Bodhirājakumārasuttaṁ: The Discourse to Prince Bodhi
Edited and Translated by Ānandajoti Bhikkhu
Introduction
Recently I published a text and translation of the Ariyapariyesanasutta (MN 26), which is probably the best known of the discourses in which the Buddha discusses his practice as a Bodhisatta, his Awakening and decision to teach.
The remarkable thing in connection with that work was the finding, contrary to popular belief, that the Buddha did not identify Uddaka as a teacher, but only as a friend in the spiritual life, and that the Bodhisatta, on his own account, therefore had only acknowledged one teacher during this period, not two.
That discourse, however, presents an incomplete story, that needs to be supplemented by the information given in the Mahāsaccakasutta (MN 36), which again only tells a partial story, there being information available in MN 26 that is not in MN 36, as well as the other way round.
Later, however, in the second collection of 50 discourses (Majjhimapaṇṇāsa) we have a discourse given to Prince Bodhi in which both sections of the story are amalgamated and presented in a clear beginning-to-end type narrative.
Unfortunately this discourse has not gathered the attention it deserves because it has been so heavily abbreviated in both the text and translation versions, quite unlike the situation in the traditional Theravāda countries where both have been written out more or less in full.
The text and translation presented here aims to rectify that situation and give a proper picture of both the text and translation, and the important story it contains in full. This introduction though needs to be supplemented by a reading of the important findings contained in the Introduction to the Discourse about the Noble Search.
Here is a synopsis of this part of the story and the sections found in the various discourses discussed above.
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