171. （一七一）分别大业经

I have heard thus:

At one time, the Buddha was wandering in the city of Rājagṛha, staying in the Kalandaka Bamboo Grove.

At that time, Venerable Samīti was also wandering in the city of Rājagṛha, staying in the meditation hut of the Unoccupied Forest.

Then, the non-Buddhist teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa wandered about in the middle of the day and went to Venerable Samīti. They exchanged greetings and sat down to one side. "Venerable Samīti, I wish to ask something. May I ask?"

Venerable Samīti replied, "Teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, ask what you wish. I will think about it after hearing it."

The non-Buddhist teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa then asked, "Venerable Samīti, I heard and received from the śramaṇa Gautama face to face that bodily and verbal karma are false, only mental karma is true, and there is a certain concentration where a bhikṣu enters that concentration without any perception."

Venerable Samīti said, "Teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, do not say that. Do not slander the World-Honored One. Slandering the World-Honored One is not good. The World-Honored One did not say that. Teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, the World-Honored One has said in countless ways that if one intentionally creates karma and it is completed, I say that one will definitely experience the result, either in this life or the next. If one does not intentionally create karma and it is completed, I do not say that one will definitely experience the result.

The non-Buddhist teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa spoke to Venerable Samīti again and again, saying, "Venerable Samīti, I heard and received from the śramaṇa Gautama face to face that bodily and verbal karma are false, only mental karma is true, and there is a certain concentration where a bhikṣu enters that concentration without any perception."

Venerable Samīti also spoke to him again and again, saying, "Teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, do not say that. Do not slander the World-Honored One. Slandering the World-Honored One is not good. The World-Honored One did not say that. Teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, the World-Honored One has said in countless ways that if one intentionally creates karma and it is completed, I say that one will definitely experience the result, either in this life or the next. If one does not intentionally create karma and it is completed, I do not say that one will definitely experience the result.

The non-Buddhist teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa asked Venerable Samīti, "If one intentionally creates karma and it is completed, what result will one experience?"

Venerable Samīti replied, "Teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, if one intentionally creates karma and it is completed, one will definitely experience suffering.

The non-Buddhist teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa further asked Venerable Samīti, "Venerable Samīti, how long have you been studying the path in this Dharma and Vinaya?"

Venerable Samīti replied, "Teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, I have been studying the path in this Dharma and Vinaya for only a short time, just three years." Then the non-Buddhist teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa thought, "Even a young monk can protect his teacher, let alone those who have studied for a long time and are of high rank." Then the non-Buddhist teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, having heard what Venerable Samīti said, neither approved nor disapproved. He then rose from his seat, shook his head, and left.

At that time, Venerable Mahācunda was not far from where Venerable Samīti was walking and sitting during the day. Then Venerable Mahācunda recited and memorized everything that Venerable Samīti had discussed with the non-Buddhist teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, and after thoroughly upholding it, he rose from his seat and went to Venerable Ānanda. They exchanged greetings and sat to one side. Venerable Mahācunda told Venerable Ānanda everything that Venerable Samīti had discussed with the non-Buddhist teacher Pūraṇa Kāśyapa.

Venerable Ānanda, having heard it, said, "Venerable Cunda, because of this discussion, you should go see the Buddha and present it to the World-Honored One. Venerable Cunda, now let us go together to see the Buddha and explain this meaning to the World-Honored One. Perhaps we can hear different teachings from the World-Honored One because of this.

Then Venerable Ānanda and Venerable Mahācunda went together to see the Buddha. Venerable Mahācunda bowed his head at the Buddha's feet and sat to one side. Venerable Ānanda bowed his head at the Buddha's feet and stood to one side.

At that time, Venerable Ānanda said, "Venerable Mahācunda, please speak, please speak.

Then the World-Honored One asked, "Ānanda, what does the monk Cunda want to say?"

Venerable Ānanda said, "World-Honored One, you will hear it yourself." Then Venerable Mahācunda told the World-Honored One everything that had been discussed between Venerable Samiddhi and the non-Buddhist Pūraṇa Kāśyapa.

Having heard this, the World-Honored One said, "Ānanda, look at the foolish and unskillful monk Samiddhi. Why? The non-Buddhist Pūraṇa Kāśyapa asked about something indefinite, but the foolish monk Samiddhi gave a one-sided answer.

Venerable Ānanda said, "World-Honored One, if monk Samiddhi speaks about this matter, saying that all that is felt is suffering, what fault is there in that?"

The World-Honored One rebuked Venerable Ānanda, saying, "Look! Venerable Ānanda is also without skill. Ānanda, this foolish monk Samiddhi, when asked by the non-Buddhist Pūraṇa Kāśyapa about the three feelings - pleasant, painful, and neither pleasant nor painful - Ānanda, if the foolish monk Samiddhi were asked by the non-Buddhist Pūraṇa Kāśyapa and answered like this: 'Virtuous Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, if one intentionally creates pleasant karma, having done so, one will experience a pleasant result; if one intentionally creates painful karma, having done so, one will experience a painful result; if one intentionally creates neither pleasant nor painful karma, having done so, one will experience a neither pleasant nor painful result.' Ānanda, if the foolish monk Samiddhi were asked by the non-Buddhist Pūraṇa Kāśyapa and answered like this, the non-Buddhist Pūraṇa Kāśyapa would not even dare to look at the foolish monk Samiddhi, let alone ask such a question. Ānanda, if you ask the Tathāgata to explain the Great Karma Sūtra, you will increase your supreme faith and joy in the Tathāgata even more.

Then Venerable Ānanda, with palms joined towards the Buddha, said, "World-Honored One, now is the time. Well-Gone One, now is the time. If the World-Honored One would explain the Great Karma Sūtra to the monks, the monks, having heard it, will uphold it well.

The World-Honored One said, "Ānanda, listen carefully and keep it in mind. I will explain it to you in detail.

Venerable Ānanda said, "Yes," and the monks listened as instructed.

The Buddha said, "Ānanda, there are some who do not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views. Without giving them up and guarding against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of the heavens. Ānanda, there are some who give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views. Having given them up and guarded against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. Ānanda, there are some who do not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views. Without giving them up and guarding against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. Ānanda, there are some who give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views. Having given them up and guarded against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of the heavens.

Ānanda, if there is someone who does not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of the heavens. If there are śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas who attain the divine eye and accomplish the divine eye, and see them, and having seen them, think: 'There is no bad bodily action, and no retribution for bad bodily action, no bad verbal or mental action, and no retribution for bad verbal or mental action. Why is that? I see that they do not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of the heavens. If there are others like this who do not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, they will all, when their bodies perish and their lives end, also be reborn in the good realms of the heavens.' If they see in this way, it is right view, but if they see otherwise, do they then follow the path of wisdom? If what they see and know is grasped at with all their might, and they insist that this alone is true and the rest is false,

Ānanda, if there is someone who gives up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. If there are śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas who attain the divine eye and accomplish the divine eye, and see them, and having seen them, think: 'There is no good bodily action, and no retribution for good bodily action, no good verbal or mental action, and no retribution for good verbal or mental action. Why is that? I see that they give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. If there are others like this who give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, they will all, when their bodies perish and their lives end, also be reborn in the evil realms of hell.' If they see in this way, it is right view, but if they see otherwise, do they then follow the path of wisdom? If what they see and know is grasped at with all their might, and they insist that this alone is true and the rest is false,

Ānanda, if there is someone who does not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. If there are śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas who attain the divine eye and accomplish the divine eye, and see them, and having seen them, think: 'There is bad bodily action, and retribution for bad bodily action, bad verbal or mental action, and retribution for bad verbal or mental action. Why is that? I see that they do not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. If there are others like this who do not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, they will all, when their bodies perish and their lives end, also be reborn in the evil realms of hell.' If they see in this way, it is right view, but if they see otherwise, do they then follow the path of wisdom? If what they see and know is grasped at with all their might, and they insist that this alone is true and the rest is false,

Ānanda, if there is someone who gives up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of the heavens. If there are śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas who attain the divine eye and accomplish the divine eye, and see them, and having seen them, think: 'There is good bodily action, and retribution for good bodily action, good verbal or mental action, and retribution for good verbal or mental action. Why is that? I see that they give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of the heavens. If there are others like this who give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, they will all, when their bodies perish and their lives end, also be reborn in the good realms of the heavens.' If they see in this way, it is right view, but if they see otherwise, do they then follow the path of wisdom? If what they see and know is grasped at with all their might, and they insist that this alone is true and the rest is false,

Ānanda, among them, if there is a śramaṇa or brāhmaṇa who attains the divine eye and accomplishes the divine eye, and makes such a statement: 'There is no bad bodily action, and no retribution for bad bodily action, no bad verbal or mental action, and no retribution for bad verbal or mental action.' I do not approve of them. If they say: 'I see that they do not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of the heavens.' I approve of them. If they say: 'If there are others like this who do not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, they will all, when their bodies perish and their lives end, also be reborn in the good realms of the heavens.' I do not approve of them. If they say: 'Those who see in this way have right view, but those who see otherwise follow the path of wisdom.' I do not approve of them. If what they see and know is grasped at with all their might, and they insist that this alone is true and the rest is false,

Ānanda, among them, if there is a śramaṇa or brāhmaṇa who attains the divine eye and accomplishes the divine eye, and makes such a statement: 'There is no good bodily action, and no retribution for good bodily action, no good verbal or mental action, and no retribution for good verbal or mental action.' I do not approve of them. If they say: 'I see that they give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell.' I approve of them. If they say: 'If there are others like this who give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, they will all, when their bodies perish and their lives end, also be reborn in the evil realms of hell.' I do not approve of them. If they say: 'Those who see in this way have right view, but those who see otherwise follow the path of wisdom.' I do not approve of them. If what they see and know is grasped at with all their might, and they insist that this alone is true and the rest is false,

Ānanda, among them, if there is a śramaṇa or brāhmaṇa who attains the divine eye and accomplishes the divine eye, and makes such a statement: 'There is bad bodily action, and retribution for bad bodily action, bad verbal or mental action, and retribution for bad verbal or mental action.' I approve of them. If they say: 'I see that they do not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell.' I approve of them. If they say: 'If there are others like this who do not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, they will all, when their bodies perish and their lives end, also be reborn in the evil realms of hell.' I do not approve of them. If they say: 'Those who see in this way have right view, but those who see otherwise follow the path of wisdom.' I do not approve of them. If what they see and know is grasped at with all their might, and they insist that this alone is true and the rest is false,

Ānanda, among them, if there is a śramaṇa or brāhmaṇa who attains the divine eye and accomplishes the divine eye, and makes such a statement: 'There is good bodily action, and retribution for good bodily action, good verbal or mental action, and retribution for good verbal or mental action.' I approve of them. If they say: 'I see that they give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of the heavens.' I approve of them. If they say: 'If there are others like this who give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, they will all, when their bodies perish and their lives end, also be reborn in the good realms of the heavens.' I do not approve of them. If they say: 'Those who see in this way have right view, but those who see otherwise follow the path of wisdom.' I do not approve of them. If what they see and know is grasped at with all their might, and they insist that this alone is true and the rest is false,

Ānanda, if there is one who does not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of the heavens. If they have previously committed unwholesome karma, having done so and accomplished it, because they did not give it up and guard against it, they will experience the retribution for that in the present life before being reborn there. Or, because of the retribution for that in the future, they will not, because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, be reborn in the good realms of the heavens. Or, if they have previously committed wholesome karma, having done so and accomplished it, because they gave it up and guarded against it, they have not yet exhausted the retribution for that in the good realms. Because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of the heavens. Or, at the time of death, they give rise to wholesome thoughts, associated with the mental factors and right view. Because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of the heavens. Ānanda, the Tathāgata knows that person to be like this.

Ānanda, if there is one who gives up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. If they have previously committed wholesome karma, having done so and accomplished it, because they gave it up and guarded against it, they will experience the retribution for that in the present life before being reborn there. Or, because of the retribution for that in the future, they will not, because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, be reborn in the evil realms of hell. Or, if they have previously committed unwholesome karma, having done so and accomplished it, because they did not give it up and guard against it, they have not yet exhausted the retribution for that in the evil realms. Because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. Or, at the time of death, they give rise to unwholesome thoughts, associated with the mental factors and wrong views. Because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. Ānanda, the Tathāgata knows that person to be like this.

Ānanda, if there is one who does not give up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and without giving them up and guarding against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. If they have previously committed unwholesome karma, having done so and accomplished it, because they did not give it up and guard against it, they will experience the retribution for that in the present life before being reborn there. Or, because of the retribution for that in the future, they will not, because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, be reborn in the evil realms of hell. Or, if they have previously committed unwholesome karma, having done so and accomplished it, because they did not give it up and guard against it, they have not yet exhausted the retribution for that in the evil realms. Because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. Or, at the time of death, they give rise to unwholesome thoughts, associated with the mental factors and wrong views. Because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the evil realms of hell. Ānanda, the Tathāgata knows that person to be like this.

Ānanda, if there is one who gives up killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and even wrong views, and having given them up and guarded against them, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of heaven. If they have previously committed wholesome karma, having done so and accomplished it, because they gave it up and guarded against it, they will experience the retribution for that in the present life before being reborn there. Or, because of the retribution for that in the future, they will not, because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, be reborn in the good realms of heaven. Or, if they have previously committed wholesome karma, having done so and accomplished it, because they gave it up and guarded against it, they have not yet exhausted the retribution for that in the good realms. Because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of heaven. Or, at the time of death, they give rise to wholesome thoughts, associated with the mental factors and right views. Because of that cause and condition, when their bodies perish and their lives end, they are reborn in the good realms of heaven. Ānanda, the Tathāgata knows that person to be like this.

"Furthermore, there are four kinds of people. Some have what seems to be, but not really. Some have what seems to be not, but really is. Some have what seems to be not, and is not. Some have what seems to be, and is. Ānanda, it is like the four kinds of wood. Some wood is unripe but seems ripe. Some is ripe but seems unripe. Some is unripe and seems unripe. Some is ripe and seems ripe. In this way, Ānanda, the four kinds of wood are used as analogies for people. Some people have what seems to be, but not really. Some have what seems to be not, but really is. Some have what seems to be not, and is not. Some have what seems to be, and is."

The Buddha spoke thus. The Venerable Ānanda and the bhikṣus, having heard the Buddha's words, rejoiced and received them with respect.

The tenth chapter of the Sutra on the Differentiation of Great Activities is completed.