Article contents
The Buddhist salvation of Ajātaśatru and the Jaina non-salvation of Kūṇika
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2019
Abstract
This article examines Buddhist and Jaina attitudes towards the salvation of the Magadhan king Ajātaśatru (alias Kūṇika), a narrative character found in both Buddhist and Jaina traditions. A number of Buddhist texts prophesy that Ajātaśatru, despite his next birth in hell, will attain liberation in his final birth. Jaina sources also speak of Kūṇika's descent into hell, but give no prophecy of his ultimate liberation. While the Buddhists offered various solutions to Ajātaśatru's sinful condition, the Jainas proposed no remedy to mitigate the consequences of Kūṇika's sins. The Buddhist prophecies of Ajātaśatru's eventual liberation indicate that some Buddhists in ancient India were particularly concerned with the salvation of an archetypal villain such as Ajātaśatru. The Jaina silence on Kūṇika's destiny suggests that the Jainas in general had little interest in bringing this violent figure to liberation, and deemed him incapable of overcoming his “false view of reality” (mithyātva) due to his strong passions.
- Type
- Article
- Information
- Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 82 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 85 - 110
- Copyright
- Copyright © SOAS, University of London 2019
Footnotes
An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the 19th Jaina Studies Workshop on “Jainism and Buddhism” held at SOAS, University of London on 18 March 2017. I thank the workshop organizer, Peter Flügel, for his kind encouragement. I am also grateful to Paul Dundas, Vincent Tournier, Claire Maes, Yutaka Kawasaki, and Kristen de Joseph for their invaluable comments and suggestions, and to three anonymous reviewers for their constructive remarks. Any remaining errors are my own alone.
References
Abbreviations
All references to Pali texts are to the Pali Text Society editions, using the standard abbreviation system set up in Helmer Smith's “Epilegomena” of CPD, vol. I, 5*–15*.
Āvassayacuṇṇi (Āvaśyakacūrṇi). In Śrīmaj-Jinadāsagaṇi-mahattara-kṛtayā sūtracūrṇyā sametaṃ śrīmad-Āvaśyakasūtram. 2 vols. Ratlam: Śrīṛṣabhadevajī Keśarīmalajī Śvetāṃbara saṃsthā, 1928–29.
Āvaśyakaṭīkā ( or Āvaśyakavṛtti) by Haribhadra, in Śrīmad-bhavaviraha-Haribhadrasūri-sūtritavṛtty-alaṃkṛtaṃ Śrīmad-Āvaśyakasūtram. 2 vols. Bombay: Āgamodaya Samiti, 1916–17.
V. Trenckner et al. (eds), A Critical Pāli Dictionary. Copenhagen: Royal Danish Academy; Bristol: The Pali Text Society, 1924–2011.
Bka’ ’gyur (sde dge par phud). 103 vols. Buddhist Digital Resource Center, TBRC W22084. Delhi: karmapae chodhey gyalwae sungrab partun khang, 1976–79.
Chinese version of the Dīrghāgama (Chang ahan jing 長阿含經, T. 1)
Dasaveyāliyacuṇṇi (Daśavaikālikacūrṇi) by Agastyasiṃha. In Muni Shri Punyavijayaji (ed.), Sayyaṃbhava's Dasakāliyasuttaṃ, with Bhadrabāhu's Niryukti and Agastyasiṃha's Cūrṇi. Ahmedabad: Prakrit Text Society, 2003. First published in 1973.
Dasaveyāliyacuṇṇi (Daśavaikālikacūrṇi) by Jinadāsa, in Prasiddhyā Śrī-Jinadāsa-gaṇimahattara-racitā Śrī-Daśavaikālikacūrṇiḥ. Ratlam: Śrī Ṛṣabhadevajī Keśarīmalajī Śvetāmbara Saṃsthā, 1933.
Chinese version of the Ekottarikāgama (Zengyi ahan jing 增壹阿含經, T. 125)
The Tibetan Tripitaka: Peking Edition–Kept in the Library of the Otani University, Kyoto–Reprinted under the Supervision of the Otani University, Kyoto. 168 vols. Tokyo and Kyoto: Tibetan Tripitaka Research Institute, 1955–61.
Otto Böhtlingk and Rudolph Roth, Sanskrit-Wörterbuch. 7 vols. St. Petersburg: Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1855–75.
Bka’ ’gyur (stog pho brang bris ma). 109 vols. Buddhist Digital Research Center, TBRC W22083. Leh: Smanrtsis shesrig dpemzod, 1975–80.
Raniero Gnoli (ed.), The Gilgit Manuscript of the Saṅghabhedavastu, Being the 17th and Last Section of the Vinaya of the Mūlasarvāstivādins. 2 Parts. Rome: Is. M. E.O., 1977–78.
Ernst Waldschmidt et al. (eds.), Sanskrithandschriften aus den Turfanfunden, Teil 1–12. Wiesbaden and Stuttgart: Steiner Verlag, 1965–2017.
Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō 大正新脩大蔵経
Ṭhāṇaṅga (Sthānāṅga), in Muni Jambūvijaya (ed.), Sthānāṅgasūtra with the Commentary by Ācārya Śrī Abhayadev-Sūri Mahārāja, 3 Parts. Mumbai: Śrī Mahāvīra Jaina Vidyālaya, 2002–2003.
Uttarajjhayaṇa (Uttarādhyayana), in Muni Shri Puṇyavijaya and Pt. Amritlāl Mohanlāl Bhojak (eds), Dasaveyāliyasuttaṃ, Uttarajjhayaṇāiṃ and Āvassayasuttaṃ. Mumbai: Shri Mahāvīra Jaina Vidyālaya, 1977.
References
- 1
- Cited by