Dighanikaya 22.373_28

22.373_28

Aparepi tiṃsa bhikkhū bhagavato santike kammaṭṭhānaṃ gahetvā araññavihāre vassaṃ upagantvā ‘‘āvuso, tiyāmarattiṃ samaṇadhammova kātabbo, na aññamaññassa santikaṃ āgantabba’’nti vatvā vihariṃsu. Tesaṃ samaṇadhammaṃ katvā paccūsasamaye pacalāyantānaṃ eko byaggho āgantvā ekekaṃ bhikkhuṃ gahetvā gacchati. Na koci ‘‘maṃ byaggho gaṇhī’’ti vācampi nicchāresi. Evaṃ pañcasu dasasu bhikkhūsu khāditesu uposathadivase ‘‘itare, āvuso, kuhi’’nti pucchitvā ñatvā ca ‘‘idāni gahitena gahitomhīti vattabba’’nti vatvā vihariṃsu. Atha aññataraṃ daharabhikkhuṃ purimanayeneva byaggho gaṇhi. So ‘‘byaggho bhante’’ti āha. Bhikkhū kattaradaṇḍe ca ukkāyo ca gahetvā mocessāmāti anubandhiṃsu. Byaggho bhikkhūnaṃ agatiṃ chinnataṭaṭṭhānamāruyha taṃ bhikkhuṃ pādaṅguṭṭhakato paṭṭhāya khādituṃ ārabhi. Itarepi ‘‘idāni sappurisa, amhehi kattabbaṃ natthi, bhikkhūnaṃ viseso nāma evarūpe ṭhāne paññāyatī’’ti āhaṃsu. So byagghamukhe nipannova taṃ vedanaṃ vikkhambhetvā vipassanaṃ vaḍḍhento yāva gopphakā khāditasamaye sotāpanno hutvā, yāva jaṇṇukā khāditasamaye sakadāgāmī, yāva nābhiyā khāditasamaye anāgāmī hutvā, hadayarūpe akhāditeyeva saha paṭisambhidāhi arahattaṃ patvā imaṃ udānaṃ udānesi –

Thirty other monks as well, having taken a meditation subject in the presence of the Blessed One and entered upon the rains retreat in a wilderness dwelling, lived saying, “Venerables, renunciant practice is to be done throughout the three watches of the night; one should not come into one another’s presence.” While they were drowsing at the time of dawn after doing the renunciant practice, a tiger came and took them away, monk by monk. Not a single person uttered even a word, saying, “A tiger has seized me!” When five or ten monks had been devoured in this way, on the observance day they asked, “Venerables, where are the others?” and learning [what had happened], they lived saying, “Now, the one who is seized must say, ‘I have been seized!’” Then, in the same manner as before, the tiger seized a certain young monk. He said, “A tiger, venerable sirs!” The monks took walking sticks and torches and pursued it, thinking, “We will free him!” The tiger climbed up to an inaccessible cliff where the monks could not go, and began to devour the monk starting from his big toe. The others said, “Now, good man, there is nothing for us to do; the distinction of monks becomes evident in a place like this!” Lying right in the mouth of the tiger, suppressing that pain and developing insight, he became a stream-enterer when he was devoured up to the ankles, a once-returner when devoured up to the knees, a non-returner when devoured up to the navel, and before the flesh of the heart was devoured, he attained arahantship together with the analytical knowledges and breathed forth this inspired utterance: