|
(Majjhima Nikâya, Sutta 123.)BY ALBERT J. EDMUNDS.
PREFATORY NOTE.
 THERE
are two canonical accounts of the wonderful circumstances attending the birth of
Gotama, viz., the Nâlaka Sutta in the Sutta Nipâta, which was translated by Dr.
Fausböll in 1881 (Sacred Books of the East, Vol. X., part 2, p. 124) and the Dialogue
in the Middling Collection, now translated for the first time. This was first pointed
out by Oldenberg in 1881, in his Life of Buddha, where he gave us one or two details
concerning it (Oldenberg's Buddha, English translation, 1882, p. 417). In 1894,
Chalmers gave an account of it in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, and
the Pâli text was printed by him in the same learned Journal for October, 1895.
It is from this text that our translation is made, except that in some doubtful
readings I have compared the version of the King of Siam, which has lately been
distributed throughout the United States.
An uncanonical account of Gotama's birth (apart from the inevitable commentary
on our present text) is to be found in the Commentary on the Birth Stories. This
account has been twice translated: by Rhys Davids in 1880 (Buddhist Birth Stories),
and by Henry C. Warren in 1896 (Buddhism in Translations, p. 38). It is based upon
our present Sutta and the one in the Sutta Nipâta. The portion based upon the latter
is given by Warren at p. 48. As in the case of the Haggadah of the Hebrews, it was
reckoned quite fair among the ancient Hindus, to add embellishments to a narrative
in the form of commentary. It will be seen, however, that not even in the commentary
do the Buddhists
p.
486 claim for their master a virginal nativity, but only a birth attended with
marvels. The idea that Gotama remembered being born and remembered also a pre-existent
state is derived from the familiar doctrine of transmigration.
All other accounts of the Buddha's nativity, such as those translated from the
Sanskrit or Chinese, of which we have a specimen in Sacred Books of the East, Vols.
XIX. and XLIX.,1 are
late patristic poems, on an entirely different footing from the canonical Pâli texts.
There is no doubt that these last have come down to us from the men who knew Gotama.
Our present Sutta is quoted in a work as old as the Christian era (the Questions
of King Milinda); and the chain of transmission is strong.
DIALOGUE ON WONDERS AND MARVELS.
(Majjhima Nikâya, Sutta 123.)
THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Sâvatthi in
the Jetavana cloister-garden of Anâthap.n.dika. Now a number of monks, after returning
from the quest of alms, and having eaten their meal, were sitting assembled in the
room of state, when the following conversation arose:
"Wonderful, O brother! marvellous, O brother! is the occult power and magical
might of the2 Tathâgata:
when, for instance, upon the decease of the former Buddha, who has broken down obstacles
and avenues, exhausted his transmigrations and passed beyond all pain, the Tathâgata
perceives: 'Such were the families of the Blessed Ones, such were the names of the
Blessed Ones; their clans were so-and-so; such were their moral codes, such their
doctrines, their knowledges, their dwellings, and those whom they delivered.'"
After such talk as this, the venerable Ânanda addressed the monks and said: "Wonderful,
brethren, are the Tathâgatas, and endowed with wonderful qualities; marvellous,
brethren! are the Tathâgatas, and endowed with marvellous qualities."
Such was the course of conversation among the monks when it was broken off. Now,
the Blessed One, having arisen from retirement at eventide, came into the room of
state and sat down upon the seat prepared for him. While sitting there the Blessed
One addressed the monks and said: "Monks! What now is the subject of your conversation
while sitting together? And what,
p.
487 moreover, was the course of your conversation which you just broke off?
[They answered]: "Here, Lord, having returned from the quest of alms and having
eaten our meal, we have been sitting assembled in the room of state, when the following
conversation arose: 'Wonderful, O brother! marvellous, O brother! is the occult
power and magical might of the Tathâgata,' (etc., repeated from above, down to the
end of Ânanda's speech). "This, Lord, was the course of conversation which was broken
off. Just then the Blessed One arrived."
Hereupon the Blessed One said to the venerable Ânanda: "And so, Ânanda, the wonderful
and marvellous qualities of the Tathâgata become more and more apparent."
[Ananda replied]: "In my presence, Lord, was it heard [from the lips] of the
Blessed One, and in my presence received: 'Ânanda, the Bodhisat is mindful and conscious
of being born when he is born with the Tusita body.' This fact, Lord, that the Bodhisat
was mindful and conscious when he was born with the Tusita body, I hold to be a
wonderful and marvellous quality of the Blessed One."
2. "'Ânanda, the Bodhisat abode for a lifetime in the Tusita body.1
3. "'Ânanda, the Bodhisat is mindful and conscious when he leaves the Tusita
body and descends into his mother's womb. [These words occur identically in the
Pâli, in slightly different order, in the Book of the Great Decease III. 15. Sacred
Books of the East, Vol. XI., p. 46.]
4. "'Ânanda, when the Bodhisat leaves the Tusita body and descends into his mother's
womb, then in the world of the devas, together with those of Mâra and Brahma, and
unto the race of sama.nas and brahmans, devas, and mortals, there appears a splendor
limitless and eminent, surpassing the might of the devas. And even in the boundless
realms of space, with their darkness upon darkness, where yonder sun and moon, so
magical, so mighty, are felt not in the sky, there too appears the splendor limitless
and eminent, surpassing the very might of the devas, so that beings who are born
there observe among themselves by reason of that splendor: "Friend, indeed there
are other beings born here, and this ten-thousand world-system rocks and quakes
and tremendously trembles: a splendor limitless and eminent appears in the universe
surpassing even the might of the devas."
p.
488
5. "'Ânanda, when the Bodhisat descends into his mothers womb, the four sons
of the devas who keep watch over the four quarters approach him and say: "Let neither
mortals nor demons do harm unto the Bodhisat or the Bodhisat's mother!"
6. "'Ânanda, when the Bodhisat is descending into his mother's womb, she is pure
from sexuality,1 has
abstained from taking life, from theft, from lusts, from evil conduct, from lying,
and from all kinds of wine and strong drink, which are a cause of irreligion.
7. "'Ânanda, when the Bodhisat is descending into his mother's womb, among the
attendants around her no lustful thought arises, and she is unsurpassed by any shining
attendant of the night.
8. "'Ânanda, when the Bodhisat is descending into his mother's womb, she is possessed
of the five qualities of pleasure; she is surrounded by, established in, and endowed
with the five qualities of pleasure.
9. "'Ânanda, . . . the Bodhisat's mother has no sickness at all, but is happy
in a body free from pain, and sees the Bodhisat transparently in the womb (literally,
gone across the womb) in full possession of all his limbs and faculties. Even as
a gem or precious stone, Ânanda, being radiant, fine, octagonal, and well wrought,
is therefore strung upon a dark-blue string or upon a tawny or a red or a white
or a yellow string, so that any man with eyes, upon taking it in his hand, may reflect:
"This gem or precious stone, being radiant (etc. . . . . .) is therefore strung
upon this dark-blue string, or . . . yellow string,"--even so, Ânanda, when the
Bodhisat descends into his mother's womb, his mother has no sickness at all, but
is happy in a body free from pain, and sees the Bodhisat transparently in the womb
in full possession of all his limbs and faculties.
10. "'Ânanda, seven days after the birth of the Bodhisat, his mother departed
this life, and was born with the Tusita body.
11. "'Moreover, Ânanda, while other women bring forth after a gestation of nine
or ten months, the Bodhisat's mother does not
p.489 act in the usual way with the Bodhisat: just ten months does she carry the
Bodhisat before she brings him forth.
|
