Agamas

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This article is about the early Buddhist texts. For the Vajrayana texts, see Agama (Vajrayana). For the etymology of āgama, see āgama.
Early Buddhist Texts
Sutra Pitaka
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See also: Early Buddhism, Buddhist canons

The agamas (Sanskrit, also āgamas) or the five agamas refer to a collection of discourses (sutras) from early Buddhist schools, which are preserved primarily in Chinese translation.

These sutras correspond to the first four Nikāyas (and parts of the fifth) of the Sutta Pitaka of the Pali Canon, although there are differences in the two collections.

History

Jens-Uwe Hartmann writes,[1]

According to tradition, the Buddha's discourses were already collected by the time of the first council, held shortly after the Buddha's death ... Scholars, however, see the texts as continually growing in number and size from an unknown nucleus, thereby undergoing various changes in language and content ...

According to some scholars, among the early schools, at a minimum the Sarvāstivāda, Kāśyapīya, Mahāsāṃghika, and Dharmaguptaka had recensions of four of the five Prakrit/Sanskrit āgamas that differed.

Relation to the Pali Nikayas

Contemporary scholar Rubert Gethin writes:

Today we have two full versions of this Nikāya/Āgama material: a version in Pali forming part of the Pali canon and a version in Chinese translation contained in the Chinese Tripiṭaka. It is usual scholarly practice to refer to the Pali version by the term ‘Nikāya’ and the Chinese by the term ‘Agama’. Like the Pali canon as a whole, it is impossible to date the Pali Nikāyas in their present form with any precision. The Chinese Āgamas were translated into Chinese from Sanskrit or Middle Indo-Aryan dialects around the end of the fourth century CE, but the texts upon which they rest must like the Nikāyas date from the centuries before the beginning of the Christian era. Portions of further versions of this material also come down to us in Tibetan translation in the Tibetan Kanjur.[2]

Gethin also states:

That these texts have become widely known over the past century through their Pali form has sometimes led to an attitude which sees them as presenting the peculiar perspective of Theravāda Buddhism. But, as Étienne Lamotte pointed out forty years ago, the doctrinal basis common to the Chinese Āgamas and Pali Nikāyas is remarkably uniform; such variations as exist affect only the mode of expression or the arrangement of topics. Far from representing sectarian Buddhism, these texts above all constitute the common ancient heritage of Buddhism.[3]

The various āgamas

There are four extant collections of āgamas, and one for which we have only references and fragments (the Kṣudrakāgama). The four extant collections are preserved in their entirety only in Chinese translation, although small portions of all four have recently been discovered in Sanskrit, and portions of four of the five āgamas are preserved in Tibetan.[4]

The five Āgamas are:

Dīrgha Āgama

The Dirgha Agama ("Long Discourses," Cháng Ahánjīng)[5] corresponds to the Dīgha Nikāya of the Pali Canon.

A complete version of the Dīrgha Āgama of the Dharmaguptaka (法藏部) school was done by Buddhayaśas (佛陀耶舍) and Zhu Fonian (竺佛念) in the Late Qin dynasty (後秦), dated to 413 CE. It contains 30 sūtras in contrast to the 34 suttas of the Theravadin Dīgha Nikāya. A "very substantial" portion of the Sarvāstivādin Dīrgha Āgama survives in Sanskrit,[6] and portions survive in Tibetan translation.

Madhyama Āgama

The Madhyama Āgama ("Middle-length Discourses") corresponds to the Majjhima Nikāya of the Pali Canon. A complete translation of the Madhyama Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school was done by Saṃghadeva (Chinese: 僧伽提婆) in the Eastern Jin dynasty in 397-398 CE. The Madhyama Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school contains 222 sūtras, in contrast to the 152 suttas of the Pāli Majjhima Nikāya. Portions of the Sarvāstivāda Madhyama Āgama also survive in Tibetan translation.

Saṃyukta Āgama

The Saṃyukta Āgama ("Connected Discourses", Zá Ahánjīng 雜阿含經 Taishō 2.99)[5] corresponds to the Saṃyutta Nikāya of the Theravada school. A Chinese translation of the complete Saṃyukta Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda (說一切有部) school was done by Guṇabhadra (求那跋陀羅) in the Song state (宋), dated to 435-443 CE. Portions of the Sarvāstivāda Saṃyukta Āgama also survive in Sanskrit[7] and Tibetan translation. In 2014,The Collation and Annotation of Saṃyuktāgama（《<雜阿含經>校釋》, Chinese version）, written by Wang Jianwei and Jin Hui, was published in China.

There is also an incomplete Chinese translation of the Saṃyukta Āgama (別譯雜阿含經 Taishō 100) of the Kāśyapīya (飲光部) school by an unknown translator, from around the Three Qin (三秦) period, 352-431 CE.[4] A comparison of the Sarvāstivādin, Kāśyapīya, and Theravadin texts reveals a considerable consistency of content, although each recension contains texts not found in the others.

Ekottara Āgama

Main article: Ekottara Agama

The Ekottara Āgama ("Numbered Discourses," Zēngyī Ahánjīng, 增壹阿含經 Taishō 125)[5] corresponds to the Anguttara Nikāya of the Theravada school. A complete version of the Ekottara Āgama was translated by Dharmanandi (曇摩難提) of the Fu Qin state (苻秦), and edited by Gautama Saṃghadeva in 397–398 CE. Some believed that it came from the Sarvāstivāda school, but more recently the Mahāsāṃghika branch has been proposed as well.[8] According to A.K. Warder, the Ekottara Āgama references 250 Prātimokṣa rules for monks, which agrees only with the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, which is also located in the Chinese Buddhist canon. He also views some of the doctrine as contradicting tenets of the Mahāsāṃghika school, and states that they agree with Dharmaguptaka views currently known. He therefore concludes that the extant Ekottara Āgama is that of the Dharmaguptaka school.[9]

Of the four Āgamas of the Sanskritic Sūtra Piṭaka in the Chinese Buddhist Canon, it is the one which differs most from the Theravādin version. The Ekottara Āgama contains variants on such standard teachings as the Noble Eightfold Path.[10] According to Keown, "there is considerable disparity between the Pāli and the [Chinese] versions, with more than two-thirds of the sūtras found in one but not the other compilation, which suggests that much of this portion of the Sūtra Piṭaka was not formed until a fairly late date."[11]

Kṣudraka Āgama or Kṣudraka Piṭaka

The Kṣudraka Āgama ("Minor Collection") corresponds to the Khuddaka Nikāya, and existed in some schools. The Dharmaguptaka in particular, had a Kṣudraka Āgama.[12] The Chinese translation of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya provides a table of contents for the Dharmaguptaka recension of the Kṣudraka Āgama, and fragments in Gandhari appear to have been found.[13] Items from this Āgama also survive in Tibetan and Chinese translation—fourteen texts, in the later case.[12][14][15] Some schools, notably the Sarvāstivāda, recognized only four Āgamas—they had a "Kṣudraka" which they did not consider to be an "Āgama."[14][16] Others—including even the Dharmaguptaka, according to some contemporary scholars—preferred to term it a ""Kṣudraka Piṭaka." As with its Pāḷi counterpart, the Kṣudraka Āgama appears to have been a miscellany, and was perhaps never definitively established among many early schools.

Additional materials

In addition, there is a substantial quantity of āgama-style texts outside of the main collections. These are found in various sources:

  1. Partial āgama collections and independent sutras within the Chinese canon.
  2. Small groups of sutras or independent sutras within the Tibetan canon.
  3. Sutras reconstructed from ancient manuscripts in Sanskrit, Gandhari, or other ancient Indic languages.
  4. Passages and quotes from āgama sutras preserved within Mahayana Sutras, Abhidharma texts, later commentaries, and so on.
  5. Isolated phrases preserved in inscriptions. For example, the Ashoka pillar at Lumbini declares iha budhe jāte, a quote from the Mahaparinirvana Sutra.

Etymology of āgama

Main article: āgama

The Sanskrit term āgama (T. lung; C. ahan jing) is generally translated as "text" or "scripture",[17] and generally refers to a "received scriptual tradition."[17]

Translations

English translations of texts from the Chinese canon (including the agamas):

Translations into English and other languages of the agamas, alongside texts of the Pali Canon. (Note: most of the agamas are not yet translated into English by this translation group.)

Notes

  1. ↑ Hartmann, Jens-Uwe (2003). "Agamas", in Buswell, Robert E. ed.; Encyclopedia of Buddhism, New York: Macmillan Reference Lib. ISBN 0028657187. Vol. 1, p. 10.
  2. ↑ Gethin, Rupert (1998-07-16). The Foundations of Buddhism (p. 43). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.
  3. ↑ Gethin, Rupert (1998-07-16). The Foundations of Buddhism (p. 44). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 A Dictionary of Buddhism, by Damien Keown, Oxford University Press: 2004
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Muller, Charles. Digital Dictionary of Buddhism, entry on 阿含經
  6. ↑ Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE by Patrick Olivelle. Oxford University Press, 2006 ISBN 0-19-530532-9 pg 356
  7. ↑ Tripaṭhī 1962.
  8. ↑ Sujato Bhikkhu. "About the EA". ekottara.googlepages.com. Retrieved on 2009-03-01.
  9. ↑ Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 6
  10. ↑ Sujato Bhikkhu. "About the EA". ekottara.googlepages.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-18.
  11. ↑ Keown, Damien. A Dictionary of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Andrew Skilton (2004). A Concise History of Buddhism. Windhorse Publications. p. 82. ISBN 0-904766-92-6. 
  13. ↑ Richard Salomon, Frank Raymond Allchin, Mark Barnard (1999). Ancient Buddhist scrolls from Gandhāra: the British Library Kharoṣṭhī fragments. University of Washington Press. p. 161. ISBN 0-295-97769-8. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Sean Gaffney. The Pali Nidanakatha and its Tibetan Translation: Its Textual Precursors and Associated Literature. 
  15. ↑ T. Skorupski (1996). The Buddhist Forum, Volume 2. Routledge. p. 78. ISBN 0-7286-0255-5. 
  16. ↑ T. Skorupski (1996). The Buddhist Forum, Volume 2. Routledge. p. 77. ISBN 0-7286-0255-5. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Robert E. Buswell Jr., Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton: 2014), s.v. āgama


Sources

Bibliography

External links

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