by Andy Rotman
297His name can mean both “Having Cruelty in His Eyes” and “Possessing a Rosary of Rudrākṣa Beads.” That at least the former meaning is possible is affirmed later (Divy 322.22) when the brahman is referred to as “cruel-minded” (raudracitta).
298The following verses in the Divyāvadāna (Divy 321.9–27) correspond in interesting and significant ways with their counterparts in the Gilgit Buddhist Manuscripts (GBM 1497.2–7). Hartmann (1980: 259–62) offers text and translation for these verses:
The Kinnara crowds are weeping, and so are the forest deities;
“fie, fie” make the immortals staying in heaven.
The moon does not beam and the one of thousand rays (the sun) is not shining;
here not even the sound of instruments can be heard anymore. (1)
rudaṃti kinnaragaṇā vanadevatāś ca
dhigdhiḥ karoti{//} amarā gagane sthitāś ca|
candro na bhāti na vibhāti sahasraraśmir
naivādya vāditaravo ’pi niśāmyate ’tra ||
Those clumps of trees bearing fruits and blossoms
fall to the ground as well, unmoved by the wind.
Clearly this noise is heard which resembles a too dreadful one.
A tremendous misery will become evident in the city. (2)
ete ’pi pādapagaṇāḥ phalapuṣpanaddhā
bhūmau patanti anilena anīri[tā](ni) |
saṃ(śrū)yate dhvanir iyaṃ ca yathātibhīmo
vyaktaṃ bhaviṣyati pure vyasanaṃ sughoraṃ ||
Therefore all the townspeople bear
this conglomerated misery in their mind;
moaning they beat their breasts with their hands,
a speechlessness unparalleled holds back the words. (3)
tatkāraṇena puravāsijanāḥa samagrāḥ
saṃpiṇḍitaṃ manasi duḥkha[m idaṃ vahanti] |
utkrośatāmb urasic baddhakṛtāgrahastaiḥ
vaisvaryam apratisamaṃ niruṇaddhi vācaṃ ||
aMs., puna-.
bFollowing Divy 321.21. Ms., ukrośatām
cFollowing the Tibetan (28b8; 27a3). Ms., anasi.
Women with moonlike faces weep,
and all citizens cry bitterly.
The clouds resound without having water,
and the ponds are nearly dried up. (4)
candrānanāś ca prarudanti nāryaḥ
paurāś ca sarve karuṇaṃ ru[danti|
ete payo]dā ninadaṃty atoyā
jalāśayāḥ śoṣam upāgatāś ca ||
Fires burn hills and forest innumerably;
in the great confusion people weep in every house.
The earth is shaking like a ship on the water moved by the wind,
and rough winds mixed with dust are blowing. (5)
śailāṃ vanāni ca dahaṃti bhṛṣaṃ [bhṛśaṃ?] hutāśā{ḥ}
adhyākulāḥ pratigṛhaṃ manujā rudaṃti |
bhūr naur i[vāmbhasi cacā]la samīraṇāstā{ḥ}
vātāḥ pravanti ca kharā{ḥ} rajasā vimiśrāḥ ||
Now the unfavourable signs are numerous;
therefore we had better move from here to a favourable region. (6)
aśivāni nimittāni pracurāṇi hi sāṃprataṃ|
kṣemāṃ diśam ato ’smākam ito gaṃtuṃ kṣamaṃ bhave[t||]
299Divy 321.10, vanadevatāś ca dhikkāram utsṛjanti. GBM 1497.2–3, karoti. To fit the number and meter, Hartmann (1980: 260) suggests karonti. Hiraoka (HA 15; HC 69–70) concurs. Speyer (1902: 340–41) suggests the metrically appropriate vanadevatā . . . utsṛjati.
300Divy 321.10–11, devagaṇā api tasthuḥ. Perhaps, “Hordes of kinnaras and forest deities cry and call out in distress; the assemblies of the gods are likewise startled.” Speyer (1902: 340–41) suggests “shed tears” (api sāśruḥ). Vaidya (Divy-V 198.30) emends this to “are unsettled” (na sthuḥ). Hiraoka (HA 15; HC 70), following GBM 1497.2–3 and the Tibetan (28b5–6; 27a1), suggests amarā gagane sthitāś ca.
301Divy 321.11–12, naiva vādyavāditaravaḥ. Hartmann (1980: 260) and Hiraoka (HA 15; HC 70), following GBM 1497.2–3 and the Tibetan (28b6; 27a1), suggest naivādya vāditaravaḥ. Speyer (1902: 341) suggests ke for naiva to correct the meter.
302Divy 321.13, pavanair api cālitāni. Perhaps emend to cālitāś ca. Speyer (1902: 341) suggests cālitā na. Hartmann (1980: 260) and Hiraoka (HA 15; HC 70), following GBM 1497.3–4 and the Tibetan (28b6; 27a2), suggest anilena anīritāni.
303Divy 321.14, mahāntam. Cowell and Neil (Divy 321n3) note “Sic mss.,” for the gender is incorrect. Perhaps emend to mahat ca. Hartmann (1980: 260) and Hiraoka (HA 15; HC 70), following GBM 1497.3–4 and the Tibetan (28b7; 27a2), suggest sughoraṃ.
304Following Speyer (1902: 341), GBM 1497.2, and Hiraoka (HA 15; HC 70), read vyaktam. Divy 321.14, vyaktaḥ.
305Following Speyer (1902: 341) and Hiraoka (HA 15; HC 70), read -kaṇṭhānanāḥ. Divy 321.16, kaṇṭhānanā.
306Divy 321.14–18. Not found in GBM or in the Tibetan. As Hartmann (1980: 260) notes, “Mention of the name Bhadraśilā already hints at the possibility of a later insertion.”
307Divy 321.19, kiṃ kāraṇam. Hartmann (1980: 260) and Hiraoka (HA 15; HC 70), following GBM 1497.4 and the Tibetan (28b7; 27a2), read tatkāraṇena.
308Following Vaidya (Divy-V 199.10), the Tibetan (28b7; 27a3), Hartmann (1980: 260), and Hiraoka (HA 15; HC 70), read vahanti. Divy 321.20, vadanti. Perhaps, following Ohnuma (2004a: 151), “But why do all of the people living in the city speak of their collective sadness only in their minds?”
309Divy 321.21, ardhakṛtāgrahastaiḥ. Hartmann (1980: 261) and Hiraoka (HA 15; HC 70), following the Mahajjātakamālā (Hartmann 1980: 261), suggest ūrdhvakṛtāgrahastaiḥ. Perhaps “with raised hands” or “with outstretched hands.” GBM 1497.5, baddhakṛtāgrahastaiḥ.Another possibility is arthakṛtāgrahastaiḥ, or even arthakṛte ’grahastaiḥ.
310Divy 321.21, aiśvaryam. The Mahajjātakamālā (Hartmann 1980: 261) reads vākyam, and Hiraoka (HA 15; HC 70) reads likewise. Hartmann (1980: 261), following GBM 1497.5, prefers vaisvaryam.
311Following Cowell and Neil’s query (Divy 321n6), read śoṣam amī vrajanti. Divy 321.23, “filled with grief” (śokam amī vrajanti). Hartmann (1980: 261) and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 70), following GBM 1497.5–6 and the Tibetan (29a1; 27a4), suggest śoṣam upāgataś ca. Lines c and d of verse 4 along with lines c and d of verse 5 in the GBM form lines a, b, c, and d of verse 5 in both the Divyāvadāna and the Mahajjātakamālā. Lines a and b of verses 5 and 6 in the GBM are not found in these other texts.
312Divy 321.24, bhuvor ivāmbhasi ca vālasamīraṇāstā(ms. D, vavālahamī-). This line loses the Vasantatilaka meter. Hartmann (1980: 261) and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 70), following GBM 1497.6–7, read bhūr naur ivāmbhasi cacāla samīraṇāstāḥ.Hartmann (1980: 261) supplies cacāla on the basis of the Tibetan (29a1–2; 27a4–5). One could also emend to bālasamīraṇās te. The Mahajjātakamālā(Hartmann 1980: 261) preserves the following reading in the Triṣṭubh meter: “the earth with ponds and mountains is shaking” (bhūś cāpi sābdhiś calate saśailā).
313Following GBM 1497.7, the Tibetan (29a2; 27a5), Hartmann (1980: 261), and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 70), read pracurāṇi. Divy 321.26, pravarāṇi. Speyer (1902: 341) suggests pravartante.
314Divy 321.26, kṣemaḥ. Speyer (1902: 341), Hartmann (1980: 261), and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 70) suggest kṣamaṃ. GBM 1497.7 and the Tibetan (29a2; 27a5) also preserve this reading, but the Mahajjātakamālā (Hartmann 1980: 261) preserves kṣemaḥ.
315Following GBM 1498.8, Hartmann (1980: 262), and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 70–71), read chetsyasīti. Vaidya (Divy-V 200.2) reads chetsyasi.Divy 322.22, chetsyati. This form of the verb, as Hartmann (1980: 262) observes, was likely created by the akṣara -sī- being dropped, intentionally or otherwise.
316Divy 323.20, kiṃ idānīṃ prāptakālam iti. GBM 1500.1 (Hartmann 1980: 262), (ki)m idānīṃ prāptakāla iti. Perhaps, “Is his time r
eally up now?” or “Is it now really time for his death?”
317Following GBM 1500.3, the Tibetan (30a6; 28a7), Hartmann (1980: 262), Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71), and Divy 284.15, read dūtena prakrośya. Divy 323.22, “called out from a distance” (dūreṇa prakrośya).
318Following GBM 1500.4, add brāhmaṇa. Divy 323.23 (omitted).
319Divy 323.30–31, paramatyāgaprativiśiṣṭam tyāgaṃ parityaktukāmaḥ. GBM 1500.7 (Hartmann 1980: 262), sarvaparityā(gī) prativiśiṣṭaṃ tyāgaṃ parityaktukāmaḥ. Perhaps, “who sacrificed everything and who wanted to make a sacrifice that would be greatly distinguished.” The Tibetan (30b1; 28b3) concurs. Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71) reads likewise.
320Following Speyer (1902: 341) and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71), read yācyatām. Divy 324.1, yacchatāṃ. Perhaps, “Since I’m giving away [everything].” Cowell and Neil (Divy 324n1) query “it is said” (ucyatām). There is no corresponding word in GBM or in the Tibetan.
321Following Hartmann (1980: 263), read śubhabodhisattva sarvajñatām. Speyer (1902: 342) and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71) read śubha bodhisattva sarvajñatām. Divy 324.4–5, śubhabuddhisattvasarvajñatām.
322Following Speyer (1902: 342), read mahākaruṇāgracetaḥ. Divy 324.5–6, mahākāruṇāgracetā. Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71), following GBM 1501.2 and the Tibetan (30b3; 28b5), reads mahākaruṇātmacetaḥ.That is, “possessing a mind that has great compassion at its core.”
323Following Speyer (1902: 342), Vaidya (Divy-V 200.32), and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71), read bhavādya. Divy 324.6, bhavādyaḥ. Hartmann (1980: 263–64) offers text and translation for the corresponding verse at GBM 1501.1–2:
You stand firm in the flawless Dharma, shining bodhisattva,
with all your heart desiring omniscience, saint.
Leave me your head, being of great compassion;
because the good beings are ones who take delight in giving away everything. (7)
dharme sthito ’si vimale subhabuddhisatvaa
sarvajñātām abhilaṣaṃ hṛdayena sādho |
mahyaṃ śiraḥ sṛja mahākaruṇātmacetaḥ
sarvasvadānaniratā hi bhavaṃti satvāḥ ||
aFollowing Divy 324.4 and the Tibetan (30b3). Ms., subhabuddhisatvaḥ.
324Divy 324.11, kharpam. This seems to be a form of kharparam (“skull”), which is found in ms. D (Divy 324n2), modified to fit the meter. GBM 1501.1–4 (Hartmann 1980: 263–65), śīrṣam. Speyer (1902: 342) and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71) suggest likewise.
325The Gilgit Buddhist Manuscripts (GBM 1501.1–4) preserves a quite different reading for this verse, and it also contains an additional verse (verse 9) that is not found in the Divyāvadāna. Hartmann (1980: 263–65) offers the verses with translations:
I am the only son of my father;
yet, take this head of mine!
Your thoughts are fruitbearing;
may I attain enlightenment by giving away the head! (8)
pitur hy ahaṃ yady api caikaputras
tathāpi me śīrṣam idaṃ gṛhāṇa |
tvacccintitānāṃ saphalatvam asti
śiraḥpradānād dhi labheya bodhiṃ ||
I will fulfill your wish; nothing else can be done with this head of mine
consisting of brain, blood, and fat.
If there is, however, a wish for my head caused by your egocentricity,
well then, receive it; my sacrifice shall be fruitbearing. (9)
kāmaṃ kariṣyami na kṛtyam anena kiṃci
mastiṣkaśoṇitavasāśirasā mama tvaṃ |
(yady arthi)tā tu śirasā tava māmakena
hanta pratīccha saphalo ’stu mamātisargaḥ ||
326Following GBM 1501.6, the Tibetan (30b7; 29a1), Hartmann (1980: 265), and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71), read mauliḥ śiraḥsthaḥ patitaḥ. Divy 324.15, maulaya iti śirasaḥ patitāḥ.
327Divy 324.22–23, dhanyās te puruṣa deva ya evam atyadbhutarūpadarśanaṃ vā[read vaḥ] drakṣyantīti. GBM 1502.1 (Hartmann 1980: 265), dhanyās te puruṣā loke ye devaṃ puna[r] drakṣyaṃtīti, which Hartmann translates as “Lucky are those people in the world who will see His Majesty again!” The Tibetan (31a1; 29a3) reads likewise.
328In the Gilgit Buddhist Manuscripts (GBM 1502.7–1503.1), the first mention of these trees comes at the end of a description of the flora in the Maṇiratnagarbha Park. The Tibetan (31a6–8; 29a7–b2) preserves the same, but it mentions only a campaka tree, and instead of a red amaranth tree, it speaks of “elevation” (stegs bu). Cf. Hartmann 1980: 265. This passage, however, does not occur in the Divyāvadāna (Divy 325.7); the first mention of the trees comes here (Divy 325.23–24). In the corresponding passage, GBM 1503.7 mentions only a campaka tree, the more important of the two trees for the narrative.
329Divy 326.9, eṣa eva devate sapṛṣṭhībhūto (sic mss.) maitrīyo (mss. ABC, maitrīyaḥ yaḥ; ms. D, maitrīyaḥ syād) . . . Contra Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. pṛṣṭhībhavati), who takes sapṛṣṭhībhūtaḥ here to mean “(made) averse, turned away (from wordly things),” I follow Hartmann (1980: 265–66), who understands it to mean “outrun, surpassed.” Cf. Divy 481.4–5. GBM 1504.4ff. (Hartmann 1980: 265–66), eṣa eva devate sa pradeśo yatra mayā vyāghryā ātmānaṃ(ms., vyāghryātmānaṃ) parityajya catvāriṃśatka[lpasaṃ]prasthito maitreyo bodhisatva{ḥ} ekena śirasaḥ(ms., śirasā) parityāgena avapṛṣṭhīkṛtaḥ, which Hartmann translates as “This is the very spot, deity, where I sacrificed myself for the tigress and where I, on account of one single giving up of the head, left behind the Bodhisattva Maitreya who had set out forty kalpas ago.” Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71), following GBM and the Tibetan (32a2–3; 30a3–4), reads sa pradeśo yatra mayā.
330Following GBM 1504.7 (Hartmann 1980: 266), the Tibetan (32a5; 30a5), and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71), read atityāgam. Divy 326.16, asmin tyāgam. Cowell and Neil (Divy 326n5) query tyāge.
331Divy 326.17, yena cāhaṃ satyena svaśiraḥ parityajāmi. GBM 1504.7 (Hartmann 1977: 41–42), na cāhaṃ śiraḥ parityajāmi. Cf. the Tibetan (31b6; 29b7).
332Divy 326.19, cakravartivijayāya. Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71), following GBM 1504.7 (Hartmann 1980: 266) and the Tibetan (32a6; 30a6), reads cakravarttiviśayārthāya. That is, “for the dominion of a wheel-turning king.” Cf. Divy 473.24–25 and 478.25–26.
333Divy 326.24, sarṣapaphalapramāṇadhātavaḥ. GBM 1505.2 (Hartmann 1977: 42), sarṣapaphalamātrādhātavaḥ.
334Following GBM 1505.3 (Hartmann 1980: 266), the Tibetan (32b1; 30b2), and Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 71), read śrāntakāyā. Divy 326.26, śāntakāyā, which Ohnuma (2004a: 156) translates as “with pure bodies.” Cf. Divy 326.27, viśrāntā.
335Divy 326.27, dhātuparam. Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 72), following GBM 1505.3 (Hartmann 1980: 266) and the Tibetan (32b2; 30b2), reads dhātudharam. That is, “reliquary.”
336Divy 327.5, praṇītatvāt. One might expect praṇīte.The Tibetan (32b5; 30b5) reads phul du byung ba’i. See too Divy 14.18, 98.21, etc.
337Following GBM 1505.8 (Hartmann 1980: 266), the Tibetan (32b6; 30b5), Hiraoka (HA 16; HC 72), and Divy 158.8–9, read vyathitaḥ pravyathitaḥ saṃpravyathitaḥ. Divy 327.9, vyadhitaḥ pravyadhitaḥ saṃpravyadhitaḥ.
338Divy 327.14, śirograhāya. Read as a defective gerund for śiro gṛhītvā. GBM 1506.2 (Hartmann 1977: 43), śiro gṛhāya.
339Divy 327.24–25, dhmāpitāni (ms. C, dhmāpitātāni; ms. D -tāni tāni). GBM 1506.6 (Hartmann 1977: 43), dhyāpitaḥ[read dhmāpitaḥ]. Cf. Divy 583.24–25.
340Divy 328.11–12, eṣa eva sa tena kālena tena samayena devadatto babhūva. More literally, “Because at that time and at that juncture he was none other than Devadatta.” Based on the other identifications in this passage, this sentence appears to be incomplete, with the identification reversed. I correct accordingly.
341This is made more explicit in the Gilgit Buddhist Manuscripts (GBM 1507.5–6; Hartmann 1977: 44): “Back then too without witnessing my death, they died without waiting for the death of their [spiritual] father. And now as well, witho
ut witnessing my final nirvāṇa, they have passed into final nirvāṇa without waiting for the death of their [spiritual] father” (tadāpy etau mama maraṇaṃ apaśyantau tatprathamata[read thamataḥ] (kā)laṃ kṛtavantau na ca pitṛmaraṇam āgamitavantau| etarhy api mama[parini]rvāṇam apaśyantau tatprathamataḥ parinirvṛtau na ca pitṛmara(ṇam ā)gamita(vantau)). Divy 328.17, pitṛmaraṇam ārāgitavantau. Cowell and Neil (Divy 328n1) query āgamitavantau. Cf. Divy 314.17 and 314.23.
342As Cowell and Neil (Divy 328) note, “Here the mss. gives the following fragment.”
343Read -rājyādiḥ rāja-. Divy 328.22–23, -rājyādayo rāja-. Alternatively, this compound could be joined with the compound that follows.
344Divy 328.25, -itara-. More literally, “other than.”
345These seem to be a version of the eight types of suffering as found, for example, in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta(Saṃyutta-nikāya v, 420): birth; aging; sickness; death; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair; union with the unpleasant; separation from the pleasant; and not getting what one desires.
346For translations, see Burnouf 1844: 313–35, 2010: 310–26 and Hiraoka 2007: ii, 1–50 (stories 23–25). For a partial translation, see Vogel 1926: 187–89. For a translation of the preamble to the text, see Ware 1938. For Sanskrit parallels, see Gāndhārī manuscript fragments, and their translation, in Lenz and Neelis (forthcoming) [cf. Divy 335]; GM-Saṅgh 254/43r1–265/47v10–48r1 [MSV iv, 27.1–46.15]—translated in GM-Saṅgh 267–93; and Lévi 1932: 18–19 [cf. Divy 336.22–339.5]; a Sanskrit fragment from Turfan (Sander and Waldschmidt 1985: no. 1030); Śikṣāsamuccaya 57.11–59.6 [cf. Divy 342.13–343.23]; and Avadānakalpalatā no. 67 (Rani 2005: 68–69 and woodcut L-5; Tucci 1949: ii, 506 and plate 120). The corresponding Tibetan can be found at P 1030 khe 99a3–114b1 and D 1 ka 100a1–116a2 [cf. Eimer 1983]. For more, see Hiraoka 2007: ii, 23; HD 36; and Grey 2000: 345.
347For summaries of the story, see Mitra 1981: 64–65 and Panglung 1981: 8–9.
348Although a version of chapters 23–25 of the Divyāvadāna appears in the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya, the text of the narrative found in Nalinaksha Dutt’s edition of the text (MSV iv, 27–51, 52–72), as well as in S. Bagchi’s (1967–70: ii, 86.13–99.7, 99.8–109.8), is not from the manuscript finds in Gilgit, as is the rest of the text. It is, in fact, a reconstruction based on the Divyāvadāna itself. Folios 43–49, which correspond to Divy 335.7–388.3, were, as Vogel and Wille (GM-Saṅgh 247) explain, entrusted “for inspection to Sir. A. Stein and committed by him to L. D. Barnett, the librarian of the British Museum, who in turn forwarded them for treatment to S. Lévi. After the latter’s publication in 1932 of folios 49v3 to 55v10 [Journal Asiatique 220: 26ff.], they remained untraceable until 1949 when, along with some photographs of the Stein Collection, they were delivered anew to the British Museum and deposited there under the shelf-mark Or. 11878A. Since the leaves were not available when he was preparing his edition of the Vinayavastu, N. Dutt resorted by way of a stopgap to reprinting—with some changes and transpositions—the abridged Divyāvadāna parallel and Lévi’s specimen respectively; so did, relying on him, S. Bagchi. After Raghu Vira had obtained a microfilm of them as early as the mid-1950s, they were ultimately included in then ten-volume facsimile reproduction of the New Delhi Collection [GBM 6, nos. 686–707].” V. Näther published an edition and German translation of the missing text in 1975; Vogel and Wille published a revised edition of the text and an English translation in 1996. Nevertheless, as Vogel and Wille (GM-Saṅgh 248) note, “The whole former part of the Nāgakumārāvadāna and roughly the first quarter of the Saṃgharakṣitāvadāna have been lost in the original Sanskrit.”