엘라파트라 용왕의 수수께끼

Abstract

After the historical Buddha passed away, his disciples tried to record the life of the Buddha in various forms, and it became a culture that persisted throughout the history of Buddhism. In the Vinaya of some Buddhist schools, early works to compose a biography of the Buddha can be found. Representatively, the Mahāvagga belonging to the Vinaya of Theravāda or Sthaviravāda tradition, 『彌沙塞部和醯五分律』(T1421), which is a Chinese translation of the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya, and 『四分律』(T1428), which is a Chinese translation of the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya, show results of such attempts in common. These tell the stories, from the Buddha’s enlightenment of Buddha to the conversion of Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana. Among these three versions, there are unique stories found only in the biography of Buddha in the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya and Dharmaguptaka-vinaya. They are episodes in which Elāpattra (伊羅鉢怛羅), the king of the Nāgas (Nāgarājan) issues riddles. Over time, these stories were tranformed in the Mūlasarvāstivādavinayakṣudravastu (『根本說一切有部毘奈耶雜事』, T1451), and recreated as more expanded stories in the Mahabastu and the Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra (『佛本行集經』, T190). Besides, another Elāpattra narrative is introduced in the Dhammapada Aṭṭhakathā of Buddhagosa on the Dhammpada 182. In these episodes, Elāpattra asks people riddles to find the Buddha, and eventually meets the Buddha. This article aims to compare and analyze the various versions of the episode of Elāpattra and to clarify their significance. In addition to that, I intend to discover the meaning of the questions and answers, and show that Buddha biographies and narratives can be provide clues to idetify the history of Buddhism.