. ," , , ,j \ � M6\\ �� \C�c CO CYl \ C 0 \ � e. • . . � . �� . �' C, cbo \ 6 APROPOS KRKIN'S DAUGHTERS . . RATNA HANDURUKAN Our honorand, the late Professor G. P. Malalasekera lisb the Pali sources that refer to King Krkin's daughters.1 Inforr ation from Sanskrit avadana texts relating to two of the past bir f of these maidens is given in this article written in his honour. The Saptakumrikvadna, which forms the eleventh cha of the Asokvadanamala,2 describes how the seven daughters King Krkin of Varaasi 3 obtained ordination from the Bud Kasyapa.4 Sakyamuni, who related the story of these prince at an assembly of monks is said to have addres. sed them at the of his sermon and said: manyadhva bhik�avo yas a naginya sambuka api caityavavipaken babhuvur nrpate suta "Think, 0 monks, those seven snake-maidens, even thou (they were) shells, became the daughters of a king, as a result paying homage to a caitya." Here we find a reference to t\ past births of Krkin's daughters; ) as shells and I) { naga-maidens. ( I) The S ambukavadana-nidanakath, which narrates briefly birth of Krkin's daughters as shell-maidens was printed earli A metrical version of this avadana occurring in the Ahoratrvra caityasevan usalsavadana,6 the tenth chapter of the Asokavad mala gives more details of the story. The context in which episode is included in this chapter is as follows. In response the wish of an elder called Subhuti to know the Ahoratravr a Sakyamu ni described that rite as taught by Vasubandhu to a ki called Indrapr��a. Indrapr��a is said to have performed the r
Our honorand, the late Professor G. P. Malalasekera lisb the Pali sources that refer to King Krkin's daughters.1 Inforr ation from Sanskrit avadana texts relating to two of the past bir f of these maidens is given in this article written in his honour.
The Saptakumiirikiivadiina, which forms the eleventh chapt of the Asokiivadanamala,2 describes how the seven daughters King Krkin of VaraI)asi 3 obtained ordination from the Bud Kasyapa.4 Sakyamuni, who related the story of these prince at an assembly of monks is said to have addres.sed them at the of his sermon and said:
manyadhvalfl bhik�avo yas a naginya7} sambuka api caityavavipakent! babhuvur nrpate7} suta7}
"Think, 0 monks, those seven snake-maidens, even thou (they were) shells, became the daughters of a king, as a result paying homage to a caitya." Here we find a reference to t\
past births of Krkin's daughters; (1) as shells and (II) {
naga-maidens.
( I )
The Sambukavadana-nidanakathii, which narrates briefly birth of Krkin's daughters as shell-maidens was printed earli A metrical version of this avadana occurring in the Ahoratriivra caityasevanusalJ1savadana,6 the tenth chapter of the Asokavadiin. mala gives more details of the story. The context in which episode is included in this chapter is as follows. In response the wish of an elder called Subhuti to know the Ahoratravra Sakyamuni described that rite as taught by Vasubandhu to a ki
called Indrapr��a. Indrapr��a is said to have performed the r
. :::
"''"0'
� .� " '; ",
; ' " !z. '! .,
- ".,.
118
tatra sii jananl dr�lvii sapta tiil} sundaril} siSfll}.
However the same folio of the Calcutta manuscript has the readi tatal} sa janakal} srut vii jiitiil} sapta sutii iti
which is identical with the reading of the Tokyo manuscripts. T �
three manuscripts agree once again at the conclusion of the sto but this time in the assumption that the fisherman had ei t daughters who were born as the eight daughters of King Krkin,', eldest of whom married King Dharmadak�a. We quote the relev' l section based on all three manuscripts which have the identi> i reading except for a few scribal variants.
The names of the eight daughters of Krkin according to-tk. above extract from B are Vrati, Dharmavati, Subhamafijb..r;. Dhimati, Netramanjari, Srimati, MadalTljaha and Ratnama \ (" . The names of the seven daughters of Krkin as recorded in A lUc.:
Padmavati, Sutamanjari,l° Dhimati, Nayanamanjari, Yasom II
Madarpjaha and Ratnamala. On comparing the two lists it IS possible to conjecture that the additional name in B added perha.\.� to an earlier list of seven is that of Vrati, the eldest daughter.
The eldest of the fisherman's daughters plays a prOmil1l lit
part in the story as given in B, whereas no single daugIHt·, is portrayed as an outstanding figure in A. According to A the maidens sit on the bank of a stream on their way to sell fish, attribu-tf:: their birth in a fisherman's family to sinful deeds done in the PI), "t realise the folly of committing more sin, throw the fish that were al. ve
into the water and sell only the dead fish. In B it is the elq e t
]17
h d the abode of the Buddhas ( jimilaya). Being asked d reae e
d f d h ' I' ks about others who ha per orme t e rIte ear ler Y the mon .
d .
f D . 11 d . ddha cited the cases of lndra an a kmg 0 altyas ca e
h� �u. damana. Next he spoke of some sages who observed the
. Jrg
. o�a
th Caityagarbha pond at M agadha. These sages fainted Ite III e
f -
'd h . h l'ng the poisonous breath 0 some naga··mal ens, w 0
'n III al l1ed them. The sages cursed them to be born as shells
pproacL. h d h
' . d dieted that they would be born as t e aug ters ot a kmg
n pre . f . H ' h d . 'f they resorted to the wo�shlp
. o
. a caltya. . ow It so appene IS
1 . ed in the section with whIch we are concerned here. exp am
The following observations could be made based on a compara-
t've study of the printed Sambukavadiina-nidanakathii and the I . relevant section of the Ahoriitravratacaityasevanu.§alJ1savadana
extant in manuscript versions only. The two versions are referred
to here as A and B respectively for convenience.
(i) In A a fisherman finds the shells circumambulating a crystal caitya in the pond. In B, the shells circumambulated a
paddy-stalk in a field nearby. Presumably they had returned to the pond after doing so when the fisherman cast his net and caught them.
�ii) A gives the name of the fisherman as Rupaka but does not give the name of his wife. We have the opposite position in,B, where the wife is called Sundarika.7
(iii) According to A, the fisherman's wife gave birth to seven daughters on eating the shells. There is confusion regarding the number of the daughters in the manuscripts of B.8 Folio 12 of the Calcut ta manuscript reads:
tatalp sa samaye 'suta kanyaka hy a�tasundarr(lp),
and so indicates that eight daughters were born. However the two Tekyo manuscripts have the variant reading kanyaka(h) saptasundarih here, thus agreeing with A regarding the number of daughters. Again the same folio of the Calcutta manuscript reads:
. tatra sa janani dr�!va a�!a talp sundarilp sisulp,
While both manuscripts in Tokyo read:
119
. h among them was the foremost and wisell who speaks
stehr
W uOnger ones of the evil they had done in the past which had t e yo . . d't' ned their present bIrth, the possIble consequences of
n 110 . . ' . .' further evil and the Importance of resortmg to a vIrtuous
,�IDg It is she who suggests throwing the live fish to the water and
��ing the dead fish, a suggestion readily accepted by the younger
sters ,
A states that the mother came to know of their course of
ion one day and so killed the fish she gave them for sale the
bllowing day. It is not clear as to how the mother came to know
,f it according to A but B provides the explanation. One day,
ing t hat all the fish were alive, the maidens were surprised
nd confused as to what they should do. The foremost mong them, pure in intention and intelligent,12 consoled
, e younger· sisters and dictated the course of action to be llowed which was to throw all the fish into the river, not to go ome empty-handed for fear of reprisal, but to stay in the vicinity fthe stream, taking refuge in the Three Jewels. The others follow
r advice, The mother heard of this from someone or other, me there, beat them and took them home. She killed all the
ish before she gave them for sale the next day .
. On this day the maidens delayed to return home, for they rested Jl the bank of the river on their way back from selling fish, and en decided to build caityas with sand 'and worship them. The gry fat her who came in search of them abused them, beat them
ad left them wailing, Hearing their laments a pratyekabuddha ived on the scene. The maidens pay their respects to him quite ntaneously according to the account given in A. But in B their
'tial reaction is that of amazement mingled with joy and a feeling - uncertainty. as to who the sage was. Once again the eldest . ter.; the discerning one,13 gives an enlightening discourse, on
ring which the younger sisters pay obeisance to him and seek ge in him.
It is in keeping with this prominent position given to the eldest , ter that she should be the wife of King Dharmadak�a14 who
as the last person in a list of people said to have performed the oratra rite according to B, which it should be remembered is a t devoted to extolling its special benefits. It should be recalled t t he story of the shells that became a fisherman's daughters
120
came to be narrated out of an incident arising in connection WJ&, some sages who practised the rite. The connecting link between this story and the main theme of B is the identification of the m�t
,
prominent among the sisters as the wife of King Dharmara� 4...
noted for his having performed the Ahonitravrata. The seve'n daughters of K�'kin remained celibate and obtained ordinatiQl1 from the Buddha Kasyapa according to the SaptakumiirikiivadQQf>,. version. It may then be suggested that the eighth daughter in_ B had to be invented and, in giving a name for her, that of Vrati,' ().. very suitable name incidentally for an important participant of, <.\. vrata, was chosen. The inconsistency of referring to eight maider $ at the end of a story which dealt with seven of them only may have been noted by some scribes, who possibly tried to reconcile tb. <,; inconsistency by changing the reading of the manuscripts.
(iv) According to A, the fisherman's daughters return hOni e after meeting the pratyekabuddha, worship the parents and S�I<. to them on the evil of destroying life. This admonitory discou�e IS 111 verse . The fisherman is said to have given up killing on th advice. This incident is not recorded in B.
(v) The following emendations could be made 111 A, printed text of the Sambukdvaddna-niddnakathd.
(a) (b)
(c)
(d)
change all occurreflces of sambuka to {;ambuka
p. 47 line 25 read Subhamafijari for Sutamafijari
" " 27 read Madarpjaha for Maharyljaha
" " 35 read pravi�tah daivayogena (MS. devajoge for praviddhah
(e) p. 48 " 20 read sisirarasmivarisecanena (cf. B w ' � reads here: sarvas tas tat sudharasm;parispJ;�tah)
(0 " " 25 read bhaginyab. kim bahuna
(II, 1) The past birth of the seven daughters of KJ;kin as
is mentioned in the Saptakumiirikavadana.15 That this birth a � naginis was the one that immediately preceded their birth as she :5 was already indicated earlier in this article in describing the con� in which the episode of the 'shell-maidens' appears in the Ahorat vratacaityasevdnusaf!lsdvaddna chapter. of the Asokdvaddnamo .
j
121
Th story as it occurs in this chapter may be outlined as
11 �� In Magadha there was a pond called Caityagarbha. fo ows.
h ' d hO d Th some sages observed the a oratra nte an wors lppe a ere 0 0 °d 17 h d 'ty that was m It. Some snake-mal ens saw t em an came cal a . . 0
r them. The sages fainted for a moment struck by their pOisonous nea h 0 h h - °d breath. On regaining t elr 0 se�ses t ey saw t e naga-mal ens
and cursed them in anger, wlshmg that they become shells. The
naga-ma idens, being turned into s?ells (for the curse seems to have
taken immediate eflect) became fnghtened, bowed to the sages and begged their pardon. They implored the sages to teach them a .means of releasing themselves from the effect of the curse. The sage�, their compassion aroused, asked them to resort to a caitya, to·circumambulate it and so pay homage to it. The sages predicted that as a consequence of doing so the shells would be born as the daughters of a king, free from sin, pure in mind an d blessed with fortune. In that birth too, they would pay reverence to caityas, lead religious lives and reach the abode of the Victorious Ones.
.
Thereupon the shells took recourse to a paddy-field, saw a paddy-stalk left after the harvesting, assumed that it had the form oTa caitya and paid homage to it circumambulating it constantly.
(II, 2) The episode of the naginis quoted above merits companson
with that occurring in the Ahoriitravratakathii included in the Kiirtikavratakathii manuscripts belonging to the Tokyo University I,.ibrary.18 The context in which the relevant passage occurs is the same as that in which the story outlined above occurs, i.e. with reference to some sages who observed the Ahonitra rite. The instanc�s of Sakra and the Daitya Nirgho�adamana having performed the rite earlier are cited before referring to the sages, the section of the text relevant to whom is as foJlaws.
(i) Nayas ca purii sapta jaliisraye prati�!hitarn pupujul},19 jinadhiitustharn vidhibhi820 ca viSiiradiil},
The following comments may be made on the above p�tssage (II, 2) in comparing it with the story outlined earlier (II, 1). The name and the location of the pond in which there was a caitya worshipped by the sages is not given in II, 2. The numher of sages unspecified in II, 1 is given as seven ih II, 2. The number of the snake damsels is unspecified in one MS. giving the story of II, 1, but two of the manuscripts imply that there were eight of them. The text in II, 2 does not expressly mention the num ber of snake-maidens, but the fact that they are asked to become seven shells when they are cursed by the sages and the subsequent birth of the shells as seven princesses may be taken as an indication of their having been seven naga-maidens. Some details liKe the incidence of the sages having fainted and the naga-maidens asking for pardon and the means of gaining release from the curse do not occur in II, 2. It is noteworthy however, that the sages wish that the leading one among the maidens in their human Dlrth would have Dharmadak�a as her husband in II, 2, a prediction missing in II, 1. A paddy stalk was circumambulated hy the maidens in II, 1 while grain was circumambulated in the version given in II, 2. The continuation of II, 1 describes the birth or the shells as a fisherman's daughters, as noted by us in section J of this article. This episode is omitted in II, 2 which says tha t the shells became seven pfincesses, one of whom, presumably the eldest, became the spouse of Dharmadak�a, who through hel power of merit gained the (Ahoratra) rite.
( II, 3 ) A different version of the nagini episode occurs in an indepen·
dent Ahoriitravratakathii manuscript belonging to the Tokyo Univer sity Library.45 The text in this manuscript is in prose with verse�
I I I
123
'nterspersed in so�e.
places ..
The.
conte�t in which the _story o�
hi naga-maidens IS Inserted In this text IS as follows. Sakyamunz t
eat Kapilavastu pr�siding over a large assembly when a person
:a�he name of Subhuti requested him to expou�d t?e ahonHravrata.
�e Buddha in response r�ferred t? an occaSIOn In the pas� wh�n
Sarip4tra expounded the nte to KIn� .Dharmadak�a, .who lIved m
the city of Dharmapattana. Descnbmg the beneficial effects of
performing the rite, Sariputra said that the king was entitled to a
one seventh share of these, should he observe the rite46• The
king had a great caitya built after which he performed the rite
following the instructions of Sariputra. At the conclusion of the
rite, Sariputra responded to the king's reference to his not receiving
his share of the outcome of the rite47 by relating the following
story of the past48 which is of interest to us.
A naga and a nagini lived in a pond in the penance-grove of a bodhisattva called Mahamati. Five sages used to worship at a caitya in that beautiful penance-grove. One day the naga and
. nigini bit one of these sages. The sage cursed the naga and nagini and wished that they break up into seven pieces. As soon as they
'were· cursed the snakes became seven shells. On account of their :baving seen caityas constantly during their birth as nagas, the shells recalled their past birth. They realised that they were born as shells as a result of having bitten a sage who was devoted to caitya worship. They regarded each grain (of cereal) in the field (where they were) as a caitya and circumambulated them. On the fourth day from then they became the daughters of a king called Kirakirtti.
The manuscript containing the text is very faulty. a teptative text based on this single manuscript, the available to us at the time of writing.49
We print only one
Kva50 cim maharaja Mahamatir nama bodhisatvanirmitam tap()vanarrz satacaityam ekam asti mahatavi nama. Sarasi pu�ka-ra1)lmekam asti. Tatra naganagini prativasati. Te51 caityas-rama52 aliramalJiya vividhapu�apaparipurlJlJalJ,53 sarrzchanna babhuva. Tasmirn · caitye paiica r�ayo nanasvadhyayajapatapabhaktito pujitavan54 pratidinarrz. Tatra ekasmin dine naganagini nagau tatra r�im ekarrz darnsitavan. Tato r#lJ, sarpadarrzsitavedaniivedayan55sapitavan.56 He naganaginp7 kim artharrz darrzsitarrz ma1Jl, SaptakhalJcJarrz bhavantu vinasau.58 Tato nagfnagau sap itamiitreIJa59 sapta sambuka60 janmantare61 babhuvul}. Eva1!l
The above extract (II, 3) deserves to be compared with a
metrical version occurring in the fifteenth chapter of a manuscript of the VicitrakarlJikaJladana belonging to the library of the Tokai University.73 Here too Sariputra narrates the episode to Dharmadak$a.
The notable details in II, 3 and II, 4 are the number of sage being mentioned as five, the replacement of the naga-maidens by a
male and female snake who break into seven pieces and become shells on being cursed and the occurrence of Kirakirtti instead 0
Krkin as the name of the king as whose seven daughters the shell were born. The course of action that the seven princesses followe as described in U;' 4 viz� resorting to a penance grove and attendin upon Buddhas is similar to that given in the Saprakumarikavadiina. But the version of II, 4 differs completely from it when it states i the words of Sariputra that Dharmadak�a and his wife DharrnaSila presumably the naga and nagin] of the legend were born in Dharma-:1 pattana and received (knowledge of) the Ahoratra rite on accoun'l of that merit. The merit referred to, judging from the context, i� that accumulated during the birth as seven princesses. It i s cleal' that this latter statement is merely the resu It of an attempt to link the story of Krkin's. daughters with the celebrated Ahoratravrata. with a view perhaps to enhance its importance.
NOTES
1. Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, Vol I, London, 1937, Vol II London 1938. See S.v. Kiki where he gives the names of eight daughters: Uracchada, Samal;i, Samal).a, Gutta, Bhikkhudasika., Dhamma, SudhamJ11ii and Sallghadasi. See also the entries under the above names. The numbe r of the daughters appears to vary in the Pali tradition. For instance Uracchada is said to be one of the nine daughters of King Kiki (s.,<,. Uracchada) while seven daughters are referred to elsewhere (e.g. s.v. Gutta, Dhamma).
125
Available in manuscript. form only .. See (i) No. � 3 in the Asia.tic Socie.ty of Bengal noted by Ra1endralala MItra on p. 12 10 the Sanskrit Buddhist Literature 0/ Nepal, Calcutta ] �82. See also ibid p. 221 ff. The MS. No. B 24 he refers to .there �ont,alOs �wo �hapters .of the Asokavadiinamiiia viz., the AhoriitracGl tyasevanusaf!/;sa vadana (fohos 1. -18 and th� Sapta-. kumarikiivadiina (folios 18-34). The whole manuscnpt however IS called Ahoriitravratanu.�m.nsCi and t he colophon on p. 34 reads: AhoratravratanuSamsayarp. Saptakumarikavadanarp. sarp.piirI).arp. This colophon probably made Mitra, give the misleading title Saptakumiiri�ii Avadiin.a alias AboriitravratanU8G1?tsii to the MS. The summary he gIves there IS that of the content of the Ahon.i.tracaityasevanusaf!/;srivadana, that being the correct title of the chClpter given on folio 18 of the MS. (ii) Seir�n Matsunami, A Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the. Tokyo University Lihrary, Tokyo 1965, No. 37 noted on pp. 18 and 213.
(iii) Cecil Bendall, Catalogue 0/ the Buddhist Sanskrit Manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge, Cambridge 1883, MS. Add. 1482.
Filliozat describes a Saptakumiirikiivadana by Gopadatta on p. 85 of the Catalogue du fonds Sanscrit, 1941. From the short quotations in this description it appears to be different from the Asokiivadiinamiilii version. Cf. also E. Burnouf, Introduction a l' histoire du Bouddhisme Indien, Paris] 844, p. 556.
My observations, on the Saptakum(irikiivadana in this article are based on the Calcutta and Toyko MSS. MSS. tad yathCibhut pun'i rajii Vara:(l.asyiif!/; maharddhikaf�
Krk in nama munindrasya Kasyapasya susevakaA tas),a rajiiah sutii sapta kum6iik6J.1 8ubh68aya�
MSS. tata� sa Kasyapo buddhas tary. saptakanyaka api bhik�u'(l.isthaviraya1!l tada caryaya1!1 samarpayat
5. Ratna Handurukande, "The Story of the Shell-maidens" in Aii.ja/i, O. H. de A. Wijesekera Felicitation Volume, ed. by J. Tilakasiri, Colombo 1970, pp. 46-49.
6. Extant in MS. form in Calcutta, Tokyo and Cambridge. See Mitra, op.ciL, p. 221 ff, Matsunami, op.cit. Nos. 37 and 55 and Bendall, op.cit., MS. Add. 1482. My observations here are based on the Calcutta and Tokyo MSS.
.'
MSS. patnya}:! sundarikii,yas ta,}:! sambukii.,}:! purato 'rpayat For a similar confusion in PaJi sources see n. 1 above. This form suggests that the name of the king was KrkL But for the occurrence of the form Krkin cf. n. 3 above. To be emended to Subhamanjari, cf. Section I, v,b of this article.
11. MSS. tatra tiisarn pradhana ya jye�tha sa bhagini sudhlQ . }2. MSS. tatra fasarp. pradhana sa bhagini suddhasaya sudhiQ J 3. MSS. tatas ta,sarp. pradhiina ya bhagini Sa vicak!?at).a ]4. Cf vs. v quoted above .
. 15. See vs. from Saptakumarikavadiilla quoted in the beginning of this article. ] 6' My comments here are based on the Calcutta MS. and the Tokyo MSS.
Nos. 37 and 55; see n. 6 above. 17. Eight maidens according to two MSS.
1
126
18. Matsunami, op.cit., Nos. 96, 97, 98 and 102 III, referred to as A, R C, n � respectively in the following notes. :
49. This quotation is from folio 14 of the MS. Where the reading adopted in the text has been altered, the reading of the MS. is given in the foil. notes.
50. ke
51. tare
52. orne
53. °t;la
54. pujiteyan
1 1 1 1
,
i ! "vedayena
;6- sropitavana
)1 . naganaginii
S8. . vinasau
;9: sasiipita Q
)0. syambukii
,1. janrmataro
,2. syambuka
\3. caityadasainaya
i4. smrrrtava
is. cita
16. syambuO
·7. dhanyasyakakarr
8� smatvii,
9. ditana
o. syamO
1. °labdho
]27
2. The text continues as follows: ta sapta kanyaka [apova. Folio 14 ends here. Then there appears to be a lacuna in the MS. for the next folio begins with da pw;;pa var�a patanti. Possibly the missing portion continued with an account of the story of the seven princesses who resorted to a penance grove. The MS. ends with the following statement: Sariputral), svagrharp, gatavan. Dakl?amaharajena ahoratravratarajaprabhavena mok9am anupriiptarp,.
I. See No. 12 in the Catalogue of the Buddhist Sanskrit Manuscripts in the library of Tokai Unh'ersity by Yutaka Iwamoto, Proceedings of the Faculty of Letters, Vol. 2, Tokyo, 1960.
