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________________ "NATAPUTTA' IN EARLY NIRGRANTHA LITERATURE M. A. Dhaky The Pali canon of the Buddhists refers to Jina Vardhamana Mahavira as *Niggantha Nataputta' (Ceylonese version) or 'Niggantha Nataputta' (Burman version). The appelation 'Nataputta' is after Vardhamana's clan-nomen Nata', Jnat;; the prefixed term 'Niggantha' (Nirgrantha) alludes to the Sramanic Church of which he was the leader. No scholar, however, seems to have investigated in depth as to the situation as it obtains in regard to this specific (clanic) appelation inside the literature of the Nirgranthas. The present paper addresses itself to exploring this particular aspect of inquiry. The earlier texts of the Ardhamagadhi canon do contain clear as well as copious references to 'Nataputta' (Inatnputra, scion of the Jnats clan). The broad temporal bracket of the relevant passages (or verses as the case may be) inside the different texts is c. B. C. 250-A. D. 250. While this epithet virtually disappears after that period, the reminiscences of it echo in the post-Gupta, pre-medieval and medieval commentaries, laxicons, and sometimes also in the hymns, the phase with which the present paper shall not deal. Unlike the Buddhist references which allude to Mahavira singularly by his clan epithet, the early Nirgrantha canonical texts employ it alongside a large variety of other honorifics and epithets. Moreover, the Nirgranthas had not needed to prefix the qualificatory Niggantha' to his clan epithet 'Nataputta' since for them he was not an outsider but the leader of their own Order, Nirgrantha Church. For them it, therefore, went without specifically so saying. The earliest pertinent references to Nataputta figure inside the two relatively later chapters of the Acaranga (Book I) which of course do not seem later than the third and the second century B. C. The eighth chapter's eighth lecture (uddesa) therein refers to 'Nataputta' in a verse : ayaM se avare dhamme nAtaputtena saahite| AyavajjaM paDiyAraM vijahejjA tidhA tidhA / --31ETTIT, TA FPIFFET, C.C.219 Next the "Uvadhana-sutta" ("Upadhana-sutra", c. 3rd-2nd cent. B. C.), which forms 'Chapter 9' (Book I) of the selfsame work, twice refers to this epithet (once as 'Natasuta') in one and the same verse :
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________________ 'Nataputta' in Early Nirgrantha Literature fe madhukathAsu samayamhi nAtasute visoge akkhu / etAti se urAlAti gacchati nAtapute asaraNAe // In the Sutrakrtanga (Book 1), several important references (c. 3rd-2nd cent. B. C.) containing this appelation occur : moreover, the variant 'Natiputta', and the abbreviation 'Nata', besides the usual 'Nataputta' also figure. uccAvatAni gacchaMtA ganbhamessaMta'naMtaso / nAtapute mahAvIre evamAha jinottame || - AcArAMga, prathama skandha, 9.1.50. je eta caraMti AhitaM nAtenaM mahatA mahesiNA / uTThita te samuTThitA annonnaM sAraMti dhammao // 16 evaM se udAhu anuttaranANI anuttaradaMsI anuttaranANadaMsanadhare arahA nAtapute bhagavaM vesAlIe viyAhite // 121 -- sUtrakRtAMga 1.2.3.22. (The variant 'Natiputta' is the result of pronouncing 'Jnatr' as Jnatri' as is done in Hindi, Bangla, etc., and not as Jnatru' or 'Jnatra ( rural ) ' as rendered in Gujarati, Oriya, etc.) Also in the "Mahavira-stava" (c. 2nd cent. B. C.) inside the selfsame agama, a question is thus asked in regard to Nataputta's knowledge and insights: kataM ca nANaM taM daMsanaM se sIlaM kataM nAtasutassa AsI / nAsinaM bhikkhu jathAtathenaM athAsutaM brUhi jathA nisaMtaM // sudaMsana sesa jaso girissa pavuccatI mahato pavvatassa / etovame samaNe nAtatte jAtI - jaso - daMsana-nANasIle || - sUtrakRtAMga 1.1.2.27. - sUtrakRtAMga 1.2.2.26. -- sUtrakRtAMga 1.6.2 Next, in the same hymn, Nataputta's dimensions of glory are compared with those of the Sudarsana-giri ( Sumeru-parvata) : dAnAna seTTha abhayappadAnaM saccesu yA aNavajjaM vadaMti / tave yA uttama baMbhaceraM loguttame bhagavaM nAtapute // -- sUtrakRtAMga 1.6.14 And thereafter it is said: "Just as lending protection (abhayadana) is best of helps, an unhurting right utterance is best in the category of truth-telling, and celebacy (brahmacarya) is best among austerities, so is best Bhagavan Nataputta among the world :" -- sUtrakRtAMga 1.6.23
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________________ M. A. Dhaky And finally the following verse in the selfsame hymn once more refers to Nataputta: "And just as the one who possesses seven lavas (in the five ultimate heavenly worlds) are best among those beings who remain in stable state, and as the heaven Sudharma's is the finest of all assembly-halls, and among all orders the one that leads to the path of liberation is the best, so is Nataputta matchless (among the "knowers""): 122 ThitINa seTThA lavasattamA yA sabhA suSammA va sabhANa seTThA / nivvANa seTThA jaya savvadhammA nAtaputtA paramatthi nANI // sUtrakRtAMga 1.6.24 Also in Book II of the Sutraktanga, in the chapter "Ardrakiya" (c. 3rd 2nd cent. B. C.) references to Samana Nataputta and Isino Nataputta figure: panaM jatA vaNie udayaTThI Atassa hetu pagareti saMgaM / tato me samaNe nAzapute iccheva me hotI matI vipakkA // savvesi jIvAna dayaTThatAe sAvajja dosaM parivajjayaMtA / tassaMkiNI isiNo nAtaputtA udiTThabhattaM parivajjayaMti // sUtrakRtAMga 2.6.40 The Dasavaikalika-sutra also refers to Nataputta Nataputta in its chapter on "Pindesana" (c. 3rd 2nd cent. B. C. ) which dwells upon monastic rules for begging food and permissible alms. The two verses cited below (without translation) is the first case in point: evaM ca dosaM danaM nAtaputena bhAsitaM / aNumAtaM pi medhAvI mAyAmosaM vivajjae / viDamunbheimaM loNaM tellaM sappi ca phANitaM / na te sannihimiccheti nAtaputtavacoratA // sUtrakRtAMga 2.6.19 - dazavekAlikasUtra 6.17 The next two verses claim that, if clothes, begging bowl, blanket, and the feet-cleaner are accepted (by a friar) for the sake of modesty and for the maintenance. of ascetic practices, it cannot be construed as possession (parigraha); because it is (in the final analysis) the 'attachment' which is possession par excellence as enjoined by Nataputta' : jaM pivatyaM ca pAtaM vA kaMbalaM pAvanaM / taM pi saMjama - lajjaTThA dhAreMti parihare vi ca // na so pariggaho vRtto nAtaputena tAinA / mucchA pariggaho vRtto iti butaM mahesiyA // - vazavekAlikasUtra 5.2.49 - daza baikAlikasUtra 6. 19-20
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________________ 'Natanutta' in Early Nirgrantha Literature 123 In the famous "sa-bhikhu" chapter of this work, Nataputta is once more referred to in connection with the six living substantialities (sad[ jiva]nikaya), the five great vows (panca-mahavratas) and the fifty kinds of channels for control (samvara) over passions : rotiya nAtaputtavacanaM attasame mannejjA chappi kAe / paMca ca phAse mahavvatAni paMcAsavasaMvarae je, sabhikkhU / / --vazavakAlikasUtra, 10. 5. In the Uttaradhyayana-sutra, the reference to Nataputta figures only once, as an ending sentence to its chapter six : This same sentence also figures in the Sutrakrtanga ([.2.3.22), cited in the foregoing. In both cases this seems a later addition, probably of c. first century B.C.-A.D.", though it is hard to determine which text was the first to receive it. Among the last works to notice "Nataputta' is the Vyakhyaprajnapti, a scholiastic compilation very largely of c. 2nd-3rd cent. A.D., which uses earlier sources and occasionally incorporates phrases in the style of c. Ist cent. B.C.-A.D., particularly in its kathanuyoga passages. The work in the first place, and at two separate but otherwise identical situations, brings in Sramana Nataputta as the expositor of the five existentialities (pancastikayas) and statements about which of them possess form and which other are formless; this figures inside the 'Kaludayaprccha' passage where Nataputta (sometimes with the qualifying word 'Sramana') is five times mentioned :3 evaM khalu samaNe nAtaputte paMca asthikAe panaveti, dhammatyikAyaM adhammatthikAyaM jIvatthikAyaM poggalAtthikAyaM AgAsatthikAyaM / tattha naM nAtaputte cattAri asthikAe ajIvakAe pannaveti, dhammatthikAyaM adhammatthikAyaM AgAsatthikAyaM poggala tthikaayN| egaM ca samaNe nAtaputte jIvatthikAyaM arUvikAyaM jIvakAyaM pannaveti / tattha naM samaNe nAtaputte cattAri atthikAe arUvikAe panaveti-dhammatthikAyaM adhammatthikAyaM AgAsatthikAyaM jIvatyikAyaM / egaM ca naM samaNe nAtaputte poggalatthikAyaM rUvikAyaM ajIvakAyaM pannaveti / Also, in the querries of the sramanopasaka Maddua, Sramana Nataputta' once again figures in connection with the exposition of the five existentialities. (The date of this phrase may be the same as the last-noted.) evaM khalu maduyA ! tava dhammAyarie dhammovaesae samaNe nAtaputte paMca atthikAye pannaveti......" In a long passage concerning Somila brahmana, Sramana Nataputta once again appears in a phrase, though the passage may not be very early and in point
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________________ 124 M. A. D of fact may be belong to the 2nd or 3rd century A.D. since it incorporates a term purvanupurvio : evaM khalu samaNe nAtaputte puvvAnupuci caramAne gAmAnugAmaM dUijjamAne suhaMsuhenaM............."(ityAdi) Contemporaneous to the last noted, and final reference to Nataputta' is to be discerned in the third appendix "Bhavana" in the second book of the Acarangasutra : tenaM kAlenaM tenaM samayenaM samaNe bhagavaM mahAvIre nAte nAtaputte nAtakula vinivvatte videhe videhadinne faccia face una ate atata face fata********* (alfar) After this, references to 'Nataputta' are virtually absent in the agamas. 6 Notes and References 1. Besides Vira and Mahavira, he is also called Buddha, Rsi, Maharsi, Muni, Mahamuni, Kasyapa (after his gotra), etc. 2. In the Dasavaikalika-sutra, the whole chapter is in the ancient Vaitaliya metre, the sentence appears as verse; but since it has no metrical consistency, it creates unconformity. The next verse numbered 23 seems an interpolation by virtue of its style, wording, and content. In point of fact this chapter of the Dasavaikalika ends with the verse 21. The whole of the chapter 6 of the Uttaradhyayana is in Anustubha metre, the end marked by the sentence under discussion appears separately in prose form with nothing after that. While the Vyakhya-prajnapati's main bulk is stylistically dateable to the 2nd-3rd cent. A.D., its Kathanuyoga passages and chapters, some of which could be of the 1st, 2nd, originally belonged to other works; these have been shunted to this work possibly in the period between the late fourth and the early sixth century A.D. There is no evidence that Mahavira has expounded the pancastikayas. These were known to, and collectively mentioned by Jina Parsva in the Rsibhasitani and possibly the detailed nature of the astikayas was first defined by the pontiffs of the sect of Parsva. 5. The term does not figure in earlier texts. 6. The Prasnavyakarana, a pretender agama of c. seventh century A.D., mentions natamuni; and Dhananjaya, the Digambara poet of the 7th-8th century A.D., includes 'Jnatnputra' in the list of the epithets of Mahavira. (I forego citing these later references, which in any case are secondary; for in the age of these later authors, the epithet 'Nataputta' for Mahavira was not in currency, and if at all appearing as rare instances, the usage derives from or harks back to the early agamic sources.) N. B. In the citations from the agamas the language has been restored to Ardhamagadhi by eliminating the Maharastri Praksta affectations. 4.