Re: Question about Baranasi
From: Jim Anderson
Message: 4412
Date: 2015-09-12
Dear Huynh Trong Khanh,
You ask:
<< Is that suffix -to a characteristic that can be only found in Jataka? >>
No, it is found everywhere throughout the Pali texts. For example, we find
"piṭṭhito piṭṭhito" in the first paragraph of the Brahmajāla Sutta.
The -to affix topic has come up before in this group and it wasn't so long
ago that Bhikkhu Bodhi gave an explanation of its usage..
<< I heard the opinion that the Jataka was collected or composed lately
after the remain 4 Nikaya. Is it correct? >>
I think it is well understood according to the tradition accounts that the
Jātaka verses along with the stories came from the Buddha but collecting all
the material together into one would not have been completed until the First
Council. The Pali Tipiṭaka contains the verses only while the stories and
the word-by-word commentary on the verses are found in the
Jātaka-aṭṭhakathā.
Of course, modern academic scholarship will have different opinions and cast
doubt on the verity of traditional claims.
Best wishes,
Jim