長阿含經 8

English (machine translation) 8

Language: English

8.2

Translated in the Hongshi era of the Later Qin by Buddhayaśas together with Zhu Fonian

8.3

(8) Part Two: Sandhāna Sūtra, the Fourth

8.5

At one time the Buddha was dwelling at Rājagṛha, on Mount Vebhāra in the Saptaparṇaguhā Cave, together with a great assembly of one thousand two hundred and fifty bhikṣus.

At that time, there was a householder in the city of Rājagṛha named Sandhāna who was fond of strolling about, and who went out of the city daily to visit the Bhagavat. At that time, the householder looked up at the time of the sun and thought to himself: 'Now is not the proper time to go and see the Buddha. At this moment the Bhagavat must be in his quiet chamber contemplating in samādhi, and the bhikṣus must also be meditating in quietude. I would do better to go to the park of the wanderer Udumbarikā; when the time arrives, I will go to the Bhagavat to pay homage and inquire after him, and also visit the bhikṣus to pay respects and inquire after them.'

8.7

At that time, in the Udumbarikā Brahmacāriṇī Park, there was a brahmacārin named Nigrodha, who dwelt in that park together with five hundred brahmacārins. Then, that assembly of brahmacārins gathered in one place, debating in loud voices, all engaging in worldly, impure, and distracting talk to pass the whole day. They talked about state affairs, or about war and weapons, or about alliances and treaties between nations, or about ministers and common folk, or about carriages, horses, and excursions in parks, or about seats, clothing, food, drink, and women, or about mountains, seas, turtles, and tortoises—speaking only such talk that obstructs the Path, thereby passing the whole day.

8.8

At that time, that brahmacārin saw the gṛhapati Sandhāna coming from afar, and at once instructed his assembly, ordering them all to be silent: "Why is this? That disciple of the śramaṇa Gautama is now coming from without. Among the white-robed disciples of the śramaṇa Gautama, this one is foremost; he will certainly come here, so you should be silent." Then, the brahmacārins each became silent.

8.9

The gṛhapati Sandhāna reached the brahmacārin's place, and after exchanging greetings, sat to one side. He said to the brahmacārin: "My teacher, the Bhagavat, constantly delights in seclusion and quiet, and dislikes noise and commotion, unlike you and your disciples who abide among people, debating in loud voices and speaking only useless words that obstruct the Path."

8.10

The brahmacārin further said to the gṛhapati: "Has the śramaṇa Gautama ever conversed with anyone? How can people know that the śramaṇa possesses great wisdom? Your teacher constantly prefers to dwell alone in border regions, just like a blind cow grazing on grass, pursuing only what happens to be in front of it. Your teacher Gautama is also like this: he is biased toward dwelling alone and delights in places where there are no people. If your teacher comes, we shall refer to him as a blind cow! He constantly claims to possess great wisdom; with a single word I could corner him, causing him to become silent like a tortoise tucking in its six limbs, thinking itself free from harm, yet shot with a single arrow so that it has nowhere to escape."

8.11

At that time, the Bhagavat was in his quiet chamber, and with the divyaśrotra heard that the brahmacārin and the gṛhapati were having such a discussion. He immediately came out of the Saptaparṇaguha and went to the Udumbarikā Brahmacāriṇī Park. Then, that brahmacārin saw the Buddha coming from afar, and instructed his disciples: "All of you be silent! The śramaṇa Gautama is about to arrive here. Take care not to rise to greet him, nor make prostrations with reverence, nor invite him to sit. Take a separate seat and offer it for him to sit on. Once he is seated, you should ask: 'Śramaṇa Gautama! From the beginning until now, by what teaching have you instructed your disciples so that they attain peaceful meditation and purely cultivate the brahmacarya?'"

8.12

Then, the Bhagavat gradually approached the park. At that time, that brahmacārin unconsciously stood up on his own and gradually went forward to greet the Bhagavat, saying these words: "Welcome, Gautama! Welcome, śramaṇa! It has been long since we met. By what reason have you come here today? You may come forward and sit for a while." Then, the Bhagavat went to his seat, smiled with delight, and silently thought to himself: "These foolish men cannot control themselves; having first established a strict rule, in the end they could not keep it. Why is this? It is the Buddha's spiritual power that causes their malicious intentions naturally to fall apart."

8.13

Then, the gṛhapati Sandhāna paid homage at the Bhagavat's feet and sat to one side. After greeting the Buddha, the brahmacārin Nigrodha also sat to one side, and said to the Buddha: "Śramaṇa Gautama! From the beginning until now, by what teaching have you instructed and guided your disciples so that they attain peaceful meditation and purely cultivate the brahmacarya?"

8.14

The Bhagavat told him: "Cease, brahmacārin! My Dharma is deep and vast; that by which I have instructed my disciples from the beginning until now, so that they attain a peaceful place and purely cultivate the brahmacarya, is beyond your reach."

8.15

He further told the brahmacārin: "Even if it be the doctrines and practices cultivated by your teacher and your disciples, whether pure or impure, I am fully able to explain them."

8.16

Then, the five hundred brahmacārin disciples each raised their voices and said to one another: "The śramaṇa Gautama possesses great majesty and great spiritual power! When another asks him about his own doctrine, he instead expounds the other's doctrine!"

8.17

Then, the brahmacārin Nigrodha said to the Buddha: "Excellent, Gautama! May you analyze and distinguish it!"

8.18

The Buddha told the brahmacārin: "Listen attentively! Listen attentively! I shall explain it for you."

8.19

The brahmacārin replied: "We are eager and wish to hear!"

8.20

The Buddha told the brahmacārin: "What you practice is all base and wretched: discarding clothes and going naked, covering yourselves with your hands; not accepting food in a jar, not accepting food in a bowl, not accepting food from between two walls, not accepting food from between two people, not accepting food from between two knives, not accepting food from between two bowls; not accepting food from a household where people are eating together; not accepting food from a pregnant woman's household; not accepting food if a dog is seen at the gate; not accepting food from a household with many flies; not accepting invited food; not accepting food if the other person says they knew [you] beforehand; not eating fish, not eating meat, not drinking liquor; not eating from two vessels; taking only one mouthful and swallowing it, up to seven mouthfuls and stopping; accepting additional food offered by others no more than seven times; or eating once a day, or eating once every two days, three days, four days, five days, six days, or seven days; or eating fruit, or eating weed seeds, or eating rice gruel, or eating hemp and rice, or eating unhusked grain, or eating cow dung, or eating deer dung, or eating tree roots, branches, leaves, and fruits, or eating fruits that have fallen by themselves;

8.21

"or wearing coarse garments, or wearing garments of sedge grass, or wearing tree bark, or wrapping the body in grass, or wearing deer skin, or leaving the hair uncut, or wearing woven animal hair, or wearing clothes from charnel grounds; or those who constantly raise their hands, or do not sit on couches or mats, or constantly squat, or shave the head while leaving a crest and beard, or lie on thorns, or lie on melons and gourds, or lie naked on cow dung; or bathe three times a day, or bathe three times a night, tormenting and exhausting this body with countless afflictions. What do you think, Nigrodha? Can such practices be called a pure Dharma, or not?"

8.22

The brahmacārin replied: "This practice is pure, not impure."

8.23

The Buddha told the brahmacārin: "You consider it pure, yet within your pure practice I will explain that there are defilements."

8.24

The brahmacārin said: "Excellent, Gautama! You may explain it; we are eager and wish to hear."

8.25

The Buddha told the brahmacārin: "That ascetic practitioner constantly calculates and thinks: 'Practicing like this, I shall receive offerings, reverence, and respect.' This is a defilement. Having received offerings, that ascetic practitioner clings to them firmly, is attached to them with craving and will not let go, does not know how to renounce them, and does not understand the way of escape: this is a defilement. When that ascetic practitioner sees someone coming from afar, they all sit together in meditation, but when no one is there, he sits or lies down as he pleases: this is a defilement.

8.26

"When that ascetic practitioner hears another's correct doctrine, he refuses to endorse it: this is a defilement. When that ascetic practitioner is asked a proper question by another, he begrudges an answer and does not respond: this is a defilement. If that ascetic practitioner sees someone making offerings to a śramaṇa or a brāhmaṇa, he scolds and stops them: this is a defilement. If that ascetic practitioner sees a śramaṇa or a brāhmaṇa eating things that can sprout again, he approaches and rebukes them: this is a defilement. If that ascetic practitioner has impure food, he refuses to give it to others, and if he has pure food, he greedily clings to it and eats it himself, not seeing his own faults and not knowing the way of escape: this is a defilement. That ascetic practitioner praises his own goodness and disparages others: this is a defilement. That ascetic practitioner commits killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, divisive speech, harsh speech, false speech, frivolous speech, covetousness, jealousy, wrong view, and perversion: this is a defilement.

8.27

"That ascetic practitioner is lazy, prone to forgetfulness, does not practice dhyāna, and lacks wisdom, just like a beast: this is a defilement. That ascetic practitioner esteems himself highly, being arrogant and possessing overweening pride: this is a defilement. That ascetic practitioner has neither faith nor righteousness, nor reciprocal loyalty; he does not uphold pure precepts, cannot diligently accept the instruction of others, constantly takes evil people as his companions, and does evil without cease: this is a defilement. That ascetic practitioner harbors much anger and resentment, delights in deceit and hypocrisy, relies on his own views, searches out the flaws of others, constantly harbors wrong views, and adheres to extreme views: this is a defilement. What do you think, Nigrodha? Can such a practitioner be called pure or not?"

8.28

He replied: "This is impure, it is not pure."

8.29

The Buddha said: "Now, with respect to your defiled practices, I shall further explain the pure, undefiled practice."

8.30

The brahmacārin said: "We only pray that you explain it!"

8.31

The Buddha said: "That ascetic practitioner does not calculate and think: 'Practicing like this, I shall receive offerings, reverence, and respect.' This is the undefiled practice of asceticism. Having received offerings, that ascetic practitioner's mind does not greedily cling to them; he understands renunciation and knows the Dharma of escape: this is the undefiled practice of asceticism. That ascetic practitioner has a constant rule for meditation; whether someone is present or not, he makes no difference: this is the undefiled practice of asceticism. When that ascetic practitioner hears another's correct doctrine, he rejoices and endorses it: this is the undefiled practice of asceticism. When that ascetic practitioner is asked a proper question by another, he joyfully explains it: this is the practice of asceticism free from defilement.

8.32

"If that ascetic practitioner sees someone making offerings to a śramaṇa or a brāhmaṇa, he rejoices on their behalf and does not scold or stop them: this is the practice of asceticism free from defilement. If that ascetic practitioner sees a śramaṇa or a brāhmaṇa eating things that can sprout again, he does not rebuke them: this is the practice of asceticism free from defilement. If that ascetic practitioner has impure food, his mind does not begrudge it, and if he has pure food, he does not become attached to it; he can see his own faults and knows the Dharma of escape: this is the practice of asceticism free from defilement. That ascetic practitioner does not praise himself, nor disparage others: this is the practice of asceticism free from defilement. That ascetic practitioner does not kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct, engage in divisive speech, harsh speech, false speech, frivolous speech, covetousness, jealousy, or wrong view: this is the practice of asceticism free from defilement.

8.33

"That ascetic practitioner is diligent and unforgetful, delights in practicing dhyāna, abundantly cultivates wisdom, and is not foolish like a beast: this is the practice of asceticism free from defilement. That ascetic practitioner is not conceited, arrogant, or boastful: this is the practice of asceticism free from defilement. That ascetic practitioner constantly harbors faith and righteousness, practices reciprocal loyalty, can uphold pure precepts, diligently accepts instruction, constantly takes good people as his companions, and accumulates goodness without cease: this is the practice of asceticism free from defilement. That ascetic practitioner harbors no anger or resentment, does not engage in deceit or hypocrisy, does not rely on his own views, does not seek out the flaws of others, harbors no wrong views, and has no extreme views: this is the practice of asceticism free from defilement. What do you think, brahmacārin? Is such asceticism a pure practice free from defilement?"

8.34

He replied: "Indeed! It truly is a pure practice free from defilement."

8.35

The brahmacārin said to the Buddha: "Does attaining this asceticism constitute the foremost, solid practice?"

8.36

The Buddha said: "Not yet! It is merely the bark."

8.37

The brahmacārin said: "May you explain the knot of the tree!"

8.38

The Buddha told the brahmacārin: "You should listen well! I shall now explain it."

8.39

The brahmacārin said: "Yes, indeed! We are eager and wish to hear."

8.40

"Brahmacārin, that ascetic himself does not kill living beings, nor does he instruct others to kill; he himself does not steal, nor does he instruct others to steal; he himself does not engage in sexual misconduct, nor does he instruct others to do so; he himself does not tell lies, nor does he instruct others to do so. With a mind of benevolence he suffuses one direction, and likewise the other directions: a mind of benevolence vast, immense, non-dual, immeasurable, free of enmity, suffusing the world; and likewise with a mind of compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. Ascetic practice up to this point is called 'establishing virtue.'"

8.41

The brahmacārin said to the Buddha: "May you explain the meaning of steadfast ascetic practice!"

8.42

The Buddha said to the brahmacārin: "Listen closely! Listen closely! I shall explain it."

8.43

The brahmacārin said: "Yes, indeed, Bhagavat! We wish to hear it."

8.44

8.45

The brahmacārin said to the Buddha: "What is the foremost?"

8.46

The Buddha said: "Brahmacārin, listen closely! Listen closely! I shall explain it."

8.47

The brahmacārin said: "Yes, indeed, Bhagavat! We wish to hear it."

8.48

The Buddha said: "That ascetic himself does not kill living beings, and instructs others not to kill; he himself does not steal, and instructs others not to steal; he himself does not engage in sexual misconduct, and instructs others not to do so; he himself does not tell lies, and instructs others not to deceive. With a mind of benevolence he suffuses one direction, and likewise the other directions: a mind of benevolence vast, immense, non-dual, immeasurable, free of enmity, suffusing the world; and likewise with a mind of compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. That ascetic himself recollects the events of countless past kalpas—one birth, two births, up to countless births, the formations and dissolutions of lands, the endings and beginnings of kalpas, seeing and knowing them all. He also knows and sees for himself: 'I was once born in such a clan, with such a name, food and drink, and lifespan, and experiencing such pleasure and pain; dying there I was born here, and dying here I was born there'—thus completely recollecting the events of countless kalpas. With the purified divine eye he observes the classes of sentient beings dying here and being born there, their appearances fair or ugly, their destinies good or bad, falling according to their actions, seeing and knowing all. He also knows that sentient beings whose bodily actions are unwholesome, whose verbal actions are unwholesome, and whose mental actions are unwholesome, who defame the noble ones, and who have faith in perverse and inverted views, upon the breakup of the body at the end of life, fall into the three bad destinations. Or there are sentient beings whose bodily actions are wholesome, whose verbal and mental actions are also wholesome, who do not defame the noble ones, and who hold right view and act faithfully, upon the breakup of the body at the end of life, are born among devas and humans. The practitioner, with the purified divine eye, observes sentient beings, down to their falling according to their actions, seeing and knowing without exception. This is the foremost and supreme ascetic practice."

8.49

The Buddha said to the brahmacārin: "In this Dharma there is still something superior to this. I always transform the śrāvakas with this Dharma, and they are able to cultivate the brahmacarya by means of this Dharma."

8.50

Then the five hundred brahmacārin disciples all raised their voices and said to one another: "Looking now at the Bhagavat, he is the most supreme; our teacher cannot match him."

8.51

Then Sandhāna the gṛhapati said to the brahmacārin: "Just now you yourself said, 'If Gautama comes, we shall call him a blind ox.' The Bhagavat has now come; why do you not call him so? Furthermore, you just now said, 'With a single word I will corner that Gautama and make him silent, like a turtle retracting its six limbs thinking it can avoid harm, and shoot him with a single arrow leaving him no place to flee.' Why do you now not corner the Tathāgata with your single word?"

8.52

The Buddha asked the brahmacārin: "Do you remember having spoken these words before, or not?"

8.53

He replied: "Indeed, I did!"

8.54

The Buddha said to the brahmacārin: "Did you not hear from former senior brahmacārins that the Buddhas, Tathāgatas, dwell alone in mountain forests and delight in secluded places, just as I today delight in secluded living; unlike your doctrine, which delights in bustle and spends the entire day talking about useless matters?"

8.55

The brahmacārin said: "I have heard that past Buddhas delighted in secluded places and dwelt alone in mountain forests, just as the Bhagavat does today; unlike our doctrine, which delights in bustle and spends the entire day talking about useless matters!"

8.56

The Buddha said to the brahmacārin: "Did you not think: 'The śramaṇa Gautama is able to teach bodhi. Having tamed himself, he can tame others; having attained tranquility himself, he can bring tranquility to others; having crossed to the other shore himself, he can cause others to cross over; having attained liberation himself, he can liberate others; having attained extinction himself, he can lead others to extinction?'"

8.57

Then that brahmacārin rose from his seat, bowed his head to make obeisance, stroked the Buddha's feet with his hands, and declared his own name, saying: "I am the brahmacārin Nigrodha! I am the brahmacārin Nigrodha! Now I take refuge and pay homage at the feet of the Bhagavat."

8.58

The Buddha said to the brahmacārin: "Stop, stop! Wait a moment! When your mind is liberated, that will be your paying homage."

8.59

Then that brahmacārin again paid homage at the Buddha's feet and sat down to one side.

8.60

The Buddha said to the brahmacārin: "Could you be thinking that the Buddha teaches the Dharma for gain and offerings? Do not give rise to such a thought! If there be any gain and offerings, I will give them all to you. The Dharma taught by me is subtle and supreme, for the eradication of what is unwholesome and the enhancement of wholesome dharmas."

8.61

He also said to the brahmacārin: "Could you be thinking that the Buddha teaches the Dharma for fame, for respect, to be a leader, for followers, or for a great assembly? Do not give rise to this thought! Now your followers belong entirely to you. The Dharma taught by me is for the eradication of what is unwholesome and the growth of wholesome dharmas."

8.62

He also said to the brahmacārin: "Could you be thinking that the Buddha would place you in an unwholesome heap, in a dark heap? Do not produce such a thought! You need only abandon all unwholesome heaps and dark heaps, and I myself will teach you the wholesome and pure Dharma."

8.63

He also said to the brahmacārin: "Could you be thinking that the Buddha would dismiss you from the heap of wholesome dharmas, from the pure and white heap? Do not give rise to such a thought! You need only practice with diligence in the heap of wholesome dharmas and the pure and white heap, and I myself will teach you the wholesome and pure Dharma, eradicating unwholesome conduct and enhancing wholesome dharmas."

8.64

At that time, the five hundred brahmacārin disciples all uprighted their minds and focused their thoughts, listening to what the Buddha taught. Then Māra Pāpīmān thought to himself: "These five hundred brahmacārin disciples are uprighting their minds and focusing their thoughts, listening to the Dharma from the Buddha. I had better go now and corrupt their minds." At that time, the evil Māra immediately used his power to disrupt and confuse their minds. Then the Bhagavat said to Sandhāna: "These five hundred brahmacārin disciples were uprighting their minds and focusing their thoughts, listening to the Dharma from me, but the celestial Māra Pāpīmān has disrupted and confused their minds. Now I wish to return; you may come along with me." Then the Bhagavat took Sandhāna the gṛhapati in the palm of his right hand and returned, soaring through the empty air.

8.65

Then Sandhāna the gṛhapati, Nigrodha the brahmacārin, and the five hundred brahmacārin disciples, having heard what the Buddha taught, rejoiced and put it into practice.

Translations (1)

The Long Discourses (selected sūtras) — Charles Patton, English

Linked texts (1)

長阿含經 — Classical Chinese