OF [Received February 15, 1869.] Khuddaka Pá.tha, or "Lesser Readings," is one of the books of the Buddhist Scriptures. It is the first of the fifteen divisions of Khuddaka Nikáya, and immediately precedes Dhammapada. The text which I have adopted is that of a manuscript written and collated for me by a Singhalese priest of great learning. I have compared with it the Burmese manuscript belonging to the collection presented by Sir A. Phayre to the India Office Library. This, however, I found to contain numerous clerical and other errors, and it failed to supply me with a single corrected reading. Khuddaka Pá.tha possesses a high authority in Ceylon. It is quoted in the Commentaries of Buddhaghosa, many of the examples in Sandhi Kappa and other grammatical works are drawn from it, and seven of its nine chapters are included in the course of homilies read at the Buddhist ceremony of Pirit. Three of the sútras, viz., Ma"ngala Sutta, Ratana Sutta, and Metta Sutta recur in Sutta Nipáta, the fifth division of Khuddaka Nikáya, and Paramattha Jotiká, Buddhaghosa's commentary on Sutta Nipáta, is also looked upon as the commentary of Khuddaka Pá.tha. Khuddaka Pá.tha takes its name from its first four texts, which are very brief, and are termed Pá.thas in contradistinction to the Sútras, or sermons, which follow. The four Pá.thas, and the Ma"ngala, Ratana and Metta Sútras, are translated by Gogerly in his version of Pirit in the "Ceylon Friend" (June, July, and August, 1839). The Three Refuges. The Ten Laws of the Priesthood. The Thirty-two Constituent Parts of the Body. The Novice's Questions. What is the one principle of Life? Ans. Food is the sustenance of all animals. THE SOURCES OF HAPPINESS. {1.} Thus I have heard. On a certain day dwelt Buddha at Çravasti, at the Jetavana monastery, in the garden of Anáthapi.n.daka. And when the night was far advanced a certain radiant celestial being, illuminating the whole of Jetavana, approached the Blessed One, and saluted him and stood aside. And standing aside addressed him with this verse,-- THE THREE JEWELS. {1.} All spirits here assembled, those of earth and those of air, let all such be joyful, let them listen attentively to my words. {2.} Therefore hear me, O ye spirits, be friendly to the race of men, for day and night they bring you their offerings, therefore keep diligent watch over them. {15.} Ye spirits here assembled, those of earth and those of air, let us bow before Buddha, the Tathágata revered by gods and men. May there be prosperity. {16.} Ye spirits here assembled, those of earth and those of air, let us bow before the Law, the Tathágata revered by gods and men. May there be prosperity. {17.} Ye spirits here assembled, those of earth and those of air, let us bow before the Church, the Tathágata revered by gods and men. May there be prosperity. {Ratanasutta is ended.} THE SPIRITS OF THE DEPARTED. {1.} They stand outside our dwellings, at our windows, at the corners of our streets; they stand at our doors, revisiting their old homes. {2.} When abundant food and drink is set before them, by reason of the past sins of these departed ones, their friends on earth remember them not. {3.} Yet do such of their kinsmen as are merciful bestow upon them at due seasons food and drink, pure, sweet and suitable. Let this be done for your departed friends, let them be satisfied. {4.} Then, gathering together here, the assembled spirits of our kinsmen rejoice greatly in a plentiful repast. {5.} "Long," they say, "may our kinsmen live through whom we have received these things: to us offerings are made and the givers are not without reward." {6.} For in the land of the dead there is no husbandry, no keeping of flocks, no commerce as with us, no trafficking for gold: the departed live in that world by what they receive in this. {10.} For weeping and sorrow and all manner of lamentation are of no avail, if their relatives stand thus sorrowing it benefits not the dead. {11.} But this charity bestowed by you, well secured in the priesthood, if it long bless the dead, then does it benefit them indeed. {12.} And the fulfilment of this duty to relatives to the dead is a great service rendered, to the priests a great strength given, by you no small merit acquired. {Tiroku.d.dasutta is ended.} THE HIDDEN TREASURE. {1.} A man buries a treasure in a deep pit, reasoning thus within himself, "When occasion arises this treasure will be of use to me,--{2.} if I am accused by the king, or plundered by robbers, or for release from debt, or in famine or in misfortune." Such are the reasons for which men conceal what in this world is called treasure. {3.} Meanwhile all this treasure, lying day after day concealed in a deep pit, profits him nothing. {4.} Either the treasure vanishes from its resting place, or its owner's sense becomes distracted with care, or Nágas remove it,{5.} or malignant spirits convey it away, or his enemies or his kinsmen dig it up in his absence. The treasure is gone when the merit that produced it is exhausted. {6.} There is a treasure that man or woman may possess, a treasure laid up in the heart, a treasure of charity, piety, temperance, soberness. {7.} It is found in the sacred shrine, in the priestly assembly, in the individual man, in the stranger and sojourner, in the father, the mother, the elder brother. {8.} A treasure secure, impregnable, that cannot pass away. When a man leaves the fleeting riches of this world, this he takes with him after death. GOOD WILL TO ALL. {1.} This is what should be done by him who is wise in seeking his own good, who has gained a knowledge of the tranquil lot of Nirvána. Let him be diligent, upright, and conscientious; meek, gentle, not vainglorious. {2.} Contented and cheerful, not oppressed with the cares of this world, not burdened with riches. Tranquil, discreet, not arrogant, not greedy for gifts. {3.} Let him not do any mean action for which others who are wise might reprove him. {4.} Let all creatures be happy and prosperous, let them be of joyful mind. {5.} All beings that have life, be they feeble or strong, be they tall or of middle stature or short, be they minute or vast. {11.} He who has not embraced false doctrine, the pious man endowed with a knowledge of Nirvána, if he conquer the love of pleasure he shall never again be born in the womb. {Mettasutta is ended.} {Khuddakapá.thappakara.na is ended.} NOTES. I. The Sara.nágamana occupies in the Buddhist system a similar place to that which the Creed holds in the Christian. Koeppen says of it, "This confession of faith is among the Southern Buddhists the best known and commonest form of prayer." (Rel. des Buddha, vol. i., p. 444). In the Púralásasutta section of Paramattha Jotiká Buddhaghosa speaks of "this glorious hymn" as the foundation of the Three Pitakas. . . . IV. This Pá.tha is a collection of ten of the classifications of technical terms so frequently met with in the Buddhist writings. The system of classification characterises the literature of the Hindus in a greater degree than that of any other people, but it is in the Buddhist philosophy that it has received its highest development. Indeed there is scarcely a branch of Buddhist teaching into which it has not been carried with an elaboration and detail perfectly astonishing. There can be little doubt that the great founder of Buddhism adopted the system of classification with the view of impressing his doctrines upon the memory of his followers, in an age when books were scarce, and reading and writing rare accomplishments. {The nine abodes of reasoning beings.} These are enumerated in Mahánidánasutta. See Burnouf's Lotus de la Bonne Loi, p. 534. {The ten forms of holiness.} These are the ten Asekhá dhammá. {V. 12.} Literally, "The soul of one touched by the trouble of this life, which trembles not," etc. {V. 13.} This Páda {the second line of the couplet} contains nine syllables instead of eight, and the effect is to give strong emphasis to the sentence. Irregularities of this sort are of frequent occurence in Páli verse. Fausböll has collected a large number of instances of a redundant syllable (Dh. p. 440), and cases of a deficient syllable sometimes (though rarely) present themselves. Vowels are frequently lengthened or shortened to suit the exigencies of metre, and the circumstances that in Páli external Sandhi is to a very great extent optional, gives to the poetical texts an apparent roughness and want of polish from which Sanskrit verse is almost wholly free. These metrical irregularities in the Canonical books are explained from a religious point of view in the following remarkable passage from Culla Sadda Níti: And again-- {There are eight orders of men . . . .} I have paraphrased this passage to make it read intelligibly. Gogerly translates it, "Are there eight classes of men, in four divisions, praised by the holy?" and D'Alwis', "Are there eight beings who have been praised by the holy, they are four couples" (Páli Grammar, p. 89). {V. 9. however much they be distracted . . . .} See Dham. v. 252. Gogerly translates this passage, "they cannot by any allurements be brought eight times more into a state of being." The gloss of the scholiast is, "However greatly they be delayed by the temptations of celestial rule, universal empire, etc., they will not again receive an eighth birth in a Kámaloka." {V. 10.} The three evil "states" or "qualities" here mentioned are explained by Hardy in East. Mon. p. 289. {Vain ceremonies.} Paramattha Jotiká explains this word to mean foolish rites foreign to Buddhism. . . . This is also implied in Hardy's explanation, East. Mon. p. 289, 2.
{V. 12.} Gogerly translates this verse, "As the buds put forth in the forest during the first months of summer, even so are the glorious doctrines declared by Buddha most delightful to the perceiver of Nirvána."THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.
[New Series, Volume IV]
[London, Trübner and Company]
[1870]
{Scanned and edited by Christopher M. Weimer, March 2002}
ART. VII.--Khuddaka Pá.tha, a Páli Text, with a Translation and Notes. By R. C. CHILDERS, late of the Ceylon Civil Service.
{SARA.NATTAYA}
I put my trust in Buddha,
I put my trust in the Law,
I put my trust in the Church.
Again I put my trust in Buddha,
Again I put my trust in the Law,
Again I put my trust in the Church.
Once more I put my trust in Buddha,
Once more I put my trust in the Law,
Once more I put my trust in the Church.{DASASIKKHÁPADA}
1. To abstain from destroying life. 2. To abstain from theft. 3. To abstain from impurity {sexual intercourse}. 4. To abstain from lying. To abstain from wine, spirits, and strong drink, which tempt men to sin.
6. To abstain from eating at forbidden times. 7. To abstain from dancing, singing, music, and stage-plays. 8. To abstain from adorning and beautifying the person by the use of garlands, perfumes, and unguents. 9. To abstain from using a high or a large bed. 10. To abstain from receiving gold and silver. {DVATTI.MSÁKÁRA}
{KUMÁRAPAÑHA}
What are the Two? Ans. Essence and Form {Name and Form}.
What are the Three? Ans. The three Sensations.{MA"NGALASUTTA}
{RATANASUTTA}
{TIROKU.D.DASUTTA}
{NIDHIKA.N.DASUTTA}
{METTASUTTA}
Therefore let not the wise man delight in letters and syllables,
But let him fix his mind upon the sense."
"To preserve the meaning all this has been said:
Therefore let the wise man hold fast the meaning and make light of the letter."