Nagasena Bhiksu Sutra English Translation PDF

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The Nngasena Bhik™u SÊtra An Annotated Translation from the Chinese Version GUANG XING Table of Contents Abbreviation 116 I. Introduction 117 1. Nngasena’s Previous Life as an elephant-king / 117 2. The Attendance of Elephant-king to the SÊtra-recitation / 118 3. Relation Between Nngasena and Menand...

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The Nngasena Bhik™u SÊtra

An Annotated Translation from the Chinese Version GUANG XING

Table of Contents Introduction

116 117

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Nngasena’s Previous Life as an elephant-king / 117 The Attendance of Elephant-king to the SÊtra-recitation / 118 Relation Between Nngasena and Menander in Their Previous Lives / 119 The Births of Nngasena and Menander According to Their Vows in Previous Lives / 119 Nngasena's Going Forth / 120 Nngasena's Attainment of Arahathood / 123 Nngasena's Preaching Activities / 123 King Menander's Learning / 124 Description of Se-jian (Sagala) / 124 Discussion Between Ye-he-luo and King Menander / 125 Nngasena's Learning in Dharma / 126 Menander's Invitation to Nngasena / 127

II.

Dialogue

128

I.

1. 2. 3. 4.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Abbreviation

The Person and His Name / 128 Methods of Discussion / 130 Nngasena’s Wit in Answering Questions / 131 Dialogue Between Zhan-mi-li, Wang-qun and Nngasena / 132 Aim of Spiritual Life / 133 Spiritual Qualities Necessary for Transcending Rebirth / 134 On Soul / 141 Knowledge of One Who Has Spiritual Attainments / 142 Wisdom of Arahat and That of Ordinary People / 143 The Bodily Pain of an Emancipated One / 145 Different Kinds of Feelings / 146 What is Reborn? / 148 Will Nngasena be Reborn? / 152 113

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14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55.

On the Rebirth of Name and Form / 152 Question on Time / 152 The Essence of Past, Present and Future Dharmas / 153 The Endlessness of Birth and Death / 155 The Origination of Things / 157 Is There a Soul? / 159 Visual Consciousness and Mental Consciousness / 161 Contact / 163 Feeling / 164 Apperception / 164 Volition / 164 Initial Investigation / 165 Inseparability of Dharmas / 165 Taste of the Salt Known by the Tongue / 166 Spheres of Perception / 166 Difference of Men Due to Karmas / 166 Doing Good to Obtain Subsequent Benefits / 167 Hell Fire and Ordinary Fire / 168 Wind Element Supporting Water Element / 170 On NirvnØa / 170 Spiritual Practitioners’ Attainment of NirvnØa / 171 On NirvnØa as Happiness / 171 Existence of the Buddha / 171 Incomparability of the Buddha / 172 On How to Know the Buddha's Incomparability / 173 The Difference Between Rebirth and Reincarnation / 173 On Good and Bad Actions / 174 On Whereabouts of Good and Bad Deeds / 174 Knowledge of Rebirth / 175 The Buddha’s Whereabouts After ParinirvnØa / 175 The Function of a ÌramaØa’s body / 175 The Thirty-two Marks of the Blessed One / 176 Relation Between the Buddha and Brahman / 177 The Buddha’s Teacher / 177 Two Kinds of Tears / 178 The Emancipated Versus the Non-emancipated / 178 Memory and Mind / 178 The Sixteen Ways of Memory / 179 The Buddha’s Omniscience / 181 The Power of Single Mindfulness of the Buddha / 182 Aim of ÌramaØahood / 182 An Arahat’s Ability of Travel / 183 114

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56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67.

Duration of Taking Rebirth / 183 Seven Kinds of Wisdom / 184 Merit and Demerit / 185 Doing Evil Knowingly and Unknowingly / 185 The Supernormal Power of Arahats / 186 On the Very Long Bone / 186 On Stopping to Breath / 186 On the Ocean / 187 Power of Wisdom / 187 No Soul in the Physical Body / 187 The Infinity of the Buddha's Knowledge / 188 Concluding Section / 189 Acknowledgement Notes

190 191

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Abbreviation A BEFEO DCBT Demieville DPPN GBI KIK IB NBS NBS-A NBS-B NBS-C MA Miln Miln-S Miln-T M MNBS MQ PED PTS QKM RMP S SA Sn T

Aœguttaraniknya Bulletin de l'Ecole Francaise de l'Extreme Orient A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms (ed. W.E. Soothill and L.Hodous) Les versions chinoises du Milindapaxha (P. Demieville) Dictionary of Pali Proper Names (G.P. Malalasekera) The Greeks in Bactria and India (W.W. Tarn) Kokuyaku Issai Kyo (Japanese Translation of the Chinese Tripi‚aka) Indian Buddhism, a survey with bibliographical notes (H. Nakamura) Nngasena Bhik™u SÊtra Version A of Nngasena Bhik™u SÊtra Version B of Nngasena Bhik™u SÊtra Version C of Nngasena Bhik™u SÊtra Majjhimaniknya Ahakathn Milindapaxha (ed. V. Trenchner) Milindapaxha, Siamese edition Milindapaxha ˖kn (ed. P. Jaini) Majjhimaniknya Milindapaxha and Nngasena Bhik™u SÊtra (Thich Minh Chau) Milinda's Question (tr. by I.B. Horner) Pali English Dictionary (PTS) Pali Text Society, London Question of King Milinda (tr. by Rhys Davids) On the Recessions of Milindapaxha (Kogen Mizuno) Sa—yuttaniknya Sa—yuktngama Suttanipnta Taisho Edition of the Chinese Tripiaka (ed. Takakusu and Watanabe)

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Nngasena Bhik™u SÊtra1 (No. 1670 (b) in the Taisho Tripi‚aka) The translator’s name is lost and it is included in the list of the Catalogue of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420 CE)2

Chapter One I Introduction3 The Buddha4 (once) dwelt at Ìrnvast–, in the grove of Jeta, in the gardens of Annthapiؘika. At that time all the bhik™u-saœgha, bhik™un–-saœgha, upnsakas, upnsikns, all the kings of heaven, great ministers, weathy men and ordinary people, and also those who pursue the (heretic) views of ninety six doctrines,5 the total number amounting to more than 10,000, came daily to the Buddha to hear his religious discourses. It occurred to the Buddha: “The assembly of men here is becoming greater from day to day, and my body cannot be at ease.” The Buddha wished to forsake the assembly of men and retire to a solitary place, where he could sit down, contemplate, and meditate on the Path. The Buddha then deserted the assembly of men, and entered a mountain called Jiao-luo6 forest. These trees were imbued with spirits;7 and the Buddha seated himself at the foot of one of the trees and was meditating on the path of purity.

1. Nngasena Previous Life as an Elephant-king

Not far from the forest, there was a group of elephants to the number of more than 500. Among them there was an elephant-king that was wise and good, and was able to judge what is good or bad; his manners resembling those of men. All the elephants used to surround the king; among them there were males and females, long-toothed, middle-size-toothed, and small-toothed.8 Whenever the elephant-king, being thirsty, wished to go and drink water, all the smaller elephants ran before the king and entered the water to drink. After that, they would play in the water, running about, stirring it up, or fish in the water, and make it turbid and impure. As a result, the king could not have any pure water to drink. Whenever the king was hungry and wanted to go and eat 117

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grass, all the small elephants used to run before him and eat all the beautiful grass before sporting around, running about, jumping, and treading on the grass until the king himself would not have any fresh grass to eat at all. The elephant-king thereupon thought to himself, “My companions are too numerous, and they are troublesome. I regret that all the elephants and their young ones stir up water (before I drink), making it turbid, or eat grass before me, making it impure (by treading on) and I have always to drink impure water and eat trodden grass. What if I were to abandon all the elephants and retire to a quiet place where I can be happy?” Thereupon the elephant-king abandoned the assembly, went to the mountains, and came upon the Jiao-luo forest. (Thus happened to be the place where the Buddha was) he saw the Buddha there, sitting at the foot of a tree. Then greatly rejoicing in his heart, the elephant-king came before the Buddha, bowed, knelt down, and worshipped him, and then retired to one side and remained there. The Buddha then thought to himself: “I have abandoned my companions and have come here in the forest. The elephant-king has also forsaken his retinue and come here to the same place.” (704a)9 Thus, we have come here for exactly the same purpose.” The Buddha then gave a religious discourse for the sake of the elephant-king, and said, “A Buddha is the most honoured among men, and the elephant-king is the most honoured among the elephants.” Further: “My intention10 is similar to that of (yours) the elephant-king; I shall be happy being together with the elephant-king in the forest.” When the elephant-king heard the religious discourse, his mind was enlightened and he understood what the Buddha taught. Then he wandered about at the place where the Buddha was.11 He drew water with his trunk and watered the ground, then he plucked some grass with his nose and swept the place, and he made the ground flat by treading on it. The elephant-king served the Buddha in this way from morning till evening everyday.12

2. The Attendance of Elephant-king to the SÊtra-recitation

Sometime afterwards the Buddha took the quiet path of nirvnØa13 and disappeared. The elephant-king did not know where the Buddha was and therefore he wandered about to look for the Buddha, but without success. Thereupon he wept, cried, and was full of sorrow, unable to enjoy anything; he did not even eat or drink. 118

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At that time there was a Buddhist monastery on a mountain in that country. It was called Jia-luo-huan, 14 and in it lived five hundred ‰ramaØas, who were all arhats. They used to recite sÊtras throughout the night on the six fast-days each month.15 The elephant-king was also on the mountain, near the monastery.16 He noticed that there was a recitation of sÊtras on the six fast-days, and came to the monastery every fast-day in order to hear sÊtra recitation. All the ‰ramaØas knew that the elephant-king was glad to hear the recitation, and waited each time till he arrived before start. While hearing the recitation of sÊtra he would neither sleep nor lie down, neither move nor sway the whole night.

3. Relation between Nngasena and Menander in Their Previous Lives As the elephant-king had often heard the exposition of the sÊtras and had served the Buddha, when his long life as an elephant-king had come to an end, later he was born as a man. He was born in a Brahmin family, he did not hear of the Buddha or of the sÊtras, nor did he see any ‰ramaØa. Thus, he left his family, went into the deep forest of a mountain and learning the path of brahman. There was another hermit Brahman living in the same forest and the two visited each other and made each other acquaintance.

One of the two thought to himself, “I am disgusted with the human life, with the district magistrate,17 with the conditions of sorrow, suffering, old age, sickness and death; after death we are to fall into hell, or to become a hungry spirit (preta), or an animal, or to live a poor and miserable life when born as a man. Therefore I will shave my hair and beard, and become a ‰ramaØa, wearing a ka™nya (yellow robe), and seek after the quiet path (nirvnØa), which is the means of saving the world.”18 The other Brahman also thought to himself, “I wish to be a sovereign, possessed with might and power, and let all the people under heaven follow me and obey my commands and instructions.”

4. The Births of Nngasena and Menander According to Their Vows in Previous Lives

Some time after they both made these vows, they died and were reborn in the world as men. The one who wished to become a sovereign in his former life was born as a crown-prince to a king in a land bordering a sea. His parents19 named him “Milan”.20 The other, who wished to 119

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pursue the quiet path of nirvnØa,21 which is (the means of) saving the world, was born in Tian-zhu (Siœdhu, the name for India), in the district of Ji-bin (Kashmir).22 His parents named him “Tuo-lie”.23 He was born wearing a ka™nya24 (yellow robe), in consequence of his vow made in his former life.25 In his household, (704b) there was an elephant-king born on the same day as him. [As elephant was called na (for naga) in Tian-zhu],26 the parents again named their son “Naxian”.27

5. Nngasena’s Going Forth

Nngasena grew up and reached 14 or 15 years of age. He had a parental uncle named Louhan28 who was a ‰ramaØa and possessed exceptional abilities that were unequalled anywhere.29 He had the ability of seeing distant things 30 and hearing distant sounds, 31 and also knew from where he came.32 From birth, Louhan could fly, could go out from where there is no slit and enter where there is no gap33 and could become whatever he liked freely without any difficulty. Louhan also knew the mind or the thought of gods in the heaven and that of men on earth including beings which could fly and which could walk.34 Nngasena came to his uncle on his own and told him, “Uncle, it is my intention to follow the Buddha’s Path (the teaching) and I wish to shave my hair and beard, don the ka™nya robe and become a ‰ramaØa. I want to become your disciple. Uncle, would you accept me as a ‰ramaØa?”35 Louhan knew Nngasena’s good deeds in his previous life36 and his wisdom, and hence took pity on him and admitted him into the Order as a novice. Nngasena, at the beginning, became a ‰rnmaØera who observed the ten precepts, recited sÊtras daily, and also learnt and meditated on the dharma. As a result, he attained the four dhynnas and therefore he was able to grasp the essence37 of the (Buddha’s) doctrines. The only thing he lacked was the high ordination he had yet to obtain.38 Now at that time, there was a Buddhist monastery called Hochan39 on a mountain in the country, and in this monastery dwelt five hundred ‰ramaØas who all had attained arhathood. Among them, the leading arhat was called Apoyue40 and knew about things both in heaven and on earth, as well as the past, present and future. Nngasena was twenty years of age at the time, and in order to get the higher ordination to becoming a ‰ramaØa, he went to Hochan monastery where Apoyue lived. Incidentally, it happened to be the full moon day, and all five hundred arhats were sitting in the hall to recite the great ‰ramaØa 120

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precept sÊtra41 (prntimok™a). All great ‰ramaØas entered into the hall, and Nngasena was also among them. When all the ‰ramaØas had sat down (in the hall), Apoyue surveyed the whole assembly and noticed that all ‰ramaØas in the hall were arhats except Nngasena. Thereupon Apoyue gave a discourse on SÊtra of Parables42 and said, “Just like people judging rice, it is considered to be bad rice even if there is one grain of black rice among the white ones.” “Now, all of us are white and pure, only Nngasena is black and has not attained arhathood yet.” On hearing these words of Apoyue, Nngasena was greatly worried, got up (from his seat) and bowed down towards the five hundred ‰ramaØas, and then went out. He thought to himself, “It is not appropriate for me to sit among them, I have not crossed over (the stream of sa—snra), but all others have crossed over. It is like the jackal among the lions. So am I now. From now on, I will not sit among them unless I have attained the path (of arhathood).”43 Knowing 44 the thoughts of Nngasena, Apoyue called him to come forwards and touched his head with his hand saying, “Don’t worry, before long you will attain arhathood.” (704c) So Apoyue asked Nngasena to stay (in the hall).45 Again Nngasena had another teacher named Jiaweiyue46 whose age was over eighty. There was an upnsaka47 in the county who was wise and good and who used to give alms to Jiaweiyue and his disciples daily. One day, Nngasena, taking the bowl, went to collect the alms, but his teacher asked him to fill his mouth with water, then to go to take the alms from the upnsaka’s house. The upnsaka saw the young Nngasena who was handsome and whose behaviour was far above the common people. He had heard of his reputation (earlier) and knew that he was of sharp intelligence and had a distinct ambition as well as the ability of expounding the dharma. The upnsaka upon seeing Nngasena coming into his house, got up and bowed down (to Nngasena) with crossed hands, saying, “I have been offering alms to the ‰ramaØas48 for a long time, and they usually come and preach me the dharma.49 Today I beg you, Venerable Nngasena, please expound the dharma to me and dispel my doubts.” Nngasena, thereupon, thought to himself, “My teacher instructed me not to preach by filling my mouth with water. Now, if I spit out the water to 121

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preach, it would be against my teacher’s instructions. What should I do?” Then Nngasena thought again, “The upnsaka is of intelligence and noble aspiration. If I preach the dharma to him, he might enter the path. Thereupon, Nngasena spat out the water, sat down and gave a talk on the dharma. “If a person takes delights in giving and doing good deeds and also observes moral precepts, he will live happily now and will be reborn in the heavens after death. He will be a man of wisdom, intelligence50 and wealth, and he will be reborn in the human world on descending from heaven. And thereafter, he will not be reborn in hell, in the kingdom of hungry ghosts or in the animal kingdom.51 But if a person does not observe the dharma and precepts, he would suffer now in this world and in the next life, and will fall into the three evil realms52 without any opportunity of getting out.”53 Nngasena knew that having heard the dharma, the upnsaka was delighted in the heart. Therefore he again preached the profound teaching (of the Buddha).54 “Nothing in the world is permanent (anicca), and all will pass away. Therefore, there is suffering (dukkha) when everything passes away or comes to an end. The physical body of man is the same. People in the world agree and say that ‘My body will pass away, but my Self (soul, pudgala) is going to (remain or continue).’55 Therefore they could not attain freedom, the liberated path of nirvnØa. This nirvnØa is the ultimate happiness without birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, grief, and all evils and sufferings are eliminated.”56 After Nngasena had preached the dharma, the upnsaka attained the first stage of the Path which is called the stream winner (srotanpanna), and Nngasena himself too, had attained the Path of srotanpanna. The upnsaka was overjoyed and served Nngasena with excellent and delicious food. Nngasena then told the upnsaka that the teacher’s bowl should be filled with food first. After Nngasena had his meal and washed his mouth and hands, he took his teacher’s bowl and returned to the monastery. His teacher saw the delicious food and said, “Today you have brought good food, you have violated the agreement 57 of our people, and therefore you should be expelled (from the saœgha).”58 Nngasena was 122

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not happy and greatly worried about it. The teacher told Nngasena to meet all the bhik™us of the temple in the assembly. After all bhik™us had assembled (in the hall), his teacher said, “Nngasena has violated our agreement, we should expel him (705a) and ask him not to stay among us.” Apoyue gave a discourse on the SÊtra of Parables59 and said, “It is like a person who has shot two targets with one arrow. Such a person should not be expelled. Nngasena has preached (the dharma) and as a result, he has attained the Path (of srotanpanna) an...