Toh 334The Noble Sūtra of Nandika

Summary

While staying at the Vulture Peak Mountain in Rājagṛha, the Buddha
describes the negative consequences of breaking the five basic
precepts to the layman Nandika and five hundred other lay practitioners. This
sūtra is often mentioned and quoted in traditional Buddhist works, mostly
concerning the consequences of inebriation by alcohol.

Acknowledgements

This sūtra was translated by Giuliano Proença, who also prepared the
introduction, the glossary, and the notes. The English translation and ancillary
materials were proofread by Daniela Espíndola. Thanks to Barbara Kerb and Karin
Kerb for making otherwise unavailable bibliographical material accessible to
us.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. George FitzHerbert edited the
translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina
Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

The Sūtra of Nandika consists of a teaching on
the negative consequences of breaking the five basic precepts, as taught by
the Buddha to the layman Nandika and five hundred other lay practitioners at
the Vulture Peak Mountain in Rājagṛha. Ten negative consequences are
described as the result of violating each of the first four basic precepts,
which relate to killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying. For the
last precept, concerning intoxicating drinks, the text lists thirty-five
negative consequences. This scripture is often mentioned and quoted in
traditional Buddhist works, mostly concerning the consequences of
inebriation by alcohol, on which it is a noted
authority.

For a long time, the Sanskrit text of the Nandikasūtra was thought to be lost. However, two complete
Sanskrit manuscripts of the sūtra in the dhārikā script were found in the Potala Palace
archives in Lhasa. An edition of these, along with parallel Tibetan text and
English translation, was published in 2010 by Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā. As surmised by Jonathan Silk, these
Potala manuscripts may date to the thirteenth century. One of the
manuscripts is part of a collection of twenty sūtras which have moral
discipline and karmic cause and effect as their recurrent themes. This
manuscript, called “Ms” by Vinītā (our Skt1), is
often closer to the Tibetan translation than the independent manuscript
called “S2” by Vinītā (our Skt2), which is
somewhat longer. Another extant manuscript is a
Sanskrit birch bark fragment of The Sūtra of
Nandika found among the Gilgit Manuscripts, which comprises only
the last part of the sūtra. The script used is the Proto-Śāradā (seventh
century onwards), which was normally used for non-Mahāyāna texts. It is
believed that the Gilgit manuscripts were written during the Palola Ṣāhi
Dynasty (sixth to eighth centuries).

The Chinese Dazhidu lun, a translation
of the Treatise on the Long Perfection of
Wisdom attributed to Nāgārjuna and translated into Chinese
between 402–406 ce, is the earliest datable
textual reference to The Sūtra of Nandika, from
which it quotes extensively. Many
other Indian works refer to the Nandikasūtra concerning the negative effects of alcohol abuse. Noriyuki Kudo presents three
Sanskrit references to The Sūtra of Nandika in
the Mahākarmavibhaṅga and one in the
Abhidharmakośavyākhyā by Yaśomitra
(around the late sixth century ce). In Tibetan
translation, it is also mentioned by Ajitamitra (ninth–tenth century ce) in his Ratnāvalīṭīkā
(Toh 4159), and in Sajjana’s Putralekha (Toh 4187), dated to the second half of the eleventh
century. Related lists of the consequences of breaking the five
precepts are also included in two sūtras found in Tibetan translation in the
Kangyur, namely The Exposition of Karma (Karmavibhaṅga, Toh 338), and Transformation of Karma (Karmavibhaṅga, Toh 339). However, the lists
presented in those texts do not always precisely match those found in The Sūtra of Nandika.

The Tibetan translation of The Sūtra of
Nandika is included in most Kangyur collections and one folio
containing the first two pages of The Sūtra of
Nandika is among the Tibetan manuscripts found in the cave
library at Dunhuang. All Tibetan versions have the title ’phags pa dga’ ba can gyi mdo, except for the
Dunhuang fragment, which reads dga’ bo’i
mdo. The Tibetan
translations present the standard Sanskrit title Āryanandikasūtra, while the two extant Sanskrit manuscripts
have Āryanandikaparipṛcchāsūtra (Skt1) and Nandikaparipṛcchāsūtra (Skt2). The
colophons from the Degé, Lhasa, and the independent Kangyurs such as
Phukdrak, among others, mention the Indian paṇḍita Śākyasiṃha and the
Tibetan translator Jingyi Nyingpo as its translators, and Devacandra as the
editor.

The Sūtra of Nandika is listed in both of the
extant imperial catalogs of translated texts: the Phangthangma and the
Denkarma, the latter of which lists it under “Hīnayāna” (Tib. theg pa chung ngu) texts. The period in
which these translators worked and the inclusion of the text in these
catalogs indicates clearly that the translation was made sometime during the
late eighth to early ninth century, most likely from Sanskrit, since an
Indian paṇḍita was involved. Although no Tibetan masters appear to have
written commentaries on The Sūtra of Nandika,
they have often quoted it when teaching on the negative consequences of
consuming alcohol or sexual misconduct.

The Chinese translation of the Nandikasūtra, The Sūtra on the Conditions
for Renouncing Secular Life (Taishō no. 791), was identified by Yukihiro Okada in 1986. This
translation was attributed to An Shigao (fl. 148–80 ce), but Okada argues that the actual translator is unknown. This
opinion is shared by Kudo (2002). Okada
states that one cannot determine the date of the translation for certain,
but that it seems to date from the old period of translation from Indic
languages into Chinese—in other words, the period of translations starting
with Kumārajīva (344–413 ce) and ending before
Xuanzang (c. 602–64 ce). In Taishō 791, the lists of
the negative consequences of breaking the five precepts are very close to
those found in The Sūtra of Nandika. However,
the Tibetan version appears to have been made from a different and somewhat
longer Sanskrit recension, since part of the introductory section and the
verses at the end are absent from the Chinese. Notably, the same sections
are also missing from the Sanskrit manuscripts and the Dunhuang fragment.

The first complete modern, Western translation of The Sūtra of Nandika was published by Léon Feer,
in French, in his Extraits du Kandjour, together with a short introduction on the five basic
precepts. A more recent English
translation was published by Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā in 2010, based on the Sanskrit
manuscripts from the Potala. This translation has proved very useful in preparing our
own translation.

This translation is based on the Degé edition of Toh 334, while also
consulting the variants listed in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Kangyur, as well as the
Stok Palace, Phukdrak, and Hemis I manuscripts. The Dunhuang fragment and
the available Sanskrit materials have also been closely consulted. Any
substantial variant readings are recorded in the notes. We also occasionally
refer to the Chinese parallel and some parallel passages in other related
texts. Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā’s translation and Jonathan Silk’s review of her
edition were a particularly valuable resource. For example, in the numerical
parsing of the lists of negative consequences, which is not always clear in
the Tibetan, we have opted to follow the numbering suggested by Bhikṣuṇī
Vinītā, which is based on the Sanskrit texts.

The Translation

The Noble Sūtra of Nandika

Homage to the Three Jewels.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavān was
dwelling at the Vulture Peak Mountain in Rājagṛha, together with a large
saṅgha of one thousand two hundred and fifty monks who surrounded and
honored him as he taught the Dharma. He expounded
that which is good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end,
excellent in meaning, excellent in words, unique, perfect, completely pure,
thoroughly refined, and concerns pure conduct.

At that time, the layman Nandika and a retinue of five hundred lay
practitioners departed from the great city of Rājagṛha,
and went to where the Bhagavān was. He bowed his head to the
Bhagavān’s feet, circumambulated the Bhagavān three times, and sat down to
one side. Then, those five hundred lay practitioners
also bowed their heads to the Bhagavān’s
feet and sat down to one side. Then
the layman Nandika asked the Bhagavān, “What sort of ripening will arise for
those who violate the five basic precepts of a lay practitioner as
prescribed by the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly
awakened Buddha who knows and sees?”

The Bhagavān answered the layman Nandika,
“Nandika, it is excellent that you have thought to ask
the Tathāgata about this matter. Your intellect is vast,
your consideration is fine, and your eloquence is excellent. Therefore, Nandika, I shall teach the Dharma
discourse called The Ten Negative Consequences. Listen well and duly and
take it to heart! I shall explain it to you.”

“Excellent, Bhagavān,” said the layman Nandika, and he listened to
the Bhagavān.

The Bhagavān said, “Nandika, these ten negative consequences of
killing should be known. What are the ten? They are as follows: ⁽¹⁾ in this
life one will beget hostility and also in other lives one will continue to
experience hostility; ⁽²⁾ one will not be trusted by many beings; ⁽³⁾ one will
have nightmares; ⁽⁴⁾ one will experience fear and others will be fearful of
you; ⁽⁵⁾ even after going to sleep comfortably, one will wake up
in distress; ⁽⁶⁾
one will think of evil things; ⁽⁷⁾ one will be confused at the time of
death; ⁽⁸⁾ since
one will commit and accumulate deeds leading to a short life, ⁽⁹⁾ after the
dissolution of the body and death, one will fall into the lower realms, the
bad destinations, and be reborn in the hells; ⁽¹⁰⁾ even if, after dying and transmigrating from
there, one is born in this world as a human, no matter where one is born,
one will have a short life and also many illnesses. Nandika, these ten negative
consequences of killing should be known.

“Nandika, these ten negative consequences of taking what is not
given should be known. What are the ten? ⁽¹⁾ One will incur great
hostility; ⁽²⁾ one will be highly anxious; ⁽³⁾ one will act at the wrong time, one will act
late in the day; ⁽⁴⁾ one will be
surrounded by non-virtuous friends; ⁽⁵⁾ one will be
abandoned by virtuous friends; ⁽⁶⁾ one will have faulty discipline; ⁽⁷⁾ one
will be troubled by kings, by thieves, and by
punishments;
⁽⁸⁾ since one will commit and accumulate deeds leading to the loss of
wealth, ⁽⁹⁾ after the dissolution of the body and death, one will fall into
the lower realms, the bad destinations, and be reborn in the hells; ⁽¹⁰⁾
even if, after dying and transmigrating from there, one is born in this
world as a human, no matter where one is born, one will be poor. The wealth one has obtained,
acquired with great effort, by the sweat of one’s brow,
through the strength of one’s arms and legs, will be threatened by the five
troubles. What are the five? One’s property will be laid waste by kings, fire, water,
disgruntled heirs, and secrets. Nandika, these ten
negative consequences of taking what is not given should be known.

“Nandika, these ten negative consequences of sexual misconduct
should be known. What are the ten? ⁽¹⁾ One will experience the hostility of
those whose spouses one has led astray; ⁽²⁾ one will quarrel with one’s spouse; ⁽³⁾ one’s
non-virtuous qualities will increase and one’s virtuous qualities will
decrease; ⁽⁴⁾ one will have no peace; ⁽⁵⁾ one’s son
and wife will be unprotected; ⁽⁶⁾ one’s wealth will be unguarded
and unprotected, one’s house will be unguarded and unprotected, and one’s
life will be unguarded and unprotected; ⁽⁷⁾ one will not be trusted by one’s friends,
relatives, kinsmen, and ministers; ⁽⁸⁾ since one will commit and
accumulate deeds leading to rivalry, ⁽⁹⁾ after the dissolution of the body and
death, one will fall into the lower realms, the bad destinations, and be
reborn in the hells; ⁽¹⁰⁾ even if, after dying and transmigrating from
there, one is born in this world as a human and becomes a woman, she will
have a husband who has rival women, and if one becomes a man, he will not be
able to protect his son and wife. Nandika, these ten negative consequences
of sexual misconduct should be known.

“Nandika, these ten negative consequences of telling lies should be
known. What are the ten? ⁽¹⁾ One’s mouth will be foul-smelling; ⁽²⁾ one will
be abandoned by the protective deities of the body and will become vulnerable
to non-humans; ⁽³⁾ even when one speaks the truth, one’s words will be
distrusted; ⁽⁴⁾ even when one’s assistance is needed, the learned will not
think of asking; ⁽⁵⁾ untrue calumnies about oneself will spread; ⁽⁶⁾ one
will be unworthy of respect; ⁽⁷⁾ one
will experience suffering and sadness; ⁽⁸⁾ since one will commit and accumulate deeds leading to
many false accusations, ⁽⁹⁾ after the dissolution of the body and death, one
will fall into the lower realms, the bad destinations, and be reborn in the
hells; ⁽¹⁰⁾ even if, after transmigrating from there, one is born in this world as
a human, no matter where one is born, one will face many false
accusations. Nandika, these ten negative
consequences of telling lies should be known.

“Nandika, these thirty-five negative consequences of drinking spirituous liquors and
intoxicants, which are the cause of
heedlessness, should be known. What are these thirty-five? ⁽¹⁾ In this life
one’s wealth will be depleted; ⁽²⁾ illnesses will increase;
⁽³⁾ quarrels and disputes will arise; ⁽⁴⁾ one will pay attention
to that which is meaningless; ⁽⁵⁾
bad reputation will arise; ⁽⁶⁾ wisdom will weaken; ⁽⁷⁾ wealth will not be
obtained, and whatever wealth
has already been obtained will diminish and come to an end; ⁽⁸⁾ one will be
unable to keep secrets; ⁽⁹⁾ one’s
efficiency will wane; ⁽¹⁰⁾ one’s strength will be diminished; ⁽¹¹⁾ one will
neglect one’s mother; ⁽¹²⁾ one will neglect one’s father; ⁽¹³⁾ one will
neglect śramaṇas; ⁽¹⁴⁾ one will neglect brahmins; ⁽¹⁵⁾ one will not
honor the head of the family; ⁽¹⁶⁾ one will disrespect the Buddha; ⁽¹⁷⁾ one
will disrespect the Dharma; ⁽¹⁸⁾ one will disrespect the Saṅgha; ⁽¹⁹⁾ one
will disrespect engagement in the trainings and have faulty discipline; ⁽²⁰⁾ the sense doors will be
unguarded; ⁽²¹⁾ one will
become extremely heedless toward women; ⁽²²⁾ one will be rejected by
relatives, kinsmen, friends, and ministers; ⁽²³⁾ one will be considered
unattractive by many people; ⁽²⁴⁾ one will become
unpleasant to many people; ⁽²⁵⁾ one’s actions will be at odds with Dharma;
⁽²⁶⁾ one will uphold that which is not Dharma; ⁽²⁷⁾ one will abandon the true Dharma;
⁽²⁸⁾ one will abandon modesty and decency;
⁽²⁹⁾ even
when enemies are present, the learned will not think of asking one for
assistance; ⁽³⁰⁾ one will act
heedlessly and with negligence; ⁽³¹⁾ one will not abide by the
teaching of the Tathāgata; ⁽³²⁾ one will be far from nirvāṇa; ⁽³³⁾ since one will
commit and accumulate deeds leading to insanity, ⁽³⁴⁾ after the dissolution
of the body and death, one will fall into the lower realms, the bad
destinations, and be reborn in the hells; ⁽³⁵⁾ even if, after dying and
transmigrating from there, one is born in this world as a human, no matter
where one is born, one will be mad and have a blurry memory. Nandika, these
thirty-five negative consequences of spirituous liquors and intoxicants,
which are the cause of heedlessness, should be known.”

Thus spoke the Bhagavān. After the Sugata had
spoken thus, the Teacher added:

“Being beneficial and compassionate to sentient beings,

One must abandon
killing, beating, and binding.

In the same way that you protect your own beloved life,

Protect the lives of others too!

“Others have accumulated their wealth with great difficulty,

So one should not even think about that which is not given.

Having experienced separation from what one loves in the world,

Just so, one should be steady for the benefit of others.

“One should avoid others’ adorned spouses

Like a burning flame.

One should be content with the spouse one has found,

And not engage, out of lust, in that which is like poison.

“One should not knowingly speak falsehood,

Neither for the sake of oneself nor for the sake of others.

Neither hurting nor troubling others,

And having pondered, one should speak with gentle words.

“A person who is fond of drinking alcohol

cannot bring about their own benefit or others’ happiness.

Spirits cause bewilderment and a bad complexion—

One should not drink that which is like halāhala poison.

“If one wishes to enter the higher realms as easily as entering a
house,

One must not kill living beings, nor steal the property of others,

Nor tell lies, nor drink alcohol,

Nor seek, even in thought, the spouse of another.

“These are the precepts of householders

Who wear white clothes and dwell at home.

Beyond this, there is the teaching about the basic precepts,

Taught by the Victorious One for renunciates.”

The layman Nandika, having heard this teaching in the presence of
the Bhagavān, was pleased, delighted, overjoyed, glad,
full of happiness and cheerfulness of mind. He rose from his
seat, bowed his head to the Bhagavān’s feet, and circumambulated the
Bhagavān three times. Delighted, he rejoiced at what the Bhagavān had said
and departed.

When the Bhagavān had spoken thus, the monks
rejoiced and praised his words.

Thus ends “The Sūtra of Nandika.”

Colophon

Translated by the Indian preceptor Śākyasiṃha and the translator
Bandé Jingyi Nyingpo, and edited and finalized by the chief editor and
translator Bandé Devacandra.

Notes

Abbreviations

C
Choné (co ne) Kangyur

D
Degé (sde dge) Kangyur

H
Lhasa (zhol) Kangyur

J
Lithang (li thang) Kangyur

K
Peking (pe cin) Kangxi Kangyur

KY

Peking Yongle (g.yung lo)
Kangyur

N
Narthang (snar thang) Kangyur

NSdh

Dunhuang manuscript: IOL Tib J 91

Skt1

Vinītā’s transcript (2010) of the Sanskrit manuscript in CTRC
Box 111, called Ms by her.

Set2

Vinītā’s transcript (2010) of the Sanskrit manuscript in CTRC
Box 112, called S2 by her.

Bibliography

Tibetan

Sanskrit

Chinese

Related Tibetan Canonical Texts

Translations, Editions, and Other Sources

An Shigao

安世高

Xuanzang

玄奘

Kumārajīva

kumārajīva