Divyāvadāna
Also known as: Divyavadana, Divine Stories, Divyāvadāna Anthology
A Sanskrit anthology of thirty-eight avadānas that illustrates karmic causation, merit, and devotion through legends of the Buddha, saints, and kings—most famously the Aśokāvadāna on Emperor Aśoka’s conversion and patronage.
Description
The Divyāvadāna (Divine Stories) is a Mūlasarvāstivādin Sanskrit collection of avadānas—didactic narratives that link present fortunes to past deeds. Combining prose with embedded verses, the anthology preserves temple-foundation legends, miracle tales, and biographies of exemplary monks and rulers. Its most prominent unit, the Aśokāvadāna, narrates the Mauryan emperor Aśoka’s violent past, conversion inspired by a novice monk, vast patronage including the building of 84,000 stupas, and the saint Upagupta’s spiritual guidance. Other tales feature disciples like Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, donors such as Anāthapiṇḍada, and karmic exempla centered on generosity, remorse, and liberation. The collection profoundly shaped Buddhist memory of kingship, relic cult, and the moral economy of merit across South and Central Asia.
Historiography
Surviving chiefly in Nepalese Sanskrit manuscripts, the anthology reflects compilation and redaction within the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya tradition, with Tibetan and Chinese parallels for many stories. The Aśokāvadāna section circulated both independently and within the collection, influencing later chronicles of Buddhist kingship. Nineteenth-century philologists edited the Sanskrit; modern translators have anchored the text’s narrative layers and traced intertextual ties to the Avadānaśataka and Jātaka corpus.
Date Notes
Sanskrit anthology of avadānas compiled within the Mūlasarvāstivāda milieu; draws on earlier oral karmic exempla and monastic narrative cycles.
Major Characters
- Shakyamuni Buddha
- Ashoka
- Upagupta
- Ananda
- Shariputra
- Maitreya
Myths
- The Ashokavadana
- Prince Kunala’s Blinding and Restoration
- The Gift of the Head
- The Śibi King’s Compassion
- The Stūpa Miracles
- The Conversion of Upagupta
Facts
- The collection comprises roughly thirty-eight avadānas transmitted in Sanskrit.
- It preserves the most famous narrative of Emperor Aśoka in Buddhist literature.
- Narratives illustrate karmic causation through exemplary deeds and their fruits.
- Stories blend prose with metrical verses embedded as citations or summaries.
- The anthology belongs to the Mūlasarvāstivāda textual orbit and relates to its Vinaya.
- Aśoka’s teacher in the collection is the saint Upagupta, not Moggaliputta Tissa.
- The work strongly shaped Buddhist memory of relics, stupas, and royal piety.
- Parallel and overlapping tales occur in the Avadānaśataka and Jātaka corpus.
- Nepalese manuscripts underpin modern Sanskrit editions and translations.
- The Aśokāvadāna section also circulated independently beyond the anthology.