Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 9)

Fig. 2:
阿羅漢
來テ海
ノ邊リ
ニ流レ
寄タル
栴檀ノ
木ヲ拾
ヒ集メ
テ

And now the final part of this tale:

Fig. 1: 霊鷲山ニ
入ムト為ル時ニ

霊鷲山ニ入（はいら）ムト為（す）ル時ニ、阿羅漢（あらかん）來て海ノ邊（ほと）リニ流レ寄（よせ）タル栴檀ノ木ヲ拾ヒ集メテ、大王ノ御身ヲ焼キ奉ル。

When [they] were about to arrive at at Vulture Peak (fig. 1), arhat came [to Śuddhodana]. [They] picked up and gathered chinaberry wood drifting along the side of the sea (fig. 2), and burned the Great King's body (fig. 3).

The only thing that tripped me up in fig. 1 was the verb 「入ム」. I'm guessing the meaning is the same as 「入る」, but I couldn't find any dictionary entries to prove this. So I just assumed that was the meaning, and got the reading from an unrelated entry, for 「見に入む」, where 「入」 was read as 「し」.

Edit: as Chris has mentioned in the comments, 「むとす」 is a phrase which has the same meaning as 「しようとする」 in modern Japanese (see entry 2 here). In this case, the interpretation "to be about to do X" is the more likely one. 「為る」 is 「す」 in the attributive form （連体形）.

Fig. 3: 大王
ノ御身ヲ
焼キ奉ル

We previously encountered (fig. 1) the term 「阿羅漢果」, meaning "arhathood." Here we see the truncated term 「阿羅漢」, which means just "arhat."

In fig. 2, we see the verb 「寄タル」. This can be parsed as the verb 「寄す」 (with the okurigana folded into the furigana) in the realis form （已然形） followed by the auxiliary verb 「たり」 (indicating resultativeness) in the attributive form （連体形）.

空くうヲ響カス。

The emptiness reverberated (fig. 4).

Fig. 4: 空ヲ
響カス

The first kanji we see here, 「空」, has a Buddhism-specific interpretation. It refers to śūnyatā, which has many differing meanings related to emptiness. I don't know much about the topic, so I'm not sure of the exact religious significance of the sentence in fig. 4.

Fig. 5: 其ノ時
ニ佛无常ノ文
ヲ說給フ

其ノ時ニ佛、无常（むじょう）ノ文ヲ說（とき）給フ。

At that moment, the Buddha preached the writings on transience (fig. 5).

The first thing to note here is the use of the word 「無常」 with an alternate kanji, 「无」.

The reading for the kanji 「說」 was just a guess, based on the verb 「説く」.

Edit: as Chris has suggested, the reading for the kanji 「說」 is most likely 「とき」, another case where the okurigana from 「説く」 has been folded into the furigana.

As with fig. 4, I'm not too sure of the religious significance of fig. 5.

焼キ畢（おわり）奉リツレハ舎利ヲ拾ヒ集メテ、金ノ箱ニ入レテ塔ヲ立（たつ）テ置キ奉（たてまつり）ケリトナム語リ傳（つた）ヘタルトヤ。

When [the body] had finished burning, the remaining bones were picked up and gathered (fig. 6), then placed in a golden box. A stūpa was constructed [there], or so the story is told (fig. 7).

First of all, note the verb 「畢る」, in fig. 6. Once again, the okurigana have been folded into furigana. It is followed by the phrase 「奉リツレバ」 (the dakuten on 「バ」 are omitted in the original manuscript). This can be broken down as the verb 「奉る」 in the continuative form （連用形）, followed by 「ツレ」, which is the realis form of the auxiliary verb 「つ」, which makes the preceding verb perfective in this case. Finally, we have the conjunctive particle （接続助詞） 「バ」, which provides a temporal logical connection ("when") here.

Fig. 6: 焼キ
畢奉リツレ
ハ舎利ヲ拾
ヒ集メテ

Fig. 7: 金
ノ箱ニ入
レテ塔ヲ
立テ置キ
奉ケリト
ナム語り
傳ヘタル
トヤ

The term 「舎利」 also has a Buddhism-specific meaning, referring to the bones remaining after a body is cremated.

Moving on to fig. 7, there is the kanji 「塔」, which also takes on a Buddhism-specific meaning, this time stūpa, which is a type of burial mound that often contains the ashes of Buddhist monks. This kanji used by itself is an abbreviation of the terms 「卒塔婆」 and 「塔婆」.

A third instance of the okurigana being folded into the furigana is seen with 「奉ケリ」. The ending construct 「ケリトナム語リ傳ヘタルトヤ」 seems to be common to all stories in Konjaku, and likely in other works of this genre/time. 「ケリ」 indicates hearsay, while 「ナム」 emphasizes the preceding content. I translated it as "or so the story is told," but there are probably a lot of alternate translations, both more and less direct (in terms of meanings).

Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 8)

Fig. 1: 然レハ
諸ノ衆生皆俄
ニ踊リ騒ク

We continue the description of Śuddhodana's funeral from last time:

然（さ）レバ諸ノ衆生（しゅじょう）皆俄（にわか）ニ踊リ騒グ。

So many living things all suddenly [began] to hop up and down and make a racket  (fig. 1).

Fig. 2: 水ノ上
ニ有ル船ノ波
ニ値ヘルカ
如シ

The first word, 「然レバ」, can be read in modern Japanese as either 「しかれば」 or 「されば」, but a classical Japanese dictionary only lists the reading 「されば」, which is why I selected it.

Also note the use of the word 「踊リ」. The modern meaning of the verb 「踊る」 refers to dancing. But the original meaning was equivalent to the modern Japanese word 「飛び跳ねる」: to jump or hop up and down.

水ノ上ニ有ル船の波ニ値（あ）ヘルガ如シ。

They were like boats on the water being struck by waves (fig. 2).

Note the irregular use of the kanji 「値」 for the verb 「与える」. It seems like it was selected purely for its phonetic value here, as its meaning ("price"/"cost"/"value") is not used at all here.

Fig. 3: 其ノ
時ニ四天
王佛ニ
申シ請テ
棺ヲ荷ヒ
奉ル 

I'm not sure how to grammatically parse the phrase 「値ヘル」. Since 「ガ如シ」 has to be preceded by a verb in the attributive form （連体形）, 「ル」 is likely an auxiliary verb in that form. It is most likely the perfective verb 「り」, which itself is preceded by the perfective/realis form （已然形） of yodan verbs. This makes sense, since the yodan verb 「値フ」 would be 「値ヘ」 in the perfective form. However, I couldn't find an entry 「値フ」 in any dictionaries, so I'm not entirely sure.

Edit: Chris has suggested that 「値ヘル」 is actually a contraction of 「値（あ）ひ」＋「ある」.  However, it's still not clear exactly what the meaning of this is.

其ノ時ニ四天王（してんおう）仏ニ申シ請（うけ）テ、棺ヲ荷（にな）ヒ奉ル。

At that time, the Four Heavenly Kings asked the Buddha [for permission to] shoulder the coffin (fig. 3). 

The Four Heavenly Kings (caturmahārāja, or चतुर्महाराज, in Sanskrit) mentioned here "are the protectors of the world and fighters of evil."

Fig. 4: 佛
此レヲ許
テ荷ハシ
メ給フ

The word 「荷ヒ」 is related to the modern Japanese word 「荷なう」, and appears to have the same meaning: "to carry on [one's] shoulders".

仏此（こ）レヲ許（ゆるし）テ荷ハシメ給フ。

The Buddha permitted this, and had them shoulder [the coffin] (fig. 4).

Fig. 5: 佛ハ
香爐ヲ取テ
大王ノ前ニ
歩ミ給フ

The construct 「荷ハシメ給フ」 can be broken down into the previously encountered verb 「荷フ」 in the imperfective form （未然形）, followed by the causative auxiliary verb 「しむ」 in the continuative form （連用形）, followed by the honorific auxiliary verb 「給フ」, in the predicative form （終止形）.

仏ハ香炉こうろヲ取とつテ大王ノ前ニ歩あゆミ給フ。

The Buddha, holding an incense burner, walked in front of the Great King (fig. 5).

Fig. 6: 其
墓所ハ
霊鷲山
ノ上也

By "in front", I'm guessing it means "in the front of the procession", one with the Buddha in front and the Four Heavenly Kings following him, shouldering the coffin.

其（その）墓所（むしょ）ハ霊鷲山（りょうじゅせん）の上也（なり）。

The graveyard was on top of Vulture Peak (fig. 6).

Note that the reading used for 「墓所」 is not a modern one (which would be either 「はかしょ」 or 「ぼしょ」). Rather, it's the classical reading 「むしょ」.

Edit: in the comments, Chris has suggested that 「墓所」 could also be read using kun'yomi, as 「はかどころ」.

Vulture Peak, which we encountered in a previous post, comes up again in fig. 6.

Finally, we once again encounter the archaic copula 「也」. It has appeared before, in a previous Konjaku post (see fig. 2).

Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 7)

Fig. 1: 失
セ給フ間
ニハ御枕
上ニ佛
難陀二人
在シマス

Fig. 2: 御
跡の方ニ
ハ阿難羅
睺羅二人
候ヒ給フ

Last time, Śuddhodana's life finally came to an end. But the story doesn't end there:

失（う）セ給フ間ニハ御枕上（おちんじょう）ニ仏・難陀二人在（ま）シマス、御跡（みあと）ノ方ニハ阿難・羅睺羅二人候（さ）ヒ給フ。

As [Śuddhodana] vanished, the Buddha and Nanda were both at his bedside (fig. 1), while Ānanda and Rāhula were both at his feet (fig. 2).

Note the term 「枕上」 — it means "a person's bedside", in this case Śuddhodana's. As for 「候ひ」, that is the continuative form （連用形） of the verb 「候ふ」, which is an archaic verb for "to be".

I wasn't entirely sure about the furigana for the kanji in 「在シマス」, but based on dictionary entries like 「在（ましま）す」, I guessed that the text had an alternate writing where 「しま」 had been moved from the furigana into the okurigana.

Edit: as explained by Matt in the comments below, 「御跡」 means "feet", rather than the literal meaning of "remains".

Fig. 4: 佛末
世ノ衆生ノ
父母ノ養育
ノ恩ヲ不報
サラム事ヲ
誡シメ給ハ
ムカ為メニ

カクテ葬送そうそうノ時ニ、仏末世まっせノ衆生しゅじょうノ父母ノ養育ノ恩ヲ報もくハザラム事ヲ誡いまシメ給ハムガ為メニ、父ノ御棺おかんヲ荷になハムト為す給フ時ニ、大地震動だいじしんどうシ、世界安やすカラズ。

Fig. 3: カクテ
葬送ノ時ニ

Thus, during the funeral (fig. 3), in order to warn people in the far future about failing to repay their debts of gratitude to their parents for their upbringings, the Buddha (fig. 4) went to shoulder his father’s coffin, when (fig. 5) a major earthquake hit, and the world was not calm (fig. 6).

 The first point of confusion in fig. 4 is the meaning of the phrase 「末世の衆生」. According to the explanation on this page, it refers to "people [the masses] in the distant future", which makes sense in this context.

Fig. 5: 父ノ
御棺ヲ荷ハ
ムト為給フ
時ニ

Next, we see the kanji 「恩」 by itself. It has a couple of meanings, including "favor", "obligation", and "debt of gratitude". I think either of the last 2 would apply here.

There is also the verb 「報ふ」, which means "to repay [a debt]". Note how it is in the Sinitic "negative first" grammatical format in the original text. I have changed it to the Japanese equivalent in the quoted text above.

「報ふ」 is in the imperfective form here （未然形）, followed by the negative auxiliary verb 「ず」, which is also in the imperfective form and takes on the form 「ざら」. Finally,  we see the auxiliary verb 「む」 in the attributive form （連体形）, which has several possible meanings. I think it takes on the "hypothetical" meaning here, since it refers to something that happens in the distant future.

That same verb is encountered at the end of 「給ハム」, but there takes on the meaning of intention ("in order to"). It's also seen with this meaning in fig. 5: 「荷ハム」.

Fig. 6: 大
地震動シ
世界不ス

The meaning of 「御棺」 is explained here — it's a polite way of referring to the coffin that Śuddhodana was placed in.

The kanji 「為」 is used in fig. 5 for a different purpose than it is at the end of fig. 4. Here, it represents the verb 「為（す）」, which has the same meaning as the modern verb 「する」.

At the end of fig. 6, there is another Sinitic negative pattern — 「不安ス」. The okurigana 「ス」 is missing dakuten. This is very interesting, as it must be the auxiliary negative verb 「ず」, even though there is also a 「不」 in the original text.

Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 6)

Fig. 1: 大
王佛ノ御
手ヲ取テ
我カ御胸
ニ曳寄セ
給フ時ニ

We continue with the next segment of Śuddhodana's story:

大王、仏ノ御手（おて）ヲ取（とり）テ我（わ）ガ御胸（おむね）ニ曳寄（ひきよ）セ給フ時ニ、阿羅漢果（あらかんか）ヲ得給（えたまひ）ヌ。

The Great King took the Buddha's hand and pulled it close to his own chest, at which point (fig. 1) he [Śuddhodana] ended up achieving arhathood (fig. 2).

Fig. 2: 阿
羅漢果ヲ
得給ヌ

The first thing to note is of course the term arhat (Sanskrit: अर्हत). It essentially refers to someone who has achieved nirvana. Note that, just as with anāgāmi (see fig. 5), the final kanji 「果」 represents the suffix -hood. Therefore, the Japanese term for arhat would be just 「阿羅漢」. This is a purely phonetic representation, as the first two kanji have been encountered before in unrelated contexts, such as the names Ānanda （阿難） and Rāhula （羅睺羅）.

Another interesting observation for fig. 1 is how the kana 「セ」 actually looks much more like its hiragana equivalent 「せ」. This appears to be one of the few cases in this text where a kana favored the modern hiragana style over the katakana version.

Fig. 3: 其ノ
後暫ク有テ
大王ノ御命
絶畢給ヒヌ

The final point of interest is the verb ending at the end of fig. 2. Note that we have the verb 「得（う）」 ("to achieve") in its continuative form （連用形）, which is 「得（え）」. Next is the honorific verb 「給フ」, also in the continuative form. Finally is the auxiliary verb 「ヌ」, which is in the predicative form （終止形） and has the perfective （完了） function. The verb not only indicates the completion of an event/action, it also signifies that it occurred naturally, which is where the "ended up" part of the translation comes from. This is comparable to the modern Japanese 「なってしまった」.

其ノ後暫ク有（あり）テ、大王ノ御命（おいのち）、絶畢（たへはて）給（たま）ヒヌ。

After that, some time passed, and the Great King's life came to an end (fig. 3).

Fig. 4: 其ノ
時ニ城ノ
内上下ノ人

I treated 「其ノ後」 as a compound meaning "after that". Other than for that, the most confusing part of fig. 3 was the compound 「絶畢」, which I couldn't find a dictionary entry for. The meaning was pretty clear (and redundant), as the first kanji means "discontinue", while the second means "finish". However, I wasn't sure about the reading. What I've selected above, 「ぜつひつ」, is just based on the on'yomi of the two kanji. However, it might be read as 「ぜっぴつ」, which is the modern reading for 「絶筆」, which has the same first kanji and a similar second kanji (it also has the on'yomi reading 「ひつ」).

Edit: as Chris has suggested in the comments below, it is more likely that 「絶畢」 is read as 「たへはて」, since supplementary verbs such as 「給ふ」 must be preceded by a verb, rather than a nominal compound. Verbs are usually written using kun'yomi, making 「ぜつひつ」 or 「ぜっぴつ」 unlikely readings.

Fig. 5: 皆哭
キ悲ム事无
限シ

其ノ時ニ、城ノ内、上下の人、皆哭（な）キ悲（かなし）ム事限リ无シ。

At that time, inside the castle, the people, from top to bottom (fig. 4), everyone wept and grieved without limit (fig. 5).

There's not too much to say here. We see an alternate kanji for the verb for "to weep" （泣く）. That verb is in the continuative form, followed by the verb 「悲む」 in the attributive form (also 「悲む」), as it is immediately followed by a noun （事）.

The same pattern with 「无限シ」 that we've seen many times before is repeated here.

其ノ音、城ヲ響カス。

Fig. 6: 其ノ音
城ヲ響カス

Those sounds reverberated through the castle (fig. 6).

The only thing of interest in fig. 6 is the verb ending. It is the verb 「響ク」 in the imperfective form （未然形） followed by the causative （使役） auxiliary verb 「す」 in the predicative form. It indicates the imposition of a deliberate action by someone on something/someone (in this case, that would be the sounds of the weeping causing reverberation through the castle). The word 「響かす」 exists as a verb by itself in modern Japanese, with the meaning of "to make something resound".

其ノ「悪（あく）」後、忽（たちまち）七宝ノ棺ヲ作（つくり）テ、大王ノ御身（おんみ）ニハ香湯（かうたう）ヲ塗（ぬり）テ錦ノ衣ヲ着セ奉リテ棺ニ入レ奉レリ。

After the "evil" [passed], a coffin was immediately made using the seven treasures (fig. 7). The Great King's body was coated with scented hot water [i.e., it was bathed], and brocaded clothing was put on him. Then he was placed in the coffin (fig. 8).

Fig. 7: 其ノ惡後
忽七寶ノ棺ヲ
作テ

Fig. 8: 大王ノ御
身ニハ香湯ヲ塗
テ錦ノ衣ヲ着セ
奉リテ棺ニ入レ
奉レリ

The first thing to note in fig. 7 is the use of the word 「悪」. I wasn't sure what the implications of it were here. Although there weren't quotation marks in the original text, they were in the transcription, so I kept them, both in my transcription and in my translation. As for the reading, it could be 「わる」 as well; I wasn't sure.

Edit: as Chris has suggested in the comments, it appears that the kanji in the original manuscript for 「惡」 is an itaiji (variant kanji) that is actually the 「西」 radical on top instead (and the 「心」 radical still on bottom). It's not clear why it's used here though.

Edit 2: it has been confirmed (by Chris) in an itaiji dictionary that the kanji with a 「西」 on top and a 「心」 on the bottom is a variant of 「惡」.

I'm guessing it refers to some sort of evil spirits, but I can't find any references to the existence of such a concept in Buddhism. I'm not an expert on the topic though, so I might have missed some stuff. Similarly, the use a coffin is perplexing when cremation is standard. Likely, the coffin was a temporary device used for ceremonial transportation of the body to the cremation location. In any case, that question will probably be resolved in a future post.

I didn't fully understand how to parse 「忽七宝」. By itself, 「七宝」 refers to the seven treasures of Buddhism, namely gold, silver, pearls, agate, crystal, coral, and lapis lazuli. 「忽」 can mean "immediately", which I thought was the most appropriate definition to use here.

Moving on to fig. 8, the reading for 「香湯」 (written as 「こうとう」 in modern Japanese) is something I was able to derive from dictionary entries such as this one. However, I couldn't find an entry for 「香湯」 itself, so I just guessed at the meaning based on the two separate kanji and the context.

We see another instance of 「せ」 vs. 「セ」 (as mentioned previously in the comments on fig. 1) in the verb 「着セ」. The second stroke of 「せ」 is clearly visible in the original manuscript. 「着セ」 is the continuative form of the premodern word 「着きす」, which has the same meaning as the modern 「着せる」.

Fig. 8 ends with 「入レ奉レリ」, which can be broken down as 「入レ」＋「奉レ」＋「リ」. The first part is the verb 「入（い）ル」 ("to put inside") in its shimo-nidan "ra" form, where the continuative form would be 「入レ」. Next is the honorific verb 「奉ル」 in the realis (perfective) form （已然形）. It is in this form because following it is the auxiliary verb 「リ」, which requires the preceding verb to be in that form. 「リ」 itself is in the predicative form, and takes on the perfective （完了） meaning here.

Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 5)

Fig. 1:
暫ク在
テ佛虛
空ヨリ
難陀阿
難羅睺
羅等ヲ
引将テ
來リ給
ヘリ

Last time, Śuddhodana was miraculously cured of his illness. Continuing the story:

暫（しばら）ク在（ありまし）テ、仏、虚空（こくう）ヨリ難陀・阿難・羅睺羅等ヲ引将テ来（きた）リ給ヘリ。

 After a while had passed, the Buddha, leading Nanda, Ānanda, Rāhula, etc. from the empty sky, arrived (fig. 1).

I was a little confused about the meaning of the sentence in fig. 1. 「ヨリ」 here functions as a grammatical equivalent to 「から」 in modern Japanese, so I based the translation on a literal interpretation of that. However, that seems a little off.

Fig. 2: 先
ツ大王佛
ヲ見奉テ
涙ヲ流シ
給フ事雨
ノ如シ

The meaning of 「虚空」 wasn't entirely clear either. On the one hand, it has the secular meaning of "empty sky" or "empty space". But it is also the Chinese translation （漢訳） of the Buddhist term Ākāśa (Sanskrit: "आकाश"). Perhaps there is some special significance here related to that meaning. Then again, the word might just have been selected because of the religious nature of the story, even though the meaning here is intended to be the first one I mentioned.

The pattern seen with the verb 「給フ」 at the end of fig. 1 is the same as that seen at the end of fig. 8 in this post (see the explanation there).

先ヅ大王、仏ヲ見奉（たてまつり）テ、涙ヲ流シ給フ事雨ノ如シ。

First, the Great King, seeing the Buddha, shed tears, as if it were raining (fig. 2). 

Fig.3: 合掌
シテ喜給フ
事无限シ

There's not much to say about fig. 2. Just keep in mind that 「給フ」 is in the attributive form （連体形） here, rather than the predicative form （終止形）. The two forms just happen to be identical in appearance, since 「給フ」 is a yodan verb.

合掌シテ喜（よろこび）給フ事限リ无シ。

[Śuddhodana] pressed his hands together, and his joy was limitless (fig. 3).

As indicated above, the word 「合掌」is a common Buddhist hand gesture, also known as añjali (Sanskrit: "अञ्जलि").

Fig. 4:
佛父ノ王
ノ御傍ニ
在シテ本
経シ説
給フニ

Additionally, in fig. 3, we see the same 「給フ」 as in fig. 2 (i.e., in the attributive form).

仏、父ノ王ノ御傍（おそば）ニ在（ありま）シテ本経（ほんぎょう）ヲ説（とき）給フニ、大王即（すなは）チ阿那含果（あなごんか）ヲ得給（たまひ）シ。

The Buddha was at his father's side and preached the main sutra, at which (fig. 4) the Great King immediately achieved anāgāmihood (fig. 5).

Fig. 5:
大王即チ
阿那含果
ヲ得給シ

I got pretty confused about fig. 4. First of all, there seems to be something missing between 「本」 and 「経」 in the original script, given the amount of blank space there. But they form a word together anyway, so I'm not entirely sure that's actually the case. Even if nothing is missing, though, what exactly is the "main sutra"? It seems to be a general term (i.e., doesn't refer to a particular sutra), so perhaps some more context is necessary here.

Edit: as Matt has suggested in the comments, this could be 「本生経」, or the sutras expounded by the Buddha during his lifetime. However, there is no definitive evidence/proof of that.

In fig. 5, we see the term 「即チ」, usually written as 「すなわち」 nowadays. Whereas the modern Japanese meaning is restricted to "that is" or "i.e.", in the premodern language, it also had the meaning "immediately". Given the context, that meaning seemed most appropriate.

Finally, we see the term 「阿那含」, which is a Buddhist ateji term meaning anāgāmi, or a person who has reached the third of the four stages of enlightenment. From the comments below by Matt, the suffix 「果」 indicates attainment of enlightenment as a result of Buddhist practice.

Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 4)

Fig. 1: 而ル
程ニ淨飯王ノ宮

The tale now takes a bit of a twist:

而（しか）ル程ニ浄飯王ノ宮、俄（にわか）ニ朝日ノ光ノ差（さし）入（い）タルガ如ク金ノ光リ隙（くま）无く照（てり）耀ク。

 While they were doing that, King Śuddhodana's palace (fig. 1) suddenly shined brilliantly with a gapless golden light, as if the light of the morning sun had entered it (fig. 2).

Fig. 2: 俄ニ
朝日ノ光ノ
差入タルカ
如ク金ノ光
リ隙无ク照
耀ク

At the beginning of fig. 1, we see 「而ル程ニ」, which can actually be treated as one phrase （接続）. According to the Nihongo Kokugo Daijiten, it's equivalent to the modern Japanese phrase 「そうしているうちに」 — "while doing that". The first example given along with the definition is actually from another sentence in Konjaku.

Edit: from Chris's explanation in the comments, 「而ル」 is a contraction of 「しか」 (an archaic 「そう」) and 「ある」. 「程ニ」 is equivalent to 「内ニ」.

Edit 2: I initially had the reading for 「隙」 as 「すき」, but as Matt suggested in the comments, this is more likely read as 「くま」. Moreover, there are no real examples of 「すきなく」 that I could find online, whereas there are plenty of examples for 「くまなく」.

In fig. 2, note the irregular okurigana usage with 「差入タル」. Once again, the "internal" kana — such as the 「し」 in 「差し入れ」 — is not present. This can also be seen in the fig. 2 with 「照耀ク」. You also see "light" written in two different ways in the same figure — 「光」 and 「光リ」.

Note that the same 3-kana arrangement pattern that has been seen  in previous sentences was observed again with 「タルカ」, with the dakuten for 「ガ」 omitted again.

Adding the okurigana 「シ」 after 「如」 was a hard decision. The Suzuka Manuscript scan provided by Kyoto University has a relatively low DPI, particularly when compared to the National Diet Library's scan of Shunshoku Umegoyomi. The area of the manuscript where the okurigana would be expected to appear seems to have been damaged. Although there are no clear indications of a kana there, there is a bit of a smudge on the right side of the blank space between 「如」 and 「金」. The presence of such a large blank space between the two kanji was also convincing.

Edit: as Chris has pointed out in the comments, it would make more grammatical sense to have 「ク」 here, and not 「シ」, so that the verb is in the continuative form （連用形）, as it is followed by another clause.

Fig. 3: 其ノ時
淨飯王ヲ始テ

其ノ時ニ、浄飯王ヲ始テ、若干（そこばく）ノ人驚キ怪シム事限リ无シ。

At that moment, King Śuddhodana, and (fig. 3) many other people as well, were amazed, and the awe was limitless (fig. 4).

Fig. 4: 若干
ノ人驚怪シ
ム事无限シ

I wasn't exactly sure how to interpret the 「始テ」 in fig. 3, so I kind of guessed that he woke up. I was a little tripped up by the 「ヲ」 that comes before it, and I'm still not entirely sure how it fits in.

Edit: as Matt has explained in the comments, 「Xを始め（て）Y」 is a pattern that means ""Y, including X". Also, 「怪しむ」 likely has its older meaning of "wonderment" or "awe" here.

The meaning in modern Japanese of 「若干」 is "some" or "few", and the reading is 「じゃっかん」. However, there is also the archaic meaning of "a lot" or "many" (see definition #3), with the reading 「そこばく」 (among others; I just picked this reading because it was the first one listed).

Note how I added a 「キ」 after 「驚」 in the modified version above. This is because, unlike with 「如ク」 in fig. 2, I didn't feel that there was enough evidence of the presence of a 「キ」 in the original text. There doesn't seem to be that much space between 「驚怪」, nor any signs that there might have been an okurigana there (except for some damage to the manuscript in that region).

「怪シム」 is a single verb; the 「ム」 is not an auxiliary verb or anything like that.

Finally, we see the Chinese-origin pattern 「无限シ」 resurface. It was encountered previously in fig. 3 of this post.

Fig. 5: 大王
モ此ノ光ニ
照サレテ

大王モ此ノ光に照（てら）サレテ、病ノ苦（くるしビ忽チニ除のぞきテ、身ノ楽（たのし）ビ限リ无シ。

The Great King was also illuminated by this light (fig. 5), [his] suffering from disease was suddenly removed (fig. 6), and his joy was limitless (fig. 7).

Fig. 6: 病ノ
苦ヒ忽チニ
除テ

Of interest in fig. 5 is 「照サレテ」, where 「照サ」 is the imperfective form （未然形） of 「照ス」 ("to illuminate"), 「レ」 is the continuative form （連用形） of the auxiliary verb 「る」, which has the passive （受身） function here. 「テ」 is, of course, the continuative particle.

Fig. 7: 身ノ樂ヒ
无限シ

In fig. 6, we see 「苦ビ」, which is just an alternate form of 「苦しみ」. Same goes for 「楽ビ」 in fig. 7.

At the end of fig. 7, we see the 「无限シ」 pattern from fig. 4 again.

Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 3)

Fig. 1: 然レハ
后大臣等此ノ
思惱フ程ニ

This part turned out to be fairly straightforward, so this post will be short.

然（さ）レバ后・大臣等、此ノ事ヲ思悩（おもひなや）ブ程ニ、仏ハ霊鷲山（りょうじゅせん）ニ在（ましま）シテ、空（くう）ニ父ノ大王ノ病ニ沈（しずみ）テ、諸ノ人此ノ事ヲ歎キ合ヘル事ヲ知（しり）給（たまひ）テ、難陀・阿難・羅睺羅等引将ひきいテ、浄飯王ノ宮ニ行キ給フ。

That being the case, while the queen, the cabinet ministers, etc. were worrying about this (fig. 1), the Buddha was at Vulture Peak, and in the emptiness, he was depressed because of his father's, the Great King's, illness (fig. 2). Knowing that many people had been lamenting this fact together (fig. 3), with Nanda, Ānanda, Rāhula, etc. leading (fig. 4), they went to King Śuddhodana's palace (fig. 5).

Fig. 6: Vulture Peak (location, image source)

Fig. 2: 佛
ハ靈鷲山
ニ在シテ
空ニ父ノ
病ニ沈テ

The first thing to note in fig. 1 is the yodan verb 「思悩ブ」, which has the same meaning as the modern verb 「思い悩む」, as stated in the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten （日本国語大辞典）. In fact, it cites this particular sentence in its definition, along with another occurrence in Konjaku, so the 「ブ」 ending may be an idiosyncrasy of Konjaku.

Fig. 3: 諸
ノ人此ノ
事ヲ嘆き
合ヘル事
ヲ知給テ

Continuing on to fig. 2, we encounter Vulture Peak, the literal translation of a mountain known in Sanskrit as "गृध्रकूट" ("Gṛdhrakūṭa"). The kanji name is another meaning-based translation （意訳）, since 「霊鷲」 means vulture. I couldn't find a definitive source for this definition, but that's what the Japanese Wikipedia page says, and the word for vulture written in kanji is 「禿鷲」, so the 2nd kanji match. The name comes from either (a) the shape of the peak being vulture-like (see fig. 6) or (b) the presence of many vultures there.

The verb 「在シ」 looks similar to the instance of 「在（あり）マス」 observed last time (see fig. 2), but note that this time there is no 「マ」 in the okurigana, so it is more likely the verb 「在（ましま）ス」, which is just an honorific version （尊敬語） of 「有る」 or 「居る」 — so it ends up having essentially the same meaning as  「在ありマス」.

The word 「空（くう）」 has this reading because it is a Buddhist term that has the meaning of "emptiness", or "Śūnyatā" ("शून्यता" in Sanskrit). Finally, note that 「沈テ」 is a case of irregular kana usage — one would expect the 「み」 to be part of the okurigana.

Fig. 4: 難陀
阿難羅睺羅
等引將テ

In fig. 3, we see the phrase 「嘆キ合ヘル」. 「嘆き」 is the continuative form （連用形） of 「嘆く」, while 「合ヘ」 is the realis form （已然形） of the yodan verb 「合フ」. 「ル」 is the attributive form （連体形） of the auxiliary verb 「リ」, which takes on the resultative （結果の存続） function (i.e., "had been") here.

Fig. 5:
淨飯王ノ
宮ニ行キ
給フ

「知給テ」 is comparable to fig. 5 of the previous post in terms of missing okurigana when using the honorific auxiliary verb 「給フ」.

In fig. 4, we encounter several familiar names, followed by the phrase 「引将テ」. I wasn't sure what to make of this, but since 「引き」 is read as 「ひき」 and  「将る」 is an alternate way of writing 「率（ひき）いる」, I decided to go with
「引将（ひきい）テ」, with the same meaning as 「率いる」: "to lead a group". This is primarily speculation, though.

There's not much to say about fig. 5 in terms of grammar, but note how parts of the original text are quite faded/missing, particularly the first character. This is a situation in which context is very important when determining the missing characters. Fortunately, in this case it was a proper name that we had encountered before.

Konjaku Monogatarishū Vol. 2, Tale 1: Śuddhodana's Death #1 (part 2)

Continuing the story of Śuddhodana's death from last time:

Fig. 1: 此ノ由シ
佛ノ御許ニ告
奉ラムト為ルニ

此ノ由シ仏ノ御許（みもと）ニ告（つげ）奉（たてまつ）ラムト為（す）ルニ、仏ノ在（あり）マス所ハ舎衛国（しゃえこく）也（なり）、迦毘羅衛国（かぴらえこく）ヨリ五十由旬（ゆじゅん）ノ間ナレバ、使ノ行カム程ニ浄飯王ハ死（しに）給（たまひ）ヌベシ

For this reason, in order to reveal [his imminent death] to the Buddha (fig. 1), [who] lived in the Country of Śrāvastī (fig. 2), [Śuddhodana] was going to send a messenger (fig. 5), but since [Śrāvastī] was 50 yojana from the Country of Kapilavastu (fig. 3), King Śuddhodana would no doubt have died while [the messenger] was en route (fig. 5).

Fig. 2: 佛ノ在マス
所ハ舍衛國也

In fig. 1, we encounter the word 「御許」, meaning "(his) side", where "his" in this context refers to the Buddha. As noted in the linked dictionary entry, it is an archaism and honorific language （尊敬語）.

Also of importance is the phrase 「告奉ラムト為ルニ」. I wasn't entirely sure about the furigana here, but I assumed that 「告」 was used as a noun meaning "revelation" (which is just the kanji's meaning by itself).  Edit: from Chris's suggestion in the comments, this is more likely the verb 「告ぐ」 ― it is equivalent to the modern Japanese 「告げる」.

That would make 「奉ラム」 the humble verb 「奉ル」 in the imperfective form （未然形）, followed by the auxiliary verb 「ム」 in the predicative form （終止形）, which indicates intention （意志）. 「ト」 is a case particle that, when it precedes the verb 「為（な）ル」, indicates that whatever comes before it is the result of a change. It is comparable to 「に」 in modern Japanese. Finally, 「ニ」 is another case particle that indicates the purpose of an action, and is comparable to 「のために」 in modern Japanese.

Edit: from Matt's comment below (and the context of what comes next in the tale), the messenger is not actually sent, meaning that the correct reading is 「為（す）ル」. In this case, 「ト」 is a citational （引用） case particle that indicates that what precedes it is the content of the following verb's action. 「為ル」 is the sahen （サ変） verb 「為（す）」, which has an irregular conjugation, with 「為ル」 being the predicative form （連体形）. The verb is in the predicative form because that is required by the following conjunctive particle 「ニ」, which has the meaning of concession ("despite the fact that"/"even though").

Continuing on to fig. 2, note the verb 「在マス」. I sort of guessed here, since the standard way of writing 「います」  in my classical Japanese dictionary is 「坐す」. It fits grammatically, since the attributive form （連体形）, which has to be used when preceding a noun (such as 「所」), of 「坐す」 is also 「坐す」 when using the yodan conjugation of that verb. Edit: as indicated by Chris in the comments, this is more likely read as 「あります」, which can be used for both animate and inanimate objects in classical Japanese. This can be broken down as the rahen （ラ変） verb 「在リ」 in the continuative form （連用形） followed by the honorific suffix 「ます」. Whereas 「ます」 is used in modern Japanese in polite speech （丁寧語）, it also has the archaic function of indicating "respect for those affected by the action" (look at the entry for the auxiliary verb).

According to Wikipedia, the kanji name 「舎衛」 for Śrāvastī is an abbreviation of ateji, such as 「室羅伐悉底」, although I'm not clear on where either of the kanji used in the abbreviation came from (perhaps they are unrelated and used just for their phonetic value as well). As will be seen in fig. 3, however, 「衛」 can be used in other place names as well, when placed before 「国」. Thus, it may not actually be a part of the ateji, even though that's what the Wikipedia article seems to indicate. Edit: as Matt explained in the comments, 「舎衛」 is an abbreviation of 「舎衛城（しゃえいじょう）」. Although 「衛」 doesn't make much sense as an ateji with the modern Japanese reading, it fits the Mandarin ("wèi") and Vietnamese ("vệ"/"về") readings a little better.

There are also meaning-based translations of Śrāvastī, such as 「聞者」, which is based on the Sanskrit root "śrāvas" ("श्रवस्"), which means "hearing" or "fame". As mentioned in the Google Books link, this is cognate to the Latin "cluo" and the Ancient Greek "kleos" ("κλέος"), the latter being a theme encountered in Greek works such as the Iliad and the Odyssey. The common ancestor of the cognates is the Proto-Indo-European word "*ḱléwos".

Fig. 2 ends with the archaic copula 「也」. Note how the similarities between it and the hiragana 「や」 can be seen in its calligraphed form in the original text. Indeed, 「也」 is the kanji from which 「や」 is derived, and 「や」 is a possible reading of 「也」, one that I have encountered most often in kanbun texts.

Fig. 3: 迦毗羅衛国
ヨリ五十由旬ノ間
ナレハ

In fig. 3, we see Kapilavastu referred to as 「迦毘羅衛国」, which I briefly brought up earlier. I'm not sure why this pattern of inserting 「衛」 before 「国」 exists ― 「衛」 means "defense" or "protection", so there's no apparent connection to the meaning "country" or "nation". Edit: we can see the phonetic similarities between Śrāvastī and Kapilavastu in their shared /vaC/ syllable, which is why 「衛」 is used in both names.

The case particle 「ヨリ」 is used here to indicate the point of origin （起点）, and is analogous to the modern Japanese 「から」.

「ナレバ」, at the end of fig. 3, is the copular auxiliary verb 「なり」 in its perfective form （已然形）, followed by the conjunctive particle 「ば」, which takes on the function of providing a causal logical connection ("since"). This is analogous to 「ので」 in modern Japanese. Also, note how the kana 「ナレハ」 are written in the original text ― the third kana is written to the left of the first two, just as was seen in the previous post in figs. 6 and 8. Matt suggested in the comments for that post that this pattern might be unique to 「テ」, but it turns out that it actually isn't. Also, a similar occurrence can be observed with 「シ」 in fig. 5 of this post.

We also encounter the yojana ("योजन" in Sanskrit; 「由旬」 in Japanese), a Vedic measure of distance for which the exact metric equivalent is unknown, but is estimated by scholars to be 6 to 15 kilometers. I tested this estimate by measuring the distance between where Śrāvastī and Kapilavastu are believed to be located, based on evidence discovered through archaeological digs. Their respective latitudinal/longitudinal coordinates are:

• Śrāvastī: 27.517073°N 82.050619°E
• Kapilavastu: 27.576667°N 83.054722°E

The haversine formula can then be used to approximate the ground distance between two sets of latitude/longitude coordinates. R is the radius of the Earth (6367.5 km).

I also used Daft Logic's Google Maps Distance Calculator to visualize/confirm this calculation:

Fig. 4: the distance between Kapilavastu (on the right) and Śrāvastī  (on the left).
Note how they are on different sides of the (modern) India-Nepal border.

According to the prior estimates of 6 to 15 kilometers per yojana, 50 yojana would be a distance of 300 to 750 km, so there is a significant discrepancy between Konjaku's use of the unit and the distance a yojana is currently believed to represent. According to Konjaku, 1 yojana would be ~2 km. There are numerous possible reasons for this difference, but the most likely ones are that the distance was originally calculated incorrectly or that it was somehow changed in the course of various translations/retellings of the story as it progressed from India to Japan.

Fig. 5: 使ノ行
カム程ニ淨飯
王ハ死給ヌベシ

Returning to the story, you can see that the portion of the text in fig. 5 was split into two separate clauses in the English translation.

In this context, 「使」 is a noun that takes on the meaning of "messenger", or "emissary".

「行カム」 can be broken down as the yodan verb 「行く」 in the imperfective form （未然形） followed by the auxiliary verb 「ム」 in the attributive form （連体形）. In this context, 「ム」 has the function of speculation/conjecture about the future （推量）.

The most confusing part of fig. 5 was the ending ― 「死給ヌベシ」. I decided to rewrite this as 「死ニ給フベシ」 because the okurigana 「ヌ」 didn't fit 「給」, but it fit the verb 「死ヌ」 perfectly. The auxiliary verb 「ベシ」 is used here to conjecture with confidence （確信推量）, as in "would no doubt". Note how this reinforces the conjectural nature of the clause in fig. 5, a meaning that was originally introduced by the 「ム」 in 「行カム」.

「ベシ」 is expected to be preceded by a verb in its predicative form （終止形）. Therefore, if 「給」 were simply left out, the sentence would make perfect grammatical sense, since the predicative form of 「死ヌ」 is just 「死ヌ」. However, the presence of 「給」 and the subject of the clause being Śuddhodana suggests that an honorific is necessary/appropriate here. The grammatically correct way to do that using the verb 「給フ」 would be to change 「死ヌ」 to the continuative form （連用形）, which is 「死ニ」, then use 「給フ」 in the predicative form, which is still 「給フ」.

Edit: as suggested by Chris, this phrase can be better explained with irregular okurigana usage. If you assume that 「死」 is read as 「しに」, the continuative form （連用形） of the verb 「死ヌ」 and that 「給」 is read as 「たまひ」, the continuative form of 「給フ」, then it makes grammatical sense as-is. The 「ヌ」 that follows is an auxiliary verb that can indicate either perfection （完了） or certainty （確信） ― I think it has a little of both meanings here. You can see the "no doubt" aspect of the meaning in the translation, as well as the fact that it "would" have happened ― perfection (already happened).