38. (2) "By encompassing
mind with mind I understand a certain person thus: 'This person so behaves, so
conducts himself, has taken such a path that on the dissolution of the body, after
death, he will reappear in the animal realm.' And then later on, with the divine
eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, I see that on the dissolution
of the body, after death, he has reappeared in the animal realm and is experiencing
painful, racking, piercing feelings. Suppose there were a cesspit deeper than
a man's height full of filth; and then a man [*p.75] scorched and exhausted by
hot weather, weary, parched and thirsty, came by a path going in one way only
and directed to that same cesspit. Then a man with good sight on seeing him would
say: 'This person so behaves ... that he will come to this same cesspit'; and
then later on he sees that he has fallen into that cesspit and is experiencing
painful, racking, piercing feelings. So too, by encompassing mind with mind ...
piercing feelings.
39. (3) "By encompassing mind with mind I understand a certain person thus:
'This person so behaves, so conducts himself, has taken such a path that on the
dissolution of the body, after death, he will reappear in the realm of ghosts.'
And then later on ... I see that ... he has reappeared in the realm of ghosts
and is experiencing much painful feeling. Suppose there were a tree growing on
uneven ground with scanty foliage casting a dappled shade; and then a man scorched
and exhausted by hot weather, weary, parched and thirsty, came by a path going
in one way only and directed to that same tree. Then a man with good sight on
seeing him would say: 'This person so behaves ... that he will come to this same
tree'; and then later on he sees that he is sitting or lying in the shade of that
tree experiencing much painful feeling. So too, by encompassing mind with mind
... much painful feeling.
40. (4) "By encompassing mind with mind I understand a certain person thus:
'This person so behaves, so conducts himself, has taken such a path that on the
dissolution of the body, after death, he will reappear among human beings.' And
then later on ... I see that ... he has reappeared among human beings and is experiencing
much pleasant feeling. Suppose there were a tree growing on even ground with thick
foliage casting a deep shade; and then a man scorched and exhausted by hot weather,
weary, parched and thirsty, came by a path going in one way only and directed
to that same tree. Then a man with good sight on seeing him would say: 'This person
so behaves ... that he will come to this same tree'; and then later on he sees
that he is sitting or lying in the shade of that tree experiencing much pleasant
feeling. So too, by encompassing mind with mind ... much pleasant feeling [*p.76]
41. (5) "By encompassing mind with mind I understand a certain person thus:
'This person so behaves, so conducts himself, has taken such a path that on the
dissolution of the body, after death, he will reappear in a happy destination,
in the heavenly world.' And then later on ... I see that ... he has reappeared
in a happy destination, in the heavenly world and is experiencing extremely pleasant
feelings. Suppose there were a mansion, and it had an upper chamber plastered
within and without, shut off, secured by bars, with shuttered windows, and in
it there was a couch spread with rugs, blankets and sheets, with a deerskin coverlet,
with a canopy as well as crimson pillows for both (head and feet); and then a
man scorched and exhausted by hot weather, weary, parched and thirsty, came by
a path going in one way only and directed to that same mansion. Then a man with
good sight on seeing him would say: 'This person so behaves ... that he will come
to this same mansion'; and later on he sees that he is sitting or lying in that
upper chamber in that mansion experiencing extremely pleasant feelings. So too,
by encompassing mind with mind ... extremely pleasant feelings.
42. (6) "By encompassing mind with mind I understand a certain person thus:
'This person so behaves, so conducts himself, has taken such a path that by realizing
it for himself with direct knowledge, he here and now will enter upon and abide
in the deliverance of mind and deliverance by wisdom that are taintless with the
destruction of the taints.' And then later on I see that by realizing it for himself
with direct knowledge, he here and now enters upon and abides in the deliverance
of mind and deliverance by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the
taints, and is experiencing extremely pleasant feelings.[16] Suppose there were
a pond with clean, agreeable, cool water, transparent, with smooth banks, delightful,
and nearby a dense wood; and then a man scorched and exhausted by hot weather,
weary, parched and thirsty, came by a path going in one way only and directed
towards that same pond. Then a man with good sight on seeing him would say: 'This
person so behaves ... that he will come to this same pond'; and then later on
he sees that he has plunged into the pond, bathed, drunk and relieved all his
distress, fatigue and fever and has come out again and is sitting or lying in
the wood [*p.77] experiencing extremely pleasant feelings. So too, by encompassing
mind with mind ... extremely pleasant feelings. These are the five destinations.
43. "Sariputta, when I know and see thus, should anyone say of me: 'The recluse
Gotama does not have any superhuman states, any distinction in knowledge and vision
worthy of the noble ones. The recluse Gotama teaches a Dhamma (merely) hammered
out by reasoning, following his own line of inquiry as it occurs to him' -- unless
he abandons that assertion and that state of mind and relinquishes that view,
then as (surely as if he had been) carried off and put there he will wind up in
hell. Just as a bhikkhu possessed of virtue, concentration and wisdom would here
and now enjoy final knowledge, so it will happen in this case, I say, that unless
he abandons that assertion and that state of mind and relinquishes that view,
then as (surely as if he had been) carried off and put there he will wind up in
hell. (The Bodhisatta's Austerities)
44. "Sariputta, I recall having lived a holy life possessing four factors.
I have practised asceticism -- the extreme of asceticism; I have practised coarseness
-- the extreme of coarseness; I have practised scrupulousness -- the extreme of
scrupulousness; I have practised 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 [*p.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 ricebran or rice-scum or sesamum flour or grass or cowdung. 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 [*p.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.
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. [*p.80]
52. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmins 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.
54.
55. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmins 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, [*p.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
practises in accordance with it to the complete destruction of suffering.
57. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmins 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 [*p.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 brahmins 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 brahmins 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 brahmins 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-brahmin.
61. "There are certain recluses and brahmins 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 brahmin.
62. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmins 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, practised 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, [*p.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.
Notes
1. The story of Sunakkhatta's defection is found in the Patika Sutta (DN 24).
He became dissatisfied with the Buddha and left the Order because the Buddha
would not perform miracles for him or explain to him the beginning of things.
He also showed great admiration for those who engaged in self-mortification,
and probably resented the Buddha for emphasizing a "middle way" that
condemned such extreme austerities as unprofitable.
2. Superhuman states (//uttari manussadhamma//) are states, virtues or attainments
higher than the ordinary human virtues comprised in the ten wholesome courses
of action; they include the jhanas, direct knowledges (//abhinna//), the paths
and the fruits. "Distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble
ones" (//alamariyanana-dassanavisesa)//, an expression frequently occurring
in the suttas, signifies all higher degrees of meditative knowledge characteristic
of the noble individual. In the present context, according to Comy., it means
specifically the supramundane path, which Sunakkhatta is thus denying of the
Buddha.