by Andy Rotman
155Following Speyer (1902: 128), Vaidya (Divy 167.24), and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 65–66), read tathopakrāntā. Divy 272.16–17, tathā tathāpakrāntā(ms. A, tathā prakrāntā; ms. B, tathā ’prakrāntā; ms. C, tathā ’prakāntā; ms. D, tathā prakrāntau) yathā kālagatā. Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. apakrānta) follows ms. A and translates this as “treated,” “behaved towards.” Cf. Divy 264.12–13, tathoprakrāntā yathā kālagatā.
156Vaidya (Divy-V 168.23) omits Divy 272.18–22.
157Following Speyer (1902: 128), Vaidya (Divy 167.24), and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), read tathopakrāntā. Divy 272.21, tathā tathāpakrāntā(sic mss. ACD; ms. B, tathā ’prakrāntā) yathā kālagatā.
158Divy 272.24, salokānāṃ pātayāmaḥ. Cf. Divy 273.2, 273.11, saṃkāraṃ pātayāmaḥ. Vaidya (Divy-V 168.25) reads salokānāṃ [sālohitānāṃ?] saṃkāraṃ pātayāmaḥ. Edgerton (BHSD) explains saṃkāra as “impurity in the sense of pariahhood, outcaste state, expulsion from caste.”
159Here (Divy 273.5), and in what follows, Jyotiṣka is referred to as a kumāra, which can mean both “boy” and “prince.” Since Jyotiṣka was raised in the palace, he is like a prince. Even when he was first born, the Buddha refers to him as a “little kumāra” (kūmāraka | Divy 271.13). Later in the story, however, he assumes control of his familial house and is referred to as a “householder” (gṛhapati | Divy 274.21), not a king. Nevertheless, his home is still a palace, and it does possess a “lion throne” (siṃhāsana| Divy 279.14). Jyotiṣka’s ambiguous status is most apparent in his interactions with Ajātaśatru, King Bimbisāra’s true son and heir. Both are called kumāra. I translate the former as “the boy Jyotiṣka” and the latter as “Prince Ajātaśatru,” although this misses the playfulness of the original.
160Cf. Divy 58.28–59.1, 100.14–15.
161Following Vaidya (Divy 169.26) and Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. upanirbaddha), read upanibaddham. Divy 274.14, upanirbaddham. For more on such editorial insertions and their implications, see Schopen 2000: 187nXIII.7.
162Divy 274.22–23, viṣṭhayā vā śiṭayā vā karkaṭakena vā.I follow Cowell and Neil’s (Divy 690) understanding of viṣṭhā, although the term is unclear. “All that is clear,” as Edgerton (BHSD) observes, “is that it is some means of catching and holding.” Edgerton also suggests that it might be the equivalent of A[rdha]M[ā]g[adhī], ciṭṭhā and Skt., ceṣṭā; hence, “with movements (of the hands, etc.).” Edgerton (BHSD) takes śiṭāas “rope.” Cf. Divy 113.16, 281.2. Vaidya (Divy 170.1) emends to śītayā. Perhaps it is related to Hindi sīḍhī. For more on these terms, see Hiraoka 2007: i, 509n83.
163Divy 274.25, tīrthyasparśanaṃ gacchanti. Here the text explains that “non-Buddhist renunciants” (tīrthya), which I sometimes translate as “heretics,” are so called because they “touch” or “come into physical contact with” (sparśana) various tīrthas—“descents into rivers or sacred bodies of water,” “holy places,” “shrines.” Cf. Divy 484.14–15. See also Divy-V 404.20, v. 824, tīrthavṛkṣeṣu.
164Cf. Divy 150.11, which reads “sins exposed” (vivṛtapāpaiḥ) for “sins cleansed” (dhūtapāpaiḥ).
165Although there are numerous characters named Kāśyapa (Pāli, Kassapa) in Buddhist literature, Daśabala Kāśyapa (Pāli, Kassapa Dasabala) is a name generally used to designate the twenty-fourth buddha—the third of the present auspicious age—and only one of seven buddhas mentioned in the texts of the Pāli canon (e.g., Dīgha-nikāya ii, 2). The Buddha Daśabala Kāśyapa also figures in a number of stories in the Divyāvadāna (Divy 22–24, 342–43, 346–48). Here, however, it is a monk—not a buddha—that is given the name Daśabala Kāśyapa. If he did possess the ten powers (daśabala) that his name indicates, he would, by definition, be a buddha.
166Divy 275.9, āhūyati. Vaidya (Divy-V 170.11) emends to āhvayati.
167Cf. Divy 44.16–18.
168Divy 275.20, abhramayam. The term abhra often means “cloud,” but here the meaning is less certain. The Tibetan (21b3) reads “wooden” (shing las byas pa).
169Following Vaidya (Divy-V 170.22), read api tv adhīṣṭāni. Divy 275. 24, api tv adhiṣṭhāni. Cowell and Neil (Divy 275n5) query adhiṣṭhāne or adhīṣṭāni.
170Divy 275.28, vyāḍayakṣa. One might also take it to mean “fierce yakṣas.” As Edgerton (BHSD) notes, “this compound is not otherwise recorded.”
171Divy 276.3, dāpiyitavyam(mss., dāpitavyam). Cowell and Neil (Divy 276n1) query dāpitavyaḥ. Vaidya (Divy-V 170. 27) suggests dāpayiṣyati.
172Here (Divy 277.14) the text reads “the boy Jyotiṣka” (jyotiṣkaś ca kumāraḥ), but by now Jyotiṣka has grown up and become a householder. Presumably Jyotiṣka was visiting the palace to see his surrogate father, King Bimbisāra. Perhaps the text imagines him as a kind of prince (kumāra). See too note 159.
173This incident is recounted in “The Story of Māndhātā” (Divy 213.21ff.; trans. in DS 351ff.).
174Following Speyer (1902: 128), the Tibetan (23a7), and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), read vismitya. Divy 278.22, “having forgotten” (vismṛtya).
175Read gacchāmaḥ. Divy 278.28, “Go” (gaccha).
176Other such incidents where a palace floor is mistaken for water can be found in the Mahābhārata(Ādi-Parvan, book 2.46) and also in the Qur’an (27.44), as noted by Cowell and Neil (Divy 707). See too Schiefner 1893: 360–61. For some observations on these parallels, see Grierson 1913.
177Following 279.7, read dṛśyante. Divy 279.12, paśyanti.
178According to Buddhaghosa, “An Enemy Before Birth.” Cf. DPPN, s.v. Ajātasattu.
179For another instance of brothers dividing up their possessions, see Divy 29.18ff.; trans. in DS 78ff.
180Following Speyer (1902: 128), Vaidya (Divy-V 173.29), and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), read na śakitaṃ. Divy 280.29, na śaṅkitaṃ.
181Following the Schøyen fragments (Baums 2002: 296) and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), read anyam. Divy 280.30, anyad.
182Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), “for consistency with the form from a previous example,” i.e., Divy 37.1–2 (HA 40), reads -karaka-. Divy 281.24, -kara-. But see Divy 48.21, 159.9, 281.24, etc. For more on this difference, see Edgerton (BHSD, s.vv. kara, karaka).
183Following Vaidya’s emendation (Divy-V 174.19), read upasthitaḥ. Divy 281.27–28, nopasthitaḥ. Cf. Divy 48.24 and 159.12, naiva sthitā, which Vaidya (Divy-V 29.32 and 98.22) emends to evaṃ sthitā, and Divy 342.2, nopasthitā, which Vaidya (Divy-V 211.23) also emends to evaṃ sthitā. Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66) suggests “clothed” (nepatthitaḥ). Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. nepatthita) maintains that “some such form (possibly with Prakritic v for p) must be read in Divy 48.24, 49.16, 159.12, 342.4, 463.26, 558.22 . . . in all these the mss. (followed by the edd.) are corrupt . . .” Nobel (1955: i, 72n3) argues likewise.
184Following Divy 54.2, 131.7, 141.4, etc., and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), read labdhasaṃbhārāṇi. Divy 282.11, labdhasaṃhārāṇi. Cf. DS 413n356.
185Cf. Anaṅgaṇa Sutta in the Majjhima-nikāya (i, 24–32).
186Following Divy 283.6, add traimāsīm. Divy 283.27 (omitted).
187Following Divy 64.26, 66.5, 81.12, add āsanāni prajñapya. Divy 284.27 (omitted).
188Following Divy 65.9, 81.23, 97.9, etc., and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), read apanītapātram. Divy 285.9, apanīya pātram. Cf. Divy 53.13, which reads apanītapātram, but all the mss. (Divy 53n1) read apanīya pātram.
189Divy 285.14–15, eṣa eva grantho vistareṇa kartavyaḥ. Unlike the expression “and so on as before” (pūrvavad yāvat), this is not instructions to fill in the missing words of a stock expression but rather looser directions to the reader/reciter to recast the previous events for King Bandhumān.
190Ordinary “wood” (kāṣṭha) is used as firewood; various kinds of “fragrant wood” (gandhakāṣṭha), such as sandalwood and agarwood, are not. Fragrant woods are expensive and often used ritually, such as for building funeral pyres (e.g., Divy 327.24, 350.18–19).
191Divy 285.25–26, sugandhata
ilena ca vastrāṇi tīmayitvā khādyakāny ullāḍayitum. Cowell and Neil (Divy 285n4) query ulloḍayitum, and in their index (Divy 676) suggest “cook.” The Tibetan (28b2) also reads “cook” (btso ba). Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. tīmayati), citing this passage, suggests “makes wet, sprinkles.”
192Following Divy 288.15–16, read maṇḍalavāṭaḥ. Divy 286.15, maṇḍavāṭaḥ. Zimmer (1925: 165) understands it to be a “round pavilion.” The term might also refer to a circular hedged-in garden. Cf. Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. maṇḍalamāḍa).
193Śakra can see what is below him, in a cosmological sense, but not what is above him. Cf. DS 421n450.
194Following Divy 287.4, the Tibetan (30b1), and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), add paśya. Divy 288.21 (omitted).
195Divy 288.27, dṛṣṭasatyaḥ. The text doesn’t specify when King Bandhumān had come to this vision of truth, which is unusual, for the text is usually specific and detailed about such moments of awakening (Divy 47.9–18, 52.22–53.10, 75.25–76.1). One who has seen the truth, according to the text, has understood the four noble truths and attained one of the stages of religious development culminating in arhatship. In what follows (Divy 289.11–14), the Buddha explains that the householder Anaṅgaṇa, as a result of his act of harsh speech toward the king, will burn on a funeral pyre with his mother five hundred times. The severity of this karmic penance is likely due to the fact that King Bandhumān had achieved a high level of spiritual distinction, and so the householder Anaṅgaṇa’s sin was directed toward a great field of merit—a king and a realized being simultaneously.
196Divy 288.27–28, tasyāntike tvayā kharavākkarma niścāritam. Usually I translate an object in the genetive + antike quite literally as “in the presence of that object,” but here the use is more figurative. The householder Anaṅgaṇa spoke harshly toward King Bandhumān, but not in his presence. Cf. Divy 313.2–3, 313.27.
197For translations, see Burnouf 1844: 90–98 and 2010: 130–37; Zimmer 1925: 85–101; and Hiraoka 2007: i, 519–36. For Sanskrit parallels, see Avadānakalpalatā no. 42 (Rani 2005: 49 and woodcut R-13; Tucci 1949: ii, 481 and plate 113). The corresponding Tibetan can be found at P 1019 ke 52b5–57b8 and D 350 aḥ 50a5–55b7. For more, see Hiraoka 2007: i, 528; HC 66; and Grey 2000: 153.
198For a Pāli version of this passage, see the Itivuttaka (18–19).
199Divy 290.25, tiṣṭhet. Cf. Divy 470.18, tiṣṭheyuḥ; Divy 470.24 and 481.15, tiṣṭhati.
200Following Vaidya (Divy-V 180.23), read prabhūtasattvasvāpateyaḥ. This can mean either that “his subjects were affluent” or that “he was affluent with many subjects.” Divy 291.8, prabhūta sattvasvāpateyaḥ (mss. ABC, satta-). Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), following the Tibetan (53b1; 51a3), suggests prabhūtasvāpateyaḥ. Also possible is that satta is an error for santa. Cf. Divy 286.3, santaḥsvāpateyam; Divy 439.30, sarvasantaṃ svāpateyam.
201Divy 291.27–28, adyāgreṇa vo grāmaṇyaḥ sarvabaṇijo ’śulkān agulmān muñcāmi. More literally, “From now on, officers, I exempt all of your merchants . . .” Perhaps take vo as accusative, or leave it out.
202Following the Tibetan (54a1; 51b5), Vaidya (Divy-V 181.5), Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), and the Chinese, read anenopāyena. Divy 292.1, “in many ways” (anekopāyena). Also possible is that the king is said to rule “following many strategems” and not simply “according to dharma” (Divy 291.22) as he did before. I understand the famine to occur as a result of the king’s policy, and so too the rains of food that will eventually fall to break the famine. Burnouf (2010: 132; cf. 1844: 92), however, offers this translation: “He governed in this way for many years, when one day there appeared a baleful constellation which announced that the god India would refuse to give rain for twelve years.”
203Following Vaidya (Divy-V 181.22) and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), read upasaṃkrāntāḥ. Divy 292.29, upasaṃkrāntaḥ.
204Divy 293.4, yasyedānīṃ devaḥ kālam manyate. This polite turn of phrase is often directed toward the Buddha, especially at those times when he is being told that his food is ready. I usually translate it as “Now my lord may do as the time permits.”
205Divy 293.16, mānikā. According to Puri (1965: 114), “nearly eight ounces.”
206Following the Tibetan (55a4; 53a1) and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), read evaṃ kariṣyatīti. Divy 293.24, kālaṃ kariṣyatīti.
207Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), following the Tibetan (55a5; 53a1), inserts apitṛjñaiḥ. That is, “nor honor their fathers.”
208This is a module found with some frequency in Āgama-Nikāya texts. See, for example, Mahāsūtra 4 §12.3 (Skilling 1994: ii, 389–90).
209Following the Tibetan (55b1; 53a6) and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 66), read yathāpratyayaṃ prāptān dharmān avalokya.Divy 294.11, yathāprāptān dharmān avalokya. Perhaps, “observing phenomena as they came to his attention,” but this doesn’t connect with the verse that follows. Vaidya (Divy-V 182.13) drops dharmān. Burnouf (2010: 133; cf. 1844: 94) offers this translation: “having contemplated the laws that he had just attained.”
210Divy 294.15, khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpaḥ. For more on this disputed term, which can also mean “like the horn of a rhinoceros” and which is commonly understood as a metaphor for the solitary buddha, see Salomon 2000: 10–14. For a parallel verse in the Pāli materials, see Suttanipāta, v. 36. Bhikkhu Bodhi (2017: 162) offers this translation: “For one who has formed bonds, there is affection; following on affection, this suffering arises. Discerning the danger born of affection, one should live alone like a rhinoceros horn” (saṃsaggajātassa bhavanti snehā snehanvayaṃ dūkkhamidaṃ pahoti | ādīnavaṃ snehajaṃ pekkhamāno eko care khaggavisāṇakappo). Cf. Norman 1984: 5.
211Divy 296.3, yathādhautena. Egderton (BHSD) takes this to mean “with begging-bowl just as cleaned, i.e., not having received any almsfood.” Rhys Davids and Stede (PTSD, s.v. yathādhota) similarly understand the Pāli equivalent: “as if it were washed (so to speak), clean, unsoiled.” Also possible, however, is that this could mean “as though unwashed,” for if one receives no food, then one has no reason to wash one’s bowl.
212Following Cowell and Neil’s query (Divy 296n6), read krīḍitā ramitāḥ. Divy 296.21, krīḍatā ramatā. This is a strange locution. These two words are often coupled with a form of paricārayati to indicate sexual activity.
213Soft foods (bhojana) are similarly defined in the Pāli materials. See Upasak 1975, s.v. bhojana.
214Vaidya (Divy-V 184.11) omits saptāhaṃ tailavarṣam pravarṣanti (Divy 297.21–22).
215For a translation, see Hiraoka 2007: i, 537–72. For Sanskrit parallels, see Sanskrit fragments from Turfan (Sander and Waldschmidt 1985: nos. 1330 and 1524) and GBM 1486–1487.4 (end of the story). The corresponding Tibetan can be found at P 1032 ñe 106a7–113b6 and D 3 ja 113b3–122b1. For more, see Hiraoka 2007: i, 557, and HC 67. See too Jean Przyluski’s (1920: 314–19) translation of the first part of this story (= Divy 298.24–301.4) from the Chinese version of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya.
216Divy 299.2–3, tiraścām anyonyabhakṣaṇādīni. Cf. Aśokāv 60.10–11, tiryakṣvanyonyabhakṣaṇaparitrāsaduḥkham. Strong (1989: 225) translates this as “among the animals, the suffering coming from the fear of eating one another.”
217Divy 299.6, sārdhaṃvihārī. Here the term could mean “student,” “classmate,” or “co-resident in the monastery,” although it is the first of these meanings that seems to prevail in the Divyāvadāna. On Divy 18.27, it refers to the “students” of the venerable Mahākātyāyana, for they address him as “instructor” (upādhyāyaḥ | Divy 19.2–3). On Divy 345.10, it refers to a novice who was the “student” of an arhat. These students “lived with” their teachers, as the term literally means, for together they were co-residents in the same monastery or, at least, monastic order. The term is often paired with antevāsin (e.g., Divy 18.17, 299.6, 489.16), with which it is a near synonym; the latter refers to a student who “lives near” his teacher. Edgerton explains the term as follows: “a co-res
ident monk, regularly however applied to those who are undergoing training, virtually (fellow-)pupil.” Rhys Davids and Stede (PTSD, s.v. saddhivihārika) take the Pāli equivalent to mean “co-resident, fellow-bhikkhu; pupil.” Bodhi (2000: 1193; Saṃyutta-nikāya iv, 103) translates it as “co-resident [monk].”
218Divy 299.11, avavāditaḥ (ms. A, avabodhitāḥ; ms. C, omitted; ms. D, avavoditaḥ). Vaidya (Divy-V 185.10–11) likewise reads avavāditaḥ. Speyer (1902: 128–29) and Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 67) suggest avoditāḥ, the past passive participle of ava √vad, which also occurs at Divy 300.2, with no manuscript variants. Contra Hiraoka, Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. avoditāḥ) suggests emending avoditāḥ in both cases: “possibly ovaditāḥ or ovāditāḥ, if not avavad[itāḥ] or avavād[itaḥ].”
219Vaidya (Divy-V 185.13) omits this question (Divy 299.16–17).
220Divy 300.8, dvārakoṣṭhake. Although I translate this term as “gateway” when it refers to a part of a home (Divy 17.12) or a stūpa (Divy 244.17) and “doorway” when it refers to a part of the women’s quarters (Divy 532.12–13, 532.16, 532.20), Gregory Schopen (2000: 173–75nVIII.20) argues convincingly that dvārakoṣṭhaka, when referring to a part of a monastery, refers to an “entrance hall.” It is akin to the foyer of a building or the narthex of a church.
221For more on this story and its description of the wheel of existence, see Przyluski 1920: 316–17 and Teiser 2006: 67–72, 77–79.
222One could also translate this as “After three weeks—that is, on the twenty-first day . . .” The Tibetan concurs.
223Hiraoka (HA 14; HC 67) suggests ṛṇadharaḥ. Divy 301.10, ṛṇaharaḥ. As Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. ṛṇadhara) explains: “The situation suggests ṛṇadhara, debt-establisher, and dhanahara, remover of wealth; i.e., a financial liability . . . But (a) ṛṇahara rather than ṛṇadhara (or else ṛṇahāraka) is read every time but once (h M[iddle] Indic for dh?); and (b) in Divy 5.12 mahāsamudram avatareyaṃ dhanahārikaḥ, the latter means to get wealth.” Cf. DS 422n463. See too Schopen 2014: 616.