經律異相 7.19

7.19

The Buddha's younger brother Sundarananda was one zhang, five chi, and four cun tall. When the Buddha and Ānanda were in the city of Kapilavastu entering the city to beg for food, Nanda saw them from a high tower, came down, bowed, and said: 'The Tathāgata ought to be a wheel-turning sage king (cakravartin). Why debase yourself to hold a bowl and beg for food?' He took the bowl and filled it with fine food. The Buddha then returned to the Nyagrodha Park and told his attendants: 'When Nanda comes out, do not take the bowl; make him deliver it himself.' Nanda brought it to the Buddha's place. As he left, his wife had instructed him: 'Wait until you return before eating.' Offering the bowl, he urged the Buddha to accept it quickly. The Buddha said: 'Since you have come here, you should leave household life now.' Adding his supernatural power, he locked him in a quiet room. After a long while, it was his turn to take watch on duty. Delighted, Nanda said: 'Taking advantage of this spare moment, I shall flee and return home.' At that time, whatever tasks Nanda was supposed to perform, he left none undone. But heavenly spirits followed him: when he drew water until it was full, it spontaneously tipped over; on ground he had cleaned, grass and dirt grew even more abundantly; when he shut the doors and windows, the doors would always open again. Nanda thought: 'Even if there are losses, my family can fully compensate for them.' He took off the three Dharma robes, put on other garments, and secretly followed a small path, avoiding the Buddha to return home. Before he had gone far, he ran right into the Tathāgata. He rushed toward a large tree, wishing to conceal himself, but the tree turned behind him. By his supernatural power, the Buddha uprooted the tree and suspended it in the air. Nanda stood where the tree roots had been. The Buddha said: 'Why have you come here?' Silent, he was filled with shame. The Buddha asked him repeatedly: 'Where do you wish to go?' He answered: 'To return home and see my wife.' The Buddha said: 'When a man studies the Way, his mind clings to greed and desire, heedless of the disaster of burning his body in future lives. I shall now take you up to heaven to tour and see; you should concentrate your mind and harbor no terror.' The Buddha lifted him up to heaven. He saw a palace adorned with the seven jewels, with jade maidens attending in numbers beyond counting, but without a master. Nanda asked the Buddha: 'What heavenly palace is this that alone lacks a master?' The Buddha said: 'You may ask them yourself.' Nanda asked, and a heavenly maiden answered: 'The Buddha's younger brother Nanda, if he keeps the precepts, will be born here.' He returned and reported this in full to the Buddha. The Buddha said: 'Diligently cultivate the brahma-conduct, and before long you will surely be born here.' Again, using his supernatural power, he brought him to the hells. Passing beyond the Iron Enclosing Mountains, he saw a blind monkey. The Buddha asked Nanda: 'How is your wife Sundarī compared to this monkey?' He answered: 'Sundarī is supremely exquisite among women; how could she be compared to this?' The Buddha said: 'Compared to the heavenly maidens, she is likewise inferior by hundreds of thousands of ten-millions of times.' Going all through the hells, he saw various kinds of agony. There was a cauldron of fire surrounded by hell wardens; the broth was boiling and the fire blazing, but no sinner was seen. Nanda addressed the Buddha: 'Why is this one alone without a sinner?' The Buddha said: 'Ask them yourself.' The hell wardens replied: 'Nanda, son of King Amṛtodana, is heavy with lustful desire and relies on his nobility to demean others; upon death, he will be born here.' Nanda turned pale with fright and urgently asked the Bhagavat, seeking to escape hell. The Buddha preached the wondrous Dharma, causing him to attain the place of awakening (bodhimaṇḍa). (From the Sūtra of the Boy Asking the Buddha About Begging Food, and also from the sixteenth fascicle of the Udānavarga Sūtra).