Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies

Transcription

1 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies Issue 7 August 2013 ISSN An online journal published by the Tibetan and Himalayan Library (THL)

2 Editor-in-Chief: David Germano Guest Editor: Karl Debreczeny Book Review Editor: Bryan J. Cuevas Managing Editor: Steven Weinberger Assistant Editors: Naomi Worth, Ben Nourse, and William McGrath Technical Director: Nathaniel Grove Contents Articles Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas in History: A Brief Note (pp. 1-16) Elliot Sperling Si tu paṇ chen and the House of Sde dge: A Demanding but Beneficial Relationship (pp ) Rémi Chaix The Prolific Preceptor: Si tu paṇ chen s Career as Ordination Master in Khams and Its Effect on Sectarian Relations in Sde dge (pp ) Jann Ronis Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest: Si tu paṇ chen, Monastic Ideals, and the Buddha s Biographies (pp ) Nancy G. Lin Si tu paṇ chen and His Painting Style: A Retrospective (pp ) Tashi Tsering Si tu paṇ chen s Artistic Legacy in Jang (pp ) Karl Debreczeny Mercury, Mad Dogs, and Smallpox: Medicine in the Si tu paṇ chen Tradition (pp ) Frances Garrett Si tu paṇ chen on Scholarship (pp ) Kurtis R. Schaeffer Notes Apropos to the Oeuvre of Si tu paṇ chen Chos kyi byung gnas (1699?-1774) (4): A Tibetan Sanskritist in Nepal (pp ) (forthcoming) Peter Verhagen ii

3 Articles Arriving Ahead of Time: The Ma das sprul sku and Issues of Sprul sku hood (pp ) Marcia S. Calkowski The Significant Leap from Writing to Print: Editorial Modification in the First Printed Edition of the Collected Works of Sgam po pa Bsod nams rin chen (pp ) Ulrich Timme Kragh In the Hidden Valley of the White Conch: The Inscription of a Bhutanese Pure Land (pp ) Bryan Phillips and Lopen Ugyen Gyurme Tendzin Book Reviews Review of A Noble Noose of Methods, The Lotus Garland Synopsis: A Mahāyoga Tantra and Its Commentary, by Cathy Cantwell and Robert Mayer (pp ) Giacomella Orofino Abstracts (pp ) Contributors to this Issue (pp ) iii

4 Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest: - Si tu paṇ chen, Monastic Ideals, and the Buddha s Biographies Nancy G. Lin Vanderbilt University Abstract: In this article I demonstrate that close readings of Tibetan adaptations of the Buddha s life reveal a complex literary and artistic corpus. Such adaptations serve as sites of discourse where the particular concerns and projects of Tibetan authors and artists can be elicited within their religious and historical contexts. I examine two biographies of the Buddha Śākyamuni: a textual account by Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas ( ) and a pictorial design preserved in two thang kas in the Tibet Museum (Bod ljongs rten rdzas bshams mdzod khang, Xizang bowuguan, 西藏博物馆 ) in Lha sa. I argue that themes of ascetic purity and seclusion are developed in these two works, expressing monastic ideals in dynamic response to sectarian politics and the changing character of monastic communities in Khams. By reading sets of adaptations together with their sources and across textual and visual media I suggest that we can better recognize and analyze how they shape cultural imagination. Introduction How did the Buddha s life story get retold in Tibet, and for what ends? 1 What questions open up when we take this process of adaptation as an object of study in its own right? The life of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Shākya thub pa) appears to be a familiar and innocuous subject a story that has simply been borrowed from India and perhaps for these reasons it has not attracted much attention in Tibetan 1 I would like to thank Karl Debreczeny, David Jackson, Jann Ronis, and Kurtis Schaeffer for their useful and stimulating comments and papers, along with other participants of the 2009 Symposium on Situ Panchen at the Rubin Museum of Art and the panel on Situ Panchen, Tibetan Polymath of 18th-Century Dergé at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies. I would also like to thank Patricia Berger, Jacob Dalton, Alexander Rospatt, and Hubert Decleer for their thoughtful suggestions on drafts of this article. In addition, I am grateful to the staff of the Asian Classics Input Project; while my citations reflect textual verification with the printed edition of the Sde dge Bka gyur, their digital input greatly facilitated my use of canonical references at the time that this research was conducted. Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013): /2013/7/T by Nancy G. Lin, Tibetan and Himalayan Library, and International Association of Tibetan Studies. Distributed under the THL Digital License.

5 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013) 87 studies. In this article I demonstrate that close readings of Tibetan adaptations of the Buddha s life reveal a complex literary and artistic corpus in response to multiple sources. Such adaptations may be understood as sites of discourse where the particular concerns and projects of Tibetan authors and artists can be elicited within the context of contemporaneous religious and historical developments. Specifically, the present article examines two biographies of the Buddha Śākyamuni: one is a textual account by the Eighth Tā i si tu pa, Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas ( ), in his catalogue to the Sde dge Bka gyur (Translated Word [of the Buddha]), and the other is a pictorial design preserved in two thang kas in the Tibet Museum (Bod ljongs rten rdzas bshams mdzod khang, Xizang bowuguan, 西藏博物馆 ) in Lha sa (Lasa, 拉萨 ). I argue that themes of ascetic purity and seclusion are developed in these two works, conveying a vision of ideal monastic life that favors both scholasticism and celibacy. This vision may be interpreted as a dynamic response to sectarian politics and the changing character of monastic communities in Khams. Si tu s Bka gyur Catalogue Early in 1731 Si tu undertook the editing of the Bka gyur. 2 The formal request of the Sde dge ruler Bstan pa tshe ring ( ) is recorded in a biography of Si tu by his contemporary, the Sde dge court physician (bla sman) and secretary (drung yig) Gu ru phel: In the Iron-Pig Year the dharma king (chos rgyal, dharmarāja) of Sde dge enjoined [Si tu]: The life-force of the Buddha s teachings is the Translated Word [of the Buddha] and Translated Treatises (Bstan gyur). Although they were already made with devotion Into print editions such as the Chinese, Dbus, and Li thang, 3 It seems that, thanks to confusions of word order, they merely exist [without much use]. 2 Si-tu Paṇ-chen Chos-kyi- byuṅ-gnas, The Autobiography and Diaries of Si-tu Paṇ-chen, ed. Lokesh Chandra, for. E. Gene Smith, Śata-piṭaka Series 77 (New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1968), The Chinese edition likely refers to the Yongle edition together with the subsequent impressions of Wanli and Kangxi. The Dbus edition may refer to the Them spangs ma manuscript copied widely during the reign of the Fifth Dalai Lama ( ). In particular the Lho rdzong Bka gyur, a descendant of the Them spangs ma, was consulted in the making of the Sde dge edition. The Li thang or Jang sa tham edition a descendant of the Tshal pa edition was produced from and served as the base text for the Sde dge edition. In his Bka gyur catalogue Si tu refers to the Lho rdzong, Yongle and Jang sa tham editions. Helmut Eimer, Some Results of Recent Kanjur Research, in Archiv für zentralasiatische Geschichtsforschung, ed. Dieter Schuh and Michael Weiers (Sankt Augustin, Germany: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag, 1983), 24; Kurtis R. Schaeffer, The Culture of the Book in Tibet (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), 145. See also Paul Harrison, A Brief History of the Tibetan bka gyur, in Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre, ed. José Ignacio Cabezón and Roger R. Jackson (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 1996), 70-94; and Paul Harrison, In Search of the Source of the Tibetan Bka gyur: A Reconnaissance Report, in Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Sixth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Fagernes 1992, ed. Per Kvaerne, Occasional Papers (Oslo: The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, 1994),

6 Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest 88 Not only that, they can t be trusted by all scholars. So that the banner of the Buddha s teachings does not decline, [I ask] if you would be pleased to produce an edition of the Bka gyur. You are the crown jewel of Sanskrit-Tibetan scholars, and Your knowledge of the entire Bka gyur and Translated Treatises is vast and unhindered. Hence, with the Dharma eye [you] possess, perfectly clarify The flawed translations, wrong words, and mixed-up order In the previous editions of the precious Bka gyur. At the inaugural celebration a large dkyil khor (maṇḍala) was offered. Then [Si tu] did the editing in stages and acquired assistants in accordance with his wishes. 4 Bstan pa tshe ring s verses express high regard for Si tu s abilities as a scholar who could operate in Sanskrit and Tibetan languages and who had wide-ranging knowledge of the Buddhist canon. He suggests that previous editors had devotion (mos pa, adhimukti) to the buddhadharma (sangs rgyas kyi chos), but nevertheless did not manage to produce perfectly correct texts. The need for dependable scriptures remains, since scholars reading these texts might harbor doubts about apparently unresolved issues in the Buddha s teachings that are actually caused by textual corruption. Mere linguistic aptitude, it is further suggested, may not be sufficient for the task either. Bstan pa tshe ring attributes to Si tu the Dharma eye (chos spyan, dharmacakṣus), which, according to Sthiramati s explication of the five eyes (pañcacakṣus, spyan lnga) understands without impediment all the scripture, understands the stream of consciousness of persons... and see[s] dharmas in the conventional sense. 5 A sampling of Si tu s impressive erudition and grasp of the Bka gyur will be offered in the discussion below. However, despite the lofty rhetoric entrusting Si tu with this project, he was not to enjoy full editorial control at its conclusion. The following year, during the auspicious fourth lunar month of Sa ga zla ba celebrating the key events of the Buddha s life, Si tu finished editing the Bka gyur. At the request of Bstan pa tshe ring, Si tu began composing a catalogue to 4 lcags phag chos rgyal sde dge i bka bskul te// sangs rgyas bstan pa i srog ni bka bstan gyur// de la mos pas rgya dbus li thang sogs// phyi mo par du bsgrubs zin dug na yang // brda chad go rim khrul pas yin lo tsam// ma gtogs mkhas kun yid brtan mi nus kyi// sangs rgyas bstan pa mi nub rgyal mtshan du// bka gyur par zhig bzhengs par spro ba na// khyod ni rgya bod mkhas pa i gtsugs rgyan te// bka bstan kun la thogs med mkhyen pa rgyas// de phyir bka gyur rin chen phyi mo rnams// gyur nyes brda log go rim khrugs pa rnams// chos spyan ldan pas dag par gsal bar mdzod// dbu dzugs dga ston maṇḍal cher bul zhus/ de nas rim gyis zhu dag mdzad pa dang / zhar byung gdul bya i re ba skong bzhin du//. Sde dge i bla sman gu ru phel, Rje btsun bla ma si tu chos kyi byung gnas kyi rnam par thar pa dad pa i sa bon skyed pa i bdud rtsi i zim char [Light Rain of Nectar Sprouting Seeds of Trust: Life of Jetsün Lama Situ Chökyi Jungné], in Dpal spungs thub bstan chos khor gling gi lo rgyus [History of Pelpung Tupten Chökhorling], ed. Karma rgyal mtshan (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2007), Translated in Alex Wayman, The Buddhist Theory of Vision, in Buddhist Insight: Essays by Alex Wayman, ed. George R. Elder (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984),

7 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013) 89 the Bka gyur. Like earlier Tibetan canonical catalogues, in addition to the index (bzhugs byang) it was to contain a lengthy introduction to Buddhism recounting Śākyamuni's path to liberation through the course of many lives, together with the subsequent spread and preservation of Buddhism in India and Tibet, especially via the formation and transmission of the canon. 6 Si tu originally planned eight chapters, which, he noted, would match in number the eight auspicious symbols (bkra shis rtags brgyad, aṣṭamaṅgala). However, Si tu wrote, because some disapproving objections from the great abbot (mkhan chen) were made that it was too long, and so forth, the first three chapters had to be cut. 7 The great abbot mentioned here is most likely Mkhan chen rdo rje chang bkra shis lhun grub, the retired thirty-first abbot of Ngor, who came to Sde dge in 1728 and was influential at court, notably for effecting the Sde dge printing of the Collected Works of the Sakya (Sa skya bka bum) in fifteen volumes. 8 While we may never know what other objections may have been raised, this rare instance of outspokenness in Si tu s generally terse diary indicates his great disappointment at having to omit so much of his text from the final edition of the Bka gyur catalogue. Si tu s collected works, however, preserve a full eight-chapter edition of his catalogue. 9 The full title of the catalogue may be translated as A Vine of Young Moonbeams that Bring Jasmine Flowers the Conviction of the Intelligent into Full Bloom: Fine Discourse on How the Collection of Previous s of the Sugata s Words, Conveyed through the Language of the Snowy Land, Were Published in a Blockprint Edition hereafter referred to as the catalogue or as Vine of Young Moonbeams (Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing). 10 The work was completed in the 6 On the contents of Tibetan canonical catalogues see A.I. Vostrikov, Tibetan Historical Literature, trans. Harish Chandra Gupta, Soviet Indology Series 4 (Calcutta: R.D. Press, 1970), Autobiography of Si-tu, The invitation of Bkra shis lhun grub by Bstan pa tshe ring and his arrival in Sde dge are documented in Zhu-chen Tshul-khrims-rin-chen [Zhu chen tshul khrims rin chen], The Autobiography of Tshul-khrims-rin-chen of Sde-dge and of His Selected Writings (Delhi: N. Lungtok and N. Gyaltsen, 1971), Zhu chen later provides his titles and names in full as Sde dge i mkhan chen rdo rje chang bkra shis lhun grub ( ) (ibid., ). For a brief biography of this figure mentioning his activities in Sde dge, see Mu po, Lam bras bla ma brgyud pa i rnam thar [Biographies of the Lamdré Lama Lineage] (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2002), On his role in the Sde dge edition of the Sa skya bka bum, see David P. Jackson, The Entrance Gate for the Wise (Section III): Sa-skya Paṇḍita on Indian and Tibetan Traditions of Pramāṇa and Philosophical Debate (Wien: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 1987), vol. 1, Si tu further wrote in his diaries that the three omitted chapters dealt with the three bodies (sku gsum, trikāya) of the Buddha, the birth-stories regarding the way in which the Teacher himself generated bodhicitta, and the demonstration of the twelve great deeds. Autobiography of Si-tu, However, in the eight-chapter version, the first chapter mainly treats the world with its environment and beings, and is so titled. Since Si tu discusses the three bodies in a systematic way in the first section of Chapter Three on the deeds of the Buddha, I suggest that Si tu composed a new chapter on the world and combined his discussion of the three bodies with the chapter on the life of the Buddha. See also P.C. Verhagen s discussion of these two differing versions. P.C. Verhagen, Notes apropos to the Oeuvre of Si-tu Paṇ-chen Chos-kyi- byuṅ-gnas (1699?-1774) 2: Dkar-chag Materials, in Gedenkschrift J.W. de Jong, ed. H.W. Bodewitz and M. Hara (Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 2004), Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Bde bar gshegs pa i bka gangs can gyi brdas drangs pa i phyi mo i tshogs ji snyed pa par du bsgrubs pa i tshul las nye bar brtsams pa i gtam bzang po blo ldan

8 Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest 90 first half of the seventh month of the female water-ox year (1733). 11 The third and lengthiest chapter (seventy folios) reconstructs the biography of the Buddha Śākyamuni from Bka gyur sources and is entitled Brief Explanation of the Deeds of our Teacher, the Excellent Guide, Lord of the Śākyas (Bdag cag gi ston pa rnam dren shākya i dbang po i mdzad pa mdo tsam du legs par bshad pa). 12 Si tu states that his narrative is principally based on the Extensive Play (Rgya cher rol pa, Lalitavistara), and although it is supplemented with other Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna sūtras (mdo), it is compiled without mixing them. 13 That is, Si tu does not provide a seamless and straightforward narrative of the Buddha s lives as we find, for example, in popular accounts of the Twelve Deeds [of the Buddha] (mdzad pa bcu gnyis). 14 Rather, in the catalogue he draws from multiple sources, juxtaposing and citing different versions of the same events. This scholarly method reveals the meticulousness of Si tu s editing process, even as it draws attention to the discrepancies between canonical texts. By way of example, here I present differing accounts of the offering of milk pudding to the Bodhisattva (Byang chub sems dpa ), as given in Si tu s Vine of Young Moonbeams. These occur at the conclusion of the six years of austerities, after the Bodhisattva understands that extreme asceticism is not the path to liberation and decides to eat substantial food again. Si tu includes three different summaries of this event, based respectively on the Sūtra on the Extensive [Account of the Buddha s] Play (Rgya cher rol pa i mdo, Lalitavistarasūtra), the Division on Monastic Conduct ( Dul ba gzhi, Vinayavastu), and the Sūtra of the Great Departure (Mngon par byung ba i mdo, Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra). Si tu s first summary of the milk pudding episode is based on the Extensive Play: In the morning he set out to the village for alms. Meanwhile, around midnight a god urged Sujātā (Legs skyes ma), Earlier a resolution was made by you; make mos pa i kunda yongs su kha phye ba i zla od gzhon nu i khri shing [A Vine of Young Moonbeams that Bring Jasmine Flowers the Conviction of the Intelligent into Full Bloom: Fine Discourse on How the Collection of Previous s of the Sugata s Words, Conveyed through the Language of the Snowy Land, Were Published in a Blockprint Edition], in Tā i si tu pa kun mkhyen chos kyi byung gnas bstan pa i nyin byed kyi bka bum [Collected Works of Tai Situpa Künkhyen Chökyi Jungné Tenpé Nyinjé] (Kangra, H.P.: Sherab Gyaltsen, 1990), vol. da [9], 1a-260a. 11 Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, 260a yal dab gsum pa/ bdag cag gi ston pa rnam dren shākya i dbang po i mdzad pa mdo tsam du legs par bshad pa/. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, 33a-102b. 13 rgya che rol pa i mdo gzhir bzhag nas theg pa che chung gi mdo gzhan nas kha bskang ba rnams kyang ma dres par bkod pa las/. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, 42a On the canonized praise of the Twelve Deeds [of the Buddha] attributed to Nāgārjuna, see Lobsang Dargyay, The Twelve Deeds of the Buddha A Controversial Hymn Ascribed to Nāgārjuna, The Tibet Journal 9, no. 2 (Summer 1984): On the development of the Twelve Deeds [of the Buddha] in Tibet, see Deborah Klimburg-Salter, The Life of the Buddha in Western Himalayan Monastic Art and Its Indian Origins: Act One, East and West (Rome) 38, nos. 1-4 (Dec. 1988), ; Christian Luczanits, Prior to Birth II: The Tuṣita Episodes in Early Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Art, in Pramāṇakīrtiḥ: Papers Dedicated to Ernst Steinkellner on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, ed. Birgit Kellner et al, Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 70 (Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien, 2007),

9 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013) 91 it happen! Quickly she extracted the essence of the milk of a thousand cows seven times. She poured it together with new rice into a new vessel, put it on a new hearth and boiled it. In it auspicious symbols were seen such as the glorious knot [of eternity] (dpal be u, śrīvatsa), g.yung drung (svāstika), and lotus. She was certain that if the Bodhisattva ate that food, he would obtain the nectar [of liberation]; an astrologer also explained [that to be the case]. After boiling the milk pudding she spread it out and sprinkled flowers and scented water on it. Then she sent a maidservant named Uttarā (Gong ma) to invite a brahmin. But because the gods concealed [all] others, though she looked in the four directions she could find no mendicants or brahmins other than the Bodhisattva. So she returned and said, Wherever I go, there is no one other than the handsome mendicant. [Sujātā] said, That s the one! Go call him! Then, since he was invited, he sat down in Sujātā s home. Filling a great golden vessel with honeyed milk pudding, Sujātā offered it. Stirred by compassion, he resolved, Having eaten this, without a doubt I shall obtain the nectar [of liberation]! 15 Si tu condenses the Extensive Play passage, but otherwise follows the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit text quite closely. 16 Stylistically, the main effect is a quickening of the narrative pace, with the dialogue becoming more crisp and colloquial. One notable change is that Si tu supplies the new phrase stirred by compassion, a supplementary insertion that reiterates the Bodhisattva s commitment to obtain liberation for the sake of others as well as himself. In short, Si tu s strategies here are to summarize, clarify, and expand the text, strategies that feature in the conservative commentarial traditions of Tibetan Buddhism snga dro grong du bsod snyoms kyi phyir zhugs pa na/ legs skyes ma la nam phyed tsam na lhas sngon khyod kyis smon lam btab pa i bya ba de gyis shig par bskul bas/ des myur bar ba stong gi o ma lan bdun du nying khur byas pa blangs nas/ bras sar pa dang lhan cig phru ba sar par blugs te thab gsar par btsugs nas bskol ba na/ de i nang du dpal be [read be u] g.yung drung padma la sogs pa bkra shis pa i mtshan mthong nas/ byang chub sems dpas zas de zos na bdud rtsi thob par nges pa rnyed cing mtshan mkhan gyis kyang bstan to/ de nas o thug tshos nas thang la bzhag ste/ me tog dang spos chus gtor nas bran mo gong ma zhes pa bram ze mgron du bod par btang ngo / des kyang lha rnams kyis gzhan dag bsgribs pas phyogs bzhir btsal kyang / byang chub sems dpa kho na las dge sbyong bram ze gzhan ma rnyed pas slar log nas smras pa/ gang du mchis kyang dge sbyong mdzes pa las gzhan mi gda o/ des smras pa/ de nyid yin gyi bos shig /de nas spyan drangs pas legs skyes ma i khyim du stan la bzhugs te/ legs skyes mas o thug sbrang rtsi can gyis gser snod chen po bkang ste phul ba thugs brtse bas blangs te/ di zos nas the tshom med par bdud rtsi thob par bya o snyam du dgongs so/ /. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, 79a.6-79b Phags pa rgya cher rol pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po i mdo [The Noble Extensive (Account of the Buddha s) Play, A Mahāyāna Sūtra, Āryalalitavistaranāmamahāyānasūtra], in The Sde-dge Mtshal-par Bka - gyur: A Facsimile Edition of the 18th Century Redaction of Si-tu Chos-kyi byuṅ-gnas Prepared Under the Direction of H.H. the 16th Rgyal-dbaṅ Karma-pa (Delhi: Delhi Karmapae Chodhey Gyalwae Sungrab Partun Khang, ), vol. kha (46), 131b.5-132b.2. Cf. Shridhar Tripathi ed., Lalita-vistara, Buddhist Sanskrit s 1, 2nd. ed. (Darbhanga: Mithila Institute of Post-graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1987), For canonical sources I cite the Sde dge edition because of Si tu s responsibility for and hence presumed familiarity with this edition, but also cite from a Sanskrit edition when available. 17 On the techniques, functions, and meanings of commentaries, as well as the doctrinal conservatism of Tibetan Buddhist commentaries, see José Ignacio Cabezón, Buddhism and Language (Albany: State

10 Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest 92 Significantly, Si tu also uses the term nectar (bdud rtsi, amṛta) to refer to the Bodhisattva s impending liberation; in the Extensive Play the terms used by Sujātā and the Bodhisattva are awakening (byang chub, bodhi) and unexcelled, complete, perfect awakening (bla na med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa i byang chub, anuttarāsamyaksambodhi), although the astrologer does refer to it as nectar in his confirmation of Sujātā s knowledge. 18 Si tu s word choice plays on the meaning of amṛta as both the deathless state of liberation and as the ambrosial liquid which brings about that state. As we will see, this emphasis on the milk pudding and its role in the Bodhisattva s liberation recurs in Si tu s text. The identity of the donor as the lady Sujātā is familiar to many Buddhists. However, Si tu follows his account based on the Extensive Play with another version, citing the Monastic Conduct ( Dul ba, Vinaya) as its source: 19 Two daughters of Sena named Nandā (Dga ma) and Nandabalā (Dga stobs ma), due to a prophecy by a seer, had finished twelve years of ascetic practices in order to become queens of the cakravartin youth Siddhārtha (Don grub). The ascetic fatigued by his austerities was about to arrive; in order to make him an offering, they milked a thousand cows and fed [that milk] to five hundred. Milking those [five hundred], they fed it it to two hundred fifty, and so on down, concentrating it until there were eight cows. Milking those [eight], they fed those same [eight] sixteen times, and boiled the resulting concentrate in a crystal vessel. The gods of the pure abode (gnas gtsang ma i lha, śuddhāvāsakāyikadeva) poured in medicine called Strengthening (mthu skyed pa, sadyobala). Seeing auspicious symbols in it, one named Upaga (Kun tu nyer gro) asked for it, but they would not give it. Śakra (Brgya byin) in the guise of a brahmin, along with Brahmā (Tshangs pa) and the gods of the pure abode, came there. The [two daughters] poured the milk pudding into a precious vessel and offered it to Śakra. He would not accept it, saying, Brahmā is more distinguished than I. So it was offered to Brahmā. However, he likewise [indicated] the gods of the pure abode. They also would not accept it, indicating the Bodhisattva, so the two daughters went before him. At that time, the Bodhisattva was bathing in the Nairañjanā (Nai ranydza nā) River. He could not cross [due to weakness], so he grasped a branch of the arjuna (a rdzu na) tree that was lowered by a god, and emerged. He put on Dharma robes and sat down, and then they offered the milk pudding together with the vessel. After he finished the milk pudding, he threw the vessel into the water. A nāga-serpent (klu, nāga) took it, but Śakra turned into a garuḍa-bird (mkha lding) and stole it. University of New York Press, 1994), 71-87; and Georges B.J. Dreyfus, The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2003), Rgya cher rol pa, 132a.3, 132b.2. Note that while the Tibetan translation gives byang chub in the first instance on 132a.3, Tripathi s Sanskrit edition contains the full phrase in the corresponding text, anuttarāṃ samyaksambodhiṃ. Tripathi, Lalita-vistara, , di skabs su lung las di ltar byung ste/. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, 86a.5.

11 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013) 93 Although the two daughters had made a resolution to marry the youth Siddhārtha, he said that he had already renounced. So they offered [this verse]: By whatever merit there may be from this fine offering, May the renowned Sarvārthasiddha (Don rnams kun grub pa) Best among men, supremely intelligent Swiftly accomplish all aims! 20 This digest in Si tu s Vine of Young Moonbeams indeed corresponds to the account in the Division on Monastic Conduct and is even more condensed than his previous digest based on the Extensive Play. 21 Certain themes related to the food offering recur in both of Si tu s summaries. The milk pudding is characterized by purity: in Si tu s Extensive Play digest this is achieved through the newness of the rice, vessel, and hearth, whereas in his Division on Monastic Conduct digest the procedure of condensing the milk through the repeated feeding and milking of progressively fewer cows is enumerated in greater detail. The milk pudding is also precious: in both cases auspicious signs are seen in the liquid, it is served in a valuable vessel, and gods intervene to ensure that no one other than the Bodhisattva can drink it. It is also noteworthy that in both digests the food is offered by human females. However, there are several striking differences in the plot. First, in Si tu s Division on Monastic Conduct digest there are two sisters who prepare the milk pudding and participate in its giving, rather than the single maiden Sujātā. Nandā and Nandabalā did not know that the youth Siddhārtha had renounced and were bound up in the ulterior motive to marry him. The characters Nandā and Nandabalā thus introduce narrative tension into Si tu s Division on Monastic Conduct digest, which is resolved at the end of the episode when they abandon their former 20 sde can gyi bu mo dga ma dang / dga stobs ma gnyis mtshan mkhan gyis lung bstan nas gzhon nu don grub khor los sgyur bar gyur ba i btsun mo bya ba i phyir/ lo bcu gnyis su brtul zhugs spyad nas de zin pa dang / drang srong dka thub kyis dub pa blo [read glo] bur ongs pa la sbyin pa i ched du ba stong bzhos nas lnga brgya la blud/ de bzhos nas nyis brgya lnga bcu la blud pa sogs rim gyis nyid khur byas te brgyad du gyur pa dang / de dag bzhos nas de dag nyid blud pa lan bcu drug tu byas pa i nyid khu shel snod du bskol ba la gnas gtsang ma i lha rnams kyis mthu skyed pa zhes bya ba i sman blug pa der bkra shis pa i mtshan mthong nas kun tu nyer gro zhes bya bas bslangs kyang ma byin no/ brgya byin bram ze i cha byad kyis dang / tshangs pa dang / gnas gtsang ma i lha ang der ong nas dug pa dang / des o thug rin po che i yos [read yol] gor blugs nas brgya byin la byin pa dang / des ma blangs te rang nyid las tshangs pa khyad par phags pa o/ zhes smras pas tshangs pa la byin no/ des kyang de bzhin du gnas gtsang ma i lha la o/ des kyang ma blangs te byang chub sems dpa bstan pas bu mo gnyis de i drung du chas te/ de i tshe byang chub sems dpa nai ranydza nār sku bkrus nas rgal ma spyod par lhas a rdzu na i yal ga smad pa la jus nas byung zhing chos gos mnabs te bzhugs pa la o thug snod bcas phul zhing/ o thug gsol zin nas yol go chur dor ba klus blangs kyang brgya byin gyis mkha lding du byas nas phrogs so/ / bu mo gnyis kyis gzhon nu don grub khyim thab tu smon lam byas kyang / de rab tu byung zin par gsungs pas/ bsod pa phul ba'i bsod nams ci mchis pas/ grags dang ldan pa don rnams kun 'grub pa/ mi yi mchog gyur blo mchog ldan pa de'i/ don kun myur du shin tu grub gyur cig/ ces btab bo/. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, 86a.6-86b Dul ba gzhi (Vinayavastu), in The Sde-dge Mtshal-par Bka - gyur, vol. nga (4), 26a.2-27b.6. For the corresponding Sanskrit text, see Raniero Gnoli ed., The Gilgit Manuscript of the Saṅghabhedavastu: Being the 17th and Last Section of the Vinaya of the Mūlasarvāstivādin, part 1, Serie Orientale Roma 49 (Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1977),

12 Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest 94 resolution and dedicate the merit of their gift to the Bodhisattva s aims. In contrast, Sujātā s resolution in the Extensive Play is always pure from the beginning: before she prepares the milk pudding, she resolves, Eating my food, may the Bodhisattva attain unexcelled, complete, perfect awakening! 22 Moreover, Sujātā offers the food to the Bodhisattva inside her own home, while Nandā and Nandabalā go to meet the Bodhisattva outside of town by the Nairañjanā River. Thus the Division on Monastic Conduct locates the Bodhisattva in the solitude of the forest, while the Extensive Play places him in a lay household in town. Si tu was clearly aware that there were discrepancies between canonical narratives of the Buddha s life. After his Division on Monastic Conduct digest he raises the issue directly: [The version of] this passage from the Great Departure (Mngon byung, Abhiniṣkramaṇa) is mostly the same as this [version from the Division on Monastic Conduct]. However, in the former, after being urged by a brahmin named Deva (Lha) who had befriended the Bodhisattva, the village women gave boiled milk pudding to Śakra in the guise of a brahmin, to offer in the presence of the Bodhisattva. 23 Turning to the Sūtra of the Great Departure as preserved in the Sde dge Bka gyur, we indeed find significant plot variations. 24 Below the version in the Sūtra of the Great Departure is translated and discussed in detail in order to unpack Si tu s reference to the text. Then [the Bodhisattva] stayed on the banks of the Nairañjanā river near a town called Senāyanī (Sde can). 25 A brahmin named Deva, who had earlier befriended the Bodhisattva, dwelled in the town of Senāyanī. Having seen [the Bodhisattva] perform austerities, [Deva] said to two town maidens Nandā and Nandabalā, I heard a prophecy by an astrologer that if the son of King Śuddhodana leaves off renunciation because of you two, he will become a wheel-turning [king]. 22 bdag gi zas zos nas byang chub sems dpa bla na med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa i byang chub mngon par rdzogs par tshang rgya bar shog. Rgya cher rol pa, 131b.7, cf. 129b.7-130a.1. Cf. Tripathi, Lalita-vistara, , cf Note that Si tu omits the content of this resolution, which in his account is referred to by the god at midnight, in his Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing account. It is possible that he did so to avoid inconsistency with the moment when Sujātā instructs her servant to find a brahmin, which suggests that Sujātā is not aware that this food must be given to the Bodhisattva. 23 di skabs mngon byung las byung ba ang phal cher di dang mtshungs na ang / sngon byang chub sems dpa'i grogs bshes su gyur pa'i bram ze lha zhes bya bas bskul nas grong pa'i bu mo dag gis 'o thug bskol ba brgya byin bram ze'i cha byad can la byang chub sems dpa'i drung du bskur ba. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, 88a.4-88a This sūtra is extant only in Tibetan translation. A different text of the same name was translated into Chinese under the title Fo benxingji jing. The Chinese text narrates yet another version of this episode, featuring direct and repeated contact between the Bodhisattva and the two sisters. Jñānagupta [Shenajue Duo, 闍那崛多 ], trans., Fo benxingji jing, T a23-771a10. For an (at times patchy) translation see Samuel Beal, The Romantic Legend of Śākya Buddha (London, 1875; repr. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1985), I reconstruct Sde can as Senāyanī based on the corresponding passage in the Dul ba gzhi. Dul ba gzhi, vol. nga (4), 26a.2; Gnoli, Saṅghabhedavastu, 108.

13 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013) 95 Hearing that prophecy, the two made a prayer, saying, If because of us he becomes a wheel-turning [king], may we become his queens. The brahmin Deva said, The great one, because his body is tortured by austerities, will emerge from his deprivation. When that happens, offer him his very first alms and you two will reap benefit and happiness for a long time. 26 The brahmin Deva, who does not appear in the corresponding Division on Monastic Conduct episode, acts in the Sūtra of the Great Departure as an obstruction to the Bodhisattva s awakening. 27 With his scheme to tempt the Bodhisattva with two young maidens in his moment of vulnerability, Deva attempts to derail the spiritual quest of one who has renounced household life. In the narrative logic of the plot, Deva thus functions like the demon king Māra (Bdud). As for the two maidens, their self-serving resolution to wed the Bodhisattva is made explicit; as accomplices to Deva s plan, they parallel the daughters of Māra, who are sent to tempt the Bodhisattva under the bodhi tree on the night of his awakening. Similar to the Division on Monastic Conduct version, the two maidens then prepare the milk pudding by condensing the essence of a thousand cows milk (here they stop at twenty cows) and boiling it in a crystal vessel. The Sūtra of the Great Departure continues: The brahmins thought, It must be that there will be a wedding feast here. Thinking this, many brahmins gathered. When the milk pudding collected from a thousand [cows] was boiled, the symbols of the auspicious vase, glorious knot [of eternity], and spiraling conch appeared. An ascetic named Upaga saw it and thought, Whoever drinks this milk pudding will obtain unexcelled wisdom, so now I will ask for it. Then Śakra thought: Because of austerities, the Bodhisattva s body is weakened and emaciated. He will be endangered by women when they offer milk pudding to the Bodhisattva; and when he realizes unexcelled wisdom, harm may come to the Bodhisattva because these brahmins who are greedy by nature have gathered here. He took divine medicinal herbs from Mount Gandhamādana (Spos kyi ngad ldang), took the form of a very handsome brahmin, and standing over the boiling milk pudding, the lord of gods, Śakra, poured in the medicine called Strengthening. 26 de ni grong khyer sde can zhes bya ba na nai ranydza nā i chu bo i gram na bzhugs pa dang / bram ze lha zhes bya ba byang chub sems dpa i sngon gyi grogs bshes su gyur pa de sde can gyi grong khyer na gnas pa dang / des byang chub sems dpa dka ba stod [read spyod] pa mdzad pa mthong nas/ grong pa i bu mo dga mo dang / dga stobs ma gnyis la smras pa/ khyed gnyis kyis rgyal po zas gtsang ma i sras mtshan mkhan gyis gal te rab tu byung bar ma gyur na khor lor gyur ro zhes lung bstan pa de thos sam/ de gnyis kyis smras pa/ bdag cag rnams kyis kyang gal te de khor los sgyur ba i rgyal por gyur na bdag cag de i btsun mor gyur cig ces smon lam btab lags so/ /bram ze lhas smras pa/ bdag nyid chen po de ni dka thub kyis lus gdungs pas spong ba las bzhengs na khyed gnyis kyis de la thog ma kho nar bsod nyoms phul cig dang / de khyed cag gnyis kyi yun ring po i phan pa dang bde ba i don du gyur ro/. Mngon par byung ba i mdo, in The Sde-dge Mtshal-par Bka - gyur, vol. 72, 42b A later episode in the Dul ba gzhi narrates the conversion of a brahmin named Deva (devo nāma brāhmaṇaḥ), followed by a narrative of the conversions of Nandā and Nandabalā. Dul ba gzhi, vol. nga (4), 53b.5; Gnoli, Saṅghabhedavastu, 151.

14 Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest 96 Then Nandā and Nandabalā sweetened the milk pudding with honey and, after boiling the [pudding] collected from a thousand [cows], they said to the lord of gods Śakra: Are you the son of King Śuddhodana? Śakra said, He is my teacher, I am his student. Then the lord of gods Śakra took the milk pudding sweetened with honey and collected from a thousand [cows]. 28 In this passage a new problem is introduced: a crowd of brahmins gathers, hoping to crash a wedding party. One in particular is named to introduce the threat that brahmins will consume the food offering intended to nourish the Bodhisattva back to health. Śakra worries about the worst possible outcomes: if the two women are allowed to see the Bodhisattva, they may tempt him into marriage, and when he drinks the milk pudding, the jealous and greedy brahmins may attack him. Indeed, these two concerns for a renouncer sexual impurity and lack of peaceful seclusion are brought to a head in this scene as the maidens prepare to fulfill their resolution of marriage and the brahmins hover thirstily around the milk pudding, waiting for the Bodhisattva to arrive. Śakra s solution is to manifest in the form of an attractive brahmin, circumventing these possible outcomes by drawing the attention of the two maidens, pretending to be a student of the Bodhisattva, and claiming the milk pudding to deliver to the Bodhisattva. With the food offering in safe hands, Śakra questions the two maidens before setting off: Taking it, he said to Nandā and Nandabalā, What do you two seek to gain with this gift? To what end should the merit be dedicated? Those two said, By whatever merit there may be from this fine offering, May the renowned Sarvārthasiddha Best among men, supremely intelligent Swiftly accomplish all aims! 28 bram ze rnams kyis bsams pa/ dir nges par bag ma len tam bag ma gtong bar gyur ro snyam nas bram ze mang po dus par gyur pa dang / o thug stong du bsgres pa bskol ba na bum pa bzang po dang / dpal be u dang / g.yung drung khyil pa i mtshan ma dag byung ba snang ba dang / kun tu rgyu nye gro zhes bya bas mthong nas bsams pa/ o ma i thug pa di sus thungs pa des ni bla na med pa i ye shes thob par gyur gyis ma la bdag gis bslang ngo snyam mo/ de nas brgya byin di snyam du sems te/ byang chub sems dpa de ni dka thub kyis sku lus nyam chung zhing sku la sbrebs pa dang / skye mas pas nyen pa yin la byang chub sems dpa o thug gsol na bla na med pa i ye shes thugs su chud par gyur na/ bram ze di dag ni rang bzhin gyis brkam pa dag dir dus par gyur pas gal te byang chub sems dpa la gnod pa byed par gyur ro snyam nas/ ri spos kyi ngad ldang nas lha i sman blangs te de shin tu gzugs bzang ba i bram ze zhig tu mngon par sprul nas o thug de skol ba i steng du dug ste/ lha i dbang po brgya byin gyis der sman mthu bskyed pa zhes bya ba blugs so/ / de nas dga mo dang / dga stobs mas o thug sbrang rtsi ltar mngar ba stong du bsgres pa bskol nas lha i dbang po brgya byin la di skad ces smras so/ /khyod nyid rgyal po zas gtsang ma i sras de yin nam/ brgya byin gyis smras pa de ni nga i mkhan po yin te nga ni de i slob ma yin no/ / de nas lha i dbang po brgya byin gyis o thug sbrang rtsi ltar mngar ba stong du bsgres pa blangs so/ /. Mngon par byung ba i mdo, 43a.2-7.

15 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013) 97 Then the lord of gods Śakra, knowing where the Bodhisattva was resting in ease, poured the milk pudding sweetened with honey and collected from a thousand [cows] into a vessel and gave it to the Bodhisattva. It was taken by the Bodhisattva, and the merit was dedicated. 29 By identifying Sarvārthasiddha as his teacher, Śakra may be implying to the two maidens that the Bodhisattva has renounced and would no longer marry them. The dedicatory verse uttered by Nandā and Nandabalā identical to the verse Si tu cites in the Division on Monastic Conduct digest is phrased ambiguously such that it could apply to either outcome, i.e., the Bodhisattva s awakening or his transformation into a wheel-turning king. 30 In any case, the danger has passed: Sarvārthasiddha (an alternate name for Siddhārtha) remains near the bank of the Nairañjanā River, never encountering the two maidens nor the brahmin crowd, and Śakra dedicates the merit of the food offering to the Bodhisattva s goal of liberation. The sexual purity and solitude of the Bodhisattva are undisturbed, and he can proceed to the bodhi tree to accomplish his aim. Si tu s three narrations of the milk pudding episode from three separate Bka gyur texts call attention to common themes of purity and solitude as well as discrepancies in how these themes are challenged and resolved. The reader is invited to mull over details that he or she might pass over more quickly in a unified, consistent, and uninterrupted narrative. Si tu s use of this editorial strategy juxtaposing divergent accounts of the Buddha s biography in a single work is a departure from previous Tibetan accounts of the milk pudding episode such as the work of Bu ston rin chen grub ( ), one of the most widely known antecedents. In his History of the Dharma (Chos byung), Bu ston states that although different accounts of the Buddha s Twelve Deeds exist in the Monastic Conduct, the Sūtra of the Great Departure, and the Extensive Play, he has followed the Extensive Play for his account of the deeds, as well as the Minor Division on Monastic Conduct ( Dul ba phran tshegs kyi gzhi, Vinayakṣudrakavastu) for the final act of nirvāṇa (mya ngan las das pa). 31 This statement is supported by his 29 blangs nas kyang dga mo dang / dga stobs ma gnyis la smras pa/ sbyin pa dis khyed gnyis ci zhig don du gnyer gang gi don du yon bsngo bar bya/ de gnyis kyis smras pa/ bsod pa phul ba i bsod nams ci mchis pas/ /grags dang ldan pa don rnams kun grub pa/ /mi yi mchog gyur blo mchog ldan pa de i/ /don kun myur du shin tu grub gyur cig / de nas lha i dbang po brgya byin gyis byang chub sems dpa bde bar bzhugs par rig nas o thug sbrang rtsi ltar mngar ba stong du bsgres pa yol gor blugs te/ byang chub sems dpa la bstabs so// byang chub sems dpas kyang gsol nas yon bsngo bar mdzad do//. Mngon par byung ba i mdo, 43a.7-43b The same dedicatory verse appears in the Dul ba gzhi. Dul ba gzhi, vol. nga (4), 27b Bu ston rin chen grub, Bde bar gshegs pa i bstan pa i gsal byed chos kyi byung gnas gsung rab rin po che i mdzod [A Treasury of Precious Teachings: History of the Dharma Elucidating the Sugata s Teachings], in The Collected Works of Bu-ston, ed. Lokesh Chandra, Śata-piṭaka Series 64 (New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1971), vol. ya (24), =79a.2-3. For a translation see Bu ston rin chen grub, History of Buddhism (Chos-ḥbyung) by Bu-ston, Part II: The History of Buddhism in India and Tibet, trans. E. Obermiller (Heidelberg: Otto Harrassowitz, 1932), 72.

16 Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest 98 treatment of the milk pudding episode, which summarizes the Extensive Play version in a more cursory fashion than Si tu does in his catalogue. 32 Bu ston also wrote a separate biography of the Buddha Śākyamuni, this time stating that it is written with the Division on Monastic Conduct as its source, without exaggeration or understatement. 33 As we would expect, in this work Bu ston s treatment of the milk pudding episode indeed summarizes the Division on Monastic Conduct version, again more cursorily than Si tu s digest. 34 In both cases Bu ston elides significant narrative elements found in Si tu s Vine of Young Moonbeams: Bu ston s catalogue omits Sujātā s resolution, his separate biography of the Buddha does not mention the subplot about the two maidens hoping to wed the Bodhisattva, and neither account identifies the location in which they offer the milk pudding. In short, Si tu employs a markedly different narrative strategy than Bu ston to tell the biography of the Buddha, and one of the results is that themes of sexual purity and ascetic solitude in the forest figure more prominently in his work. A brief discussion of other well-known adaptations of the Buddha s biography may suffice to further illustrate Si tu s distinctive narrative strategy in comparison with those of other prominent monastic scholars. The Hundred Jātakas (Skyes rabs brgya ba) of the Third Karma pa rang byung rdo rje ( ) includes as its final narrative the life of the Buddha Śākyamuni. The Third Karma pa states simply that his work came from various sūtras. 35 He identifies Sujātā as the woman who, prompted by Śakra, prepares the milk pudding and offers it to the Bodhisattva; other details found in the Extensive Play are included, such as extracting the essence of the milk seven times and serving it in a golden vessel. 36 One of the other major Tibetan adaptations of the Buddha s biography is that of Jo nang Tā ra nā tha. His treatment of the milk pudding episode is also a unified narrative but most closely follows the Division on Monastic Conduct version, with Nandā and Nandabalā making the offering directly to the Bodhisattva Bu ston rin chen grub, History of the Dharma, =65a.6-65b.2. Cf. Obermiller trans., lung las byung zhing sgro skur spangs te bri/. Bu ston rin chen grub, Ston pa sangs rgyas kyi rnam thar dad cing dga skyed [Inspiring Trust and Delight: A Life of (Our) Teacher, the Buddha], in The Collected Works of Bu-ston, Śaṭa-piṭaka Series 62, vol. za (22), Bu ston rin chen grub, Sangs rgyas kyi rnam thar [Life of the Buddha], mdo du ma las byung ba. Slob dpon dpa bo and Karma pa rang byung rdo rje, Skyes rabs brgya ba, Gangs can rig brgya i sgo byed lde mig 22 (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1995), de i tshe brgya byin gyis bskul bas grong ba i bu mo legs skyes mas ba stong gi o ma lan bdun du nying khur byas pa bzang po sbrang rtsi ltar mngar bas gser gyi snod chen po bkang ste byang chub sems dpa la phul lo/. Slob dpon dpa bo and Karma pa rang byung rdo rje, Skyes rabs brgya ba, Jo nang Tā ra nā tha, Bcom ldan das ston pa shākya thub pa i rnam thar [Life of the Blessed Teacher Śākyamuni] (Xining: Mtsho sngon Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1997), For a French translation of Tā ra nā tha s text see Jetsun Taranatha, Le soleil de la confiance: la vie du Bouddha, trans. Padmakara (Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère: Padmakara, 2003),

17 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013) 99 In short, well-known Tibetan adaptations of the Buddha s biography rely primarily on either the Extensive Play or the Division on Monastic Conduct for the milk pudding episode, and provide unified, continuous narratives. It is therefore significant that Si tu chose to compare accounts from three separate sources, juxtaposing variants of each episode of the Buddha s life so that their differences become clear. As the foregoing analysis has shown, Si tu s account of the Buddha s deeds is extremely thorough and detailed, well beyond popular versions of the Twelve Deeds and even in this case more complex than the widely admired, scholarly work of Bu ston, the Third Karma pa, and Jo nang Tā ra nā tha. Si tu s work discussed above is but one sample of his scholarly rigor and intimate familiarity with canonical scripture. As a whole, his Vine of Young Moonbeams is a tour de force compiling sūtra, Monastic Conduct and abhidharma sources from the Bka gyur. While a full discussion of Si tu s catalogue is beyond the scope of this article, it is evident that by the end of his tenure as chief editor of the Sde dge Bka gyur, Si tu had achieved intimate familiarity with these sources and synthesized them into a work of his own. The resultant image cultivated is that of an erudite scholar who has mastered the vast Buddhist canon, attending even to supposedly well-known topics such as the life of the Buddha with rare depth of detail. Moreover, it is noteworthy that one of the sources Si tu relied on for his biography of the Buddha was the Sūtra of the Great Departure. The Sūtra of the Great Departure version is the one in which concerns of purity and seclusion emerge most emphatically. Like the Division on Monastic Conduct, it emphasizes the unique purity of the milk pudding itself by detailing the increasing refinement of the substance being prepared, as well as the precious nature of its container, the crystal vessel. Moreover, like the Division on Monastic Conduct it contains narrative tension threatening the Bodhisattva s sexual purity. The Sūtra of the Great Departure goes beyond the Division on Monastic Conduct, however, by adding further narrative tension with the hungry brahmin crowd, and by placing Śakra as an intermediary so that the Bodhisattva s purity, seclusion, and safely nourished passage to liberation are never compromised by direct encounters with desiring women, nor with envious brahmins. That these plot differences and their attendant themes were considered significant is supported by a set of narrative paintings, to which we now turn. The Buddha s Deeds Thang kas and Monastic Discourse in Khams In the Vine of Young Moonbeams Si tu does not explicitly favor any of the three Bka gyur sources over the others, nor does he present a cohesive vision of the themes of monastic purity and solitude that I have highlighted in the Buddha s biographies. This is not particularly surprising, since Si tu follows conventions of Tibetan commentarial literature in adhering closely to the presentation of root texts. Si tu may have not decided at the time of writing whether he preferred any of the three sources; even if he had, he may have felt that the catalogue was not the venue to express such views, since this would have called into question the veracity and

18 Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest 100 status of the other canonical sources. The medium of text permits a multiplicity of narrative versions to appear within a single work, even if other major authors did not exercise this option for the life of the Buddha as Si tu did. However, rendering the Buddha s biography in visual media demands that exclusive choices be made, at least within the conventions of Tibetan narrative painting. In this section I argue that the same concerns of purity and seclusion that emerged in Si tu s Vine of Young Moonbeams are enacted more forcefully in a set of paintings of the Buddha s life, thus contributing to discourses about ideal monasticism in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Khams. Figure 1. Episodes from the Buddha s deeds. After Bod kyi thang ga, pl. 28. Xizang Zizhiqu Wenwu Guanli Weiyuan Hui (西藏自治区文物 管理委员会), eds., Bod kyi thang ga / Xizang tangka (西藏唐卡), Figure 2. Episodes from the Buddha s deeds. After Bod kyi thang ga, pl. 29. In the collection of the Tibet Museum in Lha sa are two thang kas from a set depicting events of the Buddha Śākyamuni s life (Figs. 1, 2). The set may have originally included a third thang ka in the center, with the defeat of Māra as its main subject, now missing. A nineteenth-century thang ka, which appears to be an incomplete conflation of the same design as two Tibet Museum thang kas, is held in the collection of the Rubin Museum of Art (Fig. 3). The missing scenes on the Rubin thang ka further support the possibility that Si tu s original design included a third thang ka, the scenes from which may have been combined with the missing complement to the Rubin thang ka. Stylistic features of these Buddha s deeds thang kas comparable to the Wish-Fulfilling Vine of Bodhisattva Avadānas (Byang chub sems dpa i rtogs pa brjod pa dpag bsam gyi khri shing, Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā) series of narrative thang kas designed by Si tu and completed in 1737 including an unusual use of deep space, precisely rendered

19 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013) 101 miniature figures, landscapes in greens and yellows, the shapes of mountains and trees, and the fine detailing of buildings down to the level of individual bricks suggest that these two Tibet Museum thang kas were based on a design by Si tu or by someone following his style of painting, considered regional to Khams (Fig. 4).38 While I have not seen any references to the making of Buddha s deeds thang kas in Si tu s diaries, Si tu was a prolific artist and did not always record or specify his paintings. Even if the Tibet Museum thang kas were not in fact based on a design by Si tu, it will become clear in the ensuing discussion that the compositions belie a rare degree of familiarity with the Buddha s life story, as well as with the themes I have discussed in his Vine of Young Moonbeams. Figure 3. Episodes from the Buddha s deeds. 19th century. Ground mineral pigments on cotton; 27 ½ x 17 ¾ in. Rubin Museum of Art, New York. C (HAR 955). Figure 4. Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā episodes , from a set based on the design of Si tu paṇ chen. 19th century. Ground mineral pigments on cotton; 33 x 24 in. Collection of Shelley and Donald Rubin, New York. P (HAR 247). A catalogue of Si tu s monastic seat, Dpal spungs dgon pa, edited by Karma rgyal mtshan, mentions thang kas of the Twelve Deeds kept in the Pema Nyinjé 38 The Dpag bsam khri shing [Wish-Fulfilling Vine] series and Si tu s other artistic work have been studied previously by David Jackson. My dissertation includes further analysis of Si tu s Dpag bsam khri shing design and accompanying poetry. David P. Jackson, Some Karma Kagyupa Paintings in the Rubin Collection, in Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion, ed. Marilyn M. Rhie and Robert A. F. Thurman (New York: H.N. Abrams, 1999), ; David P. Jackson, A History of Tibetan Painting: The Great Tibetan Painters and Their Traditions (Wien: Verlag der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1996), ; David P. Jackson, Patron and Painter: Situ Panchen and the Revival of the Encampment Style (New York: Rubin Museum of Art, 2009). Nancy G. Lin, Adapting the Buddha s Biographies: A Cultural History of the Wish-Fulfilling Vine in Tibet, Seventeenth to Eighteenth Centuries (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 2011),

20 Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest 102 Library (Padma nyin byed dpe mdzod), along with thang kas of the Wish-Fulfilling Vine, Maitreya s (Byams pa) lives, and other subjects. 39 This suggests where such thang ka sets may have been stored when not on display. As we know from studies of Si tu s other paintings, his work was frequently copied and the same was the case with the Buddha s deeds set in question, as the Rubin copy demonstrates (Fig. 3). 40 The Rubin Museum collection also includes another thang ka with the same narrative design as the first Tibet Museum thang ka, although the Rubin thang ka lacks inscriptions. 41 The Tibet Museum thang kas appear to be a copy of an earlier design and exhibit several features from Chinese Buddhist painting, such as the alternating pink, yellow and blue colors of the rainbow body halo, the head shapes and sizes of the central figures, and the treatment of birds, flowers, and rocks to the lower right of figure 2. The scenes in the two Tibet Museum thang kas do not conform to standard lists of the Twelve Deeds in Tibet. In the first thang ka they most likely follow a clockwise sequence around the central figure, suggesting the devotional practice of circumambulation.the narrative sequence in the second thang ka is more difficult to determine, but likely follows the clockwise pattern of the first thang ka. 42 Brief inscriptions in gold lettering mark each scene; these are not legible in available images. I provisionally identify the scenes as follows, marking a separate scene for each appearance of Siddhārtha/Śākyamuni: 1. Birth at Lumbinī (Lumbi nī i tshal) 2. Declaration of his last life 3. Encounter outside the palace 4. Departure from the palace 5. Cutting off his hair 6. Austerities 7. Break from extreme asceticism 8. Washing in a body of water 9. Accepting the milk pudding (including the kneeling layman and the two women by the fire) 39 Karma rgyal mtshan, Dpal spungs kyi lo rgyus [History of Pelpung], See Jackson, chap. 10 of History of Tibetan Painting; Jackson, Some Karma Kagyupa Paintings; Jackson, Patron and Painter, 129; Karl Debreczeny, Bodhisattvas South of the Clouds: Situ Panchen s Activities and Artistic Inspiration in Yunnan, in Patron and Painter, HAR (accessed January 1, 2010). 42 Possible variations are discussed below. Clockwise narrative sequencing was frequently employed for the arrangement of Dpag bsam khri shing episodes in sets sponsored by members of the court of Pho lha nas bsod nams stobs rgyas ( ). For a study of these sets see Lin, chap. 2 of Adapting the Buddha s Biographies. A mural of the life of the Buddha Śākyamuni at Zha lu Monastery also employs a clockwise sequence. Verena Ziegler, A Preliminary Report on the Life of Buddha Śākyamuni in the Murals of the Circumambulatory of the Prajñāpāramitā Chapel in Zha lu, in The Arts of Tibetan Painting: Recent Research on Manuscripts, Murals and Thangkas of Tibet, the Himalayas and Mongolia (11th-19th century): PIATS 2010: Proceedings of the Twelfth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Vancouver, 2010, ed. Amy Heller, (accessed August 20, 2012).

21 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013) Encounter with nāga-serpent Turning the wheel of Dharma at Sārnāth 12. Visiting laypeople (including the building complexes on the right and left) 13. Taming the elephant 14. Descent from Trāyastriṃśa (Sum bcu rtsa gsum) Heaven 15. Teaching at Sāṃkāśya 16. Parinirvāṇa (yongs su mya ngan las das pa) 17. Cremation 18. Distribution of the relics While for the sake of clarity I have enumerated a separate scene for each appearance of Siddhārtha/Śākyamuni, it should be evident that (a) some scenes are visually clustered together but enumerated separately, (b) other scenes are enumerated together, despite being visually distinct, and (c) still others could be classified together based on Twelve Deeds schema, regardless of their visual composition. For example, the first and second scenes form a single visual unit with the baby Bodhisattva s standing posture paralleling that of his mother Māyā (Sgyu phrul ma) and also fall under the single deed of birth in the Twelve Deeds. 44 The fourteenth and fifteenth scenes are proximately placed, and indeed in textual accounts the teaching at Sāṃkāśya immediately follows the descent from Trāyastriṃśa Heaven; however, these are not counted as deeds in the Twelve Deeds. According to my provisional classification, the twelfth scene encompasses two building complexes on opposite sides of the composition, since there is only one Buddha figure and he appears to travel from one complex to the other; however, it is possible to classify the building on the right as a separate scene, perhaps signifying the construction of Jetavana (Rgyal byed kyi tshal) or other monasteries donated to the Buddha. The fourth and fifth scenes both fall under the deed of renunciation according to the Twelve Deeds, but in the thang ka these are spatially separated, communicating that a journey of some physical distance has been made. In short, the scenes I have enumerated do not adhere to standard lists of the Twelve Deeds in Tibet. Rather, they belie an erudite familiarity with lesser-known details and versions of the Buddha s life story. The milk pudding episode is one such example. In the ninth scene, two maidens stand by the boiling milk pudding. 43 The sequence of the tenth (encounter with a nāga-serpent) and eleventh scenes (turning the wheel of dharma [chos kyi khor lo, dharmacakra]) might be reversed as the Buddha encounters nāga-serpents both before and after his first sermon; also, the scene with the nāga-serpent could be taken to refer to more than one episode. However, it seems more likely that this scene depicts the Bodhisattva s encounter with the nāga-serpent Kālika (Dus can) who heralds the Bodhisattva s impending liberation with his miraculously restored sight than with the nāga-serpent Mucilinda (Btang bzung), since the nāga-serpent is shown in a posture of veneration rather than sheltering the Buddha from a storm. Cf. Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, 81a.2-3, 87a Since there are varying lists of the Twelve Deeds [of the Buddha], I refrain from numbering each deed here and instead simply refer to them as deeds. In addition to the list given in Lobsang Dargyay (n. 14), another list occurs in the Uttaratantra. See for example E. Obermiller, trans., The Uttaratantra of Maitreya (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1991), 254.

22 Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest 104 Above, a kneeling layman offers a bowl to the Bodhisattva. As we have seen in the previous section, only in the Sūtra of the Great Departure does Śakra in the guise of a brahmin offer milk pudding to the Bodhisattva; in the Extensive Play and Division on Monastic Conduct the Bodhisattva receives the food offering from the laywoman Sujātā and from the laywomen Nandā and Nandabalā, respectively. The thang ka thus most closely follows the version of the Sūtra of the Great Departure for the milk pudding episode. As Deborah Klimburg-Salter and Christian Luczanits have both noted, the Extensive Play and the Division on Monastic Conduct were both important textual sources for pictorializing the life of the Buddha in Tibet. 45 The specific correspondence of the Tibet Museum thang ka with the Sūtra of the Great Departure for this episode, however, appears unusual. Examination of other scenes in the Tibet Museum thang kas also suggest that the pictorial design corresponds more closely with the Sūtra of the Great Departure and the Division on Monastic Conduct than with the Extensive Play. In the birth scene, the Bodhisattva emerges from Māyā s right side and is received in a cloth by a woman. As Si tu notes in the Vine of Young Moonbeams, according to the Extensive Play the newborn Bodhisattva emerges from his mother s right side as she stands holding a branch of the plakṣa (plakṣha) tree and is received in a silk cover by two gods, Śakra and Brahmā. 46 It has remained commonplace in Tibetan painting from various regions to depict the Bodhisattva being received by Śakra and Brahmā, and this was the version selected for the widely copied wood-block prints of the Buddha s deeds produced by the Sde dge printing house (Par khang). 47 The popularity of this motif may also be attributed in part to the mention of these gods in the canonized praise of the Twelve Deeds, which celebrates how Brahmā and Śakra bowed down to the Bodhisattva at his birth. 48 However, as Si tu notes, in both the Division on Monastic Conduct and the Sūtra of the Great Departure the newborn Bodhisattva is not received in this manner. Rather, it occurs to Śakra that the Bodhisattva s mother would be too modest to deliver her child while surrounded by a crowd of people, so he creates a fierce storm that disperses the crowd. He then takes the form of an old midwife and receives the Bodhisattva in 45 Klimburg-Salter also cites the Uttaratantra as an important source. Klimburg-Salter, Life of the Buddha, 208; Luczanits, Prior to Birth II, Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, 55b.5. Cf. Rgya cher rol pa, 45b.1-2; Tripathi, Note the Tibetan orthographical variations for silk cover (kāśikavastra) : kā shi kā i sle mo and ka shi pa i sleb mo. 47 For examples see: Steven M. Kossak and Jane Casey Singer, Sacred Visions: Early Paintings from Central Tibet (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998) fig. 27; Pratapaditya Pal, Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2003), figs. 101, 121; Marylin M. Rhie and Robert A. F. Thurman, Worlds of Transformation: Tibetan Art of Wisdom and Compassion (New York: Tibet House, New York in association with The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, 1999), fig tshangs dang brgya byin gyis btud. Mdzad pa bcu gnyis kyi tshul la bstod pa [Praise of the Twelve Deeds] (Dvādaśakāranāmanayastotra), in Bstod tshogs: The Collected Stotra and Stava in Praise of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Sde-dge Bstan- gyur Series ka (1) (Delhi: Delhi Karmapae Chodhey, Gyalwae Sungrab Partun Khang, ), 82b.5.

23 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013) 105 private. 49 The Tibet Museum thang ka more closely corresponds with this version than with the Extensive Play, in that the Bodhisattva is received by a woman with no other figures present. The reliance of the pictorial design on the narrative tradition of the Division on Monastic Conduct and the Sūtra of the Great Departure rather than that of the Extensive Play is further evidenced by the sixth through eighth scenes, clustered at the upper right of the composition (Fig. 1). While the depiction of the Bodhisattva performing austerities is common in Tibetan narrative painting, the other scenes of the Bodhisattva reclining on his side and dipping his hair into a body of water are quite unusual. These scenes, however, can be explained by referring once again to the Division on Monastic Conduct and the Sūtra of the Great Departure. According to these texts, after the Bodhisattva realized that severe austerities would not effect liberation and before his consumption of the milk pudding, he went to a large cemetery and, while lying on his right side with one foot on the other, entered into wakefulness meditation. 50 He then washed in gently flowing water before receiving the milk pudding. 51 These episodes are narrated differently in the Extensive Play. The Bodhisattva goes to a cemetery to get a cloth with which to cover himself, but picks it up without lying down. Gods create a pond in which he 49 Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, 58a.1-2, 58a.5. Cf. Dul ba gzhi, vol. ga (3), 280a.5-7; Gnoli, Saṅghabhedavastu, 44; Mngon par byung ba i mdo, 9a.7-9b dur khrod chen por gshegs nas kyang mi ro dbu rten du bcug/ zhabs la zhabs bzhag ste snang ba i du shes dang / dran pa dang shes bzhin dang / ldang ba i du shes yid la mdzad pas glo g.yas pas mnal bar mdzad do/ /. Dul ba gzhi, vol. nga (4), 25a.3-4. Cf. Gnoli, Saṅghabhedavastu, 107; Mngon par byung ba i mdo, 40b.7-41a.1. The Mngon par byung ba i mdo version does not contain substantive differences in this episode. This episode is passed over in the Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, further supporting the claim that the designer of this pictorial set was unusually well-informed. The meditation practices listed in this passage might be performed while awake or asleep. As Takako Abe has noted, the Nikāya and Āgama literature refer to ālokasaññā (snang ba i du shes, ālokasaṃjñā) as concentration on an image of light, accompanied by sati (mindfulness, dran pa, smṛti) and sampajāna (awareness, shes bzhin, saṃprajāna), to counteract thīnamiddha (sloth and torpor, rmugs pa dang gnyid, styānamiddha). In the Śrāvakabhūmi, however, Abe argues that ālokasaṃjñā and the associated term jāgarikāyoga (yoga of wakefulness) refer to meditation while sleeping, specifically to reflect on objects previously memorized in a dream. Takako Abe, Practice of Wakefulness: Ālokasaṃjñā in the Śrāvakabhūmi, Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies 53, no. 1 (Dec. 2004): Two passages from the nikāya literature bear similarities with the episode as narrated by the Dul ba gzhi. In the Udumbarikasīhanādasutta of the Dīghanikāya, an ascetic is described as finding a secluded dwelling such as a cemetery, sitting cross-legged, holding his body erect, and establishing mindfulness; to abandon sloth and torpor, he engages in the perception of light, mindfulness, and awareness. In the Mahāssapurasutta of the Majjhimanikāya, various wakefulness practices are prescribed for daytime and the watches of the night, as part of the general practices of a renouncer. In the middle watch of the night one lies down on the right side in the lion s pose, with one foot on the other, mindful and aware, having set one s mind on the perception of rising (utthānasaññā, utthānasaṃjñā); this last item may be interpreted as the time for rising from sleep, as the renouncer should not sleep in the other three watches of the night. Based on these passages and Abe s findings, one may speculate that when lying down as the Bodhisattva does in the Dul ba gzhi episode, the meditation is to be performed while asleep. Udumbarikasīhanādasutta, in Dīgha-nikāya, vol. 3, ed. T.W. Rhys Davids and J.E. Carpenter (London: Pali Society, 1911), 50; Mahāssapurasutta, in Majjhima-nikāya, vol. 1, ed. V. Trenckner (London: Pali Society, 1888), Dul ba gzhi, vol. nga (4), 25b.7. Cf. Mngon par byung ba i mdo, 42b.2; Si tu paṇ chen chos kyi byung gnas, Zla od gzhon nu i khri shing, 86a.6.

24 Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest 106 washes the cloth; he then steps in to bathe. However, Māra raises the banks of the pond, making it difficult to climb back out. The goddess of an arjuna tree lowers a branch so that the Bodhisattva can grasp it to climb out of the pond. 52 Given these plot differences, the seventh and eighth scenes in the Tibet Museum thang ka design must have been inspired by the narrative tradition of the Division on Monastic Conduct and the Sūtra of the Great Departure rather than by the Extensive Play. 53 As much as the designer behind the Tibet Museum thang kas may have preferred the Division on Monastic Conduct and the Sūtra of the Great Departure to the Extensive Play, this set of the Buddha s deeds is not a mere recapitulation of any particular canonical source, nor of Si tu s multiple and discretely sourced catalogue. Rather, through the deliberate process of rendering narrative in visual form, the pictorial designer has intensified the themes of purity and seclusion in the forest that are more subtly implied in the Vine of Young Moonbeams. Reading the ninth scene (Fig. 1) with the Sūtra of the Great Departure, we see that because Śakra has intercepted the milk pudding en route to the Bodhisattva, Nandā and Nandabalā do not approach him directly with their hopes for marriage. However, in the pared-down visual composition the particular identities and subplots of the layman and two maidens are not assigned importance; the crucial point being communicated is that a man is making physical contact with the Bodhisattva, while two young women stay far away. This physical separation of the Bodhisattva from women is contrasted with the first scene of the birth. When one bisects the composition on a vertical axis, it may be observed that the birth scene is the mirror opposite of the ninth scene involving the two maidens. On the viewer s left, the newborn Bodhisattva is stuck in an intimate and vulnerable position between two women, physically emerging from one and being caught by the other, both indebted to and dependent on women. In the temporal flow of verbal narrative this would last for only a moment, but in the painting the moment of physical contact is frozen an elegant portrayal of the householder ensnared in relationships and obligations. On the opposite side in the milk pudding scene, the women are now at a safe distance, while the Bodhisattva stands confidently over a kneeling layman, appearing far more vigorous than texts might have us believe. Indeed, he seems far more capable of giving to the humble layman than the other way around. The birth scene thus serves as a foil, suggesting impurity and entanglement in relationships in contrast to the ascetic chastity and relative seclusion of the milk pudding scene on the right. 52 Rgya cher rol pa, 131a.1-131b.4. Cf. Tripathi, Lalita-vistara, By way of contrast, another thang ka in the Tibet Museum collection depicts these two scenes in accordance with the rgyal cher rol pa. The Bodhisattva is shown standing and holding a cloth wrapped around a corpse, and shown again in a body of water with his right hand grasping a tree branch as the tree goddess gazes down. The thang ka is part of a set for which the Eighth Dalai Lama is said to have been the donor. Bod rang skyong ljongs rig dngos do dam u yon lhan khang, ed., Bod kyi thang ga (1985; reprint, Beijing: Rig dngos dpe skrun khang, 2007), fig. 38.

25 Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 7 (August 2013) 107 Reiko Ohnuma s analyses of maternal imagery and discourse in Indian Buddhist literature invite further comparison with the scenes of birth and receiving milk pudding in the Tibet Museum thang ka. Ohnuma argues that the Buddha Śākyamuni s indebtedness to his biological and foster mothers is offset in Indian Buddhist literature through strategies that distance or exclude mothers from the Buddha. Prominent among these is the reduction and erasure of Māyā to a fetal container; she is removed once again by the walls of a jewelled palace inside her womb, where the fetal Bodhisattva resides for the ten-month pregnancy. Ohnuma further identifies Sujātā as a maternal figure in her role as a giver of milk, which nourishes his passage into his new life as a fully awakened Buddha. 54 Extending her line of argument, the scene where Śakra acts as the intermediary for Nandā and Nandabalā may also be interpreted in terms of the tendency to distance or exclude maternal figures from the Buddha. However, Nandā and Nandabalā s marital interest in the Bodhisattva constitutes a crucial difference between their narrative and Sujātā s; they have an ambiguously dual status as maternal and wifely figures who both nourish with milk and aspire to wed. Broadly speaking, the goal of separation from women and obligations to women remains a key concern in the painting that is illuminated by the contrast between these two scenes. The birth of the Bodhisattva is presented in terms of undesirable intimacy with women, in opposition to the milk pudding episode later in his life, where we see the more desirable outcome of ascetic chastity and solitude. This mirroring device further advances the ideal of separation from worldly life in other scenes of the two thang kas. Continuing with the upper section of figure 1, we see that the palace on the left serves as the foil to the forest on the right. The forest with its river is placed higher than the palace, reinforcing the superiority of forest solitude over even the finest material comforts and pleasures that household life has to offer. Indeed, in figure 2 this household-forest opposition is revisited in the form of town versus monastery, with the buildings of the town on the left placed lower than the buildings of the monastic complex surrounded by trees (the monastic complex is identifiable as such by the central great hall with a golden roof surrounded by minor subsidiary buildings) Reiko Ohnuma, Ties that Bind: Maternal Imagery and Discourse in Indian Buddhism (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 69-78, , Elsewhere I argue that Si tu uses vertical space in narrative painting of the Dpag bsam khri shing to denote moral superiority. Lin, Adapting the Buddha s Biographies,

26 Lin: Purity in the Pudding and Seclusion in the Forest 108 The themes of solitude and seclusion from worldly life are further developed through omissions in the pictorial design. In these two thang kas Siddhārtha/ Śākyamuni never appears inside any building or even within any enclosing walls. His greatest proximity occurs in the third scene of the encounter outside the palace apparently with the old man, although this scene may also be taken as a metonymic representation of all four encounters with old age, sickness, death, and renunciation where he remains within the enclosing trees but outside of the palace complex. This scene marks the transition when household life is revealed to be less than perfect, and the possibility of renunciation occurs to Siddhārtha. Everywhere else, we see him on empty plains or in forest settings. The use of Figure 5. The Buddha s deeds in a single deep space and the illusion of distance, composition. Late 17th to mid-18th century. unusual in Tibetan paintings but liberally Pigments on cloth; 72.5 x 50.7 cm. Courtesy of employed in Si tu s style of narrative the Division of Anthropology, American Museum painting, emphasizes this solitude even of Natural History, Cat. No. 70.0/6532. more acutely. In the twelfth scene at the bottom of figure 2, Siddhārtha appears halfway between the monastery and the town; this underscores the simple wandering lifestyle of solitary monks over the hustle and bustle of social life and the habits of material comfort. Indeed, there are very few laypeople, even where we would expect them according to both textual narratives and other Tibetan paintings of the Buddha s deeds (Fig. 5) in the palace, attending sermons such as the one at Sāṃkāśya, and at his parinirvāṇa and the distribution of the relics. Where they do appear in the Tibet Museum thang kas, laypeople are rendered smaller and placed below the Buddha and his monks, reinforcing their inferiority; the twelfth scene of visiting laypeople is the most exaggerated instance of this.56 As for the material goods in the painting, they can hardly be called luxurious: the stūpa by which he cuts off his hair, the bowl of milk pudding, and the reliquary vases are all lacking in ornamentation. With the visual biography of the Buddha pared down to a few figures and none of the opulence commonly lavished on this subject, what we are left with is an extreme economy of representation centered on the archetypal activities of a monk. 56 Christian Luczanits has noted a similar organizational principle in the life of the Buddha paintings in the A lci gsum brtsegs, where beings considered higher by Buddhists [are] placed above. Thus bodhisattvas are placed above gods, gods and nagas above monks, monks above sages and (brahminical) priests, and the latter two above lay people. Christian Luczanits, The Life of the Buddha in the Sumtsek, Orientations 30, no. 1 (1999): 39.