THE GREAT CHRONICLE OF BUDDHAS
1502
(Highest Perfection of Alms-giving). Likewise for the
SÊla
and each of the remaining
virtues.] Thus there are thirty kinds of Perfection in its detailed enumeration.
Difference between PÈramÊ, Upa-pÈramÊ and Paramattha-pÈramÊ
With regard to these three categories, (1) properties, such as one’s own gold, silver, etc.
and family members, such as one’s own children and wife, (2) limbs, big and small, such as
one’s own hands, legs, etc. and (3) one’s own life, should be noted first. Then referring to
dÈna
, (1) Gift of properties is
DÈna-pÈramÊ
, (2) Gift of limbs, big and small, is
DÈna-upa-
pÈramÊ
and (3) Gift of life is
DÈna-paramattha-pÈramÊ.
Similarly, (1) observance of morality at the sacrifice of properties, (2) observance of
morality at the sacrifice of limbs, big and small and (3) observance of morality at the
sacrifice of life, are to be understood as
SÊla-pÈramÊ
,
SÊla-upa-pÈramÊ
and
SÊla-paramattha-
pÈramÊ
respectively. Likewise, for the remaining eight perfection, the same way of
classification should be applied.
Different views held by different commentators may be looked up in the exposition of
the word, ‚
ko vibhago
‛ in the PakiÓÓaka KathÈ of the CariyÈ PiÔaka Commentary.
AdhimuttimaraÓa
Voluntary passing away by self-determination is called ‚AdhimuttimaraÓa‛. It is the kind
of death that takes place as soon as one resolves: ‚May death come unto me‛. Such a death
could happen only to future Buddhas and not to others.
Sometimes a future Buddha is reborn in a deva or a BrahmÈ-world where the span of life
is extremely long. He is aware of the fact that, living in a celestial world, he has no chance
whatsoever to fulfil and cultivate Perfections, Sacrifices and Practices and, therefore, he
feels such a lengthy life in that celestial abode is boredom. Then, after entering his
mansion, he shuts his eyes and no sooner has he resolved: ‚May my life-faculty ceases to
be‛, then he experiences the impact of death and passes away from that divine realm. His
resolution materialises partly because he has little attachment to his body, as he has
particularly conditioned the continuity of his body by attaining higher knowledge and
partly because his resolution based on overwhelming compassion for beings is intense and
pure.
As he has control of his mind, so has he control of his deeds. Accordingly, when he dies
such voluntary death, he is reborn in the human world as a prince, a brahmin, etc. so that
he can fulfil any Perfections he wishes to. That is why, though our future Buddha Gotama
had lived in many existence in the BrahmÈ abode without losing his attainment of
jhÈna
, he
existed only for a short time in that BrahmÈ-world as he died voluntarily. He passed away
from the BrahmÈ existence into the human existence and build up elements of Perfections.
Kappa or Aeon
What is called
KambhÈ
in Myanmar is
Kappa
in PÈli. Therefore, it is said in the text of
the BuddhavaÑsa: ‚
kappe ca satasahasse, caturo ca asankhiye
‛ etc.
The duration of a
kappa
cannot be calculated by the number of years. It is known only by
inference. Suppose there is a big granary which is one
yojana
each in length, breath and
height and which is full of tiny mustard seeds. You throw out just one seed each century.
When all the mustard seeds have been thrown out, the period called
kappa
have not come
to an end yet. (From this, it is to be inferred that the word
kappa
in PÈli or the word
kambhÈ
in Myanmar is an extremely long time. But, nowadays, the word
kambhÈ
exactly
means such a period is forgotten, and the word is used in the sense of the mass of the earth
as in the expression
kambÈ-mye-pyin
(earth surface),
kambÈ-mye-lone
(the globe), etc.
Divisions of kappa
It should therefore be noted that
kambhÈ
and
kappa
are the same. The
kappa
is of six
divisions: (1) MahÈ-kappa, (2) Asa~khyeyya-kappa, (3) Antara-kappa
,
(4) Œyu-kappa
,
(5)
HÈyana-kappa and (6) Vaddhana-kappa.
One MahÈ-kappa is made up of four Asa~khyeyya-kappas, namely, (a) the
kappa
in the