The BDK translation looks well done to me. To be honest, I’m not very confident translating the oldest Han era translations. I’ve looked at Anshigao’s works, too, and it’s quite a challenge to read them. They are archaic in the first place, and they’ve been garbled in places by copyists and redactors to make it more difficult.
4 Likes
Yeah. I read about that. I forgot that part
This month’s releases represent an important milestone for me as a translator. I’ve released translations of both the Mahāvadāna Sūtra (DĀ 1) and the Parinirvāṇa Sūtra (DĀ 2). I first read and considered translating these two large sūtras that begin the Dīrgha Āgama about 15 years ago when I first became seriously interesting in translating Chinese Āgamas. Back then, I didn’t have the proper circumstances to see such large projects to completion. Thanks to the support I’ve received over the past two years, this wish has become a reality in 2022.
Both of these sūtras are great works of early Buddhist literature and represent the development of literary devices that became prominent in other genres, such as in early Mahāyāna sūtras and avadāna collections. Whether it’s the use of alternating verse and prose or switching narrative perspectives, the growing storytelling prowess of these ancient writers compared to the earliest texts becomes obvious. It’s reminiscent of how fiction writers often begin writing simple first-person narratives and develop the skill to manage multiple perspectives and plot lines. Writing is an artform, and we can see the development of technique and style in these ancient scriptures. In fact, these writers were among the pioneers in the art of writing, being among the first to explore what can be done in the medium.
This update also is the largest yet for the Dharma Pearls project in terms of length. DĀ 1 is about 13,000 words, and DĀ 2 is 30,000 words. If we add in the other small sūtras released this month, the total comes to 45,000 words, which is the length of a short novel.
I have an even larger sutra (DĀ 30) to finish editing this month. This one approaches 50,000 in length and is a multi-chapter work on Buddhist cosmology. I’ve also discovered a study of DĀ’s transliterations by the late Dr. Karashima, which should help with deciphering DĀ 19. After that those two sutras are edited, we’ll have a complete initial release of the Dīrgha Āgama!
Below are the translations released in April/early May:
This is the sūtra that canonized the concept of reoccurring buddhas in the distant past up to the present as well as depicting them with standardized life story. These ideas were more fully developed in avadāna literature.
This is the Dharmaguptaka version of the Parinirvāṇa Sūtra. It’s the closest to the Pali version of the half dozen that still exist. Its title is likely a reference to the initial half of the sūtra, which follows the Buddha’s final teaching tour before falling ill and passing away. (I’ve taken a little poetic license by adding “Final” to the title.)
Beyond this, the main differences between DĀ 2 and DN 16 are matters of literary style. DĀ 2 makes much more use of verse reiterations and section summaries. The summaries, in particular, serve to mark out section endings, which would have been important in a long sutra without subheadings. The stories also tend to be more developed. The biggest difference by length is that DĀ 2 includes the entire Mahāsudarśana Sūtra, which is an independent text in DN.
This sūtra presents the path of ten bad deeds as an ethical model for people to follow. It’s a parallel to AN 10.217-219.
This sūtra, which doesn’t have a clear parallel in Pali, fuses two chains of dependent origination together to form a causal link between suffering and Nirvāṇa. Needless to say, this is pretty interesting, as the concept that suffering is a condition of awakening is found in many early Mahāyāna texts. Apparently, the idea had occurred to Sarvāstivādins.
SĀ 3.1 (284) Planting a Tree
SĀ 3.2 (285) A Great Tree
These two sūtras present short chains of dependent origination that begin with clinging and craving and depict them as codependent in a similar way as name and form and consciousness in some version of dependent origination. They use metaphors of growing trees to explain that life comes about when various conditions are present for it to develop. Pali parallels are SN 12.55-58.
16 Likes
Holy cow you aren’t kidding. This is a longggg discourse Indeed.
Congratulations! And many anumodanas to your supporters too! 
4 Likes
Congratulations!!! Excited to see this so close to done. I was thinking of donating the hard copy to a couple of monasteries when the time comes. It will be lovely to get it distributed around to monasteries!
3 Likes
This is awesome! Finally we have an alternative complete English translation of Dirgha Agama besides the one published by BDK.
4 Likes
I finally gotten all of DA 30 Description of the World edited and released this week. This is the largest single text I’ve ever translated and published: Four fascicles of Chinese and >50,000 words of English. There’s lots of Pali parallels to stories in DA 30 that haven’t been documented. I made an effort to document some of them in the summaries I published on the Dharma Pearls blog:
Summary of Chapters 1 to 7
Summary of Chapter 8-12
I break each chapter down into its major sections and describe their contents in those posts. So, if you’re curious about what is in that sutra, it’ll be easier to skim those blog posts than each chapter at Dharma Pearls.
There is still one little sutra to release for the Dirgha Agama to be complete: DA 19. I’ll be getting that ready to release in the next couple weeks.
13 Likes
Hi, everyone. I posted an update on what I’m doing the next couple months on my blog: Heat Waves, Data Entry, and Meta-Editing.
(Hint: Avoiding translation as best I can!)
(Also: It’s really hot at my little spot on the surface of the Earth. I’m sitting in a mobile home without A/C, and the temp outside the door is 102F. Yikes! Thankfully, I have the Pacific Ocean to keep it under control most of the time, and the heat breaks in the afternoon. But, for now, time to go to some cooler elsewhere.)
9 Likes
Thanks for sharing the update, and all the things that you are facing, and ideas for future projects.
Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu! for all your tireless efforts on this wonderful work.
May you be happy and well, and may the Pacific breezes keep up the cooling relief 
5 Likes
The next Āgama collection that I’ll be focusing on is the Ekottarika Āgama
I read that there is a version of First Buddhist Council mentioned in the introduction of Chinese EA translation. It will be great if the introduction is also translated into English besides the main content of EA sutras.
2 Likes
It will be, yes. It’s partially drafted ATM.
A weak hurricane came up the coast of Mexico, weakened into a tropical storm, and doused us with some light rain yesterday. I opened up an umbrella last night and enjoyed an evening stroll through it. The forecasts are for more normal weather here for a while now.
9 Likes
We’re back to releasing translations again, hopefully on a weekly or semi-weekly basis if I can get my new process ironed out in terms of pacing. (I’m always imagining I can do twice as much as I can actually do!)
I couldn’t believe that it’s been since July that any new sutras have been added to Dharma Pearls. The dry spell has broken tonight. I’ve added four new translations from the Madhyama Āgama:
MĀ 56 Meghiya
This is a close parallel to AN 9.3 and partially to Ud 4.1. While its content is essentially the same as the Pali parallels, it shows some of the characteristic amplifications that we typically see in MA. An example is the list in the third way of maturation, which contains many parallel concepts, but they are disordered and more have been added to MĀ 56.
| AN 9.3 | MĀ 56 |
|---|---|
| Furthermore, a mendicant gets to take part in talk about self-effacement that helps open the heart, when they want, without trouble or difficulty. That is, talk about fewness of wishes, contentment, seclusion, aloofness, arousing energy, ethics, immersion, wisdom, freedom, and the knowledge and vision of freedom. | “Furthermore, Meghiya, a monk can be taught about the noble aim, which make his mind gentle and cause it to lack hindrances. That is, he’s taught the precepts, taught samādhi, and taught wisdom. He’s taught liberation, taught to know and see liberation, and taught effacement. He’s taught to not enjoy company, taught to desire little, and taught satisfaction. He’s taught to end afflictions, taught the lack of desire, and taught cessation. He’s taught to sit in repose and taught dependent origination. He obtains such teachings that are appropriate for an ascetic fully, easily, and not with difficulty. Meghiya, this is the third way of cultivating the mind’s liberation when it isn’t mature yet and one wants to cause its maturation. |
For those who are interested in the language issues of translating early Chinese Buddhist texts, namely the sometimes mysterious transliterations that don’t match Pali or Sanskrit because they are based on some Prakrit like Gandhari, there are a couple case studies in the footnotes of this sutra.
A good example is the transliteration of Meghiya’s name, which is simply “Mehi” in the Chinese:
Meghiya. C. 彌醯 (EMC. miĕhei = *Mehi), P. Meghiya , G. Mekhiya . In G., gh frequently becomes kh, but the consonants g/k are often weakened to fricatives or go silent. The result is that -k- can become -y- (Brough, 86), and -kh- can become -h- (Brough, 93). This scenario matches the C. transliteration (*Mehi[ya]). The loss of the final syllable is frequent in Chinese transliterations of names and must be a feature of the dialect they were translating.
MĀ 84 Thornless
This is a parallel to a well-known sutra that lists the principal obstacles to different levels of progress or attainment, which are called thorns. It’s Pali parallel is AN 10.72. Being placed in AN 10, it’s list of thorns appears to have been reduced to ten to fit the collection. I say this because of the way the last three thorns, desire, hatred, and delusion, become a single item the list of ten thorns even though they don’t properly fit the list. In MA 84, these last three thorns are also present, but they are a separate list that the Buddha adds after the initial list of 15 thorns. We can compare the AN 10.72 and MA 84 lists to see where AN 10.72 was potentially reduced in size:
| AN 10.72 | MA 84 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Observing precepts | Violations | ||
| 1. Solitude | Delight in company | ||
| 2. Meditation on the unattractive | Pursuit of the attractive | 3. Contemplating foul discharges | Cleanliness |
| 3. Guarding the Senses | Unsuitable Show | 2. Guarding faculties | Adorned body |
| 4. Kindness | Anger | ||
| 5. Avoiding alcohol | Drinking | ||
| 4. Celibate Life | In company with women | 6. Celibacy | A woman’s form |
| 5. First jhana | Noise | 7. First dhyana | Sound |
| 6. Second jhana | Thought and examination | 8. Second dhyana | Perception and examination |
| 7. Third jhana | Rapture | 9. Third dhyana | Joy |
| 8. Fourth jhana | Breathing | 10. Fourth dhyana | breathing |
| 11. Abode of space | Perception of form | ||
| 12. Abode of consciousness | Perception of space | ||
| 13. Abode of nothingness | Perception of consciounsess | ||
| 14. Abode of no perception | Perception of nothingness | ||
| 9. Cessation of perception and feeling | Perception and feeling | 15. Cessation of perception and experience | Perception and experience |
| 10. Lust, hatred, delusion | 16-18. Desire, anger, delusion |
MĀ 58 The Seven Treasures
This short SĀ/SN type sutra simply establishes a parallelism between the seven treasures of a noble wheel-turning king and the Buddha’s seven factors of awakening, which are called treasures as well.
MĀ 127 Fields of Merit
This sutra expands a parallel with AN 2.35 by adding comprehensive lists of both trainees and adepts. Trainees refers to practitioners who are not yet arhats, while adepts are arhats. The sutra draws from numerous sources to build these lists, including an Abhidharma passage that lists six kinds of arhats.
The list of trainees is the most complex as it breaks down one category into subcategories as shown below to arrive at eighteen trainees. It’s a good example of Sarvastivadins aiming for the most comprehensive version in later times and not being shy about adding material to sutras.
| Original Five | Self-Realizers | Stream-Entrants | Once-Returners | Non-Returners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faithful practitioners | ||||
| Dharma practitioners | ||||
| those freed by faith | ||||
| those who’ve arrived at [right] view | ||||
| those of self-realization | ||||
| those born from family to family | ||||
| those of a single seed | ||||
| those headed for stream-entry | ||||
| those who’ve attained stream-entry | ||||
| those headed for once-returning | ||||
| those who’ve attained once-returning | ||||
| those headed for non-returning | ||||
| those who’ve attained non-returning | ||||
| those who parinirvāṇa in the interim | ||||
| those who parinirvāṇa at birth | ||||
| those who parinirvāṇa with practice | ||||
| those who parinirvāṇa without practice | ||||
| those who [parinirvāṇa] upstream to Akaniṣṭha |
12 Likes
Happy New Year!
I posted a translation of the Ekottarika Āgama’s Introduction today. And wrote words about it until I ran out of time tonight at the Dharma Pearls blog.
11 Likes
Hello, everyone. Below is pasted from my blog. (Amazingly enough, the Markdown tables actually paste properly here on the forum, unlike on Patreon.)
The Āgama translation project continues to chug along. I’ve been working my way through Ekottarika Āgama (EĀ) Chapters 8-10 the past month, which are part of the Book of Ones. So, these are short and sweet sutras that don’t get into any heavy philosophical arguments or dramatic storytelling. For the most part, they simply identify important concepts central to Buddhist practice. There are a couple exceptions, but they appear to be insertions that don’t really belong in the original collection.
These chapters serve as an interesting study of what an early Aṅguttara Nikāya (AN) may have looked like prior to the intense subdividing and abbreviation of texts into pithy paragraphs and lines. This was done, apparently, to increase the overall number of suttas that could be counted in the Book of Ones. It may have also been an adoption of the concept of a sutra in the larger Indian tradition, which was usually a short aphoristic sentence or series of keywords used as the outline for expansive commentary.
In EĀ, there is only one section of the Book of Ones that shows this same tendency, which is the list of disciples found in Chapter 4-7 (~AN 1.188-267), where each “sutra” is really ten sutras, each abbreviated to a single line. This intent is made quite clear by the uddana verses that follow each numbered “sutra” in the Taisho edition: They are actually vaggas of ten abbreviated sutras. But beyond this example, EĀ’s Book of Ones contains full-blown sutras that include traditional introductions and conclusions. Many appear to follow a format that’s found in the Itivuttaka, in which the Buddha identifies a single thing as being significant, and a prose section is concluded with verses that serve to reiterate it.
Let’s a take closer look at the chapters that have been released since my last update.
Chapter 2: The Ten Recollections
This chapter devotes a standardized sutra to each of the ten recollections that we find paralleled in AN 1.296-305. The refrain used to extoll each of these ten practices is very similar to what we find in Pali, but AN abbreviates these sutras to only a paragraph, and then that paragraph is further abbreviated to only the names of each recollection. This doesn’t happen in EĀ, which keeps each sutra fully intact.
The order of the ten recollections is also a bit different in EĀ than in AN. When we look at the uddana at the end of the Chapter 2, we see four groups of the ten with discernible themes:
- The three jewels (Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha),
- Good conduct and its reward (precepts, generosity, and the gods),
- Meditation (mindfulness of breathing and peace)
- Mortality (the body and death).
In AN, the first two groups are clearly intact, but then the order changes after the gods: Mindfulness of breathing, death, the body, and peace. It’s probably no accident that the order in AN and EĀ diverges after the initial six recollections. It’s likely that this list of ten was an expansion of an older list of six.
Finally, the statement that leads into each of these list items in AN and EĀ are quite similar, if not verbatim:
| AN 1.296 | EĀ 2.1 |
|---|---|
| Ekadhammo, bhikkhave, bhāvito bahulīkato ekantanibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṁvattati. | 當修行一法，當廣布一法；便成神通，去眾亂想，逮沙門果，自致涅槃。 |
| One thing, mendicants, when developed and cultivated, leads solely to disillusionment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and extinguishment. (Sujato) | One should cultivate one thing and disseminate one thing. Then, they will achieve spiritual knowledge, dispel their confused ideas, win the fruits of the ascetic, and bring about nirvāṇa themselves. (Patton) |
The last two items in Pali (awakening and extinguishment), are synonymous with those in the Chinese (fruits of the ascetic and Nirvāṇa). We can see that these must be quite old sutras that have been perhaps expanded a bit in later times with different but roughly equivalent statements about the process of liberation.
Chapter 3: Broader Explanations
This chapter repeats the ten recollections found in Chapter 2, but it expands the introduction to each sutra and includes a brief description of each. While this chapter has no direct parallel in AN, we do find a similar type of commentary on the six of the recollections at AN 6.10. These two sets of commentaries do not appear to reflect a common tradition, however. Let’s set them side by side:
| AN 6.10 (SUJATO) | EĀ 3.1 (PATTON) |
|---|---|
| ‘That Blessed One is perfected, a fully awakened Buddha, accomplished in knowledge and conduct, holy, knower of the world, supreme guide for those who wish to train, teacher of gods and humans, awakened, blessed.’ | Suppose a monk … visualizes the Tathāgata’s form until it never leaves his eyes. Once it doesn’t leave his eyes, then he recollects the Tathāgata’s virtues: ‘The Tathāgata’s body is made of diamond. Having perfected the ten powers, he’s courageous amidst his assembly with four kinds of fearlessness. The Tathāgata’s appearance is handsome, unmatched, and not tiresome to watch. His discipline and virtue are accomplished, unbreakable like diamond, and pure and flawless like beryl.’ |
| The Tathāgata’s samādhi never lacked anything. Once calmed, he was forever tranquil, without another thought. Arrogance, violence, and the passions were pacified. He had completely eliminated the entangling bonds of wishes, angry notions, confused thoughts, and doubts. | |
| The Tathāgata’s body of wisdom was a knowledge without limit or impediment. The Tathāgata’s body had accomplished liberation, had reached the end of destinations, and no longer would decide: ‘I will fall into birth and death again.’ The Tathāgata’s body had reached knowing and seeing the city [of nirvāṇa]. He knew whether other people had the capacity to be liberated or not. ‘Here they die, and there they’re born. Round they turn, reborn until the end of birth and death.’ He fully knew who was liberated and who wasn’t. |
| AN 6.10 | EĀ 3.2 |
|---|---|
| ‘The teaching is well explained by the Buddha—apparent in the present life, immediately effective, inviting inspection, relevant, so that sensible people can know it for themselves.’ | Suppose a monk … focuses on recollecting the Dharma. He rids himself of the craving for desires, doesn’t have any afflictions, and thoughts of thirsty craving don’t arise anymore. With the correct Dharma, he arrives at being desireless amidst desires and parts with the illness of the bonds and hindrances. This Dharma is like a breeze of many fragrances. His thinking doesn’t have any flaws or confused ideas. |
| AN 6.10 | EĀ 3.3 |
|---|---|
| ‘The Saṅgha of the Buddha’s disciples is practicing the way that’s good, direct, methodical, and proper. It consists of the four pairs, the eight individuals. This is the Saṅgha of the Buddha’s disciples that is worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods, worthy of hospitality, worthy of a religious donation, worthy of greeting with joined palms, and is the supreme field of merit for the world.’ | The Tathāgata’s noble assembly achieves good deeds. They are honest, follow doctrine, and don’t do any wrong deeds. Seniors and juniors are in harmony, and they accomplish the teachings. The Tathāgata’s noble assembly is accomplished in precepts, accomplished in samādhi, and accomplished in wisdom. They’re accomplished in liberation and accomplished in knowing and seeing liberation. |
| ‘Noble assembly’ means the four pairs and eight ranks of people. They are called the Tathāgata’s noble assembly who ought to be respected, served, and paid homage. For what reason? Because they are the world’s field of merit. Those among these assemblies are one and the same vessel, and they liberate other people by liberating themselves with the path of three vehicles. Those who do this work are called the ‘noble assembly.’ |
| AN 6.10 | EĀ 3.4 |
|---|---|
| … a noble disciple recollects their own ethical conduct, which is unbroken, impeccable, spotless, and unmarred, liberating, praised by sensible people, not mistaken, and leading to immersion. | ‘The precepts’ refers to the precepts that make it possible to achieve the path by stopping evil deeds and that cause people to rejoice. The precepts are a jeweled body because they make many beautiful things appear. The rules and precepts are like a fortune vase that provides what one wishes, for the factors of the path derive from accomplishing the precepts. |
| AN 6.10 | EĀ 3.5 |
|---|---|
| ‘I’m so fortunate, so very fortunate! Among people full of the stain of stinginess I live at home rid of stinginess, freely generous, open-handed, loving to let go, committed to charity, loving to give and to share.’ | ‘Now, my gift is the highest of gifts. I’ll always get its good benefits gladly without regret or ideas of compensation. If someone criticizes me, I’ll never respond in kind. Suppose someone were to hurt me by punching me, hitting me with a stick, or throwing rocks or bricks at me. I will think kindly of them and not become angry. My gift will be a generous attitude that doesn’t stop.’ |
| AN 6.10 | EĀ 3.6 |
|---|---|
| ‘There are the Gods of the Four Great Kings, the Gods of the Thirty-Three, the Gods of Yama, the Joyful Gods, the Gods Who Love to Create, the Gods Who Control the Creations of Others, the Gods of Brahmā’s Host, and gods even higher than these. | Their bodies are made by purity in body, speech, and mind, not performing polluted practices, and practicing the precepts. When they achieve those divine bodies, they shine with a light that nothing else can outshine. Those divine bodies are the rewards for good deeds. One achieves a divine body by perfecting many such practices. |
As can be seen, a couple of the descriptions share some common ideas, but the two traditions are quite different. While AN 6.10 provides sometimes pat lists to describe the recollections, EĀ gives colorful descriptions that are much less formulaic in nature. It would, of course, be of interest to investigate what is contained in the Pali commentaries to AN, but this is beyond my own language skills.
Chapter 8: Asura
Chapter 8 brings us to a new section of EĀ’s Book of Ones. This chapter is generally parallel to AN’s One Person chapter (AN 1.170-187); however, a sutra has been added to the beginning that relates a parable about the asura king causing an eclipse. It has no relation to the remaining nine sutras, but the chapter has been named after it. A tenth One Person sutra is appended to the end of Chapter 10, suggesting that it was perhaps displaced when the asura sutra was added. Though they have the same format, EĀ Chapter 8 and AN 1.170-187 share only four direct parallels with each other.
Chapter 9: The Only Son
Chapter 9 opens a new group of sutras which continues to Chapter 10. In this section, we find pairs of sutras which were possibly single sutras divided in half at some point. This impression is reinforced by the observation that AN’s parallels have sometimes been divided further into five suttas and by the existence in one case (EĀ 9.7-8, AN 1.1-10) of one large sutra that parallels both EĀ and AN (T792). However, these extreme cases are only found at the end of the chapter. The other parallels to this chapter’s sutras are scattered between SN, AN, and the Itivuttaka.
| EĀ | PARALLELS |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | SN 27.23-24 |
| 3-4 | n/a |
| 5-6 | AN 1.43-44, Iti 20-21 |
| 7-8 | AN 1.1-10, T792 |
| 9-10 | AN 1.11-20 |
The chapter opens with parallels to SN 27.23-24, in which the Buddha gives advice on how a laywoman should encourage her only son (EĀ 9.1) or daughter (EĀ 9.2) with role models among the laity while they are at home and renunciates if they should leave home. The first sutra is addressed to sons, and so the chapter is named accordingly. The next two sutras observe how difficult the mind is to follow for ordinary people, and the second of the pair uses the famous metaphor of a monkey picking up and dropping things to illustrate this point.
The third pair of sutras predicts that people of good and bad mentalities are fated to be born in Heaven or Hell as a result. The format of these sutras is much closer to the Itivuttaka parallels than to the stripped down suttas in AN.
The last two pairs of sutras in Chapter 9 are parallel to AN 1.1-10 and AN 1.11-20, respectively. In both cases, AN’s redactors have created two sets of five suttas. In the first case, AN has created suttas for each of the five senses in a male and female context. In the second case, AN has devoted a sutta to each of the five hindrances in terms of their arising and ceasing. In EĀ, the redactors have satisfied themselves with pairs of sutras, and they may have preserved more of the original context.
That sums up the releases thus far since January. For those who are curious to learn more about the patterns of redaction that are apparent in AN and EĀ, I recommend the paper “The Structure and Formation of the Aṅguttara Nikāya and Ekottarika Āgama” by Dr. Kuan and Bucknell.
That’s it until next week. Once again, thanks to everyone supporting this project!
16 Likes
This month the remainder of Chapter 10 of the Ekottarika Āgama (EĀ) was released at Dharma Pearls.
Chapter 10 is a set of ten sūtras that revolve around themes of making merit, especially through generosity. This group of sutras, whose subject is often perceived as primarily a concern for lay Buddhists, are directed at both lay and monastic audiences. This chapter also includes a pair of sūtras that make mention of bodhisattvas in a context that appears inspired by Mahāyāna teachings or their precursors in paracanonical sources like the Jātaka and Avadāna stories. Below is a quick summary of the Chapter.
EĀ 10.1 No Pride
EĀ 10.2 No Pride (2)
This first pair of sūtras take carefulness as their subject, despite their titles which reference their concluding verses. EĀ 10.1 defines carefulness as taking care not to let contaminating things affect them. Guarding their mind, a monk can be around such things without being contaminated with ignorance, desire, or existence. The three contaminants are equated with the five hindrances, for their absence makes it possible for the practitioner to seclude themselves and achieve liberation. EĀ 10.2 defines carefulness as taking care not to harm any sentient being while practicing the good teaching. Here, the good teaching is the eightfold path.
Both of these sūtras appear to expand upon some older sūtra similar to Iti 23. This is especially true of EĀ 10.2 because it shares the same basic statement (“carefulness in the good teaching”) with the Pali parallel (translated by Sujato as “diligence in good qualities”).
EĀ 10.3 Recollecting Generosity
This sūtra takes up the topic of the relationship between a donor and the monk that they support, from the point of view of the monastic involved. The Buddha says that donors should be properly devoted in the way a son or daughter is toward their parents. Conversely, the monk should treat donors with kindness in all three kinds of action, for doing so ensures that the donor’s gifts will get them a great reward (i.e., the monk will be a proper field of merit). Thus, the relationship serves as a way for a monk train himself in kind behavior. The sūtra is concluded with five stanzas on the rewards of generosity, which range from rewards of wealth in this world to birth in heavens and achievement of the Buddha path. The last stanza appears to indirectly reference to the perfection of generosity practiced by bodhisattvas.
This sūtra takes up a similar topic as the previous sutra, but here Anāthapiṇḍada makes an appearance. The Buddha begins by telling the monks that a proper donor renders service and support to the sangha is like someone who helps lost people find their way or needy people to get food. They are like a farmer who removes rocks and debris from the fields that he tends. At this point, Anāthapiṇḍada comes forward and praises the Buddha, saying that both donors and their recipients are like auspicious vases (meaning magical containers that provide anything a person needs). Anāthapiṇḍada then invites the Buddha and monks to his home for a meal. After the meal, he invites the monks to get whatever they need from his home. After the Buddha departs, we are informed that Anāthapiṇḍada held five different charitable events around the city, which causes the Buddha to declare him the best layman at generosity.
EĀ 10.5 Generosity (2)
This sūtra serves as a follow-up to EĀ 10.4. Anāthapiṇḍada pays the Buddha a visit, and the Buddha asks him if he’s still holding charitable events like the ones described before. He confesses to wanting to give to all living things, even wild birds and other animals, because all sentient beings rely on food to continue to live. The Buddha agrees and commends Anāthapiṇḍada for understanding the heart of a bodhisattva’s generosity, again apparently referencing the perfection of generosity.
This sūtra is quite interesting for two reasons: First, it references a layman practicing as a bodhisattva. What distinguishes his bodhisattva practice is his feeling of universal altruism, which is similar to what we find in many Jataka stories. This principle was clearly an early underpinning of the bodhisattva ideal, that one that ideally eliminates prejudices about good and bad recipients of charity. The second reason this sūtra is interesting is because it provides us with some commentary about the famous saying that “all sentient beings rely on food,” which we find enshrined at the beginning of all versions of the Saṅgīti Sūtra (e.g., DĀ 9 and DN 33). This expression usually goes without much commentary, leaving many to assume it refers to the four nutriments. Here, however, it’s an expression of altruism, that all beings are in need of alms, not just mendicants.
EĀ 10.6 The Stingy and the Tireless
This sūtra is very similar to Iti 26, sharing a number of common expressions with the Pali parallel. That these two parallels are so similar from two clearly very different Buddhist traditions indicates that it must be quite old. Here, stinginess is identified as a moral failing that obstructs generosity. A monk should share even the last lump of food that he doesn’t eat and not begrudge it from others. Doing so equitably is a great virtue that leads to rewards that most people don’t realize, but the Buddha does.
EĀ 10.7 Merits of Generosity
Like the previous sūtra, this one is a close parallel to a Pali Iti equivalent, in this case Iti 22. It shares many of the same details, such as the Buddha recounting various good rebirths as Śakra or as wheel-turning kings. For this reason, he tells the monks not to be afraid of making merits. The concluding verses make it clear that making merits creates the conditions for achieving Nirvāṇa, so it wasn’t considered to be contradictory to that goal.
EĀ 10.8 Māra the Wicked One
Here, another argument is made for monks to make merit: Because it stops Māra from being able to corrupt or obstruct them. This sūtra references the battle between the Buddha and Māra’s army of demons, which the Buddha won because of the merits he had made as a bodhisattva. The details found about this scene seem to match the Lalitavistara better than other sources, especially the mention of bodhisattvas having gathered at the bodhi tree.
EĀ 10.9 Bad Destinies
This simple sūtra identifies three things: A reason for not eliminating future births in bad destinies, for being born in good destinies, and for reaching Nirvāṇa. The first is a heart of disbelief, the second is a heart of belief, and the third is continuous mindfulness.
EĀ 10.10 One Person
The final sūtra of this chapter brings the reader back to recollection of the Buddha with a One Person sūtra that praises him as bringing fortune to all sentient beings in the world. This sūtra would seem to belong in Chapter 8, which was dedicated to this type of discourse.
9 Likes
Wow, it’s been a few months since I last posted an update here. Since then, Chapters 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the Ekottarika Āgama have been released at Dharma Pearls, which nearly completes the Book of Ones. (There’s still a few difficult chapters full of obscure names of disciples to translate and release to complete it.)
Let me take some time here to summarize the contents of these chapters.
Chapter 11: The Non-Returner
Chapter 11 is titled “The Non-Returner” after the initial four sūtras on the subject. Most of this chapter has parallels in Pali sources.
| Ekottarika, Ch. 11 | Pali Parallel |
|---|---|
| 1. The Non-Returner | Iti 1 Greed |
| 2. The Non-Returner (2) | Iti 2 Hate |
| 3. The Non-Returner (3) | Iti 3 Delusion |
| 4. The Non-Returner (4) | (Iti 1-6) |
| 5. Heart | AN 1.21-30 Useless |
| 6. Heart (2) | AN 1.21-30 Useless |
| 7. Alms | SN 17.11-12 Golden/Silver Bowl |
| 8. Alms (2) | SN 17.11-12 Golden/Silver Bowl |
| 9. Devadatta | ? |
| 10. Devadatta (2) | ? |
EĀ 11.1-4 The Non-Returner
The first four sūtras are in the Itivuttaka format: The Buddha identifies a single thing that, if given up, results in becoming a non-returner. A summary verse then restates the prose sūtra. In the Theravāda Itivuttaka, the first six suttas identify greed, hate, delusion, anger, disdain, and conceit. Here, the first three are the same three poisons, but the fourth is stinginess. It would seem logical to assume the first three sūtras may predate the others, since the three poisons were considered the basic roots that give rise the rest of the defilements when combined in different ways.
EĀ 11.5-6 Heart
The next two sūtras are similar to the suttas we find in AN 1.21-30, which make a distinction between a mind when developed and undeveloped. In Pali, the keyword is bhāvita, meaning “developed or cultivated.” The corresponding keyword in EĀ (降伏) means to “control, defeat, master,” giving an impression of a “wild vs. tamed” distinction. In AN, this idea has been expanded into a full chapter of ten suttas.
EĀ 11.7-8 Alms
The next pair of sūtras are a similar case. Here, they appear to be the inspiration for SN 17.11-20, which creates ten suttas that simply add specific valuable things to a common template. That template is a bit more terse than the one we find here in EĀ, but they are very close in wording. The Buddha tells the monks that he has noticed when a monk has become corrupted by an obsession for material gain, so much so that they begin lying to the assembly. Presumably, he means during the regular pratimokṣa assemblies when monks declare their faults.
It’s worth mentioning that SN 17 is remarkable in that it has the same concluding format that occurs throughout EĀ. In these usually concise conclusions, the Buddha gives some advice and enjoins his audience to train themselves according to it. This must have been an old sūtra format that’s been largely lost in the Theravāda canon. Or perhaps the Theravādins imported a few examples of it from other sources. In any case, SN 17 is the only part of their present day canon that has this format as a policy. Otherwise, it’s a rare occurrence.
EĀ 11.9-10 Devadatta
These two sūtras appear to depict events immediately following Devadatta’s failed attempt to overthrow the Buddha. In the first sūtra, the Buddha denounces Devadatta and predicts that he’ll spend an eon in Hell for his evil deeds. In the next sūtra, a monk who was apparently one of Devadatta’s followers is confronted by the Buddha for doubting his previous declaration. I have yet to find a clear parallel for these sūtras, though I suspect one probably exists among the various stories found in the Vinaya literature. In any case, though, it’s of interest to note that SN 17.31-36 all take up the same topic of Devadatta’s misdeeds and corruption. It’s probably not an accident that EĀ 11.7-8 precede these sūtras and that their parallels (SN 17.11-20) precede the Devadatta suttas in SN 17.
The Disordering of Chapters 12 and 13
With Chapter 12 and 13 in EĀ, we reach a point at which it becomes difficult to avoid the conclusion that some sort of disorder has taken place after the initial Chinese translation. It’s been fairly well documented by Palumbo in his book studying the history of EĀ’s translation that there were at least three editions that existed at one time or another, the Taisho edition being the one that survived to the present day. Daoan, the Chinese monk who was the head of the translation team, wrote several prefaces that have survived giving us some details about what happened. One of things he mentions in the preface attached to EĀ is that, in the initial recitation by Dharmanandi, about half the uddāna verses had been forgotten. So, it isn’t surprising that some chapters have no uddāna verse, but it doesn’t explain the situation here, where an uddāna verse spans two chapters. It would seem that some additions or rearrangements have taken place.
The table below shows the situation in the Taisho edition:
| EĀ Sūtra | Parallel | C. 13 Uddāna |
|---|---|---|
| 12.1 The Abodes of Mindfulness | MN 10 | |
| 12.2 Spitefulness | - | |
| 12.3 The Most Honored | - | |
| 12.4 Watching over the Sick | - | |
| 12.5 Praise and Slander | (SN 16.5) | |
| 12.6 Senior Years | (SN 16.5) | |
| 12.7 Devadatta | (SN 17.35-36) | 7:1 |
| 12.8 Devadatta (2) | (SN 17.35-36) | 7:2 |
| 12.9 Skin | SN 17.28 | 7:3 |
| 12.10 Śrīla | - | 7:4 |
| 13.1 Surādha | - | |
| 13.2 Enjoyment of Desires | - | |
| 13.3 Nāḷijaṅgha | MN 87 | 7:5 |
| 13.4 Nakula | SN 22.1 | |
| 13.5 Sundarī | MN 7 | 7:6 |
| 13.6 Good Deeds | SN 11.16 | 7:7 |
| 13.7 Śakra Lord of Gods | - | 7:8 |
It seems likely, at the very least, that 12.7-10 belong with 13.3 and 13.5-7 to form a chapter of eight sūtras. The open question this leaves us with is whether some or all of the other sūtras were inserted later by a redactor (Saṅghadeva and Chu Fonian being the likely suspects). If sūtras were added later, the redactor apparently wasn’t paying attention to the uddāna verse.
Overall, it’s a fascinating example of how the disordering of Buddhist sūtra collections happened in ancient times. But we don’t have enough historical details to fully reconstruct the original, either. It’s a frustrating situation.
Chapter 12: The Single-Entry Path
EĀ 12.1
This is a parallel to MN 10, the famous sūtra on the four abodes of mindfulness. It’s provenance is unknown to us as yet (as far as I know), for it bears only a general resemblance to MN 10 and the Sarvāstivāda parallel, MĀ 98. Regardless, it gives us a window into an earlier stage of this sūtra’s development when compared to the other parallels. It would appear, for instance, that the mindfulness of body became an important rubric under which a plethora of contemplative practices collected in later eras, and this is reflected especially in MĀ 98 but also in MN 10. On the other hand, the mindfulness of feeling underwent no expansion at all in MN 10, but it did in MĀ 98. The Mindfulness of Mind shows the pattern of commonality at the beginning and end of the three versions, with diverse items in the middle. The Mindfulness of Dharma has only the factors of awakening in common between the parallels, suggesting that perhaps it was a late addition to the abodes. Or perhaps it was very simple in the beginning, and each school expanded it in their own way.
The place of this sūtra at the start of Chapter 12 is incongruent with the rest of the chapter, but we’ve seen this before in EĀ. It would seem that these headline insertions took place before the Āgama was translated to Chinese.
EĀ 12.2-3
These two sūtras lack parallels, but they represent examples of old templates that have already occurred in previous chapters. EĀ 12.2 is a “one thing” sūtra, but it doesn’t have the concluding verse we’d expect of an Itivuttaka-style sūtra. In this case, spitefulness is singled out as detrimental to the religious life. EĀ 12.3 is another “one person” sūtra. Here, the Buddha says that a Buddha is the one person appearing in the world who is the most honored field of merit.
EĀ 12.4
This sūtra is one that’s difficult to categorize. It appears to praise taking care of sick people as an act of charity that yield great merits. The Chinese is a bit difficult to parse, but it appears to equate the charity of taking care of the sick with the Dharma charity of the Buddha’s decision to teach people who are spiritually sick. I think this places it in a genre of early bodhisattva teachings that encourage both disciples and laypeople to emulate the Buddha’s compassion.
EĀ 12.5-6
This pair of sūtras praise a set of ascetic practices for which Mahākāśyapa is held up as an exemplar. In the first sūtra, the Buddha praises these practices and then tells the monks to practice them the way Mahākāśyapa does. The next sūtra relates an encounter between Mahākāśyapa and the Buddha in which the Buddha tells his elderly disciple that he can stop practicing the asceticism of forest dwelling. Kāśyapa refuses, and in this version says that doing so would make him a solitary buddha.
EĀ 12.7-8
Now another pair of Devadatta sūtras follows. The first is a “profit is a serious thing” sūtra that uses the corruption of Devadatta by Ajātaśatru’s almsgiving as an example. It includes the detail of Devadatta getting five hundred kettles of food that’s also in SN 17.36. It’s also notable for referring to Ajātaśatru as “Pararuci,” which was attested in a few other Chinese sources.
EĀ 12.8 depicts an incident in which Devadatta is heard teaching moral nihilism to a crowd of people (i.e., that good and evil does not exist). When it’s reported to the Buddha, he denounces him as a fool. This appears to follow the events related in EĀ 11.9-10, as Devadatta’s claim makes sense as a response to the Buddha’s denouncing his evil acts in 11.9.
EĀ 12.9-10
These two sūtras continue the theme of profit being a corrupting influence. The first is parallel to SN 17.28, where profit is likened to a rope that cuts through skin down to the bone (which is a kind of torture we find in Buddhist descriptions of Hell). The next sūtra uses the example of a monk named Śrīla, who apparently because of greed disrobed and took up a profession that involved killing many beings.
Chapter 13: Profit
EĀ 13.1-2
The “profit is a serious thing” theme continues. In EĀ 13.1, the example of a monk named Surādha is used. This monk was a virtuous forest-dweller like Mahākāśyapa until he became corrupted by the lavish meals served to him by a king. He eventually disrobed and became a butcher of cattle. This name is given to Devadatta’s teacher in EĀ 49.9, but nothing more is said about him there.
EĀ 13.2 is a “cease one thing” sūtra. If the enjoyment of desires is ceased, then the Buddha will bear witness to a monk’s spiritual penetration (presumably referring to the ṛddhis and/or vidyās).
EĀ 13.3
This sūtra is another significant parallel, this time to MN 87. This sūtra is from a genre of avadāna stories that take a layperson as the main character encountering situations that test their faith. Often, this involves debating with non-Buddhists or dealing with skepticism. This story depicts Queen Mālikā coping with a false rumor that makes the Buddha look foolish and having to convince King Prasenajit that it’s not true. This version doesn’t vary much from MN 87, consisting of three episodes: The Buddha encountering a man distraught at having lost his son who spreads a false rumor about him, Queen Mālikā’s messenger being taught by the Buddha, and the Queen’s conversion of the King to the Buddha’s teaching.
The biggest difference here is that Mālikā is praised both by the King and the Buddha. Such praise is entirely lacking in MN 87, which mysteriously ends without a proper conclusion and leaves the King looking like the hero of the story. One is left wondering why.
EĀ 13.4
This sūtra is parallel to SN 22.1. The main character is an elderly layman who is suffering serious illnesses that cause him a great deal of suffering. The Buddha tells him not to rely on the body for his happiness and that people who do are foolish. He should focus on keeping his mind healthy despite the body’s pains. The man decides to ask Śāriputra for a more in depth explanation of this. Śāriputra teaches him to detach from the five aggregates by refusing to identify with them in any way. In this way, the mind can remain happy even as the body deteriorates in old age. Unfortunately, the Chinese translation itself has suffered a fair amount of deterioration, but it analyzes the selflessness of the aggregates with sets of wrong views similar to those found in SN 22.1.
EĀ 13.5
This sūtra is parallel to MN 7, the Simile of the Cloth. This sūtra is important mainly in listing out a large group of mental defilements, which was presumably meant to be comprehensive. In the EĀ version, they are called defiling bonds, and there are 21 of them instead of 13. There’s a large amount of variation in the list from one version to the next when I compare all the parallels, indicating that it was a point of distinction between the schools of Buddhism. The EĀ version is problematic in that the list contains many synonyms that ordinarily mean the same thing, but here they translate technical terms for similar defilements. Without some way to distinguish them, such as a commentary or glossary, it’s impossible to discern the underlying Indic terms precisely.
EĀ 13.6-7
Both of these sūtras depict Śakra the Lord of Gods coming to ask questions. The first sūtra is parallel to SN 11.16, one of the Sagātha suttas. The EĀ version has more than double the number of verses compared to SN, but the content isn’t significantly different. Śakra asks the Buddha which practitioners are the best to give alms. The Buddha replies that it’s the eight ranks of the Saṅgha (the four trainees and four adepts).
The next sūtra, EĀ 13.7, is interesting in that the arhat Subhūti is the main character. Subhūti was made famous by the Prajñāpāramitā writers who chose him as the disciple who understands their teaching (as opposed to Śāriputra, who is more associated with early Abhidharma). Outside of this literature, however, Subhūti is a somewhat obscure character in extant early Buddhist sources.
Here, Subhūti enters a deep meditative trance to solve the problem of severe physical pain that he suffers as a result of old age. Śakra decides to pay Subhūti a visit because of this and sends Pañcaśikha as his messenger to announce his arrival to Subhūti. The centerpiece of the sūtra are the lyrics that Pañcaśikha sings in order to rouse Subhūti from his samādhi. When he wakes, Śakra asks him how his physical pain arose and how it was ceased, to which Subhūti says it’s the result of dependent origination. One needs to apply the right antidote to counteract it and stop the things that give rise to it.
There is a notable passage reminiscent of the Diamond Sūtra which negates a series of concepts that could be taken for a self like a sentient being, person, life, or soul. While we associate it with the Diamond Sūtra today, it was likely an EBT refutation of the personalists (i.e., the “Pudgalavādins”) that happens to not occur in Theravāda suttas (that I know of).
Chapter 14: The Five Precepts
After the previous chapter’s longer sūtras, Chapter 14 settles back into a simple set of ten sūtras dedicated to the five precepts. Each precept is taken up by a pair of sūtras: One says that breaking the precept leads to rebirth in the lower existences of Hell, hungry ghosts, and animals, the next says that keeping the precept brings the merits of humans and gods as well as the attainment of Nirvāṇa. This template is repeated for each precept. I’m not aware of a direct parallel in Pali sources.
That covers what’s been added at Dharma Pearls since April. Thanks to everyone who’s been following this project for the past few years as well as newcomers as well as the generous supporters and interested Dharma friends who make it possible.
17 Likes
Hi @cdpatton, thanks for the translation. To me, it looks like a parallel to SN12.23. However, there are no Chinese parallels listed on SuttaCentral.
3 Likes
Aha! Good catch. Yes, there are parallels that haven’t been discovered. I see them all the time, which is another reason not to take a text lacking a parallel too seriously. Even if none exists today, one probably did at some point. It’s more likely than not, at least.
5 Likes
Yes, well thanks again for the translations. Ironically, I was going through your translations looking for sutras without Pali parallels for a study group. I thought it would be interesting to look at a text that none of us were likely to have read…
4 Likes
Ha I was doing that same recently, but just for myself.
2 Likes