Karmashataka 27: Bam po 27

Bhādra

When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, deep in a certain forest there lived some five hundred sages who had settled down there to perform ritual fire pūjās.

The blessed buddhas, teachers of the one path to be traversed, with mastery over wisdom and the two types of knowable objects, in command of the three kinds of sterling equanimity, fearless by means of the fourfold fearlessness, freed from migration through the five destinies, keen in the six sense bases, practiced in the seven limbs of enlightenment, focused on the eight liberations, absorbed in the nine successive meditative absorptions, possessing all ten of the ten powers, whose proclamations are the great roaring of a perfect lion, by nature regard the world with their buddha eyes six times throughout the day and night—three times by day and three times by night.

These are their thoughts as they look out in wisdom: “Who is in decline? Who will flourish? Who is destitute? Who is in a dreadful state? Who is being harmed? Who is destitute, in a dreadful state, and being harmed? Who is veering toward the lower realms? Who is descending through the lower realms? Who has descended to the lower realms? Whom shall I pull up from the lower realms, and establish in the resultant state of heaven and liberation? Whom, mired in misdeeds, shall I lift up by the hand? Whom, lacking the seven jewels of the noble ones, shall I lead to command of the seven jewels of the noble ones? Whom, not having produced roots of virtue, shall I lead to produce them? Whom, having already produced roots of virtue, shall I lead to ripen their roots of virtue? Whom, having already ripened their roots of virtue, shall I slice open with the blade of wisdom? For whom shall I cause this world, adorned with a buddha’s presence, to be fruitful?”

The ocean, home of creatures fierce,
Could fail to send its tides on time.
But when the time has come to tame
Their offspring, buddhas never fail.

The Blessed One thought, “The time has come to tame these five hundred sages,” whereupon the Blessed One performed a miracle that caused all five hundred sages to see evidence of the Buddha’s footprints all over the inside of the hearths they used for their ritual fire pūjās. Then they found they could not kindle their fires anymore, and they thought, “It’s by the might of these footprints that we can’t kindle a fire in these hearths.

It seems that these footprints must somehow be auspicious—are these the footprints of Mahā­deva?”

All five hundred sages offered those things intended for the sacrificial fire to the footprints of the Buddha, and by the power of the Buddha the offerings burst into flames that reached all the way up to Brahmāloka. The sages were amazed at the sight, and they thought, “Mahā­deva thinks of us.”

To guide them, the Blessed One then performed a miracle that caused the footprints to lead, one after another, into the garden of Prince Jeta. The sages saw the emanated footprints, one after another, leading away from their ritual fire pūjās, and thought, “Mahā­deva went this way!” They followed one footprint after another, making offerings as they went, until eventually they entered the garden of Prince Jeta, where the Blessed One was teaching the Dharma amid a company of hundreds.

The five hundred sages saw the Blessed Buddha from a distance. His body, graced and resplendent with the thirty-two signs of a great person, looked like it was on fire, like flames stoked with ghee, like a lamp set in a golden vessel, and like a pillar adorned with all manner of jewels. He was immaculate, clear-minded, and pure of heart. When they saw the Blessed Buddha the sight of him filled them with supreme joy, for beings who have gathered the roots of virtue to see a buddha for the first time experience such rapture as is not to be had even by those who practice calm abiding meditation for twelve years.

After they saw him they approached the Blessed One, touched their heads to the Blessed One’s feet, and sat before him to listen to the Dharma. The Blessed One directly apprehended their thoughts, habitual tendencies, temperaments, capacities,

and natures, and taught them the Dharma accordingly. When they heard it they destroyed with the thunderbolt of wisdom the twenty high peaks of the mountain of views concerning the transitory collection, and manifested the resultant state of non-return right where they sat.

After seeing the truths they rose from their seats, drew down the right shoulder of their upper garments, bowed toward the Blessed One with palms pressed together, and requested the Blessed One, “Lord, if permitted we wish to go forth in the Dharma and Vinaya so well spoken, complete our novitiates, and achieve full ordination. In the presence of the Blessed One, we too wish to practice the holy life.”

With the words “Come, join me, monks!” the Blessed One led them to go forth as novices, conferred on them full ordination, and instructed them. Casting away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, they manifested arhatship. As arhats, free from the attachments of the three realms, their minds regarded gold no differently than filth, and the palms of their hands as like space itself. They became cool like wet sandalwood. Their insight crushed ignorance like an eggshell. They achieved the insights, superknowledges, and discriminations. They had no regard for worldly profit, passion, or acclaim. They became objects of offering, veneration, and respectful address by Indra, Upendra, and the other gods.

“Lord,” the monks requested the Blessed Buddha, “tell us why, by showing the sages the footprints, the Blessed One led them to go forth and established them in the unsurpassed, supreme welfare of nirvāṇa.”

“Not only now,” the Blessed One explained, “but in times past as well, with footprints I led these five hundred sages to go forth,

whereupon they practiced pure conduct all their lives. Listen well!

“Monks, 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, the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa put on a great display of miracles. Out of compassion for people in times to come, and so that he might lead the five hundred sages, he performed a miracle that caused them to take the appearance of the Buddha’s footprints as a sign.

“At that time in the south, there were some five hundred sages living in a certain forest for practicing austerities. As they traveled through the heavens above the footprints of the Blessed Buddha to Gandhamādana Mountain, they were amazed to find themselves unable to go any farther, as if obstructed by Mount Sumeru itself. ‘Our miraculous powers have not waned,’ they thought. ‘How can it be we are obstructed in the sky?’

“A god who was fond of them explained, ‘Though your miraculous powers have not waned, far below you are footprints of the Buddha. Beyond them even Śakra and Brahmā cannot pass.’ The sages took great delight in the footprints. In their joy they descended to the earth and began to venerate the footprints. To lead them, the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa performed a miracle that caused the footprints to float up one by one to where the sages were hovering, and the sages thought, ‘These footprints belong to Mahā­deva. He went this way!’ Thinking this, the sages began following the footprints, and then all five hundred sages saw the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa from a distance.

“At the sight of him, they experienced a surge of joy toward the tathāgata, the arhat, the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa. In their joy they approached the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa. Upon their arrival they touched their heads to the Blessed One’s feet, drew down the right shoulder of their upper garments, bowed toward him with palms pressed together, and requested, ‘Lord, if permitted we wish to go forth in the Dharma and Vinaya so well spoken, complete our novitiates, and achieve full ordination. In the presence of the Blessed One, we too wish to practice the holy life.’

“After the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa led them to go forth as novices, conferred on them full ordination, and instructed them, they practiced pure conduct all their lives. Though they did not achieve any great virtues, at the time of their deaths they prayed, ‘While we may not have attained any great virtues, still we have gone forth like this in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa and practiced pure conduct all our lives. Therefore, may we please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. May we go forth in his doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“O monks, what do you think? Those five hundred sages then are none other than these five hundred sages now. At that time they practiced pure conduct all their lives, and at the time of their deaths, they prayed, ‘May we please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha.

May we go forth in his doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“So it is, monks, now that I myself have become the very equal of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa—equal in strength, equal in deeds, and equal in skillful means—that they have pleased me, not displeased me, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.”

The Blind Man

When the Blessed One was in Mahā­deva Mango Grove in Mithilā, there lived in Mithilā a certain householder named Variegated. He was prosperous and wealthy, a person of vast and magnificent means, endowed with the wealth of Vaiśravaṇa—with wealth to rival Vaiśravaṇa’s.

When the time came for him to marry he took a wife, and they enjoyed themselves and coupled. As they enjoyed themselves and coupled, one day his wife conceived. After nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child who was deformed and blind. When the householders saw their child, both parents were devastated. “It is a rare thing to give birth to a son, but one who turns out like this, deformed and blind, is of no use to us,” they said. “When night falls, we’ll toss him out to the dogs.” So his parents brought him outside, set him down on the main road, and left him for the dogs.

The blessed buddhas, teachers of the one path to be traversed, with mastery over wisdom and the two types of knowable objects, in command of the three kinds of sterling equanimity, fearless by means of the fourfold fearlessness, freed from migration through the five destinies, keen in the six sense bases, practiced in the seven limbs of enlightenment, focused on the eight liberations,

absorbed in the nine successive meditative absorptions, possessing all ten of the ten powers, whose proclamations are the great roaring of a perfect lion, by nature regard the world with their buddha eyes six times throughout the day and night—three times by day and three times by night.

These are their thoughts as they look out in wisdom: “Who is in decline? Who will flourish? Who is destitute? Who is in a dreadful state? Who is being harmed? Who is destitute, in a dreadful state, and being harmed? Who is veering toward the lower realms? Who is descending through the lower realms? Who has descended to the lower realms? Whom shall I pull up from the lower realms, and establish in the resultant state of heaven and liberation? Whom, mired in misdeeds, shall I lift up by the hand? Whom, lacking the seven jewels of the noble ones, shall I lead to command of the seven jewels of the noble ones? Whom, not having produced roots of virtue, shall I lead to produce them? Whom, having already produced roots of virtue, shall I lead to ripen their roots of virtue? Whom, having already ripened their roots of virtue, shall I slice open with the blade of wisdom? For whom shall I cause this world, adorned with a buddha’s presence, to be fruitful?”

The ocean, home of creatures fierce,
Could fail to send its tides on time.
But when the time has come to tame
Their offspring, buddhas never fail.

The Blessed One thought, “The time has come for me to make a revelation about this child. He will be instrumental in guiding a great many disciples.” With this in mind, the Blessed One performed a miracle that prevented the child from being eaten by dogs, come what may. Early in the morning the Blessed One donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, he set out for Mithilā surrounded and escorted by an assembly of monks, until he arrived not far from where the young man was.

Many of the inhabitants of Mithilā saw the Blessed Buddha and they were filled with wonder. Impelled by their previous roots of virtue they went to see the Blessed One, and when they arrived before him, the Blessed One thought, “The best thing would be for me to enter into a meditation such that this child remembers his former lives and can converse with me in words.”

So the Blessed One entered into a meditation such that the child remembered his former lives and could converse with him. Then the Blessed One asked him, “Child, are you an ugly person?”

“O Blessed One, I am an ugly person.”

“Child, are you an ugly person?”

“Sugata, I am an ugly person.”

The Blessed One then asked, “Are you now undergoing the hideous repercussions of your misconduct of body, speech, and mind?”

“Blessed One, I am indeed undergoing the hideous repercussions of my misconduct of body, speech, and mind,” he replied.

The Blessed One continued, “Who guided you to such nonvirtue?”

“My own mind,” he replied.

Hearing this, immediately the people gathered there wondered, “Who is this being who remembers his former lives and converses with the Blessed One?” The ears of the blessed buddhas are difficult to reach, and they were not able to put their question to the Blessed One. So they inquired of Venerable Ānanda, “Lord Ānanda, who is this being who recalls his former lives and converses with the Blessed One?”

“Put your question to the Blessed One,” Venerable Ānanda replied.

“The ears of the blessed buddhas are difficult to reach,”

they said, “and their presence is overwhelming. We cannot ask the Blessed Buddha ourselves.”

Ānanda said, “Though the ears of the blessed buddhas are difficult to reach for me as well, out of compassion for you I shall ask.”

Venerable Ānanda drew down the right shoulder of his upper garment, bowed toward the Blessed One with palms pressed together, and inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, who is this being who remembers his former lives and converses with the Blessed One?”

“Ānanda,” the Blessed One explained, “this being is one who committed nonvirtuous actions over and over again. The nonvirtuous actions he committed were manifold.

“Ānanda, in times gone by, a certain king lived in Mithilā whose name was Virūpa. That king developed into a jealous person. When he was surrounded by his retinue of queens and wished to go somewhere—into the gardens or some other place—he cleared all the people off the road, even going so far as to cover their windows and doors with thick curtains. Should someone catch a glimpse of his retinue of queens, he would pluck out that person’s eyes. He rendered many beings blind in this way. One day, he entered the gardens attended by his retinue of queens.

“In times when a blessed one has not arisen in the world, in compassion for the destitute and suffering the solitary buddhas appear, taking up residence in remote places. Solitary as the rhinoceros, in all the world they alone are worthy of offerings. So it was that a solitary buddha was coming down the road. Without attracting the attention of the king’s attendants he stood before the retinue of queens. When the women noticed the elegance of his body and the elegance of his mind, they were filled with joy. In their joy they opened their veils,

bowed down, and paid homage to him.

“As soon as the king heard about this, he bristled with fury on account of his jealousy. In anger he ordered his royal attendants, “All of you, go pluck out that renunciant’s eyes!” As soon as his royal attendants heard this, they seized the solitary buddha and plucked out both his eyes. Faced as he was with this manifestation of his previous deeds, the solitary buddha did not think to so much as disguise himself, much less emanate.

“Then the solitary buddha thought, ‘It’s not right for this emotionally afflicted person, who has become so abased, to circle in saṃsāra and meet with great suffering.’ Reflecting in this way, he thought, ‘I have to help him.’ He rose up into the sky, making a miraculous display of fire and light, rain and lightning.

“Ordinary people are quickly brought to faith through miracles. When the king saw all this, he bowed down at the solitary buddha’s feet like a tree felled by a saw and said, ‘Oh great fortunate one, please, please come down! I’m mired in misdeeds! Please reach down and lift me up!’

“Because he had sustained such injuries, however, the great being passed into parinirvāṇa. The king venerated his relics and prayed, ‘In this way may I not experience the results of the act of causing such a pure being to undergo such agony. By the root of virtue of having paid homage to him, wherever I am born, may it be into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth. May I please and not displease a teacher even more exalted than this. Going forth in his doctrine alone may I cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who was King Virūpa then

is none other than this blind man. The act of plucking out the solitary buddha’s eyes and rendering hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of beings sightless ripened such that for hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of years he was always blind, and was roasted by hell beings.

“After dying and transmigrating from there, he took rebirth as an anguished spirit for five hundred lifetimes. This also caused him to undergo great suffering, and he was always blind.

“After dying as an anguished spirit and transmigrating, he took rebirth as an animal for five hundred lifetimes, where he was also always blind.

“When he died as an animal, he transmigrated and took rebirth as a human being for five hundred lifetimes, and in every birth he was blind.”

“Lord,” the monks inquired, “when will this being be liberated from his suffering?”

“Monks” 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. It is through his teaching that this being will obtain a human birth with all his faculties intact. Then he will go forth in Buddha Sumati’s teaching, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.

“Even after he has achieved arhatship, one day while he is sleeping crows will appear due to his past actions and pluck out both his eyes. After sustaining such injuries he will pass into parinirvāṇa. It is then that he will be liberated from his past actions.”

As soon as they heard this, the people gathered there welled up with grief, and they thought, “By the force of the afflictive emotions, spiraling through saṃsāra we are sure to meet with sufferings such as these.”

The Blessed One directly apprehended their grief, taught them the Dharma accordingly and among the assembled some generated heat. 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 right where they sat.

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 Story of Nirgrantha Kāśyapa

When the Blessed One was in Rājagṛha, a certain poor brahmin who made his living as a farmer lived out in the mountains. One day his wife conceived, and after nine or ten months had passed she gave birth to a child. At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they asked, “What name should we give this child?” and they named him, saying, “This is a child of the Kāśyapa clan, so his name will likewise be Kāśyapa.”

They reared young Kāśyapa on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and when he grew up he went with his parents to work in the fields. As he looked on he saw hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of living beings being killed. He asked his father, “Father, you are causing hundreds of thousands of living beings to suffer. Why must you make your living this way?”

“Son, this is the only way for us to make our living. There is no other choice,” his father replied.

The youth thought, “I will give up making a living this way and go live in the forest.” With this thought,

he resolved to go forth.

The Blessed One had achieved unexcelled wisdom and began to act for the benefit of those to be tamed. In time he came to Rājagṛha, and the Blessed One’s fame spread far and wide. The Blessed One let fall a rain of nectar to satisfy living beings.

When young Kāśyapa heard that the ascetic Gautama was staying in Rājagṛha and had let fall a rain of nectar to satisfy living beings, he immediately told his parents, “Mother, Father, I am going to practice the holy life in the presence of the ascetic Gautama,” and departed. He went to Rājagṛha as he had said, and there saw the naked ascetic Nirgrantha Jñātiputra.

He thought, “There he is—the ascetic Gautama!” and went forth in his presence. After he went forth and studied their system of telling signs, Nirgrantha Jñātiputra became the foremost of his teachers. From that point on he was no longer known as Kāśyapa, and he took the name Nirgrantha Kinsman of the Kāśyapas.

One day he saw the indications that he was near the end of his life, and he thought, “In seven days I shall be no more.” A deity who delighted in the doctrine of the Blessed One told him, “Don’t despair, Nirgrantha Kinsman of the Kāśyapas. The Blessed One teaches the path of definite escape from death. And he’s staying right here in Rājagṛha. Offer him your respect and service. If you do, things will go well for you.”

Nirgrantha Kinsman of the Kāśyapas left Rājagṛha as soon as he heard this and set out for Bamboo Grove. On the way he thought, “Monks are modest and shy. Since I am a naked ascetic, I would not dare go and meet them in person,

so I won’t go to Bamboo Grove quite yet. Instead, I’ll remain here at the halfway point. Staying here, just halfway, I shall offer the ascetic Gautama my respect and service.”

The blessed buddhas, teachers of the one path to be traversed, with mastery over wisdom and the two types of knowable objects, in command of the three kinds of sterling equanimity, fearless by means of the fourfold fearlessness, freed from migration through the five destinies, keen in the six sense bases, practiced in the seven limbs of enlightenment, focused on the eight liberations, absorbed in the nine successive meditative absorptions, possessing all ten of the ten powers, whose proclamations are the great roaring of a perfect lion, by nature regard the world with their buddha eyes six times throughout the day and night—three times by day and three times by night.

These are their thoughts as they look out in wisdom: “Who is in decline? Who will flourish? Who is destitute? Who is in a dreadful state? Who is being harmed? Who is destitute, in a dreadful state, and being harmed? Who is veering toward the lower realms? Who is descending through the lower realms? Who has descended to the lower realms? Whom shall I pull up from the lower realms, and establish in the resultant state of heaven and liberation? Whom, mired in misdeeds, shall I lift up by the hand? Whom, lacking the seven jewels of the noble ones, shall I lead to command of the seven jewels of the noble ones? Whom, not having produced roots of virtue, shall I lead to produce them? Whom, having already produced roots of virtue, shall I lead to ripen their roots of virtue? Whom, having already ripened their roots of virtue, shall I slice open with the blade of wisdom? For whom shall I cause this world, adorned with a buddha’s presence, to be fruitful?”

The ocean, home of creatures fierce,
Could fail to send its tides on time.
But when the time has come to tame
Their offspring, buddhas never fail.

When the Blessed One focused his mind, he realized that the time had come to tame Nirgrantha Kinsman of the Kāśyapas, so he left Bamboo Grove and went to see Nirgrantha Kinsman of the Kāśyapas. When Nirgrantha Kinsman of the Kāśyapas saw the Blessed Buddha from a distance he approached the Blessed One, and when he arrived he made all manner of entertaining and jovial conversation with him and then took a seat at one side.

Nirgrantha Kinsman of the Kāśyapas requested the Blessed One, “Gautama, should there be an opportunity for you to answer questions, I would like to ask you about a few matters.”

The Blessed One replied, “Kāśyapa, I have to go to Rājagṛha for a while for alms. This is not the time for me to answer your questions. Wait outside the grove and an opportunity will come for me to answer your questions.”

“Gautama,” he replied, “if it’s possible for me to change my mind, then perhaps it’s possible that Gautama may change his mind as well.” So Nirgrantha Kinsman of the Kāśyapas beseeched him a second and third time, “Should there be an opportunity for you to answer questions, I would like to ask you about a few matters.”

And the second and third time, the Blessed One told Nirgrantha Kinsman of the Kāśyapas, “Kāśyapa, I have to go to Rājagṛha for a while for alms. This is not a good time for me to answer your questions, but wait outside of the grove a bit and the opportunity for me to answer your questions will come.”

“Gautama,” he persisted,