འཕགས་པ་གྲང་ཁྱར་གྱས་འཚ་བ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.3

intro.3

The different versions of the story all tell of a pauper woman who is “dependent on the city for her livelihood” (Skt. nagarāvalambikā).⁶ In all versions, this woman lights an oil lamp at Prince Jeta’s Grove that cannot be extinguished due to her great determination of mind in vowing to become a buddha. While sharing this basic plot and some other narrative details, such as a disciple trying to douse the lamp with the edge of his robe, the different versions diverge in various ways. For instance, in the Vinaya and Divyāvadāna versions, it is Ānanda who tries to extinguish the lamp, while in this sūtra, and the version found in The Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish, it is Maudgalyāyana.