Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c42.s2.t3.1

v2.c42.s2.t3.1

In the Mahāvastu and the Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra we have not only a biography of Buddha but also a number of stories dealing with Buddha's supposed previous existences as also other traditions. The underlying object of the stories of Buddha's previous births is to show that each event in this life was the result of a past deed of his. These stories served not only to establish the law of karma which Buddhism had borrowed from the pre-Buddhistic thoughts but also to convince the common folk that any act of theirs would similarly be fruitful, and it may be that some of them might sow the seeds of merit like Siddhārtha Gautama and ultimately attain Buddhahood. In the latter case, they would be Bodhisattvas as was Siddhārtha Gautama in his previous lives. The Lalitavistara refers to the meritorious deeds performed by him in his previous existences¹ but does not give the stories in detail which were to be found partly in the Vinaya piṭaka of the Sarvāstivādins, and partly in the Avadāna collections. The biographies, and particularly the Jātakas, made a strong appeal to the mass, kindled their devotion and gave them an opportunity to express the same by depicting the stories indelibly on stone. These made them feel within their innermost heart that Buddhahood for them was not an impossibility as had so long been preached by the early Buddhists. The task, of course, was arduous and the path long covering several existences and entailing extreme self-sacrifices. This literature therefore gave a new and forceful impetus to the mass, and paved the way for the glorious days which Buddhism had for a long time in the early Christian eras. Observing the effect of the Jātaka stories on the mass, the Sarvāstivādins began to multiply them and produced large collections of these, calling them Avadānas. They incorporated in it stories dealing with the previous birth not only of Buddha but also of his noted disciples. The puritanic Theravādins could not help following them and started making a collection of stories without intermingling them with the biography of Buddha. They however supplied the events of the present life by way of introduction (paccuppannavatthu) and ended the stories by identifying the characters with Buddha and other persons. The object of all these collections was identical, viz., the edification of the mass and popularisation of the religion.