Paccekabuddhas

Dear Bhikkhu Bodhi,

By chance I have come across a passage in the Mahāvastu which relates to your previous question about paccekabuddhas. Although this text is not in Pali, nor directly associated with Theravāda Buddhism, I hope it will be of interest.

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Sanskrit (Senart 1882: I 357):

dvādaśehi varṣehi bodhisatvo tuṣitabhavanāto cyaviṣyati // śuddhāvāsā devā jambudvīpe pratyekabuddhānām ārocayanti bodhisatvo cyaviṣyati riṃcatha buddhakṣetraṃ //

tuṣitabhavanād atiyaśo cyaviṣyati anantajñānadarśāvī /
riṃcatha buddhakṣetraṃ . . . . . . varalakṣaṇadharasya //
te śrutva buddhaśabdaṃ pratyekajinā maheśvaravarāṇāṃ /
nirvāṃsu muktacittā svayaṃbhuno cittavaśavartī //

te dāni pratyekabuddhā svakasvakāni vyākaraṇāni vyākaritvā parinirvṛtāḥ //
vārāṇasyāṃ sārdhayojane mahāvanakhaṇḍaṃ tatra paṃca pratyekabuddhaśatāni prativasensu //
te pi svakasvakāni vyākaraṇāni vyākaritvā parinirvṛtā //

ālabdhavīryā satatānuyogī udagracittā akuśīdavartī /
dṛḍhavikramā vīryabalopapetā ekacarā khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpā //

vaihāyasam abhyudgamya tejodhātuṃ samāpadyitvā anupādāya parinirvṛtā // svakāye tejodhātūye mānsaśoṇitaṃ dhyāpitaṃ / śarīrāṇi patitāni //

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Translation (Jones 1949: 302-303):

“In twelve years the Bodhisattva will leave his abode in Tuṣita.” So did the Suddhāvāsa devas proclaim to the Pratyekabuddhas in Jambudvīpa, “The Bodhisattva is about to descend. Quit the field of the Buddha.”

The Great and Glorious One, endowed with infinite knowledge and insight, is about to come down from his abode in Tuṣita. Quit the field of the Buddha [the Master], who bears the marks of excellence.

When the Pratyekahuddhas heard the Buddha proclaimed by these great lords, they passed away, emancipated in heart, independent, masters of their hearts.

Now Pratyekabuddhas pass away after they have each recited his own verse.

In a great wood a yojana and a half from Benares there dwelt five hundred Pratyekabuddhas. They too recited each his own verse and passed entirely away.

Strenuous, constantly devoted, sublime in heart, alert, firm, and courageous, endued with strength and energy, they live in loneliness like a rhinoceros.

They rose up in the air and having at their command the element of fire, they passed completely away. Their flesh and blood were consumed in their own fire. Their corpses fell to earth.

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What follows is a Sanskrit parallel to the Khaggavisāṇasutta.

The Sanskrit edition and translation is available on archive.org.

Regards,
Chris