DivyavadanaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Divyāvadāna, or Divine Stories, is an anthology of Buddhist tales, many originating in theMūlasarvāstivāda vinaya texts.[1] It may be dated to 2nd century CE. The stories themselves aretherefore quite ancient and may be among the first Buddhist texts ever committed to writing, but thisparticular collection of them is not attested prior to the eighteenth century. Typically, the storiesinvolve the Buddha explaining to a group of disciples how a particular individual, through actions ina previous life, came to have a particular karmic result in the present. A predominant theme is thevast merit (puṇya) accrued from making offerings to enlightened beings or at stupas and other holysites related to the Buddha.

The anthology contains 38 stories in all, including the well-known Aśokāvadāna, or Legend of KingAśoka, which was translated into English by John Strong (Princeton, 1983). The collection has beenknown since the dawn of Buddhist studies in the West, when it was excerpted in Eugène Burnouf'shistory of Indian Buddhism (1844). The first Western edition of the Sanskrit text was published in1886 by Edward Byles Cowell and R.A. Neil.[2] The Sanskrit text was again edited by P. L. Vaidyain 1959 (Darbhanga, "Buddhist Sanskrit Texts" series). Under the title “Heavenly Exploits", JoelTatelman has provided in 2005 the Clay Sanskrit Library (http://www.claysanskritlibrary.org/volume-v-6.html) with one volume containing the original text and the English translation of thestories no. 1 (Koṭikarṇāvadāna), 2 (Pūrṇāvadāna), 30 (Sudhanakumārāvadana ) and 36(Mākandikāvadāna).The first seventeen stories, including the story of the Buddha's famous miraclesat Śrāvastī that are so commonly depicted in Buddhist art, have been translated by Andy Rotman andpublished in 2008 as the inaugural volume of Wisdom Publications (http://www.wisdompubs.org/book/divine-stories)' Classics of Indian Buddhism series. The remaining stories will be published ina subsequent volume.

The collection also contains the story of Buddha creating the famous depiction of the wheel of life,which illustrates the twelve links of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) and the cycle ofsaṃsāra, for King Rudrāyaṇa (a.k.a. Udrāyana).

List of StoriesThis is the list of stories contained in the Divyāvadāna:

Koṭikarṇa-avadāna1.Pūrṇa-avadāna2.Maitreya-avadāna3.Brāhmaṇadārikā-avadāna4.Stutibrāhmaṇa-avadāna5.Indrabrāhmaṇa-avadāna6.Nagarāvalambikā-avadāna7.Supriya-avadāna8.Meṇḍhakagṛhapativibhūti-pariccheda9.Meṇḍhaka-avadāna10.Aśokavarṇa-avadāna11.Prātihārya-sūtra (The miracles at Śrāvastī)12.Svāgata-avadāna13.

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Sūkarika-avadāna14.Cakravartivyākṛta-avadāna15.Śukapotaka-avadāna16.Māndhātā-avadāna17.Dharmaruci-avadāna18.Jyotiṣka-avadāna19.Kanakavarṇa-avadāna20.Sahasodgata-avadāna21.Candraprabhabodhisattvacaryā-avadāna22.Saṅgharakṣita-avadāna23.Nāgakumāra-avadāna24.Saṅgharakṣita-avadāna25.Pāṃśupradāna-avadāna26.Kunāla-avadāna27.Vītaśoka-avadāna28.Aśoka-avadāna29.Sudhanakumāra-avadana30.Toyikāmaha-avadāna31.Rūpāvatī-avadāna32.Śārdūlakarṇa-avadāna33.Dānādhikaraṇa-mahāyānasūtra34.Cūḍāpakṣa-avadāna35.Mākandika-avadāna36.Rudrāyaṇa-avadāna37.Maitrakanyaka-avadāna38.

References^ "Fables in the Vinaya-Pitaka of the Sarvastivadin School" by Jean Przyluski, in The Indian HistoricalQuarterly, Vol.V, No.1, 1929.03

1.

^ Neil, Robert Alexander; Cowell, Edward B.: The Divyâvadâna: a collection of early Buddhist legends,now first edited from the Nepalese Sanskrit mss. in Cambridge and Paris; Cambridge: University Press1886. Internet Archive (http://archive.org/details/pts_divyvadnacol_3720-0688)

2.

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