This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.
In comparing and contrasting H. Kern’s translation of the 11th century Sanskrit Lotus Sutra with Senchu Murano’s translation of Kumārajīva’s fifth century Chinese translation, the differences can be significant if not particularly important.
For example, if you read only translations of Kumarajiva’s Chinese Lotus Sutra you could be forgiven for believing Ānanda was an arhat when he heard the sermon on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa.
The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism offers this explanation of Ānanda’s position among the followers of Śākyamuni:
Ānanda was known for his extraordinary powers of memory; he is said to have heard all 84,000 sermon topics (82,000 taught by the Buddha and 2,000 taught by other disciples) and was able to memorize 15,000 stanzas without omitting a syllable. He therefore played a key role in the recitation of the Buddha’s teachings at the first council held at Rājagṛha shortly after the Buddha’s death. However, Mahākāśyapa, who convened the council, specified that all five hundred monks in attendance must be arhats, and Ānanda was not. On the night before the opening of the council, Ānanda achieved the enlightenment of an arhat as he was lying down to sleep, as his head fell to the pillow and his feet rose from the ground. He is therefore famous for achieving enlightenment in none of the four traditional postures (īryāpatha): walking, standing, sitting, or lying down.
Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation of the Lotus Sutra lists 21 arhats as present when the Buddha preached the Lotus Sutra. Senchu Murano offers this list:
- Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya,
- Mahā-Kāśyapa,
- Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa,
- Gaya-Kāśyapa,
- Nadi- Kāśyapa,
- Śāriputra,
- Great Maudgalyāyana,
- Mahā-Kātyāyana,
- Aniruddha,
- Kapphina,
- Gavampati,
- Revata,
- Pilindavatsa,
- Bakkula,
- Maha-Kausthila,
- Nanda,
- Sundarananda,
- Pūrṇa who was the son of Maitrāyanī,
- Subhūti,
- Ānanda, and
- Rahula.
Murano adds, “They were great Arhats well known to the multitude. There were also two thousand [Śrāvakas], some of whom had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn.”
It was surprising to read H. Kern’s translation of this same section.
As discussed earlier, Kern lists 26 arhats, but not Ānanda. Instead, Kern ends the list of arhats with this sentence:
with them yet other great disciples, as the venerable Ananda, still under training, and two thousand other monks, some of whom still under training, the others masters
Kumārajīva’s translation is famous for being written in a natural style that made it very popular. One can imagine Kumārajīva’s team of translators considering this detail of Ānanda’s status and deciding that it was too insignificant to disrupt the flow of the story. It’s certainly not of critical importance.