Who Is Sudhana and What Is a Śreṣthin?
The Borobudur panels portray Sudhana as a prince-like young man with a retinue, whereas there are Chinese and Japanese depictions of him as a chubby child. Many years pass in the course of his wanderings. In chapter 8 it is stated that he spent twelve years searching for the head merchant Muktaka, so even if he were a child at the beginning, he would be an adult by the end. However, the conventional passage of time is not a feature of this sūtra. Sudhana is introduced as being part of one of four groups that come to see Mañjuśrī when he goes to South India. There are laypeople—the male upāsakas and female upāsikās—and dārakas and dārikas (“sons and daughters” or “boys and girls”), which, like the compound strīpuruṣadārakadārikāḥ much later in the sūtra, appears to imply parents and their children, and this is specifically indicated when Mahāprajña, the first of the eleven named upāsakas, is identified as the father of the first of the daughters. However, the definition of the terms dāraka and dārika includes unmarried males and females up to the age of twenty, and each of these sons and daughters who come to meet Mañjuśrī is accompanied by a retinue. Therefore, the implication is that Sudhana is not a child but presumably around eighteen or nineteen years old. As Sudhana is the first of the eleven named sons listed, the implication appears to be that, as the most prominent of the sons, he is also the son of Mahāprajña. The only description of his family is the vast, miraculous wealth they obtained upon his birth.
Throughout the sūtra he is referred to as a śreṣṭhidāraka. The word śreṣṭhin in Classical Sanskrit can mean “distinguished,” “eminent,” “a person of high position,” and, more specifically, the president of a guild or a head merchant. Edgerton, for the Buddhist Hybrid, gives “guild leader” and “capitalist.” The Pali equivalent seṭṭhi, according to the Pali Text Society’s dictionary, can mean “the foreman of a guild,” “a treasurer,” “a banker,” or “a wealthy merchant.” Douglas Osto, in Power, Wealth and Women in Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra, used “merchant-banker’s son” to describe Sudhana, but subsequently in his translation of parts of the sūtra he used the simpler “merchant’s son.” Cleary and Carré, translating from the Chinese, have, respectively, “youth” and jeune (“young”), omitting a translation of śreṣṭhin. Here I follow the Tibetan translation of śreṣṭhin as tshong dpon, literally “head merchant.”
In chapter 8, Muktaka is simply called a śreṣṭhin, translated into Tibetan as tshong dpon (“head merchant”), and this translation follows the Tibetan, although his work is not described. Cleary translates śreṣṭhin as “distinguished man” and also as the adjective “noble”; Carré, translating from the Chinese, has aîné (“elder” or “superior”).
In chapter 18, Ratnacūḍa is said to be a dharmaśreṣṭhin, which was translated into Tibetan as chos kyi tshong dpon, literally “head merchant of the Dharma,” presumably meaning that he is a wealthy patron of the Dharma. Cleary translates as both “eminent person” and “religious eminent,” while Carré translates from the Chinese simply as aîné (“elder” or “superior”). Ratnacūḍa is twice associated with a market in the narrative and therefore does seem to be an extremely wealthy merchant, and his ten-story house of gold is filled with Dharma activities and even visions of buddhas and bodhisattvas.
In chapter 19, Samantanetra is said to be a gāndhikaśreṣṭhin, translated into Tibetan as tshong dpon spod tshong (“head-merchant perfume seller”). Cleary translates this as “eminent perfumer,” which would correspond to the Sanskrit, and Carré has simply aîné (“elder” or “superior”), omitting reference to gāndhika.
In chapter 24, Utpalabhūti is also called a gāndhikaśreṣṭhin, translated into Tibetan slightly differently than in chapter 19 as spod tshong gi tshong dpon. Cleary again translates this as “eminent perfumer,” while Carré has simply parfumeur (“perfumer” or “perfume seller”), omitting reference to śreṣṭhin.
In chapter 26, Jayottama is simply called a śreṣṭhin, translated into Tibetan as tshong dpon (“head merchant”). Cleary translates as “eminent man,” and Carré, translating from the Chinese, has marchand (“merchant”). However, in the narrative there is no mention of the work he does, but instead he is said to be advising householders on civic duties, doing so in terms of the Dharma.