Karmashataka 12: Bam po 12

and with great effort maintained the abode of pure conduct; and now also, praised by many people, maintained the abode of pure conduct with great effort. The Karmaśataka, [Fascicle 12]. Concerning the two types of severing: as for the first severing, the nidāna is set in Śrāvastī. The venerable Maudgalyāyana was accustomed to wandering from time to time among the denizens of hell, among pretas, among animals, among humans, and among gods, and returning

he would relate to people how the hell beings suffer through being cut up, hacked apart, beaten, roasted, and so on. When he returned, he would also relate to people how the anguished spirits suffer through hunger, thirst, being burned, being incinerated, being cooked, and so on; how animals suffer as they eat one another; how human beings suffer through striving, anger, and exhaustion; and how the gods suffer through dying, falling, disintegrating, and decaying. Those who heard him were filled with sorrow, and from this sorrow they went on to achieve great things.

One day Venerable Maudgalyāyana prepared himself to wander among the animals, disappeared from Śrāvastī, and stood on the seashore.

Now the great ocean has three strata. The first stratum of water is 28,000 yojanas deep, and in that stratum dwell the sea creatures known as timi, whose bodies are 700 yojanas in length. Whenever they get hungry they rise from this first stratum of water, surfacing with mouths agape. Any smaller living beings present there spill with the water into their mouths. When they have filled their stomachs, they filter the water back out through their teeth and then eat the living beings that remain in their stomachs. The second stratum of water is 25,000 yojanas deep, and in that stratum dwell the sea creatures known as timiṅgila, whose bodies are 1,400 yojanas in length. Whenever they get hungry they rise up through the first and second strata of water to feed. The third stratum of water is 25,000 yojanas deep, and in that stratum dwell the sea creatures known as timiṅgilagila. Their bodies

are enormous, measuring 2,100 yojanas. Whenever they get hungry they rise up through the first, second, and third strata of water to feed.

Now at that time in the great ocean a sea creature of the kind called timiṅgila was born, and the other sea creatures, great and small, gathered around him. Again and again they cut his body into pieces—some one league long, some two leagues, some three leagues, and some up to one hundred yojanas in length—and fed on him, causing him dreadful suffering and extreme, excruciating, unbearable agony.

All this suffering exhausted him, so he emerged onto dry land hoping for some respite. But when he emerged onto dry land, due to his past actions, five hundred yakṣas appeared, and for five hundred days with five hundred axes they hacked off his ribs one by one. Once all his ribs had been cut away in this manner, unable to bear the pain, he let loose a great cry and rolled back into the great ocean. All of this bleeding and rolling about agitated the great ocean, roiling it up until it looked like an ocean of blood. And now that he had fallen back into it, the other creatures fed on him again. No matter whether he emerged onto dry land or stayed in the water, he suffered dreadfully.

Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana thought, “What action did this being take that ripened into such suffering?” Though he went deep into equipoise and reached the far limits of concentration, he could not see an end to the lives in which this being had died from one animal rebirth and transmigrated, only to take birth as an animal again and meet with the very same suffering. He thought, “Who apart from the Blessed One could explain his deeds to me? For his

wisdom and vision are unimpeded, and his wisdom and vision are infinite.”

He disappeared from the shore of the great ocean and traveled to Śrāvastī, where the Blessed One sat teaching the Dharma amid a company of hundreds. Then Venerable Maudgalyāyana thought, “It is time to put my question to the Blessed One, so that many might become disillusioned with saṃsāra.” He approached the Blessed One, touched his head to the Blessed One’s feet, and took a seat at one side.

Once he had taken a seat at one side, Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, it is my custom to wander from time to time among the hell beings, to wander among the anguished spirits, to wander among the animals, to wander among the humans, and to wander among the gods.

“When I return I relate to people how the hell beings suffer through being cut up, hacked apart, beaten, roasted, and so on. When I return I also relate to people how the anguished spirits suffer through hunger, thirst, being burned, being incinerated, being cooked, and so on; how animals suffer as they eat one another; how human beings suffer through striving, anger, and exhaustion; and how the gods suffer through dying, falling, disintegrating, and decaying. Because of this, the people who hear me are filled with sorrow, and from this sorrow they go on to achieve great things.

“Lord, after preparing to wander among the animals, I disappeared from Śrāvastī and stood on the shore of the sea. Lord, while I was there, I saw a being whose body was 2,100 yojanas in length. What is more,

the other sea creatures, great and small, gathered around him. Again and again they cut his body into pieces—some one league long, some two leagues, some three leagues, and some up to one hundred yojanas in length—and fed on him. This caused him dreadful suffering and extreme, excruciating, unbearable agony.

“All this suffering exhausted him, and he emerged onto dry land hoping for some respite. But when he emerged onto dry land, due to his past actions five hundred yakṣas appeared, and for five hundred days with five hundred axes they hacked off his ribs one by one. Once all his ribs had been cut away in this manner, unable to bear the pain he let loose a great cry and rolled back into the great ocean. All of this bleeding and rolling about agitated the great ocean, roiling it up until it looked like an ocean of blood. And now that he had fallen back into it, the creatures fed on him again. No matter whether he emerged onto dry land or stayed in the water, he suffered dreadfully.

“Lord, what action did this being take that ripened into his taking birth among the animals and meeting with such suffering?”

“Maudgalyāyana,” the Blessed One explained, “that being committed nonvirtuous actions over and over again. He committed many nonvirtuous actions.

“Maudgalyāyana, in times past, when the totally and completely awakened Buddha Parvata, who far surpassed the listeners and the solitary buddhas, was in the world, there was a householder who found faith in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Parvata, heard the Dharma from him, and manifested the resultant state of non-return.

“His wife was very well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. Her husband told her, ‘Sweet one, I

have received from the Blessed One the five precepts for practicing the holy life.⁹⁹ If you wish to remain here at home, I shall provide you with food and clothes. But if it is another man you desire, I shall relinquish you to him.’

“ ‘Lord, I need no other man,’ she said. ‘I shall love and honor only my lord.’

“Many men were captivated by the woman because of her fine figure. There was a petty official living in the area who thought, ‘How could I ever get together with that woman?’ So one day, laden with gold and silver, he went to see her husband, the lay vow holder, bringing with him a host of witnesses.

“ ‘Householder,” he said, “I must leave on a matter of royal concern. I cannot forward these articles there. I entrust them to you until my return.’ The householder, being an upright person, accepted all the articles in the presence of the witnesses. The petty official, putting everything in his hands, then returned to his house.

“Some time later, he returned to the lay vow holder, saying, ‘Householder, give me the articles that I entrusted to you,’ and the householder returned everything to him, with no witnesses present. The man stowed the articles at his own house again and then brought all the witnesses back to see the lay vow holder and said, ‘Householder, please return to me the king’s property that I entrusted to you.’

“ ‘I’ve already given it to you,’ replied the lay vow holder.

“ ‘I have received nothing from you,’ said the petty official. Turning to the witnesses, he exclaimed, ‘See how this lay vow holder acts! Would he have given all those articles back to me when we were alone, after I handed them to him with you as our witnesses?’

“After he said this, he led the man to the royal palace and had him legally convicted. Then he brought him back to his own house, where he beat him with a strip of wet leather, bound him tightly, and broke all his ribs, which was enough to cause his death.

“The man’s son was not home, so the petty official commandeered not only the possessions of the house but the man’s wife as well. ‘It’s for your sake that I committed all these misdeeds, my dear,’ he told her. ‘So I am the man of the house now, and you are my wife.’

“To this the lay vow holder’s wife replied, ‘How can we be together when I haven’t even performed the ritual veneration of my husband’s remains? First let me venerate his remains for a time. After that, lord, I shall do as you please.’

“No sooner was this said than the petty official bore the lay vow holder’s remains to the charnel ground and incinerated them. As he sat there with his back to her, the woman leapt into the burning fire and died on the spot. At this the petty official began to brood, thinking, ‘Such wrongs I have committed, one after the other! Meeting that woman was of no benefit. Not only did I commit such senseless acts, but now she’s gone.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that petty official then is none other than this sea creature. The act of beating the lay vow holder with a wet strip of leather and causing his death ripened such that the petty official took rebirth as a hell being, where he underwent the sufferings of the hell beings for thousands upon thousands of years. When he died, he transmigrated and took rebirth among the animals, dying from among the animals only to transmigrate and take birth among the animals again. Such are his sufferings.”

Then Venerable Maudgalyāyana inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, when will this being

be liberated from his suffering?”

“Maudgalyāyana,” the Blessed One replied, “in the future a totally and completely awakened buddha named Sumati, who will far surpass the listeners and the solitary buddhas, will emerge in the world. At that distant time the actions of this being will be exhausted. After attaining a human birth, he will go forth solely in the doctrine of Sumati, cast away the afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship. Then his suffering will come to an end.”

As soon as they heard this, the people gathered there welled up with grief. The Blessed One directly apprehended their grief, taught them the Dharma accordingly, and among the assembled some generated heat right where they sat. Some generated the peak, or generated the patience in accord with the truths, or generated the highest worldly dharma, or generated the attainment of seeing. Some manifested the resultant state of stream entry. Some manifested the resultant state of once-return. Some manifested the resultant state of non-return. Some went forth and manifested arhatship. Some sowed the seeds to become universal monarchs, some to become great universal monarchs, some to become Indra, some to become Brahmā, some for the enlightenment of the listeners, some for the enlightenment of the solitary buddhas, and some for unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment. Among the assembled, most found themselves drawn to the Buddha, intent on the Dharma, and favoring the Saṅgha.

The Second “Cut” Story

When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, it was Venerable Maudgalyāyana’s custom to wander from time to time among the hell beings, to wander among the anguished

spirits, to wander among the animals, to wander among the humans, and to wander among the gods.

When he returned, he would relate to people how the hell beings suffer through being cut up, hacked apart, beaten, roasted, and so on. When he returned, he would also relate to people how the anguished spirits suffer through hunger, thirst, being burned, being incinerated, being cooked, and so on; how animals suffer as they eat one another; how human beings suffer through striving, anger, and exhaustion; and how the gods suffer through dying, falling, disintegrating, and decaying. Those who heard him were filled with sorrow, and from this sorrow they went on to achieve great things.

One day Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana prepared himself to wander among the anguished spirits, disappeared from Śrāvastī, and stood on the seashore, where there lay an anguished spirit with an enormous body. The lower half looked very ordinary, but from the waist up it was like two separate bodies. He was on fire, burning all over, covered in flames, and he lurched all about until, due to his past actions, lions, tigers, leopards, bears, and the like, all with fangs of iron, appeared and tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him.

Humans appeared there due to his past actions as well, and they took up sharp swords and hacked at his upper body. While they hacked away at one side of his upper body, the other side would regenerate, and when they hacked away at the other side, the first side would regenerate. This caused him dreadful suffering and extreme, excruciating, unbearable agony, and he let loose great cries. As he tried to flee, the humans who appeared due to his past actions pursued him.

Seeing all this, Mahā­maudgalyāyana thought, “What action

did this being take that ripened into such suffering?” When he examined that being’s past lives, he saw that after going forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa, the spirit had acted as steward for the monks. But then he cut off the monks in rainy season retreat from all material support and clothing and offered it to the monks in winter retreat. Then he cut off the monks in winter retreat from all material support and clothing and offered it to the monks in rainy season retreat. Finally, he cut off both from all material support and clothing, used some of it for himself, and offered the rest to others.

Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana thought, “Though indeed I can see his past actions clearly, still I shall ask the Blessed One about this so that many might become disillusioned with saṃsāra.”

He disappeared from the shore of the great ocean and traveled to Śrāvastī, where the Blessed One sat teaching the Dharma amid a company of hundreds. Then Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana, seeing that the Blessed One was teaching the Dharma amid a company of hundreds, thought, “Now is the time to request the Blessed One to explain about that anguished spirit.” He approached the Blessed One, touched his head to the Blessed One’s feet, and took a seat at one side.

Once he had taken a seat at one side, Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, it is my custom to wander from time to time among the hell beings, to wander among the anguished spirits, to wander among the animals, to wander among the humans, and to wander among the gods.

“When I return I relate to people how the hell beings suffer through being cut up, hacked apart, beaten, roasted, and so on. When I return I also relate to people how the anguished spirits suffer through hunger, thirst,

being burned, being incinerated, being cooked, and so on; how animals suffer as they eat one another; how human beings suffer through striving, anger, and exhaustion; and how the gods suffer through dying, falling, disintegrating, and decaying. Because of this, the people who hear me are filled with sorrow, and from this sorrow they go on to achieve great things.

“Lord, as I was wandering among the anguished spirits, I saw an anguished spirit with an enormous body. The lower end looked very ordinary, but from the waist up it was like two separate bodies. He was on fire, burning all over, and covered in flames, and he lurched all about until, due to his past actions, lions, tigers, leopards, bears, and the like, all with fangs of iron, appeared and tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him.

“Humans appeared there due to his past actions as well, and they took up sharp swords and hacked at his upper body. While they hacked away at one side of his upper body, the other side would regenerate, and when they hacked away at the other side, the first side would regenerate. This caused him dreadful suffering and extreme, excruciating, unbearable agony, and he let loose a great cry. As he tried to flee, the humans who appeared due to his past actions pursued him.

“Lord, what action did this anguished spirit take that ripened into his meeting with such suffering?”

“Maudgalyāyana,” the Blessed One explained, “that being committed nonvirtuous actions over and over again. He committed many nonvirtuous actions.

“Maudgalyāyana, in times past, in this fortunate eon, when people lived as long as twenty thousand years, and the totally and completely awakened buddha possessed of insight and perfect conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world,

the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Kāśyapa was in the world, that being went forth in his doctrine. He acted as steward for the monks, but then he cut off the monks in rainy season retreat from all material support and clothing and offered it to the monks in winter retreat. Then he cut off the monks in winter retreat from all material support and clothing and offered it to the monks in rainy season retreat. Finally, he cut off both from all material support and clothing, used some of it for himself, and offered the rest to others.

“Maudgalyāyana, what do you think? The one who provided for those monks then is none other than this anguished spirit. At that time he cut off the monks in rainy season retreat from all material support and clothing and offered it to the monks in winter retreat. Then he cut off the monks in winter retreat from all material support and clothing and offered it to the monks in rainy season retreat. Those acts ripened such that this being was like two separate bodies from the waist up, and humans appeared due to his past actions who took up sharp swords and hacked at his upper body. While they hacked away at one side of his upper body, the other side would regenerate, and when they hacked away at the other side, the first side would regenerate.

“The act of finally cutting off both from all material support and clothing,¹⁰⁰ using some of it for himself, and offering the rest to others ripened such that there fell upon him lions, tigers, leopards, bears, and the like, all with fangs of iron, that tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him, causing him dreadful suffering and extreme, excruciating, unbearable agony until he let loose a great cry, and that as he tried to flee, the humans who appeared due to his past actions pursued him.”

Then Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, when will this being be released from this suffering?”

“Maudgalyāyana,” the Blessed One replied, “in the future a totally and completely awakened buddha named Aparājita, who will far surpass the listeners and the solitary buddhas, will emerge in the world. At that distant time the actions of this being

will be exhausted. After he attains a human birth, he will go forth in the doctrine of Aparājita alone, cast away the afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship. Then his suffering will come to an end.”

As soon as they heard this, the people gathered there welled up with grief. The Blessed One directly apprehended their grief, taught them the Dharma accordingly, and among the assembled some generated heat right where they sat. Some generated the peak, or generated the patience in accord with the truths, or generated the highest worldly dharma, or generated the attainment of seeing. Some manifested the resultant state of stream entry. Some manifested the resultant state of once-return. Some manifested the resultant state of non-return. Some went forth and manifested arhatship. Some sowed the seeds to become universal monarchs, some to become great universal monarchs, some to become Indra, some to become Brahmā, some for the enlightenment of the listeners, some for the enlightenment of the solitary buddhas, and some for unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment. Among the assembled, most found themselves drawn to the Buddha, intent on the Dharma, and favoring the Saṅgha.

Being Devoured

When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, it was Venerable Maudgalyāyana’s custom to wander from time to time among the hell beings, to wander among the anguished spirits, to wander among the animals, to wander among the humans, and to wander among the gods.

When he returned, he would relate to people how the hell beings suffer through being cut up, hacked apart, beaten, roasted, and so on. When he returned,

he would also relate to people how the anguished spirits suffer through hunger, thirst, being burned, being incinerated, being cooked, and so on; how animals suffer as they eat one another; how human beings suffer through striving, anger, and exhaustion; and how the gods suffer through dying, falling, disintegrating, and decaying. Those who heard him were filled with sorrow, and from this sorrow they went on to achieve great things.

One day Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana, prepared himself to wander among the anguished spirits, disappeared from Śrāvastī, and traveled to Vindhyācala, to a hollow in the forest where he saw an anguished spirit that was on fire, burning all over, and covered in flames—he was nothing but a single, searing flame. When he fled to the plains, due to his past actions lions, tigers, leopards, bears, and the like, all with fangs of iron, appeared and tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him. This caused him extreme, excruciating, unbearable agony, and he ran all about.

Seeing him, Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana thought, “What action did this being take that ripened into such suffering?”

When he examined that being’s past lives, he saw that after going forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa, the spirit had acted as steward for the monks, but then he used the donations for the saṅgha, the donations to the stūpa, their means of regular support, and the donations for the saṅgha of the four directions to indulge himself as he pleased and to make gifts of it to others.

Thereupon Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana thought, “Though indeed I can see his past actions clearly, still I shall ask the Blessed One about this, so that many might become disillusioned with saṃsāra.” He disappeared from the hollow in the forest at Vindhyācala

and traveled to Śrāvastī, where the Blessed One sat teaching the Dharma amid a company of hundreds. Then Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana, seeing that the Blessed One was teaching the Dharma amid a company of hundreds, thought, “Now is the time to request the Blessed One to explain about that anguished spirit.” He approached the Blessed One, touched his head to the Blessed One’s feet, and took a seat at one side.

Once he had taken a seat at one side, Venerable Mahā­maudgalyāyana inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, it is my custom to wander from time to time among the hell beings, to wander among the anguished spirits, to wander among the animals, to wander among the humans, and to wander among the gods.

“When I return I relate to people how the hell beings suffer through being cut up, hacked apart, beaten, roasted, and so on. When I return I also relate to people how the anguished spirits suffer through hunger, thirst, being burned, being incinerated, being cooked, and so on; how animals suffer as they eat one another; how human beings suffer through striving, anger, and exhaustion; and how the gods suffer through dying, falling, disintegrating, and decaying. Because of this, the people who hear me are filled with sorrow, and from this sorrow they go on to achieve great things.

“Lord, as I was wandering among the anguished spirits, I disappeared from Śrāvastī, and in Vindhyācala, in a hollow in the forest, Lord, I saw an anguished spirit with an enormous body that was on fire, burning all over, and covered in flames—he was nothing but a single, searing flame. When he fled to the plains, from his past actions lions, tigers, leopards,

bears, and the like, all with fangs of iron, appeared. When he submerged himself in the water, crocodiles with fangs of iron appeared. When he fled into the sky above, woodpeckers with beaks of iron appeared. All these creatures tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him. This caused him extreme, excruciating, unbearable agony, and he ran all about.

“Lord, what action did this being take that ripened into his meeting with such suffering?”

“Maudgalyāyana,” the Blessed One explained, “that being committed nonvirtuous actions over and over again. He committed many nonvirtuous actions.

“Maudgalyāyana, in times past, in this fortunate eon, when people lived as long as twenty thousand years, and the totally and completely awakened buddha possessed of insight and perfect conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Kāśyapa was in the world, that being went forth in his doctrine. After that, he acted as steward for the monks, calling upon many benefactors and patrons and accepting donations on behalf of the saṅgha and the stūpa. He took the donations for the saṅgha, the donations to the stūpa, their means of regular support, and the donations for the saṅgha of the four directions, and used it to indulge himself as he pleased and to make gifts of it to others. This act of cutting off the saṅgha from these donations, indulging himself as he pleased, and giving them to others ripened such that he took birth among the anguished spirits, and there was devoured by the creatures that lurk in the sky, in water, and on the plains.”

As soon as they heard this, the people gathered there welled up with grief. The Blessed One directly apprehended their grief,