ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 35
The Hundred Deeds 35
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who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they named him Deluded.
They reared young Deluded on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and 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, and industrious, a master of the eight types of examination.
One day his body became completely covered in boils the size of mustard seeds. The boils swelled and burst, and his body became a continuous mass of sores. His father provided the healers with everything they needed for them to cure him, but they were unable to do so, and the worse it got, the more the blood and pus seeped out, until it produced an awful stench. After they covered his whole body with different kinds of fragrant water and draped him with clothes, he healed.
Now when his brothers saw this, they changed his name. They said, “Our little brother healed when we draped him in clothes and ornaments. Therefore, his name will be Covered.” After that some knew him as Deluded and some knew him as Covered.
One day the young man’s parents died, and afterward he helped with all their work, but whatever work he did—whether it was work in the fields,²²⁰ work as a merchant, or work on the boats—something always broke and was incomplete. So the householder Deluded thought, “Whatever work I do here—
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be it work in the fields, work as a merchant, or work on the boats—something always breaks and is incomplete. Is there anything in the world that doesn’t fall to ruin?”
Soon after, the ancestral deity of the householder Deluded’s friends, acquaintances, brothers, and elders came to the door of his house. When he arrived, the house was bathed in great rays of light, and the deity asked the householder Deluded, “Householder, do you not know which things in this world are subject to ruin, and which are not?”
“No, Deva,” said the householder, “I do not know which things in this world are subject to ruin and which are not. Deva, do you know which things in this world are subject to ruin and which are not?”
“No, householder,” replied the deity. “I also do not know which things in this world are subject to ruin and which are not.”
“Deva, who does know which things in this world are subject to ruin and which are not?” asked the householder.
“Householder, there is one who knows—the ascetic Gautama, the Śākyas’ heir, one of the Śākya clan, who shaved his head and face and donned the colorful religious robes, and with nothing short of perfect faith went forth from home to live as a mendicant, and fully and completely awakened unto unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment. He, the Blessed One, knows which things in this world are subject to ruin and which are not,” answered the deity.
“Deva, where is the Blessed One staying now?” asked the householder.
“Householder,” the deity replied, “right now the Blessed One is in the east, in a place called Śrāvastī at the garden of Prince Jeta, in the grove of Anāthapiṇḍada.
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Householder, if you wish, you may go to see the Blessed One and put your question to him. May you then accept whatever proclamation the Blessed One grants you.” After he said that the deity disappeared on the spot.
As soon as the householder Deluded heard this, he was eager to see the Blessed One. One day some merchants from Śūrpāraka loaded up their goods and went to Śrāvastī. When they arrived there, they found faith in the doctrine of the Blessed One, went for refuge, and took the fundamental precepts. Then they loaded up their goods and earnings and returned to Śūrpāraka, where they spoke in praise of the Buddha and the Dharma in the presence of the householder Deluded. And they said, “The Blessed One is omniscient and all-seeing. Go see him, and he will heal your physical and spiritual ills.”
When he heard their words, he felt especially inspired to go see the Blessed One. So one day the householder Deluded loaded up many provisions, mounted a good horse, and traveled from Śūrpāraka to Śrāvastī. He went as far as he could by vehicle, then descended from his vehicle and approached the Blessed One. When he arrived, he 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, the householder Deluded told the Blessed One, “Lord, this material body has become so weak. I am so ashamed of it. I wish to cast it off. I revile it.”
“Householder,” the Blessed One replied, “this body is like an illness. It is like a series of wounds. It is like an affliction.”
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Using the aggregates as a basis, the Blessed One then taught him the Dharma particularly suited to him. When he heard it, the householder Deluded 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 he sat. After he had seen the truths, he thought, “If my body weren’t like this, I too could go forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One, in order to ford the floodwaters and completely escape my fetters with diligence, practice, and effort.”
No sooner did the householder feel a sense of renunciation than his body became as smooth as the palm of a hand and free of wounds, and he immediately felt especially filled with joy toward the Blessed One. In his joy he rose from his seat, drew down the right shoulder of his upper garment, bowed toward the Blessed One with palms pressed together, and requested the Blessed One, “Lord, if permitted I wish to go forth in the Dharma and Vinaya so well spoken, complete my novitiate, and achieve full ordination. In the presence of the Blessed One, I too wish to practice the holy life.”
With the words “Come, join me, monk! Practice the holy life,” the Blessed One led him to go forth as a novice, conferred on him full ordination, and instructed him. Casting away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, he 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
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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.
Venerable Deluded donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, went for alms in Śrāvastī, where a milk cow kicked him, killing him. At death his senses were clear, his appearance pure, and his complexion alabaster.
After that, a group of monks donned their lower garments and Dharma robes, and, carrying their alms bowls, set out toward Śrāvastī for alms. The group of monks who were going to Śrāvastī for alms heard that a milk cow had kicked the householder from Śūrpāraka named Deluded and killed him, and that at his death his senses were clear, his appearance pure, and his complexion alabaster.
Upon hearing this, they took alms in Śrāvastī. And after they had eaten their meal and returned from their afternoon alms round, they put away their alms bowls and Dharma robes, and went to see the Blessed One. When they arrived, they touched their heads to the Blessed One’s feet and took a seat at one side.
After they had taken a seat at one side, the group of monks recounted to the Blessed One, “Lord, we monks donned our lower garments and Dharma robes, and, carrying our alms bowls, set out toward Śrāvastī for alms, when we heard that a milk cow kicked the householder named Deluded from Śūrpāraka, precipitating his death, and that at the time of his passing his senses were clear, his appearance pure, and his complexion alabaster. What was his destination? Into what state will he take birth? In what state did he die?”
“Monks,” the Blessed One replied,
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“that noble child is a treasure. The Dharma he came to understand ensued from my own. That noble child attained nirvāṇa. May you therefore perform a reliquary pūjā for his relics.” In that way the Blessed One commended Venerable Deluded as supreme.
After the group of monks heard what the Blessed One had said they took leave of him, venerated the relics, built a reliquary stūpa, and then returned to see the Blessed One. When they arrived, they touched their heads to the Blessed One’s feet and asked him, “Lord, what action did Venerable Deluded take that ripened into his being kicked by a milk cow and killed?”
“Monks,” the Blessed One explained, “in addition to the actions he committed and accumulated himself, it also happened on account of my prayers….”
Here his backstory should be told in detail according to the tale of Puṣkarasārin.
The monks asked, “Lord, what action did Venerable Deluded take that ripened into his birth into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth? What action did he take that ripened such that his body was a continuous mass of sores; that blood and pus seeped from his body until an awful stench arose; 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; and that no sooner did he feel a sense of renunciation than his body became smooth and free of wounds?”
“Not only now,” the Blessed One explained, “but in times past as well he committed and accumulated these actions. Since it was he himself who committed and accumulated them, who else would there be to experience them?
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“Monks, the actions he committed and accumulated did not ripen in 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—and even if
A hundred eons pass—
Fruit is born of every act
That sentient beings amass.
“Monks, in times gone by, during King Brahmadatta’s reign in the city of Vārāṇasī, there lived in Vārāṇasī two householders who had a certain mutual disagreement. When one of them made offerings of great riches to the king, the other householder criticized him. When King Brahmadatta weighed their case, he ruled against the latter householder in the argument and handed him over to the first, who took him back to his house, lashed him viciously, and sprinkled poisonous powder all over the lash wounds until his flesh was like raw meat. Then his brothers paid a ransom of great riches to the householder, and his body was healed through the advice of a healer.
“One day he became disillusioned with saṃsāra and said, ‘I have had enough of living at home. I will go live in a forest devoted to austerities.’ He gave gifts and made merit and went to live in a forest devoted to austerities. There, with neither a teacher nor oral instruction, he contemplated the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment and manifested the enlightenment of the solitary buddhas. Thereupon he thought, ‘My mind caused that householder to generate great demerit. I will go and be his friend.’ From that very place he traveled through the sky to where the householder was, making a miraculous display of fire and light, rain
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and lightning.
“Ordinary people are quickly brought to faith through miracles. The householder bowed down at the sage’s feet like a tree felled by a saw, saying, ‘Oh great fortunate one, please, please come down! I’m mired in misdeeds! Please reach down and lift me up!’
“Out of compassion for him, the solitary buddha descended to the earth. The householder bowed down at his feet, asked his forgiveness, and said, ‘Noble one, you accept alms, and I seek merit. So I ask you, please stay here in this garden. I shall provide you with everything you need.’ The solitary buddha assented by his silence.
“After that the householder fashioned a hut of branches and leaves for the solitary buddha and began to provide him with everything he needed. One day the solitary buddha thought, ‘I have done what I needed to do with this material body. 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.
“The householder venerated his relics, built a reliquary stūpa, made a large offering to his reliquary, and prayed, ‘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 a teacher even more exalted than this. May I achieve such great virtues. May the act of harming that other one not return to me. Should the ripening of this action
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come to me before it is exhausted, may I then feel a sense of renunciation. May that misfortune immediately vanish, and may I be fortunate instead.’
“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that householder then is none other than Deluded. The act of lashing the body of that other householder and sprinkling him with poisonous powder ripened such that wherever he was born, his body became like this. The act of later paying homage to the solitary buddha and saying that prayer ripened such that wherever he was born, it was into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth.
“Monks, I am more exalted than even one hundred billion solitary buddhas, and he has pleased me, and not displeased me. As soon as he felt a sense of renunciation, his misfortune vanished and he became fortunate instead, and he went forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.
“He also went forth in the teaching of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa. After practicing pure conduct all his life then, his faculties ripened, and now he has been liberated.”
The Brahmin: Three Stories
The First “Brahmin” Story
When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, there lived a certain brahmin. As he prepared to perform a sacrifice, the brahmins who had gathered for the sacrifice from various regions thought, “Any sacrifice that gives rise to strife, reproof, conflict, and contention will not succeed.”
One day there was a dispute over the offerings at the site of the sacrifice between the brahmins gathered there from the countryside and those from the center of town.
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The city brahmins told the country brahmins, “You make your livelihood by working in the fields, so you are not worthy of these offerings. We are qualified to receive offerings. It is we who are worthy of them.”
“You serve to glorify the king,” retorted the country brahmins. “Therefore, you are not qualified to receive offerings. We, however, are qualified. It is we who are worthy of them.”
As they sat there and proceeded to quarrel, argue, and debate each other, one of the brahmins absconded from the ritual offering site carrying a great deal of gold, silver, food, and drink. The other brahmins caught him, pummeled and kicked him brutally, and then left.
Terrified of dying from the beating, that brahmin entered the garden of Prince Jeta. Upon entering he saw the Buddha and the rest of the saṅgha of monks sitting without chattering, comporting themselves with elegance and restraint. As soon as he saw them, he felt joy toward the doctrine of the Blessed One. In his joy he thought, “I have had enough of being a brahmin. I will go forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One.”
He approached the Blessed One, touched his head to the Blessed One’s feet, drew down the right shoulder of his upper garment, and made this request of the Blessed One: “Lord, if permitted I wish to go forth in the Dharma and Vinaya so well spoken, complete my novitiate, and achieve full ordination. In the presence of the Blessed One, I too wish to practice the holy life.”
With the words “Come, join me, monk! Practice the holy life,” the Blessed One led him to go forth as a novice, conferred on him full ordination, and instructed him. He cast away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort,
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and manifested arhatship.
After achieving arhatship, he wondered, “Whom might I tame?” He looked out and saw that he could tame the lord of the sacrifice and the rest of the many brahmins. So he disappeared from the garden of Prince Jeta, and made his way to the site of the sacrifice. The lord of the sacrifice and the other brahmins saw a monk approaching through the sky, and seeing this they felt a surge of joy toward the monk. In their joy they took him into their laps, placed him in his seat, bowed down at his feet, and sat before him to listen to the Dharma.
Then the monk taught them the Dharma particularly suited to them, and among the brahmins and the lord of the sacrifice 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.
“Lord,” the monks asked the Blessed Buddha, “what action did this brahmin take that ripened into his pleasing the Blessed One, and not displeasing him, and that he went forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship?”
“It came about by the power of his prayers,” the Blessed One replied.
“Lord, where did he make these prayers?”
“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,
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the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Kāśyapa was in the world, a certain brahmin lived in Vārāṇasī.
Continue the account as above.
“After he had gone forth he practiced pure conduct all his life, and at the time of his death, he prayed, ‘While I may not have attained any great virtues, still I have gone forth like this in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa and practiced pure conduct all my life. Therefore, 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.’
“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that brahmin then is none other than this brahmin. At that time he practiced pure conduct all his life, and at the time of his death, he prayed, ‘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.’
“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, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.”
The Second “Brahmin” Story
When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, there lived a certain brahmin. When the time came for him to marry he took a wife, and as they
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enjoyed themselves and coupled, one day his wife conceived. After nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child, and they named him according to their clan. They reared him on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and when he had grown, he began to study letters.
It was brahminical custom to take a break²²¹ on the eighth and the fifteenth days of the lunar month—sometimes to visit the city, sometimes to visit the riverbank, or to visit the temple deities, or to collect wood for the holy pyres. So it was that one day, when it came time for the break, the young brahmin went to the garden of Prince Jeta, where the Buddha sat teaching the Dharma amid a company of hundreds.
The young brahmin saw the Blessed Buddha from a distance and felt a surge of joy toward him. In his joy he approached the Blessed One, touched his head to the Blessed One’s feet, and sat before him to listen to the Dharma. The Blessed One taught him the Dharma particularly suited to his condition, leading him to go for refuge and abide by the fundamental precepts. Knowing that the Blessed One had completed his discourse, he rejoiced, praising all that the Blessed One had said, touched his head to the Blessed One’s feet, and took leave of him.
One day the young brahmin began to perform a sacrifice, and, while sitting at the sacrifice site, he thought, “How wonderful it would be for the Blessed One to come to this sacrifice site and partake, adorning the site by sitting at the head of the row.” And then he thought, “O Blessed One, please come to this sacrifice site
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and partake.”
As soon as the young brahmin thought this, the Blessed One disappeared from the garden of Prince Jeta and traveled to the sacrifice site. He took his place at the head of the row of brahmins but did not appear to them. The young brahmin, however, saw the Blessed Buddha seated at the head of the row. Seeing him there, once the young brahmin knew that the Blessed One was comfortably seated, he contented him with many good, wholesome foods. The Blessed One partook of the sacrifice without revealing his body, sent forth rays of light to all the brahmins, and then returned to the garden of Prince Jeta.
The brahmins saw the entire sacrifice site completely bathed in a great light, and when they saw this they concluded, “Our sacrifice has been successful.”
“Sahāṃpati Brahmā has come to the sacrifice site,” said some.
“It is not Brahmā but Īśvara who has come to the sacrifice site,” said others.
“It is neither Brahmā nor Īśvara but Viṣṇu who has come to the sacrifice site,” still others declared.
“All of you are deluded,” said the young brahmin. “It was the Blessed One who came to the sacrifice site.” The brahmins did not believe him, so the young brahmin said, “Tomorrow morning I’ll show you.”
The next day, before the entire group of brahmins the young brahmin drew down the right shoulder of his upper garment, knelt down on his right knee facing the direction of the garden of Prince Jeta, pressed his palms together, set his intention, and spoke these words: “Lord, Blessed One,
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if there is nothing past, present, or future that you do not see, know, or directly perceive, then, Blessed One, I ask you, please come to this sacrifice site with the saṅgha of monks and partake.”
The very instant he uttered these words, the Blessed One traveled through the sky to the sacrifice site surrounded and escorted by an assembly of monks. Then, without revealing his bodily form, he took his place on the seat the brahmins prepared for him. The young brahmin could see the Buddha and the rest of the saṅgha of monks seated at the sacrifice site, so he approached the Blessed One, and upon his arrival he touched his head to the Blessed One’s feet, pleasing the Blessed One.
The brahmins responded by saying, “This young man has gone mad! He is sitting and talking to no one but himself!”
The young brahmin replied, “I have not gone mad. The Blessed One sits at the center of the sacrifice site, along with the saṅgha of monks.”
Right when he said this the brahmins all plainly saw the Blessed One and the saṅgha of his disciples comfortably seated at the center of the sacrifice site. The young brahmin contented the Blessed One and the rest of the saṅgha of his disciples, now visible to the whole world, with many good, wholesome foods, proffering all that they wished. Once he knew that the Blessed One’s bowl had been taken away and his hands washed, he brought in a very low seat and sat before him to listen to the Dharma. After the Blessed One had instructed, encouraged, inspired,
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and delighted the young brahmin with a discourse on the Dharma, he rose from his seat and departed.
The brahmins were consumed with fury. “He gave to the ascetic Gautama the food and drink prepared for us!” they complained. As they prepared to kill the young brahmin in their anger, he fled to the garden of Prince Jeta. Still the other young brahmins followed him, and when they arrived at the garden of Prince Jeta, they said, “We can’t kill him in the garden of Prince Jeta. Not only does it belong to the householder Anāthapiṇḍada, but King Prasenajit has also issued an edict on this matter.” Realizing this, they turned back.
The young brahmin was terrified, so he went to see the Blessed One. When he arrived, he touched his head to the Blessed One’s feet and sat before him to listen to the Dharma. The Blessed One directly apprehended his thoughts, habitual tendencies, temperament, capacity, and nature, and taught him the Dharma accordingly. When he heard it, the young brahmin 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 he sat.
After he had seen the truths, he rose from his seat, drew down the right shoulder of his upper garment, bowed toward the Blessed One with palms pressed together, and told the Blessed One, “After I entrusted myself to you, my spiritual friend, the Blessed Buddha, you lifted me up from among the hell beings, animals, and anguished spirits. Leading me to live among the gods and humans, you have brought the cycle of existence to an end, dried up the ocean of blood and tears, led me over the mountain pass of bones,
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destroyed with the thunderbolt of wisdom the twenty high peaks of the mountain of views concerning the transitory collection to which I have been accustomed since beginningless time, and brought me to manifest the resultant state of stream entry. This is something that neither my father, my mother, the king, the gods, my relatives, my many friends, my ancestors before me, nor the ascetics and the brahmins could do for me.
“Lord, if permitted I wish to go forth in the Dharma and Vinaya so well spoken, complete my novitiate, and achieve full ordination. In the presence of the Blessed One, I too wish to practice the holy life.”
With the words “Come, join me, monk! Practice the holy life,” the Blessed One led him to go forth as a novice, conferred on him full ordination, and instructed him. He cast away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, and manifested arhatship.
“Lord,” the monks requested the Blessed Buddha, “tell us why, as the brahmins were going to kill that young brahmin, in terror he went forth, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.”
“Not only now,” the Blessed One explained, “but in times past as well, as these same brahmins were going to kill the young brahmin, in terror he went forth, and thus practiced the holy life all his life. 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 endowed with perfect knowledge 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
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was in the world, there lived a certain brahmin in Vārāṇasī.
“When the time came for him to marry, he took a wife, and though they enjoyed themselves and coupled, they had neither a daughter nor a son.
“One day he sat brooding with his cheek resting on his open palm, thinking, ‘Since I have riches and gold, but neither daughter nor son, after I die all I have will become property of the king. It’s just not right to be without children in this world.’ Then he vowed, ‘If I have an heir, I shall perform a sacrifice, and I shall make many offerings to the brahmins.’ Hoping for the birth of an heir, he wished, ‘May my heir be conceived today or tomorrow.’ But the brahmin grew old thinking this, and had neither daughter nor son.
“At a certain point the brahmin thought, ‘I have neither daughter nor son. I have given no gifts, and now I am old. Therefore, I will give gifts and make merit, regardless of whether we bear a child.’
“So it was that one day he performed a sacrifice and made many offerings to the brahmins. As the offerings were distributed a great quarrel arose, and the lord of the sacrifice shouted, ‘Stop your quarreling!’ Then he thought, ‘The brahmins are going to attack and kill me,’ and in terror he went to Ṛṣivadana and went forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa.
“Once he had gone forth, he practiced pure conduct all his life, and at the time of his death, he prayed, ‘While I may not have attained any great virtues, still I have gone forth like this in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa and practiced pure conduct all my life.
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Therefore 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.’
“Monks, the one who was that brahmin then is none other than this young brahmin. At that time, as the brahmins were going to kill him, in terror he went forth, practiced pure conduct all his life, and at the time of his death prayed, ‘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.’
“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, and not displeased me, and that even now, as the brahmins were going to kill him, in terror he has gone forth, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.”
The Third “Brahmin” Story
When the Blessed One was in in Śrāvastī there lived a certain brahmin who performed ritual sacrifice and offered a great deal of gold and silver to the brahmins. As they were distributing the offerings, a great quarrel arose, to which the brahmins from the countryside responded by saying, “You serve to glorify the king. We
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are qualified to receive these offerings. It is we who are worthy of them. Therefore, we deserve double.”
The brahmins from the center of town said, “You pursue your livelihood by working in the fields. We are qualified to receive these offerings. It is we who are worthy of them. Therefore, we deserve double.”
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.
35.22
But when the time has come to tame
Their offspring, buddhas never fail.
The Blessed One saw the time had come to tame the brahmins of Śrāvastī, so he traveled through the sky to the sacrifice site, surrounded by a group of monks and preceded by the saṅgha of monks, where he took his place amid the saṅgha of monks. The brahmins immediately experienced a surge of joy toward the Blessed One, and in their joy sat before him to listen to the Dharma.
The Blessed One said to the brahmins, “Friends, as a root cause, quarreling becomes the basis for five types of dire consequence, so what is the point of arguing?”
Then the Blessed One taught the Dharma particularly suited to them, taking as his point of departure the casting away of their particular attachments. Among the many hundreds of brahmins, 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.
35.23
With this accomplished, the Blessed One returned to the monastery.
“Lord,” the monks inquired of the Blessed Buddha, “what action did the brahmins take that ripened into some of them pleasing the Blessed One, and not displeasing him, and that some of them went forth, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship?”
The Blessed One replied, “Some had been lay vow holders in the teaching of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa. At that time some went forth, took refuge, and maintained the fundamental precepts. As a result, their faculties ripened, and now they have been liberated.”
The Story of the Householder Govinda
As the Blessed One was traveling through Magadha, he was accompanied by a saṅgha of numerous monks including the thousand monks who had all previously been the matted-hair ascetics. They were also all arhats who had exhausted the outflows, done what was before them, carried out their activities, subsequently fulfilled their ambitions, completely eradicated that which bound them to saṃsāra, and with right cognition²²² liberated their minds.
They made their way with him across the breadth of Forest of Reeds, proceeding directly to the stūpa of the Magadha people called Very Steady. As they arrived at the stūpa Very Steady, the Blessed One seated himself at the base of the stūpa.
Bimbisāra, the king of Magadha, heard that the Blessed One and a saṅgha of numerous monks including the thousand monks had made their way across the country to arrive at the Magadha stūpa called Very Steady, near Forest of Reeds.
Linked texts (1)
- ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ — Classical Tibetan