The Lion”s Roar
Two Discourses of the Buddha
by
Bhikkhu Ñanamoli
edited and revised by
Bhikkhu Bodhi
© 1994
Contents
Editor”s Note
The Shorter Discourse on the Lion”s Roar:
Introduction
The Shorter Discourse on the Lion”s Roar
The Great Discourse on the Lion”s Roar:
Introduction
The Great Discourse on the Lion”s Roar
Editor”s Note
The original translations of the two suttas included in this booklet were made by Ven. Bhikkhu Ñanamoli. They are taken from his complete translation of the Majjhima Nikaya, which I have edited and revised for publication by Wisdom Publications, Boston (forthcoming, 1994/95). The numbers enclosed in square brackets are the page numbers of the Pali Text Society edition of the Pali text.
The introductions and notes are my own. In these the following abbreviations are employed:
DN .... Digha Nikaya
MN .... Majjhima Nikaya
Vbh. .... Vibhanga
Comy. .... Commentary
Bhikkhu Bodhi
The Shorter Discourse on the Lion”s Roar
Introduction
Among the hordes of animals that roam the wild, whether the jungle, the mountains or the plain, the lion is universally recognized to be their chief. The living embodiment of self-possessed power, he is the most regal in manner and deportment, the mightiest, the foremost with respect to speed, courage and dominion. The expression of the lion”s supremacy is its roar — a roar which reduces to silence the cries, howls, bellows, shrieks, barks and growls of lesser creatures. When the lion steps forth from his den and sounds his roar, all the other animals stop and listen. On such an occasion none dares even to sound its own cry, let alone to come into the open and challenge the fearless, unsurpassable roar of the golden-maned king of beasts.
The Buddha”s discourses, as found in the ancient Pali canon, frequently draw their imagery from the rich and varied animal life of the luxuriant Indian jungle. It is thus not surprising that when the Buddha has occasion to refer to himself, he chooses to represent himself as the stately lion and to describe his proclamation of the Dhamma, bold and thunderous, as a veritable lion”s roar in the spiritual domain. The Majjhima Nikaya, the Collection of Middle Length Discourses, contains two suttas which bear this metaphor in their title. These two — No. 11 and No. 12 in the collection — are called respectively the Shorter Discourse on the Lion”s Roar and the Great Discourse on the Lion”s Roar. The variation in their titles, signalled by the Pali words cula, "minor," and maha, "great," evidently refers at one level to their different lengths, the one being four pages in the Pali, the other sixteen. At another level, these different designations may allude to the relative weight of the subject matter with which they deal, the "great" discourse being a rare revelation by the Buddha of his exalted spiritual endowments and all-encompassing knowledge, which entitle him to "roar his lion”s roar" in the assemblies of human beings and gods. Still, both suttas, as their controlling image suggests, are of paramount importance. Each delivers in its own way an eloquent and inspiring testimony to the uniquely emancipating nature of the Buddha”s Teaching and the peerless stature of the Teacher among the spiritual guides of humanity.
The Pali Commentaries explain that there are two kinds of lion”s roar: that of the Buddha himself and that of his disciples. The former is sounded when the Buddha extols his own attainments or proclaims the potency of the doctrine he has realized; the latter, when accomplished disciples testify to their own achievement of the final goal, the fruit of arahantship. Viewed in the light of this distinction, the Shorter Discourse on the Lion”s Roar exhibits a hybrid character, b…
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