by Andy Rotman
“Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita,” they asked him, “aren’t you thirsty? Aren’t you hungry?”
“Noble ones,” he said, “I’m thirsty and I’m hungry.”
“Then you should eat, Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita.”
“I will eat along with the community,” he said.
“Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita,” they said, “eat now. It’s going to get dangerous here.”
He ate and, after eating, stepped away and maintained a respectful distance. After some time, a gong was sounded [announcing the monks’ mealtime].376 They each took their bowls, [entered according to seniority,] and sat down in the order in which they arrived.377 Immediately their monastery disappeared, and their begging bowls appeared as iron hammers.378 With these iron hammers, they broke each other’s skulls, everyone crying out in pain all the while. This continued on until night turned to day. Then, once again, their monastery appeared, as did those monks who remained calm in their comportment. The venerable Saṅgharakṣita approached them.
“Who are you, venerable sirs? What deed led you to be reborn here?”
“Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita, the people of Jambudvīpa are difficult to convince. You won’t believe us.”
“I can see what’s before my eyes. Why wouldn’t I believe you?”
“Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita,” they said, “in the past we were the disciples of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. One day we caused a fight in the dining hall.379 Since we caused a fight in the dining hall, we have been reborn here in our own individual hell realms.380 And when we die and pass away from here, it is very likely that we will be reborn in the true realms of hell.
“Please, [Bhadanta]381 Saṅgharakṣita, go to Jambudvīpa and announce to those who follow the religious life with you: ‘Venerable sirs, don’t cause a fight within the community! [336] Otherwise, you will share in the same kind of suffering and sorrow as the ascetics of the Buddha Kāśyapa.’”
The venerable Saṅgharakṣita set out and continued on his way until he saw a second monastery that was surrounded by raised benches on platforms, railings, and latticed windows and adorned with vents shaped like bulls’ eyes. And he saw monks properly clothed and covered, who were calm and remained calm in their comportment. He approached them, and they said to him, “Welcome, Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita!” Then they had him rest, and after he was rested, they brought him into the monastery. There he saw that an excellent bed and a place to sit had been specially prepared for him and that fine foods had been served.382
“Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita,” they said to him, “you should eat.”
Realizing the danger,383 he ate, and after eating, he stepped away and maintained a respectful distance. After some time, a gong was sounded [announcing the monks’ mealtime]. They each took their bowls, [entered according to seniority,] and sat down in the order in which they arrived. Immediately their monastery disappeared, and their food and drink appeared as molten iron. With this molten iron, they doused each other’s bodies, everyone crying out in pain all the while. This continued on until night turned to day. Then, once again, their monastery appeared, as did those calm monks who remained calm in their comportment. He approached them.
“Who are you, venerable sirs? What deed led you to be reborn here?”
“Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita, the people of Jambudvīpa are difficult to convince. They won’t believe us.”384
“I can see what’s before my eyes. Why wouldn’t I believe you?”
“Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita,” they said, “in the past we were the disciples of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. Once when the community received an offering [of food and drink] given out of love, some visiting monks arrived. Seized with ignoble thoughts,385 we resolved that we wouldn’t consume that offering until those visiting monks departed. And so we did just that. But for a week it was unseasonably rainy, and the food and drink we had received went bad. Since we wasted a gift given out of faith, we have been reborn here in our own individual hell realms. [337] And when we die and pass away from here, it is very likely that we will be reborn in the true realms of hell.
“Please, Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita, go to Jambudvīpa and announce to those who follow the religious life with you: ‘Venerable sirs, don’t waste a gift given out of faith! Otherwise, you will experience the same kind of suffering and sorrow as the ascetic followers of the Buddha Kāśyapa.’”386
The venerable Saṅgharakṣita set out and continued on his way until he saw a third monastery that was adorned with raised benches on platforms, railings, latticed windows, and vents shaped like bulls’ eyes. [And he saw monks properly clothed and covered, who were calm and remained calm in their comportment. He approached them, and they said to him, “Welcome, Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita!” Then they had him rest, and after he was rested, they brought him into the monastery. There he saw that an excellent bed and a place to sit had been specially prepared for him and that fine foods had been served.
“Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita,” they said to him, “you should eat.”
Realizing the danger, he ate],387 and after eating, he stepped away and maintained a respectful distance. A gong was sounded [announcing the monks’ mealtime]. Immediately the monastery caught on fire, then it burned and blazed, and merging into a single flame, it began to pour smoke. The monks in the monastery cried out in pain as their bodies burned. This continued on until night turned to day. Then, once again, their monastery appeared, as did those calm monks who remained calm in their comportment. He approached them.
“Who are you, venerable sirs? What deed led you to be reborn here?”
“Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita, the people of Jambudvīpa are difficult to convince. You won’t believe us.”
“Gentlemen, I can see what’s before my eyes. Why wouldn’t I believe you?”
“Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita,” they said, “in the past we were the disciples of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. We were lacking virtue, and so the monks who were virtuous expelled us. We then took up residence in an empty monastery. One day a virtuous monk arrived there. The thought came to us that this monk should stay with us. All by himself he could sanctify the offerings made to us [and thereby help us receive gifts].388 The monk did stay there in our monastery, and since it was affiliated with him,389 once again many virtuous monks came there. And from there too we were expelled. Filled with resentment, we collected dried wood, dried grass, and dried cow dung and started a fire in the monastery.390 Many people, both students and masters, were burned there. Since we caused those students and masters to burn, we have been reborn here in our own individual hell realms. [338] And when we die and pass away from here, it is very likely that we will be reborn in the true realms of hell.
“Please, Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita, go to Jambudvīpa and announce to those who follow the religious life with you: ‘Venerable sirs, don’t entertain evil thoughts toward those who follow the religious life with you. Otherwise, you will experience the same kind of suffering and sorrow as the ascetic followers of the Buddha Kāśyapa.’”
Saṅgharakṣita Gives the Blessed One a Gift
The venerable Saṅgharakṣita set out and continued on his way once again. By and by, he saw beings—
having the form of pillars,
having the form of walls,
having the form of trees,
having the form of leaves,
having the form of flowers,
having the form of fruits,
having the form of ropes,
having the form of brooms,
having the form of mortars,
having the form of cups,391
and having the form of pots.
[He also saw beings walking about, cut in half at the waist and held together by string.]392
Eventually, the venerable Saṅgharakṣita arrived in the countryside. There in a certain hermitage lived five hundred seers. They saw the venerable Saṅgharakṣita from a distance and said to each other, “Gentlemen, let’s make
an agreement. Since these ascetics who follow Śākyamuni are great talkers, no one is to say a word to him.” They all agreed.
The venerable Saṅgharakṣita approached them and, having approached, began to ask them for shelter. No one uttered a word.
Now in the hermitage there was one seer with a virtuous character,393 and he said, “Why isn’t shelter given to you followers of Śākyamuni? It’s because you have a fault. You’re great talkers. I’ll give you shelter on the condition that you don’t say anything.”
“Yes, seer,” the venerable Saṅgharakṣita said. “And so it shall be.”
There in the hermitage one seer had gone wandering in the countryside. His hut remained empty. So [the virtuous seer] said to Saṅgharakṣita,394 “You may sleep in that hut.” The venerable Saṅgharakṣita sprinkled water about the hut, swept and cleaned it, and then applied a fresh layer of cow dung.
The seers watched him and remarked, “Gentlemen,395 these ascetics who follow Śākyamuni make a show of cleanliness.”396
Meanwhile the venerable Saṅgharakṣita washed his feet outside the hut, then entered the hut and sat down. Crossing his legs and holding his body upright, [339] he made his mindfulness fully present.
In the first watch of the night, the deity who lived in that hermitage approached the venerable Saṅgharakṣita and, having approached, said, “Noble Saṅgharakṣita, teach the dharma.”
“It’s fine for you [to ask],”397 the venerable Saṅgharakṣita said. “But don’t you see that I received shelter by making an agreement? Do you want me to be sent away?”
“He is exhausted,” she reflected. “He needs to sleep. I’ll approach him again in the middle watch of the night.”
So in the middle watch of the night she approached him again and, having approached, said, “Noble Saṅgharakṣita, teach the dharma.”
Again the venerable Saṅgharakṣita said, “It’s fine for you [to ask].” “But don’t you see that I received shelter by making an agreement? Do you want me to be sent away?”
“He is still exhausted,” she reflected. “He needs to sleep. I’ll approach him again in the last watch of the night.”
So in the last watch of the night she approached him again and, having approached, said, “Noble Saṅgharakṣita, teach the dharma.”
Once again the venerable Saṅgharakṣita said, “It’s fine for you [to ask]. But don’t you see that I received shelter by making an agreement? Do you want me to be sent away?”
“Noble Saṅgharakṣita,” she said, “it is daybreak now. If they send you away, you can go. Besides, didn’t the Blessed One say that you would have to withstand fear and dread?”
“She speaks truly,” the venerable Saṅgharakṣita reflected. “If that seer sends me away, I’ll go. These seers are brahmans,” he reflected further, “so verses concerning brahmans should be recited.”398 Then the venerable Saṅgharakṣita began to recite from the “Chapter on Brahmans” [in the Udānavarga]:399
Neither wandering about naked, nor matted hair, nor mud,
not fasting or sleeping on the bare ground,
not dust and dirt or squatting in ascetic postures—
none can purify an ignorant man400 who has not overcome desire.
Although well adorned, he who follows the dharma
is restrained, peaceful, subdued, and chaste
and relinquishes violence against all beings;
he is a brahman, he is an ascetic, he is a monk.
When the brahmans heard this, they reflected, “He utters verses concerning brahmans.”401 [340] So one brahman approached him, then a second and a third, until all of them had come to him. Then the deity exercised her power so that they couldn’t see each other. After this, the venerable Saṅgharakṣita taught the sūtra known as the Simile of the Town (Nagaropama).402 And then he uttered this verse:
May those beings assembled here,
on the ground or in the air,
always act with love for others
and practice the dharma day and night.403
While this explanation of the dharma was being delivered, all of them clearly grasped the truth and simultaneously achieved the reward of the nonreturner. They also acquired magical powers.404 Then all of them in one voice exclaimed, “Well said, Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita!”
The deity then released the effects of her magical powers, and they began to see each other again.
“You’ve come, too?” they said to each other.
“Yes, I’ve come.”
“Excellent!”
Having seen the truth, they said, “Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita, may we 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 under the Blessed One.”405
“Do you want to renounce as monks in my presence or in the Blessed One’s?” the venerable Saṅgharakṣita asked.
“In the Blessed One’s,” they said.
“If that’s the case,” the venerable Saṅgharakṣita said, “come and we’ll go to the Blessed One.”
“Bhadanta Saṅgharakṣita,” they said, “should we go using our magical powers or using yours?”
The venerable Saṅgharakṣita reflected, “These men have amassed many virtues through my instruction.406 I have become like a raft, [bringing them to the other shore].”407 Then he said, “Gentlemen, wait just a moment.”408 The venerable Saṅgharakṣita then sat at the base of a tree, crossed his legs, held his body upright, and made his mindfulness fully present.
The Blessed One has said that there are five benefits in having great learning. Such a person is
well versed in the elements,
well versed in interdependent arising,
well versed in what is possible and impossible,409
and not dependent on another for instruction or admonition.410
After striving, struggling, and straining, the venerable Saṅgharakṣita rid himself of all defilements and thereby directly experienced arhatship. [341] Becoming an arhat,
he was free from attachment in the three realms;
[he regarded clods of earth and gold as equal in value;
he possessed equanimity toward the sky and the palm of his hand;
he didn’t distinguish between being cut by a blade and being anointed with sandalwood paste;
the eggshell of his ignorance was broken by knowledge;
he obtained the special knowledges, superhuman faculties, and analytic insights;
and he was averse to worldly attainments, temptations, and honors].
He becomes worthy of respect, honor, and obeisance [from the gods, including Indra and Upendra].411
“Gentlemen,” the venerable Saṅgharakṣita said to them, “take hold of the edge of my robe, and we shall go.” So they clung to the edge of the venerable Saṅgharakṣita’s robe. Then the venerable Saṅgharakṣita, like a royal goose with outstretched wings, made use of his magical powers and set off up into the sky.
Meanwhile those five hundred merchants [who had previously traveled with the venerable Saṅgharakṣita] were unloading their wares. A shadow fell on them from above. Then they saw him. “Noble Saṅgharakṣita,” they said. “You’ve returned!”
“Yes, I’ve returned.”
“Where are you going?”
“[To the Blessed One].412 These five hundred noble sons want to renounce, take ordination, and become monks according to the dharma and monastic discipline that have been so well expressed,” he said.
“Noble Saṅgharakṣita,” they said, “we’d also like to go forth as monks. Please come down! We’ll finish unloading our wares.”
The venerable Saṅgharakṣita then descended, and the merchants finished unloading their wares. Then the venerable Saṅgharakṣita, with those one thousand noble sons in tow, set off toward the Blessed One.
At that time the Blessed One was seated in front of an assembly of many hundreds of monks, and he was teaching the d
harma. The Blessed One saw the venerable Saṅgharakṣita from a distance, and upon seeing him, he addressed the monks once again: “That, monks, is the monk Saṅgharakṣita, and he is coming with a gift. For a tathāgata, there is no gift that compares with the gift of new disciples.”
The venerable Saṅgharakṣita then approached the Blessed One. Having approached, he placed his head in veneration at the Blessed One’s feet and then sat down at a respectful distance. Sitting down at a respectful distance, the venerable Saṅgharakṣita said this to the Blessed One: “Bhadanta, these one thousand noble sons want to renounce, take ordination, and become monks according to the dharma and monastic discipline that have been so well expressed. May the Blessed One, out of compassion for them, initiate and ordain them.”
Then the Blessed One addressed 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. [342]
“Come,” the Tathāgata said to them.
With heads shaved and bodies wrapped in robes,
they instantly attained tranquility of the senses,
and so they remained by the will of the Buddha.413
Then the Blessed One gave them instructions.
After striving, struggling, and straining, they rid themselves of all defilements and thereby 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].
