Freda Bedi Cont'd (#3)

[admin]

Bhadrakalpika Sūtra
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/15/21


Garden of One Thousand Buddhas Arlee, Montana

Bhadrakalpikasūtra (Sanskrit; Wylie: bskal pa bzang po’i mdo) is a Mahayana sutra with 24 chapters written in c. 200-250 CE,[1] said to have been taught by Gautama Buddha in Vaishali.[2] It includes the names of the 1002 Buddhas of this "Fortunate Aeon."[3] The title of this text means the Fortunate Aeon Sūtra.

In 2017, United States Representative, Colleen Hanabusa, was sworn in on a copy of the Fortune Aeon.[4]

The thousand buddhas


Photo showing Dunhuang Cave 16 and the manuscripts piled up for Aurel Stein near the entrance to Cave 17, the “library cave” at the Mogao Caves


Temple of One Thousand Buddhas, in la Boulaye, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy

The list of 1002 (or 1004) names starts with:[5]

• Krakucchanda
• Kanakamuni
• Kashyapa
• Shakyamuni
• Maitreya

... and ends with ...[6]

• Harivaktra
• Chuda and
• Rocha

It is included in the first volume of the sutra section of the Kangyur of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also available in Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and other languages in variants that differ slightly as to the number of Tathāgatas enumerated. For example, the Khotanese version is the proponent of a 1005-Tathāgata system.[7]

Dharmarakṣa, a native of Dunhuang, between third and fourth centuries had translated the Bhadrakalpikasutra into Classical Chinese. Note that "A cave of the Thousand-Buddhas" is the name of the world-renowned grottoes at Dunhuang. Vidyakarasimha and Dpal-dbyans translated the text into Tibetan.[8]

Dunhuang is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China... Dunhuang was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road and is best known for the nearby Mogao Caves.

Figure of Maitreya Buddha in cave 275 from Northern Liang (397–439), one of the earliest caves. The crossed ankle figure with a three-disk crown shows influence from Kushan art.

The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples 25 km (16 mi) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China. The caves may also be known as the Dunhuang Caves; however, this term is also used as a collective term to include other Buddhist cave sites in and around the Dunhuang area, such as the Western Thousand Buddha Caves, Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves, Yulin Caves, and Five Temple Caves. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. The first caves were dug out in AD 366 as places of Buddhist meditation and worship. The Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are one of the three famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China.

An important cache of documents was discovered in 1900 in the so-called "Library Cave", which had been walled-up in the 11th century. The contents of the library were subsequently dispersed around the world, and the largest collections are now found in Beijing, London, Paris and Berlin, and the International Dunhuang Project exists to coordinate and collect scholarly work on the Dunhuang manuscripts and other material. The caves themselves are now a popular tourist destination, with a number open for visiting.

-- Mogao Caves, by Wikipedia

It has also been known at times as Shazhou and, in Uyghur, Dukhan.

Dunhuang is situated in an oasis containing Crescent Lake and Mingsha Shan (鳴沙山, meaning "Singing-Sand Mountain"), named after the sound of the wind whipping off the dunes, the singing sand phenomenon. Dunhuang commands a strategic position at the crossroads of the ancient Southern Silk Route and the main road leading from India via Lhasa to Mongolia and Southern Siberia, and also controls the entrance to the narrow Hexi Corridor, which leads straight to the heart of the north Chinese plains and the ancient capitals of Chang'an (today known as Xi'an) and Luoyang.

-- Dunhuang, by Wikipedia

The original Sanskrit text is now lost.

See also

• Mahayana sutras
• Heart Sutra
• Samantabhadra Meditation Sutra

Notes

1. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, By Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., Princeton University Press, 2013 p. 106
2. The Fortunate Aeon: How the Thousand Buddhas Became Enlightened (Tibetan Translation Series), 4 volume set (Berkeley: Dharma Publishing, 1986).
3. “One Thousand Buddhas from Gandhara: the Bhadrakalpikasutra and its place in Gandhari literature,” Stefan Baums, 44th Annual South Asian Conference of the Pacific Northwest, March 4–6, 2010.
4. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-amer ... ss-n699676
5. The Fortunate Aeon: How the Thousand Buddhas Became Enlightened, p. 1733
6. The Fortunate Aeon: How the Thousand Buddhas Became Enlightened, p. 1733
7. BHADRAKALPIKASŪTRA, Ronald E. Emmerick, Encyclopaedia Iranica, December 15, 1989, Vol. IV, Fasc. 2, pp. 190-191 http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/b ... anist-text
8. Dr. Shailendra K. Verma, "Emergence and Evolution of the Buddha Image (From its inception to 8th century A.D.)" a doctoral thesis. At http://www.exoticindiaart.com/product/TK70/

External links

• [Tripiṭaka. Sūtrapiṭaka. Bhadrakalpikasūtra. http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/co ... /840923226]
• Tabo skor lam: inner walls On the inner walls of the ambulatory the sequence of the Buddhas of the Bhadrakalpikasūtra continues Tabo Monastery

[admin]

Buddhavamsa
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/15/21

Buddhavaṃsa
Type: Canonical text; Vaṃsa
Parent Collection: Khuddaka Nikaya
PTS Abbreviation: Bv
Pāli literature


Buddha

The Buddhavaṃsa (also known as the Chronicle of Buddhas) is a hagiographical Buddhist text which describes the life of Gautama Buddha and of the twenty-four Buddhas who preceded him and prophesied his attainment of Buddhahood.[1][2] It is the fourteenth book of the Khuddaka Nikāya, which in turn is the fifth and last division of the Sutta Piṭaka.[3] The Sutta Piṭaka is one of three pitakas (main sections) which together constitute the Tripiṭaka, or Pāli Canon of Theravāda Buddhism.[4]

Along with the Apadāna and the Cariyāpiṭaka, the Buddhavaṃsa is considered by most scholars to have been written during the 1st and 2nd century BCE, and is therefore a late addition to the Pāli Canon.[5][6]

Summary

The first chapter tells how Gautama Buddha, to demonstrate his supernormal knowledge, creates a jewelled walkway in the sky.[7] In seeing this display, Sāriputta asks the Buddha:

"Of what kind, great hero, supreme among men, was your resolve? At what time, wise one, was supreme Awakening aspired to by you? ... Of what kind, wise one, leader of the world, were your ten perfections? How were the higher perfections fulfilled, how the ultimate perfections?"[8]

In response, the Buddha relays the remainder of the Buddhavaṃsa.[9]

In the second chapter Gautama tells how in a distant past life as layman named Sumedha, he received a prediction from Dīpankara Buddha that "In the next era you will become a buddha named Gotama.",[10] and told him the ten perfections he would need to practice.

Chapters 3 through 26 are accounts of the twenty-four historical Buddhas who achieved Buddhahood between Dīpankara and Gautama, and the acts of merit that Gautama performed towards them in his previous lives.

Chapter 27 is an account of the life of Gautama Buddha.[1]

Chapter 28 mentions three Buddhas that preceded Dīpankara,[1][11] as well as the future Buddha, Maitreya.[1][12]

Chapter 29 tells of the distribution of Gautama Buddha's relics after his death.[1]

Translations

• Morris, R, ed. (1882). "XXVII: List of the Buddhas". The Buddhavamsa (PDF). London: Pali Text Society. pp. 66–7. Archived from the original on 2016-02-28.
• Law, BC, ed. (1938). "The lineage of the Buddhas". The Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon: Buddhavaṃsa, the lineage of the Buddhas, and Cariyā-Piṭaka or the collection of ways of conduct (1st ed.). London: Milford.
• Takin, MV, ed. (1969). "The lineage of the Buddhas". The Genealogy of the Buddhas (1st ed.). Bombay: Bombay University Publications.
• Horner, IB, ed. (1975). The minor anthologies of the Pali canon. Volume III: Buddhavaṁsa (Chronicle of Buddhas) and Cariyāpiṭaka (Basket of Conduct). London: Pali Text Society. ISBN 0-86013-072-X.
• Vicittasarabivamsa, U (1992). "Chapter IX: The chronicle of twenty-four Buddhas". In Ko Lay, U; Tin Lwin, U (eds.). The great chronicle of Buddhas, Volume One, Part Two (PDF) (1st ed.). Yangon, Myanmar: Ti=Ni Publishing Center. pp. 130–321. Archived from the original on 2016-02-14.

See also

• Cariyapitaka
• Jataka tales
• Pāramitā

Notes

1. Buddha Dharma Education Association (2014). "Suttanta Pitaka: Khuddaka Nikāya: 14.Buddhavamsa-History of the Buddhas". Guide to Tipiṭaka. Tullera, NSW, Australia: Buddha Dharma Education Association. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
2. Hinüber (1996), A Handbook of Pāli Literature, p. 43.
3. "Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines (Pali dictionary)". palikanon.com. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
4. Lancaster, LR (2005). "Buddhist books and texts: canon and canonization". Encyclopedia of religion (2nd ed.). New York: Macmillan Reference USA. p. 1252. ISBN 978 00-286-5733-2.
5. A textual and Historical Analysis of the Khuddaka Nikaya – Oliver Abeynayake Ph. D. , Colombo, First Edition – 1984, p. 113.
6. Horner (1975), The minor anthologies of the Pali canon, p. x. "It would seem that, however much Bv may be a latecomer to the Pali Canon, or however slight its metrical interest, its merits which may be said to include the clear-cut way in which it organizes its somewhat unusual contents...."
7. Horner (1975), The minor anthologies of the Pali canon, p. 1. Bv I, 5: "Come, I will display the unsurpassed power of a Buddha: in the zenith I will create a Walk adorned with jewels."
8. Horner (1975), The minor anthologies of the Pali canon, p. 8.
9. Horner (1975), The minor anthologies of the Pali canon, p. 9.
10. "Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra". Translations from the Taishō Tripiṭaka. Lapis Lazuli Texts. Retrieved 2014-12-21.
11. Horner (1975), The minor anthologies of the Pali canon, p. 96. Regarding the three Buddhas who came before Dīpankara, Bv XXVII, 1 states: "Immeasurable eons ago there were four guiders away: these Conquerors, Tanhankara, Medhankara, Saranankara and Dīpankara the Self-Awakened One were in one eon."
12. Horner (1975), The minor anthologies of the Pali canon, p. 97. Regarding Metteyya, Bv XXVII, 19: "I [Gautama Buddha] at the present time am the Self-Awakened One, and there will be Metteyya...."

References

• Horner, IB, ed. (1975). The minor anthologies of the Pali canon. Volume III: Buddhavaṁsa (Chronicle of Buddhas) and Cariyāpiṭaka (Basket of Conduct). London: Pali Text Society. ISBN 0-86013-072-X.
• Hinüber, O (1996). A Handbook of Pāli Literature (1st ed.). Philadelphia: Coronet Books Inc. ISBN 978-8121507783.

External links

The chronicle of twenty-four Buddhas, by Mingun Sayadaw, edited and translated by Professor U Ko Lay and U Tin Lwin, Yangon, Myanmar. Includes only chapters 1, 22, 23, and 24.

[admin]

Craniometry
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/18/21


A human skull and measurement device from 1902.

Craniometry is measurement of the cranium (the main part of the skull), usually the human cranium. It is a subset of cephalometry, measurement of the head, which in humans is a subset of anthropometry, measurement of the human body. It is distinct from phrenology, the pseudoscience that tried to link personality and character to head shape, and physiognomy, which tried the same for facial features. However, these fields have all claimed the ability to predict traits or intelligence.

It was once intensively practised in anthropology, in particular in physical anthropology in the 19th and the first part of the 20th century. Theories attempting to scientifically justify the segregation of society based on race became popular at this time, one of their prominent figures being Georges Vacher de Lapouge (1854–1936), who divided humanity into various, hierarchized, different "races", spanning from the "Aryan white race, dolichocephalic" (from the Ancient Greek kephalê, head, and dolikhos, long and thin), to the "brachycephalic" (short and broad-headed) race. On the other hand, craniometry was also used as evidence against the existence of a "Nordic race" and also by Franz Boas who used the cephalic index to show the influence of environmental factors. Charles Darwin used craniometry and the study of skeletons to demonstrate his theory of evolution first expressed in On the Origin of Species (1859).

More direct measurements involve examinations of brains from corpses, or more recently, imaging techniques such as MRI, which can be used on living persons. Such measurements are used in research on neuroscience and intelligence.

The cephalic index

Main article: Cephalic index

Swedish professor of anatomy Anders Retzius (1796–1860) first used the cephalic index in physical anthropology to classify ancient human remains found in Europe. He classified brains into three main categories, "dolichocephalic" (from the Ancient Greek kephalê, head, and dolikhos, long and thin), "brachycephalic" (short and broad) and "mesocephalic" (intermediate length and width).

These terms were then used by Georges Vacher de Lapouge (1854–1936), one of the pioneers of scientific theories in this area and a theoretician of eugenics, who in L'Aryen et son rôle social (1899 – "The Aryan and his social role") divided humanity into various, hierarchized, different "races", spanning from the "Aryan white race, dolichocephalic", to the "brachycephalic" "mediocre and inert" race, best represented by the "Jew [sic]."

Between these, Vacher de Lapouge identified the "Homo europaeus (Teutonic, Protestant, etc.), the "Homo alpinus" (Auvergnat, Turkish, etc.), and finally the "Homo mediterraneus" (Napolitano, Andalus, etc.). "Homo africanus" (Congo, Florida) was even excluded from the discussion. Vacher de Lapouge became one of the leading inspirations of Nazi anti-semitism and Nazi ideology.[1] His classification was mirrored in William Z. Ripley in The Races of Europe (1899).

Craniometry and anthropology


Pithecometra: In the frontispiece from his 1863 Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature, Thomas Huxley compared skeletons of apes to humans.

Photographically reduced from Diagrams of the natural size (except that of the Gibbon, which was twice as large as nature), drawn by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins from specimens in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.

Further information: Anthropology and Physical anthropology

In 1784, Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton, who wrote many comparative anatomy memoirs for the Académie française, published the Mémoire sur les différences de la situation du grand trou occipital dans l’homme et dans les animaux (which translates as Memoir on the Different Positions of the Occipital Foramen in Man and Animals).

Six years later, Pieter Camper (1722–1789), distinguished both as an artist and as an anatomist, published some lectures containing an account of his craniometrical methods. These laid the foundation of all subsequent work.

Pieter Camper invented the "facial angle", a measure meant to determine intelligence among various species. According to this technique, a "facial angle" was formed by drawing two lines: one horizontally from the nostril to the ear; and the other perpendicularly from the advancing part of the upper jawbone to the most prominent part of the forehead.

Camper claimed that antique statues presented an angle of 90°, Europeans of 80°, Black people of 70° and the orangutan of 58°, thus displaying a hierarchic view of mankind, based on a decadent conception of history. This scientific research was continued by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772–1844) and Paul Broca (1824–1880).

In 1856, workers found in a limestone quarry the skull of a Neanderthal man, thinking it to be the remains of a bear. They gave the material to amateur naturalist Johann Karl Fuhlrott, who turned the fossils over to anatomist Hermann Schaaffhausen. The discovery was jointly announced in 1857, giving rise to paleoanthropology.

Measurements were first made to compare the skulls of men with those of other animals. This wide comparison constituted the first subdivision of craniometric studies. The artist-anatomist Camper's developed a theory to measure the facial angle, for which he is chiefly known in later anthropological literature.

Camper's work followed 18th-century scientific theories. His measurements of facial angle were used to liken the skulls of non-Europeans to those of apes.


Selection of Primate skulls.

"Craniometry" also played a role in the foundation of the United States and the ideologies or racism that would become ingrained in the American psyche. As John Jeffries articulates in The Collision of Culture the Anglo-Saxon hegemony present in America during the eighteenth and nineteenth century helped establish "The American School of Craniometry" which helped establish the American and Western concept of race. As Jeffries points out the rigid establishment of race in eighteenth-century American society came from a new school of sciences which sought to distance Anglo-Saxons from the African American population. The distancing of the African population in American society through craniometry helped greatly in the efforts to scientifically prove they were inferior. The ideologies set forth by this new "American School" of thought were then used to justify maintaining an enslaved population to sustain the increasing number of slave plantations in the American South during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.[2]

In the 19th century the names of notable contributors to the literature of craniometry quickly increased in number. While it is impossible to analyse each contribution, or even record a complete list of the names of the authors, notable researchers who used craniometric methods to compare humans to other animals included Paul Broca (1824–1880), founder of the Anthropological Society in 1859 in France; and T. H. Huxley (1825–1895) of England.

By comparing skeletons of apes to man, Huxley backed up Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and developed the "Pithecometra principle", which stated that man and ape were descended from a common ancestor.

Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) became famous for his now outdated "recapitulation theory", according to which each individual mirrored the evolution of the whole species during his life. Although outdated, his work contributed then to the examination of human life.

These researches on skulls and skeletons helped liberate 19th-century European science from its ethnocentric biases.[3] In particular, Eugène Dubois' (1858–1940) discovery in 1891 in Indonesia of the "Java Man", the first specimen of Homo erectus to be discovered, demonstrated mankind's deep ancestry outside Europe.

Cranial capacity, races and 19th–20th-century scientific ideas

Samuel George Morton (1799–1851), one of the inspirers of physical anthropology, collected hundreds of human skulls from all over the world and started trying to find a way to classify them according to some logical criterion. Influenced by the common theories of his time, he claimed that he could judge the intellectual capacity of a race by the cranial capacity (the measure of the volume of the interior of the skull).

After inspecting three mummies from ancient Egyptian catacombs, Morton concluded that Caucasians and other races were already distinct three thousand years ago. Since the Bible indicated that Noah's Ark had washed up on Mount Ararat, only a thousand years ago before this, Morton claimed that Noah's sons could not possibly account for every race on Earth. According to Morton's theory of polygenism, races have been separate since the start.[4]

Morton claimed that he could judge the intellectual capacity of a race by the skull size. A large skull meant a large brain and high intellectual capacity, and a small skull indicated a small brain and decreased intellectual capacity. Morton collected hundreds of human skulls from all over the world. By studying these skulls he claimed that each race had a separate origin. Morton had many skulls from ancient Egypt, and concluded that the ancient Egyptians were not African, but were White. His two major monographs were the Crania Americana (1839), An Inquiry into the Distinctive Characteristics of the Aboriginal Race of America and Crania Aegyptiaca (1844).

Based on craniometry data, Morton claimed in Crania Americana that the Caucasians had the biggest brains, averaging 87 cubic inches, Indians were in the middle with an average of 82 cubic inches and Negroes had the smallest brains with an average of 78 cubic inches.[4]

Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002), an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and historian of science, studied these craniometric works in The Mismeasure of Man (1981) and claimed Samuel Morton had fudged data and "overpacked" the skulls with filler in order to justify his preconceived notions on racial differences. A subsequent study by the anthropologist John Michael found Morton's original data to be more accurate than Gould describes, concluding that "[c]ontrary to Gould's interpretation... Morton's research was conducted with integrity."[5]

In 2011, physical anthropologists at the University of Pennsylvania, which owns Morton's collection, published a study that concluded that almost every detail of Gould's analysis was wrong and that "Morton did not manipulate his data to support his preconceptions, contra Gould." They identified and remeasured half of the skulls used in Morton's reports, finding that in only 2% of cases did Morton's measurements differ significantly from their own and that these errors either were random or gave a larger than accurate volume to African skulls, the reverse of the bias that Gould imputed to Morton.[6]

Morton's followers, particularly Josiah C. Nott and George Gliddon in their monumental tribute to Morton's work, Types of Mankind (1854), carried Morton's ideas further and backed up his findings which supported the notion of polygenism.

Charles Darwin opposed Nott and Glidon in his 1871 The Descent of Man, arguing for a monogenism of the species. Darwin conceived the common origin of all humans (the single-origin hypothesis) as essential for evolutionary theory.

Furthermore, Josiah Nott was the translator of Arthur de Gobineau's An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (1853–1855), which is one of the founding works of the group of studies that segregates society based on "race", in contrast to Boulainvilliers' (1658–1722) theory of races. Henri de Boulainvilliers opposed the Français (French people), alleged descendants of the Nordic Franks, and members of the aristocracy, to the Third Estate, considered to be indigenous Gallo-Roman people who were subordinated by the Franks by right of conquest.[clarification needed] Gobineau, meanwhile, made three main divisions between races, based not on colour but on climatic conditions and geographic location, and which privileged the "Aryan" race.

In 1873, Paul Broca (1824–1880) found the same pattern described by Samuel Morton's Crania Americana by weighing brains at autopsy. Other historical studies alleging a Black-White difference in brain size include Bean (1906), Mall, (1909), Pearl, (1934) and Vint (1934).


William Z. Ripley's map of the "cephalic index" in Europe, from The Races of Europe (1899).

Furthermore, Georges Vacher de Lapouge's racial classification ("Teutonic", "Alpine" and "Mediterranean") was re-used by William Z. Ripley (1867–1941) in The Races of Europe (1899), who even made a map of Europe according to the alleged cephalic index of its inhabitants.

In Germany, Rudolf Virchow launched a study of craniometry, which gave surprising results according to contemporary theories on the "Aryan race", leading Virchow to denounce the "Nordic mysticism" in the 1885 Anthropology Congress in Karlsruhe.

Josef Kollmann, a collaborator of Virchow, stated in the same congress that the people of Europe, be them German, Italian, English or French, belonged to a "mixture of various races," furthermore declaring that the "results of craniology" led to "struggle against any theory concerning the superiority of this or that European race" on others.[7]

Virchow later rejected measure of skulls as legitimate means of taxinomy. Paul Kretschmer quoted an 1892 discussion with him concerning these criticisms, also citing Aurel von Törok's 1895 work, who basically proclaimed the failure of craniometry.[7]

Craniometry, phrenology and physiognomy

Further information: Phrenology, Physiognomy, and Anthropological criminology

Craniometry was also used in phrenology, which purported to determine character, personality traits, and criminality on the basis of the shape of the head and thus of the skull. At the turn of the 19th century, Franz Joseph Gall (1758–1822) developed "cranioscopy" (Ancient Greek kranion: skull, scopos: vision), a method to determine the personality and development of mental and moral faculties on the basis of the external shape of the skull.

Cranioscopy was later renamed to phrenology (phrenos: mind, logos: study) by his student Johann Spurzheim (1776–1832), who wrote extensively on the "Drs. Gall and Spurzheim's physiognomical System." Physiognomy claimed a correlation between physical features (especially facial features) and character traits.

It was made famous by Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909), the founder of anthropological criminology, who claimed to be able to scientifically identify links between the nature of a crime and the personality or physical appearance of the offender. The originator of the concept of a "born criminal" and arguing in favor of biological determinism, Lombroso tried to recognize criminals by measurements of their bodies.

He concluded that skull and facial features were clues to genetic criminality, and that these features could be measured with craniometers and calipers with the results developed into quantitative research. A few of the 14 identified traits of a criminal included large jaws, forward projection of jaw, low sloping forehead; high cheekbones, flattened or upturned nose; handle-shaped ears; hawk-like noses or fleshy lips; hard shifty eyes; scanty beard or baldness; insensitivity to pain; long arms, and so on.

Criticisms and revival of past cranial theories in the 20th century


An 1839 drawing by Samuel George Morton of "a Negro head… a Caucasian skull… a Mongol head."

The first of these figures represents a Negro head, elongated, and narrow in front, with expanded zygomatic arches, projecting cheek bones, and protruded upper jaw. The second is a Caucasian skull, in which those parts are nearly concealed in the more symmetrical outline of the whole head, and especially by the full development of the frontal region. The third figure is taken from a Mongol head, in which the orbits and cheek bones are exposed, as in the Negro, and the zygomae arched and expanded; but the forehead is much broader, the face more retracted, and the whole cranium larger. Having been at much pains to give the norma verticalis of the skulls figured in this work, the reader will have ample opportunity to compare for himself. He will see that the American head approaches nearest to the Mongol, yet is not so long, is narrower in front, with a more prominent face and much more contracted zygomae.

After being a main influence of US white nationalists, William Ripley's The Races of Europe (1899) was eventually rewritten in 1939, just before World War II, by Harvard physical anthropologist Carleton S. Coon.

J. Philippe Rushton, psychologist and author of the controversial work Race, Evolution and Behavior (1995), reanalyzed Gould's retabulation in 1989, and argued that Samuel Morton, in his 1839 book Crania Americana, had shown a pattern of decreasing brain size proceeding from East Asians, Europeans, and Africans.

In his 1995 book Race, Evolution, and Behavior, Rushton alleged an average endocranial volume of 1,364 cm3 for East Asians, 1,347 for white caucasians and 1,268 for black Africans. Other similar claims were previously made by Ho et al. (1980), who measured 1,261 brains at autopsy, and Beals et al. (1984), who measured approximately 20,000 skulls, finding the same East Asian → European → African pattern. However, in the same article Beals explicitly warns against using the findings as indicative of racial traits, "If one merely lists such means by geographical region or race, causes of similarity by genogroup and ecotype are hopelessly confounded".[8] Rushton's findings have also been criticized for questionable methodology. Such as lumping in African-Americans with equatorial Africans, as people from hot climates generally have slightly smaller crania.[9] Rushton also compared equatorial Africans from the poorest and least educated areas of Africa against Asians from the wealthiest and most educated areas of Asia and areas with colder climates which generally induce larger cranium sizes in evolution.[9] According to Zack Cernovsky, from one of Rushton's own study emerges that the average cranial capacity for North American blacks is similar to the average for Caucasians from comparable climatic zones.[9][10] Per Cernovsky, people from different climates tend to have minor differences in brain size, which do not necessarily imply differences in intelligence. Though women tend to have smaller brains than men they also have more neural complexity and loading in certain areas of the brain than men.[11][12]

Modern use

More direct measurements involve examinations of brains from corpses, or more recently, imaging techniques such as MRI, which can be used on living persons. Such measurements are used research on neuroscience and intelligence.

Brain volume data and other craniometric data are used in mainstream science to compare modern-day animal species, and to analyze the evolution of the human species in archaeology.

Measurements of the skull based on specific anatomical reference points are used in both forensic facial reconstruction and portrait sculpture.

See also

• Anthropometry
• Cranial vault
• Craniofacial anthropometry
• Forensic anthropology
• Neuroscience and intelligence
• Samuel George Morton
• Theodor Kocher, inventor of the craniometer[13]
• Typology (anthropology)

References

1. See Pierre-André Taguieff, La couleur et le sang – Doctrines racistes à la française ("Colour and Blood – doctrines à la française"), Paris, Mille et une nuits, 2002, 203 pages, and La Force du préjugé – Essai sur le racisme et ses doubles, Tel Gallimard, La Découverte, 1987, 644 pages
2. Wallace, Michele (1992). Black Popular Culture. Seattle: Bay Press. pp. 156–157. ISBN 978-1-56584-459-9.
3. "Cultural Biases Reflected in the Hominid Fossil Record" (history), by Joshua Barbach and Craig Byron, 2005, ArchaeologyInfo.com webpage: ArchaeologyInfo-003.
4. David Hurst Thomas, Skull Wars Kennewick Man, Archaeology, And The Battle For Native American Identity, 2001, pp. 38 – 41
5. Michael, J. S. (1988). "A New Look at Morton's Craniological Research". Current Anthropology. 29 (2): 349–354. doi:10.1086/203646.
6. Lewis, Jason E.; DeGusta, D.; Meyer, M.R.; Monge, J.M.; Mann, A.E.; et al. (2011). "The Mismeasure of Science: Stephen Jay Gould versus Samuel George Morton on Skulls and Bias". PLOS Biol. 9 (6): e1001071. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001071. PMC 3110184. PMID 21666803.
7. Andrea Orsucci, "Ariani, indogermani, stirpi mediterranee: aspetti del dibattito sulle razze europee (1870–1914)Archived 18 December 2012 at Archive.today, Cromohs, 1998 (in Italian)
8. Beals, Kenneth L.; et al. (1984). "Brain Size, Cranial Morphology, Climate, and Time Machines". Current Anthropology. 25 (3): 306. doi:10.1086/203138. JSTOR 2742800.
9. Cernovsky, Z. Z. (1997)A critical look at intelligence research, In Fox, D. & Prilleltensky, I. (Eds.) Critical Psychology, London: Sage, ps 121–133.
10. Rushton, J. P. (1990). "Race, Brain Size, and Intelligence: A Rejoinder to Cain and Vanderwolf". Personality and Individual Differences. 11 (8): 785–794. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(90)90186-u.
11. Insider – The Female Brain, By Ivory E. Welcome, MBA Candidate December 2009
12. Cosgrove, KP; Mazure, CM; Staley, JK (October 2007). "Evolving knowledge of sex differences in brain structure, function, and chemistry". Biol. Psychiatry. 62 (8): 847–55. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.03.001. PMC 2711771. PMID 17544382.
13. Schültke, Elisabeth (May 2009). "Theodor Kocher's craniometer". Neurosurgery. United States. 64 (5): 1001–4, discussion 1004–5. doi:10.1227/01.NEU.0000344003.72056.7F. PMID 19404160.

Sources

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Duckworth, Wynfrid Laurence Henry (1911). "Craniometry". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 372–374.

[admin]

Mahavastu
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/15/21

The Mahāvastu (Sanskrit for "Great Event" or "Great Story") is a text of the Lokottaravāda school of Early Buddhism.[1]

The Lokottaravāda (Sanskrit, लोकोत्तरवाद; traditional Chinese: 說出世部; ; pinyin: Shuō Chūshì Bù) was one of the early Buddhist schools according to Mahayana doxological sources compiled by Bhāviveka, Vinitadeva and others, and was a subgroup which emerged from the Mahāsāṃghika.


The Lokottaravāda held there were innumerable pure lands of buddhas and bodhisattvas.

The name Lokottaravāda means those who follow the supramundane (Skt. lokottara), or transcendent, teachings. Despite bearing this name, all sub-sects of the Mahāsāṃghikas seem to have accepted forms of supramundane or transcendent teachings...

According to the Samayabhedoparacanacakra, these four groups held that the Buddha is able to know all dharmas in a single moment of the mind.

"In their view, the Buddha is equipped with the following supernatural qualities: transcendence (lokottara), lack of defilements, all of his utterances preaching his teaching, expounding all his teachings in a single utterance, all of his sayings being true, his physical body being limitless, his power (prabhāva) being limitless, the length of his life being limitless, never tiring of enlightening sentient beings and awakening pure faith in them, having no sleep or dreams, no pause in answering a question, and always in meditation (samādhi)."

The Buddha is viewed as transcendent (Skt. lokottara) and his life and physical manifestation are mere appearance. The Lokottaravāda school upheld the Mahāsāṃghika view of the supramundane nature of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and the imperfection and fallibility of arhats.

-- Lokottaravāda, by Wikipedia

It describes itself as being a historical preface to the Buddhist monastic codes (vinaya).[2] Over half of the text is composed of Jātaka and Avadāna tales, accounts of the earlier lives of the Buddha and other bodhisattvas.[3]

The Mahāvastu contains prose and verse written in mixed Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit.[4] It is believed to have been compiled between the 2nd century BCE and 4th century CE.[3][5][6]

Pali Canon parallels

The Mahāvastu's Jātaka tales are similar to those of the Pali Canon although significant differences exist in terms of the tales' details. Other parts of the Mahāvastu have more direct parallels in the Pali Canon including from the Digha Nikaya (DN 19, Mahāgovinda Sutta), the Majjhima Nikaya (MN 26, Ariyapariyesana Sutta; and, MN 36, Mahasaccaka Sutta), the Khuddakapātha, the Dhammapada (ch. 8, Sahassa Vagga; and, ch. 25, Bhikkhu Vagga), the Sutta Nipata (Sn 1.3, Khaggavisāṇa Sutta; Sn 3.1, Pabbajjā Sutta; and, Sn 3.2, Padhāna Sutta), the Vimanavatthu and the Buddhavaṃsa.[7]

Mahayana themes

The Mahāvastu is considered a primary source for the notion of a transcendent (lokottara) Buddha, common to all Mahāsāṃghika schools. According to the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, the once-human-born Buddha developed supramundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine or bathing although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience; and, the ability to "suppress karma."[8]

In Buddhism the idea of superman completely replaces the idea of the Deity; because Buddha is not God, he is only a superman.

-- A New Model of the Universe, by Pyotr Ouspenskii

English translations

• Jones, J.J. (trans.) (1949–56). The Mahāvastu (3 vols.) in Sacred Books of the Buddhists. London: Luzac & Co. vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3

References

1. Keown 2013, p. 117.
2. Tournier 2012, pp. 89–90.
3. Jump up to:a b The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica 1998.
4. Jones (1949), pp. x–xi.
5. "Mahāvastu" (2008).
6. Jones (1949), p. xi, writes: ""... the Mahāvastu is not the composition of a single author written in a well-defined period of time. Rather, it is a compilation which may have been begun in the second century B.C., but which was not completed until the third or fourth century A.D."
7. Regarding the Dhammapada parallels, see Ānandajoti (2007), "Introduction," where Ānandajoti writes:
Of the incomplete parallels, two chapters from yet another Dharmapada have been preserved in the Mahāvastu, one of the earliest of the Sanskritised Prakrit texts; one of the chapters is named as the Sahasravarga, and appears to be the whole of the chapter; the other is a selection that comes from an unnamed Bhikṣuvarga.
From "Ancient Buddhist Texts". See also; ch. 8, "Sahassavagga", and ch. 25, "Bhikkhuvagga"
8. Williams 2007, pp. 18–19.

Sources

• Jones, J.J. (trans.) (1949–56). The Mahāvastu (3 vols.) in Sacred Books of the Buddhists. London: Luzac & Co. volume1 volume 2 volume 3
• Keown, Damien (2013), The Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Routledge, ISBN 9781136985881
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (1998), Mahāvastu, Encyclopædia Britannica
• Ānandajoti Bhikkhu (2007). A Comparative Edition of the Dhammapada. U. of Peradeniya. Retrieved 25 Nov 2008 from "Ancient Buddhist Texts"
• J.K. Nariman (1923), Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism, Bombay: Indian Book Depot; pp. 11–18
• Tournier, Vincent (2012), "The Mahāvastu and the Vinayapiṭaka of the Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravādins" (PDF), Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University (ARIRIAB) (15)
• Williams, Paul (2007), Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, London: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-02537-9

External links

• J. J. Jones (1949). The Mahavastu (English translation), including footnotes and glossary
• A Note on the Mahāvastu by Dr. A. B. Keith, D.C.L., D.Litt.
• A Summary of the Mahāvastu by B.C. Law
• Gangodawila, Chandima. "An Annotated Translation Into English Of Ratnamālāvadāna With A Critical Introduction". Retrieved 21 February 2021.

[admin]

Vyasa
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/14/21

For the title for the divider of Vedas, see Vyasa (title). For the crater on Mercury, see Vyasa (crater). For the Brahmin community often pronounced as Vyas, see Bias Brahmin. For other uses, see Vyasa (disambiguation).

To what purpose, it may be asked, have we ascertained the age of Munis? Who was Parasara? Who was Garga? With whom were they contemporary, or with whose age may theirs be compared? What light will these inquires throw on the history of India or of mankind? I am happy in being able to answer those questions with confidence and precision.

All the Brahmens agree, that only one Parasara is named in their sacred records; that he composed the astronomical book before cited, and a law-tract, which is now in my possession; that he was the grandson of Vasishtha, another astronomer and legislator, whose works are still extent, and who was the preceptor of Rama, King of Ayodhya; that he was the father of Vyasa, by whom the Vedas were arranged in the form which they now bear, and whom Crishna himself names with exalted praise in the Gita; so that, by the admission of the Pandits themselves, we find only three generations between two of the Ramas, whom they consider as incarnate portons of the divinity; and Parasara might have lived till the beginning of the Caliyuga, which the mistaken doctrine of an oscillation in the cardinal points has compelled the Hindus to place 1920 years too early. This error, added to their fanciful arrangement of the four ages, has been the source of many absurdities; for they insist that Valmic, whom they cannot but allow to have been contemporary with Ramachandra, lived in the age of Vyasa who consulted him on the composition of the Mahabharat, and who was personally known to Balarama, the brother of Crishna. When a very learned Brahmen had repeated to me an agreeable story of a conversation between Valmic and Vyasa, I expressed my surprize at an interview between two bards, whose ages were separated by a period of 864,000 years; but he soon reconciled himself to so monstrous an anachronism, by observing that the longevity of the Munis was preternatural, and that no limit could be set to divine power. By the same recourse to miracles or to prophesy, he would have answered another objection equally fatal to his chronological system. It is agreed by all, that the lawyer Yagyawalcya was an attendant on the court of Janaca, whose daughter Sita was the constant but unfortunate wife of the great Rama, the hero of Valmic's poem; but that lawyer himself, at the very opening of his work, which now lies before me, names both Parasara and Vyasa among twenty authors, whose tracts form the body of original Indian law. By the way, since Vasishtha is more that once named in the Manavisahhita, we may be certain that the laws ascribed to Menu, in whatever age they might have been first promulgated, could not have received the form in which we now see them, above three thousand years ago. The age and functions of Garga lead to consequences yet more interesting: he was confessedly the purohita, or officiating priest, of Crishna himself, who, when only a herdsman’s boy at Mathura, revealed his divine character to Garga, by running to him with more than mortal benignity on his countenance, when the priest had invoked Narayan. His daughter was eminent for her piety and her learning, and the Brahmans admit, without considering the consequence of their admission, that she is thus addressed in the Veda itself: Yata nrdhwan no va samopi, Gargi, esha adityo dyamurdhanan tapati, dya va bhumin tapati, bhumya subhran tapati, locan tapati, antarah tapatyanantaran tapati; or, “That Sun, O daughter of Garga, than which nothing is higher, to which nothing is equal, enlightens the summit of the sky; with the sky enlightens the earth; with the earth enlightens the lower worlds; enlightens the higher worlds, enlightens other worlds; it enlightens the breast, enlightens all besides the breast.” From these facts, which the Brahmans cannot deny, and from these concessions, which they unanimously makes, we may reasonably infer, that, if Vyasa was not the composer of the Vedas, he added at least something of his own to the scattered fragments of a more ancient work, or perhaps to the loose traditions which he had collected; but whatever be the comparative antiquity of the Hindu scriptures, we may safely conclude that the Mosaic and Indian chronologies are perfectly consistent; that Menu, son of Brahma, was the Adima, or first, created mortal, and consequently our Adam; that Menu, child of the Sun, was preserved with seven others, in a bahitra or capacious ark, from an universal deluge, and must therefore be our Noah; that Hiranyacasipu, the giant with a golden axe, and Vali or Bali, were impious and arrogant monarchs, and most probably our Nimrod and Belus; that the three Ramas, two of whom were invincible warriors, and the third not only valiant in war but the patron of agriculture and wine, which derives an epithet from his name, were different representations of the Grecian Bacchus, and either the Rama of scripture, or his colony personified, or the Sun first adored by his idolatrous family; that a considerable emigration from Chaldea into Greece, Italy, and India, happened about twelve centuries before the birth of our Saviour; that Sacya or Sisak, about two hundred years after Vyasa, either in person or by a colony from Egypt, imported into this country the mild heresy of the ancient Bauddhas; and that the dawn of true Indian history appears only three or four centuries before the Christian era, the preceding ages being clouded by allegory or fable.

-- XXVII. A Supplement to the Essay on Indian Chronology, by the President (Sir William Jones), Asiatic Researches, Volume 2, 1788, Page 306-314

Vyasa
A painting of Vyasa sitting on a throne.
Personal
Born: Krishna Dvaipayana
Religion: Hinduism
Spouse: Vatikā[a]
Children: Shuka (son); Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura (Niyoga sons)
Parents: Parashara (father); Satyavati (mother)
Notable work(s): Mahabharata; Bhagavata Gita
Known for Compilation of the four Vedas; Mahabharata
Religious career
Disciples: Shuka, Paila, Jaimini, Vaishampayana, Sumantu
Honours Festival of Guru Purnima, is dedicated to him, and also known as the Vyasa Purnima

Krishna Dvaipāyana, also known as Vyasa (/ˈvjɑːsə/; Sanskrit: व्यासः, romanized: Vyāsa, lit. 'Compiler') and Veda Vyāsa (वेदव्यासः, Veda-vyāsaḥ, "the one who classified the Vedas"), is a rishi (sage). He is best known as the traditional author of the Mahabharata, one of the two most important epics of India. He is also credited as the traditional compiler of the Vedas, as well as the writer of other important works including the Puranas.

As per the Mahabharata, Vyasa is the son of rishi Parashara and a fisherwoman named Kali (Satyavati), who later marries king Shantanu of Kuru. Throughout the epic, Vyasa appears occasionally helping the Kuru kingdom. His spiritual career includes compiling many texts and spreading the knowledge through his disciples.

The festival of Guru Purnima is dedicated to him. It is also known as Vyasa Purnima, the day believed to be both of his birth and when he divided the Vedas.[3][4] Vyasa is considered one of the seven Chiranjivis (long-lived, or immortals), who are still in existence according to Hindu tradition.

Spiritual life and disciples

Vyasa is believed to be an expansion of the God Vishnu, who came in Dvapara Yuga to make all the Vedic knowledge from oral tradition available in written form. According to the Mahabharata, he was the son of Satyavati, daughter of a fisherman chief and the wandering sage Parashara, who is credited with being the author of the first Purana, Vishnu Purana.[5] He was born on an island in the river Yamuna and was named Krishna Dvaipayana because of his dark complexion and birthplace.[6] It is believed that the name "Veda Vyasa" (lit "compiler of the Vedas") is a title rather than an actual name. Dvaipayana was given the title as he mastered the one combined Vedic scripture and divided it into four parts — Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.[7][8]

Vyasa had a son named name Shuka, who was his spiritual successor and heir.[ b] As per Skanda Purana, Vyasa married Vatikā, alias Pinjalā, who was the daughter of a sage named Jābāli. It is described that Vyasa's union with her produced his heir, who repeated everything that he heard, thus receiving the name Shuka (lit. Parrot).[1][2][9] Other texts including the Devi Bhagavata Purana also narrate the birth of Shuka but with drastic differences. Vyasa was desiring an heir, when an apsara (celestial damsel) named Ghritachi flew in front of him in form of a beautiful parrot, causing him sexual arousal. He discharges his semen, which fell on some sticks and a son developed. This time, he was named Shuka because of the role of the celestial parrot.[7] Shuka appears occasionally in the story as a spiritual guide to the young Kuru princes.

Besides his heir, Vyasa had four other disciples — Paila, Jaimini, Vaishampayana and Sumantu.[8] Each one of them was given the responsibility to spread one of the four Vedas. Paila was the made the incharge of Rigveda, Jaimini of the Samaveda, Vaishampayana of the Yajurveda and Sumantu of Atharvaveda.[10]

Vyasa is believed to have lived on the banks of Ganga in modern-day Uttarakhand. The site was also the ritual home of the sage Vashishta, along with the Pandavas, the five brothers of the Mahabharata.[11]

In the Mahabharata

Birth

During her youth, Satyavati was a fisherwoman who used to drive a boat. One day, she helped Parashara to cross the river Yamuna. He was enchanted by her beauty and wanted an heir from her. Initially, Satyavati did not agree, telling that if others would see them, then her purity would be questioned. Parashara created a secret place in bushes of a nearby island and a blanket of thick fog. She conceived and immediately gave birth to a son. Parashara named him Krishna Dvaipayana, referring to his dark complexion and birthplace.[12] Dvaipayana became an adult and promised his mother that he would come to her when needed. Parashara restored Satyavati's virginity, gifted her an enchanting smell and left with his son. Satyavati kept this incident a secret, not telling even King Shantanu whom she was married to later.[7]

Niyoga and birth of Vichitravirya's sons


Vyasa with his mother (Satyavati)

Shantanu and Satyavati had two sons, named Chitrāngada and Vichitravirya. Both of them died early without leaving an heir, but Vichitravirya had two wives — Ambika and Ambalika. A widowed Satyavati initially asked her stepson, Bhishma, to marry both the queens, but he refused, citing his vow of celibacy. Satyavati revealed her secret past and requested him to bring her firstborn to impregnate the widows under a tradition called Niyoga.[13] By this time, Vyasa had compiled the Vedas.

Sage Vyasa was unkempt because of months of meditation in the forest. Hence upon seeing him, Ambika who was rather scared shut her eyes, resulting in their child, Dhritarashtra, being born blind. The other queen, Ambalika, turned pale upon meeting Vyasa, which resulted in their child, Pandu, being born pale. Alarmed, Satyavati requested that Vyasa meet Ambika again and grant her another son. Ambika instead sent her maid to meet Vyasa. The duty-bound maid was calm and composed; she had a healthy child who was later named Vidura.

Connection with the Pandavas and Kauravas


Gandhari serving Vyasa

When the children of 'Vichitravirya' grew up. Bhishma got them married to different women. Dhritarashtra was married to Gandhari, princess of Gandhara. Pandu married Kunti and Madri. Pandu left the kingdom, leaving Dhritarashtra as the acting king. Gandhari, during her adolescence, received a boon to have a hundred children but her pregnancy was taking a long period of time. After two years of pregnancy, Gandhari aborted her developing fetus, giving birth to a hard mass that looked like an iron ball. Vyasa came to the kingdom and using his knowledge, he asked to divide the mass into one hundred and one-pieces and put them into pots for incubation. After a year, 101 babies were born. Meanwhile, Kunti was blessed with two sons and later three more children were born upon Pandu's requests.

While everybody was rejoiced by the news of the birth of the Pandavas and Kauravas, misery took place in the forest. Pandu, who was cursed, died because of his attempt to make love with Madri. Kunti and the Pandavas returned to Hastinapur. Vyasa, feeling sorrow for his mother's fate, asked her to leave the kingdom and come with him to live a peaceful life. Satyavati, along with her two daughters-in-law, went to the forest.

The title "Vyasa"

Main article: Vyasa (title)

Hindus traditionally hold that Vyasa categorized the primordial single Veda into three canonical collections and that the fourth one, known as Atharvaveda, was recognized as Veda only very much later. Hence he was called Veda Vyasa, or "Splitter of the Vedas," the splitting being a feat that allowed people to understand the divine knowledge of the Veda. The word Vyasa means split, differentiate or describe.

The Vishnu Purana elaborates on the role of Vyasa in Hindu chronology.[14] The Hindu view of the universe is that of a cyclic phenomenon that comes into existence and dissolves repeatedly. Each kalpa cycle is presided over by a number of Manus, one for each manvantara, and each manvantara has a number of Yuga Cycles, each with four yuga ages of declining virtues. The Dvapara Yuga is the third yuga. The Vishnu Purana (Book 3, Ch 3) says:

In every third world age (Dvapara), Vishnu, in the person of Vyasa, in order to promote the good of mankind, divides the Veda, which is properly but one, into many portions. Observing the limited perseverance, energy and application of mortals, he makes the Veda fourfold, to adapt it to their capacities; and the bodily form which he assumes, in order to effect that classification, is known by the name of Veda-Vyasa. Of the different Vyasas in the present Manvantara and the branches which they have taught, you shall have an account. Twenty-eight times have the Vedas been arranged by the great Rishis in the Vaivasvata Manvantara... and consequently, eight and twenty Vyasa's have passed away; by whom, in the respective periods, the Veda has been divided into four. The first... distribution was made by Svayambhu (Brahma) himself; in the second, the arranger of the Veda (Vyasa) was Prajapati... (and so on up to twenty-eight).[15]

According to the Vishnu Purana, Guru Drona's son Aswatthama will become the next sage (Vyasa) and will divide the Veda in 29th Maha Yuga of 7th Manvantara.[16]

Works

The Mahabharata

Main article: Mahabharata


Ganesha writing the Mahabharat


Vyasa narrating the Mahabharata to Ganesha, his scribe, Angkor Wat.

Vyasa is traditionally known as the chronicler of this epic and also features as an important character in Mahābhārata, Vyasa asks Ganesha to assist him in writing the text. Ganesha imposes a precondition that he would do so only if Vyasa would narrate the story without a pause. Vyasa set a counter-condition that Ganesha understands the verses first before transcribing them. Thus Vyasa narrated the entire Mahābhārata and all the Upanishads and the 18 Puranas, while Lord Ganesha wrote.

Vyasa's Jaya (literally, "victory"), the core of the Mahabharata, is a dialogue between Dhritarashtra (the Kuru king and the father of the Kauravas, who opposed the Pāndavas in the Kurukshetra War) and Sanjaya, his adviser and charioteer. Sanjaya narrates the particulars of the Kurukshetra War, fought in eighteen days, chronologically. Dhritarashtra at times asks questions and expresses doubts, sometimes lamenting, fearing the destruction the war would bring on his family, friends and kin.

Large and elaborate lists are given, describing hundreds of kingdoms, tribes, provinces, cities, towns, villages, rivers, mountains, forests, etc. of the (ancient) Indian subcontinent (Bhārata Varsha). Additionally, he gives descriptions of the military formations adopted by each side on each day, the death of individual heroes and the details of the war-races. Eighteen chapters of Vyasa's Jaya constitute the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred text in Hinduism. The Jaya deals with diverse subjects, such as geography, history, warfare, religion and morality.

The final version of Vyasa's work is the Mahābhārata. It is structured as a narration by Ugrasrava Sauti, a professional storyteller, to an assembly of rishis who, in the forest of Naimisha, had just attended the 12-year sacrifice known as Saunaka, also known as Kulapati.

Other texts attributed


Narada meets Vyasa

Puranas

Main article: Puranas

Vyasa is also credited with the writing of the eighteen major Purāṇas, which are works of Indian literature that cover an encyclopedic range of topics covering various scriptures. His son Shuka narrates the Bhagavata Purana to Arjuna's grandson Parikshit.

Yoga Bhashya

The Yoga Bhashya, a commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, is attributed to Vyasa.[17]

Brahma Sutras

Main article: Brahma Sutras

The Brahma Sutras are attributed to Badarayana — which makes him the proponent of the crest-jewel school of Hindu philosophy, i.e., Vedanta. Vaishnava Acharyas acknowledge that Badarayana is indeed Vyasa and he is known as Badarayana as he had his ashram in Badari kshetram. Others believe the name to be because the island on which Vyasa was born is said to have been covered with badara (Indian jujube/Ber/Ziziphus mauritiana) trees.[18] Some modern historians,[who?] though, suggest that these were two different personalities.

There may have been more than one Vyasa, or the name Vyasa may have been used at times to give credibility to a number of ancient texts.[19] Much ancient Indian literature was a result of long oral tradition with wide cultural significance rather than the result of a single author. However, Vyasa is credited with documenting, compiling, categorizing and writing commentaries on much of this literature.

In Sikhism

In Brahm Avtar, one of the compositions in Dasam Granth, the Second Scripture of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh mentions Rishi Vyas as an avatar of Brahma.[20] He is considered the fifth incarnation of Brahma. Guru Gobind Singh wrote a brief account of Rishi Vyas's compositions about great kings— Manu, Prithu, Bharath, Jujat, Ben, Mandata, Dilip, Raghu Raj and Aj[20][21]— and attributed to him the store of Vedic learning.[22]

Legacy

Vyasa is widely revered in Hindu traditions. A grand temple in honour of Sri Veda Vyasa has been built in Orai, Uttar Pradesh. The temple is known as Shri Bal Vyas Mandir. Shrimad Sudhindra Teerth Swamiji, the erstwhile spiritual guru of Sri Kashi Math Samsthan, Varanasi, had the vision to construct this temple in 1998. The temple is managed by the Chitrapur Sarasawath Brahmin (CSB) community who belongs to the said Sri Kashi Math Samsthan. This beautiful temple has now also become a popular tourist destination.

See also

• Hinduism portal
• Poetry portal
• Purana
• Parashara
• Guru Gita
• Gnana Saraswati Temple, Basar
• Vedic mythology

References

1. Dalal, Roshen (6 January 2019). The 108 Upanishads: An Introduction. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5305-377-2.
2. Pattanaik, Devdutt (1 September 2000). The Goddess in India: The Five Faces of the Eternal Feminine. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-59477-537-6.
3. Awakening Indians to India. Chinmaya Mission. 2008. p. 167. ISBN 978-81-7597-434-0.
4. What Is Hinduism?: Modern Adventures Into a Profound Global Faith. Himalayan Academy Publications. 2007. p. 230. ISBN 978-1-934145-00-5.
5. "Rishi Ved Vyas – Trikal Darshi Rajender Bhargav". Retrieved 14 September 2019.
6. Essays on the Mahābhārata, Arvind Sharma, Motilal Banarsidass Publisher, p. 205
7. Mani, Vettam (1975). Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary With Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 885 (Vyāsa). ISBN 0-8426-0822-2.
8. Sullivan, Bruce M. (1999). Seer of the Fifth Veda: Kr̥ṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in the Mahābhārata. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 978-81-208-1676-3.
9. Skanda Purāṇa, Nāgara Khanda, ch. 147
10. Shastri, J. L.; Tagare, Ganesh Vasudeo (1 January 2004). Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Volume 7: The Bhagavata-Purana Part 1. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-3874-1.
11. Strauss, Sarah (2002). "The Master's Narrative: Swami Sivananda and the Transnational Production of Yoga". Journal of Folklore Research. Indiana University Press. 23 (2/3): 221. JSTOR 3814692.
12. Monier-Williams, Sir Monier (1875). Indian Wisdom, Or, Examples of the Religious, Philosophical, and Ethical Doctrines of the Hindūs: With a Brief History of the Chief Departments of Sanskṛit Literature, and Some Account of the Past and Present Condition of India, Moral and Intellectual. Wm. H. Allen & Company.
13. Bhawalkar, Vanamala (2002). Eminent women in the Mahābhārata. Sharada.
14. Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Puranas, Volume 1 (2001), page 1408
15. "Vishnu Purana". Retrieved 15 March 2014.
16. Vishnu Purana -Drauni or Asvathama as Next Vyasa Retrieved 2015-03-22
17. Ian Whicher. The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana: A Reconsideration of Classical Yoga. SUNY Press. p. 320.
18. Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 74.
19. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Edwin F. Bryant 2009 page xl
20. Dasam Granth, Dr. SS Kapoor
21. Line 8, Brahma Avtar, Dasam Granth
22. Line 107, Vyas Avtar, Dasam Granth

Notes

1. Though the Mahabharata doesn't record Vyasa's wife, other text including the Skanda Purana refer sage Jabali's daughter Vatikā or Pinjalā as his wife[1][2]
2. Later, Vyasa became the surrogate father of Kuru princes — Pandu and Dhritrashtra

Sources

• The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli, published between 1883 and 1896
• The Arthashastra, translated by Shamasastry, 1915
• The Vishnu-Purana, translated by H. H. Wilson, 1840
• The Bhagavata-Purana, translated by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, 1988 copyright Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
• The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha's Former Births, edited by E. B. Cowell, 1895

External links

• Quotations related to Vyasa at Wikiquote
• Media related to Vyasa at Wikimedia Commons
• Works written by or about Vyasa at Wikisource
• The Mahābhārata – Ganguli translation, full text at sacred-texts.com

**************************

Parasara
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 1/28/23

Parāśara was a maharshi and the author of many ancient Indian texts. He is accredited as the author of the first Purana, the Vishnu Purana, before his son Vyasa wrote it in its present form. He was the grandson of Vasishtha, the son of Śakti Maharṣi. There are several texts which give reference to Parāśara as an author/speaker. The various texts attributed to him are given in reference to Parāśara being the speaker to his student.[4]

Etymology

When Parāśara's father, Sakti Maharishi died after being devoured by the king Kalmashapada along with Vashistha's other sons, Vashistha resorted to ending his life by suicide. Hence he jumped from Mount Meru but landed on soft cotton, he entered a forest fire only to remain unharmed, then he jumped into the ocean who saved him by casting him ashore. Then he jumped in the overflowing river Vipasa, which also left him ashore. Then he jumped into the river Haimavat, which fled in several directions from his fear and was named Satadru. Then when he returned to his asylum, he saw his daughter-in-law pregnant. When a son was born he acted as his father and hence forgot completely about destroying his life. Hence, the child was named Parāśara which meant enlivener of the dead.[5]

Genealogy

According to the Vedas, Brahma created Vasishtha (reborn to Mitra-Varuna), who, with his wife Arundhati, had a son named Śakti Mahariṣhi who sired Parāśara. With Satyavati of Kaivartta clan[6] Parāśara is father of Vyasa. Vyāsa sired Dhritarashtra and Pandu through his deceased step brother's wives, Ambika and Ambalika and Vidura through a hand-maiden of Ambika and Ambalika. Vyāsa also sired Shuka through his wife, Jābāli's daughter Pinjalā. Thus Parāśara was the biological great-grandfather of both the warring parties of the Mahābhārata, the Kauravas and the Pandavas.[citation needed]

Legends

There is a story of Rishi Parāśara: Śakti Maharṣi died in his early age. This made Vasishtha, his father live in his hermitage with Adrushyanti (wife of Shakti Maharishi). Vasistha heard the chanting of the Vedas and Adrushyanti told him that Vedic hymn sounds were coming from the child of his son, Sakti, that was developing in her womb. Vasistha was happy to hear this. Adrushyanti gave birth to a son and the child grew up to become Parāśara.[7]

Parāśara was raised by his grandfather Vasishtha because he lost his father at an early age. His father, Śakti Muni, was on a journey and came across an angry rākṣasa (demon) who had once been a king but was turned into a demon feeding on human flesh as a curse from Vasishtha. The demon devoured Parāśara's father. In the Vishnu Purana, Parāśara speaks about his anger from this:[8]

I had heard that my father had been devoured by a Rākṣasa employed by Vishwamitra: violent anger seized me and I commenced a sacrifice for the destruction of the Rākṣasas: hundreds of them were reduced to ashes by the rite, when, as they were about to be entirely exterminated, my grandfather Vasishtha said to me: Enough, my child; let thy wrath be appeased: the Rākṣasas are not culpable: thy father's death was the work of destiny. Anger is the passion of fools; it becometh not a wise man. By whom, it may be asked, is anyone killed? Every man reaps the consequences of his own acts. Anger, my son, is the destruction of all that man obtains by arduous exertions, of fame, and of devout austerities; and prevents the attainment of heaven or of emancipation. The chief sages always shun wrath: be not subject to its influence, my child. Let no more of these unoffending spirits of darkness be consumed. Mercy is the might of the righteous.[citation needed]

Parāśara Muni (Sage) once halted for a night in a little hamlet on the banks of the river Yamuna. He was put up in the house of the fisherman-chieftain Dasharaj. When dawn broke, the chief asked his daughter, Matsyagandha, whose name means "one with the smell of fish", to ferry the sage to his next destination. When in the ferry, Parāśara was attracted by the beautiful girl and asked her to fulfill his desire of giving a son to her. Matsyagandha refused fearing the other people and sages who were standing on the bank of river at the other side.[1]

He then created an island within the river by his mystic potency and asked her to land the boat there. On reaching the other side, the sage once again chanted the mantra to make her pregnant, but she declared that her body stank and Parāśara granted her the boon that the finest fragrance may emit from her person. She was thereafter known as Satyavati (pure fragrance).[1] Matsyagandha was transformed (by the powers of the sage) into Yojanagandha ("she whose fragrance can be smelled from across a yojana").[9] She now smelled of musk, and so was called Kasturi-Gandhi ("musk-fragrant").[1] Then, she insisted that the act of getting a child was not appropriate in broad daylight, as her father and others would see them from the other bank; they should wait till night. The sage, with his powers, shrouded the entire area in fog. Before Parāśara gave her a child, Satyavati again interrupted him to say that he would enjoy his child and depart, leaving her shamed in society. She asked Parāśara to promise her that the childbirth would be a secret and her secret intact; the son born from their union would be as famous as the great sage, and her fragrance and youth would be eternal. Parāśara granted her these wishes and was satiated by the beautiful Satyavati. Parāśara then gave her a child who was a son called Krishna Dvaipāyana was born, who was dark-complexioned and hence may be called by the name Krishna (black) and also the name Dwaipayana, meaning 'island-born'. He later compiled the classic Vedic literatures of India, and so is called Vyasa who is the 17th incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Leaving Satyavati, Parāśara proceeded to perform Tapas (intense meditation). Later Vyasa also became a Rishi and Satyavati returned to her father's house and in due course, married Śantanu.[1]

In Anushasana Parva of Mahabharata, Parāśara told Yudhisthira that he prayed to Shiva. His desire was to obtain a son with great ascetic merit, endued with superior energy, earn world-wide fame, and arrange the Vedas. Shiva appeared and granted him his wishes and in addition, he told him that his son Krishna will be one of the Saptarshis of Savarni manvantara, be immortal by being freed of diseases, and he will be friend of Indra.[10]

Parāśara was known as the "limping sage". He had his leg wounded during an attack on his āśrama. When a ṛṣi dies he merges back into an element or an archetype. When Sage Parāśara was walking through a dense forest he and his students were attacked by wolves. He was unable to get away in his old age with a lame leg and he left this world merging into the wolves.[11]

The Monument of Parāśara Muni is available at Junha - Panhala fort in Tal Kavathe Mahankal Sangli district of Maharashtra. A cave supposed to be of Parāśāra Muni is present at the fort.

Ṛgveda

In the Ṛgveda, Parāśara, son of Śakti Muni (Parāśara Śāktya), is the seer of verses 1.65-73 which are all in praise of Agni (the sacred fire), and part of 9.97 (v.31-44) which is in praise of Soma. Below is 1.73.2

devo na yaḥ savitā satyamanmā kratvā nipāti vṛjanāni viṣvā
purupraṣasto amatirna satya ātmeva Sevo didhiṣāyyo bhūt

He who is like the divine Sun, who knows the truth (of all things), preserves by his actions (his votaries) in all encounters; like nature, he is unchangeable and, like soul, is the source of all happiness: he is ever to be cherished.[12]

Texts attributed to Parāśara

• Seer of verses in the Ṛgveda: recorded as the seer of RV 1.65-73 and part of RV 9.97.
• Parāśara Smṛti (also called Parāśara Dharma Saṃhitā): a code of laws which is stated in the text (1.24) to be for Kali Yuga.[13]
• Speaker of Viṣṇu Purana to Maitreya.[14]
• Speaker of the Bṛhat Parāśara Horāśāstra, abbreviated as BPHS. It is considered a foundational text of Hindu astrology.
• Speaker of the Vṛkṣāyurveda ("the science of life of trees"), one of the earliest texts on botany.[15] This text was considered to be an ancient botany primer for students of Traditional Indian Medicine.
• Krishi Parāśaram, a book that dealt with agriculture and weeds.[citation needed]

Notes

1. Mani, Vettam (1975). Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary With Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 885 (Vyāsa). ISBN 0-8426-0822-2.
2. Dalal, Roshen (18 April 2014). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. ISBN 9788184752779.
3. Bhiḍe, Śrīpāda Raghunātha (1996). Wife of Sakti Maharsi. ISBN 9788185080987.
4. "Rishi Parashara - Speaking Tree".
5. Pratap Chandra Roy's Mahabharata Adi Parva Pages: 406-410
6. Sen, Kshitimohan (1997). Jatived (in Bengali). Shantiniketan: Visva-Bharati University. pp. 46, 49.
7. "Puranic encyclopaedia: comprehensive dictionary with special reference to the epic and Puranic literature". archive.org. 1975.
8. Wilson, H. H. The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition.
9. Bhattacharya, Pradip (May–June 2004). "Of Kunti and Satyawati: Sexually Assertive Women of the Mahabharata" (PDF). Manushi (142): 21–25.
10. "The Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Anusasanika Parva: Section XVIII". http://www.sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
11. Munshi, K. M. The Book of VedaVyaasa: The Master.
12. Rgveda 1.73.2 Translation by H.H.Wilson
13. https://archive.org/download/ParasharaS ... thiPdf.pdf[bare URL PDF]
14. Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism.
15. Ancient Indian Botany and Taxonomy

References

• Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
• Ganguli, Kisari Mohan. "The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa" published between 1883 and 1896, http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12c049.htm
• Monier-Williams, Sanskrit Dictionary (1899).
• Munshi, K.M. "The Book of VedaVyaasa: The Master". Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1971.
• Wilson, H. H. (2006). The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition. Cambridge: Read Country Books. ISBN 1-84664-664-2.
• Translation and commentary Brihat Parāśara Hora Sastra
• Translation to Portuguese Brihat Parāśara Hora Shastra

[admin]

Parijaat tree, Kintoor
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/16/21

For the species of flowering tree, see Parijat.


Parijat tree at Kintoor, Barabanki


Parijat tree at Kintoor, Barabanki


Parijat tree at Kintoor, Barabanki

The Parijaat tree is a sacred baobab tree in the village of Kintoor, near Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India, about which there are several legends.[1][2]

It is a protected tree situated in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh, India. By the order of local district magistrate, any kind of damage to the tree is strictly prohibited. The tree is known as baobab in modern science which is originated in Sub-sahara Africa and hence its presence in the fertile land of India makes it rare. Also the age of the tree is still not determined, which makes it quite possible that the tree may have been planted by someone who used to travel between India and Africa. The tree needs international attention of scientists to find out more about it. The tree is also known as 'the tree from paradise' due to its mythological significance.

Ancient facts

Kintur, about 38 kilometres (24 mi) east of the district headquarters, Barabanki, was named after Kunti, mother of the Pandavas. There are a number ancient temples and their remains around this place. Near a temple established by Kunti, is a special tree called Parijaat which is said to grow from Kunti's ashes.[3] The radiocarbon date in 2019 of the oldest samples was 793±37 BP for the baobab of Kintoor. The corresponding calibrated age is 775±25 calendar years.[4]

There are a number of legends about this tree which have popular acceptance. One being that Arjun brought this tree from heavens and Kunti used to offer and crown Lord Shiva with its flowers. Another saying being, that Lord Krishna brought this tree for his beloved queen Satyabhama or Rukmini.[5] Historically, though these saying may have some bearing or not, but it is true that this tree is from a very ancient background.[6]

According to the Harivansh Puraan the Parijaat Tree is a Kalpavriksha, or wish bearing tree, which, apart from this tree, is only found in heaven.[2] Newly-weds visit the tree for blessings, and every Tuesday a fair is held where local people worship the tree. In Sikhism's Sukhmani Sahib the tree is mentioned "PaarJaat Eh Har Ko Naam The name of Lord is the mythological tree"[7]

References

• Trees portal
1. https://barabanki.nic.in/tourist-place/parijaat/
2. Wickens, Gerald E.; Pat Lowe (2008). The Baobabs: Pachycauls of Africa, Madagascar and Australia. Springer Science+Business Media. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-4020-6430-2.
3. Kameshwar, G. (2006). Bend in the Sarayu: a soota chronicle. Rupa & Co. p. 159. ISBN 978-81-291-0942-2.
4. Patrut A, Garg A, Woodborne S, Patrut RT, Rakosy L, Ratiu IA, et al. (2020). "Radiocarbon dating of two old African baobabs from India". PLOS One. 15 (1): e0227352. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0227352.
5. "Experts to save ancient Parijat tree". The Times of India. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
6. Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers: Bara Banki. Government of Uttar Pradesh. 1993. p. 21. OCLC 7625267.
7. "Tree From Paradise". Indiatimes. Archived from the original on 6 March 2005. Retrieved 27 November 2009.

External links

• Parijata tree in Vedic scriptures
• Parijat Tree in Hindi, Parijat Tree History and Parijat Tree Benefits. (Parijat Tree Significance)

[admin]

Kondanna Buddha
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/16/21

Kauṇḍinya Buddha
Sanskrit: Kauṇḍinya
Pāli: Koṇḍañña
Burmese: ကောဏ္ဍညဘုရား
Chinese: 智调佛 (Pinyin: Zhìdiào Fó); 憍陳如佛 (Pinyin: Jiāochénrú Fó)
Korean: 교진여불 (RR: Gyojinyeo Bul)
Sinhala: කොණ්ඩඤ්ඤ බුදුන් වහන්සේ
Thai: พระโกณฑัญญพุทธเจ้า Phra Konthanya Phutthachao
Vietnamese: Kiều Trần Như Phật

Information
Preceded by: Dīpankara Buddha
Succeeded by: Maṃgala Buddha

Kaundinya or Koṇḍañña was born in Rammavati. His father was King Sunanda and his mother Sujata. He belonged to the Kondannagotta, and was twenty eight cubits tall [18" x 28 = 42 feet]. For ten thousand years he lived as a layman in Ruci, Suruci and Subha. His wife was Rudidevi and his son Vijitasena.

He left home and performed austerities for ten months until he was given milk rice by Yasodhara, daughter of the merchant Saundana. He was given grass for his seat by Ajivaka Sundana. His Tree of Enlightenment was a Salakalyani tree, and his first sermon was to ten choirs of monks in the Devavana near Amaravati. He had three assemblies of his disciples, the first led by Subhadda, then by Vijitasena, and finally Udena.

He died aged one hundred thousand years at Canarama, where a Stupa seven leagues tall [1.5 miles x 7 = 10.5 miles = 55,440 feet] was constructed over his relics. In the Buddhavamsa commentary it is said that Koṇḍañña Buddha's relics were not dispersed but kept in a single mass.[1]

His chief disciples were Bhadda and Subhadda among the monks and Tissa and Upatissa among the nuns, with Anurudda his attendant. His chief patrons were Sona and Upasona among the laymen and Nanda and Sirima among the laywomen. He was King Vijitavi and of Candavati.[2]

References

1. John S. Strong (2007). Relics of the Buddha. p. 45. ISBN 978-0691117645.
2. G.P. Malalasekera (15 August 2004). Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, Volume 1. p. 683. ISBN 0691117640.

[admin]

Anathapindika
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/16/21

-- The Bible Unearthed: The Making of a Religion, directed by Thierry Ragobert

-- False Testament: Archaeology Refutes the Bible's Claim to History, by Daniel Lazare

Anathapindika
Anathapindika covers Jetavana with coins (Bharhut, Brahmi text: jetavana ananthapindiko deti kotisanthatena keta
Title: Chief Male Patron
Other names: Sudatta
Personal
Religion: Buddhism
Nationality: Kosala
Spouse: Puññalakkhanā
Children: Kāla, Mahā-Subhaddā, Cūla-Subhaddā and Sumanā
Other names: Sudatta
Profession: Merchant, banker
Senior posting
Teacher: Gautama Buddha
Profession: Merchant, banker

Anathapindika (Pali: Anāthapiṇḍika; Sanskrit: Anāthapiṇḍada);[1] born Sudatta, was a wealthy merchant and banker, believed to have been the wealthiest merchant in Savatthi in the time of Gautama Buddha. He is considered to have been the chief male patron of the Buddha. Anathapindika founded the Jetavana Monastery in Savatthi, considered one of the two most important temples in the time of the historic Buddha, the other being Migāramātupāsāda.

Anathapindika was born into a wealthy merchant family in Savatthi with the birth name Sudatta, and was a relative of Subhūti, one of the Buddha's principal disciples. He received the nickname Anathapindika, literally "one who gives alms (piṇḍa) to the unprotected (anātha)", due to his reputation of loving to give to those in need. Anathapindika met the Buddha while on a business trip in Rājagaha after being told about him by his brother-in-law. He reached sotapanna, a stage of enlightenment, after listening to the Buddha preach. Following the encounter, Anathapindika became a devoted lay follower and purchased land to build the Jetavana Monastery from the prince of Kosala by covering the park grounds with coins. After building Jetavana Monastery, Anathapindika continued to generously support the Buddha and his monastic community throughout his life and became known as the Buddha's greatest patron and benefactor along with his female counterpart, Visakha.

As chief patron, Anathapindika fed large numbers of the Buddha's monks daily and regularly maintained and supplied Jetavana Monastery, as well as served as one of the Buddha's primary aides in dealing with the general public. He is known as the male lay disciple of the Buddha who was foremost in generosity. Anathapindika is frequently referred to as Anathapindika-setthi (setthi meaning "wealthy person" or "millionaire"),[2] and is sometimes referred to as Mahā Anāthapindika to distinguish him from Cūla Anāthapindika, another disciple of the Buddha.[3]

Background

In Buddhist belief, when a fully enlightened Buddha appears in the world, he always has a set of chief disciples that fulfill different roles. On top of the pair of chief Arahant disciples such as Gautama Buddha's chief male disciples Sariputta and Moggallana, and his chief female disciples Khema and Uppalavanna, all Buddhas have a set of chief patrons as well. Gautama Buddha's chief male patron was Anathapindika, with his chief female patron being Visakha.[4]

According to the Pali Canon, in the time of Padumuttara Buddha, a householder was inspired when Padumattara Buddha spoke of his own lay disciple who was foremost in generosity. The householder then resolved in that lifetime to become the disciple foremost in generosity of a future Buddha himself, and did many good deeds in hopes of becoming one. His wish was fulfilled in this lifetime when he was reborn as Anathapindika and became the chief patron of Gautama Buddha.[3]

Biography

Early Life and Family

Anathapindika was born with the given name Sudatta and was the son of a wealthy merchant named Sumana. He was a relative of Subhūti, who would later become the disciple of the Buddha who was foremost in being worthy of gifts (dakkhiṇeyyānaṃ).[5][3][note 1] When Sudatta grew up, he married a woman named Puññalakkhanā, the sister of a wealthy merchant in Rājagaha. Sudatta was known for his generosity even before his conversion to Buddhism, and was known to the public by the nickname "Anathapindika", or "one who gives alms to the unprotected", due to his love for giving. Anathapindika had one son, Kāla, and three daughters, Mahā-Subhaddā, Cūla-Subhaddā and Sumanā. His daughter-in-law was Sujātā, the youngest sister of his female counterpart, Visakha.[3][8]

Meeting the Buddha

Buddhist texts describe Anathapindika's first encounter with the Buddha as being in Rājagaha. While on business, Anathapindika went to visit his brother-in-law, who was already a follower of the Buddha. When he arrived at his brother-in-law's house, he noticed that the household was preparing for an elaborate feast, and mistook it as preparation for a wedding or a visit from the king.[8] When Anathapindika asked about the preparations, his brother-in-law explained that they were preparing for a visit from the Buddha (the Enlightened One) and his monks. Upon hearing this, Anathapindika became overjoyed, exclaiming "You mean that a fully enlightened being had arisen in the world?", and immediately resolved to go meet him.[9]

The following day Anathapindika arose early to meet the Buddha, but realized it was still dark. He still continued however, after a friendly yakka whispered in his ear and urged him to continue. Anathapindika eventually reached a figure which called him "Sudatta" and asked him to come forward. Surprised to hear his birth name, which was not known to the public, he concluded it could only be the Buddha, and went forward. The Buddha then had a discussion with him and expounded the Four Noble Truths, afterwards Anathapindika achieved the state of sotapanna, a stage of enlightenment.[10][8][9]


Anathapindika's great act of charity

Building Jetavana Monastery

Following Anathapindika's first encounter with the Buddha, he requested to offer him a meal, which the Buddha accepted, and then asked to build a temple for him and his monks in his hometown of Savatthi, to which the Buddha agreed.[8]

Shortly after, Anathapindika went back to Savatthi to search for a place to build the monastery. Looking for a place that was both accessible to followers and peacefully secluded, he came across a park belonging to Prince Jeta, the son of King Pasenadi of Kosala. Anathapindika offered to buy the park from the prince but the prince refused, after Anathapindika persisted, the prince said he will sell him the park if he covers it with coins, thinking nobody would accept such a price. To the prince's surprise, Anathapindika agreed.[11][9][12]

When Prince Jeta stated that he was not being serious and still would not sell the park, Anathapindika and the prince went to arbitrators who concluded that Prince Jeta had to sell the park at the agreed price.[13][12][11][note 2] The coins Anathapindika brought covered all of the park except for one spot at the entrance. Anathapindika sent the order for more pieces to be brought, but having been inspired by the merchant's resolve and wanting to share in the merit of the offering, Prince Jeta donated the remaining land and offered to build a wall and gate for the monastery as well as provide trees for timber.[17][12] Afterwards, Anathapindika spent several million more pieces building the temple and its furnishings. According to German Pali scholar Hellmuth Heckler, the merchant ended up spending about three-fifths of his total fortune purchasing the land and building the temple that would come to be known as Jetavana (literally "Jeta's Wood" or "Jeta's Grove").[8][9] The temple is often referred to in Buddhist scriptures as "Anathapindika's Monastery in Jeta's Wood" to give recognition to both benefactors.[8][9]

Chief Patron

The Buddha designated Anathapindika as his chief patron, along with Visakha. He is considered to be the male Buddhist lay disciple who was foremost generosity. Buddhist texts relate that throughout his life, Anathapindika regularly sent food, medicine and supplies to Jetavana monastery, as well as received monks at his house for alms daily.[note 3] The temple was also regularly maintained by Anathapindika's servants.[8] When Anathapindika was away from home, he would assign his oldest daughter to give alms in his place.[19]

Whenever the Buddha was in Savatthi, Anathapindika would visit him twice a day. After first meeting the Buddha, Anathapindika committed to following the teachings and strictly observing the five precepts, as well as encouraged his family, friends, employees, and everybody around him to do the same.[8] According to Buddhist commentaries, Anathapindika never asked the Buddha a question, out of fear of troubling him. Instead the Buddha would preach to him on his own accord.[20] Anathapindika was also well versed in the Dhamma, and an excellent debater. Buddhist scriptures describe a time when he visited a temple of another religious tradition and a debate ensues, with Anathapindika skillfully defeating the followers of the other religious tradition.[8][3]

Anathapindika and Visakha were not only the greatest donors to Gautama Buddha but also his primary aides when dealing with the general public. The Buddha frequently turned to one of the two chief patrons whenever there needed to be something arranged with the lay community.[8]

Encounter with the Earth Spirit


Scene of some remains at Jetavana Monastery.

According to texts, at one time Anathapindika lost a significant amount of his fortune in a flash flood which washed away large amounts of his gold, and was reduced to poverty due to his love of giving as well as due to lending out large amounts to his friends. Despite this, Anathapindika continued his patronage and support of Buddhism, although more modestly. It is said he later returned to his wealthy status, however, due to the help of a redemptive deva, or spirit.[9][8]

Based on accounts from the Buddhist scriptures, there was a deva living in Anathapindika's house at the time. According to the laws of his realm, the deva had to leave his abode whenever the Buddha or a monk was in the house, as a form of respect. Annoyed by this, the deva appeared before Anathapindika and suggested he preserve his remaining treasure and stop his patronage of Buddhism since he was no longer wealthy. Appalled by this suggestion, Anathapindika explained that the only treasures he knew of were the Three Jewels; the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, and that he would continue to support Buddhism so long as he had something to give. Anathapindika then ordered the deva to leave his house, stating that enemies of the Buddha were not welcome, forcing the deva to find a new place to live. The homeless deva went to several authorities, eventually reaching Sakka, the king of the devas in Trāyastriṃśa, who suggested he must atone by retrieving Anathapindika's lost gold, convincing his debtors to repay their debts, and by giving Anathapindika a buried treasure, which had no owner. This resulted in Anathapindika returning to wealth, even richer than he was before.[9][21][8]

The Story of Kalakanni

One famous story described in the Buddhist scriptures is the story of Kalakanni. Kalakanni (whose name means "unlucky bird")[8] was a childhood friend of Anathapindika who was impoverished. When Kalakanni asked Anathapindika for aid, the setthi offered him a job at his house. This decision was met with backlash from Anathapindika's household, due to Kalakanni's low status and the superstition at the time of Kalakanni's name being a bad omen. Anathapindika ignored this superstition and his status however, and granted his friend a job. This eventually worked in the favor of the household however, when a group of thieves attempted to rob Anathapindika while he was away on a business trip. When the vigilant Kalakanni noticed the thieves, he started making loud noises, convincing the thieves that the household was full and causing them to leave.[8]

Death

When Anathapindika grew ill later in life he was visited by Sariputta and Ananda, two of the Buddha's principal disciples. Sariputta delivered a sermon, recommending Anathapindika focus on freeing his mind from clinging and to reflect on the impermanence of existence. The setthi later proclaimed this sermon to have been the most profound sermon he has ever heard, which Sariputta explained was because this teaching was not normally given to laypeople.[21] Shortly after Sariputta and Ananda left, Anathapindika died. According to the Buddhist scriptures, Anathapindika was reborn as a deva in Tusita heaven after his death, where he would live as long as his female counterpart Visakha, and the king of Tavatimsa heaven, Sakka.[22][23]

Legacy


The remains of a section of Jetavana Monastery.

Anathapindika is considered to be one of the most exemplary adherents of the Buddhist virtue of generosity. Not only did he regularly provide alms and necessities to the monks at Jetavana, he hosted hundreds of monks at his residence for meals daily.[8] Referring to Anathapindika, the Buddha stated that for one who was dedicated to perfecting the virtue of generosity, nothing in the world is capable of stopping him from giving.[8] Anathapindika's love of giving, combined with some misfortune, at one point reduced the setthi to poverty. But even in times of hardship, Anathapindika was described as continuing his patronage of Buddhism, although with much more modest gifts. His wealth was eventually restored to him however, due to the power of the merit of his generosity.[21]

Anathapindika's patronage had a significant impact on Buddhism. Anathapindika's hometown of Savatthi was considered to be the center of Buddhism at the time, being the location of a significant number of the Buddha's sermons.[24] On top of that, the Buddha spent nineteen rainy seasons at Jetavana monastery, more than any other temple during his lifetime.[24][25][8] After the building of Migāramātupāsāda monastery in Savatthi by Visakha, the Buddha would alternate between Anathapindika's monastery and Visakha's monastery whenever he was staying in Savatthi.[17][26] Anathapindika's generosity even inspired King Pasenadi, another follower of the Buddha, to himself start generous patronage of Buddhism.[8]

According to religious studies scholar Todd Lewis, Anathapindika is one of the most popular figures in Buddhist art and storytelling in Asian Buddhist tradition.[27] Buddhist scholars George D. Bond and Ananda W.P Guruge, point to the story of Anathapindika as evidence that the Buddhist path for lay people and the rewards of generosity in Buddhism are not distinct from the path to Nirvana that is the focus of Buddhist monastics.[21]

See also

• Visakha
• Almsgiving
• Dāna
• Citta (disciple)
• Hatthaka of Alavi

Notes

1. Pali texts state Subhūti was Anathapindika's younger brother,[6] while northern Buddhist texts identify him as Anathapindika's nephew.[7]
2. Some sources state that Prince Jeta said that he would sell the park not even if Anathapindika covered the park with a large price of coins, but arbitrators still ruled in favor of Anathapindika.[14][15] According to Indologist Hans Wolfgang Schumann, the court decided that naming a price, even in a refusing way, constituted a sale since one who didn't want to sell would not name a price.[16] In another source Prince Jeta refuses to sell altogether and it is the arbitrator that states Anathapindika can purchase the park if he covers the grounds with money.[8]
3. Some sources indicate the number of monks as being in the hundreds,[8] but the Dhammapada commentary states 2,000 daily.[18]

References

1. Jr, Robert E. Buswell; Jr, Donald S. Lopez (2013-11-24). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. p. 383. ISBN 978-0-691-15786-3.
2. Dhammika, Shravasti (2005-12-01). The Buddha and His Disciples. Buddhist Publication Society. p. 64. ISBN 978-955-24-0280-7.
3. "Anāthapindika". http://www.palikanon.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-30. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
4. Hastings, James; Selbie, John Alexander; Gray, Louis Herbert (1921). Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Scribner. p. 49.
5. "Subhūti Thera". http://www.aimwell.org. Archived from the original on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
6. Davids., rhys (1913). Psalms Of The Early Buddhists Part-ii.
7. Morgan, Joyce; Walters, Conrad (2012-08-22). Journeys on the Silk Road: A Desert Explorer, Buddha's Secret Library, and the Unearthing of the World's Oldest Printed Book. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-7627-8733-3.
8. "Anathapindika: The Great Benefactor". http://www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
9. Dhammika, Shravasti (2005-12-01). The Buddha and His Disciples. Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 9789552402807. Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
10. "Anathapindiko". obo.genaud.net. Archived from the original on 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
11. Soeng, Mu (2011-03-17). The Diamond Sutra: Transforming the Way We Perceive the World. Simon and Schuster. p. 74. ISBN 9780861718290.
12. "Jetavana, The Vihara". http://www.sacred-texts.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-09. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
13. Kohn, Sherab Chodzin (2009-03-10). A Life of the Buddha. Shambhala Publications. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-8348-2251-1.
14. Saddhaloka (2014-06-25). Encounters with Enlightenment. Windhorse Publications. ISBN 978-1-909314-48-1.
15. "Jetavana". http://www.palikanon.com. Archived from the original on 2019-06-08. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
16. Schumann, Hans Wolfgang (2004). The Historical Buddha: The Times, Life, and Teachings of the Founder of Buddhism. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 105. ISBN 978-81-208-1817-0.
17. Jump up to:a b "Jetavana". palikanon.de. Archived from the original on 2018-03-18. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
18. Burlingame, Eugene Watson; Lanman, Charles Rockwell (1921). Buddhist Legends: Introd., synopses, trans. of books 1 and 2. Harvard University Press. p. 242.
19. sciences (1910). proceedings of the american academu of arts and sciences. american academy of arts and sciences. p. 506.
20. Burlingame, Eugene Watson; Lanman, Charles Rockwell (1921). Buddhist Legends: Introd., synopses, trans. of books 1 and 2. Harvard University Press. p. 147.
21. Ilchman, Warren Frederick; Katz, Stanley Nider; Queen, Edward L. (1998). Philanthropy in the World's Traditions. Indiana University Press. p. 89. ISBN 025333392X. Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
22. "Anáthapindika". palikanon.de. Archived from the original on 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
23. "Anathapindika: The Great Benefactor". http://www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
24. Badiner, Allan Hunt. "Sravasti: Diamond in the Rough". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Archived from the original on 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
25. "Anáthapindika". palikanon.de. Archived from the original on 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
26. "Migáramátupásáda". palikanon.de. Archived from the original on 2018-03-18. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
27. Lewis, Todd (2014-04-02). Buddhists: Understanding Buddhism Through the Lives of Practitioners. John Wiley & Sons. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-118-32208-6.

External links

• Access to Insight: Anathapindika- The Great Benefactor
• What the Buddha Said: Anathapindika
• Biography of Anathapindika Series - Thai with Eng Sub

[admin]

Jetavana
by Wikipedia
Accessed: 3/16/21

-- The Bible Unearthed: The Making of a Religion, directed by Thierry Ragobert

-- False Testament: Archaeology Refutes the Bible's Claim to History, by Daniel Lazare

On 2 February 1898 — that is to say, when Fuhrer was still deeply entrenched in his main dig at Sagarwa — the Government of Burma wrote to the Government of the NWP&O concerning complaints it had received from a monk named U Ma. These involved a certain Dr. A. A. Fuhrer, Archaeological Surveyor to the Government of the NWP&O. Shin U Ma had first taken the complaints to a local government official in Burma, Brian Houghton, and had then backed them up with tangible evidence in the form of letters received from Dr. Fuhrer. Houghton had duly passed U Ma's complaints and copies of his letters on to government headquarters in Rangoon, as a consequence of which they arrived on the desk of the Chief Secretary to the Government of the NWP&O, who passed them on to the Secretary of the Department of Revenue and Agriculture, Archaeology and Epigraphy. From there they made their way to the desk of the Commissioner of Lucknow.

As soon as he returned to his offices at the Lucknow Museum in early March Fuhrer was confronted with the communication from Burma and asked to explain himself. According to the file, his letters to the Burmese monk went back as far as September 1896, when he had written to U Ma about some Buddhist relics he had sent him, allegedly obtained from Sravasti. The contents of this first letter indicate that the two had met while the Burmese was on a pilgrimage to the holy sites in India and had struck up a friendship not unlike that described by Rudyard Kipling in his novel Kim (then in the process of being written in England), which begins with a wandering Tibetan lama being greatly moved by the knowledge of Buddhism shown by the Curator of the Lahore Museum (Rudyard's father J. L. Kipling).

Dr. Fuhrer and U Ma had then come to some arrangement for the one to send the other further relics. On 19 November 1896 Fuhrer wrote again to U Ma to say that:

The relics of Tathagata [Sakyamuni Buddha] sent off yesterday were found in the stupa erected by the Sakyas at Kapilavatthu over the corporeal relics (saririka-dhatus) of the Lord. These relics were found by me during an excavation of 1886, and are placed in the same relic caskets of soapstone in which they were found. The four votive tablets of Buddha surrounded the relic casket. The ancient inscription found on the spot with the relics will follow, as I wish to prepare a transcript and translation of the same for you.

This letter of 19 November 1896 was written more than a year after Fuhrer's first trip into Nepal made in March 1895 (during which he made his discovery of the Asokan inscription on the stump at Nigliva Sagar), but just before he set out on his second foray into Nepal (where he would meet up with General Khadga Shumsher Rana at Paderiya on 1 December 1896). Yet already, it seems, he had found Kapilavastu. In the year referred to in his letter — 1886 — he was still a relative newcomer to the NWP&O Archaeological Department and had yet to conduct his first excavation.

Fuhrer's next letter to U Ma was dated 6 March 1897, three months after his much trumpeted Lumbini and Kapilavastu discoveries. In it he referred to more Buddha relics in his keeping which he would hold on to until U Ma returned to India. Seven weeks later, on 23 June, there was a first reference to a 'tooth relic of Lord Buddha', and five weeks on, on 28 August, a further reference to 'a real and authentic tooth relic of the Buddha Bhagavat [Teacher, thus Sakyamuni]' that he was about to post to U Ma.

The letters now began to come thick and fast. On 21 September Dr. Fuhrer despatched 'a molar tooth of Lord Buddha Gaudama Sakyamuni ... found by me in a stupa erected at Kapilavatthu, where King Suddhodana lived. That it is genuine there can be no doubt.' The tooth was followed on 30 September by an Asokan inscription Fuhrer claimed to have found at Sravasti. Then on 13 December Fuhrer wrote to say that he was now encamped at Kapilavastu, in the Nepal Tarai, where he had uncovered 'three relic caskets with dhatus [body relics] of the Lord Buddha Sakyamuni, adding that he would send these relics to U Ma at the end of March. What is most odd here is that on 13 December 1897 Fuhrer had not yet entered the Nepal Tarai, having been given strict instructions that he was not to do so until 20 December.

This bizarre hoaxing — for no element of financial fraud seems to have been involved — could not go on. The arrival in Burma of the Buddha's molar tooth seems to have been too much for the hitherto credulous Burmese monk, who soon afterwards wrote what sounds like a very angry letter protesting at the remarkable size of the tooth in question. This letter was evidently forwarded from Lucknow to Basti and then probably carried by mail runner to Fuhrer's 'Camp Kapilavastu' at Sagarwa. It was replied to on 16 February 1898, when the Archaeological Surveyor was still encamped at Sagarwa. Writing at some length, Fuhrer went to great pains to mollify the Burmese, declaring that he could quite understand why `the Buddhadanta [Buddha relic] that I sent you a short while ago is looked upon with suspicion by non-Buddhists, as it is quite different from any ordinary human tooth' — as indeed it was, since it was most probably a horse's tooth — 'But you will know that Bhagavat Buddha was no ordinary being, as he was 18 cubits in height [18" x 18 = 27 feet] as your sacred writings state. His teeth would therefore not have been shaped like others: In a further bid to shore up the credibility of the tooth, Fuhrer went on to say that he would send U Ma —

All The Buddha We Could Handle
by Tara Carreon

an ancient inscription that was found by me along with the tooth. It says, 'This sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha is the gift of Upagupta.' As you know, Upagupta was the teacher of Asoka, the great Buddhist emperor of India. In Asoka's time, about 250 BC, this identical tooth was believed to be a relic of the Buddha Sakyamuni. My own opinion is that the tooth in question is a genuine relic of Buddha.

This supposed Asokan inscription was afterwards found to be written in perfectly accurate Brahmi Prakrit, its most obvious models being the many similar relic inscriptions found at Sanchi and other Buddhist sites, with which Fuhrer was very familiar through his work on Epigraphia Indica.

-- The Buddha and Dr. Fuhrer: An Archaeological Scandal, by Charles Allen

Mulagandhakuti. The remains of Buddha's hut in Jetavana Monastery.

Jetavana (lit. 'Jeta's grove')[1][2] was one of the most famous of the Buddhist monasteries or viharas in India (present-day Uttar Pradesh). It was the second vihara donated to Gautama Buddha after the Venuvana in Rajgir. The monastery was given to him by his chief male lay disciple, Anathapindika.

Jetavana is located just outside the old city of Savatthi. There was also an important vihara named Jetavana in Sri Lanka.

Jetavana was the place where the Buddha gave the majority of his teachings and discourses, having stayed at Jetavana nineteen out of 45 vassas, more than in any other monastery.[3] It is said that after the Migāramātupāsāda, a second vihara erected at Pubbarama close to Savatthi was built by the Buddha's chief female lay disciple, Visakha, the Buddha would dwell alternately between Jetavana and Migāramātupāsāda, often spending the day in one and the night in the other (SNA.i.336).

Donation of Jetavana


Anathapindika covers Jetavana with coins (Bharhut)

Following Anathapindika's first encounter with the Buddha, he requested to offer him a meal, which the Buddha accepted, and then asked to build a temple for him and his monks in his hometown of Savatthi, to which the Buddha agreed.[4]

Shortly after, Anathapindika went back to Savatthi to search for a place to build the monastery. Looking for a place that was both accessible to followers and peacefully secluded, he came across a park belonging to Prince Jeta, the son of King Pasenadi of Kosala. Anathapindika offered to buy the park from the prince but the prince refused, after Anathapindika persisted, the prince joking said he will sell him the park if he covers it with gold coins, to which Anathapindika agreed.[5][6]

Anathapindika later came back with wagons full of gold pieces to cover the park with. When Prince Jeta stated that he was merely joking and still would not sell the park, Anathapindika and the prince went to arbitrators who concluded that Prince Jeta had to sell the park at the mentioned price.[4][5]

The money brought in the first journey was found insufficient to cover one small spot near the gateway. So Anāthapindika sent his servants back for more, but Jeta, inspired by Anāthapindika's earnestness, asked to be allowed to give this spot. Anāthapindika agreed and Jeta erected there a gateway, with a room over it. Anāthapindika built in the grounds dwelling rooms, retiring rooms, store rooms and service halls, halls with fireplaces, closets, cloisters, halls for exercise, wells, bathrooms, ponds, open and roofed sheds, etc. (Vin.ii.158f).

It is said (MA.i.50; UdA.56f) that Anāthapindika paid eighteen crores for the purchase of the site, all of which Jeta spent in the construction of the gateway gifted by him. (The gateway was evidently an imposing structure; see J.ii.216).

Jeta gave, besides, many valuable trees for timber. Anāthapindika himself spent fifty-four crores in connection with the purchase of the park and the buildings erected in it.

The ceremony of dedication was one of great splendour. Not only Anāthapindika himself, but his whole family took part: his son with five hundred other youths, his wife with five hundred other noble women, and his daughters Mahā Subhaddā and Cūla Subhaddā with five hundred other maidens. Anāthapindika was attended by five hundred bankers. The festivities in connection with the dedication lasted for nine months (J.i.92ff).

The vihāra is almost always referred to as Jetavane Anāthapindikassa ārāma (Pali, meaning: in Jeta Grove, Anathapindika's Monastery). The Commentaries (MA.ii.50; UdA.56f, etc.) say that this was deliberate (at the Buddha's own suggestion pp. 81–131; Beal: op. cit., ii.5 and Rockhill: p. 49), in order that the names of both earlier and later owners might be recorded and that people might be reminded of two men, both very generous in the cause of the Religion, so that others might follow their example. The vihāra is sometimes referred to as Jetārāma (E.g., Ap.i.400).

Description of ancient Jetavana

Inside Jetavana


Jetavana of Sravasti, showing the three preferred residences of the Buddha. Sanchi.

Some of the chief buildings attached to the Jetavana are mentioned in the books by special names, viz., Mahāgandhakuti, Kaverimandalamāla, Kosambakuti and Candanamāla. SNA.ii.403. Other buildings are also mentioned - e.g., the Ambalakotthaka-āsanasālā (J.ii.246). According to Tibetan sources the vihāra was built according to a plan sent by the devas of Tusita and contained sixty large halls and sixty small. The Dulva (Vinaya-pitaka in Tibetan) also gives details of the decorative scheme of the vihāra (Rockhill: op. cit.48 and n.2).

All these were built by Anāthapindika; there was another large building erected by Pasenadi and called the Salalaghara (DA.ii.407). Over the gateway lived a guardian deity to prevent all evildoers from entering (SA.i.239). Just outside the monastery was a rājayatana-tree, the residence of the god Samiddhisumana (Mhv.i.52f; MT 105; but see DhA.i.41, where the guardian of the gateway is called Sumana).

In the grounds there seems to have been a large pond which came to be called the Jetavanapokkharanī. (AA.i.264; here the Buddha often bathed (J.i.329ff.). Is this the Pubbakotthaka referred to at A.iii.345? But see S.v.220; it was near this pond that Devadatta was swallowed up in Avīci (J.iv.158)).

The grounds themselves were thickly covered with trees, giving the appearance of a wooded grove (arañña) (Sp.iii.532). On the outskirts of the monastery was a mango-grove (J.iii.137). In front of the gateway was the Bodhi-tree planted by Anāthapindika, which came later to be called the Anandabodhi (J.iv.228f). Not far from the gateway was a cave which became famous as the Kapallapūvapabbhāra on account of an incident connected with Macchariyakosiya (J.i.348).

According to the Divyāvadāna (Dvy.395f), the thūpas of Sāriputta and Moggallāna were in the grounds of Jetavana and existed until the time of Asoka. Both Fa Hien (Giles: p. 33ff) and Houien Thsang (Beal.ii.7ff) give descriptions of other incidents connected with the Buddha, which took place in the neighbourhood of Jetavana - e.g., the murder of Sundarikā, the calumny of Ciñcā, Devadatta's attempt to poison the Buddha, etc.

The Gandhakuti: Buddha's dwelling in Jetavana

The space covered by the four bedposts of the Buddha's Gandhakuti in Jetavana is one of the four avijahitatthānāni; all Buddhas possess the same, though the size of the actual vihāra differs in the case of the various Buddhas. For Vipassī Buddha, the setthi Punabbasumitta built a monastery extending for a whole league [1.5 miles x 5280 = 7,920 feet], while for Sikhī Buddha, the setthi Sirivaddha made one covering three gavutas. The Sanghārāma built by Sotthiya for Vessabhū Buddha was half a league [.75 miles x 5280 = 3,960 feet] in extent, while that erected by Accuta for Kakusandha Buddha covered only one gāvuta [league: 1.5 miles x 5280 = 7,920 feet]. The monastery of the Koṇāgamana Buddha, built by the setthi Ugga, extended for half a gāvuta [league: .75 miles x 5280 = 3,960 feet], while that of the Kassapa Buddha built by Sumangala covered sixteen karīsas [a square measure of land having that much space on which a karisa of seed can be sown = 1 acre?: 16 acres x 43,560 = 696,960 square feet]. Anāthapindika's monastery covered a space of eighteen karīsas [ 18 acres x 43,560 = 784,080 square feet] (BuA.2, 47; J.i.94; DA.ii.424).

According to a description given by Faxian (Giles, pp. 31, 33), the vihāra was originally in seven sections (storeys?) and was filled with all kinds of offerings, embroidered banners, canopies, etc., and the lamps burnt from dusk to dawn.

One day a rat, holding in its mouth a lamp wick, set fire to the banners and canopies, and all the seven sections were entirely destroyed. The vihāra was later rebuilt in two sections. There were two main entrances, one on the east, one on the west, and Faxian found thūpas erected at all the places connected with the Buddha, each with its name inscribed.

Near Jetavana

Near Jetavana was evidently a monastery of rival teachers where Ciñcāmānavikā spent her nights as she was hatching her paternity-fraud smear campaign against the Buddha.[7]

There seems to have been a playground just outside Jetavana used by the children of the neighbourhood, who, when thirsty, would go into Jetavana to drink (DhA.iii.492). The high road to Sāvatthi passed by the edge of Jetavana, and travellers would enter the park to rest and refresh themselves.[8]

Discovery and current situation

The remains of Jetavana and Savatthi were locally known as Sahet-Mahet. Alexander Cunningham used the ancient (6th century AD) accounts of Chinese pilgrim-monks to determine that Sahet-Mahet actually referred to Jetavana and Savatthi.[9]

Jetavana is currently a historical park, with remains of many ancient buildings such as monasteries, huts (such as the Gandhakuti and the Kosambakuti) and stupas. In Jetavana is also located the second-holiest tree of Buddhism: the Anandabodhi Tree. A visit to Savatthi and Jetavana is part of the Buddhist pilgrim route in North-India. The most revered place in Jetavana is the Gandhakuti, where Buddha used to stay. Jetavana is located at 27°30′34″N 82°02′24″ECoordinates: 27°30′34″N 82°02′24″E.

Photo gallery


Anandabodhi tree in Jetavana monastery.


Gandhakuti (Buddha's hut) in Jetavana.


Scene in Jetavana.


Scene in Jetavana, showing some small stupas.


Buddhist monks meditating under the Anandabodhi tree.

See also

• Anathapindika
• Kassapa Buddha
• Koṇāgamana Buddha
• Kakusandha Buddha
• List of the twenty-eight Buddhas

References

1. "Anathapindika: The Great Benefactor". http://www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
2. Dhammika, Shravasti (1 December 2005). The Buddha and His Disciples. Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 9789552402807. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
3. DhA.i.3; BuA.3; AA.i.314
4. "Anathapindika: The Great Benefactor". http://www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
5. Dhammika, Shravasti (1 December 2005). The Buddha and His Disciples. Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 9789552402807.
6. "Jetavana, The Vihara". http://www.sacred-texts.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
7. DhA.iii.179; behind Jetavana was a spot where the Ajivakas practised their austerities (J.i.493). Once the heretics bribed Pasenadi to let them make a rival settlement behind Jetavana, but the Buddha frustrated their plans (J.ii.170).
8. J.ii.203, 341; see also vi.70, where two roads are mentioned.
9. Arch. Survey of India, 1907-8, pp.81-131

External links

• Entry on Jetavana in the Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names
• Description of Jetavana by the Chinese pilgrim monk Faxian (399-414 AC)
• Suttas spoken by Gautama Buddha concerning Jetavana: (more)
1. Potthapada Sutta - About Potthapada
2. Bhaya-bherava Sutta - Fear & Terror''

• Extracts from books on the subject of Jetavana
• Dedication ceremony of the Jetavana monastery by Anathapindika

[admin]

The Journey of Faxian to India
by Daniel C. Waugh
© 1999

Between 399 and 414 CE, the Chinese monk Faxian (Fa-Hsien, Fa Hien) undertook a trip via Central Asia to India seeking better copies of Buddhist books than were currently available in China. Although cryptic to the extent that we cannot always be sure where he was, his account does provide interesting information on the conditions of travel and the Buddhist sites and practices he witnessed. For example, he indicates clearly the importance of the seven precious substances for Buddhist worship, the widespread practice of stupa veneration, and his aquaintance with several of the jataka tales about the previous lives of the Buddha Sakyamuni, tales which are illustrated in the paintings at the Dunhuang caves. The extracts below, covering the early part of his journey, are from James Legge, tr. and ed., A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of His Travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline (Oxford, 1886), pp. 9-36. I have inserted occasional explanations in brackets, rather than attempt to footnote the text.

------------------

Fa-hien had been living in Ch'ang-gan. Deploring the mutilated and imperfect state of the collection of the Books of Discipline....he entered into an engagement with Hwuy-king, Tao-ching, Hwuy-ying and Hwuy-wei that they should go to India and seek for the disciplinary Rules.

After starting from Ch'ang-gan, they passed through Lung [in eastern Gansu]...and reached the emporium of Chang-yih [north and west of Lanzhou, near the Great Wall]. There they found the country so much disturbed that travelling on the roads was impossible for them. Its king, however, was very attentive to them [and] kept them (in his capital)...

Here they met with Che-yen, Hwuy-keen, Sang-shao, Pao-yun, and Sang-king; and in pleasant association with them, as bound on the same journey with themselves, they passed the summer retreat (of that year [i.e., 400 CE])together, resuming after it their traveling, and going on to T'un-hwang, (the chief town) in the frontier territory of defence extending for about 8o li from east to west, and about 40 from north to south. Their company, increased as it had been, halted there for some days more than a month, after which Fa-hien and his four friends started first in the suite of an envoy, having separated (for a time) from Pao~yun and his associates.

Le Hao, the prefect of T'un-hwang, had supplied them with the means of crossing the desert (before them), in which there are many evil demons and hot winds. (Travellers) who encounter them perish all to a man. There is not a bird to be seen in the air above, nor an animal on the ground below. Though you look all round most earnestly to find where you can cross, you know not where to make your choice, the only mark and indication being the dry bones of the dead (left upon the sand).

After travelling for seventeen days, a distance we may calculate of about 1500 li, (the pilgrims) reached the kingdom of Shen-shen [=?Lou-lan, near Lop Nor], a country rugged and hilly, with a thin and barren soil. The clothes of the common people are coarse, and like those worn in our land of Han, some wearing felt and others coarse serge or cloth of hair;--this was the only difference seen among them. The king professed (our) Law, and there might be in the country more than four thousand monks, who were all students of the Hinayana [Thereavada]. The common people of this and other kingdoms (in that region), as well as the sramans [monks], all practise the rules of India, only that the latter do so more exactly, and the former more loosely. So (the travellers) found it in all the kingdoms through which they went on their way from this to the west, only that each had its own peculiar barbarous speech. (The monks), however, who had (given up the worldly life) and quitted their families, were all students of Indian books and the Indian language. Here they stayed for about a month, and then proceeded on their journey, fifteen days walking to tho north-west bringing them to the country of Woo-e [near Kucha or Karashahr on the northern edge of the Tarim?]. In this also there were more than four thousand monks, all students of the Hinayana. They were very strict in their rules, so that sramans from the territory of Ts-in [i.e., northern China] were all unprepared for their regulations. Fa-hien, through the management of Foo Kung-sun, overseer, was able to remain (with his company in the monastery where they were received) for more than two months, and here they were rejoined by Pao-yun and his friends. (At the end of that time) the people of Woo-e neglected the duties of propriety and righteousness, and treated the strangers in so niggardly a manner that Che-yen, Hwuy-keen, and Hwuy-wei went back towards Kao-ch'ang [Khocho, near Turfan], hoping to obtain there the means of continuing their journey. Fa-hien and the rest, however, through the liberality of Foo Kung-sun, managed to go straight forward in a south-west direction. They found the country uninhabited as they went along. The difficulties which they encountered in crossing the streams and on their route, and the sufferings which they endured, were unparalleled in human experience, but in the course of a month and five days they succeeded in reaching Yu-teen [Khotan].

Yu-teen is a pleasant and prosperous kingdom, with a numerous and flourishing population. The inhabitants all profess our Law, and join together in its religious music for their enjoyment. The monks amount to several myriads, most of whom are students of the Mahayana. They all receive their food from the common store. Throughout the country the houses of the people stand apart like (separate) stars, and each family has a small tope [stupa]reared in front of its door. The smallest of these may be twenty cubits high [30 feet], or rather more. They make (in the monasteries) rooms for monks from all quarters, the use of which is given to travelling monks who may arrive, and who are provided with whatever else they require.

The lord of the country lodged Fa-hien and the others comfortably, and supplied their wants, in a monastery called Gomati, of the Mahayana school. Attached to it there are three thousand monks, who are called to their meals by the sound of a bell. When they enter the refectory, their demeanour is marked,by a reverent gravity, and they take their seats in regular order, all maintaining a perfect silence. No sound is heard from their alms-bowls and other utensils. When any of these pure men require food, they are not allowed to call out (to the attendants) for it, but only make signs with their hands.

Hwuy-king, Tao-ching, and Hwuy-tah set out in advance towards the country of K'eeh-ch'a; but Fa-hien and the others, wishing to see the procession of images, remained behind for three months. There are in this country four great monasteries, not counting the smaller ones. Beginning on the first day of the fourth month, they sweep and water the streets inside the city, making a grand display in the lanes and byways. Over the city gate they pitch a large tent, grandly adorned in all possible ways, in which the king and queen, with their ladies brilliantly arrayed, take up their residence (for the time).

The monks of the Gomati monastery, being Mahayana students, and held in greatest reverence by the king, took precedence of all the others in the procession. At a distance of three or four li from the city, they made a four-wheeled image car, more than thirty cubits high [45 feet high], which looked like the great hall (of a monastery) moving along. The seven precious substances [i.e., gold, silver, lapis lazuli, rock crystal, rubies, diamonds or emeralds, and agate] were grandly displayed about it, with silken streamers and canopies hanging all around. The (chief) image [presumably Sakyamuni] stood in the middle of the car, with two Bodhisattvas in attendance on it, while devas were made to follow in waiting, all brilliantly carved in gold and silver, and hanging in the air. When (the car) was a hundred paces from the gate, the king put off his crown of state, changed his dress for a fresh suit, and with bare feet, carrying in his hands flowers and incense, and with two rows of attending followers, went out at the gate to meet the image; and, with his head and face (bowed to the ground), he did homage at its feet, and then scattered the flowers and burnt the incense. When the image was entering the gate, the queen and the brilliant ladies with her in the gallery above scattered far and wide all kinds of flowers, which floated about and fell promiscuously to the ground. In this way everything was done to promote the dignity of the occasion. The carriages of the monasteries were all different, and each one had its own day for the procession. (The ceremony) began on the first day of the fourth month, and ended on the fourteenth, after which the king and queen returned to the palace.

Seven or eight li to the west of the city there is what is called the King's New monastery, the building of which took eighty years, and extended over three reigns. It may be 250 cubits in height [375 feet high], rich in elegant carving and inlaid work, covered above with gold and silver, and finished throughout with a combination of all the precious substances.

120 Wall Street is a skyscraper in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City... The building is 399 ft (122 m) tall, and has 34 floors.

-- 120 Wall Street, by Wikipedia

Behind the tope there has been built a Hall of Buddha of the utmost magnificence and beauty, the beams, pillars, venetianed doors, and windows being all overlaid with goldleaf. Besides this, the apartments for the monks are imposingly and elegantly decorated, beyond the power of words to express. Of whatever things of highest value and preciousness the kings in the six countries on the east of the (Ts'ung) range of mountains [probably this means southwestern Xinjiang] are possessed, they contribute the greater portion (to this monastery), using but a small portion of them themselves.

When the processions of images in the fourth month were over, Sang-shao, by himself alone, followed a Tartar who was an earnest follower of the Law, and proceeded towards Kophene [Kabul region?], Fa-hien and the others went forward to the kingdom of Tsze-hoh [?Tashkurgan, ?Baltistan in northern Pakistan], which it took them twenty-five days to reach. Its king was a strenuous follower of our Law, and had (around him) more than a thousand monks, mostly students of the Mahayana. Here (the travellers) abode fifteen days, and then went south for four days, when they found themselves among the Ts'ung-ling mountains, and reached the country of Yu-hwuy, where they halted and kept their retreat. When this was over, they went on among the hills for twenty-five days, and got to K'eeh-ch'a [?Skardu, or a town to the east in Ladak], there rejoining Hwuy-king and his two companions.

It happened that the king of the country was then holding the pancha parishad, that is, in Chinese, the great quinquennial assembly. When this is to be held, the king requests the presence of the sramans from all quarters (of his kingdom). They come (as if) in clouds; and when they are all assembled, their place of session is grandly decorated. Silken streamers and canopies are hung out in it, and waterlilies in gold and silver are made and fixed up behind the places where (the chief of them) are to sit. When clean mats have been spread, and they are all seated, the king and his ministers present their offerings according to rule and law. (The assembly takes place) in the first, second, or third month, for the most part in the spring.

After the king has held the assembly, he further exhorts the ministers to make other and special offerings. The doing of this extends over one, two, three, five, or even seven days; and when all is finished, he takes his own riding-horse, saddles, bridles, and waits on him himself, while he makes the noblest and most important minister of the kingdom mount him. Then, taking fine white woollen cloth, all sorts of precious things, and articles which the sramans require, he distributes them among them, uttering vows at the same time along with all his ministers; and when this distribution has taken place, he again redeems (whatever he wishes) from the monks.

The country, being among the hills and cold, does not produce the other cereals, and only the wheat gets ripe. After the monks have received their annual (portion of this), the mornings suddenly show the hoar-frost, and on this account the king always begs the monks to make the wheat ripen before they receive their portion. There is in the country a spittoon which belonged to Buddha, made of stone, and in colour like his alms-bowl. There is also a tooth of Buddha, for the people have reared a tope, connected with which there are more than a thousand monks and their disciples, all students of the Hinayana. To the east of these hills the dress of the common people is of coarse materials, as in our country of Ts-in, but here also there were among them the differences of fine woollen cloth and of serge or haircloth. The rules observed by the sramans are remarkable, and too numerous to be mentioned in detail. The country is in the midst of the Onion range.

As you go forward from these mountains, the plants, trees, and fruits are all different from those of the land of Han, excepting only the bamboo, pomegranate, and sugar-cane.

From this (the travellers) went westwards towards North India, and after being on the way for a month, they succeeded in getting across and through the range of the Onion mountains. The snow rests on them both winter and summer. There are also among them venomous dragons, which, when provoked, spit forth poisonous winds, and cause showers of snow and storms of sand and gravel. Not one in ten thousand of those who encounter these dangers escapes with his life. The people of the country call the range by the name of 'The Snow mountains.' When (the travellers) had got through them, they were in North India, and immediately on entering its borders, found themselves in a small kingdom called T'o-leih, where also there were many monks, all students of the Hinayana.

In this kingdom there was formerly an Arhat [a disciple of the Buddha who has attained nirvana], who by his supernatural power took a clever artificer up to the Tushita heaven [where bodhisattvas are reborn before appearing on earth as buddhas], to see the height, complexion, and appearance of Maitreya Bodhisattva [the "Buddha of the Future"], and then return and make an image of him in wood. First and last, this was done three times, and then the image was completed, eighty cubits in height [120 feet], and eight cubits [12 feet] at the base from knee to knee of the crossed legs. On fast-days it emits an effulgent light. The kings of the (surrounding) countries vie with one another in presenting offerings to it. Here it is--to be seen now as of old.

The travellers went on to the south-west for fifteen days (at the foot of the mountains, and) following the course of their range. The way was difficult and rugged, (running along) a bank exceedingly precipitous which rose up there, a hill-like wall of rock, 10,000 cubits [15,000 feet] from the base. When one approached the edge of it, his eyes became unsteady; and if he wished to go forward in the same direction, there was no place on which he could place his foot; and beneath were the waters of the river called the Indus. In former times men had chiselled paths along the rocks, and distributed ladders on the face of them, to the number altogether of 700, at the bottom of which there was a suspension bridge of ropes, by which the river was crossed, its banks being there eighty paces apart. The (place and arrangements) are to be found in the Records of the Nine Interpreters, but neither Chang K'een [Chang Ch'ien, the Han emissary to the Western Regions] nor Kan Ying [sent west in 88 CE] had reached the spot.

The monks asked Fa-hien if it could be known when the Law of Buddha first went to the east. He replied, 'When I asked the people of those countries about it, they all said that it had been handed down by their fathers from of old that, after the setting up of the image of Maitreya Bodhisattva, there were sramans of India who crossed this river, carrying with them sutras and Books of Discipline. Now the image was set up rather more than 300 years after the nirvana of Buddha, which may be referred to the reign of king P'ing of the Chow dynasty. According to this account we may say that the diffusion of our great doctrines (in the east) began from (the setting up of) this image. If it had not been through that Maitreya, the great spiritual master (who is to be) the successor of the Sakya, who could have caused the "Three Precious Ones" [the precious Buddha, the precious Law, and the precious Monkhood] to be proclaimed so far, and the people of those border lands to know our Law? We know of a truth that the opening of (the way for such) a mysterious propagation is not the work of man; and so the dream of the emperor Ming of Han had its proper cause. [This refers to the belief that a dream of this Han emperor in 61 CE led him to seek out Buddhism and establish it in China.]

After crossing the river, (the travellers) immediately came to the kingdom of Woo-chang [Udyana, north of the Punjab--i.e., Swat in northern Pakistan], which is indeed (a part) of North India. The people all use the language of Central India, 'Central India' being what we should call the 'Middle Kingdom.' The food and clothes of the common people are the same as in that Central Kingdom. The Law of Buddha is very (flourishing in Woo-chang). They call the places where the monks stay (for a time) or reside permanently sangharamas; and of these there are in all 500, the monks being all students of the Hinayana. When stranger bhikshus [i.e., mendicant monks] arrive at one of them, their wants are supplied for three days, after which they are told to find a resting-place for themselves.

There is a tradition that when Buddha came to North India, he came at once to this country, and that here he left a print of his foot, which is long or short according to the ideas of the beholder (on the subject). It exists, and the same thing is true about it, at the present day. Here also are still to be seen the rock on which he dried his clothes, and the place where he converted the wicked dragon. The rock is fourteen cubits high, and more than twenty broad, with one side of it smooth.

Hwuy-king, Hwuy-tah, and Tao-ching went on ahead towards (the place of) Buddha's shadow in the country of Nagara; but Fa-hien and the others remained in Woo-chang, and kept the summer retreat. That over, they descended south, and arrived in the country of Soo-ho-to.

In that country also Buddhism is flourishing. There is in it the place where Sakra [Indra], Ruler of Devas, in a former ages, tried the Bodhisattva, by producing a hawk (in pursuit of a) dove, when (the Bodhisattva) cut off a piece of his own flesh, and (with it) ransomed the dove. [This is the well-known Sibi Jataka, a jataka being a tale relating to an incident involving the Buddha in one of his previous incarnations. The Sibi Jataka is depicted on one of the petroglyphs at Shatial in the Hunza Valley and in several of the caves at Dunhuang.] After Buddha had attained to perfect wisdom, and in travelling about with his disciples (arrived at this spot), he informed them that this was the place where he ransomed the dove with a piece of his own flesh. In this way the people of the country became aware of the fact, and on the spot reared a stupa, adorned with layers of gold and silver plates.

The travellers, going downwards from this towards the east, in five days came to the country of Gandhara, the place where Dharma-vivardhana, the son of Asoka [the Mauryan emperor known as a great patron of Buddhism in the third century BCE], ruled. When Buddha was a Bodhisattva, he gave his eyes also for another man here [another jataka tale]; and at the spot they have also reared a large stupa, adorned with, layers of gold and silver plate The people of the country were mostly students of the Hinayana.

Seven days journey from this to the east brought the travellers to the kingdom of Taxila, which means 'the severed head ' in the language of China. Here, when Buddha was a Bodhisattva, he gave away his head to a man [another jataka tale], and from this circumstance the kingdom got its name.

Going on further for two days to the east, they came to the place where the Bodhisattva threw down his body to feed a starving tigress [the Mahasattva Jataka]. In these two places also large stupas have been built, both adorned with layers of all the precious substances. The kings, ministers, and people. of the kingdoms around vie with one another in making offerings to them. The trains of those who come to scatter flowers and light lamps at them never cease. The nations of those quarters call those (and the other two mentioned before) 'the four great stupas.'

Going southwards from Gandhara, (the travellers) in four days arrived at the kingdom of Purushapura [Peshawar]. Formerly, when Buddha was travelling in this country with his disciples, he said to Ananda, 'After my pari-nirvana, there will be a king named Kanishka [the famous Kushan emperor], who shall on this spot build a stupa. This Kanishka was afterwards born into the world; and (once), when he had gone forth to look about him, Sakra, Ruler of Devas, wishing to excite the idea in his mind, assumed the appearance of a little herd-boy, and was making a stupa right in the way (of the king), who asked what sort of a thing he was making. The boy said, 'I am making a stupa for Buddha. The king said, 'Very good;' and immediately, right over the boy's stupa, he (proceeded to) rear another, which was more than four hundred cubits high [600 feet high], and adorned with layers of all the precious substances. Of all the stupas and temples which (the travellers) saw in their journeyings, there was not one comparable to this in solemn beauty and majestic grandeur. There is a current saying, that this 'is the finest stupa in Jambudvipa'. When the king's stupa was completed, the little stupa (of the boy) came out from its side on the south, rather more than three cubits in height.

Buddha's alms-bowl is in this country. Formerly, a king of Yüeh-shih raised a large force and invaded this country, wishing to carry the bowl away. Having subdued the kingdom, as he and his captains were sincere believers in the Law of Buddha, and wished to carry off the bowl, they proceeded to present their offerings on a great scale. When they had done so to the Three Precious Ones, he made a large elephant be grandly caparisoned, and placed the bowl upon it. But the elephant knelt down on the ground, and was unable, to go forward. Again he caused a four-wheeled wagon to be prepared in which the bowl was put to be conveyed away. Eight elephants were then yoked to it, and dragged it with their united strength, but neither were they able to go forward. The king knew that the time for an association between himself and the bowl had not yet arrived, and was sad and deeply ashamed of himself. Forthwith he built a stupa at the place and a monastery, and left a guard to watch (the bowl), making all sorts of contributions.

There may be there more than seven hundred monks. When it is near midday, they bring out the bowl, and, along with the common people, make their various offerings to it, after which they take their midday meal. In the evening, at the time of incense, they bring the bowl out again. It may contain rather more than two pecks, and is of various colours, black predominating, with the seams that show its fourfold composition distinctly marked. Its thickness is about the fifth of an inch, and it has a bright and glossy lustre. When poor people throw into it a few flowers, it becomes immediately full, while some very rich people, wishing to make offering of many flowers, might not stop till they had thrown in hundreds, thousands, and myriads of bushels, and yet would not be able to fill it.

Pao-yun and Sang-king here merely made their offerings to the alms-bowl, and (then resolved to) go back. Hwuy-king, Hwuy-'tah, and Tao-ching had gone on before, the rest to Nagara, to make their offerings at (the places of) Buddha's shadow, tooth, and the flat-bone of his skull. (There) Hwuy-king fell ill, and Tao-ching remained to look after him while Hwuy-tah came alone to Purushapura, and saw the others, and (then) he with Pao-yun and Sang-king took their way back to the land of Ts'in. Hwuy-king came to his end in the monastery of Buddha's alms-bowl, and on this Fa-hien went forward alone toward the place of the flat-bone of Buddha's skull.