佛說優填王經

Thus have I heard:

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

In the country of Kosambī there was a brahmin named Māgandiya, who had begotten a daughter beautiful and virtuous, the like of whom was rare in the world. The father, seeing that his daughter's form was truly extraordinary, with none in the country to equal her, named her "Peerless." 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 anyone whose features are as fair 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 possessed the thirty-two marks of a great man and the eighty minor characteristics, his body the color of purple gold, radiant, with supreme majestic splendor, said with joy:

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

He returned and said to his wife:

"Through Peerless we shall obtain a son-in-law. Quickly adorn our daughter and lead her there."

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

On the way, the wife saw the Buddha's footprints, marked with bright and colorful patterns such as ordinary people do not possess. Knowing that these belonged to one Honored among Devas, she said to her husband:

"This person's footprints bear such patterns; they are not those of an ordinary person. This must be one beyond the common, surely pure, free from lust, who will not lower himself to take our daughter."

The husband asked:

"How do you know this?"

Thereupon, the wife spoke a verse:

"One given to lust walks on the tips of his heels;
One given to anger walks heavily;
The foolish one walks scattering the earth—
These footprints are those of one Honored among Devas."

The brahmin said:

"Woman, your knowing is not correct. If you do not wish it, then go back."

He then led his daughter to meet the Buddha, bowed his head to the Buddha's feet, and said:

"World-Honored One! The great being ever instructs and guides. I have nothing to offer; I have only this daughter, whom I beg to present for you to command."

The Buddha said:

"Do you consider your daughter beautiful?"

He replied:

"I have begotten this daughter, whose features are most beautiful, with none in the world to equal her. The kings of countries and many noble clans have come to seek her hand, yet I have not been pleased. I privately thought: this great being is radiant with splendor, rare in the world. I wished to present her to you, and so I have brought her myself."

The Buddha said:

"In what place is your daughter beautiful?"

The brahmin replied:

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

The Buddha said:

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

Beneath the hair there is a skull, the same as the head-bone of a pig in the butcher's house. Within the head there is a brain like fetid, stinking mud; the snot and mucus cling beneath the ground, and people do not dare to tread upon it. The eyes are sacks containing nothing but fluid.

Within the nose there is mucus. Within the mouth there is saliva. Within the belly are the liver and lungs, all fetid and stinking.

The stomach, intestines, and bladder produce feces and urine, foul beyond what can be told. The belly is a bag filled full of impure things. The bones of the arms and the bones of the legs stand firm by virtue of the sinews binding them together and the skin enwrapping them, moving only by virtue of the breath.

It is like the parts of a wooden puppet that move: when its work is done, it falls apart into each separate piece, hands and feet strewn here and there in disarray. A person is just so—what beauty is there to compare?

In ages past, I dwelt beneath the Bodhi tree. The king of the sixth heaven adorned three of his daughters, whose features were beautiful as flowers, unequaled in the heavenly realms—not to speak of one of this kind—wishing to destroy My mind set on the Way. Because I wished to expound upon the foul defilement within the body, I straightway transformed them into old women, their bodies aged and decrepit, no longer beautiful; and so, ashamed, they departed. Now what is there to cherish in this bag of filth? Take her back quickly; I will not accept her."

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

"If you will not accept her, may I give her to be the wife of King Udena?"

The Buddha did not answer.

The brahmin then brought his daughter to King Udena.

The king, obtaining 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 dance, along with a thousand attendants to serve her.

The king's principal queen served the Buddha and had attained the fruit of stream-entry. This daughter spoke ingratiating words and slandered her to the king. The king, deluded, took a hundred arrows and shot them at the principal queen.

The queen, seeing the arrows fly, was not afraid and bore no anger; with single-minded mindfulness of the Buddha and with a heart of loving-kindness, she knelt facing 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 straightway mounted a white elephant and a golden chariot and hastened to meet the Buddha. Before he arrived, the king dismounted from his chariot, humbled himself and went on foot, and came and bowed at the Buddha's feet. Kneeling, he said:

"I have committed a great fault against the Three Jewels. Because of that beautiful daughter, I became wanton, following deviant desire. Toward the Buddha's holy community, I held a single evil thought: I shot a hundred arrows at a disciple of the Buddha. I lay this matter before you with a heart of fear. I beg the Buddha, the utterly true, to extend his boundless compassion. Even a white-robed disciple has the power of loving-kindness reaching to such a degree—how much more the Unsurpassed, Rightly and Truly Awakened. Now I bow my head and repent my fault, and beg to take refuge in the Three Jewels. I pray the Buddha, with vast and great compassion, to forgive my fault."

The Buddha replied:

"Excellent, great king! To know one has done evil and to repent—this is the deed of a wise person. I accept the king's wholesome heart."

The king bowed his head.

Thus it was up to three times, and the Buddha three times gave his acceptance. The king again bowed his head, prostrating himself to the ground, then withdrew and sat to one side and said:

"By nature I am fierce, stubborn, and wanton, without a heart of patient endurance, not having cast off the three poisons, taking pleasure in doing evil; deluded by following the beautiful daughter, I did not recognize evil, and thought to myself: 'After death I shall surely fall into hell.' I beg the Buddha, out of compassion and pity, to expound upon the wicked and monstrous ways of women, into whose net once fallen one is scarcely able to free oneself. Hearing that this calamity must surely be self-guarded against, the people of the country, great and small, may amend and restrain themselves."

The Buddha said:

"You asked about this matter—why do you turn to asking about another?"

The king said:

"The other matter, spoken of on whatever day, will not be too late. Women confuse the heart and mind and cause very great calamity. Not hearing whence this calamity arises, one cannot keep far from it. I beg the Buddha to explain the changes within the hells and the foulness of women."

The Buddha said:

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

The king said:

"I will obey your instruction."

The Buddha said:

"Listen well! A man has four evils. You should know that in the world there are lustful men who constantly visualize women, who think of and listen for the voice of a beautiful woman, who depart far from the right Dharma, doubt what is true and right, believe what is deviant and false, are bound by the net of lust, fall into the place of delusion, and are commanded by desire like a slave fearing his master.

Coveting and delighting in female beauty, they do not know that the nine orifices are the channels from which all manner of foul stench issues. Within desire they are dimmed and confused, like a pig in its pen that does not know the stench but delights in it and considers it pleasant, not thinking that in a later life they will fall into the Avīci hell and undergo suffering without end. Drowned in the pleasures of desire, they are like a person who habitually swallows his own phlegm, saliva, blood, and pus.

Therefore it is said: a person with the habit of desire treasures desire as a jewel and finds desire sweet as honey. This is the first evil habit.

Furthermore, father and mother nurture a child, conceiving and giving birth, rearing him from infancy until he is grown, with hardships impossible to fully recount. When the child reaches adulthood, the parents think of their household—their wealth already spent, their legs weary and their knees weakened—and they arrange a wife for the son, or seek one in another place, heedless of distance, near or far, not shunning hardship.

The son, drowned in the pleasures of desire, forgets his aged and frail parents. Having obtained a wife, he treasures her like a precious thing, taking pleasure in desire alone, while thinking ill of his parents, believing his wife's words, even to the point of quarrels. He does not consider whence his own body came, and turns his back on the boundless kindness of his parents.

This is the second evil habit.

Furthermore, a person in the world toils and labors bitterly, exhausting his strength even to his wealth; having a heart of sincere faith, he honors śramaṇas and brahmin sages, understands that the world is impermanent, gives alms and makes merit—and only afterward takes a wife. Deluded by the lust of love and desire, he hinders himself, turns his back on what is right and inclines toward what is deviant—and this is because of female beauty.

If he has a heart for giving and wishes to speak of it, his wife blocks him; his pure conduct cut off, he reverts to being a petty person, no longer understanding the teachings within the Buddha's sūtras, nor whither calamity and blessing tend. Once fallen into the net of female beauty, he will surely fall into the evil paths, utterly unable to amend himself. This is the third evil habit.

Furthermore, as a son he does not think of the kindness of his upbringing; he takes all the wealth, leaving nothing for his parents to live on, and only runs east and west seeking female beauty, giving precious things to the woman, or killing the six kinds of domestic animals to offer in sacrifice to ghosts and spirits. Afterward they gather to drink wine, sing, and dance, contriving every means to invite one another, indulging in illicit passion; and having been paired together, they rejoice in a manner that no simile can fully express.

Bound by lust, they no longer know anything. At that time they take this for pleasure alone, not knowing the foulness of the evil paths or the agony of the hells—the one being worthy of pleasure, the other worthy of dread—and so are 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, only then able to escape suffering. Listen again as I tell of the evils of women."

The Buddha then spoke a verse:

The fool sees and rejoices,
Not thinking of the calamity to come."

When the Buddha had spoken thus, King Udena rejoiced, and straightway bowed his head and prostrated to the ground, and said to the Buddha:

"From my birth until now I had never heard of the evil ways of women being to such a degree. Men are ever scattered, chasing after the desire for beauty, incurring sins and faults—only because they do not know, and so they do not subdue their hearts and minds. From this day forward, I wholly repent my fault, and beg to take refuge with my life in the Three Jewels, and dare not transgress again."