苦陰因事經

Thus have I heard:

At one time the Bhagavān was dwelling in the Nyagrodha Grove, in the city of Kapilavastu, among the Śākyas (the lineage of the Kṣatriya nobility). At that time Śākya Mahānāma, in the afternoon, walked leisurely to the place where the World-Honored One was. Having arrived, he bowed his head at the feet of the World-Honored One and sat to one side. Having seated himself to one side, Śākya Mahānāma, the man of great strength, addressed the World-Honored One, saying:

"All the dharmas that the World-Honored One has taught me, I know entirely. That is, there are three thoughts that bind: the thought of lust binds, the thought of hatred binds, the thought of delusion binds. Thus, all the dharmas that the World-Honored One has taught me, I know. Yet now there has arisen in me lustful desire clinging to my mind, there has arisen hatred and delusion clinging to my mind. Therefore, World-Honored One, I have thought thus: 'What dharma have I not yet brought to an end, that causes lustful desire to arise and cling to my mind? That causes hatred and delusion to arise and cling to my mind?'"

The Buddha said:

"Man of great strength, it is a dharma not yet brought to an end that causes one who dwells at home likewise not to study the Way, not to have faith and delight in leaving the household life and abandoning the home. Man of great strength, if this dharma were brought to an end, then even though you wished to dwell at home, you would surely be able to have faith and delight in leaving the household life, abandoning the home, and studying the Way. Man of great strength, it is because this dharma has not yet been brought to an end that you dwell at home, without faith and delight in leaving the household life, abandoning the home, and studying the Way."

Then Śākya, the man of great strength, rose from his seat, stood to one side, arranged his robe, joined his palms toward the World-Honored One, and said:

"Even so, now I have faith and delight in the World-Honored One. I humbly beg the World-Honored One to expound the Dharma well for my sake. By seeing the Dharma may I bring my doubts to an end."

The Buddha said:

"Man of great strength, there are five lustful desires—objects of craving thought, objects of craving form—near to lust, defiled by attachment: the eye knowing forms, the ear knowing sounds, the nose knowing smells, the tongue knowing tastes, the body knowing the attachment to smooth and slippery things. Within these one takes pleasure in oneself, craves the savor, and delights therein. Thus, man of great strength, within the savor of lust there is much ruin.

How is it, man of great strength, that with regard to lust there is much ruin? Man of great strength, suppose a son of a good family studies and practices skillful crafts in order to preserve his own life: whether plowing fields, or trading, or copying books, or studying numbers, or studying calculation, or studying printing, or studying poetry, or studying the making of pottery, or teaching, or being recruited by the king.

Such people are oppressed by piercing cold, scorched by heat and cold, must patiently endure the torment of hunger and thirst, are bitten and stung by mosquitoes, gnats, lice, and fleas, while they seek wealth. That son of a good family, having thus undertaken such work, having labored diligently at such work, is yet unable to obtain wealth. He then becomes sorrowful, joyless, weeping, striking himself, beating his own body, increasing his delusion—laboring diligently yet without result.

"If that son of a good family, having undertaken thus, having labored thus, having worked diligently thus, obtains much wealth, then, having obtained that wealth, he guards it lest this wealth be seized by the king, lest it be taken by robbers, lest it be burned by fire, lest it rot and decay, lest in seeking profit he suffer loss. Yet though he guards his wealth thus, it is still seized by the king, taken by robbers, burned by fire, destroyed, and in seeking profit he suffers loss. He then becomes sorrowful, joyless, weeping, striking himself, beating his own body, only increasing his delusion.

"Furthermore, that which is long delighted in will surely come to ruin. Therefore, man of great strength, this present body in this life is a great mass of suffering. Because of lust there arise the conditions that support lust; this very causal nexus of lust, man of great strength—beings, because of lust, give rise to the conditions that support lust.

Because of lust, mother contends with son, son contends with mother, father contends with son, son contends with father, elder brother contends with younger brother, younger brother contends with elder brother. They contend with one another: the mother says the son is wrong, the son says the mother is wrong, the father says the son is wrong, the son says the father is wrong, the elder brother says the younger brother is wrong, the younger brother says the elder brother is wrong.

How much more so toward those who are outsiders?

"Man of great strength, this is the present mass of suffering. Because of lust there arise the conditions that support lust. Man of great strength, because of lust there arise the conditions that support lust, and so king contends with king, brāhmaṇa contends with brāhmaṇa, householder contends with householder, robber contends with robber, artisan contends with artisan. They contend with one another, fashioning all manner of implements for combat. Some strike with the hand, some hurl stones, some stab with knives, some beat with clubs; among them some are killed, or suffer to the point of near death. Man of great strength, this is precisely the present mass of suffering. Because of lust there arise the conditions that support lust.

"Man of great strength, beings, because of lust, give rise to the conditions that support lust, and so they don armor, bear bows and arrows, wear leather armor, grasp keen knives, and surround one another in battle. At that time they fight with elephants, or with horses, or with chariots, or with foot soldiers, or with women, or with men; at that time some are killed, or suffer to the point of near death. This, man of great strength, is the present mass of suffering. Because of lust there arise the conditions that support lust.

"Man of great strength, beings, because of lust, give rise to the conditions that support lust, and so they don armor, bear bows and arrows, wear leather armor, grasp keen knives, and march to a very lofty fortress intending to attack and subdue it. At that time those people either blow into conch shells (blow the war horn), or beat drums, or use shouting cries, or use iron pestles, or use forks, or use halberds, or use keen-edged wheels, or shoot arrows at one another, or shove stones rolling about in chaos, or use crossbows, or take boiling molten copper and pour it down; among them some are killed, or suffer to the point of near death. Man of great strength, this is the present mass of suffering. Because of lust there arise the conditions that support lust.

"Man of great strength, beings, because of lust, give rise to the conditions that support lust, and so they go to the king's cities and towns, either tunneling through walls, breaking into storehouses, or stealing the goods of others, or beating others or blocking others' roads, breaking into others' fortresses, breaking into villages, killing people. Such a one, when caught by the officials of the law court, is subjected to every kind of suffering: either his hands are cut off, or his feet are cut off, or his ears are cut off, or his nose is sliced off, or his tongue is cut out, or his topknot is plucked out, or his hair is plucked out, or both his hair and his topknot are plucked out, or he is put into a chest, or covered with a cloth and then killed, or buried under sand and stones,

or covered over with grass, or put into the mouth of an iron donkey, or put into the mouth of an iron lion, or put into a copper cauldron, or put into an iron cauldron, or cut into pieces, or pierced through both hands with a keen knife, or laid upon a bed of hot iron, or doused with boiling oil, or put into a mortar and pounded with an iron pestle, or made to be bitten by snakes, or beaten with clubs, or impaled on a wooden stake, or led beneath the execution pole and beheaded with a knife.

Man of great strength, this is precisely the present mass of suffering. Because of lust there arise the conditions that support lust.

"Man of great strength, beings, because of lust, give rise to the conditions that support lust, and so they engage in evil bodily conduct, evil conduct of speech and of mind. At that time, should they fall ill with the calamity of disease and suffering, lying upon a bed, lying in the shade, their bodies stricken with illness, in extreme misery, in pain, joyless, their life-span about to end—such a one, having practiced evil bodily conduct, evil conduct of speech and of mind, at the time of death, is hung upside down with both feet toward the sky and head pointing down to the ground.

Just as at dusk, when the sun is about to set behind a great mountain, descending into the midst of the great mountain, the shadow of that mountain stretches long down upon the ground—even so it is. Such is one who has practiced evil bodily conduct, evil conduct of speech, evil conduct of mind: at the time of death he is hung upside down with his head pointing toward the ground. He thinks thus: 'This evil bodily conduct of mine, evil conduct of speech, evil conduct of mind is hung upside down with the head toward the ground because I have never practiced rightly, have never made merit; I have only done evil deeds.

Because I delighted in doing evil, was greedy, did violent deeds, did not perform meritorious conduct, did not perform wholesome conduct, did not make a place to return to hereafter, I shall surely fall into the evil destinies.' At that moment there comes change and remorse. Having changed and felt remorse, because what arose was unwholesome, it too is unwholesome. Man of great strength, this is precisely the present mass of suffering.

Because of lust there arise the conditions that support lust.

"Man of great strength, beings, because of lust, give rise to the conditions that support lust, and so they engage in evil bodily conduct, evil conduct of speech and of mind. Having performed evil bodily conduct, having performed evil conduct of speech and of mind, by that cause, by that condition, when the body breaks up and life ends, they are reborn in Niraya, in the evil destinies. This, man of great strength, is precisely the mass of suffering of this body in the life hereafter. Because of lust there arise the conditions that support lust. Man of great strength, it is precisely because of the five savors of lust that there is much suffering and ruin.

"But the noble disciple is not so: he has knowledge and vision in accordance with truth, has no joy or delight toward lust, because it produces evil and unwholesome dharmas. This is called supreme tranquility. Thus, man of great strength, the noble disciple is one who corresponds with the dharma of lust in this way. Furthermore, man of great strength, I take little delight in lust, knowing it to be suffering, knowing it to be ruin. This is my knowledge and vision in accordance with reality; nor do I, with regard to lust, produce evil and unwholesome dharmas, and thereby I obtain peace and joy. This is called supreme tranquility. Man of great strength, thus do I not correspond with the dharma of lust.

"Man of great strength, there was a time when I was dwelling in the Saptaparṇa Cave, on the Vebhāra slope of Cala (Indasāla), in the country of Rājagṛha. Man of great strength, after the day had declined, I rose and went to the slope of Cala, and dwelling there, I saw from afar certain Nirgranthas, who habitually did not sit but habitually knelt—a practice of severe suffering. I went to where they were, and having arrived, I said to them: 'Why, O Nirgranthas, do you habitually kneel thus and not habitually sit, performing such an extremely painful ascetic practice?' They answered: 'Gautama, there is a teacher, the Nirgrantha kinsman's son, who speaks thus: "O Nirgranthas,

(we have formerly committed various evil deeds;) now by performing this painful ascetic practice we shall wipe out those evil deeds.

That is, with respect to present bodily action, action of speech, and action of mind, if there be any evil, let it not be done."' I said to them: 'O Nirgranthas, why is it that, with regard to the teacher the Nirgrantha kinsman's son, you are able to believe and able to accept his word? Why do you not doubt that teacher?' They replied: 'Gautama, as for our teacher the Nirgrantha kinsman's son, we do not doubt that teacher, for he can be believed and can be accepted.' I replied to them: 'In that case, just as you Nirgranthas have a Nirgrantha—there is that Nirgrantha who formerly committed evil deeds and therefore must perform the utmost ascetic practice—when that Nirgrantha has died, in the life hereafter, being reborn among humankind,

will he again likewise study within this Nirgrantha order, having always to kneel, not to sit, performing such ascetic practice as you are now performing?' They spoke thus:

"'Gautama, though one does not follow good conduct, one still obtains a good reward. King Bimbisāra dwells at ease in peace and joy, yet the Śramaṇa Gautama does not attain such a thing.'

"I replied:

"'O Nirgranthas, what you say is not correct. Why is this? Because it is the foolish, deluded common person—unsettled, not good, not disgusted with the round, not knowing satisfaction—who says: "King Bimbisāra ever dwells in the good, ever obtains peace and joy, yet the Śramaṇa Gautama does not attain such a thing." O Nirgranthas, you ought first to know me—why I ever dwell in peace and joy—before you say: "King Bimbisāra, or the Śramaṇa Gautama?" O Nirgranthas, I shall tell you: it is I who am one that dwells well in peace and joy, and not King Bimbisāra of Magadha. You ought not to speak thus: "It is King Bimbisāra of Magadha who ever dwells in peace and joy, and not the Śramaṇa Gautama who could match him, O Śramaṇa Gautama!"

"Now I ask you:

"'Who is the one that dwells well in peace and joy—King Bimbisāra or the Śramaṇa Gautama? What think you, Nirgranthas? Has King Bimbisāra of Magadha attained mastery over speech and mind? For seven days and seven nights has his body abided wholly and entirely in peace and joy?'

"The Nirgranthas said:

"'That has not been attained, Gautama.'

"The Buddha asked further:

"'Or for six days, five days, four days, two days, or one day and one night, has the king attained mastery over speech and mind? Has his body abided wholly in peace and joy?'

"'Gautama, it has not been attained.'

"'What think you, Nirgranthas? Have I attained mastery over speech and mind? For one day and one night, has my body abided in peace and joy?'

"'It has, Gautama.'

"'From two, three, up to seven days and seven nights, have my speech and mind been able to dwell wholly and well in peace and joy?'

"'They have, Gautama.'

"'What think you, Nirgranthas? Between me and the king, who ever dwells well in peace and joy—King Bimbisāra of Magadha, or I?'

"'As we, through the Śramaṇa Gautama's exposition, have come to know this meaning: it is the Śramaṇa Gautama who is the one that dwells well in peace and joy, and not King Bimbisāra of Magadha.'

"Man of great strength, diminish lust, knowing it to have much suffering; among forms of ruin, it has the most ruin of all. Therefore the noble disciple uses wisdom to see in accordance with truth, and so, with regard to lust, those evil and unwholesome dharmas, he is unable to take joy and delight in them. This is supreme tranquility.

"Thus, man of great strength, the noble disciple corresponds with the dharma of lust in this way.

"Furthermore, man of great strength, I diminish the savor of lust because it has much suffering, knowing it to be ruin. That is, I use the wisdom of equanimity to see in accordance with truth, nor do I, with regard to lust, produce unwholesome dharmas; I only devote myself to guarding so as to obtain my own joy. This is supreme tranquility. Thus, man of great strength, I do not correspond with the dharma of lust."

The Buddha having taught thus, that man of great strength, together with the bhikṣus, having heard what the World-Honored One taught, rejoiced and were glad.

THE BUDDHA SPEAKS THE SŪTRA ON THE MASS OF SUFFERING CAUSED BY LUST