Path of Freedom [Vimuttimagga]

Introduction"He cared nothing for kingly rule", — So rajjam neva kdmayi. Surelythere is something similar in this statement and the simile which is commonto both the Vimuttimagga and the Visuddhimagga, namely, Nirdso saddhammecanddlakumdrako viya rajjel— Vimuttimagga p. 25: He has no desire forthe Noble (Law), as an outcast has no desire for a king's throne"; Visuddhimaggap. 54: "He is desireless for the Good Law as an outcast (canddla) isfor a kingdom" \ Have not both the Vimuttimagga and the Visuddhimaggabeen making some sort of allusion to this event, which would, no doubt,have shocked the whole land? Might it not seem that here was an actualstory well-known in the land and even recent history as far as the VenerableUpatissa Thera of King Vasabha's reign was concerned (King Dutthagamanireigned from 161-137 B.C. and King Vasabha from 66-110 A.C.)? If ourauthor is in fact this Upatissa Thera, this story will provide him with themost appropriate material for a simile to illustrate the regardlessness of anunvirtuous man for the Good Law. How appropriate the background providedby the prince's story is for purposes of the simile, which was perhaps eveninspired by it, can be seen from the present translation, p. 25.That the author of the Vimuttimagga, whoever it was, knew such passages as1. Mdjdtim puccha caranan ca puccha.Katthd have jdyati jdtavedo;nicdkulino pi mum dhitlmddjdniyo hoti hirinisedho — Sn. 462Judge not by birth but life.As any chips feed fireMean birth may breed a sageNoble and staunch and true*2. Najaccd 'vasalo' hoti; — najaccd hoti brdhmano;kammand 'vasald* hoti kammand hoti brdhmano — Sn. 136No birth a wastrel — or a Brahmin — makes;'tis conduct wastrels makes — and Brahmins too*is beyond doubt. And it is inconceivable that he had a prejudice which heput down in writing knowing full well that it was entirely against the Teachingof the Buddha.As for the statement that the Vimuttimagga "reveals no special masteryof the Yinaya which is claimed by Prof. Nagai for that Upatissa who livedin the first century A.D. in Ceylon" (p. lvi), the Vimuttimagga is hardly theplace to display such special knowledge.Finally, to this following statement: "My discovery of the Tibetan versionof the third chapter on 'dhutas* is also important . . . This Tibetan textprovides an additional evidence to show the Indian origin of the book. Itdoes not appear to be probable that a text from Ceylon was taken over toIndia and there it was studied in Buddhist schools and that it assumed suchimportance as to be translated, in part at least, in Tibetan" (pp. liv - lv). Anarticle which the late Lama Geshe La Gedum Chomphell originally contributed* Lord Chalmers' translation.XL