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Introduction
Introduction
This is a website version of handout guides that were prepared for a sūtra reading group in 2018. It is part of a series on the Navagrantha, the nine most sacred texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism which can be found by clicking the prior hyperlink. This guide uses the 84000 translation as its basis.
Overview of Chapters
Overview of Chapters
PART I. INTRODUCTORY SECTION
The Buddha is requested to teach the Lalitavistara by the devas, which follows.
PART II. MAIN DOCTRINAL SECTION
A. The Bodhisattva teaches in the heavens, announces his descent to earth, and installs Maitreya as the next Buddha.
B. The Bodhisattva selects Queen Māyā and is born in Lubmini.
C. The Bodhisattva's Youth and Life in the Palace.
D. The Bodhisattva encounters the Four Sights, renounces the palace, and practices asceticism.
E. The Bodhisattva defeats Mārā, attains Buddhahood, & is visited by devas.
F. After being asked to teach by devas, the Buddha teaches the first discourse.
PART III. PROPAGATION SECTION
Importance
Importance
The Lalitavistara (The Play in Full) is one of the most well-known Mahāyāna versions of the Buddha's life, and is probably the basis for Aśvaghoṣa’s poem Buddhacarita (Deeds of the Buddha). It was translated into Chinese by the translator Dharmarakṣa, who began translating in 266, indicating that the manuscript he worked with was from at least the first or second century. The translation we will read from is English-derived from Tibetan, based on Sanskrit, which was translated in the 5th century.
The sūtra is a Mahāyāna sūtra. It fits into the “Dharma Maṇḍala” of nine texts (Navagrantha) considered the most important in Mahāyāna Buddhism, which also includes the Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 Lines, Gaṇḍavyūha, Ten Stages Sūtra, Samādhirāja Sūtra, Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra, the Golden Light Sūtra, and the Tathāgataguhya.
J.K. Nariman notes the following points about Buddhism in the Lalitavistara Sūtra in his Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism:
1. The title emphasises the Buddha’s deeds as like a “diversion” (lalita) of a superhuman being; he is transcendent, unlike in Śrāvakayāna.
2. Unlike Śrāvakayāna renditions, where the Buddha is implored to teach by a monk, here the devas praise him and then ask him to teach the Lalitavistara.
3. Most of the story is parallel, with differences, to the later Pali Nidānakathā and Buddhacarita but involves heightened renditions of various episodes.
4. The narrative emphasises faith in the sūtras recited by Ānanda.
5. The Lalitavistara preserves stories not present in the Pāli tradition, such as the Bodhisattva (Buddha-to-be) being brought to the temple by his mother, and his experience at school. These two stories appear to have served as sources for the apocryphal Gospels’ accounts of Jesus’ youth. This may be why it is “in full” (vistara), whereas previous versions excluded aspects
6. The entire story decorates the walls of the temple of Borobudur in Java.
7. Earliest Buddhist art was created by people familiar with the Lalitavistara.
8. The popularity of this sūtra coincides with the first appearances of Buddha images in India, under the influence of Greco-Roman art in north-west India.
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