Paumacariya 14

English (machine translation) 14

Language: English

14.1

Then that lord of the chiefs of gods, having gone to Meru and / praised the caitya shrines, returned, moving with his natural grace.

14.2

Hearing a sound like a dense, deep rumble, Rāvaṇa was startled, / and looking around, he saw the circle of the directions colored like kumkuma.

14.3

He asked Mārīca: "Whose is this roar like a cloud? / Or why does this entire world have a reddish-dawn hue?"

14.4

Then Mārīca said: "On Mount Suvarṇatuṅga, omniscience, / illuminating the universe and the non-universe, has arisen for Anantavīrya.

14.5

This is the sound of musical instruments of the gods going to the feet of the sādhu; / and the world is overlaid with the dust spreading from the rays of their jewelled crowns."

14.6

Hearing his words, Rāvaṇa, filled with delight, descended; / having circumambulated him three times, he bowed down to the bull among supreme ascetics.

14.7

Just then, the gods, having bowed before him first, sat down; / the ten-headed [Rāvaṇa] also sat down there like a second lord of the gods.

14.8

Then, as the gods, men, and bulls among sky-farers were seated on their seats, / the ascetic was asked about the beneficial dharma there by his disciple.

14.9

Then, having expounded with a voice naturally sweet, pure, and refined, / with meanings of words distinct and clear, the bull among ascetics began [to teach] bondage and liberation:

14.10

"Bound by the eightfold karma, the soul wanders through the long saṁsāra, / enduring sorrows through the rising of the vedanīya [karma].

14.11

If somehow it attains human birth through the gradual shedding of karmas, / even then the soul, subservient to taste and touch, does not practice dharma.

14.12

Those who, impassioned, malicious, and deluded, commit sinful karma here, / go to the realm of hell, dreadful and crowded with intense agonies.

14.13

Engaged in vast violent undertakings, huge instruments of sin, possessing great possessions, / transformed by intense passions, they too go to hell.

14.14

Those who slaughter mother, father, guru, brother, sister, wife, and child, / committing ferocious deeds, upon dying they go to great hell.

14.15

Those who are greedy for the taste of meat, fowlers, hunters, and fishermen, / arsonists, thieves, and destroyers of villages, mines, and regions,

14.16

those priests also who slaughter beasts, engaged in performing oblations, / and men who are commanders of outposts—they too are bound for hell.

14.17

Lions, bears, leopards, spiders, whales, makaras, and alligators— / feeding on living beings, exceedingly sinful, they too go to hell.

14.18

Ospreys, cranes, vultures, eagles, and vañjula birds, / snakes and great serpents—all of them are bound for hell.

14.19

These indeed are those of great violent undertakings; now I declare those of huge instruments of sin: / those who are ministers of kings, envoys, and issuers of commands,

14.20

teachers of weapons, users of poison, purveyors of lies, / and those who are royal astrologers—having died, they go to hell.

14.21

Others also of such kinds, who accumulate sin by their speech— / all those instruments of sin are mortals bound for hell.

14.22

Cakravartins, kings, chieftains, and rulers of realms, / and many others of such kinds, are bound for hell.

14.23

And whoever reviles an ascetic guarded in mind, speech, and body, / free from egoism, conqueror of the senses, and steadfast, he too enters hell.

14.24

Such souls, born in hell with manifold agonies, / are cut and split in saws, sword-leaf trees, and presses.

14.25

By lions, tigers, and birds such as those with iron beaks, / the sinners are devoured screaming, and endure agonies.

14.26

Those, moreover, who are crooked with deceit, dealing in false scales and false measures, / adulterators of fluids, sinners, and those engaged in agriculture and the like,

14.27

and others of such kinds, subject to their senses, having cast aside the burden of dharma, / dying with distressed contemplation, they too go to the animal destiny.

14.28

Constantly distressed in mind through fear, seized by the pains of hunger and thirst, / animal souls endure sharp agony for their fixed lifespan.

14.29

Cattle, buffaloes, camels, donkeys, grass-grazers, and many such animals, / and men who have mild passions—upon dying they become humans.

14.30

Souls born among Āryas and non-Āryas, in low and high families, / short-lived and long-lived, [reap these] according to their own karmas.

14.31

Some here are blind, deaf, mute, hunchbacked, dwarfish, and lame; / some are wealthy and virtuous, while some are overcome by poverty.

14.32

Seized by the great demon of greed, some heroes enter the front of battle; / and others enter the great ocean with its clashing billows and waves.

14.33

Some caravan-traders here wander through the midst of terrifying forests; / others are engaged in hundreds of occupations such as agriculture.

14.34

Knowing sorrow thus in every way in the human destiny, / even those with self-restraint accompanied by attachment practice dharma of various kinds.

14.35

Endowed with the five minor vows, and some through involuntary shedding of karmas— / humans of such kinds, upon dying, attain godhead.

14.36

Some here are mansion-dwellers, forest-dwellers, stellar gods, and realm-dwellers; / through the distinctions of their activity, again, they become low and high gods.

14.37

Thus, wandering through the fourfold saṁsāra under the power of karma, / souls filled with delusion do not attain that bliss of liberation.

14.38

Through giving too, a man attains good human birth and likewise godhead, / when he gives to the restrained whose conduct and virtues are pure.

14.39

Those who are devoted to knowledge and self-restraint, single-minded, conquerors of the senses, steadfast— / they indeed are the worthy recipients, ascetics supreme above all in the world.

14.40

Those who have equanimity in pleasure and pain, in honor and dishonor, / and who are equal in gain and loss—those monks are called worthy recipients.

14.41

And when pure food and medicine are given with devotion to supreme ascetics, / that becomes vast merit bringing delight to the senses.

14.42

When, however, gifts are given to those of false belief, deluded by passion and hatred, / intent upon violent undertakings, that very gift becomes fruitless.

14.43

Trees of various kinds sprinkled with the same water from a well / become bitter, sweet, or pungent according to their own nature.

14.44

Just so in this world, this food given to the virtuous and to the devoid of virtue / brings the fruit of happiness or unhappiness in another birth.

14.45

A gift given to those like oneself, thirsty for sensual pleasures, / yields no fruit at all, even though they exert themselves greatly.

14.46

Alas, how terribly the world has been misled by false ascetics, / by panegyrists of evil scriptures, souls straying upon the wrong path!

14.47

'Meat is indeed acceptable; having performed a sacrifice, eat it, there is no sin'— / thus [say those] compliant with the senses, whose minds have turned away from the next world.

14.48

Those who give meat and those who eat it, thinking it to be dharma— / both go to hell of intense and dreadful agony.

14.49

Even if one performs great austerities and frequents all sacred bathing places, / it would not equal him who does not consume meat.

14.50

Those who make gifts of cattle, women, land, and gold— / heavy with sinful karma, they wander in the forest of saṁsāra.

14.51

Binding, striking, and taming are terrible suffering for cattle; / and the earth is cleft by ploughshares, destroying multitudes of living beings.

14.52

Whoever gives away a young maiden also produces passion and greed; / through passion arises delusion, and through delusion comes passage to an evil rebirth."

14.53

Gold, moreover, is fraught with fear and is the root of worldly activities and possessions; / therefore sages renounce [it]. These are the four kinds of gifts:

14.54

Knowledge, the gift of safety, the gift of pure [food], and indeed medicine— / these gifts have been praised by the passionless ones.

14.55

By [the gift of] knowledge, one gains divine knowledge; by the gift of safety, long life; / and by [the gift of] food, the giver obtains enjoyment—of this there is no doubt.

14.56

The giver of medicine to ascetics gains a divine body, / limbs and minor parts beyond compare, and experiences supreme enjoyment.

14.57

Just as a banyan seed, when planted in the ground, becomes a towering tree, / even so a gift given to supreme sages yields vast merit.

14.58

Just as in a well-plowed field a seed yields abundant increase, / even so a gift to the self-restrained brings great merit.

14.59

Just as a seed cast into barren soil does not grow, / even so a gift given to a recipient defiled by false belief bears no fruit.

14.60

Whatever is given with faith, ability, devotion, and discernment, / that gift, given according to rule, should be known to yield the fruit of merit.

14.61

All gods with various weapons in hand are joined with passion, / subject to desire, pleasure, and attachment, constantly adorned with ornaments and decorations.

14.62

Such gods are not leaders [worthy] of gifts; / those who have not crossed over themselves, how can they carry another person across?

14.63

If a lame man can be carried to another country upon the shoulders of a lame man, / then, there is no doubt, dharma can exist in these gods as well.

14.64

Those, on the other hand, who are free from passions, Tīrthaṅkaras freed from all faults— / they alone in the world are the leaders [worthy] of supreme gifts.

14.65

Those who practice the dharma of the supreme Jinas, [directed toward] their images, free from attachments, / and are devoted to their worship, become gods of great majesty.

14.66

Those gentle-minded men who offer flag-cloths or painted panels, / incense and lamps in a Jina temple, they too attain godhood.

14.67

Having given gifts of this kind, men enjoy successive pleasures / in the states of gods and humans, and thereafter attain bliss.

14.68

Having heard [the teaching on] gift-giving in its full detail, Bhānukarṇa bowed down / and asked Anantavīrya: 'Master, preach dharma [to me].'

14.69

Then Anantabala said: 'A two-fold dharma was taught by the Jinas, / with forms of conduct and without forms of conduct; it has numerous modes.

14.70

Abstinence from violence, falsehood, theft, sexual intercourse, and possessions— / these five great vows are declared for ascetics.

14.71

[Care in] walking, speaking, seeking [food], receiving, and placing down, / and [care in] disposing of excrement, etc., is to be known as the fifth care.

14.72

Guarding of mind, guarding of speech, and likewise that which is guarding of body— / these should constantly be maintained here by the supreme sage.

14.73

Anger, pride, deceit, greed, and attachment coupled with aversion— / these great enemies lurking within the body must be restrained.

14.74

Fasting, reduced diet, restricting livelihoods, mortification of the body, / giving up tasty foods, and solitary bed and seat—

14.75

Expiation, humility, service, study [of scriptures], / meditation, and relinquishment of the body—this is internal asceticism.

14.76

This twelvefold asceticism was pointed out by the supreme Jinas; / the ascetics whose sins are extinguished practice it for the destruction of the eight karmas.

14.77

Indifferent even to the body, free from ego, having conquered the senses, steadfast, / they constantly contemplate their soul through the twelve reflections.

14.78

Viewing adze and sandalwood as equal, regarding pleasure and pain alike, / residing wherever the sun sets, the ascetics are fearless like lions,

14.79

Bearing all things like the earth, freed from all attachments like the wind, / pure in mind like the sky, deep like the ocean,

14.80

Gentle like the moon, blazing with splendor like the sun, / firm and grave like Mount Meru, free from attachments like birds,

14.81

The good men maintain the eighteen thousand [vows of conduct] with sixteen limbs; / contemplating the supreme state, the ascetics wander unagitated.

14.82

Through the dharma of the supreme Jinas, the steadfast monks gain supernormal powers and treasures; / their bodies adorned with the splendor of asceticism, they perform wondrous deeds.

14.83

Some there instantly turn the sun into night; / having overshadowed the moon, some rain down like clouds.

14.84

They shake Mount Mandara; they travel through the sky with speed like the wind; / with the dust of their feet, the supreme sages cure numerous diseases.

14.85

Some exude honey, milk, or ghee; some exude nectar; some possess storage-like intellect; / some follow words [intuitively], and others hear distant sounds simultaneously.

14.86

Such ascetics, having passed away in their proper spiritual state, / attain abodes in the world of the gods, and some reach the abode of bliss.

14.87

Reborn through their acquired merit in the excellent heavenly palaces in Saudharma and other heavens, / some become Indras, equals of Indra, and bodyguards.

14.88

Thus various gods—inferior, supreme, and intermediate—are described; / others are Ahamindras, and some here have attained the abode of bliss.

14.89

Now, there in the world of the gods, the palaces of the gods, / endowed with diverse designs and manifold luster, blaze like the sun;

14.90

Delightful with varied designs of diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and lapis lazuli; / possessing thousands of pillars rising from firm, broad platforms;

14.91

Having floors inlaid [with figures of] elephants, bulls, śarabhas, lions, boars, deer, and yaks; / with the tips of dancing banners waving in the force of gentle breezes;

14.92

Filled with the fragrant scent of moist gośīrṣa-sandalwood incense and black agallochum; / palaces where worship is performed with various water and land flowers;

14.93

Resounding with the sweet sounds of Gandharva songs, instrumental music, lutes, and excellent flutes— / in such places the gods enjoy supreme pleasures.

14.94

Like jewels, free from defilement, devoid of flesh and bones, with faultless limbs, / the gods are not born of a womb, and by nature have unblinking eyes.

14.95

Having perfectly symmetrical bodies, adorned with bejeweled crowns and manifold earrings, / amidst immortal women, they sport, immersed in the ocean of pleasure.

14.96

And there the celestial nymphs, whose faces are like fully blossomed excellent lotuses, / whose eyes, teeth, lips, and pure pair of breasts burst forth with beauty,

14.97

Whose hands, feet, and broad hips are soft and radiant like the red aśoka, / who comply with [their lords'] wishes, and whose speech is naturally sweet and captivating—

14.98

In the company of such goddesses, the gods enjoy captivating sensual pleasure / for their allotted lifespan by the power of dharma.

14.99

And those Ahamindras in the supreme celestial palaces in the Graiveyaka heavens, / with their deluding karma subsided, experience infinite bliss.

14.100

The ascetics who have arrived at the abode of the Siddhas, released from all attachments, / experience infinite bliss there for infinite time.

14.101

Whatever sensual pleasure of humans and gods exists in the entire three worlds, / that does not equal even an infinitely small fraction of [the bliss of] the Siddhas.

14.102

Whatever happiness gods and humans have in the entire world of living beings, / all that has been declared by the best of supreme Jinas to be the fruit of dharma.

14.103

Godhood, the status of Indra, the status of an Ahamindra, and the state of a Siddha— / all that living beings attain by means of dharma in human birth.

14.104

Just as Garuḍa is the king of birds, and the lion of all animals, / so the human birth far surpasses [all other] births in virtues.

14.105

There is one great virtue in human birth that does not exist elsewhere: / that from here the soul, having destroyed karma, goes to liberation.

14.106

Just as one searching does not find a jewel lost in the ocean, / so a soul devoid of dharma does not obtain human birth.

14.107

Having heard the dharma expounded by the kevalin with supreme faith, / Bhānukarṇa then bowed to Anantavīrya and spoke:

14.108

"I am not yet free from passion, O Blessed One! Desiring pleasures, / I am incapable of the rigorous practice of austerities in the ascetic doctrine."

14.109

Then Anantabala said: "Listen with single-minded attention to the householder's dharma, / by practicing which you will gradually be liberated from the dwelling of saṁsāra.

14.110

A two-fold dharma was taught by the Jinas: with worldly activity and without worldly activity; / that without worldly activity is for ascetics, and that with worldly activity is for householders.

14.111

The dharma of the monks and great sages was declared to you first; / now listen to the lay doctrine, the conduct that is with worldly activity.

14.112

Five minor vows are spoken of, and three merit-vows; / following these, four disciplinary vows were taught by the Jina:

14.113

Gross injury to living beings, false speech, and taking what is not given; / abstention from another's woman, and contentment [with one's own possessions] as the fifth vow;

14.114

Limitation of cardinal and intermediate directions, avoidance of purposeless mischief, / and limitation of consumable objects—these are the three merit-vows;

14.115

Equanimity, fasting and posadha, and sharing with ascetic guests, / and at the end, death in meditation: these are the four disciplinary vows.

14.116

Abstinence from eating at night, abandonment of honey, meat, and alcohol are prescribed, / and the performance of worship and morality: this is the dharma of householders.

14.117

Having thus practiced the lay doctrine, human beings of purified right belief, / dying, go to heaven in the heavens such as Saudharma.

14.118

From godhood, they again become humans and gods of great majesty; / going through seven or eight births, their karma shaken off, they attain perfection.

14.119

Whoever, having attained human state, has faith in the dharma of the supreme Jinas, / he indeed does not wander for long in hells and among animals.

14.120

Moreover, he who is established in right belief, devoted to worshipping, venerating, and bowing to the Jinas, / he too gradually attains the unexcelled happiness of nirvāṇa.

14.121

Supreme lay disciples endowed with virtues such as freedom from doubt, / who have comprehended the sentient and the non-sentient, become gods of great majesty.

14.122

Whatever dharma a person performs according to his capacity—whether low, highest, or middling— / he attains corresponding stations in the world of the gods.

14.123

Now the lord of excellent sages explains the manifold forms of austerity and self-restraint, / by practicing which human beings enjoy imperishable happiness.

14.124

Constantly an accumulation of knowledge, even little by little, is best to be made; / do you not see the rivers that become oceans from drops [of water]?

14.125

If someone abstains from fourfold food for even a single muhūrta, / within a month he gains the fruit of a fast in the world of the gods.

14.126

He who is attached to other deities enjoys a life-span of ten thousand years; / but through the austerity taught by the supreme Jina, his duration becomes a crore of palyopamas.

14.127

Falling from there, he obtains the highest enjoyment in human birth, / just as was obtained by the ascetic's daughter living in the forest.

14.128

Whoever eats only at two appointed times without intermittent eating, / he gains twenty-eight fasts within a month.

14.129

He enjoys its vast fruit surrounded by a multitude of young goddesses, / an abode of prosperity, fame, and fortune, adorned with divine and spotless ornaments.

14.130

Having enjoyed sensual happiness, he arrives in the human world, / born in a noble lineage, and sports, immersed in an ocean of delight.

14.131

Whoever thus practices an increase of muhūrtas, fasting on the sixth, eighth, and other [days] / according to his capacity, the corresponding fruit has been proclaimed for him.

14.132

Having enjoyed its vast fruit in the world of the gods for a very long time, / and having attained human state, he becomes the master of hundreds of many people.

14.133

A man whose mind is filled with devotion to the Jinas and does not eat after sunset, / he resides in an excellent celestial vehicle and sports for long with celestial brides.

14.134

While the sun has not yet set, whoever renounces all fourfold food, / he resides for a long time in a celestial vehicle of gleaming splendor.

14.135

Falling from there, being born here in the human world, / he becomes the master of many cities, agricultural towns, market centers, chariots, and excellent elephants.

14.136

Again, making his mind very firm in the dharma prescribed by the supreme Jinas, / having observed austerities and restraints, he gradually attains the eternal state of bliss.

14.137

Those men, however, unrestrained and devoid of vows, who eat at night, / wander for an endless time in the abodes of hell and animal rebirth.

14.138

And having experienced suffering, if somehow they attain human birth, / even there those who do not give up eating at night become destitute.

14.139

And that woman who does not consume food, edibles, or drinks at night, / her mind purified by the Jina's dharma, she too attains divinity.

14.140

Having enjoyed sensual pleasure there in a celestial vehicle for long, falling [from heaven], / she comes to human state as an excellent woman of beautiful form.

14.141

Gold, jewels, gems, silver, and coral are abundant for her, / and various kinds of wealth and grain, who did not eat at night.

14.142

Seated on a broad bed, she is fanned with fly-whisks by young maidens, / her limbs adorned with ornaments, who renounces food at night.

14.143

They become the graceful-formed wives of cakravartins and Vāsudevas, / and enjoy sensual pleasures, who renounce eating at night.

14.144

Those women, on the other hand, devoid of dharma, who dine at night, / they indeed experience manifold kinds of suffering.

14.145

Born in low families, devoid of wealth, grain, gold, and beauty, / become those women who eat food at night.

14.146

Tormented by poverty, with cracked hands and feet and disheveled hair constantly, / women become in this world who eat food at night.

14.147

Even if they perform some religious observance out of faith in an ignorant doctrine, / nevertheless it yields little fruit for those who delight in eating at night.

14.148

Therefore, abandon this night eating, which destroys living beings, / and falsehood, taking what is not given, another's wife, as well as liquor and meat.

14.149

Renounce wrong views, and always be zealous in the Jina's teaching; / then, freed from all attachments, you will gradually attain even liberation.

14.150

Just as a man seeking profit acquires jewels on the Jewel Island, / so in human existence one who desires dharma adopts the jewels of vows.

14.151

The lord of Laṅkā was addressed by the sage Dharmaravi regarding the Jina's doctrine: / "Adopt even a single vow, just like a jewel on the Jewel Island."

14.152

Having heard this speech and bowed to the kevalin, the Ten-headed one [Rāvaṇa] said: / "O Blessed One! I am incapable of the difficult conduct of eminent sages.

14.153

Even if she is exceedingly beautiful, another's wife I shall not desire, / nor even my own wife if she is unwilling; this is my vow."

14.154

Then Bhānukarṇa too, having bowed to the sage, took a vow: / "From this day forward, bathing of the Jina's image must be performed by me,

14.155

and worship of many kinds and praise must be performed at sunrise; / this is my resolution, undertaken for the rest of my life."

14.156

Others too took vows of various kinds according to their capacity, / and having bowed to the monk, gods and humans departed to their own abodes.

14.157

Then Rāvaṇa too, having bowed to the bull among sages, flew up from there; / possessing splendor equal to the foremost god, he arrived at the city of Laṅkā.

14.158

Thus when instructed in the destruction of karma, living beings take up the meaning spoken by the Guru; / practicing intense and pure dharma, with purified minds they go to the abode of the Siddhas.

14.159

Thus ends the fourteenth chapter, entitled "The Discourse on Dharma by Anantavīrya", in the Paümacariya.

Linked texts (1)

Paümacariya — Vimalasūri, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit