恒水經

Thus have I heard:

At one time the Buddha, together with the great assembly of bhikṣus and the bodhisattvas and great disciples, went together to the Ganges River. Devas, the people, ghosts, spirits, nāgas, humans, non-humans, and those who had newly given rise to the aspiration for the Way—innumerable beyond count—all of them holding flowers, incense, and music, followed behind the Buddha. When they reached the Ganges River, all of them spread out their seats and sat down; and when the assembly had settled quietly, on the fifteenth day of the month, which is the day for expounding the precepts, the Venerable Ānanda rose from his seat, adjusted his robes, came forward to pay homage, touched his head to the Buddha's feet, then knelt down, joined his palms, and said:

"The disciples are now settled in their places. We humbly beseech the Buddha to expound the Sūtra of the Precepts."

The Buddha remained silent and did not reply. The Venerable Ānanda then returned to his seat. After a very long while, until the middle of the night, the Venerable Ānanda again rose, came forward, knelt upright, and addressed the Buddha:

"It is already midnight, and the disciples are all sitting in silence. We long to hear the Buddha expound the Sūtra of the Precepts."

The Buddha again remained silent and did not answer. The Venerable Ānanda again returned to his seat for a very long while. As the cocks were about to crow, the Venerable Ānanda again came forward, knelt down, joined his palms, and addressed the Buddha:

"The cocks are about to crow. The disciples long to hear the Buddha expound the Sūtra of the Precepts."

The Buddha said to the Venerable Ānanda:

"Human beings, living and dying, revolve back and forth among the five paths, suffering greatly in the world. Those who do not know of themselves their former lives and former kalpas, root and branch, do so entirely because their minds and intentions are not upright. A human body is most difficult to obtain.

Having obtained the body, it is even more difficult to hear the Buddha's Sūtra of the Precepts. Having heard the Buddha's Sūtra of the Precepts, it is even more difficult to enter with faith into the Buddha's Way. Having entered with faith into the Buddha's Way, it is even more difficult to keep the Sūtra of the Precepts.

The Buddha wished to expound the Sūtra of the Precepts, but now there is a disciple sitting within this group who cannot uphold the Buddha's Sūtra of the Precepts; and for this reason the Buddha has not expounded the Sūtra of the Precepts."

The Venerable Ānanda addressed the Buddha:

"I do not know where the disciple who does not uphold the Sūtra of the Precepts is sitting."

The Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, abiding in samādhi, looked thoroughly and saw the disciple who did not uphold the precepts. He then rose, went before that one, and said:

"You are a disciple of the Buddha, yet you cannot uphold the Dharma of the Precepts. You are one who is cast aside; you cannot sit together upon the same mat with the venerable ones. Rise, go out, and do not return into this assembly again."

The Buddha said to the Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana:

"You have explained it well, causing the disciple who does not keep the precepts to leave this place; knowing his own shame, he therefore went out."

The Buddha said to the disciples:

"Excellent! Now I shall expound the Dharma."

The disciples all joined their palms and said:

"Yes indeed, we will receive and uphold the teaching."

The Buddha taught:

"When the tidal waters of the great ocean rise, they do not pass beyond their former mark; and when they recede, they likewise do not pass beyond their former mark. All disciples should make their minds upright and their intentions correct, turning back to examine within their own five viscera, reflecting and knowing that birth and death are most painful. Reverently uphold the Sūtra of the Precepts, and do not let it be chipped or broken.

One who upholds the five precepts is reborn again among humankind as a human being. One who keeps the ten precepts is reborn into the heavens. One who keeps the two hundred and fifty precepts attains in this life the fruit of the Arhat, of the Pratyekabuddha, of the Bodhisattva-Buddha, of the great Way of Nirvāṇa.

It is by means of the Way that one obtains the human body, so reverently uphold the Sūtra of the Precepts. Even if it should mean death, accept death, but do not let there be any breach or transgression, even one as great as a single hair.

Just as the waters of the great ocean, by light and by dark, when rising and when receding, do not dare to pass beyond their former mark. Within the ocean there are seven treasures. What are the seven?

1. White silver

2. Yellow gold

3. Coral

4. White pearl

5. Conch (musāragalva)

6. Bright-moon pearl

7. Maṇi pearl.

These are the seven treasures within the ocean.

Now within the Buddha's Way there are also seven treasures. The Buddha taught: those seven treasures are:

1. Srotāpanna

2. Sakṛdāgāmin

3. Anāgāmin

4. Arhat

5. Pratyekabuddha

6. The Bodhisattva who gives rise to the aspiration to deliver all beings

7. The Buddha's great Way of Nirvāṇa.

These are the seven treasures. One who wishes to attain the treasure of the Way must cast off lust, anger, and delusion, must uphold the precepts with diligence and accumulate much merit, be pure within and without, and guard oneself in a lofty purity beyond the ordinary. In this way, the waters within the ocean do not hold defiled things; if there is a corpse, defiled, foul-smelling, and unclean, a strong wind will blow it up onto the shore.

Now within the Buddha's Way, those who are evil and defiled, who do not keep the Sūtra of the Precepts, are not retained. Those who have transgressed the Sūtra of the Precepts are then taken by the hand and pulled outside. It is like there being four kinds of rats.

The first is the rat that lives in the room; the second is the rat that lives in the house; the third is the rat that lives in the wild fields; the fourth is the kind of rat that lives where the clean and the dirty are mixed together. The rat that lives in the room cannot live on the open ground; the rat that lives on the open ground cannot live within the room; the rat that lives in the wild fields cannot live in people's houses; the rat in people's houses cannot live out in the wild fields; the rat that lives where it is both clean and dirty cannot leave that place to live elsewhere, because it does not know that the granary is full to overflowing.

Human beings, likewise, are of four kinds. What is meant by the four kinds? The first is the person who is upright in mind and intention, upholding the precepts without transgression, wishing to attain the Way of the Arhat.

The second is the person who upholds the precepts with diligence, wishing to attain the Way of the Pratyekabuddha. The third kind is the person who upholds the precepts and studies, who understands the sūtras, whose wisdom is mindful of delivering all beings, wishing to attain the Buddha's Way. The fourth kind is the one who falsely takes the name of a disciple, yet cannot reverently uphold the precepts clearly, does not wish to study, and whose mind and intention waver because of fearing not to attain the Way.

Such are the disciples of former lives, like these four kinds of rats."

The Buddha taught:

"Disciples, within heaven and earth there are five great rivers. The waters of the Eastern quarter have one great river named Sa-lộc; the waters of the Southern quarter have one great river named A-di; the waters of the Western quarter have one great river named the Ganges; the waters of the Northern quarter have one great river named Mặc-bồi-hồi; the waters in the very center are named Vi-giang. When they flow into the ocean, they all relinquish their own particular names and are called only ocean water."

The Buddha taught:

"Disciples, there is the lineage of the Brāhmaṇa, the lineage of the Kṣatriya, the lineage of the artisan, the lineage of the farmer, and there are beggars. Every lineage holds of itself: 'My lineage is noble and exalted.' Yet wealth and nobility, ease and joy, or poverty and lowliness, are all like the waters of the five great rivers flowing into the great ocean. All those of every lineage who become disciples of the Buddha relinquish their own surname and lineage-name, and are called only disciples of the Buddha.

What rich and poor are there for one to exalt oneself by? One who knows first must teach again those who come to know later. One must not say, 'I know the Way,' and thereby exalt oneself.

One must not say, 'I have studied long and know many sūtras.' One must not say, 'The thoughts I think accord with the Way, and the thoughts you think are contrary to the Way.' To speak in such a way is to transgress the precepts, and one may not enter into the assembly. Within the Dharma of the Way, the great and the small must together teach and protect one another; let them succeed one another. If there is one who has not yet understood the sūtras and the Way, one must not speak to them of profound matters—that is a great fault.

When the heavens rain heavily, the rainwater flows into the gutters; the gutter water flows into the streams; the streams flow into the great rivers; the waters of the great rivers flow into the ocean; and the waters within the ocean neither increase nor decrease.

Disciples, there are those who attain Srotāpanna; there are those who attain Sakṛdāgāmin; there are those who attain Anāgāmin; there are those who attain Arhat; there are those who attain Pratyekabuddha; there are those who attain Avaivartika; there are those who attain the Buddha's Way of Nirvāṇa. Some come, some go, yet the Buddha's Way likewise neither increases nor decreases. It is just as the ocean's water neither increases nor decreases."

The Buddha taught:

"Within the ocean there are great fish: the first is four thousand leagues long; the second is eight thousand leagues long; the third is twelve thousand leagues long; the fourth is sixteen thousand leagues long; the fifth is twenty thousand leagues long; the sixth is twenty-four thousand leagues long; the seventh is twenty-eight thousand leagues long. If one who studies the Way does not meet an enlightened master, let him know that within the world there is a great Way.

One who rows a boat and roams about in gutters, ponds, and streams should know that within the world there are still great rivers and a great ocean. The Buddha's sūtras are like great rivers and a vast ocean; all the scriptures and writings of the world come forth by means of the Buddha's sūtras. The sūtras are already difficult to encounter, so having been able to see and hear them, one should preserve them and recite them.

Will there, after a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred million years hence, be again a Sūtra of the Precepts of a Buddha? The sun, the moon, and the stars still have a time when they are destroyed, but the reverent practice of the Buddha's Sūtra of the Precepts has no time when it is destroyed. From now on, the Buddha will no longer expound the Sūtra of the Precepts again.

The Buddha's Sūtra of the Precepts is exceedingly important. Among those who receive and uphold the precepts, one who commits an evil deed will have his head split into seven pieces."

When the Buddha had finished speaking this sūtra, the disciples all single-mindedly and reverently received and upheld the Sūtra of the Precepts. The devas, the people, ghosts, spirits, and nāgas all came forward, bowed their heads and faces to the Buddha's feet upon the ground, and then withdrew.

THE BUDDHA SPEAKS THE SŪTRA OF THE GANGES RIVER WATERS