經律異相 23.10

23.10

The Buddha was in Śrāvastī. At that time in the town of Ujjayinī, a young householder was travelling for pleasure and saw a woman named Utpalavarṇā. Her complexion was like peaches and plums, and she possessed all feminine marks. Feelings of mutual respect arose, and he took her as his wife. Soon afterward the wife became pregnant, and he sent her back to her family home. When her months were full, she gave birth to a daughter. Because the wife had given birth and he did not approach her again, he illicitly had secret relations with her mother. When Utpalavarṇā discovered this, she abandoned [them] and left. The bond between husband and wife was broken, and fearing she would bring trouble upon her parents, she took pity on the infant, swallowed her shame, and returned to her husband's home. She raised her daughter for eight years and only then departed. Arriving in Vārāṇasī, famished, thirsty, and exhausted, she sat beside the water. At that time a guild elder of that place, travelling about to sightsee, saw her and felt love and respect for her. He immediately asked, "Where do you live? To what parents and clan do you belong? To whom are you bound now, that you are here alone?" Utpalavarṇā said, "I am the daughter of such-and-such a clan, and now belong to no one." The elder asked again, "If you belong to no one, can you become my principal wife?" She replied, "A woman should have a husband; why should I not?" He immediately took her home in his carriage and appointed her his principal wife. Utpalavarṇā managed his household, in harmony with both old and young, and husband and wife respected each other for eight years. At that time the elder spoke to his wife, saying, "I have loans out in the town of Ujjayinī that have not been collected for eight years now. By calculation the interest amounts to hundreds of millions. I will now go to collect them and temporarily part from you." The wife said, "The customs of that town are such that the women are dissolute. If you go yourself now, you might lose a husband's integrity." He replied, "Though my understanding is shallow, I would never reach such disorder." The wife said again, "If it must be so, you ought to go, but I wish to hear an oath." He replied, "Very well. If I give rise to a depraved mind, may it perish together with the thought!" Thereupon they parted. Arriving in that town, the places to collect from were many, and a year passed. Yearning for a household grew deeper: 'If I commit depraved lust, I will violate my original oath; but taking another household [wife] would not break faith.' He thereupon searched about and chanced upon a maiden whose appearance was graceful and fine, and whose gaze was not depraved. Feeling great respect and affection, he went to seek marriage. Because the elder had talent, understanding, and great wealth, the father gladly gave her to him. When the collections were finished, he took her back to his home country, settled her in a separate residence, and only then returned [home]. He went out at dawn and returned at dusk, unlike ordinary times. Utpalavarṇā found this strange and secretly questioned his attendant. The attendant replied, "He has a young wife, and your husband returns at dusk." Utpalavarṇā asked, "You have a new wife; why do you hide her and not let me see her?" He replied, "I feared you would resent it, so I kept her outside." The wife said, "I have no jealousy. The spirits are my witnesses. You may call her back to help manage [the household] for you." He immediately brought her back, and she was none other than [Utpalavarṇā's] daughter! Mother and child met without recognizing each other. Later, while washing her hair and closely observing her features, she suspected this was her daughter, and asked of her native region, her parents, and her clan. The maiden answered in detail. Only then did she know. The mother, shocked and grieved, said, "Formerly I shared a husband with my mother; now I share a spouse with my daughter. Delusion in saṃsāra reaches even to this! Without severing craving and lust, going forth to study the Way, how can such inverted confusion ever be brought to rest?" She then abandoned everything and departed. Arriving at the gate of the Jetavana, famished, thirsty, and exhausted, she sat under a tree. At that time the Bhagavat was surrounded by the great assembly, expounding the Dharma. Utpalavarṇā, seeing that the people were numerous, thought it was a festive gathering and that there must be food and drink. She entered the monastery and saw the Buddha, the Bhagavat, expounding the Dharma for the assembly. Hearing the Dharma, her mind opened to understanding, and her hunger and thirst vanished. Thereupon the Bhagavat surveyed the entire assembly to see who was ripe to be saved: only Utpalavarṇā was ripe to attain the fruit of the Way. He immediately expounded suffering, its origination, its cessation, and the path. Right upon her seat she became free from dust and separated from defilement, attaining the purity of the Dharma eye. Having attained the fruit, she joined her palms with single-minded devotion, facing the Buddha and abiding thus. When the Buddha had finished preaching the Dharma, the assembly dispersed. Then Utpalavarṇā stepped forward, paid homage to the Buddha's feet, knelt upright with palms joined, and said, "I wish to go forth into homelessness in the Buddha's Dharma." The Buddha granted it at once and addressed the nun Pajāpatī, "You should now deliver this woman into the Way." She was immediately delivered into homelessness and received the full precepts. Striving with diligence, she attained arhatship, endowed with the eight liberations. Her countenance shone with a radiance double that of before. Entering the city to beg for food, a brāhmaṇa saw her and gave rise to defiled pleasure. He thought to himself, 'This nun cannot be obtained now; I must search out her dwelling place and find an expedient way to get her.' Later, when she went out again to beg for food, that brāhmaṇa slipped in behind her and hid beneath her bed. That night the nuns, exhausted from expounding the Dharma the entire night, returned to their cells, lay on their backs, and fell into a deep sleep. Thereupon the brāhmaṇa emerged from under the bed and engaged in impure conduct. At that moment the nun leaped up into empty space, and the brāhmaṇa, right upon the bed, fell alive into hell (from fascicle 5 of the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya).