|
Sanskrit Lesson
vakkulena1 ca, "and Vakkula," (continued from issue #54) by Bhiksuni Heng Hsien Among the Buddha's
disciples the great Arhat Vakkula2 Finally his mother flung
him into the sea, where he was swallowed by a fish. When the fish was caught and
opened the baby Vakkula was still alive. Some say the fisherman's wife then
adopted him and explain his name as meaning But beware, for although
vakula The traditional Chinese translation of the Arhat Vakkula's name is "well-formed" 8 referring to his well-balanced limbs and well proportionad features. The Sanskrit derivation of the Chinese meaning is obscure. Not only was the
Venerable Vakkula's life-span long , but for eighty years he cultivated the Way
he never had an instant's illness or pain. That was his reward for having
offered a 1 Vakkulena appears after Kalodayina ca in Max Muller's Sanskrit edition. We have emended the word order on the basis of the Chinese text. 2. 3 Modern derivatives and Prakrit bakkara "laughter" point to a hypothetical Sanskrit root *bakk- "to chatter," (Turner 9117). 4 See VBS #47, pp. 9-10
|
, who lived to be one hundred and sixty years
of age, was distinguished for his life span. Born seated in full lotus and able
to talk, 3 he was thought to be a monster by his mother who tried to kill him,
but to no avail, for Vakkula had purely held the precept against killing for so
long that he himself could not be killed. 4
dva- (simplified to 
va-)"two"
and 
kula "family," indicating that he had two families, the one into
which he was born and his adoptive one.
(also 
bakula) trees
6 occur in Sanskrit literature, you should not
confuse them with the name of this Arhat! Their name is not in origin a Sanskrit
or related word, 7 and the trees are ignominously known to bloom when spat on by
a woman.
haritaki9 fruit to a
Pratyeka buddha in the past. The great Arhat
Vakkula was in the assembly when the Buddha spoke the 
Amitabha Sutram.
po2 chu
1 lo
2; Tibetan transliterates
as 
Ba-ku-la or 
Bag-ku-la.