རབ་ཏུ་འབྱུང་བའི་གཞི།
The Chapter on Going Forth
Pravrajyāvastu
འདུལ་བ་གཞི་ལས། རབ་ཏུ་འབྱུང་བའི་གཞི།
’dul ba gzhi las/ rab tu ’byung ba’i gzhi
“The Chapter on Going Forth” from The Chapters on Monastic Discipline
Vinayavastu Pravrajyāvastu
Toh 1-1
Degé Kangyur, vol. 1 (’dul ba, ka), folios 1.a–131.a.
Translated by Robert Miller and team
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2018
Current version v 1.2.1 (2019)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v1.29.8
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.
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Summary
“The Chapter on Going Forth” is the first of seventeen chapters in The Chapters on Monastic Discipline, a four-volume work which outlines the statutes and procedures that govern life in a Buddhist monastic community. This first chapter traces the development of the rite by which postulants were admitted into the monastic order, from Buddha Śākyamuni’s informal invitation to “Come, join me,” to the more elaborate “Present Day Rite.” Along the way, the posts of preceptor and instructor are introduced, their responsibilities defined, and a dichotomy between reliable monks and immature novices described. While the heart of the chapter is a transcript of the “Present Day Rite,” the text is interwoven with numerous narrative asides, depicting the spiritual ferment of the north Indian region of Magadha during the Buddha’s lifetime, the follies of untrained and unsupervised apprentices, and the need for a formal system of tutelage.
Acknowledgements
This translation was carried out from the Tibetan by Robert Miller with the guidance of Geshé Tséwang Nyima. Ven. Lhundup Damchö (Dr. Diana Finnegan) provided her draft translation of the extant Sanskrit portions of this chapter. Dr. Fumi Yao and Maurice Ozaine kindly identified numerous misspellings and mistakes in the glossaries. Both Ven. Damchö and Dr. Yao generously shared their extensive knowledge of the Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya and furnished invaluable assistance in researching the translation. Matthew Wuethrich served as style consultant and editor.
The generous sponsorship of Zhou Tian Yu, Chen Yi Qin, Irene Tillman, Archie Kao, and Zhou Xun, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
Introduction
The Vinaya
According to traditional accounts, after the Buddha had entered parinirvāṇa, the elder Kāśyapa proposed that the Blessed One’s teachings be recited for posterity. During the rains retreat at Rājagṛha that followed, Kāśyapa asked the venerable Upāli to recall the Buddha’s pronouncements on monastic discipline and the venerable Ānanda to recite the Buddha’s discourses. One hundred years later, a second council was convened at Vaiśālī to resolve disagreements that had arisen in relation to the code of monastic discipline, or vinaya.1
Shortly after the Second Council, the monastic community split into two factions, “the Elders” (Skt. Sthavira) and “the Majority” (Skt. Mahāsāṃghika). In time, for reasons of discipline, doctrine, or geography, the two factions branched further into eighteen schools. Among these were the Mūlasarvāstivādins.2
Although there is, as yet, no scholarly consensus on the exact origins of this school, we know the Mūlasarvāstivādins were well established in northwest India, between Mathura, Kashmir, and Gandhāra, during the Kuṣāṇa Kingdom’s zenith in the second and third centuries ᴄᴇ. We also know that they eventually compiled the longest of the six complete codes of monastic discipline still available to us.3
The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya
The Mūlasarvāstivādins’ monastic code is comprised of several texts,4 which Tibetans, the foremost inheritors of this tradition, group into the “Four Scriptural Divisions of the Vinaya”: the Vinayavastu, Vinayavibhaṅga, Kṣudrakavastu, and Uttaragrantha. The Vinayavastu details the statutes and procedures that govern the institutions of monastic community life. The Vinayavibhaṅga narrates the circumstances that prompted the formulation of each of the monastic vows given in the Prātimokṣasūtra. The Kṣudrakavastu discusses miscellaneous minutiae of monastic life under eight headings. The Uttaragrantha, in its complete form, contains eleven texts including Upāli’s questions to the Buddha regarding monastic discipline, along with the Vinītaka, the Nidāna, and the Kathāvastu.
Though similar in general outline to most of the other extant monastic codes, the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya is more eclectic in content and character.5 It is no dry legal code or mere vade mecum for disciplinary measures. Instead it is a rich bricolage of stories, discourses, ritual handbooks, community guidelines, and catalogs of monastic discipline, with passages and texts from a diverse range of genres like sūtra, avadāna, and nidāna.6
The Vinayavastu
The first of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya’s four Scriptural Divisions is the Vinayavastu. A partial translation into Chinese, containing at least seven of the chapters, was made by the Chinese monk Yijing, in the late seventh to early eighth centuries ᴄᴇ,7 but the only complete redaction of all seventeen chapters of the Vinayavastu is the ninth-century translation into Tibetan made by Palgyi Lhünpo under the guidance of the Kashmiri abbot Sarvajñādeva, the Indian abbot Vidyākaraprabha, and the Kashmiri abbot Dharmākara. Their work was later proofread and finalized by Vidyākaraprabha and the translator/editor Paltsek.
For centuries the Vinayavastu, and indeed much of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, was known only through these Tibetan and Chinese translations, or from thematic excerpts like the Divyāvadāna,8 and all Sanskrit manuscripts of the full text appeared to have disappeared without a trace. Then, in 1931, a cowherd from a small village near Gilgit dug up one of many mounds dotting his community’s pasturelands. He was looking for wood, which could sometimes be found at such sites, but instead stumbled upon a large chamber littered with coin-like clay tablets. Thinking he had disturbed a grave, he grew scared and fled. Word of his find spread quickly and before long a more intrepid local went in search of treasure. What he found was a wooden chest of Buddhist manuscripts dating from the fifth or sixth century ᴄᴇ, which wound up in the hands of the district headman in whose possession Sir Aurel Stein found them. After two further excavations and much work by both European and South Asian scholars, Nalinaksha Dutt edited and published the finds as The Gilgit Manuscripts.9 Most of the vinaya manuscripts enshrined in the reliquary near Gilgit come from the Vinayavastu.10
Although large portions of the Vinayavastu in Sanskrit were thus recovered in the Gilgit manuscripts, the ninth-century Tibetan translation remains the only complete version known today, and it is primarily on the basis of the Tibetan that the translations to be published here have been, and are being, made. The present translation is of the first chapter, and subsequent chapters will appear in due course.
The Vinayavastu is similar in its themes to the Theravādin Khandhaka (Skt. Skandhaka) still extant in Pali.11 Both detail the communal rites, formal procedures, and disciplinary measures that give order and coherence to the monastic community as well as the types of clothes, food, shelter, and medicine allowed community members.12 To appropriate Prebish’s useful explanation of the differences between the Skandhaka and Sūtravibhaṅga13 and apply it here by way of analogy, while the Vinayavibhaṅga describes the vows that govern individual behavior, the Vinayavastu spells out the rules that govern communal behavior. This communal emphasis is immediately apparent when one considers the contents of the Vinayavastu’s seventeen chapters:
1. The Pravrajyāvastu (“The Chapter on Going Forth”) details the development of the rite by which one goes forth and becomes a Buddhist monk.14
2. The Poṣadhavastu (“The Chapter on Purification”) describes the twice-monthly poṣadha ceremony.15
3. The Pravāraṇavastu (“The Chapter on Lifting Restrictions”) describes the pravāraṇa ceremony in which restrictions adopted for the rains retreat are lifted, marking the end of the rains retreat.16
4. The Varṣāvastu (“The Chapter on the Rains”) describes the timing and procedures for the annual rains retreat.17
5. The Carmavastu (“The Chapter on Leather”) details the rules regarding the use of leather hides for clothing, footwear, bedding, and seating.
6. The Bhaiṣajyavastu (“The Chapter on Medicine”) discusses the medicines allowed monastics, such as ghee, sesame oil, honey, and molasses; what monastics should not consume, such as human flesh; and related subjects, such as how medicine should be stored, under what circumstances monastics are allowed to cook for themselves, and how to respond to a hostile doctor.18
7. The Cīvaravastu (“The Chapter on Robes”) describes the types of material suitable to be turned into robes, such as silk, cotton, wool, linen, hemp, dugūla, jute, and Aparāntin cloth, and presents specifications about the shape and form of those robes.19
8. The Kaṭhinavastu (“The Chapter on Turning Cloth into Robes”) describes the rules regulating the acceptance of cloth and turning it into robes.20
9. The Kauśāmbakavastu (“The Chapter on the Monks of Kauśāmbī”) outlines the procedures adopted to arbitrate disputes and allows for expulsion from the saṅgha community. These procedures were formulated in the wake of a major dispute that arose when the monks of Kauśāmbī expelled a group of monks from Vaiśālī.
10. The Karmavastu (“The Chapter on Formal Acts of Saṅgha”) gives a short summary of the one hundred and one different official acts that require the saṅgha community’s sanction. These acts all fall into one of three categories depending on the procedure needed for ratification: acts of motion alone require only a motion; acts whose second member is a motion require a motion followed by the statement of the act; and acts whose fourth member is a motion require a motion followed by the statement of the act, repeated three times.
11. The Pāṇḍulohitakavastu (“The Chapter on a Group of Troublesome Monks”) details the five types of disciplinary acts that may be imposed on intransigent monastics, such as censure, chastening, expulsion, reconciliation, and suspension. Its name derives from the site of a dispute in which quarrelsome monks refused to admit to their guilt.21
12. The Pudgalavastu (“The Chapter on Types of Persons”) details appropriate and inappropriate times for the confession of breaches in discipline.
13. The Pārivāsikavastu (“The Chapter on Demotions”) describes how to discipline, through the imposition of demotions and probations, a monk who has incurred a transgression whose remnant is restored by the saṅgha. This chapter also allows for such a monk’s reinstatement as a full member of the community upon successful completion of a demotion or probation.
14. The Poṣadhasthāpanavastu (“The Chapter on the Suspension of the Purification”) describes the circumstances in which the purification may be suspended and details the restrictions on who is allowed to participate in the purification.
15. The Śayanāsanavastu (“The Chapter on Shelter”) discusses the types of shelter suitable for monastics, such as temples, multi-story buildings, verandas, sheds, wooden huts, earthen and rock caves, grass huts, and so on.22
16. The Adhikaraṇavastu (“The Chapter on Disputes”) discusses the seven means to resolve disputes that arise from disagreements over the Buddha’s teachings, reproaches regarding another monk’s conduct, transgressions, or acts of saṅgha.
17. The Saṅghabhedavastu (“The Chapter on Schism in the Saṅgha”) narrates at length the Buddha’s youth, awakening, and ministry, as well as the schism prompted by Devadatta.
The above are but summaries of each chapter’s ostensible themes. In several cases, most notably the Bhaiṣajyavastu and the Saṅghabhedavastu, avadāna narratives and important events in the Buddha’s life figure far more prominently than any discussion of communal guidelines on medicine, schisms, or the like. Those interested in detailed summaries of each chapter can find them in Csoma de Körös’s Analysis of the Dulva, Banerjee’s Sarvāstivāda Literature, and Dutt’s introductions to his Gilgit Manuscripts.23 For now, suffice it to say that the Vinayavastu has the same eclectic make-up that scholars have come to associate with the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya in general, and that distinguishes it from the other extant monastic codes.
The Chapter on Going Forth
The first chapter of the Vinayavastu, translated here, is “The Chapter on Going Forth.” It describes how the rite of going forth, the formal rejection of household life and entry into the Buddhist order of renunciants, went from a simple and open invitation extended by the Buddha in person to an elaborate rite with admission criteria that could be performed by any monk with sufficient knowledge and reliability.
The chapter can be broadly divided into thirds. The first third of the text (“Śāriputra”) tells the story of Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana’s spiritual search. It provides the historical background for the rise of the Buddhist order against a backdrop of other renunciant orders active in the eastern Gangetic basin in the fifth century ʙᴄᴇ. The middle third (“Going Forth” through “Querying Upasena”) describes the three stages the admission rite underwent as the order grew, from the earliest “Come, join me, monk” ordinations, through the Early Rite, and on to the Present Day Rite.24 The last third (“Tīrthikas” through “Missing Hands”) describes the circumstances that led to the adoption of the Present Day Rite’s admission criteria.
Throughout these three sections a number of important themes can be discerned: the opposition between śramaṇa ascetics and brāhmaṇa householders,25 the existence of a fecund religious scene at the time of the Buddha, the need for official procedures and positions as the Buddhist monastic community grew from an informal group of followers into a spiritual corporation, the importance of a monastic apprenticeship, and the recognition that some people are not suited to life as a Buddhist renunciant.
Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana’s Spiritual Search
“The Chapter on Going Forth” begins in earnest with the story of how Upatiṣya and Kolita came to join the Buddhist order. These two, under the names Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, would go on to become the foremost of the Buddha’s disciples. But to begin with they are just young brahmins, well-schooled in Vedic learning and assured of bright futures. In time Upatiṣya proves himself to be a brilliant interpreter of the Vedas, while Kolita, a talented teacher in his own right, is expected to succeed his father as royal priest to the King of Rājagṛha. Though each hears of the other’s reputation from their young brahmin students, they do not meet until the feast of the nāga kings Giri and Valguka, where they recognize one another as kindred spirits. After securing their parents’ consent, they forego their given destinies and set off in search of a renunciant order to join.
At the time, Rājagṛha and its surroundings are teeming with renunciant orders, and the two spiritual seekers quickly secure audiences with six of the leading tīrthika teachers.26 The pair questions each teacher about his practice and philosophy, and each is found to teach a ruinous path and rejected.27 Eventually Upatiṣya and Kolita come across the teacher Sañjayin who, they are told, has “withdrawn into seclusion.” Duly impressed, they are won over and join his order upon hearing his philosophy—that “the Dharma is truth and non-violence; the peaceful, ageless, immortal, and unwaning state is Brahman.” Before long, however, Sañjayin passes away and the two move on, bringing the first section to a conclusion.
On first encounter this section is disorienting. It begins by meandering through an account of the struggle between the kingdoms of Aṅga and Magadha, with a brief interlude describing the Buddha’s birth, before tracing the rise of two brahmins named Māṭhara and Tiṣya. Only after thirty pages of war and genealogy do we meet the two main protagonists. To appreciate the purpose of this long prologue, one must step back to view the Vinayavastu as a whole and understand that interwoven through the text’s seventeen chapters is one of the most extensive biographies of the Buddha available in any language.28 These first episodes, then, are more than mere diversion; they are the first installments of an epic tale that takes shape over the Vinayavastu’s 2,500 pages.
From a literary perspective, this first chapter exemplifies the Vinayavastu’s composite nature,29 where history sits embedded between parable and technical manual. While we know almost nothing about by whom, how, or why this text was compiled in this way, this synthesis is not likely to be ad hoc or random. Rather, diverse elements are drawn in and made to serve a range of purposes. The tale of the six tīrthika teachers, for example, fulfills narrative, partisan, and historical ends. Narratively, it explains how Upatiṣya and Kolita eventually came to the Buddha’s order. In its telling, it emphasizes their exacting standards so that their rejection of each teacher’s philosophy and eventual embrace of the Buddha’s implies the superiority of the Buddhist order.
Historically speaking, it surveys the spiritual landscape of Greater Magadha at the time of the Buddha. Though the text does not emphasize the connections, scholars have linked several of the tīrthika teachers to the major non-Vedic orders of the day: Jñātiputra is better known as Mahāvīra, leader of the Nirgrantha Jain order and the last Jain Tīrthankara; Gośālīputra was a prominent Ājīvika leader;30 Ajita may have been an important Cārvāka teacher;31 and Pūraṇa has been called the foremost of five hundred Ājīvikas, though the philosophy attributed to him here resembles neither Gośālīputra’s fatalism nor that of the Digambara Jains whom Buddhists sometimes referred to as Ājīvikas.32
The Rite of Admission into the Renunciant Order
The second third of the text describes the way the admission rite changed as the Buddha’s renunciant order grew. A short interlude under the heading “Querying Upasena” then spells out the terms of a new monk’s apprenticeship to a more senior monk and provides criteria to determine when a monk is sufficiently reliable in his ordination to live independently and act as a preceptor or instructor himself.
Those familiar with the modern-day ordination rite may be surprised by the original rite’s simplicity. Postulants, personified by Upatiṣya and Kolita in this chapter, would ask the Buddha for permission to join his order. With the words, “Come, join me, monks. Live the holy life,” the Buddha admitted them into his order and ordained them monks. This simple invitation is known as the “Come, join me, monk” ordination.
But as the Buddha’s fame grew, it became less practicable for the Buddha himself to accept and ordain every postulant. While the rite itself was simple enough, anyone wanting to go forth had to see the Buddha in person, which for some meant a long and arduous journey. When the Buddha heard that a postulant coming to see him had died en route, he authorized the saṅgha to admit new members and ordain them.
The monks, not knowing how to admit and ordain postulants, asked the Blessed One about it, and he responded by prescribing a short but formalized rite now known as the “Early Rite.” The new rite required postulants to petition the saṅgha three times, after which an officiant monk would move that the saṅgha act on the petition. By remaining silent, the saṅgha signaled its assent, and the postulant was formally admitted to the order and ordained a monk.
Since the Early Rite authorized monks to accept new members but made no provisions for training them, the new rite solved a logistical problem but did nothing to address an equally, if not more, pressing problem: helping new members establish themselves in a new code of conduct and a new way of life. Consequently, some new monks had no sense of decorum and were poorly behaved. Local brahmins and householders even complained of being harassed by them. The new monks would come to town to beg alms, disheveled and improperly dressed, speaking shrilly in loud voices, behaving wildly, and demanding they be fed.
When a monk fell ill and died for lack of someone to nurse him, the elder monks felt obliged to take action. Such gross neglect of one’s brethren was too much and the saṅgha petitioned the Buddha to intervene. After some consideration, the Buddha created the positions of preceptor and instructor and charged the monks in those roles with the responsibility of ordaining and instructing new monks.
But again the monks found themselves in a quandary, not knowing how to admit and ordain postulants, and so again they petitioned the Buddha. This time, the Buddha prescribed a longer and more formal rite of admission and ordination, with stricter acceptance criteria and a novel division of the community into lay devotees, novices, and monks. This rite pertains to the present day and is known in the tradition as the “Present Day Rite.”
The Present Day Rite codified a hierarchy in the Buddhist renunciant order, through which a postulant gains admission into the order, is inducted into the novitiate, and is ordained a monk. An outline of the ritual found in the text is given in the appendix, “An Outline of the Ordination Rite.”
Admission Criteria
The final third of the text goes back in time to examine the circumstances that prompted the introduction of a screening process for postulants. The exclusionary criteria, deemed “impediments to ordination,” are all explained by origin stories (Tib. gleng gzhi, Skt. nidāna), as exemplified by the chapter “Creatures.”
This chapter, by far the longest in the section, tells the story of Saṅgharakṣita, ostensibly to explain why creatures—specifically nāgas that can assume human form—are not allowed to join the Buddhist renunciant order. Several lesser origin stories, explaining, for instance, what a monk administrator can be expected to account for and why a monk should not teach without first being asked to do so, are enfolded into the greater story of Saṅgharakṣita and the nāga monk.
This section also contains several avadāna, most notably in the story of how a shape-shifting nāga gained the karma to become a monk. Avadāna are didactic stories (or “karmic histories”) that explain a given circumstance in light of the past act that brought it about.33 Other examples of avadāna from this section include what happens when monks fight over food, deface saṅgha property, and withhold food and drink from other monks.
The layering does not end there, either. A Vedic seer’s sarcastic remark about Buddhist monks’ propensity to preach at the slightest provocation becomes the pretext for Saṅgharakṣita’s teaching the Nagaropama Sūtra, while Saṅgharakṣita’s efforts to establish the Buddha’s teachings in the land of nāgas becomes a chance to discuss the Sūtra Piṭaka’s “Four Divisions of the Discourses.”34
The intertwining of genres seen in Saṅgharakṣita’s story is probably the best example in the present chapter of the Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya’s bricolage composition and the way stories, sūtras, and catalogs of monastic discipline are woven into a narrative meant to both instruct and inspire.
Academic Work and Prior Translations
In 1983, Helmut Eimer published a critical edition of the Tibetan, and a study in German, of “The Chapter on Going Forth” but did not attempt a translation.35
Soon afterwards, in a series of four articles, Claus Vogel and Klaus Wille published a carefully revised edition of the Sanskrit fragments of the Pravrajyāvastu recovered in Gilgit.36 They scrupulously annotated the editorial process to produce an edition that, in contrast to earlier Sanskrit editions, is free of reconstructions and indicates clearly the uncertainties created by damage to, or missing portions of, the original manuscripts. They also incorporated further fragments of the manuscript that had not been definitively identified at the time previous Sanskrit editions were prepared. The fragments fall into two groups: those from the beginning of the chapter (Sanskrit folios 2–12), and those toward the end (folios 43–53). Together these Sanskrit fragments correspond to about one hundred of the 261 pages of the chapter in the Degé Kangyur. To place the fragments in their proper context, Vogel also translated relevant sections of the text, from the Tibetan for the portions corresponding to folios 2–12, and from the Sanskrit for the portions corresponding to folios 43–53.
In the present translation, the exact correlations between the Sanskrit and the Tibetan are noted in the form of folio references to Vogel and Wille’s edition (folio numbers preceded by S) as well as the usual folio references to the Tibetan of the Degé (preceded by F).
Andy Rotman has translated from Sanskrit many of the avadāna narratives to be found in the Divyāvadāna, a collection of such stories compiled in Nepal and dating probably to the seventeenth century. The individual stories in the Divyāvadāna very closely match equivalent passages in the Vinayavastu or, in some cases, other sections of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. In the present first chapter, the only parallels to the Divyāvadāna are the narratives of Saṅgharakṣita and the shape-shifting nāga, which can be found translated in Rotman’s second volume.37 There are several other translations of the same passage from the Divyāvadāna.38
The Language of Renunciation
One of the difficulties in translating vinaya texts lies in finding appropriate English equivalents for the language of Buddhist monasticism. In several instances we have borrowed terms from Christianity such as “ordination” and “monk,” even though they may only bear a superficial similarity to their Buddhist analogs.39 Another difficulty lies in the historical fact that the language of Buddhist renunciation was adapted from a body of terms and ideas common among Greater Magadhan ascetic communities in the sixth and fifth centuries ʙᴄᴇ.40 As is to be expected when different religious communities employ the same words, they come to have unique connotations, the most relevant of which we might now consider.
First and foremost is the term pravrajyā, which in its widest application referred to the act of “going forth,” that is, renouncing the settled life of a householder to live as a wandering spiritual practitioner. In pre-Buddhist India, the act of going forth often took a ritual form and was made dramatically visible “by shaving off the hair and beard and laying aside the layman’s dress, to cover oneself with rags, with bark or hemp, or to wander in the nude.”41 In the present translation, we render pravrajyā (Tib. rab tu ’byung ba) as “to go forth” (or, in a small number of cases, “to join the renunciant order”) while one who goes forth (Tib. rab byung) is a “renunciant.”
In the Pravrajyāvastu, we meet several Vedic and non-Vedic ascetics who have undertaken pravrajyā. Some, such as Gośālīputra and the Lokāyata ascetic Dīrghanakha, are described as “wanderers” or parivrājaka,42 but those who join the Buddha’s order are described as śramaṇa, translated here as “ascetic.”43 The term śramaṇa, from the verbal root śram meaning “to toil,” was used to describe non-Vedic ascetics, especially Buddhist and Jain ones.44 In our text, it is applied repeatedly to both the Buddha and his followers, as when an older man posing as a monk challenges the authenticity of the Buddha’s ordained status by asking, “Who is the śramaṇa Gautama’s preceptor?” and in the phrase “the śramaṇa sons of the Śākya.”
The Buddha’s followers accepted this as an appropriate designation, as when Śāriputra says to Buddharakṣita, “It is those who issue from people like you that become my śramaṇa attendants.” As the Buddha himself also frequently referred to his community as śramaṇa, it is not surprising that the term chosen to describe “novice” śramaṇa was śrāmaṇera , the diminutive form of śramaṇa.
Ascetic sons of the Śākya who ordained were called bhikṣu. This term, too, was used outside the Buddhist tradition. Gautama, the brahmin author of the Gautama Dharmasūtra, gives bhikṣu, meaning “mendicant,” as the third of four lifestyles open to followers of the Vedas.45 In this context, a mendicant was either an ascetic who relied on alms (partly or fully provided by relatives) or a hermit who had severed all ties with his former worldly life.
Another phrase that points to a shared language among ascetics is the term brahmacaryā, rendered here as “to live the holy life.” This phrase appears repeatedly in this chapter in stock passages, most significantly in the Buddha’s invitation, “Come, join me, monk. Live the holy life,” and in the remark made by those who have attained arhatship: “My births have come to an end, I have lived the holy life, I have done what needed doing, I will know no lives after this one.”
The phrase also figures prominently in Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana’s questions for the six tīrthika teachers: “What is the result of living the holy life? What are its benefits?” Although the exact meaning of the phrase is never spelled out, the commentator Kalyāṇamitra glosses it as a life of “hardships” or “austerities.”46 Kalyāṇamitra’s interpretation is probably best understood as an explanation of Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana’s assumptions about what it meant to “live the holy life.” For, as a Jain, Jñātiputra would certainly have equated “the holy life” with austerities, but it is not certain whether any of the other five would have.47 It does, however, seem likely that many of these teachers would have understood “the holy life” to entail celibacy; and that is how the term is now understood in the Buddhist tradition, where a lay devotee who takes a vow of celibacy is described as a brahmacārin upāsaka (Tib. tshangs spyod dge bsnyen).
The Translation
The present translation is based on the Tibetan text in the Degé Kangyur, with reference to the text in other Kangyurs as detailed in the endnotes. Ven. Lhundup Damchö’s draft translation of the extant Sanskrit found in Nalinaksha Dutt’s Gilgit Manuscripts, together with Claus Vogel and Klaus Wille’s revised Sanskrit edition and translation, were used as guides to check for variations between the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Although there are numerous differences between the Tibetan and Sanskrit manuscripts, very few of them bear significantly on the overall understanding of the text. We have chosen to note only the most important divergences and, for the rest, would refer readers to Vogel and Wille’s works.
A great many of our translation choices are based on glosses given by the late eighth-century master Kalyāṇamitra49 in his Extensive Commentary on The Chapters of Discipline.50 On the whole, Kalyāṇamitra’s citations mirror the relevant passages from the root text. However, there is enough variation between the root text and his commentary—direct quotations purportedly from the root text which have no correlate in any of the Tibetan redactions, important passages of the root text not glossed in the commentary, differences in key terms—to suggest Kalyāṇamitra may have been working from a different edition of the Vinayavastu than that which was available to the Tibetan translators and their Indian informants.51 And although it does not bear directly on the present work, it should also be noted that the Tibetan translation of Kalyāṇamitra’s commentary appears to be incomplete. Presumably, Kalyāṇamitra commented on all seventeen chapters of the Vinayavastu, but the Degé, Coné, and Narthang editions of his commentary all end abruptly after the thirteenth fascicle, four pages into his comments on the Vinayavastu’s third chapter, the Pravāraṇāvastu.52
The Vinayavastu contains a great deal of repetition. Such repetition ranges in length from short, stock phrases to an entire chapter in which the only change is in the gender of a single character (see “Matricide” and “Patricide”). Aiming to retain the original work’s style and flavor, which may point to its oral origins, in accord with 84000’s editorial policies we have avoided the temptation to elide these repetitive passages. On the other hand, we have tried in places to help the reader by inserting proper names in places where the original provides only pronouns.
Though technically the present work is the first of the Vinayavastu’s seventeen chapters, we have chosen to break the “chapter” into parts based on the list of contents found in the prologue and those parts into chapters based on the indices found at the start of each section.
In the chapter on the ordination rite itself, the Tibetan text gives a short heading for each part of the ritual at the end of the relevant section. To assist the reader and conform to English typographical norms, we have placed the heading at the start of the relevant section.
In closing, we ask forbearance for whatever mistakes and omissions the translation contains.
The Translation
The Chapters on Monastic Discipline
The Chapter on Going Forth
Prologue
Śāriputra
Śāriputra
While the Bodhisattva was dwelling in the Abode of Tuṣita, the King of Aṅga ruled over the lands of Aṅga. Under his rule, the kingdom prospered and thrived, crops were bountiful and the land teemed with animals and people. Meanwhile, King Mahāpadma ruled over the lands of Magadha. Under his rule, the kingdom prospered and thrived, crops were bountiful and the land teemed with animals and people. At times, the King of Aṅga and his armies were dominant. At other times, King Mahāpadma and his armies were dominant.
At a time when the King of Aṅga and his armies were dominant, he called up the four branches of his armed forces—the elephant corps, the cavalry, the charioteer corps, and the infantry—and laid waste to all of Magadha, save Rājagṛha, before returning.
At a time when King Mahāpadma and his armies were dominant, he too called up the four branches of his armed forces—the elephant corps, the cavalry, the charioteer corps, and the infantry—and [F.2.b] laid waste to all of Aṅga, save Campā, before returning.
At yet another time when the King of Aṅga and his armies were dominant, he again called up the four branches of his armed forces—the elephant corps, the cavalry, the charioteer corps, and the infantry—and began again to lay waste to the land of Magadha, prompting the people of Magadha to send a message to King Mahāpadma, saying, “Your Majesty, the King of Aṅga has called up the four branches of his armed forces—the elephant corps, the cavalry, the charioteer corps, and the infantry—and is laying waste to the lands of Magadha.”
When King Mahāpadma heard this, he too called up the four branches of his armed forces—the elephant corps, the cavalry, the charioteer corps, and the infantry—and rode out to meet the King of Aṅga in battle.
The King of Aṅga captured King Mahāpadma’s entire elephant corps and proceeded to capture the whole of his cavalry, charioteer corps, and infantry. Defeated and frightened, destroyed and conquered, King Mahāpadma retreated. Entering Rājagṛha, he closed the gates and shut himself up within the walls of his fortress.
The King of Aṅga sent an envoy to King Mahāpadma with the message, “It would be good were you to come out. If you do not surrender, and instead take flight into the sky above, I will fell you with a volley of arrows. Tunnel beneath the earth and I will yank you up as if with a hook. Flee to the mountaintops, and even there you shall find no escape.”
King Mahāpadma was unsettled by the message he heard.54 Head in hands, he sat and sat, absorbed in thought.55 Then he said to his ministers, “Gentlemen, this King of Aṅga [F.3.a] is belligerent, ruthless, and his military might is great. If he gives an order, how can we not obey?”
They spoke in verse:
They then implored him, “Your Majesty, any way you look at it, you must go out!”
King Mahāpadma hung his sword from his neck in surrender and went out, where the King of Aṅga imposed an annual tribute and tax upon him.
While the blessed Bodhisattva was dwelling in the Abode of Tuṣita, he saw five sights56 and thrice gave notice to the six classes of gods who revel in the desire realm. Assuming an elephant’s appearance, he entered his mother’s womb as the earth shook and this world and all others too were bathed in a vast light more luminous than the glow of the gods of the Thirty-Three. So great was this miraculous manifestation, it was as if the sun and moon shone in the gulf between worlds.57 So great was its strength that darkness everywhere, even the pitch-black darkness of dark places dark from never knowing the light of the sun and moon, was filled with a vast light. Beings born in those places had never even seen so far as their outstretched hands, yet by this light these beings saw one another and exclaimed, “You there! There are others who have been born here! There are others who have been born here!”
At the same time as the blessed Bodhisattva was born, sons were also born to four great kings in four great city-states. In Rājagṛha the son of King Mahāpadma was born. In Śrāvastī the son of King Arāḍa Brahmadatta was born. In Ujjayinī [F.3.b] the son of King Anantanemi was born. In Kauśāmbī the son of King Śatānīka was born.
When the blessed Bodhisattva was born, the entire universe was bathed in a vast light more luminous than the glow of the gods of the Thirty-Three. So great was this miraculous manifestation, it was as if the sun and moon shone in the gulf between worlds. So great was its strength that darkness everywhere, even the pitch-black darkness of dark places dark from never knowing the light of the sun and moon, was filled with a vast light. Beings born in those places had never even seen so far as their outstretched hands, yet by this light these beings saw one another and exclaimed, “You there! There are others who have been born here! There are others who have been born here!”
King Mahāpadma thought, “When my son was born, the world was lit as if by the gold of the rising sun. And as he is the son of Queen Bimbī (Goldie), I shall name this prince Bimbisāra (Essence of Gold).” And so the boy was named Bimbisāra.
King Arāḍa Brahmadatta thought, “When my son was born, the world was lit as if by the light of lights, so I shall name this prince Prasenajit (Supreme Light).” And so the boy was named Prasenajit.
King Śatānīka thought, “When my son was born, the world was lit as if by the rising sun, so I shall name this prince Udayana (Rising).” And so the boy was named Udayana.
King Anantanemi thought, “When my son was born, the world was lit by a brilliant light, so I shall name this prince Pradyota (Brilliant Light).” And so the boy was named Pradyota.
And so each king attributed the light to the birth of his own son. [F.4.a] Though each attributed it to his own son, it was not so. For all that occurred, occurred because of the Bodhisattva.
On the very same day that Prince Bimbisāra was born, five hundred sons of five hundred ministers were also born and were given names appropriate to their patrilineage. [S.2.a]
Prince Bimbisāra was entrusted to eight nursemaids:58 two to cuddle him, two to breastfeed him, two to change his diapers, and two to play with him.59 Fortified with milk, curd, butter, ghee, cream, and other nourishing foods, he grew quickly, shooting up like a lotus in a pond. When he was old enough, he was introduced to letters, number names, calculation, counting by hand, expenditures, revenues, and deposits.60 After he mastered letters, he became skilled in exegesis, reading, knowledge, proper conduct,61 and the way to assess gems, sites, fabrics, woods, elephants, horses, women, and men.
He trained in and mastered those arts and skills needed to be crowned and anointed a kṣatriya king, to attain the might and dedication of a field marshal, and to conquer and occupy the world: riding on the neck of an elephant, riding horseback, charioteering, swordsmanship, archery, advancing, yielding, wielding a hook, throwing a lasso, casting a spear, and how to hold a weapon, march, tie a topknot,62 [F.4.b] slash, quarter, pierce, and strike in five ways—striking from a distance, striking a target using acoustic location, striking a fatal blow, striking without hesitation, and striking forcefully.
These arts and skills were also mastered by the five hundred sons of the five hundred ministers.
Bimbisāra’s father enrolled him in the eighteen guilds, due to which he was named and became known as Bimbisāra of the Guilds.63
Later Prince Bimbisāra ventured into the countryside astride an elephant where he saw the King of Aṅga’s officers collecting tributes and taxes, prompting him to inquire of his men, “Gentlemen, for whom are these tributes and taxes being collected?”
“Your Majesty! For the King of Aṅga.”
“What? Will we be offered tribute?”
“No, Your Majesty, we are the ones to offer the tribute.”
“Gentlemen, summon those officers.”
When the officers were summoned, he said, “Gentlemen, the King of Aṅga has been crowned and anointed a kṣatriya king. If I too have been crowned and anointed a kṣatriya king, why is it you are collecting tributes and taxes here? I forbid you to collect tributes and taxes from this day forth.”
“The prince fails to appreciate the situation,” they thought. “Let us go submit the matter to King Mahāpadma.”
They went to King Mahāpadma and said, “Your Majesty, when we officers of the King of Aṅga were collecting tributes and taxes, Prince Bimbisāra stopped us from doing so. Shall we collect them or not?”
“Gentlemen, the prince doesn’t understand the situation. Continue to collect tributes and taxes as you have done before.”
They [F.5.a] had begun their collection again when Prince Bimbisāra spotted them on their way back from the countryside and said, “Gentlemen, have I not already prohibited you from collecting tributes and taxes? Why are you collecting them again? You are to desist. Fail to desist and I shall close the borders.”
Frightened, they thought, “The prince is dangerous and ruthless. In time he may pose a serious risk to us. We must go warn the King of Aṅga.”
They went before the King of Aṅga and said, “Your Majesty, as officers of the court, we were collecting tributes and taxes on your behalf when King Mahāpadma’s son, Prince Bimbisāra, stopped us. If Your Majesty [S.2.b] ignores the prince’s actions, he may, in time, pose a serious risk to us.”
Then they spoke in verse:
The King of Aṅga sent a letter to King Mahāpadma: “Send Prince Bimbisāra with his sword hung from his neck—or prepare your pyre and shroud, for I myself will come!”
King Mahāpadma heard this letter read and was troubled. Head in hands, he sat and sat, absorbed in thought. Then he summoned Prince Bimbisāra and said, “Son, why did you stop the King of Aṅga’s officers from collecting tributes and taxes? They have sent me a letter expressing their anger.”
“Your Majesty, why do we pay tribute and taxes to him?”
“Son, we are tributaries.”
“If the King of Aṅga has been crowned and anointed a kṣatriya king and we too [F.5.b] have been crowned and anointed kṣatriya kings, why do we offer tribute and taxes to him? Give me an army of just four divisions, Your Majesty, and I will meet the King of Aṅga in battle.”
King Mahāpadma then sent a message to the King of Aṅga, saying, “You had best hope all the power, forces, will, and authority you possess do not fail you!”
The King of Aṅga found this message intolerable and commanded his ministers, “Gentlemen, lay waste to those lands! Call up the four branches of the armed forces.”
Having called up the four branches of the armed forces—the elephant corps, the cavalry, the charioteer corps, and the infantry—they began to lay waste to the land of Magadha. The people of Magadha sent a message to King Mahāpadma, saying, “Your Majesty, the King of Aṅga has called up the four branches of his armed forces—the elephant corps, the cavalry, the charioteer corps, and the infantry—and is laying waste to the lands of Magadha.”
King Mahāpadma was troubled by this news and, head in hands, sat and sat, absorbed in thought. He summoned Prince Bimbisāra and gave him charge over the four branches of the armed forces. Prince Bimbisāra gathered the five hundred ministers’ sons and said, “Gentlemen, what if I were to meet the King of Aṅga in battle? What would you do?”
“Prince, your struggle shall be our struggle!” they responded.
Then they said in verse:
“Whatever Your Majesty’s plight may be, that too shall be ours. Wherever Your Majesty’s foot may fall, there shall we bow our heads.”
The four branches of the armed forces were then called up and they set out from Rājagṛha. When King Mahāpadma, who sat shut up in his upper citadel surrounded by his council, saw them depart, he asked his ministers, “Gentlemen, whose army is this?”
“Your Majesty, it is Prince Bimbisāra’s.”
“Gentlemen! It is awesome to behold!”
Hence, the prince was named and became known as Bimbisāra of the Army. Some knew him as Bimbisāra of the Guilds while some knew him as Bimbisāra of the Army.
Prince Bimbisāra said to the five hundred sons of the ministers, “Gentlemen, this King of Aṅga is belligerent, ruthless, and his military might is great so we cannot meet him in battle. Therefore, we will sneak in, overrun his exposed camp, and kill him while their guard is down and their armor off.”
They overran the King of Aṅga’s exposed camp while their guard was down and their armor off, sneaking up and killing him. The four branches of the King of Aṅga’s armed forces scattered to the four directions. Prince Bimbisāra sent mounted emissaries in the four directions with the message, [S.3.a] “Gentlemen, you have been crowned and anointed kings of kṣatriya and I too have been crowned and anointed a kṣatriya king, so return! Gentlemen, I will support you!”
He whom the King of Aṅga left to defend the city of Campā [F.6.b] heard how the King of Aṅga had been killed, prompting him to close the gates and take cover within the walls of the fortress. When at last Prince Bimbisāra reached Campā, the prince fixed the King of Aṅga’s head onto a long pole and displayed it, saying, “It is I who has brought your lord to this state. Come out immediately and I shall look favorably upon you. Fail to appear and you too will soon find yourself in this state.”
It distressed the steward of Campā to hear this, and he thought of this verse:
With that thought he hung his sword from his neck in surrender and came out.
With the King of Aṅga slain, Campā fell into Prince Bimbisāra’s hands, at which point he sent a message to King Mahāpadma, saying, “Your Majesty, I have slain the King of Aṅga and Campā is now in my hands. Your Majesty, tell me what else needs to be done and I shall see to it.”
Pleased, King Mahāpadma sent Prince Bimbisāra a parasol, a turban, and a coronet with the message, “Son, you must take the reins of power there. I, for my part, will assume the reins of power here.”
And so Prince Bimbisāra assumed the reins of power. Under him, the kingdom prospered and thrived, crops were bountiful and the land teemed with animals and people.
Once King Mahāpadma’s time had come, the ministers of Rājagṛha sent a message to King Bimbisāra, saying, “Your Majesty, your father’s time has come.” In a great coronation ceremony, the ministers of Rājagṛha and Magadha granted him sovereignty over the lands of Aṅga and Magadha.
Under King Bimbisāra’s rule, the kingdoms of Aṅga and Magadha prospered and thrived, crops were bountiful and the land teemed with animals and people. He completely pacified conflict, [F.7.a] aggressors, and enemies from without as well as disturbances from within. He rid the land of brigands, thieves, famine, and illness, and brought a wealth of rice, sugar cane, cattle, and buffalo. Devout, the just king ruled justly.
There was a young brahmin who, desiring and in search of esoteric instruction, left the Middle Country and went to the South. There, in a land not his own, lived a teacher of brahmins who had mastered the Vedas and all branches of Vedic knowledge.64
The young brahmin went to see this teacher of brahmins. Serene, the young brahmin bowed his head calmly and sat off to one side. The brahmin teacher warmly greeted him with words of welcome, and asked, “Young brahmin, where have you come from and what do you desire?”
“I hail from the Middle Country and I seek to serve at the feet of a master.”
“Why?”
“So that I may recite the Vedas.”
“Excellent, my son. You should do just that, for that is a brahmin’s duty.”
And so, the young brahmin began to recite the Vedas with the teacher of brahmins.
The brahmins’ students were in the habit, when not occupied with their studies, of going to the riverbank to bathe, visiting the city, or collecting wood for use in fire pūjas.
Once, when not occupied with their studies, they went to collect wood for fire pūjas. On the way they had the following conversation. “Sons of Kutsa, sons of Vātsa, sons of Śāṇḍili, sons of Bhāradvāja, sons of the Five, sons of the Further Five.65 To begin with, let us share where we come from, from which land we hail.”
“I am from the South,” said another.
“I am from the West.”
“I am from the North.”
The young brahmin then said, “I am from the Middle Country.”
To him they said, [S.3.b] “Sir! We have seen and heard of all those other countries, but have neither seen nor heard of the Middle Country.”
And then they added this verse:
“Young brahmin,” they asked, “what is the Middle Country like?”
“Gentlemen, the Middle Country is the best of all lands, abounding in rice, sugar cane, cattle, and buffalo, thronging with hundreds of honest women and filled with upstanding men, devoid of foreign savages, and guided by learned men. The river Gaṅgā, bountiful, meritorious, auspicious, and clean, flows through this famed land, irrigating both shores. At one point, where sages are known to gather, the river flows through eighteen bends. There, sages seek to bodily rise to the heavens through their practice of austerities.”66
“Young brahmin, having met you, we have another question. Do you have men counted as learned in the Middle Country?”
“Gentlemen, from the first did I not say, ‘Gentlemen, the Middle Country is filled with upstanding men, devoid of foreign savages, and guided by learned men’?”
“Young brahmin, you did say that. Young brahmin, are there any in the Middle Country like our master, the wisest of philosophers?”
“Gentlemen, in the Middle Country, the philosophers are such that our teacher could not even look them in the face, so eloquently do they speak, so wise are they.”
On hearing the young brahmin speak so highly of the Middle Country, [F.8.a] they were moved by the desire to visit it. The young brahmins then went off to collect wood for use in fire pūjas. Bearing their loads of wood, they came to the house in which the teacher of brahmins lived. On arriving, they set their loads of wood off to one side, went to him, and said, “Master, please listen. The young brahmin from the Middle Country speaks so highly of it that we are moved by the desire to visit.”
The brahmin said, “Boys, would you visit every place of which you hear? Since you seem to derive so much pleasure from hearing of other countries, I would suggest you not visit those places you hear about.”
“Master, according to this young brahmin, in the Middle Country the philosophers are such that you, our teacher, could not even look them in the face, so eloquently do they speak, so wise are they.”
“My sons, do I say I am the one and only philosopher on this earth, that there are no other philosophers? After all, since the earth contains many gems, its surface is covered with one beauty after another.”
“We will see that country yet, Master, if only for a short while. We will bathe on the banks of the river, we will serve the wisest of philosophers, we will defeat opponents, we will make a name for ourselves and find our fortune, too. We will go to the Middle Country.”
As the brahmin was attached to his students and his circle of students was small, he said to the young brahmins, “In that case, my sons, let us gather our funds, robes, walking staffs, ladles, funnels, and washing bowls and go to the Middle Country.”67
Having collected their things, the brahmin set off with the young brahmins for the Middle Country. [F.8.b] Along the way, he defeated an opponent in debate, and then bound him to his chariot. He poured ashes from a pot on another’s head. Another steered clear of him like a crow does an archery range. Another received him with parasols, victory banners, and standards. Another made a pledge to become his student. As he went, he vanquished one opponent after another in villages, cities, towns, marketplaces, and hamlets until he reached Rājagṛha. [S.4.a]
The brahmin thought, “Why bother pulling off the branches, petals, and leaves while leaving the root? Since all worthy opponents and anyone counted as learned will be close to the king, it is the king I shall see.”
With that, the brahmin went to see King Bimbisāra. On arriving, he wished King Bimbisāra success and long life, took a place off to one side, and addressed him: “Your Majesty, from my guru I have received a few teachings. And so I seek to settle a matter in debate with an opponent in Your Majesty’s presence.”
The king asked his ministers, “Gentlemen, are there any opponents in my kingdom capable of settling a matter in debate with this brahmin?”
“Your Majesty, in the village of Nālada there is a brahmin known as Māṭhara who has mastered the Vedas and all branches of Vedic knowledge. With blazing intelligence, this capable man illuminates his own assertions and smashes those of others. He has put together a work known as Māṭhara’s Treatise.”
“Summon Master Māṭhara.”
“As you wish, Your Majesty.”
Māṭhara received the summons and went to see King Bimbisāra. On arrival, he wished King Bimbisāra success and [F.9.a] long life then took a place off to one side.
The ministers said, “This is the master, Your Majesty.”
The king greeted him with words of welcome and asked, “Master, can you settle a matter in debate in my presence with this brahmin?”
“I, as a capable man, shall do as the king pleases,” replied Māṭhara.
The king ordered the ministers, “Gentlemen, prepare the debate arena and assign the disputants their roles.”
The ministers prepared the debate arena and assigned the disputants their roles. The ministers then prostrated at the king’s feet and asked, “Your Majesty, who would you have defend a position first?”
“This brahmin is a visitor so have him defend a position first.”
Having been assigned to defend a position first, the brahmin proceeded to recite five hundred stanzas. Māṭhara repeated them and then said, “This position of yours is devoid of logic. It is inconsistent and incoherent.” The brahmin remained silent as Māṭhara pointed out the position’s faults.
That the brahmin had no confidence to respond was damning and among the reasons he was vanquished. The king asked the ministers, “Gentlemen, who won?”
“Māṭhara, Your Majesty.”
This pleased the king, who straightened up, extended his right arm, and proclaimed, “It is a fine discovery for me to find this wisest of philosophers in my kingdom!”
He saluted Māṭhara and asked, “Master, where do you live?”
“Your Majesty, in Nālada.”
“Go, and let that village be your victor’s prize.”68
Māṭhara was thrilled, delighted, and overjoyed. Surrounded by learned men, he returned to his village. And since the world desires success [F.9.b] and distrusts failure, several brahmins pressed their daughters on him in marriage. Māṭhara then took a wife of equal caste and together they sported, made love, and indulged all their desires. The wife with whom he sported, made love, and indulged all desires gave birth to a son with an extraordinarily long torso. Three weeks or twenty-one days after the birth, relatives came and gathered to celebrate his birth in grand style, during which time they chose a name for the boy. The relatives said, “Since this boy has an extraordinarily long torso, he should be named Koṣṭhila (Long Torso).”
The young brahmin was entrusted to eight nursemaids: two to cuddle him, two to breastfeed him, two to change his diapers, and two to play with him.69 Fortified with milk, curd, butter, ghee, cream, and other nourishing foods, he grew quickly, shooting up like a lotus in a pond. When he was old enough, he was introduced to letters, number names, calculation, counting by hand, how to exclude, to add, and to leave,70 and to parse until he had mastered reading. Once he had mastered letters, he was instructed in the ways of brahmins: their conduct, ritual purity, and observances; the handling of ashes, the handling of ritual vases, and the handling of sites; hand gestures, turbans, offering praise, and salutations; the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, the Sāmaveda, and the Atharvaveda; and a brahmin’s six duties—making ritual sacrifices, officiating over ritual sacrifices, studying, teaching, giving, and receiving. He mastered and became learned in the Vedas and all branches of Vedic knowledge, and with his blazing intelligence he could illuminate his own assertions [F.10.a] and vanquish those of others.
The wife with whom Māṭhara sported, made love, and indulged all desires again gave birth, this time to a girl with eyes like a śārī bird. Three weeks or twenty-one days after the birth, relatives came and gathered to celebrate her birth in grand style, during which time they chose a name for the girl. The relatives said, “Since this girl has eyes like a śārī, this girl should be given the name Śārikā.” [S.4.b] The girl Śārikā was nurtured and grew. Her father taught her how to combine letters into words so she became proficient in reading.
Later, when the young brahmin Koṣṭhila was debating Śārikā, Śārikā vanquished him and their father said to Koṣṭhila, “Son, if you are a male, how has a female vanquished you? Once I’m gone, the spoils I’ve won in debate will be taken away.”
At that the young brahmin Koṣṭhila, desiring and in search of esoteric instruction, set off from the Middle Country for the South.
There, in a country not his own, lived a brahmin named Tiṣya who was learned in Lokāyata philosophy,71 a teacher of brahmins and a master of the Vedas and all branches of Vedic knowledge.
Koṣṭhila went to see the brahmin Tiṣya. Serene, the young brahmin Koṣṭhila bowed at Tiṣya’s feet and sat off to one side.
Tiṣya warmly greeted Koṣṭhila with words of welcome, asking, “Young brahmin, where have you come from and what do you desire?”
“I hail from the Middle Country and I seek to serve at the feet of the master.”
“Why?”
“So that I may uphold the Lokāyata philosophy.”
“Excellent, my son. You should do just that, for that is a brahmin’s duty.”
And so, the young brahmin Koṣṭhila began to study Lokāyata philosophy in the presence of the brahmin Tiṣya. [F.10.b] The brahmins’ students were in the habit, when not occupied with their studies, of going to the riverbank to bathe, visiting the city, or collecting wood for use in fire pūjas.72
Once, when not occupied with their studies, they went to collect wood for fire pūjas. On the way they had the following conversation. “Sons of Kutsa, sons of Vātsa, sons of Śāṇḍili, sons of Bhāradvāja, sons of the Five, sons of the Further Five.73 To begin with, let us share where we come from, from which land we hail.”
“I am from the East,” one young brahmin responded.
“I am from the South,” said another.
“I am from the West.”
“I am from the North.”
The young brahmin then said, “I am from the Middle Country.”
To him they said, “Sir! We have seen and heard of all those other countries, but have neither seen nor heard of the Middle Country.”
And then they added this verse:
“Young brahmin,” they asked, “what is the Middle Country like?”
“Gentlemen, the Middle Country is the best of all lands, abounding in rice, sugar cane, cattle, and buffalo, thronging with hundreds of honest women and filled with upstanding men, devoid of foreign savages, and guided by learned men. The river Gaṅgā, bountiful, meritorious, auspicious, and clean, flows through this famed land, irrigating both shores. At one point, where sages are known to gather, the river flows through eighteen bends. There, sages seek to bodily rise to the heavens through their practice of austerities.”74
“Young brahmin, [F.11.a] having met you, we have another question. Do you have men counted as learned in the Middle Country?”
“Gentlemen, from the first did I not say, ‘Gentlemen, the Middle Country is filled with upstanding men, devoid of foreign savages, and guided by learned men’?”
“Young brahmin, you did say that. Young brahmin, are there any in the Middle Country like our master, the wisest of philosophers?”
“Gentlemen, in the Middle Country, the philosophers are such that our teacher could not even look them in the face, so eloquently do they speak, so wise are they.”
On hearing the young brahmin speak so highly of the Middle Country, they were moved by the desire to visit it. The young brahmins then went off to collect wood for use in fire pūjas. Bearing their loads of wood, they came to the house in which the teacher of brahmins lived. On arriving, they set their loads of wood off to one side, went to him, and said, “Master, please listen. The young brahmin from the Middle Country speaks so highly of it that we are moved by the desire to visit.”
The brahmin Tiṣya said, “Boys, would you visit every place of which you hear? Since you seem to derive so much pleasure from hearing of other countries, I would suggest you not visit those places you hear about.”
“Master, according to this young brahmin, in the Middle Country the philosophers are such that you, our teacher, could not even look them in the face, so eloquently do they speak, so wise are they.”
“My sons, do I say I am the one and only philosopher on this earth, that there are no other philosophers? After all, since the earth contains many gems, its surface is covered with one beauty after another.” [F.11.b]
“We will see that country yet, Master, if only for a short while. We will bathe on the banks of the river, we will serve the wisest of philosophers, we will defeat opponents, we will make a name for ourselves and find our fortune, too. We will go to the Middle Country.”
As the brahmin was attached to his students and his circle of students was small, he said to the young brahmins, “In that case, my sons, let us gather our funds, robes, walking staffs, ladles, funnels, and washing bowls and go to the Middle Country.”75
Having collected their things, the brahmin set off with the young brahmins for the Middle Country. Along the way, he defeated an opponent in debate, and then bound him to his chariot. He poured ashes from a pot on another’s head. Another steered clear of him like a crow does an archery range. Another received him with parasols, victory banners, and standards. Another made a pledge to become his student. As he went, he vanquished one opponent after another in villages, cities, towns, marketplaces, and hamlets until he reached Rājagṛha.
The brahmin Tiṣya thought, “Why bother pulling off the branches, petals, and leaves while leaving the root? Since all worthy opponents and anyone counted as learned will be close to the king, it is the king I shall see.” [S.5.a.6]
In time the brahmin Tiṣya went to see King Bimbisāra. On arriving, he wished the king success and long life, took a place off to one side, and addressed him: “Your Majesty, from my guru I have received a few teachings. And so [F.12.a] I seek to settle a matter in debate with an opponent in Your Majesty’s presence.”
The king asked the ministers, “Gentlemen, where is Master Māṭhara?”
“In Nālada, Your Majesty.”
“Summon Master Māṭhara.”
“As you wish, Your Majesty.”
On receiving the summons, Māṭhara went to see King Bimbisāra. On arrival, he wished the king success and long life then took a place off to one side.
The ministers said, “This is the master, Your Majesty.”
The king greeted him with words of welcome and asked, “Master, can you settle a matter in debate in my presence with this brahmin Tiṣya?”
“I, as a capable man, shall do as the king pleases,” replied Māṭhara.
The king ordered the ministers, “Gentlemen, prepare the debate arena and assign the disputants their roles.”
The ministers prepared the debate arena and assigned the disputants their roles. The ministers then prostrated at the king’s feet and asked, “Your Majesty, who would you have defend a position first?”
“The brahmin Tiṣya is a visitor so have him defend a position first.”
“Your Majesty,” said he brahmin Tiṣya, “as the brahmin Māṭhara is the elder, I ask that you have him defend a position first.”
The brahmin Māṭhara thought, “This brahmin Tiṣya is clearly acquainted with new treatises so I cannot debate him on them. I shall focus on an old text.” And with that he recited five hundred stanzas.
The brahmin Tiṣya repeated them and [S.5.b] then declared, “This position of yours is devoid of logic. It is inconsistent and incoherent.” The other brahmin remained silent as Tiṣya pointed out the text’s faults. [F.12.b]
That Māṭhara had no confidence to respond76 was damning and among the reasons he was vanquished. The king asked the ministers, “Gentlemen, who won?”
“The brahmin Tiṣya, Your Majesty.”
“Gentlemen, give the brahmin Tiṣya a victor’s prize.”
“Your Majesty,” they replied, “if you give a prize to everyone who wins a debate, before long your lands of Aṅga and Magadha will themselves be victors’ prizes. Therefore make the village of Nālada the standard victor’s prize. Take it from the brahmin Māṭhara and give it to this brahmin. And if any other should best Tiṣya, then award it to the victor.”
“Gentlemen,” said the king, “that is what I shall do.”
The village was then taken from the brahmin Māṭhara and given to the brahmin Tiṣya. The brahmin Māṭhara thought, “Though I have done much for this king, he has not taken care of me. I shall go elsewhere.”
He said to his wife, “Noble lady, though I have done much for this king, he has not taken care of me. I shall go elsewhere. So pack up our household.”
With that they began packing up their household. When their relatives heard that the master Māṭhara was leaving, they went to see him and asked, “Master, why are you packing up your household?”
“Gentlemen, though I have done much for this king, he has not taken care of me. Therefore, I shall go elsewhere.”
“Master, do not leave for other parts. Remain for a while, at your leisure, in the home of your relatives.”
Māṭhara replied in verse:
When the brahmin Tiṣya heard that the master Māṭhara was to leave, he went to him and said, “I have come only for a short time77 and before long am certain to go. Let this remain your victor’s prize. Do not leave, you must stay.”
Māṭhara replied, “I intend to leave, young brahmin.”
“Master, if that is how you feel, you should keep half of this village and I shall keep claim to the other half.”
Māṭhara thought, “Though I have done much for this king, he has not taken care of me. Yet out of consideration for me, this brahmin Tiṣya has offered to share our prize––a most beneficial arrangement. I will give Śārikā to him as a wife.”
Māṭhara then said to his wife, “Noble lady, though I have done much for this king, he has not taken care of me. Yet out of consideration for me, this brahmin Tiṣya has offered to share our prize––a most beneficial arrangement. I shall give Śārikā to him as a wife. Call our son, Koṣṭhila.”
His parents summoned Koṣṭhila and said, “Son, though we have done much for this king, he has not taken care of us. Yet, out of consideration for me, this brahmin Tiṣya has offered to share our prize––a most beneficial arrangement. I shall give Śārikā to him as a wife.”
Koṣṭhila replied, “Father! Mother! How could I accept this enemy into our family? Hasn’t he robbed78 us of our livelihood? Anyone else in our position would try to take his life. If he has robbed us so, why would you give Śārikā to him in marriage?”
His parents [F.13.b] said, “Fool! What do you know?” Ignoring what he said, they gave Śārikā to the brahmin Tiṣya as a wife. In a lavish ceremony, Tiṣya took Śārikā as his bride.
The young brahmin Koṣṭhila thought, “This insult is all due to my lack of learning.” He thought, “What does the brahmin Tiṣya know? He knows Lokāyata philosophy.”
He asked around, “Gentlemen, where is the Lokāyata philosophy known?”
“In the South,” he was told.
He set out on the journey for the South to learn Lokāyata philosophy. On arrival, he inquired, “Gentlemen, who knows the Lokāyata philosophy?”
“The wanderers.”
He went to them and said, “I seek to serve you, gentlemen.”
“Why?”
“So that I may grasp the Lokāyata philosophy.”
“We do not teach Lokāyata philosophy to householders.”
“In that case, I shall go forth.”
After they allowed his going forth, he said, [S.6.a] “So long as I uphold the Lokāyata philosophy, I will not cut my fingernails.” So he let his fingernails grow extraordinarily long and for this he became known as the wanderer Dīrghanakha (He who has Long Fingernails).
When Śārikā challenged her husband Tiṣya, he vanquished her. Later, as Tiṣya and Śārikā sported, made love, and indulged all their desires, a sentient being in search of his final rebirth, who had grasped the essence of liberation, who had turned to nirvāṇa and away from saṃsāra, who had seen that all births end in death, who did not seek to be reborn, and who was to take his last body, died and passed from the lofty heights of a god and entered Śārikā’s womb.
Śārikā dreamed that a man carrying a torch [F.14.a] rent and entered her belly. She climbed to a mountain peak. She moved through the sky above. An assembly of great men prostrated to her. She then told Tiṣya about her dream. Though Tiṣya was expert at interpreting dreams and omens, he consulted other brahmins who interpreted them. “What does it portend,” he asked, “if my brahmin wife has had such a dream?”
They replied, “Master, that is an excellent portent. Her statement, ‘A man carrying a torch rent and entered my belly,’ indicates a son will be born. It portends that, after twice eight years, he will have studied the Aindra school of grammar79 and will vanquish all opponents. She said, ‘I climbed to a mountain peak. I moved through the sky above. An assembly of great men prostrated to me.’ These statements indicate her son will go forth and become a great saint who perfects his vow.”
The next time Tiṣya and Śārikā engaged in debate, Śārikā vanquished him, making him wonder, “If I have vanquished her in the past, what now has allowed her to vanquish me?”
He thought, “It is because of the being who has entered her womb.”
After eight or nine months, a boy was born, well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, handsome, radiant, with a golden complexion, a head shaped well like a parasol, long arms, a broad forehead,80 eyebrows that met, and a prominent nose.
After his birth, Śārikā said to Tiṣya, “If we present this brahmin boy to his grandfather, he will give him a name.”
They took him to his grandfather Māṭhara, who [F.14.b] thought about what he should name the baby boy. “This brahmin boy is the son of the brahmin Tiṣya so I shall name this brahmin boy Upatiṣya.” And with that he named him Upatiṣya (Tiṣya’s Heir).
Tiṣya said, “His grandfather thought of a name for this brahmin boy and chose Upatiṣya.”
He thought, “His grandfather has named this brahmin boy after his father so I shall name him after his mother. Since this brahmin boy is the son of his mother Śārikā, I shall name him Śāriputra.” And with that he was named Śāriputra (Śārikā’s Son).
It was thus that the young brahmin was known to some as Śāriputra, while to others he was known as Upatiṣya.
Upatiṣya was entrusted to eight nursemaids: two to cuddle him, two to breastfeed him, two to change his diapers, and two to play with him.81 Fortified with milk, curd, butter, ghee, cream, [S.6.b] and other nourishing foods, he grew quickly, shooting up like a lotus in a pond. When he was old enough, he was introduced to letters, number names, calculation, counting by hand, and how to exclude, to add, to leave, and to parse until he had mastered reading. He was then instructed in the ways of brahmins: their conduct, ritual purity, and observances; the handling of ashes, the handling of ritual vases, and the handling of sites; hand gestures, turbans, offering praise, and salutations; the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, the Sāmaveda, and the Atharvaveda; and a brahmin’s six duties—making ritual sacrifices, officiating over ritual sacrifices, studying, teaching, [F.15.a] giving, and receiving. He mastered and became learned in the Vedas and all branches of Vedic knowledge, and with his blazing intelligence he could illuminate his own assertions and vanquish those of others.
His father made him study all fields of knowledge, and thus by the age of sixteen he had studied the Aindra school of grammar and could vanquish all opponents.
At another time when he was reciting the Vedas with his father, he asked, “Father, what is the meaning of this statement?”
“Son, even I do not know the meaning of this statement. But these rudiments of mantra82 have been praised, proclaimed, and correctly applied by past sages. Nowadays brahmins simply recite and repeat them.”
“Father, do you think there is no meaning to these rudiments of mantra, which have been praised, proclaimed, and correctly applied by past sages, but nowadays are simply recited and repeated by brahmins? This is what such statements mean,” and he proceeded to explain.
Tiṣya was delighted and in his delight thought, “This is what a son should do: he should carry on his father’s tradition or develop his insight even further. Were he to accomplish only this, this brahmin boy’s insight would surpass my own.”
He shared this insight with the five hundred young brahmins he was teaching to recite brahminic mantras and they too were delighted and happily turned to Upatiṣya. When the young brahmin Upatiṣya taught the five hundred young brahmins to recite brahminic mantras, he summarized the longer Vedas, abridging their words and phrases, and expanded on the shorter Vedas, explaining their meaning and etymologies. [B2]
In the village of Kāṣṭhavāṭa, there lived a royal priest [F.15.b] named Potalaka who was wealthy with many riches and goods, with holdings both vast and extensive, with riches to rival Vaiśravaṇa. He took a wife of equal caste and with her sported, made love, and indulged all his desires. After their sporting, lovemaking and the indulgence of all their desires resulted in no child, male or female, the childless couple, badly wanting a child, propitiated Śiva, Varuṇa, Kubera, Śakra, Brahmā, and others. Among the different gods were gods of park shrines, gods of the forest, gods of crossroads, gods of intersections, gods who take votive offerings, birth totem gods, gods who adhere to the Dharma, and gods who always shadow you.
There is a saying, “Boys and girls are born in the world because they are prayed for.” But that is not so, for if it were, then each and every man would have a thousand sons, as do the kings of the world. Rather, boys and girls are born when three circumstances are present. What are those three? The mother and father feel desire and couple; it is the right time and the mother is ovulating; and a spirit is near and wants to be reborn. And so it is that boys and girls are born when those three circumstances are present.83
As Potalaka sat engrossed in prayer, a being in search of his final rebirth, who had grasped the essence of liberation, who had turned to nirvāṇa and away from saṃsāra, who had seen that all births end in death, who did not seek to be reborn, and who was to take his last body, died and passed from the lofty heights of a god and entered his wife’s womb.
Certain women, endowed with natural intelligence, have five unique qualities. What are the five? [F.16.a] They know when a man feels desire and when he does not; they know when the time comes and when they are ovulating; they know when they have conceived; they know whence the conceived child came; and they know whether it is a boy or a girl. If it is a boy, he lies with his head to the right side of the womb. If it is a girl, she lies with her head to the left side of the womb.
Delighted, Potalaka’s wife joyfully told her husband, “Son of a lord! I am with child! And as it lies with its head to the right side of my womb, it is sure to be a boy, so pray be happy!”
Potalaka too was delighted. He sat straight up, raised his right hand, and exclaimed with great joy, “At last, I shall look on the face of the son I have wanted for so long! May we get along and not disagree. May he carry on my work and, having been nurtured, nurture in return. May he enjoy his inheritance and ensure that my line lasts long. When our time comes and we die, may he make the appropriate offerings, neither too few nor too many. And may he dedicate the merit he thus accrues to us by name, saying, ‘May this merit follow the two of them wherever they be born, wherever they go.’ ”
Knowing she was with child, to ensure she carried the child to term he installed his wife on the top story of their mansion where he saw that she was tended to and did not come to harm. When it was cold, she was given what she needed for the cold. When it was hot, she was given what she needed for the heat. On the doctor’s advice, her food was not to be too bitter, too sour, too salty, too sweet, too spicy, or too astringent; and so she was given food that was not bitter, sour, salty, sweet, spicy, or astringent. Her body was festooned in garlands, necklaces, and jewelry, like a goddess at play in a pleasure garden. [F.16.b] She moved from bed to throne, from pedestal to pedestal, the soles of her feet never touching the floor, and she never heard anything even slightly unpleasant. [S.7.a]
After eight or nine months had passed, a boy was born, well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, handsome, radiant, with a golden complexion, a head shaped well like a parasol, long arms, a broad forehead, eyebrows that met, and a prominent nose. Three weeks or twenty-one days after the birth, relatives came and gathered to celebrate his birth in grand style, during which time they chose a name for the boy. As this boy had come to them from the lap of the gods, they thought the young brahmin should be named Kolita (Born from the Lap), and so he was named Kolita.
Also, because he was a descendent of Mudgala, they thought the young brahmin should be named Maudgalyāyana (Son of Mudgala’s descendants), and so he was named Maudgalyāyana.
Thus it was that some knew the young brahmin as Maudgalyāyana while others knew him as Kolita.
The young brahmin Kolita was entrusted to eight nursemaids: two to cuddle him, two to breastfeed him, two to change his diapers, and two to play with him.84 Fortified with milk, curd, butter, ghee, cream, and other nourishing foods, he grew quickly, shooting up like a lotus in a pond. When he was old enough, he was introduced to letters, number names, calculation, counting by hand, and how to exclude, to add, to leave, and to parse. Once he had mastered letters, he was instructed in the ways of brahmins: their conduct, ritual purity, and observances; [F.17.a] the handling of ashes, the handling of ritual vases, and the handling of sites; hand gestures, turbans, offering praise, and salutations; the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, the Sāmaveda, and the Atharvaveda; and a brahmin’s six duties—making ritual sacrifices, officiating over ritual sacrifices, studying, teaching, giving, and receiving. He mastered and became learned in the Vedas and all branches of Vedic knowledge, and with his blazing intelligence, he could illuminate his own assertions and vanquish those of others.
His father made him study all fields of knowledge. Once, when he was reciting the Vedas with his father, he asked, “Father, what does this statement mean?”
“Son, even I don’t know the meaning of this statement. Sages of the past praised, proclaimed, and correctly applied these rudiments of mantra but nowadays brahmins simply recite and repeat them.”
“Father, do you think there is no meaning to these rudiments of mantra, which have been praised, proclaimed, and correctly applied by past sages, but nowadays are simply recited and repeated by brahmins? This is what such statements mean,” and he proceeded to explain.
Potalaka was delighted and in his delight thought, “This is what a son should do: he should carry on his father’s tradition or develop his insight even further. Were he to accomplish only that, this brahmin boy’s insight would surpass my own.”
Potalaka shared this insight with the five hundred young brahmins he was teaching to recite brahminic mantras and they too were delighted and happily turned to Maudgalyāyana. The young brahmin Maudgalyāyana then taught the five hundred young brahmins to recite the brahminic mantras.
The five hundred young brahmins were in the habit, [F.17.b] when not occupied with their studies, of going to the riverbank to bathe, visiting the city, or collecting wood for use in fire pūjas.
Once, when not occupied with their studies, the students of the young brahmin Upatiṣya walked, reciting mantras on their way to the city. Meanwhile, trailing behind, the students of the young brahmin Maudgalyāyana walked, reciting mantras on their way to the city. When the students of the young brahmin Maudgalyāyana heard the students of the young brahmin Upatiṣya reciting the rudiments of mantra, they asked, “Why do you recite the rudiments of mantra in such a debased way?”
“How should they be recited?”
“The rudiments of mantra should be recited as we do.”
“From whom did you learn these rudiments of mantra?”
“Not to know him is not to know the sun or the moon. In the village of Nālada lives the brahmin Tiṣya. We have learned them from his son, the young brahmin Upatiṣya. And from whom did you learn these rudiments of mantra?”
“Not to know him is not to know the sun or the moon. In the village of Kāṣṭhavāṭa, there lives a royal priest named Potalaka. We have learned them from his son, the young brahmin Kolita.”
With that, the young brahmin students of Upatiṣya became dispirited, upset, and daunted. They went to Upatiṣya, who saw them off in the distance and asked, “What troubles you, young brahmins? Your master is never wrong.”
Then he spoke in verse: [F.18.a]
“Young brahmins, clearly something troubles you.”
After they explained the situation at length, Upatiṣya said, “Young brahmins, allow me to explain. Although the rudiments of mantra should be recited in the manner those young brahmins recite them, I have summarized the longer Vedas, abridging their words and phrases, and expanded on the shorter Vedas, explaining their meaning and etymologies.”
The students of Kolita had also become dispirited, upset, and daunted. They went to Kolita, who too, on seeing them off in the distance, asked, “What troubles you, young brahmins? Your master is never wrong.”
He too then spoke the verse:
“Young brahmins, clearly something troubles you.” [S.7.b]
After they explained the situation at length, he said, “Young brahmins, allow me to explain. Although the rudiments of mantra should be recited in the manner we have recited them, that young brahmin Upatiṣya is wise for he has he summarized the longer Vedas, abridging their words and phrases, and expanded on the shorter Vedas, explaining their meaning and etymologies.”
On hearing of the other, both Kolita and Upatiṣya formed a singular desire to meet the other. Upatiṣya went to his father and said, “Father, I [F.18.b] wish to visit the village of Kāṣṭhavāṭa, for there lives a royal priest named Potalaka whose son is called Kolita. I shall go to see him.”
“Son, is he wiser than you?”
“Father, he is not wiser than I. It is rather that he is wealthier.”
His father replied:
“Son, if he should come here you should share your learning but you mustn’t go to him.”
Kolita also went to his father and said, “Father, I wish to visit the village of Nālada, for there lives a brahmin Tiṣya whose son is called Upatiṣya. I shall go to see him.”
“Son, is he wealthier than you?”
“Father, he is not wealthier than I. It is rather that he is wiser.”
His father replied:
“Son, if he should come here you should share your riches but you mustn’t go to him.”
Some time later, in Rājagṛha, the feast day of the nāga kings Giri and Valguka approached. As the day neared, King Bimbisāra wondered whether he should join in the festivities himself, as was his wont, or send Prince Ajātaśatru in his stead.
A short time later, a small task came up, prompting King Bimbisāra to say to Prince Ajātaśatru, “Son, go and join in the festivities for the nāga kings Giri and Valguka.”
When the brahmin Potalaka heard that King Bimbisāra [F.19.a] had sent Prince Ajātaśatru to join in the festivities for the nāga kings Giri and Valguka, he thought, “Prince Ajātaśatru will become king once his father dies and Kolita will become royal priest when I die. Thus their acquaintance will in time bear fruit.”
He said to Kolita, “Son, go join the festivities for the nāga kings Giri and Valguka. There, they will have arranged four seats, one for the king, one for the royal priest, one for the challenger, and one for the reigning champion. Leave the king’s seat be, and take your place in the royal priest’s seat.”
On arriving, he left the king’s seat be and sat on the royal priest’s seat.
When the brahmin Tiṣya heard that King Bimbisāra had sent Prince Ajātaśatru to join in the festivities for the nāga kings Giri and Valguka, he too said to Upatiṣya, “Son, go join the festivities for the nāga kings Giri and Valguka. There, they will have arranged four seats, one for the king, one for the royal priest, one for the challenger, and one for the reigning champion. Leave the king’s seat and the royal priest’s seat be, but place a small stick and vase on the reigning champion’s seat before sitting down on the challenger’s seat. From the time the sun rises to the time it sets, there shall be no challenger to equal you.”
When Upatiṣya arrived, he passed the king’s and the royal priest’s seats, placed a small stick and vase on the seat for the reigning champion, and sat down on the challenger’s seat. When the music began, the dancers sang in Toṭaka meter.85 The people began to dance [F.19.b] and sing, while the two young brahmins sat in repose. When the assembled crowd saw this, they exclaimed, “Either those two young brahmins are fools or they’re unflappable!”
As the music wound down and the people went off dancing and singing, Kolita asked Upatiṣya, “Did it seem to you that the dances were well danced, the songs well sung, and the music well played?”
Upatiṣya replied, “It seemed so to those who saw and heard them.”
“If it is true that those who withdraw into repose do not see, how then do they not hear?” asked Kolita.
Upatiṣya replied in verse:
Kolita asked, “Are you Upatiṣya?”
“People know me thus.”
“And you?” Upatiṣya asked Kolita. “Did it seem to you that the dances were well danced, the songs well sung, and the music well played?” [S.8.a.5] 86
“It seemed so to those who saw and heard them.”
“If it is true that those who withdraw into repose do not see, how then do they not hear?”
Kolita replied in verse:
Upatiṣya asked, “Are you Kolita?”
“People know me thus.”
Upatiṣya said to Kolita, “Come, join me. As we have faith in only what is perfect, let us go forth from home into homelessness.”
“Young brahmin,” replied Kolita, [F.20.a] “the royal priesthood, for which I have made offerings to the gods, performed fire pūja, and suffered through austerities, is within reach. Having been born into a caste borne about by elephants, why would I renounce it?”
Upatiṣya recited a verse:
He enjoined Kolita again, “Come, join me. As we have faith in only what is perfect, let us go forth from home into homelessness.”
“I must first consult my parents,” replied Kolita.
The young brahmin Kolita went to his parents and said, “Father, Mother, please listen. As I have faith in only what is perfect, I shall go forth from home into homelessness.”
“Son, the royal priesthood, for which you have made offerings to the gods, performed fire pūja, and suffered through austerities, is within reach. Having been born into a caste borne about by elephants, why would you renounce it?”
Kolita spoke in verse:
His parents replied, “Son, you are our only boy, beloved, handsome, patient, and agreeable to the eye. Even if you were to die, we would fight to keep you with us. [S.8.b] Why, then, do you think we’d let you go while you’re still alive?”
“Father, Mother, it is best you let me go. For if you do not, from this day forth, I shall neither eat your food nor honor you.”
“Dear boy, we will not let you leave. So long as we live, you will remain within sight. Do not think of disobeying!” [F.20.b]
Kolita refused food for one day, then for a second, and for a third until the sixth day. At that point Kolita’s parents went to him and said, “Dear boy, please listen. You are very young and have lived a life of leisure, and you do not know what it is to suffer. It is hard to live the holy life. It is hard to live in solitude. It is hard to be happy all on your own. It is hard to make your bed in distant forests, at the foot of mountains, and in remote places. Living alone in the wilderness is very trying. You will have to spend the rest of your life living among wild animals. You will have to spend the rest of your life living on others’ handouts. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from human pleasures. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from the fun and games of ordinary people. Dear boy! Kolita! Come home. There is pleasure to be had while living here, too. Here, too, you may give generously. Here, too, you may act meritoriously.”
Despite their pleading, Kolita remained silent. Kolita’s parents again entreated him, a second and a third time, saying each time, “Dear boy, please listen. You are very young and have lived a life of leisure, and you do not know what it is to suffer. It is hard to live the holy life. It is hard to live in solitude. It is hard to be happy all on your own. It is hard to make your bed in distant forests, at the foot of mountains, and in remote places. Living alone in the wilderness is very trying. [F.21.a] You will have to spend the rest of your life living among wild animals. You will have to spend the rest of your life living on others’ handouts. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from human pleasures. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from the fun and games of ordinary people. Dear boy! Kolita! Come home. There is pleasure to be had while living here, too. Here, too, you may give generously. Here, too, you may act meritoriously.”
Yet though they thus entreated him a second and a third time, Kolita remained silent.
Kolita’s parents then enjoined his relatives, “Family! Come! Talk sense into our dear boy Kolita.”
At this, Kolita’s relatives went to him and said, “Dear boy, please listen. You are very young and have lived a life of leisure and don’t know what it is to suffer. It is hard to live the holy life. It is hard to live in solitude. It is hard to be happy all on your own. It is hard to make your bed in distant forests, at the foot of mountains, and in remote places. Living alone in the wilderness is very trying. You will have to spend the rest of your life living among wild animals. You will have to spend the rest of your life living on others’ handouts. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from human pleasures. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from the fun and games of ordinary people. Dear boy, Kolita, come home! Among your relatives, [F.21.b] there is pleasure to be had while living there too. There too you may give generously. There too you may act meritoriously.”
Despite their pleading, Kolita did not say a thing. Kolita’s relatives again entreated him, a second and a third time, saying each time, “Dear boy, please listen. You are very young and have lived a life of leisure, and you do not know what it is to suffer. It is hard to live the holy life. It is hard to live in solitude. It is hard to be happy all on your own. It is hard to make your bed in distant forests, at the foot of mountains, and in remote places. Living alone in the wilderness is very trying. You will have to spend the rest of your life living among wild animals. You will have to spend the rest of your life living on others’ handouts. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from human pleasures. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from the fun and games of ordinary people. Dear boy! Kolita! Come home. Among your relatives, there is pleasure to be had while living there, too. There, too, you may give generously. There, too, you may act meritoriously.”
Yet though they thus pleaded with him a second time and a third time, Kolita still remained silent.
Kolita’s parents then enjoined his childhood friends, “You must come! Talk sense into our dear boy Kolita.”
At this, the young brahmin Kolita’s childhood friends went to him and said, “Dear boy, listen. You are very young and have lived a life of leisure and do not know what it is to suffer. [F.22.a] It is hard to live the holy life. It is hard to live in solitude. It is hard to be happy all on your own. It is hard to make your bed in distant forests, at the foot of mountains, and in remote places. Living alone in the wilderness is very trying. You will have to spend the rest of your life living among wild animals. You will have to spend the rest of your life living on others’ handouts. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from human pleasures. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from the fun and games of ordinary people. Dear boy! Kolita! Come home. There is also pleasure to be had while living among your relatives. There too you may give generously. There too you may act meritoriously.”
Yet though they thus entreated him, Kolita remained silent. His childhood friends again entreated Kolita a second and a third time, saying each time, “Dear boy, please listen. You are very young and have lived a life of leisure, and you do not know what it is to suffer. It is hard to live the holy life. It is hard to live in solitude. It is hard to be happy all on your own. It is hard to make your bed in distant forests, at the foot of mountains, and in remote places. Living alone in the wilderness is very trying. You will have to spend the rest of your life living among wild animals. You will have to spend the rest of your life living on others’ handouts. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from human pleasures. You will have to spend the rest of your life away from the fun and games of ordinary people. Dear boy! [F.22.b] Kolita! Come home. Among your relatives, there is pleasure to be had while living there, too. There, too, you may give generously. There, too, you may act meritoriously.”
Yet though they thus entreated him a second and a third time, Kolita still remained silent. Kolita’s childhood friends then went to his parents and said, “Father, Mother, please listen. What good can come from the death of the serene youth Kolita? The wise have praised going forth, so if going forth makes him happy, then at least you will see him alive. If he isn’t happy, he can always give up the life of a sage. And since he will have no home but yours, it is better that you let him go forth.”
Kolita’s parents then asked Kolita, “Dear boy, Kolita, [S.9.a] do you think it better to go forth than to remain at home?”
“Father, Mother, it is not good for me to live at home. It is good for me to go forth.”
“Well then, dear boy, Kolita, know that the time for such a change has come.”
Having obtained his parents’ consent, the young brahmin Kolita slowly regained his strength, vigor, and determination by drinking rice gruel. He left the village of Kāṣṭhavāṭa and set out for the village of Nālada.
As the young brahmin Upatiṣya enjoyed solitude, he had gone to live in the forest, where he gave instruction to five hundred young brahmins in the reciting of mantras. In time, the young brahmin Kolita reached the village of Nālada and asked Upatiṣya’s parents, [F.23.a] “Father, Mother, where is Upatiṣya?”
They replied, “Upatiṣya enjoys solitude so he has gone to live in the forest, where he instructs five hundred young brahmins in the reciting of mantras.”
Kolita went to Upatiṣya and said, “Come, join me, Upatiṣya. As we have faith in only what is perfect, we shall go forth from home into the homelessness.”
“Did your parents give their consent?”
“They did.”
“Young brahmin, please stay until I have asked my parents.”
“Upatiṣya, it took a long time for my parents to give their consent. How long will it be until you have consent?”
“Young brahmin, I will see that they give their consent right away and return.”
Upatiṣya went to his parents and said, “Father, Mother, please listen. As I have faith in only what is perfect, I shall go forth from home into homelessness.”
“Son, is it good for you to go forth?”
“Father, Mother, it is good for me to go forth.”
“Then go forth, son.”
Upatiṣya went to Kolita and said, “Come, Kolita. As we have faith in only what is perfect, we shall go forth from home into homelessness.”
“Did your parents give their consent?”
“They did.”
“Upatiṣya, it took a long time for my parents to give their consent. How did you get the consent of yours so quickly?”
“Allow me to explain. You were hindered by heavy bindings, tight, secure, and imperishable, while I was hindered by light bindings, powerless, weak, and perishable.” [F.23.b]
The venerable Śāriputra had gone forth in five hundred previous lives because he had made this prayer:
Kolita said to Upatiṣya, “Young brahmin, as we are well-known brahmins, we cannot join just any renunciant order. We must properly scrutinize the different renunciant orders and only then join one.”
With that they made their way to Rājagṛha.
Meanwhile there were six tīrthika teachers living in Rājagṛha who entertained the conceit of omniscience although they were not omniscient: Pūraṇa Kāśyapa; [S.9.b] Gośālīputra, the wanderer; Sañjayin, son of Vairaṭṭī; Ajita of the hair shawl; Kakuda, a descendant of Kātyāyana; and Jñātiputra, the Nirgrantha.
The young brahmins Upatiṣya and Kolita went to Pūraṇa Kāśyapa and asked him, “Sir, what is your approach to the Dharma? What instructions do you give to your students? What is the result of living a holy life? What are its benefits?”
“Young brahmins,” replied Pūraṇa, “this is how I see it and this is my philosophy: There is nothing to alms, oblations, ritual sacrifices, good deeds, or bad deeds. There are no results or fruitions from performing good deeds or bad deeds. There is no present life. There is no afterlife. There is no mother. There is no father. Sentient beings are not born miraculously.87 In the world [F.24.a] there are no arhats who have reached perfection, who have entered perfection, who can knowingly say that through their heightened insight they have seen this and future lives, and proclaim, ‘We have overcome birth. We have lived the holy life. We have done what needed to be done. We will know no life other than this.’ One’s life-force persists for the duration of this life but is annihilated after that. It will perish and after death will not arise again. A person’s body is forged from the four great elements, for once its time is up, the body’s solid structures recede88 into earth, the body’s fluids recede into water, the body’s heat recedes into fire, and the body’s vital energies recede into wind. The senses fade into space. A person’s corpse is borne on a bier carried by four men and taken to the charnel ground where it is burned, never to be seen again. What burns turns to ash. The bones turn a pigeon-like grey. Those who are confused about these things counsel giving, while the wise counsel taking. Those who argue that such things exist are all vainly debating what is empty and hollow. Both the childish and the wise will cease to be. They will perish and after death will not live again.”
The young brahmins Upatiṣya and Kolita thought, “This noble teacher has strayed onto a spurious path. He pursues fully a ruinous path. This is exactly the kind of dangerous path the wise say must be rejected.”
Knowing this, they spoke in verse:
Pūraṇa’s teaching heard, they cast it aside like an empty bottle and moved on.
Upatiṣya and Kolita then went to Gośālīputra the wanderer [F.24.b] and asked, “Sir, what is your approach to the Dharma? What instructions do you give to your students? What is the result of living the holy life? What are its benefits?”
“Young brahmins,” replied the wanderer, “this is how I see it and this is my philosophy: That sentient beings are afflicted has nothing to do with causes and conditions.89 The affliction of sentient beings has nothing to do with causes and conditions. That sentient beings are purified has nothing to do with causes and conditions. The purification of sentient beings occurs randomly and by chance. That sentient beings lack understanding and insight has nothing to do with causes and conditions. Their lack of understanding and insight occurs randomly and by chance. That sentient beings acquire understanding and insight has nothing to do with causes and conditions. Their acquisition of understanding and insight occurs randomly and by chance. It is not due to vigor. It is not due to determination. It is not due to a combination of vigor and determination. It is not due to a person’s skill. It is not due to his overpowering ability. It is not due to a combination of a person’s skill and overpowering ability. It is not due to one’s own skill. It is not due to another’s skill. It is not due to a combination of one’s own skill and another’s skill. All beings, all living things, and all elements are powerless. They lack strength, influence, determination, and the ability to overcome. [S.10.a] A being’s life is predetermined. That is why we experience the unique pleasures and pains of each of the six realms.”
Upatiṣya and Kolita thought, “This noble teacher too has strayed onto a spurious path. He pursues fully a ruinous path. This is exactly the kind of dangerous path the wise [F.25.a] say must be rejected.”
Knowing this, they spoke in verse:
Gośālīputra’s teaching heard, they cast it aside like an empty bottle and moved on. [B3]
Upatiṣya and Kolita then went to Sañjayin, son of Vairaṭṭī, and asked, “Sir, what is your approach to the Dharma? What instructions do you give to your students? What is the result of living the holy life? What are its benefits?”
“Young brahmins,” replied Sañjayin, “this is how I see it and this is my philosophy: A person may act or make another person act, maim or make another person maim, burn or make another person burn, flog or make another person flog, endanger life, take what has not been given, engage wrongfully in acts of desire, knowingly speak falsehoods, imbibe intoxicating drinks, break into a house, pick a lock,90 rob at knifepoint, block a road and lie in wait, sack a town, sack a city, sack a region, or slaughter, dismember, flog, and tear apart every last being on this earth with the edge of a cakra blade,91 and then, having cut up, dismembered, flogged, and torn apart all beings, lay all the flesh out on a single plane, in a single mound, in a single pile, or a single heap. In having laid all the flesh out on a single plane, [F.25.b] in a single mound, in a single pile, or a single heap, and having done all those things, there would be no sin in that nor would any sin come from it. One could walk along the south bank of the river Gaṅgā and slaughter, dismember, flog, and tear apart everything, or walk along the north bank of the river Gaṅgā and give alms and oblations, and there would be no sin or merit in either, nor would sin or merit come from either. Even if one practices generosity, discipline, perfect restraint, and acts with purpose and integrity, one still does not gain merit.”
Upatiṣya and Kolita thought, “This noble teacher too has strayed onto a spurious path. He pursues fully a ruinous path. This is exactly the kind of dangerous path the wise say must be rejected.”
Knowing this, they spoke in verse:
Sañjayin’s teaching heard, they cast it aside like an empty bottle and moved on.
Upatiṣya and Kolita then went to Ajita of the hair shawl and asked, “Sir, what is your approach to the Dharma? What instructions do you give to your students? What is the result of living the holy life? What are its benefits?”
“Young brahmins,” replied Ajita, “this is how I see it and this is my philosophy: Seven bodies are not products, they are not by-products, they are not apparitions, they are not by-products of apparitions, they are not subject to harm, they are everlasting, and they are still and solid like a pillar. [F.26.a] What are the seven? The seven are thus: the body of earth, the body of water, the body of fire, the body of wind, pleasure, pain, and the vitality of life. Those seven bodies are not products, are not by-products, are not apparitions, are not by-products of apparitions, are not subject to harm, are everlasting, and are still and solid like a pillar. Those seven are such that they do not waver, they do not change, nor do they harm one another, nor do they become merit, nor do they become sin, nor do they become both merit and sin, nor do they become pleasure, nor do they become pain, nor do they become both pleasure and pain. [S.10.b] Were one person to cut off the head of another person, even that would not influence the world nor would it cause the slightest harm to that which is still and solid, for the weapon would pass straight through the unbroken spaces in those seven bodies, leaving the life within them unharmed. There is absolutely no killing them, no making to kill them, no rousing them, no making to rouse them, no awareness of them, no making to be aware of them, no knowing them, and no making them known. Whether you be childish or wise, you are liberated from suffering after 8,400,000 eons; in the meantime, you are reborn in and cycle through 14,000 principal places of rebirth, 60,600 great eons, five types of actions, three types of actions, two types of actions, action, half-actions, sixty-two paths, sixty-two intermediate eons, thirty-six hells, one hundred and twenty senses, sixty-two constituent particles, 49,000 classes of nāga families, 49,000 classes of garuḍa, 49,000 classes of wanderers, [F.26.b] 49,000 classes of Ājivika, 49,000 classes of Nirgrantha, seven realms with discerning awareness, seven realms lacking discerning awareness, seven Nirgrantha realms, seven demi-god realms, seven demonic realms, seven godly realms, seven human realms, seven great oceans, seven hundred lakes, seven great dreams, seven hundred dreams, seven states of great diminishment, seven hundred states of diminishment, seven states of great increase, seven hundred states of increase, seven states of great depletion, seven hundred states of depletion, seven great abysses, seven hundred abysses, six noble clans, ten high-status rebirths, and the eight grounds of a great person. Thus, just as a ball of thread thrown in the air unravels into a long thread as it falls, everyone, be they childish or wise, is liberated from suffering after having been through the cycle of rebirth for 8,400,000 eons. No ascetic or brahmin can say, ‘By observing ethics, a vow, asceticism, or celibacy, I shall bring to fruition those acts that have not borne fruit, and in facing those acts that have borne fruit, purify them.’ Our pleasures and pains are predestined. It is impossible to extend or reduce them. As this is how things are and not otherwise, the rounds of existence are thus to be counted.”
Upatiṣya and Kolita thought, “This noble teacher too has strayed onto a spurious path. He pursues fully a ruinous path. This is exactly the kind of dangerous path the wise [F.27.a] say must be rejected.”
Knowing this, they spoke in verse:
Ajita’s teaching heard, they cast it aside like an empty bottle and moved on.
Upatiṣya and Kolita then went to Kakuda Kātyāyana and asked, “Sir, what is your approach to the Dharma? What instructions do you give to your students? What is the result of living the holy life? What are its benefits?”
“Young brahmins,” replied Kakuda Kātyāyana, “this is how I see it and this is my philosophy: If someone comes to me and asks, ‘Is there an afterlife?’ I answer him by saying, ‘There is an afterlife.’ If he should ask, ‘Is there not an afterlife?’ I answer him by saying, ‘There is no afterlife.’ If he should ask, ‘Is there or is there not an afterlife?’ I answer him by saying, ‘There is and is not an afterlife.’ If he should ask, ‘Does an afterlife neither exist nor not exist?’ I answer him by saying, ‘An afterlife neither exists nor does it not exist.’ Likewise, if someone comes to me and asks, ‘Is the afterlife like or unlike this world?’ I answer him by saying, “The afterlife is like and unlike this world.’ If he should ask, ‘Is the afterlife different or not different?’ I answer by saying, ‘The afterlife is different and not different.’ [F.27.b] If he should ask, ‘Is the afterlife not different or not not different?’ I answer him by saying, ‘The afterlife is not different and not not different.’ If he should ask, ‘Is the afterlife like that or not like that?’ I answer him by saying, ‘The afterlife is like that and not like that.’ ”
Upatiṣya and Kolita thought, “This noble teacher too has strayed onto a spurious path. He pursues fully a ruinous path. This is exactly the kind of dangerous path the wise say must be rejected.”
Knowing this, they spoke in verse:
Kakuda Kātyāyana’s teaching heard, they cast it aside like an empty bottle and moved on.
Upatiṣya and Kolita then went to Jñātiputra the Nirgrantha and asked, “Sir, what is your approach to the Dharma? What instructions do you give to your students? What is the result of living the holy life? What are its benefits?”
“Young brahmins,” replied the Nirgrantha, “this is how I see it and this is my philosophy: No matter what a person individually experiences, it all comes from causes sown in the past. Old actions are purified through penance while new actions are averted by the dam of inactivity. In this way one avoids future defilement. In the absence of defilement, actions are exhausted. When actions are exhausted, suffering is exhausted. When suffering is exhausted, one is freed from suffering.”
Upatiṣya and Kolita [F.28.a] thought, “This noble teacher too has strayed onto a spurious path. He pursues fully a ruinous path. This is exactly the kind of dangerous path the wise say must be rejected.”
Knowing this, they spoke in verse:
The Nirgrantha’s teaching heard, they cast it aside like an empty bottle and moved on.
Not long before, word had spread about a tīrthika named Sañjayin. The young brahmins Upatiṣya and Kolita went to where the teacher Sañjayin lived and asked, “Gentlemen, where is the teacher Sañjayin?”
“He has withdrawn into seclusion.”
“Oh! This is the first time we’ve heard the phrase ‘withdrawn into seclusion’ in such a long time!”
They thought, “It would not be right to disturb the teacher’s withdrawal into seclusion. We will approach him once he has risen from this state.” And with that they sat off to one side.
The teacher Sañjayin emerged from seclusion. The states of absorption he had experienced had invigorated his senses. Upatiṣya and Kolita thought, “Whoever has such a face must have qualities to match.” They approached him and asked, “Sir Sañjayin, what is your approach to the Dharma? What instructions do you give to your students? What is the result of living the holy life? What are its benefits?”
Sañjayin replied, “Young brahmins, this is how I see it and this is my philosophy: The Dharma is truth and non-violence. The peaceful, ageless, immortal, and unwaning [F.28.b] state is Brahman.”
The two replied, “Master, what is the meaning of what you have said?”
“As for truth, renunciation is born of true thoughts. As for non-violence, all dharmas spring from the ground of non-violence. The peaceful, ageless, immortal, and unwaning state are other names by which nirvāṇa may be known. That state is called Brahmā, for if some were to achieve nirvāṇa in this very life, all would be well. But even if they did not achieve it, they would still draw near to the world of Brahmā. Even so, brahmins will be reborn in the world of Brahmā, will alight into the world of Brahmā, will have alighted into the world of Brahmā. And how is the world of Brahmā? Gaining the fortune for the world of Brahmā is akin to entering nirvāṇa.”
“Master, allow us to go forth. We pledge to live the holy life under your guidance.” And with that the two became renunciants in Sañjayin’s order.
After the teacher Sañjayin allowed Upatiṣya and Kolita’s going forth, the news of their acceptance spread everywhere and Sañjayin was lauded with many accolades and much praise. He thought, [S.11.b] “If I was a member of the Śāṇḍilya clan92 before and am still a member now, what has caused such abundant accolades and praise to come to me now?”
Sañjayin thought, “It is not due to my own sway. Rather, it is the sway of these two young brahmins.”
Thus when he accepted five hundred young brahmins for instruction in how to recite brahminic mantras, he assigned two hundred and fifty to Upatiṣya and two hundred and fifty to Kolita. [F.29.a]
At one point, after the teacher Sañjayin had fallen ill, Upatiṣya asked Kolita, “Kolita, will you attend the master or will you seek out medicine for him?”
Kolita thought, “Upatiṣya is intelligent. I would have him attend the master while I go in search of medicine,” and said, “Please attend the master and I will seek medicine.”
Upatiṣya began to attend the master and Kolita went off in search of medicine. Though Upatiṣya ministered to the master with medicinal roots, stalks, leaves, flowers, and fruit, the illness would not subside. Though weak, the master smiled, prompting Upatiṣya to ask, “Master, given that great people like you do not smile for no reason, what causes you to smile? What prompts it?”
“Upatiṣya,” replied Sañjayin, “allow me to explain. Great beings like me do not smile without cause or condition. I was thinking about the wife of King Suvarṇapati of Suvarṇadvīpa. When her husband’s time had come, she leapt onto his funeral pyre. I was thinking how the impulse to desire, the very things desired, and the pursuit of desire are what cause these sentient beings to suffer.”
“When was this, master?”
“At such and such a time, a long time ago.”
“In what month?”
“In such and such a month long ago.”
“On what day?”
“On such and such a day long ago.”
Sañjayin recorded this conversation on a board and set it down.
“Master,” Upatiṣya urged, “if the whole of what little renunciation we have is for ambrosia and the search for ambrosia, and if you, master, have found some small measure of that ambrosia then please share it with us!”
“Son, [F.29.b] the whole of what little renunciation I have is for ambrosia and the search for ambrosia but neither have I discovered even a small measure of that ambrosia. Allow me to explain. On the fifteenth, a day of fast, I heard the gods, who were passing through the heavens above, say, ‘At the foot of the snow mountains, on the banks of the river Bhāgīrathī, not far from the sage Kapila’s hermitage, a youth from the Śākya clan has appeared. Brahmins skilled in interpreting omens and signs made this prophecy: ‘The youth installed in the palace will either become king of the world, with his reign extending over the four directions, or he will become a king of Dharma. He will be endowed with the Dharma or the seven precious emblems. The seven precious emblems he will possess are as follows: a precious wheel, a precious elephant, a precious horse, a precious jewel, a precious woman, a precious steward, and a precious general. He will have a full one thousand sons, heroic, brave, and of ideal build who will destroy enemy forces. Under him, the whole earth, from sea to sea, will be free from the threat of harm and violence, and will be a realm without punishment or armed expulsion, where rule is impartial and in harmony with the Dharma. But if he, with perfect faith, should cut his hair, shave his beard, don the saffron robes, and go forth from home into homelessness, then he shall become a tathāgata, an arhat, a perfectly awakened buddha, famed all over the world.’
“ ‘You two should go forth into his teachings. Having gone forth, you should not proclaim your caste, you should not proclaim your clan, you should not proclaim your being a brahmin youth. [S.12.a] Once you have overcome conceit and pride, you should live the holy life under his guidance and then you will receive a great ambrosia.”
Then he said,
On saying that, he went the way of all temporal phenomena. After decorating the sides of his bier with blue, yellow, red, and white cloth, they carried his corpse to the charnel ground and cremated him. In time, their grief subsided.
In time, a young brahmin named Suvarṇajaṭa from Suvarṇadvīpa arrived in Rājagṛha. When he entered their dwelling, Upatiṣya asked, “Young brahmin, where have you come from?”
“From Suvarṇadvīpa,” he replied.
“Young brahmin, did you see anything at all amazing or remarkable in Suvarṇadvīpa?”
“I didn’t see anything truly amazing or remarkable,” he replied, “but I did see something somewhat amazing and remarkable so listen as you please. The wife of King Suvarṇapati of Suvarṇadvīpa leapt onto his funeral pyre when her husband’s time had come.”
“When was this?”
“At such and such a time, a long time ago.”
“In what month?”
“In such and such a month long ago.”
“On what day?”
“On such and such a day long ago.”
When Upatiṣya looked at the conversation recorded on the board, he saw that everything was exactly as Sañjayin had said, at which point he said to Kolita, “Our master Sañjayin concealed his learning from us. If he had found such rare ambrosia, he did not share it with us. For if he himself saw forms in other lands with the divine eye and heard pleasant sounds with the divine ear, then his claim to have found no ambrosia is not true.”
Kolita thought, “Upatiṣya is intelligent. Were he to find such ambrosia he may not tell me and a situation such as this might happen again.”
Then he said, “Upatiṣya, join me in a pledge. Whoever finds such ambrosia first, [F.30.b] he shall share it with the other.”
They made the pledge and set out on their journey.
Going Forth
When the blessed Bodhisattva reached the age of twenty-nine, he ceased to revel in desires, for the sight of the elderly, the sick, and the dead had moved him deeply. He stole out in the middle of the night and fled into the forest, where he spent six years practicing austerities. But he came to see that those austerities would amount to nothing. He then breathed freely, in and out, and partook again of solid foods such as rice and porridge. He rubbed ghee and oil into his skin and took refreshing baths in warm water. [S.12.b] When he came to the village of Senānī, the village headman’s daughters, Nandā and Nandabalā, gave him milk that had been churned sixteen times and mixed with honey to drink. He was lauded by the nāga king Kālika, and he accepted a bundle of auspicious golden-colored kūśa grass from a grassmonger. From there he went to what would be the site of his awakening. He arrived and settled cross-legged into an unshakable absorption on an unshakable bed of kuśa grass. Sitting straight and erect, he settled his mind and said,
His intention pledged, he said,
During the midnight hours, through the power of his loving kindness the Blessed One subdued Māra and his retinue of 360 million demonic spirits, and unsurpassed wisdom arose within him. At Brahmā’s request, he went to Vārāṇasī and turned the wheel of Dharma, revealing in three phases a teaching with twelve aspects.93 During that time, he converted the group of five, the five friends,94 and fifty high-born village brahmin youths, who then went forth and received full ordination. [F.31.a]
While passing through the Karpāsī forest, he convinced a noble band of sixty youths of the truths. While passing through the village of Senānī, he convinced the village headman’s daughters, Nandā and Nandabalā, of the truths. While passing through Uruvilvā, he inspired a group of one thousand dreadlocked ascetics to go forth, and ordained them. While passing by the Gayāśīrṣa stūpa, he instructed those one thousand monks by displaying three miracles, thereby freeing them from the wilds of saṃsāra and establishing them in the utterly final state of perfection and the unsurpassably blissful state of nirvāṇa. While passing through the Yaṣtī forest, he brought the King of Magadha, Bimbisāra of the Guilds, to the truths along with 80,000 gods and many hundreds of thousands of Magadhan brahmins and householders. While passing through Rājagṛha, he accepted the offering of a bamboo grove. It was then that the Blessed Buddha took up residence at the Kalandakanivāsa in Rājagṛha’s Bamboo Grove.
On their journeys and travels, Upatiṣya and Kolita also arrived in Rājagṛha. They saw that Rājagṛha was utterly still and thought, “One of only two things could have brought utter quiet to this town: either fear of neighboring armies, or the presence of several ascetics and brahmins famed for their merit and majesty.”
As they began to examine the stars, they acknowledged, “As neighboring armies present no imminent danger, tomorrow we shall know more.”
The two were in the habit of daubing three lines of ash across their foreheads and going out on their daily rounds. When they did so, many hundreds of thousands of creatures would always follow after them.
The next day they daubed three lines of ash across their foreheads and went out on their daily rounds. However, on that day not a single being [F.31.b] followed after them. On returning they considered the matter. They saw that not a single being had followed after them and wondered, “In the past when we have gone out on rounds, many hundreds of thousands of creatures would follow after us. Why then has not a single being followed after us today?”
There is nothing, even in the slightest, the blessed buddhas do not know, do not see, are not aware of, or do not notice. Thus the Blessed Buddha subsists, alive and well, endowed with great compassion, engaged in actions to help the world; is its sole protector, its lone champion, one of a kind; does not speak duplicitously; is sustained by calm abiding and insight; illuminates the three types of knowledge; is well-trained in the three trainings; is skilled in the three approaches to discipline; has crossed the four rivers; is well-grounded in his use of the four foundations of miraculous conduct, and is one who long ago perfected the four means of attraction; who teaches the four noble truths; who, being fearless in four ways, is never frightened; who has abandoned the five branches, has transcended the five rebirths, teaches the five aggregates to be selfless, is in possession of the six branches, and has perfected the six perfections; who always abides by the six spheres, who binds the six sense gates; who accustoms himself to the six dharmas that elicit perfect joy; who is rich with the flower of awakening’s seven branches; who displays the seven treasures of a noble being; who is unstained by the eight mundane concerns; who knows the nine things that inspire aggression; who teaches the eight branches of the path; who is skilled in the nine stages of meditative absorption;95 [F.32.a] who possesses the strength of the ten strengths; whose good name has spread in the ten directions; and who surpasses those who rule over the thousandfold universe. 96
As it is in the nature of such beings to watch over the world with their buddha eye during the three times of the day and night, they know and see who has fallen, who has flourished, who hurts, who wants, who is unhappy, who hurts, who wants, who is unhappy,97 who is headed for a miserable rebirth, who will fall into a miserable rebirth; who will decide to rise from his path towards a miserable rebirth and land in a high-status rebirth, liberation, or the fruition; who will reach out his hand to those sinking in the mud of desire; who lacks the riches of a noble being’s treasures; who will come to the magnificent wealth of a noble being’s treasures; whose buddhahood, with its attendant fruits, will ornament the world; whose latent roots of virtue will bud; whose budding roots of virtue will blossom; and who, having blossomed, will be freed.
It has been said:
Thus the Blessed One watches over the world with his buddha eye. With this eye, the Blessed One saw that the minds of the wanderers Upatiṣya and Kolita had been ripened through their service to past buddhas and the stores of virtue they had amassed, [F.32.b] and thus he understood that the two wanderers were like fruit ripe for the plucking. The time to train them had come. The Blessed One thought, “Will these two be captivated by the Teacher or by his disciples?” and saw they would be captivated by disciples.
He thought, “What will be their way into the renunciant order? Will they be drawn by miracles or by conduct?” Thinking that, he saw they would be drawn by conduct. The Blessed One summoned the venerable Aśvajit, whose conduct he saw would captivate them, for conduct like his captivated gods and men. Then the Blessed One instructed the venerable Aśvajit, “Aśvajit, consider the wanderers Upatiṣya and Kolita.”
Aśvajit’s silence indicated his assent to the Blessed One’s instruction. As Aśvajit was fully committed to acting on the Blessed One’s instruction, he praised and welcomed the Blessed One’s instruction. Bowing his head at the Blessed One’s feet, he said, “I go with the Blessed One’s guidance.”
Early the next morning, after the night had passed, the venerable Aśvajit put on his lower robe, picked up his begging bowl and Dharma robes, and went to beg alms in Rājagṛha. As he walked, he gazed just ahead, he gazed to his left and right, with his arms drawn in and his legs extended, dignified by his ceremonial robe, Dharma robes, and begging bowl.98
Meanwhile the wanderer Upatiṣya was out and about in Rājagṛha on some errand when he saw from afar the venerable Aśvajit, who had come to beg alms in Rājagṛha. Upatiṣya saw him walking, gazing just ahead, [F.33.a] gazing to his left and right, his arms drawn in and his legs extended, dignified by his robe, shawl, and begging bowl. On seeing him he thought, “So this is what the renunciants who come to live here in Rājagṛha are like. Never in my life have I seen anyone carry himself like this renunciant. I must approach him and ask, ‘Monk, who is your teacher? Why have you gone forth? Whose Dharma do you favor?’ ”
Knowing the monk was likely to pass by one of the main crossroads, Upatiṣya went there to wait. When the venerable Aśvajit reached the spot where Upatiṣya was, Upatiṣya asked this of Aśvajit: “Monk, who is your teacher? Why have you gone forth? Whose Dharma do you favor?”
“Gautama, the venerable monk and prince of the Śākyas, left the Śākya clan, shaved his head and beard, donned the saffron robes and, with perfect faith, went forth from home into homelessness. In his unsurpassed, perfect awakening, he has become a perfect buddha. My teacher is the Blessed One. It is because of him that I have gone forth. It is his Dharma that I favor.”
“Monk, then you must share one of his teachings!”
“Venerable, I am but young and a new renunciant so it would not be easy for me to fully and perfectly explain the teachings of the Blessed One, who is a tathāgata, an arhat, a perfect buddha. Thus I will share with you their import.”
“Monk, the import is what I need. What good is a lengthy explanation? Please teach me the import, whatever its length.”
The venerable Aśvajit spoke this verse:
Once he had explained this aspect of the Dharma, Upatiṣya came to see phenomena through the unclouded and pristine eyes of Dharma. Upatiṣya saw the Dharma, heard the Dharma, knew the Dharma, plumbed the depths of the Dharma, overcame his skepticism, transcended doubt, could not be swayed by others, and was not reliant on others. With his newfound fearless confidence in the Dharma taught by the Teacher, he stood up from his seat, pulled his shawl from one shoulder, bowed to the venerable Aśvajit with his palms pressed together, and spoke in verse:
“Venerable, where is the Blessed One now?”
“Venerable, at the Kalandakanivāpa, in the Bamboo Grove outside Rājagṛha.”
Upatiṣya then praised and welcomed what Aśvajit had said. After prostrating at Aśvajit’s feet, he circumambulated him three times and went to see Kolita.
From a long way off, Kolita saw Upatiṣya approaching. On meeting him, he said to Upatiṣya, “Venerable, your faculties are clear and your complexion lustrous. If your skin is so radiant, does that mean you have found ambrosia?”
“I have found someone worth venerating.”
“Share this venerable one’s teaching.”
Upatiṣya then spoke in verse:
“Venerable, please repeat it one more time. Venerable, say it again.”
Once Upatiṣya had explained this aspect of the Dharma, Kolita too came to see phenomena through the unclouded and pristine eyes of Dharma. Kolita saw the Dharma, heard the Dharma, knew the Dharma, plumbed the depths of the Dharma, overcame his skepticism, transcended doubt, could not be swayed by others, and could not be led astray by others. Having gained a fearless confidence in the Dharma taught by the Teacher, he stood up from his seat, pulled his shawl from one shoulder, bowed to Upatiṣya with his palms pressed together, and spoke in verse:
“Venerable, where is the Blessed One now?”
“At the Kalandakanivāpa, in the Bamboo Grove outside Rājagṛha.”
“Come. We must live the holy life under the guidance of the Blessed One.”
“But venerable, we must first see our followers; for it is only proper that knowledgeable and prominent people like us visit our followers.”
So the wanderers Upatiṣya and Kolita went to the young brahmins and said, “Young brahmins, listen. What will you do if we two go to live the holy life under the guidance of the Blessed One?”
“Masters, [F.34.b] the little we seek, we seek because of you; so if you two masters go to live the holy life under the guidance of the Blessed One and go forth, we too will go forth.”
“Young brahmins, then know that the time has come.”
Upatiṣya and Kolita and their students, 250 apiece, then went to the Kalandakanivāpa in the Bamboo Grove.
At the time, the venerable Aśvajit was seated, taking shelter from the sun at the foot of a tree. The wanderers Upatiṣya and Kolita saw the venerable Aśvajit from a long way off. On seeing him, Upatiṣya asked Kolita, “Kolita, do we first pay our respects to the Blessed One, or to the one from whom we have heard of his Dharma?”
“To the one from whom we have heard of his Dharma.”
The two of them went to the venerable Aśvajit. Reaching him, they prostrated at his feet, before taking a seat off to one side.
At that point, a brahmin who loved fire paid it homage and respect. He then spoke a verse of the Blessed One’s:
When Upatiṣya and Kolita had prostrated at the feet of Aśvajit, they left and went to where the Blessed One was. [F.35.a]
At the time, the Blessed One was seated, teaching Dharma to a crowd of many hundreds of monk followers. The Blessed One saw Upatiṣya and Kolita from a long way off. When he saw them, he said to the monks, “Monks, embrace your friends, bring them to the head of the assembly, let them come before you. Do you see Upatiṣya and Kolita, or do you see venerable ones? These two will become my disciples, my foremost and noblest pair, for one shall become the greatest of miracle workers, and the other shall become the wisest of the wise.”
A monk then spoke a verse:
Upatiṣya and Kolita then approached the Blessed One, prostrated at his feet, and made the following request: “If we are permitted, reverend, we would obtain the going forth, ordination, and monkhood in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya. We would live the holy life in the Blessed One’s presence.”
The Blessed One said to them, “Come, join me,” thereby allowing their going forth. He enjoined them with the words, “Monks, come, join me and live the holy life.” Only then, after the Blessed One had given his consent, did they shave their heads and don the robes. [F.35.b] With that, they became ordained monks, pledged to shave their hair and beards every seven days and to carry a begging bowl and water jug. In habit, they stood with the composure of monks who had been ordained for one hundred years.
Again it is said:
Early the next morning, a great many monks put on their lower robes, took up their begging bowls and Dharma robes and entered Rājagṛha to beg for alms. When the people of Rājagṛha saw that members of Sañjayin’s tīrthika community had renounced it and joined the Buddha’s renunciant order, they quickly became disappointed100 and visibly upset. Vilifying the monks, they spoke in verse:
The monks were crestfallen, upset, and lost their fearlessness.
Having gone to collect alms in Rājagṛha, the great many monks ate what they had been given and, as alms are not sought after noon, packed their begging bowls and Dharma robes, washed their feet, and went, hurting and upset, to see the Blessed One. As they arrived, the great many monks prostrated at the Blessed One’s feet, sat off to one side, and told the Blessed One, “Reverend, early this morning a great many of us monks put on our robes, picked up our begging bowls and Dharma robes, and went to Rājagṛha to collect alms. There, when the people of Rājagṛha saw that members of Sañjayin’s tīrthika community had renounced it and joined the Buddha’s renunciant order, they quickly became disappointed and visibly upset. [F.36.a] Vilifying us, they spoke in verse:
“With this, we became crestfallen, upset, and lost our fearlessness.”
“Monks,” instructed the Blessed One, “say this to the people of Rājagṛha who say such things:
“That will dispel all the vanity and self-assurance of the people of Rājagṛha who speak like that.”
Early the next morning, a great many monks put on their robes, took up their begging bowls and Dharma robes, and entered Rājagṛha to beg for alms. When the people of Rājagṛha saw that members of Sañjayin’s tīrthika community had renounced it and joined the Buddha’s renunciant order, they soon become disappointed and visibly upset. Vilifying the monks, they again spoke the same verse:
One monk then replied:
With that statement he dispelled all the vanity and self-assurance of the people of Rājagṛha who spoke like that.
Some time later, the brahmin Māṭhara’s time came, as did his wife’s. The brahmin Tiṣya’s time came, as did Śārikā’s. Tiṣya’s son, Koṣṭhila, returned to the village of Nālada from the South where he had taken up with the Lokāyata ascetics. [F.36.b] The village gatekeeper recognized him and asked, “Sir, are you Koṣṭhila?”
“People know me thus. What has become of the brahmin Māṭhara?”
“His time came.”
“What has become of his wife?”
“Her time came.”
“What has become of the brahmin Tiṣya?”
“His time came too.”
“What has become of Śārikā?”
“Her time came too.”
“What has become of Śāriputra?”
“Shortly after a teacher named Sañjayin appeared in Rājagṛha, he went forth and joined his renunciant order. Lately it has become common for brahmins to go forth.”
Koṣṭhila then made his way to Rājagṛha, and when he arrived there he asked, “What has become of the teacher Sañjayin?”
“His time came.”
“What has become of his tīrthika community?”
“They have all gone forth and joined the renunciant order around the ascetic Gautama.”
“It would have been good had the ascetic Gautama, who was prophesied to become king of the world, become royal priest.”
Koṣṭhila, who had taken the name Dīrghanakha when he became a wanderer,102 went to see the Blessed One. When he arrived, he and the Blessed One were clearly overjoyed to see one another and exchanged warm words of goodwill before Dīrghanakha sat off to one side. As he sat there off to one side, Dīrghanakha said to the Blessed One, “O Gautama, no self endures.”103
“Son of a self-immolator,104 even that view you hold, which views all forms of self as unable to endure, does not itself endure.”
“Agreed, O Gautama,” replied Dīrghanakha, “even that view which views all forms of self as unable to endure does not itself endure.”
“Son of a self-immolator, then know this: if you see it like that, that view too will be abandoned, discarded, and cease to be. Other views too will not be entertained, embraced, or arise.”
“O Gautama, I know this, that if it is seen like that, that view too will be abandoned, discarded, and cease to be. Other views too will not be entertained, embraced, or arise.”
The Blessed One replied at length, “Son of a self-immolator, you are like and akin to most people, [F.37.a] for most people also view things thus and say such things, and in that you are just like them. Son of a self-immolator, in this world those ascetics and brahmins who discard this view, and those ascetics and brahmins who do not embrace other views, are said to be the fewest of the few.
“Son of a self-immolator, there are three positions regarding the view. What are those three positions? Son of a self-immolator, regarding this point, some hold the view and argue that all selves endure. Others hold the view and argue that no self endures, while still others hold the view and argue that some selves endure and other selves do not endure.105
“Son of a self-immolator, in holding that all selves endure, attachment will arise and attachment will not disappear; aversion will arise and aversion will not disappear; confusion will arise and confusion will not disappear; accumulation will occur and accumulation will not disappear; fetters will occur and fetters will not disappear; and defilement will arise and purification will not occur. With this view that holds that all selves endure, eager anticipation, pursuit, and excessive attachment will arise.
“Son of a self-immolator, in holding that no self endures, attachment will disappear and attachment will not arise; aversion will disappear and aversion will not arise; confusion will disappear and confusion will not arise; accumulation will disappear and accumulation will not occur; one will be free of fetters and fetters will not occur; and purification will occur and defilement will disappear. [F.37.b] With this view that holds that no self endures, there will be no eager anticipation, no pursuit, and excessive attachment will disappear.
“Son of a self-immolator, regarding the view that some selves endure and other selves do not endure, in holding that some selves do endure, attachment will arise and attachment will not disappear; aversion will arise and aversion will not disappear; confusion will arise and confusion will not disappear; accumulation will occur and accumulation will not disappear; fetters will occur and fetters will not disappear; and defilement will arise and purification will not occur. With this view that holds that some selves endure, eager anticipation, pursuit, and excessive attachment will arise. At the same time, in holding that some selves do not endure, attachment will disappear and attachment will not arise; aversion will disappear and aversion will not arise; confusion will disappear and confusion will not arise; accumulation will disappear and accumulation will not occur; one will be free of fetters and fetters will not occur; and purification will occur and defilement will disappear. With this view that holds that some selves do not endure, there will be no eager anticipation, no pursuit, and excessive attachment will disappear.
“Informed noble disciples scrutinize the first position in this way: if one holds the view and argues that all selves endure, then the view and argument that no self endures [F.38.a] and the view and argument that some selves endure while other selves do not endure would counter and undermine the self; if it counters, it would undermine, and if it undermines, it would debunk the self.
“In correctly seeing the countering, the undermining, and the debunking thus done, that view too would be abandoned and other views would not be embraced. Thus that view of self too would be abandoned, discarded, and cease to be, while other views too would not be entertained, embraced, or arise.
“Informed noble disciples scrutinize the second position in this way: if one holds the view and argues that no self endures, then the view and argument that all selves endure and the view and argument that some selves endure while other selves do not endure would counter and undermine the self; if it counters, it would undermine, and if it undermines, it would debunk the self.
“In correctly seeing the countering, the undermining, and the debunking thus done, that view too would be abandoned and other views would not be embraced. Thus that view of self too would be abandoned, discarded, and cease to be, while other views too would not be entertained, embraced, or arise.
“Informed noble disciples scrutinize the third position in this way: if one holds the view and argues that some selves endure while other selves do not endure, the view and argument that all selves endure and the view and argument that no selves endure106 would counter and undermine the self; if it counters, it would undermine, and if it undermines, it would debunk the self.
“In correctly seeing the countering, the undermining, and the debunking thus done, that view too would be abandoned and other views would not be embraced. Thus that view of self too would be abandoned, discarded, and cease to be, while other views [F.38.b] too would not be entertained, embraced, or arise.
“Son of a self-immolator, as this body is composed of gross form and arises from the four great elements, noble disciples observe and dwell on its repeated arising and destruction. If noble disciples observe and dwell on its repeated arising and destruction, whatever aspirations, attachment, craving, obsessions, preoccupations, or excessive attachment may arise towards the body will be confronted and will not remain.
“Son of a self-immolator, there are three feelings. What are these three? Pleasure, pain, and that which is neither pleasant nor painful. Son of a self-immolator, when noble disciples experience feelings of pleasure, then feelings of pain and feelings which are neither pleasant nor painful come to a halt. At that time noble disciples experience only feelings of pleasure yet feelings of pleasure too are subject to impermanence, suffering, and cessation.
“When noble disciples experience feelings of pain, then feelings of pleasure and feelings which are neither pleasant nor painful come to a halt. At that time, noble disciples experience only feelings of pain yet feelings of pain too are subject to impermanence, suffering, and cessation.
“When noble disciples experience feelings which are neither pleasant nor painful, then feelings of pleasure and pain come to a halt. At that time, noble disciples experience only feelings that are neither pleasant nor painful [F.39.a] yet feelings that are neither pleasant nor painful too are subject to impermanence, suffering, and cessation.
“Thus they think, ‘What is the basis for these feelings? What are their origins? What types of things are compatible with them? What has produced their arising?’ On reflection, the basis for these feelings is contact, their origins lie in contact, they are compatible with contact, what has produced them is contact. Thus contact of different types occurs, prompting feelings of different types to arise. Contact of different types cease, prompting feelings of different types to cease, to calm, to cool off, to fade away. Thus when they experience feelings that are pleasant, painful or neither pleasant nor painful, they thoroughly and precisely understand their origins, their fading, their flavor, their shortcomings, and their perfect renunciation.
“When they thoroughly and precisely understand their origins, their fading, their flavor, their shortcomings, and their perfect renunciation, they view and rest in the impermanence of any feeling that arises, they view its dwindling, they view its disintegration, they view it free of desirous attachment, they view its cessation, and view and rest in its utter abandonment.
“When they view and rest in the impermanence of any feeling that arises while viewing its dwindling, viewing its disintegration, viewing it free of desirous attachment, viewing its cessation, and viewing and resting in its utter abandonment, they are not taken in, even in the slightest, by the world. If they are not taken in, there will be no torment. If there is no torment, they will understand that their births have come to an end, that they have lived the holy life, that they have done what needed doing, and that they will know no lives after this one. [F.39.b] Thus they themselves will altogether transcend misery. When they experience the body’s most basic feelings,107 they thoroughly and precisely understand them with the thought, ‘I am experiencing the body’s most basic feelings.’ When they experience the life-force’s most basic feeling,108 they thoroughly and precisely understand it with the thought, ‘I am experiencing the life-force’s most basic feeling.’
“Since the life-force comes to an end after the body has perished, all of that life’s feelings, every last one of them, come to a halt, every last one of them fades away, every last one of them dwindles away, and every last one of them comes to an end. Thus they think, ‘When I experience feelings of pleasure, if the body should perish, that will be the end of suffering. When I experience feelings of pain and feelings that are neither pleasant nor painful, if the body should perish, that will be the end of suffering.’
“Thus when they experience the feeling of pleasure, it is unaccompanied, it is not accompanied by experiences.109 When they experience the feeling of pain or a feeling that is neither pleasant nor painful, it is unaccompanied, it is not accompanied by experiences.
“What does not accompany their death? It is not accompanied by desire, aversion, or confusion. It is not accompanied by birth, aging, illness, death, mourning, cries of misery, pain, unease, or disturbance. It is not, I argue, accompanied by suffering.”
During this talk, the venerable Śāriputra, who had been ordained two weeks earlier, sat, fanning the Blessed One. Śāriputra then had this thought: “The Blessed One has praised the abandonment of such phenomena along with the freedom from, the cessation of, and the utter abandonment of desire. I, too, should observe and abide by the abandonment of such phenomena, and should observe freedom from desire. [F.40.a] I, too, should observe and abide by the abandonment of such phenomena, and its cessation. I, too, should observe and abide by its utter abandonment.”
Śāriputra then observed and abided by the abandonment of such phenomena. He proceeded to observe freedom from desire, observe its cessation, and observe and abide by its utter abandonment. As he observed and abided by the abandonment of such phenomena and proceeded to observe freedom from desire, observe its cessation, and observe and abide by its utter abandonment, his mind, in the absence of grasping, was freed from defilements.
The wanderer Dīrghanakha, too, came to see phenomena through the unclouded and pristine eyes of Dharma. Dīrghanakha saw the Dharma, heard the Dharma, knew the Dharma, plumbed the depths of the Dharma, overcame his skepticism, transcended doubt, could not be swayed by others, and could not be led astray by others.
With his new-found fearless confidence in the Dharma taught by the Teacher, he stood up from his seat, pulled his shawl from one shoulder, bowed to the Blessed One with his palms pressed together, and made the following request to the Blessed One: “If it is permitted, reverend, I would obtain the going forth, ordination, and monkhood in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya. I would live the holy life in the Blessed One’s presence.”
The Blessed One said to him, “Come, join me,” thereby allowing his going forth, and enjoined him with the words, “Monk, come, join me and live the holy life.” Only then, after the Blessed One had given his consent, did he shave his head and don the robes. With that, he became an ordained monk pledged to shave his hair and beard every seven days and to carry a begging bowl and water jug. Thus he adopted the conduct one sees but once in a hundred years.
Again it is said:
With this going forth, Dīrghanakha went to live alone in solitude, diligent and persevering, devoted to his resolve. While living alone in solitude, diligent and persevering, devoted to his resolve, he perceived that he had, in that very life, actualized the unsurpassed aim of the holy life for which the sons of noble families, with perfect faith, cut their hair, shave their beards, don the saffron robes, and go forth from home into homelessness. With his achievement, he understood, “My births have come to an end, I have lived the holy life, I have done what needed doing, I will know no lives after this one.” Thus the venerable one achieved the all-knowing state110 of an arhat whose mind had been utterly freed.
A section index:
The Blessed One said to the monks, “Monks, among my monk disciples who have gained the knowledge of perfect discernment, the monk Koṣṭhila is supreme.”111
In doubt, the monks went to him who severs all doubts, the Blessed Buddha, and asked, “Reverend, what is it that the venerable Śāriputra has done, that the ripened fruit of that action has made his intellect sharper, finer, and more incisive?”
“Monks,” replied the Blessed One, “Śāriputra himself discovered the store of action, mastered conditions, tended to them as one does an irrigation channel, and emerged without indecision. As he himself acted and accumulated thus, no one else experiences the results of actions and accumulations as Śāriputra has done. [F.41.a] Monks, actions and accumulations do not ripen upon the outer elements. They do not ripen upon the element of water, upon the element of fire, nor upon the element of wind. The virtuous and non-virtuous actions performed and accumulated come to fruition upon the aggregates, elements, and seats of the senses of the one who performed them:
“Monks, long ago a brahmin who lived in a remote mountain range took a wife of equal caste and together they sported, made love, and indulged all their desires. From their sporting, lovemaking, and the indulging all of their desires, there came a boy whom they named Śūrpī. Again, they sported, made love, and indulged all their desires, producing a girl, whom they named Sūkṣmā. After a while, their brahmin father’s time came, as did his wife’s. The young brahmin Śūrpī, because he loved solitude, took his sister to live in a remote forest.
“At a certain point, his sister Sūkṣmā grew into a woman and at the time, beset by disturbing emotions, said, ‘Brother, I cannot be sustained by the medicinal plants in this forest. Let us go to the outskirts of town.’
“So Śūrpī took his sister to the outskirts of town, and as they approached a house to beg alms, a brahmin sitting in his home heard the voice of a man speaking to a woman. On hearing this, the brahmin came out and asked, ‘What is a sage doing traveling with a wife?’
“ ‘This is not my wife. This is my younger sister. Would you give us a little something to eat?’
“ ‘I will not. And if I refuse, would you give me your sister?’
“ ‘That would be a sin and I reject such ignoble principles.’
“Sūkṣmā said, [F.41.b] ‘Brother, the medicinal plants in this forest do not sustain me, so it was I who suggested we go to the edge of town. Why did I suggest it? Incapacitated as I am by emotions, I trusted you would know what to do.’
“ ‘I will give a large dowry and take her as my bride,’ said the brahmin.
“ ‘Brother, let us leave,’ said Sūkṣmā, and together they stepped away.
“Śūrpī said, ‘It is because I do not pursue desires that I have gone to remote places.’
“ ‘Then, brother, should you attain even the slightest store of qualities, you must come share them with me.’
“Śūrpī went off into the wilds and, without a teacher or a guide, gave rise to the thirty-seven qualities conducive to awakening112 and actualized his own awakening.113 He then thought, ‘I promised to share any such attainment with my sister, so I must do so.’
“Great persons teach the Dharma through their actions and not their words. So, out of the great love and compassion Śūrpī felt, like a swan spreading its wings, he flew up into the sky above and began to miraculously invoke flashes and bursts of light, clouds and lightning. Now, because ordinary beings are swift to pay heed to miracles, Sūkṣmā dropped like a felled tree at the pratyekabuddha’s feet and said, ‘Noble one! Have you found such a store of qualities?’
“ ‘I have.’
“ ‘Noble one, accept these alms. I seek merit, so please stay here and let me provide you all the provisions you need.’
“ ‘Sister, first ask the master of the house.’
“She went to the brahmin, the master of the house, and said, ‘Son of a lord, my brother has gone forth, accomplished his vow, and become a great being. Please allow him to stay and I will offer him all the provisions he needs.’
“Her husband replied, ‘If I give to laymen without being asked, why would I not give to a renunciant [F.42.a] who has lived up to his vows and become a saint? Go, do as you please and offer him all the provisions he needs.’
“After three months, during which she offered the pratyekabuddha all the provisions he needed, she offered him a piece of cotton cloth large enough to be worn as a robe, a needle, a razor, and thread. He accepted the cotton cloth, needle, razor, and thread, and began to cut the cloth in front of her. As he sharpened the razor’s blade, Sūkṣmā prostrated at his feet and said this prayer: ‘Just as this razor’s blade becomes sharper and sharper, may these roots of virtue sharpen my intellect.’
“The pratyekabuddha began to poke holes with the needle and as the needle made finer and finer holes, Sūkṣmā prostrated at his feet and said this prayer: ‘Just as this needle pokes finer and finer holes, may these roots of virtue refine my intellect.’
“The pratyekabuddha began to sew with the thread and as the thread passed through the cloth unhindered, Sūkṣmā prostrated at his feet and said this prayer: ‘Just as this thread passes unhindered through cloth, may these roots of virtue help me develop an incisive intellect.’
“Monks, at that time the monk Śāriputra was the brahmin’s daughter Sūkṣmā. That action of making offerings and prayers to the pratyekabuddha ripened so that now his intellect is sharp, fine, and incisive.
“Monks, the ripened fruits of wholly negative actions are wholly negative, and the ripened fruits of mixed actions are mixed, but the ripened fruits of wholly positive actions are wholly positive.
“Monks, therefore abandon wholly negative and mixed actions and seek wholly positive actions. [F.42.b] Monks, this is how you should train.”
Still in doubt, the monks questioned him who severs all doubts, the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, what has the venerable Śāriputra done that the ripened fruit of his action has led to his birth into a family that is neither extremely rich nor extremely poor, but into a family of moderate means with many renunciants?”
The Blessed One replied, “Monks, Śāriputra himself discovered the store of action, mastered conditions, tended to them as one does an irrigation channel, and emerged without indecision. He himself acted and accumulated this store, and so no one else experiences Śāriputra’s actions and accumulations for themselves. Monks, actions and accumulations do not ripen upon the external elements. They do not ripen upon the element of water, upon the element of fire, nor upon the element of wind. Virtuous and non-virtuous actions performed and accumulated come to ripen upon the aggregates, elements, and seats of the senses of the one who performed them:
“Monks, long ago a king who lived in a remote mountain range took a wife of equal caste and together they sported, made love, and indulged all of their desires. From their sporting, lovemaking, and the indulging all of their desires, there came a boy, whom they nurtured and raised until he grew into a man. Seeing that his father ruled in ways compatible with the principles of justice, the boy thought, ‘When my father passes, I will become king. If I exercise my royal authority in ways compatible with the principles of justice, in a later life I will go to hell.’
“He went to the king and said, ‘Father, grant me leave. I wish to go forth in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya.’
“The king [F.43.a] replied, ‘Son, the royal authority, for which you have made offerings to the gods, performed fire pūja, and suffered through austerities, is within reach. Having been born into a caste borne about by elephants, why would you renounce it?’
“And with that his father refused to let him go forth.
“Some time later, the boy set out, riding astride the neck of an elephant, when he saw a poor man on his begging rounds holding a staff and a broken beggar’s bowl. The prince went to him and said, ‘Householder, because I was born into a wealthy family, I could not get consent to go forth. You are poor, so why have you not joined such an order?’
“ ‘Prince,’ he replied, ‘how could I go forth if I don’t have a begging bowl or a dharma robe?’
“ ‘Good man, come,’ said the prince. ‘I will give you a begging bowl and a Dharma robe.’
“The prince then took him to the sanctuary of a sage endowed with the five types of heightened awareness.114 The prince got down from his perch atop the elephant’s neck and said calmly, ‘Sir, this noble son wishes to go forth. Allow him to do so, and I shall provide his begging bowl and Dharma robe.’
“So the sage allowed the beggar to go forth. The prince then washed a begging bowl and had a Dharma robe cut, sewn, and dyed. He handed them over to the former beggar and said, ‘Noble one, should you attain even the slightest store of qualities, you must tell me.’
“He promised the prince he would do so and went off into the wilds. Without a teacher or a guide, he gave rise to the thirty-seven qualities conducive to awakening and actualized his own awakening.115 He then thought, ‘This small store of qualities I have attained, I have attained with the help of the prince. I promised to share any such attainment with him, so I must do so.’
“Great persons [F.43.b] teach the Dharma through their actions and not their words. So out of the great love and compassion he felt, like a swan spreading its wings, he flew up into the sky above and miraculously invoked flashes and bursts of light, clouds and lightning. Now, because ordinary beings are swift to pay heed to miracles, the prince dropped like a felled tree at the pratyekabuddha’s feet and said, ‘Noble one! Have you found such a store of qualities?’
‘I have.’
“The prince thought, ‘If the small store of qualities this noble being has attained, he has attained with my help, then this noble being’s failure to get consent to go forth was due to his birth into a lowly family like his. My own failure to get consent to go forth was due to my birth into a high family such as mine.’
“With that thought, he prostrated at the pratyekabuddha’s feet and made this prayer:
“Monks, the monk Śāriputra was at that time the prince. That action of making offerings and prayers to the pratyekabuddha ripened so that now he was not born into too rich a family, nor into too poor a family, but rather into a family of moderate means in which there were many renunciants.
“Monks, thus the ripened fruits of wholly negative actions are wholly negative while the ripened fruits of wholly positive actions are wholly positive and the ripened fruits of mixed actions are mixed.
“Monks, therefore abandon wholly negative and mixed actions and seek wholly positive actions. [F.44.a] Monks, this is how you should train.”
Still in doubt, the monks questioned him who severs all doubts, the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, what has the venerable Śāriputra done that the ripened fruit of his action has led him to be singled out by the Blessed One as the wisest of the wise and the most confident of the confident?”
The Blessed One replied, “It is the prayers he made. What did he pray for? Monks, long ago during this fortunate eon, when the lifespan of beings was twenty thousand years, the blessed Buddha Kāśyapa appeared in the world, a teacher, a tathāgata, an arhat, a perfectly awakened buddha, a knowledgeable and venerable one, a sugata, one who knew the world, an unsurpassed guide who tamed beings, a teacher to gods and men, who lived and dwelt in the Ṛṣipatana Deer Park near Vārāṇasī.
“A monk, he who would later become Śāriputra, went forth into Kāśyapa’s teachings and was singled out by the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa as the wisest of the wise and the most confident of the confident.
“He lived the holy life for the rest of his days, but he did not attain any store of qualities. Later, as he was dying, he made this prayer: ‘Although I have spent my entire life living the holy life under Kāśyapa, an arhat, a blessed tathāgata, a perfectly awakened buddha and unsurpassed object of veneration, I have not attained any store of qualities. May the roots of virtue, accumulated through living the holy life for my entire lifetime, ensure that I may go forth into the teachings of Buddha Śākyamuni, about whom the arhat116 and blessed tathāgata and perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa has prophesied to the young brahmin Uttara, saying, ‘Young brahmin, in the future, when the lifespan of beings is one hundred years, you will become the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened Buddha, [F.44.b] the knowledgeable and venerable one, the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassed guide who tames beings, the teacher to gods and men known as the Blessed Buddha Śākyamuni,’ and that I may go on to abandon all disturbing emotions and actualize arhatship. And just as I, this master, was singled out by the tathāgata, the arhat, and perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa as the wisest of the wise and the most confident of the confident, may I too be singled out by the blessed sage of the Śākyas, lion of the Śākyas, king of the Śākyas, as the wisest of the wise and the most confident of the confident.’
“Because of that prayer, Śāriputra has now been singled out by the Tathāgata as the wisest of the wise and the most confident of the confident.”
“Reverend, what has the venerable, the great Maudgalyāyana done that the ripened fruit of his action has led to him being the most powerful and the greatest miracle worker?”
The Blessed One replied, “Monks, Maudgalyāyana himself discovered the store of action, mastered conditions, tended to them as one does an irrigation channel, and emerged without indecision. He himself acted and accumulated thus, so no one else experiences Maudgalyāyana’s actions and accumulations for themselves. Monks, actions and accumulations do not ripen upon the external elements, the element of water, the element of fire, nor upon the element of wind. The virtuous and non-virtuous actions performed and accumulated come to ripen upon the aggregates, elements and seats of the senses of the one who performed them:
“Monks, long ago, in a sanctuary not very far from the city of Vārāṇasī, there lived a sage who personified loving kindness. Endowed with compassion, he was kind to all sentient beings. One day, a poor man arrived at the sanctuary carrying a bundle of wood. The sage saw him put down his bundle of wood before sitting down to rest. Feeling compassion for him, he thought, ‘He has been born a human, but because of faulty actions done in the past, this afflicted man must struggle very hard to make a living. I shall allow his going forth.’
“The sage called out, ‘Son, who are you?’
“ ‘Noble one, I am a poor man who makes his living from wood.’
“ ‘Well then, why do you not go forth?’
“ ‘Noble one, if I am a poor man who must work very hard to forge a living by selling wood, who would allow me to go forth?’
“Because the sage was the very personification of loving kindness, he felt tremendous compassion for the man and asked, ‘Son, do you wish to go forth?’
“ ‘Noble one, I seek to go forth, so in your love I ask that you allow me.’
“The sage allowed him to go forth, then washed a begging bowl and dyed a Dharma robe and gave them to him, saying, ‘Good man, should you attain even the slightest store of qualities, you must tell me.’
“The man promised to do so and he went off into the wilds. Without a teacher or a guide, he gave rise to the thirty-seven qualities conducive to awakening and actualized his own awakening. Then he thought, ‘I promised to share any such attainment with that sage, so I must do so.’
“Great persons teach the Dharma through their actions and not their words. So out of the great love and compassion he felt, [F.45.b] like a swan spreading its wings, he flew up into the sky above and miraculously invoked flashes and bursts of light, clouds and lightning. As ordinary beings are swift to pay heed to miracles, the sage dropped like a felled tree at the pratyekabuddha’s feet and said, ‘Noble one! Have you found such a store of qualities?’
“ ‘I have.’
“The sage thought, ‘The small store of qualities this noble being has attained, he has attained with my help,’ and with that he prostrated at the pratyekabuddha’s feet and made this prayer, ‘Just as this noble being is powerful and a great miracle worker, through these roots of virtue may I too become powerful and a great miracle worker.’
“The ripened fruits of wholly negative actions are wholly negative, while the ripened fruits of wholly positive actions are wholly positive, and the ripened fruits of mixed actions are mixed.
“Monks, therefore abandon wholly negative and mixed actions and seek wholly positive actions. Monks, this is how you should train.” [B5]
In doubt, the monks questioned him who severs all doubts, the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, what is it that the venerable, the great Maudgalyāyana has done, that the ripened fruit of his action has led the Blessed One to declare him as the greatest and most powerful miracle worker?” [F.46.a]
The Blessed One replied, “It is the prayers he made. What did he pray for? Monks, long ago during this fortunate eon, when the lifespan of beings was twenty thousand years, the blessed Buddha Kāśyapa appeared in the world, a teacher, a tathāgata, an arhat, a perfectly awakened buddha, a knowledgeable and venerable one, a sugata, one who knew the world, an unsurpassed guide who tamed beings, a teacher to gods and men, who lived and dwelt in the Ṛṣipatana Deer Park near Vārāṇasī.
“A monk, he who would later become Maudgalyāyana, went forth into Buddha Kāśyapa’s teachings and was singled out by the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa as the greatest and most powerful miracle worker.
“He lived the holy life for the rest of his days, but he did not attain any store of qualities. Later, as he was dying, he made this prayer: ‘I have spent my entire life living the holy life under Kāśyapa, the blessed tathāgata, the arhat, and perfectly awakened Buddha and unsurpassed object of veneration, but I have not attained any store of qualities. May the roots of virtue accumulated through living the holy life for my entire lifetime ensure that I may go forth into the teachings of Buddha Śākyamuni, about whom the blessed tathāgata and perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa has prophesied to the young brahmin Uttara, saying ‘Young brahmin, in the future, when the lifespan of beings is one hundred years, you will become the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened buddha, the knowledgeable and venerable one, the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassed guide who tames beings, the teacher to gods and men known as the Blessed Buddha Śākyamuni,’ and that I may go on to abandon all disturbing emotions and actualize arhatship. [F.46.b] And just as I, this master, was singled out by the tathāgata, the arhat, and perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa as the most powerful of the powerful and the greatest of miracle workers, may I too be singled out by the blessed sage of the Śākyas, lion of the Śākyas, king of the Śākyas, as the greatest and most powerful of miracle workers.’
“Because of that prayer, Maudgalyāyana has now been singled out by the Tathāgata as the greatest and most powerful of miracle workers.”
Still in doubt, the monks questioned him who severs all doubts, the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, what is it that the venerable Koṣṭhila has done, that the ripened fruit of his action has led him to be singled out by the Blessed One as supreme among those who have attained discerning wisdom?”
The Blessed One replied, “It is the prayers he made. What did he pray for? Monks, long ago during this fortunate eon, when the lifespan of beings was twenty thousand years, the blessed Buddha Kāśyapa appeared in the world, a teacher, a tathāgata, an arhat, a perfectly awakened buddha, a knowledgeable and venerable one, a sugata, one who knew the world, an unsurpassed guide who tamed beings, a teacher to gods and men, who lived and dwelt in the Ṛṣipatana Deer Park near Vārāṇasī.
“A monk, he who would later become Koṣṭhila, went forth into Buddha Kāśyapa’s teachings and was singled out by the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa as supreme among those who have attained discerning wisdom.
“He lived the holy life for the rest of his days, but he did not attain any store of qualities. Later, as he was dying, he made this prayer: ‘I have spent my entire life living the holy life under Kāśyapa, the blessed tathāgata, the arhat, and perfectly awakened [F.47.a] Buddha, and unsurpassed object of veneration, but I have not attained any store of qualities. May the roots of virtue accumulated through living the holy life for my entire lifetime ensure that I may go forth into the teachings of Buddha Śākyamuni, about whom the blessed tathāgata, the arhat, and perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa has prophesied to the young brahmin Uttara, saying, ‘Young brahmin, in the future, when the lifespan of beings is one hundred years, you will become the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened Buddha, the knowledgeable and venerable one, the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassed guide who tames beings, the teacher to gods and men known as the blessed Buddha Śākyamuni,’ and that I may go on to abandon all disturbing emotions and actualize arhatship. And just as this master was singled out by the tathāgata and perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa as supreme among those who have attained discerning wisdom, may I too be singled out by the blessed sage of the Śākyas, lion of the Śākyas, king of the Śākyas, as supreme among those who have attained discerning wisdom.’
“Because of that prayer, he has now been singled out by the Tathāgata as supreme among those who have attained discerning wisdom.”
Granting Ordination
In the time of the Blessed Buddha, one obtained the going forth, ordination, and monkhood in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya in the following way: the Blessed Buddha allowed the postulants’ going forth and ordained them with the words, “Come, join me, monk.” Thus when a person approached a monk with the wish to go forth, the postulant was led before the Blessed One, knowing that when the Blessed One said, “Come join me, monk,’ he obtained the going forth, ordination, and monkhood in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya.117 [F.47.b]
However, there came a case in which one postulant, while coming to see the Blessed One, died en route and thus was prevented from obtaining the going forth, ordination, and monkhood in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya. When the monks asked the Blessed One about it, he thought, “Alas! For those disciples who live a great distance away, the journey can be arduous.” He then said, “In the light of what has happened, from this day forward, I authorize the saṅgha to allow going forth and grant ordination.”
The Early Rite
Although the Blessed One authorized the saṅgha to allow going forth and grant ordination, they did not know how to do that. So the monks asked the Blessed One about it, and he said, “If a person approaches a monk wishing to go forth, the monk should accept charge of him. Once this is done and the entire saṅgha has assembled, the postulant should don the robes and prostrate to his seniors. The postulant should then kneel with palms joined and petition the saṅgha three times, after which the receiving monk makes a motion to ratify the petition. The postulant’s going forth is allowed and he is ordained the moment this very act whose fourth member is a motion is accepted.”
The postulant’s petition
The postulant would make the following petition:
“Revered saṅgha, please listen. I, [postulant’s name], petition the saṅgha to allow my going forth and grant ordination into the monkhood. [F.48.a] I ask that the loving and reverend saṅgha, in your love, allow my going forth and confer ordination on me.”
This would be repeated a second and a third time.
The monk’s petition
After that, one monk would act on the petition. While seated he would say the following:
“Revered saṅgha, please listen. [Postulant’s name] has petitioned the saṅgha to allow his going forth and grant ordination into the monkhood. If the time is right and the saṅgha can allow it, I ask that the saṅgha grant their consent. I ask that the saṅgha allow [postulant’s name] to go forth and grant him ordination.”
Acting on the petition
The petition would be acted on in the following way:
“Revered saṅgha, please listen. [Postulant’s name] has petitioned the saṅgha to allow his going forth and grant ordination into the monkhood. If the saṅgha allows his going forth and grants ordination, then I ask that any who can allow the going forth of the venerable [postulant’s name] and his ordination remain silent. I ask that any who cannot allow it speak up.”
After the first motion to act, the motion would be repeated a second and a third time. The saṅgha would acknowledge its acceptance and give its consent that the going forth of such and such a monk be allowed and that he be granted ordination by remaining silent.
Thus went the Early Rite.
Preceptors and Instructors
Because those whose going forth was allowed and who were ordained under the Early Rite had no preceptor or instructor, they would go to the homes of brahmins and householders without being well presented or well dressed, while speaking shrilly and in loud voices, and behaving wildly. While there, they would beg for food, implore others to beg for food, grovel for soup, implore others to grovel for soup, and do still more that went against the teachings. [F.48.b]
This prompted tīrthikas, knowledgeable men, and others to criticize, disparage, and slander them. They would say, “Since these ascetic sons of the Śākya have no preceptor and no instructor, they go to the houses of brahmins and householders without being well presented or well dressed, while speaking shrilly and in loud voices, and behaving wildly. While there, they beg for food, implore others to beg for food, grovel for soup, and implore others to grovel for soup. Who would give these shaven-headed ascetics alms or think to help them?”
One sick monk even died for lack of someone to nurse him. When that occurred, the monks asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One thought, “I should authorize my disciples to act as preceptors and instructors, so that they may allow others to go forth and care for the sick among them.”
The Blessed One proclaimed, “After considering the matter, I authorize preceptors and instructors to allow going forth and grant ordination.”
When the Blessed One had authorized preceptors and instructors to allow going forth and grant ordination, the monks found themselves in a quandary, for they did not know what serving as a preceptor or instructor entailed.
So the Blessed One proclaimed, “There are five types of instructors and two types of preceptors. What are these five types of instructors? They are instructors of novices, instructors who inquire into confidential matters, officiants, givers of instruction,118 and recitation instructors. What is an instructor of novices? He is one who grants refuge and the foundations of the training.119 What is an instructor who inquires into confidential matters? He is one who delves into private matters. What is an officiant? He is one who moves to act upon an act whose fourth member is a motion. What is a giver of instruction? He is one in whose presence you stay even for a single day. [F.49.a] What is a recitation instructor? He is one who recites even a single verse of four lines three times, which you then repeat. What are the two types of preceptor? They are those who allow going forth and those who grant ordination.”
The Present Day Ordination Rite
When the Blessed One authorized preceptors and instructors to allow going forth and grant ordination, the monks found themselves in a quandary, for they did not know how to do that. So the Blessed One proclaimed, “If someone approaches you with the wish to go forth, you should accept charge of him after having inquired into impediments he might face. Once you have accepted charge of him and he has promised to seek refuge in the Three Jewels and live as a lay devotee, you should give him the layperson’s vows.”
Giving the layperson’s vows and refuge precepts
How to give the layperson’s vows
This is how to give the layperson’s vows. First, the postulant prostrates to the Teacher.120 He then prostrates and kneels before the instructor, joins his palms together, and says:
“Reverend, heed me. I, [postulant’s name], will henceforth, for as long as I live, seek refuge in the Buddha, supreme among men; I will seek refuge in the Dharma, supreme among all that is free from attachment; I will seek refuge in the Saṅgha, supreme among communities. For as long as I live, I ask that you, reverend, accept me as a lay devotee.”
The postulant repeats this a second and a third time, but in the third recitation, says “instructor.”121 The instructor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the lay devotee says:
“It is excellent.”
Pledging to keep the precepts
The postulant then expresses his commitment to the precepts with the following words:
“Instructor, heed me. Just as noble arhats renounced killing and swore to refrain from killing for as long as they lived, so do I, [F.49.b] [postulant’s name], henceforth, for as long as I live, renounce killing and swear to refrain from killing. With this first branch, I pledge to train in, practice, and act upon the precepts of those noble arhats. Furthermore, noble arhats renounced and swore to refrain from stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicating substances like grain alcohol and its by-products, which leave one uninhibited. Just so do I, [postulant’s name], too, for as long as I live, renounce and swear to refrain from stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicating substances like grain alcohol and its by-products, which leave one uninhibited. With this, the fifth branch, I pledge to train in, practice, and act upon the precepts of those noble arhats.”
The instructor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the lay devotee says:
“It is excellent.”
This completes the ceremony by which a person becomes a lay devotee.
Going forth
Informing the saṅgha of the wish to go forth
The postulant then turns to the monk who will inform the saṅgha of his desire to go forth. The monk informant asks the preceptor:
“Have you inquired into the confidential matters?”
A serious breach occurs if a petition is made without such inquiry.
The monk informant then informs the saṅgha in the following way. He lays out his sleeping mat and strikes the wooden beam. He then properly summons the monks with words of invitation, requesting the presence of the entire saṅgha, either in the usual way or by visiting them in their own dwellings. The monk informant then prostrates to the seniormost in the saṅgha before taking his place in a kneeling position. [F.50.a] With palms pressed together, he informs the saṅgha with these words:
“I ask you, reverend saṅgha, to listen. The postulant [postulant’s name] has asked the preceptor [preceptor’s name] to allow his going forth. He seeks to leave the householder’s life, with its white clothes and unshaven head and face, and go forth in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya. [Postulant’s name] seeks to go forth and, having shaven head and face, to don the saffron robes. With perfect faith, he seeks to go forth from home into homelessness under the guidance of this preceptor [preceptor’s name]. Furthermore, he is utterly free of impediments.”
The saṅgha reply:
“If that is indeed the case, he is utterly free of all impediments to his going forth being allowed.”
If they say that, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if they do not.
That is how one informs the saṅgha of the wish to go forth.
Petitioning the preceptor
Next, a petition is made to the preceptor in the following way. The postulant prostrates to and then kneels before the preceptor. With palms pressed together, he says:
“Master, heed me. I, [postulant’s name], petition you, master, to serve as preceptor. Master, please act as my preceptor. Master, as preceptor, please allow my going forth.”
He repeats this a second and a third time, but the third time he says “preceptor” in place of “master.” The preceptor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
To which the person wishing to go forth says:
“It is excellent.”
A monk is then assigned to shave the postulant’s head and face. The Blessed One decreed, “Do not shave off all of his hair but rather leave a tuft of hair at his crown.” So, after shaving off nearly all the postulant’s hair, the monk should ask the postulant:
“Shall I cut this tuft?” [F.50.b]
If he answers “No, do not cut it,” then tell him to go.
But if he answers “Yes, I am happy for you to do so,” then cut it.
The postulant should then bathe. If the weather is cold, he may bathe with warm water. If the weather is warm, he should bathe with cold water.
The preceptor then gives him a begging bowl and saffron robes, which he accepts after bowing at the preceptor’s feet. The preceptor then dresses the postulant, checking to ensure he is not asexual, a paṇḍaka, or suffering from an excretory fistula.122
The Blessed One decreed that postulants should be examined, but the embarrassment that the monks’ examination caused to the naked and exposed postulants prompted the Blessed One to decree, “Do not examine him while naked. Examine him without his knowing, while he is dressed only in a lower robe.”
That is how the first part of the ceremony should be performed.
Allowing the postulant’s going forth
Allowing going forth begins with the postulant going for refuge.
The postulant first prostrates to the Teacher, then prostrates to the preceptor and kneels before him, presses his palms together, and says:
“Preceptor, heed me. I, [postulant’s name], will henceforth, for as long as I live, seek refuge in the Buddha, supreme among men; I will seek refuge in the Dharma, supreme among all that is free from attachment; I will seek refuge in the Saṅgha, supreme among communities. Following the example of going forth set by the Blessed One, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly complete Buddha Śākyamuni, the lion of the Śākyas, the king of the Śākyas, I, in going forth, renounce the tokens of the householder life and fully embrace the tokens of the renunciant life.”
He repeats this a second and a third time. The preceptor then says:
“This is the procedure.” [F.51.a]
At which point the renunciant says:
“It is excellent.”
Becoming a novice
Inducting the postulant into the novitiate
The postulant is then directed to the monk who will induct him into the novitiate. The preceptor again asks the postulant whether he is utterly free of impediments, and if he is, the postulant’s induction into the novitiate begins with his going for refuge and promising to live as a novice.
This is how the postulant is inducted into the novitiate. The postulant first prostrates to the Teacher, then prostrates to and kneels before the instructor, presses his palms together, and says:
“Reverend, heed me. I, [postulant’s name], will henceforth, for as long as I live, seek refuge in the Buddha, supreme among men; I will seek refuge in the Dharma, supreme among pure doctrines; I will seek refuge in the Saṅgha, supreme among communities. I ask that you, reverend, accept charge of me as a novice for as long as I live.”
The postulant repeats this a second and a third time, but the third time he says “instructor” in place of “reverend.” The instructor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the novice says:
“It is excellent.”
Marking the time
A monk other than the instructor then consults the sundial and announces the month, the day, the time of day or night, and the hour.
The novice investiture
The novice then pledges to keep the precepts in the following way:
“Instructor, heed me. Just as noble arhats renounced and swore off killing for as long as they lived, so do I, [novice’s name], henceforth, for as long as I live, renounce and swear to refrain from killing. [F.51.b] With this first branch, I pledge to train in, practice, and act upon the precepts of those noble arhats. Furthermore, noble arhats renounced stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, intoxicating substances like grain alcohol and its by-products which leave one uninhibited, singing, dancing, music, garlands, perfumes, jewelry, cosmetics, tall seating, grand seating, untimely eating, and accepting gold and silver, and thus ceased accepting gold and silver. Just so, henceforth, for as long as I live, so too do I, [novice’s name], renounce stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, intoxicating substances like grain alcohol and its by-products which leave one uninhibited, singing, dancing, music, garlands, perfumes, jewelry, cosmetics, tall seating, grand seating, untimely eating, and accepting gold and silver; thus will I cease to accept gold and silver. With these ten branches, I too pledge to train in, practice, and act upon the precepts of those noble arhats.”
The instructor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the novice says:
“It is excellent.”
That marks the end of the novice investiture rite.
Granting ordination
The opening occasion
When the novice reaches the age of twenty, the preceptor gives him his begging bowl and Dharma robes and requests the presence of a monk officiant. The preceptor also requests the presence of a monk who will inquire into confidential matters, and that of any other monk in the vicinity where the ceremony is to be performed.
When the monks in the vicinity have gathered, they each individually investigate whether they have incurred any transgressions in the past half a month that need to be reined in, confessed, [F.52.a] or formally excused.123 Recognizing those transgressions, they make reparations by reining them in, confessing them, or having them formally excused before taking their places.
All of the saṅgha then take their places in concord or in an inner circle.124 In the Middle Country, a quorum of ten monks is needed. In outlying areas, if there are no other monks, then a quorum of five, which includes a master of monastic discipline, will suffice. The ordinand first prostrates to the Teacher, then three times to each monk. Either of the two types of prostration—bowing prostrate with all four limbs and head, or a kneeling bow—is permissible.
This is how the opening occasion is conducted.
Petitioning the preceptor
Next, the ordinand petitions the preceptor in the following way. The ordinand prostrates to the preceptor and squats before him, with his two heels pressed to a grass mat on bricks so as to relieve pressure on the nerves. Pressing his palms together, he says, employing whichever address is appropriate—“Preceptor” if addressing the preceptor, “Instructor” if addressing the instructor, or “Reverend” if addressing a monk:
“Reverend, heed me. I, [ordinand’s name], petition you, reverend, to serve as preceptor. Reverend, please act as my preceptor. Reverend, please grant me ordination.”
This is repeated a second and a third time, but the third time he says “preceptor” in place of “instructor” or “reverend.” The preceptor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the ordinand says:
“It is excellent.”
Sanction for Dharma robes that have already been cut and sewn
The preceptor himself then sanctions the novice’s three Dharma robes. It is best if the ordinand has a set of robes already cut and sewn, in which case they are sanctioned as follows. Each of the three robes are folded and laid over the ordinand’s left shoulder, after which both preceptor and ordinand rise. [F.52.b] They both take the Dharma robe called the “ceremonial robe” in their hands, and the novice says:
“Preceptor, heed me. This is my, [ordinand’s name]’s, Dharma robe, woven, good, right, and fit to wear. Please bless this Dharma robe as a ceremonial robe.”
The ordinand repeats this a second and a third time. The preceptor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the ordinand says:
“It is excellent.”
After that, he takes the upper robe in his hands and says:
“Preceptor, heed me. This is my, [ordinand’s name]’s, Dharma robe, woven, good, right, and fit to wear. Please bless this Dharma robe as an upper robe.”
This is repeated a second and a third time. The preceptor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the ordinand says:
“It is excellent.”
Next, he takes the lower robe in his hands and says:
“Preceptor, heed me. This is my, [ordinand’s name]’s, Dharma robe, woven, good, right, and fit to wear. Please bless this Dharma robe as a lower robe.”
This is repeated a second and a third time. The preceptor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the student says:
“It is excellent.”
After that, the ordinand puts the Dharma robes on, along with the ceremonial robe if there is one, and prostrates to the saṅgha that has assembled to ordain him. That is how the ordinand’s Dharma robes that have already been cut and sewn are sanctioned.
Sanction for Dharma robes that have not already been cut and sewn
If the ordinand’s Dharma robes have not already been cut and sewn, the materials must be sanctioned in the following way. The materials for the three Dharma robes are folded separately and laid on the student’s left shoulder, after which the ordinand and the preceptor both rise. They both take the material for the Dharma robe called the ceremonial robe in their hands, and the ordinand says:
“Preceptor, heed me. Please bless this, my, [ordinand’s name]’s, Dharma robe, as a ceremonial robe. If you please, I will divide it into nine or more patches and those into sections of two and a half and more. [F.53.a] If not prevented from doing so, I will wash them, lay them out, cut them, piece them together, stitch them, sew them together, and dye them. Or, I will patch additional pieces onto this. Acting in accord with circumstances, this Dharma robe will be right and fit to wear.”
This is repeated a second and a third time. The preceptor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the student says:
“It is excellent.”
After that, they both take the material for the upper robe in their hands, and the ordinand says:
“Preceptor, heed me. Please sanction this, my, [ordinand’s name]’s, Dharma robe, as an upper robe. If you please, I will divide it into seven patches and those into sections of two and a half. If not prevented from doing so, I will wash them, lay them out, cut them, piece them together, stitch them, sew them together, and dye them. Or, I will patch additional pieces onto this. Acting in accord with circumstances, this Dharma robe will be right and fit to wear.”
This is repeated a second and a third time. The preceptor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the student says:
“It is excellent.”
Next, they both take the material for the lower robe in their hands, and the ordinand says:
“Preceptor, heed me. Please sanction this, my, [ordinand’s name]’s, Dharma robe, as a lower robe. If you please, I will divide it into five patches and those into sections of two and a half. If not prevented from doing so, I will wash them, lay them out, cut them, piece them together, stitch them, sew them together, and dye them. Or, I will patch additional pieces onto this. Acting in accord with circumstances, this Dharma robe will be right and fit to wear.”
This is repeated a second and a third time. The preceptor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the student says:
“It is excellent.”
Displaying the begging bowl
The ordinand then displays his begging bowl in the following way. One monk [F.53.b] places the begging bowl in his left hand and covers it with his right hand. The ordinand then bows to each of the monks, starting with the seniormost, and as he stands before them, asks the following question:
“Reverend or venerable, heed me. Venerable [monk’s name], is this begging bowl too small, too large, or too pale?”
If all the monks agree the begging bowl is none of those, they each say:
“The begging bowl is fine.”
If they should say that, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if they do not say that.
Sanction for the begging bowl
The preceptor himself then sanctions the begging bowl in the following way. Both rise and the ordinand places the begging bowl in his left hand while he covers it with his right hand and says the following:
“Preceptor, heed me. This is my, [ordinand’s name]’s, begging bowl, fit to eat from. Please sanction this sage’s bowl as a container for alms begged.”
This is repeated a second and a third time. The preceptor then says:
“This is the procedure.”
At which point the student says:
“It is excellent.”
Seeking the cooperation of the inquirer into confidential matters
The ordinand is then sequestered out of hearing range but within sight. With his palms joined, he stands facing the assembly.
The monk officiant then asks about the monk who inquires into confidential matters:
“Who has the preceptor [preceptor’s name] asked to serve as inquirer for this ordinand [ordinand’s name]?”
Whoever was named to inquire into confidential matters responds:
“It is I, [inquirer’s name].”
The monk officiant then asks the monk who inquires into confidential matters:
“Are you, [inquistor’s name], happy to inquire into the confidential matters of this ordinand [ordinand’s name] at the behest of the preceptor [preceptor’s name]?”
He responds by saying:
“I am happy to do so.”
Petitioning the Saṅgha for an inquiry into confidential matters
The monk officiant next [F.54.a] performs an act of motion alone so that the monk who inquires into confidential matters may question the student about impediments.
This is how that petition is made. While seated, he says the following:
“Reverend saṅgha, please listen. This monk, [inquirer’s name], is happy to inquire into the confidential matters of the ordinand [ordinand’s name], at the behest of the preceptor [preceptor’s name]. If that is so, and the time is right and the saṅgha can allow it, I ask that the saṅgha grant their leave. This monk, [inquirer’s name], shall inquire into the confidential matters of the ordinand [ordinand’s name] at the behest of the preceptor [preceptor’s name].”
The inquiry into confidential matters
The monk who inquires into confidential matters then leaves the inner circle. The ordinand prostrates to and kneels before him, then joins his palms as the inquirer says:
“Listen, venerable. It is time for you to be truthful. It is time to come forth. I shall ask you a few questions. Do not be apprehensive. Answer simply by saying what is so is so, and what is not is not. Are you a male?”
The postulant responds:
“I am a male.”
The inquirer asks:
“Do you have male organs?”
The postulant responds:
“I do.”
The inquirer asks:
“Have you reached the age of twenty?”
The postulant responds:
“I have reached that age.”
The inquirer asks:
“Do you have all three Dharma robes and a begging bowl?”
The postulant responds:
“I have them all.”
The inquirer asks:
“Are your parents still living?”
If the ordinand says his parents are still living, he is then asked:
“Have your parents given you leave?”
The ordinand responds:
“They have given me leave.”
If the ordinand says his parents are deceased, he is asked:
“Are you not a bondsman? Are you not a captive? Are you not a pledge? Are you not a pawn? Are you not chattel? Are you not a favorite of the king? Are you not a threat to the king? Have you not worked to harm the king? Have you worked to harm the king or enlisted others to do so? Are you not a known bandit or thief? Are you not a eunuch? [F.54.b] Are you not a paṇḍaka? Have you not violated a nun? Are you not an impostor? Are you not in segregation? Are you not fallen? Are you not a tīrthika? Are you not a convert to a tīrthika order? Are you not a patricide? Are you not a matricide? Have you not killed an arhat? Have you not caused a schism in the saṅgha? Have you not maliciously drawn blood from a tathāgata? Are you not a trickster? Are you not an animal?”
The ordinand responds:
“No.”
If the ordinand responds that he is not these things, the inquirer asks him:
“Have you not incurred some debts, be they large or small?”
If the ordinand responds “I have incurred some,” the inquirer asks:
“Are you able to repay them once you have been ordained?”
If the ordinand responds “No, I am unable,” the inquirer tells him:
“In that case, I ask you to leave.”
If the ordinand responds “I am able to repay them after I have been ordained, the inquirer asks him:
“Have you not gone forth before?”
If the ordinand responds “I have gone forth before,” he inquirer asks him:
“Did you not transgress and incur one of the four defeats? Did you properly offer back your precepts when you stepped down?”
If the ordinand responds “A transgression occurred,” the inquirer tells him:
“In that case, I ask you to leave.”
If the ordinand responds “No transgression occurred,” the inquirer asks him:
“Have you now gone forth?”125
If the ordinand responds “I have gone forth,” the inquirer asks him:
“Have you properly lived the holy life?”
The ordinand responds:
“I have lived it properly.”
If the ordinand says he has lived the holy life properly, the inquirer asks him:
“What is your name? What is your preceptor’s name?”
The ordinand responds:
“My name is [ordinand’s name] and my preceptor’s name, who will speak on my behalf, is [preceptor’s name].”
The inquirer asks him:
“Venerable, please listen. Human bodies are subject to diseases that manifest on the body in these ways: as oozing pustules, large pustules, small pustules, exanthema, leprosy, oozing rashes, dry rashes, welts, scabs, consumption, pulmonary consumption, fits, [F.55.a] anal fistula, fluid retention, elephantiasis, urethral fistula, a latent or raging fever, fevers which last a day, two day fevers, tertian fevers, quartan fevers, complexes, daily fevers, chronic fevers, dissipation, abscesses, vomiting and diarrhea, hiccoughs, coughs, asthma, carbuncles, pain in the extremities, tumors, blood disorders, jaundice, hemorrhoids, nausea, urinary retention, fatigue, pyrexia, arthritis, and bone pain.126 Do any of these physical conditions or others like them afflict your body?”
The ordinand responds:
“They do not.”
The inquirer says to him:
“Venerable, listen. The learned brethren will ask the same questions I have just now asked you but in front of the saṅgha community. Once there, do not be apprehensive. Answer simply by saying what is so is so, and what is not is not. Stay here until you are called.”
Reporting the findings
The monk who inquired into confidential matters then stands before the senior monks, bows, and says the following:
“Venerable saṅgha, please listen. If the preceptor [preceptor’s name] were to again ask the ordinand [ordinand’s name] about the confidential matters regarding impediments I have inquired into, he too will find that the ordinand is utterly free of impediments. If that is indeed the case, and the ordinand is asked, ‘Which of these do you have?’ he will respond, ‘I have none at all.’ ”
If he says that, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if he does not say that.
The ordinand’s petition for ordination
The ordinand is then brought into the inner circle and prostrates before the seniormost of those gathered. [F.55.b] The monk officiant then prompts him to petition for ordination.
The ordinand first prostrates to the Teacher, then before the seniormost monk. He then squats with his two heels pressed to a grass mat on bricks so as to relieve pressure on the nerves. Joining his palms, he says:
“Venerable saṅgha, please listen. The preceptor, [preceptor’s name], speaking on my, [ordinand’s name], behalf, seeks consent from the saṅgha for ordination. If the saṅgha allows the petition of the preceptor [preceptor’s name], who speaks on my, [ordinand’s name], behalf, I ask that the venerable saṅgha grant me ordination. I ask that the venerable saṅgha guide me. I ask that the venerable saṅgha accept charge of me. I ask that the venerable saṅgha show me the way. I ask that the venerable and compassionate saṅgha, in their compassion, extend their compassion to me.”
That is repeated a second and a third time.
The petition to ask about impediments before the saṅgha
The monk officiant makes an act of motion alone so that the ordinand can be asked before the saṅgha about impediments. While seated, the monk officiant says:
“Venerable saṅgha, please listen. The ordinand [ordinand’s name] seeks consent from the saṅgha to receive ordination from the preceptor [preceptor’s name]. If he has petitioned the saṅgha to give consent to the preceptor [preceptor’s name] to grant ordination to the ordinand, and if the time is right and the saṅgha can allow it, I ask that the saṅgha grant their consent. Before the saṅgha, I shall ask about the impediments faced by the ordinand [ordinand’s name] who is to be ordained by the preceptor [preceptor’s name].” [F.56.a]
Inquiring into impediments before the Saṅgha
The monk officiant then inquires into impediments before the saṅgha. The ordinand prostrates to the officiant and then squats with his two heels pressed to a grass mat on bricks so as to relieve pressure on the nerves. The ordinand then joins his palms as the monk officiant inquires into impediments.
“Listen, venerable. It is time for you to be truthful. It is time to come forth. I shall ask you a few questions. Do not be apprehensive. Answer simply by saying what is so is so, and what is not is not. Are you a male?”
The postulant responds:
“I am a male.”
The inquirer asks:
“Do you have male organs?”
The postulant responds:
“I do.”
The inquirer asks:
“Have you reached the age of twenty?”
The postulant responds:
“I have reached that age.”
The inquirer asks:
“Do you have all three Dharma robes and a begging bowl?”
The postulant responds:
“I have them all.”
The inquirer asks:
“Are your parents still living?”
If the ordinand says his parents are still living, he is then asked:
“Have your parents given you leave?”
The ordinand responds:
“They have given me leave.”
If the ordinand says his parents are deceased, he is asked:
“Are you not a bondsman? Are you not a captive? Are you not a pledge? Are you not a pawn? Are you not chattel? Are you not a favorite of the king? Are you not a threat to the king? Have you not worked to harm the king? Have you worked to harm the king or enlisted others to do so? Are you not a known bandit or thief? Are you not a eunuch? Are you not a paṇḍaka? Have you not violated a nun? Are you not an impostor? Are you not in segregation? Are you not fallen? Are you not a tīrthika? Are you not a convert to a tīrthika order? Are you not a patricide? Are you not a matricide? Have you not killed an arhat? Have you not caused a schism in the saṅgha? Have you not maliciously drawn blood from a tathāgata? [F.56.b] Are you not a trickster? Are you not an animal?”
The ordinand responds:
“No.”
If the ordinand responds that he is not these things, the inquirer asks him:
“Have you not incurred some debts, be they large or small?”
If the ordinand responds “I have incurred some,” the inquirer asks:
“Are you able to repay them once you have been ordained?”
If the ordinand responds “No, I am unable,” the inquirer tells him:
“In that case, I ask you to leave.”
If the ordinand responds “I am able to repay them after I have been ordained, the inquirer asks him:
“Have you not gone forth before?”
If the ordinand responds “I have gone forth before,” he inquirer asks him:
“Did you not transgress and incur one of the four defeats? Did you properly offer back your precepts when you stepped down?”
If the ordinand responds “A transgression occurred,” the inquirer tells him:
“In that case, I ask you to leave.”
If the ordinand responds “No transgression occurred,” the inquirer asks him:
“Have you now gone forth?”127
If the ordinand responds “I have gone forth,” the inquirer asks him:
“Have you properly lived the holy life?”
The ordinand responds:
“I have lived it properly.”
If the ordinand says he has lived the holy life properly, the inquirer asks him:
“What is your name? What is your preceptor’s name?”
The ordinand responds:
“My name is [ordinand’s name] and my preceptor’s name, who will speak on my behalf, is [preceptor’s name].”
The inquirer asks him:
“Venerable, please listen. Human bodies are subject to diseases that manifest on the body in these ways: as oozing pustules, large pustules, small pustules, exanthema, leprosy, oozing rashes, dry rashes, welts, scabs, consumption, pulmonary consumption, fits, anal fistula, fluid retention, elephantiasis, urethral fistula, a latent or raging fever, fevers which last a day, two day fevers, tertian fevers, quartan fevers, complexes, daily fevers, chronic fevers, dissipation, abscesses, vomiting and diarrhea, hiccoughs, coughs, asthma, carbuncles, [F.57.a] pain in the extremities, tumors, blood disorders, jaundice, hemorrhoids, nausea, urinary retention, fatigue, pyrexia, arthritis, and bone pain.128 Do any of these physical conditions or others like them afflict your body?”
The ordinand responds:
“They do not.”
This was the inner inquiry into impediments.
The monk officiant’s petition to ordain
After that, the monk officiant petitions the saṅgha. While seated, he says:
“Venerable saṅgha, please listen. The ordinand [ordinand’s name] has sought consent from the saṅgha to receive ordination from the preceptor [preceptor’s name]. He has petitioned the saṅgha to give consent for the preceptor [preceptor’s name] to grant ordination to the ordinand [ordinand’s name]. He is a male, has male organs, has reached twenty years of age, and has all three Dharma robes and a begging bowl. He has attested that he is utterly free of impediments. If the saṅgha gives consent for the preceptor [preceptor’s name] to grant ordination to the ordinand [ordinand’s name], and if the time is right and the saṅgha can allow it, I ask that the saṅgha grant consent.”
The motion to act
This is how the motion to act is made:
“Venerable saṅgha, please listen. The ordinand [ordinand’s name] has sought consent from the saṅgha to receive ordination from the preceptor [preceptor’s name]. He has petitioned the saṅgha to give consent for the preceptor [preceptor’s name] to grant ordination to the ordinand [ordinand’s name]. He is a male, has male organs, has reached twenty years of age, and has all three Dharma robes and a begging bowl. He has attested that he is utterly free of impediments. [F.57.b] The saṅgha gives consent for the preceptor [preceptor’s name] to grant ordination to the ordinand [ordinand’s name]. Therefore, if the saṅgha grants consent for the preceptor [preceptor’s name] to grant ordination to ordinand [ordinand’s name], then venerables, those who can allow the preceptor [preceptor’s name] granting ordination to the ordinand [ordinand’s name] remain silent. I ask that any who cannot allow it speak up.”
This is the first motion to act. This is repeated a second and a third time. The saṅgha acknowledges its acceptance and gives its consent to the preceptor to grant ordination to the ordinand by remaining silent.
This concludes the ordination portion of the rite.
Marking the time by the length of a shadow
Next, measuring the length of a shadow.
When the Blessed One decreed, “Measure the length of a shadow,” the monks measured the length of a shadow using a long stick, prompting the Blessed One to order, “Do not measure the length of a shadow with a long stick.” When the monks measured the length of a shadow in steps, it proved too difficult, prompting the Blessed One to order, “Do not measure the length of a shadow in steps. Measure it like this, using splints of wood.” When the monks measured the length of a shadow using long splints, it also proved too difficult, prompting the Blessed One to order, “Measure with a splint just four finger widths tall. A splint of exactly that length shall be called a ‘bar.’ ”
Explaining the different parts of the day and night
The different parts of the day and night are then described with these words:
“The different parts of the day and night are described as morning, noon, evening, the first watch of the night, the latter half of the first watch, the midnight watch, the latter half of the midnight watch, the last watch of the night, the latter half of the last watch of the night, pre-dawn, dawn, before sunrise, sunrise, an eighth of the sun’s passage, [F.58.a] a quarter of the sun’s passage, midday, a quarter of the sun’s passage remaining, an eighth of the sun’s passage remaining, before sunset, sunset, before the stars appear, and after the stars appear.”
Describing the length of the seasons
The length of the seasons are then described:
“There are five seasons: the cold season, springtime, the rainy season, the short rainy season, and the long rainy season.129 The cold season lasts four months, springtime lasts four months, the rainy season lasts one month, the short rainy season lasts a day, while the long rainy season is one day shy of three months.”
Explaining the resources
The resources are then explained:
“Listen, venerable [newly ordained monk’s name]. The Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly awakened, omniscient, all-seeing Buddha has declared four resources to be resources for monks who have gone forth and been ordained. If one abides by them, the monk who has gone forth and been ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya will be a genuine monk. What are the four?
As for clothes, it is preferable that you find a pile of discarded rags suitable. If one abides by that, the monk who has gone forth and been ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya will be a genuine monk. Will you, [newly ordained monk’s name], delight in living on clothes from a pile of discarded rags for so long as you live?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will so delight.”
He is then told:
“Or further, if you were to obtain silk or a large piece of cotton, wool, muslin, raw silk, a large piece of wool, red wool, lambswool, a red shawl, fine Kāśī cotton, cloth of a fitting color, ill-colored cloth, woolen cloth, hempen cloth, linen, cotton cloth, [F.58.b] dugūla cloth, jute cloth, Aparāntin cloth, or were to receive any other appropriate cloth from the saṅgha or a person, you may also accept that, provided you take the proper amount. Will you commit yourself to subsisting on such resources?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will so commit myself.”
He is then told:
“Listen, venerable [newly ordained monk’s name]. As for food, it is preferable that you find begging for alms suitable. If one abides by that, the monk who has gone forth and been ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya will be a genuine monk. Will you, [newly ordained monk’s name], delight in living on alms for so long as you live?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will so delight.”
He is then told:
“Or further, if you were to obtain cooked grains, gruel, soup; special food prepared for feasts on the fifth, the eighth, the fourteenth, or the full moon; or everyday fare; or be invited to a banquet, or be invited on a whim, or obtain vegetables, or obtain any other appropriate food from the saṅgha or a person, you may also accept that, provided you take the proper amount. Will you commit yourself to subsisting on such resources?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will so commit myself.”
He is then told:
“Listen, venerable [newly ordained monk’s name]. As for shelter, it is preferable that you find shelter at the foot of a tree suitable. If one abides by that, the monk who has gone forth and been ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya will be a genuine monk. Will you, [newly ordained monk’s name], delight in living in shelter at the foot of a tree for so long as you live?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will delight in living so.”
He is then told:
Or further, if you were to find shelter in a house, a temple,130 a multi-story building, a veranda, a yard, a rotunda, a hall, a veranda above a vestibule, a rooftop shed, a shed, a wooden hut, an earthen cave, a rock cave, a mountain cave, a grass hut, a hut of leaves, a settlement, [F.59.a] an unsettled place, a burrowed out crevice, or a natural crevice, or find any other appropriate shelter from the saṅgha or a person, you may also accept that, provided you take its proper measure. Will you commit yourself to subsisting on such resources?
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will so commit myself.”
He is then told:
“Listen, venerable [newly ordained monk’s name]. As for medicines, it is preferable that you find voided urine suitable.131 If one abides by that, the monk who has gone forth and been ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya will be a genuine monk. Will you, [newly ordained monk’s name], delight in living by voided urine for so long as you live?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will delight in living so.”
He is then told:
“Or further, if you were to obtain ghee, sesame oil, honey, molasses, food fit for a time, fit for a period, tonics kept for seven days, lifelong medicines, medicinal roots, medicinal stalks, medicinal leaves, medicinal fruits, or any other appropriate medicines from the saṅgha or a person, you may also accept them, provided you take the proper amount. Will you commit yourself to subsisting on such resources?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will so commit myself.”
Explaining the offense
Then those things that lead to an offense are explained:
“Listen, venerable [newly ordained monk’s name]. The Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly awakened, omniscient, all-seeing Buddha, has declared four things that lead to an offense for monks who have gone forth and been ordained. If a monk were to engage in them, he would immediately disqualify himself as a monk, disqualify himself as a spiritual practitioner, disqualify himself as an heir of the Śākya, and would fall from monkhood. It would leave his spiritual practice in tatters, leave him ruined, wrecked, fallen, and defeated. There would be no way to restore his spiritual practice. [F.59.b] It is like a palmyra tree: if you were to lop off its crown, it would no longer be green, nor would it flourish, grow, or expand. What are the four? They are desires, clinging to desires, longing for desires, and pursuing desires, which the Blessed One criticised in many ways. It was abandoning desires that he honored; it was renouncing them, rejecting them, forsaking them; it was freedom from desires, their cessation, their pacification, and their vanishing that he praised, esteemed, honored, and extolled.
“Venerable, since from now on you should not even fix your eyes with attachment upon a woman, what need is there to mention engaging in an act of sexual intercourse in which a couple’s two organs meet? The Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly awakened, omniscient, all-seeing Buddha declared that if any monk, who has the same training as other monks, were to engage in the act of sexual intercourse without first offering back his training with training intact, he is liable, at the least, to wind up amongst those born as animals. As that monk has suffered a defeat, he should not remain.132 If a monk were to do such a thing, he would immediately disqualify himself as a monk, disqualify himself as a spiritual practitioner, disqualify himself as an heir of the Śākya, and would fall from monkhood. It would leave his spiritual practice in tatters, leave him ruined, wrecked, fallen, and defeated. There would be no way to restore his spiritual practice. It is like a palmyra tree: If you were to lop off its crown, it would no longer be green, nor would it flourish, grow, or expand. From this day forward, you must endeavor to fully safeguard your intentions by being mindful of and attentive to forsaking improper arrangements, improper actions, and improper behavior. [F.60.a] Do you accept not to engage in such things?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will not engage in such things.”
He is then told:
“Listen, venerable [newly ordained monk’s name]. The Blessed One criticised stealing in many ways, and praised, esteemed, honored, and extolled the forsaking of stealing. Venerable, since, from now on, you should not, with thieving intent, take from another so much as the husk of a sesame seed, what need is there to mention five measures of gold or more?133 Venerable, the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly awakened, omniscient, all-seeing Buddha declared that if any monk takes something of another’s—in the community or outside the monastery—which he has not been given, that is counted as tantamount to stealing, no matter how much he has stolen, whereby the king or his minister could rightly say to him, ‘O! You are a thief! A fool! An idiot! A robber!’ and execute, bind, or exile him. If a monk thus takes what has not been given, that monk also incurs a defeat and so should not remain. If a monk were to do such things, he would immediately disqualify himself as a monk, disqualify himself as a spiritual practitioner, disqualify himself as an heir of the Śākya, and would fall from monkhood. It would leave his spiritual practice in tatters, leave him ruined, wrecked, fallen, and defeated. There would be no way to restore his spiritual practice. It is like a palmyra tree: if you were to lop off its crown, it would no longer be green, nor would it flourish, grow, or expand. From this day forward, you must endeavor to fully safeguard your intentions by being mindful of and attentive to forsaking improper arrangements, improper actions, and improper behavior. Do you accept not to engage in such things?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will not engage in such things.”
He is then told:
“Listen, venerable [newly ordained monk’s name]. The Blessed One criticised killing [F.60.b] in many ways and praised, esteemed, honored, and extolled the forsaking of killing. Venerable, since, from now on, you should not so much as kill an ant intentionally, what need is there to mention a human or a human embryo? Venerable, the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly awakened, omniscient, all-seeing Buddha declared that if any monk intentionally kills a human, or a human embryo, with his own hands, or gives them a weapon, sends an assassin to them, pressures them, or extols the merits of death to them, then say this to him: ‘Oh! Why do you visit such negativity, filth, and evil on the living? Oh! You, who are alive and well, you suggest it would be better to die. In your mind, do you desire and scheme, while pressuring them with the many things you say?’ The Blessed One declared that if, initiated by that monk’s extolling the merits of death, the time comes that it happens, then that monk incurs a defeat and thus should not remain. If a monk were to do such things as these, he would immediately disqualify himself as a monk, disqualify himself as a spiritual practitioner, disqualify himself as an heir of the Śākya, and would fall from monkhood. It would leave his spiritual practice in tatters, leave him ruined, wrecked, fallen, and defeated. There would be no way to restore his spiritual practice. It is like a palmyra tree: if you were to lop off its crown, it would no longer be green, nor would it flourish, grow, or expand. From this day forward, you must endeavor to fully safeguard your intentions by being mindful of and attentive to forsaking improper arrangements, improper actions, and improper behavior. Do you accept not to engage in such things?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will not engage in such things.”
He is then told:
“Listen, venerable [newly ordained monk’s name]. The Blessed One criticised lying in many ways and [F.61.a] praised, esteemed, honored, and extolled the forsaking of lying. Venerable, since, from now on, you should not knowingly speak falsely even in the hopes of getting a laugh, what need is there to mention intentionally claiming to possess superhuman qualities? Venerable, the Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly awakened, omniscient, all-seeing Buddha declared that any monk who claims to have attained the final superhuman quality, or an exalted or specific superhuman human quality, while in a state of non-perception or non-discernment,134 one who, while devoid of knowledge, insight, and first-hand experience,135 claims, ‘I know this, I have seen this,’ even though he has not, that monk incurs a defeat, unless at some other time, wanting to come clean about the offense that has occurred, he says, at another’s urging or not, ‘Venerables, I declared I knew something I did not know. I declared I saw something I did not see. I spoke duplicitously and fraudulently,’ in which case it is only excessive pride.
“The Blessed One declared that such a monk has incurred a defeat and thus should not remain. Such a monk claims, ‘What do I know? I know suffering. I know its origin. I know its cessation. I know its path. What do I see? I see gods. I see the nāgas, yakṣas, garuḍas, gandharvas, kiṁnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, pūtanas, kaṭapūtanas, and pāṃśukūla piśācas. The gods also see me. The nāgas, yakṣas, garuḍas, gandharvas, kiṁnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, pūtanas, kaṭapūtanas, and pāṃśukūla piśācas also see me. I hear the voices of the gods. I hear the voices of the nāga, [F.61.b] yakṣas, garuḍas, gandharvas, kiṁnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, pūtanas, kaṭapūtanas, and pāṃśukūla piśācas. The gods also hear my voice. The nāgas, yakṣas, garuḍas, gandharvas, kiṁnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, pūtanas, kaṭapūtanas, and pāṃśukūla piśācas also hear my voice. I go to see the gods. I go to see the nāgas, yakṣas, garuḍas, gandharvas, kiṁnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, pūtanas, kaṭapūtanas, and pāṃśukūla piśācas too. The gods come to see me. The nāgas, yakṣas, garuḍas, gandharvas, kiṁnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, pūtanas, kaṭapūtanas, and pāṃśukūla piśācas also come see me.’
“He claims, ‘I converse with the gods. I chat with them. We delight one another, and I always keep their company. I converse with the nāgas, yakṣas, garuḍas, gandharvas, kiṁnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, pūtanas, kaṭapūtanas, and pāṃśukūla piśācas. [F.62.a] I chat with them. We delight one another. And I always keep their company. The gods converse with me. They chat with me. We delight one another. And they always keep my company. The nāgas, yakṣas, garuḍas, gandharvas, kiṁnaras, mahoragas, pretas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, pūtanas, kaṭapūtanas, and pāṃśukūla piśācas converse with me. They chat with me. We delight one another. And they always keep my company.’
“Though he has no such attainments, he claims, ‘I have gained recognition of impermanence, recognition of the suffering in impermanence, recognition of the selflessness of suffering, recognition of aversion to food, recognition of dislike for all worlds, recognition of drawbacks, recognition of abandonment, recognition of freedom from desirous attachment, recognition of cessation, recognition of death, recognition of ugliness, recognition of putrefaction, recognition of suppuration, recognition of bloating, recognition of decomposition, recognition of moldering, recognition of red rot, recognition of disintegration,136 recognition of bare bones, and recognition of the discernment of emptiness.’
“Though he has no such attainments, he claims, ‘I have attained the first, second, third, and fourth dhyānas; loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity; the abode of infinite space, the abode of infinite consciousness, the abode of nothingness, the abode of neither recognition nor non-recognition, [F.62.b] the fruition of stream-enterer, the fruition of once-returner, the fruition of non-returner, the fruition of arhatship, miraculous abilities, the divine ear, and knowledge of manifold minds, previous lives, the onset of death and birth, and the exhaustion of defilements. I, an arhat absorbed in the eight liberations, have been freed from the two.’137
“If a monk were to do such things, he would immediately disqualify himself as a monk, disqualify himself as a spiritual practitioner, disqualify himself as an heir of the Śākya, and would fall from monkhood. It would leave his spiritual practice in tatters, leave him ruined, wrecked, fallen, and defeated. There would be no way to restore his spiritual practice. It is like a palmyra tree: if you were to lop off its crown, it would no longer be green, nor would it flourish, grow, or expand.
“From this day forward, you must endeavor to fully safeguard your intentions by being mindful of and attentive to forsaking improper arrangements, improper actions, and improper behavior. Do you accept not to engage in such things?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will not engage in such things.”
Explaining those things that constitute spiritual practice
Explain those things that constitute spiritual practice:
“Listen, venerable [newly ordained monk’s name]. The Blessed One, the tathāgata, arhat, perfectly awakened, omniscient, all-seeing Buddha has declared four observances to constitute spiritual practice. What are those four observances? Venerable, from now on, though you be rebuked, do not rebuke in return; though you be assaulted, do not assault in return; though you be struck, do not strike back; and though you be reproached, do not reproach in return. Do you accept to engage in such observances?”
The newly ordained monk responds:
“I will engage in those observances.”
Announcing the perfect fulfillment of his greatest desire
“Listen, venerable. As you have irreproachably secured a suitable preceptor, a suitable instructor, the consent of the saṅgha, and an act whose fourth member is a motion, it would not be right to disregard your wish, your seeking monkhood, to go forth and be ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya. And so I declare that you have gone forth and been ordained.”
Enjoining him to practice the equally applicable ethical code
Enjoin him to practice the equally applicable ethical code:
“Listen, venerable. A person ordained today trains in the very same training that a monk ordained for one hundred years trains in. Just so, one ordained for one hundred years trains in the very same training that a monk ordained today trains in. Since the ethical code is equally applicable, the training is equally applicable, and because the recitation of the Prātimokṣasūtra is equally applicable,138 from now on you must not neglect what you must train in.”
Enjoining him to adhere to his role model
Enjoin the newly ordained monk to adhere to his role model:
“From now on, you should think of your preceptor as your father. For his part, your preceptor will think of you as his son. From this day forth, you should venerate your preceptor for as long as you shall live. For his part, your preceptor will nurse you unto death, for so long as you live.”
Enjoining him to dwell in tranquility
Enjoin him to dwell in tranquility:
“From now on, have respect for those who live in accord with the holy life—elders, the middle-aged, and the young—[F.63.b] defer to them, and remain in thrall to them.”
Enjoining him to acquire what is needed
Enjoin him to acquire what is needed:
“From now on, you should learn the scriptures, read them, and recite them. Master the aggregates, master the sense spheres, master the seats of the senses, master interdependent arising, master right and wrong, attain what you have not yet attained, realize what you have not yet realized, actualize what you have not yet actualized—do not let your effort lag.”
Informing him of what he must do to fully understand his unspoken commitments
“These things that I have told you are but a rough overview of the foundations of your training. You shall hear more every half-month when you recite the Prātimokṣasūtra, while the rest will be revealed at length if you converse with, chat with, and question your instructor, your preceptor, one like your preceptor, one like your instructor, or companions.”
Enjoining him to heed what he reveres
“You have been ordained
Into the teachings of the most wise.
To find leisure and opportunity is rare,
So heed them perfectly.
Knowing all, the Perfectly Awakened One,
Whose name denotes truth, proclaimed
That going forth is for the gracious
And ordination for the pure.”
Querying Upasena
The monks asked the Blessed One for instructions on what to do when those who have gone forth and are ordained cannot consult, seek counsel from, or heed the preceptor or instructor.
The Blessed One replied, “Monks, I will lay out the appropriate conduct of a monk ward or apprentice. A monk ward or apprentice may not wet, sweep, or apply fresh cow dung to a monastery, or work on his begging bowl or Dharma robes, without first consulting a preceptor or instructor.141 Such a monk should not be welcomed. Such a monk should not be given soap or a toothbrush. He should not be asked for prayers or looked to for answers. A monk ward or apprentice should not undertake any activity without first consulting a preceptor or instructor, with the exception of defecating, urinating, throwing away his toothbrush, drinking water, paying reverence to a stūpa in the vicinity of the monastery, or moving about within forty-nine fathoms of the monastery.
“When, for instance, he attends to the begging bowl of a preceptor or instructor, a monk ward or apprentice should do so with great vigor, thinking, ‘Oh! We shall work on the preceptor or instructor’s begging bowl or have another do so.’ If he should exert himself, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if he should not exert himself.
“When, for instance, he attends to the Dharma robes of a preceptor or instructor, a monk ward or apprentice should do so with great vigor, thinking, [F.64.b] ‘Oh! We shall work on the preceptor or instructor’s Dharma robes or have another do so.’ If he he should exert himself, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if he should not exert himself.
“When, for instance, a preceptor or instructor falls ill, a monk ward or apprentice should think with great vigor, ‘Oh! We shall work as the preceptor or instructor’s sickness attendants or have another do so.’ If he he should exert himself, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if he should not exert himself.
“If, in thinking of his preceptor or instructor, he feels sorrow, a monk ward or apprentice should think with great vigor, ‘Oh! I will dispel the sorrow I feel toward my preceptor or instructor, or cause another who feels sorrow toward my preceptor or instructor to dispel that sorrow.’142 If he should exert himself, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if he should not exert himself.
“If, in thinking of his preceptor or instructor, he develops a negative view, a monk wards or apprentice should think with great vigor, ‘Oh! I will discard the negative view that I have toward my preceptor or instructor, or cause another with negative views toward my preceptor or instructor to discard those negative views.’ If he should exert himself, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if he should not exert himself.
“The saṅgha may mete out the following disciplinary acts on a preceptor or instructor: an act of censure, an act of demotion, an act of expulsion, an act of reconciliation, an act of suspension for refusal to acknowledge, an act of suspension for refusal to make reparations, or an act of suspension for refusal to give up deviant views. If there is a desire to mete out such an act, a monk ward [F.65.a] or apprentice should plead with great vigor, ‘Oh! The saṅgha should not mete out such disciplinary acts to my preceptor or instructor.’ Or, if such a disciplinary act has already been meted out, a monk ward or apprentice should plead with great vigor ‘Oh! For the saṅgha to impose such disciplinary acts on my preceptor or instructor makes my hair bristle and stand on end.143 I prostrate myself before the saṅgha.144 I come among you to ask that you commute his sentence and treat him appropriately. I beg clemency and ask that you forgive whatever transgressions led to the meting out of this disciplinary act.’ If he should exert himself, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if he should not exert himself.145
“If a preceptor or an instructor were to incur a transgression requiring saṅgha intervention, a monk ward or apprentice should plead with great vigor, ‘Oh! The saṅgha should impose a demotion or a repeat demotion on those preceptors and instructors.” If he should exert himself, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if he should not exert himself.146
“If a demotion or a repeat demotion has already been imposed on a preceptor or an instructor, a monk ward or apprentice should plead with great vigor, ‘Oh! The preceptor or instructor upon whom a demotion or a repeat demotion has been imposed [F.65.b] should be given a probation or a repeat probation instead.’ If he should exert himself, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if he should not exert himself.
“If a preceptor or an instructor has served out a probation or a repeat probation, a monk ward or apprentice should plead with great vigor, ‘Oh! The preceptor or instructor who has served out his probation or a repeat probation should be granted a reinstatement.’ If he should exert himself, then all is well. A serious breach occurs if he should not exert himself.
“As monk wards and apprentices treat preceptors and instructors, just so should preceptors and instructors treat monk wards and apprentices, but only if requested.”
The Blessed Buddha pledged to pass the rainy season at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī. The venerable Upasena had pledged to pass that same rainy season in some distant place. After one year had passed, he took a ward, allowed his going forth and ordained him.
After the rainy season had passed, Upasena took up his Dharma robes. This monk of two years and his ward of one took up their begging bowls and Dharma robes, set out for, and made their way in stages to Śrāvastī.
When they arrived, Upasena set down his begging bowl and Dharma robe, washed his feet, and went to the Blessed One. Having bowed his head at the Blessed One’s feet, he sat off to one side.
It is natural for blessed buddhas to welcome those monks that come to visit them with the words, “Monk, where have you come from just now? [F.66.a] Where did you pledge to pass the rainy season?” And so the Blessed One asked Upasena these very questions.
“Reverend, I have come from distant lands just now and I seek to speak with you about passing the rainy season in distant lands.”
“Upasena, who is this noble son with you?”
“Reverend, he is my ward.”
“Upasena, how many years have you passed as a monk? How many years has your ward passed?”147
“Reverend, I have passed two years while my ward has passed one.”
The Blessed One said to the monks, “Monks, the noble son Upasena thought first only of gathering a following. A monk who has passed one year should not allow going forth, should not grant ordination, should not serve as reliable instructors, should not accept charge of novices, nor should he live independently. Nor should a monk of two years, nor a monk of three years, nor a monk of four years, nor a monk of five years, nor a monk of six years, nor a monk of seven years, nor a monk of eight years. Even a monk of nine years should not allow going forth, should not grant ordination, should not serve as reliable instructors, should not accept charge of novices, nor should he live independently. A monk of ten years may allow going forth, may grant ordination, may accept charge of novices, may serve as reliable instructors, and may live independently.
“For those lacking in such particulars, who are immature, dense, dim-witted, or unskilled, to allow going forth—alas! It is impossible for those who have not disciplined themselves to discipline others. It is impossible for those who have not brought calm to themselves to bring calm to others, for those who have not themselves been freed to free others, [F.66.b] for those who have not themselves reached quiescence to bring others to quiescence, or for those who have not themselves emerged from the muck to free others from the muck.”
Once, an elder who was immature, dense, dim-witted, and unskilled allowed a follower from another tīrthika tradition to go forth and granted him ordination. But, not having received counsel or instruction at any time, the convert offered back his training and fell away, at which point the monks appealed to the Blessed One.
The Blessed One replied, “In the light of such events, only monks with ten years and five qualities may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently. What are those five qualities? That such a monk has been ordained for ten years or more, is able to nurse wards or apprentices or enlist others to do so, is able to assuage the guilt of wards or apprentices or enlist others to do so, is able to repudiate the deviant views that have arisen in wards or apprentices or enlist others to do so, and is able to allay unhappiness or enlist others to do so wherever he is, should wards or apprentices feel sad.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, and retain the sūtras, the vinaya, and the mātṛkā148 may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently. [F.67.a]
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, and are learned in the sūtras, the vinaya, and the mātṛkā may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, and know the sūtras, the vinaya, and the mātṛkā may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, and elucidate the sūtras, the vinaya, and the mātṛkā may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, [F.67.b] monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, and are able to inspire wards or apprentices to retain the sūtras, the vinaya, and the mātṛkā may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, and train in the training of higher ethics, the training of higher attention, and the training of higher wisdom may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, and are able to inspire wards or apprentices to train in the training of higher ethics, the training of higher attention, and the training of higher wisdom may allow going forth, grant ordination, [F.68.a] accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, and train in higher conduct, higher monastic discipline, and higher individual liberation149 may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, and are able to inspire wards or apprentices to train in higher conduct, higher monastic discipline, and higher individual liberation may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have perfect faith, perfect ethics, perfect apprehension, perfect generosity, and perfect wisdom may allow going forth, [F.68.b] grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have perfect ethics, perfect concentration, perfect wisdom, perfect freedom, and perfect knowledge and vision of freedom may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, exert themselves energetically, are wise, and are mindful may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, exert themselves energetically, are wise, and are flawlessly introspective may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and [F.69.a] live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have ethics, have received many teachings, exert themselves energetically, are wise, and are skilled in meditative absorption may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have the whole of a trainee’s ethics, the whole of a trainee’s concentration, the whole of a trainee’s wisdom, the whole of a trainee’s freedom, and the whole of a trainee’s knowledge and vision of freedom150 may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who have the whole ethics of one beyond training, the whole of a non-trainee’s concentration, the whole of a non-trainee’s wisdom, the whole of a non-trainee’s freedom, and the whole of a non-trainee’s knowledge and vision of freedom151 [F.69.b] may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who know how training comes about, know what it entails, know its details, know what is prohibited, and know what is allowed may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who know what hinders the training, know what does not hinder it, are able to expound on it, instruct it, and provide a reliable instructor to their wards and apprentices may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who know what hinders the training, know what does not hinder it, are able to expound on it, instruct on it, and provide a reliable instructor to their wards and apprentices may allow going forth, grant ordination, [F.70.a] accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
“Alternatively, monks with ten years who know what constitutes an offense, know what does not constitute an offense, know what is light, know what is weighty, and can recite the Prātimokṣasūtra and read and recite its supplements may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.
Upasena asked the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, the Blessed One has said, ‘Those with ten years and five qualities may allow going forth, grant ordination, accept charge of novices, serve as reliable instructors, and live independently.’ What then, reverend, if a monk has been ordained for sixty years but cannot recite the Prātimokṣasūtra or cannot read or recite its supplements? Should he take up residence with another?”
“Upasena, he should live in residence with another.”
“Reverend, how should he be addressed?”
“Upasena, he should be called an immature elder.”
“Where should he take up residence?”
“If there is a senior exemplar, he should take up residence with a senior exemplar. If there is no senior exemplar, he should take up residence with a junior exemplar.”152
“What, reverend, should the exemplar be accorded?”
“Upasena, he should be accorded with all of the above except prostrations.”
The Blessed Buddha pledged to pass the rainy season in the Kalandakanivāpa at the Bamboo Grove near Rājagṛha, at which point a small number of elder monks and a large number of new ones [F.70.b] promised to pass the rainy season at Rājagṛha. After the three months of monsoon had passed, the Blessed One instructed the venerable Ānanda, “Go to the monks, Ānanda, and tell them, ‘The Tāthagata will travel the realm. As your task will be to accompany the Tāthagata on his travels through the realm, happily ready your Dharma robes.’ ”
Heeding the Blessed One’s instruction, Ānanda replied, “I shall do as the Reverend instructs.”
To the monks, he said, “Venerables, the Tāthagata will travel the realm. Your task is to accompany him on his travels, so you should happily ready your Dharma robes.”
“Venerable Ānanda,” replied the elder monks, “we cannot travel the realm with the Blessed One, for we are old.”
And the new monks said, “Venerable Ānanda, we too cannot travel the realm with the Blessed One, for we are new and our preceptors and instructors will not go. If our preceptors and instructors do not go we must return swiftly and thus, those who have sought a reliable instructor153 will have to seek another yet again.”
After the three months of monsoon had passed, the Blessed One donned his Dharma robe. He then set out to travel the realm with a small entourage, who carried with them their begging bowls and dharma robes.
For blessed buddhas on a journey, it is natural to wonder about the behavior of those who accompany them. Were they properly trained? Were they properly clothed? Did they carry their belongings or did they lack uniformity? [F.71.a] While wondering thus, blessed buddhas look upon them by turning to the right as an elephant would. Thus, on his journey, the Blessed Buddha looked about by turning to the right as an elephant would. When the Blessed Buddha had done so, he saw the Tāthagata’s entourage to be small.
Though they see, blessed buddhas may inquire about what they already know. Though they already know, they may inquire—or, even though they know, they may not inquire. They inquire when the time is right, not when the time has passed. Their inquiries are meaningful, not meaningless. In this way blessed buddhas dam the flow of meaningless inquiries.
As blessed buddhas know the time for a meaningful inquiry, the Blessed Buddha asked Ānanda, “What is the cause due to which the Tāthagata’s companions are now so few? What are the circumstances for it?”
“Reverend, a small number of elder monks and a large number of new monks discussed the matter during the rains retreat in Rājagṛha. The elder monks said, ‘Venerable Ānanda, we cannot travel the realm with the Blessed One, for we are old.’ And the new monks said, ‘Venerable Ānanda, we too cannot travel the realm with the Blessed One, for we are new and our preceptors and instructors will not go. If our preceptors and instructors do not go, we must return swiftly and thus, those who have sought a reliable instructor will have to seek another yet again.’ Reverend, that is the cause due to which the Tāthagata’s companions are now so few; [F.71.b] those are the circumstances for it.”
“Ānanda, I therefore decree that those with five years and five qualities should travel the realm without a reliable instructor.154 What are those five qualities? That the monk knows what constitutes an offense, knows what does not constitute an offense, knows what is light, knows what is weighty, and knows how to recite the Prātimokṣasūtra and its supplements. Those with five years and five qualities should travel the realm without a reliable instructor. Do not resent this.”
The venerable Upāli asked the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, the Blessed One has said, ‘Those with five years and five qualities should travel the realm without a reliable instructor.’ What about a revered monk of six years? If he recites the Prātimokṣasūtra and reads and recites its supplements, should he too travel the realm without a reliable instructor?”
“Upāli, he should not stay. ‘Why is that?’ you ask. For those in possession of the five qualities are reliable.”
“Reverend, as for one of four years, if he recites the Prātimokṣasūtra and reads and recites its supplements, should he too travel the realm without a reliable instructor?”
“Upāli, he should not travel the realm without a reliable instructor. ‘Why is that?’ you ask. For those who have passed five years are reliable.”155
“Reverend, as for one who has knowledge of the three156 and who has cast aside the three stains,157 if he has not five years or the five qualities, should he too travel the realm without a reliable instructor?”
“Upāli, he should not travel the realm without a reliable instructor.”
A section index:
This concludes the section on what constitutes a reliable monk.
Tīrthikas
A summary:
Tīrthikas
[F.72.a] The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when an elder who was immature, dense, dim-witted, and unskilled allowed a follower of another tīrthika tradition to go forth. The elder granted the tīrthika ordination, sparking a number of disputes between monks. After the tīrthika had offered back his training and returned to his community of tīrthikas, the monks asked the Blessed One about it. This is how he responded: “Monks, look at how that benighted man has turned his back on such a fine and well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya and returned to his community of tīrthikas. Monks, it seems to me he is behaving like a dog, wracked by hunger, but refusing fine food and fare and eating excrement instead. Monks, this is how a benighted man acts who turns his back on such a fine and well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya and returns to his former community of tīrthikas.”
Then the Blessed One declared, “Monks, apart from our Śākya kin and dreadlocked fire-worshippers,158 the going forth of tīrthikas who do not have a sense of reverence should not be allowed nor should they be ordained. If perchance a Śākya kin should come under a tīrthika banner, and if perchance he should seek monkhood, to go forth and be ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya, then, monks, his going forth should be allowed and he should be ordained. Why is that? Because, monks, I give kin exceptions to kin. If perchance a wanderer from another tīrthika order should come, and he should seek monkhood, to go forth and be ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya, then, monks, understand that he should be allowed to live in robes provided by a preceptor for four months. [F.72.b] Monks, if, after having submitted to his station, the follower of another tīrthika order has a sense of reverence, his going forth should be allowed and he should be ordained.”
When the Blessed One said that followers of other tīrthika orders should be allowed to live in robes provided by a preceptor for four months, the monks were in a quandary, not knowing how such robes should be given. “Monks,” instructed the Blessed One, “if a follower of another tīrthika order wishing to go forth approaches any one of you, you should ascertain through questioning him whether he has any impediments. Once you have ascertained this, have him take the threefold refuge and, after he commits himself to living as a lay devotee, give him the lay devotee vows. Then, as the entire saṅgha sits in concord, have him prostrate to them in order of seniority before sitting in a squatting position. Pressing his palms together, he should say, ‘Reverend saṅgha, please heed me. I, the tīrthika [tīrthika’s name], wish to renounce this identity and go forth. I, the tīrthika [tīrthika’s name], petition the saṅgha to allow me to live in robes provided by a preceptor for four months. I, the tīrthika [tīrthika’s name], ask that the reverend and compassionate saṅgha, out of your compassion, might allow me to live in robes provided by a preceptor for four months.’
“This should be repeated a second and a third time, after which a monk moves the petition be acted upon. This is how the petition is made: while seated, the monk says, ‘Reverend saṅgha, please heed me. This tīrthika [tīrthika’s name] wishes to renounce this identity and go forth. This tīrthika has petitioned the saṅgha to allow him to live in robes provided by a preceptor for four months. If the reverend saṅgha can allow it, I ask the saṅgha to give its consent and [F.73.a] allow this tīrthika to live in robes provided by a preceptor for four months.’
“The petition is acted upon thus: ‘Reverend saṅgha, please heed me. This tīrthika [tīrthika’s name] wishes to renounce this identity and go forth. Therefore, I ask the saṅgha that you allow him to live in robes provided by a preceptor for four months. If the saṅgha were to permit this action, I would ask the venerables who can allow it to please remain silent. Those who cannot allow it, please speak up.’
“That is the first motion to act. This should be repeated a second and a third time. The saṅgha, by remaining silent, acknowledges its acceptance and gives its consent for the tīrthika [tīrthika’s name] to live in robes provided by a preceptor for four months.
“For any tīrthika to whom the saṅgha gives its permission to live in robes provided by a preceptor for four months, his food is the saṅgha’s responsibility. His robes are the preceptor’s responsibility. His duties are akin to those in the novice ranks.”
Upāli asked the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, the Blessed One has said, ‘If, after having submitted to his station, the follower of another tīrthika order has a sense of reverence, his going forth should be allowed and he should be ordained.’ If so, then reverend, by what measure may we say that a follower of another tīrthika order has a sense of reverence?”
“Upāli, in the presence of the follower of another tīrthika order, speak the Buddha’s praises perfectly. Speak too the praises of the Dharma and the Saṅgha, and speak them perfectly. [F.73.b] Speak perfectly of the tīrthikas’ unworthiness. Upāli, when you speak of these things perfectly, if the follower of this other order becomes upset, disturbed, or angry, or if he sits withdrawn or seethes with anger, it can be said that the follower does not have a sense of reverence.
“But, Upāli, when you speak perfectly the praises of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha, and also speak perfectly of the tīrthikas’ unworthiness, if the follower of this other tīrthika order does not become upset, disturbed, or angry, if he does not sit withdrawn or seethe with anger, then, Upāli, by that measure we may say the tīrthika has a sense of reverence.
“Monks, the going forth of dreadlocked fire-worshippers should be allowed and they should be ordained. Why? It is because, monks, they argue for karma, they argue for action, they argue for causes, and they argue for diligence. Therefore, monks, you too should train so that you come to argue for karma, for actions, for causes, and for diligence. Monks, that is how you should train.”
Twenty Years
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when Mahāmaudgalyāyana allowed the going forth of Upāli and a band of seventeen healthy new youths, and ordained them. Come twilight, reduced and wracked by hunger as they were, they would cry out and the Blessed One would hear these great many cries from within the monastery’s grounds. [F.74.a]
Though they hear, blessed buddhas may inquire about what they already know. Though they already know, they may inquire—or, even though they know, they may not inquire. They inquire when the time is right, not when the time has passed. Their inquiries are meaningful, not meaningless. In this way blessed buddhas dam the flow of meaningless inquiries.
As blessed buddhas know the time for a meaningful inquiry, the Blessed Buddha asked the venerable Ānanda, “Who are these great many young boys who cry within the monastery’s grounds at twilight?”
“Reverend, it is Upāli and a band of seventeen healthy new youths whom Mahāmaudgalyāyana allowed to go forth, and has ordained. At twilight it is they who, reduced and wracked by hunger, cry out.”
“Ānanda, do monks grant ordination into the monkhood to persons who have not yet reached twenty years?”
“Reverend, they do.”
“Ānanda, ones so young should not be ordained. Persons who are not yet twenty years of age cannot accept all they may be subjected to—the cold, the heat, the hunger, the thirst, the blowflies, the gadflies, the gnats, the wind, the sun, the snakes, the abuse hurled at them, the bad that befalls them, or the physical pains that are intolerable, oppressive, intense, dreadful, and life-threatening. Their nature is such that they cannot abide or withstand their longing for defilements.
“Persons who have reached twenty years of age, on the other hand, can accept all they may be subjected to—the cold, the heat, the hunger, the thirst, the blowflies, the gadflies, the gnats, the wind, the sun, the snakes, the abuse hurled at them, [F.74.b] the bad that befalls them, or the physical pains that are intolerable, oppressive, intense, dreadful, and life-threatening. Their nature is such that they can abide and withstand their longing for defilements.”
The Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from monks granting ordination into the monkhood to persons who have not yet reached twenty years.”
Then he decreed, “In the light of this, monks should not grant ordination into the monkhood to persons who have not yet reached twenty years. If someone wishing to be ordained approaches any of you, ask him if he has reached twenty years. If you grant ordination without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
Novices Not Yet Fifteen
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when a householder living in Śrāvastī took a wife of equal caste and together they sported, made love, and indulged all of their desires. The wife with whom he had sported, made love, and indulged all of his desires gave birth to a son who was nurtured and grew until he was big.
At a certain point, the householder’s kin had dwindled, his riches had dwindled, and his possessions had dwindled, prompting the thought, “As I am grown old and cannot gain more riches, I shall go forth.”
He then said this to his son, who replied, “Father, if you are to go forth, then I too shall go forth.”
“Son, let us do just that!” said the householder.
He took his son and went to the Jetavana, where they approached a monk and he said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
The monk replied, “Who is this lad with you?”
“He is my son.”
“Is he to go forth as well?”
“Yes, noble one, he is.” [F.75.a]
As the monk had taken a liking to them, he allowed their going forth. For the next two or three days he trained them in their appropriate conduct, and then said, “Gentlemen, game does not eat other game. The whole of Śrāvastī is your field and fatherland, so seek out alms and live on them.”
Early the next morning, the father put on his lower robe, picked up his begging bowl and Dharma robes, and went to beg alms in Śrāvastī with his novice son. Seeing a burnt piece of bread in the market, the novice said, “Father, ask the shopkeeper to give me the bread.”
“Sir, please give this novice bread,” said the father.
The shopkeeper replied, “Noble one, no one eats for free. So I would ask a few coins in return.”
“Sir, we are renunciants. How could we have a few coins?”
“Noble one, did you raise this novice while a renunciant or householder?”
“A householder.”
“Then give him what you earned while a householder.”
“This novice is but one of many who beg. Come! Let us go!”
Saying this, the father grabbed out for his son’s hand, but his son jumped back, fell down and began to cry.
A crowd of bystanders saw the two and asked, “Gentlemen, to whom does this novice belong?”
“He is my son,” his father said.
“Why did you make the fruit of your loins go forth?” they asked.
Since the bystanders denounced, disparaged, and insulted him, the monks asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from monks allowing persons who have not yet reached fifteen yearsto go forth.”
The Two Novices
A summary:
Two Novices
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when two of Upananda’s novices, Kaṇṭaka and Mahaka, flirted with, groped, and tickled one another. They acted as a man does with a woman, or as a woman does with a man. Once, when they were behaving like this, the monks asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from monks placing two novices together.”
He then decreed, “In the light of this, monks should not place two novices together. If you do so, a serious breach occurs.”
After the Blessed One had so decreed, sure enough, two brothers turned up, saying, “We two shall go forth together, at the same time.” When that occurred, the monks did not allow their going forth so the two of them left without going forth.
When that proved to be an impediment to monkhood—the state of having gone forth and been ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya—the monks asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One decreed, “If two brothers turn up as they are sure to, saying, ‘We two shall go forth together, at the same time,’ their going forth should be allowed. Once they have gone forth, they should be ordained if they have reached twenty years. If one should have reached twenty years, then he [F.76.a] should be ordained while the other should be left a novice. If neither has reached twenty years, then you should take charge of one while entrusting the other to a monk friend of yours.”
The one he is entrusted to shall ordain him, for the Blessed One decreed, “Whoever that may be, it is he that should grant ordination.” If ordination was not given, the Blessed One decreed, “Induce him to grant what was not given.”
Those in Servitude
While the Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, there was a householder living in Śrāvastī with a clever servant who was industrious, assured in his work, and the first to any task, no matter how small. At a certain point the householder insulted his servant, prompting the servant to think, “This householder is hard to please and I cannot guard my mind against his abuse. I ought to run away. But leaving one’s own land behind is hard, so instead I shall go forth among the ascetic sons of the Śākya, for they have secured from the king the liberty of a prince.”
With that he went to Jetavana, where he approached a monk and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
After allowing his going forth and ordaining him, the monk gave him instructions. To these, the former servant applied himself with diligence, energy, and exertion so that he abandoned all disturbing emotions and actualized arhatship, becoming an arhat free of attachment to the three realms, for whom filth was equal to gold, for whom space was equal to the palm of his hand,159 whose emotions had been cooled as if treated by a balm of sandalwood,160 and whose knowledge had rent open the shell. He attained knowledge, clairvoyance, and discerning wisdom. He turned his back on worldly gain, desires, [F.76.b] and esteem, and was revered, honored, and praised by Indra and the gods who attend him.
The householder, meanwhile, was feeling regret: “If my servant was first to all of my tasks, no matter how small, why did I insult him? If I see him now, I will beg his forgiveness.” With that he sat down at the gates to Śrāvastī.
The next morning, the monk put on his lower robe, picked up his begging bowl and Dharma robes, and was preparing to beg alms in Śrāvastī when the householder saw him and said, “Sir, if you have gone forth, who will attend me? Come back!” As the householder reached out to grab at him, the monk, like a kingly swan taken to wing, flew up into the sky above, blazing and brilliant, as a miraculous show of rain and thunder began.
Because ordinary beings are quick to heed a miracle, the householder dropped like a felled tree at the monk’s feet and asked, “Noble one, have you found such a store of qualities?”
“I have.”
The householder provided the monk with all the provisions he would need, and word spread everywhere that the servant of this householder had gone forth and attained a store of qualities. When Prasenajit, the King of Kosala, heard that this servant had gone forth and attained a store of qualities, he summoned his ministers and said, “Gentlemen, as the ruler of all who have been crowned and anointed kṣatriya kings, I declare that henceforth any servant who should wish to go forth shall not be prevented from doing so.”
In Śrāvastī there lived a different householder with a clever servant who was industrious, assured in his work, and first to any task, no matter how small. [F.77.a] At a certain point the householder insulted his servant, prompting the servant to think, “This householder is hard to please and I cannot guard my mind against his abuse. I ought to run away. But leaving one’s own land behind is hard, so instead I shall go forth among the ascetic sons of the Śākya, for they have secured from the king the liberty of a prince.”
With that he went to Jetavana, where he approached a monk and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
After allowing his going forth and ordaining him, the monk trained him for the next two or three days in his appropriate conduct, and then said, “Sir, game does not eat other game. The whole of Śrāvastī is your field and fatherland, so seek out alms and live on them.”
The householder, meanwhile, was feeling regret: “If he was first to all of my tasks, no matter how small, why did I insult him? If I see him now, I will beg his forgiveness.” With that he sat down at the gates to Śrāvastī.
The next morning, the monk put on his lower robe, picked up his begging bowl and Dharma robes, and was preparing to beg alms in Śrāvastī when the householder saw him and said, “Sir, if you have gone forth, who will attend me? Come back!” As the householder reached out to grab at him, the monk said, “The king has given us a prince’s liberty. If you touch me, I shall cut your hand off at the wrist!”
As such words put to flame the virtuous ways of the ascetic sons of the Śākya, and put to flame the ways of brahmins, the allowing of this servant’s going forth was denounced, disparaged, and criticized. The monks then asked the Blessed One about it, [F.77.b] and he thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from monks allowing the going forth of servants.”
Then he decreed, “That being the case, monks should not allow the going forth of servants. If someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, ask him, ‘You are not a servant, are you?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
Debtors
While the Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, a debtor was repaying the principle and interest of a debt in timely fashion to a householder living in Śrāvastī.
At a certain point, the householder unexpectedly accosted the debtor, saying, “I demand you repay the principle and interest in their entirety all at once.” After agreeing to a short window for repayment, he released the debtor, who thought, “This householder is hard to please and I cannot repay the principle and interest all at once. I ought to run away. But leaving one’s own land behind is hard, so instead I shall go forth among the ascetic sons of the Śākya, for they have secured from the king the liberty of a prince.”
With that he went to Jetavana, where he approached a monk and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
After allowing the debtor’s going forth and ordaining him, the monk gave him instructions. To these, he applied himself with diligence, energy, and exertion so that he abandoned all disturbing emotions and actualized arhatship, becoming an arhat free of attachment to the three realms, for whom filth was equal to gold, for whom space was equal to the palm of his hand, whose emotions had been cooled as if treated by a balm of sandalwood, and whose knowledge had rent open the shell. He attained knowledge, clairvoyance, and discerning wisdom. He turned his back on worldly gain, desires, and esteem, and was revered, honored, and praised by Indra and [F.78.a] the gods who attend him.
The householder, meanwhile, was feeling regret: “If he was giving me the principle and interest in a timely fashion, why did I accost him? If I see him now, I will beg his forgiveness.” With that he sat down at the gates to Śrāvastī.
The next morning, the monk put on his lower robe, picked up his begging bowl and Dharma robes, and was preparing to beg alms in Śrāvastī when the householder saw him and said, “Sir, if you have gone forth, who will repay the principle and interest in a timely fashion? Come back!” As the householder reached out to grab at him, the monk, like a kingly swan taken to wing, flew up into the sky above, blazing and brilliant, as a miraculous show of rain and thunder began.
As ordinary beings are quick to heed a miracle, the householder dropped like a felled tree at the monk’s feet and asked, “Noble one, have you found such a store of qualities?”
“I have attained them.”
The householder provided the monk with all the provisions he would need, and word spread everywhere that the debtor of this householder had gone forth and attained a store of qualities. When Prasenajit, the King of Kosala, heard this debtor had gone forth and attained a store of qualities, he summoned his ministers and said, “Gentlemen, as the ruler of all who have been crowned and anointed kṣatriya kings, I declare that henceforth any debtor who should wish to go forth shall not be prevented from doing so.”
In Śrāvastī, a different debtor was repaying the principle and interest of a debt in timely fashion to a householder. [F.78.b] At a certain point, the householder unexpectedly accosted the debtor, saying, “I demand you repay the principle and interest in their entirety all at once.” After agreeing to a short window for repayment, he released the debtor, who thought, “As this householder is hard to please and I cannot repay the principle and interest all at once, I ought to run away. But leaving one’s own land behind is hard, so instead I shall go forth among the ascetic sons of the Śākya, for they have secured from the king the liberty of a prince.”
With that he went to Jetavana, where he approached a monk and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
After allowing his going forth and ordaining him, for the next two or three days he trained him in his appropriate conduct, and then said, “Sir, game does not eat other game. The whole of Śrāvastī is your field and fatherland, so seek out alms and live on them.”
Meanwhile, the householder was feeling regret and thought, “If he was repaying the principle and interest in timely fashion, why did I accost him?” If I see him now, I will beg his forgiveness.” With that he sat down at the gates to Śrāvastī.
The next morning, the monk put on his lower robe, picked up his begging bowl and Dharma robes, and was preparing to beg alms in Śrāvastī when the householder saw him and said, “Sir, if you have gone forth, who will repay the principle and interest in timely fashion? Come back!” As the householder reached out to grab at him, the monk said, “The king has given us a prince’s liberty. If you touch me, I shall cut your hand off at the wrist!”
As such words put to flame the virtuous ways of the ascetic sons of the Śākya, and put to flame the ways of brahmins, the allowing of this debtor’s going forth was denounced, [F.79.a] disparaged, and criticized. The monks asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from monks allowing the debtors’s going forth.”
Then the Blessed One decreed, “In the light of this, monks should not allow debtors’ going forth. If someone wishing to be allowed to go forth approaches any of you, ask him, ‘You aren’t a debtor, are you?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
Those Without Consent
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when a householder living in Śrāvastī took a wife of equal caste and together they sported, made love, and indulged all of their desires. The wife with whom he had sported, made love, and indulged all of his desires then gave birth to a son who was nurtured and grew until he was big.
At a certain point, the householder insulted his son, prompting his son to think, “This father of mine is hard to please and I cannot guard my mind against his abuse. I ought to run away. But leaving one’s own land behind is hard, so instead I shall go forth among the ascetic sons of the Śākya, for they have secured from the king the liberty of a prince.”
With that he went to Jetavana, where he approached a monk and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
After the monk gave him refuge and the precepts, the son requested him to serve as his monk petitioner, as the monk who cuts his hair and beard, as the monk who oversees bathing, and as the monk who inducts him into the novitiate. Then, after his going forth was allowed, [F.79.b] he again requested him, this time to serve as the monk officiant. His final request to him was to serve as the monk who inquires into confidential matters.
After the son had appealed to the monk to serve in all of these capacities, the householder who was the ordinand’s father arrived during the ordination ceremony, and asked the monk, “Noble one, have you seen a lad fitting the description of my son?”161
The monk replied, “I petitioned on his behalf, I cut his hair and beard, I oversaw his bath, I inducted him into the novitiate, and I ordained him.”
After the son was ordained, they measured the shadows and noted the time of day and the hour. They made sure he knew the foundations, what things brought about offenses, what constituted spiritual practice, how to attain perfect fulfillment of his greatest desire, and how to practice the equally applicable ethical code. They enjoined him to adhere to his role model, to dwell in tranquility, to acquire what is needed, to do what he must do to fully understand his unspoken commitments, to heed what he reveres, and told him:
And they enjoined him in what he must practice and how.
As the newly ordained monk committed to these things, his father the householder arrived and asked, “Noble one, why are you just sitting there with a razor in your hand? If he has lost faith in me, that will be an impediment to his living the holy life. Goodness! Where is the harm in waiting seven or eight days?” [F.80.a]
The monks then asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from monks not waiting seven or eight days for consent from the parents of one wishing to go forth.”
Then he decreed, “In the light of this, if someone approaches any of you, wishing to go forth, who has parents who are alive but have not granted him consent, wait seven or eight days.”
But later, after the Blessed One had said, “If someone approaches you, wishing to go forth, wait seven or eight days,” others arrived, wishing to go forth, whose parents had granted them consent, as did others coming from afar whose parents could not be consulted. When this occurred, the monks made them, too, wait seven or eight days, and so some left without having been allowed to go forth.
When that proved to be an impediment to monkhood, the state of having gone forth and been ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya, the monks asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One decreed, “Whoever comes with his parents’ consent, and whoever comes from so far away that his parents cannot be consulted, their going forth should be allowed. This you need not regret.”
Without Consultation
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when a householder living in Śrāvastī took a wife of equal caste and together they sported, made love, and indulged all of their desires. The wife with whom he had sported, made love, and indulged all of his desires then gave birth to a son, upon which occasion the householder said, “Mistress, as we must repay our debts and build our wealth, I shall go to trade in another land.”
“Son of a lord, do as you wish.”
With that, he set out for another land to trade, [F.80.b] and in this land he suffered misfortune. His wife gave guardianship of their son to relatives while supporting and providing for him through her own industry. Once he had grown, she placed him under the tutelage of a court scribe. While other boys of the lad’s age had already mastered their letters and had begun to study the grammar treatises, he was still struggling to learn his letters. His mother went to the court scribe and said, “Master, whatever the other boys of the lad’s age may offer you, I too will give you. Those boys have already mastered their letters and have begun to study the grammar treatises, while this lad is still learning his letters.”
The court scribe replied, “There are two factors in honing one’s intelligence. The first is a sense of modesty, which pertains to oneself; another is a sense of propriety, which pertains to others. This lad has no modesty nor does he have any sense of propriety. For this, you too are at fault, for you object when I strike him.”
“I am guilty of that, as you say,” she responded, “and I do object to your striking him.”
Another time, the court scribe struck him and the lad went off crying to his mother. His mother asked him, “Son, why are you crying?”
“Mother, the court scribe struck me.”
His mother then struck him too, prompting the lad to think, “Both are at fault. Before I was only struck in one place. Now I am struck in both. I cannot bear being hurt in both places so I will run away.”
With that, he set out for Jetavana, where he saw a novice picking flowers and said, “Noble one, you look so happy. Why?”
“It is because I have gone forth. Why don’t you go forth?”
“Noble one, who can allow my going forth?”
The novice said, “Come, [F.81.a] let us go before a preceptor,” and led him away. When they arrived before a preceptor, the novice said, “Preceptor, this son of noble family seeks to go forth. I ask that you allow his going forth.” And with that, the preceptor allowed his going forth.
His mother went to the court scribe, who asked, “Where is the lad? Today I struck him.”
“I too struck him today,” she replied.
“He has run away,” the court scribe said. “You should go and look for him.”
She went searching for the boy, asking for word from the ascetics in the forest, among the tīrthika communities, and in other places; but wherever she asked, no one had heard any word of him. She went to Śrāvastī and waited at the gate. In the morning, the novice put on his lower robe, picked up his begging bowl and Dharma robes, and was preparing to beg alms in Śrāvastī with the ascetic attendant novice in tow. When she saw her son, she beat her fists on his chest and cried, “Son! I went searching for you among the ascetics in the forest, among the tīrthika communities, and in other places but everywhere I looked, no one had heard any word of you. Why have you gone forth amongst these thieving sons of the Śākya? Come back!”
Grabbing him with both hands, she dragged him home. When that proved to be an impediment to monkhood, the state of having gone forth and been ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya, the monks appealed to the Blessed One.
The Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from monks allowing going forth without consulting the saṅgha. That being the case, monks should not allow going forth without consulting the saṅgha. If someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, have him petition the saṅgha. If you allow going forth without consulting them, a serious breach occurs.”
Invalids
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Kalandakanivāpa in the Bamboo Grove near Rājagṛha [F.81.b] when a brahmin living in Rājagṛha took a wife of equal caste and together they sported, made love, and indulged all of their desires. The wife with whom he had sported, made love, and indulged all of his desires later gave birth to a son who was nurtured and grew until he was big.
At a certain point, he fell ill, and when every doctor had given up hope, his mother said to him, “Son, the physician Kumārabhṛta is the unsurpassed king of doctors. To him you must go.”
He went before the physician and pleaded, “Physician, please cure me.”
“Sir,” replied the physician, “your condition is hard to cure. Neither I nor anyone else can cure you, and I am physician to the Blessed Buddha and his community of disciples as well as to the king, the queen, and their court.”
He went to his mother, who asked, “Son, did you go to the physician?”
“Mother, I went to the physician, who told me my condition is hard to cure. He said neither he nor anyone else could cure me, and that he is physician to the Blessed Buddha and his community of disciples as well as to the king, the queen, and their court.”
“In that case, son, go forth.”
“Mother, as I am of the highest caste, how could I go forth into the mixed caste order of the ascetic sons of the Śākya?”
“Son, has your brain turned to hay? Or are you just babbling?”
He went to the Bamboo Grove, where he approached a monk and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
As soon as the monk allowed his going forth, he sat down, moaning. The monk asked him, “Why do you sit and moan?”
“Preceptor, I am unwell.”
“Sir, why have you fallen ill upon going forth?” he asked.
“Preceptor, I have not fallen ill upon going forth. I was already unwell [F.82.a] when I went forth.”
“Why did you not tell me?”
“Preceptor,” he replied, “what would you have said to me?”
The preceptor was seated, unhappy, when his wards and apprentices happened by and asked, “Preceptor, why do you sit here thus, so unhappy?”
“Boys, I have allowed the going forth of an invalid son of noble family, so I will have to place him in the infirmary.”
“Preceptor,” they replied, “the Blessed One has said there are two types of saints, those who do not assume burdens they do not bear and those who carry through to the end those burdens they bear. You must carry through to the end this burden you bear.”
As they stood discussing the matter amongst themselves, the physician passed by and they inquired of him, “Physician Kumārabhṛta! What illness is this? Please have a look.”
“It is a grave illness,” he replied. “Have the king provide all that is required and I shall try to cure him. But he will only recover quickly if you noble ones nurse him.”
The physician then treated the invalid and he was cured.
The newly cured monk said, “Preceptor, I have achieved the aim I had in going forth.”
“Son, have you actualized arhatship?” he asked.
“No, preceptor, I have not.”
“Well then, have you actualized a non-returner’s fruition? A once-returner’s fruition? A stream-enterer’s fruition?”
“No, preceptor, I have not. But I was unwell. Then I went forth and now am cured.”
He asked, “Son, where will you go?”
“I will return home, preceptor.”
“Sir,” the preceptor said, “having gone forth in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya, you have not attained any of the four fruitions of spiritual practice for which it was taught. Do you seek to squander the offerings of the faithful and invite misfortune?”
Dismissing his preceptor’s words, [F.82.b] the monk departed. Knowing what had been done for him, he gave the physician sprigs, flowers, fruits, and sticks of neem.
“Sir, what would you like from me?” asked the physician.
He replied, “I seek nothing in return. I have sought you out in order to give you these offerings.”
“Sir, what did I do for you?” he asked.
“You cured me when I was unwell.”
“I don’t recall that,” replied the physician.
“I will refresh your memory,” he said, and reminded him. At this point the physician said, “Sir, having gone forth in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya, you have not attained any of the four fruitions of spiritual practice for which it was taught. Do you seek to squander the offerings of the faithful and invite misfortune?”
Then physician thought to himself, “This is my responsibility and my responsibility alone, so I must go see the Blessed One.”
The physician Kumārabhṛta went to see the Blessed One and on arriving, bowed his head at the Blessed One’s feet before taking a seat off to one side. As he sat off to one side, the physician requested the Blessed One, “Reverend, the noble monks’ allowing the going forth of invalid sons of noble families and their ordination will, at some point, cause even the king’s treasury and stores to dwindle, diminish, and come to an end. It will cause even my body to flag, and the virtuous endeavors of noble beings to wane. O Blessed One! It would be good if you, in your compassion, would give some consideration to prohibiting the noble ones from allowing the going forth of invalid sons of noble families and ordaining them.” [F.83.a]
By keeping silent, the Blessed One assented to the physician’s request. Understanding the Blessed One’s silence to be assent, the physician bowed his head at the Blessed One’s feet and took his leave.
The Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from monks allowing the going forth of invalids.” Then he decreed, “That being the case, monks should not allow the going forth of invalids. If someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, ask him, ‘You are not an invalid, are you?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
Śākyas
While the Blessed Buddha was resident at the Banyan Grove near Kapilavastu, he allowed the going forth of members from each Śākya family in Kapilavastu. Their relatives came to see the newly ordained, who taught the Dharma to their assembled family members, and they in turn, upon hearing the Dharma, sought to go forth on the spot. Among those who, upon hearing the Dharma, were allowed to go forth on the spot were the fathers of some Śākya women, their brothers-in-law, their husbands, brothers, and sons. Overwhelmed by grief, the Śākya women cried out in misery in the twilight.
In the twilight, King Śuddhodana heard the sound of a great many Śākya women crying out in misery. Hearing their cries, he asked the Śākyas, “Gentlemen, why do so many Śākya women cry out in misery in the twilight?”
“Your Majesty,” they replied, “the going forth of certain noble ones and sons of noble families has been allowed, and they have been ordained without the consent of their parents. The going forth of the fathers, brothers-in-law, husbands, brothers, and sons of some Śākya women has also also allowed. Thus, overwhelmed by grief, [F.83.b] the Śākya women cry out in misery in the twilight.”
“This is my responsibility and my responsibility alone,” thought King Śuddhodana, “so I must go to see the Blessed One.” King Śuddhodana went to see the Blessed One and on arriving, bowed his head at the Blessed One’s feet before taking a seat off to one side. The king then said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, I have a worthy suit. Tathāgata, I have a worthy suit.”
“Great king, if you insist on passing up the boons of the tathāgatas, arhats, and perfectly complete buddhas, tell me, what favor could I grant you?”
“One that noble beings would find easy.”
“If I find it easy, I shall grant it.”
“Reverend, when the Blessed One was born, the Blessed One was destined to become king of the world. I even thought I would soar through the sky and see the four continents, my delight and pleasure being not inconsiderable.
“Reverend, when the Blessed One became a renunciant, what hopes I had for you to become king of the world were dashed. So instead, I went on to think that the prince Sundarananda would conquer and become king of the world. When those hopes were shown to be just that, and the prince Sundarananda became a renunciant, the hopes I had for conquering and for becoming king of the world were dashed too. So instead, I then went on to think that the prince Rāhulabhadra would become a king of real command. When those hopes were shown to be just that, and the prince Rāhulabhadra became a renunciant, what hopes I had for becoming a king of real command were completely and utterly dashed too.
“Reverend, if only it were otherwise and your parents could have found satisfaction in you! Reverend, [F.84.a] these noble monks are allowing the going forth of sons of noble families and ordaining them without their parents’ consent. O Blessed One! It would be good if, in your compassion, you were to give some consideration to prohibiting the noble ones from allowing the going forth of sons of noble families and their ordination without their parents’ consent.”
By keeping silent, the Blessed One assented to King Śuddhodana. Understanding the Blessed One’s silence to be assent, King Śuddhodana bowed his head at the Blessed One’s feet and took his leave.
The Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from monks allowing the going forth of sons of noble families and their ordination without their parents’ consent.” He then decreed, “In the light of this, monks should not allow the going forth of sons of noble families or ordain them without their parents’ consent. If someone approaches any of you wishing to go forth, ask him, ‘Have your parents given their consent?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
After the Blessed One had decreed, “A monk should not allow the going forth of sons of noble families or ordain them without their parents’ consent,” the monks did not allow others to go forth who came, without their parents’ consent, from faraway lands where their parents could not be consulted. Thus, their going forth not allowed, the hopefuls turned back.
When that proved to be an impediment to monkhood, the state of having gone forth and been ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya, the monks asked the Blessed One about it, and he decreed, “Those who come without their parents’ consent from faraway lands where their parents cannot be consulted should be allowed to go forth. [F.84.b] This you need not regret.”
Scaring Away a Crow
A summary:
Scaring Away a Crow
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when the ignorant Virūḍhaka had slaughtered the Śākya inhabitants of Kapilavastu, although they had not been aggressive, antagonistic, or thieving. The two sons of the venerable Ānanda’s younger sister were left orphaned, and were wandering aimlessly when traders from Śrāvastī on their way to Kapilavastu on business recognized the two good-looking lads and asked, “Boys, where are your parents?”
“They were killed by the ignorant Virūḍhaka,” they replied.
“If your uncle, the famous monk known as reverend Ānanda, is staying in Śrāvastī, why don’t you go there?”
They replied, “Who would take us there?”
“We will take you.”
After they traded their goods and made a profit, the traders set out for Śrāvastī with the two boys in tow. They left the boys at the gate of the Jetavana, where the venerable Ānanda recognized them and asked, “Boys, where are your parents?”
“They were killed by the ignorant Virūḍhaka.”
Because Ānanda cared for his kin, on hearing of their death he became choked with tears.
The monks asked him, “Venerable Ānanda, who are these two lads?”
“They are my sister’s boys.”
“Why don’t you take them in?”
“I barely get enough from begging to fill my own stomach,” he replied. “Where out there can I get enough to provide for them?”
“If these two boys offer the monks herbs, [F.85.a] flowers, and fruits, in return the monks will give them the leftovers from their begging bowls.”
After being taken in, the boys began to offer the monks herbs, flowers, and fruits, and in return the monks gave them the leftovers from their begging bowls. After a few days of giving the two their leftovers, they stopped. So Ānanda went out and about begging alms, but received only just enough to fill his own stomach. Eating half himself and giving the other half to the two boys, he became pallid, emaciated, feeble, withered, thin, and weak.
Although they know, blessed buddhas may inquire about what they already know. Though they already know, they may inquire—or, even though they know, they may not inquire. They inquire when the time is right, not when the time has passed. Their inquiries are meaningful, not meaningless. In this way blessed buddhas dam the flow of meaningless inquiries.
As blessed buddhas know the time for a meaningful inquiry, the Blessed Buddha asked the monks, “Monks, why has the monk Ānanda become pallid, emaciated, feeble, withered, thin, and weak?”
“Blessed One,” they replied, “since the two sons of the venerable Ānanda’s younger sister were orphaned, he has gone out receiving only enough alms to fill his own mouth,162 half of which he takes for himself while the other half he gives to them. This has reduced the venerable Ānanda to such a state.”
The Blessed One then asked the venerable Ānanda, “Will you not allow these two boys’ going forth?” [F.85.b]
“Blessed One, I will allow their going forth.”
The Blessed One decreed, “In the light of that, I give permission for food given to the saṅgha to be given to those wishing to go forth.”
After the Blessed One gave permission for food that has been given to the saṅgha to be given to those wishing to go forth, the monks gave them food for a few days and then began to complain. The Blessed One then asked Ānanda a second time, “Did you refuse to allow these two boys’ going forth?”
“Reverend, the two of them are not yet fifteen.”
“Can the two boys scare crows away from the saṅgha’s sleeping quarters?”
“Reverend, they can throw stones.”
“In that case, Ānanda, I give my permission to allow freely the going forth of those as young as seven years old, provided they can scare away crows.”
Ānanda then allowed the two to go forth.
After Ānanda’s nephews went forth, Ānanda began to teach them to read, but after a few days of study they began to misbehave. The venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana asked Ānanda, “Why do you not make these two novices study?”
“Elder,” replied Ānanda, “they do not listen to me. I do not know what to do, but I must compel these two novices to study.”
Mahāmaudgalyāyana replied, “Elder, do as you say.”
So Ānanda began to make the two novices study. But again, after a few days, the two of them began to misbehave, and Ānanda asked Mahāmaudgalyāyana, “Elder, why can I not make these two novices study?”
“Ānanda, these two will not yet listen to me either.”
“Elder, the two novices must be given a little scare.”
The venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana said to the two, “Novices, [F.86.a] let’s do our daily practice.”
“Yes, noble one.”
“Bring something to sit on.”
Mahāmaudgalyāyana then took the two novices for their daily practice. On the way, Mahāmaudgalyāyana conjured up an apparition of beings in the hell realms, who cried out from being cut, sliced, crushed, and hacked to pieces.
The two boys exclaimed, “Noble one, what is this?”
“Have a closer look,” he replied.
The two of them approached and found what was being done there—the cutting, the slicing, the crushing, and the hacking to pieces. Some were being sliced apart by saws, some were being ground in mills, and some were being melted down in boiling vats. When they saw two boiling iron vats standing there empty, they asked, “Gentlemen, will no one be put into these two?”
“No,” they replied. “For the two sons of noble Ānanda’s sister have gone forth and yet lazily pass their time. When their time has come and they die, they will be reborn here, so these two vats have been reserved for them.”
Terrified, they thought, “If we’re recognized, they’ll put us in those vats this very day,” and began to look all about them. They went to Mahāmaudgalyāyana, who asked, “Did you see something?”
“Noble one, we did.”
“What?”
“Beings in the hell realms.”
“What were they doing there?”
“They were doing all sorts of things—cutting, slicing, crushing, hacking to pieces,” they replied. “There, some were being sliced apart by saws, some were being ground in mills, and some were being melted down in boiling vats. [F.86.b] When we saw two boiling iron vats standing empty, we asked, ‘Gentlemen, will no one be put into these two?’ And they replied, ‘No. For the two sons of noble Ānanda’s sister have gone forth and yet lazily pass their time. When their time has come and they die, they’ll be reborn here, so these two have been reserved for them.’ ”
Then Mahāmaudgalyāyana advised, “Thus, novices, knowing that disadvantages such as these, and others too, accrue from laziness, apply yourselves diligently.”
The two nephews began to apply themselves to their studies with diligence. If they thought of the beings in the hell realms in the morning, they would not even eat; if they thought of them in the afternoon, they would vomit up what they had eaten. Thus it was that the two of them became pallid, emaciated, feeble, withered, thin, and weak.
Mahāmaudgalyāyana said, “Ānanda, the two have become dispirited.”
“Elder, now they must be inspired.”
Mahāmaudgalyāyana said to the two, “Novices, let’s go for our daily practice.”
“Noble one,” they replied, “we will go, but we will not return to that one place.”
“Bring something to sit on.”
Mahāmaudgalyāyana then took the two novices for their daily practice. On the way, Mahāmaudgalyāyana conjured up an apparition of the gods, along with the sounds of the vīṇā, ektara, balari, mahāti, and the sughoṣak.163
The two boys exclaimed, “Noble one, what is this?”
“Have a closer look,” he replied.
The two of them approached and followed the sounds of the vīṇā, ektara, balari, mahāti, and the sughoṣak to where there stood two palaces strewn with beds and divans replete with goddesses. Seeing no gods in either palace, they inquired, “Mistresses, [F.87.a] are there no gods in either of these palaces?”
“No, there are none.”
“Why is that?”
“The two sons of noble Ānanda’s sister have gone forth, and since they act and apply themselves diligently, when their time has come and they die, they will be reborn here, so these two have been reserved for them.”
Overjoyed, they went to Mahāmaudgalyāyana, who again asked, “Did you see something?”
“Noble one, we did.”
“What?”
“Gods.”
“What were they doing?”
“We could hear the sounds of the vīṇā, ektara, balari, mahāti, and the sughoṣak, and found two palaces strewn with beds and divans replete with goddesses, who said, ‘The two sons of noble Ānanda’s sister have gone forth, and since they act and apply themselves diligently, when their time has come and they die, they will be reborn here, so these two have been reserved for them.’ ”
Then Mahāmaudgalyāyana advised, “Thus, novices, knowing that advantages such as these, and others too, accrue from diligence, apply yourselves.” [B8]
The two of them began to apply themselves to their studies and receive instructions. After a time, they came across the following passage in the Nidānasaṃyukta:164
Then, taking dirt from the tip of his fingernail, the Blessed One asked the monks, “Monks, what do you think? Which is more, the dirt I take from the tip of my fingernail or the dirt that is upon this earth?” [F.87.b]
“Reverend, the dirt the Blessed One takes from the tip of his fingernail is less, much less, a great deal less, entirely less. If we used those specks to produce all the dirt on the earth, it would not amount to even one hundredth, it would not amount to one thousandth of it, or one hundred thousandth of it; it would not equal, match, number, compare to, or cause it.”
“Monks,” the Blessed One replied, “sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among hell realm beings only to be reborn among hell realm beings, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among hell realm beings and are reborn among humans.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among hell realm beings only to be reborn among animals, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among hell realm beings and are reborn among humans.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among hell realm beings only to be reborn among spirits, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among hell realm beings and are reborn among humans.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among hell realm beings only to be reborn among hell realm beings, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among hell realm beings and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among hell realm beings [F.88.a] only to be reborn among animals, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among hell realm beings and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among hell realm beings only to be reborn among spirits, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among hell realm beings and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among animals only to be reborn among animals, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among animals and are reborn among humans.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among animals only to be reborn among hell realm beings, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among animals and are reborn among humans.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among animals only to be reborn among spirits, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among animals and are reborn among humans.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among animals only to be reborn among animals, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among animals and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among animals only to be reborn among hell realm beings, while [F.88.b] sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among animals and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among animals only to be reborn among spirits, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among animals and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among spirits only to be reborn among spirits, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among spirits and are reborn among humans.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among spirits only to be reborn among hell realm beings, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among spirits and are reborn among humans.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among spirits only to be reborn among animals, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among spirits and are reborn among humans.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among spirits only to be reborn among spirits, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among spirits and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among spirits only to be reborn among hell realm beings, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail [F.89.a] die among spirits and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among spirits only to be reborn among animals, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among spirits and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among gods only to be reborn among hell realm beings, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among gods and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among gods only to be reborn among animals, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among gods and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among gods only to be reborn among spirits, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among gods and are reborn among gods.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among humans only to be reborn among hell realm beings, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among humans and are reborn among humans.
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among humans only to be reborn among animals, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among humans and are reborn among humans. [F.89.b]
“Sentient beings equal in number to the particles of dirt on the earth die among humans only to be reborn among spirits, while sentient beings equal in number only to the particles of dirt on the tip of my fingernail die among humans and are reborn among humans.”
Upon reading this chapter, called “Repeating Like a Wheel,” the two boys asked Mahāmaudgalyāyana, “Noble one, will we too die among gods and humans only to be reborn among hell realm beings, animals, and spirits?”
“Gentlemen, so long as the continuum of disturbing emotions remains uninterrupted, you must spin like a waterwheel through the cycle of five migrations.”
Disheartened, they spoke this verse:
“Noble one, henceforth, come what may, as we cycle through saṃsāra we must avoid engaging with such disturbing emotions, so please, we ask that you teach us the Dharma.”
Mahāmaudgalyāyana knew their thoughts, their tendencies, their characters, and their natures. Drawing on all he had heard, he taught them the Dharma so that they abandoned all disturbing emotions and actualized arhatship, becoming arhats free of attachment to the three realms, for whom filth was equal to gold, who knew space like the palm of their hands, whose emotions had been cooled as if treated by a balm of sandalwood, whose knowledge had rent open the shell. They attained knowledge, clairvoyance, and discerning wisdom. They turned their backs on worldly gain, desires, and esteem and were revered, honored, and praised by Indra and the gods who attend him. [F.90.a]
When the monks saw the two novices miraculously flying through the air, picking flowers, they asked one another, “Venerables, who are those two?”
One said, “They are the two novices, kin to Ānanda.”
“Our begging bowls are black with wear. Our teeth are falling out and our hair turns grey, and yet we have not achieved even stillness of mind. Venerable, if these two were but seven years old when they went forth and yet abandoned all disturbing emotions and actualized arhatship, then the Blessed One spoke well when he said, ‘Ānanda, awakening is attained through diligence.’ ”
In doubt, the monks went to he who severs all doubts, the Blessed Buddha, and asked, “Reverend, what actions have these two novices done that the fruition of such an act should lead them to go forth at the mere age of seven, and that the Blessed One exempted them alone from the vinaya guidelines he laid down for his disciples, allowing them to abandon all disturbing emotions and actualize arhatship?”
The Blessed One responded, “Monks, these two themselves performed the actions—which have accrued a heap of karma, whose results have matured, which follow their course like an irrigation channel, which inevitably come to be—so who else will experience the actions they theselves have performed and accrued? Monks, actions which have been performed and accrued do not ripen upon the external elements. They do not ripen upon the element of water, upon the element of fire, nor upon the element of wind. Likewise, virtuous and non-virtuous actions which have been performed and accrued come to fruition upon the aggregates, elements, and seats of the senses of the one who performed them, for:
“Monks, earlier in this fortunate eon, when the lifespan of beings lasted twenty thousand years, there appeared in the world a teacher, a tathāgata, an arhat, a perfectly awakened buddha, a knowledgeable and venerable one, a sugata, one who knew the world, an unsurpassed guide who tamed beings, a teacher to gods and men, the Blessed Buddha Kāśyapa.
“With his following of twenty thousand monks, he lived and stayed in the Deer Park of Ṛṣipatana near Vārāṇasī. In Vārāṇasī there lived two householders and friends, who had wished to go forth in their youth, but had not received leave to go forth from their relatives. At a certain point, after their youth had faded, they abdicated in favor of their relatives and went forth into the teachings of the perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa. As was natural given their junior status, they were always expected to perform errands, and so the monks would order them about, saying, ‘You two retired devotees! Go do this!’ and ‘You two retired devotees! Bring me that!’
“One of them had a placid nature but the other was quick-tempered. Thus when the one became angry, the other would say, ‘Retired devotee, if you couldn’t go forth when you were young, why get angry now?’
“Though they lived the holy life for the remainder of their lives, they did not achieve any of the host of qualities. So later, as they died, they said this prayer: ‘We have lived the holy life for what remained of our lives under the Blessed One, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened Buddha, the hallowed and unsurpassed Kāśyapa, but we have achieved none of the host of qualities. Therefore, may the roots of virtue from having lived the holy life for what remained of our lives ensure that at the mere age of seven we go forth into the teachings of the Blessed Buddha Śākyamuni, whose coming has been foretold in a prophecy that the blessed tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa gave to a wonderful brahmin boy: “In the future, when the lifespans of beings last one hundred years, you brahmin boy [F.91.a] will become the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened Buddha, the knowledgeable and venerable one, the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassed guide who tames beings, the teacher to gods and men, the Blessed Buddha Śākyamuni.” And further, may the Blessed One exempt us alone from the vinaya guidelines he laid down for his disciples, allowing us to abandon all disturbing emotions and actualize arhatship.’
“Monks, the two householders of that time are now these two novices. And due to the prayer that they made, they have gone forth at the mere age of seven, and I have exempted them alone from the vinaya guidelines I laid down for my disciples, allowing them to abandon all disturbing emotions and actualize arhatship.”
Violators
While the Blessed Buddha was journeying and passing through Kāśī, he arrived at a place and smiled. As is natural, when blessed buddhas smile, blue, yellow, red, white, maroon, crystalline, and silvery rays of light emerge from their mouths, some streaming downwards and some streaming upwards.
Those that streamed downwards proceeded to the hell realms of Sañjīva, Kālasūtra, Saṅghāta, Raurava, Mahāraurava, Tapana, Pratāpana, Avīci, Arbuda, [F.91.b] Nirarbuda, Aṭaṭa, Hahava, Huhuva, Utpala, Padma, and Mahāpadma. Alighting on and cooling those in the hot hells and alighting on and warming those in the cold hells, these rays of light interrupted the various harms inflicted on those hell realm beings, prompting the denizens of hell to think, “Gentlemen, what is this? Have we died, moved on, and taken birth elsewhere?”
To engender faith in them, the Blessed One sent an emanation which, when they saw it, prompted them to think, “Gentlemen, we have not died and moved on, nor have we been born elsewhere. Rather, the various harms inflicted on us have been interrupted by a being we have never seen before.”
Through the faith they felt in the emanation, the karma that led them to experience the hell realms was exhausted and they took rebirth as gods or humans, forms in which they became fit vessels for the truth.
Those rays of light that streamed upwards reached the gods of Cāturmahārājika, Trāyastriṃśa, Yāma, Tuṣita Nirmāṇarati, Paranirmitavaśavartina, Brahmakāyikā, Brahmapurohita, Mahābrahman, Parīttābha Apramāṇābha Ābhāsvara, Parīttaśubha Apramāṇaśubha, Śubhakṛtsna, Anabhraka, Puṇyaprasava, Bṛhatphala, Abṛha, Atapa, Sudṛśa, Sudarśana, and Akaniṣṭha. Resonating with the words “impermanence,” “subject to suffering,” “empty,” and “selfless,” the rays of light proclaimed these two verses: [F.92.a]
The rays of light then unfurled through the worlds of the great billionfold universe, so that they would, in the future, be drawn into the Blessed One’s sphere. If the Blessed One was about to foretell actions of the past, the rays of light would fade into the space behind the Blessed One. If the Blessed One was about to foretell actions of the future, the rays of light would fade into the space before the Blessed One. If the Blessed One was about to foretell rebirth as a hell realm being, the rays of light would fade into the soles of his feet. If the Blessed One was about to foretell rebirth as an animal, the rays of light would fade into his ankle. If the Blessed One was about to foretell rebirth as a spirit, the rays of light would fade into his big toe. If the Blessed One was about to foretell rebirth as a human, the rays of light would fade into his knee. If the Blessed One was about to foretell a reign as a powerful king of the world, the rays of light would fade into the palm of his left hand. If the Blessed One was about to foretell a reign as a king of the world, the rays of light would fade into the palm of his right hand. If the Blessed One was about to foretell rebirth as a god, the rays of light would fade into his navel. If the Blessed One was about to foretell a śrāvaka’s awakening, the rays of light would fade into his mouth. If the Blessed One was about to foretell a pratyekabuddha’s awakening, the rays of light would fade into the tuft of hair at his brow. If the Blessed One was about to foretell unsurpassed, complete and perfect awakening, the rays of light would fade into the uṣṇīṣa at his crown.
The rays of light then circled the Blessed One three times and faded into the soles of his feet. The venerable Ānanda then pressed his palms together and said to the Blessed One, “Reverend, not without cause or condition do tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly awakened buddhas [F.92.b] smile. If so, reverend, what then has caused you to smile? What condition has occasioned it?” And then he asked again in verse:
The Blessed One replied, “Ānanda, it is like this. Not without cause or condition do tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly awakened buddhas smile. Ānanda, a great many sinister men here have violated a great many nuns by bodily forcing themselves upon them. For this, when they die, they will pass from this life to be reborn among the denizens of hell.”
A monk then went to where the Blessed One was, pressed his palms together and bowed, appealing to him in these words: “Reverend, I am one of the many sinister men who have bodily and forcibly violated nuns.”
“Fool, have you really committed this act?”
“Reverend, indeed I have.”
The Blessed One then [F.93.a] decreed to the monks, “Monks, a person who has violated a nun is one who will not flourish in the Dharma and the Vinaya.167 Therefore, monks, I would exclude from this Dharma and the Vinaya those persons who have violated a nun. If someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, you should ask, ‘You have not violated a nun, have you?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
Impostors
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when a householder of Śrāvastī came to the Jetavana.
When monks are not free from desire, it leads to transgressions requiring saṅgha intervention. Some incur transgressions in their youth and then grow old, and others incur transgressions in their maturity. When such a transgression occurs, the monks who retain the sūtras, retain the vinaya, and retain the mātṛkā impose, in accord with the Dharma, a sentence168 on the offender. The offender must serve the saṅgha while undergoing his full demotion or probation. According to some, this service includes providing the saṅgha with drinks. According to others, it includes fanning them.
At a certain point, the householder from Śrāvastī saw a spread of fine shelters with choice food laid out for the community and thought, “Though there is some good to their teaching, there are faults too—they lack honor and respect for those elders they put to work.”
“Noble ones, though there is some good to your teaching, you too have faults.”
“Householder, what are our faults?”
“Noble ones,” he replied, “you lack honor and respect for the elders by putting them to work.”
“Noble ones, if I were to go forth, would you put me to work too?”
They replied, “What would you say if someone much more distinguished than you were to go forth and we put even him to work?”
The householder thought, “If I were to go forth, they would also put me to work. I must find some way around it.”
As the householder was possessed of a natural intelligence, while in the monks’ company he learned how to conduct himself. Having learned that, he set off for a remote land, where he shaved off his hair and beard, donned saffron robes, and settled down.
After a time, monks who were paying homage to stūpas passed by. When the pilgrims saw him they said, “Elder, in Śrāvastī there resides one who is verily a lord of Dharma. Around him, gods are always appearing in the flesh. Vast lights also appear, divine sounds are heard, as are the auguries of all-knowing beings, and the two forms of wealth—material wealth and the wealth of Dharma—are to be had. Why then do you not go to Śrāvastī?”
“Venerables, I shall remain right here.”
They implored him again and again, “Elder, in Śrāvastī there verily resides a lord of Dharma. Around him always are gods appearing in the flesh. Vast lights also appear, divine sounds are heard, as are the auguries of all-knowing beings, and the two forms of wealth—material wealth and the wealth of Dharma—are to be had. Why then do you not go to Śrāvastī?”
At the urging of his brethren, he set off for Śrāvastī. In time, he saw the spread of fine shelters with choice food laid out for the community there and thought, “If I sit in the front row, I’ll be called upon to demonstrate my knowledge.” Passing by the first seat, he sat down on the second. [F.94.a]
When the all-knowing Kauṇḍinya arrived, he thought, “If the Blessed One declared that I am first among those who wear the monk’s mantle standard, then who is this?” On thinking it over, Kauṇḍinya saw that he was an impostor and dismissed him with a snap of his fingers. The venerable Aśvajit, Bhadrika, Vāṣpa, Mahānāman, Yaśas, Pūrṇa, Vimala, Gavāmpati, Subāhu, the venerable Śāriputra, the venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, and all the eldest of elder monks then also dismissed him with the snap of their fingers.
Some time later he approached the group of six, and they asked him, “Elder, how many years have you passed?”
“If you’re asking my age, I have seen sixty years,” he replied.
They asked, “If the Blessed One himself has not passed sixty years, how could you?” And they asked him, “Retired devotee, who is your preceptor?”
He replied, “Who is the ascetic Gautama’s preceptor?”
They exclaimed, “Venerables, this retired devotee claims he has taken up these signifiers on his own.”170 With this, they grabbed him by his arms and legs, dragged him before the senior monks and said, “Reverend saṅgha, please listen! If the Blessed One was the first self-ordained one in this world, this retired devotee is the second. Or so he claims.” And with that they dismissed him from the senior monks’ presence.
The Blessed One then addressed the monks: “Monks, this impostor is one who will not flourish in the Dharma and the Vinaya; therefore, I would exclude impostors from this Dharma and Vinaya. If someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, ask him, ‘You are not an impostor, are you?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.” [F.94.b]
Venerable Upāli asked the Blessed One, “Reverend, if the Blessed One says an impostor should be excluded, then reverend, what constitutes an impostor?”
“Upāli, anyone who has participated in the purification two or three times with sound monks is thereby an impostor.”171
Paṇḍakas
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when a brahmin living in Śrāvastī took a wife of equal caste and together they sported, made love, and indulged all of their desires. The wife with whom he had sported, made love, and indulged all of his desires soon conceived a child. After eight or nine months, a paṇḍaka child was born who, though resembling a boy, was neither female nor male. Still, they nurtured and raised the child until it grew up.
While the child was playing with a group of children, he showed them his sex organs, at which point they asked him, “What are you?”
He replied, “I’m a hermaphrodite.”172
“You’re a brahmin,” they said. “It’s not right to bring ill repute upon your family, so do not behave like this.”
They said to his parents, “You must stop this hermaphrodite of yours from behaving like this.”
His parents then said to him, “Hermaphrodite, we are brahmins. It is not right to bring ill repute upon our family. Do not behave so.”
Though this put a stop to that, the hermaphrodite did not linger. He went to Jetavana and, after some time, he saw a group of young monks and thought, “If I were to go forth, they could play the role of a male for me while I could play the role of a female for them.” [F.95.a]
He then approached a monk and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
“Have your parents given you their permission?” asked the monk.
“They have not.”
“Go and ask your parents.”
He went to his parents and said, “Father, Mother, I seek to go forth.”
Depressed, the two of them thought, “His going forth will require our parting with him.” Then they said to him, “Hermaphrodite, we give you our permission.”
He went to the monk and said, “Noble one, my parents have given me permission, so please allow my going forth.”
After his going forth was allowed and he was granted ordination, he exposed his sex organs in the presence of monks, whereupon they asked him, “What are you? A hermaphrodite?”
When he acknowledged that he was, the monks appealed to the Blessed One, and the Blessed One said to the monks, “A paṇḍaka is one who will not flourish in the Dharma and Vinaya; therefore, I would exclude paṇḍakas from this Dharma and Vinaya. If someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, ask him, ‘You are not a paṇḍaka, are you?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
“Monks, there are five kinds of paṇḍaka. What are they? Congenital hermaphrodites, sequential hermaphrodites, fetishists, voyeurs, and those who are sexually impaired. What is a congenital hermaphrodite? One who is born neither a female nor a male. What is a sequential hermaphrodite? Someone who is female for half the month yet becomes male during the other half. What is a fetishist? One who becomes erect if embraced by another. What is a voyeur? One who becomes erect at the sight of others’ exertion. [F.95.b] What is a person who is sexually impaired? One whose sex organ has been rendered impotent by disease or one who has been castrated.
“If the first four types of paṇḍaka—congenital hermaphrodites, sequential hermaphrodites, fetishists, and voyeurs—have not gone forth, you should not allow their going forth. If they have gone forth, they should be expelled. As for paṇḍaka who are sexually impaired, if they have not gone forth, you should not allow their going forth. If they have gone forth, they should be left as they are, provided they do not show an inclination to change.173 If they show an inclination to change, they should be removed.”
Creatures
Saṅgharakṣita and the Shape-Shifting Nāga
The shape-shifting nāga who finds faith in the Dharma
While the Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, the nāgas thrice felt fiery sand fall from the heavens upon them, reducing their bodies to mere skeletons. After fiery sand thrice fell from the heavens upon a young nāga, reducing his body to that of a mere skeleton, he asked his mother, “Mother, how long must I endure such suffering?”
“Son, for as long as you are in this life.”
Through all of this, fiery sand had not fallen on other nāgas who possessed miraculous powers and great might, prompting him to ask, “Mother, why did it not fall upon them?”
His mother replied, “It did not fall upon them because they possess miraculous powers and great might; they live for eons and they sustain the earth. Even the garuḍa Suparṇi could not dislodge them.”
Through all of this, fiery sand had not fallen on a number of scrawny nāgas either, prompting him to ask, “Mother, why did it not fall upon those of their type?”
“It did not fall upon them because they took refuge and adopted the precepts in the presence of the Blessed One.”
“If that is so, [F.96.a] then I too shall take refuge and adopt the precepts in the presence of the Blessed One.”
“Son, a single life’s suffering is easy to bear, that of many lifetimes is not. If you take refuge and adopt the precepts in the presence of the Blessed One, but then do not properly heed them, you will have to endure suffering as a denizen in the hell realms for a long time to come.”
The young nāga thought, “What suffering could be worse than my present suffering? I shall take refuge and adopt the precepts in the presence of the Blessed One.”
Conjuring up the appearance of a brahmin, he set off for Jetavana, where he saw monks applying themselves to and abiding in meditation, recitation, yoga, and concentration. Upon seeing them, he felt faith and thought, “Oh my! Should I first take refuge and adopt the precepts or go forth?”
On thinking it over, he decided, “I shall go forth,” and with that he approached a monk and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
“As I am new, you should go to someone else, an elder.”
“Noble one, I do not know anyone else. This is my first time in the presence of a noble being, so I ask you, please, introduce me to a monk.”
As the new monk’s preceptor was a hermit living in the forest, the monk took the nāga disguised as a brahmin to see him and said, “Preceptor, as this noble son seeks to go forth, I ask that you allow him to go forth.”
The preceptor replied, “My dear sir, the Blessed One said, ‘Monks, one could accept being pressed into work as a butcher, but it is not right to leave the life once you have gone forth and been ordained.’ This brahmin would go to the hells [F.96.b] and I too would fall, so I will not ordain him.”
“Please, preceptor,” the monk replied, “all you need do is allow his going forth and I shall undertake to train and instruct him.”
After the preceptor had allowed the nāga’s going forth and ordained him, the preceptor said to the monk, “My dear sir, you and he now share a preceptor. As his instructor, you must quiz him, you must instruct him, and you must train him.”
The monk recited the Ekottarikāgama 174 and then had the nāga repeat it. As he did so with great vigor, it took on the cadence of a prayer. The monk instructor’s eyes lit up with joy and the monk said to the nāga disguised as a brahmin, “My dear sir, shall we seek alms together or on our own?”
The nāga disguised as a brahmin thought, “I cannot live on the things humans eat; I had better return to the land of nāgas, where I can imbibe ambrosia, and return once I’ve eaten.”
“Instructor, let us seek them on our own.”
“Very well, my dear sir,” replied the monk.
The nāga would drink the ambrosia of the gods in the land of nāgas and then return. As nāgas require a lot of sleep, he would soon fall into slumber. The monk would return later from his alms round as the nāga was rising from his nap.
One day, the monk received alms right away, took them, and headed home. As he drew near, he heard a sound, like a smith pumping his bellows, coming from his hut. Looking through the keyhole, he saw the entire hut filled with the coiled up body of a nāga and cried out, “A trickster! A shape-shifter!”175
Understanding well what such words meant, the nāga hastily transformed, cloaking his natural appearance and reverting to his conjured look. Monks gathered around and asked him, “What is the matter?”
“He’s a shape-shifter,” the monk replied.
They said, [F.97.a] “This venerable applies himself diligently, always making an effort in his recitations. Why do you begrudge him?”
“I do not begrudge him in the least. It is just that he’s a shape-shifter.”
While they were conferring, the Blessed One passed by and inquired, “What is the matter?”
“Blessed One, he’s a shape-shifter.”
The Blessed One replied, “A shape-shifter is one who will not flourish in the Dharma and Vinaya; therefore, I would exclude shape-shifters from this Dharma and Vinaya. If someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, ask him, ‘You are not a shape-shifter, are you?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.
“Monks, a nāga’s nature is characterized by five things; the rest are emanations. What are these five? Nāgas are born a natural birth, they die a natural death, they sleep a natural sleep, they are nourished naturally, and they procreate naturally—these are the qualities they exhibit.”
The Blessed One said to the nāga, “My dear sir, with this body of yours you cannot attain any of a host of qualities, so leave and do no harm to the monks.”
The nāga, not knowing where he might wind up, eventually came upon a forest of śāla trees, where he conjured up a monastery with a high gate, skylights, and latticed windows. It was adorned with balustrades, beguiling to the heart and beautiful to the eye, with a staircase to the upper level, and perfectly outfitted with beds, seats, and supplies. To visiting monks and wanderer monks, he provided all the supplies they needed.176
After passing the rainy season at the monastery, a retired devotee left for Śrāvastī, [F.97.b] where, as was their wont, the group of six disciples thought, “Here, it is we who teach the Dharma to the brahmins and householders that come and assemble. It is we who trounce our adversaries and it is we who spread the fame of our order.”
As the group of six did whatever their self-appointed duties called for, they would never leave the gate into Jetavana unattended. Upananda rose early one morning, cast aside his toothbrush, donned his orange ceremonial robe, and took up his post at the gate into Jetavana. When he saw, approaching off in the distance, a retired devotee with a head as white as an āgati flower and drooping eyebrows, Upananda thought, “No doubt this is one of our elder monks.”
Going out to greet him, he said, “Welcome, elder, welcome.”
“Homage to you, instructor,” replied the retired devotee.
Upananda thought, “My! Why, I don’t recognize this retired devotee as one of our instructors, nor do I recognize him as one of our preceptors.”
Upananda then asked him, “Retired devotee, where have you come from?”
“From the śāla forest.”
“Why? Is there a monastery there?”
“Yes, there is.”
“What type is it?”
“Oh, it is but a poor one.”
“What is it like? How is it poor? If it is fully outfitted, it is a monastery, but if it lacks all the trappings, it is poor.”
“It is a monastery.”
“What’s there?”
“A monk caretaker lives there and provides visiting monks and wanderer monks with all the supplies they need.”
As was their wont, when one among the group of six heard the slightest news they all gathered in the afternoon to discuss it. So Upananda went to the assembly hall and said to the group of six, “We venerables must put off our other business for a time.”
“Have you heard some news?”
“Indeed I have. There is a monastery in the śāla forest.” [F.98.a]
“What’s there?”
“A monk caretaker lives there and provides visiting monks and wanderer monks with all the supplies they need. Come, let us pay a visit.”
The expelled nāga, who was now disguised as an elderly monk caretaker, saw the six approaching from off in the distance, and thought, “So those rogues have come here. How would they treat me if I were to provide them with all the supplies they need?”
With that thought, he allocated, in order of seniority, canopied beds and terraced cottages and provided them with all the supplies they needed.
A few days after they had settled in, they said, “Nanda and Upananda, this retired devotee has no obvious source of income, nor any obvious record of allocations. We should make him account for what is here.”
They said to him, “Retired devotee, you have no obvious source of income, nor any obvious record of allocations. Come and account for them.”
“Noble ones,” he replied, “are you merely displeased or utterly disappointed?”
“We are not just ‘merely displeased,’ for our brethren would denounce us if it were said, ‘The group of six passed the rainy season at that very monastery and yet they know nothing of its income and know nothing of its allocations.’ ”
“Elders, I will comply. How long must I keep records? Twelve years?”
“Retired devotee, in twelve years even the doors of this temple will have collapsed.”
“How about seven years?”
“That’s impracticable.”
“How about seven months?”
“Still impracticable.”
“How about seven days?”
The group declared, “Nanda and Upananda, record whatever supplies this retired devotee receives over the next seven days. Retired devotee, [F.98.b] we order you to comply.”
The nāga, disguised as the retired devotee, thought, “I shall make this monastery disappear once the seven-day period is up.”
To some of the poorer brethren, the nāga proceeded to offer ceremonial robes, to some upper robes, to some lower robes, to some undershirts, to some begging bowls, and to some small plates.177
When the group of six saw this they said, “Nanda and Upananda, investigate this retired devotee and after seven days, evict him along with his partisans.”
After seven days had passed, the retired devotee made the monastery vanish as the group of six slept, and fled to the seashore.
The group of six, who awoke from their sleep on a piece of dry ground, said, “Nanda and Upananda, get up and fetch some chalk so we may check the accounts.”
When they noticed they had been sleeping on a piece of dry ground, they realized, “We have opposed one who trusted in the Blessed One and served the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, causing him to flee and make his monastery disappear.”
When the monks asked the Blessed One, “Who was this being? A god, a nāga, a yakṣa?” the Blessed One replied, “That monk caretaker was a shape-shifter and yet this was so: if the group of six had not opposed him, he would have served the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha for as long as the teachings remained.”
The Blessed One reflected, “All those shortcomings ensue from the monks’ forcing him to account for the monastery’s income and allocations that had no obvious source or recipient.”
The Blessed One then decreed, “A monk should not be forced to account for income and allocations with no obvious source and recipients. A monk should not be forced to account for those items for which the receipt is evident but its allocation is obscure. [F.99.a] A monk should not be forced to account for those items of which the allocation is evident but its receipt is obscure. A monk should mindfully and attentively monitor those items of which both the receipt and its allocation are evident.” [B9]
After his encounter with the group of six, the shape-shifting nāga fled to the seashore, where he conjured up a second monastery with a high gate, skylights, and latticed windows. It too was adorned with balustrades, beguiling to the heart and beautiful to the eye, with a staircase to the upper level and perfectly outfitted with beds, seats, and supplies. Ocean nāgas, in the guise of brahmins and householders, gathered there and listened to the shape-shifting nāga teach the Dharma. After hearing the Dharma, they provided visiting monks and wanderer monks with all the supplies they needed.
After passing the rainy season at the monastery, a retired devotee left for Śrāvastī. As was their wont, the group of six thought, “Here, it is we who teach the Dharma to the brahmins and householders who come and assemble. It is we who trounce our adversaries and it is we who spread the fame of our order.”
As the group of six did whatever their self-appointed duties called for, they would never leave the gate into Jetavana unattended. One day, Upananda rose early in the morning, cast aside his toothbrush, donned his orange mantle, and took up his post at the gate into Jetavana. When he saw, approaching off in the distance, a retired devotee with a head as white as an āgati flower and drooping eyebrows, Upananda thought, “No doubt this is one of our elder monks.”
Going out to greet him, he said, “Welcome, elder, welcome.”
“Homage to you, instructor.”
Upananda thought, “My! I don’t recognize this retired devotee as one of our instructors, nor do I recognize him as one of our preceptors.” [F.99.b]
Upananda then said to him, “Retired devotee, where have come from?”
“I’ve come from the seashore.”
“Why? Is there a monastery there?”
“Yes, there is,” he replied.
“What type is it?”
“Oh, it is but a poor one.”
“What is the monastery like? How is it poor? If it is fully outfitted, it is a monastery, but if it lacks all the trappings, it is poor.”
“It is a monastery.”
“What’s there?”
“A monk preacher lives there, where he teaches the Dharma to brahmins and householders. After hearing the Dharma, they provide visiting monks and wanderer monks with all the supplies they need.”
As was their wont, when one among the group of six heard the slightest news they all gathered in the afternoon to discuss it. So Upananda went to the assembly hall and said to the group of six, “We venerables must put off our other business for a time.”
“Have you heard some news?”
“Indeed I have,” Upananda replied. “There is a monastery on the seashore.”
“What’s there?”
“A monk preacher lives there, where he teaches the Dharma to brahmins and householders. Upon hearing the Dharma from him, they provide visiting monks and wanderer monks with all the supplies they need. Come, let us pay a visit.”
The debarred nāga, now disguised as a monk preacher, saw the six approaching from off in the distance, and thought, “Ah! Those rogues have arrived. What would they do if I refused to demurely acquiesce to them?”
The ocean nāgas, in the guise of brahmins and householders, then gathered there and he taught them the Dharma. After hearing the Dharma, they provided the visiting monks and wanderer monks with all the supplies they needed, [F.100.a] at which point the group of six said, “Nanda and Upananda, what does this retired devotee know?”
“The Ekottarikāgama.”
“If these monks178 here are all versed in the three piṭakas, are teachers of Dharma in their own right, and possessed of intelligence and untrammeled confidence, why does he, a savant who can only teach the Ekottarikāgama, not request teachings from them?”
They said to the nāga, disguised as the monk preacher, “What do you know, retired devotee?”
“The Ekottarikāgama.”
“You are a savant who only teaches the Ekottarikāgama while these monks here are all versed in the three piṭakas, are teachers of Dharma in their own right, and possessed of intelligence and untrammeled confidence. Why do you not request teachings from them?”
“What? Nobles ones, do I stop them? Why do you not teach the Dharma?”
“Nanda and Upananda, this retired devotee is at odds with us. We will act to evict him.”
Thinking, “If they move to evict me, I won’t find a place among the nāgas either,” then, while the group of six were sleeping, the nāga made the monastery vanish and slipped into the ocean.
On waking on the sandy beach, the group of six said, “Nanda and Upananda, get up and erect a lion throne from which we shall teach the Dharma.”
When they noticed they had slept on a sandy beach, they said, “We opposed one who trusted in the Blessed One and served the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, causing him to flee and make his monastery disappear.”
When the monks asked the Blessed One, “Who was this being? A god, a nāga, a yakṣa?” the Blessed One replied, “That monk preacher was a shape-shifter and yet this was so: [F.100.b] If the group of six monks had not opposed him, he would have served the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha for as long as the teachings remained.”
The Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from the monks’ teaching without being requested to do so.”
With that he said, “A monk should not teach without first having been asked to do so. If a monk teaches without first having been asked to do so, a serious breach occurs. If he is invited to do so, then no transgression ensues.”
Saṅgharakṣita brings the Buddha’s teachings to the land of the nāgas
Buddharakṣita, a wealthy householder with much riches and goods who lived in Śrāvastī, took a wife of equal caste and together they sported, made love, and indulged all of their desires.
Looking to guide them, the venerable Śāriputra went to their house and enjoined the householder and his wife to seek refuge and pledge to uphold the precepts. Some time afterwards, the householder’s wife conceived a child.
Knowing this being was certain to become one of the fortunate, the venerable Śāriputra visited the family without any ascetic attendants in his wake. Prostrating at his feet, the householder asked, “Does the noble one have no ascetic attendants?”
“Householder,” he replied, “do you think my ascetic attendants simply sprout up like weeds? It’s those who issue from people like you who become my ascetic attendants.”
“Noble one, my spouse has conceived a child. If she should give birth to a boy, I will offer him as an ascetic attendant to the noble one.”
“Householder, I accept.”
After eight or nine months had passed a boy was born, well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, [F.101.a] handsome, radiant, with a golden complexion, a head shaped well like a parasol, long arms, a broad forehead, eyebrows that meet, and a prominent nose.
Three weeks, or twenty-one days, after the birth, relatives came and gathered to celebrate his birth in grand style, during which time they discussed what name should be chosen for the boy. Some said, “Since the boy is Buddharakṣita’s son, the boy should be named Saṅgharakṣita,” and thus he was named Saṅgharakṣita.
Fortified with milk, curd, butter, ghee, cream, and other nourishing foods, the boy Saṅgharakṣita grew quickly, shooting up like a lotus in a pond. On the very day Saṅgharakṣita was born, that same day sons were also born to five hundred merchants, each of whom was given a name appropriate to his patrilineage.
In time the boy Saṅgharakṣita grew up and the venerable Śāriputra knew it was time to allow his going forth. So, looking to guide them, he went alone without any ascetic attendants in his wake to the boy’s house. After prostrating at Śāriputra’s feet, the householder Buddharakṣita laid out a seat and invited the venerable Śāriputra to sit. As he sat, Śāriputra signaled to prompt the householder Buddharakṣita. The householder Buddharakṣita then said to Saṅgharakṣita, “Son, when you were in your mother’s womb, before you were even born, I offered you as an ascetic attendant to the noble Śāriputra. Go and serve him.”
As this was to be Saṅgharakṣita’s last life as a sentient being, a smile had already spread across his face and, without apprehension, neither crestfallen nor gloomy, he pledged to do as he was told. With that he became the venerable Śāriputra’s attendant apprentice and follower. [F.101.b] After the venerable Śāriputra had allowed his going forth and given him ordination, he taught Saṅgharakṣita how Dharma practitioners conduct themselves and made him recite the Four Āgamas.
Some time later, after assembling merchandise to bring on their journey across the ocean, the five hundred sons of the five hundred merchants conferred and decided to bring, along with their goods, a noble monk across the ocean.
“Gentlemen, the ocean is full of many terrors. So those of us that journey across the ocean would do well to ask for the company of a noble one who might teach us the Dharma.”
Beginning their search, they asked, “Who shall we ask to come?”
Some answered, “Gentlemen, we should ask our peer, the noble Saṅgharakṣita, for we grew up together playing in the dirt with him.”
They went to him, prostrated at his feet, and said, “Noble Saṅgharakṣita, we grew up together playing in the dirt with you, our peer, so if we set out upon the ocean, an ocean full of many terrors, we would do well were the noble one to teach Dharma to those of us crossing the ocean. Therefore, noble one, we ask that you come with us across the ocean.”
“Gentlemen,” he replied, “as I am not at liberty to do as I please, you should put your request to my preceptor.”
They went to the venerable Śāriputra, bowed their heads at his feet, and said, “Noble Śāriputra, please give us your attention. We grew up together playing in the dirt with our peer, the noble Saṅgharakṣita. So if we set out upon the ocean, [F.102.a] an ocean full of many terrors, we would do well were the noble one to teach Dharma to those of us crossing the ocean. For that reason, we ask that you send the noble Saṅgharakṣita with us across the ocean.”
“Ask the Blessed One himself and I will not object.”
They went to the Blessed One, bowed their heads at his feet, and said, “Blessed One, please give us your attention. We grew up together playing in the dirt with our peer, the noble Saṅgharakṣita. So if we set out upon the ocean, an ocean full of many terrors, we would do well were the noble one to teach Dharma to those of us crossing the ocean. For that reason, we ask that you send the noble Saṅgharakṣita with us across the ocean.”
The Blessed One considered whether or not these merchants had any meager roots of virtue and saw that they did. Considering who their awakening hinged on, he saw that it hinged on the monk Saṅgharakṣita. The Blessed One then said to the venerable Saṅgharakṣita, “Saṅgharakṣita, you shall go on this journey across the ocean and face your fears along with what provokes them.”
With his silence, the venerable Saṅgharakṣita assented to the Blessed One. After performing rites for protection, good luck, and success, the five hundred merchants together with the venerable Saṅgharakṣita carried their goods to the ocean in carts, on poles, in baskets and hampers, and on camels, bullocks, [F.102.b] and donkeys. Setting out for the ocean, they passed in stages through villages, towns, countryside, kingdoms, and markets until they reached the ocean shore, where they paused to recover from the weariness of the road. For five hundred denarii they obtained a ship and hired five hundred crew members to serve as stewards, cleaning staff, divers, deck hands, and riggers. After calling out three times,179 they set out upon the ocean in pursuit of riches.
Part of the way into their voyage, they and their seafaring ship were held up by nāgas. The merchants began to implore Śiva, Varuṇa, Kubera, Śakra, Brahmā, and other gods, “Whoever it is that dwells here, be they gods, nāgas, yakṣas, or gandharvas, may they tell us what they desire!”
From the ocean there came a voice, saying, “Give us the noble Saṅgharakṣita!”
“The noble Saṅgharakṣita is our peer. We grew up together playing in the dirt with him. The Blessed One and the venerable Śāriputra have entrusted him to us, so we would sooner die and face our death with him than turn him over.”
The venerable Saṅgharakṣita said to them, “What are you talking about, gentlemen?”
“Noble one,” they replied, “a voice from the ocean has said, ‘Give us the noble Saṅgharakṣita!’ ”
“Why do you not give me over?”
“Noble one, you are our peer. We grew up together playing in the dirt with you. The Blessed One and the venerable Śāriputra have entrusted you to us, so we would sooner die and face our death with you than turn you over.” [F.103.a]
The venerable Saṅgharakṣita thought, “This must be what the Blessed One meant when he said to me, ‘Saṅgharakṣita, you shall go on this journey across the ocean and face your fears along with what provokes them.’ ”
Taking up his begging bowl and Dharma robe, he prepared to jump into the sea. Seeing him prepare to jump, the merchants shouted, “Noble Saṅgharakṣita! What are you doing? What are you doing?”
As they tried to stop him, Saṅgharakṣita jumped into the sea and at the very moment he did so, the nāgas released the ship. Taking the venerable Saṅgharakṣita, the nāgas returned to the land of the nāgas.
Smiling at one another, the nāgas and their nāga women watched in amazement as they invited the venerable Saṅgharakṣita to pay homage to a set of shrines, saying, “Noble Saṅgharakṣita, this shall be the sanctuary of the perfectly awakened Buddha Vipaśyin, while these shall be the sanctuaries of the perfectly awakened Buddhas Śikhin, Viśvabhū, Krakucchanda, Kanakamuni, and Kāśyapa. This shall be the sanctuary of the Blessed One Śākyamuni.”180
After prostrating to the shrines with them, Saṅgharakṣita sat on the seat they had arranged at the center of the assembled nāgas. The nāgas joined their palms and supplicated him: “Noble Saṅgharakṣita, though the Blessed One’s sūtras and mātṛkā have taken root among gods and humans, we nāgas were born into this cursed state with fallen forms! O noble one, please see that the ultimate sūtras take root among us!”
Saṅgharakṣita assented with the words, “I shall do just that.”
The shape-shifter who had fled his seaside monastery for the land of the nāgas after being confronted by the group of six then chose three nāga youths and said to the first, “You shall memorize [F.103.b] the Saṃyuktāgama.”
To the second he said, “You shall memorize the Madhyamāgama.”
To the third he said, “You shall memorize the Dīrghāgama. The nāgas can learn how to recite the Ekottarikāgama by listening to me recite it.”181
When the young nāgas began to recite, the first closed his eyes as he sought to memorize the Saṃyuktāgama, the second turned his back as he sought to memorize the Madhyamāgama, while the third sat off in the distance as he sought to memorize the Dīrghāgama.
Because the shape-shifter had greater exposure to Buddhist customs than the others, he was respectful, deferential, and came first to all of their chores. He would rise early and say, “Noble ones, get up and brush your teeth. Pay homage to the gathering of blessed ones and their shrines. Eat and make the bed.”
Once, as they were all reciting their respective Āgamas, the shape-shifter said, “Noble one, if nāga youths recite the Āgamas, will they remember them or not?”
Saṅgharakṣita replied, “Even if with their good memories they remember them, they still have certain faults.”
“Noble one,” the shape-shifter asked, “what are their failings?”
“They lack respect and deference. The first closes his eyes as he seeks to memorize the Saṃyuktāgama, the second turns his back as he seeks to memorize the Madhyamāgama, while the third sits off in the distance as he seeks to memorize the Dīrghāgama. You alone are respectful, deferential, and come first to all of your chores.”
“Noble one,” the shape-shifter replied, “it is not that they lack respect and deference. The one who closes his eyes as he seeks to memorize the Saṃyuktāgama has noxious eyes that burn; the one who turns his back as he seeks to memorize the Madhyamāgama has noxious breath; and the one who sits off in the distanceas he seeks to memorize the Dīrghāgama [F.104.a] has a noxious touch. I myself have noxious fangs.”
Frightened, the venerable Saṅgharakṣita thought, “Look! I am living among my mortal enemies,” and he grew pallid, emaciated, feeble, withered, thin, and weak.
The shape-shifting nāga asked, “Noble one, why have you become pallid, emaciated, feeble, withered, thin, and weak?”
“I am among enemies so the moment I do anything to upset you, I shall be reduced to naught but a memory.”
“We do not intend to harm the noble one. However, given the situation, does the noble one wish to return to Jambudvīpa?”
“My dear sir, I do. I do not care for this place.”
The nāgas discussed the matter amongst themselves and when the noble Saṅgharakṣita’s ship passed by on its return journey, they raised him from the waters and placed him onboard the ship.
Smiles broke out upon the merchants’ faces as they stared in amazement and cried out, “Welcome back, noble Saṅgharakṣita, welcome back!”
Saṅgharakṣita said, “Gentlemen! Rejoice, for I have seen to it that the Four Āgamas have taken root in the land of nāgas!”
“Noble one, we do! We rejoice in this good you have done for others, for this is the job of those who go forth.”
Reunited and happy, the merchants and the venerable Saṅgharakṣita completed the journey back to shore. On arriving, all were tired and weary. As his companions slept, the venerable Saṅgharakṣita turned his gaze to the ocean. [F.104.b]
The Blessed One has said, “Monks, there are five things one never tires of looking at and which are in no way displeasing to the eye. What are the five? One never tires of looking at a clever and youthful elephant; a king of the world; the ocean with its monsters; Sumeru, the king of mountains; and a tathāgata, an arhat, a perfectly awakened buddha—these five things are in no way displeasing to the eye.”
Saṅgharakṣita gazed long at the ocean until just before dawn when, fatigued, he was overcome by a deep sleep. Not long after, the merchants loaded the pack animals and set out. But because it was in the wee hours of the morning, they could not see the venerable Saṅgharakṣita and they began to look and ask one another, “Gentlemen, what has happened to the noble Saṅgharakṣita?”
Some suggested he had gone ahead while others said he was still coming from behind and still others said he was traveling in the middle of the caravan. After searching everywhere to no avail, they gave up. Dispirited and downcast, they said, “Gentlemen, it is not good that we have left the noble Saṅgharakṣita behind. We must turn around.”
But then, on reflection, it occurred to them, “The noble Saṅgharakṣita possesses miraculous powers and great might. If he did not meet his end in the ocean, how could he meet his end while traveling on dry land? With his miraculous powers and great might, he must have gone far ahead of us and be waiting there now.”
With the call, “Gentlemen, come, let us go!” they set out.
Saṅgharakṣita sees the effects of actions with his own eyes
When the sun rose, its rays struck the venerable Saṅgharakṣita as he lay asleep on the empty, sandy beach, waking him from his slumber. Seeing no one around, he thought, “What will I do if the merchants have left? They might have gone in any direction!”
With great courage, the venerable Saṅgharakṣita set out but he could see no trail. [F.105.a] After searching about, he spied a narrow path and set off upon it. After a time, he saw, in a forest of śāla trees, a monastery with a high gate, skylights, and latticed windows. It was adorned with balustrades, beguiling to the heart and beautiful to the eye, with a staircase to the upper level and perfectly outfitted with beds, seats, and supplies. It was surrounded by a variety of trees, and graced with pools and ponds, ringing with the sounds of swans, cranes, peacocks, parrots, mynahs, and cuckoos. When he saw the resident monks, finely dressed and well trained, living peacefully in this glorious and heavenly abode, he respectfully approached them.
With a show of respect, they said to him, “Welcome, reverend Saṅgharakṣita, welcome. From where have you come just now?”
After he explained everything that had happened, they let him rest and once he recovered from the fatigue of the road, they led him into the monastery. [S.43.a] Once there, he saw that fine seats had been arranged and choice foods laid out. They asked him, “Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, are you not thirsty? Are you not hungry?”
“Venerables,” he replied, “I am thirsty and I am hungry.”
“Then partake, reverend Saṅgharakṣita.”
“I will eat with the saṅgha.”
“Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, you are tired from your travels, so eat now. Later the food will have spoiled.”
Seeing the fault in waiting, Saṅgharakṣita ate and then took a seat off to one side. Some time later, the meal was laid out and when the wooden beam was struck, the monks filed in, each carrying his own begging bowl, and sat down in order of seniority. As soon as they sat down, the monastery vanished [F.105.b] and each of their begging bowls turned into iron clubs of different sorts. For the remainder of the meal, they bludgeoned each other over the head with their iron clubs, cracking their skulls open and inflicting unbearable pain that caused them to cry out pitifully.
As soon as the mealtime ended, the monastery reappeared as before while the monks also resumed their peaceful demeanors. The venerable Saṅgharakṣita approached them and asked, “Who are you, venerables? What karma has led you to this?”
“Reverend Saṅgharakṣita,” they replied, “the people of Jambudvīpa are skeptical, so you will not believe us.”
“Why would I not believe what I have seen with my own eyes?”
“Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, we were disciples of the perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa. While in the meal queue, we fought and, as the fruition of that karma, have been born as denizens of an ephemeral hell. As soon as we die and pass from this life, we will be reborn among the denizens of hell and will have to live there in such straits. Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, once you have returned to Jambudvīpa, say to the brethren, ‘Venerables, do not fight in the food queue like Kāśyapa’s monks. Do not act so as to accrue the fortune for that mass of suffering.’ It would be good if you were you to explain our plight at length.”
After agreeing to do just that, Saṅgharakṣita departed. After some time, he saw again as before, in a forest of śāla trees, a second monastery with a high gate, skylights, and latticed windows. It was adorned with balustrades, beguiling to the heart and beautiful to the eye, with a staircase to the upper level, and perfectly outfitted [F.106.a] with beds, seats, and supplies. It was surrounded by a variety of trees, and graced with pools and ponds, ringing with the sounds of swans, cranes, peacocks, parrots, mynahs, and cuckoos. When he saw the resident monks, finely dressed and well trained, living peacefully in this glorious and heavenly abode, he respectfully approached them.
With a show of respect, they said to him, “Welcome, reverend Saṅgharakṣita, welcome. From where have you come just now?”
After he explained everything that had happened, they let him rest and once he recovered from the fatigue of the road, they led him into the monastery. Once there, he saw that fine seats had been arranged and choice foods laid out. They asked him, “Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, are you not thirsty? Are you not hungry?”
“Venerables, I am thirsty and I am hungry.”
“Then partake, reverend Saṅgharakṣita.”
“I will eat with the saṅgha.” [S.43.b]
“Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, you are fatigued from your travels, so eat now. Later the food will have spoiled.”
Seeing the fault in waiting, he ate and then took a seat off to one side. Some time later, the meal was laid out and when the wooden beam was struck, the monks filed in, each carrying his own begging bowl, and sat down in order of seniority. As soon as they sat down, the monastery vanished and the food and drink turned into molten iron. For the remainder of the meal, they doused one another in molten iron, scalding their bodies and inflicting unbearable pain that caused them to cry out pitifully.
As soon as the mealtime ended, the monastery reappeared as before [F.106.b] while the monks also resumed their peaceful demeanors. The venerable Saṅgharakṣita approached them and asked, “Who are you, venerables? What karma has led you to this?”
“Reverend Saṅgharakṣita,” they replied, “the people of Jambudvīpa are skeptical, so you will not believe us.”
“Why would I not believe what I have seen with my own eyes?”
“Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, we were disciples of the perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa. Once the saṅgha had received a supply of rich food and when a group of visiting monks turned up, those of us overcome by greed thought and even said, ‘We should not serve the food until the visiting monks have left.’ For seven days, an unseasonable rain fell, spoiling the food and drink, leaving it unsuitable for consumption. Thus we wasted what had been given in faith and, as the fruition of that karma, have been born as denizens of an ephemeral hell. As soon as we die and pass from this life, we will be reborn among the denizens of a great hell and will have to live there in such straits. Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, once you have returned to Jambudvīpa, say to the brethren, ‘Venerables, do not waste what has been given in faith like Kāśyapa’s monks. Do not act so as to accrue the fortune for that mass of suffering.’ It would be well were you to explain our plight at length.”
After agreeing to do just that, Saṅgharakṣita departed. After some time, he saw again as before, in a forest of śāla trees, a third monastery with a high gate, skylights, and latticed windows. It was adorned with balustrades, beguiling to the heart and beautiful to the eye, [F.107.a] with a staircase to the upper level and perfectly outfitted with beds, seats, and supplies. It was surrounded by a variety of trees, and graced with pools and ponds, ringing with the sounds of swans, cranes, peacocks, parrots, mynahs, and cuckoos. When he saw the resident monks, finely dressed and well trained, living peacefully in this glorious and heavenly abode, he respectfully approached them.
With a show of respect, they said to him, “Welcome, reverend Saṅgharakṣita, welcome. From where have you just now come?”
After he explained everything that had happened, they let him rest and once he recovered from the fatigue of the road, they led him into the monastery. Once there, he saw that fine seats had been arranged and choice foods laid out. They asked him, “Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, are you not thirsty? Are you not hungry?”
“Venerables, I am thirsty and I am hungry.”
“Then partake, reverend Saṅgharakṣita.”
“I will eat with the saṅgha.”
“Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, you are fatigued from your travels, so eat now. Later the food will have spoiled.”
Seeing the fault in waiting, he ate and then took a seat off to one side. Some time later, the meal was laid out and when the wooden beam was struck, the monks filed in, each carrying his own begging bowl, and sat down in order of seniority. As soon as they sat down, the monastery caught alight, burst into flames, and was engulfed in a fire that began to burn as a single, giant inferno. [S.44.a] For the remainder of the meal, the fire raged, burning their bodies and inflicting unbearable pain that caused them to cry out pitifully.
As soon as the mealtime ended, the monastery reappeared as before while the monks [F.107.b] also resumed their peaceful demeanors. The venerable Saṅgharakṣita approached them and asked, “Who are you, venerables? What karma has led you to this?”
“Reverend Saṅgharakṣita,” they replied, “the people of Jambudvīpa are skeptical, so you will not believe us.”
“Why would I not believe what I have seen with my own eyes?”
“Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, we were disciples of the perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa. In time, our ethics became lax and we became dissolute. When the ethical monks evicted us from the monastery, we took up in an empty monastery. After a while, an ethical monk happened by, which gave us an idea. We thought, ‘He alone can purify patronage.182 We must get him to stay,’ and so he stayed. And in time, as a result of that, many ethical monks gathered there, who then proceeded to evict us. Those of us who could not bear this piled wood, straw, and dried dung and set fire to the monastery, burning many of the monks intent on training there. As the fruition of that karma, we have been born as denizens of an ephemeral hell. As soon as we die and pass from this life, we will be reborn among the denizens of hell and will have to live there in such straits. Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, once you have returned to Jambudvīpa, say to the brethren, ‘Venerables, do not nurse hatred for your brethren as Kāśyapa’s monks did. Do not act so as to accrue the fortune for that mass of suffering.’ It would be well were you to explain our plight at length.” [F.108.a]
Saṅgharakṣita’s sermon leads five hundred seers to the truth
Eventually, the venerable Saṅgharakṣita reached a settlement with an ashram where there lived five hundred seers. The seers saw the venerable Saṅgharakṣita approaching from off in the distance and began to confer with one another: “Listen, gentlemen. These ascetic sons of the Śākya tend to preach a great deal. Let none of us offer a single word in response.”
Having made this pact, they remained where they were. With a peaceful demeanor, Saṅgharakṣita approached them, but when he requested a place to stay, they gave not a word in response. A single seer, intent on merit, said, “Why do we not give you a place to stay? It is because you have a fault. You tend to preach a lot. You must therefore swear an oath: I will give you a place if you refrain from giving even the slightest sermon.”
“Seer, as you instruct, I shall not preach,” replied Saṅgharakṣita.
The seer took Saṅgharakṣita to an unoccupied thatched hut in the settlement and told him he could sleep there. Saṅgharakṣita sprinkled water on, swept, and applied fresh cow dung to the dirt floor of the thatched hut.184 On seeing this, the seers said, “Gentlemen, these ascetic sons of the Śākya are sanitary.” [S.44.b]
Saṅgharakṣita washed his feet outside the thatched hut before going back inside. Sitting down, he crossed his legs, held his body erect, [F.108.b] and rested in mindfulness. A goddess living in the ashram went to the venerable Saṅgharakṣita during the evening watch and said, “Noble Saṅgharakṣita, please teach the Dharma.”
“Goddess, I wish you well but did you not see I obtained this resting place by making a pact? Would you like me to be kicked out?”
The goddess thought, “This renunciant is tired, so I shall return during the night watch.” She returned during the night watch and said, “Noble Saṅgharakṣita, please teach the Dharma.”
“Sister, you just can’t leave it be! You must want me to be kicked out!”
She thought, “This renunciant is still groggy from sleep. I shall return during the final watch.” She returned during the final watch and said, “Noble Saṅgharakṣita, why do you sleep? I woke you in the middle of the night and asked you to teach the Dharma.”
“Sister, you are trying by every means to get me kicked out!”
“Noble one, the darkness of night has passed. Even if you were kicked out, why would it matter? You’d be seeking to leave soon anyway. Did the Blessed One not say you must face your fears along with what provokes them?”
“Sister, what you say is true. I must get going regardless of whether I am kicked out. Since these people are brahmins, I should recite a verse the brahmins themselves take to be true.”
Saṅgharakṣita then began to recite the Brāhmaṇavarga:185
On hearing this verse, the seers thought, “This monk’s verses express the real meaning of ‘brahmin.’ ” One seer drew near, then a second and a third, until they all surrounded him, at which point the goddess charmed them so they could not see one another. After that Saṅgharakṣita began to recite the Nagaropama Sūtra:187
<sūtra excerpt> Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī. The Blessed One said to the monks, “Monks, before I achieved perfect awakening and became a perfect buddha, I went alone into the wild. While inwardly absorbed, this perfect thought arose in my mind: ‘Ah! This world is prone to suffering, for we are born, we age, we die, we deteriorate, and then it all happens again. And though a higher state exists, beings who age and die know nothing of the perfect remedies that exist.’
“I then pondered what was needed for birth to occur and what conditions contribute to the occurrence of birth. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is becoming, there will be birth, and becoming contributes to the occurrence of birth.
“I then pondered what was needed for becoming to occur and what conditions contribute to the occurrence of becoming. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: [S.45.a] if there is grasping, there will be becoming, and grasping contributes to the occurrence of becoming. [F.109.b]
“I then pondered what was needed for grasping to occur and what conditions contribute to the occurrence of grasping. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is craving, there will be grasping, and craving contributes to the occurrence of grasping.
“I then pondered what was needed for craving to occur and what conditions contribute to the occurrence of craving. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is sensation, there will be craving, and sensation contributes to the occurrence of craving.
“I then pondered what was needed for sensation to occur and what conditions contribute to the occurrence of sensation. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is contact, there will be sensation, and contact contributes to the occurrence of sensation.
“I then pondered what was needed for contact to occur and what conditions contribute to the occurrence of contact. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there are seats for the six senses, there will be contact, and seats for the six senses contribute to the occurrence of contact.
“I then pondered what was needed for the seats of the six senses to occur and what conditions contribute to the occurrence of the seats of the six senses. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there are name and form, there will be seats for the six senses, and name and form contribute to the occurrence of seats for the six senses.
“I then pondered what was needed for name and form to occur and what conditions contribute to the occurrence of name and form. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is consciousness, there will be name and form, and consciousness contributes to the occurrence of name and form.
“I then pondered what was needed for consciousness to occur and [F.110.a] what conditions contribute to the occurrence of consciousness. By reversing the conception of ‘I,’ one will not incite what follows from that.
“Thus consciousness contributes to name and form, name and form contribute to the seats of the six senses, the seats of the six senses contribute to contact, contact contributes to sensation, sensation contributes to craving, craving contributes to grasping, grasping contributes to becoming, becoming contributes to birth, birth contributes to aging and death, and the occurrence of sorrow, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and strife. And that is how, I thought, this whole huge mass of suffering comes to be.
“I then pondered what must be absent for aging and death not to occur and what must cease for aging and death to cease. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is no birth, no aging and death will occur, and the cessation of birth arrests aging and death.
“I then pondered what must be absent for birth not to occur and what must cease for birth to cease. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is no becoming, no birth will occur, and the cessation of becoming arrests birth.
“I then pondered what must be absent for becoming not to occur and what must cease for becoming to cease. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is no grasping, [S.45.b] no becoming will occur, and the cessation of grasping arrests becoming.
“I then pondered what must be absent for grasping not to occur and what must cease for grasping to cease. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is no craving, no grasping will occur, and the cessation of craving arrests grasping.
“I then pondered what must be absent for craving not [F.110.b] to occur and what must cease for craving to cease. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is no sensation, no craving will occur, and the cessation of sensation arrests craving.
“I then pondered what must be absent for sensation not to occur and what must cease for sensation to cease. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is no contact, no sensation will occur, and the cessation of contact arrests sensation.
“I then pondered what must be absent for contact not to occur and what must cease for contact to cease. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there are no seats for the six senses, no contact will occur, and the cessation of the seats for the six senses arrests contact.
“I then pondered what must be absent for the seats of the six senses not to occur and what must cease for the seats of the six senses to cease. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there are no name and form, no seats of the six senses will occur, and the cessation of name and form arrests the seats of the six senses.
“I then pondered what must be absent for name and form not to occur and what must cease for name and form to cease. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is no consciousness, no name and form will occur, and the cessation of consciousness arrests name and form.
“I then pondered what must be absent for consciousness not to occur and what must cease for consciousness to cease. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is no conditioning, no consciousness will occur, and the cessation of conditioning arrests consciousness.
“I then pondered what must be absent for conditioning [F.111.a] not to occur and what must cease for conditioning to cease. On proper reflection, I realized this perfectly and as it is: if there is no ignorance, no conditioning will occur, and the cessation of ignorance arrests conditioning.
“Thus the cessation of ignorance arrests conditioning, the cessation of conditioning arrests consciousness, the cessation of consciousness arrests name and form, the cessation of name and form arrests the seats of the six senses, the cessation of the seats of the six senses arrests contact, the cessation of contact arrests sensation, the cessation of sensation arrests craving, the cessation of craving arrests grasping, the cessation of grasping arrests becoming, the cessation of becoming arrests birth, the cessation of birth arrests aging and death, and sorrow, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and strife. And that is how, I thought, this whole huge mass of suffering comes to cease. [B10]
“Monks, I thought of this as an old path I had found, an old [S.46.a] route, an old trail which seers of old have traveled and traversed. It is analogous to this: Say that a person wanders, passing through a great forest, and discovers an old path, an old route, an old trail which people of old have traveled and traversed and he follows it until he sees an old city and a king’s delightful old palace, with its resplendent gardens, resplendent groves, resplendent pools, and fine hedges. On seeing it, he thinks, “I shall go and speak to the king!” He goes to the king and says, “Your majesty, please grant me your attention. I was wandering, passing through a great forest, [F.111.b] when I discovered an old path, an old route, an old trail which people of old have traveled and traversed and I followed it until I saw an old city and the king’s delightful old palace, with its resplendent gardens, resplendent groves, resplendent pools, and fine hedges. Your Majesty, allow me to restore the city, allow me to restore the king’s palace.” In time, the king’s palace prospers and thrives, crops are bountiful and the land teems with animals and people.
“Just so, monks, I too have found an old path, an old route, an old trail which seers of old have traveled and traversed. Monks, what is this old path, this old route, this old trail which seers of old have traveled and traversed? It is this, the Noble Ones’ Eightfold Path, which consists of right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right recollection, and right concentration.
“Monks, this is the old path, the old route, the old trail which seers of old have traveled and traversed. I reached it and on reaching it, I saw aging and death, and I saw the origins of aging and death, the cessation of aging and death, and the path that leads to the cessation of aging and death. I saw birth, becoming, grasping, craving, sensation, contact, the seats of the six senses, name and form, consciousness, and conditioning. And I saw the origins of conditioning, the cessation of conditioning, and the path that leads to the cessation of conditioning. And so, having been perfectly awakened by my perception, [F.112.a] I proclaim it to an array of monks, nuns, laymen, laywomen, tīrthikas, ascetics, brahmins, sādhus,188 and wanderers.
“And when a monk perfectly accomplishes it, he too becomes an accomplished adept, sagacious, righteous, and an agent of virtue. And when a nun, a layman, or a laywoman perfectly accomplishes it, they too become accomplished adepts, sagacious, righteous, and agents of virtue.
Saṅgharakṣita closed his sermon with the dedication:
All present realized the truths and in that moment achieved the fruit of a non-returner and with it, miraculous abilities. In one voice they cried out, “Well said, reverend Saṅgharakṣita, well said!”
The goddess then released them from the miraculous spell they were under so they came to see one another again. As they caught sight of one another, they exclaimed, “Oh! You too were here?”
“You were here?” [S.46.b]
“I was here.”
“Good!”
The seers had discovered a mighty state and having discovered it, proclaimed, “Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, if it is permitted, we would obtain the going forth, ordination, and monkhood in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya. We would live the holy life in the Blessed One’s presence.”
Smiling, Saṅgharakṣita said, “Venerables, your great and dauntless self-confidence [F.112.b] is noble. It is excellent! It is excellent! What is more, the Blessed One said, ‘Five advantages rightly come only to the wise with perfect vision who aspire to going forth.’ What are those five? (1) It is only the wise with perfect vision who aspire to going forth about whom it may rightly be said, ‘He will pursue his aim without diversion.’ (2) It is only the wise with perfect vision who aspire to going forth about whom it may rightly be said, ‘I make offerings to and praise those who are slave, agent, or emissary to no one, those who are independent and not in anyone’s service.’ (3) It is only the wise with perfect vision who aspire to going forth about whom it may rightly be said, ‘He will attain the unsurpassed accomplishment and bliss of nirvāṇa.’ (4) It is only the wise with perfect vision who aspire to going forth about whom it may rightly be said, ‘Even should he fail to attain the unsurpassed accomplishment and bliss of nirvāṇa, he will be reborn among gods.’ (5) It is only the wise with perfect vision who aspire to going forth about whom it may rightly be said, ‘Buddhas, the saintly disciples of buddhas who have reached perfection and entered perfection, and saintly beings praise renunciants in many ways.’ ”
Saṅgharakṣita continued, “So, you shall go forth. But will you go forth before the Blessed One or before me?”
“Before the Blessed One,” the seers replied.
“In that case, come, let us go to the Blessed One.”
“Reverend Saṅgharakṣita, shall we travel under our own miraculous powers or under your miraculous powers?”
Hearing this pained the venerable Saṅgharakṣita, [F.113.a] who thought, “If they have attained such a store of qualities due to my influence, it looks as if I am but a raft to them.”
Dispirited, he replied, “Venerables, I have a small task to perform, so please wait here for a bit.” And with that, he sat down at the base of a tree, his legs crossed, his body erect, and rested in mindfulness.
The Blessed One said, “There are five benefits to being well versed in the teachings. What are they? One becomes knowledgeable about the aggregates, knowledgeable about the constituents, knowledgeable about the seats of the senses, knowledgeable about interdependent arising, and one need not rely on others for instructions or further teachings on them.”
Thus, by applying himself diligently, Saṅgharakṣita came to understand saṃsāra’s ever-revolving five cycles.190 It being by nature subject to degradation, decline, dispersal, and destruction, all of Saṅgharakṣita’s conditioning was overwhelmed and he abandoned all disturbing emotions. He perceived that he had, in that very life, actualized the unsurpassed aim of the holy life for which the sons of noble families, with perfect faith, cut their hair, shave their beards, don the saffron robes, and go forth from home into homelessness. With his achievement, he understood, “My births have come to an end, I have lived the holy life, I have done what needed doing, I will know no lives after this one.”
Thus he became an arhat, free of desire for the three realms, for whom filth was equal to gold, for whom space was equal to the palm of his hand, whose emotions had been cooled as if treated by a balm of sandalwood, and whose knowledge had rent open the shell. He attained knowledge, clairvoyance, and discerning wisdom. He turned his back on worldly gain, desires, and esteem, and was revered, honored, and praised by Indra and the gods who attend him. [F.113.b]
Saṅgharakṣita said to the seers, “Gentlemen, hold on to the corner of my robe and we shall travel under my miraculous powers.”
The seers grabbed hold of his robe, and the venerable Saṅgharakṣita, like a swan spreading its wings, flew with his miraculous powers up into the sky above.
Saṅgharakṣita leads an entourage of one thousand to the Buddha
Along the way, the five hundred merchants were securing their wares when they saw Saṅgharakṣita and exclaimed, “Noble Saṅgharakṣita! Is that you? Welcome!”
“I have come.”
“Where are you headed?”
“These five hundred sons of noble families seek monkhood, to go forth and be ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma in the Blessed One’s presence, so we are going to the Blessed One.”
The merchants replied, “Noble Saṅgharakṣita, we too will go forth, so please alight and sit while we secure our wares.”
Saṅgharakṣita descended and they secured their wares. Saṅgharakṣita then led the one thousand sons of noble families to the Blessed One, who was seated in the midst of hundreds of monks, teaching. From off in the distance, the Blessed One saw Saṅgharakṣita approaching with his gifts. Though he saw them, he asked the monks, “Monks, do you see Saṅgharakṣita coming from off in the distance?”
“We do, reverend.”
“Monks, this monk Saṅgharakṣita comes with gifts for the Tathāgata. There is no gift for the Tathāgata like these, the gift of disciples.”
Saṅgharakṣita went to the Blessed One, bowed his head at his feet, and sat off to one side before [F.114.a] [S.47.a] requesting the Blessed One, “Reverend, these one thousand sons of noble families seek monkhood, to go forth and be ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma in the Blessed One’s presence. I ask that the Blessed One have compassion and allow their going forth. I ask that he ordain them.”
By saying to them, “Come, join me, monks,” the Blessed One could allow their going forth. So he said, “Come, monks, join me in living the holy life.” It was only after the Blessed One had said this that they shaved their heads and donned the robes. By the time they had but a week’s growth of hair and beard, they took up begging bowls and water bottles in their hands and stood with the composure of monks who had been ordained for one hundred years. As was said,
The Blessed One gave them instructions, to which they applied themselves with diligence, effort, and exertion, abandoning all disturbing emotions and actualizing arhatship. Thus they became arhats, free of desire for the three realms, for whom filth was equal to gold, for whom space was equal to the palm of his hand, whose emotions had been cooled as if treated by a balm of sandalwood, and whose knowledge had rent open the shell. They attained knowledge, clairvoyance, and discerning wisdom. They turned their backs on worldly gain, desires, and esteem, and were revered, honored, and praised by Indra and the gods who attend him.
The Blessed One explains the causes for the sights Saṅgharakṣita has seen
The venerable Saṅgharakṣita asked the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, I have seen beings shaped like walls, pillars, trees, [F.114.b] leaves, flowers, fruit, rope, brooms, bowls, mortars and pestles, and pots, as well as beings cut at the waist, their bodies held together by tendons. Reverend, what actions did they perform for it to ripen in such ways?”
“Saṅgharakṣita,” replied the Blessed One, “those being themselves performed the actions—which have accrued a heap of karma, whose results have matured, which follow their course like an irrigation channel, which inevitably come to be—so who else will experience the actions they themselves have performed and accrued?
“Saṅgharakṣita, actions which have been performed and accrued do not ripen upon the external elements. They do not ripen upon the element of water, upon the element of fire, nor upon the element of wind. Likewise, virtuous and non-virtuous actions which have been performed and accrued come to fruition upon the aggregates, elements, and seats of the senses of the one who performed them, for:
“Saṅgharakṣita, in a time now passed, during this fortunate eon, when the lifespan of beings was twenty thousand years, the Blessed Buddha Kāśyapa appeared in the world, a teacher, a tathāgata, an arhat, a perfectly awakened buddha, a knowledgeable and venerable one, a sugata, one who knew the world, an unsurpassed guide who tamed beings, a teacher to gods and men. Those beings you saw were his disciples when he lived and dwelt in the Ṛṣipatana Deer Park near Vārāṇasī.
“Saṅgharakṣita, when those beings you saw who were shaped like walls were monks, they defaced a wall belonging to the saṅgha with their spit. [F.115.a] As the fruition of that act, they have come to resemble walls.
“When those beings you saw who were shaped like pillars were monks, they defaced a pillar belonging to the saṅgha with their mucus. As the fruition of that act, they have come to resemble pillars.
“When those beings you saw who were shaped like trees, leaves, flowers, and fruit were monks, they used trees, leaves, flowers, and fruit belonging to the saṅgha for their own ends. As the fruition of that act, they have come to resemble trees, leaves, flowers, and fruit.
“When those beings you saw who were shaped like rope and brooms were monks, they used rope and brooms belonging to the saṅgha for their own ends. As the fruition of that act, they have come to resemble rope and brooms.
“When those beings you saw who were shaped like bowls were monks, they were in charge of providing clean drinking water. When they were washing the bowls, some visiting monks arrived and asked the monks, ‘Do novices get whatever drinks are provided to the saṅgha?’
“Seized by stinginess towards the novices, they replied, ‘Do you not see we are washing the bowls? The drinks have already been drunk.’
“The novices thought, ‘It would seem we are too late,’ and left dispirited, with expressions of resignation. As the fruition of that act, those monks have come to resemble bowls.
“When those beings you saw who were shaped like mortars and pestles were monks, they were in charge of begging bowls and they said to an arhat novice who had at the time been appointed keeper of the seals,191 ‘Novice, we have quite a bit of grain to grind in the mortar, [F.115.b] so give it here.’
“The arhat novice replied, ‘Elders, I’m busy at the moment. Please wait a bit. I shall give it to you later.’
“Feeling impatient, the monks became enraged and said, ‘Novice, if we wanted to use the mortar, we could toss you into the mortar and grind you too! To say nothing of a bit of grain!’
“The arhat novice thought, ‘They are enraged. If I respond to them, it will only inflame their anger further,’ so he remained silent.
“After a time their rage passed, and when it did he went to them and said, ‘Elders, do you know who I am?’
“They replied, ‘Yes, we know. You are but a novice who has gone forth for the perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa. We, however, are monks.’
“ ‘Elders, though that is so, since going forth, I have done all that needed to be done. What is that? I have abandoned all disturbing emotions and actualized arhatship. While you are bound by all bonds, I have been definitively freed from all bonds. As you have spoken harshly, you must confess your wrongs as wrong! Doing so will wither away the act, exhaust it, and finally put it to rest.’
“Although the monks confessed their wrongs as wrong, the actions came to fruition, causing them to resemble mortars and pestles.
“Those beings you saw who were shaped like pots were formerly bondmen in the service of the saṅgha. Once as they were boiling medicinal herbs, [S.48.a] the monks spoke offensively to them, whereupon they broke the pots in anger. As the fruition of that act, they have come to resemble pots.
“And when the beings [F.116.a] you saw who were cut at the waist, their bodies held together by tendons, were monks in charge of supplies, they were overcome by stinginess and switched supplies, swapping the summer supplies with those for the winter and switching the winter supplies with those for the summer. As the fruition of that act, they have become beings cut at the waist, their bodies held together by tendons.”
The Blessed One explains the reasons for Saṅgharakṣita’s good fortune
In doubt, the monks asked he who severs all doubts, the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, what is it that Saṅgharakṣita has done, that the ripened fruit of that action has led him to be born into a rich household with ample wealth and possessions, to actualize arhatship, and to inspire the conversion of so many?”
“Monks,” replied The Blessed One, “Saṅgharakṣita himself performed the actions—which have accrued a heap of karma, whose results have matured, which follow their course like an irrigation channel, which inevitably come to be—so who else will experience the actions he himself has performed and accrued? Monks, actions which have been performed and accrued do not ripen upon the external elements. They do not ripen upon the element of water, upon the element of fire, nor upon the element of wind. Likewise, virtuous and non-virtuous actions which have been performed and accrued come to fruition upon the aggregates, elements, and seats of the senses of the one who performed them, for:
“Monks, in a time now passed, during this fortunate eon, when the lifespan of beings was twenty thousand years, the Blessed Buddha Kāśyapa appeared in the world, a teacher, a tathāgata, an arhat, a perfectly awakened buddha, a knowledgeable and venerable one, a sugata, one who knew the world, an unsurpassed guide who tamed beings, a teacher to gods and men. [F.116.b] While the Blessed Buddha Kāśyapa lived and dwelt in the Ṛṣipatana Deer Park near Vārāṇasī, Saṅgharakṣita went forth into his teachings and served as a custodian, living together with five hundred others.
“Most of the community of people who lived in that hilly fastness came to have great faith in him. Though he lived purely his entire life he never attained any of the store of qualities. Then one day he fell ill and though he was ministered to with medicinal roots, stalks, leaves, flowers, and fruits, the illness would not subside. In despair, as he was dying, he made this prayer: ‘Though I have spent my entire life living the holy life under Kāśyapa, the blessed tathāgata, perfectly awakened Buddha, and unsurpassed object of veneration, I have not attained any of the store of qualities. May these roots of virtue from having spent my entire life living the holy life ensure that I go forth into the teachings of Buddha Śākyamuni, regarding whom the blessed tathāgata and perfectly awakened Buddha Kāśyapa prophesied to the young brahmin Uttara, saying, ‘Young brahmin, in the future, when the lifespan of beings is one hundred years, you will become the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened Buddha, the knowledgeable and venerable one, the sugata, the one who knows the world, the unsurpassed guide who tames beings, the teacher to gods and men known as the Blessed Buddha Śākyamuni, and go on to abandon all disturbing emotions and actualize arhatship.’
“The monk caretaker’s wards then approached him and asked, ‘Preceptor, have you attained any of the store of qualities?’
“ ‘No, I have not,’ he replied. [S.48.b]
“They asked, ‘What prayers have you made?’
“He replied by explaining the prayer he had made.
“They said, [F.117.a] ‘May we too, by taking you, our preceptor, as our spiritual guide, go forth into the teachings of that very Blessed One and go on to abandon all disturbing emotions and actualize arhatship.’
“Monks, the monk who served as monk caretaker in that life was none other than the monk Saṅgharakṣita. His five hundred wards are none other than these five hundred seers. The community of people who lived in that hilly fastness are none other than the five hundred merchants. Hence, now the ripened fruit of the venerable custodian’s action has led him to be born into a rich household with ample wealth and possessions. The prayers he made as he lay dying have led to his abandoning all disturbing emotions, actualizing arhatship, and inspiring such a massive conversion.
“The ripened fruits of wholly negative actions are wholly negative, while the ripened fruits of wholly positive actions are wholly positive, and the ripened fruits of mixed actions are mixed. Monks, therefore abandon wholly negative and mixed actions and seek wholly positive actions. Monks, this is how you should train.”
The Blessed One explains the reasons for the shape-shifting nāga’s faith
In doubt, the monks asked he who had severed all doubts, the Blessed Buddha, [F.117.b] “Reverend, how did the youthful, shape-shifting nāga first gain faith?”
The Blessed One replied, “Monks, during this fortunate eon, when the lifespan of beings was twenty thousand years, the Blessed Buddha Kāśyapa appeared in the world, a teacher, a tathāgata, an arhat, a perfectly awakened buddha, a knowledgeable and venerable one, a sugata, one who knew the world, an unsurpassed guide who tamed beings, a teacher to gods and men. He lived and dwelt with a following of twenty thousand monks in the Ṛṣipatana Deer Park near Vārāṇasī. He taught the Dharma to his disciples, saying, ‘Monks, make your beds in forests and at the foot of trees; in uninhabited places, mountain basins, mountain caves, and huts of straw; in the open, in charnel grounds, in jungles, at the foot of mountains, and at the edges of forests, and there practice meditation. Monks, apply yourselves conscientiously and be sure you will have no regrets later. These are my instructions and my guidance.’
“After the Blessed One said this to the monks, the monks went to make their bed in forests and at the foot of trees; in uninhabited places, mountain basins, mountain caves, and huts of straw; in the open, in charnel grounds, in jungles, at the foot of mountains, and and at the edges of forests. Some practiced meditation on the slopes of Sumeru. Some practiced meditation on the seven golden mountains, some at Lake Anavatapta, some along gently lapping ponds, and some in villages, towns, regions, countryside, and kingdoms inhabited by like-minded yogis.
“Meanwhile, a young nāga born not long before that [F.118.a] was carried off to the top shelf of Mount Sumeru by the garūḍa Suparṇi. In time, the young nāga saw monks of pacific bearing diligently practicing meditation, recitation, and yoga. Seeing them caused great faith to well up in his mind. With his mind filled with faith, it occurred to him, ‘These great and noble souls have been freed from sufferings such as mine.’ The young nāga placed great faith in them, and eventually his time came, after which he was born into a brahmin family dedicated to the six duties,192 and in time he grew up under their nurture and care.
“He later went forth into the perfectly awakened and blessed Buddha Kāśyapa’s teachings and, through diligence, effort, and exertion, abandoned all disturbing emotions and actualized arhatship. Thus he became an arhat, free of desire for the three realms, [S.49.a] for whom filth was equal to gold, for whom space was equal to the palm of his hand, whose emotions had been cooled as if treated by a balm of sandalwood, and whose knowledge had rent open the shell. He attained knowledge, clairvoyance, and discerning wisdom. He turned his back on worldly gain, desires, and esteem, and was revered, honored, and praised by Indra and the gods who attend him.
“On wondering, ‘Whence have I come? Where have I been born? What actions led to this?’ he saw that he had been a creature who had died and passed on, had been born among humans, and that he had given rise to great faith in great disciples.
“He then thought of his mother and father from his previous life as a young nāga. On wondering, ‘Where are my parents?’ he saw that they were among the nāgas. On wondering, ‘What are they doing?’ he saw that they were crying, still living among the nāgas. Using his miraculous powers, he went there and asked, ‘Father, Mother, why are you sad?’ [F.118.b]
“They replied, ‘Noble one, our young nāga was snatched shortly after his birth by the garūḍa Suparṇi. We do not know where to look for him.’
“He replied, ‘Father, Mother, I am he. After my time came and I died, I was born into a brahmin family dedicated to the six duties. I then went forth into the perfectly awakened and blessed Buddha Kāśyapa’s teachings and, through diligence, effort, and exertion, abandoned all disturbing emotions and actualized arhatship.’
“ ‘Noble one, given the wretched form you had, we never imagined you in the higher realms, to say nothing of arhatship! This is indeed amazing and marvelous! Did you find or attain such a store of qualities? Noble one, you are an accepter of alms but we are seekers of merit,193 so every day you must come to this very place and take your meal before returning.’
“After agreeing to that, every day he partook of ambrosia in the land of the nāgas before returning. Some monks asked his novice ward, ‘Novice, where does your preceptor eat and return from?’
“The novice ward replied, ‘I have not inquired.’
“ ‘If your preceptor partakes of ambrosia in the land of the nāgas before returning here, why do you not go with him?’
“ ‘How could I accompany him when he uses his miraculous powers and great might to travel there?’
“ ‘When he travels with his miraculous powers, hold on to the corner of his robe.’
“ ‘Will I not fall?’
“ ‘Dear sir, even if you were to hang Mount Sumeru from the corner of his robe, it would not fall. What need is there to speak of you?’
“With their encouragement, the novice ward went to where his preceptor used his miraculous powers to disappear, and waited. When his preceptor disappeared, the novice ward grabbed hold of the corner of his preceptor’s robe and together they rose into the sky above. After a time, [F.119.a] the nāgas caught sight of them and arranged two seats along with two plates of offerings for them.
“The preceptor thought, ‘Why have they set out this second seat and plate of offerings?’ Looking behind him, he saw the novice and asked, ‘Son, you too have come?’
“ ‘Yes, preceptor, I have.’
“ ‘Good.’
“The nāgas thought, ‘This noble one has miraculous powers and great might and so can digest divine ambrosia. But this noble novice cannot. We had better give him ordinary food.’
“To the preceptor, they gave divine ambrosia, but to the novice they gave ordinary food. Because the novice generally tended to the preceptor’s begging bowl, he picked up the preceptor’s begging bowl and on doing so, saw that a single grain of rice had stuck to it. The novice put it in his mouth and on tasting it, knew it to be divine ambrosia. He thought, ‘These nāgas are stingy. Two sit down together and to one they give divine ambrosia but to the other they give ordinary food.’
“Unable to bear it, he made a misguided prayer, ‘May these roots of virtue from living the holy life under the guidance of the perfectly awakened and blessed Buddha Kāśyapa, an unsurpassed object of veneration, ensure that I be born right here after I have left this land of the nāgas.’
“As prodigious and complete actions [S.49.b] are not contingent on a change of body, in that very life water began to drip from the novice’s hands, while the nāga host began to suffer a throbbing headache, prompting him to demand of the preceptor, ‘Noble one, this novice has given rise to an ignoble wish. Make him repudiate it!’
“The preceptor said to the novice, ‘Son, reject your ignoble wish to be among them.’
“Then the novice spoke this verse:
“Thus, he lost his life in the land of the nāgas only to be reborn again in that very place. And that, monks, is how the youthful, shape-shifting nāga first gained faith.”
Tīrthikas
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when a tīrthika arrived at the Jetavana. When this tīrthika saw the fine seats arranged there and the array of communal food and drink, he thought, “As far as culinary pleasures are concerned, these ascetic sons of the Śākya have it good. But as far as the wealth of Dharma is concerned, ours is better. So I shall go forth and take my meals here while taking my Dharma among my tīrthika brethren.”
With that thought, he approached a monk and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth”; his going forth was allowed, and he was granted ordination.
As the tīrthikas’ purification takes place on the fourteenth day of the month, while the monks’ purification takes place on the fifteenth day of the month, he would participate in the tīrthikas’ purification on the fourteenth day and the monks’ on the fifteenth.
After some time, a day was skipped194 and the monks’ purification fell on the fourteenth, which caused him some consternation: “Should I join them there or participate in the purification here?”
Then he had an idea: “These ascetic sons of the Śākya are more easy-going, but my brethren are bad-tempered. If I don’t join them, they may even revoke my credentials, reassign my seat plank, turn my alms-bowl upside down, throw out my staff, and evict me from their ranks.”
And so he attended the tīrthikas’ purification. Meanwhile, the disciplinarian stood at the end of the senior monks’ row. [F.120.a] When the monks were counted, the disciplinarian noticed that the monk, who was still committed to his tīrthika order, was missing so he asked, “Venerables, has the monk [monk’s name] come or sent his consent?”195
“No.”
After looking around him into the four directions, the Blessed One declared, “Let us perform the purification.” The monks then looked around them into the four directions and performed the purification. Later that same day, the monk arrived and the monks asked him, “Venerable, where have you come from?”
“From the company of my brethren.”
“Who are your brethren?”
“The tīrthikas, for I enjoy my food with you and my Dharma with them.”
The monks then asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One decreed, “Monks, this person is a convert to a tīrthika order. A person who is a convert to a tīrthika order is one who will not flourish in the Dharma and Vinaya. Therefore, I would exclude from this Dharma and Vinaya those persons who are converts to a tīrthika order. If someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, you should ask, ‘You are not a convert to a tīrthika order, are you?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
The venerable Upāli asked the Blessed One, “Reverend, since the Blessed One has said, ‘I would exclude from this Dharma and Vinaya those persons who are converts to a tīrthika order,’ then reverend, what is it that makes those persons who are converts to a tīrthika order fit for exclusion?”
“Upāli, he who bears this banner while still being enamored with that view invites the dusk, [S.50.a] and for that alone I would exclude from this Dharma and Vinaya those persons who are converts to a tīrthika order.”
Matricides
The Blessed Buddha [F.120.b] was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when a householder living in Śrāvastī took a wife of equal caste and together they sported, made love, and indulged all of their desires. The wife with whom he had sported, made love, and indulged all of his desires then gave birth to a son, after which the householder said to her, “Noble woman, our debts are spinning out of control and cutting into our savings, so I will take some merchandise to sell in another land.”
She replied, “Son of a lord, do as you wish.”
The householder departed with his merchandise for another land where, through indiscretion, he came to misfortune. And so his wife, with the help of relatives and by her own industry, fed and nurtured their son as he grew.
In time, the lad went with a peer to a house, where a girl sitting on the house’s roof threw down a bouquet of flowers to catch his notice. His peer asked, “Friend, you haven’t arranged a rendezvous at this house, have you?”
“Indeed I have, and that is our signal,” the lad replied.
“Friend, this house is ill-omened, don’t go in. I warn you, through indiscretion you will come to suffering.”
The lad’s friend then led him on a long detour that took the entire day, eventually leading him back to his mother, to whom the lad’s friend said, “Ma’am, your son here has arranged a rendezvous at a girl’s house. I have safeguarded him the whole day, but you must safeguard him through the night. That house is ill-omened. Do not let him go in. Beware, through indiscretion he will come to suffering.”
She said, “Son, you have done well to inform me.”
She arranged a bed for her son in the house, along with two clay chamber pots, water, and fresh earth cover, and installed her son in the house, saying, “I myself will sleep on a cot by the door.”
“Mother, open the door.”
“Why, son?”
“I must go out and urinate.”
“Son, I have placed a chamber pot there. Urinate in that.”
He sat down for a bit and then said, “Mother, open the door.”
“Why, son?” [F.121.a]
“I must go out and defecate.”
“Son, I have placed a chamber pot, water, and fresh earth cover there. Defecate in that.”
Again, he sat for a bit before saying, “Mother, open the door.”
“Son, do you think I don’t know where you want to go? I cannot open the door for you.”
“Mother, I shall kill you.”
“Son, I can face my own death, but I couldn’t bear watching my son die.”
In the pursuit of passion, there is nothing he would not do. His mind merciless, and forsaking all thought of future lives, he unsheathed his knife and cut off his mother’s head at the neck, which tumbled to the floor. Having killed his mother, he left, trembling like a man who has committed a sin.
The girl with whom he had a rendezvous said to him, “Son of a lord, there is no one, there is no other girl but me. Do not be afraid.”
Thinking, “She will be pleased if I tell her what I’ve done,” he said, “Noble woman, I have killed my mother for your sake.”
“What? Your wet nurse or the woman who gave birth to you?”
“The woman who gave birth to me.”
“He has killed his mother without regard for her importance to him,” thought the girl. “What chance would I stand if at some point he became angry with me?”
Then she said to the lad, “Son of a lord, please wait a moment while I climb up to the roof of the house.” [S.50.b]
“Go ahead,” he replied.
On reaching the roof, she cried out, “A thief! A thief!”
The lad, scared and frightened, fled back to his own house and laid his knife at the doorstep before crying out, “That thief has been here! He has killed my mother and fled!”
After performing rites of veneration over his mother’s corpse, the lad left home. But a person who has done wrong finds no serenity, so he sought out tīrthika communities and communities of ascetics and asked, “Gentlemen, what can one do to expunge an evil act?” [F.121.b]
To that, some said, “Immolate yourself”; some said, “Take poison”; some said, “Jump off a cliff”;196 and some said, “Strangle yourself with a rope.” All of them recommended some form of suicide; none could offer any means of expiation.
Later, he went to the Jetavana, where he posed his question to a monk, who recited a verse:
On hearing this verse, the lad thought, “Ah! Even wrongdoing can be checked! I shall go forth among these people.” He then approached the monk and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
After his going forth was allowed and he was ordained, he applied himself diligently and began to recite the scriptures. In reciting and saying prayers, he recited and mastered the Three Piṭaka and gained the confidence born of knowledge and freedom.
The monks asked him, “Venerable, what motivates such diligence in you?”
“I must expunge a wrongdoing,” he replied.
“What wrongdoing are you guilty of?”
“I killed my mother.”
“Your wet nurse or the woman who gave birth to you?”
“My birth mother.”
The monks asked the Blessed One about it, and he said to the monks, “Monks, a person who has killed his mother is fit to be excluded from the community, for a person who has killed his mother is one who will not flourish in the Dharma and Vinaya. For that reason, monks, you should exclude from this Dharma and Vinaya those persons who have killed their mothers. If someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, you should ask, ‘Are you not a matricide?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
The monk who had killed his mother thought, [F.122.a] “Where will I wind up? I must go into the wilds.” And with that, he went into the wilds, where a householder became his follower. Out of deep devotion, the householder had a monastery erected for the monk, where monks from various regions and lands came to live, many of whom went on to actualize arhatship under his guidance.
Sometime later, the monk matricide fell ill. Although the other monks ministered to him with medicinal roots, stalks, leaves, flowers, and fruits, he continued to get worse. The monk matricide then told his wards, “Venerables, prepare a sweat-chamber for the saṅgha and for me.”
His monk wards then prepared a sweat-chamber for him.
So his time came and he died, and he was reborn among the denizens of Avīci, the Great Hell of Unrelenting Torment. One of his arhat wards entered into meditation to find out where his preceptor had been reborn and began searching for him among the gods, but he did not see him there. Nor did he see him when he looked among humans, animals, and spirits. When he began to search among the denizens of hell, he saw that his preceptor had been reborn among the denizens of Avīci, the Great Hell of Unrelenting Torment.
The arhat ward wondered, “If my preceptor was ethical, learned, and attracted a following with the Dharma, what did he do that it should lead him to be reborn among the denizens of Avīci?” [S.51.a] He then saw that it was matricide.
Struck by the fiery light of Avīci, the monk matricide cried, “Oh! The heat in this sweat-chamber is too much!” As soon as he cried out, the guardians of hell lifted their maces and clubbed him on the head, shouting, “Hapless fool! Where is this sweat-chamber of yours? This is Avīci, the Great Hell of Unrelenting Torment!” [F.122.b]
This virtuous thought197 brought the former monk matricide’s time in hell to an end, and he was reborn among the gods in the realms of the Four Great Kings. It is in the nature of gods and goddesses to have three thoughts shortly after birth: where they have passed on from, where they have been born, and what action has caused that rebirth. Thus the former monk matricide saw he had passed from among the denizens of hell and been reborn among the gods in the realms of the Four Great Kings due to his having washed the sweat-chamber for the saṅgha.
Then the young god, who had formerly been a denizen of hell, had this thought: “It would not be right of me to spend a day here without going to see and pay my respects to the Blessed One. Thus, before the day is out, I shall go to see and pay my respects to the Blessed One.”
The young god donned a pair of glittering hooped earrings that swung to and fro, adorned his body with two pearl necklaces, one long and one medium in length, filled the folds of his skirt with the dazzling colors of divine blue lotus flowers, lotuses, water lilies, and white lotuses, and when night had fallen, set out to see the Blessed One. On his arrival, he strewed the flowers before the Blessed One and bowed his head at the Blessed One’s feet before taking a place off to one side. The colors of the young god filled the whole of Jetavana with a great light.
As the young god sat on a seat, the Blessed One intuited his thoughts, propensities, disposition, and nature and proceeded to teach the Dharma he needed to hear in order to fully realize each of the Noble Ones’ four truths, thus actualizing the fruit of a stream-enterer by decimating with the lightning bolt of wisdom the mountain of belief in the transient aggregates with its twenty tall peaks. [F.123.a]
Upon seeing the truth, the young god spoke this panegyric thrice: “Reverend, what the Blessed One has done for me, my father did not do for me, nor did my mother, nor did the king, nor did the gods, nor did my ancestors, nor did ascetics or brahmins, nor did my circle of loved ones and friends, nor did my forebears. For the Blessed One has dried up the ocean of blood and tears, freed me from mountains of bones, shut the door to miserable realms, opened the door to higher realms and liberation, dragged me up by the leg from among the denizens of hell, animals, and spirits, and installed me among gods and humans.”
The young god spoke again:
The young god then departed like a trader who has made a profit, a farmer who has reaped his crops, a warrior who has won a battle, or an invalid who has been delivered from all his ills, and, in the dress in which he arrived in the Blessed One’s presence, returned home.
One of the young god’s former wards, an elder in the saṅgha and an arhat, [F.123.b] was seated in the meal row, while another of his wards [S.51.b] was distributing water to the saṅgha. After a time, the saṅgha elder lifted his cup of water. It felt extremely cold to the touch of the tip of his fingers, and he thought, “While we drink water as cold as this, the preceptor drinks molten copper among the denizens of Avīci, the Great Hell of Unrelenting Torment.”
Yet when this arhat elder then searched for his preceptor among the denizens of Avīci, the Great Hell of Unrelenting Torment, his preceptor was nowhere to be seen. When the arhat elder searched for him among the animals, spirits, and denizens of other hells, he was nowhere to be seen there either. And so he began to search for him among the gods. There he saw that his preceptor had been reborn among the gods in the realm of the Four Great Kings and, having become a god, saw the truth in the Blessed One’s presence before returning to remain among the gods. Smiling, the arhat elder gained faith in the Blessed One and spoke this panegyric: “O Buddha! O Dharma! O Saṅgha! O the well-spoken Dharma by which even wrongdoers led into such fallen states can attain such a collection of qualities!”
A student of the same preceptor saw him looking jubilant, pleased, and overjoyed and asked, “Venerable, are you so jubilant, pleased, and overjoyed by the thought that now that the preceptor’s time has come, you are the saṅgha elder?”
The arhat elder replied, “Venerable, now is not the time to answer your question. Ask me when we are among the saṅgha and that will prove the time to answer your question.”
Later, after the monks of the saṅgha gathered and were seated, the saṅgha elder asked their preceptor’s student, “Venerable, what was it you wanted to ask me?”
“I asked you, ‘Venerable, are you so jubilant, pleased, [F.124.a] and overjoyed by the thought that now that the preceptor’s time has come, you are the saṅgha elder?’ ”
While seated among the saṅgha, the arhat elder explained the situation at length to his fellow student. His fellow student then also rejoiced, as did the saṅgha, who spoke this panegyric: “O Buddha! O Dharma! O Saṅgha! O the well-spoken Dharma by which even wrongdoers led into fallen states can attain such a collection of qualities!” [B11]
Patricides
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī, when a householder living in Śrāvastī took a wife of equal caste and together they sported, made love, and indulged all their desires. The wife with whom he had sported, made love, and indulged all his desires later gave birth to a son.
In time, the lad went with a peer to a house, where a girl sitting on the house’s roof threw down a bouquet of flowers to catch his attention. His peer asked, “Friend, you haven’t arranged a rendezvous at this house, have you?”
“Indeed I have, and that is our signal,” the lad replied.
“Friend, this house is ill-omened, don’t go in. I warn you, through indiscretion you will come to suffering.”
The lad’s friend then led him on a long detour that took the entire day, eventually leading him back to his father, to whom the lad’s friend said, “Sir, your son here has arranged a rendezvous at a girl’s house. I have safeguarded him the whole day so you must safeguard him through the night. That house is ill-omened. Do not let him enter. Beware, through indiscretion he will come to suffering.”
“Son, you have done well to inform me.”
He arranged a bed for his son in the house, along with two clay chamber pots, water, and fresh earth cover, and installed his son in the house, saying, “I myself will sleep on a cot by the door.”
“Father, open the door.”
“Why, son?”
“I must go out to urinate.”
“Son, [F.124.b] I have placed a chamber pot there. Urinate in that.”
He sat down for a bit and then said, “Father, open the door.”
“Why, son?”
“I must go out to defecate.”
“Son, I have placed a chamber pot, water, and fresh earth cover there. Defecate in that.”
Again, he sat for a bit before saying, “Father, open the door.”
“Son, do you think I don’t know where you want to go? I cannot open the door for you.”
“Father, I shall kill you.”
“Son, I can face my own death, but I couldn’t bear watching my son die.”
In the pursuit of passion, there is nothing he would not do. His mind merciless and forsaking all thought of future lives, he unsheathed his knife and cut off his father’s head at the neck, which tumbled to the floor. Having killed his father, he left, trembling like a man who has committed a sin.
The girl with whom he had a rendezvous said to him, “Son of a lord, there is no one, there is no other girl but me. Do not be afraid.”
Thinking, “She will be pleased if I tell her what I’ve done,” he said, “Noble woman, I have killed my father for your sake.”
“What? Your foster father or the man who fathered you?”
“The man who fathered me.”
The girl thought, “He has killed his father without regard for his importance to him. What chance would I stand if at some point he became angry with me?”
Then she said to the lad, “Son of a lord, please wait a moment while I climb up to the roof of the house.”
“Go ahead.”
On reaching the roof, she cried out, “A thief! A thief!”
The lad, scared and frightened, fled back to his own house, and laid his knife at the doorstep before crying out, “The thief has been here! He has killed my father and fled!”
After performing rites of veneration over his father’s corpse, the lad left home. But a person who has done wrong finds no serenity, so he sought out tīrthika communities and communities of ascetics and asked, “Gentlemen, [F.125.a] what can one do to expunge an evil act?”
To that, some said, “Immolate yourself”; some said, “Take poison”; some said, “Jump off a cliff”; some said, “Drown yourself”; and some said, “Strangle yourself with a rope.” All of them recommended some form of suicide; none could offer any means of expiation.
Later, he went to the Jetavana, where he posed his question to a monk, who recited a verse:
On hearing this verse, the lad thought, “Ah! Even wrongdoing can be checked! I shall go forth among these people.” He then approached the monk and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
After his going forth was allowed and he was ordained, he applied himself diligently and began to recite the scriptures. In reciting and saying prayers, he recited and mastered the Three Piṭakas and gained the confidence born of knowledge and freedom.
The monks asked him, “Venerable, what motivates such diligence in you?”
“I must expunge a wrongdoing,” he replied.
“What wrongdoing are you guilty of?”
“I killed my father.”
“Your foster father or the man who fathered you?”
“The man who fathered me.”
The monks asked the Blessed One about it, and he said to the monks, “Monks, a person who has killed his father is fit to be excluded from the community. A person who has killed his father is one who will not flourish in the Dharma and Vinaya. For that reason, you should exclude from this Dharma and Vinaya those persons who have killed their fathers. If someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, [F.125.b] you should ask, ‘Are you not a patricide?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
The monk who had killed his father thought, “Where will I wind up? I must go into the wilds.” And with that, he went into the wilds, where a householder became his follower. Out of deep devotion, the householder had a monastery erected for the monk, where monks from various regions and lands came to live, many of whom went on to actualize arhatship under his guidance.
Some time later, the monk patricide fell ill. Although the other monks ministered to him with medicinal roots, stalks, leaves, flowers and fruits, he continued to get worse. The monk patricide then told his wards, “Venerables, construct a sweat-chamber for the saṅgha and for me.”
His monk wards then built a sweat-chamber for him.
So his time came and he died, and he was reborn among the denizens of Avīci, the Great Hell of Unrelenting Torment. One of his arhat wards entered into meditation to find out where his preceptor had been reborn and began searching for him among the gods, but he did not see him there. Nor did he see him when he looked among humans, animals, and spirits. When he began to search among the denizens of hell, he saw that his preceptor had been reborn among the denizens of Avīci, the Great Hell of Unrelenting Torment.
The arhat ward wondered, “If my preceptor was ethical, learned, and attracted a following with the Dharma, what did he do that it should lead him to be reborn among the denizens of Avīci?” He then saw that it was patricide.
Struck by the fiery light of Avīci, the former monk patricide exclaimed, “Oh! The heat in this sweat-chamber is too much!” As soon as he cried out, the guardians of hell lifted their maces and clubbed him in the head, shouting, “Hapless fool! Where is this sweat-chamber of yours? [F.126.a] This is Avīci, the Great Hell of Unrelenting Torment!”
This virtuous thought198 brought the monk patricide’s time in hell to an end and he was reborn among the gods in the realms of the Four Great Kings. It is in the nature of gods and goddesses to have three thoughts shortly after birth: where they have passed on from, where they have been born, and what action has caused that rebirth. Thus the former monk patricide saw that he had passed from among the denizens of hell and been reborn among the gods in the realms of the Four Great Kings due to his having washed the sweat-chamber for the saṅgha.
The young god then had this thought: “It would not be right of me to spend a day here without going to see and pay my respects to the Blessed One. Thus, before the day is out, I shall go to see and pay my respects to the Blessed One.”
The young god donned a pair of glittering hooped earrings that swung to and fro, adorned his body with two pearl necklaces, one long and one medium in length, filled the folds of his skirt with the dazzling colors of divine blue lotus flowers, lotuses, water lilies, and white lotuses, and when night had fallen, set out for the Blessed One. On his arrival, he strewed the flowers before the Blessed One and bowed his head at the Blessed One’s feet before taking a place off to one side. The colors of the young god filled the whole of Jetavana with a great light.
Then, as the young god sat on a seat, the Blessed One intuited his thoughts, propensities, disposition, and nature and proceeded to teach the Dharma he needed to hear in order to fully realize each of the Noble Ones’ four truths. The young god then actualized the fruit of a stream-enterer by decimating with the lightning bolt of wisdom the mountain of belief in the transient aggregates with its twenty tall peaks. [F.126.b]
Upon seeing the truth, the young god whose patricide had led him to rebirth in hell spoke this panegyric thrice: “Reverend, what the Blessed One has done for me, my father did not do for me, nor did my mother, nor did the king, nor did the gods, nor did my ancestors, nor did ascetics or brahmins, nor did my circle of loved ones and friends, nor did my forebears. For the Blessed One has dried up the ocean of blood and tears, freed me from mountains of bones, shut the door to miserable realms, opened the door to higher realms and liberation, dragged me up by the leg from among the denizens of hell, animals, and spirits, and installed me among gods and humans.”
The young god spoke again:
The young god then departed like a trader who has made a profit, a farmer who has reaped his crops, a warrior who has won a battle, or an invalid who has been delivered from all his ills, and, in the dress in which he arrived in the Blessed One’s presence, returned home. [F.127.a]
One of the young god’s former wards, an elder in the saṅgha and an arhat, was seated in the meal row, while another of his wards was distributing water to the saṅgha. After a time, the saṅgha elder lifted his cup of water. It felt extremely cold to the touch of the tip of his fingers, and he thought, “While we drink water as cold as this, the preceptor drinks molten copper among the denizens of Avīci, the Great Hell of Unrelenting Torment.”
Yet when this arhat elder, a former ward of the monk patricide, then searched for his preceptor among the denizens of Avīci, the Great Hell of Unrelenting Torment, he was nowhere to be seen. When the arhat elder searched for his preceptor among the animals, spirits, and denizens of other hells, he was nowhere to be seen there either. And so he began to search for him among the gods. There he saw his preceptor had been reborn among the gods in the realm of the Four Great Kings and, having become a god, saw the truth in the Blessed One’s presence before returning to remain among the gods. Smiling, the arhat elder gained faith in the Blessed One and spoke this panegyric: “O Buddha! O Dharma! O Saṅgha! O the well-spoken Dharma by which even wrongdoers led into such fallen states can attain such a collection of qualities!”
A student of the same preceptor saw him looking jubilant, pleased, and overjoyed and asked, “Venerable, are you so jubilant, pleased, and overjoyed by the thought that now that the preceptor’s time has come, you are the saṅgha elder?”
“Venerable, now is not the time to answer your question. Ask me when we are among the saṅgha and that will prove the time to answer your question.”
Later, after the monks of the saṅgha gathered and were seated, the saṅgha elder asked the student of the same preceptor, “Venerable, what was it you wanted to ask me?”
“I asked you, ‘Venerable, are you so jubilant, pleased, and overjoyed by the thought that now that the preceptor’s time has come, you are the saṅgha elder?’ ” [F.127.b]
While seated among the saṅgha, the arhat elder explained the situation at length to his fellow student. His fellow student then also rejoiced, as did the saṅgha, who spoke this panegyric: “O Buddha! O Dharma! O Saṅgha! O the well-spoken Dharma by which even wrongdoers led into fallen states can attain such a collection of qualities!”
Killing an Arhat
A summary:
Killing an Arhat
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī. When, in the thick of Yaṣṭī Forest, the Blessed One established in the truths the King of Magadha, Bimbisāra of the Guilds, along with 80,000 gods and hundreds of thousands of Magadhan brahmins and householders, Bimbisāra had the bells rung throughout his land and this pronouncement was read: “No one shall steal in my lands. If anyone does so, I will banish them and provide recompense from my own stores and treasury.”
When the Blessed One used the analogies of the Daharopama Sūtra 199 to subdue Prasenajit, the King of Kosala, Prasenajit too had the bells rung throughout his land and this pronouncement was read: “No one shall steal in my lands. If anyone does so, they will face capital punishment and I will provide recompense from my own stores and treasury.”
At this, the robbers and bandits of Magadha and Kosala all moved to the borderlands. From their camps, they sacked merchant caravans traveling between Magadha and Kosala.
On one occasion, a caravan of merchants set out from Magadha for Kosala with an armed escort. When they reached the borderlands, [F.128.a] their caravan leader said, “Gentlemen, King Prasenajit is belligerent and ruthless. And if he will recompense us our losses, [S.52.a] why do we pay the wages for an armed escort? The escort can turn back now.”
The escort turned back as the caravan of traders continued, reduced in numbers. The bandits, though, had posted a lookout who was lying in wait and when he caught sight of them he asked, “Gentlemen, why do you sit indifferent when a small caravan of traders is approaching?”
With that, the bandits set upon the caravan, taking the lives of some merchants as other merchants abandoned their goods and fled. Without reflection, arhats do not have access to prescience and insight; and so the life of an arhat traveling with the merchants was also taken.
Those merchants who had fled sought out King Prasenajit, their faces and bodies smeared with dirt, howling, their hair in disarray. Pressing their palms together they said, “Your Majesty, in your lands we have been reduced to a state where we are not fit to be merchants!”
“What happened?”
“We were sacked by bandits.”
“In what region?”
“In a region near the borderlands.”
The king commanded his general Virūḍhaka, “Bring me the stolen goods and the bandits. And be quick about it!”
As Virūḍhaka set out at the head of the four branches of the armed forces, the bandits were sitting around unconcerned with their armor off in a śāla forest, dividing their spoils. General Virūḍhaka had them surrounded and, once the bandits were hemmed in, struck fear into their hearts with the sound of conchs and war-drums. Some of the bandits abandoned their spoils and fled while some were killed. Taking sixty of the bandits who had been captured alive, General Virūḍhaka returned to the king with the stolen goods and said, “Your Majesty, these are the bandits and these are the stolen goods.”
The king then said to the bandits, “Gentlemen, I, the king, had the bells rung and announced, [F.128.b] ‘No one shall steal in my lands. If anyone does so, they will face capital punishment and I will provide recompense from my own stores and treasury.’ Did you not hear?”
“We heard, Your Majesty.”
“Well then, why did you rob the merchants?”
“We have no other means of making a living, Your Majesty.”
“Why did you take life?”
“To instill fear.”
“You may have instilled some fear but the fear I instill today shall be like none ever seen before.”
The king then ordered his ministers, “Gentlemen, execute all of these men today.”
As they were being led to the execution grounds, their sentences were proclaimed along the high roads and side streets, at intersections and crossroads. In the commotion, one bandit escaped in the midst of a crowded street and approached a monk in the Jetavana and said, “Noble one, I seek to go forth.”
The monk allowed the bandit’s going forth and ordained him while the other bandits were being executed.
The Blessed One had advised, “Monks, again and again you should be able to scrutinize your own failings, others’ failings, your own strengths, and others’ strengths. Why is that so? Because your own failings and others’ failings act as a spur to disenchantment, while your own strengths and others’ strengths also act as a spur to disenchantment.”
In the light of this advice, the monks had taken to visiting the charnel ground. When the time came for the monks to visit the charnel grounds again, the bandit turned monk accompanied them, and there he saw that the other bandits had been executed. He stood still, choked with tears. The monks said, “Venerables, though he has only newly gone forth, he has such a kind heart.”
When he began to sob, the monks asked, “Venerable, why do you make such a fuss?”
The bandit turned monk replied, “This is my father. This is my brother. This is my uncle on my father’s side. This [F.129.a] is my uncle on my mother’s side.”
“These men took the life of an arhat,” said the monks.
When the bandit turned monk admitted they had taken the life of an arhat, the monks asked the Blessed One about it, [S.52.b] and the Blessed One decreed, “Monks, this person has killed an arhat. A person who has killed an arhat is one who will not flourish in the Dharma and Vinaya. Therefore, monks, you should exclude from this Dharma and Vinaya those persons who have killed an arhat. If someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, you should ask, ‘You are not a killer of an arhat, are you?’ If you allow going forth and grant ordination without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
Causing a Schism in the Saṅgha
The venerable Upāli asked the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, if a person who caused a schism among the Tathāgata’s saṅgha disciples in a previous ordination career again seeks monkhood, to go forth and be ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya in the Blessed One’s presence, should his going forth be allowed or not?”
“Upāli, his going forth should not be allowed. Therefore, if someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, you should ask, ‘You have not caused a schism in the saṅgha, have you?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
Maliciously Drawing Blood from a Tathāgata
The venerable Upāli asked the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, if a person who has maliciously drawn blood from a tathāgata seeks monkhood, to go forth and be ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya in the Blessed One’s presence, should his going forth be allowed or not?”
Suffering One of the Four Defeats
The venerable Upāli asked the Blessed Buddha, “Reverend, if a person who has fallen by committing any of the four actions leading to defeat during a previous ordination career seeks monkhood, to go forth and be ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya, should his going forth be allowed or not?”
“Upāli, his going forth should not be allowed. Therefore, if someone wishing to go forth approaches any of you, you should ask, ‘You have not fallen by committing any of the four acts leading to defeat, have you?’ If you allow going forth without asking this, a serious breach occurs.”
Three Types of Suspension
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī. The Blessed One then said to the monks, “Monks, if a person who has been suspended for refusing to acknowledge a transgression200 returns and says, ‘Venerables, I acknowledge the transgression. Please allow my going forth,’ then you should allow his going forth. Once he has gone forth, if he says, ‘Venerables, I confess my transgression. Please grant me ordination,’ then he should be granted ordination. If perchance, after being ordained, he should say, ‘I do not acknowledge the transgression,’ then, provided there is a majority within the saṅgha, he should be suspended for refusing to acknowledge the transgression. In the event that there is no majority within the saṅgha and he has been ordained, the ordination is to be judged valid, for it is difficult for a person to find monkhood, to go forth and be ordained in the well-proclaimed Dharma and Vinaya. The same conditions apply to suspensions meted out for refusing to amend one’s behavior, and suspensions meted out for refusing to give up deviant views.” [F.130.a]
Missing Hands
An index:
Missing Hands
The Blessed Buddha was resident at the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s grove near Śrāvastī. As was their wont, the group of six kept as wards anyone whose going forth had been allowed and who had been ordained, but who could not recognize a rogue. Once the wards could recognize a rogue, they were entrusted as wards to sound monks. On the advice of the Teacher, they would on occasion simply look in on their wards.
When this came up in conversation, Nanda and Upananda said, “These black begging bowl carriers might as well be snatching babies! Everyone we allow to go forth, they up and snatch away! Let’s allow to go forth the sort that these black begging bowl carriers won’t snatch away.”
Some time later, Upananda was out for a stroll [S.53.a] when he saw a man missing his hands and said, “Dear sir, why do you not go forth?”
He replied, “Noble one, as I have no hands, no one will allow me to go forth.”
“Dear sir, the Blessed One’s teachings are characterized by compassion. I shall allow your going forth.” And with that he allowed his going forth [F.130.b] and ordination.
After two or three days of teaching him how Dharma practitioners conduct themselves, Upananda said, “Dear sir, game does not eat other game. The whole of Śrāvastī is your field and fatherland, so seek out alms and live on them.”
“Preceptor, how am I to go begging alms?”
“Do you not know even that much? I will show you.”
Upananda tied the handless monk’s lower robe on with a cord, fastened his Dharma robe up with a pin, placed his begging bowl in the crook of his left arm, and nestled his monk’s staff in the crook of his right arm. The handless monk had entered Śrāvastī on his rounds when a woman beat on his chest and cried, “Noble one! Who cut off the hands of a renunciant?”
“Sister,” he replied, “my hands were cut off when I was still a householder. They were not cut off after I went forth.”
“Who allowed your going forth?”
“The preceptor Upananda.”
The people said, “Who else but a rogue would allow the going forth of someone like him?”
The monks then asked the Blessed One about it, and the Blessed One thought, “All those shortcomings ensue from the monks allowing the going forth of those without hands.”
Then the Blessed One decreed, “Monks, in light of this, monks should not allow going forth, nor grant ordination, to those who are missing hands. A serious breach occurs if you allow their going forth and grant them ordination. Just as it is so for those missing hands, it is also so for those missing legs, those with hands of webbed fingers, those with no lips, those whose bodies are marked,202 or the very old. Monks, if you allow the going forth of those who are too young, they will spoil the saṅgha’s bedding with urine and feces.” The Blessed One decreed, “Their going forth should not be allowed either.” [F.131.a]
“The going forth of the lame is also being allowed,” the Blessed One said. “Neither should their going forth be allowed.”
“The going forth of loose women, those missing an eye, those missing hands, hunchbacks, dwarves, those with goiters, the mute, the deaf, cripples, and those with elephantiasis are also being allowed,” the Blessed One said. “People such as they should not be allowed to go forth. If you allow them to go forth, a serious breach occurs.”
“Monks, the going forth of those worn out by women, those worn out by burdens, those worn out by the road, those with debilitating digestive disorders, and cretins are also being allowed,” the Blessed One said. “The going forth of such people should not be allowed. If you allow their going forth, a serious breach occurs.”
There are also other cases that warrant further exclusion.203
Thus concludes “The Chapter on Going Forth.”
Colophon
Appendix
An Outline of the Present Day Ordination Rite
Giving the Layperson’s Vows and Refuge Precepts
How to Give the Layperson’s Vows
Pledging to Keep the Precepts
Going Forth
Informing the Saṅgha of the Wish to Go Forth
Petitioning the Preceptor
Allowing the Postulant’s Going Forth
Becoming a Novice
Inducting the Postulant into the Novitiate
Marking the Time
Pledging to Keep the Novice Precepts
The Novice Investiture
Granting Ordination
The Opening Occasion
Petitioning the Preceptor
Sanction for Dharma Robes That Have Already Been Cut and Sewn
Sanction for Dharma Robes That Have Not Already Been Cut and Sewn
Displaying the Begging Bowl
Sanction for the Begging Bowl
Seeking the Cooperation of the Inquirer into Confidential Matters
Petitioning the Saṅgha for an Inquiry into Confidential Matters
The Inquiry into Confidential Matters
Reporting the Findings
The Ordinand’s Petition for Ordination
The Petition to Ask About Impediments Before the Saṅgha
Inquiring into Impediments Before the Saṅgha
The Monk Officiant’s Petition to Ordain
The Motion to Act
Marking the Time by the Length of a Shadow
Explaining the Different Parts of the Day and Night
Describing the Length of the Seasons
Explaining the Resources
Explaining the Offenses
Explaining Those Things That Constitute Spiritual Practice
Announcing the Perfect Fulfillment of His Greatest Desire
Enjoining Him To Practice the Equally Applicable Ethical Code
Enjoining Him To Adhere to His Role Model
Enjoining Him To Dwell in Tranquility
Enjoining Him To Acquire What Is Needed
Informing Him of What He Must Do To Fully Understand His Unspoken Commitments
Enjoining Him To Heed What He Reveres
Enjoining Him in How He Must Practice
Abbreviations
| C | Choné |
|---|---|
| D | Degé |
| H | Lhasa (Shöl) |
| J | Lithang |
| K | Beijing Kangxi |
| KY | Yongle |
| N | Narthang |
| S | Stok Palace Manuscript |