BULLETIN D’ETUDES INDIENNES- Publié par MAssociation Frat 52, rue du Cardinal Ler N° 16 FONDATEURS Nalin! BALBIR et Georges-Jean PINAULT Editeur e responsable de la publication : Nalini BALBIR ASSN 0761-155 ‘Dépbt légal = 4éme trimestre 1999, BULLETIN D’ETUDES INDIENNES 1998 fec le concours Ouvrage publ " de Paris-III de T'Univei ASSOCIATION FRANCAISE ( POUR LES ETUDES INDIENNES38 Pascale BERNEDE SUMMARY ‘The aim of person (i. prat Sanska endings madbyamottamah Parasmaipada and aimanepada ate ‘madiyama ‘second person’, and uttama karane sthaniny api madhyamah ‘middle verbal endi sument of the grammatical Paninian tradition of -xpressed by the verbal ini trigi_prathama- to give an account of ther explicitly used or img ‘asmady uttamab (1.4.107) “An ult sd when asmad, whether expl (14.108) “The prathama ing, cases” ( Western respective ro ). This study, (Pradipa) and ships between the 1 e Panis , setting aside the context of communi ‘on morphological cri ining the prevalence between the three that the rule that prescribes the person general rule, of which the two others are the Vakyapadiva is more semantically ; he introduces the idea that persons of Western grammat espectively, and ‘wo persons oppose each person®. A comparison with the views of anci were already well aware: from a completely different angle own observations. Olver FREIBERGER ‘The ideal sacrifice. Patterns of reinterpreting brahmin sacrifice in early Buddhism! INTRODUCTION tis a well-known fact that, according tothe Bu ims that these many seers (and) men, Khatty longed for sensual ‘and affected by and old age.” This important h and old age, ie. Nibbana — ind and withdrawing ted hair ascetic , dependent upon gain. I say that they, given over to $3 mn Tor existence, did not cross over soteriological aim in early Bud is obtained yer in a com from passion and desi ~ erossing over different way: by cal Along this line, the former0 Oliver FREIDERGER Unuvelakassa view “speak n another passage that he has abandoned sacrifices, which in his sounds, also tastes and coneubines”,’ because he has seen the Peaceful and unemotional path proclaimed by the Buddh these accounts, we find a dichotomy that is quite often m of the Pali canon: on the one hand the performance of brahmin sacri claimed not to be useful for the religious goal, sacrificial food. Ina passage in the Majihimanikaya, for instance, the Buddha compares re greedy for dung.” brahmans with dung-eating creatur fe statements one should be surprised to different way. erpretated and then presented In this paper, I would like to propose a division reinterpreting s Pali canon: (1) reinterpret the Breaking up ofthe body alter dying arises nape pn haba a kiyare Ded paran marae 22231 Kis polemiealy claimed ‘The ideal sacri e 41 canonical texts is corrector what sors of sacrifices were known to early Buddhi ‘This was analysed by Hlary Falk and others 1. THE SUBSTITUTION OF ELEMENTS WITHIN THE ‘CONVENTIONAL’ FRAME OF SACRIFICE focus only upon the reinterpr ing to the Buddha's statement in Samyut their paraphernalia “do not bring rich results”. I and sheep and cows are slain” ~ “great seers, who walk the perfect way, do visit” such sacrifices.” But instead of condemning sacrifices at all, the Buddha carries (on by describing the right performance: “These sacrifices, where there is no bustle nor no fuss, are always favourably ‘made. Here, divers goats and sheep and cows are not slain, Great seers, who walk the perfect way, do Such a sacrifice brings Having asked for rice, a bed, clothes, and 'y, from t 28°34; MN 1 3449.12; AN 1207322083 plisenedham, semmapasan:vajgpeyar. nraglam maharonbha, na te v0 ca Vdd yatha hanare,2 Oliver FREIBERGER st “And (..) at that sac nor pigs, nor were any kinds of ‘and milk, and boney, and sugar only was that sacrifice accom- a” ‘These exemplary instances: ing one element the first pattern of reinterpretation: By however, integrated concerns the sac maintained for which ~ although reshaped ~ the ritual framework is 2. THE ETHIZATION OF SACt In the second pattern are dropped by reduci term ‘sacrifice is re thanmena sanadancr tao yarsam akappaum, at (Sm 527-10 [29 12, Tandulam sayanar vathare sappt pathic yasmina 0 13, Tasik brkmana ye neva giv hata no ojo hans a hath ‘ha viidha pant samghatam spajisu. (~) Saptselanavartedadhimadta ph ina amas! (DN 1 1412636). The ideal sacrifice eB ly used for “sacrifice” in 1 when brahmin sacrifices are discussed and criticized, fia appearing in the “gift 10 ascetis*, Ina relatively late passage (inthe as deyyadhamma, as “that which has the quality of being given”."* Thus, yada can be 10d as synonymous with dana, the usual term " and yaa as gift"? The id discussion concerning on the ind tradition, to Buddhist and Jain concepts as well. He stress essential qualities of giver and recipient and shows that Hinduism, contradiction” concerning4 Oliver FREIBERGER hese issues side by side. For our purpose, I woul reflected in the dist respect can we fice” and yariha as “gift”? An ‘contradiction’ concerning both notions? In a sutta from the Ariguttaranikaya, the Buddha describes an ideal “offering” rm used here is dakkhina, Skt. daksina). That offering ent elements: the threefold part of the ideal gi during and after the giving) from passion, hatred and delusion) (ariassa sampada). ina happy world (sukham lokam), How do we render yaa inthis passage? Since we are somebody “establishes an offering” (dakkhinam p endowed with six aiver and recipient. Here, we do not meet a contradiction between sacrifice and gift but ra opposite. Yariia as “sacri becomes “itt”. offering, the Asi er the is reinterpreted and thus defined as “gift”. “Sacrifice” tion is closely connected with the claim that for the ideal 1s the recipients q ing ovomes meritorious apron” 19, AN I 36,1397,19,CE MN IT 25634-2572 AN T 20, S82 (45 21, Yo yteaygo dinapan goharho puthathiko yaa purpekno dadam paresam idha annapanam: (Sa 722.81 (A ‘The ideal sacrifice 45 the Buddhi ‘a new meaning. Brat sacrifice is consisting of one dana and also dakkhina become identic ‘a number of passages, must not be generalized as is restricted to accounts in which texts ~ a concept in which the two “contradictory” notions Torkel Brekke referred to are harmonized. We can conclude that with this concept, the authors dropped all ritualistic practices connected with sacrifice and pattern of reinterpt kus” Cl. also Uma CRAKRAVART, aL scrifice dns le bouddhiame" i M, NEUSCH46 Oliver PREIBERGER he ‘spiritual Buddha to explain to the story of King Mahavijta, who wanted to perform a great sacrifice a long time ago. A brahman the king put in charge™ advised him to put the country in order frst and vassals for a sanction. When # performed, In this pe following acts as “sa ‘meritorious and less diffi perpetually; 2, to put up a vihara on behi Buddha, the dhamma, and the sangha winds up by saying: “There is no othe ‘more excellent than this, O brahman, rena was the Buds hima! 3 form ravdda Buddhism. A Socal History fro Ancient Benares to Modem 818s 3. This i described ere ina long sock phase el Dighaikaye (ON 16285. od te in the Samataaphalsut 2 inne ahmene oesanpaiya a yoesonpa wut ptr wah (ON 1 ‘The ideal sacrifice a terpretation can be observed in ferns already mentioned.” In this third the “ideal presented on three levels. On the level of religious ss of| ‘going for refuge to the Buddha, the dhamma and the saigha, ie., of “becoming a Buddhist”. On the level of ethics, it represents the acceptance of the five moral precepts. ly, on the soteriological level, the renunciation of the world which embraces the another pattern of CoNcLUSION th the iguish between several strategies: the To sum up, it can be stated that the authors of the canonical Pali texts coped issue of sacrifice in different ways, We cai pretation (realized in three patterns) on the other. The observation of differe gies reveals once more the heterogeneous character of the canonical texts. Trying 2s, we can first of all recognize differe groups is interpretation, one could s Jin sacrifice at all, perhaps even re 35.CL, Gommnict, orvada Budahion, p67.8 Oliver FREIBERGER fone can ear religious merit ~ as long as certain elements, especially the killing of animals, are replaced. Yet other Buddhist thinkers restricted their interpretation of sacrifice to the act of giving gifts to renouncers and thus ethicized its meaning, Finally, some authors spiritualized ‘sacrifice’ by identifying the term even with the highest igious goal in Buddhism. ‘The three patterns of reinterpretation have one feature in common: the attempt to fit sacrifice (the act and/or the term) in the Buddhist doct integrate it into the concepts of Budi even the path to liberation. We can speculate on the motiva integration. One was perhaps the obvious attempt to express the superiority of the Buddhist path in order to make converts ~ in particular among brahmans. Another might have been the endeavour to legitimate certain sacrificial practices It is not obvious in the texts if or in what way the different approaches to sacrifice got in contact or even struggled with each other. Its conceivable, for instance, practical apologetics, a radical rejection of sacrificial practices and the f the term ‘sacrifice’ were combined.” In the texts, however, there are which some of these approaches are linked." Nevertheless, it is merely suppose tha new questions 4 omer again 2 ‘incusvam (cl Gerhard OMEN {he erties discsion ofthis erm in GRO 108, Der eene und der femde Glas, p. 136 38. CLAN IV 417-467, where the Budd ‘words of deed, word and ates that @ man performing a sacice sts up the three ei ‘Kijodowasuta ofthe Dighanikya (DN 1 127-1), in ‘eflet 3 (lourth) standpoint yt diferent from the other strategies. ce pattems are combined. The might erpetacon which atempts 0 harmonize the "The ideal sacrifice 0 useful to distinguish the strategies. It helps us to work out the ways Buddhists pursued to cope with a central issue of a religlous tradition they apparently had to compete in early times, Resume En dehors des passages qui désapprouvent et rejettent radicalement le sacrifice, le canon pali en contient de nombreux od le sacrifice (Pacte aussi bien que le terme) se trouve réinterprété. Cet article propose de dégager trois schémas de réinterprétation = 1) La substitution éléments & Vintérieur du cadre ‘conventionnel’ du sacri Ce trait concerne surtout le sacrifice animal: en offrant de Phuile, du beurre, du miel, tc, la place d’animaux, acquérir des mérites. 2) La transformation du sacrifice en concept de registre éthique. En restreignant Vacte du sacrifice & la pratique du don et en voyant dans le terme « sacrifice » un Equivalent de « don », il prend une dimension éthique. D'autre part, toutes les pratiques sont abandonnées. in du sacrifice. Le renoncement au monde et le chemin du fat d’Arhant sont considérés comme le sacrifice supréme. Cette ite absolument tout sens littéral au sacrifice. Le terme est ct devient symbolique: ce qui désigne la earactéristique cardinale du bbrahmanisme est méme désormais utilisé pour la préoccupation sotériotogique la plus importante du bouddhisme: la voie vers la Délivrance. La diversité des stratégies employées pour traiter la notion de sacrifice pourrait refléter une pluralité de groupes dintérét au sein de Pancienne communauté bouddhique. Certaines de ees stratégies sont méme contradictoires (ainsi le rejet radical ct la premigre stratégie, qui semble tolérer le sacrifice dans une certaine mesure). Par le bisis de la réinterprétation, les anciens bouddhistes pouvaient intégrer le sacrifice ddans leur propre systéme sotériologique. La question de savoir quelles motivations ont pu déterminer cette intégration requiert un examen supplémentaire, lequel devrait re une comparaison avee d'autres traditions religieuses indiennes, upanisadique et {sine notamment,