Ud 3.10, Loka Sutta parallels

The final verses of the Vāseṭṭha Sutta, MN 98 and Snp 3.9, are listed as parallels of presumably the last portion of the Loka Sutta. But apart from a few common words it is hard to see here a parallel text, and even the ideas presented therein share little common ground. So I guess the reference was added by mistake.

There are, however, several parallel versions of the Loka Sutta in Sanskrit (‘BHS’) and Tibetan, with English translations available:

  • Mahāvastu, 2.418 (BHS)
    (Translation by J.J. Jones, p. 370-71)
  • Udānavarga, Bhikṣuvarga, 32.33 -32.39 (in Sanskrit)
  • Tibetan Udānavarga, Bhikṣuvarga, 35 -42
    (Translation in ‘Life of the Buddha’ by W.W. Rockhill)

There is a retranslation from Tibetan into Sanskrit of verses 41-42 of the second recension of the UVT by Michael Balk in his ‘Untersuchungen zum Udānavarga’, p. 479, with ample discussion of the verses in the notes to the text. The work is written in German.

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Thanks for the feedback.

I agree, the verse at Ud 3.10#8 is not a parallel with MN 98/Snp 3.9, and this should be removed. @Vimala, when you get the chance, could you look into removing this parallel and adding the ones mentioned?

Thank you so much!
Could you please help me identify the correct passages on our website?

The Mahāvastu is here: https://suttacentral.net/san-lo-mvu
The Udānavarga passage you indicate is here: SuttaCentral
(https://suttacentral.net/uv32/san/bernhard#32.33--32.39)

The Tibetan text is still a work in progress. You can find it here: https://staging.suttacentral.net/xct-uv but the Rockhill translation does not match the version we have in Tibetan (it overlaps for a large part but not exactly so not all verses in Rockhill are exactly the same). What we need is the Tibetan reference and not Rockhill. I’m still working on these parallels. You can also find them here:
https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/index.php?page=volume&vid=71

Note that these verses also have parallels in T210, T212 and T213 and you can find those in the parallels dropdown for Udānavarga 32.33 etc.

Thanks for your help!

A few remarks seem to be in place here. A comparative reading of the Loka Sutta was undertaken by me already some years ago. For the references of the Tibetan version I relied on Michael Balk’s work ‘Untersuchungen zum Udānavarga’. As far as I remember, there are about four different recensions of UVT. So now it depends on which version you are using on SC. It is however likely, that Rockhill used the second recension of UVT, just as Balk did for the reconstruction of verses 41-42 into Sanskrit. There are considerable differences between the different recensions of UVT, as there are between the different versions in BHS, Sanskrit and Pāli as well.
The Mahāvastu version has been retained in prose form, it had not entered the versification process when it was shifted to its present position. In my view it is the version closest to the original, and apart from two problematic readings it has been preserved in a remarkably good condition.
The other versions have suffered from various omissions, substitutions, and alterations in the course of the versification process, but also due to transmission or scribal errors, and to what I would call ‘school-specific preferences’ in interpreting certain passages. The Pāli version takes an intermediate position between Mvs, UV and UVT, as it has been only partially versified. From the different versions the Sanskrit UV has suffered the most in the transmission process through substantial loss of text and consequent reshaping of the material.
I believe the Loka Sutta to be an extremely ancient text, and there are several indications that its location in the canon has been shifted repeatedly. Originally it was certainly not an Udāna text, and it was probably located there only after the versification process began. There are some indications that at least at some stage in its long history it was part of the biographical account of the Buddha, possibly as a discourse to his first disciples.
On SC the Mahāvastu version can be found as the second last paragraph towards the end of ‘The Second Avalokita Sūtra’ just after the verse section. However this part of the Mahāvastu does not belong anymore to the Avalokita Sūtra. It is contained in an independent section with the title ‘The Final Defeat of Māra’.

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Thank you so much for your input and background information.

It is the version by Vidyākaraprabhā and Rin chen mchog.
We hope to get a new version in due time, which is currently being edited.
You can also see these versions here:
https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/index.php?page=volume&vid=71

This would mean that the Tibetan version we have on our site would match verses 865-870 of the 32nd chapter.

That would be here: SuttaCentral

Any information you have you can copy here. It will be very interesting to have!

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