The Petavatthu (lit. 'Ghost Stories')[1] is a Theravada Buddhist scripture, included in the Minor Collection (Khuddaka Nikaya) of the Pali Canon's Sutta Pitaka. It ostensibly reports stories about and conversations among the Buddha and his disciples, and it dates to about 300 BC at the earliest.[2] It is composed of 51 verse narratives describing specifically how the effects of bad acts can lead to rebirth into the unhappy world of petas (ghosts) in the doctrine of kamma.[3] More importantly, it details how meritorious actions by the living can benefit such suffering beings.[2]
The scripture also includes the story of Mahā Moggallāna helping Sāriputta's mother from her previous life in the hungry ghost realm, his discussions with hungry ghosts, and his understanding of the realm.[4][5][6] Before being born as a ghost, Sāriputta's mother was born in the hell realm. It also includes a story of how making offerings to the monks as a form of merit-making to increase the chance of a hungry ghost being reborn as a higher being.
The scripture gave prominence to the doctrine that giving alms to monks may benefit the ghosts of one's relatives seen in the Hungry Ghost Festival and ceremonies conducted in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Laos.[7] While regarded by scholars as a later text with relatively little doctrinal content or literary merit, the Petavatthu and a similar text, the Vimānavatthu, became popular sources for sermons due to the narratives on the effects of kamma contained in their commentaries.[8]
Legacy
editThe Sāriputta story of the Petavatthu was adapted in 6th-century China to form the Mahayana Yulanpen Sutra, which makes Mulian (i.e., Maudgalyāyana) its hero. Similar to its effect in South and Southeast Asia, the dissemination of the story led to the spread of a Ghost Festival throughout the Sinosphere.[9]
A version of the Petavatthu's Maudgalyāyana story separately became a Chinese legend or folk tale known as "Mulian Rescues His Mother". However, instead of being reborn in the hungry ghost realm (peta) before finally being helped by Moggallāna, the text contains the story of Sāriputta's mother being reborn in a hell realm. This version of the story is considered a misunderstanding from the Theravādin point of view.[10]
Editions
edit- "Stories of the departed", tr Henry S. Gehman, in Minor Anthologies of the Pali Canon, volume IV, 1942, Pali Text Society, Bristol
- In Peta-Stories, tr U Ba Kyaw & Peter Masefield, 1980, Pali Text Society, Bristol; translation of the commentary, with the verses embedded; the PTS's preferred translation
See also
editReferences
editCitations
edit- ^ Sayers (2013), p. 91.
- ^ a b Langer (2007), p. 276.
- ^ "Petavatthu – Stories of a Hungry Ghost". Retrieved 2007-02-01.
- ^ Pearce, Callum (2013). "Buddhist funeral cultures of Southeast Asia and China". Mortality. 18 (4): 388–389. doi:10.1080/13576275.2013.843512. S2CID 144383079.
- ^ Schober, Juliane (2002). Sacred Biography in the Buddhist Traditions of South and Southeast Asia. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 9788120818125.
- ^ "Maha-Moggallana". www.accesstoinsight.org.
- ^ "Ancestors | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com.
- ^ Skilling, Peter. “Scriptural Authenticity and the Śrāvaka Schools: An Essay towards an Indian Perspective.” The Eastern Buddhist, vol. 41, no. 2, 2010, pp. 1–47. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44362554. Accessed 25 Feb. 2020.
- ^ http://www.sacbc.org/docs/Thoughts%20on%20Obon.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Did mogollana actually travel to hell to save his mother? - Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum". www.dhammawheel.com. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
Bibliography
edit- Egge, James (2002), Religious Giving and the Invention of Karma in Theravada Buddhism, Abingdon: Routledge, ISBN 0-7007-1506-1.
- Langer, Rita (2007), Buddhist Rituals of Death and Rebirth: Contemporary Sri Lankan Practice and Its Origins, Abingdon: Routledge, ISBN 978-1-134-15872-0.
- Sayers, Matthew R. (2013), Feeding the Dead: Ancestor Worship in Ancient India, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-989643-1.