English
by which some woman here is beautiful, lovely to behold, charming, endowed with supreme beauty of complexion; and is rich, with great wealth, with great possessions, and of great influence." When this was said, Queen Mallikā said to the Blessed One: "Indeed, venerable sir, in another birth I was ill-tempered and very vexed, even when spoken to a little I became hostile, I became angry, I became resentful, I showed ill-will, and I displayed anger, malice, and displeasure. Therefore, venerable sir, now I am ill-favored, ugly, very unpleasant to behold. "Indeed, venerable sir, in another birth I was a giver to a recluse or a brahmin of food, drink, clothing, vehicles, garlands, perfumes, ointments, beds, dwellings, and lamps. Therefore, venerable sir, now I am rich, with great wealth, with great possessions. "Indeed, venerable sir, in another birth I was not envious of others' gains, honors, and respects." In respects, salutations, and offerings, I did not envy, I did not bear ill-will, I did not bind myself with envy. I, venerable sir, am now of great power. There are, venerable sir, in this royal family, khattiya maidens, brahmin maidens, and householder maidens. Over them I exercise authority and dominion. I, venerable sir, from today onwards, will be free from anger, free from much distress. Even if much is said to me, I will not be offended, I will not be angry, I will not be hostile, I will not be resentful. I will not manifest anger, ill-will, or displeasure. I will give to recluses or brahmins food, drink, clothing, vehicles, garlands, perfumes, unguents, beds, dwellings, and lamps. I will be free from envy. In the gains, honors, respects, salutations, and offerings to others, I will not envy, I will not bear ill-will, I will not bind myself with envy. Excellent, venerable sir... May the Blessed One, venerable sir, remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from today onwards, for as long as life lasts. The seventh. 8. The Discourse on Self-Torment 198. "These four persons, bhikkhus, are found existing in the world. Which four? Here, bhikkhus, a certain person is one who torments himself, devoted to the practice of self-torment. Here again, bhikkhus, a certain person is one who torments others, devoted to the practice of tormenting others. Here again, bhikkhus, a certain person is one who torments himself, devoted to the practice of self-torment, and torments others, devoted to the practice of tormenting others. Here again, bhikkhus, a certain person neither torments himself, devoted to the practice of self-torment, nor torments others, devoted to the practice of tormenting others. That one, neither tormenting himself nor tormenting others, in this very life is cooled, extinguished, become cool, experiencing happiness, dwelling with a divine self. "And how, bhikkhus, is a person one who torments himself, devoted to the practice of self-torment? Here, bhikkhus, a certain one is naked, of loose conduct, licking his hands... He does not accept what is not written, what is not brought near, what is not prepared, what is not designated, what is not invited. He does not receive from the mouth of a pot, from the mouth of a ladle, across a stick, across a staff, across a pestle, from two people eating, from a pregnant woman, from a nursing woman, from a woman with a man between, from a collection, where a dog is standing, where flies swarm, he does not drink fish, nor meat, nor liquor, nor strong drink, nor gruel of husks. He is a one-house-goer, a one-mouthful-eater; or a two-house-goer, a two-mouthful-eater; ... or a seven-house-goer, a seven-mouthful-eater. He sustains himself with one alms-round, he sustains himself with two alms-rounds, ... he sustains himself with seven alms-rounds. He takes food once a day, he takes food twice a day, ... he takes food seven times a day. Thus, he lives devoted to such a practice of eating at intervals for half a month. He eats vegetables, he eats wild rice, he eats water-rice, he eats moss, he eats rice bran, he eats rice husks, he eats rice gruel, he eats oil-cake, he eats grass, he eats cow dung. He sustains himself on roots and fruits of the forest, he eats fallen fruits. He wears coarse hempen cloth, he wears fine hempen cloth, he wears shrouds, he wears rag-robes, he wears tree-bark garments, he wears antelope hide, he wears strips of antelope hide, he wears kusa-grass garments, he wears bark garments, he wears wood-shaving garments, he wears hair blankets, he wears horse-hair blankets, he wears owl's wings. He is a hair-and-beard plucker, devoted to the practice of plucking hair and beard. He stands upright, rejecting a seat. He squats, devoted to the practice of squatting. He is a thorn-bed sleeper, he makes his bed on thorns. He lives devoted to the practice of descending into water three times in the evening. Thus, he lives devoted to such a varied practice of heating and tormenting the body. ...he dwells. Thus, bhikkhus, a person is self-tormenting, devoted to the practice of self-torment. And how, bhikkhus, is a person tormenting others, devoted to the practice of tormenting others? Here, bhikkhus, some person is a sheep-butcher, a pig-butcher, a fowler, a hunter, a trapper, a fisherman, a thief, an executioner, a cattle-slaughterer, a jailer, or anyone else engaged in cruel occupations. Thus, bhikkhus, a person is tormenting others, devoted to the practice of tormenting others. And how, bhikkhus, is a person both self-tormenting, devoted to the practice of self-torment, and tormenting others, devoted to the practice of tormenting others? Here, bhikkhus, some person is a king, a consecrated warrior, or a great wealthy brahmin. He, having had a new assembly hall built to the east of the city, having shaved his hair and beard, having put on a rough deerskin, having anointed his body with ghee and oil, scratching his back with a deer's horn, enters the new assembly hall, together with his chief queen and the brahmin priest. There, on the ground smeared with green grass, he makes his bed. From one cow with a calf of the same color, the milk from one teat, the king subsists on; the milk from the second teat, the chief queen subsists on; the milk from the third teat, the brahmin priest subsists on; the milk from the fourth teat, they offer into the fire; with the remainder, the calf subsists. He says thus: 'So many bulls are to be slaughtered for the sacrifice, so many young steers are to be slaughtered for the sacrifice, so many young heifers are to be slaughtered for the sacrifice, so many goats are to be slaughtered for the sacrifice, so many rams are to be slaughtered for the sacrifice, so many trees are to be cut down for the sacrificial posts, so much kusa grass is to be reaped for the sacrificial strew.' And those who are his slaves, or his servants, or his workers, they too, threatened with punishment, threatened with fear, with tearful faces, weeping, perform their tasks. Thus, bhikkhus, a person is one who torments himself and is devoted to self-torment, and torments others and is devoted to the torment of others. And how, bhikkhus, is a person neither one who torments himself nor devoted to self-torment, nor one who torments others nor devoted to the torment of others? Such a one, not tormenting himself, not tormenting others, is cooled, extinguished, become cool, experiencing happiness in this very life, dwelling with a Brahma-like self. Here, bhikkhus, a Tathāgata arises in the world, an Arahant, a Fully Self-Awakened One, endowed with knowledge and conduct, fortunate, knower of the world, unsurpassed leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, the Buddha, the Blessed One. He, having directly known and realized this world with its gods, its Māras, its Brahmās, this generation with its ascetics and brahmins, its gods and humans, proclaims it. He teaches the Dhamma beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle, beautiful in the end, with meaning and with letter, he proclaims the utterly complete and purified holy life. A householder hears that Dhamma, or a householder's son, or one born into some other family. Having heard that Dhamma, he gains faith in the Tathāgata. Endowed with that gained faith, he reflects thus: "Confined is the household life, a path of dust; open is the going forth. It is not easy for one living in a house to lead the holy life utterly complete, utterly purified, polished like a conch shell. What if I were to shave off my hair and beard, put on saffron robes, and go forth from the home life into homelessness?" So, at a later time, having abandoned a small portion of wealth, or having abandoned a large portion of wealth, having abandoned a small circle of relatives, or having abandoned a large circle of relatives, having shaved off his hair and beard, having put on saffron robes, he goes forth from the home life into homelessness. He goes forth. "Having thus gone forth, living by the training and livelihood of bhikkhus, he abandons the taking of life, he abstains from the taking of life, laying aside rod and weapon, conscientious, full of compassion, he dwells with kindness and sympathy for all living beings. He abandons taking what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given, taking only what is given, expecting only what is given, he dwells with a pure self, free from theft. He abandons unchastity, he is chaste, living apart, abstaining from unholy practices, from village ways. He abandons false speech, he abstains from false speech, a speaker of truth, truthful, firm, reliable, not deceiving the world. He abandons divisive speech, he abstains from divisive speech, not hearing here and telling there to cause division among these, nor hearing there and telling here to cause division among those; thus he is a reconciler of those who are divided, a promoter of those who are united, delighting in concord, rejoicing in concord, exulting in concord,