________________
48
Nalini Balbir
I here propose to review some Buddhist parallels to the Jaina facts surveyed above and to underline the similarities in the ways of presentation, independently of any historical or doctrinal interpretation,
(i) Use of the compound atita-anāgata.paccuppanna-applied to the Arhats as a whole : e.g. Digha-Nikāya XVI (ed. Pali Text Society, vol. II, 83, 6-7=XXVIII, vol. III, 100,23-24; also II, 82,29-30=III, 100, 16-17 :
Na kho me, bhante, atitānāgata-paccuppannesu arahantesu Sammāsambuddhesu
ceto-pariya-ñāņam atthi. "Lord no knowledge have I concerning the mind of past, future and present Arhats Awaked ones" (RHYS DAVIDS' trsl.),
Cp. above 1.1.1. Ayāramga I, 4, 1, 1.
(ii) Birth of the future Buddha Maitreya is predicted by Gautama Buddha : cf. Digha-Nikāya XXVI (vol. III, 75, 30-76. 21):
Metteyyo nāma Bhagavā loke uppajjissati arahan samma-sambuddho .... (76, 1-2). Emphasis is laid on the identity between the life-patterns of both : e.g. so dhammam desissati-ādi-kalyānam .... seyyatha pi 'ham etarahi dhammam desemi adi-kalyānam .... (ibid., 76, 13-16; etc.). cp. in Jainism 1.2.2. the Sreņika-Mahāpadma episode.
(iii) With the prophecies of rebirth as future Tirthamkaras told by a T. (above 1.2.1 and fn. 56), compare, in the Mahāyāna tradition, the Buddha Tathā. gata announcing to his disciples their future destinies as Buddhas : e.g. Saddharmaþundarika, chap. VI, p. 142 ff.; chap. VIII, p. 193 ff.; chap. IX, p. 206 ff. (tral. H. KERN, Sacred Books of the East, vol. XXI); the Encyclopaedia of Buddhism vol. III, p. 360 refers to an Avadānašataka chapter entirely devoted to such predictions; etc.
(iv) Story-pattern in the Dasabodhisattuppattikathā : the adventures of the heroes in their present births are told at length; they acquired merit mostly through their generosity. In contrast, the accounts of their careers as future Buddhas are very meagre and generally only mention a few details such as their names, physical measurements, life-span. But, as has been rightly noticed by Venerable H. Saddhatissa (p. 7), there is no elaboration of them as there is for the past Buddhas87 in the Buddhavamsa text and commentary. Thus, for instance :
evam, Sariputta, imina dana-phalena ca Todeyya-brāhmano anāgate Narasiho nāma
Samma-sambuddho bhavissati (chap. VIII, 151, 70); etc. In the Mahāyāna tradition, see Saddharmapundarika, chap. VI, VIII, IX, ....
Cp. the Jaina stories ad 1.2.1 and the Vimsatisthānakacarita (2.2). Unfortunately, I have not come across any kathākośa collecting the stories relevant to the 24 figures occurring in the Jaina lists.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
