This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.
Continuing last week’s discussion of the arhats present at the opening of the Lotus Sutra, I want to explore a puzzle that was mentioned to me by Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick some time ago.
Where is Upali?
Śākyamuni had ten major disciples, each with specific strengths. Rev. Ryuei McCormick lists these in his “Lotus World“:
- Shariputra, foremost in wisdom
- Mahakashyapa, foremost in ascetic practices
- Ananda, foremost in hearing the sutras
- Subhuti, foremost in understanding emptiness
- Purna, foremost in expounding the Dharma
- Maudgalyayana, foremost in supernatural powers
- Katyayana, foremost in explaining the Dharma
- Aniruddha, foremost in clairvoyance (the divine eye)
- Upali, foremost in observing the precepts
- Rahula, foremost in inconspicuous practice
The exact arrangement varies by source. Revata Khadiravaniya replaces Subhuti in the Etadaggavagga (Aṅguttara-Nikāya), according to Source Elements of the Lotus Sutra. But Upali, who was foremost in observing the precepts, is always listed among the 10 major disciples.
Upali is not present among the arhats at the beginning of the Lotus Sutra in either H. Kern’s 11th century Nepalese Sanskrit Lotus Sutra or Kumārajīva’s 5th century Chinese translation. As a consequence, Upali is the only one of ten major disciples who does not receive a specific prediction of future buddhahood from Śākyamuni.
Rev. Ryuei Michael McCormick wondered aloud about this once to me and I offered that perhaps it had to do with Upali’s focus on the precepts. My theory: The writers of the Lotus Sutra didn’t have a high regard for precept mongers, and Upali was foremost among them.
In Kern’s translation my theory gets a boost with the addition of Upananda to the list of arhats present at the opening of the Lotus Sutra.
From the Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism:
Upananda: Sanskrit and Pāli proper name of a monk disciple of the Buddha, who was regularly chastised for his greed. There are numerous stories in the vinaya of his attempts to procure the best and most of all offerings made to monks, and especially of robes and food. The Buddha typically rebukes Upananda for his misconduct, and then goes on to promulgate a new rule of conduct in order to deter monks from committing such transgressions in the future.
So, not only is Upali missing from the Lotus Sutra, but the monk whose bad behavior caused the Buddha to craft many of the precepts is included.
In the Lotus Sutra, 22 individuals are given personal predictions of their future Buddhahood:
- Shariputra, Chapter 3
- Mahakashyapa, Chapter 6
- Ananda, Chapter 9
- Subhuti, Chapter 6
- Purna, Chapter 8
- Maudgalyayana, Chapter 6
- Katyayana, Chapter 6
- Aniruddha, Chapter 8
- Rahula, Chapter 9
- Uruvilvā-Kāśyapa, Chapter 8
- GayaKāśyapa, Chapter 8
- Nadī-Kāśyapa, Chapter 8
- Kālodāyin, Chapter 8
- Udāyin, Chapter 8
- Aniruddha, Chapter 8
- Revata, Chapter 8
- Kapphina, Chapter 8
- Bakkula, Chapter 8
- Cunda, Chapter 8
- Svāgata, Chapter 8
- Maha-Prajapati, Chapter 13
- Yaśodharā, Chapter 13
One can assume Upali is included when the Buddha says in Chapter 8:
“All the other Śrāvakas also will [become Buddhas].
Tell this to the Śrāvakas
Who are not present here!”
But he is clearly excluded from the Lotus Sutra. This absence is underscored by the fact that Upali and Upananda are both listed as present to hear the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, which is considered to have been the preface to the Lotus Sutra.