蟻喻經

At that time the Blessed One, having emitted a great radiance that shone forth brilliantly, said to the bhikṣus:

—You should know that once upon a time there was an anthill that smoked at night and blazed with fire by day. There was a brahmin who, having seen this, thought thus: "If someone were to take a sharp knife, he would surely be able to break apart this anthill." Having spoken thus, he then saw a great tortoise, and that brahmin spoke likewise: "If there were a person holding a sharp knife, he would surely be able to destroy it." Next he saw jellyfish, then he saw a leech, next he saw the worms called Aśītisūnā, then he saw a great serpent, then he saw the worm called Naḍāpattha, then he saw the worm called Cikkavaṭṭa.

When the brahmin had seen these creatures, he spoke of each as before. Finally he saw a great nāga, and the brahmin said: "Whatever such things may signify, only the Buddha, the Blessed One, is able to understand them clearly." He then went to the place of a certain bhikṣu, laid out the matter as above, and further said:

—O bhikṣu, take this matter and ask the Buddha on my behalf, so that the doubts in my mind may be opened up; and whatever the Buddha says, I shall remember and uphold. Why is this? O bhikṣu, I do not see among the assembly of śramaṇas and brahmins in the world, whether god or human, anyone who could put this question to the Buddha; therefore none can cause my doubts to be opened up.

Then that bhikṣu, just as he had been told, went to the place of the Buddha; having arrived, he bowed at the feet and stood to one side, laid out the matter clearly, and then asked:

—As to the anthill that the brahmin saw, what is the meaning of it? It smoked at midnight and blazed with fire by day—what is the meaning of this too? Again he saw a great tortoise, jellyfish, a leech, the worm Aśītisūnā, a great serpent, the worm Naḍāpattha, the worm Cikkavaṭṭa, and a great nāga. What signs are these things that he saw? And who is that brahmin? What is meant by the sharp knife that breaks them apart? I humbly beg the Buddha to explain.

—O bhikṣus, at that time I addressed that bhikṣu, saying: That anthill is the body of the five aggregates of all sentient beings. The smoking at midnight is sentient beings giving rise to thoughts and reflections; the blazing of fire by day is sentient beings, following upon thought and reflection, giving rise to bodily action and verbal action. The great tortoise is the five defiling dharmas; the jellyfish is wrath; the leech is greed and envy; the worm Aśītisūnā is the dharmas of the five sense-pleasures; that serpent is ignorance; the worm Naḍāpattha is doubt; the worm Cikkavaṭṭa is conceit; the nāga is the arhats; the brahmin is the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One; that sharp knife is the person possessed of wisdom; the knife is wisdom;

and the breaking apart is the arousing of the surpassing practice of energetic effort.

O bhikṣus, what do you think?

The forms and signs that he saw, stated in brief, are the kalala of the body of the five clustered aggregates of all sentient beings—born of the impurity of father and mother, compounded of the four great elements, false in their forms and appearances, coarse, evil, base, and low, accumulating suffering and affliction, and in the end subject to destruction. Yet sentient beings are unable to know this; day and night they give rise to thought and reflection, and so create unwholesome bodily action and verbal action;

they are covered over by the five afflictions, attached to the five sense-pleasures, increasing their ignorance, giving birth to the mind of conceit, doubting and undecided with regard to the holy dharmas, with anger, stinginess, greed, and envy arising in every moment of thought, and they do not seek liberation.

Therefore the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One, wishing to cause all persons possessed of wisdom to arouse the practice of energetic effort, to cultivate wisdom, to cut off the afflictions, and to attain the holy fruit.

O bhikṣus, having brought the contaminants to an end, one will attain the fruit of arhatship. Therefore it is said to be like the nāga.

Furthermore, O bhikṣus, the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones, of the past and of the future, loving and benefiting all sentient beings, wishing them to cut off the afflictions and attain the holy fruit, expound this meaning at length for the śrāvakas. Today I too, just like those Buddhas, make use of this occasion to proclaim it for you to hear.

O bhikṣus, keep this matter in mind: you should, in quiet and tranquil places such as the wilderness, empty dwellings, amid the mountains, beneath trees, in caves and houses, calm your mind and contemplate, examining this meaning, and do not be heedless or give rise to a mind that turns back; and you should also reveal and teach this path to others, causing them to cultivate it widely and to gain great benefit.

At that time the Blessed One, having spoken thus for the sake of the bhikṣus, the bhikṣus all believed and accepted it.

THE BUDDHA SPEAKS THE SUTRA OF THE PARABLE OF THE ANTHILL