Taming the Drunken Elephant

Buddhacarita, Chapter Twenty-One: Taming the Drunken Elephant

Having taught and transformed his own mother, and the many gods besides, in the heavens above, the Buddha returned once more to wander among human beings, teaching and transforming them according to whatever causes and conditions arose.

Jyotiṣka, Jīvaka, Śūra, Śroṇa, the merchant's son Aṅgaja, Prince Abhaya, Nyagrodha and his kin, Śrīgupta, and the Nirgrantha follower Upāli — every one of these he brought to liberation.

The king of Gandhāra, named Puṣkarasārin, hearing him teach this subtle and wondrous Dharma, cast aside his own kingdom and went forth from home.

The demon Hemavata, and Pārvatīya as well, were subdued and received his teaching upon Mount Vipula.

To the brahmin Pārāyaṇa, in the midst of Mount Pāṣāṇa, he expounded a single half-verse of subtle meaning, and subdued him, bringing him to true faith and delight.

In the village of Dhanamati there dwelt Kūṭadanta, foremost among the twice-born there, who practiced great sacrificial rites involving the killing of many living beings; the Tathāgata, through his own skillful means, taught and transformed him, bringing him onto the true path.

Upon Mount Videha, a heavenly spirit of great awe-inspiring power, named Pañcaśikha, received the Dharma and became fixed in his resolve upon it.

In the village of Viṣṇuṣṭha, he converted the mother of Nanda.

At the city of Aṅgapurī, he subdued powerful spirits — Pūrṇabhadra, Śroṇadaṇḍa, and a fierce and mighty dragon-king. The king of that country, together with his whole harem, all received the true Dharma. And, opening thereby the very gate of immortality, in the village of the dwarfs, Keśin and Śilava, who sought only the pleasures of rebirth in heaven, were converted and brought onto the true path.

Aṅgulimāla, in the village of Sumbha, was subdued the moment the Buddha manifested his own spiritual power before him, and converted at once.

There was a great elder's son, Bhūrijīvaka, immensely wealthy and possessed of great riches, much like Pūrṇabhadra; he too, before the Tathāgata, received his teaching and went on to give generously and widely.

In the village of Bhadrika, he converted the two spirit-brothers Bhadrika and Bhadraka.

At Videha-Puri there lived two brahmins, one named Dīrghāyus and the other Brahmāyus; through debate and discourse he subdued them both, bringing them onto the true Dharma.

Arriving at the city of Vaiśālī, he converted the rākṣasa demons there, together with the Licchavi lion-lord and the whole assembly of the Licchavis, and the Nirgrantha follower Saccaka — bringing every one of them onto the true Dharma.

At Āmrakalpa there dwelt the spirits Bhadra, Bhadraka, and Bhadrakalpa; and going further, to Mount Āḷavī, he delivered the spirit Āḷavaka, and two others, Kumāra and Hastaka.

Returning then to Mount Gayā, he delivered the spirit Gaṅgā there.

And also the sharp-haired yakṣa, together with his sister's own son.

And going on to Vārāṇasī, he converted Kātyāyana there.

He then traveled by his own spiritual power to Suluvapura, converting the merchants there, including Tapussa and Bhalluka, and received the offer of a sandalwood hall from them, whose fine fragrance is remembered even to this day.

Arriving at Mahiṣmatī, he delivered the sage Kapila; and there the great sage set his own foot upon a stone, leaving the very mark of the thousand-spoked twin wheels upon it, a mark that has never once faded away since.

Arriving at Vāraṇā, he converted the spirit Vāraṇa there.

Arriving at the country of Mathurā, he delivered the spirit Gardabha.

At Toraṇakuṭṭha, he delivered Rāṣṭrapāla.

Arriving at the village of Verañjā, he converted the brahmins there.

In the village of Kālāmāṣaka, he delivered Sabhiya and Sabhika, and there too converted Agnideva-Bhiśa.

Returning again to the kingdom of Śrāvastī, he delivered Gautama there, and Jyotiṣṇa, Śroṇa, and Ātreya.

Returning to the country of Kosala, he delivered the very teacher of the heterodox path, Puṣkarasārin's own son, and the whole assembly of brahmins with him.

Arriving at Sitavika, a place of quiet solitude, he delivered the heterodox sages there, bringing them onto the path of the buddha-sages.

Arriving at the country of Ayodhyā, he delivered the spirits and dragons there.

Arriving at the country of Śibi, he delivered two evil dragon-kings, one named Kumbhīra and the other Kālaka.

And going on further to the country of Bhagga, he converted the yakṣa demon there, named Vessāmitta, and the parents of Nakula, together with a great elder, bringing them all to faith and delight in the true Dharma.

Arriving at the country of Kauśāmbī, he converted Ghoṣila, and the two upāsikās Prajāpatī and Uttarā, along with their many companion upāsikās, delivering them one after another in turn.

Arriving at the country of Gandhāra, he delivered the dragon Apalāla.

In this way, one after another, whether moving through the air or dwelling in water or on land, he went to every one of them and brought about their liberation, like the sun shining into every hidden darkness.

At that time Devadatta, seeing the Buddha's own surpassing virtue, harbored a jealousy deep within his heart, and, because of it, lost every meditative absorption he had once attained.

He devised every kind of evil scheme to destroy the true Dharma and the saṅgha, climbing Vulture Peak to hurl a boulder down at the Buddha; the boulder split into two pieces as it fell, landing on either side of the Buddha without touching him at all.

Then, on the king's own broad and level road, he released a wild and drunken, savage elephant; it bellowed like crashing thunder, its raging fury rising like a gathering storm-cloud, and it rampaged wildly, crashing along swift as a violent wind, so that whatever its trunk, tusks, tail, or four feet struck was left utterly crushed.

Through the streets and alleys of Rājagṛha it left a trail of carnage, killing and wounding people everywhere; corpses lay strewn across the roads, marrow, brains, and blood flowing together in the wreckage.

Every man and woman in the city, seized with terror, dared not leave their own doors; the whole city trembled in fright, hearing only cries of alarm on every side — some fled the city running in panic, others hid themselves away in cellars and dens.

The Tathāgata, together with his five hundred followers, entered the city just as this was happening; and the people at the windows of the high towers called out to the Buddha, begging him not to go any further.

Yet the Tathāgata's own heart remained entirely at peace, his countenance showing not the slightest trace of fear, his thoughts turned only to the suffering that greed and jealousy bring, wishing, with a heart of loving-kindness, to bring peace to all.

Escorted by gods and dragons gathering around him, he made his way gradually toward where the raging elephant was; every one of the monks fled in fear, save only Ānanda, who remained at his side.

Just as every dharma, however varied its outward appearance, shares one and the same unchanging underlying nature, so too did the drunken elephant, raging in its wild fury, come suddenly to its senses the very moment it beheld the Buddha.

It threw its whole body down to bow at the Buddha's feet, falling like a great mountain collapsing; and the Buddha, with his lotus-like hand, stroked its very forehead, like the sun breaking through a bank of dark cloud.

Kneeling prostrate at the Buddha's feet, the elephant listened as he taught it the Dharma: "An elephant ought never to harm a great nāga — for an elephant, in battle against a nāga, could never truly win.

Should an elephant seek to harm a great nāga, it will never, in the end, be reborn in any good destiny.

Greed, hatred, and delusion are themselves an intoxication most difficult to subdue — yet the Buddha has already subdued them entirely; and so, you too, this very day, ought to cast aside greed, hatred, and delusion, for one who is already sunk in the mire of suffering only sinks deeper still by failing to let go of them."

Hearing the Buddha's teaching, the elephant's own intoxication dissolved, and understanding arose at once in its heart; its body and mind found true peace and ease, like a thirsty creature finally given the very dew of immortality to drink.

Once the elephant had received the Buddha's own transformation, the people of the whole kingdom rejoiced together, praising this wonder with one voice and making every kind of offering in celebration.

Those of lesser faith turned to moderate faith, and those of moderate faith advanced further still; those who had not yet believed now gave rise to faith, and those who already believed found their faith made firmer still.

King Ajātaśatru, seeing the Buddha subdue the drunken elephant in this way, was struck with wonder, his joy and reverence both deepening at once.

The Tathāgata, through his own excellent skillful means, manifested every kind of spiritual power, subduing sentient beings and bringing them, each according to his own capacity, onto the true Dharma, until the whole kingdom took up virtuous conduct, as though its people had returned to the very beginning of the world's first age.

As for Devadatta, his own evil deeds bound him fast in their own snare — he who had once possessed the spiritual power to fly through the air now fell instead into the very depths of the Avīci hell.