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The Buddhavamsa (-vaṃsa; abbrev. Bv) is a Buddhist scripture, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. It is included there in the Sutta Pitaka's Khuddaka Nikaya. It is a fairly short work in verse, in 28 chapters, detailing aspects of the life of Gautama Buddha and the twenty-four preceding Buddhas. This canonical text, along with the Apadana and Cariyapitaka, has been described as "hagiographical"1 as well as a "latecomer" to the Canon.2
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Summary
The first chapter tells how the Buddha, to demonstrate his psychic powers, creates a jewelled walkway in the sky.3 In seeing this display Ven. Sariputta asks the Buddha:
- "Of what kind, great hero, supreme among men, was your resolve? At what time, wise one, was supreme Awakening aspired to by you? ... Of what kind, wise one, leader of the world, were your ten perfections? How were the higher perfections fulfilled, how the ultimate perfections?"4
In response, the Buddha relays the remainder of the Buddhavamsa.5
In the second chapter he tells how in a distant past life as Sumedha he took a vow to become a Buddha, received a prediction from the then Buddha Dipankara that he would indeed do so and thought out the 10 perfections he would need to practise. The next 23 chapters tell of the intervening 23 Buddhas and the acts of merit that the Buddha performed towards them in his previous lives. Chapter 26 tells of his own life. Chapter 27 summarizes all twenty-five of these Buddhas; it also mentions three Buddhas that preceded Dipankara6 as well as the future Buddha, Metteyya.7 Chapter 28 tells of the distribution of the Buddha's relics after his death.
Translations
- "The lineage of the Buddhas", in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, volume III, 1st edition, tr B. C. Law, 1938
- The Genealogy of the Buddhas, tr M. V. Takin, Bombay University Publications, 1969
- "Chronicle of Buddhas", in Minor Anthologies III (along with "Basket of Conduct (Cariyapitaka)"), 2nd edition, tr I. B. Horner, 1975, Pali Text Society[1], Bristol
See also
Notes
- ^ Hinüber (2000), p. 43.
- ^ See, e.g., Horner (2000), p. x: "It would seem that, however much Bv may be a latecomer to the Pali Canon, or however slight its metrical interest, its merits which may be said to include the clear-cut way in which it organizes its somewhat unusual contents, are in no way thereby diminished."
- ^ Bv I, 5: "Come, I will display the unsurpassed power of a Buddha: in the zenith I will create a Walk adorned with jewels" (Horner, 2000, p. 1).
- ^ Bv I, 74-77 (Horner, 2000, p. 8).
- ^ See Horner (2000), p. 9, n. 1.
- ^ Regarding the three Buddhas who came before Dipankara, Bv XXVII, 1 states: "Immeasurable eons ago there were four guiders away: these Conquerers, Tanhankara, Medhankara, Saranankara and Dipankara the Self-Awakened One were in one eon" (Horner, 2000, p. 96).
- ^ Regarding Metteyya, Bv XXVII, 19: "I [Gautama Buddha] at the present time am the Self-Awakened One, and there will be Metteyya.... (Horner, 2000, p. 97).
Sources
- Hinüber, Oskar von (2000). A Handbook of Pāli Literature. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016738-7.
- Horner, I.B. (trans.) (1975; reprinted 2000). The Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon (Part III): 'Chronicle of Buddhas' (Buddhavamsa) and 'Basket of Conduct' (Cariyapitaka). Oxford: Pali Text Society. ISBN 0-86013-072-X.
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