Dighanikaya 24.28_3

24.28_3

Athekadivasaṃ jarasiṅgālo udakasoṇḍiyaṃ pānīyaṃ pivanto attano chāyaṃ olokento addasa attano thūlasarīratañceva mahākhandhatañca. Disvā ‘jarasiṅgālosmī’ti manaṃ akatvā ‘‘ahampi sīho jāto’’ti maññi. Tato attanāva attānaṃ etadavoca – ‘‘vayasa, jambuka, yuttaṃ nāma tava iminā attabhāvena parassa ucchiṭṭhamaṃsaṃ khādituṃ, kiṃ tvaṃ puriso na hosi, sīhassāpi cattāro pādā dve dāṭhā dve kaṇṇā ekaṃ naṅguṭṭhaṃ, tavapi sabbaṃ tatheva, kevalaṃ tava kesarabhāramattameva natthī’’ti. Tassevaṃ cintayato asmimāno vaḍḍhi. Athassa tena asmimānadosena etaṃ ‘‘ko cāha’’ntiādi maññitamahosi. Tattha ko cāhanti ahaṃ ko, sīho migarājā ko, na me ñāti, na sāmiko, kimahaṃ tassa nipaccakāraṃ karomīti adhippāyo. Siṅgālakaṃyevāti siṅgālaravameva. Bheraṇḍakaṃyevāti appiyaamanāpasaddameva. Ke ca chave siṅgāleti ko ca lāmako siṅgālo. Ke pana sīhanādeti ko pana sīhanādo siṅgālassa ca sīhanādassa ca ko sambandhoti adhippāyo. Sugatāpadānesūti sugatalakkhaṇesu. Sugatassa sāsanasambhūtāsu tīsu sikkhāsu. Kathaṃ panesa tattha jīvati? Etassa hi cattāro paccaye dadamānā sīlādiguṇasampannānaṃ sambuddhānaṃ demāti denti, tena esa abuddho samāno buddhānaṃ niyāmitapaccaye paribhuñjanto sugatāpadānesu jīvati nāma. Sugatātirittānīti tesaṃ kira bhojanāni dadamānā buddhānañca buddhasāvakānañca datvā pacchā avasesaṃ sāyanhasamaye denti. Evamesa sugatātirittāni bhuñjati nāma. Tathāgateti tathāgataṃ arahantaṃ sammāsambuddhaṃ āsādetabbaṃ ghaṭṭayitabbaṃ. Atha vā ‘‘tathāgate’’tiādīni upayogabahuvacanāneva. Āsādetabbanti idampi bahuvacanameva ekavacanaṃ viya vuttaṃ. Āsādanāti ahaṃ buddhena saddhiṃ pāṭihāriyaṃ karissāmīti ghaṭṭanā.

Then one day, as the old jackal was drinking water at a water pool and looking at his own reflection, he saw his stout body and large shoulders. Seeing it, he did not think, ‘I am an old jackal,’ but imagined, ‘I too have become a lion!’ Then he said this to himself: ‘Friend Jambuka, is it right for you, possessing such a form, to eat another’s leftover meat? Are you not a man? A lion also has four paws, two fangs, two ears, and one tail; yours also are all just the same. You merely lack the mass of a mane.’ As he thought in this way, the conceit ‘I am’ grew. Then, through that fault of the conceit ‘I am’, this thought arose in him: ‘Who am I?’, and so on. Therein, ‘Who am I?’ means: ‘Who am I? Who is the lion, the king of beasts? He is not my relative, nor my master. Why should I show deference to him?’ This is the meaning. ‘Only a jackal-howl’ means just the cry of a jackal. ‘Only a harsh yelp’ means merely an unpleasant, disagreeable sound. ‘Where is the wretched jackal’ means: who is this vile jackal? ‘And where the lion's roar’ means: what is the lion’s roar? The meaning is: what connection is there between a jackal and a lion's roar? ‘In the Well-Farer’s foot-tracks’ means in the marks of the Well-Farer; [or] in the three trainings that arose in the Well-Farer’s Dispensation. But how does he live therein? For those giving the four requisites to him give them saying, ‘We give to the fully awakened ones who are endowed with qualities such as virtue.’ Thus, though he is not a buddha, while enjoying requisites intended for the buddhas, he is said to live ‘in the Well-Farer's foot-tracks’. ‘The Well-Farer's leftovers’ means that, when giving food to them, having first given it to the buddhas and the disciples of the buddha, they later give the remainder in the evening. Thus he is said to eat ‘the Well-Farer’s leftovers’. ‘In the Tathāgata’ means towards the Tathāgata, the arahant, the fully awakened Buddha, whom one should encounter, whom one should challenge. Alternatively, ‘in the Tathāgatas’ and so on are accusative plurals. ‘Should be challenged’ is also plural, though expressed as if singular. ‘Challenging’ means the provocation: ‘I will perform a miracle along with the Buddha.’