佛說優填王經

Thus have I heard:

At one time, the Buddha was in the country of Kosambī, whose king was named Udayana.

In the country of Kosambī there was a brahmin named Māgandiya, who had a daughter, beautiful and virtuous, with few in the world to equal her. The father, seeing that his daughter's form was truly rare, with none in the country to match her, named her Anupamā (Without Equal). The kings of the neighboring countries, officials of rank, and the elders all came to ask for her hand in marriage. The father said:

"If there be one whose features are as beautiful as my daughter's, I will give her to him."

At that time, the Buddha came to that country. The brahmin, seeing that the Buddha bore the thirty-two marks and the eighty fine features, his body the color of purple-gold, radiant, with supreme majestic light, rejoiced and said:

"My daughter has at last found one worthy to be her match!"

He returned home and said to his wife:

"Through Anupamā we have gained a son-in-law. Quickly adorn our daughter and let us bring her there."

Husband and wife together adorned their daughter with all manner of flowers, pearls and gems, and precious, gleaming ornaments, and then led their daughter to the place where the Buddha was.

Along the way, the wife saw the footprints of the Buddha, marked with lines of bright and shining colors, such as no ordinary person could possess. Knowing these to be the prints of a Heaven-honored One, she said to her husband:

"The footprints of this person bear such markings; they are not those of an ordinary man. This must be one beyond the common—surely he is pure, free of lust, and he will not lower himself to take our daughter."

The husband asked:

"How do you know this?"

Thereupon, the wife spoke a verse:

The brahmin said:

"Woman, you do not know rightly. If you are not pleased, then go back."

So he led his daughter on to meet the Buddha, bowed his head to the Buddha's feet, and said:

"World-honored One! A great being ever gives instruction. I have nothing to offer; I have only this daughter. I beg to present her to you, to be at your command."

The Buddha said:

"Do you consider your daughter beautiful?"

He replied:

"I have borne this daughter, whose features are exceedingly beautiful, with none in the world to equal her. The kings of countries and many noble clans have come to ask for her hand, yet none has pleased my heart. I privately thought: this great being is radiant with light, rare in all the world. I wished to present her to you, and so have brought her of my own accord."

The Buddha said:

"In what way is your daughter beautiful?"

The brahmin replied:

"From head to foot, in all her body there is no place that is not beautiful."

The Buddha said:

"How deluded is the eye of flesh! When I contemplate her from head to foot, there is no place at all that is beautiful. If upon the head there is hair, it is but like the hair of an elephant's or a horse's tail.

Beneath the hair there is the skull; the head-bones of a pig in a butcher's house are just the same. Within the head there is the brain, like foul-smelling mud; mucus clings to the ground, and people dare not tread upon it. The eyes are sacs filled entirely with fluid.

Within the nose there is snot. Within the mouth there is spittle. Within the belly there are the liver and lungs, all foul-smelling.

The stomach, intestines, and bladder produce excrement and urine, a stench beyond telling. The belly is a bag stuffed full of impure things. The bones of the arms and legs stand firm by being joined together with sinews and wrapped in skin, moving only by means of the breath.

Just as the parts of a wooden puppet move, and when its work is done it falls apart piece by piece, its limbs scattered in disarray—so too is the person; what beauty is there to compare?

In days past, I sat beneath the bodhi tree. The king of the sixth heaven adorned three daughters, their features beautiful as flowers, with none in the heavens to equal them—let alone one of this sort—wishing to destroy my mind set upon the Way. Because I wished to expound upon the filth within the body, I straightway transformed them into old women, their bodies aged and decrepit, no longer beautiful, so that, ashamed, they departed. Now what is there to cherish in this bag of excrement? Quickly take her back; I will not accept her."

Hearing the Buddha's discourse, the brahmin was suddenly ashamed and could not utter a single word in reply. Afterward, he again addressed the Buddha:

"If you will not accept her, may she be made the wife of King Udayana?"

The Buddha did not reply.

The brahmin then brought his daughter to King Udayana.

The king, having obtained this daughter, was greatly delighted. He appointed her father as Grand Tutor, brought the daughter into the palace, and provided her with all kinds of music and entertainment, along with a thousand attendants to wait upon her.

The king's chief queen served the Buddha and had attained the path of the Stream-enterer (Srotāpanna). This daughter spoke honeyed, flattering words and reported to the king. The king, deluded, took a hundred arrows and shot them at the chief queen.

The queen, seeing the arrows fly, was neither afraid nor angry. With single-minded thought upon the Buddha, with a heart of loving-kindness, she knelt and faced the king. The arrows all circled the queen three times, then turned back and fell before the king.

All hundred arrows did likewise. The king was astonished and afraid, and at once mounted a white elephant and a golden chariot, hastening to meet the Buddha. Before he had arrived, the king descended from his chariot, humbled himself and went on foot, came and paid homage at the Buddha's feet, knelt, and said:

"I have committed a great offense against the Triple Gem. Because of that beautiful daughter, I gave myself over to perverse desires. Toward the Buddha's holy assembly I harbored a single evil thought: I used a hundred arrows to shoot a disciple of the Buddha. I lay this matter before you with a heart of fear. I beg the perfectly true Buddha to extend his boundless compassion. If a white-robed disciple's power of loving-kindness can reach even to this, how much more the unsurpassed, perfectly true Buddha! Now I bow my head and repent of my fault, and beg to take refuge in the Triple Gem. I pray that the Buddha, in his vast and great compassion, will forgive my offense."

The Buddha replied:

"It is good, great king! To know an evil deed and to repent of it—this is the conduct of a wise person. I accept the wholesome heart of the king."

The king bowed his head.

Thus it was even to the third time, and three times the Buddha accepted. The king again bowed his head, prostrating to the ground, then withdrew and sat to one side, and said:

"By nature I am fierce, stubborn, and unrestrained, without a heart of patient forbearance, not having cast off the three poisons, taking delight in doing evil. Deluded by the beautiful daughter, I knew not the evil of it, and thought to myself: 'After death I shall surely fall into hell.' I beg the Buddha, in his compassion, to take pity and expound upon the evil, monstrous nature of women, that once one has entered that net it is hard to free oneself. Having heard of this calamity, I must surely restrain and guard myself. The people of the country, great and small, may all reform and keep watch over themselves."

The Buddha said:

"When you ask about this matter, why do you ask instead about another?"

The king said:

"The other matter—there will be no harm in speaking of it some other day. Women throw the mind and will into delusion, causing very great calamity. If I do not hear from where this calamity arises, I cannot keep far from it. I beg the Buddha to explain the transformations within hell and the filthiness of women."

The Buddha said:

"Listen attentively! A man who has the evil habit of lust should not gaze upon a beautiful woman."

The king said:

"I will reverently accept your instruction."

The Buddha said:

"Listen attentively! A man has four evils. You should know that in the world there is the lustful man who constantly imagines that he sees women, thinks he hears the voices of beautiful women, departs from the right Dharma, doubts what is true, believes in the perverse, is bound by the net of lust, falls into a place of confusion, and is commanded by desire like a slave who fears his master.

Greedily delighting in feminine beauty, he does not know that the nine orifices are the channels from which all manner of foul things issue forth. Within desire he is benighted, like a pig in its sty that does not know its own filth, takes delight in it and calls it pleasure, never thinking that in a later life he will fall into the Avīci hell and suffer pain without end. Indulging in the pleasures of desire is like a man swallowing his own phlegm, spittle, blood, and pus; therefore it is said: the one with the habit of desire prizes desire as a jewel and regards desire as sweet as honey.

This is the first evil habit.

Furthermore, father and mother raise the child, carry it in the womb, give it birth, and rear it from infancy until it is grown, with hardships beyond telling. When the child has reached maturity, the father and mother, thinking of their household, have already exhausted their wealth, their legs grown weary and their knees gone slack; they take a wife for their son or seek one elsewhere without regard for distance, not shunning hardship.

The son, indulging in the pleasures of desire, forgets his aged and feeble parents. Once he has obtained a wife, he prizes her as a precious treasure, takes pleasure in desire alone, and thinks ill of his parents, believing his wife's words even to the point of quarreling, never thinking from where his own body came, betraying the boundless kindness of his parents. This is the second evil habit.

Furthermore, a person in the world toils and labors bitterly, exhausting all his strength, even his possessions; he has a heart of sincere faith, honors the śramaṇas and brahmacārins, understands that the world is impermanent, gives in charity and makes merit, and only afterward takes a wife. Deluded by the lust of love and desire, he is hindered of himself, turns his back on what is right, and inclines toward the perverse—all because of feminine beauty.

If he has a heart of charity and wishes to express it, his wife blocks his pure conduct, and he turns back into a petty man, not understanding the teachings in the Buddha's scriptures, nor the direction in which calamity and blessing tend. If he falls into the net of feminine beauty, he will surely fall into the evil paths and be utterly unable to reform. This is the third evil habit.

Furthermore, as a son he does not think of the kindness of his upbringing, but takes all the wealth, leaving his father and mother nothing to live on, only running East and West in pursuit of feminine beauty, giving precious things to women or killing the six kinds of livestock to make offerings to ghosts and spirits. Afterward he gathers to drink wine, sing and dance, seeking every means to invite one another, satisfying his illicit passions and finding a mate, his joy such that no simile can fully express it; bound by lust, he no longer knows anything.

At such a time he takes this alone to be pleasure, not knowing the filthiness of the evil paths, the agony of hell—the one a thing to delight in, the other a thing to dread—he is like a mad dog that does not know right from wrong. This is the fourth evil habit.

The Buddha said:

"A man who has these four evils will fall into the three paths. He should reflect and keep far from these evil habits, and only then can he escape from suffering. Listen again as I speak of the evils of women."

The Buddha then spoke a verse:

Hearing the Buddha speak thus, King Udayana rejoiced, and at once bowed his head, prostrating to the ground, and said to the Buddha:

"From the time of my birth until now I have never heard the evils of women to be such as this. Men, ever scattered and confused, chase after feminine beauty and fall into offenses, only because, not knowing, they do not tame their minds and wills. From this day forward I wholly repent of my fault. I beg to take refuge with my life in the Triple Gem, and dare not transgress again."