Fifth Section: The Past Cause of Back Pain
Heard like this:
At one time, the Buddha was at Anavatapta Spring, accompanied by five hundred great bhikṣus, all of whom were Arhats, possessing the six supernatural powers, except for one bhikṣu, who was different. It was Ananda.
The Buddha said to Sariputta, “In the distant past, in the city of Rajagriha, during a grand festival, people gathered. At that time, there were two wrestlers in the kingdom: one was of the Kshatriya caste, and the other of the Brahmin caste, and both of them attended the gathering. The two wrestlers decided to have a match, and the Brahmin wrestler said to the Kshatriya wrestler, ‘Do not use all your strength to pin me down. After the match, I will reward you with a lot of money and treasures.’ The Kshatriya wrestler, therefore, did not give his full effort and allowed the Brahmin wrestler to appear to win easily. Both wrestlers earned praise and shared the king’s rewards, but the Brahmin wrestler did not fulfill his promise to the Kshatriya wrestler. At the next festival, they gathered again for another wrestling match. The Brahmin wrestler again requested the Kshatriya wrestler to let him win, promising the same reward. The Kshatriya wrestler again stepped aside, and once again, the Brahmin wrestler received the reward, but he did not keep his promise. This happened three times.
“At a subsequent festival, the Brahmin wrestler again said to the Kshatriya wrestler, ‘I will pay you all the reward I promised you today.’ The Kshatriya wrestler thought to himself, ‘This person has deceived me many times. He not only failed to repay me, but he has also infringed on my interests. Today, I will make him pay for this.’ The Kshatriya wrestler smiled and said to the Brahmin wrestler, ‘You have deceived me three times already. Today, I no longer need anything from you.’ Then, the Kshatriya wrestler placed his right hand on the Brahmin wrestler’s neck, grabbed his waistband with his left hand, and forcefully broke the Brahmin wrestler’s spine, as though breaking a sugarcane. He then spun him around three times so that everyone could see, before slamming him to the ground, and the Brahmin wrestler died immediately. The king and ministers cheered, and they rewarded the Kshatriya wrestler with one hundred thousand coins.”
The Buddha then said to Sariputta, “Do you know who the Kshatriya wrestler who killed the Brahmin wrestler was at that time? It was I. And the Brahmin wrestler was Devadatta.”
The Buddha continued, “At that time, out of greed and anger, I killed the wrestler. Because of this cause, I fell into heck, where I endured long periods of burning and whipping for thousands of years. Now, I have attained the supreme and perfect enlightenment, and all my afflictions have been eradicated, but the residual effects of that karma still cause me to suffer from back pain to this day.”
Then, the Buddha recited the following verse about the causes and effects of past lives:
“During a festival gathering, we wrestled, intending to defeat my opponent,
With one blow, I pinned him to the ground and broke his spine.
Because of this karmic cause, I suffered long in heck,
The residual effects of that past karma now cause my back pain.
The cycle of cause and effect will never vanish, nor will it disappear into thin air.
We should protect these three types of cause and effect and not violate the moral conduct of body, speech, and mind.
I myself have become the honored Buddha, the leader of the three realms,
And thus I recount the karmic causes of past lives, here at Anavatapta Spring.”
The Buddha then said to Sariputta, “Look at me, the Tathagata. All my evil deeds have been eradicated, and all my good deeds have been perfected. I can guide the Heavenly beings, Nāgas, gods and spirits, kings, ministers—all the beings can be liberated and attain the peaceful state of non-action. Even though I have this merit, I still cannot fully escape the karmic consequences of my past lives. How much more so for those ignorant beings who have not yet attained the Way? “
The Buddha then said to Sariputta, “You should protect the three precepts of the body, the four precepts of the speech, and the three precepts of the mind. “
As the Buddha spoke these words, Sariputta, the five hundred Arhats, the Eight Legions, gods and sprits, listened to the Buddha’s teachings and accepted them with great joy, following them in practice.
Dharma Torch 