經律異相 15.18

15.18

The Buddha was staying in the country of Śrāvastī. At that time, the elder Kālodāyin attained the path of an arhat. He thought to himself: "Formerly, when I was among the group-of-six monks, I brought corruption to various families in Śrāvastī. I resolve to return and bring them purity." Thereupon he entered the city and converted nine hundred and ninety-nine families. If the husband attained the path but the wife did not, or if the wife attained the path but the husband did not, they were not counted. At that time in the city of Śrāvastī, there was a brāhmaṇa family that was destined to be converted through a śrāvaka. Kālodāyin thought: "If I also convert this family, it will bring the total in the city of Śrāvastī to a full thousand households." In the early morning, holding his bowl, he entered the city to beg for food. When he arrived at the brāhmaṇa's house, the master was away. His wife had closed the door and was frying cakes. Kālodāyin then entered meditative concentration, and upon arising, snapped his fingers. The wife turned her head and looked; the door was still closed. She thought: "Where did this śramaṇa enter from? He must have come out of greed for cakes. I will never give him any! Even if his eyes fall out, I still will not give him any!" Thereupon, through his supernormal powers, both of his eyes popped out. She thought again: "Even if his eyes come out as large as bowls, I still will not give him any!" He immediately used his supernormal powers to transform his eyes to be like bowls. She thought again: "Even if he stands on his head before me, I still will not give him any!" He immediately used his supernormal powers to stand on his head before her. She thought again: "Even if he dies, I still will not give him any!" He then used his supernormal powers to enter the meditative absorption of cessation of feeling and perception; all mental thoughts were completely extinguished, and he was devoid of awareness. The brāhmaṇa woman pulled and dragged him, but he could not be moved. She became terrified, thinking: "This śramaṇa frequently visits the palace of King Prasenajit and is the teacher of Queen Mallikā. If it is heard that he died in my house, we will suffer great disaster! If he revives, I will give him a cake." Kālodāyin then emerged from concentration. The woman looked at the cakes. The one she had fried earlier was good, so she begrudged giving it; she scraped the sides of the basin and made another small cake, but when fried, it turned out even better. So she intended to give the first one. Just as she lifted that one cake, all the rest stuck to it. Kālodāyin said: "Sister, give me however many you wish in your heart." She lifted four cakes and went to give them to him. Kālodāyin did not accept them, saying: "I do not need these cakes. If you wish to give them, you may give them to the monks in the Jetavana." This woman had already planted roots of goodness in past lives. She reflected to herself: "This monk is truly not greedy for cakes; he came to beg only out of pity for me." Thereupon, carrying the basket of cakes, she went to the Jetavana and gave them to the monks. Having finished giving the cakes to the monks, she sat down before Kālodāyin. Kālodāyin, observing her conditions, preached the wondrous Dharma for her. Right upon her seat, she left dust and defilement behind and attained the purity of the Dharma-eye. Taking refuge in the Three Jewels, she became an upāsikā. Only then did she return home. Later, when her husband returned, the wife fully informed him: "I have now attained the fruit of a stream-enterer (srotāpanna). You should go now as well." The brāhmaṇa went at once, and Kālodāyin preached the wondrous Dharma for him. He attained the purity of the Dharma-eye and became an upāsaka. He constantly used all his wealth and strength to make offerings to the ācārya, and even up to his death, he instructed his son to treat him no differently than if he were alive. The son obeyed the command and made offerings according to the Dharma. Later, the son's wife was weaving at the loom. She happened to see a robber chieftain who was young and handsome. The woman called out to him, inviting him to come and take pleasure together. At that time, Kālodāyin went to their house to eat. He spoke to the brāhmaṇa's wife on the faults of sexual desire and rebuked the sin of breaking the precepts. The woman became suspicious, fearing that he knew of the matter and might tell her husband. She devised an expedient, feigning illness to invite him. Kālodāyin stayed to preach the Dharma to her, but she desperately detained him until sunset. Then Kālodāyin arose and went to a dung heap. The robber chieftain severed his head with a sharp sword and buried him in the dung. When the day of reciting the precepts arrived, the counting-tally came up short by one. They inquired among each other, and the Buddha said, "Kālodāyin has entered nirvāṇa." After the night passed, at dawn, the Buddha and the monks entered the city of Śrāvastī and went to the site of the dung heap. By the Buddha's supernormal power, the dead corpse leapt up into the sky. The monks placed it on a bier, carried it out of the city, cremated the body with fire, and erected a stūpa to make offerings to it. When King Prasenajit heard that Kālodāyin had died at a certain brāhmaṇa's house, he executed seven generations [of the family] and ten neighboring families to the left and right, confiscating all their property. He captured five hundred robbers, severed all their hands and feet, and cast them into the moat around the Jetavana. The monks, while begging for food, heard of this matter and reported it fully to the Buddha. The Buddha said: "These transgressions and disasters all arose from entering a village at improper times." (Drawn from the Daśādhyāyavinaya, third recitation, fascicle 4.)