XXIX. THE TWENTY-NINTH ASSEMBLY: KING UDAYANA
Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha was dwelling in the country of Kausambi, in Ghosita’s Park, together with an assembly of one thousand two hundred and fifty great bhiksus.
At that time, King Udayana’s chief consort, named Syamavati, had deep faith in and reverence for the Tathagata and the assembly of noble ones. She attended upon them, made offerings to them, and constantly praised the merits of the Tathagata.
The second consort, named the Imperial Lady, became jealous and deceitfully told the king that the Tathagata and his disciples had engaged in improper conduct with the chief consort.
The king became exceedingly angry, took up his bow, and shot an arrow at Lady Syamavati. Out of compassion for the king, Lady Syamavati entered the samadhi of loving-kindness. The arrow immediately turned back and remained suspended in the air directly above the king’s head, glowing red like a mass of fire and inspiring great terror. The king shot three arrows, and each behaved in the same way.
When King Udayana saw this, every hair on his body stood on end. Frightened and remorseful, he said to the lady, “Are you a goddess or a naga maiden? Or are you a yaksini, gandharva maiden, pisacini, or raksasi?”
Lady Syamavati said, “I am neither a goddess nor a raksasi. Great King, you should know that, after hearing the Buddha teach the Dharma, I accepted and upheld the five precepts and became an upasika. Out of compassion for you, I entered the samadhi of loving-kindness. Although you conceived an unwholesome thought toward me, through the power of my vow of loving-kindness I was not harmed. Excellent, Great King! You should take refuge in the Tathagata and bow your head at his feet; you will surely attain peace and happiness.”
The king thought, “A lady who merely heard the Dharma and became an upasika possesses such spiritual power; how much more must the Tathagata, the Perfectly Enlightened One, possess!”
King Udayana immediately went to the Buddha, bowed at his feet, circumambulated him three times to the right, and recounted what had happened. He then said, “I beseech the Tathagata and the assembly of noble ones to accept my repentance, so that this offense may quickly be extinguished.”
The Buddha said, “As the king himself has related, because you mistakenly regarded the Tathagata and the assembly of noble ones as foolish ordinary people capable of wrongdoing, you gave rise to anger and resentment. If you can now repent of your offense in accordance with the Buddha’s Dharma and discipline, conceal nothing, and never commit it again throughout all future lives, I shall accept you and enable your wholesome qualities to increase.”
The king said, “Blessed One, because I was deluded, driven mad, and turned upside down by a woman, I lost all understanding and gave rise to anger. The karma of this offense will cause me to fall into hell. I beseech the Tathagata, for the peace and happiness of beings, compassionately to reveal the faults and dangers of women—their deviousness, falsity, deceit, and wicked seductiveness—so that we will not associate with women and may forever escape all such suffering and affliction.”
The Buddha said, “Set that matter aside. Why must the king ask about it instead of asking about something else?”
The king replied, “I will not ask about anything else. Because a woman caused me to create karma leading to hell, I now wish only to understand the faults and dangers of women—their deviousness, falsity, deceit, and wicked seductiveness. May the Blessed One reveal them to me.”
King Udayana made this request three times.
The Buddha said, “Great King, you should first understand the faults and dangers of men; afterward, you may contemplate the faults and dangers of women.”
The king said, “Yes, Blessed One. I earnestly wish to hear.”
The Buddha said, “All men are deluded and disturbed by women because of four unwholesome faults.
“First, they cling insatiably to sensual defilement, delight in women, and indulge themselves without restraint. They do not know to approach sramanas and brahmins who possess pure precepts and cultivate meritorious deeds. Because they do not associate with such persons, their serene faith, sila, learning, generosity, and wisdom all decline.
Lacking faith, morality, learning, generosity, and wisdom, such a person is not a good man. He follows evil courses of karma, possesses no wisdom, and is intoxicated by sensual pleasure. Captured and bound by desire, he takes desire as his very life.
He approaches fools and distances himself from the wise; he befriends evil persons and commits offenses. Greedily delighting in the impure objects presented by women, he becomes subjugated like a servant, dependent upon and fallen under their power. Without shame or embarrassment, he draws close to a foul wound oozing blood and pus, with stinking mucus and saliva continually flowing from it, like an impure charnel ground.
He may even turn his back on his parents, neither remembering their kindness nor supporting them. He abandons sramanas and brahmins and has no wish to honor, revere, or make offerings to them. Having no faith or reverence for the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, he forever loses the realm of nirvana.
Such a man will fall into the Crushing Hell and Avici Hell and will also fall among hungry ghosts and animals, with no one able to save him. Although he hears the Buddha’s teaching, he continually thinks of women, singing, dancing, playing, and laughing, and never knows disenchantment or detachment. Accustomed to foolish and evil ways, he takes no delight in cultivating the deeds of a good man.
Great King, you should know that when a man draws close to women, he is drawing close to karma leading to evil destinies. This is the first fault and danger of men.”
The Blessed One then spoke these verses:
“Objects of desire are wholly painful,Base, defiled, and foul;Stinking with blood and pus,They are dreadful and repulsive.
“They are the gathering placeOf many faults and dangers.What wise personWould delight in such objects?
“Like a cesspitBrimming with filth,Like a bloated dog,Or a dead jackal,
“Like a charnel forestFilled with impurities—Sensual defilement is likewise foulAnd worthy of disgust.
“Foolish peopleCling lovingly to women,Like a bitch with her pups,Never willing to leave them.
“They are like flies that seeFood which has been vomited,Or like a herd of pigsDelighting in filthy places.
“Women can destroyThe pure moral preceptsAnd can also ruinMerit and good renown.
“They become causes of hellAnd obstruct birth in heaven.What wise personWould delight in sensual objects?
“It is also like a personWho eats or drinks poison:His body and mind suffer sharply,And he cannot move.
“Thus desire can becomeThe root of suffering,Like poison within the bodyOf which a fool is unaware.
“It is also like one who does not understandThe art of illusion,Yet vainly pursues its appearancesAnd merely wearies himself.
“Fools are likewise:Regarding sensual defilement,They suffer through constant cravingAnd must fall into hell.
“They may arrange banquets,Singing, dancing, and music,And marry another person’s daughter,Taking her as their own wife.
“They gather many kindsOf useless suffering.Fools createPainful and profitless karma.
“They increase their offensesAnd lose their roots of goodness;For useless affairsThey do not spare even their lives.
“Because of this, they fallInto the deep pit of evil destinies,Calling forth hells,Red-hot iron pellets,
“Mountains of knives with sharp blades,Poisoned arrows, and every torment.Women can gather togetherA multitude of sufferings.
“Borrowing flowers and fragrances,They adorn themselves beautifully.There fools becomeDeluded and crave after them.
“They draw near and praiseBase objects of form,Lose their wisdom,And fall into the three evil destinies.
“Through such foolishnessThey become deluded,Like a weary seabirdThat loses the direction of the shore.
“They are also like a foolWho takes a hot iron chainAnd fastens it around his own neck,Like an ox bearing a yoke.
“Objects of desire are like wine,Intoxicating people into madness.Why do foolsNot recognize the root of suffering?
“Toward their fathers and mothersThey know neither gratitude nor affection;This fault and calamity arisesEntirely from carnal defilement.
“They constantly praise and practiceWrong desire and similar things,Without knowing shameOr embarrassment.
“Because of foolishness,They become deluded and confused;Having committed those offenses,They proceed to the three evil destinies.
“Darkened, maddened, and intoxicated,They are infatuated with sensual objects;Even the kindness of their parentsThey are able to forsake.
“If a person is defiled by cravingAnd draws near sensual objects,He thereby opposesThe unsurpassed field of merit.
“Measureless kotisOf disturbing deluded thoughts,Turning and tormenting one another,Are born from this.
“They may further seekWorldly fame and gain,And with such unlawful waysUrge and entice one another.
“Because of this, in the present lifeThey summon suffering;After death, they will certainly fallInto Avici Hell.
“Manifest sufferingsAll gather upon their bodies;Good friends depart far away,And heavenly palaces are forever lost.
“What wise personWould delight in this?Better to enter hell,Run upon a mountain of knives,
“Or lie upon a fiery furnaceThan draw near women’s beauty.If people are constantly defiledAnd infatuated with wrong desire,
“They destroy a great manyBenefits and joys.Women can becomeCauses of every suffering.
“Craving destroysAll peace and happiness;Evil qualities gather,And good friends depart.
“All this is rootedIn craving after women.If a person hearsThe Buddha’s earnest teaching
“And can become disenchantedWith and detached from women,He thereby adorns himselfFor a pure heavenly reward
“And will also swiftly realize
Unsurpassed bodhi.
“Furthermore, Great King, fathers and mothers wish their children to obtain benefit and happiness. They perform what is difficult to perform and endure what is difficult to endure. They bear every kind of impure filth, wishing their children’s bodies, appearance, and strength quickly to increase.
They allow them to experience the finest things in Jambudvipa, nursing, feeding, and raising them without weariness. Wishing their children to be happy, they conduct business and seek wealth to provide for them fully, and they visit another household to request a daughter in marriage for their son. After the marriage, the son becomes attached to his wife and forgets his parents.
Seeing his parents gradually weaken and grow old, he may despise and disobey them, squander their property, or move them elsewhere. All this occurs because craving deludes and overturns him. Thus he casts aside his parents and neither reveres, loves, nor supports them, while honoring, respecting, and tirelessly providing for another family’s daughter.
This establishes the root of hell and is the second fault and danger of men.”
The Blessed One spoke these verses:
“You should all understand:Those who honor and make offeringsTo their fathers and mothersWill constantly receive
“The protection and supportOf Sakra, Brahma, and the World-Protectors,Who enable their householdsTo remain peaceful and joyful.
“If they travel far across the seaFor the sake of trade,They will journey safelyAnd obtain wealth and profit.
“This indeed is calledA priceless great treasure,Capable of yielding results,And the supreme field.
“In this very life,Precious rewardsAre all obtainedBy supporting one’s parents.
“In the world to come,One will remain far fromThe bodies of donkeys and horses,Burdened and driven by others.
“One will not fallInto the hell of excrement, the river of ashes,Mountains of knives and sharp blades,Or boiling, red-hot copper.
“In the following life,One will be born among humans,Wealthy and rich in treasures,With abundant grain and silk.
“Wife, children, and relativesWill all live in harmony;Or, in the future,One will be born in heaven,
“With palaces and gardens,And music arising naturally,Freely enjoying oneselfAnd experiencing wondrous bliss.
“What wise person,Having heard this sound of Dharma,Would fail diligently to make offeringsTo the field of one’s parents?
“Furthermore, Great King, a man holding wrong views does not realize that his own body will soon perish. He therefore creates evil karma and deceives himself. This foolish person lets his time pass in vain. Like a carved figure made of wood or stone, though shaped like a human being, he lacks understanding and habitually indulges in craving, thereby establishing karmic causes for evil destinies. This is the third fault of men.”
The Blessed One spoke these verses:
“Desire causes menTo become deluded and confused;Thus they continually createEvery kind of evil offense.
“Distorted darknessVeils and obstructs their minds;Because of this, they will be bornIn the prisons of evil destinies.
“Those who engage in wrong conductWill remain far removedFrom all sages and noble ones,And they will not revere
“The ranks of sramanas.Because of inverted views,They may even take refuge inMountains, rivers, and deceiving spirits.
“Because of craving,They may slaughterBirds and beastsAs sacrifices to spirits and deities.
“Because of inverted views,They unlawfully seek merit;Thus they forever depart fromAll peace and happiness.
“Among thoseWho create such evils,There is no pure faith,Only cruelty without shame.
“Such peopleDepart far from sages and noble ones;They will surely fallInto the Wailing Hell.
“Or, because of craving,They oppress and torment othersAnd will fall into the hellOf Burning and Great Burning.
“Again, because of inverted views,They cannot approach,Revere, or make offeringsTo the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
“They do not listenTo the precious true teaching;Far from sages and noble ones,They fall into evil destinies.
“Therefore, wise peopleWho have obtained a human bodyShould not be deludedBy distorted and false views.
“They should practice generosityAnd uphold pure precepts;They will be born in heavenAnd realize the path of bodhi.
“Furthermore, Great King, some men exhaust themselves throughout their lives accumulating wealth. Then, bound by women and compelled to attend upon them like servants, they become still more eager to seek wealth and treasure and give nothing to sramanas or brahmins. They even willingly endure punishment under the king’s laws. When they see a woman sorrowful, they immediately think, ‘What should I do to make her happy?’ Such men are servants of craving. They regard those base and impure objects as pure and give rise to loving defilement. When they draw near women in this way, they are creating karma leading to evil destinies. This is the fourth fault of men.”
The Blessed One spoke these verses:
“Those deluded by cravingTruly possess no peace or happiness;Because they approach evil qualities,They are not called good men.
“If people abandon restraint,Not knowing to guard the precepts,And act according to their own wishes,They destroy their meritorious benefit.
“Those without wisdomPractice the ways of animals,Chasing after the five sensual objectsLike creatures delighting in filthy excrement.
“Fools do not contemplateThe faults of carnal defilement;They falsely imagine it to be profound kindness,Like people who are blind.
“Bound by sensual form,They increase their craving,Like jackalsThat never leave the charnel ground.
“For sounds, fragrances, tastes, and touchThey give rise to loving defilement,Revolving through birth and deathLike a tethered monkey.
“Covered by ignoranceAnd deluded by women,They approach through fraud and deception,Like merchants seeking profit.
“Fools who approach desireEnter the domain of Mara,Like the eduka creatureCraving the stench of excrement.
“It is also like a hailstormThat damages growing crops,Or a potter who stays close to fireAnd is often burned by its heat.
“Those who have not seen the truthsLose wholesome Dharma through desire,Like fine chaff blown by the wind;The meaning is just the same.
“Suppose a good manWere seized by another person;He should rather endure that hardshipThan draw near women.
“If he delights in women’s beauty,His craving continually increases;Ordinary fools grasp at appearancesAnd augment their desire.
“It is like walking a long timeAcross a wilderness in summer’s heat,Then, overwhelmed by thirst, drinking salt water:After drinking, the thirst increases.
“Those who have not seen realityLive their lives in foolishness;By associating with women,Their craving and attachment grow firm.
“If a person touches a venomous snake,The snake will injure him;When ordinary people violate desire,Desire harms them in the same way.
“It is like a beautifully colored vesselFilled entirely with poison:Its contents are truly dreadful,Though its exterior appears lovely.
“People adorn womenAnd call them beautiful,Yet their bodies are extremely filthy,Like leather bags filled with excrement.
“It is also like wrappingA sharp blade in colored silk;The meaning of adorning womenIs just the same.
“Like a deep pit filled with fire,Which burns though it has no smoke,Women are likewiseViolent, cruel, and without compassion.
“Like the corpses of dogs and snakes,Foul, filthy, and decaying,Or like burning excrement,They cause everyone disgust.
“Though dead dogs, snakes, and excrementAre exceedingly disgusting,Those womenAre even more repulsive.
“It is like the dissolution of an eon,When the great earth bursts into flameAnd dense forests, grasses, and treesAre all consumed.
“Great creatures in the seaPerish as its waters dry away;Mount Sumeru and the jeweled mountains,And the whole world, are consumed by fire.
“When an eon burns in this way,Mountains and seas are all incinerated;No beingCan be rescued.
“Craving for womenBurns and harms foolish men,Like the fire at the end of an eon,In which everything is consumed.
“The impure body continually dischargesMucus, saliva, phlegm, blood, and pus.Why do deluded foolsCling lovingly to such a body?
“Sinews and bones are joined together,Wrapped in skin and flesh,Stinking and utterly disgusting,Like food burned and discarded.
“It is also like a storehouseWith husks and straw scattered everywhere;This body is likewiseFilled with many impurities:
“Liver, gallbladder, kidneys, spleen, stomach,Heart, lungs, intestines, and filthy excrement,Together with brain, marrow, pus, and blood,And eighty thousand kinds of tiny worms
“That constantly feed within it.Dark and foolish people,Continually enmeshed in the net of delusion,Do not comprehend this.
“They consume leftover dregs of food;From nine openings, fluids constantly flow.Such a body of offenseComes from the defiled karma of former lives.
“Fools desire womenAnd cling to their sounds and forms;Thus they become defiled and attached,Never knowing things as they truly are.
“Like flies that see vomitAnd immediately delight in it,Fools delighting in womenRegard their objects in the same way.
“Infatuated with women’s beauty,They constantly defile their own bodies.Why do those foolsDelight in approaching it?
“Like birds searching for foodThat do not know to avoid nets and snares,Those who crave womenAre likewise harmed.
“It is like fish in the waterSwimming before a fisherman;They are immediately caught by him—Is this not self-destruction?
“Women are like fishermen,Their deceit and guile forming the nets;Men are like fishAnd are captured in the same way.
“Though the sharp blade of an executionerIs indeed terrifying,The sharp blade of womenCauses even greater injury.
“Like moths alighting on a lamp flame,Or insects in a burning house,They are consumed by fire,With no one able to save them.
“Those intoxicated by womenAre burned by the fire of desire;Thus they fall into evil destinies,Likewise beyond rescue.
“Fools who engage in wrong conductCling to other people’s wives and concubines,Falsely conceiving thoughts of delight,Like domestic cocks.
“They are also like wild pheasantsThat mistakenly enter a place of slaughter,Thereby injuring themselves,With no one able to save them.
“They abandon the Buddha’s true DharmaAnd draw near those women;Through this karmic cause and condition,They fall into the three evil destinies.
“They are also like a troop of monkeysLeaping among clustered trees;They will certainly be injured—Is this not because of foolish greed?
“Likewise, people ruled by cravingAre caught by the net of delusionRegarding those womenAnd continually suffer in samsara.
“Like worldly criminalsSentenced to impalement on sharp stakes,Those infatuated with lustConstantly cherish a forest of sharp swords.
“It is like using a fierce fireTo heat a cauldron of boiling water,Then casting maize and sesame into itTo sink and rise with the boiling water.
“Likewise, people ruled by cravingWho do not understand good and evilWill fall into evil destinies after deathAnd be boiled in cauldrons.
“The great number of boiling cauldronsIs sixty-four kotis;Those who create evil karmaTake them as their dwelling place.
“Each such cauldronIs one yojana wide;Fierce flames burn everywhere,Beneath it and on all four sides.
“Some remain for a full hundred years,Others for two, three, or four hundred,Enduring the torment of searing heat,All because of karma they themselves created.
“Hell wardens wield sharp hooksAnd from time to time drag them out;Their skin and flesh are entirely dissolved,Leaving only white bones.
“The hell wardens thenTake them to an iron enclosure,Pound and crush them with pestles,And no one can save them.
“Their bones and marrowAre pulverized like dust;Then, when the wind of karma blows,They revive after death.
“Those who violateAnother person’s wife or childrenMust climb iron thornsAnd suffer axes and clubs.
“Iron tridents have three sharp prongs,Or sometimes four or five;Those who violate another’s wife or childrenWill undergo such punishments.
“There are also crows with iron beaksThat peck out their brains and marrow,And packs of wolves and jackalsThat contend to bite, lick, and devour them.
“Those who commit sexual misconductWill fall into the hell of excrement,Run upon knife blades,And climb mountains of knives.
“Those who commit sexual misconductWill fall into the burning hell;After suffering fiery torment,They pass into the freezing hell.
“Those who commit sexual misconductWill also fall into the Hell of Extreme Heat,The Wailing and Great Wailing Hells,And the Black-Rope Hell.
“Those who commit sexual misconductWill sink into a river of boiling dregs,Then pass through the hell of ashes,Dying before reaching the bottom.
“There is a hell of iron caltrops,Each with five sharp points;Chased and bitten by iron dogs,They flee in terror into a thorn forest.
“Those attached to womenFall into places of great terror;They must swallow iron pelletsOr drink molten copper.
“There are two mountains of hot ironThat press together from either side;Those formerly ruled by cravingNow suffer within them.
“While enduring such torment,No one can save them.They undergo those painful retributionsEntirely because of their own karma.
“Those who formerly shared their pleasures—Where can they be seen now?They suffer entirely alone;The others do not come to save them.
“Because in former livesThey themselves created sinful karma,Even their fathers and mothersCannot save them.
“Because in former livesThey themselves created sinful karma,Even their childrenCannot save them.
“Because in former livesThey themselves created sinful karma,Even their brothersCannot save them.
“Because in former livesThey themselves created sinful karma,Even their sistersCannot save them.
“Because in former livesThey themselves created sinful karma,Even their friendsCannot save them.
“Fools, through sexual misconduct,Crave and pursue women;In the uninterrupted hell,They undergo such torments.
“Women are said to be impureAnd filled with such foulness.Fools draw near them,While the wise remain far away.
“Association with womenIs utterly base and low,The evil among evils;What delight can it offer?
“Ordinary people ruled by cravingConstantly embrace bags of excrement;Through this karmic cause and condition,They will receive immeasurable suffering.
“Fools, for the sake of women,Willingly endure punishments,Imprisonment, fetters, and beatings,Yet never become disenchanted.
“Fools, for the sake of women,Are burned and harmed in many ways;They can endure such painYet never become disenchanted.
“They may be set upon sharp stakes,Killed, drowned,Or thrown into great pits,Enduring every poisonous torment.
“Though they see such suffering,While still immersed in lustThey praise womenAnd never know disenchantment.
“Some possess a little wisdomAnd know it is the root of suffering,Yet, though they know, they still draw near,Like glue meeting fire.
“Though hearing the Buddha’s earnest teachingAnd faithfully accepting it,They still maintain womenAs numerous as a flock of goats.
“Or, on hearing the Buddha’s teaching,They briefly feel remorse and disgust;A moment later, craving arises again,Like a poisonous illness recurring.
“They are like frightened pigsThat remain still for only a moment;If they see a pool of filthy excrement,Craving arises in them again.
“After fools hear the Dharma,Their hearts are briefly frightened;Later, on seeing sensual forms,Craving arises again.
“They are like a manWho removes from his head and bodyA garland of gold,Then puts on a hat of hot iron.
“Fools, because of craving,Cast aside the Buddha’s teaching,Pursue base things,And create all kinds of sinful karma.
“Those intoxicated by sensual formFall into the realm of Yama,Where they continually swallow hot iron pelletsAnd drink boiling copper.
“Those deluded by sensual formAbandon good and commit wrong;They leave the cool and refreshing placeAnd proceed directly to Yama’s realm.
“If people possess wisdomAnd hear the Buddha teach this Dharma,They should abandon every desireAnd swiftly seek the path of liberation.”
After the Blessed One had spoken these verses, King Udayana said, “Blessed One, what I have just heard is truly rare, exceedingly rare. The Tathagata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One, has skillfully explained the faults and dangers of sensual form. I now take refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. From this day until the end of my life, I take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha and become an upasaka. May the Blessed One accept me.”
When the Buddha had taught this sutra, King Udayana and the entire great assembly—the devas and humans of the world, together with the eight classes of devas, nagas, and other beings—heard the Buddha’s teaching, rejoiced, and faithfully practiced it.
