辟支佛因緣論

The King of Vārāṇasī had the karmic affinity to meet a Pratyekabuddha.

The Assistant Minister Soma also had the affinity to meet a Pratyekabuddha.

The kings and the Elders (Gṛhapati) of Vārāṇasī had affinity with the Pratyekabuddhas.

I take refuge in the all-knowing wisdom of the World-Honored One

Who clearly knows the three times, the bright lamp of light

I take refuge in the unsurpassed essential Dharma

And furthermore I have met the true Holy Saṅgha

I have heard of the tranquil, serene Pratyekabuddhas

Who clearly understand the causes and conditions of their conduct

Whose minds bear no stain of defilement

Who well uphold the precepts and prohibitions and are able to be pure

Like the autumn sky without clouds to cover it

Unafraid of being obscured by the dense forest

I now thirst with reverence for that merit

With sincere mind I respectfully comply, giving rise to faith and joy

Though concerning that matter I wished to harbor doubt

That power moved my cultivation to deepen and my faith to grow strong

Having heard purely, swiftly I attained the true and genuine conduct

Yet did not give rise to a mind of faith and reverence

I shall now speak of the Pratyekabuddhas

Of their merit and wondrous conduct, a small portion

In times past from the Patriarchs I heard and received it

I speak only the true text, I do not speak falsely

As the great elephant goes along the road, the small elephants follow

Therefore I now reveal and disclose it.

It is asked: By what cause and condition does the Pratyekabuddha maintain stillness, fearing to enter the mind into community, ever dwelling in the secluded forest groves; at the quiet riverbank he sets his mind upon practicing that stillness? Moreover he speaks not a single word, like the one-horned rhinoceros—how can it be so?

It is further asked: What merit does the Pratyekabuddha possess?

The answer is: This has been spoken of by the ancient Masters concerning this matter.

In times past, when the Buddha was in the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three to expound the Dharma, and afterward wished to descend again to Jambudvīpa.

At that time Śakra commanded Viśvakarman, saying: For the sake of the Buddha, create three precious roads by which to return to Jambudvīpa. These three stairway roads connected downward to the country of Sāṃkāśya. The Tathāgata at that time descended from the palace in that heaven, ascending those stairs and coming down.

At that time Śakra and Brahmā, the Heavenly Kings, together with their retinues rained down flowers as offerings. At that time the nun Utpalavarṇā, seeing the Buddha descend first, immediately transformed herself into a Wheel-Turning Sage King, with majestic and dignified form, the seven treasures adorning her all about. At that time everyone, seeing such a thing, all gave rise to wonder, that it was something unprecedented, and they spoke these words: Surely there is someone who, using supernatural power, can surpass that nun?

At that time the World-Honored One, seeing that everyone, upon seeing the three roads of stairway steps, gave rise to delight, and at the same time also seeing that the nun Utpalavarṇā had created this supernatural transformation so that many people gave rise to thirsting reverence. Because he wished to make that faithful mind believe, he then said: There are Pratyekabuddhas whose supernatural power is higher and more sublime than this nun's.

Their renown surpasses hers, and there are those who delight as when a Buddha has not yet appeared in the world, then they come forth into the world to perform deeds of benefit for the sake of sentient beings. To display this form and appearance, they manifest hunger and thirst, receiving robes and food. Because they create fields of merit to adorn the practices of the Dharma.

Because of pure tranquil extinction and subduing and detachment from desire, in order to cause sentient beings to see this, and those with evil minds at once cast away knife and staff, like the rhinoceros encountering a small matter.

The Masters transmitted to one another the hearing of this matter. What matter was heard? — I have heard from of old that at the time of Kāśyapa Buddha there was a person who went forth from home, who lived to the age of ten thousand years cultivating the holy life and protecting and upholding the right precepts. Practicing patience throughout, he was constantly diligent in cultivation.

For this reason many bhikṣus would draw near to him. At that time the bhikṣus said to one another: Cultivating, one shall be taught; one shall learn and inquire. The minds of these bhikṣus were all gentle, yet there were also some who were boisterous, and so they did not perceive the truth.

At the time of his death he then thought: I have seen the Ten Powers, and this place where the Dharma was expounded is truly subtle, wondrous, and profound, hard to be able to hear; yet I have been able to hear it. But if one is heedless, then one cannot attain the fruit of the Way. I have constantly purely upheld the precepts and practiced the conduct of patient endurance and transformed sentient beings, regarding that boisterousness as encroaching upon and destroying the concentrated mind, like that frost which obscures and harms the good rice plants.

Therefore it has caused me not to attain the fruit of the Way. Then he spoke a verse, saying:

I now sink within the three realms

Amid the defilements

Like an old, declining elephant

Not yet sunk into the deep mire

Like that Pratyekabuddha

Who encounters those mountain forests

Like the one-horned rhinoceros

Far removed from all assemblies

As one departs from the fierce flame's tip

One should urgently cultivate

Far removed from the boisterous places

I vow that I shall be far separated

From that crowd, that tumultuous gathering

Having uttered this vow, when his life ended he was reborn in heaven, and in that heaven he received and enjoyed the pleasures of desire. When his merit was exhausted, he was again reborn in the country of Kāśi; in the city of Vārāṇasī the foremost queen of King Brahmadatta there, when she conceived, he at once entered the womb within the body of the queen; like a soft, delicate flower within a pool of clear water. At that time the queen knew that she was with child; and so she addressed the king with a verse:

I feel that I am with child

With joy arises worry

This surely is a son

Proclaim amnesty for the guilty

The king heard and was truly delighted

He then sought out those who were condemned

She further addressed the king, saying

I wish to give alms broadly

The king heard and also rejoiced with her

He had the granaries opened

To provide for the poor and needy

There was none who was not made complete

At that time the queen gave birth to the Prince, upright and beautiful, like the full moon. By the age of eight he was truly intelligent and benevolent; when that king passed away, the people of the country cherished and mourned him throughout; at that time there was an Assistant Minister called Vacana. This one then raised the Prince to the throne of king.

Only one year later, according to the power of his original vow, he did not perform evil deeds, his very nature was kind and gentle, and he had a mind of profound compassion toward all sentient beings. He wished only to dwell in stillness within the royal palace, using a flowered hall as his dwelling place. Again, away from that boisterousness he cultivated meditative concentration, wishing to be free of birth and death, and he spoke of this matter.

Using the Way to cultivate the mind, he forsook the affairs of kingship. The ministers admonished him, saying: Now the Great King attends only to practicing the Way and does not attend to the affairs of state. If it is so, then bands of the wicked may rise up and bring ruin to the proper governance and customs.

Just as in crossing the sea, if there is no boatman, surely fierce calamity will befall. They then spoke a verse, saying:

The king inherits from the ancestors

The lands obtained in accordance with the Dharma

Though he governs the myriad people

He vows to forsake that realm

If the king governs by the right Dharma

The worthy will not grow few

The throne of king should be made clearly great

Protecting the realm—this merit is supreme.

At that time this king, having heard those words, sighed and reflected, and then replied with a verse, saying:

If I do not govern the realm

My realm will surely be lost

My power is able to hold the realm

The wicked can hardly encroach upon it

If I am one who governs the realm

The affairs of kingship lie in my mind

If there is one who commits an offense

It must inevitably be increased or diminished

These words bind that one

Cut off the hands and feet of that one

That one must enter the offense of death

That one wishes to flee from these eyes

As in this evil age now

One must maintain punishments

If one executes the offender

That is to be a Caṇḍāla

Thereupon the king said to his close attendants: Now you should listen to this: The place of my eating and drinking is not of too many flavors; the place of my clothing is also not more than a single set of garments. The place of my sitting is also not more than a single spot to contain this body. Looking from this, what need is there for so much, never knowing satisfaction?

The throne of king is but an honored title. Using this to instruct, making those deeds also but matters of admonition and warning. It is only this that should be maintained for the people.

He further said to the Assistant Minister: Though the kingship is a place of honor; yet I have only this one thing, which is that I shall now hand over to you the throne of king, and you should, for the sake of later generations, take the right Dharma to govern the realm, in order to guard against those bandits and pretenders remaining from former times, and he then spoke a verse, saying:

Though I was born in the royal palace

Receiving the inheritance of the ancestors

Yet I have never learned

The killing and slaughter that are offenses

Now I am exceedingly afraid

I should not create this karma

You should act in my stead

Ever instructing the people

The people of the world, through delusion

Each by himself creates wrong

Because of committing offenses

There again arises fear and dread

You should take the right Dharma

Reveal it to them, do not be afraid

Rely upon the right Dharma

Reveal it to the people

When the king had finished speaking the verse, he then handed over the realm to the Great Minister, and the Great Minister at once received the realm. For two years he then gave nothing in alms to the people. His mind was led astray, creating various unlawful deeds, and over a long time, relying upon his lofty authority and weighty office, he gave rise to arrogance and heedlessness, performing unlawful deeds as numerous as rivers and mountains, causing much harm and ruin. He collected all the various taxes within the city. At that time the people within the city all remonstrated about this matter. The king, hearing those direct words, then gave rise to anger doubled, and at once changed his countenance and said: How do you dare speak such words! Do you not fear the king's authority?

Because of this conduct, day by day it increased, like fire meeting dry firewood, turning into a great blaze. Debauched and violent, contrary to reason and opposed to the Way. The king was infatuated only with women and even violated their chastity. At that time the king's queen, seeing this, then in distress wept and came to address the king; but because of a mind deluded and haughty, his mouth moved but spoke not a single word, like a child gazing. Because of this matter she turned toward the king and spoke. The king, having heard this, then summoned her and said: I have caused the queen to constantly endure in patience and to perform unlawful deeds, harming the myriad people, whereas the king ought to instruct; from now henceforth it shall not be so.

At that time that Assistant Minister, seeing that the king still harbored doubt about this matter so as to make the people forsake him; then at once left the country and departed to that other country, and met that king there together with his soldiers, and then turned toward his homeland wishing to lead troops to attack it. At that time in the home country there were the former Assistant Ministers who used troops to counterattack and repel this army, and there arose stabbing and slashing between them.

The former Assistant Ministers then addressed the king, saying: That one wishes to invade and seize the throne of king, and so at once together with that general they engaged the place of the king in battle. At that time the king changed countenance and at once manifested shame and manifested the appearance of fear. The king said: How terrifying indeed is birth and death, and then spoke a verse, saying:

Delusion obscures and obliterates the mind

Not clearly seeing the great suffering that follows

Because of the condition of small pleasure

Now I receive this remorse

Like eating delicious rice

Whose flavors are all complete

Yet within it is full of poison

The fool does not look and see

Greedy for the flavor, he takes it and eats

Having eaten, it turns into harm

The king said to the Assistant Ministers: Those offenses are too many to be counted; so my intention is that I do not wish for them to recur. He then spoke a verse, saying:

All of it arises from craving

Proclaim that the offenses be swiftly pardoned

Do not see the harming of those lives

So that they may attain peace and joy

To commit offense is truly profound

So one should turn toward a mind of loving-kindness

That one himself bears the offense within

So one should give rise to a mind of tender care

If one harms those lives

One destroys for oneself the beloved Dharma

The former ministers then addressed the king, saying: If we now disobey the king's command, we shall surely be punished. In the end he did not relent, and then before the king they brandished swords, stabbing and slashing. The king, seeing this, then gave rise to a mind of being far removed from evil deeds.

Seeing the former scene, just as in the past he had a mind cultivating patient endurance. At that time he sought a means to open up and clearly disclose the path of the Pratyekabuddha. Like the utpala flower blossoming forth, then with his body he flew up into empty space, and all the attendants joined their palms together facing the Pratyekabuddha who had departed far from birth and death; thus he realized the Way.

I now have attained the fruit and reward of upholding the precepts, and then spoke a verse, saying:

Though I wear pearls and treasures

My mind cultivates the holy life

Restraining the body, subduing the faculties

Plain and frugal, ever in stillness

Toward all people

I cast away knife and staff and the like

Cultivating only the one practice alone

Like the one-horned rhinoceros

When he had finished speaking this verse, his hair then fell of itself. At that time the gods of the Pure Abodes (Śuddhāvāsa) offered a kāṣāya robe, and then he sought into empty space at the snowy mountains. At that time within the mountain there was a Pratyekabuddha, who asked, saying: From that throne of king, departing far from evil deeds, how did you awaken to this Way?

Then he spoke the verse as above to reply. This is because the Tathāgata, for the sake of those who could not cultivate the practice of patience, therefore spoke of the causes and conditions of patient endurance. Taking greed as drawing near to the boisterous places.

Therefore he spoke of not drawing near to causes and conditions, wishing to make clearly known the merit of the Pratyekabuddha. For this reason he then spoke of the causes and conditions of the Pratyekabuddha. The Buddha, for the sake of the gods in the Hall of Good Dharma, spoke of the causes and conditions of the Pratyekabuddha.

The Buddha, in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, caused the gods to give rise to a mind of being far removed from evil deeds. Therefore he spoke of the matter of the Pratyekabuddha Vāseṭṭha. Then at Vaiśālī he spoke of the matter of casting away the body and entering Nirvāṇa.

Now there presently exists a precious stūpa named Udāyin, and the Assistant Minister Soma awakened to the causes and conditions of the Pratyekabuddha.

Firmly maintaining the prohibitions and precepts without destroying them

The wise attain liberation

Not learning from others, not vexing others

Solitary in the one practice like the rhinoceros

This matter has never been heard from such Masters. At the time of Kāśyapa Buddha there was a bhikṣu who lived to the age of ten thousand years cultivating the holy life, who, while seated in meditation, constantly cultivated and upheld the precepts, departing from those boisterous places and practicing the dhūta (ascetic) practices. At the end of his life he was reborn in heaven. In the heavenly palace he received and enjoyed the pleasures of desire. When his lifespan in heaven was complete, he was reborn into the womb of the wife of the Assistant Minister Deva in the city of Bhadrika. At that time the wife then spoke a verse, addressing her husband:

Your handmaid is with child

My mind is able to be joyful and delighted

Surely there is a person of merit

Come to be my son

Because of this matter, even until now I am constantly able to feel compassion for all. Furthermore, now I have stopped my heedless mind, and then have no thought of the pleasures of desire. Just as in that sea there is Mount Malaya which can cause the waves of the sea to subside, so I cause those longings to cease, likewise so.

I now fear false speech. I constantly speak the truth. Again, like a person possessing good merit who fears faults, I now am likewise so.

I now regard wine as poison. I fear those goods and possessions as I fear a heap of fire. Such evil deeds I all depart far from.

Because it is all on account of my now bearing within me a child of merit and virtue. I take no delight in the affairs of lust. At that time the Assistant Minister then said to his wife: Now according to your wish, cultivate and uphold the five precepts.

At that time the wife performed all the good deeds. After ten months she then gave birth to this child. He was named Soma, and the child gradually grew up; there was no scripture or treatise, including the sixty-four arts, that he did not penetrate and master, upright and surpassing like the full moon, able to perform deeds that fulfilled his parents' wishes.

When he reached adulthood, the Assistant Minister addressed the king, saying: I am now aged; for the sake of the later life please make merit on my behalf. At that time the king replied: I now cannot make merit for you, because there are obstructions. You should use your son Soma and take him to provide for me, performing good in your stead.

The Assistant Minister rejoiced, and afterward the king employed Soma as Assistant Minister, bestowing emoluments more abundant even than his father's. Everyone revered and loved him, and then together they came to visit the place of the former Great Minister, the Bull King, which had caused the maidens of that place to cherish him with longing. At that time the king's queen loved Soma.

She said to Soma: If you can now act according to my words, strike down and subdue this realm—when the king dies, I shall follow you. Moreover I can cause you not to bear an ill name. This too is precisely the place of giving the gift of the Dharma teaching, no different from that king.

At that time Soma held his resolve firm and was not weak or cowardly, and with a verse replied, saying:

I beg to hear these words

Not yet clear, with doubt and suspicion

I hear these words

Like water flowing into the earth

Just as a wild horse

When it comes to distress

Falls into the circle of battle

It dares not advance forward

I see that woman

My feelings are not stained or attached

My mind and intent do not open

Like a flower of the night

In all that I revere

She is no different from my mother

How much more so toward her husband

Whom I do indeed esteem

My mind firmly maintains

Reverence for what is worthy of reverence

I, in my duty as a son

Will not act as a treacherous rebel

When together with my lustful desire

At the moment it arises

Seeing that woman

Of itself it stops still

Though stirred up by surging waters

Many times by waves and winds

I am like the autumn waters

Of itself pure and clean

At that time the queen

Thought to herself, saying

If that one cuts me off

Close to that intent

I shall surely concerning that one

Give rise to slander

Then she at once addressed the king

The Assistant Minister Soma

Has formed an unreasonable intent

Wishing to violate and seize me

At that time the king felt doubt and adjudged whether it was right or not. At the same time Soma went to that garden and saw two oxen bearing the yoke, plowing and harrowing upon high ground, truly exceedingly toilsome and bitter, and he gave rise to a mind of departing from evil. At that time the king felt moved and believed the slanderous words of the queen, and at once gave the order to go and kill Soma.

At that time Soma was like a horse shot by an arrow that strikes the bone, and then reflected, saying: When a person is wealthy, they cherish beautiful forms exhausted entirely until now. Like eating poison within delicious foods. Wishing to digest it, the body then is ruined.

Like one greedy for the five desires, this flavor is very deep and intense. Also like roof tiles of gold burned by fire. That one greedy for forms, entering within, is harmed.

When his life comes to an end his mind and intent are anxious, and then he consoled himself, thinking: I have been able to uphold the precepts purely without destroying or violating them; I am one who upholds the precepts, clearly like the yak that loves its tail, I maintain the prohibitions and precepts, like one greedy who gains the earth's protection, exhorting that one should maintain them, and he spoke a verse, saying:

The coarse and vile of the evil path

I have already passed through

I encounter a matter of peril and urgency

Yet guard the precepts and do not forsake them

Like the great ocean's waters

Lost in no place at all

Now I maintain and guard the precepts

This matter is likewise so

When he had finished speaking this verse, at that time the gods and good spirits, seeing this Assistant Minister make such a vow, all gave rise to joy. Thereupon the evil ghosts sought out the queen, and the queen went mad; then before the king, on account of the ghost, she spoke a verse, saying:

I am now destroyed and ruined

This body of mine receives death

I am wholly a good person

One should not add to the sorrow and pain

I encountered delusion

His mouth is like Mount Sumeru

That cannot be made to shake

That one truly has no evil conduct

I forgot, and gave rise to this doubt

At that time that Assistant Minister, within the flower garden, reflected and departed from evil, attained Pratyekabuddhahood, ascended into empty space, and his hair fell down. At that time the gods of the Pure Abodes offered the kāṣāya robe. Then the gods exhorted and entreated, saying: We pray you do not forsake us and ascend up to heaven. At that time the Pratyekabuddha spoke the verse as above to reply to the gods, flew to the snowy mountains, met the Pratyekabuddhas, again as in the matter above, and spoke it in full.

The Great Minister Candrapriya awakened to his affinity with the Pratyekabuddha.

The waters of the sea never overflow in excess

The yak dies clutching its tail

As the nature of the moon is of itself cold

It cannot be transformed into hot

One who subdues the faculties

And upholds the precepts is likewise so

This is called: the solitary practice

Like the rhinoceros without a second

Of old, the Great Masters

Changed their appearances to teach and instruct

From before I have heard much

Now I wish to reveal and expound this

In a certain age in the past there was a Pratyekabuddha named Candrapriya, who, in the place of the Buddha Bhagavat Bhāgavata Dīpa, planted the various roots of goodness, was able to cultivate the practice of the precepts, ever using wisdom to contemplate the aggregates (skandhas), all of which are impermanent. In the place of that Buddha he did not attain the fruit of the Śramaṇa's Way, and when his life ended, he was at once reborn in heaven.

Because of the power of goodness in former lives, he received and enjoyed the bliss of heaven, and when it was entirely exhausted, he returned to be a human, born into the household of an Elder (Gṛhapati) of the country of Campā. When first born, he constantly relied upon the precepts and prohibitions to cultivate himself. Regarding this good conduct, surpassing even the venerable elders, and moreover he was not frivolous, nor did he have anger.

His wealth and possessions he all brought forth to provide for the poor, dividing them equally according to household. He used the precepts as a garland to adorn himself. When his father died, he governed the household in accordance with the Dharma.

The people of that city, seeing this loyalty and filial piety, gave rise to a mind of profound reverence and faith; like toward their own Master. When he reached adulthood, his appearance was upright. Toward the maidens, all who saw him there was none who did not cherish and love him.

The merchant travelers, because of this loyalty and sincerity, came to rely upon him.

At that time in the northern region there were merchants who came with fine carriages to the country of Campā, and the king of the country of Campā took away all these carriages. The king's mind was violent and tyrannical, not faithful and relying not upon the right Dharma. The king thought to himself: I have now obtained many of those carriages—how shall it be, that without paying a price I have obtained these carriages, and so together with his flattering ministers he assembled to deliberate on that matter.

The flattering ministers addressed the king, saying: If we are told to pay the money, then the value in the treasury will be exhausted. The king then replied: If I now do not pay the price for them, then I shall be a wicked person, my name will spread throughout the realm, all the people of the country will be angry with me, and moreover would I not sever relations with the merchant travelers from all the various places?

The deceitful ministers further addressed: For the king we have a plan. Without needing to pay the money, we shall still obtain those carriages and horses. Moreover we can cause the king not to bear an ill name before the people of the country and not to be reproached.

At that time within the kingdom there was the Great Minister Candrapriya, who, for the sake of all people, embodied trustworthiness. He came and presented to the king, saying: "I, Candrapriya, will send gold to assist you in paying those merchant travelers and purchasing all ten thousand of those carriages and horses. For each carriage pay ten thousand strings of cash." If the king believes the words of this Great Minister Candrapriya so as to pay those, then the people within the realm will inevitably give rise to doubt and suspicion.

Either they will doubt the king; or they will doubt Candrapriya. The king will bear an ill name, and inevitably it will spread to the outside. Furthermore it is not for the sake of the myriad people that one departs from the evil and vile, and those merchant households afterward again addressed the king, saying: Return the horses to us so that we may return again to our homes.

The king then replied: Did I not first employ Candrapriya to reward you thus, so that it could again not be as deserved? The merchant travelers then replied to the king, saying: This Candrapriya from beginning to end truly did not agree with us upon the price of those horses, but that loyalty and trustworthiness—would he indeed cast away body and life here? In the end he would not speak falsely; those words together with our agreed price.

They then spoke a verse, saying:

Suppose the moon, the rain, the fire

The sky rains down upon the country of ice

Press sand and obtain oil

Press water and obtain vinegar

In the fire a lotus is born

You may wish to make Candrapriya

How could he loose forth false speech

In the end there is none here

The merchant people again addressed the king, saying: You are a person amid heaven and earth—command Candrapriya, and according to the king's decree let him speak with us. In the end I bear no anger. At that time the king then summoned Candrapriya and said: Did you not before, in my presence, promise me that you and I would take the money to reward the merchant travelers?

The king then glared with his eyes, manifesting a deceitful appearance. If you do not follow me, I shall kill you. At that time the Minister Candrapriya knew his own fault and reflected, saying: From this day I must speak true words, for using the king's words I again devised my own plan, because to guard the Dharma-body is superior even to this very body itself; and so he then resolved upon his plan: I would rather cast away this body than resolve to forsake the body of the precept-Dharma, and then spoke a verse, saying:

I now reflect for myself

Concerning these two bodies

Which body should be cast away

In truth I observe for myself

Though I harm this vile, ugly form

In the end I will not forsake the precepts and rules

If I must forsake the Dharma-body

An ill name will be transmitted

If it is in the hands of good people

For their sake it is maintained

If I am among the wicked

I myself will not be at peace and joy

The mind gives rise to remorse's hot fire

Casting away this filthy body

One will enter the place of hell

Having vowed to those prohibitions and precepts

In the end there is no peace and joy

Merely for the sake of a little pleasure

One harms many other bodies

If one is a keeper of the precepts

Immeasurable bodies are at peace and ease

Thus I shall act

Sheltering and protecting the Dharma-body

Not causing it to be destroyed

For the sake of benefiting the right Dharma

I must cut off false speech

The Great Minister Candrapriya then addressed the king, saying: I pray the king bestow grace and not be angry with me. I truly do not recall seeing the king together with that price. At that time the king grew angry, drew his sword, and said: How is it you do not recall it? The Great Minister Candrapriya again settled this intent and reflected, saying:

Better to die for the sake of the holy Dharma

Than to live in delusion

Of all things that are born

Who is there that does not die?

If I am now killed

For the sake of the Dharma I do not cherish the body

Resolved to be born in heaven

Why then should I give rise to fear?

To reply to the king's words: even supposing the king gave the order to cut this body into small pieces one by one, I would resolve still to maintain the prohibitions and precepts and not forsake them. At that time I am amid the Sages and Saints. If I were to use this tongue to speak words that are not true, then I cannot speak them.

If I now, for the sake of the king, create false speech, I shall fall into hell. Where then is there to rely upon? The king at that time was both ashamed and angry, doubled, and the king's eyes were as if burning aflame.

But the mind of Candrapriya at that time was very joyful, and at precisely the moment I gave rise to settled intent, and at that time it was also the time of guarding and upholding the Dharma teaching, then in whatever land, wishing to seek to hear the Dharma, and today here, that is for my sake to expound the Dharma, and I have for the sake of the Dharma cast away body and life. The king now toward me is exceedingly affectionate.

Thus, recollecting the Dharma, then at once he awakened and realized Pratyekabuddhahood, used his body to fly up into empty space, and caused those who break the precepts, seeing this, all to give rise to shame and remorse. For the sake of those who cultivate good, he increased their faithful minds. For the sake of those who speak true words, he manifested the true fruit.

In empty space his hair then fell down, and at that time the gods of the Pure Abodes offered the kāṣāya robe, and he flew to Mount Gandhamādana together with the other Pratyekabuddhas, dwelling together in one place, and then spoke the verse as above.

Treatise on the Causes and Conditions of the Pratyekabuddhas

End of the First Fascicle