a legend for all season. pitts

5/23/2018 A Legend for All Season. Pitts.

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BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT: A LEGEND FOR ALL SEASONSAuthor(s): Monique B. PittsSource: Journal of South Asian Literature, Vol. 16, No. 1, Part I: EAST-WEST LITERARYRELATIONS (Winter, Spring 1981), pp. 3-16Published by: Asian Studies Center, Michigan State UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40873618.

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Monique . PittsBARLAAMND OSAPHAT: LEGENDORALL EASONS

An ndian legendtravels WestThe egendof Barlaam ndJosaphathas inspireda large literaryproduction. I first read it in theOccitanversion fourteenthentury)and have since read the Italian, Spanish,Catalan, Old French, atin,Greek,Ethiopian,GeorgianndArabictexts. I also learnedof manymore: Slavic, Nordic, ndEnglish, amongthers.Let us considerthe legend s it is told in the Christianversions.It is fairly easy to reduce ts storyto a basic plot, which s almostidentical in all the texts.In India the rich andpowerfulKingAvennisworshipsdols andrepressesChristianity. At last a son is born o him nd is namedJosaphat. An strologer predictsthatJosaphatwill reignin a spiritualworld,forhewill become Christian. Saddened,Avennis as a palacebuilt, in whichJosaphat rows p imprisoned,ttendedbyservantschosenfortheir beauty ndgoodhealth. As he reachesmanhood,osaphatis allowed to go out. In spite of his father's precautionshe encountersa blindman, leper, and a toothlessold man. Deeplydisturbed,hereflects on the unavoidable eathawaiting ll mankind.Josaphat e-sembles manwhohas lost a treasurethat he does notknow ow orecover. InformedyGodof Josaphat'sstate of confusion, he hermitBarlaamecretlyarrives to enlighten he prince,under heguise of amerchant ho wns magicgem. Following periodof biblical teachings,of parable-tellingandadvice, Barlaam aptizes Josaphat,whowishestoaccompanyimn the Senaardesert; but the righttimehas notyet comeforJosaphat's departure. Barlaam ives Josaphathis old tunic to wear.When ingAvennis earns of Josaphat'sconversion,he tries angrilyto tear him way romhe hatefulreligion, first byremindingis sonof his filial duty,thenbymeans f a public debate, andfinally byexposingJosaphat o the seductivemaneuversf a beautiful demon-

possessedprincess. Everythingails, andJosaphats victorious.EventuallyAvennis ecomes Christian, imitatedbyall in the kingdom.Athis father's death,Josaphateaves his kingdomo join Barlaam. Atthe end of a strenuousife as an ascetic, he dies in theodor of sanc-tity. His body, mazingly ell preserved, s brought ack to the kingdomand becomes shrine.Originof theLegend

The moderneaderwill properlydentifyJosaphatwithBuddha, utthe resemblanceid not becomebvious formany ears. Thefirst his-torian to compare uddha ithJosaphatwas a companionf Marco olo, thePortuguese iegode Couto. In 1612 he thoughthat the Buddhistegendwas an imitation f the Christian egend,or perhaps hat "Budo"wasJoshua. It wasonlyin 1859that Laboulaye ndLiebrecht, writing nde-pendently,gain pointed ut the similarities. Since then,extensiveresearchhas producedhe following esults:

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-4-1) Part of the storyof Buddhas adapted n the Barlaam ndJosaphat egend. It is foundn theLatita Vistra^and theJatakaTales. ^Buddha ied in 483 B.C., and the first Buddhist cripturesrepresentthreecenturiesof oral tradition; thus at least ten centurieselapsedbeforethe first knownccurrence f the Barlaam ndJosaphategend,theArab smaelan version Bombay S)Le Livre de Bilawhar t Bdsf.$Althoughhe transformations still a mystery,inguists haveestablishedthatBodhisattva ecame dasf in Arabicscript.2) Betweenhe Buddhistegend nd Le Livre de Bilawhar t Bdjisfwecan suppose he existenceof a lost intermediaryext in Pehlevi. TheIsmael an text waswrittenbetween .D. 750and 900. Another rabicversionbyIbnBbuya6MSS.Paris Arabe1231 andHeidelbergA 287) can

be dated in relation to the author's death n 991.3) The Turfan ragments?erediscovered n Sin-kiangbetween 902and 1914. Writtenn Old Persian andTurkish, hey ttest to the exis-tence of the legend monghe Manichaeans f CentralAsia becauseof theManicheancript usedthroughout.Onepassage concerns uestionsabouttheage of BarlaamBilawhar); another s the beginningf a parable.The Turkish ragmentelates the storyof a drunkenrincewhomistookcorpsefor his wife.4) The ongGeorgian ersionBalavarianifi inspiredbyLe Livre deBilawhar t Bdsf nd IbnBabuya, ates backto the ninth r tenth en-turies andprecedesthe shortversion,The Wisdomf Balahvar Special-ists in Georgian tudies do notagreeon whether heWisdomf Balahvaris a summingpof Balavariani or if both recensionshave a commonource.In anycase, these recensionsmark he Christianization f the legend.5) The Greek ersion,Barlaam ndloasagh^ seems o derive fromtheGeorgian. It is now ated fromhe eleventh enturyndattributed,notto St. John amascene,ut to St. Euthymusho ranslated t fromGeorgianntoGreek t the Ivironmonasteryn Mount thos11 The trans-formationf the name dsaf nto Ioasaph is thusexplained:

Arabic , ' ; f ) 'J BdsafI . IDdsaf (twoV^_>- ' -> Jr. diacritical dotsinstead of one)Greek XuxTof Ioasapn

After he eleventh enturyhe legendspreadconsiderably. The Greekversion s the sourceof all Christianversions n the Romance12 GermanicandSlavic languages, nd the EthiopianversionBaraVmndYe^wasef'^the last one, in turn, nspiredtheChristian rabictext.146) The Latin text, Beati loannis Damasceni perai datedexactly1048, is a faithfultranslationfrom heGreek, ndfromt are derivedmany omanceersion.

SimilaritiesTheupbringingf theyoung rincein a cloistered palace andhisencounters ithold age, sicknessanddeath are the elements hat most



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-5-obviouslypertainto the legendof Buddha. In Latita Vistava and theJtakaTales theprincealso encounters deadman nd a monk. In Le Livrede Bilawhav t Budsf ndthereafter, he sick man as divided into a blindman nda leper. In Buddhist exts the astrologers1predictions re mate-rialized byorder of thegodsandbythe Bodhisattva imself. In theIsmaelan and Greek exts the encounters re the result of the servants1negligence. In the Occitantext onlyProvidences mentioned.

The reactionof Bodhisattva/Bdsf/Josaphato the sight of death ssimilar: "Withgitated heart" (JtakaTales); "Woe o me " {LalitaVi tura) With he Ismaelan appearsthe image f a manwhohas lost some-thing: an animal,then treasure (Christian texts).TheBudd. In the Ismaelan Le Livre de Bilawhar t Budsfwehear ofa mysteriousharacternamed the Budd." This is the prophet who ame obring o the Indians God'swill withwhichhe drenchedheir hearts in hislanguage." The Budd s Buddha: "The Peni vi Bt, no doubtborrowedromtheSodgian,means uddha, nd it has remainedhe initial meaningf itsPersian derivativebut/hot . . the poetical archetype f the bot corre-sponds ntirelyto the plastic archetype f the oriental Iranian Buddha."'"Our nteresties particularly n identifying he Budd n theJosaphatlegend. DavidM. Langbelieves that it is an interpolationfromheKitabal Bu'~l in the Ismaelian text. Thescribe did not realize that BudsfandtheBuddwereoneand the same 8 d. Gimaret rites elsewhere: "thecharacter f theBudd, ort of a doubleof Budsf, ince theybothoriginatefrom uddha.19Wehave here notonlya twofold uta threefold,perhaps fourfoldcharacter: "thesplitting of the person f Buddha,whose wo spects arerepresentedn the novelbytwocharacters: the IndianprinceJoasaph, hetruehero,passive andcontemplative . . andBarlaam, he initiator andtheguidetoward erfection.20 This comparison as also made yWaljisBudgen his introduction o the Ethiopianversion,Baralam ndYewsef.Budge uggeststhat the form arlaam/Balahvaright ome rom he title"Bhagavn"Lord) givento bodhisattvas boutto become uddhas.... if the teacherof the Bodhisattvawere n reality theBuddha imself,we must ssume hat he tookthe form f a mendi-cantmonk. I am old that from he Buddhist ointof viewthereis nothingtrange n the idea of oneperfectBuddhadvising. . . anotherBuddhan themaking, (p. xli)Themethodf explaining doctrinebyquestionsand answersnecessi-tates two peakers. Thismethodadalreadybeenpracticedin Milinda-Panha,^ in whichMenander,ingof Bactriane,asks thewise manNagasenaquestionsof a heretical nature.Wenote that Sakyamuniadrejected the teaching f several Brahmans;having ried the ascetic life for six years, he abandonedt because theresultwas a nearfatal weakened ondition nd not the Perfect ntelligence.Therefore,n the beginning, odhisattvawasonlythe guide, the initiator.I suggestthat the four charactersBuddha/theudd/BQdsf/Bilawharreoneentity. Buddhand the Buddhavedisappearedfrom heChristianver-sions, allowing literary life to developforBalahvar/BarlaamndIodasaph/Josaphat.2



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-6-Parables. Theteaching f Barlaams reinforcedwithparables. Inthe Christiantexts there are six biblical parables: the Sower, he Prodi-gal Son, the Good hepherd,heRichMan ndPoorLazarus, the RoyalWed-ding, the TenVirgins,and also St. Luke's symbolic aying concerningheneedleand the camel.Apologues. Themost nteresting oncerningast-West nfluence rethe apologues,probably ll oriental, foundn all the texts. Besidestheir didactic function, he symbolismf characters ndsituations delaysthe revelation of a hiddenmessage; bond f recognition nd initiationis established with the receiver of themessage s themyths perceivedthroughhe parable. This bond xists at several levels as a complex et-work f teachersandreceivers is wovennto theparables: the authorteaches the listener or reader,Barlaam eachesJosaphatwho n turnteaches others in the Ismaelianversion), and various characterswithintheparables teacheyeryreceiveralong the ladder. 3 One s remindedftheepisode of the "frozenwords" n Rabelais' QuartLivre.24E. Kuhn25ndafter himJ. Jacob26 ave tried to find sourcesforthese apologues n theKath-Sarit-Sgara27 -jn he stories of the brotherof KingAcka28 nd of Yacas, 9 the MhabhrataBookXI),30 the Dhamma-padci an theRmyana.32.t has notalwaysbeen clear to mewhatwascoincidence,vagueresemblancer strong imilarities. I havefound heapologueof theMan ndthe Pit (or theMan nd the Elephant, heMan ndtheUnicorn) n the ChineseTripitaka33 datingfromhefifth, sixth,seventh ndeighthcenturiesA.D." This apologue s also foundn the Bookof Kalima ndDimna t the end of the part concerning octorBorzoueyeh.There re also some lements f this apologue n a passage of theLaiitaVistearaTibetantext in the French ranslation):Characteristicsof desire, accompaniedyfear . . . alwaysproduce blivion, in that similar to darkness;they lwaysproduce easons for fear, roots of pain that feedthe growthof thevine of life desires. Like a pit where burning irecreates fear, this is how espectablepeople consider thosedesires, similar ... to the edgeof the sword oatedwithhoney. Like thehead of a snake. .. (p. 170)

Awery ntriguing rticle byBishopMoule,"A Buddhist heet-Tract," on-tains an "Apologuef Humanife" with a reproductionf a woodcut,whichis describedthus:In the upper orner o the right s Buddha, nimbus ound hehead, andthronedn clouds. Immediatelyelow s a group on-sisting of Buddha, TheVernableOne"conversing ithkingUdyana ho s followedbyan attendant. They re observing nelephant tandingneara well, its headraised withthreateningtusks towards man,who lings to a wildvine,pendulousn midair. From hewell emergehreedragons. Aroundt are fourserpents. They ll threaten hemanwhohangs bovethem. . .Onthe branch . . are a black and a whiterat gnawingo asgradually o sever the branch. . . There s honey rippingfrom ees that sting theman.35

Symbolismn this apologue s similarly interpretedn all versionsofBarlaamndJosaphat: the pit is this world,the dragon s Hell (exceptin the IsmaelianArabic,where hedragon s Death); the elephantor



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-7-unicorn ursuingmans the death that will overtakeman;the tree orbranch r vine is the life to whichman lings; the black andwhitemiceare thedayandnightthat gradually onsumehis life, sweetened ythedeceptivedropsof honey; he fourserpentsrepresent he four elementsof man'sphysical body.

This apologue s also foundn TheStoryof Samardiyaold bya Jainmonk. Theapologuewas written n PrakritbyHaribhadra,who ived in theseventh entury .D. 6There re seventeen therapologues n Le Livre de Bilauharet Bdasf*twoof which re also foundn theGeorgian exts.The biblical parables andthe apologuesconstitutethe greatest partof Barlaam'scatechizing. They mphasize he oppositionbetween iddenreality anddeceiving ppearance, he accumulation f a treasure to beenjoyed n theworldbeyond, he renunciation f worldly ossessions, anddivineforgiveness. These themesppearat various intervals, notonlyintheparablesandapologuesbutthroughouthe narrative: "Thefascinationof tracinga themehroughll its phases, of waitingfor its returnwhilefollowing therthemes, f experiencinghe constant ense of their simul-taneouspresence,depends pon urgraspof the entire structure-themostelusive thathas everbeen devised. 37Thereader or auditor) must onstantly e keptalert throughhe de-vices of the interlacingof themesndsymbolism.Agoodexamples pro-videdbythe themelosest to the storyof Buddha, hat of imprisonment.Thephysical,materialprisonis the palace built byAvennis o protectJosaphat rom xternal nfluences. Josaphat ongsto discover whathe hasnever een. Aparallel is the apologuetold byTheodas, n which princeis shutin a cave until he reaches the age of ten andcan safely look ateverything ithout oingblind. Contraryo Josaphat, he little princeis neithercuriousnoranxious. ForJosaphat, he materialprisonis aspiritual barrier between is mind nd the outside spiritual world. Later,Josaphats again confined ollowing he public debates. His father sur-rounds imwithbeautifulwomen,mong homs the princesspossessedbythe Devil. Nearly educed,Josaphat ooks into himself n a sort oftrance. Heexperiences vision that allows him o escape from troubledsituation, and, by creatinga "mental pace"38Orsymbolic enter,he isenabledto reorganize he confused lements f a momentf crisis. In thesameway hatJosaphat scapes his physical prison, he wisheshis soul tobreakfree out of its carnal cell.Freedomoes not come asily; Josaphatmust estroy he walls onebyone. As longas Avennis oes notrepentor is notbaptized,Josaphat an-not leave his self-made rison. His first attempt o escape fails whenArachimndhis subjects bringJosaphat ackto the palace. The secondtime, n thedarkof night,he succeeds. Josaphat xiles himself o re-join Barlaamn the desert. But exile is another ormf imprisonment;theprisoner s on the outside, withno possibility of goingback in.Life in the desert is a self-imposedail; intangiblebut real, it is ashelter. True iberation comeswithdeath,when osaphatwill enter thegloriouscity of his visions; onlythenwill the last walls crumble.Wemightay that thewhole egend s a series of imprisonmentsittedinto one another: the soul is imprisonedn Josaphats body,which n turnis imprisonedn the palace from hichhe goes out to be imprisonedgain.



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-8-Josaphat's spirit escapes toward heglorious city (first vision) andJosaphats then mprisonedn the kingdom.Afterhis escape to the desert(prison-exile) his spirit escapes again toward he glorious city (secondvision); finally the liberated soul of Josaphat wells in thegloriouscity, while his body s enshrinedn the kingdom.

TheMother. The mothers absentfromlmost ll the Christiantexts.In the Latita VistraQueenMaya ies promptly;n Le Livrede Bilawhar tBdasf hemothers alive though arelymentioned;he has disappeared nthe Arabicversion,Bookof theKing's Sonand the Asoetio.^ Oneexplana-tionmight e the tendencyf the Church o consider the extremespectsMary/Evendto discard womenromnytheological, philosophicalor intel-lectual discussions. Ata mythicalevel the absenceof a motherlaces aspotlighton the father/sonelationship. In the Judeo-Christianradi-tion, repression f emotions oward he mother reates revulsionfor mate-rial attachmentsndexaltation forspiritual concerns. For the reader,the literary suppression f themothernconsciously mphasizesmasculinityandspirituality as clearly developed n the exclusive conflictingrela-tionshipbetween osaphat ndAvennis.Barlaam'sTunia. Wemightwonder hy concern or the prince's gar-ments r forBarlaam'stunic does exist in every ext. In Laiita VisfaraBodhisattvaeaves in order "to wander . . [and obtain] theSupremeIntelligenceexemptromld age and from eath" (p. 200). Onceoutsidethe town f Kapila, he handshis clothes to his charioteer,cuts his hairandexchanges is rich garmentsor a reddishrobe. TheBodisat of JtakaTates cuts his hair with his sword, hangeshis clothesmade f Benaresmuslin o dress himself in the 'banner f an Arahant,1ndadopted hesacredgarbof Renunciation"p. 178). In the Ismaelianversion,Bdasfremoves is royal robesand ewels. In all theChristiantexts Josaphatputson Barlaam's tunic in orderto live as an ascetic. Whene sees thetunicfor the first time,he is shocked ndimpressed: "Whenodasaph awthis apron ewn rom ld rags hanging ponhimhis heart welled up. 40Fouror five centuries ater, theOccitanBarlaam wasattired, down o hisknees, n an old woolen loth extremely ough nd his shoulderswerecoveredwitha rag of the samekind. Whenosaphat aw howhe mortifiedhimselfwith suchgarments, osaphatmarvelled t Barlaam. He started tocry. . . ."41Anotherpisode tells of a "word atcherwho ews woundedpeech;"renunciationmpliesa change f clothes andthe cuttingof hair. Thisdetail is also foundn every ext (except in theOccitan,whichhas a gapin themanuscriptt that point).We re remindedere of the old Mesopotamianythf Gilgamesh:42thehero,awareof his impendingeath, leaves civilization to enter theworldof naturepeopledwithwild beasts. LikeGilgamesh, uddhandJosaphatleave civilization to lead an ascetic life in thedesert, the forestor themountains.Accordingo Kirk,"to overcomeeathin a modifiedway,Gilgameshas to move rom ultureand the city into themountain ilder-ness" (p. 147). After he deathof his friendEnkiduwhowas born n thewild forestandhaddied in the city after a long illness), Gilgameshe-verses roles and, coveredwithanimal kins, sets forth o find immortalityin the steppe. At this pointthe poemmphasizes nGilgameshs garments.At the timeof Enkidu'sdeath,Gilgameshears off his beautifulclothesandpulls out his hair: "any ct of mournings liable to involveanalteration of clothingand of the lengthof one's hair" (p. 149). This



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-9-mightxplain why, t the timeof departure f a hero for the desert or themountains, change f appearance s so important.

Barlaam'sAge. In Le Livre de Bilawhar t Bdasf,Bdasf sks Bilawharhis age and is amazed ythe answer: twelveyears old. Actually,Bilawharis sixty, but he onlycountshis years of asceticism because beforethattimehewas dead. This passage occurs in eyery ext, including he Turfnfragments.43 ometimeshe answers forty-five,when arlaams reallyseventy. It alwaysprecedes n explanation f the inversion ife/death,ofthepassagefrom eath to life; sinners are dead, true believers are alive.Theascetic, bymovingackhis age, findsa secondyouth. Thismightseem ontradictory,ince to become oung gain implies delayingdeath,which scetics do not fear. We ee here an attempt o abolish earthlytime;Theascetic sets himself eyondmaterial life andbeyondime; he is rebornspiritually andmarks he beginningf this new ife. This is in line withthe fundamentalythf the legendof Barlaam ndJosaphat;that is, therebirth f the hero. In Latita VistraBodhisattava xpressesclearly hisfear of old age, of deathanddecay. Hebegshis fatherto let him o away:"Allowme o disappearfrom his world o that I amnotsubjectedanymoreto theordeal of migratingife" (p. 192). By oining otherascetics,Bodhisattva, ike Barlaam, emoves imself romarthlytime ndplaceshimself n a spiritual time that allows him o obtain the Perfect ntelli-genceand to abolish the "migratingife."The Public debate. In all versions,KingAvennis rganizesa debateto showJosaphat owneptBarlaam'sreligion is. As the real Barlaam,goneto thedesert, could not be found, sosie called Nachor eplaces him.The debatebeginsandends the sameway n eyery ext: Nachors afraid ofJosaphat, efends he truereligion (Barlaam's), and converts o it afteran emotional ncounter ithJosaphat. The debate is followedbythe wor-shipping f idols, buta saddenedAvennis oes notwish to participate. Acharacter,namedheudas n Christiantexts, suggestsa new pproach:surround osaphatwith beautifulwomen. n the Ismaelian text this charac-ter is thebahwan, hermit howorshipsdols. In theGeorgian ersionshe is an anchoritenamed hedma. n the Occitan text he has become magi-cian (Theodas)who epresents vil and who ights against Christianity.

In the storyof Buddha heyoung odhisattva nd his cousin Devadattacompeten a tournamentor the hand f Gopa. PhilippeFoucaux,who rans-lates from heTibetan,suggeststhat the name evadatta is exactlyanequivalentof the French ieudonn,he Latin Deodatus ndtheGreekTheodor"p. 132, n. 2). This is also the opinionof E. Rehatsek, rans-lator of the Book f theKing's Sonand the Ascetic.^ It is for the lin-guists to ponderwhether r notan intermediaryorm l bahwanr at-Tahdanwaspossible in order to explain the transformationf Devadatta ntoThedmar Theudas.The dea of a public debate is not unknowno Indian tradition:"Brahman,s well as Buddhist nnals resoundwith echoesof greatpublicdebates, oftenengaged ponroyal initiative or evenunder oyal leadership. . . [in] solemn ebates ... [so that] the BlessedOnemay rushat onemeetingll his rivals in one blow. 45The TrueReligion. In a literary context t is possible to findcommonlementsn the various texts:1) Asceticism. Whatever ay e the hero's religion, asceticismis



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-10-its most bviousmanifestation. It always mpliesrenouncing aterialwealth ndpower, ntying amily ondsbecausetheyhinderholyservice.ForBuddhahegoal is to achieveperfectBuddhahood;orJosaphat sceti-cism s a preparation or the real world,the one that cannotbe seen. Thebahwanf the Ismael an text is a transition between he Buddhist sceticrespected ndnourished yhis society and theMoslem/Christianscetic.He is a "mountainanderer," fanatic idol worshipper;fter his conver-sion to the "TrueReligion,"he returns o his mountain anderings,nd Ifail to see anydifference etween hese two onditions. This bewilderingcase is resolved n the Christian exts bymakingheodas somewhate-monic haracter. In all the BarlaamndJosaphat ersions,any religionother than the "TrueReligion" s to be eradicatedor, at best, considereda simulation f the "TrueReligion."

2) Death. Death s unavoidable ndrepresents beginninga newbeginningor the Buddhists),notan end. Deathdestroys hebody ndametaphorlwaysdescribes the liberation thus achieved: "Thebeingsheldin the nets and theprisonof migratingife . . . hewill free them o-tally fromheir fetters. 46 "Theworld s despicable ... for it isprisonfor the just man ut heaven or the wicked.473) Heaven. Death s a passage to Heaven or the just man, o Nirvanafor theperfectman. We ind the same mages f "mansions," f God s a"housebuilder," of a "dwelling" repared or the soul while it is incar-nated n a body.4) Good nd Evil. Thesky,or Tushita, in Laiita Vistara, iscrowded ithmillionsof godsandgnies. Opposing odhisattva re theDevil (Mra/Papiyan)ndarmies f demons. In the TibetantranslationofLaiita Vistara the Devil is called "thefallen demon," eminiscentf theChristianDevil, althought may e an error n transcribing anskrit,which eads "powerful, urning emon"p. 252).Theoppositionof Good ndEvil is foundn all texts, but its signi-fication varies. For the Buddhists,Good s Science, Wisdom,ntelligencethat will allowman o get off the transmigrationycle. Evil is mainlydesires, troubles,hungerndthirst, passions, laziness, sleep, fears,doubts, nger,hypocrisyndambition. In the IsmaelianversionGood s"obedience o God,"Evil is disobedience o God nd obedience o Satan.Good eeds,moderationf ambition, enerosity, ruth ndvirtuous ctionsare God's command. o Satanbelongexcessive ambition, ying, baddeeds,avarice, envy, nger,susceptibility, concupiscence, atred, aziness,hypocrisyndcalumny.To the distinctionbetween ood nd Evil the Greektext adds freewill, whichmpliesdiscrimination, he will to act; italso adds baptism. With heOccitantext freewill has disappeared;renun-ciation andpenance re the primaryuties of theChristian thencome ooddeedsand alms. Faith cannotbe rationalized for it comes rom od,notfromntelligence. TheIsmaelianLe Livre de Bitawhar t Bdsf nd theGeorgian atavarianimention heGoldenRule of Charity Matthewii. 12).E. Rehatsek,n theArabicBook f theKing1 Sonand theAscetic, seestherean echoof theDhammapada.Theconfrontationf Good nd Evil is manifestedn supernaturalsceneswhere atanstrikes a last blow n episodes repletewithtemptationsand torments.Bodhisattva nder he Bo-tree s assailed bythe "Demon'sdaughters"who ryunsuccessfullya thousand emininemaneuvers"p. 315).Space teemswithferociousbeasts, arrows nd avelins. In theChristian



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-11-texts, Josaphat'stormentsn thedesert are comparableo thoseexperi-encedbyBodhisattva: roaringbeasts, dragons, words. Thesupremeffortof Evil againstGoodmakes he hero's victory rrevocable.

5) TheSaviour. LikeJesus,Bodhisattva s the Saviour: "After b-tainingthe rightto dwell in Intelligence exemptrom ld age anddeath, Iwill liberate the creatures" p. 209). TheLatita Vistala is a "Sutraex-panded,whose im s to help the wholeworld" p. 9). It will put "an endto thedemon's orce" (p. 111). TheBodisatof theJataka Tales "willremove rom he world he veils of ignorance ndsin" (p. 151).Christas the Saviour s of courseexplicit in the Christianversions.It is more ifficult to findthe Saviour mage n the Ismaeliantext, whereBudsf is considered s a guide; but in the apologueof theAnqa,whoselittle oneshaveeaten the corpseof the Budd, theywerefilled withpity,kindness, incerity,science andwisdom"p. 153). Buried n the advicegivenbyBudsf,we findthesewords: "God . . has chosenus ... tosave the souls fromhepunishmentf the graveor from he fire of Hell"(p. 211).6) TheDoctor. This image s found n e'/ery ext. Bodhisattva scalled "the best doctor,"who ures, assists andsuppressespain. The Buddis "a doctorof souls," theGeorgian alahvar ntroduceshimself s a "phy-sician." The GreekBarlaam xplains thatGod hathmixed . . the potionof repentance, rescribing his for the remission f sins."7) Returnf the Messiah. Before eavingtheTushita, Bodhisattvaconfirms is successor, the BodhisattvaMitrya,whowill come nedaytopreach he Law n his place. The IsmaelianBudsf s considered s theBudds successor: "You re theone, theguide Indiansawaited for a longtime .. for this was alreadysaid in theold traditionof the leaders oftheReligion" p. 194). The secondcomingf Christandthe Last Judgmentare predicted n the Christiantexts, startingwith theGreek ersion.8) Destiny. It is alwayspreordained, utthe Christian egendde-scribes the earthly ife of the hero,whereas he preparationn theTushitaof thebirth of Buddhas minutelyrchestrated. Eventsunfoldaccording o a scenarioforetoldbyoracles.In the Ismaeliantext, Budsf sks: "What appens o man, oes itcome rom estinyor from is actions?" (p. 117) Bilawhar nswers hat itis a vicious circle. Destinymust e linked to action; that is, withoutaction, destiny ould not be realized; destiny s what s necessary^andunavoidable. Theking's adviser Rakistells howhewas raised byFati andTatir whomhe kingconsultedwhen sJsfas threedaysold; these twowisemenwereoverjoyed nd laughedbecause "theguide"wasborn,and criedat the same imebecausetheyhadonlytwelvedaysto live. This episoderemindss of yery imilar circumstancesn Latita Vistara when odhisattvawasborn,andof the visit of the Rishi Asita andhis nephew aradatta(p. 104).In theOccitan text God's will is oftenexpressedbythe formula:"Whent pleased our Lord." Josaphat'sdeath thus occurs: "it pleased ourLordto claim his rent and his crown. Andhe madehim ass away n peace"(p. 1218).



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-12-Evolution f theLegendThe author f the Greek ext has rearrangedhe legendto make t morecoherentpolarization of characters,repetitions,conversions), nd he hasinsertedfloatingelements o reinforce he catechizingtone: theApologyof Aristides, the terrors of the Last Judgment,nd Hell's tormentstheapocalyptic ccents of Isaiah appearat least thirty imes). Subsequenttexts reduced he teachings f Barlaamndpreserved he apologues,there-forerestoring heoriginal Orientalatmosphere. t should be notedthatthePortuguese ersion endof the fourteenthentury) nd the French layLe Mystre uRoyAdvenir1455) omitthe apologues lmost ntirelyandemphasizehe effortsto convert dol worshippers.

Whyome pologueshavedisappeared s notclear, but othersmighthave been too violent or realistic or too esoteric. Bilawhar'steachingin the Ismaelan version, illustrated bythemetaphorf the two unsaboutIntelligence, has beenreplaced bya teachingmore onformableo theChristiandogma, hich ests uponFaith and Renunciation. Since passagesconcerninghe Budd ouldnotbe integratednto a Christiantext, theyhavebeentotally eliminated.TheGeorgian ext Balavariani is the first knownhristianizing inkin the legend. It emphasizes hepolitical natureof KingAbenes1 ostil-ity toward hristians,a characteristic without quivalentin anyothertext: "Thishostile campaignf theirsmaywell produce ome evolution n

my ingdomndoverturn ll public order therein" pp. 53-54). The reasonforpersecutions tied to the fear of an attackupon oyal powernd thethreatof troubles n the kingdom.When benes ives Josaphathalf of hiskingdom,is fears become artly ustified; the people leave him o joinJosaphat, ome ven rebel: "They isregardedmanyf his ordinances. . .Popular ontemptor KingAbenes ecame aily more pparent. .. Hewasafraid that theywould ise in revolt against him, ndthat someone ouldkill him nd seize his kingdom"p. 158). Given he fact that a precisedatehas not been attributed o the Balavariani (ninthor tenth entury), t isdifficult to determine hathistorical eventsmight ave nfluenced heGeorgian ranslator. After he fourth entury aganismurvived n thenewly hristianizedGeorgia,tornbyreligious andpolitical strife bothinternalandexternal. Interferenceamefromll sides: Byzantine/Orthodox,ersi n/Mazdean,rab/Islamic. Georgia eems n ideal territoryfor the transformationf our legend. Constanttrugglesto maintainlocal and national sovereigntiesmay ave contributed o reinforce hepolitical aspect of theBalavariani.

Asceticisms essential to the legend; it is a way f life for theIndianSamanass well as for the desert anchorites. Beginning iththeIsmaelan version,religion becamemandatory. ubjectsmust dheretotheir king's religion or risk reprisals. With he Christianization f thelegendwe see massbaptisms ndconversions, ndweare told that whenJosaphat ecomes inghis kingdomrospers,whilehis father's declines.We bserve "puritanization" f the legend nd a tendencyo keep

onlywhat s compatiblewiththe Christian dealization of a saint. TheChristianJosaphat annotfail nor can he be corrupted; dol worshippersmust ppearwicked;the Ismaelan KingAbenness endowed ithqualitiesunknowno his successorKingAvenis;Theodasbecomesn evil magician,while the beautifulprincesswho ries to seduceJosaphats possessedbythe devil



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-13-The burden f sin, totally absent from uddhist exts, appearswiththeChristianization f the legend. Theweakeningf predestination,which oincideswith the introduction f freewill, makesmanmore ulner-able to his own assions, andat the same imemore eroic when e over-comes is temptations. In Buddhist exts man s ignorant,whereas nChristian extsman s a sinner. Note that the Buddhistnd Ismaelanheroescan integrate hemselvesnto this world,but the Christianheromust eave the world nddwell in exile and isolation.Theprimitivemythf the hero's rebirth s formedythe interactionof several mythic nits. Josaphat'squest fora fatherfigure s a seriesof attemptst regeneration, riggeredbythe revelation of Death. Baptismandexile are at oncea symbolic estruction, symbolicwallowing,symbolic enter,andthe return o innocence; n otherwords, he passagefrom eathto life. It is at this mythicalevel thatwefind a continu-ation of the legendof Buddha.

ConclusionThe egendof Barlaam ndJosaphathas evolved n thedirection ofindividualizaron (ambivalencef characters ike Avennis ndTheodas,per-sonal victory f the Christianhero).Individualzation explains the division Badasf/Buddndthat ofBarlaam/Josaphat.uddha, uideandwanderingscetic, has split intoseveral literarycreations: the Budd, ncientprophetwhosememorysglorifiedandtransmittedn the apologues;Bdsf,who esumesheBudd'steaching ndhimself ecomes uideandascetic; Barlaam,guideandhermit,who ringsthe treasureof eternal life to Josaphat; ndJosaphat,princeandanchorite.In our modernge the legendhas inspiredthewriterJorge uis Borges,who, n a shortessay "Formsf a Legend,48 insists that the four en-counters n Latita Vistava are causedbyBuddha. Thedivine Buddha irectseverything, hile theearthlyBuddhauffers ndacts, andthis justifiesthe title Latita Vistra Developmentf Games) ndthe theory f anillusoryworlddreamedyBuddha.If weaccept theprojectionof one buddha yanother uddha,we canalso accept theprojectionof Barlaam yJosaphat. This concept,admis-sible forBuddhists, s admissible n the literary creation of the legendbecauseof the individualzation of the aspects of Buddha: the guide, theprince,theprophet, he saviour, andthe suffering od.The dea of an illusoryworld n the legendof Barlaam ndJosaphat sno longerthedream r thegame f a deity. The hero renounces transientworld ndhopesto enter an invisible worldhe wishesto be real. If thelegendhas knownn enormousiffusion, t is because it offers an alterna-tive to the finality of Death.

NOTES1 TheBook f Ser Mareo olo the Venetian, oncerningheKingdomsndMarvels f theEast, ed. andtrans. Sir Henry ule (London: 1903),II, 325.



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-14-15. Beati locarais,Damaoeni pera,fols. 568-656 Basle: 1559). BaseduponCodexVIII B 10, fols. 416V-502V, aplesNationalLibrary.16. Assadullah ourenMelikian-Chirvani"L'vocation ittraire duBouddhismeans l'Iran musulman,"e Monderanien et l'Islam, II,HautesEtudes slamiqueset orientales d'Histoire compare, o. 6(Genve: 1974), 34-37. The translation nto English s mine.17. The Fihrist of Al-Nadim, TenthCenturyurvey f Muslim ulture,ed.andtrans. Bayard odge New ork: 1970), p. 717.18. Wisdomf Balahvar,p. 32.19. Le Livre de Bilawhar t Bdsf p. 22.20. H. Zotenberg,Notice sur le texte et les versionsorientales duLivrede Barlaam t Jozaphat,"Noticeset Extraits des Manuscrits.21. On this subject, see Wisdomf Balahvar,p. 15.22. Go S. Kirk,Myth,ts Meaningnd Functions Berkeley: 1970), p. 274.Kirkquotes E. Evans-Pritchard:"Religious ideas are produced yasynthesis f individual mindsn collective action, butonceproducedtheyhave a life of their own." Quotations romMyth ill be annotatedin the text.23. I havedeveloped t length n my hesis (chap, ii andconclusion)the subject of parables andapologues n the legend. See also W,oBolton, "Parable,Allegory ndRomancen the Legend f BarlaamndJosaphat,"Traditio, XIV 1958), 353-366.24. FranoisRabelais, Oevres ompletes, d. JourdaParis: 1962), II,chaps, lv and Ivi, 203-208,25. ErnstKuhn, Barlaam ndJoasaph, ine bibliographischliterargeschicht-liche Studie," AbhandlungenerBaverischen kademieerWissenschaften,XMunich: 1897).26o JosephJacobs,BarlaamndJosaphat, nglishLives of Buddha(London: 1896).27. TheKath-Sarit-Sgaraor Oceans f the Streams f Story,trans,from anskritbyC. H. Tawney,nded. (Delhi: 1968).28. EmileL. Burnouf,ntroduction l'Histoire du Bouddhismendien(Paris: 1844). This seems o me o referto an episode found npp. 416-419,andnotas indicatedbyKuhn, . 370.29. Burnouf, ntroduction, p. 374-376.30. Le Mahabharata,nzeEpisodes, trans. FoucauxParis: 1862).31. "TheDhammapada,Collectionof Verses,beingoneof the CanonicalBooks f theBuddhists," acredBooks f theEast, ed. andtrans,from ali byFoMaxMller Delhi: 1965), X, Part 1, No. 25, 10.32. Accordingo Jacobs,BarlaamndJosaphat,p. cxxxl theRamyana



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-15-2. M. Laboulaye, Le Barlaam t le Lai ta Vistara," Journal es Dbats,26 juillet 1859. F. Liebrecht,"Die Quellendes Barlaam ndJosaphat,"Jahrbuchurromantischend nglischeLiteratur, II (1860), 314-334,3. PhilippeE. Foucaux,RgyaTch'er Rol Pa ou Dveloppementes Jeux.Contenantfhistoire du Bouddha akya-Mouni,raduitsur la versiontibtaineduBkahhgyour,t revusur l'original sanscrit(Lalitavis-tra) Paris: 1848). Quotations rom his workwill beannotatedn the text; the translations nto English re mine.4. T. W.Rhys avids,Buddhist irthStories (JatakaTales) (London:1925).5. Daniel G maet, Le Livre de Bilawhar t Bidasf, elon la version rabeismaelienneGenve: 1971). Contains n excellent introductionndi-catingthe progress f researchuntil 1971concerningexts precedingtheGreek ersion; that is, theArabicnon-Christianersions,theTurfn fragmentsnd theGeorgian ecensons0 Quotations romhisworkwill be annotatedn the text; the translations nto Englisharemine.6. AbuGa'farb. Babuya l-Qummis-Saduq,Kitab ikmal d-dinwa itmaman-ni'ma t itbat al aybawaksfal-hayra,MSS.de Paris Arabe1231et HeidelbergA287.7. W. B. Henning,PersianPoetical ManuscriptsromheTime f Rudaki,"ALocustLeg (London: 1962).8. DavidM. Lang,The Balavariani (Berkeley: 1966). Quotations romthis workwill be annotatedn the text.9. DavidM. Lang,TheWisdomf Balahvar. A ChristianLegend f theBuddhaNew ork: 1957). Contains n excellent bibliographyndplaces theGeorgian ersions n relation to other versions.

10. St. John amascene,arlaam ndIoasaph, ed. Boissonade,trans. G. R.WoodwardndH. MattinglyNew ork: 1914).11. Balavariani, p. 20.12. JeanSonet,Le Romane Barlaam t Josaphat, (Namur:1949). Theauthorhas classified most f theRomanceanguageversions ssuedfrom heGreek. Possible filiations havebeensuggested or theSpanish, talian andCatalan texts byGerhardMoldenhauer,ie LegendevonBarlaam ndJosaphat uf der iberischenHalbinsel; UntersuchungenundTexte,RomanischerbeitenNo. XIII (Halle: 1929). For theItalian texts byGeorgMaas, "Die altitalienische Storia Josaphas,"Romanischesuseum,I (1914); andfor the Old Provenal ext byFerdinand euckenkamp,ie provenzalische rosaredaction es Geist-lichenRoman onBarlaam ndJosaphat Halle: 1912).13. Baraldm ndwasef, trans. B. A. Wallis Budge, I (Cambridge:1923).14. An xtensivebibliographyf all works ublishedbefore1959as wellas a chronological hartappearat the endof Hiram eri [HeinzPflaum], DerReligiondisput er Barlaam-Legendein Motiv bendlandi-scherDichtung," ctaSalamanticensia,XIV,no. 3 (1959).



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-16-wouldbe the source of theapologueof theprincewhohadnever een awoman.Theapologuepresents trongparallels withJosaphat'sownlife, andthereforewithBuddha.

33. CinqCentsContes t Apologues xtraits du Tripiaka chinois, 5 vols,trans. Edouard havannesParis: 1962). See no. 205, Trip. XIX, 7;no. 469, Trip. XXXVI,; Trip. XIV,8.34. IbnAl-Muqaffa,e Livre de Kalila et Dirnna,rans. AndreMiquel(Paris: 1957), pp. 47-48.35. "ABuddhist heet-Tract," rans. BishopMoule,RoyalAsiatic SocietyNorth hinaBranch ournal,XIX,94-102 read in 1884].36. William heodore e Bary,Sourcesof IndianTradition New ork:1958), pp. 56-58.37. EugneVinaver,TheRise of RomanceOxford: 1971), p. 81.38. Angus letcher,Allegory,heTheoryf a SymbolicMode Ithaca: 1964),pp. 348-350.39. E. Rehatsek, Book f the King'sSon and theAscetic," Journal f theRoyalAsiatic Societyof GreatBritain andIreland, XXII (1890), pp.119-155.40. Balavariani, pp. 116-117.41. RenNel i and RenLavaud,Les Troubadours,, 1132. Furtheruota-tions from his workwill be annotated n the text; the translationsinto English re mine.42. Kirk,Myth, p. 142-152.43. Fragment181, .B. See Henning,Persian Poetical Manuscripts,"pp. 92 and95, n. 9.44. Rehatsek, Book f the King's SonandtheAscetic," p. 55. See alsoNeli, Les Troubadours,, 1173,n.a.45. A. Foucher, a Vie duBouddha 'aprs les Textes et les Monumentsel'Inde (Paris: 1949), p. 282. Thetranslation nto English s mine.46. Laiita Vister, p. 106.47. Le Livre de Bilawhar t Bdsf,p. 125.48. Jorge uis Borges,"Forms f a Legend,"APersonalAnthologyNewYork: 1967), pp. 122-127. See also "TheCircularRuins," bid.,pp. 68-74. Also see Didier Jan's "Borges1Allusions to HinduismndBuddhism"n this issue, pp. 17-30.


a legend for all season. pitts

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