Was Buddhaghosa a Brahmin sympathizer?

[ihrjordan]

Hello everyone, I'm reading through the path of purification right now and came across these curious few lines of verse:

"The Divine Ruler with ten hundred eyes
Did him with the Ten Powers eulogize,
Who, fair in fame, made known as cause of jhana
This foulness of ten species in suchwise.
Now knowing their description and the way
To tackle each and how they are developed,
There are some further points that will repay
Study, each with it's special part to play."

Correct me if I'm wrong but I can't recall or even imagine the Buddha referencing a "divine ruler with ten hundred eyes" and I'm not well versed in vedic/brahmin/hindu cosmology (I think it's confusing on purpose) but I do vaguely recall reading of a "God" Purana or some other such name with a ton of eyes who gave birth to Vishnu by his mouth. Now I know he was previously trained under brahmins before converting to Buddhism and it's also possible that he could have been referring to the Buddha himself but this would be the first time I've read such an epithet before...

[ihrjordan]

*From his eyebrows my apologies...

[Dhammanando]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I can't recall or even imagine the Buddha referencing a "divine ruler with ten hundred eyes"

He didn't. Buddhaghosa is referring to Sakka / Śakra / Indra reverencing the Buddha.

[Dhammanando]

The names of Sakka in the Abhidhānappadīpikā (a 13th century Pali thesaurus):

• sakko purindado deva, rājā vajirapāṇi ca,
  sujampati sahassakkho, mahindo vajirāvudho.
  vāsavo ca dasasatanayano tidivādhibhū,
  suranātho ca vajira, hattho ca bhūtapatya’pi,
  maghavā kosiyo indo, vatrabhū pākasāsano.

The relevant ones here here are Sahassakkha and Dasasatanayana, both meaning Possessor of a Thousand Eyes" though Buddhaghosa substitutes another name with the same meaning: Dasasatalocana.

[ihrjordan]

Thanks Bhante. It's interesting that Sacca would praise the Buddha for promoting such practices as foulness contemplation though, considering him to only be a stream enter-er and quite a negligent one at that during the Buddhas reign.

[333]

Reign : hold royal office; rule as king or queen.

The word reign implies control a bit too much to describe the Buddha imo.

[samseva]

Reign : hold royal office; rule as king or queen.

The word reign implies control a bit too much to describe the Buddha imo.

The definition you posted is for 'reign' as a verb. 'Reign' as used by ihrjordan is the noun. Furthermore, you didn't quote the complete definition.

reign |rān|
verb [ no obj. ]
hold royal office; rule as king or queen: Queen Elizabeth reigns over the UK.
• be the best or most important in a particular area or domain: in America, baseball reigns supreme .
• (of a quality or condition) prevail; predominate: confusion reigned.
• (of a sports player or team) currently hold a particular title.
noun
the period during which a sovereign rules: the original chapel was built in the reign of Charles I.
• the period during which someone or something is predominant or preeminent: these historic seconds inaugurated the reign of negative political advertising.

[333]

This is the only definition that could be relevant :• the period during which someone or something is predominant or preeminent: these historic seconds inaugurated the reign of negative political advertising.

The Buddha was not predominant during his lifetime. The brahmic culture remained dominant. So, he never had a 'reign'...

I feel that the word reign is not a skillful way to describe the buddhas time on earth. Just an innocent opinion.

[Ontheway]

In Atthakatha, Sakka is also known as "Sahassanetto Devindo" aka the King of Deva with thousand eyes. I read from the Sakka Nama Sutta:

“Bhikkhus, Sakka, lord of the devas, thinks of a thousand matters in a moment; therefore he is called Sahassakkha, Thousand-eyed.

During the Vedic period, Indra aka Sakka is well celebrated as supreme Deva, it is not suprise why Buddhist writings involved Sakka.

I think Indra is elevated as a War God during vedic time too, often their Vedic mantra invoke Indra as such character:


I think it is similar to Thor or Zeus. But the difference is, now the new Sakka Devaraja becomes Sotapanna.

[thomaslaw]

The following article by Choong Mun-keat may be useful to understand the early Buddhist adaptation of this Vedic god, 'Sakra, ruler of the gods':

"A comparison of the Pali and Chinese versions of the Sakka Samyutta, a collection of early Buddhist discourses on 'Sakra, ruler of the gods' ", in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 22, issue 3-4, October 2012 (Cambridge University Press), pp. 561–574.

[Ontheway]

The following article by Choong Mun-keat may be useful to understand the early Buddhist adaptation of this Vedic god, 'Sakra, ruler of the gods':

"A comparison of the Pali and Chinese versions of the Sakka Samyutta, a collection of early Buddhist discourses on 'Sakra, ruler of the gods' ", in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 22, issue 3-4, October 2012 (Cambridge University Press), pp. 561–574.

Buddhists don't adapt Sakra from Vedas though. It is rather different character at all. I have read the Rigveda and spent some time with it recently and it gave me greater understanding on how differ are they between vedic Indra, puranic Indra and Buddhist Indra.

To say Buddhists adapting the Vedic Sakra is wrong because Lord Buddha by His divine eyes and full understanding, knows what is really happening in Deva worlds. And the actual Sakka Devaraja (Sakra or Indra in reality) comes and visits the Buddha and taken refuge in the Buddha.

And why need to compare with Chinese source that might influenced by Chinese Mahayana thoughts? We have the Pali Tipitaka canon competed with Atthakatha texts. Even if we want to compare, we can compare with Rigveda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda on this aspect.

[thomaslaw]

the actual Sakka Devaraja (Sakra or Indra in reality) comes and visits the Buddha and taken refuge in the Buddha.

Exactly!