by Andy Rotman
Given room, the young brahman Sumati saw the Blessed One—a sight one never tires of seeing—and was filled with intense faith. Filled as he was with faith, he tossed those five waterlilies toward the Buddha. The perfectly awakened Lord Dīpaṅkara then exercised his power so that those waterlilies circled his head like a small wagon wheel.71 Wherever he went, it would follow. Wherever he stood, it would remain.
Seeing all this, the girl was filled with faith, and she tossed her two waterlilies toward the Blessed One. The Blessed One exercised his power as before so that those two waterlilies circled near his ears, also like small wagon wheels.
Now because of that tempest of wind and rain, that place became muddy. So the young brahman Sumati then approached the Lord Buddha, [252] and at that muddy place in front of the Blessed One, he spread out the locks of his matted hair72 and uttered this verse:
If I am to become a buddha for the sake
of awakening others, O awakener to wisdom,
may you tread with your feet on my matted hair,
which will bring an end to birth and old age.73
Then the perfectly awakened Dīpaṅkara placed his feet on the matted hair of the young brahman Sumati. Meanwhile the young brahman Mati, who was standing close behind Sumati, angrily addressed Lord Dīpaṅkara: “Hey! Look here! The perfectly awakened Dīpaṅkara tramples on the matted hair of the young brahman Sumati with his feet, just like an animal.”
Then the perfectly awakened Dīpaṅkara made this prediction about the young brahman Sumati:
You will be freed from human existence, liberated,74
powerful, a teacher for the benefit of the world,
the scion of the Śākyas with the name Śākyamuni,
best in the three worlds and a light for the universe.
At that very moment when the perfectly awakened Dīpaṅkara made this prediction about the young brahman Sumati, Sumati rose up into the air the height of seven palm trees. Then his matted hair fell off, and even more impressive matted hair appeared in its place. A large crowd of people saw him hovering in midair, and upon seeing him, they made this fervent aspiration: “When he attains supreme knowledge, may we be his disciples.”
The girl also made a fervent aspiration:
“Whenever you make a fervent aspiration,
taking the Buddha as your guide,
I shall be there as your wife,
a constant companion in the dharma.
When you are perfectly awakened,
the best instructor in the world,
at that time, when it comes,
I will be your disciple.”
Seeing the young brahman floating in the air,
hundreds and thousands of beings
all long to be his disciples,
in that time still to come.
[And they said,]
“When you are perfectly awakened,
the best guide in the world,
at that time, when it comes,
we’ll be your disciples.” [253]
After the perfectly awakened Dīpaṅkara had made his prediction about the young brahman Sumati, King Dīpa took hold of the matted hair that had fallen from Sumati’s head.
“Give his matted hair to me,” King Vāsava said.
Then King Dīpa gave it to him. King Vāsava took it and counted the hairs—there were eighty thousand.
“My lord, give each of us a single hair,” the ministers said to King Vāsava. “We will make shrines for them.” So the king gave each of those officials a single hair. The ministers then went back to their respective territories and established shrines for them.
After it had been predicted that the young brahman Sumati would attain unsurpassed perfect awakening, King Dīpa, King Vāsava, and many townsmen and villagers offered all kinds of provisions in expectation of good things in the future.
Meanwhile Sumati addressed the young brahman Mati: “It has been predicted that I will attain unsurpassed perfect awakening. What have you set your mind on?”
“Sumati, I have been spiritually damaged,” he said.
“How is that you’ve been spiritually damaged?” he asked.
Then he said, “When the perfectly awakened Dīpaṅkara trampled on your matted hair, I became angry and these words slipped out: ‘The perfectly awakened Dīpaṅkara tramples on the matted hair of a learned brahman, just like an animal.’”
“Come,” Sumati said to him. “Let’s go forth as monks in the presence of the Lord Buddha.”
Then Sumati and Mati went forth as monks, following the teaching of the perfectly awakened Dīpaṅkara. After Sumati had gone forth as a monk, he learned [the threefold collection of scripture known as] the Tripiṭaka and won the favor of the assembly of monks with his righteousness. The young brahman Sumati eventually died and passed away and was reborn among the gods of Tuṣita (Content). When the young brahman Mati died and passed away, he was reborn in the realms of hell.
The Blessed One said, “King Vāsava at that time and at that juncture is now King Bimbisāra (Precious as Gold). Those eighty thousand ministers at that time and at that juncture are now these eighty thousand deities. Those people from Dīpavatī [at that time and at that juncture are now these people of Śrāvastī].75 That girl is now none other than Yaśodharā. Sumati is none other than me, who at that time was following the path of the bodhisattva. And Mati is none other than Dharmaruci. I saw Dharmaruci in that second incalculable age. [254] It is with reference to this that I said, ‘It’s been a long time [since we met], Dharmaruci. It’s been a very long time, Dharmaruci.”
The Three Deadly Sins76
After that time, in the third incalculable age, there arose in the world a perfectly awakened buddha named Krakucchanda (Destroyer of Saṃsāra),77
who was 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.
[He stayed near the capital Śobhāvatī].78 And in the capital there lived a great guildmaster. He brought home a girl from an appropriate family as his wife, and with his wife79 he fooled around, enjoyed himself, and made love. From fooling around, enjoying himself, and making love with her, a son was born.
Now the householder was a man of faith, and he had an instructor for his family who was a monk and an arhat.
“This son of ours will bring us debt and take away our wealth,” the householder said to his wife. “I will go now, dear wife. I’ll take my goods to another country as merchants do.”80 And so, driven by the greed that consumes merchants,81 he took his goods and went far away. He wouldn’t return home for a long time.82
In the meantime, his son grew up, and he was handsome, good-looking, and attractive. “Mom,” he asked his mother, “what is our traditional family business?”83
“Son,” she said, “your father used to run a shop.”
So the son then began to run a shop. As for his mother, she was tormented with desire for him, and began to think, “Is there any way for me to get rid of these desires without anyone knowing this about me?” Thinking it over, she came to this resolution: “Because of this desire for my son, I’ll make love with him. It’s only this way, by being with him, that I can rid myself of this lust.84 And my relatives will never suspect it.” Then she invited over a madam,85 fed her two or three times, and later offered her new clothes.
The old woman asked her, “Why are you trying to get me to take kindly to you, doing all these nice things for me?”
Now feeling confident, she said to the the old woman, “Madam, listen to my request.86 I am terribly tormented by desire. Have some affection for me. Find me a man, probably an insider, who people won’t suspect.” [255]
“A man like that won’t be found here in this house,” the old woman said. “And there isn’t anyone who desires you who could enter without people becoming suspicious. Is
there any such man to speak of?”
“If there is no other man we can involve in such a plan,”87 the merchant’s wife said to the old woman, “there is still my son.88 People won’t be suspicious of him.”
“How can you go in for making love with your son?” the old woman asked her. “It would be okay, though, for you to enjoy making love with another man.”
“If no other man who is an insider is found,” the merchant’s wife said, “my son will do just fine.”
“Do as you wish,” the old woman said.
Then the madam came to that merchant’s son and asked, “Son, you’re young and handsome. Are you set up or not?”89
“What are you saying?” he said to her.
“You’re young and handsome,” the old woman said. “At this age, it would suit you to fool around, enjoy yourself, and make love with a young girl in the prime of her youth.90 Why be deprived of sexual pleasure?”
The merchant’s son heard the old woman’s proposal, but at heart he was shrinking from shame and modesty, and so he didn’t consent.
The old woman spoke likewise to the boy a second time and a third as well. “There is a young girl tormented with desire for you,” she said.
After being addressed a second time and a third as well, the merchant’s son said to the old woman, “Madam, did you say anything to the young girl about me?”91
“I spoke to her about you,”92 the old woman replied. “She didn’t consent readily to the situation.93 The girl is extremely bashful and modest and won’t say anything. But she won’t cover her body completely.94 In return, you shouldn’t make any effort to seek her out.”95
“Where will we meet?” the merchant’s son asked the old woman.
“In my house,” she replied.
“Where is your house located?” he asked.
The old woman gave him directions to her house. Then she went to the merchant’s wife and said, [256] “I got this boy of yours to agree.”96
“Where will this meeting of ours take place?” she asked.
“In my house.”
Now when the boy finished his work, he went home. In due course he ate dinner, and then he said to his mother, “I’m going out. I’ll be sleeping at a friend’s house.”
Then his mother gave him permission: “Okay, you can go.”
Having received permission, the boy then went to the old woman’s house. After the boy arrived at her house, he waited for the time of lovemaking to come. In the nighttime, at that hour when forms can’t be recognized,97 the merchant’s son’s mother went there, to that very house, to enjoy the pleasures of making love. And after going to that house at that odd hour when the shape of forms is not clearly seen,98 she secretly began to enjoy making love with her son, which was wicked and illicit. And as the night wore away, after she had enjoyed making love, in the pitch-black darkness of the night, at that time when the shape of forms is not seen, she went back to her own home. As for the merchant’s son, after enjoying making love, at daybreak he went to his warehouse and took care of the family business. It went on like this a second time and a third as well.
The boy continued enjoying making love there in the old woman’s house, and this routine of their lovemaking went on in the same way for a long time.99 Meanwhile the boy’s mother began to think, “How much longer will I have to go to someone else’s house and in this way, without being seen, enjoy making love? Suppose I gradually let my son know about the true arrangement of our lovemaking. That way we could enjoy making love right here in our own house?”100 Having considered this, she went right to the old woman’s house and once again enjoyed making love with her son. Just as planned,101 as the night wore away, at that time when it was pitch black, she put on the boy’s upper garment, left behind her own headscarf, and went back to her home. At daybreak the boy saw her scarf resting on the head of the bed. Not finding his own upper garment,102 he realized that her scarf was there in its place. Leaving it behind, he went to his warehouse, put on another set of clothes, and then went home. When he went there, he clearly saw that it was his own garment covering his mother’s head. [257] Seeing this, he asked his mother, “Mother, how did this garment come to be on your head?”
“Am I still your mother, even now?” she asked. “Considering that you’ve been satisfying your own desires with me for such a long time, am I still your mother, one and the same, even now?”
When the merchant’s son heard his mother say such things, he was stunned and shocked, and collapsed on the ground. Then his mother splashed him with some water from a pot. Even after the boy was splashed with water, it took him a long time to come back to his senses. Then his mother consoled him, “Why are you so depressed? Listen to what I have to say and compose yourself. Don’t despair.”
“Why shouldn’t I be depressed or confused!”103 the boy said to her. “I’ve done something so evil.”
“Don’t create stress104 for yourself about this,” she said to him. “Women are like a path, for whichever one a father travels, a son also travels the very same one. The son is not faulted for following the path, and it’s the same thing with regard to women.105 Women are also like fords, for whichever ford a father bathes in, a son also bathes in the same one. The son is not faulted for bathing in it, and it’s the same thing with regard to women. In the border areas, it’s very common that whomever a father approaches for illicit sex, the son also approaches the same woman.”
In this way, his mother’s many passionate words106 assuaged the merchant’s son’s grief, and he began to take great pleasure, over and over again, in that sinful, illicit behavior with his mother.
Then the guildmaster sent a letter back to his house. “Dear wife,” it said, “gather your strength and rest assured. Shortly after you receive this letter, I will be returning home.”
When the merchant’s wife heard the content of the letter, she became dejected and began to think, “For a long time I was looking forward to his return. Then he didn’t come. It’s only now, with things going as they are, when I’m already making love with my son, that he is going to return. Is there any way that I can have him killed before he arrives here?” After giving it some thought, she called on her son and said, “Your father has sent a letter saying that he is coming home.107 [258] Do you know what we should do now? Go, arrange for your father’s death before he arrives here.”
“How could I kill my own father?” he asked.
When he wouldn’t dare murder his own father, his mother spoke to him repeatedly with rousing words. Being addressed with these stirring words and being addicted to sexual pleasures, he finally resolved to kill his father.
I say, there is no evil act that a person who indulges in sexual pleasures won’t commit.108
“How should I kill him?” he asked.
“I’ll make all the arrangements,” she said. With that said, she took poison, mixed it with flour, and made some maṇḍīlaka cakes. She also made some others without poison. Then she called the boy and said, “Go. These are the poisonous maṇḍīlakacakes, and these are the ones without poison. Take them, go to your father, and when he is confidently eating together with you, offer him the poisonous maṇḍīlaka cakes, and eat the ones without poison yourself.”
Then the boy took the maṇḍīlaka cakes and departed, along with the man carrying the letter. When he approached his father, his father saw that his son was handsome, attractive, and powerful, and he was very happy. He asked about his health, and then said to the merchants there, “This, gentlemen, is my son.”
When the boy was sure that his father fully recognized him, he said to his father, “Father, Mother sent some maṇḍīlaka cakes as a gift. You should eat them.”
While he was eating with his father off the same plate,109 he gave his father the poisonous maṇḍīlaka cakes and ate the ones without poison himself. His father ate those poisonous maṇḍīlaka cakes and promptly died. Though his father’s life had now come to an end, no one considered or suspected tha
t the boy had done anything wrong. Later, after those merchants who were his dear and loving friends had finished grieving, they gave the boy whatever goods, gold, and valuables110 that the merchant possessed. The boy took the goods, gold, and valuables that belonged to his father and then went back home.
After he returned home,111 his mother continued having secret and illicit sex with him, her son, but she was never satisfied. And in that unsatisfied condition, she said to her son, “How long will we [259] have to make love in secret like this? We really should leave this place, go to some other place, and live happily, declaring ourselves husband and wife, openly and without inhibitions.”
So the two left their home, leaving behind their friends, relatives, and relations, and leaving those maids, servants, and workers who had long served them. They took what they could of their wealth, gold, and valuables, and went to another district. After going there, they openly declared themselves in the region as husband and wife and settled down, enjoying the pleasure of making love.
Then, one day, an arhat monk journeying through the region arrived at that town. While wandering there for alms, he came and sat down in the marketplace. There he saw the boy carrying on business as merchants do. Seeing him, he offered greetings, they conversed, and then he said, “Is your mother well?” When the boy heard the arhat say such a thing, his mind snapped. Fearful because of his own terrible act, he began to think, and after giving it some thought,112 he went and informed his mother, “An ascetic has arrived here—it’s the one who used to come to our house. Now that he’s here in town, he’ll recognize you and think, ‘She is the boy’s mother.’ But we’re well known here as husband and wife. How can he be killed?”
Then the two decided: “We’ll invite him to our home for a meal, and while he’s eating, we’ll kill him.”113 Having thought this over, they invited that arhat monk into their home for a meal and began to feed him. The boy, carrying a concealed knife, fed the arhat, with the help of his mother. He then made sure that there was no one else in the house. After the arhat monk had finishing eating, he left the house and walked away unsuspectingly. Then the boy watched him unsuspectingly walking away from the house,114 and getting behind him as he departed, he plunged the knife into the arhat’s body and took his life.
