The Bhikṣuṇī Maṇimēkhalai
An English translation of one of the five great Tamil classics, a story of Buddhist virtues, magical powers and philosophy; along with a detailed study of the text.
comprising a translation of the poem
Maṇimēkhalai
by the
Merchant Śāttaṉār
and an essay
Maṇimēkhalai
in its
Historical Setting
by
Rao Bahadur (Very Honourable)
S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, M.A., Hony, Ph.D.
Professor of Indian History and Archaeology, University of Madras. Reader, Calcutta University, Honorary Correspondent of the Archaeological Department of the Government of India. &c. &c. &c.
eBooks
Html Table of Contents
Maṇimēkhalai in its Historical Setting
II. How Far Historical in Character?
V. Other Views on the Philosophical Systems
Appendix. The Authorship of the Nyāyapravēśa
Prologue [A Synopsis of the Story]
Book III [Maṇimēkhalai goes to the Garden]
Book IV [The Prince pursues Maṇimēkhalai]
Book V [Sutamatī and the Kind Bhikṣu]
Book VII [Maṇimēkhalai is Spirited Away]
Book IX [Maṇimēkhalai recalls her Previous Life]
Book X [Interview with a Goddess]
Book XII [The Dharma of Mercy]
Book XIV [Āputra gives up his Life]
Book XV [Maṇimekhalai feeds the Poor]
Book XVI [Adirai’s Eminence in Chastity]
Book XVII [Kāyaśaṇḍikai’s Story ]
Book XVIII [The Grandmother’s Scheme]
Book XIX [Maṇimēkhalai feeds Prisoners]
Book XX [Kāñcana kills Udayakumāra]
Book XXI [Maṇimēkhalai receives a Prediction]
Book XXII [Protection of the Chaste]
Book XXIII [The Queen seeks Revenge]
Book XXIV [Good and Bad Deeds]
Book XXV [The King learns his Previous Life]
Book XXVI [Kaṇṇakī’s Teaching on Karma]
Book XXVII [The Various Systems of Beliefs]
Inscribed
With A Father’s Affection
To
The Memory Of
Jayalakshmi
Who Died
On Her Fourth Birth Day
2nd January, 1928
Introduction to the Digital Edition
The story of Maṇimēkhalai is one of the five great classics in Tamil literature, and a sequel to another story, the Silappatikāram, which tells the story of her parents. Both stories are very well known in Tamil-speaking lands to this day, but are relatively unknown outside of that provenance.
It seems to have been written before the 5th century when Buddhism was flourishing in the south of India, and besides telling a memorable story has a didactic purpose too: to assert the superiority of Buddhism over the rival religions of the time, both of the priests (brahmins) and ascetics (like the Jainas and Ājīvikas).
The first translation of this text in modern English was made S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar in 1928, who also provided a much needed introduction to its historical setting, and it is a transcription of this translation and study which I am publishing on Ancient Buddhist Texts.
The story tells of the heroine, Maṇimēkhalai, who, coming form a dancing caste, is being pursued by a young prince. She herself wants none of it, as she has set her mind on higher things. Her namesake goddess Maṇimēkhalā takes her to an island (Maṇipallavam, or Nāgadīpa) where she worships the Buddha-seat found there and remembers her past lives.
She also receives a magical bowl from the goddess of the island, Tīvatilakai, and returns to the Cōḻa capital Puhār (Kāvēripaṭṭiṇam), where she is urged to feed the poor. She adopts the form of a bhikṣuṇī, and goes about supplying the needy with an endless supply of food from the magical bowl.
While doing her charitable works she also feeds the prisoners in the state prison, which is reported to the King, who is astounded with her miraculous powers. He asks what he can do for her, and she replies that he should destroy the prison, and build a monastery in its place, which he consents to.
Maṇimēkhalai assumes the form of the Vidyādhara Kāyaśaṇḍikai, which leads to Kāyaśaṇḍikai’s husband killing the prince. The King then jails Maṇimēkhalai for her own protection, but at the request of the Queen, who wishes her dead because of the killing of the prince, she is released into the court, where, however, she manages to convert the Queen.
There are many other sub-plots and legendary tales told in the poem, and it closes with Maṇimēkhalai seeking to understand the teachings of the other great religions of the time, and then hearing the Buddha-Dhamma from Aṟavaṇa Aḍigaḷ, a Buddhist monk of great learning.
He teaches her the central teaching of the Buddha concerning the four noble truths and the twelvefold conditional origination, and it is with this, and Maṇimēkhalai’s determination to follow the teaching, and assurance therefore of liberation, that the poem ends.
To my mind, at least, chapters XXVII and XXVIX, valuable as they are for understanding the date of the work, could easily be skipped, as they interrupt the plot greatly, and seem to be a separate disquisition on the valid means of knowledge (pramāṇa) as taught in the various religions and inserted without just cause.
The main work of transcribing this work has been done by my good helper Donny Hacker again, who despite having three jobs and full-time study and a family to look after, still finds time for Dhamma work. I am very grateful to him indeed.
The final proofing and corrections have been done by myself, and I have made certain small changes to the original printed text, which I will enumerate here:
1. The paragraphs have been divided up into smaller sections to add to the readability,
2. Direct speech has been indented and isolated, the better to follow the conversations,
3. Small corrections to the English, like adding or removing the definite article, and other small adjustments of the same kind.
3. The transliteration of Tamil as best I could to include proper diacritics, but, as I am not an expert in Tamil, there may still be mistakes.
4. The transliteration of Sanskrit in line with the Unicode standard and other works found on this site.
5. In the body of the text itself the translator had included a number of explanations. I have kept these in round brackets, but placed them in the footnotes.
6. I have added explanatory chapter titles, in square brackets, so the development of the story is better outlined.
7. I have changed the original title, which was Maṇimekhalai in its Historical Setting, to refocus on the central character.
Ānandajoti Bhikkhu
June 2017