Sanskrit poetry

Question 1

Pāli canon

Answer 1

• sacred scripture of Theravādin
• preserved in Thali language
• close to language Buddha spoke

Question 2

3 baskets/Ti-pitaka of Theravādin Pāli canon

Answer 2

sutta, vinaya, abhidhamma

Question 3

abhidhamma

Answer 3

• not recognized by all traditions
• 3rd basket
• also known as Buddhist metaphysics
• commentary on dharma or teachings

Question 4

5 Nikāyas of the sutta basket

Answer 4

1. Dīgha-nikāya (group of long texts)
2. majjhima-nikāya (middle length texts)
3. samyutta-nikāya (connected texts)
4. anguttara-nikāya (numerically arranged texts)
5. khuddaka-nikāya (miscellaneous texts)

Question 5

khuddaka-nikāya

Answer 5

• miscellaneous texts
• 547 jātaka stories
• around 2500 verses
• only the verses are canonical. not the stories
• stories are considered to be commentary

Question 6

haribhatta

Answer 6

• flourished around 400 CE
• models on predecessor, Ārya-Sura
• wrote Jatakamala
• first appearance of jatakamala in wester world appeared in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1904
• original version in sanskrit
• know very little about him. converted to buddhism. may have been native of Kashmir

Question 7

Ārya Sūra

Answer 7

• 4th CE (i.e. 3005)

- his Jatakamala was the only work to have survived in its entirety

Question 8

6 pāramitās/perfections

Answer 8

1. dāna-pāramitā: perfection of generosity
2. śila-pāramitā: perfection of moral integrity
3. ksānti-pāramitā: perfection of forbearance
4. vīrya-pāramitā: perfection of valour
5. dhyāna-pāramitā: perfection of meditation
6. prajnā-pāramitā: perfection of wisdom/understanding

Question 9

story of viśvamtara

Answer 9

• Ārya-Sura
• bodhisattva is so generous that he gives away his royal elephant, his kids, his wife
• test by Sakra (Hindu God)

Question 10

jataka

Answer 10

story that details past life/event of Buddha (i.e. historical ones)

Question 11

campū

Answer 11

• genre of mixed verse and prose
• both haribhatta’s jatakamala and Arya Sura’s belong to this genre
• earliest campu are buddhist, but only survive in fragments

Question 12

kāvya

Answer 12

• most sophisticated genre of Sanskrit literature
• includes plays and stories in prose and poetry
• should not include the jataka stories of the Pali canon

Question 13

general principles of campu

Answer 13

• descriptive passages are in prose
• didactic homilies are in verse
• narrative and conversation are in prose and verse

Question 14

prose

Answer 14

string of long, elaborate compounds

Question 15

verse

Answer 15

clear, elegant, moderate use of wordplay and sound effects

Question 16

why do we not translate prose and verse as separate portions?

Answer 16

because they sometimes run together to create a single syntactic unit

Question 17

haribhatta’s jatakamala

Answer 17

• another title: bodhisattvavadanamala (“anthology of stories about the outstanding deeds of the Bodhisattva (the future Buddha)”)
• purpose of all the stories is to show bodhisattva’s single-minded devotion to the good of all creatures
• bodhisattva’s incarnations help other to nirvana
• half as long as his predecessor’s jatakamala
• took Arya-sura’s jatakamala as a model for his own

Question 18

haribhatta (HJM) vs. Arya-sura (AJM)

Answer 18

• AJM’s jatakas are very close to Pali Jatakas collection, while HJM’s aren’t (30/34 vs. few)
• HJM is half as long as AJM
• can’t really compare that much because Haribhatta took different material from Sura. but haribhatta doesn’t stray from sura’s procedure that much

Question 19

what makes haribhatta’s writing unique?

Answer 19

his outstanding power of description: visual detail, references to paintings, animals

Question 20

jataka: the hare

Answer 20

• ascetic and hare were good friends
• drought left conditions really bad
• ascetic said he will leave the hare for awhile to stay with his family, and will come back to him later
• hare said this was not a good idea to stray off this path and indulge in pleasures
• hare sacrificed himself for food
• hare did this to allay the suffering of living creatures
• hare is the bodhisattva

Question 21

Jataka: the peacock

Answer 21

• king Brahmadata’s wife, Anupama was really interested in peacock so king sent people to go capture it
• eventually since capturing didn’t work, the people asked the peacock to come because otherwise their life is in danger
• peacock went
• Anupama was going to meet a prince privately and poisoned the peacock so he wouldn’t get the chance to inform the king
• peacock realized this and convinced them both to not make this mistake: described hell
• prince realized his mistake; when he called anupama “sister”, she got ashamed too
• peacock is reluctantly sent free
• peacock is bodhisattva
• perfection: moral integrity

Question 22

jataka: the deer

Answer 22

• when the king was hunting the deer, the deer offered to send one of them a day for the king
• one day, the bodhisattva deer went in replacement for a pregnant deer
• when the king asked why he was here instead of someone else, bodhisattva explained
• king felt embarrassed and remorse and let him go.

Question 23

jataka: nirupama

Answer 23

• nirupama, actress, was very beautiful
• she was dancing in a show
• an ascetic decided to attend. he had just made the decision that he was going to move away from the “being good life”
• when he saw her dancing, he became infatuated by her and decided to fully give up his old life
• clothes that were covering her slipped off while she as dancing. she was exposed
• actor became infatuated in love
• nirupama advised him
• this caused actor, ascetic, and many others to turn away from bad path and follow good path
• gave nirupama clothes to wear
• nirupama is bodhisattva
• perfection: wisdom/understanding

Question 24

perfection in jataka “rupyavati”

Answer 24

generosity

Question 25

perfection in jataka “sudhana and the fairy princess”

Answer 25

valour

Question 26

perfection in jataka “visvamtara”

Answer 26

generosity