法句譬喻經 32: Lust (tanhāvaggo)

Texts from the Buddhist Canon commonly known as Dhammapada, with accompanying narratives 32

Language: English

Lust (tanhāvaggo)

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In days of old when Buddha was residing in the Gridhrakūta mountain, near Rājagriha, preaching the inestimable doctrine for the sake of angels and men, there was a certain man who, having made up his mind to leave his family and become a recluse, came to the place where Buddha was, and desired permission to enter the community (church). On this Buddha required him (after he had permitted him to become a disciple) to go sit beneath a tree in the solitude, and give himself up to meditation. On this the Shaman departed into the mountain wild, more than a hundred lis from the Vihāra, and there gave himself up to a solitary life. After three years of self-denial, his heart being still unsubdued, he desired to give up his profession and to return to his home again, saying thus to himself, “This life of asceticism is troublesome and painful, and not to be compared with the happiness derived from domestic society. I will, therefore, return to my wife and family and enjoy myself.” On this he made as though he would leave the mountain and return home. Then Buddha, by his omniscience, seeing the condition of this disciple, and knowing that he had a capacity for salvation, transformed himself into the form of a Shaman, and went to meet him on the way. On encountering one another, the transformed Shaman addressed the other and asked whence he came and whether he was going. On this they agreed mutually to rest awhile and sit down together on a convenient spot (level ground). Seated thus, the disappointed Shaman explained to the other his condition, and confessed that he was going back home from a feeling of failure in his religious exercises. Now it happened while he was speaking, that an old monkey leaving the tree in which he lived, came down into the open and disported himself; then the assumed Shaman asked the other, why was this; to which the last replied: “I have often observed this same monkey come down and behave himself thus, and the reasons for his so doing are two,—1st, he is rejoiced to be free from the care of providing for his wife and his belongings; and 2dly, he is worn and hurt by constantly climbing the tree in which his family live, and so is glad to escape the labour of so doing: for these two reasons he leaves the tree and enjoys himself in the open ground. But meanwhile, as the two were conversing, the monkey retreated from the open space, and re-climbed the tree, on which the strange Shaman addressed the other, and asked if he perceived this, and how he explained it. On which the latter said that it was in consequence of fear and uncertainty that the monkey had gone back to his home; on which the other rejoined: “Such is the case with yourself; it was the anxieties caused by your wife and family that first induced you to find release in these mountain wilds, but now owing to doubt and uncertainty, you are going back to the world, and by so doing you expose yourself to all the evil consequences of renewed birth and consequent death. Whereupon he added these verses:

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“As a tree, as long as its root is firm and safe, although cut down, still survives and produces fruit; so, unless the remnants of lust are destroyed and uprooted, (a man) must return again and again to receive sorrow. The monkey, away from the tree, first of all enjoys release, and then returns again (to its bondage), such is the case with men, they escape from hell and then return to it. Longing thoughts are like the ever-flowing waters of a river; giving way to the free enjoyment of indolence and luxury, the mind like a savage dog seeks for continual indulgence, and the man himself becomes clouded and unable to see the truth. Every thought flowing in the same channel, then lusts bind a man as with strong rattan bonds. The wise man alone is able rightly to distinguish the truth, he is able to cut off the very root and source of his (lustful) thoughts. A man by self-indulgence becomes sleek and shining, his thoughts increase like the sprouting tendril, the depth of lust cannot be fathomed; from this proceeds the ever-increasing succession of old age and continual death.”

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The Bhikshu beholding the glorious appearance of Buddha, and hearing the words of the verses he had uttered, prostrated himself on the earth in lowest reverence before him, and repenting of his sloth, he assiduously practised the rules of Samatha and Vipassinā, arrived at the condition of a Rahat. And all the Devas who had heard the words, with joyful thoughts scattered flowers before the person of Buddha, as a religious offering, and with countless “Sādhus" departed.

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In days of old when Buddha was residing at Śrāvastī, and there preaching his doctrine for the good of Devas and men, there was residing in the city a certain rich Brahman of a very covetous and niggard disposition, who, from a desire to save alms, used to order his servant to shut his door and fasten his windows whenever he took his meals, so that no beggar should molest him with his importunities. And so no religious person (Shaman) could ever gain admittance, or stand in the presence of this Brahman. One day having desired his wife to kill a fowl and make a highly savoury dish of the same, they both sat down together to eat it, the doors and the windows having first been closed—and between them their little child, into whose mouth they both occasionally put scraps of the savoury dish. Now Buddha, knowing that there was a capacity for conversion in this man's case, transformed himself into the appearance of a Shaman, and waiting till the master of the house had finished his meal he placed himself before his chair, or seat, and recited the usual formula. “He who gives little or much (or he who gives a little of his abundance) in charity, lays up for himself a great reward.” The Brahman, raising his head and seeing the Shaman (as it seemed), began to abuse him and said, “You call yourself a religious mendicant, do you? and yet have no better manners than this, to force yourself into my presence when at my meals with my family?” To which he replied, “It is you, my lord, who ought to be ashamed—I need not feel shame for begging as a mendicant.” The Brahman then replied—"And what shame should I feel for eating thus with my wife in comfort?” “You, my lord, who have killed your father, and married your mother, and thus involved yourself in family disgrace, and feel no shame, nevertheless upbraid me and would put me to shame for begging a little food,” and then he recited the following verses :—

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“As the sprouting creeper which is not cut off (at the root), such is the case of the man who, with covetous desire, partakes of food; ever cherishing evil thoughts and multiplying family discords (tombs), such is the constant employment of the ignorant man. Hell, indeed, has its gyves and fetters, but the wise man regards not these as captivity; the foolish man who is immersed in cares about wife and child and their personal adornment, he it is who is in real captivity. The wise man regards lust as the imprisonment of hell, as the hard bound fetter from which it is difficult to escape, and therefore he desires to separate this and cut it off for ever, that being free from any such cares (or, desires), he may find rest and peace.”

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The Brahman on hearing these words inquired as to their meaning, on which the Shaman explained, that in former years the bird (cock) which he had just eaten was his father, that the little hoy his son had been a Raksha, and had eaten the father, and that his wife had been in former days his mother—and thus it was he was involved in the utmost disgrace. On hearing these words the Brahman, filled with fear, besought Buddha, who had now assumed his glorious appearance, to instruct him in the rules of his society, and finally obtained release and entered the first path.

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In days of old when Buddha was residing at the Jetavana Vihāra near Śrāvastī, there was a young Bhikshu, who, in going through the streets of the city on a begging excursion, cast eyes on a girl of exceeding beauty, and was filled with passion for her. Being unable to conquer his desire, he fell sick, and was unable to eat or sleep, and pined away daily. On this a fellow disciple went to him, and asked him how it was he suffered thus, on which the first revealed the whole matter to the other, and in the end they both went to the place where Buddha was, and explained the thing to him. On this Buddha promised to find a remedy for the Bhikshu's malady, and forthwith desired him to accompany him with his followers to the city. On going to the house where the maiden had dwelt, they found she had now been dead three days, and the house was filled with mourners, who wailed and wept incessantly. Then pointing to the offensive corpse, Buddha asked the Bhikshu, if it was that which had inflamed him with passion? And he then explained how all things that exist are equally perishable and inconstant, and that only through ignorance of this do men set their hearts upon them, and afterwards he added these verses :—

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“At the sight of beauty the heart is at once ensnared, because it considers not the impermanency of all such appearances. The fool regarding the outward form as an excellency, how can he know the falseness of the thing, for like a silkworm enveloped in its own net (cocoon), so is he entangled in his own love of sensual pleasure. But the wise man, able to separate himself and cast off all this, is no longer entangled, but casts away all sorrows. The careless and idle man considers that such indulgence of sense is not contrary to purity, and so going on still indulging such thoughts, he is bound as a captive in hell; but the wise man, destroying all thoughts about such things, and ever remembering the impurity of such indulgence, by this means comes out of captivity, and so is able to escape from the grief of repeated old age and death.”

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The youthful Bhikshu, seeing the dreadful sight before him, and having heard the verses just recited, turned with repentance and prostrated himself before Buddha, after which, persevering in the way of purity, he soon became a Rahat.

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In days of old when Buddha was residing at the Jetavana Vihāra, near Śrāvastī, preaching his law for the sake of Devas and men (Nāgas and demons), there was at this time a certain rich householder who had but one son, a youth of about twelve or thirteen years of age. This boy's father and mother having died, and he not being acquainted with the rules of economising his expenses, began to lavish his money on himself and others, till he soon came to beggary and want. Now the lad's father had a certain relative who also was very rich; this man one day seeing the sad condition of the youth, had compassion on him, and took him to his own house, and finally provided him with an establishment of his own, with a wife, slaves, horses, and chariots. But notwithstanding his former experience, the young man again gave way to extravagance, and was again reduced to poverty, and notwithstanding the repeated help of his kinsman and patron he was ever thus. At length his relative, tired out, sent for the wife of the man, and told her that she had better seek another home, and find some one who could protect and provide for her in a respectable way. On hearing this she returned to her master and said, “My lord, you seem unable to provide for our wants, let me ask you what you intend to do, for it behoves me to seek another home, if there is no provision here for me.” On hearing this the man was filled with shame and disappointment, and thought thus with himself—"I am indeed a miserable and unhappy man, not knowing how to manage my affairs; and now I am going to lose my wife, and to be left to beg again.” Thinking thus, and excited by recollection of past pleasures and passion, he resolved wickedly to put an end to his wife, and afterwards to kill himself. Taking the woman, therefore, into the inner apartments, he at once told her his intention to die with her there, and then he stabbed her, and afterwards killed himself. The servants, finding how the case stood, hastily went to the man's rich relation and told him all the circumstances; on this he came with all the people round about, and seeing the sad sight he was filled with grief, and finally buried them according to the fixed rules of the country. Afterwards hearing of Buddha, and the comfort which he was able to give by the preaching of his word, he came with all his attendants to the place where the Master was, and told him of all the things that had befallen him. On this Buddha began the following discourse:—"Lust and passion (angry passion) are the constant miseries of the world. These are the causes of all the unhappiness which befalls the foolish man. These are the means by which the constant repetition of birth in the different conditions of existence (the five ways) is continued throughout the three worlds. If the sufferings of ages cannot bring men to repentance and amendment, how much less can we expect the fool now to become wise, and shake off the poison of this lust and covetous longing, which destroys his body and ruins his family (clan), nay, which destroys and ruins the whole world—and if this be so, how can we wonder at what has befallen this man and his wife. Then the master added these lines:

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“The fool self-bound by his covetousness, seeks not to escape to that shore. Coveting wealth and lustful indulgence, he destroys others and he is self-destroyed. The lustful mind is the field, uxoriousness, anger, delusion, are the fruits. Therefore he who bestows charity on the non-worldly man, obtains by so doing boundless happiness (merit). Companions few and goods many, the merchant, timorous and anxious, given to covetous thoughts, the robber takes his life (or, 'these, like a robber, take his life'). The wise man, therefore, puts away all covetous desire.”

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The householder hearing these words was filled with joy; he forgot his grief, and rising from his seat, he and his associates at once obtained the fruition of the first path.

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In days of old when Buddha was residing in the Jetavana Vihāra, near Śrāvastī, preaching his word for the sake of Devas and men, etc., there happened to be two wandering fellows who were sworn friends, and as it were one in heart, who being in the neighbourhood thought they would become Shamans. They came accordingly to the place where the master was, and after doing homage they explained their wish. Having admitted them to his community, he sent them to one place to give themselves up to meditation. Notwithstanding all their efforts, however, they were unable to forget the pleasures of their former life, and were enslaved by longing for sensual indulgence. Buddha by his divine sight understanding their condition, and desiring to save them, caused a Shaman to go to their place of abode, and addressing them said, “What think you if we three go to the neighbouring harlot-quarter, and without further ado, have a look at the form of one of the beauties about whom you think so much?” Accordingly they all went to the harlots' quarter, and meeting with one (who was indeed only Buddha himself so transformed), they asked her to let them behold her charms, without actually committing any overt-act of transgression. Accordingly the woman began to take off her wreaths and her jewels, and gradually stripping off her clothes, lo! such a ghastly sight of deformity met their eyes, and such a fetid odour assailed their sense, that they could not come nigh the place where she was. Then the Shaman turned and addressed the two: “What the world calls beauty is but the combination of flowers and ornaments, unguents and dress; remove these, and what is there but unsightliness and disgusting appearance? Is it with such a form as this, the skin wrinkled like leather, the body exuding foul smells, that you are so madly enamoured, and then he added these verses:

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“O lust! I have discovered thy source and origin. Born of the busy recollections that haunt the mind. Now will I no more think of thee or these; then thou shalt not longer exist for me. Of the mind alone is lustful desire; from oneself arise the five longings of sense. Haste, then, to bind these five desires, and prove thyself a hero indeed! Where there is no lust there is no anxious fear; at rest, and quiet, there are no more harrowing cares for such an one—desire expelled, its trammels for ever cast away. This is indeed to find true deliverance (lit., “for long to come out of the gulf (of misery))" [probably the same as “Ogha-tinna,” vide M.M. 370].

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Then Buddha, having assumed his glorious appearance, the two Shamans were filled with shame, and with deep repentance fell down at his feet and did obeisance. And after listening further to his instruction they became Rahats. Now as they were returning to their place of abode, the one seeing the happy, contented face of the other, asked his companion the reason of it, on which he repeated over and over the following lines :—

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法句譬喻經 — Classical Chinese

法句譬喻經 32: Lust (tanhāvaggo)

Lust (tanhāvaggo)

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