Toh 93The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Seer Vyāsa’s Questions”

Summary

In The Seer Vyāsa’s
Questions, a great seer named Vyāsa, a
non-Buddhist mendicant, approaches the Buddha with a large
group of followers to inquire about the karmic results of
giving. Some of the key points taught in this sūtra are such karmic results and the distinction between pure and impure giving. A final long passage
describes the life in the god realms that is experienced as
the fruit of particular acts of giving, and it explains the
signs received by gods of their own impending death and
subsequent human birth.

Acknowledgements

The translation was completed by David Jackson under the
patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of
the Buddha and edited by the 84000 translation team.

Introduction

The Seer Vyāsa’s
Questions is the last of the forty-nine
sūtras in the Heap of Jewels (Skt. Ratnakūṭa; Tib. dkon brtsegs)
section of the Degé Kangyur. The interlocutor in
this text is the great seer Vyāsa, a non-Buddhist
mendicant whose name literally means “compiler.” The
name Vyāsa is given to a number of figures in
Hindu traditions, the best known of whom bears the
epithet Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana and is credited with
arranging the Vedas into four collections as well as
compiling various texts of the Brahmanical traditions. The Mahābhārata depicts him
as an authoritative teacher, a model brahmin who has
gained omniscience through asceticism. The Vyāsa who acts as interlocutor in this sūtra, however, appears to be another great seer by the same name,
and not the Vyāsa credited with compiling the Vedas and systematizing a broad swath of Brahmanical literature.

In this sūtra, Vyāsa, with a large group of his
mendicant followers, approaches the Buddha and poses
several questions about the karmic results of giving.
The key points taught in this sūtra come in the form of the
Buddha’s detailed answers regarding the merit and karmic results of giving, and the
distinction between pure and impure giving. These are followed by a
passage that describes, at considerable length, the life in three different
levels of the god realms
that is experienced as the fruit of powerful acts of
giving, and explains the signs received by the gods
in those three different realms of their own impending death and subsequent human
rebirth.

The sūtra is no longer extant in Sanskrit, but
in addition to the Tibetan translation, two Chinese
translations of this sūtra are preserved in the
Taishō Tripiṭaka. Taishō 310⁽⁴⁹⁾, translated by
Bodhiruci (d. 727), bears the title Meeting with the Seer Vyāsa
(Guang bo xianren hui 廣博仙人會). Taishō 354, translated by
Prajñāruci in 542, bears the title Sūtra of the Questions of
Vyāsa (Piyesuo
wen jing 毘耶娑問經) and includes a translator’s
introduction. The Tibetan translators’
colophon to this work notes that it was translated
and edited by the Indian masters Jinamitra and
Dānaśīla together with the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé. The Tibetan translation
would therefore have been completed during the late
eighth or early ninth centuries, a dating that is
also confirmed by the text’s inclusion in the
Denkarma (ldan dkar
ma) and Phangthangma (’phang thang ma) imperial catalogs.

). The Mahāsūtrasamuccaya of Atiśa
cites a long passage explaining topics including the
karmic fruition of giving, the five kinds of giving,
pure giving, the five supreme gifts, and the merit
of others who encourage and delight in pure giving
(

–

The Translation

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra

The Seer Vyāsa’s Questions

Homage to all
buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was
on a bank of the Ganges River at a point where the
river cannot be crossed and where the cuckoos,
parrots, bees, regal geese, and many flocks of birds
sing their lovely songs. He was sheltered there by
the branches of holy fig, banyan, sandalwood, aśoka,
and sallakī trees, and the entire place was strewn
with fragrant flowers. He sat there with a great
assembly of monks, all of whom had accomplished
their task, completed their work, exhausted their
outflows, and shaken off the last remnants of dust,
could never revert from the Dharma, were established
in both meditation and recitation, and beautified
the area like regal geese wherever they were—whether
on walking paths or seated. Some of
them lived in seclusion, some of them dwelled at the
foot of trees, and all of them discussed the word of
the Tathāgata. Their appearance was subdued and
steadfast, their deportment was tranquil, and all
were free from sexual desire, harmful intentions,
indolence, sloth, and laziness.

The Blessed One said to the monks, “Monks, you
must give gifts. You must do whatever is necessary.
Exercise restraint using the vow of ethical conduct
and dwell in that peaceful mental state where the
sense faculties are guarded.” Then the Blessed One
gave a teaching to that large number of monks as
well as his most important disciples, such as the venerables
Ānanda, Mahākāśyapa, Śāriputra, Bakkula, Revata, and the
venerable Ājñātakauṇḍinya, that gladdened and
delighted them.

Vyāsa saw the Blessed One dwelling among those
thick trees surrounded by a retinue of monks and
delighting in meditative concentration with his
senses and mind pacified. When Vyāsa saw him, he
thought, “Oh, how wonderful! The one renowned the
world over as the blessed omniscient one
who teaches without error is sitting
over there. Since he has such an exceedingly fine
complexion and such an expansive body, and since his
actions are so fortuitous, he is most certainly the
Tathāgata. This Blessed One who possesses such an
expansive form renounced being a sovereign lord of
universal emperors as if it were poisonous,
renounced precious Gopā and six thousand women, and
went to live in a forest grove where austerities are
practiced. What a marvel he is in the world!”

“He sits amid a green grove

Shining yellow like refined gold.

Glowing brilliantly, his body

Delights all living beings.

“He rises like the peak of Sumeru

Among a thicket of pure beryl cliffs.

Who is this one whose majestic glowing body

Shines like the autumn sun?”

Then the Blessed One told his monks, “Monks,
look at the seers of Jambudvīpa, blazing like
bonfires—they have topknots of matted hair, and they
are aged and very thin. They do things such as not
eating, performing ritual services, wearing tree
bark and whole animal skins, rubbing themselves with
ash, dwelling on plains and amid rocky crags, living
in great hunger, consuming only air, and observing
ritual fasts for half of the month. Their bodies are
emaciated, they are naked or wear bark, their
beards, fingernails, and hair are long, they have
the complexion of a bee, and they have a wealth of
ascetic heat. They practice recitation, fire
offerings, protective rites, and auspicious
ceremonies. They dwell in the dirt, in the open, and
at the feet of trees. They hold their legs aloft, they
sit in an upright squatting posture, they stand in
water, and
they burn their bodies with burning hot coals,
blazing fire, and the sun. They surround themselves
with practitioners of severe austerities, they live
carelessly, they delight in merely being from their
clan, and they lack the highest wisdom.

The monks took refuge in the Buddha from the
core of their hearts and said, “Blessed One, we
practice the entire host of vows of pure conduct so
that we will not take rebirth within existence.”

The great seer Vyāsa privately reflected on the fact that
great seers are inferior in terms of their intention
and fearlessness and inferior in terms of
their view, and respect for the
Buddha and his monks arose in him. Surrounded by
that group of seers who revered him, and adorned
with his many locks of matted hair, a sacred thread
emblazoned across his dark skin, with two yellow
eyes, his hair wild and hanging down, holding a
trident in his hand, and having an unattractive
appearance, he who coursed in the vault of the
heavens and had mastered the logical arguments of
various systems went to where the Blessed One was
and said, “This group is completely deluded. May
the Blessed One please perceive how I came to where I am here?”

“Ānanda,” the Blessed One replied, “this is the great seer Vyāsa. He practices the Vedic rites,
lives according to the Brahmanical treatises, and has compiled
numerous texts.”

When the arhats saw Vyāsa they asked, “Blessed
One, of what use are severe ascetic practices that
cause such hardship if they cannot liberate one from
cyclic existence?” And those arhats thought that
Vyāsa should ask the Blessed One for a teaching
about no-self, a teaching about generosity and
having moral conduct, or some kind of teaching about
causes and conditions.

Then the seer Vyāsa asked the Blessed One, “Blessed
One, how should one give a gift? What does it mean
to not give a gift? What is the meaning of what is called giving? How
should one seek out a donor? How can one become
someone who has given up material things? How can
one be a donor but not someone who has given up
material things? How is a donor said to have reached
the limit of giving? Are those gifts heaped up or piled up? How should we look
after them? How can a donor give a gift to someone who does not receive it? How should one view the karmic fruition of a
gift? How should we make offerings to stūpas
following the Blessed One’s nirvāṇa? How should we
view the fruition of that merit? Blessed One, what
gifts can you accept after your parinirvāṇa?”

The Blessed One said to the great seer Vyāsa,
“Great Seer, the questions you have asked concern generating the initial thought of
awakening and indicate that you are magnanimous.”

At that point the elder Śāriputra looked at him
with his long eyebrows, wrinkles, and white hair,
his left hand placed on his brow to lift his eyelids
so that he could see, and said, “This great seer
Vyāsa, who is so renowned in the world, is like a
wild young child who does not understand the science
of reasoning and lacks a well-trained intellect. He
has abandoned the teaching on causes and conditions,
forsaken the teaching on no-self, and cast aside the
teaching on the causes that lead to the god realms,
so why is he requesting this teaching on giving?”

The Blessed One said, “Śāriputra, you should
also not say such unsuitable things. It is not right
for a śrāvaka to clarify doubts in my presence,
because it will lead beings to become displeased
with me, and that displeasure would lead them to
wonder why the Tathāgata had a śrāvaka answer
Vyāsa’s questions. As a result, they will say that
the Tathāgata is certainly not omniscient or that
the Buddha possesses attachment to self, and that
will lead those beings to be born in the hell
realms.”

“As for why it is called giving and what that
term giving means, Great Seer,
someone who gives up material things completely
relinquishes the things that are given as gifts. They
generate faith and inspire others to give. They
travel to other lands and inspire others to give. And
when they motivate someone to give things of value,
the person to whom that valuable thing belonged is a
donor. Someone who has given by encouraging others to do so is someone who gives up material things, but they are not a donor. An individual who gives
away their own material possessions is
someone who has given up material things and they are also a donor.

“Great Seer, you should view the following
thirty-two ways of giving as being impure:

“Great Seer, ⁽¹⁾ if someone who has given up
material things holds an incorrect view and gives a
gift with a great deal of distrust and suspicion,
that gift is impure.

“Moreover, Great Seer, ⁽²⁾ if a gift is given
out of gratitude for a favor, it is impure.

“When someone motivated by some inferior reason
or desire says, ⁽³⁾ ‘I give this gift to the fire,’
⁽⁴⁾ ‘I give this gift to the flames,’ or ⁽⁵⁾ ‘I give
this gift to the waters,’ or ⁽⁶⁾ gives a gift to a
king so that he will take notice of them, that gift
is impure.

“⁽⁷⁾ If one gives a gift to thieves and the like
because one is afraid of them, it is impure.

“If one gives the following five inappropriate
things, the gift is impure: ⁽⁸⁾ giving something
poisonous, ⁽⁹⁾ giving weapons, ⁽¹⁰⁾ giving meat from
an animal one has killed, ⁽¹¹⁾ giving alcohol to
alcoholics, and ⁽¹²⁾ offering a communal gift so
that beings will gather and receive it while
thinking, ‘These things belong to me, so this is my
feast and offering.’

“⁽¹⁵⁾ If one gives a gift to an astrologer so
that they will interpret the planetary influences,
⁽¹⁶⁾ if one gives someone else’s wealth to a friend,
and ⁽¹⁷⁾ if one feels happy and rejoices about the
birds and wild animals feeding on stores of barley
or stores of rice and wheat that belong to someone
else, whether in their storehouses or their fields,
that gift is impure.

“⁽¹⁸⁾ If one gives a gift to have something
made, ⁽¹⁹⁾ if one gives a gift to a doctor out of
fear because one’s body is diseased, and ⁽²⁰⁾ if one
gives a gift to beggars while denigrating them and
being angry with them, it is impure.

“⁽²²⁾ If one gives and is then afflicted with
pangs of remorse and regret, it is impure.

“⁽²⁵⁾ If a gift is given by a young child, or
⁽²⁶⁾ if an adult who is mentally impaired, elderly, afflicted by illness,
about to die, suffering from a severe illness,
seriously injured, or suffering the misery of dying
gives a gift to those who are worthy to receive it
because they are encouraged to do so by their
relatives even though they themselves do not have
faith in or an affinity for the Buddha, it is
impure.

“⁽²⁷⁾ If one is living in a foreign land and
gives a gift to attain notoriety, thinking, ‘I will
become known as a famous donor in such and such a
country or place,’ then it is impure.

“⁽²⁹⁾ If one falls in love with a woman and
tries to win over the close family members, friends,
and associates on the woman’s side with gems, gold,
silver, diamonds, beryl gems, and fine cloths of
silk, coral, dukūla, and the like so that one can
take her as one’s wife, it is impure.

“⁽³⁰⁾ If someone gives a gift while thinking, ‘I
have a lot of wealth but do not have a son, so I
will give it away to a worthy recipient,’ it is
impure.

“⁽³²⁾ If one gives a gift of desirable flowers,
fruits, or material goods to those who are already
very wealthy, while rejecting and ignoring people
who are poor, wretched, miserable, and wear clothes
that are faded and dirty, it is impure.

“Great Seer, one should view those thirty-two
ways of giving a gift as impure. Great Seer, one
should view their karmic results as being like
growing a sprout from a bad seed that has been planted
in a field with alkaline soil. Those acts of giving
are not completely devoid of karmic result, but
because the field and seed are contaminated or
defective, they will not bear flowers and fruit.

“Consider the following analogy, Great Seer. If
a person takes whatever seed they like and plants it
in a field that has not been plowed or cleared, it
will undoubtedly be able to germinate after it rains
and the ground is saturated, but it will not bear
flowers or fruit. So too, Great Seer, these types of
giving do not bear good karmic results as their
fruit, because their motivation is completely
contaminated.”

Then the great seer Vyāsa placed his palms
together and said to the Blessed One, “The Blessed
One taught that the karmic result that accords with
being an omniscient one is bringing happiness and
being of benefit to all beings. Blessed One, how is
it that the karmic result of a gift does not go to
waste whether it is given to someone with good or
poor moral discipline?”

“Moreover, Great Seer, one should complete the
following five kinds of giving: giving
gifts ⁽¹⁾ to guests, ⁽²⁾ to sick people, ⁽³⁾ to
those nursing the sick, ⁽⁴⁾ to those who recite the
Dharma, and ⁽⁵⁾ to those who are traveling in a
foreign land. And one should also give the following five
gifts: ⁽¹⁾ the gift of Dharma, ⁽²⁾ gifts of material
goods, ⁽³⁾ the gift of shelter, ⁽⁴⁾ gifts of lamps,
and ⁽⁵⁾ gifts of incense and garlands.”

Then the great seer Vyāsa asked, “Blessed One,
what is a pure gift?”

The Blessed One said, “If someone inspired by
faith has all beings in mind and gives with a kind
heart that is devoted and restrained, all those
gifts will be pure. The act of giving a gift is said
to be purified when it is dedicated to liberating
all beings.

“The following five should be seen as supreme
gifts: ⁽¹⁾ giving a gift to the Tathāgata is
supreme; ⁽²⁾ giving a gift to the saṅgha is supreme;
⁽³⁾ giving a gift to someone who teaches the Dharma
is supreme; ⁽⁴⁾ giving a gift to a sick person is
supreme; and ⁽⁵⁾ giving a gift to one’s parents is
supreme.

“Then there are the following great gifts. If
one gives a gift to a king and kingdom whose power
has declined, it is a great gift. If one gives a
gift to those who are persecuted by a king,
vulnerable, or diseased, it is a great gift. If one
heals someone who is miserable because they were
exiled by a ruler and are on the verge of being
killed or about to die, it is a great gift. If one
gives medicine to a sick person, it is a great gift.
If one gives to the noble saṅgha, which abounds in
moral conduct, it is a great gift. If one gives a gift to those who
have entered absorption, those who have perfect insight, those who have perfect
liberation, and those who have perfect wisdom and vision of liberation, it is a great gift. If one
offers protection to beings who have taken rebirth
in the animal realm such as crows, owls, and deer,
it is a great gift. If it fulfills someone’s wish
for something they need and do not possess, it is a
great gift. Those are pure gifts and great gifts,
Great Seer, and since these gifts are accepted as
pure, that is how you should cultivate pure giving.

“Beings who are encouraged by others, develop
faith and trust, and rejoice in these pure gifts
will generate merit that is equal to that of the
donor. That is how those who rejoice and have been
encouraged become just like the one who generates
that merit.

“Great Seer, you also asked about how there can
be a karmic fruition related to the Blessed One’s
parinirvāṇa and how the merit related to a gift is
exhausted. Listen well and pay attention, Great
Seer, and I will explain. I teach that the karmic
consequences of making offerings to a blessed one
who has passed into parinirvāṇa and one who is
currently alive are the same. Why is that? Because
the form bodies of the tathāgatas are issued forth
from the truth body, but the truth body is not
issued forth from the form body. Since the intention is the same whether someone makes offerings to me when I am present or after my parinirvāṇa, there is not
even the slightest difference in the merit these two accrue.

“As an analogy, Great Seer, suppose a universal
emperor were to issue the following command to those
in his domain: ‘I command that from now on none of
my subjects should commit deeds such as killing,
stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech,
harsh speech, and meaningless speech, and they shall
not entertain thoughts that are related to jealousy,
harmful intent, and wrong views.’

“Some people would hear the king’s commands and
think, ‘If I obey those commands, that will allow me
to act in accordance with the king’s command even
without making offerings to the king’s person,’ and
they would be pleased. The karmic fruition of those
who obey what the king teaches and commands and
guard against acts such as killing and the like will
lead them to be reborn in the heavenly realms. Those
who do not obey what the king teaches and commands,
who engage in nonvirtuous activities, and who have committed
those nonvirtuous deeds will suffer punishment from
that king in this lifetime and then fall into the
lower realms after they have died.

“I consider those who observe the rules of
training and make offerings when I have passed into
nirvāṇa to be the best of all. Great Seer, now that
I have become the best, have surpassed all beings,
and have attained omniscient wisdom, even mentioning
my name to beings who are not convinced will lead
them to adopt the rules of training.

“Consider the following analogy, Great Seer. If
you make a fire in a dense thicket of reeds along a
riverbank, it will be extinguished when the rains
come and the river rises. The great heap of merit
associated with a donor’s gift is gathered in the
same way. When a great amount of giving lets loose a
torrential rain of faith in the donor’s mindstream,
although that act of giving a gift accumulates in
the mindstream of the giver, it does not remain in a
heap, does not remain in a pile, and does not remain
in one place. Whatever that act of giving may have
been, the performance of that act of giving follows
the giver like a shadow. It is thus possible for a
giver to see a meritorious karmic result without
fully comprehending the merit.

“Consider the following analogy, Great Seer. One
does not see the juice of grapes or sugarcane before
they are pressed, but after they are pressed, one
does see it. The juice of the grape or sugarcane
does not appear to remain in a heap, to remain in a
pile, or to remain in one place, and the juice is
not contained within each individual grape or each
piece of sugarcane. In the same way,
Great Seer, the act of giving a gift does not reside
within the giver’s fingertips or in their heart or
chest. The gift itself does not not yield a karmic result, and it also never leaves the donor. Just as one cannot see the juice
if one discards the grapes or sugarcane, there can
be no karmic fruition of a gift if there is no
donor, though the karmic fruition of that gift might
not appear before their death.

“Consider the following analogy, Great Seer.
Just as the seed of a nyagrodha tree does not appear
on its branches when its flowers have not opened, so
too does increasing the strength of a gift fortify the karmic fruition.

“Now consider this analogy, Great Seer. When
traders take a small collection of goods and travel
to a different city and their goods transform into
something of great value in that particular market,
they go from something of lesser to something of
greater value. The increase of a donor’s karmic
fruition accumulates in the same way that a bee can
make honey from seemingly unsuitable flowers.

“As an analogy, just as a cloud holds water that
will rain down some time later, so too does a donor
generate the impetus for karmic fruition, and in
that way, Great Seer, a donor generates the impetus
for merit, gives the gift, and then enjoys its
fruit. That is how the one who accepts it
understands the gift.

“Great Seer, the term merit
refers to something that is fulfilled in a future
life or is maintained by gaining great power, and
that is why it is called ‘merit.’ It is said to be
related to the next life because it is what
determines the type of body and resources one is
born with from one future life to the next.”

Then the great seer Vyāsa asked the Blessed One,
“The Blessed One has answered my question about the
karmic fruition of giving. Blessed One, how does
consciousness enter the body, and how does
consciousness generate attachment to the body?”

The Blessed One replied, “Great Seer, consider
the following analogy. If a king living in a citadel
is afraid of an enemy army, first he digs a trench
and gathers materials, medicines, master archers, and
brave commanders, hoists the banners,
and informs the young men. Then he gets the great
male elephants and the female elephants drunk. He
summons those living in the hills or forests and the
lesser kings. He gathers soldiers by offering them
payment and prepares them for battle by ordering
them to take up their weapons, keep their swords drawn,
and stay awake day and night. And as soon as the
enemy army’s cavalry, together with its soldiers,
has arrived, the king rouses his own army to fight
and guard the perimeter so that the enemy army cannot find a weak point to attack
before it has exhausted its own merit, exhausted its strength, been critically wounded, and been defeated.

“In the same way, Great Seer, the king of
consciousness enters the citadel of the body, sees
that what dwells in the citadel of the six sense
bases is impermanent by nature, and digs the trench
of faith. He maintains diligence as he lives there,
dons the armor of patience, and begins his great
task. He gets the great elephant of the Dharma
drunk, and he mounts and gallops on the horse of
wisdom. He addresses the city of the sense bases,
saying, ‘Be extremely cautious now! The troops of
the enemy’s army—the immeasurable army of
impermanence so difficult to defeat—are approaching.
Quick! Don the armor of giving! Brandish the weapon
of wisdom! Ready the catapults of modesty and
self-respect! Post the sentinels of moral conduct,
meditative absorption, and renunciation!’ And so
saying, he urges them on.

Then the great seer Vyāsa asked the Blessed One,
“Blessed One, is consciousness inclined toward merit
or is consciousness inclined toward the lack of
merit, and is the body something inclined toward not
wavering? Does consciousness think to itself, ‘I
will either abandon or not abandon this body’?”

The Blessed One replied, “Great Seer, consider
the following analogy. A person who boards a large
boat because they want to cross the ocean sets out
on the water and is constantly rocked by the ocean’s
waves, yet they remain at ease as they are safely
and effortlessly blown by the wind from the near
shore of that body of water—with its ups and downs
and its dangerous kumbhīras, grāhas, śiśumāras, and
serpents—and arrive at the other shore. Having been
rescued from the terrifying body of water, they come
to like that boat and think, ‘That boat carried me
across the ocean.’ And after they have traveled back
and forth on the boat three times, they come to
greatly value it.

“Therefore, Great Seer, beings who have
accomplished merit should think about consciousness,
which leaves this body at the time of death, in the
following way: ‘This body that has taken a higher
rebirth among the humans and gods has led me to
obtain the body of a prosperous person. This body
can allow me to cross over the ocean of lower
rebirths, and it can allow me to gain the
opportunity to be born as a god. I should treat it
properly and make offerings to it.’ Later, they will
leave that body, just as one would a boat, and
proceed to the next life.

“The consciousness of someone whose own body has
not accomplished merit is like a person with a
rotten boat that sinks in the ocean, breaks apart,
is wrecked, and leaves them in terrible straits.
Even if they use
that broken boat to make the terrifying trip to the
other shore, they will land at a place terrorized by
tigers and lions and say the following about the
boat: ‘This rotten boat has taken the wrong
course atop the afflictions and has been tossed about by
the ocean’s waves and rocked by serpents.’

“In the same way, consciousness that has relied
on a body without merit and has
wound up in the lower realms will say about that
body, ‘Why did I get such a sinful body? I adopted
this body filled with sins and have become weighed
down as if bearing a heavy load. Because of this
rotten body, I charted a course and then set off for
the lower realms, pulled there like a fish caught on
an iron hook.’

“After consciousness leaves this body, it
proceeds and is inclined toward another, second
body. For the first seven days that it resides in
the womb, consciousness will remember, ‘I died there
and was born here. I did this deed, and I did that
deed,’ and it will be satisfied with the good deeds
it has done.

“As it remains in the womb, the mother will
exhibit the following three signs: she will have a
smile on her face, she will not frown, and she will have a
divine complexion; she will favor the right foot and
repeatedly caress her right side; and she will adorn
herself with white clothing. One will see such signs
in the mother when the consciousness that has
entered her womb is inclined toward merit.

“Great Seer, for seven days after conception a
nonmeritorious consciousness will remember, ‘I died
there and was born here; I committed this evil
deed,’ and it will be unhappy. One
can observe the many signs of that
unhappiness in the mother: her body may have
an unpleasant smell; her body may become thin; her body may be
filled with worried thoughts; she may frown angrily
again and again; many defilements, injuries, and
sicknesses may befall that household for the period
of time in which that being is gestating in the
womb; the mother might die when that being is born;
or it might kill her while it is in her womb. Great
Seer, that is how one can see that the being is
inclined toward nonmeritorious action.”

Then the great seer Vyāsa asked the Blessed
One, “Blessed One, what does consciousness remember
in the first moments when it arises in a womb? What
is it conscious of?”

The Blessed One said, “Great Seer,
consciousness remembers the following during the
first moments when it arises: It sees gardens,
parks, forests, pools, springs, and golden palaces.
It sees the continent of Jambudvīpa here filled with
friendly people and sees it full of supremely
attractive beings who have committed meritorious
deeds. The light of divine knowledge allows it to
remember many hundreds of thousands of previous
lives, and as it remembers them, it rejoices. It
comes to know things such as ‘this was my mother for
five hundred lives,’ and it remembers such things
without developing attachment to that mother. It
gives rise to freedom from desire, thinking, ‘Alas,
such a rebirth and existence is suffering. Enough
with saṃsāra! Enough with this grasping!’ ”

Then the Blessed One spoke the following
verses:

“It guards against all enemies,

It accumulates the afflictions,

It understands knowing and not knowing,

And it possesses insight and delusion.

“All things such as wrong views,

Pride, and ignorance are consciousness.

Nothing comes to pass

Without consciousness.

“Without consciousness,

Those things would not come together.

They come together in a single instant

But are not one, just like a wheel and a
cart.

“A collection is not equivalent to the person

Because it is not the same, different, or both.

It does not depend on one or the other,

Just like a pair of oxen.

“A cart has two wheels

And a pair of oxen

Bound with two straps.

That is what we call a
cart.

“In the same way, out of the assembly of elements

The cart of the body arises,

Comes to possess sense faculties,

And is then illuminated by consciousness.

“The vital points, joints,

Veins, arteries,

Hair, bones, teeth, skull,

Fingernails, complexion,

“Intestines, lungs, kidneys,

Heart, liver, and fatty tissues—

The combination of all these

Is what constitutes the body.

“Those elements are the embodied being,

And since all those things arise from the
mind,

They are accepted as belonging to consciousness,

And consciousness is accepted as the driver.

“Moreover, Great Seer, this consciousness is
subtle and formless, cannot be pointed out, and is
unmanifest. It is not a color, a shape, or a physical sense faculty, and there is nothing else to be seen as consciousness outside of disregarding the coarse sense faculties. All things
such as the beating of a person’s heart, response to
fear, conceptual thought, and discrimination are predominantly consciousness, not the body.”

Then the great seer Vyāsa asked the Blessed
One, “Blessed One, how can one recognize the nature
of beings’ previous births? How can one recognize
the natures of those beings who will be reborn as
hell beings, who will be reborn as hungry ghosts,
and who will be reborn as animals? How can one
recognize those who will be reborn as gods, those
who will be reborn as humans, and the roots of merit
and roots of demerit they possess? Blessed One,
please teach us which roots of merit lead to rebirth
as a god or human and which roots of demerit lead to
rebirth in the hells, animal realms, and hungry
ghost realms.”

“Great Seer,” replied the Blessed One, “listen
to my explanation of the natures of beings, their
roots of virtue, and their deaths and rebirths. This
cognitive object of an omniscient one is not a
cognitive object of the five clairvoyances. It is
not a cognitive object of any of the gods, from the Brahmā
gods right up to the Akaniṣṭha gods. It is not even within the
purview of śrāvakas, so it goes without saying that the same is true for any other
kinds of beings. Great Seer, it is the object of
consciousness for one who has removed the three
impurities, has attained reality for the first time,
and has entered the stream of my teachings.”

The great seer Vyāsa said to the Blessed One,
“Blessed One, since
I have reached old age, I am incapable of seeking
such fruits, and I cannot bear such
a heavy load, so I take refuge in the Blessed One,
the Dharma, and the Saṅgha of noble ones, who are
completely devoid of afflictions. Now and henceforth, I,
together with my disciples and servants, take refuge
in those three. Blessed One, please explain which
kind of living being one becomes after dying and
leaving the god realms.”

“Great Seer, when a person
who has given gifts of flowers, perfume, and
garlands, offered their service, meditated,
thoroughly studied, and had faith passes away, they
will be born among the garland-bearing gods. Great
Seer, at the time of death, their body will appear
like a flower filled with the scent of an extremely
fragrant perfume. Then, Great Seer, many showers of
flowers will fall, and that person will pass away.
Flowers of various colors will be scattered all over
their body. Their relatives and loved ones will hold
flowers as they mourn. Their complexion will soften,
their eyes will be neither tightly closed nor wide
open, and they will die with their feet and hands
stretched out. Such signs will appear
when they are dying.

“They will see the following signs as well.
They will see a multistoried mansion decorated with
various flowers, beautified with different kinds of
flowers, and surrounded by hundreds of thousands of
women, and they will tell their relatives, ‘In my
dream I saw a mansion decorated with various kinds
of divine flowers and strings of flowers, strewn
with divine flowers, and surrounded by hundreds of thousands of women.’ After they report this to their
relatives, their relatives will know that the person
is going to take birth among the garland-bearing
gods.

“When they have died and are reborn among the garland-bearing gods, they see their
parents together and take new life. The
garland-bearing gods have sex using the couple’s two
sexual organs, just as the humans of Jambudvīpa do.
When they do this, their consciousnesses blend
together, and they are overwhelmed by even the
slightest feeling of joy, yet neither of the two
engaged in that action ejaculates.

“Those gods remain in a goddess’s womb for seven
days, and after seven days have passed the child is
born from the left side. Great Seer, after the child
emerges from the womb, a garland stringing together
various supremely appealing and fragrant divine
flowers emerges from their chest. Great Seer, the
fragrant scent of that garland is carried
by the wind and permeates all directions for the
distance of about one yojana. In addition to their
garlands having seven different colors of
flowers—white, red, yellow, blue, beryl, lotus,
and red lotus—the beautiful, variegated garlands
they bear do not wilt for as long as they are alive.
That is why they are called the
garland-bearing gods.

“Great Seer, the trees that grow in the realm
of the garland-bearing gods are neither too tall nor
too short, and their various fruits are neither too
sour nor too sweet. Their many excellent flavors are
like ambrosia, and they have eight divine flavors.
Great Seer, the fruits of those trees are the size
of a bilva fruit. Whatever food the gods
wish to eat from those trees is always within their
reach. The gods appear to consume the fruit, but
they are not beings that consume food by the mouthful. Great Seer, in the realm of those gods one
need not be careful of sharp thorns, and the land is
covered with grassy meadows beautified with flowers.
It is decorated with various strings of gold and
silver, which appear like hail as soon as one thinks of them.

“Great Seer, the garland-bearing gods live in
that realm with divine maidens who are clothed in
brilliantly glowing robes and ornaments, who wander past the
windows, on the balconies, and along the parapets, and who are supremely happy and content. They have a lifespan of two thousand years.

“The signs that their life is coming to an end
are that the leaves on the tree in front of which
they are seated will wilt; its branches will droop,
and it will lose its flowers and scent. The being
seated in front of that tree will become unhappy,
and his garland, which until then had never wilted,
will wilt. The cool and pleasant breeze that
previously blew in that divine realm will become hot, and the divine maidens, when they
see that happening, will lament and weep. That being
will leave behind that citadel of the higher realms
beautified with divine trees, flowers, and fruits as
well as the group of divine maidens that accompanied
him, and his merit will be exhausted. This is the
problem with the higher realms.

“Great Seer, the divine maidens around him will
begin to cry and wail with great sadness, saying,
‘Alas! This impermanence is pitiless. Is he going to
fall from the higher realms, powerless and against
his will, after he has lived among us and brought us
such joy? Alas, young god, may you quickly take
rebirth in the human realm!’

“As they express their sorrow, he will be
struck by an acute illness. It will overwhelm him,
and his body will at once burst into flame. As his
body is burning, he will pass away and leave that
realm, and the fire will go out. After he has died
and passed on, he will see his new parents together
and assume a new rebirth.

“Great Seer, the signs that the child taking
that birth was a god in the realm of the
garland-bearing gods are as follows: while he
resides in his mother’s womb, she will desire
flowers, perfumes, and garlands; she will crave
various kinds of fruit; she will long for pleasant
thickets and various types of forest groves; and she
will have a constant feeling of contentment. She
will not experience any discomfort while the child
is in her womb. In her dreams, she
will see an auspicious marketplace and a citadel
decorated with flower garlands. Those are the signs
that will be seen by his mother.

“Moreover, Great Seer, after that god is
reborn, he will be overjoyed to have taken birth as
a human after leaving his life as a garland-bearing
god. He will have an affinity for white clothing and
be good looking and wise. He will delight in sensual
desire, and his gait and stride will be gentle and
reserved. He will like festivals, performances, and
garments of fine cloth. He will be fond of gardens,
and when he sees another person’s wealth, he will
desire it. Great Seer, these should be viewed as
signs that a garland-bearing god has been reborn as
a human being. [B2]

“Great Seer, the following should be seen as
signs related to taking birth and passing away in
the divine realm of the Four Great Kings. When a
faithful person who takes joy in giving excellent
food to those who are lowly and vulnerable, giving
medicine to the sick, and providing communal drinking sources
with cool water, springs, lakes, pools, ponds, and
water tanks is dying, their body will become free
from the burning of the defilements. Their body will
not become emaciated, it will not develop a poor
complexion, and it will not sweat or have a foul
odor. They will not experience feelings of dread in their bodies. They will not utter vulgar language, and they
will not be separated from their loved ones or
experience discomfort. They will not suffer from
hunger and thirst, their body will not suffer from
such things as shrinking or swelling, and they will
not defecate or urinate. They will not be
disheartened as the sense objects fade away, and
their sense faculties will not deteriorate. Such
signs mean that they can take comfort in attaining a
higher rebirth as the moment of death approaches.

“After it leaves the body, the consciousness
will be joyful and come to dwell among the gardens
and thick groves of the divine realm of the Four
Great Kings. At the time of death, they will see
that divine realm, and their face will look like a
lotus flower. Their mouth will
give off a pleasant odor, and there will be a
pleasant breeze carrying the sweet fragrance of
various flowers. After they are dead, they will see
their future parents together in the divine realm of
the Four Great Kings, making love in a garden and drunk with lust. They will see the father
touch the goddess’s navel with his right hand, and
those conditions will lead the consciousness to take
rebirth in the lap of that goddess. After seven
days, they will transform into a young man whose
head is ornamented by immaculate earrings, and he
will be able to laugh, dance, sing, and indulge his
sensual desires.

“Great Seer, the land in the divine realm of
the Four Great Kings is ornamented and beautified by
various hues of silver and orange. It is ornamented
with hundreds of thousands of goddesses and is a
lofty divine realm of natural beauty where gentle
breezes blow.

“Great Seer, the garden in the divine realm of the Four Great
Kings is a square measuring eighty-four thousand
yojanas across that is illuminated by jewel lamps.
On the branches and tops of the trees hang very fine
quality cloths of cotton from the wish-granting tree
and cords of fine Indian cloth. The forest clearings
are soft and pleasant, and the inner chambers of the
houses there continually ring with the sounds of
lutes, flutes, clay drums, and kettledrums.

“Great Seer, those who dwell in the divine
realm of the Four Great Kings eat solid foods that are known to possess an extremely
appetizing aroma and to have appealing colors,
tastes, textures, and other excellent qualities.
Each of those gods has two golden basins, and
whatever food they wish for is provided perfectly
from those basins. They are also provided with a
delicious divine flower nectar called
flower wine. That wine, Great
Seer, has a delicious aroma that is supremely
pleasing and refreshing. Even to smell it, let alone
drink it, is intoxicating, and the young gods become
intoxicated on that drink.

“The Four Great Kings who reside in those
palaces are Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Virūḍhaka, Virūpākṣa, and
Kubera. They experience and enjoy divine sensual
desire, happiness, and play, and they are happy and
delighted. Their sense faculties are pleased by
singing, dancing, the ringing of cymbals, and eating
divine food, and they live there happy in every way.

“The fortunate ones in that divine realm have
halos of immaculate golden light, and that realm is
beautifully adorned with forest groves. They live in
excellent gardens, such as Joy Producing, that are
pleasant and without foul odor.
The places where
they dwell are sprinkled with flower petals and
beautified with gems and gold. They are symmetrical,
square, and ornamented with jeweled staircases. They
resound with the sweet songs of hundreds of
thousands of goddesses, and there are jewel caskets
that grant any wish they might utter.

“As he lives in that realm his merit is
exhausted, and the following two signs that his
lifespan is exhausted appear. First, he no longer casts
a shadow, smells no longer arise from flowers, and
he cannot hear the sweet words of the goddesses
conversing with one another. The youthful god will
also no longer travel to or assemble in the divine
abodes of the heavenly realm. Those divine abodes are filled with hundreds of thousands of goddesses, the tree branches in them are bedecked with long necklaces, short necklaces, and flower garlands, and their forest clearings are filled with the intoxicating songs of cuckoos. Within them, a group of goddesses begins to wail as they roll
around on the ground, dirtying the clothes
they wear, with a pitiful look on their faces.

“As they roll around on the ground, they no
longer find joy in those places ornamented with
their flower canopies. Their bodies start to sweat,
and their eyes, which previously never closed, now
close. They flop around one another like fish out of water baking in the sun’s rays. Seeing him seated alone on the ground, those goddesses surround him.

“They have a pitiful look on their faces and
wail in unison, saying ‘Alas, how terrible! How
horrible! Alas, where has that most youthful one
gone? That one with his large body decorated with
various ornaments and a prominent and beautiful jawline and
broad chest, who used to roam the various garden
clearings, has abandoned us and abandoned the
pleasing divine abode of the heavenly realm. Where will he go now?’

“Then the goddesses will speak the following
verses:

“ ‘The Great Kings created this realm

Superbly arrayed with various colors,

Ornamented with divine forests,

And filled with food and festivals.

“ ‘Its supremely auspicious marketplace

Bounded by four pillars

Is delightful and filled with divine women,

And its flowers and riches are enchanting.

“ ‘He is leaving and passing away,

And his loved ones are gripped by this impermanence.’

“The goddesses, with tears streaming down and
choked voices, surround him, extending their right
hands as far as they can and strewing flowers as
they say, ‘Alas! How sad! He is departing for the
world of humans, the world of good deeds. May he use
the plough of faith to plough a
field of merit!’

“He then realizes that his body pervaded by thought
is abandoning him, and he falls ill with a fierce
and unbearable disease. After his body has been
destroyed by that fierce disease, it is like a drop of butter vaporized in a flash of lightning. After that body
has withered away it is blown by a wind called
dragger. That wind scatters
it into thousands of pieces and causes it to fall
from the sky as a fine powder.

“After that being has entered her womb, there
will be no pain in her womb, she
will not salivate or produce lymph, and her body
will not experience illness. The fetus’s hands, feet,
and head will develop perfectly in her womb, and
when that being is born, he will be radiant,
delightful to see, and robust.

“He will be fond of hearing descriptions about
the divine realm of the Four Great Kings. He will
like to give things away, have an attachment to
wine, wear perfumed clothing, and be fond of
gardens. His sexual organ will lust after women. He
will want to eat again and again. He will become
immersed in such things as singing, dancing, and
playing cymbals. He will have a supple and dark
complexion, and his eyes will
be like beryl gems. Great Seer, if someone tends
toward these physical and mental habits, one should
see it as a sign that they have come to this life
from the divine realm of the Four Great Kings.

“Great Seer, if a person gives up killing;
has faith and because of that faith gives a gift;
does not take what is not given; gives up specific
types of provisions that are eaten, drunk, licked,
and sucked; takes recourse to giving away all manner of
material things such as gems, gold, silver,
diamonds, and beryl; cultivates and performs those
actions many times over; offers flower garlands
faithfully and joyously; or prostrates before a
stūpa, the karmic fruition of such deeds will result
in their body possessing very few defilements at the
time of death. The fact that they are free of any
putrid excretions or foul smells will prompt them to
reflect on their roots of virtue, and they will be
serene at the time of death.

“The person’s complexion will take on a golden
color, his nose will not become crooked, his heart
will not flutter, he will not have to clear his
throat, and his body will not produce a wheezing
sound. His body will not become overheated, his
sense faculties will not change, his limbs and
organs will not fail, and his joints will not fail.
He will not toss and turn in bed, and he will not
utter vulgarities. He will not die from a fever, and
he will not be harmed when an enemy poisons him. If
he climbs a tree because he wants its flowers or
fruits and then falls, he will not die. If he eats
unpleasant foods and suffers indigestion, it will
not kill him.

“After it casts off that human body, his
consciousness will be among the gods and see the
gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. It will see
a divine palace ornamented a thousand times over
with jewels, gold, beryl, and silver and with a
perfectly symmetrical layout. It will be decorated
with victory banners emblazoned with golden fish and
makara sea monsters, arched gateways,
and flags. Sweet musical melodies and the sounds of
various cymbals will resound, and it will be
surrounded by various dwellings. The palace will sit
within a wood with trees that are ornamented by
birds. It will be sprinkled with water
scented with uragasāra sandalwood, and it will be
ornamented and decorated with strings of divine
jewel lamps. The palace will be beautified by the
play of various radiant women.

“Since the consciousness of that being is
disposed toward merit, it sees those gods and
goddesses seated on thrones, experiences intense
joy, and sets out and is reborn there like a jewel
quickly strung onto a necklace. As that being enters
that new realm, a flower appears from a goddess’s
palms. That being sees the flower and enters it. The
goddess gazes at the god with love and joy,
caresses the flower with her two hands, and joins
her two hands. That provides the condition for him
to take rebirth among the gods.

“When he is born, she will look at the god and
say, ‘You will be pleased to know that it is a young
boy!’ and both parents will rejoice. After seven
days, he will have manifested various earrings that
dangle and shimmer, and after seven days he will
remember, ‘I have come here from such and such a
previous birth, and now these two are my parents.’
He will think, ‘I accomplished this virtuous deed,’
and when he
realizes that he will be extremely delighted.

“Intoxicated with joy, his vanity will lead to
attachment to desire. He will gaze from afar at the
vast expanse of the god realm in which he currently
resides, and his mind will delight in it. He will
move with a divine gait resembling the gait of an
elephant in rut; he will have a large chest and arms
that are long and pendulous; his upper torso will be
like that of a lion; his navel will be deeply
indented; his waist will be narrow like the handle
of a bow; his vertebrae will be in their proper
order; and his thighs will be firm like the trunk of
a plantain tree.

“He will live in that divine abode surrounded
by several goddesses, some of whom indulge in
flirting with him, saying, ‘Lord, are you well? Did
your journey to this divine realm go well? You
should be our husband! We are in the prime of life,
our bodies are fully developed, our breasts protrude
like golden vases, our lips are like lotus blossoms,
and our bodies are pure, just like a flash of
lightning from a raincloud. This place is beautified
by a great palace and the growing shoots and boughs
of the wish-fulfilling kovidāra tree. My lord, you
should enjoy this excited crowd of sixty thousand
women!’

“The sound of lutes, flutes, drums, hand drums,
and singing will fill that divine realm. He will see
a lion throne decorated with divine cushions, and as
he sees it, he will be like a prince wrapped with many silk scarves receiving the crown consecration, and he will ascend and sit on the throne.

“Pleasant sounds and divine music will resound
at all times while he is seated there, and the
following proclamation will ring out in all
directions: ‘This being is predisposed to merit. He
died in the continent of Jambudvīpa and was born here
in this divine realm because of the merit that he
possessed. Let us go to him and amuse him as we play music and dance!’

“Those sixty thousand women will all hold
flowers in their hands as he amuses himself with them.
They will be clad in garments scented with extremely
fragrant perfumes and wear upper robes of fine
dukūlam cotton, superior ornaments, and tinkling
foot bangles. Their faces will be like lotuses
beautifully illuminated by a crescent moon. They
will be drunk on honey, sweet mead, and flower wine
and sit there in the grips of intoxication as they
say, ‘Let us all serve and honor this lord! You
possess the beautiful fragrance of the higher realms
that you realized thanks to your merit. Now you
should indulge yourself in the glorious enjoyment of
blissful divine sensual pleasures.’

“Great Seer, that god and those goddesses are
supremely happy and enjoy the cool of the best parks
in which there are gardens, pleasure groves, stone
platforms like Indra’s throne, magical
emanations, superb rains, lattices,
flowers that open immediately, and wish-fulfilling kovidāra
trees. There are no harmful winds, it is beautified
by the sweet calls of the divine sky-going birds,
and it is filled with divine flowers, fruits, and
perfumes. It has lamps made of various kinds of
precious substances such as beryl, jewel, coral, and
emerald. It resounds with bees,
mating cuckoos, and sweet bird songs. The peacocks
have gold-tipped wings that bear auspicious marks
and are decorated with jewel and gemstone dots, and
they have high, long noses and beaks of beryl, from
which emerge various lovely and harmonious bird
songs. These gods dwell in such perfectly arranged
places scattered with flowers, satisfying their
desires and continually indulging in pleasure.

“In the divine Heaven of the Thirty-Three there
are deep, square-shaped pools with
clear water that is neither too hot nor too cold.
They are pleasant, the water is pure, there are
hundred-petaled lotuses blooming in them, and they
are decorated with trees growing along their banks.
The gods enjoy playing in the pleasant water of those pools, with flowers sprinkled about, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of goddesses, and they live happily there.

“Great Seer, containers decorated with various
colored marks manifest among the gods there,
in the vicinity of their gardens and groves, and
when the gods wish, the containers produce food with colors like jasmine flowers, red lotus, white snow, and
silver. When some of the gods eat from one of the
jewel containers, Great Seer, the food is like the
color of a jewel, while when some take a morsel of
food it is yellow, blue, or white. There is one
such color that has the best and most magnificent
hue. Those are the particular types of food that come from their jeweled containers, which are seen to be the karmic fruition of giving tainted by minor afflictions.

“In cases where the karmic result is
related to giving a gift but later regretting having
done so, the food takes on an inferior color. In
cases where the karmic result is related to giving a
gift and then later generating compassion with a
loving intention and engendering joy, the specific
type of food that results shines like a precious jewel.
Great Seer, you should know those as fully ripened
karmic results.

“Moreover, Great Seer, there is a garden in the
Heaven of the Thirty-Three called Śirīṣaka that is
adorned with branches, flowers, and various fruits.
It is a thick grove of hundreds of thousands of
various trees, and in the central clearing of that
thick grove there is an excellent stone slab that is
spotless, clear like glass, and kept very clean.
There, accomplished sages who are peaceful and whose
sense faculties are tranquil sit, free from
attachment. The groups of gods
and goddesses who indulge in desire do not live
there.

“Great Seer, in that supreme garden Śirīṣaka, there are many flowering and fruiting trees, and the divine discourses of the gods continually resound from them. An elder from the śrāvaka saṅgha assembly
named Gavāṃpati, who was born in the brahmin caste,
lives there dwelling in concentration, abiding in
compassion, delight, and equanimity, and engaging in
the meditative absorption of loving kindness. That
great seer can remain for seven days without
breathing, and, if he so desires, when that great
seer enters the meditative absorption of
loving kindness the wind does not blow. That
great seer’s body is not harmed even slightly in the
final conflagration of the eon, when the entire
world becomes a single tongue of flame that destroys
even Sumeru, the king of mountains. Even the mighty
nāga kings Nanda and Upananda, that pair of fierce
and powerfully pernicious nāga kings who possess
powerful magic and very harmful powers, and can
topple Sumeru, the king of mountains, or dry up even
the four great oceans with a mere breath, are
rendered harmless by the power of the monk
Gavāṃpati’s meditative absorption.

“Great Seer, when the young gods and goddesses
see the elder Gavāṃpati residing in the garden of
Śirīṣaka and dwelling in concentration, with devotion and respect they generate delight and faith in him. They
strew upon him divine flowers, such as māndarāva,
great māndarāva, mañjūṣaka, great mañjūṣaka, blue
lotuses, red lotuses, water lilies, and
white lotuses, and then bow before him with
their palms together.

“Great Seer, there is also a divine meeting
place in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three called
Sudharma. It has eighty-four thousand pillars made
of gold, silver, diamond, coral, and emerald.
The uragasāra sandalwood trees and camphor trees and
the like are covered with nets of melodiously
tinkling bells, and the ground is sprinkled with
gold dust. The divine meeting place Sudharma is
decorated with divine cloths. Within it, banners,
parasols, and flags are raised, and divine music
rings out from such instruments as lutes, flutes,
clay drums, paṭaha drums, small bells of iron, conch
shells, and three-stringed lutes. One can also hear
melodious sounds of laughter, small bells tinkling
on clothes, and the clamor of voices. There are
flowers, fruits, and branches, and one can hear the
melodious songs of cuckoos calling back and
forth from their separate roosts. Gods and goddesses dwell there, their faces beaming with joy and happiness.

“Great Seer, the surface of the ground in the
divine meeting place Sudharma is decorated with
precious jewels. It is glossy, coated with green, and pure like beryl. It is smooth like the
surface of a mirror and strewn with perfumed powders
and various flowers. It is free of such faults as
harsh wind, hot sun, flies, bees, and snakes. It is
naturally free of sleepiness, torpor, and laziness,
and gentle breezes
blow through the openings of its skylights, windows,
and lattices shaped like crescent moons. A pleasant
breeze blows across its arched gateways and its
domed rooftops large and small. It is always
beautified by the sound of strings of jewels spread
out like latticework. It is lovely and strewn
with extremely fragrant perfumes and flower petals.
The goddesses who dwell there have faces like the
disk of the moon, the sun, or a mirror, and they
have adorned their bodies with exceptional divine
adornments.

“Great Seer, the divine meeting place of
Sudharma rings with the melodies of the goddesses’
music. The divine meeting place Sudharma is square,
and its layout is perfectly symmetrical. Its surface
is vast and adorned with various trees, gardens,
glades, and woods. It extends one hundred yojanas on
all sides and is strewn with gold and lotuses and
sprinkled with flower petals. It rings with the
sounds of singing and is beautified with lotuses and
wish-fulfilling kovidāra trees.

“All the material items in the divine meeting
place of Sudharma are made from gold, silver, beryl,
coral, and emerald. It contains heaps of jewels and
is permeated by deposits of gold, surrounded by
numerous types of mountains, and decorated with
various lovely colors. The surface is adorned with
hundreds of thousands of gardens. The gods of the
Heaven of the Thirty-Three, who are free from all
manner of faults related to pain and sickness,
joyously congregate in that supreme garden and then
gather and amuse themselves in the divine meeting
place of Sudharma.

“Great Seer, in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three
there is a divine palace called Beautiful to Behold
that is immaculate like the surface of the moon, the
sun, or a mirror. It is beautified by very fragrant
perfumes and flowers and decorated with garlands
that are anointed and spread out like latticework.
It is adorned with hundreds of thousands of women
who sit there, casting charming and affectionate
sideways glances and feigning
expressions of anger. Its surface is decorated with
great heaps of various types of flowers. The plaster
on its walls is made from jewels. It is decorated
with lattices of tinkling bells. The hooves of
horses, elephants, and chariots kick up gold dust
when they touch the ground, and the beings there
wear crowns and are graced with great wealth.

“Great Seer, the divine palace called Beautiful
to Behold has sixty thousand pillars topped by
capitals decorated with various inlays of divine
gold, silver, and beryl. Its garlands of tamāla leaf
and aloeswood incense have a particularly delicious
aroma.

“Indra, the king of the gods, lives in that
palace, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of
divine women. His body is ornamented by shoots of
gold and diamond, and he enjoys the sensuous play of
the gods. He possesses the power of ninety thousand
elephants, and his arms are like elephant trunks.
His complexion is yellow like pure gold, his body is
taut, and his upper body is like the upper torso of
a lion. His earrings shimmer and illuminate his
body. His exceedingly fine robes are long and trail
behind him. He upholds proper grammar, and he
understands and has mastered its treatises. Many hundreds of thousands of gods follow him and stroll about the
grounds of his divine golden palace.

“His chest is beautifully ornamented with a golden thread
and with short and long necklaces. He is neither too
heavy nor too tall. His feet are firmly planted. The
food that he eats tastes like ambrosia. Hundreds of
thousands of maidens turn their cheeks to one side
and gaze at him askance, and the gusts of wind from
the ears of the rutting elephant Airāvaṇa make a
thunderous sound.

“Great Seer, the body of the king of the gods lacks deformities.
His body is entirely free of disease
and has a very fragrant smell, and his voice has a
sweet and gentle tone. Even a rampaging elephant in
rut that is smeared with musk and in a frenzy is
quelled when it makes contact with the scent of the
king of the gods’ body.

“Great Seer, the king of the gods’ body is
roughly the same size as the body of the Tathāgata.
When they see Indra’s great golden body, even noble
śrāvakas will come before him and say, ‘The
excellent body of the king of the gods is like that of
the Tathāgata.’ ”

The great seer Vyāsa was astounded when he
heard about the size of the king of the gods’ body, so
the Blessed One said, “Great Seer, why are you
astounded by Great Indra’s trifling body, which is
subject to impermanence, embellished like a
performer’s prop, and constructed in the manner of
fashioning a book cover, carving wood, or making a
mechanical device, which, like a floral arrangement,
is beautiful just for a short while, and which is
like an image reflected in a mirror?

The monk Aniruddha, understanding that the
Blessed One had made a request, entered into
meditative absorption. The power of that absorption
allowed the monk Aniruddha to appear as a nāga king
adorned with a divine golden glow, with a superior
complexion like the trunk of a coral tree, with hair
hanging down and bound up into a crown with a
jeweled diadem, with broad cheeks and a bright and resplendent complexion, with eyes like divine blue
lotuses, and with jewels, corals, and emeralds. The
great bodily form and the divine appearance and
fragrance he manifested appeared before the entire
assembly and amazed and pleased them as its
exceedingly sweet fragrance filled their ranks.

When the great seer Vyāsa saw that marvel, his
heart raced, and he rose from his seat, folded his
hands, and, filled with great wonder, shouted, “Ah! Excellent!
Because of the Omniscient One, ever since I met the
Tathāgata I have seen marvels in this assembly the
likes of which I have never seen before. Today this
human life I have obtained has become
meaningful!”

“Great Seer, what do you think?” the Blessed
One said to the great seer Vyāsa. “Which is better,
Great Indra’s body or the monk Aniruddha’s body of
glowing gold, made of the finest jewels?”

The great seer Vyāsa replied to the Blessed
One, “Blessed One, Indra’s body is not even close to
a hundredth of the monk Aniruddha’s body—it cannot
even bear comparison to a thousandth, or a hundred
thousandth, or any number or fraction of that
body.”

“Great Seer, that is how you should see the superiority of dedicating roots of virtue in
comparison to a body that has been attained as a
result of meritorious karma.

“Great Seer, Indra’s highest consort, Śacī,
dwells in a garden grove in the Heaven of the
Thirty-Three, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of
goddesses with radiant bodies ornamented with
perfumes, garlands, and flowers. They are perfumed
with the highly fragrant scents of divine red and
blue lotuses. Their lips are golden and shaped like
bilva fruit. The supremely radiant clothes they wear
are extremely fine and sheer. Their bodies bend from
the weight of their divine ornaments, anklets,
bracelets, twisted bracelets, and long and short
necklaces as they stroll about in the gardens and
forests.

“Their foreheads and cheeks are large and
perfectly symmetrical. They bind their waists with a
belt of evenly spaced gold and jewels, and they are
charming and affectionate. Their eyes are long and
wide-open as they smile, and their hands are covered
with elongated patterns. Their navels are deep,
and they lack the faults related to anger, jealousy,
envy, fighting, and quarreling. Their faces are free
from feigning the stages of expressing anger, and
they have bodies that are completely devoid of the
defects related to having borne a child.

“The divine maiden Śacī’s affectionate air
comes from the longing for intense passion that
arose when she experienced passionate desire after
leaving the palace on Sumeru and taking
shelter under a canopy of vines and branches. She is like a gentle breeze filled with
scattered flowers. She is neither too tall nor too
short, her hips are neither too thick nor too thin,
and she has a radiant face. She is clean and
beautiful, fond of lotuses, driven by strongly
scented breezes of exceedingly sweet perfumes, and
astonishingly beautiful.

“Great Seer, the gods of the Heaven of the
Thirty-Three do not get sick or contract fevers.
They live and roam about in gardens and forest
groves and within the grounds of divine palaces.
Their lifespan is one thousand divine years. When a
god’s merit expires due to living in that divine
realm, there appear five signs that his lifespan has
expired and he will pass away, which were not there
previously.

“When he arrives at the pools that were once
clear like quartz crystal and touched by a gentle
breeze, their banks lined with broad-branched trees
draped with canopies of vines, it is as if someone
has strewn them with mustard seed oil. When he sees
that they have been strewn with mustard seed oil, he
is terrified, and he gets out of the pool and runs
away, fleeing into the thick forest.

“The goddesses will then see that he has fled and will follow close behind. He will stop
and sit at the foot of a tree in that thick forest,
and the goddesses, feeling pity, will
weep desperately and say, ‘Master, why do you want
to leave us and live alone at the foot of this
tree?’ They will weep and say this again in a miserable tone. And the god will cry out, ‘Something happened to me that has
never happened before. It was like having mustard
seed oil sprayed on my body.’

“When he realizes they have abandoned him, he
will experience sorrow. Experiencing sorrow, his
breathing will become panicked. His
breathing panicked, his body will suffer torment.
That bodily and mental torment will lead his crown
of flowers, which before could not possibly have
wilted, to wilt. His garland will wilt, and his
robes, which had never before become worn out, will
wear out. Finally, even the divine blankets and soft
bedding will bring him no comfort.

“Pained, the goddesses will recognize the signs of his impending death. They will not be able
to tolerate the smell, and they will abandon him
while pitifully and uncontrollably crying out in
pain.

“Pained by the suffering of separation, they
will weep uncontrollably and cry, ‘Alas! He whose
body had such soft features, who roamed the divine
gardens and forests, who was like a sheldrake on
this island of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, who
was like a majestic swan in the divine meeting place
of Sudharma, who was like a kalandaka bird in the pleasure groves, who was like an elephant smeared with musk in the pools, who was like a bee in the wish-fulfilling kovidāra trees and gardens, and
who wore a flower on his ear in the pleasure groves—he is leaving us! What will happen now? Where
will we live?’

“He will catch an uncontrollable fever, and his
body and mind will be so disturbed by that fever
that he will isolate himself from any visitors and
act like a recluse, like a shipwrecked traveler, or
like a king who has lost his wish-granting jewel. He
will be scattered by the winds of impermanence, just
like a crumbling mountain, and his body will toss
and turn on the ground. He will writhe like a young
nāga caught in a garuḍa’s beak and beg those
goddesses with his palms hastily joined, saying,
‘Come back! Touch my body with the palms of your
hands!’

“He will beg like that as he
suffers and writhes in mental torment. When the
goddesses see that, they will refuse to leave his
side. They will wonder how they could touch the limbs of his body, but as they hold flowering branches and lay
them on the heart of the god who is dying they
will say, ‘Now that the merit that led you to this
high birth is spent, may you quickly take rebirth in
Jambudvīpa!’

“When the god realizes that he is leaving his
body, he will sob and cry pitifully, saying, ‘Alas, after
having enjoyed this higher realm of the gods with
its divine features, ornaments, and excellent
gardens and become infatuated with these
goddesses, I have now reached the moment of death, and none of those things will
remain.’

“This thought will occur to him over and over
as he hears them saying, ‘May you be reborn in
Jambudvīpa.’ He will look around his home again and
again, collapse to the ground, and weep and wail
pitifully, saying, ‘Alas, the parks, the pleasure groves, and the smooth slabs of rock! Alas,
the divine meeting place Sudharma, the coral trees,
the beauty, the groves, the gardens, the pools, the
excellent palaces with their many doorways—I must
leave behind all these places in the divine realm!
Now I will surely fall from the cliff of the higher
realms!’

“Filled with fear, he will look at his own
abode and say, ‘Alas, dear friends, my time of death
approaches. Why are you so silent? Considering that
I will soon be in the wilderness of saṃsāra, and am preparing to set off on a long journey, come and hug me! After this I will not see you, and you will not see me. Alas, the fruition of the meritorious acts
that led me to this higher realm has been exhausted,
and the moment of death now appears before me like
darkness. Is this higher realm empty? Why is no one
playing music or cymbals? I no longer hear their
sound. Now I will meet my end because of the fault
of karma!’

“After that he will weep and wail, saying,
‘Alas! May I have such great merit to live among the
divine retinue of the Thousand-Eyed One in this higher realm with its
beautiful gods and gandharvas and to see it again
in the future. Why have the fully blossomed flowers on my head wilted?’ As he says this and becomes depressed, all
of them, brandishing their immaculate earrings that
flicker about, will bring him flowers.

“The ruler of the gods, Indra, surrounded by
hundreds of thousands of gods, the goddess Śacī followed by goddesses such as Aditi,
Marīci, and Variously Ornamented, and such gods and
gandharvas as Pañcaśikha and Tumburu, will sing divine songs as they move in a procession.
When they see those five signs and see him in such a
wretched state, they will pity him. All at once they
will say, ‘How sad! This impermanence is so fierce
and unbearable!’

“The god will then think, ‘Even though I am
dying, it is okay.’ He will place his hands together
and supplicate the other gods, saying, ‘All of you
gods please bear with me, for the moment of death is
upon me!’

“Then he will exhale a long breath, and two
signs will appear. The petals of his lotus eyes will
wilt, and all his ornaments will disappear. The gods
will see that his ornaments have disappeared and
then scatter māndārava flowers, red
lotuses, and the like over him. When he sees them wearing
their ornaments and playing their lutes, flutes, and
cymbals, he will take comfort in being reborn in
Jambudvīpa.

“Tears will stream down his face as he weeps in
desperation, and he will apply the teachings of the
time of dying. After his divine merit and lifespan
are completely exhausted, a great gust of wind will
rise up, and when his body is struck by that
fragrant wind it will scatter, and the god will have
passed on from that divine realm. As he leaves that
life he will not know where his body is, and after
he has departed, he will take rebirth as a human
being.

“When he has been reborn as a human being and
is in his mother’s womb, she will exhibit such signs
as feeling compelled to delight in singing, dancing,
playing, and laughing. She will have an affinity for
flowers, fruits, and forests. She will wear
shimmering, colorful clothing, and she will crave
excellent divine foods.

“When he is in the womb, Great Seer, he will
not have any bad dreams. He will
be born without desire, hatred, and delusion. He
will have a handsome figure and be attractive and
beautiful. His feet will be firmly planted, and all
his limbs will be robust and intact. His hands and
feet will be long and thick, his upper body will be
like that of a lion, he will have well-spaced teeth,
and his body will be very soft.

“The first time he experiences passionate
desire, he will find that desire unacceptable. He
will be fond of fine robes, he will like gardens,
and he will like divine scents and music. He will be
born into a family of high standing that is wealthy
with gold and every kind of jewel. He will be fond
of giving, discipline, and restraint.

“If his strong attachment to desire leads to
not having an affinity for giving and moral conduct,
he will be reborn in one poor family after another.
He will praise greedy and immoral people, and he
will not be particularly dedicated or virtuous. He
will lust for the wives of others and all manner of
people while ignoring his own wife, and
he will be intent on people who are related to him.
Great Seer, these are the signs that someone has
passed on from the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.”

This concludes The Seer
Vyāsa’s Questions, the forty-ninth of the one hundred thousand sections
of the Dharma discourse known as The Noble Great Heap of Jewels.

Colophon

Translated, edited, revised according to the new terminology, and finalized by the
Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla along with
the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé.

Notes

Abbreviations

D
Degé Kangyur (sde dge par phud)

KY

S
Stok Palace Kangyur

Bibliography

Ficus religiosa or the
waved-leaf fig tree, Ficus infectoria.

nyagrodha

Ficus indica banyan or
Indian fig.

One of a number of
lifestyles that Buddhist monks might adopt, it is
particularly conducive to practicing meditation
and is thus associated with monks who valued
meditation as an integral part of their lives as
ascetics. The Tibetan nang du yang dag ’jog pa can
correspond to the Sanskrit pratisaṃlāyana or pratisaṁlīna.
lived in seclusion

garland-bearing god

A class of gods associated with the Four Great Kings.

An alternate name for the
Indian seer Vyāsa.

An Indian seer.

An Indian seer.

An Indian seer.

An Indian seer.

An Indian seer.

An Indian seer.

An Indian seer.

The name of a goddess.

Gavāṃpati
A great śrāvaka adept.

The name of the palaces in
the divine realm of the Four Great Kings.

The name of a garden grove
in the divine realm of the Four Great Kings.