Connections Without Limit:

The Refiguring of the Buddha in the Jinamahnidna

A thesis presented

by

Beatrice Chrystall

to

The Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the subject of
Sanskrit and Indian Studies

Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

January 2004
 2004 Beatrice Chrystall
All rights reserved.
Thesis Advisor: Professor Charles Hallisey Beatrice Chrystall

Connections Without Limit:

The Refiguring of the Buddha in the Jinamahnidna

Abstract

This thesis is a study of the Jinamahnidna, a biography of the Buddha,

composed in Pli, probably in Ayutthaya in Thailand between the fourteenth and

eighteenth centuries. The Jinamahnidna covers the Buddha's entire life, from his first

aspiration to buddhahood to the Buddha's death. In thus confronting the reader with his

death, it would seem to reaffirm his unavailability in the present. Yet it leaves the reader

with a stronger sense of the Buddha's connection to the present and of himself as

personally involved in a relationship with the Buddha. Moreover, the reader is revealed

as having the ability and the responsibility to ensure the Buddha's connection to the

present continues into the future. On the other hand, the Jinamahnidna tells the

Buddha's whole story, and in unusual detail, and so promises the reader a fuller, more

multi-faceted perception of the Buddha. Yet, ultimately, it undercuts this promise to

reveal the fullness of his person as extending immeasurably beyond the reach of our

perception or comprehension.

The Jinamahnidna achieves this complex portrayal of the Buddha through a

sophisticated engagement with its own textual form, and a deft interplay between its form

and content. Its form reflects aspects of its subject matter. In addition, its form and

content often constitute existential and emotional stances toward the Buddha. Using its

own textual form, the Jinamahnidna both creates and models for the reader a particular

orientation toward the Buddha. In my analysis of this process, the thesis explores four

qualities of the text that are also qualities of the Buddha: comprehensiveness, wholeness,

connectedness, and denseness.

The Jinamahnidna is a composite text, created through the interweaving and

reworking of material from earlier texts, and Chapters 1 and 2 depend on comparison of

the form of the Jinamahnidna with that of its sources. Chapters 3 and 4 involve close

reading of the Jinamahnidna in its own right. These complementary approaches reveal

the Jinamahnidna's artful interactions with its sources, which permit it to present its

particular vision of the Buddha.

 CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. vii

ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................................... xi
INTRODUCTION
1 Seeing the Jinamahnidna within the context of other Buddha biographies ........................... 3
2 Historical context............................................................................................................................. 13
3 Context of literary culture: Innovation within conservatism ..................................................... 23
4 The Jinamahnidna as an "anthology"? ..................................................................................... 28
5 Overview of the Jinamahnidna's composition and use of sources ......................................... 30
6 How can we best approach reading the Jinamahnidna?......................................................... 34
7 Who is "the reader"?...................................................................................................................... 38
8 What instructions on how to read it does the Jinamahnidna provide its reader? ................ 40
A amhkam bhagav: "our Lord" ...................................................................................... 41
B How it terms itself ............................................................................................................ 42
C By intertextual allusions .................................................................................................. 45
D What do these indices tell the reader?........................................................................... 56
9 Outline of chapters: Form and content informing each other ................................................... 57

I COMPREHENSIVENESS: THE JINAMAHNIDNA AND ITS SOURCES ..... 61

1 What forms of comprehensiveness are involved? ........................................................................ 62
2 How does the text signal its comprehensiveness? ........................................................................ 64
3 Techniques of textual composition identified ............................................................................... 70
A Insertion and elision .......................................................................................................... 70
B Syntactic restructuring...................................................................................................... 97
C Amplification .................................................................................................................... 111
D Juxtaposition .................................................................................................................... 113
E Altering the semantic function of source material....................................................... 115
4 The antithesis of comprehensiveness at the core of the text..................................................... 120
5 Conclusion....................................................................................................................................... 122

II WHOLENESS: THE JINAMAHNIDNA AS A WHOLE ....................................... 125

1 How the Jinamahnidna works to present itself as a whole.................................................... 125
A How it defines its subject matter ................................................................................... 125
B It identifies him throughout the work as amhkam bhagav ...................................... 129
C Creating temporal unity: Defining the Buddha's temporal parameters................... 132
i. How the Jtaka-nidnakath and other earlier biographies define the Buddha's
temporal parameters ..................................................................................... 134
ii. How the Jinamahnidna defines the Buddha's temporal parameters ............... 140
iii. What is the significance of the difference between these two approaches?........ 142
D Narrative seamlessness: The absence of temporally defined break-markers.......... 145
E Structuring the whole work as chapters (kaths)......................................................... 155
2 Conclusion....................................................................................................................................... 159
III CONNECTEDNESS: A HEIGHTENED SENSE OF RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE BUDDHA ................................................................ 161
1 The nature of relationships: Between people and with the Buddha ........................................ 163
A The story of Pipphalimava-Mahkassapa's ordination ........................................... 164
i. The strength and value of relationships between people..................................... 166
ii. The importance of relationships .......................................................................... 168
iii. The importance to Kassapa of relationship with the Buddha.............................. 170
B What is the significance of this portrayal of relationships for the reader?............... 178
2 Framing the whole teaching career by his refusal to die .......................................................... 179
3 The effect of ending with his death .............................................................................................. 185
A Including his death means including his care for his future followers ...................... 186
B The Buddha instructs his followers on how to honor him after his death ................. 191
4 Conclusion....................................................................................................................................... 199

IV DENSITY: INTERCONNECTEDNESS AND OPACITY ......................................... 201

1 Times interweaving, Determinacy dissolving to opacity ........................................................... 203
A Perfections (prams) and jtakas................................................................................... 205
B The physical marks (mahpurisalakkhaas)................................................................. 216
C The portents (pubbanimittas).......................................................................................... 223
i. The groups of thirty-two portents brought into mutual relation.......................... 227
ii. A commonality to the occasions on which the portents appear .......................... 229
a) As he reflects after receiving the prediction................................................ 231
b) At his enlightenment ................................................................................... 241
D The linking of the portents with what they portend .................................................... 245
E The marks tie the Buddha's impersonally temporal dimensions into his life ........... 251
2 Conclusion....................................................................................................................................... 258

CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................ 261

How do these four qualities work together in the text?.................................................................... 261
A Independently .................................................................................................................. 264
i. Comprehensiveness ............................................................................................. 264
ii. Wholeness............................................................................................................ 265
iii. Connectedness ..................................................................................................... 267
iv. Denseness ............................................................................................................ 270
B In interaction with other qualities ................................................................................. 272
i. Comprehensiveness and wholeness emphasize the biography's unity................ 272
ii. Connectedness and denseness emphasize the biography's openness .................. 272
iii. The text's comprehensiveness is undone by its denseness.................................. 273
iv. The text's wholeness makes a bid for containedness, which is undone by its
connectedness............................................................................................... 274

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................... 275

1 Primary sources (listed by title) ................................................................................................... 275
2 Secondary sources.......................................................................................................................... 278
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It gives me great happiness to have the opportunity to express my gratitude to the

many people who have helped me and enriched my life in many ways over the years.

I would first like to thank my advisor, Charles Hallisey. Charlie has given me

things of inestimable worth during my time in the program. His intellectual creativity

and truly thrilling teaching have expanded my mental horizons in ways that have been

enriching and have profoundly shaped my thinking. He has also offered me much-

appreciated support and encouragement over the years. His guidance has significantly

shaped this thesis, and he has shown enormous generosity in helping me complete the

project. I cannot adequately express my gratitude for all he has given me, but

nonetheless I offer him my sincerest thanks.

I also wish to thank the other members of my committee. I thank Leonard van der

Kuijp, chair of the committee, for his generous help in shepherding the thesis through its

various stages. I very much appreciate his careful reading and rigorous attention to

language. His engagement with the project at each stage was a significant source of

encouragement and I am truly grateful for that. It is also a pleasure to thank Janet Gyatso

for her helpful comments and interesting suggestions for possible future development. I

thank her also for her commitment to the project, which spurred me on and was a distinct

help in the final stages. In addition, I extend my sincere thanks to a former member of

my committee, Stephanie Jamison, who moved to the University of California, Los

Angeles part-way through the process. Stephanie's assistance at the beginning of the

project was a real help in getting it underway, and her good advice stood me in good

stead through the writing process.

I am very fortunate to have been taught by many wonderful teachers. I am happy

to have an opportunity to acknowledge how much I owe my undergraduate teachers,

Richard Gombrich, Jim Benson, and Alexis Sanderson. Their rigorous teaching of

Sanskrit and Pli, and of South Asian intellectual and literary practices, has provided me

with foundations that have benefited me enormously in my subsequent studies and for

which I have mentally thanked them countless times. I extend them my hearty thanks. I

am also very lucky to have fallen into the generous hands of Jacqueline Filliozat, Kaky,

during my years in Paris. Kaky did far more than just teach me about manuscripts and

Southeast Asian Pli texts, and I am truly grateful for all her help and her friendship. It is

with great appreciation that I thank Stephanie Jamison for the many hours of sheer

enjoyment I have had in her kvya classes, as well as for how much I have learned about

reading Sanskrit literature from her. As Director of Graduate Studies, she also helped me

navigate the various stages of the program with a kindness, humanity, and discretion that

I will always remember with gratitude.

I have also benefited greatly from the teaching of Peter Skilling, Prapot

Assavavirulhakarn, and Donald Swearer, and learned much from them, formally and

informally, about many aspects of the history and practice of Buddhism in Southeast
Asia. I thank them all. Peter Skilling was particularly generous with his time, discussing

the Jinamahnidna with me, giving me access to relevant material, and always ready to

answer a question. I very much appreciate all his help and thank him sincerely.

It is a real pleasure to thank those with whom I have discussed this project

directly, and whose input has always been helpful in clarifying my thoughts: Karen

Derris, Maria Heim, Sarah LeVine, and Lilian Handlin. I thank Karen, more than I can

say, for her constant support, encouragement, and enthusiasm, which have sustained me

throughout this project. She has been a true and dear friend and, without her, this thesis

would not have been written. I thank Maria, with great happiness, for her friendship,

support, and faith in me, which have been an enormous help, and greatly contributed to

this thesis's completion. I also thank her for the many wonderful conversations we had,

the memory of which I cherish. I am deeply grateful to Sarah for all her encouragement

and practical words of wisdom, as well, of course, as her extraordinary generosity. Her

friendship has meant a lot to me. I heartily thank Lilian for her generosity, intellectual

and otherwise, her enthusiasm, encouragement, and helpful perspectives on my project.

I am very grateful for all the friends and colleagues I have learned so much from

and enjoyed over the years, including Darshan Ambalavanar, Susanne Mrozik, Natalie

Gummer, Amanda Sobel, Erik Braun, James McHugh, Elizabeth Guzma`n, and Sally

Mellick Cutler. I also thank Christopher George for his very generous gift of books.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Sanskrit Department for its
support during my time in the program. I particularly thank Ali Asani for his kindness

and help, which were very much appreciated. Thanks also to Nathan Swanson and

Jennifer Petrallia for all their generous assistance.

Untold thanks are due to all my family for their love and support, for which I am

deeply grateful. In addition, I thank my mother, Stephanie Chrystall, for early instilling

in me a fascination with words, which in no small part has led me to this point, and has

brought a lot of richness to my life. My brother Harry has been a necessary part of

writing this thesis. I have always been able to count on him for healthy doses of

perspective and humour when needed, which have many times helped get me

throughthanks. I would also like to thank my parents-in-law, Ramona and Maurice

DuBois, for their generosity in encouraging my work, even when it came at the expense

of family commitments.

I cannot begin to express the gratitude and appreciation I feel for my husband,

Rich DuBois. Rich has amazed me time and again with the incredible generosity of spirit

he has shown throughout this whole process. Despite the very considerable strain my

unavailability has put on him, he has never failed to support and encourage me. He has

also dedicated countless hours to helping me with the practicalities of producing this

thesis. None of this would have been possible without him. I count myself truly blessed

to have such a wonderful partner in life. I only hope I can be half the partner to him that

he has been to me. I dedicate this thesis with love and profound respect to him.
 ABBREVIATIONS

I use the abbreviations provided in the "Epilegomena to Vol. I" of the Critical Pali

Dictionary by Helmer Smith (Copenhagen: Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and

Letters, 1948). His listing does not include the Jinamahnidna and the

Pahamasambodhi.

A Aguttaranikya

Ap Apadna

Ap-a Visuddhajanavilsin (commentary on the Apadna)

As Atthaslin (commentary on the Dhammasaga)

Bv Buddhavamsa

Bv-A Madhuratthavilsin (commentary on the Buddhavamsa)

Cp Cariypiaka

Cp-a Cariypiakahakath

D Dghanikya

Dhp Dhammapada

Dhp-a Dhammapadahakath

Ja Jtakahakath (including the Jtaka-nidnakath)

Jmn Jinamahnidna
Paham Pahamasambodhi

S Samyuttanikya

Spk Sratthappaksin (commentary on the Samyuttanikya)

Subodh Subodhlakra

Sv Sumagalavilsin (commentary on the Dghanikya)

Vin Vinayapiaka

PED The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary

SED A Sanskrit-English Dictionary by Sir Monier Monier-Williams

 INTRODUCTION

This thesis is a study of the Jinamahnidna, a biography of the Buddha. The

Jinamahnidna was composed in Pli in Thailand, probably in Ayutthaya some time

between the mid-fourteenth and the mid-eighteenth centuries, and is one of a small group

of late Southeast Asian biographies that tell the story of the Buddha's entire life. It

begins innumerable lifetimes ago when, as a young man called Sumedha, he first makes

the aspiration to become a buddha, and thereby becomes a bodhisatta, one who is

destined to become a buddha.1 The Jinamahnidna then tells of his passage through

four incalculable ages (asakheyyas) and one-hundred-thousand eons (kappas), until he is

finally born into his last life as Siddhattha, gains enlightenment and so becomes the

Buddha, and, after forty-five years teaching, dies.2

Calling it a biography of the Buddha may therefore seem misleading, since he is

only actually a buddha for a small proportion of that time. The text takes great pains,

however, to ensure that we do view it as the story of what we may loosely call a singular

1
I use "Buddha" to name the Buddha Gotama, "buddha" to designate a member of the category of beings
who have attained buddhahood.
2
Both asakheyya and kappa signify fixed periods of time, but periods so vast as to be essentially
unimaginable. An asakheyya is greater than a kappa. For a discussion of the significance of these terms,
see Toshiichi Endo, Buddha in Theravada Buddhism: A Study of the Concept of Buddha in the Pali
Commentaries, 1st ed. (Nedimala, Dehiwela: Buddhist Cultural Centre, 1997), 246-9 and Har Dayal, The
Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1932), 77-9.
 2

life.3 It is perhaps more accurate to think of it as a biography of amhkam bhagav, "our

Lord," as the text calls him from that first moment on.4

Insisting on its own integrity, and bracketed by the fixed parameters of beginning

and death, the Jinamahnidna's reader could be left with a sense of the Buddha as

resolutely in the past, gone from the world. However, this thesis will argue that the text

works to ensure that the reader comes away with the opposite impression.

By portraying the Buddha's life as a temporally delimited and contained unity, the

Jinamahnidna paradoxically reveals his profound connection to the present and the

continuation of that connection into an ever-ongoing future. It also reveals how the

present of his life is made temporally dense through the interconnectedness of all the

times of his life. The reader is left with a stronger sense of personal connection with him

while at the same time of his profound opacity and inconceivability.

3
I will use the term "life-stream" to convey this idea. Theravda Buddhists saw the lives of the
bodhisattas that preceded Siddhattha as, in very real and significant ways, continuations of what we may
loosely call the Buddha-to-be's "life-stream," and they saw his death as the Buddha as the final end of that
life-stream. This characterization should not be taken too deterministically. The exact nature of the
connection between one life and the next was, of course, a much debated question in many schools of
Buddhism (for discussion of this issue as it is found in the Theravda, see, for example, Steven Collins,
Selfless persons: Imagery and thought in Theravda Buddhism [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1982]). John Strong elects to use the expression "whole karmic history" to convey this idea: "Buddhist (as
indeed most Indian) sacred biographies do not properly begin and end with a single person's lifetime but
incorporate a whole karmic history, including previous lives and further existences as 'other' beings" (John
S. Strong, "A Family Quest: The Buddha, Yaodhar, and Rhula in the Mlasarvstivda Vinaya," in
Sacred Biography in the Buddhist Traditions of South and Southeast Asia, ed. Juliane Schober [Honolulu:
University of Hawai'i Press, 1997], 114, emphasis added).
4
For the sake of familiarity, I will continue to call the Jinamahnidna a biography of the Buddha. The
reader should bear in mind, however, that calling it a biography of amhkam bhagav is truer to the spirit
of the work.
 3

The Jinamahnidna is able to achieve these seemingly incompatible effects

through a sophisticated engagement with its own textual form and a deft interplay

between its form and its content. In other words, its form reflects something of its subject

matter. In addition, its form and content often constitute existential and emotional

stances toward the Buddha. Using its own textual form, the Jinamahnidna both creates

and models for the reader a particular orientation toward the Buddha.

1 Seeing the Jinamahnidna within the context of other Buddha biographies

In the following analysis (and in the thesis as a whole), I do not engage with the

many important non-Theravdin biographies,5 nor (except very cursorily) with

Theravdin accounts in vernacular languages. This is not because of a valorizing of

Theravdin biographies over the others, nor of Pli texts over texts in the vernaculars.6

Nor does it signify that issues raised in the Jinamahnidna are not equally germane for

some of the other biographies. In fact, some of the key issues this thesis addresses are

central to works from other traditions.

It is rather that the Jinamahnidna engages in a particularly intense way with its

5
For example, the autonomous Sanskrit Buddha biographies: the Mahvastu, Lalitavistara,
Abhinikramana Stra, Buddhacarita, and the Vinaya of the Mlasarvstivdins, which all predate the
Jinamahnidna by many centuries.
6
Such an attitude would be utterly inappropriate, given the history of Theravdin literary practices, with its
productive interchange between Pli and vernacular texts. For example, it is uncertain whether the Pli
version of the Pahamasambodhi was the source for the Thai versions or vice versa (see below). The
immensely popular Sihala Saddharmaratnvaliya ("The Garland of Gems of the True Doctrine") is based
on the Pli Dhammapadahakath.
 4

specific Pli sources. It defines itself largely in relation to those texts. Moreover, it is

very conservative even within the range of what Pli texts it uses as sources. Because of

its dependence on its sources, comparison with those sources is necessary. In seeking to

appreciate its relation to its textual predecessors, it is therefore most important to focus

on those Pli texts.

From another perspective, this thesis is ultimately a close reading of the

Jinamahnidna as a coherent whole. Although comparison with its sources is a

necessary part of that endeavor, there is also a separate component that involves studying

how this text works as a unit unto itself. At a certain point, comparison with any amount

of other texts will not suffice.

Biographies that were complete (in the sense of covering the Buddha's entire life)

and autonomous (independent works, not attached to a larger text) did not appear until

very late in the Theravda's literary development.7

One of the first forms of biographical material regarding the Buddha to appear

were the jtakas, accounts of individual lives of his previous lifetimes as the bodhisatta,

7
For a useful overview of the development of Theravdin biographical traditions, see Frank E. Reynolds,
"The Many Lives of Buddha: A Study of Sacred Biography and Theravda Tradition," in The Biographical
Process: Studies in the History and Psychology of Religion, ed. Frank E. Reynolds and Donald Capps,
Religion and Reason: Method and Theory in the Study and Interpretation of Religion, ed. Jacques
Waardenburg, vol. 11 (The Hague, Paris: Mouton, 1976), 37-61. See also his more recent article,
Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions and the Lineages of Gotama: A Study in Theravda Buddhology," in Sacred
Biography in the Buddhist Traditions of South and Southeast Asia, 19-39. For a discussion of Western
study of the Buddha biography see Charles Hallisey, "Roads Taken and Not Taken in the Study of
Theravda Buddhism," in Curators of the Buddha, ed. Donald S. Lopez, Jr. (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1995), 34-44.
 5

which the Buddha is reported to have preached to illustrate various points.8 Beside the

jtakas, for most of the period from the time of the Buddha until about the 5th century

C.E., accounts of episodes in his life were scattered in fragments throughout the Pli

canon. They were generally used to provide the introductory context (nidna) for other

texts or teachings or to illustrate points of practice or doctrine.9 Individual suttas also

recounted particular episodes from this life.10 Most important of these, of course, was the

Mahparinibbnasutta, a sutta within the canonical Dghanikya, which provided an

extensive account of the period leading up to the Buddha's death, the death, and the

distribution of his relics. However, these accounts of different phases of his life were

kept separate from each other, remaining in the form of isolated units of text dispersed

through the canon.

8
Their early appearance is attested by the fact that they were depicted on stpas (funerary mounds) in the
nd
2 century B.C.E. See Reynolds, "The Many Lives of Buddha," 42 and Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions,"
20-1.
9
See Mark R. Woodward, "The Biographical Imperative in Theravda Buddhism," in Sacred Biography in
the Buddhist Traditions of South and Southeast Asia, 43-9. As Woodward puts it: "In the Sutta, Vinaya,
and Abhidhamma texts, doctrinal teachings and monastic regulations are contextualized by references of
events in the life of the Buddha Gotama, one of his contemporaries and/or precursors" (ibid., 43). These
accounts covered delimited periods of his life. For example, the account in the Vinaya's Mahvagga goes
from his gaining omniscience to the conversion of Sriputta and Moggallna in the first year of his teaching
(The Vinaya Piakam: One of the Principal Buddhist Holy Scriptures in the Pali Language, vol. I, ed.
Hermann Oldenberg [London: Williams and Norgate, 1879], 1-44). The Dhammapadahakath's version
covers the period from the bodhisatta's existence as Sumedha to the Buddha's receipt of the Veuvana from
King Bimbisra in his first year of teaching (The Commentary on the Dhammapada, vol. I, ed. H.C.
Norman [1906; Reprint, London: Luzac for the Pali Text Society, 1970], 83-104).
10
For example, the Mahpadnasutta tells the story from his birth to his renunciation of household life
(The Dgha Nikya, vol. 2, ed. T. W. Rhys Davids and J. Estlin Carpenter [London: Henry Frowde for the
Pali Text Society, 1903], 1-54).
 6

One of the most important works for the later development of buddhological

traditions, the Buddhavamsa ("The Lineage of the Buddhas"), emerged just in time to be

included within the canon. It established the narrative framework of the bodhisatta's

progress along the path to buddhahood meeting buddha after buddha. As Reynolds

stresses, "Most subsequent authors-compilers of various Theravda biographical and

'historical' texts have utilized some version or adaptation of this lineage of Buddhas as

their entree into the particular narratives that they are most concerned to relate."11

Understood as the Buddha's own report of the lineage of his predecessors and his own

progress towards buddhahood, it has a distinctive authority that, as Reynolds indicates, is

used to ground most later biographies. It certainly plays that role in both the Jtaka-

nidnakath and the Jinamahnidna.

The Jtaka-nidnakath, which appeared in the 5th century, was the first

continuous biographical account in Pli to continue past the Buddhavamsa to focus on

Gotama's last life. Yet, the Jtaka-nidnakath was not an independent text, dedicated to

telling the Buddha's life for its own sake. It formed the introduction (nidnakath) to the

collection of Jtaka stories, and as such was intended to provide the contextualizing

account of the origin (nidna) for the Jtakas to be recounted in the remainder of the

11
Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions," 27.
 7

text.12

The Jtaka-nidnakath subsequently took on a life apart from the

Jtakahakaththough still by no means as a separate, independent entity. It provided

the basis for nidnakaths for other texts (predominantly commentaries and chronicles).13

These accounts left the life-story open-ended in two ways. Those which provided the

contexts for texts ended their narratives at some point in the first year of his teaching,

leaving the rest of his life untold.14 Those versions that introduced chronicles (vamsas)

12
Most of the Jtakas were taught in the Jetavana park in Vesli and the Jtaka-nidnakath ends at the
point where the wealthy merchant Anthapiika donates this park to the Buddha. See T. W. Rhys Davids,
transl., Buddhist Birth-Stories: Jataka Tales, revised by C.A.F. Rhys Davids (1880; reprint, Delhi: Srishti
Publishers and Distributors, 1998), 245. See also Reynolds, "The Many Lives of Buddha," 51.
However, it is interesting to note that the "Jtaka-nidna" appears in Skilling's survey of
Theravdin literature translated into Tibetan (Skilling, "Theravdin Literature in Tibetan Translation,"
Journal of the Pali Text Society XIX [1993]: 106-8). Further, Skilling notes that the Tibetan version does
not have the opening verses found in the Pli version, which are relevant for the entire Jtakahakath, but
instead has a prose passage (nidna) giving the context for the following text. This suggests that the
Jtaka-nidnakath did, in some situations, circulate independently of the Jtakahakath. I have not
found further evidence for thisin the form of manuscripts that appear to be independent versions of the
Jtaka-nidnakathin the manuscript catalogs I have consulted, but Skilling's evidence demonstrates
that it is certainly a possibility.
13
See Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions," 28.
14
The versions of his life in the form of nidnakaths go from the Buddha's beginning as the bodhisatta
making his aspiration for buddhahood up to whatever point is relevant for the text they introduce. For the
Jtaka-nidnakath and the Visuddhajanavilsin, it was the Buddha's receipt of the Jetavana from
Anthapiika (The Jtaka Together with Its Commentary: Being Tales of the Anterior Births of Gotama
Buddha, vol. I, ed. V. Fausboll [London: Trubner, 1877], 94; Visuddhajanavilsin nma
Apadnahakath, ed. C. E. Godakumbura [London: Luzac for the Pali Text Society, 1954], 99). For the
Madhuratthavilsin, it was the Buddha's teaching the Buddhavamsa from the jeweled walkway
(Madhuratthavilsin nma Buddhavamsahakath of Bhadantacariya Buddhadatta Mahthera, ed. I.B.
Horner [London: Humphrey Milford for the Pali Text Society, 1946], 24). For the Cariypiakahakath,
it was the point immediately following the latter, when the Buddha sat down on the walkway and taught
Sriputta the Cariypiaka (Achariya Dhammapla's Paramatthadpan, Being the Commentary on the
Cariy-Piaka, ed. D. L. Barua, 2d ed., with corrections and Indexes [London: The Pali Text Society,
1979], 9).
 8

thereby extended the account into the present and future of Buddhist communities.15

Jonathan Walters has argued that these texts, usually translated as "chronicles," should

rather be viewed "as 'successions' of the Buddha's presence."16

As a complete and autonomous biography recounting the entirety of the Buddha's

life in chronological fashion, the Jinamahnidna is an example of what Hallisey has

identified as a distinctively Southeast Asian literary development in the late medieval

period.17 He notes that Sihala biographies were not arranged in a chronological

sequence, but instead "rearrange the biographical material for a variety of purposes."18

As Reynolds and Hallisey point out, it is not only Pli biographies that end in the first year of the
Buddha's teaching: "[A]ll the early autonomous biographies of the Buddha [the Mahvastu, Lalitavistara,
Abhinikramana Stra, the Sanskrit Buddhacarita, the Vinaya of the Mlasarvstivdins] (with the
exception of the "completed" Chinese and Tibetan versions of the Buddhacarita) follow the Vinaya
tradition, which ends the story at a point soon after the Buddha had begun his ministry" (Reynolds and
Hallisey, s.v. "Buddha," Encyclopedia of Religion, 324). For example, the Mahvastu ends with the
Buddha's visit to Kapilavastu and Rhula's going forth, while the Lalitavistara ends with his first sermon.
Although the Tibetan and Chinese translations of Avaghoa's Buddhacarita continue on until his
parinibbna, the Sanskrit version ends with his enlightenment.
15
The importance of this to Theravda Buddhists is indicated by Donald Swearer's observation that,
"Virtually all the chronicles of major northern Thai monasteries begin with a founding visit by the
Buddha" (Donald K. Swearer, The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia, SUNY Series in Religion, ed. Harold
Coward [Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995], 93).
16
Jonathan S. Walters, "Buddhist History: The Sri Lankan Pli Vamsas and their Commentary," in
Querying the Medieval: Texts and the History of Practices in South Asia, ed. Ronald Inden, Jonathan
Walters, and Daud Ali (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 99.
17
Hallisey, " Roads Taken and Not Taken," 40.
18
ibid., 39-40. For example, several medieval Sihala biographies of the Buddha were structured around
individual qualities (gua) of the Buddha, as expressed by the epithets of the iti pi so gth. Here one facet
of the Buddha's person is used to provide a conceptual framework by means of which the narrative of his
life is structured. C.E. Godakumbura discusses one such work, Amvatura, "the Flood of Nectar," written
by Guruugm in the twelfth century (C.E. Godakumbura, Sinhalese Literature [Colombo: The Colombo
Apothecaries' Co., 1955], 56-61). He describes it as: "a narrative of the Master's life told in such a way as
to emphasize one of his special virtues, namely his ability to tame beings of hardened disposition ...
 9

On the other hand, "Completeor extendedbiographies of the Buddha were composed

in Burma and the rest of Southeast Asia from the late medieval period onwards in both

Pali and different vernaculars."19

Hallisey cites as examples of this tendency the Burmese Mllakravatthu and

the Pahamasambodhi, a text that exists in Pli, Thai, and Khmer versions.20 The

Mllakravatthu tells the Buddha's story right up to his parinibbna, and in fact

beyond into the history of Pagan in the middle of the 11th century.21 The complete

version of the Pahamasambodhi postpones the final closure of the Buddha's life into the

future, by extending the Buddha's story up to the dhtuparinibbna, the final

parinibbna of his relics, which has yet to occur.22

Guruugm compiles this work in the form of an exposition of the epithet purisadammasrathi ...
According to Guruugm's own description of the Amvatura, the work was meant to be a life story of the
Buddha" (ibid., 56). Godakumbura adds that Guruugm's method of writing the Buddha's biography was
also followed by other writers. He cites Mayurapada's Pjvaliya as another example, being a biography
based on the epithet araham (ibid., 61). See also Hallisey's discussion of these works in his doctoral
dissertation, "Devotion in the Buddhist Literature of Medieval Sri Lanka" (Ph.D. diss., University of
Chicago, 1988), 215-229.
19
Hallisey, "Roads Taken and Not Taken," 40.
20
Hallisey notes that while George Cds considers the Pli version to be the source for the Thai versions,
this is by no means certain (ibid., 58, n. 54). The Khmer version seems to be a translation from the Thai
(ibid., 41).
21
According to George Cds, this text was written in 1773 (Cds, "Une Vie Indochinoise du Buddha:
La Pahamasambodhi," in Melanges d'Indianisme a` la Memoire de Louis Renou, ed. Hans Peter Schmidt.
Publications de l'Institut de Civilisation Indienne, 8th Series, Vol. 28 [Paris: Editions E. de Boccard, 1968],
218). It was translated by Bigandet, as is discussed in Hallisey, "Roads Taken and Not Taken," 40-1.
22
The Pahamasambodhi has been discussed by Reynolds as an example of an "autonomous biography"
(see Reynolds, "The Many Lives of Buddha," 51, 53-4). See also Cds, "Une Vie Indochinoise du
Buddha," and Emmanuel Guillon, "A propos d'une version Mone indite de l'pisode de Vasundhar,"
Journal Asiatique 275 (1987): 143-162. The Pahamasambodhi has a very complex literary history that
 10

In beginning with the bodhisatta Sumedha encountering the buddha Dpakara,

the Jinamahnidna displays a conservative orientation in relation to another

biographical development attested in the Theravda during the medieval period.23 This

still awaits systematic study. Moreover, there are two Pli versions of it, which finish at different points in
the Buddha's life story. The older version, which must have been written before 1574 (see Oskar von
Hinber, A Handbook of Pli Literature, Indian Philology and South Asian Studies, ed. Albrecht Wezler
and Michael Witzel, vol. 2 [New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1996], 180 391, and Cds, "Une Vie
Indochinoise du Buddha," 218-223), covers the period from the bodhisatta's life in the Tusita heaven to the
Buddha's first sermon. The later version (composed in Thailand in 1845 on the basis of earlier versions by
Prince Paramanuchitchinorot/Paramnujit, whose religious name was Suvaaramsi) covers the entire life
of the Buddha from the marriage of his parents until his death and beyond, recounting the later history of
those relics which ends with their disappearance at the final disappearance of the Dhamma. Hence, this
text constitutes a biography of the Buddha that is both autonomous andat least in the later
versioncomplete, in the sense of covering the entire period of the Buddha's life.
23
The list of previous buddhas in both the Jtaka-nidnakath (Ja I 44) and the Buddhavamsa (The
Buddhavamsa and the Cariy-Piaka: Part IText, ed. Richard Morris [London: Henry Frowde for the Pali
Text Society, 1882], 66-7) begins with the three buddhas that precede Dpakara, who do not make
predictions for Gotama. The Jinamahnidna's list does not include these three (Jinamahnidna, Vol. I:
Pli text [Bangkok: The National Library, Fine Arts Department, 1987], 28). It focuses only on those
buddhas who are directly relevant to our Buddha. It therefore names only twenty-four buddhas other than
Gotama. It makes no mention of the future Buddha Metteyya. Note that while the Buddhavamsa's list of
the buddhas includes Metteyya (Bv 67, vs. 18/9), the Jinamahnidna's (Jmn 28) does not.
There was an increased interest in the medieval period and particularly in Southeast Asia in
bodhisattas, future buddhas, who were not within "our" Buddha's life-stream. The next future buddha,
Metteyya, received considerable attention. This is witnessed in part by the extreme popularity of the Phra
Malai story in Thailand throughout the Ayutthayan period and beyond. Charles Keyes states that three
textsthe Phra Malai story, the Trai Phum cosmology and the Vessantarajtakaconstitute "what might
be termed the 'key' texts of both popular and elite traditions of traditional Siam" (Charles F. Keyes,
Thailand: Buddhist Kingdom as Modern Nation-State, Westview Profiles: Nations of Contemporary Asia
[Boulder: Westview Press, 1987], 181). See also Bonnie Pacala Brereton, Thai Tellings of Phra Malai:
Texts and Rituals Concerning a Popular Buddhist Saint (Tempe: Arizona State University Program for
Southeast Asian Studies, 1995), 1-3. Brereton argues that the Phra Malai story was introduced into the
Lanna-Sukhothai-Ayutthaya area around the fourteenth or fifteenth century (ibid., 67). Bibliographic
references for this text are to be found in Peter Skilling and Santi Pakdeekham, Pli Literature Transmitted
in Central Siam: A catalogue based on the Sap Songkhro, Materials for the Study of the Tripiaka, vol. 1
(Bangkok: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini International Research Institute, 2002), 142-3 and
Steven Collins, "Brah Mleyyadevattheravatthu," Journal of the Pali Text Society XVIII (1993): 6-9. See
Collins' extensive examination of the issues raised by the interest in Metteyya and other future buddhas,
which he considers in relation to millennialism (Collins, Nirvana and other Buddhist felicities: Utopias of
the Pali Imaginaire, Cambridge Studies in Religious Traditions, ed. John Clayton, Steven Collins, and
 11

developmentrepresented in what Karen Derris has called the "extended

biography"is evidence of an interest in tracing the history of the bodhisatta further

back into earlier existences under earlier buddhas.24 Such texts placed the starting point

Nicholas de Lange, no. 12 [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998], 346-413).

There was also increasing attention to other current bodhisattas who will become buddhas in the
future. See Skilling's discussion of the interest in future buddhas in Skilling, "The Sambuddhe verses and
later Theravdin Buddhology," Journal of the Pali Text Society XXII (1996): 173-7. This issue was
discussed in texts such as the biographies of ten future buddhas, the Dasabodhisattuddesa (composed at a
late date, perhaps in Cambodia, according to von Hinuber [Handbook of Pli Literature, 98 201]) and the
Dasabodhisattuppattikath (handed down in Sihala and Cambodian versions, "arbitrarily" dated by H.
Saddhatissa to the fourteenth century, according to von Hinuber [ibid., 99 202]). See H. Saddhtissa, The
Birth-Stories of the Ten Bodhisattas and the Dasabodhisattuppattikath: Being a Translation and Edition
of the Dasabodhisattuppattikath, Sacred Books of the Buddhists, vol. xxix (London: Pali Text Society,
1975) and Franois Martini's "Dasa-bodhisatta-uddesa, texte pli publi avec une traduction et un indexe
grammatical," Bulletin de l'Ecole franaise d'Extreme-Orient XXXVI, no. 2 (1936): 287-413.
24
Karen A. Derris, "Virtue and Relationships in a Theravdin Biography of the Bodhisatta: A Study of the
Sotahakmahnidna" (Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 2000), 3. See also Skilling, "Sambuddhe
verses," 161-4 and Richard Gombrich, "The Significance of Former Buddhas in the Theravdin tradition,"
in Buddhist Studies in Honour of Walpola Rahula, ed. Somaratna Balasuriya (London: Gordon Fraser,
1980), 62-72.
Three principal Pli texts that display this approach are the Mahsampiinidna, the
Sotahakmahnidna, and the Jinaklamlpakaraam. For the Mahsampiinidna, written in the 11th-
12th centuries in Sri Lanka, see N.A. Jayawickrama, The Sheaf of Garlands of the Epochs of the Conqueror:
Being a Translation of Jinaklamlpakaraam of Ratanapaa Thera of Thailand, Pali Text Society
Translation Series No. 36 (London: Luzac for the Pali Text Society, 1968), xix; H. Saddhtissa, "Pali
Literature in Cambodia," Journal of the Pali Text Society IX (1981): 181; H. Saddhtissa, Birth Stories of
the Ten Bodhisattas, 43-5; and Collins, "Brah Mleyyadevattheravatthu," 7, n. 1. For the
Sotahakmahnidna, written before the early 14th century in Sri Lanka, see Derris, "Virtue and
Relationships," 16-20. For the Jinaklamlppakaraam, composed near Chiang Mai in 1516-1527, see
Jayawickrama, Sheaf of Garlands, xxxii-iii and von Hinber, Handbook of Pli Literature, 197-8 428.
This interest is also witnessed in vernacular texts. Examples of these include the medieval Sihala
works the Saddharmlakraya (see Gombrich, "Significance of Former Buddhas" and Jayawickrama,
Sheaf of Garlands, xix) and the Saddharmaratnvaliya, and works in Burmese, Khn, and Lanna Thai (see
Skilling, "Sambuddhe verses,"164 for references).
Skilling and Derris argue that this is a manifestation of what Skilling has called a "'Theravdin
cult of the bodhisatta' which is an outstanding feature of South-East Asian Buddhism" (Skilling, "Jtaka
and Pasa-jtaka in South-East Asia," TMs [forthcoming]: 22). See also Derris, "Virtue and
Relationships," 7. This orientation is perhaps also attested by the vast number of individual jtakas and
collections of jtakas (especially the specifically Southeast Asian collection of fifty called the Pasa-
jtaka) that exist in both Pli and vernacular languages, as well as combinations of both. Collins also
 12

of "our" Buddha's life even earlier, in the lives of bodhisattas who preceded Sumedha.

The Jinamahnidna shows a strong emphasis on including only those figures most

immediately implicated in the passage to becoming the Buddha.25

suggests that greater literary attention may be paid to the bodhisatta than to the Buddha in describing the
Vessantarajtaka as "a story which is universally agreed to be at least as important in Southern Asian
Buddhism as the biography of the Buddha, perhaps more so" (Collins, Nirvana and other Buddhist
felicities, 42-3). See Skilling, "Jtaka and Pasa-jtaka in South-East Asia," 7 for discussion of the
many versions and literary forms of the Vessantarajtaka that exist in Thai and other vernaculars. The
jtakas and particularly the Vessantarajtaka (also known in Thailand as the Mahjti or Mahachat, "the
great birth") are also used extensively in rituals in Southeast Asia.
25
The four asakheyyas and the one-hundred-thousand kappas this passage takes is an unimaginably vast
sweep of time and, not surprisingly, different periods within this arc receive varying degrees of coverage.
The following synopsis will give the reader an idea of what the Jinamahnidna includes in its biography
of the Buddha. The text starts with a relatively extensive account (taking up fourteen pages of text) of
Sumedha's transition from Angst-driven youth to one who has received the prediction of future
buddhahood from the buddha Dpakara and been honored by the entire universe as a future buddha (Jmn
1-14). It then covers in thirteen pages the future Buddha's receiving the prediction of buddhahood from the
following twenty-three buddhas, a process that takes four incalculable ages and a hundred thousand eons
(Jmn 14-27). Then follows an outline of what was accomplished by the Buddha-to-be through that period,
namely, the cultivation of the ten perfections; and a brief account of the transitional events leading to the
birth of the one who will in this lifetime become the Buddha Gotama, the bodhisatta Siddhattha (Jmn 27-
37).
After this preliminary section, the Jinamahnidna's account of the biologically framed life of the
Buddha Gotama breaks down into two principal segments of notably unequal lengths with a brief
transitional passage. The first segment, taking up approximately one hundred and sixty pages of text or
nearly two-thirds of the whole work, recounts the events from his birth up to his receipt of the Jetavana
park, henceforth one of his two principal bases (Jmn 37-201). Within this section is extensive coverage of
the Buddha's youth, including his marriage and the birth of his son; his renunciation of household life; his
attaining enlightenment; his performing miracles and teaching, leading to the conversion of an ever-
growing number of followers and the establishment of the community of monks, or sagha; his subsequent
return to the city of his birth and conversion of his family members; and his gaining patronage and land
from King Bimbisra and the wealthy Anthapiika.
There follows a short transitional passage, of nine pages, which relates in briefest fashion the
Buddha's movements over the next forty-five years, listing years one through twenty in individual
abbreviated sentences (Jmn 201-10). The only episodes covered in any detail in this section, both
occurring in the fifth year, are the Buddha's ministering to his dying father (Jmn 201-6) and his
establishment of the order of nuns under his aunt and foster mother Mahpajpati Gotam (Jmn 206-9).
This section ends with the single-sentence statement that he spent the remaining twenty-five years of his
life dividing his time between his two principal monastic dwellings.
The final segment of the text, taking approximately eighty pages or nearly one-third of the whole
work, gives a detailed account of the Buddha's last ten months, ending with his death and funeral, and the
 13

2 The historical context

A The Jinamahnidna itself

The only known copies of the Jinamahnidna are nine manuscripts in the

Bangkok National Library, inscribed on palm-leaf in the Khom script (the standard script

used for Pli texts in pre-modern central Thailand).26 Two of the manuscripts were

copied during the First Reign of the Bangkok period (1782-1809), four in the Third Reign

(1824-51), the remaining three are undated.27 An edition was published based on these

manuscripts by the Fine Arts Department of the Bangkok National Library in 1987, and it

is this edition that has been used in this thesis.

The author, place and date of composition are unknown. However, the

Jinamahnidna's editors suggest that it was composed by a Thai scholar during the

Ayutthayan period (1351-1767), because the first manuscripts we have were copied

during the First Reign of the Bangkok period.28 Skilling concludes that, while we cannot

distribution of his remains (Jmn 210-91).

26
Jmn vii. Skilling and Santi Pakdeekham note that the Khom script, which is a cognate of the Khmer
script, was, "the main script for the recording of Pli texts in central Siam (including Sukhothai) from at
least the 14th century (the age of the oldest dated Pli record, the Wat Pa Mamuang inscription) until the
age of print" (Skilling and Santi, Pli Literature Transmitted in Central Siam, lv, n. 2). See also L. Finot,
"Recherches sur la litterature laotienne," Bulletin de l'Ecole Franaise d'Extrme-Orient XVII, 5 (1917):
10-29.
27
Jmn vii. See also Skilling's very useful review of the edition, Skilling, "Jinamahnidna," Buddhist
Studies Review 7, 1-2 (1990): 115.
28
Jmn i.
 14

know where it was composed, Ayutthaya is a good candidate.29

Supaphan na Bangchang, on the other hand, argues in her study of Pli literature

composed in Thailand that the Jinamahnidna may have been composed in Chiang Mai

in Lanna, Northern Thailand.30 She bases this conclusion on the comment found in the

colophon of one of the manuscripts: mulakkhar malnabhsss pana likkhit, which

she translates: "This text, the Jinamahnidna, (I) have written down from (the original)

in the malna language in the original letters."31

Supaphan cites as evidence for her hypothesis that the Jinamahnidna was

composed in Chiang Mai the use of the word malna in two Pli texts written in

Thailand, the Ratanabimbavamsa (composed in 1453) and the Sagtiyavamsa (in 1789),

and the opinion of the scholar Prasert Na Nakhon.32 From this evidence she concludes

29
Personal correspondence, January 2004.
30
Supaphan na Bangchang, Wiwathanakanwannakhadi bali say phra suttantabidok ti taeng nai prathet thai
[The Development of Pli Literature related to the Suttanta Piaka composed in Thailand: in Thai]
(Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press, 1990), 179-81.
31
Ibid., 179. I am grateful to Peter Skilling who kindly translated Supaphan's discussion of the
Jinamahnidna for me, including her translation of this phrase.
32
For the Ratanabimbavamsa, she simply concurs with the opinion of the text's translator, Pe Talalak, that
malna-pura (cited twice in the text) seems most likely to refer to Chiang Mai. She gives more detailed
evidence from the Sagtiyavamsa, which twice mentions malna-rja-padesa (ibid., 179-80). In both
contexts, she reports, it refers to a city that is not in Burma (Vam), Rmaadesa (Rmara), Khmer
territory (Kambuja), or Siam (Syma), which in the Sagtiyavamsa refers to Ayutthaya. She concludes
from this that in the Sagtiyavamsa malna-rja-padesa refers to "a state in Lanna," which could mean
Chiang Mai.
She also cites the opinion of Prasert Na Nakhon, who (in personal communication) suggested that
malna might derive from mn1. She reports him as theorizing that while mn1 generally refers to Burma,
it could here signify Chiang Mai, which was controlled by Burma from 1558. According to this hypothesis,
the language of Lanna could have come to be called malna because of the considerable influence of the
 15

that the term malnabhs refers to the language of Lanna. This would then imply that

mlakkhara, "the original letters," refers to the Lanna script. She therefore argues that

the Jinamahnidna was probably written on the basis of an original text written in the

language and script of Chiang Mai.33 She also suggests, building on Prasert's argument,

that the Jinamahnidna may have been composed around the sixteenth century.34

There are various counter-arguments that undermine Supaphan's hypotheses.

Above all, analysis of the text reveals that the Jinamahnidna shows such close

parallelism with what I will demonstrate in Chapter 1 are its Pli sources that it is simply

implausible to think it was not composed originally in Pli. From a historical

perspective, the comment in the colophon may relate only to the text's transcription, and

not its composition. In that case, it would give no information about the circumstances of

the text's composition. It is also suggestive that there is no evidence of the

Jinamahnidna from Lanna or anywhere else other than Bangkok.35

Burmese on the culture of Chiang Mai (ibid., 181).

33
Ibid.
34
She argues that if mn1 indeed refers to Chiang Mai and the Burmese influence came after Burma took
over in 1558, the Jinamahnidna would have to have been written after that date.
35
The following comments were made by Peter Skilling in personal conversation, Cambridge, MA, in May
2000. Skilling counters the suggestion that mn1 (if indeed malna derives from this term) refers to Chiang
Mai, stating that in Northern Thai chronicles it generally signifies the Burmese. He points out that mn1
could equally signify the Mon in Haripujaya (the Mon in Rmaadesa were listed separately in the
Sagtiyavamsa's list). Further, there is a long time-period between the composition of the
Ratanabimbavamsa in the fifteenth century and the Sagtiyavamsa in the late-eighteenth century. Skilling
suggests that, if malna were indeed used to refer to Chiang Mai, it would be reasonable to expect more
instances of such usage in texts composed between those two dates.
 16

Ultimately, it seems unlikely that we will be able to establish with any certainty

the significance of this comment. Until further evidence becomes available to the

contrary, it seems most reasonable to accept the conclusion of the Jinamahnidna's

editors and Skilling that the text was more than likely composed in Ayutthaya.

We know nothing about the Jinamahnidna's context of use. Unfortunately,

apart from the manuscripts, we have only one other trace of the Jinamahnidna in the

form of a reference to it in a Thai edition of the Pahamasambodhi.36 The history of the

Pahamasambodhi's composition and transmission is very complicated, and moreover

this edition does not make clear in which manuscripts this reference is found. It does not,

therefore, help us identify the text's provenance or dating. Nonetheless, it is at least

testimony that the Jinamahnidna was known and used at some point in its history.

B The Ayutthayan context

One of the most outstanding features of the kingdom of Ayutthaya is that it was,

from its earliest days, extremely cosmopolitan. There was a strong presence of Chinese

Aside from the fact that the comment in the colophon may relate only to the text's transcription,
Supaphan's dating of the Jinamahnidna rests on tenuous grounds. As it depends on malna deriving
from mn1 and the latter referring to Chiang Mai, if malna does not derive from mn1 or if it does, but the
latter does not connote Chiang Mai, then Supaphan's dating the text to the sixteenth century is rendered
invalid.
36
The Pahamasambodhi refers to Vessantara's completing the thirty perfections, then adds ayan tu
vitthro Jinamahnidne, "... but the complete version of this is in the Jinamahnidna"
(Pahamasambodhi Pariccheda 1-7, ed. Surapol Jotia [Bangkok: Amarin Printing and Publishing,
1999], 116). I am grateful to Peter Skilling for drawing this reference to my attention.
 17

traders in the region from well before the thirteenth century.37 There was also extensive

contact with Persian merchants from as early as 1351.38 This contact continued long into

the Ayutthayan period.39 Ayutthaya was also visited by Portuguese, Dutch, English, and

French merchants and missionaries during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and

diplomats in the seventeenth century.40 It also had protracted contact with the Danish

from the seventeenth century.41 Gedney conveys some of Ayutthaya's glory in his

comment that "foreigners who came to Ayutthaya found a capital city more spacious,

more wealthy, more populous than Paris or London."42

Charnvit, David Wyatt, and others have argued that the Ayutthayan kingdom was

37
See Charnvit Kasetsiri, The Rise of Ayudhya: A History of Siam in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Centuries, East Asian Historical Monographs (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1976), 67-8.
38
Ibid., 8.
39
For example, a diplomatic mission was sent by Shah Sulaimn the Safavid (1666-94) to King Narai in
1685. A secretary of the mission wrote an account of the trip (published in "The Ship of Sulaimn"),
which mentions the presence of Persians wherever they went in Ayutthaya (David K. Wyatt, "A Persian
Mission to Siam in the Reign of King Narai," review of The Ship of Sulaimn, by ibn Muammad Ibrhm,
translated from the Persian by John O'Kane, Journal of the Siam Society 62, no. 1 [January 1974]: 154).
40
See Charnvit, Rise of Ayudhya, 8 and Dhani Nivat, "Early Trade Relations between Denmark and Siam,"
in Collected Articles by H.H. Prince Dhani Nivat: Reprinted from the Journal of the Siam Society
(Bangkok: The Siam Society, 1969): 35. Charnvit reports that "King Narai exchanged diplomatic missions
with Louis XIV of France and eventually allowed the French to set up a military fort on Thai soil"
(Charnvit, Rise of Ayudhya, 8).
41
Dhani Nivat, "Early Trade Relations," 35.
42
William Gedney, "Patrons and Practitioners: The Chakri Monarchs and Literature," in William J.
Gedney's Thai and Indic Literary Studies, ed. Thomas John Hudak, Michigan Papers on South and
Southeast Asia, no. 46 (Ann Arbor: Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan,
1997), 143.
 18

highly centralized.43 As we have just seen, it was also politically vibrant and remarkably

cosmopolitan. Steven Collins has argued that textual production in Pli is closely linked

with centralizing political regimes in Southeast Asia.44 He explains that Pli literature

(here in the sense of kabya/kvya, but also applying in the more general sense) was a

"luxury good," valuable to kings in part because the capacity to enjoy and create it

"required arduous training and separation from the economically everyday."45 As such,

Pli texts were "prestige objects" that offered kings "symbolic capital," which

contributed to their prestige and thus supported their political claims.46 By this argument,

Ayutthaya would seem to be an ideal context for the production of a text like the

Jinamahnidna that is nothing if not self-consciously scholarlyprestigious within the

range of other prestigious texts.

Beyond its cosmopolitanism, our knowledge of the Ayutthayan period is

drastically limited by the destruction of records caused by the sacking and burning of the

city of Ayutthaya by the Burmese in 1767. Wyatt has commented of this lack:

"There is not very much historical evidence remaining of Siam before the terrible
calamities that overtook the kingdom in 1767 .... Few are the manuscripts that

43
See Charnvit, Rise of Ayudhya, 93 ff. and A.B. Griswold, "The Historian's Debt to King Mongkut," in
His Majesty King Rama the Fourth Mongkut (Bangkok: Mahamakutarajavidyalaya, 1968), 61. See Wyatt's
discussion of educational centralization considered below.
44
See Steven Collins, "What is Literature in Pali?," in Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from
South Asia, ed. Sheldon Pollock (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 681-4.
45
Ibid., 683.
46
Ibid., 682-3.
 19

survived the conflagration, and even those who attempted to recover Ayutthaya's
traditions were hard-pressed to find manuscripts when they began looking for
them as early as the 1770s and 1780s."47

We consequently have very little knowledge of Ayutthaya's literary history. We

can, however, reconstruct that there was a highly centralized and organized monastic

system of scholarship from early in the period. In a study of the educational levels of

monks during the Ayutthayan period, Wyatt reports that a law promulgated in 1454

shows that educated monks and novices were awarded ranks above those who were not

educated.48 He concludes from this:

"(W)e can infer that some sort of religious examinations were in existence from
the reign of King Borommatrailokanat [1448-1488]; and we know for certain that
they were held in the reign of King Narai [1656-1688]. The importance of this
lies in the fact that if there were such examinations at any time, then undoubtedly
some monks and novices came from the provinces to the capital in order to study
with learned monks teaching in the Royal Monasteries under Royal Patronage."49

This is just the type of literary culture that could create, support, and valorize the type of

highly erudite textual production we find exemplified in the Jinamahnidna.

47
Wyatt, introduction to Chronicle of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya: The British Museum Version: Preserved
in the British Library, Bibliotheca Codicum Asiaticorum 14 (Japan: The Centre for East Asian Cultural
Studies for Unesco, The Toyo Bunko, 1999), ix.
48
Wyatt, "The Buddhist Monkhood as an Avenue of Social Mobility in Traditional Thai Society," in
Studies in Thai History: Collected Articles (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1994), 211.
49
Ibid.
 20

C The Bangkok context

While we may have very little documentary evidence from the Ayutthayan period

itself, a valuable source of information about what Ayutthaya might have been like, at

least toward the end of the period, comes from the actions of the early Chakri kings of the

Bangkok dynasty, and particularly the first, Rma I. Historians have shown that Rma I

went to great lengths to reproduce the physical, socio-cultural, and religious conditions of

Ayutthaya in the city of Bangkok, which he founded.50 This work was continued by his

successors.

Among the earliest acts of Rma I's reign were a series of measures that stressed

the importance of scholarship to the Buddhist monastic community.51 Wyatt reports that

50
Thomas Hudak says of this attempt: "After the Burmese destruction of Ayutthaya, Rama I sought to
construct Bangkok in the image of Ayutthaya in moral, legal, and artistic terms. With these goals, he
established commissions to research and then to implement the ancient ceremonies of Ayutthaya; his own
coronation and cremation were based on similar ceremonies held in Ayutthaya" (Thomas John Hudak, The
Indigenization of Pali Meters in Thai Poetry, Ohio University, Monographs in International Studies,
Southeast Asia Series, no. 87 [Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Center for International Studies, 1990], 19-
20). He also physically built the city of Bangkok in the image of the former city of Ayutthaya. See also
Wyatt, "The 'Subtle Revolution' of King Rama I of Siam," in Studies in Thai History, 131-174; Klaus
Wenk, The Restoration of Thailand under Rama I 1782-1809, transl. from the German by Greeley Stahl,
Association for Asian Studies: Monographs and Papers, ed. Paul Wheatley, no. 24 (Tucson: Association for
Asian Studies and University of Arizona Press, 1968); and Dhani Nivat, "The Reconstruction of Rama I of
the Chakri Dynasty," in Collected Articles by H.H. Prince Dhani Nivat, 145-168.
51
Craig Reynolds brings out an important aspect of Rma I's interest in monastic scholarship, in arguing
that it was part of his consolidation of his own political power. As he puts it, "(T)he surge of textual
compilation and revision" during his reign was "a part of the political process, a stage in the growth of
Rama I's hold on the affairs of state" (Craig J. Reynolds, "Religious Historical Writing and the
Legitimation of the First Bangkok Reign," Perceptions of the Past in Southeast Asia, ed. Anthony Reid and
David Marr, Asian Studies Association of Australia, Southeast Asia Publications Series [Singapore:
Heinemann Educational Books (Asia), 1979], 90).
 21

"in the Ecclesiastical Laws of the first few months of his reign, King Rama I repeatedly

... indicated the significance of scriptural scholarship and textual study to proper monastic

life."52 He also informs us that, early in his reign, Rma I began "commissioning copies

of the Tipitaka for use in monastic scholarship, and even ... sought to obtain copies of the

Pali texts in other Southeast Asian scripts."53 This process reached its culmination in

1788, when he convened a Sagha council for a full revision of the entire canon.54

Saddhtissa describes the four copies of the Tipiaka known to have been made on the

orders of Rma I (not including the first, apparently faulty version created in the first year

of his reign).55

Wyatt argues that Rma I viewed his new polity as being in a state of moral crisis,

a state that he believed predated his reign and had in fact brought about the downfall of

Ayutthaya.56 In these measures to reinforce the place of scholarship in monastic life, he

can be seen as trying to return the state of the monastic community to what it was before

the onset of this moral crisis.

52
Wyatt, "Subtle Revolution," 149.
53
Ibid., 153.
54
Ibid., 153-4. See also Wenk, Restoration of Thailand, 40-1. For a detailed discussion of this process, see
H. Saddhtissa, "The Dawn of Pli Literature in Thailand," in Malalasekera Commemoration Volume, ed.
Oliver Hector de Alwis Wijesekera (Colombo: Malalasekera Commemoration Volume Editorial
Committee, 1976), 319-20.
55
Ibid. Saddhtissa further suggests: "It may justifiably be assumed that, beside these 'Royal Editions',
many Pali MSS. (sic) were copied by order of the king and presented to various monasteries" (ibid., 320).
56
See Wyatt, "Subtle Revolution," 146.
 22

It is a well-recognized pattern within the Theravda for kings to emphasize the

importance of scholarship and take measures to promote it in times of perceived crisis.

So we could see Rma I as simply following this larger historical pattern. However,

Wyatt's argument about the educational levels of monks during the Ayutthayan period

suggests that Rma I's apparent perception of the earlier Ayutthayan monastic

community as displaying an intense engagement with textual scholarship may have been

accurate. Rma I's actions may therefore amount to evidence for the prevalence during

the Ayutthayan period (or at least part of it) of the type of literary culture that would be

particularly conducive to the production and maintenance of a text such as the

Jinamahnidna.57

On the other hand, the emphasis on scholarship during his reigncontinued in

those of his successors58suggests that the early Bangkok period was a time particularly

suited to preserving the Jinamahnidna. Precisely the type of institution that would be

helpful to a model reader of the Jinamahnidna, interested in how the text relates to its

57
Hallisey has stressed the importance of paying attention, not simply to the factors that bring about the
creation of a text, but also to those factors that ensure a text is maintained in existence. See "Roads Taken
and Not Taken," 51.
58
For example, Saddhtissa reports that Rma IIIduring whose reign four of the Jinamahnidna
manuscripts were copied"was responsible for seven different editions [of the Tipiaka], the exact dates of
which are not known and some of them were still unfinished at the time of his demise" (Saddhtissa, "The
Dawn of Pali Literature in Thailand," 321). See also Walter F. Vella, Siam under Rama III 1824-1851,
Monographs of the Association for Asian Studies, IV (Locust Valley, NY: J.J. Augustin for the Association
for Asian Studies, 1957), 34-5, 39-41. See also Wyatt, Thailand: A Short History (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1984), 176-7.
 23

sources, was provided in association with the creation of the new recension of the tipiaka

in 1788. Gedney reports that when it was finished,

"(A)n ornate copy bound in gold was deposited in a specially constructed library
building inlaid with mother-of-pearl on the grounds of the Temple of the Emerald
Buddha, and another building was constructed for the safekeeping of teaching and
reference copies, with resident scholars to instruct monks and officials."59

We cannot be sure without further evidence of the extent to which that the second,

"reference" library played more than a symbolic role and was actually used in the ways

suggested. Even so, it is significant for the Jinamahnidna that this conception of how

Pli texts could and should be used was prevalent at the time the manuscripts were

copied. It gives us an idea of one end of the spectrum of contemporary attitudes towards

how Pli texts are to be engaged.

3 The context of the literary culture: Innovation within conservatism

The Theravda Buddhist tradition is widely considered by both modern scholars

and members of the tradition itself to be literarily very conservative. The tradition prides

itself on adhering closely to its closed canon of Pli texts, confirmed by the elders of long

ago as the authentic heritage of the Buddha. Yet this has not prevented the Theravda

from producing large numbers of texts in Pli (as well as vernacular languages)

59
William Gedney, "Patrons and Practitioners," 129.
 24

throughout the centuries between the closing of the canon and the modern period.60

It might seem that the high value placed by the tradition on texts' historical status

would stultify and constrain later Theravdin writers wanting to create new texts, limiting

their possibilities of expression. However, when looked at from another angle, this

literary conservatism can be seen rather to encourage later writers to be creative in

finding ways to produce new texts that could yet be valorized by the tradition. Hence, it

was partly through the constraints imposed by the community's literary values that a wide

range of methods of textual production was developed which has resulted in a rich and

diverse body of Pli texts.61

The later Pli texts produced in this vein demonstrate varying types of

relationship to the earlier texts. They may, for example, purport to explain or draw out

meaning that was inherent in an authorized text, either by explicitly providing a sub-

60
In the introduction to his edition of the Sagtiyavamsa, Hallisey states that among the last texts
composed in Pli are the Sagtiyavamsa in 1789, and the Ssanavamsa and the Ssanavamsadpa in the
1860's (Hallisey, introduction to Sagtiyavamsa, edition and translation, TMs [forthcoming], 1). He notes
that though the Mahvamsa has been updated since the nineteenth century, these updates have generally
been in Sihala. Steven Collins, "What is Literature in Pali?," 679 cites works written in Pli until 1924.
61
This type of interpretive approach is beginning to gain the recognition it demands in the field of
Theravda Buddhist Studies by scholars such as Charles Hallisey, Anne Blackburn, and Karen Derris. See,
for example, Hallisey, "Roads Taken and Not Taken," 38-44; Anne M. Blackburn, "Looking for the
Vinaya: Monastic Discipline in the Practical Canons of the Theravda," Journal of the International
Association of Buddhist Studies 22, no. 2 (1999): 281-309; and Blackburn, Buddhist Learning and Textual
Practice in Eighteenth-century Lankan Monastic Culture, Buddhisms (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2001). Derris explores dynamics by which intertextual relationships between Pli texts allow for
innovation in Derris, "Virtue and Relationships," 127ff. and Derris, "A Narrative Practical Canon: The
Collection of Pre-Sumedha Stories in Pali Texts" (paper presented at the national meeting of the
Association for Asian Studies, Washington, DC, April 5, 2002), TMs.
 25

commentary on the text,62 or by claiming to draw out the essence of the original work in a

new creation.63 Alternatively, they may claim to condense the contents of larger works or

bodies of works into shorter, more accessible form.64 Another route that became

increasingly popular throughout the Theravda world after about the 12th century was the

creation of anthologies from segments of text taken from works already valorized by the

tradition.65

An element shared by many of these different textual types is the incorporation

within the body of the text of material culled from older sources, to varying degrees. Yet

this is not a late literary device occurring only in the production of texts that post-date the

closing of the canon. It has a long history within the tradition, forming a vital element in

62
An example of this approach is found in the Atthaslinmlak, a sub-commentary on the Atthaslin,
the commentary on the Dhammasaga (the first book of the Abhidhammapiaka). Something of the later
text's claims in regard to the text it comments on is nicely demonstrated by its alternative title, the
Lnatthajotik or "Illustrator of the Hidden Meaning." See von Hinber, A Handbook of Pli Literature,
166 356. This text was written by nanda between the 5th and 7th centuries in India (ibid., 170-1 368-
70).
63
The second option is almost paradigmatically exemplified by the Magalatthadpan or Magaladpan,
an enormous work that claims to draw out the meaning to be found in the eleven verses of the Magala
Sutta from the canonical Khuddakapha. See von Hinber, A Handbook of Pli Literature, 179 389.
The importance of this text, written by Sirimagala in 1524 in Chieng Mai, Thailand is reflected by
Cds's evaluation that, "Avec la Dhammapadahakath et le Sratthasangaha, il constitue le fonds de la
culture plie des bonzes siamois et cambodgiens" (G. Cds, "Note sur les Ouvrages Palis Composs en
Pays Thai," Bulletin de l'Ecole Franaise d'Extrme-Orient Tome XV, no. 3 [1915]: 40).
64
A well-known example of this type of text would be the Abhidhammatthasagaha (composed in Burma
in the 10th or 11th century) which attempts to give a short but comprehensive survey of the entire
Abhidhamma. See von Hinber, Handbook of Pli Literature, 161-2 344.
65
See von Hinber, Handbook of Pli Literature, 177 383. An important example of this genre is the
Srasagaha ("The Collection of the Essence"), written in Sri Lanka after 1200. This encyclopedic
anthology was created to serve as a handbook for monks, and contains extensive quotations from both
canonical texts and their commentaries (ibid., 177 384).
 26

the production of even the oldest strata of canonical texts.66 Hence, we see an intriguing

combination of long-established literary practices being put to the service of new textual

production.

Hallisey further suggests that the creation of composite works may have a

particular place in Thailand's literary history: "Creating new works out of quotations

from other works seems to have had a special prominence in Thailand as a method of

textual production that went beyond the normal processes of anthology formation found

66
This has been shown by scholars such as Andre Bareau, Erich Frauwallner, Etienne Lamotte, Ernst
Waldschmidt, and others. For relevant examples of their individual works see: Andre Bareau, Recherches
sur la biographie du Buddha dans les Strapiaka et les Vinayapiaka anciens: de la quete de l'eveil a` la
conversion de riputra et de Maudgalyyana (Paris: Ecole Franaise d'Extreme-Orient, 1963); Bareau,
Recherches sur la biographie du Buddha dans les Strapiaka et les Vinayapiaka anciens: II. Les derniers
mois, le parinirva et les funerailles, 2 volumes (Paris: Ecole Franaise d'Extreme-Orient, 1970-1); and
Bareau, "La Composition et les Etapes de Formation Progressive du Mahparinirvastra ancien,"
Bulletin de l'Ecole Franaise d'Extreme-Orient LXVI (1979): 45-103; Erich Frauwallner, The Earliest
Vinaya and the Beginnings of Buddhist Literature, Serie Orientale Roma, vol. VIII (Rome: Istituto Italiano
per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1956); Etienne Lamotte, "La legende du Buddha," Revue de l'Histoire
des Religions 134 (1948): 37-71; and Lamotte, Histoire du bouddhisme indien des origines a` l'e`re aka,
Bibliothe`que du Museon, vol. 43 (Louvain: Publications Universitaires and Institut Orientaliste, 1958);
Ernst Waldschmidt, Die U$berlieferung vom Lebensende des Buddha: Eine vergleichende Analayse des
Mahparinirvastra und seiner Textentsprechungen, 2 vols., Abhandlungen der Akademie der
Wissenschaften in Gottingen. Philologisch-historische Klasse. Dritte Folge, vol. 29-30 (Gttingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1944-8). More recently, scholars such as Lambert Schmithausen, Tillman
Vetter, and Oskar von Hinuber have traced the development of some of the oldest Pli texts through what
they see as processes of accretion, whereby the texts came to have the forms with which we now know
them through the successive accumulation of material, some of which is taken from other texts. For a
synopsis of Schmithausen's approach, see L. Schmithausen, preface to "Part I: Earliest Buddhism," in
Earliest Buddhism and Madhyamaka, Panels of the VIIth World Sanskrit Conference, Kern Institute,
Leiden, August 23-29, 1987, ed. Johannes Bronkhorst, vol. II, ed. David Seyfort Ruegg and Lambert
Schmithausen (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990), 1-3. See Tillman Vetter, "Some remarks on older parts of the
Suttanipta," in Earliest Buddhism and Madhyamaka, 36-56, and von Hinuber, "Linguistic Observations
on the Structure of the Pli Canon," in Selected Papers on Pli Studies (Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1994),
62-75.
 27

throughout the Theravdin world."67 As evidence of this, he cites the

Magalatthadpan, the Pahamasambodhikath, and the Jinamahnidna.68 He notes

that there is even "a type of author known in Thai as a ruab ruam, someone who collects

and presents ... a compiler."69 However, he adds that this method was not used

exclusively in Thailand, as is evidenced by works like the Suttasagaha and

Srasagaha known throughout the Theravdin world, which were produced in the same

way.70

The Jinamahnidna signally embodies this complex entanglement of old and

new, in an intense and lively interaction with its predecessors. Its form reveals maximal

use of this technique in that the entire text is created through the compilation of material

from older sources. Its sources are amongst the most orthodox the tradition can offer,

being almost entirely canonical or commentaries on canonical texts. Moreover, the way

it frames those sources gives it a very orthodox, conservative tone. That is, it does not

come up with a novel schema (as does the Magaladpan, for example) and arrange its

material around that, but rather structures its account to a considerable extent around the

Jtaka-nidnakath and Mahparinibbnasutta and arranges its material accordingly.

67
Hallisey, introduction to the Sagtiyavamsa, 16.
68
Ibid.
69
Ibid., 15.
70
Ibid.
 28

Yet, as we have seen, the Jinamahnidna is relatively unusual in being a biographical

account of the Buddha's life that is not attached to or part of another text. Overall, it is

striking how conservative the Jinamahnidna is able to appear while in fact being a

novel form of biography.

4 The Jinamahnidna as an "anthology"?

The Jinamahnidna has been called an anthology by Oskar von Hinuber71 and

by Peter Skilling in his useful review of the published edition of the text.72 It is easy to

see why it should get such an appellation, since it is almost entirely made up of sections

of text taken from earlier works. However, this term does not perhaps best represent the

nature of the Jinamahnidna.

It is beyond the scope of this thesis to take up at any length the question of the

exact nature of an anthology.73 For our purposes, I will simply propose that the

Jinamahnidna may be better defined a composite text. The term "anthology" suggests

a greater emphasis in a work on collecting relevant pieces of text and bringing them

71
See von Hinber, Handbook of Pli Literature, 180 391 and 392. von Hinber includes the
Jinamahnidna within his chapter on anthologies, which he describes as "collections of texts assembled
for practical purposes" (ibid., 177 383). In this chapter von Hinber includes the Srasagaha, the
Upsakajanlakra, the Magalatthadpan and then what he acknowledges to be "[a] different type of
anthology" (ibid., 180 391) in the form of "texts describing the life of the Buddha": the
Pahamasambodhi and the Jinamahnidna.
72
Skilling, "Jinamahnidna," 115.
73
See Paul J. Griffiths, Religious Reading: The Place of Reading in the Practice of Religion (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1999), 97-104 for a discussion of the nature of anthologies, and his following
chapter (ibid., 109-148) for a discussion of "Commentary and Anthology in Buddhist India."
 29

together in one place. This seems to be the sense in which Skilling is using it, as he

describes the nature of the Jinamahnidna in the following way: "It is essentially an

anthology: the unknown but erudite author has culled material relating to the career of the

Bodhisatta/Buddha from a wide range of sources - canonical and post-canonical, prose

and verse - and arranged it into a well-ordered chronological account."74 The

Jinamahnidna certainly combines portions of text taken from elsewhere, but it seems

to do so more with the purpose of creating a coherent, narrative account of the Buddha's

life, than a collection of all relevant data concerning that life. In fact, I will argue that the

Jinamahnidna goes to great lengths to ensure it will be perceived as an integrated and

coherent narrative.

Commenting on von Hinber's assessment of the Sagtiyavamsa that it,

"contains hardly anything original,"75 Hallisey notes that "this is not to say that the work

itself is not highly original in its cumulative effects."76 This is entirely true of the

Jinamahnidna also.77 As I argued above, the Jinamahnidna should not be

considered an anthology so much as a coherent, composite text which is distinctly

74
Skilling, "Jinamahnidna," 115.
75
von Hinber, Handbook of Pli Literature, 97 199.
76
Hallisey, introduction to the Sagtiyavamsa, 15.
77
Peter Skilling also argues that the value of the Jinamahnidna is not undermined by the relative paucity
of original material, as he says: "Although it contains little material that is original, this by no means
detracts from its value or interest. It has the merit of bringing a wide range of sources together under a
single cover, and as such seems to be unique since it is the only Pali life of the Buddha that I know of that
treats the subject in this manner" (Skilling, "Jinamahnidna," 117).
 30

original in its presentation of the Buddha's life-story.

5 Overview of the Jinamahnidna's composition and use of sources

The principal techniques used in the Jinamahnidna's composition involve the

weaving together of material from multiple sources. This basic strategy is applied at

various levels in the text. At the highest level, the two lengthiest segments of the

Jinamahnidna are grossly structured around an overarching narrative framework

created from material taken from one principal work. 78 For the first segment, this text is

the Jtaka-nidnakath; for the second, it is the Mahparinibbnasutta. Into this

narrative framework is then interpolated material taken from other works, and sometimes

material that appears to be original.79 The length of the interpolated sections may vary

from very short to quite long. At the lower level, individual paragraphs, sentences or

very often just phrases from a different text are interpolated into slightly larger sections

of material.

There is considerable variety through the text on how much material in any one

78
For the sake of clarity, I use the term "segment" exclusively to refer to these two largest portions of the
text. The first segment begins after the account of the bodhisatta under the twenty-four previous buddhas
(Jmn 27) and continues until the receipt of the Jetavana grove (Jmn 201). The second follows after the
summary account of the Buddha's forty-five years of teaching and recounts the Buddha's final ten months
(Jmn 210-291).
79
Whenever I suggest in this thesis that a portion of material in the Jinamahnidna may be "original,"
this suggestion should be interpreted as necessarily tentative and provisional. It is intended to signify that I
have found no other text that attests material having that form and it seems reasonable to suppose that it
was composed specifically for the Jinamahnidna. Not having found another text attesting it is by no
means proof that such a text does not or did not in fact exist.
 31

section is taken from the structuring text and how much from other texts incorporated

within it. In the first segment, for example, in a few places the Jinamahnidna follows

the Jtaka-nidnakath's account very closely for many pages and includes little other

material. Sometimes these pages follow the Jtaka-nidnakath verbatim; sometimes

they work with and around its version, interspersing its sentences with phrases or

sentences not found elsewhere. Other sections contain much material from many texts

and the Jtaka-nidnakath's structuring function is easy to lose sight of, witnessed only

by introductory and concluding sentences between the diverging portions. Then again, at

several points in the narrative, sizeable sections are covered entirely by material from

another text, and the Jtaka-nidnakath's voice is not heard for a long time.80

In most of the Jinamahnidna the material from the framing text is augmented

by material from a plurality of other sources. However, in a few parts of the text,

interpolated material will consistently be from one other text, giving the impression of a

duet: main framing voice plus one other intervening voice.81 The clearest example of this

dynamic is found in the second segment of the Jinamahnidna. This segment is framed

by the account of this period from the Mahparinibbnasutta and considerably

80
It is important to bear in mind that we should not view material in the Jinamahnidna that comes from
what I am calling the "structuring texts" as in any way more important within the Jinamahnidna's telling
than material taken from elsewhere or indeed original to it. Material from all sources should be viewed as
enjoying equal status within the Jinamahnidna.
81
It should be noted that this "duet" effect is apparent only when comparing the Jinamahnidna with its
sources.
 32

augmented by material from its commentary in the Sumagalavilsin. Relative to the

rest of the work, there are few inclusions within this segment of material from other texts,

and there are long stretches where no voice is heard other than those of these two

principal texts.82

The Jinamahnidna is extremely conservative in its choice of sources. There is

a small amount of material that the footnotes identify as from unpublished manuscripts

held in the National Library entitled the Buddhacarita83 and the Pahamasambodhi-

kath.84 As far as I have been able to identify, or the editors' footnotes indicate, the

remainder of the material comes strictly from canonical texts, commentaries on canonical

82
I provide here a synopsis of the inclusions found within this part of the text, in order to give the reader, in
as condensed a way as possible, a picture of the Jinamahnidna as a composite text and an idea of the
range of texts it draws from. The following synopsis makes for a long list and may seem to contradict the
argument I am making in this section. However, when distributed over eighty pages, these individual
instances appear much less than when listed together.
These inclusions are: p. 216, a paragraph from the Dhammapadahakath plus approximately a
page of material from a source I have been unable to identify (henceforth "unidentified"); pp. 227-8, a
brief section from the Buddhpadnasamvaan of the Visuddhajanavilsin (the commentary on the
Apadna); pp. 247-9, a short Jtaka (unnamed, but in fact the Palsajtaka); p. 251, a short passage from
the Mahsudassanasutta of the Dghanikya; pp. 252-6, twenty-two verses from various sources: two from
the Dhammapadahakath, two from the Visuddhimagga, the rest unidentified; pp. 261-2, approximately
half a page from the Dhammapadahakath; pp. 266-7, a page and a half of material found jointly in the
Aguttaranikya, elsewhere in the Dghanikya, and the Vibhaga, plus the commentary on the Vibhaga;
pp. 267-8, a brief section consisting of a paragraph of prose and five verses from the Itivuttaka, three verses
from the Madhuratthavilsin (the commentary on the Buddhavamsa), plus two unidentified verses; p. 272,
two verses from the Samyuttanikya plus ten unidentified verses; and pp. 290-1, the final thirteen verses
from the Buddhavamsa.
83
Jmn 75, 87, 88, 89, 91.
84
Jmn 77, 79, 114.
 33

texts, and a small amount from the Visuddhimagga.85

The Jinamahnidna includes noticeably more citations to its sources than do the

sources themselves.86 On one occasion it adds a citation into material taken from the

Jtaka-nidnakath, where the latter did not have one.87 The variability in how often

composite texts cite their sources is highlighted by the complete absence of citations from

85
Jmn 118, 119, 253.
86
The following comparison is based on the segment of the Jinamahnidna (pp. 1-201) that covers the
period of the Buddha's life relevant for the accounts found in the Jtaka-nidnakath, Madhuratthavilsin,
Visuddhajanavilsin, Cariypiakahakath, Dhammapadahakath and Atthaslin. This section is
examined in particular detail because its multiple sources offer a wider basis for comparison. In each case,
I list the source in the form in which it appears in the quoting work, to show the manner in which texts are
cited. For the Jinamahnidna's citations alone, the texts are listed in alphabetical order (following the
order of the Pli alphabet) because of the occasional multiplicity of page references; in all other cases, the
order is sequential within the text.
Jinamahnidna: Aguttaranikye Ekanipte (98); Aguttaranikye Pacakanipte (71); Anattasuttam
(110); Cariypiake (30); Dhammapadagth (96); Pikavaggadghanikye Lakkhaasutte (47);
Ptimokkhagth (148); Buddhavamse (1, 109, 148, 154); Buddhavamsanidne (100, 170, 171);
Buddhavamsavaanyam (68); Mahpahnappakaraam (94); Mahpadnasuttavaanyam (38,
65, 200).
Jtaka-nidnakath: Buddhavamse (2, 3, 28); Ahakathyam [referring to the old Jtaka commentary that
preceded the current version, see von Hinber, Handbook, 131 261] (44); Mahpadne (59);
Jtakahakathya (63); Dhammapade Buddhavagge (79).
Visuddhajanavilsin: Buddhavamse (31); Vinaye (53); Mahpadne (63); Jtakahakathyam (67);
Dhammapade Buddhavagge (84).
Madhuratthavilsin: Mahpandasutte (279). This occurs at the parallel point to the Jtaka-nidnakath
and Visuddhajanavilsin's Mahpadne, so may need to be emended accordingly.
Cariypiakahakath: Buddhavamse (6).
Atthaslin: Buddhavamse; Ahakathyam (page references not available, as the Pali Text Society edition
here refers the reader to the drenidna of the Jtaka-nidnakath, which it claims the Atthaslin here
recapitulates.)
Dhammapadahakath: none.
The textual references in the Jinamahnidna's last section (201-291), generally accord with what is found
in the sources. It here cites: Khandhato [this refers to the Vinaya's Khandhaka] (278, 279);
Mahsudassanasuttam (251); and (Samanta)pahnam (261).
87
Jmn 65. Cf. Ja I 65; also Bv-a 284 and Ap-a 70, neither of which includes the citation.
 34

another such text, the Sotahakmahnidna, despite its inclusion of material from a

plurality of sources.88 The manner in which the Jinamahnidna cites its source varies

from stating just the name of the text, to specifying in more detail where within the work

the material is to be found.89

6 How can we best approach reading the Jinamahnidna?

Reading the Jinamahnidna poses certain difficulties, but at the same time

perhaps offers the reader a productive challenge. The difficulties and challenge arise

from the fact that, as Pollock has rightly stressed, knowledge of "the understanding of

literatures in their places of origin" is crucial to understanding those literatures.90 It is, of

course, equally crucial to understanding the individual texts that make up those

literatures. The importance of an awareness of "the understanding of literatures in their

places of origin" derives from the fact that, as he goes on to say, "the literary needs to be

understood as a historically situated practice."91

A text is necessarily informed by the particular textual practices of the socio-

historical context from which it emerges, and theseas we are coming to understand for

88
See Derris, "Virtue and Relationships," 8.
89
For example, each time it cites the Buddhavamsa, it introduces it: tena vuttam bhagavat Buddhavamse,
"because it was said by the Lord in the Buddhavamsa." An example of a more precise citation is vuttam
h'etam bhagavat Pikavaggadghanikye Lakkhaasutte, "For this was said by the Lord in the
Lakkhaasutta in the Dghanikya's Pikavagga" (Jmn 47).
90
Sheldon Pollock, introduction to Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, 2.
91
Ibid., 18.
 35

Theravda Buddhismvaried by place as well as by time. However, we have essentially

no concrete information about the context of the Jinamahnidna's productionwhere it

was composed, when, or by whom.

In the case of the Jinamahnidna, we have not been helped in our endeavor by

some of the scholarly tendencies historically deployed in the field. The tendency of

modern scholars of Buddhist texts has been to focus on the earliest texts, because of a

historicist interest in origins.92 This has resulted in a heavy emphasis on studying the

texts of the Pli canon. The corollary of this emphasis has been the neglect of later

Buddhist texts in both Pli and vernacular languages, many of which remain unstudied.93

At the same time, it has now been shown that the focus on "the canon" and

scholars' unquestioning acceptance of what that canon represented has often obscured

from scholarly view the lived realities of Buddhists in different times and places. Steven

92
For an examination of these tendencies, see Hallisey, "Roads Taken and Not Taken," 38-44. Hallisey
shows in this article that this focus on the earliest can be traced, not only to modern Western scholarly
interests, but also to what he has identified as "a productive 'elective affinity' between the positivist
historiography of European Orientalism and Buddhist styles of self-representation" (ibid., 42.). He points
out that: "Theravada Buddhists themselves subscribed, at least at times, to a similar 'metaphysics of
origins.' This conception of tradition, historicist in its own way, provided the ideological context for the
most common genres in Theravdin literature (commentaries, translations, and anthologies), all of which
tended to claim authority and purpose from other texts, usually those known by the generic name 'Pli.' In
this view, commentaries and translations were not the record of evolving interpretation over the centuries;
instead they were signposts in the present to recover accurately the meaning that had already been
promulgated in the past. They were instrumentally valuable, but were without interest in their own right"
(ibid.).
93
See K.R. Norman, "The present state of Pli studies, and future tasks," in Collected Papers VI (Oxford:
Pali Text Society, 1996), 80-3.
 36

Collins and Anne Blackburn in particular have brought this to our attention.94 They

encourage us instead to pay attention to the texts that Buddhists have historically used,

and to the particular ways in which Buddhists would actually have encountered and

interacted with texts in particular historical situations. Such attention reveals that

Buddhist textual practices have differed according to their specific historical and

geographical contexts.

The neglect of later, and particularly Southeast Asian Buddhist texts, coupled

with the non-recognition that Theravda Buddhists' textual practices have varied in

different places and times, means that we have not yet developed sufficient knowledge of

the particular understandings of their literature held by Buddhists in those different times

and places. Knowledge of those understandings and of the particular textual practices

related to them would provide us with interpretive tools that would help us in our study of

these neglected texts.

These lacks in our current scholarly apparatus are only exacerbated in the case of

the Jinamahnidna by the fact that we know, in any case, virtually nothing about the

context of its origin. This, however, constitutes part of the challenge I referred to above.

In the absence of extra-textual evidence that might help us interpret the Jinamahnidna,

we are thrown back on the text and forced to try to identify from the text itself means by

94
See Steven Collins, "On the Very Idea of the Pali Canon," Journal of the Pali Text Society 15 (1990):
89-126; Blackburn, "Looking for the Vinaya" and Blackburn, Buddhist Learning and Textual Practice.
 37

which we can interpret it in a historically responsible way.

What this means in practice is that we have to look to the text itself for

information about how its anticipated readers would have been expected to relate to and

interpret it. To understand what the text is doing, we need to understand the expectations

it sets up in its readers about its own textual nature.

Pollock has shown the significance of a reader's understanding of a work's textual

nature for his encounter with that work. For an understanding of its textual nature also

provides the reader with what he calls "a set of interpretive protocols."95 To help me

know how to read the Jinamahnidna, I need to understand how its anticipated reader

might be expected to read the text. To understand this, I need to identify what

interpretive instructions its anticipated reader was provided by the text. Pollock gives us

a helpful demonstration of how this process works:

It is indirectionhow what is said is being saidthat for Bhoja most simply

identifies kvya as a specific kind of text. At the same time, such an identification
suggests a specific way of reading. For to know such differentia (that intention
does not pertain to the unauthored Veda but commandment does; that historical
truth is a matter only of seers' texts; that indirection does not mark stra) is at
once to procure a set of interpretive protocols: Do not read kvya the way you
would read science, ancient lore, or the Veda; do not be concerned (except insofar
as it is a source of pleasure) about a breach between what is said and what is
really meant, about correspondence with an actual world, about information or
injunction. And do not expect kvya to be like ordinary language; its purposes are
different.96

95
Sheldon Pollock, "Sanskrit Literary Culture from the Inside Out," in Literary Cultures in History, 51.
96
Ibid., underlining added.
 38

In the analysis to follow, I seek to identify what instructions (what specific

"interpretive protocols") we can reasonably see the Jinamahnidna as giving its reader

on how to read it. Hearing those instructions ourselves and imaginatively trying to

comply with them will help us hear the particular things the Jinamahnidna has to say.

7 Who is "the reader"?

Before we proceed with our consideration of the Jinamahnidna, however, it is

important to be clear about who "the reader" is. Given our almost total ignorance of the

context of the Jinamahnidna's composition, we can know very little about exactly who

would have been expected to read it or in what circumstances. It is important to try to

surmise as much as we can about who the text's anticipated reader might have been. This

will give us information about the "Encyclopedia" (as Eco has put it) that the reader

would be expected to bring with her.97 The contents of this Encyclopedia would naturally

affect the reader's responses to and interpretive stance toward the text.98

However, when I refer to "the reader" in this thesis, I will be making use of Eco's

97
See Umberto Eco, Six Walks in the Fictional Woods, The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures, 1993
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994), 90, 97-117. Eco explains the "Encyclopedia" as "the
totality of knowledge" (ibid., 90). However, different types of work require their reader to bring different
types of Encyclopedia to the encounter (see especially Eco, Six Walks, 109-16).
98
For powerful corroboration of this point, see Anne Blackburn's analysis of the creation of a "textual
community" whose encyclopedia of knowledge was deliberately shaped in such a way as to make certain
types of responses likely in a reader (Blackburn, Buddhist Learning and Textual Practice, 139-96).
 39

conception of "the model reader."99 Eco distinguishes between the "empirical reader"

and the "model reader."100 The "empirical reader" is anyone, when he reads a text. He

explains: "Empirical readers can read in many ways, and there is no law that tells them

how to read, because they often use the text as a container for their own passions, which

may come from outside the text or which the text may arouse by chance."101 The "model

reader," on the other hand, is one who is able to hear and willing to follow the reading

instructions provided by the text, who understands what is wanted of him in the reading

process. He hears, for example, the genre signals the text uses to shape his expectations

of how to read.

More specifically, I will use this phrase to refer to what Eco calls the "model

reader of the second level."102 He distinguishes between a "model reader of the first

level," who simply wants to know how the story ends, and "a model reader of the second

level, who wonders what sort of reader that story would like him or her to become and

who wants to discover precisely how [the narrative strategy, the set of instructions

embedded in the work] goes about serving as a guide for the reader."103 The "model

reader of the second level" does not just want to know what happens, but tries to

99
See Eco, Six Walks in the Fictional Woods, 15-25.
100
Ibid., 8.
101
Ibid.
102
Ibid., 27.
103
Ibid., emphasis added.
 40

understand precisely how a certain effect was achieved by the text, how he was made to

respond in the way he did. This level of reader wants to understand the workings of the

text. He will be attentive to the textual techniques being deployed.

8 What instructions on how to read it does the Jinamahnidna provide its

reader?

Let us look first at how the text presents itself at its outset and at its conclusion to

see what, if any, information it gives us here about its own "protocols of interpretation."

The Jinamahnidna's pamagth104 and its explanation of the title and scope of the

work are as follows:

Vanditv siras buddham dhamman tena sudesitam

sagham niragaam ceva puakhettam anuttaram
pavakkhmi samsena jinanidnam uttamam
avikkhitt nismetha dullabh hi ayam kath.
Jinanidnam nmetam buddhajinam 'buddhakuram buddhapaidhnam
buddhacaritam buddhagocaran' ti veditabbam. Amhkam hi bhagavato
abhinhrato pahya yva parinibbn nidnakath "jinanidnan" ti veditabb.
Tatryam anupubbikath.105

"Having bowed my head in homage to the Buddha, to the Dhamma well-

taught by him, and to the unblemished Sagha, an unsurpassed field of
merit, I will recount in condensed form (samsena) the supreme story of
the Conqueror (jinanidnam uttamam). Pay attention undistracted, for this
story is hard to receive/rare.106

104
A pamagth or "verse of veneration" standardly opens a Pli work. These verses generally contain
the author's veneration of the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dhamma and Sagha) and often indicate something of
the text's aspiration or the purpose of its creation.
105
Jmn 1.
106
My translation is similar to that provided by Peter Skilling in his review of the edition: "Having bowed
 41

This (work) called 'the Story of the Conqueror''the Conqueror' is the

Buddhashould be understood as 'the sprout of the Buddha, the aspiration to be a
buddha, the conduct of the Buddha, the range of the Buddha.' For the telling of
the story (nidnakath) of our Lord from his aspiration up to his passing away
should be understood as 'the Story of the Conqueror.' This is the chronological
account of that."107

The conclusion of the text reads:

Ettvat bhagavat laddhapaidhnato pahya yva parinibbn nidnakath

"Jinamahnidnan" ti veditabb. Iti sdhujjanasotasukhvah jinanidnakath
samatt.108
"To this extent, the telling of the story (nidnakath) from the resolution gained
by the Lord up to his passing away should be understood as 'the Great Story of
the Conqueror.' Thus is finished the telling of the story of the Conqueror, which
brings happiness to the ears of good people/the happiness of the stream to good
people."109

A amhkam bhagav: "our Lord"

By designating its subject amhkam bhagav ("our Lord"), the Jinamahnidna

establishes a relationality between the reader and its subject from the very outset. Both

my head in homage to the Buddha, / to the Dhamma, well-taught by him, / and to the unblemished Sagha,
/ a field of merit unsurpassed, / I will relate in brief / the excellent Career of the Jina: / listen without
distraction / for this account is rare indeed" (Skilling, "Jinamahnidna," 116).
107
Skilling translates this: "The Conqueror being the Buddha, the title 'Genesis of the Conqueror' means
the 'sprout' of the Buddha, the vow of the Buddha, the career of the Buddha, the range of the Buddha. The
story of our Lord from the [initial] vow [to become Buddha] up to his passing away is the 'Genesis of the
Conqueror'" (ibid.).
108
Jmn 291.
109
There may be a pun in the use of sota here. It is common in Pli texts (as in texts in other South and
Southeast Asian languages) to show the influence of the oral/aural aspect of textual transmission and
recitation by referring to their words entering their audience's ears (sota). On the other hand, sota could
also be used here in the sense of "stream"referring to the stream that leads to nibbnagiving a
meaning: "the story of the origin of the Conqueror, which brings the happiness of the stream to good
people."
 42

amhkam and bhagav are relational terms, amhkam ("our") explicitly, and bhagav

implicitly (by indicating personal allegiance). The Jinamahnidna hereby informs its

reader that she is involved in its account. Moreover, it continues to highlight this fact

throughout the text by its repeated designation of the Buddha as amhkam bhagav.110

Hallisey has spoken of this mechanism in his study of Sihala material: "The

composite, 'our Buddha' again points in two directions, inside the narrative to the events

recorded, and outside the narrative to the context of whomever speaks or hears 'our.'

Every speaker or hearer can assume his or her place in the linguistic space created by the

possessive pronoun."111 The reader of the Jinamahnidna is similarly placed, informed

that she is to consider herself drawn into relation with what is recounted. This is likely to

increase the reader's felt sense of involvement with the material.

B How it terms itself

i A nidna

In its opening statement the Jinamahnidna states that it is the story of the

Conqueror; that is, the story of the Buddha (jinanidnam).112 The term "nidna" is

110
Throughout the Jinamahnidna, the Buddha Gotama is called "our Lord" (amhkam bhagav), which
distinguishes him from his 24 predecessors.
111
Hallisey, "Devotion in the Buddhist Literature of Medieval Sri Lanka," 78.
112
Jina, meaning "the conqueror," is an appellation frequently given the Buddha. As we saw above, the
text also specifies very shortly afterward that by "jina" it means the Buddha: buddha jinam (Jmn 1).
 43

complex and multivalent, and it is used in different literary contexts with different

implications. When discussing the titles of Pli texts, Peter Skilling and Santi

Pakdeekham include nidna in a list of terms that appear at the end of titles. They

comment of the list: "Some of these represent genres that have not yet been properly

recognized, let alone studied."113 I will not attempt to draw any definitive conclusions

about what the use of this term signifies here. I will simply note that there seem to be

two types of text which get the title -nidna: accounts of Buddha-relics or images, and

biographical works.114 For our purposes then, calling itself a -nidna, while suggesting

113
Skilling and Santi, Pli Literature Transmitted in Central Siam, lxvii-lxviii.
114
For example, thirteen of the texts that Skilling and Santi list in their inventory of Pli texts transmitted
in Central Siam end with -nidna. Two of these are accounts of Buddha-images; two accounts of Buddha-
relics; six biographical accounts of the bodhisatta/Buddha, and one a biography of Buddhaghosa. The
remaining two do not fall into this rough categorization, being works relating to language. The accounts of
Buddha-images are: the Ahabhgabuddharpa-Nidna, "the nidna of the Buddha-image [made] from a
half part," described by the editors as the story of a monk who made a Buddha-image, though it also covers
the rewards of making Buddha-images (ibid., 36-7), and the Sihiga-Nidna, "the nidna of the Buddha-
image from Sri Lanka," on the making of this image and its visits to various places (ibid., 181-2). The
accounts of Buddha-relics are: the Dantadhtunidna, "the nidna of the tooth-relic" (ibid., 188-9), and
the Ahakesudhtunidna, "the nidna of the hair-relic" (ibid., 197). The biographical accounts include:
the Jina-Mahnidna (ibid., 72); the Dra-Nidna (sic), the account of the bodhisatta's passage from
Sumedha up to his last birth (ibid., 89); the Sammoha-Nidna, which Skilling and Santi describe as being
about the bodhisatta's deeds as he cultivated the perfections (ibid., 173); Sampiita-Mahnidna (referred
to in this thesis as the Mahsampiinidna), described by the editors as a biography of the Buddha,
"starting from the lifetime in which he began his quest for enlightenment up to his Nibbna" (ibid., 172);
the Sodattak-Mahnidna (referred to in this thesis as the Sotahakmahnidna), which Skilling and
Santi describe as an "(a)nthology of accounts of how the Buddha accumulated perfections" (ibid., 188); the
Duyantinidna, "the nidna of [the place] Duyanti," described as "(o)n the Buddha's prediction of a
king who would establish himself in Muang Tung Yang"the editors note that the story is related to the
Paca-buddhabykaraa, a text on the predictions of the five Buddhas of the present eon [ibid., 89]. von
Hinuber notes that the latter is virtually an appendix to the Pasajtaka (von Hinber, Handbook of Pli
Literature, 198 429). It is thus within the biographical genre. There is also a biographical account of
Buddhaghosa, the Buddhaghoscariyanidna, "the nidna of the teacher Buddhaghosa" (Skilling and
Santi, Pli Literature Transmitted in Central Siam, 119-20). The two works which fall outside my broad
 44

that the Jinamahnidna is a biographical account, is not particularly informative.

ii A nidnakath

Using the term nidnakath in its opening and closing statements seems likely to

forge a connection in the reader's mind between the Jinamahnidna and either the genre

of nidnakath in general or, specifically, the Jtaka-nidnakaththe nidnakath to

the Jtakahakath. The term "nidnakath" is used generically to denote the

introductory section providing the context from which the rest of the text originates. So it

might be that on encountering the Jinamahnidna's self-designation as a nidnakath,

the reader would simply interpret it as an assertion that it belongs to that genre.

On the other hand, if the reader had heard in the Jinamahnidna's first two

words an echo of the Jtaka-nidnakath, as I consider below, he might be more likely to

see a connection between the Jinamahnidna and that specific nidnakath, the Jtaka-

nidnakath. Moreover, the nidnakath of the Jtakahakath is considered

authoritative and is the principal source and template for the nidnakaths found in other

texts.115 It therefore seems reasonable to suggest that when the term nidnakath is used

in the Jinamahnidna, it may bring to the reader's mind the Jtaka-nidnakath. In this

case, the Jinamahnidna is presenting itself in relation to the Jtaka-nidnakath.

categorization are: the Chanda-Nidna, which is described as a "treatise on prosody" (ibid., 257), and the
Nirutti-Nidna, "on the history of the composition of Nirukti" (ibid., 270).

115
For evidence of this, see Chapter 2, pp. 136-7.
 45

C By intertextual allusions

One of the ways the Jinamahnidna's reader may gain an indication of its

textual nature is seeing it in relation with certain other texts, through the mechanism of

intertextual allusions or verbal echoes of other texts. I suggest that the opening verse

contains two allusions that could have been highly instructive to a learned reader. The

two texts in question are the Jtaka-nidnakath and the Atthaslin.

As Hallisey has argued, a central value of much Theravdin literature is an

116
orientation towards and relation to earlier texts. We should expect people participating

in a literary culture with such values to be particularly sensitive to allusions to earlier

texts.

Richard Gombrich and K.R. Norman have argued persuasively that the early Pli

suttas sometimes involve word-play to undermine or satirize the Buddhists' brahminical

opponents. They have shown that some Pli suttas contain references to particular Vedic

117
and Upaniadic texts and amount to parodies of those texts. These parodies depend on

116
See Hallisey, "Roads Taken and Not Taken," 38-44.
117
See Norman, "A note on att in the Alagaddpama-sutta," in Collected Papers II (Oxford: Pali Text
Society, 1991), 200-9; Gombrich, "The Buddha's Book of Genesis?," Indo-Iranian Journal 35 (1992):
159-78; Gombrich, "Why is a Khattiya called a Khattiya? The Aggaa Sutta Revisited," Journal of the
Pali Text Society XVII (1992): 213-4; Gombrich, How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the
Early Teachings, School of Oriental and African Studies; Jordan Lectures in Comparative Religion, XVII
(London: Athlone Press, 1996); Gombrich, "Recovering the Buddha's Message," in Earliest Buddhism and
Madhyamaka: Panels of the VIIth World Sanskrit Conference, Kern Institute, Leiden, August 23-29, 1987,
ed. Johannes Bronkhorst, vol. II, ed. David Seyfort Ruegg and Lambert Schmithausen (Leiden: E.J. Brill,
1990), 12-21; and Gombrich, "A Visit to Brahm the Heron," Journal of Indian Philosophy 29, 2001: 95-
 46

118 119
direct "allusions to brahminical texts," expressed in the form of "verbal echoes" or

120
"verbal assonances." Gombrich summarizes his argument about such dynamics in a

particular sutta: "(T)he Buddhist text is based on knowledge of brahminical texts, and

121
satirizes them." He further argues that because Pli commentators were often not

aware of the allusions, they did not see the ironic character of the texts they were

122
commenting on.

Gombrich argues for textual allusions across religious traditions: the Buddhist

texts picked up the words of brahminical texts. In suggesting that the Jinamahnidna

alludes to the Jtaka-nidnakath and to the Atthaslin by means of verbal echoes not

explicitly identified as such, I am making a somewhat similar argument. However, in

this case, the allusions are to other texts within the same overarching tradition. Gombrich

argues that the authors of the Pli commentaries were not aware of the allusions because

108.
118
Gombrich, "The Buddha's Book of Genesis?," 176.
119
Ibid. and Norman, "A note on att in the Alagaddpama-sutta," 201.
120
Gombrich, "The Buddha's Book of Genesis?," 166.
121
Gombrich, "Why is a Khattiya called a Khattiya?," 213.
122
Gombrich, "The Buddha's Book of Genesis?," 175. See also his "Recovering the Buddha's Message,"
12-21 and "A Visit to Brahm the Heron," 95-108.
However, Oskar von Hinber discusses a passage from the Samantapsdik, which, he argues,
demonstrates that Buddhaghosa recognized a passage in the Vinaya as being a satirical reference to a Vedic
Prtikhya in "Buddhist Law and the phonetics of Pli: a passage from the Samantapsdik on avoiding
mispronunciation in kammavcs," Selected papers on Pli Studies (Oxford: PTS, 1994), 198-232. See
J.C. Wright, "Sithila, Kath, and Other Current Topics in Pli," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies 59, no. 1 (1996): 44-62 for a discussion of von Hinber's article, amongst others.
 47

they were not familiar with the texts alluded to because they were distanced from them

by allegiance and milieu. The Jinamahnidna's audienceat least some of

themwould have been familiar with the Jtaka-nidnakath and the Atthaslin

because they used them or had been exposed to them in some way. It is therefore more

likely that they would have heard the allusions and recognized them as such.

I am clearly not arguing that the Jinamahnidna wishes to satirize those other

texts. Rather, I am proposing that some of the meaning located in this one verse of the

Jinamahnidna depends on its audience hearing the echoes of those other texts behind

it, and therefore bringing them mentally into relation with the Jinamahnidna at that

point. The interesting question is what might be the effect in each case of bringing two

texts into relation in this way. This will no doubt vary enormously. As we will see from

just these two examples, bringing one text into relation with another in this way can serve

multiple purposes, and can do so simultaneously. Indeed, in the case of the allusion to

the Jtaka-nidnakath, we may see a contestation of the text so alluded to at the same

time as we see an appropriation of some of the legitimation that comes from its

authoritative status.

I argue below for the central role in the production of later Pli texts of creative

engagements with earlier texts. I see this type of allusion as one such mechanism within

the range of techniques by which texts can create and convey meaning. A careful

analysis of the forms of such intra-tradition allusions, and of the types of uses to which
 48

they can be put would be an interesting and valuable project, one which is unfortunately

beyond the scope of this thesis.

i To the Jtaka-nidnakath

The first two words of the Jinamahnidna's pamagth are the same two

words as begin the pamagth of the Thai edition of the Jtaka-nidnakath,123 though

not that of the Pali Text Society edition.124 It is possible that the reader would have heard

in these two words an echo of the parallel words in the Jtaka-nidnakath.

It may be argued that this is too flimsy a reason to suggest reference to the Jtaka-

nidnakath. However, the question is what the text's anticipated reader would have

123
Vanditv siras seham buddham appaipuggalam (Jtakahakath [Bangkok:
Mahmakuarjavidylaya, 1924], 1). The Thai edition's version is confirmed by a Cambodian manuscript
of the Jtaka-nidnakath in the Copenhagen collection, which is described as having been "(d)onated by
a Siamese Prince to the University Library, 1885" (C.E. Godakumbura, U Tin Lwin, Heinz Bechert and
Heinz Braun, Catalogue of Cambodian and Burmese Pli Manuscripts, Catalogue of oriental manuscripts,
xylographs, etc. in Danish collections, vol. 2, pt. 1 [Copenhagen: Royal Library, Copenhagen, 1983], 8).
I should note that this is the first line of the Pali Text Society edition and the Thai edition of the
Visuddhajanavilsin also (Ap-a 1). However, the Visuddhajanavilsin seems to have essentially
incorporated the Jtaka-nidnakath verbatim as its nidnakath, simply exchanging "S panayam
Apadnass'atthavaan" (Ap-a 2) for the Jtakahakath's "S panayam Jtakassa Atthavaan" (Ja I
2). von Hinber dates the Jtakahakath, including the Jtaka-nidnakath, as appearing after 450 C.E.
and the Visuddhajanavilsin as between 1000 and 1500 C.E. Hence, it is evident that the
Visuddhajanavilsin is the adopter, rather than the other way around. The Visuddhajanavilsin could also
be seen as making an allusion to the Jtaka-nidnakath in a parallel way (if for different reasons). Given
that the Jtaka-nidnakath was clearly the template for nidnakaths, it seems more likely that a reader
recognizing the phrase as an allusion, would take it to be alluding to the Jtaka-nidnakath rather than to
the Visuddhajanavilsin.
124
I have found no other text that begins specifically vanditv siras. This in itself proves nothing. It does
not prove that there were no other texts that started this way. This is especially so in the case of Ayutthaya,
since many manuscripts were burned when the kingdom was sacked in 1767. It simply says that we are not
aware of any other texts that begin this way, other than a text that we know to have been very well known
(viz. the Jtaka-nidnakath).
 49

been likely to hear. Described by other texts as the authoritative nidnakath and

therefore likely viewed that way, the Jtaka-nidnakath would undoubtedly have been a

well known text, no doubt familiar to some educated readers. It is therefore possible that

its opening words would have been familiar to such a reader, so that when those words

were repeated the Jtaka-nidnakath would involuntarily be brought to mind.

The pamagth of a Pli text is where the aspirations for what the text will

accomplish or the reason it was produced are often expressed. So a reader coming to a

text may reasonably be expected to be particularly attentive to these opening verses in

attempting to orient herself to the work. Moreover, the first words of the opening

versethe very first words of the whole textare in a position of particular prominence.

From that structural aspect alone it seems reasonable to imagine those first words might

stand out more clearly in the attentive reader's mind than words in less prominent

positions.

Moreover, this argument is strengthened by the fact that the very first words of a

text were accorded a special significance by an aspect of Pli literary theory that is

discussed in the Vuttodaya (the preeminent work on Pli prosody), well known in

premodern Thailand. This aspect is the theory of gaas (syllable clusters). This theory

involves what has been called the "'occult' aspects of poetry,"125 which includes poetry's

125
Hallisey, "Works and Persons in Sinhala Literary Culture" in Literary Cultures in History, 740.
Hallisey here discusses this theory as it is attested in Sinhala works on poetry (ibid., 740-3), but he also
 50

power to produce particular effects in the world. The theory revolves around an analysis

of the distribution of light and heavy syllables in the first three syllables of a work.126

Given that the effects different arrangements of syllables can produce range from victory,

fame, blessing, and long life to disease, extreme sorrow, death, and destruction, it is

clearly a matter of no small significance which pattern of syllables begins a work.

I suggest that this high degree of awareness of the very first words of a text

strengthens the case that in the Jinamahnidna's opening phrase would likely be heard a

verbal echo of the Jtaka-nidnakath. It makes it less likely that this overlap between

the Jinamahnidna and Jtaka-nidnakath would go unnoticed.127

What might be the effect of this verbal echo of the Jtaka-nidnakath?

considers the implications of the Vuttodaya's attention to this aspect of literature (ibid., 742).
126
Eight such gaas were identifiedspecific patterns of light and heavy syllables. For example, when the
first three syllables were all heavy (- - -), it was called a m gaa; when the first syllable was light and the
others heavy (v - -) it was a y gaa; when the first and last were heavy, but the middle was light (- v -), it
was an r gaa; and when the first two syllables were light but the last heavy (v v -), it was an s gaa. At
first glance, the differences between these groups may seem insignificant. However, when one bears in
mind that a m gaa brings victory to the world, a y gaa brings long life, a r gaa brings extreme sorrow,
and a s gaa brings death, it is obvious that it would be better to start a work with, say, a y gaa than with a
s gaa. See Hallisey, "Works and Persons in Sinhala Literary Culture," 741; "Khuddaka Pha, a Pli
Text, with a Translation and Notes," ed. and trans. R.C. Childers, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
(New series), vol. 4 (1869): 331; Vuttodaya (Exposition of Metre) by Sagharakkhita Thera: A Pli Text,
edited, with translation and notes, ed. and trans. G.E. Fryer (Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press, 1877), 5, 14,
24-5.
127
In addition, it is apposite that a work entitled the Jinamahnidna, "the Great Story of the Conqueror"
should begin with vanditv. With all heavy syllables, this is an m gaa, which therefore brings victory to
the world. We can here see three potential effects of the Jinamahnidna's starting with this word: a verbal
echo of the Jtaka-nidnakath that might bring the latter to the reader's mind; the strengthening of an
aspect that is accorded prominence in the subject matter: the Buddha's victory; and an indication to an
educated audience that the text follows the norms of Pli's poetic tradition. This will at the same time
inform such an audience that the ways in which poetry is understood to function in that tradition apply also
to this text.
 51

Beginning its account with this echo of the earlier text, the Jinamahnidna evokes the

shadowy presence of the Jtaka-nidnakath from the outset. It starts out, if briefly, as

though it were the Jtaka-nidnakath. The reader may hear the Jtaka-nidnakath's

voice in its words. The question is what effect this would be likely to have on its

reader.128 We can imagine that a reader hearing this echo in the Jinamahnidna might

interpret it to signify that the text is presenting itself as in harmony with the Jtaka-

nidnakath, speaking with its voice as a way of indicating affiliation with it or

membership in its textual lineage. Alternatively, as the Jtaka-nidnakath was the

definitive account of the Buddha's life of its type, the Jinamahnidna might be

perceived by a reader as thereby arrogating something of the authoritativeness of the

former text for its presentation of the Buddha's life.

ii To the Atthaslin

In addition to evoking the Jtaka-nidnakath by echoing its first words, the

Jinamahnidna's pamagth also makes a much more overt verbal nod to another

128
Tzvetan Todorov's discussion of "intertextual polyvalence" is particularly relevant here (Todorov,
Introduction to Poetics, translation from the French by Richard Howard, introduction by Peter Brooks,
Theory and History of Literature, ed. Wlad Godzich and Jochen Schulte-Sasse, vol. 1 [Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press, 1981], 23-5). He cites Mikhail Bakhtin's characterization of a "member of
a collective of speakers" necessarily using words that are "inhabited" by others' voices (ibid., 24). He
quotes Bakhtin: "he receives the word from the voice of another, and the word arrives in his context from
another context which is saturated with other people's interpretations" (ibid.). This can help us see here
how the Jtaka-nidnakath's words vanditv siras, adopted by the Jinamahnidna, bring with them all
sorts of interpretations and expectations, that are not visible in the words themselves, but which
significantly shape their import.
 52

text, the Atthaslin, Buddhaghosa's commentary on the Dhammasaga. The last line

of the Jinamahnidna's four-line pamagth is avikkhitt nismetha dullabh hi

ayam kath ("Pay attention undistracted, for this account is hard to receive/rare"). This

is also the last line of the Atthaslin's pamagth.129 The line is in fact quoted twice

in the Atthaslin. After its initial position at the end of the pamagth, it appears

again some thirty pages later, right after the nidnakath. The last verse of the

pamagth is here repeated, then commented on and glossed with an equivalent

verse.130 This forms the opening to the body of the text itself, and so is in a position of

high prominence.

The idea expressed by this line is very commonly found at the end of

pamagths in Pli texts. However, I have not found this particular wording in any

other text or manuscript listed in the catalogs I have consulted. The Atthaslin's own

nidnakath is also used as a source by the Jinamahnidna.131 Given the line's

prominence in its source, it is unlikely it would be used unwittingly in the

Jinamahnidna. It is also likely that a reader familiar with the Atthaslin would

recognize the line in the Jinamahnidna as echoing that of the Atthaslin.132 I suggest

129
The Atthaslin: Buddhaghosa's Commentary on the Dhammasaga, ed. Edward Muller (London:
Pali Text Society, 1979), 2.
130
As 36.
131
Cf., for example, Jmn 92-3 and As 13-4.
132
Beside its high visibility in the Atthaslin, there are other reasons why the Jinamahnidna's
 53

that this verbal echo is likely to evoke the Atthaslin in the reader's mind at this point.

There are many reasons why recognizing a connection between the

Jinamahnidna and the Atthaslin is a protocol of reading the text. I will focus on two

reasons why such a connection is especially relevant for the text's self-presentation and

how the connection might contribute to a reader's understanding of the Jinamahnidna

and of its aspirations.

The most immediately obvious relevance here is the fact that the Atthaslin was

anticipated reader would be likely to recognize the line as being also in the Atthaslin. The Atthaslini is
one of the texts that most prominently discuss the issue of nidnas, in that it addresses a critique that the
Abhidhamma cannot be counted as buddhavacana ("the word of the Buddha") because it does not have a
nidna. As the Dhammasaga is the first book of the Abhidhamma, the Atthaslin (as the first of the
Abhidhamma commentaries) handles this question in a way that is then applicable for all the other
Abhidhamma texts and their commentaries. This question of the Abhidhamma's status as buddhavacana is
such an important one for the tradition that educated Buddhists would very probably have been aware of
the Atthaslin's response, even when not dealing directly with Abhidhamma texts. This makes it very
likely that the Atthaslin's discussion of nidnas would come to a reader's mind whenever discussion
about the nature or importance of a nidna arose. It is therefore highly likely that in a situation where the
text being read was named a form of nidna and where the question of what should be covered by a
nidnakath was being explicitly discussed, the Atthaslin's discussion of nidnas would readily come to
the reader's mind.
Furthermore, the Jtakahakath and the Atthaslin are explicitly paired by the
Cariypiakahakath in its nidnakath as suitable places to refer to if one wants to understand the
breakdown of the time-periods of and between the previous Buddhas. It states, "the narrative account that
is to be told here should be understood by the method described in the Atthaslin, the commentary on the
Dhammasaga, and the Jtakahakath" (Cp-a 16). This shows that the two texts were thought of as
related at least by the Cariypiakahakath and hence potentially those who were familiar with the
Cariypiakahakath. I am not, of course, suggesting that every reader of the Cariypiakahakath
would consciously remember this particular statement the text makes. However, since many Pli texts
display a real interest in these time-periods (see, for example, the Jinaklamlpakaraa), it is possible that
the Cariypiakahakath's pairing of the two texts would have been known to an educated and interested
reader.
Hence it seems reasonable to suggest that the Jinamahnidna could expect not only the Jtaka-
nidnakath but also the Atthaslin to come easily to mind for one reading it, and therefore that a
reference to those works in the form of a quoted phrase might well be sufficient to make that connection
apparent to an educated reader.
 54

considered to have been written by Buddhaghosa.133 This is quite suggestive because, as

the author of the Visuddhimagga, Buddhaghosa was unquestionably the Theravda's

paradigm of someone equipped to take a vast body of literature and condense it most

fully into one coherent work. This would obviously be an advantageous mantle for the

author of the Jinamahnidna to assume, as he takes material from a wide range of

sources and condenses it (samsena) into a coherent biography of the Buddha.

In Pli texts in general, the pamagths are presented as the personal words of

the author/compiler/transmitter of the text. By echoing the last words of Buddhaghosa's

supposedly personal statement at the beginning of a text, within the author's supposedly

personal statement about the Jinamahnidna, the latter encourages its reader to view it

as composed by one on a par with Buddhaghosa in this capacity.

As the reference to the Jtaka-nidnakath may in part have worked to establish

the Jinamahnidna's authoritative credentials as a biography, the reference to the

Atthaslin is a complementary bid for authoritativeness, this time more in terms of the

author. The Jinamahnidna here effectively places itself directly in the line of the most

authoritative biographical account of the Buddha and of the most authoritative compiler

of an independent, globalizing text (viz. the Visuddhimagga).

The allusion to the Atthaslin also provides another, perhaps equally important,

133
von Hinber, Handbook of Pli Literature, 151 312-4. The Jtakahakath was also traditionally
considered to have been written by Buddhaghosa (ibid., 131 260).
 55

service to the Jinamahnidna. It presents the Jinamahnidna as parallel with and

implicitly equivalent to the Atthaslin. The latter describes itself as Buddhaghosa's

explanation of the Abhidhamma, glossed as his explanation of the meaning of the entire

canon (sakalya tantiy).134 Moreover, the Abhidhamma is portrayed in the Atthaslin as

superior to the suttas of the canon, because it is complete where they are partial.135 In

effect, therefore, the Jinamahnidna uses this literary device to present itself as the

equivalent of an explanation of the entirety of a body of material, which is itself superior

to that material through being complete where the other is partial.

Such an attributed description seems very apt for the Jinamahnidna, which, as

we have seen, has already claimed to be the supreme history of the conquerora claim to

superiority over other biographical accountsa claim it makes, at least in part, on the

134
The two verses in the Atthaslin's pamagth that precede this verse read: Kammahnni sabbni
cariybhi vipassan / Visuddhimagge pan' idam yasm sabbam paksitam / Tasm tam agahetvna
sakalya pi tantiy / padnukkamato eva karissm'atthavaanam. / Iti me bhsamnassa
Abhidhammakatham imam / avikkhitt nismetha dullabh hi ayam kath ti, "Since all the meditation
topics, right conduct, the higher powers, and insight were expounded in the Visuddhimagga, therefore
leaving that aside, I will produce an explanation of the meaning of the entire canon through each word
successively. Pay attention undistracted to this talk on the Abhidhamma of mine as I speak on this, for this
account is hard to receive/rare" (As 2, vss. 18-20).
The equivalence between the Jinamahnidna and the Atthaslin created by this parallelism
becomes clear by parsing the two verses side by side. The parallel object of nismetha in the
Jinamahnidna's pamagth was jinanidnam uttamam. Therefore, if the two sets of verses are
brought into parallel relation, the jinanidnam uttamam is logically the equivalent of Abhidhammakatham,
which has been glossed as sakalya tantiy atthavaanam. In this way, the Jinamahnidna becomes
effectively the equivalent of the explanation of the entire canon.
135
Immediately after the above verse in its pamagth, the Atthaslin explains the meaning of
"Abhidhamma" as that which is different from and exceeds the dhamma, meaning the suttas. It exceeds
them because it is more complete than they are. The Atthaslin goes through many examples of topics
which are classified only partially (ekadesen'eva vibhatt na nippadesena [As 2]) by the suttas but fully by
the Abhidhamma (nippadesato vibhatt [ibid.]).
 56

grounds of being complete. In other words, by means of this allusion to the Atthaslin,

the Jinamahnidna makes a parallel between the Atthaslin's relation to the suttas that

preceded it and its own relation to the biographical material that preceded it. It is

metaphorically the Atthaslin of the Buddha's biographyit stands apart from the

sources as a superior summation of them.

D What do these indices tell the reader?

In sum, these indices provide the reader with a range of "interpretive protocols"

that help determine her initial orientation to the text, and so shape her encounter with it.

They inform her that in reading the text she is to feel involved in what is recounted. It is

personally relevant to her, because it concerns a figure with whom, the text informs her,

she is in a relationship.

It also establishes certain connections between itself and particular other texts, as

well as a particular author. These connections confer value and authority on the

Jinamahnidna, and raise the reader's estimation of the work from the outset. On the

other hand, the reader is informed by means of these connections that its presentation of

the Buddha's life is positively superior to its forebears, in being complete where they

were partial. This lets the reader know from the outset that it is significant that the

Jinamahnidna tells the Buddha's life from start to finish. This information will color

her subsequent experience of the rest of the work.

At the same time, by its deft use of these allusions, the Jinamahnidna alerts the
 57

reader that it is sophisticated in its handling of its textual heritage. She is thus informed

in various ways that she should view the Jinamahnidna with esteem and so take

seriously the vision of the Buddha it presents.

9 Outline of chapters: style and content informing each other

The primary mode of analysis in this study of the Jinamahnidna is a

comparison of its textual form with that of its sources. Such close comparison often

reveals what we can reasonably interpret to be careful reworkings of the source material.

A distinctive and coherent text emerges from the combined effects of these reworkings.

This text then reveals certain qualities that figure prominently in the text's presentation.

In the four central chapters of the thesis, I examine four key qualities of the text

that are allto varying degrees perhapssimultaneously aspects of its form, content,

and relationship to the Buddha. The four qualities are comprehensiveness, wholeness,

connectedness, and denseness.

Chapter 1: The Jinamahnidna is comprehensive, in that it contains much more

information about individual episodes, more episodes, many more types of information,

more registers of discourse, and so on than its sources. This in turn reflects on the

Buddha, who is encountered by the reader in more modes than in other biographies. This

tells the reader that there is more about the Buddha that needs to be known, if he is to be

more adequately comprehended. It shows that the Buddha is more multi-faceted than the

reader had previously understood. So if he is to be perceived more fully, the reader must
 58

be prepared to approach him from multiple interpretive angles, and thus relate to him in

multiple ways. This she has already experienced something of in the reading process.

Chapter 2: The text also creates a strong impression of being a textual whole. It

has a unity as a work that makes of it more than just the sum of its individual elements.

Most distinctively, the Jinamahnidna displays a temporal unity that applies both to

itself and to its subject. The text is presented as a temporally unified entity where

everything between beginning and end is equally present and mutually connected. The

Buddha is portrayed as existing in a single, continuous temporal realm where all times

within his long trajectory are equally a part of his unitary life. The text offers a depiction

of a singular being who is simultaneously the being he is in those individual episodes and

more. The more he is is the bhagav.

Chapter 3: Through various aspects of its portrayal, the Jinamahnidna fosters

an increased sense of connectedness in the reader. The reader feels himself directly

addressed by the text, and in fact already involved in the life it depicts. It draws the

reader into connection with the Buddha's life and his person. In turn, he feels a

heightened sense of personal relationship with him. The Buddha is also revealed as

remaining more strongly connected to the present and the future.

Chapter 4: The Jinamahnidna evokes an extraordinary sense of denseness and

overdeterminedness, particularly temporal denseness, coalescing in the account itself and

in its portrayal of the Buddha. In manifold ways, the narrative creates a sense of the
 59

endless dimensions of the Buddha's temporality, past and future, being simultaneously

involved in each moment of his present. The reader experiences the narrative and the

Buddha's person as overdetermined to the point of a profound opacity. Each moment is

revealed as opening out into and as being infused with all other moments. The Buddha is

portrayed as extending beyond the limits of our comprehension.

Conclusion: What is most striking is that some of these qualities work in

harmony with each other, while others directly oppose each other. The challenge is to

know how to interpret the cumulative effect of these mutually reinforcing and mutually

undermining qualities equally manifesting in the text at the same time.

On the one hand, the text's qualities of comprehensiveness and wholeness are

related in that they pursue a similar strategythat of emphasizing the unity of the

biography. On the other, its connectedness and denseness are also related and mutually

compatible in emphasizing the biography's openness. Yet these two strategies are

directly opposed to each other.

At the same time, the Jinamahnidna's comprehensiveness and its denseness are

related contrapuntallythe text's bid for comprehensiveness is undone by its denseness.

Its wholeness and its connectedness similarly offer counterpoints to each

otherwholeness makes a bid for containedness to the biography, which the

connectedness undoes.

Through these narrative tensions and the mutual overlaying of qualities, the
 60

Jinamahnidna creates a multilayered orientation toward the Buddha in its reader. The

reader is ultimately left with a heightened sense of personal connection with the Buddha,

who is yet shown as extending ever beyond the reader's grasp in his profound opacity.
 61

CHAPTER I

COMPREHENSIVENESS:
THE JINAMAHNIDNA AND ITS SOURCES

As I outlined in the Introduction, among later Pli texts are many that were

created out of material drawn from other texts. The Jinamahnidna is one of these. The

techniques involved in its composition consist primarily of different types of

manipulation of its source materials. This chapter will therefore involve a close

comparison of the wording of the Jinamahnidna and its sources, with the end of

identifying the types of manipulation deployed.

In these manipulations a very close parallelism is almost always maintained

between the form of the material in the Jinamahnidna and its various sources. With

such attention consistently paid the source texts, it behooves us to be attentive to the

possible effects not only of the manipulation of source materials, but also to the effects of

the parallelism.

I will show that one of the principal effects of this parallelism is precisely to draw

the reader's attention to the Jinamahnidna's relation to its sources, in such a way as

reveals the text to be distinctively comprehensive. This chapter will thus also explore the

ways that the Jinamahnidna draws attention to its comprehensiveness by making its

reader aware of its dependence on other texts.

The chapter therefore has a two-fold purpose. It is intended to lay bare some of
 62

the principal techniques that were involved in the Jinamahnidna's composition. It is

also intended to show how these techniques were deployed in ways that would create a

text that was highly comprehensive, and also cause the reader to perceive it as

comprehensive.

1 What forms of comprehensiveness are involved?

I will here give merely an overview of the diverse types of comprehensiveness

manifested by the Jinamahnidna (with examples provided in the footnotes), as they

will become more visible in the examples taken up through the chapter.

In terms of content, the Jinamahnidna demonstrates an attempt to give full

coverage of all aspects of the Buddha's story. It includes some episodes that are omitted

by the other biographical accounts.136 While some of its sources pay scant attention to

important episodes in the Buddha's life, the Jinamahnidna ensures that significant

episodes are accorded an appropriate amount of attention; its account of his life is

136
It includes the story of Mahkassapa's ordination, which is not encountered in any of the other
biographical accounts. See pp. 86-7, 90 below.
There are no episodes found in the Jtaka-nidnakath that are not also in the Jinamahnidna.
The only part of the Jtaka-nidnakath that could be viewed as omitted from the Jinamahnidna, and as
significant, is the information about the lives of the previous buddhas that the Jtaka-nidnakath includes
in its opening section. The Jtaka-nidnakath's account of these buddhas focuses heavily on the lives of
the buddhas, and includes little information about the bodhisatta that each encountered. The
Jinamahnidna, on the other hand, focuses on the figure of the bodhisatta in each case and gives little
attention to the buddhas. I do not view this as episodes omitted by the Jinamahnidna, so much as a
difference in emphasis.
 63

therefore more proportional as a whole than those of its sources.137 It gives detailed

accounts of episodes in place of cursory mentions138 or skeletal outlines.139 It includes

more information about events covered in the account than the other versions do.140 It

includes types of information about something covered in the account that other versions

omit.141 It sometimes provides explanations for events where other biographical accounts

simply report their occurrence.142 It gives longer descriptions of elements of a storythis

gives the reader a fuller, more detailed picture of the events of the Buddha's life.143 It

also brings out nuances of a storythat is, it adds layers of meaning to episodesthat

are not so apparent in other versions.144

137
It expands the report of the Buddha's attaining omniscience from the Jtaka-nidnakath's two clauses
to more than three pages. See pp. 91-4 below.
138
In all the Jinamahnidna's primary biographical sources the thousands of miracles the Buddha
performed shortly after his enlightenment are reported in a single clause. The Jinamahnidna gives
detailed accounts of these miracles over twelve pages. See p. 88, n. 48 below.
139
While the Jtaka-nidnakath covers the period of the early post-enlightenment conversions in just over
a page, the Jinamahnidna's account of these events takes thirty-six pages. See pp. 85-90 below.
140
It gives a full description of the five dreams the bodhisatta had on the night before his enlightenment
plus an analysis of their import, where other accounts simply mention their occurrence or omit any
reference to them altogether. See p. 79-84 below.
141
It includes the substantive content of teachings normally just namedfor example, it provides the
content of the three knowledges gained in the three watches of the night of enlightenment. See pp. 91-4
below.
142
It includes a passage explaining why Sriputta and Moggallna took longer to attain arahat-ship than
their colleagues, where the other biographical accounts simply report that they did. See pp. 89-90 below.
143
It paints a much richer picture of Mra's army than do any of its sources. See pp. 111-3 below.
144
It refashions the description of the bodhisatta about to embark on the last phase of his progress toward
enlightenment, in a way that makes clearer than other versions that the whole world is urging him on in his
enterprise, participating in the process. See pp. 102-3 below.
 64

Beside this comprehensiveness of content, the Jinamahnidna also has a

remarkable stylistic comprehensiveness. It includes a very wide range of literary styles.

The bulk of its account is narrative prose, recounting more or less straightforwardly the

events of the Buddha's life. It also includes passages of evocative, descriptive prose,

which sometimes involve elaborate similes. The Jinamahnidna also contains verse

both narrative and descriptive. Of the latter type are quite a few verses which (while they

may minimally narrate events) principally describe and praise the Buddha, often using

multiple epithets and similes. It also contains extended sections of doctrinal discourse as

well as spare, analytical exposition.

This stylistic diversity is in large part the result of the textual techniques we will

see the Jinamahnidna apply to its source material. In particular it derives from the

incorporation of types of information not encountered in most other biographical

accounts and the refashioning of its source material. It would be hard for any reader not

to notice the Jinamahnidna's stylistic diversity, especially as it displays it to a much

greater degree than most other biographical accounts. This fact alone is liable to make

the reader perceive the Jinamahnidna as "containing more," that is, comprehensive.

2 How does the text signal its comprehensiveness?

When compared to each of its sources, the greater comprehensiveness of the

Jinamahnidna's telling is readily apparent; and there are a variety of textual

 65

mechanisms that encourage the reader to compare the Jinamahnidna to its sources and

thus effectively draw attention to its comprehensiveness.

The Jinamahnidna displays a striking degree of attention to preserving the

narrative framework of whatever is the primary, "structuring" source for each section of

its account. This creates a strong parallelism between the material of the

Jinamahnidna and the Jtaka-nidnakath and the Mahparinibbnasutta. Given that

a considerable amount of material is added to that which is taken from those structuring

texts, the parallelism encourages the reader to view those two key texts as somewhat

skeletal, if not incomplete, and the Jinamahnidna as comparatively comprehensive.

More generally, the close verbal parallelism between the Jinamahnidna's

material and that of its sources alerts the reader to its comprehensiveness. It does this by

making the points when the Jinamahnidna's material diverges from that which it had

been following stand out in particularly sharp relief.

So also does the text's technique of using allusions to the Jtaka-nidnakath and

the Atthaslin in its opening verse. This alerts the reader from the very outset that he

should think of this text in relation with others. Similarly, identifying itself as a

nidnakath encourages the reader to view it in relation with accounts of that type.

However, it then does considerably more than those accounts did, by continuing on to his

death. In this way it overtly displays itself as more comprehensive than other

nidnakaths.
 66

The text also uses techniques to signal more directly that what it includes at a

particular point is not found in the main source for that section, that what follows is an

interpolation. One such technique is to provide citations for material that it incorporates

into the framing material.145 This type of citation draws attention to the fact that what

follows was not included in the framing text, but was brought into the Jinamahnidna's

account from elsewhere. This use of citations is found quite rarely in the

Jinamahnidna.

Another technique that functions in a very similar way, but is more frequently

attested, involves prefacing material from another source with a statement about the

context in which it originated.146 This again suggests that the following material comes

from a different source than that which precedes it.

The text also makes use of techniques that more indirectly indicate to the reader

that it is stepping away from its primary source at that point to include additional

material. One of these is the insertion before such material of seyyathdam, "that is, that

is to say," or katham, "How so? In what way?" These words indicate to the reader that

145
We will see an example of it later when the analysis of the import of the bodhisatta's pre-enlightenment
dreams is prefaced by the statement: "For this was said by the Lord in the Aguttaranikya in the Pacaka-
nipta ..." (Jmn 71). Other examples in the text are the citations: Ptikavaggadghanikye Lakkhaasutte
(Jmn 47) and Mahpadnasuttavaanyam (Jmn 200).
146
We see an example of this in the section on "juxtaposition," where the Jinamahnidna introduces
verses it is incorporating into material otherwise framed around the Jtaka-nidnakath's account with the
following statement: "So the compilers, describing the thirty-two portents that appeared at the very
moment of the Lord's enlightenment, said ..." (Jmn 87).
 67

what follows will expand on or elaborate what has just been read. When it uses

seyyathdam, the Jinamahnidna effectively asserts of its own accord, as it were, that it

will elaborate on what has just been said. Katham, on the other hand, represents a

rhetorical question posed by the Jinamahnidna in anticipation of a query the reader

might have at that point, a query that is then answered by the extra material that

follows.147 The Jinamahnidna here implies that the original source is likely to leave

the reader with a question, which the Jinamahnidna then answers.

Perhaps an extended version of the above use of katham is the Jinamahnidna's

insertion into its account of a question in the form of a full sentence, at the break-point

between the framing material and material brought in from elsewhere. This technique is

found quite frequently through the text, with such questions being posed in a variety of

ways.148 Again, the question rhetorically anticipates the reader's query, a query that the

147
There is a nice example of both these rhetorical moves in the Jinamahnidna's expansion of the
Jtaka-nidnakath's account of the bodhisatta's gaining the three knowledges in the three watches of the
night of his enlightenment. See p. 91-4 below. The Jinamahnidna here breaks up the Jtaka-
nidnakath's sentence reporting these three watches and inserts between the broken up pieces a rendition
of the content of the knowledge gained in each, using material taken from elsewhere. At the break-point
right after the phrase taken from the Jtaka-nidnakath and before the interpolated material, the
Jinamahnidna inserts seyyathdam in the case of the first knowledge and katham of the second and third.
148
None of the sections of text examined in this chapter involves this technique. However, a classic
example is to be seen in the Jinamahnidna's coverage of the portents that appeared before the
bodhisatta's death from the Tusita heaven preceding his birth as Vessantara. The Jinamahnidna's
account has been following the version found in the Jtaka-nidnakath (Ja I 48), which just mentions that
five portents appeared, without stating what those portents were. The Jinamahnidna interrupts the
Jtaka-nidnakath's version at that point to ask: Katamni paca pubbanimittni? "What are the five
portents?" (Jmn 32). It then includes a brief explanation of what exactly the portents involve. Once the
explanation is complete, the Jtaka-nidnakath's material is resumed.
A nice example of a longer question being used in this way is found in an instance of the
 68

interpolated material which follows is presented as answering.

The use of questions to introduce explanatory matter is by no means unique to the

Jinamahnidna. It is also found in other Pli texts, perhaps most commonly in the

commentaries. However, comparison of the Jinamahnidna with its sources reveals

that this technique is often used to introduce material that is not included in the main

source currently in use. We can therefore see the Jinamahnidna's use of it as serving a

particular function within the work, as one of the means by which it incorporates

supplemental material within its account. At the same time, we can say that these

questions make the reader conscious that further explanation is needed, and thereby

encourage her to wonder if the Jinamahnidna is here importing material not found in

the primary source. In this way the questions alert the reader that what follows may be an

interpolation.

Occasionally the Jinamahnidna includes so much more material about a

particular phase of the Buddha's life than its primary sources that the reader is likely to

Jinamahnidna providing an explanation for an occurrence that its primary sources simply report, a
phenomenon I mentioned in the preceding section. This occurs in the Jinamahnidna's account of the
bodhisatta abandoning his six-year practice of austerities (Jmn 70). It here follows the Jtaka-
nidnakath's version (Ja I 67) very closely but neatly inserts into that material a section opened by the
question: Kasm pana amhkam bodhisatto sesabodhisattnam viya satthe v ahamsdike v
padhnakle bodhiam na pput ti ..., "If you ask: 'But why did our bodhisatta not attain the
knowledge of enlightenment after a period of exertion of a week or a fortnight like other bodhisattas?'..."
(ibid.) Ending the question with ti, the quotation marker, marks it more overtly as a question the text
anticipates the reader asking at this pointit is as though the Jinamahnidna is stating out loud the
reader's own question. The text then answers this question with a brief explanatory passage and some
verses taken from the Visuddhajanavilsin. As soon as the explanation is complete, it picks up the Jtaka-
nidnakath's account again and continues to follow it very closely.
 69

become aware of the discrepancy. In such a case, the sheer volume of information in the

Jinamahnidna invites comparison with its sources, and the reader would thereby

recognize the Jinamahnidna as rendering a more comprehensive account of the

period.149

The Jinamahnidna also includes the occasional episode that is not found in any

of the other chief biographical accounts. The reader would not associate that episode

with the life of the Buddha told as such, and so, on encountering it in the

Jinamahnidna, would again become aware of the latter as including more than its

predecessors.150 Similarly, the Jinamahnidna sometimes includes types of material that

most other biographical accounts do not, such as extended sections of philosophical

discourse.151 Again, the readernot expecting to encounter such material within the

story of his lifewould thereby become aware of the Jinamahnidna's comparative

comprehensiveness.152

149
A prime example of this dynamic is seen in the Jinamahnidna's account of the events following the
Buddha's enlightenment up to his conversion of Sriputta and Moggallna. The Jinamahnidna recounts
in fifty-five pages what the Jtaka-nidnakath reports in four. See pp. 85-7 below.
150
The story of Ghaikra having to drag his friend the bodhisatta Jotipla by the hair to see the then
buddhaprovided to explain why Siddhattha had to perform austerities for six yearsis an obvious
example of this phenomenon (Jmn 70).
151
The most notable exception to thiswhere a biographical account includes an extended section of
philosophical discourseis the Vinaya's inclusion of the Dhammacakkappavattanasutta.
152
The reader would not expect to encounter a lengthy rendition of, say, the "chain of dependent
origination," the paiccasamuppda, within his biography, and so reading this in the Jinamahnidna
would be striking. See the account of the three watches of the night of enlightenment, pp. 91-4 below.
 70

In all these ways, the Jinamahnidna not only provides an unusually exhaustive

telling of the Buddha's life, but draws the reader's attention to the fact. The collective

impact of these various techniques would only reinforce their individual effects.

3 Techniques of textual composition identified

A Insertion and elision

The techniques used most frequently in the composition of the Jinamahnidna

involve the insertion of material into and the elision of material from the portions of text

taken from its sources. Throughout the Jinamahnidna we will find these moves taking

place at various levels of magnitude, from the insertion or elision of discrete clauses, all

the way to the insertion into the Jinamahnidna's account of approximately fifty pages

that do not occur in the primary source.

i. The insertion and elision of discrete clauses within a sentence

Let us start with an example of the Jinamahnidna's both inserting and eliding

discrete clauses within the larger framework of a sentence. It comes from a section of the

Jinamahnidna which reproduces the Jtaka-nidnakath's text largely verbatim for

about two and a half pages. The extremely close verbal parallelism of the two versions of

this episode makes the points where they diverge stand out with particular clarity.

The episode involves Sujt preparing the last meal the bodhisatta will eat before
 71

his enlightenment. The Jtaka-nidnakath's account reads:

Mahpuriso Sujtam olokesi. S kram sallakkhetv "ayya may tumhkam

pariccattam gahitv yathrucim gacchath" ti vanditv "yath mayham
manoratho nipphanno, evam tumhkam pi nippajjat" ti vatv
satasahassagghanikya suvaaptiy purapaam viya anapekkh hutv
pakkmi.153
The great man looked at Sujta. She, having considered [his] form, having
honored him, saying: "Noble one, having accepted what has been offered to you
by me, go as you wish," having said: "As happiness has arisen for me, so may it
arise for you too;" being without concern for the golden bowl worth a hundred,
thousand coins as though it were an old leaf; left.

The Jinamahnidna's version does not include this qualifying clause with its

striking image (underlined for clarity). On the other hand, it incorporates an extra pair of

clauses and an extra word (all underlined). The Jinamahnidna's version reads:

Mahpuriso Sujtam olokesi. S bodhisattassa kram sallakkhetv "ayya may

tumhkam pariccattam tam gahetv yathrucim gacchath" ti tam ptim
niyydesi. Niyydetv ca pana "yath mayham manoratho nipphanno, evam
tumhkam pi nipphajjat" ti vatv pakkmi.154
The great man looked at Sujt. She, having considered the bodhisatta's form,
saying: "Noble one, having accepted that which has been offered to you by me,
go as you wish," gave him that bowl. And then having given it, having said: "As
happiness has arisen for me, so may it arise for you too," left.

The elision from between the vatv and pakkmi at the end of the

Jinamahnidna's sentence of the qualifying clause found in that position in the Jtaka-

nidnakath could not be clearer. The insertion between the Jtaka-nidnakath's

153
Ja I 69:28-70:3.
154
Jmn 74:19-22.
 72

gacchath ti (vanditv) and yath of the Jinamahnidna's two clauses tam ptim

niyydesi; niyydetv ca pana is similarly clear (although the Jtaka-nidnakath

includes a vanditv not found in the Jinamahnidna).

The principal point here is simply to demonstrate the cleanness of the elision and

insertions. Such precision is typical of the Jinamahnidna's manipulations of its

sources. It is also instructive, however, to consider the possible effects of these moves on

the emerging depiction of the episode. I do so to illustrate how even seemingly small

omissions or additions can subtly add meaning to or shift the emphasis of the source

material.

In this case we can perhaps see them as contributing to the Jinamahnidna's

conveying a greater depth of the interpersonal dynamics between the bodhisatta and

Sujt than was achieved in the Jtaka-nidnakath's account. This is a small instance

of what I will show is a wider pattern in the text of the Jinamahnidna working with its

sources to convey a richer, more nuanced representation of the Buddha.

By inserting niyydetv ca pana at that pointand thereby creating a sentence

that reads: Niyydetv ca pana "yath mayham manoratho nipphanno, evam tumhkam

pi nipphajjat" ti vatv pakkmithe Jinamahnidna brings to greater prominence in

its account of their interaction a nuance that is not so strongly conveyed in the Jtaka-

nidnakath's version. It may be that, between the gerund clause niyydetv ca pana and

Sujt's statement about her own state of mind and her wish for the bodhisatta's, there is
 73

not simply a temporal relation of sequentiality between the two actions (which is the base

meaning carried by the gerund form). It may be that there is an implicit causal relation:

because of the action which has preceded there is the action which follows. This type of

implicit causal relation is not at all uncommon in Pli's use of the gerund.

This suggestion is strengthened by the back-to-back repetition of the verb:

niyydesi niyydetv. The stress on that verb at the beginning of the sentence highlights

that the action connoted by the verb is an integral element of the rest of the sentence.

That is, the act of giving is integral to her expression of happiness.155 Here the

implication would be that what Sujt is feeling and expressing is: "Happiness has arisen

in me through having given you the bowl, and I wish that you will likewise experience

happiness, through my having given you the bowl" or "through your having received the

bowl from me."

There is a strong sense of reciprocity in this small incident, fostered by the

Jinamahnidna's addition of that phrase: she gains happiness from giving him a bowl,

he gains happiness from her giving it or from receiving it from her. Even the

Jinamahnidna's addition of bodhisattassa in the first part of this sentence, can be seen

to contribute to the emergence of this theme of reciprocity. It makes even more explicit

the mutuality of the gaze, where the bodhisatta looks at Sujt and Sujt looks at the

155
Hallisey points out that the case that the gift is a causal factor in her happiness is made stronger by the
use in this passage of pariccattam, which is a key element in the act of dna (personal communication).
 74

bodhisatta.

The theme of reciprocity, strengthened by the Jinamahnidna's additions to the

account, is further reinforced by the text's elision of the qualifying clause found in the

Jtaka-nidnakath. The clause depicts Sujt as "being without concern for the golden

bowl worth a hundred, thousand coins as though it were an old leaf." While this

highlights her readiness to give, it focuses on a negatively oriented not caring about

losing a valuable bowl, an absence of regret, rather than a positive pleasure in having

given. This does not carry overtones of reciprocity, and in fact weakens such a sense in

that it raises the question of calculation. Even though it portrays Sujt as not making

that calculation, the very presence of the question of calculation undermines the sense of

mutual focus that is brought out in the Jinamahnidna's version of the incident.

In addition to the theme of reciprocity contributing to the happiness of the two

figures in this scene is a play on the use of happiness as a synonym for nibbna. The

force of this is heightened by the fact that the reader knows that Sujt's wish for the

bodhisattathat he may experience happinessis indeed realized in his attainment of

nibbna, which is to follow very shortly afterward. Moreover, the reader knows that

Sujt's gift is a necessary element in his being able to reach this attainment, so the

reader also knows that her wish is completely fulfilled.

In this small example we have witnessed the precision with which the

Jinamahnidna applies its most basic techniques, as well as something of what can be
 75

achieved by the use of those techniques. The concurrence of the insertions and elision in

the Jinamahnidna's rendition is able to strengthen the theme of reciprocity and

pleasure in its account of this incident.

ii. Maintaining the skeletal outline of a sentence while refashioning it through the
insertion of extra material

The example above involved the Jinamahnidna inserting short clauses into a

single sentence. In other places the Jinamahnidna inserts material into what it takes

from the source on a much grander scale. In using a passage from, say, the Jtaka-

nidnakath, the Jinamahnidna will sometimes preserve most of the passage's

sentences virtually verbatim, but make significant changes to one sentence within it. In

doing so, it will sometimes split the Jtaka-nidnakath's single sentence into multiple

segments and insert other material between those segments. In this way the Jtaka-

nidnakath's original sentence structures the resultant, much longer sentence or

sentences in the Jinamahnidna. Yet the tone of the Jtaka-nidnakath's original

sentence may be markedly changed through being refashioned in this way.

The following example shows clearly how this works. It comes from the account

of the Buddha's reunion with his family, before he instructs them. This is an important

symbolic moment in the Buddha's life: he has returned to the milieu he left behind in his

quest for enlightenment, so the two realms of life available to him are brought into

juxtaposition; and his sovereignty is about to be questioned by his hierarchy-minded

 76

relatives.

The Jinamahnidna's overall rendition of the episode follows the Jtaka-

nidnakath's version very closely. However, it makes significant changes to one

sentence from the passage, while keeping the sentences either side of it almost exactly the

same.156 The close parallelism of the preceding and succeeding sentences makes the

alterations to the intermediate one stand out all the more starkly.

The Jtaka-nidnakath tells us that after the Buddha had entered the grove

where he will teach:

Skiyapi ... Nigrodhrmam eva agamamsu.

Tatra bhagav vsatisahassakhsavaparivuto paattavarabuddhsane nisdi.
Skiy nma mnajtik mnatthaddh.157
"The Sakyans also ... went to the banyan grove.
There the Lord, surrounded by twenty-thousand arahants, sat on the excellent
Buddha-seat that had been prepared. The Sakyans were naturally proud,
stubbornly proud."

The Jinamahnidna's account of this same incident reads:

Skiy pi ... Nigrodhrmam eva agamamsu.

156
The Jinamahnidna also adds an extra, short sentence before picking up the Jtaka-nidnakath's
following sentence.
157
Ja I 88:12-3. The underlining highlights the sentence that is expanded in the Jinamahnidna's version.
The adjectival compound khsava, "whose impurities have been extinguished," is used particularly to
designate an arahant. The savas are the "impurities" (sensual desire, clinging to existence, speculative
views, and ignorance) which John Strong nicely describes as "all the negative influences that attach a
person to this world, [which] are seen as flowing out towards this world," in John Strong, The Buddha: A
Short Biography (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2001), 75. An arahant is one who has attained nibbna
in this life. Arahat-ship is the highest of the four stages of the spiritual path: stream-enterer, once-returner,
non-returner, arahant.
 77

Bhagav pi, sahassaramshi aavakucchim obhsayamno blasuriyo viya,

sakalanigrodhrme hemarasadhrena sicanto viya, chabbaabuddhaghara-
ramshi vijotamno trgaaparipuacando viya, anekahamsagaaparivuto
suvaahamsarj viya, anekacatuppadagaa-parivuto kesarasharj viya,
catuvaagaaparivuto cakkavattinarindo viya, amaragaaparivuto Sakko
devarj viya, brahmagaaparivuto Mahbrahm viya ca,
vsatisahassakhsavaparivuto nigrodhrme pvisi. Pavisitv ca pana
bhagav suphullarattapadumavanasaamajjhe reuy sacaraapaca-
vaapasobhitabhamarayugalam viya pacavaapasdavicittanayanehi
sakalaparisam olokayamno alakatavarabuddhsane nisdi.
Bhikkhusagho pi paipiy attano pattsane nisdi. Skiy mnajtik
mnatthaddh.158

"The Sakyans also ... went to the banyan grove.

Then the Lord, like the newly risen sun illuminating the interior of the ocean
with its thousand rays, as though sprinkling the entire banyan grove with a stream
of the essence of gold, like the full moon with constellations of stars irradiating
with the rays of six colors that surround a Buddha, like a maned lion king
surrounded by a herd of many four-footed animals, like a cakkavatti king159
surrounded by a crowd of the four castes, like the king of the gods Sakka
surrounded by immortals, and like Mahbrahm surrounded by a crowd of
Brahms, entered the banyan grove surrounded by twenty-thousand arahants.
And then having entered, looking at the whole assembly with eyes that were
variegated with five colors visible, like a pair of bees shining with five colors at a
meeting point of pollen in the middle of a forest grove of red lotuses in full
bloom, the Lord sat on the excellent Buddha-seat that had been decorated. The
community of monks also sat in order each on the seat they had obtained. The
Sakyans were naturally proud, stubbornly proud."

The almost perfect preservation of the three parts of the Jtaka-nidnakath's

158
Jmn 169:8-14. The underlining indicates the elements of the Jtaka-nidnakath's account that are
maintained in the Jinamahnidna's version, and again the bold highlights the elements of the Jtaka-
nidnakath's single sentence now split up.
159
A cakkavatti or "wheel-turning" king is the highest possible grade of king, extremely rare, one who sets
rolling the wheel of Dhamma by ruling righteously in accordance with the Dhamma. When still a boy, it
was predicted of the bodhisatta that he would become either a cakkavatti king or a Buddha.
 78

sentence here makes it especially clear that the Jinamahnidna structures its account of

the incident around the Jtaka-nidnakath's bare-bones sentence, while significantly

refashioning it. It achieves this principally by inserting a series of similes and splitting

the sentence into two. In the process it transforms material that was blunt and unadorned

into a more stylized and polished prose. It also transforms it into a depiction of a rich and

magnificent scene, which highlights the inappropriate vanity of the Sakyans.

The work that was done by the Jtaka-nidnakath's sentence is significantly

altered in the sentence's transformation into the version found in the Jinamahnidna. In

the Jtaka-nidnakath it conveyed a limited amount of information, principally

information that moved the plot forward, if minimally"there the Buddha sat on a seat

prepared for him." The Jinamahnidna's version conveys that information, but that is

the least important thing it does.

Instead of the action, the Jinamahnidna focuses on and elaborates the Jtaka-

nidnakath's brief description of the Buddha as "surrounded by twenty thousand with

their impurities extinguished." In the Jinamahnidna's version the twenty thousand

arahants become rays of light and crowds of beings arrayed around and highlighting the

noble, central figure. In the process, instead of moving the plot forward, it retards it. The

Jinamahnidna does not take the reader swiftly on to the next stage of the events, as did

the Jtaka-nidnakath, but rather slows the reader's attention down, to focus it
 79

lingeringly on the figure of the Buddha at this significant moment.160

What the Jinamahnidna's version primarily does is elevate the reader's

perception of the Buddha at this point in the story, creating a multi-layered portrayal of

him as irradiating a celestial light that fills the surrounding space, while being equated

with the noblest of figures, and displaying a sensuous physical beauty. This description

makes the reader more aware of Gotama as a being who is more than just human, a

member of the category of buddhas, than the Jtaka-nidnakath's version.

This example shows how the import and function of a sentence can be radically

altered by manipulations as simple as inserting similes into its bare bones structure. We

do not see the Jinamahnidna conveying any substantive information in these textual

alterations that was not conveyed by the Jtaka-nidnakath. The alterations are at the

level of style and tone. Yet they add an element of richness to the Jinamahnidna's

portrayal of the Buddha and his life.

iii. The elision of a clause and its replacement by material from a different source

Let us now turn to an example of a textual elision that will pave the way for our

exploration of some of the larger-scale and more visible elisions and insertions. This

160
For an interesting discussion of narrative "slowing down," see Eco's Six Walks in the Fictional Woods,
49-73, which builds on Italo Calvino's study of the literary quality of "quickness" in Italo Calvino, Six
Memos for the Next Millennium, The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures, 1985-86, 1st Vintage International ed.
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988; New York: Random House, Vintage Books, Vintage
International, 1993); see especially ibid., 45-8.
 80

example involves the elision of a clause found in the Jtaka-nidnakath's version and

its replacement with a much longer passage taken from another text, which is

repositioned within the flow of the Jinamahnidna's narrative. It is taken from the

Sujt episode, which (as we saw earlier) follows the Jtaka-nidnakath's version very

closely.

A page into its account of the Sujt episode, the Jtaka-nidnakath tells us:

Bodhisatto pi kho tasmim rattibhge paca mahsupine disv parigahanto

"nissamsayenham Buddho ajja bhavissm" ti katasannihno tass rattiy
accayena katasarrapaijaggano bhikkhcraklam gamayamno pto va
gantv tasmim rukkhamle nisdi attano pabhya sakalarukkham
obhsayamno.161

Then the bodhisatta, having seen five great dreams in that part of the night,
interpreting (them), having come to the conclusion, 'I will undoubtedly become a
Buddha today,' at the end of that night, having done his bodily preparations,
waiting for the time for his alms-round, having come early, sat at that base of the
tree, irradiating the entire tree with his light.

At the same point the Jinamahnidna's account reads,

Bodhisatto pi tass rattiy accayena katasarrapaijaggano bhikkhcravelam

gamayamno pto va gantv attano pabhya sakalarukkhamlam
obhsayamno tasmim yeva rukkhamle nisdi.162
Then the bodhisatta at the end of that night, having done his bodily preparations,
waiting for the time for his alms-round, having come early, irradiating the entire
base of the tree with his light, sat at that very base of the tree.

There is a lot conveyed in the Jtaka-nidnakath's sentence. What would seem

161
Ja I 69:5-10.
162
Jmn 74:1-2.
 81

to be highly significant informationthat the bodhisatta had five dreams which told him

he would definitely become a Buddha that very dayis not accorded great visibility by

being contained within a subordinate clause that is just one among a series of clauses

within a larger sentence. One could reasonably presume that such significant information

would be important to the reader's experience of the account, giving a heightened sense

of the impending enlightenment as well as adding an element to what the reader might

surmise of the bodhisatta's self-perception in his subsequent actions.

Looking from the Jtaka-nidnakath's perspective, it might seem odd that the

Jinamahnidna should omit this significant element of the story. However, the question

is rendered moot when one approaches it from the perspective of the Jinamahnidna.

For in the Jinamahnidna, right after it has recounted the bodhisatta's abandonment of

the austerities he had been practising for six years and his consequent rejection by his

former colleaguesbefore the story of Sujt even beginsit tells us: "Then at dawn ...

the great man had five great dreams. That is to say (seyyathdam) ...."163 This is followed

by a detailed description of the contents of the dreams. The text then goes on: "For this

was said by the Lord in the Pacakanipta in the Aguttaranikya," introducing an

analysis of the dreams' import that covers just over a page.164 The coverage of the

dreams is completed with a chapter-ending title: pacamahsupinakath samatt ("The

163
Jmn 71.
164
vuttam hetam bhagavat anguttaranikye pacakanipte ... (Jmn 71:19).
 82

account of the five great dreams is finished").165

None of the Jinamahnidna's chief sources includes any information about the

content or significance of the dreams in their accounts of this episode.166 For this

information the Jinamahnidna has had to turn to the Aguttaranikya, as the text itself

makes clear (at least for the analysis). It is therefore telling that the description of the

dreams is preceded by seyyathdam and their analysis by a citation of the material's

source. As I noted above, these are both techniques the Jinamahnidna uses to

introduce material taken from a source other than the one it is primarily following. The

function of these two devices of drawing attention to the text's incorporation of extra

material, and thereby signaling its comprehensiveness, is amply demonstrated here.

What is further revelatory of the techniques through which the Jinamahnidna's

version of this episode is constructed is that the material from the Aguttaranikya is

neatly spliced between the two sentences that respectively precede and begin the Jtaka-

nidnakath's account of the Sujt episode. That is, in the Jtaka-nidnakath, the final

sentence of the preceding episode and the first sentence of the Sujt episode read:

Pacavaggiy bhikkh ... mahpurisam pahya attano attano pattacvaram

gahetv ahrasayojanamaggam gantv Isipatanam pavisimsu. Tena kho pana
samayena Uruvelyam Senninigame Sennikuimbikassa gehe nibbatt Sujt

165
Jmn 72.
166
Cf. Bv-a 7, Ap-a 75.
 83

nma drik ....167

In the Jinamahnidna the sentences that precede the material about the dreams read:
Pacavaggiy bhikkh ... mahpurisam pahya attano pattacvaram gahetv
ahrasayojanamaggam gantv Brasiyam Isipatanam samppuimsu. Te
tattha vasimsu.168

The sentence that immediately follows the two pages of material from the
Aguttaranikya reads:
Tena kho pana samayena Uruvelyam Sennigame Senkuambikassa gehe
nibbatt Sujt nma drik ....169

Apart from the Jinamahnidna's addition of a three-word sentence after the Jtaka-
nidnakath's preceding sentence, the sentences that precede and follow the inserted
material in the Jinamahnidna are almost identical to their counterparts in the Jtaka-
nidnakath.
In other words, in using the Jtaka-nidnakath's telling of the Sujt episode,

the Jinamahnidna has omitted its clause about the dreams and instead replaced it with

a two page account taken from another text, which it has shifted in location within the

story and neatly spliced between the end of the Jtaka-nidnakath's previous episode

and the beginning of the current one.170 It seems reasonable to assume that the lengthy

167
"The monks in the group of five ... having left the great man, each having taken his own bowl and robe,
having gone along a path of eighteen yojanas, entered Isipatana. But at that time in Uruvel in the town
Senni a girl called Sujt was born in the house of the landowner Senni ...." (Ja I 67:31-68:7). The Pali
Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary defines a yojana as "as much as can be traveled with one yoke (of
oxen), a distance of about seven miles, which is given by [Buddhaghosa] as equal to 4 gvutas" (T.W.
Rhys Davids and William Stede, ed., The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary [1921-1925; reprint,
Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1999], 559).
168
"The monks in the group of five ... having left the great man, having taken their bowl and robe, having
gone along a path of eighteen yojanas, reached Isipatana in Bras. They lived there" (Jmn 70:19-24).
169
"But at that time in Uruvel in the town Sen a girl called Sujt was born in the house of the landowner
Sen ..." (Jmn 73:1-2).
170
In introducing the account of the dreams the Jinamahnidna includes a phrase specifying the time they
 84

account of the dreams is placed at the break-point between the two episodes in order to

avoid disrupting the narrative flow of the Sujt episode as told in the Jtaka-

nidnakath. By these means the Jinamahnidna has included more information than is

provided by the Jtaka-nidnakath's account of the episode, while preserving the

latter's narrative structure.

We have here seen some of the quintessential features of the Jinamahnidna's

treatment of its source material. The precision of the splicing by which text is elided

from and material from another source is inserted into the structuring text's material

clearly displays the Jinamahnidna's simultaneous efforts to create a more

comprehensive account and yet preserve the narrative framework provided by the main

structuring text. The Jinamahnidna has also drawn attention to its interpolation and

therefore its comprehensiveness by introducing the material with seyyathdam and a

citation.

iv. Large-scale insertions of material from multiple sources

The largest-scale interpolation to be found in the segment of the Jinamahnidna

that is framed by the Jtaka-nidnakath occurs in its telling of the events that

occurred (Jmn 71:1) which makes clear that the timing of the actual incident referred to is not changed by
the Jinamahnidna's shifting the account's placement within the text. Of course, there is a change in the
timing of the events within the narrative.
 85

immediately follow the Buddha's enlightenment. The Jtaka-nidnakath's coverage is

minimal at this point, and the Jinamahnidna turns to a number of other sources for an

extended portion of its account. Events that the Jtaka-nidnakath covers in just over

four pages171 the Jinamahnidna recounts in fifty-five.172 The sheer disparity of the

coverage here is likely to alert the reader to the Jinamahnidna's fuller telling of this

important period of the Buddha's life.

a) Differential coverage

The Jtaka-nidnakath conveys in one and a half pages all of the following

events: the Buddha's being asked by the gods to teach and their subsequent discussion

over whom to teach first; his converting and establishing in arahat-ship his first disciples,

the group of five monks (pacavaggiyabhikkh); his then bringing Yasa (and his fifty-

four friends) to arahat-ship; his sending these followers out into the world to teach; his

establishing the thirty Bhaddavaggiya friends at various stages of the path; and his

conversion and bringing to arahat-ship of the three ascetics, the brothers Uruvelakassapa,

Nadkassapa, and Gaykassapa together with their thousand followers.173 The

171
Ja I 81-5.
172
Jmn 99-154.
173
Ja I 81:8-82:29. As elsewhere, the Visuddhajanavilsin follows the Jtaka-nidnakath's account here
verbatim (Ap-a 85:35-87:21). The Madhuratthavilsin's account of these events is also brief though it is
differentially covered. It has a longer account of the Buddha's interaction with Brahm Sahampati; an even
more abbreviated version of the events up to the sending out of his followers to teach; but then it adds
 86

Jinamahnidna recounts those same events in forty-six pages.174

The Jtaka-nidnakath tells the story of Bimbisra's donation of the Veuvana

park to the Buddha in two and a half pages. The Jinamahnidna's version takes five.

The Jtaka-nidnakath then recounts the conversion and attainment of arahat-

ship of Sriputta and Moggallna in ten lines.175 The Jinamahnidna's account takes

three pages.

At this point, the Jtaka-nidnakath is done with the story of the early

conversions and it moves on to talk about the desire of the Buddha's father, Suddhodana,

to see his son again.176 The Jtaka-nidnakath makes no mention of another of the

Buddha's principal disciples, Mahkassapa.177 The Jinamahnidna, however, provides a

six page account of the conversion of Mahkassapa before it moves on to Suddhodana.178

length to its account of the latter by including verses not found in the Jtaka-nidnakath (Bv-a 9:32-
10:32, 13:28-31, 18:12-19:32). The Dhammapadahakath's account is more abbreviated than the Jtaka-
nidnakath's (Dhp-a I.86:16-87:20).
174
Jmn 99-100.
175
Ja I 85:14-24. Again, the Visuddhajanavilsin follows the Jtaka-nidnakath's account here exactly
(Ap-a 90:1-11). As noted before, this event is not even mentioned by the Madhuratthavilsin.
176
Ja I 85.
177
None of the Jinamahnidna's regular source texts for this segment includes any information about
Mahkassapa at this point in their account. Not only the Jtaka-nidnakath, but also the Buddhavamsa,
Madhuratthavilsin and Dhammapadahakath make no mention of Mahkassapa's conversion at all. As
we will shortly see, the Jinamahnidna will make use of material from the Visuddhajanavilsin. This
material is, however, from the body of the bookin the section commenting on the Apadnas of individual
monksand not the introductory, nidna section from which most of the Visuddhajanavilsin's material
used by the Jinamahnidna is taken.
178
Jmn 149-154.
 87

b) Movement between sources

In the face of the Jtaka-nidnakath's striking dearth of information on these

important events, the Jinamahnidna's account shows repeated movement between

multiple sources for material that will tell this phase of the Buddha's story in sufficient

detail. It also makes use of texts that are outside its usual range of sources.179 The

following overview will give a sense of the repeated switching between sources needed

to construct the Jinamahnidna's account of this period.

Up to the point in the story immediately preceding the first events listed above

(when the Buddha converts his first followers, the laymen Tapussa and Bhallika), the

Jinamahnidna follows the Jtaka-nidnakath's version.180 After that it diverges for

approximately fifty-five pages, and it does not take up the Jtaka-nidnakath's material

again until it gets to the story of Suddhodana summoning his son home. At this point, the

Jinamahnidna's material once again becomes structured around the Jtaka-

nidnakath's account.

After the story of Tapussa and Bhallika, the Jinamahnidna takes from the

Madhuratthavilsin a page and a half that serves as the beginning of its account of the

Buddha's reflection on whether to teach the Dhamma and the god Brahm Sahampati's

179
For example, Jmn 90-1 contains a section of material from the Paisambhidmaggaa source it uses
extremely rarelyto describe the Buddha's performance of the "twin miracle," the yamakapihiriya.
180
Jmn 97:8-98:6. The Jinamahnidna's version is framed around the Jtaka-nidnakath's material (Ja I
80), but also includes a couple of passages from the account found in the Vinaya's Mahvagga (Vin I.4).
 88

entreaties that he do so.181 When the Madhuratthavilsin's account is no longer helpful,

it turns to the Mahvagga of the Vinaya, which it then follows very closely (and for long

stretches verbatim) for the next forty pages.182 In this section of text are told the events

from Brahm Sahampati's intervention to the conversion of the three Kassapa brothers

and their followers.183

181
Jmn 99:8-100:17; Bv-a 9:32-10:32, then, after skipping some pages of word-commentary, Bv-a 13:28-
31.
182
Jmn 101:4-140:6; Vin I.4-34. My purpose in this section is to demonstrate the large-scale alternation
between sources in the Jinamahnidna's account of this period. So I will just sketch out here the few
significant divergences from or alterations to the Vinaya's material that are found in this forty-page section.
The principal divergences between the two bodies of material concern verse (most notably, the inclusion of
seemingly original verse summaries of the account's progress and the apparent translation of prose from the
Vinaya into verse in the Jinamahnidna). The only other significant differences are the Jinamahnidna's
inclusion of a detailed discussion (Jmn 115-9), taken from the Madhuratthavilsin (Bv-a 119-22), of the
anupubbkath, "the graduated sermon," which the Vinaya names without explaining; and the inclusion of
material from elsewhere, principally the Madhuratthavilsin (Bv-a 119), in the telling of the Buddha's
sending his converts out into the world to teach (Jmn 122-4). The Jinamahnidna does not indicate the
shifts between sources in its material here.
183
One aspect of the Jinamahnidna's rendition of these events is striking and important. That is, it gives
great prominence to the accounts of the different miracles the Buddha performed in this period. This is
appropriate considering the Jinamahnidna goes on to include the Buddha's teaching career, because the
Buddha was held to teach both by word and by miracle. It is therefore fitting to preface its account of his
teaching with attention to his performance of miracles.
The Jinamahnidna accords the miracles great prominence by making use of two, very different
forms of manipulation of the source material. The first, witnessed in the majority of the accounts of the
miracles, is the apparent conversion into verse by the Jinamahnidna's composer of what was prose in the
Vinaya. The alternation within the Jinamahnidna's text between prose and verse creates variation in the
narrative tone, which can be expected to make the overall account more engaging to a reader.
The second technique evidenced here is the Jinamahnidna's breaking up of its account of the
miracles by the use of chapter-ending titles. The Jinamahnidna's general use of such titles will be
discussed in Chapter 2, but it is useful to note their effect here. The Vinaya divides off its accounts of the
first five miracles in this way (Vin I 25-8), but recounts the rest of them continuously without breaking up
the narrative, concluding simply: "in this way there were three and a half thousand miracles" (Vin I 34).
The Jinamahnidna, on the other hand, divides up its accounts much more extensively. It follows the
Vinaya's division for the first five miracles (Jmn 128-130, 132), but goes on to break up the rest of the
Vinaya's accountinitially into "the tenth," "the eleventh," and so on until the fifteenth (Jmn 134-6); then
into seven batches of five-hundred (Jmn 136-7); plus a final one (Jmn 138). In several cases it provides
 89

To tell the story of King Bimbisra's donation of the Veuvana park to the

Buddha,184 the Jinamahnidna returns for five pages to the version found in the

Madhuratthavilsin,185 though it supplements the account found there with material from

the Vinaya.

For the account of the conversion and attainment of arahat-ship of Sriputta and

Moggallna, the Jinamahnidna uses the Vinaya's telling for three pages.186 However,

while the Vinaya only narrates the story of their encounter with the Buddha, the

Jinamahnidna goes on to include an explanation of why it took these two chief

disciples longer to achieve arahat-ship than their colleagues. This material is taken from

the Aggasvakavatthu ("the story of the chief disciples") of the

titles for portions of text consisting of just two sentences. This draws much more attention to the individual
miracles recounted in those sentences than if the accounts were allowed to run on continuously.
The prominence the Jinamahnidna accords these miracles is made clear by a comparison with
how the other texts the Jinamahnidna uses as sources for this segment of the text handles them. None of
the Jinamahnidna's four other principal prose source texts provides any narrative detail of the miracles
whatsoever. They all simply mention their having happened in a brief gerund clause: ahuhni
pihriyasahassni dassetv, "having manifested three and a half thousand miracles" (Ja I 82:30, Ap-a
87:21, Bv-a 19:33, Dhp-a 87:21). The Buddhavamsa does not mention this series of miracles at all. So,
while the Vinaya gives a lot more prominence to the miracles than these other texts, the Jinamahnidna
goes even further and really draws maximum attention to them.
184
Jmn 140-145.
185
The Madhuratthavilsin's account here (Bv-a 19-22) is, in parts, extremely close to that found in the
Jtaka-nidnakath (Ja I 82-85), but the Madhuratthavilsin contains material not found in the Jtaka-
nidnakath and, from the comparison of the texts' choices of individual words, we can tell that the
Jinamahnidna is following the Madhuratthavilsin's version.
186
Jmn 145-7; Vin I.39-43.
 90

Dhammapadahakath.187

Though the Jtaka-nidnakath ends its account of the conversions at that point,

the Jinamahnidna goes on to include the story of Mahkassapa's conversion.188 The

first four and a half pages are taken verbatim from the Sratthappaksin (the

commentary on the Samyuttanikya),189 augmented with material from the

Samyuttanikya itself190 and also from the Dhammapadahakath's version of this

story.191 This brings the Jinamahnidna's account of the Buddha's early conversions to

a close and it can now move on to King Suddhodana's efforts to see his son. It is at this

point that it takes up once more the text that had for long been its principal frame of

reference.

The Jinamahnidna's departure from the template of the Jtaka-nidnakath

here and the careful interweaving of material from a number of sources the departure

necessitates are unequivocal testimony to the text's commitment to telling the Buddha's

story to the fullest extent feasible.

187
Jmn 147:23-148:9; Dhp-a 95-6.
188
This episode will be considered in detail in the next chapter. I will argue there that it throws into high
relief many of the aspects of relationality that are key in the Jinamahnidna's portrayal of the Buddha.
189
Spk II.191-7.
190
S II.220-1.
191
Dhp-a 260-5.
 91

v. The incorporation within the narrative of different linguistic registers

The Jinamahnidna sometimes incorporates within its narrative framework

material of an entirely different linguistic register. The technique of inserting material

into a clause or sentence from the primary source, which then acts as a structuring

framework, is the same. Yet if the material added consists of, say, philosophical

discourse, the insertion does not simply add narrative detail or raise the stylistic tone of

the primary source. It produces text of a very different type.

A particularly clear example of this is afforded by the Jinamahnidna's account

of the bodhisatta's actual attainment of omniscience. The Jtaka-nidnakath conveys

this monumentally significant event in two phrases that form part of a longer sentence:

Evam dharamne yeva suriye Mahpuriso Mrabalam vidhametv

cvarparipatamnehi bodhirukkhamkurehi rattapavadalehi viya pjayamno
pahame yme pubbenivsaam majjhimayme dibbacakkhum visodhetv,
pacchimayme paiccasamuppde am otresi. Athassa dvdasapadikam
paccaykram vaavivaavasena ....192

The Jinamahnidna, on the other hand, stretches its account over more than three pages:
Evam dharamne yeva suriye Mahpuriso Mrabalam viddhamsetv uparpari

192
Ja I 75:24-6. "When the great man had rousted Mra's army in this way while the sun still remained,
being honored by the shoots of the bodhi tree falling around his robe, as though by chips of red coral,
having purified in the first watch of the night the knowledge of his previous existences and in the middle
watch the divine eye, in the last watch he directed his understanding to dependent origination. Then (while
he was reflecting on) the mode of causation with its twelve elements, forwards and backwards ...." The
clauses that are split up in the Jinamahnidna's version are underlined.
 92

patamnehi bodhirukkhakurehi rattapavasadisehi pjayamno pahamayme

pubbenivutthakkhandhasantnnussaraavasena anekavihitam pubbenivsa-
am pailabhi. Seyyathdam: ekam pi jtim dve pi jtiyo tisso pi jtiyo ... [one
paragraph] ... iti skram sauddesam anekavihitam pubbenivsam anussarati.
Tato majjhimayme dibbacakkhum visodheti. Katham? So dibbena cakkhun
visuddhena atikkantamnusakena satte passati ... [one paragraph] ...
yathkammpage satte pajnti. Tato pacchime paiccasamuppde am
otresi. Katham? Bodhisatto kira iti paisacikkhati ... [two and a half pages] ...
vijj udapdi loko udapdi. Athassa dvdasapadikam paccaykram
samvaavivaavasena ....193

It is clear from the fact that the sentences which open and close the

Jinamahnidna's passage are almost identical to those in the Jtaka-nidnakath's

version, that the Jinamahnidna's passage has been constructed from the Jtaka-

nidnakath's material and framed by it. It is also clear that the Jinamahnidna is using

the two clauses in which the Jtaka-nidnakath reports his actual attainment of the three

knowledges to structure its account of the attainments, with the knowledge gained in each

193
Jmn 83:10-86:16. "When the great man had rousted Mra's army in this way while the sun still
remained, being honored by the shoots of the bodhi tree falling all around him, like red coral, in the first
watch of the night he attained the knowledge of his previous existences that was manifold by
recollecting the succession of aggregates that lived in the past. That is to say: he recollects his manifold
previous existence with its forms and its specificities in this way: 'One birth, two births, three births ... [one
paragraph] ... .' Then in the middle watch he purifies the divine eye. How so? With his purified divine
eye that transcends the human he sees beings ... [one paragraph] ... he understands that beings progress
according to their actions. Then in the last watch he directed his understanding to dependent
origination. How so? The bodhisatta apparently reflected in this way: '... [two and a half pages] ...
knowledge arose, insight arose. Then [while he was reflecting on] the mode of causation with its twelve
elements, forwards and backwards ...."
Text that is shared with the Jtaka-nidnakath is underlined here to show how the Jtaka-
nidnakath's material frames the Jinamahnidna's. The clauses from the Jtaka-nidnakath's sentence
that were split up are further written in bold to make clearer the latter's structuring function. Seyyathdam
and katham are also written in bold to highlight their positionin between the structuring fragment and
the interpolation.
 93

watch being introduced by a phrase from those two clauses.

Creating this passage therefore involved breaking up into three sections and

stretching clauses, which in the original extended over five lines, over three pages.

Detailed delineations of "the knowledge of his previous existences" (pubbenivsaa)

and "the divine eye" (dibbacakkhu)the contents of what the bodhisatta came to know

in the first and second watch of the nightwere then taken from the Aguttaranikya194

and inserted into the framework created from the Jtaka-nidnakath. For the details of

what was understood in the third watch, "the knowledge of dependent origination"

(paiccasamuppde a), the Jinamahnidna does not use material from the

Aguttaranikya but instead made use of material found in the Samyuttanikya.195

This process of composition has changed what was a narrative rendition of a

series of events into an overwhelmingly philosophical disquisition. This is a change in

both content and form. The narrative context is all but lost sight of in the course of over

three pages of philosophical discourse. In reading these pages, the figure of the Buddha

194
pubbenivsaa, A I.164:5-17; dibbacakkhu, A I.164:23-165:5.
195
S II.5:9-9:13. Since the Samyuttanikya's version is recounted in relation to the previous Buddha
Vipassi when he was still a bodhisatta, every time the Samyuttanikya says atha kho bhikkhave Vipassissa
bodhisattassa etad ahosi ... ("then, monks, the bodhisatta Vipassi thought ..."), the Jinamahnidna
replaces it with athassa etad ahosi ("then he thought ..."). The Jinamahnidna also gives a slightly more
streamlined version than the Samyuttanikya.
Since the material used for the first two watches comes from the same passage in the
Aguttaranikya, we might expect that the material for the third watch would also be taken from there.
However, this was not possible, because the passage in the Aguttaranikya is not in fact about the
knowledges gained in the three watches, and the third knowledge delineated there is not the knowledge of
dependent origination, but that of the four noble truths. The passage as a whole explains the three
knowledges that truly define the brahmin.
 94

gaining the knowledges is no longer at the forefront of the reader's attention. The content

of the knowledges is. The reader is twice made to change mental gears in passing from

the narrative account of the events leading up to this point to the laying out of the

alternative visions of existence that make up the knowledges and then back to the

narrative reporting of events.

From the opposite perspective, it can equally be said that by being incorporated

within this strongly narrative framework the reader has been made to encounter the

philosophical realities conveyed by the knowledges in a different way than when they are

divorced from the narrative context. From this perspective, framing them in this way

may lead the reader to process the content of the knowledges in a somewhat more

"narrative" way. This is a very interesting question, which merits further analysis.

Unfortunately, it lies beyond the scope of this thesis.

We can at least say that philosophical discourse is not usually encountered in the

context of a biographical depiction of the Buddha. Encountering such discourse with its

distinctly non-narrative style within the body of the narrative would undoubtedly be

unfamiliar and noticeable to the reader. The reader could not therefore help but become

aware, at these points, of the Jinamahnidna as including an unusually broad spectrum

of types of material.
 95

vi. The insertion of additional verses

It is very noticeable on reading the Jinamahnidna how much verse it includes,

and that it relatively often has sections consisting of many pages of continuous verse.196

For our purposes here, I focus only on the way this feature contributes to the effect of

comprehensiveness created by the text. It is one more way in which we see the

Jinamahnidna work to include everything relevant to the Buddha's story at each point.

The Jinamahnidna frequently adds extra verses into its account that are not

found at the parallel points in its source texts. It does this in a variety of ways, of which

we will consider just a few. Often the source text that the Jinamahnidna is following

will refer to multiple verses being spoken, but actually include either only the first or the

first and the last. In recounting that part of the narrative, the Jinamahnidna will almost

always include all the other relevant verses, sandwiching the previously unincluded ones

between the first and last found in its primary source. A prime example of this is the

196
The Jinamahnidna contains proportionally many more verses than its principal prose source texts.
For example, it includes quite a few verses that eulogize the Buddha. The most prominent example of this
is found in the Jinamahnidna's account of the Buddha's performing the twin miracle and preaching the
Buddhavamsa from the gem walkway (Jmn 173-9). The Jinamahnidna here includes long sections of
verses taken from the Buddhavamsa that contain laudatory epithets of the Buddha and similes comparing
him to the moon in the sky, the sun at midday, a blossoming lotus, and so on. The Madhuratthavilsin
includes some of these verses, which it comments on individually, but most of them it does not consider.
The Jtaka-nidnakath does not include any of these verses.
There are also examples of descriptive verses of this type scattered throughout the
Jinamahnidna, though not usually in long sections. The Jtaka-nidnakath on the other hand contains
only four such verses altogether. Three of them report Sakka's praise of the Buddha (Ja I 84, included in the
Jinamahnidna on p. 142) and the fourth is the first of the narashagth spoken by Rhulamt when she
first sees the Buddha after his return to Kapilavatthu. The Jinamahnidna on the other hand includes all
eight narashagth (Jmn 180-1).
 96

verses that Kudyin speaks to the Buddha, describing the beauty of the path to

Kapilavatthu. In its version of the episode as a whole, the Jinamahnidna follows the

Jtaka-nidnakath's account quite closely. However, while the Jtaka-nidnakath

reports Kudyin as speaking sixty verses but includes only the first and the last, the

Jinamahnidna reports him as speaking sixty-four verses and then includes sixty-four

verses, its first and last being the first and last cited by the Jtaka-nidnakath.197

The Jinamahnidna will also simply add verses at points where the text it is

following has none. This is clearly seen in the account of the King Suddhodana telling

the Buddha what a loyal wife Rhulamt has been during his long absence. Again, the

Jinamahnidna is here following the Jtaka-nidnakath's version closely, but in

between two sentences that are contiguous in the latter the Jinamahnidna neatly splices

two pages of verse in which the king praises his daughter-in-law.198

Another technique sometimes used by the Jinamahnidna is citing quite

different verses (often many more in number) than are found at the parallel point in its

197
Jmn 156-167. The source of these verses is convoluted, and it is not the place here to offer a thorough
investigation. I will just note that while the Jtaka-nidnakath and the Madhuratthavilsin quote the
same two verses, the Apadna and its commentary and the Theragth and its commentary include many
more. The Visuddhajanavilsin, for example, includes forty-six (Ap-a 533-7). The first and fifth of the
Visuddhajanavilsin's verses are the same two as are found in the Jtaka-nidnakath and
Madhuratthavilsin, and the first and the last of the Jinamahnidna's sixty-four verses. However, the
remaining forty-four verses found in the Visuddhajanavilsin are not attested in this section of the
Jinamahnidna, which instead has a wholly different set. I have not been able to identify the source of the
verses in the Jinamahnidna that are not otherwise accounted for above.
198
Jmn 183-4. I have not identified the source of these verses.
 97

primary source text. In its account of the donation of the Jetavana monastery by

Anthapiika, the Jinamahnidna includes thirty-five verses extolling the benefits of

donating monasteries.199 Its account of this episode overall moves back and forth

between material from the Jtaka-nidnakath and the Vinaya, which both quote the

same five verses.200 Yet it does not include those five verses, but instead quotes verses

not found in either of those sources. The Jinamahnidna has simply substituted the

verses more suited to its purposes for those found in its sources.

In these various ways, the Jinamahnidna errs always on the side of including

more verses than its sources. This abundance would surely be noted by the reader,

unaccustomed to encountering so much verse in biographical accounts.

B Syntactic restructuring

Another major type of textual manipulation attested in the Jinamahnidna's

composition is the "refashioning" or "reworking" of material that we can reasonably

consider to have originated in one of its sources.

i. Greater structural and ideational clarity

The Jtaka-nidnakath describes the bodhisatta's progress towards the site of his

enlightenment in the following terms:

199
Jmn 194-9. Again, I have not located the source of these verses.
200
Ja I 93-4; Vin II.164.
 98

Bodhisatto pi nadtramhi supupphitaslavane divvihram katv syahasamaye

pupphnam vaato mucanakle devathi alamkatena ahsabhavitthrena
maggena sho va vijambhamno bodhirukkhbhimukho pysi.
Ngayakkhasupadayo dibbehi gandhapupphdhi pjayimsu, dibbasamgtni
pavattayimsu. Dasasahasslokadhtu ekagandh ekaml ekasdhukr ahosi.201

The bodhisatta, having spent the heat of the day in a grove of abundantly
flowering Sl trees on the bank of the river, at evening time, at the time of
flowers' coming loose from their stem, like a lion arousing himself, facing the
bodhi tree set out along a path that was eight usabhas wide,202 decorated by the
gods. Ngas,203 yakkhas,204 supaas,205 and so on honored him with heavenly
perfumes and flowers and so on, they let forth heavenly songs. The ten-thousand-
fold world-system had a single fragrance, a single garland, a single shout of
approval.

The Jinamahnidna rephrases the Jtaka-nidnakath's inelegant succession of four

disjointed and unequal sentences into one.

Bodhisatto nadtramhi supuphitaslavane divvihram katv syahasamaye

suvaasurabhikusumesu vaato omucitv cvaram parivattamnesu,
ngasupadsu dibbapupphagandhdhi pjayamnesu,
sadevatsu sdhukram dadamnesu,
dasasahasslokadhtsu ekagandhasamkiesu ekasdhukrasaddesu,
devathi alakatena ahusabhavitthramaggena vijambhamno kesarasho viya
bodhirukkhbhimukho pysi.206

201
Ja I 70:24-30.
202
An usabha is explained by the PED as a measure equivalent to one hundred and forty cubits (ibid., 156).
This would make the path over six hundred yards wide.
203
A nga is sometimes described as a kind of powerful snake spirit, but it is a complex figure frequently
found in Pli literature playing a range of roles, and that designation hardly does justice to it. See PED, 349
for a discussion of its range of meaning. Since the English language has no parallel that captures in any
meaningful way what is signified by the Pli, I have declined to translate it. The same also applies for the
terms yakkha and supaa. Ngas are natural foe of the supaa.
204
A yakkha is a kind of powerful, non-human spirit. See PED, 545.
205
The PED describes supaas as winged figures, a kind of mythical bird, and foe to the nga (ibid., 719).
206
Jmn 75:13-17.
 99

The bodhisatta, having spent the heat of the day in a grove of abundantly
flowering Sl trees on the bank of the river, at evening time, when the beautifully
colored, sweet-smelling flowers were fluttering around his robe having come
loose from their stem; when ngas, supaas, and so on were honoring him with
heavenly flowers and perfumes and so on; when they together with the gods were
giving a shout of approval; when the ten-thousand-fold world-systems were filled
with a single fragrance and with the single sound of a shout of approval; like a
maned lion arousing himself, facing the bodhi tree (he) set out along a path that
was eight usabhas wide, decorated by the gods.

Rather than switch the subject and number (singular or plural) of the finite verbs

three times as the Jtaka-nidnakath's version does (bodhisatto pysi;

ngayakkhasupadayo pjayimsu pavattayimsu; dasasahasslokadhtu ahosi), the

Jinamahnidna's version clarifies this long sentence around its singular subject and

finite verb (bodhisatto pysi), placed in initial and final positions respectively. By its

use of a series of locative absolute clauses, the Jinamahnidna's version is able to

provide a more fluent and graceful account of all these different happenings.

At the same time it makes the import of the scene more visible. It demonstrates

the mutual relations of these diverse phenomena by pivoting them all around the

bodhisatta, who is their common stimulus.

ii. Causing the material to bear additional meaning

The effects of this syntactic restructuring are not restricted to aesthetics and

making more transparent the underlying dynamic of the scene. Additional layers of

potential meaning are also infused into the passage.

 100

a) Shifting the depiction of the scene as a whole

This series of locative absolutes also adds a dimension to the reader's mental

picture of the scene described that is not so powerfully evoked by the Jtaka-

nidnakath's version. That is, the Jinamahnidna's use of a series of locative absolute

clauses that include present participles, each describing an individual occurrence, but

together conveying grammatically the simultaneous occurrence of the events they

individually report, stresses the simultaneity of all these events.

This fact has a significant impact on both the reader's experience of reading the

passage and the resulting mental picture that emerges from it. The effect on the reader in

both cases is a stretching of the mind's imaginative capacities to go beyond its regular

perceptual habits. This is certainly not something the reader is likely to be aware of,

either during or after the reading. Nonetheless, the way this grammatical structure

functions necessarily implies that while an event conveyed by a present participle in a

locative absolute clause is happening, so are equally and simultaneously happening

whatever other events are likewise conveyed by this form. This implication inevitably

leads the reader to confront a perceptual difficulty. This is the difficulty of

simultaneously perceiving two discrete occurrences, and the even greater difficulty of

simultaneously perceiving, of fully taking in, both the particularities of the two individual

events playing out at the same time and the bigger picture of which they are just two

among many elements.

 101

I suggest that being forced to confront this difficulty, if unconsciously, will likely

result in an interplay or imaginative rocking back and forth in the reader's mind between

mentally seeing a particular event occurring (the ngas and their cohorts offering flowers

and fragrance), which is what is conveyed by that particular locative absolute clause, and

perceiving somewhat diffusely the overall effect of the scene. In that rocking back and

forth, the reader may eventually be brought closer to a point where she is able to perceive

in one unitary yet detailed perception the total picture made up of all its particular

elements, which is what is conveyed by the totality of locative absolute clauses within the

encompassing structure of the sentence as a whole.

What this means specifically is that part of what the Jinamahnidna presents the

reader with here is both the particular individual happenings (it is after all impressive that

ngas and supaas, natural enemies, should band together to offer flowers and perfumes

to the bodhisatta)207 and the bigger picture of a bodhisatta at the center of a universal

outpouring of honor and celebration of his progress toward enlightenment.

It may seem that I exaggerate the importance of the perceptual aspects of what

could equally be seen as a small if charming side incident in the overall flow of the

narrative. It could also be said that the Jinamahnidna is simply raising the stylistic

tone of the Jtaka-nidnakath's telling at this point and expressing the events more

207
This aspect of the image is brought out more clearly in the Jinamahnidna's version than in that found
in the Jtaka-nidnakath, in that the Jinamahnidna pairs and juxtaposes the two, nga and supaa,
while the Jtaka-nidnakath lists nga, yakkha and supaa.
 102

felicitously. Both suggestions could be true. Nonetheless, taking seriously the clear

implications of the form used hereand these same happenings could equally have been

conveyed in any number of waysencourages us to see the Jinamahnidna as adding

an element of significance to the telling it finds in the Jtaka-nidnakath. That extra

element contributes to a richness of vision not found in its predecessor.

Beyond that, within the context of the text as a whole, I see the use of this

particular form of expression as an instantiation, as the small glint of a reflection, of

dynamics that truly are important in the Jinamahnidna's presentation of itself as a text

and of the related understanding of the Buddha it puts forward. That is, I consider that

the Jinamahnidna as a whole works to bring its reader closer to being able to perceive

the Buddha in just this waywhere breadth does not preclude focus, and focus does not

come at the expense of breadth. I also argue that, at the same time as it works to realize

this end, the Jinamahnidna also portrays this as ultimately an impossible act. Using

aspects of its form, the text informs the reader thatthough it may be able to bring him

to perceive more aspects of the Buddha's endless multifacetedness at one timethat

multifacetedness can never, by definition, be fully captured, not even by a Buddha,

omniscient as he is.

b) Adding nuances to elements of the tableau

This has been a long discussion of but one small aspect within the larger sweep of

what we need to explore. But I would like briefly to draw attention to two other means
 103

by which the Jinamahnidna's reworking of these sentences from the Jtaka-

nidnakath permits it to supplement its portrayal of the Buddha.

First, one of its locative absolute phrases develops and adds meaning to a phrase

in the Jtaka-nidnakath's version which there hangs a little starkly in the sentence and

whose import in the scenario is limited. The phrase in the Jtaka-nidnakath is

pupphnam vaato mucanakle, "at the time of flowers' coming loose from their

stem." Sandwiched between "at evening time" and the description of the path decorated

by the gods, it is not clear whether this small detail has any other significance in the

scenario than to further specify the time, and add a touch of aesthetic appeal in bringing

to the reader's mind an image of flowers.

The Jinamahnidna's reworked rendition takes this image of flowers and ties it

in more directly to the overall picture. At the same time it heightens the aesthetic

pleasure a reader is likely to feel in imagining the scene. The phrase

suvaasurabhikusumesu vaato omucitv cvaram parivattamnesu ("when the

beautifully colored, sweet-smelling flowers were fluttering around his robe having come

loose from their stem") does not only conjure up a vivid and appealing image of the

bodhisatta sitting in the grove of Sl trees beside the river, with flowers beginning to fall

onto his robes around him. It also helps make clearer the transition from his day-time

activity to what he must do in the evening. That is, the way it is expressed (in a clause

which has a parallel structure to the series of clauses that follow it and therefore ties in
 104

more closely to the actions expressed by those clauses) and its coming right after "at

evening time" suggest that this is one of the prompts which inform the bodhisatta that it

is now time to move on. It is tempting to see this as a subtle suggestion that the natural

world is joining the ngas, yakkhas, supaas, and gods in encouraging the bodhisatta to

push on toward enlightenment.

c) Introducing foreshadowing effect

The foregoing interpretation is perhaps strengthened by the way this phrase

foreshadows what happens to the bodhisatta at the time of his actually attaining

omniscience. The Jinamahnidna reports the bodhisatta at that time as "being honored

by the shoots of the bodhi tree falling all around him, like red coral."208 There is a clear

parallelism between these two descriptions of flowers or shoots falling from a tree around

the bodhisatta sitting underneath it.

The potential of this foreshadowing effect to impact the reader at this point in the

reading is strengthened by the fact that this is not a case where the parallelism only

becomes apparent in retrospect, when the reader reaches the later point in its account.

This description of the bodhisatta as he gained omniscience is also found in the Jtaka-

nidnakath, where in fact the description is even more explicitly parallel, reporting the

bodhisatta as "being honored by the shoots of the bodhi tree falling around his robe, as

208
uparpari patamnehi bodhirukkhakurehi rattapavasadisehi pjayamno (Jmn 83:10-11).
 105

though by chips of red coral."209 The Jinamahnidna's reader might reasonably be

expected to have read the Jtaka-nidnakath's account already, and hence to have a

mental picture of the bodhisatta gaining omniscience with buds falling around his robes

from the tree above him. So it is reasonable to imagine that this image might be activated

(even if only at a sub-conscious level) in the mind of the reader as she encounters a

passage where the bodhisatta is described as sitting under a tree with flowers falling onto

his robe.

The chance of the reader's making this connection is made even more likely in

this case by the fact that the Jinamahnidna's first sentence ends with the bodhisatta

setting out "facing the bodhi tree."210 That is, the account of the events which involve

the first occurrence of the image explicitly makes a connection with the bodhi tree, under

which the second occurrence took place. In a context where an explicit connection

between the two events is made, an implicit connection is more likely also to be made.

We can perhaps see this foreshadowing effect as one more means by which the

Jinamahnidna's account of this small event becomes richer and more multi-layered

than that in its source text. It is perhaps also one more, small way that the build-up to the

enlightenment is intensified, heightening the reader's sense of anticipation, and thereby

209
cvarparipatamnehi bodhirukkhamkurehi rattapavadalehi viya pjayamno (Ja I 75:23-4). This
phrase is also found in identical form in the Visuddhajanavilsin (Ap-a 80:23-4), which is here following
the Jtaka-nidnakath's account. This descriptive detail is not found in the parallel accounts of this event
in the Madhuratthavilsin (Bv-a 289) or the Dhammapadahakath (Dhp-a 86).
210
bodhirukkhbhimukho pysi (Jmn 75:17).
 106

also heightening the likely impact of the account of the enlightenment when it does

eventually come.

We have seen here various ways that restructuring the Jtaka-nidnakath's

phrasing permits the Jinamahnidna to bring out facets of the Buddha's person and

story that might otherwise not have been visible. By such means the Jinamahnidna is

able to present an unusually rich and multi-layered portrayal of the Buddha and his life.

iii. Heightening the aesthetic effect

Let us now consider one final way in which the restructuring of this passage adds

depth to the portrayal of the Buddha. We can perhaps see it as a means by which the text

heightens the reader's awareness of the Buddha's beauty. The reworking of these

sentences reminds us that, in reading the Jinamahnidna, it is important to remember

that it displays an attention to the power of Pli's poetic traditions, so closely related to

Sanskrit's.211

211
This aspect of Pli literature, its appreciation of conventional forms of textual ornamentation, has been
neglected by scholars in the field. A glance at catalogs of Pli manuscripts will show that texts such as the
Subodhlakra (a treatise on Pli poetics, composed by Sagharakkhita in Sri Lanka in the twelfth
century) and Vuttodaya (an exposition of Pli meter, also composed by Sagharakkhita) were important
parts of classical Pli scholarship in all countries where Theravda is found. See K.R. Norman, Pli
Literature: Including the canonical literature in Prakrit and Sanskrit of all the Hnayna schools of
Buddhism, A History of Indian Literature, ed. Jan Gonda, vol. VII, fasc. 2 (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz,
1983), 167-8 for a brief discussion of the Subodhlakra and the Vuttodaya.
Some Pli texts reveal more concern with these literary aspects than do others, but our
understanding of Pli literature as a whole as well as of particular texts could only be profoundly enhanced
by greater scholarly attention to Pli's poetic traditions. One scholar who has produced valuable work in
this field is Siegfried Lienhard. See, for example, Lienhard, A History of Classical Poetry: Sanskrit - Pali -
Prakrit. A History of Indian Literature, ed. Jan Gonda, vol. III, fasc. 1 (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz,
 107

1984); also Lienhard, "Sur la structure poetique des Therathergth," Journal Asiatique 263 (1975): 375-
96. A useful work on the subject of meter is A.K. Warder, Pali Metre: A Contribution to the History of
Indian Literature (London: Luzac for the Pali Text Society, 1967).
The profound and widespread impact of Pli's poetic traditions is revealed by the fact that their
influence was not confined to Pli texts. Thomas Hudak has shown that the Vuttodaya was not only
important in relation to Pli literature but was also foundational in the creation of Thai poetry (see Hudak,
The Indigenization of Pali Meters in Thai Poetry). Hudak demonstrates that a class of Thai poetry was
developed from at least the fifteenth century on which used meters (named chn) derived from Pli (ibid.,
16). The Vuttodaya was instrumental in this process in that these Thai meters were outlined in a Thai work
called the Chindman, which included translations of parts of the Vuttodaya. See also B.J. Terwiel's
discussion of the relations between the Chindman and the Vuttodaya in Terwiel, "The Introduction of
Indian Prosody among the Thais," in The Ideology and Status of Sanskrit: Contributions to the History of
the Sanskrit Language, ed. Jan E. M. Houben, Brill's Indological Library, ed. Johannes Bronkhorst, vol. 13
(Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1996), 307-23.
B.J. Terwiel draws out more explicitly than Hudak the wider social value that knowledge of Pli
poetic traditions seems to have had in Thailand during the Ayutthayan period. He shows that such literary
knowledge was accorded a great social and political importance within Ayutthayan society, being the
measure of the cultivated person. He notes that not only did the king and his entourage learn prosody, "[it]
would appear that at least during a large part of the Ayutthaya period the learning of poetics was considered
an intrinsic part of the make-up of all administrators and that the Chindman must be seen as the textbook
for those who had ambitions to join those ranks" (Terwiel, "The Introduction of Indian Prosody," 321).
Sheldon Pollock also draws attention to the importance of the Vuttodaya in influencing Thai
poetry during the Ayutthayan period (Pollock, "The Cosmopolitan Vernacular," Journal of Asian Studies
57, no. 1 [February 1998], 14). Pollock here stresses the Vuttodaya's relationship to Sanskrit poetic
traditions, in being what he calls a "translation" (ibid.) of the Sanskrit metrical treatise Vttaratnkara
(written by Kedrabhaa c. 1000 C.E.). There seems to be some disagreement about the exact relation of
the Pli text to its Sanskrit predecessor. Hudak describes the Vuttodaya as being based on but modifying
this Sanskrit work to allow it to better suit the Pli language, as the text itself claims (Hudak, The
Indigenization of Pali Meters, 49). K.R. Norman also emphasizes this aspect of the text, going so far as to
call the Vuttodaya, "the only original work on Pli metre extant" (Norman, Pli Literature, 168).
Pollock emphasizes the Vuttodaya's instrumental role in spreading the cultural and political
impact of Sanskrit aesthetic theory beyond its limited application in Sanskrit literary works and over a wide
geographical and cultural area. It is certainly important to be aware of just how widespread in the Buddhist
world was the influence of the Sanskrit poetic tradition. Just as in Thailand it crossed outside the Indo-
Aryan language family to shape Thai literature, so did it with Sihala, Tamil, and Tibetan literature, to
name just a few. For example, Dain's Kvydaraprobably the preeminent Sanskrit work on
poeticswas translated into all three languages and profoundly influenced their respective literatures (see
Pollock, "The Cosmopolitan Vernacular," 14). See C.E. Godakumbura, Sinhalese Literature, 328-330 for
the case of Sihala. For Tamil, see Anne Monius, "The Many Lives of Dain: The Kvydara in
Sanskrit and Tamil," International Journal of Hindu Studies 4/2 (2000): 1-37. For Tibetan, see Leonard
W. J. van der Kuijp, "Tibetan Belles-Lettres: The Influence of Dain and Kemendra," in Tibetan
Literature: Studies in Genre, ed. Jose Ignacio Cabezon and Roger R. Jackson (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1996),
393-410.
Pollock argues that the cultural and political impact of Sanskrit aesthetic theory was also felt in the
intellectual and ideological world of the Theravda. This is certainly true. However, the exact nature and
 108

Alliteration, anuppsa (Sanskrit: anuprsa),212 is a standard Pli and Sanskrit

"word ornament," saddlamkra (Sanskrit: abdlamkra). This is an ornamentation

that plays out at the verbal level, rather than at the level of meaning, atthlamkra

extent of that impact is hard to determine. Steven Collins has recently argued that Sanskrit and Pli literary
cultures seem not have shared precisely the same aesthetic values. He points out that there is very little
evidence of kabya being composed in Pli in Southeast Asia (Collins, "What is Literature in Pali?" 678).
Collins acknowledges that "(v)ernacular literary production in Thailand was influenced by both Sanskrit
and Pli traditions," and that the Chindma was based on the Pli Vuttodaya (ibid., 678-9). Yet this
seems not to have coexisted with the creation of works of kabya in Pli itself. Collins explains this by
suggesting that: "Distinctively Pali senses of literate excellence, personhood, and subjectivity were
produced by Theravda monasticism, but that was notor better, was never predominantlya literary
culture; it was a scholastic culture producing ideology and its human embodiments" (ibid., 683). These
important questions require further study before we can determine with more confidence the probable range
of degrees and types of influence such literary values had in the composition of Pli works in different
times and places.
212
The importance of alliteration in the composition of Pli literature is revealed in the Subodhlakra
(Padmanabh S. Jaini, ed., Subodhlakra, Pora-k [Mahsmi-k] by Sagharakkhita Mahsmi,
Abhinava-k [Nissaya] [anonymous] [Oxford: Pali Text Society, 2000]), probably the work on Pli
poetics best known within the tradition. This work describes, amongst other things, the ten good qualities
(gua) of Pli composition, of which the third is the quality of madhurat, "sweetness" or "elegance."
This quality of elegance is defined by the Subodhlakra as consisting of an arrangement of words that is
characterized by alliteration (anuppsa), which it describes as being of two types: the combination of
homorganic letters (i.e. the combination of guttural letters, of labial letters, and so on), and the repetition of
similar letters. Subodh., vs. 127 reads: madhurattam padsatti-r-anuppsavas dvidh, / siy samasuti
pubb vavutti paro yath, "Elegance is the close association of words, which is of two types according
to [type of] alliteration. The first would be an aggregate of sounds that are homogeneous, the second the
repetition of letters, as [the following examples illustrate]" (ibid., 130). The text provides an example of
the first type in a verse containing many labial letters and dental letters. The verse exemplifying the second
type, the repetition of similar letters, shows a preponderance of consonant clusters consisting of the dental
nasal plus a dental unaspirated stop. In the sentence we are examining from the Jinamahnidna we see
repeated clusters of the same consonants appearing in close proximity to each other. In the verse from the
Subodhlakra the combination of consonants is tighter, involving single-syllable consonant clusters, but
the principle is the same. The example from the Subodhlakra, verse 129, reads: Munindamandahs te
kundasandohavibbham, / disantam anudhvanti hasant candakantiyo (ibid., 132; underlining added to
highlight the relevant consonant clusters).
One scholar who has drawn attention to the prevalence of alliteration in some Pli texts is Mark
Allon in Style and Function: A study of the dominant stylistic features of the prose portions of pli
canonical sutta texts and their mnemonic function, Studia Philologica Buddhica; Monograph Series, 12
(Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies of the International College for Advanced Buddhist
Studies, 1997).
 109

(Sanskrit: arthlamkra).213 The sentence we have been studying is dense with

alliteration, both of individual letters and, more strikingly, of clusters of letters. For ease

of reference, I repeat the sentence below with its constituent phrases separated out and

numbered.

1. Bodhisatto nadtramhi supuphitaslavane divvihram katv syahasamaye

2. suvaasurabhikusumesu vaato omucitv cvaram parivattamnesu,
3. ngasupadsu dibbapupphagandhdhi pjayamnesu,
4. sadevatsu sdhukram dadamnesu,
5. dasasahasslokadhtsu ekagandhasamkiesu ekasdhukrasaddesu,
6. devathi alakatena ahusabhavitthramaggena vijambhamno kesarasho viya
bodhirukkhbhimukho pysi.

There is a striking prevalence of "s"s throughout the sentence, in a way that could

be seen to contribute to unifying all its parts into one unit. There is an immediately

obvious prevalence of the syllable "su" that results from having a series of locative

absolute clauses in which there are at least two locative plural terminations ending in "-

su." Besides this, the syllable "su-" also appears frequently in phrases one through three,

in supuphita (sic), then three times within one compound in suvaasurabhikusumesu,

followed by supaa in phrase three. The syllable "sa-" or "s-" occurs repeatedly in

phrase one,214 and then again in phrases four and five.

One of the most striking clusters of co-occurring different letters is in phrases four

213
This distinction into saddlamkra and atthlamkra is the basic division of Pli and Sanskrit poetic
figures. Examples of ornamentation that plays out at the level of meaning are puns (silesa in Pli, lea in
Sanskrit), similes (upam in both languages) and metaphors (rpaka, again in both languages).
214
This was, of course, already present in the Jtaka-nidnakath's version.
 110

and five where there is a very high preponderance of the consonants "s", "d/dh" and

"k", and within that of those consonants occurring followed by short or long "a."

Similarly in phrase three there is a high coincidence of the consonants "d/dh" and the

labial letters "p/ph" and "b." Apart from its presence in the repeating clusters of letters

we have seen, there is altogether a particularly dense reiteration of the consonant "d/dh"

in phrases three through five. These are the most obvious alliterations though there are

also a couple more that are less prominent.

Alliteration can be put to various textual uses, such as unifying sections of text or

evoking specific aesthetic responses in the reader, according to the theories underlying

the use of alamkra.215 It also displays an attentiveness to literary form and provokes

enjoyment in a cultivated audience who can take pleasure in appreciating the

sophistication of the text. At the same time, a display of literary sophistication might

raise the reader's estimation of the text's worth and perhaps thereby the authoritativeness

to be ascribed it.216

In the context of a portrayal of the Buddha, it is also likely to draw attention to the

beauty associated with the Buddha. Again this is an instance of the text's form reflecting

215
See Edwin Gerow's discussion of this phenomenon in Sanskrit poetic theory in Gerow, A Glossary of
Indian Figures of Speech, Publications in Near and Middle East Studies; Columbia University; Series A,
vol. 16 (The Hague: Mouton, 1971), 103.
216
Cf. Collins' discussion of Pli's value to political regimes as a source of prestige because of its status as
a "luxury good," which required training and seclusion from the mundane (Collins, "What is Literature in
Pli?" 683). See the Introduction, p. 18.
 111

its contentthe beauty of the words describing the Buddha reflecting something of the

beauty of his person. Similarly, the pleasure such verbal play affords the reader can only

heighten the pleasure he will likely feel in regard to the Buddha.

C Amplification

The concern manifest in the Jinamahnidna that every aspect of the story be

covered in full is not only witnessed in its inclusion of episodes omitted from other

accounts or its expansion of significant, but briefly recounted episodes. It sometimes

extends to what would seem to be small narrative details. For example, the

Jinamahnidna contains an exhaustive, half-page description of the lotus-pond the

bodhisatta's father had built for him when he was seven years old so he could play in the

water.217 The Jtaka-nidnakath's account, on the other hand, skips straight from him

as a baby to him as a sixteen-year-old.218

The text sometimes amplifies these narrative details by stepping away

momentarily from its sources and simply replacing their abbreviated version with a much

more elaborate alternative, which may be original to this text.219 A prime example of this

type of amplification is the Jinamahnidna's description of Mra's army in the episode

217
Jmn 53.
218
Ja I 58.
219
E. W. Adikaram discusses the commentaries' use of this practice, in which they would amplify the
canonical material they were commenting on (E. W. Adikaram, Early History of Buddhism in Ceylon
[Colombo: M. D. Gunasena, 1946], 35-8).
 112

where Mra attempts to prevent the impending enlightenment by massing his forces to

attack the bodhisatta.

The Jtaka-nidnakath's description of Mra's army is bland and hardly awe-

inspiring:

In Mra's retinue no two beings carried a weapon similar to another. With

complexions of various kinds and faces of various kinds, massing in formation,
they approached the great being.220

The Jinamahnidna replaces the Jtaka-nidnakath's version with an exuberant

description that appears to be original to this text. Covering over half a page, it is

certainly much more extensive than is found in any of its sources.221 In the

Jinamahnidna we are not just told that Mra's warriors had different colors and faces,

we are presented with an impressive spectacle:

Mra's retinue had various weapons, various bodies, various colors, various
shapes, various faces: some had blue bodies and red faces; some had red bodies
and blue faces; some had yellow bodies and white faces; ... some had the body of
a nga for their top half and the body of a man for their lower half; some had the

220
Mraparisya dve jan ekasadisakam vudham na gahimsu, nnappakrava nnppakramukh
hutv mahsattam ajjhottharamn gamimsu (Ja I 72:4-6).
221
Cf. Bv-a 288:4-8, Ap-a 77:4-6. Shortly after this description the Jinamahnidna informs us of dire
omens that accompanied the realization that Mra and his vast army were about to attack the bodhisatta
sitting alone under the bodhi tree, abandoned by the terrified gods (Jmn 78:25-80:3). These omens are not
even mentioned by the Jtaka-nidnakath, but the Jinamahnidna has turned at this point to the
Madhuratthavilsin, and taken from its account an introductory sentence and seven verses (Bv-a 288:20-
289:7), which are neatly incorporated into the Jinamahnidna's version, before returning to the Jtaka-
nidnakath (Ja I 72:19). In this episode, then, we have seen two distinct routes used to create in the
Jinamahnidna a fuller, more comprehensive account than was offered by the structuring text. The
latter's material has been amplified and material from elsewhere has been added.
 113

body of a man for their top half and the body of a nga for their lower half; ... But
all of Mra's army had eyes that were pierced with yellow, bulging out, and red;222
their teeth were gone; their eyebrows were crooked; their foreheads were split;
their nails were extended, sharp, and large; the hair of their heads was a different
color from that of their beard and eyebrows; they were disgusting, pungent, and
fierce; they were deformed and fearful; they had various weapons; their bodies
extended over an area of a gvuta,223 two gvutas, three gvutas, a yojana, two
yojanas, three yojanas and so on; as though they had gone to a mountain and had
leapt into the sky, falling from a thousand yojanas, crushing the entire earth,
massing in formation they approached the great seat of enlightenment.224

The Jinamahnidna's reader would not have read such a detailed description in

any of the other well-known biographical accounts, and as the imagery is so vivid, would

undoubtedly note the fullness of the Jinamahnidna's telling.

D Juxtaposition

Another technique the Jinamahnidna sometimes uses is to juxtapose two

accounts of the same events, told in different narrative styles or voices. For example,

information that was conveyed in prose may be retold in verse; or a report of events told

222
The translation of this compound, nibbiddhapigalanikkhantarattakkh (Jmn 78:14-5), is somewhat
tentative.
223
The PED defines a gvuta as "a quarter of a yojana=80 usabhas, a little less than two miles" (PED,
250).
224
Mraparis pi nnvudh nnsarr nnva nnsahn nnmukh ahesum: ekacc nlasarr
rattamukh, ekacc rattasarr nlamukh ... [14 lines continuing the alternation of different head- and
body-colors, but with different colors] ... Sabb pana Mrasen nibbiddhapigalanikkhantarattakkh
nikkhantadh kuilabhamuk bhinnanal nikkhantatikhiamahnakh bhamukesamassuvivaakes
vibhacckhakasadru virpabhay nnvudh gvutadvigvutatigvutayojanadviyojanatiyojanadi-
samuggatasarr yojannam sahassato pahya ksam ullaghitv sakalapahavim parimadditum
patamn pabbatagat viya mahbodhimaam avattharant va gat (Jmn 78:1-18).
It may be that something of the brutishness and overwhelming volume of these forces is conveyed
by the Jinamahnidna's bare bones, repetitive way of listing them (ekacc ... ekacc ... ekacc ...).
 114

in the third person voice may be followed by a retelling of the same events in the first

person.

This is not simply otiose duplication. Being forced to encounter the same

information in two different guises breaks the sense of the onward flow of the narrative.

Shifting the tone or narrative voice causes the reader to encounter the information from

another perspective, which may lead her to experience it imaginatively in a slightly

different way. She may also have a different aesthetic response, if the first telling were in

dry prose, for example, and the second in elegant verse. All of these effects might cause

the reader to focus on the relevant events or information in a more conscious way than if

they had been reported only once. They might also induce her to become more conscious

of the reading experience itself, which might then make her more conscious of the text as

suchas something she was encountering. If the reader were indeed to become aware of

the text in this way through its reporting the same events from two different perspectives,

she would be likely to experience the text as providing a full account. The ability to

convey the same basic things in two different ways gives an impression of abundance.

A typical example of the Jinamahnidna's use of this technique is found in its

report of the physical events manifest in the world on the bodhisatta's attaining

omniscience and becoming the Buddha. The Jtaka-nidnakath's prose account of

 115

these events covers about two-thirds of a page.225 The Jinamahnidna's rendition

begins with the bulk of that material, omitting its last five lines. In place of these five

lines, the Jinamahnidna includes three pages of verses describing the thirty-two

"portents" (pubbanimittas) that occurred at the moment of the Buddha's

enlightenment.226 These verses recapitulate many of the events described in the prose

section preceding them.

The way the Jinamahnidna introduces the verses reveals that they are used as a

way of reinforcing the account that precedes. The verses are introduced by the statement,

"So the compilers (sagtikrakas), describing the thirty-two portents that appeared at the

very moment of the Lord's enlightenment, said...."227 This draws extra attention to the

events, not simply by providing a much longer account of them (thirty-two verses as

opposed to five lines of prose) but also by offering an account of them as though from

another perspective. Stepping outside the flow of the dominant narrative voice and

offering the testimony of others may work to make the reader focus on the events in a

more conscious way. This would only heighten the reader's impression of the

Jinamahnidna as an abundant text.

225
Ja I 76.
226
Jmn 87:6-89:20. The text's editors inform us in a footnote that these verses come from an unpublished
text called the Buddhacarita, of which manuscript copies exist in the National Library in Bangkok.
227
Tena sagtikrak bhagavato bodhitakkhane yeva ptubhtni dvattimsapubbanimittni paksent
hamsu (Jmn 87:6-7). The term "sagtikrak" refers to the monks who first compiled the Buddha's
teachings at the first council held after his death.
 116

E Altering the semantic function of source material

We saw earlier that the import of a sentence incorporated in the Jinamahnidna,

the primary work it does in the text, can be changed through the sentence being

refashioned. Here we see that, even if the wording of the material is kept largely the

same, its semantic function within the passage may be altered, to accommodate its

different context. That is, as material used in the composition of the Jinamahnidna is

taken from texts of a variety of genres, adjustments sometimes need to be made to the

semantic work accomplished by the material being used, for it to be brought into line

with the narrative form. We sometimes find that the role particular sentences play within

the larger section is different in the Jinamahnidna from the role they played in the

source text.

A good example of this process is to be found in the section recounting the

creation of the jeweled walkway in the sky from which the Buddha would teach the

lineage of the Buddhas. The Jinamahnidna's account of this episode is, appropriately

enough, taken from the Madhuratthavilsin.228 In the Madhuratthavilsin there is a

228
Bv-a 28: Ath' evam bhagavat cintitamatte dasasahassacakkavavsino bhummadayo dev
pamuditahaday sdhukram adamsu. Tam attham paksentehi sagtikrakehi:
[I.6] "Bhumm Mahrjik Tvatims Ym ca dev Tusit ca Nimmit
Paranimmit ye pi ca Brahmakyik nandit vipulam akamsu ghosan" ti.
di gthya hapita ti veditabb.
Tattha Bhumma ti bhummah. [...]
Mahrjika ti mahrjapakkhik, bhummahnam devatnam saddam sutv ksahakadevat, tato
 117

narrative sentence which recounts the event ("Then at the moment the Lord thought in

this way, the gods living in the ten-thousand world-systems, the earth gods etc., with

happy hearts, gave a shout 'Good'"). This is followed by an instruction that we are to

understand that this event was "established" (hapit) by the sagtikrakas who

clarified that meaning with a verse from the Buddhavamsa (I.6), which is then quoted.

Next comes commentary on the words of that verse. In the commentary on one of the

words is a long sentence that lists all the gods understood to be included by -dayo and

ends with ti attho.

The Jinamahnidna's account, while including sentences that are almost exactly

the same as some of those found in the Madhuratthavilsin, orders them differently and

in so doing changes the function of the individual sentences.229 It begins with the

Abbhavalhak devat, tato Uhavalhak devat, tato Stavalhak devat ... tato Akanihak dev
saddam sutv mahantam saddam akamsu. Asaino ca arpavacarasatte ca hapetv sotayatanapavatti-
hne sabbe devamanussangadayo ptivasagatahaday ukkuhisaddam akamsu ti attho.
"Then at the moment the Lord thought in this way, the gods living in the ten-thousand world-systems, the
earth gods, etc., with happy hearts, gave a shout 'Good.' They [viz. 'the earth gods, etc.'] should be
understood as they were established by the sagtikrakas clarifying that meaning ['the earth gods, etc.']
with the verse beginning: 'The earth gods (Bhumm), the great gods [of the four directions] (Mahrjik),
the gods of the Tvatimsa heaven, the Yama gods, the Tusita gods, those who take pleasure in creation,
those who are created by another, and gods who belong to the company of Brahm, rejoicing, made a great
sound.' There [the word] 'Bhumm' means those who live on the earth. [The word] 'Mahrjik' means
those who are associated with the great kings. The meaning is 'Having heard the sound of the gods who
live on the earth, the gods who live in the sky, then the dark cloud gods, then the hot cloud gods, then the
cool cloud gods, ... then the highest gods having heard the sound, made a great sound. Both the not-
conscious gods andapart from the beings in the formless realmall gods, men, ngas, and so on whose
hearts are overpowered by joy in the arising of the ear's functioning, made a sound of shouting.'"
229
Jmn 170-171: Bhagavato cintitamatte dasasahassacakkavavsino bhummdayo dev pamuditahaday
sdhukram akamsu. Bhummahnam devnam saddam sutv ksahakadevat pamuditahaday
sdhukram akamsu. Tato Abbhabalhak devat, tato Uhabalhak devat, tato Stabalhak devat ...
 118

narrative sentence that began the Madhuratthavilsin's account. This is then followed

by the long sentence listing all the gods who gave a shout of approval, which in the

Madhuratthavilsin formed part of the word-commentary on the verse I.6. Here the

sentence is not bracketed by ti attho, but stands alone. Finally it is said that this was told

by the sagtikrakas in the contextualizing introduction (nidna) to the Buddhavamsa

and verse I.6 is quoted. The text then moves on to the next stage of the events.

While the first sentence in both versions plays the same role (that of recounting

the event), the Jinamahanidna's second sentence does not do what it originally did in

Madhuratthavilsin. There it provided a gloss on one of the words in the verse, making

explicit what was included in the -dayo, and in the process demonstrating how the

action described by the verse took place. By removing the ti attho from the end of the

sentence, and by repositioning it right after the first sentence, the Jinamahnidna has

tato Akanihak devat pamuditahaday sdhukrasaddam akamsu. Asa ca arpino ca hapetv

sotyatanavatt sabbe devamanuss ca ngdayo ca sakuppitahaday ukkuhisadda ca
sdhukrasadda ca akamsu. Tena sagtikrakehi vuttam Buddhavamsanidne
"Bhumm Mahrjik Tvatims Ym ca dev Tusit ca Nimmit
Parinimmit ye pi ca Brahmakyik nandit vipulam akamsu ghosan" ti.
"At the moment the Lord thought (it), the gods living in the ten-thousand world-systems, the earth gods
etc., with happy hearts, gave a shout 'Good.' Having heard the sound of the gods who live on the earth, the
gods who live in the sky, their hearts happy, gave a shout 'Good.' Then the dark cloud gods, then the hot
cloud gods, then the cool cloud gods ... then the highest gods, their hearts happy, made the sound of the
shout 'Good.' The not-conscious gods andapart from the formless godsall gods and men and ngas
and so on who experienced aural functioning, their hearts stirred, made the sound of shouting and the sound
of the shout 'Good.' Because of that, it was said by the sagtikrakas in the section recounting the context
of the Buddhavamsa, 'The earth gods, the ones connected with the great kings, the gods of the Tvatimsa
heaven, the Yama gods, the Tusita gods, those who take pleasure in creation, those who are created by
another, and gods who belong to the company of Brahm, rejoicing, made a great sound.'"
 119

transformed the sentence into a continuation of the narration of the event.

It has also shifted the function of the Buddhavamsa's verse. The reporting and

commenting roles that the verse and the commentarial gloss played in relation to each

other in the Madhuratthavilsin are reversed in the Jinamahnidna. In the

Madhuratthavilsin, the event reported in the verse (which is, in fact, explaining

something about the actual report of the event [namely the first sentence]), is then

commented on and explained by the gloss. In the Jinamahnidna, these roles are

switched, and what was the gloss becomes the report of the event, while the verse

provides the explanatory comment about that event.

This type of semantic reorienting is a significant element of the composition of

the Jinamahnidna. It is especially apparent when the Jinamahnidna's material is

taken from a commentarial section of its source text.230 It is a means by which the

Jinamahnidna is enabled to include material that in its original form is not suitable for

the Jinamahnidna's purposes, but for which there may not otherwise be a suitable

source. It greatly expands the range of potentially suitable material to be put to the

Jinamahnidna's composition. It is one of the techniques that permit the

Jinamahnidna to include such a wide range of material.

It also gives a sense of the potential bountifulness of the Pli literary heritage.

230
This is most often the case when material from the Madhuratthavilsin and the Sumagalavilsin is
used.
 120

That is, it undermines certain assumptions that might be made about the vitality of later

Pli textual production on the basis of the Theravda's dominant literary values. These

values held that for later Pli texts to claim legitimacy or command esteem they had to

demonstrate a close relation with earlier texts. It might be thought that having to work

with a delimited (if extensive) body of already existent material would tend to restrict or

stultify the production of such texts. However, the compositional fine tuning displayed in

this example reveals that these literary expectations need by no means be seen as

obstructive of literary creativity. For if such seemingly small changes to the source

material as those we have seen here can have such a significant impact on the nature of

the material produced, there should be no limit to what could be produced from the

available material. From this perspective, the Theravda's literary values and the body of

earlier texts can in fact be seen as offering a potentially endless supply of compositional

methods and materials that could be put to the creation of new works in Pli.

4 The antithesis of comprehensiveness at the core of the text

Despite all the evidence we have seen through this chapter of the

Jinamahnidna's sustained efforts to create the most comprehensive telling of the

Buddha's life feasible, there is also at the core of the text what amounts to an utter

disavowal of any claim to total comprehensiveness. It is shocking in its divergence from

everything we have seen in the text to this point.

 121

After it has recounted the story of Anthapiika's donation of the Jetavana

monastery to the Buddha, the Jinamahnidna announces that it will now enumerate the

remaining years of his life. Apart from accounts of two events concerning members of

his family that occur in the fifth year,231 it proceeds to simply state where the Buddha

lived for each of the remaining forty-five years of his life, in the most minimalist way

possible. For example, it accounts for the third and fourth years of his teaching:

tatiyacatutthe pi tattheva ("In the third and fourth years [he stayed] right there").232 We

have here the events of two whole years reduced to four words. At the end of the

enumeration, we have his last twenty-five years covered in one sentence. The contrast

with the fifty-five pages that it took the Jinamahnidna to narrate the events of the first

year after his enlightenment could not be more stark.

After this enumeration of the intervening forty-five years between his

enlightenment and his final year, the text recounts in approximately eighty pages the

story of his last ten months. We have to take seriously the effect of this section on the

tenor of the text as a whole. The Buddha did every bit as much living in each of those

forty-five years as he did in the ones that preceded them and the one that came at their

end. So theoretically each of those forty-five years could have been covered in as much

231
These events comprise the Buddha's tending to his dying father, and his establishment of the nun's order
under his aunt and foster mother, Mahpajpati Gotam (Jmn 201-9).
232
Jmn 201.
 122

detail.

Of course, there is the pragmatic fact that no other already existent account of the

Buddha's life (that we know of) apportioned out by year all the events that are recorded

elsewhere as having happened during his long teaching career. What was available in its

sources unquestionably limited what the Jinamahnidna could say.

However, this does not undo the effect of this step on the text's overall

presentation. It does not undo the fact that in a text we have seen consistently go to great

lengths to achieve an unprecedented comprehensiveness, there is at the same time an

utterly minimalist account of forty-five years. It is a challenge to understand how to put

this relative lack of comprehensiveness together with the text's frequent steps to draw

attention to its comprehensiveness.

5 Conclusion

We have seen in this chapter that the Jinamahnidna is, in a very literal sense,

made out of previous texts. The very fabric of its being is earlier texts. Yet the text does

not simply pass on what it received from the past. We have witnessed the text display an

extraordinary creativity in working with what was available from the past to fashion

something distinctively new.

One of the things that are most distinctive about the Jinamahnidna is its

attempt to present the Buddha and his story as fully as it is able. That it seems to

consistently draw attention to its own comprehensiveness tells us that that

 123

comprehensiveness is an important aspect of the text, and therefore an important aspect

of its portrayal of the Buddha. To appreciate fully the Jinamahnidna's portrayal of the

Buddha, we therefore need to appreciate why its comprehensiveness should be so

importantwhat it says about the Buddha, what it says about earlier portrayals, and what

it says about the Jinamahnidna.

Taking up the latter questions first, the lengths the Jinamahnidna goes to

achieve comprehensivenessthe ways it finds to supplement the available material, to

convey as much with it as it cansuggest that the previously composed biographies of

the Buddha's life are lacking. They imply there is a gap between those biographies and

the actual life of the Buddha. The reality of the Buddha's life is not adequately captured

by those previous accounts. They represent it only partially, and much of him remains

obscured and inaccessible.

The Jinamahnidna's efforts to tell the story of the Buddha's life with as much

detail and depth as it can achieve can be seen as a straining to get back to the Buddha, to

recapture as much of him as is possible, and to re-present him to the reader with a

richness that renders more of him visible.

These efforts tell the reader that there is more about the Buddha that we need to

know than is conveyed in the earlier accounts. By including types of information and

registers of discourse not included in other biographical accounts within its biographical

framework, the Jinamahnidna tells its reader that to perceive the Buddha more fully
 124

we must see those facets of him too. The discursive and stylistic diversity of the

Jinamahnidna's account tells the reader that all types of discourse are applicable to the

Buddha. They all communicate something of him and so are all reflective of him in some

way. So the diversity tells the reader that she must be receptive to approaching the

Buddha in a variety of ways, she must be prepared to shift between interpretive modes.

Further, this not just an intellectual proposition presented to the reader by the text.

It is a reality the reader has experienced something of in the reading experience itself. In

being brought to encounter material requiring different perceptual approaches, material

that is uniformly all about the Buddha, the reader has experienced the approach toward

the Buddha in different modes.

At the same time, we have seen in various ways through the chapter that the

Jinamahnidna manages to accomplish the idea of its own comprehensiveness without

making a claim to definitiveness. The text has presented itself as the ultimate biography,

supreme at least in part by virtue of the fullness of its coverage. So the text's deflation of

its own claims to comprehensivenessits acknowledgement that it cannot claim to give a

definitive account of the Buddha's lifeamounts to a statement that such definitiveness

is by definition unattainable to a text.

This depiction of its own, and perhaps others', capacities as a text is at the same

time a reflection of fundamental aspects of the Buddha. This significant buddhological

restraint is in fact a cornerstone of the Jinamahnidna's representation of the Buddha.

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CHAPTER II

WHOLENESS:
THE JINAMAHNIDNA AS A WHOLE

This chapter examines how the Jinamahnidna shows a thoroughgoing and

complex engagement with its own wholeness. The range of what is connoted by

"wholeness" will become clearer as we go through the chapter, but here at the outset of

the chapter it should be understood as the unity, completeness, and integrity of a text that

makes it more than the sum of its parts.

It will become clear that the Jinamahnidna's "whole"what it is about it that

is more than the sum of its partsis its being the biography of amhkam bhagav, "our

Lord." This also reflects something about the biography's subject. It reveals that he also

has a wholeness, which lies in his being more than just the person who will become the

bodhisatta, the bodhisatta, and finally the Buddha. His wholeness lies in his being at all

times also amhkam bhagav.

1 How the Jinamahnidna works to present itself as a whole

A How it defines its subject matter

In the Introduction, we briefly considered the Jinamahnidna's opening and

closing statements describing its contents. We now need to consider them in more depth.

The pamagth identifies the text as jinanidnam, "The Story of the Conqueror." Its
 126

opening statements then elaborate what is meant by this term. It is first said, essentially,

that jinanidnam means buddhanidnam, "The Story of the Buddha." Besides explicitly

equating the jina and the Buddha (by the statement "the jina is the Buddha"), the

Jinamahnidna's contents are described in a way that relates them entirely to the

Buddha. The content of this work called the jinanidnam, it says, should be understood

as 'buddhakuram buddhapaidhnam buddhacaritam buddhagocaran' ti.233 Obviously,

at a formal level, beginning all four compounds with the word buddha- conveys the

impression that the work is all about the Buddha, but let us look at the statement a little

more closely.

Buddhakuram, "the sprout of the Buddha," refers to Sumedha, who is not yet a

bodhisatta when the story begins. This designation is often applied to bodhisattas, so it

might be said that this compound only refers to Sumedha once he has become a

bodhisatta. However, this is made less likely by the fact that buddhakuram is followed

by buddhapaidhnam, "the aspiration to become a buddha," referring to Sumedha's

aspiration which precedes him becoming a bodhisatta.234 The last two words clearly refer

to aspects of his life once he has become the Buddha. However, by stating that the

jinanidnam consists of these four things, which all relate to the Buddha, even though the

233
Jinanidnam nmetam buddhajinam buddhakuram buddhapaidhnam buddhacaritam
buddhagocaran ti veditabbam (Jmn 1).
234
It is Dpakara's prediction that actually makes Sumedha into a bodhisatta.
 127

first two refer to stages of his life before he is even a bodhisatta, the Jinamahnidna

suggests that it is unified in having a single subject. This is a statement that the whole

workright from the beginningis about the singular Buddha.

The next statement makes this singularity of subject even more explicit, but it also

alters slightly what that subject is. The second statement explains why the jinanidnam

should be understood as those four things that represent all stages of the Buddha's

careerbecause (hi) what is conveyed by jinanidnam is the singular story of amhkam

bhagav from his first aspiration through to his death.235 The Jinamahnidna here gives

a more precise and explicit definition of what it is. Having defined itself first, effectively,

as the story of the Buddha, it now defines itself as the story of amhkam bhagav. The

implication of this twofold explanation of jinanidnam is that the Buddha is both the

Buddha and the bhagav. Yet, giving the more precise definition in terms of the bhagav

(and presenting it as the explanation for the statement about the Buddha) gives priority to

seeing him as amhkam bhagav over seeing him as the Buddha. The Jinamahnidna

implies here that we should think of him primarily as amhkam bhagav.

These two self-definitions are also of course saying that the Buddha/bhagav is

the Conqueror. The second statement suggests that he is the Conqueror because his story

extends from making the aspiration to buddhahood to his parinibbna. In other words,

235
Amhkam hi bhagavato abhinhrato pahya yva parinibbn nidnakath "jinanidnan" ti
veditabb (Jmn 1).
 128

the text is saying here that the Buddha is "our Lord" because he is the Conqueror,

because he succeeded in going from being just a sprout of a buddha (not even a

bodhisatta) to aspiring to become a buddha, to being a buddha and achieving parinibbna

at his death.236

These self-definitions stress that the Jinamahnidna is the story of a singular

figure, no matter what his stage of development at any particular point. Whether he be

just a "sprout of a buddha" or the Buddha at the point of his parinibbna, he has an

additional identity that lies beyond those particular identities. This singularity of identity

throughout the story is the "whole" that is greater than the totality of all he is at all points

in the narrative. In fact, the text gives two singular identities that apply throughout the

story: he is "our Lord" throughout, and he is "the Conqueror" throughout. However, as

we are about to see, the Jinamahnidna refers to him throughout the narrative as

amhkam bhagav, not jina. I therefore take the former as the primary whole

emphasized by the text.

236
This suggestion is also reinforced by the Jinamahnidna's concluding statements, which again stress
him being the Conqueror and relate that to his story going from gaining the aspiration to his death: Ettvat
bhagavat laddhapaidhnato pahya yva parinibbn nidnakath "Jinamahnidnan" ti veditabb.
Iti sdhujjanasotasukhvah jinanidnakath samatt (Jmn 291).
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B It identifies him throughout the work as amhkam bhagav

There is a small but very significant difference between how the Jinamahnidna

and the Jtaka-nidnakath describe what they will cover, which is the first instance of

what is, in fact, a consistent pattern of difference between them. As we saw above, the

Jinamahnidna's second introductory sentence reads: "For the telling of the story of our

Lord (amhkam bhagavato) from his aspiration on until his parinibbna should be

understood as 'the Story of the Conqueror.'" Right from the very beginning of the text,

the Jinamahnidna tells us that it is "our Lord" that the story is about, and that, even at

that early stage, Sumedha is "our Lord." Nowhere in the Jtaka-nidnakath's

description of what it will cover does it use the phrase amhkam bhagav.

The Jtaka-nidnakath makes clear what it will cover in the following

statement, which comes right after its pamagth:

S panayam Jtakassa Atthavaan Drenidnam Avidrenidnam Santikenidnan ti imni ti

nidnni dassetv vaiyamn ye nam suanti, tehi samudgamato pahya vitatt yasm
suhu vit nma hoti tasm tam ti nidnni dassetv vaayissma. Tattha dito tva tesam
nidnnam paricchedo veditabbo. Dpakarapdamlasmim hi katbhinhrassa Mahsattassa
yva Vessantarattabhv cavitv Tusitapure nibbatti tva pavatto kathmaggo Drenidnam
nma. Tusitabhavanato pana cavitv yva bodhimae sabbautappatti tva pavatto
kathmaggo Avidrenidnam nma. Santikenidnam pana tesu tesu hnesu viharato tasmim
237
tasmim yeva hne labbhat ti. Tatr'idam Drenidnam nma.

"But since this explanation of the meaning of the Jtaka (i.e., the
Jtakahakath) is only understood properlybecause it is understood from the
beginning onby those who hear it when it is explained after having clarified
these three stories: the story in the distant past, the story in the not distant past, the

237
Ja I 2:1-11.
 130

story in the present, therefore we will explain it after having clarified the three
stories. In that regard the division of those stories should be understood right
from the beginning. The account concerning [the period] from the great being's
aspiration made at the foot of Dpakara up to his birth in the city of Tusita,
having died from his existence as Vessantara, is called 'the story in the distant
past.' Then the account concerning [the period] from him having died from the
Tusita heaven up to his attainment of omniscience at the foot of the bodhi tree is
called 'the story in the not distant past.' Then his 'story in the present' is taken as
whatever places he lives in. Within that, this is 'the story in the distant past.'"238

The Jtaka-nidnakath breaks up its account of the Buddha's life into three distinct

periods. This prefatory passage explains why it is important to understand how these

periods are definedbecause it will allow the reader to understand the Jtakahakath

properlyand then defines them. We will return shortly to examine this passage in more

detail, but what is important for our purposes here is that the Jtaka-nidnakath does

not define itself in any way as relating to the bhagav.

The way the two texts then introduce the story of Sumedha again reflects this

difference. The Jinamahnidna's version reads: "For at a distance of four asakheyyas

and a hundred thousand kappas from now our Lord was, it is said, a brahmin boy in a city

called Amaravati."239 Again, the story is being told about "our Lord." The Jtaka-

238
As I indicated in the Introduction, the term nidna seems to be used in different contexts in somewhat
different ways. These three terms drenidna, avidrenidna, and santikenidna are usually translated
"the origin in the distant past," "the origin in the not distant past," and "the origin in the present."
However, that they are each glossed by kathmaggoliterally "the course of the story," so perhaps to be
translated simply "the account"suggests it is more appropriate to take -nidna here as having the sense
of "story, account" than as "origin."
239
Amhkam hi kira bhagav ito kappasatasahassdhikni catunnam asakheyynam matthake
Amaravatiy nma nagare Sumedho nma brhmaakumro hutv ... (Jmn 1).
 131

nidnakath's parallel version reads: "At a distance of four asakheyyas and a hundred

thousand kappas from now there was a city called Amaravati. A brahmin called

Sumedha lived there."240 There is no indication here of a connection between that

Sumedha and the Buddha.

This difference between the two texts' versions is maintained throughout their

respective accounts of the bodhisatta's encounters with the twenty-three other previous

buddhas. In each case, the Jinamahnidna names him amhkam bhagav241 while the

Jtaka-nidnakath calls him just bodhisatto.242 Not only does the Jinamahnidna

maintain the relational pronoun "our" where the Jtaka-nidnakath has none, but while

the Jtaka-nidnakath calls him a bodhisatta, the Jinamahnidna keeps reiterating his

identity with the Buddha Gotama by calling him bhagav.

This discrepancy in the way the two texts name their central figure is generally

maintained through their accounts. The Jinamahnidna's insistence that even back at

the beginning as Sumedha he was the bhagav is reiterated finally in the text's

penultimate sentence. It concludes its account by summarizing what has been covered in

the account: "... the telling of the story from the aspiration attained by the Lord up to his

240
Ito kappasatasahassdhikni catunnam asakheyynam matthake Amaravat nma nagaram ahosi.
Tattha Sumedho nma brhmao paivasati ... (Ja I 2).
241
Jmn 14ff.
242
The only exceptions to this in the Jtaka-nidnakath are in the case of the buddha Magala, where the
text calls him amhkam bodhisatto (Ja I 32), and at the end of the account of his encounters with all the
previous buddhas, when it again calls him amhkam bodhisatto (Ja I 44).
 132

parinibbna ....'" It is saying here again that it was the bhagav who gained the

aspiration back then.

With this small but significant touch, maintained systematically in its account, the

Jinamahnidna stresses not just the relatedness between the bodhisatta back then as

Sumedha and the Buddha that he would eventually become an inconceivably long time

away in the future, but more radically their identity.243 This reinforces the sense of

temporal unity and integrity in the Jinamahnidna, as the entire story from beginning to

end is shown to be about this singular figure. A similar effect ensues from the fact that

our relatedness to the central figure remains unchanged throughout the story of his

lifehe was our Lord at the beginning, at the end, and all the way through.

C Creating temporal unity: Defining the Buddha's temporal parameters

One of the most significant ways the Jinamahnidna conveys a sense of textual

wholeness is its attempts to accord its narrative a temporal unity. It presents everything

in the narrative as taking place within a single temporal sphere, a continuous, coherent

ambit extending from beginning to end.

Our consideration of this question will be extensive and will involve the close

comparison of textual parallels between the Jinamahnidna and other biographical

243
See Bv-a 69:16-19 for interesting remarks on the nature of the identity of Sumedha and the Buddha.
 133

accounts (particularly the Jtaka-nidnakath).244 This aspect of the Jinamahnidna's

presentation merits such attention for a number of reasons. At one level, the argument it

makes about the correct depiction of the temporal aspects of the Buddha's life is one of

its most distinctive features, one that separates it from other biographical accounts of the

Buddha. It also has significant implications for our relationship, as readers of the text,

with the Buddha. However, for the purposes of this chapter, it is foundational to the

Jinamahnidna's efforts to foster the reader's experience of the text as a unified,

coherent whole.

Having therefore examined how the Jtaka-nidnakath and other biographical

accounts define the temporal parameters of the Buddha's life, I will compare with them

the Jinamahnidna's definition. I will then trace out how the differences between the

definitions are played out through the Jinamahnidna.

244
I would like to forestall at this point a possible source of confusion, by making explicit something that is
perhaps obvious. This is the point that it is not contradictory to make use of comparison with external
things in the investigation of phenomena that are "internal" to a text. A text can create internal wholeness
by means of textual techniques which, when one is simply reading through the text on its own terms,
produce an effect of wholeness in the text without necessarily being noticed, but which become more
visible as techniques to a student of the text through the comparison of that text with others.
 134

i. How the Jtaka-nidnakath and other earlier biographies define the Buddha's
temporal parameters

As we saw earlier, the Jtaka-nidnakath divides the Buddha's life into three

distinct periods, named according to their relation to the current time: "the story in the

distant past" (drenidna), "the story in the not distant past" (avidrenidna), and "the

story in the present" (santikenidna). It defines them in the following way: the story in

the distant past, it says, covers the period from the bodhisatta's first aspiration under

Dpakara until he is reborn in Tusita after his last human life as Vessantara; the story in

the not distant past goes from his birth as Siddhattha until his enlightenment; and the

story in the present consists of the period from his enlightenment to his death.245

This manner of defining the periods of the Buddha's life is based on their distance

from the time of the text (both the time of its composition and the time of its being read).

We can go even further and say that this amounts to distance from the reader.

Encountering a period named "the story in the distant past," the reader is likely to think

of that period as "distant from me." This presentation encourages a perception of the

245
The definition of the santikenidna, quoted above, does not seem to conceive of it in temporal terms so
much as spatialwhatever place the Buddha lived in. At the point in the Jtaka-nidnakath when the
santikenidna begins (Ja I 77), the above definition is reiterated, though in a more extended form.
However, at the end of the entire Jtaka-nidnakath the closing sentence alters and expands this
definition. There it says: Iti mahbodhimae sabbautappattito yva mahparinibbnamac yasmim
hne Bhagav vihsi idam Santikenidnam nma ..., "Thus the place where the Lord lived from his
attainment of omniscience at the foot of the great Bodhi tree until the couch of the parinibbna is called
'the story in the present'" (Ja I 94). Here the temporal aspect is added to the spatial, and the definition now
indicates that the period covered by the santikenidna is from the point of the Buddha's enlightenment until
his parinibbna.
 135

earlier phases of the Buddha's life as being separate from and unconnected to the present

of the text, the reader's present. It is only the last phase of his life, from the

enlightenment on, that is described as being "in the present," giving the impression of

being more closely related to the reader's experience.

The Jtaka-nidnakath was used as a template by many biographical texts, and

this is particularly the case for the division into nidnas. This is indicated most strikingly

by the statement in the nidnakath to the Cariypiakahakath that within this division

into the three nidnas, since the drenidna and the avidrenidna are shared by all

(sabbasdhrani), they should be understood as they are described in the

Jtakahakath, i.e., the Jtaka-nidnakath.246 This constitutes a clear statement that

the Jtaka-nidnakath's division into time-periods was considered at that time to be the

standard, authoritative version.247

This is further supported by the fact that the Cariypiakahakath, the

Madhuratthavilsin, and the Visuddhajanavilsincommentaries on the three texts

within the tipiaka (alongside the Jtaka collection) that most overtly contain

246
Imesu tsu nidnesu yasm drenidna-avidrenidnni sabbasdhrani, tasm tni
Jtakahakathyam vitthritanayen' eva vitthrato veditabbni, santikenidne pana atthi viseso ti, tiam
pi nidnnam ayam dito pahya sakhepakath, "Within these three nidnas, since the drenidna and
the avidrenidna are shared by all, they should be understood in detail in the way they are explained in
detail in the Jtakahakath. But because there is particularity in the santikenidna, this is the abbreviated
account from the beginning onwards of the three nidnas" (Cp-a 3).
247
See Derris, "Virtue and Relationships," 133-8 for a discussion of developments in the nidna schema in
later Pli works, when the number of nidnas identified by texts grew from three to four, five or six.
 136

biographical information about the Buddha, and all composed after the

Jtakahakath248use the same sentences in their own introductions as are found in the

Jtaka-nidnakath, to make clear the value of explaining the three nidnas.249 They all

also define the nidnas in the same way, with the Visuddhajanavilsin using the same

wording as the Jtaka-nidnakath for all three, and the Cariypiakahakath and the

Madhuratthavilsin sharing the Jtaka-nidnakath's wording for the drenidna and

avidrenidna, while expressing the santikenidna slightly differently.250

248
von Hinber (Handbook of Pli Literature, 149 307) gives the tentative relative chronology of these
texts as: the Jtakahakath after 450 CE; the Cariypiakahakath (written by Dhammapla) after 550
CE; the Madhuratthavilsin's dating is much more uncertain, but von Hinber considers the suggestion
that it may date to the eighth century "not unlikely" (ibid., 146 301); and the Visuddhajanavilsin
between 1000 and 1500 CE. He suggests that the Atthaslin may be older than the Jtaka-nidnakath
(ibid., 152 316).
249
Cp-a 2-3; Bv-a 4-5; Ap-a 2. These other texts omit Jtakassa, fourth word of the Jtaka-nidnakath's
definition, otherwise their versions are almost identical.
250
See Ap-a 2; Cp-a 3; Bv-a 4-5. The Cariypiakahakath defines the santikenidna as:
mahbodhimaato pana pahya yva Paccuppannavatthu tva pavatto kathmaggo santikenidnam
nma, "But the 'santikenidna' is the account dealing with (the period) from the base of the great bodhi
tree on until the story of the present" (Cp-a 3).
The Madhuratthavilsin defines the santikenidna in the following way: "Ekam samayam
bhagav Svatthiyam viharati Jetavane Anthapiikassa rme" ti ca "Rjagahe viharati Veuvane
kalandakanivpe" ti ca "Vesliyam viharati Mahvane kagraslyan" ti ca evam "mahbodhimae
sabbautaappattito yva parinibbnamac etasmim antare bhagav yattha yattha vihsi tam tam
Santikenidnam nma" ti veditabbam, "'One time the Lord was living in Svatthi in the Jetavana grove in
Anthapiika's park,' and 'He was living in Rjagaha in the Veuvana grove in the squirrel's feeding
ground,' and 'He was living in Vesli in the Mahvana grove in the hall of the gabled house,' in this way it
should be understood that wherever the Lord lived in the interval between his attainment of omniscience at
the foot of the great bodhi tree and the couch of the parinibbna, that is called the 'santikenidna'" (Bv-a
5).
Immediately after defining the nidnas in this way, the Madhuratthavilsin adds another
classification by nidna: the division into the bhiranidna, "the external story," and the
abbhantaranidna, "the internal story." The bhiranidna is equated with the three nidnas that the
Madhuratthavilsin has just defined, while the abbhantaranidna is explained as what begins with the first
verse of the Buddhavamsa. The text reads: Ettvat sakhepen' eva tiam Duravidrasantikenidnnam
 137

The Atthaslin includes a lengthy nidnakath andtogether with the Jtaka-

nidnakathis cited by the Cariypiakahakath as an authoritative source for

information concerning a specific aspect of the Buddha's biography.251 It includes the

threefold classification found in the Jtaka-nidnakath, locating the breaks between

nidnas at the same points in time, though it defines the santikenidna differently.252

vasena Bhiranidnavaan samatt hoti. Idni pana: "Brahm ca lokadhipat Sahampat ... " ti
dinayappavattassa Abbhantaranidnassa atthavaan hoti, "To this extent the abbreviated explanation
of the external story by means of the three stories: far, not far, and present is complete. But now there is
the explanation of the meaning of the internal story which proceeds by means of the verse 'Brahm ca
lokadhipat Sahampat ...' and so on" (Bv-a 5).
This first verse is the beginning of the Ratanacakamakaam, "the section on the gem walk-
way," which recounts the specific circumstances of the Buddha's teaching of the Buddhavamsa (Bv 1-6).
The "external story" seems to refer here to the context that is the general history of the Buddha's life,
which is "external" in the sense that it is not explicitly mentioned in the text being commented on. The
"internal story" seems to signify the immediate context for this particular work, which is "internal" in that
it is mentioned within the work itself. This classification is therefore not so much a division of the
Buddha's life into time-periods, as a distinction between the relative significance of different aspects of that
life for this text.
The Visuddhajanavilsin also combines two types of nidna classification: the dre-, avidre-
and santike-nidnas as they are defined in the Jtaka-nidnakath, and then a brief section which it calls
the abbhantaranidnavaan, "the commentary on the internal story" (Ap-a 102), which is a word
commentary on the first verse of the Buddhpadna, the first verse of the whole text. However, the
Visuddhajanavilsin differs from the Madhuratthavilsin in not only defining the three temporal nidnas
in the same way as the Jtaka-nidnakath, but then following the Jtaka-nidnakath's account extremely
closely and breaking up its account in the same way.
251
The Cariypiakahakath recommends the Atthaslin and the Jtakahakath, i.e., the Jtaka-
nidnakath as the two places from which to learn about the division of time-periods of and between the
previous Buddhas: "The account that should be related on this subject should be understood by the method
described in the Atthaslin, the commentary on the Dhammasaga, and the Jtakahakath" (Cp-a 16).
252
See As 35. It defines the santikenidna as: Ekam samayam Bhagav devesu Tvatimsesu viharati
prichattakamle Paukambalasilyam. Tatra Bhagav devnam Tvatimsnam Abhidhammakatham
kathes ti idam assa Santikenidnam, "'One time the Lord was living among the Thirty-three gods on the
rock-seat that resembled a pale red blanket [the god Sakka's throne] at the foot of the coral tree. There the
Lord recounted the Abhidhamma to the Thirty-three gods.' This is its santikenidna" (As 35). It is in the
Tvatimsa heaven that in the seventh year after his enlightenment the Buddha taught the Abhidhamma to
the gods living there, headed by his mother (see Jmn 209-210).
 138

However, this classification is treated in the Atthaslin as secondary and is simply cited

at the end of the nidnakath.

The extensive account of the Buddha's life that makes up a large part of the

Atthaslin's nidnakath is divided into periods, again named nidna, according to a

different, twofold schema: the adhigamanidna, "the story of his attainment," and the

desannidna, "the story of his teaching."253 The first of these covers the period from

Dpakara to the enlightenment, and the second from the enlightenment to his first

sermon. The adhigamanidna is therefore the equivalent of the Jtaka-nidnakath's

drenidna and avidrenidna combined. The desannidna, though it begins at the

same point as the Jtaka-nidnakath's santikenidna, ends much before the latter.

Although the classification used may be different from the Jtaka-nidnakath's, the

253
The Atthaslin defines these two nidnas: Aesu pana suttesu ekam eva nidnam, Abhidhamme dve
nidnni adhigamanidnam desannidna ca. Tattha adhigamanidnam Dpakaradasabalato pahya
yva Mahbodhipallak veditabbam, desannidnam yva dhammacakkappavattan. Evam
ubhayanidnasampannassa pan' assa Abhidhammassa nidnakosallattham ..., "In other suttas there is just
one nidna, in the Abhidhamma there are two nidnas: the story of his attainment (adhigamanidna) and
the story of his teaching (desannidna). In that regard, the story of his attainment should be understood as
being from the Buddha Dpakara to sitting under the great bodhi tree, the story of his teaching as being up
to the setting in motion of the wheel of the law. For the sake of skill in the story of this Abhidhamma,
which has both stories in this way, ..." (As 31).
Having given an account of the events up to the Buddha's first sermon and thus concluded the
"Dhammacakkappavvattadesannidna," the Atthaslin then says: Evam adhigamanidnadesannidna-
sampannassa pan'assa Abhidhammassa aparni pi Drenidnam Avidrenidnam Santikenidnam ti tni
nidnni, "But the Abhidhamma, which in this way has the adhigamanidna and the desannidna, also
has three other nidnas, namely the drenidna, the avidrenidna and the santikenidna" (As 35). It then
gives the definitions of the first two as they are found in the Jtaka-nidnakath and the definition of the
santikenidna as noted above, and that concludes the Atthaslin's nidnakath.
 139

Atthaslin's account still divides its account of the life into time-delimited periods.254

What is important for our purposes here is that, however the particular segments

are defined, all these texts agree that the story of the Buddha's life should be divided up

into distinct, temporally defined segments, and almost all divide their accounts

accordingly.255 The one potentially significant divergence from this pattern is the

Madhuratthavilsin. It agrees that the story of the life should be divided up, but its two

accounts of the life are continuous, not divided. However, it is evident that the accounts

it provides are continuous because of the specific functions they fulfill within the text. So

this discrepancy does not undermine the importance collectively attributed to the division

of the life into segments by the Jinamahnidna's sources.256

254
In all of this we see that while the dre- and avidre-nidnas have a single, stable reference (namely,
the account of their respective periods extending from an event at one point in time to another), the term
santikenidna is defined in three, somewhat different ways. It is most commonly defined as the places the
Buddha lived in during the period from his enlightenment until his death (this is the case for the Jtaka-
nidnakath, the Madhuratthavilsin and the Visuddhajanavilsin). In another instance it is explained as
the account of the period from his enlightenment to the story in the present (in the Cariypiakahakath).
In another it is identified as the immediate context, with emphasis on the location, of the text's exposition
(this is the case for the Atthaslin).
Thus there is a slight difference in connotation between what is called the dre- and
avidrenidnas and the santikenidna, with the former referring to periods of time demarcated by events,
and the latter tending to emphasize spatial location within a period of time. Nonetheless, even though the
definitions of the santikenidna focus more on place than on time, the conception of the santikenidna still
(with the exception of the Atthaslin's version) involves the delineation of a period from one point in the
Buddha's life (his enlightenment) to another (his death). The significance of this is not undermined by the
fact that, even in texts which define it in the first way, the account of the santikenidna they actually
provide ends at the point that is relevant for the body of the text that follows.
255
The Cariypiakahakath agrees that the story should be divided, but its account is too abbreviated
(covering the period from Sumedha to the attainment of omnisciencethe content of both the dre- and
avidrenidnasin fourteen lines, [Cp-a 3:15-28]) for the actual division of the account to be relevant.
256
The biographical account of the Buddha's life that is given in the Madhuratthavilsin is told in two
 140

ii. How the Jinamahnidna defines the Buddha's temporal parameters

In stark contrast to these texts, the Jinamahnidna expressly avoids dividing its

account of the Buddha's life into distinct time-periods. As we saw in the Introduction,

the Jinamahnidna defines what it will cover as the Buddha's singular nidnakath, the

single continuous story from his earliest point before he is even a bodhisatta to his final

point in parinibbna. This is first stated in the second sentence of its introductory

separate parts of the text: first, in the abbhantaranidnassa atthavaan, "the explanation of the meaning
of the internal story," at the beginning of the text (Bv-a 5, 64); and, second, in the
Gotamabuddhavamsavaan, "the explanation of the lineage of the Buddha Gotama," at the end (Bv-a
295). Both accounts end with the Buddha teaching the Buddhavamsa on the jeweled walkway (an earlier
point in the story than the donation of the Jetavana, the Jtaka-nidnakath's endpoint). In the first, the
account is extremely abbreviated (covering approximately fifteen pages out of a section of sixty-two pages,
with the narrative constantly broken up by commentary). In the second, it is longer and quite detailed
(covering approximately twenty-one pages, mostly continuous narrative, with word-commentary only
interrupting at the end of the account).
It is expressly indicated in the Madhuratthavilsin's introductory section that the account of the
Buddha's life found there is provided in order to show the legitimacy of the Buddhavamsa's nidna, which
deviates from the standard format (see Bv-a 5:31-6:3). The biographical account is framed in such a way
as will answer that question. It is not designed to recount the Buddha's life for its own sake. The division
of the life into segments is evidently considered extraneous to that purpose.
The Madhuratthavilsin's Gotamabuddhavamsavaanwhere the bulk of the text's account of
the Buddha's life is foundis an explanation of the Buddhavamsa's "Gotamassa Bhagavato vamso" ("the
lineage of the Lord Gotama"), a collection of twenty-five verses in which the Buddha tells his own life-
story up to that point (Bv 65-6.) Toward the end of this explanation it provides a typical word-commentary
on these verses, but this is preceded by approximately twenty-one pages of narrative that appear to have
been conceived of as retelling (and in the process clarifying) the story told in those twenty-five verses. As
the verses of the Gotamassa Bhagavato vamso are not divided into distinct time-delimited phases, it was
presumably considered inappropriate for an account that presents itself as a more extensive version of that
original to include such divisions.
The reasons we can reasonably deduce for the Madhuratthavilsin and the Jinamahnidna not to
divide up their accounts by time-period are thus different. While the Madhuratthavilsin accepted the
division of the Buddha's life into time-delimited segments as expressing something real about that life and
useful for people wishing to understand it, it did not incorporate the division within its accounts of the life
because they were designed to serve specific purposes, purposes for which the division was not relevant.
For the Jinamahnidnaan independent text, not constrained by such demandsthat approach was
adopted for its own merits.
 141

passage: "For the telling of the story (nidnakath) of our Lord from his aspiration up to

his passing away should be understood as 'the Story of the Conqueror.'"257 This position

is then recapitulated in its concluding statement: "The telling of the story (nidnakath)

should be understood as 'the Great Story of the Conqueror' to the extent that it is from the

resolution gained by the Lord on up to his passing away."258 Nowhere here does it use

temporal terms such as drenidna, avidrenidna, and santikenidna.

The difference between the Jinamahnidna's and the Jtaka-nidnakath's

approach to the contours of the Buddha's life, highlighted in the Jinamahnidna's

prefatory and concluding statements, is reinforced by the difference between the texts'

final introductory sentence before the beginning of the story proper. The

Jinamahnidna's "In regard to that, this is the chronological story" (tatryam

anupubbikath) is in obvious contrast to the Jtaka-nidnakath's parallel sentence "In

regard to that, this is 'the story in the distant past'" (tatridam drenidnam nma).

The parallelism in placement and wording draws attention to the differences

between the two versions. The difference in wording reinforces the overall difference in

approach in that, while the Jtaka-nidnakath's sentence introduces just one portion of

the Buddha's story, the Jinamahnidna's introduces the entire story. Beyond that, the

257
Amhkam hi bhagavato abhinhrato pahya yva parinibbn nidnakath "jinanidnan" ti
veditabb (Jmn 1).
258
Ettvat bhagavat laddhapaidhnato pahya yva parinibbn nidnakath "Jinamahnidnan" ti
veditabb (Jmn 291).
 142

term anupubbikath introduces the idea of chronological sequence. This suggests that

the Jinamahnidna will go through the entire story successively, with the concomitant

implication that each episode will be a part of the Buddha's life in the same waythat is,

not apportioned out into different phases of that life.

iii. What is the significance of the difference between these two approaches?

We have seen here that texts which begin with a nidnakath that recounts the

Buddha's life-storyand particularly texts which themselves relate to the Buddha's

lifedisplay a strong pattern of beginning with a statement that the account of the

Buddha's life will be divided into distinct segments. We saw in Chapter 1 how

extensively the bulk of the Jinamahnidna is framed around the Jtaka-nidnakath's

account and the care the Jinamahnidna takes to maintain the integrity of that account.

We also saw that the Madhuratthavilsin, Visuddhajanavilsin, Cariypiakahakath

and Atthaslin are used as sources in the Jinamahnidna's composition.

Given these facts, it is clear that the Jinamahnidna's definition of what it will

cover amounts to a statement that it is going to differ from those texts in how it handles

the Buddha's life-story. Further, in going so directly against what was the authorized

norm, the Jinamahnidna can be seen as making the case that the Buddha's life should

not be conceived of as falling into distinct periods, but rather should be viewed as a

coherent whole, continuous from start to finish.

 143

It is instructive at this point to return to the Jtaka-nidnakath's statement about

its nidnas. In telling the reader why it is important to understand the three nidnas, the

Jtaka-nidnakath states that the reader will better understand the explanation of the

Jtakas (that is, the body of the Jtakahakath that follows), if he first understands the

division of the Buddha's life into these three periods. In other words, the Jtaka-

nidnakath effectively directs its reader to filter his understanding of the stories of the

Buddha's previous lives through the lens of viewing the Buddha's extended life-stream as

being divided into phases. The Jtaka-nidnakath thus has a programmatic aspect, in

that it tries to bring its readers to perceive the course of the Buddha's development in a

particular way. This would then clearly influence their thinking beyond the confines of

the interaction with the text.259 The division of the Jtaka-nidnakath's account into

three segments is therefore not simply a matter of the form of a particular text, but

undoubtedly influenced Buddhists' understanding of the Buddha himself.

Against this background we can see all the more clearly how significant this

aspect of the Jinamahnidna's portrayal of the Buddha is. Just as the Jtaka-

nidnakath acts to shape people's understanding of the Buddha, so the Jinamahnidna,

in offering an alternative portrayal that expressly repudiates this aspect of the Jtaka-

nidnakath's depiction, works to shape how its reader conceives of the Buddha in the

259
This is especially likely because the Jtakas were extremely popular and influential texts, interacted
with by Buddhists in a variety of ways.
 144

wider context of her life, beyond the confines of its pages.

It also has implications for the reader's understanding of her own relation to the

Buddha. A significant effect of eschewing such temporal demarcations of the Buddha's

life is that the Jinamahnidna thereby avoids automatically distancing the reader from

what the other texts identify as the earlier phases of his life.

Within the confines of the text, the Jinamahnidna argues that the Buddha's life

should not be thought of as comprising separate phases but rather as a coherent,

continuous unit. The implication of saying at the outset of the text that the story of the

Buddha's life should be told as a continuous unit is that we should read the story in that

way. The Jinamahnidna effectively enjoins us to bear in mind as we go through its

account that whatever we read in the text is part of one continuous entity. By not

dividing its account into segments, the Jinamahnidna makes such an experience of the

text more likely.

On the other hand, the Jtaka-nidnakath's division of the Buddha's life into

temporally defined segments also helps reveal that the Jinamahnidna is a whole. By

not claiming for itself any identity other than the account of the three nidnas, the Jtaka-

nidnakath is only the sum of its parts. This makes it more apparent that the

Jinamahnidna claims for itself an identity as something more than the sum total of all

its individual episodes and phases of his life. Its introductory and concluding statements

explicitly identify what that "something more" is. It is the Jinamahnidna's being the
 145

account of amhkam bhagav, not just of the bodhisatta/Buddha.

In encouraging the perception that everything within its narrative takes place

within a single temporal sphere, the Jinamahnidna goes beyond arguing a case for a

certain way of viewing the Buddha, and, again, uses a quality of its narrative to reflect

something of its subject matter. In this way, it brings the reader to see that aspect of the

subject. The reader is encouraged to recognize that the single temporal sphere within

which the narrative unfolds amounts to a whole, something more than a continuous

stretch of time. Rather it constitutes a single temporal unitthe time defined by the

bhagav's existence.

D Narrative seamlessness: The absence of temporally defined break-markers

Since the Jinamahnidna's account is largely structured by the Jtaka-

nidnakath's telling, the Jinamahnidna's election not to divide up its account

according to temporal positioning is made particularly clear by the absence of a break-

marker at the two points where they would be expected from the Jtaka-nidnakath's

schema; namely, when the bodhisatta gets reborn in the Tusita heaven and when he

attains enlightenment.

i. The bodhisatta is reborn in the Tusita heaven

The Jtaka-nidnakath concludes its account of "the story in the distant past"

with cursory information about Vessantara. It states that, as Vessantara, the Buddha-to-
 146

be performed such meritorious deeds that the earth quaked, and that after death he was

reborn in the Tusita heaven. It then reiterates that the "story in the distant past" should

be understood as everything that has preceded in the story so far. After this statement,

which confers a sense of closure on what has been recounted to that point, it moves on to

report events in the next stage of his progressthe liminal stage in Tusita before he is

born into his last life.260

The Jinamahnidna's account (which is here clearly based on the Jtaka-

nidnakath's version) is similarly structured, though it provides a couple more details

about the bodhisatta's rebirth in Tusita.261 However, it has no break-marker after the

news that he has been reborn in Tusita. The reader does not therefore experience the

260
Evam pramiyo pretv Vessantarattabhve hito "Acetanayam puthav ..." ti evam
mahpahavikampanni mahpuni karitv yupariyosne tato cuto Tusitabhavane nibbatti. Iti
Dpakarapdamlato pahya yva ayam Tusitapure nibbatti ettakam hnam Drenidnam nm 'ti
veditabbam. ... Tusitapure vasante yeva pana Bodhisatte Buddhahalhalam nma udapdi,
"Thus, having fulfilled the perfections, situated in his existence as Vessantara, having done great,
meritorious deeds which caused the great earth to shake in this way: '(Though) without volition, this earth
...,' having died from there at the end of his life, he was reborn in the Tusita world. In this way it should be
understood that this whole extent from Dpakara's feet up to this rebirth in the city of Tusita is called 'the
story in the distant past.' But while the bodhisatta was living in the city of Tusita, there arose a
proclamation of a (forthcoming) buddha," (Ja I 47). The underlining highlights the definition of the
drenidna, which will be seen to be missing from the Jinamahnidna's account.
261
Evam mahpuriso Vessantarattabhve yeva pramiyo pretv mahpahavkampandni puni
karitv prammatthakam katv yuhapariyosne sahivassasatasahassdhikasattapasavassakoiyuke
Tusitapure Santusitadevaputto nma hutv nibbatti. Tusitapure vasante yeva bodhisatte, buddhakolhalam
nma loke udapdi,
"Thus the great man, having fulfilled the perfections in his existence as Vessantara, having done
meritorious deeds which caused the great earth to shake, having brought the perfections to a head, at the
end of his life at the age of fifty-seven kois [a very high number] and sixty hundred thousand years old, he
was reborn as a god called Santusita in the city of Tusita. While the bodhisatta was living in the city of
Tusita, there arose a proclamation of a (forthcoming) buddha in the world" (Jmn 31).
 147

same sense of disjunction as in the Jtaka-nidnakath's account between the moment of

his rebirth there and the events that ensue while he is living there. The individual

moments in the bodhisatta's life flow into each other more seamlessly.

ii. The enlightenment

The Jtaka-nidnakath closes its account of the enlightenment with two famous

verses (udnas) in which the now enlightened one joyously proclaims that though he has

long been wandering through samsra, seeking an end to suffering, he has finally found

the cause and made an end of craving.262 At this point the Jtaka-nidnakath

recapitulates the definition of the closing "story in the not distant past," telling the reader

that everything that has happened from the bodhisatta's leaving Tusita until this

momentthat is, the entirety of this individual life so faris considered one phase of the

262
Evam aparimena sirivibhavena pjayamne nekappakresu acchariyadhammesu ptubhtesu
sabbautaam paivijjhitv sabbabuddhnam avijahitam udnam udnesi: "Anekajtisamsram ...
tahnam khayam ajjhag" ti. Iti Tusitapurato pahya yva ayam bodhimae sabbautappatti tva
ettakam hnam avidrenidnam nm ti veditabbam. ... Santikenidnam pana "Bhagav Svatthiyam
viharati Jetavane Anthapiikassa rme, Vesliyam viharati Mahvane kgraslyan" ti evam "tesu
tesu hnesu viharanto tasmim tasmim hne yeva labbhatiti" vuttam, kic'pi evam vuttam atha kho pana
tam pi dito pahya evam veditabbam. Udnam udnetv ...,
"In this way, being honored with an immeasurable wealth of glory, when marvelous events of
many kinds had appeared, having penetrated the knowledge of omniscience, he proclaimed the joyous
proclamation that for all buddhas is not omitted: '... the circle of many births ... [my mind] has attained the
destruction of desires.' Hence it should be understood that this great stretch from the city of Tusita onward
up to this attainment of omniscience at the foot of the Bodhi tree is called 'the story in the not distant past'...
But the story in the present has been described: 'It is taken as those very places in which he is living, in this
way: "The Lord is staying in Svatthi in the Jetavana grove in Anthapiika's park, he is staying in the
Mahvana grove in the hall of the gabled house."' But although it has been described thus, it should still
also be understood in this way from the beginning on. Having proclaimed the joyous proclamation ..." (Ja
I 77). Again, the underlining highlights the definitions of the nidnas.
 148

Buddha's life. It then introduces the following "story in the present" by again citing its

definition (though this time in an expanded form that particularly stresses the physical

location of the Buddha). It also reiterates the importance of understanding what this

phase consists of before one starts reading it. After this decisive and lengthy break in the

account, it resumes the narration proper: "Having proclaimed the joyous proclamation

(udnam udnetv) ...." The break it creates in its narrative gives the reader the sense

that a new and quite distinct phase of the life is now beginning. It also makes him self-

conscious about what he should bear in mind as he continues to read.

The Jinamahnidna, on the other hand, seamlessly follows its quotation of the

two udnas that ended the Jtaka-nidnakath's "story in the not distant past" with the

opening phrase of the Jtaka-nidnakath's subsequent narrative section: "udnam

udnetv ...."263 Unlike the Jtaka-nidnakath's version, this gives no indication that

there is any significant difference between the moment of making the proclamation and

the moment just afterward. They are just successive moments in the ever-unfolding,

seamless narrative of the Buddha's unitary life.

263
Evam bhagav aparimena sirisobhaggena pjayamno nnappakresu acchariyadhammesu
ptubhtesu sabbautam paibujjhi. So pi adhigatasabbautao hutv sabbabuddhehi avijahitam
udnam udnento imam gthadvayam ha "Anekajtisamsram ... tahnam khayam ajjhag" ti.
Udnam udnetv ..., "In this way, the Lord, being honored with an immeasurable wealth of glory, when
marvelous events of various kinds had appeared, awoke to omniscience. He also, having become one who
had attained the knowledge of omniscience, proclaiming the joyous proclamation that is not omitted by all
buddhas, said this pair of verses: '... the circle of many births ... [my mind] has attained the destruction of
desires.' Having proclaimed the joyous proclamation ..." (Jmn 89-90).
 149

iii. The Jinamahnidna's titling of the enlightenment episode

This effect of seamlessness is strengthened in a somewhat different way by the

title the Jinamahnidna assigns to the episode. Titles can be used to bring about shifts

in emphasis in a story. Naming a section of text a certain way naturally draws attention

to a particular aspect of the material in the section. It focuses the reader's mind on that

aspect and so forges an explicit connection between whatever is recounted in the section

and that aspect. In this way the text can influence how the reader interprets its

material.264 By taking the same piece of material and naming it differently, a text can

change significantly how that material is read.

The Jinamahnidna effectively does just this. Generally the Jinamahnidna's

principal sources do not divide up their accounts with section-markers. Sometimes,

however, when its source does contain such markers, the Jinamahnidna will follow the

material from the source very closely but change the title assigned to it.

A striking example of this is afforded by the way it names its account of the

Buddha's enlightenment. After citing the verses discussed above, in which the Buddha

proclaims his attainment of enlightenment, the Jinamahnidna concludes this phase of

264
This remains true, even though the section dividers in the Jinamahnidna, as in other Pli texts, are
placed at the end of the section. In processing the episode immediately after reading it as well as in relating
it to the material that follows, the section dividers are able to influence the reader's overall experience of
that section.
 150

the Buddha's life with the chapter-ending "The story of the first week is finished."265

Viewed on its own this title is almost shocking, both in its non-acknowledgement of the

magnitude of the events described in this kath, and in the way it actively detracts from

the singularity of this momentous event. It does not name the section "The story of the

attainment of omniscience," or something to that effect. It names it "the story of the first

week." Not only does this make no reference to what was achieved in that period, it

positively undercuts its importance by subsuming it within a greater grouping of what

will be seven sections. Designating the section this way propels the reader onward into

the future of the rest of the numbered group, rather than allowing her to focus on the

moment just past.

The jarringness of the title is only heightened when one compares it to what is

found at the parallel point in the Jtaka-nidnakath. As we saw above, the Buddha's

attainment of omniscience marks the end of "the story in the not distant past." Where

the Jinamahnidna has: "The story of the first week is finished," the Jtaka-

nidnakath has: "Hence it should be understood that this whole great stretch from the

city of Tusita onward up to this attainment of omniscience at the foot of the Bodhi tree is

called 'the story in the not distant past.'"266

265
Pahamasatthakath samatt (Jmn 90).
266
Iti Tusitapurato pahya yva ayam bodhimae sabbautappatti ettakam hnam Avidrenidnam
nm ti veditabbam (Ja I 77).
 151

Of course, the Jtaka-nidnakath's statement is marking off a much larger

amount of text than the Jinamahnidna's, so I am not comparing like with like here.

Nonetheless, we should not ignore the effect of the way the Jtaka-nidnakath's closes

the section on its immediate context, on the narrative that surrounds it. Where the title

the Jinamahnidna assigns this section of the text directs the reader's attention forward,

on into the rest of the text, the Jtaka-nidnakath's parallel closure-marker points her

attention in the opposite direction. It brings to the reader's awareness the beginning of

this period, which coincides more or less with the birth of the bodhisatta as Siddhattha;

the extent of time passed between that moment and the end-point just reached; and that

end-point, which is an event that has just taken place, in the immediate past. All of these

times are squarely in the past, so the reader's glance is here cast backwards by this

divider.

By its creative handling of the chapter title here, the Jinamahnidna thus

structures the reader's progress through the text in a way that fosters a sense of the

narrative as a single, onward-flowing narrative unit.

iv. The point where the Jtaka-nidnakath's account ends

The Jinamahnidna's policy of not dividing up the Buddha's life into time-

delimited periods is also apparent in how it handles the point where the Jtaka-

nidnakath's account ends, though the evidence here is a little more complex.
 152

The Jtaka-nidnakath ends its account with Anthapiika giving the Jetavana

park and monastery to the Buddha. It concludes:

"In this way the place the Lord lived in from his attainment of omniscience at the
foot of the great Bodhi tree up to the couch of his parinibbna is called 'the story
in the present.' By means of this we will explain all the Jtakas. The telling of
his story is completed."267

The text then moves on to tell the first of the Jtakas. Though its definition of the

santikenidna marks out a period of time that continues on long past the point where the

Jtaka-nidnakath stops, it implicitly identifies the preceding section of the story as the

santikenidna, or at least part of it.

In telling the story of the donation of the Jetavana park, the Jinamahnidna has

used material from both the Vinaya and the Jtaka-nidnakath, but it picks up the last

paragraph of the Jtaka-nidnakath's account. It adds a little more information relevant

to the Jetavana, and then reports in a couple of sentences the Buddha's subsequent

movements. It states that from then on the Buddha would go wherever he had seen there

were people capable of being instructed (veneyyapuggale), and would enlighten them. It

reaffirms this in three verses, after which comes the title: "The story of the receiving of

the Jetavana."268 There is then a marked shift in gear, as the Jinamahnidna informs us:

267
Iti mahbodhimae sabbautappattito yva mahparinibbnamac yasmim hne Bhagav vihsi
idam Santikenidnam nma, tassa vasena sabbajtakni vaayissma. Nidnakath nihit (Ja I 94).
268
Jetavanapaigghanakath (Jmn 201).
 153

Evam bhagavato sabbautappattito pahya yva Jetavanapaiggaha

paipiy nidnakath hoti. Idni vassagaanam vaayissma,
"The telling of the story in order (paipiy) from the Lord's attainment of
omniscience up to his receiving the Jetavana is like this. Now we will explain the
enumeration of the years."269

The Jinamahnidna then gives an extremely abbreviated listing of where the Buddha

lived over the remaining forty-five years of his life.270

At first glance it appears that in saying: "The telling of the story in order from the

Lord's attainment of omniscience up to his receiving the Jetavana is like this," the

Jinamahnidna is doing something similar to the Jtaka-nidnakath's division of the

story into nidnasboth in making a distinct break in its account and in delimiting a

phase of the Buddha's story (from his enlightenment to his receipt of the Jetavana).

Moreover, the Buddha's attainment of enlightenment is the starting point for the Jtaka-

nidnakath's santikenidna, so it might appear that the Jinamahnidna's statement is

functioning as an equivalent to the Jtaka-nidnakath's definition of the santikenidna.

However, this statement of the Jinamahnidna is better understood when it is

taken in close connection with what immediately follows it. It signals that there is now a

shift in the type of information that the text is imparting. It is saying that up until this

269
Jmn 201.
270
Jmn 201-210. The enumeration of these years is taken from the Madhuratthavilsin's nidnavaan
(Bv-a 3-4).
It is interesting to note that by focusing exclusively on the places the Buddha lived in during the
period up to his death, this section of the Jinamahnidna is in fact providing the information that
constitutes the santikenidna as it is defined by the Jtaka-nidnakath.
 154

point it has been telling the story of that period sequentially, i.e. as a narrative, with one

episode following another. It is now going to shift mode, and give an annalistic

enumeration of the succeeding years, with no attempt at relaying the episodes that

happened in them.

The statement starts the delimited period with the attainment of

enlightenmentnot the aspiration under Dpakara, as one might expect since that is

what the whole story so far has coveredbecause the time from the Buddha's

enlightenment until his receipt of the Jetavana is the equivalent of the "first year" with

which the following enumeration begins.271 In other words, in making this statement the

Jinamahnidna is drawing attention to the fact that the period which has just been

described in one way is about to be described in another way (as the "first year" in an

ongoing numbered series). This statement of the Jinamahnidna is therefore not

delimiting a phase of the Buddha's life in the same way as the Jtaka-nidnakath's

nidnas do. The Jinamahnidna uses this overlapping of informationthe same thing

being described in two different ways back to backas the means of transitioning

between sections of the text that are very different in tone and content. It is now clear

that, despite possible appearances to the contrary, the Jinamahnidna has again

271
Earlier in its account the Jinamahnidna gave a synopsis of the time-line of the events from the
Buddha's enlightenment until he is summoned by his father to Kapilavatthu, and it calculated that the latter
occurs ten months after the enlightenment (Jmn 155:9-14). Journeying back to Kapilavatthu took two
months (Jmn 169:2), and after a couple of weeks spent there, the Buddha traveled on to Rjagaha, where he
met Anthapiika and was given the park.
 155

eschewed the time division found at the parallel point in the Jtaka-nidnakath.272

v. What is the significance of the absence of temporally defined break-markers?

We have seen in this section that the Jinamahnidna redefines and then

demonstrates how the Buddha's life should be portrayed in temporal terms, in a way

directly at odds with the standard portrayal of its sources. It proposes and depicts a

vision of the Buddha in which it is important that every moment of the four asakheyyas

and a hundred-thousand kappas between the beginning of his life-stream and his death

was equally a part of his unitary life.

This presentation of the temporal aspects of the life also has effects on the

reader's experience of the text itself. The form mirrors the life it narrates. The reader

encounters the work, as the life, as a temporally unified entity, encapsulating a neatly

demarcated unit in which is included and equally mutually related everything between the

brackets of beginning and end.

E Structuring the whole work as chapters (kaths)

Another striking feature of the Jinamahnidna that relates to its impression of

wholeness is the way its telling of the entire life-story is divided into kath, "stories" or

272
There is of course an implicit demarcation of a phase in starting to enumerate the years at the point of
the Buddha's enlightenment. This effectively makes the Buddha's life post-enlightenment into one period,
which is therefore by implication distinct from his life pre-enlightenment. Nonetheless it is significant that
this periodization remains implicit, that it is not spelled out as such.
 156

"accounts." In dividing up its material into discrete sections, the Jinamahnidna

follows a practice that is common in Pli literature. Pli texts frequently divide up their

material into sections named according to some feature of the segment so delimited.

Titles such as -khandhaka (roughly "chapter, section") or -nipta ("section") may be

assigned them. They are sometimes labeled numerically according to the number of

elements they contain. Often they are identified by reference to their subject matter.273

Another type of section-divider found in some texts makes no reference to the contents of

the section so created, but instead relates to its length. This is the bhavra or "portion

for recitation."

However, a comparison of the Jinamahnidna with its sources shows that it

diverges from their lead to apply this practice in its own ways. The great majority of the

Jinamahnidna's principal sources do not divide their material into segments at all.274

273
An example of the first type is the ekanipta, "the section with ones" (as found in the Aguttaranikya
and elsewhere). An example of the second approach is the Saghabhedakkhandhaka, "the chapter on
splitting the Sagha" (located in the Khandhaka portion of the Vinaya).
274
The only exception to this is that many of them separate off the story of Sumedha by labeling it as such.
Other than the three divisions by nidna that we have seen, the Jtaka-nidnakath has only one division-
marker, Sumedhakath, which indicates that the account of Sumedha is finished (Ja I 28). The
Buddhavamsa marks the conclusion of each account of a buddha's life-story (e.g., Bv 66), but does not
break up the individual accounts. The Madhuratthavilsin labels only the end of the Sumedhakath (Bv-a
119) and of the sections on the various buddhas (e.g., Bv-a 132). There are no chapter-breaks within the
chapter giving the commentary on the buddha Gotama's history, the Gotamabuddhavamsavaan, from
which the Jinamahnidna takes material. The Apadnahakath, on the other hand, labels the end of its
Sumedhakath (Ap-a 31) but not the accounts of the different Buddhas, though like the Jtaka-nidnakath
it distinguishes the different nidnas (Ap-a 52, 81, 99). There are no breaks in the section commenting on
the Buddha's apadna (Ap-a 102-127). The Dhammapadahakath's "Account of the chief disciples,"
where the story of the Buddha's life up to the receipt of the Veuvana park from Bimbisra is told in
abbreviated form, contains no breaks at all (Dhp-a 83-114).
 157

The only principal source that divides its account into sections named according to their

subject matter is the Vinaya's Mahvagga.275 A handful of the Jinamahnidna's sources

divide up their accounts on the basis of the length of the segments so created; that is, they

split them into bhavras. The most important of these are the

Mahparinibbnasutta,276 its commentary in the Sumagalavilsin,277 and the

Mahpadnasutta.278

The Jinamahnidna, on the other hand, applies the practice of dividing its

account into sections defined by their content throughout the text. The part of the

Vinaya's Mahvagga that is relevant for the Jinamahnidna has frequent section-

275
For example, the first three sections of this text are called the bodhikath ("the story of the
enlightenment"), the Ajaplakath ("the story of the Ajapla tree"), and the Mucalindakath ("the story of
Mucalinda"), Vin I 2-3.
276
The portion of the Mahparinibbnasutta used here is divided into five bhavras (with the break-
points at D II 101, 121, 136, 153). For example, the second portion ends with the statement: "The second
portion for recitation is finished" (Dutiyakabhavram Nihitam, D II 101). In only two cases is any
reference made to subject matter, and even here the break-point is still determined by length. The fourth
bhavra ends: "The fourth portion for recitation concerning Ara-vedalla is finished" (Ara-vedalla-
Bhavram Nihitam Catuttham, D II 136); and the fifth: "The fifth portion for recitation set at the Hira
avatiya (River) is finished" (Hiraavatiya-Bhavram Nihitam Pacamam, D II 153). The
Mahparinibbnasutta as a whole is divided into six bhavras, but only the last five are used
continuously in the Jinamahnidna, the first being used elsewhere in the text.
277
The Sumagalavilsin has breaks only at the points where the Mahparinibbnasutta does and it labels
all of these by bhavra (Sv II 542, 549, 564, 572, 591). For example, the commentary on the second
bhavra ends with the statement: "The commentary on the second bhavra is finished" (Dutiyaka-
bhavra-vaan nihit, Sv II 549).
278
With one exception, the sutta is divided only into bhavra (D II 21, 35). The exception here is that
one break is labeled Jti-khaam nihitam, "the section on the birth is finished" (D II 21). The latter is
the reading given in the PTS edition of the text, but the variant readings indicate that a Burmese manuscript
and a printed Thai version of the text have the title Pahama-bhavram, "the first portion for recitation,"
instead.
 158

dividers that name the principal event or figure in the episode they recount. The

Jinamahnidna follows those divisions quite closely. Nonetheless, the Mahvagga was

only a potential source for a limited section of the Jinamahnidna's account.279 For the

remainder of its account, the Jinamahnidna had to rely on sources that did not contain

such chapter-breaks. It therefore extends the practice of division by subject matter to the

parts of the text based on sources without such breaks.

We see an example of this process in the final section of the Jinamahnidna,

recounting the Buddha's last year.280 The material used here is taken almost entirely from

the Mahparinibbnasutta and its commentary in the Sumagalavilsin. The

Jinamahnidna's version of these events follows the wording of these two sources very

closely. Yet, while the sources' material used here is divided into five bhavras

labeled as such, the Jinamahnidna's is broken up into sixteen kath labeled according

to their subject matter.281

That the Jinamahnidna diverges from its sources so decisively on this point,

while otherwise following their versions quite closely, suggests that the division into

279
It covers the period from the Buddha's gaining omniscience to his conversion of Sriputta and
Moggallna in his first year of teaching.
280
Jmn 210-291.
281
For example, "The account of Great Sriputta's nibbna is finished" (Mahsriputtanibbnakath
samatt [Jmn 216]); "The account of the releasing of the constituents of his life-force"
(yusakhravissajjanakath [Jmn 223]); "The account of the city of Bhoga" (Bhoganagarakath [Jmn
226]); and so on.
 159

kath was adopted in order to carry out some work in the text. I suggest that one of its

chief benefits is, paradoxically, to help unify the text as a whole by fostering a sense of

narrative consistency, whereby the entire text is subject to the same general structuring

processes, and is divided into meaningful portions.

This may seem to contradict my earlier argument concerning the

Jinamahnidna's removal of the Jtaka-nidnakath's section-dividers. At first glance,

it would seem that chopping the story into kath would have exactly the opposite effect

of the one I am proposing here. Clearly this practice does break up what would otherwise

be a continuous account into individual sections, and in that sense it disrupts the effect of

seamlessness that such continuity would bring. However, it is also a way of bringing the

entire Jinamahnidna into a stylistic uniformity and coherence. Each part of the text

becomes like all others in consisting of smaller units, meaningfully defined according to

subject matter, which in turn is implicitly related to the text as a whole.

2 Conclusion

Various aspects of the Jinamahnidna's form contribute to the presentation of

the text as a whole distinct from the sum of its parts. This wholeness is an element of the

text's claim to superiority as a telling of the Buddha's life, and so as a portrayal of the

Buddha himself.

The way it describes its subject matter at the outset portrays the text as unified by
 160

its singular subjectit all shares one key quality, that of relating something about "our

Lord." Stressing the connection between Sumedha back then and "our lord" now (in the

"now" of his last life, of the time of the text's composition, and of the reader's encounter

with him in this text) gives a unity and integrity to the text and a sense of relational

uniformitywe are as related to him at the beginning as we are at the end. The story of

the Buddha's life being presented as a temporal whole gives a sense of the temporal

dimension of the bhagav's existence. The use of the stylistic device of dividing the

story into kath accords the text a higher degree of structural consistency.

By these various means, the Jinamahnidna works to ensure it is perceived as a

whole. This both reflects and reveals that is not only the story of its subject's

development from bodhisatta to Buddha. It is also the unitary story of amhkam

bhagav, "our Lord," who is its subject from beginning to end. At each stage of his life,

therefore, the central figure is both the bodhisatta or Buddha and amhkam bhagav.
 161

CHAPTER III

CONNECTEDNESS:
A HEIGHTENED SENSE OF RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BUDDHA

The preceding chapters examined aspects of the Jinamahnidna's form in

relation to its sources. The focus of inquiry now shifts. This chapter and the next

consider the text in its own right. While chapters 1 and 2 stressed the comprehensiveness

and wholeness of the biography, this chapter and chapter 4 will reveal an emphasis on the

biography's openness. This chapter examines how the text does this by working to

increase awareness of the Buddha's connection to present. It achieves this principally by

creating an increased sense of relationship with the Buddha in the reader.

The Jinamahnidna reports the Buddha addressing with nanda what he

imagines his devoted follower's reaction might later be, once he is dead: "You might

think, nanda, 'The teaching is one whose teacher is past (attasatthukam). There is no

teacher for us.' But it should not be viewed like that, nanda."282

The attribute predicated of the Buddha's teaching, attasatthukam, contains an

obvious and particularly apt double-reference. Atta can mean "past" both in the sense of

"gone, gone beyond, passed away" and specifically "passed away in death," and also in

the explicitly temporal sense of "in the past." Thus, attasatthukam conveys both

282
Siy kho pannanda tumhkam evam assa 'attasatthukam pvacanam, natthi no satth' ti; na kho
panetam nanda evam dahabbam (Jmn 260).
 162

"whose teacher is dead, gone" and "whose teacher is in the past."283

It is the combination of these two ranges of meaning, and the attendant

implications, that could be particularly troubling to a follower of the Buddha: the thought

that the teacherwhom all acknowledge to be deadis not only dead, gone from this

world, and so not immediately available to his followers, but also in the past, in the sense

of "no longer involved in the present."

The follower is faced with a two-fold dilemmahow to deal with the fact that the

Buddha is gone and how to conceive of his relation to the present.284 This chapter will

show that the Jinamahnidna allows its reader to feel that the Buddha is still connected

to the world and that she can have a relationship with him across time.

I will first analyze in depth an episode that revolves around the relationship

between the Buddha and one of his followers. This will give us an idea of how the

Buddha is shown as relating to others while he was alive. This picture conditions the

reader's understanding of what relationship with the Buddha involves.

This understanding becomes of personal relevance to the reader, as it made

evident that the reader is already involved in a relationship with the Buddha, in being a

recipient of the care he extended while alive. This already existent relationship is

283
When the three dimensions of time, past, present, and future, are referred to, it is generally atta,
paccuppanna, and angata that are used to convey these meanings.
284
See K.R. Norman, "Death and the Tathgata," in Collected Papers IV (Oxford: Pali Text Society,
1994), 251-63 for further discussion of how the question of the Buddha's death was posed by some Pli
texts.
 163

revealed in part by the way the beginning of the Buddha's teaching period is depicted. It

is made all the clearer by the Jinamahnidna's portrayal of the period leading up to the

Buddha's death. The text's coverage of the Buddha's last words then makes explicit how

this relationship is to be maintained into the future after the Buddha's death.

Ultimately, the text shows its reader that not only is the Buddha involved in the

present, but his involvement in an ever-ongoing future can be ensured. The text enables

its reader to be part of that process of maintaining his ongoing involvement in the world.

1 The nature of relationships: Between people and with the Buddha

Different representations of the Buddha naturally highlight different aspects of his

person. The paradigmatic qualities attributed to the Buddha are impersonal and

transcendent. They reveal the Buddha as a being incomprehensibly greater than any a

reader could know personally. The picture of the Buddha that emerges from the

Jinamahnidna, on the other hand, is quite different. He is generally portrayed here in

distinctly human terms, and the reader is effectively encouraged to imagine knowing him

personally.

At the structural level, in ending with his death, the Jinamahnidna defines its

parameters by the biological limits of human life. It does not flinch from showing the

bodhisatta looking foolish, as whenin the face of his disrespect and lack of interest in

the then buddhahe is initially dragged by the hair by his low-born friend Ghaikra to
 164

see the buddha.285 It also shows him as flawed, including the first and last of the

Visuddhajanavilsin's list of bad experiences he has to undergo in his last life, as a result

of wrongs done in previous lifetimes.286 However, it is above all the degree to which he

is shown as being involved in relations with others that portrays him as human.

A The story of Pipphalimava-Mahkassapa's ordination

I will now examine an episode that is particularly instructive for an appreciation

of how relationships are understood in the Jinamahnidna. The story of

Pipphali[mava]'s encounter with the Buddha and his subsequent ordination as

[Mah]kassapa amounts to an extended exploration of the nature of relationships.287 It

also offers important insights into the dynamics at play in a relationship with the Buddha.

It highlights the issues of separation (viyoga) and association/loving care (sagaha). It

stresses the enduring connections between people that can be maintained over

extraordinary lengths of time and differences in status. It also emphasizes the value and

285
Jmn 26.
286
The Visuddhajanavilsin (in the Buddhpadnavaan section) gives a list of the twelve bad things
the Buddha experienced in his life as a result of prior bad actions (Ap-a 114). The Jinamahnidna
includes the first and last of these twelve. The first bad experience is his having to practice austerities for
six years, an unusually long time. This is identified as the result of having disrespected a previous buddha,
as a young man called Jotipla, and forced his friend Ghaikra to drag him by the hair to hear the buddha
(Jmn 70). The last such experience the Buddha has to endure is the attack of dysentery that ensues from
Cunda feeding him a bad meal (Jmn 227-8). This is identified as the result of his actions in a previous
lifetime when he made a living as a dishonest doctor. He deliberately gave a rich, young man substances
that would make him ill, in order to ensure his ongoing employment.
287
Jmn 149-154.
 165

importance of such connections. It thus provides a particularly illuminating point of

entry into the cluster of questions concerning relationships that figure prominently in the

Jinamahnidna.

The importance of Kassapa's story to the Jinamahnidna is initially suggested

by the fact that it is included in the text despite not being mentioned in the accounts of the

Buddha's life provided by its sources. The one place in the Jinamahnidna's main

sources that the story is told is the Visuddhajanavilsin's section on Kassapa. The story

is thus told in connection with Kassapa's life, not the Buddha's. By leaving out

Kassapa's story, the Jinamahnidna's primary sources indicate that they do not consider

it important for an understanding of the Buddha's life.

Beside such extra-textual considerations, the Jinamahnidna's coverage of the

story indicates the importance it accords it. It tells the story in great detail, including a

lengthy account over four pages of the events leading up to Kassapa's initial encounter

with the Buddha.

As these events do not directly concern the Buddha, it would have been quite

reasonable for the text to have reported them in abridged form, reserving extensive

coverage for the interaction with the Buddha. However, I suggest that the story of how

Pipphali (as Kassapa was known before meeting the Buddha) came to renounce the

household life has a particular value for the Jinamahnidna. It throws into high relief

questions about the nature and value of relationship with others. These questions are
 166

significant not only for Kassapa's ordination, but more importantly for the portrayal of

the Buddha in the work as a whole.

i. The strength and value of relationships between people

The story of Pipphali and Bhadd[kpiln] is a testament to the strength, value,

and importance of relationships between people over vast periods of time. It is said of

Pipphali that whatever meritorious deeds he did in his previous lifetimes, he did not

alone, but in conjunction with his wife, and this is the woman he will marry in this

lifetime.288 This highlights that there is a connection between these two people that

continues past their deaths, through lifetime after lifetime. They marry each other again

and again. Indeed, Bhadd talks of a bond that has existed between them for a hundred,

thousand kappas.289

The value of personal relationships is brought out in the story by the way the

couple's separation is recounted. It seems to be told in such a way as to provoke a sharp

emotional reaction in the reader, a reaction that reinforces his estimation of the value of

connection with others.

The text tells us that after walking together along the path away from their

household life, the couple reaches a fork in the path where they mutually decide that they

288
Jmn 151.
289
satasahassakappappame addhne kato mittasanthavo ajja bhijjati (Jmn 152).
 167

must go separate ways. It reports Bhadd saying at this juncture that "the intimacy of

friendship" (mittasanthava) created between them over a period of a hundred-thousand

kappas is that day being severed.

That it is the right thing for them to do and they are both in agreement over it does

not prevent this from being a very poignant scene. The physical scenario alone is

poignantthey are standing at a point where the single path they are on splits in two, the

two branches leading away from each other. This scenario highlights the starkness of the

transition occurring at the momentary temporal levelat one moment they are together,

joined in standing at the same spot, and the next they are disunited, inexorably moving

away from each other.

Even more powerfully, the starkness of the contrast between the two time-

referents here"a hundred-thousand kappas" and "today" (ajja)forcefully brings

home both the enduring nature of that connection ("something that has lasted so long")

and the shocking suddenness with which it is being severed. Coupled with the starkness

of this temporal contrast, the starkness of the contrast in emotional tone of "the intimacy

of friendship" (with its connotations of something precious) and "is severed, split,

broken" (with the connotations of something sudden and violent) gives a sense of virtual

brutality to the split. This is likely to provoke in the reader a reflexive emotional reaction

against the splitthat such a connection should be protected, not ruptured.

Such an emotional response on the part of the reader is then reinforced by the
 168

description of the earth's response that immediately follows. The first words after

Bhadd's statement and the report of her taking the path away from him are tesam

dvedhbhtakle, literally, "at the time they became in two (dvedh)." Again, there is a

striking starkness in that compound which comes from the bluntness and literal accuracy

of the expression. It captures in one verbal unit the reality that at one moment two who

are united are sundered. The sentence beginning with this phrase reports that the earth

shook, "roaring as though saying 'Though I can bear Mt. Meru and the mountains of the

world-system, I cannot bear your qualities (gue).'"290 The earthquake is reported as

caused by the force of the couple's qualities, which is too great for the earth to support.

Yet it carries the suggestion of an emotional reaction on the part of the earththat

emotionally it cannot bear what has happened and shudders in response.

The episode is recounted in such a way that, even though the reader knows it is

the right thing for the couple to do, his emotional response controverts his intellectual

evaluation of the situation. The result is that the reader is left with an awareness of the

value and preciousness of relationships.

ii. The importance of relationships

The importance to people of personal relationships is suggested in various ways in

Pipphali-Kassapa's story as a whole. We have already seen something of the role of

290
Jmn 152.
 169

connection with another in living a good lifePipphali does not perform his meritorious

actions alone, but in conjunction with his wife.291 The text also describes the couple as

leaving household life "in relation to" (uddissa) whatever arahants there may be in the

world.292 They consider it important to take this momentous step in their spiritual lives

not independently but in relation to others, even if they do not know who those others are.

The importance of being in connection with certain others is also suggested by the

Buddha's response to the earthquake caused by their separation. The sense of urgency in

his response confirms the seriousness of what has happened. He is reported as thinking:

"Having given up immeasurable wealth, Pipphali and Bhadd have gone forth in relation

to me. This earthquake was caused by the force of the qualities (guabalena) of those

two at the place of their separation (viyogahne). I should meet with them/show them

kindness (may etesam sagaham ktum vaat ti)."293 By the spare juxtaposition of

these three thoughts, the text coveys a sense of immediacy and urgency to his assessment

thatright at this point when they are separated and therefore alonehe should establish

a relationship with them. This suggests that it is important for them to be in connection

with someone, and because they renounced in relation to him (even if they did not know

it at the time), he has a responsibility to establish a connection with them right away.

291
There is a poignant image of the intersection of intimacy and the religious life in Pipphali and Bhadd's
cutting off each other's hair as they prepare to renounce (Jmn 151).
292
Jmn 152.
293
Jmn 153.
 170

iii. The importance to Kassapa of being in relationship with the Buddha

Before we examine the text's depiction of Kassapa's relationship with the

Buddha, let us first consider two aspects of their first encounter that are quite striking.

First, it is the Buddha in his transcendent, more-than-human form that Pipphali

encounters. Second, the text portrays Pipphali as recognizing and asserting his personal

relationship with the Buddha with surprising forcefulness. This is all the more arresting

in light of the first point.

a) The strength of the relationship bridges an extraordinary difference in status

The Jinamahnidna highlights the Buddha's transformation into his transcendent

form for the meeting with Pipphali. After reporting the Buddha feeling the earthquake

and knowing he must establish a relationship with the couple, it shows him leaving the

place where he was staying, taking his bowl and robe and setting off. Once he has

reached the spot on the road between Rjagaha and Nland where he will meet Pipphali,

he sits down under a banyan tree. So far, the Buddha has been portrayed entirely in

human terms. The description could equally have been applied to any ordinary monk.

The Buddha is also situated in a naturalistic and particular settingin a hut, traveling

along a road, and now at a point in between two named and well-known cities. So the

mental picture the reader could be expected to have of him at this point would be of an

entirely human figure, doing things in ways any human might, and now sitting cross-
 171

legged under a tree.

However, the text continues: "But sitting [there], he did not sit like some sort of

ascetic monk (aatarapamsukliko viya); having taken on the appearance of a buddha,

he sat there sending out rays dense for eighty cubits."294 It then goes on to describe the

Buddha poetically in the most extravagant way: his vast quantities of "buddha-rays"

(buddharamsiyo), spraying out in all directions, irradiated the clearing in the wood like a

thousand moons and a thousand suns rising at one time; with the brilliance of the thirty-

two physical marks of the great man he illumined the clearing, which now blazed like the

sky filled with stars and like water scattered with lotuses and water-lilies; the banyan tree

which normally had trunk, leaves and fruit of different colors was now uniformly golden.

The transformation is dramatic and absolute. The reader has to shift his mental

image of the Buddha from one sentence to the next. The text brilliantly highlights the

immediacy of the juxtaposition of the two manifestations of the Buddha by hinging them

in the singular, twofold act of sitting under a tree.295 I will return to consider some of the

294
... -rukkhamle pallakam bhujitv nisdi. Nisdanto ca pana aatarapamsukliko viya anisditv
buddhavesam gahetv astihatthaghanaramsiyo vissajjento nisdi (Jmn 153).
295
... -rukkhamle pallakam bhujitv nisdi. Nisdanto ca pana aatarapamsukliko viya anisditv
buddhavesam gahetv astihatthaghanaramsiyo vissajjento nisdi (Jmn 153). That it is the act of sitting
that is the hinge between the one Buddha and the other Buddhathe hinge which unites yet separatesis
highlighted by the back-to-back placement of nisdi nisdanto.
Here the first nisdi conveys the still-portrayed-as-human-Buddha's act of sitting, and nisdanto
sets in motion the transformation of the sitting into the act of sitting done by the more-than-human-Buddha.
It achieves this by repeating the verb and so explicitly signaling that a revision of the mental image of the
act conveyed by nisdi is to occur. This revision is then confirmed by the explicit contradiction of the
former image of sitting by the negating anisditv. The repetition of nisdi at the end of the sentence
 172

issues at play in this juxtaposition of transcendent and human modes in the next chapter.

Here I wish to emphasize what the appearance of the Buddha in his transcendent form

says about the power of the connection between him and Kassapa.

It is striking how directly Pipphali recognizes and how forcefully he then asserts

his personal relationship with the Buddha. At the moment of seeing the Buddha,

Pipphali's body thrills with joy and he knows: "This must be my teacher. It was in

relation to him that I went forth."296 He immediately goes up to the Buddha and says in

the bluntest possible terms: "Sir, (you) the Lord are my teacher. I am (your) follower."297

After the lengthy description of the Buddha in such awe-inspiring terms, the

bluntness with which Pipphali's actions and words are described can only heighten the

sense of his shocking temerity. This temerity is testimony to the strength of the

connection between them. It is so strong that it empowers Pipphali to go up to the

resplendent Buddha and effectively make demands of him.

The directness of Pipphali's recognition of their relationship creates a sense of the

relationship as a pre-existent given, something that existed in the world before Pipphali

confirms that the revision is accomplished, and the transformation of the sitting into that done by the more-
than-human-Buddha is complete. This nisdi now conveys a different act of sittingone modified not by
pallakam bhujitv but by astihatthaghanaramsiyo vissajjento.
The text has thus spotlighted the instantaneous nature of the transformation of the Buddha, by
writing into the one act of sitting down two: a sitting down carried out by a human Buddha who carried a
bowl and robe, and a sitting down carried out by a Buddha whose rays had the power of a thousand moons
and a thousand suns all shining at once.
296
Ayam mayham satth bhavissati. Imham uddissa pabbajito ti (Jmn 153).
297
Satth me bhante bhagav, svako 'ham asm ti (Jmn 153).
 173

was aware of it, and before the two parties had even met. Altogether, the account of the

encounter focuses the reader's attention squarely on the relationship between Pipphali

and the Buddha and on the fact of their relatedness per se. It also impresses on the reader

all the more the significance of relationship in its own right.

b) The Buddha gives form to their relationship

The focus on the importance of personal connection for a good spiritual life that

we have seen throughout Pipphali-Kassapa's story now becomes even more overt.

Mirroring Pipphali's recognition of him, the Buddha recognizes Kassapa (as he is now

named by the Buddha) for the type of person he is and gives him suitable meditation

topics. This constitutes Kassapa's lower and higher ordination. They are now in the

clearly stated, personal relationship of teacher and follower, and Kassapa has been

properly ordained under the Buddha.

The Buddha has thus given Kassapa the means to progress spiritually, but he does

not stop there. In the context of an intimate interaction, in which Kassapa lays down his

robe for the Buddha to sit on, the Buddha decides that he will "make" (karissmi)

Kassapa into a certain type of monk, one who "naturally" (jti-) follows some of the

more ascetic practices.298 There can be no question here of the importance for Kassapa of

his connection with the Buddha. His very status as a person, the type of monk he is, is

298
Bhagav "aham imam bhikkhum jtipamsuklikam jtieksanikam karissm" ti cintetv (Jmn 154).
 174

determined by the Buddha. That the connection is a personal and intimate one is

highlighted by the manner in which the Buddha makes Kassapa such a monk, namely by

swapping outer robes with him. This leaves the Buddha wearing Kassapa's robes and

Kassapahaving declared his determination to be worthy of doing sowearing the

Buddha's.

The description of the Buddha's robes here may nuance the depiction of the

relationship between the Buddha and Kassapa, by means of particularly apposite puns.

Before giving the robes to Kassapa, the Buddha asks him: Kim pana tvam dhressasi

Kassapa sni pamsuklni nibbasanni? At the surface level, this translates as:

"Kassapa, will you wear the coarse robes, found on a dust-heap, discarded?"299 Wearing

such robes constituted one of the ascetic practices (dhutaga) that a monk could practice.

So the Buddha is offering Kassapa robes that fall within a recognized category of

monastic practice. At the same time, the attributes applied to them seem to call into play

a series of puns, that pivot, in a particularly appropriate way, around their dual statusas

worthless, discarded items, which are nonetheless religiously of great worth. Yet the

puns, if indeed it is legitimate to view them as such, add extra layers of meaning that may

have import for the relationship between Kassapa and the Buddha.

He then indicates their value by informing Kassapa that when he found the robes,

299
Jmn 154.
 175

which had belonged to a slave-woman, infested with insects, in a cemetery, the earth

shook, the skies thundered and the entire world-system cheered in celebration. At the

surface level, the Buddha is asking Kassapa with this question whether he will be worthy

of wearing the robes. However, there may be puns at play in the two adjectives: sni

and nibbasanni.

Sa can mean both "hemp; coarse, hempen cloth," andas a combination of the

associative particle sa- and ia ("a debt")"having a debt, indebted, bearing a debt."300

Thus, while the surface meaning of sni here is that the robes are coarse, made of

hemp, there may also be a secondary meaning that they bring a debt with them, a debt

Kassapa will owe the Buddha. According to this reading, by doing something that

engenders a debt to him in Kassapa (giving him the robes), the Buddha is engendering yet

another form of enduring connection between them. At the same time, by accepting the

Buddha's robes, forewarned of the attendant debt, Kassapa is willingly accepting that

ongoing connection.

nibbasanni, deriving from the privative particle nis- and vasana ("clothing"),

conveys the meaning "no longer worn, cast off."301 However, it is possible that there is a

verbal echo of derivatives of the verb nibbisati, which means, amongst other things, "to

300
See PED, 702.
301
PED, 362.
 176

earn, gain, reward."302 For example, nibbisa connotes "earnings, wages."303 Thus,

beyond the surface connotation that the robes are cast off, there may also be a suggestion

that they constitute earnings or a reward for Kassapa, i.e., something that he has earned or

merited. This would also suggest that they are something of value.

A pun conveying simultaneously the opposed meanings "discarded" and

"something of value gained as a reward" is particularly apt here. Beside the obvious

double character of these robes mentioned above (as materially worthless but spiritually

beneficial), they also have enormous value because they are the Buddha's robes. This is

indicated by the gods' reaction when the Buddha found themwe were told that despite

being the insect-infested discards of a slave-woman, found in a cemetery, these robes

have such extraordinary value that the whole universe reverberates in approval at their

finding.

Combining the two sets of references, it might be that this phrase is showing the

Buddha describing the robes as simultaneously crude and cast off and something that

brings a debt to him, but which is nonetheless merited by Kassapa and valuable. The

secondary meanings are based on long-term relationsthe robes engender an enduring

connection between Kassapa and the Buddha (enduring to the point of never ending, in

302
See PED, 365. Cf. Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1899; reprint, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1986), 558 (nirviati).
303
PED, 365.
 177

fact, as long as the robes are snias long as they still carry a debt, a debt that has not

been paid off). It is also a connection which Kassapa merits, presumably because of his

past actions, and which the Buddha bestows on him as reward, again presumably for

those actions.

c) The interconnection of their persons

The exchanging of robes changes Kassapa's status in that it makes him into a

certain type of monk, which in turn leads to his shortly attaining arahant-ship. It also

displays a real intimacy between the Buddha and his follower. Beyond that, it also

changes Kassapa's status in a way that is much harder to define. It creates and connotes a

type of relation that links Kassapa and the Buddha in an even more intensely personal

way, in a way that is focused even more intensely on their respective persons and the

relations between those persons. By giving Kassapa his robes to wear, and by wearing

Kassapa's, the Buddha institutes a relation of quasi-identity between them.

Of course, this does not mean that Kassapa is actually the Buddha's equal. This is

an honor that the Buddha graciously accords Kassapa and that Kassapa gratefully accepts,

so the relation of superior and subordinate is still very much in place. Nonetheless, there

are distinct connotations of some form of close, personal overlap between them. This

overlap is further revealed by the fact that the earth responds to Kassapa's acquisition of

the Buddha's robes in a way that directly parallels how it responded to the Buddha's
 178

acquisition of them: by shaking and roaring.304 The inanimate earth has recognized the

complex interconnection of their persons.

B What is the significance of this portrayal of relationships for the reader?

The Jinamahnidna's rendition of this episode pays sustained attention to the

nature of relationships in themselves and also to how they apply to the Buddha. This

attention fosters a heightened awareness of these issues in the reader and encourages him

to bear them in mind in his encounter with the work as a whole. Such an awareness leads

him to see the profound importance to the Buddha's followers of being able to interact

with him, as well as the Buddha's grace in making himself available to others.

The relation of quasi-identity that the Buddha institutes with Kassapa is particular

to this pair. Yet it can still have a general relevance for the reader. By permitting

Kassapa to share in something of his own person, the Buddha shows to an extraordinary

degree his willingness to allow himself to become involved in his followers' persons and

lives. Knowing that relationship with him will be beneficial for his followers, he offers

his person as an instrument for their good. This is not something found only in this

episode. We see it at issue in many ways through the text. In recounting this episode, the

Jinamahnidna throws into maximum relief what it highlights throughout the work: the

Buddha's willingness to engage in profound connections with his followers, and his

304
Jmn 154.
 179

efforts to permit othersincluding those who come after himto draw him into their

lives and their persons.

2 Framing the whole teaching career by his refusal to die

Awareness of these dynamics also lays the groundwork for the development in the

reader of a sense of being in relation with the Buddha himself. Relationship with the

Buddha is not only an imaginary possibility for the Jinamahnidna's reader. Rather, the

text shows the reader that she is already involved in a relationship with him. This is

revealed, for example, by the text's telling of the events surrounding the Buddha's

enlightenment, which contains something very unusual within Pli biographies of the

Buddha.

The tone of the Jinamahnidna's account of his activities during the weeks

immediately following his awakening is in general markedly different from that of the

Jtaka-nidnakath.305 Where the latter primarily conveys a sense of the Buddha

savoring the happiness of release, the Jinamahnidna's version focuses more on how he

can use this experience to help others.

This difference in tone is particularly apparent in the texts' portrayals of the fifth

week of the seven-week period after his enlightenment, before he starts teaching. The

305
The version of events found in the Jtaka-nidnakath is shared by the Jinamahnidna's other
sources.
 180

Jtaka-nidnakath here conveys a sense of the Buddha primarily following the prompts

of his curiosity and enjoyment.306 The Jinamahnidna's version displays the opposite

orientation. It shows the Buddha reflecting on the truth he has understood entirely in

terms of how it can be presented so as to help others.307

However, what is most unusual about the Jinamahnidna's account of the fifth

week is that it introduces a significant and rather shocking element into the plot, which is

not found in any of its sources. It reports Mra coming to the Buddha and telling him to

enter parinibbnato dieright then.308

306
It describes the Buddha during this period in the following way: "He sat contemplating the Dhamma
and enjoying the happiness of release," dhammam vicinanto yeva vimuttisukha ca paisamvedento nisdi
(Ja I 78). There is no sense here of the Buddha bearing others in mind.
307
The Jinamahnidna shows him examining the truth (saddhamma) that he has realized, analyzing it in
different ways in relation to the people who can be trained (veneyyapuggale) and what form of teaching
would help them. He thinks about what would be helpful to them based, first, on their personality and then,
on how they learn best (Jmn 93). He knows that those who can be trained will only be able to reach the
highest goal (ariyadhamma) when they have grounded themselves in morality, developed a state of focus
through concentration, and generated insight through wisdom (Jmn 94). So he reflects on the Dhamma
divided into groups of texts according to which of these qualities they foster: the Vinayapiaka, "which
illuminates the advantages of morality" (slnisamsadpakam); the Suttapiaka, the advantages of
concentration; and the Abhidhammapiaka, the advantages of wisdom. For each of the piakas, the text lists
all its individual books. Only then, after it has shown him rehearsing the Dhamma in all these ways, does it
report him as enjoying the happiness of release, finally picking up the Jtaka-nidnakath's wording
(ibid.).
308
Jmn 94. Mra figures in the Jtaka-nidnakath's account of the fifth week, but only to sulk
despondently at the Buddha's evident superiority. The account makes no mention of Mra instructing the
Buddha to enter parinibbna.
In his study of the biography of the Buddha, John Strong talks about the differences between the
Jtaka-nidnakath's account of the seven weeks and that found in the Catupariat-stra and the related
Mlasarvstivdin Vinaya. These two texts show a distinct parallel to the Jinamahnidna in reporting
Mra asking the Buddha to enter parinibbna, though they depict this as occurring in the third week after
enlightenment (see Strong, Buddha: A Short Biography, 79-80). It would be interesting to investigate
whether there is any historical connection between those two texts and the Jinamahnidna, which could
explain their containing this parallel element of the plot. Such an investigation is unfortunately beyond the
 181

The text quotes Mra as saying to the Buddha:

"The purpose for which you fulfilled the perfections is now fulfilled.
Omniscience has been penetrated. What is the point in you wandering around the
world? Enter parinibbna now ...."309

It then tells us that the Buddha refuses to comply with Mra's instruction, stating that he

will not enter parinibbnahe will not dieuntil certain conditions have been met:

Mra, as long as my monk-followers are not accomplished, trained, skilled,

learned, knowing the Dhamma, conducting themselves in accordance with the
Dhamma, behaving correctly, acting in accordance with the Dhamma, relating
what they have learned from their own teacher, teaching it, making it known,
establishing it, disclosing it, analyzing it, expounding it, and teaching the
wonderful Dhamma, having refuted with a good refutation in accordance with the
Dhamma the arguments of others that have arisen, I will not enter parinibbna,
evil one. As long as my nun-followers are not accomplished .... As long as my
laymen-followers are not accomplished .... As long as my laywomen-followers
are not accomplished ..., I will not enter parinibbna, evil one. As long as this
holy life of mine is not successful, flourishing, widespread, shared by many,
followed by many, as long as it is [not] well proclaimed by gods and men, I will
not enter parinibbna, evil one.310

scope of this thesis.

309
Bhagav yadattham tumhehi pramiyo prit, so te attho anuppatto; paividdham sabbautaam;
kim te lokavicaraena, parinibbtu dni bhante bhagav (Jmn 94). This reference to the purpose for which
he fulfilled the prams having been fulfilled does not occur in the Mahparinibbnasutta version, nor
have I found it elsewhere.
310
"Yva me Mra bhikkh na svak bhavissanti viyatt vint visrad bahussut dhammadhar
dhammnudhammapaipann smcipaipann anudhammacrino sakam cariyam uggahetv
cikkhissanti desessanti paapessanti pahapessanti vivarissanti vibhajissanti uttnkarissanti uppannam
parappavdam sahadhammena suniggahitam niggahetv sappihriyam dhammam desessanti, na
tvham ppima parinibbyissmi; yva me bhikkhun na [] svikyo bhavissanti viyatt vint visrad
bahussut / pe / sappihriyam dhammam desessanti, na tvham ppima parinibbyissmi; yva me
upsak na svak bhavissanti viyatt vint visrad bahussut / pe / sappihriyam dhammam
desessanti, na tvham ppima parinibbyissmi; yva me upsik na svikyo bhavissanti viyatt vint
 182

Dying at this point would be easier for the Buddha. He would not have to endure the

strain of teaching what he has understood. Yet he refuses to leave the world until he has

done what is necessary to establish the teaching, the ssana, on a solid footing.311

The Jinamahnidna includes another account of Mra giving the Buddha this

instruction and the latter refusing to comply until these conditions have been met three

months before the Buddha's death. In this case, to each of the Buddha's stated

conditions, Mra replies: "Well, that condition is now met ... It is time to enter

parinibbna."312 The Buddha tells Mra not to be impatient, as he will do so in three

months' time. He again postpones what would be a personal relief to him because,

evidently, there are still things he needs to do in the world before he dies. Those

outstanding tasks are the arrangements necessary to ensure the security of the ssana

after his death.

By including the account of Mra's request and the Buddha's refusal within the

account of the Buddha's gaining enlightenment, the Jinamahnidna predetermines its

visrad bahussut / pe / sappihriyam dhammam desessanti, na tvham ppima parinibbyissmi;

yva me na idam brahmacariyam iddha ceva bhavissati phta ca vitthrikam bahujaam puthubhtam
yva devamanussehi supaksitam, na tvham ppima parinibbyissm" ti (Jmn 94).
This is based on a passage in the Mahparinibbnasutta, relaying a visit from Mra that occurs
three months before the Buddha's death (D II 104).
311
The length of the "until" clause intensifies the sense of the Buddha waiting for a long time before
entering parinibbna, even though it would be more pleasant for him personally to do so straight away.
The structure of the sentence reinforces the impression of the efforts the Buddha will go to for the world's
sake.
312
Jmn 218-9.
 183

account of the period in which he taught, the forty-five years of his post-enlightenment

life. It reveals that his activities during those years constitute his efforts to ensure that the

ssana is strong enough to persist and flourish without him. The beneficiaries of this

preservation of the ssana are those who come after the Buddha's death.

Setting up the account of the teaching period in this way functions within the rest

of the story in some ways similarly to the statement at the beginning of the

Jinamahnidna that it would tell the story all the way through to his death. Both moves

influence the way the reader views and interprets the succeeding account. The reader is

made aware, before the account of the teaching has even begun, thatas one of their

beneficiariesshe is implicated in the events that follow. She is alerted that in

everything she will read from here on she will see evidence of the Buddha's care for his

followers, including her. She is left feeling that she has personally been cared for by the

Buddha.

Raising the question of his death at the very moment of what would seem to be

his greatest success makes for a startling juxtaposition. Mra's comment that the purpose

for which the Buddha fulfilled the perfections has now been fulfilled helps the reader

interpret the connection that this juxtaposition forges between the Buddha's omniscience

and his death.313 If the Buddha's purpose truly were fulfilled, he would have no reason to

313
It was the gaining of omniscience that constituted his enlightenment, as we shall see in the next chapter.
 184

remain in the world. So Mra's statement and the fact that the Buddha is not persuaded

by this argument make clear that omniscience was not the purpose for which he fulfilled

the perfections. The Buddha responds that he will diethat his purpose will have been

accomplishedwhen his followers are capable of maintaining the teaching and the

teaching is flourishing and widespread. Gaining omniscience and leaving the teaching

strong are revealed as the two elements of his purpose in fulfilling the perfections.314

This reinforces the reader's sense that everything the bhagav did in his long journey to

buddhahood and in the rest of his life as the Buddha was for the benefit of all his

followers, including those who come after his death.

By including the account of this incident at the beginning of his teaching career

and then repeating the episode shortly before its end, the Jinamahnidna brackets the

depiction of the intervening years, and so frames them, in a certain way. This framing

further reinforces the text's earlier portrayal of the teaching. It encourages the reader to

recognize all the more forcefully that everything the Buddha did in the forty-five years

from his enlightenment to his death, he did for the benefit not only of his contemporaries,

but also of all those who come after.

In these ways, the reader is made to see himself as a direct beneficiary of the

Buddha's actions while alive, a recipient of his care. He is shown that he is involved in a

314
By this logic, the Buddha's death is the point when his teaching is well-enough established to sustain
itself without him. It is in fact a mark of his success, as evidence that his mission has been accomplished.
 185

direct relationship across time with the living Buddha so long past. He is shown that he

has in fact always been in a relationship with the Buddha, even if he was unaware of it

before.315

3 The effect of ending with his death

Ricoeur instructively draws our attention to the significance of the end of a story

for the work as a whole. He explains that "the configuration of the plot imposes the

'sense of an ending' ... on the indefinite succession of incidents,"316 and that it is "the

'conclusion' of the story ... [that] gives the story an 'end-point,' which, in turn, furnishes

the point of view from which the story can be perceived as forming a whole."317

Different end-points produce different stories. He further elaborates, in a way that is

particularly germane for the Jinamahnidna:

"[I]t is in the act of retelling rather than in that of telling that this structural

315
Cf. Hallisey's discussion of the interest shown in medieval Sihala texts in "the formal relations
between the Buddha and his temporally distant disciples" (Hallisey, "Devotion in the Buddhist Literature
of Medieval Sri Lanka," 88). He argues that these texts, "seek to change a relation based on an
acknowledgement of the Buddha as a great, but distant figure from the past, to a new formal relation based
on a re-cognition of each individual's direct and personal dependence on this same figure" (ibid.). See also
his analysis of the motif of "self-involvement" in certain medieval Sihala texts (ibid., 120-6 and passim).
He shows that these texts often emphasize "the recognition of one's own self-involvement as a recipient of
the Buddha's saving action" (ibid., 125). See also Stephen C. Berkwitz, "Emotion and Ethics in Buddhist
History: The Sinhala Thpavamsa and the Work of Virtue," Religion 31 (2001): 155-173 for an
examination of similar dynamics in another Theravdin text.
316
Ricoeur, Time and Narrative, 67. This point is, of course, relevant for the ways that the text uses the
Buddha's death as part of how it defines its wholeness, as we saw in Chapter 2.
317
Ibid., 66.
 186

function of closure can be discerned. As soon as a story is well known ... to

follow the story is not so much to enclose its surprises or discoveries within
our recognition of the meaning attached to the story, as to apprehend the
episodes which are themselves well known as leading to this end. A new
quality of time emerges from this understanding."318

Different end-points cause the episodes leading up to them to be understood in different

ways.

We certainly see this happening in the Jinamahnidna. The Jinamahnidna

makes the startling choice to end its story with the Buddha's death. Yet, paradoxically,

by ending with his death, it reorients the story of the Buddha's life in a way that permits

the reader to feel directly cared for by the Buddha and already in relationship with him.

The reader's understanding of the Buddha, his relation to him, his possibilities for

continuing to relate to him, and hence his subsequent actions and ways of being in the

world are significantly impacted. In the process, the Buddha's influence is made to

continue even more strongly in the world.

A Including his death means including his care for his future followers

The report of the Buddha's death is but a very small part of the Jinamahnidna's

account of the last period of his life. This section of the text is in fact overwhelmingly an

account of his concern for and efforts to ensure his followers' well-being after his death.

Its predominant tone is established in its very first sentences. The text reports that

318
Ibid., 67.
 187

the Buddha directed his followers to spend the rains retreat nearby. It then explains that

he knew he would die in ten months, and, if the monks went far away, when the time

came for him to die, they would not be able to see him.319 It quotes him as imagining

their reaction: "They might then have the regret (vippaisra): 'As he was dying the

teacher did not give us even so much as a memory (of him). If we had known, we would

not have stayed far away like this.'"

This is a poignant indication of the Buddha's concern for the feelings of his

followers. He does not want them to be deprived of something he knows will be

important to themseeing him on his deathbed. He also does not want them to feel hurt

that he did not consider their feelings enough to grant them what might later be a source

of comfort, namely, the memory of him in his last moments. Above all, he does not want

them to have the regret that, had they known, they would have done things differently,

but now it is too late and they have forever missed the opportunity they had to see him.

A key word here is vippaisra, "regret." This short passage sets the tone of the

account of his last months with a picture of the Buddha thinking about the regret that

others might later feel because they are not able to see him. He is shown as caring about

the emotional well-being of his followers and taking steps to do what will be best for

319
Kasm evam ha? Evam kirassa ahosi "aham dasamsamattam hatv parinibbyissmi; sace ime
dram gacchissanti, mam parinibbnakle dahum na sakkhissanti. Atha nesam 'satth parinibbyanto
amhkam satimattam pi na adsi, sace jneyyma, na evam dre vaseyym' ti vippaisro bhaveyya ..."
(Jmn 210).
 188

them. Throughout the section, it is made clear that those others he shows concern for,

who may feel such regret, are not just the monks in his community at the time. They

include anyone who follows him at any time in the future, who by definition will not be

able to see him.

The text shows the Buddha thinking about the needs of people of the future who

will want to relate to him as a person but will not have access to him. He insists that

people should not think they are without a teacher, that their teacher is gone and in the

past. Rather they should think of his teachings as occupying his position as their

teacher.320 However, he also recognizes that people will want contact with him that is

more personal than the teachings can provide. He therefore endorses them going to

places that were important in his life. After nanda laments that monks currently come

from far and wide to see him, but after his death they will no longer be able to do so, the

Buddha tells him there is an alternative. There are four places they will be able to see

which will be capable of inspiring the faithful: where he was born, attained

enlightenment, preached his first sermon, and died.321

Describing the visitor as thinking: "The tathgata was born here," and so on, he

320
The text includes his detailed explanation of how the teachings can be the teacher, in which he outlines
everything he has taught, distributed into the three piakas, and concludes for each one: "When I have died,
this will fulfill the duties of teacher for you," mayi parinibbute, tumhkam satthukiccam sdhessati (Jmn
260-1).
321
Cattrmni nanda saddhassa kulaputtassa dassanyni samvejanyni hnni. Katamni cattri?
'Idha tathgato jto' ti nanda saddhassa kulaputtassa dassanyam samvejanyam hnam ... (Jmn 243).
 189

makes clear that visiting these sites is a way for the future follower to have a connection

with him across time. The Buddha encourages the practice of going on pilgrimage to

these sites by saying that anyone who dies with a serene mind while on such a pilgrimage

will get a good rebirth.322 In a similar vein, he gives instructions as to where his burial

mound (thpa) should be built, so that people will be able to benefit from performing acts

of worship there.323 These are all ways that people in the future will be able to interact

with something that has a direct connection with his person.

One of the prime ways this section of the text shows the Buddha as taking care of

his future followers is by taking steps to ensure the continuation of his teaching (ssana)

into the future. The text shows him warning his followers of the potential dangers to the

ssana. He describes at length the seven things that will cause the decline of the

monks,324 as well as what would make the Dhamma not last long after the his death.325

He instructs the monks on the appropriate relations between the laity and the monastic

community, relations that will best allow both groups to live a good religious life.326 He

322
Ibid.
323
He says: "A thpa should be built for the tathgata at a crossroads. Whoever offers a garland, perfume
or sandalwood, glorifies him, or makes their mind serene there will have well-being and happiness for a
long time" (Jmn 245).
324
Jmn 262-7.
325
Jmn 266-7.
326
Jmn 267. He advocates a religious life of mutual dependence between the two groups. He explains
that brahmin householders are useful for monks because they provide the requisites, and monks are useful
for householders because they teach them the Dhamma. Both groups should therefore live their religious
 190

also tries to ensure the continuation of the teaching in exactly the form he left it, by

instructing nanda in how to judge whether a teaching is authentic (the four

mahpadesas).327

Most early Pli versions of the Buddha's biography kept the account of his death

separate from that of his life. This seems to have been motivated in part by a desire to

avoid conveying a sense of closure to the Buddha. The cost of this approach was that

they were not able to portray his efforts to ensure the continuation of the ssana into the

future within the context of his life as a whole.

The Jinamahnidna brings the story of his life to a close. Yet doing so allows it

to bring the Buddha's efforts on behalf of the followers who come after his deathand

his influence on the futureinto relation with his whole life. When viewed in this way,

these efforts can be understood in ways they otherwise might not. The reader sees the

Buddha take care of those who come afterincluding himselfin just the same way as

he has witnessed him care for people he encountered in life. The reader and other later

followers of the Buddha are thus put on a par with those who received his care and were

able to express their devotion to him during his life. The reader can see himself as having

been cared for by the Buddha. The question only remains of how he can show his

gratitude and devotion personally to the departed Buddha.

lives relying on each other.

327
Jmn 224-6.
 191

B The Buddha instructs his followers on how to honor him after his death

At several points in the text we see people and gods being portrayed as

responding with sadness, feelings of loss, and regret at the prospect or the reality that

they will not be able to encounter the Buddha personally or offer him personally the signs

of their devotion as they wish. This is perhaps most poignantly expressed in the story of

the unfortunate Varavraa gods, which immediately precedes the account of the

Buddha's last words.328 The juxtaposition of these episodes is very informative for our

discussion, so I first outline them in detail.

The Varavraa gods, who live an exceptionally long time, have known about the

Buddha from before he was even born. They have been weaving a garland of flowers to

offer him in homage (pj) from that very first moment. They keep meaning to give it to

him on pivotal days of his life (at his conception, his birth, his renunciation, his

enlightenment, his first sermon, and so on). Yet their sense of time is so different that

they keep missing the occasion. His entire life goes by until it gets to the day of his death

and they still have not given their garland, which is still not complete. They are told that

he is about to die and they are nonplussed. This whole period has been but one day to

them. They plaintively protest: "But it was just today that he was conceived. It was just

328
Jmn 238-9. The Mahparinibbnasutta does not mention these gods. The Jinamahnidna has
incorporated this material from the Sumagalavilsin into what it has taken from the
Mahparinibbnasutta.
 192

today that he was born. It was just today that he left home. ... And now you say it is today

that he will die? Does there not even remain just the time to drink some rice-milk on a

second day?"329 The gods have no choice but to take their unfinished garland, which they

are painfully conscious of as an unfitting honor, to offer it to the Buddha. Yet the

universe is now so full of gods wanting to see the Buddha on his deathbed that they can

get nowhere near him and are reduced to hanging off the very edge of the world-system,

singing their praises of his qualities and all he has achieved.

It is a pitiful situation for these devoted gods. They have known of the Buddha all

his life. They even had forewarning of him. Yet the opportunity to offer him in person

the homage they have single-mindedly worked toward is denied them, though the Buddha

is still alive. He is theoretically still available to them, but even so they cannot meet him

in person, and they are left at a position unimaginably far from where he lies.

Following right after this story is the report of the Buddha's last words and a

discussion of their import. As it contains so much that is significant for our discussion, I

quote the passage at length:

The Lord ... addressing the venerable nanda, said ... : "The tathgata is not
venerated, honored, worshipped, paid homage, or reverenced by such means [by flowers,
sandalwood powder, music, singing], nanda. A monk, nun or layman who lives
conducting himself in accordance with the Dhamma, who behaves correctly, and who
acts in accordance with the Dhamma, venerates, honors, worships and pays homage to
the tathgata with the highest pj. Since the aspiration I made lying at Dipakara's feet,
once I had gathered the eight (requisite) qualities, was not made for the sake of garlands,

329
Jmn 239.
 193

perfumes, music, and singing, since the perfections were not fulfilled for that purpose, I
am not paid homage by this pj. The monk and nun who does not transgress to even the
slightest degree the precept designated for them, the conqueror's restriction, the
conqueror's boundary, the conqueror's measuring line, conducts him- [or her-]self in
accordance with the Dhamma. The layman and laywoman who fulfills everything in
regard to the three refuges, the five precepts, and the ten precepts, who keeps the eight
uposatha [sacred day] vows for a month, who gives gifts (dna), who does a pj of
perfume or a pj of garlands, who looks after his [or her] father, mother, and righteous
ascetics and brahmins, conducts him- [or her-]self in accordance with the Dhamma. For
only this non-material pj is able to preserve my ssana. And only as long as these four
groups (paris) pay me homage with this pj, does my ssana shine like the full moon
in the center of the sky. For this reason, nanda, you should train yourself: 'Let us live
conducting ourselves in accordance with the Dhamma, behaving correctly, and acting in
accordance with the Dhamma.'"
[You may ask:] "But why does the Lordwho elsewhere described the result of

a p j done after taking just a single handful of flax-flowers, after reflecting on the

qualities of the Buddha (buddhague), as beyond measure even by a buddha's

knowledgehere reject a great pj in this way?" Because of his loving care for the

groups (parisnuggahena) and his desire that the ssana last for a long time. For if he

had not rejected it in this way, in the future (angate), when the occasion for morality had

come, they would not fulfill morality; when the occasion for concentration had come,

they would not fulfill concentration; when the occasion for insight had come, they would

not take up the kernel of insight. They would only do a pj, getting their servant to take

it. But this material pj is not able to sustain the ssana even for one day, even for just

the time for one drink of rice-milk. It would not be able to sustain the ssana even if it

had a thousand monasteries like the Mahvihra and a thousand burial monuments

(cetiya) like the Mahcetiya. It is only for the one by whom it is done. However, correct

conduct (sammpaipatti) is a suitable pj for the tathgata. Because it was desired by

him (tena patthit) and it is able to sustain the ssana. That is why the Lord rejected
 194

330
it.

The plight of the Varavraa gods is conveyed in very evocative terms. The gods

are portrayed as wanting intensely something that is clearly a valued thing to want: the

opportunity to pay homage to the Buddha. They exhibit to an extraordinary degree what

is by all accounts a laudable quality: devotion to the Buddha. There is no reason for the

reader to think critically of them. He will likely feel only pity towards them.

Their situation captures exactly the situation the reader is inthat of wishing to

meet the Buddha personally and offer him homage, but being unable to. Yet they are in

330
Bhagav ... yasmato nandassa rocento ha ... "Na kho nanda ettvat tathgato sakkato v hoti
garukato v mnito v pjito va apacito v; yo kho nanda bhikkhu v bhikkhun v upsako v
dhammnudhammapaipanno viharati smcipaipanno anudhammacr, so tathgatam sakkaroti
garukaroti mneti pjeti paramya pjya. Yasm nanda may Dpakarapdamle nipannena
ahadhamme samodhnetv abhinhram karontena na mlgandhaturiyasagtnam atthya abhinhro
kato, na etadatthya pramiyo prit, tasm na kho aham etya pjya pjito nma homi. Yo ca bhikkhu
y ca bhikkhun attano paattam sikkhpadam jinavelam jinamariydam jinaklasuttam anumattam pi na
vtikkamati, ayam dhammnudhammapaipanno nma. Yo ca upsako y ca upsik tsu saraesu
pacasu slesu dasasu slesu pariprikr hoti, msassa ahauposatham karoti dnam deti gandhapjam
mlpjam karoti mtaram upahahati pitaram upahahati dhammikasamaabrhmaena upahahati,
ayam dhammnudhammapaipanno nma. Ayam hi nirmisapj nma sakkoti mama ssanam
sandhretum yvakva ca im catasso paris mam imya pjya pjayanti, tva mama ssanam majjhe
nabhassa puacando viya virocati. Tasmtihnan[d]a 'Dhammnudhammapaipann vihrissma
smcipaipann anudhammacrino' ti evam hi vo nanda sikkhitabban" ti.
kasm pana bhagav aattha ekam ummrapupphamattam pi gahetv buddhague vajjetv
katya pjya buddhaen pi aparicchinnam vipkam vaetv idha evam mahatim pjam paikkhipat
ti? parisnuggahena ceva ssanassa cirahitikmatya ca. sace hi bhagav evam na paikkhipeyya,
angate slassa gatahne slam na pariprissanti, samdhissa gatahne samdhim na paripressanti,
vipassanya gatahne vipassan[-]gabbham na gahpessanti; upahke samdapetv pjam yeva
karissanti. misapj ca nmes ssanam ekadivasam pi ekaygupnaklamattam pi sandhretum na
sakkoti, mahvihrasadisam hi vihrasahassam pi mahcetiyasadisam cetiyasahassam pi ssanam
sandhretum na sakkoti, yena katam, tasseva hoti. sammpaipatti pana tathgatassa anucchavik pj.
s hi tena patthit ceva sakkoti ssana ca sandhretum. tasm bhagav tam paikkhipi (Jmn 239-40).
The Jinamahnidna is here combining sections from the Mahparinibbnasutta and from its
commentary in the Sumagalavilsin.
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an even worse position than the reader. At least the reader has no possibility of seeing

the Buddha in person. The gods have the possibility and the opportunity, yet they miss

them. The way this story is told will almost certainly evoke a sympathetic response in

the reader. It goes to the heart of a potential source of sadness to them and magnifies it to

the extreme. The reader will likely experience a sympathetic resonance with the gods'

longing to see the Buddha and their desolation when they cannot. The story is thus likely

to put the reader more closely in touch with some of his own sadness at being forever

separated from the Buddha.

Given all this, the Buddha's explicit criticism of the gods' singing his praise has a

harshness that brings the reader up short.331 I suggest that this abrupt change in tone and

the marked non-reciprocation of the gods' good feelings toward the Buddha allow the text

to portray the Buddha as actively trying here to change his followers' emotional response

to his death. It is also a way the text can exert the same influence on its reader.

It is the gods' acts that are overtly criticized, but implicit in this is a criticism of

their attitude and motivation as well. Toward the end of the passage, the text tells us that

such material pj "is only for the one by whom it is done." This suggests that it is a

selfish act, because it benefits only the doer. A worthy act would benefit others as well.

331
This harshness may be highlighted (and perhaps partly explained) by the text itself in its juxtaposition of
paikkhipati ("he rejects") and parisnuggahena ("because of his loving care for the groups"). These two
words have very different emotional tones, and by bringing them into connection by closely juxtaposing
them, the text may offer "his loving care" as an indication of the reason for the harshness.
 196

The gods' distress at not being able to give the Buddha their gifts was powerfully

expressed by the account. The passage that follows suggests that their act is selfish,

because it benefits only them, and their grief unproductive. An emotional response with

which the reader likely resonated sympathetically before is now revealed as

blameworthy. The Buddha contrasts with their act what he identifies as the appropriate

pj to offer him: "correct conduct." This is of benefit to all in that it preserves the

ssana.

The harshness of the Buddha's response to the devoted Varavraa gods seems to

be an attemptat one level by the Buddha but at another by the text itselfto persuade

his followers that they should not react to his death with an unproductive grief. They

should not feel bereft that they cannot encounter him personally. Rather they should get

on with honoring him in a fitting way, by performing actions that will further the ssana

and therefore benefit all (including those in the future).

A distinct parallel is created here between the followers' actions and the

Buddha'sboth parties act for the well-being of those in the future. By carrying out the

Buddha's wishes, the follower continues the Buddha's work, ensuring that the ssana

continues on into the future. Ensuring that the ssana is available to others allows those

others to themselves preserve it in turn, which again means that it remains available for

those who come after them. In this way, by honoring the Buddha in the way he requests,

the follower makes the ssana something that will continue to unfold ever-onward into
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the future.

That it is concern for the future that prompts these attempts at persuasion is

expressly indicated by the passage's specification of angate, "in the future." The text

here makes clear, in explaining the Buddha's last words, that they were motivated by a

concern for the future. That future necessarily includes the reader, who is thus amongst

those addressed by the Buddha.

This section of the text (the report of the Buddha's last words and the explanatory

passage that follows) is clearly designed to foster in the reader an increased desire to

participate in the maintenance of the ssana. The text has already shown the reader that

the Buddha's teaching was his way of taking care of his followers. This passage now

makes it explicit. It identifies as one of his motivations for advocating action that will

preserve the ssana his "loving care," anuggaha, for his followers.332 In doing so, it

identifies the ssana as an expression of his loving care. Seeing himself as one of those

for whom the Buddha felt this loving care encourages the reader to feel personally

involved in the ssana's fate.

More important, the text shows the Buddha presenting the preservation of the

ssana as a means by which his followers can maintain an ongoing relationship with him

332
The PED lists among the meanings of anuggaha: "compassion, love for, kindness, help, favour."
Translating it "loving care" is an attempt to include both the affective component of its range of meanings,
expressed by "compassion, love for" and the component of acting for another's benefit of "help, favour"
(PED, 35).
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in their present. This relationship can take a variety of forms. The Buddha twice talks

about the teaching as "my ssana" (mama ssanam). In preserving the ssana, the

follower is therefore keeping something of him in existence in the world. She becomes

the means by which his influence is continued on into the future. The Buddha also makes

clear in his last speech that his purpose was to preserve the ssana and that that is now

his follower's responsibility. The follower has therefore been entrusted a responsibility

by the Buddha. By fulfilling this responsibility, she continues his work; she becomes, as

it were, his agent in the world. She enables the carrying out of his will, and so becomes a

means by which his purpose is realized.

The Buddha is reported as saying that living in accordance with the

Dhammathe means to preserving the ssanais an offering of which he approves.

The text tells the reader that such "proper conduct" is something he wanted (s hi tena

patthit). The reader is therefore enabled to give the Buddha an offering she knows he

approved of and wanted.333 Moreover, living in accordance with the Dhamma is

described by the Buddha as involving things that would have been parts of most

Buddhists' regular religious life (taking care of parents, abiding by the precepts, giving

dna, and so on). This means that whenever the reader does any of those things (as she

333
The contrast between honoring the Buddha by giving a material object and by carrying out certain
actions is appropriate in a very practical way. Giving a gift requires a recipient, and as there is no recipient
once the Buddha has died, such a means of honoring him is rendered impossible. Carrying out actions that
do not directly involve the Buddha, however, can be done at any time, irrespective of whether he is still
alive. The follower can therefore continue to honor him at any time.
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routinely would), she can feel she is offering the Buddha homage and expressing her

devotion to him. In this way, as long as she lives in accordance with the precepts and so

on, the reader's life becomes a continual act of homage to the Buddha. She becomes

someone who lives constantly honoring him.

We saw earlier that the text portrays the Buddha as criticizing an unproductive

grief in response to his death. Here we see that the text nonetheless offers the reader

some solace to counter her potential sense of loss. The ways she can continue to be in

relationship with the Buddha, outlined above, may lessen her sense of absolute separation

and distance from him. They may allow her to feel that she is living her life in

connection with him. The suggestion that she can give him something he expressly

wanted may also help counteract her regret that he is no longer personally available. She

can feel that there are things she can still do for him, despite his being dead. Above all,

the reader can feel that the Buddha is not absolutely gone from the world, as the text has

made clear that his influence continues on in manifold ways.

4 Conclusion

Though it ends with his death, the Jinamahnidna does not leave the reader all

the more conscious that the Buddha is gone, forever inaccessible to the follower in the

present. On the contrary, it encourages the reader to feel an increased sense of the

Buddha's influence as still active and ongoing in the world.

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This is in part because the text has shown that the Buddha's continuing influence

in the world lies to some extent in the reader himself. This is so in a variety of ways.

The Buddha's influence is felt in the worldwhich means it factors as an element of the

presentas the reader comes (through the Jinamahnidna's presentation) to see himself

more clearly as the recipient of the living Buddha's care. Conversely, the Buddha is

rendered an element of the present as the other half of the reader's increased sense of

relationship with him.

From another perspective, the reader sees his own living within the institutional

framework of the ssana as evidence of the Buddha's ongoing influence. He also sees

his own carrying out of actions the Buddha wanted and requested as fulfilling the

Buddha's desire and requestin this way the Buddha's desire and request are implicated

in the present.

As long as the Buddha's influence is maintained in the reader, it can never be past.

By fulfilling his role in furthering that influenceby offering that same possibility to

future followers through doing what is necessary to preserve the ssanathe reader

ensures that the Buddha's capacity to remain influential in the world is passed on into the

future.
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CHAPTER IV

DENSITY:
INTERCONNECTEDNESS AND OPACITY

One way that Theravda texts mitigate the closure of the Buddha's death is to

focus on his limitlessness. They describe the Buddha and his qualities as inconceivable

(acintiya, acinteyya), immeasurable (appameyya, aparimeyya, aparima), incalculable

(asakheyya), endless (ananta), and so on.

While such descriptions of the Buddha are frequently encountered in its source

texts,334 they are generally absent from the Jinamahnidna.335 Given the

334
The Jinamahnidna's sources talk about his inconceivability, limitlessness, and so on in three principal
waysthey simply state it, they give overwhelmingly exhaustive lists of his qualities, or they use imagery
or similes to suggest them. An example of the simple statement is found in the Sumagalavilsin:
Buddhagu anant aparimn ti, "The Buddha's qualities are endless and without measure" (Sv III 877).
Another is seen in the last verse of the Buddhpadna in the Apadna collection: Evam acintiy Buddh
Buddhadhamm acintiy, "Thus the buddhas are inconceivable, the buddhas' teachings [or qualities] are
inconceivable" (Ap 6). Such bald statements that the Buddha is inconceivable do not in themselves capture
or convey any of that inconceivability. In opposition to the content of the concept, such blunt statements
rather delimit it, by making it into a quality that can simply be predicated of the Buddha. They inform us of
this fact about the Buddha but they give us no entry to appreciating what exactly this means.
The Cariypiakahakath furnishes a particularly striking example of the use of lists to convey
the limitlessness of the Buddha's qualities. It provides a list that extends over a page enumerating
multitudinous qualities: So anaasdhraam Bhagavato sla-samdhi-pa-vimutti-vimuttia-
dassanam hiri-ottappam saddh-viriya-satisampajaam slavisuddhi dihivisuddhi samatho vipassan
ti kusalamlni ti sucaritni tayo sammvitakk tisso anavajjasayo tisso dhtuyo cattro
satipahn cattro sammappadhn ... [31 lines] ... ti evamadike acinteyyanubhve Buddhague
dhammanvayato anugacchanto anussaranto n'eva antam na pamam passi, "[Sriputta]
recollectingproceeding [in sequence] according to their naturethe Buddha's qualities, whose
magnificence is inconceivable, such as these: 'The Lord's morality, concentration, wisdom, liberation,
knowledge and insight into liberation which are not shared with others; modesty and remorse; faith, energy,
mindfulness and attention; purity of morality; purity of view; calm; insight; three bases of goodness; three
[types of] good conduct; three right [types of] reflection; three [types of] blameless perception; three
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Jinamahnidna's concern with comprehensiveness, this virtual absence from the text of

something so prominent its sources is striking, but also somewhat misleading. I will

show in this chapter that, rather than stating such positions, the Jinamahnidna elects to

demonstrate the Buddha's limitlessness and inconceivability. It uses its own narrative

form as its primary means to achieve that effect.

The Jinamahnidna's presentation of the Buddha conveys a sense of him as

having a density and opacity that we can distinguish into certain loosely delineated types,

elements of sense-perception; the four foundations of mindfulness; the four right efforts; ... ,' saw no end,
no measure [to them]" (Cp-a 6-7). Such lists are extremely unworkable for a reader. This is precisely their
forcethey overwhelm the reader, without providing any way in to appreciating how this multiplicity
works in relation to the Buddha.
An example of the use of imagery to convey the Buddha's limitlessness, which occurs in many
commentaries (including the Cariypiakahakath) is the following verse: "Buddho pi Buddhassa
bhaeyya vaam / kappam pi ce aam abhsamno, / khyetha kappo ciradgham antare / vao na
khyetha Tathgatass" ti, "If even a buddha were to speak the praise of the Buddha, not saying anything
else for an eon, when after a long time the eon waned, the praise of the tathgata would not be exhausted."
See Skilling, "Praises of the Buddha beyond Praise," Journal of the Pali Text Society XXIV (1998): 199-
200 for a full listing of where in the commentaries this verse is found. Such comparisons come closer to
conveying to the reader a sense of the utter immeasurability of the Buddha's qualities, say, than do either
simple statements or lists. They do so by giving the reader a mental image that is easier to grasp. Yet they
still do not convey in any nuanced way how it is that the qualities are immeasurable.
I will show that the Jinamahnidna takes the challenge of conveying the Buddha's limitlessness a
step further by means of its narrative form.
335
The Jinamahnidna does not deny the validity of such attributions to the Buddha. A handful of times
it refers to such conceptions of him, though even then in rather indirect ways. Just three times does it
explicitly refer to his qualities as being limitless. In talking about him teaching the Dhamma, it describes
him at one point as one whose strength of compassion had developed over a measureless time,
aparimitasamayasamuditakarubalassa (Jmn 100). When talking about the moment of his becoming
enlightened, it describes him as having attained omniscience that was adorned with collections of
measureless qualities, aparimitaguagalakatasabbautaappattiy (Jmn 86). He is also described
in the context of teaching the Buddhavamsa as having a body that was resplendent with the eighty minor
characteristics and embellished with the thirty-two glorious marks produced as the fruit of accumulated
goodness without measure, aparimitasamupacitakusalaphalajanitabattimsavaralakkhaopasobhit-
sitnubyajanavirjitam varasarram (Jmn 178).
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though these types will sometimes overlap and are ultimately related. This analysis will

principally consider the following types: an explicitly temporal density, emerging from

the display of the multiplicity of times simultaneously implicated and interconnected in

his person; a causal density, which is the outcome of the multiplicity of agents and factors

shown to contribute to his being as he is; and a density of significance, which comes from

the impression left by the text that there is more to him than we can understand. This

chapter will examine some of the specific narrative techniques the Jinamahnidna uses

to bring about these effects.

1 Times interweaving, Determinacy dissolving to opacity

In the last chapter I explored how the Jinamahnidna helps keep the Buddha's

life open-ended after his death by facilitating the continuation of his influence into the

present and future. In this chapter we will see how the Jinamahnidna works to present

the Buddha's life as open-ended both before his birth and during his life.

The text shows the open-endedness of the Buddha's life before his birth by two

principal means. It ties the jtakas and the lives of the bodhisatta they represent firmly

into his last life by the way it depicts the perfections and their relation to the jtakas. It

also brings into close connection with this last life all the good actions he performed in

previous lifetimes, through its handling of the physical marks (mahpurisalakkhaas)

displayed on his body.

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The Jinamahnidna portrays the present of his life as he was living it as open-

ended by showing his existence and actions at any time as opening out into and

connecting with myriad other times and other actions. It achieves this effect in part by

generating in the narrative a sense of temporal density through the constant intermingling

and mutual overlaying of times. The narrative in general displays frequent shifts in

temporal perspective, brought about by the use of textual devices such as flashbacks and

flashforwards. Beyond such generally applicable tactics, the text also makes particular

use of four phenomena that have explicitly temporal reference. These are the perfections

(prams),336 the portents (pubbanimittas), the physical marks of the great man

(mahpurisalakkhaas), and predictions (bykaraas). By its handling of these four, it

draws attention to continuities through time and links different temporal dimensions.

The text also uses the physical marks in their capacity as a paradigmatic

characteristic and hence a categorical marker of buddhas and bodhisattas as a way to

incorporate the impersonally temporal337 dimensions of the Buddha within the picture of

his person and life. In doing so, it can be seen equally as opening the narrative out into

other times, and as channeling those other times into the present moment of the narrative.

336
The perfections have an intrinsic temporal dimension, because the bodhisatta's long progress toward
becoming the Buddha is understood as the means by which he can perfect these qualities that are
prerequisite to the Buddha. It is because of their development through the long passage of time that the
Buddha is able to achieve what he does.
337
I use "impersonally temporal" to refer to those dimensions of time involving other buddhas and
bodhisattas, not within "our Buddha's" life-stream. When I use "personally temporal," I mean temporal
dimensions that occur within or relate to his life-stream.
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A The perfections and the jtakas

The Jinamahnidna uses the perfections as a pattern to reveal how the bhagav's

career stretches out backwards through eons. It uses the perfections to connect the

jtakas directly to the Buddha's life. It portrays the connection between the perfections

and the jtakas initially with an unusual degree of determinacy that it then ultimately

undoes. The resulting picture of the jtakas' ultimate indeterminacy highlights the

immeasurableness of the Buddha's good actions in the past.338

The perfections in general allow a particular kind of relation between the

Buddha's present and his past. They provide a way of tying his past more firmly to his

present. That is, as the perfections define who a buddha is now, in talking about the

Buddha, what happened in the past is in some ways still present. The Jinamahnidna

pushes this potential to its absolute limits and in the process makes brilliant use of the

perfections as a way to tie the jtakas inextricably into the Buddha's last life.339 Through

338
A similar result is achieved by different means in a Sihala text, the Amvatura written in the twelfth
century by Guruugm. Hallisey reports that there is a sentence in this work that starts with "our Buddha"
and then lists more than two-hundred jtakas. He comments: "The idea of 'our Buddha' is what gives
coherence to the whole sentence ... As the jtaka stories are listed in rapid succession, it becomes
impossible to keep any single birth distinctly in mind. Thus the effect of this long sentence is to emphasize
the constant presence of 'our Buddha': it is our Buddha who did all these deeds" (Hallisey, "Devotion in
the Buddhist Literature of Medieval Sri Lanka," 97).
339
An interesting feature of its coverage of the perfections is that it talks about the perfections in the lives
of the bodhisatta under some of the other buddhas that come after Dpakara. In quite a few of the
accounts, after having heard the prediction of buddhahood from the then buddha, the bodhisatta is
described as making great efforts to perfect specific perfections. In four lifetimes it talks about him
attempting to fulfill "the ten perfections" (under the buddhas Anomadass [Jmn 18]; Nrada [19];
Siddhattha [22]; and Vipassi [23]); in one, to fulfill that of sla (under the buddha Sumedha [20]); and in
 206

the Jinamahnidna's presentation, we come to view the jtakas as a contribution to who

the Buddha is now. The jtakas here become more about the Buddha than they are about

the bodhisatta. In the Jinamahnidna the perfections are thus presented as an aid to

reading the jtakas as a way to understand the Buddha.340

The Jinamahnidna's coverage of the perfections starts out with an account of

Sumedha, informed by Dpakara that he will become a buddha, investigating the

buddhakrakadhammas, the qualities he will need to perfect in order to realize that end,

i.e. the perfections. He reflects on them one by one until he has thoroughly understood

all ten.341 It then progressively refines this depiction.

The Jinamahnidna states that each perfection is subdivided into pram,

upapram, and paramatthapram, going from lowest to highest form. The text defines

for us how the categories are distinguished: prams are classified as relating to one's

children, wife, or material possessions; upaprams involve one's own limbs, while

paramatthaprams involve the sacrifice of one's very life.342

another, those of sla and pa (under Sujta [20]). In one case, it says that he did fulfill the perfections
of sla and pa in that lifetime (sla-papramim pretv) (under Kongamana [25]).
340
See Hallisey, s.v. "Pramits," Encyclopedia of Religion, 197 for a discussion of this view of the
relationship between the perfections and the jtakas.
341
Jmn 9-12.
342
"... 'bhirabhaapariccgena pramiyo nma agapariccgena upapramiyo nma jvitapariccgena
paramatthapramiyo nm' ti dasa pramiyo dasa upapramiyo dasa paramatthapramiyo" ti
samatimsapramiyo passi (Jmn 12). Curiously the Jinamahnidna has switched the names in this
hierarchized ranking of the perfections when compared to the ranking found in, say, the Jtaka-
nidnakath and the Madhuratthavilsin, which call the weakest form of a perfection the upapram, and
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This is an abstract schema involving general principles by which one could

theoretically identify each grade of perfection. Yet in defining the grades only in terms

of whether they relate to one's limbs, and so on, it gives no practical guidance as to what

exactly that might mean in reality. The transparency of how this threefold distinction

might apply to the perfection differs from one perfection to the next. It is quite clear, for

example, how such a distinction might apply to the perfection of giving, but how exactly

does it apply to the perfection of wisdom? The abstract definition offered here leaves

plenty of room for uncertainty and ambiguity.

The idea that each perfection has three grades and that the definition of those

grades is according to the category of thing affected is shared with the Jinamahnidna's

main sources. Some of its sources include a statement of what constitute the three grades

of the perfection of dna. None, however, explains in the section recounting the

Buddha's life how the three degrees of perfections two through ten (i.e., from sla to

upekkh) are defined. For example, the Madhuratthavilsin explains how the three

grades are defined for the perfection of dna and then simply states that the others should

be understood in a similar fashion.343 On the other hand, the Cariypiakahakath

defines the paramatthapram of dna and then says the pram and upapram grades

the middle one the pram (see Ja I 25 and Bv-a 59).

343
... dnapramiyam tva agapariccgo pram nma. Bhirabhaapariccgo upapram nma,
jvitapariccgo paramatthapram nma ti esa nayo sesa[-]pramsu pi (Bv-a 59).
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of the others should be understood as appropriate.344

The Jinamahnidna explains the breakdown into grades for each of the ten

perfections.345 It clarifies, for example: "the three perfections of wisdom (pa) are

according to the making of distinctions as to what is beneficial and non-beneficial for

beings, having abolished craving for the means of existence, for one's limbs, and for

one's life;"346 and "the three perfections of mett (loving-kindness) are according to the

non-abandoning of mett even towards beings that are injuring one's possessions, etc."347

The Jinamahnidna here shows an interest in concretizing the grades and making them

more determinate, showing exactly what type of action is involved in each grade of each

perfection.

The Jinamahnidna's handling of the perfections so far thus shows it refining

the picture of the perfections from being (a) general virtues (in the case of their

enumeration as ten); to (b) virtues that are theoretically analyzable according to the

division of whether they relate to one's possessions, one's limbs, or one's life; to (c)

concrete, particular types of actions explicitly defined.

344
... evam attapariccgam karontassa dnapram paramatthapram nma jt, itaresu pana
yathraham pram-upapramiyo veditabb (Cp-a 273).
345
This passage is taken from the final sectionnot the nidnakathof the Cariypiakahakath, which
discusses the perfections in the abstract (Cp-a 273).
346
... upakaraagajvitataham samuhanitv sattnam hithitam vinicchayakaraavasena tisso pa-
pramiyo (Jmn 29).
347
... upakaradiupaghtakesu pi sattesu mettya avijjahanavasena tisso mettpramiyo (ibid.).
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What is particular to the Jinamahnidna's presentation of the perfections is the

way it selects, for each perfection, three jtakas that depict the bodhisatta manifesting

that particular perfection, and then distributes them according to whether they exemplify

the pram, upapram, or paramatthapram grades.348 No other description of the

perfections that I have found does this.349

The effect of this is to make the sense of the connection between the jtakas and

the perfections much more determinate. Where the canonical collection of jtakas does

not identify which perfection is displayed in the life it recounts, the Jinamahnidna

348
Daseva pram honti daseva upapram[.] / Paramatth dasa honti bodhiy paripcan[.] //
Velmadijasehassa dnapramit bhave / Sivirjassa sehassa dnena upapram. / Sasarj va yo dhro
cajayi jvitam sakam / dnena sadiso natthi paramatth dnapram. // Slavato ngarjassa slapramit
bhave / ngindabhridattassa slena upapram. / Sakhaplo ca yo dhro slarakkhya jvitam /
anapekkho anlaggo paramatth slapram. // ... Kacchapajtakdsu upekkhpramit bhave /
mahisarjajtake upapramit bhave / lomahamsajtake yeva paramatth pram bhave (Jmn 29-30).
In this distribution of jtakas by grade, for all ten perfections the story cited in the Jinamahnidna for
the paramatth grade is the same as that cited in the Jtaka-nidnakath. The Jtaka-nidnakath quotes
one verse from each of these jtakas in its account.
Note that the Velma story included as the example of the pram grade of dna is not a jtaka in
the canonical collection of jtakas. The story appears in the Manorathapra (the commentary to the
Aguttaranikya), where Velma is described as a bodhisatta. Velma's almsgiving became famous in
literature as the Velmamahya (see G.P. Malalasekera, Dictionary of Pli Proper Names, vol. II
[1938; reprint, London: Pali Text Society, 1974], 932-3). However, his story is found as one of the jtakas
(number 36) in the published version of the Pasajtaka collection (Padmanabh S. Jaini, ed. Pasa-
Jtaka or Zimme Pasa (in the Burmese Recension), vol. II [London: Pali Text Society, 1983], 402-414).
G. Terral-Martini discusses this jtaka in "Velmajtaka," Bulletin de l'Ecole franaise d'Extreme-Orient
XLIX (1959): 609-17.
349
For example, the Cariypiakahakath cites multiple stories for all ten perfections, highlighting one as
illustrating the paramattha grade (Cp-a 272-6). The Jtaka-nidnakath and Visuddhajanavilsin give
multiple references for the first five perfections only, again highlighting one as paramattha. For the
remaining five, they cite just one story as paramattha grade of each perfection, even though some of these
do not actually involve giving up one's life (Ja I 45-7, Ap-a 49-51). The Madhuratthavilsin refers to only
one story per perfection (apart from pa, which has two), each of which describes a paramatthapram
(Bv-a 59-61).
 210

provides a model of the distribution of jtakas not merely by what perfection they

display, but, even more precisely, by what grade of what perfection the bodhisatta in that

story manifests.

This has various implications. It is likely to cause a reader to think of the jtakas

much more in terms of the perfections they might manifest, than she might otherwise. It

also gives the impression that each jtaka manifests one grade of perfection (again, a

much more determinate view of the jtakas). Further, it implies that when the reader

encounters a jtaka, she could apply this rubric to it and discover what grade of what

perfection is manifest in it. This is a very different perspective on the jtakas than a

reader would likely gain from the way they are standardly treated.

This picture is complicated by a pronounced departure the Jinamahnidna now

makes from the approaches of its sources. It accounts for Vessantara's life not by giving

a sequential narrative of the events of that life, but by breaking down and listing

Vessantara's acts, not according to narrative sequence, but according to what perfection

they demonstrate.350 These are listed in the order of the perfections, though within

individual perfections, if it cites multiple acts as instances of that perfection, it cites them

in chronological order.

As this is such an unusual presentation of Vessantara's story, I provide an

350
The Jinamahnidna does not recount the story of Vessantara's life apart from this analysis. It begins
its discussion of Vessantara by listing the seven occasions on which the earth shook on account of his
generosity and then goes into this analysis.
 211

extensive quotation, to allow the reader a feel of the analysis:

Vessantarattabhvasmim hi dndipramiyo pretv tato param

pacchimabhaviko hoti[.] Tatthassa hi jtadivase dnam dtukmassa mtar
saddhim kathanakle ca[,] jtiy ahavassassa dhtnam navavram
pilandhanadnakle ca[,] abhisekam pattassa hatthidnakle ca[,]
sattasatakamahdnakle ca[,] arae vasantassa puttadradnakle ca[,]
sattaratanadnakle ca dnapram veditabb. Gihibhtassa anvahamse
ssanahtassa uposathakammakaraakle ca pabbajitakle ca slapram
veditabb. ... Kaligarahavsnam mettpharaavasena hatthidndi[k]le ca
arae vasantassa migagadnam mettya pharaakle ca mettpram.
Piyaputtesu sineham akatv brhmae akujjhantassa majjhattkranisinnakle
ca upekkhapram veditabb. Evam mahpuriso Vessantarattabhve yeva
pramiyo pretv ....
"For having fulfilled the perfections of giving and so on in his existence as
Vessantara, from then on he was one in his last life. For there his perfection of
giving should be understood as at the time when he talked with his mother
wanting to give a gift on the day he was born; at the time of his giving ornaments
nine times to his nursemaids when he was in the eighth year from his birth; at the
time of his giving the elephant and of his great giving of seven hundreds when he
had reached his (royal) consecration; at the time of his giving his wife and
children when he was living in the wilderness; and at the time of his giving the
seven jewels. His perfection of morality should be understood as at the time
when, as householder, he did the uposatha deeds with his head washed every
fortnight and at the time he went forth. ... His perfection of loving-kindness
should be understood as at a time such as when he gave the elephant in the sense
of his emitting loving-kindness toward those who lived in the kingdom of Kaliga
and at the time of his emitting loving-kindness toward the herds of animals, etc.
when he was living in the wilderness. His perfection of equanimity should be
understood as at the time when he sat in a state of impartiality when, not having
made affection for his dear children, he did not get angry with the brahmin. In
this way, the great man, having fulfilled the perfections in his existence as
Vessantara alone ....351"

Vessantara is always talked about as the supreme exemplar of the perfection of

351
Jmn 31.
 212

giving (dna), but not even the Cariypiakahakath's telling of Vessantara's story

mentions the other perfections.352 That this presentation of all the perfections as being

completed in Vessantara's life may be a particular contribution of the Jinamahnidna is

highlighted by the fact that (at least one edition of) the Pahamasambodhi mentions it and

says, "The long version of this is in the Jinamahnidna."353

This takes the determinizing logic we have already seen unfolding to a whole new

level. This model suggests that, on encountering a jtaka, beyond simply identifying

what grade of what perfection it manifests, to really understand the story one would need

to go through identifying what perfection was manifest in each of the bodhisatta's actions

it reports.354

Given that the perfections are what link the bodhisatta to the Buddha, allowing the

reader to interpret the actions of a bodhisatta in a jtaka more and more in terms of the

perfections ties that jtaka more firmly into the life of the Buddha to which it is now seen

more clearly as leading. In this way the Jinamahnidna is able to tie the jtakas as a

wholepreviously treated textually as quite separate from the life of the Buddhamore

352
Cp-a 74-102.
353
Evam dpakarapdamle katbhinihrato pahya dndayo samatimsapramiyo prento
Vessantarabhvena sabb pram nihpesi. Ayan tu vitthro Jinamahnidne, "In this way, fulfilling all
thirty perfections starting with generosity from the (time of the) aspiration made at Dpakara's foot
onwards, he completed all perfections in his existence as Vessantara. But the long version of this is in the
Jinamahnidna" (Paham [ed. Surapol Jotia], 116).
354
We have already seen that in the account of his existences under previous buddhas the bodhisatta is
sometimes shown as working on more than one perfection.
 213

tightly into the latter's biography.355

The way the Jinamahnidna connects the perfections and the jtakas also

magnifies the total greatness of the Buddha's practice of those qualities. The jtakas do

not just demonstrate the accumulation of good qualities in a general way. Rather, by

encouraging its readers to view the jtakas more determinately as manifesting particular

perfections, and even multiple perfections, the Jinamahnidna leaves the reader with the

sense of an even vaster accumulation of good qualities than the canonical collection. Yet,

at the same time as magnifying his total greatness, this approach also makes his good

actions seem even more beyond one's comprehension. It gives the reader the sense of a

vast network of actions too overloaded and overwhelming to comprehend. This, of

course, reflects on the Buddha who is portrayed as overdetermined with previous good

actions.

This effect is reinforced by the choice of jtaka in the model of their distribution

by grade of perfection. The text's combination of defining exactly what types of action

constitute what grade of each perfection and distributing the jtakas by grade of

355
This impulse is also evidenced by the fact that the Jinamahnidna depicts the Buddha recounting a
jtaka and includes the entire jtaka within its account (Jmn 247-9). Though it does not name it, this is the
Palsajtaka, number 307 in the canonical collection (Ja III 23ff.). In the Jtakahakath, the Buddha
introduces and concludes each jtaka. By placing a jtaka within the story of the Buddha's life, the
Jinamahnidna connects the immediate occasion identified by the Jtakahakath as the context for the
jtaka more tightly to the rest of the Buddha's life. This could equally be done for all other jtakas. By
this means, the Jinamahnidna again draws the jtakas more tightly into the context of the Buddha's
whole life.
 214

perfection implies that if you apply that rubric to those jtakas, the way in which each

jtaka exemplifies the pram, upapram and paramatthapram will be revealed.

However, the clarity and systematicity promised by this neat categorization becomes

more elusive when one actually examines the stories cited. It then becomes apparent that

there is some overlapping of characters between stories356 and overlapping of names that

appear in two stories referred to by the text but actually designate different people.357

Interrelating the different lives of the bodhisatta in this way creates a sense of temporal

overlapping and interrelation in those lives. The impression the reader is likely to be left

with is that, even if he thought he could pin down what particular grade of what particular

perfection was manifested in a jtaka, he still would not get all the meaning for the

Buddha's life out of it, because of the possible interconnections between characters across

jtakas. In this picture, each jtaka can potentially take you into others (where other

perfections are being demonstrated), and so on.

In this way, the Jinamahnidna seems to be playing something of a double

356
For example, for the perfection of wisdom, the papram grade is exemplified by
"Sambhavakumrassa." This refers to the bodhisatta Sambhava in the Sambhavajtaka (Ja V 401). In that
jtaka the king of Indapatta, Dhanajaya Korabba, sets the story in motion by asking a question. The same
Dhanajaya Korabba also appears in the Vidhurapaitajtaka (Ja VI 255-329), which is cited for the
pa-upapram (referred to by "Vidhurassa paitassa").
357
There are two sets of overlapping names: Vidhurapaita and Dhammaplakumra. The bodhisatta
Vidhurapaita is the subject of the Vidhurapaitajtaka. This name is shared with a character called
Vidhura, also known as Vidhurapaita (and who is the father of Sambhava, the bodhisatta), who plays a
pivotal role is played in the Sambhavajtaka. The bodhisatta Dhammaplakumra, whose story is told in
the Culla-Dhammaplajtaka (Ja III 177-82), is cited for the khantipram. However, a character called
Dhammaplakumra also occurs in the Vidhurapaitajtaka, where he is the son of Vidhurapaita (the
bodhisatta).
 215

game, where it is, on the one hand, working to make the jtakas much more determinate,

and, on the other, showing that they are nonetheless quite indeterminate. Both moves

reveal to a greater degree the temporal complexity, density and opacity of the Buddha's

life-stream. Just as the revelation of the sheer number of his previous good actions

created a sense of him as overdetermined with a history of actions too great to

comprehend, the revelation of the mutual interrelation of his previous lives creates a

sense of him as having a course of development that is so complex and dense as to be

impenetrable. The history of the Buddha's previous lives is revealed as opaque, and he is

portrayed as one whose history is opaque.

This is an example of a technique used frequently in the Jinamahnidna, which

creates a sense of density in its narrative: what we may call "pattern-making." That is,

the text makes use of patterns in a way that initially offers to clarify the matter at hand.

Yet if the reader takes up the text's implicit invitation and tries to trace out all the

implications of a particular pattern, it quickly becomes apparent that a complete

unraveling of all that is implicated in the pattern is impossible. The very logic of the

pattern entails that the number of elements it potentially involves explodes out before the

reader, to a magnitude beyond the range of ordinary comprehension. The expected

clarification thus gives way to opacity and a sense of the elusiveness of the information

that was sought. We will see several other instances of this device in the following

analysis.
 216

B The physical marks (mahpurisalakkhaas)

The marks of the great man, perhaps most obviously, draw the distant past and the

general future together in the present, signaling simultaneously in two directions.358 It is

first reported that the five-day old prince was endowed with the thirty-two marks of the

great man, and because of this it was predicted that if he lived the household life, he

would become a cakkavatti king, but if he renounced such a life, he would become a

buddha.359 The Jinamahnidna then asks the rhetorical question: "With what thirty-two

marks of the great man?"360 The straightforwardness of this simple question gives the

impression that the text is about to provide the reader with a nice clear, definitive answer.

It answers the question in a formulaic and repetitive manner, involving two steps for each

mark: each physical characteristic the boy has is identified, and it is then stated that that

characteristic is a mark of a great man. For example, it is said of the first mark: "Sir, this

boy has feet that are firmly set. This is a mark of the great man for this great man."361

358
For discussion of the physical marks see Frank Reynolds, "The Several Bodies of the Buddha:
Reflections on a Neglected Aspect of Theravda tradition," History of Religions 16 (1976-7): 374-89;
Bareau, "The Superhuman Personality of the Buddha;" John Strong, Buddha: A Short Biography, 31-2, 41-
3 (where the marks are conveniently listed). Endo discusses the commentaries' understanding of the
Buddha's physical characteristics (Endo, Buddha in Theravada Buddhism, 138-142).
359
... dvedh bykarimsu "Ayam hi deva kumro dvattimsamahpurisalakkhaehi samanngato. Imassa
dve ca gatiyo bhavanti ana[:] sace agram ajjhvasati cakkavatti hoti ... sace kho pana agrasm
anagriyam pabbajati araham hoti sammsambuddho loke vivaacchado ..." (Jmn 45).
360
Katamehi dvattimsamahpurisalakkhaehi (ibid.).
361
Ayam hi deva kumro supatihitapdo[.] Idam assa mahpurisassa mahpurisalakkhaam bhavati
(ibid.).
 217

After a page and a half of this description, the twofold prediction is repeated, but one

dissenting young brahmin, Koaa, now makes a single prediction of buddhahood.362

The text then provides an exhaustive explanation of the marks, which it prefaces

by a comment that stresses the central point concerning the marksthe direct connection

they witness between his current appearance and his own actions in the past: "The great

man was endowed with these thirty-two marks of the great man through the actions he

did himself (attan katakammavasena)."363 It then includes four pages of analysis, which

it identifies as spoken by the Buddha himself in the Lakkhaasutta. The pattern of cause

and effect inherent in the marks is illustrated in the explanation of the first one:

Because the Lord, when he was a man in the past (pubbe manussabhto samno)
in an earlier birth, an earlier existence, an earlier abode, was firm in his
resoluteness in virtuous matters, ..., because of that action's having been done,
because of its accumulation, its abundance and its manifoldness, after the break
up of his body after death he is reborn in a good situation, in a heavenly world.
There he exceeds the other gods in the ten conditions: .... Having died from there
and being (now) come to this current existence (itthattam gato samno), he gets
the mark of having feet that are firmly set.'"364

For this first mark, three stages of existence are talked aboutthe past when he

was a man (though it is implicit that this signifies countless individual lives as a man); an

362
"... ekanteneva vivaacchado buddho bhavissat" ti ... ekam eva bykaraam byksi (Jmn 46).
363
Mahpuriso hi attan katakammavasena imehi dvattimsamahpurisalakkhaehi samanngato hoti (Jmn
47).
364
Yam pi bhikkhave tathgato purimajtim purimabhavam purimaniketam pubbe manussabhto samno
dahasamdno ahosi kusalesu dhammesu ... so tassa kammassa katatt upacitatt ussannatt vipulatt
kyassa bhed param mara sugatim saggam lokam upapajjati so tattha ae deve dasahi hnehi
adhigahti ... so tato cuto itthattam gato samno supatihitapdalakkhaam pailabhat" ti (ibid.).
 218

intermediate existence as a god; and his current existence. This adds an extra layer of

temporal complexity, drawing the reader's attention to the fact that there were intervening

lives in between those good actions and his being born as the bodhisatta. Nonetheless,

the direct causal connection between his actions in the past as a man and his current

possession of the marks is not thereby weakened. Though this tripartite structure is only

attested for the first mark, there is no reason to doubt that by implication it applies

equally for all the other marks.

Repeated in the explanation of all the remaining marks is the following formulaic

structure, in which the temporal aspects of the causal relations could not be more overtly

expressed: "Because when he was a man in the past the Lord was X, because of that

action's having been done, (now) that he has come to this current existence he gets the

mark Y."365 The repetition over and over through the passage of pubbe manussabhto

samno ... itthattam gato samno acts to saturate the reader's understanding of the

marks existing in the present with the awareness of their inextricable relation to the past.

The analysis of the marks viewed on its own is entirely about the relation between

the present and the past. However, the Jinamahnidna prefaced its description of the

marks with the account of the prediction that the marks permit. The text therefore brings

the significance the marks have for the future to the reader's attention before he

365
Yam ... tathgato pubbe manussabhto samno X ahosi ... so tassa kammassa katatt itthattam gato
samno Y-lakkhaam pailabhati (Jmn 47-50).
 219

encounters their description and analysis. Thus, though the wording of the analysis of the

marks focuses entirely on the relation of present and past, the reader cannot but be aware

in reading it of their concomitant future orientation.

Generically we can say of the physical marks that they function in the following

way: the bodhisatta/Buddha's actions in the past had effects visible in the present that

inform of his future. However, the temporal dimension to which the marks most

relevantly point changes according to where in his life-story he is when they are raised.

As a five-day old baby the marks, created by his past, are primarily about his present as it

is defined by his future (he is one who will become a buddha), though they are also about

the future that lies ahead of him. Once he has become the Buddha, the future aspect of

the marks (that he will be a buddha) is irrelevant because he has already achieved that

status (that future has by now become his present). As the Buddha, it is primarily the

past aspect of the marks that is highlightedhe is a buddha now because of all the good

actions he did in the past.366

So far, I have focused on the temporal aspects of the analysis of the marks, which

seems to offer a straightforward picture of the relation between past actions and present

366
These considerations apply to the immediate temporal dimensions of the marks, the dimensions that
relate to his position within his own life-stream. The marks also have a temporal aspect outside the realm
of the sequentiality of cause and effect. It might be considered an impersonally temporal aspect. This is
that it identifies the Buddha as one of a category of beings that bear these marks, namely other bodhisattas
and buddhas. (Cakkavatti kings are also included in this category, but this is not relevant for the argument
here.) We will consider this aspect later in the chapter.
 220

characteristics. However, the clarity and determinacy that the foregoing discussion might

have suggested is in fact undermined from the very outset by a couple of other aspects of

the analysis. We should note that in the analysis of the causes of the first mark many

other good qualities and actions were also included after his "resoluteness in virtuous

matters," including filial love toward his mother and toward his father, observing the

uposatha days, and paying due respect to the elders in the family.367 Multiple actions are

also identified as the cause of many of the later marks in this analysis. The number of

good actions that are identified as leading to each mark means that the reader starts to

lose the ability to keep track of all the actions relevant for each quality. The marks thus

become overdetermined with causes and the connections between them become less

clear. Within the very midst of the pattern that promises clarity, a sense of indeterminacy

starts creeping in.

Moreover, it is relatively easy to see a connection between being "firm in

resoluteness" and "having feet that are firmly set." So this may give the reader the

impression from the outset that the connections between causes and marks will be more

or less transparent. However, as the reader goes through the list, he is presented with

connections that are anything but transparent. For example, what exactly is the

connection between "being one who brings together friends long separated, who brings

367
These extra qualities were omitted from the above translation in order to preserve the clarity of the
overall structure of the passage.
 221

together a mother with her child, a brother with his sister" and so on and "having his

private parts ensheathed in a pouch"?368 Again, within a schema that seems as though it

should provide clarity, a profound opacity is only just below the surface.

Right at the end of its analysis of the causes of the marks, which overall affirms

both the effect of the past on the present and our ability to see something of that past, the

Jinamahnidna adds a comment that, again, significantly undermines any determinacy it

may have already suggested. It adds:

In this way the person of the great man is decorated by the ten perfections through
his intention by means of his intention [to do] what is meritorious and his
intention to give. Neither those in the world who have every artistic skill nor
those who have every magical power are able to make a replica [of his person].369

This is saying that, despite what it has just said, one cannot in fact see all of the

past because, though the physical aspects of his actions are manifest, it is impossible to

represent the mental aspects. In adding this comment the Jinamahnidna is refusing the

reader the ability to see all of the pastwhat we see in the present is not all of the past,

there is more of it than we can see. In its handling of the physical marks, as in its

handling of the jtakas, the text leads us to the conclusion that one can never know all the

temporal dimensions involved in the Buddha's person and life.

368
Jmn 48.
369
Iti dnacittena puacittena cittato dasahi pramhi sajjito mahpurisassa attabhvo[.] Loke
sabbasippino v sabbaiddhimanto v pairpakam pi ktum na sakkonti (Jmn 50). This comment is added
by the Jinamahnidna, it is not found in the Lakkhaasutta, which is the source for the preceding section.
 222

We should also note in connection with this that the Jinamahnidna explicitly

draws attention to our inability to know everything about the Buddha in another way. At

the beginning of its account of the physical marks, the text raises the question of whether

one who has the marks has the ability to know the connection between those marks and

the actions that brought them about. It reports the Buddha as saying: "Even seers from

other traditions bear these thirty-two marks of the great man that the great man has, but

they do not know: 'One gains this mark because this action was done.'"370 The

implication is clearly that the Buddha does have this knowledge. The possibility of such

knowledge ties the marks in the present even more determinately to the relevant actions

of the past. On its face, this would seem to support the idea that a follower could

potentially come to a full understanding of the Buddha. Yet at the same time, though the

Buddha, as reported by the text, here informs the reader what types of actions led to him

later bearing the related marks, only he can know specifically what particular actions in

all his individual previous lives led to those results. Again, we see the Jinamahnidna

make use of patterned relations to undermine the understanding that such patterns

promise. The reader is here left with the awareness that what she can know is limited, it

is only a buddha who can know it all.

370
"... imni kho bhikkhave dvattimsa mahpurisassa mahpurisalakkhani bhirak pi isayo dharenti na
ca kho te jnanti 'imassa kammassa katatt imam lakkhaam pailabhat' ti ..." (Jmn 47).
 223

C The portents (pubbanimittas)

The Jinamahnidna returns again and again to the portents (pubbanimittas),

particularly to the groups of thirty-two pubbanimittas. It describes the thirty-two

pubbanimittas at length three times, with three different sets of verses:371 when, having

received the prediction from Dpakara, the bodhisatta sits contemplating the qualities

that go to make a buddha, the buddhakrakadhamm (i.e., the perfections);372 at the

moment he is born;373 and at the moment of his enlightenment.374 After the second of

these accounts, the text provides an extensive explanation of what each of these portents

signifies. We should also note that, immediately after its analysis of the second

371
The overall impression given by reading the groups of verses in relation with each other is
predominantly of overlap between the types of phenomena being reported in them (particularly between the
second and third groups). We should nonetheless note that the collections of thirty-two portentous events
described by the three groups of verses are not identical. There are only a handful of happenings reported
by all three groups: jewels in the sky and on earth shone; the moon and the stars shone brightly; and
beautiful smells wafted around. Otherwise there are happenings that are reported equally in the first and
second groups of verses only (e.g., the fires of hell went out; water did not flow in the rivers; and the wind
did not blow); in the second and third groups only (e.g., drums and lutes sounded by themselves, without
being struck; animals that are natural enemies consorted happily together; and the blind saw, the deaf
heard, the dumb spoke, the hump-backed became straight, and the lame walked); and a handful in the first
and third groups only (e.g., water burst out from the earth; the ocean was decorated with flowers; and
flowers fell from the sky). In each of the groups of verses (and particularly the first) there are happenings
that are not found in either of the other two groups. For example, the first group of verses alone reports that
lust, hatred and delusion disappeared; there was no fear; all the gods (except the formless ones) and all hells
were seen; and there was no birth or death at that time. Only the second group reports that the gods
gathered in one world-system and that thirst disappeared from the world of the Piscas (a class of demon)
that had not seen water for eons. It is only the third group that tells us that horses did not run, but stood
still; fans made of animals tails waved; and that lotuses of five colors burst through the surface of the earth.
372
Jmn 6-8.
373
Jmn 39-41.
374
Jmn 87-9. Some of the portents are described in prose first, then they are all redescribed in verse.
 224

collection of the thirty-two portents, the text includes an analysis of the bodhisatta's

actions at birth that are identified as portents. This suggests that the text is deliberately

associating them with the thirty-two portents, not seeing them as different in kind in any

meaningful way.375 The thirty-two portents are also mentioned as appearing (though not

listed) at the moment that Gotama is conceived.376

As these thirty-two portents play such a prominent role in the Jinamahnidna, it

is worth taking a moment to consider what they are. They are extraordinary happenings

that manifest spontaneously in the natural world, in response to certain pivotal events in

the bodhisatta and Buddha's life. The earth quakes. Brilliant light blazes everywhere.

All trees burst into flower. Rivers stop flowing. The waters of the ocean become sweet.

Animals that are naturally enemies come together in harmony. People lose the physical

afflictions they have had from birth. All these things reflect the profound connectedness

of the natural world to the bodhisatta and Buddha, and its radical orientation to his

person.

The text gives no indication of any deliberation on the part of the universe in

responding in this way. In fact, it expressly states in another context that though the earth

has no volition and no mentality, it responds automatically to the bodhisatta and his

375
Jmn 42-3.
376
Jmn 35.
 225

qualities.377 We can see in the spontaneous manifestations identified as portents a

"sympathetic resonance" between the natural world and the person of the bodhisatta and

Buddha. Significant changes that occur in him automatically provoke sympathetic

changes in the universe. However, this intangible connection between the Buddha and

the natural world adds to the density of his person. More is involved in him than his own

personal history and the impact of others he encounters. The entire universe is shown to

be somehow tied into the development of his person.

Three other types of pubbanimitta are also mentioned in the Jinamahnidna: the

five portents of the death of a god, which occur for the bodhisatta on the day of his death

in the Tusita heaven, in his last existence before becoming Siddhattha;378 the four portents

that are the sights that will prompt the bodhisatta to renounce;379 and the portents that are

377
Commenting on the seven earthquakes that took place during Vessantara's lifetime, the text reports the
Buddha saying: "This earth which is without intention (acetan), not understanding happiness and
suffering, shook seven times because of the power of my generosity," "Acetanyam pahav aviya
sukhadukkham / spi dnabal mayham sattakkhattum pakampath" ti (Jmn 31). We should also note here
the Buddha's explanation to nanda of the causes of eight earthquakes (Jmn 220-1). Six of the eight
earthquakes are explained as responses to the Buddha, three to events in his life and three as the result of
his qualities: twice because of the force of his merit (puatejena) and once because of the force of his
knowledge (natejena). This discussion makes explicit that the earth cannot but react spontaneously to
the Buddha's qualities.
378
Jmn 32. The portents manifest in Tusita are that the bodhisatta's garlands wilt, his clothes become dirty,
he sweats profusely, his body becomes unattractive and he does not remain on his divine seat.
379
These portents are first identified on the bodhisatta's naming day (Jmn 51), but the text's primary
discussion of them is when they are actually witnessed by the bodhisatta (Jmn 57-9). The portents that
prompt the bodhisatta to renounce are what appear to be a sick man, an old man, a dead man and a
renunciant (though in fact they are a young god disguised in these forms by the gods).
We should note that these portents are a further instance of the multiplicity of causality or agency
that figures in the bodhisatta's life. The gods make the determination that the time of his awakening is near
(Siddhatthakumrassa abhisambojjhanaklo sanno [Jmn 57]) and so explicitly act in a way that will
 226

aspects of the five dreams Gotama has on the night before he will become enlightened,

which indicate different aspects of his future buddhahood.380

It is immediately apparent from the above classification that there are differences

in the Jinamahnidna's handling of the portents that seem likely to be meaningful. It

restates or refers to what is talked of as a single grouping four times, while each of the

other groups is only reported once. There are also significant discrepancies in magnitude

between the groups of thirty-two portents and the following groups of portents. Not only

is there a great disparity in the number of portents manifest (thirty-two as opposed to four

or five), but the thirty-two portents (in whichever version they are described) represent

extraordinary happenings on a grand scale that affect the entire world-system and would

be apparent to many if not all the inhabitants of the world. The other groups of portents

are on a much smaller scale and are witnessed by more restricted groups of beings.

These marked differences between the groups of the thirty-two portents and the others

suggest that it is likely both that the groups of thirty-two are linked in particular ways and

that the other groups are doing something different in the text from the groups of thirty-

two.

contribute to that event coming about.

380
Jmn 71. The Jinamahnidna also reports the undesired portents (dunnimittas) that appear with Mra's
army (78-80).
 227

i. The groups of thirty-two portents brought into mutual relation

I will first consider ways the groups of thirty-two portents are brought into

relation with each other. By restating at length on three separate occasions (and

mentioning on another) what the text identifies by a single label, while using different

sets of verses, which do not in fact report entirely identical happenings, the text brings

both the portents from these different occasions and the different occasions associated

with them into relation with each other.

At the very least, this would mean for the reader that, on encountering the account

of the portents at the time of the Buddha's enlightenment, for example, the parallel

versions cited at the time of his contemplation of the qualities that make a buddha after

receiving the prediction, and at his birth and conception, and hence those events, would

probably be brought to mind. This suggests that they are connected in some meaningful

way. If so, it implies that a reader cannot properly appreciate the individual events

without also bearing in mind the others. It also encourages the perception that they are

all points along a single trajectory, elements of a singular process stretching over a vast

time-span from prediction to enlightenment, and that some of their individual meaning

comes from that. For example, the full significance of Sumedha's post-prediction

reflection cannot be fully appreciated without thinking of the enlightenment that it will

end in, as well as how far away that is. From the opposite viewpoint, the full enormity of

what the Buddha has achieved in his enlightenment is only appreciated when one is
 228

aware that the process that led to it began way back with the prediction. In this light, his

birth is viewed as a point in this enormous trajectory from prediction to enlightenment,

which perhaps adds to the sense of the monumentalness of that event, as well as

imparting a sense of growing urgencythat after so long, the anticipated end is finally

drawing near. In such a way, further layers of temporal complexity have been added to

the narrative portrayal of each of these four events.

The text's consideration of the thirty-two portents on multiple occasions also

leads to a different type of multilayering. That is, the way the text structures its initial

account of the portents, with the description of each portent being followed by the

assertion that the bodhisatta will become a buddha seems, as it were, to saturate each

portent with the quality of affirming the future buddhahood of the Buddha.381 In the later

analysis, the particular link between a portent and its significand is made.382 The two

aspects of the analysis can be seen as working together to create a two-layered

signification: each portent reaffirms both the bodhisatta's future buddhahood and a

particular aspect of that buddhahood.383 In this way, the Jinamahnidna's treatment of

the thirty-two portents conveys the sense that the general future as well as the specifics of

381
Jmn 6-8.
382
Jmn 41-2.
383
We should note that even though each particular portent is not found equally in all of the groups of
thirty-two, the Jinamahnidna's presentation implies that it is. This permits the dual quality discussed
here to apply (at least theoretically) to each portent in each of the groups of thirty-two.
 229

the future are inherent in the present and are able to be revealed in the present. This extra

facet of temporal complexity is likely to be carried over and added to the later account of

the portents at enlightenment.

ii. A commonality to the occasions on which the portents appear

The fact that these four occasions are depicted as provoking a similar response

(the manifestation of thirty-two highly unusual happenings in the natural world) suggests

that there must be some commonality to them, something shared by all of them. This is

likely to encourage a reader to try to work out what that shared quality is. Should the

reader identify such a quality, he will then have a greater awareness of that particular

quality in any one of the individual accounts of the portents than he would have had if the

account were viewed purely on its own terms.

One quality that can readily be identified as shared by the gaining of Dpakara's

prediction, the conception, the birth, and the enlightenment is that of effecting a radical

change in the bodhisatta's personal status. When he gains Dpakara's prediction,

Sumedha is made into a bodhisatta, one who will eventually gain buddhahood.384 By his

384
Canonical and commentarial accounts of the Buddha's life agree that, for a prospective bodhisatta's
aspiration to buddhahood (abhinhra) to be successful, he has to have fulfilled eight conditions
(ahadhamm). See Endo, Buddha in Theravada Buddhism, 253-4 for discussion of these conditions. The
Jinamahnidna describes Sumedha, when Dpakara has approached him, as having fulfilled the eight
conditions (Jmn 4). Immediately after its report of Sumedha's resolve, the Jinamahnidna recounts
Dpakara's confirmation of Sumedha's future buddhahood, expressed in his prediction (Jmn 5). In other
words, gaining Dpakara's prediction is proof that his aspiration will be successful and that he is therefore
now a bodhisatta. See also Gombrich, "The Significance of Former Buddhas in the Theravdin Tradition,"
 230

conception, he is made into one who has entered into his last existence, the existence that

will see him become a buddha. By his birth, he has entered the world in the life during

which he will become the Buddha. By his awakening, his enlightenment, he has been

transformed from being a bodhisatta to being a buddha, he has finally become the

Buddha.

However, the transformations that occur in the bodhisatta as they are portrayed in

the Jinamahnidna are more complicated than the above synopsis might suggest, and

the thirty-two portents (at least on two occasions) play a crucial role in the transformative

process. It is more than that they simply take place on an occasion when the bodhisatta's

status is radically changed. Rather, the thirty-two portents overall are portrayed on those

occasions as crucially informing either the bodhisatta/Buddha or others, or both, that the

transformation has occurred. This is particularly significant in the case of the portents

that are manifest at the time of Sumedha's reflection after receiving the prediction and at

the enlightenment.385 By informing the bodhisatta/Buddha that the relevant

transformation has occurred in him, the portents bring about a self-knowledge which

68. See Derris, "Virtue and Relationships," 152-181 for a discussion of this episode as it is portrayed in
the Sotahakmahnidna.
385
At the times of his conception and birth, the portents inform others (conception) and also him (birth)
that his status has changed, and this affects how he is treated. However, it is not clear that the changes in
his treatment brought about by the knowledge gained through the portents are significant in his personal
development.
 231

itself constitutes a transformation in his person.386 This secondary transformation then

permits him to do what is necessary to begin the next stage of his career.387

a) As he reflects after receiving the prediction

As the Jinamahnidna portrays it, at the time of Sumedha's post-prediction

reflection it is the manifestation of the extraordinary events that constitute the portents,

reported to him by the gods, that permits his self-recognition as a bodhisatta. It is this

self-recognition that then enables him to accomplish what he needs to do to set out on his

path as a bodhisatta, namely, identify the perfections he must fulfill to become a buddha.

The Jinamahnidna puts a lot of emphasis on the important part the portents

play in the bodhisatta/Buddha's development. In doing so, it is highlighting the

386
Derris discusses the transformative effect of the prediction on the bodhisatta (ibid., 175-6). Her analysis
highlights the bodhisatta's self-experience as part of this effect.
387
The argument that causing the collections of thirty-two portents to be viewed together as a group makes
more visible the fact that they share, to varying degrees, a certain common quality is also strengthened by
the fact that the other groups of portents mentioned by the text do not share this quality. They do not
indicate that a change in the bodhisatta's status has occurred. Rather they can be seen to indicate that a
change in his status is about to occur, as well as to contribute, to varying degrees, to bringing about that
future change by prompting the bodhisatta to do whatever is necessary for the future event to take place.
The five portents that manifest when the bodhisatta is in the Tusita heaven indicate that he is about
to die and be born into the life in which he will become a buddha. The combination of seeing the portents
(and so knowing he is about to die) and hearing the gods' request prompts the bodhisatta to take certain
preparatory actions which set that event in motion. These are the five mahvilokanas, his looking around
the world to see if the five necessary conditions for the birth of one who will become a buddha in that
lifetime are available and to locate them (Jmn 33-4). The portents that are the four sights do not only
indicate that he is about to change from one living the household life into one who has renounced that
status and instead adopted that of one committed to attaining enlightenment, they positively contribute to
that change's coming about (Jmn 51). They set in motion a chain of thought (the realization that he too will
become ill, get old, and die) that leads to the bodhisatta deciding to take this transformative step. The
portents that are aspects of his dreams on the night before his enlightenment indicate that he is about to
become enlightened, no longer a bodhisatta but a buddha (Jmn 71-2).
 232

involvement of the natural world in the unfolding of his life, and it shows that it has been

this way for every other bodhisatta/Buddha before him. It will therefore be helpful for

our project to analyze in detail how the text depicts the portents' role.

The Jinamahnidna shows both his progression from one who has received the

prediction that he will become a buddha and is thereby a bodhisatta to one who knows

that he is a bodhisatta, and the concomitant progress in his attempts to identify what he

must therefore do next as a three-stage process. This processdisplaying the gradual

sinking in of Dpakara's assertion that he will become a buddhais seen in: his thought

after hearing Dpakara's prediction, his thought after hearing the report of the portents,

his thought after his thought after hearing the report of the portents. As we will see, the

crucial point in this process is between stage two and stage three, a point when his status,

his very nature irrevocably changes. This change in status is confirmed by his

designation at each stage: Sumedhatpaso, tpaso, bodhisatto.

Stage one: After hearing the prediction: "he will become a buddha in the world"

(buddho loke bhavissati),388 Sumedha is very happy (ativiya somanassapatto ahosi), yet

not entirely certain. The text tells us:

Sumedhatpaso bhagavato vacanam sutv "mayham kira patthan samijjhat" ti

388
Jmn 5. Dpakara is described as sending out his knowledge of the future (angatamsaam pesetv)
to investigate whether Sumedha's wish for buddhahood will succeed and, seeing that indeed it will
(samijjhanabhvam disv), proceeding to make the prediction (bykaraam). He then fleshes out this
prediction with an outline of the important events and the identities of the important people in Sumedha's
future life as the Buddha (Jmn 5-6).
 233

ativiya somanassapatto ahosi,

Having heard the Lord's words, the ascetic Sumedha was very happy, thinking,
"Apparently my wish will succeed."389

This adverb kira conveys that Sumedha cannot yet fully take in and accept as indubitable

fact that he will become a buddha.390

As soon as he is on his own, he sits looking out over the world with the thought,

"I must investigate the qualities that make a buddha" ("buddhakrakadhamme

vicinissm" ti ... pcnalokadhtum olokento nisdi).391 Beyond the simple statement of

action that will occur in the future, the future tense can also indicate the intention or the

resolution to do something that is now considered the appropriate course of action.392

This is the tone conveyed here. The sentence does not say, "Sumedha sat investigating

389
Jmn 6.
390
The PED gives as among kira's uses, an emphatic sense of "really, truly, surely," as well as a
"presumptive" sense: "I should think[,] one would expect" (PED, 215). Yet it goes on to say of kira that
"in ordinary statements, it gives the appearance of probability, rather than certainty, to the sentence"
(ibid.), and this seems to be the sense in which it is most frequently found. Another usage of kira that is
frequently seen is that of indicating that the sentence in which it is located is conveying something learned
through hearsay. The commentaries include this sense of "hearsay" among their explanations of its
meaning, though the PED argues this interpretation is sometimes too conventional and inappropriate for the
context (ibid.). Nonetheless, it is a usage that is regularly found in Pli texts. The sense of hearsay could
certainly apply in this context, seeing as it is within a sentence in which Sumedha reports what he has just
learned from Dpakara. However, the connotation of a lack of certainty seems the most appropriate here,
and this interpretation is supported by the subsequent development of the narrative.
391
Jmn 6.
392
Something of this sense is referred to by A.K. Warder, in his discussion of the meanings expressed by
the future tense, where he includes the expression of "determination or decision," especially when the verb
is in the first person, as here (A.K. Warder, Introduction to Pali, 2nd ed. [London: Pali Text Society, 1984],
55).
 234

the qualities that make a buddha." Rather, it portrays him sitting thinking about his

future thought (his future investigation). The impression given is that Sumedha is a little

unsure and does not know quite where to begin in his investigation of what he must do to

bring about what he has just heard is his future.

Right at this point the gods of all the world-systems approach him with some

important information:

But while the bodhisatta was sitting there like that, the gods of all the ten-
thousand world-systems came up, and giving shouts of approval, praising him,
said:
"Those portents (nimittni) that were seen when bodhisattas in the past sat
cross-legged are seen today.
The cold is gone and the heat is cooled. Those are seen today. You will
definitely become a buddha (dhuvam buddho bhavissasi).
The ten-thousand world-system is silent and undisturbed. Those are seen
today. You will definitely become a buddha."393

They continue in this vein citing each of the thirty-two extraordinary happenings manifest

in the world, and after each one repeating: "This one has been seen today. You will

definitely become a buddha." The gods are informing Sumedha that the miraculous

happenings that were seen in the world when previous bodhisattas were at the same point

as Sumedha is nowsitting, having just received the prediction of future buddhahood

393
Evam nisinne ca pana bodhisatte, sakaladasasahassacakkavadevat samgantv sdhukram
dadamn abhitthaviyamn hamsu: "Yni pubbe bodhisattnam pallakavaram bhuje / nimittni
padissanti tni ajja padissare. // Stam byapagatam hoti uha ca upasammati / tni ajja padissanti
dhuvam buddho bhavissasi. // Dasasahass lokadht nissadd hoti nirkul / tni ajja padissanti dhuvam
buddho bhavissasi ... " (Jmn 6).
 235

from a buddha, resolving to find out what is necessary for thathave again been seen.

Since the gods know that those bodhisattas in the past did indeed become buddhas, these

shared portents are proof that Dpakara was not wrong in his prediction and that

Sumedha will indeed become a buddha. As Derris says of this event, "The past confirms

the present, which confirms the future."394

Stage two: The text tells us that Sumedha has now become even happier

(atirekataram ptisomanassam pailabhitv), and that he is now convinced that he will

definitely become a buddha:

tam sutv tpaso atirekataram ptisomanassam pailabhitv "buddh nma

amoghavacan, addhham buddho bhavissm" ti sannihnam aksi,

Having heard that, the ascetic attained an even greater happiness and joy and
reached the conviction: "Buddhas certainly do not speak falsely. I will definitely
become a buddha."395

This statement is followed by a series of verses in which Sumedha shows that he now

fully accepts the truth of Dpakara's words and knows that he will become a buddha, by

asserting over and over that buddhas do not lie, each time concluding, "I will definitely

become a buddha" (dhuvam buddho bhavmaham).396

Stage three: These verses are followed by the statement:

394
Derris, "Virtue and Relationships," 172.
395
Jmn 8.
396
Advejjhanavacan buddh amoghavacan jin / vitatham natthi buddhnam dhuvam buddho
bhavmaham. // (Jmn 8-9).
 236

evam bodhisatto attano bodhisattabhve sannihnam katv

buddhakrakadhamme upadhrento sabbabodhisattehi sevitam nisevitam
pahamam dnapramim addasa,

The bodhisatta having reached conviction in his own status as a bodhisatta in this
way, reflecting on the qualities that make a buddha, saw first the perfection of
giving that is practiced and pursued by all bodhisattas.397

There is a lot in this statement. We see here that Sumedha has now gained conviction not

only in his future buddhahood, but also in his current status as a bodhisatta.398 That this

represents a real difference is reflected in the transition from his previous designation as a

tpaso to now bodhisatto. What has intervened between these two statements is only

Sumedha's repeating to himself over and over that buddhas do not lie and that he will

definitely become a buddha. So it is in these reaffirmations of what was confirmed to

him by the report of the portents (dhuvam buddho bhavissasi) that we witness the final

sinking in, the internalization of the truth of Dpakara's prediction of his future, and the

consequent recognition of what this means for him now, in the presentthat he is now no

longer an ascetic, he is a bodhisatta.399

397
Jmn 9.
398
It is interesting to note the difference between the Jinamahnidna's account and that found at the
parallel point in the Jtaka-nidnakath. The Jtaka-nidnakath there recounts that what allows him
finally to break through and identify the qualities he needs in order to become a buddha is the realization
not that he is a bodhisatta, but that he will certainly become a buddha. The parallel sentence reads: So
"dhuv' ham Buddho bhavissm" ti evam katasannihno buddhakrake dhamme upadhretum ... (Ja I
19). This difference simply highlights the Jinamahnidna's distinctiveness.
399
The gradual internalization of the truth of the prediction is deftly reflected by the Jinamahnidna in the
progression in the agent who expresses the prediction: from Dpakara to the gods to the bodhisatta
himself, and commensurately the progression in the person of the verb expressing the future state: from
third singular to second to firstbuddho loke bhavissati (Jmn 5) to dhuvam buddho bhavissasi (Jmn 6-8) to
 237

The significance of the difference between knowing he will be a buddha and

knowing he is a bodhisatta is also revealed by the above statement. At first, after hearing

Dpakara's prediction, Sumedha sat down with the intention of working out what he

needed to do to realize that prediction ("buddhakrakadhamme vicinissm" ti [future

tense]), but he was depicted as not knowing exactly where to begin. Now the

buddhakrakadhammas are again picked up, and this time he just gets straight into the

reflection (buddhakrakadhamme upadhrento [present participle]). Moreover, the

statement cited above passes directly from "having reached conviction in his own status

as a bodhisatta" to "reflecting on the qualities that make a buddha" to "(he) saw first the

perfection of giving." It is the knowledge of his own bodhisattahood that prompts him to

take up again the question of what he must do to become a buddha, and it is also that

knowledge that permits him to see what the requisites are. Knowing that he is a

bodhisattaa result of the portentsis what allows him to see what all other fellow

bodhisattas before him did to become buddhas. We can thus see the portents as the point

of articulation between the prediction and the perfections.

It was Dpakara's prediction that made Sumedha a bodhisatta, but it was the

portents that allowed him to know himself a bodhisatta. This knowledge enabled him to

take the first step into full inhabitation of that status, whose fulfillment he would be

dhuvam buddho bhavmaham (Jmn 8-9). The multiple, repetitive verses spoken by the gods and then
Sumedha also extend the narrative time accorded this episode, which conveys the sense of the passage of
time needed for this information to sink in for Sumedha.
 238

occupied with for the remainder of his time until buddhahood. The thirty-two portents

are thus events occurring in the present that, by using knowledge of the distant past (that

these same events occurred for other bodhisattas at the same point in their development),

allow knowledge of the immediate past (that he has just become a bodhisatta), a past that

was brought about by knowledge of the future (the prediction), to act in the present in

such a way as helps bring about that future, by shaping all the intervening time between

the present and that future.

The Jinamahnidna's emphasis on the role of the portents in this crucial phase

of the bodhisatta's life helps bring to visibility the concentration in this moment of

manifold contributing factors. Moreover, the Jinamahnidna's depiction of the scene

makes clear that all of the parties involved have a history behind them that has brought

them to this point. It also draws attention to the necessity of those histories for the

playing out of this episode, which is shown to depend entirely on the histories that lie

behind the various parties involved.

The Jinamahnidna has shown us that it is the portents, reported by the gods,

that allows the bodhisatta to know his own bodhisattahood. The text's presentation

reveals that it is patterns of recurring events playing out across time that allow Sumedha

to be passed this information. The key pattern here is the following sequence of events

that is reported as having taken place time after time: a bodhisatta of the past, having

received a prediction of buddhahood from a buddha, sat down to reflect on what he

 239

needed to do next; miraculous events occurred in the world; and that bodhisatta

eventually became a buddha. This sequence of events can be revealed as a pattern

because it was witnessed by the gods who saw it happen time and time again. The gods

then bring the knowledge of this pattern to bear in the bodhisatta's present.

Therefore, to perceive fully all the factors that went to make this event in the

bodhisatta's life transpire as it does, the reader would need to know: the story of the

bodhisatta's development through untold eons and through all the events of this life so far

that have helped bring him to this point; the story of Dpakara's development stretching

back over eons that led him to being able to make the prediction of Sumedha; the

biography of the gods, in which they witnessed multiple other bodhisattas in the past

(whom they knew to have received predictions) carry out this action, the same miraculous

events occur at each of those times, and the same result ultimately ensue in each case; the

biographies of all the previous bodhisattas that had brought them to that point; the

biographies of all the buddhas that gave those bodhisattas a prediction; and the

biography, so to speak, of the natural world, in which it responded in the same

extraordinary ways to this event in the lives of each of the previous bodhisattas.

The Jinamahnidna's presentation shows the reader that it is the pasts of all

these parties that allows this moment in Sumedha's life to unfold as it does. Yet it does

not tell us those histories at this point. The story is thus dense here with untold stories of

the past that are nonetheless implicit in and crucial to the playing out of this phase of the
 240

story.

The text has also shown us that it is a pattern that has made this point in the

bodhisatta's life intelligible (both to the bodhisatta within the story and to the reader).

Yet the very logic of the pattern it displays here creates a narrative density that

necessarily means the reader cannot know everything involved in making this moment of

the bodhisatta's life take the form it does. The density that ensues from the pattern

undermines the intelligibility promised by the pattern and shows the reader that in fact we

cannot fully understand the bodhisatta at this moment.

The extreme narrative density here provides us with a glimpse of the extreme

density of the bodhisatta's life. It vividly shows us that we cannot know everything about

even one moment of his life, let alone its entirety. In this way, the Jinamahnidna uses

its narrative form to lead the reader to an appreciation of the density and, ultimately, the

incomprehensibility of the bodhisatta/Buddha's life and person.

Before moving on from this episode, I would like briefly to draw attention to

three aspects of the narrative's form that work to add extra dimensions of temporal

complexity to the picture of the bodhisatta at this point. In the verses where the gods

report the manifestation of the individual portents, the repetition in each verse of the

statement, "Those [portents which were seen before] are again seen today" reinforces the

sense of an overlap between Sumedha's present and the past times when those same

events occurred before. The repeated paralleling of his now with all those thens evokes a
 241

sense of those previous times as underlying Sumedha's present.

The verses also create a sense of the confluence in this moment for Sumedha of

the past, his present and his future. Each verse points simultaneously in three

directionsthese things happened in the past, they are seen today, you will become a

buddha in the future. This combination of flashback and flashforward hinged in the

present repeated over and over creates a sense of temporal density, with the three times

knit closely together in this moment.

The combination of the repeated assertion, "You will definitely become a

buddha" in the gods' verses with that of, "I will definitely become a buddha" in

Sumedha's also strengthens the sense of the virtual presence of that future in the present

moment. It creates a sense of the present as pregnant with that future. This also

contributes to a sense of the temporal density of this episode. The reader is left with a

picture of the bodhisatta in which his person is at that moment densely imbued with the

past and with the future that awaits him.

b) At his enlightenment

I argued earlier that the Jinamahnidna's repeated coverage of the thirty-two

portents leads the reader to seek commonalities between the occasions so marked. I

suggested that, having been encouraged to find shared qualities in those occasions, the

reader is then more likely to be aware of those particular qualities in the individual

accounts of the relevant occasions. We will now see that what we have learned from the
 242

account of Sumedha helps make clear how the process works at the time of the Buddha's

enlightenment.

The Jinamahnidna describes the actual process of the Buddha's enlightenment

twice, first in abbreviated form, and immediately afterward in more detail. The

abbreviated account makes no mention of the portents,400 but the detailed version reveals

the role of the portents in the process. It tells us that when he had gained omniscience

(tasmim sabbautam patte), the miraculous happenings that are the portents appeared

(describing some of them in prose). It then makes explicit that the portents appeared "at

the very moment when the Lord awoke" (bhagavato bodhitakkhane yeva ptubhtni

dvattimsa pubbanimittni),401 and goes on to describe them in three pages of verse. So

clearly, he became a buddha at the moment that omniscience arose and it was therefore

the arising of omniscience that made him a buddha. This parallels the fact that it was

gaining the prediction that made Sumedha a bodhisatta.

After the verses describing the portents the text tells us:

In this way, the Lord ..., when miraculous happenings of various kinds [i.e., the
portents] had appeared, understood his omniscience. Then having become one

400
This account tells us that at dawn, after the three watches of the night in which he gained three types of
knowledge, he understood (paibujjhitv), by means of the omniscience he had thereby gained, the
difference between samsra and nibbna (Jmn 86). Then because of the arising of this omniscience
(sabbautaappattiy) he understood that he was perfectly enlightened (sammsambuddham
paibujjhi) (ibid.).
401
Jmn 87. Notice the use of the past participle bodhitakkhane, as opposed the simple abstract noun bodhi
or the action noun bujjhana. This reinforces the sense of the portents as signalling a transformation that has
occurred.
 243

who had understood his own omniscience, exclaiming the exclamation that is not
omitted by all buddhas, said this pair of verses:
"I have wandered samsra for many lives seeking but not finding the
house-builder ... House-builder, you have been seen. You will not make a
house again. ... My mind has reached a state without compounded
elements. I have achieved the destruction of cravings."
Having exclaimed the exclamation, the Lord sat right there cross-legged for seven
days. So the Lord said:
"Having given the gift that was to be given, having fulfilled morality
completely, having reached the perfection of dispassion, I have reached
supreme enlightenment/awakening (patto sambodhim uttamam). ... Sitting
on the seat of endeavor for a week, I attained attainments numbering many
hundreds of kois."402

We see here a progression exactly parallel to that after Sumedha's gaining the prediction.

Here the Buddha (a buddha because he has attained omniscience), understands, because

of the natural world's spontaneous response to him, that he has obtained omniscience.

Knowing this, he does what all others buddhas have done at this point403 and proclaims

joyously his understanding of what this means for his current situation: he has achieved

what he has been trying to achieve for eons, there is nothing more to be donehe has

attained nibbna, and is therefore now a buddha. He then tells himself that he has done

402
Evam bhagav ... nnappakresu acchariyadhammesu ptubhtesu sabbautam paibujjhi. So pi
adhigatasabbautao hutv sabbabuddhehi avijahitam udnam udnento imam gthadvayam ha:
"Anekajtisamsram sandhvisam anibbisam / gahakram gavesanto ... / gahakraka diho 'si puna
geham na khasi / ... / visankhragatam cittam tahnam khayam ajjhag" ti.
Udnam udnetv bhagav sattham tattheva ekapallakena nisdi. Tenha bhagav: "Datv
dtabbakam dnam slam pretv asesato / nekkhamme pramim gantv patto sambodhim uttamam. / ... /
Satthekapallakena nisinno viriysane / sampatt sampajjim anekasatakoiyo" ti (Jmn 89-90).
403
Notice here the parallel to Sumedha who likewise is brought into relation with all previous bodhisattas
at the parallel point in his development, at the point when he gains self-awareness as a bodhisatta. It is as
though, for the Buddha, knowing that he is a buddha, and for Sumedha, that he is a bodhisatta, allows him
finally to join the ranks of all those others who have equally belonged in this category before him.
 244

what he needed to do (namely, he has fulfilled all the perfections) and has achieved

complete enlightenment. As we saw Sumedha repeat over and over to himself, "I will

definitely become a buddha," internalizing that truth, we now see the Buddha repeat over

and over to himself (after stating that he has fulfilled each perfection), "I have reached

supreme enlightenment." In this way, the recognition that he is now a buddha gradually

sinks in, and because of it he gains all the attainments of a buddha. Also because of this

recognition, the Buddha remains sitting in contemplation for another six weeks doing the

necessary preparations for the next phase of his career (i.e., being the Buddha and

teaching what he has understood to others).404

Here again we see the natural world's manifestation of these extraordinary events,

prompted by the transformation of his person (his becoming one who has attained

omniscience and is therefore a buddha), reveal to the Buddha his immediate past (that he

has attained omniscience), which allows him to come to a self-knowledge about his long-

term past and his present (that the task he has been working on over the eons since

becoming a bodhisatta is done and he is now a buddha), which is itself a transformation

that then permits him to do what is necessary to fully occupy that present status by

actualizing it in the future. The text here reveals to us how it is the complex

intermingling in the Buddha's present of knowledge of the immediate past, the long-term

404
This preparation involves examining in detail all aspects of the Dhamma and working out how best to
teach it so that it will benefit people.
 245

past, the present, and the future that permits the actualization of that future.

We can thus say in overview that bringing the various groups of thirty-two

portents into connection with each other has three major outcomes. It allows the reader

to achieve a greater understanding of the complexities of the temporal dimensions of the

events in the bodhisatta/Buddha's lifethe reader is brought to perceive more finely the

ways time works in his life. Yet, at the same time, this finer perception ultimately leads

the reader to an appreciation of just how little she can actually understand of the

bodhisatta/Buddha and his temporal dimensions. Third, it highlights the responsiveness

of the natural world to the bodhisatta and Buddha and its involvement in his

development. This draws attention to the collaboration of multiple agents and factors in

producing the Buddha. This creates a narrative density that undermines the reader's

sense of the Buddha's intelligibility and portrays him rather as being beyond

comprehension.

D The linking of the portents with what they portend

We have already seen the Jinamahnidna's treatment of the thirty-two portents

add considerable temporal complexity to its account of the Buddha's life. It also reveals

an even greater complexity in another way. The logic of the linkages forged between the

portents and the aspects of the Buddha's life they foretell leads to chronologically

separate times in the bodhisatta/Buddha's life becoming connected and interrelated in a

way that is radically non-linear.

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The following examples will illustrate how this process works. The first two

portents reported at the time of the bodhisatta's birth are that the ten-thousand world-

systems quaked and that the gods of all those ten-thousand world-systems gathered

together in one world-system.405 Right after the verses listing all the other portents, the

Jinamahnidna provides the reader with an analysis of which aspects of the Buddha's

future life those portents foretold. It begins: "There the shaking of the ten-thousand

world-systems is the portent of his gaining omniscience. The gathering of the gods in

one world-system is the portent of the receiving of the Dhamma having gathered all at

once at the time of the setting in motion of the wheel of the Dhamma."406

Here we have two events that happen simultaneously in the world at the moment

of the bodhisatta's birth signifying two events that will happen at quite different times in

his futureat the moment he becomes enlightened and when he preaches his first

sermon. By being foretold by events that occur at the time of his birth, those two separate

events are directly implicated in the time of his birth. Inversely, his birth is implicated in

the times of his becoming enlightened and of preaching his first sermon. Even more

striking is the explanation of the last portent analyzed here. This portent is in fact not one

of the thirty-two miraculous manifestations in the world but one of the bodhisatta's

405
Buddhakure ... jte[,] / pakampi sakampi tad samant / sahassasakhy dasalokadhtu[.] //
Cakkavasahassesu dasesv eva ca devat / ekamhi cakkavamhi tad sannipatimsu t (Jmn 39).
406
Tatrpi dasasahasslokadhtukappo sabbautaassa pailbhapubbanimittam, devatnam
ekacakkave sannipto dhammacakkappavattanakle ekappahrena sannipatitv dhammapaiggahanassa
pubbanimittam (Jmn 41-2).
 247

actions at birth, his "lion's roar" or cry of victory that this is his last birth. The text

informs us that this action he took at birth is the portent of his parinibbna, that is, his

death.407 So his death also is implicated in the time of his birth. These utterly non-linear

connections between times that are narratively separate are thus revealed by the text's

linking of portents manifest in the present moment with events that will occur at quite

other times.

It is not only other individual times in the Buddha's career that are shown by this

means to be connected with the moment of his birth. Other kinds of times are also

connected with the birth by the same mechanism. For example, particular events that

happen successively over a period of time (such as "the gaining of monasteries in order,"

which is foretold by the portent of lutes sounding by themselves)408 are revealed as

implicated in his birth. So also are events that happen over the entire period of the

Buddha's teaching career but are too numerous to be assigned to specific points in that

career (such as "the going for refuge by beings who have heard the great man's

teaching," foretold at his birth by birds' going to earth).409 Also implicated in his birth by

this means are qualities that applied continuously throughout his existence as the Buddha

407
"Ayam antim jt" ti shando anupdisesya nibbnadhtuy parinibbnassa pubbanimittan ti, "His
'lion's roar' crying: 'This is my last birth' is the portent of his parinibbna in the element of nibbna with
no remainder" (Jmn 43).
408
Jmn 42:2-3.
409
Jmn 42:16.
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(such as "the quality of being loved by many people," foretold by the moon shining very

brightly at his birth).410

A very striking picture of the times of the Buddha's life emerges from this

elaboration. Through the textual mechanism of the analysis of the portents, the

Jinamahnidna reveals that in the moment of the bodhisatta's birth is implicated the

entirety of his future life as the Buddha, from individual moments within it to its entire

sweep. The Jinamahnidna here uses a textual strategy to reveal an aspect of the

bodhisatta/Buddha's temporality: the utter synchronicity of the entirety of his forty-five

years as the Buddha encapsulated within that one moment of his birth.

This aspect further implies thatsince all moments of the Buddha's life are

implicated in his birtheach moment of the story has the potential to open outwards into

all other moments. Each moment of the bodhisatta/Buddha's life is here revealed as

limitless in that myriad and potentially infinite other times can be implicated in it.

The way the Jinamahnidna has revealed these aspects of the Buddha's

temporality also has effects on the text's narrative tone and commensurately the reader's

experience of the narrative. The text's linking of the portents and the elements of the

Buddha's later life they foretell reveals and draws to the reader's attention to a principle

that elements of the narrative that are sequentially separate can nonetheless be connected

410
Jmn 42:13-4.
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in meaningful ways. This principle implies that to understand the bodhisatta or Buddha

fully a reader needs to be able to extract the meaning conveyed by such intranarrative

connections. The Jinamahnidna can be seen to exploit the reader's awareness of this

principle to create an impression of density and opacity in the narrative and to generate in

the reader the sense that he cannot fully penetrate this opacity.

An example will demonstrate some of the ways this can work. "Knowledge

without obstacle" (anvaraaa)one of the six types of knowledge possessed only

by buddhas411was foretold by two different portents occurring on two different

occasions. It was first foretold at the time of the bodhisatta's final birth by his looking in

all directions.412 Later, on the night before he became enlightened, it was foretold by one

of the aspects of the first of the five dreams he hadthat there was a single light all the

way up to the highest point of the sky.413

That those two occasions share a reference to the same attainment creates a

narrative linkage between them. The reader has already been shown that two sequentially

separate times in the bodhisatta/Buddha's life can be revealed as meaningfully connected

by narrative linkages. Therefore, the reader may reasonably wonder here whether there is

411
"Knowledge without obstacle" is the fifth in a group of six attainments, six very specific types of
knowledge, which is defined by the tradition as possessed only by buddhas. See Endo, Buddha in
Theravada Buddhism, 26-7.
412
Jmn 41-3.
413
Jmn 71-2.
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something meaningful in this narrative link, whether the text is thereby revealing that

these two occasions have some intrinsic connection. If there were such an intrinsic

connection between the two occasions, a reader who wants to understand fully the

Buddha's life would need to understand the nature of the connection. Yet he is not given

any indication as to what such a connection might be, so he is left with an unanswered

question hanging in the background in this scene.

On the other hand, opacity is also added by the relation between the portents and

other elements of the narrative. Being identified as a portent draws attention to an event

as especially significantit is not only an occurrence in itself but has the capacity to

connote something else. This makes it more likely that when the reader next encounters

the same event, he will remember that it occurred earlier in the narrative and that it was a

portent of something else. It is also likely that the particular phenomenon that event was

earlier identified as connoting will come to the reader's mind at that point. If a certain

event is defined in one context as having the capacity to foretell a particular thing, it is

reasonable for a reader to wonder, when he later encounters that same event, whether that

capacity is intrinsic to the event in question. If so, the later occurrence of the event

would also foretell that same thing. Therefore, when the reader encounters the event for

a second time, he may wonder whether the particular significand is foretold and so

implicated in the narrative at that point.

For example, when a reader later encounters an occasion in the narrative when a
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single light was manifested up to the highest pointsuch as when the Buddha was on the

jeweled walkway after teaching the Buddhavamsa and made a wish that there be such a

light414he will be reminded of this same event occurring as part of one of the

bodhisatta's pre-enlightenment dreams. As that event was there identified as the portent

of "knowledge without obstacle," the reader will also be reminded of that paradigmatic

quality in the context of the account of the Buddha on the jeweled walkway. The reader

may then wonder whether this narrative linkage indicates that the Buddha's "knowledge

without obstacle" is in some way implicated in the later scene. Again, the reader is not

provided with the means to answer these questions and is left in a state of uncertainty.

By such means, the narrative fosters a sense in the reader that there are

interconnections between different elements of the narrative lying below its surface that

he cannot quite grasp. Intratextual echoes such as these thus increase the reader's sense

of the narrative as overdetermined and elusive. His perception of these qualities in the

narrative encourages him to see them also in the Buddha it depicts.

E The marks tie the Buddha's impersonally temporal dimensions into his life

The thirty-two physical marks are a paradigmatic characteristic of the bodhisatta

and buddha. The attributes or qualities that are specifically described by the

commentaries as being definitional of a buddha fall into two broad groupings: physical

414
Jmn 171.
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(belonging to his rpakya or "physical body") and spiritual or mental (relating to his

dhammakya or "body of spiritual qualities/the teachings").415 The thirty-two physical

marks are one of the members of the first category.416

The marks function in the Jinamahnidna (as elsewhere) in different, if

interrelated, ways. As we saw earlier, they act as the connecting point between the

bodhisatta/Buddha's past, present and future. In addition, they depict the

bodhisatta/Buddha temporally in a more impersonal way, as one of a series of buddhas

and bodhisattas.417 On the other hand, they also function in a way that is not temporal per

415
Endo discusses the commentaries' understanding of the Buddha's physical characteristics (Endo,
Buddha in Theravada Buddhism, 135-165) and his spiritual characteristics (ibid., 51-133).
416
Endo lists the relevant physical attributes of the Buddha as: 1) the thirty-two marks of a great man
(dvattimsamahpurisalakkhaa); 2) the eighty minor marks (astnubyayana/astyanuvyajana); 3) the
mark of a hundred merits (satapualakkhaa); 4) a halo that extends a fathom (bymappabh); and 5) feet
marked with a wheel (hehapdatalesu cakkni jtni) (ibid., 138). Endo notes that characteristics 3) and
5) in this list are found less frequently than the other three (ibid., 157, 163). He also comments that, as we
have seen here in the Jinamahnidna, the thirty-two marks, the eighty minor marks, and the halo are often
mentioned together, while the other characteristics are sometimes mentioned separately (ibid., 343, n. 16).
He provides an extensive list of citations of such discussions in the commentaries (ibid.).
417
It is this aspect of the Buddha's temporality that is addressed by Jonathan S. Walters' distinction
between "the calculable and incalculable dimensions of time" (Walters, "Buddhist History: The Sri
Lankan Pli Vamsas and Their Community," in Querying the Medieval: Texts and the History of Practices
in South Asia, ed. Ronald Inden, Jonathan Walters and Daud Ali [New York: Oxford University Press,
2000], 103) and Steven Collins' discussion of repetitive and non-repetitive time (Collins, Nirvana and
other Buddhist felicities, 257-267).
This dimension of the Buddha's temporality is also occasionally manifested in the
Jinamahnidna by descriptions of his actions as also having been done by all bodhisattas or by all
buddhas. We have already seen three examples of this. The first was in the discussion of Sumedha's
reflection on the perfections, which are described as "practiced and pursued by all bodhisattas
(sabbabodhisattehi)" (Jmn 9-12). This characteristic is ascribed to almost all of the perfections, though the
text alternates between attributing the practice to "all bodhisattas" (sabbabodhisattnam) and to "previous
bodhisattas" (pubbabodhisattnam). We also saw the Buddha's exclamation of joy at realizing he is now
enlightened described as "not omitted by all buddhas (sabbabuddhehi)" (Jmn 89). Similarly, the verse he
proclaims right after his birth, declaring that he is supreme in the world and that this is his last birth is
 253

se (although they can never be completely divorced from their temporal aspects). This is

their capacity to function as a category-markerto indicate a bodhisatta or a buddha (or a

cakkavatti king).

There is a fine line to walk here, because the Jinamahnidna itself shows that

sometimes when the thirty-two marks are used to mark a bodhisatta or a buddha, their

temporal dimensions are overtly part of the picture. Yet it also shows that the marks can

be used in their categorical function with no indication that the temporal aspects are

expressly at play in that context.

An example of the first situation is provided by the description of the Buddha as

Sriputta sees him on the jeweled walkway, prior to teaching the Buddhavamsa. He is

described here as having three of the physical attributes of a buddha (the thirty-two

marks, the eighty minor marks, and the halo), so he is clearly being portrayed in

categorical terms as a buddha. However, the thirty-two marks are qualified in such a way

as to draw attention to their temporal dimensionit is said of him that "his superlative

body was resplendent with the eighty minor characteristics and embellished with the

thirty-two glorious marks produced as the fruit of unlimited accumulated skill."418

On the other hand, in the story of the Buddha's encounter with Pipphali-Kassapa

described as "an act of all buddhas (sabbabuddhacritabhtam)" (Jmn 38).

418
aparimitasamupacitakusalaphalajanitabattimsavaralakkhaopasobhitsitnubyajanavirjitam
varasarram (Jmn 178).
 254

it is expressly indicated that the Buddha is manifesting his categorical form (he is

described as "having taken on the appearance of a buddha," buddhavesam gahetv). The

thirty-two marks are here mentioned with no indication of their temporal dimensions

being directly relevant.419 In fact, in the great majority of occasions in the

Jinamahnidna where the Buddha is being portrayed in this categorical, transcendent

mode and the thirty-two marks are mentioned, no overt references to the marks' temporal

aspects are found. This suggests that it is legitimate to talk about the marks as, at least

sometimes, a paradigmatic and not significantly temporal phenomenon.

An essential element in the way the paradigmatic qualities function in general in

Pli texts is their capacity both to open out into other qualities and at the same time to

distill a lot more within them.420 On the other hand, the power of narrative comes in large

419
The Buddha is described as illumining the forest clearing with the glory of his thirty-two marks (Jmn
153).
420
Cf. Gethin's portrayal of the dual capacity of lists and mtik to open out into other lists and to condense
vast amounts of information within them (See Rupert Gethin, "The Mtiks: Memorization, Mindfulness,
and the List," in In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and
Tibetan Buddhism, ed. Janet Gyatso, SUNY Series in Buddhist Studies, ed. Matthew Kapstein [Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1992], 149-172).
One of the works accomplished by the Theravdin classificatory schemas is to generate a
complexity of categorization that defies universal consistency and mutual coherence (ibid., 161). This
generation of complexity by their classificatory schema is part of their power. For it allowed them to say
more about their common subject, the Buddha, than is apparent when the individual schema are considered
independently.
Gethin calls the lists not simply mnemonic devices but "a creative medium for Buddhist literature
and thought" (ibid., 164). He describes the mechanisms by which they function as follows: "one Nikya
list acts as a veritable matrix for a whole series of further lists. We may begin with one simple list, but the
structure of early Buddhist thought and literature dictates that we end up with an intricate pattern of lists
within lists, which sometimes turns back on itself and repeats itself, the parts subsuming the whole" (ibid.,
153)
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part from its synthesizing, structuring functionputting singular entities into a sequential

structure that ties them in more tightly with the other entities surrounding them. The

qualities' opening outwards into other dimensions unconnected with the specific events

surrounding the quality at that particular point in the story, would seem to break the

narrative flow.

I will show that the Jinamahnidna's incorporation of the marks' paradigmatic

aspect within the narrative enriches both modes. It permits a collaboration between their

two modes of functioning. In this collaboration the marks' paradigmatic aspect is

enabled to communicate in another dimensionnot only the timeless but also the "in-

time." Being placed within a sequence does not prevent it from also opening out into

He says that lists may have been "intended to function as succinct compendia of the Dhamma, but
at the same time they also appear to be regarded as representing a kind of distilled essence of the Dhamma"
(ibid., 157). He quotes the Mohavicchedan of Kassapa of Coa (c. 1200 CE), a commentary on the mtiks
of the Abhidhamma as explaining that the mtiks are essentially ways to generate and preserve "dhammas
and meanings without end or limit," which here involves, "the bringing together and preserving of the
neglected and hidden meanings of the texts" (ibid., 161). The texts here referred to are the seven canonical
books of the Abhidhammapiaka, of which Kassapa says that if they were "expanded in full, each one
would involve a recitation without end or limit (anantparima-bha-vra)" (ibid.). In other words, the
mtiks are able to both condense and generate all the meanings that might be contained in works whose
individual recitation would be infinite.
This is a very apt image for some of the principal ways the Jinamahnidna finds to communicate
things about the Buddha and his immeasurableness. The Jinamahnidna uses these and similar devices,
not to give the reader information, so much as to demonstrate that the entirety of the subject matter can
never be captured, that there are always infinite other potential angles of vision from which it can be seen,
and infinite other aspects that would thereby be seen.
In his study of the canonical and commentarial Pli texts' portrayals of the Buddha, Endo similarly
shows that the categorical complexity arises particularly in regard to the Buddha's knowledge, and
ultimately that this complexity acts to demonstrate the immeasurability of the Buddha's knowledge. He
tells us: "Lists of Buddha-gua and a-bala of the Buddha above suggest that some items are inclusive
of each other and some are not. This fact suggests that a comprehensive list is impossible to make owing to
the vastness of the Buddha's knowledge" (Endo, Buddha in Theravada Buddhism, 58).
 256

other dimensions outside the sequence. The paradigmatic aspect is still able to open out

into the atemporal, but in that opening out can equally be seen the funneling of the

atemporal into that particular moment in the temporal. The collaboration of the two

modes allows the opening out of the marks' paradigmatic aspect to pull the atemporal

into the temporal, and the impersonally temporal into the personally temporal. This in

turn enriches the temporalit adds dimensions to the temporal that could not be accessed

by the narrative alone and which make the temporal denser.

The story of Pipphali-Kassapa's encounter with the Buddha is a fruitful point of

entry into the question of how the thirty-two marks allow for the articulation of the

paradigmatic and the narrative, the impersonal and the personal dimensions of time.

Bearing the thirty-two physical marks identifies the Buddha as one of a category

of beings that bear these marks. So whenever the Jinamahnidna portrays the Buddha

in this way, it is not just innocently describing particular aspects of his physical

appearance at that moment in the story. It is, as it were, widening out its account at these

points, to reveal the Buddha as acting on a broader, less temporally defined stagehe is

not only being or acting in the particular ways relevant for that part of the story, but is

also playing out his larger-scale role as a buddha.

However, talking about the Buddha as having the thirty-two marks in the account

of his encounter with Pipphali-Kassapa does not simply mark him off as a buddha in the

categorical sense, a being that transcends all other humans, or tie him instantly into the
 257

sequence of past buddhas and bodhisattas who equally had these marks. It also ties those

depictions of him into the story of his encounter with Kassapa, and so makes those

transcendent aspects part of the human picture.

To see the power of this, we need to consider how that opening out into the

transcendent works at the individual moment in the story, and within the framework of

the story as a whole. At this point in the story, it is what informs Kassapa of who the

Buddha is, both in himself and therefore in relation to Kassapa. It makes it clear to

Kassapa that the Buddha is an arahant. This tells Kassapa that it was in relation to him

that he went forth, and therefore that the Buddha is his teacher. The opening out into the

transcendent also reinforces how vital and valuable to Kassapa is his relation with the

Buddha. It highlights that the relation is so strong and so important that it empowers

Kassapa to approach the awesome Buddha, revealed as a buddha, and inform him of their

being in relationship.

Within the framework of the story as a whole, the opening out permits the forging

of connections between points in the story that are not sequentially connected, but which

are enrichedmeaning is added into themby being brought into connection with each

other. In this case, it brings into connection with each other occasions when the Buddha

is portrayed as manifesting his thirty-two marks. So it brings the story of the Buddha's

encounter with Kassapa into connection with, for example, the account of the Buddha

sitting in the banyan grove after his return to Kapilavatthu before he preaches the
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Buddhavamsa to his family, as well as the account of his preaching the Buddhavamsa

while walking on the jeweled walkway in the sky. Viewing these stories in relation with

each other, the reader sees a common feature in them of the need for persuasion. That is,

it reveals them as occasions in which it is necessary for the Buddha's superior status to be

affirmed and indeed as moments when his very status is at issue.

Such opening out into the transcendent also gives the reader a greater

understanding of the two-tiered layers of connectivity between events in the storythe

base-level continuity of sequentiality overlaid by non-temporally specified aspects that

are brought into relation by the categorical function of the atemporal. That is, an event

can be connected with those either side of it sequentially by narrative, but it can also be

connected with many other events/dimensions of time that do not fall within chronology

(events which can be in the past/future in relation to that moment, or can refer to other

Buddhas, etc.). All of the Buddha's life can simultaneously be seen as both a sequentially

ordered and a non-sequential whole in which all aspects are simultaneously immanent.

2 Conclusion

We saw in the last chapter that the Jinamahnidna presents the Buddha's

influence as continuing forwards in time into an ongoing future, by the care he is shown

as having already taken for those who come after. This chapter has shown that the text

also portrays his life as extending vastly backwards into the past by bringing the jtakas
 259

firmly within the fold of his life, and by highlighting that the traces of his previous good

deeds in countless lifetimes are manifest in his physical form. The Jinamahnidna also

depicts his present as inconceivably dense with manifold times and temporal dimensions.

We have seen it produce this effect particularly through its depiction of the interaction of

the portents, his physical marks, and predictions revealing in his present the influence of

his past and future. The text also shows his present as denser by drawing his

impersonally temporal and atemporal qualities firmly into the present of his life and

person. The outcome of all these moves is to leave the reader with a sense of the Buddha

as profoundly opaque and beyond our comprehension.

Ricoeur has shown us that narrative makes impersonal time human.421 The

Jinamahnidna's sustained attention to elements that disrupt a sense of the sequentiality

of time might therefore be thought to work in the opposite directiondehumanizing the

story of the Buddha's life, making it into a non-human narrative, by emptying it of the

sense of a human life lived in human time and making it rather the story of an immense

process stretching across eons.

I have shown that this is not the case, that the Jinamahnidna is in fact

attempting to do something much more complicated. We saw in the last chapter how the

text strives through its use of narrative to show the Buddha as a human figure, one that

421
See Ricoeur, Time and Narrative I, 52.
 260

lived a life and then died. We have seen in this chapter that the Jinamahnidna uses its

narrative as a framework within which the many dimensions of the Buddha's

temporalitythe sequential and the non-sequential, the personally temporal and the

impersonally temporalare revealed as embedded and co-inhering in his person, which

is not thereby emptied but in fact made denser and intensified. The Jinamahnidna

offers its reader a portrayal of the Buddha in which his particular personhood and his

temporal multidimensionality can be seen simultaneously, and a portrayal in which each

aspect is only enriched by their interrelation.

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CONCLUSION

How do these four qualities work together in the text?

I have argued in this thesis that the Jinamahnidna highlights four qualities in its

narrative, which characterize simultaneously the text itself and its subject, the Buddha.

These qualities are variously mutually reinforcing and mutually undermining. A final

challenge is to appreciate what their collective predication of the Buddha says about him

and about the reader's apprehension of and relation with him in reading the biography.

In keeping with the Jinamahnidna's own mode of exposition, I return to the

narrative to ground my exploration. The following account of Sriputta representing the

Buddha to his mother offers a distillation of all four of the qualities of the

Jinamahnidna. It thus offers an interesting perspective on the Jinamahnidna itself,

on our relation to it, and its capacities.

The account goes as follows:422 Sriputta realized he would die in seven days, and

while he was wondering where he should die, he started thinking about his mother. He

knew that, although she had been a mother to seven arahants, she had no confidence in

the Buddha, his teaching or his community.423 He also knew she had the capacity to be

422
The first two paragraphs of my rendition are a paraphrase and the following two a translation of the
Jinamahnidna's version (Jmn 214-5).
423
Her seven children all left home to join the monastic community and subsequently became arahants. It
is said elsewhere that losing all her children like this caused her great grief and she was hostile towards the
 262

freed from this state and enter the stream that will lead to nibbna, but only if he taught

her. He decided he would free her from her wrong view and then die in the room in

which he was born. After performing various miracles at the Buddha's behest, he

returned to his home-village with a retinue of five-hundred monks.

Thinking he had finally returned to rejoin her as a layman, his mother was hurt to

find otherwise and so left him unattended in his room. When he became desperately sick

with dysentery, the four guardian gods, Sakka, king of the gods, and the god

Mahbrahm came wanting to take care of him, though they were dismissed by his

brother, who was keeping watch at his door. His mother saw these great beings visiting

her son. She asked Sriputta who the first party was. He replied:

"They were the four great gods, laywoman." "Son, are you greater than
the four great gods?" "From our teacher's (amhkam satthuno) crossing over
into his next existence on, like attendants in a monastic park the four great gods
protected him, sword in hand, laywoman."424 "After they had gone, son, who
came?" "Sakka, king of the gods." "Son, are you greater than the king of the
gods too?" "When our teacher descended from the Tvatimsa heaven, like a
novice carrying his possessions Sakka carried down his bowl and robe,
laywoman."425 "After he had gone, son, who came radiating light?"
"Laywoman, he is called Mahbrahm." "Son, are you greater even than my
Lord Mahbrahm (mayham bhagavat Mahbrahmato)?" "On the day our
teacher was born, four Mahbrahms caught the great man in a golden net,

community as a result.
424
"rmikasadis ete upsike amhkam satthuno paisandhigga[ha]ato pahya khaggahatth hutv
rakkham akams" ti (Jmn 215).
425
"Bhaaghakasmaerasadiso esa upsike amhkam satthuno tvatimsata (sic) otaraakle
pattacvaram gahetv otio" ti (ibid.)
 263

laywoman."426 Then, as the brahmin-woman thought: "This is the magnificence

just of my son. But how great must the magnificence of my son's teacher and
Lord be?" a five-colored joy arose suddenly and suffused her whole body.
The monk, thinking, "Joy and happiness have now arisen in my mother.
This is now the time to teach her," asked her, "What are you thinking, great
laywoman?" She replied, "This is what I am thinking: 'This is the quality just of
my son, but how great must his teacher's quality be?'" He delivered a Dhamma-
teaching about the Buddha's qualities in this way: "Great laywoman, at the
moment of my teacher's (mayham satthu) birth, at his great departure, at his
enlightenment, at his setting in motion the wheel of the Dhamma, the ten-
thousand world-system shook. There is no equal to him in morality, in
concentration, in wisdom, in deliverance, in insight arising from the knowledge of
deliverance. The Lord is like this: an arahant, completely enlightened," and so
on. At the end of her dear son's Dhamma-teaching, the brahmin woman was
established in the fruit of entering the stream ....427

Various things stand out from this account. First, the Jinamahnidna is

describing someone describing the Buddha. What Sriputta does in this episode is what

the Jinamahnidna does as a wholerepresent the Buddha. Second, Sriputta's

description juxtaposes radically different ways of conceiving of the Buddha, as does the

Jinamahnidna. Third, the account shows Sriputta teaching about the Buddha for the

sake of his mother's well-being. He tries to help his mother by giving her something that

will be of benefit to her. Fourth, hearing Sriputta describe the Buddha transforms his

426
"Amhkam satthuno jtadivase cattro mahbrahmno mahpurisam suvaajlena paigahims" ti
(ibid.).
427
"Mahupsike mayham satthu jtakkhane mahbhinikkhamane sambodhiyam dhammacakkappavattane
dasasahasslokadhtu kampittha, slena samdhin paya vimuttiy vimuttiadassanena samo nma
natthi; iti pi so bhagav araham sammsambuddho" ti din nayena buddhaguapaisamyuttam
dhammadesanam kathesi. Brhma piyaputtassa dhammadesanpariyosne sotpattiphale patihya ...
(Jmn 215).
 264

mother. She becomes someone who is assured of nibbna. It also transforms her

understanding of herself and of the Buddha.

The qualities of comprehensiveness, wholeness, connectedness, and denseness are

manifested in the portrayal of the Buddha this episode offers. For each quality, I will

explain: (a) how this episode reveals it; (b) how that relates to the Jinamahnidna's

portrayal as a whole; and (c) what the portrayal of that quality reveals of the Buddha.

A Independently

i. Comprehensiveness

(a) Sriputta's description condenses into stark juxtaposition radically different

modes of representing the Buddha. He portrays the Buddha in narrative mode

first"From our teacher's crossing over into his next existence on, like attendants in a

monastic park the four great gods protected him, sword in hand" and "at the moment of

my teacher's birth ... the ten-thousand world-system shook." He then describes him by

means of a statement about his qualities"There is no equal to him in morality ...." He

also alludes to the meditative practice of buddhnussati, "recollection of the Buddha," by

means of what is generally known as the iti pi so gth cited here. This list of attributes

predicates a series of paradigmatic qualities of the bhagav. Sriputta's description also

highlights both the Buddha's supremacy (he is someone gods waited on) and his human

relatedness (he is "our/my teacher"). The reader is confronted with a concentrated

 265

instance of the Jinamahnidna's combination of diverse types of information about the

Buddha.

(b) In combining different angles of vision on the Buddha (narrative,

paradigmatic, relational, and so on), this episode mirrors the comprehensiveness of the

Jinamahnidna's account as a whole. We have seen the Jinamahnidna include a

wider range of types of information about the Buddha than was included in the earlier

biographies.

(c) It is clear to the reader that these different perspectives all reflect something

of the Buddha's nature. This indicates that the Buddha is multi-dimensional, one of

whom many different types of information can be predicated. For a full understanding,

therefore, he needs to be approached from multiple interpretive angles.

ii. Wholeness

(a) The many events Sriputta mentions (entering his penultimate existence,

coming down from Tvatimsa heaven, his birth, renunciation, enlightenment, and first

teaching) form a synopsis of the narrative of his life. The list in fact acts as a form of

narrative, manifesting the development of events. Yet his life is more than just a

progression of events. This is revealed by the actions of the gods and the ten-thousand

world-system. The gods respond in essentially the same way (by tending to him) to the

first three events, all of which happen before he is the Buddha. Likewise, the ten-

thousand world-system responds identically to the last four, although he is actually the
 266

Buddha in only the last two.

This shows they recognize there is something about him that is beyond what he is

at each of the individual events. They recognize that there is in him a "more" that is

always in addition to the being he is at each stage. It is that more they respond to in the

same way each time. Their response shows that they can see the whole that lies behind

these individual events. The gods and the world-system respond because they recognize

him as the bhagav at each point in his progression.

As the story of the bhagav, this synopsized narrative has an underlying unity that

makes it more than just the sum of the individual episodes. Moreover, it is that it is the

story of the bhagav that gives the individual episodes their meaningthey are not only

events in the unfolding of the one who will be the Buddha, they are expressions and

instances of his being the bhagav.

(b) This same dynamic applies in the Jinamahnidna altogether. The text goes

to great lengths to make it apparent to the reader that its contents form a temporal whole.

It states at the outset that it will tell the story from his aspiration to his parinibbna. I

showed in Chapter 2 that the Jinamahnidna diverges from the model of earlier Pli

biographies in not dividing his life-stream into three temporally delimited segments.

Rather it portrays it as one continuous, seamless whole. It also identifies him as

amhkam bhagav from his first appearance in the work, before he is even a bodhisatta.

It continues to call him that throughout the account. As a temporal whole, the biography
 267

portrays both levels of his being. It portrays the entirety of the events of his life, which is

his coming to be and being the Buddha. It also portrays the more, always beyond

thathis being the bhagav from beginning to end.

(c) This dynamic tells the reader that at all times the bodhisatta/Buddha

functions at two levels, as it were: inhabiting/acting out/realizing his life; and being the

bhagav. There are always two aspects to himin each of the incidents of his life there

is the bodhisatta/Buddha who is engaged in that incident, and there is also the morethe

bhagav. To have a full appreciation of him, therefore, the reader would need to be able

to see both aspects of him at all times. This would mean seeing his bhagav-aspect all

the time, as well as his engaged aspect.

iii. Connectedness

(a) This episode pays great attention to the Buddha's connectedness with his

followers. It is striking thing that, when speaking to his mother, Sriputta calls the

Buddha amhkam satthuno, "our teacher." It is not that he uses the first person plural

pronoun to refer to himself because he cannot use the first person singular. He refers

later in the passage to mayham satthu, "my teacher." He knows his mother has no faith

in the Buddha. That is why he has come to teach her. Yet he identifies the Buddha to her

as "our teacher," implicitly including her in the category of those to whom the Buddha is

the teacher. She even identifies Mahbrahm as her bhagav, but Sriputta disregards
 268

this to repeat the designation of the Buddha as "our teacher." He hereby informs his

mother that, whether she knows it or not, whether she likes it or not, she is already

involved in a relationship with the Buddha. The Buddha is already involved with her.

The "mayham satthu" that precedes the list of events from his birth on applies

equally to each one of those events. This establishes a connectedness between the

Buddha and Sriputta on each of those occasions. This creates a sense of ongoing

connectedness between them extending through time, from before they have even

encountered each other.

Moreover, using the pronoun amhkam in the text necessarily involves the reader

too. The pronoun draws the reader into the community for whom the Buddha is the

teacher. So the amhkam here conveys that we readers also, alongside Sriputta and his

mother, are connected with the Buddha. By saying, "from our teacher's crossing over

into his next existence on ...," the text implicates us all with him at that point. By the use

of that amhkam, a direct connection is established between points in the long distant

past and the present of the reader. The Jinamahnidna here creates the impression of a

great web of connectedness with the Buddha extending from early in his development to

the present. In this web are involved innumerable people and other beings, including

particular figures from his life (such as Sriputta and his mother), other unidentified

followers of the past and the present who view the Buddha as their Lord, as well as all

readers of the Jinamahnidna in the present.

 269

(b) This again we have seen throughout the Jinamahnidna, right from its

description of Sumedha as amhkam bhagav on its first page. We have also seen

repeatedly in the text that people find out they are already involved in a relationship with

the Buddha, even though they did not know it. For example, though Kassapa did not

know it at the time, the Buddha knew that Kassapa had renounced the household life in

relation to him. He therefore took the necessary steps for their relationship to be realized.

The text's report of the Buddha's last words also show the Buddha making clear that his

future followers can consider themselves involved in a direct relationship with him. He

gives those followers who come after his death the means by which they can connect

their entire lives with him, fulfilling his wishes and carrying out his purposes.

(c) This all tells the reader that the Buddha is involved with and in us and we are

involved with him. That connectedness extends backwards into the past, continues into

our present, and will continue on into the future as we move into the future, carrying with

us the connectedness with him as "our Lord." As we have seen from the case of

Sriputta's mother, that connectedness can also extend outwards to draw others more

self-consciously into it (even though they, like Sriputta's mother, will have already been

connected with him, without knowing it). Through Sriputta's intervention, his mother is

brought to recognize her connectedness with the Buddha. This is something that will

continue to happen to others, as long as the Buddha's ssana is maintained.

 270

iv. Denseness

(a) The four great gods, Sakka, and Mahbrahm all came wanting to look after

Sriputta in his illness. Each of those three parties is connected to previous events or

periods in the Buddha's life: the period after he crossed over into his penultimate

existence, his descent from Tvatimsa, and his birth. In wanting to perform a parallel act

of care for Sriputta, the gods bring those different times of the Buddha's past into

relation with the present. The present moment becomes overlaid with the Buddha's pasts.

Those three times also become mutually connected in the Buddha's life, through

sharing the characteristic of involving the gods' aid. If one wants to know everything

about any one of them, one has to bear in mind the others connected with it. Similarly,

Sriputta reports the ten-thousand world-system shaking on each of certain occasions: at

his birth, renunciation, enlightenment, and first teaching. This brings the various

occasions into relation with each other in a way that creates a sense of mutual overlaying

and interconnectedness. In each of these occasions are implicated the other times the

world-system shook. This implies that each of these events cannot be fully understood

without bearing in mind its relation with the others. Such overlaying and

interconnectedness of different times creates a sense of density to the portrayal of the

Buddha.

(b) We saw many instances of this kind of temporal multi-layering in Chapter 4.

For example, the time when, after receiving Dpakara's prediction, Sumedha sat
 271

contemplating what he needed to do to become a buddha, his conception as Siddhattha,

his birth, and his enlightenment became interconnected and mutually overlaid by all

provoking the manifestation of the thirty-two pubbanimittas. A different kind of

temporal interconnectedness was created by the text's inclusion of the analysis of the

pubbanimittas. By this device those four occasions were also connected with other

particular moments in his life, with events that happened on multiple particular occasions

(such as the donation of monasteries), and with events that happened innumerable

unspecified times (such as when people went to the Buddha for refuge). Ultimately this

device exposes an utter synchronicity in the biography, where all times could be

implicated in a single moment, enabling the Jinamahnidna to generate the sense of a

matrix of interconnecting times so dense that it could never be completely unpacked.

(c) Connections between times being established in so many ways tells the

reader that it is impossible for him to be aware of them all. Even if he could grasp

everything said explicitly about the Buddha in the biography, there is always more

involved in each moment that is not made visible. The reader is led to realize that there is

vastly more to the Buddha than he can be aware of. Rather he perceives the Buddha as

opening out beyond his view and opaque.

 272

B In interaction with other qualities

i. Comprehensiveness and wholeness emphasize the biography's unity

The Jinamahnidna's comprehensiveness shows the reader that the Buddha is

multi-dimensional and needs to be understood from multiple perspectives. At the same

time, it offers the reader the opportunity to encounter multiple aspects of the Buddha and

therefore to perceive him in greater depth.

By highlighting that he is the bhagav, the text's wholeness offers the possibility

of apprehending both aspects of his person: the bodhisatta/Buddha and the bhagav. This

allows the reader to aspire to a unified apprehension of the Buddha. A unified

apprehension of both aspects at all times would be truer to the fullness of his being.

Viewed together these two qualities encourage the reader to hope that she will

come to a unified, complete apprehension of him, one in which she will see

simultaneously the details that make up his life, the entirety of that life, and its further

dimension of displaying the bhagav.

ii. Connectedness and denseness emphasize the biography's openness

The Jinamahnidna's portrayal of the already-existent and ever-ongoing nature

of the Buddha's connectedness with his followers suggests that the Buddha's influence

cannot be seen as delimited. The biography gives no reason to think the Buddha's

connectedness with his future followers will ever end. It can potentially continue

potentially continue to extend ever outwards. From another angle, he is shown as being
 273

in relationship with innumerable people and being of other kinds. This entails that the

biography could never capture him as he is in all his relationships. His relationships also

extend indefinitely in all directions. In these ways, the Buddha's life is shown to be

open-ended and not subject to limitation.

The Jinamahnidna's quality of denseness implies that each moment of the

Buddha's life can potentially open out into and involve endless others, through the

myriad interconnections between times the narrative discloses. To offer full

comprehension of one particular moment of his life, the text would need to show the

reader all the other times implicated in that moment. As the number of those times is

potentially infinite, it is obviously an impossibility for the text to offer a complete

portrayal of even just one moment in the Buddha's life, let alone of its entirety. Thus the

Jinamahnidna's denseness, like its connectedness, reveals that the biography is

profoundly open.

iii. The text's comprehensiveness is undone by its denseness

I argued above that the Jinamahnidna's bid for comprehensiveness implicitly

makes a claim that the text provides an unusually full portrayal of its subject. It is true

that the Jinamahnidna presents the reader with many facets of the Buddha, and so

offers her the possibility of attaining a deeper, fuller appreciation of the Buddha than was

offered by earlier Pli biographies. Nevertheless, the narrative's denseness necessarily

renders a truly comprehensive account impossible. It shows that however much the
 274

biography may display of its subject, it can never say it all. There will always be more

that remains out of sight. The reader may learn more about the Buddha from the

Jinamahnidna than from other biographies, but he remains at the last acintiya,

inconceivable in all his fullness.

iv. The text's wholeness makes a bid for containedness, connectedness undoes it

The Jinamahnidna's presentation of its account as having a temporal wholeness

imputes to the biography a containedness whereby the entirety of its subject's existence is

encapsulated within the account. By the same measure, it imputes a containedness to the

person of the Buddha himself. The text locates his wholeness in his being the bhagav.

It thus implies that his person is encapsulated in itself, by virtue of his being the bhagav.

However, the emphasis the text puts on his connectedness with others undoes any

imputed containedness, either of his person or of the text. Far from being contained,

discretely encapsulated within his own person, the Buddha is shown to be profoundly

involved and interconnected with others. Although he is the bhagav, he is also engaged

with and by others. His person is shown as extending indefinitely outward, already

engaged in and available for connection with followers into the present and future. He

may be the bhagav, but he ismore crucially for the Jinamahnidnaamhkam

bhagav, the bhagav in relationship with his followers and the bhagav for his

followers.
 275

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