佛說旃陀越國王經

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling in the Garden of Jeta and Anāthapiṇḍika in the land of Śrāvastī, together with an assembly of one thousand two hundred and fifty bhikṣus.

At that time there was a king whose title was Caṇḍapradyota, who faithfully revered the way of the brahmins. In governing his country, that king habitually employed the brahmins.

The king's junior consort was especially cherished and esteemed. When she became pregnant, the other consorts grew jealous, and gave gold to the brahmins. They slandered her to the king, saying: "This person is cruel and evil; if that consort gives birth to her child, it will surely bring calamity upon the nation."

When the king heard this, he was deeply troubled and joyless, and asked the brahmins: "What should be done?" The brahmins said: "There is nothing for it but to put them to death."

The king said: "Human life is a most weighty thing; how could one kill?"

They replied: "If you do not kill them, then you must dread the loss of your kingdom and the loss of your life—a calamity by no means small."

The king heard this and acted according to their words; then, in his frenzy, he had her killed and buried.

Afterward the child was born within the grave-mound. The child's mother had been left paralyzed, yet the child was able to drink its mother's milk. After three years had passed, the grave-mound collapsed and broke open, and the child was thereby able to come out. It played joyfully together with the birds and beasts, and at night returned to sleep within the grave-mound.

At that time the child was six years old. The Buddha, with a heart of vast and boundless compassion, reflected upon the diligent toil and hardship of this child, who kept company with the birds and beasts, and forthwith transformed himself into a śramaṇa. Adorned in robes,[1] he came and called out, asking: "Whose child are you, and where do you dwell?"

The child rejoiced and replied: "I have no home; I merely lodge within this grave-mound. Now I beg to be allowed to follow the man of the Way."

The Buddha said: "If you follow me, for what reason is it?"

The child replied: "Whether for good or for ill, this day I shall in the end follow the man of the Way."

The Buddha led the child to the Jeta Grove. Seeing the precepts, the Dharma, and the dignified bearing of the bhikṣus, the child's heart was filled with great joy. He forthwith addressed the Buddha, saying: "I wish to ask to become a bhikṣu."

The Buddha then assented. He raised his hand to the child's head; the hair fell away and a kāṣāya robe naturally clothed his body. Then he was given the name Sudatta. Receiving the venerable precepts from the Buddha, he was diligent and energetic, his mind never slackening, and within seven days he attained the way of the arhat.

The Buddha said to Sudatta: "To receive the venerable precepts from the Buddha is the very root for uprooting the nature of desire, so that birth and death become matters of one's own mastery. Now it is fitting that you go to liberate that King Caṇḍapradyota."

Sudatta, receiving the Buddha's instruction, placed his head and face to the ground and reverently bowed to the Buddha, then went to that country. He stood before the gate of the royal palace and asked to see the king. A minister addressed the king, saying: "Outside there is a man of the Way who asks to see the king."

When the king heard this, he came out at once to meet him, and asked: "I have a matter that greatly troubles me, and I do not know what to do."

The man of the Way said: "What is it that troubles you?"

The king said: "I have grown old, and my time too is nearly passing; yet in my country there is no one to succeed me. It is for this that I am troubled."

When the man of the Way heard the king's words, he did not at first answer, but instead smiled to himself.

The king grew angry and said: "When I spoke with you, man of the Way, you did not first answer me, but moreover smiled to yourself"—and he forthwith wished to punish him with death.

Sudatta understood this intent, and forthwith rose lightly into the air. Remaining in space, he divided his body and parted his form, coming and going without any obstruction.

When the king beheld this transformation of awesome spiritual power, he was seized with fear and remorse, and said: "I am truly foolish, unable to distinguish right from wrong. I only beg of you, great minister, a single recompense, so that I may take refuge of my own accord."

Sudatta then descended from the air to stand before the king, and said to the king: "It is truly good if you are able to take refuge of your own accord; you should take refuge in the Buddha. The Buddha is my Great Teacher. He is the Honored One of the three realms, who liberates all sentient beings."

The king then issued a decree commanding his ministers, with proper solemnity, to proceed in procession to the place of the Buddha. Sudatta then, by the power of the Way, in the space of bending and extending his arm, conveyed the king and the people together to the place of the Buddha. They placed their heads and faces to the ground, reverently bowed to the Buddha, took refuge in the three Honored Ones, and asked to receive the five precepts, becoming upāsakas.

The Buddha said to the king: "Would you know who the bhikṣu Sudatta is? He is the very child whom you, of old, following the slander of the brahmins, slew while he was yet in the womb of the woman you put to death. After his mother died, the child was born within his mother's grave-mound; his mother, left paralyzed within the grave, gave him her milk to drink until he was six years old. Now he has followed me in studying the Way, up to this very moment."

When the king heard the Buddha's words, he was the more afraid, unable to restrain himself.

The Buddha said: "Of old, in the age of the Buddha Krakucchanda, there was a king whose title was Buddhayaśas. The king and three hundred million of the people of his country all, following the king, made offerings to the three Honored Ones. At that time there was a certain common man, of a poor household and without occupation, who used to work for hire for the wealthy families of the country. He herded several hundred head of cattle. Seeing the king and the people making offerings to the assembly of bhikṣus, he asked: "Sirs, why do you do thus?"

The people answered: "We make offerings to the three Honored Ones, so that hereafter we shall receive the reward of merit."

He further asked: "What sort of reward of merit is obtained?"

The people replied: "One who, with a pure mind, gives alms to the three Honored Ones will hereafter, wherever he dwells, enjoy peace and joy, honor and nobility, without bitter toil or hardship."

Then he reflected: "I dwell in poverty and want, working only for hire as a herdsman; I myself do not have enough to eat and drink, so with what shall I give alms?" Then he pondered, saying: "There remains only this: to go and take cow's milk and fry it into curds and butter,[2] and with a pure mind to offer it to the bhikṣus."

The assembly of bhikṣus pronounced a blessing upon him, saying: "We pray that you, life after life, may obtain this reward of merit wherever you may be; that thereafter, through all the turnings and changes of birth and death, you may always obtain this merit—whether on high becoming a deva, or below becoming a king or a lord."

In a later time, when he had become a king and went out hunting, he saw within his country a fine cow that was with calf, and the king ordered men to seize that cow and slay it. The consort said to the king: "Do not let them kill its calf."

At that time the owner of the cow came and took the calf away; he cut open the belly and drew out the calf, then reared and protected it. The owner of the cow then said: "Let the king be even as this calf."

Afterward that spirit-soul came here to become the king's child. Before it was yet born into the world, its mother was slain by the king. Would you know who Sudatta is? He is this very one. The mother of Sudatta—she who beheld this frenzied killer—is the consort of the king of old; the brahmin is none other than the owner of the cow. The reason that Sudatta was born within the grave-mound, was able to drink the milk of his paralyzed mother, and reared himself to maturity, was his former destiny (the deed of a past life): the offering of curds and butter to the assembly of bhikṣus.

The Buddha said: "Sin and merit respond to one another as the shadow follows the form. There has never been a time when one performed good deeds and did not obtain the reward of merit, nor when one performed evil deeds and did not suffer disaster and ruin."

When the king heard the Buddha speak this sūtra and clearly understood its meaning, he forthwith attained the way of the srota-āpanna. The people of his country all, following the king, upheld the five precepts, practiced the ten wholesome deeds, and took refuge in the three Honored Ones; some among them attained the way of srota-āpanna, sakṛdāgāmin, or arhat. The disciples of the four assemblies,[3] together with the devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits, having heard the sūtra, all rejoiced, came forward before the Buddha, reverently bowed, and departed.

The Buddha Speaks the Sūtra of King Caṇḍapradyota

Annotations:

[1] Adorned in robes: garments arrayed and ornamented in the customary manner. Robes worn according to the rule.

[2] Curds and butter: a crisp fried food made from the substance of milk.

[3] The disciples of the four assemblies: the common folk, those who dwell throughout the four quarters.