L-a.",\::.o.. �o'-'-"'''''''' cJ. � k \-LJ..""",,O-V\d"�.

�os. \ Q� :2, lQg(:, ({'",-b��� ,,:.. Iqg-V

J ,.

THE PATH OF TEN GOOD ACTIONS

.: ! r' .. ·" .-i "r:" ;."

•

rhat .�pe .<;t\'pi,danG8 of oad action constitutes good act ion appears to be a C'i»)runon concept in Buddhist 1 i ter­ature. Attention has becn� drla:wn to this notion bv the well-known scholar, Franklin'Edgerton. Discussin� the termi<.a.rrrtapatha (course of action) in his Buddhist hr. ,b ' ' ·7 C',..., ' (' k· .; ,L " �' " ·i·�· / .. . . .. ' ,,1 � ., ' t th t 't seems to !; a1-(c ,..;".7"<:) I'vv ,�·(/C;/iJ,jr;,v<.l'�; 11e :::.ta es a 1 be a fundamentally Buddhist Jne, and that, as in Pali,

it,almost always applies to a sst of ten g60d actions

(do.sakusaTa) consisting of the avoidance of ten bad actions (da§C:.k:dc�a), na;:wly three of body (taking life,

theft, fornication or adultery), four of speech (lying, harsh speech, spiteful speech, idle or silly or discon­

nected speech), and threp of mind (covetousness, malevo­

lence and heresy). ,Noting texts where the ten good . (kus'aZa) or bad (ak,.sc7.e) actions are listed, Edgerton . ,/ - , J

makes speci a 1 reference to the ,c;rKfjaSa;"1uc:caya., which describes the torment.s suff8red in hell by tho;;e guilty / - 0 of each of th<� ten sins . The S-£ksGsc??;n:;cmJG," a. compend-

. ' . " I . .,. � ium of Buddhist teaching c6mpiled b� Santideva, probably

'j

1 EdC>'Pl't" n ' nyun'-li'n ! " ; . ;.;. , i(': 7·; ,:�·i . .. ,.-}" , .... ,.:; (';ansUy,';+ "'rQmmQr I .,J g..... V 1 .t ;;, K � " .� � � (" .. , v L y .... 1 C v.- ..... . . ,"-_ £" ., i.J I

and L<>·�:,�':':.::n;I). Vol. II: Dictionary. New Haven: ' .. : 'I' Yalq,Pr:iversiJY ;���6p .o.953} p. 170. . / �

2. a) Bencall, Cecil. ed. sn<'..qasm�le::ay"?:.. A Compendium

of Buddhist teaching. Compiled by Santideva chiefly .. " , . _ .- - I from the esrlier Mahayana Sutras, St. Petersbourg

(1897 -1902) .'�, n;z:;)oi;:-:,:..�a ?�,dd7,ica I. / - 1-

b) Vaidya, ?i./. ed. ,:::k�'a<."(JJ):".<'eQyQ of Santideva.

Darbhanga, The. Mithila Institute of Post-graduate ": f ' . " l � • . Stu�s and Research in Sanskrit Learning (1961)

Buddhist Sanskrit Texts No . 11.

c) Bendall, Ccci� and Rouse, W.H.D.transl. (contd.)

40

•

as ��rly as the middle of the seventh century A.D.,3 consists almost entirely of quotations and extracts 4 - - -from sacred texts, chiefly the earlier Mahayana-Sutras. The extract describing the/il!-effects of the ten bad actions, included in the Sik�as�uccgya is from a text called the Saddharmasmrtyupasthana-sutra.

In a recent contribution to KaZyani, the Journal •

of Hum an i ties and Social Sciences of the Univer sity of Kelaniya, Sr i Lanka,5 r gave the Sanskrit text and

English trans l ation of a fragment: of a manuscript which refers to the ten-fold classification of bad action�made by the Buddba in the Saddha�as�tyupa$thana. This text also categorises the ten bad deeds into those of body, speech and mind, and descr ibes the torments suffered in

heli as the result of evil action without specifying a particular evil.

The metr'ical dated to

Supriyasarthavaha-jatak� (S�J�hereafter), a

composition of the avadanamaZa genre usually about the sixth century A.D. or later,6 the text

/ -

S{ksasarmI.Ccaya.· A Compend ium of Buddhist doctrine. Compiled by Santideva chiefly from ear l ier Mahay an a

Sutras. London (1922) Indian Text Series .

3. Winternitz , A History of Indian Literature. Vol. II, tr ans lated from the original German. University of Calcutta (1933) p. 366.n.2.

4. ibid. p. 366.

5. Kaz�a�i. Journal of Humanities

of the University of Kelaniya. (1986-1987) in press.

6. Winternitz, op.cit. p. 291.

_ 3 � :itS �d e -

and Social Sciences Volumes V .and VI

41

of whi ch has not yet been Published,7 contains four verses,S which again categorise the ten ba d actions into those of body, speech and mind and stu te their i ll-effects conc�se ll. The S,�:;(T. is an adaptation of

"the Eros� Supriyavadana, the eighth story of the D'i vyavadana, 9 a ca m pi 1 at ion said to have come, in to

exis ten ce in its present form between the yeurs 200 10 ,-and 350 A.D. Th is avaaana narrates the story of Supriya , a mer c�ant of Benares, who went to a cit y calle� B adatadvipa to bring a wish-fulfilling jewe l (cintamani), so that he could practise generosity and

. '

satisfy the ,desires of all mendicants. At the end of

an arduous j ourney undertaken at the suggestion of a

goddess, with whose help and also that of Magha, a merc hant of the city of Rohitaka, Sup riy a reached Badar advip a , where there were four Kinr!al'G c it ies . On Supriya knocking at the door of each of the se cities, four, eight, sixteen and thirty-two lovely r,>mwY'a maidens appe a red at each in turn and tried to lure him to become their husband, whereupon he could l e a d a life of ease and comfort. But, as advised by the goddess

earlier, Sypriya not only res isted their lustful entice ­

ment but al�o preached to them the good doctrine and received the wish-fulfilling jewels from them.

In his doctrinal discourse at the first KinnaY'Q city, Supriya ha;i ng spoken of the ten evils and their

- -

7. I have prepared an edition of the SupriyasQ1>/;havaha-

j�taka based on seven manusc t i pts found in Tokyo

and Kyot o and intend publishing it shortly. The

text runs into 777 verses.

8. Verses 464-467 of the edition r efe rre d to in note 7 above.

9. Cowell, E. B. and Neil, R. A. ed. The D1.:?)u�vad�ma Cambridge Universit y Press.!,. Ca�bridge (1886) p. 91-123; Vaidya, P.L. ed. Divyavadana Darbh�nga. The

Mithila Institute of Po st- gr a du ate Studies and

Research in Sanskrit Learning (1959) p. 58-76.

10. Vaidya", P'.L. ed. !)'iVY�lVad�;2Q. op.cit. p. XI.

42

ill-effects asked the Kinnara maidens to abandon them and to practise the ten good deeds, which here too, as in instances pointed out by Edgerton, implicitly involve the avoidance of the ten bad deeds. I give below the text of the relevant stanzas of the SSJ. and an English translatio� of them.

�aY'lram tri vidharrz papC1rj1 va7J;Ibha"valJi catw"'vidham I traya� manasikarrz tadvad dasakusalikarrz smrtam II

- - - - - - , -sqdattada?J.ahirljSa _cq �amamithya sar�Y'ajam .I dinasvalpayusau vamahinam ante ca durgatih II

I •

- - I ,

ml'lsavadas ea paisunyam l?audram bhinnam ca vaC1�kam./ • fIJI - / _ 4� �. _ • ku?phakayas ca murkhas ea bhartsyamano janojjhita� II

abhie.hya ea paradrohap mithy?;.drsti; ca manasam / sarvapriyatvad:r>ohatva� h7nangmr/ tatphalCOJl vidu� /1

Bodily evil is three-fold; that arlsin g from speech four-fold: and that of mind three-fold. The ten evils are known as being of that manner.

Inj�ry to life, theft and improper behaviour relat­lng to the senses' arise out of one's body, . (their ill-effects being) shortness of -life, poverty, not having a wife, and birth in an evil state in the end.

False speech, slander , harsh (words) and loose talk are (the evils) of speech, (their consequences being) a leprous body, dumbness, being reviled and being shunned by others .

. Desire, m alice towards others and false v�ews are (the evils) of the mind. Being subject to the aversion and hostility of all and defectiven'ess of limb, are known to be their results.

The Divuavadana version of the legend does not list v

the ten evils or speak of their ill-effects at the corres-ponding point of the story or elsewhere but merely states

43 .. . .. , f '\ .

. �. " , : ':; :,: i, ; . . ..

that Sup,riyaqond�Itlned the ten bad paths of action and praiseq,the, ten gOOQ, p�ths of 'action .11

. . . I

However, the ten evils �re listed 'and the' advantages of refraining from them discussed in the Badaradv1-p'aya­trcr.vadana, ' ; R, version ?f tl1e Su�riya legend found in K�emendra;� s Avadanakalpqlata) �".�,. w6rk at t�i1:)utedto the eleventh century A.D,� The text of the relevant '�tanzas as printed in Vaidya's edition of the Avadanakalpalata is as follows,14

paracittgxn vi?ar.n·Y6?� jd�anya#)jamJayo�it��; I Parahimsatmahi![lsaiva L"GakBas tesam niratiiay' ah / /

• 'I . � v )o

Paisunyasatyaparusyabhinnavacojjhitarr: vacah / • _ I -, " f'"

sadaiva vadane yesam tesam sar'Jasisa disah 1/ . '

,'�: -' :

..

...

�

�

,J

oJ

abhid�yar'ahita'?l cete,vyap€:t'apar'i'Jarjit&n /' "� mithyadrst1.:vihinam Cd uesam te satpatham tY'itah / / # ., . , v , � , ..

da�akusalamaY'qebhyo niY'Qatanam nisQY'gatah / I ..... - ""- � , -

ete Kusa[Q7)(111gasya marga�: Gvarge niY'argala� 1/

The' 1;;;j�Y';d;ip�yatY'avadcma has been trans la ted into_ English under the title Buddha's JOUl"ney io BadaradV'l.:pa

11. iO'1:d. p. 72, lines 20 I 21: SUFr'i:ycY>!a7�;[',c.Y'tha?)aho , 1- I - ,

- ' , ' -; I k I z-rzasak?":Ea�qn ka!Y!!apatrIC.7i lngaY'hdT'Z. aasa �usa an kannapatnan sar,rwaY'?]ayati.

12. Dis S.C. and Pandit Hari Mohan Vidyabhusana ed. K�emendra's AvadanakaZpalata with its Tibetan version, Bibliotheca, Indica'.: "2' vo1s'; Calcutta , . .

. : : (1888 and 1918) vol . I. p. 177-299; Vaidy�, P.L. ed. AvadanakaZpa�ata of K�emendra ,2vols. Darbhanga, The Mithila Institute' of p6st·;:.graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning (1959) vol. It p. 51 - 64.

13. ibid. p. VII-VIII.

14. ibid. p. 62, verses 173 - 176 .

44

by Satis Chandra Banerjia.15 I give below his translat­

ion of the verses16 quoted above.

"Invincible is the party of him who holds another's

wealth to be poison, regards another's wife as

his mother and considers envy of others equivalent

to envy of himself.

Constantly is he blessed by all the sides, whose

speech is free from guile, untruth, harshness

and heresy_

They are on the right path, whose hearts are free

from lust of other's gold, exempt from all

(mundane) concerns, and safe from looks of vain

(longing) .

To those blessed ones that have naturally escaped

from the ten kinds of unhappiness (sins), the way

to heaven is free from bar."

RATNA HAf'()URUKANDE

15. Banerjia, Satis Chandra. Badaradvipayatravadana of

Avadcmakalpalata (Pallava 6) translated as · Bw1dha' s

Journey to Badaradvipa. Calcutta. Journal of the

Buddhist Text Society of India. Vol. III (1893)

Part I. p. 1 - 11.

16. ibid. p. 10.