AN OVERALL REVIEW

The study of truth-asseveration forms in Pali literature has been made in the
previous five chapters. Truth is a notion observable by all people, regardless of their
race and faith. It is in Pali literature that truth is described in a quite comprehensive
way and thus the author of this dissertation confined his study to Pali literature
although the yanmar tradition of asseveration of truth and oaths has been given
along with it for comparisons sa!e.
Pali literature is not only subtle but also wide-ranging in sub"ects. Therefore, it
is discussed in three sections here # Indian Pali literature, $eylonese Pali literature
and yanmese Pali literature. The entire %uddhas Teachings called Tipita!a and the
commentaries called iscellaneous Teachings &pakinnaka-desana' were believed to
remain in oral tradition until the Third %uddhist $ouncil in the fourth century %.$.,
for there is no reliable evidence of the Teachings put down to writing as early as that
age. It was only after the Third $ouncil that nine missions were sent, under the aegis
of (ing )iridhammaso!a of Pataliputta, to nine different places to propagate the
)asana.
*
Tradionally, it is believed that the mission led by Thera ahinda carried the
Tipita with its commentaries along to $eylon &Lankadipa, the Island of +an!a, now
called )ri +an!a'.
,ith regard to the %uddhist Teachings, the %uddha -imself taught -is chief
doctrines in Suttas &discourses' in different places. %ut there are also other Teachings
by -im or -is disciples, which were apparently meant for e.plaining the chief
doctrines. These Teachings are e.cluded from the $anon proper &Tipitaka' and named
Atthakatha &/.egeses or $ommentaries'. %ut they were collectively !nown as
iscellaneous Teachings, instead.
0
1nd they were approved together with the $anon
by the 2irst %uddhist $ouncil led by Thera 3pali and so on, and later carried to
$eylon by Thera ahinda.
4

This was how the $anon and its commentaries were put down to writing on
palm leaves. )ince the $anon and its commentaries so put down to writing have their
origin in India, they are labelled as Indian Pali literature.
1fter the introduction of %uddhism into $eylon, a number of literary wor!s on
and in Pali came up there. The following are a few to mention5 commentaries to the
*
6P.1.78,
0
9.T.I.*:, .T.I.*:, ).T.I.*:, 1.T.I.*8, )arattha.I.0*, Ibid.II.7:
4
1nu.T.I.**, Ti.%hi.9han.I.Intro.4;, Ibid.4<=
*
$anon by Thera aha %uddhaghosa, Thera %uddhadatta, Thera 1cariya
9hammapala, Thera 3pasena, Thera aha >ama and an anonymous thera? sub-
commentaries by Thera 1nanda, Thera 1cariya 9hammapala, Thera )ariputta, Thera
6a"irabuddhi and Thera (assapa? glossaries by a certain thera who was also the author
of the Thupavamsa &$hronicle of )tupas'? compendia by Thera )ariputta, Thera
1nurudda and others? grammars by Thera (accayana, Thera oggallana and others?
treatises on rhetoric by Thera )anghara!!hita aha )ami, Thera 6acissara and others?
prosodies by Thera )anghara!!hita aha )ami and others? and chronicles by Thera
aha >ama and others.
Thus, the Pali treatises which came up in $eylon starting from the time of
Thera ahindas mission and ending in the fifteenth century are collectively called
$eylonese Pali literature.
@uite similar to the development of Pali literature in $eylon, some *0< wor!s
on and in Pali were compiled by yanmese scholars, resulting in the formation of
yanmese Pali literature. It includes Pali wor!s of all !inds which came up from
the %agan Period to present # these wor!s ranging from treatises in pure Pali through
word-for-word translations &called >issaya wor!s' to mathematical interpretations of
the 1bhidhamma.
,hile $hapter * of this dissertation discusses Pali literature of the above three
countries, $hapter 0 sets preliminaries to the understanding of sacca &truth', as
described in the first two Pali literatures, namely, Indian Pali literature and $eylonese
Pali literature. Sacca or truth may be either conceptualAsub"ective or realAob"ective.
The former is called Brahmana-sacca or Ditthi-sacca and the latter Paramattha-
sacca, Nana-sacca or Vaci-sacca. )ince it is found that all these saccas are
included in the *B doctrinal categories, it may be concluded that sacca is an essential
notion in the +aw "ust as a man of importance has access to every occasion.
Vaci-sacca &truth in speech', as discussed in the commentaries with reference
to sacca, falls into such sub-catogories as icchapurana-sacca, saddapahana-
sacca, and sapatha-sacca, and this being so, this dissertation describes them in
separate sections in such a single chapter, fully illustrated with thirty-four stories from
the Pita!a, especially from the Cata!a. The chapter gives the reader much !nowledge
on sacca and its beneficial sequels # how it can heal illnesses, how it can cure
sna!es venoms and antiar, how it can give light to the blind eyes, how it can dispel
firebrea!s and drought, how it can free one of dangers, how it can fulfill ones wish
0
for children, how it can help a woman in her labour room, how it overcomes the
disasters, how it brings victory in wars and so no. %y way of description, moreover,
the chapter emphasiDes that the cause for the fulfillment of ones wishes by means of
the asseveration of truth in the quoted stories is because sacca is accompanied by the
development of morality and meditation of the attributes of the %uddha and so forth.
1ccording to the Pali treatises, wish-fulfilling factors are altogether three,
namely, charity &dana', morality &sila' and meditation &bhavana'. The %uddha stated
in the Nidhikantha Sutta, Khuddakapatha,
7
that by means of charity or donation
&dana', one can obtain whatever he wishes &am !a-d-evabhipatthenti, sabbam-etena
labbhati', and
:
that by means of morality and sub"ects of meditation &samyama', and
by means of insight meditation &dama', one can obtain all, ranging from the bliss of
human worlds, through that of divine worlds to >ibbana &Sabbam-eteva labbhati",
and again in the Akankhe!!a Sutta, #ulapannasa,
;
that morality can bring one all he
wishes. In the Subhuti Therapadana, Apadana,
=
the %uddha said,
Bhavehi Buddhanussatim,
Bhananam-anuttaram$
%mam satim bhava!itvana,
Pura!issati manasam&
Eeditate on %uddhas virtues,
2or tis the best meditation?
If so meditating, thereafter,
,ishes are sure to be fulfilled.F
>o doubt, the three factors of charity, morality and meditation can fulfill
wishes. 1ctually, according to the discourse, one of these three factors, let alone all
the three combined, can fulfill wishes. %ut each brings its own benefits5 by doing the
act of charity, one cannot e.pect the benefits of moral virtues or meditation and vice
versa. The act of charity will help the doer of this act fulfill his wishes related with
any benefit of charity. The same is also true of morality and meditation.
7
(.*<
:
Ibid. , (.1.*8=
;
.I.4:B
=
1p.I.=;, Thag.1.I.0:
4
The scope of $hapter 4 is confined to the study of oaths and asseverations of
sapatha-sacca. In it, not only the asseveration forms from Pali literature but also
those from yanmar literature are included for the sa!e of comparative studies
between the two !inds and with the hope that by means of this, the dissertation may
prove the wide range of sacca.
$hapter :, with relevant references to the Pita!a, gives answers to the question
,hy is vaci-sacca &truth in speech' so effectiveG The answers are mainly based on
the statement that sacca is effective on its own right but when accompanied by such
things as morality and meditation, it manifests its powers more clearly. /vidences
from the lives of yanmese famous mon!s have been given together with the
statements of the Pita!a.
In conclusion, this dissertation entitled The )tudy of 1sseveration of Truth in
Pali +iterature is one that studies sacca and its powers from all sides, and the author
hopes that it will contribute something reliable and helpful to the general study of
truth in speech.
7