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Ratanasutta
A Comparative Edition
A two-way comparative edition of the well-known Ratanasutta as found in the Pāli Canon and in the Mahāvastu, together with a short study.
prepared by
Ānandajoti Bhikkhu
eBooks
Ratanasutta - A Comparative Edition
Introduction
The well known Ratanasutta is found in two places in the Pāḷi canon, in Khuddakapāṭha (Kp 6); and in Suttanipāta (vs 222 - 238), both of which collections appear in the Khuddakanikāya of the Suttapiṭaka. It also appears in the medieval collection of paritta chants the Catubhāṇavārapāḷi, and is recognized as the Mahāparitta par excellence. A Sanskrit version of the same text is found in the Mahāvastu (the Great Story), a large collection of material of the Lokottaravādin Mahāsāṅghika sect.
In the Sanskrit version the sutta is embedded in the narrative which gives the background to how the verses came to be recited. In the Pāḷi texts the narrative (nidāna) is given in the commentary to Khuddakapāṭha, Paramathajotikā (Pt 1). The stories in both versions agree in outline, but differ somewhat in the details.
At one time, while the Buddha was staying at Rājagha (Rājagaha), a demonic plague broke out in Vaiśālī (Vesāli), the capital city of the neighbouring Licchavi confederation. In order to deal with the problem the authorities first called in the Six Famous Teachers to see if they could help, but they were found to be of no avail (note that in the Pāḷi it is only suggested that they call in the Six Teachers, but when others prefer calling in the Buddha, he is approached without further delay).
They therefore sent an envoy to request the Buddha to come to the city to alleviate the situation. In the Sanskrit version of the story, the envoy goes straight to Veṇuvana (Veḷuvana) where the Buddha is preaching the Dharma, and makes his request. The Buddha replies that as he is staying at Rājagha at the invitation of the King, the envoy must first get his permission, and then if he agrees, he will go. In the Pāḷi version, however, the envoy goes straight to the King, explains the problem, and the King asks the Buddha to make the trip.
In both versions the trip from Rājagha to Vaiśāli is described in quite some detail, as a magnificent procession, in which the King first prepares the way, and then accompanies the Buddha and his retinue of monks to the Ganges, which forms the border of the two countries. The Licchavis on their part have also come down to the river, and there is a similar procession from the river up to the city of Vaiśāli.
In the Sanskrit as soon as the Buddha arrives at the city the demons flee and the plague is assuaged. The narrative continues with the Buddha relating several Jātakas in which similar plagues of former days have also been assuaged by his presence. The Buddha then enters the city and recites the sutta.
The Pāḷi commentary, however, has another tradition which states that when the Buddha arrived at Vesāli, Sakka and his retinue also came, and that it was on the sight of the gods that most - but not all - of the demons fled. The Buddha then teaches the verses to Ven. Ānanda and instructs him to go in procession around the city, sprinkling water as he goes and reciting the sutta. It is recorded that as soon as he got to the 3rd verse, beginning
The multitude, with the Buddha at its head, proceed to the Assembly Hall (Santhāgāra). When the procession with Ven. Ānanda at its head returns, the Buddha himself, sitting in the Assembly, surrounded by gods and men, recites the sutta, bringing many beings to a comprehension of the Dhamma while doing so. According to the commentary he also preached the same sutta on the following 6 days, with the same happy result.
This last part of the story is significant, because in the Mahāvaṁsa it is recorded that in the time of the Sinhalese King Upatissa II, a great famine and plague assailed the Island. Chapter 37 vss. 189 - 198 tell the story (translation from Wilhelm Geiger’s Cūlavaṁsa):
In the time of this (King) the island was vexed by the ills of a famine and a plague. The benevolent (King) who was as a light for the darkness of sin, asked the bhikkhus: “Did not the great Sage (Buddha) when the world was visited by such evils as famine and the like, provide some kind of help for the world?” They pointed to the origin of the Gaṅgārohaṇa-Sutta on such an occasion. When he heard this he made an image wholly of gold of the departed Buddha, laid the stone alms bowl of the Master (filled) with water in the hollow of its hands and placed this his figure on a great chariot. He took upon himself the duties of a moral life and made the people also take them on themselves, he instituted a great almsgiving and established security (of life) for all living creatures. Then after he had adorned the town (so that it was) comely as the world of the gods, he descended surrounded by all the bhikkhus dwelling in the Island, to the principal street. Then the bhikkhus who had gathered there reciting the Ratana-Sutta and pouring out water, walked about the street, not far from the royal palace, near the wall, round which they walked with their right side towards it in the three watches of the night. When morning dawned a great cloud poured rain on the earth and all who had suffered from disease, held refreshed high festival. But the Lord of men decreed: “When there shall be on the Island an evil such as famine, plague or the like, thus shall it be done.”
In what follows the Ratanasutta is presented first in the Pāḷi with the Sanskrit parallels, and then in the Sanskrit with the Pāḷi parallels. In this way it is possible to see not only what is parallel in the two editions of the text, but also, and equally important, what doesn't find a parallel.
The text of Ratanasutta as presented here is as established by the present writer in the New Edition of Khuddakapāṭha, which can be found elsewhere on this web site. The text of the Sanskrit version is transliterated from the 1st volume of E. Senart’s standard edition (Paris, 1882. Pgs 290-5).
In the Pāḷi the text has 17 verses, while in the Sanskrit there are 19 verses in all. The order of the verses varies in the different editions, and it may be useful to give an overview of the structure of the 2 versions here. The tables below show the correspondence between the 2 versions:
Pāḷi |
Sanskrit |
Sanskrit |
Pāḷi |
|
Verse Number 1 |
= 2 |
Verse Number 1 |
= Jāt. 159.2 cd |
|
2 |
= 15, 16 a, 18 a |
2 |
= 1 |
|
3 |
= 3 |
3 |
= 3 |
|
4 |
= 4 |
4 |
= 4 |
|
5 |
= 5 |
5 |
= 5 |
|
6 |
= 6 |
6 |
= 6 |
|
7 |
= 11 |
7 |
= 10 |
|
8 |
= 9 |
8 |
= 11 |
|
9 |
= 10 |
9 |
= 8 |
|
10 |
= 7 |
10 |
= 9 |
|
11 |
= 8 |
11 |
= 7 |
|
12 |
= 14 |
12 |
= 14 |
|
13 |
|
13 |
|
|
14 |
= 12 |
14 |
= 12 |
|
15, 16, 17 |
cf. 19 |
15 |
= 2 abc |
|
|
|
16 a |
= 2 d |
|
|
|
17 |
|
|
|
|
18 a |
= 2 d |
|
|
|
19 |
cf. 15 cd, 16 cd, 17 cd |
|
As can be seen from these tables the body of the text is substantially the same, even though some of the verses are in a different order, the only major difference being that verse 13 in the Pāḷi finds no equivalent in the Sanskrit version; and the Sanskrit verse 13 has none in the Pāḷi.
However the introductions and conclusions of the 2 versions differ substantially, with the Sanskrit version having extra verses not found in the Pāḷi. Much of the extra material however, can be found in parallels or partial parallels among other paritta material found in the Catubhāṇavārapāḷi mentioned earlier.
The introduction to the Sanskrit version has a partial parallel in Jātaka 159, the verses of which form the Moraparitta, one of the pieces in the 1st bhāṇavāra (see the text for the lines concerned).
The sentiment expressed in the lines:
mātā va putraṁ anukampamānā
found in Sanskrit verses 16 & 17, may be compared with the following line found in the Karaṇīyamettasutta, which is also chanted as a protection verse:
evam-pi sabbabhūtesu mānasaṁ bhāvaye aparimāṇaṁ
Sanskrit verse 17 is also partially echoed by some verses found in Āṭānāṭiyasutta, which is the culminating sutta found in the Pāḷi collection of paritta chants; as will be seen they also bear a verbal similarity to the opening verse of the Sanskrit version:
sikhissa pi namatthu ~ sabbabhūtānukampino
namatthu kakusandhassa ~ mārasenāpamaddino
kassapassa namatthu ~ vippamuttassa sabbadhi
yo imaṁ dhammam-adesesi ~ sabbadukkhā panūdanaṁ
(Āṭānāṭiyasuttaṁ Verses 1-4)
All of this leads us to the conclusion that the extra material found in the Sanskrit has probably been assembled from a floating collection of paritta-type pieces in the oral tradition that preserved, passed on, and re-presented the material coming from the earliest Buddhist teaching.
Ānandajoti Bhikkhu
August 2002
Text
Pāḷi - Sanskrit
Pāḷi Verse 1 yānīdha bhūtāni samāgatāni |
Sanskrit Verse 2 yānīha bhūtāni samāgatāni |
Pāḷi Verse 2 tasmā hi bhūtā nisāmetha sabbe |
Sanskrit Verses 15/16 (part) yānīha bhūtāni samāgatāni |
Pāḷi Verse 3 yaṁ kiñci vittaṁ idha vā huraṁ vā |
Sanskrit Verse 3 imasmiṁ vā loke parasmiṁ vā punaḥ |
Pāḷi Verse 4 khayaṁ virāgaṁ amataṁ paṇītaṁ |
Sanskrit Verse 4 ⏓−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏓ |
Pāḷi Verse 5 yambuddhaseṭṭho parivaṇṇayī suciṁ |
Sanskrit Verse 5 yaṁ buddhaśreṣṭho parivarṇaye śuciṁ |
Pāḷi Verse 6 ye puggalā aṭṭha satampasatthā |
Sanskrit Verse 6 ye pudgalā aṣṭa sadā praśastā |
Pāḷi Verse 7 ye suppayuttā manasā daḷhena |
Sanskrit Verse 11 ye yuktayogī manasā succhandasā |
Pāḷi Verse 8 yathindakhīlo paṭhaviṁ sito siyā |
Sanskrit Verse 9 yathendrakīlo pthivīsanniśrito syā |
Pāḷi Verse 9 ye ariya saccāni vibhāvayanti |
Sanskrit Verse 10 ye āryasatyāni vibhāvayanti |
Pāḷi Verse 10 sahā vassa dassanasampadāya |
Sanskrit Verse 7 sarvaiva yasya darśanasaṁpadāyo |
Pāḷi Verse 11 kiñcāpi so kammaṁ karoti pāpakaṁ |
Sanskrit Verse 8 kiṁcāpi śaikṣo prakaroti pāpaṁ |
Pāḷi Verse 12 vanappagumbe yathā phussitagge |
Sanskrit Verse 14 grīṣmāṇamāse prathame caitrasmiṁ |
Pāḷi Verse 13 varo varaññū varado varāharo |
|
Pāḷi Verse 14 khīṇaṁ purāṇaṁ navaṁ natthi sambhavaṁ |
Sanskrit Verse 12 kṣīṇaṁ purāṇaṁ navo nāsti saṁcayo |
Pāḷi Verse 15 yānīdha bhūtāni samāgatāni |
Sanskrit Verse 19 yo dharmacakraṁ abhibhūya lokaṁ |
Pāḷi Verse 16 yānīdha bhūtāni samāgatāni |
|
Pāḷi Verse 17 yānīdha bhūtāni samāgatāni |
|
[Ratanasūtra]
from Mahāvastu
Sanskrit - Pāḷi
Sanskrit Verse 1 namo 'stu buddhāya namo 'stu bodhaye |
Jātaka 159.2 cd [Moraparittaṁ] namatthu buddhānaṁ namatthu bodhiyā |
Sanskrit Verse 2 yānīha bhūtāni samāgatāni |
Pāḷi Verse 1 yānīdha bhūtāni samāgatāni |
Sanskrit Verse 3 imasmiṁ vā loke parasmiṁ vā punaḥ |
Pāḷi Verse 3 yaṁ kiñci vittaṁ idha vā huraṁ vā |
Sanskrit Verse 4 ⏓−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏓ |
Pāḷi Verse 4 khayaṁ virāgaṁ amataṁ paṇītaṁ |
Sanskrit Verse 5 yaṁ buddhaśreṣṭho parivarṇaye śuciṁ |
Pāḷi Verse 5 yambuddhaseṭṭho parivaṇṇayī suciṁ |
Sanskrit Verse 6 ye pudgalā aṣṭa sadā praśastā |
Pāḷi Verse 6 ye puggalā aṭṭha satampasatthā |
Sanskrit Verse 7 sarvaiva yasya darśanasaṁpadāyo |
Pāḷi Verse 10 sahā vassa dassanasampadāya |
Sanskrit Verse 8 kiṁcāpi śaikṣo prakaroti pāpaṁ |
Pāḷi Verse 11 kiñcāpi so kammaṁ karoti pāpakaṁ |
Sanskrit Verse 9 yathendrakīlo pthivīsanniśrito syā |
Pāḷi Verse 8 yathindakhīlo paṭhaviṁ sito siyā |
Sanskrit Verse 10 ye āryasatyāni vibhāvayanti |
Pāḷi Verse 9 ye ari ya saccāni vibhāvayanti |
Sanskrit Verse 11 ye yuktayogī manasā succhandasā |
Pāḷi Verse 7 ye suppayuttā manasā daḷhena |
Sanskrit Verse 12 kṣīṇaṁ purāṇaṁ navo nāsti saṁcayo |
Pāḷi Verse 14 khīṇaṁ purāṇaṁ navaṁ natthi sambhavaṁ |
Sanskrit Verse 13 agniryathā prajvalito niṣīde |
|
Sanskrit Verse 14 grīṣmāṇamāse prathame caitrasmiṁ |
Pāḷi Verse 12 vanappagumbe yathā phussitagge |
Sanskrit Verse 15 yānīha bhūtāni samāgatāni |
Pāḷi Verse 2abc tasmā hi bhūtā nisāmetha sabbe |
Sanskrit Verse 16 tasmāddhi taṁ rakṣatha apramattā |
Pāḷi Verse 2d tasmā hi ne rakkhatha appamattā |
Sanskrit Verse 17 vipaśyismiṁ viśvabhuvikrakucchande |
|
Sanskrit Verse 18 tasmā hi taṁ rakṣatha apramattā |
Pāḷi Verse 2d tasmā hi ne rakkhatha appamattā |
Sanskrit Verse 19 yo dharmacakraṁ abhibhūya lokaṁ |
Pāḷi Verses 15cd 16cd 17cd ... |