SV: "Buddha" before the Pali Canon?

[Lars Martin Fosse]

Steve Farmer [SMTP:saf at SAFARMER.COM] skrev 20. september 2000 01:07:
>And I've pretty much
> exhausted what I have to say, in any case, and seem to be a chorus
> of one voice only. Eppur si muove (maybe)!

I am not sure you are a one chorus voice, I think "it moves" too. In fact,
it is very tempting for me to point to some data regarding traditions
concerning legendary figures that are normally NOT mentioned in august
Indological contexts. For an illustration of how such legends accrue around
notable personalities, you may want to have a look at the personal
histories of two well-know figures from the Wild West, Wild Bill Hickock
and Calamity Jane. Both have been studied by serious scholars. (Yessirree,
you can have good, old-fashioned, down-to-earth boy room fun and be a
scholar as well!). Here are a couple of suggested readings:

Wild Bill Hickok : The Man and His Myth, by Joseph G. Rosa.
Calamity Jane: A Study in Historical Criticism, by Roberta Beed Sollid.

(I confess to not having read these books, but I have read other material.)

The basic point is that both were "legends" in their own lifetime, with the
consequence that their personal histories attracted a lot of "non-relevant"
material. Hickok was for example supposed to have shot more than a 100
people, whereas his real record was closer to 10. Since we have both the
historical documents and the oral traditions (not to mention the Hollywood
material), it is easy to see how notable personalities outgrow their own
lives and enter the world of myth. Everybody who wants to see historical
data in such texts as the Mahabharata or the Buddhist canonical biography
of the Buddha does well to study these mechanisms closely before they pass
judgement on the historicity of personalities and events. Oral history is
not always devoid of historical truth, but there are clear reasons why one
should be sceptical. When it is influenced by religious or political
concerns, there is even greater reason for being careful. The scepticism
that many academic scholars show towards the veracity of "scriptural"
information must be seen on the background that we often find oral and
documentary histories to be at loggerheads with each other. The mechanisms
of accrual that Steve Farmer describes are certainly there, my only caveat
is that they do not necessarily mean that certain persons did not exist at
all. Attila existed, although the way he is presented in Germanic legend
had precious little to do with what he really was. The same thing applies
to the emperor Theodorik.
So Caution is the word.

Best regards,

Lars Martin Fosse

Dr. art. Lars Martin Fosse
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