Abstract
The sixth story of the Udenavatthu (Uvt-6) in the Dhammapadāṭṭhakathā
is about the deaths of Sāmāvatī and Māgandiyā, who were wives of King
Udena. Sāmāvatī was a disciple of the Buddha and a Sottapannā (one who
has entered the path of wisdom), which is a saint. She was killed by the
villainess, Māgandiyā, who held malice against the Buddha. The story of this
murder shows the teaching of appamāda (carefulness) by quoting the twenty-first
through the twenty-third verses of the Dhammapada. It also contains
Sāmāvatī’s previous birth story and a quotation from Udāna to explain the
principle of karma and the Buddhist worldview.
Several other stories in the Northern Buddhist texts written in classical
Chinese or classical Tibetan have topics similar to Uvt-6. These stories and
their teachings are of two groups: (1) stories on the failure and detection of
Māgandiyā’s plan to kill Sāmāvatī, which warn of the lust for sexual pleasure,
and (2) stories on the execution of Māgandiyā’s evil plan, Sāmāvatī’s death,
and Sāmāvatī’s karma from her previous lives, which demonstrate the strict rule
of karma.
Each of these Northern Buddhist texts has a singular teaching; however,
Uvt-6 has teachings in addition to carefulness as a main doctrine, which are
the rule of karma and the Buddhist worldview. Therefore, Uvt-6 contains more
teaching messages than other stories in the Northern Buddhist tradition.
