User:Joshua Jonathan/Bodhidharma's birthplace

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- This page is the original draft for Bodhidharma/Birthplace sources. I keep it for notes. It is not meant to be submitted as an article, since Bodhidharma/Birthplace sources already has this function. Joshua Jonathan (talk) 08:17, 19 December 2011 (UTC) -

Various possible birthplaces for Bodhidharma are mentioned in a variety of sources:
 * 1) A "persistent tradition" sees Bodhidharma as "the third son of a Pallavine king from Kanchipuram", in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, South-South East India.
 * 2) Another Indian traditions describes him as being born in the city Muziris, municipality Kodungallur, state of Kerala, South-South West India.
 * 3) A third Indian possibility is Kochi. Kochi is part of the Ernakulam district in the state of Kerala, South-South West India.
 * 4) Sri Lanka is also being mentioned as being Bodhidharma's birthplace.

These possibilities are not mentioned in the principle sources for Bodhidharma's biography, but are more or less frequently mentioned on the web and in written documents.

These principle sources vary on their account of Bodhidharma being either "from Persia" (547 CE), "a Brahman monk from South India" (645 CE), "the third son of a Brahman king of South India" (ca. 715 CE).

"Why did Bodhidharma come from the west?
 * Classic Zen-question"

Principle sources for Bodhidharma's biography
There are three principal sources for Bodhidharma's biography :
 * 1) Yáng Xuànzhī's (Yang Hsüan-chih) The Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (547)
 * 2) Tánlín's  preface to the Two Entrances and Four Acts (6th century CE)
 * 3) Dàoxuān's (Tao-hsuan) Further Biographies of Eminent Monks (7th century CE). This what they say about Bodhidharma's origins:

Yáng Xuànzhī's (Yang Hsüan-chih) The Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (547)
"the Sramana Bodhidharma from the western regions, originally a man from Persia""

T'an-lín's preface to the Two Entrances and Four Acts (6th century CE)
"The Dharma Master was a South Indian of the Western Region. He was the third son of a great Indian king."

"The teacher of the Dharma, who came from South India in the Western Regions, the third son of a great Brahman king""

Dàoxuān's (Tao-hsuan) Further Biographies of Eminent Monks (7th century CE)
"Bodhidharma, of South Indian Brahman stock"

Modern scholarship
Bodhidharma has been the subject of critical scientific research, which has shed new light on the traditional stories about Bodhidharma.

Biography as a hagiographic process
According to John McRae, Bodhidharma has been the subject of a hagiographic process which served the needs of the Chinese Ch'an movement. According to him it is not possible to write an accurate biography of Bodhidharma: "It is ultimately impossible to reconstruct any original or accurate biography of the man whose life serves as the original trace of his hagiography - where "trace" is a term from Jacques Derrida meaning the beginningless beginning of a phenomenon, the imagined but always intellectually unattainable origin. Hence any such attempt by modern biographers to reconstruct a definitive account of Bodhidharma's life is both doomed to failure and potentially no different in intent from the hagiographical efforts of premodern writers""

McRae's standpoint accords with Yanagida's standpoint: "Yanagida ascribes great historical value to the witness of the disciple T'an-lin, but at the same time acknowledges the presence of "many puzzles in the biography of Bodhidharma". Given the present state of the sources, he considers it impossible to compile a reliable account of Bodhidharma's life"."

Origins and place of birth
Dumoulin comments on the three principal sources. The Persian heritage is doubtfull, according to Dumoulin: "In the description of the Lo-yang temple, bodhidharma is called a Persian. Given the ambiguityof geographical references in writings of this period, such a statement should not be taken too seriously"."

Dumoulin considers Tan-lin's account of Bodhidharma being "the third son of a great Brahman king" to be a later addition: "T'an-lin's account of the third son of a great Brahman king is certainly to be understood as a later addition"

Dumoulin finds the exact meaning of "South Indian Brahman stock" unclear: "And when Tao-hsuan speaks of origins from South Indian Brahman stock, it is not clear whether he is referring to roots in nobility or to India in general as the land of the Brahmans"

Description of Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram is a temple city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, South-South East India.

Kanchipuram is one of the oldest cities in South India. The history of Kanchi can be traced back to several centuries before the advent of the Christian era. It was a major seat of Tamil, Sanskrit, and Telugu learning as well as an important place of pilgrimage for Buddhists, Jains and Hindus. Great Buddhist scholars such as Dignaga, Buddhaghosa, and Dhammapala lived here.

Kanchipuram was the capital of the Pallavas rulers from the 7th to 9th centuries. From the 4rd to the 9th century CE the Pallavas ruled over south-east India. They were a great maritime power with contacts with far-off destinations such as China, Siam and Fiji, through their chief Port Mamallapuram.

The Cholas ruled this town from the 10th century to the 13th century. Kings of Vijayanagara dynasty ruled from the 14th century to the 17th century.

Web sources
Many texts can be found on the web which mention Kanchipuram and the Pallavine dynasty. Typically, none of them gives references to original source-material which would date this tradition to a historical source.

Tstuomu Kambe
Tstuomu Kambe does give a further elaboration on Kanchipuram and the Pallavine dynasty: "According to Chinese records, Bodhidharma was born in a kingdom of South India. Documents published just after Tang dynasty (ending in 907) describe that the name of the Kingdom is expressed with two Chinese characters ‟香至‟. There are four states which are called as South India. No historical record is found in which state the 香至 is located. At this time when interest in Zen Buddhism is increasing throughout the world, the birthplace of this pivotal master would be a great concern. Not only scholars but also those interested in Buddhism would welcome this missing piece of information where in India is the Kingdom 香至. The Chinese name 香至 means “fragrance extreme”. At the time of Tang dynasty, it is likely that 香至 is pronounced as Kang-zhi. In 2007 by examining various documents, the author happened to come across the identification of 香至 to be Kanchipuram, an old capital town in the state Tamil-Nadu. Further investigation revealed that Kanchi means „a radiant jewel‟ or „a luxury belt with jewels‟, and puram means a town or a state in the sense of earlier times. Thus, it is understood that the ‟香至-Kingdom‟ corresponds to the old capital „Kanchipuram‟, located at a distance about eighty kilometers from the city Chennai in South India. It was a capital of Pallava Dynasty at the time when Bodhidharma was living. Currently, it is a sacred town of Hinduism. Historical remains related to Buddhism found in that region are very limited in number. In the Chennai Museum, however, one can see an image of standing Buddha (more than 2m height) excavated in a Hindu temple of Kanchipuram in the early times of 20th century. This image of dignity is reminiscent of the glorious times when Buddhism had flourished in this region where it was discovered."

Unfortunately, Tstuomu Kambe is thrifty in further information on his sources. The "various documents" in which "the author happened to come across the identification of 香至 to be Kanchipuram" are not being identified.

Only one true reference is being made by Tsutome Kambe regarding the biography of Bodhidharma. In part I Tsutome Kambe condences the information about Bodhidharma: "Bodhidharma was born as the third son of a South Indian King according to Chinese historical documents. It is speculated that the kingdom was Pallava, it‟s capital city being Kanchipuram near Chennai. He was named Bodhitara and his surname was Kshatriya (the class of kings and warriors). [1]"

So, according to Tstuomu Kambe the Pallava kingdom is a speculation on "South Indian king".

Written sources
The Pallava dynasty and Kancipuram are also often mentioned in modern written sources.

Zvelebil
Zvelebil states: "Persistent tradition tells us that the 'first Zen patriarch' Bodhidharma (ca. 470-532) was an Indian monk, the son of South Indian ruler, a king of Kanchipuram, and that he appeared one day at the southern Chinese port city of Canton around 520 A.D. whence he traveled to see Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty. This tradition point thus to Bodhidharma as a member of the ruling clan of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas, the contemporary of Skandavarman IV or Nandivarman I.

It is well known that Kanchipuram, the Pallava capital, was one of the most important strongholds of Indian Buddhism. An ancient Prakrit charter (the British Museum plates of Queen Carudevi) mentions among very early Pallavas two kings called Buddhavarman and Buddhayankura, obviously Buddhists, belonging probably to the 4th century A.D. Another Buddhavarman belongs to ca. 540-560 A.D. The well-known commentator Buddhaghosa lived in Kanchipuram probably in late 5th century A.D. The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Hsian Tsang who visited South India in the 7th century A.D. tells us that there were about a hundred Buddhist monasteries in the city with more than 10,000 monks, and he also refers to Kanchih-pu-lo as the birth-place of Dharmapala, the reputed author of treatises on etymology, logic and Buddhist metaphysics. Undoubtedly, the Zen tradition of a South Indian Buddhist monk coming possibly from Kanchipuram to China in the early 6th century may be regarded as trustworthy. If Bodhidharma was a Tamil-speaking South Indian (whether Brahmin (sic), as one version has it, or a prince), the popular saying of one hand producing no sound might have belonged to his linguistic competence."

Zvelebil mentions "persistent tradition", but does not give a reference to the source for Kanchipuram. Zvelebil calls the Kanchipuram-origin "possibly", not certain. Zvelebil makes clear that Kanchipuram was an important Buddhist centre in the 4th to 7th century. This does not prove that Bodhidharma came from Kanchipuram. The reverse is also possible: since Kanchipuram was an important Buddhist centre, it seemed likely to Chinese authors that Bodhidharma came from this place. According to Yanagida and McRae, the traditions about Bodhidharma are doubtful.

Tamil identity
The idea that Bodhidharma was the third son of a Pallavine king from Kanchipuram seems to gain popularity in Tamil Nadu, as it contributes to the Tamil identity. Tamil nationalism emphasises the buddhist past of south-east India, and sees Hinduism as a later intrusion to the original Tamil culture. Bodhidharma fits into this historic consciousness. The story of Bodhidharma is being elaborated in popular Tamil culture. The movie 7aum Arivu emphasizes the Tamil origins of Bodhidharma. It "has evoked much interest about Bodhidharma", but also received critical responses.

Description of Muziris
Muziris is a city in the municipality Kodungallur, state of Kerala, South-South West India.

Muziris was an ancient sea-port in Southwestern India on the Periyar River 3.2 km from its mouth. In a flood of the Periyar in 1341 CE, Muziris was destroyed and the centre of commerce was shifted to other areas.

Web sources
Some pages can be found on the web which mention Kodungallur. These sources too don't give references to original source-material which would date this tradition to a historical source.

The main reasoning for Kodungallar goes as follows: "The Bodhidharma anthology by Broughton starts with the para that he was the 3rd son of a prominent South Indian King from the Western region. With that one could assume that he originated from Kodungallur (Muziris) and probably not Kanchipuram. Could he have been a Perumal who became a Buddhist and went on a pilgrimage? Much of the problem may have been due to Bodhidharma being confused with Boshisena since it appears that Bodhisena was a Brahmin (sic) from Kanchipuarm. The confusion over Tamil was due to the Pallava fact and of course the reason for Bodhidharma sailing out of Muziris or Quilon is because Buddhism was widespread in Kerala at that time (except for the Kanchipuram pocket)."

Written sources
No written sources are known which mention Muziris, Kodungallar to be the birthplace of Bodhidharma.

Description of Kochi
Kochi is part of the Ernakulam district in the state of Kerala, South-South West India. Kochi is often called by the name Ernakulam, which refers to the western part of the mainland Kochi.

In 1102 CE, after the fall of the Kulasekhara Empire, Kochi became the seat of the Kingdom of Cochin, which traced its lineage to the Kulasekhara Empire. The King of Kochi had authority over the region encompassing the present city of Kochi and adjoining areas. The reign was hereditary, and the family that ruled over Kochi was known as the Perumpadappu Swaroopam or Kuru swaroopam. Kochi rose to significance as a trading centre after the port at Kodungallur (Cranganore) was destroyed by massive flooding of the river Periyar in 1341.

Web sources
Kochi is scarcely mentioned on the web as possible place of birth of Bodhidharma: "But then Kanchi is not Westerly in India. Is it perhaps Kochi? Calicut was ‘Kuli’ to the Chinese. Cochin was Ko-Chih. Nevertheless, almost all indicators point towards Kanchipuram rather than Kodungaloor or Muziris. From many accounts Bodhidharma was a studious child who studied under his Guru Pragnattara. Hence it is very unlikely that Bodhidharma had serious martial arts training in Kanchipuram to have transferred it to the pupils in Shaolin, since they already had a fair exposure to martial arts for many decades. It could of course be that he taught them valuable breathing exercises, silambam stick fighting and forms of Yoga."

Written sources
No written sources are known which mention Kochi to be the birthplace of Bodhidharma.

Description of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is an independent state located south-east of the indian sub-continent. It's history has been closely linked to that of the Indian sub-continent. Theravada-buddhism was brought to Sri Lanka from India. Sri Lanka is inhabited by a variety of ethnic and cultural diverse groups.

Web sources
Sri Lanka is scarcely mentioned on the web.

Written sources
No written sources are known which mention Sri Lanka to be the birthplace of Bodhidharma.