Teachers and
preceptors
of extremist doctrines,418 who were reaping the fruits of their misdeeds, sent a verbal message through them to their followers, saying that they had erred in their philosophy.
Dudjom Rinpoche - Fundamentals and History of the Nyingmapa
th me m archery or m tea .
no one dares W1 h' bTt he rang the bell to announce a
Butt eysal , . h '
His father was ashamed, but t pnnce sa '. h rts "
With this assertion of 1S a 11 petuous Sakya youths, all of contest of skills with the Then Devadatta, in a very whom departed . for the outs :hich had been brought from VaisalI jealous mood, killed an . elepha . h tsingle powerful blow of his palm.
Sacred Stiipa
was not a monk. He then exchanged his linen dress for the saffron robe.
as an offering to the pnnce, W1t.
tside the gates T o match the
Nanda threw the elephant. forc1b y ? tUh ut leaving chariot, seized h fb th theBodh1sattva,W1 0 11 .
In VaisaLI and Rajagrha, under Ara<;iakaJama and Udraka, two soph- ists who were celebrated for their instructions, he studied the contem- plations of nothing at all and of the pinnacle of existence,401 and he attained states as high as those of his masters. But knowing that those
contemplations and practices were not the path to liberation from the evils of mundane existence, he persevered in ascetic contemplation for six years with five noble companions on the banks ofthe wide Nairafijana
River. DUring each of the first two years he ate a single grain of rice. During each of the next two years he drank a single drop of water. And during the last two years he took nothing whatsoever.
Then the gods called to him in verse. The conquerors of the ten
directions and their spiritual sons aroused him from the lower path and
urged him to the Point of Enlightenment. Then, to remove his exhaus-
tion, he enjoyed a little solid food, at which his five companions went off to VaraI). asI in disillusionment.
He himself then set off for Vajrasana in Magadha. On the way a brahman girl, Sujata, served him with the honeyed cream of five hundred cows. Instantly his body became lustrous as a polished golden
doorbolt, and he made Sujata's merit inexhaustible. While on the road he received a handful of grass, as soft as a peacock's throat, from the grass-cutter Svastika, and with it he proceeded towards the Indestruct-
ible Seat. At the Bodhi Tree in the centre of Vajrasana, self-originated
through the blessing of all the buddhas, he spread out the grass mat
and, sitting upon it with his legs crossed, made this vow [Sutra of Extensive Play, Ch. 19, v. 57]:
Let this body of mine dry up.
Let this heap of skin and bones decay.
belong only to skilled athletes. " 1
id "Inthethreeworldreams
. . d hurled it over seven wa s mto
strengt 0 0 : .
the elephant's tail with . h1S b1g admiration praised him.
the countryside. For th1S the g d ierce seven palm trees, seven iron
The contestants then compete f to Ph ther with a single arrow. De-
walls and seven cauldrons, a tedrt e °but prince's arrow pierced . d three Nanda p1erce fi1ve,
vadatta p1erce , . r hted a fountain ofwater sprang themall. Onthespotwhereh1Sarro,:". a19f urewater]andwascalledthe
forth, of youthful prowess,
"Arrow-born Well. Slmilar y, m s 1 h l'de river and in all the . . . inglikeswansont ew ,
elephant-ndmg, SW1mm Id te with the Bodhisattva.
sixty-four crafts, no athlete cou compe times trains people by follow-
The master among world-knowersbsomde the misdeeds which result . Th s inordertoa an on d'
ing convention. u , . d . ty thousand worthy la 1es, from sensual dependence he SlX ho were free from the five
namely, Gopa, and virtues _ together with defects of womank1nd and posse d W'th them he enjoyed
· . of twenty thousan. 1
their respect1ve '11 But even such enjoymen
t
the sensual pleasures as 1f they were 1 usHory. from mundane exist-
· £ unciation 1S turn h introduced h1m to per ect ren h ' d of cymbals awakened t e
ence to the doctrine began when t e souIn .
. c ers ForconsoatlOn
he went all around the
of
power of h1S lormer pray ' . 0 . h d k his chanoteer.
. ng the four omens
n see1 d city with C an. a a as d h h' heart felt utterly distresse ,an
d
birth old age, slckness and eat
he said [Buddhacarita, Ch. 4, v. 86]:
1S
Old age, sickness, and - If those three did not eXlst,
l
he cut off his hair and thus shed the evidence that he
' , O. . Mgin O f the Precious Teaching 420 HlStOry,,· 'J
I will not move from this 'Til the enlightenment, hard ,to
many aeons, be attaIned,
After so , ' , he composed himself in the
Then in the evemng tWlhght h d all the domains of Mara, M- 'shostHecurne '1M-
1 I pa ace
"But the perfect rea lsatlOn " 'f n) and you have on y , , (of merit and pnstme cogm 10 ,
able prOVIsIOns , "
lived the happy, joyful,life ,? f a ephemeral offering you
The Bodhisattva rephed, By J leted the twO prOVIsIOns fd ' 402AsIhavecomp
lord of the realm 0 eSlre, I ot become a buddha? " , during limitless can ers and reproached him, saymg
The lord of raIsed two (Sutra of ExtenSLVe Play, Ch. 21, v. )
, to the ephemeral offering I made here, You bear wItneSS
But you have no witness yourself. I Without a witness you have already ost,
mind the insubstantiality [of all things]. Thus, without even a thought
of anger or arrogance, the Bodhisattva remained absorbed in the con-
templation of great loving kindness,403 and, indeed, the swords and
missiles hurled by Mara fell as a shower of flowers, and the harsh noises
and battle-cries became songs of praise. In this way, the poisonous tree
of desire was felled. The flowers of the Five-arrowed One wilted. The
rocky mountain of pride crumbled. Martial spirit collapsed. The
crocodile banner was lowered, and the chariot of Smara beat a hasty
404
retreat. Thus, the deceitful one and his army were scattered in utter
confusion.
Mara then made his seven daughters attempt to seduce the
Bodhisattva with the deceits of lust, having transformed them into
seven beauties. They tried to ensnare him in the noose of a seductress'
thirty-two wiles, with PUJ). garlka's coquetry, Menaka's dangling
necklace, tightly-bound girdle, Kesamisra's tinkling
40S
But they stood not a chance of moving even the tips of the Bodhisattva's hair. When he transformed them into seven old women they repented and implored his forgiveness, whereupon he
restored them to their original appearances.
Then the time of his awakening arrived. At midnight he became
absorbed in the contemplation of the fourth meditative concentration. 406 At dawn, when the drum of victory was about to be beaten, he developed the supernormal cognitive powers of clairvoyance and of the exhaustion of corruption, and fully realised the four truths. As he became a perfectly realised buddha, the whole earth trembled and all the psychophysical bases which were to be purified of the subject-object dichotomy awakened to the pristine cognition free from duality, in the impeccable mansion of the body of reality, which is the "middle way,,407 and inner radiance. In this world there was a lunar eclipse. Rahula and Ananda were also born.
Seven weeks after he had attained buddhahood in this way the mer- chants and Bhallika offered him honey. The great kings of the four directions offered him begging bowls made of everything from precious gems to stone. But he rejected [the precious ones] as being unfit implements for a renunciate and accepted only the worst. Then he gave his benediction [to these patrons]. To indicate that the profound nectar [he had realised] was beyond the grasp of sophists, he said [Sutra of Extensive Play, Ch. 25, v. l]:
I have found a nectar-like doctrine,
Profound, calm, simple, radiant and uncompounded. If I teach it no one will understand;
I will remain right here in the forest, in silence.
Thus, he created a reason for the special merit of encouraging the turning of the wheel of the doctrine.
tion which defeats ara, £ ',d ble rays of light. The eVl ara, and enveloped them WIth orml a hed him and said, "Devadatta
'ofahunter approac
appearing in the gUIse , ' H has destroyed the roya
'd r in Kapllavastu. e ') " has seIze powe d d Why do you SIt here,
'-1 shavesurren ere ' d
h S
andtea<ya 'b ddha"heanswere .
"Tobecomeareahsed u 'h h d' theresultofimmeasur- l' ' ofbudda00 IS I
Whatever it is you say!
Then the Bodhisattva e
formed by a hundred mentonous acts, an
Play, Ch. 21, v. 88):
This earth bears witne,ssl to all inanimate alike, She is just and impartla to amma ,
This earth is my witness" I do not
o Earth, come, be my wItneSS here,
, d
arth with his hand, which had d said (Sutra of ExtenSlve
Sthavara the goddess of the earth, raIse a As soon as he had spoken, ' d d taking in her hand
her pure golden figure from the grohunw'haonle 'earth (in fractions li1ze 'd "I an count t e 'fi ed
single particle, Sal ' , c mber of heads and limbs sacn IC this) but I cannot estlmate the h me for him to become a by thiS worthy son, Thus, the, tlmhe as COrds she became invisible,
perfectly realised u a.
and the evil Mara weakened an
d d
b ddh " WIth t ese wo , ' ner
ted for his own domam, m u
, '
d tnlllOn
strong, striking fear and terror mto, t os and he prepared for battle, standing that [all appearances] are has conquered the But a military machine cannot crus d ho perceives with a sky-l1 e
epar
h steredhisarmy,onet ousan
disgrace. _
When he arrived there Mara h e who lack the supreme unde
enemy, the emotional defilements, an w
bracelets, and so forth.
The Coming ofBuddha 421
422 History: Origin ofthe Precious Teaching . .
- b d the Tathagata's former aspiratlOnS he
Alone, I have become a: perfect buddha, Whose [passions have] cooled,
Whose corruptions are exhausted. 410
After three such exchanges he continued on his way to VaraI). asI. When he arrived there, the agreement of the five companions spontane- ously vanished, like the constellations by day. They said, "Long-living Gautama,411 your senses are clear, and your complexion is pure. Is this a manifest sign that you have realised pristine cognition? "
As they regarded him still as an equal, he dispelled their ignorance, saying, "Do not call the Tathagata 'long-living', or misfortune will surely follow for a long time. I have obtained a nectar-like doctrine. I have attained buddhahood. I have come to know everything! "
A thousand jewel thrones then appeared there. The Tathagata bowed reverently before the thrones of the Three Buddhas of the Past, and radiantly sat down upon the fourth throne, whereupon the other thrones vanished. On behalf of the five noble companions and eighty thousand gods he turned the wheel of the doctrine of the middle way which abandons both extremes, and which concerns the four truths, repeating them three times and in twelve ways. 412 Then he fully ordained the five noble companions as monks, so that there arose the great monastic community, a matchless canopy over the world. All those assembled perceived the truth.
[The first wheel of the doctrine413 emphasises] the Vinayapitaka [Transmissions ofthe Vinaya, 'dul-ba'i sde-snod, T 1-7], which, beginning with those sections which teach mainly the training of superior moral discipline, includes, among other topics, the Vinaya of the Vinaya- pitaka, which establishes and defines the transgressions and natural offences; the sl1tras of the Vinayapitaka, which describe the sequence of yogic practice involving contemplation and purity of conduct; and the Abhidharma of the Vinayapitaka, which provides extensive analysis of the aforementioned topics.
Then on Vulture Peak,414 which is a perfect location, the Tathagata turned the wheel of the doctrine which concerns signlessness, the inter- mediate transmitted precepts, on behalfofthe four ordinary assemblies- namely, those of the five thousand arhats such as Sariputra and Maud- galyayana, the five hundred nuns including Prajapati, the host oflaymen and laywomen including AnathapiI). <;lada and the laywoman Visakha, and a multitude of gods, nagas, and gandharvas. In addition, he turned this [wheel] on behalf of a special assembly - a multitude ofbodhisattvas who' had attained the great levels, including Bhadrapala, Ratnasambhava, and ]aladatta. This wheel of the doctrine emphasises the Sl1trapi! aka, which teaches mainly the training of superior mind and includes the Vinaya of the Sl1trapi! aka, which sets forth the bodhisattva's vows; the siitras of the Siitrapi! aka, which describe profound and vast contemplations;
When Brahma remem ere h 25 · and offered encouragement in verse [ C .
, v. ";)
9d
an
d
approachedlhm , v. 1lab]:
rsI Why remain indifferent today. ounamong· . d .
S teache
I pray that you beat the great genume
octnne, And blow well on the true doctnne s conch. . . .
der he went off to his own domam to sum- Scattering sandalwood pow d I d a together presented a precious
mon Indra. Afterwards, he an n r . gem to the Buddha and prayed [Ch. 2s, v. l7].
Like the full moon released by Rahu,408 Your mind is liberated, 0 Sage.
Arise, 0 victor in battle, . . .
And with the light of discnmmatmg awareness
Dispel the darkness of the world. .
o . n Brahma consIdered But the Buddha denied this ;;a:epeat the request. He that there would be great Ih nd spokes and reminded the
ld heel WIt a en w h d
a t ousa ,
viously learned the nature of defile-
Tathagata m verse that he a 1" f Magadha 409 There- . h the Impure re IgIOn 0 .
ment through contact WIt d . d [Ch 25 v 34]- upon the Buddha accepted the wheel an sal . , . . .
Brahma, I will open the portal of nectar-like instructIOn
For those who live in Magadha,. . ' .
Who are attentive, faithful, and dlscnmlnatmg, . Non-violent, and constantly attentive to the doctnne.
k h word that he had agreed As soon as the Tathagata spo e:, t deas far away as
to turn the wheel of the doctnne h or her own offering. vesselfor
like instruction should be easy to tram, Udraka were
with unobstructed intelligence. He knew t atThra. remembering his
1] b [such vesse s, ut
th had passed away. en, .
ey _ d d his five noble companIons
former aspirations, the ! athagata k d h'm and agreed not to and set out for VaraI). asl. five ha :e1u eHeIhas eaten much and
. "The ascetlc Gautama IS ax. sa1ute, saymg,
has abandoned
While the Tathagata was th;, way, a
brahman named UpajIvaka ho granted you the voW
carelessly and rashly said to hIm, Gautama, w
of celibacy? "
The Tathagata replied [Ch. 26, v. l]:
I have no preceptor. I am without equal.
The Coming ofBuddha 423
424 History: Origin ofthe Precious Teaching
. h· h d the Abhidharma of the Sutrapltaka ,. w lC
tains analyses of the
It appears in just that way.
For those who penetrate it instantaneously,
The varied doctrine appears in full.
This is the greatness of speech
That fulfils every aspiration to the heart's content.
It is a special feature of that buddha-speech, which transcends the particulars of sound and word, that, depending on one's capacity, the three doctrinal wheels may be heard simultaneously or gradually by those beings whose fortune it is to penetrate them so. It is never possible for ordinary persons to imagine the extent ofapproaches to the doctrine, or the number of vehicles, the means of training, or the time sequences, associated with the Buddha's immeasurable activity.
So it was through the boundless ocean of the doctrine, which includes the three vehicles, that some were established in the teaching of the path and result;415 some were secured in the happiness of gods and men; and others, too, were delivered and protected from great fears of a mundane sort. 416 In short, through the infinite play of enlightened activity, his great miraculous abilities and so on, the Tathagata planted the seed of liberation and omniscience, like a catalyst in an alchemical transmutation, in all sentient beings who saw, heard, touched, or thought of him. Moreover, he made his actual disciples, even the gan- dharva Pramoda and the homeless mendicant Subhadra, enter into the precincts bounded by skilful means and great compassion. Then, con- sidering his final act, he went to Kusinagara. 417
Concerning that final act: The Tathagata's body, pleasant to behold, was free from such common attributes as the tendency to shout, laugh, or yawn. Once, when Prajapati heard a sneeze emerge from his glorious throat, she prayed, "May the Buddha live for three countless aeons! " Her prayer, reverberating through space, was heard as far away as and the gods also echoed it. The Buddha said to Prajapati, "You have done no good. Instead of praying for the duration of the doctrine, you have obstructed the spiritual practice of many lazy people! " So, as an act of penance, Prajapati passed into nirvaI). a along With five hundred female arhats. .
At about that time the Tathagata's two supreme disciples, Sariputra and Maudgalyayana went to visit the hells.
Teachers and preceptors of extremist doctrines,418 who were reaping the fruits of their misdeeds, sent a verbal message through them to their followers, saying that they had erred in their philosophy. Sariputra was the first to repeat the ll1essage, but the followers ignored him, showing no hostility. After that Maudgalyayana said, "Your teachers sent this message to you because they have come to suffer in the AvIci he11. ,,419
"This message insults not only ourselves", they said, "but also our teachers and preceptors. Crush him! "
an . d contemplations.
levels, paths, retentions, an f d d nagas for the sake of innum-
Then in the sundry 0 s the Tathagata turned
erable monks, nuns, gods, naga fj . . eaning which is the wheel of 1 f h d ctrineofdemltivem , . h
the whee 0 t e . 0 s This doctrinal wheel t. e the final transmltted . . 1r hes the training of supenor dlS-
Abhidharmapitaka, whlch
the Vinaya of the Abhidhar-
criminative awareness and mc u the conflicting emotions eas-
mapitaka, :vhich how of the Abhidharmapitaka, which
ily with little hardshlP, the s f l·ty. and the Abhidharma of , t tethenature0 rea1 ,
show to ra which contains analyses of the . components, the Abhldharmapltaka, . . fj ld nse organs consciOusness, and psychophysical bases, actiVlty hl: s, se bha) which is naturally pure.
the nucleus \tat of the Array of Attributes: Concerning thls, 11 says m t e
Totally unspoken by me,
The doctrine has spread among se
ntient beings. To all those who seek a gradual path
Siiriputra
con
The Coming ofBuddha 425
426 History: Origin ofthe Precious Teaching
Maudgalytiyana
So they beat Maudgalyayana's body until it was as a broken reed. Sariputra wrapped him in the fold of his robe and carried him into the city of Knowing that Maudgalyayana would not live, Sariputra went on to glorious Nalanda, thinking, "I cannot bear even the news of a friend's death. How, then, the sight? " Thus, he entered nirva1). a early in the morning along with eighty thousand arhats. That same evening Maudgalyayana passed into nirva1). a along with seventy thousand arhats. And so, like fires which have run out of fuel, did many other arhats enter nirva1). a.
The Buddha then entrusted the teaching along with the four [monas- tic] assemblies to the elder Mahakasyapa. Removing his upper garment, he said, "Behold, 0 monks, the body of the Tathagatal It is as difficult to see a tathagata as it is to see an udumbara blossom. 42o Be silent, 0
monksl Just as this body is subject to destruction, so too is all that is compounded. "
In this way he encouraged lazy disciples to enter the doctrine with the motive for renunciation. Then, next to a pair of sal trees, his intention turned to final nirvaQ. a.
When Mahakasyapa arrived there from the naga realm he d
before the Buddha's remains and the funeral ' . d b Th r b ' pyre Igmte y Itself
e re ecame fragmented and were suitably divided into ei whlc. h to form the cores of eight stiipas. 421 g
Fmally, It says m the Great Treasury ofDetailed Exposition: The Sage, supreme being
Lived for one year each '
At the site of the wheel of the doctrine
Makkolam, and the god realms, ' HIll, and KausambI,
AtavI, Caityagiri,
Ve1). upura, as well as Saketa And the city of Kapilavastu. '
He passed twenty-three years in SravastI Four years in ' Two years in the JvalinI Cave,
And five years in Rajagrha.
He had spent . six years practising austerity
twenty-mne years in the palace. So It was that the Conqueror
The supreme and holy Sage,'
Passed into nirval,1a at the age of eighty.
The Coming ofBuddha 427
2 The Collecting of Precepts by Counctls
[42. 3-42. 6] When one hundred and ten years had passed after the first compilation of the scriptures, the monks in Vaisall were indulging in the following ten transgressions Transmissions]:
Permitting: [exclamations of] "alas! "; celebrating [the arhats]; The deliberate practice [of agriculture]; [sipping "medicine" from] apot [ofale]; [the misuse ofthe sacred stored] salt; [Eating while on] the road; [desecration of offerings with]
two fingers; stirring [curd and milk together as an afternoon
beverage]; [a new] mat [without an old patch];
And [begging for] gold [or silver]. These are held to be the
ten transgressions. 423
In order to put an end to this, seven hundred arhats, including Yasal). , held a council under the patronage of the religious king Asoka, and the ten transgressions were rejected. They recited the complete Tripitaka once, and also observed a harmonious and auspicious purificatory fast.
THE THIRD COUNCIL
[43. 6-45. 6] Starting from the time of King Vlrasena, the grandson of King Dharmasoka, and son of Vigatasoka, the monks Mahadeva, Bhadra, the elder Naga and Sthiramati, all of whom had come under the influence of Mara, appeared in succession. They proclaimed five basic points:
[Arhats may] answer others, remain unknowing, Harbour doubts and inquire discursively;
And they may support themselves.
This is the Teacher's teaching.
In this way, they taught a false doctrine, which caused dispute among the members of the sartlgha, during the latter part of King Vlrasena's life, throughout the lives of Nanda and Mahapadma, and during the early part ofthe life that is, during the reigns offour kings. 424
Since the Teacher had not allowed the Vinaya to be written down, differences arose over a long period of time in the recitation of the Sutra (T 2), owing to which there was a division into eighteen schools. 425 It happened in this way: Because the elder Naga spread the dispute, the Mahasailghikas, Sthaviras, and SammitIyas split off from the Miilasarvastivada tradition; and these then became the four basic schools. Later, Sthiramati spread the dispute widely and the four sects gradually divided into eighteen. It is said that the MUlasarvastivada
. and special explanations of the 40. 6-41. 21 There are both h teachings delivered by the
[ . . fhtruedoctnnes,te
compllatlon 0 t e . h· 1 three succeSSlVe counCi s
Teacher. According to the ordmary ve lC e
were convened.
422
THE FIRST COUNCIL
(41. 2-42. 31 Shortly before the
.
Teacher's own nirvaI). a, when Sanputra and Maudgalyayana with seventy
with eighty thousand other d again when the Transcendent d . nto nlrvana, an h ds
thousand arhats, passe. 1 _ . with eighty million arhats, t Lord himself entered nlrvaI). a 1 nks have passed into mrva(la cried out, saying, "All the 7:e smoke from a dead fire. The
and the true doctrine has become 1 1 "
monks do not proclaim even the five hundred arhats was h· d . ·on a counCl oon
In response to t IS enSI _.
convened in the Banyan Cave at RaJ,a . . 'ana under the patronage of
retreat the year after. the the King Ajatasatru. thIS the entire Ananda the Siltrap1laka, an 1 . h the gods perceived thls
ma itaka. As far away A a anti ods will decline! e Pl: d "The gods Wln flounsh. The g. d ft·mel" LikewIse,
excalme , ddh·nendureforalongpeno 0 1 . t e a c h i n g o f t h e B u a WI . . .
. . the Minor Transmlsswns. it says In
During the summer which followed the Teacher's nirvaI). a,
In a secret cave in A·atasatru provided sustenance
J ·1 f five hundred arhats, ForacounCl0 . d
And the Tripitaka was compIle .
g
rha during the summer mons
··1
THE SECOND COUNCIL
The Councils 429
430 History: Origin ofthe Precious Teaching
had seven branches; the Mahasanghika, five; and the other two, three each. Afterwards, when the controversy had somewhat subsided, and the schools existed independently, the third council was held under the patronage of King At that council, it was proven that all eighteen schools were pure, on the basis of this passage drawn from the Sublime SiUra of the Teaching Given in a Dream (Aryasvapnanir- desasiltra, T 48):
The perfectly realised Buddha Kasyapa said to King KrkI,426 "Your majesty, the dream in which you saw eighteen men pulling on a sheet of cloth means that the teaching of Sakyamuni will become divided into eighteen schools. But the cloth itself, which is liberation, will remain undamaged. "
At that same council the Vinayapitaka was written down. They also wrote down those texts from the Sutrapitaka and Abhidharmapitaka which had not been set down before, and corrected those which had been recorded previously. This was the purpose of the third council.
As this account is not given in the Minor Transmissions, there are many different opinions. The Kashmiri schools maintained that the council was convened in Kashmir in the Kan)ikavana Temple by the noble Parsva and five hundred arhats, Vasumitra and four hundred supremely venerable monks, and five hundred bodhisattvas. And it is said that most of the Central Indian scholars claimed that five hundred arhats and five thousand supremely venerable monks assembled in the Kuvana Temple of Jalandhara Monastery. At present, the account best known in Tibet states that about four hundred years after the Teacher's nirva1). a five hundred arhats and five hundred, or sixteen thousand, bodhisattvas assembled and held a council. And the Flame ofDialectics (Tarkajvala, T 3856) says: "When two hundred years had passed from the Teacher's nirva1). a, the elder Vatslputra compiled the doctrine. ,,427
The period of four hundred years [mentioned above] agrees with this if each solstice is counted as one year. But, after comparing this chrono- logy with the succession of kings, it seems to me that the period of twO hundred years may be too short. 428 It appears, therefore, that this must be further examined. Moreover, many different places are claimed as the venue of the council, for example, SravastI, Kusumakutarama in Jalandhara, and Kuvana Monastery in Kashmir.
429 THE COUNCILS OF THE GREA TER VEHICLE
[45. 6-46. 4] As for the special councils of the greater vehicle, it says in the Flame of Dialectics:
The greater vehicle was taught by the Buddha, since the original compilers were Samantabhadra, MafijusrI, Guhya- pati, Maitreya; etc.
_ The Councils 431
In the Sutra of Inconceivable Secrets Va·ra - . .
.
of the teachings of the Thousand BUddh J IS called the compIler
says that one ·11· as, an an ancient annotation430
mI IOn sons of the Conqueror a bl d .
bhava Mountain, which lies to the south of R e on
compiled the Vinayapitaka, MafijusrI the S There
the Abhidharmapitaka. It also s a . . u rapIta a, and VaJrapa1). I
that the sections dealing with In of the greater vehicle M _. / - proloun VIew were comp·l d b
anJusfl, and the sections on the exte? sive conduct by 431 y
3 The Patriarchs of the Teaching 432
. The Patriarchs a/the Teaching 433
teachIng to me before he passed into nirvana Whe I h .
. - . ' n ave passed Into
mrvaI). a, you must protect the teaching y .
it to SaI). avasika. " . ou, In turn, should entrust
Then Kasyapa worshipped the stl1pas which held th .
M A H A K A syAP A
[46. 4-49. 5] The Teacher appointed Mahakasyapa to be his successor, indicating this by allowing him to be the one to fold the master's seat. Also, the teaching was entrusted to the great and exalted Sixteen Elders. Kasyapa was born as the son of the brahman Nyagrodhaketu, in the brahman village of Nyagrodhika in Magadha, in answer to a prayer addressed to the divinity of the Nyagrodha [Banyan] Tree. For this reason he was named Nyagrodhaja [Banyan-born], though his family name was Kasyapa. He married a beautiful maid with a golden complex- ion, who was named KapilabhadrI. But they regarded each other only as brother and sister; not even for a moment did the thought oflust arise.
When his parents died, Kasyapa abandoned his possessions, which included nine hundred and ninety-nine hamlets, sixty million pieces of gold, and eighty golden granaries, as if they were mere grass. For himself he kept only two robes of Benares linen. He sent KapilabhadrI to the Nirgrantha [Jains],433 while he went to the Teacher, who was residing near the Bahuputraka Caitya shortly after attaining buddha- hood. As soon as they met, he recognised his teacher, and three times made this request: "You, Lord, are my teacher! And I am the pious attendant of the Transcendent Lord! " The Lord responded thrice, say- ing, "Indeed, I am your teacher; and you are my pious attendant! " At this, he was fully ordained, and eventually he came to be revered as
434
the supreme observer of the ascetic virtues.
robe, which had come from a trash heap, and offered to the Teacher his Benares linen. This happened about the same time as the Teacher descended from the realm of the gods, and many gods had arrived in
435
JambudvIpa to receive his nectar-like instruction.
Kasyapa compiled the transmitted precepts well and protected the
teaching. For over forty years he advanced the teaching by establishing many disciples in liberation. Then he thought of entering nirvaI). a and said to . Ananda, "You should know that the Teacher entrusted the
Mahakafyapa
He took the Teacher's
t
e remams.
tooth-relics of the Buddha. He climb d M K h d . e ount
e and ukkutapada In the
sout ,an spread out hIS grass mat in the centre f .
W . h b 0 an open area
eanng t e ro e of the Transcendent Lord, which had come fJ .
trash heap, he consecrated his body so that it would
no
t d
rom a ecompose
until attainment of buddhahood. And with a d' I many mIracles h d ' . , I S P ay c
and closed
came to seeUtPh
'h e passe mrvaI). a. The gods then worshipped hin
e mo. untam; but they opened it when King Ajatasatfl
Ajiitasatru dreamed that the royal family on hi I<. asyapa ea t . away forever. When he awoke he heard tha I<. ukkut - n ere whereupon he set out for Moun
The A openedupthemountain but Ananda sa'd "I,":ors Ip t e body and prepared for a cremation of Maitreya M. t IS to remain until the teaching perio(
. altreya s Irst assembly he will come here with
434 History: Origin ofthe Precious Teaching . _/ , , 'II' ' attendants and, holdmg Kasyapa s
hundred and mnety m1 10n [ 111 he will say 'This was the . h' h d436 and showmg it to a , '
body m 1S an " mong Sakyamuni's pious atten- supreme observer of the ascet1c a f the Teacher. There is no one
dants, and th,e he mendicant as he did,' Then
the ten powers, and he received gradual ordination according to the
437
here who mamtams the ascet1c ' I e s and dissolve entirely into / 'b dy will display great m1rac d
Kasyapa s o , , d will undertake the ascetic virtues an space and Ma1treya s atten ants h' b d "
, Th £re youcannotcrematet 1S 0 y.
become arhats. 0 . , , the kin turned away and the moun-
In accordance w1th th,lS he erec;ed a stl1pa dedicated to the tain was resealed, On its pea ,
remains.
ANANDA
- h
[49. 5-51. 21 Ananda t e born at the time of the Teacher's Am{todana. He and Rahula ' t h year when the master met with
attainment of buddhah,? od. dIn 1S SlXt hisownson[Rahula1,Anan awasenru
stedto Kasyapa who possessed '
of the Teacher's paternal uncle,
Ananda
He became the Teacher's personal servant and was revered as supreme for his retention of what he had heard. He protected the teaching for more than forty years, and then said to Salfavasika, "The Teacher entrusted the teaching to Kasyapa and he, in turn, en- trusted it to me. When I too have passed away you must protect the teaching. "
Ananda predicted that and the sons of a merchant, would build a monastery on Urumulf9a Mountain, in the region of Mathura, and that they would become its patrons. He directed Up- agupta, the son of the incense-seller Gupta, to be ordained there and entrusted with the teaching. When King Ajatasatru heard the news he came with his army [in order to take leave of Ananda]. The people of VaisalI, who had been apprised of this by a deity, accompanied the army to meet him. When Ananda reached the middle of the River Ganges, a with a retinue of five hundred requested ordination from him. Ananda materialised an island in the middle of the Ganges and gave the ordination there. The r$i immediately became an arhat, and so became known as arhat Madhyahnika (Midday), or Madhyantika (Midway).
Madhyahnika requested permission to enter nirvalfa before his pre- ceptor, Ananda, who answered, "The Teacher has predicted that you will spread the teaching in Kashmir; so do just that! " When he had promised to do so Ananda displayed many miracles and passed away.
no one dares W1 h' bTt he rang the bell to announce a
Butt eysal , . h '
His father was ashamed, but t pnnce sa '. h rts "
With this assertion of 1S a 11 petuous Sakya youths, all of contest of skills with the Then Devadatta, in a very whom departed . for the outs :hich had been brought from VaisalI jealous mood, killed an . elepha . h tsingle powerful blow of his palm.
Sacred Stiipa
was not a monk. He then exchanged his linen dress for the saffron robe.
as an offering to the pnnce, W1t.
tside the gates T o match the
Nanda threw the elephant. forc1b y ? tUh ut leaving chariot, seized h fb th theBodh1sattva,W1 0 11 .
In VaisaLI and Rajagrha, under Ara<;iakaJama and Udraka, two soph- ists who were celebrated for their instructions, he studied the contem- plations of nothing at all and of the pinnacle of existence,401 and he attained states as high as those of his masters. But knowing that those
contemplations and practices were not the path to liberation from the evils of mundane existence, he persevered in ascetic contemplation for six years with five noble companions on the banks ofthe wide Nairafijana
River. DUring each of the first two years he ate a single grain of rice. During each of the next two years he drank a single drop of water. And during the last two years he took nothing whatsoever.
Then the gods called to him in verse. The conquerors of the ten
directions and their spiritual sons aroused him from the lower path and
urged him to the Point of Enlightenment. Then, to remove his exhaus-
tion, he enjoyed a little solid food, at which his five companions went off to VaraI). asI in disillusionment.
He himself then set off for Vajrasana in Magadha. On the way a brahman girl, Sujata, served him with the honeyed cream of five hundred cows. Instantly his body became lustrous as a polished golden
doorbolt, and he made Sujata's merit inexhaustible. While on the road he received a handful of grass, as soft as a peacock's throat, from the grass-cutter Svastika, and with it he proceeded towards the Indestruct-
ible Seat. At the Bodhi Tree in the centre of Vajrasana, self-originated
through the blessing of all the buddhas, he spread out the grass mat
and, sitting upon it with his legs crossed, made this vow [Sutra of Extensive Play, Ch. 19, v. 57]:
Let this body of mine dry up.
Let this heap of skin and bones decay.
belong only to skilled athletes. " 1
id "Inthethreeworldreams
. . d hurled it over seven wa s mto
strengt 0 0 : .
the elephant's tail with . h1S b1g admiration praised him.
the countryside. For th1S the g d ierce seven palm trees, seven iron
The contestants then compete f to Ph ther with a single arrow. De-
walls and seven cauldrons, a tedrt e °but prince's arrow pierced . d three Nanda p1erce fi1ve,
vadatta p1erce , . r hted a fountain ofwater sprang themall. Onthespotwhereh1Sarro,:". a19f urewater]andwascalledthe
forth, of youthful prowess,
"Arrow-born Well. Slmilar y, m s 1 h l'de river and in all the . . . inglikeswansont ew ,
elephant-ndmg, SW1mm Id te with the Bodhisattva.
sixty-four crafts, no athlete cou compe times trains people by follow-
The master among world-knowersbsomde the misdeeds which result . Th s inordertoa an on d'
ing convention. u , . d . ty thousand worthy la 1es, from sensual dependence he SlX ho were free from the five
namely, Gopa, and virtues _ together with defects of womank1nd and posse d W'th them he enjoyed
· . of twenty thousan. 1
their respect1ve '11 But even such enjoymen
t
the sensual pleasures as 1f they were 1 usHory. from mundane exist-
· £ unciation 1S turn h introduced h1m to per ect ren h ' d of cymbals awakened t e
ence to the doctrine began when t e souIn .
. c ers ForconsoatlOn
he went all around the
of
power of h1S lormer pray ' . 0 . h d k his chanoteer.
. ng the four omens
n see1 d city with C an. a a as d h h' heart felt utterly distresse ,an
d
birth old age, slckness and eat
he said [Buddhacarita, Ch. 4, v. 86]:
1S
Old age, sickness, and - If those three did not eXlst,
l
he cut off his hair and thus shed the evidence that he
' , O. . Mgin O f the Precious Teaching 420 HlStOry,,· 'J
I will not move from this 'Til the enlightenment, hard ,to
many aeons, be attaIned,
After so , ' , he composed himself in the
Then in the evemng tWlhght h d all the domains of Mara, M- 'shostHecurne '1M-
1 I pa ace
"But the perfect rea lsatlOn " 'f n) and you have on y , , (of merit and pnstme cogm 10 ,
able prOVIsIOns , "
lived the happy, joyful,life ,? f a ephemeral offering you
The Bodhisattva rephed, By J leted the twO prOVIsIOns fd ' 402AsIhavecomp
lord of the realm 0 eSlre, I ot become a buddha? " , during limitless can ers and reproached him, saymg
The lord of raIsed two (Sutra of ExtenSLVe Play, Ch. 21, v. )
, to the ephemeral offering I made here, You bear wItneSS
But you have no witness yourself. I Without a witness you have already ost,
mind the insubstantiality [of all things]. Thus, without even a thought
of anger or arrogance, the Bodhisattva remained absorbed in the con-
templation of great loving kindness,403 and, indeed, the swords and
missiles hurled by Mara fell as a shower of flowers, and the harsh noises
and battle-cries became songs of praise. In this way, the poisonous tree
of desire was felled. The flowers of the Five-arrowed One wilted. The
rocky mountain of pride crumbled. Martial spirit collapsed. The
crocodile banner was lowered, and the chariot of Smara beat a hasty
404
retreat. Thus, the deceitful one and his army were scattered in utter
confusion.
Mara then made his seven daughters attempt to seduce the
Bodhisattva with the deceits of lust, having transformed them into
seven beauties. They tried to ensnare him in the noose of a seductress'
thirty-two wiles, with PUJ). garlka's coquetry, Menaka's dangling
necklace, tightly-bound girdle, Kesamisra's tinkling
40S
But they stood not a chance of moving even the tips of the Bodhisattva's hair. When he transformed them into seven old women they repented and implored his forgiveness, whereupon he
restored them to their original appearances.
Then the time of his awakening arrived. At midnight he became
absorbed in the contemplation of the fourth meditative concentration. 406 At dawn, when the drum of victory was about to be beaten, he developed the supernormal cognitive powers of clairvoyance and of the exhaustion of corruption, and fully realised the four truths. As he became a perfectly realised buddha, the whole earth trembled and all the psychophysical bases which were to be purified of the subject-object dichotomy awakened to the pristine cognition free from duality, in the impeccable mansion of the body of reality, which is the "middle way,,407 and inner radiance. In this world there was a lunar eclipse. Rahula and Ananda were also born.
Seven weeks after he had attained buddhahood in this way the mer- chants and Bhallika offered him honey. The great kings of the four directions offered him begging bowls made of everything from precious gems to stone. But he rejected [the precious ones] as being unfit implements for a renunciate and accepted only the worst. Then he gave his benediction [to these patrons]. To indicate that the profound nectar [he had realised] was beyond the grasp of sophists, he said [Sutra of Extensive Play, Ch. 25, v. l]:
I have found a nectar-like doctrine,
Profound, calm, simple, radiant and uncompounded. If I teach it no one will understand;
I will remain right here in the forest, in silence.
Thus, he created a reason for the special merit of encouraging the turning of the wheel of the doctrine.
tion which defeats ara, £ ',d ble rays of light. The eVl ara, and enveloped them WIth orml a hed him and said, "Devadatta
'ofahunter approac
appearing in the gUIse , ' H has destroyed the roya
'd r in Kapllavastu. e ') " has seIze powe d d Why do you SIt here,
'-1 shavesurren ere ' d
h S
andtea<ya 'b ddha"heanswere .
"Tobecomeareahsed u 'h h d' theresultofimmeasur- l' ' ofbudda00 IS I
Whatever it is you say!
Then the Bodhisattva e
formed by a hundred mentonous acts, an
Play, Ch. 21, v. 88):
This earth bears witne,ssl to all inanimate alike, She is just and impartla to amma ,
This earth is my witness" I do not
o Earth, come, be my wItneSS here,
, d
arth with his hand, which had d said (Sutra of ExtenSlve
Sthavara the goddess of the earth, raIse a As soon as he had spoken, ' d d taking in her hand
her pure golden figure from the grohunw'haonle 'earth (in fractions li1ze 'd "I an count t e 'fi ed
single particle, Sal ' , c mber of heads and limbs sacn IC this) but I cannot estlmate the h me for him to become a by thiS worthy son, Thus, the, tlmhe as COrds she became invisible,
perfectly realised u a.
and the evil Mara weakened an
d d
b ddh " WIth t ese wo , ' ner
ted for his own domam, m u
, '
d tnlllOn
strong, striking fear and terror mto, t os and he prepared for battle, standing that [all appearances] are has conquered the But a military machine cannot crus d ho perceives with a sky-l1 e
epar
h steredhisarmy,onet ousan
disgrace. _
When he arrived there Mara h e who lack the supreme unde
enemy, the emotional defilements, an w
bracelets, and so forth.
The Coming ofBuddha 421
422 History: Origin ofthe Precious Teaching . .
- b d the Tathagata's former aspiratlOnS he
Alone, I have become a: perfect buddha, Whose [passions have] cooled,
Whose corruptions are exhausted. 410
After three such exchanges he continued on his way to VaraI). asI. When he arrived there, the agreement of the five companions spontane- ously vanished, like the constellations by day. They said, "Long-living Gautama,411 your senses are clear, and your complexion is pure. Is this a manifest sign that you have realised pristine cognition? "
As they regarded him still as an equal, he dispelled their ignorance, saying, "Do not call the Tathagata 'long-living', or misfortune will surely follow for a long time. I have obtained a nectar-like doctrine. I have attained buddhahood. I have come to know everything! "
A thousand jewel thrones then appeared there. The Tathagata bowed reverently before the thrones of the Three Buddhas of the Past, and radiantly sat down upon the fourth throne, whereupon the other thrones vanished. On behalf of the five noble companions and eighty thousand gods he turned the wheel of the doctrine of the middle way which abandons both extremes, and which concerns the four truths, repeating them three times and in twelve ways. 412 Then he fully ordained the five noble companions as monks, so that there arose the great monastic community, a matchless canopy over the world. All those assembled perceived the truth.
[The first wheel of the doctrine413 emphasises] the Vinayapitaka [Transmissions ofthe Vinaya, 'dul-ba'i sde-snod, T 1-7], which, beginning with those sections which teach mainly the training of superior moral discipline, includes, among other topics, the Vinaya of the Vinaya- pitaka, which establishes and defines the transgressions and natural offences; the sl1tras of the Vinayapitaka, which describe the sequence of yogic practice involving contemplation and purity of conduct; and the Abhidharma of the Vinayapitaka, which provides extensive analysis of the aforementioned topics.
Then on Vulture Peak,414 which is a perfect location, the Tathagata turned the wheel of the doctrine which concerns signlessness, the inter- mediate transmitted precepts, on behalfofthe four ordinary assemblies- namely, those of the five thousand arhats such as Sariputra and Maud- galyayana, the five hundred nuns including Prajapati, the host oflaymen and laywomen including AnathapiI). <;lada and the laywoman Visakha, and a multitude of gods, nagas, and gandharvas. In addition, he turned this [wheel] on behalf of a special assembly - a multitude ofbodhisattvas who' had attained the great levels, including Bhadrapala, Ratnasambhava, and ]aladatta. This wheel of the doctrine emphasises the Sl1trapi! aka, which teaches mainly the training of superior mind and includes the Vinaya of the Sl1trapi! aka, which sets forth the bodhisattva's vows; the siitras of the Siitrapi! aka, which describe profound and vast contemplations;
When Brahma remem ere h 25 · and offered encouragement in verse [ C .
, v. ";)
9d
an
d
approachedlhm , v. 1lab]:
rsI Why remain indifferent today. ounamong· . d .
S teache
I pray that you beat the great genume
octnne, And blow well on the true doctnne s conch. . . .
der he went off to his own domam to sum- Scattering sandalwood pow d I d a together presented a precious
mon Indra. Afterwards, he an n r . gem to the Buddha and prayed [Ch. 2s, v. l7].
Like the full moon released by Rahu,408 Your mind is liberated, 0 Sage.
Arise, 0 victor in battle, . . .
And with the light of discnmmatmg awareness
Dispel the darkness of the world. .
o . n Brahma consIdered But the Buddha denied this ;;a:epeat the request. He that there would be great Ih nd spokes and reminded the
ld heel WIt a en w h d
a t ousa ,
viously learned the nature of defile-
Tathagata m verse that he a 1" f Magadha 409 There- . h the Impure re IgIOn 0 .
ment through contact WIt d . d [Ch 25 v 34]- upon the Buddha accepted the wheel an sal . , . . .
Brahma, I will open the portal of nectar-like instructIOn
For those who live in Magadha,. . ' .
Who are attentive, faithful, and dlscnmlnatmg, . Non-violent, and constantly attentive to the doctnne.
k h word that he had agreed As soon as the Tathagata spo e:, t deas far away as
to turn the wheel of the doctnne h or her own offering. vesselfor
like instruction should be easy to tram, Udraka were
with unobstructed intelligence. He knew t atThra. remembering his
1] b [such vesse s, ut
th had passed away. en, .
ey _ d d his five noble companIons
former aspirations, the ! athagata k d h'm and agreed not to and set out for VaraI). asl. five ha :e1u eHeIhas eaten much and
. "The ascetlc Gautama IS ax. sa1ute, saymg,
has abandoned
While the Tathagata was th;, way, a
brahman named UpajIvaka ho granted you the voW
carelessly and rashly said to hIm, Gautama, w
of celibacy? "
The Tathagata replied [Ch. 26, v. l]:
I have no preceptor. I am without equal.
The Coming ofBuddha 423
424 History: Origin ofthe Precious Teaching
. h· h d the Abhidharma of the Sutrapltaka ,. w lC
tains analyses of the
It appears in just that way.
For those who penetrate it instantaneously,
The varied doctrine appears in full.
This is the greatness of speech
That fulfils every aspiration to the heart's content.
It is a special feature of that buddha-speech, which transcends the particulars of sound and word, that, depending on one's capacity, the three doctrinal wheels may be heard simultaneously or gradually by those beings whose fortune it is to penetrate them so. It is never possible for ordinary persons to imagine the extent ofapproaches to the doctrine, or the number of vehicles, the means of training, or the time sequences, associated with the Buddha's immeasurable activity.
So it was through the boundless ocean of the doctrine, which includes the three vehicles, that some were established in the teaching of the path and result;415 some were secured in the happiness of gods and men; and others, too, were delivered and protected from great fears of a mundane sort. 416 In short, through the infinite play of enlightened activity, his great miraculous abilities and so on, the Tathagata planted the seed of liberation and omniscience, like a catalyst in an alchemical transmutation, in all sentient beings who saw, heard, touched, or thought of him. Moreover, he made his actual disciples, even the gan- dharva Pramoda and the homeless mendicant Subhadra, enter into the precincts bounded by skilful means and great compassion. Then, con- sidering his final act, he went to Kusinagara. 417
Concerning that final act: The Tathagata's body, pleasant to behold, was free from such common attributes as the tendency to shout, laugh, or yawn. Once, when Prajapati heard a sneeze emerge from his glorious throat, she prayed, "May the Buddha live for three countless aeons! " Her prayer, reverberating through space, was heard as far away as and the gods also echoed it. The Buddha said to Prajapati, "You have done no good. Instead of praying for the duration of the doctrine, you have obstructed the spiritual practice of many lazy people! " So, as an act of penance, Prajapati passed into nirvaI). a along With five hundred female arhats. .
At about that time the Tathagata's two supreme disciples, Sariputra and Maudgalyayana went to visit the hells.
Teachers and preceptors of extremist doctrines,418 who were reaping the fruits of their misdeeds, sent a verbal message through them to their followers, saying that they had erred in their philosophy. Sariputra was the first to repeat the ll1essage, but the followers ignored him, showing no hostility. After that Maudgalyayana said, "Your teachers sent this message to you because they have come to suffer in the AvIci he11. ,,419
"This message insults not only ourselves", they said, "but also our teachers and preceptors. Crush him! "
an . d contemplations.
levels, paths, retentions, an f d d nagas for the sake of innum-
Then in the sundry 0 s the Tathagata turned
erable monks, nuns, gods, naga fj . . eaning which is the wheel of 1 f h d ctrineofdemltivem , . h
the whee 0 t e . 0 s This doctrinal wheel t. e the final transmltted . . 1r hes the training of supenor dlS-
Abhidharmapitaka, whlch
the Vinaya of the Abhidhar-
criminative awareness and mc u the conflicting emotions eas-
mapitaka, :vhich how of the Abhidharmapitaka, which
ily with little hardshlP, the s f l·ty. and the Abhidharma of , t tethenature0 rea1 ,
show to ra which contains analyses of the . components, the Abhldharmapltaka, . . fj ld nse organs consciOusness, and psychophysical bases, actiVlty hl: s, se bha) which is naturally pure.
the nucleus \tat of the Array of Attributes: Concerning thls, 11 says m t e
Totally unspoken by me,
The doctrine has spread among se
ntient beings. To all those who seek a gradual path
Siiriputra
con
The Coming ofBuddha 425
426 History: Origin ofthe Precious Teaching
Maudgalytiyana
So they beat Maudgalyayana's body until it was as a broken reed. Sariputra wrapped him in the fold of his robe and carried him into the city of Knowing that Maudgalyayana would not live, Sariputra went on to glorious Nalanda, thinking, "I cannot bear even the news of a friend's death. How, then, the sight? " Thus, he entered nirva1). a early in the morning along with eighty thousand arhats. That same evening Maudgalyayana passed into nirva1). a along with seventy thousand arhats. And so, like fires which have run out of fuel, did many other arhats enter nirva1). a.
The Buddha then entrusted the teaching along with the four [monas- tic] assemblies to the elder Mahakasyapa. Removing his upper garment, he said, "Behold, 0 monks, the body of the Tathagatal It is as difficult to see a tathagata as it is to see an udumbara blossom. 42o Be silent, 0
monksl Just as this body is subject to destruction, so too is all that is compounded. "
In this way he encouraged lazy disciples to enter the doctrine with the motive for renunciation. Then, next to a pair of sal trees, his intention turned to final nirvaQ. a.
When Mahakasyapa arrived there from the naga realm he d
before the Buddha's remains and the funeral ' . d b Th r b ' pyre Igmte y Itself
e re ecame fragmented and were suitably divided into ei whlc. h to form the cores of eight stiipas. 421 g
Fmally, It says m the Great Treasury ofDetailed Exposition: The Sage, supreme being
Lived for one year each '
At the site of the wheel of the doctrine
Makkolam, and the god realms, ' HIll, and KausambI,
AtavI, Caityagiri,
Ve1). upura, as well as Saketa And the city of Kapilavastu. '
He passed twenty-three years in SravastI Four years in ' Two years in the JvalinI Cave,
And five years in Rajagrha.
He had spent . six years practising austerity
twenty-mne years in the palace. So It was that the Conqueror
The supreme and holy Sage,'
Passed into nirval,1a at the age of eighty.
The Coming ofBuddha 427
2 The Collecting of Precepts by Counctls
[42. 3-42. 6] When one hundred and ten years had passed after the first compilation of the scriptures, the monks in Vaisall were indulging in the following ten transgressions Transmissions]:
Permitting: [exclamations of] "alas! "; celebrating [the arhats]; The deliberate practice [of agriculture]; [sipping "medicine" from] apot [ofale]; [the misuse ofthe sacred stored] salt; [Eating while on] the road; [desecration of offerings with]
two fingers; stirring [curd and milk together as an afternoon
beverage]; [a new] mat [without an old patch];
And [begging for] gold [or silver]. These are held to be the
ten transgressions. 423
In order to put an end to this, seven hundred arhats, including Yasal). , held a council under the patronage of the religious king Asoka, and the ten transgressions were rejected. They recited the complete Tripitaka once, and also observed a harmonious and auspicious purificatory fast.
THE THIRD COUNCIL
[43. 6-45. 6] Starting from the time of King Vlrasena, the grandson of King Dharmasoka, and son of Vigatasoka, the monks Mahadeva, Bhadra, the elder Naga and Sthiramati, all of whom had come under the influence of Mara, appeared in succession. They proclaimed five basic points:
[Arhats may] answer others, remain unknowing, Harbour doubts and inquire discursively;
And they may support themselves.
This is the Teacher's teaching.
In this way, they taught a false doctrine, which caused dispute among the members of the sartlgha, during the latter part of King Vlrasena's life, throughout the lives of Nanda and Mahapadma, and during the early part ofthe life that is, during the reigns offour kings. 424
Since the Teacher had not allowed the Vinaya to be written down, differences arose over a long period of time in the recitation of the Sutra (T 2), owing to which there was a division into eighteen schools. 425 It happened in this way: Because the elder Naga spread the dispute, the Mahasailghikas, Sthaviras, and SammitIyas split off from the Miilasarvastivada tradition; and these then became the four basic schools. Later, Sthiramati spread the dispute widely and the four sects gradually divided into eighteen. It is said that the MUlasarvastivada
. and special explanations of the 40. 6-41. 21 There are both h teachings delivered by the
[ . . fhtruedoctnnes,te
compllatlon 0 t e . h· 1 three succeSSlVe counCi s
Teacher. According to the ordmary ve lC e
were convened.
422
THE FIRST COUNCIL
(41. 2-42. 31 Shortly before the
.
Teacher's own nirvaI). a, when Sanputra and Maudgalyayana with seventy
with eighty thousand other d again when the Transcendent d . nto nlrvana, an h ds
thousand arhats, passe. 1 _ . with eighty million arhats, t Lord himself entered nlrvaI). a 1 nks have passed into mrva(la cried out, saying, "All the 7:e smoke from a dead fire. The
and the true doctrine has become 1 1 "
monks do not proclaim even the five hundred arhats was h· d . ·on a counCl oon
In response to t IS enSI _.
convened in the Banyan Cave at RaJ,a . . 'ana under the patronage of
retreat the year after. the the King Ajatasatru. thIS the entire Ananda the Siltrap1laka, an 1 . h the gods perceived thls
ma itaka. As far away A a anti ods will decline! e Pl: d "The gods Wln flounsh. The g. d ft·mel" LikewIse,
excalme , ddh·nendureforalongpeno 0 1 . t e a c h i n g o f t h e B u a WI . . .
. . the Minor Transmlsswns. it says In
During the summer which followed the Teacher's nirvaI). a,
In a secret cave in A·atasatru provided sustenance
J ·1 f five hundred arhats, ForacounCl0 . d
And the Tripitaka was compIle .
g
rha during the summer mons
··1
THE SECOND COUNCIL
The Councils 429
430 History: Origin ofthe Precious Teaching
had seven branches; the Mahasanghika, five; and the other two, three each. Afterwards, when the controversy had somewhat subsided, and the schools existed independently, the third council was held under the patronage of King At that council, it was proven that all eighteen schools were pure, on the basis of this passage drawn from the Sublime SiUra of the Teaching Given in a Dream (Aryasvapnanir- desasiltra, T 48):
The perfectly realised Buddha Kasyapa said to King KrkI,426 "Your majesty, the dream in which you saw eighteen men pulling on a sheet of cloth means that the teaching of Sakyamuni will become divided into eighteen schools. But the cloth itself, which is liberation, will remain undamaged. "
At that same council the Vinayapitaka was written down. They also wrote down those texts from the Sutrapitaka and Abhidharmapitaka which had not been set down before, and corrected those which had been recorded previously. This was the purpose of the third council.
As this account is not given in the Minor Transmissions, there are many different opinions. The Kashmiri schools maintained that the council was convened in Kashmir in the Kan)ikavana Temple by the noble Parsva and five hundred arhats, Vasumitra and four hundred supremely venerable monks, and five hundred bodhisattvas. And it is said that most of the Central Indian scholars claimed that five hundred arhats and five thousand supremely venerable monks assembled in the Kuvana Temple of Jalandhara Monastery. At present, the account best known in Tibet states that about four hundred years after the Teacher's nirva1). a five hundred arhats and five hundred, or sixteen thousand, bodhisattvas assembled and held a council. And the Flame ofDialectics (Tarkajvala, T 3856) says: "When two hundred years had passed from the Teacher's nirva1). a, the elder Vatslputra compiled the doctrine. ,,427
The period of four hundred years [mentioned above] agrees with this if each solstice is counted as one year. But, after comparing this chrono- logy with the succession of kings, it seems to me that the period of twO hundred years may be too short. 428 It appears, therefore, that this must be further examined. Moreover, many different places are claimed as the venue of the council, for example, SravastI, Kusumakutarama in Jalandhara, and Kuvana Monastery in Kashmir.
429 THE COUNCILS OF THE GREA TER VEHICLE
[45. 6-46. 4] As for the special councils of the greater vehicle, it says in the Flame of Dialectics:
The greater vehicle was taught by the Buddha, since the original compilers were Samantabhadra, MafijusrI, Guhya- pati, Maitreya; etc.
_ The Councils 431
In the Sutra of Inconceivable Secrets Va·ra - . .
.
of the teachings of the Thousand BUddh J IS called the compIler
says that one ·11· as, an an ancient annotation430
mI IOn sons of the Conqueror a bl d .
bhava Mountain, which lies to the south of R e on
compiled the Vinayapitaka, MafijusrI the S There
the Abhidharmapitaka. It also s a . . u rapIta a, and VaJrapa1). I
that the sections dealing with In of the greater vehicle M _. / - proloun VIew were comp·l d b
anJusfl, and the sections on the exte? sive conduct by 431 y
3 The Patriarchs of the Teaching 432
. The Patriarchs a/the Teaching 433
teachIng to me before he passed into nirvana Whe I h .
. - . ' n ave passed Into
mrvaI). a, you must protect the teaching y .
it to SaI). avasika. " . ou, In turn, should entrust
Then Kasyapa worshipped the stl1pas which held th .
M A H A K A syAP A
[46. 4-49. 5] The Teacher appointed Mahakasyapa to be his successor, indicating this by allowing him to be the one to fold the master's seat. Also, the teaching was entrusted to the great and exalted Sixteen Elders. Kasyapa was born as the son of the brahman Nyagrodhaketu, in the brahman village of Nyagrodhika in Magadha, in answer to a prayer addressed to the divinity of the Nyagrodha [Banyan] Tree. For this reason he was named Nyagrodhaja [Banyan-born], though his family name was Kasyapa. He married a beautiful maid with a golden complex- ion, who was named KapilabhadrI. But they regarded each other only as brother and sister; not even for a moment did the thought oflust arise.
When his parents died, Kasyapa abandoned his possessions, which included nine hundred and ninety-nine hamlets, sixty million pieces of gold, and eighty golden granaries, as if they were mere grass. For himself he kept only two robes of Benares linen. He sent KapilabhadrI to the Nirgrantha [Jains],433 while he went to the Teacher, who was residing near the Bahuputraka Caitya shortly after attaining buddha- hood. As soon as they met, he recognised his teacher, and three times made this request: "You, Lord, are my teacher! And I am the pious attendant of the Transcendent Lord! " The Lord responded thrice, say- ing, "Indeed, I am your teacher; and you are my pious attendant! " At this, he was fully ordained, and eventually he came to be revered as
434
the supreme observer of the ascetic virtues.
robe, which had come from a trash heap, and offered to the Teacher his Benares linen. This happened about the same time as the Teacher descended from the realm of the gods, and many gods had arrived in
435
JambudvIpa to receive his nectar-like instruction.
Kasyapa compiled the transmitted precepts well and protected the
teaching. For over forty years he advanced the teaching by establishing many disciples in liberation. Then he thought of entering nirvaI). a and said to . Ananda, "You should know that the Teacher entrusted the
Mahakafyapa
He took the Teacher's
t
e remams.
tooth-relics of the Buddha. He climb d M K h d . e ount
e and ukkutapada In the
sout ,an spread out hIS grass mat in the centre f .
W . h b 0 an open area
eanng t e ro e of the Transcendent Lord, which had come fJ .
trash heap, he consecrated his body so that it would
no
t d
rom a ecompose
until attainment of buddhahood. And with a d' I many mIracles h d ' . , I S P ay c
and closed
came to seeUtPh
'h e passe mrvaI). a. The gods then worshipped hin
e mo. untam; but they opened it when King Ajatasatfl
Ajiitasatru dreamed that the royal family on hi I<. asyapa ea t . away forever. When he awoke he heard tha I<. ukkut - n ere whereupon he set out for Moun
The A openedupthemountain but Ananda sa'd "I,":ors Ip t e body and prepared for a cremation of Maitreya M. t IS to remain until the teaching perio(
. altreya s Irst assembly he will come here with
434 History: Origin ofthe Precious Teaching . _/ , , 'II' ' attendants and, holdmg Kasyapa s
hundred and mnety m1 10n [ 111 he will say 'This was the . h' h d436 and showmg it to a , '
body m 1S an " mong Sakyamuni's pious atten- supreme observer of the ascet1c a f the Teacher. There is no one
dants, and th,e he mendicant as he did,' Then
the ten powers, and he received gradual ordination according to the
437
here who mamtams the ascet1c ' I e s and dissolve entirely into / 'b dy will display great m1rac d
Kasyapa s o , , d will undertake the ascetic virtues an space and Ma1treya s atten ants h' b d "
, Th £re youcannotcrematet 1S 0 y.
become arhats. 0 . , , the kin turned away and the moun-
In accordance w1th th,lS he erec;ed a stl1pa dedicated to the tain was resealed, On its pea ,
remains.
ANANDA
- h
[49. 5-51. 21 Ananda t e born at the time of the Teacher's Am{todana. He and Rahula ' t h year when the master met with
attainment of buddhah,? od. dIn 1S SlXt hisownson[Rahula1,Anan awasenru
stedto Kasyapa who possessed '
of the Teacher's paternal uncle,
Ananda
He became the Teacher's personal servant and was revered as supreme for his retention of what he had heard. He protected the teaching for more than forty years, and then said to Salfavasika, "The Teacher entrusted the teaching to Kasyapa and he, in turn, en- trusted it to me. When I too have passed away you must protect the teaching. "
Ananda predicted that and the sons of a merchant, would build a monastery on Urumulf9a Mountain, in the region of Mathura, and that they would become its patrons. He directed Up- agupta, the son of the incense-seller Gupta, to be ordained there and entrusted with the teaching. When King Ajatasatru heard the news he came with his army [in order to take leave of Ananda]. The people of VaisalI, who had been apprised of this by a deity, accompanied the army to meet him. When Ananda reached the middle of the River Ganges, a with a retinue of five hundred requested ordination from him. Ananda materialised an island in the middle of the Ganges and gave the ordination there. The r$i immediately became an arhat, and so became known as arhat Madhyahnika (Midday), or Madhyantika (Midway).
Madhyahnika requested permission to enter nirvalfa before his pre- ceptor, Ananda, who answered, "The Teacher has predicted that you will spread the teaching in Kashmir; so do just that! " When he had promised to do so Ananda displayed many miracles and passed away.
