*#*
What are, by their natures, the different actions of mortal transgression?
What are, by their natures, the different actions of mortal transgression?
Abhidharmakosabhasyam-Vol-2-Vasubandhu-Poussin-Pruden-1991
Chapter Four
views, fruits are very few, or are totally absent. Such is the pre- dominating result.
***
Is it by reason of killing that a murderer is reborn in hell and then only enjoys a short human life?
According to some, it is by reason of killing. Existence in hell is a retributive result, whereas shortness of life is an outflowing result of the killing. [In fact, retribution is always sensation, vedana\
According to others, existence in hell comes from the preparatory action of killing; the fact of having a short life comes from the action itself. It is true that the Sutra speaks of killing as the cause of existence in hell, but it understands by killing, not only killing, but killing with all the actions that accompany it. What is called outflowing result does not here exist separately from the retributive result and the predominating result. It is called outflowing by reason of the resemblance between the cause and its effea (to kill--to have a short life; to steal--to be poor, etc).
***
Why is the result of the courses of action threefold? One who commits murder causes the viaim to suffer, causes him to die, and destroys his vigor:
85c-d The result is threefold, because one makes him suffer,
because one makes him die, and because one destroys his
413 vigor.
Because one causes suffering, there is a retributive result, that is,
suffering in hell; because one makes him die, there is an outflowing
414 result, that is, his life is short; and because one destroys his vigor,
there is a predominating result, that is, external things are of little vigor. The same for the other courses of aaion.
***
? The same for the three results of the good courses of action: through having practiced, cultivated, and developed the renouncing of killing, one is reborn among the gods; if one is reborn down here in human condition, one will have a long life. The results of all good actions oppose bad actions (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 589al8-21).
*#*
The Blessed One distinguishes wrong speech (mithydvdc), wrong action {mithydkarmdnta), and wrong manner of livelihood {mkhyd-
415
jtva). Is this to say that wrong livelihood is separate from wrong
speech and wrong action?
It does not exist separately:
86a-c. Bodily and vocal actions which arise from attachment are
"wrong manner of livelihood"; it constitutes a separate category,
416 because it is difficult to purify.
Bodily action and vocal action arising from hate and ignorance are, respectively, wrong action and wrong speech. Arisen from attachment, both constitute wrong manner of livelihood, distinguished in this way because the manner of livelihood is difficult to purify.
Attachment is by its nature, a bandit: one watches with difficulty the mind of the actions which provoke attachment. Consequently, since the manner of livelihood is, as long as one lives, difficult to purify, the Blessed One, with an end that one should apply himself to purifying it,
417 made a separate category of wrong livelihood. There is a stanza, "The
layman purifies his views with difficulty, for he is always in the prey of multiple views; the monk purifies his manner of livelihood with difficulty, for his subsistance depends on others. "
86c-d If one says that it is solely action issued from attachment to the resources necessary for life, no; for this is in contradiction with the Sutra.
If someone thinks that to dance, to sing, etc, for one's own pleasure is not a wrong manner of livelihood,--because wrong manner of livelihood is only bodily and vocal actions inspired by attachment to the
418
means of subsistance, --we would answer: no. In fact, the Blessed
Karma 671
? 672 Chapter Four
419
One, in the SUaskandhikd, taught that looking at elephant fights, etc,
is a wrong manner of livelihood And why? Because this is to enjoy bad objects.
***
We have seen (ii. 56) that there are five results, predominating results, results of virile activity, outflowing results, retributive results, and disconnection or liberation. How many results are included in the different types of action?
87a-b. Impure, in the path of abandoning, action embraces the five results.
The path of abandoning is so called because it has abandoning for its goal, or because the defilements are abandoned due to it. This is the anantarya path which will be defined later (vi. 28,49) and which is of two types, pure and impure.
Action which forms part of the impure path of abandoning,
includes the five results: 1. retributive result: an agreeable retribution
which belongs to the same stage as the action; 2. an outflowing result:
dharmas arisen from the absorption, similar to the action, and later than 420
it; 3. a disconnective result: disconnection from the defilements, the
abandoning of the defilements; 4. a result of virile activity: the dharmas
that this action gives rise to, namely (a) the path of deliverance
421 (vimuktimdrga, vi. 28), (b) the coexisting dharmas, (c) the future
dharmas of which this action causes one to obtain possession, and (d) 422
the abandoning itself; and 5. a predominating result: all the conditioned dharmas with the exception of the action in question, and with the exception of the dharmas already arisen (ii. 59).
87c Pure, it includes four results.
The preceding ones, with the exception of the retributive result.
88a-b. The rest of pure action and neutral action, three results.
The rest of pure action--that is, pure action not included in the path of abandoning, but forming part oitheprayoga-vimukti-vifesa-mdrgas (vi. 65b)--embrace neither disconnective result, since it is not the cause
? of abandoning, nor retributive result, since it is pure.
The same two results are absent also in neutral action, whether it is
defiled nor not.
**#
What is the nature,--good, bad, or neutral,--of the results of different actions?
88c-d The good, bad, neutral dharmas, constitute four, two, and three results of good action.
Outflowing results, disconnective results, virile activity, and pre- dominating results of good action are good dharmasJLexifoxitive results are neutral by nature (ii. 57).
Virile activity and predominating results of good action are bad
dharmas.
Outflowing results of a good action are necessarily good; dis- connective results are good by their nature.
Retributive results, virile activity, and predominating results of gpod action are neutral dharmas.
89a-b. Good, bad, neutral dharmas, constitute, respectively two, three, and four results of bad action.
Theexptessionanukraman ("respectively") signifiesyathdkraman.
Two results,--virile activity and predominating results of bad action,--are good dharmas.
Three results--by omitting retributive results and disconnective results--are bad dharmas.
Four results--by omitting disconnective results--are neutral
dharmas.
It is admitted then that an outflowing result of bad dharmas can be
423 made up of neutral dharmas. How is this?
Two neutral dharmas,--the belief in personality (satkayadrsti) and the belief in the past and in the future of a soul (antagrahadrsti) (v. 6b)--are an outflowing result of bad dharmas: namely of the universal defilements (ii. 54, v. 12) which one abandons through the Seeing of Suffering and Arising, and of the defilements of the rdga class,
Karma 673
? 674 Chapter Four
etc, which one abandons through the Seeing of Suffering.
89c-d The same dharmas--good, bad, neutral dharmas--make up two, three, and three results of neutral action.
Two results,--virile activity and predominating results,--are good
dharmas.
Three results--by omitting retributive results and disconnective results--are bad dharmas. In faa some bad dharmas of the five categories (ii. 52b), to be abandoned through Seeing the Truth of Suffering, etc. , are an outflowing result of two neutral dharmas, namely of satkayadrsti and antagrahadrsti.
Three results--the same as above--are neutral.
***
With regard to the time period, and the stage, etc,
90a. Some dharmas of all types constitute four results of past actioa
All the dharmas or some dharmas of all types, that is, past, present 424
and future, can constitute four of the results of past action. One must exclude the disconnective result which is outside of time.
90b. Some future dharmas constitute four results of median action.
Median action, that is, present action, has four results--by excluding disconnection--which are future dharmas.
90c There are two which are median dharmas.
Some present dharmas are predominating results and virile activity
of median action.
90c-d For action not yet arisen, there are three results made up
of future dharmas.
That is, retributive results, predominating results, and virile activity. Future action does not have outflowing results (ii57c).
? 91a-b. Some dharmas of the same stage constitute four results, whereas some dharmas of another stage constitute three or two results.
An action of a certain stage produces four results--by excluding disconnection--which are dharmas of its own stage.
Some pure dharmas belong to a stage different from that of the the action which constitutes three results of this action: virile activity, predominating result and also outflowing result, after the rule given in ii. 53.
Some impure dharmas belong to a stage different from that of the action which constitutes virile aaivity and the predominating result of this aaioa
91c. Some Saiksa dharmas, etc. constitute three results of Saiksa
425
aaioa
Some dharmas "charaaeristic of the Saint who is not an Arhat" (Saiksa) constitute outflowing results, virile aaivity, and predominating results of Saiksa aaion.
The same for dharmas "charaaeristic of the Arhat" (Asaiksa).
Neither-Saiksa-nor-Asaiksa dharmas constitute virile aaivity, pre- dominating results and disconneaive results of Saiksa aaioa
91d-92b. Saiksa dharmas, etc, constitute one result, three results, and two results of Asaiksa aaion, etc
Saiksa dharmas are a predominating result of this aaioa
Asaiksa dharmas are a predominating result, an outflowing result, and yirile aaivity of this aaioa
Neither-Saiksa-nor-A? aiksa dharmas are predominating results and virile aaivity of this aaioa
92c-d Some Saiksa dharmas, etc, constitute two results, two results, and five results of aaion differing from the two preceeding.
This refers to neither-Saiksa-neither-Asaiksa aaioa
Some Saiksa dharmas and some Asaiksa dharmas are virile aaivity and predominating results of this aaioa
Karma 675
? 676 Chapter Four
Some neither-5aik^-nor-A? iaik? a dharmas are five results of this actioa
93a-b. Dharmas susceptible of being abandoned through Seeing the Truths (darsanaheya), susceptible of being abandoned through Meditation (bhavanaheya), and not susceptible of being abandoned (apraheya), constitute three results, two results, one result of action susceptible of being abandoned through Seeing the Truths.
Some darsanaheya dharmas are predominating results, virile activity and outflowing results of darfanaheya actioa
Some bhavanaheya dharmas are four results of this action: excluding disconnectioa
Some apraheya dharmas are predominating results of this action. 93c-d The same dharmas constitute two, four, and three results
of action susceptible of being abandoned through Meditatioa
DarSanaheya dharmas are virile activity and predominating results of bhavanaheya actioa
Bhavanaheya dharmas are four results of this action: excluding disconnectioa
Apraheya dharmas are virile activity, predominating results, and disconnection of this action.
94a-b. The same dharmas constitute, respectively, one result, two results, and four results of action not susceptible of being abandoned
DarSanaheya dharmas are predominating results of apraheya actioa action.
Some bhavanaheya dharmas are predominating results and virile
426
activity results of this actioa
Some apraheya dharmas are four results of this action: omitting the
retributive result.
The text has yathakraman, "respectively," the same as the above
passage (iv. 89b) has anukraman in the sense ofyathdkraman. lt repeats here "respectively": one concludes from this that this word should be supplied in each definitioa Such is, in effect, the process of abbreviatioa
? In the teaching of the doctrine of action the following question is again posed: the Treatise (the Jndnaprasthdna) speaks of proper action (yogavihita), improper action (ayogavihita), and neither-proper-nor- improper action. What is the meaning of these three actions?
94c-d Improper action is defiled action; according to some,
427 irregular action also.
Some say that improper action is defiled action, because this
428
proceeds from a wrong judgment. According to others, irregular
action is also irregular action: when a person walks, stands still, eats, or dresses himself in a manner other than that which he should, this action--which is undefiled-neutral--is improper, for this person acts contrary to received usage (ayoga).
There is the same divergence of view with regard to proper action: this is either good action, or good and regular action.
Action which differs from proper action and improper action is neither-proper-nor-improper action.
***
Does one action project one birth or many births? Do many actions project one birth or many births?
According to the system of the School: 95a. One action projects one arising.
By ztisingjanman, one should understand, not merely birth (jati), but an existence (nikdyasabhdga, ii. 41a). He who comes into an existence is said to be bora
1. One action projects one arising and no more,
The Sautrantikas: This thesis is in contradiction with what the
Sthavira Aniruddha says, "Through the retribution of this single aim
(pindapdta), after having been born up to seven times among the
Thirty-three Gods, I am finally born in the family of the rich
430 Sakyans. "
Answer: Aniruddha, through this aim, obtained a great prosperity;
429
Karma 677
? 678 Chapter Four
he obtained a memory of his past lives; and he accomplished many new meritorious works. By expressing himself as he did, he intends to indicate his point of departure. It is thus that a person who had acquired a sum of one thousand by means of a single penny, could say, "It is through one penny that I have acquired this fortune. "
431
One answers again: By reason of his aim, Aniruddha produced
many streams of volition: one result appeared to each volition.
2. Many actions do not together projea one arising: for if this were
the case, the projection of existence would take place in parts. But admitting that one existence is projected by a single action,
95b. Many actions complete an existence.
The same way that a painter with one stroke delineates the outline
432
of an image, and then fills in this image: so too, even though their
quality of being a human is the same, certain humans have perfect organs, major and minor members; certain humans are beautiful through the excellence of their hue, figure, shape and power, whereas,
433 in certain humans this or that is lacking.
It is not solely action which projects one existence: all retributive 434
dharmas, namely sensation, etc, also projea it. However
95c-d Neither the two absorptions of unconsciousness nor the praptis projea (an existence).
Even though they are retribution, the two absorptions of un-
consciousness (ii. 42) do not projea an existence, because they do not
coexist with aaion. The praptis (ii. 36) do not projea an existence,
because they do not have the same result as does the aaion with which
435 they coexist.
***
The Blessed One said that there are three avaranas or obstacles: the obstacle of aaion (karmdvarana), the obstacle of the defilements
456 (klesavarana), and the obstacle of retribution (vipdkdvarana).
What are the three obstacles?
? 96. Anantarya actions; chronic defilements; and bad realms of rebirth, and Asamjnisattvas and Kurus, are the threefold
437 obstacle.
The obstacle which consists of action are the five mortal
(anantarya) transgressions: matricide, patricide, the killing of an Arhat, 438
schism, and wounding the Tathagata with thoughts of hatred
The obstacle which consists of the defilements is chronic defilement.
Defilement is of two types, chronic and violent: chronic defilemet is continual defilement, and violent defilement is strong defilement. Chronic defilement constitutes an obstacle, as is the case, for example, among eunuchs. Defilements which surge up from time to time, even if their impulse is strong, can be overcome, but not continual defilement, even though it is at rest. The person in whom this is found does not find the time to make an effort to overcome it. From being small, they become medium sized; and from medium sized, they become strong: thus they form an obstacle.
The obstacle which consists of retribution is the three painful realms of rebirth--existence in hell, animal existence, and Preta existence--and one part of the good realms of rebirth--human existence in Uttarakuru, and heavenly existence among the Un- conscious Ones.
What does "obstacle" mean?
That which causes an obstacle to the Way and to the roots of good preparatory to the Way, usmagatas, etc (vi. 17).
Objection: One should mention as actions forming obstacles other
categories of actions besides mortal transgressions. Actions which
439
necessarily produce painful realms of rebirth, etc. , which produce
birth in eggs, birth in sweat, birth as a woman, or an eighth birth, form obstacles.
Answer: Only actions easily discernible by others and by the agent himself,--and that from five points of view--are mentioned here. Actions which are mortal transgressions are murder, lying, and preparation for murder; its result are painful; the rebirth realm which it produces is hell; the period of its retribution is the next existence; the murderer himself receives the name of patricide. . . : from five points of
440 view, action which is mortal transgression is easy to discern.
Karma 679
? 680 Chapter Four
Among the obstacles, the gravest is the obstacle of defilement, followed by the obstacle of actioa For these two obstacles rend one incapable of health, not only in the present existence, but also in the next existence.
According to the Vaibhasikas (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 601a2-7), the obstacle of defilement is the gravest because it produces the obstacle of action; the obstacle of action is heavier than the obstacle of retribution because it produces this obstacle.
***
441 What is the meaning of the word dnantarya?
The five moral transgressions are called dnantarya because they
cannot be "traversed" (antarita), that is to say, prevented in their
retribution through actions which should be retributed in the next
442
existence. Or rather a person guilty of a mortal transgression is
reborn, after this life, immediately (anantaram) in hell; the guilty person is thus antara, "one without intermediate (existence)"; thus the dharma the possession of which makes the guilty one an anantara is called dnantarya, like one terms irdmanya the dharma which makes someone a Sramana (vi. 51).
**#
In what sphere of existence are the obstacles found?
97a. Mortal transgressions exist in the three continents.
The inhabitants of Uttarakuru and living beings which are not humans are not capable of mortal transgressions. And all the more reason mortal transgression is absent in the higher spheres. And, among humans, only men and women can commit mortal trans- gressions:
97b-c. It is not admitted that eunuchs, etc. , are capable of this transgression, because of the mediocrity of their kindness and respect.
For the same reasons that rend eunuchs, etc. , incapable of
443
? indiscipline (iv. 43c); and, further, because their parents, having given to the eunuch only an incomplete body and having only a mediocre
444
affection for their son, are mediocre benefactors;
other hand, the eunuch does not experience a strong respect (lajjitva = hrivypatrapya, ii. 32) for his parents the destruction of which would render him guilty of a mortal transgression.
For the same reasons then, Pretas and animals, if they were to kill
their parents, are not guilty of mortal transgressions. Nevertheless, the
Bhadanta said that animals in whom intelligence is lively, for example,
the ajaneya horse, are capable of mortal transgressions (Vibhdsd, TD
445
27,p. 6l9c4-7).
For the same reasons, a human born of demon (or non-human)
parents does not commit a mortal transgression in killing them.
97d The other two obstacles exist in the five realms of rebirth.
Birth in Uttarakuru is an obstacle of retribution for humans; birth among the Asamjnisattvas is such for the gods.
*#*
What are, by their natures, the different actions of mortal transgression?
Four are bodily action; one is vocal action; three are killing; one is
446
lying; and one is the preparation for murder, for the Tathagatas
447 cannot be killed by the attack of another.
**#
We say that schism (sanghabheda) is lying, and that this lying is the fourth mortal transgression. How is this?
If we make schism a mortal transgression, this is because we give the name of schism to lying which is the cause of schism; or rather the word "schism" should be explained as "that which the divides Sangha. " In fact,
98a-c Schism is, by its nature, disharmony; this is an undefiled-
448 neutral dharma disassociated from the mind.
Karma 681
because, on the
? 682 Chapter Four
Schism, that is, disharmony, is a samskdra not associated with the mind (ii. 35, trans, note 180), and is undefiled-neutral: how could it hence be a mortal transgression? As much as it is a person who divides the Sangha, the schismatic is not in possession of the schism. On the the contrary
98d It is the Sangha which possesses the schism.
It is that which is divided, and not the schismatic, which "possesses" the samskdra called "division of the Sangha. "
But what does the schismatic possess?
99a-b. The transgression of schism is lying; it belongs to the schismatic.
The schismatic possesses the transgression of schism, which is lying. This lying arises at the same time as the schism itself; it consists of vocal vijnapti and avijnapti.
Possessed of this lying,
99c. The schismatic falls into Avici for a kalpa.
He falls into the great Avici hell for an intermediary period
U9
(antarakalpa, iii. 83). Those guilty of other mortal transgressions are
not necessarily in Avici.
Yet all mortal transgressions are retributed in the next existence:
what would happen if a person is guilty of many mortal transgressions? 99d Suffering grows by reason of supplementary transgression.
A person guilty of many moral transgressions possesses in Avici a large body and very tender flesh by which he feels twofold, threefold, fourfold, or fivefold, and his torments are extrememly numerous and insupportable.
#*#
Who is capable of dividing the Sangha?
lOOa-b. A Bhiksu who is an intellectual, who is virtuous,
450 divides.
? 451
It is a Bhiksu who divides, not a layman, not a nun, etc. This
452
Bhiksu should be an intellectual, not a sensualist; he should be
virtuous, not immoral: for the words of an immoral Bhiksu lack authority.
***
Where does schism take place? 100b. Elsewhere.
Not where the Tathagata is found Schism is impossible where the Master is to be found, for the Tathagata cannot be conquered and his word is full of authority.
#*#
Who does the schismatic divide? 100b. Fools.
Only fools and not Aryans, for Aryans see the Dharma with direct insight. According to another opinion, the schismatic can no longer divide possessors of ksdnti. ^
***
What does the Sangha do that it is divided?
100c-d. When it admits another Master, or another Path, it is
454 divided.
Once it is divided, how long does it remain divided?
lOOd It does not exceed a day.
455
A night of the same day. When the Sangha is divided, infallibly,
the Sangha will again be in concord at sunrise.
The schism that we have just described, and which is a "mortal
transgression,"
Karma 683
? 684 Chapter Four
101a. Is what we understand by breaking the Wheel.
The Wheel of the Law of the Blessed One is then broken, because
the progress of the Path is hindered. As a consequence there is, at the
456 same time, both breaking of the Wheel and a division of the Sangha.
Where is breaking of the Wheel produced? 101b. In Jambudvlpa.
Not in the other continents where the Buddhas do not appear. By how many Bhiksus?
457 101b. By nine or more.
The maximum number is not fixed. The Sangha susceptible of being divided counts at a minimum eight Bhiksus; the ninth monk necessary is the schismatic In order for there to be schism, it is necessary that a Sangha be divided into two parts--the first is for the Buddha, the second is for the schismatic--forming thus two Sanghas of four Bhiksus each, which is the minimum number required in order to constitute a Sangha (Vibbdsd, TD 27, p. 602c5-13).
***
Another type of schism, different from the breaking of the Wheel and which is not a mortal transgression results from a division in eccesiastical aaions: when, in one parish (simd), the monks divide themselves in order to perform ecclesiastical actions, posadha, etc
458 101c Ritual schism in three continents.
Only there where the Religion exists.
lOld. This schism supposes eight Bhiksus or more.
It is necessary to form two groups of four Bhiksus; but, here, there is not one schismatic who declares himself a Master.
#**
At six periods, the schism of the breaking of Wheel cannot take place.
? 102. The breaking of the Wheel is impossible at the beginning;
at the end; before the abscess; before a pair; when the Sage is
459 extinguished; or when a parish has not been delimited.
At the beginning, that is, when a little time has passed since the setting into motion the Wheel of the Law; and at the end, that is, at the period of the Parinirvana of the Blessed One: in these two periods the
460
Sangha is penetrated by a single sentiment. In the interval, breaking
461
is impossible before the appearance of an abscess: as long as the
abscess of precepts and the abscess of views does not appear in the
dispensation (sdsana). lt is also impossible before the apparition of a
pair: as long as a pair of excellent disciples has not appeared, because the
Sangha should not pass a night in a state of division, and because this
pair of disciples has for its task the reestablishment of harmony.
Breaking is impossible when the Sage is extinguished, for, once the
Master has entered into Parinirvana, a schismatic would have no
462
opponent. Finally, when a parish has not been delimited, for one says that the Sangha is divided when there two parties in one parish.
All Buddhas do not have their Wheels broken as does Sakyamuni:
463 this depends on their former actions.
*#*
Why are the transgressions enumerated above, matricide, etc, mortal transgressions to the exclusion of other transgressions?
103a-b. Because they destroy or hurt a field of benefaction, or a
464 field of qualities.
Matricide and patricide are mortal transgressions because they destroy a benefactor. One's mother and father are benefactors because they have given birth.
How does the murderer destroy them?
465 By killing them.
The murder of an Arhat and the last two mortal transgressions are
mortal transgressions because an Arhat, the Sangha and the Buddha are
466
fields of qualities. One does not destroy the Sangha and the Buddha,
but one can hurt them.
***
Karma 685
? 686 Chapter Four
But if the gender of the mother and father changes, does the quality of mother and father no longer exist within the mother and father?
103c. Even if their gender changes, there is mortal transgression
in killing him who was the mother, and in killing her who was the father.
It is said in fact (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 6l9cl9-23), "Gin a person be guilty of a mortal transgression killing a man who is not his father, or who is not an Arhat? Yes, if he kills his mother whose gender has changed Gin a person be guilty of a mortal transgression by killing a woman who is not his mother, or who is not an Arhat? Yes, if he kills his father whose gender has changed"
***
When the embryo of a woman falls out and when another woman
467
deposits it in her womb, which of these two women is reputed to be
the mother whose murder constitutes a mortal transgression?
103d The mother is the woman from whose blood one is born.
The second woman takes up the offices of a mother: she is the one
who gives the child liquid to drink, who nourishes it, and who raises
468 it.
###
There is no mortal transgression if, wanting to kill one's mother a
person kills someone else; there is no mortal transgression if, wanting
9 tokillanotherperson,apersonkillshismother. ^ Forexample,aman
who kills his mother stretched out on a bed where he believes there is a
man asleep, and the child of the laundryman who kills his father
wanting to kill a mosquito, do not become guilty of mortal trans-
470 gressions.
If a man kills his mother and another person with the same stroke, there are two avijnaptis, an avijnapti of simple murder, and an avijnapti of a mortal transgression; but the vijnapti is solely of the mortal transgression, by reason of the force of the mortal transgression. Yet,
? according to Ghosaka (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 617b23-25), there are two vijnaptis, for a vijnapti is made up of atoms.
The person who kills an Arhat without knowing him to be an Arhat, thinking only to definitely kill such a person, does not have any discrimination with respect to the person to be killed.
The person who kills his father, when his father is an Arhat, is
guilty of only one mortal transgression, namely the killing of an Arhat:
for the father and the Arhat make up only a single persoa
471
Objection: [The Arhat Rudrayana, assassinated by order of his
son Sikhandin, said to the assassin,] "Go! Tell Sikhandin that he has committed two mortal transgressions, patricide and the murder of an Arhat. " How do you explain these words?
Rudrayana means that his son commmitted a mortal transgression through two causes of mortal transgression; or rather Rudrayana said "two mortal transgression" in order to doubly condemn the conduct of his son.
Does the person who, with a bad mind, cause the blood of the Tathagata to flow, necessarily commit a mortal transgression?
He commits a mortal transgression when he has the intention to kill:
104a. No, when he only had the intention of striking the
472 Buddha.
Is a person guilty of a mortal transgression when he injures to death a person who becomes an Arhat after being injured?
104b. No, with regard to the person who became an Arhat after the blow.
Add, according to that which precedes, "no mortal transgression. " In fact, the preparation for murder had for its object a person who was not an Arhat.
*##
Gin a person who made preparation for a mortal transgression,
473 obtain detachment and its result by arresting it?
Karma 687
? 688
Chapter Four
104c-d Detachment and its results are impossible for one who
474 has made preparation for a mortal transgressioa
Why?
Because there is an absolute contradiction between the intention of a mortal transgression and the acquisition of detachment or a result.
A person who enters the Path after having done the preparation for any other evil deed, will not produce this deed, by reason of the absolute
475
105a-b. Lying with a view to schism is considered the gravest transgressioa
A person who, knowing what is Dharma and non-Dharma, lies with a view to dividing the Sangha and teaching falsely, by this makes himself quilty of the gravest transgression among all misdeeds. In fact, he wounds the Dharma body of the Tathagatas, he creates an obstacle to temporal well-being and to the deliverance of creatures. As long as concord is not established in the Sangha, there is hindrance to entry into the Path (niyandvakrdnti, vi. 26a), to the acquisition of results, to the acquistion of detachment, and to the destruction of the defilements: all actions relative to dhyana, study and reflection are also arrested; the worlds of gods, Nagas and humans are troubled and saddened, they are not masters of themselves, and misguided. This is why the retribution for this crime lasts a cosmic age and takes place in Avici
Among the other mortal transgressions, the fifth, the third and the
476 first are, in descending order, the heaviest. Patricide is the lightest.
contradiction between his new personality and the deed
##*
What is the gravest of the mortal transgressions?
Objection: The Blessed One said that mental danda is the most 477
culpable of the threedandas; he said also that false view is the gravest among all the transgressions.
One must understand that, among the mortal transgressions, schism is the gravest transgression; that mental danda is the gravest among the three actions; and that false view is the gravest among the bad views. Or rather schism is the gravest transgression if one considers
? the extent of its retribution; manodanda, if one considers the number of 478
persons destroyed by it; and false view, if one considers the roots of good which false view alone cuts off.
***
AmQng the good actions, which bears the greatest result?
105c-d Among the good worldly dharmas, a volition for 479
Bhavagra bears the greatest result.
"Volition for Bhavagra" means the mental action through which one is reborn in the highest stage of Arupyadhatu. This action is the most fruitious of good worldly actions, for its retribution is a perfect tranquility for twenty-four thousand cosmic periods (iii. 81).
This is understood from the point of view of its retributive results. From the point of view of its disconnective result (ii. 57d) the most fruitious action is volition associated with Vajropamasamadhi (vL44d; see iv. H2b), for this volition has for its result the cutting off of all the bonds. This is why the Karika says, "Among the good worldly dhar-
mas . . . "
#**
Is it only through a mortal transgression that a person is necessarily reborn in hell?
A person is also necessarily reborn in hell through transgressions
similar to mortal transgressions. Others add: but not immediately 480
106-107b. To defile one's mother, to defile an ArhantI; to kill a predestined Bodhisattva; to kill a Saiksa; and to steal the goods of the Sangha are transgressions similar to mortal trans-
481 gressions; the fifth is the destruction of a Stupa.
These five transgressions, in this order, are similar to mortal transgressions: to defile one's mother, to defile an ArhantI (=matricide); to kill a predestined Bodhisattva (=patricide); to kill a Saint who is not an Arhat (=murder of an Arhat); to rob the Sangha of its means of
(anantaram) so.
Karma 689
? 690 Chatter Four
substance (=schism); and to destroy a Stupa (=to wound the Tathagata). ***
Other aaions embracing retribution are impeded in three cir- cumstances:
107c-d He absolutely impedes aaions by the acquisition of
482 Ksanti, the quality of Anagaamin, and the quality of Arhat.
When, upon leaving the stage of murdhanas, he obtains the stage called patience (ksanti, vL23), the aaions which should be retributed in painful realms of rebirth, being impeded, remain below, because he passes beyond the state of retribution of these aaions. In the same way the creditors of the man who is about to emigrate from his country rise up.
When he obtains the quality of Anagamin (vL36d), the aaions which should be retributed in Kamadhatu, being impeded, remain below,--with the exception of those which should be retributed in the present existence.
The same for the aaions which should be retributed in Rupadhatu and Arupyadhatu when he obtains the quality of Arhat.
***
We have seen that the killing of a Bodhisattva is a quasi-mortal transgression.
108a. Since when is one a Bodhisattva?
From what moment on does one receive the name of Bodhisattva?
108b. When he begins to cultivate aaions which produce the
483 marks.
Starting from the moment when he begins to cultivate aaions which have for their retribution the thirty-two marks, he is "predestined"
How is this?
From this moment onward, he always
? 108c-d Has good realms of rebirth; he is born into noble families; he possesses all the organs (avyaksah); he is a male; he remembers his past lives; and he does not desist (anivrt).
One says that he is sugati ("well gone"), because his rebirth realms are excellent, for he is born among gpds and humans.
484
He is born in the wealthy families of Ksatriyas, Brahmanas, and
Grhapatis, not in humble familes.
The man whose organs are not complete is vikatendriya; if his
m organsarecomplete,heisanavyaksa,asynonymfor avikdendriya.
He is always male, never female, and, even more so, never non- sexual (sandha, etc).
In all of his existences, he remembers his past births.
One desists by giving in; as he does not give in, he is avivrt, a synonym for an avaivartika, one who does not desist or regress: in fact, with an end to being useful to all creatures, he is not cast down by all
486
sorts of sufferings, or by any outrages. He is called the slave not
487
purchased by the world, indeed the Bodhisattva: this great-souled one,
who yet possesses the most sublime prefections (sampad, vii. 34), acts 488
through pure compassion; he acts without egoism, like a dog, in the presence of all creatures; he bears, on the part of all creatures, outrages and bad treatment; he assumes all fatiguing and painful tasks.
#**
He cultivates actions which have the marks for their retribution.
109. In Jambudvipa, being a male; in the presence of the
Buddhas, thinking of the Buddhas; having their origin in
reflection; in the course of one hundred supplementary cosmic
489 ages.
The Bodhisattva cultivates actions which ripen in the marks solely
inJambudvipa, not elsewhere, for the inhabitants ofJambudvipa are of
490
lively intelligence; he is a male and not a female, for he has already
gone beyond the state of female; and he is only in the presence of Masters, for his volition has the Buddhas for its object. These actions have their origin in reflection, not in hearing or in the absorptions. The
Karma 691
? 692 Chapter Four
Bodhisattva accomplishes these actions in the course of one hundred
491
supplementary cosmic ages, and not during a longer time.
Nevertheless the Blessed Sakyamuni, through the purification of
492
his energy, leaped over nine of these cosmic ages and carried out the
actions ripening in marks in the course of ninety-nine cosmic ages so that, in this way, one hundred were completed This is why, speaking to Asibandhaka, he said, "Oh village chief, remembering ninety-one cosmic ages from now, I do not see any family that has been
493
impoverished or inconvenienced by the giving of cooked foods. " Blessed One expressed himself in this way because his natural memory bore on this number of cosmic periods. (See vii. 30, 37,42)
494
Former masters say: It is when he finished the first cosmic age
that the Bodhisattva abandoned the four defects and obtained the two qualities.
***
Of the marks
110a. Each arises from one hundred merits.
What is the measure of each of these one hundred merits?
According to some, it is equal to the merit which has for its result the pleasure of all beings, with the exception of the Bodhisattva close to Bodhi--that is to say, accomplishing actions which ripen in marks.
According to others, it is equal to the collective action of all beings,
which, through its predominating result (ii. 56b), produces the creation
496 of the world.
According to others, only the Buddhas know the measure of this merit.
**#
How many Buddhas did the Blessed One venerate when he was a Bodhisattva?
In the course of the first asamkhyeya kalpa, he venerated seventy- five thousand Buddhas; seventy-six thousand in the course of the
497 second; and seventy-seven thousand in the course of the third
495
The
? Who were the Buddhas at the end of each samkhyeya kalpa? In the reverse order of their enumeration,
1 lOb-c At the end of the three asamkbyeyas, Pa^yin, Dipa, and Ratna&khin.
In the period of the perfect and complete Buddha Ratnaiikhin, he completed the first asarhkhyeya kalpa; in the period of the Blessed Dipamkara he completed the second; and in the period of the Tathagatha VipaSyin he completed the third
Of all the Buddhas that he venerated 110& The first was Sakyamuni.
It was an ancient Sakyamuni (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 89c), a perfect Buddha, under whom the Blessed One, the then Bodhisattva, formulated for the first time the vow of Bodhi by saying, "May I too become a Buddha in all ways similar to you! " This Sakyamuni, as ours, appeared
498
during a bad age of the world; also his Law lasted only one thousand
years.
***
How did the Bodhisattva complete each Paramita (p. 694, line 17)?
Ula-b.
views, fruits are very few, or are totally absent. Such is the pre- dominating result.
***
Is it by reason of killing that a murderer is reborn in hell and then only enjoys a short human life?
According to some, it is by reason of killing. Existence in hell is a retributive result, whereas shortness of life is an outflowing result of the killing. [In fact, retribution is always sensation, vedana\
According to others, existence in hell comes from the preparatory action of killing; the fact of having a short life comes from the action itself. It is true that the Sutra speaks of killing as the cause of existence in hell, but it understands by killing, not only killing, but killing with all the actions that accompany it. What is called outflowing result does not here exist separately from the retributive result and the predominating result. It is called outflowing by reason of the resemblance between the cause and its effea (to kill--to have a short life; to steal--to be poor, etc).
***
Why is the result of the courses of action threefold? One who commits murder causes the viaim to suffer, causes him to die, and destroys his vigor:
85c-d The result is threefold, because one makes him suffer,
because one makes him die, and because one destroys his
413 vigor.
Because one causes suffering, there is a retributive result, that is,
suffering in hell; because one makes him die, there is an outflowing
414 result, that is, his life is short; and because one destroys his vigor,
there is a predominating result, that is, external things are of little vigor. The same for the other courses of aaion.
***
? The same for the three results of the good courses of action: through having practiced, cultivated, and developed the renouncing of killing, one is reborn among the gods; if one is reborn down here in human condition, one will have a long life. The results of all good actions oppose bad actions (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 589al8-21).
*#*
The Blessed One distinguishes wrong speech (mithydvdc), wrong action {mithydkarmdnta), and wrong manner of livelihood {mkhyd-
415
jtva). Is this to say that wrong livelihood is separate from wrong
speech and wrong action?
It does not exist separately:
86a-c. Bodily and vocal actions which arise from attachment are
"wrong manner of livelihood"; it constitutes a separate category,
416 because it is difficult to purify.
Bodily action and vocal action arising from hate and ignorance are, respectively, wrong action and wrong speech. Arisen from attachment, both constitute wrong manner of livelihood, distinguished in this way because the manner of livelihood is difficult to purify.
Attachment is by its nature, a bandit: one watches with difficulty the mind of the actions which provoke attachment. Consequently, since the manner of livelihood is, as long as one lives, difficult to purify, the Blessed One, with an end that one should apply himself to purifying it,
417 made a separate category of wrong livelihood. There is a stanza, "The
layman purifies his views with difficulty, for he is always in the prey of multiple views; the monk purifies his manner of livelihood with difficulty, for his subsistance depends on others. "
86c-d If one says that it is solely action issued from attachment to the resources necessary for life, no; for this is in contradiction with the Sutra.
If someone thinks that to dance, to sing, etc, for one's own pleasure is not a wrong manner of livelihood,--because wrong manner of livelihood is only bodily and vocal actions inspired by attachment to the
418
means of subsistance, --we would answer: no. In fact, the Blessed
Karma 671
? 672 Chapter Four
419
One, in the SUaskandhikd, taught that looking at elephant fights, etc,
is a wrong manner of livelihood And why? Because this is to enjoy bad objects.
***
We have seen (ii. 56) that there are five results, predominating results, results of virile activity, outflowing results, retributive results, and disconnection or liberation. How many results are included in the different types of action?
87a-b. Impure, in the path of abandoning, action embraces the five results.
The path of abandoning is so called because it has abandoning for its goal, or because the defilements are abandoned due to it. This is the anantarya path which will be defined later (vi. 28,49) and which is of two types, pure and impure.
Action which forms part of the impure path of abandoning,
includes the five results: 1. retributive result: an agreeable retribution
which belongs to the same stage as the action; 2. an outflowing result:
dharmas arisen from the absorption, similar to the action, and later than 420
it; 3. a disconnective result: disconnection from the defilements, the
abandoning of the defilements; 4. a result of virile activity: the dharmas
that this action gives rise to, namely (a) the path of deliverance
421 (vimuktimdrga, vi. 28), (b) the coexisting dharmas, (c) the future
dharmas of which this action causes one to obtain possession, and (d) 422
the abandoning itself; and 5. a predominating result: all the conditioned dharmas with the exception of the action in question, and with the exception of the dharmas already arisen (ii. 59).
87c Pure, it includes four results.
The preceding ones, with the exception of the retributive result.
88a-b. The rest of pure action and neutral action, three results.
The rest of pure action--that is, pure action not included in the path of abandoning, but forming part oitheprayoga-vimukti-vifesa-mdrgas (vi. 65b)--embrace neither disconnective result, since it is not the cause
? of abandoning, nor retributive result, since it is pure.
The same two results are absent also in neutral action, whether it is
defiled nor not.
**#
What is the nature,--good, bad, or neutral,--of the results of different actions?
88c-d The good, bad, neutral dharmas, constitute four, two, and three results of good action.
Outflowing results, disconnective results, virile activity, and pre- dominating results of good action are good dharmasJLexifoxitive results are neutral by nature (ii. 57).
Virile activity and predominating results of good action are bad
dharmas.
Outflowing results of a good action are necessarily good; dis- connective results are good by their nature.
Retributive results, virile activity, and predominating results of gpod action are neutral dharmas.
89a-b. Good, bad, neutral dharmas, constitute, respectively two, three, and four results of bad action.
Theexptessionanukraman ("respectively") signifiesyathdkraman.
Two results,--virile activity and predominating results of bad action,--are good dharmas.
Three results--by omitting retributive results and disconnective results--are bad dharmas.
Four results--by omitting disconnective results--are neutral
dharmas.
It is admitted then that an outflowing result of bad dharmas can be
423 made up of neutral dharmas. How is this?
Two neutral dharmas,--the belief in personality (satkayadrsti) and the belief in the past and in the future of a soul (antagrahadrsti) (v. 6b)--are an outflowing result of bad dharmas: namely of the universal defilements (ii. 54, v. 12) which one abandons through the Seeing of Suffering and Arising, and of the defilements of the rdga class,
Karma 673
? 674 Chapter Four
etc, which one abandons through the Seeing of Suffering.
89c-d The same dharmas--good, bad, neutral dharmas--make up two, three, and three results of neutral action.
Two results,--virile activity and predominating results,--are good
dharmas.
Three results--by omitting retributive results and disconnective results--are bad dharmas. In faa some bad dharmas of the five categories (ii. 52b), to be abandoned through Seeing the Truth of Suffering, etc. , are an outflowing result of two neutral dharmas, namely of satkayadrsti and antagrahadrsti.
Three results--the same as above--are neutral.
***
With regard to the time period, and the stage, etc,
90a. Some dharmas of all types constitute four results of past actioa
All the dharmas or some dharmas of all types, that is, past, present 424
and future, can constitute four of the results of past action. One must exclude the disconnective result which is outside of time.
90b. Some future dharmas constitute four results of median action.
Median action, that is, present action, has four results--by excluding disconnection--which are future dharmas.
90c There are two which are median dharmas.
Some present dharmas are predominating results and virile activity
of median action.
90c-d For action not yet arisen, there are three results made up
of future dharmas.
That is, retributive results, predominating results, and virile activity. Future action does not have outflowing results (ii57c).
? 91a-b. Some dharmas of the same stage constitute four results, whereas some dharmas of another stage constitute three or two results.
An action of a certain stage produces four results--by excluding disconnection--which are dharmas of its own stage.
Some pure dharmas belong to a stage different from that of the the action which constitutes three results of this action: virile activity, predominating result and also outflowing result, after the rule given in ii. 53.
Some impure dharmas belong to a stage different from that of the action which constitutes virile aaivity and the predominating result of this aaioa
91c. Some Saiksa dharmas, etc. constitute three results of Saiksa
425
aaioa
Some dharmas "charaaeristic of the Saint who is not an Arhat" (Saiksa) constitute outflowing results, virile aaivity, and predominating results of Saiksa aaion.
The same for dharmas "charaaeristic of the Arhat" (Asaiksa).
Neither-Saiksa-nor-Asaiksa dharmas constitute virile aaivity, pre- dominating results and disconneaive results of Saiksa aaioa
91d-92b. Saiksa dharmas, etc, constitute one result, three results, and two results of Asaiksa aaion, etc
Saiksa dharmas are a predominating result of this aaioa
Asaiksa dharmas are a predominating result, an outflowing result, and yirile aaivity of this aaioa
Neither-Saiksa-nor-A? aiksa dharmas are predominating results and virile aaivity of this aaioa
92c-d Some Saiksa dharmas, etc, constitute two results, two results, and five results of aaion differing from the two preceeding.
This refers to neither-Saiksa-neither-Asaiksa aaioa
Some Saiksa dharmas and some Asaiksa dharmas are virile aaivity and predominating results of this aaioa
Karma 675
? 676 Chapter Four
Some neither-5aik^-nor-A? iaik? a dharmas are five results of this actioa
93a-b. Dharmas susceptible of being abandoned through Seeing the Truths (darsanaheya), susceptible of being abandoned through Meditation (bhavanaheya), and not susceptible of being abandoned (apraheya), constitute three results, two results, one result of action susceptible of being abandoned through Seeing the Truths.
Some darsanaheya dharmas are predominating results, virile activity and outflowing results of darfanaheya actioa
Some bhavanaheya dharmas are four results of this action: excluding disconnectioa
Some apraheya dharmas are predominating results of this action. 93c-d The same dharmas constitute two, four, and three results
of action susceptible of being abandoned through Meditatioa
DarSanaheya dharmas are virile activity and predominating results of bhavanaheya actioa
Bhavanaheya dharmas are four results of this action: excluding disconnectioa
Apraheya dharmas are virile activity, predominating results, and disconnection of this action.
94a-b. The same dharmas constitute, respectively, one result, two results, and four results of action not susceptible of being abandoned
DarSanaheya dharmas are predominating results of apraheya actioa action.
Some bhavanaheya dharmas are predominating results and virile
426
activity results of this actioa
Some apraheya dharmas are four results of this action: omitting the
retributive result.
The text has yathakraman, "respectively," the same as the above
passage (iv. 89b) has anukraman in the sense ofyathdkraman. lt repeats here "respectively": one concludes from this that this word should be supplied in each definitioa Such is, in effect, the process of abbreviatioa
? In the teaching of the doctrine of action the following question is again posed: the Treatise (the Jndnaprasthdna) speaks of proper action (yogavihita), improper action (ayogavihita), and neither-proper-nor- improper action. What is the meaning of these three actions?
94c-d Improper action is defiled action; according to some,
427 irregular action also.
Some say that improper action is defiled action, because this
428
proceeds from a wrong judgment. According to others, irregular
action is also irregular action: when a person walks, stands still, eats, or dresses himself in a manner other than that which he should, this action--which is undefiled-neutral--is improper, for this person acts contrary to received usage (ayoga).
There is the same divergence of view with regard to proper action: this is either good action, or good and regular action.
Action which differs from proper action and improper action is neither-proper-nor-improper action.
***
Does one action project one birth or many births? Do many actions project one birth or many births?
According to the system of the School: 95a. One action projects one arising.
By ztisingjanman, one should understand, not merely birth (jati), but an existence (nikdyasabhdga, ii. 41a). He who comes into an existence is said to be bora
1. One action projects one arising and no more,
The Sautrantikas: This thesis is in contradiction with what the
Sthavira Aniruddha says, "Through the retribution of this single aim
(pindapdta), after having been born up to seven times among the
Thirty-three Gods, I am finally born in the family of the rich
430 Sakyans. "
Answer: Aniruddha, through this aim, obtained a great prosperity;
429
Karma 677
? 678 Chapter Four
he obtained a memory of his past lives; and he accomplished many new meritorious works. By expressing himself as he did, he intends to indicate his point of departure. It is thus that a person who had acquired a sum of one thousand by means of a single penny, could say, "It is through one penny that I have acquired this fortune. "
431
One answers again: By reason of his aim, Aniruddha produced
many streams of volition: one result appeared to each volition.
2. Many actions do not together projea one arising: for if this were
the case, the projection of existence would take place in parts. But admitting that one existence is projected by a single action,
95b. Many actions complete an existence.
The same way that a painter with one stroke delineates the outline
432
of an image, and then fills in this image: so too, even though their
quality of being a human is the same, certain humans have perfect organs, major and minor members; certain humans are beautiful through the excellence of their hue, figure, shape and power, whereas,
433 in certain humans this or that is lacking.
It is not solely action which projects one existence: all retributive 434
dharmas, namely sensation, etc, also projea it. However
95c-d Neither the two absorptions of unconsciousness nor the praptis projea (an existence).
Even though they are retribution, the two absorptions of un-
consciousness (ii. 42) do not projea an existence, because they do not
coexist with aaion. The praptis (ii. 36) do not projea an existence,
because they do not have the same result as does the aaion with which
435 they coexist.
***
The Blessed One said that there are three avaranas or obstacles: the obstacle of aaion (karmdvarana), the obstacle of the defilements
456 (klesavarana), and the obstacle of retribution (vipdkdvarana).
What are the three obstacles?
? 96. Anantarya actions; chronic defilements; and bad realms of rebirth, and Asamjnisattvas and Kurus, are the threefold
437 obstacle.
The obstacle which consists of action are the five mortal
(anantarya) transgressions: matricide, patricide, the killing of an Arhat, 438
schism, and wounding the Tathagata with thoughts of hatred
The obstacle which consists of the defilements is chronic defilement.
Defilement is of two types, chronic and violent: chronic defilemet is continual defilement, and violent defilement is strong defilement. Chronic defilement constitutes an obstacle, as is the case, for example, among eunuchs. Defilements which surge up from time to time, even if their impulse is strong, can be overcome, but not continual defilement, even though it is at rest. The person in whom this is found does not find the time to make an effort to overcome it. From being small, they become medium sized; and from medium sized, they become strong: thus they form an obstacle.
The obstacle which consists of retribution is the three painful realms of rebirth--existence in hell, animal existence, and Preta existence--and one part of the good realms of rebirth--human existence in Uttarakuru, and heavenly existence among the Un- conscious Ones.
What does "obstacle" mean?
That which causes an obstacle to the Way and to the roots of good preparatory to the Way, usmagatas, etc (vi. 17).
Objection: One should mention as actions forming obstacles other
categories of actions besides mortal transgressions. Actions which
439
necessarily produce painful realms of rebirth, etc. , which produce
birth in eggs, birth in sweat, birth as a woman, or an eighth birth, form obstacles.
Answer: Only actions easily discernible by others and by the agent himself,--and that from five points of view--are mentioned here. Actions which are mortal transgressions are murder, lying, and preparation for murder; its result are painful; the rebirth realm which it produces is hell; the period of its retribution is the next existence; the murderer himself receives the name of patricide. . . : from five points of
440 view, action which is mortal transgression is easy to discern.
Karma 679
? 680 Chapter Four
Among the obstacles, the gravest is the obstacle of defilement, followed by the obstacle of actioa For these two obstacles rend one incapable of health, not only in the present existence, but also in the next existence.
According to the Vaibhasikas (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 601a2-7), the obstacle of defilement is the gravest because it produces the obstacle of action; the obstacle of action is heavier than the obstacle of retribution because it produces this obstacle.
***
441 What is the meaning of the word dnantarya?
The five moral transgressions are called dnantarya because they
cannot be "traversed" (antarita), that is to say, prevented in their
retribution through actions which should be retributed in the next
442
existence. Or rather a person guilty of a mortal transgression is
reborn, after this life, immediately (anantaram) in hell; the guilty person is thus antara, "one without intermediate (existence)"; thus the dharma the possession of which makes the guilty one an anantara is called dnantarya, like one terms irdmanya the dharma which makes someone a Sramana (vi. 51).
**#
In what sphere of existence are the obstacles found?
97a. Mortal transgressions exist in the three continents.
The inhabitants of Uttarakuru and living beings which are not humans are not capable of mortal transgressions. And all the more reason mortal transgression is absent in the higher spheres. And, among humans, only men and women can commit mortal trans- gressions:
97b-c. It is not admitted that eunuchs, etc. , are capable of this transgression, because of the mediocrity of their kindness and respect.
For the same reasons that rend eunuchs, etc. , incapable of
443
? indiscipline (iv. 43c); and, further, because their parents, having given to the eunuch only an incomplete body and having only a mediocre
444
affection for their son, are mediocre benefactors;
other hand, the eunuch does not experience a strong respect (lajjitva = hrivypatrapya, ii. 32) for his parents the destruction of which would render him guilty of a mortal transgression.
For the same reasons then, Pretas and animals, if they were to kill
their parents, are not guilty of mortal transgressions. Nevertheless, the
Bhadanta said that animals in whom intelligence is lively, for example,
the ajaneya horse, are capable of mortal transgressions (Vibhdsd, TD
445
27,p. 6l9c4-7).
For the same reasons, a human born of demon (or non-human)
parents does not commit a mortal transgression in killing them.
97d The other two obstacles exist in the five realms of rebirth.
Birth in Uttarakuru is an obstacle of retribution for humans; birth among the Asamjnisattvas is such for the gods.
*#*
What are, by their natures, the different actions of mortal transgression?
Four are bodily action; one is vocal action; three are killing; one is
446
lying; and one is the preparation for murder, for the Tathagatas
447 cannot be killed by the attack of another.
**#
We say that schism (sanghabheda) is lying, and that this lying is the fourth mortal transgression. How is this?
If we make schism a mortal transgression, this is because we give the name of schism to lying which is the cause of schism; or rather the word "schism" should be explained as "that which the divides Sangha. " In fact,
98a-c Schism is, by its nature, disharmony; this is an undefiled-
448 neutral dharma disassociated from the mind.
Karma 681
because, on the
? 682 Chapter Four
Schism, that is, disharmony, is a samskdra not associated with the mind (ii. 35, trans, note 180), and is undefiled-neutral: how could it hence be a mortal transgression? As much as it is a person who divides the Sangha, the schismatic is not in possession of the schism. On the the contrary
98d It is the Sangha which possesses the schism.
It is that which is divided, and not the schismatic, which "possesses" the samskdra called "division of the Sangha. "
But what does the schismatic possess?
99a-b. The transgression of schism is lying; it belongs to the schismatic.
The schismatic possesses the transgression of schism, which is lying. This lying arises at the same time as the schism itself; it consists of vocal vijnapti and avijnapti.
Possessed of this lying,
99c. The schismatic falls into Avici for a kalpa.
He falls into the great Avici hell for an intermediary period
U9
(antarakalpa, iii. 83). Those guilty of other mortal transgressions are
not necessarily in Avici.
Yet all mortal transgressions are retributed in the next existence:
what would happen if a person is guilty of many mortal transgressions? 99d Suffering grows by reason of supplementary transgression.
A person guilty of many moral transgressions possesses in Avici a large body and very tender flesh by which he feels twofold, threefold, fourfold, or fivefold, and his torments are extrememly numerous and insupportable.
#*#
Who is capable of dividing the Sangha?
lOOa-b. A Bhiksu who is an intellectual, who is virtuous,
450 divides.
? 451
It is a Bhiksu who divides, not a layman, not a nun, etc. This
452
Bhiksu should be an intellectual, not a sensualist; he should be
virtuous, not immoral: for the words of an immoral Bhiksu lack authority.
***
Where does schism take place? 100b. Elsewhere.
Not where the Tathagata is found Schism is impossible where the Master is to be found, for the Tathagata cannot be conquered and his word is full of authority.
#*#
Who does the schismatic divide? 100b. Fools.
Only fools and not Aryans, for Aryans see the Dharma with direct insight. According to another opinion, the schismatic can no longer divide possessors of ksdnti. ^
***
What does the Sangha do that it is divided?
100c-d. When it admits another Master, or another Path, it is
454 divided.
Once it is divided, how long does it remain divided?
lOOd It does not exceed a day.
455
A night of the same day. When the Sangha is divided, infallibly,
the Sangha will again be in concord at sunrise.
The schism that we have just described, and which is a "mortal
transgression,"
Karma 683
? 684 Chapter Four
101a. Is what we understand by breaking the Wheel.
The Wheel of the Law of the Blessed One is then broken, because
the progress of the Path is hindered. As a consequence there is, at the
456 same time, both breaking of the Wheel and a division of the Sangha.
Where is breaking of the Wheel produced? 101b. In Jambudvlpa.
Not in the other continents where the Buddhas do not appear. By how many Bhiksus?
457 101b. By nine or more.
The maximum number is not fixed. The Sangha susceptible of being divided counts at a minimum eight Bhiksus; the ninth monk necessary is the schismatic In order for there to be schism, it is necessary that a Sangha be divided into two parts--the first is for the Buddha, the second is for the schismatic--forming thus two Sanghas of four Bhiksus each, which is the minimum number required in order to constitute a Sangha (Vibbdsd, TD 27, p. 602c5-13).
***
Another type of schism, different from the breaking of the Wheel and which is not a mortal transgression results from a division in eccesiastical aaions: when, in one parish (simd), the monks divide themselves in order to perform ecclesiastical actions, posadha, etc
458 101c Ritual schism in three continents.
Only there where the Religion exists.
lOld. This schism supposes eight Bhiksus or more.
It is necessary to form two groups of four Bhiksus; but, here, there is not one schismatic who declares himself a Master.
#**
At six periods, the schism of the breaking of Wheel cannot take place.
? 102. The breaking of the Wheel is impossible at the beginning;
at the end; before the abscess; before a pair; when the Sage is
459 extinguished; or when a parish has not been delimited.
At the beginning, that is, when a little time has passed since the setting into motion the Wheel of the Law; and at the end, that is, at the period of the Parinirvana of the Blessed One: in these two periods the
460
Sangha is penetrated by a single sentiment. In the interval, breaking
461
is impossible before the appearance of an abscess: as long as the
abscess of precepts and the abscess of views does not appear in the
dispensation (sdsana). lt is also impossible before the apparition of a
pair: as long as a pair of excellent disciples has not appeared, because the
Sangha should not pass a night in a state of division, and because this
pair of disciples has for its task the reestablishment of harmony.
Breaking is impossible when the Sage is extinguished, for, once the
Master has entered into Parinirvana, a schismatic would have no
462
opponent. Finally, when a parish has not been delimited, for one says that the Sangha is divided when there two parties in one parish.
All Buddhas do not have their Wheels broken as does Sakyamuni:
463 this depends on their former actions.
*#*
Why are the transgressions enumerated above, matricide, etc, mortal transgressions to the exclusion of other transgressions?
103a-b. Because they destroy or hurt a field of benefaction, or a
464 field of qualities.
Matricide and patricide are mortal transgressions because they destroy a benefactor. One's mother and father are benefactors because they have given birth.
How does the murderer destroy them?
465 By killing them.
The murder of an Arhat and the last two mortal transgressions are
mortal transgressions because an Arhat, the Sangha and the Buddha are
466
fields of qualities. One does not destroy the Sangha and the Buddha,
but one can hurt them.
***
Karma 685
? 686 Chapter Four
But if the gender of the mother and father changes, does the quality of mother and father no longer exist within the mother and father?
103c. Even if their gender changes, there is mortal transgression
in killing him who was the mother, and in killing her who was the father.
It is said in fact (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 6l9cl9-23), "Gin a person be guilty of a mortal transgression killing a man who is not his father, or who is not an Arhat? Yes, if he kills his mother whose gender has changed Gin a person be guilty of a mortal transgression by killing a woman who is not his mother, or who is not an Arhat? Yes, if he kills his father whose gender has changed"
***
When the embryo of a woman falls out and when another woman
467
deposits it in her womb, which of these two women is reputed to be
the mother whose murder constitutes a mortal transgression?
103d The mother is the woman from whose blood one is born.
The second woman takes up the offices of a mother: she is the one
who gives the child liquid to drink, who nourishes it, and who raises
468 it.
###
There is no mortal transgression if, wanting to kill one's mother a
person kills someone else; there is no mortal transgression if, wanting
9 tokillanotherperson,apersonkillshismother. ^ Forexample,aman
who kills his mother stretched out on a bed where he believes there is a
man asleep, and the child of the laundryman who kills his father
wanting to kill a mosquito, do not become guilty of mortal trans-
470 gressions.
If a man kills his mother and another person with the same stroke, there are two avijnaptis, an avijnapti of simple murder, and an avijnapti of a mortal transgression; but the vijnapti is solely of the mortal transgression, by reason of the force of the mortal transgression. Yet,
? according to Ghosaka (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 617b23-25), there are two vijnaptis, for a vijnapti is made up of atoms.
The person who kills an Arhat without knowing him to be an Arhat, thinking only to definitely kill such a person, does not have any discrimination with respect to the person to be killed.
The person who kills his father, when his father is an Arhat, is
guilty of only one mortal transgression, namely the killing of an Arhat:
for the father and the Arhat make up only a single persoa
471
Objection: [The Arhat Rudrayana, assassinated by order of his
son Sikhandin, said to the assassin,] "Go! Tell Sikhandin that he has committed two mortal transgressions, patricide and the murder of an Arhat. " How do you explain these words?
Rudrayana means that his son commmitted a mortal transgression through two causes of mortal transgression; or rather Rudrayana said "two mortal transgression" in order to doubly condemn the conduct of his son.
Does the person who, with a bad mind, cause the blood of the Tathagata to flow, necessarily commit a mortal transgression?
He commits a mortal transgression when he has the intention to kill:
104a. No, when he only had the intention of striking the
472 Buddha.
Is a person guilty of a mortal transgression when he injures to death a person who becomes an Arhat after being injured?
104b. No, with regard to the person who became an Arhat after the blow.
Add, according to that which precedes, "no mortal transgression. " In fact, the preparation for murder had for its object a person who was not an Arhat.
*##
Gin a person who made preparation for a mortal transgression,
473 obtain detachment and its result by arresting it?
Karma 687
? 688
Chapter Four
104c-d Detachment and its results are impossible for one who
474 has made preparation for a mortal transgressioa
Why?
Because there is an absolute contradiction between the intention of a mortal transgression and the acquisition of detachment or a result.
A person who enters the Path after having done the preparation for any other evil deed, will not produce this deed, by reason of the absolute
475
105a-b. Lying with a view to schism is considered the gravest transgressioa
A person who, knowing what is Dharma and non-Dharma, lies with a view to dividing the Sangha and teaching falsely, by this makes himself quilty of the gravest transgression among all misdeeds. In fact, he wounds the Dharma body of the Tathagatas, he creates an obstacle to temporal well-being and to the deliverance of creatures. As long as concord is not established in the Sangha, there is hindrance to entry into the Path (niyandvakrdnti, vi. 26a), to the acquisition of results, to the acquistion of detachment, and to the destruction of the defilements: all actions relative to dhyana, study and reflection are also arrested; the worlds of gods, Nagas and humans are troubled and saddened, they are not masters of themselves, and misguided. This is why the retribution for this crime lasts a cosmic age and takes place in Avici
Among the other mortal transgressions, the fifth, the third and the
476 first are, in descending order, the heaviest. Patricide is the lightest.
contradiction between his new personality and the deed
##*
What is the gravest of the mortal transgressions?
Objection: The Blessed One said that mental danda is the most 477
culpable of the threedandas; he said also that false view is the gravest among all the transgressions.
One must understand that, among the mortal transgressions, schism is the gravest transgression; that mental danda is the gravest among the three actions; and that false view is the gravest among the bad views. Or rather schism is the gravest transgression if one considers
? the extent of its retribution; manodanda, if one considers the number of 478
persons destroyed by it; and false view, if one considers the roots of good which false view alone cuts off.
***
AmQng the good actions, which bears the greatest result?
105c-d Among the good worldly dharmas, a volition for 479
Bhavagra bears the greatest result.
"Volition for Bhavagra" means the mental action through which one is reborn in the highest stage of Arupyadhatu. This action is the most fruitious of good worldly actions, for its retribution is a perfect tranquility for twenty-four thousand cosmic periods (iii. 81).
This is understood from the point of view of its retributive results. From the point of view of its disconnective result (ii. 57d) the most fruitious action is volition associated with Vajropamasamadhi (vL44d; see iv. H2b), for this volition has for its result the cutting off of all the bonds. This is why the Karika says, "Among the good worldly dhar-
mas . . . "
#**
Is it only through a mortal transgression that a person is necessarily reborn in hell?
A person is also necessarily reborn in hell through transgressions
similar to mortal transgressions. Others add: but not immediately 480
106-107b. To defile one's mother, to defile an ArhantI; to kill a predestined Bodhisattva; to kill a Saiksa; and to steal the goods of the Sangha are transgressions similar to mortal trans-
481 gressions; the fifth is the destruction of a Stupa.
These five transgressions, in this order, are similar to mortal transgressions: to defile one's mother, to defile an ArhantI (=matricide); to kill a predestined Bodhisattva (=patricide); to kill a Saint who is not an Arhat (=murder of an Arhat); to rob the Sangha of its means of
(anantaram) so.
Karma 689
? 690 Chatter Four
substance (=schism); and to destroy a Stupa (=to wound the Tathagata). ***
Other aaions embracing retribution are impeded in three cir- cumstances:
107c-d He absolutely impedes aaions by the acquisition of
482 Ksanti, the quality of Anagaamin, and the quality of Arhat.
When, upon leaving the stage of murdhanas, he obtains the stage called patience (ksanti, vL23), the aaions which should be retributed in painful realms of rebirth, being impeded, remain below, because he passes beyond the state of retribution of these aaions. In the same way the creditors of the man who is about to emigrate from his country rise up.
When he obtains the quality of Anagamin (vL36d), the aaions which should be retributed in Kamadhatu, being impeded, remain below,--with the exception of those which should be retributed in the present existence.
The same for the aaions which should be retributed in Rupadhatu and Arupyadhatu when he obtains the quality of Arhat.
***
We have seen that the killing of a Bodhisattva is a quasi-mortal transgression.
108a. Since when is one a Bodhisattva?
From what moment on does one receive the name of Bodhisattva?
108b. When he begins to cultivate aaions which produce the
483 marks.
Starting from the moment when he begins to cultivate aaions which have for their retribution the thirty-two marks, he is "predestined"
How is this?
From this moment onward, he always
? 108c-d Has good realms of rebirth; he is born into noble families; he possesses all the organs (avyaksah); he is a male; he remembers his past lives; and he does not desist (anivrt).
One says that he is sugati ("well gone"), because his rebirth realms are excellent, for he is born among gpds and humans.
484
He is born in the wealthy families of Ksatriyas, Brahmanas, and
Grhapatis, not in humble familes.
The man whose organs are not complete is vikatendriya; if his
m organsarecomplete,heisanavyaksa,asynonymfor avikdendriya.
He is always male, never female, and, even more so, never non- sexual (sandha, etc).
In all of his existences, he remembers his past births.
One desists by giving in; as he does not give in, he is avivrt, a synonym for an avaivartika, one who does not desist or regress: in fact, with an end to being useful to all creatures, he is not cast down by all
486
sorts of sufferings, or by any outrages. He is called the slave not
487
purchased by the world, indeed the Bodhisattva: this great-souled one,
who yet possesses the most sublime prefections (sampad, vii. 34), acts 488
through pure compassion; he acts without egoism, like a dog, in the presence of all creatures; he bears, on the part of all creatures, outrages and bad treatment; he assumes all fatiguing and painful tasks.
#**
He cultivates actions which have the marks for their retribution.
109. In Jambudvipa, being a male; in the presence of the
Buddhas, thinking of the Buddhas; having their origin in
reflection; in the course of one hundred supplementary cosmic
489 ages.
The Bodhisattva cultivates actions which ripen in the marks solely
inJambudvipa, not elsewhere, for the inhabitants ofJambudvipa are of
490
lively intelligence; he is a male and not a female, for he has already
gone beyond the state of female; and he is only in the presence of Masters, for his volition has the Buddhas for its object. These actions have their origin in reflection, not in hearing or in the absorptions. The
Karma 691
? 692 Chapter Four
Bodhisattva accomplishes these actions in the course of one hundred
491
supplementary cosmic ages, and not during a longer time.
Nevertheless the Blessed Sakyamuni, through the purification of
492
his energy, leaped over nine of these cosmic ages and carried out the
actions ripening in marks in the course of ninety-nine cosmic ages so that, in this way, one hundred were completed This is why, speaking to Asibandhaka, he said, "Oh village chief, remembering ninety-one cosmic ages from now, I do not see any family that has been
493
impoverished or inconvenienced by the giving of cooked foods. " Blessed One expressed himself in this way because his natural memory bore on this number of cosmic periods. (See vii. 30, 37,42)
494
Former masters say: It is when he finished the first cosmic age
that the Bodhisattva abandoned the four defects and obtained the two qualities.
***
Of the marks
110a. Each arises from one hundred merits.
What is the measure of each of these one hundred merits?
According to some, it is equal to the merit which has for its result the pleasure of all beings, with the exception of the Bodhisattva close to Bodhi--that is to say, accomplishing actions which ripen in marks.
According to others, it is equal to the collective action of all beings,
which, through its predominating result (ii. 56b), produces the creation
496 of the world.
According to others, only the Buddhas know the measure of this merit.
**#
How many Buddhas did the Blessed One venerate when he was a Bodhisattva?
In the course of the first asamkhyeya kalpa, he venerated seventy- five thousand Buddhas; seventy-six thousand in the course of the
497 second; and seventy-seven thousand in the course of the third
495
The
? Who were the Buddhas at the end of each samkhyeya kalpa? In the reverse order of their enumeration,
1 lOb-c At the end of the three asamkbyeyas, Pa^yin, Dipa, and Ratna&khin.
In the period of the perfect and complete Buddha Ratnaiikhin, he completed the first asarhkhyeya kalpa; in the period of the Blessed Dipamkara he completed the second; and in the period of the Tathagatha VipaSyin he completed the third
Of all the Buddhas that he venerated 110& The first was Sakyamuni.
It was an ancient Sakyamuni (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 89c), a perfect Buddha, under whom the Blessed One, the then Bodhisattva, formulated for the first time the vow of Bodhi by saying, "May I too become a Buddha in all ways similar to you! " This Sakyamuni, as ours, appeared
498
during a bad age of the world; also his Law lasted only one thousand
years.
***
How did the Bodhisattva complete each Paramita (p. 694, line 17)?
Ula-b.
