STOP
Early Journal Content on JSTOR, Free to Anyone in the World
This article is one of nearly 500,000 scholarly works digitized and made freely available to everyone in
the world by JSTOR.
Known as the Early Journal Content, this set of works include research articles, news, letters, and other
writings published in more than 200 of the oldest leading academic journals. The works date from the
mid-seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries.
We encourage people to read and share the Early Journal Content openly and to tell others that this
resource exists. People may post this content online or redistribute in any way for non-commercial
purposes.
Read more about Early Journal Content at http://about.jstor.org/participate-jstor/individuals/early-
journal-content .
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary source objects. JSTOR helps people
discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content through a powerful research and teaching
platform, and preserves this content for future generations. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit
organization that also includes Ithaka S+R and Portico. For more information about JSTOR, please
contact support@jstor.org.
NOTES ON THE DIVYAVADANA
Maurice Bloomfield
Johns Hopkins University
1. On the practice of giving animals intoxicating drink.
The Saint Svagata is delegated by the Buddha to convert the
murderous Naga (serpent) Asvatirthika. In this he succeeds so
well as to compel thereby the admiration of the Brahman Ahitun-
dika, who has previously fled from fear of that Naga to the city of
Sravastl. This brings the Svagata story, Divyavadana xiii, to p.
188, line 12. At that point the story goes on to say that King
Prasenajit Kausala takes Ahitundika into his employ, with the
words: sa (sc. Ahitundika) rajna Prasenajita Kausalena hasti-
madhyasyopari visvasikah sthdpitah. Naturally the vocabu-
lary to the Divyavadana marks the word hastimadhya with
an interrogation mark. A later suggestion in the notes on
p. 706, 'does this mean, "he was set over ten billions of ele-
f ants ? ", ' does not invalidate that interrogation mark. Ten bil-
lions — the Lexicons rather give ten thousand billions for madhya
— is a pretty large order even for a Buddhist text. But it is
necessary to fit this word madhya into the sequel of the story, to
wit : Emend madhya to madya, ' intoxicating liquor. ' The pas-
sage above means: 'He (namely, Ahitundika) was placed in
charge of the elef ants ' liquor. ' In the sequel Ahitundika, now
liquor trustee, in order to show his appreciation of Svagata 's
saintly power, invites him to dinner in Sravasti. Svagata accepts
the invitation, comes to Sravastl, and is entertained by Ahitund-
ika with a full meal. At the close Ahitundika becomes anxious
about Svagata 's digestion (p. 190, 1. 3) : dryena Svdgatena
pranlta dharah paribhukto no jarayi?yati. He decides to give
him water to promote the digestive processes ; Svagata accepts it.
Then on p. 190, line 7 the following statement is made : tena (sc.
Ahitundikena) pdnakam sajjlkrtya hastimaddd nmgvlih prla-
ksiptd. Read, on account of the non-existing combination
pra + d + ksip, instead of prdksiptti, prdk ksiptd: 'While prepar-
ing the drink Ahitundika 's finger was thrust forth from the ele-
fants' liquor.' Cf., on p. 82, 1. 21, the parallel expression,
angtdih patitd. The implication is, that one of Ahitundika 's
Notes on the Divydvadana 337
fingers, wet with the elef ants ' booze, got into the water about to
be drunk by Svagata (Svagatena tat pdnakam pitam). That
the Arhat should do this is ascribed to carelessness: asaman-
vdhrtydrhatdm jnanadarsanam na pravartate, 'When Saints are
careless they lose the sight of knowledge. '
Svagata takes leave from his host with thanks, and walks in a
street of Sravasti, covered with mats (in his honor, we may
assume). 1 He gets a touch of the sun, and shaken by the booze
falls to the ground : sa tarn (sc. vlthlm) atikrdnta dtapena prstho
(so the mss. : read sprsto 2 ) madyaksiptah prthivyam nipatitah.
The story in the mouth of the Buddha is an extreme plea for
monks' total abstinence: tasmdn na bhihsund madyarh pdtavyani
ddtavyam vd, ' a monk shall neither drink nor give to drink intox-
icating liquor.' And later again (p. 191, 1. 2 ff.) more explicitly,
as applying to the present case: mam bho bhiJcsavah sdstdram
uddisyddbhir (text, incorrectly, uddisyddbhir) madyam apeyam
adeyam antatdh kusdgrendpi, 'With me, the Teacher, as author-
ity? ye Monks, liquor with water shall not be drunk or given
(to drink), even with the tip of a blade of grass!' — Svagata, we
may assure the reader, is properly cared for ; the Buddha him-
self conjures by magic over Svagata a hut made of leaves of the
suparna tree, lest any one seeing him in that state become disaf-
fected from the teaching of the Blessed One.
The practice of giving strong drink to animals, in order to
make them mettlesome, is sufficiently attested. In the present-
day story (paccuppanna-vatthu) of the Cullahansa Jataka (533),
Devadatta, hater of the Buddha, and ever gunning for him
(unsuccessfully, of course), has personally made sundry attempts
on the Buddha's life. 3 Foiled, he exclaims, 'Verily no mortal
beholding the excellent beauty of Gotama's person dare
approach him. But the King 's elef ant, Nalagiri, is a fierce and
savage animal, who knows nothing of the virtues of the Buddha,
1 Or, perhaps rather in honor of the Buddha, who happens at that time to
be in Sravasti.
* Perhaps the editors are right in suggesting prsthe sprsto, changed by
a sort of haplography to prs(the sprs)to. But the word prsthe, 'on the
back,' is pretty certainly not required; this is shown by p. 6, third line from
bottom: suryansubhih sprsta atapitah.
"An echo of this story in Parker, Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon, vol. iii,
p. 306.
22 JAOS 40
338 Maurice Bloomfield
the Law, and the Assembly. He will bring about the destruc-
tion of the ascetic. ' So he goes and tells the matter to the King.
The King readily falls in with the suggestion, summons his ele-
f ant-keeper, and thus addresses him, ' Sir, to-morrow you are to
make Nalagiri mad with drink, and at break of day let him loose
in the street where the ascetic Gotama walks.' Devadatta asks
the keeper how much rum the elefant is wont to drink on ordi-
nary days, and when he answers, ' Bight pots, ' he says, ' Tomor-
row give him sixteen pots to drink, and send him on the street
frequented by the ascetic Gotama.' But the Buddha converts,
yea, even the rum-mad elefant. Nalagiri, on hearing the voice of
the Master, opens his eyes, beholds the glorious form of the
Blessed One, and, by the power of the Buddha, the intoxicating
effects of the strong drink pass off. Dropping his trunk and
shaking his ears he falls at the feet of the Tathagata.* Then the
Master addresses him, ' Nalagiri, you are a brute-elef ant ; I am the
Buddha-elefant. Henceforth be not fierce and savage, nor a
slayer of men, but cultivate thoughts of charity.' The elefant
becomes good, being henceforth known as Dhanapalaka (Keeper
of Treasure), established in the five moral laws.
Mettlesome horses also were given strong drink, either to
inspirit them, or to restore them after great fatigue. In Valod-
aka Jataka (183) such horses returning from battle are given
(fermented) grape- juice to drink ; this they take without getting
intoxicated. But the fermented leavings of the grapes are
strained with water and given to donkeys, who then romp about
the palace yard, braying loudly. The Bodhisat, the King's
adviser, draws the moral, applicable to this day :
' This sorry draught, the goodness all strained out,
Drives all those asses in a drunken rout :
The thorobreds, that drank the potent juice,
Stand silent, nor skip capering about. ' 5
Animals also intoxicate themselves without knowing that they do :
cats, with fermented liquor, in Kumbha Jataka (512) ; a jackal,
in Sigala Jataka (113) ; a pair of crows, in Kaka Jataka (146).
All come to grief. A delicious bit of satire, extant in a modern
version, tells in Guthapana Jataka (227) how a drunken beetle
4 Of. the conversion of the elefant Marubhuti in Parsvanatha Caritra
1. 815ff.
5 Rouse's Translation of The Jataka, vol. ii, p. 66.
Notes on the Divyavadana 339
comes to grief : e Citizens of the kingdoms of Afiga and Magadha,
traveling, used to stay in a house on the confines of the two king-
doms, there drink liquor, and eat the flesh of fishes. A certain
dung-beetle, led by the odor of the dung, comes there, sees some
of the liquor shed upon the ground, and for thirst drinks it, and
returns to his lump of dung, intoxicated. "When he climbs upon
it the moist dung gives way a little. ' The world cannot bear my
weight ! ' he exclaims. At that very instant a maddened elefant
comes to the spot, and smelling the dung retreats in disgust.
The beetle sees it. 'Yon creature,' he thinks, 'is afraid of me,
and see how he runs away! 1 must fight with him!' So he
challenges him :
' Well matched ! for we are heroes both : here let us issue try :
Turn back, turn back, friend Elefant ! "Why would you fear
and fly ;
Let Magadha and Anga see how great our bravery ! '
The elefant listens, turns back, and replies :
' I would not use my foot nor hand, nor would my teeth I soil ;
With dung, him whose sole care is dung, it behooveth me to
spoil ! '
And so dropping a great piece of dung upon him, and making
water, he kills him there and then, and scampers into the forest,
trumpeting.
The modern instance is of a mouse which happens upon drip-
pings from a whiskey-barrel, drinks its fill, and becomes a bit
squiffy; then places itself astride on the barrel, and exclaims:
' Now come on with your blankety cat ! ' Nothing is new under
the sun, but the old story is in a deeper vein of humor.
2. On certain standing epithets of Buddhist Arhats.
As one of the many repeated or stenciled passages character-
istic of the text of the Avadanas there occurs in Divyavadana six
times, or perhaps more, a passage which describes the state of
mind of him who has attained to highest monkhood or Arhatship.
The published text has not in all places the same form, and some
of its words need explaining. On p. 97, vdcdvasane Bhagavato
mundah samvrttas traidhatukavltaragah samalostakancand akas-
6 Closely following Rouse 's picturesque rendering in the Cambridge Trans-
lation, vol. ii, p. 148.
340 Maurice Bloomfield
apdnitalasamacittd vdsicandanakalpa vidydvidaritdndakosdvidyd
vijndh 7 pratisamvitprdptdh etc. In the remaining passages where
the same state of mind is predicated of a single Arhat (arhan
samvrttah etc.), namely pp. 180, 240, 282, 488, 492, most of the
words remain essentially the same, but there are also the follow-
ing variations :
p. 180, vidydviddritdndakoso vidydbhijnah pratisamvitprdp-
tah,
p. 240, avidydviddritandakoso s vidydbhijndpratisamvitprdp-
tah,
pp. 282, 488, 492, vidydviddritdndakoso vidydbhijndpratisam-
vitprdptah.
After proper correction there remains the plural form, p. 97,
vidydviddritdndakosd vidydbhijndpratisamvitprdptdh ; the singu-
lar form, vidydviddritdndakoso vidydbhijndpratisaihvitprapta'h.
The same cliche" occurs frequently in Avadanasataka, Speyer's
text, vol. i, pp. 96, 1. 6 ; 104, 1. 7 ; 207, 1. 12 ; vol. ii, p. 129, etc. The
editor seems to have been in doubt, for a time at least, as to the
correct reading of one of the words ; he is finally mistaken as to
another. The printed text of Avadanasataka has on p. 96, 1. 7 :
samalostakancana dkdsapdnitalasamacitto vdsicandanakalpo vid-
ydviddritdndakoso vidyabhijndpratisamvitprdpto etc. On p. 104,
1. 7 there is vdsl candanakalpo ; but on p. 207, 1. 12 vdsicandana-
kalpo (so the Editor's final, correct decision, Additions and Cor-
rections, p. 208; and Index, p. 234, under vdsicandanakalpa).
As regards vidydviddritdndakoso the editor, on p. lxxiii, note 127,
argues in favor of °kalpo 'vidydviddritdndakoso, a construction
which has also occurred to the Editors of the Divyavadana, p.
240, 1. 24, but which, be it noted, does not tally with the plural
version on p. 97, stated above. Against grammar, Speyer would
construe avidydviddritdndakosa as meaning 'whose egg-shell of
ignorance has been cleft,' but the correctly construed vidydvid-
aritdndakosa yields about the same result, 'the egg-shell (of
whose existence in ignorance, avidyd implied) is cleft by knowl-
edge.' 'Imprisonment within the egg-shell of life thru nesci-
ence' is the point under either construction. See Divyavadana,
p. 203 :
T Corrected in the Errata to "kola, vidyavijnah.
* The a at the beginning of this extract represents the avagraha of the
editors.
Notes on the Divyavadana 341
tulyam atulyam ca sambhavam bhavasamskdram apotsrjan
munih,
adhydtmaratah samdhito hy abhinat kosam ivdndasambhavah.
According to the Editors of the Divyavadana, in a note on p. 706,
the Pali of the Mahaparinibbanasutta (3. 10) reads for pada d,
abhida kavacam iv' attasambhavam, 'he cleft, as tho a coat of
mail, his own existence's cause' (by means of his vidyd as a Muni
orArhat).
The remaining descriptions of Arhat condition seem not quite
clear to the Editors and Translators of the two Avadana texts.
Feer, on p. 14 of his translation of Avadanasataka, 9 translates,
once for all, the passage from samalostakdncana to vidydbhijnd-
pratisarhvitprdpto as follows: 'l'or fut a ses yeux de la rouille,
la voute celeste comme le creux de la main. II etait froid comme
le sandal; la science avait d6chire les tenebres qui l'envellop-
paient, la possession claire et distincte des connaissances superi-
eures de la science lui etait acquise. ' Some help or correction may
be gained from a metrical parafrase of this Arhat-cliche in stanza
327 of the metrical text, Avadanamala, nr. 91, published by
Speyer in the Preface to his Edition of the Avadanasataka, p.
lxxiii :
suvltardgoh samalostahemd akdsacitto ghanasdravasi,
bhindann avidyddrim ivdndakosarh prdpad abhijndh pratisam-
vidas ca.
As regards samalostakdncana, or samalostaheman, 'he who
regards gold and a lump of dirt as of equal value,' see Boht-
lingk's Lexicon. This is the yogi samalosfdsmakdncana of
Bhagavadgita, 6. 8; 14. 24; or the paramahansah samalostds-
makaficanah of Asrama-TJp. 4, showing the continuity between
the Samnyasin of the Upanisads and the Buddhist Arhat.
It is, as it were, put into practice at the end of Mugapakkha
Jataka (538) by, bhanddgdresu kahdpane assamapade vdluka
katvd vikirinsu, 'money in the treasuries, being counted as mere
sand, was scattered about in the hermitage.' Peer's rendering of
losta by 'rust,' tho recorded in native lexicografy, strains need- 1
lessly to conform to the biblical idea.
The compound dkdsapdnitalasamacitta seems to mean, 'he in
•Annales du Musfe Guimet, vol. xviii.
342 Maurice Bloomfield
Avhose mind the palm of his hancLis like ether,' i. e. 'he for whom
the plainest reality is no better than the most ethereal substance. '
The palm of the hand is the most real thing : ' When one cannot in
darkness discern the palm of one 's OAvn hand, then one is guided
by sound,' Brhad-Aranyaka Upanisad 4. 3. 5. Ether is subtle,
invisible, and touches upon 'emptiness,' 'nothingness': yac
chusiram tad akdsam, 'akasa is hollow,' Garbha-Up. 1. In Amr-
tabindu-Up. 11 akasa sunya means 'empty space.' In the Avad-
anamala passage (Speyer, p. lxxiii, stanza 327) akasacitta seems
to mean, 'he whose mind is (empty like) ether.'
As regards vasicandanakalpa, Feer reads merely candanakalpa
which accounts for his, 'il etait froid comme le sandal.' The
Editors of the Divyavadana leave the word unexplained ; Speyer,
1. c, note 126, remarks that ghanasaravasi in the Avadanamala
answers to the enigmatical epithet vasicandanakalpa. The latter
compound means, 'he for whom the (cooling) sandal is not differ-
ent from a (painful) sword.' In Bhavabhuti's Malatimadhavam,
act X, stanza 10 (p. 257 of M. E. Telang's edition, Bombay, 1892),
the same antithesis is used to express the quick succession of good
and evil in man's fate:
kim ayam asipattracandanarasacchatasarayugapadavapdtah,
analasphtdingakalitah kim ayam anabhrah sudhdvarsafi.
'Is it that sharp-edged swords and drops of sandal
In the same shower commingle 1
Is it that sparks of fire and streams of nectar
Descend together from unclouded skies?'
Sandal is the Hindu beau-ideal of a cooling substance; it cures
fever. The pain of a sword is conceived as burning, in absolute
antithesis. In the pretty story of Ptirnaka, Divyavadana pp.
30ff., a man carrying wood cast up by the ocean comes along
trembling with cold. Purnaka investigates the wood, finds it
to be sandal, recognizes its cooling property, buys it, and
cures with it the fever of the Bang of Siirparaka. The streets
of the city of Sudarsana are sprinkled with sandal- water, to make
them cool, as well as fragrant, Divyavadana p. 221, 1. 5. The yet
more curious ghanasaravasl of the Avadanamala seems to be a
nominative from a stem ghanasaravasin, perhaps in the sense of
' regarding camf or as a sword. ' The Hindus ate camf or as a sort
of sweetmeat, as is stated in the proverb, Bohtlingk's Indische
Notes on the Divyavadana 343
Spruche, nr. 6921 : dantapdtah katham na sydd atikarpurabhak-
sandt, 'the teeth of him that eats too much camfor are sure to fall
out ; ' ef . Pet. Lex. s. vs. karpura and karpurandlikd.
3. On some correspondences between Buddhist Sanskrit and
Jaina Sanskrit.
Amidst the countless Paliisms or back-formations from Pali in
the Buddhist Avadana texts none are more interesting than those
which occur also in Jaina Sanskrit, a language which in its turn
is tainted by the literary and religious Prakrits (Maharastri and
Jaina Prakrit), familiarly used by the Jainas. Thus both Avad-
ana Sanskrit and Jaina Sanskrit have a 'root' vikurv (vi + kurv),
'to perform magic or miracles. ' In the Avadanas this ' Sanskrit'
root is a back-formation of Pali vikubb (viknbbana, 'miracle').
Thus Divyavadana 269, line 7, praydnti . . . divdukaso niriksitum
Sakyamuner vikurvitam, 'the gods proceed to examine Sakya-
muni's miracle.' On p. 403, 1. 21 vikurvate occurs in the sense of
'play pranks with': Kunalo . . . pitrd sardham vikurvate. In
Avadanasataka, vol. I, p. 258, 1. 9, vikurvita is again 'miracle',
and in Saddharmapundarika occur the abstract nouns vikurvd
and vikurvana (Pali viknbbana) : pp. 446, 456, 472 of Kern and
Nanjio's edition; note especially the tautological compound
vikurvana-prdtihdrya, 'magic miracle,' on p. 456, and the suc-
cession bodhisattva-vikurvayd . . . bodhisattva-prdtihdryena on p.
472. The noun vikurvana occurs also in Lalitavistara (ed. Lef-
mann), p. 422, 1. 9 ; see also Mahavastu (ed. Senart), vol. i, p. 425.
In Jaina Sanskrit vikurv appears to be an independent retro-
grade formation of Prakrit viuvvdi, viuvvae (past participle
viuvviya; gerund viuvviuna) ; see Pischel, Grammatik der Pra-
krit-Sprachen, §508. The verb is particularly common in Pars-
vanatha Caritra, in the sense of 'produce by magic': 1. 601; 2.
352, 411; 5. 101; 6. 1129; 8. 384. Thus, 1. 601, vikurvya
mahatim silam, 'having produced by magic a big rock;' 2. 352,
vikurvya sinharupam, 'having assumed magically the form of a
lion. ' Further examples may be seen in my Life of Pdrsvandtha,
p. 222, where this Prakritism figures as one of a fairly extended
list of the same sort. The 'root' vikurv I remember to have seen
also in Rauhineya Carita.
In Divyavadana occur eight times apparent derivatives from
a causative dhmapayati, in the sense of ' cause to burn, ' ' consign
344 Maurice Bloom field
to flames.' The word is restricted to descriptions of cremation.
Speyer, Avadanasataka, vol. ii, p. 209, has corrected these read-
ings to derivatives from dhydpayati, retrograde Sanskrit from
Pali jhdpeti, ' consign to fire, ' primary jhayati, ' burn ' ( Childers ) ,
from root jhdi = the Sanskrit root ksdi, 'burn. ' On p. 350, 1. 19,
the Divyavadana mss., as a matter of fact, read dhydpitah, and
Skt. Buddhist (Mahayana) texts handle the root dhydi, 'burn,'
quite familiarly (Avadanasataka, Mahavastu, Lalitavistara, etc. ;
see Speyer, 1. c).
The analog of this in Jaina Sanskrit is a root vidhydi (vi +
dhydi) which is in the same way = Pali-Prakrit root vi-jhdi, in
the opposite sense to dhydi, namely, 'go out,' 'become extin-
guished.' I have not met with simple dhydi in Jaina Sanskrit
texts, but it may be there. Derivatives from vi + dhydi are espe-
cially frequent in Parsvanatha Caritra and Samaradityasam-
ksepa. The instances from these texts are gathered in my Life of
Parsvanatha, pp. 220, 221 (where other references) ; they include
primary and causative verbs (vidhydpaya-) , as well as noun
derivatives (vidhydpana) .
The question arises whether these identical retrograde forms
grew up independently, from Pali on the one side, from Prakrit
on the other. This is, of course, possible, but I should like to
point out that Parsvanatha Caritra and Samaradityasamksepa
are the Jaina replicas of Avadana texts, both treating 'of the
fruits of action or moral laAv of mundane existence' (karmaploti,
karmapdka, karmavipaka) ; see Speyer, Avadanasataka, vol. ii,
Preface, p. i. 9a
"a This parallelism between Buddhist and Jaina Avadana texts is brought
out by Salibhadra Carita 2. 1 : tena danavadanena prinito dharmabhupatih,
yam prasadam adat tasmai tasya Klayitum stumah. The word danavadana
here refers to the wonderful result (eomm.: avadanam atyadbhutam karma)
in a second birth of a self-sacrifieing gift of food by a young shepherd,
Samgama, to an aseetie who arrived at his village to break a month 's fast.
In the second birth the soul of Samgama, reborn as Salibhadra, attains to
Arhatship. This is described in terms parallel to the Buddhist Avadana
elichSs discussed in the preceding section (2) of this paper. See Salibhadra
Carita 7. 94, where Salibhadra is described as samatasindhu, samasajjanadur-
jana, and vaMoandanalcaXpa, 'ocean of equanimity', 'he who regards good
and evil men alike', and 'he for whom the (cooling) sandal is not different
from a (painful) sword. ' It is hardly likely that such parallelism is entirely
spontaneous. Note that vasicandanaTcalpa is not quotable from Brahmanical
sources, whence the Jainas might have derived it.
Notes on the Divyavadana 345
4. On the meaning of asvapana.
On p. 526, lines 23, 25, occurs the otherwise unquoted asva-
panam, which the Editors translate by 'sleep.' It means 'sleep-
ing-charm ' : aparena samayena rajnah santahpurasyasvapanam
dattva, 'on another occasion she gave to the King and his zenana
a sleeping-charm.' Similarly (1. 25) may a Sinhakesarino raj-
nah santahpurasyasvapanam dattam. The word is identical in
meaning with avasvapanika, Parisistaparvan 2. 173 ; avasvapini,
Rauhineya Carita 14 ; and both avasvapini and avasvapanika in
Parsvanatha Caritra 5. 85, 113. See my Life and Stories of the
Jaina Savior Parsvanatha, p. 233. It is rather remarkable that
finite verb forms of neither a + svap nor ava + svap are quotable.
5. On different authorship of the individual avadanas.
The Avadanas of the present collection are on the whole writ-
ten in the same style, which betrays itself by its luxurious breadth ;
by repeated idioms and expressions; by longer recurring pas-
sages, or cliches ; w and, of course, by the grammatical habits com-
mon to the Paliizing Avadana language. Yet there is sufficient
evidence that they are not from the same original source. Even
in their final redaction, controlled as it is by similar didactic aims
and the conventions of this type, distinctions between Avadana
and Avadana are not wanting. The Editors, p. vii, note, point
to the flowery style of xxii and xxxviii. The thirty-third Ava-
dana does not run true to form in subject-matter and style. Ava-
danas xvii and xviii 'differ from the rest in the use of transitional
particles which continue the thread of the story.
In this regard all are very lavish. It is not necessary to say,
pp. 223, 1. 14; 233, 1. 10, pascat te samlaksayanti; or yatas te
samlaksayanti, 'then they reflect,' because the text, innumerable
times, gets along with sa samlaksayati, 'he reflects/ e. g., three
times on p. 4. The most common particles of continuance are
atha and tatah, swelling from these light words to cumbrous ex-
pressions like tatah pascat, twice on p. 11 ; athdparena samayena,
pp. 23, 1. 11; 62, 1. 20; 319, 1. 22; tena khalu samayena, pp. 32, 1.
14 ; 36, 1. 16 ; 44, 1. 8 ; 318, 1. 5 ; 320, 1. 9, 19 ; 321, 1. 1.
Among these particles of continuation two are formed upon
relative pronoun stems, namely, yavat and yatah, in the sense,
'See Feer, Avadana-Sataka, pp. 2ff.
346 Maurice Bloomfield
perhaps, of 'whereupon,' as compared with atha or tat ah, in the
sense of 'then. ' The use of yavat is favored thru the collection as
a whole. The use of yatah belongs to Avadanas xvii and xviii.
In looking thru Avadanas i, ii, iii, xiii, xix, xxii, xxiii, and xxviii,
I have found yatah a single time in iii, p. 61, 1. 23; in Avadana
xviii I have counted yatah 71 times; in that part of Avadana
xvii which deals with the story of Mandhatar, pp. 210-226, yatah
occurs 26 times. This great predilection for yatah reaches a
sort of climax in the formulaic passage, yato bhiksavah samsaya-
jatdh sarvasamsayacchettdram Buddham Bhagavantam prc-
chanti, in xviii, p. 233, 1. 17; 241, 1. 17. The same formula
occurs often without any introductory particle {bhiksavah
samsayajdtah etc.) ; e. g. p. 191, 1. 5. Both Avadanas show, in
addition, a marked liking for pascat, as an apparent syn-
onym of yatah. In Avadana xviii pascat occurs 15 times;
in Avadana xvii, 11 times (once, p. 214, 1. 7, yatah pascdd to-
gether). And this latter feature individualizes also Avadana
i, where pascat occurs 5. 9; 6. 16; and tatah pascat, 9. 21,
25; 11. 10, 14; 16. 5; 23. 9. On the other hand the long
Avadana ii does not show a single case of pascat. Clearly, the
distribution of these particles will furnish a criterion by which to
determine partly the stratification of the collection.
The story of Mandhatar (with pun on his name : mam dhdtar,
'Me-sucker, ' 'Thumb-sucker') begins in Mahabharata 3. 126; 7.
62 ; and enters Buddhist literature with Mandhatu Jataka (258),
continuing in Milindapahho 4. 8. 25 ; Dhammapada Commentary
14. 5 ; Divyavadana xvii ; and in the Tibetan version, Schiefner,
Melanges Asiatiques, October 1877 = Ralston, Tibetan Tales, pp.
Iff. The Divyavadana version, as well as the Tibetan version, is
a closely corresponding copy of a Mahayana original which we do
not possess. We cannot therefore tell whether the yatah in this
story is derived from this source. Avadana xviii, according to
the Editors, repeats, with some variations, Nr. 89 of Ksemendra 's
Bodhisattvavadanakalpalata (in course of publication in Bibl.
Ind.) ; see Feer, 1. c. p. xxviii; Speyer, Avaddnasataka, vol. ii, pp.
v and xi.
6. Running comments.
In WZKM 16. 103ff., 340ff. (Vienna, 1902) the late Professor
Speyer, who afterwards (1906, 1909) gave us an excellent edition
Notes on the Divyavadana 347
of the Avadanasataka, published a series of text emendations,
translations, and comments upon the Divyavadana, as edited by
Cowell and Neil in 1886. His remarks are in general very much
to the point, tho not entirely free from error, as when he emends
uddisyadbhir on p. 191, 1. 3, to uddisya bhavadbhir, instead of
uddisyadbhir (madyam. apeyam), see above, p. 337. I add here
a modest aftermath of comments, some of which will occasionally
correct Speyer, as he corrected the Cambridge edition. Others
concern points which have escaped his vigilant eye. I am sure
that successive readers will find yet more; indeed, without dis-
paragement of the Cambridge scholars, a new edition, based upon
better mss. and a wider knowledge of Mahayana language and
literature, more particularly Avadana literature, will in time be
required.
P. 4, 1. 22. Kotikarna, starting on a mercantile expedition, is
instructed by his father to stay in the middle of his caravan,
because there, as he reasons plausibly, is safety from robbers.
And he concludes with the words : na ca te sdrthavdhe hatah sdr-
tho vaktavyah. Speyer, 1. c, p. 107, regards this bit of text as
corrupt and nonsensical. The Editors seem also to have been
puzzled, since they mark the word sdrthavdhe with 'Sic MSS.'
Speyer proposes a radical emendation, to wit : na ca te sdrthike-
bhyah so 'rtho vaktavyah, 'but you must not tell it to the mer-
chants (viz. that you will take your place in the centre, and
why).' Speyer seems to have in mind that such conduct would
lay Kotikarna open to the suspicion of cowardice, a thing which
the rather garrulous text does not say. Perhaps we may trans-
pose the two similar words sdrthavdhe and sdrtho, reading, na ca
te sarthe hatah sdrthavdho vaktavyah, 'And in thy caravan a
slain leader shall not be spoken about. ' Which is eufemistic for,
'It shall not happen that you, the leader of your caravan, shall
come to grief.' The expression is very close to what in ordi-
nary Sanskrit would be : na ca te sarthe hatah sarthavaha iti vak-
tavyam, 'In thy caravan it shall not be said: "The leader of the
caravan has been slain." '
On p. 7, 1. 1, the word pithitah, 'covered,' 'closed,' for which
the Editors would read pihitah (so on p. 554, last line but one),
must be allowed to stand. It not only occurs in Lalitavistara
(see Bo. Lex. s. v. pithay), but also in Saddharmapundarlka,
Kern and Nanjio's edition, p. 260: tisrnam durgatindm dvaram
348 Maurice Bloomfield
pithitarh bhavisyati, narakatiryagyoniyamalokopapattim na
patuyati, ' The door to three misfortunes will have been shut ; he
will not fall into the fate of hell-inhabitant, animal, or world of
Yama.' Waekernagel, Altindische Orammatik, pp. 123 bottom,
254 top, rightly explains it as a Hyper-Sanskritism, on the anal-
ogy of tathd: Prakrit tahd (but not Pali).
Speyer, 1. c, p. 112, argues plausibly that sukhapratibuddhah
on p. 115, 1. 25 be changed to suptapratibuddhah, because the lat-
ter wording occurs in the same Avadana, p. 113, 1. 17. He may
be right, yet there is no compelling reason why the author should
not modulate his thought to this extent. The notion of 'blissful
sleep' is familiar from Upanisad to Parsvanatha Caritra: e.g.,
Kath. Up. 1. 11 ; Prasna Up. 4. 1. In Brahma Up. 1 susupta is the
designation of one that has enjoyed blissful sleep ; Devadatta in
that state enters into bliss like a wishless child: yathd kumdro
niskdma dnandam upaydti, tathdivdisa devadattah svapna dnan-
dam upaydti. The terms sukhasvapna (Parsvanatha 2. 972),
sukhasupti, sukhasuptikd, and sukhasupta are familiar. In our
text, p. 115, 1. 25, sukhapratibuddhah is preceded by pramudita-
mandh. The hero of the story has been having a very pleasant
dream indeed: a divinity has promised him in succession the
blandishments of four Apsarases, eight Kinnara maidens, and
then again sixteen and thirty -two of the same sort. Under these
circumstances pramuditamandh sukhapratibuddhdh is pretty
good sense and Sanskrit.
On p. 132, 1. 14 a certain householder, when a famine is impend-
ing, ask* his treasurer : bhoh purusa bhavisyati me saparivdrdndm
dvddasa varsdni bhaktam. This must mean, 'I say, Sir, will
there be for me and my retinue food for twelve years?' All
mss. have saparivdrdndm which the Editors properly mark with
'sic' The many solecisms of the ms. tradition should, perhaps,
not stand in the way of changing the form to saparivdrasya. . Cor-
rectly the singular, rdjd sdntahpuraparivdrdh, on p. 526, 1. 27;
or, several times on p. 488, Mahdpanthakah pancasataparivdrdh.
Still the collective singular may be here, by curious idiom,
swelled into the plural, in accordance with its intrinsic meaning.
On p. 153, 1. 14 the text reads : yasya (se. Cundasya) tdvad
vayam sisyapratisisyakaydpi na tulydh. Read sijyapratisijyata-
ydpi, 'Whose like we are not in quality of being pupil, and pupil
of a pupil.' Cunda's spiritual descent is described in 1. 5, as fol-
Notes on the Divydvadana 349
lows : sramanasya Gdutamasya Sdriputro ndma myas tasya
Cundo ndma srdmanerakah. A pupil of Sariputra and no less
than a 'grand-pupil' of the Buddha is fitly described as above.
On p. 249, 1. 4 Speyer, 1. c, p. 125, emends plausibly pravesakdni
to pravesitdni. Conversely t for k on p. 573, 1. 22, where Speyer 's
emendation (1. c, p. 361) of avatarisyati to avakarisyati is surely
correct. And again on p. 84, 1. 15, according to Speyer, p. Ill,
akrtapunyakdh for meaningless akrtapunyatdh. Obviously k
and t are readily confused in Nepalese mss.
A number of times the text has the form saknosi or saknosi,
'thou art able,' which is to be emended to sakto 'si, particularly
because there is no form saknosi. On p. 207, 1. 6, the printed
text has saknosi, but the mss. read saknosi; on pp. 129, 1. 2 ; 279,
1. 23; 536, 11. 6, 23 the edition itself as well as the mss. have
saknosi. On p. 304, 1. 2, the edition has sakto 'si with three mss.,
but a fourth again has saknosi. This shaky tradition, taken by
itself, is best made stable by adopting sakto 'si; this is supported
by the first person saktdham (feminine) on p. 612, 1. 3. All
forms, of course, with the infinitive. In the Nepalese ms. of the
seventeenth century, the ultimate source of the more modern
copies used by the Editors, t and n, particularly in consonant com-
binations, must have been much alike, judging from the formula
mulanikrnta iva drumah (thus mss.), for the Editors' correct
mvlanikrtta iva drumah, 'like an uprooted tree, ' e. g. p. 387, 1. 6 ;
p. 400, 1. 17. 11 The suspicious form ndpinl for ndpiti, 'female
barber,' on p. 370, 11. 1, 3, is probably due to the same confusion.
Conversely t takes the place of n in satta" for santa , p. 291, 1. 8.
When a Buddha steps within a city gate to perform a miracle,
a long list of wonderful and portentous things happen. Two pas-
sages describe these miracles, pp. 250, lines 22 ff., and 364, lines
27 ff. The longer of these passages, which are two recensions of
one another, contains among other things the statement : mudha
garbhininam strlndm garbhd anulomibhavanti, 'mislocated foe-
tuses of pregnant women right themselves ; ' 12 both versions con-
11 So. also Avadanasataka i, p. 3, 1. 16 (and often) ; ef. nikrntitamUlam,
Divyav., p. 537, 1. 14, and mulanilcrntita iva drumah, p. 539, 1. 5, which
show the participle in another, but correct way.
a This refers perhaps to the common Avadana clichS about the birth of
children, e. g., Divyav. i, etc.; Avadanas. iii, etc. (ef. Feer, 1. c, p. 4,
nr. 11.)
350 Maurice Bloomfield
tain the frase hadinigadabaddha, 'bound by fetters and chains,' 13
which recurs essentially in Saddharmapundarika, pp. 440, 450.
For hastinah kroncanti, 'elefants trumpet,' on p. 251, 1. 2, we have
correctly on p. 365, 1. 7, hastinah krosanti. For peddkrtd alarii-
kara madhurasabddn niscdrayanti on p. 251, 1. 4 we have more
correctly on p. 365, 1. 8, peddgatd alamkdrd madhurasabdam nis-
cdrayanti, 'jewels in their caskets (peddgatdh) emit a sweet
sound.' The word pedd which is translated by the Editors
doubtfully by 'basket' is not otherwise quoted in the Lexicons:
it recurs in Avadanasataka, vol. ii, p. 12, 1. 13, being the fairly
common Prakrit pedd, 'box;' see the Agaladatta (Agadadatta)
stories in Jacobi's Maharastri Tales, pp. 67, 11. 34, 36, 39; 75,
1. 1. Cf. Skt. bhusana-petikd 'jewel-casket,' and kosa-petaka
' treasure-chest. '
On p. 299, 11. 10ff. the mss. have the following text: evam
aparam aparam te ayusmatd Mahdmdudgalydyanena samyag
avavdditdh (one ms. avavoditdh; one ms. avabodhitdh) samyag
anusistdh, 'Thus again and again they were taught perfectly,
instructed perfectly by the illustrious Mahamaudgalyayana. '
The same text with avoditdh for avavdditdh on p. 300, 1. 2.
Speyer, 1. c, p. 128, argues plausibly in favor of avoditdh as the
only correct grammatical form. Yet in Saddharmapundarika 4,
p. 101, 1. 3ff. the printed text reads: tato bhagavann asmdbhir
apy anye bodhisattvd avavaditd abhuvann uttardydm samyaksam-
bodhdv anusistds ca. So also the Pet. Lex., citing this passage.
This form the Cambridge Editors obviously had in mind when
they marked with an exclamation mark the form avoditdh, on p.
300. Since ava and o are practically one and the same in a Pali-
izing Sanskrit text, it would seem that the total of tradition
inclines to avavaditdh, which is probably felt, Hyper-Sanskriti-
cally, to be the correct way of speaking.
On p. 302, 1. 26, nayena kdmamgamah is improved by Speyer,
1. c, p. 129 to na yenakamamgamah, ' not allowed to go where one
likes.' Read na yena kdmamgamah, which was probably
Speyer 's intention.
I doubt whether Speyer, 1. c, p. 343, is right in questioning the
Editors' text on p. 338, 1. 17: tatrdika rsih sasukladharmah,
13 Precisely the second passage reads (with ms. vars.), hadinigadacdrdkd-
vabaddhanarh.
Notes on the Divyavadana 351
where he would divide sa sukladharmah. In a Paliizing Sanskrit
text sasukladharmah as positive to asukladharmah is no more
strange than is sakubbato, as positive to akubbato, in Dhamma-
pada. Prakritizing Jaina Sanskrit texts do the same-; e. g. sa-
jnana, 'knowledge,' positive to a-jndna, 'ignorance.' So Pra-
krit sa-vilakkha, 'embarrassed,' in Jaeobi, Maharastri Tales 17.
3; sa-sambhanta, 'terrified,' ib. 7. 34; sa-sankiya, 'suspicious,'
ib. 67. 30; 68. 15 ; sa-siniddha, 'friendly,' ib. 22. 19. In Divyava-
dana 43. 28 sa-krtakaraputa, 'with folded hands;' on 82. 16,
sa-rujjdrta, 'tortured by disease;' and several times, 152. 3, 158.
19, 637. 25, sa-brahmacdrin, 'chaste.' The positive sa carries
with it a certain emfasis.
On p. 372, 1. 10, Princel Asoka, having been sent by his father,
King Vindusara, to besiege the city of Taksasila, is received
peacefully by its citizens, and shown every honor: mahatd ca
satkdrena Taksasildm pravesita evam vistarendsokah svasardjydm
pravesitah. Burnouf, Introduction a I'histoire du Bouddhisme
Indien, p. 362, note 2, suggests doubtingly khasardjyam for
svasardjyam, but this does not suit. Read (with haplografy)
svavasardjyam, 'And having been introduced into Taksasila he
thus at length entered upon the supreme authority (of a Cakra-
vartin) . ' In the sequel this is just what happens, namely, Asoka
starts his empire in Taksasila, gradually extends it, establishes
his 84 edicts, becomes a just emperor under the sobriquet Dhar-
masoka, 'Asoka of the Law.' Svavasardjya is identical with
svdvasya, 'supreme rule,' which figures in Aitareya Brahmana 8.
17, 18, 19 by the side of the similar words, svdrdjya, pdramesthya,
and mdhdrdjya. The text of the Divyavadana is not exempt
from such peccadilloes; see, e. g. adhva(ga)gana, 'crowd of trav-
ellers,' pp. 126, 1. 2; 148, 1. 14; 182, 1. 7; see Index, under
adhvagana, and Speyer, 1. c, p. 114, who points out the unmutil-
ated reading in Avadanasataka, nr. 19. On p. 279, 1. 12, srad-
dhate is also haplografic for sraddadhate, 'he believes,' an easier
correction than sraddhatte. The Editors, curiously enough, seem
to be content with sraddhate.
On p. 419, 1. 17 the printed text has : samudmydm prthivydrh
janakdyd yadbhuyasd Bhagavacchdsane 'bhiprasanndh. The
Editors in the foot-note suggest questioningly dsamudrdydm,
with the result, 'On the earth, to the limit of the ocean, people
became the more inclined to the teaching of the Bhagavat.'
This is not questionable ; on p. 364, 1. 9, tasya ydvad dsamudrdydm
352 Maurice Bloomfield
sabdo visrtah, 'the sound of that spread over (the earth) as far
as the ocean.' The expression dsamudrdydm prthivydm occurs
moreover on p. 381, 1. 4, and it is parafrazed on p. 433, 1. 1,
by, samudraparyantdm mahdprthivim.
On p. 500, 1. 5, in the course of the Musaka story, the following
sentence is badly constructed: tena tesam kaldydndm stokam
dattam sltalam ca panlyam pdtam. The last word needs correc-
tion, and I think that the reading of one ms., namely pdyam,
points to pdyitam, ' given to drink. '
On p. 523, last line, a father tells his son who wants to go to
sea on a commercial venture that this is unnecessary, because he,
the father, has inexhaustible wealth: putra tdvat prabhutam me
dhanajdtam asti yadi tvam tilatandulakulatthddiparibhogena
ratndni me paribhotsyase tathdpi me bhogd na tanutvam parik-
sayam parydddnam gamisyanti. I had corrected the senseless
paribhotsyase to paribhoksyase, when, later on, I noticed the
parallel on p. 4, 1. 7: putra tdvantam me ratnajdtam asti yadi
tvam tilatandulakolakulatthanydyena ratndni paribhoksyase
tathdpi me ratndndm pariksayo na syat. In both passages the
father says to the son, that no matter how much of his substance
(oil and grain) he might consume he could not exhaust his (the
father's) wealth. Just as paribhoksyase corrects paribhotsyase,
the word "nydyena on p. 4, 1. 7 is hardly in the picture, as
judged by °paribhogena on 524, 1. 1. I miss the word ddi, 'and
so forth,' on p. 4, but the proper reading does not suggest itself.
On p. 577, 1. 21ff. the text reads, na ca tvayd mdm muktvd
anyakasyacid ddtavyam, 'And you must not give (the key) to
any one but myself.' Here anyakasyacid is to be changed to
anyasya kasya cid (haplografic) ; the passage recurs at the bot-
tom of the page in the form, na ca tvayd mam muktvanyasya na
kasyacid ddtavyam, where the second na is, perhaps, to be thrown
out.
P. 579, 1. 26, in the statement, aham dryasya Mahdkdtydyanas-
yopasthdpakah, where upasthdpaka makes no sense, read upas-
thdyaka : ' I am Great Katyayana 's adjutor. ' See upasthdyakdh
on p. 426, 1. 29, and, more particularly, Avadanasataka, vol. i, p.
214, 1. 6, vayam bhagavan bhagavata upasthdyakdh (see also
Speyer, Index, ad. voc). Similarly the improbable, tho not
unconforming, pdpayati, Divyav., p. 398, 1. 17, is to be changed
to payayati, ' give drink. '
