merit
produced
by
abandoning, that is, the merit which results from the sole fact of
539
abandoning; 2.
abandoning, that is, the merit which results from the sole fact of
539
abandoning; 2.
Abhidharmakosabhasyam-Vol-2-Vasubandhu-Poussin-Pruden-1991
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
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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. He completed Giving by giving everything to everyone,
499 out of compassion.
When he gave everything to everyone, even to his eyes and the marrow of his bones, out of compassion, without desiring any happiness for himself, he completed the virtue of Giving.
lllc-d. Morality and Patience were completed by his not being
irritated, even when his limbs were broken, although he was still
500 tied to desire.
When, even though he was not detached, he was not at all irritated when his limbs were broken, he then completed the virtues of Morality
Karma 693
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and Patience.
112a. Energy, by praising Pusya
The Blessed One, when he was a Bodhisattva, saw the Tathagata
502
Pusya who had become incandescent in the interior of a cave in a
503
mountain. He praised him for seven days and seven nights, standing,
repeating the stanza, "Neither in heaven nor on earth, nor in this world, nor in the abode of VaiSravana, nor in the palace of the Mams, nor in other celestial abodes, nor in any of the ten direaions, would one find, Oh Chief of Men, an ascetic who is your equal, even if one were to traverse, if one wished, the entire world, with all of its people, with its
504
mountains and with its forests. " Then, according to this School, he
was found to have fulfilled the virture of Energy and nine cosmic ages were passed over.
505 112b. Absorption and Intelligence, immediately before.
506
At the moment of Vajropamasamadhi, immediately before
Bodhi, he accomplished the virtues of dhydna and prajnd.
507
arrived (gamandt) at the other shore (pdram) of the other shore of the
The Paramitas receive the name of pdramitd totality of the perfections proper to each of them.
because they have
###
The Sutra teaches that there are three items of meritorious work (punyakriydvastu), which consist of Giving, Morality, and Meditation. How are Giving, Morality, and Meditation items of meritorious work?
112c-d Three are merit, action, occasions of the exercise of
508 action, as in the case of deeds.
These three,--Giving, Morality, and Meditation,--each according to its nature, are merit, action, or occasion of exercise, either in combination, or in isolation; the same way that the deeds are either at one and the same time actions and deeds, or only deeds.
To consider first the item of meritorious work which consists of Giving, one must distinguish: 1. bodily and vocal action which is an item of meritorious work on three grounds: merit, because its retribution is
501
? p
IK
Karma 695 agreeable; aaion, because it is aaion by nature; and an occasion for the
exercise or an object of the volition of giving which provokes it; 2. the volition of giving, which is merit and aaion; 3. and the dharmas (sensations, etc. ) which accompany bodily and vocal aaion, and which are solely merit.
The item of meritorious work which consists of Morality is exclusively bodily and vocal aaion; it is necessarily merit, aaion and occasion of exercise of aaion.
For the item of meritorious work which consists of Meditation, let us consider the Meditation of Compassion (maitri, viii. 30): 1. this mediation is merit; it is also an occasion for the exercise of a meritorious aaion, namely that of a volition associated with compassion; 2. the volition in question is merit and aaion. The same also for the Morality which consitutes dhyanasamvara, the discipline of dhyana, which a person who praaices the Meditation of Compassion possesses; 3. the other dharmas (faith, etc. ) concomittant to this Meditation are solely merit.
Or rather the expression punyakriya signifies punyakarana, or
punyaprayoga. Giving9 Morality and Mediation are vastus of punyakriya,
because, with a view to realizing them, one undertakes the preparation
509 of merit.
According to another opinion, punyakriya is, to speak precisely, good volition; Giving, Morality and Meditation are its vastu, an occasion for the exercise of this volition.
***
What is Giving, ddna?
Without doubt, ddna in general is what is given (deya), but here
510 113a. Giving is what gives.
But one gives through fear, or with the hope of reciprocity, or through attachment, etc: now this does not refer to this type of giving. Consequently, in order to specify, the author says, "Giving is what gives. "
511 113b. Through the desire to render homage or service.
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What is it that gives?
113c. It is bodily and vocal action and that which produces this action.
A collection of mind-and-mental states gives rise to a bodily or vocal action: this collection and this action give. As the stanza says, "When a person, with a good mind gives what belongs to him, then one says that
512 the good skandhas give. "
513 113d. It has for its results great joys.
The punyakriydvastu which consists of Giving (danamaya) has great joys as its result.
The suffix maya, which we translate "which consists of," should be understood as "having as its nature," the same way that one says, "a
514 house made of grass" (trnamaya grha), or "a vase made of leaves. "
114a-b. Giving is beneficial to oneself, to others, to both or neither.
A gift made to a Caitya is not useful to another; but it is useful to him who gives when he is an Aryan not detached from desire, or a Prthagjana detached or not detached (see iv. 121).
The gift that a detached Aryan makes to another--with the exception of the case when this gift ripens in the present existence--is not useful to this Aryan, for the Aryan who is detached has definitively passed beyond the sphere (Le. , Kamadhatu) where the retribution of the gift could have taken place in a later existence. This gift is only useful to another.
The gift that a non-detached Aryan makes to another, to a detached or non-detached Prthagjana, is useful both to himself and to another. The gift that a detached Aryan makes to a Caitya--with the
exception of the case when this gift will ripen in the present existence- is not useful either to himself, or to another. This gift has for its effea only the expression of homage and recognition.
***
We have said, in a general manner, that giving produces great joys:
? H4c-d Giving is excellent by the excellence of the giver, of the
515 object given, and of the field
115a. The giver is excellent through his faith, etc
The giver is excellent when he is endowed with faith, with morality, with learning, with generosity, with wisdon, with few desires, etc When the giver is excellent, the gift is excellent; when the gift is excellent, its result is excellent.
516
Such a giver gives with respect, by his hand, at the right time, without doing evil to anyone (pardn anupahatya; compare Milinda, 276).
115c-d From whence he obtains honors, superior joys, at the right time, sheltered from all loss.
The giver who gives with respect obtains honors; giving by his hand, he will find satisfaction in superior joys; giving at the right time, he will obtain these joys at a suitable time and not when he cannot enjoy them; giving without doing any evil, these joys will be indestructible: they will not be stolen, annihilated through fire, etc
***
We have explained in what the excellence of the giver consists and how the gift is excellent through the excellence of the giver. How is the object given excellent?
517
The object is excellent when that which one gives is perfect in color, in odor, in taste, in contact.
What will one obtain through the giving of such an object? 116b-d From whence beauty, glory, joy, great lightness of the
518
body and contacts corresponding to the seasoa
He who gives an object perfect in color will be beautiful.
115b. He gives with respect, etc
116a. The object perfect in color, etc
Add: "is excellent. "
Karma 697
? He who gives an object perfect in odor will have his reputation extend to all directions, in the same way that an odor spreads.
He who gives an object perfect in taste will be happy, like a sweet taste.
The body of him who gives an object perfect to the touch, will be very delicate, like the jewel-like wife of a Cakravartin king, and his limbs will have only agreeable contacts, hot or cold according to the season.
***
117a-b. The field is excellent through the realm of rebirth, suffering, benefactors, and qualities.
A field is excellent through the realm of rebirth. The Blessed One
said, "If a person gives to an animal, the giver will receive a retribution
one hundred times greater than the gift made to the animal, but if this
person gives even to a human who has transgressed the precepts, he
will receive a retribution one thousand times greater than the gift made
519 to this humaa"
A field is excellent through suffering. The Blessed One, among the
How is the field excellent?
seven aupadhikapunyakriyavastus, enumerated giving to a sick person, 52
givingtoahospitalattendant,givingduringcoldseasons,etc. , ? andhe continued: "One cannot enumerate the measure of the merits of a son or daughter of good family who is endowed with these seven material meritorious works. "
A field is excellent through benefactors. This is giving to one's father, to one's mother (Divya, p. 52), to one's master, or to other
521
benefactors. Example: the Jatakas of the bear, of the antelope, etc 522
A field is excellent through its qualities. The Blessed One said, "A retribution one hundred thousand times greater than a gift made to a
person who upholds the necessities . . . " and so on.
***
Among all the gifts,
117cThe best is the gift from a delivered person to a delivered
? 523
persoa
The Blessed One said that a gift given by a detached person to another detached person is the best of material gifts.
524 117& Or a gift from the Bodhisattva.
Or rather, the gift that a Bodhisattva gives for the welfare of all beings; this gift, although given by a non-detached person to other non-detached persons, is the best gift.
#*#
With the exception of the gift from the Bodhisattva, 117d Or the eighth.
The eighth among the eight gifts that the Blessed One taught. 525
What are the eight gifts? 1. An dsadya gift; 2. a gift through fear; 3. a gift made "because he gave to me"; 4. a gift made "because he gives to me"; 5. a gift made "because my fathers and my grandfathers gave (dattapurvam me pitrbhif ca pitamahais ceti danam, compare Japaka, 444. 52, vol. iv, 34); 6. a gift made in order to obtain heaven; 7. a gift made with an eye to one's reputation; 8. a gift made in order to adorn one's mind (that is to say, in order to obtain rddhis, vii. 48); in order to fill the mind [with the parts of the Path, mdrgdnga, vi. 67b]; in order to equip it with a view to yoga; and in order to acquire the supreme gpal (that is to say, in order to obtain the quality of Arhat or Nirvana).
What is an dsadya gift?
Some ancient masters explain this as an immediate gift to those
526 who are near, who approach one.
A gift through fear is a gift that a person makes who sees that the
527 object is going to perish: "Better it should be given," he thinks.
***
The Sutra (Madhyama, TD 1, p. 722b22) says, "An incalculable retribution proceeds from a gift made to a srotaapannaphakprati-
pannaka; an even more incalculable retribution proceeds from a gift made to a srotadpanna. "But there are also five persons who, even
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though Prthagjanas, confer an incalculable retribution on the offering that is made to them:
118. Even though they are not Aryans, offerings made to one's
father and mother, to a sick person, to a preacher, to the
528 Bodhisattva in his last birth are without measure.
These offerings are without measure from the point of view of their retributioa
A "Bodhisattva in his last birth" means a "Bodhisattva in his last existence. "
To what category does a preacher belong? Among what field should he be placed?
He forms part of the category of benefactors: he gives the eye of wisdom to multitudes blinded by ignorance; he proclaims what is good
1 29
(sama = dharma) and bad (visama = adharma); ' he ereas the pure
53
bodyoftheLaw; ? inaword,heaccomplishesalltheworkofaBuddha:
hence he is a great "spiritual friend"
***
In order to appreciate the lightness and the gravity of actions, one should, in short, take into consideration six causes:
119. Accordingly as these causes--consecutive, field, adhisfhana, preparation, volition, or intention--are small or large, action also is small or large.
Consecutive: after having done the action, that is, consequential action.
Field: the person to whom one does good or evil Adhisfhana: the deed itself.
Preparation: bodily or vocal action with a view to the preceding.
Volition: that through which the deed is achieved. Intention: to
project the thought, "I shall do this or that to them; then I shall do this
531 or that. "
It happens that an action can be grave only by reason of its consecutive action, for example, when this confers on the retribution the character of necessity.
? It happens that an action can be grave by reason that, if the field is the same, a certain adhisphana renders an action grave while another adhisphana makes it light: for example, to kill one's father and mother is a grave action but to steal from one's father and mother, to lie to them, etc. , is not grave by comparison. One can explain in this same way the
532 gravity resulting from the preparation, etc.
When all these causes are great, the action is very grave; when they are small, the action is very light.
***
Action "done" (krta) is distinguished from "accumulated" (upacita)
533 action.
action?
By reason of its intentional character:Action done voluntarily or
535
intentionally is accumulated action; action done involuntarily or
536
unconsciously, and action not done in haste, even if it is voluntary, is
action that is "done. "
"By reason of its completion:" Some go to painful realms of rebirth
through misdeeds; some by two; some by three (bodily, vocal, and mentalmisdeeds); some through one deed, through two, through three . . . through ten. Since it is a rule that a person goes to a painful realm of rebirth through a certain quantity of actions, if this measure is not completed, the action is done, but not accumulated; but when this
537 measure is completed, it is accumulated
"By reason of the absence of regret and opposition:" When remorse
What are the charaaeristics and conditions of accumulated
120. Action is termed "accumulated" by reason of its intentional
character, by its completion, by the absence of regret and
534 opposition, by its accompaniments, and by its retribution.
(vipratisara, anutapa, ii. 28) is absent, or when opposition,--confession, 538
etc,--is absent, action is then termed "accumulated. "
"By reason of its accompaniments:" When an action is bad and has a
bad escort: [or when one rejoices at having committed it,] it is "accumulated. "
"By reason of its retribution:" Action is accumulated which necessarily gives forth retribution (vipakadane niyatam, iv. 50).
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The same for good actioa
Action which does not present these characteristics is done, but is not accumulated
***
We have seen (iv. H4a) that a gift made to a Caitya by a person not detached from desire is a gift of benefit for him who made it. But no one enjoys the thing given: how can this gift be meritorious?
The merits of the gift are of two types: 1.
merit produced by
abandoning, that is, the merit which results from the sole fact of
539
abandoning; 2. merit produced by its enjoyment, the merit which
results in joy in the object given, by the person who receives.
121a. The merit of a gift to a Caitya is merit produced by
540 abandoning.
How can the gift produce merit when no one receives it?
We would answer this objection by asking why would the gift produce merit when someone receives it, and why it would not produce merit when no one receives it?
Because, in the second case, no one is satisfied, or favored by the gift.
If the satisfaction of a person who receives is a condition for merit, you then deny that the Immeasurable Mediations (Mediations of Compassion, etc, viii. 29) and the Meditation of Right View are meritorious. The gift to a Caitya thus produces merit,
121b. Even though no one receives it, as is the case with compassion, etc
In the case of the Meditation on Compassion, no one receives, no one is satisfied, and yet merit arises for the compassionate person, through the very force of his thoughts of compassion. In the same way, even though the Excellent Being has passed away, a gift to a Caitya made with devotion to him is meritorious by reason of the thought of the believer himself.
Should we conclude then that material offerings and worship are superfluous?
No, for the devotion which produces these actions very much
? outweighs the devotion of a person who worships and who gives in mind only. When a person who has the intention of killing his enemy, continues his bodily and vocal actions on the dead body of his enemy which this intention provokes, thinking, 'This is my enemy," that is to say, he thinks, 'This enemy is not yet dead," he obtains demerit very
541 much greater than he would have through merely the intention; in
the same way, even though the Master has passed away, the person who does aaions of giving and worship inspired through devotion obtains a much greater merit than he would have only through devotioa
If a seed given to a good field bears an agreeable result, should we think that it bears a disagreeable result if given to a bad field?
121c-d Even seeded into a bad field, the gift bears agreeable results, for there is never opposition between the result and the
542
seed
543
From the seed of the vine, there arises solely the sweet fruit of the
vine; from the seed of the nimba (Azadirachta Indica) there arises only the sour fruit of the nimba: even seeded into a bad field, the seed bears the result which is appropriate to it. In the same way, this seed which is the gift of a person who has the intention of being useful to another, even if placed into a bad field, can only produce an agreeable result. But, through the evil of the field, the result will be small or almost oil
We have explained meritorious work which consists of Giving, together with its related questions.
#*#
We must now explain meritorious work which consists of the Precepts.
122a-b. Immorality is bad rupa. Morality is the renouncing of 544
Bad r&pa is called immorality. The renouncing of immorality, which is morality, is
immorality.
Karma 703
? 122b. Of two types.
Renouncing is vijfiapti, the action by which one renounces, and avijnapti, the fact of abstaining (see above, pp. 560, 562, 583).
Morality is not solely the renouncing of immorality.
122c. It is, further, the renouncing of that which is prohibited by the Buddha.
To renounce that which is prohibited by the Buddha, the Blessed One,--without being in and of itself immoral, for example renouncing meals at forbidden times,--is also morality. This renouncing is also vijnapti and avijnapti. He who has undertaken to observe the rules and who then violates them, commits immorality.
The morality that we have just described, in short, is
122d Pure, when it is endowed with the four qualities.
Morality endowed with the four qualities is pure; it is impure in the contrary case.
123a-b. Not troubled by immorality, by the causes of im- morality; it takes as its support the opposite of immorality and <<t >>>>
peace.
"Not troubled by immorality" we have described; "not troubled by
the causes of immorality," that is, by the kleias and upaklesas (v. 41), "it takes as its support the opposites of immorality," because it relies on the four smrtyupasthanas (vi. 14); and it relies on "peace," not on rebirth in celestial realms, because it is directed to Nirvana.
According to another opinion, five causes make morality pure: 1. the purity of the deed itself [the renouncing of bad deeds]; 2. the purity of their attendants [renouncing the preparation or the means of killing, etc. ]; 3. the absence of disturbance from the vitarkas [kama, vyapada, and vihimsavitarka]; 4. its supervision through mindfulness [Buddha, Dharma, Sahghanusmrti--which includes the renouncing of undefined
545 actions]; and 5. its application to Nirvana.
According to another opinion, morality is of four types: 1. the morality of fear, which one observes from the fear of the loss of the resources necessary to life, from fear of a bad reputation, from fear of
? 546
chastisement, from fear of bad realms of rebirth; 2. mercenary
morality, which one observes from attachment to agreeable realms of existence, to pleasures, to honors; 3. a morality suitable to the parts of Bodhi, which persons who possess Right View possess, with a view to their deliverance; and 4. pure morality, which, being free from stains, is free from vices.
We have explained morality.
***
123c-& "Good absorption" or good in absorption, is bhavana, 547
meditation, soaking in, or impregnation.
What do we understand by samahita, absorbed? That which is absorption (samadhi, ii. 24, viii. 1) by its nature, and that which coexists with what is absorption by nature.
Why does "good absorption" receive the name of bhdvana? 123d. Because it perfumes, impregnates the mind.
Good absorption impregnates the mind to an extreme degree, because it (i. e. , the mind) grasps the qualities of this good, in the same way as sesame seeds are impregnated by flowers in their grasping the odor of these flowers.
***
We have said (iv. H3d) that the result of giving consists of joys. What result does one obtain from the precepts and from meditation?
124a-b. Essentially, the precepts have heaven for their result;
548 meditation has disconnection for its result.
Giving also has heaven for its result, but the precepts are the principle, normative cause of it. Disconnection, or Nirvana, (ii. trans, p. 280) has meditation for its cause, which, in the path of abandoning (prahdnamdrga, vi. 60c-d) immediately produces disconnection from the defilements; but the precepts contribute to it, since stilling (samatha) and insight (vipasyand) presuppose the precepts.
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***
The Sutra says that four persons produce "Brahmin" merit, 549
brahmapunya. What is this merit?
According to the Vaibhasikas (Vibhasa, TD 27, p. 425cl3), this is
the merit which has been defined above in order that we might know
the measure of the action which has the marks of the Bodhisattva for its
550 result (iv. 110).
551
The ancient masters said:
124c-d Four possess Brahmin merit, because they are happy in
552 the heavens for a kalpa.
The merit of such a measure that one is happy in heaven for a kalpa is the Brahmin merit, for the lifespan of the Brahmapurohitas is a kalpa
553
(iii. 80d). And in another Canon, one reads, "He engenders Brahmin
merit, he is happy in the heavens for a kalpa" *##
554 We have studied material giving.
125a-b. The gift of the Dharmas is the correct teaching, not
555
The gift of the Dharma is to teach, correctly and with a mind not defiled, the Sutra and the other parts of Scripture. Consequently, those who teach the Dharma either falsely, or with a defiled mind, through a
556
desire for gain, for respea, and for reputation, destroy the great merit
which would otherwise fall to them.
***
We have explained the three types of good according to the distinction of the three items of meritorious work. Furthermore,
125c-d Good is threefold, merit, Nirvana and penetration.
Good merit, or good "favorable to merit" is the good which leads to
557 an agreeable retribution.
defiled, of the Sutras etc
? 558
The good which is deliverance is the good which, when it arises,
559
becomes a dharma of ParinirvSna. It is recognized that whoever,
understanding the sermons concerning the defects of Samsara, the
non-self, and the qualities of Nirvana, has his hairs stand on end and 560
who pours forth tears, possesses the moksabhdgrya root of good; in 561
this same way, one knows that there was a seed in the khalabila, when, in the rain, one sees a plant put forth shoots.
The good of penetration is fourfold, usmagatas, etc; it will be 562
***
What is the nature of what is popularly called writing, carving (mudrd), eloquence, poetry (kdvya), and calculation?
126. An industrious aaion, of the body, of the voice or of the
mind, with that which gives rise to it, are such things as writing,
563 carving, eloquence, poetry, and calculation.
"Industrious," that is, due to a certain technique.
"Threefold action" is bodily, vocal, and mental action.
"Writing and carving" are bodily actions, industrious, together with
what gives rise to this aaion, namely the colieaion of the mind and its mental states.
"Eloquence and poetry" are vocal actions,
Consequently, writing, carving, eloquence, and poetry, are by their nature, the five skandhas.
"Calculation" is mental aaion: this refers to the mental enumera- tion of the dharmas. TM
***
Now let us explain some synonyms:
127a-b. Defiled dharmas are savadya, nivrta, and hina.
Some synonyms of "defiled" are: savadya, associated with avadya, or bad; nivrta, that is, "covered" by the defilements: and the defilements themselves are covered by other defilements; hina, or ignoble, because
explained later (vi. 17).
Karma 707
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they are low or abandoned by the Aryans.
127b-c Good and pure dharmas are prantta.
Pranita, "excellent," is a synonym for subha, that is, kusala, good, and of amala, immaculate or andsrava.
The dharmas which are neither ignoble nor excellent, are thus
565 median (madhya).
127c-d Good conditioned dharmas are sevya.
Sevya, "to be cultivated" is synonymous with "good" and "con- ditioned. "
It then follows that other dharmas, some unconditioned, others conditioned but defiled or non-defiled-neutral, are not to be cultivated In fact, unconditioned dharmas are not susceptible of being produced, or cultivated, since the unconditioned has no result: now, it is with a view to a result that one cultivates.
###
566 All the other dharmas are inferior.
127d Deliverance is the highest.
These is nothing which outweighs Nirvana. Nirvana, being eternal and good, outweighs all.
? 1. Ariguttara iii. 415: cetandham bhikkbave kammarh vaddmi, cetayitva kammarh karoti kayena vdcdya manasd. Compare Atthasdlini p. 88; Kathavatthu, p. 393; Madhyamaka, xvii. 2 and 3: cetand cetayitva ca karmoktam paramarsind /. . . tatrayac cetanety uktarh karma tan mdnasam smrtam / cetayitva cayat t&ktam tat tu kdyikavdcikam //Madhyamakdvatara, vi. 89, quoted in Bodhicaryd- vatdrapanfikd (v. 3, ix. 73), p. 472.
2. Vocal action is "voice," vdg eva karma. However kdyakarma is defined as kayena kdyasya vd karma.
3. On cetand, see ii. 24. Mrs. Rhys Davids {Psychology, p. 8), translates this as "thinking"; Aung {Compendium, p. 16) translates it as "volition. " "Volition" is only slightly satisfying, for we shall see (belowj>. 565) that action includes a subsequent cetand, "I have killed"
For theJains, mental action is only semi-action (addbakamma), Majjbima, L372 {Kofa, iv. 105), Uvdsakadasdo, il App. 2, p. 18; SBE. xiv, pp. 83,165,179,242,315. Koto, iv. 73a-b.
4. Vydkbyd: Cetayitd ceti / evam cedam karisydmUi. Madhyamakavrtti, 397. 1: evam caivam ca kdyavdgbhydm pravartisya ity evam cetasd samcintyayat kriyate tat cetayitva karmety ucyate.
5. (a) Vijtiapti is "that which informs" {vijfiapayati), the manifestation of a mind either by means of the body, or by means of the voice. It is bodily in the first case, vocal in the second: kdyavijfiapti, information through the body, which we call an action, fariracespd, or vispanda {Madhyamakavrtti, p. 307), the kdyavipphandana or "bodily suffusion" of Mrs. Rhys Davids {DhammasaHgani, 636, Atthasdlmi, p. 323); vdgvijfiapH is information through the voice or words {Kofa, iv. 3d).
The School holds {Ko/a, iv. 2b-3b) that kdyavijtiapti is not an action, a movement of the body, but a disposition, a "shape" of the body. The Sautrantikas deny that shape exists in and of itself (iv. 3c).
But should vijtiapti be considered as being, in its nature, action? This is the opinion of the Vaibhasikas and the heretics of the Kathdvatthu, viii. 9, x. 10 (the Mahirhsasakas, Sammitiyas, and Mahasamghikas) who believe that "action" and words constitute "action after having been willed" of which the Blessed One speaks (iv. lb), an action distinct from volition, and rupa in its nature. But for the Theravadins {Atthasdlini, p. 88, 96, 323, Anguttara, ii. 157, Samyutta, ii. 39) and for the Sautrantikas (below p-559|) action is volition {cetand); "bodily action" does not mean "information by the body," but a kdyasamcetand, a volition relative to the body and which leads the body. (The versionofAung,PointsofControversy,p. 225,isnottotallycorrect. )(b)Avijfiapti(ill,iv. 4)isan action "which does not inform anything to another"\avijfiapti is rupa, but does not form part of the rupdyatana: it is classed within the dharmdyatana and is only known by the mental consciousness.
In order to make all this easier to comprehend, the person who commits a murder or takes the vows of a Bhiksu produces after his volition {cetand) a bodily or vocal "information"--an action or a word--and, at the same time, an invisible action, nevertheless material and made up of the primary elements, which continues to exist in him and to increase, by reason of which he is either a murderer or a BhiksiL This invisible action, created by certain visible or audible actions and which "informs," is called avijnapti, "non-information"; it is considered to be either bodily or vocal accordingly as it is created by an action or by a word.
When a person gives orders to an assassin, he does not accomplish the action by which the murder is committed; the order that he gives is solely a preparation for murder; he is then not guilty of "the bodily information of murder. " But, at the moment when the person assassinated is murdered, a "non-information" of murder arises in him: he is, by this fact, guilty of murder.
When a person enters into a Dhyana--which supposes detachment from the defilements of Kamadhatu--he does not pronounce the vows by which one renounces killing, etc He does not produce "vocal information" by which the monk produces this "non-information" which constitutes his monkhood and which is called discipline {samvara, iv. 13). But in a Dhyana, the mind is strong enough to create, by itself and without intervention of "vocal information," the action of "non-information," or discipline.
6. The text has apare, "according to others. " The Vydkbyd holds that the "others" are the Vatslputriyas. The gloss of the Japanese editor, Saeki, mentions the Sammitiyas.
Footnotes 709
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7. According to the Dbammasangani, bodily vijfiapti is "to advance, withdraw, to fix the gaze, to look at all sides, to advance the arms, to withdraw them, etc"
8. Hsiian-tsang: 'Tor when the body moves, it moves by reason of action. "
9. The Vyakhya adds: "or rather a ksana is the minimum length of time" (iil85d). See ii. 46a-b. 10.
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
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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. He completed Giving by giving everything to everyone,
499 out of compassion.
When he gave everything to everyone, even to his eyes and the marrow of his bones, out of compassion, without desiring any happiness for himself, he completed the virtue of Giving.
lllc-d. Morality and Patience were completed by his not being
irritated, even when his limbs were broken, although he was still
500 tied to desire.
When, even though he was not detached, he was not at all irritated when his limbs were broken, he then completed the virtues of Morality
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and Patience.
112a. Energy, by praising Pusya
The Blessed One, when he was a Bodhisattva, saw the Tathagata
502
Pusya who had become incandescent in the interior of a cave in a
503
mountain. He praised him for seven days and seven nights, standing,
repeating the stanza, "Neither in heaven nor on earth, nor in this world, nor in the abode of VaiSravana, nor in the palace of the Mams, nor in other celestial abodes, nor in any of the ten direaions, would one find, Oh Chief of Men, an ascetic who is your equal, even if one were to traverse, if one wished, the entire world, with all of its people, with its
504
mountains and with its forests. " Then, according to this School, he
was found to have fulfilled the virture of Energy and nine cosmic ages were passed over.
505 112b. Absorption and Intelligence, immediately before.
506
At the moment of Vajropamasamadhi, immediately before
Bodhi, he accomplished the virtues of dhydna and prajnd.
507
arrived (gamandt) at the other shore (pdram) of the other shore of the
The Paramitas receive the name of pdramitd totality of the perfections proper to each of them.
because they have
###
The Sutra teaches that there are three items of meritorious work (punyakriydvastu), which consist of Giving, Morality, and Meditation. How are Giving, Morality, and Meditation items of meritorious work?
112c-d Three are merit, action, occasions of the exercise of
508 action, as in the case of deeds.
These three,--Giving, Morality, and Meditation,--each according to its nature, are merit, action, or occasion of exercise, either in combination, or in isolation; the same way that the deeds are either at one and the same time actions and deeds, or only deeds.
To consider first the item of meritorious work which consists of Giving, one must distinguish: 1. bodily and vocal action which is an item of meritorious work on three grounds: merit, because its retribution is
501
? p
IK
Karma 695 agreeable; aaion, because it is aaion by nature; and an occasion for the
exercise or an object of the volition of giving which provokes it; 2. the volition of giving, which is merit and aaion; 3. and the dharmas (sensations, etc. ) which accompany bodily and vocal aaion, and which are solely merit.
The item of meritorious work which consists of Morality is exclusively bodily and vocal aaion; it is necessarily merit, aaion and occasion of exercise of aaion.
For the item of meritorious work which consists of Meditation, let us consider the Meditation of Compassion (maitri, viii. 30): 1. this mediation is merit; it is also an occasion for the exercise of a meritorious aaion, namely that of a volition associated with compassion; 2. the volition in question is merit and aaion. The same also for the Morality which consitutes dhyanasamvara, the discipline of dhyana, which a person who praaices the Meditation of Compassion possesses; 3. the other dharmas (faith, etc. ) concomittant to this Meditation are solely merit.
Or rather the expression punyakriya signifies punyakarana, or
punyaprayoga. Giving9 Morality and Mediation are vastus of punyakriya,
because, with a view to realizing them, one undertakes the preparation
509 of merit.
According to another opinion, punyakriya is, to speak precisely, good volition; Giving, Morality and Meditation are its vastu, an occasion for the exercise of this volition.
***
What is Giving, ddna?
Without doubt, ddna in general is what is given (deya), but here
510 113a. Giving is what gives.
But one gives through fear, or with the hope of reciprocity, or through attachment, etc: now this does not refer to this type of giving. Consequently, in order to specify, the author says, "Giving is what gives. "
511 113b. Through the desire to render homage or service.
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What is it that gives?
113c. It is bodily and vocal action and that which produces this action.
A collection of mind-and-mental states gives rise to a bodily or vocal action: this collection and this action give. As the stanza says, "When a person, with a good mind gives what belongs to him, then one says that
512 the good skandhas give. "
513 113d. It has for its results great joys.
The punyakriydvastu which consists of Giving (danamaya) has great joys as its result.
The suffix maya, which we translate "which consists of," should be understood as "having as its nature," the same way that one says, "a
514 house made of grass" (trnamaya grha), or "a vase made of leaves. "
114a-b. Giving is beneficial to oneself, to others, to both or neither.
A gift made to a Caitya is not useful to another; but it is useful to him who gives when he is an Aryan not detached from desire, or a Prthagjana detached or not detached (see iv. 121).
The gift that a detached Aryan makes to another--with the exception of the case when this gift ripens in the present existence--is not useful to this Aryan, for the Aryan who is detached has definitively passed beyond the sphere (Le. , Kamadhatu) where the retribution of the gift could have taken place in a later existence. This gift is only useful to another.
The gift that a non-detached Aryan makes to another, to a detached or non-detached Prthagjana, is useful both to himself and to another. The gift that a detached Aryan makes to a Caitya--with the
exception of the case when this gift will ripen in the present existence- is not useful either to himself, or to another. This gift has for its effea only the expression of homage and recognition.
***
We have said, in a general manner, that giving produces great joys:
? H4c-d Giving is excellent by the excellence of the giver, of the
515 object given, and of the field
115a. The giver is excellent through his faith, etc
The giver is excellent when he is endowed with faith, with morality, with learning, with generosity, with wisdon, with few desires, etc When the giver is excellent, the gift is excellent; when the gift is excellent, its result is excellent.
516
Such a giver gives with respect, by his hand, at the right time, without doing evil to anyone (pardn anupahatya; compare Milinda, 276).
115c-d From whence he obtains honors, superior joys, at the right time, sheltered from all loss.
The giver who gives with respect obtains honors; giving by his hand, he will find satisfaction in superior joys; giving at the right time, he will obtain these joys at a suitable time and not when he cannot enjoy them; giving without doing any evil, these joys will be indestructible: they will not be stolen, annihilated through fire, etc
***
We have explained in what the excellence of the giver consists and how the gift is excellent through the excellence of the giver. How is the object given excellent?
517
The object is excellent when that which one gives is perfect in color, in odor, in taste, in contact.
What will one obtain through the giving of such an object? 116b-d From whence beauty, glory, joy, great lightness of the
518
body and contacts corresponding to the seasoa
He who gives an object perfect in color will be beautiful.
115b. He gives with respect, etc
116a. The object perfect in color, etc
Add: "is excellent. "
Karma 697
? He who gives an object perfect in odor will have his reputation extend to all directions, in the same way that an odor spreads.
He who gives an object perfect in taste will be happy, like a sweet taste.
The body of him who gives an object perfect to the touch, will be very delicate, like the jewel-like wife of a Cakravartin king, and his limbs will have only agreeable contacts, hot or cold according to the season.
***
117a-b. The field is excellent through the realm of rebirth, suffering, benefactors, and qualities.
A field is excellent through the realm of rebirth. The Blessed One
said, "If a person gives to an animal, the giver will receive a retribution
one hundred times greater than the gift made to the animal, but if this
person gives even to a human who has transgressed the precepts, he
will receive a retribution one thousand times greater than the gift made
519 to this humaa"
A field is excellent through suffering. The Blessed One, among the
How is the field excellent?
seven aupadhikapunyakriyavastus, enumerated giving to a sick person, 52
givingtoahospitalattendant,givingduringcoldseasons,etc. , ? andhe continued: "One cannot enumerate the measure of the merits of a son or daughter of good family who is endowed with these seven material meritorious works. "
A field is excellent through benefactors. This is giving to one's father, to one's mother (Divya, p. 52), to one's master, or to other
521
benefactors. Example: the Jatakas of the bear, of the antelope, etc 522
A field is excellent through its qualities. The Blessed One said, "A retribution one hundred thousand times greater than a gift made to a
person who upholds the necessities . . . " and so on.
***
Among all the gifts,
117cThe best is the gift from a delivered person to a delivered
? 523
persoa
The Blessed One said that a gift given by a detached person to another detached person is the best of material gifts.
524 117& Or a gift from the Bodhisattva.
Or rather, the gift that a Bodhisattva gives for the welfare of all beings; this gift, although given by a non-detached person to other non-detached persons, is the best gift.
#*#
With the exception of the gift from the Bodhisattva, 117d Or the eighth.
The eighth among the eight gifts that the Blessed One taught. 525
What are the eight gifts? 1. An dsadya gift; 2. a gift through fear; 3. a gift made "because he gave to me"; 4. a gift made "because he gives to me"; 5. a gift made "because my fathers and my grandfathers gave (dattapurvam me pitrbhif ca pitamahais ceti danam, compare Japaka, 444. 52, vol. iv, 34); 6. a gift made in order to obtain heaven; 7. a gift made with an eye to one's reputation; 8. a gift made in order to adorn one's mind (that is to say, in order to obtain rddhis, vii. 48); in order to fill the mind [with the parts of the Path, mdrgdnga, vi. 67b]; in order to equip it with a view to yoga; and in order to acquire the supreme gpal (that is to say, in order to obtain the quality of Arhat or Nirvana).
What is an dsadya gift?
Some ancient masters explain this as an immediate gift to those
526 who are near, who approach one.
A gift through fear is a gift that a person makes who sees that the
527 object is going to perish: "Better it should be given," he thinks.
***
The Sutra (Madhyama, TD 1, p. 722b22) says, "An incalculable retribution proceeds from a gift made to a srotaapannaphakprati-
pannaka; an even more incalculable retribution proceeds from a gift made to a srotadpanna. "But there are also five persons who, even
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though Prthagjanas, confer an incalculable retribution on the offering that is made to them:
118. Even though they are not Aryans, offerings made to one's
father and mother, to a sick person, to a preacher, to the
528 Bodhisattva in his last birth are without measure.
These offerings are without measure from the point of view of their retributioa
A "Bodhisattva in his last birth" means a "Bodhisattva in his last existence. "
To what category does a preacher belong? Among what field should he be placed?
He forms part of the category of benefactors: he gives the eye of wisdom to multitudes blinded by ignorance; he proclaims what is good
1 29
(sama = dharma) and bad (visama = adharma); ' he ereas the pure
53
bodyoftheLaw; ? inaword,heaccomplishesalltheworkofaBuddha:
hence he is a great "spiritual friend"
***
In order to appreciate the lightness and the gravity of actions, one should, in short, take into consideration six causes:
119. Accordingly as these causes--consecutive, field, adhisfhana, preparation, volition, or intention--are small or large, action also is small or large.
Consecutive: after having done the action, that is, consequential action.
Field: the person to whom one does good or evil Adhisfhana: the deed itself.
Preparation: bodily or vocal action with a view to the preceding.
Volition: that through which the deed is achieved. Intention: to
project the thought, "I shall do this or that to them; then I shall do this
531 or that. "
It happens that an action can be grave only by reason of its consecutive action, for example, when this confers on the retribution the character of necessity.
? It happens that an action can be grave by reason that, if the field is the same, a certain adhisphana renders an action grave while another adhisphana makes it light: for example, to kill one's father and mother is a grave action but to steal from one's father and mother, to lie to them, etc. , is not grave by comparison. One can explain in this same way the
532 gravity resulting from the preparation, etc.
When all these causes are great, the action is very grave; when they are small, the action is very light.
***
Action "done" (krta) is distinguished from "accumulated" (upacita)
533 action.
action?
By reason of its intentional character:Action done voluntarily or
535
intentionally is accumulated action; action done involuntarily or
536
unconsciously, and action not done in haste, even if it is voluntary, is
action that is "done. "
"By reason of its completion:" Some go to painful realms of rebirth
through misdeeds; some by two; some by three (bodily, vocal, and mentalmisdeeds); some through one deed, through two, through three . . . through ten. Since it is a rule that a person goes to a painful realm of rebirth through a certain quantity of actions, if this measure is not completed, the action is done, but not accumulated; but when this
537 measure is completed, it is accumulated
"By reason of the absence of regret and opposition:" When remorse
What are the charaaeristics and conditions of accumulated
120. Action is termed "accumulated" by reason of its intentional
character, by its completion, by the absence of regret and
534 opposition, by its accompaniments, and by its retribution.
(vipratisara, anutapa, ii. 28) is absent, or when opposition,--confession, 538
etc,--is absent, action is then termed "accumulated. "
"By reason of its accompaniments:" When an action is bad and has a
bad escort: [or when one rejoices at having committed it,] it is "accumulated. "
"By reason of its retribution:" Action is accumulated which necessarily gives forth retribution (vipakadane niyatam, iv. 50).
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The same for good actioa
Action which does not present these characteristics is done, but is not accumulated
***
We have seen (iv. H4a) that a gift made to a Caitya by a person not detached from desire is a gift of benefit for him who made it. But no one enjoys the thing given: how can this gift be meritorious?
The merits of the gift are of two types: 1.
merit produced by
abandoning, that is, the merit which results from the sole fact of
539
abandoning; 2. merit produced by its enjoyment, the merit which
results in joy in the object given, by the person who receives.
121a. The merit of a gift to a Caitya is merit produced by
540 abandoning.
How can the gift produce merit when no one receives it?
We would answer this objection by asking why would the gift produce merit when someone receives it, and why it would not produce merit when no one receives it?
Because, in the second case, no one is satisfied, or favored by the gift.
If the satisfaction of a person who receives is a condition for merit, you then deny that the Immeasurable Mediations (Mediations of Compassion, etc, viii. 29) and the Meditation of Right View are meritorious. The gift to a Caitya thus produces merit,
121b. Even though no one receives it, as is the case with compassion, etc
In the case of the Meditation on Compassion, no one receives, no one is satisfied, and yet merit arises for the compassionate person, through the very force of his thoughts of compassion. In the same way, even though the Excellent Being has passed away, a gift to a Caitya made with devotion to him is meritorious by reason of the thought of the believer himself.
Should we conclude then that material offerings and worship are superfluous?
No, for the devotion which produces these actions very much
? outweighs the devotion of a person who worships and who gives in mind only. When a person who has the intention of killing his enemy, continues his bodily and vocal actions on the dead body of his enemy which this intention provokes, thinking, 'This is my enemy," that is to say, he thinks, 'This enemy is not yet dead," he obtains demerit very
541 much greater than he would have through merely the intention; in
the same way, even though the Master has passed away, the person who does aaions of giving and worship inspired through devotion obtains a much greater merit than he would have only through devotioa
If a seed given to a good field bears an agreeable result, should we think that it bears a disagreeable result if given to a bad field?
121c-d Even seeded into a bad field, the gift bears agreeable results, for there is never opposition between the result and the
542
seed
543
From the seed of the vine, there arises solely the sweet fruit of the
vine; from the seed of the nimba (Azadirachta Indica) there arises only the sour fruit of the nimba: even seeded into a bad field, the seed bears the result which is appropriate to it. In the same way, this seed which is the gift of a person who has the intention of being useful to another, even if placed into a bad field, can only produce an agreeable result. But, through the evil of the field, the result will be small or almost oil
We have explained meritorious work which consists of Giving, together with its related questions.
#*#
We must now explain meritorious work which consists of the Precepts.
122a-b. Immorality is bad rupa. Morality is the renouncing of 544
Bad r&pa is called immorality. The renouncing of immorality, which is morality, is
immorality.
Karma 703
? 122b. Of two types.
Renouncing is vijfiapti, the action by which one renounces, and avijnapti, the fact of abstaining (see above, pp. 560, 562, 583).
Morality is not solely the renouncing of immorality.
122c. It is, further, the renouncing of that which is prohibited by the Buddha.
To renounce that which is prohibited by the Buddha, the Blessed One,--without being in and of itself immoral, for example renouncing meals at forbidden times,--is also morality. This renouncing is also vijnapti and avijnapti. He who has undertaken to observe the rules and who then violates them, commits immorality.
The morality that we have just described, in short, is
122d Pure, when it is endowed with the four qualities.
Morality endowed with the four qualities is pure; it is impure in the contrary case.
123a-b. Not troubled by immorality, by the causes of im- morality; it takes as its support the opposite of immorality and <<t >>>>
peace.
"Not troubled by immorality" we have described; "not troubled by
the causes of immorality," that is, by the kleias and upaklesas (v. 41), "it takes as its support the opposites of immorality," because it relies on the four smrtyupasthanas (vi. 14); and it relies on "peace," not on rebirth in celestial realms, because it is directed to Nirvana.
According to another opinion, five causes make morality pure: 1. the purity of the deed itself [the renouncing of bad deeds]; 2. the purity of their attendants [renouncing the preparation or the means of killing, etc. ]; 3. the absence of disturbance from the vitarkas [kama, vyapada, and vihimsavitarka]; 4. its supervision through mindfulness [Buddha, Dharma, Sahghanusmrti--which includes the renouncing of undefined
545 actions]; and 5. its application to Nirvana.
According to another opinion, morality is of four types: 1. the morality of fear, which one observes from the fear of the loss of the resources necessary to life, from fear of a bad reputation, from fear of
? 546
chastisement, from fear of bad realms of rebirth; 2. mercenary
morality, which one observes from attachment to agreeable realms of existence, to pleasures, to honors; 3. a morality suitable to the parts of Bodhi, which persons who possess Right View possess, with a view to their deliverance; and 4. pure morality, which, being free from stains, is free from vices.
We have explained morality.
***
123c-& "Good absorption" or good in absorption, is bhavana, 547
meditation, soaking in, or impregnation.
What do we understand by samahita, absorbed? That which is absorption (samadhi, ii. 24, viii. 1) by its nature, and that which coexists with what is absorption by nature.
Why does "good absorption" receive the name of bhdvana? 123d. Because it perfumes, impregnates the mind.
Good absorption impregnates the mind to an extreme degree, because it (i. e. , the mind) grasps the qualities of this good, in the same way as sesame seeds are impregnated by flowers in their grasping the odor of these flowers.
***
We have said (iv. H3d) that the result of giving consists of joys. What result does one obtain from the precepts and from meditation?
124a-b. Essentially, the precepts have heaven for their result;
548 meditation has disconnection for its result.
Giving also has heaven for its result, but the precepts are the principle, normative cause of it. Disconnection, or Nirvana, (ii. trans, p. 280) has meditation for its cause, which, in the path of abandoning (prahdnamdrga, vi. 60c-d) immediately produces disconnection from the defilements; but the precepts contribute to it, since stilling (samatha) and insight (vipasyand) presuppose the precepts.
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***
The Sutra says that four persons produce "Brahmin" merit, 549
brahmapunya. What is this merit?
According to the Vaibhasikas (Vibhasa, TD 27, p. 425cl3), this is
the merit which has been defined above in order that we might know
the measure of the action which has the marks of the Bodhisattva for its
550 result (iv. 110).
551
The ancient masters said:
124c-d Four possess Brahmin merit, because they are happy in
552 the heavens for a kalpa.
The merit of such a measure that one is happy in heaven for a kalpa is the Brahmin merit, for the lifespan of the Brahmapurohitas is a kalpa
553
(iii. 80d). And in another Canon, one reads, "He engenders Brahmin
merit, he is happy in the heavens for a kalpa" *##
554 We have studied material giving.
125a-b. The gift of the Dharmas is the correct teaching, not
555
The gift of the Dharma is to teach, correctly and with a mind not defiled, the Sutra and the other parts of Scripture. Consequently, those who teach the Dharma either falsely, or with a defiled mind, through a
556
desire for gain, for respea, and for reputation, destroy the great merit
which would otherwise fall to them.
***
We have explained the three types of good according to the distinction of the three items of meritorious work. Furthermore,
125c-d Good is threefold, merit, Nirvana and penetration.
Good merit, or good "favorable to merit" is the good which leads to
557 an agreeable retribution.
defiled, of the Sutras etc
? 558
The good which is deliverance is the good which, when it arises,
559
becomes a dharma of ParinirvSna. It is recognized that whoever,
understanding the sermons concerning the defects of Samsara, the
non-self, and the qualities of Nirvana, has his hairs stand on end and 560
who pours forth tears, possesses the moksabhdgrya root of good; in 561
this same way, one knows that there was a seed in the khalabila, when, in the rain, one sees a plant put forth shoots.
The good of penetration is fourfold, usmagatas, etc; it will be 562
***
What is the nature of what is popularly called writing, carving (mudrd), eloquence, poetry (kdvya), and calculation?
126. An industrious aaion, of the body, of the voice or of the
mind, with that which gives rise to it, are such things as writing,
563 carving, eloquence, poetry, and calculation.
"Industrious," that is, due to a certain technique.
"Threefold action" is bodily, vocal, and mental action.
"Writing and carving" are bodily actions, industrious, together with
what gives rise to this aaion, namely the colieaion of the mind and its mental states.
"Eloquence and poetry" are vocal actions,
Consequently, writing, carving, eloquence, and poetry, are by their nature, the five skandhas.
"Calculation" is mental aaion: this refers to the mental enumera- tion of the dharmas. TM
***
Now let us explain some synonyms:
127a-b. Defiled dharmas are savadya, nivrta, and hina.
Some synonyms of "defiled" are: savadya, associated with avadya, or bad; nivrta, that is, "covered" by the defilements: and the defilements themselves are covered by other defilements; hina, or ignoble, because
explained later (vi. 17).
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they are low or abandoned by the Aryans.
127b-c Good and pure dharmas are prantta.
Pranita, "excellent," is a synonym for subha, that is, kusala, good, and of amala, immaculate or andsrava.
The dharmas which are neither ignoble nor excellent, are thus
565 median (madhya).
127c-d Good conditioned dharmas are sevya.
Sevya, "to be cultivated" is synonymous with "good" and "con- ditioned. "
It then follows that other dharmas, some unconditioned, others conditioned but defiled or non-defiled-neutral, are not to be cultivated In fact, unconditioned dharmas are not susceptible of being produced, or cultivated, since the unconditioned has no result: now, it is with a view to a result that one cultivates.
###
566 All the other dharmas are inferior.
127d Deliverance is the highest.
These is nothing which outweighs Nirvana. Nirvana, being eternal and good, outweighs all.
? 1. Ariguttara iii. 415: cetandham bhikkbave kammarh vaddmi, cetayitva kammarh karoti kayena vdcdya manasd. Compare Atthasdlini p. 88; Kathavatthu, p. 393; Madhyamaka, xvii. 2 and 3: cetand cetayitva ca karmoktam paramarsind /. . . tatrayac cetanety uktarh karma tan mdnasam smrtam / cetayitva cayat t&ktam tat tu kdyikavdcikam //Madhyamakdvatara, vi. 89, quoted in Bodhicaryd- vatdrapanfikd (v. 3, ix. 73), p. 472.
2. Vocal action is "voice," vdg eva karma. However kdyakarma is defined as kayena kdyasya vd karma.
3. On cetand, see ii. 24. Mrs. Rhys Davids {Psychology, p. 8), translates this as "thinking"; Aung {Compendium, p. 16) translates it as "volition. " "Volition" is only slightly satisfying, for we shall see (belowj>. 565) that action includes a subsequent cetand, "I have killed"
For theJains, mental action is only semi-action (addbakamma), Majjbima, L372 {Kofa, iv. 105), Uvdsakadasdo, il App. 2, p. 18; SBE. xiv, pp. 83,165,179,242,315. Koto, iv. 73a-b.
4. Vydkbyd: Cetayitd ceti / evam cedam karisydmUi. Madhyamakavrtti, 397. 1: evam caivam ca kdyavdgbhydm pravartisya ity evam cetasd samcintyayat kriyate tat cetayitva karmety ucyate.
5. (a) Vijtiapti is "that which informs" {vijfiapayati), the manifestation of a mind either by means of the body, or by means of the voice. It is bodily in the first case, vocal in the second: kdyavijfiapti, information through the body, which we call an action, fariracespd, or vispanda {Madhyamakavrtti, p. 307), the kdyavipphandana or "bodily suffusion" of Mrs. Rhys Davids {DhammasaHgani, 636, Atthasdlmi, p. 323); vdgvijfiapH is information through the voice or words {Kofa, iv. 3d).
The School holds {Ko/a, iv. 2b-3b) that kdyavijtiapti is not an action, a movement of the body, but a disposition, a "shape" of the body. The Sautrantikas deny that shape exists in and of itself (iv. 3c).
But should vijtiapti be considered as being, in its nature, action? This is the opinion of the Vaibhasikas and the heretics of the Kathdvatthu, viii. 9, x. 10 (the Mahirhsasakas, Sammitiyas, and Mahasamghikas) who believe that "action" and words constitute "action after having been willed" of which the Blessed One speaks (iv. lb), an action distinct from volition, and rupa in its nature. But for the Theravadins {Atthasdlini, p. 88, 96, 323, Anguttara, ii. 157, Samyutta, ii. 39) and for the Sautrantikas (below p-559|) action is volition {cetand); "bodily action" does not mean "information by the body," but a kdyasamcetand, a volition relative to the body and which leads the body. (The versionofAung,PointsofControversy,p. 225,isnottotallycorrect. )(b)Avijfiapti(ill,iv. 4)isan action "which does not inform anything to another"\avijfiapti is rupa, but does not form part of the rupdyatana: it is classed within the dharmdyatana and is only known by the mental consciousness.
In order to make all this easier to comprehend, the person who commits a murder or takes the vows of a Bhiksu produces after his volition {cetand) a bodily or vocal "information"--an action or a word--and, at the same time, an invisible action, nevertheless material and made up of the primary elements, which continues to exist in him and to increase, by reason of which he is either a murderer or a BhiksiL This invisible action, created by certain visible or audible actions and which "informs," is called avijnapti, "non-information"; it is considered to be either bodily or vocal accordingly as it is created by an action or by a word.
When a person gives orders to an assassin, he does not accomplish the action by which the murder is committed; the order that he gives is solely a preparation for murder; he is then not guilty of "the bodily information of murder. " But, at the moment when the person assassinated is murdered, a "non-information" of murder arises in him: he is, by this fact, guilty of murder.
When a person enters into a Dhyana--which supposes detachment from the defilements of Kamadhatu--he does not pronounce the vows by which one renounces killing, etc He does not produce "vocal information" by which the monk produces this "non-information" which constitutes his monkhood and which is called discipline {samvara, iv. 13). But in a Dhyana, the mind is strong enough to create, by itself and without intervention of "vocal information," the action of "non-information," or discipline.
6. The text has apare, "according to others. " The Vydkbyd holds that the "others" are the Vatslputriyas. The gloss of the Japanese editor, Saeki, mentions the Sammitiyas.
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7. According to the Dbammasangani, bodily vijfiapti is "to advance, withdraw, to fix the gaze, to look at all sides, to advance the arms, to withdraw them, etc"
8. Hsiian-tsang: 'Tor when the body moves, it moves by reason of action. "
9. The Vyakhya adds: "or rather a ksana is the minimum length of time" (iil85d). See ii. 46a-b. 10.
