214. （二一四）鞞诃提经

I have heard thus:

At one time, the Buddha was traveling in the country of Śrāvastī, staying at the Jeta Grove Anāthapiṇḍada-ārāma.

At that time, Venerable Ānanda was staying in Śrāvastī, at the Deer Park of the Eastern Garden, for a minor matter. At that time, Venerable Ānanda, together with a bhikṣu, left Śrāvastī and went to the Deer Park of the Eastern Garden. After finishing what he had to do, he took that bhikṣu back to the Jeta Grove Anāthapiṇḍada-ārāma.

At that time, King Prasenajit of Kośala was riding a penda elephant together with the chief minister Śrīdatta, leaving the city of Śrāvastī. Venerable Ānanda saw from afar that King Prasenajit of Kośala was coming, and asked the accompanying bhikṣu, "Is that King Prasenajit of Kośala?"

He replied, "Yes."

Venerable Ānanda then left the road and went to sit under a tree.

King Prasenajit of Kosala saw Venerable Ānanda from afar in the trees and asked, "Śrī Āṭavika! Is that the śramaṇa Ānanda?"

Śrī Āṭavika replied, "Yes."

King Prasenajit of Kosala told Minister Śrī Āṭavika, "You should lead this elephant to where the śramaṇa Ānanda is." Śrī Āṭavika received the king's order and led the elephant to where Venerable Ānanda was.

Then King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! Where are you coming from and where do you wish to go?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great King! I am coming from the Deer Park of Queen Mallikā in the east and wish to go to the Jeta Grove Anāthapiṇḍada-ārāma."

King Prasenajit of Kosala said, "Ānanda! If there is no urgent matter at the Jeta Grove, please come with me to the Airavati River out of compassion." Venerable Ānanda silently accepted King Prasenajit of Kosala.

Then King Prasenajit of Kosala had Venerable Ānanda go ahead and together they went to the Airavati River. Arriving, he dismounted, took the elephant's saddle, folded it into four layers, and spread it out, inviting Venerable Ānanda, "Ānanda! Please sit on this seat."

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Enough, enough, great king! Just a peaceful mind is enough."

King Prasenajit of Kosala invited Venerable Ānanda three times, "Ānanda! Please sit on this seat."

Venerable Ānanda also said three times, "Enough, enough, great king! Just a peaceful mind is enough. I have my own sitting mat. I will sit now." Then Venerable Ānanda spread out his sitting mat and sat cross-legged.

King Prasenajit of Kosala exchanged greetings with Venerable Ānanda and then sat to one side, saying, "Ānanda! I wish to ask something. May I ask?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great king! Ask what you wish. I will think about it after you ask."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! Does the Tathāgata engage in such bodily conduct that it is disliked by monastics and brahmins?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great king! The Tathāgata does not engage in such bodily conduct that is disliked by monastics, brahmins, the wise and intelligent, and the rest of the world."

Having heard this, King Prasenajit of Kosala exclaimed, "Excellent! Excellent! Ānanda! What I cannot reach, the wise and intelligent, and the rest of the world, Ānanda has reached. Ānanda! If there are those who criticize and praise without proper characteristics, we do not see their truth. Ānanda! If there are those who criticize and praise with proper characteristics, we see their truth. Ānanda! Does the Tathāgata engage in such bodily conduct that it is disliked by monastics, brahmins, the wise and intelligent, and the rest of the world?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great king! The Tathāgata never engages in such bodily conduct that is disliked by monastics, brahmins, the wise and intelligent, and the rest of the world."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! What is bodily conduct?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great king! It is unwholesome bodily conduct."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! What is unwholesome bodily conduct?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great king! It is bodily conduct that is blameworthy."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! What is bodily conduct that is blameworthy?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great king! It is bodily conduct that is disliked by the wise."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! What is disliked by the wise?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great king! It is bodily conduct that leads to self-harm, harm to others, and harm to both; it extinguishes wisdom and promotes evil characteristics. It does not lead to nirvāṇa, to knowledge, to awakening, or to nirvāṇa. One does not know as it truly is what should be practiced and what should not be practiced. Having not known as it truly is what should be practiced and what should not be practiced, one does not know as it truly is what should be accepted and what should not be accepted. Having not known as it truly is what should be accepted and what should not be accepted, one does not know as it truly is what should be abandoned and what should not be abandoned. Having not known as it truly is what should be abandoned and what should not be abandoned, one does not know as it truly is what should be accomplished and what should not be accomplished. Having not known as it truly is what should be accomplished and what should not be accomplished, one does not practice what should be practiced and practices what should not be practiced. Having not practiced what should be practiced and practiced what should not be practiced, one does not accept what should be accepted and accepts what should not be accepted. Having not accepted what should be accepted and accepted what should not be accepted, one does not abandon what should be abandoned and abandons what should not be abandoned. Having not abandoned what should be abandoned and abandoned what should not be abandoned, one does not accomplish what should be accomplished and accomplishes what should not be accomplished. Having not accomplished what should be accomplished and accomplished what should not be accomplished, unwholesome qualities increase and wholesome qualities diminish. Therefore, the Tathāgata never practices such things."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! Why does the Tathāgata never practice such things?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great king! Having been separated from desire, desire is exhausted; having been separated from anger, anger is exhausted; having been separated from delusion, delusion is exhausted. The Tathāgata has cut off all unwholesome qualities and accomplished all wholesome qualities. He is a teacher, a wonderful teacher, a good teacher, a guide, a good guide, a good speaker, a wonderful speaker, a good speaker. Therefore, the Tathāgata never practices such things."

King Prasenajit of Kosala exclaimed, "Excellent! Excellent! Ānanda! The Tathāgata never practices what should not be practiced. Why is that? Because the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Perfectly Enlightened One. Ānanda! You are a disciple of your teacher, practicing the path to attain the unsurpassed peace of nirvāṇa. You do not even practice such things, let alone the Tathāgata practicing them."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! Does the Tathāgata ever engage in such bodily conduct, that is, bodily conduct that is not disliked by monastics, brahmins, the wise and intelligent, or the rest of the world?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great King! The Tathāgata certainly engages in such bodily conduct, that is, bodily conduct that is not disliked by monastics, brahmins, the wise and intelligent, or the rest of the world."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! What is bodily conduct?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great King! It is called good bodily conduct."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! What is good bodily conduct?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great King! It is called bodily conduct without offense."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! What is bodily conduct without offense?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great King! It is called bodily conduct that is not disliked by the wise."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! What is not disliked by the wise?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great King! It is called bodily conduct that does not harm oneself, does not harm others, and does not harm both; that is accompanied by wisdom and not evil; that leads to nirvāṇa, to knowledge, to awakening, and to the attainment of nirvāṇa. One knows as it really is what should be practiced and what should not be practiced. Having known as it really is what should be practiced and what should not be practiced, one knows as it really is what should be accepted and what should not be accepted. Having known as it really is what should be accepted and what should not be accepted, one knows as it really is what should be abandoned and what should not be abandoned. Having known as it really is what should be abandoned and what should not be abandoned, one knows as it really is what should be accomplished and what should not be accomplished. Having known as it really is what should be accomplished and what should not be accomplished, one practices what should be practiced and does not practice what should not be practiced. Having practiced what should be practiced and not practiced what should not be practiced, one accepts what should be accepted and does not accept what should not be accepted. Having accepted what should be accepted and not accepted what should not be accepted, one abandons what should be abandoned and does not abandon what should not be abandoned. Having abandoned what should be abandoned and not abandoned what should not be abandoned, one accomplishes what should be accomplished and does not accomplish what should not be accomplished. Having accomplished what should be accomplished and not accomplished what should not be accomplished, unwholesome qualities diminish and wholesome qualities increase. Therefore the Tathāgata must practice this method."

King Prasenajit of Kosala asked, "Ānanda! Why must the Tathāgata practice this method?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Great King! Having abandoned desire, desire is exhausted; having abandoned anger, anger is exhausted; having abandoned delusion, delusion is exhausted. The Tathāgata has accomplished all wholesome qualities and abandoned all unwholesome qualities. He is a teacher, a wonderful teacher, a good teacher, a guide, a good guide, a good speaker, a wonderful speaker, a good speaker. Therefore the Tathāgata must practice this method."

King Prasenajit of Kosala praised, "Excellent! Excellent! Ānanda! The Tathāgata must practice the methods that can be practiced. Why is that? Because the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Perfectly Enlightened One. Ānanda, you are a disciple of your teacher, practicing the path to attain the unsurpassed peace of nirvāṇa. You still practice these methods, let alone the Tathāgata not practicing them. Ānanda has spoken well. I am now delighted. Ānanda has spoken excellently. I am extremely delighted. If Ānanda should accept the taxes paid in grain by the villages, I will pay the taxes in grain by the villages as a Dharma offering. Ānanda, if Ānanda should accept elephants, horses, cattle, and sheep, I will offer elephants, horses, cattle, and sheep as a Dharma offering. Ānanda, if Ānanda should accept women and girls, I will offer women and girls as a Dharma offering. Ānanda, if Ānanda should accept precious gems, I will offer precious gems as a Dharma offering. Ānanda, you should not accept such things. In my Kosala household, there is a robe called Vehaṭi, the best of its kind. I send it to you as a token of trust, wrapped in the hole of a parasol handle. Ānanda, if the robes of the Kosala household are silk, this Vehaṭi is the best of all robes. Why is that? This Vehaṭi robe is sixteen cubits long and eight cubits wide. I now offer this Vehaṭi robe as a Dharma offering to Ānanda. Ānanda, please make it into three robes and keep it. May the Kosala household increase in merit for a long time."

Venerable Ānanda replied, "Stop! Stop! Great King! Just let your mind be at peace. I already have three robes."

King Prasenajit of Kosala said, "Ānanda, let me give you an analogy. The wise understand the meaning through analogies. It is like when it rains heavily, the water in this Airavati River fills up and overflows both banks. Does Ānanda see this?"

Venerable Ānanda replied, "I see."

King Prasenajit of Kosala said, "In that case, Ānanda, if there are three robes, they should be given to the monks and nuns, gradually learning the śarā and śarāmaṇī. Ānanda, by making these three robes and upholding them, it will cause the families of Kosala to increase their merit for a long time." Venerable Ānanda silently accepted King Prasenajit of Kosala's request.

Then King Prasenajit of Kosala, knowing that Venerable Ānanda had silently accepted, offered the vīra cloth as a Dharma gift to Venerable Ānanda. He then rose from his seat, circumambulated three times, and departed.

Not long after he left, Venerable Ānanda took the vīra cloth and went to where the Buddha was. He bowed at the Buddha's feet, stood to one side, and said, "World-Honored One! This vīra cloth was offered to me today by King Prasenajit of Kosala for the Dharma. I wish the World-Honored One would place his two feet on the vīra cloth, causing the families of Kosala to increase their merit for a long time."

Then the World-Honored One placed his two feet on the vīra cloth and said, "Ānanda! If you discussed anything with King Prasenajit of Kosala, now tell me all about it in detail."

Then Venerable Ānanda told the Buddha everything he had discussed with King Prasenajit of Kosala. He joined his palms and said, "Did I speak falsely and slander the World-Honored One? Did I truly speak according to the Dharma, speak the Dharma in accordance with the Dharma, without any faults in accordance with the Dharma?"

The World-Honored One replied, "You spoke like that, without falsely slandering me. You truly spoke according to the Dharma, spoke the Dharma in accordance with the Dharma, and did not have any faults in accordance with the Dharma. Ānanda! If King Prasenajit of Kosala were to ask me about this meaning, this phrase, and this text, I would also answer him with this meaning, this phrase, and this text. Ānanda! This meaning is as you have said. You should uphold it like this. Why is that? This is the meaning.

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