Majjhima Nikaya No. 12: The Great Discourse on the Lion's Roar (Maha-sihanada Sutta)
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THE BODHISATTA'S AUSTERITIES
44. "Sariputta, I recall having lived a holy life possessing four factors.
I have practiced asceticism — the extreme of asceticism;
I have practiced coarseness — the extreme of coarseness;
I have practiced scrupulousness — the extreme of scrupulousness;
I have practiced seclusion — the extreme of seclusion. [17]
45. "Such was my asceticism, Sariputta,
that I went naked, rejecting conventions, licking my hands,
not coming when asked, not stopping when asked;
I did not accept food brought or food specially made or an invitation to a meal;
I received nothing from a pot, from a bowl, across a threshold, across a stick, across a pestle,
from two eating together, from a pregnant woman,
from a woman giving suck, from a woman lying with a man,
from where food was advertised to be distributed,
from where a dog was waiting, from where flies were buzzing;
I accepted no fish or meat, I drank no liquor, wine or fermented brew.
I kept to one house, to one morsel; I kept to two [78] houses, to two morsels;...
I kept to seven houses, to seven morsels.
I lived on one saucerful a day, on two saucerfuls a day... on seven saucerfuls a day;
I took food once a day, once every two days... once every seven days, and so on up to once every fortnight;
I dwelt pursuing the practice of taking food at stated intervals.
I was an eater of greens or millet or wild rice or hide-parings or moss or rice bran or rice-scum or sesamum flour or grass or cow-dung.
I lived on forest roots and fruits, I fed on fallen fruits.
I clothed myself in hemp, in hemp-mixed cloth, in shrouds, in refuse rags, in tree bark, in antelope hide, in strips of antelope hide, in kusa-grass fabric, in bark fabric, in wood-shavings fabric, in head-hair wool, in animal wool, in owls' wings.
I was one who pulled out hair and beard, pursuing the practice of pulling out hair and beard.
I was one who stood continuously, rejecting seats.
I was one who squatted continuously, devoted to maintaining the squatting position.
I was one who used a mattress of spikes;
I made a mattress of spikes my bed.
I dwelt pursuing the practice of bathing in water three times daily including the evening.
Thus in such a variety of ways I dwelt pursuing the practice of tormenting and mortifying the body. Such was my asceticism.
46. "Such was my coarseness, Sariputta, that just as the bole of a tinduka tree, accumulating over the years, cakes and flakes off, so too, dust and dirt, accumulating over the years, caked off my body and flaked off. It never occurred to me:
'Oh, let me rub this dust and dirt off with my hand, or let another rub this dust and dirt off with his hand' — it never occurred to me thus.
Such was my coarseness.
47. "Such was my scrupulousness, Sariputta, that I was always mindful in stepping forwards and stepping backwards.
I was full of pity even for (the beings in) a drop of water thus:
'Let me not hurt the tiny creatures in the crevices of the ground.'
Such was my scrupulousness.
48. "Such was my seclusion, Sariputta, that [79] I would plunge into some forest and dwell there. And when I saw a cowherd or a shepherd or someone gathering grass or sticks, or a woodsman,
I would flee from grove to grove, from thicket to thicket, from hollow to hollow, from hillock to hillock.
Why was that?
So that they should not see me or I see them.
Just as a forest-bred deer, on seeing human beings, flees from grove to grove, from thicket to thicket, from hollow to hollow, from hillock to hillock, so too, when I saw a cowherd or a shepherd...
Such was my seclusion.
49. "I would go on all fours to the cow-pens when the cattle had gone out and the cowherd had left them, and I would feed on the dung of the young suckling calves.
As long as my own excrement and urine lasted, I fed on my own excrement and urine.
Such was my great distortion in feeding.
50. "I would plunge into some awe-inspiring grove and dwell there —
a grove so awe-inspiring that normally it would make a man's hair stand up if he were not free from lust.
When those cold wintry nights came during the 'eight-days interval of frost,'
I would dwell by night in the open and by day in the grove.[18]
In the last month of the hot season I would dwell by day in the open and by night in the grove.
And there came to me spontaneously this stanza never heard before:
Chilled by night and scorched by day,
Alone in awe-inspiring groves,
Naked, no fire to sit beside,
The sage yet pursues his quest.
Chilled by night and scorched by day,
Alone in awe-inspiring groves,
Naked, no fire to sit beside,
The sage yet pursues his quest.
51. "I would make my bed in a charnel ground with the bones of the dead for a pillow.
And cowherd boys came up and spat on me, urinated on me, threw dirt at me, and poked sticks into my ears.
Yet I do not recall that I ever aroused an evil mind (of hate) against them.
Such was my abiding in equanimity. [80]
52. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmans whose doctrine and view is this:
52. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmans whose doctrine and view is this:
'Purification comes about through food.' [19]
They say: 'Let us live on kola-fruits,' and they eat kola-fruits,
they eat kola-fruit powder, they drink kola-fruit water,
and they make many kinds of kola-fruit concoctions.
Now I recall having eaten a single kola-fruit a day. Sariputta, you may think that the kola-fruit was bigger at that time, yet you should not regard it so: the kola-fruit was then at most the same size as now.
Through feeding on a single kola-fruit a day, my body reached a state of extreme emaciation. Because of eating so little my limbs became like the jointed segments of vine stems or bamboo stems. Because of eating so little my backside became like a camel's hoof.
Because of eating so little the projections on my spine stood forth like corded beads.
Because of eating so little my ribs jutted out as gaunt as the crazy rafters of an old roofless barn. Because of eating so little the gleam of my eyes sank far down in their sockets, looking like a gleam of water which has sunk far down in a deep well.
Because of eating so little my scalp shrivelled and withered as a green bitter gourd shrivels and withers in the wind and sun.
Because of eating so little my belly skin adhered to my backbone; thus if I touched my belly skin I encountered my backbone, and if I touched my backbone I encountered my belly skin.
Because of eating so little, if I tried to ease my body by rubbing my limbs with my hands, the hair, rotted at its roots, fell from my body as I rubbed.
53-55. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmans whose doctrine and view is this: 'Purification comes about through food.'
They say: 'Let us live on beans'... 'Let us live on sesamum'...
'Let us live on rice,' and they eat rice, they eat rice powder, [81] they drink rice water, and they make various kinds of rice concoctions.
Now I recall having eaten a single rice grain a day.
Sariputta, you may think that the rice grain was bigger at that time, yet you should not regard it so: the rice grain was then at most the same size as now.
Through feeding on a single rice grain a day, my body reached a state of extreme emaciation. Because of eating so little... the hair, rotted at its roots, fell from my body as I rubbed.
56. "Yet, Sariputta, by such conduct, by such practice, by such performance of austerities, I did not attain any superhuman states, any distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.
Why was that?
Because I did not attain that noble wisdom which when attained is noble and emancipating and leads the one who practices in accordance with it to the complete destruction of suffering.
57. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmans whose doctrine and view is this:
'Purification comes about through the round of rebirths.'
But it is impossible to find a realm in the round that I have not already [82] passed through in this long journey, except for the gods of the Pure Abodes;
and had I passed through the round as a god in the Pure Abodes,
I would never have returned to this world.[20]
58. "There are certain recluses and brahmans whose doctrine and view is this:
'Purification comes about through (some particular kind of) rebirth.'
But it is impossible to find a kind of rebirth that I have not been reborn in already in this long journey, except for the gods of the Pure Abodes...
59. "There are certain recluses and brahmans whose doctrine and view is this:
'Purification comes about through (some particular) abode.'
But it is impossible to find a kind of abode that I have not already dwelt in... except for the gods of the Pure Abodes...
60. "There are certain recluses and brahmans whose doctrine and view is this:
'Purification comes about through sacrifice.'
But it is impossible to find a kind of sacrifice that has not already been offered up by me in this long journey, when I was either a head-anointed noble king or a well-to-do-brahman.
61. "There are certain recluses and brahmans whose doctrine and view is this:
'Purification comes about through fire-worship.'
But it is impossible to find a kind of fire that has not already been worshipped by me in this long journey, when I was either a head-anointed noble king or a well-to-do brahman.
62. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmans whose doctrine and view is this:
'As long as this good man is still young, a black-haired young man endowed with the blessing of youth, in the prime of life, so long is he perfect in his lucid wisdom.
But when this good man is old, aged, burdened with years, advanced in life, and come to the last stage, being eighty, ninety or a hundred years old, then the lucidity of his wisdom is lost.'
But it should not be regarded so. I am now old, aged, burdened with years, advanced in life, and come to the last stage: my years have turned eighty.
Now suppose that I had four disciples with a hundred years' lifespan, perfect in mindfulness, retentiveness, memory and lucidity of wisdom.[21]
Just as a skilled archer, trained, practiced and tested, could easily shoot a light arrow across the shadow of a palm tree, suppose that they were even to that extent perfect in mindfulness, retentiveness, [83] memory and lucidity of wisdom.
Suppose that they continuously asked me about the four foundations of mindfulness and that I answered them when asked and that they remembered each answer of mine and never asked a subsidiary question or paused except to eat, drink, consume food, taste, urinate, defecate and rest in order to remove sleepiness and tiredness.
Still the Tathagata's exposition of the Dhamma, his explanations of factors of the Dhamma, and his replies to questions would not yet come to an end, but meanwhile those four disciples of mine with their hundred years' lifespan would have died at the end of those hundred years.
Sariputta, even if you have to carry me about on a bed, still there will be no change in the lucidity of the Tathagata's wisdom.
63. "Rightly speaking, were it to be said of anyone:
'A being not subject to delusion has appeared in the world for the welfare and happiness of many, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare and happiness of gods and humans,'
it is of me indeed that rightly speaking this should be said."
64. Now on that occasion the Venerable Nagasamala was standing behind the Blessed One fanning him.[22]
Then he said to the Blessed One:
"It is wonderful, venerable sir, it is marvellous!
As I listened to this discourse on the Dhamma, the hairs of my body stood up.
Venerable sir, what is the name of this discourse on the Dhamma?"
"As to that, Nagasamala, you may remember this discourse on the Dhamma as 'The Hair-raising Discourse.' "[23]
That is what the Blessed One said.
The Venerable Nagasamala was satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's words.
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