ལས་ཀྱ་རྣམ་པར་འགྱར་བ་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་ཆས་ཀྱ་གཞང intro.24

intro.24

Three different recensions or versions of the Karma­vibhaṅga are preserved in different Kangyur editions, which Kudo calls “Tib-1” (Toh 338),²¹ “Tib-2” (Toh 339, the text translated here), and “Tib-3,” respectively.²² The content of the third version not included in the Degé Kangyur (“Tib-3”) but found in other mixed-lineage Kangyurs and in the Themphangma Kangyurs has been explored by Walter Simon.²³ Tib-3 is distinguished by the inclusion, among other things, of an introductory story that is found only in one Sanskrit manuscript, and not in Toh 338 or Toh 339. This introduction to the discourse proper tells the story of the conversion of Śuka, the son of the brahmin Taudeya, who after his death was reborn as a dog in his son’s house; he is identified by the Buddha on one of his visits to Śuka’s house during his rounds to collect alms. Śuka does not believe the Buddha’s assertion that the dog is his deceased father and at first becomes angry; but he is later convinced by the Buddha’s demonstration of the identity of the dog as his late father. After being the addressee of the Buddha’s teachings on karmic cause and effect on several occasions, Śuka eventually becomes a lay follower.