比丘避女惡名欲自殺經

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling in the Jeṭavana, the garden of Anāthapiṇḍada (Jeṭavaṇe'nāthapiṇḍadasyārāma), in the country of Śrāvastī (Śrāvastya). At that time there was a bhikṣu

(Bhikṣu) who had withdrawn to dwell apart among the people of Kośalā (Kośalā, or Kauśala), abiding in a certain forest.

At that time that bhikṣu, sporting together with the wife of an elder, gave rise to an evil reputation. Then that bhikṣu reflected thus: "Now I ought not to have given rise to an evil reputation together with another's wife. Now I wish to take my own life here in this forest."

At that time the deity dwelling in that forest reflected thus: "Evil, unwholesome, not good. This bhikṣu, who is not evil and is without fault, wishes here in this forest to slay himself. Now I should go to him and, by skillful means, awaken him."

Thereupon that deity, transforming itself into the form of the elder's daughter, said to the bhikṣu: "In the lanes and shortcuts, the broad roads, the crossroads… the people of the world give rise to an evil reputation concerning me and you, saying that you and I have drawn close together and done what is improper. Since there is already an evil reputation, you may now return to lay life so that we may take pleasure together."

The bhikṣu replied: "Since here and there, in the shortcuts and at the crossroads… an evil reputation has already arisen concerning me and you, that we have drawn close together and done what is improper, now I would sooner slay myself."

Then that deity manifested again its heavenly form and spoke a verse, saying:

When, in accordance with the Dharma, one knows this for oneself,
The devas also come to know it.

At that time the bhikṣu, having been awakened by that deity, then single-mindedly and diligently contemplated, severed the afflictions, and attained Arhatship.

THE SŪTRA OF THE BHIKṢU WHO, AVOIDING AN EVIL REPUTATION CONCERNING A WOMAN, WISHED TO TAKE HIS OWN LIFE The End