釋摩男本四子經

Thus have I heard:

At one time the Buddha was dwelling at Śākya, seated beneath a tree in the Nyagrodha Grove, in the land of Kapilavastu. At that time there was a man of the Śākya clan named Mahānāma, who came before the Buddha, bowed his head and face to the Buddha's feet, and addressed the Buddha:

"I have often heard the Buddha teach: 'One must restrain the mind.' I have heard the Buddha teach: 'The mind of a human being has three states: there is lust, hatred, and delusion.' From the time I heard this until now, I have constantly kept it in mind, and I have reflected to myself: 'If there is no state of lust, then my mind is upright; if there is no state of anger, then my mind is upright; if there is no state of delusion, then my mind is upright.' I have reflected to myself: 'I have constantly guarded against these three things, and my mind is unmoved—then for what cause and condition am I still not liberated?'"

The Buddha said:

"If you had liberated the mind of lust, the mind of hatred, and the mind of delusion, then for what cause and condition do you still dwell together with wife and children? Therefore there is still a mind of greed. O virtuous one, reflect thus: 'Though I now have a little suffering, in the long run afterward I shall obtain great peace and joy; dwelling together with wife and children, though there is pleasure and delight for a moment, afterward there will be the utmost suffering.' O virtuous one, know that in the world the joy is little but the suffering is much."

The Buddha said:

"The bhikṣus who have attained the Way of the Arhat know that in the world the joy is little and the suffering is much, and therefore I, in seeking the Buddha's Way, considered only that the world's joy is little but its suffering is much. When I was practicing as a Bodhisattva, I constantly considered that the joy is little and the suffering is much."

Mahānāma said:

"Is it only the Buddha and the Arhats who have this thought?"

The Buddha said:

"O Mahānāma, listen to what I say and keep it in your mind: as for human beings in the world, what is it that they regard as their pleasures?

"Ordinarily there are five kinds of sensual pleasure that make human beings rejoice and become attached: the eye is attached to forms, and one then keeps it in the mind, thinking on it day and night, attached to beautiful forms; the ear hears pleasant sounds, the nose smells fragrant scents, the tongue delights in delicious flavors, the body craves soft and smooth objects, and one then becomes attached to them in the mind.

Just as one is attached to beautiful forms, so too with the other four the people of the world are all attached. The attachments of worldly people go no further than these five things—how many people know to be concerned with escaping from them? People in the world either work fields and gardens to make a living, or work as craftsmen to seek a livelihood, or trade in the markets to earn a living, or serve as officials to make a living, or raise livestock to support themselves, or work as painters to earn a living.

Such people endure the cold, the heat, the hardship, the hunger, and the thirst. They are all driven by the mind of greed, and so they must endure the cold, the warmth, the hunger, and the thirst, and then they resent themselves, saying: 'I have labored to live, passing through so many years, suffering to the point of wanting to die, yet I have not earned any wealth at all, but still live with the suffering of cold, or with sickness and frailty.'"

The Buddha said:

"O Mahānāma, this is the first suffering.

"The second matter is that within a human being there is the mind of lustful greed. There may be one who works fields and gardens, or one who works as a craftsman, or one who buys and sells in the markets, or one who serves as an official, or one who raises livestock, or one who works as a painter. When working to make a living, one must endure cold, heat, hunger, and thirst in order to obtain wealth.

By this one becomes wealthy, but then harbors a heart of worry and fear—fearing that the district officials will seize all the wealth, or fearing that fire will burn up all the wealth, or fearing that while traveling by boat, the boat will sink and lose all the wealth, or fearing bandits and robbers who will rob away all the wealth, or fearing that in buying, selling, and bartering one will lose all the wealth, or fearing that poor relatives will use poison to harm them, or that one's own children will squander away all the wealth.

Such a person constantly lives in anxiety, day and night harboring a heart of fear with not a moment's rest. Among them there is one who, while storing up wealth, either encounters officials (who seize it), or it is burned by fire and swept away by water, or in buying and selling one lends out wealth that is not repaid, or one buries and hides it in the ground and now forgets the place, or one is falsely accused and slandered so that all is lost, or one has one's own children who squander away all the wealth of their parents.

Such a person reflects: 'From the time I was small I have toiled for a livelihood, having to endure cold, heat, hunger, and thirst, or hardship, to earn money, and now I have lost it all.' Because of this, through brooding, worry, and grief, he becomes sick, or he dies—all of it caused by wealth. These matters all arise from the mind of greed for the five sensual pleasures. This is the second suffering.

"The third matter is that worldly people, because they have wealth, the father contends with the son, the elder brother contends with the younger brother, the husband contends with the wife, or friends and acquaintances contend with one another, or the inner and outer families contend with one another, and slander one another behind their backs. All these arise from greed for sensual pleasure. Worldly people, on account of wealth, the king fights with the king, the religious man fights with the religious man, the farmer fights with the farmer, the craftsman fights with the craftsman; on account of wealth they use their mouths to curse one another, use clubs to beat one another, use knives to hack one another, or they wound, kill, and slay one another.

All of it arises from the heart of greed. This is the third suffering.

"The fourth matter is that worldly people follow the army and receive the official's pay, and so must go to battle, not knowing when they will live or die. Because of the heart of greed they enlist in the army, and because they have received the official's money they cannot stop, but must do battle: either they are wounded in the head, or their head is cut off, or they are wounded in the arm, or their arm is severed, or they are wounded in the leg, or their leg is cut off, leading step by step to the loss of life. All of this arises from greed. This is the fourth suffering.

"The fifth matter is that worldly people have the mind of greed, and at night they break through the walls of others' houses to steal, or they rob others on the road, or they assault the walled cities of others, and so are caught by the officials, who either cut off the head, or cut off the hands, or cut off the feet, or dismember the body, or flay off the flesh, or burn with fire, or take a great pestle to smash the forehead, or cut through the waist. All these arise from the heart of greed. This is the fifth suffering.

"Worldly people, on account of wealth, deceive one another: their mouths deceive one another, their bodies deceive one another, their minds deceive one another. At that time they themselves regard this as a necessary thing to do, with no fault at all, not knowing its venomous calamity, so that afterward they must enter hell. Among these, if a virtuous one or a śramaṇa reflects upon the five pleasures of the world—is the joy greater, or are the suffering, affliction, and grief greater?"

The Buddha said:

"O Mahānāma, when I was still practicing as a Bodhisattva, I constantly considered that the world's joy is little but its affliction and suffering are much, and because of this I sought the Way of the Unconditioned. If there is a person of lustful greed who says, 'The world is joyful,' it is because they all do not know the path of birth and death. If in the world there is one whose mind and intent are virtuous and good, who has the resolve of non-greed, and who furthermore wishes to teach people not to have lustful greed—this is the most supreme one of great virtue."

The Buddha said:

"O Mahānāma, I once went to Rājagṛha, where there is a mountain named Saptaparṇaguhā [the Cave of the Seven-Leaf Tree]. I saw Nirgranthas: there were practitioners with disheveled hair, there were practitioners hunched over, sitting upon the ground, lying upon the ground, their bodies without clothing, all of them wearing deerskins. The Buddha, seeing them from afar, came before them and said to the Nirgranthas: 'For what cause and condition do you leave your hair disheveled? For what cause and condition do you sit and lie upon the ground, and also wear no clothing, inflicting such harm upon yourselves?'"

The Nirgranthas answered the Buddha:

"In our former lives we did evil such as this, and so it has caused us in this life to be afflicted with such hardship; because the evil deeds are not yet exhausted, we therefore act in this way."

The Buddha said:

"For what cause and condition do you hear of and know this matter? Is it indeed that you heard and learned from others about the deeds done in your former lives? Or do you know it of yourselves?"

The Nirgranthas replied:

"We do not know it, nor have we heard it, nor have we received any teaching from anyone."

The Buddha said:

"By this ascetic practice, can you be liberated from birth and death? You have neither heard others say so, nor heard a teacher teach it thus. For no reason you bring affliction upon yourselves. You should abandon such practices, and come to revere the Buddha's Way."

The Buddha said:

"I only feel pity for you—whether you yourselves should reflect, or your descendants in later generations who would all imitate these practices of yours."

The Nirgranthas all became angry, and the Buddha said:

"Why does King Bimbisāra permit this śramaṇa Gautama to propagate the Way within the country?"

The Buddha said to the Nirgranthas:

"If you are able to sit upright for seven days and seven nights, without eating or drinking, without speaking—is this joyful? Or is the king, with his palaces and music, joyful?"

The Nirgranthas said:

"O śramaṇa Gautama, we are joyful."

The Buddha said:

"How is this called joyful? Why then is King Bimbisāra within the country not joyful?"

The Nirgranthas said:

"O śramaṇa Gautama, we have little worry and grief, and therefore are more joyful than King Bimbisāra."

The Buddha said:

"O Nirgranthas, King Bimbisāra has the mind of lust, the mind of hatred, the mind of delusion; he also wishes to subdue his ministers, and also wishes to subdue the people outside, thinking day and night: 'Whom must I punish? Whom must I bind?'"

The Buddha said:

"One who has a heart of lust will also slay himself, and will also wish to slay others. One who has a heart of hatred will also slay himself, and will also wish to kill others. One who is deluded will also slay himself, and will also wish to kill others."

The Nirgranthas all came before the Buddha and said:

"We have no state of lust, nor any state of hatred, nor any state of delusion—can we then become śramaṇas?"

The Buddha said:

"Return and report this to your fathers and mothers."

The Nirgranthas said:

"We left home to study the Way, all with the consent of our fathers and mothers."

The Buddha said:

"Then take refuge, and receive and uphold the five precepts."

The Nirgranthas all received the five precepts:

1. Do not kill.

2. Do not steal.

3. Do not violate the women of another's household.

4. Do not deceive.

5. Do not drink liquor.

The Nirgranthas received and upheld the five precepts, put on robes, bound up their hair, and maintained right conduct. Each of them returned to his own home.

The Buddha said to Mahānāma:

"If, having heard of this mind of lust, mind of hatred, and mind of delusion, one thinks: 'I shall receive and uphold the Buddha's teaching,' or one reflects rightly upon these five matters—should one then contend with the people of the world?"

Mahānāma said:

"I shall return and reflect, reciting this sūtra, and tomorrow I shall come to the place of the Buddha."

Mahānāma came before the Buddha, paid homage, and departed.

THE BUDDHA SPEAKS THE SŪTRA OF MAHĀNĀMA'S ORIGIN