by Andy Rotman
They became worthy of respect, honor, and obeisance [from the gods, including Indra and Upendra].414
Then the venerable Saṅgharakṣita asked the Lord Buddha, “Bhadanta, I saw beings
having the form of walls,
having the form of pillars,
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 cups,415
having the form of mortars,
and having the form of pots.
I also saw one being walking about, cut in half at the waist and held together by string. As a result of what action has all this occurred?”
“Saṅgharakṣita,” the Blessed One said,416 “those beings you saw in the form of walls were disciples of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. They dirtied a monastery wall with their snot. As a result of that action, they have come to have the form of walls. Just as those beings have the form of walls, for the same reason those other beings have the form of pillars.
“Those beings you417 saw having the form of trees, Saṅgharakṣita, they too were disciples of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. They used the flowering and fruit-bearing trees belonging to the monastery for personal use. As a result of that action, they have come to have the form of trees. Just as those beings have the form of trees, for the same reason those other beings have the form of leaves, fruits, and flowers.
“That being you saw having the form of rope, Saṅgharakṣita, he too was a disciple of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. He used the monastery’s rope for personal use. As a result of that action, he has come to have the form of rope. Just as that being has the form of rope, for the same reason that other being has the form of a broom.
“That being you saw having the form of a cup,418 Saṅgharakṣita, he was a novice disciple of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. [343] At one time he was put in charge of drinking vessels, and after he had washed the vessels,419 some visiting monks arrived. ‘Hey novice,’ they asked him, ‘is there still anything for the community to drink?’
“‘No there isn’t,’ he said. Disappointed, they continued on their way. But there was still something for the community to drink.420 As a result of that action, he has come to resemble a cup.421
“That being you saw who resembled a mortar, Saṅgharakṣita, he too was a disciple of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. He was put in charge of looking after bowls. Now, a certain novice there had become an arhat. ‘Hey novice,’ he said to the arhat, ‘grind some rice paste in a mortar422 and give it to me.’
“‘Elder,’ he said, ‘wait just a moment. I’m busy. When I’m finished I’ll give it to you.’
“The elder became furious and said, ‘Novice, if you like,423 I’ll throw you in that mortar and grind you up, not just some rice paste!’424 Since he committed an act of harsh speech toward an arhat, as a result of that action, he has come to resemble a mortar.
“Those beings you saw who resembled pots, Saṅgharakṣita, they were disciples of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. While decocting medicines for the monks, they broke the pots. This was a setback for those monks. As a result of that action, they have come to resemble pots.425
“That being, Saṅgharakṣita, you saw walking about, cut in half at the waist and held together by string, he had gone forth as a monk following the teaching of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa, and he was greedy for profit. He would barter offerings received in the rainy season against those received in the winter, and those in the winter against those in the rainy season. As a result of that action, he walks about cut in half at the waist and held together by string.”
So ends the Saṅgharakṣita-avadāna, the twenty-third chapter in the glorious Divyāvadāna. [344]
24. The Story of a Young Nāga
NĀGAKUMĀRA-AVADĀNA426
SOME MONKS in doubt asked the Lord Buddha, the remover of all doubts, “Where, Bhadanta, did the [shapeshifting] young nāga [who knew the Gradual Sayings]427 first gain faith?”
And the Blessed One spoke.
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.
He taught the dharma to his disciples as such: “You should meditate, monks, in forests, in empty chambers, in mountains, valleys, hills, caves, heaps of straw, open spaces, cremation grounds, wooded plateaus, and in remote areas. Don’t be careless, monks! Otherwise, later on, you’ll be filled with regret. This is our teaching.”
Accordingly, some monks went and meditated on the terraces of Mount Sumeru, some on the banks of lotus ponds filled with Gangetic waters, some on the shores of the great lake Anavatapta (Unheated), some on the seven golden mountains,428 and some went and meditated in various villages, towns, and royal capitals.429
A Novice Accepts Alms in the Nāga Realm
A certain young nāga, not long after he was born,430 was carried off by Suparṇin (Well-Winged), the king of birds, up onto the slopes of Mount Sumeru.431 There he saw monks engaged in meditation, study, yoga, and contemplation. And seeing them, his mind was filled with faith. Possessed of faith, he reflected, “These noble ones are truly free from the various forms of suffering!”
He then died and passed away and was born in Vārāṇasī in a family of brahmans that was devoted to the six duties of a brahman. Raised and nourished, in time he grew up, and eventually he went forth as monk in the order of the perfectly awakened Kāśyapa. After striving, struggling, and straining, he rid himself of all defilements and thereby directly experienced arhatship. 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 became worthy of respect, honor, and obeisance [from the gods, including Indra and Upendra].432
Then he reflected, “From where did I die and pass away? From among animals. Where was I reborn? Among humans. Where are my former parents?” He saw that now they stood crying in the nāga realm. [345] So he went there.
Having gone there, he asked, “Mother, Father, why are you crying?”
“Noble one,” they said, “our nāga son, not long after he was born,433 was carried off by Suparṇin, the king of birds.”
“I am that very son,” he said.
“Noble one, so wretched is the state of a nāga434 that we wouldn’t have imagined that he’d have a good rebirth, let alone that he’d come to possess such qualities.”
He informed those two of all that had occurred. Then they fell prostrate at his feet and said, “Noble one, you have amassed many virtues. Noble one, you desire alms, and we desire merit. Come back here every day, have a meal, and then you can go.”
So each day he would partake of divine ambrosia in the nāga realm, and then he would return [to the human realm].
There was a novice who was his attending student. Some monks addressed him: “Novice, this instructor of yours, where does he return from each day, having already eaten?”
“I don’t know,” he said.
“He re
turns from the nāga realm where each day he partakes of divine ambrosia. Why don’t you go too?”
“He possesses great magic and great power,” he said. “How can I go the way he goes?”
“When he does go, making use of his magical powers, take hold of the edge of his robe,” they said.
“I hope I don’t fall,” he said.
“Friend,” they said, “even if Sumeru, the king of mountains, took hold435 of the edge of his robe, he wouldn’t fall, much less you.”
After determining exactly where his instructor would disappear,436 he went to that place before [his instructor arrived] and waited. When he knew that his instructor would disappear, he took hold of the edge of his robe. The two of them set off up into the sky, and there they were seen by the nāgas, who then prepared two seats for them and cleared two spots on the ground.
“Why has another seat been prepared?” the instructor reflected. Then he turned around and saw the novice.
“Friend, you’ve come as well!” he said.
“Yes, instructor, I have come.”
“Excellent!”
“This noble one possesses great magic and great power,” the nāgas reflected. “He can digest437 divine ambrosia. The other one can’t.”438 So they gave divine ambrosia to the instructor and to the other, ordinary food.
Now the novice was his instructor’s bowl-carrier. [346] So after the meal he took his instructor’s bowl, and in it there remained a single grain of cooked rice.439 He put it in his mouth. It tasted divine.
“These nāgas are so stingy,” he reflected. “While the two of us are seated together, they give divine ambrosia to him, and to me only ordinary food.”
He made this fervent aspiration:440 “Since I have observed the religious life under the perfectly awakened lord Kāśyapa, who is unsurpassed and worthy of great offerings, by this root of virtue may I cause this nāga [before me] to die and fall from this realm, and may I be reborn here instead.”
At that moment water began to trickle from his hands.441 As for the nāga, he began to develop a headache.442
“Noble one,” the nāga said, “this novice has set his mind on something terrible! Make him withdraw it.”
“Friend,” the instructor said to the novice, “these are terrible realms of existences [that await you]. Withdraw this terrible thought!”
Then the novice uttered this verse:
I am unable to withdraw this thought,
which is so inclined.
As I stand right here, Bhadanta,
water trickles from my hands.443
He thus caused that nāga to die and fall from that realm, and he was reborn there instead. And it was there, monks, that the [novice reborn as a] young nāga [who would later learn the Gradual Sayings] first gained faith.
So ends the Nāgakumāra-avadāna, the twenty-fourth444 chapter in the glorious Divyāvadāna.
25. The Story of Saṅgharakṣita, part 2
SAṄGHARAKṢITA-AVADĀNA445
SOME MONKS in doubt asked the Lord Buddha, the remover of all doubts, “Bhadanta, what deed did the venerable Saṅgharakṣita do so that, as a result of that deed, he was born in a family that was rich, wealthy, and prosperous; went forth as a monk in the presence of the Blessed One, where by ridding himself of all defilements, he directly experienced arhatship; and also trained new disciples?”
“Monks,” the Blessed One said, “the deeds that Saṅgharakṣita himself has performed and accumulated [have now come together, and their conditions have matured. They remain before him like an oncoming flood and will certainly come to pass. Those deeds were performed and accumulated by Saṅgharakṣita. 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,
then they will have their effect on embodied beings.].446
Long ago, monks, in this present auspicious age, when people lived for twenty thousand years, [347] [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].”447
A Servant of the Dharma and His Followers Make Fervent Aspirations
A man went forth as a monk into the perfectly awakened lord Kāśyapa’s order, and there he served [the dharma].448 He lived together with five hundred students, and nearly all the residents of the one [nearby] market town had faith in him. He followed the religious life there as long as he lived, but he still never amassed many virtues.
After a time, he became sick. Though treated with medicines made from roots, stalks, leaves, flowers, and fruits, he continued to get worse. Then, at the time of his death, he made this fervent aspiration: “Since I have followed the religious life my entire life under the perfectly awakened lord Kāśyapa, who is unsurpassed and worthy of great offerings, without amassing many virtues, by this root of virtue may I go forth as a monk in the order of the young brahman named Uttara (Superior). The perfectly awakened lord Kāśyapa, who is also unsurpassed, has predicted that when people live for one hundred years he will definitely be a buddha.449 And may I then, by ridding myself of all defilements, directly experience arhatship.”
Soon afterward, those students who lived with him approached and said, “Instructor, have you amassed many virtues?”
“No, I haven’t,” he said.
“What fervent aspiration did you make?”
“This and that.”
They said, “Thanks to you, our instructor and our spiritual guide, may we rid ourselves of all defilements and thereby directly experience arhatship under that blessed one.”
The residents of that market town heard that the noble one was sick. They too approached him and said, “Has the noble one amassed many virtues?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“What fervent aspiration did you make?”
“This and that.”
They said, “Thanks to you, our noble one and spiritual guide, may we rid ourselves of all defilements and thereby directly experience arhatship under that blessed one.”
“What do you think, monks? The one who served [the dharma] was none other than the monk Saṅgharakṣita. Those five hundred students who lived with him were none other than these five hundred monks. And those people who lived in the market town were none other than these five hundred merchants. Since he had served the dharma, as a result of that action, he was reborn in a family that was rich, wealthy, and prosperous. Since at the time of his death he made a fervent aspiration, [348] as a result of that action, he went forth as a monk in my presence, where by ridding himself of all defilements, he directly experienced arhatship, and also trained new disciples.
“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. It is this, monks, that you should learn to do].”450
31. The Story of Five Hundred Farmers
PAÑCAKĀRṢAKAŚATA-AVADĀNA451
ONE TIME the Blessed One addressed the venerable [Ānanda]:452 “Come, Ānanda, let us go to Śrāvastī.”
“Yes, Bhadanta,” the venerable Ā
nanda replied, consenting to the Blessed One’s request. Then the Blessed One set out on a journey to Śrāvastī.453
A Brahman and a Gift of Rice Gruel
Meanwhile, in a certain place a brahman who had missed his last meal was driving a plow. His daughter took some rice gruel and brought it to him. Just then the Blessed One arrived there. 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, was beautiful from every side.
As soon as the brahman saw him, he 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
as when a being who has accumulated roots of virtue
sees a buddha for the first time.
He took that rice gruel and quickly approached the Blessed One. Having approached, he said this to him: “Gautama, here is some rice gruel. If Lord Gautama has compassion for me, may he drink it.”454
Then the Blessed One showed the brahman an old well. [462] “Brahman, if you have anything to spare, throw it into this old well.” The brahman threw the rice gruel into that old well, and that old well became full of steaming455 rice gruel. Such is the power possessed by all buddhas and the divine powers of deities.
Then the Blessed One said to the brahman, “Great brahman,456 distribute this rice gruel.” So the brahman began to distribute it. The Blessed One exercised his power over that rice gruel so that the whole community could partake of it. That old well remained just as full of steaming rice gruel as it was before.
The brahman, having even greater faith, placed his head in veneration at the Blessed One’s feet and sat down in front of him to listen to the dharma. Then the Blessed One, knowing the brahman’s inclinations, propensities, makeup, and nature, gave him a discourse on the dharma that elucidated the four noble truths. [When the brahman heard this,]457 with his thunderbolt of knowledge he broke through that mountain, which is the false view of individuality that has accumulated since time immemorial,458 and directly experienced the reward of the stream-enterer.
