經律異相 15.29

15.29

By virtue of this true meaning, Ānanda was liberated in the caṇḍāla's house. Just as the recitation of the verse concluded, the implements of the spell set up within the caṇḍāla's house—the knives and arrows—broke and snapped, the jars and urns shattered, the lamps were extinguished, the skulls burst and scattered, and a black wind arose so that they could not see one another; the caṇḍāla's spellcraft ceased to work. The mother then told her daughter, "This must be the work of the divine power of the śramaṇa Gautama; the various objects are shattered and scattered, and the spellcraft no longer works." Ānanda thought, "This is the gracious power of the Bhagavat." Ānanda was liberated, just as a great king of elephants, in the prime of life at sixty, in a state of violent, ferocious rut, with a huge body and long tusks, is freed from iron shackles and flees from the city to a quiet wilderness; so too was Ānanda. The Bhagavat recited the Buddha's words, and Ānanda was liberated from the caṇḍāla's house and returned toward the Jeta Grove. At that time, this maiden pursued Ānanda to the gate of the Jeta Grove, crying out, "Ānanda is my husband! Ānanda is my husband!" following behind Ānanda without leaving him for an instant. Ānanda reported everything to the Buddha. The Buddha said, "Among all phenomena, I have never seen an illusion or delusion like this, in which a woman binds her mind with lust." At dawn, Ānanda put on his robes, took his bowl, and entered the city of Śrāvastī to beg for food. This woman also pursued him from behind, saying to all the elders, "Ānanda is my husband! Ānanda is my husband!" Ānanda returned to the Buddha's presence and again stepped forward to tell the Buddha. The Buddha said, "Go and speak with her as if facing a sister. Why? This woman is destined to become a nun." The woman said to the Buddha, "I only wish that the Bhagavat would return my husband to me." The Buddha said, "If you want Ānanda, become a nun in my Dharma, and I will give him to you." The woman was overjoyed. The woman returned to bid farewell; her parents rejoiced, for having previously planted good roots, each was destined to attain the Path. The parents and daughter went together to the Buddha. The Bhagavat expounded the Dharma extensively for them, revealing the meaning of the various teachings through countless skillful means: the meaning of gentleness, of giving, and of morality; the meaning of the impurity of lust; the meaning of how lust increases the roots of all fetters; the meaning of renunciation and the factors of the Path; and he also spoke of the Four Noble Truths. At that time, this woman understood the Four Noble Truths right where she sat. Her parents attained the fruit of anāgāmin, and the maiden attained the fruit of srotāpanna, just as pure white cotton cloth easily takes dye. Then the parents took refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha, and were permitted to become upāsakas before the Buddha. Regretting her foolish transgression, she begged to become a nun, so that she might rely on the Bhagavat to practice the holy life. The Buddha told Ānanda, "Take two nuns and this woman to Prajāpatī Gautamī, and let her take this woman into the Path and bestow the full ordination upon her." Mahāprajāpatī asked Ānanda, "How is this, Ānanda? Has the Bhagavat permitted a caṇḍāla woman to enter the Path?" Ānanda replied to Gautamī, "Yes." Thereupon she shaved her head, received the precepts, and attained arhatship. (Extracted from the third fascicle of the Precept-Causation Sūtra, and also from the Sūtra of the Mātaṅga Maiden.)