Avadāna (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

; Pali cognate: ''

Apadāna The ''Apadāna'' is a collection of biographical stories found in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Pāli Canon, the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. G.P. Malalasekera describes it as 'a Buddhist Vitae Sanctorum' of Buddhist monks and nuns who lived du ...

'') is the name given to a type of

Buddhist literature Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...

correlating

past lives Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or physical body, body after ...

' virtuous deeds to subsequent lives' events. Richard Salomon described them as "stories, usually narrated by the Buddha, that illustrate the workings of

karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

by revealing the acts of a particular individual in a previous life and the results of those actions in his or her present life." This literature includes around 600 stories in the

Pāli Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

language

("Legends"). There are also a large number in

collections, of which the chief are the

Mahāsāṃghika The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha", ) was one of the early Buddhist schools. Interest in the origins of the Mahāsāṃghika school lies in the fact that their Vinaya recension appears in se ...

's ''

Mahāvastu The Mahāvastu (Sanskrit for "Great Event" or "Great Story") is a text of the Lokottaravāda school of Early Buddhism. It describes itself as being a historical preface to the Buddhist monastic codes (''vinaya''). Over half of the text is compo ...

'' ("Great Book") and the

Sarvāstivāda The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy ...

's '' Avadānaśataka'' (''Century of Legends'') and '' Divyāvadāna'' (''The Heavenly Legend''). These latter collections include accounts relating to

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

and the third-century BCE "righteous ruler,"

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Amongst the most popular ''avadānas'' of Northern Hinayāna Buddhism are: * Ratnamālāvadāna, which is a collection of stories about traveling merchants. * the story of

Sudhana Sudhanakumāra (), mainly known as Sudhana and Shancai or Shancai Tongzi in Chinese, and translated as ''Child of Wealth'', is the protagonist in the last and longest chapter of the ''Avatamsaka Sutra''. Sudhana appears in Buddhist, Taoist and folk ...

, preserved in the ''

'' under the title ''Kinnarī jātaka'', amongst others, who falls in love with a kinnarī and saves her life. * the ''

Vessantara Jātaka The ''Vessantara Jātaka'' is one of the most popular jātakas of Theravada Buddhism. The ''Vessantara Jātaka'' tells the story of one of Gautama Buddha's past lives, about a very compassionate and generous prince, Vessantara, who gives away ev ...

'', the story of the compassionate prince who gives away everything he owns, including his wife and children, thereby displaying the virtue of perfect charity. * the ''Suvannasankha jātaka''Padmanabh S. Jaini, "The Story of Sudhana and Manoharā: An Analysis of the Texts and the Borobudur Reliefs", ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', University of London, Vol. 29, No. 3 (1966), pp. 533-558. Though of later date than most of the canonical Buddhist books, ''avadānas'' are held in veneration by the orthodox, and occupy much the same position with regard to Buddhism that the

Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

do towards

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. They act in a similar way to other texts describing past deeds or past lives held in other traditions in the region, such as the aforementioned Puranas, the

Dasam Granth The ''Dasam Granth'' (Gurmukhi: ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ''dasama gratha'') is a collection of various manuscripts in Sikhism containing compositions attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.

and

Janamsakhis The Janamsakhis ( pa, ਜਨਮਸਾਖੀ, IAST: ''Janam-sākhī'', ''lit.'' ''birth stories''), are legendary biographies of Guru Nanak – the founder of Sikhism. Popular in the Sikh history, these texts are considered by scholars as imaginar ...

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

, and the Kalpa Sūtra of

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...

Notes

Sources

* * "Avadāna." (2008). In ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/45339/Avadana

External links

*
The Avadana reliefs at Borobudur
* https://read.84000.co/translation/toh340.html {{Buddhism topics Buddhist literature

See also

Notes

Sources

External links