ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 1
The Hundred Deeds 1
- Language
- English
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Prologue
I prostrate to the All-Knowing One.
Listen well, for I have heard
Of a doorway whence we may discern
The world-guru, Gone to Bliss,
Who wishes nothing but our benefit,
As he parcels out a full account
To those who wandered in, confused,
From the vast, bleak wood of wrongful views.
His sacred speech, so sound and sweet—
This sūtra—is The Hundred Deeds.
A General Outline of the Text
Part One: “The Dog,” and Other Stories
Part Two: “The Chariot,” and Other Stories
Part Three: “The Story of Kacaṅkalā,” and Other Stories
Part Four: “The Story of Maitrībala,” and Other Stories
Part Five: “The Story of Virūpa,” and Other Stories
Part Six: “The Bird,” and Other Stories
Part Seven: “The Story of Paṅgu,” and Other Stories
Part Eight: “The Story of Pūrṇa,” and Other Stories
Part Nine: “The Sons,” and Other Stories
Part Ten: “Śakra,” and Other Stories
Part One
1. The Dog
2. The Story of Little Eyes
3. The Story of Pūraṇa
4. The Person with a Curving Spine: Two Stories
5. The Story of Udayin
6. Victory Banner
7. The Story of Kṣemā
8. The Story of Maṇiprabha
9. The Story of Jasmine
10. Give It to Me!
11. The Story of She Who Gathers
12. The Tailor
The Dog
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When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī there lived a certain householder, prosperous and wealthy, a person of vast and magnificent means, endowed with the wealth of Vaiśravaṇa—with wealth to rival Vaiśravaṇa’s—who was fond of philosophical extremists.
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 well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, with glowing, golden skin, a well-rounded head, long arms, a broad brow, a fine and prominent nose, and eyebrows that met. At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they named him according to their clan.
They reared him on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and he flourished like a lotus in a lake. Once he was able to walk, his father brought home a little puppy for him to play with. Any time the puppy saw philosophical extremists, she would run and bite at them, sometimes tearing their robes. But when she saw Buddhist monastics she would trot up, lick their feet, and circumambulate them clockwise while wagging her tail.
The buddhas, the blessed ones, 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,
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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?²⁷ 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?”²⁸
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.
Just as the buddhas, the blessed ones, regard the world with their buddha eyes six times throughout the day and night—three times by day and three times by night—so too the great disciples of the buddhas regard the world with disciples’ eyes six times throughout the day and night—three times by day and three times by night. When Venerable Śāriputra regarded the world with his disciple’s eyes, he knew that the time had come to tame the householder and his retinue. In the morning he donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, he went for alms in Śrāvastī.
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As he went for alms, Śāriputra eventually came to the home of that householder. As soon as the dog saw him from a distance, she jumped up and ran right up to Śāriputra, just as she had with the other monks. She very respectfully licked his feet and circumambulated him three times while wagging her tail.
The householder saw all this and thought, “My! This one has fallen so low as to possess the body of a dog. If even she thinks to pay him such esteem, then surely this monk is a great being. I should invite this monk and offer him food.” Reflecting in this way he approached Venerable Śāriputra, bowed down at Śāriputra’s feet, and said, “Lord Śāriputra, whatever food you need, please take it here.” Venerable Śāriputra assented by his silence.
Understanding that by his silence Venerable Śāriputra had given his assent, the householder then prepared a seat for Venerable Śāriputra and said, “Venerable Śāriputra, please sit upon the seat that I have prepared,” whereupon Venerable Śāriputra sat on the seat prepared for him.
Once the householder knew that Venerable Śāriputra was comfortably seated, by his own hand he contented him with many good, wholesome foods, proffering all that he wished. After he had contented him with many different kinds of good, wholesome foods by his own hand, and had proffered all that he wished, once he knew that Venerable Śāriputra had finished eating and that his bowl had been taken away and his hands washed, he sat before him to listen to the Dharma.
Venerable Śāriputra directly apprehended the thoughts, habitual tendencies, temperament, and nature of the householder and his retinue, and taught them the Dharma accordingly.
When they heard it, the householder and his retinue destroyed with the thunderbolt of wisdom the twenty high peaks of the mountain of views concerning the transitory collection,
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and manifested the resultant state of stream entry. Having seen the truths,²⁹ they went for refuge and took the fundamental precepts. After Venerable Śāriputra had instructed, encouraged, inspired, and delighted the householder with a discourse on the Dharma, he rose from his seat and departed.
Having seen the truths, the householder began to give gifts and make merit such that his home became like an open well for those in need. The householder invited Śāriputra to take food at his home again and again. Venerable Śāriputra and the householder would give food to the dog, and the householder would sit before Venerable Śāriputra to listen to the Dharma. The dog too would sit down before Venerable Śāriputra and listen to the Dharma. The householder reflected, “Such good things I have realized, and all on account of this dog!” Realizing this, he took very good care of her.
One day the dog fell ill, and Śāriputra said to her, “And so it is, child: All conditioned things are impermanent. All conditioned things are suffering. All phenomena are selfless. Nirvāṇa is peace. Let your mind be filled with joy at the thought of me, and you may even be released from rebirth in the animal realm.” With that, Venerable Śāriputra departed.
Not long after he had gone, the dog died, filled with joy at the thought of Venerable Śāriputra. After she died, she took rebirth in the same house, in the womb of the householder’s foremost wife.
When the dog died, Venerable Śāriputra returned to the house, where the householder informed him, “Lord Śāriputra, our dog has passed away.”
“Keep the dog’s body in a secluded place,” Venerable Śāriputra instructed, “for those bones will be of benefit to her later on.”
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“As you wish, Lord Śāriputra,” said the householder, and the householder put the dog’s dead body in a place where no one would see it.
After nine or ten months had passed, the householder’s wife gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, with glowing, golden skin and a well-rounded head, long arms, a broad brow, a fine and prominent nose, and eyebrows that met. At the elaborate feast celebrating her birth they named her according to their clan. They reared her on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and she flourished like a lotus in a lake.
When she had grown, Venerable Śāriputra told her, “Child, sit and listen to the Dharma,” but she had become arrogant on account of her well-proportioned shape and youthfulness, and was so distracted that she was unable to listen to the Dharma. One day Venerable Śāriputra recognized how to uncover her potential. He set the bones of the dog in front of her, and blessed the young woman in such a way that she remembered her former lives.
Recalling her former lives, the young woman was overcome with grief and thought, “Look at the difficult task Noble Śāriputra has done for me! Thanks to him I have been freed from the realms of animal birth.” At this thought she was filled with happiness, and sat before Venerable Śāriputra to listen to the Dharma.
Then Venerable Śāriputra, directly apprehending her thoughts, habitual tendencies, temperament, and nature, taught her the Dharma accordingly. Hearing it, the young woman 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 stream entry right where she sat.
Having seen the truths, she rose from her seat, drew down the right shoulder of her upper garment, bowed to Venerable Śāriputra with her palms together,
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and implored him, “Lord Śāriputra, if permitted, I wish to go forth in the Dharma and Vinaya so well spoken, complete my novitiate, and achieve full ordination. I too wish to practice the holy life in the presence of the Blessed One.”
Venerable Śāriputra told her parents of her faith and then presented her to Mahāprajāpatī, who led her to go forth as a novice, ordained her, and gave her instruction. Casting away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, she manifested arhatship. As an arhat, free of the attachments of the three realms, her mind regarded gold no differently than filth, and the palms of her hands as like space itself. She became cool like wet sandalwood. Her insight crushed ignorance like an eggshell. She achieved the insights, superknowledges, and discriminations. She had no regard for worldly profit, passion, or acclaim. She became an object of offering, veneration, and respectful address by Indra, Upendra, and the other gods.
Now an arhat, she remembered Venerable Śāriputra’s previous kindness and approached him again and again, prostrating herself at his feet and saying, “Thanks to Noble Śāriputra, I was freed from the realms of animal birth and achieved great virtues. It is all due to the difficult task the noble one has done for me.”
Many monks overheard her saying this over and over again, and immediately asked Venerable Śāriputra, “Venerable Śāriputra, what is this nun thinking, saying this over and over again?”
“Did you see the puppy at the householder’s home?” Venerable Śāriputra asked.
“Yes, Lord Śāriputra, we did,” they replied.
“The very same one died filled with joy at the thought of me and was reborn in the home of that householder.
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Now that she remembers her former lives, she speaks these words to me to acknowledge that previous kindness.”
The monks inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, what was the action this nun performed that ripened into her birth as a dog? What did she do after she died and took rebirth as a human being that she pleased and did not displease the Blessed One, went forth in the Blessed One’s doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship?”
The Blessed One replied, “Monks, it was partly her past actions, and it is partly her present actions as well.”
“Lord, what action did she take in the past?”
“Monks, in times past, in this fortunate eon, when people lived as long as twenty thousand years and the tathāgata, the arhat, 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, there lived a certain householder in the city of Vārāṇasī.
“One day a child was born to him who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. As she grew up she gained faith in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa and asked her parents if she could go forth. Once she had gone forth, she studied the Tripiṭaka and became a proponent of the Dharma with all the eloquence of her wisdom and freedom.
“Having acquired provisions of clothing, food, bedding, a seat, and medicines for the sick, she thought, ‘How wonderful! With all the profit and acclaim I’ve gained, I can see to the welfare of fellow practitioners of the holy life.’ And she served the twofold saṅgha³⁰ in accordance with the Dharma.
“One day when she was busy, she
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asked for help from a group of nuns who were on the paths of learning and no more to learn. They replied, ‘We cannot abandon our virtuous works to accomplish your task.’
“When she heard this she bristled with fury. Seething, the nun shouted at them, ‘You’re like dogs! All I do is look after you and fill your stomachs—can you not help me for even a moment?’
“Thereupon the nuns thought, ‘It’s not right for this emotionally afflicted person, so abased, to circle in saṃsāra and meet with great suffering.’ Reflecting in this way, they thought, ‘We have to help her,’ and asked, ‘Do you know who we are? And do you know who you yourself are?’
“ ‘I know,’ she replied, ‘that you have gone forth, as have I.’
“The nuns responded, ‘Though as your elder sisters we have gone forth as you have, you are an ordinary person, bound by every fetter, whereas we have accomplished our task. So acknowledge your mistake as such. Otherwise you are certain to roam in saṃsāra and meet with great suffering.’
“Hearing their words, the nun was flooded with regret, and with renewed vigor she offered her respectful service to the twofold saṅgha and practiced pure conduct all her life.
“At the time of her death, she prayed, ‘Oh, but by the root of virtue of my having gone forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa, my lifetime of practicing pure conduct, and the service I rendered in accord with the Dharma, wherever I am born, may it be into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth. May I be well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha.
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Going forth in his doctrine alone, may I cast away all afflictive emotions and manifest arhatship. May I not meet with the results of the act of speaking harshly to those fellow practitioners of the holy life.’
“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that nun then is now this nun. The ripening of the act of speaking harshly to those fellow practitioners of the holy life caused her to be reborn as a dog for five hundred lifetimes. At the time of her death she prayed, ‘Wherever I am born, may it be into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth. May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone, may I cast away all afflictive emotions and manifest arhatship.’ And that action ripened such that she was born into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth.
“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 she has pleased me, not displeased me, go forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship. These were her past actions.
“You may ask, ‘What are her present actions?’ Born as a dog, she was filled with joy at the thought of Śāriputra. Because of this she took birth among humans. These are her present actions.”
The Story of Little Eyes
When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī there lived a certain householder, prosperous and wealthy, a person of vast and magnificent means,
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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 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 well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they named him according to their clan.
They reared him on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and once he was able to walk, his father brought home a puppy and gave it to the child to play with. The child taught the puppy how to eat, and when the puppy had grown, he went out to the road and many others fed him as well.
The buddhas, the blessed ones, 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,
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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.
Just as the blessed buddhas regard the world with their buddha eyes six times throughout the day and night—three times by day and three times by night—so too the great listeners regard the world with their listener’s eyes six times throughout the day and night—three times by day and three times by night. When Venerable Śāriputra regarded the world with his listener’s eyes, he knew that the time had come to tame the householder and his retinue.
In the morning he donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, he went for alms in Śrāvastī. As he went for alms, Venerable Śāriputra eventually came to the home of that householder. The dog caught sight of Venerable Śāriputra, ran with all his might, bit him, and tore his Dharma robes. The householder saw this and immediately stopped the dog. When he had washed Venerable Śāriputra’s wounds and wrapped them with cloth, he bowed down at his feet and implored him, “Lord Śāriputra, please take your food here.” Venerable Śāriputra assented to the householder by his silence.
Understanding that by his silence Venerable Śāriputra had given his assent, the householder then prepared a seat for him and said, “Venerable Śāriputra, please sit upon the seat that I have prepared,” and Venerable Śāriputra
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sat on the seat prepared for him. Once the householder knew that Venerable Śāriputra was comfortably seated, by his own hand he contented him with many good, wholesome foods, proffering all that he wished.
After the householder had contented him with many different kinds of good, wholesome foods by his own hand, and had proffered all that he wished, Venerable Śāriputra partook of the day’s meal and gave his remaining food to the dog. When he had finished eating it, the dog looked up at Venerable Śāriputra’s face. Once the householder knew that Venerable Śāriputra had finished eating and that his bowl had been taken away and his hands washed, he sat before him to listen to the Dharma.
Venerable Śāriputra directly apprehended the thoughts, habitual tendencies, temperament, and nature of the householder and his retinue, and taught them the Dharma accordingly. After hearing it, the householder and his retinue 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 stream entry right where they sat. Having seen the truths, they went for refuge and took the fundamental precepts.
“Lord Śāriputra,” said the householder, “for as long as I live, please accept from me your provisions of clothing, food, bedding, seat, and medicines to cure the sick.”
Śāriputra replied, “There are other householders I must help as well. Please allow me to go.” At this, he rose from his seat and departed.
After the householder had seen the truths, gone for refuge, and taken the fundamental precepts, he began to give gifts and make merit. From time to time he would also extend an invitation to Venerable Śāriputra and make food for him. After eating, Venerable Śāriputra would give the remaining food to the dog.
The dog was very happy with Venerable Śāriputra. He was so happy that whenever Venerable
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Śāriputra came to the house, he greeted him, licked his feet, and circumambulated him three times while wagging his tail. Whenever Venerable Śāriputra came to give a Dharma talk and the time came for him to leave, the dog escorted him a little distance, then circumambulated him three times before he went away.
One day Venerable Śāriputra came to the house again, took his food, and gave a Dharma talk to the householder. As he was departing, the dog followed him outside onto the main road, licked his feet, and circumambulated him three times while wagging his tail. As the dog was returning to the house, some other dogs tore him apart, killing him. He died filled with joy at the thought of the elder monk Śāriputra, transmigrated, and took rebirth in the same house, in the womb of the householder’s wife.
Venerable Śāriputra knew just how the dog had been killed by the other dogs after they had parted. He contemplated where the dog would take rebirth, and saw that it would be in the same house, in the womb of the householder’s wife. Upon seeing this, out of love for the dog he went to the householder’s home alone, without attendants.
The householder saw that Venerable Śāriputra was alone, without companions or attendants, and he inquired, “Noble one, why have you come here alone, without companions or attendants? Noble one, is there no one at all who could attend you?”
“Where shall we find attendants, if one such as yourself does not grant them to us?” replied Venerable Śāriputra.
The householder said to him, “Lord Śāriputra, my wife has conceived, so if we have a son, noble one, I shall offer him to you as an attendant.”
“The virtuous
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keep their promises,” said Venerable Śāriputra. Having spoken thus, Venerable Śāriputra departed.
After nine or ten months had passed, the householder’s wife gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, though his eyes were small. At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they asked, “What name should we give this child?” And they named him, saying, “Since the child’s eyes are small, his name will be Little Eyes.”
They reared young Little Eyes on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and he flourished like a lotus in a lake. As he grew up he studied letters, tallying, and arithmetic; the study of seals, lending, deposits, and commerce;³¹ and the examination of cloth, jewels, gems, incense, medicine, elephants, horses, and arms and armor. He became skilled in writing, skilled at reading, learned, decisive, industrious, a master of the eight types of examination.
One day Venerable Śāriputra saw that the time had come for Little Eyes to go forth. In the morning he donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, he went for alms in Śrāvastī. As he went for alms, he eventually came to the householder’s home, and there sat on the seat prepared for him.
After he had taken his seat, Venerable Śāriputra reminded the householder, “Householder, before this child was born you granted him to me as an attendant. The virtuous keep their promises, do they not? Didn’t you yourself make such a promise?”
“Yes, noble one, I did make just such a promise,” the householder replied, and he took the child by his two hands, offered him to Venerable Śāriputra, and told him, “Child, before you were born, I offered you to the noble one.
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Therefore go, and be an attendant of the noble one.”
The child said, “This will be of benefit to me,” and with those words he followed Venerable Śāriputra away.
Venerable Śāriputra brought the child to the monastery, where he led him to go forth as a novice and instructed him. Still in his novitiate, the child cast away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, and manifested arhatship. As an arhat, free from the attachments of the three realms, his mind regarded gold no differently than filth, and the palms of his hands as like space itself. He became cool like wet sandalwood. His insight crushed ignorance like an eggshell. He achieved the insights, superknowledges, and discriminations. He had no regard for worldly profit, passion, or acclaim. He became an object of offering, veneration, and respectful address by Indra, Upendra, and the other gods.
One time after he had attained arhatship, he saw scars on Venerable Śāriputra’s feet as he was anointing them and asked, “Preceptor, how did you get these scars?”
“Child,” Venerable Śāriputra told him, “think on how I got these scars.”
“I see it was I who bit him in a previous life as a dog,” thought the novice. “And I see the life from which I died, transmigrated, and took rebirth as a dog.” He saw that he had died and taken rebirth as that dog, and he also saw that for five hundred lifetimes he had died as a dog, transmigrated, and taken rebirth only as a dog.
He thought, “Had my preceptor not thought of me, where would I have taken rebirth in the future when I died there and transmigrated?” Reflecting in this way, he saw himself taking birth again as that very dog. In the same way he saw himself for five hundred future lives
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dying, transmigrating, and taking birth over and over only as a dog.
“It was he who saved me from falling so low!” he thought further. “By establishing me in the unsurpassed, supreme welfare of nirvāṇa,³² my preceptor undertook a difficult task for me, over and over again. What method is there to repay the kindness of one’s preceptor, other than service and respect? When I take full ordination I won’t be able to offer such service—but oh! By remaining a novice for as long as I live I can continue to serve him respectfully.”
With this in mind, he said to Venerable Śāriputra, “Preceptor, for as long as I live I shall serve my preceptor with respect,” and Śāriputra replied, “Do as you wish, my child.”
One day the monks asked him, “Little Eyes, why don’t you take full ordination?”
“I must repay the kindness of my preceptor,” he told them. “By remaining a novice for as long as I live, I shall be able to serve him respectfully.”
“What particular kindness did your preceptor do for you?” they asked.
He told the monks the story in detail, whereupon the monks inquired of the Blessed Buddha, “Lord, what action did Little Eyes take that ripened into his birth as a dog, such that, if Venerable Śāriputra had not thought of him, he would have taken rebirth only as a dog for five hundred lifetimes, and what action did he take that once he had died as a dog he transmigrated and took birth once again as a human into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth? What action did he take that he pleased the Blessed One, did not displease him, went forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship? What action did he take that ripened into his having small eyes?”
“Monks,” explained
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the Blessed One, “Little Eyes committed and accumulated the actions himself at a previous time. Monks, the actions that he committed and accumulated did not ripen into the external element of earth. They did not ripen into the element of water, nor the element of fire, nor the element of wind. The actions he committed and accumulated, both virtuous and nonvirtuous, ripened into nothing but his own aggregates, sense bases, and constituent elements.
“When the time arrives—even if
A hundred eons pass—
Fruit is born of every act
That sentient beings amass.
“Monks, in times past, in this fortunate eon, when people lived as long as twenty thousand years and the tathāgata, the arhat, 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, there lived in the city of Vārāṇasī a certain householder, prosperous and wealthy, a person of vast and magnificent means, endowed with the wealth of Vaiśravaṇa—with wealth to rival Vaiśravaṇa’s.
“One day his wife conceived, and after nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. When he grew up he found faith in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa, and after asking for his parents’ permission, went forth.
“Once he had gone forth, he studied the Tripiṭaka and became a proponent of the Dharma with all the eloquence of his wisdom and freedom. Having acquired provisions of clothing, food, bedding, a seat, and medicines for the sick, he thought to himself, ‘How wonderful! With all the profit and acclaim I’ve gained, I can see to the welfare of fellow practitioners of the holy life.’
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And he served the twofold saṅgha in accordance with the Dharma.
“One evening, one of his duties, that of serving the evening drink, fell instead to an arhat monk. After distributing the evening drink to the saṅgha, the arhat was weary, so he went to his quarters, crossed his legs, and sat down.
“The evening drink still needed to be served to the benefactors, who began to ask the other monks, ‘Whose turn is it today to serve the evening drink?’
“They replied that today it was the monk so-and-so’s turn. The one who was normally appointed to serve them, seething, closed his eyes as if asleep and said, ‘It’s the one whose eyes are like this—I’ll find him!’
“Having said this, he went to the arhat and said, ‘Lord, for your sake I’ve pleased all our benefactors and patrons, and respectfully served your every need. Now that you’ve enjoyed all I’ve given you in faith, do you come home to sit and sleep like a dog?’
“Thereupon the arhat 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.’
“With this thought he said to the monk, ‘Lord, do you know who I am? And do you know who you yourself are?’
“ ‘I know that you have gone forth,’ he replied, ‘as have I.’
“ ‘Though we two are like brothers in having gone forth,’ the arhat said, ‘you are an ordinary person, bound by every fetter, whereas I am an arhat, liberated from every fetter. You’ve spoken harshly to me. You must acknowledge your mistake. Otherwise you are certain to roam in saṃsāra and meet with great suffering.’
“Hearing his words, the monk was flooded with great regret.
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He bowed down at the monk’s feet, asked his forgiveness, and with renewed vigor offered his respectful service to the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha. All his life, he practiced pure conduct and served the saṅgha in accord with the Dharma.
“At the time of his death, he prayed, ‘Oh, but by the root of virtue of my having gone forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa, my practice of pure conduct all my life, and the service I rendered in accord with the Dharma, wherever I am born, may it be into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth! May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone, may I cast away all afflictive emotions and manifest arhatship. May I not meet with the results of the wrongful act of speaking harshly to fellow practitioners of the holy life.’
“O monks, what do you think? The one who was of service then is now the novice Little Eyes. The act of speaking harshly to the arhat ripened such that for five hundred lifetimes he took rebirth as a dog, and had the monk Śāriputra not thought of him, he would have taken rebirth only as a dog for five hundred more lifetimes.
“The act of becoming angry, closing his eyes in imitation of the arhat, and saying, ‘It’s the one whose eyes are like this—I’ll find him!’ ripened into his birth as a human being whose eyes were just like that. The act of praying at that time, ‘By this root of virtue, wherever I am born, may it be into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth. May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa
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to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone, may I cast away all afflictive emotions and manifest arhatship,’ ripened such that he was born into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth.
“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 he has pleased me, not displeased me, go forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.”
The Story of Pūraṇa
When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, there lived a certain householder, 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. But even though they enjoyed themselves and coupled, they had no children.
They desired a son, so the householder supplicated the gods. He prayed to Paśupati, Varuṇa, Kubera, Śakra, Brahmā, and the rest, and to the deities of the pleasure groves, the forest deities, the deities of the crossroads, the deities of forks in the road, the deities who receive strewn oblations, the deities of his inherited tradition, and the deities who are in constant attendance of righteous persons.
While it is often said that praying to deities can cause a boy or a girl to be born, this is not true. If children could be made just by praying, every family would have them a thousand times over, like a universal monarch.
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³³ In fact, there are three circumstances that allow for the birth of a child: a child is born when (1) lust arises in the parents and they have intercourse, (2) the mother still has her menstrual cycle and is approached by a gandharva, and (3) the gandharva’s mind is either attached or angry.
Still, the householder remained intent on his prayers, and a great being took birth in his wife’s womb who was well renowned and had gained his final birth, had the good fortune to soon be liberated due to gathering the accumulations, had his sights set on nirvāṇa and had turned away from saṃsāra, had no desire for the states of rebirth in cyclic existence, and who had now assumed his final body.
A woman wise in nature possesses five extraordinary abilities. She knows (1) whether a man is attracted to her, (2) the time of her menstrual cycle, (3) that she has conceived, (4) from whom she has conceived, and (5) whether the child is a boy or a girl, for if it is a baby boy it will stay on the right side of the womb, and if it is a girl it will stay on the left side of the womb.³⁴
When the householder’s wife conceived a child, she was overjoyed and told her husband, “My lord, I have conceived a boy. He is staying on the right side of my womb, so rejoice, for it is sure to be a boy!”
At this the householder too was very happy. He puffed out his chest, put his right hand in the air, and expressed his joy, saying, “I shall see the face of the son for whom I have prayed for so long! May everything be right with my son, may nothing go wrong with him, and may he carry on my work! As I care for him, may he care for me in return! May he enjoy my inheritance! May my lineage endure for a long time!
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³⁵ And after our passing, when we die, may he give gifts, be they great or small, and make merit! When he does, may he dedicate the merit thus: ‘Wherever these two are born, may this go to them!’ ”
Now that he knew his wife was pregnant, he ensconced her on the upper levels of their house in order to care for the baby. He provided her with what she needed for winter in the winter, what she needed for summer in the summer, with food that was not too bitter, too sour, too salty, too sweet, too spicy, or too astringent as instructed by the healer, and he served her food that was not bitter, sour, salty, spicy, sweet, or astringent. He draped her body with garlands and strings of precious stones, and he moved her from divan to divan and seat to seat like a goddess through a joyous garden, never letting her descend to the ground, and never letting her hear an unpleasant word even for a moment.
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?
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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.
Just as the blessed buddhas regard the world with their buddha eyes six times throughout the day and night—three times by day and three times by night—so too the great listeners regard the world with their listener’s eyes six times throughout the day and night—three times by day and three times by night.
When Venerable Aniruddha regarded the world with his listener’s eyes, he saw a being who was in his final birth taking birth in the home of that householder, and he thought, “Who will tame this being? Will he be tamed by the Buddha, or will he be tamed instead by the listeners?” Then he saw that it was he himself who would tame him and went to the house.
He gave Dharma teachings to the householder from time to time, and that led the householder to remain steadfast in perfect faith, to take refuge, and to maintain the fundamental precepts. He inspired him to give gifts and to share what they had, and in no time at all his home became
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like an open well for those in need.
To strengthen the parents’ resolve, one day Venerable Aniruddha went to the house alone, without companions or attendants. The householder saw that Venerable Aniruddha was alone, without companions or attendants, and asked, “Noble one, why have you come here alone, without companions or attendants? Noble one, is there no one at all who could attend you?”
“Where shall we find attendants, if one such as yourself does not grant them to us?” replied Venerable Aniruddha.
The householder said to him, “Lord Aniruddha, my wife has conceived, so if we have a son, noble one, I shall offer him to you as an attendant.”
“The virtuous keep their promises,” said Venerable Aniruddha. Having spoken thus, Venerable Aniruddha departed.
After nine or ten months had passed, the householder’s wife gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, with glowing, golden skin and a well-rounded head, long arms, a broad brow, a fine and prominent nose, and eyebrows that met. At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they asked, “What name should we give this child?” And the householder named him, saying, “For so long I wondered when I would have a child, and for so long I prayed and prayed. Since this child has fulfilled my wish, his name will be Pūraṇa.”
Baby Pūraṇa had eight nurses—two nurses to hold him in their laps, two wet nurses, two nurses to bathe him, and two nurses to play with him.
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They raised him with a protection cord, and the eye of a peacock feather from the hand of Nārāyaṇa. They reared him on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and he flourished like a lotus in a lake.
As he grew up he studied letters, tallying, and arithmetic; the study of seals, lending, deposits, and commerce; and the examination of cloth, jewels, gems, incense, medicine, elephants, horses, and arms and armor. He became skilled in writing, skilled at reading, learned, decisive, industrious, a master of the eight types of examination.
One day Venerable Aniruddha saw that the time had come for the child to go forth. In the morning he donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, he went for alms in Śrāvastī. As he went for alms, eventually he came to the householder’s home, and there sat on the seat prepared for him.
After he had taken his seat, Venerable Aniruddha reminded the householder, “Householder, before this child was born you granted him to me as an attendant. The virtuous keep their promises, do they not? Didn’t you yourself make such a promise?”
“Yes, noble one, I did make just such a promise,” the householder replied. Having said this, he took the child by his two hands, offered him to Venerable Aniruddha, and told him, “Child, before you were born I offered you to the noble one. Therefore go, and be the noble one’s attendant.”
The child said, “This will be of benefit to me.” With those words the child followed Venerable Aniruddha away.
Venerable Aniruddha brought the child to the monastery, where he led him to go forth as a novice, fully ordained him,
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and instructed him. But despite his commitment to practice earnestly, foregoing sleep from dusk to dawn, the child did not achieve anything of significance. Then he fell ill.
His parents heard that their child had taken ill, and as soon as they heard this they brought a healer to visit him, and went to the monastery carrying everything he needed. They provided for all his needs, but they could not cure him. They thought, “If we remain here at the monastery we will fall behind on all our work at home. We should bring the child home and care for him there.”
They bowed down at Venerable Aniruddha’s feet and said, “Noble one, please know that if we stay here, we will fall behind on all our duties at home. We request your permission to bring our child back home, so we can tend to him there.”
Venerable Aniruddha thought, “His parents and the people of their house will soon be established in the truths, for this monk will manifest arhatship there in the house.” With this in mind, Venerable Aniruddha said, “Do as you wish.”
As soon as they heard this, the householders brought the monk back to their house and provided for all his needs according to the healer’s instructions. Right there in the house, disillusioned by his illness, the monk cast away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, and manifested arhatship.
As an arhat he directly apprehended the thoughts, habitual tendencies, temperament, and nature of his two parents and the people of their house, and taught them the Dharma accordingly. Hearing it, the householders and their retinue
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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 stream entry right where they sat.
After establishing his parents in the truth, he thought, “I have recollection of my former states—whence I died and transmigrated, and where I have taken rebirth. I see that from life to life I have died as a human being and taken rebirth as a human being, but I am always very ill, and my lifespan very short.
“I have been an ordinary person,” he thought. “That’s why I’m undergoing such agonies. But now that I have done what was before me, what need do I have for such suffering? Let me enter the sphere of peace!”
After reflecting in this way, he made a miraculous display of fire and light, rain and lightning, and passed beyond all sorrow into the realm of nirvāṇa without any remainder of the aggregates.
After he passed into parinirvāṇa, his parents laid his body on a palanquin festooned with blue, yellow, red, and white cloth, but they were unable to lift it. They went and told this to Venerable Aniruddha, who reflected on this, and, knowing that the monk had prayed it would be so, went and informed the Blessed One.
The Blessed One said, “Monks, don your Dharma robes, for we shall go and venerate that monk,” and set out for the householder’s home surrounded and escorted by an assembly of monks.
Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī also heard that such-and-such a householder’s child had go forth and passed into parinirvāṇa,
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and that even the Blessed One had gone to venerate and pay homage to him. Knowing this, and remembering the child’s previous states, she also went to the householder’s home with five hundred attendants.
The householder Anāthapiṇḍada and the queen’s attendants, the sages Datta and Purāṇa, also heard this. The lay vow holder Vaiśākhā and the lay vow holder Sujātā also heard that the child of such-and-such a one had go forth and passed into parinirvāṇa, and that even the Blessed One had gone to venerate and pay homage to him. Hearing this, they too went there with their attendants, bowed down at the feet of the Blessed One, and said, “We shall build the monk’s funeral pyre. The Blessed One need not trouble himself.” The Blessed One assented by his silence.
Then householder Anāthapiṇḍada and the other lay vow holders, carrying the monk upon the palanquin, walked to the charnel grounds. The Blessed One and the other monks followed them, along with the many lay vow holders performing ritual veneration and eulogy. They bore the palanquin into the charnel ground, heaped together various types of incense, and lit the fire. They later extinguished the fire with milk, gathered up his bones, placed them in vessels, and built a reliquary stūpa there in the same place. They performed a great offering ritual at the stūpa and then sat before the Buddha to listen to the Dharma. The Blessed One gave a discourse on impermanence to all four retinues, then returned to the monastery.
Then the monks inquired of the Blessed One, “What action did the monk Pūraṇa take that ripened into his birth into a family of great means,
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prosperity, and wealth, and such that he became very ill?”
“Monks,” explained the Blessed One, “Pūraṇa committed and accumulated the actions himself at a previous time. Monks, the actions that Pūraṇa committed and accumulated did not ripen into the external element of earth, the element of water, the element of fire, or the element of wind. The actions he committed and accumulated, both virtuous and nonvirtuous, ripened into nothing but his own aggregates, sense bases, and constituent elements.
“When the time arrives—and even if
A hundred eons pass—
Fruit is born of every act
That sentient beings amass.
“Monks, in times past, in this fortunate eon, when people lived as long as forty thousand years, in the royal palace Śobhāvatī there was a brahmin named Agnidatta who was King Śobha’s minister. Agnidatta had two sons, one of whom, upon witnessing old age, sickness, and death, had gone to live in the forest. There, contemplating the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment, he attained unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment, and as the totally and completely awakened Buddha Krakucchanda, he acted for the benefit of beings by thrice turning the wheel of the Dharma in its twelve aspects. The other son indulged his desires. He became heedless, committed adultery with³⁶ the wives of others, and killed beings. He would go hunting and kill many thousands of beings.
“One day the totally and completely awakened Buddha Krakucchanda traveled to Śobhāvatī, and father and son were reunited. During his stay in Śobhāvatī he acted for the benefit of beings. He turned his younger brother
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- ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ — Classical Tibetan