Paumacariya 118

English (machine translation) 118

Language: English

118.1

Then that Indra Sītā, remembering Lakṣmaṇa residing in hell, / descended swift as thought, intent on bringing about his awakening.

118.2

Having crossed the first, the Śarkarāprabhā, and the Vālukāprabhā earth, / arriving at the very path, he observed the hell-beings suffering there.

118.3

First the god saw Śambūka, transformed by dense passions, / experiencing intense sufferings, such as having terrifying limbs and the like.

118.4

He also saw other hell-beings there, cast into blazing fire, / burning and crying out, miserable-faced amid various torments.

118.5

Here some were bound to the Śālmali tree, thick with thorns, / and made to perform numerous ascents and descents.

118.6

Some, having made no merit in the past, were thrown into presses and crushed; / others, suspended feet up and head down, were scorched in cauldrons.

118.7

Struck by swords, discs, and clubs, rolling on the harsh surface of the ground, / crying out, they were devoured by leopards, wolves, tigers, and lions.

118.8

Wailing, they were made to drink boiling water resembling molten copper; / and others, having reached the forest of sword-like leaves, were hacked to pieces with weapons.

118.9

Seeing such sufferings of the hell-dwellers, / the supreme lord of the gods, his heart filled with compassion, felt deep sorrow.

118.10

The supreme lord of gods saw Lakṣmaṇa, emerging from the middle of a pit of fire, / being beaten by many hell-guardians.

118.11

Before him, by means of saws, swords, crushing devices, and the like, / trembling and distracted by fear, he was tortured with hundreds of torments.

118.12

The divine lord of Laṅkā [Rāvaṇa] was [also] seen, and the god spoke to Śambūka there: / "O wicked one! Do you still not abandon your anger produced in your previous birth?

118.13

Subject to intense passions, with unrestrained senses and devoid of compassion, / these beings here in the hellish world experience manifold torments.

118.14

Even upon hearing of hellish suffering, dread arises in a soul within the flood of existence; / why then does fear not arise in you who are directly enduring it here?"

118.15

Hearing these words, Śambūka attained pacification; / then the god spoke to the lord of Laṅkā along with Lakṣmaṇa:

118.16

"Cast off fear and agitation, and listen trustingly to my words; / for being devoid of self-restraint, you have arrived at such suffering."

118.17

Mounted on his divine vehicle, Rāvaṇa and Lakṣmaṇa questioned the god: / "Tell us clearly: who are you that have come here?"

118.18

The god recounted to them the events beginning with Padma just as they occurred, / and his own arrival undertaken for the purpose of their awakening.

118.19

Learning their own circumstances, both were awakened there; / their minds filled with shame, with downcast faces, they lamented for themselves:

118.20

"Fie! Why did we not practice dharma then in human birth, / through which this miserable condition has befallen us in dreadful hell?

118.21

Blessed are you, O best of gods, who, abandoning the pleasures of the senses / and devoted to the dharma of the supreme Jinas, have attained godhood!"

118.22

Then the compassionate one said: "Do not fear, both of you! / Snatching you from this hell, I shall take you to the world of the gods."

118.23

Having girded himself, he began to seize them; / but extremely difficult to grasp, they melted away like fresh butter touched by fire.

118.24

When the lord of the gods was unable to take them by any means, / then those hell-beings said to the god: "Release us!

118.25

Go, O lord of gods, quickly to the high Āraṇa heaven; / we must experience this great suffering generated by our sins.

118.26

For those greedy for the bait of sensory pleasures, dwelling in hell and in utter agony, / entirely subject to other forces—what can even the gods do for them?

118.27

O god, you are powerless to free us from this suffering; / therefore, act so that my mind does not turn to going to a hellish rebirth again!"

118.28

The god said: "Receive with supreme modesty this secret, / the supreme, highest, auspicious, and pure jewel of right view!

118.29

Even when things have gone thus, if you now desire your own constant welfare, / then accept pure right view, whose fruit is reaching nirvāṇa.

118.30

Beyond this there is nothing superior, nor has there been, nor will there be another; / it is the great blessing, pure, abiding at the summit of the three worlds, perfected.

118.31

When a man has faith through the three modes in the categories such as the soul / taught by the Jinas, the seers of the three worlds, he becomes one of right view."

118.32

When this was spoken, right view was accepted by those dwelling in hell, / which had not been obtained through billions of births without beginning.

118.33

[They said:] "O lord of gods, you have done us great benefit, / giving to us the supreme right view in all the world of living beings!

118.34

O Indra Sītā, go quickly to the Āraṇa and Acyuta heavens; / enjoy the utmost pleasures, the fruit of the dharma of the supreme Jinas!"

118.35

Thus the noble god, having rendered them assistance, / grieving for the hell-beings, departed to his own abode.

118.36

There in his excellent celestial vehicle, though served by maiden immortals, / the lord of gods felt restlessness, remembering the suffering of hell.

118.37

He began to descend to this Bharata [continent], adorned by Padma, / surrounded by gods riding elephants, horses, bulls, and lions.

118.38

Amid the sound of many instruments, his majesty sung by Apsarases, / Indra Sītā, with all his retinue, went to Padma for refuge.

118.39

With great respect, having praised Lord Padma again and again, / the god sat down right there on the earth, accompanied by all his retinue.

118.40

Having bowed, the god asked: “Those such as Daśaratha who have died here, / possessing right faith and having attenuated their passions—tell [me], what state have they reached?”

118.41

Thus questioned, the Baladeva said: “In the Ānata heaven / that son of Anaraṇya [is now] a god adorned with immaculate garments.

118.42

Both Janaka and Kanaka, Kekayī as well as Suprabhā and Saumitri, / together with Aparājitā—these have been reborn in heaven.

118.43

Increasing in knowledge, asceticism, and restraint, of pure conduct, the steadfast Lava and Kuśa, / bearing virtues, will go to the unhindered, blissful abode [of liberation].”

118.44

Thus addressed, the lord of gods, exceedingly delighted, bowed again / and asked: “Tell [me], O Lord, what is now the destiny of Bhāmaṇḍala?”

118.45

Then the plow-bearer said: “O best of gods! Hear first the account / of the conduct by which your brother attained that state.

118.46

Now in the city of Kōsalā, there was a wealthy man named Vajra; / his sons were Aśoka and Tilaka, and his dear wife was Makarī.

118.47

Having renounced [the world], he became an ascetic, and she became sorrowful; / she reflected: ‘How can he stay in the forest, in the great wilderness?’

118.48

Deeply compassionate and spiritually awakened, he accepted the discipleship / of the sage Dyuti and became an ascetic, having abandoned worldly enterprise.

118.49

Then one day, Aśoka and Tilaka went to the lord of sages Dyuti; / pleased, they bowed with devotion again and again to their father.

118.50

Hearing the jewel of the dharma, they suddenly experienced intense spiritual urgency; / both Aśoka and Tilaka went forth [into asceticism] before Dyuti.

118.51

Having performed severe penance, Dyuti passed away and was reborn / in the upper Graiveyaka heaven as a supreme god of great splendor.

118.52

Those [two], father and sons, set out to go to the city of Kukkuṭa, / their minds filled with spiritual urgency, in order to pay homage to the lord of Jinas.

118.53

When they had journeyed fifty yojanas, on another day, / the early rainy season arrived with flashes of lightning and streams of water.

118.54

Then at the foot of a noble mountain, those steadfast, excellent sages engaged in meditation / were seen by the son of Janaka as he was traveling to Kōsalā.

118.55

He thought: ‘These sādhus are standing here to observe the rainy-season retreat, / facing terrible hardship in the forest teeming with many wild beasts.’

118.56

Having thus reflected, for the sake of protecting life, / Bhāmaṇḍala created an excellent city near the sādhus by means of Vidyādhara magic.

118.57

At the proper time and place, those ascetics entered the city on their alms-round; / the noble-minded one presented them with gifts of the fourfold food.

118.58

In this manner, the four months of the rainy season passed for those excellent sages; / thereupon, Bhāmaṇḍala earned the vast fruit of giving.

118.59

One day, while in a pleasure-garden with his beautiful wife, / Bhāmaṇḍala was struck by lightning and was reborn in Devakuru with a lifespan of three palyopamas.

118.60

Through giving, a man attains a realm of enjoyment (bhogabhūmi); through the virtue of penance, godhood; / through knowledge, he reaches the bliss of liberation: there is no doubt about this.”

118.61

Again the lord of gods said: “Lakṣmaṇa has reached the lower destiny (hell), / and so has the ten-necked one (Rāvaṇa), O great sage! What state will they attain [hereafter]?

118.62

Having exhausted the mass of their karmas, what destiny will the ten-faced one attain? / And who shall I become in the cycle of rebirth? This I wish to know.”

118.63

Then the Baladeva said: “Hear, O lord of gods, about the future / births that will be traversed by those who are the abodes of regal fortune.

118.64

Having emerged from hell, by the merit of serving the gods, / both of them will gradually become men in the city of Vijayāvaha.

118.65

Their father will be Sunanda and their mother will be named Rohiṇī; / born into a family of lay devotees, they will be devoted to worshiping the guru and deities.

118.66

Very handsome in appearance, named Arhaddāsa and Śrīdāsa, / having lived as lay devotees, they will become gods in the world of gods.

118.67

Descending thence, they will become excellent lay devotees in that very city; / through the fruit of giving to excellent sages, they will become men in Harivarṣa.

118.68

Having enjoyed pleasures and died, they will become gods in the world of gods; / descending thence, they will become sons of a king in that very city.

118.69

Sons of Vāyukumāra, born from the womb of Lakṣmīdevī, / resembling the lord of immortals in appearance, they will be the steadfast Jayakānta and Jayaprabha.

118.70

Having performed noble penance, they will become gods in the Lāntava heaven, / abiding in supreme enjoyment, steadfast bearers of supreme virtues.

118.71

You too, indeed, descending from the Acyuta heaven to this Bharata [realm], / will surely become a cakravartin, lord of the fourteen jewels.

118.72

Those very two gods, having descended, will both become your sons, / Indraratha and Bhojaratha, possessing splendor like divine princes.

118.73

By the single vow of refraining from the wives of others, that ten-faced one / will be born as the steadfast Indraratha, dedicated to right faith.

118.74

Having obtained these births as god and the rest, that same Indraratha / will later become an Arhat, worshiped throughout the three worlds.

118.75

And you too, as cakravartin, after ruling the kingdom in the city of Ratnasañcaya, / will through the power of penance become an Ahaṃindra in the Vaijayanta [heaven].

118.76

Descending from your company, you will become the foremost Gaṇadhara of that Arhat, / and, having destroyed the three worlds’ [bonds], you will attain the very bliss of liberation.

118.77

This has been told to you regarding the ten-faced one along with yourself, O lord of gods! / Now hear further what is said regarding Lakṣmaṇa.

118.78

He who is this Bhojaratha, son of the cakravartin, having wandered through / several noble rebirths endowed with steadfast dharma through the power of penance,

118.79

will become the cakravartin Lakṣmaṇa in Padmapura in the Videha of Puṣkaradvīpa; / and in that very birth, he will become a Tīrthaṅkara, the lord of gods.

118.80

At sixty years, having destroyed all faults, / the Jina, whose feet are revered by gods and asuras, will attain the supreme state.”

118.81

Having thus heard the account of future births narrated by the omniscient one, / the Indra [Sītā], freed of doubts, became filled with deep contemplation.

118.82

Then, having bowed to Lord Rāma with great reverence once again, / the excellent god paid homage to various temples of the supreme Jinas.

118.83

Having worshiped the caitya temples at Nandīśvara and elsewhere, / the god arrived in Kururāṣṭra and beheld Bhāmaṇḍala.

118.84

Conversing with him humbly and instructing his brother with affection, / the lord of gods reached the Acyuta heaven in an instant.

118.85

There in the Āraṇa heaven, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of gods, / the Indra [Sītā] experienced supreme bliss for a very long time.

118.86

At that time, the lifespan of the plow-bearer was fifteen thousand years, / and his height should be known as sixteen bows.

118.87

Behold, with great power and steadfastness in the doctrine of the supreme lord of Jinas, / the enemies of birth, old age, and death were conquered by heroic courage.

118.88

Free from all faults entirely, endowed with various supreme virtues, / illuminated by the rays of omniscience, he shines like the autumn sun.

118.89

Having practiced the doctrine of the Jina for twenty-five years, the steadfast one, / upon the exhaustion of his lifespan, Padma attained the eternal, auspicious abode.

118.90

Devotedly bow down to Rāma, who has uprooted the cause of rebirth, / the homeless ascetic of pure conduct and right belief, who brings about the destruction of suffering!

118.91

Worshiped then out of former affection by the lord of gods [who had been] Sītā, / endowed with supreme miraculous power, bow down to delightful Rāma!

118.92

The ornament of the Ikṣvāku lineage, the eighth Baladeva here in Bharata, / released from hundreds of thousands of rebirths, established in the state of bliss—bow down to him!

118.93

Whoever constantly hears this deed of the plow-bearer with pure contemplation, / obtains the attainment of enlightenment, and supreme intellect, strength, and lifespan.

118.94

Even if an enemy has drawn his weapon, his affliction is swiftly pacified; / he conquers completely, accompanied by fortune, of this there is no doubt.

118.95

Even one deprived of a kingdom gains a kingdom; one who desires wealth gains immense, great wealth; / disease is calmed in that very moment, and the planets become benign.

118.96

One desiring a woman gains an excellent woman; one desiring a son gains a son who gladdens the lineage; / when gone to a foreign land, he indeed attains reunion with his kinsmen.

118.97

Bad words, bad thoughts, and hundreds of thousands of misdeeds, / in their entirety, are destroyed far away by the narration celebrating Padma.

118.98

Whatever very great purpose is established in a person's heart, / that surely accrues to him, accompanied by happy consequences.

118.99

Thus the means of dharma, beginning with penance, moral vows, and conduct, / were declared by the Tīrthaṅkaras, possessors of supreme, infinite knowledge, O man of great intellect!

118.100

Constantly perform devotion to the Jinas, united in mind, speech, and body, / whereby, freed from the eight karmas, you may attain liberation in full confidence.

118.101

Composed with pure, elegant syllables and reasons, its meaning woven through various narratives, / the entirely heard life of Rāma, the lotus, surely destroys the path of evil rebirth.

Thus formerly the great story of Rāma was taught by the Jina Vīra; then was the intent of dharma declared by Indrabhūti to his disciples; / again through the succession of ascetics, it was preserved in full clarity throughout the world; now it has been composed in gāthā verses according to the sūtra by Vimalasūri.

Linked texts (1)

Paümacariya — Vimalasūri, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit