BUDDHAVACANA (WORD OF THE BUDDHA)

The term buddhavacana (word of the Buddha) is the designation used by Buddhists to describe the contents of the Buddhist canon, the Tripiṭaka. By designating the Tripiṭaka the "word of the Buddha," Buddhism identifies its scriptures with the dharma of the Buddha and thereby makes an important claim about the authority and authenticity of the canon. While employing this term to support the authority of the scriptures, however, Buddhists have explained the meaning ofbuddhavacana in two different ways. One explanation holds that the Tripiṭaka is literally the word of the Buddha, spoken by him and committed to memory by his immediate disciples at the First Council just after his death. This literal interpretation maintains that the Tripiṭaka contains all the teachings that the Buddha gave from his first words after his enlightenment to his last teachings before his parinirvāṇa.

Another explanation, however, suggests a more liberal interpretation of the meaning of the "word of the Buddha." The roots of this interpretation go back to the Mahāpadesa-sutta of the Pāli canon (Dīghanikāya, 123f.), which sets out a procedure and criteria for determining which teachings should be accepted as the "word of the Buddha." This sūtra explains that if one receives a teaching from a variety of sources, including the Buddha, a saṄgha gathering, or a wise teacher, then one should test it by comparing it with an established core of teachings (sutta and vinaya). If the teaching in question proves consistent with the authoritative core of teachings then it can be declared to be the "word of the Buddha." This second explanation makes the wisdom of the Buddha, rather than the historical career of the Buddha, the basis for the authority of the canon.

See also:Councils, Buddhist; Hermeneutics; Scripture

Bibliography

Bond, George D. The Word of the Buddha: The Tipitaka and Its Interpretation in Theravāda Buddhism. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Gunasena, 1982.

Lamotte, Étienne. "La critique d'authenticite dans le bouddhisme." India Antique (1947): 216–232. Leyden, Netherlands: Brill, 1947. English translation by Sara Boin-Webb, "The Assessment of Textual Authenticity in Buddhism." Buddhist Studies Review 1, no. 1 (1983): 4–15.

George D. Bond