The Glorious Deeds of Purna: A Translation and Study of the Purnavadana

The avadana literature is the largest corpus of Sanskrit Buddhist texts available to us. By providing an annotated translation of, and applying the methods of literary criticism to, a first-century account of the life of the saint Purna, the present study introduces the reader to the richness and complexity of a genre which has played an essential role in Buddhist self-understanding for over two thousand years. Buddhist tradition identifies the monk Purna of Surparaka as the great evangelist who introduced Buddhism to the land of Sronaparantaka, which corresponds to much of the present Indian State of Gujarat.

The Introduction which discusses methodological issues in some detail is followed by an annotated translation of the text and by a detailed literary analysis. After brief concluding remarks, the appendices present translations of four other versions of the life of Purna.

Joel Tatelman is an independent scholar living in Toronto. He studied English, Sanskrit, Pali and Classical Indian Religion in Canada and England and is currently working on the legend of the Buddha's wife in medieval Nepal