弊魔試目連經

Thus have I heard: At one time the Buddha was teaching and transforming beings in the Deer Park, at the village of Khủng Cụ, on Mount Diệu Hoa, in the land of Phàn Kỳ.

At that time the worthy one Mahāmaudgalyāyana was practicing walking meditation in the dark of night. While the venerable one was pacing back and forth upon an open piece of ground, Māra the Wicked One came to where he was, transformed himself into a tiny form, and slipped into the belly of the Venerable Maudgalyāyana. Then the worthy Mahāmaudgalyāyana thought thus: "Why is there a rumbling in my belly like thunder, as though a starving man were carrying a heavy load?

I had better enter my dwelling, enter the right attainment of samādhi, and contemplate so as to find the cause." Then the Venerable Maudgalyāyana entered his dwelling, entered samādhi, and contemplated his body, whereupon he saw Māra the Wicked One, transformed into a tiny form, having slipped into his belly. The venerable one then said: "Māra the Wicked One, come out and do not harass the Tathāgata and his disciples, lest you forever bear suffering and unrest, and fall into evil destinies."

Then Māra thought in his mind: "This Śramaṇa has not yet seen me, nor does he yet know me, and yet he falsely says, 'Māra the Wicked One, come out, come out, do not harass the Tathāgata and his disciples, lest you forever suffer pain and unrest.' Even his own teacher, the World-Honored Great Sage, cannot know me—how much less could his disciple know me?"

The Venerable Maudgalyāyana again said to Māra the Wicked One: "I even know what you are thinking in your mind, that 'his Great Teacher, who is a Great Sage, still cannot know me—how much less could a disciple know me.'"

Then Māra the Wicked One was afraid and thought: "Now this Śramaṇa already knows me." He then transformed into a tiny form and leapt out, standing in front of him. The Venerable Maudgalyāyana said to Māra: "In a remote and distant age long ago, when the Buddha Krakucchanda appeared in the world, at that time I myself was once a māra named Wrath. I had a younger sister named Kṛṣṇā the Demoness. At that time you were her son. Thus you should know that you are the son of my younger sister."

At that time a Buddha appeared in the world whose title was Krakucchanda Tathāgata, the Utterly True, the Perfectly Enlightened One. He had two disciples: the first was named Vidhura, and the second was named Sañjīva—they were the most venerable, foremost in benevolence and worth, with none equal to them.

Why was that worthy one called Vidhura? Because when that venerable one dwelt in the Brahmā heaven, the sound of his voice was great and resounded throughout the three-thousand-great-thousandfold world.

And why was that worthy one called Sañjīva? Because that venerable one, whether dwelling in a quiet and secluded place, sitting beneath a tree in an open field, or in the mountains, would enter the right attainment of samādhi of suchlike appearance. At that time there were certain people herding goats, herding oxen, gathering firewood, carrying grass, plowing fields, and travelers upon the road; they entered the mountains and saw him absorbed in concentration in this way, and they said to one another: "This Śramaṇa is sitting here dead; let us together pile up firewood and grass to cremate him." As they had spoken, so together they cremated him (performed his funeral pyre).

The Bhikṣu Sañjīva rose up from his samādhi, dusted off and shook out his robes, and brushed away the ashes. When he had set his robes in order, the venerable one took up his bowl and entered the city, the country towns and villages, to beg for alms. The herders of oxen and goats, the gatherers of firewood and carriers of grass were all greatly astonished, and said to one another: "In that remote and empty open field we saw this Bhikṣu sitting beneath a tree, no longer breathing, and supposing him to be dead we together piled up firewood and dry grass and cremated him." Therefore, from that time on the Bhikṣu Sañjīva was called "Sañjīva" (the Revived in Perception).

At that time the māra Wrath thought to himself: "These Śramaṇas reckon themselves keepers of the precepts; silent and still, they speak not but practice contemplation. They are like a dog or a cat that ponders how to catch a mouse, and therefore stays silent and motionless, waiting for the mouse to come out so as to seize it. The meditative contemplation of these Śramaṇas is likewise such.

"Just as an old crane wishing to catch a fish stays silent and makes no sound, sunk in brooding, waiting for the fish to come out so as to swallow it—these Śramaṇas too are likewise, sunk in brooding upon the aim they hope to attain.

"Just as a donkey that bears heavy loads all day long, until by evening it is weary, hungry and thirsty, sinks immersed in thoughts of wishing for food and drink—these Śramaṇas too are likewise."

Then within his mind he thought: "I should go and incite the elders and brahmins of this land to beat and curse them, to tear their robes, break their bowls, and split their heads—these men of the Way, these Śramaṇas who keep the precepts—so as to cause them to give rise to wrathful minds. By that means I shall find my opportunity." As he had thought, so the māra at once incited the elders and brahmins to beat and curse, to smash the bowls, break the heads, and tear the robes of these Śramaṇas who keep the precepts and uphold the Dharma. These Śramaṇas were like a cat catching a mouse, like a crane catching a fish, like the owl standing amid the trees to catch a mouse—these Śramaṇas sitting in meditation were likewise, exactly like a hungry, weary donkey.

Then the Bhikṣus, having all been reviled and disgraced, bowed their heads and went straight to where the Buddha Krakucchanda was. At that time the Buddha was for the fourfold assembly of devas, nāgas, spirits, and demons expounding at length upon the scriptures of the Way; seeing the Bhikṣus coming after having been reviled and disgraced, he said to the Bhikṣus: "Now the māra Wrath has incited the elders and brahmins of the land to beat and revile, to break the heads, smash the bowls, and tear the robes of the Śramaṇas who keep the precepts and uphold the Dharma, causing their minds to grow angry and to rouse thoughts of wrath. By that causal condition the māra finds his opportunity to cause these persons not to accomplish the Way.

"O my disciples, in such a case you should practice the four kinds of impartiality: loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity; harbor no mind of enmity and grudge; have no wrathful mind; be vast and without measure; let bliss without bound pervade the ten directions. With such a mind, even though the māra seeks a means to bring ruin, he will not be able to do so."

The Bhikṣus received and obeyed the Buddha's teaching; dwelling at ease in the open fields, single-minded in meditative concentration and contemplation, they practiced the four impartial states of mind, with thoughts neither increasing nor decreasing. Then the māra Wrath, though he wished to gain his advantage over the Śramaṇas who keep the precepts and uphold the Dharma, was forever unable to do so. At that time those elders and brahmins who had heeded the māra's incitement and reviled and disgraced the Śramaṇas who keep the precepts and uphold the Dharma, after their lives ended all fell into evil destinies, were tortured with suffering and affliction, and in the hells received their transformed bodies.

Just as a great tree casts its shade over a large patch of open ground, so upon the ground of the hells, like iron blazing with fire, naked they sank and were immersed therein. They all said to one another: "We who are scant of merit receive this calamity, this vile, cruel, and violent torment, because we reviled and disgraced the Śramaṇas who uphold the Dharma and keep the precepts; for this reason we have come here. Alas!

Unable to see the Śramaṇas who uphold the Dharma and keep the precepts, we wish to seek some means and condition to meet them again; for having ourselves created this, we must ourselves receive the calamity. Because we heeded the māra's incitement, we were unable to protect our own selves."

Then within the mind of the māra Wrath he thought: "By this means I sought to gain advantage over the Śramaṇas who keep the precepts, but I was wholly unable to do so. Now I must transform my appearance and incite the elders and brahmins, saying: You should make offerings and serve the Śramaṇas who keep the precepts—with clothing, food to eat, beds to lie upon, and medicines—causing them to crave the offerings;

and by that causal condition I shall then have my opportunity." Just as he had schemed, the māra then incited the elders and brahmins of the land to go to the crossroads, and if at the crossroads they saw the Śramaṇas, the men of the Way who keep the precepts, to spread out their hair upon the ground for those venerable ones to walk across, and to praise them, saying: "You are Śramaṇas who keep the precepts and diligently cultivate yourselves, hard to see and hard to meet; we beg you, tread upon our hair so that we may forever obtain immeasurable merit."

Or there would be an elder or brahmin who would bring clothing to where the Śramaṇas who keep the precepts were, bow down in homage, kneel, and say: "We beg you, take pity on us and accept this clothing."

Or they would come bearing food in abundance to the monastery, or they would come to the crossroads, to the heads of the side-lanes in the villages, to present and offer it up to the Śramaṇas who keep the precepts, saying: "You are truly hard to meet and hard to see; we beg you, accept these offerings so that we may forever obtain immeasurable merit."

Or they would carry them, support them, and bear them on their backs into their houses, invite them to sit upon fine couches, and then bring out all manner of cooked food, clothing, kāṣāya robes, gold, silver, and the seven treasures, set them before them, and kneeling say: "You are a Śramaṇa who keeps the precepts, hard to meet and hard to see; we beg you, accept these offerings. We beg you, out of compassion, freely make use of them, so that we may forever obtain immeasurable merit."

At that time the Buddha Krakucchanda, for the fourfold assembly of devas, nāgas, and spirits, saw the ascetics, the Śramaṇas who keep the precepts, being met by the elders and brahmins who came and made offerings and paid homage without measure. He said to the Bhikṣus: "Now the māra Wrath has incited the elders and brahmins to make offerings to the Śramaṇa ascetics who keep the precepts—all manner of clothing, food and drink, bedding, and medicines—supplying everything they could wish for as offerings.

By that causal condition the māra has his opportunity to ruin the wholesome minds of these persons, causing them to be unable to attain the Way. You should dwell in the mountains and the open, secluded fields and reflect upon the impermanence of all things. Though you receive clothing and food, do not crave or be attached to them; you must contemplate them as suffering, as empty, and as not-self.

Though the māra seek his opportunity to bring ruin, in the end he will still not succeed."

The Bhikṣus then obeyed the teaching of Krakucchanda Tathāgata, the Utterly True, the Perfectly Enlightened One, and practiced in accordance with the Dharma; therefore, though the māra sought his opportunity, he had none.

Because the māra had incited the elders and brahmins, telling them to make offerings to the Śramaṇas who keep the precepts, by that merit they were all born up into the heavens. When they had been born into the heavens, they all thought: "We, by making offerings and serving the Dharma of the pure Śramaṇas who keep the precepts, have ourselves obtained this merit; it is not through another, nor through the gods, that we have obtained such a thing."

At that time the Buddha Krakucchanda Tathāgata, the Utterly True, the Perfectly Enlightened One, after taking his meal, when the sun was inclining toward the west, was journeying through the districts and counties together with his great disciple, the venerable Vidhura. Then Māra the Wicked One transformed himself into a brave and powerful, towering man, holding a great staff in his hand, and stood by the roadside; stealthily he raised the great staff and struck the head of the Venerable Vidhura, splitting his head so that blood flowed in streams.

At that time the venerable one still walked behind the World-Honored One like a shadow following a form, silent and saying nothing. Krakucchanda Tathāgata, the Sage with none equal to him, turned his head and looked back, and uttered words of reproach, saying: "Māra Wrath, unable to restrain yourself, you have created this great evil."

Then the māra Wrath, in that very body of his, at once fell into the hells, and from this hell he passed on to another. Just as a tadpole or a fish leaves the water for dry land, just as the hide is flayed from a living ox, gradually within the hells he underwent suffering that cannot be told.

At that time the māra Pāpīyān, within the hells, gradually underwent intense agony, passing through hundreds of millions of years, multiplied a thousand- and ten-thousand-fold of years within those hells. It was as though a person whose body is stricken with raving madness runs toward a place of unrest. At that time this māra Pāpīyān, fallen into the great hells, suffered immeasurable agony.

Then a hell-warden came and said: "You should know that if there be a tally for each time a bird flies up, passing through ten thousand million years for each, even by such reckoning it is hard to know the number of years that Māra the Wicked One spends within the hells. Only at the very last does he come out of the hells, and again he meets with calamity for more than twenty thousand years. Only then does Māra the Wicked One come to the end of his sorrow and suffering."

The Buddha spoke to the Venerable Maudgalyāyana a verse, saying:

The māra Wrath must bear his guilt.

What were those hells like?

When the Buddha Krakucchanda

Was teaching and saving his disciples,

He brought down calamity and torment,

Tormented and chastised in every way.

The flames burned and consumed his own body,

The fire scorched his face and scorched his form.

Such were those hells,

And there the māra Wrath dwelt.

When the Buddha Krakucchanda

And Vidhura his great disciple—

Suppose that before the Buddha,

And gazing upon the Bhikṣus—

Through that condition he received his guilt,

Because he wrought harassment and disorder.

If one delights in slandering

The Bhikṣus, the Buddha's disciples,

One must bear this calamity,

Born into the direst woe and affliction—

Like a man leaping into a deep abyss,

Losing his great palace,

No longer dwelling with the celestial maidens,

Forsaking the joys of the heavens.

Whoever clearly understands this—

The Bhikṣus, the Buddha's disciples—

From thence shall win his release.

Peril and harm cast one into woe and affliction.

Māra, you should know that this body of mine

Relies upon the gate of liberation;

Not the abodes of the gods, nor gods and men,

Nor the famed Trāyastriṃśa heaven.

If one discriminates in this way—

The Bhikṣus, the Buddha's disciples—

If one's own self transgresses against the Dharma,

Thereby one enters the evil destinies.

Whoever, with a single toe,

Can shake the most excellent palace,

Wielding the power of spiritual feet—

Such is the great responsiveness of Maudgalyāyana.

Whoever clearly understands this—

The Bhikṣus, the Buddha's disciples—

If they raise up and establish their own selves,

How then could they fall into the evil destinies?

Suppose there were a hundred maidens,

Upright, beautiful, and exquisite,

Celestial maidens of subtle loveliness;

Seeing the Bhikṣus in meditative contemplation,

They at once would not stay in their pleasure-gardens.

Because of discriminating in this way—

The Bhikṣus, the Buddha's disciples—

If a Bhikṣu himself creates such karma,

He may be cast into the evil destinies.

Suppose, all together in concord,

One were to go and ask Śakra the Lord of Devas:

"Does the Lord of Devas understand or not

The cause by which one wins liberation?"

When the fitting occasion arises,

He answers according to the questioner.

If one is not attached and craving,

Thereafter one wins liberation.

Whoever clearly understands this—

The Bhikṣus, the Buddha's disciples—

According to the deeds one performs,

One goes by oneself to the evil destinies,

Or one comes to the realm of Brahmā.

One asks the King of the Brahmā Heaven:

"By what cause have I come to this place,

And come to dwell here in the Brahmā heaven?"

The Lord of Brahmā then answers, saying:

According to the question, so he replies:

"Now that I dwell in this place,

I have never given rise to wrong views.

From the Brahmā heaven I gaze all around;

The radiance is in decline and retreat.

What now shall I say?

Is my body to be long-lived?"

Whoever understands this matter—

The Bhikṣus, the Buddha's disciples—

If one's own self transgresses against the Dharma,

Of itself one shall have suffering.

Just as fire does not think,

"I shall burn the fool,"

Yet the fool of himself touches the fire,

And is in turn consumed by the fire in his own body.

Pāpīyān, you should understand thus:

To direct your intent against the Tathāgata

Only brings peril and harm to your own self,

Just as fire consumes the foolish.

One who delights in doing evil deeds—

His body forever suffers pain.

In the life to come he does not awaken of himself.

Do not harass the Bhikṣus.

Māra Wrath, do not test the Buddha,

Nor harass his disciples,

Forever you shall have no peace and ease,

And must be born into the evil destinies.

Then the māra was subdued.

Because he had terrorized the Bhikṣus,

Hearing this he was grieved and sorrowful,

And suddenly vanished, no longer appearing.

When the Buddha had spoken thus, the devas, nāgas, and spirits all rejoiced.

THE BUDDHA SPEAKS THE SUTRA OF MĀRA THE WICKED ONE TESTING THE VENERABLE MAUDGALYĀYANA