Reichert Verlag

The present volume is a romanized collation of four Pali manuscripts of the „Jambupati-sutra“, supplemented by Pali passages extracted from two old Thai-language versions. The „Jambupat-sutra“ is a dramatic narrative that relates how the Buddha overcomes an arrogant and powerful king named Jambupati by conjuring up an illusory city with himself as king, in the end guiding the king to sainthood. Popular up to the early Ratanakosin period, the „Jambupati-sutra“ is an outstanding example of the creative „apocryphal“ Pali literature of Siam. This is the first time the Pali „Jambupati-sutra“ has been published. A future volume will give a complete English translation and a literary, ritual, and social history of the sutra.