Kamanita And Vasitthi 1

[yawares]

Dear Members,

This Sunday I proudly present the love story of Kamanita and Vasitthi, two lovers
who had a chance to meet the Buddha but didn't achieve anything big.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jEaIDqHl74

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Kamanita And Vasitthi
[A Legendary Romance ~By KARL GJELLERUP]

THUS HAVE I HEARD. The time came when the lifespan of the Lord
Buddha was drawing to an end and, journeying from place to place
in the land of Magadha,he came to Rājagaha.”to the City of the Five
Hills,day was almost over.

the Buddha had sent the monks under the leadership of
his cousin and faithful attendant Ānanda; since he had
been inclined towards tasting the delight of a day’s solitary
wandering. So he determined, as he went on his way, that he
would not go through the city to the Mango Grove but
would rest for the night in any house in the nearest suburb
in which he could find shelter.

THE MEETING

At a house of a potter, stood many dishes and bowls freshly formed from clay,
the potter’s wheel stood under a tamarind tree, and the potter at that moment
removed a dish from the wheel.The Master approached the potter and said: “If it is
not inconvenient to you,I would like to spend this night in your guest‐hall.”
“It is not inconvenient to me, sir. But at this moment another seeker like yourself,
a wanderer who arrived tired from a long journey, has already moved in there for
the night. If it is agreeable to him, you are welcome to stay, sir.”

So the Buddha entered the outer hall and there he perceived a young man of noble
bearing sitting in a corner on a mat.“If it is not disagreeable to you, friend,” said the
Master, “I would like to spend the night in this place.”
“The hall of the potter is spacious, brother; please stay here if you wish.”
The Master thus spread out his mat and sat down with his legs crossed, his body
perfectly upright, focusing his mind in deep meditation.The Blessèd One remained sitting
in this way during the first part of the night. The young man also remained sitting thus during
the first part of the night. Seeing this, the Buddha thought to himself: “I wonder whether this
noble youth is happy in his search after Truth. How would it be if I asked him?” So he turned to
the young seeker and enquired, “What were the reasons, young friend, what were the causes that
encouraged you to choose the life of homelessness?”

The young man answered: “The night is yet young,venerable sir, if you are happy to lend an ear
I shall gladly tell you why I have chosen the life of the spiritual seeker.” The Blessèd One gave
assent by a friendly movement of his head, and the young man began to tell his tale.

***********To Be Continued***********

yawares

[yawares]

Dear Members,

This love story is so popular that it was translated from the Pali into Thai/German/English/French/Japanese etc.
In Thailand, schools/universities have this story as external reading.

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Kamanita And Vasitthi
[Translated ~By KARL GJELLERUP]

TO THE BANKS OF THE GANGĀ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am05yZeh ... re=related

MY NAME IS KĀMANĪTA. I was born in Ujjenī, a town lying among the mountains far to the south, in the land of Avanti. My father was a merchant and rich, though our family could lay claim to no special rank. He gave me a good education and, when of age to assume the Sacrificial Cord, I already possessed most of the accomplishments which befit a young man of position, so that people generally believed I must have been educated in Taxilā, at the great university. So that it became, my friend, a proverbial saying in Ujjenī: “Talented as the young Kāmanīta.”
* * *
When I was twenty years old, my father sent for me one day and said:“My son, your education is now complete; it is time for you to see something of the world and begin your career as a merchant. A suitable opportunity has just offered itself. Within the next few days our king will send an embassy to King Udena in Kosambī, which lies far to the north. There I have a friend named Panāda. He and I have visited and stayed with each other at various times. He has frequently told me that in Kosambī there is good business to be done in the products of our land, particularly in rock crystals and sandalwood powder, and also in artistic wicker‐work and woven goods.

So now, my son, we had better go to the warehouse and inspect the twelve wagons with their teams of oxen and the goods which I have decided on for your journey. In exchange for these items you are to bring back muslin from Benares and carefully selected rice; and that will be the beginning, and I trust a splendid one, of your business career. Then you will have an opportunity of seeing foreign countries with trees and gardens, landscapes and architecture other than your own, and other customs; and you will have daily contact with courtiers who are men of the highest station and of most refined aristocratic manners. All of this I consider will be a great gain, for a merchant must be a man of the world."

I thanked my father with tears of joy, and a few days later said farewell to my friends and my home. What a joyful anticipation my heart beat with as, at the head of my wagons, I passed out of the city gates, a member of this magnificent procession, and the wide world lay open before me! Each day of the journey was to me like a festival, and when the camp‐fires blazed up in the evenings to scare the panthers and tigers away, and I sat in the circle by the side of the ambassador with men of years and rank, it seemed to me that I was in some kind of
wonderful fairyland.

Through the magnificent forest regions of Vedisa and over the gently swelling heights of the Vindhaya mountains we reached the vast northern plain, and there an entirely new world opened itself out before me. It was about a month after our setting out that, one glorious evening, from a palm‐covered hill‐top, we saw two golden bands which, disengaging themselves from the mists on the horizon, threaded through the immeasurable acres of green beneath, and gradually approached each other until they became united in one broad zone.

A hand touched my shoulder,it was the ambassador “Those, Kāmanīta, are the sacred river Yamunā and the divine Gangā whose waters unite before our eyes.” Involuntarily I raised my hands, palms together, in reverence.“You do well to greet them in this way,” my patron went on. “For if the Gangā comes from the home of the gods amid the snow‐clad mountains of the north and flows from the Abode of the Eternal; the Yamunā, on the other hand, takes its rise in lands known to far‐distant 15 heroic days, and its floods have reflected the ruins of Hastinapura, The City of Elephants."

Full of admiration, I looked up to this man from the warrior caste.He took me by the hand and said: “Come, son,look at the goal of your first journey.” As it flashed upon my vision I gasped in admiration for there, at a bend of the broad Gangā, lay the city of Kosambī great and splendid in its beauty. With its walls and towers, its piled‐up masses of houses, its terraces,lit up by the setting sun, it really looked like a city of red gold.

That night I slept under the hospitable roof of Panāda, my father’s old friend. Early on the following day,The good Panāda, a grey‐haired old gentleman, now conducted me to the markets of the city and, with his friendly assistance, in the course of the next few days I was able to sell my wares at a good profit — and to purchase an abundance of those products of the northern plains which are so highly prized among our people.My business was thus brought to a happy conclusion long before the embassy getting ready to start on its return journey; and I had now full liberty to see the town in the company of Somadatta, the son of my host.

*************To be continued**************

yawares

[gavesako]

Majjhima Nikaya 140
Dhatu-vibhanga Sutta
An Analysis of the Properties

Very nice sutta with the real life story of Pukkusati meeting the Buddha (who probably looked very similar to a normal ascetic or monk in India at that time, and was not extra big like the later texts claim). This sutta is also the source of a famous novel The Pilgrim Kamanita - กามนิต:
http://translation-studies.blogspot.com ... lgrim.html

กามนิต (Der Pilger Kamanita) [<--Click to read German original] นวนิยายอิงพระพุทธศาสนา ประพันธ์เป็นภาษาเยอรมันเมื่อปีค.ศ.1906 โดยคาร์ล อดอล์ฟ เจลเลอร์รุป (Karl Adolph Gjellerup) นักประพันธ์ชาวเดนมาร์ก ผู้ได้รับรางวัลโนเบลสาขาวรรณกรรมในปีค.ศ.1917

In Thailand the book was voted among the 100 best books that people should read.

[yawares]

[quote="gavesako"]Majjhima Nikaya 140
Dear Bhante,
I intend to post Pukkusati story @ SD/JTN/DW/Mult when Kamanita/Vasitthi entered NIRVANA.

Thanks for the Anumotana card with your name written in Thai..nice try! It reminds me of Luangta Bua who always gave me Anumotana/blessing letters each time I/Tep/Sirikanya donated money(checks) to his temple...sometimes his novice monk "Bhikkhu Pew" mailed us Dhamma Tapes/DVDs. I truly love/miss Luangta Bua

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituar ... a-Bua.html

Thanks again,
yawares Luangta Bua