism stopped turning, a jewelled sign appeared saying, “Enter wretched king.” Asoka was offended, wondering how such a one as he could be called “wretched” (DN-a 16). No explanation is given for the sign, perhaps it simply means Vissakamma has a sense of humour.

  Vissakamma was involved in the Buddha’s life at other times, even before his awakening:

  When prince Siddhattha was seven or eight years old, his father the king asked his privy councillors, “What is it that children of tender years like the best for play and sport?” “They like playing in the water, sire.” So the king assembled his workmen and began to dig an artificial pond. Sakka the king of the devas observed what was happening and said, “It is not proper that a great being (mahāsatta) should have human pleasures, he should enjoy heavenly pleasures.” And he commanded Vissakamma, “Go and make the Bodhisatta a water park for playing in.” Vissakamma asked, “Of what kind, sire?”

  Sakka instructed him that it was to be free of mud and slime, to be strewn all over with jewels and coral, surrounded by a wall made of the seven precious things and capped with coral, and there should be a set of stairs going down into the water, to be made with silver steps and the handrails decorated with gems. There should be a golden boat with a silver seat, a silver boat with a golden seat, a jewel boat with a coral seat and a coral boat with a jewel seat. There should be fountains of gold, silver, jewels and coral. And the water should be well covered with lotuses of five colours.

  Vissakamma assented saying “Sādhu!”, descended to the royal grounds and created a pleasure pond exactly according to these instructions during the night when everyone was asleep. (AN-a 3:39)

  Many years later, on the day before he left the home life forever, Prince Siddhattha was sitting beside his divine water pond. Sakka feeling his throne grow hot, spoke to Vissakamma, “Tomorrow at mid-night the Bodhisatta will make his great renunciation. You should go and adorn him in heavenly finery, this will be the last time he will wear adornments.”

  Vissakamma, as quickly as a strong man might bend his arm, disappeared from Tāvatiṃsa and appeared before the Bodhisatta in the guise of a barber (kappaka). He began to wrap the prince’s head with cloth to fashion a turban. On feeling the touch of Vissakamma’s hand, Siddhattha knew, “This is not a human being, this is a deva.” He wrapped the cloth around his head ten thousand times. How could the prince’s head be strong enough to bear ten thousand folds of cloth? You should not think that! The cloth was like the petals of flowers.622

  We can draw a few conclusions about the nature of Vissakamma from these episodes. Vissakamma is the only deva who retains even a trace of the creative function that was so important for the gods of the pre-Buddhist period. Even so, his acts of creation are of a very specific nature. It is to be noted that his works are always in the human sphere: the vimānas and palaces of the devas themselves are generated by their acts of merit and never fabricated by Vissakamma. Nor does he have any role in the broader creation of the world itself. Buddhist thought has always been opposed to the idea of creation by a god as an act of arbitrary will which violates the dependent origination ( DN 1).

  Vissakamma is a builder (vaḍḍhakī) rather than a creator, even if he works by magical means. His works are of an architectural nature: hermitages, palaces, pleasure parks. Even when he makes vehicles to move the Buddha and his bhikkhus a great distance, they are not fashioned as chariots but as pavilions or sheds (kūṭāgāra) which nonetheless fly in the manner of the devas’ own vimānas. The pre-Buddhist Viśvakarman was said to have once created a divinely beautiful apsara to tempt a demon,623 but it is unthinkable that Vissakamma could create a living, sentient being. (True, he does make fruit-trees and lotuses as part of the “landscaping” for his larger projects, but this is incidental to his primary function and in any case, plants are not considered sentient in Buddhist theory).

  Vissakamma’s actions are always on the behest of Sakka and for the benefit of great beings like Bodhisattas, Buddhas and arahants. They are not part of the natural order of things, but rare and exceptional infusions from a higher realm.

  3:5:19 MĀTALI

  Mātali is a gandhabba and the charioteer (saṅgāhaka) of Sakka. We see a little bit more of Mātali’s character in the texts than we do of Vissakamma. He is loyal to his lord, but sometimes a bit familiar and even capable of taking the opposite side in a debate. When Sakka showed patience and mercy to his enemy Vepacitta, Mātali asked:

  When face to face with Vepacitti

  Is it, Maghavā, from fear or weakness

  That you endure him so patiently,

  Listening to his harsh words?

  Sakka and Mātali argue the issue back and forth for several stanzas; Sakka’s position is that patience is the higher virtue and that it is folly to argue with a fool. Mātali makes the case for a tough approach:

  Fools would vent their anger even more

  If no one would keep them in check.

  Hence with drastic punishment

  The wise man should restrain the fool.624

  In a series of short suttas in the Saṃyutta Nikāya (SN 11:18–20) Sakka is seen making an act of reverence with folded hands before mounting his chariot. Mātali asks incredulously who it can be that Sakka worships, when he himself is worshipped by devas and humans. Sakka replies in verses praising the Buddha and the Saṅgha. At the end, Mātali says that he too shall worship whom Sakka worships. In one of these exchanges, Mātali expresses some disgust with the idea of worshipping humans:

  It is these that should worship you -

  The humans stuck in a putrid body,

  Those submerged inside a corpse.

  Afflicted with hunger and thirst.625

  Mātali acts as Sakka’s driver on many occasions; we have already seen how Mātali enabled Sakka’s escape with his bride on his wedding day. He also drives the chariot when Sakka goes to war with the asuras, or when he goes on a pleasure jaunt to one of the heavenly parks “to view the pleasant grounds” (subhūmiṃ dassanāyā) (SN 11:18). On three occasions, Sakka sent Mātali in the chariot to fetch a righteous human and bring him for a visit to Tāvatiṃsa. The trip of King Nimi was especially noteworthy because of the long tour Mātali gave him of the various nirayas (hell-realms) and heavenly vimānas.626

  The chariot of Sakka, driven by Mātali, is called the Vejayantaratha, “the Chariot of Victory.” It is one-hundred and fifty yojana long (DN-a 16) and is pulled by one thousand Sindh horses (Jāt 541). In numerous stories it is seen to fly through the air, so presumably these are flying horses, which would not be inappropriate for the livestock of Tāvatiṃsa. A vers
e passage describes the Vejayanta Chariot:

  (In obedience to Sakka’s command, Mātali mounted the Vejayantaratha)

  Smoothly gliding, it ascended; shining, resplendent with glorious fittings.

  Like well-worked jambu gold, it is decorated with golden images.

  As beautiful as the setting moon, there are figures of elephants, cows, jays, tigers, panthers.

  Antelope, deer and various birds and animals figured in lapis-lazuli as if arrayed for battle one with the other.

  One thousand tawny royal horses, unconquerable, as strong as young elephants.

  Adorned with golden chain-mail on the head and breast, they go on a word of command, no need for a goad.

  When Mātali ascended in this excellent vehicle, a great roar could be heard in all directions.

  The sky, the earth, the rocks, the trees and the great ocean all trembled at the sound. (Jāt 535)

  When Mātali descended to earth in the chariot to fetch the musician Guttila to Tāvatiṃsa, the awestruck people thought that a second moon had appeared in the sky (Jāt 243).

  Mātali sometimes accompanies Sakka on his missions to the human realm, very often with Pañcasikha as well. In two similar tales, these three together with Candā and Suriya, transform into brahmins to teach a miser a lesson (Jāt 450 & 535). In one story, Sakka, Mātali and Pañcasikha transform into animals: a jackal, a fish and a bird respectively (Jāt 374). Probably the most important of these transformations is that found in the Mahākaṇha Jātaka: (Jāt 469)