法苑珠林 99.18

99.18

Regarding the second path-trace, the sakṛdāgāmin: He reflects to himself: 'My body should not indulge in this lust like ordinary people.' Speaking of the defilement of sensual passions, he delights in desirelessness, day and night observing and practicing the contemplation of impurity. With lust, anger, and delusion diminished, he attains the path of once-returning, returning to the world once more to sever the source of toil and suffering. Having attained once-returning, his purity arises without the stirring of desires; lust, anger, and delusion are thinned, yet in his mind they are not constantly severed, so there are still afflictions. For example, a man has a wife whose face is upright and flawless, her body adorned with various necklaces of gems. The husband deeply loves and respects her. Although she has such beauty, she is nevertheless a lustful demon, not a real human, and takes only human flesh and blood as her food and drink. Someone tells the husband: 'Your wife is a rākṣasī who eats flesh and blood.' The husband does not believe the person, though he is told repeatedly. The husband's mind eventually grows suspicious, and he wishes to test her. Lying down at night, he lets out snoring sounds as if asleep. The wife, assuming he is sound asleep, secretly gets up, leaves the city, and goes to the cemetery. The husband follows behind her and sees his wife take off her clothes and all her jewel ornaments, setting them aside. Her facial complexion turns hideous, long fangs emerge from her mouth, flames blaze upon her head, and her eyes are red as fire, exceedingly terrifying. Approaching a corpse, she tears its flesh with her hands and bites and eats it with her mouth. Seeing this, the husband only then knows she is not a human but a demon. He quickly returns home and lies down upon the bed. The wife immediately returns, comes to her husband's bed, and lies down again as before. When the husband sees his wife adorned with gem necklaces and her facial complexion upright and beautiful, he again draws close to her. Even if he recalls her in the cemetery devouring corpses, and though his mind is disgusted and harbors terror, when he turns his mind to look at his wife, lustful desire arises again. The sakṛdāgāmin who has attained the path of once-returning is just like this: if he sees an external form that is upright and lovely, lustful intentions stir again; if he speaks of the impurities and filthy defects, lustful intentions are extinguished at once. Thereupon the verses say: