Householders
This page carries Ru-Yi's complete translation of fascicle 42 of the Jīng Lǜ Yì Xiàng (經律異相): "Householders" (居士部) — the shortest fascicle in this stretch of the compendium, five entries, and the last of them longer than the other four together. Among them: the household of Meṇḍaka of Bhaddiya, in which six people each have a portion that cannot be used up and fall to arguing whose merit it is; Ugra of Vaiśālī, who sobers instantly at the sight of the Buddha across a forest clearing and then formally gives his chief wife away to a man who is terrified by the offer; a man born without hands or feet who inherits a fortune, and the starving strongman who works out which of them is worse off; the nāga Elāpattra, who tells a brahmin his second name is Insatiable-for-Wealth before handing over the gold that will empty seven treasuries; and the householder's son Great-Intention, who passes four cities of silver, gold, crystal, and lapis, each ringed by a venomous snake, and who, when the sea-spirit takes his four pearls, sets about bailing out the sea with a bowl.
Translation Method
Fascicle 42 is brief — five entries — and stands between the two fascicles on brahmins and the fascicle on merchants. Its 居士 are the settled householders: two of them, Meṇḍaka and Ugra, are figures known across the vinayas and the Āgamas, and the other three come from parable collections that survive only in Chinese.
Entry 1 carries an editorial oddity we have preserved rather than corrected: a source note stands in the middle of the entry, immediately before the Buddha's answer, and a second at the end listing three vinayas. The compiler's interlinear note on the variant spelling of the name is kept where the Chinese puts it.
On names: Meṇḍaka, Ugra, Elāpattra, Śuddhodana, Māyā, Mahākāśyapa, Gopī, Maitreya, Ānanda, Maudgalyāyana, Śāriputra, Devadatta, Vipaśyin, the Buddha Kāśyapa, Śakra, Sumeru, Bhaddiya, Vaiśālī, and Rājagṛha are given in their standard forms; so are Mahādāna and Candā in entry 5. Where no confident correspondence exists — Shélì, Būtuómǎn, Póbōnà, and the several figures named only in entry 5's closing identifications — we keep the Chinese in pinyin. Names transparently descriptive in Chinese (Fish-Body, Great-Intention, Joyful-and-Sorrowless, Broadly-Compassionate, Insatiable-for-Wealth, Stone Chamber) are translated, with the Chinese kept in the contents list.
Entry 2 describes a wife transferred to another man in the formal language of a donation, and we have translated it in exactly that register rather than recasting it as an arrangement or a consent; the reading note sets out what the text does and does not grant her.
Fascicle Contents
- 1. Meṇḍaka's Wealth and Food Grow of Themselves; He Hears the Dharma and Understands 琝茶財食自長聞法悟解一
- 2. Ugra Sees the Buddha, His Drunkenness Passes of Itself, He Takes the Precepts and Gives Away His Wife 郁伽見佛其醉自醒受戒以妻施人二
- 3. The Causes by Which Fish-Body Obtained Wealth 魚身得富緣三
- 4. Shélì and His Brothers Obtained Their Wealth by the Dharma and Never Lost It 闍梨兄弟以法獲財終不散失四
- 5. The Householder's Son Great-Intention Seeks the Bright-Moon Pearls 居士子大意以求明珠五
1. Meṇḍaka's Wealth and Food Grow of Themselves; He Hears the Dharma and Understands
Six members of one household, each of whom finds that whatever they give out is not used up — a granary with a hole in it, eight pecks of rice, a thousand taels of gold, a package of ointment, one plough, and eight pecks of fodder. They fall to arguing about whose merit it is.
跋提城有大居士。字曰琝茶(彌沙塞律作文茶)饒富珍寶有大威力。隨意所欲周給人物。倉中有孔大如車軸。穀米自出。婦以八斗作飯。飴四部兵及四方來者。食故不盡。其兒以千兩金與四部兵及四方乞者。隨意不盡。兒婦以一裹香塗。四部兵并四方來乞者隨意令足。香故不盡。奴以一犁日耕七壟。出米滋多。其婢以八斗穀。與四部兵飼馬。馬食不盡。家中共爭各言。我是福力。琝茶詣佛頭面作禮(出四分律分第四卷)。曰。誰力。佛言。汝等共有。昔王舍城有一織師。織師有婦又有一兒兒又有婦。有一奴一婢。一時共食。有辟支佛來就乞食。各欲當分捨與。辟支佛言。汝等善心皆各已捨。可人減少許。於汝不少。在我得足。即共從之。辟支食已於虛空中現諸神變。然後方去。織師眷屬捨於壽命。生四天王天至于他化。展轉七反餘福生此。琝茶聞之。即請佛僧修無限施。若有所須隨時多少皆從我取。諸比丘不敢受。白佛。佛言。聽隨意受。後諸比丘行從索資糧。遣使齎金銀隨逐行處。多有所長齎還長者。長者言。我已捨竟不應將還(出彌沙塞律。四分。十誦皆有其文)。
In the city of Bhaddiya there was a great householder named Meṇḍaka (the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya writes it Wéntú), rich in treasure and of great authority, who supplied people with goods as he pleased.
In his granary there was a hole the size of a cart axle, and the grain came out of it by itself. His wife made rice with eight pecks and fed the fourfold army and all who came from the four directions, and the food was still not used up. His son gave a thousand taels of gold to the fourfold army and to beggars from the four directions as they wished, and it was not used up. His son’s wife took one wrapped package of fragrant ointment and let the fourfold army and all who came begging from the four directions take their fill of it, and the fragrance was still not used up. His slave, with one plough, made seven furrows in a day, and the rice that came of it grew abundant. His maidservant took eight pecks of grain and gave it to the fourfold army to feed their horses, and the horses did not finish eating it.
In the household they contended together, each saying: it is my power of merit. And Meṇḍaka went to the Buddha and bowed his head and face (Source: Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, division, fascicle 4).
He said: whose power is it? The Buddha said: it belongs to all of you together.
Long ago in Rājagṛha there was a weaver, and the weaver had a wife and a son, and the son had a wife, and there was one male slave and one maidservant, and at one time they were eating together. A pratyekabuddha came and begged food from them, and each of them wished to give his own portion. The pratyekabuddha said: your good intentions have each already given it. You may each reduce your own share a little; it will not be too little for you and will be enough for me. And they did as he said. When the pratyekabuddha had eaten he manifested transformations of every kind in the air, and then departed.
When the weaver and his household gave up their lives they were born in the heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings and on up to the Paranirmitavaśavartin, passing through it seven times over; and by the merit remaining they were born here.
Meṇḍaka heard this and invited the Buddha and the saṅgha and set up an unlimited giving: whatever anyone needs, let them take from me at any time and in any amount. The monks did not dare to accept it, and reported to the Buddha, and the Buddha said: you may accept as you wish. Afterward the monks, when travelling, asked him for provisions, and he sent messengers carrying gold and silver to follow them wherever they went; and where there was much left over they brought it back to the elder. The elder said: I have already given it away and it should not be brought back (Source: Mahīśāsaka Vinaya; the Dharmaguptaka and Sarvāstivāda both have the text as well).
This is the household of Meṇḍaka of Bhaddiya, known across the vinayas of several schools; the compendium's own interlinear note records that the Mahīśāsaka writes the name differently, and the closing source note says the Dharmaguptaka, Mahīśāsaka, and Sarvāstivāda all carry the text. A second source note has been left standing in the middle of the entry, immediately before the Buddha's answer — an editorial seam the compiler did not tidy away, and which we have kept where it is.
The question the household is arguing about is a real one: six people each have an inexhaustible portion, and each claims the merit is theirs. The Buddha's answer is one sentence — it belongs to all of you together — and the story that explains it is exactly proportioned to that answer. Six people once sat down to a meal, a pratyekabuddha came begging, each of them offered his whole portion, and he told them to reduce their shares a little instead so that all six could give.
Note the ending, which is a small piece of monastic law rather than a moral. Meṇḍaka's offer of unlimited provisions is one the monks do not dare to accept until the Buddha rules that they may; and when they return the surplus he refuses it, on the ground that what has been given is given.
2. Ugra Sees the Buddha, His Drunkenness Passes of Itself, He Takes the Precepts and Gives Away His Wife
A drunk householder sees the Buddha across a forest clearing and sobers instantly. What he then does with his household, and specifically with his chief wife, is the difficult part of the entry.
郁伽醉婇女圍繞。在毘舍離大林中。遙見世尊在樹間坐。端正殊妙根意息定。光如金聚。見已醉解。至世尊所却坐一面。佛為分別四諦。得無畏法。頭面禮足。我歸三寶。作優婆塞受持五戒。還至本處告眷屬曰。汝今當知。我從世尊受戒。若欲樂者行施作福。若不樂者各還親里。我當放汝。時最大夫人曰。子從世尊盡命受戒。有某人當以我與彼作婦。彼時居士便呼彼人。以左手持夫人右手。執金澡罐語彼人曰。我以此最大夫人與汝作婦。彼人驚怖毛竪。語郁伽曰。居士不欲殺我耶。答言不也。我從佛盡命行梵行。故以大婦用與汝。終不變悔(出中阿含第九卷)。
Ugra was drunk and surrounded by his attendant women in the great forest at Vaiśālī, and he saw from a distance the World-Honored One sitting among the trees, upright and exquisite, his faculties and mind at rest in concentration, his light like a mass of gold; and, having seen him, his drunkenness dissolved.
He came to the World-Honored One and sat to one side, and the Buddha analysed the four truths for him, and he obtained the fearless Dharma; and he bowed his head and face at his feet: I take refuge in the Three Jewels, and become a lay follower and receive and keep the five precepts.
He came back to his own place and told his household: know now that I have received the precepts from the World-Honored One. Whoever wishes to be joyful, let them give and make merit; whoever does not wish it, let them each go back to their own kin, and I shall release you.
Then his chief wife said: your son has received the precepts from the World-Honored One for the whole of his life. There is a certain man to whom you should give me as a wife. The householder then called that man, took his chief wife’s right hand in his left hand, held a golden water-vessel, and said to the man: I give this chief wife of mine to you as a wife.
The man was terrified and his hair stood on end, and he said to Ugra: does the householder not mean to kill me? He answered: no. I have taken from the Buddha the practice of celibacy for the whole of my life, and that is why I give my chief wife to you; and I shall never change or regret it (Source: Madhyama Āgama, fascicle 9).
This entry needs to be read carefully because the sequence of events is compressed almost to the point of ambiguity. Ugra takes lifelong celibacy along with the five precepts, and then tells his household that whoever wishes to stay and make merit may stay and whoever does not may go back to their own kin. It is his chief wife who names the man she wishes to go to; Ugra then performs the formal transfer, taking her right hand in his left and holding the golden water-vessel used in acts of donation.
The man's reaction is the strangest thing in it and the compendium keeps it: he is terrified and his hair stands on end, and he asks whether the householder means to kill him. Ugra's answer is a flat no, followed by the reason and a statement that he will not go back on it.
The framing throughout is that of giving — the wife is spoken of in the grammar of a gift, and the entry's own title in the table of contents describes it as such. We have translated it exactly so, without softening the language into consent or arrangement, and note here that the wife's own initiative in naming the man is the one thing the text does grant her.
3. The Causes by Which Fish-Body Obtained Wealth
A man born without hands or feet who inherits a fortune, and the starving strongman who comes to him for help and works out which of them is worse off.
昔有大姓。常好惠施。後生一男。無有手足。形體似魚。名曰魚身。父母終亡襲持家業。寢臥室內又無見者。時有力士。仰王厨食。恒懷飢乏。獨牽十六車樵。賣以自給。又常不供。詣此四姓求所不足。魚身請與相見。示其形體。力士自惟。我力乃爾。不如無手足人。往到佛所問其所疑。佛言。昔迦葉佛時。魚身與此王行飯佛。汝時貧窮助其驅使。魚身所具與王行之。而謂王言。今日有務不得俱行。若行無異斷我手足。時行者今王是也。不行言者魚身是也。時佐助者汝身是也。力士意悟。即作沙門。得阿羅漢道(出舊譬喻經上卷)。
Long ago there was a great clan who constantly delighted in giving. Afterward a son was born to them with no hands or feet, his body like a fish, and he was named Fish-Body. When his parents died he inherited and kept up the family business, and lay in an inner room and no one saw him.
At that time there was a strongman who looked to the king’s kitchen for his food and was constantly hungry and short; and alone he hauled sixteen cartloads of firewood and sold them to keep himself, and even that was not always enough. He went to this household of the four castes to ask for what he lacked, and Fish-Body asked to see him and showed him his own body.
The strongman thought: my strength is such as it is, and I am worse off than a man with no hands or feet. He went to the Buddha and asked about his doubt.
The Buddha said: long ago in the time of the Buddha Kāśyapa, Fish-Body and that king went to serve food to the Buddha; and you at that time were poor and helped by running errands for them. Fish-Body prepared everything and set out with the king, and then said to the king: I have business today and cannot go with you. If I go, it will be no different from having my hands and feet cut off. The one who went at that time is the king now; the one who said he would not go is Fish-Body; and the one who helped is yourself. The strongman’s mind awoke and he became a śramaṇa at once and attained the path of an arhat (Source: Old Parables Sūtra, first fascicle).
4. Shélì and His Brothers Obtained Their Wealth by the Dharma and Never Lost It
A nāga king with two names, a brahmin who begs gold from him, and seven households whose treasuries empty into the earth overnight. Three brothers claim their own wealth is proof against this, and are asked to prove it.
昔石室城內有三居士。一名闍利。二名晡陀滿。三名婆波那。此三人親兄弟也。多財寶象馬七珍。有一婆羅門。持伊羅鉢龍齋。冀望富貴。龍現身語婆羅門。汝今何為勤苦。斷穀除味在此持齋。為何所求。婆羅門曰。冀望大富。龍曰。吾有二號。一名伊羅鉢。二名財無厭。既名無厭。復從吾求耶。婆羅門曰。設不惠者便即命終。龍出紫磨好金以報之。城門有豪富長者。出自天竺。汝以金與從求財物。長者見之告語。藏隱勿令人見。告其五親。飲食歡娛藏金庫內。庫內雜物盡復入地。還彼龍庫。左右七家財物如是。三居士聞之。自相謂言。我等三家以法所獲財致不枉。濫五家所奪。國人聞之謂為誇談。共集三家。問居士曰。卿以法獲財致不濫失。何以為證。時三居士各出十斤金。分為六段。將諸人民及七家失物主。往至龍泉以金投水。水皆涌沸猶如鑊湯。龍王驚懼。即遣龍女出金還之。報謝使還。從法得者以理成辦。終不為五家所侵。欺非法藏財者如彼七家(出比方世利經)。
Long ago in the city of Stone Chamber there were three householders: the first named Shélì, the second Būtuómǎn, the third Póbōnà, and these three were brothers of one family, with much wealth and treasure, elephants, horses, and the seven precious things.
There was a brahmin who kept a fast to the nāga Elāpattra in hope of wealth and rank. The nāga showed himself and said to the brahmin: what are you doing, toiling and suffering, cutting off grain and giving up flavors and keeping this fast here? What are you seeking? The brahmin said: I hope for great wealth.
The nāga said: I have two names. One is Elāpattra, the other is Insatiable-for-Wealth. Since I am named Insatiable, would you seek wealth from me? The brahmin said: if it is not granted, I shall die at once.
The nāga brought out fine purple-gold and gave it to him: at the city gate there is a wealthy elder who has come from India; give him the gold and ask him for goods. The elder saw it and said: hide it away and let no one see it. He told his five kinsmen, and they feasted and made merry and stored the gold in his treasury — and everything else in the treasury sank into the earth and went back to that nāga’s treasury. And it was the same with the property of seven households round about.
The three householders heard of it and said to one another: we three households have obtained our wealth by the Dharma, and so it has not been wrongfully seized from us by the five claimants. The people of the country, hearing this, took it for boasting, and gathered together at the three houses and asked the householders: you say you obtained your wealth by the Dharma and so it is not wrongfully lost. What is the proof of it?
Then the three householders each brought out ten catties of gold and divided it into six portions, and, taking the people and the owners of the seven households’ lost property with them, went to the nāga’s spring and threw the gold into the water. The water all boiled up as though in a cauldron, and the nāga king was terrified and at once sent a nāga maiden out with the gold to give it back, and thanked them and sent them away.
What is obtained by the Dharma is accomplished by principle and is never encroached on by the five claimants; and those who deceitfully store up wealth against the Dharma are as those seven households were (Source: Sūtra Comparing the Profits of the World).
The nāga Elāpattra appears here as the owner of an underground treasury that reclaims what is given out of it, and he tells the brahmin his own second name before handing over the gold: I am also called Insatiable-for-Wealth. The warning is explicit and the brahmin takes the gold anyway; the elder who receives it hides it, celebrates, and locks it in his treasury, and everything already in that treasury sinks through the floor and goes back to the nāga — along with the contents of seven neighbouring households.
The proof the three brothers offer is a public one. They bring out thirty catties of gold between them, take the crowd and the seven ruined households along to the nāga's spring, and throw the gold into the water; the water boils, the nāga sends a maiden out with the gold and returns it. The doctrine behind it is the standard list of the five claimants on wealth — king, thieves, fire, water, and ungrateful heirs — and the claim is that wealth obtained lawfully is outside their reach.
This same Elāpattra hoard appears in fascicle 35's closing entry, where the Buddha measures Anāthapiṇḍada's seven sons' merit against it and finds the merit greater by numberless times.
5. The Householder's Son Great-Intention Seeks the Bright-Moon Pearls
Four cities of silver, gold, crystal, and lapis, each ringed by a venomous snake and each holding a bright-moon pearl. Then the sea-spirit takes all four, and is told that the sea will be bailed dry.
昔有國。名歡樂無憂。王號廣慈哀。國有居士。名摩訶檀。妻名旃陀。生一子。姿容端正世間少雙。墮地便語。發誓願言。我當布施天下救濟人民其有孤獨貧窮者。我當給護令得安隱。父母因名為大意。見其異姿不與人同。恐是天龍鬼神。欲行卜問。大意知之。便報言。我自是人非天龍鬼神也。但念天下人民窮厄者。欲護視之耳。說此意。便不復語。至年十七乃報父母言。我欲布施苦人令得安隱。父母念言。子初生時已有是願。便告子言。吾財無數恣意施與不相禁制。大意報言。父母財物雖多猶不足我用。唯當入海採寶以給施天下人民耳。數言如是。父母乃聽。大意入海道經他國。國中有婆羅門。財富無量。見大意光顏端正。甚悅樂之告言。我相敬重。今有小女欲以相上。願留止此。大意報言。我辭家入海欲採七寶。未敢相許。且須來還。於是遂進採寶。即遣人持寶還其本國。轉復到海際求索異物。忽見一大樹。高廣八十由延。大意便上樹遙見一銀城。宮闕殿舍皆是白銀。天女侍側伎樂自然。有一毒蛇繞城三匝。見大意便舉頭大意自念言。人為毒所害者皆由無善意耳。便坐自思惟。須臾蛇即低頭睡臥。大意欲入城。守門者便入白王言。外有賢者欲見於王。王身自出迎之。歡喜而言。唯願仁者留住此。一時三月得展供養。答言我行採寶不宜久留。王報言。我不視國事。唯願留住。大意便止。王即供設衣服飲食伎樂。床臥之具。乃竟九十日。大意辭王欲去。王便取珍琦七寶欲以送之。大意言。我不多用是七寶。聞王有一明月珠。意欲求之。王言。我不惜是珠。但恐道路艱嶮難以自隨。大意言。夫福之將人不畏艱嶮。王言。此珠有二十里寶自隨願。我為弟子得給供養。踰於今日也。大意便受珠而去。於是大意轉前行見一金城。宮闕殿舍皆黃金。七寶之樹自然音樂。天女侍從轉倍於前。亦有毒蛇繞城六匝。蛇見大意舉頭視之。復坐定意。蛇復低臥。大意欲入城。守門者即入白王。王即出與相見請前。語言留。一時三月展於供養。大意便止。王待遇如前。經六十日辭去。白王。聞王有一明月珠。願以見惠。王答如前。四十里中珍寶追之。便以貢上。仁者後得道時。願為弟子。神足無比。得展供養過於今日。受珠而去。大意轉復前行。又見一水精城。宮闕殿舍事事如前。亦有一毒蛇。繞城九匝低頭睡臥。王出迎之。願留三月。大意即住。王復盡意供養。施設飲食衣服伎樂。乃歷四十日辭去。白王。聞王有一明月珠。願以見惠。王便報言。此珠有六十里寶。自然追之。便以上。仁者若後得道。願為弟子。智慧無比。當復供養過於今日。便受珠而去。前行復見一瑠璃城。亦見一毒蛇。繞城十二匝低頭睡臥。王迎請乞留三月。大意即留。王身自供養飲食衣服伎樂以娛之。乃歷二十日辭去。白王。我聞王有一明月珠。可以見惠。王言。此珠有八十里珍寶追之。便以上。於仁者後得道時。願我為弟子。淨意供養過於今日。令長得智慧。大意受珠而去。念言。吾本來求寶。今已如志當從是還。便尋故道欲還本國。經歷大海中。諸神王因共議言。我海中雖多眾珍名寶。無有如此輩珠。便勅使海神要奪其珠。神便化作人與大意相見。問言。聞卿得奇異之物。寧可借視之乎。大意舒手示其四珠。海神便搖其手使珠墮水。大意自念。王與我言道。此珠難保我幸已得之。今為此子所奪非趣也。即謂海神言。我自勤苦經涉嶮岨得此珠來。汝反奪我。今不相還。我當抒盡海水耳海神知之問言。卿志奇高。海深三百三十六萬由延。其廣無涯。奈何竭之。如日終不墮地。如大風不可攬束。日尚可使墮地。風尚可攬束。大海水不可抒令竭也。大意笑答之言。我自念。前後受身生死壞敗。積骨過於須彌山。其血流五河。四海未足以喻。吾尚欲斷是生死之根本。但此小海何足不抒。我昔供養諸佛誓願言。令我志行勇於道決所向無難。當移須彌山竭大海水終不退。意便一心以器抒海水。精誠之感。四天王來助大意。抒水三分已二。於是海中諸神王。皆大振怖共議言。今不還其珠者非小故也。水盡泥出壞我宮室。海神便出眾寶以與大意。大意不取。告言。不用是輩。但欲得我珠耳。從還我珠終不相置也。海神知其意盛便出珠還之。大意得珠過娶婆羅門女。還其本國恣意大布施。自是以後境界無復飢寒窮乏者。四方士民皆去其舊上。繈負歸仁。如是布施歷載恩逮。蜎飛蚑行蠕動靡不受潤。其後壽終上為帝釋。或下為飛行皇帝。積累功德自致成佛。三界特尊皆由宿行。非自然也。佛告諸比丘。大意者我身是。時居士摩訶檀者今現悅頭檀是。時母旃陀者今現夫人摩耶是。時歡樂無憂國王者即摩訶迦葉是。時婆羅門女者裘夷是。時女父者彌勒是。時銀城中王者阿難是。時金城中王者目揵連是。時水精城中王者舍利弗是。時瑠璃城中王者須陀是也。時第四天王助大意抒海水者即優陀是也。時奪其珠者即調達是也。時四城門守者即須颰磐特蘇曷披拘留是。時繞四城毒蛇者即是共剎酸陀利四臣是也。阿難白佛。以何功德致四明月珠眾寶隨之。佛言。乃昔維衛佛時。大意甞以四寶為佛起塔。供養三尊持齋七日。是時有五百人。同時共起寺。或懸繒然燈者。或燒香散華者。或供養比丘僧者。或誦經講道者。今皆來會(出大意經)。
Long ago there was a kingdom named Joyful-and-Sorrowless whose king was called Broadly-Compassionate. In that kingdom there was a householder named Mahādāna whose wife was named Candā; and they bore a son of a form and countenance almost without equal in the world, who spoke as soon as he touched the ground and made this vow: I shall give to the whole world and save the people; and whoever is orphaned, alone, poor, or destitute, I shall provide for and protect and bring to peace. His parents therefore named him Great-Intention.
Seeing his extraordinary appearance, unlike other people’s, and fearing that he might be a god, a nāga, a ghost, or a spirit, they wished to consult a diviner. Great-Intention knew it and told them: I am myself a human and no god, nāga, ghost, or spirit. It is only that I think of the destitute and hard-pressed people of the world and wish to watch over them. Having said this he did not speak again.
At seventeen he told his parents: I wish to give to those in suffering and bring them peace. His parents thought: at his birth he already had this vow — and they told their son: my wealth is beyond number; give it as you please and I shall not restrain you.
Great-Intention answered: though my father and mother’s goods are many, they are still not enough for my use. I must go to sea and gather treasure, so as to give to the people of the whole world. He said this several times, and his parents then allowed it.
Great-Intention went to sea, and on the way passed through another country in which there was a brahmin of measureless wealth, who, seeing Great-Intention’s radiant and handsome face, was greatly pleased with him and said: I hold you in respect, and I have a young daughter whom I would offer to you; I ask you to stay here. Great-Intention answered: I have left my home and gone to sea to gather the seven treasures, and I dare not yet consent; wait until I come back.
So he went on and gathered treasure, and sent men to carry it back to his own country. Then he went on again to the shore of the sea seeking rare things, and suddenly saw a great tree eighty yojanas high and broad. Great-Intention climbed the tree and saw from afar a silver city, its towers, halls, and buildings all of white silver, with heavenly maidens attending and music sounding of itself; and a venomous snake was coiled three times around the city.
Seeing Great-Intention, it raised its head. Great-Intention thought to himself: those whom poison harms are harmed only because they have no good intention. And he sat down and reflected; and in a moment the snake lowered its head and lay down asleep.
Great-Intention wished to enter the city, and the gatekeeper went in and said to the king: there is a worthy man outside who wishes to see the king. The king came out himself to receive him and said in delight: I ask you, sir, to stay here for a season of three months, that I may set out offerings for you. He answered: I am travelling to gather treasure and ought not to stay long. The king answered: I shall not attend to the affairs of the kingdom; I ask only that you stay. So Great-Intention stayed, and the king set out clothing, food and drink, music, and bedding for him for ninety days.
Great-Intention took his leave of the king and wished to go, and the king brought out rare treasures of the seven kinds to send with him. Great-Intention said: I have not much use for these seven treasures. I have heard that the king has a bright-moon pearl, and I should like to ask for it. The king said: I do not begrudge this pearl, but I fear the road is hard and dangerous and it will be difficult to carry with you. Great-Intention said: when merit attends a man he does not fear hardship and danger. The king said: this pearl has twenty li of treasure that follows it of itself. My wish is to be your disciple and to be allowed to provide for you, more than I do today. Great-Intention then took the pearl and went.
Then Great-Intention went on further and saw a golden city, its towers, halls, and buildings all of yellow gold, with trees of the seven treasures and music of itself, and heavenly maidens in attendance twice as many as before; and there was a venomous snake too, coiled six times around the city. The snake saw Great-Intention and raised its head and looked at him; and again he sat and steadied his mind, and the snake lay down again.
Great-Intention wished to enter the city, and the gatekeeper went in and told the king, and the king came out and met him and invited him in and asked him to stay a season of three months for the offerings. Great-Intention stayed, and the king treated him as before; and after sixty days he took his leave and said to the king: I hear the king has a bright-moon pearl, and I ask that it be granted me. The king answered as the other had: forty li of treasure follows it. And he presented it: when the worthy one attains the path, may I be his disciple, unmatched in the powers of transformation, and be allowed to provide for him more than today. And he took the pearl and went.
Great-Intention went on further and saw a crystal city, its towers, halls, and buildings all as before; and there was a venomous snake too, coiled nine times around the city, which lowered its head and slept. The king came out to meet him and asked him to stay three months, and Great-Intention stayed, and the king again provided for him with all his heart, setting out food and drink, clothing, and music. After forty days he took his leave and said to the king: I hear the king has a bright-moon pearl, and I ask that it be granted me. The king then answered: this pearl has sixty li of treasure that follows it of itself. And he presented it: if the worthy one attains the path hereafter, may I be his disciple, unmatched in wisdom, and provide for him again more than today. And he took the pearl and went.
Going on he saw a lapis city, and there was a venomous snake too, coiled twelve times around the city, which lowered its head and slept. The king received him and asked him to stay three months, and Great-Intention stayed, and the king himself provided him with food and drink, clothing, and music for his pleasure. After twenty days he took his leave and said to the king: I have heard the king has a bright-moon pearl and it might be granted me. The king said: this pearl has eighty li of treasure that follows it. And he presented it: when the worthy one attains the path, may I be his disciple, providing for him with a pure mind more than today, and may I long have wisdom. And Great-Intention took the pearl and went.
He thought: I came originally to seek treasure, and now I have what I intended and should go back from here. And he followed the old road, meaning to return to his own country.
Passing through the great sea, the divine kings there conferred together: though there are many rare and famous treasures in our sea, there is nothing like these pearls. And they ordered the sea-spirit to take the pearls from him. The spirit transformed himself into a man and met Great-Intention and asked him: I hear you have obtained rare and extraordinary things; might I borrow a look at them? Great-Intention opened his hand and showed him the four pearls, and the sea-spirit shook his hand and made the pearls fall into the water.
Great-Intention thought to himself: the kings told me that these pearls were hard to keep, and I was fortunate to have obtained them, and now they are taken by this fellow — this is not the way of things. And he said to the sea-spirit: I toiled and suffered myself and passed through danger and difficulty to get these pearls, and you have taken them from me instead. If you do not give them back now, I shall bail out the whole sea.
The sea-spirit knew his mind and asked: your resolve is extraordinarily high. The sea is three million three hundred and sixty thousand yojanas deep and its breadth has no shore. How will you drain it? As the sun will never fall to the ground, as the great wind cannot be gathered and bound — the sun may sooner be made to fall to the ground and the wind sooner be gathered and bound than the water of the great sea be bailed dry.
Great-Intention laughed and answered him: I consider that in the bodies I have received before and after, in birth and in decay and death, the bones I have piled up exceed Mount Sumeru, and the blood I have shed flows more than the five rivers, and the four seas are not enough to be compared to it. I still mean to cut off the root of that birth and death; how then should this small sea not be bailed out? In the past I made offerings to the buddhas and vowed: let my resolve and practice be brave in the way and decided, and let nothing I turn to be difficult; I shall move Mount Sumeru and drain the great sea, and shall never draw back.
And with a single mind he bailed the sea with a vessel; and moved by his sincerity the Four Heavenly Kings came and helped Great-Intention, and two thirds of the water was bailed out.
At this the divine kings of the sea were all greatly alarmed and conferred: if we do not now give back his pearl, it is no small matter. When the water is gone the mud will show and our palaces will be ruined. The sea-spirit then brought out treasures of every kind and gave them to Great-Intention, and Great-Intention would not take them, and told him: I have no use for these things; I want only my pearls. Give me back my pearls, and I shall never let you be.
The sea-spirit, knowing that his intent was strong, brought out the pearls and returned them.
Great-Intention, having got the pearls, went and married the brahmin’s daughter and came back to his own country and gave freely as he wished; and from then on there was no one within his borders hungry, cold, or destitute, and the gentlemen and people of the four directions all left their old homes and came to him, carrying their children on their backs, drawn to his humanity.
He gave in this way for years and his kindness reached everything; and what flies, what crawls, what creeps and moves — there was nothing that did not receive its moisture. Afterward, when his life ended, he was Śakra above, or below a flying wheel-turning emperor, and by accumulating merit he came of himself to buddhahood, the one honored in the three realms — all of it by former conduct, and not of itself.
The Buddha told the monks: Great-Intention is myself. The householder Mahādāna of that time is now Śuddhodana; the mother Candā of that time is now Lady Māyā; the king of the kingdom Joyful-and-Sorrowless is Mahākāśyapa; the brahmin’s daughter is Gopī; the girl’s father is Maitreya; the king in the silver city is Ānanda; the king in the golden city is Maudgalyāyana; the king in the crystal city is Śāriputra; the king in the lapis city is Xūtuó; the fourth heavenly king who helped Great-Intention bail the sea is Yōutuó; the one who took his pearls is Devadatta; the four gatekeepers of the four cities are Xūbá, Panthaka, Sūhé, and Pījūliú; and the venomous snakes coiled about the four cities are the four ministers Gòngchà, Suāntuólì, and the rest.
Ānanda said to the Buddha: by what merit did he obtain the four bright-moon pearls with treasures following them? The Buddha said: long ago, in the time of the Buddha Vipaśyin, Great-Intention once raised a stūpa for the Buddha out of the four treasures, made offerings to the Three Honored Ones, and kept the fast for seven days. At that time five hundred people together raised a monastery — some hanging silk and lighting lamps, some burning incense and scattering flowers, some making offerings to the community of monks, some reciting sūtras and expounding the path — and they have all now come to this assembly (Source: Sūtra of Great-Intention).
The longest entry in this short fascicle and one of the more finely built narratives in the compendium. The four cities are a graded sequence in every respect — silver, gold, crystal, lapis; snakes coiled three, six, nine, and twelve times; pearls drawing twenty, forty, sixty, and eighty li of treasure — while the length of each visit runs the other way, ninety days, sixty, forty, twenty. And each king asks the same thing in payment: to be his disciple when he attains the path.
Note how the snakes are dealt with. Great-Intention does not fight or charm them; he sits down and reflects that poison harms only those who have no good intention, and each snake lowers its head and sleeps. The same method is used four times and is never elaborated.
The exchange with the sea-spirit is the heart of the piece. The spirit's argument is one of scale — the sea is three million three hundred and sixty thousand yojanas deep and its breadth has no shore, and the sun will fall to earth before it is bailed dry. Great-Intention's answer does not dispute the arithmetic; it changes the unit. The bones of his own past bodies exceed Sumeru, the blood he has shed exceeds the five rivers and the four seas together, and he intends to end that; against which, he says, this small sea is nothing. The Four Heavenly Kings then come and help, and it is the sea-spirits who give way at two-thirds.
The identifications at the close are unusually extensive — twelve named figures plus four gatekeepers and the snakes — and several of the names have no confident Sanskrit correspondence; we give those in pinyin. This closes fascicle 42.