The Dhammapada — Anonymous
THE DHAMMAPADA A COLLECTION OF VERSES BEING ONE OF THE CANONICAL BOOKS OF THE BUDDHISTS TRANSLATED FROM PÂLI BY F. MAX MÜLLER Oxford, the Clarendon Press [1881] {partially scanned, (re)proofread, and formatted by Christopher M. Weimer, March 2002} Vol. X Part I of The Sacred Books of the East translated by various Oriental scholars and edited by F. Max Müller p. ix INTRODUCTION TO THE DHAMMAPADA. THE DHAMMAPADA, A CANONICAL BOOK. THE Dhammapada forms part of the Pâli Buddhist canon, though its exact place varies according to different authorities, and we have not as yet a sufficient number of complete MSS. of the Tipi t aka to help us to decide the question [1] . Those who divide that canon into three Pi t akas or baskets, the Vinaya-pi t aka, Sutta-pi t aka, and Abhidhamma-pi t aka, assign the Dhammapada to the Sutta-pi t aka. That Pi t aka consists of five Nikâyas: the Dîgha-nikâya, the Ma ggh ima-nikâya, the Sa m yutta-nikâya, the A n guttara-nikâya, and the Khuddaka-nikâya. The fifth, or Khuddaka-nikâya, comprehends the following works: 1. Khuddaka-pâ th a; 2. DHAMMAPADA; 3. Udâna; 4. Itivuttaka; 5. Sutta-nipâta; 6. Vimânavatthu; 7. Petavatthu; 8. Theragâthâ; 9. Therîgâthâ; 10. G âtaka; 11. Niddesa; 12. Pa t isambhidâ; 13. Apadâna; 14. Buddhava m sa; 15. K ariyâ-pi t aka. According to another division [2] , however, the whole Buddhist canon consists of five Nikâyas: the Dîgha-nikâya, the Ma ggh ima-nikâya, the Sa m yutta-nikâya, the A n guttara-nikâya, and the fifth, the Khuddaka-nikâya, which Khuddaka-nîkaya is then made to comprehend the whole of the Vinaya (discipline) and Abhidhamma (metaphysics), together with the fifteen books beginning with the Khuddaka-pâ th a. The order of these fifteen books varies, and even, as it would seem, their number. The Dîghabhâ n aka school [1. see Feer, Journal Asiatique, 1871, p. 263. There is now at least one complete MS. of the Tipi t aka, the Phayre MS., at the India Office, and Professor Forchhammer has just published a most useful List of Pâli MSS. collected in Burma, the largest collection hitherto known. 2. See Childers, s. v. Nikâya, and extracts from Buddhaghosa's commentary on the Brahma g âla-sutta.] p. x admits twelve books only, and assigns them all to the Abhidhamma, while the Ma ggh imabhâ n akas admit fifteen books, and assign them to the Sutta-pi t aka. The order of the fifteen books is: 1. G âtaka [10]; 2. Mahâniddesa [11]; 3. K ullaniddesa [11]; 4. Pa t isambhidâmagga [12]; 5. Sutta-nipâta [5]; 6. DHAMMAPADA [2]; 7. Udâna [3]; 8. Itivuttaka [4]; 9. Vimânavatthu [6]; 10. Petavatthu [7]; 11. Theragâthâ [8]; 12. Therîgâthâ [9]; 13. K ariyâ-pi t aka [15]; 14. Apadâna [13]; 15. Buddhava m sa [14] [1] . The Khuddaka-pâ th a is left out in the second list, and the number is brought to fifteen by dividing Niddesa into Mahâ-niddesa and K ulla-niddesa. There is a commentary on the Dhammapada in Pâli, and supposed to be written by Buddhaghosa [2] , in the first half of the fifth century A.D. In explaining the verses of the Dhammapada, the commentator gives for every or nearly every verse a parable to illustrate its meaning, which is likewise believed to have been uttered by Buddha in his intercourse with his disciples, or in preaching to the multitudes that came to hear him. DATE OF THE DHAMMAPADA. The only means of fixing the date of the Dhammapada is trying to ascertain the date of the Buddhist canon of which it forms a part, or the date of Buddhaghosa, who wrote a commentary on it. This, however, is by no means easy, and the evidence on which we have to rely is such that we must not be surprised if those who are accustomed to test historical and chronological evidence [1. The figures within brackets refer to the other list of books in the Khuddaka-nikiya. See also p. xxviii . 2. M. Léon Feer in the Journal Asiatique, 1871, p. 266, mentions another commentary of a more philosophical character, equally ascribed to Buddhaghosa. and having the title Vivara Bra Dhammapada, i.e. L'auguste Dhammapada dévoilé. Professor Forchhammer in his 'List of Manuscripts,' 1879-80, mentions the following works in connection with the Dhammapada: Dhammapada-Nissayo; Dh. P. A tth akathâ by Buddhaghosa; Dh. P. A tth akathâ Nissayo. 3 vols., containing a complete translation of the commentary; Dh. P. Va tth u. Of printed books he quotes: Kayanupassanakyam, a work based on the G arâvaggo, Mandalay, 1876 (390 pages), and Dhammapada-desanakyam, printed in 'British Burma News.'] p. xi in Greece and Rome, decline to be convinced by it. As a general rule, I quite agree that we cannot be too sceptical in assigning a date to ancient books, particularly if we intend to use them as documents for tracing the history of human thought. To the initiated, I mean to those who have themselves worked in the mines of ancient Oriental literature, such extreme scepticism may often seem unscientific and uncalled for. They are more or less aware of hundreds of arguments, each by itself, it may be, of small weight, but all combined proving irresistible. They are conscious, too, of having been constantly on the look out for danger, and, as all has gone on smoothly, they feel sure that, in the main, they are on the right road. Still it is always useful to be as incredulous as possible, particularly against oneself, and to have before our eyes critics who will not yield one inch beyond what they are forced to yield by the strongest pressure of facts. The age of our MSS. of the canonical books, either in Pâli or Sanskrit, is of no help to us. All Indian MSS. are comparatively modern, and one who has probably handled more Indian MSS. than anybody else, Mr. A. Burnell, has lately expressed his conviction that 'no MS. written one thousand years ago is now existent in India, and that it is almost impossible to find one written five hundred years ago, for most MSS. which claim to be of that date are merely copies of old MSS. the dates of which are repeated by the copyists [1] .' Nor is the la