A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t3.134

v2.c19.s6.t3.134

The Avadāna-Śataka consists of ten decades,⁴ each of which deals with a certain subject. The first four decades contain narratives which are intended to show by which actions one can become a Buddha or a Pratyeka-Buddha.⁵ All the narratives of the first decade and for the greater part also of the third decade, are of the nature of prophecies (Vyākaraṇas). The story is told of a pious deed by which a person, a Brahman, a princess, the son of an usurer, a rich merchant, a gardener, a king, a ferryman, a little girl, and so on, worships the Buddha; a miracle usually takes place, and the Buddha proclaims smilingly that this person will, in a future age of the world, be a Buddha or (in Book III) a Pratyeka-Buddha. On the other hand, the stories in the second and fourth decades are Jātakas. The pious, virtuous and wonderful deeds are explained by the fact that the hero of these narratives is none other than the Buddha himself in one of his former births. Book V is a kind of Pretavastu, corresponding to the Pāli Petavatthu. A saint, usually Maudgalyāyana, looks around in the world of ghosts, and observes the sufferings of one of the (male or female) ghosts (Pretas). He asks the cause of his or her sufferings. The ghost refers him to the Buddha, who then relates the story of the "black deed," the refusal to give alms, the abuse of a saint, and so on, committed by that being in a former existence. Book VI relates stories of men and animals who, by means of some pious deed, are reborn as gods in heaven. The four last decades contain narratives which are to show which deeds qualify a person to become an Arhat. The Arhats of Book VII are all of the race of the Śākyas, those in Book VIII are women, those in Book IX men of blameless conduct, and those in Book X men who formerly did bad deeds and suffered for them, and only then attained the stage of an Arhat by means of a pious deed.