:: 5. Munificence of Vishakha.::
1. Vishakha was a wealthy woman of Shravasti. She had many children and grandchildren.
2. When the Blessed One stayed at Shravasti, Vishakha went up to the place where the Blessed One was, and tendered Him an invitation to take his meal at her house, which the Blessed One accepted.
3. And heavy rain fell during the night and the next morning; and the bhikkhus doffed their robes to keep themselves dry and let the rain fall upon their bodies.
4. When the next day the Blessed One had finished his meal, she took her seat at his side and spoke thus; " Eight are the boons, Lord, which I beg of the Blessed One."
5. Then the Blessed One said: " The Tathagatas, 0 Vishakha, grant no boons unless they know what they are."
6. Vishakha replied: "Proper, Lord, and unobjectionable are the boons I ask."
7. Having received permission to ask the boons, Vishakha said: " I desire. Lord, through all my life to bestow robes for the rainy season on the Sangha, and food for incoming bhikkhus, and food for outgoing bhikkhus and food for the sick, and food for those who wait upon the sick, and medicine for the sick, and a constant supply of rice-milk for the Sangha, and bathing robes for the bhikkhunis, the sisters."
8. "But," said the Lord, "What, 0 Vishakha, have you in view in asking these eight boons of the Tathagata ?"
9. And Vishakha replied: "I gave command, Lord, to my maid-servant, saying, ' Go thou and announce to the fraternity that the meal is ready,' and my maid went, but when she came to the vihara, she observed that the bhikkhus had defied their robes, while it was raining, and she thought: ' These are not bhikkhus, but naked ascetics letting the rain fall on them.' So she returned to me and reported accordingly and I had to send her a second time.
10. " Impure, Lord, is nakedness, and revolting. It was this circumstance, Lord, that I had in view in desiring to provide the Sangha throughout my life with special garments for use in the rainy season.
11. "As to my second wish. Lord, an incoming bhikku, not being able to take the direct roads, and not knowing the places where food can be procured, comes on his way wearied out by seeking for alms. It was this circumstance, Lord, that I had in view in desiring to provide the Sangha throughout my life with food for incoming bhikkhus.
12. " Thirdly, Lord, an outgoing bhikkhu, while seeking about for alms, may be left behind, or may arrive too late at the place whither he desires to go, and will set out on the road in weariness.
13. " Fourthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu does not obtain suitable food, his sickness may increase upon him, and he may die.
14. "Fifthy, Lord, a bhikkhu who is waiting upon the sick will lose his opportunity of going out to seek food for himself.
15. " Sixthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu does not obtain suitable medicines, his sickness may increase upon him, and he may die.
16. " Seventhly, Lord, I have heard that the Blessed One has praised rice-milk, because it gives readiness of mind, dispels hunger and thirst; it is wholesome nourishment for the healthy and for the sick as a medicine. Therefore I desire to provide the Sangha throughout my life with constant supply of rice-milk.
17. " Finally, Lord, the bhikkhunis are in the habit of bathing in the river Archiravati with the courtesans, at the same landing-place, and naked. And the courtesans. Lord, ridicule the bhikkhtmis, saying, 'What is the good, ladies, of your maintaining chastity when you are young? When you are old, maintain chastity then; thus will you be obtainers of both ends.' Impure, Lord, is nakedness for a woman, disgusting, and revolting.
18. " These are the circumstances, Lord, that I had in view."
19. The Blessed One said: " But what was the advantage you had in view for yourself, 0 Vishakha, in asking these eight boons of the Tathagatha ?"
20. Vishakha replied: "Bhikkhus who have spent the rainy season in various places will come, Lord, to Shravasti to visit the Blessed One. And on coming to the Blessed One they will ask, saying: * Such and such a bhikkhu. Lord, has died. What, now, is his destiny?' Then will the Blessed One explain that he has attained the fruits of conversion; that he has entered Nirvana or attained arhantship, as the case may be.
21. " And I, going up to them, shall ask, ' Was that brother, sirs, one of those who had formerly been at Shravasti,' then shall I arrive at the conclusion, 'For a certainty did that brother enjoy either the robes for the rainy season, or the food for the incoming bhikkhus, or the food for the outgoing bhikkhus, or the food for the sick, or the food for those that wait upon the sick, or the medicine for the sick, or the constant supply of rice-milk.' 22. "Then will gladness spring up within me; thus gladdend joy will come to me; and so rejoicing all my frame will be at peace. Being thus at peace I shall experience a blissful feeling of content; and in that bliss my heart will be at rest. That will be to me an exercise of my moral powers, an exercise of the seven kinds of wisdom ! This, Lord, was the advantage I had in view for myself in asking those eight boons of the Blessed One."
23. Then the Blessed One said: " It is well, it is well, Vishakha. Thou hast done well in asking these eight boons of the Tathagata with such advantage in view. Charity bestowed upon those who are worthy of it is like good seeds sown in good soil that yields an abundance of fruits. But alms given to those who are yet under the tyrannical yoke of the passions are like a seed deposited in bad soil. The passions of the receiver of the alms choke, as it were, the growth of merits."
24. And the Blessed One gave thanks to Vishakha vi in these verses ; " Whatsoever donation a woman upright in life, a disciple of the Blessed One, may bestow in gladness of heart and without stint, her gift is heavenly, destructive of sorrow, and productive of bliss." " A blissful life does she attain entering upon the path that is from corruption and impurity." "Aiming at good, happy does she become; and she rejoices in her charitable actions."
25. Vishakha gave to the Order the Purva-Aram or Eastern Garden, and was the first to become a matron of the lay-sisters.
1. Vishakha was a wealthy woman of Shravasti. She had many children and grandchildren.
2. When the Blessed One stayed at Shravasti, Vishakha went up to the place where the Blessed One was, and tendered Him an invitation to take his meal at her house, which the Blessed One accepted.
3. And heavy rain fell during the night and the next morning; and the bhikkhus doffed their robes to keep themselves dry and let the rain fall upon their bodies.
4. When the next day the Blessed One had finished his meal, she took her seat at his side and spoke thus; " Eight are the boons, Lord, which I beg of the Blessed One."
5. Then the Blessed One said: " The Tathagatas, 0 Vishakha, grant no boons unless they know what they are."
6. Vishakha replied: "Proper, Lord, and unobjectionable are the boons I ask."
7. Having received permission to ask the boons, Vishakha said: " I desire. Lord, through all my life to bestow robes for the rainy season on the Sangha, and food for incoming bhikkhus, and food for outgoing bhikkhus and food for the sick, and food for those who wait upon the sick, and medicine for the sick, and a constant supply of rice-milk for the Sangha, and bathing robes for the bhikkhunis, the sisters."
8. "But," said the Lord, "What, 0 Vishakha, have you in view in asking these eight boons of the Tathagata ?"
9. And Vishakha replied: "I gave command, Lord, to my maid-servant, saying, ' Go thou and announce to the fraternity that the meal is ready,' and my maid went, but when she came to the vihara, she observed that the bhikkhus had defied their robes, while it was raining, and she thought: ' These are not bhikkhus, but naked ascetics letting the rain fall on them.' So she returned to me and reported accordingly and I had to send her a second time.
10. " Impure, Lord, is nakedness, and revolting. It was this circumstance, Lord, that I had in view in desiring to provide the Sangha throughout my life with special garments for use in the rainy season.
11. "As to my second wish. Lord, an incoming bhikku, not being able to take the direct roads, and not knowing the places where food can be procured, comes on his way wearied out by seeking for alms. It was this circumstance, Lord, that I had in view in desiring to provide the Sangha throughout my life with food for incoming bhikkhus.
12. " Thirdly, Lord, an outgoing bhikkhu, while seeking about for alms, may be left behind, or may arrive too late at the place whither he desires to go, and will set out on the road in weariness.
13. " Fourthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu does not obtain suitable food, his sickness may increase upon him, and he may die.
14. "Fifthy, Lord, a bhikkhu who is waiting upon the sick will lose his opportunity of going out to seek food for himself.
15. " Sixthly, Lord, if a sick bhikkhu does not obtain suitable medicines, his sickness may increase upon him, and he may die.
16. " Seventhly, Lord, I have heard that the Blessed One has praised rice-milk, because it gives readiness of mind, dispels hunger and thirst; it is wholesome nourishment for the healthy and for the sick as a medicine. Therefore I desire to provide the Sangha throughout my life with constant supply of rice-milk.
17. " Finally, Lord, the bhikkhunis are in the habit of bathing in the river Archiravati with the courtesans, at the same landing-place, and naked. And the courtesans. Lord, ridicule the bhikkhtmis, saying, 'What is the good, ladies, of your maintaining chastity when you are young? When you are old, maintain chastity then; thus will you be obtainers of both ends.' Impure, Lord, is nakedness for a woman, disgusting, and revolting.
18. " These are the circumstances, Lord, that I had in view."
19. The Blessed One said: " But what was the advantage you had in view for yourself, 0 Vishakha, in asking these eight boons of the Tathagatha ?"
20. Vishakha replied: "Bhikkhus who have spent the rainy season in various places will come, Lord, to Shravasti to visit the Blessed One. And on coming to the Blessed One they will ask, saying: * Such and such a bhikkhu. Lord, has died. What, now, is his destiny?' Then will the Blessed One explain that he has attained the fruits of conversion; that he has entered Nirvana or attained arhantship, as the case may be.
21. " And I, going up to them, shall ask, ' Was that brother, sirs, one of those who had formerly been at Shravasti,' then shall I arrive at the conclusion, 'For a certainty did that brother enjoy either the robes for the rainy season, or the food for the incoming bhikkhus, or the food for the outgoing bhikkhus, or the food for the sick, or the food for those that wait upon the sick, or the medicine for the sick, or the constant supply of rice-milk.' 22. "Then will gladness spring up within me; thus gladdend joy will come to me; and so rejoicing all my frame will be at peace. Being thus at peace I shall experience a blissful feeling of content; and in that bliss my heart will be at rest. That will be to me an exercise of my moral powers, an exercise of the seven kinds of wisdom ! This, Lord, was the advantage I had in view for myself in asking those eight boons of the Blessed One."
23. Then the Blessed One said: " It is well, it is well, Vishakha. Thou hast done well in asking these eight boons of the Tathagata with such advantage in view. Charity bestowed upon those who are worthy of it is like good seeds sown in good soil that yields an abundance of fruits. But alms given to those who are yet under the tyrannical yoke of the passions are like a seed deposited in bad soil. The passions of the receiver of the alms choke, as it were, the growth of merits."
24. And the Blessed One gave thanks to Vishakha vi in these verses ; " Whatsoever donation a woman upright in life, a disciple of the Blessed One, may bestow in gladness of heart and without stint, her gift is heavenly, destructive of sorrow, and productive of bliss." " A blissful life does she attain entering upon the path that is from corruption and impurity." "Aiming at good, happy does she become; and she rejoices in her charitable actions."
25. Vishakha gave to the Order the Purva-Aram or Eastern Garden, and was the first to become a matron of the lay-sisters.
No comments:
Post a Comment