Buddhism
Worldwide
Tipitaka Translation Works in Nepal
Original texts of
Tripitaka After the Mahaparinirvana of Lord Buddha, the
monks of that time convened Sanghayana, a gathering or
conference, with a view to compiling the words and teachings
of Lord Buddha. As a result of this noble effort, the words
and teachings of the Lord Buddha were preserved in the form
of religion or vinaya i.e. rules of monastic discipline.
That religion or vinaya was divided into three parts, namely
Suttapitaka, Vinayapitaka and Abhidharmapitaka and was
called Tripitaka.Nepal, a Buddhist country, since the
ancient times Nepal is a Buddhist country since the ancient
times. Dipankar Buddha, the 24th previous birth of
Shakyamuni Buddha, is still fondly remembered by the
Buddhists of Nepal. Shakyamuni Buddha had prayed to Dipankar
Buddha to bless him the virtues of a Buddha. Then, Dipankar
granted him the wish of becoming the Buddha. This prediction
came true and Shakyamuni Buddha became a Bodhisattva. He
lived aeons becoming a Bodhisattva and accomplished
Paramitas. Finally, he was born in Lumbini. Nepal is not
simply a land of Lord Buddha’s birth but also of several
Buddhas like Kanakmuni and Krakuchhanda. Emperor Ashok of
the Maurya dynasty visited Lumbini in 249 B.C. accompanied
by his preceptor Upagupta. He erected a pillar in Lumbini to
mark the birth of Shakyamuni Buddha. He also erected pillars
in Niglihawa and Gotihawa to mark the birth and Kanakmuni of
Krakuchhanda respectively.Birthplaces of BodhisattvasIn
course of fulfilling Paramitas, Boudhisattvas were born in
various places in various forms. There are many historical
places in Nepal connected with the previous birth of
Bodhisattvas. Those places are not only sacred for the
Buddhists of Nepal but are also places worthy of faith and
veneration to all the Buddhists of the world.Availability of
the oldest Tripitakas in Nepal Progress of anything and its
downfall is a historical process. This process applies in
the case of Buddhism in Nepal. Buddhism had developed
considerably during the Lichhavi period. But, it declined in
the succeeding period. Buddhists of Nepal were compelled to
bear the suppression of the non-Buddhist rulers in their
effort to preserve their Buddhist identity. There were
several instances of the seizure of the property of the
Buddhist vihars, and the confiscation of the sacred Buddhist
books, manuscripts, etc. which are a part of the Buddhist
heritage of Nepal. Those books and manuscripts were burnt to
ashes during the century-old Rana period. The process of
Hinduisation by destroying the Buddhist monuments and sacred
texts, and by interfering in the Buddhist activities is
still going on. In recent Nepalese history, there were two
instances of the banishment of Nepalese Buddhists in1924 and
1944 during the Rana rule treating the treatment of Buddhist
activities as an offence in a country of Lord Buddha’s
birth. Due to the serious efforts of native and foreign
archaeologists and historians, it has been established that
Nepal has preserved the oldest Tripitakas. In Germany, a
book entitled The Oldest Pali Manuscript : Four Folios of
the Vinayapitaka From National Archives, Kathmandu was
published in 1991. This is a witness to the fact that Pali
Tripitaka texts are available in Nepal since the ancient
times. In fact, a century before this, famous historian of
England Cecil Bendall (1856-1906) who visited Nepal in 1880
and in 1893-4 had disclosed the availability of the Pali
Tripitaka texts as early as 8th century. The original Pali
and Sanskrit texts written down in various scripts of India
have been preserved in Nepal and various countries. Those
texts were and are still objects of worship.Emergence of the
first SanghanayakaA century ago, Buddhism in Nepal was
confined to simply traditional rituals, cultural worship
virtuals, Bratabandha, etc. The Buddhists of Nepal do not
have the knowledge of Buddhism, and its philosophy. Nor do
they know about Theravada and the monastic rule and
discipline. When somebody asks what is a monk, he or she is
shown the images of Sariputra and Maudgalyayana standing
right and left sides of the main image of Lord Buddha in a
monastery. They do not know about the great and foremost
disciples of Lord Buddha.In those dark days of Theravada
Buddhism, a monk who was a veritable embodiment of quiet and
calm nature emerged in1924, i.e., nearly nine decades ago.
The monk was Bhikshu Prajnananda (1900-1996), who later
became the first Sanghnayaka of Nepal. It is said that due
to the serious effort of Bhikshu Prajnananda, Buddhism of
the Theravada kind was revived in Nepal. Later, monks and
nuns of Nepal who received education and training in Burma
(Myanmar), Srilanka and Thailand made a notable contribution
in this field after returning home. The Tripitaka texts in
NepalLeading monks of Nepal made a great contribution in the
propagation of Tripitaka literature among the Buddhists of
Nepal and lay devotees. They were Acharya Bhikshu
Amritananda Mahathera, Dhammaloka Mahasthavir and Anirudra
Mahasthavir and incumbent Sanghanayaka Buddhaghosha
Mahasthavir. Other monks and Buddhist writers also
contributed in this field in their humble manner. In this
respect, the contribution of Acharya Bhikshu Amritananda is
unique. He had written 28 books based on rare Buddhist texts
following the Buddhist calendar and had also published them.
This awakened consciousness towards the importance of
Tripitaka texts among the Buddhists of Nepal and also the
need of publishing them.The establishment of Dharmodaya
Sabha in Sarnath, India, in 1944 with the initiative of Ven.
Chandramani Nahathera (1876 -1972), Dr. Bhadant Kausalyayana
and Acharya Bhikshu Amritananda (1918-1990), is a new
chapter in the history of Theravada Buddhism in Nepal. Since
then, the activity of propagating Buddhism and publishing
books on Buddhism started.Since the last five decades, the
translation of Buddhist texts such as Dhammapada, Therigatha
of Khudhaka Nikaya and some portions of Suttapitaka and
Jataka tales from Pali into Nepali and Nepal Bhasha has
begun. But, the translation of volumes of Tripitaka and
their publication has not been done so far.The Buddhists of
Nepal went to Burma, Sri Lanka and Thailand for studying
Buddhism. The trend skill continues. This is a shame for a
land of Lord Buddha’s birth. But, an incident that took
place 25 years ago put an end to that shameful
situation.Dunda Bahadur’s mother was very sick. At that time
he was translating Milinda-prashna. He used to tell his
mother the contents of this Buddhist Text. He wanted to
complete the translation work and to hand it over to his
sick mother. But, he could not do so as his mother passed
away in the meantime. This naturally shocked him deeply.
Milindapanha became very popular in the intellectual circle
of Nepal. In order to fulfill the wish of his mother to get
the Tripitaka texts translated in Nepal Bhasha, Dunda
Bahadur fully dedicated his life to complete this work
within 45 days of his mother’s death. Due to the tireless
effort day in and day out, he succeeded in completing the
translation of Dighanikaya within 45 days.This work was
published. This was so far the first Tripitaka text
published in Nepal. The Buddhist society and the
intellectual circle of Nepal received the work positively
taking this as a major breakthrough in the history of
Buddhist literature publication in Nepal. The then Vice
President of all Nepal Bhikshu Federation and Vice
Chancellor of Nepal Bhasha Academy Ven. Bhikshu Sudarshan
commended the work highly.Commenting on the translation of
Dighanikaya by Dunda Bahadur Vajracharya, Bhikshu Sudarshan
said, “It is a fact in Nepal that those who have the talent
to write or translate do not have the capacity to publish
the writings. Those have capacity to publish the writings do
not have desire to publish them. And those who have capacity
to publish or the desire to do so, they do not have the
capacity to write or translate. In this respect, Dunda
Bahadur stands out as an exception. He has talent, money and
willingness. It is only the combination of these qualities
that renders the difficult task of translating the original
Pali Tripitaka text and its publication a possibility. Had
there been the presence of eight like - minded people, then
the five-year plan of translating the major Pali Tripitaka
text in Nepal Bhasha or Nepali languages could be
implemented.” During the mini- Sanghayana held at Anandkuti
Vihara, Kathmandu, after the passing away of Acharya
Amritananda Mahanayaka, Bhikshu Sudarshan chose the same
Dighanikaya in Nepal Bhasha to recite its lines. After the
publication of Dighanikaya, Dunda Bahadur Bajracharya
translated and published Majjhim Nikaya, Samyutta Nikaya,
Itibuttak and Dhammapada of Khuddaknikaya and Tripitaka text
Milindaparha. Thus, he accomplished the sacred task of
translating more than one–forth of the voluminous Pali
literature.The publication of these works attracted the
attention and interest of the Buddhist population of the
Kathmandu Valley and elsewhere. The readers of Nepali
language insisted on translation of Pali texts in Nepali
also. This added more responsibility upon the shoulders of
Dunda Bahadur. Accordingly, the translation and publication
of the Pali Tripitaka texts in Nepal Bhasha and Nepali is
going on. The Bir Purna Pustak Sangrahalaya, has been taking
an initiative in this regard.Bir – Purna Pustak
SangrahalayaHow much assistance a translator needs from a
library becomes evident from the relation of Dunda Bahadur
Bajracharya with Bir – Purna Pustak Sangrahalaya. This Bir –
Purna Pustak Sangrahalaya is a unique private library which
has preserved books on Buddhism and books in Nepal Bhasha.
The credit for starting this library goes to Purna Bahadur
Bajracharya, the father of Dunda Bahadur, who, in course of
foreign visits, used to bring in Buddhist books. In course
of time, the collection of books took the form of a library.
Some of the books available in this library may not be
available in other big libraries.
For the
Nepali
version of this site,
