Indian Antiquary Vol 48

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 14

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[JANUARY, 1019
expressions, viz. U patissa and Periha, which are highly suggestive as furnishing a clue to a possible identification, inasmuch as they admit of a compound Upatissa-Patho, i.e., Upatisapasine in Asoka's language. But this linguistio semblanoe as a ground for identification, would, as we have said, hardly find favour with us, had it not been corroborated by a closer and more striking resemblance between the teachings of Upatissa's questions in the Majjhima and Asoka's system, the supreme goal of both of which is clearly stated as the attainment of Nibbâna or Sambodhi. Carrying our investigation on similar lines, we w er discover that in recommending the Râhu lovadasutta, the king was careful enough to discriminate it from other suttas of che same name, by mentioning its subject matter, viz. conscious falsehood (musdvádani adhigicya). It seems that the king was not satisfied with the method of the compiler of the canon in distinguishing the several Rahulovadasultas with the different attributes Ambalatthikd, Maha and Culla, which gave no idea of the different subject matters thereof, and that therefore he felt the necessity of clearly stating the particular one he meant, by mentioning its subject matter. Similarly, the naming of Munigatha (identified with the Munisulta in the Suttanipata) would seem, from its style, more accurate than that of the earlier compiler.
From all this a presumption may arise that in attaching samukase to vinaya, the king had a very special object in view, which was to distinguish a certain canonical passage on Vinaya from others devoted to the same or similar subject, and that there may be a discourse somewhere in the canon which contains expression that might suggest the very title of Asoka's Vinayasamukase. But what is that? The Sappurisasutta in the Majjhima is the one which strikes our imagination. Curiously enough, it actually contains certain expressions, e.g. vinayadhara and attân' i.e., atlanai) ukkanseti, which suggest at once a derivation of samukase other than that by which it means 'excellent' (uttama), we mean samai (attanam) u kkarisetiti sdmukkariso. Perhaps the strongest philological proof in support of this derivation of samukase is the occurrence of attukkannsaka, a form derived similarly in the Majjh., I. pp. 19, 95, 97, 98. We admit that the expressions vinayadhara and attanai ukkaiseli' cannot be combined so happily as Upalissa' and 'pasha' to make up the title vinayasamukase, meaning primarily the discourse where Buddha deals with a person who exalts himself by his vinaya-learning (vinayadharattena attan'ukkaiseti) and disparages others (param vambheti) not learned in the vinaya, and who should, learned as he is in the vinaya, follow the way of the good man, which aims at the extinction of greed, hatred and delusion (lobha, dosa, moho). Moreover the sulta, of which the paragraph on the conduot of the vinayadhara may be taken as a type, deals with vinaya, not in its narrow sense of Pâtimokkha or criminal code, but in its wider sense of training (sikkhâ), moral and spiritual. Besides, the sutta inculcates, by comparing and contrasting the ways of a good man and those of a bad man-both learned that those persons should be honoured and praised who, although not well versed in vinaya, although not powerful preachers of the Norm, eto., follow the rules of the Norm to the spirit and not to the letter merely. It is apparent from this that the outta has a close bearing on the principle of toleration tanght
Mailing, I, p. 160
6 The Divyavaddna, evidently a work of post-Agokan date, rolers (p. 20) to the Minisutta by the namo given to it by Asoka, 1.6, Munigahd :-athAyushman Chrono bhagavata kritavakdomb wumat paråntikaya guptikaya udånat park yankt satyadriah tako sailagatha munigatha artha vargiyani a strani vistarapa svareņa svadhyâyap karoti.