The Forest of Thieves and the Magic Garden: An Anthology of Medieval Jain Stories (Penguin Classics)

by Phyllis Granoff

  The Blessed One told them, ‘Good people, do not despair. None of this was your fault. You are by nature absolutely pure.’ They asked, ‘Then whose fault was it?’ The Blessed One replied, ‘It is the fault of that woman who has come out of your bodies.’ They said, ‘Blessed One, who is she?’ The Blessed One said, ‘Good people, she is called Bhogatrsnā, ‘Desire for Sensory Pleasures.”’ Vicakṣaṇā and Kālajña said, ‘Blessed One, how is she the cause of sins like the ones we committed?’ The Blessed One said, ‘Good people, listen:

  Just as the night always produces darkness, so does Desire for Sensory Pleasures always give rise to the host of flaws, passion and the like.

  The thoughts of those, in whose body that wicked one resides, turn at once to wrong deeds.

  As a fire can never get enough of grass and wood, as the ocean is never satiated, even by torrents of water poured into it, so this one is never satisfied, no matter how many pleasures she enjoys.

  The fool who seeks to quiet her with the enjoyments of the objects of the senses, sound and the like, resembles a man who would grasp the reflection of the moon in water.

  The worst of men in their delusion take her as their beloved. They are doomed to wander endlessly in this terrifying ocean of transmigration.

  But those best of men who realize that she is no good, chase her out of their bodies and lock the door of their minds.

  Such men are free from afflictions; their sins are all gone. Having purified themselves, they go to the Highest Place. Those good men who are without her are praised in the three worlds; but those who are subject to her control are scorned by the good.

  By her very nature she gives an ocean of suffering to those lowest of men, who out of delusion obey her commands. But for those best of men who oppose her she naturally brings pleasure after pleasure.

  A man despises Final Release and values the cycle of rebirths just as long as this wicked Desire for Sensory Pleasures is in his mind.

  But once they get rid of her through the power of their meritorious deeds, they see that this cycle of rebirths is as worthless as dust.

  As long as this Desire for Sensory Pleasures is in a man, the fool imagines a woman’s body, which is heap of stinking impurities, to be as beautiful as a jasmine blossom, a lotus or the moon, for he compares her face to the moon or a lotus, and her teeth to a jasmine flower.

  But without the Desire for Sensory Pleasures a man would not even dream of a woman’s body.

  The fact that some men must serve others, though both master and slave are equally men; the fact that some must do the work that others would not touch, this is all the result of Desire for Sensory Pleasures.

  Those great ones who no longer harbour Desire for Sensory Pleasures in their bodies are the true kings. Even though they may not be wealthy, those steadfast men are superior even to Śakra, king of the Gods.

  It is said even in the religious texts of other groups that her body is made up of atoms of rajas mixed with tamas, the lower two of the three constituents of matter.

  ‘This wicked one is the source of your sins. That is why I have said that everything was her fault alone, and not yours. In truth you two are both by nature absolutely pure.

  She is the cause of all your sins.

  She cannot stand to be near me and so she has withdrawn and stands apart. She is waiting for you to leave me.’

  Vicakṣaṇā and Kālajña asked, ‘When, O Blessed One, will we be entirely free of her?’ The Blessed One replied, ‘Good people! You will not be able to get rid of her entirely in this birth. But you do now have Right Faith, which is like a hammer to smash her. You must strengthen that Right Faith again and again by contact with good teachers. You must not do anything to appease this Desire for Sensory Pleasures. You must be on the guard for any changes in your thoughts that she has caused. You must chase away any such thoughts by contemplating their opposites. In this way she will become weaker and weaker with every moment and eventually, although she will still be with you, she will not be able to cause you any harm.”

  When they heard this Vicakṣaṇā and Kālajña said, ‘You have shown us great favour.’ and they fell at the feet of the Blessed One. Now when King Rju, Queen Pragunā, Mugdha, Akutilā’ and the others saw what was taking place and when they heard the words of the Blessed One, they also felt remorse; they also conceived a pure desire to practice only good deeds. Rju and Pragunā both thought, ‘What a silly fuss we made, deluded by the idea that we had another son and another daughter-in-law! We actually encouraged our son and daughter-in-law in their improper conduct.’ Mugdha thought, ‘I have brought dishonor on my family by sleeping with the wife of another man.’ Akutilā thought, ‘In truth I have been unfaithful to my husband.’ And all four of them alike thought, ‘We must confess to the Blessed One. He is the only one who can tell us how we may counteract these sins.’

  At that moment there emerged from the bodies of all four of them a child made of white atoms, who was white in color and radiant; he was a source of delight to the eyes and a source of pleasure to the minds of those who saw him. He was shouting, ‘I have saved you, I have saved you!’ With joy he gazed on the face of the Blessed One; he stood right there in front of the entire assembly. But then a second child came out of them in exactly the same way; this child was black in color and hideous in appearance; he terrified them all. A third child came out of this one, looking exactly like him, but even more hideous in nature. It began to grow larger and larger. The white child struck it on the head with his fist and made it stop growing and revert back to its original state. Both the black children then withdrew from the vicinity of the Blessed One.

  The Blessed One then said, ‘Do not despair that you have committed wrong doings. For it was not your fault. You are by nature absolutely pure.’ They said, ‘Then whose fault was it, Blessed One?’ The Blessed One said, ‘It was the fault of this black child who came out of your bodies right after the white one emerged.’ They said, ‘Blessed One, who is that child?’ The Blessed One said, ‘He is called Ignorance.’ They said, ‘And who is that second black child that came out of Ignorance, the one that the white child struck on the head and stopped from growing?’ The Blessed One answered, ‘His name is Sin.’ They said, ‘What is the name of the white child?’ The Blessed One said, ‘He is called Righteousness.’ At that they said, ‘What is the nature of this Ignorance and how does sin come from it? And how did Righteousness stop Sin from growing? We want to hear all about this.’ The Blessed One said, ‘In that case, then is ten to me.

  First of all, this Ignorance that emerged from your bodies is the cause of all your sins.

  When Ignorance is in their bodies, creatures cannot tell the difference between right and wrong; they do not distinguish between a woman they may approach and one who is off limits to them.

  They do not know what they may eat and what it is wrong to eat; they do not know what they should drink and what they should not drink. Like blind men they take to the wrong road.

  In their Ignorance they commit wrong deeds, and with nothing to sustain them on their journey from birth to birth, they wander in pain and misery.

  Ignorance is the source of passion and the other flaws; even Desire for Sensory Pleasures depends on Ignorance to do her work.

  Without Ignorance, Desire for Sensory Pleasures cannot act; even if she does get a start, she is suddenly stopped in her tracks.

  The soul is by nature all-knowing and all-seeing, absolutely pure. But sullied by Ignorance it is no different from an insentient stone.

  Ignorance, like a highway robber, sets up a road block on the right path and robs a person of all the wealth he may get in this world, and of the pleasures of Final Release.

  It is Ignorance and nothing else that is said to be the most terrifying of hells, for its nature is abject darkness.

  Ignorance is poverty; Ignorance is a man’s worst enemy.

  Ignorance is disease; it is even said to be old age.

  Ignorance is e
very imaginable disaster; Ignorance is death.

  In the absence of Ignorance the terrifying ocean of rebirth can no longer harm those who dwell in it. Ignorance is the cause of all our distress; it is the cause of all our wayward behavior and whatever else is undesirable.

  For people only commit evil deeds when Ignorance, which conceals knowledge, is in their minds.

  But those fortunate ones in whose mind Ignorance no longer exists, are pure inside; they do only good deeds.

  Having been worthy of honor in this world, those men of purified minds, freed from all taint of sin, eventually attain the Highest Place.

  And all four of you had the same Ignorance. That is why I have said that what you did was not your fault.

  It is the fault of your Ignorance.

  The second child, called Sin, is always the product of Ignorance. That is why this second child here too came out of the first one.

  The wise say that Sin is the cause of all suffering; it suddenly propels a person into an ocean of terror.

  Sin is said to be the source of all the many defilements, and so a wise man should never undertake anything that is the cause of Sin.

  A person must give up violence, lying, stealing, immoderate sexual behavior, and attachment to possessions; a person must never doubt the truth of the Jain doctrine; one must renounce anger, pride, deceitfulness and greed. These are the causes of Sin.

  And so a wise man must studiously avoid all of these things; then there will be no Sin and from that Sin, no suffering.

  Now your Sin, too, came from your Ignorance, for Ignorance is what leads a person to commit acts of violence, lie, steal, fornicate and covet.

  Now listen to me as I carefully explain how Sin, increasing, was thwarted by Righteousness.

  Righteousness by its very nature leads a person to have noble aspirations, and that is why it can stop people from committing more and more sins.

  Now in your case you all have the same degree of Righteousness; your ever-increasing Sin, born of your Ignorance, was conquered by your Righteousness.

  That is why your Righteousness in the form of a child with a smiling face joyfully proclaimed again and again, “I have saved you! I have saved you!”

  Fortunate indeed are those in whose minds there is Righteousness. Even if they do commit sins out of Ignorance, they are sill only minor sinners.

  As soon as they come to know the pure path, they shake off their karma and exert themselves along the path to Liberation.

  Fortunate indeed are those who have purified their minds by means of Righteousness; they perform many pure deeds and reach the final shore of the cycle of rebirths.

  So should you now, all good people, shake off your Ignorance and Sin and pursue the religious life to perfection.

  For wise men say that the religious life is the only thing worth holding on to in this cycle of rebirths; union with a loved one is impermanent and prone to grief and jealousy.

  Youth is impermanent and is the abode of despicable conduct.

  All forms of wealth are impermanent and arise from the bitterest struggles.

  Life is impermanent and the cause of so many different conditions.

  There is birth and then there is death, again and again; there is even birth in low and miserable states, time after time. There is no happiness in this.

  Everything in this cycle of rebirths is by nature unappealing. And so I ask you, should a person who possesses the ability to discriminate have any attachment to anything here, except to the religious life, which is praised in this world, which is without stain and which is eternal, which is the means to accomplish the highest goal, and has been practiced by steadfast people of impeccable conduct?’

  Hearing these blessed words which were like the drink of immortality, all of them turned their minds away from worldly life. The king said, ‘T will do all that the Blessed One has instructed.’ Praguna said, ‘Great King! Why do you tarry?’ Mugdha then said, ‘Father, my mother is right. It must be done.’ His wife, her lotus-like eyes wide with joy, agreed completely with her husband, but in her great modesty she did not say a word. Then all four of them fell at the feet of the Blessed One. King Rju said, ‘Blessed One! We will do what you have said.’ The Blessed One said, ‘Such a course of action is worthy of people like you who are destined to attain Liberation.’ Then the king asked the Blessed One when the propitious day would be. The Blessed One said, ‘Today is the perfect occasion.’ And so the king right then and there gave out great gifts and caused the gods to be worshipped. He placed his own son named éubhācāra, “Pure Conduct” on the throne and brought great joy to all the townspeople. And then all four of them, having done what was to be done in order to renounce the world, surrendered themselves to this monk as their master and were ordained. At that the two black children fled and the white child in a flash reentered their bodies. Kālajña and his wife then thought, ‘See how fortunate these people are. Their lives are complete; on account of their meritorious karma they have been able to be ordained as Jain ascetics.

  ‘I believe that they have finally crossed this ocean of rebirth, the end of which is difficult to reach; their renunciation, like some magic jewel that brings a person safely across the sea, brings them across this ocean of rebirth.

  ‘But we are gods and so are deprived of this opportunity, which is open only to human beings. Nonetheless, we too have obtained that most excellent right faith in the Jain Doctrine, which destroys wrong belief, and which is only obtained with difficulty after hundreds and thousands of births.

  ‘We are not without some good fortune, then; a poor man, after all, does not get a sack full of jewels all at once.’

  And so the two of them bowed down at the feet of the Blessed One, who gave them some instructions. That divine couple then returned home.

  Desire for Sensory Pleasures went back into their bodies as they were leaving; only this time, because of the great power of their pure faith, it would cause them no harm.

  (from the Upamitibhavaprapañcakathā of Siddharsi, Ch.3)