The Play in Full
The Farming Village
Toh 95
Degé Kangyur, vol. 46 (mdo sde, kha), folios 1.b–216.b
- Jinamitra
- Dānaśīla
- Munivarman
- Yeshé Dé
Imprint
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2013
Current version v 4.48.25 (2024)
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Table of Contents
Summary
The Play in Full tells the story of how the Buddha manifested in this world and attained awakening, as perceived from the perspective of the Great Vehicle. The sūtra, which is structured in twenty-seven chapters, first presents the events surrounding the Buddha’s birth, childhood, and adolescence in the royal palace of his father, king of the Śākya nation. It then recounts his escape from the palace and the years of hardship he faced in his quest for spiritual awakening. Finally the sūtra reveals his complete victory over the demon Māra, his attainment of awakening under the Bodhi tree, his first turning of the wheel of Dharma, and the formation of the very early saṅgha.
Acknowledgments
This text was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche.
Cortland Dahl, Catherine Dalton, Hilary Herdman, Heidi Koppl, James Gentry, and Andreas Doctor translated the text from Tibetan into English. Andreas Doctor and Wiesiek Mical then compared the translations against the original Tibetan and Sanskrit, respectively. Finally, Andreas Doctor edited the translation and wrote the introduction.
The Dharmachakra Translation Committee would like to thank Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche for blessing this project, and Khenpo Sherap Sangpo for his generous assistance with the resolution of several difficult passages.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of 簡源震及家人江秀敏,簡暐如,簡暐丞 Chien YuanChen (Dharma Das) and his wife, daughter, and son for work on this sūtra is gratefully acknowledged.
Text Body
The Play in Full
The Farming Village
Monks, on another occasion when the prince had grown a little older, he went with the sons of the ministers and some other boys to visit a farming village. After seeing the village, he entered a park at the edge of the fields. The Bodhisattva wandered around there in complete solitude. As he was strolling through the park, he saw a beautiful and pleasant rose apple tree, and he decided to sit down cross-legged under its shade. Seated there, the Bodhisattva attained a one-pointed state of mind. [129]
He then settled into the first meditative concentration, which is free of factors connected with evil deeds and nonvirtues. It is accompanied by thought and analysis and is imbued with the joy and pleasure born of discernment.
He then brought about the cessation of thoughts and analysis [F.68.b] and became perfectly quiet. As his mind became concentrated, he settled into the second meditative concentration, which is free of thought and analysis and is imbued with the joy and pleasure born of meditative absorption.
Without any attachment to joy, he remained in equanimity with mindfulness and introspection and experienced physical pleasure. Aware and cognizant, he felt physically at ease. He had settled into the third meditative concentration, which is without joy: “impartial, aware, and abiding at ease,” as the noble ones describe it.
He had already relinquished suffering and, as he now abandoned the feeling of comfort, both mental pleasure and displeasure vanished. Thus he settled into the fourth meditative concentration: perfectly pristine with impartiality and mindfulness, unconnected with pleasure or pain.
Right then five extremist sages, who had miraculous powers and the five superknowledges, were flying through the sky toward the north. Yet as they flew above this grove, they suddenly could not go any farther, and it felt as if they were being pushed back. With the hairs on their bodies bristling with anger, they spoke the following verse:
When the sages looked down below, [F.69.a] they saw a child blazing with glory and splendor, and they thought, “Who is this seated here? Could it be Vaiśravaṇa, lord of wealth? Or is it Māra, lord of sense pleasures, or perhaps the lord of the mahoragas? Could it be Śakra, the vajra holder? Or is it perhaps Rudra, or the lord of kumbhāṇḍas? Could it be the mighty Kṛṣṇa, or perhaps the divine moon, or the thousand-rayed sun? Or will it turn out to be a universal monarch?” Then they spoke the following verse:
Once the sages heard the goddess’s words, they descended to the ground. There they saw the Bodhisattva practicing concentration, his body immovable and blazing with a mass of light. Reflecting on the Bodhisattva, they praised him with verses. One of the sages said:
Once the sages had praised the Bodhisattva with these verses, they circumambulated him three times and returned to the sky.
King Śuddhodana did not see the Bodhisattva. Displeased with his absence, he said, “Where has the child gone? I do not see him.”
A great many people ran around [132] searching for the boy. Finally one of the ministers saw the Bodhisattva seated cross-legged, practicing concentration in the shade of a rose apple tree. Although the shade of all the trees had shifted by that time, the shade of the rose apple tree had not left the Bodhisattva’s body. Seeing him there, the minister was surprised. Elated with a sense of satisfaction and joy, he was ecstatic. In a state of jubilation he rushed before King Śuddhodana and said the following verses:
King Śuddhodana went over to the rose apple tree. He saw the Bodhisattva blazing with glory and splendor and uttered this verse:
He bowed to the feet of the Bodhisattva and spoke to him in verse:
At that point some of the other boys, who were carrying their seats, made a commotion. The ministers thus told them, “Quiet down! Quiet down!”
“Why?” asked the boys.
The ministers responded, “Even though the orb of the sun has shifted, the shade of his tree does not leave Prince Siddhārtha—who has the highest and most sublime marks of virtue and is as brilliant as the sky—while he practices concentration, motionless as a mountain.” [133]
On this topic, it is said:
This concludes the eleventh chapter, on the farming village. [B7]
Colophon
Colophon to the Sanskrit Edition
Colophon to the Tibetan Translation
This was taught and translated by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Munivarman, and the translator-editor Bandé Yeshé Dé, who proofed and finalized the translation.
Bibliography
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Goswami, Bijoya. Lalitavistara. Bibliotheca Indica Series, vol. 320. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, 2001.
Khosla, Sarla. Lalitavistara and the Evolution of Buddha Legend. New Delhi: Galaxy Publications, 1991.
Thomas, E. J. “The Lalitavistara and Sarvastivada.” Indian Historical Quarterly 16:2 (1940): 239–45.