They appear during the
decrease
to one hundred.
Abhidharmakosabhasyam-Vol-2-Vasubandhu-Poussin-Pruden-1991
The Brahmakayikas, who are the first gods of Rupadhatu, are a
half-yojana in height; the Brahmapurohitas, one yojana in height; the Mahabrahmans, one yojana and a half in height; and the Parlttabhas, two yojanas in height.
Beyond the Parlttabhas, the dimensions double: Apramanabhas are four, Abhasvaras, eight, and the same until the &ubhakrtsans, who are sixty-four yojanas in height. For the Anabhrakas, one doubles this number but subtracts three: they are then one hundred twenty-five
yojanas in height. One continues doubling, from the Punyaprasavas on who are two hundred fiftyyojanas in height, to the Akanisthas, who are sixteen thousandyojanas in height.
***
The length of life of these beings also differs. With regard to humans:
78. Life, among Kurus, is one thousand years in length; in the two continents, it diminishes twice by half; here, it is in- determinate: nevertheless it is ten years at the end and
465 incalculable at the beginning.
The lifespan of beings in Godanalya is half the lifespan of beings in Uttarakuru, thus five hundred years in length; the life of beings in Purvavideha is two hundred and fifty years in length.
InJambudvipa, length of life is not determined, sometimes it is long, 466
sometimes short. At the end of the cosmic age or kdpa (iii. 98c), at its minimum, it is ten years; whereas the lifespan of humans at the beginning of the cosmic age (prdthamakdpikay iii91a) is incalculable: one cannot measure it by counting in thousands, etc
##*
The lifespan of the gods of Kamadhatu is an integral of the length of a day:
79a-80b. Fifty human years make a day-and-night for the lowest gods of Kamadhatu, and these gods live a life of five hundred
? 467 years. For the higher gods, double the day and the life.
Fifty human days make a day in the life of the Caturmaharajakayikas,
m
whose lifespan is of five hundred years of twelve month of thirty days. For the TrayastrimSas, one day equals one hundred human years, and dieir lifespan is one thousand years in length; for the Yamas, one day equals two hundred human years and their lifespan is two thousand years in length; and so o a
But there is qo sun or moon above Yugandhara; how is a day of the gods determined, and how are the gods illumined?
Day and night are marked by the flowers which open or close, like
the kumuda and the padma in the world of humans; by the birds that 469
sing or that are silent; and by sleep which ends or begins. Furthermore the gods themselves are luminous.
***
As for the gods of Rupadhatu and Arupyadhatu:
80b-81d. There is no day and night for the gods of Rupadhatu;
their lifespans are calculated in kalpas whose number is fixed by
the dimensions of their bodies. In Arupyadhatu, a lifespan of a
thousand kalpas which increases as much. These kalpas are, 470
from the Parittabhas on, mahakdpas\ below, halves.
The gods of Rupadhatu whose bodies are half ^yojana in height-- the Brahmakayikas--live a half kalpa; and thus following to the Akanisthas, whose bodies are sixteen thousand yojanas in height, and whose lifespan is thus sixteen thousand kalpas in length.
In AkaSanantyayatana, a lifespan is twenty thousand kalpas in length; fifty thousand kalpas in length in Vijiiananantyayatana, sixty thousand kalpas in length in Akimcanyayatana, and eighty thousand in Naivasamjnanasarhjnnayatana or Bhavagra.
But to which kalpas does this refer: to intermediate kalpas (antarakdpas), to kalpas of destruction (samvarta), to kalpas of creation (vivaria), or to great kalpas (mahdkalpas, iii. 89d)?
From the Parittabhas (lower gods of the Second Dhyana) on, they refer to the great kalpas; below (Brahmaparisadyas, Brahmapurohitas,
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Mahabrahmans) they refer to half great kalpas. In fact, there are twenty antarakalpas during which the world is created[: Mahabrahma appears from the beginning]; then twenty antarakalpas during which the world lasts; and then twenty antarakalpas during which the world is destroyed[: Mahabrahma disappears at the end]. Thus the life of Mahabrahma lasts sixty intermediate antarakalpas: these sixty make a kalpa and a half; half a great kdpa (or forty intermediate kalpas) is considered to be a kalpa.
***
What is the length of a lifespan in the painful realms of rebirth?
Let us examine in order the first six hot hells, the last two hot hells, animals, Pretas, and the cold hells.
82. In six hells, Samjiva, etc. , a day and night has the length of the life of the gods of Kamadhatu; with such days, life as for the gods of Kamadhatu.
A day in the six hells,--Samjiva, Kalasutra, Samghata, Raurava, Maharaurava, and Tapana,--is equal in this order to the life of the gods of Kamadhatu, the Caturmaharajakayikas, etc
The damned in Samjiva have, like the Caturmaharajakayikas, a life of five hundred years of twelve months of thirty days; but each of these days has the length of the total lifespan of the Caturmaharajakayikas. Same relationship between the damned of Kalasutra and the Traya- strimsas, and between the damned of Tapana and the Paranirmitava- Savartins.
83a-b. In Pratapana, a lifespan of a half antahkalpa; in Avici, a likespan of one antahkalpa.
In Pratapana, a lifespan lasts one half of an antarakalpa; in Avici, 471
83b-d. The life of animals is one kdpa in length at most; the life of the Pretas is five hundred years with its days the duration of a month.
one antarakalpa.
The animals that live the longest time live one antarakdpa\ these
? are the great Naga Kings, Nanda, Upananda, ASvatara, etc The Blessed
One said, "There are, Oh Bhiksus, eight great Naga Kings who live a 472
kolpa and who sustain the earth . . ,"
The days of the Pretas have a length of one human month; they live
five hundred years made up of days of this length.
84. Life in the Arbudas is the time of the exhaustion of a vaha, by taking a grain of sesame every one hundred years; the others by
473 multiplying each time by twenty.
The Blessed One has indicated the length of a lifespan in the cold hells only through comparisons, "If, Oh Bhiksus, a Magadhan vaha of
474 475
sesame of eighty khdris were full of sesame seeds; if one were to
take one grain each one hundred years, this vdha would be empty before a lifespan of beings born in the Arbuda hell would end: this is what I say. And, Oh Bhiksus, twenty Arbudas make, Oh Bhiksus, one Nirar- buda. . . " (See above, note 413).
###
Do all beings, whose length of lifespan has just been indicated, live the full length of this lifespan?
85a. With the exception of Kuru, there is death before their
476 time.
The life of beings in Uttarakuru is fixed; they necessarily live one
477
thousand years: their length of life is complete. Everywhere else there
is antaramrtyu, "death in the course of, in the middle of, a complete life," or premature death. Nevertheless certain persons are sheltered from premature death, namely the Bodhisattva who, in Tusita, is no longer bound to birth; a being in his last existence [who will not die before
478
having obtained the state of Arhat]; one who has been the object of a
479 prediction by the Blessed One; one who is sent by the Blessed One; a
oraddhanusarin and a Dharmanusarin (vi. 29a-b) [who will not die
before having become a Sraddhadhimuktika and a Drstiprapta]; a
480
woman pregnant with the Bodhisattva or with a Cakravartin, etc
***
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We have explained the residences and the bodies by measuring them in terms ofyojanas, and lifespans by measuring them in terms of years; but we have not explained yojanas and years.
These can be explained only through the means of words (ndman); one must then say that it is the limit (paryanta) of words, etc
85b-c An atom (paramanu), a syllable (aksara), and an instant 481
(ksana) is the limit of matter, of words, and of time.
A paramanu is the limit of physical matter (rupa); so too a syllable is
482
the limit of words, for example, go; and an instant, the limit of time
(advan).
What is the dimension of an instant?
If the right conditions (pratyaya) are present, the time that it takes for a dharma to arise; or rather the time that it takes for a dharma in
m progress to go from one paramanu to another paramdnu.
#**
According to the Abhidharmikas, there are sixty-five instants in the
484 time that it takes a healthy man to snap his fingers.
85d-88a. Paramanu, anu, loharajas, abrajas, sasarajas, avirajas, gorajas, chidrarajas, liksd, that which comes out of the liksd,yava, and anguliparvan, by multiplying each time by seven; twenty-
four angulis make one hasta; four hastas make one dhanus; five hundred dhanus make one krofa, the distance a hermitage should be located; and eight kroias make what is called one
m yojana.
[Thus seven paramdnus make one anu9 and eight anus make a loharajas.
Avirajas signifies edakrajas, and chidrarajas signifies vdtdyana- cchidrarajas.
"That which come out of the liksa* is the yuka.
The author does not say that three anguliparvans make one anguli,
486 for that is well known. ]
487 A hermitage, aranya, should be located one kro/a from a village.
? 88b-89c One hundred and twenty ksanas make one tatksana\ sixteen tatksanas make one lava\ we obtain a muhurta or hour,
an ahorata or one day and night, and a mdsa or month, by multiplying the preceeding term by thirty; a samvatsara or year,
488 is of twelve months by adding the tinardtras.
One muhurta equals thirty lavas. Thirty muhurtas make one day and night; a night is sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, and sometimes equal to a day.
489
There are four months of winter, of heat, and of rain; twelve
months which, with the days called unaratras, make a year. The
unardtras are the six days which, in the course of the year, one should
omit (for the calculation of the lunar months). There is a stanza about
this: "When one month and a half of the cold, hot, rainy season has
elapsed, the learned omit one unardtra in the half-month that 490
remains. "
*#*
We have explained the year; we must explain the kalpa or cosmic period
491 89d There are different types of kalpa:
492 There is a distinction between a small kalpa (antarakalpa) , a
49
kalpa of disappearance (samvatta), * a kalpa of creation (vivaria), and a
great kalpa.
90a-b. A kalpa of disappearance lasts from the non-production
of the damned to destruction of the receptacle world
The period that extends from the moment when beings cease being reborn in hell until the moment when the world is destroyed is called a samvartakalpa, a kalpa of destruction.
"Destruction" is of two types: destruction of the realms of rebirth, and destruction of the Dhatu.
It is again of two types: destuction of living beings, and destruction
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of the physical world
1. When no being is reborn in hell--even though beings in hell
continue to die--the period of twenty small kalpas during which the world lasts is terminated; and the period of destruction begins.
When not a single being remains in the hells, the destruction of
beings in hell is achieved, and the world has been destroyed to that
extent: if a being of this universe has committed any actions which
should be retributed in hell, the force of these actions causes him to be
reborn in the hell of another universe not in the process of
494 destruction.
2. So too is the destruction of animals and Pretas. The animals that
reside in the great ocean disappear first; those that live with humans will
495 disappear at the same time as do humans.
3. Among humans of Jambudvlpa, a person enters by himself,
496
without a teacher, by reason of dharmata, into the First Dhyana.
Coming out of this Dhyana, he exclaims, "Happy is the pleasure and the joy that arise from detachment! Gdm is the pleasure and joy that arise from detachment! " Understanding these words, other persons also enter into absorption and, after their death, pass into the world of Brahma. When, by this continual process, there does not remain a single person inJambudvlpa, the destruction of the persons ofJambudvlpa is finished.
The same for the inhabitants of Purvavideha and Avaragodaniya. The inhabitants of Uttarakuru are incapable of detaching themselves from Kamadhatu and, as a consequence, of entering into dhyana: they are also reborn, not in the world of Brahma, but among the gods of Kamadhatu.
When a single human being no longer remains, the destruction of humans is finished, and the world has been destroyed to this extent.
4. The same then holds for the gods of Kamadhatu, from the Caturmaharajakayikas to the Paranirmitava^avartins, who enter into dhyana and are reborn in the world of Brahma, and who successively disappear. When a single god no longer remains in Kamadhatu, the destuction of Kamadhatu is finished.
5. It then happens, by reason of dharmata, that a god of the world of Brahma enters into the Second Dhyana. Coming out of this Dhyana, he excaims, "Happy is the pleasure and joy that arise from absorption!
? Calm is the pleasure and joy that arise from absorption! " Understanding these words, other gods of the world of Brahma enter into the Second Dhyana and after their death, are reborn in the heaven of the Abhasvaras. When a single being no longer remains in the world of Brahma, the destruction of beings (sattvasamvartant) is finished and the world has been destroyed to that extent.
6. Then, by reason of the exhaustion of the collective action which
has created the physical world, and by reason of the emptiness of the
497
world, seven suns successively appear, and the world is entirely
consumed from this sphere with its continents to Meru. From this world
thus inflamed, the flame, conducted by the wind, burns the houses of the
498
world of Brahma. Even though it is well understood that the flame
that burns these houses is a flame of Rupadhatu, the destruction of Kamadhatu has not yet taken hold of Rupadhatu. But it is said that the flame goes from this world and burns the world of Brahma, because a new flame arises in relation to the first one.
So too, mutatis mutandis, is the destruction through water and through wind, which are similar to destruction through fire but which
499 extend higher.
The period that extends from the moment when beings cease to be born in the hells until the moment when the physical world has been destroyed is what is called a samvartakalpa, a kalpa of disappearance.
90c-d The kalpa of creation lasts from the primordial wind until the production of hellish beings.
From the primordial wind (prdgvayu) until the moment when beings arise in hells.
The world, which has been destroyed as we have seen, stays destroyed for a long time--during twenty small kalpas. There is only space where the world once was.
1. When, by reason of the collective action of beings, there appears the first signs of a future physical world; when some very light winds arise in space, then this period of twenty small kalpas during which the world remained destroyed is finished; and the period, also of twenty
500 small kalpas, during which the world is created, begins.
The winds come gradually and, finally, constitute a circle of wind; then there arises all of the receptacles as we have just described: a circle
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of water, a sphere of gold, Meru, etc. The mansion of Brahma appears
first and then all the mansions until those of the Yamas. But this is only
501 after the circle of wind arises.
The physical world is thus created, and the world is now created to this extent.
2. Then a being, dying in Abhasvara, is born in the mansion of Brahma which is empty; other beings, dying one after the other in Abhasvara, are born in the heaven of the Brahmapurohitas, the Brahmakayikas, the Paranirmitavasavartins and the other gods of Kamadhatu; in Uttarakuru, Godaniya, Videha, andJambudvlpa; among the Pretas and animals; and in the hells. The rule is that the beings who disappear last reappear first.
When a being is born in the hells, the period of creation, of twenty small kalpas, is finished, and the period of duration begins.
[The first small kdpa of the period of creation is used for the creation of the physical world, the mansion of Brahma, etc] During the nineteen small kalpas that complete this period, until the appearance of the beings in hell, the lifespan of humans is infinite in length.
91a-b. A small kdpa, in the course of which a lifespan, from infinite, becomes a lifespan ten years in length.
Humans, at the end of the period of creation, have an infinitely long lifespan; their lifespan diminishes when creation is achieved, until it is not more then ten years in length (iii. 98c-d). The period in which this diminution takes place constitutes the first small kdpa of the period of destruction.
91c-d. The eighteen kalpas which are of augmentation and of diminution.
A lifespan, which is now ten years in length, increases until it is eighty thousand years in length; then it decreases and is reduced to a length of ten years. The period in the course of which this increase and this decrease takes place is the second small kdpa.
This kdpa is followed by seventeen similar ones. 92a. One, of augmentatioa
The twentieth small kdpa is only of increase, not of decrease. The lifespan of humans increases from ten years to eighty thousand years in
? length.
How high, by increase, do these increases go?
502 92b. They go to a lifespan of eighty thousand
But not beyond. The time required for the increase and the decrease
of the eighteen kalpas is equal to the time that the decrease of the first 503
kdpa and the increase of the last take.
92c-d. In this way then the world stays created for twenty kalpas.
The world remains created for twenty small kalpas thus calculated. As long as this period of duration lasts,
93a-b. During the same length of time, the world is in the process of creation, in the process of disappearance, and in a state of disappearance.
The creation, the disappearance, and the period when the world disappears lasts a total of twenty small kalpas. There are not, during these three periods, any phases of increase and decrease of lifespan, but these periods are equal in length to the period during which the world remains created.
The physical world is created in one small kalpa\ it is filled during nineteen; it is emptied during nineteen; and it perishes in one small kdpa.
Four times twenty small kalpas make eighty: 93c. These eighty make a great kalpa.
This is the extent of a great kalpa. ***
Of what does a kalpa consist?
The kalpa is by nature the five skandhas.
***
It is said that the quality of Buddhahood is acquired through cultivation that last three asamkhyeya kalpas. To which among the four types of kalpas does this refer?
93d-94a. The quality of Buddhahood results from three of these
504
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? 480 Chapter Three
\kdpas\TM
Of these great kdpas that we have just defined
But the word asamkhya (-asamkhyaya) signifies "incalculable;" how can one speak of three "incalculables? "
One should not understand it in this manner, for, in an isolated 306
(muktaka) Sutra, it is said that numeration is to the sixteenth place. 507
What are these sixteen places?
One, not two, is the first place; ten times one is the second place; ten times ten (or one hundred) is the third; ten times one hundred (or one thousand) is the fourth. . . and so on, each term being worth ten times
the preceeding: prabheda (10,000), laksa (1000,000), atilaksa, koti, madhya, ayuta, mahdyuta, nayuta, mahanayuta, prayuta, mahdprayuta, kamkara, mahdkamkara, bimbara, mahabimbara, aksobhya, mahdkso- bhya, vivdha, mahdvivdha, utsanga, mahotsariga, vdfoana, mahdvdhana, tifibha, mahdtitibha, hetu, mahahetu, karabha, m&hakarabha, indra, mahendra, samdpta (or samdptam), mahdsamdpta (or mahasamap- tam), gati, mahdgati, nimbarajas, mahdnimbarajas, mudrd, mahamudra, bala, rnahdbala, samjria, mahdsamjnd, vibhuta, mahavibhuta, balaksa, mahdbalaksa, and asamkhya.
508 In this list eight numbers have been lost.
A great kdpa successively numbered (=multiplied) to the sixteenth m
place is called an asamkhyeya; if one begins again, one has a second, and a third asamkhyeya. An asamkhyeya [kalpa] does not receive its name from the fact that it is incalculable.
***
But why do the Bodhisattvas, once they have undertaken the resolution to obtain supreme Bodhi, take such a long time to obtain it?
Because supreme Bodhi is very difficult to obtain: one needs a great accumulation of knowledge and merit, and of innumerable heroic works in the course of three asamkhyeya kdpas.
One would understand that the Bodhisattva searches out this Bodhi so difficult to obtain, if this Bodhi were the sole means of arriving at deliverance; but such is not the case. Why then do they undertake this infinite labor?
? For the good of others, because they want to become capable of pulling others out of the great flood of suffering.
But what personal good do they find in the good of others?
The gpod of others is their own good, because they desire it.
Who believes this?
In truth, persons devoid of pity and who think only of themselves
believe with difficulty in the altruism of the Bodhisattvas; but compassionate persons believe in it easily. Don't we see that certain persons, confirmed in the absence of pity, find pleasure in the suffering of others even when it is not to their benefit? In the same way one must admit that the Bodhisattvas, confirmed in pity, find pleasure in doing good to others without any egoistic concerns. Don't we see that certain persons, ignorant of the true nature of the conditioned dharmas (i. e. , the samskaras) that constitute their pretended "self," are attached to these dharmas through the force of habit, as completely devoid of personality as these dharmas are, and suffer a thousand pains by reason of this attachment? In the same way one must admit that the Bodhisattvas, through the force of habit, detach themselves from the dharmas that constitute the pretended "self," no longer consider these dharmas as "me" and "mine," increase compassionate solicitude for others, and are ready to suffer a thousand pains because of this solicitude.
In a few words, there is a certain category of persons, who,
indifferent to what concerns them personally, are happy through the
well-being of others, and are unhappy through the suffering of
51
others. ? For them, to be useful to others is to be useful to themselves. A
stanza says, "An inferior person searches out, by all means, his personal well-being; a mediocre person searches out the destruction of suffering, not well-being, because well-being is the cause of suffering; an excellent person, through his personal suffering, searches out the well-being and the definitive destruction of the suffering of others, for he suffers from
511 the suffering of others. "
***
During what periods do the Buddhas appear, during a period of increase or during a period of decrease?
512 94a-b.
They appear during the decrease to one hundred.
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The Buddhas appear during the period of the decrease of lifespan, when the length of life decreases from eighty thousand years to one hundred years in length.
Why do they not appear when life decreases from one hundred to ten years?
Because the five corruptions (dyuhkasdya, kalpakasdya, klesakasdya, 513 514
drstikasdya, and sattvakasaya) then become very strong.
In the final period of the decrease of lifespan, the length of life (or
dyus) becomes bad, base; being corrupted, it is called a kasdya or "corruption;" the same for the other corruptions.
The first two corruptions deteriorate the vitality and the means of
515
subsistance. The next two corruptions deteriorate the good; the
corruption of defilements deteriorate beings through laxity (kamasuka-
hallikd); the corruption of views through the practice of painful
asceticism; or rather the corruption of defilement and the corruption of
views deteriorate respeaively the spiritual good of householders and of
516
wanderers. The corruption of beings deteriorates beings from the
physical and the mental point of view; it deteriorates their height, beauty, health, force, intelligence, memory, energy, and firmness.
***
During what periods do the Pratyekabuddhas appear?
94c. The Pratyekabuddhas appear in the course of two
517 periods.
They appear during the period of increase and during the period of
decrease of lifespan. One distinguishes in fact two types of Pratye-
kabuddhas: those that live in a group (vargacdrin), [and who also appear 518
during the period of increase], and those who live like a rhinoceros. a. The first are the ancient Sravakas [who will obtain the first or
second result of the Sravakas under the reign of a Buddha].
According to another opinion, there are also Prthagjanas who have 519
realized, in the vehicle of the Sravakas, the nirvedhabhagtyas (vi. 20); in the course of a subsequent existence, by themselves, they will realize the Way. The masters who follow this opinion find an argument in the
? 520
where they read, "Five hundred ascetics cultivated painful austerities on a mountain. A monkey who had lived in the company of Pratyekabuddhas imitated the attitudes of the Pratyekabuddhas in front of them. These ascetics then imitated the monkey and, they say, obtained the Bodhi of the Pratyekabuddhas. " It is dear, say these masters, that these ascetics were not Aryans, Sravakas; for, if they had previously obtained the result of the Sravakas, namely liberation from rules and rituals (filavratapardmarsa, v. French trans, p. 18), they would not have given themselves up later to painful austerities.
b. The Pratyekabuddhas who are "like a rhinoceros" live alone.
521 94d The Rhinoceros by reason of one hundred kalpas.
The Rhinoceros has cultivated for one hundred great kalpas in his preparation for Bodhi, [that is, he has cultivated morality, absorption, mdprajna]. He obtains Bodhi (vi. 67) without the help of the teaching or dgama, but alone. He is a Pratyekabuddha because he himself brings about his salvation without converting others.
Why does he not apply himself to the conversion of others? He is certainly capable of teaching the Law: he possesses the comprehensions (pratisamvids, vii. 37b): [and even if he does not possess them,] he can [through his pranidhijnana, vii. 37a] remember the teachings of the ancient Buddhas. He is no longer deprived of pity, for he manifests his
522 supernormal power with a view to being of service to beings. He can
no longer say that beings are "unconvertible" in the period in which he
lives, for, in this period--the period of decrease of life--beings can
523
detach themselves from Kamadhatu by the worldly path. Why then
does he not teach the Law?
By reason of his previous habit [of solitude], he finds pleasure in,
and aspires to absence of turmoil; he does not have the courage to apply himself to making others understand the profound Dharnia: he would have to make disciples; he would have to conduct the multitude who follow the current against the current, and this is a difficult thing. Now he fears being distracted from his absorption and of entering into
524 contact (samsarga, vi. 6a) with humans.
Purvakathd
***
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Chapter Three
95-96. The Cakravartin Kings do not appear when lifespan is under eighty thousand years in length; they have a wheel of gpld, a wheel of silver, a wheel of cooper, and a wheel of iron; in inverse order, he reigns over one, two, three, or four continents; but never two at once, like the Buddhas; they triumph through spontaneous default, personal influence, fighting, or the sword,
525
1. The Cakravartin Kings appear from the period when the lifespan of humans is infinite to the period when their lifespan is eighty thousand years in length; not when life is shorter, for then the world is no longer a suitable receptacle for their glorious prosperity.
They are called Cakravartins, because their nature is to reign (rdjyam
526
cakrena vartayitum).
527
2. There are four types of Cakravartin Kings, Suvarncakravartin,
Rupyacakravartin, Tamracakravartin, and Aya&akravartin, accordingly as their wheel (cakra) is of gold, silver, copper, or iron: the first is the best, the second is almost best, the third is mediocre, and the fourth is inferior. The Cakravartin whose wheel is iron reigns over one continent, the Cakravartin whose wheel is copper reigns over two continents, and soon.
528
This is the doctrine of the Prajnapti. A Sutra, in fact, speaks only
of a Cakravartin King having a wheel of gold, by reason of his greater
importance, "When, to a king of royal and consecrated race--who, even
in the days of his youth, on the fifteenth day, having washed his head,
having undertaken the obligations of youth, ascends accompanied by
this ministers to the terrace of his palace--there appears in the east the
jewel of a wheel having a thousand rays, a wheel having a rim, having a
hub, complete in all ways, beautiful, not made by the hand of an artisan,
529 530 all in gold --this king is a Cakravartin King. "
3. Two Cakravartins, the same as two Buddhas, do not appear at the same time. The Sutra says, "It is impossible in the present, or in the future, for two Tathagatas, Arhats, perfect Buddhas to appear in the world without one preceding and the other following. It is impossible. It is the rule that there is only one. And this holds for the Cakravartins as
531 for the Tathagatas. "
but always without doing evil
Here a question is raised. What is the meaning of the expression "in
? the world? " Does this mean "in a great Trisahasra universe" (iii. 74), or
532 "in all the universes? "
According to one opinion, the Buddhas do not appear elsewhere
533
[that is: in two great universes at once] because the coexistence of two
Buddhas would create an obstacle to the power of the Blessed Ones. A single Blessed One applies himself wheresoever: where a Blessed One does not apply himself to the converting of beings, other Blessed Ones do not apply themselves either. Further, we read in the Sutra, " 'Sariputra, if someone comes and asks you if there now exists someone,
534
a Bhiksu or a Brahmin, who is equal to the ascetic Gautama with
regard to Samyaksambodhi, what would you answer him? '
"'If someone were to interrogate me thus, Oh Venerable One, I would answer him that there does not exist now anyone, Bhiksu or
Brahmin, who is the equal of the Blessed One. And why would I respond in this manner? Because I have heard and understood of the Blessed One, that it is impossible, both in the present and in the future, for two Blessed Ones, Arhats, perfea Buddhas to appear in the world without
535 one preceding and the other following/"
Objection: How then are we to understand what the Blessed One
56
said in the Brahmastitra, * "I exercise my power even over a great
Trisahasra universe? "
This text should not be taken literally: it means that without making
an effort (without making a special act of attention), the Buddha sees as
far as this limit. When he desires it, his seeing goes wherever he wills it
537 without limit.
According to other schools, the Buddhas appear at the same time, but in many universes. Here are their arguments. One sees that many persons apply themselves at the same time to the preparations [for Bodhi]. Certainly, it is not proper that many Buddhas should appear at the same time in the same spot (=in the same universe); but, on the other hand, nothing prevents many Buddhas from appearing at the
538
same time: thus they appear in different universes. The universes are
infinite in number, so even if the Blessed One lives an entire kalpa, he cannot go about in the infinity of the universe as he does here; all the more so if he only lives a human lifetime.
What is this activity of the Blessed One?
He wills that a person's faculty (faith, etc. )--by reason of such a
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person, of such a place and of such conditions of time, due to the disappearance of such a defect and to the realization of such a cause, and in such a manner--if not arisen should arise, and if not perfected should be perfected
Objection:But we have quoted the Sutra, "It is impossible for two Tathagatas to appear in the world without one preceding and the other following. "
Answer: There is reason to examine if this text refers to one
universe--a universe with its four continents, a great Trisahasra
universe--or to all universes. Let us observe that the rule which
concerns the appearance of the Cakravartin Kings is formulated in the
same terms as those that concern the appearance of the Tathagatas.
Would you deny that Cakravartin Kings could appear at the same time?
If you do not deny this, why not also admit that the Buddhas, which are
the foundation of merit, appear at the same time in different
539
universes? What is wrong with numerous Buddhas appearing in
numerous universes? Innumerable beings would thus obtain both temporal well-being and supreme happiness.
Objection: But in this same spirit, you should also admit that two Tathagatas can appear at the same time in one universe.
Answer. No. In fact, 1. their simultaneous appearance in a universe would be without utility; 2. the vow of the Bodhisattva is to "become a Buddha, a protector of the unprotected, in a world blind and without a protector;" 3. respect with regard to a single Buddha is greater; 4. greater also is the haste to conform to his Law: persons know that a Buddha is rare, and that they will be without a protector once the Buddha is in
540 Nirvana or when he goes elsewhere.
4. It is by their wheel of gold, silver, etc. , that Cakravartin Kings
conquer the earth. Their conquest differs according to the nature of their
541 wheel.
A Cakravartin King with a golden wheel triumphs through 542
pratyudydna. Lesser kings come towards him, saying, "Rich districts, 543
flourishing, abundant in living things, full of men and sage men -- may Your Majesty deign to govern them! We ourselves are at your orders. "
A Cakravartin King with a silver wheel goes towards them himself, and then they submit to him.
A Cakravartin King with a copper wheel goes to them; they make
? preparations for resistance, but they submit to him.
A Cakravartin King with an iron wheel goes to them; they brandish
their arms, but then they submit to him.
In no case does a Cakravartin King kill
5. Cakravartin Kings cause beings to enter the path of the ten good
544
actions (karmapatha, iv. 66b). Also, after their death, they are reborn
among the gods.
6. The Sutra says, "When Cakravartin Kings appear in the world,
the seven jewels also appear: a wheel, an elephant, a horse, a treasure,
545
women, a treasurer, and a military advisor. " Do these jewels which
are living beings,--the jewel of elephants, etc,--arise through the actions of others?
No. A being accumulates actions which should be retributed by a birth related to a Cakravartin King, by a birth as a jewel of an elephant, etc. : when a Cakravartin King appears, his own aaions make this being arise.
7. There are many differance between the Cakravartin Kings and
other men, notably that these Kings possess, like the Buddha, the
546 thirty-two marks of the Mahapurusa.
97a. But the marks of the Muni are better placed, more brilliant, and complete.
But the marks of the Buddha outweigh those of the Kings in that
547
they are better placed, more brilliant, and complete.
#**
Did humans have kings at the beginning of the kalpa? No.
98. In the beginning, beings were similar to the gods of Rupadhatu; then, little by little, through attachment to taste, and through laziness, they made provisions and attributed parts to
548 themselves; a protector of the fields was, by them, retributed
549
Humans at the beginning of the cosmic age were similar to the
beings of Rupadhatu. The Sutra says, "There are visible beings, born of the mind, having all their members, with complete and intaa organs, of fine figure, of beautiful color, shining by themselves, travelling through
550 the air, having joy for ther food, and living a long time/'
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Yet there appeared the "juice of the earth," the taste of which had the sweetness of honey. One being, of greedy temperament, having perceived the smell of this juice, took pleasure in it and ate it; the other beings then did the same. This was the beginning of eating by mouthfuls (kavadikdra, iii. 39). This eating made their bodies become coarse and heavy and their luminosity come to an end: and then darkness appeared And then there appeared the sun and the moon.
Because of the attachment of beings to taste, the juice of the earth
51
gradually disappeared Then prtbmparpafaka * appeared, and beings
attached themselves to it. Prthiviparpafaka disappeared and a forest creeper appeared and beings then became attached to it. This creeper disappeared and then rice grew, unworked and unseeded: this rice, a coarse food, gave forth waste: beings then developed organs of excretion and sexual organs; they then took different forms. Beings with sexual differences, by reason of ther previous habits, were seized by this crocodile which is wrong judgment; they conceived an active desire for pleasure and so had sexual intercourse. It is from this moment on that the beings of Kamadhatu were possessed by the demon which is craving.
One cut rice in the morning for the morning meal, and in the evening for the evening meal. One being, of lazy temperament, made provisions. The others imitated him. With provisions arose the idea of "mine," the idea of property: then the rice, cut and recut, stopped growing.
Then they distributed the fields. One was the owner of one field; one seized the goods of another. This was the beginning of robbery.
In order to prevent robbery, they came together and gave a sixth
part to an excellent man in order that he protect the fields: this man was
given the name ksetrapa or guardian of the fields, and, as he was a
ksetrapa, he received the name of ksatriya. Because he was very
esteemed (sammata) by the multitude (mahajana), and because he 552
charmed (ranj) his subjects, he became the Raja Mahasammata. This 553
was the beginning of dynasties.
Those who abandoned the householder's life received the name of
Brahmins.
Then, under a certain king, there were many bandits and thieves.
The king punished them by the sword Others said, "We have not committed such actions," and this was the beginning of lying.
? 98c-d Then, through the development of the courses of action,
554 life shortened to a length of ten years.
From this moment on, the bad courses of action, murder, etc, increased and the lifespan of humans became shorter and shorter. It was reduced, finally, to a length of ten years.
There are thus two dharmas: attachment to taste and laziness which are the beginning of this long degeneration.
*##
A small kalpa terminates when a lifespan is ten years in length. What happens then?
99. The kalpa terminates through iron, sickness, hunger, which 555
last respectively seven days, seven months, and seven years. 556
The end of the kalpa is marked by three calamities.
1. In the period when the kalpa draws to its end, their lifespans being reduced to ten years in length, persons, full of forbidden craving
and slaves of unjust greed, profess false doctrines. The spirit of wickedness arises in them: they conceive thoughts of hatred; as soon as they see one another, as a hunter who sees game, everything that falls into their hand,--a piece of wood, aconite plants,--becomes a sharp weapon, and they massacre one another.
2. In the period when the kalpa draws to its end, their lifespans being reduced to ten years, persons, full of forbidden craving and slaves to unjust greed, profess false doctrines. Non-human beings (P&acas, etc. ) emit deadly vapors, from whence incurable sicknesses arise by* which humans die.
3. In the period when the kalpa draws to its end. . . the heavens cease
to rain, from whence three famines arise, the famine of the boxes
{cancu), the famine of the white bones, and the famine when one lives 557
by tokens.
The famine of the boxes is called this for two reasons. What is today
a samudgaka, was in this period called canca; and cancu is the same as 558
carica. Persons, overwhelmed with hunger and weakness, die all in a group; and, with a view to being useful to persons of the future, they place seeds in a cancu. This is why this famine is called cancu.
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The famine of the white bones is called this for two reasons. Bodies
become dry and hard, and when they die, their bones soon become
white. Persons gather up these white bones, boil them and drink
559 them.
The famine of tokens is called this for two reasons. Beings, in houses, eat according to the indication of tokens, "Today it is the turn of the master of the house to eat; tomorrow it is the turn of the mistress of the house . . . " And, with the tokens, persons search out grains in the
560 empty earth; they are boiled in much water, and drunk.
Scripture teaches that person who have, for a single day and night, undertaken abstention from murder, or have given one myrobalan fruit or a mouthful of food to the Sahgha, will not be reborn here in this world during the period of knives, sickness, or famine.
4. How long a time do these periods last?
Killing lasts seven days, sickness lasts seven months and seven days, and famine last seven years, seven months and seven days. The conjunction ca ("and") in the stanza shows that one must add the different lengths of time.
***
The continents of Videha and Godaniya do not know the three calamities: yet wickedness, bad color and weakness, and hunger and thirst reign therein when Jambudvipa is overwhelmed by knives, sickness, and famine.
***
We have described destruction by fire, and have said that the other destructions are accomplished in a similar manner.
lOOa-b. There are three destructions: through fire, water, and
561 wind.
When all beings have disappeared from the lower physical worlds, having come together in a dhyana heaven, the destructions take place: through fire, by reason of the seven suns; through water, by reason of the rain; and through wind, by reason of the disorder of the wind
? element. The effect of these destructions is that not one atom of the destroyed physical world remains.
**#
[Here arises the problem of a whole and its part (avayavin, avayava), of a substance and its qualities (gunin, guna)y iii. 49d].
Certain non-Buddhist masters--[Kanabhuj, etc]--say that the atoms are eternal, and that, as a consequence, they remain when the universe is dissolved. In faa, say these masters, if it were otherwise, coarse bodies would arise without cause (ahetuka).
[The Buddhists:] But we have explained (iii. 50a) that the seed of a new universe is wind, a wind endowed with special powers which have their beginning in the actions of creatures.
