Section Three: The Past Cause of Headaches
Heard like this.
At one time, the Buddha was at the Great Anavatapta Spring together with five hundred great bhikṣus. They were all Arhats, possessing the six supernormal powers, with only one bhikṣu as an exception, namely Ānanda.
The Buddha told Śāriputra, “In the distant past, in the great city of Rājagṛha, grain was expensive at that time and famine occurred. People were gathering white bones, breaking them apart, boiling them, and drinking the broth. They dug up the roots and stems of all kinds of grasses in order to prolong their faint lives. At that time, one measure of gold could be exchanged only for one measure of grain. Then, in the city of Rājagṛha, there was a large village with several hundred households. The name of the village was Kije. Not far to the east of the village, there was a pond named Fish-Abundant. The people of Kije village took their families to Fish-Abundant Pond, stayed by the pond, and caught fish to satisfy their hunger. The fishermen placed the fish they had caught on the bank, and the fish leapt and struggled on the land.
“At that time, I was still a small child, exactly four years old. When I saw the fish leaping, I felt very happy. At that time, there were two kinds of fish in the pond. One was called the grain shell fish, and the other was called the multi-tongues fish. These fish spoke with one another, saying, ‘We have not harmed human beings, yet we are being eaten without cause. We vow that in a later life we will certainly take revenge on them.’”
The Buddha said to Śāriputra, “Do you know who the people of Kije village at that time were, whether men or women, old or young? They are the present Śākyas of the country of Kapilavastu. The small child at that time was I myself. The grain shell fish at that time was King Virūḍhaka. The multi-tongues fish at that time is the present minister of King Virūḍhaka, a brahmin named Evil-Tongues. At that time, I struck the heads of the leaping fish with a small stick. Because of these causes and conditions, I fell into hell and underwent endless years. Although I have now accomplished Unsurpassed Perfect Enlightenment, because of this residual cause and condition, when King Virūḍhaka slaughtered the Śākyas, I suffered a headache.”
The Buddha said to Śāriputra, “Do you know what my headache was like? Śāriputra, when I first felt the headache, I said to Ānanda, ‘Take an alms bowl that can hold four measures, fill it with cold water, and bring it to me.’ Ānanda brought it according to my instruction. I dipped my finger in the sweat on my forehead and let it drip into the water, and the water immediately steamed away and disappeared. It was like a great cauldron burning all day: when a single drop of water is placed into it, the water immediately steams away. The heat of my headache was just like this. Even if there were as much water as a cliff one yojana or one hundred yojanas wide beside Mount Sumeru, if it met the heat of my headache, it too would steam away completely. Śāriputra, this is the Tathāgata’s headache.”
At that time, the Buddha recited a verse concerning the causes and effects of former lives:
“In a former life there was a village called Kije; within it there was a child of Kije.
When fish were caught and placed on the bank, the child struck their heads with a wooden stick.
Because of such causes and conditions, I underwent long suffering in hell.
That place is called the Black Rope Hell, and there I endured long punishment of boiling.
Because of this residual cause and condition, in the present I suffered a headache.
When the Śākyas were slaughtered, the one who committed the evil deed was King Virūḍhaka.
The cycle of cause and effect never decays or perishes; it does not vanish into empty space.
One should carefully protect these three causal relations, and not violate the conduct of body, speech, and mind.
I myself have become the honored Buddha, the General of the three realms.
Therefore I speak of the causes and conditions of former lives here in the Great Anavatapta Spring.”
The Buddha said to Śāriputra, “Look at me, the Tathāgata. All evil actions have already been eliminated, and all good actions have already been fulfilled. Devas, nāgas, ghosts and spirits, emperors, ministers, and people all marvel at my merit. Even so, I still cannot avoid the causes and conditions of former lives. How much more so, then, for those foolish people who have not yet attained the Way?”
The Buddha said to Śāriputra, “You should learn this, and the other Arhats and all sentient beings should all learn these things.”
The Buddha said to Śāriputra, “You should protect the three precepts of the body, the four precepts of speech, and the three precepts of the mind. Śāriputra, you should learn these.”
When the Buddha spoke these words, Śāriputra, the five hundred Arhats, the great nāga king Anavatapta, devas, nāgas, ghosts and spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas, having heard the Buddha’s teaching, all accepted it with great joy and practiced it.
Dharma Torch 