The third sutta of the Uraga Vagga of
the Sutta Nipata (SN.vv.35-75), consisting of forty one stanzas, each of which
ends with the refrain: eko care khaggavisanakappo.
The Commentary (SNA.i.46ff)
divides the sutta into four vaggas and gives each a separate name (except the
first), the name being generally derived from the first word of the stanza. It
is said that the Buddha preached the Khaggavisana Sutta in response to a
question asked of him by Ananda regarding the attainment of Enlightenment by
Pacceka Buddhas; the Buddha gave details of their abhinihara and patthana, and
illustrated them by reciting to Ananda stanzas which had been uttered by Pacceka
Buddhas of old on various occasions and at different periods as their paeans of
joy (udana).
Buddhaghosa gives the life story of each
of the Pacceka Buddhas whose stanzas are included in this sutta. It is, however,
only in the case of a few Pacceka Buddhas that the actual names are given -
e.g.,
Brahmadatta (v.33),
Anitthigandha (36),
Mahapaduma (39),
Ekavajjika Brahmadatta (40),
Ekaputtika Brahmadatta (41),
Catumasika Brahma datta (44, 64),
Sitaluka Brahmadatta (52),
Suta Brahmadatta
(58),
Vibhusaka Brahmadatta (59),
Padalola Brahmadatta (61),
Anivatta Brahmadatta (62),
Cakkhulola Brahmadatta (63),
Matanga (74).
The rest are described as the king of
Benares, or the son of the king, etc.
The sutta is commented on in the
Culla Niddesa (pp.56ff), in addition to those of the Parayanavagga, an evidence
of the fact that, when the Culla Niddesa was composed, this was probably
regarded as an independent sutta, not belonging to any particular group such as
the Uragavagga, and that the comments on it were written at a time prior to the
composition of the Sutta Nipata as an anthology in its present form. This view
is further strengthened by the fact that its mixed Sanskrit version in the
Mahavastu (i.357f) is not placed in any definite group. According to the
Mahavastu, the Pratyeka Buddhas, five hundred in number, were living in
Rsipatana near Benares, and when they heard from the Suddhavasa devas of the
approach of the Buddha in twelve years, they disappeared from Rsipatana, each
repeating one of the verses of the sutta.
The Apadana (i.7ff) includes the stanzas
of the Khaggavisana Sutta in its chapter called the Pacceka buddhapadana and
prefaces them with several introductory stanzas. A few stanzas are also added at
the end by way of conclusion. In its exegesis the Apadana Commentary
(ApA.i.106f) gives the names of several Pacceka Buddhas. They are, however,
different from those given by Buddhaghosa, and correspond more nearly to those
mentioned in the Isigili Sutta.
