大寶積經

XIV. THE FOURTEENTH DHARMA ASSEMBLY: THE BUDDHA’S DISCOURSE ON ENTERING THE WOMB

Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha was dwelling in Kapilavastu, in the Banyan Grove, together with an immeasurable assembly of bhiksus.

At that time, the Blessed One had a younger brother named Nanda. His body was golden in color, and he possessed the thirty-two marks of a great man, being only four finger-widths shorter than the Buddha. His wife, Sundari, was graceful and upright in appearance, rarely equaled in the world. Her radiant beauty was unsurpassed, and everyone delighted in seeing her. Nanda doted upon his wife, lingering constantly by her side and never parting from her even briefly. His passionate attachment was exceedingly deep, and he was resolved to live together with her for the rest of his life.

The Blessed One perceived that the time had come for Nanda to receive transformation. Early one morning, he donned his robe, took his bowl, and, accompanied by the Elder Ananda as his attendant, entered the city to seek alms. In due course he came to the gate of Nanda’s house and stood there. Through the power of great compassion, the Blessed One emitted golden light that illuminated Nanda’s entire house, turning everything golden.

Nanda thought, “This light that has suddenly appeared must surely come from the Tathagata.” He immediately sent a servant to look outside the gate. The servant hurried back and reported that the Blessed One was standing at the gate. Upon hearing this, Nanda wished to go out quickly to welcome and pay homage to the Blessed One.

Sundari thought, “If I let him go, the Blessed One will certainly cause him to renounce the household life.” She therefore seized her husband’s robe and held him back.

Nanda told his wife, “Let me go out briefly to pay homage to the Blessed One, and I shall return immediately.”

Sundari said, “I shall let you go only if we agree upon a time.” She applied moist cosmetic powder to her forehead and told her husband, “You must return before this mark dries. If you are late, you must pay a penalty of five hundred gold coins.” Nanda agreed, went outside the gate, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, received the Tathagata’s bowl, carried it into the house, filled it with excellent food, and brought it back outside.

The Blessed One immediately began to walk away, at the same time signaling Ananda not to accept the bowl.

The Tathagata, the Great Teacher, was majestic and venerable, and Nanda dared not call upon him to stop. He therefore offered the bowl filled with food to Ananda.

Ananda asked, “From whom did you just receive this bowl?”

Nanda replied, “From the Buddha.”

Ananda said, “Then you should return it to the Buddha.”

Nanda dared not call out to the Buddha and could only follow silently behind him.

When they reached the monastery in the Banyan Grove, the Blessed One washed his hands and feet and sat upon his seat. Nanda offered him the bowl of food. After eating, the Blessed One said to Nanda, “Can you renounce the household life?” In former times, while cultivating the bodhisattva path, the Blessed One had never disobeyed the instructions of his parents, teachers, or venerable elders. Therefore, no one disobeyed the Buddha’s instruction. Thus, when Nanda heard the Buddha tell him to renounce the household life, he replied, “I can renounce it.”

The Blessed One immediately instructed Ananda to shave Nanda’s beard and hair.

Obeying the Buddha’s command, Ananda found a man to perform the shaving.

Nanda said to the man, “Do you know that before long I shall become a wheel-turning king? If you shave my hair, I shall cut off your arm.”

Terrified, the man wrapped up his razor and prepared to leave.

Ananda hurriedly reported this to the Buddha. The Buddha came and asked Nanda, “Are you not going to renounce the household life?”

Overawed by the Buddha’s majesty, Nanda replied, “I ask to renounce it.”

The Blessed One took a water flask and sprinkled water upon Nanda’s head, whereupon the attendant shaved him.

Nanda thought, “For now I must respectfully obey the Blessed One. I shall remain ordained during the day and return home tonight.” At dusk, Nanda set out for home along the former road. The Blessed One conjured a great pit in the middle of the road. Seeing it, Nanda thought, “There is now no way for me to return home. I must remain apart from Sundari. Thinking of her tonight, I may die. If I remain alive, I shall return tomorrow morning.” Because he longed for Sundari, Nanda suffered sorrow throughout the night.

Knowing Nanda’s thoughts, the Buddha instructed Ananda to inform him that the Buddha had appointed him steward of the monastery.

Ananda carried out the Buddha’s instruction.

Nanda asked Ananda, “What is a monastery steward, and what must he do?”

Ananda replied, “He must oversee the affairs of the monastery.”

Nanda asked, “What duties must he perform?”

Ananda said, “Venerable sir, when the bhiksus go out seeking alms, the steward must sprinkle and sweep the monastery, apply fresh cow dung in due order to make it clean, and carefully guard against loss or theft. If any matter requires a decision, he must report it to the Sangha. If there are flowers or incense, he must distribute them to the community. At night he must shut the gates and doors, opening them again in the morning. The latrines must always be washed and wiped clean. If any part of the monastery is damaged, he must repair it.”

Having heard this, Nanda said, “Venerable sir, as the Buddha has commanded, I shall respectfully carry out these duties.”

The next morning, when it was time for the first meal, the bhiksus took up their robes and bowls and entered Kapilavastu to seek alms.

Seeing the monastery deserted, Nanda thought, “When I have finished sweeping the monastery, I shall return home.” Through the Buddha’s spiritual power, however, filth appeared wherever Nanda had swept clean. Seeing this, Nanda put aside the broom and removed the filth, yet it remained and could not be completely cleared away. Nanda thought, “Never mind. I shall close the monastery doors and go home.” Again through the Buddha’s spiritual power, whenever he closed the door of one room and went to close another, the first door opened by itself.

Nanda became distressed and thought, “What harm would there be if a thief broke in?

“When I become king, I shall build hundreds of thousands of magnificent monasteries better than this one. I should go home.” Fearing that he might meet the Buddha on the main road, Nanda took a narrow path. Knowing this, the Buddha approached from the opposite direction along that very path. Seeing the Buddha from afar and not wishing to meet him, Nanda concealed himself in the dense foliage of a roadside tree. Through the Buddha’s spiritual power, all the branches rose upward, exposing Nanda.

The Buddha asked Nanda, “Where have you come from? You should follow me.”

Ashamed, Nanda lowered his head and followed the Buddha.

Knowing that Nanda was deeply attached to his wife, the Buddha wished to guide him further and cause him to relinquish that attachment. He therefore left Kapilavastu and went to Sravasti, where he stayed in Visakha’s Deer-Mother Grove.

The Buddha thought, “Nanda is foolish and deluded, continually thinking of his wife and unable to abandon his passion. I must employ an expedient means to bring it to an end.”

The Buddha asked Nanda, “Have you ever seen Mount Fragrant-Intoxication?” Nanda replied that he had never seen it.

The Buddha said, “If so, take hold of the corner of my robe.”

Nanda obeyed and grasped the corner of the Buddha’s robe.

The Blessed One then rose into the air like the king of geese and flew to Mount Fragrant-Intoxication, taking Nanda to view the sights on either side. Beneath a fruit tree they saw a one-eyed female monkey staring upward at the Tathagata.

The Buddha asked Nanda, “Between this female monkey and Sundari, who is more beautiful?”

Nanda replied, “Sundari, a daughter of the Sakya clan, is as beautiful as a celestial maiden. Her graceful appearance is foremost in the world, without equal. Compared with her, this female monkey does not equal even one part in a thousand million kotis.”

The Buddha asked, “Have you ever seen the celestial palaces?”

Nanda replied that he had not.

The Buddha again told Nanda to take hold of the corner of his robe. Like the king of geese, he flew through the sky to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three and caused Nanda to behold its surpassing wonders. Following the Buddha, Nanda visited the Garden of Delight, the Garden of Adornment, the Garden of Coarse Bodies, the Garden of Union, the All-Born Tree, and the seat in the Hall of Excellent Dharma. He observed all such sublime sights of the heavenly realm: its palaces and gardens, flowers, fruits, bathing pools, and every excellent place of delightful recreation.

Nanda then entered the city of Sudarsana. There he heard many kinds of wondrous music and saw lofty, spacious dwellings hung with curtains and canopies. Everywhere celestial maidens amused themselves together. After looking through all the palaces, Nanda saw one palace occupied only by celestial maidens, without any celestial prince. He asked them, “Why do all the other palaces have celestial princes and maidens living and enjoying themselves together, while this palace contains only celestial maidens?”

The celestial maidens replied, “The Blessed One has a younger brother named Nanda, who has followed the Buddha into the homeless life and practices the holy life. After his death he will be born here. We are waiting for him.”

Hearing this, Nanda rejoiced greatly and hurried back to the Buddha.

Seeing him, the Buddha asked, “Have you seen the sublime wonders of the heavenly realm?” Nanda replied that he had and recounted everything he had seen.

The Buddha asked, “Did you see the celestial maidens?”

Nanda replied, “I saw them.”

The Buddha asked, “Between those celestial maidens and Sundari, who is more beautiful?”

Nanda replied, “Comparing Sundari with those celestial maidens is like comparing the one-eyed female monkey on Mount Fragrant-Intoxication with Sundari. She does not equal even one part in hundreds of thousands of myriads.”

The Buddha told Nanda, “Such is the excellent reward of practicing the holy life. You should now diligently cultivate the holy life, and you will be born in heaven to enjoy this happiness.”

Hearing the Buddha’s words, Nanda stood there filled with joy.

The Blessed One and Nanda then departed from the Heaven of the Thirty-Three and returned to Jeta Grove. From that day onward, because he yearned for the celestial palace, Nanda devoted himself to cultivating the holy life.

Knowing Nanda’s thoughts, the Buddha instructed Ananda to proclaim to the bhiksus that no one was to sit in the same place as Nanda, walk meditation in the same place, hang robes on the same peg, keep bowls in the same place, keep water flasks in the same place, or recite the scriptures together with him.

Ananda proclaimed the Buddha’s command, and all the bhiksus obeyed.

Seeing everyone avoid him, Nanda felt deeply ashamed. Later, Ananda and several bhiksus were in the attendants’ quarters mending their robes. Nanda thought, “All the bhiksus have abandoned me and refuse to stay in the same place with me. But Ananda is my younger brother; surely he will not avoid me.”

With this thought, Nanda entered the room and sat beside Ananda.

Ananda immediately rose and moved away. Nanda said, “Ananda! Let the other bhiksus abandon me if they will, but you are my younger brother. How can you bear to dislike and avoid me?”

Ananda replied, “There is indeed a reason. You cultivate one path, while I follow another. Therefore, we must avoid one another.”

Nanda asked, “What is your path, and what is mine?”

Ananda replied, “You practice the holy life because you desire rebirth in heaven. I seek nirvana and therefore eliminate sensual defilement.”

Hearing these words, Nanda became even more distressed.

Knowing Nanda’s thoughts, the Blessed One came and asked him, “Have you ever seen the hells?”

Nanda replied, “I have not.”

The Buddha told Nanda to grasp the corner of his robe and then took him into the hells. Standing to one side, the Buddha told Nanda to go and inspect their various regions. Nanda went forth and first saw the River of Ashes, then the Forest of Swords and the River of Excrement.

Entering farther and looking about, he saw beings undergoing many kinds of suffering. Some had their tongues pulled out with pincers, their teeth broken, or their eyes gouged out. Some had their bodies sawn in two; some had their hands and feet severed by axes; some were pierced through by spears; some were beaten with whips or stabbed with sharp implements; some were crushed by iron clubs; some had molten copper poured into their mouths; some were hurled upon sword trees and knife mountains; some were pounded in mortars or ground beneath millstones; and some embraced copper pillars or lay upon red-hot iron beds.

He also saw iron cauldrons heated by great fires, their oil and water seething as living beings were boiled within. Yet he saw one cauldron of fiercely boiling oil and water in which no one was being cooked.

Nanda asked the reason. A hell warden replied, “The Buddha’s younger brother, Nanda, practices the holy life only because he wishes to be reborn in heaven. In the future, he will be born there and temporarily enjoy its pleasures. When his celestial life ends, he must enter this cauldron of boiling oil. I am tending the fire while waiting for him.”

Hearing the hell warden’s words, Nanda was utterly terrified. His hair stood on end and cold sweat poured from his body. He thought, “If he learns that I am Nanda, he may seize me with a pitchfork and cast me into the cauldron to be boiled.” Nanda hastily fled back to the Buddha.

The Buddha asked, “Have you seen the hells?”

Nanda wept sorrowfully. With tears falling and his throat choked, he replied softly, “I have seen them.”

The Buddha asked, “What did you see?”

Nanda related to the Buddha everything he had witnessed.

The Buddha declared, “Those who aspire to human existence or seek heavenly rebirth are subject to such faults. You should now cultivate the holy life in quest of nirvana. Do not delight in heaven and thereby create future suffering.”

Hearing the Buddha’s teaching, Nanda felt deeply ashamed, lowered his head, and remained silent.

The Blessed One then led Nanda out of the hells and returned to Jeta Grove. He told Nanda and the bhiksus, “There are three defilements within the mind—sensual desire, hatred, and delusion—that truly ought to be cast away. You must distance yourselves from them and train accordingly.”

The Blessed One did not remain long at Jeta Grove. Wishing to teach and transform beings according to conditions, he went with his assembly to Campa and stayed beside Gaggara’s Lotus Pond.

Nanda and five hundred bhiksus also followed the Buddha. They approached him, bowed at his feet, and sat to one side.

When the Buddha saw that the assembly was seated, he said to Nanda, “The Buddha possesses an essential teaching that is excellent in the beginning, excellent in the middle, and excellent in the end; excellent in expression and meaning; pure, complete, and revealing the immaculate holy life. It is called the Sutra on Entering the Mother’s Womb. Listen carefully and reflect well. I shall now expound this sutra for you.”

Nanda replied, “Yes, Blessed One. I wish to hear it.”

The Buddha said, “Although a mother may have a womb, there are cases of entry and non-entry. How does a being enter the mother’s womb to take birth?

“If the father and mother, with minds of passion, engage together in sexual intercourse; if the mother’s womb is clean and her menstrual cycle is in season; and if an intermediate-state being is present, then it enters the mother’s womb.

“The intermediate-state being has two general kinds of appearance: one beautiful and the other ugly.

“An intermediate-state being destined for hell resembles a piece of charred wood. One destined for the animal realm has the color of smoke. One destined for the hungry-ghost realm has the color of water. One destined for the human or heavenly realm has a golden color. One destined for the form realm has a lustrous white appearance. Beings of the formless heaven have no intermediate-state body because they possess no material body.

“An intermediate-state being may have two hands and two feet, many feet, four feet, or no feet. In accordance with its former karma and the place where it is to be reborn, it assumes an intermediate-state body resembling the form it will possess there.

“If it is destined for heaven, its head points upward. Intermediate-state beings destined for the human, animal, and ghost realms travel horizontally. Those destined for hell descend headfirst.

“All intermediate-state bodies possess spiritual powers and travel through the air. With vision like the celestial eye, they see from afar the place where they are to take birth.

“To say that the menstrual cycle is in season means that the time for conception has arrived.

“Nanda, in some women the cycle comes after three days, five days, half a month, or one month; for others, conditions may delay it for a long time. If a woman lacks vitality, undergoes much hardship, is unattractive, and does not receive good food and drink, then even when her cycle comes, it ends quickly, just as water sprinkled upon dry ground soon dries. If a woman possesses vitality, generally enjoys comfort, has a graceful and upright appearance, and receives good food and drink, then when her cycle comes it does not end quickly, just as water sprinkled upon moist ground is slow to dry.

“How does a being fail to enter the mother’s womb?

“If the father emits semen but the mother does not release her fluid, if the mother releases her fluid but the father does not emit semen, or if neither releases it, conception does not occur.

“If the mother is impure while the father is healthy, if the father is unhealthy while the mother is healthy, or if both are unhealthy, conception likewise does not occur.

“If the mother’s reproductive passage is afflicted by a wind disorder, a bile disorder, a phlegm disorder, congealed blood or fetal obstruction, an abnormal growth of flesh, the effects of medicine, a barley-like disease, or a constriction like an ant’s waist; if the birth canal resembles a camel’s mouth; if its interior resembles a tree with many roots, a plowshare, the shaft of a cart, a vine, a leaf, or the beard of barley; if the lower abdomen is excessively deep, the upper part is excessively deep, or the organ is incapable of conception; if blood or fluid continually flows; if it resembles a crow’s beak; if it remains open and cannot close; if its upper, lower, and lateral dimensions are unevenly broad or narrow; if it is irregularly raised or sunken;

or if worms within consume it, making it putrid, damaged, and impure—if the mother has any such defect, conception does not occur.

“If the parents are noble but the intermediate-state being is lowly, or if the intermediate-state being is noble but the parents are lowly, conception likewise does not occur.

“Even if the parents and the intermediate-state being are all noble, conception does not occur if their karma is incompatible.

“If, in the presence of the objects before it, the intermediate-state being experiences neither male nor female passion, conception likewise does not occur.

“Nanda, how does the intermediate-state being enter the mother’s womb?

“If the mother’s womb is clean, the intermediate-state being is present and sees the sexual act, none of the preceding defects exists, and the parents and child have mutually corresponding karma, it then enters the mother’s womb.

“Moreover, as the intermediate-state being is about to enter the womb, its mind becomes inverted. If it is male, it gives rise to love for the mother and hatred for the father. If it is female, it gives rise to love for the father and hatred for the mother.

Because of karma created in past lives, deluded conceptions and erroneous thoughts arise. It imagines cold, great winds, heavy rain, clouds, and mist, or hears the clamor of a great crowd. Having formed such perceptions, it produces ten kinds of deluded thought according to whether its former karma is superior or inferior: ‘Now I am entering a house.

I am ascending a tower. I am entering a palace pavilion. I am climbing upon a bed or seat.

I am entering a grass hut. I am entering a leaf hut. I am entering a thicket.

I am entering a forest. I am entering a hole in a wall. I am entering a fence.’

“Nanda, while entertaining such perceptions, the intermediate-state being enters the mother’s womb. You should know that the first stage of conception is called kalala. It consists of the father’s semen and the mother’s blood, and is not some other thing. Through the union of the parents’ semen and blood, a supporting object is formed, and consciousness takes up residence there. It is like curds in a vessel: through continuous churning by human effort, butter is produced; without this, butter does not arise. You should understand the impurity of the parents’ semen and blood and the body of the kalala in the same way.

“Furthermore, Nanda, there are four analogies. Listen carefully.

“It is like an insect born in dependence upon green grass. The grass is not the insect, yet the insect is not separate from the grass. Depending upon the grass and the conjunction of causes and conditions, the insect is born with a body green like the grass. The union of the parents’ semen and blood with the body of the kalala, and the consequent arising of the great elements and faculties, is likewise so.

“It is like an insect born in dependence upon cow dung. The dung is not the insect, yet the insect is not separate from the dung. Depending upon the dung and the conjunction of causes and conditions, the insect is born with a green body. The father’s semen, the mother’s blood, and the body of the kalala are likewise so: through the conjunction of causes and conditions, the great elements and faculties arise.

“It is like an insect born in dependence upon a jujube. The jujube is not the insect, yet the insect is not separate from the jujube. Depending upon the jujube and the conjunction of causes and conditions, the insect is born with a red body. The father’s semen, the mother’s blood, and the body of the kalala are likewise so: through the conjunction of causes and conditions, the great elements and faculties arise.

“It is like an insect born in dependence upon curds. The curds are not the insect, yet the insect is not separate from the curds. Depending upon the curds and the conjunction of causes and conditions, the insect is born with a white body. The father’s semen, the mother’s blood, and the body of the kalala are likewise so: through the conjunction of causes and conditions, the great elements and faculties arise.

“Furthermore, Nanda, in dependence upon the parents’ impurities and the kalala, the earth element manifests with the nature of hardness; the water element manifests with moisture; the fire element manifests with warmth; and the wind element manifests with lightness and motion.

“Nanda, if the parents’ impurities and the body of the kalala possessed only the earth element and lacked the water element, they would dry up and disperse, like dry ash-flour crumbling when grasped by the hand. If they possessed only the water element and lacked the earth element, they would flow apart like oil or drops of water. Because of the water element, the earth element does not disperse; because of the earth element, the water element does not flow away.

“Nanda, if the body of the kalala possessed the earth and water elements but lacked the fire element, it would putrefy, like a piece of fresh meat left in a shaded place during summer.

“Nanda, if the body of the kalala possessed the earth, water, and fire elements but lacked the wind element, it could not grow and expand.

“All of this has past karma as its cause. These elements serve one another as conditions and mutually attract one another, whereupon consciousness arises. The earth element supports; the water element gathers and binds; the fire element matures; and the wind element promotes growth. It is like a confectioner and his apprentice who mix and cook sugar and then blow into it, causing it to expand while remaining hollow within like a lotus root. The four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind within the body grow through the power of karma in the same way.

“Nanda, from the parents’ impurities there is a body of kalala. That body is not the mother’s womb, is not karma, is not a cause, and is not a condition. Only through the convergence of all these does conception occur.

“It is like a fresh seed that has not been damaged by wind or sun, is firm and without holes, has been properly stored, and is then sown in good, moist soil. Through the conjunction of causes and conditions, roots, sprouts, stalks, branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit arise and grow in succession.

“Nanda, the seed does not produce sprouts and the rest apart from the conjunction of all these conditions.

“Therefore, know that conception does not arise from the parents alone, from karma alone, or from other conditions alone. Only through the conjunction of the parents’ semen and blood, karma, and the various conditions does conception occur.

“Nanda, it is like a clear-sighted person who seeks fire. He places a sun-crystal in sunlight and puts dry cow dung beneath it; only then does fire arise. Conception likewise occurs only in dependence upon the complete conjunction of the requisite conditions.

“The kalala formed from the parents’ impurities is called form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness; it is also called name-and-form. This aggregate mass of name-and-form is loathsome. The Buddha does not praise taking birth among the various classes of beings, even for the smallest fraction of an instant. Why? Because birth among the various classes of beings is exceedingly painful. Just as even a tiny amount of excrement is foul-smelling, so even the briefest birth among the various classes of beings is suffering. These five appropriated skandhas—form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—all undergo arising, abiding, growth, and decay. Arising itself is suffering; abiding itself is illness; and growth and decay are aging and death.

“For this reason, how could the wise delight in the ocean of birth and death, lying within the mother’s womb and undergoing such great suffering?

“Furthermore, Nanda, broadly speaking, gestation in the womb lasts thirty-eight periods of seven days.

“During the first seven days, the embryo in the mother’s womb is as though inside a pot. The body faculty and mind faculty abide together in one place, scorched and cooked by heat and undergoing intense pain. It is called kalala and resembles gruel or whey. During these seven days, internal heat cooks it, and the four great elements first become manifest.

“During the second seven-day period, a karmic wind called Transforming Contact arises within the mother’s womb. Produced by former karma, it blows upon and touches the embryo, which is then called arbuda. It resembles thick curds or congealed butter. During these seven days, internal heat cooks it, and the four great elements become manifest.

“During the third seven-day period, a karmic wind called Knife-Mouth blows upon and touches the embryo, which is then called pesi. It resembles a chopstick or an insect. During these seven days, the four great elements become manifest.

“During the fourth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Inward Opening blows upon and touches the embryo, which is then called ghana. It resembles a shoe last or a warm stone. During these seven days, the four great elements become manifest.

“During the fifth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Gathering and Sustaining blows upon and touches the embryo, causing five signs to appear: the two arms, the two thighs, and the head. Just as spring rain causes the branches and leaves of a dense forest to grow luxuriantly, so these five signs of the embryo grow.

“During the sixth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Vast Expansion blows upon and touches the embryo, causing four signs to appear: the two elbows and the two knees.

“During the seventh seven-day period, a karmic wind called Coiling and Turning blows upon and touches the embryo, causing four signs to appear: the two hands and the two feet.

“During the eighth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Reversing and Turning blows upon and touches the embryo, causing twenty signs to appear: the ten fingers and the ten toes.

“During the ninth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Dispersing blows upon and touches the embryo, causing nine openings to appear: the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth, and the two lower openings.

“During the tenth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Firm and Hard makes the embryo firm. Another karmic wind called Universal Gate causes it to swell like a floating fruit.

“During the eleventh seven-day period, a karmic wind called Initial Penetration causes the embryo’s nine openings to become unobstructed and visible. As the mother walks, stands, sits, lies down, and performs her activities, this wind circulates through the empty passages and gradually enlarges the nine openings.

“During the twelfth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Curved Mouth blows along both sides of the embryo and forms the large and small intestines. Another karmic wind called Piercing Forth causes one hundred vital points to arise in the embryo.

“During the thirteenth seven-day period, through the power of the preceding winds, the embryo becomes aware of hunger and thirst. When the mother eats and drinks nourishing substances, they enter through the navel and sustain the embryo’s body.

“During the fourteenth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Thread-Mouth causes one thousand joints to arise in the embryo: two hundred and fifty each on the front, back, left, and right sides of the body.

“During the fifteenth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Lotus causes twenty vessels to arise in the embryo for drawing in nourishment. There are five vessels each on the front, back, left, and right sides of the body. They have many names and many colors.

Some are called companion, strength, or power; their colors include blue, yellow, red, white, bean-colored, oil-colored, butter-colored, curd-colored, and many other harmonious hues. Each of these twenty vessels has forty subsidiary vessels, making eight hundred vessels that draw in vital air—two hundred each on the front, back, left, and right sides. Each of these eight hundred vessels further has one hundred connected subsidiary channels, making eighty thousand—twenty thousand each on the front, back, left, and right sides.

These eighty thousand vessels also possess many apertures: some one, some two, and so on up to seven. Each aperture connects with a pore, like the many interconnected holes in a lotus root.

“During the sixteenth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Course of Amrta skillfully establishes the positions of the two eyes, two ears, nose, mouth, throat, chest, flanks, and the receptacle for food and drink, and enables the breath to pass freely in and out.

“During the seventeenth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Hair-Raising Mouth moistens the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and the other organs.

“During the eighteenth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Stainless purifies the six faculties.

“During the nineteenth seven-day period, four faculties—the eye, ear, nose, and tongue—are completed in the embryo, joining the three faculties present from the initial entry into the womb: the body faculty, life faculty, and mind faculty.

“During the twentieth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Firmness forms the embryo’s body. In the left foot it produces twenty phalanges of the toes, and in the right foot another twenty. There are four bones in the heels, two in the ankles, two in the knees, two in the thighs, three in the waist, eighteen in the spine, and twenty-four ribs. In the left hand it produces twenty finger bones, and in the right hand another twenty. There are four bones in the forearms, two in the upper arms, seven in the chest, seven in the shoulders, four in the neck, two in the jaw, thirty-two teeth, and four bones in the skull. Excluding the small bones, there are two hundred large bones.

“During the twenty-first seven-day period, a karmic wind called Arising causes flesh to grow upon the embryo’s body.

“During the twenty-second seven-day period, a karmic wind called Floating Current causes blood to arise in the embryo’s body.

“During the twenty-third seven-day period, a karmic wind called Pure Sustenance causes skin to arise upon the embryo’s body.

“During the twenty-fourth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Nourishing Fullness makes the skin bright and lustrous.

“During the twenty-fifth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Maintaining Completion moistens and nourishes the blood and flesh.

“During the twenty-sixth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Producing Completion causes the hair of the head, body hair, nails, and connecting vessels to arise.

“During the twenty-seventh seven-day period, a wind called Curved Measure brings the hair of the head, body hair, and nails to completion.

“Nanda, if in a former life the child committed much evil, was greedy, deceitful, miserly, unfilial, and discordant, then upon being born among humans it receives undesirable results. If the world regards height as beautiful, its body will be short; if the world regards shortness as beautiful, its body will be tall. Whether coarse or fine, large or small, thin or fat, near-sighted or far-sighted, timid or brave, pale or dark, and so forth, its features will run contrary to worldly preference.

Moreover, through its evil karma it receives evil retribution, such as blindness, deafness, muteness, stupidity, ugliness, a voice people dislike, crooked and crippled limbs, or a body like a hungry ghost. Even its relatives detest it and do not wish to see it, much less other people. Whatever it expresses through the three kinds of karma, others neither believe nor accept and pay it no heed.

Why? Because it created evil karma in a former life and now receives such evil retribution.

“Nanda, if in a former life the child created meritorious karma, practiced giving without greed or deceit, aided the poor and needy, performed many wholesome deeds, was filial, and lived in harmony with others, then it now receives wholesome retribution. Born among humans, it obtains desirable results. Whether tall or short, coarse or fine, large or small, fat or thin, brave or timid, and so forth, its features accord with worldly preference. Its six faculties are complete, and it is upright and beautiful. Its voice pleases others, and whatever it expresses through the three kinds of karma is believed and accepted; people respect it, remember it, and take its words to heart. Why? Because it created wholesome karma in a former life and now receives such good retribution.

“Nanda, if the embryo is male, it crouches on the mother’s right side, covering its face with both hands, with its back turned toward the mother’s spine. If it is female, it crouches on the mother’s left side, covering its face with both hands, with its front toward the mother’s abdomen. It sits below the stomach and above the intestines.

Raw food presses down upon it, while digested food pushes upward, as though it were bound at five points and impaled upon the tip of a sharp stake. Whether the mother eats much or little, the child suffers pain. If she eats food that is excessively liquid, dry, cold, hot, salty, bitter, pungent, sour, or sweet, the child suffers pain.

If the mother engages in sexual intercourse, walks or runs hastily, sits or lies down for a long time, or leaps about, the child suffers in every case.

“Nanda, you should know that while dwelling in the mother’s womb, the child is oppressed by so many kinds of pain and suffering that they cannot all be described. If even birth among humans involves such suffering, how much more so birth in the evil destinies? What wise person would delight in taking up this calamity-ridden body within the ocean of suffering that is birth and death?

“During the twenty-eighth seven-day period, the embryo falsely gives rise to eight inverted perceptions. It imagines that it is in a house, riding in a carriage, in a garden, in a tower, in an upper chamber, in a forest, upon a bed or seat, or beside a river or pond. In truth, none of these things is present; they are merely false discriminations.

“During the twenty-ninth seven-day period, a karmic wind called Flower Adornment makes the child’s body smooth, white, and clean. Or, through the power of karma, it causes the complexion to become dark, blue-green, some other color, or dry and without luster. White or dark radiance is emitted according to the complexion.

“During the thirtieth seven-day period, a wind called Iron Mouth causes the hair of the head, body hair, and nails to grow and become moist and lustrous.

“From the thirty-first through the thirty-fourth seven-day periods, the embryo grows and expands within the mother’s womb.

“During the thirty-fifth seven-day period, its limbs and bodily parts become complete.

“During the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh seven-day periods, the embryo no longer delights in remaining within the mother’s womb.

“During the thirty-seventh seven-day period, it gives rise to three non-inverted perceptions: that the womb is impure, foul-smelling, and dark.

“During the thirty-eighth seven-day period, a wind called Blue Flower causes the embryo to turn downward, extend its two arms, and move toward the birth opening. Next, a wind called Downward Course blows and causes its head to descend and its feet to rise as it prepares to emerge through the birth opening.

“Nanda, if in a former life that child created evil karma and caused others to miscarry, then in the present life the fetus lies crosswise and disordered, with its hands and feet entangled, unable to move, and dies within the mother’s womb. Because of this, the mother undergoes immeasurable agony and may also die.

“Nanda, if in a former life that child created merit, its head turns and its body moves without harming the mother, and it emerges safely, free from calamity. Yet even in childbirth, the mother undergoes extreme pain, nearly dying before the child can be born. You should carefully contemplate this and seek liberation.”