Abstract
This paper focuses on stories from the 13th century Rasavāhinī in which feeding a starving dog is described as an act of great merit, equal even to the care of a monk or the Buddha. It begins with a reevaluation of passages from Buddhist texts that have been taken by scholars as evidence of pan- Buddhist concern for taking care of animals. It argues that they have been over-read and that the Rasavāhinī stories are distinctive. The setting in which these acts occur, a catastrophic famine, helps us to understand the transformation of the despised dog into an object of compassion. In such dire circumstances, when humans themselves behave like animals, compassion for a starving dog is both a new recognition of a fundamental shared kinship between human and animal and a gesture of recovering lost humanity.
Highlights
A wide range of Buddhist texts teach that being reborn as an animal is a retribution for grievous sin
I argue that there is little help offered to the former sinners in the animal realm, with a few exceptional stories that come not from any canonical text but from a late story collection compiled in Śrı Laṅkā, the Rasavāhinıof the 13th-century monk Vedeha Thera
I suggest that the elevation of the act of feeding an animal to an act of great merit, equal to feeding a monk or caring for a sick monk, is related to the context in which these acts occur in the stories, a time of great famine
Summary
A wide range of Buddhist texts teach that being reborn as an animal is a retribution for grievous sin. For Buddhaghosa, in his commentary to the Cetanā sutta of the Aṅguttaranikāya, dogs figure among the creatures who torment the monks and nuns, chasing after them and biting them. In doing so, they create for themselves bad kamma, akusalakamma.. I focus on the particular setting in which dogs invite compassion and caring for them brings great merit in these stories This is a massive famine, and I argue that a time of such terrible suffering may have led to a reassessment of what it means to be human and what it means to be the lowliest of animals
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
