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The Great Chapter
(Mahàkhandhako, Mv 1-4)

translated by
ânandajoti Bhikkhu

(first published, August 2009)

Parinibbana of Lord Buddha

 

PDF

The Great Chapter (65 pages, 487 KB)

 

Html Table of Contents (outline)

Preface

Introduction

 

I: The First Teachings

II. Progress of the Sàsana

III. The Miracles at Uruvelà

IV. In Ràjagaha

 

Html Table of Contents (detail)

 

Preface

Introduction

 

I: The First Teachings

1: The Story about the Awakening (Tree) (Conditional Origination)

2: The Story about the Goatherd's (Tree) (The Grumbling Bràhmaõa)

3: The Story about the Mucalinda (Tree)

4: The Story about the Royal (Tree) (Tapussa and Bhallika)

5: The Story about Brahma's request

[6: Deciding Who to Teach]

[7: The Abstainer Upaka]

[8: The Meeting at Isipatana]

[9: The Discourse Setting the Dhamma-Wheel Rolling]

[10: Further Attainments]

[11: The Discourse about the Characteristic of Non-Self] (The First Arahants)

 

II. Progress of the Sàsana

12: Yasa's Going Forth

[13: Yasa's father]

[14: Yasa's Mother and his Former Wife]

15: The Going-Forth of (Yasa's) Four Householder Friends

16: The Going-Forth of the Fifty Householder Friends

17: The Story about Màra

18: The Story of Full Ordination through Going to the Three Refuges

19: The Second Story about Màra

20: The Tale of the Good Group of Friends

 

III. The Miracles at Uruvelà

21: The First Miracle (The Dragon-king - Prose)

22: The First Miracle (The Dragon-king - Verse)

23: The Second Miracle (The Four Great Kings)

24: The Third Miracle (Sakka, the Lord of the Gods)

25: The Fourth Miracle (Brahmà Sahampati)

26: The Fifth Miracle (Mind-Reading)

[27: Rag-Robe Miracle]

[28: The Rose-Apple Miracle]

[29: The Mango Miracle]

[30: The Emblic Myrobalan Miracle]

[31: The Yellow Myrobalan Miracle]

[32: The Coral Tree Flower Miracle]

[33: The Sacred Fire Miracles]

[34: The Coal-Pan Miracle]

[35: The Island Miracle]

[36: The Ordination of Kassapa and his Followers]

[37: The Ordination of the Other Yogis]

38: The Instruction About Burning

 

IV. In Ràjagaha

39: The Meeting with King Bimbisàra

[40: The Donation of the Bamboo Wood]

41: The Story of the Going-Forth of Sàriputta and Moggallàna

42: The Going-Forth of the Well-Known (Sons of Good Families)

 

Translations Consulted

BD: The Book of the Discipline, Vol I, I.B. Horner, London, 1938.

VT: Vinaya Texts, Part I, T.W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg, Oxford 1885, reprinted Delhi 1990

SGB: The Story of Gotama Buddha, N.A. Jayawickrama, PTS Oxford, 1990.

MT: The Mahavastu, J. J. Jones, London, 3 volumes 1949-1956.

LV: Lalitavistara, Bijoya Goswami, Kolkata, 2001.

 

Dictionaries, etc.:

PED: Pàëi-English Dictionary, T.W. Rhys Davids and William Stede, 1921-25, online edition.

CPD: Critical Pàli Dictionary, 1947- (unfinished), online edition.

CPED: Concise Pàli-English Dictionary, Ven. A.P. Buddhadatta, Colombo, 1958 reprinted 1968.

BHSD: Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary, Franklin Edgerton, New Haven 1953, reprinted Delhi 1998.

SED: Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Monier-Williams, 1899, online edition.

DPPN: Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, G.P. Malalasekera, Pali Text Society, London 1937.

FF: Bhante S. Dhammika: Dictionary of the Flora and Fauna in the Pàëi Tipiñaka (pre-publication copy kindly given me by the Author).

Syntax: Syntax of the Cases in the Pali Nikayas, by O.H. de A. Wijesekera (Colombo 1993).

 

Preface

In preparing this text and translation for publication I have divided it into a number of versions. In the Buddhist Texts and Studies section will be found the Pàëi Text together with the variant readings. This is a more technical work dealing with the establishment of the text, and considers the text from the point of view of it's grammar, prosody, and how the material has been collected.

In the Texts and Translations section I present the full Text and Translation with annotations which help to explain matters that may not be clear from the text itself. I have therefore translated sections from the Commentary, and also added in information from parallels in the Jàtakanidàna, the Lalitavistara and the Mahàvastu.

In the English section there is the Translation Only, with somewhat less notes than in the Text and Translations section, which is intended for the casual reader who wants a reliable translation but is not interested in the technical matters concerning the original text itself.

 

ânandajoti Bhikkhu
August 2009

 

last updated: August 2009