The Great Man of Buddhism
The Great Man of Buddhism
The Great Man of Buddhism
The Pli word "Mahpurisa" consists of the prefix Mah which means "Great" and
Purisa which means "male" or "man". Mahpurisa, therefore, is the "Great man". The
concept of great man or ideal man is a very old notion which goes back to the ancient
civilizations of the world. It is quite evident that the recognition of the ideal man is also one
of the speculations among Indian philosophers and religious leaders, even before the Buddha.
The MahApurisa Sutta in SaMyutta NikAya1, which takes the form of a question from
Sriputta expecting an answer from the Buddha, probably suggests the increasing importance
of such a notion at the time of the Buddha, in the contemporary society.
When the idea of MahApurisa was put forward to the Buddha, he did not reject it as
not relevant to his teaching. According to a number of Suttas dealing with the question of
MahApurisa, it appears that the Buddha seems to have accepted this notion, giving it his own
interpretation, as was customary with him to give new values to prevailing concepts,
conventions or technical terms, in order to explain his new teaching
Although the term MahApurisa itself is not to be found in any one of the prebuddhistic, Brahmanical or Jaina works, according to its usage in Pli literature, we are
inclined to be believe that the idea of MahApurisa seems to have been known during the time
of the Buddha among contemporary religious thinkers, and that the term MahApurisa is not
an exclusively Buddhist coinage. PAli texts very often mention it in a stereotyped formula,
which when referring to the learned Brahmana gives the MahApurisa lakkhana (theory of he
characteristics of the Great Man) as one of the branches of the Brahmanas hereditary
knowledge.2
which enabled them to recognize the character of the Great Man. However, there are some
hymns of the Veda which give support to the view stated above by showing belief in the
S.V.p 158
D.I.p 88,M..II p 135, Sn Vs 101 etc
2
auspicious and inauspicious significance of physical marks and what they specifically, in
early Brahminic society.1
As one of his special methods of presenting a new idea, the Buddha sometimes
neither rejected nor accepted prevailing concepts, but gave his own interpretation of them in
order to develop an exposition of a specific subject drawn from his own teachings which he
wished to be considered at that time. Once a BrAhamana minister called VasskAra came to
the Buddha and presented an idea about MahApurisa for the consideration of the Buddha. 2
As it contained so much social significance for ordinary society, the Buddha neither
rejected nor accepted it because it did not lead to further spiritual advancement. He explained
what the qualities of MahApurisa are, but purely in accordance with his view.
1
2
CHAPTER - II
The earliest idea of MahApurisa in the Pli canon can be traced to the
PArAyanavagga of Suttanipta, which comprises some of the oldest constituent parts of the
Pli Canon.
The question has been put forward by a young Brahmin called Tissametteyya to the
Buddha:
Who is content here in the world? asked Reverend Tissameteyya, In whom
turmoils never rise, who understands both ends does not stick in the middle? Whom dost thou
call a Great Man who has overcome desire in this world? 1
Sn. Vs.1040
4
In another place, the Buddha defines Mahpurisa in a different manner, referring to
the Arahant who has attained perfect happiness.1
A verse in the Dhammapada gives a similar description of the characteristics of
MahApurisa.2
It is clear that although the Buddha has used different words to define the Great Man,
the reference is always to the worthy one (Arahant) who has attained the final goal, the
enlightenment. All those qualities which are mentioned in these passages can be applied to
both the Buddha and the Arahant.
1
2
3
S.V.p 158
Dh.352
A.II p 35-37
5
The second aspect of the Buddhist concept of MahApurisa is based on the physical
characteristics of the Great Man. There is a detailed theory of the physical characteristics of
MahApurisa. According to the PAli Canon characteristics of a person who is possessed of
those marks of a MahApurisa either becomes a Buddha or a Cakkavatti, a universal monarch.
This Brahmanic theory of Mahpurisa appears in the Canon as one of the worldly methods of
prognostication which was practiced to recognize the bodily marks, both of the Buddha and
of the Universal Monarch. According to this theory, the person who was supposed to become
the Buddha or Cakkavati should have possessed these characteristics in his physical body.
CHAPTER - III
In Buddhist texts, particularly in early Nikyas, the legend of the Cakkavatti and his
characteristic features and possessions are descried in great detail. There are certain stock
epithets used to describe the special qualities of the Cakkavatti in the Pli Canon.
Dhammiko dhammarja ( king of righteousness), caturanto vijitAvi (conqueror of
the four quarters of the world), janapadathavariyappatto (has given stability of his domains),
sattaratana-samannagato (possessor of seven treasures), parosahassaM putta sura
virangarupa parasenappamaddana (has a thousand sons, clever, energetic and able to destroy
hostile armies), so imam pathavim sagarapariyantan adandena asatthena dhammena
abhivijiya ajjhavasati (the ruler of dominions surrounded be oceans without recourse to
punishments and weapons of war, makes conquest and rules justly)." 1
Dhammiko dhammarj. among those qualities righteousness is the foundation of the
rule of the Cakkavatti. Once the Buddha explained to the monks, how it came to be that a
cakkavatti was called Dhammaraja- the king of righteousness.2
Bhikkus, a king who is a world monarch, a just and righteous ruler, in dependence on
Dhamma, as his standard, with Dhamm as his overlord keeps constant watch and ward
amongst the warriors, amongst Brahmanas, and householders, dwellers in outlying parts,
amongst recluses, beasts, and birds alike. 3The great commenter, Buddhaghosa comments on
the term 'Dhammiko dhammataja; dhammo assa atthi dhammiko, dasavidha-cakkavatti
vattivattena raja jAto dhammaraja- he who inherits the righteousness and rules according to
the tenfold principles of the Cakkavatti .4
Caturanto vijitAv. This characteristic feature implies the conquering nature of the
Cakkavatti. It is noteworthy that the Buddhist Cakkavatti conquers the world not by the
sword but by righteousness. (Adandena asatthena)
AA.I. p78,MA.III,p635
7
Janapadathvariyappatto. Phys Davids translates this term as the guardian of the
peoples good. The word thvaraiya means stability.
meaning is guardian or protector of law and order in the domain. The commentary explains
that he is neither too strong nor too soft but very firm in his administration.2
Sattaratanasamannagato. Prosessor of the seven treasures is also another important
epithet of the Cakkavatti. Buddhist tradition is unique and coherent as regards the seven
precious (ratana) objects that are possessed by a Cakkavatti. Pli texts list them as follows:
I.
Cakkaratana
the wheel
II.
Hatthiratana
elephant
III.
Assaratana
horse
IV.
Maniratana
jewel
V.
Itthiratana
the queen
VI.
Gahapatiratana
the chamberlain
VII.
Parinyakaratana
the counselor 3
The Cakka (wheel) undoubtedly is the most important object of all the seven
treasures, because the emergence of this is the first and foremost indication that a king has
become a universal monarch. According to the Pli expositions, the wheel makes its glorious
and graceful appearance on the pleasant evening of a full moon day, as the king's merit
reaches its zenith. On the command of the monarch, the great wheel starts on its mission and
the conquest of the world begins. From the time the Cakkaratana appears, the monarch
concerned is entitled to be designated the sovereign mover of the wheel, and along with his
retinue he follows it through the sky. Wherever the wheel goes, the kings of those regions pay
homage to it and accept the suzerainty as the Universal Monarch, Having thus traveled the
four quarters of the earth, it returns to the Cakkavatti's capital and remains fixed as an
ornament on the open terrace in front of his inner apartments.4
Next to the cakka comes the elephant as the object of the seven treasures. The
MahAsudassana sutta gives an account of an elephant all in white (sabbeseta), sevenfold
D.I p 89
AA. IV P 46
3
D.II. p 16. III p 143
4
D.II p173f,M.IIIp173f
1
8
firm (sattapatittha), wonderful in power.5 Its commentary adds that it is either the youngest of
the chaddhanta kula or the eldest of the uposatha kula.
early morning, it passed over the broad earth to its very ocean boundary and then returned
again in time for the morning meal to the mansion.
The third treasure is represented by the miraculous horse. The horse, like the elephant
of the Cakkavitti, can fly through the air. It is all white with a crow black head and a dark
mane, and comes form the Valahaka kula. 3 The Cakkavatti possesses assaratana as the good
result of waiting upon his parents and teachers in the past. 4
The fourth in the list is the jewel which denotes a marvelous precious stone belonging
to the king of veluriya. It is bright, of the finest species with eight facets, excellently wrought,
clear, transparent, perfect in every way.
Milindapaha, the Cakkavatti possesses different king of precious jewels. In addition to the
traditional account of the maniratana, the Milindapaha describes that the Cakkavatti has a
water clearing gem. When he cast it into the water, the various water plants would disappear,
the mud subsides, and the water becomes clear, pure and serene.
9
thus he reveals them to the king.
10
counselor (parinAyaka) a wise statesman, as the final treasure. He is prudent and circumspect
and helps the Cakkavatti in matters of administration.2 The Milindapaha provides more
details on his career as the counselor.
The adviser-treasure of a wheel-turning king shows what is beneficial and what is
detrimental for the king and thinks: these are beneficial for the king and these detrimental,
these are helpful and these are unhelpful, and then removes what is detrimental and takes up
what is beneficial, removes what is unhelpful and takes up what is helpful. 3
The commentaries and later Buddhist works ascribe this post to the Cakkavattis
eldest son,
who has been destined to succeed the king and has possessed some of the
D.II, p. 177
CHAPTER - IV
Every epithet used for a Cakkavatti can also be applied to the Buddha. The Brahman
Sela.1. Who examined the bodily marks of the Buddha said: O Gotama, thou hast the
markings of a Cakkavatti king who would roll and wheel in conquest of the four quarters
of the earth and rule justly. 2
The Buddha replied: Truly, Sela, I am a king, but my realm is the Dhamma which
has no peer. I roll a wheel of the Dhamma, the wheel that cannot roll backwards
The
SV. p 154)
1
(i)
wheel (cakka)
-mindfulness (sati)
(ii)
the elephant(hatthi)
-investigating(dhammavicaya)
(iii)
-effort (viriya)
(iv)
-joy (piti)
(v)
-calmness (passaddhi)
(vi)
-concentration (SamAdhi)
(vii)
The seven gems of a Cakkavatti and the bojjhaNga ratanas of a Buddha have been
compared at length in the Saratthappakasini. 1
(i)
The cakka of a Cakkavatti rolls ahead of its army on the march; similarly, the
constituents
of
enlightenment
consisting
of
mindfulness
The elephant with its huge body (mahakUya) is compared to the greatness of
the doctrine (dhammakAya).
(iii)
The horse, being fleet of foot, is analogous to the effort (viriya) of the Buddha.
(iv)
(v)
The queen (itthiratana) who controls the inactive nature of the body of a
Cakkavatti, is likened to the Buddhas tranquility (passaddhisabojjhaNga).
(vi)
The chamberlain (gahapati), who provides revenue for the kings needs, is
compared to the faculty of concentration (SamAdhi) of the Buddha.
(vii)
The counselor (parinAyaka) who settles all the affairs of the state and eases
the kings mind is likened to the power of equanimity (upekkhA) of the
Buddha. Thus, the commentator had linked the seven treasures of a Cakkavatti
to the attributes of the Buddha
SA.p154
1
The text describes the Cakkavatti king as possessing fine qualities as the ruler who
rolls the wheel of state. He knows what is good (atthu); he knows the Dhamma
(dhammau); he knows timeliness (kalau); he understands assemblies (parisau); he
knows the measure (mattau). The Buddha who rolls on the wheel of the Dhamma,
possesses the five qualities but in a different manner. The commentary classifies them as
follows: 1
A sutta of the ANguttara Nikya 2 says that the eldest son of a Cakkavatti will continue
to roll the Cakka after his fathers death and will be endowed with his qualities. The Buddha
compared the Elder SAriputta to a son who would succeed him and who possessed particular
qualities in common with the Buddha. On the other hand it is evident that SAriputta passed
away before the Buddha
MahAparinibbAna Sutta, the Buddha designated the Dhamma as his successor. In the Sela
Sutta, SAriputta is likened to a senApati (general) of a Cakkavatti. 4 The Elder VaNgisa has
pronounced that the Buddha was like a Cakkavatti king, attended by a thousand monks (the
son of a Cakkavatti) and his retinue (the ministers).
Just as the Cakkavatti king rules without inflicting punishment on his people
(adandena) and without use of weapons of war (asatthena), the Buddha also controls his
disciples without corporal punishment and torture. The Elder ANgulimAla praised the
Buddha, saying that he was converted without chastisement. 5 Both, the Cakkavatti and the
Buddha were considered fit to be remembered by having thupas erected in commemoration
of them.
In the MahAparinibbAna Sutta, when the disciples asked the Buddha how they
should treat his body after his parinibbAna, he told them that it should be honoured in the
same way as the body of a Cakkavtti king.
impossible for a Buddha and a Cakkavatti to appear in the world at the same time. Some
commentaries and later works disregard the implication of such a view and speak of the
Cakkavattins who existed simultaneously with the Buddha.8
AA. I p 619
A. III p 149
3
S.V.p161
4
Sn. Vs. 557
5
M.II p 102f, 122
6
A.I. p 76
7
D. II p 142
8
APA.p 28 MV .I. p 49
2
1
The idea of making a Buddha equivalent to a Cakkavatti can be seen in its most
developed form in Milindapaha, where NAgasena compares the Buddha to a king in
various different ways.
As the foregoing shows there was a bold attempt to make the Buddhas position
supreme by equating his role as a spiritual leader with that of a Cakkavatti. The idea of a
Cakkavatti was only a mythical concept, as a secular leader. Ghoshal interprets the parallel
drawn in Buddhist canonical texts between the Buddha and the world ruler as meaning that
the world ruler is the temporal counterpart of the spiritual world teacher, resembling him not
only in his outward bodily form (thirty-two bodily marks of the Great Man) and the
extraordinary incidents of his birth, death, cremation and commemoration, but also in the
jointly unique role as universal benefactor.
Form the above discussion it is clear that the concept of Cakkavatti is connected with
the world man, MahApurisa. It appears that this concept goes back as early as to the age of
the Rgveda, perhaps earlier. We have traced above how this MahApurisa concept was
absorbed into the person of the Cakkavtti world man. This seems to be an attempt by
society to make its leader an extraordinary person by conferring on him all the best qualities
and attributing to him all that is best in the world in order to display his superiority amongst
others.
In this account his attributes as well as qualities were explained. These attributes were
particularly chosen because of their might and power which conferred on a world leader an
all conquering nature. Moreover, in order to attribute divinity to the king, objects were given
to him as Sattaratana, perhaps to make a person powerful and great. Buddhist literature
portrays the Cakkavatti as the secular counterpart of the Buddha, the spiritual conqueror,
whose realm was the Dhamma. PAli texts compare attributes called satta bojjhaNga with
those of sattaratana allotted to a Cakkavatti. In the course of the above account study, the
seven objects of the Cakkavatti were related to those qualities of the Buddha. Moreover it
was shown how these two were made great and incomparable by the ancient compilers of the
Buddhist canon. According to the Buddhist tradition, these two great personalities are
miraculously born, and are commemorated by the people after death. Therefore, the
comparison of the two personalities, one in the physical body, the other in the spiritual realm,
has been accepted by the Buddhist tradition.
1
In the Buddhist tradition, thirty- two marks have been described as bodily marks of
the MahApurisa either it be the Cakkavatti or Buddha. it appears as though the colourful
idea of the seven jewels preoccupied the writers mind, and the aspect of physical beauty
regarding the MahApurisa became part and parcel of the supreme power became a reality of
dogmatic significance, it was the Buddha whom our expounders invariably preferred to a
Universal Monarch as the proper object of exaltation. Hence are the direct attempts to equate
the Buddha with the Cakkavatti.
CHAPTER - V
In the Buddhist tradition, thirty-two marks have been described as bodily marks of the
MahApurisa- either it be the Cakkavatti or the Buddha. In the Pli Canons the form of a
Cakkavatti has been represented with power and external possessions, such as the
Sattararana seven treasures, Caturanta- four quarters of the world, while in the form of the
Buddha has been represented with greater emphasis o internal achievements such as
SattabojjhaNga- seven factors of enlightenment and Catusacca- four noble truths. In spite of
this distinction the most prominent feature unifying these two concepts, Buddha and
Cakkavatti is that both of them are said to have acquired the thirty-two characteristic marks
of the Mahpurisa as physical features. The Lakkhana Sutta of DghanikAya
describes
details of some of the Lakkhanas and the past deeds which caused manifestation of those
bodily marls together with their corresponding fortunes for the Buddha and Cakkavatti.
The general meaning of the thirty- two characteristics which are enumerated in the
above Sutta is as follows:
(1)
(2)
On the sole of his feet the wheel appeared with a thousand spokes, rims, and
hubs together with 108 figures.
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
While standing without stooping, he can touch and rub his knees with both
hands at once.
(10)
1
D.III, p143f
1
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
He has body-hair with their tips curling upward as if they were looking up at
could collect.
(16)
He has the fullness of the flesh at seven places of his body, namely, the two
insteps, the two backs of the hands, the two shoulders and the neck.
(17)
(18)
He has a full and well-developed back of the body extending fro, the waist to
the neck without any trace of spinal furrow in the middle.
(19)
(20)
(21)
He has seven thousand taste carrying nerves with their rips touching one
another at the throat, making the taste of the food as tiny as a sesame seed
spread throughout the whole body.
(22)
He has a well-developed jaw like that of a lion. It resembles the shape of the
moon shining on the twelfth waxing night of the month.
(23)
He has twenty upper teeth and twenty lower teeth, making a complete set of
forty teeth.
(24)
He has evenly set teeth like pieces of mother-of-pear uniformly cut by a saw.
(25)
He has the closely fitted teeth like diamonds tightly fixed in arrow in a gold
plate.
(26)
(27)
(28)
1
(29)
He has dark eyes with the colour of the pupils similar to that of the butterflypea flower.
(30)
He has eyes with soft and tender eyelashes growing in a row like those of a
new-born calf.
(31)
He has a white hair in the middle of the two eyebrows which was as pure and
bright as the moning star, as soft as the cotton wool. It was two cubits long
when stretched; it coiled back clockwise with the tip curling upwards when
released from the hand.
(32)
He has a thin layer of flesh like a gold headband n the forehead. It appeared
naturally since his birth.
CONCLUSION
Buddhist texts have assimilated the concept of the Ideal Man or the Great Man
(MahApurisa) from two different aspects. The first aspect relates to one's spiritual or internal
achievements and is exclusively a Buddhist one. The other identifies the Great Man by his
physical perfection.
With the evolution of the Buddha concept in the Buddhist tradition, the MahApurisa
concept underwent various changes. It is evident that the idea of MahApurisa-lakkhana
became far more important as the Buddha became an object of veneration after his death,
especially in the attempt to portray the Buddha in visual form.
A completely different definition of the concept of MahApurisa is found in the PAli
Canon itself; the MahApurisa could be recognized mainly by his internal qualities and
physical accomplishments. There are several other terms referring to the Buddha which are
synonyms of the term MahApurisa, such as MahAsatta, Settha purisa, Acchariya manussa in
the ordinary sense.. It is clear at any rate that these characteristics are meant to indicate a
perfection of physical form which symbolises moral, spiritual and intellectual perfection, and
they always arouse a mixture of awe and curiosity.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. AGUTTARA NIKYA
2. APADNA
3. DHAMMAPADA
4. DIGHA NIKYA
5. MAJJHIMA NIKYA
6. MAHVASTU
7. MILINDAPAH
8. SAYUTTA NIKYA
9. SUTTANIPTA