Novel
The Pilgrim Kamanita
Der Pilger Kamanita
Karl Adolph Gjellerup · 1906
Opening lines
Einst wanderte der Buddha im Lande Magadha von Ort zu Ort und kam nach Rajagaha. Der Tag ging schon zur Neige, als der Erhabene sich der Stadt der fünf Hügel näherte.
Once the Buddha was wandering from place to place in the land of Magadha and came to Rajagaha. The day was already drawing to a close when the Exalted One approached the city of the five hills.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from gutenberg.org
Synopsis
Kamanita, the son of a wealthy merchant, happens to spend the night under the same roof as an unknown monk and tells him his life: his love for Vasitthi, a young woman of good family, the brigands who abduct him, Vasitthi given in marriage to another, the years when he desires nothing but wealth, until the day the same brigands strip him of everything. He has become a pilgrim in order to go and hear the Buddha. The monk listens to him to the end without telling him who he is.
Context
The book appeared in 1906 in Frankfurt, from Rütten and Loening, under the title Der Pilger Kamanita, with the subtitle roman de légende; a Danish version bears the title Pilgrimmen Kamanita, which German libraries use as the uniform title. The story continues after the death of the characters, from rebirth to rebirth, up to nirvana. The German edition contains a note by the author on the genesis of the text, which the English translation by John E. Logie, published in London in 1911, reproduces in its recent editions.
Who it is for
About three hundred and twenty pages. Know that the second half of the book takes place in the Indian afterlife, among the gods and above them.
Prizes and reception
It is the most translated of his books; in Thailand, extracts appear in secondary school textbooks.
Sources for this page 7
The pages consulted to check this page.