Toh 208The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Great Rumble”

Summary

The Buddha’s disciple Ānanda is on an alms round in
Śrāvastī when he notices an immaculate palace. He wonders
whether it would be more meritorious to offer such a palace
to the monastic community or to enshrine a relic of the
Buddha within a small stūpa. He poses this question to the
Buddha who describes how the merit of the latter far exceeds
any other offerings one could make. The reason the Buddha
cites for this is the immense qualities that the buddhas
possess.

Acknowledgements

Translated by the Subhashita Translation Group. The
translation was produced by Lowell Cook, who also wrote the
introduction. Benjamin Ewing edited the translation and
introduction.

The translation was completed under the patronage and
supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the
Buddha.

Introduction

The Great Rumble is
a short Mahāyāna sūtra that details the benefits to
be derived from the construction and worship of
stūpas and statues of the buddhas. The sūtra begins
in Śrāvastī where Ānanda is on an alms round and
notices an immaculate palace. He wonders whether it
would be more meritorious to offer such an enormous
palace to the monastic community or to enshrine
buddha relics within tiny stūpas and create
miniature statues of the buddhas. He poses this
question to the Buddha, who responds that the latter
would be of greater merit due to the immeasurable
qualities of the buddhas. The Buddha’s answer
asserts the superiority of buddhas over stream
enterers, once-returners, non-returners, and
arhats—those who have attained the four results of the śrāvaka path. It also
emphasizes the benefits to be gained generally from
the creation and worship of stūpas.

In his reply, the Buddha proposes scenarios in
which greater and greater gifts to the saṅgha can be
made, yet the answer remains the same—enshrining
relics in stūpas or creating statues of the buddhas
will always be more meritorious. The repetitiveness
here is characteristic of the sūtra literature which
has its origins in the oral tradition. When the
sūtras were committed to writing, the South Asian
scribes deliberately omitted repetitive material and
marked elided sections with the phrase iti yāvad … iti
peyālam, a scribal insertion indicating
passages that have already been given in full
previously in the text, and which are understood to
be repeated in full each time the iti
peyālam was inserted. This technique
served as a means for conserving scribal resources
such as palm leaves, ink, and other media. In the
Tibetan translation, the elided section is marked
with the first and last words of the passage, framed
with the phrases ces/zhes bya nas … ces/zhes bya
ba’i bar du, “from (phrase X) up to
(phrase Y).” That convention has been followed in
this English translation, where such passages have
been marked with ellipses.

The language of grand scales used throughout the
sūtra serves to express the inexpressible qualities
of the buddhas and to calculate the incalculable
amount of merit gained from venerating them. This is
made concrete when the Buddha tells the story of
Ajātaśatru, who became the king of Magadha by
murdering his father, the king Bimbisāra. He was
also involved in creating a schism in the saṅgha and
plotting to kill the Buddha with Devadatta, the
Buddha’s cousin, who is depicted in Buddhist
literature as envious of the Buddha and his
teachings. Though Ajātaśatru later reformed to
become a devout disciple of the Buddha, this sūtra
notes that he was to be briefly reborn in the hells,
since patricide is one of the five misdeeds of
immediate retribution. Ajātaśatru would nevertheless
be freed from this state, and he was prophesied by
the Buddha to become a pratyekabuddha by the name of
Vijayasena. Again, the sūtra implies that
Ajātaśatru’s worshiping of the Buddha and his
immeasurable qualities in the form of relics
lightens his otherwise weighty negative karma.

The Great Rumble
survives only in Tibetan translation; there are no
extant Sanskrit witnesses, nor was it translated
into Chinese. The translation presented here is
based on the version preserved in the Degé Kangyur,
which was supplemented with reference to variant
readings in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and Stok
Palace Kangyurs. The Great
Rumble is listed in the Phangthangma and
Denkarma catalogues, the two extant scriptural
catalogs from the Imperial Period (629–841 ce). The Tibetan translation of the sūtra
can thus be dated roughly to the early ninth
century, the period when the Denkarma catalog was
compiled. The colophon notes that the sūtra was
initially translated by the Tibetan monk Gewa Pal
(dge ba
dpal), with the assistance of the Indian
preceptor Viśuddhasiṃha, before then being finalized
by the Indian preceptor Vidyākarasiṃha and the
Tibetan monk and senior translator Devacandra. All
four of these translators were active in the early
ninth century.

The Translation

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra

The Great Rumble

Homage to all
buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was
staying with a large saṅgha of monks in Śrāvastī, in
Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park. At dawn, the
venerable Ānanda donned his lower and upper robes,
took up his alms bowl, and went to Śrāvastī on his
alms round. As he was making his
alms round through Śrāvastī, the venerable Ānanda
noticed a palace with its interior and exterior
swept and polished, its doors bolted shut, and its
windows shuttered. Seeing this, he thought to
himself, “What if someone were to build a palace
like this one and offer it to the saṅgha of monks
throughout the four directions, while someone else
were to either create a statue of the Thus-Gone One
the size of a thumb, or take a relic the size of a
mustard seed after a thus-gone one’s parinirvāṇa and
place it within a stūpa with a dome the size of an
amalaki fruit, insert a central pole the size of a
needle, and affix to it a canopy the size of a
jujube leaf? Between these two, whose
merit would increase the most?”

Returning from his alms round in Śrāvastī, the venerable Ānanda ate his food. As he was abstaining from any subsequent food, he put away his alms bowl and robes, and washed his feet. He then went before
the Blessed One, bowed his head at his feet, and sat
to one side.

Seated to one side, the venerable Ānanda
addressed the Blessed One: “Master, at dawn I donned
my lower and upper robes, took up my alms bowl, and
went to Śrāvastī on my alms round. As I went through
Śrāvastī, Master, I noticed a palace with its
interior and exterior swept and polished, its doors
bolted shut, and its windows shuttered. Seeing this,
I thought to myself, ‘What if someone were to build
a palace like this one and offer it to the saṅgha of
monks throughout the four directions, while someone
else were to either create a statue of the Thus-Gone
One the size of a thumb, or take a relic the size of
a mustard seed after a thus-gone one’s parinirvāṇa
and place it within a stūpa with a dome the size of
an amalaki fruit, insert a central pole the size of
a needle, and affix to it a canopy the size of a
jujube leaf? Between these two,
whose merit would increase the most?’ This is the
issue I present to the Blessed One.”

“Excellent, Ānanda. Excellent indeed,” responded
the Blessed One to the venerable Ānanda. “Ānanda,
you have asked, ‘What if someone were to build a
palace like that one and offer it to the saṅgha of
monks throughout the four directions, while someone
else were to either create a statue of the Thus-Gone
One the size of a thumb, or take a relic the size of
a mustard seed after a thus-gone one’s parinirvāṇa
and place it within a stūpa with a dome the size of
an amalaki fruit, insert a central pole the size of
a needle, and affix to it a canopy the size of a
jujube leaf? Between these two, whose merit would
increase the most?’ Your question is excellent and
well articulated, and your inquiry virtuous. This
being so, Ānanda, listen well and keep in mind what
I am about to teach.

“Ānanda, what if someone were to build a palace
like that one and offer it to the saṅgha of monks
throughout the four directions, while someone else
were to either create a statue of the Thus-Gone One
the size of a thumb, or take a relic the size of a
mustard seed after a thus-gone one’s parinirvāṇa and
place it within a stūpa with a dome the size of an
amalaki fruit, insert a central pole the size of a
needle, and affix to it a canopy the size of a
jujube leaf? Ānanda, the merit of the former would
not even come close to a hundredth of the merit of
the latter. It would not even come close to a
thousandth, a hundred-thousandth, any number or
fraction, or anything comparable or relative to
that. Why? Because the thus-gone, worthy, and
completely perfected buddhas possess these
immeasurable qualities: they possess immeasurable
discipline, immeasurable samādhi, immeasurable
insight, immeasurable liberation, and the immeasurable
wisdom and vision of liberation.

“Ānanda, what if all of Jambudvīpa, measuring
seven thousand leagues in length and breadth, were
filled with stream enterers, once-returners,
non-returners, arhats, and pratyekabuddhas, just
like rice paddies, sesame fields, bamboo groves,
reed groves, or sugar cane groves? And what if
someone offered them as many robes, alms, sets of
bedding, curative medicines, and other supplies as
they desired for as long as they lived and then,
when they all had passed into parinirvāṇa, created
stūpas and venerated them with canopies, cymbals,
banners, perfumes, incense, garlands, powders, and
ointments? What if someone else were to either
create a statue of the Thus-Gone One the size of a
thumb, or take a relic the size of a mustard seed
after a thus-gone one’s parinirvāṇa and place it
within a stūpa with a dome the size of an amalaki
fruit, insert a central pole the size of a needle,
and affix to it a canopy the size of a jujube leaf?
Ānanda, the merit of the former would not even come
close to a hundredth of the merit of the latter. It
would not even come close to a thousandth, or a
hundred-thousandth, any number or fraction, or
anything comparable or relative to that. Why?
Because the thus-gone, worthy, and completely
perfected buddhas possess these immeasurable
qualities: they possess immeasurable discipline,
immeasurable samādhi, immeasurable insight,
immeasurable liberation, and the immeasurable wisdom
and vision of liberation.

“Ānanda, Śakra’s Palace of Victory is supported
by eighty-four thousand pillars, each of which is
made of exquisite blue beryl. Ānanda, the Palace of
Victory is covered in gold dust, sprinkled with
sandalwood water, decorated with golden lattice, and
encircled with golden chimes. Ānanda, what if
someone were to fill the trichiliocosm only with
palaces like the Palace of Victory and offer it to
the saṅgha of monks throughout the four directions,
while someone else were to take a relic the size of
a mustard seed after a thus-gone one’s
parinirvāṇa…” and so forth as above.

“Ānanda, after Ajātaśatru, son of Vaidehī and
king of Magadha, murders his father who is a stream
enterer, and
has engaged in the virtuous acts praised by the
buddhas to fervently respect, venerate, serve,
worship, honor, and supplicate the eight portions of
the relics as a way of worshiping the
relics of the Thus-Gone One, he will be reborn once
in the hells, where those actions, those roots of
virtue, and those past wholesome deeds will free him
and prevent him from regressing to lower rebirth for
the next twenty eons. He will then shave his head
and beard, don the saffron robes, and go forth from
his home into homelessness. He will manifest the
state of a pratyekabuddha and become known as
Vijayasena the pratyekabuddha. Why? Because the
thus-gone, worthy, and completely perfected buddhas
possess these immeasurable qualities: they possess
immeasurable discipline, immeasurable samādhi,
immeasurable insight, immeasurable liberation, and
the immeasurable wisdom and vision of
liberation.

As this Dharma discourse was being taught, the
vast earth began to quake in six ways: the east rose
as the west sank, the west rose as the east sank,
the south rose as the north sank, the north rose as
the south sank, the center rose as the borders sank,
and the borders rose as the center sank.

The venerable Ānanda then asked the Blessed One,
“What is the name of this Dharma discourse, Blessed
One? How should I remember it?”

The venerable Ānanda then praised and rejoiced
in what the Blessed One had taught. He bowed at the
Blessed One’s feet and circumambulated him three
times before leaving the Blessed One’s presence.

Colophon

This was translated by the Indian preceptor
Viśuddhasiṃha and the translator Bandé Gewa Pal. It
was edited and finalized by the Indian preceptor
Vidyākarasiṃha and the chief-editor and translator
Bandé Devacandra.

Notes

Bibliography

Gewa Pal

dge ba dpal
དགེ་བ་དཔལ།

Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park
jetavanam anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ
rgyal bu rgyal byed kyi tshal mgon med zas sbyin gyi kun dga’ ra ba
རྒྱལ་བུ་རྒྱལ་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཚལ་མགོན་མེད་ཟས་སྦྱིན་གྱི་ཀུན་དགའ་ར་བ།