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A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3: The Suttapiṭaka of the Pāli Canon

A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3

Language
English

Contents

The Suttapiṭaka of the Pāli Canon

1. The Speeches and Dialogues

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Just as the Vinayapiṭaka is our best source for the Saṅgha, *i.e.*, the regulations of the ancient Buddhist order and the life of the monks, so the Suttapiṭaka is our most reliable source for the Dhamma, *i.e.*, the religion of Buddha and his earliest disciples. In the Suttapiṭaka, in the prose of the dialogues and narratives, as well as in sayings and songs, we also find—and this is our primary concern here—the greatest literary works which Buddhism has produced.

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The Suttapiṭaka consists of five Nikāyas or "collections,"¹ namely : (*i*) Dīghanikāya, (*ii*) Majjhimanikāya, (*iii*) Saṃyuttanikāya, (*iv*) Aṅguttaranikāya, and (*v*) Khuddakanikāya. The last-named comprises the following texts : 1. Khuddakapāṭha, 2. Dhammapada, 3. Udāna, 4. Itivuttaka, 5. Suttanipāta, 6. Vimānavatthu, 7. Petavatthu, 8. Theragāthā, 9. Therīgāthā, 10. Jātaka, 11. Niddesa, 12. Paṭisambhidāmagga, 13. Apadāna, 14. Buddhavaṃsa and 15. Cariyāpiṭaka.

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¹ According to Buddhaghosa (Sumaṅgalavilāsinī, p. 22 f.), however, it is the *whole* Tipīṭaka (not the Suttapiṭaka) which is divided into 5 Nikāyas, and he counts the Vinayapiṭaka and the Abhidhammapiṭaka with the Khuddakanikāya. Likewise Gandhavaṃsa (JPTS 1886, p. 57).

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The contents of the first four Nikāyas or "collections" consist of Suttas² or "discourses." These are either speeches of the Buddha (sometimes also of one of his disciples), preceded only by a short introduction, in which is related where and on what occasion Buddha made the speech;³ or they are dialogues with outline narratives (Itihāsa-saṃvāda, Itihāsa dialogues) of the kind with which we have already become acquainted in the Upaniṣads and the Mahābhārata. The Suttas are, however, as a rule, in prose form. Only here and there, in some of the Suttas, the prose is interrupted by verses (gāthās) which are partly quotations and partly interposed verses, such as were at all times popular in Indian literature for elevating the prose at particularly striking passages.[^1)

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² The expression *Suttanta* is also often used for *Sutta*.

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³ Hence the typical beginning of each Sutta with the words: "Thus I heard (evaṃ me sutaṃ); once the Lord sojourned, etc. (*e.g.*, in Sāvatthi in the garden of Anāthapiṇḍaka)."

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1. The Dīghanikāya, "the collection of the long sermons,"[^2) consists of 34 Suttas of considerable length, each of which deals minutely with one or more points of the doctrine, and could equally well be regarded as an independent work. The whole work is divided into three books, which differ in contents and character, but all of which contain earlier and later strata of tradition.[^3) The earliest stratum is represented principally in the first book, and the later one mainly in the third book, whilst the second book is composed of the longest Suttas, some of which have grown to their present bulk owing to interpolations.[^4) In form, too, the Suttas are by no means homogeneous. Whilst all the Suttas in Book I and a number of Suttas in Books II and III are written entirely in prose,

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[^1): For instance, when stanzas are introduced by the words: "Here the following is said" (tatth' etaṃ vuccati) they are self-evidently quotations (*e.g.*, in Dīghanikāya 30). On the other hand, when significant words in verse form are put in the mouth of Buddha, and these verses begin with such sentences as "Thus spake the Master" or "The Lord addressed him in the following verses" (*e.g.*, Dīghanikāya 31; Majjhimanikāya 7, Vol. I, p. 39; 34, Vol. I, p. 34), we may take it that they are verses composed by the author of the Sutta himself: at least this would generally be the case, for in ancient India no clearly defined distinction was ever made between one's own literary work and that others.

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[^2): Edited by *T. W. Rhys Davids* and *J. E. Carpenter*, London PTS, Vols. I, 1890, II 1903, III, 1911; translated by *Rhys Davids*, Dialogues of the Buddha, I—III = SBB, Vols. II—IV, 1899, 1910, 1921; into German by *K. E. Neumann*, München 1907-1918. Selections are translated by *Rhys Davids* in SBE, Vol. 11, 1 ff., 158 ff., 235 ff.; into German by *R. O. Franke*, Göttingen 1913, and *P. Dahlke*, Suttapiṭaka II, Berlin, 1920.

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[^3): Cf. P. V. Bapat in Ann. Bh. Inst. VIII, 1926, p. 1 ff.

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[^4): Book I is called *Sīlakkhandhavagga* after its contents (it treats of sīla, "virtue"), Book II is called *Mahāvagga* after its bulk (it contains mostly Suttas, the titles of which begin with mahā,—"great"), Book III is called *Pāṭikavagga*, *i.e.*, "the section beginning with the Pāṭika-Sutta."

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there are many Suttas in Books II and III written in a mixture of prose and verse, a form so popular in India. The verses are either ballad verses (as in Nos. 16, 18, 19, 21) or momentous utterances (as in Nos. 16, 17). Elsewhere we find (as in Nos. 30, 31) a constant interchange between prose and gāthās, such as we shall frequently come across in the Sanskrit and half-Sanskrit Buddhist texts. Suttas Nos. 20 and 22 are almost entirely in verse.

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The majority of Suttas in Book I deal with ethical questions, more especially with virtue (sīla), concentration (samādhi) and insight (paññā) which lead to the state of an arhat, the ideal of the devout life. The ethical doctrines of Buddha are frequently set up controversially as against the teachings of the Brahmans and of other masters. The very first Sutta the Brahmajäla-Sutta, the "discourse on the Brahman-net," is of first-rate importance from the point of view of the history of religion, not only for Buddhism, but for the entire religious life and thought of ancient India.¹ In connection with the rules for the moral conduct of his disciples, Buddha here enumerates in long lists all kinds of occupations, conversations, modes of life and thought of the Brahmans and ascetics, from which the Buddhist monk is to keep aloof. There are Brahmans and ascetics who accumulate riches, who delight in dances, musical entertainments, dramatic performances and games of all kinds (the ethnologist finds here an interesting enumeration of popular amusements); others, who indulge in every possible luxury; others again, who earn their livelihood by sacrifices, divination and magic (we find here a catalogue which is most instructive from the point of view of Indian folk-lore); and finally, many who yield themselves up to every imaginable speculation upon being and non-being, on the beginning and the end of the world, on the soul, its nature and its history—no less then 62 different philosophical views are here enumerated. From all these things the disciple of Buddha is to keep aloof. As a skilful fisherman catches all the fish, great and small, when he casts a fine-meshed net into a pond, so Buddha knows how to "catch" in the "Brahman-net" all sophists and philosophers, and to prove their doctrines and speculations to be worthless and obstacles to true salvation.

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¹ For this see *Rhys Davids*, Buddhism, American Lectures, 2nd Ed., 1904, p. 30 ff., and *F. O. Schrader*, Über den Stand der indischen Philosophie zur Zeit Mahāvīras und Buddhas, Strassburg 1902, p. 8 ff. At the conclusion the Sutta calls itself a Veyyākaraṇa ("commentary," "exposition")

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The second Sutta, too, the Sāmañña-phala-Sutta, "the discourse on the reward of asceticism," is a valuable piece of evidence for ancient Indian life and thought at the time of Buddha; for it acquaints us with the views of a whole series of prominent non-Buddhist teachers and founders of sects. A most vivid description of the visit of King Ajātasattu to Buddha forms the introduction to this dialogue.¹ For the history of the Indian caste system and the attitude of Buddha towards the problem of caste, the Ambaṭṭha-Sutta (No. 3) is of the utmost importance. Owing to its references to the history of the Sakya race and to the Ṛṣi Kṛṣṇa (Kaṇha), a mythological, and perhaps even historical interest, is attached to this Sutta. Suttas No. 5, the Kūṭadanta-Sutta, "the discourse on (the Brahman) Sharp-tooth,"² and No. 13, the Tevijja-Sutta, "the discourse on the knowers of the three Vedas," in which with refined, but absolutely inoffensive irony, Buddha ridicules the Brahmanical cult with its bloody sacrifices and the striving of the Veda-knower for union with the Brahman, and contrasts with them Buddhist "sacrifices" and ideals of life, are eminently instructive regarding the relation between the old and the new faith, Brahmanism and Buddhism. The fundamental doctrine of Buddhist philosophy of the interconnection of causes, is treated in No. 15, the Mahānidāna-Sutta, "the great discourse on causes." One of the most important duties of the Buddhist monk is "mindfulness." The four kinds of mindfulness are treated in No. 22, the Mahā-Satipaṭṭhāna-Sutta, "the great discourse on the kinds of mindfulness." It also deals with the fundamental doctrines of Buddhism, and closes with a detailed presentation of the "four noble truths."¹ For Buddhist ethics from a popular point of view, one of the most important texts in the Pāli Canon is No. 29, the Sigālovāda-Sutta, "the sermon : the exhortation of Sigāla," in which the entire domestic and social duties of the Buddhist layman are presented in detail.[^2)

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¹ According to *Oldenberg*, Zur Geschichte der altindischen Prosa, AGGW XVI, 6, 1917, p. 40 note, this introduction is an imitation of the Yājñavalkya dialogue in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad IV, 1. However, inspite of the similarity, this seems doubtful to me.

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² In this Sutta as in No. 17 (Mahā-Sudassana-Sutta), we find the Jātaka type. Dīghanikāya, 179 ff., H. Beckh, Stuttgart, 1925. Extracts from it have been translated in all books on Buddhism. *Cf.* also E. Müller, JRAS, 1913, 1087 ff. ; H. Kern. OZ II, 1913-14, 229 f. ; P. Oltramare in RHR 66, 1912, 118 ff., Eliot I, 161 ff.

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That Sutta of the Dīghanikāya which is the most important in every respect is No. 16, the Mahā-Parinibbāna-Sutta, "the great discourse on the perfect Nirvāṇa of (Buddha),"[^3) which differs essentially in form and contents from all the other Suttas. It is neither a dialogue nor a speech on one or more chief points of doctrine, but a continuous record of the latter part of Buddha's life, his last speeches and sayings, and his death. The oldest parts of this extensive record surely belong to the oldest part of the Tipiṭaka and to the earliest beginnings of a poetic treatment of the life of Buddha. It is remarkable that in the Pāli Canon there is no biography of the Buddha; but the beginnings of one are to be found partly

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[^1) This conclusion is absent in the Satipaṭṭhāna-Sutta of the Majjhimanikāya (No. 10). F. *Heiler*, Die buddhistische Versenkung, 2nd Ed., München. 1923, p. 13, calls this Sutta "the exercise manual of the Buddhist monk." [^2) Cf. R. C. *Childers*, Ind. Ant. 12, 1883, p. 23 ff.; T. W. *Rhys Davids*, Buddhism (SPCK), p. 143 ff., and Mrs. *Rhys Davids*, SBB, Vol. IV, p. 168 ff. [^3) Translated by *Rhys Davids*, SBE, Vol. 11 and SBB, Vol. II, 78 ff., into German by J. *Dutoit*, Leben des Buddha, p. 221 ff., K. E. *Neumann*, München, 1911, R. O. *Franke*, in the Vinayapiṭaka,¹ and partly in the Suttapiṭaka. It is quite comprehensible that the memory of the latter part of the Master's life and of his last speeches was most firmly impressed on the minds of the disciples of Buddha, and that these have been preserved and handed down with loving fidelity. I do not hesitate to see the beginnings of a Buddha biography in the oldest parts of this Sutta, though there are only few passages in the Mahā-Parinibbāna-Sutta which can be regarded as really ancient and original. For, the Sutta is by no means a unified work, but is composed of parts which belong to different ages.

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At a very early period—probably soon after the death of Buddha—there must already have been a short “Sutta of the perfect Nirvāṇa (of the Buddha),” which, by means of interpolations and additions, grew longer and longer in course of time, till it became the “*great* Sutta of the perfect Nirvāṇa” which we now have in our Pāli Canon. Such passages as those in the second section, where the story is related of the first illness of Buddha, which befell him at Beḷuva, and which he overcame by the strength of his will, where he assures Ānanda that he is not one of those teachers “with the closed fist,” who keep something for themselves, but that he has proclaimed the whole truth, and where he disclaims the idea that he should ever have wished to pose as a leader of the community, are surely ancient and original. The order, he says, had never been dependent upon him and would therefore not be “without a leader” even after his departure, if it would only be guided by the religion he had proclaimed. “Therefore, Ānanda, be your own lights! Be your own refuge!

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Hold steadfastly to the religion as your light, hold steadfastly to the religion as your refuge!” Equal antiquity and originality can most probably be claimed for the passage in the fifth section, in which we read how Ānanda, no longer able to control his grief at the approaching departure of the Master, goes out and stands weeping, leaning against the doorpost, whereupon the Buddha has him called back, and tells him the most kindly words of consolation and of recognition of his loving attachment. The verses, too, which are scattered in the Sutta, bear the stamp of the greatest antiquity. Some of them contain significant sayings of the Buddha and his disciples, and others effectively emphasize the most striking events of the narrative.[^1) While, in all these passages, Buddha speaks entirely as man to man, we see him, in other parts of the same text, performing miracles like a demigod or a magician; indeed, he boasts of his magic power, by means of which he could, if he only desired it, prolong his life till the end of an age of the world, and reproaches Ānanda because the latter had not understood the hint at the given time and implored him, Buddha, to live on (III, 34-47). Buddha's resolve to die causes an earthquake, and he avails himself of the opportunity to enumerate the eight causes of an earthquake, and to follow it up by the enumeration of other things, likewise eight in number (III, 11-33).

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These are additions and insertions of epigones, who no longer felt even a breath of the spirit which had inspired the authors of the ancient record. In most cases, moreover, it is not difficult to point out the sources whence the additions came; for large portions of the Sutta, all together amounting to almost the whole Sutta, recur in other texts of the Tipiṭaka and are obviously borrowed from them.[^2) Nevertheless all the

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¹ See above, p. 27f. *Rhys Davids*, Dialogues of the Buddha, II, p. 72. It is only by comparing the Pāli text minutely with the Sanskrit texts, in which fragments of a Parinirvāṇa-Sūtra have come down to us, and with the Tibetan and Chinese translations, that we can discern which parts of the Sutta are ancient and genuine. Cf. *Windisch*, Māra und Buddha, p. 33 ff., *Oldenberg*, ZDMG 52, 1898, p. 628, *J. S. Speyer*, ZDMG 53, 1899, p. 121 ff., *J. Edkins*, JRAS 1881, p. 66 ff. For the Chinese translation of the Mahā-Parinirvāṇa-Sūtras. *Carlo Puini*, in GSAI 21, 1908, 59 ff. ; 22, 1909, p. 1 ff. For a comparative study of the different Parinirvāṇa texts see *M. Przyluski* in JA 1918-1920, s. II, t. XI, 485 ff. ; XII, 401 ff. ; XV, 5 ff.

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[^1): Copleston (*Buddhism*, pp. 46, 53) is of the opinion that this Sutta is based on an earlier epic poem, from which these stanzas were taken. I rather think that these verses are the first beginnings of a poetical version of the life of Buddha (in the form of *sacred ballads*). [^2): However, in some cases, passages were originally in the Mahā-Parinibbāna-Sutta, and thence found their way into other texts. The parallel texts have been collected by interpolations and extensions have not succeeded in destroying the character of this text, which recalls our gospels more than any other text of the Tipiṭaka.

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It is evident that it was a favourite practice to utilise this famous and popular Sutta for inserting especially important texts into it, with a view to enhance their prestige by this means; thus, for instance, also the Dhammādāsa, or "mirror of religion," the solemn confession of faith in the Buddha, the doctrine and the community, was inserted.¹ The final redaction of the Mahā-Parinibbāna-Sutta can nevertheless only be of comparatively late date; for one passage speaks of the transmission and authority of the Suttas and of the Vinaya texts;² and in the concluding section of the Sutta, mention is even made of Buddha relics³ and the erection of Stūpas, *i.e.*, the same Buddha who, in the beautiful dialogue with Ānanda, still stood before us as a simple man and teacher, already appears here as the object of a cult, which is not attested by monuments until the time of Aśoka.

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¹ II, 8-10. Cf. Saṃyuttanikāya 55, 8 (Vol. V, p. 357) and Theragāthā 395, *H. Baynes* has published an enlarged form of the Dhammādāsa, as it is still recited at the present day at the Pāṭimokkha (WZKM 10, 1896, 242 ff.).

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² IV, 7-11, Dīgha, Vol. II, p. 123 ff.; cf. Aṅguttara-Nikāya, IV, 180 (Vol. II, 167 ff.) and *Copleston*, Buddhism, p. 45. In IV, 10 f. (Vol. II, p. 125) the knowers of the Mātikās are also mentioned (s. above p. 11, note 3).

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³ Cf. *J. F. Fleet*, JRAS 1906, 657 ff., who (l. c. 667 ff.) tries to prove that the Sutta could not have been composed before 375 B. C. I believe that the final redaction must be placed a good deal later.

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Whilst the Mahā-Parinibbāna-Sutta is a mosaic composed of earlier and later pieces, other Suttas belong entirely to a later stratum of tradition. The Suttas (especially in Book I) in which Buddha appears as a human teacher only, cannot possibly have been written at the same time as the Mahā-Apadāna-Sutta (No. 14), "the great discourse on the miracles (of Buddha)" in which the dogma of the six Buddhas,¹ who are said to have been the precursors of Gotama Buddha, is already taught, and in which the entire Buddha legend, adorned by numerous miracles, especially all the miracles of the conception and birth of Buddha, is recited.² The Lakkhaṇa-Sutta (No. 30) also belongs to the same stratum of tradition. This Sutta enumerates the 32 signs of a "great man"; the man who has these physical marks, must become either a ruler of the world, or a saviour of the world, a Buddha. There is no doubt that Buddha, like the majority of his contemporaries, believed that by continued meditation one could attain to all sorts of supernatural powers (iddhis) and become a kind of superman. However, he expressly declared it unworthy of a monk and dangerous for the doctrine, to attempt to exert influence over a layman by means of magic of this nature, rather than by means of teaching and persuasion, and the "miracle of instruction."[^3) For this reason it is certain that the main portion of the Pāṭika-Sutta (No. 24) in which Buddha not only takes part in a miracle-working competition with other ascetics, but also boasts grandiloquently of his marvellous powers, represents a later stage of the tradition. As a matter of fact, this Sutta is a very miserable compilation, in which only the beginning is ancient, and all the rest is an inferior admixture.¹

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¹ It is perhaps more than mere coincidence that, in this Sutta, Buddha Vipassī's favourite pupil is named Asoka.

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² There is absolutely no foundation for the supposition of L. A. Waddell (JRAS 1914, 661 ff.) that the title of the Sutta was originally Mahā-Padhāna-Sutta, "Sutta of the highest being." However, he may be right in saying that this Sutta and the Lalitavistara can be traced back to a common source, and that the Sutta corresponds to the tradition of about the 3rd to the 1st century B. C. [^3): Kevaḍha-Sutta (No. 11), Vol. I, p. 214. Similarly in No. 28 (Vol. III, p. 112 f.). In the Vinayapiṭaka (Culla. V, 8, 2) it is declared as a Dukkaṭa offence for a monk to perform miracles before laymen for the sake of worldly gain. A monk who does this, is compared to a woman who displays her charms for money.

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¹ Cf. Friedrich Weller in Asia Major I, p. 620 ff.

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The semi-poetical and mythological Suttas, Nos. 17-21, probably also belong to the later stage of the tradition. Just as in the Purāṇas and in some sectarian sections of the epic, Indra is presented as paying homage to the god Śiva or Viṣṇu, so, in these Suttas, which *Rhys Davids*² so aptly calls "Tendenzschriften," *i.e.*, 'pamphlets with a purpose,' we find Indra and the other gods and demi-gods as devout worshippers of Buddha. The most interesting is the Sakkapañha-Sutta (No. 21), "the Sutta of the questions of Sakka." Sakka, *i.e.*, Indra, king of the gods, scarcely dares to approach the sublime Buddha. He first sends one of his Gandharvas, or heavenly musicians, in advance, in order to put the sublime sage into a favourable frame of mind, and strangely enough the Gandharva does this by singing a love-song.³ Needless to say, Buddha receives the god with his habitual friendliness, expounds the truths of religion to him, and replies to all his questions, whereupon Sakka bursts forth into an enthusiastic hymn of praise to the Sublime One. The Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda-Sutta (No. 26), which mentions Buddha Metteyya, the Buddhist Messiah, and must, if only for that reason, be a later work, is a kind of mythological story of the origin of moral ideas, and is a remarkable medley of vision, prophecy and sermon. The first beginnings (aggañña) are treated in still greater detail in the Aggañña-Sutta (No. 27). These fancies regarding the origin of the universe and the beings, and regarding the beginnings of culture and social order are also reminiscent of the Purāṇas. Nevertheless, the purpose of this Sutta is the same as that of the Ambaṭṭha-Sutta, namely, to demonstrate that the life of the saints (arhat) and the attainment of Nirvāṇa are independent of caste.

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² SBB, Vol. III, p. 298.

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³ It appears that a fragment of an ancient non-Buddhist poem has been worked into the Sutta here.

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One of the best dialogues in the Dīghanikāya is No. 23, the Pāyāsi-Sutta, the dialogue between the unbelieving chieftain Pāyāsi, who denies the soul and the Beyond, and the monk Kumāra Kassapa. While elsewhere in the "dialogues" of the Suttapiṭaka the person who takes the secondary part in the conversation mostly interrupts the principal speaker, who is usually the Buddha himself, only with words of assent, the Pāyāsi-Sutta is a real, lively dialogue, which sometimes recalls the Platonic dialogues. However, even this Sutta is not original, but is an Itihāsa dialogue enlarged to its disadvantage, which has been borrowed from another sect.¹ The last three Suttas also serve to indicate that the final redaction of the Dīghanikāya must have been completed at a late date: these are the Āṭānāṭiya-Sutta, which is merely an incantation to ward off snakes and demons, and the Saṅgīti and the Dasuttara-Sutta, which are written after the style of the Aṅguttaranikāya, and which, like the texts of the Abhidhamma, which they resemble in contents, are in the form of a catechism.²

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¹ Kumāra Kassapa wants to prove to Pāyāsi that there is a soul, and yet we know that Buddha himself denies the existence of a soul substance. We also find a version of this dialogue among the Jains. Probably both sects borrowed it from an earlier source. Dhammapāla says (in his commentary on the Vimānavatthu) that this dialogue was written subsequently to the death of Buddha and the erection of a stūpa over his ashes, s. Rhys Davids, SBB, Vol. III, p. 347.

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² A text corresponding to the Saṅgīti-Sutta, entitled Saṅgītiparyāya, appears among the Sarvāstivādins as a book of the Abhidharmapiṭaka. Cf. *J. Takakusu*, JPTS 1904-5, p. 99 ff.

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To anyone who has followed this survey of the contents of the Dīghanikāya, it will scarcely be credible that a prominent Pāli scholar³ attempts to prove that this text should be regarded as "a literary work which was drawn up as a uniform whole.”[^1) It is a matter of course that the compiler or the committee of compilers were desirous of arranging the Suttas according to some principle, classing together such Suttas as seemed to belong together by reason of association of ideas or wording;[^2) but this does not prove that the whole work is the work of *one* author. When the same scholar seeks to trace a uniform idea underlying the whole of the Dīghanikāya, namely, that Gotama Buddha was a Tathāgata, *i.e.*, that he had trodden the path of salvation in order to encourage his disciples to tread the same path, and that the doctrine of the path leading to liberation or Nirvāṇa is the nucleus of the work, it is merely saying in other words that the alleged author wished to present the tenets of the Buddha on the ideal life. Now this comprises practically all Buddha's teaching, and therefore, in this way, one could puzzle out a “uniform underlying idea” in all the texts of the Tipiṭaka dealing with the Dhamma, and claim that they are the work of *one* author.[^3)

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³ *R. O. Franke*, ZDMG 67, 1913, 409 ff.; WZKM 27, 1913, 198 ff., 276 ff.; Dīghanikāya, p. x ff.

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If, as we have shown, the Dīghanikāya is composed of earlier and later portions, it cannot be the earliest work of the Canon, as *Franke* endeavours to prove,[^4) and there is no justification for the attempt to construct “the doctrine of Buddha in its earliest accessible form” from the Dīghanikāya. It is only by comparing *all* the ancient Buddhist texts, which are scattered in the *various* collections, that we can attempt

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[^1): Dīghanikāya, p. xlii. [^2): However, in the Chinese translation of the Dīrghāgama, the Sūtras are arranged in an entirely different order from that in which they appear in the Dīghanikāya; cf. M. Anesaki in Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. XXXV, part 3, 1908, p. 35 ff. The fact is that the compiler of the Sanskrit version arranged the material in a different way. [^3): *Franke’s* view is also repudiated by *Oldenberg* (AR 17, 1914, 626 f.), C. A. F. *Rhys Davids* (JRAS 1914, 459 ff.), Geiger (Pāli Literatur und Sprache, p. 11 f.) and *Eliot* I, 278 n. 1. [^4): ZDMG 69, 1915, 455 ff.; 71, 1917, 50 ff.

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to reconstruct the doctrine of Buddha in its earliest accessible form.

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II. The Majjhimanikāya, “the collection of the medium-sized Suttas,”¹ consists of 152 speeches and dialogues, which differ from those of the Dīghanikāya only in being, on the whole, shorter. But in this collection, too, each Sutta forms a complete whole, and they are as different in kind as they are in value. The great number of the Suttas is one reason for their contents being much more varied than that of the Dīghanikāya. We find in them discourses on almost all the points of the religion of Buddha, on the four noble truths, on the Karman, the vanity of desires, the objectionableness of the belief in a soul, Nirvāṇa, the various kinds of meditation, and so on. Though these discussions are often only tedious sermons, they frequently have the popular and agreeable form of dialogues with a long or short introduction, or a frame story (Itihāsa dialogues). Instruction by means of similes is a favourite device, whether *one* simile is spun out through an entire speech, or whether a whole series of similes runs through a speech in order to impress one and the same doctrine again and again. Myths and legends, too, are related for the sake of introducing some doctrine or other, as in No. 37, where the visit of Moggallāna, the renowned disciple of Buddha, to Indra’s heaven is described. The monk Moggallāna, with his great toe, causes the whole heavenly palace to shake²—a trait strongly reminiscent of the Brahmanical legends of the Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas. Some of the frame narratives give the impression of actual events as, for instance, the story of Pukkusāti, who desires admission into the order, and, while he goes to fetch a cloak and a begging bowl, is killed by a cow (No. 140), in which connection Buddha inculcates the lesson that this man attained Nirvāṇa, in spite of not having been a monk. There is, again the story of the monk Channa (No. 144), who was overtaken by a serious illness, and who took his own life by opening a vein, which Buddha approves. Suicide, he says, is blameworthy if by that means one merely desires to gain another body (in a new re-birth), but not if one enters Nirvāṇa. The beautiful Assalāyana-Sutta (No. 93) strikes us, as though taken from the actual life of the time of Buddha. Gotama's doctrine of the "purity of all the four castes" must have been very awkward for the proud Brahmans. Such dialogues about the problem of caste, as that between the young Brahman Assalāyana and Gotama Buddha, must frequently have occurred in real life. The reasoning against the caste claims of the Brahmans is excellent. Assalāyana says to Buddha:

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¹ Ed. by *V. Trenckner* and *R. Chalmers*, London PTS 1888-1902. Translated by *Lord Chalmers*, Further Dialogues of the Buddha in SBB, Vols. V and VI, 1926-27; into German by *K. E. Neumann*. Selections translated by *T. W. Rhys Davids in* SBE, Vol. II, and (into German) by *P. Dahlke*, Suttapiṭaka, Vol. III, Berlin, 1923.

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² A trick which is again alluded to, in No. 50.

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"The Brahmans, Lord Gotama, say thus: The Brahmans alone are the best caste, every other caste is low; the Brahmans alone are the white caste, every other caste is black, only the Brahmans become pure, not the non-Brahmans: only the Brahmans are the actual sons of the god Brahman, produced out of his mouth, begotten by Brahman, formed by Brahman, heirs of Brahman. What does the Lord Gotama say to that?"

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Thereupon Buddha asks Assalāyana a series of questions which the latter is compelled to answer in the affirmative, thereby admitting that the statements of the Brahmans are unfounded. He says, for example:

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"What dost thou think, Assalāyana? Suppose that an anointed king of the warrior race causes a hundred men of different castes to be assembled together; men shall come from the families of warriors, of Brahmans, of the nobility, and they shall take an upper friction-stick from a Sāl tree or Salaḷa tree or sandal tree or Padmaka tree,¹ produce a fire by turning

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¹ Various kinds of fine wood,

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it (in the lower friction-stick) and bring forth a flame. And there shall come men from the families of Caṇḍālas, hunters, basket-makers, chariot-builders, Pukkusas,¹ and they shall take an upper friction-stick from a dog's trough, or a hog's trough, or a washing trough, or a stick of ricinus wood, produce a fire through turning, and bring forth a flame. Now, will the fire that the warriors, Brahmans, *etc.*, have produced with the fine wood have flame, brightness and light, and will this fire be useful for all fire purposes? And will the fire which the Caṇḍālas, hunters, *etc.*, have produced with wood from the dog's trough, *etc.*, have no flame, no brightness and no light, and will this fire not be useful for all fire purposes? Assalāyana naturally has to reply that there is no difference between the two kinds of fire, and Gotama concludes that it is the same with the castes."

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¹ Sanskrit Pukkaśas, a very low caste.

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Some of the Suttas, however, are neither dialogues nor sermons, but simply narratives. Thus No. 86 is a regular old Ākhyāna, telling, in prose and verse, the tale of the terrible robber Aṅgulimāla, who became a monk and rose to be an Arhat (a saint who has attained to Nirvāṇa even in this life)—a valuable piece of ancient Buddhist poetry. Another Sutta (No. 83) tells the legend (recurring in the Jātakas) of King Makhādeva who, at the appearance of the first grey hair, gives up the reigns of government, and becomes a monk. One of the most splendid passages of this kind is the Raṭṭhapāla-Sutta (No. 82). In beautiful old ballad-style, the following—I give only a short extract—is related:

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The young prince Raṭṭhapāla desires to become a monk. His parents absolutely refuse to consent, but, by refusing to take any food, he compels them to give their permission. Years later, he returns as a monk to his native town, and begs at the door of his parents' home. His father does not recognise him, and drives him from the threshold with abuse. "By these shaven monks," he cries, "our only dearly beloved son was induced to renounce the world." Meanwhile the nurse comes out to throw away some scraps of food. The mendicant monk begs for these scraps for his meal. Then the servant recognises him as the son of the house, and announces this to her master. The latter comes out and invites his son to enter the house. The latter politely declines, saying “Not so, I have already dined to-day.” However, he accepts an invitation for the next day. His father prepares for him not only a meal, but heaps up gold and ornaments in the dining-room, and instructs the former wives of Raṭṭhapāla to adorn themselves. The next day he is received splendidly, and his father offers him all the jewels and treasures. But Raṭṭhapāla only says: “If you want to follow my advice, father, then load all the gold and ornaments on a cart and throw it into the Ganges where it is deepest. And why? Because nothing but pain and misery, wretchedness and sufferings will arise out of it.” Neither will he have anything to do with the women, who throw themselves coaxingly at his feet. After he has finished his meal, he goes his way. Then he meets the king of the Kuru-land, who says that he can understand that a person who has become old or ill or poor or has lost his relatives becomes a monk, but he cannot understand why one who is young, happy and healthy should renounce the world. Raṭṭhapāla answers him in a speech on the vanity of existence and the insatiableness of desire, and convinces the Kuru-king in a Socratic dialogue, of the truth of the doctrine of Buddha.

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² Abridged from here.

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³ Majjhimanikāya, Vol. II, p. 151 ff. A discussion on the caste problem is also to be found in Sutta No. 84. Cf. R. Chalmers, JRAS 1894, p. 341 ff.

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Besides such magnificent compositions, we find sermons as dry as dust in which a series of technical expressions or a fundamental doctrine is explained in catechism style, *e. g.*, Nos. 43 and 44.¹ Some of these Suttas (*e. g.*, Nos. 127, 137, 140, 148, 151) have completely adopted the style of the enumerations of the Aṅguttaranikāya and of the definitions and classifications of the Abhidhammapiṭaka. The above-mentioned Ākhyānas, in which the narrative proceeds vividly in a mixture of prose and verse, are very different from Suttas like No. 116, where a bare list of Paccekabuddhas (hermit-Buddhas who have attained enlightenment without proclaiming it to the world) is given first in prose and immediately afterwards in verse. This kind of mixture of prose and verse, which we came across occasionally in the Dīghanikāya also, belongs to a much later type, which we shall meet again in the Sanskrit Buddhist literature.

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¹ These two Suttas, which are called respectively the “great” and “small” Vedalla-Sutta, have nothing in common, beyond the question and answer form. It seems that the unexplained expression “vedalla” refers precisely to this form. Cf. above, p. 10, and C. A. Foley (Mrs. Rhys Davids), JRAS 1894, p. 321 ff.

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Apart from the fact that the Suttas of the Majjhimanikāya give us the best idea of the ancient Buddhist religion and the teaching methods of Buddha and his first disciples, we also value them because they afford us many an interesting glimpse of the every-day life of that ancient time, not only of the life of the monks themselves (as in Nos. 5, 21, 22, etc.) but of that of the other classes of the people too. Thus No. 51 gives us a good survey of the Brahmanical system of sacrifice, and valuable hints concerning the connection between bloody sacrifices, and government and priesthood. We repeatedly meet with enumerations of different kinds of ascetic practices which were popular in ancient India. In Nos. 12 and 14 we find a veritable pattern-card of ascetic abominations, and also in Suttas Nos. 40, 45, 51 and 60 we make the acquaintance of all sorts of queer saints of various sects. At that time there were, for instance, "dog-ascetics," and "ox-ascetics," whose asceticism consisted in feeding and living exactly after the manner of dogs and oxen. In reply to the question as to what will become of these ascetics in their future existence, Buddha replies that in the best case, the "dog-ascetic" might be re-born as a dog and the "ox-ascetic" as an ox, but that, just as likely they might both find themselves in hell. Several Suttas are of historical significance as throwing light on the relation of Buddha to the sect of the Jains, especially the Upāli-Sutta (No. 56),¹ but also Nos. 57, 101 and 104.

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¹ Treated in detail by *Léon Feer* in OC VI, Leyden, 1883, t. III, 67 ff., RHR t. 13, 1886, 74 ff. and JA 1887, s. 8. t. IX, 309 ff.; 1888, s. 8, t. XI, 113 ff, 123 ff. and t. XI, 209 ff. Cf. also *R. Chalmers* in JRAS 1895, p. 665 f.

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No. 76 is of great interest, because it throws light on the relation of Buddha to the doctrines of other masters, especially free-thinkers and sophists, of his day. There are also occasional references to all kinds of superstitions, to social and legal conditions. Thus in No. 13, we find an enumeration of cruel punishments; Sutta 38 records all sorts of strange ideas upon birth and education of children, Nos. 28 and 37 throw light on the relationship between daughter-in-law and father-in-law, and so on.

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In point of time the separate Suttas are often far removed from one another. While in some Suttas of the Majjhima-nikāya, as in the ancient parts of the Mahā-Parinibbāna-Sutta, the Buddha appears purely as man and teacher, and only speaks of himself as of an ordinary mortal, who has gained certain knowledge, and who looks forward to entering into complete Nirvāṇa, and while, for instance in Suttas 26 and 36,¹ he relates in simple language a part of his auto-biography, free from all miracles, in other Suttas (*e.g.*, No. 12) all kinds of magic powers and absolutely divine qualities are ascribed to Buddha. In the "Sutta of the astonishing events and miracles" (No. 123) the conception and birth of the Bodhisatta is described with all the miracles as they are known in the Buddha legend of the later non-canonical works (Nidānakathā, Lalitavistara, etc.), and as we have already found them in the Mahā-Apadāna-Sutta of the Dīghanikāya.² It is not rare in the Suttas for the Buddha, or even a saint like Moggallāna, to disappear, and "as a strong man stretches out his contracted arm or contracts his outstretched arm," to appear suddenly in the world of the gods or in Brahman's heaven (*e.g.*, Nos. 37, 49 and often elsewhere). One Sutta (No. 49) claims to prove absolutely that Buddha is mighty and exalted above all gods, even above the highest Brahman. Though in most of the speeches Buddha appears as the spokesman, yet in some of them disciples of Buddha are the principal speakers (*e.g.*, Nos. 15, 43 and 44). Not infrequently one of the disciples answers a question, but then lets Buddha confirm the correctness of the reply (*e.g.*, No. 126). However, the fiction that all the Suttas originated during the life-time of Buddha is not always maintained. Thus, in Nos. 84 and 94, in answer to the question where Buddha is now, a disciple receives the reply: "He has attained complete Nirvāṇa." Sutta No. 108 is immediately connected with the death of Buddha, Ānanda being asked whether, before his death, Buddha had not appointed a monk as the chief of the monastic community. Ānanda replies in the negative, but declares that the community is not, on that account, "without refuge," for the religion (dhamma) is its refuge,¹ and discipline shall be maintained in the community by the Pāṭimokkha ceremony² which was instituted by the Master. This, we may observe, is a Sutta concerned with the discipline of the order (vinaya) rather than with the religion (dhamma); this is also the case in other Suttas (*e.g.*, Nos. 103, 104 and 142).³

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¹ In the same way, Aṅguttaranikāya, III, 38.

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² See above, p. 42. According to *Windisch*, Buddhas Geburt, p. 104, Majjh. 123 is merely a shorter version of the Mahā-Apadāna-Sutta. There is, indeed, a most striking agreement between the two, except that Dīghanikāya 14 tells of the birth of Buddha Vipassi. On the importance of the Sutta Majjh. 123 in the development of the Buddha legend in the later texts, cf. *Windisch*, l. c., p. 107 ff.

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¹ Obviously an allusion to the famous passage in the Mahā-Parinibbāna-Sutta, see above p. 39. Cf. also C. A. F. *Rhys Davids* in *JRAS* 1902, p. 476 f.

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² See above p. 22 ff.

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³ *K. E. Neumann*, Reden Gotamo Buddhas III, Introduction, has based on this hypothesis that the Vinaya was originally included in the Suttapiṭaka and only took shape as an independent Vinayapiṭaka later. According to *R. O. Franke* (*WZKM* 29, 1915, p. 136) the Majjhimanikāya is "the very earliest work of the Vinaya literature," and he points out many passages (l. c., 139 ff.) in which the Majjh. speaks of the Vinaya.

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Whether, from the different methods by which certain points of the doctrine are treated in the Suttas, conclusions may be drawn as to their early or late composition—that must remain an open question.¹) For instance, the coarse presentation of the doctrine of Karman in Suttas Nos. 129 f., and 135 f., where the torments of hell are described with a minuteness which finds its counterpart in the descriptions of hell in the Purāṇas, may indicate a later date of composition. But it is also possible, that even in earlier times a more popular conception of the doctrine of Karman may have existed by the side of the purely philosophical one. The fact that the order already had a certain past history when the Majjhimanikāya was compiled, is indicated by a passage in No. 65, in which it is said that “formerly” there were fewer precepts and more monks, whereas “now” there are more precepts and fewer monks. The mention of the Yona-Kambojas in the Assalāyana-Sutta (No. 93) points to the existence of the Graeco-Bactrian Empire, that is, to the period shortly before Aśoka.

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¹ Cf. C. A. F. *Rhys Davids* in JRAS 1902, 474 f.

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Suttas Nos. 41 and 42 may be taken as significant of the manner in which the collection originated. The latter, with the exception of a short introduction, is literally identical with No. 41. Elsewhere, too, the same sermons or dialogues recur, only in a different setting. Thus, for example, Nos. 132-134 are only different versions of one and the same sermon. These are probably sermons which were actually delivered by the monks;²) if nothing better occurred to him, a monk would repeat an already existing sermon with slight alterations. The collectors then collected *everything*, from the lips of any preacher, on which they could possibly lay hands.³)

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² We read in Sutta No. 115 that these sermons had certain titles (and the same sermons frequently had several titles). Aśoka also alludes to these titles of separate sermons, in his Bhabrū edict. See above, p. 16.

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³ R. O. *Franke* has tried to trace a uniform fundamental idea and associations of thought underlying the various Suttas in the Majjhimanikāya too (WZKM 29, 1915, 134 ff.; ZDMG 68, 1914, 473 ff.) with a view to proving from it, that this book, too, is not a collection of sermons and dialogues, but the unified work of *one* author. The arguments in this case are, if anything, even less convincing than in the case of the Dīghanikāya. The very fact that we often find a "great" and a "small" Sutta on the same subject side by side in the Majjh. (*e. g.*, Cūḷa- and Mahā-Sīhanāda-Sutta), is evidence that the work is in the nature of a collection.

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III. The third great collection is the Saṃyuttanikāya,¹ "the Collection of Grouped Discourses." It consists of 56 groups (saṃyutta) of Suttas, each of which, in connection with a certain name or object, deals with various points of the doctrine. This, then, is not actually a division according to subjects, but only a feeble attempt at one. Thus the Devatā-Saṃyutta (I), contains sayings of deities (devatā), but the sayings refer to the most diverse subjects. The Māra-Saṃyutta (IV), consists of 25 Suttas, each of which relates a legend in which Māra the tempter appears in order to induce Buddha himself, or one of his disciples, to depart from the doctrine of salvation, in which he always fails. The Bhikkhunī-Saṃyutta (V), contains ten legends of nuns (bhikkhunī), whom Māra vainly tries to lure to apostasy. The Nidāna-Saṃyutta (XII), consists of 92 speeches and conversations, all of which, with endless repetitions, deal with the subject of the twelve Nidānas or the concatenation of causes and effects (paṭiccasamuppāda). The Anamatagga-Saṃyutta (XV), contains twenty speeches, of which all begin with the words: "The beginning of this Saṃsāra, O monks, is entirely unknown (anamataggo)," and explain this sentence by setting forth in ever varying comparisons and images the dreadful accumulation of sufferings in the cycle of migrations from existence to existence which has been going on from innumerable past ages of the world’s history. On the other hand, the 13 Suttas of the Kassapa-Saṃyutta (XVI), are united into a group only because the disciple Kassapa appears as speaker in all of them; in the same way the Sāriputta-Saṃyutta (XXVIII) contains ten speeches of Sāriputta. The 50 Suttas of the Nāga-Saṃyutta (XXIX) deal with the snake-demons (nāgas), enumerating the various kinds of snakes, and naming the deeds which cause one to be born again in one or other of the snake-forms. The 55 Suttas of the Jhāna- or Samādhi-Saṃyutta (XXXIV) deal with the modes of contemplation or meditations (jhāna, samādhi). The strong points and weaknesses, the virtues and vices of women (mātugāma) and the destinies which await them in the next life, are dealt with in the 34 Suttas of the Mātugāma-Saṃyutta (XXXVII). Legends of the great Moggallāna and a few of his speeches are contained in the 11 Suttas of the Moggallāna-Saṃyutta (XL). The hero of the Sakka-Saṃyutta (XI) is Sakka, the god Indra, who appears here, too,¹ as a devout Buddhist. There is surely an intentional piquancy in selecting Indra, the savage, infuriated Vṛtra-slayer of the Veda, as the exponent of the ethics of mildness and non-violence, and as a master in the art of self-command. To scare away the insolent demon who has sat upon his throne, he merely utters the polite words: “My dear friend, I am Indra, the prince of gods.”² The last Saṃyutta is the Sacca-Saṃyutta (LVI), which deals in 131 Suttas with the four noble truths (sacca) of suffering, of the origin of suffering, of the cessation of suffering, and of the way to the cessation of suffering. Here we also find (LVI, 11) the famous Dhammacakkappavattana-Sutta, the “sermon of Benares,” by means of which Buddha set the wheel of the religion (dhammacakka) in motion.³

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¹ Edited by Léon Feer, London PTS 1884-1898, Indexes by Mrs. *Rhys Davids*, 1904. Translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids and F. L. Woodward (Book of the Kindred Sayings or Grouped Suttas), PTS, Parts I, 1917; II, 1922; III, 1925; into German by *W. Geiger* in ZB IV-VII, separately Vol. II, München 1925. The Bhikkhunī-Saṃyutta is also translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids, Psalms of the Sisters, pp. 180-191; Māra-Saṃyutta and Bhikkhunī-Saṃyutta into German by E. Windisch, Māra und Buddha, pp. 87 ff., 132 ff.

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¹ As in the Sakkapañha-Sutta, s. above, p. 43.

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² XI, 3, 2, translated by *Warren*, Buddhism in Translations, 426 f.

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³ It has often been translated, thus also by *F. L. Woodward*, Some Sayings of the Buddha, p. 7 ff.

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It is evident that, in the grouping of these Suttas, at least three different principles are involved. The Suttas of a group treat either (1) of one of the chief points or principal branches of the Buddhist doctrine, or (2) they refer to some classes of gods, demons or men, or (3) some prominent personality appears in them as hero or speaker. These 56 Saṃyuttas or “groups” are also divided into 5 Vaggas or “divisions,” and their contents embrace all branches of the religion of Buddha. In the first Vagga ethics and the Buddhist ideal of life are predominant, and in the next books epistemology and metaphysics are the main themes. We also find Suttas dealing with the life of the Master, others in which Buddha and Dhamma are already objects of veneration, and a few Suttas dealing with the discipline of the order (vinaya). The total number of Suttas, which are, as a rule, much shorter than those of the Majjhima- or of the Dīghanikāya, is 2889. The number of Suttas is so great, mainly because, according to some pattern or other, a subject is treated in all its different aspects—with continual repetition of the same phrases—until the subject, and the reader too, are completely exhausted. Thus, for example, the Saḷāyatana-Saṃyutta (XXXV) comprises no less than 207 Suttas, speeches and dialogues on the six senses. With untiring monotony it is here demonstrated that sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and the organ of thought (manas) are perishable and full of suffering, and have nothing to do with the Ego, that the sense perceptions corresponding to the six sense organs are perishable and full of suffering, and have nothing to do with the Ego, and that the sense objects corresponding to the six sense organs are perishable and full of suffering, and have nothing to do with the Ego. Moreover, in the case of each single sense-organ, each single sense-perception, each single sense-object, the whole series of assertions is repeated literally, and every assertion forms a Sutta in itself. However tedious we may find this multiplication of Suttas, there are sure to have been sound, practical reasons for it in the use of the Suttas for religious exercises.[^1) Even in this collection, however, we find many things which are to be appreciated also from the purely literary point of view, though it contains much more that is of importance only because it contributes to our knowledge of the doctrine of Buddha.

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Valuable poetry is found especially in the first Vagga. It embraces Saṃyuttas I-XI, and is called Sagāthavagga, *i.e.*, "the Section with the song verses" (gāthā). Such Gāthās or verses appear occasionally, indeed, in all the sections, as in other Nikāyas, but they are so numerous in the first Vagga, that many of the Suttas consist entirely of verses. Thus, in the Devatā-Saṃyutta, we find many riddles and aphorisms in the form of questions and answers, *e.g.*, the following riddle:

First 79 of 541 passages. Read on

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