The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
Page 54
29. “In that case, venerable sir, hear whose disciple I am:He is the Wise One who has cast off delusion,
abandoned the heart’s wilderness,591 victor in battle;
He knows no anguish, is perfectly even-minded,
mature in virtue, of excellent wisdom;
Beyond all temptations,592 he is without stain:
The Blessed One is he, and I am his disciple.
Free from perplexity, he abides contented,
spurning worldly gains, a vessel of gladness;
A human being who has done the recluse’s duty,
a man who bears his final body;
He is utterly peerless and utterly spotless:
The Blessed One is he, and I am his disciple.
He is free from doubt and skilful,
the discipliner and excellent leader.
None can surpass his resplendent qualities;
without hesitation, he is the illuminator;
Having severed conceit, he is the hero:
The Blessed One is he, and I am his disciple.
The leader of the herd, he cannot be measured,
his depths are unfathomed, he attained to the silence;593
Provider of safety, possessor of knowledge,
he stands in the Dhamma, inwardly restrained;
Having overcome all bondage, he is liberated:
The Blessed One is he, and I am his disciple.
The immaculate tusker, living in remoteness,
with fetters all shattered, fully freed;
Skilled in discussion, imbued with wisdom,
his banner lowered,594 he no longer lusts;
Having tamed himself, he no more proliferates:595
The Blessed One is he, and I am his disciple.
The best of seers,596 with no deceptive schemes,
gained the triple knowledge, attained to holiness;
His heart cleansed, a master of discourse,
he lives ever tranquil, the finder of knowledge;
The first of all givers, he is ever capable:
The Blessed One is he, and I am his disciple.
He is the Noble One, developed in mind,
who has gained the goal and expounds the truth;
Endowed with mindfulness and penetrative insight,
he leans neither forwards nor back;597
Free from perturbation, attained to mastery:
The Blessed One is he, and I am his disciple.
He has fared rightly and abides in meditation,
inwardly undefiled, in purity perfect;
He is independent and altogether fearless,598
living secluded, attained to the summit;
Having crossed over himself, he leads us across:
The Blessed One is he, and I am his disciple.
Of supreme serenity, with extensive wisdom,
a man of great wisdom, devoid of all greed;
He is the Tathāgata, he is the Sublime One,
the person unrivalled, the one without equal;
He is intrepid, proficient in all:
The Blessed One is he, and I am his disciple.
He has severed craving and become the Enlightened One,
cleared of all fumes, completely untainted;
Most worthy of gifts, most mighty of spirits,
most perfect of persons, beyond estimation;
The greatest in grandeur, attained the peak of glory:
The Blessed One is he, and I am his disciple.”
30. “When did you concoct that hymn of praise to the recluse Gotama, householder?”
“Venerable sir, suppose there were a great heap of many kinds of flowers, [387] and then a clever garland-maker or garland-maker’s apprentice were to knot them into a multicoloured garland; so too, venerable sir, the Blessed One has many praiseworthy qualities, many hundreds of praiseworthy qualities. Who, venerable sir, would not praise the praiseworthy?”
31. Then, since the Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta was unable to bear this honour done to the Blessed One, hot blood then and there gushed from his mouth.599
Kukkuravatika Sutta
The Dog-Duty Ascetic
1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living in the Koliyan country where there was a town of the Koliyans named Haliddavasana.
2. Then Puṇṇa, son of the Koliyans, an ox-duty ascetic, and also Seniya, a naked dog-duty ascetic, went to the Blessed One.600 Puṇṇa, the ox-duty ascetic, paid homage to the Blessed One and sat down at one side, while Seniya, the naked dog-duty ascetic, exchanged greetings with the Blessed One, and when this courteous and amiable talk was finished, he too sat down at one side curled up like a dog. Puṇṇa, the ox-duty ascetic, said to the Blessed One: “Venerable sir, this Seniya is a naked dog-duty ascetic who does what is hard to do: he eats his food when it is thrown to the ground. He has long taken up and practised that dog-duty. What will be his destination? What will be his future course?”
“Enough, Puṇṇa, let that be. Do not ask me that.”
A second time…And a third time Puṇṇa, the ox-duty ascetic, said to the Blessed One: “Venerable sir, this Seniya is a naked dog-duty ascetic who does what is hard to do: he eats his food when it is thrown to the ground. He has long taken up and practised that dog-duty. What will be his destination? What will be his future course?”
“Well, Puṇṇa, since I certainly cannot persuade you when I say: ‘Enough, Puṇṇa, let that be. Do not ask me that,’ I shall therefore answer you.
3. “Here, Puṇṇa, someone develops the dog-duty fully and uninterruptedly; he develops the dog-habit fully and uninterruptedly; he develops the dog-mind fully [388] and uninterruptedly; he develops dog-behaviour fully and uninterruptedly. Having done so, on the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in the company of dogs. But if he has such a view as this: ‘By this virtue or observance or asceticism or holy life I shall become a [great] god or some [lesser] god,’ that is wrong view in his case. Now there are two destinations for one with wrong view, I say: hell or the animal realm.601 So, Puṇṇa, if his dog-duty succeeds, it will lead him to the company of dogs; if it fails, it will lead him to hell.”
4. When this was said, Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic cried out and burst into tears. Then the Blessed One told Puṇṇa, son of the Koliyans, the ox-duty ascetic: “Puṇṇa, I could not persuade you when I said: ‘Enough, Puṇṇa, let that be. Do not ask me that.’” [Then Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic said:] “Venerable sir, I am not crying because the Blessed One has said this about me, but because I have long taken up and practised this dog-duty. Venerable sir, this Puṇṇa, son of the Koliyans, is an ox-duty ascetic. He has long taken up and practised that ox-duty. What will be his destination? What will be his future course?”
“Enough, Seniya, let that be. Do not ask me that.”
A second time…And a third time Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic asked the Blessed One: “Venerable sir, this Puṇṇa, son of the Koliyans, is an ox-duty ascetic. He has long taken up and practised that ox-duty. What will be his destination? What will be his future course?”
“Well, Seniya, since I certainly cannot persuade you when I say: ‘Enough, Seniya, let that be. Do not ask me that,’ I shall therefore answer you.
5. “Here, Seniya, someone develops the ox-duty fully and uninterruptedly; he develops the ox-habit fully and uninterruptedly; he develops the ox-mind fully and uninterruptedly; he develops ox-behaviour fully and uninterruptedly. Having done so, on the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in the company of oxen. [389] But if he has such a view as this: ‘By this virtue or observance or asceticism or holy life I shall become a [great] god or some [lesser] god,’ that is wrong view in his case. Now there are two destinations for one with wrong view, I say: hell or the animal realm. So, Seniya, if his ox-duty succeeds, it will lead him to the company of oxen; if it fails, it will lead him to hell.”
6. When this was said, Puṇṇa, son of the Koliyans, the ox-duty ascetic cr
ied out and burst into tears. Then the Blessed One told Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic: “Seniya, I could not persuade you when I said: ‘Enough, Seniya, let that be. Do not ask me that.’”
[Then Puṇṇa the ox-duty ascetic said:] “Venerable sir, I am not crying because the Blessed One has said this about me, but because I have long taken up and practised this ox-duty. Venerable sir, I have confidence in the Blessed One thus: ‘The Blessed One is capable of teaching me the Dhamma in such a way that I can abandon this ox-duty and that this Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic can abandon that dog-duty.’”
“Then, Puṇṇa, listen and attend closely to what I shall say.”—“Yes, venerable sir,” he replied. The Blessed One said this:
7. “Puṇṇa, there are four kinds of action proclaimed by me after realising them for myself with direct knowledge. What are the four? There is dark action with dark result; there is bright action with bright result; there is dark-and-bright action with dark-and-bright result; and there is action that is neither dark nor bright with neither-dark-nor-bright result, action that leads to the destruction of action.
8. “And what, Puṇṇa, is dark action with dark result? Here someone generates an afflictive bodily formation, an afflictive verbal formation, an afflictive mental formation.602 Having generated an afflictive bodily formation, an afflictive verbal formation, an afflictive mental formation, he reappears in an afflictive world.603 When he has reappeared in an afflictive world, afflictive contacts touch him. Being touched by afflictive contacts, he feels afflictive feelings, exclusively painful, as in the case of the beings in [390] hell. Thus a being’s reappearance is due to a being:604 one reappears through the actions one has performed. When one has reappeared, contacts touch one. Thus I say beings are the heirs of their actions. This is called dark action with dark result.
9. “And what, Puṇṇa, is bright action with bright result? Here someone generates an unafflictive bodily formation, an unafflictive verbal formation, an unafflictive mental formation.605 Having generated an unafflictive bodily formation, an unafflictive verbal formation, an unafflictive mental formation, he reappears in an unafflictive world.606 When he has reappeared in an unafflictive world, unafflictive contacts touch him. Being touched by unafflictive contacts, he feels unafflictive feelings, exclusively pleasant, as in the case of the gods of Refulgent Glory. Thus a being’s reappearance is due to a being; one reappears through the actions one has performed. When one has reappeared, contacts touch one. Thus I say beings are the heirs of their actions. This is called bright action with bright result.
10. “And what, Puṇṇa, is dark-and-bright action with dark-and-bright result? Here someone generates a bodily formation that is both afflictive and unafflictive, a verbal formation that is both afflictive and unafflictive, a mental formation that is both afflictive and unafflictive.607 Having generated a bodily formation, a verbal formation, a mental formation that is both afflictive and unafflictive, he reappears in a world that is both afflictive and unafflictive. When he has reappeared in a world that is both afflictive and unafflictive, both afflictive and unafflictive contacts touch him. Being touched by both afflictive and unafflictive contacts, he feels both afflictive and unafflictive feelings, mingled pleasure and pain, as in the case of human beings and some gods and some beings in the lower worlds. Thus a being’s reappearance is due to a being: one reappears through the actions one has performed. When one has reappeared, contacts touch one. Thus I say beings are the heirs to their actions. This is called dark-and-bright action with dark-and-bright result. [391]
11. “And what, Puṇṇa, is action that is neither dark nor bright with neither-dark-nor-bright result, action that leads to the destruction of action? Therein, the volition for abandoning the kind of action that is dark with dark result, and the volition for abandoning the kind of action that is bright with bright result, and the volition for abandoning the kind of action that is dark and bright with dark-and-bright result: this is called action that is neither dark nor bright with neither-dark-nor-bright result, action that leads to the destruction of action.608 These are the four kinds of action proclaimed by me after realising them for myself with direct knowledge.”
12. When this was said, Puṇṇa, son of the Koliyans, the ox-duty ascetic said to the Blessed One: “Magnificent, venerable sir! Magnificent, venerable sir! The Blessed One has made the Dhamma clear in many ways…From today let the Blessed One remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for refuge for life.”
13. But Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic said to the Blessed One: “Magnificent, venerable sir! Magnificent, venerable sir! The Blessed One has made the Dhamma clear in many ways, as though he were turning upright what had been overthrown, revealing what was hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the dark for those with eyesight to see forms. I go to the Blessed One for refuge and to the Dhamma and to the Sangha of bhikkhus. I would receive the going forth under the Blessed One, I would receive the full admission.”
14. “Seniya, one who formerly belonged to another sect and desires the going forth and the full admission in this Dhamma and Discipline lives on probation for four months.609 At the end of four months, if the bhikkhus are satisfied with him, they give him the going forth and the full admission to the bhikkhus’ state. But I recognise individual differences in this matter.”610
“Venerable sir, if those who formerly belonged to another sect and desire the going forth and the full admission in this Dhamma and Discipline live on probation for four months, and if at the end of the four months the bhikkhus being satisfied with them give them the going forth and the full admission to the bhikkhus’ state, then I will live on probation for four years. At the end of the four years if the bhikkhus are satisfied with me, let them give me the going forth and the full admission to the bhikkhus’ state.”
15. Then Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic received the going forth under the Blessed One, and he received the full admission. And soon, not long after his full admission, dwelling alone, withdrawn, [392] diligent, ardent, and resolute, the venerable Seniya, by realising for himself with direct knowledge, here and now entered upon and abided in that supreme goal of the holy life for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the home life into homelessness. He directly knew: “Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being.” And the venerable Seniya became one of the arahants.
Abhayarājakumāra Sutta
To Prince Abhaya
1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrels’ Sanctuary.
2. Then Prince Abhaya611 went to the Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta, and after paying homage to him, sat down at one side. Thereupon the Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta said to him:
3. “Come, prince, refute the recluse Gotama’s doctrine, and a good report of you will be spread to this effect: ‘Prince Abhaya has refuted the doctrine of the recluse Gotama, who is so powerful and mighty.’”
“But how, venerable sir, shall I refute his doctrine?”
“Come, prince, go to the recluse Gotama and say: ‘Venerable sir, would the Tathāgata utter speech that would be unwelcome and disagreeable to others?’ If the recluse Gotama, on being asked thus, answers: ‘The Tathāgata, prince, would utter speech that would be unwelcome and disagreeable to others,’ then say to him: ‘Then, venerable sir, what is the difference between you and an ordinary person? For an ordinary person also would utter speech that would be unwelcome and disagreeable to others.’ But if the recluse Gotama, on being asked thus, answers: ‘The Tathāgata, prince, would not utter speech [393] that would be unwelcome and disagreeable to others,’ then say to him: ‘Then, venerable sir, why have you declared of Devadatta: “Devadatta is destined for the states of deprivation, Devadatta is destined for hell, Devadatta will remain [in hell] for the aeon, Devadatta is incorrigible”? Devadatta was angry and displeased with that speech o
f yours.’ When the recluse Gotama is posed this two-horned question by you, he will not be able either to throw it up or to gulp it down. If an iron spike were stuck in a man’s throat, he would not be able either to throw it up or to gulp it down; so too, prince, when the recluse Gotama is posed this two-horned question by you, he will not be able either to throw it up or to gulp it down.”
4. “Yes, venerable sir,” Prince Abhaya replied. Then he rose from his seat, and after paying homage to the Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta, keeping him on his right, he left and went to the Blessed One. After paying homage to the Blessed One, he sat down at one side, looked at the sun, and thought: “It is too late today to refute the Blessed One’s doctrine. I shall refute the Blessed One’s doctrine in my own house tomorrow.” Then he said to the Blessed One: “Venerable sir, let the Blessed One with three others consent to accept tomorrow’s meal from me.” The Blessed One consented in silence.
5. Then, knowing that the Blessed One had consented, Prince Abhaya rose from his seat, and after paying homage to him, keeping him on his right, he departed. Then, when the night had ended, it being morning, the Blessed One dressed, and taking his bowl and outer robe, he went to Prince Abhaya’s house and sat down on the seat made ready. Then, with his own hands, Prince Abhaya served and satisfied the Blessed One with various kinds of good food. When the Blessed One had eaten and had withdrawn his hand from the bowl, Prince Abhaya took a low seat, sat down at one side, and said to the Blessed One: