The Spread of Buddhism

the first turning of the wheel of the doctrine 19

Mahsghika Ekottargama «Zengyi ahan jing» (T.125)^13 —contains texts

titled “Dharmacakrapravartanas tra”. The Taish collection contains two

more s tras titled “Dharmacakrapravartanas tra” related to s tra no. 379

of the Sa yuktgama. One is a translation attributed to An Shigao

(?–ca. 170), titled « Fo shuo zhuan falun jing» (T.109),^14 and the

other is the «Fo shuo san zhuan falun jing» (T.110), a translation by Yijing

(635–713). A comparison of the elements narrated in these s tra

accounts with those in the accounts in the above vinayas reveals the

following:

vinaya SN T.26 T.99 T.109 T.110 T.125

Deer Park in Vras ++++ ++

 ve companions + + + – + –

two extremes + + – + – +

middle mode of progress + + – + – +

(eightfold noble path)

ministry on the four noble

truths

+––+ – –

three cycles and twelve

constituent parts

+–++ +–

conversion of Kau inya + – + + + –

proclamation by the gods + – + + + –

That the account in the Pli Samyuttanikya is parallel to the account

in the Pli Vinaya, has already been shown by André Bareau (1963),

p. 179.^15 The above comparison shows that the one element all accounts

of the  rst ministry of the Buddha agree on is the location of the  rst

preaching: the Deer Park in Vras. This may sustain the claim by

André Bareau that the biography of the Buddha was gradually shaped,

and spread along with the geographical expansion of the Buddhist

faith a long time before it was taken up in the different canonical

(^13) On the (M la)Sarvstivda Madhyamgama and Sa yuktgama, see T.1579.30.772c9–
773a4; Waldschmidt 1980, pp. 136, 139, 148; Psdika 1985, p. 182; Schmithausen
1987, p. 306. On the Mahsghika Ekottargama, see T.1507.25.31c27–32b5;
Waldschmidt 1980, pp. 136–137; Bronkhorst 1985, pp. 313–314; Schmithausen 1987,
p. 321.
(^14) See Zürcher 1991, p. 300.
(^15) Schmithausen 1981, p. 202, suggests that the text from the Sa yuttanikya was
taken over from the vinaya, and probably should be dated more than 100 years later
than the Buddha’s nirva.
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