佛說七女經

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling in the grove of the Phūṇadatta trees in the country of Kuru, together with one thousand Arhats, five hundred Bodhisattvas, and the devas, nāgas, and spirits.

At that time, in the mountains of Kuru there was a brahmin named Mahāmleccha, greedy and miserly, who did not believe in the Buddha-Dharma. He was exceedingly wealthy in goods and treasures, precious jade, horses and oxen, fields, gardens, and houses beyond number, and moreover his wisdom was unequaled by anyone. For this reason he was made a teacher in the country; not only that, but he had five hundred disciples and was revered by the king and the great ministers.

This brahmin had seven daughters who were upright and articulate in speech, of an intelligence so thorough that none could equal them. From head to foot they were adorned with gold, silver, jade, and white pearl necklaces, and they dressed and adorned themselves in garments according to the season, and were always attended by five hundred serving women. They were habitually arrogant, relying on their own uprightness, relying on their own wealth, and whenever they discoursed with the people of the country, they declared that all things abide forever and took this as their triumph.

At that time, there was a layman named Phūṇadatta who, hearing that these seven daughters were very beautiful, went to the brahmin and said:

"You yourself proclaim that in your house there are upright daughters. However, if we travel throughout the whole country and there be anyone who reproaches these daughters, then you must lose to me five hundred ounces of gold; but if no one reproaches them, then I shall lose to you five hundred ounces of gold."

Thereafter, for nineteen days, these seven daughters of the brahmin went about displaying and proclaiming themselves throughout the whole country, yet there was no one who said these daughters were ugly, and so the brahmin won the five hundred ounces of gold. Phūṇadatta said to the brahmin:

"The Buddha is dwelling near the Jeta Grove. He knows matters present, past, and future, and speaks true words, not speaking falsehood. Let us go there, and the Buddha will tell us."

The brahmin said, "Very good!"

Then, together with five hundred of his kinsmen and five hundred women of the country, they went together to where the Buddha was.

At that time, the Buddha was teaching the Dharma to countless people. Each person came forward, bowed in homage to the Buddha, and then sat to one side. The brahmin came before the Buddha and said:

"Gautama! You often travel to many countries and surely have seen upright daughters; so is there anyone as upright as these?"

The Buddha then rebuked him:

"These daughters are not upright and beautiful; their whole bodies are ugly, and there is no place in them that is beautiful."

The brahmin asked the Buddha:

"Throughout the whole country no one has reproached them as ugly. Now only Gautama alone reproaches these daughters as ugly. Why is this?"

The brahmin asked further: "By what do people of the world reckon beauty?"

The Buddha said:

"When the eyes of a person of the world do not covet forms, and the ears do not take in evil sounds, that is beauty. When the nose does not smell fragrances and the mouth does not taste flavors, that is beauty. When the hands do not take the goods and possessions of others, and the mouth does not speak evil of others, that is beauty. To be without arrogance, to not speak ornamented words, to know whence one is born and come and whither one dies and goes, that is beauty. To trust that giving will bring blessings, that is beauty. To trust in the Buddha, to trust in the Dharma, to trust in the Bhikṣu-Saṅgha, that is beauty."

The Buddha said to the brahmin:

"Outward beauty of form is not beauty; a beautiful body is not beauty; a beautiful body is not beauty; to skillfully speak flattering words is not beauty; a heart that is upright and an intention that is correct—this alone is truly beautiful."

At that time, Phūṇadatta was given back his five hundred ounces of gold. The Buddha said to the brahmin:

"In ancient times there was a city named Vārāṇasī. From beneath the earth a Buddha sprang forth, and the Buddhas of the future had sat upon the seat. At that time there was a king named Kīvīni who was an upāsaka who clearly understood the scriptures, and he built a vihāra for the Buddha.

The king had handmaidens who were upāsikās and likewise clearly understood the scriptures, of wisdom and uprightness without compare. Their whole bodies were adorned with gold, silver, amber, and true jewels, and with garments of great value. The first daughter was named Sudāma; the second was named Sudharmā; the third was named Bhikṣuṇī; the fourth was named Bhikṣulocī; the fifth was named Śramaṇī; the sixth was named Śramaṇagupta; the seventh was named Saṃgha-mahāsīma.

These seven daughters, for the sake of the Buddha's True Dharma, always upheld the precepts of abstinence.

"One day, when they had finished their almsgiving, they went together to the palace of the king their father and said:

"'We sisters wish to go together to the cemetery to look and roam about.'

"The king said:

"'The cemetery is greatly to be feared. That place is full of bones, beards and hair, hands and feet, and the bodily forms of the dead scattered about upon it. Therein are heaped up all manner of grievous wailings and weeping; tigers, jackals, vultures, and crows come to feed upon the blood of the dead. What would my daughters go in there to do? In your father's palace there are gardens and scenic grounds, bathing ponds, flying birds, mandarin ducks singing joyfully together, all manner of flowers, grasses, trees, and leaves, marvelous and of five colors beautiful to the eye, cool and sweet fruits to be enjoyed at will—truly the most delightful place for roaming and play. Why should my daughters go into the cemetery? To do what?'

"The seven sisters then said:

"'Your Majesty our father! Of what use are the most delicious and surpassingly sweet fruits? We see that when the people of the world reach old age and frailty, their life's breath gasps faintly and death is at hand; among human beings there is none who does not die. We are constantly bewitched by foods; we sisters are no longer young. We beg our father to take pity on us sisters and let us go outside the city to contemplate the bodies of the dead.'

"They begged thus three times. The king said:

"'Very well! Your father grants you permission to do this.'

"Thereupon the seven daughters, together with five hundred serving women, adorned their carriages and horses and went out from the royal palace. They stripped off their necklaces and let them fall to the ground, causing more than a thousand people in the country to see, who followed behind in joy gathering up the pearls and jewels. They came to the cemetery outside the city, a place impure and most foul-smelling, where only the sounds of wailing and weeping were heard.

The serving women and the people stood still, their whole bodies feeling shudders of horror. The seven daughters went on and saw the dead, among whom: some had lost their heads, some had lost their hands and feet, some had lost their ears and noses, some were dead or not yet dead; there were coffins, there were people within the coffins, there were people lying upon mats, there were people bound up. Their families wept and wailed, all wishing that the dead might gain liberation.

The seven daughters looked all about and saw so very many dead; and there were also those who carried the dead, coming and going from the four directions, causing all manner of birds and beasts to seek them out and contend with one another to eat the flesh. The bodies of the dead were swollen and bloated, with blood and pus flowing out. Within their bellies myriad koṭis of worms swarmed and crawled out, foul-smelling beyond endurance.

The seven daughters, without stopping their noses, came before them, walked once around, and then said together:

"'Before long, the bodies of us sisters will also be foul-smelling like this.'

"The first said: 'Might each of us compose a single verse to help liberate the spirit-souls of the dead?'

"The other six all replied: 'Excellent!'

"The first said: 'While this person was alive, the body wore beautiful garments and was adorned with fragrant scents; amid the crowd of people she walked and stood gently and demurely. Her pair of small eyes glistened wondrously, and everyone wished to gaze upon them. Now she has died here. Day after day the wind blows the smell of her flesh. So where now is the one, that demure mistress, who held mastery over it?'

"The second said:

"'It is like a bird shut up within a cage, confined so tightly that it cannot fly. Now the cage is broken open and the bird flies away.'

"The third said:

"'It is like a charioteer who abandons his cart in the middle of the road; the cart can no longer run; it is the master who drives the cart who could make it run. So now where is its master?'

"The fourth said:

"'It is like people who board a boat and travel; many are carried across the river, then go up the bank and abandon the boat. The one who abandons this body is just like the boat.'

"The fifth said:

"'It is like a fortified city with solid walls, within which many people dwell. Now the city has vanished; where do its people dwell, no one knows?'

"The sixth said:

"'The dead person lies here just like a garment, which from head to foot still remains whole and beautiful, neither lost nor decayed. Now this person can neither walk nor act. So where is that person now?'

"The seventh daughter said:

"'It is like a person living alone who, when he leaves his house, leaves the house empty with no one to watch over it. The house will gradually fall into ruin.'

"At that time, the Heavenly King of the second heaven, the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, Śakra Devānām Indra, was shaken right where he sat upon hearing the seven daughters expound the scripture. In a moment, he descended from the heavenly palace to the world, came to where the seven daughters were, and praised the seven daughters for expounding the scripture most excellently. He said:

"'Whatever you wish to pray for, I will bring it about for you according to your wish.'

"The seven daughters all asked:

"'Are you the deva Śakra, or are you Brahmā? We did not see you come, so how is it that you are naturally here before us?'

"He replied:

"'I am Śakra Devānām Indra. Hearing you expound the Dharma so excellently, I came here.' The seven daughters said:

"'So you are the second deva, the most honored upon the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, who wishes to help us attain our wishes, is that so? Then we sisters shall speak our wishes.'

"The first daughter said:

"'I pray to be able to dwell in a place where there is a tree without root or branch or leaf. That is my wish.'

"The second daughter said:

"'I wish to dwell upon a ground without shadow or form, without any beginning-thread of yin and yang. I pray to dwell there.'

"The third daughter said:

"'A person in the deep mountains speaks loudly, the sound echoing and resounding so that all four directions hear it, yet none knows the place where they dwell. I pray to dwell there.'

"Śakra Devānām Indra then said:

"'I beg you, stop! I cannot accomplish your wishes. If you wish to become Śakra, Brahmā, the Four Heavenly Kings, the sun, the moon, the most honored at the very center, that I can do. But your present wishes I truly cannot fulfill.'

"The seven daughters said:

"'Being a lofty and honored one possessed of majestic spiritual power, how is it you cannot fulfill these wishes? You are like an old ox that can no longer pull a cart, can no longer plow and harrow, of no use whatever to its master.'

"Śakra Devānām Indra said:

"'I heard you expounding the scripture and so came to listen; I do not know how to fulfill those wishes.' Then he made his apology and asked to withdraw.

"The seven daughters fell silent and said nothing. At that time, in the open sky there was a deva who said:

"'Now there is only the Buddha Kāśyapa, dwelling near Vairoṭṭa-gaṇa. Why not go there and ask him?'

"The seven daughters, hearing this, rejoiced greatly and, together with their five hundred serving women, went there. In the cemetery of grief and mourning, of woeful wailing and weeping, there were also five hundred people who aroused their minds and followed along.

"At that time, the Buddha Kāśyapa was expounding the Dharma to countless thousands of people. All came before the Buddha Kāśyapa, bowed in homage, and then sat to one side. Śakra Devānām Indra addressed the Buddha:

"'Just now I heard the king's seven daughters expounding the scripture and so came to listen. Being moved with admiration, I asked them to make their wishes; they wished thus: "I pray to dwell in a place where there is a tree without root, branch, or leaf, a formless place without any beginning-thread of yin and yang. In the deepest mountains and remotest valleys one speaks loudly and all four directions hear it, yet none knows the dwelling place." I could not fulfill these. I humbly beg the World-Honored One to expound, for the sake of the seven daughters, the meaning of what they intend.'

"The Buddha Kāśyapa said:

"'Excellent! What you ask is truly profound beyond measure. This is something that even the Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas cannot know, how much less you.'

"At that, he smiled, and a light of five colors issued from his mouth, illuminating all the Buddha-lands, then returned and circled his body, and entered through the crown of his head. His attendant came forward, knelt upon one knee, and asked:

"'The Buddha does not smile without a cause; we pray to hear its meaning.'

"The Buddha Kāśyapa said to Sarvalā:

"'Do you see these daughters or not?'

"'Yes, I see them.'

"'These seven daughters of the king have aroused the mind of unsurpassed bodhi. They have made offerings to five hundred Buddhas, and they shall requite myriad Buddhas. Ten kalpas hence they shall all become Buddhas, all of the same title: Pūrṇabuddhabhūmi. The Buddha-land shall be named Śūdara, and that Buddha's lifespan shall be thirty thousand years. The people of this land, their food and drink, garments, and possessions, shall be like those upon the second Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. After that Buddha enters Nirvāṇa, the principles and scriptures shall be propagated for eight thousand years before they are wholly extinguished. When this Buddha expounds the Dharma, he shall deliver seventy-five koṭi-myriads of people who shall attain the path of the Bodhisattva and the Arhat.'

"When the Buddha Kāśyapa had bestowed this individual prediction upon the seven daughters, they rejoiced and exulted, rose up and abode in the open sky twenty fathoms above the earth, and from head to foot all were transformed into men who attained the fruit of non-retrogression. The five hundred serving women, together with the fifteen hundred people and the devas, seeing the seven daughters transformed into men, rejoiced and exulted and all aroused the mind of unsurpassed bodhi. One thousand people, departing far from the dust and defilement, attained the Dharma-eye.

"The Buddha said to the brahmin: The king's seven daughters, upright and at ease, wealthy and of high estate, did not wish to keep their beautiful bodies. Why is this? Because they remembered and reflected that the body is not permanent, knowing that this body cannot live long.

All people of the world, on account of folly, still lie within the twelve links of dependent origination, and so there is birth and death. The people of the world, all on account of love and attachment, pass from birth to old age, from old age to sickness, from sickness to death, from death to wailing and weeping—all utterly suffering. The people of the world are born from love and attachment, and so one contemplates one's own body and the bodies of others, and thereby gives rise to seeing the body as impure and foul-smelling, with phlegm and spittle, cold and hot, tears and snot flowing out.

Thus, once the body decays, it naturally breeds maggots, which turn back to eat its flesh; the bones, hands, and feet dissolve into ashes and earth. One must remember that when my body dies it will be just like this. One should not pride oneself that this body is beautiful, for it is not permanent.

If a person does what is good, without arrogance or flattering words, then after death he is born up in the heavens. If a person does evil deeds, he falls into the hells. As for why women fall into the hells in such numbers—it is because they are full of envy and jealousy.

When the Buddha spoke these words, the brahmin's daughters were delighted and rejoiced, took off the precious jewels upon their bodies, and scattered them as an offering to the Buddha. By the majestic spiritual power of the Buddha, these things came to rest in the open sky and were transformed into a jeweled canopy, and within the jeweled canopy there was a voice that said: "Excellent! It is as the Buddha says, without any deviation." At that, the Buddha, moved, then used his majestic spiritual power, and from the seat where he sat he pressed his toe down upon the earth, causing the three-thousand-great-thousandfold world all to quake.

Light shone throughout the ten directions; trees withered a hundred years brought forth flowers and fruit; dried-up streams and gullies naturally had water; instruments of music, unstruck, sounded of themselves. The gold, jade, and precious jewels of the daughters all gave forth sounds of their own accord. The blind saw; the deaf heard; the mute spoke; the hunchbacked had their backs made straight; those whose hands and feet were diseased were made whole; those who were mad were restored to normal; those who had been poisoned, the poison did them no harm; those who had been bound were set free.

The hundred birds and myriad beasts together harmonized in joy, dancing and singing. At that time, among the people of the country of Kuru there was no man and no woman who did not rejoice and delight, all harmonizing together as though they had attained meditative absorption. When the Buddha performed these transformations, the king of the country of Kuru cast off his treasures, rejoicing and exulting, and together with a hundred great ministers, the brahmin daughters, and the brahmin's kinsmen, five hundred people, all aroused the mind of unsurpassed bodhi.

Furthermore, five hundred bhikṣus attained Arhatship; and in the country five hundred people attained the fruit of Srotāpanna. When the Buddha had finished expounding the scripture, the Bodhisattvas, the Bhikṣu-Saṅgha, the upāsakas, the upāsikās, the king and great ministers, the elders and the people, the devas, nāgas, and spirits rejoiced greatly, came forward, bowed their heads in homage at the feet of the Buddha, and then withdrew.