Divine Stories

by Andy Rotman

  397Divy 339.5, sukhitā tvam. Although the words here are clear, the tone is not. Burnouf (2010: 318; cf. 1844: 324) offers this translation: “You are happy.” Vogel and Wille (GM-Saṅgh 279) translate this as “You [should be] happy!” While this could be construed as a greeting—“May you be happy!”—my sense is that he is telling her that she has it easy while he is living under a strict set of conditions.

  398Following GM-Saṅgh 257/44v5, the Tibetan (107a8; 108b6), and Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 37), read brāhmaṇapratisaṃyuktā gathā bhāṣitavyā iti. Divy 339.21, brāhmaṇapratisaṃyuktaṃ bhāsayāmīti. The mss. (Divy 339n1), however, read brāhmaṇapratisaṃyuktā, hinting at the proposed emendation.

  399These are the first two verses in the “Chapter on Brahmans” (Brāhmaṇavarga) from the Udānavarga (xxxiii, vv. 1–2)—a text, like the Divyāvadāna, that is probably affiliated with the Mūlasarvāstivādins (Schmithausen 1970). These verses also occur, with minor variations, in the Pāli Dhammapada (Dhp, vv. 141–42) and the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dharmapada (Dhp-BHS, vv. 195–96). There, however, they occur in the “Chapter on Punishment.”

  400Divy 339.24, moham. Following Pāṇini 5.2.127, understand as mohinam. Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 37), following GM-Saṅgh 257/44v6, Udānavarga xxxiii, v. 1, and the Tibetan (107b1; 108b7), reads martyam. The Pāli Dhammapada (Dhp, v. 141) and the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dharmapada (Dhp-BHS, v. 195) likewise read “mortal” (maccam and māccam, respectively).

  401Following GM-Saṅgh 257/44v6, the Tibetan (107b2; 109a1), and Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 37), read brāḥmaṇapratisaṃyuktā gathā bhāṣata iti.Divy 339.30, brāḥmaṇapratisaṃyuktam(mss., brāḥmaṇaṃ pratisaṃyuktam) ata ity. Cowell and Neil (Divy 339n4) query ity ata; Vaidya (Divy-V 210.11) omits ata.

  402Here the Gilgit manuscript of the Saṅgharakṣita story (GM-Saṅgh 258/44v7–261/46r9) provides an excerpt from the Nagaropamasūtrathat concludes with a verse. The Divyāvadāna only offers the verse. For more on the Nagaropamasūtra—a popular apotropaic text, particularly in Central Asia—see Bongard-Levin et al. 1996; Saṃyukta-nikāya ii, 104–7; and the Nidānasaṃyukta (Tripathi 1962: 5).

  403For more on the complex history of this verse, see Skilling 1994: ii, 535–36.

  404Following Speyer (1902: 343–44), GM-Saṅgh 261/46r10, Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), and Divy 48.15, 49.13, etc., read cābhinirhṛtā. Divy 340.9, cāpi nirhṛtā (mss., nirhṛtāḥ).

  405The Gilgit manuscript of the Saṅgharakṣita story (GM-Saṅgh 261/46v1–262/46v4) then extols, in detail, the five benefits of being fully intent on becoming a renunciant. Cf. Divy 302.22–303.6.

  406Divy 340.21, -avavādena-. Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), following GM-Saṅgh 262/46v6 and the Tibetan (111a8; 112b7), reads -anubhāvena-.

  407Following GM-Saṅgh 262/46v6, the Tibetan (111a8; 112b7), and Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), read kolopamaḥ. Divy 340.22, laṅghanakopamaḥ. This is conjecture, for the mss. are corrupt. The mss. (Divy 340n5) read lakṣatako mama saṃvṛttaḥ (ms. A, lakṣayatako-; ms. B, laṅkhatako?). Cf. Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. laṅghanaka).

  408In the Gilgit manuscript of the Saṅgharakṣita story (GM-Saṅgh 262/46v5–6), Saṅgharakṣita is “distressed” (vyathitaḥ) and responds “with a face full of sadness and pity” (hīnadīnavadanaḥ). He has been successful as a raft, bringing others to religious attainment (i.e., they have acquired magical powers to teleport themselves), but he himself has lagged behind. He hasn’t yet arrived at the far shore that is awakening. So, in what follows, he meditates and brings himself there.

  409Divy 340.27–28, sthānāsthāna-. Edgerton (BHSD, sthāna) takes this to mean either “possibilities and impossibilities” or “sound and unsound propositions or conclusions.” Vogel and Wille (GM-Saṅgh 277–78) translate it as “(discriminating) correct and incorrect conclusions.” Cf. Majjhima-nikāya iii, 64–67; trans. in Bodhi 1995: 928–30.

  410Divy 340.28, aparapratibaddhā cāsya bhavati avavādānuśāsanīti. Vogel and Wille (GM-Saṅgh 278) offer this translation: “one’s advice and instruction is not dependent on another.” However, I don’t think the meaning here is that “the instructions and admonitions one gives are not dependent on another” but that one isn’t dependent on another for them. Following Nobel (1955: i, 85), they also note the possibility of “and advice and instruction therein,” referring back to the previous benefit(s). Tharchin (1984: 43), translating more loosely, offers: “One no longer needs to rely on any other person for advice or teachings on their meaning.”

  The text appears to be deficient here in that it only lists four benefits. At Divy 567.7–10, the text enumerates a slightly different list, adding “aggregates” and “sense bases” but not including “what is possible and impossible,” to total five. GM-Saṅgh 262/46v7 adds “sense bases” (āyatana-), which would make the present list in the Divyāvadāna total five, but then Vogel and Wille (GM-Saṅgh 287) add “aggregates” in their translation, following Divy 506.8. This allows “one’s instructions and admonitions are not dependent on others” to be separate from the list. See also MSV i, 23.10–12, which likewise enumerates the benefits in the same way.

  411Following Divy 282.1–4 (modified accordingly). Divy 341.1, “and so on as before” (pūrvavad yāvat).

  412Following GM-Saṅgh 262/47r1, bhagavatsakāśam. Divy 341.9 (omitted).

  413Following Divy-V 211.23, read evaṃ sthitā. Divy 342.2, nopasthitā. GM-Saṅgh 263/47r6 reads nepacchitā. Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38) suggests nepatthitā. Cf. Divy 281.27–28, and the corresponding note.

  414Following Divy 282.1–4 (modified accordingly). Divy 342.6, “and so on as before” (pūrvavad yāvat).

  415Following Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), read taṭṭvākāran. Divy 342.11, khaṭvākārān. See note 391.

  416A version of following portion of the text (Divy 342.13–343.23) occurs in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (57.11–59.6; trans. in Bendall and Rouse 1971: 58–60), although the wording of the latter much more closely resembles its counterpart in the Gilgit manuscripts (GM-Saṅgh 263/47v2–265/48r2).

  417Following Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), add tvam. Divy 342.17 (omitted).

  418Following Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), read taṭṭvākāram. See note 391. Divy 342.26–27, tapvākāraṃ (ex conj.; mss. AB, -taḥ | kāraṃ; mss. CD, tathākāraṃ). Cowell and Neil (Divy 342n9) note, “Can tapu mean ‘a cauldron’”? As Hiraoka (HD 38) notes, Vogel and Wille “read taṭṭuka for taṭvaka ([GM-Saṅgh 264,] 47v5), on the basis of an example in the Śikṣ[āsamuccaya]. This is supported by Tib. phor pa (113b4; 115a4).” MSV iv, 45.15, “water-jar” (ghaṭa).

  419Divy 343.1–2, pānakavāram uddiṣṭas tad vārakaṃ(mss. BC, tat pānakaṃ) nirmādayati. Hiraoka (HA 18; HD 38) suggests reading pānavārakam for pānakavāram.As Hiraoka (HD 38) notes, “This seems to be a misprint. Cf. Tib. skom gyi gtsang sbyor (113b4; 115a5).” Hiraoka (HA 18; HD 38) also suggests reading taṭṭukaṃ for tad vārakaṃ.

  420The Gilgit manuscript of the Saṅgharakṣita story preserves quite a different reading for this passage. Vogel and Wille (GM-Saṅgh 291–92) offer this translation: “That being whom you saw having the form of a cup was a novice in charge of drinks. (When) he washed the cup(s) and guest monks came, they asked him: ‘Novice, will there (still) be drink(s) for the congregation today?’ His mind affected with avarice, he said: ‘Don’t you see (that) I have washed the cup(s)? The drink(s have been) drunk.’ They became despaired at (the thought that) the time (for drinks was) over, (and) proceeded with worried and sad faces. Therefore he came to be having the form of a cup” (yas tvaṃ satvān adrākṣīs taṭvakākārā śrāmaṇerakā āsīt[read yaṃ tvaṃ satvaṃ adrākṣīs taṭṭukākāraṃ sa śrāmaṇeraka āsīt] pānakavārikaḥ sa taṭvakaṃ [read taṭṭukam] nirmādayaty āgantunkāś ca bhikṣavo ’bhyāgatāḥ tair asau pṛṣṭaḥ śrāmaṇerādya saṃghasya pānakaṃ bhaviṣyatīti| sa mātsaryopahatacittaḥ kathayati na paśyatha mayā taṭvakaṃ[read taṭṭukaṃ] nirmāditaṃ pītaṃ pānakam iti | te vṛttaveleti nairāśya
m āpannāḥ hīnadīnavadanā(ḥ) prakrāntāḥ tena taṣvakākāras[read taṭṭukākāras] saṃvṛttāḥ| GM-Saṅgh 264/47v5–6).

  421Following Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), read taṭṭvākāraḥ. Divy 343.5, tapvākāraḥ (sic mss. ABC; ms. D, taddhākāraḥ).

  422Following GM-Saṅgh 264/47v8, the Tibetan (113b8–114a1; 115b1), and Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), read ulūkhale stokaṃ khaleḥ. Divy 343.9, khalastokam (mss. AC, khale stokam; ms. B, khalu stokam). Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. khali) suggests, “read khaleḥ [mss. khale] stokam, or with Śikṣ[āsammucaya] 58.7, 9, citation of this Divy passage, khali-stokaṃ, a little bit of oil-cake paste.” I am unsure of what, precisely, is being ground in the mortar. Oil cake is often used as cattle feed and sometimes as manure. Cf. Marathi, peṇḍ.

  423Divy 343.11, yadi rocate. Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), following GM-Saṅgh 264/47v7 and the Tibetan (113b8–114a1; 115b1), reads yadi mama kalpeta ulūkhalaṃ spraṣṭum. That is, “if it were proper for me to touch a mortar.”

  424Following Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), read khaleḥ stokam. Divy 343.12, khalastokam (mss., khale stokaṃ). Cf. note 422.

  425The Gilgit manuscript of the Saṅgharakṣita story tells a slightly different, and more provocative story. Vogel and Wille (GM-Saṅgh 293) offer this translation: “Those beings whom you saw having the form of pots were servants, waiters upon the monks. [When] they [were] unkindly addressed by the monks while decocting medicine, they got irritated and smashed the pots. Thereby they came to be having the form of pots” (yā<ṃ>s tvaṃ satvān adrākṣī sthālyākārāṃ<|>s te kalpikārā āsaṃ bhikṣūṇām upasthāyakāḥ tair bhaiṣajyaṃ kvāthayanto bhikṣubhir apyayam uktā<ḥ> taiś cittaṃ pradūṣya tās sthālyo bhinnāḥ tena sthālyākārās saṃvṛttāḥ| GM-Saṅgh 265/47v10–48r1).

  426For Pāli and Sanskrit parallels, see Vinayapiṭaka i, 86.36–88.3; GM-Nāga 27–29 [MSV iv, 48.19–51.21]—translated in GM-Nāga 39–43; a Turfan fragment, and its translation, in GM-Nāga 65–69; and Avadānakalpalatā no. 60 (Rani 2005: 60–61 and woodcut L-3; Tucci 1949: ii, 497 and plate 118). The corresponding Tibetan can be found at P 1030 khe 115b6–117b6 and D 1 ka 117a7–119b1 [cf. Eimer 1983]. For more, see Hiraoka 2007: ii, 23; HD 36; and Grey 2000: 281.

  In the Mūlasarvastivāda-vinaya, as Vogel and Wille (GM-Saṅgh 248) note, this story “makes up, as it were, the frame story of the Saṃgharakṣitāvadāna, with the tale of the present preceding and that of the past succeeding it. The aim of this superordinate avadāna is to exemplify the maxim that a so-called phantom creature—an animal able to transform itself into a human being—must be removed from the congregation.”

  427Vogel and Wille (GM-Nāga 39) gloss “young nāga” here as “the metamorphic serpent-demon youth.” This is the young nāga who, in the beginning of the previous story, was confronted by the group of six monks.

  428According to a nineteenth-century Tibetan scholar (Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé 1995: 110), “Beyond Mount Meru and completely surrounding it like curtains are seven mountain ranges, each forming a square. These seven golden mountain ranges [are named according to the shape of their peaks:] Yoke, Plough, Acacia Forest, Pleasing-to-the-Eye, Horse’s Ear, Bent, and Rim. The spaces between [the mountain ranges] are filled with what are known as the seven seas enjoyed [by the nāgas], the waters of which have eight qualities: cool, tasty, light, soft, clear, odorless, harmless to the throat if swallowed, and harmless to the stomach.”

  429Divy 344.15, -rāṣtṛadhānīṣu. Following Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38) to fix this misprint, read -rāṣṭra-. Intended, perhaps, was rāṣṭrarājadhāṇīṣu. Cf. Divy 18.13, 18.19, etc.

  430Following Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), read cācirajātakaḥ. MSV iv, 49.13 reads likewise. GM-Nāga 27/48v8, acirajātakaḥ. Divy 344.16, ca cirajātakaḥ.

  431This incident suggests the hereditary feud between nāgas and Garuḍa—more loosely, snakes and birds. This feud is especially well represented in Gandhāran art.

  432Following Divy 282.1–4. Divy 344.24, “and so on as before” (pūrvavad yāvat).

  433Following Hiraoka (HA 17; HD 38), read cācirajātakaḥ. MSV iv, 49.13 reads likewise. GM-Nāga 28/49r2, acirajātakaḥ. Divy 344.16, ca cirajātakaḥ. Vogel (1926: 188) translates as “born to us in our old age.”

  434Divy 345.4, tādṛśaḥ suduṣṭanāgo (mss. AB, tādṛśasuduṣṭanāgo; ms. C, tādṛśaḥ suduṣṭanāgo; ms. D, tādṛśasuduṣṭā nāgo) yad. MSV iv, 50.5, and Vaidya (Divy-V 213.20) both read the same. GM-Nāga 28/49r3, tādṛśo ’asau duṣṭa āsīd yasya.

  435Divy 345.18, avalambyate. Cowell and Neil (Divy 345n3) write “Sic mss.” Vaidya (Divy-V 213.29) emends to avalambate. GM-Nāga 28/49r6, nibadhyeta.

  436Divy 345.18–19, yo (sic mss.; sa?) yasmin sthāne ’ntardhāsyati tena tatra nimittam udgṛhītam (mss. ABC, udgrahīta; ms. D, udgrahītaṃ). Cf. Divy 57.1–2. Vogel (1926: 188), reading against the grammar but nevertheless very cogently, suggests, “Mark thou the spot where thy master will vanish.” GM-Nāga 28/49r6, sa taiḥ protsāhito yatra sthāne sa riddhyā antardhīyate tatra gatvāvasthitaḥ. That is, “Encouraged by them, he went to that place where his teacher would magically disappear and he waited.”

  437Following GM-Nāga 28/49r8, read jarayitum. Divy 345.27, kārayitum. Perhaps, “handle.” MSV iv, 51.5, dhārayitum.

  438Following GM-Nāga 28/49r8, read śakṣyate; otherwise, śaknoti. Divy 345.27, śakyate.

  439Divy 346.1–2, odanamijy avatiṣṭhate. Cowell and Neil (Divy 346n1) write, “Sic MSS; query odanamihy (mihī from mih) or -mikṣy.” Citing this passage, Edgerton (BHSD) explains mijī as “drop, small bit.” This is supported by the Tibetan (117a8; 119a3), which reads gzegs ma. Edgerton also notes, in an oddly petulant tone, “Prob. corrupt, but I think of no good em[endation] (those suggested in ed. note are clearly worthless).” GM-Nāga 28/49r9 reads tasmin odanasitthako lagnaḥ. That is, “and [some] cooked rice was stuck in it.” MSV iv, 51.7, odano ’bhiṣakto ’vatiṣṭhate.

  440GM-Nāga 28/49r10 describes this as a “false fervent aspiration” (mithyāpraṇidhānam).

  441Divy 346.8–9, tasya dṛṣṭa eva dharme ubhābhyāṃ pāṇibhyāṃ jalaṃ syanditum ārabdham. Just prior to this, GM-Nāga 29/49r10–v1 adds atyudīrṇaparipūrṇāni karmāṇi śarīrasy nidhanaṃ nopekṣaṃte, which Vogel and Wille (GM-Nāga 43) translate as “[As] very intense (and) fully accomplished acts do not wait for loss of the body.” In that context, I would translate dṛṣṭa eva dharmeas “in this lifetime,” my standard translation for the phrase, to emphasize the immediacy of the karmic effects of his action. Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. dharma) translates it as “the present state, the present life,” and Vogel and Wille (GM-Nāga 43) as “in the visible (present) world.” In this instance, however, I take it more loosely to mean at that very moment in his life.

  Furthermore, it is unclear whether the novice is actively trickling water through his hands, or whether water is flowing from them or over them, and what this action accomplishes or indicates. Burnouf (2010: 324; cf. 1844: 332) translates this as “And immediately, the novice started to spread water with his two hands [to destroy a nāga he had chosen].” Vogel (1926: 188–89) translates it as “At the very moment water began to flow from his hands.” My sense is that, as a result of his fervent aspiration, water is trickling from his hands because he is turning into a nāga; or, at least, showing signs of his future rebirth as one. Cf. the Tibetan (117b4; 119a6).

  442Divy 346.9, śirorttiḥ (sic). GM-Nāga 29/49v1 reads śiro rujā. Vaidya (Divy 214.11) emends to śirortiḥ.

  443Divy 346.13–14,

  pravaṇībhūtam idaṃ cittaṃ na śaknomi nivārayitum |

  ihasthasyaiva me bhadanta pāṇibhyāṃ syandate jalam||

  Burnouf (2010: 324–25; cf. 1844: 332) translates the verse as “This thought has possessed me; I am no longer able to free myself from it; I pour water, Lord, with my two hands during the time that I exist in this world.” Vogel (1926: 189) offers this translation: “Free course hath
though been allowed this thought of mine / How were I able to suppress it now? / Lo, Rev’rend Sir, e’en in my present state / From both my hands freely the waters flow.” Peter Skilling (personal communication) suggests translating pravaṇībhūtam more idiomatically as “which has its own momentum.” GM-Nāga 29/49v2 reads dūrībhūtam for pravaṇībhūtam, nivarttitumfor nivārayitum, and yasmātfor bhadanta. Vogel and Wille (GM-Nāga 43) offer this translation: “Far (from my mind is) this thought, / I cannot give (it) up; / For what reason, while I am just standing here, / Water trickles from my hands.” Cf. the Tibetan (117b5; 119a7), which Vogel and Wille (GM-Nāga 43n42) translate as “This thought is far (from my mind); / thus [evam], while I am standing here, / water trickles from my hands; / hence I cannot give (it) up.”

  444Cowell and Neil (Divy 346n8) observe that “all the MSS. add here 23 (for 24?).” In the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya, this story comes after the second installment of the Saṅgharakṣita-avadāna. In other words, this story would be chapter 25.

  445For Sanskrit parallels, see GM-Saṅgh 265/48r2–266/48v4 [MSV iv, 47.1–48.18]—translated in GM-Saṅgh 293–95. The corresponding Tibetan can be found at P 1030 khe 114b1–115b6 and D 1 ka 116a2–117a7 [cf. Eimer 1983]. For more, see Hiraoka 2007: ii, 23 and HD 36.

  446Following Divy 131.7–14 (modified accordingly) and GM-Saṅgh 265/48r3–4. Divy 346.23–24, “and so on as before” (pūrvavat).

  447Following Divy 344.5–7 and GM-Saṅgh 265/48r5. Divy 347.1, “and so on as before” (pūrvavat). GM-Saṅgh 265/48r5–6 then adds sa vārāṇasīnagarīm upaniśritya viharati ṛṣivadane mṛgadāve. That is, “He stayed near the city of Vārāṇasī in the deer park at Ṛṣivadana (Mouth of Sages).”

  448Divy 347.2, vaiyāvṛtyakāraḥ.GM-Saṅgh 265/48r6, vaiyyāpṛ[ ]tyakaraḥ. Cf. Divy 347.27–28, dharmavaiyāvṛtyaṃ kṛtam. For more on this term, see Silk 2008b: 50–51.

  449See too GM-Saṅgh 265–266/48r7–8, “Since I have followed the religious life for as long as I lived under the perfectly awakened Lord Kāśyapa without amassing many virtues, by this root of virtue may I go forth as a monk in the order of the young brahman named Uttara about whom the perfectly awakened Lord Kāśyapa has made the following prediction: ‘Young brahman, when people live for one hundred years, you will be a perfectly awakened tathāgatha arhat named Śākyamuni.’ And may I then, by ridding myself of all defilements, directly experience arhatship” (yan mayā bhagavati kāśyape samyaksaṃbuddhe{yā} yāvadāyur brahmacaryaṃ caritaṃ na ca kaścid guṇagaṇo ’dhigataḥ anenāhaṃ kuśalamūlena yo ’sau bhagavatā kāśyapena samyaksaṃbuddhenottaro nāma māṇavo vyākṛto bhaviṣyasi tvaṃ māṇava varṣaśatāyuṣi prajāyāṃ śākyamunir nāma tathāgato ’rhaṃ samyaksaṃbuddha iti tasyāhaṃ śāsane pravrajya sarvakleśaprahāṇād arhatvaṃ sākṣātkuryām iti).