This essay is an offshoot of research done for the completion of my study of MN 1 and its parallels. The title of MN 1 and EĀ 44.6 was “the root of all things” (P. sabbadhammamūla, C. 一切諸法之本), which naturally led to the side question: What exactly does this title mean? A first step in such a question is to survey the usage of the phrase or term involved to see what the broader context might have been.
One meaning is used in praising the Buddha as the “root of teachings.” This usage occurs in a standardized introduction in which the Buddha questions a monk or group of monks about a subject. When they don’t know the answer, they sometimes praise the Buddha as the ultimate authority and ask him to explain it for them. This interaction is typical of teachers assessing their student’s understanding and retention of previous lessons, and occurs in classroom settings in the present day.
In Pali sources, the monks sometimes praise the Buddha with the expression bhagavaṁmūlakā no, bhante, dhammā bhagavaṁnettikā bhagavaṁpaṭisaraṇā, which translates to “The Bhagavān is the root of our Dharma, the Bhagavān is our guide, and the Bhagavān is our refuge!”
Equivalent expressions are found in Āgama sources as well in the same context of inviting the Buddha to provide a teaching on a topic. In MĀ, the expression is “the Bhagavān is the Dharma root, the Bhagavān is the Dharma lord, and the Dharma is based on the Bhagavān” (世尊為法本，世尊為法主，法由世尊).
In SĀ, we see a variation of the expression: “The Bhagavān is the Dharma root, the Dharma eye, and the Dharma refuge” ( 世尊法根、法眼、法依). The alternate translation of SĀ has the expression “the Bhagavān is the Dharma root, the Dharma guide, and the Dharma refuge” (世尊是法根本，是法之導，法所依憑).
In EĀ, we find a simpler expression that doesn’t add more epithets: “What the Tathāgata teaches is the root of Dharmas” (諸法之本，如來所說) or “the Bhagavān is the root of Dharmas; nothing stated by the Tathāgata is not accepted” (世尊是諸法之本，如來所陳，靡不承受).
It would seem that this motif may be the remnant of an oral transmission lineage that was amplified in a couple different ways. The variations of the second and third epithets as meaning “eye” or “guide” and “refuge” or “basis” can be explained as confusions between similar Prakrit words[1], but we also see in EĀ a tradition that didn’t add these additional terms.
This motif is similar to the standard outro found at the end of most EĀ sūtras (which I wrote about previously) as a way of documenting the old oral tradition as it still exists today. In this case, the motif is only one type of standard intro that would naturally be limited to a certain narrative in which the Buddha puts a question to a student. This is likely the reason it’s not found in DN or DĀ (though it is found in MĀ 97, which was a DN/DĀ parallel). The narratives in DN/DĀ usually involve interlocutors who are lay people or non-Buddhists.
In case it turns out to be significant in the bigger picture, I did my best to document every instance of this motif in both the Nikāyas and Āgamas. I then compared them to see if they agree in containing this motif and placed the results into the table below.
When a parallel has no introduction, I place it in () to indicate that it might have lost the parallel passage if the intro was removed.
If the parallel has an intro that doesn’t include the parallel phrase, then I place a “-” in its place.
If no parallel is known for a text, then I indicate that with a “?”.
| Pali Sutta | Āgama Sūtra |
|---|---|
| MN 46 | (MĀ 175, T83) |
| MN 47 | MĀ 186 |
| MN 68 | MĀ 77 |
| MN 122 | MĀ 191 |
| (AN 7.15) | MĀ 4 |
| - | MĀ 81 |
| - | MĀ 97 |
| SN 12.19 | SĀ 294 |
| SN 12.51 | (SĀ 292) |
| SN 16.3 | SĀ 1136, SĀ-2.111 |
| SN 16.4 | (SĀ 1137, SĀ-2.112) |
| SN 22.58 | SĀ 75 |
| SN 22.150 | SĀ 146 |
| SN 22.151 | SĀ 133/SĀ 142 |
| SN 22.152 | SĀ 152 |
| SN 22.153-8 | ? |
| SN 24.1 | SĀ 164 |
| SN 24.2 | SĀ 133/SĀ 142 |
| SN 24.3 | SĀ 152 |
| SN 24.4 | ? |
| SN 24.5 | SĀ 154-6 |
| SN 24.6 | SĀ 162 |
| SN 24.7 | SĀ 157-60 |
| SN 24.8 | SĀ 161, 163 |
| SN 24.9-18 | SĀ 168 |
| SN 24.19 | SĀ 164 |
| SN 24.20-36 | ? |
| SN 24.37-44 | SĀ 166-7 |
| SN 24.45 | SĀ 164 |
| SN 24.46-96 | ? |
| SN 35.105 | SĀ 146 |
| SN 35.108 | SĀ 149-51 |
| SN 35.153 | ? |
| SN 36.6 | SĀ 470 |
| SN 36.16 | - |
| SN 36.18 | - |
| SN 48.43 | ? |
| SN 48.45-8 | ? |
| SN 48.53 | ? |
| SN 51.14 | ? |
| SN 51.28 | ? |
| SN 51.30-2 | ? |
| SN 54.14 | - |
| SN 54.16 | - |
| (SN 22.43) | SĀ 36 |
| ? | SĀ 80 |
| ? | SĀ 82-3 |
| (SN 22.46) | SĀ 85 |
| ? | SĀ 136 |
| ? | SĀ 139 |
| ? | SĀ 145 |
| ? | SĀ 147-8 |
| - | SĀ 153 |
| ? | SĀ 165 |
| ? | SĀ 169-71 |
| - | SĀ 199 |
| ? | SĀ 203 |
| ? | SĀ 313 |
| ? | SĀ 321 |
| ? | SĀ 362 |
| - | SĀ 363-5 |
| - | SĀ 478 |
| (AN 10.21) | SĀ 684 |
| - | SĀ 737 |
| - | SĀ 1140, SĀ-2.115 |
| AN 3.68 | (EĀ 21.7, EĀ-2.45) |
| AN 8.6 | ? |
| AN 8.83 | (MĀ 113, T59) |
| AN 9.1 | (MĀ 57) |
| AN 10.58 | (MĀ 113, T59) |
| AN 11.19 | ? |
| ? | EĀ 3.1-10 |
| (SN 17.23-4) | EĀ 9.1-2 |
Notes
- Some of the confusion may derive from the fact that S. netra (= P. netta) can mean “eye” as well as “guide.” This would explain SĀ’s second term being translated as “eye” (眼). Confusions between similar words like P. netti and neti and their cognates in other Prakrits and Sanskrit probably lead to the root netra acquiring multiple meanings like “eye,” “leader,” and “guide.” Which we then see in varying translations to Chinese. A similar case of confusion between S. pratisaraṇa and pratiśaraṇa can explain the changing readings of the third term as “based upon” or “refuge.” It’s easy to see from this example why Buddhists eventually decided to adopt canonical languages like Sanskrit and Pali to stop the confusion caused by translation between vernacular languages.