The Divyāvadāna, or Divine Stories, is an anthology of Buddhist tales, many originating in the Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya texts. The stories themselves are therefore quite ancient and may be among the first Buddhist texts ever committed to writing, but this particular collection of them is not attested prior to the eighteenth century. Typically, the stories involve the Buddha explaining to a group of disciples how a particular individual, through actions in a previous life, came to have a particular karmic result in the present. A predominant theme is the vast merit (puṇya) accrued from making offerings to enlightened beings or at stupas and other holy sites related to the Buddha. The Vinaya (a word in Pali as well as in Sanskrit, with literal meaning discipline) is the textual framework for the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha. ... Karmic is Nada Surfs demo EP. All the demos recorded in early 1995 and released in the same year. ... The Great Stupa at Sanchi. ...

The anthology contains 38 stories in all, including the well-known Aśokāvadāna, or Legend of King Aśoka, which was translated into English by John Strong (Princeton, 1983). The collection has been known since the dawn of Buddhist studies in the West, when it was excerpted in Eugène Burnouf's history of Indian Buddhism (1844). The first Western edition of the Sanskrit text was published in 1886 by Edward Byles Cowell and R.A. Neil. The first seventeen stories, including the story of the Buddha's famous miracles at Śrāvastī that are so commonly depicted in Buddhist art, have been translated by Andy Rotman and published in 2008 as the inaugural volume of Wisdom Publications' Classics of Indian Buddhism series. The remaining stories will be published in a subsequent volume. Eugène Burnouf (April 8, 1801 - May 28, 1852) was a French orientalist. ... Prof. ...

The collection also contains the story of Buddha creating the famous depiction of the wheel of life, which illustrates the twelve links of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) and the cycle of saṃsāra, for King Rudrāyaṇa (a.k.a. Udrāyana). In the dharmic religions (Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism), the wheel of life or dharmachakra (Sanskrit धर्मचक्र; Tibetan chos kyi khor lo; see also the Names section below) is a mandala or symbolic representation of samsara, the continuous cycle of birth, life, death. ... The doctrine of PratÄ«tyasamutpāda (Sanskrit: प्रतित्यसमुत्पादा) or Paticcasamuppāda (Pāli: पतिचसमुपादा; Tibetan: ; Chinese:緣起) Dependent Arising is an important part of Buddhist metaphysics. ... Illustration depicting the transmigration of the soul. ...

This is the list of stories contained in the Divyāvadāna: 1. Koṭikarṇa-avadāna 2. Pūrṇa-avadāna 3. Maitreya-avadāna 4. Brāhmaṇadārikā-avadāna 5. Stutibrāhmaṇa-avadāna 6. Indrabrāhmaṇa-avadāna 7. Nagarāvalambikā-avadāna 8. Supriya-avadāna 9. Meṇḍhakagṛhapativibhūti-pariccheda 10. Meṇḍhaka-avadāna 11. Aśokavarṇa-avadāna 12. Prātihārya-sūtra (The miracles at Śrāvastī) 13. Svāgata-avadāna 14. Sūkarika-avadāna 15. Cakravartivyākṛta-avadāna 16. Śukapotaka-avadāna 17. Māndhātā-avadāna 18. Dharmaruci-avadāna 19. Jyotiṣka-avadāna 20. Kanakavarṇa-avadāna 21. Sahasodgata-avadāna 22. Candraprabhabodhisattvacaryā-avadāna 23. Saṅgharakṣita-avadāna 24. Nāgakumāra-avadāna 25. Saṅgharakṣita-avadāna 26. Pāṃśupradāna-avadāna 27. Kunāla-avadāna 28. Vītaśoka-avadāna 29. Aśoka-avadāna 30. Sudhanakumāra-avadana 31. Toyikāmaha-avadāna 32. Rūpāvatī-avadāna 33. Śārdūlakarṇa-avadāna 34. Dānādhikaraṇa-mahāyānasūtra 35. Cūḍāpakṣa-avadāna 36. Mākandika-avadāna 37. Rudrāyaṇa-avadāna 38. Maitrakanyaka-avadāna

References

Fables in the Vinaya-Pitaka of the Sarvastivad in School by Jean Przyluski, "The Indian Historical Quarterly", Vol.V, No.1, 1929.03