February Update: Two More DĀ Sutras Added

Wow, it’s been three months since my last update! Yes, it’s true, I’m still working my way through the Dīrgha Āgama. It’s been quite a couple of months, drafting the Mahâvadāna (DA 1 ~ DN 14) and Parinirvāṇa (DA 2 ~ DN 16) sutras, which that I’ve been dreaming of translating for nearly 20 years. Dreams do become realities sometimes.

I’ve added a couple more Dīrgha Āgama sutras to Dharma Pearls that have been patiently waiting for a final edit while I was focused on DĀ 1 & 2. I’m now beginning the draft of the DĀ 30 on Buddhist cosmology, which will take a solid month to complete. Besides the three large sutras, I still need to edit of DĀ 19. I’ve been keeping it for last because it’s a special case due to the need to decode its transliterated dhāraṇīs back into meaningful verses that turn out to be parallel to DN 20’s verses. But when I look at the index page for the Dīrgha Agama, it’s nearly complete in terms of sutras. Only four left!

The last sutras should be posted to Dharma Pearls by the end of May this year. At that point, I will be taking a few months off from new translations to get my DĀ and MĀ sutras added to SuttaCentral before I begin work on the Ekôttarika Āgama. Which means segmented Chinese and side-by-side views on Dharma Pearls, too! I’m also contemplating an ebook edition of the Dirgha Āgama and even a print-on-demand hardcopy sometime this year.

Below are the sutras that were recently added:

DĀ 10 Going Up to Ten (~DN 34)

This is the DA version of DN34 Dasuttara Sutta. The two are very close parallels with a few differences in lists.

DĀ 20 Kūṭatāṇḍya (~DN 5)

This is the DĀ version of DN 5 Kūṭadanta. The two versions are fairly close, with DA being more developed in terms of storyteller (which is a common pattern throughout). Also, in this version, Kūṭatāṇḍya passes away shortly after the Buddha departs. Curious about his rebirth, monks approach the Buddha and ask him about it, and the Buddha tells them Kūṭatāṇḍya attained Nirvana. This is all missing from DN 5. (But it would be interesting to know if any of this is found in Pali commentaries.)

Later this month, I should have the final edit of DĀ 19 ready and perhaps be ready to release DĀ 1 as well.