The sanskrit epics, p.935
The Sanskrit Epics, page 935
50. ‘O holy one, thou art all-wise, there will be stormy weather for seven days, — wind, rain, and darkness, — dwell for the time in my abode.’
51. Though himself possessed of all supernatural power, the holy one thought of the world still involved in embodied existence, and sitting on that jewel-seat he remained absorbed in contemplation.
52. That king of the Nâgas there protected the Buddha, who is himself the source of all protection, from the rain, wind, and darkness, covering his body with his own hood.
53. When the seven days were past and the Nâga had paid his homage and was gone, the Gina proceeded to the bank of a river, near a forest of goat-herds.
54. As the Sugata stayed there during the night, a deity, who bore the name of the Indian fig-tree, came up to him, illumining the spot where he was, and thus addressed him with folded hands:
55. ‘The fig-tree was planted by me when I was born as a man, bearing the name of Buddha; and it has been fostered like the Bodhi tree in the hope of delivering myself from evil.
56. ‘By the merit of that action I myself have been born in heaven; in kindness to me, O my lord, do thou dwell seven days in triumph here.’
57. ‘So be it,’ said the chief of all saints, the true Kalpa tree to grant the wishes of the faithful votary, and he stayed under the fig-tree, absorbed in contemplation, spreading lustre around like a full moon.
58. There he dwelt seven days; and then in a forest of Datura trees, sitting at the foot of a palm, he remained absorbed in contemplation.
59. Spending thus in different spots his weeks of meditation, day and night, the great saint, pondering and fasting, went on in his way, longing to accomplish the world’s salvation.
60. Then two wealthy merchants from the land of Uttara Utkala, named Trapusha and Bhallika, journeying with five hundred waggons,
61. Being freed from a sin which involved a birth as pretas, both joyfully worshipped Buddha with an offering of the three sweet substancess and milk; and they obtained thereby auspicious blessings.
62. They obtained pieces of his nails and hairs for a Kaitya and they also received a prophecy of their future birth, and having received the additional promise, ‘Ye shall also obtain a stone,’ they then proceeded on their way elsewhere.
63. Then Buddha accepted alms in his bowl, offered by the goddess who dwelt in the Datura grove, and he blessed her with benedictions.
64. The Gina then blessed the four bowls as one, which were offered by the four Mahârâgas, and ate with pleasure the offering of milk.
65. Then one day the Gina ate there an Harîtakî fruit which was offered to him by Sakra, and having planted the seed he caused it to grow to a tree.
66. The king of the Devas carried the news thereof joyfully to the Deva-heavens; and gods, men, and demons watered it with reverential circurnambulations.
67. On hearing the news of the Harîtakî seed, and remembering the whole history from first to last, a daughter of the gods named Bhadrikâ, who had been a cow in her former birth, came from heaven.
68. She, the daughter of the gods, smiling with her companions, thus addressed the Gina, bringing him a garment of rags, dependent from a bough:
69. ‘I beg to bring to thy notice — what? O Buddha! — accept this garment of rags, by whose influence I am now a daughter of heaven named Bhadrikâ.’
70. ‘By the further development of this merit thou shalt become a Bodhisattva’ — uttering this blessing the Teacher accepted the rags.
71. Beholding the tattered rags, the gods, crowding in the sky, filled with woncer, and uttering cries of hi hi, flung down upon him garments of heavenly silk.
72. ‘These are not fit for a religious mendicant,’ — so saying, he did not accept even one of them, — only thinking in his calm apathy, ‘these are fit for imperial pomp and a householder’s luxury.’
73. He desired a stone slab and some water in order to wash the dirt away, — Sakra at that moment dug out a great river full of water;
74. And four stones are brought to him by the four Mahârâgas, — on one he himself sat, on another he performed the washing;
75. On another he performed the drying, and another he flung up into the sky; the stone as it flew up reached the blazing city and astonished all the worlds.
76. After paying their worship in many ways, Trapusha and Bhallika duly raised an excellent Kaitya and they called it Silâgarbha.
77. The ascetics of that neighbourhood paid their homage to the ‘Three Stones’ when they were made into a Kaitya, and the noble stream flowed widely known as the ‘Holy River.’
78. Those who bathe and offer their worship in the holy river and reverence the Kaitya. of the three stones, become great-souled Bodhisattvas and obtain Nirvâna.
79. Then seated under a palm-tree the holy one pondered: ‘The profound wisdom so hard to be understood is now known by me.
80. ‘These sin-defiled worlds understand not this most excellent (Law), and the unenlightened shamelessly censure both me and my wisdom.
81. ‘Shall I proclaim the Law? It is only produced by knowledge; having attained it thus in my lonely pondering, do I feel strong enough to deliver the world?’
82. Having remembered all that he had heard before, he again pondered; and resolving, ‘I will explain it for the sake of delivering the world,’
83. Buddha, the chief of saints, absorbed in contemplation, shone forth, arousing the world, having emitted in the darkness of the night a light from the tuft of hair between his eyebrows.
84. When it became dawn, Brahman and the other gods, and the various rulers of the different worlds, besought Sugata to turn the wheel of the Law.
85. When the Gina by his silence uttered an assenting ‘so be it,’ they returned to their own abodes; and the lion of the Sâkyas also shone there, still remaining lost in contemplation.
86. Then the four divinities (of the Bodhi tree), Dharmaruki and the rest, addressed him, ‘Where, O teacher of the world, will the holy one turn the wheel of the Law?’
87. ‘In Vârânasî, in the Deer Park will I turn the wheel of the Law; seated in the fourth posture O deities, I will deliver the world.’
88. There the holy one, the bull of the Sâkya race, pondered, ‘For whom shall I first turn the wheel of the Law?’
89. The glorious one reflected that Rudraka and Arâda were dead, and then he remembered those others, the five men united in a worthy society, who dwelt at Kâsî.
90. Then Buddha set out to go joyfully to Kâsî, manifesting as he went the manifold supernatural course of life of Magadha.
91. Having made a mendicant (whom he met) happy in the path of those who are illustrious through the Law, the glorious one went on, illumining the country which lies to the north of Gayâ.
92. (Having stayed) in the dwelling of the prince of the Nâgas, named Sudarsana, on the occurrence of night, he ate a morning meal consisting of the five kinds of ambrosia, and departed, gladdening him with his blessing.
93. Near Vanârâ he went under the shadow of a tree and there he established a poor Brâhman named Nandin in sacred knowledge.
94. In Vanârâ in a householder’s dwelling he was lodged for the night; in the morning he partook of some milk and departed, having given his blessing.
95. In the village called Vumdadvira he lodged in the abode of a Yaksha named Vumda, and in the morning after taking some milk and giving his blessing he departed.
96. Next was the garden named Rohitavastuka, and there the Nâga-king Kamandalu with his courtiers also worshipped him.
97. Having delivered various beings in every place, the compassionate saint journeyed on to Gandhapura and was worshipped there by the Yaksha Gandha.
98. When he arrived at the city Sârathi, the citizens volunteered to be charioteers in his service; thence he came to the Ganges, and he bade the ferryman cross.
99. ‘Good man, convey me across the Ganges, may the seven blessings be thine.’ ‘I carry no one across unless he pays the fee.’
100. ‘I have nothing, what shall I give?’ So saying he went through the sky like the king of birds; and from that time Bimbisâra abolished the ferry-fee for all ascetics.
101. Then having entered Vârânasî, the Gina, illumining the city with his light, filled the minds of all the inhabitants of Kâsî with excessive interest.
102. In the Sankhamedhîya garden, the king of righteousness, absorbed in meditation, passed the night, gladdening like the moon all those who were astonished at his appearance.
103. The next day at the end of the second watch, having gone his begging round collecting alms, he, the unequalled one, like Hari, proceeded to the Deer Park.
104. The five disciples united in a worthy society, when they beheld him, said to, one another, ‘This is Gautama who has come hither, the ascetic who has abandoned his self-control.
105. ‘He wanders about now, greedy, of impure soul, unstable and with his senses under no firm control, devoted to inquiries regarding the frying-pan.
106. ‘We will not ask after his health, nor rise to meet him, nor address him, nor offer him a welcome, nor a seat, nor bid him enter into our dwelling.’
107. Having understood their agreement, with a smiling countenance, spreading light all around, Buddha advanced gradually nearer, holding his staff and his begging-pot.
108. Forgetful of their agreement, the five friends, under his constraining majesty, rose up like birds in their cages when scorched by fire.
109. Having taken his begging-bowl and staff, they gave him an arghya, and water for washing his feet and rinsing his mouth; and bowing reverentially they said to him, ‘Honoured Sir, health to thee.’
110. ‘Health in every respect is ours, — that wisdom has been attained which is so hard to be won,’ — so saying, the holy one thus spoke to the five worthy associates:
111. ‘But address me not as “worthy Sir,” know that I am a Gina, — I have come to give the first wheel of the Law to you. Receive initiation from me, — ye shall obtain the place of Nirvâna.’
112. Then the five, pure in heart, begged leave to undertake his vow of a religious life; and the Buddha, touching their heads, received them into the mendicant order.
113. Then at the mendicants’ respectful request the chief of saints bathed in the tank, and after eating ambrosia he reflected on the field of the Law.
114. Remembering that the Deer Park and the field of the Gina were there, he went joyfully with them and pointed out the sacred seats.
115. Having worshipped three seats, he desired to visit the fourth, and when the worthy disciples asked about it, the teacher thus addressed them:
116. ‘These are the four seats of the Buddhas of the (present) Bhadra Age, — three Buddhas have passed therein, and I here am the fourth possessor of the ten powers.’
117. Having thus addressed them the glorious one bowed to that throne of the Law, decked with tapestries of cloth and silk, and having its stone inlaid with jewels, like a golden mountain, guarded by the kings of kings, In the former fortnight of shâdha, on the day consecrated to the Regent of Jupiter, on the lunar day sacred to Vishnu, and on an auspicious conjunction, under the asterism Anurâdhâ, and in the muhûrta called the Victorious, in the night, — he took his stand on the throne.
118. The five worthy disciples stood in front, with joyful minds, paying their homage, and the son of Suddhodana performed that act of meditation which is called the Arouser of all worlds; Brâhman and the other gods came surrounded by their attendants, summoned each from his own world; and Maitrîya with the deities of the Tushita heaven came for the turning of the wheel of the Law.
119. So too when the multitude of the sons of the Ginas and the Sûras gathered together from the ten directions of space, there came also the noble chief of the sons of the Ginas, named Dharmakakra, carrying the wheel of the Law; With head reverentially bowed, having placed it, a mass of gold and jewels, before the Buddha and having worshipped him, he thus besought him, ‘O thou lord of saints, turn the wheel of the Law as it has been done by (former) Sugatas.’
BOOK XVI.
1. THE OMNISCIENT lion of the Sâkyas then caused all the assembly, headed by those who belonged to the company of Maitrîya, to turn the wheel of the Law.
2. ‘Listen, O company belonging to Maitrîya, ye who form one vast congregation, — as it was proclaimed by those past arch-saints, so is it now proclaimed by Me.
3. ‘These are the two extremes, O mendicants, in the self-control of the religious ascetic, — the one which is devoted to the joys of desire, vulgar and common,
4. ‘And the other which is tormented by the excessive pursuit of self-inflicted pain in the mortification of the soul’s corruptions, — these are the two extremes of the religious ascetic, each devoted to that which is unworthy and useless.
5. ‘These have nothing to do with true asceticism, renunciation of the world, or self-control, with true indifference or suppression of pain, or with any of the means of attaining deliverance.
6. ‘They do not tend to the spiritual forms of knowledge, to wisdom, nor to Nirvâna; let him who is acquainted with the uselessness of inflicting pain and weariness on the body,
7. ‘Who has lost his interest in any pleasure or pain of a visible nature, or in the future, and who follows this middle Path for the good of the world, —
8. ‘Let him, the Tathâgata, the teacher of the world, proclaim the good Law, beginning that manifestation of the good Law which consists of the (four) noble truths,
9. ‘And let the Buddha proclaim the Path with its eight divisions. I too who am now the perfectly wise, and the Tathâgata in the world,
10. ‘Will proclaim the noble Law, beginning with those sublime truths and the eightfold Path which is the means to attain perfect knowledge.
11. ‘Instructing all the world I will show to it Nirvâna; those four noble truths must be heard first and comprehended by the soul.
12. ‘That must be understood and thoroughly realised by the true students of wisdom, which has been known here by me, through the favour of all the Buddhas.
13. ‘Having known the noble eightfold Path, and embraced it as realised with joy, — thus I declare to you the first means for the attainment of liberation.
14. ‘Having thus commenced the noble truths, I will describe the true self-control; this noble truth is the best of all holy laws.
15. ‘Walk as long as existence lasts, holding fast the noble eightfold Path, — this noble truth is the highest law for the attainment of true liberation.
16. ‘Having pondered and held fast the noble eightfold Path, walk in self-control; others, not understanding this, idle talkers full of self-conceit,
17. ‘Say according to their own will that merit is the cause of corporeal existence, others maintain that the soul must be preserved (after death) for its merit is the cause of liberation.
18. ‘Some say that everything comes spontaneously; others that the consequence was produced before; others talk loudly that all also depends on a Divine Lord.
19. ‘If merit and demerit are produced by the good and evil fortune of the soul, how is it that good fortune does not always come to all embodied beings (at last), even in the absence of merit?
20. ‘How is the difference accounted for, which we see in form, riches, happiness, and the rest, — if there are no previous actions, how do good and evil arise here?
21. ‘If karman is said to be the cause of our actions, who would imagine cogency in this assumption? If all the world is produced spontaneously, who then would talk of the ownership of actions?
22. ‘If good is caused by good, then evil will be the cause of evil, — how then could liberation from existence be produced by difficult penances?
23. ‘Others unwisely talk of Îsvara as a cause, how then is there not uniformity in the world if Îsvara be the uniformly acting cause?
24. ‘Thus certain ignorant people, talking loudly “he is,” “he is not,” — through the demerits of their false theories, are at last born wretched in the different hells.
25. ‘Through the merits of good theories virtuous men, who understand noble knowledge, go to heavenly worlds, from their self-restraint as regards body, speech, and thought.
26. ‘All those who are devoted to existence are tormented with the swarms of its evils, and being consumed by old age, diseases, and death, each one dies and is born again.
27. ‘There are many wise men here who can discourse on the laws of coming into being; but there is not even one who knows how the cessation of being is produced.
28. ‘This body composed of the five skandhas, and produced from the five elements, is all empty and without soul, and arises from the action of the chain of causation,
29. ‘This chain of causation is the cause of coming into existence, and the cessation of the series thereof is the cause of the state of cessation.
30. ‘He who knowing this desires to promote the good of the world, let him hold fast the chain of causation, with his mind fixed on wisdom;
31. ‘Let him embrace the vow of self-denial for the sake of wisdom, and practise the four perfections, and go through existence always doing good to all beings.
32. ‘Then having become an Arhat and conquered all the wicked, even the hosts of Mâra, and attained the threefold wisdom, he shall enter Nirvâna.
33. ‘Whosoever therefore has his mind indifferent and is void of all desire for any further form of existence, let him abolish one by one the several steps of the chain of causation.
34. ‘When these effects of the chain of causation are thus one by one put an end to, he at last, being free from all stain and substratum, will pass into a blissful Nirvâna.
35. ‘Listen all of you for your own happiness, with your minds free from stain, — I will declare to you step by step this chain of causation.
36. ‘The idea of ignorance is what gives the root to the huge poison-tree of mundane existence with its trunk of pain.
37. ‘The impressions are caused by this, which produce the body, voice, and mind; and consciousness arises from these impressions, which produces as its development the five senses and the mind (or internal sense).
