Buddhist Narrative

Question 1

divyavadana

Answer 1

• divine stories
• 37 stories of various lengths
• not all are avadanas (i.e., buddhist narratives). reason for this is unclear
• mainly based on late Nepalese manuscripts

Question 2

Mulasarvastivada-vinaya

Answer 2

• North Indian Buddhist monastic law code
• MSV
• divyavadana shares many stories with this law code
• composed in Sanskrit
• preserved in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan

Question 3

what was the first split of buddhism?

Answer 3

created 2 sects/nikayas: Mahasanghika (majority) and sthanira (elders)

Question 4

what did the 2nd split of buddhism look like? (i.e. 2nd buddhist council)

Answer 4

18-20 nikayas

Question 5

sarvastivadins

Answer 5

• one of the earliest schools of Buddhism
• Sarva = all
• Asti = exists
• vadin = teach

Question 6

mula

Answer 6

• root, original

- text includes wisdom of Buddha and Arrhats from first council

Question 7

terminus ante quem

Answer 7

latest time event may have happened

Question 8

how can we use terminus ante queen to determine a general date?

Answer 8

terminus ante queen can often be the translation date that is preserved in colophons. given this date, we know original was written before that. how long before that s unclear.

Question 9

what basket is divavadana from? why does this matter?

Answer 9

• vinaya basket
• matters because monastic law codes are designed for monastic people only
• not available to laity

Question 10

story of Rupyavati

Answer 10

• satyakriya (Act of truth)
• candra piranha
• same story as jataka tale, but instead of giving her breasts, rupyavati is reborn as candra prahba, who gives her eyes to a bird. then was reborn again as brahmaprabha who offers body to hungry tiger
• perfection of generosity
• message to laity: we should be engaged in acts of generosity, but only Bodhisattva’s can do such heightened acts of giving (like tearing flesh)

Question 11

tale of sahosodgata

Answer 11

• monk went through hell and came to tell people about it and admonish them
• since he couldn’t be everywhere at once, he created the wheel of rebirth with 5 realms
• monk is appointed to explain these realms
• first monk who is appointed is incompetent, so another competent monk is appointed

Question 12

what are the 5 realms in the wheel of rebirth?

Answer 12

hell realm, animal realm, realm of hungry ghosts, human realm, realm of gods