JIABS

Journal of the International

Association of Buddhist Studies

Volume 35 Number 1–2 2012 (2013)

2012_35_JIABS-test.indb a 23.04.2014 16:43:49

 JIABS
Journal of the International
Association of Buddhist Studies

Volume 35 Number 1–2 2012 (2013)

Articles

Megan BRYSON
Mahākāla worship in the Dali kingdom (937–1253) – A study
of the Dahei tianshen daochang yi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Thomas CRUIJSEN, Arlo GRIFFITHS, Marijke J. KLOKKE
The cult of the Buddhist dhāraṇī deity Mahāpratisarā along
the Maritime Silk Route: New epigraphical and iconographic
evidence from the Indonesian Archipelago . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Roderick ORLINA
Epigraphical evidence for the cult of Mahāpratisarā in the
Philippines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Vincent ELTSCHINGER
Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II – Yaśas, the Kāśyapa
brothers and the Buddha’s arrival in Rājagha (Buddhacarita
16.3–71) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Paul K. NIETUPSKI
Atha niryāṇavṛttam: Reflections on the first sūtra and the
opening passages of Guṇaprabha’s Vinayasūtra and Auto-
commentary – With reference to Indian and Tibetan
commentaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Reiko OHNUMA
An elephant good to think – The Buddha in Pārileyyaka for-
est . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

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 2 Contents

Jin Y. PARK
A Huayanist reading of the Lotus Sūtra – The case of Li Tong-
xuan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Barbara GERKE
‘Treating the aged’ and ‘Maintaining health’ – Locating
bcud len practices in the four Tibetan medical tantras . . . . . . 329
Eviatar SHULMAN
The Aṭṭhakavagga as Buddhist poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
Chizuko YOSHIMIZU
Reasoning-for-others in Candrakīrti’s Madhyamaka thought . . . 413
•
Notes on the contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II
Yaśas, the Kāśyapa brothers and the Buddha’s
arrival in Rājagha (Buddhacarita 16.3–71)*

Vincent Eltschinger

Introduction

According to Paramārtha’s (499–569) Life of Vasubandhu (T.

2049), Aśvaghoṣa played a major role in the composition of the
Mahāvibhāṣā, a/the literary outcome of the synod held in Kaśmīr
at the invitation of the Abhidharma scholar Kātyāyanīputra.1 As
this account has it, Aśvaghoṣa committed to literary Sanskrit what
Kātyāyanīputra, 500 arhats and 500 bodhisattvas dictated to him.2

* Most sincere thanks are due to Jens-Uwe Hartmann, Isabelle Ratié,

Richard Salomon and Vincent Tournier for their careful reading of this paper
and their many suggestions.
1
On this synod, see Frauwallner 1952: 250–256 and Willemen/Dessein/
Cox 1998: 116–121. For Paramārtha’s account, see T. 2049, 189a1–26 (Taka-
kusu 1904: 276–279), and below, n. 2.
2
Takakusu 1904: 278–279: “The Bodhisattva, Ma-ming (Aśvaghoṣa),
who was a native of Sha-ki-ta (Sāketa) of the country of Sha-yei (Śrāvastī),
was well versed in the eight divisions of the Bi-ka-la (vyākaraṇa) treatise,
in the four Vedas, and the six treatises on them (vedāṅgas), and was con-
versant with the Tripiṭakas of all the eighteen (Buddhist) schools. He was
the Laureate of Literature, the Treasury of Learning, the Home of every
Virtue. Kātyāyanīputra sent an envoy to Śrāvastī to invite Aśvaghoṣa in or-
der to embellish for him the literary compositions. When Aśvaghoṣa came
to Ki-pin (Kaśmīra), Kātyāyanīputra expounded the eight books [of the
Jñānaprasthāna, VE] in succession. All the arhats and the bodhisattvas then
thoroughly examined them. When the meaning of the principles had been
settled, Aśvaghoṣa put them one by one into literary form. At the end of
twelve years the composition of the Bi-ba-sha (Vibhāṣā) was finished. It con-

Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies

Volume 35 • Number 1–2 • 2012 (2013) pp. 171–224

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 172 Vincent Eltschinger

Paramārtha’s account of the events thus clearly links the sāketa-

ka3 Aśvaghoṣa not only to the Kāśmīra Sarvāstivāda sect, but also
to the Vaibhāṣika dogmatic school in statu nascendi. According
to Xuanzang’s version of the story, the conveners of the Kāśmīra
synod were the Kuṣāṇa king Kaniṣka (crowned in 127 CE) and his
Sarvāstivādin advisor the monk Pārśva.4 No mention is made of
Aśvaghoṣa in this connection – a remark that applies to gŹon nu
dpal’s, Bu ston’s and Tāranātha’s accounts of the synod.5 But other
sources, such as a biography of Aśvaghoṣa translated into Chinese

sisted of 1,000,000 verses (ślokas).”

3
SNa, colophon (Johnston 1928: 142, l. 6): āryasuvarṇākṣīputrasya
sāketakasya bhikṣor ācāryabhadantāśvaghoṣasya mahākaver mahāvādi-
naḥ ktir iyam  /. “This poem was written by the great eloquent poet, the
monk and teacher, the venerable Aśvaghoṣa, the noble son of Survarṇākṣī,
of Sāketa.” Translation (modified) Johnston 1932: 117. BC, colophon (BCTib
124b3–4): yul śā ke ta ka’i gser mig ma’i bu dge sloṅ slob dpon sñan dṅags
mkhan chen po smra ba daṅ ldan pa phyogs su rnam par grags pa / btsun pa
rTa dbyaṅs kyis mdzad pa’i Saṅs rgyas kyi spyod pa źes bya ba […] /. “[Such
was the poem entitled] Buddhacarita, the work of the venerable (*bhadanta)
Aśvaghoṣa of the country of Sāketa (*sāketaka), the son of Suvarṇākṣī, the
monk (*bhikṣu), the teacher (*ācārya), the great poet (*mahākavi), the elo-
quent one/debater (*vādin?) renowned (*vikhyāta?) universally (*dikṣu?).” As
Bhattacharya (1976: 8) points out, sāketaka may mean either “born in Sāketa”
(sākete jātaḥ) or “living in Sāketa” (sākete bhavaḥ). The Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa
(MMK) also alludes to Sāketa = Ayodhyā (53.872, sāketapura°). Note that
the colophon of the Śāriputraprakaraṇa (ŚP) mentions Suvarṇākṣī but al-
ludes neither to Sāketa nor to Aśvaghoṣa’s being a monk (though it desig-
nates him as an ārya); ŚP, colophon (Lüders 1911b: 195, fragment C4 verso,
l. 4): śāriputraprakaraṇe navamo ’ṅkaḥ 9 āryyasuvarṇṇākṣiputrasyāryyā-
śvaghoṣasya ktiś śāradvatī putraprakaraṇaṃ samāptaṃ samāptāni cāṅkāni
nava […] /.
4
For Xuanzang’s account, see T. 2087, 886b22–887a17 (Beal 1884:
[I.]151–156 and Watters 1904–1905: [I.]270–278). Note that the Mahāvibhāṣā
apparently alludes to Aśvaghoṣa (together with Nāgārjuna and Kumāralāta,
Willemen/Dessein/Cox 1998: 107) and Kaniṣka (as a “former king” in T.
1545, 593a15 and 1004a5 according to Willemen/Dessein/Cox 1998: 118–
119). This makes the Mahāvibhāṣā posterior to Aśvaghoṣa and Kaniṣka but
does not exclude the latters’ contemporariness which, be it noted, was ac-
cepted by Lévi (1896: 450).
5
See Roerich 1976: 25, Obermiller 1986: 96–97 and Chattopadhyaya
1980: 91–95, respectively.

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 173

by Kumārajīva between 401 and 409,6 link the poet to Kaniṣka and
Pārśva, the latter being responsible for the brahmin Aśvaghoṣa’s
conversion to (Sarvāstivāda) Buddhism after defeating him in a de-
bate.7 Whatever the historical value of these accounts, insistent and
fairly old (pre-fifth century) Indic (probably Sarvāstivādin) tradi-
tions associate Aśvaghoṣa with Sarvāstivāda, a connection that the
discovery of a long fragment of the poet’s Śāriputraprakaraṇa (ŚP)
among many other Sarvāstivāda text materials in Turfan might be
taken to corroborate.8 Except for these and other traditional narra-
tives nothing is known of Aśvaghoṣa’s sectarian affiliation or ordi-
nation lineage – provided he ever was a monk, a hypothesis seem-
ingly corroborated by the above narratives and the colophons of
the Buddhacarita (BC) and the Saundarananda (SNa).9 The same
uncertainty prevails as regards Aśvaghoṣa’s doctrinal inclination,10
which some regard as Sautrāntika (La Vallée Poussin, Kanakura,

6
See T. 2046 (especially 183c17–24). On Aśvaghoṣa as part of the war
indemnity paid by the king of Pāṭaliputra to Kaniṣka, see Lévi 1896: 448–
449 and 475–484 and Willemen/Dessein/Cox 1998: 116; on Aśvaghoṣa as
a Buddhist preacher and musician in Pāṭaliputra, see Lévi 1896: 475–476;
on Aśvaghoṣa as a spiritual advisor of Kaniṣka (together with the minister
Māṭhara and the physician Caraka [on whom see also pp. 479–480]), see
Lévi 1896: 472–475.
7
See Watters 1904–1905: (I.)209, (II.)104, Johnston 1984: (II.)xxiv and
Bhattacharya 1976: 10. According to the MMK (53.872), the poet (kavi) was
a twice-born (dvija).
8
See Lüders 1911a: 65. Note also that T. 614 (“a compilation based main-
ly on works of patriarchs of the Kashmirian school of the Sarvāstivādin,” de
Jong 1978: 125), quotes 21 verses from the SNa (16.49–69). See de Jong 1978:
125 for references to studies by Paul Demiéville and Seiren Matsunami.
9
See above, n. 3. The words bhikṣu and bhadanta (and, though to a less-
er extent, ācārya) point to Aśvaghoṣa’s condition as a monk. bhikṣu also
appears at MMK 53.873, and pravrajita at MMK 53.872. According to
Choi (2010: 36 and 37, n. 9, referring to articles written in Japanese), both
Yoshifumi Honjō and Nobuyoshi Yamabe view Aśvaghoṣa’s “sectarian iden-
tity” as Sarvāstivāda. At least as far as doctrinal issues are concerned, Choi
(2010: 36–37) is skeptical as regards this affiliation.
10
For a useful overview (published in 1978) of the question, see de Jong
1978: 125–126.

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 174 Vincent Eltschinger

Yamada, Honjō),11 others as proto-Yogācāra (Yamabe),12 yet oth-

ers as Mahāsāṅghika (Bhattacharya),13 Bahuśrutika/Bahuśrutīya
(Johnston),14 and “Dharmaguptaka or Sarvāstivāda” (Law)15 – with-
out necessarily distinguishing between sect/ordination lineage and
dogmatic/doctrinal school.
Now, a Buddhist monastic’s sectarian affiliation was a matter
of vinaya (“monastic discipline,” “disciplinary rule/code”), and vi-
nayas generally were, along with certain sūtras,16 the Indian Bud-
dhists’ most authoritative sources as regards the hagiography of the
Buddha Śākyamuni, the subject matter of Aśvaghoṣa’s BC. From a
Buddhist (monk) poet wishing to commit the career of the Buddha
to kāvya style, one would then reasonably expect, first, that he got
first acquainted with the pious narrative in the vinaya and/or sūtras

11
For the positions of Louis de La Vallée Poussin, Enshō Kanakura and
Ryūjō Yamada, see de Jong 1978: 126. On Honjō’s position, see Yamabe
2003, especially p. 227.
12
See Yamabe 2003, especially p. 243.
13
See Bhattacharya 1976: 9 and 13.
14
See Johnston 1984: (II.)xxiv–xxxv.
15
See Law 1946: 7.
16
As is testified to by the biographically oriented Mahāvadānasūtra
and Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra. Note that together with the CPS, these two
sūtras formed the second, biographical part of the Ṣaṭsūtrakanipāta of
the Sarvāstivāda Dīrghāgama (see Hartmann 1994), a relatively late
“Brevier” (Hartmann 1994: 334) comprising as its first, dogmatic part,
three Abhidharma-like sūtras (the Daśottarasūtra, the Arthavistarasūtra
and the Saṅgītisūtra), and which may have enjoyed independent existence
in Central Asia (in and around Turfan). In the present state of my investiga-
tions, I cannot rule out the possibility that Aśvaghoṣa’s narrative, indebted
as it is, as least, to the CPS and the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra (or vinaya par-
allels to them), was based, not on a (Mūla)sarvāstivāda vinaya, but on the
Ṣaṭsūtrakanipāta or a forerunner/prototype of it, i.e., on (Mūla)sarvāstivāda
sūtras (extracted or not from a vinaya; see Hartmann 1994: 332–334 and
below, §4). But note (1) that all of these sūtra biographical materials recur
with nearly no change in what has come down to us as the Mūlasarvāstivāda
vinaya (Pravrajyāvastu, Saṅghabhedavastu, Kṣudrakavastu); (2) that to the
testimony of the Bhaiṣajyavastu of their vinaya, (those who were to become)
the Mūlasarvāstivādins also had a Ṣaṭsūtrakanipāta (see Hartmann 1994:
328).

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 175

of his own sect, and second, that for doctrinal and/or institutional
reasons, he was willing to strictly conform to his authoritative ca-
nonical source(s) at least as far as the nature and the sequence of
the events were concerned. After all, Aśvaghoṣa himself concluded
his BC with the following words:
[I have composed this poem] to [display] neither the qualities of [my]
learning (*pāṇḍityaguṇa?) nor skill in poetry (*kāvyaśakti?)[; rath-
er, I have] composed (*ā√rabh?) it out of reverence (*ādara, *gaura-
va?) for the best (*parama[puruṣa]?) of sages (*muni) in accordance
(*anu√s) with the sage’s scriptures (*āgama). May it be for the profit
(*hita?) and happiness (*sukha) of [all] people (*prajā?).17
As a consequence, discerning vinaya (and/or sūtra) materials be-
hind Aśvaghoṣa’s BC could provide interesting clues to the poet’s
sectarian affiliation. This of course does not exclude Aśvaghoṣa’s
likely familiarity with other – oral or written – versions of the sto-
ry. Nor does this make the poet a slave to his canonical models
and/or sources, for there can be no doubt that Aśvaghoṣa dealt very
freely with them in order to fit his literary agenda and the needs
of his audience (e.g., by cutting off lengthy descriptions, narratives
and enumerations, adding pathos and psychological consistence,
expanding on presumably well-known maxims, developing ad hoc
arguments, updating the figure, the target and the audience of the
Buddha, etc.).
In a recent paper, I have attempted to show that Aśvaghoṣa’s
relation of the Buddha’s (second) encounter with King Śraiṇya
Bimbasāra in Rājagha, the capital city of Magadha, was strongly
indebted to either a Mahāsāṅghika(/Lokottaravāda)18 or a (Mūla)

17
BCTib 124b1–2: / de ltar thub pa’i skyes mchog de yi gus pa yis // mkhas
ñid yon tan las min sñan dṅags nus pas min // thub pa’i luṅ gi rjes su ’braṅs
nas ’di brtsams te // skye dgu rnams kyi phan daṅ bde ba’i phyir gyur cig /.
Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)124 (brackets are mine).
18
For concision’s sake, I consider here the Mahāvastu (MV) as a vina-
ya work. Note MV I.3,12 in Tournier’s edition (2012a: 385, ll. 1–2): ārya-
mahāsāṃghikānāṃ lokottaravādināṃ madhyuddeśikānāṃ pāṭhena vinaya-
piṭakasya mahāvastuye ādi /. “Début du Mahāvastu[, appartenant au] Vina-
yapiṭaka, selon la recension des nobles partisans de la grande assemblée [au
moment du premier schisme], qui professent [le caractère] supramondain

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 176 Vincent Eltschinger

sarvāstivāda vinaya and/or sūtra account – with a slight preference

for the second hypothesis.19 It could also be ipso facto demon-
strated that Aśvaghoṣa’s narrative was entirely independent from
the Theravāda (VinTh), Mahīśāsaka (VinMah) and Dharmaguptaka
(VinDh) vinayas whose versions of the event have been analysed in
great detail by Bareau (1963). But is the BC narrative indebted to
Mahāsāṅghika(/Lokottaravāda) or to (Mūla)sarvāstivāda sources?
In my opinion, the immediately preceding episodes of the pious
legend (BC 16.3–71), viz. the conversion of Yaśas in Vārāṇasī (BC
16.3–21), the defeat and subsequent conversion of the three Kāśyapa
brothers in Uruvilvā/Gayā (BC 16.22–48), and the Buddha’s arriv-
al in Rājagha (BC 16.49–71), provide a very clear answer to this
question.

1. Yaśas

1.1. Shortly after his awakening, the omniscient one (*sarvajña,

Tib. thams cad mkhyen pa) establishes his first five *bhikṣus (Tib.
dge sloṅ) – *Aśvajit, etc. (Tib. rTa thul la sogs) – in the salvational
law (*mokṣadharma, Tib. thar pa’i chos). Then comes the story of
Yaśas (BC 16.3–21), which Aśvaghoṣa does not locate anywhere
but which all vinaya sources set in Vārāṇasī. Here is the story’s
argument:
Now at that time a noble’s son (*mahataḥ putraḥ?) named Yaśas saw
(*dṣṭvā) certain women carelessly (*viśvasta, cf. BC 6.2) asleep and
thereby became (*upagata?) perturbed in mind (*saṃvega?). Uttering
the words, “How wretched all this is,” he went just as he was, retain-
ing all the glory (*śrī?) of his magnificent ornaments (*alaṅkāra, *[vi]
bhūṣaṇa?), to where the Buddha was.20

[des buddha] et qui exposent [les Écritures] dans [une langue] intermédiaire
[entre Prākrit et Sanskrit, VE].” Translation Tournier 2012a: 5 and 35. On the
MV as a vinaya work, see also Tournier 2012b.
19
See Eltschinger 2013. The episode covers BC 16.72–95.
20
BCWeller 16.3–4:  / de nas de tshe kha cig ni  // mo rnams blo phab ñal
mthoṅ nas // grags pa źes bya chen po’i bu // yaṅ dag skyo bar ñe bar soṅ // ’di
kun ñe bar ’tshe1 ba ste // źes ni tshig daṅ brjod bźin du // dpal ldan mchog gi
rgyan ldan pa // saṅs rgyas ga la ba der soṅ /.

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 177

BC 16.3–4 is nothing but a severely shortened version of the argu-

ment as it appears in all vinayas without any significant change ex-
cept for the wording of Yaśas’ lament.21 Here is the SBhV account
of the same:
In this very time Yaśas, the son of a very prominent family, was liv-
ing in Vārāṇasī. Day after day,22 having amused, delighted [and] en-
tertained himself with the music played by women, he went early to
sleep with tired body, with exhausted body, with bent body [and] the
women too went early to sleep with tired body, with exhausted body,
with bent body. [But one day] Yaśas woke up from [his] sleep while
it was still night [and] saw all these women drooling, quite naked,
with dishevelled hair,23 their arms splayed out [and] talking confus-
edly. And having seen [them], the idea of his own gynaeceum [being
nothing but] a charnel ground occurred to him. Then Yaśas got up

1
tshe em. (see below, §1.2 and n. 35): brtse Weller. Translation (modified)
Johnston 1984: (III.)15 (brackets are mine); see also Weller 1928: 159.
21
See VinTh I.15–16 (Bareau 1963: 199–200), Vin Mah T. 1421, 105a25–b13
(Bareau 1963: 200–201), Vin Dh T. 1428, 789b5–c8 (Bareau 1963: 201–202)
and MV III.401,19–408,10 and especially 407,14–408,10 (Jones 1956:
III.401–409 and 408–409). The MV account is preceded by a lengthy in-
troduction (MV III.401,19–407,17 [Jones 1956: III.401–408]) that lacks any
parallel in the other vinayas. According to the MV, the Yaśoda (sic) who,
thanks to Śakra’s stratagem, was to be born to the wealthy but sonless (apu-
tra) śreṣṭhin Oka and his wife, was in reality a divinity (devaputra) of the
Trayastriṃśa heaven in its penultimate existence (see MV III.401,1–3 [Jones
1956: III.403–404]). A kinsman (kulika) urged the bright and gifted young
man to meet the Buddha. At that moment, “[t]here arose in him a desire to see
the Blessed One. There arose in him, too, a feeling of disgust with his sensual
pleasures. He gave his mind entirely to the thought of leaving home. To this
did his heart turn, and there it stood and settled.” (MV III.407,15–17: tasya
dāni bhagavato darśanakāmatā udapāsi kāmeṣu cāsya jugupsanā utpannā
yoniśo manasikāro niṣkramye caivaṃ cittaṃ prasyandati saṃtiṣṭhati prasī-
dati /. Translation [slightly modified] Jones 1956: III.408.) According to the
MV, then, Yaśoda is eager to see the Buddha and to strive for salvation al-
ready before the episode actually starts.
22
Note SBhVTib ñi ma re re.
23
I would interpret vilālikā (unattested, probably from lālā, “saliva, spit-
tle” MW 898a; Tib. rdol ba, “to flow or run off,” Jäschke 288b), vinagnikā and
vikeśikā as construed with the prefix vi- used in an intensive meaning and the
suffix -(i)ka with a pejorative connotation.

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 178 Vincent Eltschinger

from his lofty bed, put on a pair of bejewelled shoes worth a hun-
dred thousand24 [and] went to the door of [his] gynaeceum. Having
arrived, he lamented (apasvaram akārṣīt),25 “I am afflicted, friends,
I am plagued, friends!” [Beings that were] not humans opened the
door to him and muffled the sound [of his voice]. Then Yaśas went to
the door of the house. Having arrived, he lamented, “I am afflicted,
friends, I am plagued, friends!” [Beings that were] not humans opened
the door to him and muffled the sound [of his voice]. Then Yaśas went
to the door of the town. Having arrived, he lamented, “I am afflicted,
friends, I am plagued, friends!” [Beings that were] not humans opened
the door to him and muffled the sound [of his voice]. Then Yaśas went
to the Vārakā river. At that time the Blessed One was walking outside
on a promenade in the outdoors of [his] dwelling place, on the bank of
the Vārakā river, simply waiting for Yaśas. From a distance Yaśas saw
the Blessed One walking on a promenade on the bank of the Vārakā
river, and having seen [him], he lamented, “I am afflicted, O ascetic, I
am plagued, O ascetic!”26

24
According to Waldschmidt’s translation (CPS II.175b) the Chinese ver-
sion of the SBhV reads: “deren Wert hunderttausend Unzen in Gold war.”
25
Literally “he made an unmusical sound;” Skt. apasvara is rendered by
Tib. skad ṅan, “bad/ugly voice” in SBhVTib.
26
SBhV I.139,18–140,16 (CPS II.172–176 [16.1–8]) (leaving untranslated
the agrakulikaputra following each occurrence of “Yaśas”): tena khalu sa-
mayena vārāṇasyāṃ yaśā agrakulikaputraḥ prativasati / divādivase strīma-
yena tūryeṇa krīḍitvā ramitvā paricārya śrāntakāyaḥ klāntakāyaḥ prāgbhā-
rakāyaḥ pratiktyaiva1 middham avakrāntaḥ  / tā api striyaḥ śrāntakāyāḥ
klāntakāyāḥ prāgbhārakāyāḥ pratiktyaiva1 middham avakrāntāḥ / adrākṣīd
yaśā agrakulikaputraḥ sarātram eva suptapratibuddhaḥ sarvās tā striyo
vilālikā vinagnikā vikeśikā vikṣiptabhujāḥ kāny api kāny api vipralapant-
yaḥ / dṣṭvā punar asya sve ’ntaḥpure śmaśānasañjñāvakrāntā / atha yaśā
agrakulikaputro mahāśayanād avatīrya śatasāhasraṃ 2 maṇipādukāyugaṃ
prāvtya yenāntaḥpuradvāraṃ tenopasaṅkrāntaḥ / upasaṅkramyāpasvaram
akārṣīt – upadruto ’smi mārṣā upasṣṭo ’smi mārṣā iti / tasyāmanuṣyā dvāraṃ
vivṇvanti śabdaṃ cāntardhāpayanti / atha yaśā agrakulikaputro yena nive-
śanadvāraṃ tenopasaṅkrāntaḥ / upasaṅkramyāpasvaram akārṣīt – upadru-
to ’smi mārṣā upasṣṭo ’smi mārṣā iti  / tasyāmanuṣyā dvāraṃ vivṇvanti
śabdaṃ cāntardhāpayanti / atha yaśā agrakulikaputro yena nagaradvāraṃ
tenopasaṅkrāntaḥ / upasaṅkramyāpasvaram akārṣīt – upadruto ’smi mārṣā
upasṣṭo ’smi mārṣā iti / tasyāmanuṣyā dvāraṃ vivṇvanti śabdaṃ cāntard-
hāpayanti / atha yaśā agrakulikaputro yena nadī vārakā tenopasaṅkrāntaḥ /
tena khalu samayena bhagavān nadyā vārakāyās tīre bahir vihārasyābhy-

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 179

The concision of the BC account as well as the homogeneity of

the extant vinaya versions make it impossible to decide which nar-
rative Aśvaghoṣa was (most) indebted to. Note, however, that the
wording of Yaśas’ lament, viz. upadruto ’smi […] upasṣṭo ’smi
[…], excludes dependence of any sort on VinMah and VinDh,27 for
as Weller already conjectured, Aśvaghoṣa’s version most certainly
bore a noun derived from upa√dru,28 like the SBhV(/CPS), the MV
and VinTh.29

1.2. In Johnston’s translation, the story goes on as follows: “The

Tathāgata, who knew (*√jñā?) [men’s] minds (*manas, *citta?) and
defilements (*kleśa), on seeing (*dṣṭvā) him said, ‘There is no
fixed time for nirvāṇa, come hither and obtain the state of bless-
edness.’”30 The Buddha’s welcoming words to Yaśas (mya ṅan ’das
la ñer tshe med  // tshur śog) have puzzled modern interpreters.
Concerning ñer tshe, Weller confesses: “Ich verstehe hier den ti-
betischen Text nicht, da ich nicht erkenne, welchem Ausdruck ñer

avakāśe caṅkrame caṅkramyate yadbhūyasā yaśasam evāgrakulikaputram

āgamayamānaḥ / adrākṣīd yaśā agrakulikaputro bhagavantaṃ nadyā vāra-
kāyās tīre caṅkrame caṅkramyamānaṃ dūrata eva / dṣṭvā ca punar apas-
varam akārṣīt – upadruto ’smi śramaṇa upasṣṭo ’smi śramaṇa iti /.
1
ratiktyaiva em. (SBhVTib myur du ≈ pratiktya BHSD 361b “in advance”
≈ Pali paṭigacc’eva; cf. CPS II.172, n. 8): pratiyaty eva SBhV.
2
śatasāhasraṃ em.: śatasahasraṃ SBhV.
27
Vin Mah T. 1421, 105a25–b13: “A présent, il n’est pas de refuge (śaraṇa)
vers lequel me diriger et où je sois à l’abri de l’obstacle du chagrin (śoka).”
Translation Bareau 1963: 200. Vin Dh T. 1428, 789b5–c8: “Ceci est douleur,
hélas! Comment peut-on le désirer?” Translation Bareau 1963: 201.
28
See Weller 1928: 159, n. 6.
29
MV III.408,10: upadruto ’smi śramaṇa upadruto ’smi māriṣa. VinTh
I.16: upaddutaṃ vata bho, upassaṭṭhaṃ vata bho ’ti.
30
BCWeller 16.5: / sems daṅ ñon moṅs mkhyen pas de1 // gzigs nas de bźin
gśegs pas gsuṅs // mya ṅan ’das la ñer tshe med // tshur śog dge ba thob par
gyis /.
1
de em.: des Weller.
Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)15 (brackets are mine); see also
Weller 1928: 160. I have not the faintest idea of what Tib. dge ba may be
translating here (*śubha, *svasti?). Weller (ibid.) translates: “das Heil.”

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 180 Vincent Eltschinger

entpricht. Die Übersetzung ist möglicherweise nicht richtig.”31 As

for Johnston, he wonders: “Read ñid for ñer?”32 Both translate: “Es
ist keine (bestimmte) Zeit für das Nirvāṇa, komm hierher […].”33
Now consider the relevant vinayas’ (SBhV[/CPS], MV, VinTh) ver-
sions of the event: “Then the Blessed One spoke as follows to Yaśas
[…]: ‘Come hither, young man, this abode is without affliction for
you, it is without plague.’”34 To Yaśas who complains that he is
upadruta, “afflicted,” the Buddha presents an abode – nirvāṇa –
that is anupadruta, “unafflicted,” “without affliction.” And this is
exactly what Aśvaghoṣa’s Buddha says once the BC’s Tibetan text
is emended from tshe to ’tshe:35 “There is no affliction (*nopadra-
vo ’sti?) in nirvāṇa, come hither (*ehi)!” Here again, the SBhV(/
CPS), the MV and VinTh significantly improve our understanding
of Aśvaghoṣa’s BC, whereas VinMah and VinDh reflect a divergent

31
Weller 1928: 160, n. 2 (“Here I do not understand the Tibetan text, for
I do not know which [Sanskrit, VE] expression ñer tshe corresponds to. The
translation is possibly incorrect.”).
32
Johnston 1984: (III.)15, n. 3.
33
Weller 1928: 160.
34
SBhV I.140,16–17 (CPS II.176 [16.9]): atha bhagavān yaśasam […] idam
avocat – ehi kumāra  / idaṃ te sthānam1 anupadrutam idam anupasṣṭam
iti2 /.
1
SBhV sthānam (SBhVTib gnas): CPS om. sthānam.
2
SBhV iti: CPS om. iti.
MV III.408,11–12: bhagavān āha – ehi kumāra mā bhāyāhi idantam anupa-
drutam imasmiṃ dharme svākhyāte vītarāgo bhaviṣyasi /. “The Blessed One
said, ‘Come, young man, be not afraid of this affliction. When you have heard
this dharma of mine well preached you will get rid of passion.’” Translation
(slightly modified) Jones 1956: III.409. VinTh I.15: atha kho bhagavā yasaṃ
kulaputtaṃ etad avoca – idaṃ kho yasa anupaddutaṃ idaṃ anupassaṭṭhaṃ.
ehi yasa nisīda. dhammaṃ te desessāmīti. “Then the Lord spoke thus to
Yasa, the young man of family: ‘This, Yasa, is not distress, this, Yasa, is
not affliction. Come, sit down, Yasa, I will teach you dhamma.’” Translation
Horner 1971: 23.
35
Tib. ñe( ba)r ’tshe (ba) is well attested as a translation of Skt. upadrava/
upadruta. See Lokesh Chandra 1993: III.709a (ñe bar ’tshe ba) and 714a (ñer
’tshe). To Lokesh Chandra’s references, add PVSVTib P480b6, where Tib. ñe
bar ’tshe ba med pa translates Skt. nirupadrava (PVSV 111,4; ’tshe ba med
translates the same in PVSVTib P480b4).

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 181

text tradition and are of no avail.

1.3. Aśvaghoṣa then skips several episodes of the canonical story.

In the extant vinayas, Yaśas crosses the river, pays homage to the
Buddha who delivers a pious sermon (dharmyā kathā) that results
in Yaśas’ becoming a lay adherent (upāsaka), i.e., taking refuge
(śaraṇa) in the Buddha, the dharma and the saṅgha. While search-
ing for his son (whom he suspects to have been abducted), Yaśas’
father meets with the Buddha on the bank of the Vārakā/Vāraṇā
river. The latter magically occults Yaśas and preaches a sermon to
the father. Upon hearing it, Yaśas’ father becomes a lay adherent
while Yaśas obtains arhatship and reappears to the sight of his fa-
ther. Aśvaghoṣa takes up the story at this point:
Hearing (*śrutvā) the words of him, whose fame (*yaśas?) was wide-
spread (*vistīrṇa?), [Yaśas] came (*upagata?), like one entering a riv-
er when afflicted (*ārta) with heat (*uṣṇa, *ātapa?), to extreme con-
tentment (*tpti, *santoṣa?). In dependence (*āśritya?) on the force of
a previous cause (*pūrvahetubala?), but with his body as it was (i.e.,
in the householder’s garb), he then realised (*upa√labh-?) arhatship
(*arhattva) with body and mind.36
VinTh, VinMah and VinDh do not allude to Yaśas’ past deeds while
relating how he became an arhat. That the young man, a layman,
could achieve sanctity so easily, however, was a matter of some
concern or interest in Mahāsāṅghika and (Mūla)sarvāstivāda cir-
cles, for both the SBhV(/CPS) and the MV insert an explanation
and a short jātaka (“rebirth story”) of Yaśas at this point of the
narrative.37

36
BCWeller 16.6–7: / de ltar rnam rgyas grags pa’i gsuṅ // ’di ni thos nas
tsha ba yis // ñam thag chu la ’dzul nas ltar // mchog tu tshim pa ñe bar soṅ //
sṅon gyi rgyu yi stobs brten nas // de nas lus de ñid bzuṅ ste // lus kyis daṅ ni
sems kyis ni // dgra bcom ñid ni ñe bar thob /. Translation (slightly modified)
Johnston 1984: (III.)15 (brackets are mine); see also Weller 1928: 160.
37
See SBhV I.145,20–146,14 (CPS III.400–402 [I.1–7] = “Einschub nach
Vorgang 18.10”): bhikṣavaḥ saṃśayajātāḥ sarvasaṃśayacchettāraṃ bu-
ddhaṃ bhagavantaṃ pcchanti – kim āyuṣmatā yaśasā karma ktaṃ yasya
karmaṇo vipākenāntaḥpuramadhyagatasya svasminn antaḥpure śmaśānasa-
ñjñotpannā sarvālaṅkāravibhūṣitena1 ca bhagavato ’ntike ’rhattvaṃ ca sā-
kṣātktam  / yaśasaiva2 bhikṣavaḥ karmāṇi ktāny upacitāni labdhasam-

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 182 Vincent Eltschinger

bhārāṇi pariṇatapratyayāny oghavat pratyupasthitāny avaśyambhāvīni  /

yaśasā karmāṇy upacitāni ko ’nyaḥ pratyanubhaviṣyati  / na bhikṣavaḥ
karmāṇi ktāny upacitāni bāhye pthivīdhātau vipacyante nābdhātau na
tejodhātau na vāyudhātāv api tūpātteṣv eva skandhadhātvāyataneṣu kar-
māṇi ktāni vipacyante śubhāny aśubhāni ca  / na praṇaśyanti karmāṇy
api kalpaśatair api3 / sāmagrīṃ prāpya kālaṃ ca phalanti khalu dehinām //
bhūtapūrvaṃ bhikṣavo vārāṇasyāṃ nagaryāṃ nātidūra ṣiḥ prativasati
sma maitryā 4 tmakaḥ kāruṇikaḥ sarvasattvahitavatsalaḥ / tena piṇḍapātaṃ
praviśatā mtakuṇapaṃ dṣṭam / tatpratibaddhenaiva cittena5 piṇḍapātaṃ
praviṣṭaḥ / piṇḍapātaṃ caritvābhyāgataḥ / yāvat paśyati taṃ mtakuṇapaṃ
vinīlībhūtaṃ 6 vyādhmātmakaṃ ca / tasyaivāgrataḥ sphuṭitam / tena tatraiva
vairāgyam utpāditam / tata ihāntaḥpure pratyayo dattaḥ / kiṃ manyadhve
bhikṣavaḥ / yo ’sāv ṣir eṣa evāsau yaśā kumāras tena kālena tena samayena /
yad anena tatra vairāgyam utpāditaṃ tenaitarhy antaḥpuramadhyagatasya
pratyayo dattaḥ  / iti hi bhikṣava ekāntakṣṇānāṃ karmaṇām ekāntakṣṇo
vipākaḥ / ekāntaśuklānām ekāntaśuklo vyatimiśrāṇāṃ vyatimiśraḥ / tasmāt
tarhi bhikṣava ekāntakṣṇāni karmāṇy apāsya vyatimiśrāṇi caikāntaśukleṣv
eva karmasv ābhogaḥ karaṇīyaḥ / ity evaṃ vo bhikṣavaḥ śikṣitavyam /.
1
SBhV °vibhūṣitena: °vibhūṣite CPS.
2
yaśasaiva CPS, SBhVTib (grags pa ’di ñid kyis): yaśasaivaṃ SBhV.
3
kalpaśatair api SBhV, SBhVTib (bskal pa brgyar yaṅ): kalpakoṭiśatair api
CPS (hypermetrical!).
4
maitryā° SBhV: maitrā° CPS.
5
tatpratibaddhenaiva cittena em. (SBhVTib de la źen pa’i sems kyis): asat-
pratibaddhenaiva cittena SBhV, CPS.
6
vinīlībhūtaṃ em.: vilīnībhūtaṃ SBhV, CPS (see BHSD 498b s.v. vilīnaka).
“Beset by doubt, the monks [then] asked the Blessed Buddha who removes
all doubts: ‘Which action did the venerable Yaśas perform the maturation of
which caused the idea that his own gynaeceum was a charnel ground to occur
to [him] right in the middle of [his] gynaeceum, and [which] caused [him
who was still] dressed up with all the ornaments [of a wealthy householder]
to realise arhatship in the presence of the Blessed One?’ – It is due to Yaśas
himself, O monks, that the actions [have been] done [and] accumulated, that
they have gained their [necessary] requisites (?labdhasambhāra), that, like
a flood of water, they are waiting upon(/imminent) (?pratyupasthita) [and]
necessarily to occur. The actions [that have been done and] accumulated by
Yaśas, who else [than Yaśas] will [ever] experience [them]? [For] it is not
the case, O monks, that the actions [that have been] done and accumulat-
ed ripen in an earth element, a water element, a fire element [or] a wind
element [that would be] external; rather, it is in the [five] constituents, the
[eighteen] elements and the [twelve sensory] bases [which are] clung to that

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 183

[all] the actions [that have been] done, good and evil, ripen. Even hundreds
of eons are not enough to cause the actions to be destroyed. And once the
[proper causal] complex and time are instantiated, they indeed bear fruit for
the embodied [beings concerned]. Once upon a time, O monks, a [certain]
ṣi was living not very far from the town of Vārāṇasī, who was benevolent,
compassionate [and] devoted to the welfare of all living beings. While un-
dertaking [his] begging-round, he saw a dead body. He performed [his] beg-
ging-round with the mind [entirely] fixed on this, and having performed [his]
begging-round, he came back. This dead body [which had] turned blue-black
and [was] swollen [by putrefaction, the ṣi] saw it to such an extent [that it
became] vivid [as if he were again] before it, [and that] he developed [pro-
found] aversion for it; this is the reason why the notion [of a charnel ground]
regarding [his] gynaeceum was given [to him]. [Now] what do you think, O
monks? At that time, on that occasion, this very ṣi was no other than the
young man Yaśas. By the simple fact that he developed [such] an aversion for
this [dead body], the notion [of a charnel ground] was given to [him] in the
middle of [his] gynaeceum. So it is, O monks, that the maturation of [those]
actions [that are] exclusively black is exclusively black; that the maturation of
[those actions that are] exclusively white, is exclusively white; [and] that the
maturation of [those actions that are] mixed, is mixed. Therefore, O monks,
one should reject [those] actions [that are] exclusively black as well as [those
that are] mixed, and develop inclination towards [those] actions alone [that
are] exclusively white.” For the MV parallel, see MV III.413,17–415,5 (Jones
1956: III.414–416). MV III.413,17–19: bhikṣū bhagavantam āhansuḥ –
kasya bhagavan karmasya vipākena yaśodo śreṣṭhiputro āḍhyo mahādhano
mahābhogo śreṣṭhikule upapanno kṣiprādhigamo ca ghasthabhūtenaiva
balavaśībhāvaṃ prāptam  /. “The monks said to the Blessed One, ‘Lord,
as the maturing of what karma did Yaśoda, the guild-president’s son, who
was rich, wealthy, opulent and born in a guild-president’s family, become
quick of attainment even as a layman and achieve mastery of the powers?’”
Translation (slightly modified) Jones 1956: III.414. Here is the beginning of
the Buddha’s answer (MV III.413,19): bhagavān āha – etasyaiva bhikṣavo
yaśodasya śreṣṭhiputrasya pūrvapraṇidhānam /. “The Blessed One replied,
‘Monks, Yaśoda, the guild-president’s son, made a vow to that effect in a
former life.’” Translation (slightly modified) Jones 1956: III.414. In a very
distant past indeed, Yaśoda was born to a decayed family (kṣīṇakula). One
day, he was fortunate enough to meet with the pratyekabuddha Bhadrika
(who was on his begging-round), a great field of merit (puṇyakṣetra), whom
he invited to his place and provided with food. He then made the vow to be
reborn in wealthy families only. But Bhadrika knew about Yaśoda’s mean
vow and fled through the air. Seeing this, Yaśoda made the vow to acquire
the same supernatural faculties as the pratyekabuddha Bhadrika. That he
attained arhatship so easily was due to the ripening (vipāka) of that karman.

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 184 Vincent Eltschinger

1.4. Before attaining arhatship, as we have seen (§1.3), Yaśas had

become an upāsaka on hearing the Buddha’s pious sermon on giv-
ing (dāna), morality (śīla), heaven (svarga), and then on the four
nobles’ truths. Now four among the extant vinayas (as well as the
CPS) insert here the standard formula describing a candidate’s
proper understanding of the truths before becoming an upāsaka:
As a clean garment whose black spots have been removed and which
is prepared for(/destined to) being dyed perfectly absorbs the dye once
it is thrown into the dye[ing liquid], similarly Yaśas, the son of a very
prominent family, understood the four nobles’ truths while sitting on
this seat – suffering, origin [of suffering], cessation [of suffering and]
path [leading to the cessation of suffering].38
This is obviously the source of Aśvaghoṣa’s next stanza:
As the dye (*raṅga) is absorbed by a cloth (*vastra?) which has been
bleached with salted water, so he, whose mind (*mati, *buddhi?) was
white (*śukla, *avadāta?), fully understood (*prati√i, *pra√budh?)
the good Law (*saddharma) as soon as he heard (*śrutvā) of it.39

See also MV III.407,15 (Jones 1956: III.407–408; see above, n. 21).

38
SBhV I.141,3–7 (CPS II.180 [16.14]): tadyathā śuddhaṃ vastram apa-
gatakālakaṃ1 rañjanopagaṃ raṅge prakṣiptaṃ samyag eva raṅgaṃ prati-
ghṇāti  / evam eva yaśā agra2 kulikaputras tasminn evāsane niṣaṇṇaś ca-
tvāry āryasatyāny abhisameti3 tadyathā duḥkhaṃ samudayaṃ nirodhaṃ
mārgam /.
1
SBhV °kālakaṃ: CPS °kāḍakaṃ.
2
SBhV yaśā agra°: CPS yaśo ’gra°.
3
SBhV abhisameti: CPS abhisamayati.
See also SBhV I.142,30–143,3 (Yaśas’ father) and SBhV I.144,22–25 (CPS
II.198 [18.7]) (Yaśas’ mother and [ex-]wife). The cliché also occurs at Divya
617,6–12 (with raṅgodake for raṅge).
39
BCWeller 16.8:  / ston ka’i chu yis bkrus pa yi  // gos la tshon ni bkod
pa bźin // dkar po’i blo yis dam pa’i chos // thos nas rab tu rtogs pa ñid /.
Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)15 (brackets are mine); see also
Weller 1928: 160. Johnston 1984: (III.)15, n. 5: “T[ibetan] has ston-ka, ‘au-
tumn,’ but the context requires kṣāra or the like; perhaps śo-ra (v. Jäschke [=
‘Saltpetre, nitre’ VE]) or lan-tshwa (= ‘salt’ VE).” Note Weller 1928: 160, n.
6: “Wörtlich: Wasser des Herbstes. Ich verstehe die Stelle nicht.”

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 185

40
The cliché can be found at this very point of the story in VinTh and
the SBhV(/CPS), but not in VinMah, VinDh and the MV.

1.5. To this new arhat who is still wearing the luxurious clothes of a
wealthy householder, the Buddha now speaks as follows:
The best of speakers (*vakt?), he who had fulfilled his task (*ktā-
rtha?) and knew the ultimate truth (*paramārthajña?), saw him stand-
ing there ashamed (*hrīṇa, *lagna?) of his clothes and said – “The
[mendicant’s] badges (*liṅga) are not the cause of the law (*dharmahe-
tu?); he who looks with equal (*sama?) mind on [all] beings (*bhūta),
he who is undisturbed (*śānta), tamed (*dānta), and has restrained his
senses (*indriya), though he wears ornaments (*alaṅkta), yet walks
(*√car) in the law (*dharma). He who leaves his home with his body,
but not with his mind, and who is still subject to attachment (*sneha-
vat?), is to be known as a householder (ghastha), though he live in the
forest (*vānaprastha?). He who goes forth with his mind, but not with
his body, and who is selfless, is to be known as the [true] forest-dwell-
er, though he abide in his home. He is said (*abhi√lap, *abhi vad?) to
be emancipated (*mukta?), who has reached this attainment, whether
he abide in his home or whether he has become a homeless mendicant
(*pravrajita?). Just as one who desires to conquer (*vijigīṣu?) puts on
his armour (*kañcuka?) to overcome a hostile army (*ripuvarga?), a
man wears the badges (*liṅga) to overcome the enemy (*śatru?) of the
defilements (*kleśa).” Then the Tathāgata said to him, “Come hither,
mendicant” (*ehi bhikṣu); [Yaśas] took the monk’s badges (*bhikṣuli-
ṅga?), and at this very moment (*kṣaṇa) he was released.41

40
VinTh I.16: seyyathāpi nāma suddhaṃ vatthaṃ apagatakāḷakaṃ sam-
mad eva rajanaṃ paṭigaṇheyya […]. “Just as a clean cloth without black
specks will take a dye easily […].” Translation Horner 1971: 23; see also
Bareau 1963: 200. See VinTh I.17 and 18 (Yaśas’ father and Yaśas’ mother and
[ex-]wife; Bareau 1963: 208 and 219).
41
BCWeller 16.9–15:  / cha lugs de yi ṅo tsha bźin  // gnas pa de ni gzigs
gyur na // don mdzad dam pa’i don mkhyen // smra ba rnams kyi mchog gis
smras // rtags ni chos kyi rgyu min źiṅ // ’byuṅ po rnams la sñoms pa ste //
źi źiṅ dul la dbaṅ po dul // brgyan pa yin yaṅ chos la spyod // gaṅ źig lus ni
’thon pa ste // sems kyis ’thon pa ma yin pa // nags na gnas kyaṅ chags pa
can // khyim na gnas śes de śes bya // gaṅ źig sems ni ’thon pa ste // lus kyis
’thon pa ma yin pa // khyim na gnas kyaṅ ṅa med pa // nags na gnas śes de
śes bya // khyim na gnas par gyur pa’i ’am // rab tu byuṅ bar gyur pa’i yaṅ //

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 186 Vincent Eltschinger

VinTh, VinMah and VinDh know of no sermon at that point of the

story and seem not to be concerned at all with Yaśas’ paradoxical
situation as an arhat dressed as an opulent layman. On the contra-
ry, both the SBhV(/CPS) and the MV strongly insist on this in their
account of the events,42 going to the trouble of quoting a stanza
belonging to the Udānavarga (Uv)/Dharmapada (DhP):43 “Though
he be brightly arrayed, if he live the life of dharma, tamed, undis-
turbed, self-controlled, living the brahma-life, renouncing violence
against all creatures, then is he a brahmin, an ascetic, a monk.”44

gaṅ gi bsgrubs pa yod na ni // de yi thar pa mṅon par brjod // ji ltar rgyal ’dod
dgra sde la // rgyal phyir go cha ’dzin pa ste // de bźin ñon moṅs dgra de la //
rgyal phyir rtags ni ’dren pa’o // de nas dge sloṅ tshur śog ces // de bźin gśegs
pa de la gsuṅs // des ni dge sloṅ rtags bzuṅ ste // skad cig de ñid kyis grol to /.
Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)15–16 (brackets are mine); see
also Weller 1928: 160–161. Johnston does not translate BC 16.15d (Weller
1928: 161: “und wurde in eben dem Augenblick erlöst”).
42
SBhV I.143,5–6 (CPS II.190 [17.14]): āyuṣmataś ca yaśasaḥ sarvālaṅ-
kāravibhūṣitasyānupādāyāśravebhyaś cittaṃ vimuktam /. “And the mind of
the venerable Yaśas, no [longer] clinging, was liberated from the influxes
while [he was still] dressed up with all the ornaments [of a wealthy household-
er].” Note also MV III.412,7–13: atha khalu anyatīrthikacarakaparivrājakā
[…] ulūkapakṣikabhaginī śramaṇā […] alaṃ alaṃkārāya alaṃ prasādāya
yatra hi nāma ghīto avadātavasano kāśikaśucivastradharo candanānulip-
takagātro aṃgadī kuṇḍalī evam evarūpaṃ dharmaṃ sākṣīkaroti  /. “Then
[…] wanderers belonging to other sects and the female recluse Ulūkapakṣi-
kabhaginī […] said, ‘This is what comes of adornment, this is what comes
of faith. For when this man was taken up by his father he was dressed all in
white, wearing garments of pure Benares cloth. His body was anointed with
sandalwood ointment and he wore bracelets and earrings. And now he has re-
alised this dharma.’” Translation (slightly modified) Jones 1956: III.412–413.
43
The MV (III.412,15–18) quotes first another stanza which, however, has
left strictly no trace in BC 16.9–15: na muṇḍabhāvo na jaṭā na paṃko nānāsa-
naṃ thaṇḍilaśāyikā vā / rajojalaṃ votkuṭukaprahāṇaṃ duḥkhapramokṣaṃ
na hi tena bhoti //. “Nor baldness, nor matted hair, nor mire, nor fasting, nor
lying on the bare ground, nor dust and dirt, nor striving when one is squatting
on the ground, brings freedom from suffering.” Translation (slightly modi-
fied) Jones 1956: III.413. Cf. Uv XXXIII.1 and Divya 339,23–25. On this
verse, see Bollée 1971 and Melzer 2010: II.313.
44
SBhV I.143,8–11 (CPS II.192 [17.16]): alaṅktaś cāpi careta1 dharmaṃ
dāntaḥ śāntaḥ 2 saṃyato3 brahmacārī / sarveṣu bhūteṣu nidhāya 4 daṇḍaṃ sa
brāhmaṇaḥ sa śramaṇaḥ sa bhikṣuḥ //.

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 187

Now this stanza and its immediate narrative environment, both

of which are missing in VinTh, VinMah, VinDh,45 are obviously the
source of Aśvaghoṣa in BC 16.9–15 – so clearly so that BC 16.10cd
nearly reproduces pādas a and b of the stanza in question. In źi źiṅ
dul la dbaṅ po dul (BC 16.10c), źi most certainly stands for śānta
and dul for dānta (dbaṅ po dul echoes the Divya’s dāntendriyaḥ);
as for brgyan pa yin yaṅ chos la spyod (BC 16.10d), it can simply be
regarded as an (admittedly not very precise) translation of alaṅkto
cāpi careta dharmam. Needless to say, equanimity towards living
beings (’byuṅ po rnams la sñoms pa, BC 16.10b) is directly indebt-
ed to the stanza’s sarveṣu bhūteṣu nidhāya daṇḍam.46 As we can

1
careta SBhV, CPS, Uv: cāreta Divya.
2
dāntaḥ śāntaḥ SBhV, CPS: kṣānto dānto Uv, dāntendriyaḥ śāntaḥ Divya.
3
saṃyato SBhV, CPS, Divya: niyato Uv.
4
nidhāya SBhV, CPS, Divya: nivārya Uv.
My translation is indebted to Jones’ (1956: III.413). MV III.412,19–22: alaṃ-
kto vāpi careya dharmaṃ kṣānto dānto niyato brahmacārī / sarvehi bhūtehi
nivārya daṇḍaṃ so brāhmaṇo so śramaṇo sa bhikṣuḥ //. Cf. Uv XXXIII.2,
DhP 142 and Divya 339,26–29.
45
See VinTh I.17, Vin Mah T. 1421, 105b28–c12, Vin Dh T. 1428, 789c29–
790a21, and Bareau 1963: 213–215.
46
What is the import of BC 16.15c: des ni dge sloṅ rtags bzuṅ ste? Johnston
(1984: [III.]16) translates: “and at these words he [= Yaśas, VE] appeared
wearing the mendicant’s badges,” as if some supernatural intervention was
to be suspected in the process. As for Weller (1928: 161), he more simply
(and accurately) translates: “Er tat das Abzeichen des Bettelmönchs an.” Now
favouring a magical scenario may compel one to regard BC 16.15c as indebt-
ed to the MV or a very similar text. Indeed, the MV (III.413,11–14) alone
seems to reflect such a course of events: atha khalu yaśodasya śreṣṭhiputra-
sya bhagavatā ehibhikṣukāye ābhāṣṭasya yatkiṃcid ghiliṃgaṃ ghiguptaṃ
ghidhvajaṃ ghikalpaṃ sarvam antarahāye tricīvaraṃ cāsya prādurbhavet
suṃbhakaṃ ca kaṃsapātraṃ praktisvabhāvasaṃsthitā ca keśā īryāpatho
cāsya saṃsthihe tadyathā nāma varṣaśatopasaṃpannasya bhikṣusya  /.
“When Yaśoda, the guild-president’s son, had been addressed with the words
‘Come, monk,’ every mark of a layman, every badge, every emblem and
every sign disappeared from him. He was seen to have the three robes and
the sumbhaka bronze bowl, his hair in its natural state, and his deportment
established – all just like those of a monk who had been ordained a hundred
years.” Translation Jones 1956: III.414. Note, however, that this is but a cliché
(see, e.g., MV III.430,15–18 and 432,1–4 [Jones 1956: III.432 and 433]).

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 188 Vincent Eltschinger

see, BC 16.9–15 would be much less intelligible without the help of

the SBhV(/CPS) and the MV.

1.6. Yaśas’ turn to Buddhism resulted in further conversions:

Then out of attachment (*anunaya, *anurāga, *anuṣaṅga?) to him,
[people in] his circle, to the number of fifty (*pañcāśat) and three
and one, gained (*anupra√āp, prati√labh?) the law (*dharma). As gar-
ments, covered with potash (*kṣāraJohnston), quickly become clean on
contact with water, so they whose acts (*karman?) had been purified
in former ages (*pūrvakāla) quickly (*kṣipram?) became pure (*[vi]
śuddha, *avadāta?).47
The number of the Buddha’s new converts, fifty-four, is faithful
to the traditions reflected by VinTh, VinMah, VinDh and the SBhV(/
CPS), which divide the figure into four plus fifty. First came four
young men of high social extraction:
In Vārāṇasī, a second son of prominent family, a third, a fourth and a
fifth son of prominent family, Pūrṇa, Vimala, Gavāmpati and Subāhu
[by name], heard that Yaśas, a son of prominent family [like them],
had cut his hair and beard, put on yellow robes and, out of faith, en-
tirely retired from the home to the homeless life.48
The four fellows wonder whether they should not also become
disciples of the Buddha, whom they approach and honour. They

47
BCWeller 16.16–17: / de nas de yi rjes chags pas // de yi ’khor ni lṅa bcu
daṅ // gsum rnams ñid daṅ gcig ñid daṅ // chos de rab tu thob par gyur // ’dag
chal gyis bskos gos rnams ni // chu yis yaṅ dag reg pa bźin // sṅon tshe bsgoms
pa’i las can rnams // de rnams myur du dag par gyur /. Translation (slightly
modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)16 (brackets are mine); see also Weller 1928:
161. Both translators seem to understand bsgoms pa (*bhāvita?) in the sense
of “purified” (as in the compound bhāvitātman).
48
SBhV I.146,15–18 (CPS II.202 [19.1]): aśrauṣur vārāṇasyāṃ dvitīyo
’grakulikaputras ttīyaś caturthaḥ pañcamo ’grakulikaputraḥ1 pūrṇo vima-
lo gavāmpatiḥ subāhuś ca yaśā agrakulikaputraḥ keśaśmaśrv avatārya
kāṣāyāṇi vastrāṇy ācchādya samyag eva śraddhayāgārād anagārikaṃ pra-
vrajita iti /.
1
’grakulikaputraḥ SBhV, SBhVTib: kulikaputraḥ CPS.
On the episode of the four fellows, see SBhV I.146,15–147,20 (CPS II.202–
208 [19.1–8]).

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 189

request from him that they be granted the minor and major ordina-
tions (pravrajyā and upasampadā), which they easily obtain before
reaching arhatship. As the SBhV and the CPS have it, “at that very
time, there were ten arhats in the world, and the Blessed One was
the eleventh.”49 Then came fifty young men whose story is exactly
the same:
In Vārāṇasī, fifty extremely prominent(/wealthy?) sons of village
headmen heard that a first son of prominent family, a second, a third,
a fourth [and] a fifth son of prominent family, Yaśas, Pūrṇa, Vimala,
Gavāmpati [and] Subāhu [by name], had cut their hair and beard, put
on yellow robes and, out of faith entirely, retired from the home to the
homeless life.50
In short, “at that very time, there were sixty arhats in the world, and
the Blessed One was the sixty-first.”51 This closely matches what
Aśvaghoṣa says in BC 16.18ab: “Then at that time sixty (*ṣaṣṭi)
in all was the first company (*sārthaWeller) of the disciples (*śiṣya),
who were also arhats.”52 The two stories are roughly the same in
the Theravāda, Mahīśāsaka and Dharmaguptaka sources,53 but the

49
SBhV I.147,20 (CPS II.208 [19.8]): tena khalu samayena daśa loke
’rhanto bhagavān ekādaśamaḥ /.
50
SBhV I.147,21–25 (CPS II.208 [20.1]): aśrauṣur vārāṇasyāṃ pañcāśad
utsadotsadā grāmikadārakāḥ prathamo ’grakulikaputro dvitīyas ttīyaś ca-
turthaḥ pañcamo ’grakulikaputro yaśāḥ pūrṇo vimalo gavāmpatiḥ subā-
huḥ keśaśmaśrv avatārya kāṣāyāṇi vastrāṇy ācchādya samyag eva śrad-
dhayāgārād anagārikaṃ pravrajitā iti /. On the episode of the fifty fellows,
see SBhV I.147,21–148,19 (CPS II.208–212 [20.1–8]).
51
SBhV I.148,18–19 (CPS II.212 [20.8]): tena khalu samayena ṣaṣṭir loke
’rhanto bhagavān ekaṣaṣṭitama iti /.
52
BC 16.18ab: / de nas de tshe dgra bcom slob ma yi // daṅ po don bcas
drug bcu thams cad la  /. Translation (slightly modified) Johnston 1984:
(III.)16 (brackets are mine); see also Weller 1928: 161.
53
On the four fellows, see VinTh I.18–19, Vin Mah T. 1421, 105c19–106a2
and Vin Dh T. 1428, 790b7–29, and Bareau 1963: 223–226. On the fifty fel-
lows, see VinTh I.20, Vin Mah T. 1421, 106a2–5, Vin Dh T. 1428, 790b29–c22,
and Bareau 1963: 227–228. Note that according to these three vinayas, the
fifty-four new converts were friends of Yaśas (“compagnons laïques” VinTh,
and “friends” in Vin Mah and Vin Dh). Is this what one should understand by
Tib. ’khor (“circle”) in BC 16.16b, as both Weller and Johnston were inclined

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 190 Vincent Eltschinger

MV knows strictly nothing of these fifty-four new conversions in

Vārāṇasī.
1.7. The story of Yaśas ends in a Buddhist ite, missa est
And the Arhat, revered by the arhats, spoke (*samājñāpayatiWeller)
to them as was suitable (*yathārham?) [on that occasion] – “O men-
dicants (*bhikṣavaḥ), you have passed beyond (*[ut]√tṝ?) suffering
(*duḥkha) and fulfilled your great task (*svakāryaṃ sumahat ktam-
Weller). It is proper (*yukta?) now to help (*anugraha) others (*para?)
who are still suffering (*duḥkhita?). Therefore do all of you, each by
himself, traverse this earth and impart the law out of compassion
(anukampayā)54 for the sake of the suffering world (*ārtalokārtha?).
I for my part (aham apy eṣa) am proceeding (gacchāmi) to Gayā, the
abode of royal seers (*rājarṣibhir niṣevitām),55 in order to convert
(*vi√nī?) the Kāśyapa brothers (*bhrāt?), seers (*ṣi) who through
their attainments (*siddha, *siddhi?) are possessed of supernatural
powers (*ddhimat).”56
VinTh, VinMah, VinDh57 and the SBhV(/CPS) provide very similar
accounts of the event:
Then the Blessed One addressed the monks [as follows]: “I am, O
monks, freed from all snares, the divine as well as the human ones.
You too, O monks, are freed from all snares, the divine as well as the
human ones. Therefore, O monks, let us set out on a journey for the
pleasure of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the

to believe?
54
+ + + [nt]o nukampayā (pāda d) in Weller 1953: 7, no. 2, recto, l. 1.
55
aham apy eṣa gacchāmi rāja + + + + + + (pāda a and b) in Weller
1953: 7, no. 2, recto, l. 1. On rājarṣibhir niṣevitām, see Weller 1953: 10, n. 2.
56
BCWeller 16.18cd–21:  / dgra bcom rnams kyis mṅon mchod dgra bcom
pas // ji ltar ’os par yaṅ dag bka’ stsal to // dge sloṅ rnams kye sdug bsṅal
rgal // raṅ gi bya ba legs chen byas // pha rol sdug bsṅal rnams la yaṅ // rjes
su ’dzin pa byed pa’i rigs // de phyir re re thams cad kyis // sa ’dir yoṅs su
gśegs mdzod la // ñam thag ’jig rten ched du chos // rjes su brtse bas bsñan
par bya // grub phyir rdzu ’phrul ldan pa’i spun // ’od sruṅs draṅ sroṅ rnams
’dul phyir // rgyal po’i draṅ sroṅ gis bsñen pa’i // ga yar kho bo ’di yaṅ ’gro /.
Translation Johnston 1984: (III.)16–17 (brackets are mine); see also Weller
1928: 161.
57
See VinTh I.20–21, Vin Mah T. 1421, 108a1–3, Vin Dh T. 1428, 792c15–18,
and Bareau 1963: 243.

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 191

profit, the welfare [and] the pleasure of gods and humans. But let not
two of you go together! [As for myself,] I am also setting out [alone] on
a journey to Uruvilvā, to the village of SenāyanīSBhV/SenayanaCPS.”58
The functionally parallel passage of the MV, which is unaware of
the last fifty-four conversions, diverges accordingly.59

1.8. As we can see, BC 16.3–21 do much more than simply point

to Aśvaghoṣa’s conversancy with vinaya narratives. These stanza
demonstrate that the poet moulded his narrative sequence, the rel-
evant formulas and doctrinal contents on canonical sources, in one
case at least so faithfully that the BC wording can safely be con-
sidered a quotation. But on which canonical sources? VinMah and
VinDh, which from the outset put diverging formulas in the mouths
of Yaśas and the Buddha, appear as the least likely candidates.
Very unlikely as well is VinTh, which like VinMah and VinDh lacks
any equivalent of the stanza on which is built the Buddha’s sermon
at BC 16.9–15. Similarly, neither do these three sources account
for Yaśas’ rapid arhatship in terms of karmic retribution, nor do
they accommodate any jātaka of Yaśas. Both the SBhV(/CPS) and
the MV comprise all these elements. But contrary to the SBhV(/
CPS), the MV has no equivalent of the important dyeing image and
formula; it shows no awareness of the conversion and subsequent
arhatship of fifty-four persons after Yaśas, and hence restricts the
audience of the Buddha’s final words (BC 16.18cd–21) to the group
of his first five disciples. Finally, the MV quotes a second didactic
stanza, but contrary to the first, which gives rise to the whole ser-
mon of BC 16.9–15, this stanza has left no trace in the BC. In my

58
SBhV I.148,20–26 (CPS II.212 [21.1]): tatra1 bhagavān bhikṣūn āman-
trayate sma – mukto ’haṃ bhikṣavaḥ sarvapāśebhyo ye divyā ye ca mānuṣāḥ /
yūyam api bhikṣavo muktāḥ sarvapāśebhyo ye divyā ye ca mānuṣāḥ / 2 tato
bhikṣavaś cārikāṃ prakramiṣyāmo2 bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāyai
arthāya hitāya sukhāya devamanuṣyāṇām / mā ca vo dvāv ekena gamiṣya-
tha / aham api yenoruvilvā senāyanīgrāmakas tena cārikāṃ prakramiṣyāmi /.
1
tatra SBhV: atha CPS.
2
tato bhikṣavaś cārikāṃ prakramiṣyāmo SBhV: carata bhikṣavaś caryāṃ
CPS.
59
See MV III.415,7–11 (Jones 1956: III.416).

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 192 Vincent Eltschinger

opinion, then, the evidence of BC 16.3–21 unambiguously points

to this section’s strong indebtedness toward the SBhV and/or CPS,
i.e., to (Mūla)sarvāstivāda canonical materials.

2. Uruvilvā and Gayā(śīrṣa)

2.1. BC 16.22–47 contains Aśvaghoṣa’s account of the events that,

in Gayā/Uruvilvā/Gayāśīrṣa, led to the conversion and subsequent
arhatship of the three Kāśyapa brothers (Uruvilvā-, Gayā-, Nadī-
kāśyapa) together with their thousand followers (500 for Uruvil-
vākāśyapa, 250 each for Gayā- and Nadī-kāśyapa), all of them mat-
ted-hair ascetics (jaṭila) performing sacrifices in the wilderness.60
As we are going to see, this makes the episode an anti-ritualistic
and anti-Brahmanical manifesto. Although Aśvaghoṣa’s version of
these events comes closer to the SBhV(/CPS) narratives than to any
other, the BC’s dependence is not as conspicuous as in the first and
the third episodes (Vārāṇasī, Rājagha). The canonical versions
of the story nearly exhaust themselves in lengthy accounts of the
(eighteen) miracles that enabled the Buddha to defeat and convert
Uruvilvākāśyapa. Aśvaghoṣa maintained a detailed account of
the first miracle, the Buddha’s victory over a ferocious Nāga (BC
16.27–33), but decided to reduce the next seventeen miracles to a
single verse (BC 16.35).61 Another important component of this
episode in most canonical accounts is the Buddha’s famous sermon
on the Gayāśīrṣa mountain, according to which “everything is
ablaze.” The preaching retains all its importance in Aśvaghoṣa’s
version (BC 16.39–44). Here I shall limit myself to quoting the
BC in Johnston’s (modified) translation, adding comments and
related materials whenever required. Note that Sanskrit fragments

60
On this episode, see Bareau 1963: 253–320 and Bareau 1995: 156–166.
61
In the same way, Aśvaghoṣa does not relate the few episodes that take
place between Vārāṇasī and Uruvilvā, such as the Buddha’s new victory
over Māra (SBhV I.148,26–149,11 [CPS II.214–216 (21.3–6)]), the Buddha’s
encounter with and conversion of sixty hedonists (the bhadravargikas; see
SBhV I.149,23–151,8 [CPS III.222–228 (22.2–16)]), or the conversion of
Nandā and Nandabalā (SBhV I.152,22–153,35 + 217,1–3 [CPS III.230–235
(23.1–18)]).

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 193

of BC 16.20–36 have been discovered in Central Asia and edited

by Friedrich Weller on the basis of preliminary work by Mrs Else
Lüders.62

2.2. Here is Aśvaghoṣa’s account of the Buddha’s encounter with

Uruvilvākāśyapa and victory over the big snake in the fire-house:
Then they, who had seen true reality (*tattvadś?), departed (jagmuḥ)
on his orders in all directions (diśo diśaḥ),63 while the great seer (ma-
harṣi), the Sugata, who was freed from the pairs (nirdvandva), went to
Gayā (*jagāma sugato gayām?Weller).64 Then in due course he arrived
there (*tatra kāle tato gatvā?Weller), and, approaching (*upa√gam?) the
forest of the law (*dharmāraṇya), saw (*dadarśaWeller, *apaśyat?Weller)
Kāśyapa, abiding (sthita) there like asceticism (tapas) in person
(sākṣāt).65 Although there were dwellings in the mountains and the
groves, the lord of the ten powers (*daśabalaWeller), desirous of con-
verting (*vi√nī) him,66 asked (*√yāc?) for a lodging (*pratiśraya?).67
Then in order to put the saint (*siddha?Johnston) to the test, in his evil dis-
position (*viṣamastha?Johnston) he gave him a fire-house (agniśaraṇa),
[infested] by a great snake (mahoraga).68 The snake, whose gaze

62
See Weller 1953.
63
Cf. SBhV I.149,16–17 (CPS II.216 [21.8]): evaṃ bhadanta iti bhikṣavo
bhagavataḥ pratiśrutya janapadacārikāṃ prakrāntāḥ /. “Having given their
assent to the Blessed One [by saying:] ‘So be it, O Venerable,’ they set out on
[their] journey to the [different] countries.”
64
+ [mus] tatra diśo diśaḥ </> [m]aharṣir api nirdva ⨯ o (pādas b and c)
in Weller 1953: 7, no. 2, recto, l. 2. For jagmus, see Weller 1953: 10, n. 3; for
nirdvandvo, see Weller 1953: 10, n. 4, and BC 12.47.
65
+ + + + + + tatra tapaḥ sākṣād iva sthita[m] <//> (pādas c and d) in
Weller 1953: 7, no. 2, recto, l. 3.
66
Cf. SBhV I.217,4–5 (CPS III.236 [24a1]): astīha magadheṣu janapadeṣu
kaścic chramaṇo vā brāhmaṇo vā suśīlaḥ saṃmato yam aham anvāvarteyaṃ
yasmin me ’nvāvtte ’lpakcchreṇa mahājanakāyo ’nvāvartiṣyate /. “There is
here in the Magadhan countries a certain famous ascetic or brahmin of good
morality whom I should convert and who, once converted by me, will very
easily cause a great many people to be converted.”
67
Cf. SBhV I.218,2 (CPS III.238 [24a5]): yadi te kāśyapa agurv ahaṃ
tavāgnyāgāra ekarātrīṃ vihareyam  /. “If it makes no difficulty to you, O
Kāśyapa, I would like to sojourn one night in your fire-house.”
68
athāsmai so gniśara[ṇe] mah[o]raga + + + + </> (pādas a and b) in

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 194 Vincent Eltschinger

was poisonous (dṣṭiviṣa), saw (dṣṭvā) the great sage69 (mahāmuni)

sleeping (*supta?) there at night (*rātrau?), uninjured (*svastha?Weller)
and indifferent (*nirapekṣa?Weller), and in his fury (ruṣṭa) he hissed
(*ā√śvas?Weller)70 [at him].71 The fire-house (*agniśaraṇa?) was set
alight (*ādīpta?) by his wrath (*krodha, *kopa?),72 but the fire (ana-
la), as if afraid (*bhīta?),73 did not touch (*aspṣṭa?) the great seer’s
(*maharṣi) body. Just as at the end of time (*kālānta?) Brahmā shines
(*√śubh?) sitting (*niṣaṇṇa?) when the conflagration (*agni?) dies
down (*upa√śam?), so Gautama remained unperturbed (*avikta?),
though the fire-house was all ablaze74 (nirdagdhe cāgniśaraṇe). As
(*yadā) the Buddha sat (*niṣaṇṇa?) there, unharmed (na vivyathe) and
moveless (na cacāla), the snake (nāga) was filled with wonderment
(vismita)75 and did obeisance to the best of seers (*paramarṣi?). The
folk (*jana?Weller) in the deer-park (*mgadāva?), thinking of the seer
sitting there (*muniṃ tatra gataṃ jñātvā?Weller), were overcome with
pity76 (anu√kamp), [saying] “O misery, O stupor that such (*tādś?) a
mendicant (*bhikṣu) should have been burnt (*dagdha iti)!”77 On the
night passing away (rātrau vyatītāyām),78 the Teacher (*vināyaka?Weller,
Johnston) took up (*ādāya?) the snake quietly/subdued the snake in his

Weller 1953: 7, no. 2, recto, l. 4.

69
See Weller 1953: 11, n. 13.
70
Cf. BC 1.47b.
71
+ + + + + + + [n]im </> dṣṭvā dṣṭiviṣo ruṣṭaḥ sa ni + + + + + + <//>
(pādas b, c and d) in Weller 1953: 7, no. 2, recto, l. 5. Cf. SBhV I.218,8–9
(CPS III.240 [24a10]): adrākṣīd āśīviṣo nāgo bhagavantaṃ dūrata eva  /
dṣṭvā ca krodhānubhāvena dhūmayati /. “The Nāga snake saw the Blessed
One from a distance, and on seeing [him], covered [him] with smoke as a
sign of wrath.”
72
Cf. SBhV I.218,13  (CPS III.240 [24a11]): sarvo ’gnyāgāra ādīptaḥ
pradīptaḥ samprajvalita ekajvālībhūtaḥ, “the entire fire-house was set alight,
set ablaze, set on fire, became (like?) a single flame.”
73+ + + + [i]vānalaḥ <//> (pāda d) in Weller 1953: 7, no. 2, recto, l. 6.
74
nirdagdhe cāgniśara[ṇe] (pāda a) in Weller 1953: 7, no. 2, recto, l. 6.
75
+ + cāla na vivya[the] </> vismitaḥ sa tadā [nāgaḥ] (pādas b and c) in
Weller 1953: 8, no. 2, verso, l. 1.
76
+ + ity anvakampata <//> (pāda d) in Weller 1953: 8, no. 2, verso, l. 2.
77
See SBhV I.218,16–18 (CPS III.242 [24a13]).
78
atha rātrau vya[tī] + + (pāda a) in Weller 1953: 8, no. 2, verso, l. 2; see
also Weller 1953: 11, n. 19.

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 195

alms-bowl (*[piṇḍa]pātreṇa?) and showed it to Kāśyapa.79,80

Such was the Buddha’s first miracle in Uruvilvā. This, howev-
er, was not enough to convert Uruvilvākāśyapa: “On perceiving
(niśāmya) the might (māhātmya) of the Buddha, he was amazed
(sa visiṣmiye),81 yet he still believed himself to have no superior
(*niruttara?) in power.”82 BC 16.34 closely matches the functional-
ly equivalent canonical description of Uruvilvākāśyapa’s thoughts:
“Then the following occurred to the matted-hair ascetic Uruvilvā-
kāśyapa: ‘[It is] a wonder(/Marvellous) how great are the great
ascetic’s supernatural power and splendour! But me too I am an

79
See SBhV I.218,23–30 (CPS III.242–244 [24a15–21]).
80
BCWeller 16.22–33: / de nas de ñid mthoṅ de rnams // de yi bka las phyogs
su soṅ // rtsod bral bde bar gśegs pa ni // draṅ sroṅ che yaṅ ga yar gśegs // de
nas dus su der gśegs nas // chos kyi dgon par ñe bar gśegs // dka ’thub dṅos
su gnas pa bźin // der ni ’od sruṅs gzigs pa’o // ri rnams daṅ ni nags rnams
su // gnas rnams yod pa na yaṅ de // rnam par ’dul bźed stobs bcu bas // rab tu
brten nas bslaṅs pa’o // de nas grub pa ñams tshad phyir // me khaṅ lto ’phye
ches […] // […] bsñen par // ma ruṅs gnas des ’di la byin // der gzims mtshan
mor raṅ gnas śiṅ // ltos bral thub pa chen po la // mthoṅ ba’i dug can khros pa
yi // sbrul des mthoṅ nas dbugs phyuṅ ṅo // de yi khro bas ’bar ba yi // me yi
khaṅ par gyur pa des // draṅ sroṅ chen po’i sku lus la // ’jigs pa bźin du mes
ma reg // dus mtha’i me ñer źi ba na // tshaṅs pa bźugs pa mdzes pa ltar // me
yi khaṅ par bsregs na yaṅ // gau ta ma rnam [par ?] ’gyur med // gaṅ tshe saṅs
rgyas der bźugs tshe // gnod med g.yo ba med pa ste // de tshe klu de ya mtshan
źiṅ // draṅ sroṅ mchog la phyag ’tshal lo // ri dags nags der skye bo yis // thub
pa der bźugs śes gyur nas // srugs pa ’o brgyal ’di ’dra ba’i // dge sloṅ tshig ces
rjes su brtse // de nas mtshan mo ’das pa na // rnam par ’dren pas ’od sruṅs
la // sbrul ni źi bas lhuṅ bzed kyis // blaṅs nas de la bstan pa’o //. Translation
(modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)17–18 (brackets are mine); see also Weller
1928: 162–163. For a reedition of the Tibetan text of BC 16.20–36, see Weller
1953: 7–8.
81
+ + + + sya māhātmyaṃ niśāmya [sa] visiṣmi + </> (pādas a and b) in
Weller 1953: 8, no. 2, recto, l. 3. On niśāmya, see Johnston 1984: (III.)18, n.
1 and Weller 1953: 11, n. 21; on sa visiṣmiye, see Weller 1953: 11, n. 21.
82
BCWeller 16.34:  / de nas saṅs rgyas che bdag ñid  // thos1 nas de ni ya
mtshan gyur // de lta na yaṅ bdag ñid kyis // che źiṅ goṅ na med pa sñam //.
1
See Johnston 1984 : (III.)18, n. 1.
Translation Johnston 1984: (III.)18 (brackets are mine); see also Weller 1928:
163.

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 196 Vincent Eltschinger

arhat!’”83 Aśvaghoṣa spares himself from listing the next seventeen

miracles84 and simply says:
Then, because he knew those thoughts of his (cittajñānāc ca tat ta-
sya),85 the tranquil86 Sage purified his [= Uruvilvākāśyapa’s, VE]
heart by various supernatural powers87 (ddhi) suited (*prayuktaWeller)
for the occasion (*kāla). Thereon, as he deemed the Buddha to be
better (*viśiṣṭa?) than him in magic power (*ddhi), he determined
(*niś√ci, *ava√so?) to win88 his law (*dharma).89

83
SBhV I.218,30–32 (CPS III.244 [24a22]): athoruvilvākāśyapasya jaṭi-
lasyaitad abhavat / āścar yaṃ yāvan maharddhiko mahāśramaṇo mahānu-
bhāvaḥ / api tv aham apy arhan /. The formula concludes the account of all
eighteen miracles. The MV formula is as follows (III.425,8–10): dṣṭvā ca
punar uruvilvākāśyapo saparivāro vismito abhūṣi / maharddhiko śramaṇo
gautamo mahānubhāvo ’yam ahaṃ punar maharddhikataro /. “When Uru-
vilvākāśyapa, together with his company, saw this he was amazed. But still
he said, ‘Though the recluse Gautama has great magic and power, I have still
greater magic.’” Translation Jones 1956: III.426–427.
84
See SBhV I.218,32–228,12 (CPS III.246–302 [24b1–r9]).
85
+ + + + + + ddhibhiḥ cittajñānāc ca tat tasya </> (pādas a and b) in
Weller 1953: 8, no. 2, recto, l. 4; see also Weller 1953: 11–12, n. 23.
86
“Tranquil”/“friedvoll” translates Tib. źi ldan. Mrs. Lüders transcribed
the relevant akṣaras of the Central Asian fragment as (k)ṣ(e)tr(i), which puz-
zled Weller (1953: 11–12, n. 23). One wonders if something like śānta or even
kṣānta would not be more satisfactory.
87
Weller (1953: 11, n. 22) conjectures vividharūpaiḥ, anekarūpaiḥ or vici-
trarūpaiḥ for sna tshogs […] gzugs rnams kyis.
88
The Central Asian fragment (no. 2, recto, l. 4; Weller 1953: 8) reads
°ttaye, which Weller (1953: 12, n. 24) guesses represents a Skt. pratipattaye
in spite of the non-literal character of the translation. In this case – which I
regard as likely – Johnston’s translation could be modified into: “to (put into)
practice.”
89
BCWeller 16.35–36: / de nas dus su rab sbyar ba’i // sna tshogs rdzu ’phrul
gzugs rnams kyis // de yi sems de mkhyen ñid las // źi ldan thub pas thugs
dgoṅs mdzad  //  / ji ltar bdag las rdzu ’phrul gyis  // saṅs rgyas khyad par
’phags pa sñam  // de yi chos ni rab bsgrub phyir  // de tshe des ni ṅes par
byas  /. Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)18  (brackets are mine);
see also Weller 1928: 163. In the canonical account, it is because the Buddha
knows Uruvilvākāśyapa’s thoughts that the latter finally converts (cf. SBhV
I.228,13–18 [CPS III.302 (25a1–2)]): atha bhagavān uruvilvākāśyapasya
jaṭilasya cetasā cittam ājñāyoruvilvākāśyapaṃ jaṭilam etad avocat – naiva

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 197

In the canonical story,90 the Buddha then requires from Uruvilvā-

kāśyapa that he asks his followers whether they are also willing to
convert, which they do: “The company of Uruvilvākāśyapa’s five
hundred (*pañcaśata) followers, seing (dṣṭvā) his sudden change
of heart (āvtta),91 adhered also to the law (*dharma).”92 As a token
of their renouncing asceticism and ritual, Uruvilvākāśyapa’s fol-
lowers throw into the river their deerskins (ajina), bark-garments
(valkala), jars with handles (daṇḍakamaṇḍalu), ladles and vessels
(srugbhājana).93 Gayākāśyapa and Nadīkāśyapa together with their
five hundred followers were practising austerities and sacrifices a
few miles downstream. Seeing their fellows’ utensils in the river
and concerned that something might have happened to them, the
two brothers and their disciples moved upstream, where they chose
to follow Uruvilvākāśyapa’s example and converted:
Then together with their pupils (saśiṣya), [Uruvilvākāśyapa’s] two
brothers called Gayā[kāśyapa] and Nadī[kāśyapa], having passed to

tvaṃ kāśyapārhan naivārhattvaphalasākṣīkriyāṃ samāpanno naivājānāsy

arhattvamārgam / athoruvilvākāśyapasya jaṭilasyaitad abhavat – jānāti me
mahāśramaṇaś cetasā cittam iti viditvā bhagavantam idam avocat – labheyaṃ
mahāśramaṇasyāntike pravrajyām upasampadaṃ bhikṣubhāvam  /. “Then
the Blessed One knew the matted-hair ascetic Uruvilvākāśyapa’s thought
through his mind and said the following to him: ‘You are certainly not
an arhat, O Kāśyapa, you are not practising in order to realise the [reli-
gious] result consisting of arhatship [and] you don’t [even] know the path
towards arhatship.’ Then the following occurred to the matted-hair ascetic
Uruvilvākāśyapa: ‘The great ascetic knows my thought through his mind!’
Knowing thus, he said the following to the Blessed One: ‘May I obtain the
minor and major [monastic] ordinations, the condition of a monk under [you]
the great ascetic!’”
90
See SBhV I.228,13–229,3 (CPS III.302–306 [25a1–12]).
91
dṣṭvā kāśyapam āvttam </> uru + + + + + + (pādas b and c) in Wel-
ler 1953: 8, no. 2, recto, l. 4.
92
BCWeller 16.37: / kun nas slar log gnas pa yi // lteṅ rgyas ’od sruṅs mthoṅ
nas ni  // slob ma rnams kyi tshogs rnams kyaṅ  // lṅa brgyas de yi chos la
bsñen /. Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)18 (brackets are mine);
see also Weller 1928: 163.
93
See SBhV I.228,28–29 and 229,6–7 (CPS III.304 [25a7] and 308 [25b2]);
see also MV III.431,3–5 (Jones 1956: III.432).

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 198 Vincent Eltschinger

the further shore (pāragaJohnston; antagaWeller)94 and cast aside their bark
garments (tyaktavarkala), arrived there (tadgata) and betook them-
selves (√bhaj) to the path (mārga).95,96

2.3. Having ordained these ascetics, the Buddha moved from

Uruvilvā to Gayā where he dwellt in a sanctuary hall (caitya) locat-
ed in Gayāśīrṣa together with his thousand (and three!) new monks
(or ex-matted-hair ascetics, purāṇajaṭila).97 Here too, Aśvaghoṣa
somewhat abridges the story, for his Buddha contents himself with
a sermon (i.e., with exhibiting his ānuśāsanīprātihārya, marvelous
ability of admonition) without exhibiting his other two prātihāryas,
viz. his marvelous ability of magic performance (ddhiprātihārya)
and his marvelous ability of mind-reading (ādeśanāprātihārya):98
On the Gayāśīrṣa mountain (*bhūdhara?) the sage (*muni) then
preached the sermon of salvation (*nirvāhaka?Johnston) to the three
Kāśyapa [brothers] with their followers (*saśiṣya?). The entire world
(*jagat sarvam?) is burnt up against its own will (*avaśa?) by the fire
(*agni?) of desire (*rāga) and hostility (*dveṣa), [a fire that] originates
(*°yoni?) in the conceptual constructs (*vikalpa) and spreads (*vi-
prakīrṇa?) together with the smoke (*dhūma?) of delusion (*moha).
Thus scorched (*dagdha?) by the fire (*agni?) of defilements (*kleśa),
without peace (*apraśānta, *aprasanna?) or leadership (*anātha?), it
is unceasingly (*avicchedena?) consumed again and again (*punar
api, *punaḥ punaḥ?) by the fires (*agni?) of old age (*jāti), disease
(*jarā) and death (*maraṇa?). On seeing (*dṣṭvā) this world (*jagat)
without refuge (*nistrāṇa?) burnt up by manifold fires, the wise [man]
(*buddhimat?) is afflicted/trembles (*ud√vij?) in his body (*rūpa)

94
Weller (1928: 163) translates: “ans Ziel gelangt.”
95
+ + [ṣ]y. tyaktavarkkale </> bhejāte tadgate mārgaṅ gayā + + + + + +
<//> (pādas b to d) in Weller 1953: 8, no. 2, verso, l. 6.
96
BCWeller 16.38: / der ni spun zla slob mar bcas // mthar phyin śun lpags
spaṅs pa na // ga ya chu kluṅ źes byas kyaṅ // der soṅ lam la bsñen pa’o /.
Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)18 (brackets are mine); see also
Weller 1928: 163. See SBhV I.229,4–230,7 (CPS III.308–314 [25b1–16]).
97
See SBhV I.230,8–13 (CPS III.316 [26.1–3]).
98
See SBhV I.230,13–31 (CPS III.316–320 [26.4–15]). The Buddha’s de-
monstration of his ddhiprātihārya includes the so-called twin miracles (ya-
makaprātihārya, SBhV I.230,20–22 [CPS III.318 (26.7)]); see below, §3.4.

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 199

with its accompaniment of mind (*manas) and sense-organs (*indri-

ya). From affliction (*udvega?) he proceeds to detachment (*vairāg-
ya?) and from detachment to liberation (*vimokṣa, *vimukti?); there-
on being liberated, he knows that he is liberated (*vimukta?) in all
respects (*sarvathā?). He has fully exhausted the stream (*santati,
*santāna?) of birth (*jāti, *janman?), taken his stand on the religious
life (*brahmacarya) and done (*kta) all that which was to be done;
[for him] there is no further existence (*bhava).99

99
BCWeller 16.39–44: / de nas thub pas slob mar bcas // ’od sruṅs gsum po
de rnams la // sa ’dzin ga ya’i rtse mor ni // ṅes par mthar phyin gtam mdzad
do // rnam par rtog1 pa’i skye gnas daṅ // gti mug rnam bkram du ba can //
chags sdaṅ me yis ’gro ba ni // thams cad dbaṅ med par sreg go // de ltar ñon
moṅs mes tshig ciṅ // rab tu ma źi mgon med can // rga na ’chi ba’i me rnams
kyis // slar yaṅ rgyun mi chad par sreg // rnam par sna tshogs mes tshig pa’i //
’gro ba skyabs med ’di mthoṅ nas // yid bcas dbaṅ po daṅ bcas pa’i // gzugs la
blo ldan skyo ba ste // skyo ba las ni chags bral ’gro // chags bral las ni rnam
’grol źiṅ // rnam grol de nas thams cad na // rnam par grol źes śes pa’o // skye
ba’i rgyun ni yoṅs zad2 ciṅ // tshaṅs pa’i spyod pa ’dir gnas la // byed pa thams
cad byas ste // srid pa gźan ni yod ma yin //.
1
rtog em.: rtogs Weller.
2
Instead of yoṅs mdzad, Johnston (1984: [III.]19, n. 1) suggests yoṅs mthoṅ
(“having fully examined”), whereas Weller (1928: 164, n. 16) proposes to
reconstruct pariṣkar (“vernichtet”); I am inclined to interpret BC 16.44
as moulded on the arhattva-formula, the first member of which is kṣīṇā
me jātiḥ (see, e.g., SBhV I.119,3–4), and an expanded version of which
reads parikṣīṇabhavasaṃyojana, “in whom the fetters of existence are
completely exhausted” (SBhV I.231,9–10 [cf. CPS III.324 (27a1)]); the
Tibetan for parikṣīṇa is yoṅs su zad pa, in my opinion the most likely
reading for BC 16.44.
Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)18–19 (brackets are mine); see
also Weller 1928: 163–164. SBhV I.230,31–231,4 (CPS III.322 [26.17–19]):
sarvaṃ1 bhikṣava ādīptam / kiṃ ca <2> sarvam1 ādīptam / cakṣur <2> ādīptaṃ
rūpaṃ cakṣurvijñānaṃ cakṣuḥsaṃsparśaḥ / yad api cakṣuḥsaṃsparśapra-
tyayam ādhyātmam utpadyate vedayitaṃ sukhaṃ vā duḥkhaṃ vāduḥkham
asukhaṃ vā tad apy ādīptam / evaṃ <3> śrotraṃ ghrāṇaṃ jihvā kāyo mana 4
ādīptam / ādīptaṃ manovijñānaṃ manaḥsaṃsparśaḥ / yad api manaḥsaṃ-
sparśapratyayam ādhyātmam utpadyate vedayitaṃ sukhaṃ vā duḥkhaṃ vā /
aduḥkham asukhaṃ vā tad apy ādīptam / kenādīptam / rāgāgninā dveṣāgni-
nā mohāgninā / ādīptaṃ jātijvarāvyādhimaraṇaśoka5paridevaduḥkhadaur-
manasyopāyāsaiḥ / ādīptaṃ duḥkheneti /.
1
Note SBhVTib ’di thams cad (*tat sarvaṃ?).

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 200 Vincent Eltschinger

Hearing the Buddha preaching leads the thousand former ascetics

to arhatship:
When the thousand monks (*bhikṣusahasra) heard (*śrutvā) this ser-
mon of the Blessed One (*bhagavat), by reason of non-appropriation
(*anupādāya) their minds (*citta?) were immediately (*tadananta-
ram?) released (*vimukta?) from the inflows (*āsravaJohnston).100
With regard to both function and wording, Aśvaghoṣa’s account,
albeit a cliché, is here directly indebted to the canonical paral-
lels: “Once this exposition of the law had been formulated [by the
Buddha], by reason of non-appropriation these thousand monks’
minds were immediately released from the inflows.”101

2
Note that SBhVTib and Vin Dh insert here dge sloṅ dag (*bhikṣavaḥ).
3
Note that SBhVTib inserts here dge sloṅ dag (*bhikṣavaḥ).
4
Note that SBhVTib reads chos (*dharmaḥ) for manaḥ.
5
°śoka° em. (SBhVTib, Vin Dh mya ṅan daṅ/sokehi): SBhV, CPS om. °śoka°.
“Everything, O monks, is on fire. And what [is it, O monks, that] is on fire?
The eye[, O monks,] is on fire, [but also] corporeality, the eye-awareness
[and] the contact with the eye. Whatever internal [factor] arises with the con-
tact with the eye for its condition [i.e., for instance,] an [affective] sensation
[that is] either pleasurable, or painful, or neither-painful-nor-pleasurable,
[all] this is on fire. Similarly[, O monks,] the ear, the nose, the tongue, the
body [and] the mind are on fire. On fire are mental awareness [and] the con-
tact with the mind. Whatever internal [factor] arises with the contact with
the mind for its condition [i.e., for instance,] an [affective] sensation [that is]
either pleasurable, or painful, or neither-painful-nor-pleasurable, [all] this is
on fire. [But] on fire because of what? Because of the fire of desire, because
of the fire of hostility, because of the fire of delusion. [It is] on fire because
of [re]birth, old age, disease, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, dejection
[and] perturbation. [It is] on fire because of suffering.” On this episode, see
Bareau 1963: 317–320
100
BCWeller 16.45: / bcom ldan gyi gsuṅ ’di thos nas // dge sloṅ stoṅ phrag
dag gi sems // len pa med nas zag pa las // de ma thag tu rnam par grol /.
Translation Johnston (modified) 1984:(III.)19 (brackets are mine); see also
Weller 1953: 164.
101
SBhV I.231,5–6 (CPS III.322 [26.21]): asmin khalu dharmaparyāye
bhāṣyamāṇe tasya bhikṣusahasrasyānupādāyāsravebhyaś cittaṃ vimuk-
tam /. SBhVMS is missing here; Gnoli had to base himself on the CPS; but
CPS §26.21 is also partly reconstructed from CPS §§14.12 and 17.14 as well
as SBhVTib. SBhVTib reads (Waldschmidt 1962: 323a): chos kyi rnam graṅs ’di

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 201

2.4. Let it be noted finally that Aśvaghoṣa’s narrative is extremely

unlikely to be indebted to the MV.102 The Mahāsāṅghika narrative
has the Buddha arrive in Uruvilvā in the company of one thou-
sand monks (MV III.424,5); Uruvilvākāśyapa lives together with
his two brothers Gayākāśyapa and Nadīkāśyapa, and it is a mat-
ted-hair ascetic named Upasena who lives downstream and dis-
covers the ascetic and ritual equipments (MV III.431,1–432,6); the
Buddha’s victory over the Nāga (MV III.428,9–429,12) is the last of
five hundred miracles (MV III.428,9–10), not the first of eighteen,
and finally convinces the three Kāśyapa brothers (abhiprasādita,
MV III.429,11–12); the MV contains a jātaka of the three Kāśyapa
brothers (MV III.432,10–434,7); the MV knows of neither a jour-
ney to nor a sermon in Gayāśīrṣa.

3. Rājagha

3.1. Aśvaghoṣa introduces as follows the Buddha’s second encoun-

ter with king Bimbasāra of Magadha:103
Then, remembering (*√sm) his former promise (*pūrvapratijñā?)
to the Magadha king (*narendra?Weller), the sage (*muni), surrounded
(*parivta?) by [all of] these [thousand monks], took his way (*gata?)
to Rājagha. Then, when the king heard (*śrutvā) of the Tathāgata’s
arrival (*anuprāpta?)104 at the domain of the Veṇuvana (*veṇuva-
nadeśa?), he went (*adhi√gam?Weller) [to visit him], with his ministers
(*amātya?) in attendance on him (*anuga?Weller). Then the common

bśad pa na sṅon thams cad ral pa can du gyur pa’i dge sloṅ de rnams len pa
med par zag pa rnams las sems rnam par grol lo //. The text as partly recon-
structed by Waldschmidt lacks an equivalent of sṅon thams cad ral pa can du
gyur pa (most probably *purāṇajaṭilānāṃ sarveṣām).
102
See MV III.424,4–434,7 (Jones 1956: III.425–435).
103
The meeting itself is related at SBhV I.234,6–157,5 (sic), CPS III.336–
350 (27c4–d12), MV III.441,13–444,2 (Jones 1956: III.442–445), VinTh
I.35–36 (Horner 1971: 46–48 and Bareau 1963: 321–322), Vin Mah T. 1421,
109c8–110a10 (Bareau 1963: 322–323), Vin Dh T. 1428, 797b3–c14 (Bareau
1963: 323–325); on this episode in general, see Bareau 1963: 321–330.
104
Cf. SBhV I.234,6–10 (CPS III.336 [27c3]), MV III.441,14 and VinTh I.35
(anuppatto).

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 202 Vincent Eltschinger

folk (*jana?Weller), with their eyes opened wide in wonderment,105

came out (*niṣkram?Weller)106 along the mountain road, on foot (*pada,
*pāda?) or in vehicles (*yāna, *vāhana?) according (*°samam?) to
their [respective] means (*pratyaṃśa?). On seeing (*dṣṭvā) the excel-
lent sage (*muni) from afar (*dūratas?), the Magadha sovereign (*na-
rendra?Weller) hastily alighted from his chariot107 in order to show him
reverence (*√pūj?). The king (*rājan?) left behind (*tyaktvā?) him his
chowries (*cāmara?Weller),108 his fans (*vyajana?Weller) and his retinue
(*anucāraka, *anugāmin?), and approached (*adhi√gam?) the sage
(*muni), as Indra [approached] Brahmā. He did obeisance (*vandi-
tvā?) to the supreme seer (*paramarṣi?) with his head (*śiras?) so that
his headdress (*uṣṇīṣa, *mukuṭa?) shook (*pra√kamp, *pra√cal?),
and with his permission (*abhyanujñāta?Weller) sat down (*ni√sad?) on
the ground on the soft grass (*tṇa?).109,110

105
Cf. the Sanskrit expression vismayotphullanayana or °locana in MW
1002b
106
Cf. BC 5.37d (according to Weller 1928: 165, n. 6) where Tib. phyi rol
’byuṅ bar ’dod pa translates Skt. niścikramiṣuḥ.
107
Cf. SBhV I.154,9 (CPS III.338 [27c5]): yānād avatīrya, and MV
III.443,17: yānato pratyoruhya. I cannot say whether the original Sanskrit
contained a literal equivalent of sa (*bhū[mi], *pthivī ?) or not.
108
Cf. BC 5.3b (according to Weller 1928: 165, n. 8), where Tib. rṅa yab
translates Skt. cāmara. Note that SBhVTib rṅa yab renders SBhV/CPS vyaja-
na (see below, SBhV I.154,11–13 [CPS III.338 (27c6–7)], n. 114).
109
SBhV I.154,19–20 (CPS III.340 [27c11]): atha rājā māgadhaḥ śraiṇyo
bimbasāro bhagavataḥ pādau1 śirasā vanditvaikānte niṣaṇṇaḥ 2 /.
1
bhagavataḥ pādau SBhV: bhagavatpādau CPS.
2
niṣaṇṇaḥ SBhV: nyaṣīdan CPS.
“Then the king of Magadha, Śraiṇya Bimbasāra, bowed with his head at
the feet of the Blessed One and sat down to one side.” Cf. MV III.443,17–18
(Jones 1956: III.444) and VinTh I.35 (Horner 1971: 47 and Bareau 1963: 321).
110
BCWeller 16.48–53: / de nas de rnams kyis yoṅs bskor // thub pa rgyal po’i
khab tu gśegs // ma ga dha yi mi dbaṅ phyir // sṅon gyi dam bca’ dran pa’o //
de nas ’od ma’i tshal yul ni // de bźin gśegs pas rab tu thob // blon po rnams
ni rjes ’gro bas // thos nas rgyal po mṅon du soṅ // de nas raṅ gi skal mtshuṅs
pa’i // rkaṅ pa bźon pas1 skye bo ni // ya mtshan gyis ni rnam yaṅs mig // ri yi
lam nas phyi rol byuṅ // ma ga dha yi mi dbaṅ gis // thub mchog rgyaṅ ma nas
mthoṅ nas // skyen pa daṅ bcas mchod pa’i phyir // śiṅ rta las ni sa la babs //
des ni rṅa yab rluṅ yab daṅ // rjes su ’braṅ ba rnams spaṅs nas // tshaṅs pa la
ni dbaṅ pos bźin // thub la rgyal po mṅon2 du soṅ // cod pan rab g.yo mgon po

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 203

Three features of this passage have resisted my attempts to trace

them back to vinaya materials: Aśvaghoṣa’s description of the
common folk’s demeanour, his claim that Bimbasāra was accom-
panied by ministers, and the shaking diadem on Bimbasāra’s head.
But this passage also exhibits two elements that only rarely fea-
ture in the extant vinayas. As already noted by Bareau, VinTh and
VinMah alone introduce (and partly justify) the story by recalling
the (future) Buddha’s promise to Bimbasāra.111 In my opinion, how-
ever, this is not a compelling reason to conjecture, against all we
have learnt so far, Aśvaghoṣa’s indebtedness to either of these two
vinayas. The (future) Buddha’s promise was well-known enough a
biographical episode112 to justify its being resorted to at the point of

yis // draṅ sroṅ mchog la phyag ’tshal nas // sa yi logs la rtsā ’jam la // mṅon
par rjes gnaṅ bsdad pa’o /.
1
bźon pas Johnston: gźon mas Weller.
2
mṅon em.: sṅon Weller. Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)19
(brackets are mine); see also Weller 1928: 164–165.
111
Vin Mah T. 1421, 109c: “A ce moment, le Bienheureux eut cette pensée:
‘Jadis, j’ai convenu avec le roi P’ing-cha (Bimbisāra) de le sauver quand
j’aurai obtenu la Voie. Maintenant, je dois aller là-bas.’” Translation Bareau
1963: 322. Vin Dh T. 1428, 797b: “Alors, le Bienheureux, ayant converti ces
mille moines, eut cette idée: ‘Jadis, j’ai accepté l’invitation du roi Bimbisāra
(selon laquelle), si je devenais un Buddha et obtenais l’omniscience, je devais
aller d’abord dans la ville de Rājagha. Maintenant, je dois aller voir le roi
Bimbisāra.’” Translation Bareau 1963: 323. See also Bareau 1963: 325–326.
112
See SBhV I.94,4–96,17, Vin Mah T. 1421, 102b13–c14, Vin Dh T. 1428,
779b26–c10. The future Buddha’s promise occurs at SBhV I.96,12–17: rā-
jñā bimbasāreṇābhihitaṃ bhoḥ pravrajita anena vratena kiṃ prārthayase /
kathayaty anuttarāṃ samyaksambodhim  / rājā kathayati bhoḥ pravrajita
yadā tvam anuttarāṃ samyaksambodhim abhisambudhyethās tadāsmān
api samanvāharethā iti / bodhisattvaḥ kathayaty evaṃ bhavatu samanvāha-
riṣyāmīty uktvā rājaghān niṣkrāntaḥ /. “King Bimbasāra spoke [as follows]:
‘O [you] homeless mendicant, what are you longing for with this [religious]
observance?’ [The bodhisattva] said: ‘The supreme and perfect awakening!’
The king said: ‘O [you] homeless mendicant, as soon as you have awakened
to the supreme and perfect awakening, then please turn your thoughts to
me too!’ The bodhisattva said: ‘So be it, I shall turn my thoughts [to you
too].’ [And] having said [this], he departed from Rājagha.” On samanvāh,
see BHSD s.v. 564a–565a; as at Avadānaśataka I.211,2 and II.66,9, asmān =
asmākam (api samanvāharethāḥ).

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 204 Vincent Eltschinger

a new meeting of the two men.113 Contrary to this, BC 16.52ab (des

ni rṅa yab rluṅ yab daṅ // rjes su ’braṅ ba rnams spaṅs nas) pro-
vides us with a new hint to Aśvaghoṣa’s indebtedness to a (Mūla)
sarvāstivāda version of the narrative, for among all extant accounts
of the event, the SBhV and the CPS alone allude to the king’s put-
ting away his royal emblems (kakuda, Tib. rgyal po’i mtshan ma):
“Having put off the five ensigns of royalty, [i.e., his] diadem, [his]
parasol, [his] sword, [his] bejewelled? fan and [his] two precious
sandals, he went to the Blessed One.”114

3.2. The Magadhans apparently did not expect to see the Buddha
and (the) Kāśyapa(s) together,115 for according to all available ver-

113
Note Bareau 1963: 326: “[…] Cette première entrevue, antérieure à
l’Éveil, fournissait une trop belle explication au présent voyage du Bien-
heureux de Gayā à Rājagha pour que les narrateurs mahīśāsaka et dhar-
maguptaka la négligeassent, et c’est pourquoi ils rappellent au Buddha la
promesse faite jadis par lui au roi Bimbisāra.”
114
SBhV I.154,11–13 (CPS III.338 [27c6–7]): pañcakakudāny apanī yoṣṇī-
ṣaṃ1 chatraṃ khaḍgaṃ 2 maṇibālavyajanaṃ citre copānahau / yena bhaga-
vāṃs tenopasaṅkrāntaḥ 3 /.
1
apanīyoṣṇīṣaṃ SBhV: apanayaty uṣṇīṣaṃ CPS.
2
khaḍgaṃ CPS: khadgaṃ SBhV.
3
yena bhagavāṃs tenopasaṅkrāntaḥ SBhV: atha rājā māgadhaḥ śraiṇyo
bimbasāraḥ pañcakakudāny apanīya yena bhagavāṃs tenopajagāma
CPS.
115
Uruvilvākāśyapa was a famous and revered ascetic in the region whom
nobody expected to be converted or treated as an equal by anybody else. Cf.
SBhV I.217,7–10 (CPS III.236 [24a2]): tena khalu samayenoruvilvākāśyapo
jaṭilo jīrṇo vddho mahallakaḥ / sa viṃśativarṣaśatiko jātyā māgadhakānāṃ
manuṣyāṇāṃ satkto gurukto mānito pūjito ’rhan sammataḥ / pañcaśata-
parivāro nadyā nairañjanāyās tīra āśramapade śāmyate1 /.
1
Note SBhVTib dka’ thub spyod do for Skt. śāmyate.
“But at this very time Uruvilvākāśyapa [lived there], a matted-hair ascetic
[who was] old, aged, advanced in years; he was 120 years old [and] honoured,
praised, respected, revered [and] recognized as an arhat by the Magadhan
people; surrounded by 500 [disciples], he was practising austerities in a her-
mitage on the bank of the river Nairañjanā.” See MV III.424,8–14 (Jones
1956: III.426), which sheds interesting light on issues of intersectarian rival-
ry and jealousy.

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 205

sions of the story, the following happens:116

The thought occurred to the people there, “Oh! The might (*bala?) of
the Śākya Sage (*śākyamuni). Has(/Have?) (the?) Kāśyapa(s?) become
the pupil(s?) (*śiṣya?) of the blessed (*bhagavat) seer (*ṣi)?” Then the
Buddha, knowing (*[ā]√jñā?) their minds (*citta), said [the following]
to Kāśyapa.117
Such is the (Mūla)sarvāstivāda account of the same:
Now it happened that at that time the venerable Uruvilvākāśyapa
was sitting in this very assembly. Then the following occurred to
the Magadhan brahmins and householders: “Is it the great ascetic
[Gautama] who lives the religious life under the matted-hair ascet-
ic Uruvilvākāśyapa, or is it rather the matted-hair ascetic Uruvilvā-
kāśyapa who lives the religious life under the great ascetic [Gautama]?”
Then the Blessed One, perceiving the thought of the Magadhan brah-
mins and householders with [his] mind, asked by chanting in verses
(gāthābhir gītena, Tib. tshigs su bcad pa’i dbyaṅs kyis) [the following]
question to the venerable Uruvilvākāśyapa.118

116
SBhV I.155,5–11, CPS III.342 [27c16–18], MV III.444,2–7 (Jones 1956:
III.445), VinTh I.36 (Horner 1971: 47 and Bareau 1963: 322), Vin Mah T. 1421,
109c (Bareau 1963: 323), Vin Dh T. 1428, 797bc (Bareau 1963: 324). For the
SBhV and CPS account, see below, n. 118.
117
BCWeller 16.54–55ab: / der mi rnams kyi bsams pa gyur // e ma śā kya
thub pa’i stobs  // ’od sruṅ bcom ldan draṅ sroṅ ni  // ’di yi slob ma ñid du
gyur  // de nas de’i sems saṅs rgyas kyis  // mkhyen nas ’od sruṅ la smras
pa /. Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)20 (brackets are mine); see
also Weller 1928: 165. Johnston and Weller interpret bcom ldan draṅ sroṅ
differently: as qualifying Uruvilvākāśyapa (Johnston) and as qualifying the
Buddha (Weller). Although the Tibetan syntax would seem to recommend
Johnston’s understanding, I am inclined to take bcom ldan (*bhagavat) as
an exclusive designation of the Buddha. My translation consequently follows
Weller’s. Johnston (1984: [III.]20, n. 1) also remarks: “T[ibetan] shows no
sign of a question here, but verse 71 seems to require this translation.” Weller
(1928: 165) simply translates: “die Kāśyapa wurden Schüler dieses Ṛṣi, des
Erhabenen.” Note that all extant versions of the episode put a question in the
mouth of the Magadhans.
118
SBhV I.155,5–11 (CPS III.342 [27c16–18]): tena khalu samayenāyuṣ-
mān uruvilvākāśyapas tasyām eva pariṣadi sanniṣaṇṇaḥ sannipatitaḥ  /
atha māgadhakānāṃ brāhmaṇaghapatīnām etad abhavat / <kiṃ nu mahā-
śramaṇa uruvilvākāśyapasya jaṭilasyāntike brahmacaryaṃ carati / āhosvid

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 206 Vincent Eltschinger

Thus according to all accounts, the Magadhans are in doubt as to

who is whose master. The Buddha is aware of this and will endeav-
our to dispell this doubt first by asking Kāśyapa about the short-
comings of sacrifice and second by urging him to perform a public
miracle.

3.3. Here is Aśvaghoṣa’s version of the dialogue, no doubt one of

the most interesting pieces of anti-Brahmanical polemics in both
the BC and vinaya literature:119
“Kāśyapa, what was the quality (*guṇa) you saw (*dṣṭvā) that you
abandoned the [sacrificial] fires (*agni)?” […] – “I have given up
the [sacrificial] fires, because the fruit (*phala) of worship (*pūjā?)
and burnt-offering (*homa?) is continuance in the cycle of existence
(*parivartana?Weller) and association with the various mental ills. I
have given up the [sacrificial] fires, because [it is] due to the thirst
(*tṣṇā?) for [sensual] objects (*viṣayaWeller) that one proceeds to
muttering prayers, burnt-offerings and the like (*japahomādi), [but
I] have no [longer] thirst for [sensual] objects. I have given up the
[sacrificial] fires, because having muttered (*jap[i]tvā?) prayers and
offered [to the fires] (*hutvā?), one is not liberated from birth [for all
this], and because the suffering (*duḥkha) of birth (*janman, *jāti?)
is great.120 I have given up the [sacrificial] fires, because the belief
that the supreme good (*śreyas?) comes from sacrifices (*yajña?) and
from austerities (*tapas?) is false. I have given up the [sacrificial]
fires, because I, [to whom this had been] said,121 know the blissful

uruvilvākāśyapa eva jaṭilo mahāśramaṇasyāntike brahmacaryaṃ carati /1>

atha bhagavān māgadhakānāṃ brāhmaṇaghapatīnāṃ cetasā cittam
ājñāyāyuṣmantam uruvilvākāśyapaṃ gāthābhir gītena praśnaṃ pcchati
sma /.
1
CPS reads kiṃ nūruvilvākāśyapo jaṭilo mahāśramaṇasyāntike brahma-
caryaṃ carati / aho svid mahāśramaṇa uruvilvākāśyapasya jaṭilasyāntike
brahmacaryaṃ carati /.
119
On this dialogue, see Bareau 1963: 329–330 and 334.
120
Weller (1928: 166) translates: “Weil durch murmelndes Beten und
[Feuer]opfer Befreiung von der Geburt nicht ist, sondern das groβe Leid der
Geburt […].”
121
Weller (1928: 166, n. 9) remarks: “Ich möchte die Textstelle auffassen
als: ukto ’ham.” He translates: “Weil ich, zu dem es war gesagt worden, […].”

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 207

immutable stage (*pada), which is delivered (*mukta?) from birth and

death (*jātimaraṇa?).”122
In one form or another, this dialogue is attested in all canonical ver-
sions of the event.123 To answer the Buddha’s question, Aśvaghoṣa’s
Uruvilvākāśyapa enumerates five reasons why he abandoned the
sacrificial fires as well as pūjā, homa, japa and tapas, i.e., why he
dismissed the Brahmanical practices. These practices, which pro-
ceed from craving and wrong belief, only result in saṃsāra and do
not bring about liberation – a condition, stage or abode that Kāś-
yapa has just experienced while reaching nirvāṇa. The sacrifice’s
essential connection with sensual pleasures and promises as well
as the abode newly reached by Kāśyapa are also the focus of the
canonical versions. Suffice it to quote here from the SBhV and the
CPS:
O you who are dwelling in Uruvilvā, what did you see here? so that
you rejected the [sacrificial] fires, [your] sacred (ārṣa) [Vedic] obser-
vance? Explain this point to me, O Kāśyapa: how did you abandon the
fire oblation? – [There are] some [who] claim [that sacrifices prom-
ise innumerable] foods, drinks, [sweet] tastes, sensual pleasures and

In my opinion, this is more satisfactory than Johnston’s (1984: [III.]20) cau-

tious “Because, as I affirm (?), I know […].” As we shall see below, Weller’s
interpretation has the additional merit of being consonant with the CPS and
SBhV narrative.
122
BCWeller 16.55cd–61 (dropping verse 56): / ’od sruṅ yon tan gaṅ mthoṅ
nas // khyed kyis me ni spaṅs pa’o // […] gaṅ phyir mchod daṅ sbyin sreg gi //
’bras bu yoṅs su ’khor ba ste // sems nad sna tshogs daṅ ldan te // de phyir
me rnams bdag gis spaṅs // gaṅ phyir yul la skom pa yis // bzlas daṅ sbyin
sreg la sogs ’jug // yul rnams dag ni skom pa med // de phyir me rnams bdag
gis spaṅs // gaṅ phyir bzlas nas sreg nas kyaṅ // skye ba las ni thar min źiṅ //
skye ba yi ni sdug bsṅal che // de phyir me rnams bdag gis spaṅs // gaṅ phyir
mchod sbyin dka’ thub kyis // dge legs yin źes yid ’gyur ba // de ni brdzun pa
ñid yin te // de phyir me rnams bdag gis spaṅs // gaṅ phyir skye ’chi las grol
ba // ’gyur med go ’phaṅ dge bar ni // brjod pa bdag gis śes pa ste // de phyir
me rnams bdag gis spaṅs  /. Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)20
(brackets are mine); see also Weller 1928: 166.
123
See SBhV I.155,12–156,8, CPS III.342–346 (27c19–25), MV III.444,8–
446,2 (Jones 1956: III.445–446), VinTh I.36 (Horner 1971: 48 and Bareau
1963: 322), Vin Mah T. 1421, 109c–110a (Bareau 1963: 323), Vin Dh T. 1428,
797bc (Bareau 1963: 324–325).

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 208 Vincent Eltschinger

women. [But] observing the impurities of [any] substrate [of earthly

existence] (upadhi),124 I am therefore not satisfied with sacrifice and
oblation [any longer].125 – In this case?, if your mind is not satisfied
with sensual pleasures, foods, drinks [or sweet] tastes, tell [me], O
Kāśyapa, [since you are] asked [by me about this], how your mind
[will/can be] satisfied in the world of gods and humans? – Having seen
the highest abode that is lacking [any] substrate [of earthly existence],
that is calm, that is nothingness(/that possesses nothing?), that is not
attached to sensual existence(/to sensual pleasures and existence),126
that is without alteration [and] is not to be led by others(/where one
cannot be laid by othersHorner), I am therefore no [longer] satisfied with
sacrifice and oblation. Failing to see [this] imperishable supreme
abode, my mind’s [deluded] opinion was that [one achieves] libera-
tion by means of sacrifices, observances and [sacrificial] fires; [and
because of my being] blind, I am subject? (anusārin) to [re]birth and
death.127 [But] now I see this unconditioned abode [that has been so]
well indicated by the most eminent among the Nāgas, by the Protector.
You [are], O Gautama, the truly valiant sage [and] discipliner, arisen

124
On upadhi, see Schmithausen 1969: 79–81, n. 2.
125
Instead of anna, pāna, rasa, kāma and strī (SBhV, CPS, MV, and ap-
parently Vin Dh), VinTh I.36 (and apparently Vin Mah) has rūpa, sadda, rasa and
kāmitthiya.
126
To be compared with Sn. 176, 1059, 1091: kāmabhave asatta akiñcana,
“possessing nothing, not attached to sensual pleasures and existence” (trans-
lation Norman 1985: 175). Note that this is the last stanza in the VinTh, Vin Mah
and Vin Dh accounts.
127
In the MV, the parallel stanza is preceded by two stanzas (anuṣṭubh).
MV III.445,7–8: mohan te juhito agni mohan te so tapo kto  / yaṃ jahe
paścime kāle jīrṇāṃ va urago tvacam //. “In vain did you offer the fire-sacri-
fice; in vain did you make your penance, since at the last you abandoned them
as a snake its cast-off skin.” Translation Jones 1956: III.446. MV III.445,10–
11: mohaṃ no juhito agni mohaṃ me so tapo kto / yaṃ jahe paścime kāle
jīrṇāṃ va urago tvacam //. “Yea, in vain did I offer the fire-sacrifice; in vain
did I make my penance, since at the last I abandoned them as a snake its cast-
off skin.” Translation Jones 1956: III.446.

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 209

for the [greatest] benefit of the multitude.128,129

128
Cf. MV III.445,16–19: so dāni paśyāmi anāvilaṃ padaṃ sudeśitaṃ
nāgavareṇa tāyinā / atyantaniṣṭhāpadam āspśe ahaṃ saṃsārajātīmaraṇaṃ
prahāya //. “But now do I see that pure state, for it has been so clearly revealed
to me by the mighty noble Nāga. I have attained that complete and perfect
state, and have escaped the round of birth and death.” Translation Jones
1956: III.446. The MV has two further stanzas after this. MV III.445,20–21:
bahū satvā vihanyanti karontā vividhāṃ tapāṃ / niṣṭhāṃ anadhigacchantā
avitīrṇakathaṃkathā  //. “Many men are lost though they perform diverse
austerities. They do not reach certainty because they have not passed beyond
doubt.” Translation (slightly modified) Jones 1956: III.446. MV III.446,1–2:
dīrgharātraṃ kiliṣṭo smi dṣṭisaṃdānasaṃdito / sarvagrantheṣu me bhaga-
vāṃ parimocesi cakṣumāṃ  //. “Long was I soiled, bound in the chains of
wrong belief. But the clear-sighted Exalted One has set me free from all my
fetters.” Translation Jones 1956: III.446.
129
SBhV I.155,12–156,5 (CPS III.342–46 [27c19–24]): dṣtveha kiṃ tvam
uruvilvavāsin agnīn ahāsīr vratam evārṣam1  / ācakṣva me kāśyapa etam
arthaṃ kathaṃ prahīṇaṃ hi tavā 2gnihotram // annāni pānāni tathā rasāṃś
ca kāmāṃś ca strīś caiva3 vadanti4 haike5  / etān6 malān upadhau7 sam-
prapaśyaṃs tasmān na yaṣṭe8 na hute rato ’ham // na te ’tra9 kāmeṣu mano
rataṃ ced anneṣu pāneṣu tathā raseṣu  / kathaṃ nu te devamanuṣyaloke
rataṃ manaḥ kāśyapa brūhi pṣṭaḥ  // dṣṭvā padaṃ nirupadhi śāntam10
agryam ākiñcanyaṃ11 kāmabhaveṣv12 asaktam / ananyathībhāvam ananya-
neyaṃ tasmān na yaṣṭe13 na hute rato ’ham // yajñair vratair agnibhiś cāpi
mokṣa ity apy abhūn me manaso vitarkaḥ14 / andho ’smi jātī15 maraṇānusāry
anīkṣamāno16 ’cyutam uttamaṃ padam  // paśyāmīdānīṃ tad asaṃsktaṃ
padaṃ sudeśitaṃ nāgavareṇa tāyinā  / mahājanārthāya munir vināyakas
tvam udgato17 gautama satyavikramaḥ //.
1
vratam evārṣam CPS, SBhV: brtul źugs ’di dag spyod (“[so that, having
abandoned the sacrificial fires,] you [now] practise these observances”)
SBhVTib.
2
Note SBhVTib khyod kyis.
3
kāmāṃś ca strīś caiva CPS: kāmān striyaś caiva SBhV.
4
vadanti CPS: vacanti SBhV.
5
haike CPS, SBhV: ’di na kha cig (*ihaike → °*[vadant]īhaike?) SBhVTib.
6
etān CPS, SBhVTib (de dag): tāvan SBhV.
7
Note SBhVTib thabs kyis (*upāye?) for upadhau.
8
na yaṣṭe CPS: na iṣṭe SBhV.
9
atra with no equivalent in SBhVTib.
10
śāntam SBhV (+VinTh santam): śāntim CPS (see CPS III.344, n. 8).

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 210 Vincent Eltschinger

The dialogue between the Buddha and Uruvilvākāśyapa stops here

(or even earlier)130 in the MV, VinTh, VinMah and VinDh. This dia-
logue, however, continues in the BC:
On hearing the converted (*vinīta?) Kāśyapa thus speak words, [so]
productive of faith (*prasāda?) and [so] full of matter (*arthavat,
*sārthaka?), the master of the discipline (*vinayācārya?) Gautama
said to him:] – “I wish you welcome, most noble one (mahābhāgaJohn-
ston); this is most certainly the good work that you have done, in that
among the various [religious] laws you have come(/agreed) to the best
[one].”131
Now, the (Mūla)sarvāstivāda sources not only have the dialogue
continue, but also provide BC 16.63 with so close a parallel that it
can only be regarded as the source of Aśvaghoṣa: “I wish you wel-
come! What you have determined (= both decided and ascertained)
you have not thought of unduly. Among the various [religious] laws,
[you have] come(/agreed) to the best [one].”132 Just as the SBhV/

11
Note that MV III.445,3 and VinTh read akiñcanaṃ (which makes good
sense) instead of ākiñcanyaṃ CPS, SBhV (unsatisfactory).
12
kāmabhaveṣv CPS, SBhVTib (’dod srid): sarvabhāveṣu SBhV (but sarva-
bhaveṣu according to CPS III.345, n. 9).
13
na yaṣṭe CPS: na iṣṭe SBhV.
14
Note SBhVTib rmoṅs (*vibhramaḥ?) for vitarkaḥ.
15
°jātī° CPS (see CPS III.346, n. 1): °jāti° SBhV.
16
anīkṣamāno CPS: anīkṣmano SBhV.
17
udgataḥ without equivalent in SBhVTib.
130
See above, n. 126.
131
BCWeller 16.62–63: / de ltar de’i tshig daṅ skyed ciṅ // don daṅ ldan pa’i
gsan gyur nas // ’dul ba’i slob dpon gau ta mas // dul ba’i ’od sruṅ la gsuṅs
so // skal chen khyod ni legs par ’oṅs // ’di ni legs byas byas min min // gaṅ
khyod tha dad chos rnams su  // dge legs gaṅ de ñe bar thob  /. Translation
(modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)20 (brackets are mine); see also Weller 1928:
166 (“Willkommen, du Ausgezeichneter, dies ist wohlgetan, der du unter ver-
schiedenen Lehren die erlangtest, welche die beste [ist].”).
132
SBhV I.156,7–8 (CPS III.346 [27c25]): svāgataṃ te vyavasitaṃ1 naitad
duścintitaṃ tvayā / pravibhakteṣu dharmeṣu yac chreṣṭhaṃ tad upāgatam2 //.
1
vyavasitaṃ SBhV, SBhVTib (rtogs pa): tavāsitaṃ CPS.
2
upāgatam CPS (, SBhVTib [blaṅs so]): upāgama SBhV.

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 211

CPS stanza, BC 16.63 began with svāgataṃ te (= Tib. khyod ni legs

par ’oṅs) and finished with pravibhakteṣu dharmeṣu yac chreṣṭhaṃ
tad upāgatam (= Tib. gaṅ […]133 tha dad chos rnams su // dge legs
gaṅ de ñe bar thob). The BC’s skal chen (*mahābhāga, in the voc-
ative case) merely represents Aśvaghoṣa’s recontextualization of
his canonical source. pāda b alone is somehow problematic, for
whereas naitat and tvayā can be regarded as represented in the
Tibetan wording, legs byas byas min cannot, as far as I can tell, be
regarded as a Tibetan rendering of duścintitam. This discrepancy
lends itself to several explanations. But whatever the right one, this
much is certain: the SBhV/CPS provides us with a new Sanskrit
fragment of the BC.

3.4. As was to be expected, this exchange on sacrifice and salvation

does not fully make clear to the good Magadha householders and
brahmins who is whose disciple. The MV and VinTh simply have
Uruvilvākāśyapa formally acknowledge, for the sake of explicit-
ness, his being the disciple of the Buddha:
“The Blessed One is my master, and I am a disciple of the Sugata.”
Then Uruvilvākāśyapa rose up from his seat, arranged his robe over
one shoulder, and bending his right knee to the ground he bowed his
head at the feet of the Blessed One. After going round him thrice from
the right, he stood behind the Blessed One and fanned him with a
peacock’s tail-feathers. It then occurred to those brahmins and house-
holders of Magadha that it was Uruvilvākāśyapa who was living the
brahma-life under Gautama the ascetic.134

133
The presence of Tib. khyod (“you”) in the pāda does not necessarily
imply that the Sanskrit original bore a “you” (*tvayā?) in this position. The
Tibetan translators may have added it for clarity’s sake, or interpreted the
tvayā of pāda b as to be construed with upāgatam.
134
MV III.446,3–8: śāstā me bhagavāṃ śrāvako haṃ asmi sugate / atha
khalv āyuṣmān uruvilvākāśyapo utthāyāsanāto ekāṃśam uttarāsaṃgaṃ
ktvā dakṣiṇaṃ jānumaṇḍalaṃ pthivyāṃ pratiṣṭhāpya bhagavataḥ pā-
dau śirasā vanditvā bhagavantaṃ trikhuttaṃ pradakṣiṇīktvā bhagavato
pṣṭhato asthāsi bhagavantaṃ morahas tena vījayamāno / atha khalu teṣāṃ
māgadhakānāṃ brāhmaṇaghapatikānāṃ etad abhūṣi  / uruvilvākāśyapo
śramaṇe gautame brahmacaryaṃ carati  /. Translation (slightly modified)
Jones 1956: III.446–447. VinTh I.36: atha kho āyasmā uruvelakassapo

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 212 Vincent Eltschinger

The VinDh account of the episode does not significantly differ from
these:135 knowing that the Magadhans are still in doubt, the Buddha
asks Uruvilvākāśyapa to stand up and fan him; Uruvilvākāśyapa
stands up, bows down to the feet of the Buddha, calls him by his
gotra and his personal name, formally acknowledges the Buddha
as his master and, standing behind him, fans him. One detail of the
VinDh version is striking: between standing up and bowing down to
the feet of the Buddha, Uruvilvākāśyapa magically rises up high in
the space and comes down. The role of magic and miracle gets even
stronger in the VinMah account of the episode.136 Here, the Buddha
asks Uruvilvākāśyapa to fan him, which the latter instantly does.
But as if this were not enough, the Buddha asks him to demonstrate
his newly acquired sanctity by performing a miracle:
Aussitôt, il montra de manières diverses son [pouvoir] de transforma-
tion surnaturelle: il divisa son corps en cent millions [de parties] puis
réunit à nouveau celles-ci pour n’en faire plus qu’un seul; il traversa
complètement un mur de pierre; il pénétra dans la terre comme dans
l’eau et marcha sur l’eau comme sur la terre; il s’assit et se coucha
dans le vide; il vola ici et là comme un oiseau; il fit s’élever de son
corps des flammes brillantes et de la fumée semblable à un nuage qui
se lève; de ses mains, il toucha le soleil et la lune; il s’éleva jusqu’au
[ciel] de Brahma; sa souveraineté ne connut plus d’obstacles; du haut
de son corps jaillissait de l’eau et du bas de son corps un feu allumé,
ou bien du haut de son corps sortait un feu allumé et du bas de son

uṭṭhāyāsanā ekaṃsaṃ uttarāsaṅgaṃ karitvā bhagavato pādesu sirasā ni-

patitvā bhagavantaṃ etad avoca – satthā me bhante bhagavā sāvako ’ham
asmi, satthā me bhante bhagavā sāvako ’ham asmīti. atha kho tesaṃ dvāda-
sanahutānaṃ māgadhikānaṃ brāhmaṇagahapatikānaṃ etad ahosi – uru-
velakassapo mahāsamaṇe brahmacariyaṃ caratīti. “Then the venerable
Kassapa of Uruvelā, rising from his seat, having arranged his upper robe
over one shoulder, having inclined his head towards the Lord’s feet, spoke
thus to the Lord: ‘Lord, the Lord is my teacher. I am a disciple; Lord, the
Lord is my teacher, I am disciple.’ Then it occurred to those twelve myri-
ad brahmans and householders of Magadha: ‘Kassapa of Uruvelā fares the
Brahma-life under the great recluse.’” Translation Horner 1971: 48.
135
Vin Dh T. 1428, 797c (Bareau 1963: 333).
136
Vin Mah T. 1421, 110a (Bareau 1963: 332).

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 213

corps sortait de l’eau.137

Kāśyapa descends, bows down to the feet of the Buddha, formally
acknowledges his being a disciple and publicly informs the crowd
that he owes his magical power to the Buddha’s teaching. The last
of Kāśyapa’s miracles in the VinMah version is none other than the
twin miracles (yamakaprātihārya) studied by Waldschmidt in its
art-historical and textual manifestations.138 Now, the twin miracles
form the core of the (Mūla)sarvāstivāda canonical versions of the
episode:
Then the venerable Uruvilvākāśyapa, [who had been] requested (ktā-
vakāśa) [to do so] by the Blessed One, attained such a [psychic] con-
centration that, [suddenly] made invisible on his own seat, [his] mind
[fully] concentrated, he mounted in the air in the eastern region and
displayed the four modes of physical behaviour, i.e., walked, sat, stood
and lied down. He then (api) entered into the fire-element, [and] from
the body of the venerable Uruvilvākāśyapa who had entered into the
fire-element, a [great] variety of rays of light shone forth, i.e., blue
ones, yellow ones, red ones, white ones, vermilion ones and crys-
tal-coloured ones. He also displayed the twin miracles. The lower part
of [his] body flashed up, [while] from the upper [part of his] body icy
torrents of water flew down. The upper part of [his] body flashed up,
[while] from the upper [part of his] body icy torrents of water flew
down. [And] just as [he did] in the eastern region, so [he did] in the
southern, the western and the northern regions. Having thus displayed
[his] four-directional, fourfold [and] variegated miracle of magical
power, he put an end to these magical accomplishments,139 respect-

137
Vin Mah T. 1421, 110a. Translation Bareau 1963: 332.
138
See Waldschmidt 1930: 27–31.
139
The same account, most certainly borrowed directly from the SBhV,
occurs in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Divyāvadāna (Divya 161,1–11): atha bhaga-
vāṃs tadrūpaṃ samādhiṃ samāpanno yathā samāhite citte svasminn āsane
’ntarhitaḥ pūrvasyāṃ diśy upari vihāyasam abhyudgamya caturvidham
īryāpathaṃ kalpayati / tadyathā caṅkramyate tiṣṭhati niṣīdati śayyāṃ kal-
payati  / tejodhātum api sampadyate  / tejodhātusamāpannasya buddhasya
bhagavato vividhāny arcīṃṣi kāyān niścaranti  / tadyathā nīlapītāni lohi-
tāny avadātāni māñjiṣṭhāni sphaṭikavarṇāni  / anekāny api prātihāryāṇi
nidarśayati / adhaḥ kāyaṃ prajvālayaty uparimāt kāyāc chītalā vāridhārāḥ
syandante  / yathā pūrvasyāṃ diśy evaṃ dakṣiṇasyāṃ diśīti caturdiśaṃ

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 214 Vincent Eltschinger

fully saluted [in the direction] where the Blessed One was and spoke
to him as follows: “The Blessed One is my teacher, Sire; I am the
disciple of the Blessed One. The Blessed One is my teacher, Sire; I am
the disciple of the Blessed One.” [The Blessed One answered:] “It is
so, Kāśyapa, it is so; I am your teacher, you are my disciple. I am your
teacher, O Kāśyapa, [and] you are my disciple. You Kāśyapa, sit down
on your (yathāsvaka) seat.” Then the venerable Uruvilvākāśyapa
bowed down with his head to the feet of the Blessed One and sat down
apart. At that time (atha), the following occurred to the Magadhan
brahmins and householders: “It is not the case that the great ascetic
[Gautama] lives the religious life under the recluse Uruvilvākāśyapa;
on the contrary, it is Uruvilvākāśyapa who lives the religious life un-
der the great ascetic [Gautama].”140

caturvidham ddhiprātihāryaṃ vidarśya tān ddhyabhisaṃskārān pratipra-

srabhya […] /. “Then the Blessed One entered a state of meditative concen-
tration such that when his mind was concentrated, he disappeared from his
seat, rose up high in the sky in the eastern direction, and appeared in the four
bodily postures – that is to say, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down.
Then he entered into the state of mastery over the element of fire. When the
Lord Buddha had entered into the state of mastery over the element of fire,
different kinds of light emerged from his body – they were blue, yellow, red,
white, crimson, and the color of crystal. He displayed many other miracles
as well. He made his lower body blaze in flames, and then a shower of cold
water rained down from his upper body. What he displayed in the east, he
then displayed in the south, and likewise in all four directions. After making
use of his magical powers and displaying these four miracles in the four
directions, he withdrew those magical powers that he had activated […].”
Translation Rotman 2008: 277–278.
140
SBhV I.156,11–157,5 (CPS III.346–350 [27d1–12]): athāyuṣmān uruvil-
vākāśyapo bhagavatā ktāvakāśas tadrūpaṃ samādhiṃ samāpanno yathā
svasminn āsane ’ntarhitaḥ samāhite citte1 pūrvasyāṃ diśy upari vihāyasam
abhyudgamya2 caturvidham īryāpathaṃ kalpayati  / tadyathā caṅkrāmyate
niṣīdati tiṣṭhati3 śayyāṃ kalpayati  / tejodhātum api samāpadyate  / tejo-
dhātusamāpannasyāyuṣmata uruvilvākāśyapasya vividhāny arcīṃṣi kāyān
niścaranti / tadyathā 4 nīlāni pītāni lohitāny avadātāni māñjiṣṭhāni sphaṭi-
kavarṇāni  / yamakāny api5 prātihāryāṇi vidarśayati  / adhaḥkāyaḥ pra-
jvalati  / uparimāt kāyāc chītalā vāridhārāḥ syandante6  / uparimaḥ kāyāḥ
prajvalati / adhaḥkāyāc chītalā vāridhārāḥ syandante7 / yathā pūrvasyāṃ
diśy8 evaṃ dakṣiṇasyāṃ paścimāyām9 uttarasyāṃ diśi / iti caturdiśaṃ ca-
turvidham vividham10 ddhiprātihāryaṃ vidarśya11 tān ddhyabhisaṃskārān
pratiprasrabhya yena bhagavāṃs tenāñjaliṃ praṇamya12 bhagavantam idam
avocat – śāstā me bhadanta13 bhagavān śrāvako ’haṃ bhagavataḥ14 / śāstā

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 215

This is, without the shadow of a doubt, the source of Aśvaghoṣa’s

treatment of the episode in BC 16.64–71:
“Just (*tāvat) stir up (*saṃvij- Weller) then the hearts (*manas?) of the
assembly141 by displaying your various (*vividha?) magic powers

me bhadanta13 bhagavān śrāvako ’haṃ bhagavataḥ14 / evam etat kāśyapa /

evam etat kāśyapa  / śāstā te ’haṃ15 śrāvakas tvaṃ mama  / śāstā te ’haṃ
kāśyapa śrāvakas tvaṃ mama  / niṣīda tvaṃ kāśyapa yathāsvaka āsane  /
<
athāyuṣmān uruvilvākāśyapo bhagavataḥ pādau śirasā vanditvaikānte
niṣaṇṇaḥ  /16> atha māgadhakānāṃ brāhmaṇaghapatīnām etad abhavat –
na haiva mahāśramaṇa uruvilvākāśyapasya jaṭilasyāntike brahmacaryaṃ
carati  / api tūruvilvākāśyapa eva17 jaṭilo mahāśramaṇasyāntike brahma-
caryaṃ caratīti18.
1
svasminn āsane ’ntarhitaḥ samāhite citte SBhV: samāhite citte svasminn
āsane ’ntarhitaḥ CPS.
2
pūrvasyāṃ diśy upari vihāyasam abhyudgamya CPS, SBhVTib (śar phyo-
gs kyi steṅ gi bar snaṅ la mṅon par ’phags nas): pūrvasyāṃ diśi samab-
hyudgamya SBhV.
3
tadyathā caṅkrāmyate niṣīdati tiṣṭhati SBhV: caṅkramati tiṣṭhati niṣīdati
CPS.
4
tadyathā SBhV: CPS om. tadyathā.
5
yamakāny api SBhV: yamakāni ca CPS.
6
syandante CPS: syandate SBhV.
7
syandante CPS: syandate SBhV.
8
yathā pūrvasyāṃ diśy SBhV: CPS om. yathā pūrvasyāṃ diśy.
9
paścimāyām SBhV: paścimasyām CPS.
10
vividham CPS: SBhV om. vividham.
11
vidarśya SBhV: vidarśayitvā CPS.
12
praṇamya CPS: praṇamayya SBhV.
13
bhadanta CPS: SBhV (and SBhVTib) om. bhadanta.
14
śrāvako ’haṃ bhagavataḥ SBhV (and SBhVTib): śrāvakas te ’ham CPS.
15
śāstā te ’haṃ CPS: SBhV om. śāstā te ’haṃ.
16
SBhV: nyaṣīdad āyuṣmān uruvilvākāśyapaḥ prajñapta evāsane / CPS.
17
eva SBhV: CPS om. eva.
18
caratīti SBhV: carati CPS.
141
Johnston 1984: (III.)21, n. 1 keeps ’khor against Weller’s dkor (*dravya,
*dhana?), who translates: “wie einer, der ausgedehnten Reichtum hat, seine
verschiedenen Schätze [zeigt].”

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 216 Vincent Eltschinger

(*ddhi), as one who has great (*vistīrṇa?) possessions (*samddhi-

Weller) displays his various treasures.” Then Kāśyapa said, “Very well
(*varam?),” and, contracting himself (*ātman) into himself (*ātman),
he flew up like a bird (*khagaWeller) into the atmosphere (*vāyumār-
ga?). This master (*paṇḍita?) of the miraculous powers (*ddhi) stood
(*sthā-) in the sky as on a treestump, walked about (*vicar-?) as on
the ground, sat down (*niṣad-?) as on a couch and then lay down (*śī-
?). Now he blazed (*jval?) like a fire, now he shed water like a cloud
(*abhra, *megha?), now he blazed and poured forth water simulta-
neously (*sakt?). As he took great strides (*vikram-?), blazing and
shedding water, he appeared (*śubh-, *bhā?) like a cloud pouring
forth (*[pra]dā-?) rain and brilliant with flashes of lightning (*aśani,
*vidyut?). The people looked up at him in amazement, with their eyes
glued to him, and, as they did obeisance to him in reverence, they ut-
tered lion roars (*siṃhanāda). Then, bringing his magic display (*d-
dhi) to a close, he did obeisance (*vand-?) to the sage (*muni) with his
head (*śiras?) and said, “I am the pupil (*śiṣya) who has done his task
(*ktakārya?); my master (*mama śāstā) is the Blessed One (*bhaga-
vat).” The inhabitants of Magadha (*māgadhaka?), seeing (*sampra-
paśya, *prekṣya?) Kāśyapa do obeisance to the supreme seer (*par-
amarṣi) in this fashion, concluded (*viniści-?) that it was the Sugata
who was omniscient (*sarvajña iti).142

142
BCWeller 16.64–71: / de phyir re źig dkor rnams ni // rnam rgyas yaṅ dag
’phel ba bźin // sna thogs rdzu ’phrul ston bźin du // yid ni yaṅ dag skyo bar
gyis // de nas mchog ces smras nas ni // bdag la bdag ni yoṅs bsdus nas //
mkha’ ’gro’i bya ltar ’od sruṅ ni // rluṅ1 gi lam la ’phur ba’o // de mkhar sṅon
du’am bźin gnas śiṅ // sa la bźin du rnam par rgyu // khri la bźin du bźugs pa
daṅ // rdzu ’phrul mkhas pa gzims pa’o // slar yaṅ me bźin ’bar ba daṅ // slar
yaṅ sprin bźin char ’bab ste // slar yaṅ cig car śin tu ni // ’bar ba daṅ ni ’bab
pa’o // glog gi snaṅ 2 ba’i ’od ldan pa’i // rab ’bab chu ster sprin bźin du // ’bar
ba daṅ ni ’bab pa yis // rgya cher rnam par gnon te mdzes // der ni mig rnams
chags byas nas // ya mtshan gyen phyogs skye bo rnams // mchod maṅ po las
phyag ’tshal źiṅ // seṅ ge’i sgra ni sgrogs pa’o // de nas rdzu ’phrul bsdus nas
des // bya ab byas pa’i slob ma ni // bdag gi ston pa bcom ldan źes // thub la
mgo bos phyag tshal lo // draṅ sroṅ mchog la de bźin du // phyag ’tshal ’od
sruṅs rab mthoṅ nas // bde bar gśegs la kun mkhyen źes // ma ga dha pa rnam
ṅes so //.
1
rluṅ Johnston: kluṅ Weller.
2
snaṅ em.: sna Weller.
Translation (modified) Johnston 1984: (III.)21; see also Weller 1928: 166–167.

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 217

Here as in the (Mūla)sarvāstivāda versions, Uruvilvākāśyapa rises

up in the air, accomplishes the four bodily postures (īryāpatha, viz.
standing, walking, sitting and lying) and the twin miracles (blazing
in flames and shedding water) before putting his magic to a close
(pratipra√srabh), paying obeisance to the Buddha with his head
and formally acknowledging his being a disciple of the Buddha
and the Buddha’s being his master. Magic rather than words and
arguments has finally convinced the Magadhans.

4. Conclusion

There can be no doubt that in both narrative sequence and word-

ing, BC 16 is massively indebted to (Mūla)sarvāstivāda canonical
materials such as the SBhV and the CPS. This is tantamount to say-
ing that Aśvaghoṣa’s composition is independent from Theravāda,
Mahīśāsaka, Dharmaguptaka and Mahāsāṅghika(/Lokottaravāda)
sources, and that Aśvaghoṣa himself, provided he was a monk,
is likely to have been ordained in a (Mūla)sarvāstivāda lineage.
But can we decide whether Aśvaghoṣa was a Sarvāstivādin (or at
least: followed a Sarvāstivāda, hence perhaps sūtra biographical
account) or rather a Mūlasarvāstivādin (or at least: conformed to
a Mūlasarvāstivāda, then perhaps vinaya biographical account)?
Ideally yes, granting one manages to identify a passage of the
BC such that it could be compared with mutually diverging Sar-
vāstivāda and Mūlasarvāstivāda parallels. But, one is tempted to
ask, would Aśvaghoṣa himself have understood the question? For
there is no compelling reason to believe that the denomination
‘Mūlasarvāstivāda,’ the first known occurrence of which notorious-
ly appears as late as Yijing’s late seventh-century travelogue,143 was
already in use in the first to second century CE. This, of course,
does not mean that those who were to become the Sarvāstivādins
and the Mūlasarvāstivādins respectively were not already in pos-
session of distinct ‘canons,’ especially vinayas. As is well known,
in fact, part of the answer lies in the interpretation to be given of
the following observation by Kumārajīva (344–409 CE):

143
T. 2125, 205a and 206bc. See Enomoto 2000: 242–246.

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 218 Vincent Eltschinger

[The vinaya] comprises, to say it briefly, eighty sections. Moreover, it

consists of two parts. The first one, the vinaya of Mathurā, includes
also the Avadāna and Jātaka and comprises eighty sections. The sec-
ond part, the vinaya of Chi-pin (Kaśmīr), has rejected the Jātaka and
Avadāna; it has accepted only the essentials and forms ten sections.
There is, however, a vibhāṣā in eighty sections, which explains it.144
Does anything in this observation refer to the Mūlasarvāstivāda
vinaya at all? And if yes, does this vinaya correspond to the vinaya
of Mathurā (Frauwallner) or to the Vibhāṣā on the Kāśmīra vinaya
(Lamotte)? In the first hypothesis, (what came to be designated as)
the Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya belonged to the Mathurā community,
an “independent older branch of the Sthavira”145 that eventually re-
named itself “Mūlasarvāstivāda,” thus “indicating [its] self-image
as representing the original Sarvāstivāda perspective.”146 In the sec-
ond hypothesis, “Mūlasarvāstivāda” merely refers to a commentary
on the Kāśmīra Sarvāstivāda vinaya and there can be no question,
at least at an early date, of distinct sectarian identities. Whatever
the case may be, however, there is nothing in Kumārajīva’s state-
ment to rule out the possibility that both the holders of the Mathurā
vinaya and the Kāśmīra Sarvāstivādins considered themselves gen-
uine representatives of Sarvāstivāda. For the time being, it will
probably be safer to abstain from any decisive conclusion. Whereas
the (originally) Indic legends unmistakably point to the Kāśmīra
Sarvāstivāda connection, the close relationship between the BC and
the Divyāvadāna147 as well as the specialists’ prevailing inclination
to credit Aśvaghoṣa with non-Vaibhāṣika (Sautrāntika, proto-Yogā-
cāra) doctrines,148 rather suggest a (proto-)Mūlasarvāstivāda milieu.

144
T. 2125, 205a and 206bc. See Enomoto 2000: 242–246.
145
T. 1509, 765c2–6. Translation Frauwallner 1956: 26–27. See also
Lamotte 1976: 191–192 and Willemen/Dessein/Cox 1998: 88–89.
146
Frauwallner 1956: 38. For a critique of Frauwallner’s hypothesis, see
Lamotte 1976: 194–197.
147
Willemen/Dessein/Cox 1998: 125. Note also Cox 1995: 27: “In the
absence of earlier definitive Mūlasarvāstivādin material, the possibility re-
mains that the Mūlasarvāstivādins were a later renamed surviving and reg-
nant branch of the Sarvāstivādins and never explicit opponents and rivals.”
148
BC 28.64 = Divya 381,26–382,2, BC 28.65 = Divya 381,19–22, BC

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 Aśvaghoṣa and his canonical sources II 219

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