by Andy Rotman
“I have crossed over, Bhadanta! I have crossed over!”459 he said. “And so, I take refuge in the Lord Buddha, in the dharma, and in the community of monks. Hereafter, and for as long as I live and breathe, consider me a faithful disciple who has taken the refuges.”
Then the brahman, like a merchant with fortune found, like a farmer with a rich harvest, like a warrior victorious in battle, and like a patient released from every illness, rejoiced and delighted in the words of the Blessed One. He then placed his head in veneration at the Blessed One’s feet, left the Blessed One’s presence, and went back to his field. He saw that it was rich with golden grains of barley. Seeing this, with his eyes wide open with wonder, he uttered this verse:
Oh! This field is so fertile and faultless!
A seed sown today bears fruit today as well.
Then the brahman hurriedly approached the king. Having approached and greeted the king with wishes for his success and well-being, he then said this to him: “My lord, the barley that I’ve planted has turned to gold. Do me the favor of sending someone to oversee it.”
So the king sent off an overseer.
The brahman piled together the barley and then divided it up. The king’s share turned into ordinary barley. The overseer informed the king, and the king ordered that it be divided up once again. [463] So they divided it up again, and just as before the king’s share turned into ordinary barley. In this way, they divided it up again and again seven times, but the results were always the same.460 The king became curious, so he went there in person. He too saw the same results.
Then he said to the brahman, “Brahman, this occurs because of your merit. There’s no need for a king’s share. Give me as much as you like.”461 The brahman was satisfied, and then whatever barley he gave to the king turned to gold.
Five Hundred Farmers and Their Oxen
One day the Blessed One set out.
Meanwhile, in a certain place there were five hundred farmers dressed in rags of coarse cloth, looking very pale, their hands and feet cracked, driving their plows. As for the oxen that led the plows, their bodies were covered with cuts and bruises from the harnesses that bound them and the cattle prods that beat them, and they were constantly panting for breath. Then those farmers saw the Lord Buddha,
who was adorned with the thirty-two marks of a great man,
[whose body was radiant with the eighty minor marks,
who was adorned with a halo extending an arm’s length,
whose brilliance was greater than a thousand suns,
and who, like a mountain of jewels that moved, was beautiful from every side.
As soon as the farmers saw him, they developed faith in the Blessed One.
Twelve years’ practice of quiescence meditation
does not produce such peace of mind—
nor does the birth of a son for one who has no son,
the sight of a treasure trove for one who is destitute,
or a royal coronation for one who desires kingship.
None of these produce such well-being]462
as when a being who has accumulated roots of virtue
sees a buddha for the first time.
Then they approached the Blessed One.
The Blessed One saw the farmers from a distance, and upon seeing them, with the intention of obtaining new disciples, he stepped off the road and sat down in front of the community of monks in the seat specially prepared for him. Those farmers placed their heads in veneration at the Blessed One’s feet and then sat down at a respectful distance. The Blessed One, knowing their inclinations, propensities, makeup, and nature, gave them a discourse on the dharma that elucidated the four noble truths.
[When the farmers heard this,]463 with their thunderbolts of knowledge they broke through that mountain, which is the false view of individuality that has accumulated since time immemorial, and directly experienced the reward of the stream-enterer. Having seen the truth, they bowed toward the Blessed One with their hands respectfully folded464 and said this to him: “Bhadanta, may we465 renounce, take ordination, and become monks according to the dharma and monastic discipline that have been so well expressed. May we follow the religious life in the presence of the Blessed One.”
Then the Blessed One initiated them uttering the “Come, O monk” formula for ordination: [“Come, O monks! Follow the religious life!” As soon as the Blessed One finished speaking, there they stood—heads shaved, garbed in monastic robes, bowls and water pots in hand, with a week’s growth of hair and beard and the disciplined deportment of monks who had been ordained for one hundred years.
“Come,” the Tathāgata said to them.
With heads shaved and bodies wrapped in robes,
they instantly attained tranquility of the senses,]466
and so they remained467 by the will of the Buddha.
Then the Blessed One gave them instructions. After striving [and straining, they came to understand that ever-turning five-spoked wheel of saṃsāra; they dealt a final blow to rebirth in all realms of saṃsāra, since they are subject to decay and decline, scattering and destruction; and by ridding themselves of all defilements, they directly experienced arhatship. Becoming arhats,
they were free from attachment in the three realms;
they regarded clods of earth and gold as equal in value;
they possessed equanimity toward the sky and the palms of their hands;
they didn’t distinguish between being cut by a blade and being anointed with sandalwood paste;
the eggshell of their ignorance was broken by knowledge;
they obtained the special knowledges, superhuman faculties, and analytic insights;
and they were averse to worldly attainments, temptations, and honors.
They became worthy of respect, honor,] and obeisance [from the gods, including Indra and Upendra].468 [464]
As for the oxen, they broke through their harnesses and straps and approached the Blessed One. Having approached, they stood crowding around him. The Blessed One taught them the dharma with three principles, like when he crossed the Gaṅgā River and taught [five hundred] geese, fish, and tortoises. [“Friends,” he said, “everything that is conditioned is impermanent, all phenomena are without self, and nirvāṇa is peace.”]469 Having seen the truth, they [died and] went to a divine realm.470
Some monks in doubt asked the Lord Buddha, the remover of all doubts, “But what471 deed did those monks who had been farmers do such that they first became farmers and then went forth as monks in the presence of the Blessed One, where by ridding themselves of all defilements, they directly experienced arhatship? And what deed did those gods that had been oxen do such that they were first reborn as oxen and then had a vision of truth?”
“Monks,” the Blessed One said, “the deeds that they themselves have performed and accumulated have now come together, [and their conditions have matured. They remain before them like an oncoming flood and will certainly come to pass. Those deeds were performed and accumulated by them. Who else will experience their results? For those deeds that are performed and accumulated, monks, do not mature outside of oneself—neither in the element of earth nor in the element of water, in the element of fire or in the element of wind. Instead, those deeds that are performed and accumulated, both good and bad, mature in the aggregates, the elements, and the sense bases that are appropriated when one is reborn.
Actions never come to naught,
even after hundreds of millions of years.
When the right conditions gather and the time is right,]472
then they will have their effect on embodied beings.
“Long ago, monks, in this present auspicious age, when people lived for twenty thousand years, there arose in the world a teacher named Kāśyapa,
[who was a tathāgata,
an arhat,
a perfectly awakened being,
perfect in knowledge and conduct,
a sugata,
a knower of the world,
an unsurpassed guide for those in need of training,
a teacher of gods and humans,
a buddha,
and a blessed one].473
“He stayed near the city of Vārāṇasī in the deer park at Ṛṣivadana (Mouth of Sages). Five hundred farmers went forth as monks in his order. There they never read or studied on their own, nor did they meditate. Instead, they stuffed themselves on food that was given out of faith, enjoyed themselves socializing, and passed their time in idleness.
“What do you think, monks? Those five hundred monks were none other than these five hundred farmers. The owner of the monastery474 was none other than the householder for whom these farmers worked. Since the monks ate the food that was given out of faith, which belonged to the owner of the monastery, and since they never read or studied on their own and didn’t even meditate but instead enjoyed themselves socializing and passed their time in idleness, because of that action, for five hundred births they became farmers working for this very owner of the monastery. Even in this lifetime they have become farmers who work for him. Since they went forth as monks in the order of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa and followed the religious life, [465] they have now gone forth as monks in my order, where by ridding themselves of all defilements, they directly experienced arhatship.
“And those gods who had been oxen also went forth as monks in the order of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. There they violated lesser and minor precepts. Because of that action, they were reborn as oxen. Since they then cultivated faith in my presence, they were reborn among the gods. Since they had lived the religious life under the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa, they have now become gods and have had a vision of truth.
“And so, monks, the result of absolutely evil actions is absolutely evil, [the result of absolutely pure actions is absolutely pure, and the result of mixed actions is mixed. Therefore monks, because of this, you should reject absolutely evil actions and mixed ones as well] and strive [to perform only absolutely pure actions].475 It is this, monks, that you should learn to do.”
The Incident at Toyikā476
The Blessed One then addressed the venerable [Ānanda]:477 “Come, Ānanda, let us go to Toyikā (Watering Hole).”
“Yes, Bhadanta,” the venerable Ānanda replied, consenting to the Blessed One’s request.
The Blessed One arrived at Toyikā, and in that place there was a brahman plowing his fields. The brahman saw the Lord Buddha,
who was adorned with the thirty-two marks of a great man
[whose body was radiant with the eighty minor marks,
who was adorned with a halo extending an arm’s length,
whose brilliance was greater than a thousand suns,
and who, like a mountain of jewels that moved,]478 was beautiful from every side.
Seeing him, the brahman reflected, “If I go to Lord Gautama and pay my respects, my work will suffer. If I don’t go to him and pay my respects, my merit will suffer. Isn’t there any skillful way such that neither my work nor my merit will suffer?” Then this thought occurred to him: “I will pay my respects standing right here. This way neither my work nor will my merit will suffer.” Standing right there and still holding his cattle prod,479 he paid his respects: “I pay my respects to the Lord Buddha.”
The Blessed One then addressed the venerable Ānanda: “Ānanda, this brahman is making a mistake.480 If he only had the proper knowledge and insight,481 he would have known that in this place lies the undisturbed skeleton of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. Then he could have approached482 and venerated me and, in this way, have venerated two perfectly awakened buddhas. How is that? In this place, Ānanda, lies the undisturbed skeleton of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa.”
Then the venerable Ānanda very quickly folded his upper garment into four as a seat and then said this to the Blessed One: [466] “May the Blessed One please sit down on this seat that I have specially prepared. In this way this bit of earth will be made use of by two perfectly awakened buddhas—previously by the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa and at present by the Blessed One.”
The Blessed One sat down in that seat specially prepared for him. After sitting down, he addressed the monks: “Do you desire, monks, to see the undisturbed body of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa?”
“Yes, Blessed One. It is the right time and the right occasion, Sugata, for the Blessed One to display the undisturbed body of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa to the monks. Seeing it, the monks can cultivate faith in their hearts.”
Then the Blessed One had a mundane thought.
Now it is a law of nature that any time a lord buddha has a mundane thought, all creatures, even tiny biting ants and the like, know that blessed one’s thoughts with their minds.
The nāgas reflected, “What is the reason that the Blessed One has had a mundane thought? Because the Blessed One desires to see483 the undisturbed body of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa.” Then they raised the undisturbed body of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa.
The Blessed One then addressed the monks: “Imprint its image in your minds, monks, for it will disappear.” And then it disappeared.
Practices of Faith at Toyikā
King Prasenajit heard that the Blessed One had raised the undisturbed body of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa for the disciples to see. And upon hearing this, he became curious. So with the women of the palace as well as princes, ministers, military commanders, townspeople, and villagers, he set out to see it. Likewise Virūḍhaka, the householder Anāthapiṇḍada, the head officials Ṛṣidatta and Purāṇa, Viśākhā Mṛgāramātā, and many hundreds of thousands of other people set out to see it, some out of curiosity, others impelled by former roots of virtue. But in the meantime, it disappeared. That crowd of people heard that the body of the perfectly awakened lord Kāśyapa had disappeared. Hearing this, they felt miserable and dejected. “Our coming here has been in vain,” they thought.
One of the lay disciples then began to circumambulate that place. [467] And with his mind, he formed this thought: “How much merit will I get from respectfully walking around this place?”
Then the Blessed One, knowing with his mind the thoughts of that lay disciple and that large crowd of people, uttered this verse so that they wouldn’t have any regrets:484
Hundreds of thousands of golden coins or nuggets
are not equal to the wise man, faithful in mind,
who walks around shrines of a buddha.
One of the lay disciples then offered a lump of clay at this place and thus formed this thought: “The Blessed One has said how much merit is earned from walking around a shrine of a buddha. But how much merit will there be from offering a lump of clay?”
Then the Blessed One, knowing with his mind his thoughts as well, uttered this verse:
Hundreds of thousands of gold pieces or nuggets
are not equal to one, faithful in mind,
who places a single lump of clay
at a shrine of a buddha.
After hearing this, many hundreds of thousands of beings placed lumps of clay there as offerings. Others put loose flowers there and thus formed this thought: “The Blessed One has said how much merit is earned from respectfully walking around a shrine of a buddha and from offering a lump of clay. But how much merit will we get from offering loose flowers?”
Then the Blessed One, knowing their thoughts as well,485 uttered this verse:
Hundreds of thousands of bags of gold486 or gold nuggets
are not equal to one, faithful in mind,
who places heaps of loose flowers487
at shrines of a buddha.
Others festooned the area there with garlands and formed this thought: “The Blessed One has said how much merit is earned from offering loose flowers. But how much merit will we get from festooning the area with garlands?”
Then the Blessed One, knowing their thoughts as well,488 uttered this verse:
Hundreds of thousands of carts of gold or g
old nuggets [468]
are not equal to the wise man, faithful in mind,
who festoons with garlands
shrines of a buddha.
Others gave oil-lamp trees there and formed this thought: “The Blessed One has said how much merit is earned from festooning this area with garlands. But how much merit will we get from giving oil lamps?”
Then the Blessed One, knowing with his mind their thoughts as well, uttered this verse:
Hundreds of thousands of millions of gold pieces or nuggets
are not equal to the wise man, faithful in mind,
who makes a gift of oil lamps
at shrines of a buddha.
Others sprinkled perfume there and489 formed this thought: “The Blessed One has said how much merit is earned from offering oil lamps. But how much merit will we get from sprinkling perfume?”
Then the Blessed One, knowing with his mind their thoughts as well, uttered this verse:
Hundreds of thousands of piles of gold or gold nuggets
are not equal to the wise man, faithful in mind,
who sprinkles perfume
at shrines of a buddha.
Others raised up flags and banners490 there and formed this thought: “The Blessed One has said how much merit is earned from respectfully walking around a shrine of a buddha, from offering a lump of clay, from offering loose flowers, from festooning this area with garlands, from offering oil lamps, and from sprinkling the area with perfume. But how much merit will we get from raising up umbrellas, flags, and banners?
Then the Blessed One, knowing their thoughts as well,491 uttered this verse:
Hundreds of thousands of mountains of gold equal in size to Mount Meru
are not equal to one, faithful in mind,
who raises umbrellas, flags, and banners