The Hundred Deeds
Part Two

When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, there was a certain being who was reborn as a blind hell being. The entirety of his immense body was covered by a continuous mass of sores, and worms bored into him from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. Unable to tolerate his condition, he ran to and fro.

When he fled to the plains, there were iron-fanged lions, tigers, leopards, and bears that tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him.

When he submerged himself in the water, there were crocodiles with fangs of iron that tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him.

When he fled into the sky above there were crows, vultures, and woodpeckers with beaks of iron that tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him.

When he fled into the dense forest, [F.60.a] there were sword-leafed śālmali trees, and swords, spears, lances, single-tipped vajras, and flat-bladed spears that rose up on the wind and hailed down on him.

When he tried to flee behind walls or into mountain ravines or into any kind of shelter there were human beings who were there because of their past actions that took up swords, spears, lances, single-tipped vajras, and flat-bladed spears, and struck, cut, and sliced his entire body. This caused him dreadful suffering and extreme, unbearable, excruciating agony, and he wept and wailed in torment.

The blessed buddhas, teachers of the one path to be traversed, with mastery over wisdom and the two types of knowable objects, in command of the three kinds of sterling equanimity, fearless by means of the fourfold fearlessness, freed from migration through the five destinies, keen in the six sense bases, practiced in the seven limbs of enlightenment, focused on the eight liberations, absorbed in the nine successive meditative absorptions, possessing all ten of the ten powers, whose proclamations are the great roaring of a perfect lion, by nature regard the world with their buddha eyes six times throughout the day and night‍—three times by day and three times by night.

These are their thoughts as they look out in wisdom: “Who is in decline? Who will flourish? Who is destitute? Who is in a dreadful state? Who is being harmed? Who is destitute, in a dreadful state, and being harmed? Who is veering toward the lower realms? Who is descending through the lower realms? Who has descended to the lower realms? Whom shall I pull up from the lower realms, and establish in the resultant state of heaven and liberation? Whom, mired in misdeeds, shall I lift up by the hand? Whom, lacking the seven jewels of the noble ones, shall I lead to command of the seven jewels of the noble ones? [F.60.b] Whom, not having produced roots of virtue, shall I lead to produce them? Whom, having already produced roots of virtue, shall I lead to ripen their roots of virtue? Whom, having already ripened their roots of virtue, shall I slice open with the blade of wisdom? For whom shall I cause this world, adorned with a buddha’s presence, to be fruitful?”

When the Blessed One focused his mind47 and the time had come to tame the inhabitants of Śrāvastī, he considered whether they would be tamed by subjugation, or whether they would be tamed by praise, or whether they would be tamed by disillusionment with saṃsāra. When the Blessed One saw that they would be tamed by disillusionment with saṃsāra, he miraculously summoned that same being to engender their disenchantment.

He set him down on the bank of the Ajiravatī River, and there as well he was unable to tolerate his condition and ran to and fro.

When he fled to the plains, there were iron-fanged lions, tigers, leopards, and bears that tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him.

When he submerged himself in the water, there were crocodiles with fangs of iron that tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him.

When he fled into the sky above there were crows, vultures, and woodpeckers with beaks of iron that tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him.

When he fled into the dense forest, there were sword-leafed śālmali trees, and swords, spears, lances, single-tipped vajras, and flat-bladed spears that rose up on the wind and hailed down on him.

When he tried to flee behind walls [F.61.a] or into mountain ravines or into any kind of shelter there were human beings who were there because of their past actions that took up swords, spears, lances, single-tipped vajras, and flat-bladed spears, and struck, cut, and sliced his entire body. This caused him dreadful suffering and extreme, unbearable, excruciating agony, and he wept and wailed in torment.

All of Śrāvastī was filled with his cries. The people of Śrāvastī heard these dreadful sounds and thousands upon thousands of people emerged from Śrāvastī and headed toward the source of the cries by the Ajiravatī River. From a distance the people caught sight of the being that was in the throes of such agony, and when they saw him they wondered, “Who is this being in the throes of such agony?”

Naturally, from time to time, to sustain themselves, the blessed buddhas make their way through the monasteries, charnel grounds, mountains, and rivers. This is why the Blessed One, who wanted to visit the river, said to Venerable Ānanda, “Ānanda, go and give a message to the monks that the Tathāgata will visit the river. Inform them that those who wish to travel with the Tathāgata should prepare their robes.” After he gave him these instructions and the monks were thus informed, the Blessed One set out for the Ajiravatī River surrounded and escorted by an assembly of monks.

When the people gathered there saw the Blessed One in the distance, those without faith said, “They say the mendicant Gautama takes no joy in spectacles, [F.61.b] but such a spectacle as this lures even him.”

Those with faith replied, “This being will surely be instrumental in48 an extraordinary Dharma teaching by the Blessed One.” They prepared a seat for the Blessed One, saying, “This way, Blessed One‍—if you please! Welcome, Blessed One, very good! O Blessed One, please have a seat on this cushion we have prepared for you!”

The Blessed One took his place on the seat prepared for him, and thought, “The best thing will be for me to enter into a meditation such that this being can remember his former lives and converse with me in a human tongue.” So the Blessed One entered into a meditation such that that being remembered his former lives and could converse with him in a human tongue.

Then the Blessed One addressed him, saying, “My friend, are you Earnest?”

“Yes, Blessed One, I am Earnest.”

“My friend, are you Earnest?”

“O Sugata, I am Earnest.”

“Are you now experiencing the repercussions of your misconduct of body, speech, and mind?”

“Indeed I am, Blessed One.”

“Are the repercussions of your misconduct of body, speech, and mind hideous?”

“Yes, Blessed One, they are.”

“Who guided you to such nonvirtue?”

“My own mind,” he replied.

Now, hearing this, the people wondered, “Who is this being who remembers his former lives and converses with the Blessed One in a human tongue?”

The ears of the blessed buddhas are difficult to reach, so since they were not able to put their question to the Blessed One they inquired of Venerable Ānanda, “Lord [F.62.a] Ānanda, who is this being who remembers his former lives and converses with the Blessed One in a human tongue?”

“Put your question to the Blessed One,” Venerable Ānanda replied.

“The ears of the blessed buddhas are difficult to reach, and his presence is overwhelming. We cannot ask the Blessed Buddha ourselves,” they said.

Venerable Ānanda replied, “Though the ears of the blessed buddhas are difficult to reach for me as well, out of compassion for you I shall ask.”

Venerable Ānanda drew down the right shoulder of his upper garment, bowed toward the Blessed One with palms pressed together, and inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, who is this being who remembers his former lives and converses with the Blessed One in a human tongue?”

At that, the Blessed One spoke to Venerable Ānanda, saying, “Ānanda, this being is one who committed nonvirtuous actions over and over again. The nonvirtuous actions he committed were manifold.

“Ānanda, in times past when the one who transcended the levels of the listeners and solitary buddhas, the totally and completely awakened buddha, the blessed one, the tathāgata, the arhat, the totally and completely awakened buddha49 possessed of insight and perfect conduct, the knower of the world, the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Prabhāvan50 was in the world, there was a certain arhat who, as he made his way through the countryside with a group of five hundred arhats, came to the royal palace, where they entered the royal gardens.

“One by one, according to age, they spread grass beneath a different tree, crossed their legs, and knew bliss as they entered states of concentration, liberation, meditation, and equipoise. [F.62.b]

“Now at this time, a certain King Earnest reigned in that very palace. The king rose early in the morning and went to the garden, attended by his harem. Arriving there he seated himself at one side as the women, hearts set on flowers and fruit, wandered about here and there. They happened upon the five hundred monks sitting beneath the trees as if asleep, legs crossed, their bodies drawn up like nāga kings. Delighted to have found them, they paid homage at their feet, and the eldest among them sat before the arhats to listen to the Dharma.

“When the king heard a man’s voice out in the gardens, he laid a sharp sword across his shoulders and went to where the monks were, spotting all five hundred monks from a distance. Seeing them he thought, ‘No monk should lay an eye on my harem!’ Consumed with fury at the sight of the monks, the king summoned the royal guard and commanded them, ‘Lash these monks!’ and they lashed the monks with whips for some time, until their bodies were like raw meat.

“Once the king had slaked his passion by beating the monks, he handed them over to the executioners, saying, ‘Go now, take these ascetics. Impale some of them on stakes, and run them through with swords, spears, lances, single-tipped vajras, and flat-bladed spears while they yet live! Feed others alive to the dogs! Chop the rest into six pieces and scatter them in every direction!’

“The king’s men replied, ‘As you wish,’ and they impaled some of the five hundred monks on stakes [F.63.a] and pierced them with swords, spears, lances, single-tipped vajras, and flat-bladed spears while they yet lived. Others they fed alive to the dogs. They chopped the bodies of the rest into six pieces and scattered them in every direction.

“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that king then is none other than this being now. The act of murdering the five hundred arhats ripened into his birth as a being in the Hell of Ceaseless Agony.

“The act of looking upon the monks with a feeling of hatred ripened into his taking birth as a blind person, and the act of lashing the monks with whips ripened into his entire body being covered by a continuous mass of sores, with worms boring into him from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet.

“After he handed the monks over to their executioners, some of them were impaled on stakes and pierced with swords, spears, lances, single-tipped vajras, and flat-bladed spears while they yet lived. Others were fed alive to the dogs. The rest had their bodies chopped into six pieces while they were still alive and scattered in every direction.

“Those actions ripened such that when he fled to the plains, there were iron-fanged lions, tigers, leopards, and bears that tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him.

“When he submerged himself in the water, there were crocodiles with fangs of iron that tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him.

“When he fled into the sky above there were crows, vultures, and woodpeckers with beaks of iron that tore into his flesh over and over again and fed on him.

“When he fled into the dense forest, there were sword-leafed śālmali trees, and swords, spears, lances, single-tipped vajras, and flat-bladed spears that rose up on the wind [F.63.b] and hailed down on him.

“When he tried to flee behind walls or into mountain ravines or into any kind of shelter there were human beings who were there because of their past actions that took up swords, spears, lances, single-tipped vajras, and flat-bladed spears, and struck, cut, and sliced his entire body. This caused him dreadful suffering and extreme, unbearable, excruciating agony, and he wept and wailed in torment. Monks, from the time of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Prabhāvan until the present he has died as a hell being and transmigrated only to take rebirth as a hell being, and has known only suffering.”

“Lord, when will this being be freed from these sufferings?”

“This being will die as a hell being only to take rebirth as a hell being and know only suffering until five hundred buddhas have appeared in this fortunate eon. After that, once he has exhausted his sufferings as a hell being, he will take rebirth as a human being into a low caste household. When he is grown he will set out to hunt deer, and so doing will venture into a grove of perfect shade, full of perfect fruits and flowers. When he gets there he will think, ‘The deer must gather in places like this,’ and begin to set up mechanical traps, deadfall traps, and different types of snares.

“At that time there will have appeared in the world a certain solitary buddha who dwells in that forest at night. On that day, catching his scent, the deer will not enter the grove. When the hunter approaches and finds nothing more than the solitary buddha alone in the grove, he will think, [F.64.a] ‘Ascetics love places like this! If he is staying here, he will do me harm. I should definitely kill him.’ The hunter will kill the solitary buddha and then take rebirth in the Hell of Ceaseless Agony after his own death. There he will experience the sufferings of the hell beings for thousands upon thousands and hundreds of thousands of years.

“Then, once he has exhausted those actions, he will again achieve a human birth, and the totally and completely awakened Buddha Guru will appear in the world. It is in his doctrine that this one will go forth, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.

“After achieving arhatship he will go to the royal palace and establish a dwelling in the king’s garden, whereupon the king will go to the garden, attended by his harem, and the women, their hearts set on flowers and fruit, will wander here and there in the garden. They will happen upon him and sit before him to listen to the Dharma.

“The king, hearing the voice of a man, will draw near to them. Angry at the sight of the man, the king will lash him with a whip, chop his body into six pieces, impale him, run him through with swords, spears, lances, single-tipped vajras, and flat-bladed spears, and then feed him to the dogs. Only then will his suffering come to an end.”

As soon as they heard this, the people gathered there welled up with grief. “Spiraling through saṃsāra we are sure to experience horrible sufferings such as these,” they thought.

The Blessed One directly apprehended their grief and taught them the Dharma accordingly, and some among those assembled [F.64.b] generated heat right where they sat. Some generated the peak, or generated the patience in accord with the truths, or generated the highest worldly dharma, or generated the attainment of seeing. Some manifested the resultant state of stream entry. Some manifested the resultant state of once-return. Some manifested the resultant state of non-return. Some went forth and manifested arhatship. Some sowed the seeds to become universal monarchs, some to become great universal monarchs, some to become Indra, some to become Brahmā, some for the enlightenment of the listeners, some for the enlightenment of the solitary buddhas, and some for unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment. Among the assembled, most found themselves drawn to the Buddha, intent on the Dharma, and favoring the Saṅgha. Having established them in these states, the Blessed One returned to the monastery. [B6]

When the Blessed One was in Kapilavastu, Devadatta killed Utpalavarṇā and was banished from the country by King Prasenajit. He then withdrew to Kapilavastu, thinking, “I was not able to kill the ascetic Gautama, nor have I achieved a buddha’s skillful means, so now I will go and lay hold of Siddhārtha’s harem and keep company with them. Once I have usurped his kingdom, I shall be king.”

So he sent an envoy to Yaśodharā with the following message:

“Dear Yaśodharā,

Behold the work of one who delights in wrongdoing! What was the use of taking 60,000 women as his wives and calling them ‘beloved’? Why would anyone even bother keeping so many women if he has no interest in enjoying them? Now, if you like, I can become king [F.65.a] and you will be restored to your former glory and fortune.”

When Yaśodharā received the message, she related it to Gopā, saying, “Gopā, Devadatta sent me quite a message.”

Gopā responded, “Let’s trick him into coming here. If we disgrace him and throw him out, he’ll know his place.” So they sent an envoy to Devadatta with the following response:

“Dear Devadatta,

Please come to the royal palace. When you get here we can talk about how to make you king.”

When Devadatta got their message he was very pleased. “Now that the women are excited,” he thought, “the kingdom is within my grasp!”

He traveled to the royal palace, but as he was preparing to sit on the Bodhisattva’s51 throne, the gods made it vanish. Gopā had taken a seat at the top of the staircase near the side door to the women’s quarters.

“Devadatta, why don’t you have a seat!” she called down. “Come into the women’s quarters where we can talk.”

When he heard this, Devadatta sat down in front of her and interlaced his fingers. Then Gopā took his folded hands into her own and squeezed them so tight that blood ran from his fingers, and Devadatta was helpless with pain as she wrung them out. Gopā led him up the stairs, kicked him in the head, and threw him from the top of the staircase.52 Some of the other women smeared cow dung all over his body. Others poured scalding oil on him.

Then, his body wounded and weak, he went to see Kokālika, Khaṇḍadravya, Kaṭamorakatiṣya, and Samudradatta. When they saw him, they joked, “Ah, Devadatta! It seems you’ve experienced the pleasures of the royal harem!” [F.65.b]

When the monks heard about all this they asked the Blessed One, “Lord, tell us why Devadatta was humiliated by Gopā.”

“Not only now,” the Blessed One explained, “but in times past as well, and in the same way, Devadatta was humiliated by Gopā. Listen well!

“Monks, in times past King Brahmadatta reigned in the city of Vārāṇasī and King Mahendrasena reigned in Videha. The two did not agree with one another, and from time to time a great many people were killed.

“One day King Brahmadatta of Kāśi called together an assembly of his ministers and began a discussion on the topic of women. ‘Who among you has seen a woman who is well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful?’ he asked.

“Those who had seen such women told the king about them as he had requested. Then each of them said in turn, ‘Deva, you can forget them all! How could any woman ever compare to the face and form of the queen of Videha?’

“When the king heard this an arrow of lust shot through him, and he thought, ‘Since I don’t get along with King Mahendrasena, there’s no way for me to have any contact with her. Let me enter into negotiations with him. After that it will be easy.’

“So it was that King Brahmadatta entered into negotiations with the king of Videha, whereupon he sent a messenger to King Mahendrasena’s queen with a message that said, ‘I want you to know that my negotiations with King Mahendrasena are all for your sake, so that you and I might meet face to face.’

“After she received this message Mahendrasena’s queen told the king, ‘Deva, King Brahmadatta is making overtures to me. [F.66.a] Deva, with your permission I wish to humiliate him.’

“ ‘As you wish,’ he replied. ‘But whatever you do, make sure he falls into my hands.’

“ ‘Not to worry, Deva,’ she said. ‘I shall act in accord with your wishes.’

“Then she sent an envoy with the following message:

“ ‘Dear Brahmadatta,

As my king yet lives, I shall not be able to meet you face to face. Dispatch with him! After that, I shall meet with you.’

“Brahmadatta thought, ‘Failing some dispute, I cannot kill him. Let me then fabricate some dispute with him.’ So King Brahmadatta began a dispute with King Mahendrasena. He armed the four divisions of his army and advanced on Videha, where they besieged the city, massacring many of the inhabitants in the siege.

“Thereupon Queen Mahendrasena sent an envoy with the following message:

“ ‘Dear Brahmadatta,

If you have come here and done all this for my sake, then what need have we for so many to die? By disguising yourself as an ordinary person you can come into the city to see me now.’

“Now no sooner had King Brahmadatta of Kāśi heard this than he entered the royal palace by just the method she had suggested. When she saw him there, Queen Mahendrasena seized him, brought him before the king, and said, ‘Deva, here is Brahmadatta. Do with him as you please.’

“King Mahendrasena assembled all his princes and ministers, chiefs of merchandise, aristocrats, and caravan leaders, [F.66.b] and they kicked Brahmadatta, King of Kāśi, in the head.

“ ‘Let’s kill him, so he can never sleep with another man’s wife again!’ they cried.

Then the queen said to King Mahendrasena, ‘Deva, is this humiliation not worse than being killed? What need is there now to kill him? Let him go.’ So they released him and spared his life.

“O monks, what do you think? I am the one who was Mahendrasena, King of Videha then, and who lived the life of a bodhisattva. The one who was the queen then is none other than Gopā. The one who was King Brahmadatta of Kāśi then is none other than Devadatta. At that time many people kicked and humiliated him, just as they have now.”

When the Bodhisattva was dwelling in Tuṣita Heaven, King Siṃhahanu reigned in Kapilavastu. As he and the queens enjoyed themselves and coupled, the queens gave birth to four sons named Śuddhodana, Śuklodana, Droṇodana, and Amṛtodana, and four daughters named Śuddhā, Śuklā, Droṇā, and Amṛtā.

At the same time, as King Śākya Suprabuddha and his queens enjoyed themselves and coupled in Vṛji, the queens gave birth to two daughters. One they named Māyā, and the other Mahā­māyā. They reared them on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and they flourished like lotuses in a lake. When the priests versed in reading signs examined them, they predicted that their daughter Māyā would give birth to a child of marvelous character, and that Mahā­māyā would give birth to a universal monarch. Both daughters’ hair grew like a drop of sesame oil poured into water. [F.67.a]

When King Siṃhahanu heard this, he sent an envoy to King Śākya Suprabuddha with a message saying, “Betroth your two daughters to my son. Though the Śākyas have an agreement among themselves that no one may take two wives in marriage, if I can get them to agree to this then you can marry them both.” King Siṃhahanu made a request of all the Śākyas, and, in accord with the tradition among householders, Śuddhodana took both young women as his queens. After marrying them, King Śākya Suprabuddha granted them a young woman named Keśinī to look after their hair.

Seven days after the Bodhisattva’s birth, Mahā­māyā passed away and took rebirth in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. Young Keśinī missed her so much that she clutched at strands of Mahā­māyā’s hair and flung herself on the ground in grief, wailing and beating her chest. She was inconsolable.

When the Bodhisattva had grown, upon witnessing old age, sickness, and death, he went to live in the forest, where he practiced austerities for six years until he achieved unexcelled wisdom. His actions for the benefit of those to be tamed eventually led him to stay in Kapilavastu and he led many Śākyas there to go forth, including Mahā­prajāpatī Gautamī. Keśinī too was not only ordained, she also cast away all afflictive emotions and manifested arhatship, and the Blessed One commended her for her superlative efforts.

Afterward, the monks asked the Blessed One, “Lord, what action did Keśinī take that ripened into her birth as a Śākya, into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth? What action did she take that ripened into her becoming a servant of other women?” [F.67.b]

“It came about by the power of her prayers,” replied the Blessed One.

“Lord, where did she make these prayers?”

“Monks, in times past, in the ninety-first eon, when the tathāgata, the arhat, the totally and completely awakened buddha possessed of insight and perfect conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Vipaśyin was in the world, after he fully and completely awakened unto unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment, he visited the city of Bandhumatī.

“Two women there offered him food, and one of them prayed, ‘May I give birth to one as precious as this. May I please and not displease him,’ while the other prayed, ‘Wherever I am born, may it be as your sibling. May I rear one as precious as this.’

“The young woman who looked after the two sisters’ hair was also there, and she overheard them making their prayers. As soon as she heard them, she began to venerate the totally and completely awakened Buddha Vipaśyin herself, praying, ‘Oh, but by this root of virtue, wherever these two are born, may I again look after their hair and serve them with great respect! May I please and not displease their precious children.’ Such were her prayers.”

“Lord, what action did she take that she pleased the Blessed One, and did not displease him; that she went forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship; and that the Blessed One also commended her [F.68.a] for her superlative efforts?”

The Blessed One replied, “She went forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa, and the preceptor who led her to go forth was also commended for her superlative efforts by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa.

“Then after practicing pure conduct all her life, at the time of her death she prayed, ‘While I may not have attained any great virtues, still I have gone forth in the teaching of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa and practiced pure conduct all my life. Therefore, may I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone may I cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship. Just as the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa commended my53 preceptor for her superlative efforts, may Buddha Śākyamuni, king of the Śākyas, also commend me for my superlative efforts.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who went forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa and became a nun then is this very Keśinī. There she practiced pure conduct all her life, and at the time of her death, she prayed, ‘May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone may I cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship. Just as the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa commended my54 preceptor for her superlative efforts, may Buddha Śākyamuni, [F.68.b] king of the Śākyas, also commend me for my superlative efforts.’

“So it is, monks, now that I myself have become the very equal of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa‍—equal in strength, equal in deeds, and equal in skillful means‍—that she has pleased me, not displeased me, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship, and that I have now commended her for her superlative efforts.”

Once when the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, Venerable Upasena was making his way through the countryside in the country of Avanti, where in time he came to a mountainside hermitage.

Now at that time in the mountainside hermitage there lived a certain householder, prosperous and wealthy, a person of vast and magnificent means, endowed with the wealth of Vaiśravaṇa‍—with wealth to rival Vaiśravaṇa’s.

When the time came for him to marry he took a wife, and they enjoyed themselves and coupled. But even though they enjoyed themselves and coupled, they had no children. Head in hands, the householder sat and brooded, thinking, “My house may be filled with all kinds of riches, but seeing as I have no heir, after I die, all I have will become property of the king.”

The ascetics and brahmins, fortune tellers, his friends, his close family, and his other kin all told him, “You should supplicate a deity.” So, since he had no heir and desired a son, he supplicated the gods.

He prayed to Paśupati, Varuṇa, Kubera, Śakra, Brahmā, and the rest, and to the deities of the pleasure groves, the forest deities, the deities of the crossroads, the deities of forks in the road, the deities who receive strewn oblations, the deities of his inherited tradition, and the deities who are in constant attendance of righteous persons. [F.69.a]

While it is often said that praying to the deities can cause a boy or a girl to be born, this is not true. If children could be made just by praying, every family would have them a thousand times over, like a universal monarch. In fact, there are three circumstances that allow for the birth of a child: a child is born when (1) lust arises in the parents and they have intercourse, (2) the mother still has her menstrual cycle and is approached by a gandharva, and (3) the gandharva’s mind is either attached or angry.

Nevertheless, he remained intent on his prayers, and a great being took birth in his wife’s womb who was well renowned and had gained his final birth, had the good fortune to soon be liberated due to gathering the accumulations, had his sights set on nirvāṇa and had turned away from saṃsāra, had no desire for the states of rebirth in cyclic existence, and who had now assumed his final body.

A woman wise in nature possesses five extraordinary qualities. She knows (1) whether a man is attracted to her, (2) the time of her menstrual cycle, (3) that she has conceived, (4) from whom she has conceived, and (5) whether the child is a boy or a girl, for if it is a baby boy it will stay on the right side of the womb, and if it is a girl it will stay on the left side of the womb.

When the householder’s wife conceived a child she was overjoyed and told her husband, “My Lord, I have conceived a boy. He is staying on the right side of my womb, so rejoice, for it is sure to be a boy!”

At this the householder too was very happy. He puffed out his chest, put his right hand in the air, and expressed his joy, saying, “I shall see the face of the son for whom I have prayed for so long! May everything be right with my son, may nothing go wrong with him, and may he carry on my work! As I care for him, may he care for me in return! May he enjoy my inheritance! May my lineage endure for a long time! And after our passing, when we die, may he give gifts, [F.69.b] be they great or small, and make merit! When he does, may he dedicate the merit thus: ‘Wherever these two are born, may this go to them!’ ”

Now that he knew his wife was pregnant, he ensconced her on the upper levels of their house in order to care for the baby. He provided her with what she needed for winter in the winter, what she needed for summer in the summer, with food that was not too bitter, too sour, too salty, too sweet, too spicy, or too astringent as instructed by the healer, and he served her food that was not bitter, sour, salty, sweet, spicy, or astringent. He draped her body with garlands and strings of precious stones, and he moved her from divan to divan and seat to seat like a goddess through a joyous garden, never letting her descend to the ground, and never letting her hear an unpleasant word even for a moment.

Then after nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, with a fine complexion the color of the center of a lotus, a well-rounded head, long arms, a broad brow, a fine and prominent nose, and eyebrows that met. At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they asked, “What name should we give this child?” And they named him, saying, “Since this child has a complexion like the color of the center of a lotus, his name will be Lotus Color.”

They reared young Lotus Color on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and he flourished like a lotus in a lake. As he grew up, he studied letters, tallying, and arithmetic; the study of seals, lending, deposits, and commerce; and the examination of cloth, jewels, gems, incense, medicine, [F.70.a] elephants, horses, and arms and armor. He became skilled in writing, skilled at reading, learned, decisive, and industrious, a master of the eight types of examination.

Venerable Upasena was one of the householder’s relatives, and with his support, young Lotus Color found faith in the doctrine of the Blessed One. He asked for his parents’ permission, went forth as a novice, and received full ordination in the presence of Venerable Upasena. One day he left his mountainside hermitage on an errand without notifying his preceptor. He made his way through the countryside and eventually arrived in Mathurā, where he stayed at Donkey Grove. Then Venerable Lotus Color donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, went for alms in Mathurā.

Being unfamiliar with the area, he eventually came to the house of a sex worker while going for alms. The sex worker was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, beautiful, and alluring. She saw Venerable Lotus Color in the distance, and an arrow of lust shot through her. Compelled by lust, she rose without delay, went up to Venerable Lotus Color, and said, “Noble one, please have a seat on this cushion.”

And as Venerable Lotus Color sat on the seat, wondering, “Who is this lay vow holder?” the intensity of her lust grew too much for her to bear, and she said to him, “Lord, your young body is in full bloom, and every inch of me is so enticing. Sleep with me.”

As soon as she said this Venerable Lotus Color covered his ears with his hands [F.70.b] and said, “To commit such a sin would be to forsake all the Buddha has taught us. I could not bear it.”

“How dare you spurn me like this!” the woman said. “Why have you come to the house of a sex worker, if not to indulge your desires?”

“I’m new here,” Venerable Lotus Color replied, “and I’m not familiar with the area. That’s why I ended up here. I’m not chasing after desires. It wouldn’t be right for me to do such a thing.”

“If you refuse me, I shall put a spell on you,” she said. “Come to bed.”

At this, Venerable Lotus Color rose from his seat in fear and returned to the monastery55 without taking alms. After all this had taken place and he was gone, the sex worker, searing with lust, sent for a woman of lower caste who had the power to cast spells.

She told her the story in detail and then said, “Bring me together with that monk, and I shall give you a great deal of gold.”

“As you wish,” she replied. Then the woman of lower caste adorned herself, and once she had set up the house as a kind of temple, she spread a circle of cow dung on the floor. After setting forth the ritual incense, flowers, and food, she lit a fire, cast a mantra onto white mustard seeds, and tossed them into the flames.

The venerable monk returned to the house of the sex worker, drawn there by the power of the mantra. When the woman of lower caste saw that Venerable Lotus Color had come to the house, she looked at him and said, “Lord, now that you have returned to this house, you have but two choices. Sleep with this sex worker, or leap into the fire!”

When he heard this, Venerable Lotus Color thought, “If the Tathāgata’s appearance in this world is so rare it can be likened only to the udumbara flower, and if birth as a human [F.71.a] in a central land is also difficult to achieve, then it’s better for me to jump into the fire than to be with this woman.” With this thought he took off his garments and handed them to the woman of lower caste, saying, “Elder sister, take these garments to the monastery and offer them to my fellow practitioners of the holy life.”

“Venerable One, what are you doing?” the woman of lower caste asked.

“Jumping into the fire,” Venerable Lotus Color replied.

When she heard his words, the woman of lower caste was distraught, and thought, “Alas, because of my poverty all I do is cause trouble for those worthy of offerings like him. It’s not my place to make such beings unhappy.” With this thought, she gave up performing all those rituals and prostrated herself at his feet with the greatest respect, saying, “Pure being, please forgive me! I am mired in misdeeds! Please reach down and lift me up!”

“I forgive you,” Venerable Lotus Color said. “But you will not be forgiven by your actions.”

Seeing all this, the sex worker’s lust suddenly gave way, and she felt joy toward him. Full of such joy she prostrated herself at his feet and said, “Fortunate One, driven by my lust I’ve caused you such unhappiness. Please forgive me.”

The young sex worker and the woman of lower caste both sat down in front of Venerable Lotus Color to listen to the Dharma. Venerable Lotus Color taught them the Dharma particularly suited to them, and they manifested the resultant state of stream entry right where they sat. Having seen the truths, they requested, “Lord, if permitted we wish to go forth in Dharma and Vinaya so well spoken, complete our novitiates, and achieve full ordination. In the presence of the Blessed One, we too wish to practice the holy life.”

Venerable Lotus Color [F.71.b] brought them to the nunnery and presented them to the nuns. The nuns led them to go forth as novices, conferred on them full ordination, and instructed them. Casting away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, they manifested arhatship. As arhats, free from the attachments of the three realms, their minds regarded gold no differently than filth, and the palms of their hands as like space itself. They became cool like wet sandalwood. Their insight crushed ignorance like an eggshell. They achieved the insights, superknowledges, and discriminations. They had no regard for worldly profit, passion, or acclaim. They became objects of offering, veneration, and respectful address by Indra, Upendra, and the other gods.

Venerable Lotus Color thought, “So far, I’ve been able to purify the mindstreams of others, but not my own mindstream. The Blessed One tells us, ‘Studying well has five benefits for those who undertake it: knowledge of the aggregates, knowledge of the elements, knowledge of the sense bases, knowledge of dependent arising, and knowledge of the proper and the improper.’ Thus, I too must strive to eliminate afflictive emotions.”

With this thought, he cast away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, and manifested arhatship. As an arhat, free from the attachments of the three realms, his mind regarded gold no differently than filth, and the palms of his hands as like space itself. He became cool like wet sandalwood. His insight crushed ignorance like an eggshell. He achieved the insights, superknowledges, and discriminations. He had no regard for worldly profit, passion, or acclaim. His state was such that Indra, Upendra, and [F.72.a] the other gods worshiped and venerated him and addressed him with respect.

After achieving arhatship and staying long enough in Mathurā, he traveled to Śrāvastī. When he got there, he told the story in detail to the monks. The monks asked the Blessed One, “Lord, tell us why this young sex worker was driven by her lust to make Venerable Lotus Color unhappy, but then with his support went forth, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.”

“For five hundred lifetimes this young woman was his wife,” the Blessed One explained. “It was on the basis of her previous habitual tendencies that she fell in love with him at first sight.”

“Lord, what action did Venerable Lotus Color take that ripened into his birth into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth, and that he pleased56 the Blessed One, did not displease him, went forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship?”

“It came about by the power of his prayers,” replied the Blessed One.

“Lord, where did he make these prayers?”

“Monks, in times past, in this fortunate eon, when people lived as long as twenty thousand years and the tathāgata, the arhat, the totally and completely awakened buddha possessed of insight and perfect conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Kāśyapa was in the world, there lived a certain householder in Vārāṇasī who had two wives.

“One day the householder found faith in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa, [F.72.b] and told his wives, ‘My dears, I am going to go forth in the doctrine of the Buddha Kāśyapa. You should continue with your duties at home.’

“ ‘Lord, if you are going to go forth, then afterward we will go forth too,’ they said.

“The householder replied, ‘If you also wish to go forth, then let you two go forth first, and I shall go forth after you.’ Having said this, the householder brought both his wives to the nunnery and presented them to the nuns.

“The nuns led them to go forth as novices and conferred on them full ordination. After they had gone forth, the householder gave gifts, made merit, and went forth in the doctrine of the Buddha Kāśyapa. Once he had gone forth, he studied the Tripiṭaka and became a proponent of the Dharma with all the eloquence of his wisdom and freedom. He acquired provisions of clothing, food, bedding, a seat, and medicines for the sick.

“After their going forth, the two women became quarrelsome and abusive. One of them called out to the other nuns, ‘You untouchables!’ and the other shouted ‘You whores!’ at them. The monk soon put a stop to the nuns being so quarrelsome, and he inspired them to give gifts and to share what they had.

“After he had offered food to the Blessed Kāśyapa and the rest of the saṅgha of monks, he venerated the stūpas containing hair and nail relics, and prayed, ‘By this root of virtue, wherever I am born, may it be into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth. May I be well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa [F.73.a] to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone may I cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“When the two nuns saw him sitting there praying, they asked him, ‘Noble one, what kind of prayers are you making?’ He told them in detail, and after they listened, they prayed in the same way: ‘With your support, noble one, may we too please and not displease the Blessed Buddha. May we go forth in only his doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship. May we not meet with the results of the act of speaking harshly to the group of nuns.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that monk then is none other than Lotus Color. Those who were those two nuns then are none other than these two nuns now. The monk’s acts at that time of making offerings to the Buddha and the rest of the saṅgha of monks, venerating the stūpas containing hair and nail relics, and praying thus ripened into his birth into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth.

“So it is, monks, now that I myself have become the very equal of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa‍—equal in strength, equal in deeds, and equal in skillful means‍—that he has pleased me, not displeased me, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.

“Monks, at that time the two nuns prayed, ‘With your support, noble one, may we too please and not displease the Blessed Buddha. [F.73.b] May we go forth in only his doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“So it is that with his support these two have pleased and not displeased me, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship. But one of them called out to the nuns, ‘You untouchables!’ and the other shouted, ‘You whores!’ so those actions ripened such that one was born into a family of lower caste, and the other became a sex worker.”

“Lord, what action did Lotus Color take that ripened into his birth into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth, and that he was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, with a complexion the color of the center of a lotus?”

“It came about by the power of his prayers,” replied the Blessed One.

“Lord, where did he make these prayers?”

“Monks, in times past the caretaker of a pleasure grove was dwelling on a mountainside in her grove of perfect shade. The grove was full of perfect fruits and flowers and all its perfect ponds teemed with blue lotus, lotus, white water lily, white lotus, and the cries of geese, ducks, and other waterfowl. In times when a blessed buddha has not arisen in the world, the solitary buddhas appear out of compassion for the destitute and suffering and take up residence in remote places. Solitary as the rhinoceros, they are the only ones in the entire world that are worthy of offerings.57 So it was that a solitary buddha had taken up residence in that pleasure grove.

“The caretaker of the pleasure grove rose early one morning and went into the grove. She happened upon the solitary buddha [F.74.a] sitting beneath a tree as if asleep, legs crossed, his body drawn up like a nāga king, and she was delighted to have found him. Tenderly, she requested that the solitary buddha please take his food in that very pleasure grove and offered him something to eat.

“Then she scattered lotus, blue lotus, white water lily, and white lotus over him, and prayed, ‘By this root of virtue, wherever I am born, may it be into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth. May I be well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. May my complexion be the color of the center of a lotus. May I please and not displease a teacher even more exalted than this. May I achieve such great virtues.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who was the caretaker of that pleasure grove then is none other than Lotus Color. The act of venerating that solitary buddha and saying that prayer ripened into his birth into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth, as one who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, with a complexion the color of the center of a lotus. Monks, I am more exalted than even one hundred billion solitary buddhas, and now he has pleased and not displeased me, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.”

When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī there lived a certain butcher, and when the time came for him to marry he took a wife. One day his wife conceived, and after nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. His parents loved and cherished him greatly, and held him dear to their hearts.58 At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they named him according to their clan. [F.74.b] They raised him on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and as he grew up his parents gave him many good, wholesome foods, and prevented him from doing any work.

One day, as his father started to teach him his trade, the young man exclaimed, “Father, I would rather kill myself than take a life!”

The butcher’s wife said, “Lord, please don’t harm the child! We can hire help to do this work,” so the butcher let the young man do as he liked.

Soon after that, their son found faith in the doctrine of the Blessed One, and from time to time he would go to the garden of Prince Jeta to hear the Dharma from the Blessed One. One day the idea came to him to go forth, and he thought, “I will give up living at home to go forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One.”

He asked for his parents’ permission, went forth as a novice in the doctrine of the Blessed One, and then received full ordination. Casting away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, he manifested arhatship. As an arhat, free from the attachments of the three realms, his mind regarded gold no differently than filth, and the palms of his hands as like space itself. He became cool like wet sandalwood. His insight crushed ignorance like an eggshell. He achieved the insights, superknowledges, and discriminations. He had no regard for worldly profit, passion, or acclaim. He became an object of offering, veneration, and respectful address by Indra, Upendra, and the other gods.

Then, after achieving arhatship, he wondered, “Whom might I tame?” He looked out and saw that he could tame his two parents. [F.75.a] Recognizing this he went to his parents and gave them a Dharma teaching, turning them away from nonvirtuous actions, establishing them in the truths, and leading them to go for refuge and maintain the fundamental precepts. He inspired them to give gifts and to share what they had, until their home became like an open well for those in need. They supplied their arhat monk son with many good, wholesome foods, and he partook of them himself and shared them with other practitioners of the holy life.

After that, the monks inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, what action did this monk take that ripened into his birth into a butcher’s family, one of great means, prosperity, and wealth; that he did not think to commit nonvirtuous actions; that he pleased the Blessed One, did not displease him, went forth in the doctrine of the Buddha, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship; that after having been a householder, he went forth; and that he received such good, wholesome foods?”

“It came about by the power of his prayers,” replied the Blessed One.

“Lord, where did he make these prayers?”

“Monks, in times past, a certain group of butchers was living on a mountainside. They had gone into a grove and set forth many good, wholesome foods when a solitary buddha came into the grove seeking alms, and one of the butchers happened upon him. The butcher was delighted to have found the solitary buddha, and cordially offered good, wholesome foods to him. Great persons teach the Dharma not with their words but through their actions, so the solitary buddha accepted the alms and then rose into the sky.

This delighted the butcher, [F.75.b] and, full of joy, he prayed, ‘By this root of virtue, wherever I am born, may it be into a butcher’s family, one of great means, prosperity, and wealth, where I may enjoy many good, wholesome foods. May I also not perform nonvirtuous actions. May I please and not displease a teacher even more exalted than this. May I achieve such great virtues. Going forth in his doctrine alone, may I cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that butcher then is none other than this monk. The actions of offering food to the solitary buddha and saying that prayer ripened such that wherever he was born, it was into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth where he could enjoy many good, wholesome foods, and where he was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, and where he did not perform any nonvirtuous actions. Monks, I am more exalted than even one hundred billion solitary buddhas, and now he has pleased me and not displeased me, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.

“Furthermore, he had gone forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa, and after practicing pure conduct all his life, at the time of his death, he prayed, ‘May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone may I cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“Monks, [F.76.a] the monk who went forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa then is none other than this monk. Back then, he practiced pure conduct all his life, and at the time of his death, he prayed, ‘May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone may I cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“So it is, monks, now that I myself have become the very equal of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa‍—equal in strength, equal in deeds, and equal in skillful means‍—that he has pleased me and not displeased me, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.” [B7]

When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, there lived a certain man who belonged to a lower caste. When the time came for him to marry he took a wife. One day his wife conceived, and after nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to an exceptionally ugly baby who was ugly in eighteen different ways. As soon as they saw her, her parents were crestfallen.

“A daughter like this is no use to us,” her father said. “When night falls, we’ll toss her out to the dogs!”

“My lord, don’t say such things! Murder is disgraceful. Not only that but this child is our daughter. We can’t just abandon her as soon as she’s born, even if she is ugly in eighteen different ways. Wait until she’s grown‍—then we’ll throw her out. By that time [F.76.b] she’ll be able to make a living for herself somehow.”

“Very well, that is what we’ll do.”

Her parents raised her in secret and no one knew about her. When she was old enough to walk, she was still so ugly that her parents threw her out of the house and abandoned her. After that she begged for alms and lived where she could on the streets. She lived on the bare ground59 and ate wretched food, and as a result she became leprous and covered in sores. In time she became very sick, and collapsed in the street, near death. It was then that Venerable Ānanda saw her.

As soon as he saw her, Venerable Ānanda was filled with compassion for her, and he went to her and asked, “Sister,60 what happened?”

“Lord Ānanda, I have failed to collect any merit. That’s how I came to be like this. Lord Ānanda,” she pleaded, “please help me put an end to all this nonvirtue, come what may.”

“Don’t worry, sister,” Venerable Ānanda replied. “Take heart. I shall dispel your nonvirtuous actions.”

With this, Venerable Ānanda went to find sesame oil and incense for her. He returned and said to her, “Rise, sister. Go and offer this incense to the stūpas containing the hair and nail relics of the Blessed One.” As she heard this, the young woman was filled with joy, and she rose and followed Venerable Ānanda. Then Ānanda led her to make offerings of sesame oil ointment, blended incense ointment, and saffron ointment to the Tathāgata’s stūpa.

The householder Anāthapiṇḍada had also come to the region, and when he saw Venerable Ānanda, he asked him, “Lord Ānanda, what are you doing here?”

“I am putting an end to this young woman’s poverty,” said Venerable Ānanda.

Anāthapiṇḍada saw her sitting there naked [F.77.a] and gave her clothing.

The Blessed One also came to the region purely out of compassion for that young woman. She saw the Blessed One in the distance and he was beautiful and handsome, his senses were at peace, his heart was at peace, and his mind was perfectly tame. He was graced with tranquility, shining and brilliant like a golden pillar. Upon seeing him, the young woman was overcome with joy and thought, “If one can attain great results from just venerating a stūpa with his hair and nails, then surely I can attain an even greater result if I worship him in person!”

Filled with joy, she took the clothes Anāthapiṇḍada had given her, approached the Blessed One, offered him the clothing, folded her hands, and sat there studying him. She died shortly thereafter with joy toward the Blessed One in her heart, transmigrated, and took rebirth in the womb of the foremost wife of a merchant householder there in Śrāvastī.

After nine or ten months had passed, the wife gave birth to a child with a golden complexion. At the elaborate feast celebrating her birth they asked, “What name should we give this child?” And they named her, saying, “Since this child is well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, beautiful, and has a golden complexion, her name will be Golden Color.” They reared young Golden Color on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids. Seven years after her birth, she found faith in the doctrine of the Blessed One, asked for her parents’ permission, went forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship, becoming a person of great miracles and great power.

After she had achieved arhatship she asked herself, “Whence did I die, [F.77.b] that I have taken rebirth here?” She saw that she had previously taken rebirth there in Śrāvastī as a girl of lower caste who was ugly in eighteen different ways and that, with the help of Noble Ānanda, she had given up her births as a woman of lower caste. When she saw all this, she thought, “Look at the difficult task Venerable Ānanda has done for me!” And keeping this in mind, she continually went to venerate him.

The monks asked the Blessed Buddha, “Lord, what action did Golden Color take that ripened into her birth into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth, and with a golden complexion, and that she pleased and did not displease the Blessed One, went forth in the Blessed One’s doctrine, cast away all her afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship?”

The Blessed One replied, “Did you see, right here in Śrāvastī there was a young woman of lower caste, who was ugly in eighteen different ways?”

“Yes, Blessed One, we saw her.”

“After she died, she transmigrated and took rebirth here. She made offerings of sesame oil ointment, blended incense ointment, saffron ointment, and other incense ointments to a reliquary stūpa. Then she offered me clothing and passed away, filled with joy toward me. Those acts ripened into her birth into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth, and such that she is now well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, beautiful, and has a golden complexion.”

“Lord, what action did this young woman take that ripened into her birth into a family of lower caste, and that she was ugly in eighteen different ways?”

“Monks,” the Blessed One explained, “such are the actions that she committed and accumulated:

“Monks, in times past [F.78.a] in this fortunate eon, when people lived as long as twenty thousand years and the totally and completely awakened buddha, the one endowed with perfect knowledge and perfect conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Kāśyapa was in the world, there lived a certain householder in Vārāṇasī.

“When the time came for him to marry he took a wife, and they enjoyed themselves and coupled. One day his wife conceived, and after nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. At the elaborate feast celebrating her birth they named her according to their clan. They reared her on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and when she grew up, she found faith in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa.

“She asked for her parents’ permission and went forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha, but soon she became quarrelsome and abusive. Arrogant about her well-proportioned body, youthfulness, and high caste, she spoke harshly to many nuns on the paths of learning and no more to learn, ridiculing their bodies as ugly and even calling them low class. In time she came to regret this.

“Then after practicing pure conduct all her life, she prayed, ‘While I may not have attained any great virtues, still I have gone forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa and practiced pure conduct all my life. Therefore, may I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone, may I cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship. [F.78.b] May I not meet with the results of the wrongful act of speaking harshly to fellow practitioners of the holy life.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who went forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa and became a nun then is none other than the ugly girl. At that time, out of arrogance about her well-proportioned body, youthfulness, and high caste, she spoke harshly to many nuns, slandering them terribly by calling them ugly and saying they were low class. Those acts ripened such that wherever she was born, it was as a person of lower caste who was ugly in eighteen different ways.

“Then she practiced pure conduct all her life, and at the time of her death, she prayed, ‘May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone may I cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“So it is, monks, now that I myself have become the very equal of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa‍—equal in strength, equal in deeds, and equal in skillful means‍—that she has pleased and not displeased me, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.”

One time when the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, King Prasenajit hosted the Buddha and the rest of the saṅgha of monks for three months in the garden of Prince Jeta and provided for all their needs. The garden of Prince Jeta was close to where the cows and water buffalo were penned, so all the monks [F.79.a] enjoyed the cow and buffalo buttermilk. At the end of three months of respectfully providing for all the needs of the Buddha and the rest of the saṅgha of monks, King Prasenajit offered to the saṅgha foods of a hundred flavors and to the Blessed One very costly robes.

After he had provided each of the monks with everything they needed, the king discharged the cow herders and buffalo herders back to their homes and departed. The cowherds thought, “This king is a true sovereign and a consummate ruler. While he goes on giving gifts and making merit, we are but the servants of others, deferential toward them, and subsist by eating their food. Their achievement of such a state is entirely the result of these three things: generosity, self-control, and self-restraint. Oh, but doubtless then we should adopt and adhere to a bit of virtuous Dharma!”

The five hundred cowherds resolved to extend an invitation to the Buddha and the rest of the saṅgha of monks. They prepared many good, wholesome foods and in the morning they rose, filled the water pots, and sent a message to the Blessed One reminding him it was time for the midday meal: “Lord, the midday meal is upon us. Know that the time has come, Blessed One, and your presence is requested.”

So that morning the Blessed One donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, he set out surrounded and escorted by an assembly of monks. They arrived at the appointed place near the cowherds’ pens and took a seat. Once the cowherds knew that the Buddha and the rest of the saṅgha of monks were comfortably seated, [F.79.b] by their own hands they contented them with many good, wholesome foods and with buttermilk from the cows and buffalo, proffering all that they wished. When they knew that they had finished eating and that their bowls had been taken away and their hands washed, the cowherds brought in very low seats and sat before the Blessed One to listen to the Dharma.

The Blessed One directly apprehended the thoughts, habitual tendencies, temperament, capacity, and nature61 of all five hundred of the cowherds, and taught them the Dharma accordingly. When they heard it, the five hundred cowherds and their families destroyed with the thunderbolt of wisdom the twenty high peaks of the mountain of views concerning the transitory collection, and manifested the resultant state of stream entry right where they sat.

They saw the truths and implored the Blessed One, “Blessed One, let us give up living at home to go forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One, in order to ford the floodwaters and completely escape our fetters with diligence, practice, and effort.” They appealed to King Prasenajit, handed their herds of cattle over to other cowherds, and bid farewell to everyone at home.

Then they approached the Blessed One, touched their heads to his feet, and made this request: “Lord, if permitted we wish to go forth in the Dharma and Vinaya so well spoken, complete our novitiates, and achieve full ordination. In the presence of the Blessed One, we too wish to practice the holy life.”

The Blessed One replied, “Come, join me, monks!” As soon as the Blessed One had finished speaking there they stood, [F.80.a] alms bowl and water pitcher in hand, with but a week’s worth of hair and beard, and with the deportment of a monk who had been ordained for one hundred years. As it is stated,

The Blessed One conferred on them instruction, and, casting away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, they manifested arhatship. As arhats, free from the attachments of the three realms, their minds regarded gold no differently than filth, and the palms of their hands as like space itself. They became cool like wet sandalwood. Their insight crushed ignorance like an eggshell. They achieved the insights, superknowledges, and discriminations. They had no regard for worldly profit, passion, or acclaim. They became objects of offering, veneration, and respectful address by Indra, Upendra, and the other gods.

After attaining arhatship they wondered, “Whom might we tame?” They saw they could tame their relatives, and, recognizing this, they went to their relatives and taught them the Dharma. They led them to live lives of perfect faith, to go for refuge, to maintain the fundamental precepts, and inspired them to give gifts and share what they had.

There was one cowherd among their relatives who did not have faith. Since she had not been able to go and see the Blessed One the other cowherds took her and brought her to the Blessed One. The cowherd saw the Blessed Buddha from a distance. His body, graced and resplendent with the thirty-two signs of a great person, looked like it was on fire, like flames stoked with ghee, [F.80.b] like a lamp set in a golden vessel, and like a pillar adorned with all manner of jewels. He was immaculate, clear-minded, and pure of heart. When she saw the Blessed Buddha the sight of him filled her with supreme joy, for beings who have gathered the roots of virtue to see a buddha for the first time experience such rapture as is not to be had even by those who practice calm abiding meditation for twelve years.

Experiencing such delight at the sight of the Blessed One, she looked around wondering, “Where can I get flowers to offer to the Blessed One?” Then she spotted some kośataka flowers not far in the distance. After gathering them up, she went to the Blessed One and scattered the kośataka flowers over him. She then touched her head to the Blessed One’s feet and sat before him to listen to the Dharma.

The Blessed One thought, “This young woman’s life will be very short. It is not long before she will die.” Realizing this, he taught her the Dharma particularly suited to her, and when she had understood all that the Blessed One had said, she took leave of him. Not long after she had gone, her bodily elements fell into disequilibrium. She died with a mind filled with joy toward the Blessed One, transmigrated, and passed on to rebirth in the realm of the gods.

Now when young gods and goddesses are born they possess three different types of innate knowledge. They know (1) whence they have died and transmigrated, (2) where they have been born, and (3) why they have taken birth there.

When she saw that she had scattered kośataka flowers over the Blessed One and felt joy toward him in her past life, she thought, “It’s been a whole day since I approached the Blessed One and offered him my respect. This isn’t proper of me. Not a day should pass without my seeing the Blessed One and offering him my respect.” [F.81.a]

So she decorated herself with earrings, garlands, and strings of precious stones, put on a crown decorated with various types of precious jewels, and perfumed her body with saffron, tamala, spṛka, and other herbs. Thus nobly attired, that night she filled the front of her long shirt with divine blue lotus, lotus, white water lily, white lotus, and mandārava flowers, and she approached the Blessed One. She scattered the divine blue lotus, lotus, white water lily, white lotus, and mandārava flowers over the Blessed One, touched her head to the Blessed One’s feet, and sat before him to listen to the Dharma.

The Blessed One directly apprehended her thoughts, habitual tendencies, temperament, capacity, and nature, and taught her the Dharma accordingly. When she heard it, the goddess destroyed with the thunderbolt of wisdom the twenty high peaks of the mountain of views concerning the transitory collection, and manifested the resultant state of stream entry right where she sat. Having seen the truths, she rose from her seat, touched her head to the Blessed One’s feet, circumambulated the Blessed One three times, and disappeared on the spot.

When she did that, the monks committed to practicing earnestly by foregoing sleep from dusk to dawn noticed many great rays of light spreading forth from the garden of Prince Jeta and wondered, “What was this? Last night, did Sahāṃpati Brahmā, or Śakra, King of the Gods‍—or perhaps the four great kings‍—come to offer respect to the Blessed One?”

They went to the Blessed One, and when they arrived, they touched their heads to his feet, and asked him, “Lord, we monks were maintaining our strict effort not to sleep at dusk and dawn, and [F.81.b] we noticed many great rays of light spreading forth from the garden of Prince Jeta. Lord, what was this? Last night, did Sahāṃpati Brahmā, or Śakra, King of the Gods‍—or perhaps the four great kings‍—come to offer respect to the Blessed One?”

“Monks, last night it was neither Sahāṃpati Brahmā, nor Śakra, King of the Gods, nor the four great kings who came to see me. Did you see the cowherd who offered me worship with kośataka flowers, touched her head to my feet, heard the Dharma from me, and departed?”

“Yes, Blessed One, we saw her.”

“Not long after she left, filled with joy at the thought of me, she died, transmigrated, and took rebirth as a god in the realm of the gods. Then she came here to see me and I taught the Dharma to her. Hearing the Dharma from me, she saw the truths, and having seen the truths, she went back to where she belongs.”

“Lord, what action did this cowherd take that ripened into her birth into a family of poor cowherds? What action did she take that after she died, she transmigrated and took rebirth in the realm of the gods? What action pleased the Blessed One, and did not displease him?”62

“Monks, it was partly her past actions, and it is partly her present actions as well,” the Blessed One replied.

“What actions did she commit in the past?”

“After she went forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely enlightened Buddha Kāśyapa and became a nun,” recounted the Blessed One, “she became quarrelsome and abusive. In anger she spoke harshly to a group of nuns, calling them cowherds.

“Then after practicing pure conduct all her life, at the time of her death she felt regret, and prayed, ‘While I may not have attained any great virtues, still I have gone forth like this in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa and practiced pure conduct all my life. Therefore, [F.82.a] may I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. May I not meet with the results of the wrongful act of speaking harshly to fellow practitioners of the holy life.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that nun then is now this selfsame cowherd. At that time she practiced pure conduct all her life, and at the time of her death, she prayed, ‘May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha.’

“So it is, monks, now that I myself have become the very equal of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa‍—equal in strength, equal in deeds, and equal in skillful means‍—that she has pleased me and not displeased me. These were her past actions.

“As for her present actions, the one who became that cowherd offered me worship with kośataka flowers, felt joy toward me, and took rebirth in the realm of the gods. Monks, these are her present actions.”

“Lord, what action did the other cowherds commit that ripened into their births into families of poor cowherds? What action did they take that ripened into their pleasing the Blessed One, not displeasing him, going forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One, casting away all afflictive emotions, and manifesting arhatship?”

“After they went forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa,” recounted the Blessed One, “they became quarrelsome and abusive. In anger they spoke harshly to the other monks, calling them cowherds. Then they [F.82.b] practiced pure conduct all their lives, and at the time of their deaths, they prayed, ‘May we please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. May we go forth in his doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship. And may we not meet with the results of the act of speaking harshly to those monks.’

“O monks, what do you think? The five hundred monks who went forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa then are none other than these five hundred monks who gave up cowherding to go forth. At that time, after they went forth, at the time of their deaths they prayed, ‘May we please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. May we go forth in his doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“So it is, monks, now that I myself have become the very equal of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa‍—equal in strength, equal in deeds, and equal in skillful means‍—that they have pleased me, not displeased me, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship. At that time, in anger they spoke harshly to the other monks, calling them cowherds, and they also failed to give gifts. So it is that they became poor cowherds, subsisting on the food of others.”

When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, there lived a band of five hundred friends. [F.83.a] From time to time when the flowers were blooming, they would walk into the gardens for fun playing music, enjoying themselves, and coupling. Then one day, as the lotus, blue lotus, white water lily, and white lotus flowers were in bloom, to have some fun they clad themselves in every type of adornment; took up garlands of lotus, blue lotus, white water lily, and white lotus flowers; festooned themselves with hats, earrings, and flower arrangements; and, each carrying an arrangement of blue lotuses, left Śrāvastī, and walked to the gardens with a flourish of cymbals.

The Blessed One had come to the region purely out of compassion for them, and in the morning he donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, went for alms in Śrāvastī. The band of friends saw him from a distance. His body, graced and resplendent with the thirty-two signs of a great person, looked like it was on fire, like flames stoked with ghee, like a lamp set in a golden vessel, and like a pillar adorned with all manner of jewels. He was immaculate, clear-minded, and pure of heart.

When they saw the Blessed Buddha the sight of him filled them with supreme joy. Full of such joy, they approached him, touched their heads to the Blessed One’s feet, scattered lotus, blue lotus, white water lily, and white lotus flowers over him, struck the cymbals, then circumambulated him three times and departed. At that moment the Blessed One smiled.

Now it is the nature of the blessed buddhas’ smiles that when they smile, colorful beams of blue, yellow, red, and white light radiate from their mouths [F.83.b], with some traveling up and others traveling down.

Those that travel down go to the beings in the Reviving Hell, the Black Thread Hell, the Crushing Hell, the Shrieking Hell, the Screaming Hell, the Hot Hell, the Hell of Extreme Heat, the Hell of Ceaseless Agony, the Blistering Hell, the Bursting Blister Hell, the Hell of Chattering Teeth, the Hell of Lamentation, the Cold Whimpering Hell, the Splitting Open Like a Blue Lotus Hell, the Splitting Open Like a Lotus Hell, and the Splitting Open Like a Great Lotus Hell, and as they descend they cool the beings in the hot hells, and warm the beings in the cold hells.

In this way they soothe the particular injuries of those beings, who wonder, “Have we died and been reborn somewhere other than this place?” Then, to engender faith in them, the blessed ones radiate an emanation, and when the beings see it, they think, “Alas, it is neither that we have died and left this place, nor that we have been born elsewhere. Rather it is because of the unprecedented appearance of this emanation that our particular injuries have been soothed.” They feel real joy toward the emanation, exhausting the deeds that brought them to experience the hells. Now, as fit vessels of the truths, they take rebirth among the gods and humans.

The rays of light that travel up go to the following gods: those of the Abodes of the Four Great Kings, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the Strifeless Heaven, Tuṣita Heaven, the Delighting in Creation Heaven, the Heaven of the Masters of Others’ Creations, and the Heaven of Brahmā’s Assembly; those of the realms called Brahmin Priests, Great Brahmā, Limited Splendor, [F.84.a] Immeasurable Splendor, Radiant Heaven, Lesser Virtue, Immeasurable Virtue, Extensive Virtue, and the Cloudless Heaven; and those of the realms called Increasing Merit, Great Result, None Greater, Sorrowless, Sublime Vision, Great Vision, and Supreme. There they sound a cry of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and selflessness, and they echo the following two verses:

Then the rays of light circle through the trichiliocosm and come back to the blessed ones. Should the blessed one wish to make a revelation about past deeds, they will disappear into the blessed one’s back. Should he wish to foretell the future, they will disappear into the chest. Should he wish to prophesy about a hell birth, they will disappear into the soles of the feet. Should he wish to prophesy about an animal birth, they will disappear into the heels. Should he wish to prophesy about birth as an anguished spirit, they will disappear into the big toe. Should he wish to prophesy about a human birth, they will disappear into the knees.

Should he wish to prophesy about someone’s becoming a great universal monarch, they will disappear into the palm of the left hand. Should he wish to prophesy about someone’s becoming a universal monarch, they will disappear into the palm of the right hand. Should he wish to prophesy about a god birth, they will disappear into the navel. [F.84.b] Should he wish to prophesy about the enlightenment of the listeners, they will disappear into the mouth. Should he wish to prophesy about the enlightenment of the solitary buddhas, they will disappear into the hair between the eyebrows. Should he wish to prophesy about an unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment, they will disappear into the crown of the head.

After these particular rays of light had circled the Blessed One three times, they disappeared into the hair between the Blessed One’s eyebrows. Then Venerable Ānanda joined his palms in reverence and praised the Blessed One with the following verse:

He then supplicated him with the following verses:

“Lord, if in the absence of the right causes and conditions the tathāgatas, the arhats, the totally and completely awakened buddhas do not smile, what are the causes and conditions that make them smile?”

“Ānanda, so it is,” the Blessed One replied. “It is just as you say, Ānanda. Without the right causes and conditions the tathāgatas, the arhats, the totally and completely awakened buddhas do not smile. Ānanda, did you see the band of friends who were venerating me?”

“Yes, Lord, I saw them,” replied Ānanda.

“Ānanda, because of their [F.85.a] roots of virtue, their states of mind, and the wholeheartedness of their generosity, they will not fall to the lower realms for thirteen eons. For thirteen eons they will take rebirth among gods and humans. After circling in saṃsāra, in their final rebirth, their final dwelling place, they will take birth as human beings. Then they will go forth and manifest the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment without a teacher or any instruction. They will manifest the enlightenment of a solitary buddha and become the solitary buddhas known as The Wishless Ones. That is what shall come of their act of generosity.”

The monks asked the Blessed One, “Lord, what wondrous actions did the Blessed One perform that ripened into the band of five hundred friends venerating him with lotus, blue lotus, white water lily, and white lotus flowers?”

“Monks,” replied the Blessed One, “the Tathāgata committed and accumulated the actions himself at a previous time. The actions I committed and accumulated did not ripen into the element of earth. They did not ripen into the external element of water, nor the element of fire, nor the element of wind. The actions I committed and accumulated, both virtuous and nonvirtuous, ripened into nothing but my own aggregates, sense bases, and constituent elements.

“Monks, in times gone by, two incalculable eons ago, the totally and completely awakened buddha possessed of insight and perfect conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, [F.85.b] the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Dīpaṃkara was in the world.

“One day as the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara was traveling through the countryside, he came to the royal palace known as Dīpavatī. During King Dīpa’s reign at Dīpavatī, the kingdom was prosperous, flourishing, happy, and well populated. The harvest was good, quarreling and arguments had ceased, there was no fighting or infighting, and there were no robbers, thieves, illness, or famine. Rice, sugarcane, cattle, and buffalo were plentiful. His was a reign in accord with the Dharma. He ruled the kingdom gently and mercifully, as a parent cares for a beloved only child.

“King Dīpa invited the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara into the city so that his feet might touch the ground there. In addition to King Dīpa, there was another king named Vāsava. King Dīpa sent him an envoy with a message that stated, ‘I am requesting the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara to come to the city so that his feet might touch the ground here. Come, for we must worship him.’

“King Vāsava had been performing twelve years of ritual offerings, and at the end of them he was to set forth five63 magnificent offerings: a golden staff, a small golden vase, a golden basin, a bed ornamented with four precious gems, five hundred gold coins, and a young woman wearing every type of adornment.

“At the same time there were two young brahmins from another province who were learning Vedic recitation from their teachers. They knew that they were expected to make offerings not only to the preceptor who instructed them in the Dharma, [F.86.a] but also to their spiritual master as well, and they sat wondering how this might be done.

“Then they heard that King Vāsava was to distribute five magnificent offerings at the end of his offering ritual, and that he would be granting them to the brahmin with the greatest mastery of recitation. Because the two of them had studied and memorized so much, they thought that they might go and win the offerings, as well as find out for certain which of them was the best. With all this in mind they set out for the city of King Vāsava.

“The gods informed the king about this, saying, ‘Two young brahmins named Sumati and Mati are coming here. You should make your magnificent offerings to the one called Sumati. Great King, the fruits of making such magnificent offerings to Sumati will be much greater than the fruits of all the ritual offerings you have performed these last twelve years.’

“The king thought, ‘These two young men must truly be great if the gods themselves are informing me about them.’ The king saw the young brahmins from a distance, their faces sweet and beautiful. When they arrived at the ritual offering site, they took their seats in the row reserved for brahmins. When King Vāsava saw the two of them, he thought, ‘No doubt this is the Sumati the gods were telling me about.’

“The king went to the row and asked the young brahmin Sumati, ‘Are you the brahmin Sumati?’

“ ‘I am he,’ he replied.

“Then King Vāsava placed the young brahmin at the head of the row,64 gave him food, and presented him with the five magnificent offerings. The young brahmin Sumati [F.86.b] accepted four of the great gifts: the golden staff, the vase, and so forth. But he left one of the magnificent offerings aside‍—the only gift he did not accept was that of the young woman. He explained, ‘I am practicing the holy life.’

“The young woman saw that the young brahmin Sumati was well proportioned and beautiful, and she became quite attached to him and fell in love. She said to the young brahmin Sumati, ‘Brahmin Sumati, please, accept me.’

“ ‘It wouldn’t be right for me to do so,’ he said.

“Since the king had set her at liberty, expecting to give her away, and the young brahmin Sumati had refused her as well, the young woman traveled to Dīpavatī, the royal city of King Dīpa. When she got there, she removed all the adornments from her body and handed them to a flower-garland maker.

“ ‘These adornments are very valuable,’ she said, ‘so now, every day, you must give me a blue lotus so that I can worship my deity.’ After handing him the golden adornments just as she had said, she began her veneration of the deity.

“Meanwhile,65 the young brahmin Sumati gathered up all four of the other magnificent offerings and approached his preceptor. When he got there he presented all four of those magnificent offerings to his preceptor. Of those four, the preceptor likewise kept only three and gave the five hundred gold coins back to Sumati.

“That night Sumati had ten different dreams: that he was drinking a great ocean; that he was flying; that he touched the radiant sun and moon and took them up into his arms; that he caused kings to carry a chariot; and that he rode atop a sage, a white elephant, a swan, a lion, and a great boulder.66 He awoke from these dreams, and when he did, he wondered who might prophesy about their significance.

“Not far off there lived a sage who had all the five superknowledges. [F.87.a] The young brahmin Sumati approached the sage to dispel his doubts about his dreams. He made pleasant conversation with him, told him about his dreams, and made his request, saying, ‘Please divine the meaning of these ten dreams.’

“ ‘I cannot divine your dreams,’ the sage told him. ‘You should go to the royal palace of Dīpavatī instead. King Dīpa has invited the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara so that his feet might touch the ground there. He will divine these dreams for you.’

“King Vāsava, heeding King Dīpa’s message, had gone to King Dīpa’s palace with a suite of eighty thousand ministers. After seven days had passed, King Dīpa thought, ‘I shall invite the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara into the city so that his feet might touch the ground here.’ He began to gather all the flowers from the city and the surrounding countryside. Then the day arrived on which King Dīpa had invited the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara to come to the city so that his feet might touch the ground there.

“This was also the same day on which the young brahmin Sumati arrived. The king had already gathered up all the flowers, so when the young woman, thinking to venerate her deity, went to the flower-garland maker and said, ‘One blue lotus, please, for the veneration of my deity,’ the garland maker replied, ‘Today the king has gathered up all the flowers for the Buddha’s arrival.’

“ ‘Go and look in that flower pond, there,’ she replied, ‘for, because of my merit, you may find a blue lotus there that has not been plucked.’

“By the power of Sumati’s merit, seven blue lotuses had indeed appeared in the lotus pond. [F.87.b] The garland maker went there and saw them, and the young woman asked him, ‘Can you pluck those blue lotuses for me?’

The garland maker responded, ‘I cannot pluck them. His Highness will punish me.’

“ ‘You plucked all the flowers before to offer to the king, didn’t you?’ she asked.

“ ‘Yes, I did,’ he replied.

“ ‘Then it is by the power of my merit that these have grown,’ said the young woman, ‘so pluck them, please, and give them to me.’

The garland maker asked her, ‘How will you carry them away from the lake without His Highness seeing you?’

“ ‘They grew by the power of my merit,’ said the young woman, ‘so please pick them. I’ll hide them in my water jug, and carry them that way.’ Reassured, the garland maker plucked the flowers and gave them to the young woman. She took them and put them inside her water jug, then filled the jug with water and set out for the city.

“Sumati had already arrived in the city, and he thought to himself, ‘It’s not right of me to be without an offering for the Blessed One.’ He went around to the homes of all the flower-garland makers, hoping for any kind of flower, but he could not find a single one. When at last he emerged from the western gate of the city, he circled from garden to garden, hoping for any kind of flower, but still he could not find a single one.

“Then, after circling all about, the young brahmin Sumati was walking into a garden just as the young woman was coming out of it and he bumped right into her. By the power of Sumati’s merit, all the blue lotus flowers rose out of the water jar.

“When he saw the flowers, Sumati said to the young woman, ‘I’ll pay you five hundred gold coins [F.88.a] to give me all those blue lotuses.’

“ ‘You wouldn’t accept me before,’ the young woman replied. ‘Now you want my lotuses? I won’t offer them to you.’ But having said this, she asked the young brahmin Sumati, ‘What do you want them for?’

“ ‘To offer to the Blessed One,’ Sumati replied.

The young woman said, ‘I don’t need your gold coins. I want the result of offering you these blue lotuses to be that throughout all our lives I become your queen. I’ll give them to you if you’ll pray, ‘By giving me this gift, in all our lives may she be my wife.’

“ ‘I’m a person who takes joy in giving,’ Sumati said, ‘one who would give away his wife and child. I would even give away my own flesh.’

“ ‘First, pray that it be so,’ the young woman said. ‘After that, you can give me to whomever you please.’ With this, the young woman handed five lotuses to Sumati. She took the remaining two herself and recited the following verse:

“Meanwhile, after having the entire city cleared of stones, pebbles, and gravel, the king ordered that banners and flags be hoisted, archways festooned, silk tassels hung, and fragrant water and incense powder scattered about. And when the stones, pebbles, and gravel had been cleared from the city gates up to the monastery, and banners, [F.88.b] flags, and pediments set in place, silk tassels hung, and fragrant water and incense powder scattered about, the king, carrying a hundred-ribbed parasol, went out to receive the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara.

“The ministers likewise went out to receive him, as did King Vāsava and his ministers. The king touched his head to the feet of the Blessed One and implored him, ‘Blessed One, may it please you to enter the city.’ The Blessed One, accompanied by the saṅgha of monks, turned to face the city, and began to walk, as King Dīpa held the hundred-ribbed parasol steady over the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara.

“The ministers, along with King Vāsava and his ministers, also all held their parasols over him, and the Blessed One emanated himself in such a way that each of them thought, ‘I’m the one holding a parasol over the Blessed One!’ The Blessed One, in all his splendor, came to the city gate, assumed authority, and placed his foot upon the threshold. The moment that the Blessed One placed his foot upon the threshold the earth quaked six different ways: it quivered, shuddered, and jolted; it trembled, shook, and swayed.67

“Whenever the blessed ones assume authority and set foot upon the threshold of a city gate all manner of marvels naturally take place. Persons with psychosis find their minds regain their function. Persons with blindness find their eyes can see. Persons with deafness find their ears can hear. Persons with speech disabilities find themselves able to [F.89.a] speak. Persons with impediments to their mobility find that they can walk. Persons unable to have children find themselves happily bringing forth. Sentient beings who are pilloried, or whose feet are bound or locked in stocks, find themselves liberated from bondage. Persons of lifelong enmity achieve, in an instant, minds of love. Calves break their ropes and go to their mothers. Elephants trumpet. Horses bray. The head of every herd sounds a signal cry. Parrots, mountain birds, cuckoos, and jīvaṃjīva birds each call out their songs.

“Musical instruments resound without being played. Ornaments jingle inside their containers. The highlands sink down and the lowlands rise up. Stones, pebbles, and gravel all disappear. The gods in the sky let fall divine blue lotus, white water lily, and white lotus flowers, and scatter agaru powder, fragrant tagara powder, sandalwood powder, tamala powder, and divine mandārava flowers as well. The east sinks down and the west rises up. The west sinks down and the east rises up. The south sinks down and the north rises up. The north sinks down and the south rises up. The middle sinks down and the edges rise up. The edges sink down and the middle rises up.

“At the royal palace of Dīpavatī, a crowd of hundreds of thousands of beings worshiped the Blessed One with flowers and burning incense sticks and cones. Sumati, Mati, and the young woman approached the totally and completely awakened Dīpaṃkara carrying their lotuses, but the place was crowded [F.89.b] with worshipers, and they could not join the Blessed One’s audience.

“Thereupon the Blessed One thought, ‘The young brahmin Sumati’s merit will increase more than that of all those in this great crowd,’ and he emanated a strong, gusty rain. After the great crowd of people had their chance, the young brahmin Sumati’s turn finally came.68

“As he beheld the captivating Blessed One he was elated. In his joy he scattered all five of his lotuses over the Blessed One, whereupon the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara performed a miracle of transforming them all into a canopy above him, the size of a chariot wheel, that moved when the Blessed One moved and remained still when he was still.

“When the young woman saw what had taken place, she was also filled with joy. After she scattered her two blue lotuses over the Blessed One, they were also blessed so that they transformed into two canopies the size of chariot wheels over the Blessed One’s ears.

“The strong, gusty rain had turned the whole area to mud, and as the Blessed One started to walk across the muddy area, the young brahmin Sumati spread his hair on the muddy ground before the Blessed One, and said in verse,

“Then the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara placed his feet upon the young brahmin Sumati’s hair.

“Then Mati, who had accompanied the young brahmin Sumati and sat with him, said in anger, ‘See how the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara tramples the hair of this young brahmin as if it were an animal hide!’ [F.90.a] Then the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara issued the following prophecy of the young brahmin Sumati’s awakening:

“The very moment that the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara prophesied of the young brahmin Sumati’s awakening, Sumati rose into the sky to the height of seven palm trees. His old hair fell away, and in its place a halo of new hair appeared. The great crowd saw him hovering in the sky, and they began to pray, ‘When he achieves unexcelled wisdom, may we become his disciples.’ The young woman also recited the following prayer:

“King Dīpa picked up the hair that had fallen away after the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara had prophesied about the young brahmin Sumati’s awakening, and King Vāsava said, ‘Give me that hair.’ King Dīpa gave the hair to him, and King Vāsava took it and counted it. There were eighty thousand strands of hair, so the king’s ministers beseeched him, ‘Deva, we would like to request that you give each of us one strand of hair, for we wish to make stūpas of them.’

“The king gave a strand of hair to each of his ministers, [F.90.b] who returned to their provinces and built stūpas. When the young brahmin Sumati’s unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment was prophesied, King Dīpa, King Vāsava, and the inhabitants of the cities and the countryside, seeing the great good that would come of building the stūpas, provided all that was necessary for the ministers to do so.

“Then Sumati asked the young brahmin Mati, ‘What was going through your mind as he prophesied my unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment?’

“ ‘What I thought wasn’t right,’ he replied.

“ ‘What was so wrong about it?’ asked the young brahmin Sumati.

“ ‘I got angry when the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara stepped69 on your hair, and I said, ‘See how the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara tramples the young brahmin Sumati’s hair with his foot as if it were an animal hide!’

“Sumati replied, ‘Come! Let us go forth in the presence of the Blessed Buddha.’

Sumati and Mati both went forth in the teaching of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Dīpaṃkara. Having gone forth, Sumati studied the Tripiṭaka and gathered disciples in accord with the Dharma. Then the young brahmin Sumati died, transmigrated, and took rebirth in the Tuṣita Heaven. As for the young brahmin Mati, after he died, he transmigrated and took rebirth as a hell being.

“O monks, what do you think? I am the one who was the young brahmin Sumati then, and who was established in the bodhisattva practice. The act of my offering blue lotuses to Buddha Dīpaṃkara ripened and caused me to experience great happiness in saṁsāra. That root of virtue became the sole cause, condition, and accumulation of my unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment, and up to this day the ripening of that action is the reason that the band of five hundred friends have made offerings to me in the same way.” [F.91.a] [B8]

As the Blessed One was traveling from Śrāvastī to Rājagṛha, he came to a certain place in the wilderness where, under the shade of the trees, he paused to rest a moment before continuing.

Up ahead, Venerable Ānanda saw a fork in the path. There was great danger of lions on the path, so he asked the Blessed One, “Lord, the road forks here. One way is direct but dangerous; the other is meandering but safe. Lord, by which path should we proceed?”

The Blessed One replied, “Ānanda, wherever the tathāgatas, the arhats, the totally and completely awakened buddhas dwell there is nothing to fear, and no need to be scared or anxious, so lead us down the direct path.”

Two children from the village were playing not far from where the Blessed One stood. One of them was holding a tiny drum. The other clasped a bow and arrow. The two of them saw the Blessed One from a distance, graced and resplendent with the thirty-two excellent marks of a great person. They looked at the Blessed Buddha, and the sight of him filled them with happiness. Happily they approached the Blessed One, and when they arrived they touched their heads to the Blessed One’s feet and requested of him, “Lord, though there is great danger of lions on this path, please allow us to escort the Blessed One.”

The Blessed One asked, “Children, what will you do if the threat of lions becomes imminent?”

The first one replied, “Lord, I’ll scare them with the sound of my drum!”70 [F.91.b]

And the other replied, “I’ll scare them with the sound of my bow and arrow!”

The children walked on ahead of the Blessed One, and the Blessed One thought, “These two have already produced roots of virtue.” With this thought, the Blessed One told them, “Children, by your mere happiness the two of you have already escorted me to safety. You may be on your way now,” and the two children departed. At that moment, the Blessed One smiled.

Now it is the nature of the blessed buddhas’ smiles that when they smile, colorful beams of blue, yellow, red, and white light radiate from their mouths, with some traveling up and others traveling down.

Those that travel down go to the beings in the Reviving Hell, the Black Thread Hell, the Crushing Hell, the Shrieking Hell, the Screaming Hell, the Hot Hell, the Hell of Extreme Heat, the Hell of Ceaseless Agony, the Blistering Hell, the Bursting Blister Hell, the Hell of Chattering Teeth, the Hell of Lamentation, the Cold Whimpering Hell, the Splitting Open Like a Blue Lotus Hell, the Splitting Open Like a Lotus Hell, and the Splitting Open Like a Great Lotus Hell, and as they descend they cool the beings in the hot hells, and warm the beings in the cold hells.

In this way they soothe the particular injuries of those beings, who wonder, “Have we died and been reborn somewhere other than this place?” Then, to engender faith in them, the blessed ones radiate an emanation, and when the beings see it, they think, “Alas, it is neither that we have died and left this place, nor that we have been born elsewhere. Rather it is because of the unprecedented appearance of this emanation that our particular injuries have been soothed.” They feel real joy toward the emanation, exhausting the deeds that brought them to experience the hells. [F.92.a] Now, as fit vessels of the truths, they take rebirth among the gods and humans.

The rays of light that travel up go to the following gods: those of the Abodes of the Four Great Kings, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the Strifeless Heaven, Tuṣita Heaven, the Delighting in Creation Heaven, the Heaven of the Masters of Others’ Creations, and the Heaven of Brahmā’s Assembly; those of the realms called Brahmin Priests, Great Brahmā, Limited Splendor, Immeasurable Splendor, Radiant Heaven, Lesser Virtue, Immeasurable Virtue, Extensive Virtue, and the Cloudless Heaven; and those of the realms called Increasing Merit, Great Result, None Greater, Sorrowless, Sublime Vision, Great Vision, and Supreme. There they sound a cry of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and selflessness, and they echo the following two verses:

Then the rays of light circle through the trichiliocosm and come back to the blessed ones. Should the blessed one wish to make a revelation about past deeds, they will disappear into the Blessed One’s back. Should he wish to foretell the future, they will disappear into the chest. Should he wish to prophesy about a hell birth, they will disappear into the soles of the feet. Should he wish to prophesy about an animal birth, they will disappear into the heels. Should he wish to prophesy about birth as an anguished spirit, they will disappear into the big toe. [F.92.b] Should he wish to prophesy about a human birth, they will disappear into the knees. Should he wish to prophesy about someone’s becoming a great universal monarch, they will disappear into the palm of the left hand. Should he wish to prophesy about someone’s becoming a universal monarch, they will disappear into the palm of the right hand. Should he wish to prophesy about a god birth, they will disappear into the navel. Should he wish to prophesy about the enlightenment of the listeners, they will disappear into the mouth. Should he wish to prophesy about the enlightenment of the solitary buddhas, they will disappear into the hair between the eyebrows. Should he wish to prophesy about an unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment, they will disappear into the crown of the head.

After these particular rays of light had circled the Blessed One three times, they disappeared into the hair between the Blessed One’s eyebrows. Then Venerable Ānanda joined his palms in reverence and praised the Blessed One with the following verse:

He then supplicated him with the following verses:

“Lord, if in the absence of the right causes and conditions the tathāgatas, the arhats, the totally and completely awakened buddhas do not smile, what are the causes and conditions that make them smile?”

“Ānanda, so it is,” replied the Blessed One. [F.93.a] “It is just as you say, Ānanda. Without the right causes and conditions the tathāgatas, the arhats, the totally and completely awakened buddhas do not smile. Ānanda, did you see those two children who offered to serve me?”

“Yes, Lord, I saw them,” said Ānanda.

“Ānanda, by the roots of the virtue of these children’s actions, the happiness they felt toward me, and the wholeheartedness of their generosity, they will not fall to the lower realms for thirteen eons. For thirteen eons they will take rebirth among gods and humans. After circling in saṃsāra, in their final rebirth, their final dwelling place, they will take birth as a human being. Then they will go forth and manifest the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment without a teacher or any instruction. One will manifest the enlightenment of a solitary buddha and become the solitary buddha known as Dundubhisvara, and the other will be known as Abhaya. That is what shall come of their act of generosity.”

When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, there lived a certain householder, prosperous and wealthy, a person of vast and magnificent means, endowed with the wealth of Vaiśravaṇa‍—with wealth to rival Vaiśravaṇa’s. When the time came for him to marry, he took a wife and they enjoyed themselves and coupled.

One day his wife conceived, and when she did she found herself suddenly adorned by all manner of adornments. Parasols, banners, and flags fluttered from the top of the palatial house; different kinds of flowers had been strewn and sundry fragrances sprinkled about; and as she sat upon her bed she found she was surrounded by a retinue of women.

“Oh my! Has my wife been possessed [F.93.b] by a ghost?” the householder wondered, and he brought her to the soothsayers.

“No,” the soothsayers told him, “she has not been possessed by a ghost. All this has taken place on account of the being in her womb.”

Then after nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, beautiful, and decorated with adornments, who bore no trace of the womb, or of the placenta, or of blood.

Every time the women wanted to bathe him and would remove one of his adornments, another would appear. When they so much as loosened one and moved it aside, another would appear in its place.

“These adornments have arisen as a result of his merit,” his mother told them. “Don’t remove them. Just wash him with the adornments on.”

So the nurses bathed him with the adornments on. When they placed him on his bed it disappeared and a celestial bed appeared in its place. Also, in place of their palatial home, there appeared a multistoried celestial palace, with fluttering parasols, banners, and flags, and different kinds of flowers and fragrances strewn and sprinkled all about. In that multistoried palace, on the pillows of his celestial bed, a divine pillar appeared as well, made of gold inlaid with precious stones. In front of the pillar four great treasures appeared, brimming with jewels that never seemed to increase or decrease, even if hundreds or thousands of them were removed.

When his parents saw all this they were ecstatic. At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they asked, “What name should we give this child?” And they named him, saying, “Since the house filled up like a lake of jewels when this child was born, his name will be Lake of Jewels.”

Young Lake of Jewels was brought up by eight nurses‍—two nurses to hold him in their laps, two wet nurses, two nurses to bathe him, and two nurses to play with him. [F.94.a] They reared him on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids. They raised him with a protection cord and the eye of a female peacock feather, and he flourished like a lotus in a lake. Wherever he walked, nonhuman spirits unfurled great lengths of new, untouched cloth and strewed different kinds of flowers on the ground before him.

As he grew up, he studied letters, tallying, and arithmetic; the study of seals, lending, deposits, and commerce; and the examination of cloth, jewels, gems, incense, medicine, elephants, horses, and arms and armor. He became skilled in writing, skilled at reading, learned, decisive, and industrious, a master of the eight types of examination.

The houses and gardens that his father had prepared for them to live in during winter, spring, and summer all also became celestial gardens with parasols, banners, and flags, and different kinds of flowers and fragrances strewn and sprinkled about. When he was old enough for sensual pleasures, divine goddesses appeared. If he went to sit on the roof of the house, women came and played music for him, and all of the enjoyment and coupling in which he partook was the ripening of his own merit.

Then, after some time, he began to deeply admire the Buddha, deeply admire the Dharma, and deeply admire the Saṅgha. He thought, “I have experienced every pleasure, human and divine. I must go forth in the Dharma and Vinaya so well spoken, in order to ford the floodwaters and completely escape my fetters with diligence, practice, and effort!” [F.94.b]

He gave gifts and made merit, and after he had made many poor people wealthy, he went forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One. After his going forth, wherever he traveled, there celestial beds would appear. Wherever he walked, nonhuman beings unfurled great lengths of new, untouched cloth and strewed different kinds of flowers on the ground before him. He found all this very embarrassing, so the Blessed One told him, “If you sincerely stop being concerned with them, they will go away.” As soon as he heard this, he stopped being so concerned with them, and they went away.

Then, casting away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, he manifested arhatship. As an arhat, free from the attachments of the three realms, his mind regarded gold no differently than filth, and the palms of his hands as like space itself. He became cool like wet sandalwood. His insight crushed ignorance like an eggshell. He achieved the insights, superknowledges, and discriminations. He had no regard for worldly profit, passion, or acclaim. He became an object of offering, veneration, and respectful address by Indra, Upendra, and the other gods.

The monks asked the Blessed One, “Lord, what action did Lake of Jewels take that ripened into his birth into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth, and that he was of good form, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, adorned with every type of adornment, and born without any trace of the womb, or of the placenta, or of blood; that upon his birth a multistoried celestial mansion, a celestial bed, and a divine pillar appeared; that wherever he walked, [F.95.a] nonhuman beings unfurled great lengths of new, untouched cloth and strewed different kinds of flowers on the ground before him; that when he grew up, there came to him glories both human and divine; and that he pleased the Blessed One, did not displease him, went forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship?”

“It came about by the power of his prayers,” the Blessed One replied.

“Lord, where did he make these prayers?”

“Monks,” the Blessed One explained, “in times past, in this fortunate eon, when people lived as long as twenty thousand years and the tathāgata, the arhat, the totally and completely awakened buddha possessed of insight and perfect conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Kāśyapa was in the world, there lived in Śrāvastī a certain householder, prosperous and wealthy, a person of vast and magnificent means, endowed with the wealth of Vaiśravaṇa‍—with wealth to rival Vaiśravaṇa’s.

“He began to deeply admire the Buddha, deeply admire the Dharma, and deeply admire the Saṅgha, so he built a monastery complete in every respect and invited the Blessed Kāśyapa and the rest of the saṅgha of monks to that very temple for food and to take their baths.

“That night he prepared everything that was needed for the baths and set forth foods of a hundred flavors, and after inviting the Blessed Kāśyapa and the rest of the saṅgha of monks to take their baths, he contented them with the foods of a hundred flavors. [F.95.b] He then brought the hair and nails of the Blessed One into the monastery, and commissioned that a reliquary stūpa containing the hair and nails of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa be built there. Assembling the workers, he had the stūpa built without delay, complete in every respect.

“One day he looked and saw that the stūpa had been defiled by birds, so to cover it he built a tall, arched enclosure with open windows and screened windows.71 Then he covered it with a canopy and put up parasols, victory banners, and flags.

“On the grounds inside and on the floor of the stūpa itself he laid flowers, burning sticks of incense, incense powders, and incense cones;72 performed veneration with music; and prayed, ‘By this root of virtue, wherever I am born, may it be into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth. May I be well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, and be born covered with adornments and without any trace of the womb, or of the placenta, or of blood. Upon my birth, may there appear a multistoried celestial mansion, a celestial bed, and a divine pillar made of gold inlaid with precious stones. In front of the pillar may great treasures appear, brimming with jewels that never seem to increase or decrease, even if hundreds or thousands of them are removed. When I am grown, may there come to me glories both human and divine. May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone may I cast away all afflictive emotions and manifest arhatship.’ [F.96.a]

“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that householder then is none other than Lake of Jewels. The acts of venerating the Blessed Kāśyapa and the others in the saṅgha of his disciples, building a reliquary stūpa containing the Buddha’s hair and nails that was complete in every respect, and praying, ripened such that wherever he was born, it was into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth, and he was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, decorated with every ornament, and born without any trace of the womb, or of the placenta, or of blood. Upon his birth a multistoried celestial mansion, a celestial bed, and a divine pillar appeared, and when he grew up there came to him glories both human and divine.

“So it is, monks, now that I myself have become the very equal of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa‍—equal in strength, equal in deeds, and equal in skillful means‍—that he has pleased me, not displeased me, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.”

As the Blessed One was making his way through the countryside in Kāśi, he came to Vārāṇasī. At that time, the group of five monks were staying in Vārāṇasī, in the Ṛṣivadana.73

Now the group of five monks saw the Blessed One from a distance. Seeing him, they gathered together and made an agreement among themselves, saying “My, how the ascetic Gautama has become so lazy and so indolent, no longer keeping his fast. How much food he eats now‍—cooked rice and milled grains! He anoints his body with ghee and sesame oil and bathes with warm water. He’s coming toward us! Let us say to him, ‘Hello, Gautama. There are seats here, so [F.96.b] go ahead and sit if you want to,’ but let’s not address him respectfully, nor bow to him, nor rise from our seats to greet him.”

But as the Blessed One got closer to the group of five monks they were overwhelmed by his radiant glory until they found themselves incapable of treating him with disrespect. One of them rose from his seat and set out a cushion for him. Another readied cool water for him to wash his feet and positioned a footrest for him. A third stood up and held the edge of his robe. “This way, Gautama‍—if you please! Welcome, Gautama! O Gautama, please have a seat on this cushion we have prepared for you,” they said.

Then the Blessed One thought, “It seems these foolish persons have forgotten the agreement they made among themselves,” and he sat on the seat they had prepared for him.

The group of five monks began to address the Blessed One merely by his given name, or by his surname, or as an ordinary monk. Thereupon the Blessed One told the group of five monks, “Monks, do not address the Tathāgata merely by his given name, nor by his surname, nor as an ordinary monk. If you do so, harm will befall you for a long time, and you will not benefit, but suffer. The reason for this, monks, is that harm comes to those who address the Tathāgata, the arhat, the totally and completely awakened buddha merely by his given name, or by his surname, or as an ordinary monk, and they do not benefit, but suffer.”

“Gautama,” they said, “your bearing, conduct, and previous mortifications were all superhuman, and indeed it is possible that you have achieved perfection, the wisdom particular to the noble ones, or that you live amid a feeling of bliss. [F.97.a] But how can we know if this is true, for now you have become so lazy and so indolent, no longer keeping your fast. You eat so much‍—cooked rice and milled grains! And you anoint your body with ghee and sesame oil and bathe with warm water.”

The Blessed One asked the group of five monks, “Monks, do you see that now the Tathāgata’s complexion and faculties are not the same as they were before?”

“Yes, Gautama, we see,” they replied.

The Blessed One continued,74 “Monks, there are two extremes toward which renunciants should not tend. You should not draw near to nor even approach them. What are they? They are the tendency toward seductive luxuries, which for city dwellers have become customary and for ordinary people a habit, and the tendency toward self-inflicted hardships, which are a form of suffering, do not belong to the noble Dharma, and are in fact harmful. For those who keep their distance from these two extremes, there is a middle way that fully enlightens, passes beyond all sorrow, gives rise to the eye of wisdom, and brings true peace. What is this middle way? It is the eightfold path: right view, right understanding, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation.”

The Blessed One instructed the group of five monks as follows. In the morning, the Blessed One gave a teaching to two of the five monks while the other three went for alms in the village. The six of them then prepared a meal of whatever food those three brought back. In the evening, the Blessed One instructed the three monks while the other two went for alms in the village. [F.97.b] Only the group of five monks prepared a meal of whatever food those two brought back, since the Blessed One had already taken his food in the morning.

That evening the Blessed One addressed the group of five monks:

“Monks, regarding things not previously heard,75 when I had reflected thoroughly, vision arose, and insight, knowledge, and understanding arose, as I thought, ‘This is suffering, the truth of noble beings.’76

“Monks, regarding things not previously heard, when I had reflected thoroughly, vision arose, and insight, knowledge, and understanding arose, as I thought, ‘This is the origin of suffering, this is the cessation of suffering, and this is the path that leads to the cessation of suffering‍—the truths of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things not previously heard, when I had reflected thoroughly, vision arose, and insight, knowledge, and understanding arose, as I thought, ‘With higher knowledge I should comprehend suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things not previously heard, when I had reflected thoroughly, vision arose, and insight, knowledge, and understanding arose, as I thought, ‘With higher knowledge I should relinquish the origin of suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things not previously heard, when I had reflected thoroughly, vision arose, and insight, knowledge, and understanding arose, as I thought, ‘With higher knowledge I should actualize the cessation of suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things not previously heard, when I had reflected thoroughly, vision arose, and insight, knowledge, and understanding arose, as I thought, ‘With higher knowledge I should cultivate the path that leads to the cessation of suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things not previously heard, when I had reflected thoroughly, vision arose, and insight, knowledge, and understanding arose, as I thought, ‘With higher knowledge I have comprehended suffering, that truth of noble beings.’ [F.98.a]

“Monks, regarding things not previously heard, when I had reflected thoroughly, vision arose, and insight, knowledge, and understanding arose, as I thought, ‘With higher knowledge I have relinquished the origin of suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things not previously heard, when I had reflected thoroughly, vision arose, and insight, knowledge, and understanding arose, as I thought, ‘With higher knowledge I have actualized the cessation of suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, regarding things not previously heard, when I had reflected thoroughly, vision arose, and insight, knowledge, and understanding arose, as I thought, ‘With higher knowledge I have cultivated the path that leads to the cessation of suffering, that truth of noble beings.’

“Monks, as long as I had not achieved the vision, insight, knowledge, and understanding of the four truths of noble beings in their three phases and twelve aspects, I had not been freed from the world of devas, māras, and brahmās, from its living beings including mendicants and brahmins, from its living beings including humans and gods. I had not escaped from it, severed ties with it, or been delivered from it. Nor did I dwell fully with a mind free from error. Monks, I did not have the understanding that I had fully awakened to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood.

“Monks, once I had achieved the vision, insight, knowledge, and understanding of the four truths of noble beings in their three phases and twelve aspects, I was freed from the world of devas, māras, and brahmās, from its living beings including mendicants and brahmins, from its living beings including humans and gods. I had escaped from it, severed ties with it, and been delivered from it. I dwelled fully with a mind free from error. [F.98.b] Monks, then I had the understanding that I had fully awakened to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood.”

When the Blessed One had given this Dharma teaching, Venerable Kauṇḍinya achieved the Dharma vision that is free from dust and stainless with regard to phenomena.

The Blessed One now asked Venerable Kauṇḍinya, “Kauṇḍinya, have you understood the Dharma?”

“Yes, Blessed One, I have.”

“Kauṇḍinya, have you understood the Dharma? Have you understood?”

“Yes, Sugata, I have understood it. I understand.”

“Because Venerable Kauṇḍinya has understood the Dharma, he shall be called Ājñāta­kauṇḍinya.”77

When this Dharma teaching had been explained, the terrestrial yakṣas began to chatter and sing, “Friends, in Vārāṇasī, in the woods of the deer park at Ṛṣivadana, for the great benefit of many, to the delight of many, out of compassion for this transient world, for the well-being and benefit of gods and human beings, in accord with the Dharma, the Blessed One has turned the wheel of the Dharma in its three phases and twelve aspects. In all the world, no one has turned such a wheel of Dharma in its three phases and twelve aspects‍—neither ascetics, brahmins, gods, māras, Brahmā himself, nor anyone else. Its turning will swell the ranks of those in the realm of the gods and diminish the number of those in the realm of the demigods.”

When they heard the terrestrial yakṣas, all the celestial yakṣas and the gods in the Abodes of the Four Great Kings, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the Strifeless Heaven, the Tuṣita Heaven, the Delighting in Creation Heaven, and the Heaven of the Masters of Others’ Creations also began to chatter and sing, and what they said immediately thundered throughout Brahmāloka.

The gods of Brahmāloka also began to chatter and sing, saying, “Friends, in Vārāṇasī, [F.99.a] in the woods of the deer park at Ṛṣivadana, for the great benefit of many, to the delight of many, out of compassion for this transient world, for the well-being and benefit of gods and human beings, in accord with the Dharma, the Blessed One has turned the wheel of the Dharma in its three phases and twelve aspects.

“In all the world, no one has turned such a wheel of Dharma in its three phases and twelve aspects‍—neither ascetics, brahmins, gods, māras, Brahmā himself, nor anyone else. Its turning will swell the ranks of those in the realm of the gods and diminish the number of those in the realm of the demigods.”

In Vārāṇasī, in the woods of the deer park at Ṛṣivadana, in accord with the Dharma, the Blessed One has turned the wheel of the Dharma in its three phases and twelve aspects. That is why this Dharma discourse is known as Turning the Wheel of the Dharma.

The Blessed One addressed the group of five monks a second time:

“Monks, these are the four truths of noble beings: the truth of noble beings that is suffering, the truth of noble beings that is the origin of suffering, the truth of noble beings that is the cessation of suffering, and the truth of noble beings that is the path leading to the cessation of suffering.

“What is the truth of noble beings that is suffering? It is the suffering of birth, the suffering of aging, the suffering of sickness, and the suffering of death. It is the suffering of not having what you want, the suffering of getting what you do not want, and the suffering of seeking what you desire and not finding it. In short, it is the suffering of the five aggregates for appropriation. This is known as the truth of the noble ones that is suffering. In order to comprehend it one should cultivate the noble eightfold path: right view, right understanding, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and the eighth, right meditative concentration.

“What is the truth of the noble ones that is the origin of suffering? It is what causes you to take rebirth. It is the arising of delight that is bound up with attachment. [F.99.b] It is craving that is captivated by this and that. This is what we call the truth of the noble ones that is the origin of suffering. In order to relinquish it, one should cultivate the noble eightfold path: right view, right understanding, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and the eighth, right meditative concentration.

“What is the truth of the noble ones that is the cessation of suffering? It is the complete casting away, tossing aside, clearing out, exhaustion, removal, cessation, alleviation, and disappearance of any and every single thing that causes you to take rebirth; the disappearance of delight that is bound up with attachment; and the disappearance of craving that is captivated by this and that. This is what we call the truth of the noble ones that is the cessation of suffering. In order to actualize it, one should cultivate the noble eightfold path: right view, right understanding, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and the eighth, right meditative concentration.

“What is the noble truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering? It is the noble eightfold path. One should thus cultivate right view, right understanding, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and the eighth, right meditative concentration.”

When this Dharma teaching had been explained, Venerable Ājñāta­kauṇḍinya’s mind was freed from the defilements, without any further appropriation. The others among the five monks achieved the Dharma vision that is free from dust and stainless with regard to phenomena. At that moment the first arhat came into the world. Including the Blessed One, now there were two.

The Blessed One then addressed the other monks in the group of five:

“Monks, form is not the self. Monks, [F.100.a] if form were the self, then it would not be logical that form is subject to injury and suffering, and it would be logical for one to be able to say, with respect to form, ‘May my form be like this,’ or ‘May it not be like this.’ However, monks, form is subject to injury and suffering, and one is not able to say, ‘May my form be like this,’ or ‘May it not be like this,’ because form is not the self.

“Monks, sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousness are not the self. Monks, if consciousness were the self, then it would not be logical that it is subject to injury and suffering, and it would be logical for one to have the ability with respect to consciousness to say, ‘May my consciousness be like this,’ or ‘May it not be like this.’ However, monks, consciousness is subject to injury and suffering, and one does not have the ability with respect to consciousness to say, ‘May my consciousness be like this,’ or ‘May it not be like this,’ because consciousness is not the self.

“O monks, what do you think‍—is form permanent, or is it impermanent?”

“It is impermanent, Lord.”

“And is something that is impermanent suffering, or is it not suffering?”

“It is suffering, Lord.”

“Regarding those things that are impermanent and, therefore, suffering‍—do noble listeners who are educated in the teachings grasp at a self, thinking, ‘This is mine,’ ‘This is the self,’ or ‘This is the nature of the self’?”

“No, Lord, they do not.”

“O monks, what do you think‍—are sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousness permanent or impermanent?”

“They are impermanent, Lord.”

“And is something that is impermanent [F.100.b] suffering or not suffering?”

“It is suffering, Lord.”

“Regarding those things that are impermanent and, therefore, suffering‍—do noble listeners who are educated in the teachings grasp at a self, thinking, ‘This is mine,’ ‘This is the self,’ or ‘This is the nature of the self’?”

“No, Lord, they do not.”

“Monks, that is why whatever the form‍—whether it arose in the past, present, or future, or whether it is internal or external, gross or subtle, bad or good, near or far away‍—one should view all of these with perfect wisdom, thinking, ‘This is not mine,’ ‘This is not the self,’ and ‘This is not the nature of the self.’

“Monks, that is why whatever the sensation, perception, formation, and consciousness‍—whether it arose in the past, present, or future, or whether it is internal or external, gross or subtle, bad or good, near or far away‍—one should view all of these with perfect wisdom, thinking, ‘This is not mine,’ ‘This is not the self,’ and ‘This is not the nature of the self.’

“Monks, this is why noble listeners who are educated in the teachings see perfectly that these five aggregates for appropriation are not ‘mine,’ are not the self, and are not the nature of the self. Since they see this so perfectly, they do not grasp at any worldly thing. Since they do not grasp, they experience absolutely no discontentment. Because they have no discontentment, they bring an end to their own rebirth. With the thought, ‘I have lived the conduct leading to liberation. I have done what was before me. I shall know no other existence,’ they pass into parinirvāṇa.”

When he explained this Dharma teaching, the minds of the others among the group of five monks were freed from the defilements, without any further appropriation. As of that moment, five arhats had come into the world. Including the Blessed One, [F.101.a] now there were six.

Thereupon the monks requested of the Blessed One, “Lord, tell us why the Blessed One has delivered our group of five monks from the ocean of saṃsāra, given us the great fortune of power, strength, and the precious limbs of enlightenment, and established us in the unsurpassed, supreme welfare of nirvāṇa.”

“Not only now, monks” the Blessed One explained, “but in times past as well, and in the same way, I risked my life to deliver your group of five monks from the ocean of defilements and granted you a magnificent fortune of precious jewels. Listen well!

“Monks, in times past there was a king named King Brahmadatta who reigned in the city of Vārāṇasī. His kingdom was prosperous, flourishing, happy, and well populated. The harvest was good. Quarreling and arguments had ceased, there was no fighting or infighting, and there were no robbers, thieves, illness, or famine. Rice, sugarcane, cattle, and buffalo were plentiful. His was a reign in accord with the Dharma. He ruled the kingdom gently and mercifully, as a parent cares for a beloved only child.

“At that time in Vārāṇasī there lived a certain sea captain by the name of Wealth. He was prosperous and wealthy, a person of vast and magnificent means, endowed with the wealth of Vaiśravaṇa‍—with wealth to rival Vaiśravaṇa’s. When the time came for him to marry he took a wife, and they enjoyed themselves and coupled. As they enjoyed themselves and coupled, one day his wife conceived. After nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful, with glowing, golden skin and a well-rounded head, long arms, a broad brow, a fine and prominent nose, and eyebrows that met.

“At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they asked, ‘What name should we give this child?’ And they named him, saying, ‘Since this is the child of Wealth, his name will be Wealth’s Delight.’ [F.101.b] They reared young Wealth’s Delight on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and he flourished like a lotus in a lake.

“As he grew up he studied letters, tallying, and arithmetic; the study of seals, lending, deposits, and commerce; and the examination of cloth, jewels, gems, incense, medicine, elephants, horses, and arms and armor. He became skilled in writing, skilled at reading, learned, decisive, and industrious, a master of the eight types of examination.

“The child had a loving nature, was compassionate, loved beings, and took delight in being generous. He asked for his parents’ permission and began to make merit and give gifts to ascetics, brahmins, practitioners, mendicants, the poor, and the bereft.

“One day the captain, Wealth’s Delight’s father, fell ill, and although he was treated with medicinal roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits, he could not be cured, and died. He was laid on a palanquin festooned with blue, yellow, red, and white cloth, and after the ceremonial veneration of his bones, a brief funeral watch was held for him. Afterward, King Brahmadatta appointed the son, Wealth’s Delight, to be captain, who with his father’s wealth carried on business with many merchants, and who after his father’s death also began to engage in extraordinary acts of generosity.

“One day the thought occurred to him, ‘Others might take issue with my giving gifts and making merit, using the wealth accumulated by my father. People will say, “What’s so great about making merit by giving away stuff somebody else piled up?” ’

‘In that case,’ he decided, ‘I will make my own fortune! [F.102.a] Make no mistake, once I’ve earned my own income, then I’ll really give gifts and make merit!’

“After that he made an announcement: ‘Any merchant who wishes to set sail on the great ocean with Captain Wealth’s Delight will trade duty-free, exempt from all taxes on earnings, ship fares, and convoy payments! Prepare your wares!’

“As soon as they heard this, five hundred merchants gathered, bringing camels, cows, and donkeys laden with goods. They made their way through the villages, towns, cities, forest settlements, and outlying districts until they arrived on the shores of the great ocean. After a ship had been hired with five hundred gold coins, they enlisted five types of personnel: cooks, solicitors, advisors, sweepers, and navigators. The cooks prepared whatever food and drink there was on board. The solicitors settled any disputes that arose. The advisors advised them about their wealth. The sweepers swabbed the decks. And the navigators observed the movements of the stars.

“Now, when they saw the great ocean, the merchants became afraid and did not want to board the ship. So the captain said to the navigators, ‘Tell them just how wonderful the great ocean is!’

“The navigators made an announcement, saying, ‘Pay heed, merchants of Jambudvīpa! Upon this great ocean are jewels beyond price‍—gemstones, pearls, blue beryls, conches, precious stones, coral, silver, gold, emeralds, cat’s eyes, rubies, and conches with clockwise whorls!78 Let those among you who wish for such precious jewels set out upon this great ocean, so you might satiate yourself and your parents, children, spouses, servants both female and male, laborers, other paid help, friends, ministers, and relatives both young and old, and so you might [F.102.b] be able to approach the ascetics and brahmins from time to time with offerings that bequeath good fortune, ripen into happiness, and cause you to be reborn in heaven in the next life!’ At that, the worldly people who wished for wealth‍—which was almost everyone‍—climbed aboard the ship, until the ship was not able to hold them all.

“Then the captain wondered, ‘What’s going to happen now if I send them away?’ With this in mind, he said to the navigators, ‘Tell them the ways in which the great ocean is not so wonderful.’

“And the navigators announced, ‘Pay heed, merchants of Jambudvīpa! Upon this great ocean lurk such terrors as these: fearsome fish, fearsome timiṅgila fish that might swallow you, fearsome timiṅgilagila fish that could swallow you whole, terrifying waves, terrifying expanses, terrifying kumbhīra sea monsters, terrifying śiśumāra sea monsters, as well as the threat of wrecking into mountains beneath the water, and black winds most treacherous!79 Then there are pirates garbed in blue and black who come to plunder your wealth and butcher those who try to escape them! So let those among you set out upon this great ocean who are willing to give up their parents, children, and spouses; their servants both male and female; and their laborers, other paid help, friends, ministers, and relatives both young and old!’ Since there were few brave people and many cowards most of them fled, so the boats were able to hold those who remained.

“The navigators cried out three times and the first anchor was loosed, then the second, and then the third. Then, the ship was carried forth by powerful winds caught by the head navigator and set sail like a great cloud. It proceeded with excellent wind conditions and arrived at Ratnadvīpa. [F.103.a]

“The navigators instructed them, ‘Merchants of Jambudvīpa! On Ratnadvīpa, the isle of precious stones, there are all manner of semi-precious stones that look like precious jewels. You must examine well before taking them, or you will regret it when you return to Jambudvīpa. On this isle of precious stones also dwell sirens80 who lure men by any means they can, causing them ruin and suffering. On this isle of precious stones are intoxicating fruits, and anyone who eats them falls unconscious for seven days. You should not partake of these while you are there. On this isle of precious stones dwell nonhuman spirits as well. They will tolerate your presence for seven days, but if your aims, whatever they may be, have not been accomplished after seven days have passed, then a gale will come with such force as to carry the boat away.’

“Having heard this, the merchants remained focused and attentive. Carefully they searched for precious jewels, filling the boat with them as if filling it with sesame, rice paddy, badara fruit, beans, and the like. Then they set sail, running directly downwind to Jambudvīpa. In this way they completed six such ocean voyages, and upon their return to Vārāṇasī they began to give gifts and make merit.

“Now at that time there were five other cities in which lived five other captains. Though they set out, their boats were destroyed,81 and they thought, ‘Just one being, famed for great deeds, has the power to bring happiness to so many. Now the great Captain Wealth’s Delight is famed for his great deeds. He has completed six ocean voyages. If we can get him to agree, with his support we’ll be able to make a fortune.’ [F.103.b] They banded together and traveled to Vārāṇasī, where they met with Captain Wealth’s Delight.

“ ‘Captain,’ they said, ‘though we set out, our treasure-boats were destroyed.82 You are famed for your great deeds, so have compassion for us and set sail with us on the great ocean, so that with your support we can make our fortunes.’ Captain Wealth’s Delight replied,

“ ‘Never before has anyone completed a seventh ocean voyage. However, so you can fulfill your intention and solely out of compassion for you all, I shall set sail on the ocean a seventh time.’

“The great Captain Wealth’s Delight set out with the other five captains. They crossed the great ocean and arrived at the isle of precious stones where they gathered their jewels before sailing forth again, steering their ship in the direction of Jambudvīpa.

“As the great Captain Wealth’s Delight sailed upon the ocean, he thought, ‘It is not clear that those of us who have set out upon the great ocean can avert tragedy and safely reach the other shore, so I will fill these sacks with precious gems and tie them to my waist.’ So he filled up all the small bags with precious gems. When he had tied them to his waist, he told the merchants, ‘Pay heed! If the ship is destroyed, grab hold of my body.’

“Later, when the ship crashed into a mountain beneath the water, the five captains grabbed hold of Captain Wealth’s Delight’s body. Then Captain Wealth’s Delight thought, ‘As long as I am alive, I won’t be able to cross this great ocean to deliver them. But it is not possible for a dead body to stay sunk in the great ocean for long, so that won’t happen. Since that is not going to happen, I will die but my corpse will be able to cross the great ocean with speed.’

“With this thought he said to the captains, [F.104.a] ‘Be resolute, and take heart! We shall avert tragedy and cross the great ocean with ease. Don’t let go of my body, not even once you have crossed the great ocean, for I have filled these sacks with precious gems and tied them to my waist. Take them and divide them up among you. They are enough to sustain the lives of those on both sides of your families for seven generations.’

“After he said this, he prayed for unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment, saying, ‘By this root of virtue, may I become a protector for the world’s blind who are without a guide, without any guide at all, without anyone to show them the way‍—an arhat, a totally and completely awakened buddha endowed with perfect knowledge and perfect conduct, a blessed one, a knower of the world, a tamer of persons, a charioteer, an unsurpassed one, a teacher of humans and gods‍—a blessed buddha.’ Having set his aspiration for unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment, he took up a sharp knife and slit his own throat.

“It is not possible for a dead body to stay sunk in the great ocean for long, and that didn’t happen. When it didn’t, some very fastidious nāgas brought the body to the seashore and cast it onto dry land. The five captains removed the jewels from his dead body and divided them among themselves, venerated his bones, and departed.

“O monks, what do you think? I am the one who was Wealth’s Delight then, and lived the life of a bodhisattva. The five who were those five captains then are none other than this group of five monks. There I gave my life to deliver them from the waters of the great ocean, bestowed upon them a fortune of precious jewels, and placed them unharmed in a state of happiness. Now as well I have delivered you from the ocean of saṃsāra, given you this great fortune of power, strength, and the precious limbs of enlightenment, [F.104.b] and placed you in the unsurpassed, supreme welfare of nirvāṇa.” [B9]

When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, there lived a certain poor brahmin who was destitute of means and made his living begging for food. One day his wife became pregnant, and after she conceived the brahmin did not receive very much in the way of alms. After nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child who was gaunt and emaciated and had a poor complexion, an ugly face, and a crooked spine.

They celebrated his birth with whatever they could scrounge together and asked, “What name should we give this child?” And they named him, saying, “Since this child is very small, and has a curved spine, his name will be Small Person with a Curving Spine.” They reared him on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids.

One day, this being’s past actions ripened such that his mother’s breast ran dry. After that his mother nourished him with cow and buffalo milk, but these too proved scarce. Now it is impossible and out of the question for a being in their final existence to die an untimely death. Thus, they could occasionally obtain cow and buffalo milk, and he did receive some modest nourishment.

When he had grown, his father said to him, [F.109.a] “Child, our entire livelihood consists only of begging. We have neither fields to plow, nor any business to conduct. So go now and make your living from whatever food you can beg.”

“As you wish,” the child replied, and he began to beg. But even when he would spend a long time walking all about, he never found more than was enough to barely keep himself alive.

Then at a certain point the young man found faith in the doctrine of the Blessed One, so he approached a monk and asked him, “Lord, if appropriate, I wish to go forth in the Dharma and Vinaya so well spoken, complete my novitiate, and achieve full ordination. In the presence of the Blessed One, I too wish to practice the holy life.”

“Are your parents still alive?” asked the monk.

“They are,” he replied.

“Have you informed your parents about this?”

“I have not, lord.”

“Young man, the buddhas and their disciples neither lead novices to go forth nor confer full ordination without the parents’ permission,” the monk told him. “Go and inform your parents, then come back here. This will make things easier for you later on.”

So Small Person with a Curving Spine heeded the monk’s advice, approached his parents, and said, “Mother, Father, I am asking for your kind permission to go forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One.”

His parents thought, “Until now, his suffering knew no equal. The two of us have also suffered so. All it would take to bring him happiness is for him to go forth. Moreover, he’ll be able to achieve happiness not just in this life but in the next as well.” With these thoughts in mind, they said, “Of course, child. Should you achieve any special attainments, please demonstrate them to us.”

“As you wish,” he replied.

After receiving permission from his parents, Small Person with a Curving Spine went on to the garden of Prince Jeta. There he approached the monk and told him, “Lord, I’ve informed both my parents. Now that my parents have given me their consent to go forth, Lord, if permitted, I wish to go forth in the Dharma and Vinaya so well spoken, [F.109.b] complete my novitiate, and achieve full ordination. In the presence of the Blessed One, I too wish to practice the holy life.”

Great persons do that which is of benefit to others, so the monk led him to go forth as a novice and conferred on him full ordination. The monk provided him with two or three days’ worth of food, and then instructed him, “My child, one deer cannot feed another. Go then for alms to your home region, the country frequented by your father.”

Heeding the words of his preceptor, he would occasionally go begging for alms. Sometimes, however, he would also try to eat food by seating himself in the rows of the saṅgha, but as the food was being distributed, his past actions would ripen such that the food and drink would run out just as it was to be distributed to him, or else some other intervening complication would arise. Even when they then returned, he would be passed over, and the food would be distributed to those behind him. Thus, even while seated there in the rows, sometimes he would get food and other times he would not.

When the monks heard about this, they asked the Blessed One about it. The Blessed One replied, “Monks, let there be a rule established for monks sitting behind. Those sitting behind should not take their food until those in front of them have taken theirs. If for some reason another person is passed over, they should not eat until that person has received a share. If, moreover, one person was not able to receive everything, the others should divide their food with that person. To do so is good. To do otherwise is an infraction. Those who commit such an infraction will take alms in service of others when they go for all alms.”

Then one day Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine swept the Blessed One’s fragrant chamber, and that day [F.110.a] he received good food and drink. He also received good food and drink as he continued sweeping the Blessed One’s fragrant chamber for the next two or three days. As a result, his body became strong, resilient, and capable.86

He cast away all afflictive emotions through diligence, practice, and effort, and manifested arhatship. As an arhat, free from the attachments of the three realms, his mind regarded gold no differently than filth, and the palms of his hands as like space itself. He became cool like wet sandalwood. His insight crushed ignorance like an eggshell. He achieved the insights, superknowledges, and discriminations. He had no regard for worldly profit, passion, or acclaim. He became an object of offering, veneration, and respectful address by Indra, Upendra, and the other gods.

When he achieved arhatship, his past actions ripened such that on that day a different monk swept the Blessed One’s fragrant chamber. He was walking along carrying a broom, thinking, “I’m off to sweep the Blessed One’s fragrant chamber,” and when he saw that another monk had already swept it, he thought, “I may now find myself going hungry.” So in the morning he donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, he went for alms in Śrāvastī. But even though he did, he did not receive anything, and that day he went hungry.

On the following day as well Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine was walking along carrying a broom, thinking, “I’m off to sweep the Blessed One’s fragrant chamber,” when he saw that another monk had already swept it. Thinking, “Today I [F.110.b] may go hungry a second time,” he returned to his hut.

There he heard that a householder had invited the Blessed One and the rest of the saṅgha of monks to take their food at his house, and he thought, “What need is there for me to go for alms? Now I can go and take my food at the same house where the Blessed One and the rest of the saṅgha of monks are going to eat.” So he sat down in a cross-legged position and began to meditate.

In the meantime, some important matters came up for the householder, so he invited the Blessed One and the rest of the saṅgha of monks to take the midday meal at his house a bit early, and with his own hand he contented them with many good, wholesome foods. Afterward, the Blessed One gave a Dharma teaching for the people of the house and returned to the monastery.

Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine noticed that the day had become warm,87 so he donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and set out carrying his alms bowl. The Blessed One, traveling on one side of the road, entered the garden of Prince Jeta, and Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine, traveling on the other side of the road, went to the householder’s home. When he arrived, he realized that the Blessed One and the rest of the saṅgha of monks had already taken their food and departed. So it was that he went hungry a second day.

The following day another monk swept the Blessed One’s fragrant chamber. Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine was walking along carrying a broom, thinking, “I’m off to sweep the Blessed One’s fragrant chamber,” when he saw that another monk had already swept it. At that the thought occurred to him, “Today I may go hungry a third time,” and he returned to his hut.

After he was home, word reached Venerable Ānanda that Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine had gone hungry for two days already. Hearing this, in concern for him he got in touch with one of their patrons, [F.111.a] then came to Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine and said, “Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine, today you should go and eat at the home of such-and-such a householder.” Thereupon Venerable Ānanda donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, went for alms in Śrāvastī.

But, after having waited such a long time, when Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, went to the home of that householder, his past actions ripened in such a way that some important matters came up for the householder, who in his distraction left for another village without mentioning anything to the people of his house. Having gone there and not received any food, Venerable Small One with a Curving Spine went hungry a third day.

Word reached Venerable Ānanda that Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine had now gone hungry for three days, and he thought, “I myself will bring alms for him.” He went to Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine and said, “Don’t worry, Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine! Tomorrow I shall have food for you,” and he returned to his hut.

The next day, carrying two alms bowls, he set out for Śrāvastī. After begging alms there, he ate some himself. Intending the rest for Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine, he was carrying them to the garden of Prince Jeta when Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine’s past actions ripened such that dogs appeared along the way, and they stole the food and ate it. Venerable Ānanda thought, “By the time I make it back to Śrāvastī, it will be past noon.” So he returned to the monastery, and on that day Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine went hungry a fourth time.

Then word reached Venerable Maudgalyāyana that Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine had now gone hungry for four days, and he thought, “Tomorrow I shall bring him food,” and he returned to his hut. [F.111.b] The next day, carrying two alms bowls, he went for alms in Śrāvastī. After begging alms there, he ate some himself. Intending the rest for Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine, he was carrying them to the garden of Prince Jeta when Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine’s past actions ripened such that crows appeared along the way, and they stole the food and ate it. Then Venerable Maudgalyāyana thought, “By the time I make it back to Śrāvastī, it will be past noon.” So he returned to the monastery, and on that day Venerable Small One with a Curving Spine went hungry a fifth time.

Then word reached Venerable Śāriputra that Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine had now gone without food for five days, and he thought, “Tomorrow I shall bring him food.” He went to Venerable Small One with a Curving Spine and said, “Don’t worry, Venerable Small One with a Curving Spine! Tomorrow I shall have food for you,” and returned to his hut.

The next day, carrying two alms bowls, he went for alms in Śrāvastī. After begging alms there, he ate some himself. Intending the rest for Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine, he was carrying them to the garden of Prince Jeta when Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine’s past actions ripened such that nonhuman spirits appeared along the way, and they made the food disappear. Then Venerable Śāriputra thought, “By the time I make it back to Śrāvastī, it will be past noon.” So he said nothing, and on that day Venerable Small One with a Curving Spine went without food a sixth time.

Again Venerable Śāriputra thought, “Tomorrow I shall bring him food.” He went to Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine and said, “Don’t worry, Venerable Small One with a Curving Spine! Tomorrow I shall have food for you,” and returned to his hut. The next day, carrying two alms bowls, he set out for Śrāvastī. [F.112.a] After begging alms there, he ate some himself. Intending the rest for Venerable Small One with a Curving Spine, he was carrying them to Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine’s hut when Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine’s past actions ripened such that on the hut neither doors nor windows were to be found.

Then by means of a miracle Venerable Śāriputra manifested a door, went inside, and said, “Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine, rise now and wash your face.”

“I have already washed my face,” he replied. Then Venerable Śāriputra immediately set the alms bowls and water sieve to one side and placed the container of water in Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine’s hands.

After setting out stands for the alms bowls, he took one up in his own hands and said, “Here now, take your alms bowl.”

At that very moment, the bowl plunged down into the earth, descending all the way to the base of the universe. Venerable Śāriputra extended his arm like an elephant’s trunk, drawing up the alms bowl and placing it in his left hand. Then he gave it a blessing with his right hand and said, “Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine, please eat.”

He said, “I shall,” but as he lifted a single morsel of food from the bowl, the morsel actually disappeared. Every morsel of food that he took from the bowl disappeared in just the same way.

Then Venerable Śāriputra took up a morsel in his own right hand and tried to put it in Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine’s mouth and his mouth disappeared‍—he became like a mound of grass without an opening. Venerable Śāriputra’s miraculous powers could not make his mouth reappear, and it grew to be past noon.

After noontime his mouth became as it was before. Then Venerable Śāriputra asked, “Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine, what is tormenting you so unbearably?”

“Lord Śāriputra,” he replied, “I am tormented by thirst. Please give me some water to drink!”

Venerable Śāriputra filled a alms bowl with water, and Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine picked it up, lifted it to his mouth [F.112.b] and said, “Something to drink!” Then, due to his past actions, human beings appeared and began dumping ashes into the bowl.

When he saw this, he thought, “All that I am experiencing certainly comes from the actions I myself have committed and accumulated. There is no doubting their arrival, for I have put the conditions in place and accumulated the causes. Therefore they cannot ripen or be experienced in the aggregates, elements, or sense bases of another.”

With that he quaffed the ash-gruel, and on that basis he passed into parinirvāṇa amid a miraculous display of fire and light, rain and lightning. Afterward, his fellow practitioners of the holy life venerated his remains. They built a reliquary stūpa and venerated it with flowers, burning sticks of incense, incense powders, and incense cones.

The monks inquired of the Blessed One, “Lord, what action did Venerable Small Person with a Curving Spine take that ripened into his being hungry and bereft, that he went hungry for seven days, and that upon eating ash-gruel he passed into parinirvāṇa?”

“Monks,” the Blessed One explained, “in his previous lives he himself collected the causes and put the conditions in place. The actions he committed and accumulated are now returning as certainly as the tides. Since it was he himself who committed and accumulated them, who else is there to experience them?

“Monks, the actions he committed and accumulated did not ripen in the external element of earth. They did not ripen into the element of water, nor the element of fire, nor the element of wind. The actions he committed and accumulated, both virtuous and nonvirtuous, ripened into nothing but his own aggregates, sense bases, and constituent elements.

“Monks, in times gone by, [F.113.a] in a certain mountain village there lived a householder, prosperous and wealthy, a person of vast and magnificent means, endowed with the wealth of Vaiśravaṇa‍—with wealth to rival Vaiśravaṇa’s. When the time came for him to marry he took a wife, and they enjoyed themselves and coupled. As they enjoyed themselves and coupled, one day his wife conceived. After nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth they named him according to their clan.

“They reared him on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and as he grew up he studied letters, tallying, and arithmetic; the study of seals, lending, deposits, and commerce; and the examination of cloth, jewels, gems, incense, medicine, elephants, horses, and arms and armor. He became skilled in writing, skilled at reading, learned, decisive, and industrious, a master of the eight types of examination.

“That householder delighted in giving. He made merit and gave gifts at his home to ascetics, brahmins, practitioners, mendicants, the poor, and the bereft. Then one day the householder died. After his death, as his wife grieved her spouse, she continued to give gifts as had been their custom. Thereupon her son said to her, ‘Mother, don’t pare our house down to nothing! I won’t be able to run the household as father did.’

“Many times he tried to stop her like this, but it was no use. Finally the young man thought, ‘Whatever I do, it’s no use. I shall kill her!’ So he locked up his mother in the confines of the house and deprived her of food and drink.

“She pleaded with him, ‘My child, please let me go! I won’t share with anyone ever again! I can’t stay in this house forever!’ [F.113.b]

“ ‘While you yet live, I cannot release you,’ the young man replied. So he locked up his mother in the confines of the house, depriving her of food, and kept her barricaded there for seven days until the people of his house told their relatives, and the relatives came and let her go.

“After nearly losing her life in the confines of the house, she begged her son for water. The young man thought, ‘This is sure to kill her,’ and handed her ash-gruel. Her body was very weak, so when she drank the ash-gruel it caused her death.

“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that young man then is none other than Small Person with a Curving Spine now. The acts of leaving his mother to go hungry and killing her with ash-gruel ripened into his being cooked by hell beings for hundreds upon hundreds of eons, and ripened such that after he was released from that fate, wherever he was born, he went hungry until he drank ash-gruel and died.

“Now that he had come into what would be his final birth, his final body, his final dwelling place, he continued to go hungry until he achieved arhatship. In the end, the same condition, eating ash-gruel, caused him to pass into parinirvāṇa.

“He committed another act as well, an act that ripened into starvation and great suffering for him.

Monks, in times past, in this fortunate eon, when people lived as long as twenty thousand years and the tathāgata, the arhat, the totally and completely awakened buddha possessed of insight and perfect conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Kāśyapa was in the world, there lived a certain householder in Vārāṇasī.

“One day his wife conceived, and after nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to twins. At the elaborate feast celebrating their birth they named them according to their clan. They reared them on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids, and when they grew up, [F.114.a] they found faith in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa, asked for their parents’ permission, and went forth. Having gone forth, they studied the Tripiṭaka and became proponents of the Dharma with all the eloquence of their wisdom and freedom. They were inseparable, sticking together wherever they went.

“One of the two, having acquired provisions of clothing, food, bedding, a seat, and medicines for the sick, thought, ‘How wonderful! With all the profit and acclaim I’ve gained, I can see to the welfare of my fellow practitioners of the conduct leading to liberation. Let me render service to the twofold saṅgha in accord with the Dharma.’ He began to render service to the saṅgha in accord with the Dharma, providing provisions such as clothing, food, bedding, seats, and medicines for the sick for all their needs.

“His brother thought, ‘This is my sibling, my friend. If indeed our virtuous works depend on one another, then his desire to render service to the saṅgha will create obstacles for my own virtuous work.’

“Thinking this, he said to him, ‘Brother, I don’t want to throw away my own virtuous work to provide for the saṅgha.’

“His brother replied, ‘Everything I’ve needed has come to me with almost no trouble at all. Yet my fellow practitioners of pure conduct are sorely lacking things they need. How could I not wish to help them?’ Thus, although he tried to stop his brother from helping many times, it was no use.

“Finally he thought, ‘So long as he yet lives, there will be no stopping this. Oh, but let me devise some means to take him to another country! That will stop him.’ With this in mind, he devised a way to lead his brother to another country, and there they stayed.

“Over time their absence became an obstacle to the livelihood of the other monks, and while they were away, [F.114.b] his brother heard the monks were in dire straits and right away said to his sibling, ‘I shall go there and bring the monks the things they need!’

“To this his brother replied, ‘Brother, those monks are just like anguished spirits, dependent on others for absolutely everything. Will you throw away your own virtuous work, then, to travel there?’

“ ‘You must confess the mistake you’ve made by speaking harshly to me. Otherwise you’re sure to meet with the frightful results of what you’ve done.’

“He was flooded with regret, and after practicing the holy life all his life, at the time of his death, he prayed, ‘May I not meet with the results of the act of speaking harshly to fellow practitioners of the holy life, and of creating obstacles to their livelihood. While I may not have attained any great virtues, still I have been of service to the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, and practiced pure conduct all my life. Therefore, may I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone may I cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who was that monk then is none other than Small Person with a Curving Spine. The act of speaking harshly to fellow practitioners of the holy life ripened such that for five hundred lifetimes he took rebirth as an anguished spirit. Once he had died and moved on from that state, that same act also ripened such that, wherever he was born, he went hungry and died. Now, having come into what would be his final birth before achieving arhatship, the act of having gone hungry ripened into his passing into parinirvāṇa.

“At that time he prayed, ‘May I please and not displease Uttara, the young brahmin [F.115.a] prophesied by the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa to be the next blessed buddha. Going forth in his doctrine alone, may I cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship.’

“So it is, monks, now that I myself have become the very equal of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Kāśyapa‍—equal in strength, equal in deeds, and equal in skillful means‍—that he has pleased me, not displeased me, gone forth in my very doctrine, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship.”

When the Blessed One was in Śrāvastī, there lived in the sewage bogs outside Śrāvastī a certain rākṣasa. His head was bald88 like that of a monk. Where any hair should have been, his entire body teemed instead with parasites as tiny as the tip of a needle, each of which fed on him, causing him unbearable pain. He dragged himself back and forth across the sewage bog, tormented by hunger and eating filth. In unbearable pain, he would reel from one side of the bog to the other, stirring up all the filthy sewage.

The blessed buddhas, teachers of the one path to be traversed, with mastery over wisdom and the two types of knowable objects, in command of the three kinds of sterling equanimity, fearless by means of the fourfold fearlessness, freed from migration through the five destinies, keen in the six sense bases, practiced in the seven limbs of enlightenment, focused on the eight liberations, absorbed in the nine successive meditative absorptions, possessing all ten of the ten powers, whose proclamations are the great roaring of a perfect lion, by nature regard the world with their buddha eyes six times throughout the day and night‍—three times by day and three times by night. [F.115.b]

These are their thoughts as they look out in wisdom: “Who is in decline? Who will flourish? Who is destitute? Who is in a dreadful state? Who is being harmed? Who is destitute, in a dreadful state, and being harmed? Who is veering toward the lower realms? Who is descending through the lower realms? Who has descended to the lower realms? Whom shall I pull up from the lower realms, and establish in the resultant state of heaven and liberation? Whom, mired in misdeeds, shall I lift up by the hand? Whom, lacking the seven jewels of the noble ones, shall I lead to command of the seven jewels of the noble ones? Whom, not having produced roots of virtue, shall I lead to produce them? Whom, having already produced roots of virtue, shall I lead to ripen their roots of virtue? Whom, having already ripened their roots of virtue, shall I slice open with the blade of wisdom? For whom shall I cause this world, adorned with a buddha’s presence, to be fruitful?”

Then the Blessed One thought, “The time has come to issue a prophecy of this rākṣasa’s awakening. Through him I shall guide a great many disciples.” With this in mind, in order to guide them the Blessed One transformed Śrāvastī such that it was filled with the terrible stench of the sewage bog.

The people of Śrāvastī were mystified, and, impelled by their previous roots of virtue, they wondered, “Where is that terrible stench coming from?” Thousands upon thousands of them gathered, hoping for a spectacle. The people followed the terrible stench out toward the sewage bog, where they saw the filthy rākṣasa living there, dragging himself back and forth.

Looking at him, they thought, “A being like this! And such suffering! What is all this?”

Thereupon the Blessed One thought, “Every one of my disciples from Śrāvastī [F.116.a] has now gathered,” so in the morning the Blessed One donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, he set out for Śrāvastī accompanied by a group of monks.

When they came to the sewage bog, the people saw the Blessed Buddha in the distance, and, upon seeing him, those without faith said, “They say the mendicant Gautama takes no joy in spectacles, but even he has to stop and stare.”

Those who had faith in him said, “Through this being the Blessed One will give an extraordinary Dharma teaching, no doubt.” They prepared a seat for the Blessed One, saying, “This way, Blessed One‍—if you please! Welcome, Blessed One, very good! O Blessed One, please have a seat on this cushion we have prepared for you!”

Then the Blessed One took his place on the seat prepared for him, and thought, “The best thing would be for me to enter into a meditation such that this rākṣasa can recall his former lives and converse with me in a human tongue.” So the Blessed One entered into a meditation such that the rākṣasa recalled his former lives and could converse with him in a human tongue.

Then the Blessed One spoke to him, saying, “My friend, have you studied the Tripiṭaka, the ‘three baskets’ of scripture?”

“Yes, Blessed One, I have studied the Tripiṭaka.”

“My friend, are you then a Tripiṭaka master?”

“Yes, Blessed One, I am a Tripiṭaka master.”

“Oh friend, are you a Tripiṭaka master?”

“Yes, Sugata, I am a Tripiṭaka master.”

The Blessed One asked, “Are you now undergoing the repercussions of your misconduct of body, speech, and mind?”

“Blessed One, [F.116.b] this hideous experience is indeed the result that has ripened from my misconduct of body, speech, and mind. Sugata, the experience is hideous.”

“Who guided you to such nonvirtue?”

“My own mind,” he replied.

Now, hearing this, the people wondered, “Who is this being who recalls his former lives and converses with the Blessed One in a human tongue?” Since the ears of the blessed buddhas are difficult to reach, they were not able to put their question to the Blessed One, so they asked Venerable Ānanda, “Lord Ānanda, who is this being that recalls his former lives and converses with the Blessed One in a human tongue?”

“Put your question to the Blessed One,” Venerable Ānanda replied.

“The ears of the blessed buddhas are difficult to reach. We cannot ask the Blessed Buddha ourselves,” they said.

Venerable Ānanda replied, “Though the ears of the blessed buddhas are difficult to reach for me as well, out of compassion for you I shall ask.”

Then Venerable Ānanda drew down the right shoulder of his upper garment, bowed toward the Blessed One with palms together, and asked him, “Lord, who is this being that recalls his former lives, converses with the Blessed One in a human tongue, and suffers in the throes of such agony?”

The Blessed One explained to Venerable Ānanda, “Ānanda, this being is one who committed nonvirtuous actions over and over again. The nonvirtuous actions he committed were manifold.

“Ānanda, in times gone by, [F.117.a] when the one who transcended the levels of the listeners and solitary buddhas, the totally and completely awakened buddha possessed of insight and perfect conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Greatest of All was in the world, there was a certain householder who found faith in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Greatest of All, went for refuge, and took the fundamental precepts.

“Then he thought, ‘Let me give up living at home to go forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Greatest of All.’ He gave up household affairs and went forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Greatest of All.

“Having gone forth, he studied the Tripiṭaka and became a proponent of the Dharma with all the eloquence of his wisdom and freedom. Having acquired provisions of clothing, food, bedding, a seat, and medicines for the sick, he thought, ‘How wonderful! With all the profit and acclaim I’ve gained, I can see to the welfare of fellow practitioners of the holy life.’ Then he called together all the benefactors and patrons, and began to offer his respectful service to the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha.

“At that time, on Camel’s Hump Mountain, there was a certain saṅgha of seventy-seven thousand on the path of learning and on the path of no more to learn who made pledges to stay there during the rains. ‘We should have chosen a steward before we pledged to come stay here during the rains,’ they thought. ‘Who is there who could support our saṅgha?’ Then the idea came to them, ‘That Tripiṭaka master has great merit, and is widely known to have acquired provisions such as clothing, food, bedding, a seat, and medicines for the sick. Let’s encourage him [F.117.b] to support us in our pledge to remain here during the rains.’

“They went to him and said, ‘Lord, we seventy-seven thousand monks wish to keep our pledge to remain in retreat on Camel’s Hump Mountain during the rains. We would like to encourage you to provide for the saṅgha in accord with the Dharma. With your help we can keep our pledge to stay here during the rains.’

“ ‘Don’t worry,’ the Tripiṭaka master replied. ‘I shall provide for all your needs.’

“Upon hearing this, the monks went up onto the mountain, entrusting that Tripiṭaka master alone to help them keep their pledge to stay there during the rains. Then the Tripiṭaka master thought, ‘I told the monks they needn’t worry. But there’s no reason for me to do anything89 when I can simply call upon all the benefactors and patrons, and they will provide for all the saṅgha’s needs.’ With this in mind, in the morning he donned his lower garment and Dharma robes, and, carrying his alms bowl, he set out for local village.

“At that time five hundred merchants were arriving from upon the great ocean, having just completed their voyage. As the merchants were unpacking their wares not far from the mountain, they spotted the monks gathering on top of the mountain, and they were delighted to see them.

“The serving monk approached them, and when they saw him they asked, ‘Lord, where are you going?’

“ ‘We have seventy-seven thousand monks staying on the mountainside,’ the Tripiṭaka master replied. ‘They’re depending on me to help them keep their pledge to stay there during the rains. Thus for their sake I am going to call upon all the benefactors and patrons.’

“ ‘Don’t worry, lord,’ said the merchants. ‘We will provide for all their needs.’ With that they offered him a great deal of gold and silver, and said, ‘Lord, until now you’ve provided for all the monks’ needs. [F.118.a] If all this gold and silver is enough, good. If it’s not sufficient, we will offer as much gold and silver as you need, and after the rains have ended, we will offer provisions then as well.’

“ ‘As you wish,’ the serving monk replied. He returned to the monastery bearing all the gold and silver, but as he looked at all the gold and silver, he began to feel very attached to it. So he hid all the gold and silver, and then supplied the monks with only very poor food and drink.

“One day the monks told the serving monk, ‘Lord, we cannot sustain ourselves on such poor food and drink.’

“ ‘This is all I can do for you,’ he replied. ‘I cannot do any more. If you cannot live from this, you should call upon your benefactors and patrons for your livelihood.’

“After he said this, the monks went to the merchants and asked, ‘Are you able to provide food and drink for seventy-seven thousand monks?’

“The merchants replied, ‘Lords, we have already offered a great deal of gold and silver to the noble one who is to provide for you. We told him, “If it’s enough, then very well. If it is not sufficient, then we shall offer as much gold and silver as you need.” Why then has he been supplying you with such poor food and drink?’

“The merchants went to the Tripiṭaka master and said, ‘Lord, didn’t we say that if this gold and silver was enough, good, and that if it was not enough, we would offer more gold and silver? Why then did you supply the monks with such poor food and drink?’ This embarrassed the serving monk, and he immediately became angry. Never again would he be allowed to act as steward for the monks.

“Then the monks said to him, [F.118.b] ‘Lord, we were depending on you to help us keep our pledge to stay on the mountain during the rains. Why then didn’t you do anything? Don’t you want to help provide other monks with the things they need ever again?’

“In anger he replied, ‘It was only by means of my faith that you were provided for‍—and now you wish to insult me? You’re better off90 eating excrement in a sewage bog!’

“The monks thought, ‘Even if this emotionally afflicted person, who has become so abased, speaks not another harsh word to us seventy-seven thousand on the paths of learning and no more to learn, still he will only deteriorate and decline. This is not good. Let us therefore say nothing more to him.’ With this thought, they said nothing more to him. In time the Tripiṭaka master came to regret what he had done, and asked forgiveness of the monks.

“ ‘We forgive you,’ they said. ‘But your own actions will not forgive you.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who went forth in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Greatest of All then and became a Tripiṭaka master is none other than this rākṣasa. The act of speaking harshly to the seventy-seven thousand on the paths of learning and no more to learn ripened into his taking birth as an animal.91 Monks, from the time of the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Greatest of All until my own, he has died, transmigrated, and taken rebirth only as an animal, and in every birth he has attained a body just like this one and eaten excrement in a sewage bog.”

“Lord, when will this being be liberated from his suffering?” inquired the monks.

“Monks,” replied the Buddha, “five hundred buddhas will appear in this good eon, and after them, the totally [F.119.a] and completely awakened Buddha Vairocana will be in the world. It is through his teaching that this being will be liberated from rebirth as an animal and achieve a human birth.

“After he goes forth in his teaching, he will commit the five heinous misdeeds. Then, having died, he will transmigrate and take rebirth as a hell being. As a hell being he will undergo suffering for hundreds of thousands of years.

“Once he has exhausted those terrible acts, he will again achieve a human birth. At that time, too, the totally and completely awakened Buddha Vairocana will be in the world. He will go forth in his teaching, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifest arhatship. Renowned by all and possessed of great merit, he will acquire provisions such as clothes, food, bedding, a seat, and medicines for the sick. There he will become supreme among the exponents of the teachings. After acting for the benefit of many, he will pass beyond all sorrow into the realm of nirvāṇa without any remainder of the aggregates. Then his sufferings will come to an end.”

As soon as they heard this, the people gathered there welled up with grief. The Blessed One directly apprehended their grief, taught them the Dharma accordingly, and among the assembled some generated heat right where they sat. Some generated the peak, or generated the patience in accord with the truths, or generated the highest worldly dharma, or generated the attainment of seeing. Some manifested the resultant state of stream entry. Some manifested the resultant state of once-return. Some manifested the resultant state of non-return. Some went forth and manifested arhatship. Some sowed the seeds to become universal monarchs, [F.119.b] some to become great universal monarchs, some to become Indra, some to become Brahmā, some for the enlightenment of the listeners, some for the enlightenment of the solitary buddhas, and some for unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment. Among the assembled, most found themselves drawn to the Buddha, intent on the Dharma, and favoring the Saṅgha. With this accomplished, the Blessed One returned to the monastery.