by Andy Rotman
Sexual pleasure is like salt water. The more you indulge in it, the more your thirst increases.
While the boy’s mother was behaving illicitly with her son, she was also having a secret love affair with a guildmaster’s son in town. [260] She became obssessed with those illicit pleasures. The boy came to know of her affair.
“Mom,” he said to his mother, “refrain from such sin.” But her mind was so attached to that guildmaster’s son that even when she was asked a second time and a third as well, she didn’t refrain. Then, unsheathing his sword, the boy killed his mother.
After he had committed his third deadly sin, deities announced throughout the region, “This boy is a sinner! He has killed his father, he has killed an arhat, and he has killed his mother. He has committed three deadly sins. These deeds, once performed and accumulated, lead to the sufferings of hell.”
When the townspeople heard this, they banished him from town. After he was banished from town, he began to think, “There must be some expiation from this in the Buddha’s order.” He contemplated the possibilities. “I’ll go now. I’ll go forth as a monk.” He went to a monastery, approached a monk, and said, “Noble one, I would like to be initiated as a monk.”
The monk asked, “You haven’t killed your father, have you?”
“Yes, I killed my father,” he said to the monk.
Then he asked, “Have you killed your mother?”
“Yes, noble one,” he said. “I killed my mother,”
Then he asked, “Have you killed an arhat?”
“I killed an arhat as well,” he said.
“Committing any single one of these actions,” the monk said to him, “would make you unworthy of initiation, let alone all of them combined. Go away, my son. I won’t initiate you.”
Then the man115 approached another monk and said, “Noble one, I would like to be initiated.” That monk also asked the same series of questions and then refused him. Then he went to another monk and in just the same way requested initiation. That monk also asked the same series of questions and then, likewise, refused him. After he had requested initiation a second time and a third as well, and the monks would not initiate him, he became angry and began to think, “I request initiation, which is there for everyone, yet I don’t receive it.”
Then, when the monks were asleep, he set that monastery on fire. [261] After setting that monastery on fire, he went to another monastery. There too he went and approached the monks and requested initiation. They also asked the same series of questions and then refused him. With his mind full of hate, he likewise started another fire there. In that monastery too, many monks, both students and masters, were burned. As he continued in this way, burning many monasteries, word about him spread all over: “Such and such a man, a doer of evil deeds, not receiving initiation from monks, sets fire to their monasteries and burns those monks alive.”
Meanwhile the man set off for another monastery. In that monastery there lived a monk with the character of a bodhisattva who knew the Tripiṭaka, the threefold collection of scripture. He heard that a man, a doer of truly evil deeds, was coming there, so the monk went out to meet the man before he arrived at the monastery. Approaching the man, he said, “Friend, what’s the problem?”
“Noble one,” the man said to him, “I can’t take initiation as a monk.”
“Come, my son,” the monk said to him, “I will initiate you.”
Thereafter the monk shaved the man’s head and offered him ochre robes.
“Noble one,” the man said, “administer the precepts to me.”
“What use are the precepts to you?” the monk replied. “All the time just say, ‘Praise to the Buddha! Praise to the dharma! Praise to the community!’”116 Then the monk began to give that man instructions in the dharma. “You have committed such-and-such evil deeds. So if you ever hear the word buddha, you must remain mindful of this.”117
Then that monk who knew the Tripiṭaka died and passed away and was reborn among the gods. That man also died and passed away. He was reborn in the realms of hell.
“What do you think, monks?” the Blessed One said. “That monk who in the past knew the Tripiṭaka was none other than me at that time and at that juncture. That being who was the doer of evil deeds, killing his mother, father, and an arhat, was none other than Dharmaruci. I saw Dharmaruci in that third incalculable age. It is with reference to this that I said, ‘It’s been a long time [since we met], Dharmaruci. [262] It’s been a very long time, Dharmaruci. It’s been an incredibly long time, Dharmaruci.’ Monks, for three incalculable ages while I fulfilled the six perfections and performed hundreds of thousands of difficult deeds to earn unsurpassed perfect awakening, Dharmaruci spent most of that time in the realms of hell and in the animal realm.”
This was said by the Blessed One. With their minds uplifted, the monks rejoiced at the words of the Blessed One.
So ends the Dharmaruci-avadāna, the eighteenth chapter in the glorious Divyāvadāna.
19. The Story of Jyotiṣka
JYOTIṢKA-AVADĀNA118
Subhadra, Bhūrika, and the Nirgranthas
THE LORD BUDDHA was staying in the city of Rājagṛha at the bamboo grove in Kalandakanivāpa (Squirrel Feeding Place). In the city of Rājagṛha there lived a householder named Subhadra (Very Good Man), who was rich, wealthy, and prosperous and who had great faith in the Nirgranthas. He brought home a girl from an appropriate family as his wife, and with her he fooled around, enjoyed himself, and made love. After some time, from fooling around, enjoying himself, and making love, his wife became pregnant.
Now one morning the Blessed One got dressed, took his bowl and robe, and entered Rājagṛha for alms. While he was wandering through Rājagṛha for alms, he approached the home of the householder Subhadra. The householder Subhadra saw the Blessed One from a distance, and upon seeing him, he took his wife and approached the Blessed One. Having approached, he said this to him: “Blessed One, my wife here is pregnant. What will she give birth to?”
“Householder,” the Buddha said, “she will give birth to a boy. He will make the family shine; he will experience divine-like119 glory as a result of his actions; and he will go forth as a monk in my order, where by ridding himself of all defilements, he will directly experience arhatship.”
Then the householder filled the Blessed One’s bowl with hard and soft foods, both fresh and fine. The Blessed One, in turn, wished him good health, took his almsfood, and departed. [263]
Meanwhile, not very far from the householder stood [a non-Buddhist ascetic named] Bhūrika (Clever). He reflected, “If even one household gives me alms, the ascetic Gautama goes and converts it! I’ll go and see what the ascetic Gautama has predicted.” So he went there and said, “Householder, has the ascetic Gautama come here?”
“Yes, he’s come.”
“What did he predict?”
“Noble one, I showed him my wife and asked him what she will give birth to. He said that she will give birth to a boy; that he will make the family shine; that he will experience divine-like glory as a result of his actions; and that he will go forth as a monk in his order, where by ridding himself of all defilements, he will directly experience arhatship.”
Now Bhūrika was an expert in making astrological calculations.120 He took a piece of chalk and began to calculate. He saw that everything would happen just as the Blessed One had predicted. “If I verify all this,” he reflected, “the householder will have even greater faith121 in the ascetic Gautama. Some of what he said should be affirmed and some rejected.” With this in mind, he began to wring his hands and make a face.
“Noble one,” the householder Subhadra said, “why are you wringing your hands and making a face?”
“Householder,” he said, “some of what has been said is true and some false.”
“Noble one, what part is true and what part false?”
“Householder, he said that your wife will give birth to a son. Here he tells the truth. It is
also true that the boy will make the family shine. His name will be Agrajyoti (Highest Light).122 But this being is ill fated. As soon as he is born, he will cause your family to burn in flames. The ascetic Gautama also said that he will experience divine-like glory as a result of his actions. This is false. Householder, have you ever seen any human being experience divine-like glory as a result of his actions? In addition, he said that he will go forth in his order. This is true. When he has no food and no clothing, he will certainly go forth as a monk under the ascetic Gautama. That he will rid himself of all defilements and thereby directly experience arhatship—this is false. The ascetic Gautama hasn’t rid himself of all defilements and directly experienced arhatship, so how will it happen for your son?”
Subhadra became dejected. “Noble one,” he said, “what should I do next?”
“Householder,” Bhūrika said, “those of us who’ve gone forth as monks are constrained by religious vows,123 but you’ll know what to do.” With that said, he departed.
Subhadra reflected, [264] “The boy must be gotten rid of altogether.” With this in mind, he began to administer the remedy. But that being was in his final existence, [destined to be reborn no more].
“This will be the remedy for him,” he thought, as he began to push on the left side of his wife’s stomach. The fetus then went to the right side. Then Subhadra began to push on the right side of her stomach. It went to the left side.
Now it is impossible and inconceivable that a being in his final existence would leave course and die before his corruptions were destroyed.
Meanwhile, as her stomach was being pushed on, the householder’s wife began to wail. The neighbors heard and came quickly.
“Friends,” they asked, “why is the householder’s wife crying out?”
“She’s pregnant,” Subhadra said. “It must be time for her to give birth.”
Then the neighbors departed, and Subhadra reflected, “I can’t force her to miscarry here. I’ll bring her to the forest.” So he led her to the forest, where he attacked her and she died.124 Then he brought her back home secretly and told his friends, relations, relatives, and neighbors, “Friends, my wife has died.” They began to wail. Still wailing, they adorned a funeral bier with pieces of blue, yellow, red, and white cloth, put her on it, and brought her to the cremation ground known as Śītavana (Cool Forest).
When the Nirgranthas heard this, they were happy, satisfied, and delighted. They raised umbrellas and banners, and roaming through the roads, marketplaces, squares, and crossroads of the city of Rājagṛha, they announced, “Listen, friends! The ascetic Gautama predicted that the householder Subhadra’s wife would give birth to a boy; that he would make the family shine; that he would experience divine-like glory as a result of his actions; and that he would go forth as a monk in his order, where by ridding himself of all defilements, he would directly experience arhatship. But now she has died and been taken to the Śītavana cremation ground. If a tree has no roots, how will it have branches, leaves, and fruit?”
Meanwhile there is nothing that lord buddhas do not know, see, realize, and understand. It is a law of nature that lord buddhas have great compassion,
they are intent on doing good deeds for mankind,
they have a single guardian [which is mindfulness],
they abide in the meditative states of tranquility and insight,
they are expert in the three objects for self-control,
they have crossed the four floods [of corruptions],
they have planted the soles of their feet on the [four]125 bases of success,
they have long since developed an expertise in the four means of attracting beings to the religious life,
they are confident with the four confidences, [265]
they have destroyed the five [bad] qualities,
they have crossed over the five realms of existence,
they have acquired the six [good] qualities,
they have fulfilled the six perfections,
they reside alone,126
they are replete with the flowers of the seven factors of awakening,
they are teachers of the eightfold path,
they are expert in attaining the nine successive states of quiescence meditation,
they are powerful with the ten powers,
they have fame that fills up the ten directions,
and they are superior to the thousand gods who have control over others.
As lord buddhas observe the world with their buddha vision, three times in the night and three times in the day, knowledge and insight arise as to the following:
Who will get worse?
Who will get better?
Who will encounter trouble?
Who will encounter difficulty?
Who will encounter danger?
Who will encounter trouble, difficulty, and danger?
Who is inclined toward a terrible realm of existence?
Who is drawn toward a terrible realm of existence?
Who is disposed toward a terrible realm of existence?
Whom shall I lift up from a terrible realm of existence and establish in heaven and liberation?
For whom with roots of virtue unplanted shall I plant them?
For whom with roots of virtue already planted shall I cause them to mature?
For whom with roots of virtue already matured shall I cause them to be released?
And it is said,
Although the sea, home to monsters,
may allow the time of the tides to pass,
the Buddha never allows the time to pass
for training his beloved children.
Then in a certain place the Blessed One displayed his smile.
The Buddha’s Smile
Now it is a law of nature that whenever lord buddhas manifest their smiles, rays of blue, yellow, red, and white light emerge from their mouths, some going downward and some going upward. Those that go downward enter various hells127—Sañjīva (Reviving), Kālasūtra (Black Thread), Saṃghāta (Crushing), Raurava (Shrieking), Mahāraurava (Loud Shrieking), Tapana (Heat), Pratāpana (Extreme Heat), Avīci (Ceaseless Torture), Arbuda (Blistering), Nirarbuda (Blisters Bursting), Aṭaṭa (Chattering Teeth), Hahava (Ugh!), the Huhuva (Brrr!), Utpala (Blue Waterlily), Padma (Lotus), and Mahāpadma (Great Lotus). Becoming cold, they descend into the hot hells, [and becoming hot, they descend into the cold hells.]128 In this way, those rays of light alleviate the particular torments of those beings who dwell in these various hells. And so they think, “Friends, have we died and passed away from this place? Have we been reborn somewhere else?”
Then, in order to engender their faith, the Blessed One manifests a magical image of himself.129 Seeing this magical image, they think, “Friends, we haven’t died and passed away from this place, nor have we been born someplace else. Instead, it’s this person who we’ve never seen before; it’s by his power that our particular torments are alleviated.” Cultivating faith in their hearts toward this magical image, they cast off that karma still to be suffered in these hells [266] and take rebirth among gods and humans, where they become vessels for the [four noble] truths.
Those rays of light that go upward enter the various divine realms130—Cāturmahārājika (Four Groups of the Great Kings), Trāyastriṃśa (Thirty-Three), Yāma (Free from Conflict), Tuṣita (Content), Nirmāṇarati (Delighting in Creation), Paranirmitavaśavartin (Masters of Others’ Creations), Brahmakāyika (Brahmā’s Assembly), Brahmapurohita (Brahmā’s Priests), Mahābrahmaṇa (Great Brahmā), Parīttābha (Limited Splendor), Apramāṇābha (Immeasurable Splendor), Ābhāsvara (Radiant), Parīttaśubha (Limited Beauty), Apramāṇaśubha (Immeasurable Beauty), Śubhakṛtsna (Complete Beauty), the Anabhraka (Unclouded), the Puṇyaprasava (Merit Born), Bṛhatphala (Great Result),131 Atapa (Serene), Sudṛśa (Good-Looking), Sudarśa (Clear Sighted), and finally Akaniṣṭha (Supreme). There they proclaim the truth of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and no-self. And they utter these two verses:
Strive! Go forth!
Apply yourselves to the teachings of the Buddha!
Destroy the army of death
as an elephant would a house of reeds.
Whoever diligently follows
this dharma and monastic discipline
will abandon the endless cycle of rebirth
and put an end to suffering.
Then those rays of light, having circulated through the billionfold world-system, come together directly behind the Blessed One.
In this case, those rays of light vanished into the Blessed One’s mouth.
The venerable Ānanda then respectfully cupped his hands together and addressed the Blessed One:
A bundle of diverse light rays,
variegated with a thousand colors,
comes forth from your mouth.
They illuminate every direction,
as though the sun were rising.
And he uttered these verses:
Without pride, free from grief and passion,
buddhas are the cause of greatness in the world.
Not without reason do victors, defeaters of the enemy,
display a smile, white like the conch or lotus root.
O you who are resolute, an ascetic, and an excellent victor,132
you know at once with your mind the desires of your listeners.
Destroy their doubts that have arisen, O best of sages,
with words excellent, enduring, and virtuous. [267]
Resolute awakened ones,
those with the patience of an ocean or great mountain,
do not display a smile without reason.
Masses of people yearn to hear why it is
that masters display a smile.
“It is so, Ānanda,” the Blessed One said. “It is so. Perfectly awakened tathāgatha arhats do not manifest a smile, Ānanda, without proper cause and reason. Ānanda, go and inform the monks as follows: ‘The Tathāgata, monks, wants to travel to a cremation ground. Whoever among you is eager to travel to a cremation ground with the Tathāgata should take up his robes.’”
