by Andy Rotman
The Divyāvadāna
(STORIES 18–25, 31–32, 34–37)
18. The Story of Dharmaruci
DHARMARUCI-AVADĀNA8
Five Hundred Merchants and a Sea Monster
THUS have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying in the city of Śrāvastī at the Jeta Grove in the park of Anāthapiṇḍada (Almsgiver to the Poor).
At that time five hundred merchants gathered up their goods, and after passing through marketplaces, villages, towns, trading centers, and capitals, one after another, arrived at the shore of the great ocean. There they carefully chose an ocean-going ship, [229] but when the merchants saw the great ocean, they were of two minds. They couldn’t bring themselves to go down to the water.
“Friend,” the merchants said to the captain, “proclaim for us the true glory of the great ocean!”9
“Listen, honorable men of Jambudvīpa (Black Plum Island)!” the captain proclaimed. “In the great ocean there are treasures such as these—jewels, pearls, beryl, and conch, quartz, coral, silver, and gold, emeralds, sapphires, red pearls, and right-spiraling conch shells. Whoever wants to make himself happy with such treasures, and to delight his mother, father, wife, and children, servants, maids, workers, and laborers, friends, counselors, kinsmen, and relatives, and whoever wants, from time to time, to present to those worthy of offerings—ascetics and brahmans—gifts that guide one upward, bring good fortune, result in pleasure, and lead to heaven in the future, he should set sail in this great ocean to find that wealth.”
Since all beings, without exception, desire wealth and spurn poverty, everyone who heard him decided to set sail in the great ocean. As a result, the ship was overcome by all those people and the heavy load. It began to sink on the spot.
“The ship can’t take it!” the captain said.
“So whom should we tell to disembark?” the merchants asked.
Then those merchants said to the captain, “Proclaim for us the true infamy of the great ocean!”10
“Listen, honorable men of Jambudvīpa!” he proclaimed again. “In the great ocean there are also great, great dangers—the danger of sea monsters like the Timi and the Timiṅgila, the danger of waves, the danger of turtles, the danger of going aground, the danger of sinking, the danger of running into reefs, and the danger of hurricanes. Dark-clothed pirates may also come and steal your riches. Whoever is prepared11 to give up his very life and to give up his mother, father, wife, and children, servants, maids, workers, and laborers, friends, counselors, kinsmen, and relatives, as well as wonderful Jambudvīpa, he should set sail in the great ocean.”
Few men are brave. Many are cowards. [230]
Hearing this, those who had clambered on board expressed their agreement—“So be it, so be it”—and then most of them disembarked from the ship. Only a small number remained. Thereafter the merchants cut one of the ship’s ropes, then a second and a third and so on, until all the ropes were cut. Once the ropes were cut, the great captain launched the ship, and urged on by powerful winds, it sailed off quickly, like a cloud in the sky blown by a cylone. It soon arrived in Ratnadvīpa (Treasure Island).
When they arrived there, the captain said to the merchants, “There are glass jewels just like diamonds here in Ratnadvīpa. You should examine them carefully, one by one, as you collect them. Let’s not have any regrets after you’ve returned to Jambudvīpa. And here there are also females called kroñca maidens. If they come across a man, they’ll attack him with stones, and he’ll straightaway meet with his death.12 There are also intoxicating fruits here. Whoever eats them stays asleep for seven days and nights. And here in Ratnadvīpa, nonhumans don’t put up with men after seven days. They’ll stir up headwinds that will carry off a ship, even if one’s work isn’t finished. If you find any of these fruits, don’t eat them!”
After listening to this, the merchants remained mindful and on their guard. When they arrived at Ratnadvīpa, they diligently looked for treasures, examining one after another, and they filled their ship with these treasures as one would with barley or barleycorn, mung beans or black gram. Once they’d filled the ship, they departed with favorable13 winds leading them back to Jambudvīpa.
Now in the great ocean, creatures are dispersed across the three water levels. In the first level, creatures have bodies one hundred leagues long, though sometimes their bodies are two or three hundred leagues long.14 In the second level, they have bodies eight hundred leagues long, though sometimes their bodies are nine, ten, or up to fourteen hundred leagues long. In the third level, they have bodies fifteen hundred leagues long, though sometimes their bodies are sixteen hundred leagues long, or even up to twenty-one hundred leagues long.
And in the great ocean, these species of animals are intent on devouring each other. Those who live in the first level are eaten by those in the second level, and those who live in the second level are eaten by those in the third level. Now it was for this reason that the sea creature Timiṅgila arose from the third water level, [231] brought himself to the uppermost water level,15 and began to roam about. Then he opened his jaws, and in that moment water from the great ocean was sucked into his mouth with great speed. Pulled by that mass of water, a great variety of sea creatures such as fish, tortoises, vallabhakas, crocodiles, and makara monsters flowed down through his mouth and into his belly. As Timiṅgila was doing this, his head from far away appeared to be separate from the rest of his body, like a mountain touching the sky. And his eyes from far away looked like two suns in the sky.16
The merchants reflected on this from far away, and as they reflected on the form of the great churning ocean, they began to think, “Friends, what is this? The rising of two suns?” As they were occupied with such thoughts, their ship began to be swept toward Timiṅgila’s mouth. Watching their ship17 being swept away and reflecting on the two suns that had arisen, they were panicked. “Friends,” they said to each other, “have you heard it said that seven suns will rise up at the destruction of an age? Well, now it seems that they have arisen.”
Then the captain spoke to the men, engaged as they were in such thoughts: “Friends, you have heard of the sea monster Timitimiṅgila. Well, this is the danger of Timitimiṅgila. Friends, look at that! What appears like a mountain rising from the water is his head. And look! Those dark ruby-red streaks are his lips. And see there! That dazzling white strip is a row of his teeth. And look at those two things that appear like suns from far away! Those are the pupils of his eyes.”
Again the captain addressed the merchants. “Listen, my friends! There is no way now that we can save ourselves, no way to be free from this danger.18 Death stands before us all. So what should you do now? Each of you should pray to the god in whom you have faith. Perhaps by these prayers some deity will free us from this great danger. There is no other means of survival.”
Those merchants, afraid as they were of dying, [232] began praying to gods such as Śiva, Varuṇa, Kubera, the great Indra, and Upendra to save their lives. Despite their prayers, nothing happened to save them from the mortal danger they faced. Just as before, their ship was being pulled by the current and carried off toward the mouth of the Timiṅgila monster.
There was, however, a lay disciple of the Buddha on board. He said, “Friends, there is no escape for us from this mortal danger. Every single one of us will die. Still, let all of us raise our voices together and say, ‘Praise to the Buddha!’ If we have to face death, let us die with our awareness focused on the Buddha. This way there will be a good fate for us after death.”
Then every single one of the merchants, with their hands respectfully folded, raised their voices together and said, “Praise to the Buddha!”
Now the Blessed One, who was staying in the Jeta Grove, heard those words with his divine hearing, which is faultless and superhuman. And upon hearing them, the Blessed One exercised his power so that the Timiṅgila monster could hear that outcry. When Timiṅgila heard that cry “Praise to the Buddha!” an unease arose in h
is mind, and he became worried: “Oh no! A buddha has arisen in the world. It wouldn’t be right for me to eat any food after hearing an invocation of the Lord Buddha’s name.” Then he began to think, “If I close my mouth suddenly, this ship will be driven back by the swell and destroyed. Many people will lose their lives. I should close my mouth gently and ever so slowly.” Then the Timiṅgila monster closed his mouth gently and ever so slowly.
Freed from the jaws of that great monster, the merchants’ ship found a favorable wind and soon arrived at shore. When the merchants came to shore, they loaded their goods on carts, camels, bulls, donkeys, and so on, and after passing through marketplaces, villages, towns, and trading centers, one after another, they arrived in Śrāvastī. Once there, they reflected, “It’s only proper that if a ship successfully completes its voyage because of the power of someone’s name, all its treasures should go to him. We really should give these treasures to the Lord Buddha.”
Then they collected those treasures and went before the Blessed One. Having each, in turn, placed their heads in veneration at the Blessed One’s feet, they said to him: “Blessed One, we set sail on the ocean in a ship, and then when our ship was being carried off by the Timiṅgila monster [233] and the end of our lives was before us, we spoke the name of the Blessed One, concentrating our awareness on him, and were thus freed from the jaws of that great monster. Now that we have successfully completed our voyage, Blessed One, we have come here, safe and sound. It’s only proper that if people successfully complete a voyage on a ship19 because of the power of someone’s name, the treasures of that ship should go to him. By speaking the name of the Blessed One, we escaped from that mortal danger. Therefore the Blessed One should take these treasures of ours.”
The Blessed One said, “I have obtained the treasures of the [five] spiritual faculties, their corresponding powers, and the [seven] factors of awakening. What can ordinary gems do for the Tathāgata beyond this? My sons, if you want to go forth as monks in my order, come with me.”
The merchants reflected, “Whatever life we have is completely due to the power of the Lord Buddha. Let us abandon these treasures and go forth as monks under20 the Blessed One.”
Then they distributed their treasures, according to custom, to their mothers, fathers, wives, and children, servants, maids, and workers, friends, counselors, kinsmen, and relatives, and went forth as monks. After going forth as monks, they strived, struggled, and strained until they directly experienced arhatship.
Some monks in doubt asked the Lord Buddha, the remover of all doubts, “Blessed One, what deeds did those merchants perform and accumulate that resulted in them pleasing and not displeasing the Blessed One?”
“Long ago, monks,” the Blessed One said, “the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa arose in the world, and those very merchants went forth as monks into his order. After going forth as monks into his order, they didn’t amass any particular collection of virtues21 that was different from what those who had followed the religious life with them—and who had learned, studied, and recited the teachings—had come to possess. At the time of their death, they made this fervent aspiration: ‘Although we have come to the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa, and we have learned, studied, and recited the teachings, we still haven’t amassed any great collection of virtues. Still, as a result of those actions, may we please and not displease the one whom the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa has foretold will be a perfectly awakened buddha in the future, the one named Śākyamuni.’”
“What do you think, monks?” the Blessed One said. [234] “Those five hundred monks who in the past went forth as monks into the order of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa were none other than22 these five hundred monks. Their senses have finally matured, and now they have directly experienced arhatship.”
Dharmaruci and His Insatiable Appetite
Now in the great ocean, once the sea monster named Timitimiṅgila heard the word buddha, he resolved not to take any food. Unable to endure the hunger pains that occurred because of his naturally inflamed digestive fire, he died and passed away. He then took rebirth in Śrāvastī in a brahman family that was devoted to the six duties of a brahman. That former body of his, now a corpse, floated along in the great ocean. The nāgas were unable to bear the smell of this corpse near their homes, so they cast it off to another place. Near where it was cast, however, was the home of another nāga. He too couldn’t bear the smell, so he cast it off as well. Cast off again and again in this way, that corpse was gradually brought close to the great ocean’s shore. Then it was immediately cast out by the tide and thrown onto the waterfront. The decomposed flesh on that mass of bones was consumed by many, like crows, vultures, dogs, jackals, tigers, and birds, and even by worms that were produced from it, until the bones of the corpse lay there stripped white.
Back in Śrāvastī,23 as soon as that brahman’s wife became pregnant,24 she was afflicted with severe hunger pains from the formation of the fetus. She said to her husband, “Dear husband, I’m suffering from terrible hunger pains.”
Since she spoke to him like this, her husband said, “My dear, whatever there is to eat and drink in our home is all yours to consume.”
Then she began to indulge herself. She consumed all that there was to eat and drink, but she still wasn’t satisfied. Once again, she asked her husband for help: “Dear husband, I’m still not satisfied.”
He asked his neighbors, friends, family, and others for food and drink and then gave whatever he got to her. She consumed all this as well,25 but she still wasn’t satisfied. Once again, she said to her husband, “Dear husband, I’m still not satisfied.”
Then the brahman, already disturbed, began to worry.
“Friends,” he said, “what could this be? A being has come to life in her womb, and as a result of its formation, she is never satisfied.”
Then the brahman had sign readers look at her, and to remove any doubts, he also spoke to physicians and others, and to those learned in the mysteries of the spirits. [235] “Look, gentlemen,” he said. “Could it be that my wife is consumed by a serious illness? Or maybe she is possessed by spirits or demons? Or maybe it’s some other kind of illness that’s fatal? Should some treatment be given?”
Hearing this, they treated her accordingly, but they didn’t observe any change in the brahman woman’s senses or faculties.26 When they didn’t observe any change in the brahman woman’s senses or faculties, the doctors, sign readers, physicians, and those learned in the mysteries of the spirits questioned her.
“When did the fire of your digestion start to blaze like this?”
“This condition of mine developed when the fetus first formed.”27
“There isn’t any known illness of the kind that she has,” the sign readers, doctors, and physicians said, “nor is there any kind of affliction like this that arises because one is possessed by spirits or demons.28 An inflamed digestive fire such as hers is due to the influence of the fetus.”
When the brahman received this news, he was relieved, but still the brahman’s wife was never satisfied from what she ate or drank.
Eventually, in due time, a son was born. As soon as that boy was born, the brahman woman’s hunger pains subsided. But from the moment he was born, the boy himself was pained by intense hunger. Since he was pained by hunger, his mother began to breastfeed him. Even after the boy drank every drop of milk from her breasts, he still wasn’t satisfied. The brahman and his wife requested help from the young women among their neighbors and relatives,29 and then they too began to breastfeed the boy. The boy drank from the breasts of all those women as well, but he still wasn’t satisfied. Then the brahman got a goat for him. The boy drank the goat’s milk in addition to the milk from his mother’s breasts, but he still wasn’t satisfied.
From time to time monks and nuns would enter that house for alms and tell a roundabout story. The boy would listen to that roundabout story, and at that time he wouldn’t cry. He’d listen attentively and silently to their storie
s about listening to the dharma.30 When the monks and nuns would depart, he would again experience the suffering of thirst and begin to cry.31 [236]
“This child relishes the dharma,” his parents reflected. And so they gave him the name Dharmaruci (Relishes the Dharma).32
Gradually, after months and fortnights passed, the boy began to take solid food, but he still never got his fill of food and drink. Finally, when the boy reached the right age, his mother and father gave him a begging bowl. “Go, my son,” they said. “This is your begging bowl. Take it, wander through Śrāvastī for alms, and eat whatever food you get.”33 The boy took the begging bowl and went wandering through Śrāvastī for alms. Wandering on and on, and eating and eating, he still came home unsatisfied.
“What deed have I done,” he reflected, “that’s resulted in my never being satisfied with the food I get?” Feeling distraught, he began to think, “Should I throw myself in a fire, drown myself, or jump off a cliff?” He stood there with such thoughts in mind.
A lay disciple of the Buddha saw him and said, “Why do you stand there like that, lost in thought? Go! Great is the order of the Buddha, full of magic and power. You should go forth as a monk into it. Once you’ve done so, you’ll accumulate good qualities, and any bad qualities that you may have accumulated in this life will diminish. If you go on to amass a great collection of virtues, the course of your existence in saṃsāra will be brought to an end.”
Urged on by the lay disciple, that great being went to the Jeta Grove. Having gone to the Jeta Grove, he saw monks there diligently engaged in reading, recitation, and concentration, and he became filled with intense faith.
