釋摩男本四子經

Thus have I heard:

At one time the Buddha was dwelling at the country of the Sakyas, seated beneath a tree in the Nyagrodha (Nigrodha) Park in the land of Kapilavastu. At that time there was a man of the Sakya clan named Mahānāma, who came before the Buddha, bowed his head and face to the feet of the Buddha, and then addressed the Buddha, saying:

"I have often heard the Buddha teach: 'One must gather in and restrain the mind and thoughts.' I have heard the Buddha teach: 'The mind of a human being has three states: lust, anger, and delusion.' From the time I heard this until now, I have constantly kept it in mind, and I have thought to myself: 'If there is no state of lust, my mind is at once upright; if there is no state of anger, my mind is at once upright; if there is no state of delusion, my mind is at once upright.' I have thought to myself: 'I have constantly guarded against these three things, and my thoughts are unmoving; by what cause and condition do I still fail to attain liberation?'"

The Buddha taught:

"If you had liberated yourself from the mind of lust, the mind of anger, and the mind of delusion, then by what cause and condition would you still be living together with a wife and children? Thus there still remains a mind of greed. O virtuous one, reflect thus: 'Now, although I have a little suffering, in the long run hereafter I shall attain great peace and bliss; dwelling together with wife and children, though there is pleasure and joy for a brief while, hereafter there will be the utmost pain and suffering.' O virtuous one, know that in the world there is little joy but much suffering."

The Buddha taught:

"The bhikkhus who have attained the path of the Arhat know that in the world there is little joy and much suffering; therefore, when I sought the path of the Buddha, I considered only that the world has little joy but much suffering. When I was a Bodhisattva, I constantly considered that there is little joy and much suffering."

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 then keep it in your mind: human beings in the world—what are the pleasures that they enjoy?

"In general there are five kinds of sensual pleasure that cause human beings to rejoice and be attached: the eye is attached to forms, and at once one keeps it in 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 delights in soft and tender objects, and at once one becomes attached in the mind.

Just as one is attached to beautiful forms, so also with the other four are the people of the world all attached. The attachments of the people of the world do not go beyond these five things—how many people know to be concerned about escaping from them? The people of the world may till 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 gain their sustenance, or work as painters to earn a living.

Such people endure cold, endure heat, endure hardship, endure hunger, endure thirst. They are all driven by greedy thoughts, and so must endure cold, warmth, hunger, and thirst, and then resent themselves, saying: 'I have labored for my living, passing through so many years, suffering hardship to the point of death, yet I have not earned any wealth at all, and still I live in cold and suffering, or am sick and feeble.'"

The Buddha said:

"O Mahānāma, this is the first suffering.

"The second is that within human beings there is the thought of lustful greed; some till fields and gardens, some work as craftsmen, some buy and sell in the markets, some serve as officials, some raise livestock, some work as painters. When they labor for their living, they must endure cold, heat, hunger, and thirst in order to obtain wealth. Thereby they become rich, yet they harbor in their hearts the fear that the district officials will seize all their wealth, or fear that fire will burn up all their wealth, or fear that when traveling by boat the boat will sink and lose all their wealth, or fear robbers and bandits who will rob them of all their wealth, or fear that in buying and selling and bartering all their wealth will be lost,

or fear that impoverished relatives will use poison to harm them, or that their own children will squander all their wealth.

Such a person constantly lives in anxiety, harboring fear day and night, without a moment's rest. Among them, moreover, there are those who, while keeping their wealth, either meet with officials (who seize it), or have it burned by fire and washed away by water, or in trade lend out wealth that is not repaid, or bury and hide it in the earth and now have forgotten the place, or are falsely accused and slandered so that all is lost, or have their own children squander all the wealth of their parents.

Such a person thinks to himself: 'From my youth I have toiled for a living, having to endure cold, heat, hunger, and thirst, or to suffer hardship to earn money, and now I have lost it all.' Therefore, from brooding and grieving over it, he falls ill, or even dies, all because of wealth. These things all come from the thought of greed for the five sensual pleasures. This is the second suffering.

"The third is that the people of the world, 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 families within and without contend with one another, speaking ill of each other behind their backs. All these things come from greed for sensual pleasure. The people of the world, on account of wealth, king fights against king, religious man fights against religious man, farmer fights against farmer, craftsman fights against craftsman; because of wealth they use their mouths to curse one another, use staves to beat one another, use blades to hack one another, or cause one another to be wounded and killed.

All of this comes from the mind of greed. This is the third suffering.

"The fourth is that the people of the world follow the army, receiving the wages of the officials, and must go forth to battle, not knowing when they will live or die; out of greed they enlist in the army, and because they have received the officials' money they cannot stop, but must fight, and are either wounded in the head, or have their heads cut off, or are wounded in the hand, or have their hands severed, or are wounded in the foot, or have their feet cut off, until gradually it leads to the loss of their lives. All of this comes from greed. This is the fourth suffering.

"The fifth is that the people of the world, having greedy thoughts, by night break through the walls of others' houses to steal, or rob others on the road, or assault the law-protected walls and ramparts of others, and so are caught by the officials, and either have their heads cut off, or their hands cut off, or their feet cut off, or are dismembered, or have their flesh sliced off, or are burned with fire, or have their foreheads smashed with a great pestle, or are cut in two at the waist. All these things come from the mind of greed. This is the fifth suffering.

"The people of the world, on account of wealth, deceive one another: their mouths also deceive one another, their bodies also deceive one another, their thoughts also deceive one another. At that time they themselves regard this as something that must be done, with no fault at all, not knowing its calamitous and poisonous harm, so that hereafter they must enter the hells. Among these, if a virtuous one or a śramaṇa reflects for himself: in the five pleasures of the world is there much joy, or much suffering, affliction, and sorrow?"

The Buddha said:

"O Mahānāma, when I was still a Bodhisattva, I constantly considered that in the world there is little joy but much affliction and suffering, and therefore I sought the path of the Unconditioned (Nirvāṇa). If there are people of lustful greed who say: 'The world is joyful,' it is because they all do not know the path of birth and death. If there is in the world one of wholesome and virtuous mind and thought, with a resolve free from greed, who furthermore wishes to teach human beings not to have lustful greed—this is one of supreme and foremost great virtue."

The Buddha said:

"O Mahānāma, I once came to Rājagṛha, where there is a mountain named Tiṣṭhapatibalāka Andhakavinda. I saw certain Nirgranthas: some practitioners had disheveled hair, some practitioners sat hunched upon the ground, lay upon the ground, with bodies having no clothing, all of them wearing deerskins. The Buddha saw them from afar, came before them, and said to the Nirgranthas: 'By what cause and condition do you let your hair hang loose; by what cause and condition do you sit and lie upon the ground, and also wear no clothing, doing yourselves such harm?'

The Nirgranthas answered the Buddha:

"In a former life we did such evil deeds, and so it has come about that in this life we are thus afflicted; because our evil conduct is not yet exhausted, we therefore do thus."

The Buddha said:

"By what cause and condition did you hear of and come to know this matter? Is it that you came to hear and know of the deeds done in a former life by following others? Or did you know it of yourselves?"

The Nirgranthas replied:

"We neither know it, nor have heard it, nor have we relied on anyone teaching us at all."

The Buddha said:

"Can it be that by this asceticism one escapes from birth and death? You have not heard others speak of it, nor have you heard a teacher teach thus. For no reason you bring suffering upon yourselves. Therefore abandon these practices, and come to revere the path of the Buddha."

The Buddha said:

"I only grieve for you—lest you in your own reflection, or your descendants in ages to come, all imitate this conduct of yours."

The Nirgranthas were all angered, and the Buddha said to them:

"Why has King Bimbisāra allowed this śramaṇa Gautama to propagate his teaching in 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 that joy? Or is it that the king, with his palaces and music, has joy?"

The Nirgranthas said:

"O śramaṇa Gautama, we have joy."

The Buddha said:

"How is this called joy? Why is it that King Bimbisāra in his country does not have joy?"

The Nirgranthas said:

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

The Buddha said:

"O Nirgranthas, King Bimbisāra has the thought of lust, the thought of anger, the thought of delusion; he also wishes to subjugate his ministers, also wishes to subjugate the people outside, and day and night he considers: 'Whom must I punish? Whom must I bind?'"

The Buddha said:

"One who has a lustful mind will also slay himself, and also wishes to slay others. One who has a mind of anger and hatred will also slay himself, and also wishes to kill others. One who is deluded will also slay himself, and also wishes to kill others."

The Nirgranthas all came before the Buddha and said:

"We have no state of lust, nor any state of anger, nor any state of delusion; may we then become śramaṇas?"

The Buddha said:

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

The Nirgranthas said:

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

The Buddha taught:

"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 others' households.

4. Do not lie.

5. Do not drink intoxicants.

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

The Buddha said to Mahānāma:

"If, having heard of these thoughts of lust, anger, and delusion, one resolves to receive and uphold the words of the Buddha's teaching, or reflects rightly and carefully upon these five matters, should one then contend with the people of the world?"

Mahānāma said:

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

Mahānāma came before the Buddha, made obeisance, and then departed.

THE BUDDHA SPEAKS THE SŪTRA OF MAHĀNĀMA THE ORIGIN