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Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c42.s2.t1: Deification of Buddha

Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c42.s2.t1

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Deification of Buddha

v2.c42.s2.t1.1

In the pre-Aśokan days, Buddha had already come to be looked upon as the highest god superior to Brahmā, Viṣṇu or Śiva. This deification should be attributed first to the Mahāsaṅghikas and the Andhakas, and then to the Sarvāstivādins. It has been shown¹ while discussing the doctrines of the Mahāsaṅghikas and their off-shoots that Buddha had been given all the attributes of the highest god, whose apparitional body occasionally appeared in this world. This body took birth as Siddhārtha Gautama, went through all the ways of a householder and ultimately renounced the world to become a saint just in order to follow the ways of the world (*lokānuvartana*).² Buddha was supramundane (*lokottara*) and was made of pure *dharmas*. Everything of the great *ṛṣi* was transcendental including his advent into the world. In the *Mahāvastu*, he is described thus:—

v2.c42.s2.t1.2

¹ Sec ante, pp. 63, 75 f.

v2.c42.s2.t1.3

² *Mahāvastu*, I, p. 167-8.

v2.c42.s2.t1.4

लोकोत्तरं भगवतो चर्या लोकोत्तरं कुशलमूलम् ।
गमनं स्थितं निषणं शयितं लोकोत्तरं मुनिनो ॥
यत् तत् सुगतशरीरं भवते भवस्य बन्धनक्षयकरणम् ।
लोकोत्तरं तदपि भो इत्यत न संशयः कार्यो ॥
चीवरधरणं मुनिनो लोकोत्तरं अत्र संशयो नास्ति ।
आहारहरणमयो लोकोत्तरमेव सुगतस्य ॥
देशना नरनागानां सर्वलोकोत्तरा मता ।
यथातथं प्रवक्ष्यामि माहात्म्यं वरबुद्धिनाम् ।
देशकालवशं प्राप्य परिपाकं च कर्मणाः ।
सत्यं वा अभिनिर्वृत्तं धर्मं देशन्ति नायकाः ॥

v2.c42.s2.t1.5

लोकानुवर्तनां बुद्धा अनुवर्तन्ति लोकिकीम् । प्रज्ञप्तिमनुवर्तन्ति यथा लोकात्तरामपि ॥ etc.

v2.c42.s2.t1.6

The above and other passages in the *Mahāvastu* leave no room for doubt that about the time of its composition (i.e., 2nd century B.C.),¹ Buddha had already become the highest god, at least, to a large section of the Buddhists.

v2.c42.s2.t1.7

¹ Winternitz, *History of Indian Literature*, II, p. 247. ² Cf. also *Mahāvastu*, I, p. 214. ³ R. L. Mitra, *Lalitavistara*, pp. 136, 142.

v2.c42.s2.t1.8

The account of Buddha's life in the *Lalitavistara*, the accredited text of the Sarvāstivādins, does not extol Buddha so much as has been done in the *Mahāvastu*. It is more realistic though it attributes divine and super-divine qualities to the Teacher. It says that Buddha while staying in the womb of his mother was enclosed in a casket and from there he delivered discourses to the gods who paid him visits.² After his birth, he appeared to dwell at the same moment in all the houses built for him by the faithful. He paid the customary visit to the temples but the gods therein bowed down to him. In his boyhood, he was so learned that the teacher staggered in his presence. In his youth, he possessed already all the kingly powers and skill and surpassed everybody in strength. In this text,³ he is eulogized thus:—

v2.c42.s2.t1.9

जातस्य मह्य इय कम्पितः तिसहस्रः ।
शकश्च ब्रह्मा सुराश्च महोरगाश्च ॥
चन्द्रश्च सूर्य तथ वैश्रवणः कुमारो ।
मूर्द्धाकमेषु निपतित्य नमस्यन्ते ॥
कतमोऽन्य देव मम उत्तरियो विशिष्टो ।
यस्मिन् मम प्रणयसे त्वमिहाय अम्ब ॥

v2.c42.s2.t1.10

देवातदेव अहू उत्तम सर्वदेवैः । देवो न मेऽस्ति सदृशः कुत उत्तरो वा ॥ लोकानुवर्तन प्रतीत इति अम्ब यास्ये । दृष्ट्वा विकुर्वित ममा जनता उदग्रा ॥ अधिमात्र गौरव करिष्यति विचिलकारो । ज्ञास्यन्ति देवमनुजा खयमेव देवः ॥

v2.c42.s2.t1.11

शास्त्राणि यानि प्रचरन्ति च देवलोके संख्या लिपिष्च गणनाऽपि च धातुतन्त्रम् । ये शिल्पयोग पृथुलौकिक अप्रमेया- स्तेष्वेबु शिक्षितु पुरा बहुकल्पकोव्यः ॥ किन्तु जनस्य अनुवर्तनतां करोति लिपिशालामगतुं सुशिक्षित-शिक्षणार्थम् । परिपाचनार्थं बहुदारक अग्रयाने अन्यांश्च सत्त्वनियुतानमृते विनेतुम् ॥

v2.c42.s2.t1.12

Though this text maintains a more sober outlook than the *Mahāvastu*, there is no doubt that Buddha was regarded by the Sarvāstivādins as a divine being though not the highest god. Though he was proficient in everything, he followed the ways of the world to educate the people. The time of composition of this work, according to Winternitz, spread over a long period commencing from the early Christian eras.¹ It may therefore be safely stated that in the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C., a certain section of the Buddhists regarded Buddha as the highest god while another section as a great divine being, endowed with all possible virtues and knowledge.

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¹ See Winternitz, *op. cit.*, p. 255-6: "It is therefore only correct to say that the *Lalitavistara* offers us very old traditions concerning the Buddha legend, as well as some which are centuries later".... ..."It is, however, most informative as regards the development of the Buddha legend from its earliest beginnings when only the chief events in the life of the great founder of the religion are adorned with miracles, down to that boundless deification of the Master, in which, from the beginning to the end of his career he appears mainly as a god above all gods."

v2.c42.s2.t1.14

We need not discuss the conception of the Sthaviravādins, who tried to maintain even at this day that Buddha was after all a human saint but with attributes surpassing those of the gods and that in purity and knowledge he was the highest of all constituted beings.¹ This school of thought maintained the realistic conception throughout its long history but it did not gain the same amount of popularity as the Mahāsanghikas and the Sarvāstivādins did in the southern and northern parts of India respectively. However realistic the Theravādins might have been, they had to yield to the popular demand of Buddha-worship, and in course of time they allowed the placing of images of Buddha in their temples, and in one of their late texts the Mahāvaṃsa, there is also an elaborate description as to how the first image of Buddha was made and how grand were the ceremonies and festivals for putting up the image.

v2.c42.s2.t1.15

¹ Majjhima, i, p. 171:—

Cites (3)