Virtue and Relationships in A Theravadin Biography of The Bodhisatta Sotatthakimahanidana

INFORMATION TO USERS
This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films
the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and
dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of
computer printer.
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the

copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations
and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper
alignment can adversely affect reproduction.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized
copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.
Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by

sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing
from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps.
Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced

xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white
photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing
in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order.
Bell & Howell Information and Learning

300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA
800-521-0600
R e p ro d u c e d with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
H A R V A R D U N IV ER SIT Y
G ra d u a te S c h o o l o f A r ts a n d S c ie n c e s
TH ESIS A C C E P T A N C E C ER TIFIC A TE
The undersigned, appointed by the
Division
Department
Com m ittee 0 n th e S tu d y o f R e lig io n
have exam ined a thesis entitled

V irtu e and R e la tio n s h ip s in a Theravadin Biography
o f th e B o d h isa tta : A Stu dy o f th e Sotatthakim ahanidana
presented by K aren D e r r is
candidate for the degree o f D octor o f Philosophy and hereby

certify that it is worthy of acceptance.
Signature
Typed
Signature....
Typed name
Sigtmtun
Typed nam e...
Date S ep t e ® b er 1 1 , 2000
R e p ro d u c e d with perm ission of the copyright owner. Fu rth er reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Virtue and Relationships in a Theravadin Biography of the Bodhisatta:
A Study of the SotatthakTmahdnidana
A thesis presented
by
Karen Anne Derris
to
The Committee on the Study of Religion
In partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the subject of
Option II: Buddhism
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
September 2000
UMI Number: 9988615
Copyright 2000 by
Derris, Karen Anne
All rights reserved.
UMI’
UMI Microform9988615
Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company.
All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.
Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company

300 North Zeeb Road
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346
© 2000 by Karen Anne Derris
All rights reserved
Advisor: Charles Hailisey Karen Anne Derris
Virtue and Relationships in a Theravadin Biography of the Bodhisatta:

A Study of the SotatthakTmahdnidana
Abstract
This thesis examines the vision of the Bodhisatta Gotama’s career described in the
SotatthakTmahdnidana (SotatthakT), a Pali work known in the medieval Theravadin
world. My study of the SotatthakT focuses upon the ethical dimensions of predictions,
vyakarana, and the significance of relationships in the ethical development of the
Bodhisatta.
Chapters one and two of this thesis explore the earliest stages of the bodhisatta
career described in the Sotatthakfs extended biography. In chapter one, I investigate the
SotatthakVs vision of how a person becomes a bodhisatta and is thereby transformed from
an ordinary person with ethical failings to a being who comes to exemplify extraordinary
virtues as he evolves into a bodhisatta. I demonstrate that the SotatthakT imagines this to
be a relational rather than a solitary process. That is, the Bodhisatta can only advance on
the bodhisatta path through the help of a network of other beings who support his
development in various ways.
Chapter two examines the SotatthakTs elaboration of the prediction of
buddhahood by the addition of several prelim in ary predictions in the extended biography.
I consider how the preliminary predictions create the opportunity for the Bodhisatta to
enter into particular relationships with multiple Buddhas during the course of his
development as a bodhisatta. It is in the context of these relationships that the
Bodhisatta’s identity as a buddha, the Buddha Gotama, begins to be formulated.
In chapter three I consider how to read the anthologized elements quoted in the
SotatthakT as a part of the total narrative created by this text. Even though the
Buddhavamsa is quoted without substantial alterations or direct commentary, the
SotatthakT substantially refashions how one reads and understands the Buddhavamsa
narrative by embedding it within the total expanded biography of the Bodhisatta. I
demonstrate that, in the SotatthakT, one reads the Buddhavamsa through the pre-Sumedha
stories, highlighting the importance of relationships in the prediction events narrated in
the Buddhavamsa.
Chapter four analyzes the kinds of relationships that are created by predictions. I
argue that the predictions create three kinds of communities: communities of the self (the
Bodhisatta's relationships with himself), communities of bodhisattas, and communities of
ordinary beings (the Bodhisatta's relationships with the majority of all beings who do not
take bodhisatta vows). Examining the Bodhisatta in the context of each of these
communities, I demonstrate the constantly shifting hierarchies between these different
ethical actors who participate in continuous exchanges of beneficence and reciprocity.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................1
The Buddha Biography........................................................................................................................................ I
.
The Extended Biography................................................... 3
The Pre-Sumedha Stories...................................................................................................................................... 5
The SotatthakTs literary context___________ 7
Reading Strategies............................................................................................................................... 11
Biography o f the Bodhisatta ................................................................................................................. L5
The SotatthakTs historical context...................................................................................................................... L6
Themes o f the dissertation__________________________________________
FORMULATING THE PAST: THE PROCESS OF ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT

26
L Introduction: How did the Bodhisatta become a bodhisatta?— .............. ....................... ....................—26
The extended narrative o f the Bodhisatta's career. ................................ 34
H. Finding a Bodhisatta: The arising of the first aspiration for buddhahood.—.......... — ........— 35
The aspiration as generic and eternal.................. 42
The aspiration as particular and finite...................... 45
The aspiration’s power_______________________________________________ 63
iti. The eight conditions: ^tnhdotes to ethical 1ings..................................... ............. ■■■»■«».....66
IV. Conclusion: Particular agents, universal objects_________ _________ _______—.............— .— 83
POINTING TO THE FUTURE: THE PRELIMINARY PREDICTIONS.............. 88
L Introduction: Developing the prediction of buddhahood ---- — — ............ 88
H. The Preliminary Predictions: a typology ... tt...........................................91

The predicted prediction________________________________ ....------------------------------------------------ 93
The process o f making the predicted prediction----------------------------------------------------------------------- 96
The Bodhisatta and the two DTpankaras___________________________________ 99
The expanded biography of Later DTpankara--------------------------------------------------------------------------103
The conditional prediction------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------105
The facilitators o f the conditional prediction-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 110
EH. Formulating the Bodhisatta's identity as a buddha.................. 113

A growing physical resemblance---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 115
Choosing a name----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 117
THE DEFINED FUTURE: THE GUARANTEE OF ETHICAL PERFECTION. 127
L Introduction: Reading the Story o f Sumedha through the SotatthakT ................ ~127
EL Positioning the "Sumedhakatha" in the SotatthakT..................................................— ..........— 130

Nidanas_______________________________________________________________________________133
The Buddhavamsa —a fluid text.__________________________________________________________ 138
IU . The Bodhisatta's lifetim e as Sumedha: Living in isolation vs. com m unity......____________ ___ -.142
The evolution o f the Bodhisatta’s aspiration_________________________________________ 14-7
iV . Making the first full prediction o f huddhahood ».«.»»..»»..»........la2
V. When now is then: Making the future present 159
VI. Meeting the Buddha DTpankara again: Making the past present ------- -------------- -— ....— 163
VII. The role of the assembly: Inhabiting the future 166
v m . The prediction as the pinnacle o f the Bodhisatta's career: The Bodhisatta experiences his
budd ha hood 17^
IX. The repetition o f the prediction.^^...................................— —.^.—...^...........^..............................f 81

The importance o f forgetting_________________________________________________________ 185
COMMUNITIES OF BENEFICENCE....................................................................... 191
I. Introduction: Communities created by predictions....— ...»—.— ............. —....................191
II. The Community of the S elf— ...-------- — .....................— ........------- —----- ------------- ---------195
The Gaze o f Oneself......................................................................................................
The Gaze from Another.--------------------------------------------------------------
m . Communities o f Bodhisattas ................. — ------— 205

Identity and Difference Among Bodhisattas_________________________________________________209
The Bodhisattas Gotama and Metteyya------------------------------------------------------
The Bodhisattas o f the Bhadda kappa ....------- — ................................ -226
.
IV. The Community o f Ordinary Beings ...............................................
Originating moments o f beneficence____________________________________ 234
An unbounded reciprocity: the virtues o f the Bodhisatta---------------------------------------------------------- 243
A community existing through time------------------------------------------------------------------ 245
V. Conclusion: Exemplary Virtues................... 251
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................. 255
BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................... 264
Acknowledgments
It is with great pleasure and deeply felt gratitude that I acknowledge the help and
care of the many people who have supported me in my work on this dissertation. The
generosity and dedication of this diverse community has sustained me.
My profound thanks go to my teacher and advisor, Professor Charles Hallisey,
with whom I have had the privilege of studying for the entirety of my graduate education.
Charlie taught me how to think broadly and also deeply about Buddhist traditions. Under
his tutelage, I have enjoyed endless hours of challenging conversation and the delights of
reading Buddhist literature together. He is a truly remarkable teacher and this
dissertation is shaped in many countless ways by his work. Charlie has supported me in
my studies, intellectual development, and professional growth in every way possible —I
consider myself most fortunate to be his student.
I thank Professor Stanley Tambiah for his ongoing support of my studies
throughout my graduate school career. Professor Tambiah’s insightful insights into my
project have been a deep source of inspiration, as have been his foundational works on
the Theravadin Buddhist world. The initial idea for this dissertation was formulated in a
seminar paper in one of Professor Tambiah's courses and his perspectives have helped me
see new possibilities and dimensions of my project throughout its many stages.
I also feel very lucky for the help and involvement of Professor Janet Gyatso in
my work. Janet's always insightful comments continually challenge me to think deeper
and with greater sophistication about the range of issues in the dissertation. Her
R e p ro d u c e d with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
scholarship has been a model I aspire to work towards. I thank Janet for the time and care
with which she has shared her always important perspectives with me.
I have been fortunate to benefit from many extraordinary teachers throughout my
education in the study of religion and Buddhist studies. I wish to thank Professor Diana
Eck for her support of my academic career and her generous mentoring. Professor Eck
has served as an inspiring model of a scholar and public intellectual. I would also like to
thank my teachers at Brown University who first inspired my studies as an undergraduate
—Profess John Reader with whom I first studied Religious Ethics and Professor Harold
Roth who was my first teacher in Buddhist studies. I look back on my foundational years
of training with great pleasure and gratitude.
Many great scholars generously aided me in my study of Pali literature during my
year of study in Bangkok, Thailand. I thank, first of all, Professor Arjan Banjop
Bannaruji of Chulalongkom University who read Pali literature with me throughout my
stay. I benefited greatly from his teachings and his perspectives on Pali texts and
Theravadin thought. Arjan Banjop introduced me to the SotatthakT and I began my study
of this text with him. His kindness to me greatly enriched my time in Thailand. I
likewise thank Professor Aq'an Suwanna Satha-Anand and Professor Arjan Prapod
Assavavirulhakam also of Chulalongkom University. I greatly benefited from several
insightful conversations with Arjan Suwanna who challenged me to further questions
some of the assumptions I brought to my project. Her perspectives have had a deep
impact on this study. She invited me to participate in a lecture series at Chulalongkom
where I benefited from hearing the works of many Thai scholars and intellectuals.
Likewise, Arjan Prapod together with Mr. Peter Skilling welcomed me to participate in
an ongoing seminar of Theravadin scholars. It was a privilege to be among them. I
extend deeply felt thanks to Peter who aided me in my studies in Thailand in so many
ways. He generously extended himself to my husband, Ed, and me throughout our stay,
sharing his wealth of knowledge, information, and books with us, taking us for wonderful
meals, always fascinating outings, and answering our never ending questions on a
limitless range of topics. We thank him for his guidance and friendship.
I have also profoundly benefited from learning from my peers and friends
throughout my graduate education. To Natalie Gummer and Suzanne Mrozik, treasured
intellectual companions, I thank you both for your insightful comments and input on this
project and your unending support and enthusiasm. I thank Natalie and Suzanne both for
their comments on different stages of this project. I also thank Beatrice Chrystall, a dear
friend, for her many forms of assistance on this project; her help was invaluable to
completing the dissertation. I also enjoyed pleasurable and stimulating conversations
with Anne Blackburn, Steve Berkwitz, Nathan Rein and Nancy Levine. Each shared
important perspectives on this project that inspired thought and reflection. I thank Anne
especially for her support
I am grateful to many institutions that provided me with the financial support to
pursue dissertation research and writing. I thank the Woodrow Wilson Foundation for
awarding me a Charlotte W. Newcombe Fellowship for the final year of dissertation
writing, Harvard University for a Harvard Sheldon Traveling Fellowship which
supported my stay in Thailand, as well as a Mellon Dissertation start-up grant and a
Mellon summer language grant. I am also grateful to Harvard's Asia Center for a travel
grant that enabled me to pursue research in Southeast Asia.
I have been supported by a loving family and friends throughout my studies and
particularly during the dissertation. To Beatrice and Rich thank you for sharing your
home with me on many occasions during my stays in Cambridge. To Natalie and John
thank you for giving me a home away from home. To Carole Bundy and Katherine
Jaeger, thank you for all kinds of assistance always offered with friendly enthusiasm that
brightened even the dreariest of days. To my father, David Derris, and my sister, Alison
Salomon, thank you for your unending love and support. Many a late night phone call to
my dad and visit with my sister and her family raised up falling spirits. To my aunt,
Marjorie Weinberg-Berman and Paul Berman I am extremely grateful for your many
kinds of support, unending enthusiasm, and incredible hospitality. You have always
made Ed and I feel very well cared for. To my Murphy-Alvarez family thank you for
your care, love, and encouragement. I am fortunate to be a part of this family.
Words can not express my respect, gratitude, and love for my best friend and
husband, Edward J. Murphy. Ed has been my constant companion, dedicated friend, and
unfailing support through all of this. He has taught me to believe in myself, and
stubbornly continued to believe in me and my work at the times when I could not. Ed
took time away from his own growing career to spend a year with me in Southeast Asia.
His infectious enthusiasm for every new experience, expert trip planning, and boundless
intellectual curiosity enriched our time living and traveling in Southeast Asia in every
possible way. In matters of detailed practicalities Ed has been my unfailing friend and
helper —line-editing draft after draft of this dissertation, fixing computer crises, and
talking through every argument. I could never have dreamed of a friend so true or a love
so dear as Ed. This dissertation is dedicated to him.
R e p ro d u c e d with perm ission of the copyright owner. Fu rther reproduction prohibited without permission.
Abbreviations
Gv Gandhavamsa
Ja Jataka
Jinak Jinakalamali
Jina-m Jinamahdniddna
Jinal Jinalahkdra
DN Digha Nikaya
Pannasa-ja Pannasa-jdtaka
Path am Pathamasambodhi
Pj II Paramatthajotika II
Bv Buddhavamsa
BvA Buddhavamsatthakatha (MadhuratthavilasinT)
Mang-d MahgaladTpanT
Mhv Mahavamsa
Mil Milindapahha
Vis Visuddhimagga
Ss Sarasangaha
Sv SumahgalavilasinT
Sum SotatthakTmahdnidana
Introduction
This thesis is a study of a Theravadin biography of a bodhisatta. Specifically, I
examine the vision of the Bodhisatta Gotama’s career described in the
SotatthakTmahdnidana (SotatthakT),1a Pali work known in the medieval Theravadin
world. My study of the SotatthakT focuses upon the ethical dimensions of predictions,
vyakarana, and the significance of relationships in the ethical development of the
Bodhisatta.
Before presenting the arguments and themes that structure my study of the
SotatthakT, I first want to locate the SotatthakT alongside other Pali biographies of the
Buddha, next describe my interpretative approach, and then turn to a discussion of the
historical evidence for the SotatthakT,
The Buddha Biography
The SotatthakT emerged late in the development of the Pali biographical traditions
of the Buddha.2 This productive genre evolved over an extended period of centuries.
Disparate elements narrating segments of the Buddha’s life and his previous existences
were compiled into a single Buddha biography of the Buddha by the 5th or 6th century in
the Jdtaka Nidanakatha, the introduction to the commentary of the Jataka. From its early
1 Banjop Bannaruji, ecL, SotatthakTmahaniddna (Bangkok: Privately printed, 2526/1983.) (Hereafter cited
as Serin)
2 For a comprehensive study o f the historical development o f the Buddha biography and the place o f Pali
biographies within this development see Frank E. Reynolds, "The Many Lives o f Buddha: A study o f
Sacred Biography and Theravada Tradition." in The Biographical Process: Studies in the History and
Psychology o f Religion, ed. Frank E. Reynolds and Donald Capps (Mouton: The Hague, 1976), 37-61.
stages of development, the biographical tradition has included not only the life story of
the Buddha Gotama (Sakyamuni) but his previous lifetimes as well. The accounts of his
previous lifetimes describe the bodhisatta path leading to buddhahood; these are the
stories of the Bodhisatta Gotama, before he became a Buddha. The SotatthakT, as we will
see, is intimately familiar with other biographies and creatively re-imagines the stories of
the Gotama's career as the Bodhisatta, the focal point of the SotatthakTs narrative.
The foundational Pali sources for the stories of the Bodhisatta’s career are the
Jdtaka and the Buddhavamsa traditions; the jdtaka stories and the Buddhavamsa describe
distinct but related aspects of the Bodhisatta Gotama's career.
The Buddhavamsa (“the lineage of Buddhas,” part of the Khuddaka Nikaya of the
Pali Tipitaka) narrates a series of the Buddha Gotama’s previous lifetimes when over the
course of twenty-four rebirths he sequentially meets twenty-four Buddhas who predict his
future buddhahood. Starting from the dramatic reception of his first prediction from the
Buddha DTpankara in his lifetime as Sumedha, this biography of the Bodhisatta’s career
culminates in Gotama’s final lifetime in our era when he becomes the Buddha Gotama.
The jatakas, an evolving narrative tradition based on sets of verses that are among
the earliest “biographical” materials in Pali, narrate the Bodhisatta’s lifetimes when no
buddhas3 were present in the world.'1The jdtaka lifetimes, in the development of the
Buddha biography, came to be set within the temporal narrative framework of the
3 1 cap fra)?7e Bodhisatta and Buddha when I am referring to a particular figure; bodhisatta and buddha are
in the lower case when I am making reference to these two classes o f beings.
* Richard Gombrich points out that one o f the twenty-four lifetimes narrated in the Buddhavamsa overlaps
with the Jdtaka stories, and thus, in that lifetime, the Bodhisatta did meet a B uddha. See Richard
Gombrich, "The Significance o f Former Buddhas in the Theravadin Tradition," in Buddhist Studies in
Honour o f Walpola Rahula, ed. Somaratna Balasooriya, et al. (London; Gordon Fraser, 1980), 69.
Bodhisatta’s career created by the Buddhavamsa. That is, the 547jatakci5 stories narrated
in the Jdtaka commentary take place between the Bodhisatta's lifetime as Sumedha, the
starting point of the Buddhavamsa, and his final lifetime when he becomes the Buddha
Gotama, the Buddhavamsa's conclusion; in this way, the Buddhavamsa establishes a
temporal framework for the entire Buddha biography.
The Extended Biography
In his important article on the historical development of the Buddha biography,
"The Many Lives of the Buddha," Frank Reynolds describes the continuing evolution of
the Theravadin Buddha biography. One trajectory was to expand upon the material in
the earlier biographical works (especially the Jdtaka Niddnakatha) by compiling and
creating fuller accounts of the Buddha Gotama's life and teaching career.4
Alongside this expanded biography, there is another —equally important though
less well known —development of the biography of the Buddha, one which I will term
the “extended biography.”7 The SotatthakT is a part of this type of biographical tradition,
which extends the narrative frame of the biography farther back into the past from its
traditional starting point. The Buddhavamsa remains a central element of these extended
biographies which incorporate its narrative into the total biography of the Bodhisatta’s
s Frank Reynolds discusses the variations o f the number o f stories in different jataka collections. In
Southeast Asia some collections contain 500 stories while others contain 550. See Frank E. Reynolds,
"Rebirth Traditions and the Lineages of Gotama: A Study in Theravada Buddhology," in Sacred
Biography in the Buddhist Traditions o f South and Southeast Asia, ed. Juliane Schober (Honolulu:
University o f Hawaii Press, 1997), 22.
4 Rank E. Reynolds, "The Many Lives of the Buddha,” 50-55.
7 In "The Many Lives o f the Buddha," Reynolds refers to the elaboration of the accounts o f the Buddha
Gotama as an extension o f the biography. I am shifting his terminology here, referring to this development
as "expanded" in order to differentiate the biographical works which extend the biography farther into the
past as a distinct type o f biography.
-4-
career. The extended biographies summarize, anthologize, or quote verbatim, often at
great length, from the Buddhavamsa.
Not content with the Buddhavanisa's starting point, the extended biographies,
including the SotatthakT, develop the biography of the Bodhisatta’s career by imagining
the stages of the bodhisatta path prior to the DTpankara-Sumedha story and in doing so
add new dimensions to the Theravadin view of the bodhisatta and the bodhisatta career.
The extended biography of the Bodhisatta's career gained currency in the later
period of Theravadin literature in both Pali and vernacular works, demonstrating a
continued engagement with and expansion of the Buddhavamsa narrative. While my
project is focused on the SotatthakT, a Pali text, this choice should not suggest a
prioritization of Pali sources over others; I want to stress that this is a pan-Theravadin
literary movement in the ongoing development of the Buddha biography involving both
Pali, as a trans-local prestige language, and local vernaculars.
In addition to the SotatthakT, both the Mahdsampindanidana, a biography of the
Bodhisatta very similar in form and content to the SotatthakT,8 and the JinakdlamdlT, a
16th century Lan Na Pali chronicle,9recast the Buddhavamsa narrative in this fashion,
expanding the Bodhisatta’s career farther into the past. Sinhalese works such as the
Saddharmalahkardya and the Saddharma Ratnavaliya follow this extended narration of
the Bodhisatta’s career.10 In his article on the developing theories of past and future
8 Mahdsampindanidana, unpublished transcription by Venerable Nanavasa. I am grateful to Peter Skilling

who generously provided me with a copy o f this transcription. According to Toshiichi Endo, Ven.
Nanavasa dated the Mahdsampindaniddna to the 6th -12 centuries, thus, the origins o f this text is
unknown. See Toshiichi Endo, Buddha in Theravada Buddhism; A Study o f the Concept o f Buddha in the
Pali Commentaries (Nedimala, Dehiwela: Systematic Print, 1997), 245.
9 Ratanapanna, Thera, JinakdlamdlTS, P. Buddhadatta, ed., (London: The Pali Text Society, 1962.)
(hereafter cited as Jinak.) English translation by: N . A. Jayawickrama, trans.. The SheafGarland o f the
Epochs o f the Conqueror (London: The Pali Text Society, 1968.)
10 K. D. Somadasa, Catalogue o f the Hugh Nevill Collection o f Sinhalese Manuscripts in the British
Buddhas, Peter Skilling cites a number of vernacular works from Southeast Asia which
also contain the extended biographical format composed in Burmese, Khun, and Lan Na
Thai.11
The Pre-Sumedha Stories
The extended biography of the Bodhisatta Gotama's career is narrated in the Pali
and vernacular works through a recurring set of six stories about his lifetimes prior to his
rebirth as Sumedha. This shared set of stories describes the Bodhisatta’s lifetimes before
he was reborn as Sumedha, the first lifetime narrated in the Buddhavamsa. In this thesis,
I refer to these narratives as the “pre-Sumedha stories" in order to indicate that they are a
common corpus found in the extended biographies.
These pre-Sumedha stories contained in the SotatthakT; Mahdsampindaniddna,
and the Jinakalamdll all follow the same broad narrative outlines: they tell the tales of the
same characters, shown in similar circumstances, and having the same experiences.
However, the pre-Sumedha stories in these three texts are far from identical. Each work
presents its own version of these stories; details are emphasized in one version that are
absent from another, and different events are accentuated.
It is important to recognize that while a common set of stories structure the
narration of the extended biography of the Bodhisatta's career, there are important
variations between the different versions of these stories found in both Pali and
vernacular works. It is clear that these stories of the Bodhisatta Gotama’s earliest
lifetimes —that is, prior to the starting point of his traditional biography narrated by the
Library, (London: Pali Text Society and the British Library,1989), 2:4.
II Peter Skilling, "The Sambuddhe verses and later Theravadin Buddhology,” Journal o f the Pali Text
Reproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Fu rther reproduction prohibited without permission.
Buddhavamsa and Jdtaka traditions —expressed significant medieval Theravadin ideas
about the Bodhisatta and demonstrate an interest in more fully knowing his career as a
bodhisatta.
There are exceptions to the collection of the pre-Sumedha stories as a standard
corpus of stories. For example, the Pannasa Jdtaka, a collection of apocryphal Pali
jdtaka stories popular in Thailand and known throughout Theravadin Southeast Asia
from the 15th century,12contains a version of just one of the pre-Sumedha stories, the
story of the princess who is half-sister to the Buddha Former DTpankara. Thus, this story,
at least, was known outside of the context of the corpus of pre-Sumedha stories and the
extended biography.
Each of the Pali works containing the pre-Sumedha stories creates its own
distinct depiction of the Bodhisatta through variations in how the pre-Sumedha stories are
told, but they also create a different vision of the Bodhisatta, because the pre-Sumedha
stories are incorporated into texts with different narrative agendas; for example, the
Sotatthala is a biography, while the JinakalamdlT is a chronicle. Each work needs to be
studied in its own right before a useful comparison between the extended biographies of
the Bodhisatta can profitably be made. I can take only the initial steps to trace
connections between these Pali works, and only when such comparisons are helpful in
illuminating aspects of the Sotatthala; This thesis is offered as an initial step in a larger
Society, 22 (1996): 164.

12There are several overlapping collections o f apocryphaljdtaka stories in Southeast Asia that are titled the
Pannasa Jdtaka the edition by the Pali Text Society is based on manuscripts from Burma. P. S. Jaini, ed.,
Pannasa Jdtaka, 2 vols. (London; The Pali Text Society, 1981-1983.) For an English translation see: LB.
Homer and P. S. Jaini, trans.. Apocryphal Birth Stories, vol. I (London: Pali Text Society, 1985); P. S.
Jaini, trans., Apocryphal Birth Stories, Vol. 2 (London: Pali Text Society, 1986.) The story o f the princess
is entitled the "Padlpadanajataka" see P. S. Jaini, trans., Pannasa Jdtaka, voL 2,396-402.
project of studying the later Theravadin biographical works that hold the pre-Sumedha
stories and extended narrative frame of the Bodhisatta's career in common.
The extended biographies and pre-Sumedha stories have been introduced into the
secondary literature in articles by Frank Reynolds, Peter Skilling, and Richard Gombrich,
who have all pointed to the sub-genre of the extended biography. Richard Gombrich has
explored two Sinhala versions of the first of the pre-Sumedha stories13and Peter Skilling
has analyzed the extended narrative frame of these biographies as a late stage in the
developing theories of past and future Buddhas.14 Frank Reynolds has given a summary
of the six pre-Sumedha stories in his article on the lineages of the Buddha biography.15
The Sotatthala and the Mahdsampindaniddna, like many later Pali works, are
relatively unknown in Western scholarship, which has made it difficult for scholarly
attention to focus on the pre-Sumedha stories and the extended biography of the Buddha.
There are many likely reasons for this oversight, chief among them an entrenched
preference in Western Buddhist studies for research on early Pali works and a lack of
interest in, or understanding of, the significance of the bodhisatta in the Theravada.
The SotatthakTs literary context
The Sotatthala demonstrates the medieval Theravadin fascination with the figure
of the bodhisatta. I argue that this text presents a unique vision of the Bodhisatta Gotama
through its narration of his career; this is a significant refashioning of the Bodhisatta, as
he is imagined in the Buddhavamsa as well as the later commentarial works. The
13 Richard Gombrich, "Feminine Elements in Sinhalese Buddhism” Wiener Zeitschriftfu r die Kimde
Siidasiens 16 (1972): 67-93; Gombrich, "The Significance o f Former Buddhas in Theravada Buddhism,"70.
1-4Skilling, "The Sambuddhe Verses and Later Theravadin Buddhology," 161-168; 177-183.
15 Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions and the Lineages o f Gotama,” 29-30.
SotatthakT narrates the entirety of the Bodhisatta Gotama’s career from the time of his
first aspiration for buddhahood up until his final lifetime when he becomes the Buddha
Gotama.
The SotatthakTs biography begins with an explanation of the measurements of
time used in describing the length of a bodhisatta's career. An overview of the entire
career of the Bodhisatta Gotama is then told in verse directly preceding the narration of
the pre-Sumedha stories. Following these narratives, the SotatthakT quotes the
Buddhavamsa narratives of the Bodhisatta’s encounter with the twenty-four Buddhas who
bestow a prediction of buddhahood upon him.
The work concludes with nine short chapters on a variety of buddhological
subjects: some are also drawn from the Buddhavamsa, such as the chapter on the
differences between Buddhas, and a very abbreviated account of his final lifetime as
Gotama Buddha (the "Santikenidana") while others chapters discuss the three kinds of
bodhisattas who are distinguished by their excellence in wisdom, faith, and energy;
another returns to a discussion of time; and a concluding section lists the name of the ten
future buddhas predicted by the Buddha Gotama.
The work contains at least three voices: the compiler/narrator, brief quotations,
and extended quotations from the Buddhavamsa. The quotations from all of these
sources, including the Buddhavamsa, are all unnamed. The longest anthologized element,
comprising approximately a third of the entire text, is easily identified as the
Buddhavamsa, but the Buddhavamsa commentary and the Jdtaka Niddnakatha are also
quoted. In many instances, the author-compiler o f the Sotatthala introduces a quotation
from another source but in no case does he cite his source by title or author.
-9-
While I argue for the importance of reading the Sotatthala as a composite text, my
interest in reading the SotatthakT is not to dissect this text in order to retrieve the sources
it draws upon in creating its narrative. Instead, my goal to read the SotatthakT as a
coherent biography of the Bodhisatta.
The SotatthakT and the other extended biographies of the Bodhisatta's career attest
to the continued importance of the Buddhavamsa in the Theravadin literature as
recognized by Frank Reynolds. Reynolds argues, "It is difficult to overemphasize the
importance that the lineage of Buddhas that we are able to glimpse in the Buddhavamsa
has had in the later development of Theravada Buddhology and sacred history. Most
subsequent author-compilers of various Theravada biographical and "historical" texts
have utilized some version or adaptation of this lineage of Buddhas as their entree into
the particular narratives that they are concerned to relate."16The Buddhavamsa is one of
the Pali texts that authors-compilers continued to engage with throughout the history of
the composition of Pali works.
Despite the continued formative influence of the Buddhavamsa in Theravadin
literature recognized by Reynolds, this text has largely been ignored by scholars of the
Theravada.17In part this is due to a prejudice in Pali scholarship; texts that focus on
mythological dimensions of the Buddha's career were seen as a later degeneration of the
tradition rather than a central aspect of its earliest expression.18
IS Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions and the Lineages o f Gotama," 27.

17 Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions and the Lineages o f Gotama." 26.
18Jonathan S. Walters, "Stupa. Story, Empire: Constructions o f the Buddha Biography in Early post-
Asokan India," in Sacred Biography in the Buddhist Traditions o f South and Southeast Asm, ed. Juliane
Schober (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997), 162-163.
-10-
As one of the last texts to be added to the Pali Tipitaka, the Buddhavaima has
been neglected by scholars focused on the historical reconstruction of the Pali canon.
Conversely, the jatakas, because of their supposed antiquity, have received greater
attention in Theravadin scholarship. As Reynolds argues, since the jataka tradition is
among the earliest biographical materials found in the canon, it is much harder to brush
aside according to the same principles that led to the neglect of the Bitddhavamsa.19
In contrast to the preference for the oldest in Pali literature, some scholars
(including George Coedes, Steven Collins, and Anne Blackburn) have turned their
attention to texts which are commonly found —and popularly used —in particular
historical contexts in the Theravadin world. These texts form what Collins calls the
"ritual canon,"20informing lived traditions, or what Blackburn terms the "pracdcal
canon,"21 the particular works used as teaching and ritual texts in monastic and/or lay
communities.
Depending upon the contexts of use and practice, multiple practical or ritual
canons can be employed. Coedes and Reynolds have both pointed to the prevalence of
the jataka tradition in the Theravadin world, as witnessed by the popularity of not only
jataka collections but also of the Dhammapada commentary and the Marigaladlpam,
which both draw heavily from the jatakas.~ This ritual canon can be further refined: for
19 Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions and the Lineage o f Gotama," 21.

20 Steven Collins, "On the Very Idea o f the Pali Canon," Journal o f the Pali Text Socien 15 (1990): 102-
117.
11 Anne M. Blackburn, "Looking for the Vinaya: Monastic Discipline in the Practical Canons of the
Theravada," Journal o f the International Association o f Buddhist Studies 22, No. 2 (1999): 281-309.
22 George Coedes, "Note sur Ies ouvrages Palis composes en pays Thai," Bulletin de I'ico le Franqaise
d'Extreme Orient 15 (1915): 40; Reynolds, "The Many Lives of Buddha," 56.
-II-
example, specific jatakas, none more so than Vessantara Jataka, are a part of ritual life
and performative life.
The continued engagement with the Buddhavamsa in the later Theravadin
biographies suggests that the Buddhavatnsa is a central text in a practical canon of the
medieval Theravadin world, defined in the context of literary production. It is a text that
author-compilers engaged with whether they composed extended or expanded
biographies of the Buddha. The pre-Sumedha stories might also be considered a part of
the practical canon, since this corpus of stories was employed as a set element in the
extended biographies of the Bodhisattas in the medieval Theravadin world.
Reading Strategies
In his historiography of early Theravadin scholarship, Charles Hallisey
describes how late 19th and early 20th century studies heavily prioritized the discovery of
Pali canonical sources, with the goal of recovering the origins of the tradition.23 Within
that context, Hallisey shows, some scholars focused instead on vernacular Theravadin
works. These studies produced "an alternative historical paradigm which will encourage
us to expect meaning to be produced in local circumstances rather than in the origins of
the tradition. These apologies create a space for the full range of Buddhist literature."2*
This thesis is, in part, an attempt to meet the challenges Hallisey sets for the
scholarly field to take seriously the study of vernacular and later Pali works as possessed
of their own particular history and interpretive vision in the Theravadin tradition. In this
23 Charles Hallisey, "Roads Taken and Not Taken in the Study of Theravada Buddhism" in Curators o f the
Buddha, ed. Donald S . Lopez, Jr. (Chicago: The University o f Chicago Press, 1995), 36.
R e p ro d u c e d with perm ission of th e copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
-12-
study I am taking the text of the SotatthakT itself as the "local circumstances" for
approaching the study of the later extended biographies of the Buddha produced in the
medieval period.-13
In this thesis, I am not concerned with the origins of the SotatthakT and, as we will
see below, the present state of the historical evidence of this text does not allow us, in any
event, to definitively locate the origins of this text. Rather, my interest is to describe the
particular concerns and ideas about the Bodhisatta formulated in this text. Understanding
the vision and program of each of the later biographies is a necessary step in
understanding in more general terms the movements in Theravadin thought that can be
seen as encompassing this diverse range of expressions about the Bodhisatta Gotama.
In this thesis, I employ a method of reading later Pali works which allows for the
re-envisioning and transformation of received tradition in the sources they draw upon —
most especially the Buddhavatnsa and its commentaries —in order to fashion new ideas
about the Bodhisatta and his career. This approach acknowledges the dynamic quality of
the ongoing Pali tradition, where later works maintained and preserved the received
tradition but in doing so created their own understandings of the figure of the Buddha and
Bodhisatta.
Neither the SotatthakT nor the sources it anthologizes give a systematic
explanation of the figure of the bodhisatta or the bodhisatta career. The SotatthakT offers
complex and nuanced narrative descriptions of who the Bodhisatta is, how he came to be
24 Hallisey, "Roads Taken and Not Taken in the Study o f Theravada Buddhism," 50.
25 There are many approaches to a historically responsible reading o f textual materials. For example, in his
study o f the history o f the Buddhavamsa, Cariyapttaka, and Apadana, Jonathan Walters employs a
methodology championed by Gregory Schopen. This process attempts to reconstruct the relationship
between the texts and the epigraphical and archeological evidence in order to postulate the particular
historical context in which these texts originated. See Walters, "Stupa, Story, Empire: Constructions of the
Buddha Biography in Early post-Asokan India."
-13-
a bodhisatta, and how as a Bodhisatta he came to become the Buddha Gotama. My aim
is not to create a systematic formulation of the bodhisatta career in the Theravada but to
explore the narratives about the bodhisatta’s career and what this vision reveals to us
about the development of the Bodhisatta and others as ethical agents.
The importance of narratives for understanding Theravadin thought has been aptly
demonstrated by Steven Collins in Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, his study of
nirvana and temporality in the Theravadin tradition.26 Collins explores the narrative
expression of complex ideas of time and timelessness in Pali narratives including an
insightful interpretive reading of these issues in the "Sumedhakatha" from the
BuddhavatnsaP Collins champions the importance of narrative thought saying,
"...Narrative is as important a cognitive function, a mode of culture-making, and a mode
of truth claiming, as is systematic thought..."28
The centrality of narratives in Theravada thought can be justified not only on the
basis of their rich interpretive complexity but also on the basis of the living traditions that
has always surrounded narrative literature in Theravadin traditions. Ranjini Obeyesekere
eloquently speaks of the central role narratives traditionally played in the Theravadin
religious life. Reflecting on her own Buddhist upbringing she says, "We participated in
Buddhist rituals and ceremonies, mostly with the extended kin group, went to temple on
full moon days, and listened to many, many Buddhist stories. That was how we learned
to be Buddhists."29
26 Steven Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.)
27 Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 234-281.
28 Collins, Nirvana an d Other Buddhist Felicities, 60.
29 Dhannasena Thera, Jewels o f the Doctrine: Stories o f the Saddharma Ratnavaliya, trans. Ranjini
Obeyesekere (Albany: State University o f New York Press, 1991), x.
-14-
The focus on narratives in this thesis is informed by the observations of Collins
and Obeyesekere, but it is determined by the content of the SotatthakT and its sources,
which reveal a complex set of ideas about the figure of the bodhisatta and the bodhisatta
path through narrative. Systematic treatises on the bodhisatta in the Theravada are much
less prevalent but the tradition does have an awareness of the bodhisatta career as an
abstracted path.
Skilling presents a theory found in the commentaries on the Cariyapitaka and the
Sutta Nipata which categorize three kinds of bodhisattas differentiated by their
excellence in wisdom, faith, and energy.30 The length of a bodhisatta’s career is
determined by these characteristics: those bodhisattas who excel in wisdom have the
shortest careers, such as the career of the Bodhisatta Gotama as narrated in the
Buddhavamsa, while those who are defined by energy traverse the path for the longest
period of time.
Skilling identifies that, beginning in the 11th to 13th century, many Pali and
vernacular Theravadin works expand this schema, increasing the duration of each of the
three types of bodhisatta careers. Skilling argues that the expanded temporal frame of the
Buddha’s biography reveals an interest in, and focus on, the bodhisatta in later
Theravadin works.31 As Skilling explains, this extended conception of the three kinds of
bodhisatta paths is the theory that is narrated in the extended biographies of the
Bodhisatta's career.
30 Skilling, T h e Sambuddhe Verses and Later Theravadin Buddhology," 164-168.

31 Skilling, T h e Sambuddhe Verses and Later Theravadin Buddhology," 182.
-15-
Biography of the Bodhisatta
In this dissertation, I refer to the SotatthakT as a biography of the Bodhisatta rather
than as a biography of the Buddha. It is perhaps unusual to speak of a biography of the
Bodhisatta, because the narratives of the Buddha's former lifetimes as the Bodhisatta are
typically subsumed into a total biographical account of the figure of the Buddha. The
SotatthakTs narrative is focused almost entirely upon Gotama as the Bodhisatta; little
attention is paid to his final lifetime when he becomes the Buddha. This text seeks to
create a total narrative, accounting for all the stages of the bodhisatta career, in order to
understand the entire process by which a person becomes a bodhisatta and a bodhisatta
becomes a buddha. By describing the SotatthakT as a biography of the Bodhisatta, I am
attempting to highlight the emphases found within this text rather than recasting this
narrative into the traditional paradigms of the Theravadin biographical tradition which
prioritizes the figure of the Buddha.
Emphasizing the SotatthakT as a biography of the Bodhisatta enables us to
consider the particular and unique aspects of this biography. It has been noted by many
scholars that the biography of the Buddha follows a formulaic pattern first established in
the Maha.pada.na sutta of the Dtgha Nikaya.n In describing the lives of six former
buddhas prior to Gotama, this sutta establishes a template of the Buddha biography. For
example, all Buddhas are shown to renounce their householder life and gain
enlightenment under a bodhi tree after a period of striving. The SotatthakTs narratives of
the Bodhisatta’s pre-Sumedha lifetimes also describe the formulaic dimensions of his
development as a bodhisatta. The bodhisatta path these narratives describe is the same
32 See for example, Gombrich, "The Significance o f Former Buddhas in the Theravadin Tradition," 65;
-16-
path that all bodhisattas follow. But the formulaic dimensions of the biography are only
made meaningful by the particular experiences and relationships that are unique to the
biography of the Bodhisatta Gotama. At every stage of the bodhisatta career the
Bodhisatta enters into particular relationships with particular Buddhas, other Bodhisattas,
and ordinary beings. The SotatthakT shows that the meaning and significance of the
formulaic aspects of the biography emerge in the context of these particular relationships.
The SotatthakTs historical context
Little can be said with certainty of the SotatthakTs origins. The author-compiler
of this text is named in the concluding verses as the one "famous as Buddhaghosa."33
However, this is not the most famous of all Pali authors, the fifth century commentator,
Buddhaghosa, but another, much more obscure figure who bore the same name. The
Gandhavamsa, a 17th century Burmese Pali bibliographic work,34differentiates the
author-compiler as Cullabuddhaghosa, the little Buddhaghosa. He is named as the author
of two works: the JatattagTnidana31and the SotattagTnidana.36
The Gandhavamsa includes Cullabuddhaghosa as one of the acariyas, teachers,
from Sri Lanka.37 Several scholars concur with this position: George Coedes and H.
Walters. "Stupa, Story, Empire: Construction o f the Buddha Biography in Early post-Asokan India," 167.
33 Smn 97, v. 678: "Buddhaghoso ti vissuto"
34 LP. Minayeff, ed., "Gandha-Vamsa" Journal o f the Pali Text Society, (1886): 55-80; (hereafter cited as
Gv) also see Mabel Bode, "Index to the Gandhavamsa" in Journal o f the Pali Text Society, (1896): 86.
35 According to Oskar von Hinfiber the JatattaJdnidana is no longer extant. He speculates that this work
would be "a condensed version o f the Ja mainly in verse.” Oskar von Hinuber, A Handbook o f Pali
Literature (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1996), 200.
36 Gv 63. von HinOber lists the varieties in the title o f the SotatthakT: "Gv has SotattagT (pakarana), Saddh-s
IX 34 Sodattabhi(I) nidanaka and the Pagan inscription o f AD 1442, no. 95 and Pit-sm have
Sotattaldhidaha." von HinUber, A Handbook o f Pali Literature, 200.
17 G v 67.
-17-
Saddhatissa both state that the text was likely composed in Sri Lanka.38 There has been a
range of opinion, however, on when this Buddhaghosa lived and authored his texts: G.P.
Malalasekera argues that he must have been a near contemporary of the great
Buddhaghosa39but N. A. Jayawickrama40suggests that Cullabuddhaghosa wrote in the
post-commentarial period.
The extant evidence for Cullabuddhaghosa and the SotatthakT precludes reaching
any definite conclusions as to the provenance of either, but it does allow us to build a
picture of an ongoing tradition of this text. The earliest textual references to the
SotatthakT is made in the 14th century Sinhala Saddharmalankaraya which directly cites
the SotatthakT"*1Another early reference is found in the Saddhamma-sangaha, a
medieval history of Buddhism written in Thailand at approximately the beginning of the
15th century.42 The SotatthakT is referred to as the Sodattabhiniddnaka in chapter IX of
this work, which gives a versified list of Pali texts.43
A Pagan inscription from 1442 C.E. lists the SotatthakT as among the three
hundred works donated to a monastic library by royal patrons.44 The SotatthakT is known
in this list as the athakatha jatakT sotatakT nidan, the ninety-fifth title in a list of 101
38 George Coedds, Catalogue o f Oriental Manuscripts, Xylographs etc. in Danish Collections, vol. 2, parti
(Copenhagen: The Royal Library, 1966), 88. H. Saddhatissa, "Pali Literature from Laos" in Studies in Pali
and Buddhism: A Memorial Volume in Honor qfBhikkhu Jagdish Kashap, ed. AJC Narain (Delhi: B.R.
Pub. Corp., 1979), 335.
39 G. P. Malalasekera, The Pali Literature ofCevlon, (London: Royal Asiatic Society o f Great Britain and
Ireland, 1928), 126.
40 N. A. Jayawickrama, "Literary Activity in Pali" in Pali Buddhist Review, 5, no. 3 (1980): 86.
41C E . Godakumbura, "Catalogue o f Ceylonese Manuscripts, Vol. 1," 56.
42 Hans Penth, "Reflections on the Saddhamma-Sangaha," in Journal o f the Siam Society 65, no. L (Jan
1977): 259-280.
43 von Hinuber, A Handbook o f Pali Literature, p 3 .
44 Mabel Bode, The Pali Literature o f Burma (London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1909). G. H. Luce and Tin
Htway, "A 15 century Inscription and Library at Pagan, Burma" in Malalasekera Commemoration Volume
ed. 0 . H. De A. Wtjesekera (Colombo: The Malalasekera Commemoration Volume Editorial Committee,
1976), 203-256.
-18-
canonical and commentarial works procured for the library by a personal donation of the
wife of Prince Siri Jeyyasura who "by the sale of her hair,... had furnished the cost of
copying the Vedahga and the Tipitaka for the use of the monks."'5
G il. Luce and Tin Htway believe that most of the three hundred texts given to the
monastery were likely from Sri Lanka, since the inscription describes the religious
exchanges between Pagan and Ceylon.46It is somewhat surprising that the SotatthakT
(here SotatakT) is classified as a commentary (atthakatha) of the Jataka and was listed
among the books of the Tipitaka and their commentaries. The text, as we have it now,
classifies itself as a pakaranaf’ In present day scholarship, the text is classified as extra
canonical or post-commentarial.
Other inscriptional references to the SotatthakT are less certain. Peter Skilling
states that it is possible that an early 14th century inscription from Sukhothai, Thailand
makes reference to the SotatthakT, which would be one of the earliest known reference to
the text.48
In addition to the evidence for the SotatthakT in Pali bibliographical works and
inscriptions in Burma and Thailand, the text is also attested to in other Pali works.
According to Coedes and Saddhatissa, the SotatthakT is a likely source for the
Jinakalamdlu49 The SotatthakT is nowhere named in this Pali chronicle, but the
JinakdlamalT clearly follows the SotatthakT in content, and long passages are identical —
45 Luce and Tin Htway, "A 15® century Inscription and Library at Pagan, Burma," 214,229.
46 Luce and Tin Htway, "A 15® century Inscription and Library at Pagan, Burma," 207.
X7S tn n 97,v.637.
48 Skilling, "The Sambuddhe Verse and Later Theravadin Buddhology," 168; see Skilling for citations.
49 See Coedes, Catalogue des Manuscrits ext Pali. Laotiext et Siamoisprovenant de la Thailande, 88.
Coedfe provides a general description o f the identity o f passages in these two texts. Saddhatissa, "Pali
Literature From Laos," 335.
R e p ro d u c e d with perm ission of the copyright owner. F urther reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
-19-
attesting tof at least, a common background for both texts, or that the JinakalamdlT was
drawing directly upon the SotatthakT.50
Like many Pali works, the SotatthakT seems to have been a 'text-on-the-move,'
circulating throughout Sri Lanka and mainland Southeast Asia. The SotatthakTs
popularity also inspired a productive vernacular tradition, both in translation and as
source material for vernacular texts. The second chapter of the Saddharmalahkaraya, the
"Nidana vargaya," closely parallels the SotatthakT. There is a Lao nissaya, a word for
word translation and commentary, of the text,51 a Lan Na version with Pali verses,52and a
Cambodian translation.53 The text was translated into Burmese and Thai in 1928 and
1983 respectively. Manuscripts of the Pali texts can be found in Cambodian (Kham), Lan
Na, and Sinhalese scripts.
The SotatthakTs importance is also attested to by its inclusion in a gift of ninety-
seven books from the King Borommakot of Thailand to King Kittisirirajaslha in Kandy,
Sri Lanka in 1750. The Sri Lankans, trying to reestablish Buddhism, sought the help of
the Thais who responded with manuscripts and monks who traveled to Sri Lanka in order
to reinstate an ordination lineage there. The texts sent to the Sri Lankans were no longer
extant in Sri Lanka itself, but it is uncertain if the SotatthakT was specifically requested.
50 The nidanas in the JinakalamalT are abbreviated in comparison to the elaborate stories told in the
SotatthakT. While this creates significant differences in meaning nothing in the JinakalamaWs stories
contradict nor add to the narratives found in the SotatthakT.
51 George Coedes, Catalogue des Manuscrits en Pali. Laotien e t Siamois provenant d e la Thailande, 88-89.
52 According to Waldemar Sailer in the English introduction to the SotaxthakTmalumiddna there is a Lan
Na translation dating from 1838, see Sailer's introduction, 1; I am grateful to Peter Skilling who generously
provided me with a copy o f the Lan Na text.
53 H. Saddhatissa mentions a Cambodian translation o f the SotatthakT in the collection o f the Bibliotheque
Nationale Paris, but no information on this manuscript is given. See Saddhatissa "Pali Literature from
Laos," 335 fn. 50.
-20-
We can not say, based on the 1750 evidence, if the SotatthakT had been a part of
manuscript collections in Sri Lanka and subsequently lost, or if it was still extant in Sri
Lanka. The Sotatthala is present on the list of seventy-five titles as the
SolasakTmahdniddna in a letter to the Kandyian court accompanying this mission.51
There is no discemable arrangement to the titles on this list so it is impossible to gain
insight into how the SotatthakT was categorized among Pali genres in the 18th century.
In summary: evidence for the history of the SotatthakT begins in the early 14th
century. The text may well date from an earlier period, but no evidence remains of its
prior existence. The SotatthakT seems to have been known throughout the Theravadin
world beginning in the medieval period as inscriptions and textual evidence locate this
text in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. Its importance in Pali literature
in this period is suggested by the inclusion of the SotatthakT in a substantial monastic
library in 15th century Pagan as well as the 18th century Thai mission to Sri Lanka.
I am using the only available published edition of the SotatthakT. This edition was
prepared from a single manuscript from the monastic library at Wat Bovoranives,
Bangkok, Thailand.55 Further editorial work is needed to compare this manuscript with
others available in Thailand as well as other parts of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka will
certainly increase our understanding of this important text.
54 Oskar von Hinuber, "Remarks on a List o f Books Sent to Ceylon from Siam in the 18* Century," Journal
o f the Pali Text Society 12 (1988): 175-183. Also see Supaphan na Bangchang, "A Pali Letter Sent by the
Aggamahasenapati o f Siam to the Royal Court at Kandy in 1756" in Journal o f the P ali Text Society 12
(1988): 185-212. Bangchang gives a summary o f the contents o f the letter.
55 Personal conversation with Dr. Banjop Bannaruji, Bangkok, Thailand September 1998. Dr. Bannaruji,
the editor o f the text, prepared this edition as a part o f the memorial events for a Thai monk. Dr. Bannaruji
stated that the manuscript was not dated and did not have a colophon. It is unlikely that the manuscript
would pre-date the mid-I9* century, as few (if any) o f the palm leaf manuscripts in Wat Bovom's
collection are from an earlier date. In his introduction to this edition Waldemar Sailer makes reference to a
1928 Burmese edition o f the SotatthakT and a Burmese translation o f the text. I was unable to locate a copy
of this edition.
-21-
Themes of the dissertation
The SotatthakTs biography of the Bodhisatta Gotama reveals a complex
conception of the Bodhisatta and the bodhisatta career in the medieval Theravadin world.
This thesis examines a set of inter-connecting issues which explore how the SotatthakVs
extension of the traditional biography farther into the past envisions the total process by
which a person becomes a bodhisatta and a bodhisatta becomes a buddha.
The SotatthakT describes an almost unimaginably long and arduous process of
development through which a bodhisatta is transformed from an exceptional, yet ethically
flawed, being into a bodhisatta who embodies ethically perfection.
The SotatthakT describes the many ethical shortcomings of the Bodhisatta at the
beginning of the bodhisatta path. This is a dramatically different vision of the Bodhisatta
from the traditional biographies based upon the Buddhavamsa and the jatakas, which
create an image of the Bodhisatta as a ethically perfect being. Shanta Ratnayaka's
explanation of the Bodhisatta's role in the jataka stories is representative of this
commonly held view the Bodhisatta is a perfect being: "...all the time, he remains the
savior of others and the moral example to the massCes)."56Thus, the SotatthakT adds other
dimensions to the Theravadin conception of the bodhisatta, which can enrich our
understanding of the development of new ideas about the bodhisatta in the medieval
period.
56 Shanta Ratnayaka, "The Bodhisattva Idea o f Theravada," The Journal o f the International Association of
Buddhist Studies 8, no. 2 (L985): 91.
This thesis analyses the development of the Bodhisatta as virtuous being over the
course of his bodhisatta career. The prediction of buddhahood is central to this
transformative process narrated in the SotatthakT. The prediction is a condition of
buddhahood; in order for a bodhisatta to become a buddha, he must first receive a
prediction of his own buddhahood from another buddha. The prediction a bodhisatta
receives in a face-to-face encounter with a buddha foretells the fulfillment of the
bodhisatta’s aspiration to become a buddha.
Predictions reveal a fundamental conception of how relationships that exist over
time —even over vast expanses of time and vast numbers of lifetimes —support a process
of ethical development through which the Bodhisatta becomes aware of his own highest
potential to act for the benefit of others. This awareness is bom in the Bodhisatta's
interactions with a trans-temporal community whose members recognize and
communicate the possibility of this ethical achievement to him. That is, the Bodhisatta's
subjective awareness of his own agency is revealed by the gaze of another.
I argue that a network of relationships support the Bodhisatta’s development at
every stage of the bodhisatta career. From the Bodhisatta's very first aspiration for
buddhahood to the reception of his last prediction at an advanced stage of his bodhisatta
career, the Bodhisatta is dependent on the aid and care of others —buddha, bodhisattas,
gods, humans, and even animals —who support his progress on the bodhisatta path.
The SotatthakT shows that these relationships center around the Bodhisatta's
attainment of the prediction. In the thousands of lifetimes that precede the Bodhisatta's
first full prediction of buddhahood, his relationships with others aid him in making his
aspiration and gaining the necessary preconditions that enable him to receive his first full
-23-
prediction in his lifetime as Sumedha from the Buddha Dlpankara —that is, in his lifetime
that begins the traditional biography. Once the first full prediction is declared, the
Bodhisatta learns how he will continue to fulfill the prediction in his relationships with
and for others.
In my study of the visions of ethical perfection that are displayed by the
prediction as well as the bodhisatta path in its entirety, I explore the dispositions,
admirable traits, and qualities of character which promote excellence for oneself and
others. My interest is to examine the virtues not only of the Bodhisatta but other beings
who support his ethical development The virtues theories of Michael Slote,57Marilyn
Freedman,58 and Lawrence Becker59have been important in shaping my understanding of
the benefits of virtues to the ethical actor, the value of particular relationships, and the
necessity of virtues in maintaining communities respectively. Their works influence this
study to a greater degree than is explicitly addressed in the thesis.
My attention to the fundamental importance of relationships in the development
of virtuous beings is significantly influenced by the teaching of Charles Hallisey on the
centrality of care and responsibility in Theravadin ethics. Hallisey's teaching has helped
me see that beings, including the bodhisatta, learn how to be virtuous from others with
whom they live their lives. Many Buddhist narratives, and stories of the Bodhisatta’s
career in particular, shown the importance of living with virtuous beings in order to
become virtuous oneself. The inequality between ethical actors who form communities
57 See especially Michael Slote, Goads and Virtues (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983); Michael Slote, From
Morality to Virtue (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.)
58 See especially Marilyn Friedman, What are Friends For? Feminist Perspectives on Personal
Relationships and Moral Theory (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993.)
59 See especially Lawrence C. Becker, Reciprocity (Chicago: The University o f Chicago Press, 1986.)
-24-
and relationships is show to be a great benefit which enables beings to leam from others
who possess greater insight or capabilities for leading an ethical life.
My project is concerned with the ethical inequalities that structure the
relationships supporting the Bodhisatta’s development as a bodhisatta. While I recognize
the importance of this inequality in ethical relationships, my interest is to contest a fixed
position of inequality in relationships. Recognizing the positive value of inequality
between ethical actors is essential to understanding the importance of relationships in the
formation of ethical actors who are able to flourish because of their dependency on other
as well as their responsibilities to others. This kind of perspective is an important
addition to the ethical conceptions which presuppose equality between independent and
autonomous ethical actors —the underlying assumptions of the modem West. Yet a
simplistic valorization of the inequalities expressed in the Buddhist narratives ignores the
possible implications of human oppression this ethical formulation can lead to.
I argue that the hierarchies between ethical actors are constantly shifting. So that
while the bodhisatta is the ethical superior of ordinary people (the majority of beings who
will never take bodhisatta vows), the bodhisatta is dependant on these same beings to
become a bodhisatta. In these narratives, inequality is presented on a variety of
hierarchical scales —social, political, ethical —but those who are measured as inferior by
one measure are shown to be capable of benefiting those who are from a certain
perspective their superior.
hi my analysis of the SotatthakT I draw attention to the full range of ethical actors
who are instrumental in the Bodhisatta’s successful attainment of a prediction of his own
buddhahood and the fulfillment of that prediction, hi this way, I reveal the extraordinary
-25-
virtues of not only the buddhas and bodhisattas who appear in the narratives of the
Bodhisatta's career but a whole range of ordinary beings who are also shown to be
exemplary. The SotatthakTs narrative is thus not only a testament to the heroic
accomplishment of the Bodhisatta but also a full range of ethical actors who at every
stage supported his most formidable endeavor.
Chapter One
Formulating the Past: The process of ethical development
I. Introduction: How did the Bodhisatta become a bodhisatta?
The SotatthakTbesins and ends with discussions of the length of the Buddha
•» W w
Gotama's career as a bodhisatta. The opening and concluding sections of the text
enumerate the twenty asankheyyas and 100,000 thousand kappas that comprise the total
duration of the Bodhisatta Gotama’s path to buddhahood.1 The SotatthakT quantifies the
entirety of the Bodhisatta’s career, accounting for each of these units of time, and
describes the stages of the bodhisatta path that fall within each time period. Twenty
asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas is an unimaginably long time span: an asanfcheyya
literally means "incalculable" —a unit of time so great that it is beyond calculation.1 But
the SotatthakT argues that an incalculable can indeed be counted —and beginning with
one and counting ail the way up to an asankheyya, even though the demonstration
transcends numbers altogether in the process.3 Time is counted in order to render it
known, and thereby reveal the quality of the time that the Buddha Gotama spent as the
Bodhisatta.
1 Smn 3-9; 88-93.

1 Kappa is a word with a wide semantic range that includes a common noun for a unit o f time. Like an
asankheyya, a kappa designates a great length of time. The length o f an asankheyya relative to a kappa
seems to be somewhat variable but the SotatthakTclearly identifies an asankheyya as the larger temporal
unit. See Smn 4-10.
3 hi the process o f counting to an asankheyya, units o f measure greater than any named numbers are
derived from place names, in particular the names o f hell realms, in order to suggest ever increasingly large
numbers. The place names evoke an idea of how long beings are condemned to these hell realms. The
counting exercise demonstrated in the SotatthakT is found in other B uddhist texts such as the Lalitavistara,
an 8th century Sanskrit text, and the DhamapradTpika, a 12* century Sinhala work. For a study of
asankheyya see M. E. Brunouf, Le Lotus de la Bonne Lot (Paris: L’ finprimerie Rationale, 1852), 852-859.
-27-
The twenty asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas accounted for in the SotatthakT are
an expansion of the traditional Theravadin biographies of the Bodhisatta's career which
begin with the "Sumedhakatha," the story of the dramatic encounter between the Buddha
DTpankara and the Bodhisatta, reborn in this lifetime as the matted hair ascetic Sumedha.
In this story, which originates as a chapter in the Buddhavamsa and is retold in
numerous Pali accounts of the Buddha Gotama’s lifetimes as a bodhisatta,'1Sumedha falls
prostrate in the Buddha DTpankara's path, making himself a human bridge for this
Buddha and his monastic entourage. Standing upon his hair, the Buddha DTpankara
makes a prediction of the Bodhisatta’s future buddhahood, four asankheyyas and 100,000
kappas in the future. According to the Buddhavamsa and the traditions surrounding it,
this first prediction event marks the beginning of the Bodhisatta's career and is therefore
also the starting point of the Buddha’s biography. The SotatthakT retells this story,
embedding it within the elongated time frame of the Bodhisatta’s career. In the
SotatthakT, however, the "Sumedhakatha" is not narrated as the starting point of the
Bodhisatta’s career but as pinnacle stage that marks an advanced stage in the bodhisatta
path.
The SotatthakT's extended narration of the Bodhisatta’s career challenges the more
common vision of when the bodhisatta path begins. For while this text preserves the
traditional sequence which places the first prediction four asankheyyas and 100,000
kappas in the past from the Buddha's final lifetime, in the SotatthakT this is but one
* For heuristic purposes I am describing a group o f texts that are related to the Buddhavamsa in a variety o f
ways as in the Buddhavamsa tradition. I include in this category the Buddhavamsa itself, its commentaries,
the MadhuratthavildsinZ, the Jatakanidanakathd, and medieval biographies o f the Buddha including, but
not limited to: the Jmamahaniddna, Mahdsampindaniddna, and the SotatthakSnahdniddna. Bach o f these
texts stands in a complex relationship to the Buddhavamsa. M y interest is to show how the Sacatthakt
receives and revises this tradition.
-28-
quarter of the total bodhisatta path. In order to fully know the Bodhisatta's career, the
SotatthakT suggests, the biography must begin sixteen asankheyyas farther into the past
The extended duration of the bodhisatta path can be seen as a development that
grows out of the Buddhavamsa, because it acknowledges that the Bodhisatta sought a
prediction of buddhahood in lifetimes before he was reborn as Sumedha.3 According to
the Buddhavamsa, the Bodhisatta met three Buddhas in lifetimes prior to meeting the
Buddha DTpankara, but he did not receive a prediction from these Buddhas, because he
had not yet reached the full development necessary for his future to be assured by the
reception of a prediction.6 The inclusion of these three Buddhas does not move the
biography significantly back in time (as does the SotatthakT), since they are said to have
lived in the same kappa as the Buddha DTpankara, but it does acknowledge that the
Bodhisatta sought a prediction prior to his lifetime as Sumedha. If the Buddhavamsa has
left the door to the Bodhisatta's past ajar, the SotatthakT opens it wide.
In this chapter, I will examine the dimensions of the bodhisatta path that are
revealed by the stories of the Bodhisatta’s lifetimes prior to his birth as Sumedha. The
SotatthakT narratives emphasize that the bodhisatta path is a process of development in
s Toshiichi Endo makes a similar point arguing that the presence o f these prior Buddhas shows the
development of an expanded biography farther into the past before the DTpankara-Sumedha prediction
event. Toshoku Endo, Buddha in Theravada Buddhism, 255.
6 These three Buddhas, Tanhankaro, Medhankaro, and Saranarikaro, are named in the list o f twenty nine
Buddhas (this list includes the future Buddha Metreyya) in the Tafcinnakatha" in the Buddhavamsa. See
N. A. layawickrama, ed., Buddhavamsa and Cariydpitaka (London: th e Pali Text Society, 1974), 27.1.
(Hereafter cited as Bv) Text-historical studies o f die Buddhavamsa and its commentaries suggest that this
chapter in the Buddhavamsa which mention the three Buddhas prior to Dfpankara were a latter addition to
the text. For an overview o f this discussion see Steven Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities,
258-260. The issue o f when these verses were introduced into the Buddhavamsa is not crucial to my
argument here as it was a part o f the Buddhavamsa known to the author-compiler o f the SotatthakT. These
Buddhas are briefly mentioned in the Buddhavamsa-atthakatha, the MadhuratthavildsinT, in a description
o f the lineage o f Buddhas (buddhaparampara), see L B. Homer, ed., Madhuratthavildsint (Oxford: The
Pali Text Society, 1946), 61-62. (Hereafter cited as BvA) The SotatthakT gives a slightly longer account o f
the Bodhisatta's meeting with each o f these Buddhas, Smn,46-48. Elaborate narratives about these three
Buddhas are found in the Mahdsampindaniddna, 51-62.
-29-
which a person is gradually transformed into a bodhisatta. This is in distinct contrast to
the biographies that begin with "Sumedhakatha" which emphasize the beginning of the
bodhisatta career as a single, yet monumental, event.
It is worth noting, however, that in the "Sumedhakatha" the Bodhisatta has
already traveled far on the path to achieving his goal of buddhahood. In order to receive
his first prediction for buddhahood from Buddha DTpankara, the Bodhisatta first had to
have completed the two foundational components of the bodhisatta path: he had to make
the aspiration for buddhahood and he had to fulfill the eight conditions that must be
gained before a prediction of his future buddhahood could be made by a Buddha.
In the "Sumedhakatha," the aspiration is made and the eight conditions are
achieved by a solitary Sumedha at a rapid narrative pace. Little attention is given to how
these foundational stages of the bodhisatta path were accomplished by the Bodhisatta.
Instead, the narrative focus is tightly set upon the prediction event. When he meets the
Buddha DTpankara after fulfilling the eight conditions, Sumedha's aspiration for
buddhahood is proven successful when Buddha DTpankara foretells his future, outlining
his final lifetime as the Buddha Gotama.
The SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha stories provide the narrative resources to explore
the earlier stages of the bodhisatta path more thoroughly than the Buddhavamsa tradition.
The SotatthakT details the process by which a bodhisatta is created: the text describes how
the first aspiration for buddhahood is made, the aspiration’s evolution over many
lifetimes, and it recounts how the Bodhisatta gained the eight conditions requisite for the
reception of a prediction of buddhahood over this long duration o f time. Li the pre-
Sumedha stories, these foundational elements of the bodhisatta path are revealed from the
-30-
beginning stages, creating a vision of the Bodhisatta over many lifetimes as an evolving
being who is transformed from an extraordinary, yet still ethically flawed person, into a
bodhisatta, a being who embodies ethical perfection.
The pre-Sumedha stories are set in sixteen asankheyyas from the time of the
Bodhisatta's very first aspiration for buddhahood up until the reception of his first
prediction from the Buddha DTpankara which guarantees the aspiration's success. This
period of time in the Bodhisatta's career is defined by being prior to the reception of the
prediction. By definition, then, the Bodhisatta’s future at this stage of his career is
uncertain. According to the SotatthakT, before his lifetime as Sumedha, it is not yet
known if the Bodhisatta will ever attain the eight conditions in one lifetime necessary to
receive a prediction or if his aspiration to become a buddha will come to fruition. In the
undefined future of the pre-Sumedha lifetimes, his buddhahood is something longed-for
but uncertain, and it is only to be discovered in a still unknown future. At the conclusion
of the SotatthakT, a verse describes this uncertain time in the bodhisatta career, prior to
the development of the eight conditions needed for a prediction:
Just as a blue lotus flower

Flowers in the rays of the sun
When the condition is not attained
It is not able to blossom
Even though there are a thousand suns, it remains a bud.
Even though the necessary conditions for enlightenment of the bodhisatta

are made
While he has not yet received a prediction
It (enlightenment) will not be certain.7
7 S mn 95." YathS padumuppalam puppham I adiccarasmiphullitam I samayam yava na pattam I

suriyasahassampT va I vikSsetum na sakkoti I makulam. yeva titthaii II [v.618] Evam pi bodhisattanam I
sambhSxa pi kata. bahum. I aladdham bySkaranam. y£va I niyatain na bhavissati II" [v. 6191
Unless otherwise noted, all translations are my own. In my translations I preference readability in the
English and capturing the meaning o f the content over a closely literal translation. I employ brackets to
-31-
As this passage beautifully suggests, the bestowal of the prediction transforms
how time is known and experienced. When DTpankara bestows the prediction upon
Sumedha, he tells him about his final life when he will be the Buddha Gotama —yet the
Bodhisatta still has hundreds of lives to live before he reaches that final lifetime. With
the statement of the prediction, the remainder of the biography - which recounts the
lifetimes between his first lifetime as Sumedha and the final lifetime as the Buddha
Gotama —is set within a future that is completely defined by the prediction. The future is
assured and the Bodhisatta will become the Buddha as it has been foretold. According to
the "Sumedhakatha," the future need not develop in the biography as much as unfold
according to the temporal map that the Buddha DTpankara displays with the prediction.
This extension of the biography farther into the past moves the narrative of the
Bodhisatta's career into a time when the future had not yet been defined by the prediction.
In doing so, the SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha stories create a significantly different vision of
the Bodhisatta. That is, the SotatthakT challenges its audience to imagine a time in the
Bodhisatta's career when he had yet to reach a full state of development, hi the pre-
Sumedha stories, the Bodhisatta does not yet possess the qualities that would make him a
buddha. He still exhibits ordinary human failings and ethical flaws.
This perspective is entirely different from the image of the Bodhisatta found in
the Pali biographies that begin with the "Sumedhakatha."8 In these texts, the Bodhisatta
indicate where I am adding words in my translation in order to make it more comprehensible. I employ
parentheses for clarification. In my transliteration o f the Pali from the Sotatthda I do not amend the Pali of
the published text.
8 See for example V. Fausbol, ed., Jataka Nidanakatha (London: Triibner,1877) (Hereafter cited as Ja)
Jinamahanidana (Bangkok: Fine Arts Department, 2530/1987) and Pathamasambodhi (Bangkok,
2537/1994.)
is a perfected being with litde need for development and evolution; even in his earliest
lifetimes it is not possible to conceive of him in any other way. In the Sumedha
narrative, the Bodhisatta possesses a perfected character ready for buddhahood. (This
biography is typical of hagiography, where the child prefigures the adult)
hi the "Sumedhakatha," Sumedha seems to make his aspiradon and gain the
eight conditions for the prediction solely by himself, creating an image of a solitary
process of ethical development Yet he is dependent upon the Buddha DTpankara and the
twenty-three subsequent Buddhas to receive the prediction. This contradiction prompts
the questions: is the Bodhisatta also dependent on others to make progress at earlier
stages in the bodhisatta path? Are these relationships also outside the narrative frame of
the biographies of the Bodhisatta that begin with the "Sumedhakatha"?
The SotatthakT addresses these questions by showing the extended process
through which the Bodhisatta is gradually transformed by the bodhisatta path prior to the
reception of his first prediction. In the SotatthakT, the attainments of the aspiration and
eight conditions that the Bodhisatta seems to gain effortlessly in his single lifetime as
Sumedha are shown to have developed slowly and painstakingly over the course of
thousands of prior lifetimes.
hi this manner, the extension of the Bodhisatta's career in biographies such as the
SotatthakT follows a pattern similar to the one demonstrated by George Bond for the
expansion of the arahant path in the Theravadin literature.9 Bond argues that the image
9 While it is outside the bounds of this project, it would be interesting to investigate if there is a connection
between the elongation o f the arahant path as described by Bond and the expansion o f the bodhisatta
career. See George Bond, "The Development and Elaboration o f the Arahant Ideal in the Theravada
Buddhist Tradition,” Journal o f the American Academy o f Religion, 52, no. 2 (June 1994): 227-242; George
Bond, "The Arahant: Sainthood in Theravada Buddhism,” in S ain th oodIts Manifestations in World
Religions, ed. Richard Kieckhefer and George D. Bond (Berkeley: University o f California Press, 1988),
140-171.
-33-
of the arahcmt in the suttas, attaining enlightenment in a single lifetime, is substantially
expanded in the commentarial literature, which depicts the arahant path as a development
that takes place over many lifetimes. The expansion of the Bodhisatta's biography in the
post-commentarial Theravadin literature shows that the goal of receiving a prediction, a
requisite for the ultimate goal of buddhahood, can likewise only be gained after a lengthy
developmental process.
hi the early stages of the bodhisatta path, the Bodhisatta receives the care and aid
of others who support his development as a bodhisatta. As we will see, the SotatthakT
shows that the Bodhisatta could not become such a being without the involvement of
these others —buddhas, gods, humans, animals, and even the natural world —who, in
many cases, teach him how to progress on the Bodhisatta path. At the outset of the path
he is portrayed as an extraordinary yet ethically flawed person who suffers from all-too-
ordinary human failings such as tanha, greed, and raga, passion. The elaboration of the
stages comprising the bodhisatta path highlights the Bodhisatta's ethical transformation
from this ordinary person to a being who embodies the virtuous ideals of a bodhisatta.
The bodhisatta path is primarily a process of ethical, rather than a specifically
spiritual, development. At every early stage of the bodhisatta path the Bodhisatta's
relationships to others supports his development. Li contrast, there is little mention in the
pre-Sumedha stories of the Bodhisatta devoting himself to meditative or other solitary
practices. Even in the narrative of the Bodhisatta's rebirth as a renunciant, his
relationships to others are emphasized, rather than his meditation practices, ft is in the
context of relationships that the Bodhisatta gradually evolves, enabling him to gain the
first full prediction in his lifetime as the ascetic Sumedha.
-34-
The extended narrative of the Bodhisatta's career
This development of the Bodhisatta narrated in the SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha
stories is set within a time span of sixteen asankheyyas. Starting from the beginning of
the bodhisatta path, this time period is divided into different stages of development in
which the Bodhisatta passes through hundreds of thousands of rebirths. Six pre-
Sumedha lifestories are told in detail, and these select narratives stand as examples of the
other lives that are lived in the same stage of the bodhisatta career. Together, these six
narratives reveal how a bodhisatta comes into being and flourishes. A very brief
overview of the stories will serve as a map for the analysis of the development of the
Bodhisatta that follows.
The first lifetime is the story of the creation of the bodhisatta; as a young man,
Maturuddharkanavika, caring for his mother, he makes the first aspiration for
buddhahood while shipwrecked in an ocean storm. In his second life as King Gajappiya,
the king who loves to sport with elephants, he learns the dangers o f passion, rdga, and
renounces his kingdom to live as a mendicant. In the next story, the Bodhisatta is reborn
as a brahmin risi who teaches a community of brahmin youths the powers of meditation,
only to abandon them when he feeds himself to a hungry tigress in order to prevent her
from eating her newborn cubs. In his next life, the Bodhisatta is reborn as a princess,
RajaputtT Sirisiddhatthelamadasi, who is the sister of the Buddha named Former
DTpankara, that is, Purana DTpankara. In this lifetime, the Bodhisatta gives a gift of
mustard seed oil to another Bodhisatta who uses it for an offering to the Buddha, the
princess’ brother. In these four stories, the aspiration is made mentally but the Bodhisatta
never meets a Buddha directly. In the final two stories, of the Bodhisatta's lives as the
great King Atideva and the Cakkavatti King Sagala, the Bodhisatta comes face-to-face
with a Buddha and makes his aspiration in their presence.
In this chapter I will examine the earliest stages of the bodhisatta path described
in the SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha stories. My focus here is on the dimensions of the
bodhisatta path that are brought to light by the Sotatthakis expansion of the biography of
the Bodhisatta. In the sections that follow, I will discuss the evolution of the
Bodhisatta's aspiration for buddhahood and the cultivation of the eight conditions for the
reception of the prediction that evolve over the course of the pre-Sumedha lifetimes. I
explore the network of relationships that support the ethical formation of the Bodhisatta
at these stages of the Bodhisatta's career. Even as the Bodhisatta is transformed into a
being with superior ethical virtues he is dependent on the aid of others to reach that
exalted state. The SotatthakT establishes that a bodhisatta becomes a buddha through his
relationships with others.
II. Finding a Bodhisatta: The arising of the first aspiration for bnddhahood
In the SotatthakT, the Bodhisatta's biography begins with the arising of the first
aspiration for buddhahood. hi this multi-life biography, the Bodhisatta makes an
aspiration in all of his lifetimes, always follows the outlines of a standard formula, with
minor variations in form and content. The Bodhisatta’s first aspiration in the SotatthakT is
representative of this standard formula: aspiring to reach enlightenment in order to free
both oneself and all other beings from the suffering of samsara, the continuous cycles of
rebirth. The SotatthakT says:
-36-
"Being awakened, I should awaken [others]; being released, I should

release others; crossing over, I should cause others to cross over."10
The aspirations of all bodhisattas are patterned on this standard formulation of the wish
for buddhahood, but the generic quality of the aspiration is balanced with the specific
development of the aspiration in each bodhisattas' biography.
It is important to note that the first aspiration does not coincide with the very first
lifetime of the being who becomes a buddha at the end of the bodhisatta path. Like the
Buddhavamsa, the SotatthakT makes no claims that the biography must begin with the
Bodhisatta's very first lifetime; Buddhism is largely uninterested with ultimate origins,
either ontological or cosmogonic."
The aspiration marks the beginning of a bodhisatta's biography not because it is a
bodhisatta’s initial lifetime, an origin that would be impossible to find, but because the
aspiration begins the development of a bodhisatta qua bodhisatta. Making the aspiration
significantly transforms a person because it recreates how he views himself and his
relationships with others.12 The aspiration is a vow to recreate oneself according to a set
of ideal virtues embodied by a buddha, ideals which must be realized by a bodhisatta if
10 Smn 14. "Buddho bodeyyam mutto moceyyam tinno tareyyantL"

" The denial of "first cause” or origins o f reality is explained by paticcasampuppdda, dependent
origination. Phra Prayudh Payutto explains, "Any notion o f a first cause goes against the Buddhist notion
o f causality and conditionality (idappaccayata) or the principle o f dependent origination." Phra Prayudh
Payutto, Buddhadhamma: Natural Laws and Valuesfo r Life, trans. Grant Olson (Albany: State University
o f New York Press, 1995), 85. The issue o f cosmogonic origins is addressed in the Agganna Sutta in the
Dtgha Nikdya which describes the evolution o f the universe in continuous cycles o f decline and creation.
These cycles o f evolution in the universe are inter dependent with the evolution o f the social universe. The
material world is brought into being by beings' cravings, and as the material world continues to evolve,
social hierarchies are formed to create order and bring prosperity. T.W. Rhys Davids and J. Estlin
Carpenter, eds.. The Dtgha Nikdya, 3 vols. (London: Pali Text Society, 1975-1982), 3:80-98. Fora
translation and analysis o f this sutta see Steven Collins, "The Discourse on What Is Primary (Aggarma
Sutta): An Annotated Translation," Journal o f Indian Philosophy, 21 (December 1993): 301-393.
121 refer to bodhisattas in the masculine throughout this dissertation because the Bodhisatta is. with only
one exception, portrayed as male. As w ill be discussed below, in the Theravada there is a consistent
emphasis on the need for bodhisattas to be male.
-37-
the telos of the aspiration is to be reached. A bodhisatta might be defined as a being who
lives in his (many) present life (times) in order to attain the goal of buddhahood that can
only be attained far off in the future.
Every aspiration develops according to the qualifies of each particular bodhisatta.
The SotatthakT differentiates three kinds of bodhisattas, according to the qualifies that
define their relationship to their aspiration. Bodhisattas who excel in pahhd, wisdom,
attain their aspiration in the shortest amount of time, while those who excel in saddhd,
faith, must develop the aspiration for a longer period of time, and those bodhisatta who
excel in viriya, effort, remain on the bodhisatta path for the longest period of time.
The SotatthakT quantifies these three duration of the bodhisatta paths through two
schemas. In a succinct statement of these three kinds of bodhisattas at the conclusion of
the text, the SotatthakT enumerates the classificatory schema found in such texts as the
Paramattajotika, the commentary of the Sutta-Nipata ,and the Sarasahgaha, a medieval
anthology, which establish four asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas as the length of the
path for the bodhisatta who excels in wisdom, such as the Bodhisatta Gotama.13 This
temporal schematic underlies the Buddhavamsa's account of the Bodhisatta’s biography.
However, the Sotatthakfs overall narrative structure follows a second classificatory
schema that expands the durations of the bodhisattas' paths —according to this
formulation the bodhisatta who excels in wisdom follows the path for twenty
asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas.'*
13 Sow. 88-89; Also see Helmer Smith, ed., Paramanhajotikd//(London: The Pali Text Society, 1916),
47-48. (Hereafter cited as Pj II); Genjun EL Sasaki, ed., Sdrasangaha (Oxford: The Pali Text Society,
1992), 2-3. (Hereafter cited as Ss.)
14For a comprehensive study o f these schemas and the development o f the expanded duration o f the
bodhisatta path see Skilling, "The Sambuddhe Verse and Later TheravSdin Buddhology,” 151-183.
-38-
If an aspiration is to succeed, it must be supported by an integrated relationship
with time. Making any of these aspirations serves not only to re-imagine oneself in the
present, but also in light of one's entire future, and even demands a reconsideration of
one's past The aspiration can lead to a reevaluation of the past in order to determine what
earlier actions, performed in the same life or prior lives, have enabled a person to make
the aspiration in their present. Actions originally performed with one set of intentions
can now be invested with another layer of significance if they are seen as leading to the
aspiration. After making the aspiration, one acts (in the present) in light of the longed for
future fulfillment of the vow. This vision of the future sustains the struggle in the present
that will make the hoped for future a reality.
The Buddhavamsa does not specifically identify the Bodhisatta's first aspiration.
Nowhere in the Buddhavamsa verses or in its commentary is Sumedha's aspiration
specifically called his first aspiration. However, the aspiration is a central concern in
these texts. In fact, the entire teaching that comprises the Buddhavamsa is said to be the
Buddha Gotama's own response to a question put to him by one of his chief disciples,
Sariputta, who asked:
Of what kind, great hero, supreme among men, was your resolve? At
what time, wise one, was supreme Awakening aspired to by you?15
The Buddha responds with the account of the aspirations he made from his lifetime as
Sumedha onwards. The Buddhavamsa, as a biography concerned to show how the
Bodhisatta becomes the Buddha Gotama, has little interest in finding the first cause of the
15 L B. Homer, trans.. The Ciarifier o f Sweet Meaning (Madhuranhavilasni) (London: The Pali Text
Society, 1978), 87.
-39-
arising of the aspiration for buddhahood. Its interests lie in understanding the success of
that aspiration.
In its attempt to create a narrative that describes the entire process of how a
bodhisatta comes into being, the SotatthakT must begin its biography of the Bodhisatta by
identifying the first moment of the aspiration for buddhahood. In striking contrast to the
Buddhavamsa, in the SotatthakT the first cause of this aspiration does not originate only
from the past thoughts, actions, or merit of the person who will become the Bodhisatta;
rather, the aspiration arises because of cosmological conditions. The arising of the
Bodhisatta’s first aspiration is brought about by forces external to the Bodhisatta,
demonstrating from the outset of this biography that the Bodhisatta develops as a
bodhisatta because of the involvement and aid of many other actors —including the
material universe. Simply put, the Bodhisatta does not become a bodhisatta on his own.
The SotatthakT establishes this in the opening narrative of the biography. The
cosmological origins of the aspiration is predicated in the SotatthakT on the conditions in
the universe. At its very beginning, the biography is set in a cosmological period of
decline and degeneration; the upper regions of the universe, home to beings who have
taken residency there by the power of their spiritual achievements, are being depopulated.
The state of the universe makes it impossible for other beings to achieve rebirth in the
five pure abodes, the uppermost part of the cosmos. Noting this depopulation, the gods
still residing there search for the reason for the universe’s decline and discover that it is
due to the absence of a buddha in the cosmos.16 It is only by a buddha's presence that
other beings are able to attain the higher levels of spiritual development.
16For a complete description o f Theravadin cosmology see Frank E. Reynolds and Mani Reynolds, trans..
The Three Worlds According to King Ruang (Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1982.) This text.
-40-
The quality of time, at the beginning of the biography, shapes the opportunities
for all beings in the universe. This narrative points to the two dimensions of temporality
acknowledged in the text. Time can be measured not only quantitatively, that is, by
constant units like asankheyya and kappa, but qualitatively as well. The quality of time
is determined by the presence or absence of a buddha. The absence of buddhas in the
world renders time empty, suhha. Empty times are loathsome and lonely times. The
Buddhavamsa commentary describes these times as empty of buddhas, the light of the
buddhas is gone,17and they are times devoid of the birth of a buddha for one
asankheyya.'s The SotatthakT calls such times "places of punishment."19 A buddha’s
absence, the text tells us, is felt profoundly by the gods. The narrator says that the gods
are overcome with samvega, an overwhelming experience of anxiety, since they are
intimately affected by these detrimental conditions in the universe.3 Living in an empty
time has a profound implication for all beings. Crying out, the gods lament:
Aho! The world is certainly without a Lord! This world is certainly

without a refuge! This world is certainly without shelter! This world is
certainly without sanctuary!2*
commonly known as the Trai Phumn, is attributed to King Ruang who ruled the Sukhothai kingdom in
present day central Thailand in the mid-fourteenth century. King Ruang is said to have composed the text
in order to prevent the threat o f decline in the Buddhist teachings in his kingdom. He describes a religious
universe in which the Buddha’s presence in different realms o f the cosmos is o f the utmost importance.
17 BvA 190. "Buddhasunno vigatabuddhaloka ahosi."
18 BvA171. "Sobhitabuddhe panaparinibbute 'tassa aparabhage ekam asankheyyam buddhappadarahitam
ahosi."
19 Smn 8. "vimpata.”
20 A discussion o f the meaning and function o f samvega in the SotatthakT w ill be taken up below. See pp.
52-56.
21 Smn 10. "Aho anatho vatayam loko. Asarano vatayam Ioko. Atano vatayam Ioko. Aleno vatayam
Ioko.”
For an analysis o f the meaning and significance o f the concept o f refuge in the Theravada tradition see John
Ross Carter, On Understanding Buddhists: Essays on Theravada Tradition in Sri Lanka (Albany: State
University o f New York Press, 1993), 55-74. Carter argues that the concept o f going for refuge is an active
process that marks a transformation o f how a person lives in the world knowing that the Buddha, dhamma,
and sahgha provide a source o f aid that supports liberation from that which brings "dis-ease."
-41-
The conditioii of the cosmos directly influences the life trajectories of all beings, whether
they are gods, humans, or buddhas. The ever-altemating periods of generation and
decline of the cosmos limits or supports the kinds of experiences to which beings have
access.
While the absence of a buddha in the universe is the source of fear and anxiety for
all beings, it is also a time of opportunity, because a buddha can only arise in the world
during periods of decline.22 Given these conditions, the gods must reverse the
helplessness of the world by ensuring that a buddha will come into being. The workings
of the universe itself provides the resources for turning back its own decline.23
This experience of samvega impels the gods to act. They must find a person who
has the capability to become a buddha. So they search the universe looking for a person
they can transform into a bodhisatta. Responding to the conditions in the universe, the
gods generate an initial aspiration in the career of a bodhisatta. The SotatthakT describes
this generalized cosmological origin of the aspiration:
"Because a buddha is not arising [in the universe], the devas in the five
pure abodes are decreasing. Now surely a great hero with a strong heart,
armed with great armor, is able to make the buddhakarakadhamma, the
22The Paramatthajotika says: "Sabbabuddha samvatutumane kappe na uppajjanti vivatutuamane kappe

uppajjanti." Pj I I 51.
Buddhas can only appear in periods o f a declining cosmos because a person can only come to fully
experience the dis-ease, dukkha, o f the world during times when the life spans o f human beings are neither
too long, as they are in periods o f generation, or nearing total degeneration when they live for too short a
time.
23 The intervention o f divine beings in righting the universe in periods o f decline is a concept found in die
greater Indie worldview. Buddhist and Hindu cosmologies both perceive the interpenetration o f the
different realm s o f the cosmos in times o f crisis. One o f the most famous examples o f the gods workings in
the human world is found in the Hindu classic the Bhagavad Gita when Lord Krishna enters the battlefield
as the chariot driver o f the great warrior Arjuna in order to teach him his dharma, his course o f action in
life. For example, Krishna tells Arjuna, "Whenever sacred duty decays, and chaos prevails, then, I create
myself, Arjuna." Barbara Stoller Miller, trans., The Bhagavad Gita (New York: Bantam Books, 1986), 50.
-42-
conditions for making a buddha."1* [The devas] looked over the entire
universe and saw the condition of the non-arising of a buddha in the
remaining universes without end. They thought," Leaving aside this
universe buddhas do not arise in other universes." [The devas] looked at
this entire universe surrounded by others, at the strong heroes, the ones
with firm hearts, the heroes who are not clinging, those who are able to
make the benefit of others. Entering into the midst of them, they caused
the aspiration for buddhahood to arise.25
The aspiration is the direct antidote to the suffering of samvega felt in the universe. The
anxiety of samvega that is collectively felt on a cosmological level because of a buddha’s
absence is remedied by a cosmological solution —the aspiration. The creation of a
bodhisatta becomes a cosmological necessity that must be fulfilled by the gods.
The SotatthakT makes a bold argument about the origins of the aspiration and the
entire bodhisatta process by locating it in the workings of the universe rather than
originating with one extraordinary individual, as does the account of Sumedha, as found
in the Buddhavamsa.
The aspiration as generic and eternal
The aspiration presented in this narrative is essentially disembodied; it is not
created by the mental inspiration of any one being, but exists independent of, and prior to,
any particular person who will take hold of it. The SotatthakCs opening narrative depicts
24 As described in the SotatthakT, the buddhakarakadhammas include the making o f the aspiration, the
development o f the eight conditions, the fulfillment o f the ten perfections, and the abandonment o f the five
great sacrifices. A. systematic discussion o f the buddhakarakadhammas appears in the
"Addurenidanakatha” o f the SotatthakT, Smn 41-51.
25 Smn 10. "Yatra hi nSma buddho na uppanno tena panca suddhavasadeva appatarati. IdSni kho hi nama
mahaviro dalhahadayo mahasannahasannaddho buddhakSrakadhammanam kitum samattho ti
sakalacakkavalam olokento sesesu anantacakkavalesu buddhassa anuppannapubbabhivam d isvi cintesum
thapetva imam samantacakkavalam. anfiesu cakkavalesn buddha na uppajjimsu ti. Sakalam imam
samantacakkavSIam oloketva dajhavmye thirahadaye anoCnavuiye parahitakaranasamatthe oloketva tesarn
abbhantare pavisitva hiwftftiapantrihanam uppadSpesum."
-43-
the aspiration as a part of the resources in the cosmos which ensure the arising of
buddhas; in this way, the aspiration for buddhahood is both generic and eternal —it is
unique to no one person or any particular time.
Theravadin thought holds that the Dhamma, synonymous with Reality, is eternal.
Buddhas are the extraordinary beings who are able to clearly see this Dhamma and teach
it to others through their words and actions.26 Like the Dhamma, buddhas are in an
important sense eternal; buddhas have always arisen in the world and they wiE always
continue to arise. There is no ultimate beginning or end to the reality of the Dhamma and
buddhas. This is not to suggest that any one buddha is eternal or that the universe is at aU
times cared for by a Buddha. Indeed, as the SotatthakT shows us, the periodic prolonged
absences of buddhas is one of the dominant rhythms of Theravadin cosmology.
If buddhas are (discontinuously) present in the cosmos from a beginning-less past
to an endless future, then the aspiration that begins the entire process towards
buddhahood must be etemaEy present as weE. According to the SotatthakT, the aspiration
need not arise from the particular person who wiE become a bodhisatta and, in a far
distant future, a buddha —the existence of the aspiration for buddhahood can precede a
future bodhisatta altogether, as it does in this biography of the Bodhisatta.
hi the SotatthakT, the aspiration for buddhahood arises when the conditions in the
universe propel the gods into action in order to support the creation of a buddha.
According to Theravadin thought, the material world constantly responds to events in the
26 Steven. Collins makes a similar point in the context o f his discussion o f the frameworks o f an unchanging
pattern o f teality(dhamma) which encompasses the alterations o f historical time. See Collins, Nirvana and
Other Buddhist Felicities, 87-88. For astudy o f the historical development o f the theory o f infinite
buddhas, see Gombrich, "The Significance o f Former Buddhas in the Theravadin Tradition,'’ 65-66. Also
see Skilling, "The Sambuddhe Verse and Later Theravadin Buddhology."
-44-
biography of bodhisattas and buddhas, cognizant of the transformations a buddha’s
presence will create in the material world.
The Buddhavamsa commentary explains that the natural world celebrates four
transformational moments in the lives of bodhisattas and buddhas (descent into their
mothers’ wombs, birth, enlightenment, and the first teaching of the dhamma) with a
display of thirty-two miracles.17 The world undergoes an instant metamorphosis as the
earth shakes, music fills the air, and the sick are healed. These omens are described in the
pre-Sumedha stories in the SotatthakT; for example, in the lifetime of the Bodhisatta as
the cakkavatti king, when the Buddha Brahmadeva teaches the dhamma the world
responds:
Then this great earth, not being able to contain itself, was moved by the
brilliance of the Blessed One’s turning of the dhamma wheel—the ten
thousand world spheres rumbled, trembled and shook. Mt. Meru, the king
of mountains, bent down. Many wonders occurred.28
The SotatthakZ considerably expands on this relationship between the world and the
bodhisatta and buddhas not only by showing the universe as responsive to the events in
the biographies but also by ascribing a limited form of agency to the universe to create
these biographies.
This vision, of the aspiration arising, is significantly different in the extended
biography, which begins before the Bodhisatta’s lifetime as Sumedha. The aspiration, as
conceived in the Buddhavamsa tradition, is exclusively described in relationship to the
27 BvA 79: "Sabbasabbannubodhisattesu matukucchim okkamantesu mkkhamantesu sambujjhantesu

dhammacakkappavattantesu ti tmesu catusu thanesu dvattimsapatiiiariyaru pavattant'eva."
28 Smn 38. T ad a bhagavato dhammacakkapavattanatejena tajjita ayam mahapathavt sandharetum
asakkontl dasasahassi Iokadhatnyo sankampi sampakampi sampavedhi. SinempabbatarSja onamL Anekani
acchariyani pStur ahesum."
-45-
Bodhisatta. la the SotatthakT, however, the gods serve an indispensable and instrumental
role in causing the aspiration's arising, instrumental because the gods themselves are
unable to embody the aspiration themselves. As I will discuss below, only a human
being can fulfill the eight conditions that allow the aspiration to come to fruition.
The gods are the custodians of the disembodied aspiration and through their own
powers they must implant the aspiration in a capable person where it will grow and reach
success. The gods' actions, according to the text, are a condition which develops the
agency of another being —by bestowing an aspiration on a qualified person, the gods
enable him to become a bodhisatta. The source of the aspiration shows a fundamental
way by which the bodhisattas and the gods are dependent on each other. Only together
are they able to accomplish the ultimate aim of re-establishing well-being in the universe.
The aspiration as particular and finite
The SotatthakT displaces the origins of the aspiration from a particular bodhisatta
to a generalized cosmological process. In doing so, the text makes the implicit argument
that the biography of a bodhisatta, and of this Bodhisatta specifically, begins with events
and conditions that precede the bodhisatta altogether. But once the aspiration has been
set in motion, it must be joined with a particular biography in order to become effective.
The SotatthakT demonstrates this point by quickly shifting from the description of
the cosmological process, as given above, to the narrative of how this aspiration comes to
be embodied by this Bodhisatta. By taking as its starting point the general conditions in
the universe necessitating the arising of a bodhisatta, the SotatthakT creates a framework
for the entire biography that emphasizes the multiple actors involved in the development
of the Bodhisatta. This serves to de-center both the individual agency of the Bodhisatta
-46-
and to draw attention to the variety of relationships that directly contribute to the
Bodhisatta's development as he generates the aspiration to buddhahood, develops the
eight conditions that guarantee the aspiration's success, and moves towards the prediction
that is the acknowledgment of that success. This framework created by the pre-Sumedha
narratives significantly shapes the entire biography.
The movement between the generic and the particular in the SotatthakT begins
when Mahabrahma, a god who inhabits the highest realms of the heavens,29searches the
entire world for a suitable person who has the capability to embody the aspiration that is
in his protection. The encounter between Mahabrahma and a young man named
Maturuddharakanavika (literally "the sailor who carries (his) mother") occurs well into
this first narrated lifetime in the biography —that is, the first of the SotatthakTs pre-
Sumedha stories.
When the meeting occurs, the boy is shipwrecked with his mother, cast into the
middle of a violent, life-threatening ocean storm. Mahabrahma's searching gaze comes to
rest on the young man who is prepared to sacrifice his own life in order to save his
mother from drowning in the middle of the ocean. It is precisely the depth of the boy’s
commitment to care for and protect the life of his mother, illustrated by his seemingly
futile attempt to swim with her on his back across the ocean, that attracts Mahabrahma’s
attention as he surveys the universe for a person with the makings of a bodhisatta.
The boy's virtues display his potential to be a bodhisatta. The SotatthakT states:
Then Mahabrahma dwelled in the highest abode of the gods for sixteen
thousand kappas. [When] an asanfcheyya had passed, knowing the state of
the non-arising of buddhas, he considered the people able to make the
conditions for making a buddha (buddhakarakadhamma.) Having seen
(the young man) giving up his own life for the sake of his mother
[Mahabrahma] thought:
29The Buddhavamsa commentary describes Mahabrahma in. this way: ".. .one who, having developed the
first meditation in the highest degree, rebora in the domain o f the first meditation, having a life-span
enduring for an eon.’' Homer, th e Clarifier o f the Sweet Meaning. 17. The domain o f the first meditation
is a part o f the cosmos with material factors. For a complete description o f the brahma worlds see
Reynolds and Reynolds, The Three Worlds According to King Ruang, 259-269.
-47-
"This is a great man! Without regard for this great deep ocean,
[that is so] vast [its shore] is not seen, he abandons his own life, desiring
[only] to care for his own mother. This kind of man, endowed with [such]
great effort, is able to fulfill the conditions for making a buddha
Cbuddhakarakadhamma)."
With this thought he (Mahabrahma) entered [the young man's] mind, and
caused the aspiration for buddhahood to arise.30
According to the SotatthakT, Mahabrahma is the direct cause of the aspiration.
Mahabrahma is not merely the inspiration for the vow, but literally places this powerful
idea in the boy’s citta, mind. This is a dramatically assertive beginning to the biography
that builds directly on the idea of the generic aspiration established in the preceding
cosmological narrative. The aspiration, literally a part of the material universe, can be
given from the gods to a ready recipient. Here, I would argue, Mahabrahma gifts the
aspiration in order to create the bodhisatta.31
Without the intervention of Mahabrahma, the young man—while valiant in his
attempts to save his mother—would not become a bodhisatta. There is nothing in the
narrative that suggests he would have found the aspiration on his own—indeed, the
arguments implicit in the opening narratives in the SotatthakT suggests that such a
solitary revelation would be impossible. The impetus for becoming a bodhisatta in this
30 Smn 14. "Tada akanitthabhavane thito sojasasahassakappayukamahabrahma ekam asankheyyam

atikkamitva buddhassa anuppannabhavam natva buddhak5rakadhammanam katum samatthejane olokento
tam attano matu atthayajlvitam pariccajantam disva ayam mahapuriso imam mahasamuddam
atigambhlram apariyantam adassanam aganetva attano jtvitam pariccajitva sakamataram uttaretukamo.
Evarupo dalhavTriyo puriso buddhakarakadhammam katum samattho d cintetva tassa cittam pavesetva
buddhapanidhanam uppadapesi."
31 Mahabrahma's central role in giving the Bodhisatta his inidal aspiradon is also found in a Sinhalese
versions o f this same story. The 14“*c. Sinhalese Saddharmnlamkdraya contains a very similar version o f
this story in which Mahabrahma gifts the inidal aspiradon to the Bodhisatta. For a translation o f this story
see Richard Gombrich, "Feminine Elements in Sinhalese Buddhism," 79-80. Gombrich’s primary interest
in this article is a later Sinhalese version of the shipwreck story, the Manopranidhanaye Sivpada which is
dated roughly to the 19thcentury. This development o f the story places greater emphasis on the role o f the
mother in the arising o f the Bodhisatta's first aspiration. W hile Mahabrahma is still present in the story the
boy turns to his mother rather than the god and requests that she give him a varama (which Gombrich
translates as blessing) for buddhahood. For his discussion and translation o f the Manopranidhanaye
Sivpada see pp. 83-93. Gombrich's study o f the literary tradition o f this story shows that the idea o f the
shared or displaced agency o f the Bodhisatta’s first aspiration to become a buddha was an accepted aspect
o f the bodhisatta career.
-48-
text arise not from the concerns of one individual but from the cosmos itself. This is one
of the most dramatic displays of the bodhisatta’s dependence on others for his own
development. This argument, developed in the first narrated lifetime of the biography,
sets the tone for all the lifetimes that follow.
Mahabrahma’s role as bodhisatta-creator is not absolute; he can only gift the
aspiration to a person who is capable of becoming a buddha.52 Tnese qualities are not
directly enumerated in the text, but the narrated action demonstrates that the young man
already possesses several virtues that will be important resources for him as a bodhisatta
throughout his lifetimes leading up to the prediction event between Sumedha and the
Buddha Dlparikara. His dedication to his obligations to his mother and his perseverance
in order to accomplish these goal are signals to Mahabrahma that this young man is no
ordinary person, but a person who could develop into the most extraordinary of all
beings.
As I will explain below, this dedication and perseverance does not mean that the
young man who becomes the Bodhisatta in this lifetime has already attained the highest
state of ethical perfection; he is full of ordinary human weaknesses, yet he has the
potential to transform these ethical failings into the virtues of a bodhisatta with the aid of
others, beginning with Mahabrahma.
The collective arising of the aspiration displays both the instrumental agency of
Mahabrahma, and the universe more generally, as well as the Bodhisatta’s limited agency.
Mahabrahma’s actions are the catalyst that begin the entire bodhisatta path; his aim is to
create a buddha, and not being able to accomplish that goal by himself, he acts as an
instrument to ensure that the young man he finds in the ocean will reach that telos. The
~ In the Indie world Mahabrahma is a creator figure and this role is in play here. Just as Mahabrahma is
cast as the creator o f the material world, here he is shown to play a significant role in the creation o f the
Bodhisatta. For Mahabrahma's role as creator see, Hammalawa Saddhatissa, Buddhist Ethics (Boston:
Wisdom Publications, 1997), 26-30.
-49-
instrumental agent has the power to be effective because of the limited agency on the part
of the one being acted upon.
The young man, even with all of the capabilities he possesses outright, does not
have total control over the forces that shape his own immediate or prolonged future. Like
any one of us, the Bodhisatta is shaped by the concerns and influences of those around
him, but at the same time the influence described here is completely extraordinary .” The
god directly and precisely shapes the young man into a bodhisatta in order to serve an
overwhelming immediate need for a buddha in the universe.
Once bestowed, the aspiration is made by the Bodhisatta in each lifetime until he
becomes the Buddha Gotama. The aspiration continuously reflects the Bodhisatta's
commitment to attain well-being for himself and all others, but it is not a static element in
the bodhisatta path. In the pre-Sumedha stories, the form and articulation of the
aspiration evolves as the Bodhisatta develops as a bodhisatta progresses towards the
reception of the prediction in his lifetime as Sumedha. In the SotatthakT, the bodhisatta
career is divided into distinct phases by the manner in which the Bodhisatta makes his
aspiration. At the earliest stages of his career, the Bodhisatta makes his aspiration
mentally without any outward articulation. The aspiration is made mentally from the
initial aspiration through the first seven asankheyyas of the Bodhisatta's career. For the
next nine asankheyyas the Bodhisatta verbally expresses his aspiration and in the final
four asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas (that is, the period of the Bodhisatta's career
33 In Buddhist ethical thought, being in the presence o f good people is o f the utmost importance for ethical
development. Virtuous people inspire those around them to shape their own characters according to the
examples that they set. The kafyanamdta, the good friend, is one o f the most determinative factors in
leading a good life. The Dhammapada chapter five, Bala-vagga (the Childish), and chapter 6, Pandita-
vaggo (the Sagacious), are classic expressions o f the importance o f keeping good company. For example,
the chapter on the ChUdish explains, "If while moving [through life], one were not to meet someone better
or like unto oneself, then one should move firmly by oneself: there is no companion in the childish."
(5.V.6I.) The chapter on the Sagacious says, "The one who sees one’s faults, who speaks reprovingly, wise,
whom one would see as an indicator o f treasures, with such a sagacious person, one would associate. To
one associating with such a person, the better it w ill be, not the worse."(6.v.76), and "Let one not associate
with low persons, bad friends. But let one associate with noble persons, worthy friends." (6.V.78.) John
Ross Carter and Mahinda Palihawadana, trans.. The Dhammapada (New York: Oxford University Press,
1987), 2 3 , 26. For a discussion o f the importance o f living with spiritual friends see Payutto,
Buddhadhamma, 222-227.
-50-
narrated in the Buddhavamsa) the Bodhisatta makes his aspiration with both his speech
and his body.
The Bodhisatta's relationships with others significantly contribute to the evolution
of the aspiration. As I will now examine, the bodhisatta is inspired to make the aspiration
out of his commitment to others and because of the lessons they offer him.
The first aspiration is made soon after it is gifted by Mahabrahma. Still drowning
in the ocean storm, the young man is guided by the god to mentally articulate the
aspiration for himself for the very first time. The Sotatthaki says:
Then [this] man who was caring for his mother was struck down by the
force of a wave and began to drown. The thought given to him by the
great Mahabrahma caused him to have this thought:
"If I do not make a saccakxrtyam, a declaration of the truth, I will

die together with my mother in the middle of the ocean, so I will make this
vow: [Mahabrahma] caused this thought to arise: "Being awakened, I
should awaken [others]; being released, I should release others; crossing
over, I should cause others to cross over!"34
The aspiration made by the newly-minted Bodhisatta is the classic expression of
the aspiration for buddhahood, whereby a bodhisatta vows to attain enlightenment and
help all beings attain release from the dis-ease of samsdra by guiding them to the
liberation of enlightenment. The context in which the aspiration in this story is made is
unusual, however, because of its source and the intention behind it. Note, however, that
in making the aspiration the young man hopes to save one particular person, his mother,
and not all human beings.
The peculiarity of the first aspiration in the Sotatthaki illustrates the undeveloped
consciousness of the Bodhisatta as a bodhisatta. He has indeed made the aspiration and
Smn p. 14. ’Tada matuposako puriso umibalavegena pahato nimujjitum arabhi. Tato so tena
mahabra(h)muna padesitacittena evam. vitakkam uppSdesi sacaham ekam saccakiriyam na karissami
rniasmfm samuddamajjhe yeva m am a matuya saddMm. marissami tasma ekam saccakiriyam. karissami ti
cintetvS evam cittarn uppadesi buddho bodheyyam. mntto moceyyam tinno t&eyyan ti."
this transforms him into a bodhisatta, but the narratives in the SotatthakT, unlike other Pali
texts that chronicle the previous lives of the Buddha Gotama (most notably the
Buddhavamsa or the jatakas), show that a bodhisatta is not the same at every moment of
the path.
In the SotatthakT narrative there is a need for development that takes place over
many life times. Here, in this first life time, the aspiration is made first and foremost in
order to save his mother's life. The vow is taken truthfully; for the young man to make a
saccakriya, a declaration of the truth, the vow must be entered with complete sincerity.35
The aspiration is used as an expedient means to fulfill his obligations to his mother—his
obligations to promote the welfare of all beings seem to be a less immediate concern.
Making the aspiration begins a process of transformation from his particular
devotion to his mother to a generalized hope that he will be able to take care of all beings.
Just as he hopes to carry his mother across the ocean, so too he makes the aspiration to
help all beings cross over the metaphorical ocean of samsara.“ It is not a straightforward
progression from his particular concern for one being to a generalized concern for all
beings, and it is only by making the aspiration to care for others, even if he is not yet
capable of doing so, that he has any hope of fulfilling his immediate goal of saving his
mother. By making a commitment to direct all his actions towards the goal of
buddhahood in an unimaginably distant future, he gains the power he needs in his present
moment to swim across the ocean carrying his mother on his back.
In his subsequent pre-Sumedha lifetimes, the Bodhisatta’s aspiration evolves,
mirroring the Bodhisatta's progression on the bodhisatta path. The aspiration takes
different forms, either in the context in which the vow is made or in its actual articulation,
35 The importance o f the saccafdriya w ill be discussed below.

x h i his examination o f a Sinhaia version o f this story, Richard Gombrich analyzes the ocean as a metaphor
o f samsara arguing that a literal reading o f this metaphor served as the origin of this narrative. See
Gombrich, "Feminine Elements in Sinhalese Buddhism," 92-93.
which mirrors the progress of his ethical development and demonstrates his movement on
the path towards the prediction.
In the next narrated lifetime, the Bodhisatta is reborn as the King
Sattutasankadamakogajappiya, whose name means "[the king] who controls through fear,
beloved by elephants." In this lifetime, the Bodhisatta makes the aspiration after learning
the dangers of raga, lust.” The lesson is learned first-hand; the king is nearly killed when
his court elephant runs off, with the king seated on his back, in a frenzied search for a
female elephant.
After this near-death encounter, the king is instructed by his elephant trainer on
the danger of raga. His teaching causes the king to reflect on the many ways lust
overturns the most basic relationships; the king, giving voice to his newly found
awareness, laments:
These beings, stirred by passion,

Father kills son,
And son kills father,
Mother kills daughter....
These beings, stirred by passion,

Happiness wastes away every day,
Good actions are destroyed,
They are held back from the road to happiness.38
This realization of the destructive force of uncontrolled human emotions gives rise to an
experience of samvega, a feeling of both overwhelming dread and awe that the
detrimental conditions operative in samsara directly affect oneself too. Samvega can be
37Raga, lust, is closely associated here with lobha, greed; lobha, along with the emotions of moha,
confhsion, and dosa, anger are the root sources of evil actions that keep beings trapped in the cycles of
samsara. These emotions must be eliminated in order to follow a life o f proper conduct. See, for
example, Payutto, Buddhadhamma, 219-220,231-23S.
38 Smn IQ "Ragaturen' ime satta I pita puttam vighstayi I putto ca pitaram hand I mata mareti dhltaram II
[v30] Ragaturen' ime satta I sukha hayand sabbada I nassand kusala dhamma I sugadmaggam nivarayum
11"[v.34]
likened to the deeply disturbing feeling of "Oh no, I'm really in trouble now..." Recall
that when the gods realize that they are alone in the universe without the protective care
of a buddha they are overcome with samvega, an experience which compels them to find
a person to embody the aspiration for buddhahood.
hi his foundational article on samvega, Ananda Coomaraswamy likens the
experience of samvega to an "aesthetic shock" —a literal trembling at an intense
emotional experience of either horror or delight.39 Coomaraswamy argues that the initial
physical experience of samvega leads to a longer-lasting process of realization. He says,
"more than a merely physical shock is involved; the blow has a meaning for us, and the
realization of that meaning, in which nothing of the physical sensation survives, is still a
part of the shock."40
Liz Wilson builds upon Coomaraswamy’s theory in her analysis of the experience
of samvega generated by meditations on the body. She argues that the experiences of
samvega is sought after in order to produce a "shock therapy" that awakens the
practitioner to a visceral experience of the impermanence of all reality, including one’s
own body and the entirety of existence.41
Kevin Trainer's work adds another context for the generation of samvega to
Coomaraswamy’s focus on aesthetic experience and Wilson’s attention to meditation of
the foul. He focuses on the experience of samvega that is directly elicited by Pali
chronicles such as the Mahavamsa. Trainor argues that in this context samvega is both
an experience of anxiety and at the same time a rea liza tion of the truth of the transient
39 Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, "Samvega, 'Aesthetic Shock1," Harvard Journal o f Asiatic Studies, 7 (1942-
1943): 174-179. Nathan Katz also focuses on both the positive and negative sensations o f samvega. In his
study, Katz describes samvega as a "spiritually productive emotion" that can be elicited by feelings o f
horror at the presence o f dukkha in the world or by positive sentiments o f awe that arise from experiences
such as visiting pilgrimage sites o f the Buddha's life. See Nathan Katz, Buddhist Images o f Human
Perfection: The Arahant o f the Sutta Pitaka Compared with the BodhSsattva and the Mahasiddha (Delhi:
MotilalBanarsidass, 1982), 156-57.
40 Coomaraswamy, "Samvega, 'Aesthetic Shock1," 178.
41 Liz W ilson, Charming Cadavers (Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1996), 15-17. W ilson suggests
that samvega is like an "aha experience" p. 15.
-54-
nature of all reality which results in a feeling of pasada, a feeling of serenity arising from
faith. The experience of samvega sets off a chain of emotional reactions: the fear of
samvega inspires people to take refuge in the Triple Gem of the Buddha, the dhamma, his
teaching, and the sangha, his community. By taking refuge, one experiences the
uplifting relief of pasada precisely because one now has a refuge in the world, a source
of protection from duktdia, a felling of dis-ease, caused by the impermanent world of
samsara 3 As we shall see shortly, the SotatthakT offers another interpretation of
samvega.
The Bodhisatta's experience of samvega, which arises from his understanding of
the dangers of raga, lust, and his insight that lust is the cause of tortuous rebirths is not so
much a self-reflective experience but a concern for all beings.'3 The SotatthakT says:
A great samvega arose for that king:
"AhoI Lust is very fierce, very terrible, a great danger! Because of

lust beings are drowning in the swamp of samsara. Because of lust they
suffer in the eight great hells. Because of lust they are reborn as many
kinds of beasts."44
The Bodhisatta realizes that the only way for beings to be released from this
suffering is for them to be saved by a buddha. Reflecting in this way, the Bodhisatta, like
the gods before him, realizes that since the world is without a buddha, there is no refuge
3 Kevin Trainor, Relics, Ritual, And Representation In Buddhism (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1997), 171-175. W ilson, Charming Cadavers, 17.
43 Coomaraswamy sites an example from the Sutta Nipata o f the Buddha's experience o f samvega which
generates a concern for all beings rather than himself. "T will proclaim,’ the Buddha says, ’the cause o f my
dismay (samvega), wherefore I trembled (samvijitam maya): it was when I saw peoples floundering like
fish when ponds dry up, when I beheld man's strife with man, that I felt fear." Quoted in Coomaraswamy,
"'Samvega, 'Aesthetic Shock'," 174.
44 Smn 18." Tassaranno mahasamvego uppajji: aho rSgo aticando mahaghoro bahupaddavo tam pana
nilsSya anekavidhesu tiracchanagatesu uppajjanff ti."
to turn to, and so he himself must strive to fill that role. The Bodhisatta reflects in the
SotatthakT:
"By what dhamma will I release these beings from the suffering of
samsara? Leaving aside the condition of making a Buddha, there is no
otherdhamma, thus I will also make the aspiration for buddhahood."
Having had this thought he made the mental aspiration:
"Being awakened, I will awaken [others];

Being released, I will release others;
Being crossed over, I will cause [others] to cross over
From the great fearful flood of samsara."**
There is no buddha to mm to, and so the Bodhisatta vows that he will become this refuge
for others. The experience of samvega compels him to make the aspiration for
buddhahood. It is an immediate action the Bodhisatta can take in the present moment
that will ensure the ultimate solution that can only be attained in the far distant future.
When the Bodhisatta makes his aspiration for buddhahood in this, his second life
as a bodhisatta, his actions follow the same pattern established by the gods in the opening
narrative. The mirroring between the Bodhisatta’s response to the sensation of samvega
with that of the gods shows that the aspiration has become fully embodied by the
Bodhisatta; the process that the gods set in motion that began the entire biography has
now been fully taken up by the Bodhisatta. The universal concerns that created the
cosmological necessity for a buddha have become the particular concern and inspiration
for this one Bodhisatta.
45 Smn 19. "Ime sane kena dhammena samsaradukkhato mocayissamT ti cintetvit thapetva
hnrfrihakarakadhamme anno dhammn nama natthi fasma aham pi buddhapanidhanam karissami ti cintetva
manopanidhanam akSsi:
Buddho 'bam bodhayissami I mutto tarn mocaye pare I tinno 'ham tarayissami I samsarogha mahabbhava II"
[v38]
-56-
The meaning of samvega in the SotatthakT seems to be significantly different than

the individual responses to the transient nature of the world that both Wilson and Trainor
describe. While that emotion may be present in the narrative of the gods and in this
narrative as well, samvega in this text is more specifically a reaction to the suffering in
the world that continues unabated because of the absence of a buddha. This is a
collective experience of samvega—the universe as a whole is in a state of inevitable "dis
ease." The arising of the aspiration is the direct antidote to this samvega, because once a
buddha comes into the world all beings will be protected. In these narratives in the
SotatthakT, samvega directly precedes, and is the catalyst for, the aspiration. But unlike
the Theravadin chronicles Trainor studies, in the SotatthakT there is no pairing of
samvega andpasada. Because the world is without a buddha, and thus without his
teaching, the dhamma, and his community, the sahgha, there is nowhere to go for refuge,
which is the action that Trainor identifies as the action that is inspired by samvega and
results in the relieving feelings of pasada, of being cared for by the Buddha. The relief
of pasada can only be an emotion anticipated for a future time when the Bodhisatta’s
aspiration is fulfilled.
The Bodhisatta's aspiration when he is the king is nearly identical to the first
aspiration made by the young man drowning in the ocean. The memory of the ultimate
source of the aspiration lingers in this narrative as the Bodhisatta’s experiences in his life
as the king recall those of the gods that set the entire biography in motion. Both
aspirations are made mentally with no verbal expression, but the progression between
these moments when the aspirations are made is clear even thought the context in which
the aspirations are made radically differ, hi the second prediction, the care that the
Bodhisatta lavished on his mother in his first life has become a universal concern for ah
beings; the aspiration has become fully embodied.
The text signals the evolution of the Bodhisatta's aspiration in the verbal forms
that are used to express the aspiration. When the first aspiration is made, the Bodhisatta
-57-
describes the actions he will perform in the future as a buddha in the optative
tense—these are actions he hopes to do, or aspires to live up to. As the young man who
saves his mother's life the Bodhisatta says: "Buddho, bodheyyam" "Being awakened, may
I awaken others." As the king, the Bodhisatta's perspective on the future is much more
assured. He describes precisely the same actions in the future tense: "Buddho aham
bodhayissdmi" "Being awakened, I will awaken (others)." This second articulation of
the aspiration suggests a greater commitment and resolve towards this future.46
The future is described with full certainty because the vision of that time is not
distant from the present; rather, this vision informs how one lives and acts until that
future is attained. The assertiveness of the future tense suggests a self-made prediction of
one's own future. The rare use of the optative in the first statement of the aspiration, on
the other hand, shows the tentativeness of a process at its very beginning. (I will fully
explore the relationship between the present and the future that underlies these kinds of
statements in chapter three.)
The function of the aspiration is closely dependent on a conception of time where
the past, present, and future are brought into close relationship. The aspiration supports a
bodhisatta's relationship with time in which reflections and actions in the present moment
are inseparably linked to the past and future. This is expressed in the aspiration through
the use of past, present, and future tenses to express the bodhisatta's actions. The
bodhisatta describes himself in the future with the past participle (e.g. buddho, the past
participle of bujjhati, awakens) showing the collapse of temporal frames that supports the
bodhisatta creating himself in relation to all three times.
46There is no way to uncover the intentionality o f Cullabuddhaghosa, the author/compiler o f the Sotatthaki.:
The use o f the optative vs. the future tense may have been a deliberate choice or it may be the result o f a
compiled text that was not carefully edited for consistency. However, the clear connections between the
narratives supports a reading o f the text that allows for the importance o f details such as this verbal shift
Further, regardless of the intentionality o f the author, we are left with the text as it is and I would argue that
this kind o f interpretation is productive for uncovering the major ideas and arguments in the SotatthakiI
These first two aspirations are made when the Bodhisatta has no access to a
buddha. This is true of the remaining two lifetimes (when the Bodhisatta is reborn as the
Brahmin risi and the princess) that make up the first section of the biography, the
"Bahiranidana," the outer nidana.1,1 The aspirations made in these early lifetimes are ail
made mentally, although each is made in a distinctly different context in response to a
different set of events. The divisions in the biography into different nidanas, subjects or
stories, follow the evolution of the aspiration, showing the importance of the aspiration
experiences in the Bodhisatta’s development. In the "Mahanidana," the great nidana, and
the "Atidurenidana,” the very far nidana, the Bodhisatta makes the aspiration in the
presence of buddhas—the aspiration is made mentally in the first of these nidanas and
verbally in the second. In these final sections of the pre-Sumedha biography the
aspiration is always made in a face-to-face encounter with a buddha who is fully aware of
the Bodhisatta's vow regardless of whether it is made mentally (internally) or is heard by
the buddha or others.

The presence of a buddha significantly alters the form of the aspiration. In his
rebirth as the great King Atideva, the Bodhisatta encounters a buddha for the first time.
When Atideva leams that the Buddha Brahmadeva has arisen in the world, he is
instantaneously overwhelmed with increasingly intense feelings of joy that leave him
completely disoriented and almost entirely incapacitated in spite of his extreme desire to
go and pay homage to the Buddha.

Here again, the material world responds to his profound saddha, faith, and a giant
white lotus breaks through the earth to catch the king when he falls from the roof of his
palace in his delirious state. With this kind of disposition, which is not only the result of
that lifetime but all of his preceding lives as well, the king worships the Buddha
47 For an extended discussion o f the nidana divisions in the SotatthakT see chapter three, pp. 133-138.
Brahmadeva. He is so inspired by the Buddha that he makes his own aspiration in the
Buddha’s presence:
O LordI Just as you are awakened and awaken living beings,

Just so, being awakened in the world I will awaken living beings.
0 Lordl Just as you are released and release living beings,

Just so, being released from samsara I will release living beings.
0 Lord! Just as you are crossed over and cause living beings to cross
over,
Just so, being crossed over from samsara I wiE cause living beings to
cross over.48
The aspiration is completely consistent with aU that have been made in previous lifetimes
—the same actions are envisioned in the future -- but the aspiration has significantly
evolved. The aspirant vows to become just like the living Buddha who stands in front of
him by vowing to direct every effort to developing the virtues perfectly embodied by the
Buddha. The aspiration is now an expression of an affinity between the Bodhisatta and
this Buddha, as weE as a continuing expression of his commitment in the present and the
future to aU beings. The Buddha is the model of the agent that the Bodhisatta must
become if his aspiration is to succeed.
The importance of the encounter between the Buddha and Bodhisatta in the text
should not be ignored or regarded as mere convention. The emotional intensity of the
Bodhisatta’s feelings upon meeting a Buddha is expressed in the text as creating
boundless joy that has the power to transform the Bodhisatta; the Buddha is not only the
Bodhisatta’s refuge in his present lifetime, but a vision of himself as he projects himself
48 Smn 33-34. "Yatha ca tvam apt natha I buddho bodhesi paninam I tathevaham buddho Ioke I
bodhayissami paninam II Yatha ca tvam apt nStha I mutto mocesi paninam I tatheva mutto ’ham samsara I
macayissami paninam IIYatha ca tvam api natha I tinno taresi pSninam I tatheva dnno ham samsara I
tarayissSmi paninan t i II" [w . 62 -64].
-60-
into the future where the Bodhisatta imagines the completion of his ethical
development.49 The Bodhisatta sees himself as he will be in the future as he gazes upon
the extraordinary image of the Buddha who stands before him in the present.
The Buddha is not only a model of what the bodhisatta hopes to become but a
constructive reminder of the virtues he still lacks in the present and must continue to
develop into the future. This encounter gives rise to a joy bom of hope but also to
dissatisfaction with who he is in the present. This kind of dissatisfaction inspires the hard
work of self-formation.
The evolution of the aspiration over the course of multiple lifetimes propels the
Bodhisatta closer to the reception of the prediction for buddhahood which marks the
success of his aspiration. Yet the SotatthakT demonstrates that the original source of the
aspiration from the gods is neither forgotten nor transcended. According to the
SotatthakT, the Bodhisatta’s dependence on the gods for the original arising of the
aspiration is one of the primary sources of the Buddha Gotama’s obligation to teach the
Dhamma once he has attained enlightenment in his final lifetime. The SotatthakT
connects the first arising of the aspiration, at the beginning of the biography, with the
moment when it is fulfilled, in the final lifetime of the biography by the just-arisen
Buddha Gotama. The first pre-Sumedha story concludes with an allusion to the Buddha’s
post-enlightenment event in his final lifetime. Here, the very beginning of the biography
is joined to its end.
The SotatthakT refers to the famous post-enlightenment scene when the Buddha
Gotama is approached by an assembly of gods, led by Mahabrahma, as he sits under the
Bodhi tree in the weeks after his enlightenment.30 As the story is told in the Vinaya
49 For further discussion o f the importance o f the Bodhisarta's encounter with a buddha see chapter 4, pp.
199-205.
30 This story is told in Vinaya 1 1-13 and quoted in the "Nidlnavannana" o f the BvA 9-10. The story is told
in an abbreviated form in the Jataka Nid&nakatha, see V . FausboU, ed, The Jataka Together With Its
Commentary, 1:81.
Mahdvagga, the Buddha initially resists teaching the dhamma to others because he thinks
no one will understand the profound truths he discovered. Realizing the Buddha's
decision, Mahabrahma is M l of fear. In the Vinaya Mahdvagga Mahabrahma says:
Alas, the world is lost, alas, the world is destroyed inasmuch as the mind
of the Truth-finder, the perfected one, the folly awakened one, inclines to
little effort and not to teaching dhamma.11
This is strikingly reminiscent of the SotatthakTs opening narrative, in which the gods cry
out in similar fashion when they realize there is no buddha in the universe. The
SotatthakT seems to be adroitly connecting these moments in the biography. The original
events that set the SotatthakTs biography in motion evocatively echo this foundational
post-enlightenment scene in the Buddha’s biography. In both instances the gods, serving
as the watch-keepers of the universe, alarmed by the detrimental conditions caused by the
absence of a buddha in the world, intervene to change the course of events. By drawing
these narrative moments together, the SotatthakT legitimates its narrative of the god's
bestowal of the original aspiration - the gods actions are shown to prefigure their later
intercession, in the canonical story after the Buddha's enlightenment.
hi the Vinaya account, once Mahabrahma becomes aware of the Buddha's
reticence, the gods appear before the Buddha and beg him to teach his realization of the
Dhamma to all beings, instead of remaining in his solitary enjoyment of the bliss of
nibbana. The gods’ request at the Bodhi tree is one of the most famous moments in the
biography of the Buddha; the SotatthakT points to this moment in the Buddha Gotama’s
51L B. Homer, trans.. The Book o f the Discipline, voL 4 (London: Luzac & Co., 1951), 4.7; The story o f
the gods’ request that the newly enlightened Buddha teach the Dhamma he has discovered to the world is
retold in the opening chapter o f the Buddhavamsa and its commentary. Thus, when the SotatthakT invokes
this narrative at the conclusion o f the first pre-Sumedha story it is also pointing to the opening section o f
the Buddhavamsa narrative. See BvA 10-18. The Buddhavamsa commentary quotes Mahabrahma’s
lament; BvA 10: "Atha Brahm a Sahampati dasabaiassa cetasa cetoparivitakkam anfiaya: ’nassati vata bho
loko; d "
biography but radically re-configures it by asserting that the Buddha agrees to the god’s
request because they gifted the first aspiration to him in his very first life as a Bodhisatta,
the first narrated life in the Sotatthafa’s biography.
At the end of this first pre-Sumedha narrative the SotatthakT references the post
enlightenment story:
When the Blessed One became a Buddha he gave his promise to the gods
of the 10,000 cakkavalas beginning with Sahampati Mahabrahma who
requested the Blessed One teach the Dhamma. He sent (them) forth to
their own places. Remembering his own aspiration again, he recited this
verse:
"Because that aspiration was made —

Being Awakened, I should awaken others,
By that I attained buddhahood,
Now, I will cause beings to awaken.
Because that aspiration was made —

Being released, I should release others,
By that I was released from samsara,
Now, I will release beings.
Because that aspiration was made —

Crossing over, I will cause others to cross over,
By that I crossed over from samsara,
Now, I will cause beings to cross over.52
According to the SotatthakT, the gods come and remind the Buddha of the
aspiration he made to seek enlightenment for the benefit of others beginning from his
very first aspiration that was gifted to him by Mahabrahma. In the SotatthakT, it is not
52 Sinn 14. ~]
dasasahassacakkavaladevatSnam bhagavantam yacentmam tasam patinnam datva attano thane pesetva
attano pubbapanidhanam saranto ima gatha abhasi:
Buddh' oham buddhayissami I iti yam. patthanam katam I tena patto ’mhi sambuddham I handa bodhemi
panfnam II [v.27] Mutto' ham mocayissami I itt yam patthanam katam I tena mutto 'mhi samsara I handa
mocemi plninam II Tinno tiain tarayissami I iti yam patthanam katam I tena dnno 'mhi samsara I handa
t2remi paninan' ti II" [v.29].
-63-
only the remembrance of the vow that the gods evoke but also how that aspiration
originally arose. Because the Bodhisatta received the aspiration from Mahabrahma he is
obligated, having now fulfilled the path, to reciprocate the care and aid he received from
the gods. The gods’ original telos of righting the universe by bringing a Buddha into the
world can only be accomplished if the Buddha agrees to teach the Dhamma he has
realized to others. Recalling the aspiration Mahabrahma initially gave to him, the
Buddha complies with the gods’ request.

By drawing together the events narrated in the Bodhisatta’s first lifetime with the
Buddha's post-enlightenment experience the SotatthakT significantly revises the entire
Buddha biography, showing how the development of the Bodhisatta determines his
experiences when he becomes the Buddha. The SotatthakT re-imagines the Buddha’s
positive response to the god’s request as a reciprocal act done to a significant degree in
response to the god’s gift of the first aspiration.53 The gods remind the Buddha that he
was once dependent on the aid of others which enabled him to become a Buddha, a
perfect and autonomous individual; recalling this past motivates the Buddha to return the
aid he had once received by becoming a refuge for the world, as the gods desired.
The aspiration's power
The exchange between the generic and specific qualities of the aspiration render it
powerful. The aspiration is both greater than any one bodhisatta and belongs to each and
every bodhisatta. It is disembodied from all of them and embodied in a particular way by
each bodhisatta. The aspiration shows the continuity between one specific bodhisatta and
all bodhisattas —that is, the generic category of bodhisatta —who make essentially the
same vow and undergo similar processes of ethical formation in developing the eight
331 take up the issue o f the Bodhisatta's reciprocity in chapter 4, pp. 243-245.
-64-
conditions for the prediction. The aspiration is not only a condition that defines a person
as a bodhisatta, it is also a resource that helps a bodhisatta attain his aim.
The interconnection between the aspiration's generic and unique qualities makes
the aspiration a force that is external to the bodhisatta but one that he can internalize. The
play between these dimensions generate a power that can be utilized by the bodhisatta. In
the Sotattha/a, the aspiration is envisioned as a mantra, a powerful formula that can have
protective powers.
Mantra has a wide range of meanings and functions in the Buddhist world: a
mantra can be used ritually to invoke a deity or a universal power, it can be a powerful
incantation used for good or ill, or it can define a specific meditation practice.51 In this
context, the aspiration functions as a mantra that harnesses the power of the universal
aspiration in the particular instance in which the aspiration is made.
The second life story of the bodhisatta as King Sattutasankadamakogajappiya, the
king who leams of the dangers of rdga, passion, in his near death experience with his
elephant, is particularly suggestive on this point. The king does not understand why his
elephant ran off into the jungle, leaving his entire army in hot pursuit. The sage elephant
trainer explains the nature and danger of rdga to the king and then demonstrates how it
can be controlled by controlling the mind. He does so by summoning the elephant from
the jungle with a mantra.
It is in this context that the Bodhisatta is then inspired to make his aspiration for
buddhahood. The text suggests that the aspiration works in an analogous way to the
elephant trainer's mantra—the aspiration, like a mantra, has the power to control the
Bodhisatta's mind that has also run wild because of passion. Indeed, the elephant is a
standard metaphor in Pali literature for the untamed mind.15 The power of the elephant
54 For a comprehensive study o f the range o f meanings and functions o f mantras see J. Gonda, "The Indian
Mantra," Oriens 16, (1963): 244-97.
55 See, for example, Dhammapada, chapter 23, "tfaga, the Elephant":
"Formerly this mind set out / awandering as it wished, where it liked, according to its pleasure. / Today I
-65-
trainer's mantra in controlling the elephant is mirrored by the Bodhisatta's aspiration
which empowers his self-control.
The aspiration is also invoked as a protection against outside forces that may or
may not be directly associated with the bodhisatta path. As discussed above, the very
first time the bodhisatta makes the aspiration as the drowning youth he invoked the
aspiration as a saccakiriyd, a declaration of the truth, in order to keep himself and his
mother from drowning in the ocean.
The declaration of this kind of statement appears throughout Buddhist narratives
and is made, just like this one, in order to overturn seemingly disastrous events. The
truth has a power in itself, and by making a statement of the truth one can direct its
powers for salvific ends.56 In this narrative, the aspiration is conflated with the
saccakiriyd, suggesting the truthfulness with which the Bodhisatta makes the vow, but
also the eternal truth of the aspiration that is called upon by the Bodhisatta to protect him
in his time of danger.
The aspiration is a source of power that the Bodhisatta can draw upon in order to
face the extreme difficulty of the bodhisatta path. The aspiration is employed in precisely
this way in the final pre-Sumedha narrative when the Bodhisatta, reborn as the cakkavatti
king, learns the extreme perils and torturous travails —tasks that make the Herculean
trials pale in comparison —that he will have to endure on the bodhisatta path from the
Buddha, Former Sakyamuni, (Puranasakyamuni.) The king is undaunted and completely
without fear;
will hold it back methodically / Like one seizing a goad, an elephant in rut." [23.v326]
Carter and Palihawadana, trans.. The Dhammapada, 67.
56 One o f the classic narratives that defines the meaning and function o f the saccakiriyd is found in the
MiUndapcmha. in the chapter on King Siviraja when the monk Nigasena explains to King Milinda that
power o f asserting the truth is so great that it can effect the material world. Milanda, repeating Nagasena's
explanation says, "Making an assertion of the truth, they (can) cause rain to fall, fire to go out, they (can)
ward o ff poison and do various other things they want to do." L B . Homer, trans., Milinda's Questions, vol.
L(London: Luzac & Company, Ltd., L963), 166-172.
-66-
Having heard that (the Buddha's speech) the Bodhisatta said this to the
Blessed One:
"O sir! I am not afraid of even one [of those things]. Everything that you
said is not difficult for me. Falling to [my] chest, I will crawl across those
places filled with burning ash and burning coals, etc. I will go across them.
Or if [I am ] continuously below in the great Avici hell, [stLLl] I will attain
omniscience. Why do I say this? Because my mind is a weapon, I do not
fear anything.17
The Bodhisatta invokes his mind, focused on the aspiration, as a vajira, a thunderbolt, a
weapon that he will wield as he traverses the bodhisatta path. It is perhaps surprising to
encounter the image of the vajira as a metaphor of the mind in a Pali text. In Pali
literature the vajira is most commonly associated with the figure of Sakra, the king of the
devas, but it is being used here to conjure an image of the Bodhisatta as a fearless hero
who is able to harness the power of the aspiration.58
TTT. The eight conditions: Antidotes to ethical failings
In the Buddhavamsa's "Sumedhakatha” the eight conditions are given in the
momentous scene when Sumedha has just made his aspiration for buddhahood as he sees
the Buddha DTpankara approaching with his retinue of thousands of monks. The eight
conditions are listed directly before the Buddha Dlpankara makes his prediction of
Sumedha's future as the Buddha Gotama, demonstrating the intimate causal connection
between the conditions and the prediction. The Buddhavamsa says:
Being human, endowed with the male mark,

57 Smn 41-42. 'Tam sutva bodhisarto bhagavantam etad avoca naham bhante ekampi bhayami. Sabbam
mmhehi vuttam mayham dukkaram na hoti. Urasa nipatitvi tesam kukkurangarad&iam upari urena gantva
tesam param gamissami. Abhava sace nirantarassa mahaavTcinirayassa hetthi sabbafinutananam
papunissSmi- Kasma pan’ evam vadanu. Mama cittam vajirasadisam na kifici bhayam karomT ti aha."
58 For references o f Sakra's weapon see for example: D L95; M L231; J LI34. The identification o f the
aspiration as a vajra (Skt) is commonly found in MahaySna and especially Tantric texts. See Jaini,
"Bodhisattva Career o f the Tathagata Maitreya,” 65. Xaini’s discussion includes a translation o f a passage
from the Guhyasamaja-tantra: "O son o f good family, the badhicicta should be seen as a vajra by all the
Tathagatas."
condition, seeing a teacher,
going forth, being endowed with qualities,
capability arisen from attendance, will,
from the combining the eight conditions,
the aspiration succeeds.59
These eight conditions give a description of the qualities a bodhisatta needs to possess in
order to become a buddha. These qualities include specific physical attributes,
relationships, spiritual attainments, and what can vaguely be called character.
Each of these conditions is described briefly in the Buddhavamsa commentary
from which I paraphrase here: A bodhisatta must be human and male. "Conditions"
refers to the conditions for becoming an arahant, that is, an enlightened being. "Seeing a
teacher" means that a bodhisatta must be in the presence of a buddha, make an aspiration
in his presence, and receive the prediction of the success of his aspiration in return. He
must "go forth" becoming a renunciant having abandoned household life. "Being
endowed with qualities" refers to the possession of the spiritual attainment of psychic
powers. He must gain a capability that arises from attending buddhas with worshipful
devotion. And finally the bodhisatta must be endowed with a great will that will fortify
him for the arduous and seemingly endless bodhisatta path.60
hi his lifetime as Sumedha, the Bodhisatta is able to meet all of the eight
conditions that ensure the success of the aspiration. The Buddhavamsa, its commentary
and the Jataka Nidanakatha list these eight conditions, and the two commentaries gives a
brief description of each. In these texts there is neither an explicit discussion of how the
Bodhisatta is able to gain these eight conditions in this lifetime nor a discussion of their
significance or purpose.61 The SotatthakFs expansion of the Bodhisatta’s biography
addresses these issues in narrative form.
59 Bv IL58: "Manusattam Iingasampatti hetu sattharadassanam [ pabbajj'a gunasampatd adhikaro ca

chandata I atuthSadhanunasamodhlna abhinlharo samijjhati II"
60 BvA 91-92.
61 See for example, Buddhavamsa IL 58; M adhuranhavilasinlpp. 91-92; Jataka L 14-15.
-68-
While the SotatthakTs textual ancestors affirm the centrality of the eight
conditions to the bodhisatta path —it is impossible for a bodhisatta to receive a prediction
without first meeting these requirements, and further, buddhahood is impossible without
a prediction —little attention is focused upon how they are to be developed. Rather, these
texts assert that the Bodhisatta embodies these qualities and is thus able to receive a
prediction of his own buddhahood.
The SotatthakT explores this foundational dimensions of the bodhisatta path
through its treatment of the pre-Sumedha narratives. These life stories demonstrate the
unsystematic development of these conditions over many lives—conditions are gained in
one life only to be lost in another. I suggest that the SotatthakT demonstrates that
Sumedha is only able to develop all eight conditions quickly and effortlessly because he
had already lived through this process of development narrated in the pre-Sumedha
stories. The SotatthakT is also making a bolder and more significant argument: the
process of developing the eight conditions fundamentally transforms the Bodhisatta from
a person who is still subject to the ordinary ethical failings that plague all of us into a
person who has been recreated according to the ethical ideals exemplified by a bodhisatta
and a buddha.
It is clear in the Pali texts that give this list of the eight conditions,62that all eight
conditions have to be attained in one lifetime. These texts are consistent with the Jataka
Nidanakatha and the Buddhavamsa commentary —it is an all-or-nothing proposition.
Even if a bodhisatta were to have seven of the eight conditions, he would not receive a
prediction and his aspiration would not succeed. This point is made explicit in the pre-
Sumedha story when the Bodhisatta is reborn as the princess.

hi this story, the Bodhisatta's only rebirth as a woman, the princess meets the
Bodhisatta Later DTpankara who has come to her palace begging for oil to use in his
62 See Pj H 48-50; Sarasangaha, 2-5.
-69-
worship of the Buddha, confusingly named the Buddha Former DTpankara (Purana
DTpankara.) When the princess meets the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara she is inspired to
make her own aspiration for buddhahood. She enlists the aid of the Bodhisatta Later
DTpankara to convey her own aspiration to the Buddha, who is her half brother.
The Bodhisatta Later DTpankara acts as the intermediary between the princess and
her brother the Buddha in order to find out if the princess’s aspiration will make with
success. The Bodhisatta Later DTpankara approaches the Buddha Former DTpankara with
the princess’s aspiration and makes this inquiry on her behalf. The Buddha responds:
Having heard his speech the Teacher said this to that monk concerning his
own sister’s aspiration:
"O monk! At present my sister is a woman, she is not able to receive a

prediction.0
This exchange sets up the opportunity for a discussion of the eight conditions in
the SotatthakT. While the discussion of the eight conditions is seamlessly woven into the
text, the SotatthakT is quoting without citation from another source.64 Because the
Bodhisatta is a woman she is unable to receive the prediction. The text is decidedly
uninterested in whether she possesses any of the other conditions; the conversation about
her potential to receive a prediction in her present lifetime stops after reaching the second
item on the list. Because she is a woman and not a man, there is no need to go on with
the assessment of her readiness for the prediction.
Another version of this same story entitled the ’’Padlpadanajataka" from the
Panhasa-jdtaka differs from the SotatthakT on this point.65 In this version of the princess
° Smn 26. "Sattha tassa vacanam sutva attano bhaginiyS. panidhSnam arabbha tain bhikkhum etad avoca
bhikkhu idani mama bhaginl itthartabhave thita na sakka byakaranam Iaddhun a .”
64This qaotadon is probably horn the Jataka Nidanakathd —the SotatthakTs passage is almost identical
with this source. See Smn 26-27; Ja 1.14-15.
65PannaSa-jS IL 396-402. For an English translation o f the Padlpadanajataka see Padmanabh S. Jaini,
trans.. Apocryphal Birth-Staries (Pahnasa-Jataka), 2.85-91.
-70-
story, the Buddha Former DTpankara enumerates the six conditions that the princess does
possess: "human birth, the three conditions, seeing the teacher, endowed with qualities,
service and will, she possesses these six conditions." Like the SotatthakT, the Buddha
goes on to say that he can not give her a prediction because she lacks all eight
preconditions.
While the discussion of the conditions in the princess story in the SotatthakT is
consistent with the commentarial sources, (for example, the Buddhavamsa commentary
and the Jataka Nidanakathd), the context in which the discussion of the conditions
appears in the SotatthakT is so dramatically different that I believe the SotatthakT
significantly alters the function of the list of eight conditions.

In the canonical and commentarial texts, the eight conditions are declared in the
moment between the Bodhisatta's statement of the aspiration and his reception of the
prediction of his own future buddhahood. It is a moment when the future becomes
completely revealed and defined. This transformed relationship with the future is
predicated upon the Bodhisatta's attainment of all eight conditions.
In stark contrast, in the SotatthakT, the list of eight conditions are employed to
show the qualities that the Bodhisatta is lacking rather than how the Bodhisatta is
exemplary of the eight conditions, like Sumedha.66 Prior to receiving his first prediction
the Bodhisatta's future as a bodhisatta is still uncertain. In his pre-Sumedha lifetimes, the
Bodhisatta strives to develop the qualities that will enable him to receive a prediction
guaranteeing that his aspiration will succeed. The development of each condition is a
movement away from a still-present ethical failing and a movement towards ethical
perfection.
66 The Paramatthafotikd states the list o f the eight conditions in its discussion o f the different kinds o f
aspirations and the conditions that each aspiration rest upon. The discussion o f the conditions quoted from
the Buddhavamsa commentary are elaborated by showing how Sumedha is exemplary o f the condidons.
There is a certain kind o f self-referencing at play here —Sumedha is defined by his possession o f the eight
condidons, and the eight condidons are defined by Sumedha. See Pf II48-49.
-71-
The first condition is straightforward: a bodhisatta must be bom as a human in
order to gain a prediction for buddhahood. The SotatthakT only narrates the life stories in
which the Bodhisatta takes a human rebirth, but the Bodhisatta is also bom in non-human
forms over the course of his many lifetimes to buddhahood. The text makes passing
references to lives spent in the deva realms, where the Bodhisatta was reborn as various
kinds of gods. Tnese lifetimes are not narrated, presumably because as a god he can not
develop these eight conditions and so these lifetimes do not further his progress towards
the prediction.
The Buddhavamsa commentary explains that a bodhisatta must be a human being
because other kinds of beings are not able to remove the root causes that keep beings
trapped in samsara: lobha, dosa, and moha, greed, anger and confusion respectively.57
Only a human being can attain enlightenment; conditions in other realms of the cosmos
do not support the insight into dukkha, dis-ease, that leads to enlightenment.
Yet the lives passed inhabiting the deva realms are significant; the bodhisatta
moves through different realms of the cosmos as he moves through his many lives. He is
even willing to suffer in the hell realms in order to attain buddhahood.58This is a
cosmological biography—in order to attain his goal the Bodhisatta must be bom human,
but he becomes a buddha for the entire universe, and the universe in its entirety with all
its many realms supports his most noble of endeavors.
The Bodhisatta's rebirth as the princess becomes the opportunity to permanently
gain the condition of being a man and continue the process of ethical transformation; his
rebirth as a woman is unequivocally and unapologetically linked to unspecified immoral
acts he had performed in previous lives. The ethical-ontological status of women is clean
57 BvA 91: "Tartha manussatan d manussabhave yeva thatva buddhattam patthentassa patthana samijjhad,
aa nagajad-adisu thitanam. Kasma d ce? Ahetukabhavato..."
58 The Bodhisatta says that even if he had to spend a limitless time in the hells he would not abandon the
bodhisatta path: see Smn 42.
-72-
to be reborn as a woman is to be punished for wrongs that one has done in prior lives.
The SotatthakT says:
The Bodhisatta passed through existence among gods and men over many
hundreds of lifetimes. He fed from the world of the gods by the results of
his continuous evil actions in [these] previous births. He was reborn in a
royal family, becoming the half-sister of the fully enlightened Buddha
Former DTpankara.®
The cause of the Bodhisatta’s ethical devolution is unnamed. In his prior lifetime
the Bodhisatta was the Brahmin risi who sacrificed his own life to feed a tigress in order
to prevent her from eating her new-bom cubs. Might this action, viewed from one
perspective as a heroic demonstration of selfless compassion, from another perspective be
judged an immoral suicide? Damien Keown persuasively argues against the assumption
in Theravada studies that suicide is a condoned action for enlightened beings in the
teachings contained in the Pali canon.70 Keown sets aside acts of "voluntary death” from
a loosely defined category of suicide which is nowhere specifically defined in the canon
or the commentaries. Keown assigns the tigress story to the category of voluntary death,
and leaves open the question of the ethical evaluation of this story among others.71 The
SotatthakT does not provide an explicit commentary that would help to consider if the
Bodhisatta’s actions are considered a suicide or voluntary death. This point is left
ambiguous, yet the sequence of lifetimes clearly leaves open the possibility that the
® Smn 24. "Bodhisatto anekasatesu attabhavesu devamanussesu samsaranto purimattabhave attana katena
aparapariyavedaniyapapakammena devalokato cavitva puranadlpankarassa sammasambuddhassa
vematikabhaginl hutva rajakule nibbatti."
10 Damien Keown, "Buddhism and Suicide, The Case o f Channa" in the Journal o f Buddhist Ethics, 3
(1996): 8-31. Keown is responding in particular to Martin Wiltshire who argues that the ethical judgement
on suicide is dependent on the intentions o f the actor. Keown critiques this reasoning, because it leads to
subjectivism—that morality is a matter o f the mental states o f each actor. See Martin Wiltshire, "The
'Suicide' Problem in the Paii Canon" The Journal o f the International Association o f Buddhist Studies 6, no.
2 (1983): 124-140. Keown gives comprehensive citations on the scholarship on the issue o f suicide on p .9 ,
S l2 .
-73-
Bodhisatta's actions are not condoned. Further, the text clearly suggests that the ethical
tenor of even the Bodhisatta is not so neatly divided between good and bad, virtuous and
unvirtuous—each being is typically a messier mix.
Similarly, women are not thoroughly condemned as without virtue.71 In fact, after
the blunt introduction, the narrator spends a great deal of time describing the princess's
virtues. She is no ordinary woman, but a princess —and most significantly, the half-sister
of a buddha. This fact testifies to the virtues the Bodhisatta possesses in this lifetime as a
woman, as well as the Bodhisatta's prior meritorious acts in previous lives. The SotatthakT
quotes an anonymous source that describes in poetic detail her six kalyanas, beauties,
which manifest her virtues through her physical form. Many of these qualities, including
the beauty of her skin, tongue, teeth, voice, and figure are meant to evoke the thirty-two
marks that adorn a buddha's body.73
The text establishes a family resemblance between brother and sister, Buddha and
Bodhisatta. The Bodhisatta's resemblance to the Buddha is a visual expression of the
Bodhisatta's development as a bodhisatta.7-1 But the two are far from identical, just as the
Bodhisatta is still far from attaining the goal of the receiving a prediction and the even
more distant goal of buddhahood. In this lifetime, the differences between Buddha and
Bodhisatta are obvious —the Buddha is a man and the Bodhisatta a woman. The
71 Keown, "Buddhism and Suicide, The Case o f Channa," 14.

72 Once the opening statement o f the morally inferior position o f women is stated at the beginning o f the
chapter, the text immediately begins to deconstruct this position. The text shows that women are able to
reach high levels o f spiritual attainment, that women can indeed become enlightened. See for example the
quoted verses 67-68 from the Buddhavamsa in the Sotaahakx, Smn 51, which describes the enlightened
chief female disciples o f the Buddha Gotama. The text does maintain, however, that a bodhisatta can not
receive a prediction or become a buddha in female form, thus necessitating an aspiration for male rebirth by
a female bodhisatta who is seeking buddhahood.
73 The thirty-two marks that adorn the body o f a buddha or a cakkavani, a universal monarch are described
in the Lakkhana Sutta o f the DTgha Nikdya.
74 For further discussion o f the resemblance between the Bodhisatta and buddhas see chapter 2, pp. 115-
-74-
Buddhavamsa commentary explains that it is precisely because a woman lacks a penis,
one of the marks of a buddha, that a female bodhisatta can not gain the prediction.75
In spite of her already present virtues, the Bodhisatta's birth as a woman is an
insurmountable obstacle to receiving a prediction. This point is emphasized by her
isolation and complete separation from the Buddha in the text. It would certainly be
commonplace in the social-historical context of the SotatthakT for a royal woman to
patronize the sahgha, and it would be consistent with the social mores and roles of the
time for the Bodhisatta as a princess to go into the presence of a buddha, especially if that
buddha were her brother. Her separation from the Buddha, I believe, emphasizes the
impediment a female birth creates for a bodhisatta seeking the eight conditions in order to
gain a prediction.
It is the Bodhisatta's encounter with the Bodhisatta Former DTpankara that enables
her to permanently gain the condition of having a male form.76 As I discussed above, the
Bodhisatta Former DTpankara facilitates the princess's aspiration by serving as her
117.
75 Any person without normative male genitalia can not gain the prediction, a category that includes not
only women, but eunuchs and hermaphrodites. "And why is that? Because there is no completeness o f the
characteristics." Homer, The Clarifier o f Sweet Meaning, 133. The tenth o f the thirty-two marks of the
great man is described in the Lakkhana Sutta a s"Kosohita-vattha-guyho hoti" ("His penis is enclosed in a
sheath") Carpenter, ed., DTgha Nikaya, 3.143.
76 The story of the princess's encounter with the Buddha Former DTpankara is known in other medieval
Buddhist contexts. In China, the Buddha Former DTpankara was known as Pao-chi who made a prediction
that his sister would become the Buddha Sakyamuni and that one o f his monks would be the Buddha
DTpankara. Stephen Teiser includes a brief discussion o f this story in his examination o f the memorial rites
for a Chinese lay woman which included a painting o f Pao-chi (the equivalent o f Former DTpankara in the
Pali materials.) It appears that this story was included in the memorial rites for the Iaywoman because it is
a Iiberative story for women that acknowledges the possibility o f buddhahood, even if it first entails rebirth
as a man. See Stephen F. Teiser, The Scripture o f the Ten Kings: and the Making o f Purgatory in
Medieval Chinese Buddhism (Honolulu: University o f Hawaii Press, 1994), 108-110.
The importance o f a male birth for the advancement o f a bodhisatta is not limited to the Theravada.
Mahayana texts contain a range o f views on the necessity o f a male form before a bodhisatta can receive a
prediction o f buddhahood from a buddha. For example, in the story o f the daughter Sumati from the
Collection o f Jewels Sumati makes a truth-act in order to gain a male form and then a prediction while the
VimalafdrtinirdeSa shows the goddess denying the reality o f male or female form. For a comprehensive
discussion o f the importance o f the male birth for a bodhisatta in the MahSyana tradition and translations
from these and other Mahayana sutras see Diana Paul's discussion in Diana Y . Paul, Women in Buddhism
-75-
intermediary with the Buddha. It is a reciprocal, if not equal relationship; the princess
facilitates the Bodhisatta Former DTparikara's relationship with the Buddha as well. Her
gift of mustard seed oil to Former DTpankara enables him to worship the Buddha and thus
creates an occasion to make his own aspiration for buddhahood. The power of such a gift
is highly valued—it is by the merit generated by this particular gift that the Bodhisatta is
guaranteed a future free of female births, and thus will have the opportunity of gaining all
eight conditions.77 The SotatthakT narrates the scene thus:
She took a golden bowl, filled it with mustard oil, descended from the
palace, went into the presence of the elder, saluted him, and placed the oil
into his bowl. She said the aspiration thus:
"0 sir, by the power of the gift of white mustard oil, having been a
woman in this birth may I not again be a woman with all the defects that
come with that condition. Wherever I am bom next I will not again be as
before. Becoming a man, let me be able to do the actions made by all the
bodhisatta. By that merit in a future time just like my brother is [now] this
Former DTpankara, having also become a Buddha, I will be called by the
name 'Siddhattha.'"
Having said that she [then] said:
"0 sir! tell my brother my aspiration. Having heard the success or non
success [of my aspiration] in the presence of the Blessed One, tell it to me
again, 0 Sir!"7®
(Berkeley: University o f California Press, 1985), 166-216,217-243.

77The dedication o f merit to avoid future rebirths as a woman is a pattern found in the social historical
evidence o f the medieval Theravadin world. For example, many donative inscriptions from Pagan describe
a female donor's wish to gain a male birth in order to receive a prediction o f buddhahood from Metteyya.
Pe Mating Tin and G il. Luce explain that the wish for a male rebirth is a one o f three standard blessings
that follow many inscriptions (the others being the wish for rebirth as a god and attaining nibbarn.) For
instance, these blessings follow A 12* century inscription o f a female donor which says, "As form e having
gotten the prophecy [of future buddhahood] in the presence o f the Holy Lord Mitriya (Metteyya), I want to
be one who is able to save all living beings from the misery o f s a m s a r a Pe Maung Tin and G. H. Luce,
Inscriptions o f Burma, Portfolio I" Bulletin o f the Burmese H istorical Society 3 (1963): 69-71. The
power o f merit is foundational to Theravada life. There are many studies on meritorious actions and the
benefits that are created by giving gifts to the Buddha and his sahgha, the Buddhist monastic community.
For example, see Stanley J. Tambiah, Buddhism and the Spirit Cults in North-east Thailand (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1970), 141-152.
78 Smn 29. "Ekam suvannabhajanam gahetva siddhatthatelassa puretvS pasada otaretva therassa sandkam
gantva vanditva telam patte pakkhipitva evam panidhanam patthapesi bhante im inl
-76-
This scene expresses the princess' determination to shape her own future, but it also
reveals her doubts. She needs to be assured by the Buddha’s vision, because he alone has
the power to confirm the fixture. At the same time, the desire to hear the Buddha's reply to
her aspiration also reveals her desperate longing for communication with her brother, the
Buddha. The Bodhisatta's birth as a woman keeps her from receiving the Buddhas
prediction as well as his company. This narrative shows that the success of the aspiration
is dependent upon the presence of the eight conditions.
This seemingly simple act of giving the gift of the oil is charged with a
momentous significance in the SotatthakT. It is a pivotal moment in the biography that
contributes to the re-imagining of the Buddha. By indebting himself to her by begging
for the oil, the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara creates the opportunity for the princess to
make this aspiration that sets the course of her future in a specific direction towards
gaining the eight conditions and beyond, towards the fixlfillment of the aspiration.
hi this text, her act of giving is directly connected to the Bodhisatta's final life
when he becomes the Buddha Gotama. hi that lifetime he has the name "Siddhattha," a
proper name that is traditionally translated as siddha attha "the one whose task is
completed,” referring to the completion of all goals in his final life as a buddha. The
Jinalankara gives the meaning of his name thus: "hi course of time increasing (in beauty,
& etc.) in the prospering family like the moon, and advancing in merit like the sun in the
sky, Siddhattha—named so because he had accomplished every good..."79 This narrative
in the SotatthakT asserts that one understanding of the name Siddhattha is siri siddhattha,
siddhatthateladanabalena itthlbhavam thapetva tmasmim bhave puna ma homi sabbadosavatl itthl.

Punabbhave yattha yattha jayamL Anne Iva puiinena punahomi. Purisabhave thatva sabbam bodhisattena
katam fcammam maya katum sakka hotu. Tena puiinena anagate kale ayam puranadTpankaro mama bhata
viya aham pi buddho hutvS nSmena siddhartho nama bhavisaml d vatva bhante mama panidhanam tassa
arocehi. Samijjhanabhavam va asamijjhanabhavam v5 bhagavato santika sutva puna mam arocetha bhante
daha."
79 lames Gray, ed. and trans., Jmalankara (London: Pali Text Society, 1981), 87.
-77-
translated as "shining white mustard," a name that comes from this act of giving the oil to
the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara.
There is much to be said about the power of names and the process of naming at
play in the SotatthakT, not only with Siddhattha but also the intriguing sharing of names
between the Former and Later DTpankara; these issues will be addressed in more detail in
the next chapter. Here, my focus remains on the relationship this act of naming has on
determining the future moments in the biography.

As with the text's revisioning of the Buddha’s encounter with the gods under the
bodhi tree, the SotatthakT again makes a bold move in creating a reading strategy that
revises the traditional reading of the events in the final life when the Bodhisatta as
Siddhattha becomes the Buddha. When the reader reaches the final life time in the
biography, the name Siddhattha recalls the earlier pre-Sumedha life time, suggesting that
the ultimate success gained in the final scenes of this extensive biography stem from this
early formative moment. In evoking this formative period, the name Siddhattha serves as
a reminder that the Buddha became a buddha because of the aid she/he received and gave
to others. This demonstrates the importance of the Bodhisatta's actions as he develops as
a bodhisatta for the attainment of buddhahood. The SotatthakT shows that it is because of
actions such as the gift of ofl. that the Bodhisatta was able to become the Buddha Gotama.
In contrast, the conventional understanding of the name Siddhattha focuses solely on the
Bodhisatta's accomplishments in his final lifetime.
There are many other moments in the pre-Sumedha narratives that reveal the
formation of the eight conditions as an antidote to particular ethical imperfections. If we
return to the first narrative (of the young man before he is granted the aspiration by
Mahabrahma), we see this Bodhisatta-to-be as a poor laborer who lives a desperate life in
the forest searching for the bare necessities in order to support his mother. His devotion
to his mother is extraordinary—he refuses to marry because this will draw from their
meager means that are necessary for their survival.
-78-
Yet he is also plagued by the ordinary ethical failings that most of us are all too
familiar with. The young man is distracted from his obligations to his mother several
times because of his own self-interests and concerns. His rafl/nz, self-love, is first shown
when he is overcome with pain and fatigue from his physical labors in the forest.30
Realizing that his body will one day be unable to continue the demands of his physical
labor he is motivated by his anxiety to find another way to provide for himself and his
mother. The young man says:
Now I am young and strong, (yet) I am not able to overcome much

suffering. What will I do when I am old and sick?’ In that moment
another thought arose, ‘Having gone to Suvannabhumi together with those
merchants, finding gold there, I will care for my mother with happiness.31
The young man's concern for his mother is clearly one source of motivation to make this
life change, but the force of tanha is also at work, driving him to abandon his present life
in order to protect himself from further danger and suffering.
His decision to go to Suvannabhumi sets up a series of extraordinary events that
will bring him to the attention of Mahabrahma, who is, we recall, at that moment
searching the worlds for a suitable bodhisatta candidate. Yet at the same time these
events betray other examples of the effects of tanha, his self-concem. The young man
goes in search of a sea merchant who might give him work and passage to
Suvannabhumi, the golden land. In his eagerness to make the journey, the young man
displays his ordinary-human failings; even though he wants to make the trip in order to
better care for his mother, in his eagerness to find a better life he seems to forget about
her altogether. He does not consult with her on the plan or ask the merchant if his
30 For a discussion of the range o f meanings and kinds o f tanha see Katz, Buddhist Images o f Human
Perfection, 151-163. Katz analyses the different classifications of tanha In our story tanha describes
bhavatanhd, the desire for becoming.
81 Smn II. "Aham idani taruno balavanto balavanto pi samano ettakam dukkham sahitum na sakkomi.
Vuddhakale va byadhikSIe va kim karissSmT tL Tasmim khane annam pi takkam uppadesi aham imehi
vanijehi caririhim suvannabhumim gantva tato suvannam aharitva sukhena mararam upatthahissaml tL"
mother might accompany him on the journey. It is only after the initial arrangements are
made that he recalls his obligation to his mother and the impossibility of leaving without
her. He says:
If I go to Suvannabhumi, being gone, who will care for Mother? My

thinking now is not proper. I will ask Mother, and knowing her mind, I
will then know what to do.32
He must then retrace his steps and ask the merchant to allow his mother to accompany
him on his sea journey.
The merchant accommodates him completely. Not only does he agree to this
unusual business arrangement, he is delighted at the young man’s devotion to his mother.
The merchant plays the role in this narrative of facilitating the young man’s ethical
development by encouraging him to transcend the snare of self-concem by cultivating
selfless compassion for his mother. This outwardly directed concern will then become
the foundation for the Bodhisatta’s concern for all beings.
The merchant facilitates the beginning of the young man's ethical transformation,
creating the conditions whereby he will receive the aspiration for Mahabrahma. Yet even
in the moments directly preceding the entrance of Mahabrahma in the narrative and the
gifting of the aspiration, the text still demonstrates the young man’s self-concem. When
the ship is destroyed the young man first swims away from the ship thinking only to save
his own life, driven again by tanha, self-love, the most basic of human emotions. Not
only does he once again forget the needs of his mother, it was his dangerous plan to make
the sea voyage that put his mother’s life in danger in the first instance. But again, there is
another redeeming moment, a moment of transformation, when the young man's self
82 Smn 12. "Sacaham suvannabhumim gacchSmi gacchato mataram ko upatthahissati ayuttam dani me
cintitam mataram tava pucchitva cassa manam janitva tato pacchajanissaml ti."
-80-
reflection causes him to turn back and fulfill his obligation to his mother. The narrator
says:
The Bodhisatta went several measures [away from the ship] for the sake of
saving his own life,[but] remembering his mother he returned; he saw her
hanging onto the back of a piece of wood. Returning again, he placed his
mother on his own back, and crossed the great ocean full of waves caused
by the wind.83
This is the first crucial moment of ethical transformation in the biography of the
Bodhisatta: he has overcome the powers of tanha by its antidote, the willingness to
sacrifice of his own life in order to fulfill his commitment to his mother. Giving his life
to his mother prefigures one of the conditions for the prediction: adhikara, a capability
bom from service to buddhas. A bodhisatta’s attendance to the buddhas is performed
without any trace of self-interest; this service is a complete sacrifice of oneself, it is
giving one's life to a buddha. As discussed above, in this earliest narrative the
Bodhisatta is devoted to a particular other, his mother, but this particular devotion will
serve as the basis for his devotion to all beings that grows over the course of the
bodhisatta path.
Swimming with his mother on his back, the young man reclaims his familial
responsibility signaling the ethical transformation underway. The text underscores this
point by the word choice of fchandha, meaning "back," used to specify both the back of a
piece of wood and the back of her son, both of which keep her afloat in the middle of the
ocean. She is saved by the return of her son who takes her from the wood and places her
on his back, rescuing her from a watery grave. A stock Buddhist metaphor is employed
here—the young man becomes at the same time the literal boat that will ferry his mother
83 Smn 13. "Bodhisatto attano jlvitam rakkhanatthSya katjpayappamSnam gantva mataram anussaramano
nivattitva olofcetva tarn etram VatthaVlchandham alarnhamant disva punagantva mataram attano khande
-81-
to safety and the metaphorical boat of the great hero who ferries all beings across the
destructive sea of samsara, one of the most famous metaphors of a buddha.w
The act of swimming across the ocean with his mother on his back directly
prefigures one of the eight conditions for the reception of a prediction, chanda, a great
will that drives the bodhisatta to endure the most extreme hardships in order to reach his
goal of buddhahood. Chanda is an emodon with a range of meanings: in some contexts
chanda is a simile of tanha; it is a form of desire that keeps one bound to samsara. But
in other contexts, such as in this story, chanda is a qualitatively different kind of emotion
from tanha. It is a positive quality that inspires a person to reach their goals.55
One of the series of metaphors used to describe the strength of chanda is mirrored
precisely in this narrative. In the story of the princess, the Buddha Former DTpankara
explains the power of chanda to the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara by likening the strength
of the will of a bodhisatta to one who has the strength and dedication to cross an ocean as
big as the entire universe in order to save a single being. The SotatthakT says:
This will of (a bodhisatta) is like a person who crosses the entire universe
that had become an ocean. He is able to go across (this ocean solely) by
the power of his own arms.56
The young man does just that: he crosses a vast ocean, bringing his mother to safety and
signaling to Mahabrahma that he is worthy of receiving the aspiration. At the same time
this undeveloped chanda transforms the young man from a person driven by a desire for
self-preservation to a person committed to working for the well-being of others.
The process of ethical transformation that is supported by the development of the
conditions is also evident in the second lifestory of the Bodhisatta reborn as King
w Smn 13.
55 Kat?, Buddhist Images o f Human Perfection, 151-163.
86 Smn 37. "Tatr1idam chandamahanattiya opammam. Sace hi evam assa yo sakalacakkavalagabbham
ekodalabhutam attano bahubalena taritva param gantum samattho." The Sotatthakris quoting here from the
Jataka Nidanakathd, see Ja 1.15.
Sattuttasanka-damako-gajappiya, "the king who controls beings by fear, beloved by
elephants." His name, the narrator explains, betrays his bullish nature. He rules by
intimidation and force and he sports with elephants, harassing them in order to overpower
them. The SotatthakT says:
He was wicked to elephants. In whatever place he conquered, hearing

news of an elephant, whether night or day. going there, he trapped the
elephant, brought it to his own house, and toyed with it.37
The Bodhisatta, reborn as this king, is himself overpowered by rdga, lust, which
drives him to conquer other beings. As described above, the king realizes the danger of
this emotion when his most prized elephant charges off to the forest in a state of rut. The
king is completely bewildered by his elephant's lust-induced escape. He is opaque to the
ways in which this same emotion drives his own actions. The sage elephant trainer is
instrumental in revealing the danger of this emotion. He explains to the king that lust is
"sharper than a hook, hotter than a fire, and more fierce than the poison of a serpent."88
Beings must tame this base emotion to be free of its power. The king's elephant also
teaches the Bodhisatta the danger of his still-uncontrolled emotions. Not only does the
elephant help the king see these qualities in himself, it makes him realize that he must
help others who are incapable of taming their own base instincts, like the elephant.
This realization of the danger of rdga motivates the Bodhisatta to make the
aspiration for buddhahood, for it is only as a buddha that he can ultimately save beings
escape the snare created by lust. His new-found insight and newly-made aspiradon
compel him to reject everything associated with rdga; he can no longer live as he had.
The king reflects:
These being afflicted by passion experience many hells,
87 Smn IS. "So hatthidhuttako ahosi. Attano vijite yasmim yasmim thane hatthiham. pavatrim sunati rattim
va diva va tattha tattha gantva hatthino bandhitva attano nagaram anecva hatthlhi saddhitn iaiati."
88 Smn 18. "Ankusato atitikkho aggito adunho nagavisato anghoro"
I will go, abandoning this, in this way I turn to a happy fate.39
The verse expresses the inseparability of a worldly life and rdga. The king says "I will
go" (gamissdmi) having abandoned "this" (imam): both his rdga and his kingdom —
indeed passion and the kingdom are directly equated. In order to completely overcome
his passions, and the range of negative qualities to which they give rise, he must leave his
householder life and his kingdom to live a life as a renunciant in a context free of his
former desires. The SotatthakT describes his transformation:
He made the mental aspiration, abandoned his kingdom, and entered the
Himalayas very much alone. Going forth as a risi he stayed there the rest
of his life.90
In becoming a renunciant, the Bodhisatta gains one of the eight conditions: pabbajjd,
leaving the world. This condition is the direct antidote to the particular ethical failings
the Bodhisatta suffered in this life time as the king. The development of the eight
conditions for the prediction support the transformation of the Bodhisatta from an
ethically imperfect being into a bodhisatta capable of becoming a buddha.
IV. Conclusion: Particular agents, universal objects
The development of the aspiration and the eight conditions constitute foundational
stages in the bodhisatta path. According to the SotatthakT, these dimensions of the
bodhisatta career are elaborate and protracted; a bodhisatta develops through these stages
over the course of hundreds of thousands of lifetimes. In this chapter, I have examined
the earliest stages of the bodhisatta path prior to the Bodhisatta’s first prediction of
buddhahood. The SotatthakTs narration of the Bodhisatta's lifetimes before he became
Sumedha imagines how he originally became a bodhisatta. These pre-Sumedha stories
39 Smn 19. "Rlgaruren ime sattS I anubhonti nirayam bahum 1pahay’ imam gamissSmi I yathaham sugatim
vajeir [v37]
90 Smn 20. "Evam cittapanidhanam katva rajjam pahaya efcako 'va himavantam pavisitvS istpabbajjam
pabbajitva yavatayukam tbatva."
-84-
reveal the developmental process through which a person becomes fundamentally

transformed from an ethically unformed being into an ethically maturing bodhisatta in
search of his own buddhahood.
At the beginning of this path, the person who will become the Bodhisatta does not
yet possess the perfected ethical qualities that defines bodhisattas, yet the person who
receives the first aspiration from the gods is a not an common being.
As we have seen, Mahabrahma does not randomly select any person as the
recipient of the aspiration; he needs to find a person with the capabilities to become a
bodhisatta. The virtues of such a person are suggested by the first life story in the
Sotatthald: dedication to the welfare of others and a steadfast will to ensure that well
being. These virtues might be seen as the "raw material" that is shaped by the
Bodhisatta’s development of the aspiration and the eight conditions. The SotatthakT does
not tell us how the young man who is gifted the aspiration from Mahabrahma originally
developed these virtues. What kind of ethical development would be revealed if the
biography were extended even farther into the past? The possibility of imagining
lifetimes prior to Mahabrahma's bestowal of the aspiration attests to the generative power
of this productive narrative.
The SotatthakT shows us that the Bodhisatta's commitment to cultivating these
virtues is extraordinary and coincides with the development of a unique kind of agency.
While the Bodhisatta possesses nascent forms of these virtues at the outset of the
bodhisatta path, these virtues evolve as he comes to embody his aspiration over many
lifetimes and transcend his ethical failings in the process of developing the eight
conditions.
Mahabrahma's gift of the aspiration displays a vision of a future perfection to the
young man. The ideal of buddhahood becomes a truth that is uniquely and directly
relevant to the Bodhisatta. From the first aspiration onward he realizes that this ethical
ideal is something that he can and. must attain. The aspiration guides and shapes actions
in the present including, most importantly, the development of the eight conditions. The
process of gaining these conditions is a process of creating a particular kind of agency
which is supported and enabled at every stage by the aid of others. The Bodhisatta's
relationships with diverse beings, including buddhas, gods, ordinary people, such as the
sea merchant and the elephant trainer, and animals, including the elephant, are critical to
the success of this developmental process.

Although the Bodhisatta's development qua bodhisatta depends upon these
relationships, it also sets the Bodhisatta apart from others. Only a bodhisatta can make
the aspiration for buddhahood and fulfill the eight conditions requisite for a prediction:
this is a significant aspect of what defines bodhisattas as extraordinary beings. The
bodhisatta path is a part of a system of ethical development which argues that every
ethical agent is not alike and that different types of ethical agents are not equal. In
Theravadin thought the bodhisattas are a unique and elite class of ethical agents. Every
being does not (in their current lifetimes) have the capacity to become a bodhisatta nor is
this the goal of all beings. While all beings aspire to be freed from the suffering of
samsara by reaching enlightenment not all beings aspire to become buddhas.
Theoretically, buddhahood is open to all beings, but in the Theravadin tradition
the bodhisatta path is not a practice that all beings do or must pursue. Steven Collins'
formulation of universalism for the goal of nirvana can be usefully applied to the wish of
becoming a bodhisatta. Collins says, "There are, one might say, at least two kinds of
universalism, which claim either (i) that everyone can, and should do X, or (ii) that
everyone is permitted to do X (if individually capable), but no-one is required to do X."91
Collins finds that Theravada is universalistic in the second sense in that nirvana is open to
all but everyone need not pursue nirvana in their present lifetime. The same can be said
-86-
to hold true to the bodhisatta path —it is theoretically universal but in practical terms
restricted by the demands of the path.92
The aspiration for buddhahood made by a bodhisatta is the highest class of
aspiration that can be made, but it is not the only one. Different kinds of aspirations exist
that can be made by people at higher and lower stages of ethical development at
particular points of time in one lifetime or over different lifetimes. The Paramatthajotikd
and the Sdrasangaha lists eight kinds of aspirations: the aspiration of a buddha,
paccekabuddha, the best disciples (a buddha’s two greatest disciples), the great disciples
(a buddha’s eighty great disciples), a buddha's mother and father, a buddha’s upatthaka,
attendant, and a buddha's putta, son. These aspirations can be made by men and women,
monastics or lay people.93 This list forms a hierarchy of aspirations with the aspiration
for buddhahood (that is, the aspiration of the bodhisatta), as the most difficult to fulfill,
in terms of both the number and kinds of conditions that need to be met and the minimal
duration of time necessary for the development of the aspiration. Descending through the
list, each aspiration type presents a less arduous goal for those who take the vow.
The bodhisatta is striving to become the greatest kind of agent in this hierarchy: a
buddha. The differences among ethical agents is a good; being in relationships with
those who have greater ethical capacities than oneself provides valuable resources for
ethical development. This is seen in the SotatthakT in the encounters between
bodhisattas and buddhas. The buddhas, as beings with a different and greater kind of
ethical agency, serve as inspiring models for the bodhisattas. In turn, the bodhisattas
serve as this kind of inspiring model for others, as seen in the encounter between the
92 Historical evidence such as donative inscriptions and manuscript colophons shows that Theravadins
dedicated their merit to attaining nirvana and in some cases specifically to the goal o f becoming buddhas
themselves. On this point see Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 252,380. Also see Harald
Hundius, "The Colophons ofThirty Pali Manuscripts from Northern Thailand," Journal o f the Pali Text
Society, 14 (1990): 29-31. Hundius states that most o f the wishes contained in the colophons are directed
at spiritual attainments with the ultimate goal being nibbana, see p. 30.
93 Pj II46-52; Sarasarigaha 2-6.
-87-
princess and the Bodhisatta Later DTparikara. But as we have also seen, the Bodhisatta is
also dependent upon ordinary beings in order to progress along the bodhisatta path.
The disparity between ethical agents is not matched by a disparity between ethical
objects. All beings become the object of the bodhisatta's concern; he aspires to bring
well-being to every living thing. We have seen in this chapter that the Bodhisatta’s
concern for all beings develops over lifetimes, beginning initially with a concern for
particular others. This unique commitment to all beings also grows and develops as the
Bodhisatta progresses on the bodhisatta path. All unenlightened beings experience the
"dis-ease" of samsara but most beings do not have the capacity to free themselves from
this misery.
They can, however, depend on the buddhas and bodhisattas who come to their aid.
One of the striking features of the Sotatthaki is that it shows us that those who come to
eventually receive the care of the Bodhisatta were also instrumental in his development
as a bodhisatta. To a significant degree these beings help to create the ethical agent who
will care for them. In the Theravadin world view the bodhisatta path is only traversed by
a few, but many other beings support the process. And further, all beings will benefit
from the Bodhisatta's successful completion of the path. The ethical implications of this
are profound and I will address this issue in the final chapter, where I discuss the
Bodhisatta’s participation in different kinds of communities.
The Bodhisatta’s development in these earliest stages of the bodhisatta path create
the conditions which enable a bodhisatta to receive a prediction of buddhahood from a
buddha. The prediction makes the bodhisatta aware of his own highest potential to act
for the benefit of others. His perception of his own agency is enabled by the Buddha's
prediction. This transformation created by the prediction is the next stage in the
bodhisatta's development and the subject of the next two chapters.
Chapter Two
Pointing to the Future: The preliminary predictions
L Introduction: Developing the prediction of buddhahood
Is the prediction of buddhahood made all at once in a single momentous event or
is the prediction formulated through a lengthy process? As we have seen in the previous
chapter, the SotatthakCs pre-Sumedha stories show that the Bodhisatta must gradually
develop the requisite conditions for the reception of a prediction over the course of
multiple lifetimes, but what of the prediction itself? Does the prediction develop in
stages like the aspiration and the eight conditions?
According to the Buddhavamsa's "Sumedhakatha," the Bodhisatta's first
prediction arises during the dramatic meeting between the Buddha DTparikara and
Sumedha. As Sumedha lies prostrate in the mud, a human bridge for the Buddha and his
enlightened entourage, Dlpankara instantaneously sees the future and bestows the first
prediction of the Bodhisatta's buddhahood.
The Sotatthalas pre-Sumedha stories describe the evolution of this prediction.
According to these stories, before the Bodhisatta received his first prediction from
DTpahkara, he had already received several preliminary predictions in his earlier lifetimes
from other earlier Buddhas. These preliminary predictions reveal that the reception of a
prediction is more than a single event; rather, it is a process which develops over
lifetimes and is gained through the Bodhisatta's relationships with many Buddhas.
The SotatthakTs extension of the Bodhisatta’s biography farther into the past
shows that the preliminary predictions are yet another element of the bodhisatta career
that takes place in the earlier stages of the bodhisatta path prior to the narrative frame
established by the Buddhavamsa} The SotatthakTchronicles the stages in the prediction
process, revealing that these preliminary predictions build up to the reception of the first
complete prediction of buddhahood as narrated in the "Sumedhakatha."
The pre-Sumedha narratives add significant dimensions to the prediction as it is
narrated in the Buddhavamsa. The DTpankara -Sumedha prediction is the only prediction
in the entire Buddhavamsa that is told in any detail —and even this first event is only
cryptically described. The Buddhavamsa thus implies that all predictions are similar in
content and performance. The SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha stories suggest otherwise by
showing that several different kinds of predictions are included in the bodhisatta path.
The patterns that emerge between these predictions are instructive for understanding how
the predictions work and their importance in the Bodhisatta's development as a
bodhisatta.
In this chapter, I examine the two preliminary predictions narrated in the
SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha stories which I will call the predicted prediction and the
conditional prediction. In chapter one, I examined the pre-Sumedha stories in order to
understand how the Bodhisatta made his aspiration for buddhahood and gained the eight
conditions that must be in place before he can receive a prediction. Here, I focus upon
two of these stories in order to explore the development of the prediction itself. This
1In addition to the Sotatthcdd, the preliminary predictions are also narrated in the version o f the pre-
Sumedha stories found in the MahSsampindanidana 9-10; 23-27, and the JmakalamdttT, 10-13. The
preliminary predictions are not alluded to in the biographies o f the Bodhisatta that begin with the
"Sumedhakatha."
-90-
analysis will show that the predictions are sig n ific a n t not only for the content that they
display but also for the developmental process they describe.
My examination of the preliminary predictions will address three related points:
First, the preliminary predictions describe the role of buddhas in the formation of a
bodhisatta. Second, the Bodhisatta's identity as a buddha begins to emerge in these
encounters; which suggests a third point —the preliminary predictions begin to transform
the quality of the Bodhisatta's future.
The narratives of the preliminary predictions describe the roles that buddhas play
in the Bodhisatta's career. In these stories, the Bodhisatta enters into relationships with
particular Buddhas who disclose tentative and limited descriptions of his future. These
Buddhas are instrumental in the Bodhisatta’s ultimate attainment of his first unqualified
prediction of his future buddhahood. In effect, in bestowing the preliminary predictions,
the Buddhas teach the Bodhisatta how to gain his first prediction. The preliminary
predictions show the role buddhas play in the creation of another buddha.
The Bodhisatta's encounters with the Buddhas who bestow the preliminary
predictions begin the process of formulating the Bodhisatta’s identity as a buddha. In
these meetings, aspects of the Bodhisatta’s future life as a buddha begin to emerge and
take shape. The SotatthakT illustrates how the Bodhisatta’s experiences in these pre-
Sumedha lifetimes are central to who the Bodhisatta becomes as the Buddha Gotama. In
this way, the preliminary predictions begin the process of creating the future they
partially reveal. The preliminary predictions demonstrate that the predictions are not only
forecasting the future but directly fashioning the future they describe.
-91-
The preliminary predictions are a bridge between the beginning stages of the
Bodhisatta's career described in the pre-Sumedha lifetimes and the advanced stages that
commence with his lifetime as Sumedha. As I discussed in chapter one, the Bodhisatta
develops his aspiration and acquires the eight preconditions for the prediction of
buddhahood over the course of a long period of time, during which the future is
undefined and uncertain because the Bodhisatta has yet to receive a full prediction of
buddhahood.
From the narrative perspective of the text, the Bodhisatta’s future is unknown in
these pre-Sumedha lifetimes. Perhaps his aspiration for buddhahood will meet with
success; perhaps it will not. The preliminary predictions show the gradual transformation
of the quality of the Bodhisatta’s future. As the future is partially revealed by the
preliminary predictions, the Bodhisatta’s future starts to come into focus —it is no longer
totally unknown. The certainty of the future that is guaranteed by the first unqualified
prediction made in the "Sumedhakatha" is still lacking, but the preliminary predictions
point to the ultimate success of the Bodhisatta’s ongoing transformation.
H. The Preliminary Predictions: a typology
The gradual development of the prediction in the pre-Sumedha stories displays
the process through which the Bodhisatta receives a vision of his own fixture as a buddha.
The evolution of the prediction through multiple stages shows how gaining the
knowledge of the fiiture contributes to the ongoing transformation of the Bodhisatta.
These stories describe two initial categories of predictions differentiated from the first
fall prediction: the predicted prediction and the conditional prediction.
The predicted prediction, the first stage in this process, forecasts the first full
prediction, describing when and how it will be made in a future time. That is, the content
of this preliminary prediction is the DTpankara-Sumedha event narrated in the
"Sumedhakatha." The "predicted prediction" is my descriptive designation —it is never
named as such in the SotatthakT, or the other Pali versions of the pre-Sumedha stories in
the Mahasampindanidana or the JinakdlamdlT. The second preliminary prediction is
termed the aniyatabyakarana, the conditional or uncertain prediction.1 This prediction
prescribes the conditions the Bodhisatta must meet in order to gain the first full prediction
in the future.
The pre-Sumedha stories add these two distinct types of predictions to the
biographies of the Bodhisatta. In the Buddhavamsa, its commentary, and the Jdtaka
Nidanakathd, as well as the medieval biographies in this textual tradition,3predictions are
never differentiated. There is simply the prediction phenomenon, bydkarana. No
classificatory schema of predictions is necessary, since the only predictions narrated in
these texts are full, unqualified predictions of buddhahood.
An exception is found in the Jindlankara. In this version of the Sumedha story,
DTparikara's prediction is described as asesato, complete.4 This specific designation of
the prediction suggests that different categories of predictions may have also been
imagined in sources other than those containing the pre-Sumedha stories —if this text
describes a complete prediction it opens up the space to imagine an incomplete
prediction.
1 Smn 42. "aniyatabyakaranam bySkSsi."

3 For example see Jinamahaitidana or the Pathamasambodhi.
4Jinal24 v. 19.
-93-
The SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha stories display a significant re-imagining of what
constitutes a prediction and how predictions are made. The two preliminary predictions
instruct the Bodhisatta in what he needs to do in order to attain the full prediction in a
future lifetime. Both forecasts show the involvement of Buddhas, and even other
Bodhisattas, in the development of the Bodhisatta Gotama's first full prediction.
According to the SotatthakT, the Bodhisatta even needs to learns how to gain a prediction
from these predictors. The preliminary predictions are yet another dimension of the
bodhisatta path which reveals the Bodhisatta’s dependence on others.
The predicted prediction
The predicted prediction is told in the pre-Sumedha story of the princess who
gave the mustard seed oil (SiddhatthateladayikarajaputtTvatthu). This narrative gives a
rich and spectacularly complicated account of the Bodhisatta’s inaugural prediction
experience during the time of the Buddha Former DTpankara.
La chapter one, I described how the Bodhisatta, reborn as the princess and half-
sister of the Buddha Former DTpankara, was inspired to make her own aspiration for
buddhahood when she met the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara who had come to her palace
begging for oil to make a lamp offering to the Buddha. The princess dedicates the merit
she makes from this gift of mustard oil to the wish that she might avoid future rebirths as
a woman and become a buddha herself in a future time, just like her brother, the Buddha
Former DTpankara.
Recall that the princess can not (for an undisclosed reason) approach the Buddha
herself. Rather, she depends upon the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara to relate her aspiration
-9 4 -
to the Buddha, telling the Buddha his sister's wish for buddhahood. The Buddha Former
DTpankara informs the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara that he is unable to make a prediction
of the success of his sister’s aspiration because as a woman she can not meet the eight
requisites for the reception of a prediction for buddhahood.
However, the story does not end there. The Bodhisatta Later DTpankara continues
to press the Buddha Former DTpankara to disclose the princess's future. The Buddha
Former DTpankara grants the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara’s request, revealing his sister's
future to this Bodhisatta, but not to her directly. Immediately after hearing that the
princess can not receive a prediction in her present lifetime because she is a woman the
Bodhisatta Later DTpankara asks:
"If so, how will your sister's wish to be a Buddha be attained?"
Having heard that, the Blessed One sent forth his consciousness to the
past, and he saw the existence of her aspiration for Buddhahood within her
own thoughts in the three births in the past. Again, having sent forth his
consciousness into the future, he (the Buddha) saw that she was able to
make the fulfillment of the conditions of the Buddha in the future. Having
seen that, again he said to the monk:
"0 Monk! In the future, when sixteen asankhevyas and 100,000

kappas are in the past, just as I (am now), then you will be the Buddha
called DTpankara. At that time, you will predict my sister. She will
receive the prediction face-to-face with you."
Having heard the Teacher’s speech his mind was very pleased. Saluting
the Blessed One, he got up from his seat, made a circumambulation
(around the Buddha) and departed.5
5 Smn 27-28. T en a hi bhante cumhakam bhaginiya patthitabuddhabhavam kim labbissatf ti. Tam. sutva
sartha atltamsanSnam pesetva afite kale Qsu attabhavesu attano cittabbhantare tassa
hndrihapaiiirihanahhavarn addasa. Puna anagararrKananam pesetva anagate pi buddhakarakadhammanam
katniTi samattbabhavaa ca addassa. Disva ca pana tarn bhlkkhum evam aha bhikkhu anagate ito
kappasatasahassadhike solasa asankhyeyye atite aham viya tada tvarn. dTpankaro nama buddho bhavissasi.
Tadk tvarn mama bhagmim byakarissasi. Tuyham sammukha byakaranam IabhissatT ti. So satthu vacanam
sutva tutthaciao bhagavantam vanditva utthaySsana padakkhinam katva pakkamL"
-95-
Here, the Buddha Former Dlpankara makes a prediction of the first full prediction
of buddhahood; that is, he predicts the prediction event narrated in the "Sumedhakatha."
This is more than a clever or unique foreshadowing device. The Sotatthaki creates a
layering of prediction moments where this first vision of the future lays the foundation
for the prediction to come.
However, the predicted prediction is substantially distinct from that first full
prediction it describes in both what it reveals and how it is made. The predicted
prediction precisely locates this first full prediction in time and describes who will make
it and how it will be disclosed. This predicted prediction assigns the actors their roles, as
it were, and gives them their scripts to perform the first full event in the future.
According to the Sotatthaki, the predicted prediction has a specific and unique job to do
in the bodhisatta path —it sets the stage for the first prediction to be made by the Buddha
(Later) Dlpahkara, when the Bodhisatta is reborn as the ascetic Sumedha.6
It is important to note that this preliminary prediction reveals nothing directly
about the Bodhisatta Gotama's future buddhahood —the content of a full prediction. No
details are disclosed of the stages that must be fulfilled between the reception of the fuE
prediction and buddhahood, when the Bodhisatta will become a buddha, or the
biographical elements of his lifetime as the Buddha Gotama. Perhaps the Buddha Former
Dlpahkara also knows these aspects of the extended future as well, but it is impossible for
him to disclose them.
6 Note: When the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara becomes the Buddha DTpankara o f the Sotatthaki s
Sumedhakatha he is not distinguished by the preface "Later.” I supply this in parentheses when I refer to
the Buddha DTpankara o f the SotatthakTs Sumedhakatha in order to emphasize the connection between the
pre-Sumedha story o f the princess and the "Sumedhakatha" in the SotatthakT.
-96-
The Buddha Former DTpankara explains that he can not make a full prediction
because the princess does not yet possess the eight preconditions that must be in place
before the prediction can be made. This episode shows that the conditions governing
when a prediction can be made are unbendable; if the aspiration and all eight conditions
are not possessed by a bodhisatta, then he (or she, in this case) can not receive a full
prediction of their own future buddhahood. The predicted prediction does, however,
point to a qualification or a kind of loophole in the system: a buddha can foretell a future
full prediction before a bodhisatta is in full possession of either the aspiration or the eight
preconditions, hi doing so the buddha reveals the process through which that future
prediction will eventually be made.
The process of making the predicted prediction
When the Buddha Former DTpankara makes the predicted prediction, he surveys
the Bodhisatta's past and future lifetimes in order to see if and when these conditions for
the prediction will be met.7 He examines the Bodhisatta's entire career as a bodhisatta,
from the time he first made his aspiration as the poor young man drowning in the ocean
up until the Bodhisatta's present lifetime as the princess. The Bodhisatta’s aspiration for
buddhahood is identified in each of these lifetimes. When the Buddha Former DTpankara
investigates the princess's future lifetimes, he sees that this Bodhisatta will be able to
meet the eight conditions for the reception of a full prediction, something she is incapable
of doing in her present lifetime because of her female sex. Thus, the Buddha Former
7 A technical analysis o f how the Buddha is able to see into the Bodhisatta's past and. future lives w ill be
discussed in chapter three, see pp. 153-159.
-97-
DTpankara's predicted prediction is dependent upon the actions the Bodhisatta has
performed in his/her past lifetimes and will accomplish in his/her future lifetimes.
The Buddha's investigations for making the preliminary prediction emphasize the
importance of the Bodhisatta's cumulative development over the course of his many
lifetimes. Each lifestory of the Bodhisatta’s previous births forms a part of a unified total
biography that determines the course of the future.
The description of how the Buddha makes the preliminary prediction signals how
we are to read the pre-Sumedha stories. Just as the Buddha Former DTpankara "reads"
the Bodhisatta’s multiple lifetimes as an integrated whole in the process of making his
prediction, so too when we read any one section of the Bodhisatta's career we need to
recall the earlier stages which are seen as the basis of what follows in the unfolding of the
entire Bodhisatta's career.®
The continuity between each of the pre-Sumedha narratives also extends into the
biography narrated in the "Sumedhakatha" and the lifetimes that follow the Bodhisatta’s
reception of the first full prediction as well. The Sotatthaki establishes a pattern here
which shows that the events of the pre-Sumedha lifetimes are directly connected to, and
preparatory for, the Bodhisatta’s achievements in his later lifetimes when he receives the
full predictions of buddhahood from the lineage of twenty-four Buddhas told in the
Buddhavamsa. hi this way, the SotatthakT establishes that the Buddha Former
DTpankara’s preliminary prediction is foundational for the first full prediction made by
the Buddha (Later) DTpankara.
8 Umberto Eco's concept o f the model reader is very helpful in highlighting the patterns established in the
Sotatthaki which teach the reader how to read the text Eco distinguishes two levels o f reading: the model
reader at the first level follows the plot and content o f a text; at the second level, the model reader considers
the devices at play in the story that encourage a particular kind o f reading. Umberto Eco, Six Walks in the
-98-
While the preliminary prediction directly leads to the first full prediction the two
are not identical. The predicted prediction is a mediated encounter between the Buddha
Former DTpankara and the Bodhisatta. Unlike a full prediction for buddhahood, which is
always made in a face-to-face encounter between a buddha and the bodhisatta who is the
subject of the prediction, the predicted prediction is not revealed directly to the princess
but to an intermediary, the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara. This Bodhisatta facilitates the
entire prediction event: he hears the princess’s aspiration, conveys it to the Buddha
Former DTpankara, receives the Buddha’s prediction of the Bodhisatta’s future reception
of a full prediction, and reports the Buddha's preliminary prediction back to the princess.9
The mediated quality of this entire prediction process underscores that this is not a
full prediction of buddhahood. While the predicted prediction affirms that the
Bodhisatta’s future will be successful it also demonstrates that the Bodhisatta's
development is incomplete in her present lifetime, hi her lifetime as the princess the
Bodhisatta is completely dependent upon the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara to gain the
predicted prediction. Her relationship with this Bodhisatta is her only access to the
Buddha Former DTpankara and, without the aid of both these DTpankaras, the Bodhisatta
would be unable to progress towards her/his first full prediction.
Fictional Woods (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994), 1-25.

9 Sum 14-20.
-99-
The Bodhisatta and the two DTpankaras
The SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha story of the princess interweaves the biographies of
the Bodhisatta Gotama and the two DTpankaras in a complex, repetitive pattern that
extends across lifetimes. Of all the pre-Sumedha narratives this story most directly (and
consciously) displays the connection of the pre-Sumedha lifetimes to the biography of the
Bodhisatta commencing with the "Sumedhakatha." In extending the biography of the
Bodhisatta's career farther into the past, the story of the princess also extends the
narrative of the DTpankara-Sumedha meeting told in the "Sumedhakatha" into the past as
well.
The Buddha Former DTpankara's predicted prediction describes the ongoing
interconnected future of the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara and the princess. When the
Bodhisatta Later DTpankara hears the princess’s future revealed in the preliminary
prediction he is at the same time receiving his own full prediction of buddhahood. The
Buddha Former DTpankara predicts that he will become a Buddha, also named DTpankara,
and in a specified future time as the second Buddha DTpankara he will bestow the first
full prediction upon the Bodhisatta Gotama.
What is the effect of the Buddha Former DTpankara’s preliminary prediction?
Does the Buddha Former DTpankara's prediction merely foretell the DTpankara-Sumedha
prediction event or does this revelation actually create the future meeting between the
Bodhisattas Later DTpankara and Gotama? Clearly the prediction serves a descriptive
function, but a case can be made for the stronger argument: the Buddha Former
DTpankara sets a chain of predictions in motion. Former DTpankara's prediction instructs
-100-
Later DTpankara to make a prediction in the future of the princess when she will be
reborn as Sumedha.
By expanding the DTpankara-Sumedha relationship farther into the past the
SotatthakT makes a bold claim: the Bodhisatta Gotama's first full prediction originates
with the Buddha Former DTpankara, not the Buddha (Later) DTpankara. From one
perspective, (Later) DTpankara is robbed of his role as the first predictor in the
Bodhisatta's biography.10(Later) DTpankara's role in the biography is seemingly
diminished; he acts as the agent of his nominal predecessor. Their shared name indicates
their shared role - it will take two Buddha DTpankaras, both Former and Later, (and other
buddha's as well) to bestow the Bodhisatta Gotama's prediction. However, from another
perspective, as I will discuss below, the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara's role in the
biography of the Bodhisatta Gotama is greatly enhanced. The Sotatthaki challenges the
singular importance of the Buddha (Later) DTpankara and the idea that he acts in isolation
when he makes the prediction of Sumedha. It does not undermine his presence in the
biography, rather, it questions the autonomy of individual actors. In joining the stories of
the two DTpankaras, the SotatthakT preferences a conception of communal agency in
which actors work together in unison.
A prime example of this preference can be seen in the Buddha Former DTpankara
's concern for his sister's capacity to gain a prediction. He is unable to make a full
prediction of his sister in the present because she has yet to attain all eight conditions
necessary for the reception of a prediction, so instead, Former DTpankara makes the
10Frank- Reynolds makes a similar point in his discussion o f the JinakalamalTs version o f the princess story
where he focuses upon the expansion o f the lineage o f Buddhas farther into the past. Reynolds argues that
the supplantahon o f DTpankara's position at the head o f this lineage diminishes his role in the Bodhisatta’s
biography. See Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions and the Lineages o f Gotama," 28-29 & fit. 33.
-101-
prediction of the first full prediction commanding Later DTpankara to complete the
prediction in a future time. The predicted prediction shows the familial bond between the
Buddha Former DTpankara and the princess. The Buddha Former DTparikara says:
"O monk! In a future time, she will be a buddha like me. At that time you
will be called DTpankara. By this act of giving this mustard oil and by
other good acts my sister will become a man. In that (future) time she will
be an ascetic called Sumedha. At that time when you enter Ramma city
you will predict my sister in the midst (of the assembly) of men and
gods.11
The language of the Buddha Former DTpankara's predicted prediction is evocative. He
continues to refer to the Bodhisatta Gotama as his "sister" even though, in the future he is
describing, the princess will no longer be his sister. She will not even be a woman, but
will have attained the male rebirth she longs for at present. But the familial bond
between brother and sister seems to be maintained through this envisioning of the future;
even as the Buddha refers to his sister as the ascetic Sumedha he still uses the feminine
pronoun "she."
The Buddha Former DTpankara's concern for his sister and her development as a
bodhisatta is evident, despite the fact that nowhere in the narrative do the two meet in
person. This narrative shows that while predictions are, in a certain sense, technical
performances governed by a set of conditions, they are also emotional events that display
the relational bonds between a buddha and a buddha-to-be.12 Their relationship involves
u Smn 30. "Bhikkhu anagate kale aham viya buddho bhavissari tada tvam dTparikaro nama bhavissad.
Mayham pana bhaginl imina siddhatthateladinena afinena kusalakammena puma hutva tasmim kale
sumedho nama tapaso bhavissad. Tada kale tvam rammanagaram pavisanakale mayham bhaginim
devamanussantare byakarissatf ti."
12The familial bond between Former DTparikara and the Bodhisatta Gotama may be faintly echoed in the
relationships between the Buddha (Later) DTparikara and the Bodhisatta in the Sumedhakatha. In this
narrative, the mother o f the Buddha DTparikara is named Sumedha, a feminine form o f the Bodhisatta's
name in this lifetime, Sumedha. Perhaps this shared name between the Buddha DTpankara's mother and the
Bodhisatta Gotama signals a continued intimacy in the relationship between DTparikara and Gotama. See
-102-
Later DTpankara as well —he facilitates the relationship between Former DTpankara and
the princess in the present as well as the future. The SotatthakT asserts that when the
Buddha (Later) DTpankara makes the first full prediction of the Bodhisatta Gotama he is
completing the prediction Former DTpankara set in motion.
The text is not only concerned with the Bodhisatta Gotama; it describes the future
of both Gotama and Later DTpankara. Indeed, their futures are closely intertwined with
one another, and their prediction events are likewise intertwined. This web of
relationships requires that a new prediction depends on the successful fulfillment of
another prediction, and so on and on. When a bodhisatta receives a prediction, he learns
that he, too, will help other bodhisattas gain a prediction for buddhahood. Thus, the
Bodhisatta Gotama can only receive a prediction from Buddha Later DTpankara because
his own prediction (which he received from Former DTpankara) has been fulfilled. In this
way, the making of a prediction also marks the completion of a prior prediction.
This mechanism, the intertwined web of bodhisatta relationships and predictions,
is narrated in detail in the pre-Sumedha story, but it is a mechanism that is also described
in general terms in the SotatthakT's discussion of the characteristic features of the five
kinds of kappas. The Vara kappa is defined by the arising of three buddhas —the first
buddha predicts the buddhahood of the second, and the second predicts the arising of the
third buddha.0 While the details are different (Gotama and the two DTpankara s each
arise in different kappas), the web of bodhisatta relationships created through these
predictions is the same.
Sum 48, v. 134; Bv IL 206.

° Smn 9 . The SotatthakT's descriptions o f the five kinds o f kappas, including the vara kappa, follows the
discussion o f kappa given at B vA 191.
-103-
The expanded biography of Later DTpankara
The presence of the Buddha Former DTpankara in the SotatthakTs extended
biography of the Bodhisatta diminishes the singular importance of the Buddha (Later)
DTpankara's role as the Bodhisatta Gotama’s first predictor in this text. However, while
Later DTpankara's role is in some sense subverted, it is not overthrown. The pre-
Sumedha story describes a preliminary prediction, not a prediction of buddhahood —the
text does not contest Buddha (Later) DTpankara's role as the predictor of the first full
prediction. Further, the Buddha (Later) DTpankara’s traditional position in the overall
biography is maintained by his role as the intermediary in this preliminary prediction
event. Without his presence the princess would be unable to gain the predicted
prediction. As a Bodhisatta, Later DTpankara's agency is shown to be limited, yet he is
indispensable to the prediction process.
This pre-Sumedha story can also be see as augmenting and intensifying the
Buddha (Later) DTpankara’s role in the Bodhisatta Gotama's biography. The episode
imagines the Buddha (Later) DTpankara's prior lifetime as a bodhisatta, thereby
increasing our acquaintance with this important figure in the biography. The SotatthakT
describes his own prediction experience when he too was a bodhisatta seeking an
assurance from a buddha that his aspiration for buddhahood would succeed —scenes
from his career that are not narrated in Pali versions of either the "Sumedhakatha" or the
"DTpahkaravamsa." The SotatthakT also envisions the process by which this important
Buddha became a buddha.
-104-
The opening section of the SotatthakTs princess story focuses entirely on the
figure of the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara narrating a scene from his bodhisatta career.
Before the princess is introduced into the narrative, we first meet the Bodhisatta Later
DTpankara. He is said to have renounced his life as a wealthy brahmin householder and
joined the sarigha of the Buddha Former DTpankara. Upon seeing the beauty of the
glowing Buddha, the Bodhisatta is moved to make an aspiration for buddhahood. The
Bodhisatta Later DTpankara thinks:
"Just as this fully enlightened Buddha DTpankara shines

surrounded by the sahgha of disciples and causes these beings to be freed
from the suffering of samsara. Just like that, it is proper that I too in a
future time should be a Buddha."
Taking his own bowl he went about begging for oil all through the city.
Having brought back a great amount of oil, he anointed the entire hut of
the Blessed One with four kinds of scents and throughout the entire night
he made an offering of lamps for the Blessed One with many hundreds of
thousands (of lamps). Throughout the night the lamps burned; at daybreak,
having gone again into the presence of the Blessed One in the (midst of)
the community of monks, he laid down his head at the sole of the Blessed
One's feet and made the aspiration thus, saying:
"O Sir! by the power of this offering of lamps, just as you became
a Buddha called DTpankara, (just as) you cause all beings to be freed, just
so in a future time, I also will be the Buddha called DTpankara for the
sake of freeing beings."
Having heard him, the teacher sent forth his consciousness to the past and
future, he saw the success of his capability bom of service. Sitting in the
middle of the community of monks he predicted to the monk the success
of his aspiration of being a buddha.14
14Smn 24-25. "Yathayam dTpankarasammitsambuddho savakasamghena parivuto sobhati. Due satte ca

samsaradukkhato mocetL Tathaham pi anagate buddho bhavitum vauatT ti cintetva attano pattam adaya
sakalanagaram telabhakkham vicaretva bahutaram telam Snetva sakalam bhagavato parivenam
catujjatigandhehi vjlimpetva sakalaratdm anekasatasahassam bhagavato dfpapujam katva sabbarattim
dTpamjSIetva vibhataya rattiyJ bhikkhusamghe bhagavato santikam punagantva tathSgatassa padamule
avakujjo nipajjitva evam panidhanam akSst bhante imina dTpapujabalena yatha tvam dTpankaro nama
buddho hutva sabbasatte mocesi tathaham pi anagate sattSnam mocanatthkya dTpankaro n5ma buddho
bhavissamT ti aha. Tam sutva sattha atTanagatamsananam pesetva tassa adhikarassa nipphattibhavam disva
samghamajjhe nisinno tarn buddhattapanidhanam bhikkhum byakSsL"
-105-
The SotatthakTs narration of the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara’s aspiration and prediction
reveals the origin of his identity as a Buddha. Inspired by the Buddha Former DTpankara,
this Bodhisatta also became the Buddha DTpankara. The episodes from DTpankara’s life
as a bodhisatta explain how he became the Buddha who bestowed the prediction upon the
Bodhisatta Gotama in his lifetime as Sumedha.
The SotatthakTs narration of the complete evolution of the prediction is
remarkably thorough —in order to understand how the Bodhisatta Gotama's first full
prediction came about we need to know not only the previous Eves of the Bodhisatta
Gotama, but also the previous Eves of his predictor, and so on. This narrative elaboration
deepens the bonds of the relationships between Dipnakara and Gotama by showing that
their concern and dependence upon one another extends over lifetimes. In the next
chapter, I wiU consider how this extended biography of the Buddha (Later) DTpankara
shapes the vision of the Buddha DTpankara and his relationship with the Bodhisatta in the
SotatthakTs "Sumedhakatha."
The conditional prediction
The pre-Sumedha narratives describe how the prediction is formulated over the
course of the Bodhisatta’s earEest lifetimes. As we have just seen, the predicted
prediction foretells the first fitil prediction event the Bodhisatta wiU receive as Sumedha;
the conditional prediction instructs the Bodhisatta in what he needs to do in order to
attain it. This process demonstrates that the Bodhisatta does not gain a prediction aE on
his own. It is true that he can only reach this goal if he possess aE the necessary pre
conditions; but, as the narratives of the preliminary predictions iEustrate, Buddhas,
-106-
bodhisattas, and ordinary beings are instrumental in helping him ready himself at every
stage of this process. As the Bodhisatta evolves towards this goal, the prediction evolves
as well; it is an outward indicator of the Bodhisatta’s ongoing transformation.
The conditional prediction is made in the final pre-Sumedha story narrated in the
SotatthakT. In this story the Bodhisatta, reborn as a cakkavatti king named Sagala, meets
the Buddha Former Sakyamuni and makes a verbal aspiration in this Buddha's presence
that in the future he too will become a Buddha called Sakyamuni.15
Just as the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara met his nominal predecessor so too, the
SotatthakT tells us, did the Bodhisatta Gotama Sakyamuni also meet a Buddha with whom
he shares a name. The introduction of a "former" Sakyamuni into the Bodhisatta’s
biography clearly portends what will follow in the biography. The identities of the
predicting Buddhas, Former DTpankara and Former Sakyamuni, create a self-reflexive
expansion of the traditional biography. For while the pre-Sumedha stories add new
characters and episodes to the Bodhisatta’s biography, they are not completely alien to the
traditional Buddhavamsa narrative. Instead, they consciously reflect these central
characters and episodes of the biography.
hi the pre-Sumedha story of the conditional prediction, the Bodhisatta Gotama
makes his first verbal aspiration when he meets the Buddha Former Sakyamuni,
commencing the period of nine asankheyyas during which the Bodhisatta makes his
verbal aspiration. The thousands of aspirations he made in his previous lives over the
15 "Akkharalikhitajataka" in Pannasa Jataka tells the story o f the Former Buddha Gotama. The content of
this story differs from the SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha story of the Buddha Former Sakyamuni. hi the
Pannasa Jataka the Bodhisatta is reborn, as a ministe r in the court o f the Buddha Former Gotama's father.
King Suddhodana. The Bodhisatta earns great merit by following the Buddha Former Gotama's
instructions to copy the Tipitaka. This Buddha Former Gotama also makes a preliminary prediction o f the
Bodhisatta describing the first full prediction event in the time o f Buddha DTpankara as well as the
Bodhisatta's future buddhahood.
-107-
course of seven asankheyyas were made mentally with no outward expression. Although
the princess spoke her aspiration, it was addressed to the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara, not
to the Buddha and —perhaps for this reason —her articulated aspiration is not categorized
as a verbal aspiration. The SotatthakT emphasizes that this is the first spoken aspiration in
order to highlight the developmental process underlying the pre-Sumedha stories.
Further, just as the different types of aspirations signify progressive stages in the
Bodhisatta's development, so too do the different categories of predictions mark his
advancement towards the first full prediction.
The Buddha Former Sakyamuni’s response to the aspiration is the first
unmediated reply the Bodhisatta hears about the potential success of his desire to become
a buddha. It is not unequivocally encouraging. The Buddha Former Sakyamuni cautions
the Bodhisatta that becoming a buddha is painful, dangerous, and all but impossible to
accomplish. When the Bodhisatta daundessly affirms his aspiration, the Buddha Former
Sakyamuni makes the conditional prediction:
The teacher sent forth his consciousness into the future and saw that there
was no obstacle to that aspiration.
"Having passed beyond one hundred thousand kctppas and thirteen

asankheyyas from this kappa, in a kappa called Bhadda adorned with five
Buddhas, just as I am called Gotama so he will be a Buddha (called
Gotama)." Having known this, he said:
"0 great king! If you wish to be a fully omniscient one, fulfill the
ten perfections fulfilled by all the Buddhas! Sacrifice the five great
sacrifices! Make the ten perfections! The perfections o f giving, morality,
renunciation, wisdom, energy, patience, truth, resolution, kindness, and
equanimity, let you fulfill these ten perfections!"
"Why do I say that? Whoever aspires to Buddhahood, who have

not fulfilled the ten perfections and have not sacrificed the five great
sacrifices, there is not one [among them] who previously became a
-108-
Buddha. Because of that, if you are able to fulfill these ten perfections, if
you are able to sacrifice these five great sacrifices, (then) you will be a
Buddha"
He predicted the uncertain prediction.ts
The Buddha Former Sakyamuni is able to see, in the far distant future, that this
Bodhisatta indeed will become a buddha and will become his namesake, but he does not
share these visions with the Bodhisatta. The Buddha Former Sakyamuni can not reveal
what he has learned, because that biographical content is unique to the first full
prediction. The distinctions between each type of prediction is always maintained.
While the two preliminary predictions are similar in that neither reveals the
Bodhisatta's future buddhahood, there is a clear advancement in the substance of the
conditional prediction. It is never specified in the text that the Buddha Former DTpankara
can see the Bodhisatta as a buddha in his assessment of the future; his gaze is focused
narrowly on the DTpankara-Sumedha prediction event, hi this preliminary prediction
narrative, the Buddha Former Sakyamuni does see the Bodhisatta as the Buddha
Sakyamuni but he cannot make it known. The conditions governing the prediction of
buddhahood prevent this disclosure: because the Bodhisatta does not yet have the eight
conditions for the prediction, it cannot yet be made.
16 Smn 42. "Sartha anagatamsananam pesetva tassa panidhSnassa anantariya bhavam addasa. Ito kappato
kappasatasahassadhikani terasa asahichyeyyani atikkametva ekasmim pancabuddhapatirnandite
bhaddanamake kappe aham viya gotamo nama buddho bhavissaff ti natva evam aha. MaMraja sace
sabbannutaMnam icchasi sabbabuddhehi puretabba dasaparamiyo purehi. Panca mahapariccage ca cajahi.
Katama dasa paramiyo. DanaparamI sQap2ramI nekkhammaparaml pannapSramT viriyaparaml
khantiparamTsaccaparamT adhitthanapSraml mettSparamT upekkhaparamT ti ima dasa paramiyo purehi.
Tam kasma pana vadSmi ye buddhattam patthentS im i dasa paramiyo apuretvi imSni panca
mahapariccagani acajitva buddhabhutapubba nama natthi. Tasma sace ima dasaparamiyo pureturn sakkosi
ime panca mahapariccage cajitum sakkosi buddho bhavissasl ti aniyatabyakaranam byakasi."
-109-
Here, the Buddha’s prescience informs his instructions to the Bodhisatta. By
seeing the Bodhisatta’s future, the Buddha Former Sakyamuni can help the Bodhisatta to
also become a Buddha Sakyamuni. The Buddha teaches the Bodhisatta what he
accomplished: he must perfect the ten perfections and make the five great sacrifices —
that is, the sacrifices of wife, children, kingdom, limb, and life.17 At this stage of the
bodhisatta path, the Bodhisatta has yet to fulfill these conditions of buddhahood. Former
Sakyamuni assures the Bodhisatta that, if he is able to fulfill the prescribed conditions,
then he will become a buddha. This prediction is not yet a full prediction; it is uncertain,
aniyata, but it is a condition for the reception of the first prediction which is certain and
beyond any doubt or qualification.
The way in which the conditional prediction works in the overall developmental
process of the bodhisatta path is somewhat unclear. In making the conditional prediction,
does the Buddha Former Sakyamuni suggest that the Bodhisatta must perfect the ten
perfections and make the five great sacrifices before he can receive a full prediction of
buddhahood? These are clearly identified as conditions of buddhahood but are they also
conditions that must be met before a full prediction of that buddhahood can be received?
Do all the conditions for Buddhahood have to be in place before a prediction can be
received? Possible answers to these question will be explored in the discussion of the
"Sumedhakatha" in chapter three.
17The Buddha Former Sakyamuni's instructions o f how to attain buddhahood are also a description o f the
qualities o f a Tathagata. Thus, the Buddha is also describing to the Bodhisatta how to fashion him self in
the image o f a Tathagata. Fulfilling the perfections and maidng the five sacrifices are the practices that
lead to buddhahood and describe how the Tathagata as one who has "Sgato tatha” "come thus." This is the
first o f eight reasons that a Buddha is called Tathagata. The Buddhavamsa commentary says," How is the
Lord Tathagata because he has come thus?... Having fulfilled the full thirty perfections by the sacrifice o f
limb, the sacrifice o f (his own) life, the sacrifice o f wealth, kingdom, child-and-wife —having sacrificed
these five in great sacrifice, so, as the Fully-Self-Awakened ones beginning with Vipassin have come thus,
so too has our Lord come thus —Tathagata" Homer, trans., The Clarifier o f Sweet Meaning, 23.
-110-
The facilitators of the conditional prediction
The SotatthalcT demonstrates that the Bodhisatta is only able to progress on the
bodhisatta path through the aid of others. As we saw in chapter one, many ordinary
beings were instrumental in the Bodhisatta's development of the aspiration and the eight
conditions. Likewise, the Bodhisatta needs the help of others in order to gain the
preliminary predictions and continue his progression towards the reception of his first full
prediction. The preliminary predictions reveal the roles that buddhas and other
bodhisattas play in facilitating the Bodhisatta Gotama’s development, but ordinary people
also contribute to the Bodhisatta’s successful attainment of the conditional prediction.
As we have seen, in her lifetime as the princess, the Bodhisatta depended upon the
help of the Bodhisatta Later Dlpankara to learn the future of her/his aspiration. In the
story of the cakkavatti king, the Bodhisatta is able to receive the conditional prediction
himself rather than through an intermediary, yet this face-to-face encounter was also
enabled through the help given to him by others.
In this latter story, the Bodhisatta is a great king who conquers the four quarters of
the earth by the power of his merit rather than force. Attaining the status of a cakkavatti,
a universal monarch, the king receives the seven cakkavatti jewels, described in this story
as: a thousand spoked wheel, elephant, horse, crystal, woman, treasurer, and minister. In
this lifetime, the final pre-Sumedha lifetime, the Bodhisatta is clearly an extraordinary
being. As a cakkavatti king he is able to bring well-being and prosperity to the world.
However, he has yet to attain his goals of receiving a full prediction and becoming a
-111-
buddha. The story demonstrates that these achievements surpass even this exalted
rebirth.
The story reaches a dramatic pitch when the Buddha Former Sakyamuni appears
in the world. The earth quakes and trembles as it receives him causing the wheel gem,
the palladium of the cakkavatti, to fall from its pedestal. The king, unaware of the
Buddha Former Sakyamuni's presence in the world, becomes frightened by the
disturbance of his wheel gem and believes his reign must be threatened. As he does not
understand what is happening, he seeks the guidance of his court astrologers. The omen-
readers explain the meaning of these portentous signs thus:
The omen-readers said:

"O great king, the jewel wheel shakes because of two events:
when that king dies or when a Tathagata, a fully enlightened Buddha,
arises in the world. A Buddha is bom in the world. By the majesty of the
Buddha the jewel wheel shook. There is no danger for you. O great king,
the Buddha who arose here in the world is called Sakyamuni. O great
king, the auspicious sounds of praise of that Sakyamuni, the Blessed One,
is sent forth thus:
"Thus, indeed, he is the Blessed One: arahant, fully enlightened

one, perfect in knowledge and conduct, the well gone one, knower of the
world, unsurpassed guide of men who have to be restrained, teacher of
gods and men, the Buddha (Awakened One) the Blessed One. hi this way
and so on the Buddhagunas, the qualities of the Buddha, are extolled."1®
The king having heard the sound, "Buddha," his entire body was
continuously thrilled with the five kinds of joy. The king said to the
astrologers,
"You say "Buddha,"

I must say Buddha.
You say "Buddha,”
18 The buddhagunas are a standard list o f nine qualities o f a buddha. For a description o f the buddhagunas
see Phra Payutto, Dictionary o f Buddhism (Bangkok, 2438), 262-263. The buddhagunas are described at
M 137; A 3.285. For further discussion o f the buddhagunas in the Sotarthcddsee chapter four, pp. 220-
225.
-112-
I must say Buddha."
The king asked three times: "where is that Blessed One living at present?"
Then one of the astrologers, the wisest, draping his upper robe on one
shoulder, having saluted the (direction of the) Deer Park with the fivefold
greeting, joining his hands over his head, standing there he spoke thus
with a high voice:
"This Buddha, 0 great king,

Is the guide of the world, the unsurpassed one.
Without equal, the Supreme One,
the great sage, the foremost.
The omniscient Buddha, the Blessed One,

Renowned as Sakyamuni.
He lives in the Deer Park near that grain fence."19
As the king, the Bodhisatta depends on the astrologers’ knowledge of the events taking
place; alone, he can not understand what is happening to him. The astrologers do more
than read the omens by revealing that a buddha has appeared in the world causing the
earth to shake and the wheel gem to fall. They recite the buddhagunas, the defining
qualities of a buddha. In this way, the astrologers are quite literally teaching the
Bodhisatta who a buddha is, the attainments of a buddha, and why he is the recipient of
devotion and respect. Their words inspire him and their guidance is instrumental in
bringing the Bodhisatta into the Buddha's presence.
19 Smn 39. "Nemittaka ahamsu maharaja dvihi karanehi cakkaratanam kampati cahne va tasmim divan gate
tathagate va sammasambuddhe Ioke uppanne ti. Idini buddho Ioke uppanno tena buddhanubhavena
cakkaratanam kampati. Natthi te antarayo. Sakyamuni nama buddho tnaharSja idha Ioke uppanno tassa kho
mahirSja sakyamunissa bhagavato evam kalyano fcittisaddo abbhuggato iti pi so bhagava araham
sammasambuddho vijjacaranasampanno sugato lokavidQ anuttaro purisadammasarathi sattha
devamanussanam buddho bhagava ti’ evamldina buddhagunam vannend. Raja buddho ti saddam sutva
evam assa sakalasariram pancavannSya pldya nirantaram phuttham ahosL Raja nemittake aha:"
Buddho ti tumhe vadetha ( buddho amhe vadamase I buddho ti turnhe vadetha Ibuddho amhe vadamase II
tv.85]
R2ja tikkhattiim patipucchitva kuhim etarahi so bhagava viharaff ti. Atha ca pana nesam nemittakanam eko
panditataianemittako ekamsam uttar3sangam karitva yena migajinuyyanam tena pancapadtthitena vanditva
sirasmirn anjaiim thapetva thitako va uccena saddena evam aha:
Eso buddho maharaja IIokanatho anuttaro I Ioke c3samo jettho I tnahesi aggapuggalo II Sabbannu buddho
bhagava I sakyamuni d vissuto I nissay' imam dhannavadm I migajinavane vast d II" [w .85-86]
-113-
Once again, as we saw in the analysis of the earlier pre-Sumedha stories,
particularly the story of the king and the elephant trainer, there is a remarkable inversion
in the hierarchy between the Bodhisatta and his attendants. The cakkavatti king is greater
than the astrologers in every way; he is superior to them in both worldly and spiritual
matters, yet he is dependent upon them. The Bodhisatta reborn as a cakkavatti, a
mahapurisa, is depicted as vulnerable and cared for by those around him. For a
significant moment in the narration, the astrologers are shown to be more acutely aware
of the presence and meaning of a buddha than the Bodhisatta.
The Bodhisatta's ignorance is paired with his immediate reaction to what he leams
about the Buddha. He is overwhelmed by the astrologers' explanations. The hierarchy
between these actors shifts rapidly back again, reclaiming the Bodhisatta's lofty position
when his ignorance is immediately transformed into the greatest expression of devotion.
His sensitivity to the Buddha is shown to be far greater than that of those around him.
The astrologers, like so many others the Bodhisatta has met in his earliest
lifetimes, play an important role in the Bodhisatta's career. In this story, they direct him
to the Buddha, enabling him to address his first verbal aspiration directly to a Buddha and
hear the Buddha's conditional prediction. The prediction process moves along in part due
to the supporting efforts of these seemingly minor characters.
HI. Formulating the Bodhisatta's identity as a buddha
While the Bodhisatta is dependent on the aid of all kinds of beings in order to gain
the preliminary predictions, these encounters focus primarily on the relationships the
Bodhisatta enjoys with the Buddhas who make these qualified statements of his future.
-114-
With the reception of each of the prelim in ary predictions, the Bodhisatta advances
towards the attainment of his first full prediction of enlightenment. This progress along
the bodhisatta path is signaled by the Bodhisatta's increasing identification with these
Buddhas. As the Bodhisatta starts to leam her/his own future she/he begins to take on the
appearance and identity of his own future buddhahood.
The narratives of the preliminary predictions imagine different kinds of
relationships between the Buddhas and the Bodhisatta Gotama. In the princess story, the
familial tie between the princess and the Buddha Former DTpankara marks a particular
intimacy and concern that the Buddha holds for the Bodhisatta.
In the conditional prediction narrative, the relationship of the Buddha Former
Sakyamuni and the Bodhisatta evokes a more generic type of relationship in the
Theravada worldview that of a buddha and cakkavatti king.20 There is a cosmological
order to their relationship: the cakkavatti king rules the world with benevolence and
justice until he is surpassed by the only greater being that exists, a buddha.
In the SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha story, the cakkavatti is in not a buddha’s equal,
yet he is not wholly unlike him either; he stands in the privileged shade of a Buddha's
shadow. Like a buddha, he is unsurpassed by others while he rules, a reign that ends only
20 For a history o f the development o f the cakkavatti see frank Reynolds, "The Two Wheels o f Dhamma: a
Study o f Early Buddhism" in The Two Wheels o f Dhamma, ed., B. L. Smith (American Academy of
Religion, 1972), 6-30 and Stanley I. Tambiah, World Conqueror and World Renouncer (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1976), 32-53. Tambiah argues for an asymmetrical relationship between the
buddha and cakkavatti. While the two are clearly identified by the thirty-two marks, a buddha has chosen
the superior path (p.43.) The SotatthakTsupports his position but complicates it one step further. Unlike
the sources Reynolds and Tambiah draw upon, the SotatthakT imagines a buddha and cakkavatti in the
world together at the same time. When the Bodhisatta hears the conditional prediction, he abandons the
householder life. According to the traditional descriptions o f a cakkavatti, when he renounces the world he
becomes a buddha. In the SotatthakT this process is re-imagined; the Bodhisatta w ill be able to attain
buddhahood in a future lifetime, but not in his present lifetime as a cakkavatti. hi his discussion o f the
Anagatavamsa, Steven Collins argues that the presence o f both a buddha and a cakkavatti in the world at
the same time brings about a state o f unparalleled well-being. See Collins for an analysis o f the Metteyya
narrative and other examples o f the meetings between buddhas and cakkavattis. Collins, Nirvana and Other
Buddhist Felicities, 371-375.
-115-
by death or the arising of a buddha. In the pre-Sumedha story, the cakkavatti king can no
longer reign after the Buddha Former Sakyamuni appears —he renounces his kingdom
giving all his wealth to the sarigha and ordains as a monk in the sasana of Buddha
Former Sakyamuni, thus becoming one of the Buddha's "sons."
A growing physical resemblance
The Bodhisatta’s advancement on the bodhisatta path is structured in part by the
preliminary predictions. As the Bodhisatta receives these qualified forecasts of the future
he begins to physically take on some of the distinguishing physical features of a buddha.
The growing physical resemblance between Bodhisatta and Buddha visibly displays the
transformation of the Bodhisatta as he moves closer and closer to the prediction of his
own buddhahood.
As 1 discussed in chapter one, in his/her lifetime as the princess, the Bodhisatta’s
beauty is described in the context of her virtues. Her outward appearance is a visible sign
of her inner qualities. In several ways, aspects of her beauty evoke the thirty-two marks
of a buddha —she is said to have the beauty of teeth, of tongue, and of voice. The
description of her voice is particularly evocative, and makes an explicit connection to the
beauty of a buddha’s voice which has the power to stop beings in their tracks. Like a
buddha, the princess is said to have a voice like a karavika, a cuckoo:
The beauty of [her] voice is like the cuckoo’s song. When the cuckoo
birds are singing, an animal, hearing their song while being chased by a
tiger, thinks, ’Tf that tiger wants to eat me [thenl let him eat me; today, I
will hear that song,” and he stays.11 [But] the tiger does not desire to eat
211 choose to translate the word sadda, sound or voice, as song in this passage in order to support the
simile.
-116-
that wild animal. [The tiger thinks] "Today, I will hear that song." And
both beings remain motionless like posts. Hearing that song, the beings in
the water also remain motionless. And all the birds flying in the sky, stop
and are still. Thus, she is endowed with [a voice like] the cuckoo’s song.
This is called the beautiful voice.”
This passage in the SotatthakT is nearly identical to the description of the Buddha
Gotama’s voice in the Buddhavamsa commentary’. In loosely quoting from this source,
the SotatthakT directly connects the attributes of the Bodhisatta to the outward signs of a
buddha's perfection.23 As discussed in chapter one, the physical differences between the
princess and the Buddha are instantly apparent; the Bodhisatta's rebirth as a woman
makes this point inescapable, yet the attention to the princess's resemblance of the
Buddha suggests that the process of formulating an identity as a buddha begins in these
preliminary stages of the bodhisatta path.
When the Bodhisatta gains the conditional prediction his appearance is nearly
identical to a buddha. As a cakkavatti king, the Bodhisatta's body is adorned with the
thirty-two major marks and the eighty minor marks of the mahapurisa, the great man.24
According to the SotatthakT, while the Bodhisatta shares all the outer marks with the
22 Smn 28-29. "Sarakaly3nl nama karavikabh2sasadis5. KaravikasakunSnam saddamuncanakale byagghe

migam anubandhente tam saddam sutva migassa etad ahosi sace byaggho main khaditukamo khadatu tam
saddam sunissaml ti dttbad. Byaggho 'migam na khaditukamo ‘mhi. Tam saddam ajja suniss2mT ti dve
jana thambha viya niccala ahesum. Udake tthita satta pi tam saddam sutva niccala ahesum Akase
gacchanta sabbe sakuni pacchinnagamana niccala ahesum evam karavikasaddasamannagata. Ayam
sarakalyant nama."
23 The description o f the princess’s voice in the SotatthakTis closely parallel to the description o f the
Buddha’s voice in the "Nidanavannana," the first chapter o f the o f the Buddhavamsa commentary. BvA 61-
62. Also see MA 3.382f.
24 The bodily marks o f the mahapurisa which adorn the bodies o f buddhas and cakkavatti kings are
described in suttas such as the Lakkhana Sutta (D xxx) and Mahapadana Sutta (D xiv.) Frank Reynolds
discusses the marks o f the mahapurisa in relation to theories o f the Buddha’s rupakdya in Frank Reynolds,
"The Several Bodies o f Buddha: Reflections on a Neglected Aspect o f the Theravada Tradition" in History
o f Religions, Volume 16, Number 4- (May 1997): pp374-389. Also see Andre Bareau, "The Superhuman
Personality o f Buddha and its Symbolism in the Mahaparinirvanasutra o f the Dharmaguptaka” in Myths
and Symbols: Studies in Honour ofM ircea Eliade, ed. Joseph M. Kitagawa and Charles H. Long
(Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1969), 9-21.
-117-
Buddha Former Sakyamuni, he is in no way his twin. The text tells us that the light of the
Buddha's body far outshines the glow emanating from the cakkavatti king. While the
Buddha radiates like the sun, the cakkavatti is like one of the sun’s planets —his beauty is
eclipsed by the Buddha's. The narrative description of the Bodhisatta seeks to draw a
resemblance with the Buddha but it is careful to maintain the distinction between them.
The Bodhisatta's process of development is not yet complete and, while he has made
great advancement towards the reception of a full prediction, he has not yet attained it.
Choosing a name
The Bodhisatta's identity as a buddha is also formulated in the preliminary
prediction narratives through the taking of names. The issue of names in the pre-
Sumedha stories is intriguingly complex. The scheme could come out of a Jorge Luis
Borges story: buddhas appear bearing the names of DTpankara and Gotama Sakyamuni
(as Former Sakyamuni is also called) long before they are expected to appear in the
biography of the bodhisatta's career. These early Buddhas are not the famous DTpankara
and Gotama Sakyamuni but their nominal predecessors. Standing face-to-face, one
Buddha DTpankara becomes two Buddha DTpankaras, and Sakyamuni generates
Sakyamuni. Names generate names just as buddhas generate buddhas. A name
imagined to be the unique referent of one Buddha turns out to be the shared name of two
Buddhas who share interconnected Iife-histories.25 Priority is established through names
25The multiplication o f Buddhas bearing the same names is not commonly found in Pali literature. The
presence o f the Former Buddhas DTpankara and Gotama Sakyamuni in the pre-Sumedha stories and the
Paiinasa Jdtaka are intriguing exceptions. However, the proliferation o f identically named Buddhas is
prevalent in Buddhist Sanskrit literature in depicting the infinite numbers o f buddhas in the universe. For
instance, in the Mahavastu thirty kotis (a number equivalent to a hunched thousand) o f Buddhas named
Sakyamuni and 800,000 Buddhas named DTpankara. See J. J. Jones, trans.. The Mahavastu (London:
Luzac & Company, 1949), 139-46.
-118-
where it would not be expected by the readers of the traditional Theravadin accounts of
the Bodhisatta's career. The (Later) Buddhas DTpankara and Sakyamuni are shown to
have predecessors who are integral to their own development as Buddhas.
In the pre-Sumedha stories, the value of names lies in establishing priority; that is,
who comes first in the biography of the Bodhisatta’s career. The prefixes purana, former,
and pacchima, later, act as titles distinguishing generations of Buddhas much in the same
way that "senior" and "junior" mark off the line of descent between father and son. In the
SotatthakT, the connections between these Former and Later Buddhas create a kind of
secondary lineage between particular Buddhas within the standard lineage created by the
Buddhavamsa. Not only is the Buddha Gotama the twenty-eighth Buddha in the
Buddhavamsa's lineage following the Buddha Kassapa, he is also the descendent of the
Buddha Former Sakyamuni, following in his lineage as well.
A standard cultural naming practices is described in the SotatthakT, in which
parents and other members of their community choose the names of their children. This
is shown, for example, in the SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha story of Atideva, where the
Bodhisatta reborn as a prince is given a name in a naming ceremony.26 Unlike this
conventional system of bestowing names, the Bodhisattas choose their own names
themselves; they declare what their names will be once they become buddhas.27 In a
sense, the child takes his own name and in doing so metaphorically chooses his parent.
When the Buddhas Former DTpankara and Former Gotama Sakyamuni make the
prediction of the Bodhisattas Later DTpankara and the conditional prediction of (Later)
-119-
Bodhisatta Gotama-Sakyamuni respectively, they confirm, that these Bodhisattas will
indeed bear their names in the future. This confirmation may be seen as a kind of
bestowal of their name, yet the Bodhisattas desire to take these names always precedes
the Buddha’s confirmation. This, too, is perhaps a kind of reversal of priority;
bodhisatta’s take their names as buddhas before these names are given to them by
buddhas in the predictions.
One way that names are used in the pre-Sumedha stories is to establish particular
relationships between specific bodhisattas and buddhas. The SotatthakT shows us that
while a bodhisatta meets many buddhas over the course of his bodhisatta career, these
encounters are not all the same —the bodhisatta gains particular insights and reaches new
states of development under the tutelage and care of particular buddhas. The preliminary
prediction stories also show us that the bodhisatta is inspired to become just like the
buddhas whom he meets at critical moments in his development.
This self-fashioning by the bodhisatta in the image of a buddha includes taking a
Buddha's name as his own. These relationships inform bodhisattas how they should act
in the future, in particular as well as generic ways common to all buddhas. As we have
seen, the Buddha Former DTpankara gives the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara a specific set
of instructions of how he will act when he becomes the Buddha DTpankara. The Buddha
Former Gotama Sakyamuni, on the other hand, instructs the Bodhisatta Gotama in the
shared practices that lead to buddhahood.28
“ SmnSl.
27 ft is interesting to note that the Bodhisattas’s actions o f choosing their own names also reverses the
customary ordination practice where the preceptor gives the newly ordained monk his Pali name. For a
description o f this element o f the ordination ceremony see Jane Bunnag, Buddhist Monk, Buddhist Layman
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973), 4-1.
28 Smn 51-52.
-120-
The Buddhas Former DTpankara and Sakyamuni, who make the preliminary
predictions in the pre-Sumedha stories, bear the names of the most famous Buddhas from
the traditional accounts of the bodhisatta’s career. What does this mirroring of Buddhas
into the past accomplish? The echoing of names is another strategy that integrates the
pre-Sumedha stories with the Buddhavamsa narrative in the SotatthakT. From one
perspective, the repetition of names of Buddhas may be seen as deferential to the
Buddhavamsa. While the pre-Sumedha stories expand the narrative frame of the
traditional account of the bodhisatta’s career it does so by elaborating on aspects from the
text rather than focusing upon Buddhas who are wholly unknown to the Buddhavamsa.
The repetition of names and the prominent roles given to these two former Buddhas in
the pre-Sumedha stories both adds to and reflects the emphasis placed on the Buddha
DTpankara and the Bodhisatta Gotama in the Buddhavamsa. In this way, the narratives
about their nominal predecessors are used in service of learning more about them.
The pre-Sumedha story of the princess provides a view into the past lives of the
Buddha Later DTpankara; we learn how he gained his own prediction from the Buddha
Former DTpankara and received the mission from him to give the prediction to the
Buddha Former DTparikara's sister when she is reborn as the male ascetic Sumedha. His
actions in this lifetime (when he was a Bodhisatta) directly shape his actions when he is
the Buddha (Later) DTpankara.
His name, DTpankara, can both be interpreted on the basis o f the pre-Sumedha
narrative as either a proper noun after the Buddha Former DTpankara, and as resting upon
the meanings of the common nouns; dTpa, lamp, and kara, maker. Recall that in the
princess story the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara offers extraordinary lightpujas to the
-121-
Buddha Former DTpankara. He meets the princess when he goes begging for oil in order
to continue this act of worship and it is by the merit of his gift of lamps that he receives
the prediction of his own buddhahood from the Buddha Former DTpankara. His act of
making lights can be seen as a source of his name; he is quite literally the lamp maker.
This etymological interpretation is given in a version of this story in the Pahhdsa
JatakaJ3 In this version of the princess story, the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara's dana is
highlighted as the source of his name. The meaning of the common nouns are stressed;
just as this Bodhisatta became a Buddha by making a gift of lamps, so too others can
follow his path by becoming lamp makers themselves. Interpreted as a common noun
"dTpahkara,, can have multiple referents; his name becomes something others can attempt
to earn themselves.30
While the repetition of names in the pre-Sumedha stories can be seen as reflecting
the priorities created by the Buddhavamsa, from another perspective the mirroring of
names in the pre-Sumedha lifetimes can be seen as a significant refashioning of the
"Sumedhakatha," a refashioning that seeks to change how this central narrative is read
without directly altering the text in any way. By making the Buddha Former DTpankara
and the Buddha Former Gotama Sakyamuni prior to the Buddha DTpankara and the
Buddha Gotama of the Buddhavamsa, the pre-Sumedha stories assert the importance of
29 See "PadTpadSnajataka" Pafmasa-Ja.

30 Jacques Derrida's analysis in "Des tours de Babel" o f the relationship between proper and common nouns
is very helpful for understanding the layers o f meanings o f the names in the pre-Sumedha stories. Derrida
argues that proper nouns signify one signifier alone, unlike common nouns which have multiple referents.
Using Derrida's theory, the shared names o f these Buddhas and Bodhisattas signifies the unique
relationship and identity between them. Further, Derrida argues that proper nouns are translatable only by
using multiple words in place o f the original solitary signifier. This multiplicity in words used to render the
proper noun into a common noun allows for the common noun to have multiple referents. As DTpankara,
the proper noun signifies only two signifiers: the Buddhas (Former and Later) DTpankaras. But as a
common noun the "lamp maker" can refer to anyone who follows the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara’s
example. Jacques Derrida, "Des tours de Babel" Joseph F- Graham, trans., in Difference in Translation ed.
Joseph F. Graham (Ithaca; Cornell University Press, year), 165-207.
these earlier prelim in ary prediction events in the Bodhisatta’s past lives for understanding
the first full prediction event during his lifetime as Sumedha.
For example, the pre-Sumedha story of the conditional prediction of the
cakkavatti king by the Buddha Former Gotama Sakyamuni tells us that the Bodhisatta’s
Buddha name (Gotama Sakyamuni) is a name shared with the former Buddha who
inspired the Bodhisatta and aided him in gaining both a prediction of buddhahood and
buddhahood itself.
When the Buddha (Later) DTpankara makes the first prediction in the
"Sumedhakatha," revealing that the Bodhisatta will indeed become a Buddha in the future
with the name of Gotama Sakyamuni, the reader of the SotatthakT recalls the prior
moment in the biography of the Bodhisatta's career when the Bodhisatta as the cakkavatti
king took the name of the Buddha Former Gotama Sakyamuni who inspired his
aspiration for buddhahood. When the Buddha (Later) DTpankara reveals the Bodhisatta's
biography as the Buddha Gotama Sakyamuni in the prediction, he is recalling the past as
well as forecasting the future.
The traditional meaning of the Bodhisatta's Buddha name (Gotama, the bull;
Sakyamuni, sage of the Sakya clan) is nowhere addressed nor denied in the pre-Sumedha
stories. The pre-Sumedha stories supply an additional origin for the name. Taken
together, these dual etymologies of the name Gotama Sakyamuni suggest the two
families that the Bodhisatta belongs to: he is both the "descendent" of the Buddha
Former Sakyamuni and the son of the Sakya clan.31 Names function in the predictions
31 Frank Reynolds’ article on three distinct lineages traditions o f the Buddha Gotama—the Jataka, Buddha,
and Royal lineages —is instructive here for identifying the overlapping lineages at play in this pre-
Sumedha story. See Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions and the Lineages o f Gotama," 19-39.
-123-
not only to foretell the future but also to remember the past that enables the predictions to
come to fruition.
-124-
IV. Conclusion: Transforming the quality of time
The preliminary predictions transform the Bodhisatta’s engagement with his own
future. These qualified predictions offer the Bodhisatta the first tentative glimpses of
how his career as a bodhisatta will progress. The Buddhas Former DTpankara and
Former Sakyamuni are able to assess both the Bodhisatta’s readiness for a prediction in
the present and the success of his aspiration in the future. As we have seen, these
Buddhas are not free to divulge everything they leam about what the future holds for the
Bodhisatta. These predictions reveal a closer future, focused upon the performance of
first full prediction for Buddhahood that will take place at an already advanced stage of
the Bodhisatta’s career as narrated in the Sotatthakis extended biography.
From the moment when the predicted prediction is revealed by the Buddha
Former DTpankara it is known that the Bodhisatta’s aspiration will succeed; in a specified
future he will receive a prediction of his own buddhahood. Up until this point in the
Sotatthakfs narrative, the future had been completely uncertain. Within the narrative
logic of this text, the Bodhisatta did not know if he would ever attain his goals. Once the
predicted prediction is made, the future is fundamentally transformed. The preliminary
predictions define the future in broad strokes, drawing in portions of what the future will
look like.
This change in the quality of time significantly affects the Bodhisatta. After the
preliminary predictions, the Bodhisatta’s actions are directed at a known future. Any
danger that his actions will result in futile ends has been removed and no action is done
with the fear that it will be performed in vain. Once the full prediction event is assured
-125-
with the bestowal of the preliminary predictions, the Bodhisatta’s ultimate aim is, at the
same time, also guaranteed —even if it is not yet described. Once he receives the full
prediction, in other words, his buddhahood is secured.
Because of this, the reception of the preliminary predictions are significant
turning points in the Bodhisatta’s career. When the princess hears of her future lifetimes
from the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara she is elated:
Upon hearing (this) she became very happy and overjoyed. She
performed good actions, and guarded her morality. At her death she was
reborn in heaven.32
As the narrative tells us, the princess directs her actions at escaping female rebirths in
order to be prepared for her future prediction. To a significant degree, the Bodhisatta
begins to engage with the future she learned from both DTpankaras.
The preliminary predictions' power to evoke the future is portrayed at the conclusion of
the cakkavatti story. The narrator describes the cakkavatti's response to hearing the
conditional prediction:
Having heard that (prediction) the Bodhisatta was one who had given birth
to joy and satisfaction as if he was one who obtained omniscience
tomorrow.33 By the impulse of his joy he scattered the seven gems (of a
cakkavatti) on the sasana together with the lordship of a cakkavatti and he
himself went forth. At the end of his life he was reborn in the Brahma
world.34
J~ Smn 30. "Sa sutva pitisomanassajata hoti kusalam kammam katvS sllam rakkhitva tato cavitva sagge
nibbatti."
33 The connectioa between the present moment when the conditional prediction is made and the future
moment described by the prediction is expressed through a seemingly deliberate play with temporal
expressions. The adverb sve, tomorrow, is paired with the past participle patto from papunnati, to attain.
34 Smn 43. "Tam sutva bodhisatto sveva sabbannutam. patto viya pltisomanassajito ahosi. So pitivegena
sabbacakkavatthssariyena saddhim. satta pi ratanahi buddhasasane vikiritva sayam pi pabbajicva
ayuhapariyosane brahmaloke nibbatti."
-126-
The conditional prediction draws the future into the present, enabling the Bodhisatta to
experience what it will be like to attain his goal of buddhahood. While that future is still
very far away, the preliminary predictions build a bridge between the pre-Sumedha
lifetimes and the stages of the Bodhisatta’s career that are launched by the reception of
the first full prediction. The undefined future of the pre-Sumedha lifetimes is gradually
transformed into a known and certain future. This changing quality of time enables the
Bodhisatta to form distinct kinds of relationships, as we will see in the discussion of the
"Sumedhakatha" in the next chapter.
Chapter Three
The Defined Future: The guarantee of ethical perfection
I. Introduction: Reading the Story of Sumedha through the SotatthakT
In this chapter, I give a close reading of the story of the "Sumedhakatha," the
story of the Bodhisatta’s first full prediction of buddhahood, as it is found in the
Sotattha/cT.1 Following its narration of the pre-Sumedha stories, the SotatthakT quotes,
with some significant variations, nearly all of the "Sumedhakatha" verses from the
Buddhavamsa. The SotatthakT incorporates the Buddhavamsa’s account of Dipatikara’s
prediction of the future buddhahood of Sumedha into its total narrative of the Bodhisatta's
entire career, beginning from his first aspiration, told in the story of the shipwrecked boy
and his mother, up until his final lifetime, when he becomes the Buddha Gotama,
fulfilling the predictions made by the Buddha Dipankara and the twenty-three succeeding
Buddhas whom the Bodhisatta meets in his subsequent lifetimes to his rebirth as
Sumedha.
Encountering the "Sumedhakatha" as an integrated part of the SotatthakTs
narrative of the Bodhisatta's career creates a particular and unique reading of this famous
story. The SotatthakT preserves the "Sumedhakatha," quoting this chapter from the
Buddhavamsa rather than retelling it in its own words or giving an abbreviated summary
of its contents. Yet the "Sumedhakatha" is substantially refashioned in the SotatthakT; not
1 Smn 48-62, w .128-291.
-128-
primarily by direct emendation, but by the narrative context into which the
"Sumedhakatha" is integrated.
In the SotatthakT, the narratives of the Bodhisatta's earliest lifetimes told in the
pre-Sumedha stories serve as an elaborate preamble to the story of Sumedha. As I have
discussed in the first two chapters, the Bodhisatta’s development described in this
intricate introduction is an almost unimaginably long process: hundreds of thousands of
lifetimes are alluded to in the stories told of the Bodhisatta's initial lives when he made
his first aspiration for buddhahood, cultivated the eight preconditions for the reception of
the prediction, and received his preliminary predictions from the Former Buddhas
DTpankara and Sakyamuni. When the "Sumedhakatha" is read in the SotatthakT,
following these pre-Sumedha stories, it is no longer the account of the first lifetime in the
Bodhisatta's career, as it appears in the traditional accounts of the Bodhisatta’s biography,
such as the Buddhavamsa or the Jataka Nidanakatha, but rather a story of the Bodhisatta
when he is already at an advanced stage of his career as a bodhisatta.
The Sotatthalds pre-Sumedha stories lay a foundation for the "Sumedhakatha" by
expanding upon the preparatory stages for the reception of a full prediction that are only
briefly alluded to in the Buddhavamsa. The pre-Sumedha stories illuminate how the
events and actors described in the "Sumedhakatha" are a part of the total extended
biography of the Bodhisatta created by the SotatthakT. For example, when the
"Sumedhakatha" is read following the Sotatthald's pre-Sumedha stories, Sumedha's
actions —making his aspiration for buddhahood and attaining the eight preconditions for
gaining a full prediction —are seen as the final steps in a very long process of meeting
these two preconditions for the reception of a foil prediction. The pre-Sumedha stories
-129-
show that the conditions Sumedha seems to effortlessly attain in his present lifetime as
described in the "Sumedhakatha" were actually gained by this Bodhisatta hundreds of
thousands of times before, either mentally or verbally, in his previous lifetimes over the
course of sixteen asankheyyas.
From this perspective, the pre-Sumedha stories have a particular kind of priority
over the "Sumedhakatha.” Reading the Sotatthald's biography of the Bodhisatta from
start to finish, these narratives are not simply prior to the "Sumedhakatha" in the
sequence of the narrative structure, they also —more importantly —create the first vision
of the Bodhisatta in this text. Together, the pre-Sumedha narratives develop a pattern in
this biography of the importance of the Bodhisatta's relationships with others for his own
ethical transformation. These relationships support the Bodhisatta's progress on the
bodhisatta path and enable him to attain his goals of receiving a full prediction of his own
buddhahood. These patterns of the centrality of relationships to the bodhisatta path are
already well established in the text when the "Sumedhakatha" is narrated. They
determine a set of choices for how to read the "Sumedhakatha": dimensions of this story
consistent with these patterns are brought into high relief forming a coherent biography
from the narrative elements compiled in the SotatthakT.
The SotatthakT draws upon the "Sumedhakatha" as well as the vamsas of the
twenty-three successive Buddhas from the Buddhavamsa verses in order to continue its
biography of the Bodhisatta for its entire expanded duration of twenty asankheyyas and
100,000 kappas.z The SotatthakT employs the "Sumedhakatha" to narrate the first full
prediction event in the Bodhisatta's career.
1 Smn 63-82, w . 292-488.
As I discussed in chapter two, the position of the DTpankara-Sumedha prediction
event in the Sumedhakatha is not overthrown by the Sotatthald's pre-Sumedha narratives;
its place in the Bodhisatta's career as the first full prediction is always maintained. Yet,
by narrating the preliminary predictions, the SotatthakT substantially subverts the
"Sumedhakatha’s" primacy in the Bodhisatta's biography. This is no longer the first
lifestory told in the biography, nor is it the first prediction experience; indeed, the Buddha
DTpankara no longer stands at the head of the lineage of Buddhas who bestow predictions
upon the Bodhisatta.3 Instead, placed within the SotatthakT, the focal point of this
narrative becomes the Bodhisatta's relationships with both his superiors and inferiors who
support his reception of the first full prediction. Thus, the SotatthakT refashions the
"Sumedhakatha" at the same time as it preserves, mostly unchanged, this narrative drawn
from the Buddhavamsa.
H. Positioning the "Sumedhakatha" in the SotatthakT
In order to position the "Sumedhakatha" in the SotatthakT, I will first discuss how
the "Sumedhakatha" is woven into the Sotatthald's total narrative structure and then turn
to an analysis of the story of Sumedha itself.
The expectation for the Bodhisatta’s first full prediction grows over the course of
the Sotatthald's pre-Sumedha stories. As we have seen in the previous chapter, the stories
of the preliminary prediction build the Bodhisatta's anticipation of this event (and the
readers' anticipation as well) by revealing not only the stages that lead to this first full
prediction, but also when and how it will be made in his lifetime as the ascetic Sumedha.
3 For Frank Reynolds’ argument on this point see chapter two, p. 100, fn. 10.
-131-
Thus, the SotatthakT gradually prepares the way for introducing the "Sumedhakatha"
narrative into its biography of the Bodhisatta. The narration of this first full prediction
marks the intersection in the SotatthakT with the traditional accounts of the Bodhisatta’s
career which begin with the story of DTpankara and Sumedha. Having reached the
traditional portion of the biography, the SotatthakT continues its narration of the
Bodhisatta’s career by quoting the Bodhisatta's reception of the prediction from the
lineage of the twenty-four Buddhas from the verses of the Buddhavamsa.
The SotatthakT weaves the narrative frames of the pre-Sumedha stories and the
"Sumedhakatha" together by positioning them as progressive stages in a single schema of
the Bodhisatta's developing aspiration for buddhahood* The SotatthakT defines the four
asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas that commence with the "Sumedhakatha" as the period
of time when the Bodhisatta made his aspiration for buddhahood both bodily and
verbally. This evolution of the aspiration continues from the preceding sixteen
asankheyyas when the Bodhisatta, in his hundreds of thousands pre-Sumedha lifetimes,
made his aspiration first mentally for seven asankheyyas and then verbally for nine
asankheyyas. Together these twenty asankheyyas and an additional 100,000 kappas form
the entire duration of the Bodhisatta’s career narrated by the SotatthakT.
As the SotatthakT introduces the "Sumedhakatha" into its narrative it makes this
program explicit, describing the accumulation of time encompassing the Bodhisatta's
career as flowers woven together to form a single garland. The SotatthakT says:
* The structure o f the entire biography is given in summary form including a brief narrative summary o f the
"Sumedhakatha" at the beginning o f the SotatthakT before the full narration o f the pre-Sumedha stories
begin. In this way, the "Sumedhakatha" is integrated into the total narrative structure o f the text right from
the start and is located within the structure o f the Sotatthald's expanded biography. Smn 6-8.
-132-
When the Bodhisatta had performed service in the presence of so many

fiilly enlightened buddhas in so many asankheyyas, at the completion of
the entire garland of asankheyyas when he made (his) mental and verbal
aspiration four Buddhas, Tanhankara, Medhankara, Saranankara,
DTpankara, arose in a Saramanda kappa at a distance of four asankheyyas
and one hundred thousand kappas from now.5
This dense passage describes the entire duration of the Bodhisatta’s career. The
"Sumedhakatha" begins at the completion of the asankheyyas when the Bodhisatta made
his mental and verbal aspiration in the presence of hundreds of thousands of Buddhas.
Before commencing with the "Sumedhakatha" the SotatthakT pauses to give a
brief narration, first in prose and then in verse, of the Bodhisatta’s meeting with the first
three Buddhas mentioned in this passage. (These are the Buddhas who appear prior to
the Buddha DTpankara in the Saramanda kappa, four asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas
before the Bodhisatta became the Buddha Gotama in his final lifetime.)6 As I discussed
in chapter one, these Buddhas are almost entirely ignored in the Buddhavamsa which
merely lists their names. Likewise, the Jataka Nidanakatha and the Buddhavamsa
commentary only tersely mention that the Bodhisatta met these Buddhas and did not
receive a prediction from them. The presence of these Buddhas has great significance
since they are an acknowledgment of the Bodhisatta’s career prior to his lifetime as
Sumedha —in a sense, the allusion to the Bodhisatta’s lifetimes in the times of these
Buddhas are pre-Sumedha narratives as well. The references to these three Buddhas prior
to the first full prediction in these texts are a resource the SotatthakT draws upon in order
to further join together the narrative frames of the pre-Sumedha stories to the
Buddhavamsa's prediction narratives.
5 Smn 46. "Bodhisattena pi ettake asankhyeyye ettakanam sammSsambuddhanam sandke adhikaram katva
manovacapanidhanesu katesu sabbamalaasankhyeyyavasane ito kappato kappasatasahassadhikanam
ram nnam asankhyeyyanam matthake ekasnrim cSramandanamalrg kappe cattaro buddha nibbattimsu
tanhankara medhankara saranankaro dTpankaro tL* (The gram m ar here is irregular—the active verb must
be translated as passive as the subject o f the sentence is in the instrumental case.)
6 Smn 46-48. The Mahasampindaniddrta includes extensive narrations o f the Bodhisatta's encounter with
each o f these Buddhas. In this'text the encounters with these three Buddhas plays a prominent role in the
pre-Sumedha stories. Sdahdsampindaniddna 50-62.
-133-
Here we see again the ways in which the SotatthakT seeks to account for the full
length of the Bodhisatta's career in order to understand the entire process through which a
person becomes a bodhisatta and a bodhisatta becomes a buddha.
Nidanas
Following in the tradition of the Jataka Nidanakatha and the Buddhavamsa
commentary, the SotatthakTs biography of the Bodhisatta's career is divided into nidanas,
periods or intervals, that break the long expanses of the Bodhisatta's career into distinct
stages. In each of these texts, the structure of the nidanas reveal an overall conception of
the Bodhisatta’s career as well as the position of the "Sumedhakatha" in the entire
bodhisatta path.
Despite their structural (or formal) similarity, the division of the nidanas in the
SotatthakT differs significantly from those in the Jataka Nidanakatha and the
Buddhavamsa commentary. The SotatthakT introduces nidanas that are unknown to these
texts and redefines others. The restructuring of the nidanas in the SotatthakT shifts the
emphasis in the biography from the Buddha to the Bodhisatta.
The Jataka Nidanakatha and the Buddhavamsa commentary both divide the four
asankheyyas and the 100,000 kappas described in the Buddhavamsa into three sections:
the "Durenidana," the far nidana; the "Avidurenidana," the not-far nidana; and the
"Santikenidana," the near nidana.7 In these texts, the "Durenidana" covers the period of
time of the Bodhisatta's aspiration in the presence of the Buddha DTpankara up until his
birth in Tusita heaven after passing from his lifetime as Vessantara (the last jataka
7 The nidana schema in these texts are summarized at Ja 1.2; BvA. 4-5.
-134-
lifestory); the "Avidurenidana" describes the period of time from his descent from Tusita
heaven to his enlightenment; and the "Santikenidana" narrates the years of his teaching
up until the Buddha’s reception of the Jetavana monastery from Anathapmdika.®
The SotatthakT expands the nidanas structuring the biography from three to six:
the "Bahiranidana," the outer nidana', the "Ajjhattikanidana," the inner nidana', the
"Mahanidana," the great nidana; the "Atidurenidana," the very far nidana; the
"Avidurenidana," the not-far nidana; and the "Santikenidana," the near nidana? The
SotatthakT introduces (the first) four nidanas which are unknown to the Jataka
Nidanakatha. and the Buddhavamsa commentary, leaves out the "Durenidana," and
preserves the final two nidanas that are present in its textual ancestors.
The designations of the SotatthakT nidanas can be seen as corresponding with the
kinds of relationships the Bodhisatta develops with different Buddhas in the progressive
stages of the bodhisatta path. The first two nidanas are not stable in the SotatthakT. The
"Bahiranidana" includes the first four pre-Sumedha stories of the shipwrecked boy, the
king who loved elephants, the Brahmin risi, and the princess who gave the gift of
mustard oil. But the princess story is also identified as a part of the
"Abbhantaranidana."10Using this interpretive lens, the "Bahiranidana" is designated as
8 Ja 1.92-94. The Buddhavamsa commentary describes the Santikenidana as the period o f time from his
enlightenment up until his parinibbdna. See BvA S.
9 The SotatthakT lists the nidanas at p. 10: "Nidanam nama chabbidham: bahiranidanam abbhantaranidanam
mahanidana aridurenidanam avidurenidanam sanrikenidanam."
10 In the opening sections o f the SotatthakT princess story is grouped together with the first three
narrated pre-Sumedha stories to form the Bahiranidana. This schema is summarized in a verse stating the
tides o f these four stories:
Smn 11. "Gandharavisaye matur uddharakanaviko yuva I sattuttasanaka damako gajappivo Ibyagghiya
sakamadlsi brahmaisi I rajaputff sirisiddhatthatelamadasf d II" [v. 23].
"The young sailor from the region o f Gandhara who lifted up (his) mother / Lover o f elephants who
controlled beings by fear / The Brahmin risi who gave himse lf to the tigress / The princess who gave the
shining white mustard oil."
-135-
the outer niddna because the Bodhisatta does not encounter any Buddhas appear in these
earliest lifetimes; they are outside the presence of Buddhas. In the only explicit
explanation of the meaning of the niddna titles the SotatthakTsays:
Here what is called the outer niddna? The first arising of the thought from
the aspiration for being a Buddha without seeing a buddha is called the
outer nidana.u
The princess story is included in both the outer and the inner nidanas an identification
which may be explained by the content of the story. In the Bodhisatta’s lifetime as the
princess, she does not directly encounter the Buddha Former DTpankara but she does have
contact with him through the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara. Like the other stories of the
outer nidanas, the Bodhisatta can not make her aspiration direcdy in the presence of a
buddha. Yet the Buddha Former DTpankara is made aware of her aspiration. Thus, in
this lifetime, the Bodhisatta is both outside of the Buddha's presence and inside his
concern. Perhaps for this reason this story is both a part of the outer and inner nidanas.
The "Mahanidana" encompasses the seven asankheyyas during which the
Bodhisatta made his aspiration mentally in the presence of Buddhas. The story of King
Atideva is told in detail. In the "Mahanidana," the Bodhisatta has his first face-to-face
encounter with a buddha, the Buddha Brahmadeva, and makes his mental aspiration for
buddhahood in this Buddha's presence.

The "Atidurenidana" is the verbal aspiradon period, lasting nine asankheyyas,
beginning with the lifetime of the cakkavatti king, Sagala, who makes the aspiration to
the Buddha Former Sakyamuni who bestows the conditional prediction upon him. It is a
However, at the conclusion o f the princess story it is identified as the "Abbhantaranidana," second o f the
six nidanas in the text; see Smn 24.
11 Smn 10. Tattha katamam hahfranfrianam nSma. Yo vina buddhadassanena buddhabhavaya panidhanato
pathamacittuppado bShiranidanam nama."
12Smn 93-94, w . 595-604.
-136-
period of time very distant from the Bodhisatta's attainment of enlightenment, yet the
name, "the very distant niddna" is curious since it is not as distant as the earlier nidanas
in the Sotatthald. Perhaps it is so named because it directly precedes the
"Avidurenidana," the not far nidana (the second of the three nidanas in the traditional
accounts). The Sotatthald replaces the "Durenidana," the far niddna, (the first niddna in
those texts) with the "Atidurenidana," the very far niddna. This shift in the niddna
structure emphasizes one of the central arguments of the Sotatthald: to understand the
process whereby a person becomes a bodhisatta and a bodhisatta becomes a buddha, the
extremely distant past of the Bodhisatta's previous lives need to be examined, even
beyond the distant past when the Bodhisatta received the first full prediction of his own
buddhahood as narrated in the "Sumedhakatha."

The Sotatthald's fifth niddna, the "Avidurenidana," the not-far niddna, covers the
time-span in the Bodhisatta’s career that is considered the "Durenidana," the far niddna,
in the Jataka-Niddnakathd and the Buddhavamsa commentary. In relationship to the
total time frame that the Sotatthald narrates the period of its "Avidurenidana" (the four
asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas during which the Bodhisatta receives the twenty four
predictions beginning with the prediction from the Buddha DTpankara) are not distant
from, but near to, his attainment of his aspiration and the fulfillment of the prediction.
The restructuring of the nidanas reflects the overall biography that the Sotatthald
creates: a biography of the Bodhisatta, not the Buddha. The Sotatthald includes the
"Santikenidana" —the story of the Bodhisatta's final life when he becomes the Buddha
Gotama —but it is very abbreviated, consisting of only ten verses. Of these verses, only
three describe the events of his final lifetime giving the briefest account o f his twenty-
nine years when he lived as a prince, the seven years he practiced austerity, and his
attainment of enlightenment in order to free all beings.12 The "Santikenidana" in the
SotatthakT serves to show the fulfillment of the Bodhisatta's prediction. It does not give a
biography of the Buddha.
-137-
The differences between the SotatthakTs structuring of the nidanas from the
Jataka Nidanakathd and the Buddhavamsa commentary is nowhere directly addressed in
the SotatthakT. Whether the author-compiler of the SotatthakT was deliberately creating
the distinction between the SotatthakTs nidanas and the tri-fold nidanas of the older
commentaries, or if the author-compiler was following a different nidana tradition from
another source or set of sources, the variation of niddna structures of the biography
shows that the niddna was an evolving fluid dimension of the biographical tradition in
Pali literature.
The Mahasampindaniddna directly addresses the evolution of the niddna
tradition. The Mahasampindaniddna gives a brief account of the gradual growth of the
number of nidanas in biographies that tell the lifestories of the Bodhisatta:
Here, how many kinds of niddna are there? Here the ancient teachers,
wished (to tell) three niddna. What are the three nidanas? The
"Durenidana," "Avidurenidana," and the "Santikenidana." What is the
"Durenidana"? It should be known (as the lifetimes when) he made
(adhikaram, service) to the Buddhas beginning with DTpankara Buddha up
until his lifetime as Vessantara. Here this is called the "Durenidana."
What is the "Avidurenidana"? It should be known (as the lifetimes) from
Vessantara up until he became a fully enlightened buddha. Here this is
called the "Avidurenidana." What is the "Santikenidana"? It should be
known as the period between having become a fully enlightened buddha
up until he lived here and there (in various places) as the Blessed One.
Following that the teachers wished (told) a fourfold niddna: "Atidure,"

"Dure," "Avidure," "Sandke." What is the "Atidurenidana"? It should be
known as having made {adhikaram) to Brahmadeva Buddha etc. up until
DTpankara Buddha. What is the "Durenidana"? Having made (adhikara)
to the Buddhas beginning with DTpankara up until (his life as) Vessantara.
What is the "Santikenidana"? Having become a fully enlightened buddha
up until his parinibbana. Again also there is the five-fold niddna:
"Atiduredurenidana," "Atidurenidana," "Durenidana," "Avidurenidana,"
and "Santikenidana."13
Mahasampindanidana 1-2. "Ettha nidanam nama katividham hod? Idha pana tividham nidanam. icchanti
poranacariyS. Katamam tividham nidanam. DurenidSnam avidurenidanam santikenid2nan ti. Katham
dure nidanam. DTpankara-buddhSdim katva y£va Vessantara-bhavatava kathetafabam. Idam durenidanam
nama, Katham avittin-enfrianam. Vessantaram adim katva yava abhisambuddha tava kathetafabam. Idam
avidurenidanam nama. Katham santike nidanam. Abhisambuddadim katva yava parinibbana etthantare
-138-
The six-fold nidanas of the SotatthakT is yet another niddna scheme beyond those listed
in the Mahasampindaniddna. The varieties of nidanas and the multiple ways of
combining the nidanas into sets shows that there was not only a considerable degree of
fluidity in this literary device but that there was a significant degree of comfort about this
fluidity. The Mahasampindaniddna presents these niddna schemas side by side as an
evolving tradition that continued to change as different generations of author-compilers
composed biographies of the Bodhisatta/Buddha. The flexibility in the niddna structures
illuminates how the SotatthakT uses the nidanas to create its own vision of the Bodhisatta.
The effect of the SotatthakTs nidanas, and perhaps the text as a whole, seems to be an
attempt to understand how the Bodhisatta gained the conditions for the prediction of his
buddhahood and the predictions he received from the twenty-four previous Buddhas.
The Buddhavamsa —a fluid text
The Sotatthald quotes the Buddhavamsa verses of the Bodhisatta's reception of
the full prediction from the twenty-four Buddhas (beginning with DTpankara) in order to
continue its narration of the Bodhisatta’s career. The Buddhavamsa verses that appears
within the SotatthakT are never named as such; they are woven into the total narrative that
the SotatthakT creates. However, the Buddhavamsa verses do appear as a distinct unit
within the Sotatthald.which set them apart from the pre-Sumedha stories that precede
yattha tattha bhagava viharati tava kathetabban ti. Apare acariya catubbidham nidanam icchanti.
Atidurenidanam durenidanam avidurenidanam. santikenidanam. Katham atidurenidanam. Brahmadeva-
budditdim katvi y5va dTpankara buddha. Katham dOrenidSnam. DTpankara-buddhadim katva yava
Vessantara. Katham avidurenidanam. Vessantaramadim katva yava abhisambuddha. Katham
santikenidanam. Abhisambuddhadim katva yava parinibbana. Puna'pi paficavtdham. nidanam
atiduredurenidanam atidurenidanam durenidanam avidurenidanam santikenidanam ca ti.
14 In his discussion o f the Buddhavamsa Steven Collins gives a thorough analysis o f the use o f narrative
voice and temporal perspective in order to demonstrate the central focus on time and temporality in this
text Collins argues that the Buddhavamsa narrates repetitive time within the over-arching structures o f the
linear movement o f non-repetitive time as it accounts for the Bodhisatta's prediction encounters with the
lineage of Buddhas. Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 258-267.
-139-
them (i.e. in verse). Unlike the earlier pre-Sumedha stories which are told largely in
prose, these sections of the text are told almost entirely in verse. While the pre-Sumedha
stories are narrated primarily in a third person voice, beginning with the "Sumedhakatha"
the verses are spoken primarily in the first person by the Buddha Gotama who recounts
the predictions he received in his previous lives.14
The first person narration in the "Sumedhakatha" and other Buddhavamsa verses
is perhaps the most significant break from the pre-Sumedha narratives that form the first
half of the Sotatthald. This device, employed by the Buddhavamsa and left unchanged by
the Sotatthald, sets the narration in a past time, unlike the pre-Sumedha stories in which
the action is set in a narrative present. This is a major shift in the text. In the pre-
Sumedha narratives, the story is told as if it were unfolding in time, while from the
"Sumedhakatha" onwards the story is told as a recollection of an already completed past.
These distinctions are, on one level, different narrative devices that the Sotatthald holds
together in a single text. But as we have seen in the earlier chapters, the narration of time
is a significant indicator of the Bodhisatta’s stage of development. The "Sumedhakatha's"
narration of the Bodhisatta's first full prediction in the past tense marks a significant
transformation from the Bodhisatta’s earlier lifetimes when he was still seeking that
prediction. Since it is the Buddha Gotama recounting his past lives, the form of the
narrative constantly reminds the reader that the predictions it describes have come true.
As Collins argues in his analysis of the Buddhavamsa, the use of the first person voice
brings together th e ’T" of the Buddha Gotama and the "I" of Sumedha.15 The narration of
the pre-Sumedha stories (in a narrative present told primarily by a third person narrator)
distances the Bodhisatta from his lifetime as the Buddha, thereby leaving the Bodhisatta's
future open and unknown from within the logic of the text.
15Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 264.
16 See Jinak 14-15.
-140-
The author-compiler of the SotatthakT, Cullabuddhaghosa, chose to preserve the
Buddhavamsa within the text, quoting the Buddhavamsa verses at length. Other
anthologizing options are, of course, possible. For example, the author-compiler of the
JinakdlamalT, Ratanapanna, chose a different approach, summarizing the content of the
Buddhavamsa in abbreviated prose narrative and including just a few select verses —for
instance, the episode describing Sumedha's decision to make his aspiration at the moment
of DTpankara's arrival.16
But what does it mean to say that the SotatthakT preserves the Buddhavamsa?
Reading the Buddhavamsa verses as a part of the total narrative in the Sotatthald is not
the same thing as reading the Buddhavamsa itself. As I discussed above, by establishing
narratives prior to the Buddhavamsa verses the SotatthakT determines how the
"Sumedhakatha" and the other quoted verses are read as a part of its biography of the
Bodhisatta. So, while the SotatthakT draws from the Buddhavamsa in order to narrate the
segment of the Bodhisatta's biography starting from the first full prediction, these verses
are, to a significant extent, divorced from the narrative framework of the Buddhavamsa
and integrated into the SotatthakT structure.

The Buddhavamsa, is in an important sense, created anew when it is quoted in the
Sotatthald, or any other biography of the Bodhisatta (or Buddha, depending on the
emphasis of the text), such as the Jinamahdnidana or the Mahasampindaniddna, which
also quote from the Buddhavamsa at great length.17The Buddhavamsa verses
encountered in each of these texts have a particular meaning created by the total narrative
of these works.
17 See Jina-m 1-27; Mahasampindanidana 263-271.
18The variations between the anthologized Buddhavamsa in the Sotatthald from, the Jinamahdnidana can
be seen, for example, by a comparison the verses o f the "Sumedhakatha” omitted in each o f these texts.
The SotatthakT omits Buddhavamsa verses IL1-4; 9-26; 29-32; 42; 52-58; 69; 188-205; 207-211; 219 while
the Jinamahdnidana omits Buddhavamsa verses IL1-3; 27-53; 58-59; 70-81; 108; I20-I2I; 125-126; 130-
131; 135-136; 140-141; 145-146; 150451; 155-156; 160-161; 165-170; 175-178; 188-219. See Jina-m l-
14.
-141-
The Buddhavamsa verses anthologized in the Sotatthald are rendered unique not
only by the particular narradve context in which they are inserted but also by which
verses are quoted and the order in which the verses are presented. For example, the
"Sumedhakatha" verses from the Buddhavamsa quoted in the Sotatthald differ, to some
extent, from those quoted in the Jinamahdnidana. 1S There are a range of possible reasons
for the variations: omissions as a result of manuscript transmission; different manuscript
sources; and conscious choices to reorder verses or to omit sections. These important
text-critical questions are outside the parameters of this discussion; for my purposes
here, the point is that the Buddhavamsa verses in the Sotatthald are a part of the
SotatthakT—the compiled parts of the text form a coherent whole.
The Sotatthald also quotes a prose passage in the "Sumedhakatha" found in the
Buddhavamsa commentary and the Jdtaka Niddnakatha, 19 Since these commentaries
contain all the Buddhavamsa verses quoted in the SotatthakT, it is possible that
Cullabuddhaghosa, the SotatthakTs author-compiler, was engaging with the
Buddhavamsa verses through one or both of these commentaries,20rather than from the
Buddhavamsa as an independent text.21
As with these commentaries, so too the SotatthakT, the Jinamahdnidana, and the
Mahasampindaniddna, among others, preserve and transmit the Buddhavamsa verses:
The verses from the Buddhavamsa were accessible through many different sources. The
Buddhavamsa's preeminence solely as an independent text, then, in the Theravada world
should be questioned rather than assumed.22
19Smn 59-60; (BvA 113-114; Ja 1.25.)

20 The importance o f the Jdtaka Niddnakatha in the production o f later Theravadin biographies suggests it
as the source o f this passage in the SotatthakT, but there is no internal evidence which supports this
assumption; since the passages are identical, it could just as well have come from the Buddhavamsa
commentary . See Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions and the Lineages o f Gotama," 28-29 for a discussion of the
incorporation o f the Buddhavamsa and Jdtaka Niddnakatha in later works.
211 am grateful to Anne Blackburn for her observation o f this point.
22 In his article on the role o f the Pali canon in the TheravSda Collins notes that the canon as a whole was
not widely spread or kept in monastic library collections. Collins, "On the Very Idea o f the Pali Canon,"
102-104. In another work Collins provides data on the prevalence o f the Buddhavamsa showing that this
was a popular text in the pre-modem Theravada world. He that notes that the Buddhavamsa frequently
-142-
Although the Sotatthald and the other Bodhisatta biographies serve to preserve the
Buddhavamsa and its commentaries, we should be careful not to read the Buddhavamsa
verses in the Sotatthald as isolates; they function as a part of the whole and their meaning
is contingent on the sense of the narrative of which they form one important and familiar
piece.
QI. The Bodhisatta's lifetime as Sumedha: Living in isolation vs. community
When the "Sumedhakatha" picks up the narrative where the pre-Sumedha stories
leave off in the Sotatthalds biography, the reader has already seen the Bodhisatta in many
different rebirths, ha many ways, Sumedha resembles the Bodhisatta of his previous
lives. Like the Brahmin risi, he is accomplished in the arts of learning and leads a
renunciant life after the death of his parents.3 Just as in his several previous lifetimes,
when he lived as a king, as Sumedha he renounces all his wealth and property upon
seeing the emptiness and danger of material attachments.24 Yet, quite unlike his past lives
which always describe the Bodhisatta living as a part of a community with others, the
Bodhisatta's early life as Sumedha is spent alone. The verses narrating his life before his
meeting with the Buddha DTpankara emphasize his isolation from others; his parents and
appears in manuscripts also containing the Anagatavamsa which gives evidence for the transmission o f the
Buddhavamsa as a discrete text. Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 359. It would be
interesting to compare the prevalence o f Buddhavamsa manuscripts (and noting what companion texts, like
the Anagatavamsa, are found in these manuscripts) versus the prevalence o f other texts in which the
Buddhavamsa is an anthologized or compiled element. However, the perception o f the Buddhavamsa as a
canonical text can not be simply assumed either, for the prestige o f the Buddhavamsa as a canonical text in
Thailand is questioned by the omission o f this text, as well as the Cariyapitaka and the Apadana, from the
Khuddakanikdya in the Rama V printed edition o f the Tipitaka in 39 volumes.
23 Smn 20-23; I discuss this story in chapter 4, pp. 213-219.
24This pattern is repeated in the three pre-Sumedha lifetimes when the Bodhisatta lived as kings; after
making his aspiration in each lifetime he gave away his kingdom and ordained as a renunciant. For the
story o f the king who loved elephants, Gajappiya, see Smn 15-19; for the story o f King Addeva see Smn
31-36; and for the story o f the cakkavatti king see Smn 37-46.
-143-
other relatives die and he goes off to live in the mountains all alone, in increasingly
ascetic environs.25 Alone he rapidly develops advanced meditative powers:
I strove for the attainment there

While sitting, standing, walking up and down.
Within a week
I attained the power of the abhihha. 26
The reader of the SotatthakT might recall that the attainment of the abhihhas, the
supernatural powers, is one of the eight conditions for the prediction from the Buddha
Former DTpankara's explanation of the preconditions to the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara.
This verse signals that the Bodhisatta, in his lifetime as Sumedha, is quickly gathering
these eight conditions for the reception of the prediction. This point is not made
explicitly here, but the Sotatthald has taught its reader the significance of these
descriptive verses. This is not the first time that the Bodhisatta has met this particular
precondition: as the Brahmin risi described in the third of the pre-Sumedha lifetimes, the
Bodhisatta also acquired these powers through his meditation practice.27 However, in that
lifetime he did not gather all eight conditions as Sumedha is able to do.
Sumedha's attainments move him closer to the prediction but they also increase
his isolation from others. Because he is absorbed in meditation, he fails to see the thirty-
two miraculous signs that appeared at the Buddha DTpankara’s entry into his mother's
womb, his rebirth, his enlightenment, and his teaching of the Dhamma.
Possessed by the pleasure of the jhanas

I did not see the four signs:
25 Smn 48-49, v. 136-142; (Bv IL 5-8; 27-28; 33.)

26 Smn 49, v. 143. (Bv IL 33) Tattha padhanam padahim I nisajjatthanacankame I afabhantaram pi sattahe i
abiMnabalam papunim II
17 Smn 21.
-144-
When he was conceived, born,

Awakened, teaching the Dhamma.a
The signs that accompany these four events in the life of every Buddha are hard to miss.
The Buddhavamsa commentary lists these signs that transform the world into a
magnificent utopian vision: the entire universe quakes, the hungry are satiated, once-
hostile animals lie peacefully together, and the entire universe is garlanded with flowers
and perfumes.29 Recall that in several of his pre-Sumedha lifetimes the Bodhisatta was
frightened by these same signs; in his lifetime as the King Atideva, he is so afraid when
these same signs appear at the arrival of the Buddha Brahmadeva that he trembles on his
throne until his minister explains to him that these miracles accompany the arising of a
buddha.30
Again, in his final pre-Sumedha lifetime as the cakkavatti king, the Bodhisatta is
also unaware that this set of omens marks the arising of the Buddha Former Sakyamuni.31
Continuing the pattern from his previous lifetimes, the Bodhisatta as Sumedha, complete
in his meditative isolation both from communication with others and with outward
stimuli, is again not aware of the arrival of a buddha in the world. However, there is also
a clear progression from the pre-Sumedha narratives —Sumedha is not afraid when he
finally becomes aware of these signs: rather, he sets out to find their cause.
It is only when Sumedha comes out of his isolation and rejoins a community with
others that he learns that a Buddha has arisen in the world. The "Sumedhakatha" simply
28 Smn 49, v. 144; (Bv IL 35.) Uppajjante ca jayante! bujjhante dhammadesane I caturo nimitte
narialrlfhtm l jhanaratisamappito II
29 BvA 79-81.
30 Smn 32.
31 Smn 32.
-145-
narrates the events that draw Sumedha into a relationship with others: once Sumedha
completes his meditative training, gaining powers even beyond the abhifinas, he leaves
his mountain retreat and, flying through the sky, he sees the people of Amaravati
ecstatically at work preparing a roadway. Sumedha descends from the sky to inquire
about the festivities and the townspeople explain to him that the Buddha DTpankara is
approaching.32
These narrative details are made meaningful by the patterns of relationships
established by the SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha stories. In the Bodhisatta’s lifetimes as King
Atideva and as the cakkavatti king, he was only able to meet the Buddhas Brahmadeva
and Former Sakyamuni respectively when his advisors taught him the meaning of these
signs and the significance of a Buddha.33 In each of these narratives there is a significant
overturning of the hierarchies structuring the Bodhisatta's relationships with the ordinary
people around him. While the Bodhisatta is clearly their superior —he is the king and
they are his advisors, he is the Bodhisatta and they are ordinary people —he is dependent
upon them.
This pattern of the Bodhisatta’s dependence on those who, from one perspective,
are his inferiors, illuminates the significance of Sumedha integration into the crowds of
townspeople preparing the way for the Buddha DTpankara. His superiority to these
common people could not be more apparent to everyone present —he is quite literally
above them as he hovers in the sky over their heads. Yet his dependency on them is also
clear, as they inform him of the Buddha’s im m in en t arrival; even with his superior
32 Smn 49-50, w . 147-149; (Bv IL38-40.)

33 Smn 32-33; 38-39. For a discussion o f the role o f King Atideva's advisors in bringing about his meeting
with the Buddha Brahmadeva see chapter four, p. 220; for my analysis o f the role o f the cakkavatti's
astrologers in teaching him the significance o f the omens accompanying the Buddha Former Sakyamuni
-146-
powers, the Bodhisatta relies upon these others to meet the Buddha. In the earlier
narratives, the Bodhisatta is shown to be (temporarily) inferior in understanding to those
around him. This same dynamic is illuminated in the "Sumedhakatha" narrative when it
is read following the Bodhisatta’s earlier encounters with previous Buddhas in the pre-
Sumedha lifetimes. The repetition of this pattern describing the Bodhisatta's
relationships with others in lifetime after lifetime illuminates the significance of the
townspeople's actions in the story of Sumedha.
Sumedha’s actions and responses in this situation resemble those of his earlier
lifetimes. Just as in his lifetime as Atideva, once Sumedha hears the word "buddha" he is
totally overcome with joy and devotion, signaling his readiness to encounter the Buddha
in spite of his just-resolved ignorance. The inequality between the Bodhisatta and the
townspeople is instantly reversed. They may have a keener awareness of what is taking
place, but once Sumedha leams of the Buddha's presence, his reaction to the Buddha is
the most intense of anyone present.34 The shifting hierarchies between Sumedha and the
crowd continues, reversing once again —he still needs their help in order to meet the
Buddha. When Sumedha leams that the people are gathered along the roadway to
prepare it for the Buddha's arrival, he requests that they give him a section of the road to
clear for the Buddha and his entourage of enlightened monks. Sumedha says:
If you are clearing (the road) for the Buddha

Give an okasa to me
I also will clear
This straight road.35
see chapter two, pp. 111-113.
34 Smn 50, v.150; (Bv IL 41.)
35 Smn SO, v. 151; (Bv IL 43.) Yadi baddhassa sodhetha I ek okasam dadStha me I aham pi sodhayissami I
anjasam vatumayanam II I. B . Homer translates this verse: "If you are clearing for a Buddha, give me one
sectionl I myself w ill also clear the direct way, the path and the road." Homer, trans.. The Clarifier o f the
Sweet Meaning, 128.
-147-
Multiple meanings of okasa are invoked in this verse: okasa can mean "space," "the
visible world" or "opportunity, occasion." When Sumedha asks the people to give him an
okasa he is requesting both a space or section of the road to clear (as the word is usually
translated) and an opportunity to encounter the Buddha. The people give Sumedha entry
into their community and share in their preparations for the Buddha DTpankara. In order
to meet the Buddha he does not stand alone but rather first becomes a part of this
assemblage.
The evolution of the Bodhisatta's aspiration
Sumedha's entry into this community of townspeople gives him the opportunity to
make his aspiration for buddhahood. In this lifetime, the Bodhisatta expresses the
aspiration with his body. This is the final stage in the aspiration’s evolution in the
Sotatthald: prior to his lifetime as Sumedha, the Bodhisatta made his aspiration mentally
for seven asankheyyas and then verbally for nine asankheyyas. Sumedha's bodily
aspiration marks the beginning of the final period in the Sotatthakfs biography, one in
which the Bodhisatta continues to make his aspiration with body and speech for four
asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas.
Sumedha's performance of his bodily aspiration is reflected in his choice to
perform his work in an ordinary way (that is, in the same manner as the others), in spite
of his great psychic powers that would easily allow him to complete his section of the
road without exertion.
-148-
Having taken up dirt, earth, etc.

According to my strength
Having made the road even
Then I experienced great joy.26
The Jdtaka Niddnakatha and the Buddhavamsa commentary contain the same prose
passages explaining that the people gave Sumedha the most damaged section of the road
knowing that he could complete it with his supernatural powers. Yet Sumedha says:
Today, it is proper for me to make service with my body27
Sumedha decides that he should perform kdyaveyydvacca, menial duties —work that is to
be done with his body. This act of clearing the Buddha's pathway can be seen as the first
part of Sumedha's bodily aspiration.
The story quickly picks up momentum; before Sumedha is able to complete the
preparations of his portion of the road, the Buddha DTpankara and his entourage of four
hundred thousand arahant monks approach. Sumedha sees that this space of the road is
his great opportunity to make his aspiration in the presence of the Buddha DTpankara.
Sumedha says:
Standing there elated with an agitated mind I thought

T might plant seeds here,
Don’t let time be wasted!'28
Let the fully enlightened Buddha approaching

Together with his pupils go [on me]
26 Smn 50, v. 153. "PamsumattikaSdlni i aharitva yathabalam I maggam saxnam karitvaham I mahapitim
Iabhim tada II" This verse does not appear in the PTS edition o f the Bv nor the Thai 1928 edition. This
verse closely parallels BvA 86 and Ja 1.12.
27 BvA. 86; la 1.12.
38 Smn 50 v. 155; (Bv. H. 42.) Tattha thatva. vicintesim I tuuho samviggamanaso I idha bi]5ni ropissam I
khano ve ma upaccaga II
The verses in the Smn are in a different order than that in the PTS edition and the 1928 Thai edition. In the
Smn, this verse appears after Bv IL 45 and before IL52. B v verses IL 46-50 are missing from the Smn..
-149-
DO not let them go in the mud

It will be for my benefit.
I loosened my hair there,

My bark garment and hide
I spread in the mud
I laid myself prostrate.39
The verse describing Sumedha's decision to seize the opportunity of meeting the Buddha
DTpankara is the closest thing to a verbal articulation of the aspiration in the Sotatthakfs
"Sumedhakatha." This section of the Sotatthald diverges from other versions of the
Buddhavamsa, found in the Buddhavamsa commentary and the Jdtaka Niddnakatha:
verses appear in a different order and verses are left out. For instance, the verses
describing the Bodhisatta's aspiration to cross over to the other shore and to help others to
cross over are absent from the "Sumedhakatha" as it is anthologized in the Sotatthald.*0
This is the same aspiration formula that the Bodhisatta articulated in each of the his pre-
Sumedha lifetimes but while it absent here, it has already been introduced into the
Sotatthakfs total biography many times before.41
Further, the Sotatthald does not include the Buddhavamsa verse which lists, just
before the Buddha DTpankara makes the prediction of Sumedha, the eight conditions for
the reception of the prediction.42 The absence of these verses here is surprising. The
earlier narration of the pre-Sumedha stories in the Sotatthald give prominence and focus
39 Smn 50 w . 156- 157, (Bv. IL 52, IL 51.) Akkamitvana sambuddho I saha sissehi gacchatu I ma nam
kalalam akkamittha I hitaya me bhavissad If Kese muiicitv' Sham tattha f vakaciran ca cammakam II kalale
pattharirvana I avakujjo nipajj’ aham II Note the reordering o f the verses in the Smn.
40 BvIL 54-58.
41 The Bodhisatta's aspiration is narrated in each pre-Sumedha lifetime, see Smn 14 w .27-29; 19 v38; 23
v.50; 29; 33-34 w . 62-64; 41 w .89-91. For a discussion o f the Bodhisatta's aspirations in his pre-Sumedha
lifetimes see chapter one.
42 Bv IL 58: "Manussattam lingasampatd hetu sattharadassanam I pabbajja gunasampatd adhikaro ca
rhanriara 1atfoadammasamodhSna abhinlharo samijjhad II"
-150-
to the Bodhisatta's articulation of the aspiration for buddhahood as well as the requisite
conditions for the reception of the prediction. The first preliminary prediction narrative I
discussed in chapter two includes a lengthy discussion of the eight conditions.'” Why are
the verses expressing the Bodhisatta's aspiration and the conditions for the prediction
missing here? As discussed above, there are several text-critical possibilities: perhaps
verses were left out in the process of manuscript transmission, or perhaps the SotatthakT
follows a different Buddhavamsa source that does not include these verses.44
Setting aside these legitimate text-critical concerns, the verses as they appear in
the SotatthakT as we have it present a coherent narrative that does not need to be amended
in order to make sense. There are a range of interpretive possibilities for reading
Sumedha's aspiration in the Sotatthakfs "Sumedhakatha." The lack of a verbally
articulated aspiration emphasizes the bodily aspiration that Sumedha makes by lying his
body down in the mud. The Sotatthakfs reader has seen that the Bodhisatta make his
aspiration verbally for a period of nine asankheyyas prior to his rebirth as Sumedha but
this is the first time that the Bodhisatta uses his body to make his aspiration. The bodily
expression of the aspiration is emphasized in the Sotatthakfs "Sumedhakatha" and is able
to stand alone without the verbal expression of the aspiration. The reader of the
SotatthakT already knows about the aspiration and the eight conditions needed for the
prediction. While this information is not given in this version of the "Sumedhakatha,"
43 The eight conditions are discussed several times in the Sotatthald: For the Buddha Former DTpankara’s
lesson on the eight conditions see Smn 26-27. The eight conditions listed there in verse 52 is a quotation o f
Bv IL 58. The eight conditions are then quoted again at the conclusion o f the Sotatthald (Smn 95 w .6I5-
616) in a general discussion o f the conditions of buddhahood which includes a list o f the ten future
Buddhas.
44 A. tentative case can be made for the latter explanation as Bv IL58, the Buddhavamsa verse describing
the eight conditions also does not appear in the Thai 1928 edition o f the B v. This suggests that this verse
may not have been a part o f the Buddhavamsa manuscript tradition known to the author-compiler or scribe
o f the Sotatthald.
-151-
neither is it absent from the SotatthakT nor from the reader’s knowledge gained in the pre-
Sumedha stories. The SotatthakThas prepared its readers to understand that a prediction
can only be made when the eight conditions are present
When the Bodhisatta lies down in the mud as the Buddha DTpankara approaches,
Sumedha literally fills his okasa, his part of the path given to him by the assembly of
townspeople, with his body, and thereby creates the opportunity to perform adhikarana,
an act of attendance for the Buddha that becomes the cause or qualification of the
reception of the prediction for Buddhahood. Like the use of okasa in the
"Sumedhakatha," the two meanings of adhikara, attendance and capability, are
simultaneously drawn upon; by making this service to the Buddha DTpankara, Sumedha
gains the qualification for the prediction.
The verses in the SotatthakVs "Sumedhakatha" do not identify his act of lying in
the mud as an act of adhikara, but I think it is clear that this act is to be categorized as
adhikara according to the definition given in the story of the princess in the SotatthakT.
There, the Buddha Former DTpankara explains to the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara how
adhikara is one of the eight conditions that results in a prediction of a bodhisatta's
aspiration:
The aspiration succeeds only for that one who has given away his own life
for the Buddhas, the aspiration succeeds only for this one endowed
capability (adhikara) because of service {adhikara), not for others.45
hi the "Sumedhakatha" the Bodhisatta is fully prepared to give his life to the Buddha
DTpankara and his sahgha when he lies down in the mud. After all, taken literally,
45 Smn 27. "Yena attano jivitam buddhanam pariccattam hoti tassa imina adhikarena
adhik2rasampannasseva samijjhati na itarassa.”
-152-
having a Buddha and 400,000 monks walking over one's back would kill anyone.
Sumedha’s willingness to give his life to the Buddha DTpankara is made explicit in the
Buddhavamsa commentary and the Jdtaka Niddnakatha which contain the identical
passage:
Today it is proper to make a sacrifice of my life for the ten powered one, I
can not let [do not let] the Blessed One walk in the mud! Let him come
walking on my back together with the 400,000 arahants just like he is
walking on a bridge of jeweled boards.'16
The space in the path becomes his occasion to make both his aspiration and fulfill the
eight conditions for the prediction. Lying face down in the mud, Sumedha has made his
bodily aspiration and fulfilled the eight conditions needed to receive a prediction of his
own future Buddhahood.
IV. Making the first full prediction of buddhahood
As Sumedha lies face down in the mud, the roadway is crowded with celebrating
townspeople. As the Buddha DTpankara approaches with his 400,000 attending monks,
the earth is made beautiful by his presence and even the gods join the multitude playing
music on heavenly instruments. It is a fitting scene for the Bodhisatta to finally receive
his first full prediction of buddhahood. The Sotatthald says:
DTpankara, knower of worlds

Recipient of offerings
Stood at my head
46 BvA 87; Ja 1.12.
-153-
And spoke this speech:
Look at this ascetic

A fierce, matted hair ascetic,
In a future kappa from now
This one will be a buddha.47
As DTpankara stands at Sumedha’s head, he recognizes the Bodhisatta’s aspiration
for buddhahood. The Buddha DTpankara knows the minds and thoughts of all beings
through the power of the penetration of minds, cetopariyanana; he can know Sumedha's
aspiration without any verbal communication.48 The aspiration is also visibly manifested
in the Bodhisatta’s performance of adhikara, and the Buddha responds to this bodily
aspiration by making the prediction.
The "Sumedhakatha" verses do not explain how the Buddha DTpankara makes the
prediction: the performance of the prediction is simply stated. The SotatthakT supplies no
additional commentary here on these verses it quotes from the Buddhavamsa; rather, they
stand alone in their immediate narrative context However, when we read the
"Sumedhakatha" as a part of the SotatthakTs total narrative the prediction process is more
fully articulated. The SotatthakTs narratives of the preliminary predictions inform and
describe the prediction process that is assumed in the "Sumedhakatha.”
A pattern of how a prediction is made by a Buddha is established in these pre-
Sumedha stories. Recall that, in each of the earlier preliminary prediction narratives, the
Buddha who makes the prediction first sends his consciousness into time to investigate
47 Smn 50- 51, w .158-159; (Bv. IL 59- 60.) ’’Dlpankaro Iokavidu t ahutlnam patiggaho I ussTsake mam
thatvana ( idam vacanam abravi It Passatha imam tapasam. Ijadlam uggatapanam I aparimeyye ito kappe I
ayam buddho bhavissad 11"
48 The power to penetrate others thoughts is one o f the five abhinfias. See die Visuddhimagga chapter XU
Abhdmaniddesa. Buddhaghosa, The Path o f Purification, trans. Bhikkhu Nanamoli, (Singapore:
Singapore Buddhist Meditation Center, n.y.), 448.
-154-
the Bodhisatta's future. There is some variation in where the consciousness of these two
Buddhas travels when they seek the information to make the prediction. In the
predictions made by Former DTpankara, the Buddha sends his consciousness to the past to
see what the Bodhisatta has accomplished in previous lifetimes and then to the future to
see if there are any obstacles to the Bodhisatta's aspiration. In the conditional prediction
made by the Buddha Former Sakyamuni, the Buddha sends his consciousness only to the
future.49
The pattern of prediction-making established in the SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha
stories is consistent with the Jdtaka Niddnakathd's and the Buddhavamsa commentary’s
explanation of how the prediction is made. These commentaries, in an identical passage
make explicit DTpankara’s recognition of Sumedha’s bodily aspiration and the process of
making the prediction which follows:
"This ascetic lying in the mud, having made the aspiration for
Buddhahood —will the aspiration of this one succeed or not?" Having sent
forth his consciousness to the future he knew, "Having passed beyond four
asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas from now he will be a Buddha named
Gotama..."50
When DTpankara asks himself if the Bodhisatta’s aspiration will succeed, he is not merely
posing a rhetorical question. Like his predecessors who bestowed the preliminary
predictions, the Buddha DTpankara must act in order to find out if the aspiration will meet
with success. The knowledge of the future is gained by a buddha by sending his
consciousness through time.
49 Smn 27; 42.

50 BvA 92; Ja 1.15.
-155-
The ability to see other moments in time is included in the Visuddhimcigga as
among the powers of the five abhinnas.51 The power to know past and future lives is
included as the knowledge of the divine eye that can see the passing away and
reappearance of beings.52 The contents of a prediction are given as the example of a
knowledge of the future in particular terms —such as name and race —distinct from
knowing one’s own future rebirth or even the future rebirth of another person in a more
abstracted sense of the continuation of the combination of aggregates. The
Visuddhimagga says:
But at the time of knowing name and race (surname) in the way beginning
In the future the Blessed One Metteyya will arise. His father will be the
Brahmin Subrahma. His mother will be the Brahmani BrahmavatT ...S3
The example Buddhaghosa gives here is the prediction of the Bodhisatta Metteyya made
known in the Cakkavatti-Sthanada sutta in the DTgha Nikaya as well as the
Anagatavamsa which supplies the names of Metteyya’s mother and father.14 One does
not need to be a buddha to attain the power of the divine eye and see the past and the
future; indeed, monks who possess the five abhinnas can, and do, make predictions about
the future.55 But only a Buddha can give a prediction of buddhahood to a bodhisatta.
In the "Sumedhakatha" verse (given above) narrating the moment of the
prediction, the Buddha DTpankara is described as the knower of the world, lokavidu. This
51 The five abhinnas include: knowledge o f supernormal power, the divine ear, penetration o f mind,
knowledge o f past lives, knowledge o f the divine eye.
52 Buddhaghosa, The Path o f Purification, 464- 478.
53Buddhaghosa, The Path o f Purification, 477.
54D 3.76; Anag50, v .9 6 . For a translation o f the Anagatavamsa see Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist
Felicities, 361-373.
55 A. famous example is the predictions made by Mahinda o f the development o f the sasana in Sri Lanka in
the Mahavamsa. See chapter XV "The Acceptance o f the MahavihSra." Wilhelm Geiger, trans.. The
Mahavamsa (Colombo: The Ceylon Government Information Department, 1950.) Collins describes the
function o f predictions made by monks like Mahinda and predictions o f buddhahood made by the Buddhas
in much the same way: predictions connect moments in linear time between the narrated past and the
narrator's present. See Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 275.
-156-
appellation can also help us to understand how a buddha makes a prediction. The
Buddhavamsa commentary glosses this term by saying that a buddha knows the world in
every regard; there are no limits to his powers of knowledge. A buddha knows three
worlds: sankharaloka, the world of essential conditions, sattaloka, the world of beings,
and okasaloka, the world of location/opportunity.56 Again, the dual meaning of okasa is
suggestive of multiple layers of meaning in how a prediction is made.
Okasaloka is the place where people dwell —"Okasaloko nama sattanam
nivasatthanam"57—but this might be understood in two ways: people Eve in the material
world, but they also Eve in the realm of opportunities. When the Buddha DTpankara sees
the Bodhisatta's future, he describes not only where the Bodhisatta wiU Eve as the
Buddha —that is, the name of his birth-city and the time in which he wiE Eve —but also
where this opportunity for buddhahood wiE bring him.
When the Buddha DTpankara sends forth his consciousness into the future, he sees
the Bodhisatta as the Buddha Gotama. This is a particular and precise vision: he sees his
home, his family, the site of his enEghtenment, and the members of his sangha. He
describes the constituent elements of every Buddha's biography given in the
Buddhavamsa. When DTpankara makes this first prediction he teBs Sumedha his
biography as a Buddha before he has Eved it.

The prediction is a condition for buddhahood that the Bodhisatta receives for the
first time from the Buddha DTpankara. The prediction teaches the Bodhisatta who he is
and who he wiE be —the prediction quite EteraEy instructs him in the lifestory that he
wiE Eve as a Buddha. This function of the prediction seems to bufld directly from the
conditional prediction made by Former Sakyamuni in the Sotatthakfs final pre-Sumedha
story. Both the conditional prediction and this fuE prediction of buddhahood give
instructions to the Bodhisatta; the conditional prediction tells him what he must do to
56 BvA 94.
57 BvA 94.
-157-
gain a full prediction, and the prediction tells him what he will do as the Buddha.
DTpankara's prediction teaches Sumedha his buddhahood.
The prediction narratives illustrate an important buddhological point: buddhas
make other buddhas. The better-known function of the enlightened being who enlightens
others, the buddha as maker of arahants, is ubiquitous in the Buddhavamsa and
throughout Pali literature.5®But the prediction narratives reveal this other role for a
buddha. The predicting Buddhas, Former DTpankara, Former Sakyamuni, and DTpankara,
play a directly instrumental role in the Bodhisatta Gotama's transformation into a buddha.
Buddha DTpankara's (that is, the Sotatthakfs second DTpankara) role in the
Bodhisatta’s evolution is, in some ways, quite similar to the role Mahabrahma plays at the
very inception of the bodhisatta path. The Buddha gifts the prediction to the Bodhisatta
in much the same way that Mahabrahma gifts the initial aspiration.59The Bodhisatta is
dependent on both the Buddha and Mahabrahma to progress on the path towards
buddhahood. Recall from chapter one that it is Mahabrahma who implants the aspiration
in the mind of the drowning boy, transforming him into a Bodhisatta. Then, thousands of
lifetimes later, the Buddha DTpankara bestows the prediction on the Bodhisatta, making
buddhahood possible.
The role of a buddha as the creator of other buddhas is not explicitly named or
described in the SotatthakT or the Buddhavamsa tradition it is drawing upon.® However,
this function of a buddha is directly attested to in the Jindlankara which describes the
58The narration o f each Buddha in the Buddhavamsa includes reference to the number o f people he
enlightened with his presence and his teaching. However, the SotatthakTs quotations o f these vamsas o f
the twenty-four Buddhas includes only their prediction o f the Bodhisatta with no reference to the
multitudes who became arahants in the presence o f these Buddhas. The text is intensely focused on the
Bodhisatta's relationships with each o f these Buddhas and their predictions o f him.
59 Smn 14. For a discussion ofMahabrahma's role in the arising o f the first aspiration see chapter one, pp.
39-51.
® The role o f a buddha as a buddha-maker is directly described in the Buddhist Sanskrit biographies that
closely follow the same sources upon which the Sotatthald draws. For example, in the Mahdvastu it is said
that consecrating a bodhisatta with a prediction is one o f the five acts a buddha must perform. See J. J.
Jones, trans., Miahdvastu, 1.42.
-158-
Buddha Dipankara's act of bestowing the prediction upon Sumedha as an abhiseka, a
consecration event. The Jinalahkara says:
Hearing that (the prediction) was like he had received a mahabhiseka,

a great consecration,
Reflecting on the wisdom he received
When the great sage. gods, and men had worshiped him and gone
Having risen he mastered the ten perfections.61
An interesting parallel to the prediction as an abhiseka is found in the Theravadin
practices of the consecration of Buddha images. Stanley Tambiah gives accounts of
several Thai abhiseka rituals of buddha images, examining the infusion of power or life
into the images through the transmission from an already powerful statue, the recitation
of paritta or the Buddha’s biography, and by the presence of monks seated in meditation
around the image.52 Donald Swearer’s research on Northern Thai abhiseka ceremonies
also attests to the central role of the recitation of the Buddha's biography in consecrating
a Buddha image.63Swearer explains that during the abhiseka ceremony texts, including
the Buddhavamsa and Jdtaka Niddnakatha, are recited in order to teach the image the
biography of the Buddha, thereby infusing the story and the powers of the Buddha into
the image. Perhaps, like the image abhiseka ceremonies Tambiah and Swearer describe,
the prediction teaches the Bodhisatta his biography, infusing the powers of a buddha into
him through the recitation of the prediction.

It should be made clear that the prediction is not revealing possibilities or a
likelihood of what the future may bring based on the Bodhisatta's abilities in the present.
51 Jinakv.20.
52 See Stanley J. Tambiah, The Buddhist Saints o f the Forest and the Cult o f Amulets (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1984), 243-257.
53 See Donald K. Swearer, "Consecrating the Buddha" in Buddhism in Practice ed. Donald S. Lopez, Jr.
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995), 50-58 and Donald K . Swearer, "Hypostasizing the Buddha:
Buddha linage Consecration in Northern Thailand," History c f Religions 34, no. 3 (1995): 263 -280.
-159-
Rather, this future is absolute and it will come to be exactly as the Buddha describes it in
the prediction. The certainty of predictions is demonstrated in the SotatthakT at the very
moment when the Buddha DTpankara makes his pronouncement of the first full
prediction. In the SotatthakT, when the Buddha DTpankara bestows the full prediction
upon Sumedha, he is at the same rime fulfilling the Buddha Former DTpankara's
prediction of this very event. Bringing these two narrative frames together attests to the
veracity of a buddha’s prediction —when a buddha predicts the future it will unfold as
foretold, as witnessed by DTpankara’s fulfillment of his nominal predecessor’s prediction
here.
As discussed at length in chapter two, predictions rest upon predictions. In the
SotatthakT, the Buddha DTpankara is not the first to have seen the Bodhisatta as a Buddha
Gotama in a future time. Recall that the preliminary predictions made by Buddha Former
DTpankara and Former Sakyamuni are based upon a vision of that same future. These
Buddhas were able to know the Bodhisatta’s future but they were unable to reveal it to
him because he had not yet attained the necessary conditions to receive this prediction.
Just as these preliminary predictions prepare the Bodhisatta to attain his first full
prediction from the Buddha DTpankara, so too do these pre-Sumedha narrative teach the
reader how to understand the dynamics set in motion by DTpankara’s prediction, as told in
the SotatthakTs "Sumedhakatha."
V. When now is then: Making the future present
The present is instantly and radically transformed by the full prediction.
DTpankara’s prediction draws the future into the present moment, where it is experienced
as an already-existent reality. Time begins to resemble a shimmering hologram, shifting
between a present and future that merge, separate, and then merge again. This temporal
play fundamentally transforms the Bodhisatta. DTpankara’s prediction displays a vision
-160-
for the Bodhisatta unlike any he could see on his own; the prediction does no less than
show the Bodhisatta who he is —a buddha. The SotatthakVs pre-Sumedha stories
establish that the Bodhisatta aspired in every lifetime to create himself as a buddha; when
he receives the prediction as Sumedha he sees himself through DTpankara’s eyes as
having attained that goal, hi DTpankara's vision, Sumedha is a Buddha, perfect in every
way.
The verbal expression of Dlpankara's prediction exhibits the complicated
transformative powers of the prediction. As one would expect, the prediction is told
primarily in the future tense —"this one will be ([bhavissati) a buddha" —describing what
will happen in the future." The Buddha also speaks in the imperative —"let you approach
{upehi) the throne of enlightenment" —commanding the Bodhisatta in the actions he must
perform.65 But the Buddha also invokes the past as he articulates what he has seen in the
future —"At the bank of the Neranjara that conqueror ate (ada) the gruel."66
Of the shifts in temporal perspective in the prediction statement, perhaps the most
surprising is the use of the past tense to describe the future. The future is told as the past;
the prediction recounts a biography that has yet to be lived, but which can already be told
as if it had already happened.

Another example of this shimmering temporal landscape is the titles DTpankara
uses to describe the Bodhisatta in the prediction, hi DTpankara’s explanation of the future,
the Bodhisatta is called a buddha from the outset, even before he attains enlightenment in
the narration that DTpankara foretells. In describing events prior to the prediction in his
64 Smn 51, v.I59; (Bv IL 60.) "ayam buddho bhavissatT

65 Smn 51, v. 162; (Bv IL 63.) "Neranjaraya firamhi I pSyasam ada so jino I (patiyattavaramaggena 0
bodhimandam upehi ti 11”
In this verse, the SatatthakT uses the imperative o f the verb upeti, to approach differing in syntax but not
meaning from verse 63 in the Buddhavamsa which uses even stronger language —efu —the invocation o f a
Buddha calling a person to join the sangha.
66 Smn 51. v. 162; (BvIL 63.)
-161-
finai lifetime, DTpankara calls the Bodhisatta Tathagata and Jina, epithets of a buddha,
not a bodhisatta.67 In the prediction, the Bodhisatta is the Buddha even before he attains
enlightenment and his buddhahood is still in the future, albeit the immediate future of that
lifetime.
When the prediction is made, the future can be experienced in the present
moment. Sumedha will be the Buddha Gotama. In a significant way, he already is the
Buddha Gotama. hi his analysis of the Buddhavamsa, Collins argues for an overlapping
and coalescence between Gotama and. Sumedha on the basis of the narrative voice and
tense of the "Sumedhakatha" verses even though this does not, he maintains, erase the
temporal distance between the past and future.68 Collins’s point may be taken as a note of
caution against creating a complete identification of the narrated future and present;
narratives such as this one create a simultaneous experience of the distance of the future
and its proximity.® Collins argues that "future Buddhas, Bodhisattas, 'intent on’ or
'capable of enlightenment,’ can be said to be in a certain sense already enlightened, and
thus sources of present reassurance.. .”70
Collins cites an example from the Jdtaka Nidanakathd's narration of the
Bodhisatta's final lifetime, analogous to those I cite here from the "Sumedhakatha,” to
support this point. He notes that in this account of the Bodhisatta’s renunciation as
Siddhattha he is already referred to as the Buddha even before he has left the palace and
begun his years of ascetic practice preceding enlightenment.71The prediction shows that
the Bodhisatta becomes ’capable o f enlightenment to such an extent that he is, in some
sense, already enlightened in the present.
47 Smn 51, w . 160,162; (Bv IL 61,63.)

68 Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 264-266,279.
® Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 388-394.
71 Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 393.
-162-
In the "Sumedhakatha" the Buddha Dlpankara's prediction immediately
transforms the Bodhisatta, as evidenced by the immediate transformation of their
relationship. Sumedha's buddhahood is recognized by the Buddha DTpankara himself,
who worships the Bodhisatta still lying face down in the mud. The SotatthakT says:
DTpankara, knower of worlds

Recipient of offerings
Having proclaimed my kamma
Raised up his right foot.72
DTpankara circumambulates Sumedha as he departs. This sign of honor and worship
exemplifies how the relationship between the Buddha and Bodhisatta is transformed by
the prediction. Prior to the prediction, Sumedha lies in the mud, with the highest part of
his body, his head, at DTpankara’s feet, the lowest part of the Buddha’s body. Their
physical proximity to one another visibly displays the hierarchy between them.73
After the prediction is stated, the Buddha's actions signal that the Bodhisatta has
become a being worthy of his honor and worship even as he lies in the mud. The
Buddhavamsa commentary and the Jdtaka Nidanakatha elaborate upon the Buddha’s
gestures of worship, adding that before circumambulating the bodhisatta, the Buddha
DTpankara gives him an offering of eight handfuls of flowers.7*
72 Smn 52, v. 172; (Bv n.75.) "DTpankaro Iokavidu I ahutlnam padggaho I mamam kammam pakittetva I
dakkhinam padam uddhari II"
73 This physical expression o f the inequality between Sumedha and DTpankara is paralleled in Thai royal
language in the verbal expressions for addressing the king. A person can not directly address the king;
rather he or she must direct the top o f their own head, the most sacred part o f their body, to the dust on the
soles o f the feet o f the king, the lowliest part o f his body, and really not his body at all but the dust that
touches the lowliest part o f his body. Sombat Chantomvong argues that, "the TTiai court language is not
just any linguistic tool employed by the ruling class to distinguish themselves from the low ly’, but a
linguistic tool founded on the dominant cosmological and religious beliefs o f the people." However,
Chantomvong concludes that in modem usage this verbal expression is a mere formality for most Thais
who must Ieam this courtly language. Sombat Chantomvong, "To Address the Dust o f the Dust Under the
Soles o f the Royal Feet: A Reflection on the Political Dimension o f the Thai Court Language," Asian
Review 6 (1992): 144-163.
7*B vA 94; J a l.1 6
According to a quotation from the Abhayagiriv3sin version o f the Buddhavamsa, extant only in a Tibetan
translation, the whole world, including the sangha, should worship a bodhisatta like Sumedha, but a
Buddha can not perform such an act because a Buddha cannot worship anyone lower than himself.
-163-
From one perspective, Sumedha is still very much the inferior of DTpankara —he
still lies face down in the mud, even while receiving these offerings from the Buddha.
But the recognition of the Bodhisatta's buddhahood creates an opportunity for the
Buddha, a being without any superior, to perform an act of worship. In worshiping
Sumedha, DTpankara celebrates the Bodhisatta's buddhahood. Is DTpankara worshiping
Sumedha because he will be a buddha or because he is made a buddha in the present by
the prediction? The narrative leaves this question under-determined, but the fluidity
between present and future allows for both perspectives to be recognized and experienced
by all who hear the prediction.
The bestowal of the full prediction creates a unique opportunity for a buddha —he
is able to meet a person who is (or will become) an equal, a peer. The face-to-face
encounter between a buddha and a bodhisatta whose buddhahood is assured allows the
buddha to perform an act of worship.
VI. Meeting the Buddha DTpankara again: Making the past present
This dramatic encounter between DTpankara and the Bodhisatta Gotama is not the
first time the two have met in the SotatthakTs narration of the extended biography. In the
"Sumedhakatha,” the Bodhisatta meets DTpankara for the second time, as does the reader
of the SotatthakT. In the SotatthakT, the presence of the Buddha DTpankara in the
"Sumedhakatha” recalls the previous lifetime in which the Bodhisatta Gotama as the
princess met the then-Bodhisatta Later DTpankara. As told in the SotatthakT, the
prediction not only draws the future into the present; it also draws this past into the
including a bodhisatta. Peter Skilling. "A Citation from the Buddhavamsa o f the Abhayagiri School," The
Journal o f the Pali Text Society, 18 (1993): 165-75. The Mahaviharavasin version o f the Buddhavamsa is
dramatically different from this Abhkyagiri position.
-164-
prediction event. Reading the "Sumedhakatha" through the pre-Sumedha stories, we see
the evolving relationship of DTpankara and the Bodhisatta Gotama over the course of
multiple lifetimes. This helps us to understand how Sumedha is able to receive a
prediction in this lifetime and it also illuminates how DTpankara is able to make that
prediction.
In the "Sumedhakatha," DTpankara is majestic, a Buddha, a lokavidu, knower of
worlds and a recipient of offerings. This is a complete metamorphosis from the first time
that this DTpankara appears in the SotatthakT: as the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara he is the
"dTpa kara” maker of offerings, continuously offering lamps to the Buddha Former
DTpankara. It was on his begging rounds, collecting oil for these light offerings, that he
first encountered the Bodhisatta Gotama who was then a princess. As a Bodhisatta,
DTpankara asked the Buddha Former DTpankara if the princess's aspiration for
buddhahood would succeed; as the Buddha DTpankara, he makes the Bodhisatta's first
full prediction himself.
The pre-Sumedha story establishes that DTpankara’s prediction of Sumedha is
made on behalf of the Buddha Former DTpankara who predicted this event and instructed
his successor to give the princess the full prediction when she would be reborn as
Sumedha. With this connection to the Buddha Former DTpankara’s prediction, the
Sumedhakatha’s DTpankara-Sumedha event recalls the entire process of gaining a
prediction described in the Sotatthakfs pre-Sumedha stories. The first full prediction
rests upon the actions of the Bodhisatta Gotama and previous Buddhas in previous
lifetimes.
-165-
As I discussed in chapter two, the SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha story subverts, from
one perspective, the Buddha Dlpankara's role as the first predictor in the Bodhisatta
Gotama's biography. The drama that the "Sumedhakatha" creates as the first narrated
lifetime in the traditional biographies is diminished in the SotatthakT, where the
"Sumedhakatha" narrates an already advanced stage of the Bodhisatta's career. The
intensity of this important event is to some degree lessened by the foreshadowing created
by the Buddha Former Dlpankara's prediction of this first prediction moment.
And yet, the SotatthakT can also be seen as augmenting the significance of the
prediction shared between the two DTpankaras. The SotatthakT highlights the importance
of the relationships between Buddhas supporting a prediction over the primacy of
Dlpankara's role as the first predictor. Instead of imagining DTpankara as a self-contained
and, in a certain sense, an isolated figure, the joining of the pre-Sumedha narrative with
the "Sumedhakatha" shows that he acts as a part of a network of Buddhas and
Bodhisattas. DTpankara makes the first full prediction of the Bodhisatta Gotama based
upon the prediction the Buddha Former DTpankara sets in motion. Thus, this first full
prediction event gains an added significance in the SotatthakT. As I discussed above,
when the Buddha DTpankara bestows the first full prediction upon Sumedha he is also
accomplishing the fulfillment of his own prediction described to him by Former
DTpankara in his previous lifetime. The story of Sumedha as narrated in the SotatthakT
continues the interconnection of these figures. The Buddha Former DTpankara is, in a
sense, also made present in the DTpankara-Sumedha event as the future he foresaw comes
to pass.
-166-
VH. The role of the assembly: Inhabiting the future
While the first full prediction focuses upon the relationships between DTpankara
and Sumedha, multitudes of other beings are also drawn into this event, because the
statement of his future creates opportunities for all the witnesses to the event, beings who
themselves are transformed by the Bodhisatta’s reception of the prediction.
This prediction in the "Sumedhakatha" is a public event; the Buddha DTpankara
makes it while he stands on the road surrounded by his 400,000 arahant monks, the
multitudes of townspeople, and the gods. Deities and humans alike become a part of the
prediction event —they attest to the veracity of what the Buddha has foretold, and they
imagine themselves becoming a part of the future described in the prediction.
The preliminary predictions the Bodhisatta received prior to the “Sumedhakatha,”
as narrated in the SotatthakT, are also made in the presence of great assemblies: the
Buddha Former Dlpankara's predicted prediction is made amongst this Buddha's
assembly of monks just as the Buddha Former Sakyamuni's conditional prediction is
given to the Bodhisatta in his lifetime as the cakkavatti king in the presence of his
entourage and the members of the Buddha's sahgha. These narratives in the SotatthakT,
while made in a public setting, are a private affair between these Buddhas and
Bodhisattas (the intermediary Bodhisatta Later DTpankara and the Bodhisatta Gotama).
The narrator sets the scene by describing these assemblies, but they never emerge from
the shadows; the preliminary predictions do not seem to concern them. The preliminary
prediction events focus exclusively on the Bodhisatta’s development towards the first full
prediction of buddhahood. It is only when the Bodhisatta's own future is made certain by
the reception of a full prediction that others can also be drawn into that defined future.
-167-
The prediction narrated in the "Sumedhakatha" is distinguished from these prior
preliminary predictions by the involvement of everyone present, who bear witness to the
prediction. The members of the assembly are important participants in the prediction
event. For instance, the arahant monks celebrate Sumedha's prediction of buddhahood
by worshiping him in the same manner as the Buddha DTpankara:
The sons of the conqueror who were there

All made a circumambulation (around) me.75
Like Sumedha, these monks are all arahants, enlightened beings, yet they are not his
equal as none of them have made the aspiration for buddhahood or received a prediction
and thus none of them will become buddhas. These monks can only experience the
Bodhisatta's buddhahood in the present; as arahants they will no longer be reborn and
will never experience the future which DTpankara describes. The Bodhisatta’s future as
Gotama Buddha does not include them. Yet they celebrate his buddhahood in the present
moment as they would honor the Buddha DTpankara: when taking their leave from the
Buddha they would circumambulate him as a gesture of honor and worship.
In their acts of worshiping Sumedha, are these monks worshiping a future buddha
or a buddha? The text is (perhaps purposely) ambiguous on this point. The strong thesis
is that the monks worship him because his buddhahood is, in a sense, already made
present by the prediction; the weak thesis is that they are able to honor a future buddha in
the present moment. In either case, the narrative creates a remarkable image o f400,000
robed men, all enlightened beings, circling round Sumedha. The important point here is
7S Smn 52, v. 173; (Bv IL76.) "Ye tattha asum jinaputtS I sabbe padakkhinam akamsu mam I”
-168-
that for these enlightened members of the assembly their participation in the Bodhisatta's
buddhahood must be made in the present, since they will not be a part of the future when
he lives as Buddha Gotama.
Unlike these arahant monks, the initial reaction of the humans and gods to the
prediction is focused upon the future it describes. Dlpankara's prediction is more than
good news for these unenlightened beings —it speaks of promise for a future, that the
future time will have a buddha just as this present moment is graced by the Buddha
Dlpankara's presence. The crowd of humans and gods sing out upon hearing the
prediction:
Having heard the speech here

Of the incomparable great m i
The humans and gods were thrilled
"This one is the sprout of a seed of a buddha."
Exclaiming exclamations and sounds

They laughed and snapped their fingers
Paying homage they raised anjalis
Those gods of the ten thousand [worlds].
"If we fail in the sasana

Of this Lord of the world
hi a future time
We will be face-to-face with this one."
"Just as a man at a river crossing

Fails to ford across
Having taken a lower ford
They cross over the great river."
"Just so, if all of us

Leave behind this conqueror
In a future time
We will be face-to-face with this one."76
78 Smn 51-52, w . 167-171; (Bv 11.70-74.) "Tdam sntvana vacanam i asamassa mahesino I amodita
naramarff t buddhavTj’ anfcnro ayam It Ukkotthisadda vattanti I apphotend hasand ca I katanjaE namassand I
-169-
The Bodhisatta's predicted buddhahood creates aa opportunity for the humans and gods
who surround him as his future is told. The declaration of the Bodhisatta's future allows
them to direct their own aspirations towards that foretold time. The crowd assesses their
abilities in the present and rather soberly admits that they may not be able to attain
enlightenment in their present lifetimes while the Buddha DTpankara cares for the world.
This conclusion is not a source of grief because they see a future where they will have
another chance to be in the presence of a buddha, the Buddha Gotama, and perhaps then
they will have attained the conditions for their own enlightenment.77The Bodhisatta’s
aspiration to become a buddha supports the aspirations of others to gain enlightenment; if
he did not work towards this highest goal, then these wishes of less extraordinary beings
would never meet with success.
The futuristic quality of the Bodhisatta’s buddhahood is invaluable for the gods
and humans who hear the prediction. The Buddha DTpankara tells the prediction for their
benefit too. Hearing the prediction, the future becomes known to them —the future has
been defined by the Buddha DTpankara as a time when a buddha will appear in the world
and thus it will be a time of opportunity for them.
riasasahassilra devaka II Yad' imassa lokanathassa I virajjhissama sasanam I anagatamhi addhane I hessama
sammukha imam II Yatha mantissa nadim taranta I pad tittham. virajjhiya I hetthS tittham gahetvana I
uttarand mahanadim II Evam eva mayam sabbe I yadi maccSmimam jinam I anagatamhi addhane I hessama
sammukha imam 11"
77 Focusing upon the image o f the river, Collins gives an analysis o f these verses in his study o f the
temporal dimensions o f the Buddhavamsa to show the linear progression o f time at work in this narradve.
Collins argues that the non-repeddve nature o f time structuring this narradve is essendal for "posidoning
Buddhas and the opportunities for salvation they provide in a linear, irreversible sequence." (p. 264)
Collins's analysis o f the linear progression o f time narrated in the Buddhavamsa supports the argument I
make here o f how the prediction can support relationships over lifetim es. See Collins, Nirvana and Other
Buddhist Felicities, 264.
-170-
Collins’s delineation of two motifs for describing Buddhist ideas of felicity are
directly applicable here to understanding the opportunity for others created by the
Bodhisatta Gotama's prediction. Collins argues that a state of well being is located in a
future time at some distance to the present and that this ideal time will be brought about
in connection to a particular figure.78 While Collins lays out this argument primarily in
relation to the role of Metteyya in Pali texts, his theory of a temporally distant time of
well being brought about by the presence of a buddha is clearly relevant to narratives
where the buddhahood of any buddha, even those who have become buddhas, like
Gotama, lies in the narrated future.
Making their aspirations to be reborn when Sumedha becomes the Buddha, this
community of humans and gods begin to place themselves in that future; perhaps then
they, too, will be made arahants by the Buddha Gotama. The Buddha Dlpankara's
prediction teaches them the life story of their future Buddha, enabling them to create then-
own future biographies by connecting their aspirations to his prediction.79
Hearing the prediction, the gods and humans call Sumedha buddhabljafikura, the
sprout of the seed of a buddha, an epithet of a bodhisatta.” From their gaze he is not yet
a buddha; for their sake his buddhahood is growing and will reach full maturity in the
future.
In Selfless Persons, Collins explains that the symbolism of bTja, seed, in the
Theravadin worldview can be used to describe causal efficacy —the karmic seeds one
78 Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 346.

79 Steven Collins describes the same pattern in relation to the figure o f Metteyya. He states that the future
buddhahood o f Metteyya gives people the opportunity to be reborn when he arises in the world as the
Buddha. Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 382. On this point also see Richard Gombrich,
"Buddhist prediction: How Open is the Future?" Predicting the Future, ed. in Leo Howe and Alan Wain
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 159.
-171-
plants eventually come to bear fruits. Seed imagery expresses ideas of continuity
connecting actions to results across expanses of time and across lifetimes —growth is a
process of gradual evolution.81
Applying his analysis here, the Bodhisatta’s aspiration, his eight conditions, his
adhikarana, and his prediction can all be seen as among the causes of his buddhahood.
The Bodhisatta's growth into buddhahood gives these others the opportunity to plant then-
own seeds and they do this by aspiring to become a part of this Buddha's sangha in the
future defined by the prediction.
Seed imagery evokes the symbolism of growth and evolution and it can also
express ideas of containment and completeness. Diana Eck argues in her study of seed
imagery in the Indie context that, "Seed symbols are characterized by the intensification
and condensation of the whole in the part, and the amplification of the part to the
whole."82 In a similar way, the Bodhisatta's buddhahood is contained within him when
the prediction is made —the substance of his buddhahood is complete in the present
moment. There is no doubt in the minds of the assembly that this seed will grow or the
form it will take when it reaches full maturity. In fact, the prediction describes exactly
what this buddha-sprout will look like: the details of the biography given in the
prediction could be seen as the leaves of the tree that will grow from this seed.
It is essential for the assembly of gods and humans that the Bodhisatta's
buddhahood is located in both the future (the leaves) and present (the seeds). The
futuristic quality of his buddhahood gives them a future full of possibilities for their own
80 Smn 51, v. 167; (B vIL 70.)

81 Steven Collins, Selfless Persons (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), 218-222.
c Diana Eck, "The Dynamics o f Indian Symbolism," in The Other Side o f God ed. Peter L. Berger (New
-172-
aspirations, while the present evidence of his buddhahood assures them that this future
will indeed come to pass. This assembly is completely invested in the prediction and its
fulfillment. The gods and humans repeat over and over again the prediction made by
DTpankara. The assembly of gods continue the prediction event, attesting to the veracity
of the Buddha’s words by interpreting the omens that instandy appear in the universe. It is
as if the prediction is a concerto with the Buddha DTpankara as the solo instrument
introducing the theme of "Sumedha's Buddhahood," which is then played by the orchestra
of the gods. After the Buddha's departure, the gods sing to the Bodhisatta who sits cross-
legged reveling in his future:
When those former Bodhisattas

Sat cross-legged
Omens appeared
These appear today.
Cold is dispelled
Heat is appeased
These too are seen today
Certainly you will be a buddha.83
The gods describe dozens of omens that transform the ordinary universe, making this
predicdon moment extraordinary. The repetition of these signs from former times when
other bodhisattas received their predictions signifies to the gods that this prediction is
true. The past confirms the present, which confirms the future.
York: Anchor Books, 1981), 164-169.

83 Smn 52, w . 179-180; (Bv IL 82-83.) "Ya pubfae bodhisattanam I pallankavaram abhuje [ nimittSni
padissand I tani p’ ajja padissare II Sltam byapagatam hod. I unhafi upasammad I tani pajja padissand I
dhuvam buddho bhavissasi II”
-173-
The assembly of gods and men reappear at the end of the "Sumedhakatha"
narrative after a great earthquake brought on by the Bodhisatta's mastery of the ten
perfections (discussed below). This time, the humans are frightened by the disturbance in
the earth, unlike their reaction to the omens that were immediately recognized as signs of
the prediction's truthfulness. The crowds shudder with fear, and great waves of people
fall to the ground in fainting spells.*4 Together, they approach the Buddha DTpankara and
ask what is happening to the world; he replies that the earth is responding to the
Bodhisatta’s mastery of the "Dhamma embraced by the previous Jinas."*5 The assembly's
fear turns to jubilation and they approach Sumedha having a final opportunity to worship
him with offerings.
hi this final encounter, the assembly of men and gods offer a blessing to the
Bodhisatta:
Gods and men both

Experience safety.
"Your wish is great
Let you take that just as you wish."
"Let all distress be avoided

Let grief and disease be destroyed
Let there be no obstacles for you
Quickly attain the highest enlightenment."86
The blessing of the gods and men goes on to detail all the attainments that must be made
by the Bodhisatta in order to fulfill the prediction. They encourage the Bodhisatta (or
84 Smn 60, w .262 267; (Bv IL 165-170.)

86 Smn 61, v. 270; (Bv. H. 173.) "Eso sammasan dhammam I pubbakam jinasevitam II"
86 Smn 61, w . 275-276; (Bv. IL 178-179.) "Vedayanti ca te sotthim I Deva manusaka ubho I mahantam
patthitam myham i tarn labhassn yad’ icchitam II SabbrItiyo vivajjantu I soko rogo vinassatu I ma te
bhavantv antaiaya I phusa khippam bodhim uttamam II”
-174-
even command him, as all verbs are in the imperative) to flower with the knowledge of
the buddhas, fulfill the ten perfections, awaken to the enlightenment of the jinas, the
conquerors. The assembly also requests that, as the Buddha, he should set the Dhamma-
wheel in motion, teaching them the way to enlightenment. This expression of the
unenlightened members of the assembly is direct evidence for the argument I began in the
conclusion to chapter one: these beings describe how the Bodhisatta will care for them
when he is the Buddha Gotama. In an important sense, they are instrumental in creating
their own future Buddha.
The "Sumedhakatha" has come full circle, back to the beginning of the narrative
when Sumedha first left his mountain retreat prior to receiving Dlpankara's prediction.
Just as Sumedha had to become a part of the assembly of gods and men in order to first
meet the Buddha DTpankara and receive the prediction, now, at the story’s conclusion, he
again becomes a part of this community. His relationship with these beings will continue
in the future time detailed in the prediction. Those who participate in the Bodhisatta’s
prediction gain the opportunity to become a part of the Buddha Gotama's sangha and
benefit from his sasana. The work that the Buddha DTpankara has begun to free these
beings from the suffering of samsara, will be completed in the far distant future by the
Buddha Gotama.
Just as DTpankara completed the prediction set in motion by the Buddha Former
DTpankara, so too will the Bodhisatta Gotama as a Buddha continue the work left
necessarily incomplete by the second Buddha DTpankara. Buddhas continue the work of
other Buddhas. The predictions enable this continuation in a direct way that allows for
-175-
those who will benefit from, the care of these Buddhas to witness the ongoing presence of
buddhas in the world.
VHI. The prediction as the pinnacle of the Bodhisatta's career: The Bodhisatta
experiences his buddhahood
The prediction is momentous. As we have seen, it transforms everyone present,
and no one more so than the Bodhisatta. With the reception of his first full prediction,
the Bodhisatta finally attains what he has wished for over many thousands of his
lifetimes: he receives a prediction and experiences his own buddhahood. The two goals
are not inseparable, rather, they are sequential —the prediction is the condition for the
ultimate telos of buddhahood. However, the "Sumedhakatha" suggests that the time
separating the two goals in this sequence is malleable. The attainment of buddhahood is
described in the prediction as occurring in the far distant future, but it is a time made
accessible to the present by the prediction.

The actions of others enable the Bodhisatta to experience his buddhahood. hi the
moments immediately following the bestowal of the prediction, the Bodhisatta is
motionless. He remains lying face down in the mud as the Buddha DTpankara declares
the prediction and for the entire time that the Buddha, the arahants, the humans, gods,
and other beings circumambulate his prostrate body. At first, he does not act himself; he
is acted upon by others. The Bodhisatta first begins to experience his buddhahood
through their eyes and through their acts of worship.

Just as with the reception of the preliminary predictions, Sumedha's first reaction
to hearing his prediction is overwhelming feelings of joy.87 As we saw in the discussion
87 See, for example, the experience o f the Bodhisatta in his/her lifetime as the princess at Smn 30; and for
the Bodhisatta's reaction to the Buddha Former Sakyamuni’s conditional prediction see Smn 43.
-176-
of the preliminary predictions in the previous chapter, receiving a prediction is an
emotive experience. The Bodhisatta’s emotional response inspires him to perfect the ten
perfections, the dhammas that make a buddha. This connection is stated explicitly in the
verses describing the Bodhisatta's final prediction from the Buddha Kassapa:
Having heard his speech

I eased my mind further,
And further, I determined to
Perfect the ten perfections.88
In the "Sumedhakatha" the Bodhisatta is transformed by the prediction in the same way:
When they had passed beyond my sight

The Guide of the World together with his sangha
With my heart bristling with joy
I rose up from my seat.
I am happy with happiness

Delighted with delightfulness
Overflowing with joy
I sat cross-legged there.89
It is only after the Buddha DTpankara and the entire assembly depart that Sumedha finally
rises from his prone position. He remains in the exact spot where he received the
prediction. Sitting cross legged, the Bodhisatta immediately sets out to experience the
conditions that will make him a buddha - the perfections. Each perfection is considered
in turn as the Bodhisatta considers the "dhammas for cooking enlightenment."90 Collins
analyzes these verses (Bv 115-165) in the context of his discussion of the repetitive
88 Smn 82, v. 480. "Tassaham vacanam sutva I bhiyyo cittam pasadayim I uttari vatam adhitthSsim I
dasapiramipuriya II”
89 Smn 52, w . 174-5; (Bv II. 77-78.) "Dassanam me atikkante 1sasamghe lokanayake I hatthatutthena
cittena I asana vutthahim tada II" (Note the second two padas in the Smn differ from those in Bv IL. 77)
"Sukhena sukhito homi I p5mojjena pamodito Ipltiya ca abhissanno Ipallarikam abhnjitn tada II"
90 "Ye rihammg bodhipacana” eg. Smn 56, v. 217; (Bv IL 120.)
-177-
cycles of time set within time's linear progression described in the Buddhavamsa. Noting
the variation in verbal tenses between present, future, and past in these verses describing
Sumedha’s contemplation of the perfections, Collins argues that this is an articulation of
the Bodhisatta's repeated practice of the perfections from this lifetime up until he
becomes the Buddha Gotama.91
In the Sotatthald's "Sumedhakatha," these verses describing the Bodhisatta’s
contemplation of each of the ten perfections are foEowed by a prose passage found
identicaUy in the Buddhavamsa commentary and Jdtaka Nidanakatha. This is the only
direct quotation (although unidentified) from these texts in the Sotatthald's
"Sumedhakatha" and its presence at this point in the narrative is very significant. The
Bodhisatta is described here as recognizing his own mastery of the ten perfections. The
SotatthakT says:
"Leaving aside the ten perfections there is nothing else. These ten
perfections are not above in the sky nor below in the earth; they are not in
the (four) directions beginning with the east but fixed within my own
heart."
Seeing that the condition of these (perfections) were established within his
own heart, making every joy steady there, focusing his attention mastering
(the perfections) over and over again he mastered them forwards and
backwards.91
This passage insists that the ten perfections are attained by Sumedha in the time
immediately foUowing the prediction.93 In his lifetime as Sumedha, the Bodhisatta fiiEy

91 Smn 59-60; (BvA 113-114; Ja 1.25.)
Dasa paramiyo thapetva anne natthi. Ima pi dasa paramiyo uddham akase pi natthi. HetthS pathaviyam pi
puratthimSdlsu dislsu pi mayham yeva pana hadayabbhantare patitthita d. Evam tasam attano hadaye
padtthitabhavam d isvi sabblpitadalham katva adhitthaya punappunam sammasanto annlomapadlomam
sammasi.
93 My argument here is consistent with Steven Collins's analysis o f this narrative secdon in the Jataka
Nidanakatha. In his discussion o f the Bodhisatta’s mastery o f the perfections in his lifetime as Sumedha as
described in the Jataka Nidanakatha, Collins notes that the assembly’s reactions to the signs accompanying
the Bodhisatta's contemplation o f the perfections, "suggest that the future fulfillment o f the Perfections is
not only prefigured but—since it has been predicted by Dtpahkara —actualized already, at least
-178-
masters the perfections, experiencing them over and over again in every possible
sequence.
While the immediately previous verses suggest the Bodhisatta's continuing
mastery of the ten perfections into the future, by inserting this passage from the
commentaries into the "Sumedhakatha" the SotatthakT makes it clear that this repetition
of practice is not necessitated by the Bodhisatta's need to master the perfections, since he
has already accomplished this during the course of his first prediction experience.
Further, this quoted passage explains that the perfections are the condition of
buddhahood; in other words, there is nothing beyond the perfections that the Bodhisatta
need attain. In his present lifetime as Sumedha, the Bodhisatta has gained everything that
makes him (or will make him) a buddha; the text says that all conditions for Sumedha’s
buddhahood, including the prediction, have been fulfilled.
The prediction event becomes the context for the Bodhisatta's fulfillment of the
perfections, and, as this passage makes clear, the fulfillment happens in that very lifetime.
The achievement of the two goals —prediction and buddhahood —is nearly simultaneous.
There is a productive tension in the SotatthakTs "Sumedhakatha" between a
sudden and a gradual attainment of the fulfillment of the goal. While Sumedha seems to
instantaneously reach his telos, the SotatthakCs pre-Sumedha stories insist upon a long
process which enables Sumedha’s achievement.
The bestowal of the prediction directly stimulates, the text suggests, the
Bodhisatta’s realization of the perfections. The Bodhisatta’s attainment of the perfections
is yet one more assurance that the prediction will be fulfilled as it has been described. All
the conditions for buddhahood are established within the immediate present of the
prediction event, as Sumedha sits cross-legged in the very spot where DTpankara made
the prediction.
imaginatively." Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 391.
R e p ro d u c e d with perm ission of the copyright owner. F urther reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
-179-
The Bodhisatta's attainment of all the conditions for buddhahood is subtly
connected to his enlightenment experience in his final lifetime (in at least some versions
of the "Sumedhakatha.") The Buddhavamsa commentary creates an allusion between the
two events, elaborating upon the description of Sumedha's seat where he sits perfecting
the perfections. The Buddhavamsa commentary says that Sumedha takes a pile of
flowers and makes a seat for himself.** Could this flower-throne be made from the eight
handfuls of flowers given to the Bodhisatta by the Buddha DTpankara as narrated in the
Buddhavamsa commentary?95
Taking this interpretation one step farther, this post-prediction seat can be seen as
an allusion to the eight handfuls of grass that the Bodhisatta is given to build his seat
under the Bodhi tree in his final lifetime.96 Perhaps the connection between Sumedha's
seat made of flowers and the bodhi throne made of grass is meant to draw together the
future attainment of buddhahood and the prediction event. As we have seen, this kind of
echoing between present and future resonates throughout the prediction events in the
Bodhisatta’s career.
Taken together, the prediction events beginning with the Buddha DTpankara's
bestowal of the first prediction up until the final prediction made by the Buddha Kassapa
are the context for the Bodhisatta's ongoing perfection of the perfections.
The SotatthakT does not give us the narrative resources to explain why the
perfections must be practiced over and over again in his subsequent lifetimes if Sumedha
has already mastered them following the reception of his first prediction from DTpankara.
This work is sharply focused on the dynamics the prediction plays in the Bodhisatta’s
career and surprisingly little attention is placed on the role of the perfections.
94 BvA 95.
95 BvA 94.
96 See, for example, BvA 287.
-180-
The jatakas, which are commonly seen as the lifetimes in which the Bodhisatta
accomplishes the perfections, most notably in the compilation of jatakas contained in the
Cariyapitaka, are not mentioned at all in the SotatthakT, except for the briefest references
to the Bodhisatta's lifetime as Vessantara. In the jataka lifetimes, the Bodhisatta does not
come face-to-face with Buddhas; therefore, he does not receive predictions of his
buddhahood in these lifetimes. The jataka narratives are a distinct schema for the
fulfillment of the perfections, one that is completely absent from the SotatthakT?7 This
text demonstrates that the development of virtues is not exclusive to the practice of the
perfections, but are also cultivated by the prediction process. According to the SotatthakT,
every aspect of the bodhisatta path can be known through the narratives connected to the
prediction events. This includes the pre-Sumedha lifetimes that describes the inception
of the Bodhisatta's career and the stages that build to the first prediction, as well as the
lifetimes following the first prediction which are the continuing unfolding of the
prediction.
The SotatthakCs intense focus on the development of the prediction and the
reception of the predictions is made all the more apparent by its seeming lack of interest
in the biography of the Bodhisatta's final lifetime, when he becomes the Buddha Gotama.
The SotatthakT combines the content of the "Atidurenidana" and the "Santikenidana,"
from the Jataka Nidanakatha and the Buddhavamsa commentary into a single brief
"Santikenidana." This section of the SotatthakT gives an extremely abbreviated account
of the Bodhisatta's rebirth in Tusita heaven, the gods' requests that the Bodhisatta take
rebirth, in human form, and the Bodhisatta's agreement to take his final rebirth.
Only three verses (and verses not from the Buddhavamsa) describe the final
lifetime of the Bodhisatta, giving the briefest reference to the Bodhisatta's life as a
97 The SotatthakTs extreme focus on the prediction events is shown in even greater relief when compared to
another biography o f the Bodhisatta, the Mahasampindinidana, a text which is largely identical in content
to the SotatthakT. Yet the Mahasampindinidana contains long lists o f the Bodhisatta's jataka lifetimes and
identifies which perfections were perfected in which o f these hundreds o f lifetim es. See
Mahasampindanidana, 41-47.
-181-
householder, his renunciation, six years of austerities, his attainment of enlightenment,
and his actions to save others from the suffering of samsara* It can be expected that the
Sotatthald's readers would be able to supply the rest of the Buddha's well-known
biography. The Sotatthafdhas little interest in telling this part of the biography in the
"Santikenidana," for the text is a biography of the Bodhisatta’s career and not the career
of the Buddha. The biography of Gotama Buddha is only narrated in the SotatthakT in the
"Sumedhakatha" as a part of the prediction made by DTpankara. The Buddha Gotama is
known through the prediction of his future life. This narration of the Bodhisatta’s final
lifetime in the "Santikenidana,” serves primarily to confirm that the prediction reaches it
fulfillment —the Bodhisatta does indeed become the Buddha Gotama —a truth that is, of
course, known to every reader of the SotatthakT.
IX. The repetition of the prediction
While the first prediction event can, arguably, be seen as the pinnacle of the
Bodhisatta's career, he goes on to gain a prediction from each of the twenty three
Buddhas in his subsequent lifetimes. The SotatthakT gives an extremely abbreviated
account of each of these encounters between the Bodhisatta and the twenty-three
Buddhas. These chapters of the SotatthakT, also taken from the Buddhavamsa verses,
resemble lists more than narratives: only the formulaic biographies of each of the
Buddhas is given. Each of the Bodhisatta's rebirth in the time of each of these Buddhas is
also only briefly described. The narratives of the encounters between the Bodhisatta and
these Buddhas consist almost entirely, with a few interesting exceptions, of the ddna that
the Bodhisatta offers to the Buddha and the bestowal of the prediction by each Buddha.
98 Smn 93-94, w . 602-604.
-182-
The prediction declared for the first time by the Buddha DTpankara is not fully articulated
again: in some of the accounts, the narrator simply states that the Buddha made the
prediction and in others a brief prediction statement is made by the Buddha.
The SotatthakT accounts for the full length of the Bodhisatta’s career that follows
the first prediction event as it moves through these encounters. These twenty three
lifetimes of the Bodhisatta span the entire four asankheyyas and one hundred thousand
kappas that are described in the prediction; the final three prediction encounters with the
Buddhas Kakusandha, Konagamana, and Kassapa occur in the Bhadda kappa, and thus
the biography reaches the very kappa in which the Bodhisatta is reborn in his final
lifetime and becomes the Buddha Gotama. Together, these abbreviated narratives create
a repetitive pattern of prediction events which structure the Bodhisatta's career after he
receives the first prediction from the Buddha DTpankara.
In his discussion of the vamsa, lineage, of the twenty-four Buddhas in the
Buddhavamsa, Reynolds argues that while these brief accounts give succinct biographies
of the previous Buddhas, the focus of these stories is on the prediction encounter between
these Buddhas and the Bodhisatta.99 The focus on the prediction encounters that
Reynolds identifies in the Buddhavamsa is made even more intensely in the form of these
prediction encounters as told in the SotatthakT. In the Buddhavamsa, the account of each
Buddha includes the number of beings enlightened by the teachings and the presence of
the Buddha. These stories show the Buddha as both the maker of arahants and the maker
of buddhas, as each of these Buddhas bestows the prediction upon the Bodhisatta.
99 Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions and the Lineages o f Gotama," 26.
-183-
In the SotatthakT, the Buddhavamsa verses enumerating the vast numbers of
arahants created by each Buddha are absent in its version of the biographies of each of
these Buddhas. While it may certainly be assumed that these Buddhas would also
establish multitudes of people in enlightenment, these actions are not specified. In the
SotatthakT, the only narrated interaction of the lineage of twenty-four Buddhas with
others is their bestowal of the prediction upon the Bodhisatta. The repetitive nature of
this crucial act is made even more prominent by the almost exclusive focus of these
Buddhas’ role as the creators of other buddhas, and the Buddha Gotama in particular.
The repetition of the prediction raises a significant question: if the Bodhisatta's
buddhahood is made a reality by DTpankara Buddha's prediction, what purpose do these
subsequent aspirations serve? The first prediction defined the future, making it known to
all who heard DTpankara’s declaration. These later predictions all take place in that
defined future; so why must the prediction be made over and over again? There are a
variety of possible answers.
The bestowal of the predictions creates the opportunity for the Bodhisatta to enter
into a relationship with each of these Buddhas. Cumulatively, the narratives in the
SotatthakT, both the pre-Sumedha stories and the "Sumedhakatha," show that prediction
events, regardless of their status as preliminary or complete, bring bodhisattas into
relationships with buddhas. All of the prediction encounters narrated in the SotatthakT
reveal the particularities of each of these relationships —the Bodhisatta leams how he is
to gain his first full prediction, or what his life as a Buddha will be like, or he chooses his
Buddha-name, as he does in his meeting with the Buddha Former (Gotama) Sakyamuni.
-184-
As I argued in chapter two, the Bodhisatta gains his identity as a Buddha in the context of
these relationships.
The Bodhisatta's relationships with the twenty-three Buddhas succeeding
DTpankara are narrated with a generic formula, creating the impression that the
Bodhisatta’s relationship with each of these Buddhas is identical. Certainly, the
prediction events that stand at the center of the Bodhisatta's relationships with all of these
Buddhas create an important repetitive quality between each relationship. As Reynolds
argues, each of these encounters provide the Bodhisatta with the inspiration to continue to
make his aspiration and his resolve to attain buddhahood.1" From this perspective, the
Bodhisatta is supported over the course of this career, from his first prediction until its
fulfillment, by these repeated predictions. However, the SotatthakTs narratives of the
Bodhisatta’s relationships with different Buddhas show that each relationship offers
something unique to the Bodhisatta.
An explanation for the repetition of the prediction can also be approached from a
different angle. As we have seen, predictions are made not only for the benefit of the
Bodhisatta, but are also made for the benefit of others. Perhaps the prediction is repeated
not because this is a condition of the Bodhisatta’s buddhahood —for this condition has
been met by Dlpankara's prediction —but to allow even more beings to participate in the
prediction. When each of these twenty-three Buddhas bestows the prediction upon the
Bodhisatta, they too would have the opportunity to worship him as a Buddha. The
prediction event is the only time that a Buddha has th« opportunity to engage with
another being who is (or will be) his equal. The repetition of the prediction also benefits
l" Reynolds, "Rebirth Traditions and the Lineages o f Gotama," 27.
-185-
all those present who witness the event. Like the assembly in the "Sumedhakatha,"
hearing these subsequent predictions, others would be able to make their own aspirations
to be reborn in the time when the Bodhisatta will be the Buddha Gotama as set out in the
prediction made by each Buddha.
The importance of forgetting
One of the intriguing aspects of the repeated prediction narratives is that the
Bodhisatta seems to forget what has happened to him in his previous lives. Each
prediction seems to be experienced by the Bodhisatta anew. The Bodhisatta’s
forgetfulness can be seen when the narratives of the twenty-three Buddhas are read as
unfolding into the future rather than as the Buddha’s recollections of his predictions from
the twenty-four Buddhas told to Sariputta. The narrative voice of the Buddhavamsa
points to the power of memory —all of these stories are told in the Buddha’s voice as he
recalls the past. But if we enter into the narratives themselves, rather than the context in
which the Buddha narrated them, the past is told as the present and memory is forgotten.
With each successive lifetime when the Bodhisatta meets one of the twenty-three
Buddhas, it seems that the Bodhisatta forgets that he has already received a prediction of
his own buddhahood. The Bodhisatta even forgets who a buddha is, after being in the
presence of so many Buddhas. The Bodhisatta's forgetfulness serves an important
purpose in the biography —the Bodhisatta’s regenerated opacity creates the space for
-186-
others to participate in his career and support his fulfillment of the prediction. If the
virtue of the Buddha is to remember, the virtue of the Bodhisatta is to forget.101
The Bodhisatta’s forgetfulness is most dramatically at play in the final prediction
event when he receives the prediction from the Buddha Kassapa, the Buddha Gotama's
immediate predecessor. The story centers around the relationship between the Bodhisatta
who is reborn as a Brahmin Jotipala and his friend the potter Ghafikara. The story is
merely alluded to in the Sotatthakv, one verse suggests the entire story:
Having been taken by the potter Ghafikara to the Buddha

Hearing his teaching of the Dhamma
Faith and joy arose.102
The Bodhisatta is taken to see the Buddha Kassapa by his friend the potter Ghafikara. As
in the "Sumedhakatha," the Bodhisatta is only able to encounter the Buddha through the
aid of another person. The Sotatthafd also tells us of the social inequality between the
Bodhisatta and his friend. The Bodhisatta is a well-bom brahmin, a master of the Vedas.
His friend is a potter, of lower caste and social standing. Despite this social inequality, it
is the Bodhisatta who is dependent on Ghafikara to meet the Buddha. The hierarchy
between the two is overturned by the superior wisdom of the potter and his role as the
facilitator of the Bodhisatta’s prediction.
101 The Buddha’s memory is efficacious in various ways. For example, his memory o f his previous lives
serves a pedagogical purpose in his discourse for his followers. TheBuddha’s memory functions in quite a
different way in the context o f his enlightenment experience. Donald Lopez offers an intriguing
interpretation o f the Bodhisatta's memories o f his previous lives during the first watch o f the evening of his
enlightenment. Lopez connects the memory of former abodes to Bodhisatta's realization o f the
actualization of cessation during the third watch that there is no self or essence to the world. In the
enlightenment experience, the Buddha’s memory frees him from any attachment o f the idea o f a self.
Lopez says, "In this sense, the Buddha's formulaic memory o f his earlier existence destroys the past as a
source o f identity and attachment and replaces it with the memory o f an existence that is happily
abandoned." Donald Lopez, "Memories o f the Buddha," in In the M irror o f Memory, ed. Janet Gyatso
(Albany: State University o f New York Press, 1992), 21-45.
102Smn 81, v. 476. "GharikSrakumbhakSrena 1gantva buddhassa santike 1tassa dhammakatharn sutva I
saddhapTtim uppadayim 11”
-187-
This story was originally told in the "Ghafikarasutta" of the Majjhima-Nikaya and
was later incorporated into the biography of the Buddha.103An extended version of the
story of Ghafikara and Jotipala is told in the Jinamahaniddna's account of the
Bodhisatta’s encounters with the lineage of twenty-four Buddhas and is alluded to in the
SotatthakT.l0i This story describes how the Bodhisatta initially refuses Ghafikara's
invitation to go and meet the Buddha. Jotipala has no interest in meeting the Buddha; he
is completely unaware of who the Buddha is or the importance of a buddha. It seems that
the Bodhisatta has forgotten the twenty-three past predictions he received from the
Buddhas beginning with Dlpankara. Like Sumedha, who is unaware that a buddha has
arisen in the world, the Bodhisatta, now in his lifetime as Jotipala, displays a different
kind of ignorance, one that also keeps him from the Buddha.
Initially, Joripala reviles the Buddha, calling him a bald headed ascetic.105 Even
after repeatedly and insistently urging Jotipala to go the Buddha Kassapa, Ghafikara has
to grab Jotipala by the hair and drag him there. It is only when his friend has overstepped
the rules of social hierarchy —a person of lower caste touching the head of one who is
higher —that Jotipala recognizes that this must indeed be important. Once the rules of
social hierarchy are challenged, Jotipala sees new possibilities of meaning. Ghafikara, in
spite of his lower caste status, is superior to Jotipala in insight.
This verse is similar in content but varies from Bv XXV. 13.

103 M 2.45-54
104 See Jina-m 25-27.
105M 2.46: "mundakena samanakena”
The Bodhisatta’s misbehavior as JotipIIa is traditionally identified as the cause o f his six years o f ascetic
practices prior to his enlightenment experience in his final lifetime. See Jonathan S. Walters, T h e Buddha's
Bad Karma: A Problem in the History o f Theravada Buddhism,” tfumen, 37, no. 1 (June 1990): 70-95.
-188-
This story is a vivid example of the continual shifting of the hierarchies which
structure the Bodhisatta's relationships with others throughout his career as a Bodhisatta.
The story of his lifetime as Jotipala, coming at the end of his career, shows that this
dynamic underlies the entire transformative process through which the Bodhisatta first
became a bodhisatta and then became a buddha.
When Jotipala has gone into the presence of the Buddha he is immediately
overwhelmed. Just as in his pre-Sumedha lifetimes as Atideva and the cakkavatti king
narrated in the Sotatthakx, once the Bodhisatta is brought into the presence of the Buddha
by another person he is instantly converted to the Buddha.
Paying homage at the feet of the Buddha

I begged for ordination then
Out of compassion for me
He showed me renunciation.106
The Bodhisatta, now a member of the Buddha Kassapa's saiigha, rapidly masters his
teaching. The text says that he "causes the sasana of the conqueror to shine"107and the
Buddha Kassapa bestows the prediction upon him. The prediction in the Sotatthakx is
extremely abbreviated: the Buddha Kassapa declares that "hi this Bhadda kappa he will
be a Buddha in the world.”108 No other biographical information of the Bodhisatta's life
as the Buddha Gotama is directly stated. An elaborated prediction is given in the version
of the Kassapavamsa told in the Jinamahanidana which contains a full narrative of the
106 Smn 81, v. 477; "Buddhassa pade vanditvS Ipabbajjam yacayim. tada I so pi mam anukampaya I
pabbajjam. me adassayi II"
This verse is not found in this form, in the Buddhavamsa but is similar in content to B v XXV. 13.
107 Smn 81, v. 478.
108 Smn 81, v. 479; Bv XXV.16. "Tmamht bhaddake kappe IBuddho Ioke bhavissasx d 11"
Note the first two padas o f the Sotatthaki verse differs from that in the Buddhavamsa; however, the second
-189-
Ghafikara's struggles to bring Jotipala to meet the Buddha. In this version, the entire
future biography is revealed, nearly identical in content and form to the prediction made
by Dlpahkara Buddha. Once again, the assembly has the opportunity to make their own
aspirations as they too become a part of the predicted future described by the Buddha
Kassapa:
The gods and men having also heard the speech of the Blessed One, with
hearts full of delight and gladness, exclaimed "Sadhu” thousands of times
and applauded, making their aspiration: 'It is said that this one is a
Buddha sprout. We should take the fruit of the path called nibbdna in the
time of (this) Buddha.109
The Bodhisatta's forgetfulness allows others —in this lifetime, Ghafikara —to continue to
facilitate the Bodhisatta's progress towards buddhahood. Even at the reception of this
final prediction, having already received twenty-three predictions in prior lifetimes, the
Bodhisatta is still dependent on the aid of others to attain his goal of buddhahood. His
forgetfulness is a virtue that allows others to continue to participate in his development
towards buddhahood throughout the entirety of his bodhisatta career.
The Bodhisatta's forgetfulness also enables him to experience his own future
anew in every encounter with a Buddha. There is a value for the Bodhisatta in hearing
his future biography again and again, each time as if the first time. It is a repeated
experience of waking up to oneself, of learning who one really is. His forgetfulness is
repeatedly replaced with a memory of his own future displayed by the Buddhas’
predictions.
two padas, stating the prediction, are identical.

109Jina-m 27. "Devamanussa pi bhagavato vacanam. sutva pitipamuditahadaya anekasadhukarasahassani
pavattetva ayatn kira buddhankuro buddhakale nibbanasankhatam maggaphalam IabheyySma ti."
-190-
In the Sotatthakx, predictions are a process of forgetting and remembering. Even
in the first full prediction event, as told by the Sotatthakx, Sumedha himself forgets that
he had once received preliminary predictions. This process of predictions, over many
lifetimes, is as important as the prediction event itself. This process, enabled by the
forgetfulness of the Bodhisatta, occurs over and over again, allowing for the participation
of others in helping him remember. In this way, the text emphasizes the role of
relationships in the making (receiving) of predictions. In the final chapter, I will consider
the kinds of communities created by the prediction.
Chapter Four
Communities of Beneficence
I. Introduction: Communities created by predictions
In the preceding chapters I have argued that the bodhisatta path is supported at
every stage by a constellation of actors who enable a bodhisatta to gain a prediction of his
own buddhahood. We have seen that the bodhisatta path as narrated in the SotatthakT
indicates that the process of becoming a bodhisatta, from a bodhisatta’s initial moment of
conceptualizing the aspiration for buddhahood through the final stages of the reception of
the predictions, is a communal process and not a solitary one.
In this chapter I will take a different vantage point on the relational aspects of
predictions by asking what kinds of communities are created by predictions. This is a
significant rephrasing of the question that has been addressed thus far. In the first three
chapters my interest was in examining how the Bodhisatta’s relationships with others was
in service of gaining the prediction of buddhahood. Here, I will consider the kinds of
relationships and communities that are created by predictions. These relationships are the
context for the development and enactment of virtues.
The SotatthakT illustrates the virtues of a bodhisatta through the stories of the
multitude of lifetimes that encompass his transformation into a bodhisatta and then a
buddha. The narrative form of the text is not secondary to the content it conveys. In After
Virtue, Alasdair MacIntyre contends that virtues can not be identified or appraised apart
from the narratives that demonstrate how these virtues are developed and practiced.
MacIntyre argues that virtues can not be considered separately from the life story of
which they are a part, nor can any one individual's virtues and behaviors be assessed in
isolation from the community in which they live. MacIntyre says, "The narrative of any
-192-
one life is part of an interlocking set of narratives."1 MacIntyre argues that virtues and
virtuous behavior can not be considered apart from the intention, beliefs, and settings of a
coherent lifestory and further, these factors that shape the development and practice of
virtues are shaped by those with whom we live our lives.2
We need to add some Buddhist specifics to MacIntyre’s argument when we utilize
his approach to understand the virtues of the bodhisatta career. The "interlocking set of
narratives" which encompass a set of virtues can be defined as the multitude of lifetimes
that span a single bodhisatta’s career, the intersection o f a bodhisatta’s narrative in a
particular lifetime with the narrative of another individual, and even the ongoing
interconnections between bodhisattas over many lifetimes. The quest for the prediction is
one of the most important category of events that connects the narratives of a bodhisatta's
many lifetimes or connects the narratives of a bodhisatta to other people and other
bodhisattas. These interlocking narratives created by the prediction describe distinct
kinds of communities.
The first is the community created by the developing self-awareness of the
bodhisatta qua bodhisatta. This is not so much a community formed by different moral
agents (although the involvement of others is crucial to the process) but a "community of
the self’ as the bodhisatta becomes conscious of himself being transformed as he
progresses along the bodhisatta path. The inter-connecting narratives of the bodhisatta’s
career reveal distinct stages in the development of a bodhisatta's virtues. MacIntyre's
approach to the study of virtues shows us the importance of considering the bodhisatta
path in its entirety as a unified narrative in order to understand the significance of the
bodhisatta as a virtuous being. As we have seen in the preceding chapter each stage of
the Bodhisatta’s career is integral to the next —the early stages prepare and foreshadow
1 Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, 2nded. (Notre Dame: Notre Dame Press, 1984), 218.
2 Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, 208.
-193-
the advanced levels of the path, and the later phases are shown to grow organically from
all that has come prior.
The prediction creates a second kind of community —a community of
bodhisattas. The relationships between bodhisattas intersect over lifetimes as they
undergo the arduous transformations towards buddhahood together. This community is
distinct from a third community formed between the bodhisatta and "ordinary" beings
(beings who have not yet made enlightenment their telos) among whom the bodhisatta
lives in all his many lifetimes. In the previous chapters I have focused upon the many
ways in which these beings —gods, humans, and even animals —have contributed to the
Bodhisatta's success in attaining the conditions that enable him to receive a prediction.
Here, I consider the virtues of these supporting participants in the bodhisatta path.
The members of the communities of bodhisattas and communities of ordinary
beings are constantly shifting between the roles of benefactor and beneficiary. Every
participant in these communities bestows care upon others and receives care in return.
Benefits are given, received, and returned. These communities are thus shaped by the
virtues of beneficence and reciprocity.
One assumption that this discussion will question is the monotone vision of a
bodhisatta as the benefactor of others in every situation commonly found in Theravadin
scholarship.3 This assumption is easily made and has firm ground in Buddhist narratives
in which bodhisattas are defined in large part by his (and more rarely, her) goal of
bringing about the welfare of others. Bodhisattas delay enlightenment even when it is in
their grasp in order to be of maximal benefit to others, hi this chapter I examine
3 The following explanations o f the Bodhisatta’s constant role o f caring for others are representative o f the
prevailing ideas about the Bodhisatta in Buddhist scholarship and in Buddhist texts as well. For example,
Gunapala Dharmasiri says, "In any situation a Bodhisattva confronts, he must always think 'what can I do,
or give, to help someone in need here and now? Gunapala Dharmasiri, Fundamentals o f Buddhist Ethics
(Antioch, CA: Golden Leaves, 1989), 91. Shanta Ratnayaka states, "Whatever state a bodhisattva is bom
to, by his nature he becomes an example to all other beings...he remains the savior o f others and the moral
example to the mass.’’ Ratnayaka, "The Bodhisattva Ideal o f the Theravada,” 91.
-194-
narratives that cast bodhisattas in a variety of roles. Not only are bodhisattas the
benefactors of others; they are the beneficiaries of care and the recipients of aid as well.
Examining the shared virtues between bodhisattas and ordinary beings (for want
of a better term) raises a set of challenging issues. Is it useful or even possible to
compare the virtues of bodhisattas with ordinary beings? Is it possible to think of these as
shared virtues at all? I believe it is. The virtues of beneficence and reciprocity
characterize both bodhisattas and ordinary beings. While the virtues of these two classes
of beings are far from identical, they are not completely different either. Bodhisattas and
ordinary beings constitute a spectrum of how these virtues are possessed and in turn
shape behavior. We can say that bodhisattas and ordinary beings constitute different
categories of actors. They direct their actions towards different goals which distinguishes
them in kind? The ordinary being is not a bodhisatta because she or he has not taken the
bodhisatta's vow to bring all beings release from samsara; rather, ordinary beings may
direct their beneficence towards a range of goals with more immediate ends.
But ordinary beings and bodhisattas can also be seen as overlapping agents who
possess different degrees of virtues: we might say that the beneficence of ordinary
beings is directed at particular relationships while bodhisattas aim to be beneficent to ah
beings. By recognizing the distinction but also the overlap between the bodhisatta and
ordinary beings as ethical agents we can see the shifting relationships between them that
allows ordinary beings to act beneficendy towards the bodhisatta as well as receive his
beneficence.
The pre-Sumedha stories reveal that both classes of beings embody these virtues
to greater and lesser degrees at different points in their development as ethical actors.
When the Bodhisatta is at the initial stages of the bodhisatta path his ability to act with
* This point is inspired by Ronald Ihden's discussion o f R. G. CoUingwood’s scale o f forms in which agents
can be seen as distinct in that they differ in kind but also overlapping as they differ in degree. Inden shows
how the relationships among overlapping agents are continuously reconstituted. For Inden's discussion o f
the scale o f forms see Ronald Inden, Imagining India (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1990), 22-27,33-36.
-195-
beneficence or reciprocity may be more limited than those others with whom he is
interacting. At these early points in the Bodhisatta's development, the generosity or

insight of ordinary beings may outshine even a bodhisatta. By considering the full
transformation brought about by the bodhisatta path from the first aspiration to the
reception of the predictions we can identify the virtues of both bodhisattas and ordinary
beings and examine how the bodhisatta comes to gradually embody the highest
excellence in these virtues in the context of his relationships with himself, other
bodhisattas, and ordinary beings.
H. The Community of the Self
The STlavTmamsanajataka5 tells the story of one of the Buddha's previous
lifetimes when he was bom as a brahmin youth who was the best pupil among five
hundred students of a great teacher. In order to test the virtues of his followers, the
teacher instructed each of them to secretly steal ornaments and garments from their
friends and to give these objects to the teacher’s own daughter as a way to win the girl in
marriage. The Bodhisatta is the only one among them who returns empty handed.
Questioned by the teacher, the Bodhisatta says that it was impossible for him to fulfill the
teacher’s request as it is impossible to steal completely unobserved —one can never
escape the company of oneself, who will know the wrong doing committed. The
Bodhisatta says:
"I do not know solitude, isolation can not be found,

Even when I do not see another person there is no seclusion
because I am there."6
5 Ja no. 305. For translation see E. B . Cowell, ed., The Jataka, voL 3-4, (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press), 12-13.
6 Ja 305: "Aham raho no passami I sunfiam vapi na vijjati 1yattha afifiam na passami asunnam ( hoti tarn
maya ti II"
-196-
This verse describes a self-awareness which enables the Bodhisatta to observe his own
actions at a critical distance. The Jataka describes a subject position where a person
becomes their own ethical companion. Indeed, as this brief story tells us, this ethical
friend is the only companion who is impossible to escape. The Bodhisatta can never
experience the solitude that would free him from ethical accountability because self-
awareness is always present —in the end one is always accountable to the visions one
holds of oneself.
I employ the idea of a community of the self in order to describe the Bodhisatta’s
conscious formulation of a particular kind of subjectivity which enables him to attain the
goals he has undertaken on the bodhisatta path. The visions the Bodhisatta has of himself
as a bodhisatta are crucial to developing the ability to perform the actions of a bodhisatta.
The Bodhisatta's perspectives of himself as an actor are both self-generated, as in the
story above, and are gained when he sees himself through another person's eyes. At every
stage of the Bodhisatta’s career others help him realize who he is in the present and who
he must become in the future.
The total process of gaining a prediction over the course of the Bodhisatta's career
generates two vantage points from which he can observe himself as an agent. The first,
what I term a gaze of oneself, arises when the Bodhisatta makes the aspiration for
buddhahood, thereby creating a vision o f himself in the future. The second vantage point,
the gaze from another, is formulated in the Bodhisatta's encounters with the Buddhas he
meets over the course of his career. In seeing and being seen by the Buddhas, the
Bodhisatta gains a vicarious experience of himself as a perfected being. Each of these
-197-
visions contributes to a cumulative process of how a bodhisatta imagines himself as a
bodhisatta and fashions himself according to that likeness.
The Gaze of Oneself
The development of the Bodhisatta’s awareness of himself as a bodhisatta begins
at the first moments of the bodhisatta path when he makes the initial aspiration for
buddhahood. The aspiration is an articulation of the goals that will structure his entire
bodhisatta career.
By definition, an aspiration for buddhahood is a visioning of oneself in the future.
It describes a wish to become more perfect. The aspiration expresses both a
dissatisfaction with the present —the aspiration in effect says: "let me be a more virtuous
person than I am now" —and a formulation of the image of what that fuller, more perfect,
self will be. Thus, the aspiration generates an awareness for the Bodhisatta of himself as
two agents developing sequentially in time. The Bodhisatta sees himself in the present
in light of the commitments he is undertaking as well as his current inadequacies to fulfill
those newly-undertaken responsibilities.
When the Bodhisatta makes the aspiration he also imagines himself in the future
when he will fulfill his potential and thus be able to act most effectively for the benefit of
both himself and others. The agent he will become in the future will come to supplant the
person who originally makes the aspiration, but in the articulation of the aspiration the
two positions are both recognized. The awareness of the almost unimaginable length of
the bodhisatta path which separates the first commitment to the bodhisatta vows and their
fulfillment is part of what makes the Bodhisatta's endeavor so heroic.
-198-
This aspiration is thus both a self-made judgement of the Bodhisatta's present
capacities as an actor and a prescription for who the actor must become. At the earliest
stages of the path the Bodhisatta may know what he longs to achieve in the future, but he
is not capable of performing those actions in the present. For example, in the SotatthakT,
in the second narrated pre-Sumedha lifetime when the Bodhisatta is reborn as the
elephant-loving king, he aspires to save all beings from the torments of raga from which
he himself has suffered. Yet he knows that he can not liberate them in his present
lifetime; all he can do is abandon his life as a king to live as a renunciant in order to build
towards that goal.7At this early stage in the bodhisatta path the act of renunciation is all
the Bodhisatta is able to do. His act is made in the present with the intention of creating
greater abilities in the future that will enable him to act direcdy for the well-being of
others.
The Bodhisatta's perception of himself as an actor need not always be self
created. The gaze of oneself can be offered or even imposed on the Bodhisatta by
another person’s view of who he should become. This is the case in the SotatthakT—
recall that it is Mahabrahma who causes the young man drowning in the ocean to make
the initial aspiration for buddhahood.8 This is a striking, pe±aps even astonishing,
moment in a Theravadin biography of the Bodhisatta.9 According to this narrative,
without Mahabrahma’s intervention the young man may never have had the wish to
7 Smn 15-20; for the earlier discussion o f this story see chapter one, pp. 82-84.
8 Smn 11-14.
9 Richard Gombrich makes reference to a version o f this story from the IS* c. Sinhalese
Saddharmdlamkaraya, a work which directly cites the SotatthakT. Gombrich states that this narrative, o f a
god implanting the aspiration in the young man's mind, is "on the very margin o f TheravSdin orthodoxy, for
the idea that a god can plant a resolve in a human mind is doctrinally dubious." Gombrich, “The
Significance o f Former Buddhas in the Theravadin Tradition," 71. Yet it was a popular idea, as evidenced
by the multiple versions o f this story in Pali texts as w ell as vernacular texts and formed an important part
o f many Theravadin biographies o f the Bodhisatta Gotama's career.
-199-
become the Bodhisatta Gotama. The aspiration does not originate with the Bodhisatta's
self-conception of his own capabilities to bring benefit to himself and other, rather, it is
the gods’ needs for a bodhisatta to arise in the world, that causes the Bodhisatta to make
his first aspiration.
And yet, Mahabrahma’s act of bestowing the aspiration is a unique moment of
beneficence for the Bodhisatta. By gifting the young man the aspiration he helps him
recognize his extraordinary potential that will be developed over the course of the
bodhisatta path. The external source of the Bodhisatta's decision to become a bodhisatta
does not take away from his own agency but rather greatly enhances the kind of agent he
becomes. His creation as a bodhisatta, whether through his own will or that of another's,
is of the greatest benefit to himself and all other beings.
The Gaze from Another
According to the SotatthakT, over the course of the Bodhisatta’s lengthy career he
comes face-to-face with hundreds of thousands of buddhas. These meetings are essential
to the continuing formation of his agency as a bodhisatta. Seeing a buddha and being
seen by a buddha give the Bodhisatta a unique understanding of himself that would be
impossible for him to gain any other way.10
When the Bodhisatta comes into the presence of a buddha he has a direct vision of
who he aspires to become. The bodhisatta's telos of becoming a buddha is, in effect,
brought to life in front of his eyes. His imagination of the kind of actor he will become at
10For the importance o f seeing the Buddha and the connection o f seeing and knowing in the Theravadin
tradition see Trainor, Relics, Ritual, and Representation, 173-188.
-200-
the completion of the bodhisatta path takes on a tangible reality. Seeing a buddha creates
an external vantage point from which the Bodhisatta can see his own (future) reflection in
the image of a buddha.
Contact with certain buddhas can have particular significance in the formulation
of a bodhisatta's subjectivity. As I discussed in chapter two. bodhisattas are shown to
shape themselves in the image of particular buddhas. Recall that both the Bodhisattas
DTpankara and Gotama meet Buddhas after whom they model themselves. These
encounters help the Bodhisattas more clearly define who they will become in the future.
Upon seeing the Buddha Former Gotama, the Bodhisatta Gotama sees himself in
a new light —he decides that he will become just like the Buddha Former Gotama whom
he worships in the present. The Bodhisatta Gotama says:
"Just as you were the Buddha called Gotamasakyapungava, just so I am

the Buddha Gotamasakyapungava."11
The Bodhisatta's declaration is an expression of his own agency in constructing himself
as a bodhisatta, and in the more distant future as a buddha. The process of formulating
subjectivity preferences identity with particular others over individuality. A bodhisatta’s
relationship with particular buddhas forms fundamental dimensions of the bodhisatta’s
experience of himself. This is vividly demonstrated by the Bodhisatta's desire to be
known by the name of a Buddha who inspires him to fulfill the bodhisatta path.12The
11 Smn 41: "yatha tvarn gotamasakyapungavo nama buddho ahosi, tathahaml gotamo sakyapungavo nama
buddho homltL"
Note that the verb here "homi” is the first person present indicative. It may be that the present tense is used
to express the certainty o f the Bodhisatta’s declaration to create him self in the image o f this Buddha.
12According to some versions o f the Anagatavamsa, the Bodhisatta Metteyya encounters a Buddha Former
-201-
identification between a bodhisatta and a buddha establishes a continuity of the roles a
buddha plays as one buddha succeeds another. These roles can be defined in particular
ways, such as the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara’s role as the predictor of the Bodhisatta
Gotama which was mandated by Former DTpankara.
When the Bodhisatta receives the predictions of his own buddhahood from a
Buddha he sees himself through the Buddha's eyes. This is a significantly unique vision
of and for the Bodhisatta; it is an image of the Bodhisatta as the fully formed agent that
he is striving to be, that is, a buddha. As I have discussed in chapters two and three, as
narrated in the Sotatthakx, the Bodhisatta's reception of the prediction is a gradual process
including several prelim in ary stages which develop over many lifetimes. The
prelim inary predictions build towards the first full prediction of buddhahood,
progressively cultivating this crucial aspect of subjectivity. The Bodhisatta can only fully
know himself as a bodhisatta when he comes to know himself through a Buddhas' eyes.
Like the aspiration, the prediction describes the Bodhisatta in two agent positions.
When a buddha makes a prediction he is acknowledging the Bodhisatta’s already present
Metteyya during the course o f his bodhisatta career. Like the Bodhisattas Later DTpankara and Gotama,
Metteyya may also have taken his Buddha name from a former buddha. This kind o f encounter with a
"former'’ buddha is a common element in each o f these Bodhisattas's careers suggesting that this encounter
between "former" and "later" buddhas may be a common element to the bodhisatta career. Metteyya's
meeting with a Buddha Metteyya is described by TP. Minayeff in his discussion o f a Burmese manuscript
Anagatavamsa, which he entitles manuscript "b” in his study o f the Anagatavamsa. See LP. Minayeff,
"Andgata-vamsa” Journal o f the Pali Text Society (1886) : 34. For a discussion ofM inayeffs edition o f the
Anagatavamsa see Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, 357-361, Collins also gives a translation
ofM inayeffs edition. Padmanabh S. Jaini also discusses M inayeffs reference to the former Buddha
Metteyya in Padmanabh S. Jaini, "Stages in the Bodhisattva Career o f the TathSgata Maitreya" in Maitreya,
the Future Buddha, ed. Alan Sponberg and Helen Hardacre (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1988), 59.
The formation o f a bodhisatta’s identity in the image o f a particular buddha is vividly seen in a statue of
Metteyya (SkL, Maitreya) from a Tibetan Buddhist monastery at Alchi in Ladakh. The large, standing
statue o f Maitreya is covered in a sculptural dhoti that entirely covered in scenes narrating the Iifestory o f
the Buddha Gotam a. The Bodhisattva Maitreya is quite literally shrouded in the life o f the Buddha
Gotama. Maitreya’s appearance is formed by covering him self with the life o f Gotama Buddha. See
Christian Luczanits, "The Life o f the Buddha in the Sumtsek," Orientations 30, no. 1 (January 1999): 30-
39.
-202-
achievements which enable him to receive a prediction. At the same time the prediction
describes the agent the Bodhisatta will become in the foretold future. The prediction
creates a second order subjectivity for the Bodhisatta of his future agency. That is, in the
moments of the prediction the Bodhisatta is aware of himself as an agent in the present
and he experiences what it will be like to be the agent of the future. For, as we have seen
in the analysis of the "Sumedhakatha," the Bodhisatta experiences his own buddhahood
in the time following the Buddha DTpankara’s prediction. All who hear the prediction
worship the Bodhisatta as if he were already the Buddha Gotama.
The prediction describes the future but it is spoken for the sake of the present. I
imagine this experience would be like having the chance to experience myself far off in
the distant future when everything I hope for has come to fruition. The pleasure of such
an experience and the certainty it would bring would transform the intervening time that I
will live through and the actions that I still must perform for this future to unfold.
Perhaps more than anything else, a buddha's prediction gives the gift of the
certainty of who the bodhisatta will become in the future. As I have discussed in chapter
three, a buddha’s prediction defines the future; once stated, it is impossible for the
prediction to remain unfulfilled. The definitiveness of the prediction in a sense fixes a
bodhisatta as an agent-to-be. Once a bodhisatta receives a full prediction of buddhahood
he is protected from rebirths that would impede the prediction's fulfillment by a set of
anisamsa, blessings, which assure an advantageous rebirth. A standardized list of
prevented rebirths appears in the Buddhavamsa commentary and the Jdtaka Nidanakatha.
as well as the later biographies, although, it is absent from the SotatthakT.0 The
u The list o f seventeen prevented rebirths are: 1) rebirth in Avici, 2) in Lokantara hell 3) as beings
consumed with thirst and hunger (nijjhama tanha huppipasa) 4) kalakanjika 3) small beings 6) a blind man
-203-
prevalence of the dnisamsa in the biographies of the Bodhisatta's career reveals that the
guarantee of a fixed agent is a standard result of the reception of a prediction. These
prevented rebirths are stated in negative terms. That is, lists are given of the rebirths the
bodhisatta will not take: he will not be reborn in Avici hell; he will not be bom blind,
deaf, or dumb; he will not be bom as a woman, and so forth.
The prediction helps the Bodhisatta realize who he most fully is in the present and
who he will become in the future. In his discussion of the effects of the prediction,
Richard Gombrich argues that the prediction does not take away from free will because
the two represent different strains of thought that do not meet.1* Free will, Gombrich
asserts, is preserved by the laws of kamma that are always at play, even in the
prediction.13 The Bodhisatta’s development can always be calculated by the good and bad
actions he has performed. As I have demonstrated at length in the preceding chapters, the
Bodhisatta's agency is clearly and dramatically demonstrated in the prediction process.
The SotatthakT narrates the arduous and incredibly long process the Bodhisatta must
successfully complete before he can receive a prediction from a buddha. It is only when
he has fulfilled all the preconditions that a prediction can be offered to him by a buddha.
The prediction is very much earned by the actions and intentions of a bodhisatta. The
prediction can be seen both as a buddha’s response to a bodhisatta’s accomplishments and
7) deaf 8) dumb 9) paralyzed 10) woman 11) hermaphrodite 12) eunuch 13) freed from actions bringing
immediate retribution 14) all dwelling places are pure 15) seeing the workings o f kamma they do not
associate with wrong views 16) the unconscious deva realm 17) pure abode. This list is found at BvA 271;
Ja 1.44-45; Mahdsampindanidana 273; Jinamahdniddna 28; Pathamasambodhi, 29; and Jinakdlamati
29-30. For a discussion o f the comparison o f this list with variations found in the Suttanipata Atthakathd
and Apaddna Atthakathd see Endo, Buddha in Theravada Buddhism, 260-264.
14Gombrich, "Buddhist Prediction: How Open is the Future?" 150.
15 Gombrich, "BuddhistPrediction: How Open is the Future?" 164-167.
-204-
an offering to the bodhisatta of the accomplishments that will grow from the foundation
he has laid.
The SotatthakTs prediction narratives offer an additional perspective on the issue
of free will, one which contrasts with Gombrich's assessment of the preservation of the
individual's intentions and actions through the ever-present workings of kamma. These
stories call into question the premise of an independent subject whose identity develops
primarily through a solitary process of self-formation. The prediction narratives are
based on an opposite set of assumptions, one that sees the individual as inseparably
connected to others.
The prediction narratives directly challenge conceptions of isolated or
autonomous agents. As we saw in the preceding chapters, the process of becoming a
bodhisatta - and forming the identity of a bodhisatta —is fundamentally a relational
process. The extended biography of the Bodhisatta in the pre-Sumedha narratives shows
in detail the actions over lifetimes that the Bodhisatta performed in order to create the
conditions to receive the prediction. These actions were, at all times, shaped by the
contribution of others. The prediction creates the context in which these relationships
develop: prior to the reception of the first prediction, the bodhisatta's relationships with
others contribute to the formation of his aspiration and his development of the
prediction’s preconditions. The prediction event displays for the Bodhisatta an assured
future in which he will continue to live with and for others.
Janet Gyatso’s analysis o f the importance of prophecies and visions in the
autobiographies of a Tibetan Treasure (Tibetan, terma) finder, Jigme Lingpa, is
instructive for understanding the role of the prediction in the formation of the bodhisatta’s
-205-
sense of self in Pali literature.16 Gyatso's study shows that the fullness of the self is
created through the revelation of predictions, albeit in a different cultural context. Gyatso
argues that the visions Jigme Lingpa receives are an acknowledgment of himself through
the eyes of others who appear to him. Gyatso explains, "To be perceived and recognized
by others is an assurance that one exists; by being an other to someone else, one is a self
to oneself, whatever the precise nature of that self.’’17
In the SotatthakTs prediction narratives the predictions make the Bodhisatta
"other" to a Buddha who recognizes the Bodhisatta as a being who will be able to fulfill
his aspiration. The prediction is in an important sense a buddha’s acknowledgement of
the fully formed agent that the Bodhisatta will become. As the Bodhisatta continues to
live out the many, many intervening lives between the prediction and its fulfillment, he is
at the same time forming himself according to his own aspiration and in the image of
himself that is given by the Buddha through the prediction.
HI. Communities of Bodhisattas
"That the religious life is not to be taken merely as a form of asceticism is

clear from the following: Venerable Ananda once remarked to the
Buddha that half of the religious life (brahmacarrya) is friendship and
intimacy with that which is lovely; to this the Buddha replied: I t is the
whole, not the half, of the religious life. Of a bhikkhu who is a friend, an
associate, of that which is lovely, morally good, is intimate with it, it may
be expected that he will develop and progress according to the Noble
Eightfold Path.’ It may be taken, therefore, that constant association and
16Janet Gyatso, Apparitions o f the Self: The Secret Autobiographies o f a Tibetan Visionary (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1988.)
17 Janet Gyatso, Apparitions o f the Self, 220.
-206-
intimacy with the lovely, the morally good, is a means of progress to

Nirvana."18
In this quote, Himmalawa Saddhatissa draws on an exchange between the Buddha
Gotama and his chief attendant, Ananda, in order to highlight the importance of intimate
relationships for spiritual growth. The SotatthakTs pre-Sumedha stories show that the
relationships between bodhisattas are among the most important bonds leading
bodhisattas to buddhahood.
Although there can only be one buddha in the world at time (leaving aside the
possibility of a buddha meeting a (future) buddha during the prediction event) according
to this Theravada tradition,19multiple bodhisattas can be present in the universe at the
same time. The singularity of buddhas but multiplicity of bodhisattas follows logically in
this theory: if the bodhisatta career can take twenty asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas, as
does the expanded career of the Bodhisatta Gotama, but multiple buddhas can arise in the
same kappa, then there must be multiple bodhisattas progressing towards buddhahood at
the same time.20 This point is demonstrated by the logic structuring the lineage of
Buddhas which the Bodhisatta Gotama meets, as narrated in the Buddhavamsa', we know
that at the time that the Bodhisatta Gotama received his first prediction from the Buddha
DTpankara there were twenty three Bodhisattas in line to become Buddhas before he
would fulfill his own prediction of buddhahood. These twenty-three Bodhisattas became
the twenty-three Buddhas from whom he received his subsequent predictions. If we
consider the Bodhisatta’s career as beginning from the moment when the aspiration for
buddhahood first arises, as the SotatthakT does, then there are hundreds of thousands of
18Hammalawa Saddhatissa, Buddhist Ethics (London: Wisdom Publications, 1987), p.I55.

19 See for example the "Bahudhatuka Sutta," M 3.6S.
30For an explanation o f the development o f Theravadin theories o f multiple buddhas see Gombrich, "The
Significance o f Former Buddhas in the Theravadin Tradition." Gombrich explores the issue o f the singling
out o f six former buddhas from the infinite number o f previous buddhas in Richard Gombrich "Why Six
Former Buddhas?” The Journal a f Oriental Research Madras, 56-62 (1986-92): 326-330. Frank Reynolds
gives an analysis o f the lineage o f buddhas in the TheravSda with focus on the Buddhavamsa in Reynolds,
"Rebirth Traditions and the Lineages o f Gotama: A Study in Theravada Buddhology."
-207-
bodhisattas present in the universe over the course of time that the Bodhisatta Gotama is
striving to become a buddha.21This cosmological structure allows for the meeting and
interaction of bodhisattas.
Despite the implicit presence of hundreds of thousands of bodhisattas in the text
(that is, the bodhisattas that become the buddhas that the Bodhisatta Gotama worships
over the entire course of his bodhisatta career) the SotatthakT narrates the lifetimes of
only two of these bodhisattas, the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara and the Bodhisatta
Metteyya showing the particular relationships between these Bodhisattas. The
SotatthakTs focus on the Bodhisattas Later DTpankara and Metteyya is, of course,
significant. The presence of these two particular Bodhisattas in the Bodhisatta Gotama's
biography serves as narrative bookends that encapsulate the entire career of Bodhisatta
Gotama. As I have discussed at length in the previous chapters the Bodhisatta Later
DTpankara becomes the Buddha DTpankara who gives the Bodhisatta Gotama his first
prediction of buddhahood. The narrative about Later DTpahkara's lifetime as a Bodhisatta
reveals important conditions for this first full prediction. The Bodhisatta Metteyya will,
of course, become the Buddha who succeeds the Buddha Gotama and receives his own
final prediction of buddhahood from Gotama.
A remarkable story of the Buddha Gotama’s prediction of the Bodhisatta
Metteyya is found in the extended version of the Pathamasambodhi, a 19th century Pali
work composed in Thailand.22 In the chapter entitled the "Metteyyabuddhabyakarana,"
the Bodhisatta Metteyya is rebom in the time o f the Buddha Gotama as a prince named
Ajita who enters the Buddha's order as a novice monk.23Two significant events lead up to
21512,000 buddhas served and worshiped by the Bodhisatta Gotama are enumerated in the SotatthakT at the
conclusion o f both the "Mahanidlna" and the "Atidurenidana," see Smn 35-36; 44-46.
22 Pathamasambodhi, chapter 21, "Metteyyabuddhabyakaranaparivatta" pp. 185-203. The story o f
MahapajapatT which begins this chapter is drawn from, the "Dakkhinstvigfrangasutta” from the Majjhima
Mikaya and is also found in the Anagatavamsa-atthakatha. Padmanabh S. Jaini gives a description o f this
story from the Thai version of this chapter from the Pathamasambodhi in "Stages in the Bodhisattva Career
o f the Tathagata Maitreya,"62-64.
23 Note that in his final lifetime the Bodhisatta Metteyya is also named Ajita. See Anag 46v.43
-208-
the prediction which demonstrate that Ajita will be the successor of the Buddha Gotama.
First, Ajita is given a robe by the Buddha that was made by the Buddha's step-mother,
Mahapajapati GotamT, and intended for the Buddha himself. Next, in order to show the
entire assembly the importance of this young novice monk, the Buddha throws his own
bowl into the air where it remains suspended. All the monks try and fail to retrieve it,
only the novice Ajita is able to fetch the bowl for the Buddha. When the Bodhisatta
grabs hold of it, suspended in mid-air, the bowl speaks out exclaiming that it is not the
bowl of a disciple, much less any monk, but the bowl of a buddha.2*With this
pronouncement, the Bodhisatta Metteyya is in possession of the bowl and robe of the
Buddha demonstrating his inheritance of the sasana. It is at this point that the Buddha
Gotama makes the prediction that the novice monk, Ajita, will become the next Buddha,
Metteyya.
The intimacy between the Buddha Gotama and the Bodhisatta Metteyya as
described in this story is shown by the SotatthakT to extend farther into the past when they
lived together when both were still bodhisattas each seeking their own first predictions.
The pre-Sumedha stories in the Sotatthakf help us to learn about DTpankara and Metteyya
as bodhisattas as it tells the inter-connecting narratives of these Bodhisattas with the
Bodhisatta Gotama. 'While the pre-Sumedha stories are at all times focused on the
Bodhisatta Gotama's career they also depict the careers of these Bodhisattas too,
otherwise largely unknown in Pali works. The effect of the selective focus on these
Bodhisattas in the pre-Sumedha narratives suggests that particular bodhisattas play key
roles in each others bodhisatta careers. While the nature of these specific relationships
can perhaps be generalized to describe the potential relationship between other
bodhisattas, the effect of the SotatthakTs narration is to focus upon the value of particular
and distinct relationships between individual Bodhisattas.
2* Pathamasambodhi 201, "Aham pana na savakasantako na savakaparikkharo yadeva kassa santako kassa
pattojinavaravusabhassabhagavato patto."
-209-
The relationships between the Bodhisatta Gotama and these Bodhisattas takes
place over multiple lifetimes. These are the only relationships in the SotatthakT that are
explicitly said to continue over lifetimes. No figures other than these Bodhisattas are
identified as being reborn in subsequent lifetimes. This is a noteworthy distinction of the
pre-Sumedha stories as told in the SotatthakT, one which distinguishes them from the
more conventional device of jataka stories in which the Buddha points out who the key
characters in the story were reborn as at the end of his narration of his previous life as the
Bodhisatta.23 In the jataka formula a whole range of relationships are shown to continue
over lifetimes — for example, the Buddha reveals retrospectively that he lived multiple
lives with those who would be reborn as his monks and his relatives in his final lifetime
as the Buddha Gotama. In the SotatthakT, it is only the Bodhisattas who encounter each
other again and again over multiple lifetimes.
Identity and Difference Among Bodhisattas
What I am naming a "community of bodhisattas" can be defined in large part by
bodhisattas' shared goals. Bodhisattas form a community because they are all seeking the
same aims. The ultimate end for the bodhisattas is buddhahood, but the proximate goal
of gaining the prediction of their own buddhahood is so significant that it is useful to
distinguish this as a preliminary telos that enables the final one. These goals, held in
23 Reiko Ohnuraa analyzes the past/present framework o f the jataka stones to reveal the significance o f the
juxtaposition o f narrative frames in the jatakas in her article, "The Gift o f the Body and the Gift of
Dharma" in History o f Religions 37, no. 4 (May 1998): 324-359. Also see, for a brief overview o f the
Jataka: M. Wintemitz, "Jataka" in James Hastings, ed., Encyclopedia o f Religion and Ethics (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908), 491-494; for a more extensive (although dated) survey of the jatakas see
M. Wintemitz History o f Indian Literature, voL 2, part I, trans. Bhaskara Jha (Delhi: Bharatiya Vtdya
Prakashan) ,108-179. Wintemitz provides a brief overview o f the composite elements of the jataka stories
including the "connection" (samodhana) o f past and present narrative frames at p. I l l ; see also T .W . Rhys
Davis, Buddhist India 189-209. Ginette Martini makes several useful distinctions between jarnka narrative
frames and the Pancabuddhabyakarana, a 15th c. story o f the previous life o f the Bodhisatta (discussed
below) in the introduction to the Pancabuddhabyakarana. Ginette Martini, ed., ”Pancabuddhabyakarana "
Bulletin de l'£cole Frangaise D'Extreme-Orient 55 (1969): 126-144.
-210-
common by all bodhisattas, distinguish the relationships between bodhisattas from the
relationships they may have with both buddhas and ordinary beings, that is, those who
exhibit other modes of virtues.
Stated in general terms, a buddha serves as a model or inspiration for a bodhisatta
since a buddha has already attained the goals towards which the bodhisatta is striving. In
turn, the bodhisatta may serve as an inspiration for ordinary beings to someday make
their own aspiration to attain buddhahood. This is, of course, only one possible way of
viewing the bodhisattas' relationships with buddhas and ordinary beings, for as we have
already seen and will explore in greater depth in this chapter, these relationships are
complex combinations of exchanges of multiple forms of beneficence and reciprocity.
The focus on this dimension of the bodhisatta’s relationships is helpful in
distinguishing the community of bodhisattas. For it is only in the relationships between
bodhisattas that there is a bond formed by living with a commonly held goal. In this
community of bodhisattas, a bodhisattas can be both a source and a recipient of
inspiration in their relationships with other bodhisattas. Likewise, the beneficence and
reciprocity exchanged in the community of bodhisattas is directed at the attainment of
their mutually held goals of the prediction and buddhahood.
While all bodhisattas share common goals, and thus are directing their lives along
the same path, when bodhisatta meet they are not necessarily at the same stage of the
bodhisatta path. This attention to the particularities of bodhisatta’s inter-connecting
narratives creates important resources for the kind of aid that bodhisattas can offer each
other.
To explore this point, it is useful to return briefly to the pre-Sumedha story of the
Bodhisatta Gotama's lifetime as the princess who meets the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara.26
This story, discussed at length in chapter two, shows the inter-connection of two
26 See Smn 24-30.
-211-
Bodhisatta's biographies who are at different stages of the bodhisatta path.17 Recall that,
when the princess meets the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara, this Bodhisatta has just received
the prediction of his own future buddhahood from the Buddha Former Dlpankara but the
Bodhisatta Gotama is still far from attaining her (his) own prediction. This difference
between the Bodhisattas creates a particular form of exchange of beneficence and
reciprocity.
As I discussed in chapter two, the Bodhisatta Later Dlpankara facilitates the
princess’s declaration of her own aspiration to the Buddha Former Dlpankara by acting as
the intermediary between the Buddha and the Bodhisatta Gotama who never meet face-
to-face. Recall also that this Buddha is unable to make an unqualified prediction of the
princess because she is a woman and thus has not yet attained the eight preconditions of a
prediction. He does make the predicted prediction which the Bodhisatta Later Dlpankara
reports to the princess. The Bodhisatta Later DTpankara’s facilitation of the Bodhisatta
Gotama’s aspiration and predicted prediction can be seen as an act of beneficence done
by one bodhisatta for another in the service of a mutually held goal. He is able to give
this care to the Bodhisatta Gotama because he has progressed farther on the bodhisatta
path, since he has already attained the prediction guaranteeing his final goal of
buddhahood. His progress enables the Bodhisatta Later Dlpankara to accomplish what
the princess can not do on her own —communicate her aspiration to the Buddha and
receive his prediction of its success.

It is unclear if the Bodhisatta Gotama is able to reciprocate the care that Later
Dlpankara gives to her. It could be said that her gift of oil is a reciprocal act made in
response to the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara’s care for her. The princess's gift of oil
facilitates the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara’s continuing worship of the Buddha Former
27For the discussion o f this story in chapter two see pp. 93-105.
-212-
DTpankara giving him the opportunity to continue to make his own aspiration for
buddhahood, even after the initial prediction has been made.
Much is made of this gift in the text; with the princess’s oil, the Bodhisatta Later
DTpankara makes his largest and most magnificent offering of lights to the Buddha. Yet
the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara is acting beneficently in giving the princess the
opportunity to make the gift, the dana, and thereby win the merit from this act that she
directs specifically to avoiding future rebirths as a woman and more generally towards
the attainment of the goal of receiving her own prediction in a future lifetime and,
ultimately, buddhahood.3
The princess's gift of oil is at the same time an instance of the Bodhisatta Later
DTpankara’s beneficence and a reciprocal act in response to his care for her. The
princess's gift is a response to the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara’s needs - she gives him
something he values at the same time that she benefits from her act of giving. This points
to an important quality of reciprocity that is generated in relationships created by
predictions: even an act of reciprocity can be beneficial for the actor.
The exchange of beneficence between these Bodhisattas can be read in another
way as well. As the princess, the Bodhisatta Gotama does not perform a particular act of
reciprocity in return for the care she receives from the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara.
However, her presence becomes conditional for DTpankara's attainment of buddhahood.
Recall that the content of the prediction the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara receives
describing his own buddhahood focuses exclusively on the role he will play in the future
when, as the Buddha DTpankara, he will make a prediction of the princess reborn as the
3 For a study o f the dedication of offerings to the Buddha towards buddhahood or enlightenment see John
Strong's analysis o f the Avadana narratives in John Strong, T h e Transforming Gift: An Analysis of
Devotional Acts o f Offering in Buddhist Avadana Literature," History o f Religions 18, no. 3 (February
1979): 221-237. Maria Hibbets offers a useful comparative analysis o f gift giving in the Theravada,
Hindu, and Jain medieval traditions in Maria Hibbets, "Ethics o f Esteem," Journal o f Buddhist Ethics 7
(2000): 26-42. Hibbets’s discussion o f the superiority o f a worthy recipient o f an act o f dana are o f specific
relevance for my discussion here. While it may be impossible for gifts o f equal worth to be exchanged, the
particularities o f this pre-Sumedha narrative shows that even if the princess's act o f reciprocity can not
march the good created by the Bodhisatta Later DTpankara's, her gift o f oil is essential to his own well
being.
-213-
ascetic Sumedha. Thus, the predictions of these two Bodhisattas are significantly inter
connected as is their attainments of the goal of buddhahood. To a significant degree each
can become a buddha because of the other, even though, by the logic of the Theravadin
system of buddhas, they must attain this goal sequentially.
The Bodhisattas Gotama and Metteyya
The relationship between the Bodhisattas Gotama and Metteyya represents
another dimension of the community of bodhisattas. Unlike the meeting between the
Bodhisattas Later DTpankara and Gotama, who have reached different stages of the
bodhisatta path, when the Bodhisattas Gotama and Metteyya first meet in the Sotatthald
neither has yet received a prediction. This kind of hierarchy that structures the
relationship between Later DTpankara and Gotama is not, at least not at first, directly
stated in the Sotatthald. That is, within the narrative logic of this text, the reader does not
know (or has to suspend their knowledge of) which bodhisatta will first become a
buddha. This text is, however, a story of the Bodhisatta Gotama’s career first and
foremost, and so while these stories show the inter-connection of the biographies of these
two Bodhisattas —and provide us with a vision of Metteyya as a bodhisatta —it is always
clear who is the star of the show since these stories are in service of the Bodhisatta
Gotama’s biography.
The Bodhisatta Metteyya first appears in the Sotatthald in the pre-Sumedha story
of the Brahmin risi as one of his Mends and students. The central event of this story,
Gotama's self-sacrifice to a starving tigress, is famous throughout the Buddhist world.29
29 The story o f the Brahmin risi, or as it is more commonly known, the story o f the Tigress, is not found, in
the Pali Jdtaka. As far as I know, the only versions o f this story found in Pdli literature are in the pre-
Sumedha stories. In the Sotatthald, Smn 20-23; Mahdsampindanidana pp. 7-9; Jtnak 5-7. The Tigress
story, however, is wide spread in Buddhist literature; this story can be found for example in Arya Sura’s
Jatakantald. Kern Hendrik, ed.. The Jataka-mala: Stories o f Buddha's Former Incarnations, Otherwise
Entitled Bodhisattva-avaddna-mdla by A ryaSura (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1891; repr.
1914,1943.) For an English translation see Peter Khoroche, Once the Buddha Was a Monkey (Chicago:
The University o f Chicago Press, 1989), 5-9. It is known as the story o f Brahmaprabha in the
-214-
However, it is the ordinary details of the Sotatthalds version of the story which attract
my attention here; these details, which lead up to the dramatic climax, reveal important
dimensions about the relationships between bodhisattas.
As told in the pre-Sumedha stories in the Sotatthald, the Bodhisatta Gotama is a
gifted young man who masters the arts of learning and acts as the teacher of five hundred
youths while he is still a boy. Even when he leaves the householder life at the death of
his parents to live the secluded life of an ascetic he is followed by more young brahmins
who seek him out as their teacher.
In time, his five hundred original pupils join him after they, too, are free of their
family obligations upon the deaths of their fathers. The Brahmin risi who sought solitude
seems bound to communal life, and the bonds of these relationships between teacher and
pupils are emphasized in the narrative. While all the students have benefited under the
Bodhisatta’s tutelage and are able to attain high meditative states, his original five
hundred students remain together as a community rather than wandering independently
on their own. The Sotatthald says,
That company of risis having learned the bases of meditation from the
Bodhisatta (Gotama) went each by themselves wherever they liked.
Cultivating the bases of meditation, they reached the jhdnas. Not being
deficient in the jhdnas, they were reborn in the Brahma world. Five
hundred brahmin risis lived with the Bodhisatta because of [their]
previous love for him.30
Even when all the members of this community are capable of living in the sought-after
states of meditative isolation, they choose instead to live amongst one another. But even
among this group there is a hierarchy of preferences in the relationships. The Brahmin
Divyavadana, E. B . Cowell & R. A . Neil, eds., Divyavadana (England: University Press, 1886.) The story
o f the tigress also forms a chapter o f the Suvarnabhdsottamasutra, see RJE. Emmerick, trans.. The Sutra o f
Golden Light (London: Luzac & Company, 1970), 85-97.
30 Smn 21. T e pi isigana bodhisattassa santika lrasinaparilcamTnam sikkhitva attano attano rucitthanam
gantva kasinaparikammam bhavetva jhanam uppadetva aparihmajrjhitna brahmaloke nibbattimsn.
Pancasata brahmanaisiyo bodhisattassa pubbasinehena bodhisattena saddhim vasimsu."
-215-
risi's favorite and best pupil is identified as the Bodhisatta Metteyya. The bonds of
particular relationships are singled out even in a narrative context that values the
importance of communities. Interestingly, in this narrative Metteyya is not given a name
specific to this lifetime. He is either called the Bodhisatta Metteyya, drawing attention to
his trans-lifetime position in this text as well as his own biography, or as the jetthasissa,
the senior-most or best pupil, referencing his hierarchical position in relation to the
Brahmin risi as well as the rest of the renunciants.31 Note also that the Bodhisatta
Gotama, identified throughout the story as the Bodhisatta is not given a proper name
specific to this lifetime but rather a name that functions as a title describing his role for
those among whom he lives.
The importance of the connection between these two Bodhisattas is increasingly
emphasized as the narrative moves to the climatic scene of the Bodhisatta Gotama's self-
sacrifice to the hungry tigress. Searching for food, the Brahmin risi sends the pupils off
on their own but chooses himself to wander about with his favorite student, the
Bodhisatta Metteyya. As they are searching for food, they come upon the tigress who is
only moments away from eating her own offspring. As would be expected, the Brahmin
risi responds to the sight of this mother eating her own children identifying not only the
horror of this particular situation but the abstract principles that are illustrated by the
tigresses actions. The Brahmin risi says,
"Aho! Let samsara be condemned! This (tigress) desires to eat the children bom
from her own blood in order to protect her own life!"32
31 It is interesting to note that in the version o f this pre-Sumedha story in the Mahasampindanidana the
Bodhisatta Metteyya is given the name Ajita in this lifetime —Ajita is the name o f the Bodhisatta Metteyya
in his final lifetime in the Anagatavamsa as w ell as in his lifetime as a monk in the sangha of the Buddha
Gotama in the Pathamasambodhi.
32Smn 21. "Aho dhiratthu vata samsaro esa hi attano jlvitam rakkhanatthaya attano Iohitto jate putte
khaditukam2ti"
The tigress serves as a tangible metaphor o f the abstract principle o f samsara. Reiko Ohnuma's work on the
literalization o f metaphor includes a discussion o f concrete representations o f samsara. See Reiko
Ohnuma, "The Gift o f the Body and the Gift o f Dharma," 331,337.
At first it is Bodhisatta Gotama's wisdom and insight that is emphasized in the narrative.
He takes charge of the situation, telling the Bodhisatta Metteyya to go off on his own and
search for food for these tigers. But this student, remarkable in many ways, also is aware
of the import of this situation.
The responses of both Bodhisattas to the tigress's desire for self preservation is
nearly identical: now apart from one another, they each reflect upon the value, or more
precisely, the lack of value, of their own bodies over multiple lifetimes.33 The parity
between their independent reactions is suggested in the text. Focusing first upon
Metteyya the text says:
"That best student [was] investigating all his own births in the future.’’34
Metteyya's contemplation of the continuing existence of the body over lifetimes
causes him to sing a series of verses comparing the body to a city full of
pollutants and dangers.
The Bodhisatta Gotama's reflections on the body take him in something of a
reverse direction from Metteyya's. His meditation on the worthlessness of his own body
makes him reflect upon his previous lives while Metteyya focuses on the future. The
Bodhisattas are both aware of the hazards caused by attachment to the body not only in
their present lifetimes but in the future and past respectively as well.
33 Meditations on the foulness o f the body are of central importance to the development of detachment and
the realisation of impermanence. See for example the section o f "mindfulness occupied with the body" in
the "Description o f Concentration" in the Visuddhimagga. For studies on the foulness o f the body see for
example: Steven Collins, "The Body in Theravada Buddhist Monasticism," in Religion and the Body, ed.
Sarah Coakley (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), 185-204; Wilson, Charming Cadavers',
Susanne Mrozik, "The Relationship Between Morality and the Body in Monastic Training According to the
Siksasamuccaya," (Ph. D. diss., Harvard University, 1998), see especially chapter three.
34 Smn p. 21. "So jetthasisso anagatakale sakalam sakamattabhavam vicinanto..."
-217-
The verses on the body as a city of ruin and destruction serve as the central
teaching in this narrative which explains the Bodhisatta Gotama's actions of sacrificing
himself to the tigress. However, the text is somewhat ambiguous about who is making
this teaching. The introduction to these verses seems to clearly indicate that Metteyya is
the source of this extended metaphor of a perilous city - Metteyya is clearly the subject
of the verb, "aha" ("he said") directly preceding the verses. The source of ambiguity
around these verses arises in the narrative directly following where the focus switches to
the Bodhisatta Gotama, who is said to have investigated the body in this way, "evam,"
referencing these same verses. Is the text suggesting that the Bodhisatta Gotama is also
singing these verses at the same time as Metteyya? Or is it merely suggesting that hearing
Metteyya's song he too was moved to meditate upon the worthlessness of his own body?
This analysis of a rather minute point in the Sotatthald is worth making because in
its existing form the Sotatthald leaves us with a profitable ambiguity about the sources
of understanding and motivation for these Bodhisattas. If the Bodhisatta Metteyya is
taken as the speaker of these verses, then it is his reflections that spark the Bodhisatta
Gotama's understanding of the perils of his own body and motivate him to sacrifice
himself to the tigress. The Bodhisatta Metteyya, even though he is cast as the student of
the Brahmin risi in this instance becomes an important teacher to him. Metteyya's
musings serve as an important moment of beneficence towards the Bodhisatta Gotama's
which motivates him to act beneficently towards the tigress and her cubs.
Alternatively, if we leave open the possibility that these verses are at the same
time originating from the Bodhisattas Gotama and Metteyya, we are left with an
intriguing moment of parity between the two Bodhisattas.
-218-
I think either reading is possible and both show a shifting hierarchy between the
Bodhisatta Gotama and Metteyya. The first reading of this story shows Metteyya in a
temporarily superior position to Gotama, while the second shows them as equals. In
either case, this momentary shift in their relationship and the hierarchy between the two
is reestablished as it is the Bodhisatta Gotama alone who takes the heroic course of action
by offering himself up as food to the tigress. At this point in the narrative Metteyya slips
into the shadows.
However, I want to underscore the possibility created in the Sotatthald of the
inversion of roles between teacher and student, and the position in the buddha lineage
that Gotama must always proceed Metteyya. This text holds open the possibility that
hierarchies of social inequality as well as the lineage between bodhisattas can at time be
beneficially inverted. When we see that it is Metteyya and not Gotama who gives the
teaching of the foulness of the body, we then see that Gotama's self-sacrifice is motivated
to a significant degree by the beneficent presence of another Bodhisatta without denying
or removing the Bodhisatta Gotama’s agency in this famous action.35 In my reading of the
text there is a reciprocity of teaching between the two Bodhisattas.
The Sotatthatt's narration of the tigress story presents the most dramatic vision of
the Bodhisatta in comparison to the two other Pali versions of this same story found in
the Mahasampindanidana and JinakalamdlT. The versions of this pre-Sumedha story in
these works do not possess the elaborate narratives of the Sotatthald that would either
35 The disparity between Bodhisattas’s proximity to buddhahood with their apparent degrees o f insight and
awareness is a common feature in the relationships between Bodhisattas in Mahayana literature.
Padmanabh Jaini cites an example from the Saddharmapundarika-sutra that shows that in the common
parting o f the Bodhisattva Maitreya (Ski.) with the Bodhisattva Mafijum it is often Mafijuin who is
depicted as superior in knowledge and insight even though it is Maitreya who w ill become the next
Buddha. See Jaini, "Stages in the Bodhisattva Career o f the Tathagata Maitreya," 60-61. This feature of
the Mahayana depiction o f the relationships between bodhisattas which Jaini describes as astonishing
-219-
deny or confirm the reading I am giving here.36 Neither of these versions of this story
include the long verses of the identification of the body with a foul city, nor do they
include any reference to the musings of the Bodhisatta Metteyya. The emphasis is solely
on the Bodhisatta Gotama's actions, although both contain details of the particular
relationship between the Brahmin risi and his foremost student who is identified in both
texts as the Bodhisatta Metteyya. As in the Sotatthafa, the friendship between the two
Bodhisattas is an important feature of the story.
In the Divyavadana versions of the tigress story, the interaction between the
Bodhisattas is in service of establishing a hierarchy and lineage. In this story, the
Bodhisatta Gotama as Brahmaprabha is said to have surpassed Metteyya in the line-up to
become a buddha because he was willing to sacrifice himself to the tigress and Metteyya
was not.37 The Bodhisattas are in a sense played off one another —Metteyya’s failure to
act highlights Gotama’s superior virtues all the more. In the SotatthakTs version of this
story, the Bodhisattas are also distinguished by their actions —it is Gotama alone who
sacrifices his life to the tigress —but the Bodhisattas are identified with one another by
their shared understanding of the abstract truths of the dangers of self-preservation and
the reality of impermanence that propel the unfolding events. The mutuality between the
Bodhisattas is the basis for the reciprocal aid and teachings that they offer to one another.
The importance of the exchange of beneficence in the relationships between
Bodhisattas is also supported by the Sotatthakfs pre-Sumedha story of the Bodhisatta
suggests that my analysis o f the Pali text might create an important conversation with Mahayana sources.
36 The content o f all three versions o f this story is greatly overlapping although they do differ in details.
For example, the Mahasampindanidana provides Ajita as the name o f Metteyya while the Sotatthald and
the Jinkdktmdti do not. The Sotatthald is the most elaborate version o f the story. The Jmkakanatt seems to
be an abbreviated version o f the Sotatthaia since certain passages are identical or nearly identical and the
same verse is given o f the Bodhisatta Gotama's aspiration.
-220-
Gotama's rebirth as the King Atideva. The Bodhisatta Metteyya also appears in this
episode, reborn as the king’s minister, Sirigutta.33 Together with the tigress story, the
story of King Atideva establishes a pattern of relationships emphasizing the inversion of
hierarchies between Bodhisattas.
In the story of King Atideva, the Bodhisatta Metteyya is also clearly the social
inferior to the Bodhisatta Gotama —he serves the king as his minister. Yet the narrative
suggests that as his amacca, his intimate advisor, the one Bodhisatta serves as the close
advisor and friend to the other, rather than a mere official. The Sotatthald says,
"At that time the Bodhisatta Metteyya was called Sirigutta, he was the
minister of the king and advised him in politics and religion."39
The Bodhisatta Metteyya's role as the Bodhisatta Gotama’s teacher suggested in the
tigress story is made explicit and definitive in this subsequent narration.
The Buddha's appearance in the world is accompanied by the requisite miracles
that mark a Buddha's arrival. These signs terrify the Bodhisatta Gotama who, as King
Atideva, sits upon his throne wishing to flee. It is the Bodhisatta Metteyya, at his side,
who realizes that this is an occasion for celebration rather than fear, and he explains to
the king that the omens signify the presence of a Buddha. The Sotatthald says:
At that time the fully enlightened Buddha called Brahmadeva who

had fulfilled the perfections in eight asankheyyas and one hundred
thousand kappas, arose as a fully enlightened Buddha called Brahmadeva
in the Nanda asankheyya in a kappa called Sara. He came to the place of
taming the dhamma wheel that was not forsaken by all buddhas near the
city of Karakanda for the purpose of turning the dhamma wheel. The light
of his body shone like the light of a thousand suns over the entire city.
37 E. B . Cowell & R. A. Neil, eds.. The Divyavadana, 476-481.

3SSmn31.
39 Smn 31. Tada siriguttanSmako metteyyabodhisatto tassa rafino atthadhammanusasako amacco ahosi."
-221-
At that time the king sat in his royal palanquin at the top of his
palace while the minister Sirigutta sat in front of the king. The king
having seen a very great light coming towards the city, did not known who
it was —god or man. He was afraid, trembling, desiring to get down from
the lion throne. When Sirigutta saw his desire to get down from the throne
he looked out with the lion-snare/net40and saw that noble one endowed
with the thirty-two marks of the great man whose entire body was marked
with the eighty attributes. The Blessed One was shinning as if he were
sprinkling showers of the essence of gold on all the city houses, palaces,
gabled houses, gates, archways, fences, and parks, etc.. Because
(Metteyya) had (in previous lifetimes) seen many hundred of previous
Buddhas and had made (his) aspiration in the presence of many buddhas,
he knew at a glance that this was a Buddha.
He said this to the king:

"Don't be afraid great king. This one who has come is not a
common being, this one is an omniscient, fully enlightened being."
Having said that, holding forth his right hand, he displayed the
buddhaguna, he said thus:
"0 great king, this one is a Buddha,

The best of men in the world,
That conqueror arises in the world
For the benefit of all beings.
"An arahant, a well gone one in the world,

The Blessed One has gone beyond the world,
The One endowed with virtue,
A guide towards release."
"The best, fully enlightened Buddha,

The best coachman of men,
The teacher of men and gods,
The Buddha, the highest of men."
"A relative who makes benefit for all the world,

(He is) the home of the jewel of the true religion,
The Lord bom out of compassion for beings,
DTpankara."41
401 am unable to determine the meaning o f sthajala which might be translated as a lion snare or lion net.
The context suggests that this is an instrument that the Bodhisatta Metteyya uses to see the Buddha off in
the distance, perhaps it is something like a telescope. Perhaps there is some connection between the siha
jala and the sihasana, the king's throne.
41 This title o f the Buddha, DTpankara, can mean the maker o f lamps, as in the one who bestows light, a
central image o f a buddha. In the context o f the Sotatthald\his epithet evokes the previous Iifestory of the
Buddha Former DTpankara and foreshadows the prediction encounter with the Buddha (Later) DTpankara.
" The Blessed One, lord of the Dhamma,
Who is skilled in things seen with the eye,
The one who sees teaches the dhamma,
For the sake of releasing (beings) from the realm of death."
"The great sage, the compassionate one,

Teaches all living beings.
He who is best among those who possess eyes,
Sets forth the light of dhamma."
Having described the guna of the Blessed One thus, again he spoke thus
his name,
"This one, 0 great king is the Blessed One, Brahmadeva,
Let you see the blessed one in the middle of the path again and
again.”
Just as he spoke, the Blessed One arrived. Sirigutta having seen that the
Blessed One arrived, again said this to the king:" Let you rise up, o great
king, from the lion throne. Let you greet the Blessed One. But why do I
say this?"
"One hundred elephants and one hundred horses,

A hundred chariots and mares,
one hundred thousand serving women,
adorned with jewels,
are less than a sixteenth part
of one footstep (towards the Buddha)."
This verse was said by the bodhisatta Metteyya called Sirigutta in the time
of the arising of the Blessed One Brahmadeva.42
42 Smn 31-33. T ada brahmadevo nama sammasambuddho fcappasatasahassadhik2ni attha asankhyeyyani
paramiyo puretvS tasmim oandaasankhyeyye saranamake kappe brahmadevanamako sammasambuddho
uppajji. So dhammacakkapavattanatthaya karakandanagarassa samTpe sabbabuddhehi avijahitam
rihaTnmaralrkapavattnnatthgnarn agamSsi. Tassa saiirappabha sakalakarakandanagaram sahassasuriyapabha
viya paiinayi. Atha raja uparipasade rajapailanke m'sfdi. Siriguttamacco pi rafino purato nisinno ahosi. So
raja tam atimahappabham nagarabhimukham Sgacchantam d isvi devo va manusso vS kinci ajanetva bhlto
kampito slhasanaro otaritukamo ahosi. Tadi sirigutto tam asanato otaritukSmam disva slhajalena olokento
tarn sirivantam hatrimsamahapumalakkhanaparimanditam asTtanubyanjanaranjitam sakalasariram
ca ka Innagaragharapasada Iriitagaradvaratoranapakarauyyangdisu kanakarasadhirShi sincayamanam viya
obhasayam3nakam tathSgatam disva anekasate pubbe buddheditthapubbatta bahunam buddhanam sandke
panidhlnam katattS ca ditthamatteva buddhabhavam afinasi. Natva ca pana rajanam etad avoca ’m l
bhiyittha maharaja. Eso agato na annataro satto sabbafinu sammasambuddho eso' ti vatva buddhagunam
assa pakasento dakkhinahattham pasaretva evam 5ha:
Esa buddho maharSja I loke uttamapuggalo I sabbasattahitatthaya I loke uppajji so jiao II Araham sugato
Ioke I bhagava lokaparagu I vijjgcaranasampanno I vimuttipannayako I! jettho sammabhisambuddho I settho
purisasarathi I sattha devamanussSnam I buddho appatipuggalo II sabbalokahito bandhu I
saddhammaratanalayn I sattanam anukampaya | jato oStho dlpahkaro II cakkhuditthesu kusalo I
dtiammasamf tathagato I maccudheyyavimokkhSya I rThamtnam dcsesi cakkhuma IIdescsi sabbapanlnam I
dayapanno mahamnni I dhammalokam pakaseti I cakkhumantiina uttam oti II [w . 54-59]
Evam tathagatassa gunam vannetva puna tassa namarn kathento evam aha:
-223-
This extensive excerpt from the Sotatthald reveals a great deal about Metteyya as a
bodhisatta as well as the interaction between these Bodhisattas. The two are clearly
intimates. Sirigutta offers guidance and council to the king, comforting and even
protecting him. Once again, we see that these Bodhisattas enjoy the presence of each
others company. The most remarkable aspect of this narrative is Metteyya's role as the
educator of the Bodhisatta Gotama on buddhological matters. While the narrative paints
the Bodhisatta Gotama as ignorant of the signs of a buddha, Metteyya is fully
knowledgeable. This disparity in their awareness of the Buddha Brahmadeva creates an
opportunity for an exchange of beneficence. The Bodhisatta Metteyya shares his own
knowledge of buddhas with the Bodhisatta Gotama, instructing him in the buddhagunas,
the virtues of a buddha.
The buddhagunas can be grouped together as a list of ten epithets of a buddha.
These names are invoked as a meditational object that can serve to purify, protect, and
prepare the meditator for higher states of meditation.43 As Paul Harrison explains in his
study of the historical development of the recollection of the Buddha in the Buddhist
world, the practice of buddhanussati, recollecting the Buddha, is a formula which
Harrison likens to a creed which encapsulates a statement of faith and identity of
practice.44 Harrison argues that the recitation produces a variety of mental states — it can
Ayafi ca kho maharaja I brahmadevo tathagato I bhasanto vithiya majjhe I passathecam punappunan ti II
[v.60I
Vacanasamanantaxam eva tathagato anuppatto. Sirigutto anuppattam tathagatam disva puna rajanam etad
avoca utthetha maharaja imasma sihasana. Tathagatassa paccuggamanam karotha. Kasma pana vadami:
Satam hatthl satam assa I satam assatariratha I satam kannasahassani I amukkamanikundala I ekassa
padavTdharassa I fadam nagghanti solasin ti II [v.61]
Ima gatha brahmadevatathagatassa uppajjanakale siriguttanamakena metteyyabodhisattena vutta."

43The buddhagunas are one o f ten recollections that form a set o f meditation objects in the Visudhimagga.
See Visudhimagga: "Cha-anussad-niddessa and Anussati-kammatthana-niddessa." For the historical
development o f the anussati in the Pali Nikayas and their codification in the commentaries, see Paul
Hanison, "Commemoradon and Identification in Buddhanusmrti,'* in /n the M irror o f Memory, ed. Janet
Gyatso (Albany: State University o f New York Press, 1992), 215-238.
44Paul Harrison, "Commemoration and Identification in Buddhanusmrti," 217.
-224-
create a mental purification, serve as a foundation for advance meditations, and even
protect the meditator from fear.45
The Bodhisatta Metteyya’s pronouncement of the buddhagunas to the Bodhisatta
Gotama does not precisely map onto buddhanussati. The verses he recites describe the
buddhagunas in greater detail then the list of ten titles which comprise the standard
formulation found in the Majjhima and Ahguttara Nikayas and quoted in the
Visuddhimagga* The Sotatthald verses only list eight of the ten epithets in the
buddhanussati formula (anuttaro and lokavidu are missing) and they are given in a
different order.
These are significant differences that distinguish Metteyya's teaching from the
practice of buddhanussati, and yet his recitation serves many of the same purposes. The
narrative context suggests that Metteyya offers the buddhagunas as a way of mollifying
the Bodhisatta Gotama's fear, as well as preparing him to meet the Buddha Brahmadeva.
In this way, the Bodhisatta Metteyya's instruction is directed towards the present moment
as he encourages King Atideva to go out from the palace to greet and worship this
Buddha. In the same way, the Bodhisatta Metteyya’s words serve the Bodhisatta
Gotama's ongoing development as a bodhisatta as well his own transformation.
Metteyya and Gotama alike are, in effect, learning the qualities they aspire to attain as
buddhas themselves. This is suggested by the narrative detail of Metteyya holding up his
right hand as he recites the buddhagunas, a pose suggesting the pose of a buddha holding
forth a mudra, a descriptive hand gesture.47
45 Paul Hanison, "Commemoration and Identification in Buddhanusmrti" 217-218.

45 M 137; A 3.285.
47 While not specified, this mudra might be either the abhdya mudra, freedom from fear, in which the hand
is held up with the palm facing outwards or the vada mudra, granting a boon, when the arm and hand are
extended downwards with the palm, facing outwards. For a study o f mudra see K. L Matics, Gestures o f
the Buddha (Bangkok: Chulalongkom University Press, 1998.) For a study o f a Metteyya image in
Thailand with comparative discussions o f the image in South and Southeast Asia see Nandana Chutiwongs
and Denise Patty Leidy, Buddha o f the Future: An Earty M aitreya From Thailand (New York: The Asia
Society Galleries, New York, 1994.)
-225-
Harrison’s point about the communal nature of buddhanussati is particularly
helpful here. He argues that while anussati is primarily a solitary practice, it creates a
community among practitioners who establish a common identity through this shared
meditation practice. Even more significandy, the practice of buddhanussati creates a
community between the Buddha, who is being called forth in this recollection, and the
meditator.48
The Sotatthald gives us a narrative example of this kind of community and
(characteristically) extends it even farther. Metteyya's recitation creates a community
between these two Bodhisattas and a community between them and the Buddha
Brahmadeva whom they will shortly encounter face-to-face. Through his song of the
Buddha's gunas, Metteyya is directly instrumental in bringing the Bodhisatta Gotama into
the presence of a buddha, where the Bodhisatta Gotama has the opportunity to make his
mental aspiration in the presence of a buddha for the first time according to the biography
presented in the Sotatthald,\ Once again, we see that a bodhisatta’s beneficence is directed
towards supporting the aspiration of another bodhisatta.
At this point in their inter-connecting biographies, the Bodhisatta Metteyya's
awareness as a bodhisatta clearly surpasses that of the Bodhisatta Gotama. The narrator
explicitly states that Metteyya has been in the presence of hundreds of buddhas in
previous lifetimes and has made his own aspiration for buddhahood in their presence.
But, at least within the world of the Sotatthald, this is the first moment in the Bodhisatta
Gotama’s career that he encounters a buddha. Metteyya, it seems, is farther along the
bodhisatta path than Gotama, or at least we can say that the Sotatthald makes clear that he
has been on this path longer than Gotama.49 This position enables Metteyya to offer this
48 Paul Harrison, "Commemoration, and Identification in Buddhanusmrti," 230-231.

49 Traditionally, Metteyya is said to be a bodhisatta who excels in energy and thus must develop as a
bodhisatta for the longest period o f time. In the traditional theory o f bodhisatta careers found in the
commentaries to the Caripyapitaka and the Suttanipdta the length o f his career would be sixteen
asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas. But according to the expanded theory o f the bodhisattas's careers
underlying the narrative o f the Sotatthald, Metteyya’s career would last for a duration o f 80,000
asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas.
-226-
beneficence to Gotama. This is not a competition between bodhisattas to see who will
reach the finish line of buddhahood first. Metteyya gladly offers his knowledge and
encouragement to Gotama, and it is only at his insistence that the Bodhisatta Gotama
goes to worship the Buddha Brahmadeva and make his first aspiration in the presence of
a buddha.
There is a constant shifting in the hierarchy between these two Bodhisattas. The
Bodhisatta Gotama is reborn as the king, clearly the social superior to Metteyya, who is
reborn as his minister. Yet it is the Bodhisatta Metteyya and not Gotama who knows of
the beneficial care given by a buddha. Metteyya enables Gotama to receive this care
from the Buddha Brahmadeva. And then the hierarchy is inverted once again for it is
Gotama who goes into the Buddha’s presence and makes his aspiration. The focus ends
on the Bodhisatta Gotama and his progress towards buddhahood, preempting Metteyya’s
own position.
The Bodhisattas of the Bhadda kappa
The importance of knowing buddhas as bodhisattas - bodhisattas who live in
community with one another —is attested to in a short Pali text, the
Pancabuddhabyakarana, written in 15“*century Thailand.50 This text, which gives the
sacred history of a site near the town of Uttaradit in central Thailand, tells of the meeting
of five Bodhisattas that become the five Buddhas of the present kappa, the Bhadda
kappa: Kukkusandha, Konagamana, Kassapa, Gotama, and the future Buddha, named in
this text as Sri Ariyametteyya.
50 For the Pali edition o f the Pancabuddhabyakarana see Martini, ed„ "Pancabuddhabyakarana" 139-144.
Martini translates the Pancabuddhabyakarana from the Thai based upon an appendix to the Thai edition o f
the PafinSsa-jatafca, Vol. 28, BE 2482 [C E19391. An English translation from the Thai by Bruce Evans
appears in. Fragile Palm Leaves No. 5 (May 2542/1999): 9-12 as well as an informative introduction to
the text and the traditions surrounding the five Buddhas o f the Bhadda kappa. See Fragile Palm Leaves,
pp. 8-9. For a partial translation o f the Pali Pahcabuddhabyakarana see John Strong, The Experience o f
Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations Religious Life in History Series (Belmont, California: Wadsworth
Publishing Company, 1995), 220-221.
-227-
The first section of this narrative is of the greatest interest for my purposes here.
It shows these five figures in a past time when all were still bodhisattas, having taken
rebirth as animals that are connected via a folk etymology to their buddha names —
Kukkusandha is reborn in this life as a cock, Konagama, as a naga, Kassapa, as a turtle,
Gotama, as a bull, and Metteyya, as a lion.51 The narrator does not specify if these
Bodhisattas have already received a prediction of their own buddhahood from a buddha
but it does state that these Bodhisattas are perfecting the perfections, ("parami purenta").51
As I have shown in chapters two and three, the perfection of the parami can be
fulfilled before the reception of a prediction, or immediately following its bestowal. This
small phrase suggests that these Bodhisattas are at a fairly advanced stage of their
bodhisatta careers, and even more importantly, it indicates a parity between the five,
since they are all engaged in the same practice.
One by one, these Bodhisattas wander to the same place where they have each
come seeking a spot to practice their sila, morality. While each starts off as a solitary
wanderer seeking a desolate place to continue their practice of the perfections, they are
drawn together to form a community. The Pancabuddhabyakarana explicitly and
evocatively narrates many of the themes I have discussed in this chapter. The text says:
"At that time the Bodhisatta Vanakukkuta (Kukkusandha) desiring

to become a buddha protected his sila in a mountain cave. Soon after, the
Bodhisatta Nagaraja (Konagamana) desiring to become a buddha
protected sila in that same mountain cave. When he saw Vanakukkuta he
asked him:
"For what purpose are you staying here alone?"
Kukkuta replied:
"I am here protecting sila (in order) to attain buddhahood in the
future. For what purpose are you staying here?"
51 The folk etymologies o f the Bodhisattas’ names is discussed in Fragile Palm Leaves, No. 4- (September
254L/1998):10: "The story is a good example o f a South East Asian folk jataka'. An Indian grammarian
would be alarmed at the ’etymologies' that link the five bodhisattvas with five animals: kukkuti (hen) -
Kakusanda, naga (serpent) - Konagamana, kacchapa (turtle) - Kassapa, go (cow) - Gotama, siha (lion) -
Phra Si An (Sri Arya Maitreya.)"
51 Pancabuddhabyakarana, 139.
The Nagaraja replied:
"I have come here to protect sila for the sake of buddhahood."
Kukkuta then said this:

"Friend! (Bho) O Nagaraja, our aspiration (patthana) is the same!
Let us protect our sila here together!"
The two Bodhisattas protected sila as they pleased. Following that

time, Kacchapa (Kassapa) Bodhisatta desiring buddhahood went there to
protect sila. Then, following him, the Bodhisatta Usabharaja (Gotama)
desiring buddhahood went there to protect sila. Following him, Siha
Bodhisatta (Metteyya) desiring to buddhahood went there to protect sila.
Thus, gradually, the five Bodhisattas became friends with one another
(patisanthdram karimsu).
These Bodhisattas vowed thus one by one:

"Friends! Let us protect sila here together in this place, this is a
noble place! When we become buddhas in the same kappa whichever of
us companions becomes a Buddha first, let that companion come here
when he has become a Buddha!"53
These Bodhisattas follow the same path, here focused upon practices of sila, and
this path leads them to the same place where they will meet one another and form a
community of friends bound together by their common practice and their common
aspiration for buddhahood. Their path and aspiration binds them together as a
community, and moreover we see again in this narrative the pleasure o f these friendships
and the preference for company over a solitary existence. The importance of friendship,
patisanthara, is attested to in the Mangaladipanfs explication of a verse which states that
"those who have respect for friendship will be unable to decay and will be in the presence
of nibbana."*1
53 Pancabuddhabyakarana, p. 139.
54MahgaladipanT(Bangkok: Mahamakutarajaviyalaya, 2505/1972), 204. (Hereafter cited as Marig-d) The
v a se quoted in the MangaladlpanTis from A. 4.27.
-229-
The MangaladTpanT describes two kinds of friendship — dmisasanthdra, material
friendship, and dhammasanthara, dhamma friendship, or a friendship through teaching.
While the dhamma friendship is the superior of the two, both kinds of friendships are
seen as a way of covering the distance between oneself and another.55 By establishing a
friendship with one another, the Bodhisattas might be offering each other material
support such as food, a seat, and a place to dwell, as is detailed by the MangaladTpanT as
among the kinds of care that a monk should offer another in friendship.56 Clearly, in
sharing in the practice of sila the Bodhisattas establish a dhamma friendship. This
section of the MangaladTpanT reveals that the friendship between the Bodhisattas is not
merely an addition to their practice —rather, it is the basis for the success of their
practice.
In the Pancabuddhabyakarana, the Bodhisattas’ shared purpose in their present
life and their visions of themselves in the future that joins them as friends. All prefer to
remain together even though each had retreated to the mountain cave alone.
The bond between these bodhisattas is deepened in a Thai story about these five
Bodhisattas titled Sadaeng Anisahs Phra Jao 5 Phra Ong17which depicts these five
Bodhisattas as brothers bom to a mother and father who were albino crows. The five
brothers are separated at birth and each reared by a foster mother who give the
Bodhisattas their identity as hen, naga, turtle, cow, and lion respectively, although, unlike
55Mang-d 207: "Etadaggam bhikkhave imesam dvinnam santharanam yadidam dhammasantharo ti

dhamma suttam pathamasuttam"
"Of these two friendships this is ch ief, O monks, that is, the dhamma frienship is the better."
And "Catflhi pacceyahi attano ca parassa ca antaram padcchananavasena santharanam amisasanthara.
Dhammena santharanam dhammasa anthara."
56 Mang-d 209.
57 Bruce Evans, trans., "The Blessings o f the Five Buddhas," in Fragile Palm Leaves, N o. 4 (September
2541/1998):i0-l2.
-230-
the Pancabuddhabyakarana, the Bodhisattas hatch from their eggs as human, beings.
Eventually, the bodhisattas find their way back to one another, and live together on a
mountain side as hermits. Inquiring about each other, they realize that all of them had
been raised by foster mothers and they agree that each should try and find their birth-
mother.
"Having said this to each other, they developed a deep mutual affection,
and consulting with each other, concluded, W e should make a vow to find
out where our mothers are living,' and so held up their hands in unison,
palms together, above their heads in supplication to the devas in all
directions to influence the mind of their mother at that very moment"5*
At the conclusion, of the story, the Bodhisattas’ mother returns to them from her abode in
the Brahma realms where she has taken rebirth and reveals to them that she is the mother
of all of them. The friendship between bodhisattas in the Pancabuddhabyakarana is
extended, in the Thai story into brotherhood; a common path becomes a family destiny.
Both of these stories emphasize the benefits of living as a part of this community.
Foremost among these benefits is the development of their aspirations, which grows from
living in the company of others who have made identical aspirations. This mutuality is
extended to serve as the basis for the development of a shared aspiration that originates
from the community. According to the Pancabuddhabyakarana, the Bodhisattas do not
know who among them will become a buddha first, second, and so on. They do vow,
however, to become Buddhas in the same kappa.
We know, of course, the order in which they attain buddhahood and this lineage is
in fact acknowledged in the narrative, in that the Bodhisattas arrive at the mountain cave
in the order that they become Buddhas —first Kakusandha, then Konagamana, Kassapa,
Gotama, and last, Metteyya. But, again, there seems to be an implicit benefit to the
58 Evans, trans., "The Blessings of the Five Buddhas," I I .
-231-
relationship among bodhisattas in a time before their future is determined by the
prediction.
Their life together in the mountain cave supports not only their practice dedicated
towards sila-, it also gives them the opportunity to make a new and shared aspiration
together. Each of the five Bodhisattas vows that when they have attained their
aspirations and have become Buddhas they will return to this spot. Their individual
aspirations become the basis for a community aspiration, and this communal vow ensures
the continuation of their relationship over time. Even in their future lifetimes they will
recall their vow that they made to one another to return. Their friendship as bodhisattas
creates obligations that will continue into the future in the time when each will become a
buddha, separately, but their communal life will be remembered in their return to the
place where they assembled to protect their sila as bodhisattas.39
When Kakusanda becomes a Buddha, the story tells us, he did return to the
mountain. In this episode, he gives a lock of his hair to his arhant monks who, in turn,
give it to a king named Asoka who then builds a reliquary in which to deposit i t At that,
time Kakusanda makes a prediction that attests to the veracity of the aspiration he made
together with the four others in the past when they lived together as bodhisattas. The
Pancabuddhabyakarana states:
"That Kukkusandha made a prediction:
When I have attained final enlightenment, a king will enshrine my

relic here. When my teaching has passed there will be the teaching of four
buddhas here: Konagama, Kassapa, Gotama and Metteyya. Just so a king
39 Thai tradition maintains that the site where the five Bodhisattas met and lived together is near the present
day town o f Utaradit. hi Utaradit there is a Buddha footprint with four footprints one inside the other
symbolizing that the four Buddhas who have already arisen in the Bhadda kappa have visited this site
leaving their footprints one on top o f the other in the exact same spot. The worship o f the five Buddhas of
the Bhadda kappa is found throughout Southeast Asia. For example five Buddha images are worshiped at
the same altar, murals depict the five Buddhas o f this age, and reliquaries are said to contain remains o f the
four Buddhas who have already lived and passed into pariiubbdna. For a study o f a relic tradition o f the
Buddhas o f the Bhadda kappa in Burma see John Strong, "Les reliques des cheveux. da Bouddha au Shwe
Dagon de Rangoon” Aseanie 2 (Novembre 1988): 79-107.
-232-
will establish a relic of these (buddhas) here as enumerated up until

Metteyya."60
The place where the Bodhisattas lived together in the past becomes the focal point for
their continuing relationship over time. Kakusanda's prediction in a lifetime following
the Bodhisatta's aspiration guarantees the continuation of their relationship as community
over time. While they can no longer be present in the same moment —as two buddhas do
not arise in the world in the same time —they are present in the same place.
The prediction made by Kukkusandha draws together a vast expanse of time when
each of these bodhisattas will become a buddha; indeed, it is a time that has yet to reach
its end, since the Bodhisatta Metteyya has yet to arrive in our world as a Buddha. While
time is expansive, space remains fixed —each Buddha returns to the same place where
the vow and then later the prediction had been made. This spot becomes a fixed,
constant point that allows the community to continue. Although these figures are
separated by time (when they become Buddhas) they remain joined together in space:
that is, the place that served as the focus point for their aspirations and the prediction.
This point is reinforced by a pun in the Pali, which pairs the practice of sfla with a
rock, sila. That rock then becomes the spatial location that commemorates the joint
dwelling place of the five Bodhisattas. The aspiration and prediction enables a kind of
friendliness to continue, even into the time when the Bodhisattas become Buddhas. Their
lives lived together is remembered, and honored.
IV. The Community of Ordinary Beings
The narratives of ordinary beings inter-connect with the lifestories of the
Bodhisatta Gotama at different stages in his career leading to buddhahood. hi the
60 Pancabuddhabyakarana, 140.
-233-
Sotatthakd, a range of beings contribute to the Bodhisatta's development. Recall from
discussions in the earlier chapters the important presence of the gods —most notably
Mahabrahma —human beings, and animals in the entire bodhisatta biography as
presented in the Sotatthald. These relationships are distinguished from the relationship
among the community of bodhisattas in two central ways.
First, the relationships between the Bodhisatta and. the ordinary beings in the
SotatthakVs narratives take place in specific and contained lifetimes in the Bodhisatta's
biography. These relationships do not continue across lifetimes, as do the relationships
between Bodhisattas; rather, the focus in these relationships is a specific encounter at a
specific stage of the Bodhisatta’s path. This is one of the primary distinguishing points
between these pre-Sumedha stories and jataka tales in which the rebirths of the
prominent characters in a story are identified in the narrative’s conclusion.61 This jataka
framing is noticeably absent in all of the Sotatthakfs pre-Sumedha stories as well as the
versions of these stories that appear in the Mahasampindanidana and the JinakalamdlT.61
The Bodhisatta’s interaction with ordinary beings is a feature of continuity across his
lifetimes, yet each relationship is contained in a specific lifetime.
The second element that helps to define the community of ordinary beings as a
distinct community shaped by predictions is the dissimilarity between the Bodhisatta’s
telos and those of ordinary beings. Nowhere is it made explicit in the Sotatthald that
these beings desire to attain buddhahood themselves. Employing this definition, even the
gods, such as Mahabrahma, are defined as ordinary beings, since they are never made to
say that they are seeking buddhahood themselves. While the possibility remains that
these individuals could make such an aspiration in their future lifetimes, they are not
61 See fh. 25
62 See Mahasampindanidana 1-27; Jm akl-12. Many o f the jataka stories are mentioned in the
MahasampindanidSna in lists that tell the lifetimes when each o f the perfections were practiced,
Mahasampindanidana 41-46.
-234-
striving for this goal in the narratives in which they live their lives with the Bodhisatta
Gotama.
Unlike the community of bodhisattas, whose members form a community by their
identical goals, there need not be a single defining goal of the community of ordinary
beings who live with the Bodhisatta. But one goal that all share, with varying degrees of
intentionality, is to aid the Bodhisatta -- and this aid helps him attain his own goals of
gaining a prediction and developing towards buddhahood.
There is an interpretive value in describing a community of ordinary beings drawn
from the Sotatthakfs narratives, namely to draw attention to the virtues of ordinary
beings who participate in the Bodhisatta's career. While we can define the members of
this community as ordinary (that is, like you and me) their virtues are not necessarily
ordinary —often, they are exemplary. The interaction between the Bodhisatta and the
ordinary characters in the Sotatthald reveals different modes of virtues. The virtues of
ordinary beings are exemplary and possible to replicate. The virtues of bodhisattas are
exemplary as well, even more so, but not necessarily replicable for ordinary beings.
Originating moments of beneficence
I want to direct attention to the virtues of ordinary ethical actors in these stories in
order to see them as significant ethical actors. In order to examine this argument, we will
need to return to the Sotatthakfs versions of the pre-Sumedha stories. We have already
seen some of the ways in which the Bodhisatta’s interactions with other beings enabled
him to gain the aspiration and the eight conditions requisite for the reception of a
prediction. Here, I want to consider the acts of care performed by these ordinary beings
in the pre-Sumedha narratives in order to identify moments of beneficence directed at the
Bodhisatta. These actions done by ordinary ethical actors are the first instances of
-235-
beneficence in the SotatthakT —these actions are the originating source of beneficence
and reciprocity in this telling of the Bodhisatta's career.
I return now to the earliest stories presented in the SotatthakT, which tell of a
range of characters who play essential supporting roles in the initial stages of the
Bodhisatta’s career as a bodhisatta. Recall that the narrative section of the SotatthakT
opens with the deities in a state of alarm at the devolution of the universe due to the
absence of a buddha in the world. The deity Mahabrahma sets out to reverse this
cosmological condition by finding a person who he can make into a bodhisatta. As I
discussed at some length in chapter one, Mahabrahma is directly instrumental in causing
the young man who will become the Bodhisatta Gotama to arise as a bodhisatta. This
boy and his mother are drowning in an ocean storm when Mahabrahma fixes upon him as
a person endowed with the qualities capable of becoming a buddha, and so he causes the
aspiration to arise in this young man's mind.63
This act by Mahabrahma of gifting the aspiration to the young man, and thereby
making him a bodhisatta, is one of the first moments of beneficence in this account of the
Bodhisatta’s career. It is an act motivated by the needs of Mahabrahma himself, as well
as his broad ranging concern for all beings in the world, including the newly minted
Bodhisatta. The benefits of this inceptive act in the biography are seemingly limitless. All
living beings will benefit from the arising of a buddha in the world, and with the creation
of a bodhisatta there is the possibility of the existence of a future buddha. For the young
man who becomes the recipient of the aspiration, it has both immediate and future
repercussions. In the present moment, the aspiration enables him to save his life as well
as his mother's life; in the future, this gifted aspiration will steer him towards his own
salvation, just as it will enable him to work for the salvation of others.
® Smn 10-14.
-236-
The beneficence originates with Mahabrahma, but it is an act that serves him as
well; Mahabrahma serves his own goal by gifting the aspiration to the Bodhisatta. The
beneficence directed at a bodhisatta can, and does, possess benefits for the actor. This is a
defining feature of the beneficence generated by ordinary beings in this community.
There is not a rigid division between acting for the benefit of the bodhisatta and acting for
the benefit of oneself and other ordinary beings. In the case of Mahabrahma, this need
not be thought of in terms of a direct reciprocity on the part of the Bodhisatta. This
deity's goal is to create a buddha for the world; the Bodhisatta's reciprocity for
Mahabrahma's originating moment of beneficence might be seen as the Bodhisatta’s
internalization of that goal and the act of seeing it through to completion.
Mahabrahma's beneficent action is predicated on his virtues of perception and
insight. He not only sees the troubled state of the universe and a way to resolve it, but he
can also identify the abilities of the young man to whom he chooses to gift the aspiradon.
As we know from the outcome of the biography, Mahabrahma choose wisely. As a being
dwelling in the high realms of the universe, this "ordinary being" is not exactly common.
One might say his ability to identity a good candidate for bodhisattahood is not so much a
virtue as an indicator of the spiritual states that he has attained. For, as we have seen in
chapter three, the ability to penetrate the minds of others is one of the abhihhas,
supernatural powers, that can be attained by enlightened as well as unenlightened beings.
Can ordinary beings —that is, really ordinary beings without supernatural powers like
ourselves and those we meet every day—offer beneficence to a bodhisatta?
The SotatthakT shows that this is indeed a possibility. Bodhisattas are transformed
by the care not only of the deities but of the human beings and even the animals they
encounter in their many lives. These relationships also focus our attention on the role of
ordinary beings as an originating source of beneficence. Ordinary beings demonstrate
generosity and the ability to care for bodhisattas and buddhas. That is, the acts of
-237-
ordinary beings are not only acts of reciprocity for the benefits they receive from these
extraordinary beings but can represent original moments of beneficence as well.
The character of the merchant in the first pre-Sumedha story is a striking example
of originating beneficence. Recall that, before the young man in this story is noticed by
Mahabrahma and receives the aspiration, he is a desperately poor boy caring for his
widowed mother. In order to better care for her he seeks passage to Suvannaohumi, a
golden land, in search of wealth.
The senior merchant he approaches for help is a stranger to him. The narrator
does not indicate either the former births or the rebirths of this figure and so there is no
possibility of seeing a continuing connection between the soon-to-be Bodhisatta and this
person that could explain the merchant's beneficence towards him.
In an act of generosity and compassion, the merchant gives the young man
passage and wages directly, stating that this will bring him happiness. The SotatthakT
states:
The senior most merchant having seen him coming into his presence
asked,
"Friend! From where did you come? Why have you come here?"
Being asked by him, he told his own wish to this questioner, saying this
verse:
"O Lord, I am now a poor man,
I came from this village,
If you have compassion for me,
I will go together with you."
Having heard that, the mariner saw that he was endowed with success and
had great vigor, his mind became happy and he spoke this verse:
"It is good, friend! you speak well!
Let you come quickly to me,
However much is your wage,
I will give that much to you."
"I will also give other expenses,

As you wish for wealth,
-238-
Let you live happily with wealth

As you wish for as long as you live."41
The merchant’s response to the young man’s pleas seem to be shaped by his insight into
the virtues of the soon-to-become Bodhisatta.
Like Mahabrahma, this merchant recognizes the boy’s already present virtues as
well as his potential. At their first meeting, the merchant immediately recognizes that the
young man is endowed with great thama, vigor, a virtue that enables a bodhisatta to
complete the unimaginably long and difficult process of becoming a buddha.
The merchant's insights into the boy’s virtues attest to his own virtues as well.
The ability to identify the good qualifies in another is a virtue that brings well-being to
oneself as well as others, for the straightforward reason that it allows a person to make
good choices of whom to associate with and whom to avoid. The merchant has made a
wise alliance in taking in the young man and his beneficence is motivated, at least in part,
by his appraisal of this boy’s virtues. Stated more strongly, the merchant’s own virtues
foreshadow those that will shape the Bodhisatta’s career.
The young man asks that the merchant show compassion one of the hallmark
virtues of a bodhisatta. The merchant’s display of this virtue attests to his extraordinary
character since this the ability to act with compassion is the result of ethical cultivation
rather than an innate disposition. In Love and Sympathy in Theravada Buddhism,
64 Smn 12-13. "Jeuhakavanijo pi tam attano santike agatam disva pucchi tata kuto agato’ si kimatthaya
agato' st ti. So tena pucchito attano adhippayam acikkhanto imam gatham aha:
Daliddo daniham sami I Axnugamasma agato I Sace mam anukampesi ITaya saddhim gamissahanhi II [vs.
24]
Tam sutva naviko tam arnhasampannam mahathamabhavarn disvS somanassajato ima gatha abhasi:
Sadhu tata subhaSesi I khippam ehi mamandke I yattakam vetanam. tuyham I tattakam te dadSmaham II [v.
25] A n n a m pi paribbayam demi I Yatha tvam dhanamicchasi I tehl tata sukhamjlva i yavajlvarn. yad'
icchakan ti II [v.26J
-239-
Harvey Aronson explains that compassion, one of the four sublime attitudes, brahma-
vihara, is the state of desiring to remove the suffering of others.65 It is an emotion
cultivated through meditadve practices and supported by the natural emotion of
sympathy.66 In this pre-Sumedha narrative, the young man is begging the merchant to
save him from the hardships of his life and thus puts himself in the care of the merchant
whose virtues enable him to act on behalf of the young man’s well-being.
The merchant’s beneficence is extended to the young man's mother when the boy
asks that the merchant give passage to his mother as well since he can not abandon her.
The merchant's original appraisal of the boy’s virtues are confirmed and deepened by his
second request for aid. The boy pleads with the merchant to give passage to his mother.
"0 Lord! I will not go alone. If you allow me to go together with

my mother, then I will go with you. Why do I say this? My mother is a
poor old widow, who lives as a beggar. I am not able to go, leaving her,
because, other than me, there are no other sons, daughters, or relatives.
Having heard that, the merchant, his mind becoming calm, he said,
"It is goodl It is good! O Friend! Let your mother or wife and
children come to me quickly, I will give wages even to them!"67
The text describes the merchant's reactions to each of these encounters as being
overcome with somanassa, a feeling of happiness or awe, that is inspired by recognizing
the seed of virtues that demonstrate his capacity to become a remarkable being. Why
should the merchant have this emotional reaction to the young man’s devotions to his
65 Harvey B. Aronson, Love and Sympathy in Theravada Buddhism (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1980), 64
66 Aronson, Love and Sympathy in Theravada Buddhism, 16-17.
67 Smn 13. "Sami aharn. ekako na gamissami sace mama matara saddhim gantum dassati taya saddhim
gamissami kasma pana vadami mama matra vidhava mahallika daTidda kapan<t thapetva mam anne puttS va
dhltaro va natta va natthl ti tam pahaya gantum na sakkonu ti.
Tam sutva vanijo somanassajato sadhu sSdhu tita tava mataram va puttadare va sigh am anehi tesam pi
panbbayam dassaml tiaha."
-240-
mother and his other virtues? The merchant can be seen as not only reacting to his
immediately-present virtues but also to the near future, when the boy will become a
bodhisatta, and to the very distant future when he will become a buddha. As a buddha,
the boy will create the uplifting feeling of somanassa in all beings, since they know that
he will care for them completely.
The merchant’s beneficence creates the very conditions that allow the entire
bodhisatta career to begin. Without his help, the boy would never have been shipwrecked
in the ocean and saved the life of his mother which drew the attention of Mahabrahma.
This rather complicated chain of narrated events makes a fundamental point about the
bodhisatta path described in the pre-Sumedha stories: the originating beneficence of
others enables a bodhisatta to become a bodhisatta.
Moments of beneficence directed at the Bodhisatta continue throughout the pre-
Sumedha stories. In the second pre-Sumedha story of Gajappiyaraja, the king who loved
elephants, the elephant trainer plays an essential role in teaching the Bodhisatta the
dangers of desire. The elephant trainer’s beneficence towards the Bodhisatta is his
teachings on the danger of raga, desire, and the ways it can be overcome. As with the
examples given above, the elephant trainer's care aids the Bodhisatta in the present as
well as the long distant future over multiple lifetimes. His raga placed him in great
danger, even threatened his life, and raga would prevent progress on the bodhisatta path.
The final pre-Sumedha story also shows the Bodhisatta receiving the care of those
around him. In the story of his lifetime as a cakkavatti king, his astrologers assuage his
fear that his life may be in danger when he sees his wheel jewel fall from its resting
place; they reveal to him that this is a sign not of ruin, but great joy that a buddha has
-241-
come into the world. All of these examples of originating beneficence are in some way
connected to the actors' insight into either the virtues of the Bodhisatta, the conditions of
the universe, or even fundamental ethical truths.
These insights are shared with the Bodhisatta in different ways —material goods
are offered by the merchant, the elephant trainer gives the gift of his teachings, and the
cakkavatti's astrologers impart comforting information. In each case, these beneficent
acts reveal the virtues of the ordinary beings who have the opportunity to care for the
Bodhisatta and contribute to the development of his virtues.
The community of ordinary beings is not anthro-centric: animals, too, can be
effective ethical actors who care for bodhisattas and buddhas. Recall that two animals
play prominent roles in the pre-Sumedha stories, a tigress and an elephant. Both of these
animals are instrumental to the Bodhisatta’s development, but it is their vices rather than
their virtues that allow the Bodhisatta an opportunity to act beneficently.
In the case of the tigress especially her desire for self-preservation even at the cost
of killing her own children displays the depths of ethical failings at the same time as it
gives the Bodhisatta an opportunity to save her from this condition by offering himself as
food and practicing generosity.
If we consider narratives outside of the SotatthakT we can find animals
demonstrating exemplary virtues and beneficence. One striking example is the story of
the Parileyyaka (Parallya, Sinhala) elephant as told in the 13th century Sinhala
Saddharma RatnavaliyaJ* This story, a translation and elaboration of the story found in
58 The Saddharma Ramavaltya is a translation and expansion o f the Pali Dhammapada-atthakatha. The
author-compQer o f the Saddharma Ratnavaliya, Dharmasena Thera, begins this work with the extended
biography o f the Bodhisatta Gotama similar to that o f the SotatthakT- Thus, this Sinhala work draws in part
on the same narratives as the Sotatthald.
-242-
the Dhammapada commentary, shows in moving detail the many ways that an elephant
physically cared for the Buddha Gotama while he was living alone in the forest This
story suggests that there are many Theravadin narratives —in both Pali and vernacular
works —which we can examine in order to find the patterns of the community of
beneficence, patterns I am drawing here primarily from the Sotatthald.
According to the story of the Parileyyakka, the Buddha Gotama entered the forest
alone having departed from his monks because they were quarreling with one another.
Unattended, he lived in a great forest when Parallya (ParalTa, Sinhala), a great king of the
elephants, came to tenderly care for him much in the same way that the Buddha's chief
attendant Ananda looked after his needs. The Saddharma Ratndvaliya says:
That majestic elephant, ParalTya, went up to the Buddha and

greeted him. Noticing that he was not accompanied by any disciples, the
elephant cleared the grass underneath the tree with his feet, then broke a
branch off a tree, and swept the area with it. When the Buddha made his
abode there, the elephant fetched drinking water for the Buddha during the
entire three-month Rainy Season. He carried the water-pot in his trunk.
He even provided the Buddha with water for bathing. When hot water
was needed, he would break a twig, strike it against a stone, throw dry
wood on it and make a big fire. He would then roE a stone into the fire,
heat it, and with a stick roE it back into a smaE rock pool. "When the water
was sufficiently heated, he would test it with his trunk and then go to the
Buddha and worship him. The Buddha would ask, "O Paraleyya, is the
water heated?" Then he would walk to the pool and take his morning
bath. After that, the elephant would go into the forest and bring him
offerings of various kinds of fruits. The Buddha would partake of them
and afterwards preach to him.69
The elephant king's loving care for the Buddha Gotama is made aE the more poignant by
the faEure of the monks to put aside their disputes and attend to the Buddha according to
their duties. The elephant's devotion is shown to surpass that o f the monks in this
69 Dhannasena Thera, Jewels o f the Doctrine, 116.
-243-
instance. The narrator tells us that the Buddha returns the elephant's affections, feeling a
special affinity for him. The Buddha praises his actions to the monks upon his reunion
with them telling them, how the elephant cared for him when they did not. The Buddha
demonstrates that he is the willing recipient of the beneficence of others. The Buddha
says, "It is blessed to live with one like him and to be the recipient of such attentions. If
one finds such a companion, it is good to live with him."70
An unbounded reciprocity: the virtues of the Bodhisatta
I have approached my discussion of the community of ordinary beings in what
may seem to be an inverted, or even backwards, manner. Instead of starting with the
virtues of the Bodhisatta (such as compassion, karuna, wisdom, panha, or any of the
other parami), I have begun by focusing on the virtues of ordinary beings. This inversion
serves a purpose. It preferences a particular vision of the Bodhisatta as a social being
who is formed as a bodhisatta through his (and rarely, her) relationships with others. My
approach follows a theme I have identified in these stories —expected hierarchies are
often overturned. Those who are in positions of seemingly inferior social and spiritual
status can be the source of beneficence directed towards the Bodhisatta.
In my discussion here I will focus on the particular virtue o f reciprocity in order
to more fully examine the Bodhisatta as a social being who participates in this
community of ordinary beings. The Bodhisatta's reciprocity can be straightforwardly
defined as the ethical response to the beneficence he receives from others: buddhas, other
bodhisattas, and ordinary beings. The focus on reciprocity emphasizes the role of both
the Bodhisatta and ordinary beings as ethical agents. The Bodhisatta can thus be
characterized by virtues that are both other regarding, such as compassion, and self
70 Dhannasena Thera, Jewels o f the Doctrine, 118.
-244-
regarding, such as reciprocity, which is always predicated on the reception of the aid of
others (which may also, although need not necessarily, be generated by compassion).
Following Michael Slote's construction of virtue theory, I would argue that the
virtues of the Bodhisatta can be of benefit to both others and himself.71 Slote’s stress on
the importance of the self-other symmetry of virtues draws attention to the benefits
virtuous beings gain from acting virtuously. The Bodhisatta’s involvement with others
generates benefits for all, including himself.
The Bodhisatta’s reciprocity for the care he receives from others is unlimited and
boundless. Rather than returning good for a commensurate good, as Lawrence Becker
prescribes,72the Bodhisatta returns the beneficence he receives, whether it be the
reception of material assistance, such as the merchant, or teachings, such as the elephant
trainer, with the unbounded act of the aspiration dedicated to freeing beings from
samsara. In the pre-Sumedha stories that have been the basis of my description of a
community of beneficence, the Bodhisatta’s reciprocal actions for the beneficence he
receives are performed in the immediacy of that present lifetime but also pledged for the
actions he will be able to perform in the future when he has become a buddha, with an
emphasis on the latter. His aspiration can be seen as a generalized reciprocity for all the
aid he receives. This unbounded reciprocity differs in both degree and in kind from the
virtues of the ordinary beings that I have described above. The acts of these ordinary
beings are discrete acts that are directed at a particular other. The Bodhisatta’s response
may at times be a particular action, such as saving his mother's life, but the particular
action is also part of the more generalized response of dedicating himself to the total
welfare of all beings, not just those from which he receives aid. In order to be able to
71 Michael Slote, From M orality to Virtue (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992) see in particular
chapters one and five.
72 Lawrence C. Becker, Reciprocity (Chicago: The University o f Chicago Press, 1986) see especially
"Returns and reparations should be fitting and proportional,"l05-l24. Becker’s emphasis on commensurate
returns is aimed at maintaining the balance or equilibrium in social relationships. This is not the goal in the
Buddhist context, yet his theory helps us to see the unique qualities o f ethical contexts in which actors
develop virtuous qualities in the exchange o f beneficence.
-245-
fulfill his pledged, the Bodhisatta must develop a whole constellation of virtues, such as
the ten parami, which enable him to perform this unbounded reciprocity.73
The Bodhisatta's particular relationships with others serve as the foundation for
his relationships with all other beings. This not a movement from a particular care for
those near and dear to oneself to a generalized care for a vaguely defined other, but an
omni-partiality that makes those who are distant, near. Omni-partiality is seen most
clearly in the example of the boy and his mother from the first pre-Sumedha story. By
saving his mother from drowning in the ocean the Bodhisatta begins the process of
ferrying all beings over the metaphorical ocean of samsdra.
Particular relationships are valorized in the communities of beneficence. The
beneficence and reciprocity exchanged in particular relationships support human
flourishing. Ordinary beings’ commitment to the Bodhisatta enables him to develop as a
bodhisatta. And the Bodhisatta’s omni-partiality is directed towards alleviating the
immediate suffering of their present lives as well as putting a final end to suffering in the
future.
A community existing through time
The communities of beneficence that are created by predictions exist over vast
expanses of time that can include thousands and thousands of rebirths. The prediction
enables the continuation of bonds of beneficence and reciprocity through time. For the
community that witnesses the revelation of a prediction, this vision of the future shapes
the way a community defines itself in the present in order to reach the anticipated future;
while a community that takes part in the fulfillment of a prediction is connected to the
past when that future was already known and wished for.
73 Becker, Reciprocity, 145-162.
-246-
The Sotatthald pre-Sumedha stories focus on the beneficence supporting the
Bodhisatta's aspiration and attainment of the prediction. While these stories do not show
the continuation of particular relationship between the Bodhisatta and. ordinary beings
over lifetimes into a far-distant future, there is the awareness of the future benefits a
generalized community of ordinary beings will enjoy as the Bodhisatta develops and to
an even greater extent when he reaches his ultimate goal and becomes the Buddha
Gotama. And further, as I showed in my analysis of the "Sumedhakatha" in chapter
three, the assembly who witness and participate in DTpankara’s prediction of the
Bodhisatta actively imagine themselves forming as a community in the future time
described in DIpankara's prediction of the Bodhisatta. This community of beings aspires
to assemble again in that future around the Buddha Gotama.
Predictions also enable connections to the past to remain alive in the present.
Like all other buddhas, the Buddha Gotama is also the maker of predictions: he predicts
future buddhas, namely Metteyya; he makes predictions about the future spread and
eventual decline of his sasana; and he also predicts the role of particular individuals in
this ongoing history. The Buddha Gotama's predictions become yet another way that he
continues to care for others, even after his own parinibbana. His predictions of the future
gives him access to a time when he will be absent from the world —and. it gives beings
present in the predicted time access to Gotama Buddha. We have seen this with the case
of both Buddha DTpankaras. Their predictions of future buddhas created a space in the
present for the future to be experienced and celebrated.
I want to briefly draw attention to the ongoing continuation of the community of
ordinary beings in time by looking at one narrative about the fulfillment of a prediction
made by the Buddha Gotama. The story of King Adicca recounts how one of the
Buddha's bodily relics came to be discovered and enshrined by a Lan Na king living in
the capital city of Haripunjaya (present day Lamphun in Northern Thailand). The legend
of King Adicca can be found in several Pali texts composed in Thailand: the
-247-
JinakalamalT, the CamadevTvamsa, and the SahgTtiyavamsa.1* I will focus my discussion
here on the version of this story told by Ratnapanna in the JinakalamalT because of the
close relationship between this text and the SotatthakT.75
The chronicle begins with abbreviated versions of the pre-Sumedha stories likely
drawn, to a greater or lesser extent, from the SotatthakT. This story, embedded in a
political history of the JinakalamalT, echoes the themes of communities of beneficence
found in the pre-Sumedha stories.
The story of King Adicca narrates the fulfillment of a prediction made by the
Buddha Gotama. This story pairs the ordinary occurrences of everyday life with the
extraordinary. It is in these intersections that we can see how the prediction enables
communities of beneficence to join historical actors who have never shared the same
temporal moments.
The narrative begins by detailing the virtues of King Adicca. He is the generous
supporter of the sarigha, unequalled by previous kings.76 However, the moments of his
ordinary daily life are not always depicted in such noble ways. The story begins with a
rather peculiar scene for an account of a king: the narrator tells us that the king was
going to the bathroom one day when a crow flying above him, urinated on his head.
When the king turned his face to the sky to see what had happened the crow defecated
into his mouth. The king, distressed (domanassapatta) that he should be insulted in this
way, ordered the crow to be found and killed.
74 For an English translation o f the Camadevlvamsa and an extensive interpretive introduction see Donald
K. Swearer and Sommai Premchit, The Legend o f Queen Coma (Albany, NY: State University o f New
York Press, 1998.) The prediction o f Adicca is die framing story o f this text: the Camadevlvamsa begins
with the Buddha's prediction o f Adicca and concludes with the fulfillment o f the prediction. See Swearer's
introduction for his interpretation o f the mythic-historical nature o f this text and its stories. The
Jinakdtamatl is the source o f the Adicca story in the Sangitiyavamsa. For the edition, translation, and study
o f the Sahgltivamsa see Charles Hallisey, forthcoming.
75 See introduction, p. 19.
76 Jinak77.
-248-
His ministers cautioned him that perhaps this was no ordinary crow and that the
whole event might reveal something else entirely. They advised the king to consult with
the astrologers. The astrologers confirmed that this was indeed the case, "Questioned by
the king they said, 'O King! This will be a blessing for you!"77And so they spared the life
of the captured crow.
In his dream that night, a deva told the king that if he were to train a young child
to be a crow translator, he would be able to learn the meaning of the incident. The king
waited patiently for seven years during which time a baby grew to be educated in crow
language. When the child could finally communicate with both crow and king, the crow
explained that a relic of the Buddha was enshrined in the very spot where the king was
going to the bathroom. When the crow soiled the king, he was simply performing his
duty of protecting the Buddha's relic that had been given to him by his great grandfather,
a white king of the crows.78
Eager to learn more, King Adicca sent for the great grandfather crow, who had
been living in the Himalayas since the death of the Buddha. Bome from his mountain
home in a palanquin carried in the beaks of two of his subjects, this wise crow revealed to
the King that during the Buddha’s own lifetime the Buddha, having flown through the
sky, came himself to Haripunjaya and made the following prediction:
In a future time, after the parinibbdna of the Tathagata, there will be a

great city in this very place. A king named Adicca will rule there. During
his rule a relic of the Tathagata will be established there.79
77 Jinak 78: "Raima puttha te Deva, tumhakam sotthi bhavissati' ti ahamsu.”

78 Note the connection between the white king crow in this story and the Thai story o f the white crow
mother o f the five bodhisattas o f the Baddha kappa discussed earlier in the chapter. This suggests a
significance to the figure o f a white crow worthy o f further investigation. Dr. Banjop Bannaruji suggests
that the crow is commonly seen as the bearer o f omens. He related a story that at the moment o f death of
the Thai E n g, Rama V m (the brother o f the present king) a flock o f crows hovered over the palace
signaling that something terrible was amiss, (personal communication, Bangkok, Sept. 1998).
79 Jinak 79.
-249-
Adicca was so overcome with joy upon hearing his own prediction by the Buddha
that the hairs on his body stood on end —a Pali locution to indicate an experience of
elation.30 He set out immediately to fulfill the prediction. Making a great piija, offering,
at the spot where the relic was buried, the King requested the relic to emerge, which it
did, encased in a relic casket made by King Asoka, the greatest Buddhist king. King
Adicca placed the relic and Asokan casket inside of another casket and constructed a
magnificent relic stupa there.
The Buddha’s prediction of King Adicca and the establishment of the Buddha's
bodily relic at Haripunjaya demonstrates that the community of beneficence, and the
community of ordinary beings in particular, can exist over vast expanses of time. While
the Buddha and King Adicca never lived in the same temporal moment, the prediction
facilitates a direct and powerful relationship between them. The prediction reveals that
the Buddha, through his power to know the future, sees Adicca and the world around
him. The prediction expresses the Buddha's concern and involvement in the lives of
particular beings even if they did not live in the time when he arose in the world, hi the
prediction, the Buddha creates a course of action for the future and sets in motion the
necessary conditions for that the prediction to be realized.
As the prediction is realized, the Buddha's presence at Haripunjaya in the distant
past is drawn into the present moment Seen from the gaze of the Buddha, the prediction
is oriented towards the future. From Adicca's perspective, he is entering into a
relationship with the past It is important that my explanation of the prediction not over
emphasize an abstract and ethereal relationship between the Buddha and King Adicca
The relationship created between the two is shown in the story to be a dynamic, sensory
and intimate encounter, an encounter that bridges distant historical contexts and makes
the present possible. When Adicca Ieams of the prediction he is described as having an
80 Jinak 79: "Raja pana darakassa vacanam sutva tutthahattho...”
-250-
intense emotional reaction. A typical description of a person upon hearing their own
prediction is that they are so excited that their hair stands on end.
In an earlier story in the JinakalamalT, Dutthagamini Abhaya, a king from Sri
Lanka, leams of his own prediction that had been made before his own lifetime by the
great monk, Mahinda. When he finds his prediction inscribed on a golden tablet
Dutthagamini exciaims, "I have been seen by Mahinda." Dutthagamini’s reaction signals
that he understands the prediction and the relationship that the prediction establishes with
Mahinda. The emphasis on sight is important here —the King sees himself through
Mahinda's gaze. The prediction makes it possible for him to leam about himself in a new
way by realizing how Mahinda saw him.31
The prediction enables King Adicca to receive the Buddha's care and this care
fundamentally transforms him. The prediction is not merely a list of imperatives that he
must fulfill: rather, it creates a new source of identity for him —he is a person who has
been known and cared for by the Buddha. King Adicca is shown to be a worthy
recipient of the prediction; the first description of him in the text details his virtuous acts
of generosity to the sangha. But the prediction is only revealed when this status is
directly challenged.
A rather dramatic and humorous hierarchical inversion occurs when the crow
defecates on the king's head. The narrator seems to be making gentle fun of him —a king
doesn't look all that regal when we catch him in the bathroom.32 But this event draws
Adicca into a constellation of other beings who help him realize the prediction and his
greatest potential to fulfill the Buddha’s prediction. When we first see Adicca at the
31 Jinak 58; “ Mahindattherena dittho’ mhl" ti hatthatuttho ahosi." The JinakalamalT makes reference o f a
version o f this story told in the Mahavamsa; this story can also be found in the Thupavamsa. See Mhv.
xxxi, 1 ff.; Thup. 86 ff.
82 Noting the humor o f the text. Swearer makes the point that this event in the narrative shows that in the
world o f the narrative only the Buddha has an absolute, determined nature o f ethical perfection; no other
characters, including King Adicca, is "absolutely good or absolutely evil." The pollution o f the king shows
that it is right for him to be desecrated in order to maintain the purity o f the Buddha's relics. Swearer and
Premchit, The Legend o f Queen Cama, 11.
-251-
beginning of the story he acts in the world in a state of potentially harmful isolation. Not
only is he unaware of the significance of his surrounding, he unknowingly acts in ways
that could harm Buddhism. It is only when others intervene that he is able to act as a
king should act, majestically. He is the protector of the Buddhism and the creator of
great Buddhist monuments. It is only when he acts with others that he truly fulfills his
own potential.
The community around Adicca mediate these predictions. Unlike the prediction
of a future buddha, the prediction that form the communities of ordinary beings are
mediated by others. The prediction reveals the role of one particular person but draws
together a community who are essential in revealing the prediction and bringing it to
fulfillment. Without the crows, the child, the deva, and his ministers, Adicca would not
have learned of his prediction or how he might care for the Buddha by enshrining his
relic in the manner that the Buddha himself had prescribed.
V. Conclusion: Exemplary Virtues
Beneficence and reciprocity form the basis of communities that join together
bodhisattas and ordinary beings in relationships which promote ethical flourishing in the
narrated present and far into the future. Part of the richness, but also the challenge, of the
narratives I have discussed in this chapter is how to recognize the significance of all of
these ethical actors, and not only the bodhisattas. The unbounded and limitless quality of
the bodhisattas' beneficence and reciprocity serves to amaze, shock, inspire, and comfort
those who recognize just how different these beings are from themselves.
As the SotatthakVs opening narrative scene (the gods' realization that world was
without the care of a buddha) shows us, the presence of bodhisattas and buddhas in the
world is the source of great comfort, while their absence creates feelings of distress and
helplessness. And yet, the bodhisattas, in spite of the exceptional nature of the virtues
-252-
they develop, are dependent on the aid of others, other extraordinary beings —that is
buddhas and bodhisattas —but also ordinary beings. The virtues of ordinary beings are
described in less remarkable terms than the bodhisattas. They are not shown performing
extra-ordinary acts of sacrificing their own lives for a hungry tigress, yet the virtues of
these ordinary beings are exemplary.
The challenge, I believe, is to recognize the extraordinary nature of the ordinary
beings who are so easily overshadowed and obscured by the dramatic acts of the
bodhisattas and buddhas in these stories. The presence of the ordinary beings in these
narratives reveals important dimensions of the bodhisatta path: bodhisattas are
transformed into being with unbounded virtues through the stages of the bodhisatta path
and this development is supported by the aid of others —including ordinary beings —
throughout the bodhisatta career.
It is important to highlight the instrumental role of ordinary beings in the
narratives of the Bodhisatta's career because these figures create an important ethical
resource for the readers of these stories. The presence of ordinary beings in these
narratives creates a space in which readers can place themselves and imagine developing
such virtues according to these models. While bodhisattas may inspire the reader to
develop extraordinary virtues in their future lifetimes when they might become a
bodhisatta themselves, the instrumental roles of the ordinary beings shows them
exemplary virtues that are possible to develop and live by in the present.
The possibility of immediately identifying with the ordinary beings in these
stories is one way that the audience of these Pali texts can experience themselves as a part
of the communities of beneficence described in these narratives. The beneficence and
reciprocity that form the basis of these communities continues in the present and into the
future. These narratives suggest that the predictions that significantly shape these
communities are ongoing: predictions that have been made in the past are yet to be
fulfilled, most notably the prediction of the future buddhahood of the Bodhisatta
-253-
Metteyya, and aspirations made in the present will generate new predictions in the
future.83 The concluding section of the SotatthakT lists the ten Bodhisattas who will
become the Buddhas of the future, beginning with Metteyya. A community of
beneficence around these Bodhisattas and future Buddhas is an ongoing reality in the
Theravada.
These narratives can also teach us about the relationships that shape our own
lives. In these stories, hierarchies between ethical actors are shown to be an important
dimension of ethical relationships. The stories around predictions show that one has
much to profit from being in relationship with a being of superior virtues to oneself; such
a person can be the source of great beneficence and also serve as a model of virtues to
attain. But the valorization of inequality in these narratives is quite complex and these
hierarchies of ethical agents are not static. They are constantly shifting, revealing that the
inequalities between actors on one scale may be overturned by the measures of virtues by
another scale. These narratives give people the resources to imagine how they are
recipients of beneficence and how they too are capable of bestowing care on others.
This model opens possibilities for all kinds of relationships and not just those of
bodhisattas and ordinary beings. It challenges the rigidity of ethical and social
hierarchies, and could be extended to other hierarchies as well, such as polidcal
hierarchies. Inequality is not removed nor is it repudiated, but inequalities between
ethical actors are shown to be constantly shifting. This dynamic vision, of the potential
that all ethical actors have to positively effect others, liberates actors from fixed ethical
positions: beings with superior ethical virtues can be dependant on the care of others,
even those who are 'lesser1' than them on different hierarchical scales (be they social,
83 O f the ten Bodhisattas only the Bodhisatta Metteyya will become a Buddha in the present kappa. For the
list o f ten Bodhisattas in the Sotatthald see Smn 96, v. 632-633. According to the Sotatthald, the ten
Bodhisattas are Metteyya, Rama,”Pasena, Kosalobhibhu, DlghasonT, Sank!, Subha, Todeyyabrahmana,
Natagfri, and Pilileyya. Two Pali works describe the future lineage o f Buddhas: the Dasabodhisattuddesa
and the Dasabodhisattuppartikatha. See F. Martini, "Dasabodhisatta-uddesa" Bulletin de Vtcole
Frangaise d'Extreme-Orient, Vol. 3 6 ,2 , pp. 287-413; H. Saddhadssa, ed. and trans., The Birth-Stories o f
the Ten Bodhisattas and the Dasabodhisattuppattikatha (London: The Pali Text Society, 1975).
-254-
ethical, political, and more likely a combination of all three) and those who stand in the
'less than" position can assume the active role of giving care to others.
Conclusion
One of the most striking aspects of the SotatthakT is the way in which it reveals a
distinct vision of the Bodhisatta, and the bodhisatta career, while at the same time
preserving its textual sources -- the Buddhavamsa, the Jataka Nidanakatha and the
Buddhavamsa commentary —within the total narrative it creates. The SotatthakT displays
how a productive engagement with received and well-known stories can inspire new and
productive ideas. In imagining the Bodhisatta's lifetimes prior to the traditional starting
point of the Buddha’s biography, the SotatthakT narrates how an ordinary person came to
be the Bodhisatta and how this Bodhisatta became the Buddha Gotama. The Sotatthakis
pre-Sumedha narratives are a hermenutical tour-de-force: by telling these stories of the
Bodhisatta's earliest lifetimes, the SotatthakT shows the transformative process through
which an exceptional, but still flawed, person becomes an ethically perfected being.
The Sotatthald helps us Ieam both about and from the Theravada. An
understanding of the text enriches our view of many dimensions of the medieval
Theravadin world of ideas and raises questions and possibilities for further research. In
particular, it increases our awareness of the development of the biography of the
Bodhisatta. Beyond the specifics of this fascinatingly detailed biography, the lessons it
teaches us about the cultivation of virtues in the context of relationships have broader
implications for the study of Theravadin (and Buddhist) ethics, and, I believe, ethical
thought in general.
As the SotatthakT illustrates, sophisticated buddhological and ethical ideas can be
powerfully explored through narratives. Just as a systematic presentation of an argument
-256-
rests upon its supporting evidence and logical combination of ideas, so too a narrative
rests on the particularities of how stories are told and in the total account they create. In
order to uncover these ideas, we must pay careful attention to the subtleties of narrative
expression.
While this kind of reading strategy can be described as a championing of the
value of details, this approach does not advocate getting lost in narrative minutia. To the
contrary, paying attention to the details in a story leads us to consider large-scale issues.
For example, in the SotatthakT, hosts of ordinary beings play seemingly minor roles in the
narratives of the Bodhisatta's pre-Sumedha lifetimes. Considering the function of these
characters, who are all too easily ignored, leads us to one of the central points of the
SotatthakT: that the Bodhisatta's development on the bodhisatta path is supported at every
stage of his career by a large network of other beings, not only buddhas and other
bodhisattas, but ordinary beings as well.
As I discussed in the introduction, the pre-Sumedha stories are not unique to the
SotatthakT or to Pali literature; these seem to have been stories worth telling and retelling,
and a number of medieval Pali and vernacular Theravadin works narrate the extended
biography of the Buddha and the pre-Sumedha stories. In the retelling of these stories in
different Theravadin works, important variations occur, variations which support distinct
visions and agendas. That is, the pre-Sumedha stories as told in different Pali and
vernacular works do not leave us with the exact same vision of the Bodhisatta or the
nature of his career.
The Sotatthald, however, also demonstrates the conservatism of Theravadin
literature, clearly attested to in the extended biographies by the ongoing preservation and
-257-
replication of the Buddhavamsa narrative. As we have seen, this does not preclude
innovation —as the SotatthakT amply demonstrates —or the refashioning of ideas
expressed in the details, or the manner in which different narrative segments of the
Bodhisatta's biography are woven together. One of the next steps in the study of these
extended biographies will be to document the differences in the ways these stories are
told, and to trace how the extended biography was incorporated into different kinds of
texts —not only in biographies such as the SotatthakT, but also in a range of other texts,
such as chronicles, like the JinakalamalT, and in story collections, such as the 13th century
Saddharmaratnavaliya, the Sinhala version of the Dhammapada commentary.
Future comparative studies of the pre-Sumedha stories will also necessarily entail
an examination of the local circumstances for the production of late Theravadin
biographies. Research into this collection of narratives holds promise for contributing to
our understanding of the exchange between Pali and vernacular works in the creation of
local literatures throughout the medieval Theravadin world.
The pre-Sumedha stories are extant in Pali and vernacular works composed in the
l^di-igtji centurjeS) a fact which points to the importance of the interaction between Pali
and vernacular languages in the creation and proliferation of the extended biography in
later Theravadin works. This interaction is illustrated by an early attestation of the
SotatthakT found in a 14th century Sinhala work, the Saddharmdlahkdraya, which cites
the SotatthakT as a source it draws upon in composing its biography of the Bodhisatta.1
The numerous examples of the pre-Sumedha narratives in later Theravadin works
makes the study of the extended biography an important project for understanding the
1See Introduction p. 17, fn. 41; For a comprehensive discussion o f the SotatthakTs historical context and
references see Introduction.
-258-
dynamic exchange between conceptions of the trans-local and local in the cultural history
of the Theravadin world. The pre-Sumedha stories were incorporated in vernacular texts
that localized Pali literature and conversely were also included in Pali works written to
express local concerns in the trans-local language.2 For example, the Sinhala translation
of the Pali Dhammapada commentary, the Saddharmaratnavaliya, incorporates the pre-
Sumedha stories in its introduction, making this popular trans-local Theravadin text a part
of a Sinhala Theravadin tradition. The interplay between the local and trans-local is
reversed in the JinakalamalT, the early 16th century Northern Thai chronicle written in
Pali, which opens with the pre-Sumedha stories as a way of connecting its local history
with pan-Buddhist history. These examples illustrate that trans-local concerns were
conveyed in local languages while, later in time, the trans-local language was used to
convey local concerns; in both instances, the pre-Sumedha stories serve as a common
denominator in the exchange between the local and the trans-local.
Whether we focus on the narrative created in a single work (such as my study of
the SotatthakT), or consider the local circumstances for the production of the extended
biographies throughout the Theravadin world, we see an intense interest in the figure of
the bodhisatta.
This interest extends beyond the figure of the Bodhisatta Gotama to other
bodhisattas as well. As we have seen, in the course of narrating the Bodhisatta Gotama's
biography, the SotatthakT also tells the Iifestories of the Buddhas DTpankara and Metteyya
when they, too, were bodhisattas.
2 For a discussion o f the cultural authority o f Pali in the pre-modem Theravadin world see Collins, Nirvana
and Other Buddhist Felicities, 46-53.
-259-
The rich complexity of the conception of the Bodhisatta, expressed in the
extended biographies, allows for a variety of interpretations. In what ways can a reader
engage with these biographies? Does the extended biography serve as a model for
devotion, for one's own future lifetimes, or for the cultivation of virtues in this lifetime?
Extending the Bodhisatta's biography farther into the past intensifies the heroism
of the Bodhisatta. The length of the Bodhisatta's Herculean struggles for the sake of all
beings is multiplied manifold times: the Bodhisatta not only faced the arduous challenges
of the bodhisatta path for the unimaginably long period of four asankheyyas and 100,000
kappas, as described in the Buddhavamsa narrative, he undertook this struggle for the
even more unimaginably long period of twenty asankheyyas and 100,000 kappas.
The grandeur of the Bodhisatta’s career can be seen as an expression of devotion
for the Bodhisatta and the Buddha. That is, the Buddha is honored not only for who he
was and what he did in his final lifetime, but also for his hundreds of thousands of prior
lifetimes included in the extended biography.
Do the heroic quality of the biography —the biography of any great figure —
preclude it from being a model for spiritual or ethical development that others can
employ in their own lives? Is the biography of the Buddha solely a model for devotion,
or can it serve as the basis for an abstracted model others can follow?
One approach to answering these questions —how' do people engage with the
biography of extraordinary figures? —is to identify places within the narrative that allow
for a broadening of who could possibly attain the achievements these biographies
describe. George Bond, in his study of the concept of the arahant path, argues that the
addition of previous Iifestories to the commentarial narratives of arahants created a more
-260-
inclusive vision of who could reach the attainments described in these stories —a vision
more inclusive, that is, than the stories of the immediate enlightenment experiences in the
canonical sources.3
The extended narratives show that the path to enlightenment is a lengthy process,
extending over lifetimes; so, even if enlightenment was unlikely in the present, arhant-
ship was still a possibility for the future.
Taking a similar interpretive approach, Jonathan Walters argues for a equivalent
broadening effect, created by the previous life stories of the Buddha.* As the total
narrative of the Buddha’s biography shows, since enlightenment is gradually attained
over an extended period of lifetimes, enlightenment is a possibility for anyone in a future
time. It creates a space for imagining oneself as fulfilling the heroic course of events
accomplished by the Bodhisatta in another lifetime. Employing this interpretative
approach, the biography, then, is a model for future lifetimes and not necessarily the
present.
hi this thesis, I have shown that the Sotatthakx offers a different kind of
engagement with the biography of the Bodhisatta for its readers. The SotatthakTcreates a
biography of the Bodhisatta that values the importance of a whole range of ethical actors.
While focused on the central importance of a heroic Bodhisatta, the text makes room
within this biography for the stories of ordinary beings, whose contributions to the
biography were essential to its success.
3 Bond, "The Development and Elaboration o f the Arahant Ideal in the Theravada Buddhist Tradition,"
227-242.
* Walters, "Stupa, Story, Empire, Constructions o f the Buddha Biography in Early Post-Asokan India,"
165-166.
-261-
These narratives show the extraordinary virtues of ordinary beings who directly
support the Bodhisatta in his transformation into an ethically perfected being, hi this
way, the extended biography can serve as a model for the cultivation of virtues in the
reader. Seen through the interpretive approach employed in this dissertation, the
Bodhisatta's biography is a model for a community of ethical actors whose actions are
mutually supportive and beneficial.
The Sotatthala reveals a preference for shared agency. The Sotatthala, as with the
other Pali texts I have examined, describes a tightly interwoven network of ethical actors.
The Bodhisatta is dependent on others for his own transformation just as they are
dependent upon him. By identifying this complex, multi-directional dependency between
different ethical actors - buddhas, oodhisattas, and ordinary beings - the bodhisatta path
is shown to be a communal project successfully completed not by a single extraordinary
agent but realized by a diverse community of ethical actors with different capacities and
virtues who together bring about the formation of a buddha.
What can we learn from the SotatthakT to broaden our understanding of Buddhist
ethics? The text is a sophisticated demonstration of the importance of relationships for
the cultivation and formation of virtuous beings, and the stories in the text define the
quality of these relationships. The text asserts that extraordinary virtues can be attained
by different kinds of ethical actors; besides the idealized figures of the Buddhas,
Bodhisattas, and arhants, ordinary beings, too, are capable of serving as paradigms of
virtuous actions. The Sotatthala has the surprising effect of creating a broad vision of
ethical heroes, despite being a focused account of the Eves of the Bodhisatta.
-262-
One of the effects of communal agency in the SotatthakT narrative is a widened set
of opportunities for engaging with the text. The Sotatthala tells the story of many beings
in the process of telling the lifestories of the Bodhisatta. Readers of the text, then, can
identify with a range of characters; not only the Bodhisatta but, perhaps more readily,
with those who support him. Becoming a bodhisatta oneself need not be, as the text
shows, the only option of how to participate in this biography of the Bodhisatta. Rather,
the reader can attempt to cultivate the virtues of those who support the Bodhisatta's
development.
The effect of this inclusiveness, however, is not a flattening of the importance of
differences between distinct types of ethical actors. The SotatthakT values the difference
between the Buddhas, Bodhisattas, and ordinary people. Indeed, the text affirms the
importance of inequality in relationships; it is beneficial to live in the presence of those
who are greater than oneself and who can teach one how to attain one’s own greatest
potential.
One of the most sig n ific a n t contributions the SotatthakT offers to the present-day
conversation on Buddhist ethics is its view that the hierarchies between ethical actors are
constantly sh iftin g . This leaves room, I believe, for the "benefits of inequality" between
ethical actors. It shows the value of dependence on others, an idea inseparable from the
notion of communal agency, without casting people into permanent roles where they
occupy a "less-than" position. The SotatthakT does not disavow or eradicate difference,
but displays an alternative to an understanding of inequality that could all too easily lead
to models of disempowerment and oppression.
-263-
What can we learn from the SotatthakT to enrich our understanding of
relationships in the cultivation of virtues? The SotatthakT teaches us to look for ways in
which other valorized figures in Buddhist narratives —such as paccekabuddhas —not
only give care to those who need their aid but also receive care from them.
The SotatthakTs vision can be beneficially abstracted, I believe, to contribute to
broader conversations in ethics outside of a specific Buddhist context. It can help us in
the examination of the value of human differences and the necessity of relationships for
the cultivation of virtue. The privileged position of the autonomous individual, common
in the modem West’s conception of agency, is challenged by this alternative model of
communal agency, which allows for the human flourishing of a range of ethical actors.
Recognizing our participation in a community of others —both those we may esteem as
our ethical superiors and those who can benefit from the models we ourselves create —
can help us find and articulate the ethical goals that will structure our lives. Further, the
prediction, which is of central importance in the Bodhisatta’s biography, shows us that an
active engagement with one's own imagined future (whether guaranteed to happen or
not), is a vision that we can gain/leam in these relationship with others. Seeing oneself
through the gaze of another is essential to creating oneself according to an ethical ideal
that brings benefit to oneself and others.
Bibliography
Adikaram, E. W. Early History o f Buddhism in Ceylon. Dehiwala, Sri Lanka: The

Buddhist Cultural Center, 1994.
Adulyadej, King Bhumibol. The Story ofMahdjanaka. Bangkok: Amarin Printing and
Publishing, 1997.
Aronson, Harvey B. Love and Sympathy in Theravada Buddhism. 1st ed. Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, 1980.
Balasooriya, Somaratna et al., ed. Buddhist Studies in Honour ofWalpola Rahula.

London: Gordon Fraser, 1980.
Bangchang, Supaphanna. "A Pali Letter Sent by the Aggamahasenapati of Siam to the
Royal Court at Kandy in 1756." Journal o f the Pali Text Society 12 (1988): 185-
212 .
Bareau, Andre. "The Superhuman Personality of Buddha and its Symbolism in the
Mahaparinirvanasutra of the Dharmaguptaka." In Myths and Symbols: Studies in
Honor o f Mircea Eliade, ed. Joseph M. Kitagawa and Charles H. Long, 9-21.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969.
. Recherches sur la biographie du Buddha dans les Sutrapitaka et les

Vinayapitaka Ancients, vol. 3. Paris: Presses de I’Ecole Fran?aise d'Extreme-
Orient, 1995.
Bechert, Heinz. "Buddha-Field and Transfer of Merit in Theravada Buddhism." Indo-

Iranian Journal 35, no. 2 & 3 (1992): 95-108.
Becker, Lawrence C. Reciprocity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
Bemauer, James and David Rasmussen, ed. The Final Foucault. Cambridge: The MIT
Press, 1998.
Bemon, Olivier de. "La prediction du Bouddha." Aseanie 1 (1998): 43-66.
Beteille, Andre, and Research Indian Council of Social Science. Equality and Inequality:
Theory and Practice. Delhi; New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.
Bode, Mable. "Index to the Gandhavamsa." Journal o f the Pali Text Society (1896): 53-
86.
-265-
. The Pali Literature o f Burma. London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1909.
Bodhiramsi. The Legend o f Queen Coma: Bodhiramsi's CamadevTvamsa. a Translation

and Commentary. Translated by Donald K. Swearer & Sommai Premchit.
Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998.
Bond, George D. "The Development and Elaboration of the Arahant Ideal in the
Theravada Buddhist Tradition." Journal o f the American Academy o f Religion 52,
no. 2 (1984): 227-242.
."The Arahant: Sainthood in Theravada Buddhism.” In Sainthood: Its

Manifestations in World Religions, ed. Richard Kieckhefer and George D. Bond,
140-171. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
Buddhaghosa, The Path o f Purification (Visuddhimaeea). Translated by Bhikkhu

Nanamloi. Singapore: Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre, 1997.
Buddhavamsa. Edited by N. A. Jayawickrama. London: Pali Text Society, 1974.
Bunnag, Jane. Buddhist Monk, Buddhist Layman; A Study o f Urban Monastic

Organization in Central Thailand. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1973.
Bumouf, M. E. Lotus de la bonne loi. Paris: LTmprimerie Nationale, 1852.
Butler, Judith P. The Psychic Life o f Power: Theories in Subjection. Stanford, Calif.:
Stanford University Press, 1997.
Campany, Robert F. "Notes on the Devotional Uses and Symbolic Functions of Sutra
Texts as Depicted in Early Chinese Buddhist Miracle Tales and Hagiographies."
The Journal o f the International Association o f Buddhist Studies 14, no. I (1991):
28-69.
Carman, John Braisted. The Theology o f Ramanuja: An Essay in Interreligious

Understanding. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974.
Carter, John Ross. "The Notion of "Refuge" (Sarana) in the Theravada Buddhist
Tradition." In Studies in Pali and Buddhism, ed. A.K. Narain, 41-52. Delhi: B. R.
Publishing Company, 1979.
. On Understanding Buddhists: Essays on the Theravada Tradition in Sri Lanka.

Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993.
Carter, John Ross, and George Doherty Bond, et al., eds. The Threefold Refuge in the
Theravada Buddhist Tradition. Chambersburg, Pa.: Anima Books, 1982.
-266-
Carter, John Ross, and Mahinda Palihawadana, translators. The Dhammapada: A New
English Translation with the Pali Text, and the First English Translation o f the
Commentary's Explanation o f the Verses with Notes. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1987.
Chantomvong, Sombat. "To Address the Dust of the Dust Under the Soles of the Royal
Feet: A Reflection of the Political Dimensions of the Thai Court Language."
Asian Review 6 (1992): 145-163.
Chamvit, Kasetsiri. The Rise ofAyudkya, A History o f Siam in the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Centuries. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976.
Coedes, George. "Note sur les ouvrages palis composes en pays Thai." Bulletin de VEcole
Franqaise d’E xtrime-Orient 15, no. part 3 (1915): 39-46.
. "Documents sur ITiistoire politique et religieuse de Laos Occidental." Bulletin de

VEcole Franqaise d'Extreme-Orient 25 (1925): 4-8.
. Catalogue des manuscrits en Pali, Laotien et Siamois provenant de la

Thailande. Edited by Kaare Gronbech. vol. 2, part 2, Catalogue o f Oriental
Manuscripts, Xylographs etc. in Danish Collections. Copenhauge: Bibliotheque
Royale de Copenhague, 1966.
. "Une vie Indochinoise de Buddha: La Pathamasambodhi." In Melanges

d'Indianisme, a la memoire de Louis Renou, ed. Hans Peter Schmidt, 217-
277. Paris: Edidons E. De Boccard, 1968.
Collins, Steven. Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism.

Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
. "Kalydnamitta and Kalyanamittata." Jounal o f the Pali Text Society 11 (1987):

51-72.
. "The Discourse on What Is Primary (Aggahna Sutta): An Annotated

Transladon." Journal o f Indian Philosophy 21 (1993): 301-393.
. Nirvana and other Buddhist Felicities: Utopias o f the Pali Imaginaire.

Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. "Samvega, "Aesthetic Shock"." Harvard Journal o f Asiatic

Studies 17, no. 3 (1943): 174-179.
Cousins, L., A. Kust, and K. R. Norman, eds. Buddhist Studies in Honour o f I. B. Homer.
Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1974.
Cowell, Edward B., Sir Robert Chalmers, W. H. D. Rouse, Henry Thomas Francis, and
-267-
Robert Alexander Neil. The Jataka: or, Stories o f the Buddha's Former Births.
Delhi: Cosmos Publications, 1973.
Cutler, Sally Mellick. "The Pali Apadana Collection." Jounal o f the Pali Text Society 20
(1994): 1-42.
Dagenais, John. Ethics in Reading in Manuscript Culture: Glossing the Libro de Buen
Amor. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994.
Davis, Richard. Maung Metaphysics: A Study o f Northern Thai Myth and Ritual.
Bangkok, Thailand: Pandora, 1984.
Davis, Richard H. Ritual in an Oscillating Universe: Worshiping Siva in Medieval India.

Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.
Day, Tony. "Ties That (un)Bind: Families and States in Premodem Southeast Asia."
Journal o f Asian Studies 55, no. 2 (1996): 348-409.
Dayal, Har. The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature. Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, 1970.
Denis, Eugene. La Lokapahhatti et les idees cosmologiques du Bouddhisme ancien. Lille:

Atelier, 1977.
Derrida, Jacques. "Des tours de babel." hi Difference in Translation, ed. Joseph H.

Graham, 165-207. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985.
Dhammapada Atthakatha. vol. 4. Edited by H. C. Norman. London: The Pali Text

Society, 1970.
Dhammapala, Gatare, Richard Francis Gombrich, and K. R. Norman, eds. Buddhist

Studies: In Honour ofHammalava Saddhatissa. Nugegoda, Sri Lanka:
Hammalava Saddhatissa Felicitation Volume Committee, 1984.
Dharmasena, Thera. Jewels o f the Doctrine: Stories o f the Saddharma Ratndvaliya.

Translated by Ranjini Obeyesekere. Albany: State University of New York Press,
1991.
Dharmasiri, Gunapala. Fundamentals o f Buddhist Ethics. Antioch, Calif.: Golden

Leaves, 1989.
Digha Nikdya. Edited by T.W. Rhys Davids and J. Estlin Carpenter. 3 vols. London:
Pali Text Society, 1975-1982.
Eck, Diana. "The Dynamics of Indian Symbolism." In The Other Side o f God, ed. Peter
L. Berger, 157-181. Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 1981.
-268-
. Dorian: Seeing the Divine Image in India. 3rd edition ed. New York: Columbia
Eco, Umberto, Richard Rorty, Jonathan Culler, and Christine Brooke-Rose, Stefan
Collini, Interpretation and Overinterpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge
Eco, Umberto. Six Walks in the Fictional Woods. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1994.
Eisenstadt, S. N., and L. Roniger. Patrons, Clients, and Friends: Interpersonal Relations
and the Structure o f Trust in Society, Themes in the Social Sciences. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1984.
Eliade, Mircea, ed. Encyclopedia o f Religion. New York: Macmillan, 1987. Vol. 2.
"Bodhisattva Path," by Hajime Nakamura.
Emmerick, R. E., translator. The Sutra o f Golden Light: Being a Translation o f the
Suvamabhasottamasutra. 3rd (rev.) ed. Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1996.
Endo, Toshiici. Buddha in Theravada Buddhism: A Study o f the Concept o f Buddha in

the Pali Commentaries. Nedimala, Dehiwela: Systematic Print, 1997.
Ergardt, Jan T. Faith and Knowledge in Early Buddhism: An Analysis o f the Contextual
Structures o f an Arahant-Formula in the Majjhima-Nikdya. Leiden: Brill, 1977.
Filliozat, Jacqueline. "A Survey of the Burmese and Siamese Pali Manuscript Collections
in the Wellcome Institute." Journal o f the Pali Text Society 19 (1993): 1-41.
Finot. "Recherches sur la literature Laodenne." Bulletin de TEcole Franqaise d'Extreme-

Orient (1911): 1-218.
Flynn, Thomas. "Foucault as Parrhesiast: His Last Course at the College de France
(1984).” In The Final Foucault, ed. David Rasmussen and James Bemauer, 102-
117. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998.
Foucher, Alfred. The Life o f the Buddha According to Ancient Texts and Monuments o f
India. Translated by Simone Boas. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan
Friedman, Marilyn. What are Friends For?: Feminist Perspectives on Personal

Relationships and Moral Theory. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1993.
Geiger, Wilhelm and Mabel Haynes Bode, translators. The Mahdvamsa: Or the Great
Chronicle o f Ceylon. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Ceylon Govt. Information Dept., 1950.
-269-
Gethin, Rupert. "Cosmology and Meditation: From the Aggahha Sutta to the Mahayana."
History o f Religions 36, no. 3 (1997): 183-217.
Gombrich, Richard. "Feminine Elements in Sinhalese Buddhism." Wiener Zeitschriftfiir

die Kunde Siidasiens 16 (1972): 67-93.
. "The Significance of Former Buddhas in the Theravadin Tradition." In Buddhist

Studies in Honour ofWalpola Rahula, ed. Somaratna Balasooriya et. al., 62-71.
London: Gordon Fraser, 1980.
. Theravada Buddhism: A Social History From Ancient Benares to Modem

Colombo. London; New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1988.
. "Why Six Former Buddhas?" The Journal o f Oriental Research Madras 56-57
(1986-92): 326-330.
. "The Buddha's Book of Genesis?" Indo-Iranian Journal 35, nos. 2&3 (1992):
159-178.
. "Buddhist Prediction: How Open is the Future?" In Predicting the Future, ed.
Leo Howe and Alan Wain, 144-168. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1993.
. How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis o f the Early Teachings.

London; Atlantic Highlands, N J.: Athlone Press, 1996.
Gomez, Luis O, translator. The Land o f Bliss: The Paradise o f the Buddha o f
Measureless Light, Sanskrit and Chinese Versions o f the Sukhavatvvyuha Sutras.
Honolulu: University of Hawai’i, 1996.
Gonda, J. "The Indian Mantra." Oriens 16 (1963): 244-97.
Hallisey, Charles. "Recent Works on Buddhist Ethics." Religious Studies Review 18, no.
4(1992): 276-285.
. "Nibbanasutta: An Allegedly Non-Canonical Sutta on Nibbana as a Great City."

Jounal o f the Pali Text Society 18 (1993): 97-130.
. "Roads Taken and Not Taken In the Study of Theravada Buddhism." hi

Curators o f the Buddha, ed. Donald S. Lopez, Jr., 31-61. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1995.
Hanks, L. M. "Merit and Power in the Thai Social Order." American Anthropologist 65
(1962): 1247-1261.
-270-
Hanison, Paul. "Commemoration and Identification in Buddhanusmrti." In In the Mirror

o f Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan
Buddhism, ed. Janet Gyatso, 215-238. Albany: State University of New York
Press, 1992.
Hiniiber, Oskar von. "Remarks on a List of Books Sent to Ceylon from Siam in the 18th
Century." Journal o f the Pali Text Society (1988): 175-183.
Hiniiber, Oskar von. A Handbook o f Pali Literature. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1996.
Homer, I. B. "Some Notes on the Buddhavamsa Commentary (Madhuratthavilasini)." In

Buddhist Studies in Honour ofWalpola Rahula, ed. Somaratna Balasooriya et al.,
73-83. London: Gordon Fraser, 1980.
Homer, I. B. and Padmanabh S. Jaini, translators. Apocryphal Birth-Stories (Pahndsa-

Jataka). 2 vols. London: Pali Text Society, 1985-1986.
Hundius, Harald. "The Colophons of Thirty Pali Manuscripts from Northern Thailand."
Jounal o f the Pali Text Society 14 (1990): 1-173.
Hurvitz, Leon. Scripture o f the Lotus Blossom o f the Fine Dharma. New York: Columbia
Inden, Ronald B. Imagining India. 2nd ed. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell, 1998.
Jaini, Padmanabh S. "Stages in the Bodhisattva Career of the Tathagata Maitreya." In

Maitreya, the Future Buddha, ed. Alan Sponberg & Helen Hardacre, 54-90.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Jataka. vol 1. Edited by V. Fausboll & translated by T. W. Rhys Davids. London:

Triibner, 1877.
Jayawickrama, N. A. "Literary Activity in Pali." Pali Buddhist Review 5, no. 3 (1980):

76-88.
Jinakalanvali. Edited by A. P. Buddhadatta. London: The Pali Text Society, 1962.
Jindlankara. Edited & translated by James Gray. London: The Pali Text Society, 1981.
Jinamahdniddna. Bangkok: The Department of Fine Arts, 1987.
Jones, J. J., translator. The Mahavastu. 3 vols. Sacred Books of the Buddhists, vol.
16,18,19. London: Luzac, 1949-1956.
Kasulis, Thomas P. Zen Action/Zen Person. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1985.
-271-
Katz, Nathan. Buddhist Images o f Human Perfection: The Arahant o f the Sutta Pitaka
Compared with the Bodhisattva and the Mahasiddha. 1st ed. Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass, 1982.
Keown, Damien. "Buddhism and Suicide, the Case of Channa." Journal o f Buddhist
Ethics 3 (1966): 8-31.
Keyes, Charles. "Buddhist Pilgrimage Centers and the Twelve Year Cycle: Northern
Thai Moral Orders in Space and Time." History o f Religions 15 (1975): 71-89.
. "Mother or Mistress but Never a Monk." American Ethnologist 11 (1984): 223-

241.
. The Golden Peninsula: Culture and Adaptation in Mainland Southeast Asia.

Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995.
Kieckhefer, Richard and George D. Bond, eds. Sainthood: Its Manifestations in World
Religions. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
Kloetzli, Randy. Buddhist Cosmology: From Single World System to Pure Land:
Science and Theology in the Image o f Light and Motion. Delhi: Motilal
Banarasidass, 1983.
Krishan, Y. "Buddhism and the Caste System." The Journal o f the International
Association o f Buddhist Studies 9, no. 1 (1986): 71-83.
Lamotte, Etienne. "Laiegende du Bouddha." Revue de THistoire des Religions 134

(1984): 37-71.
. Indian Buddhism. Translated by Sarah Boin. Louvain-Ia-Neuve: Universite

Catholique de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste, 1988.
Leidy, Denise Patry. "The Bodhisattva Maitreya, Prakon Chai, and the Practice of
Buddhism in Southeast Asia." in Buddha o f the Future: An Early Matireya From
Thailand, ed. Nandana Chutiwongs and Denise Patry Leidy, 65-93. New York:
The Asia Society Galleries, New York, 1994.
Leidy, Denise Patry and Nandana Chutiwongs, eds. Buddha o f the Future: An Early
Maitreya From Thailand. New York: The Asia Sociey Galleries, New York,
1994.
Levi, Sylvain. "Maitreya Ie consolateur." In Etudes d'Orientalisme, 354-402. Paris:

Librairie Ernest Leroux, 1932.
Liyanaratne, Jinadasa. 'Tali Manuscripts of Sri Lanka in the Cambridge University

Library." Jounal o f the Pali Text Society 18(1993): 131-147.
-272-
Lopez, Donald, Jr. "Sanctification of the Bodhisattva Path." In Sainthood: Its

Manifestations in World Religions, ed. George D. Bond and Richard Kieckhefer,
172-217. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
. "Memories of the Buddha." In In the Mirror o f Memory: Reflections on

Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, ed. Janet
Gyatso, 21-45. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.
. ed. Curators o f the Buddha. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Lovin, Robin W. and Frank Reynolds, eds. Cosmogony and Ethical Order: New Studies
in Comparative Ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Luce, G. H. Old Burma - Early Pagan. Locust Valley, New York: JJ Augustin
Publishers, 1970.
Luce, G. H. & Pe Maung Tin. "Inscriptions of Burma, Portfolio I." Bulletin o f the
Burmese Histoarical Commission I, Part II, Portfolio I (1963).
Luczanits, Christian. "The Life of the Buddha in the Sumtsek." Orientations 30, no. 1
(1999): 30-39.
Majjhimanikdyatthakatha. Edited by 1 3 . Homer, J.H. Woods & D. Kosambi.4 vols.

London: Pali Text Society, 1922-1937.
Madhuratthavildsim. Edited by I. B. Homer. Oxford: The Pali Text Society, 1946.
Mahdvamsa. Edited by Wilhelm Geiger. London: The Pali Text Society, 1908.
Malalasekera, G.P. The Pali Literature o f Ceylon. London: Royal Asiatic Society of
Great Britain and Ireland, 1928.
Mangaladipanu Bangkok: Mahamakutarajavidyalaya, 2505/ 1972.
Milindapahha. Edited by V. Trenckner. vol. 5. London: The Royal Asiatic Society,

1928.
Mangrai, Sao Saimong. The Padaeng Chronicle and the Jengtung State Chronicle. Ann
Arbor: Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, 1981.
M artini, Ginette, translator. "Pahcabuddhabyakarana." Bulletin de I'ttcole Franqaise

d'Extrime-Orient 55 (1969): 125-144.
Matics, K. L Gestures o f the Buddha. Bangkok: Chulalongkom University Press, 1998.
-273-
Minayeff, I. P. "Gandha-Vamsa." Journal o f the Pali Text Society (1886): 54-80.
Nakasone, Ronald Y. Ethics o f Enlightenment: Essays and Sermons in Search o f a

Buddhist Ethic. Fremont, Calif.: Dharma Cloud Publishers, 1990.
Narain, A. K., ed. Studies in Pali and Buddhism: A Memorial Volume in Honor of
Bhikkhu Jagdish Kashyap. Delhi: B. R. Pub. Corp., 1979.
Nattier, Jan. "The Meanings of the Maitreya Myth." In Maitreya, the Future Buddha, ed.
Alan Sponberg & Helen Hardacre, 23-47. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1988.
. Once Upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy o f Decline. Berkeley,

Calif.: Asian Humanities Press, 1991.
Notton, Camille. Annales du Siam. Paris: Charles-Lavauzelle & Co., 1926.
Ohnuma, Reiko. "The Gift of the Body and the Gift of Dharma." History o f Religions 37,
no. 4 (May 1998): 323-359.
Pahhasajataka. Edited by P.S. Jaini. 2 vols. London: The Pali Text Society, 1981 &
1983.
Pathamasambodhi. Bangkok: Department of Fine Arts, 2537 /1994.
Paramatthajotika H. Edited by Helmer Smith. London: The Pali Text Society, 1916
Parekh, Bhikkhu. "An Indian View of Friendship." In The Changing Face o f Friendship,
edited by Leroy S. Rouner, 95-113. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press,
1994.
Payutto, Phra Prayudh. Dictionary o f Buddhism. Bangkok: Chulalongkom University

Press, 1995.
Penth, Hans. "Which Ratanapanna Composed the Jinakalamall?" Journal o f the Siam
Society 71 (1983): 215-219.
. A B rief History ofLdn Na. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1994.
Rabibhadana, A. The Organization o f Thai Society in the Early Bangkok Period, Data
Paper No. 74, Southeast Asia Program: Cornell University, 1969.
Ratanapanna, Thera. The Sheaf o f Garlands o f the Epochs o f the Conqueror: Being a
Translation o fJinakdlamdlmakaranam o f Ratanapanna Thera o f Thailand.
Translated by N. A. Jayawickrama. London: The Pali Text Society, 1978.
-274-
Ratnayaka, Shanta. "The Bodhisattva Ideal of Theravada." The Journal o f the

International Association o f Buddhist Studies 8, no.2 (1985): 85-110.
Reynolds, Craig. "Buddhist Cosmography in Thai History." Journal o f Asian Studies 35

(1976): 203-220.
Reynolds, Frank E. "The Two Wheels of Dhamma: A Study of Early Buddhism." In The
Two Wheels o f Dhamma: Essay in the Theravada Tradition in India and Ceylon,
ed. Bard well Smith, 6-30. Chambersburg: American Academy of Religion, 1972.
. "The Many Lives of Buddha: A Study of Sacred Biography and Theravada

Tradition." In The Biographical Process: Studies in the History and Psychology
o f Religion, ed. Frank E. Reynolds and Donald Capps, 37-61. Mouton: The
Hague, 1976.
. "The Several Bodies of the Buddha: Reflections on a Neglected Aspect of

Theravada Tradition." History o f Religions 16, no. 4 (1977): 374-389.
. "Multiple Cosmogonies and Ethics: The Case of Theravada Buddhism." In

Cosmogony and Ethical Order, New Studies in Comparative Ethics, ed. Frank E.
Reynolds and Robin W. Lovin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Reynolds, Frank E. and Donald Capps, eds. The Biographical Process: Studies in the
History and Psychology o f Religion. The Hague: Mouton, 1976.
Reynolds, Frank E. and Mani B. Reynolds. Three Worlds According to King Ruang: A
Thai Buddhist Cosmology. Berkeley, Calif.: Center for South and Southeast
Asian Studies, 1982.
Rouner, Leroy S., ed. The Changing Face o f Friendship. Notre Dame, Lid.: University of
Notre Dame Press, 1994.
Rouner, Leroy S. and George Rupp, eds. On Community. Notre Dame, Lid.: University of
Notre Dame Press, 1991.
Saddhatissa, H. ’Tali Literature of Thailand." In Buddhist Studies in Honour o f I. B.

Homer, ed. L. Cousins et. al., 211-225. Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel Publishing
Company, 1974.
. 'Tali Literature from Laos." In Studies in Pali and Buddhism: A Memorial

Volume in Honor o f Bhikkhu Jagdish Kashyap, ed. A. K. Narain, Delhi: B. R.
Pub. Corp., 1979.
-275-
. "Pali Literature in Cambodia." Jounal o f the Pali Text Society 9 (1981): 178-
197.
. Buddhist Ethics. Boston: Wisdom, 1997.
Sarasahgaha. Edited by Genjun H. Sasaki. Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1992.
Schober, Juliane, ed. Sacred Biography in the Buddhist Traditions o f South and Southeast
Asia. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997.
Schuster, Nancy. "Changing the Female Body: Wise Women and the Bodhisattva Career
in Some Maharatnakutasutras." The Journal o f the International Association o f
Buddhist Studies 4, no.l (1981): 24-69.
Silva, W. A. de. Catalogue o f Palm Leaf Manuscripts in the Library o f the Colombo
Museum. Vol. I, Memoirs o f the Colombo Museum. Colombo: Ceylon
Government Press, 1938.
Siriwardena, R., ed. Equality and the Religious Traditions o f Asia. London: Pinter, 1987.
Skilling, Peter. "Buddhist Literature: Some Recent Translations." The Journal o f the
Siam Society 80, Part 1 (1992): 135-143.
. "Symbols of the Body, Feet, and Hands of a Buddha, Part I —Lists." Journal o f
the Siam Society 80, Part 2 (1992): 68-79.
. "A Citation from the Buddhavamsa of the Abhayagiri School." Journal o f the
Pali Text Society 18 (1993): 165-175.
. "The Sambuddhe verses and later Thervadin Buddhology." Journal o f the Pali
Text Society 22 (1996): 151-183.
. "Symbols on the Body, Feet, and Hands of a Buddha, Part II —Short Lists."
Journal o f the Siam Society 84, Part 1 (1996): 5-28.
. "Two Buddhas on a Single Throne in South East Asia: Prabhrtaratna or

Candanabimba?" unpublished manuscript, 1998.
Slote, Michael. From Morality to Virtue. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
■SmirhjBardwell, ed. The Two Wheels o f Dhamma: Essays on the Theravada Tradition in
India and Ceylon. Chambersburg, Pa., American Academy of Religion, 1972.
Smith, John E. "Two Perspectives on Friendship." In The Changing Face o f Friendship,

ed. Leroy S. Rouner, 57-73. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994.
-276-
Somadasa, K. D. Catalogue o f the Hugh Nevill Collection o f Sinhalese Manuscripts in

the British Library. vol. 2: The Pali Text Society and the British Library, 1989.
SotatthakTmahdnidana. Edited by Banjop Bannaruji. Bangkok: Privately printed,

2526/1983.
Spiro, Melford E. Buddhism and Society: A Great Tradition and Its Burmese
Vicissitudes. 2nd edition. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.
. Burmese Supematuralism. Expanded ed. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction

Publishers, 1996.
Sponberg, Alan and Helen Hardacre, ed. Maitreya, the Future Buddha. Cambridge:
Strong, John. "Gandhakuff the perfumed chamber of the Buddha.” History o f Religions
16 (1977): 390-406.
. "The Transforming Gift: An Analysis of Devotional Acts of Offering in

Buddhist Avadana Literature." History o f Religions 18, no. 3 (1979): 221-237.
. "Les reliques des cheveux du Bouddha au Shwe Dagon de Rangoon." Aseanie 2

(1998): 79-107.
Sumahgala-Vildsim. Edited by T. W. Rhys Davids and J. Estlin Carpenter.

London: The Pali Text Society, 1886.
Swearer, Donald K. Wat Haripunjaya. Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press for the American
Academy of Religion, 1976.
. "Hypostasizing the Buddha: Buddha Image Consecration in Northern Thailand."

History o f Religions 34, no. 3 (1995): 263-280.
Tambiah, Stanley J. Buddhism and the Spirit Cults in North-east Thailand. Cambridge:
. World Conqueror and World Renouncer: A Study o f Buddhism and Polity in

Thailand Against a Historical Background. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1976.
. "Famous Buddha Images and the Legitimation of Kings." Res 4 (1982): 5-19.
. The Buddhist Saints o f the Forest and the Cult o f Amulets: A Study in Charisma,
Hagiography, Sectarianism, and Millennial Buddhism. Cambridge: Cambridge
-277-
. The Buddhist Conception o f Universal King and Its Manifestations in South and
Southeast Asia. Kuala Lumpur. University of Malaya, 1987.
Teiser, Stephen F. The Scripture o f the Ten Kings and the Making o f Purgatory in
Medieval Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1994.
Tejapira, Kasian. "Cultural Forces and Counter-Forces in Contemporary Thailand." In

Cultures in ASEAN and the 21st Century, ed. Edwin Thumboo, 239-250.
Singapore: UniPress, 1995.
Tham, Seong Chee. Essays on Literature and Society in Southeast Asia: Political and
Sociological Perspectives. Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1981.
Thomas, E. J. The Life o f the Buddha as Legend and History. New York: A. A. Knopf,
1927.
Tin, Saya U Chit. The Coming Buddha —Ariya Metteya. Vol. 381/383. U.K.: Sayagyi U
Bakhin Memorial Trust, Whell Publications.
Todorov, Tzvetan. The Morals o f History. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,

1995.
Trainor, Kevin. Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism: Rematerializing the Sri
Lankan Theravada Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Vicittasarabhivamsa, Bhaddanta. The Great Chronicle o f Buddhas. Translated by U Ko

Lay & U Tin Lwin. Vol. 1, part I. Rangoon: Ti-Ni Publishing Center, 1991.
Visuddhi-Magga. Edited by C. A. F. Rhys Davids. 2 vols. London: The Pali Text

Society, 1920-21.
Wain, Alan and Leo Howe, eds. Predicting the Future, The Darwin College Lectures.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Wales, H. G. Quaritch. Dvaravati: The Earliest Kingdom o f Siam. New York:

Maurice Walshe, ed. & translator. Thus Have I Heard: The Long Discourses on the
Buddha, DTgha Nikdya. London: Wisdom Publications, 1987.
Walters, Jonathan S. "The Buddha’s Bad Karma: A Problem in the History of Theravada
Buddhism." Numen 37 (1990): 71-95.
-278-
. "Stupa, Story, and Empire: Construction of the Buddha Biography in Early

Post-Asokan India." In Sacred Biography in the Buddhist Traditions o f South and
Southeast Asia, ed. Juliane Schober,. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press,
1997.
Wayman, Alex. "The Hindu-Buddhist Rite of Truth—An Interpretation." In Studies in

Indian Linguistics, ed. Bhadiraju Krishnamurti, 365-369. Annamalainagar:
Centers of Advanced Studies in Linguistics, 1969.
Williams, Paul. Mahaydna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. London: Routledge,

1989.
Wilson, Liz. Charming Cadavors: Horrific Figurations o f the Feminine in Indian

Buddhist Hagiographic Literature. Chicago: University o f Chicago Press, 1996.
Wiltshire, Martin. "The "Suicide" Problem in the Pali canon." The Journal o f the
International Association o f Buddhist Studies 6, no. 2 (1983): 124-140.
Wright, Michael. "Ayudhya and its Place in Pre-Modem Southeast Asia." Journal o f the
Siam Society 80, no. Part 2 (1992): 86.
Wyatt, David. Thailand: A Short History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984.

Virtue and Relationships in A Theravadin Biography of The Bodhisatta Sotatthakimahanidana

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Virtue and Relationships in A Theravadin Biography of The Bodhisatta Sotatthakimahanidana

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

INFORMATION TO USERS

The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the

Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by

Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced

Bell & Howell Information and Learning

The undersigned, appointed by the

Com m ittee 0 n th e S tu d y o f R e lig io n

have exam ined a thesis entitled

candidate for the degree o f D octor o f Philosophy and hereby

Typed nam e...

Karen Anne Derris

The Committee on the Study of Religion

In partial fulfillment of the requirements

Option II: Buddhism

All rights reserved.

Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company

Virtue and Relationships in a Theravadin Biography of the Bodhisatta:

SotatthakTmahdnidana (SotatthakT), a Pali work known in the medieval Theravadin

vyakarana, and the significance of relationships in the ethical development of the

development in various ways.

Chapter two examines the SotatthakTs elaboration of the prediction of

Bodhisatta’s identity as a buddha, the Buddha Gotama, begins to be formulated.

Buddhavamsa is quoted without substantial alterations or direct commentary, the

narrative by embedding it within the total expanded biography of the Bodhisatta. I

stories, highlighting the importance of relationships in the prediction events narrated in

Bodhisatta's relationships with himself), communities of bodhisattas, and communities of

communities, I demonstrate the constantly shifting hierarchies between these different

ethical actors who participate in continuous exchanges of beneficence and reciprocity.

FORMULATING THE PAST: THE PROCESS OF ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT

iti. The eight conditions: ^tnhdotes to ethical 1ings..................................... ............. ■■■»■«».....66

IV. Conclusion: Particular agents, universal objects_________ _________ _______—.............— .— 83

POINTING TO THE FUTURE: THE PRELIMINARY PREDICTIONS.............. 88

L Introduction: Developing the prediction of buddhahood ---- — — ............ 88

H. The Preliminary Predictions: a typology ... tt...........................................91

EH. Formulating the Bodhisatta's identity as a buddha.................. 113

THE DEFINED FUTURE: THE GUARANTEE OF ETHICAL PERFECTION. 127

EL Positioning the "Sumedhakatha" in the SotatthakT..................................................— ..........— 130

iV . Making the first full prediction o f huddhahood ».«.»»..»»..»........la2

V. When now is then: Making the future present 159

VII. The role of the assembly: Inhabiting the future 166

IX. The repetition o f the prediction.^^...................................— —.^.—...^...........^..............................f 81

COMMUNITIES OF BENEFICENCE....................................................................... 191

I. Introduction: Communities created by predictions....— ...»—.— ............. —....................191

m . Communities o f Bodhisattas ................. — ------— 205

The Bodhisattas o f the Bhadda kappa ....------- — ................................ -226

V. Conclusion: Exemplary Virtues................... 251

generosity and dedication of this diverse community has sustained me.

My profound thanks go to my teacher and advisor, Professor Charles Hallisey,

reading Buddhist literature together. He is a truly remarkable teacher and this

my studies, intellectual development, and professional growth in every way possible —I

consider myself most fortunate to be his student.

I thank Professor Stanley Tambiah for his ongoing support of my studies

throughout my graduate school career. Professor Tambiah’s insightful insights into my

my work. Janet's always insightful comments continually challenge me to think deeper

I have been fortunate to benefit from many extraordinary teachers throughout my

thank my teachers at Brown University who first inspired my studies as an undergraduate

of training with great pleasure and gratitude.

Many great scholars generously aided me in my study of Pali literature during my

Bannaruji of Chulalongkom University who read Pali literature with me throughout my

Assavavirulhakam also of Chulalongkom University. I greatly benefited from several

insightful conversations with Arjan Suwanna who challenged me to further questions

impact on this study. She invited me to participate in a lecture series at Chulalongkom

throughout my graduate education. To Natalie Gummer and Suzanne Mrozik, treasured

IV. Conclusion: Particular agents, universal objects_____ _ ___—.............— .— 83