and colour in the Manorathapūranī where Buddhaghoṣa takes as his starting point the mere mention of his hero’s name in a list of theras. But still the Apadāna-aṭṭhakathā, possibly written last of the three, adds something even to the elaborate detail of the Papañcasūdanī and the charming fable of the Manorathapûraṇī. The legend that can he touched and retouched and « adorned », the portrait that can be painted in different attitudes are dear to artificers like Buddhaghoṣa.
Under his hand the personages who begin as traditional types often end as human beings, with a physiognomy that we remember. But naturally it is rather as the collector of legends than as the romancer that the old commentator can claim our gratitude. In his numerous commentaries (where no opportunity to tell a story is lost) there is material for comparison with the Sanskrit and Chinese. The entirely buddhistic and pious anupubbakathā of Ratthapāla gives, it is true, little opportunity for such a comparison as is admirably worked out in M. Félix Lacôte’s study of that « conte profane », the legend of the king Udayana (or Udena) one of Buddhaghosa’s personages, who also appears in the vivid narrative of Gunādhya[1]. But the most conventional figures bave their interest as landmarks, when we are seeking the ancient and common source whence Buddhaghoṣa and writers of other schools, of widely differing doctrine, drew their edifying legends. Only as an earnest of further research in this direction these few notes[2] are offered to the master who bas inspired and guided us to do our part in exploring a province of buddhist literature where the borders between « North » and « South » sometimes disappear.
- ↑ F. Lacôte, Essai sur Guṇāḍhya et la Bṛhatkathā (pp. 247-275). To return to buddhist legend, the tibetan tradition noticed by M. Lacôte (p. 263) connects the names of Udayana and Rāṣṭrapāla as father and son, both converted by the Buddha. In the Pali version, as we see, the monk is not of royal blood and his father never approves his choice of the religions life.
- ↑ Notes based on the text of the Apadāna which the present writer is preparing for publication by the Pali Text Society.
