Eighth Section: The Past Cause of the Brahmin Woman Jansa Slandering the Buddha
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 immeasurable kalpas past, there was a Buddha named All-Victory, the Thus Come One, the Worthy of Offerings, the Right and Universal Knowledge one, the Perfect Clarity and Conduct one, the Well Gone, the Knower of the world, the Unsurpassed leader, the Teacher of Heavenly and Human Beings, Buddha, the World-Honored One. At that time, He resided in the country of Pāṭaliputra, accompanied by a great assembly of sixty-eight thousand great Bhikkhus, all of whom were Arhats. Sariputta! At that time, the All-Victory Tathagata had two disciples: one was called Indomitable Bhikkhu, and the other was called Joy-seeker Bhikkhu. Indomitable Bhikkhu had six superhuman powers, while Joy-seeker Bhikkhu had not yet fully eradicated his defilements.
“At that time, in the city of Pāṭaliputra, there was a wealthy man named Great-passion, who owned elephants, horses, and the seven treasures, his wealth was boundless. Great-passion had a wife named Deceptive, who was unparalleled in beauty. These two Bhikkhus often visited their house and received offerings. Lady Deceptive provided Indomitable Bhikkhu with clothing, food, bedding, and medicine, fulfilling all four needs; however, her offerings to Joy-seeker Bhikkhu were meager. Why was this? Because Indomitable Bhikkhu had eliminated all his defilements and possessed the six superhuman powers, while Joy-seeker Bhikkhu had not yet eradicated his defilements and had not yet achieved the fruits of the path. Joy-seeker Bhikkhu, seeing that Indomitable Bhikkhu was favored with greater offerings, became jealous and maliciously slandered, saying: ‘Indomitable Bhikkhu has an illicit relationship with Lady Deceptive. His offerings are not because of the Dharma, but because of personal attachment.’
The Buddha said to Sariputta, “Do you know who Joy-seeker, the disciple of All-Victory tathāgata, was at that time? It was I. Do you want to know who Lady Deceptive was? She is the Brahmin woman named Jansha today.”
The Buddha said to Sariputta, “At that time, I unjustly slandered Indomitable Arhat. Because of that wrongdoing, I suffered in heck for countless thousands of years. Even now, having attained Buddhahood, while teaching the six schools of ford-makers, the Bhikkhus, those with and without defilements, as well as kings, ministers, common people, and lay followers, due to the residual karmic consequences, a rumor-monger girl came before me. She had a wooden bucket hidden under her clothes to make her belly appear swollen, and said: ‘Why do you only talk about others and not your own matters? You live happily today, but you do not know my suffering. Why? Because you have a private relationship with me, and I am pregnant. I am about to give birth, and need ghee to nourish the child. You should give all to me.’”
At that moment, the assembly fell silent and lowered their heads. At this time, the god Indra, who was behind, fanned the Buddha and used his divine power to transform into a mouse. The mouse entered the girl’s clothes, bit through the string of the wooden bucket, and made it fall to the ground. Seeing the bucket fall, all the four groups of disciples, the six teachers of external paths, and their followers rejoiced greatly, cheering and laughing in joy. They all simultaneously cursed, saying, “You wicked creature with a red face, how dare you harbor such evil thoughts, slandering the pure, supreme, and true? This earth is truly ignorant to allow such a wicked thing to exist.” The people all discussed among themselves, and at that moment, the earth suddenly split open, and flames erupted. The girl fell into the crack, descending straight into the Avīci Heck.
Upon seeing this, King Ajatashatru was terrified, his hair standing on end. He immediately rose, joined his palms together, knelt, and asked, “Where is the place the girl fell into?”
The Buddha replied, “The place the girl fell into is called Avīci Heck.”
King Ajatashatru asked again, “This woman did not kill or steal; she only lied. Is that why she fell into Avīci Heck?”
The Buddha told King Ajatashatru, “The Karma I taught of have distinctions: the highest, middle, and lowest, based on bodily, verbal, and mental actions.”
King Ajatashatru asked, “Which is the most serious? Which is the middle? And which is the lightest?”
The Buddha answered, “Mental actions are the most serious, verbal actions are middle, and bodily actions are the lightest.” King Ajatashatru asked again, and the Buddha replied, “Bodily actions are coarse and visible; verbal actions are heard by the ears. These two actions are perceived by the world. Mental actions, however, are not seen or heard by anyone at the moment of thought and are internal. All actions are bound by the nails of mental intent.”
The king then asked the Buddha, “Since the mind is formless, how can other actions be bound by the nails of the mind?”
The Buddha replied, “If a man or woman wishes to commit actions such as killing, stealing, or sexual misconduct, they first think in their mind: ‘When can I do this? Where can I go to carry it out?’ The Buddha continued, “Before any action is performed, it is first planned and calculated by the mind, and then executed. Therefore, actions are bound by the nails of the mind, not by the body or speech.” The Buddha further explained to the king, “As for speech, when a person wants to speak, they first think to themselves: ‘If we are gathered in a meeting discussing the Dharma, or if everyone is seated discussing the precepts, and someone asks me something, I will oppose them and say, “This has not happened.” If someone makes a statement of certainty, I will contradict them.’ This is entirely due to bias and emotions towards others that cause such words to be spoken. If these three things do not happen, they will once again plan to provoke the other person by saying, ‘He wants to kill you, destroy you, ruin you, you should trust my words and not trust others.’ If such divisive speech occurs, it creates falsehood, disrupts the true Dharma, and leads to heck after death.” The Buddha told the king, “Therefore, speech is bound by the nails of the mind, not by the body or speech itself.”
The king again asked the Buddha, “Why is this so?”
The Buddha replied, “The three actions of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct by the body, as well as the four forms of false speech, divisive speech, harsh speech, and idle speech, are all bound by the nails of the mind. Without mental intention, the body cannot act on its own. Therefore, both the body and speech are bound by the nails of the mind.”
Then, the Buddha recited the following verse:
“First the mind must think and judge, before the body and speech can act.
People may pretend to be ashamed of their bodily and verbal wrongs, but they have not yet felt shame for their intentions.
One should first feel shame for the intentions, and then for the bodily and verbal wrongs.
For the body and speech cannot act independently, they are always driven by the mind.”
When King Ajatashatru heard the Buddha’s teachings, his eyes filled with tears, and he was overwhelmed with sorrow. The Buddha asked the king, “Why are you weeping, King?”
The king replied, “I weep for the ignorance of sentient beings, who do not understand the importance of the body, speech, and mind, and who often engage in evil actions. These beings only think that bodily and verbal actions are the most important, without realizing that the mind is far more profound and secretive. World-Honored One! I originally thought that bodily and verbal actions were the most important, and the mind was of lesser importance. But now, after hearing the Buddha’s teachings, I realize that the mind is the most important, and the bodily and verbal actions are of lesser importance.”
The Buddha asked the king, “Why did you originally think that bodily and verbal actions were the most important, and that the mind was of lesser importance, and now you say that the mind is most important, and that the bodily and verbal actions are of lesser importance?”
The king replied, “People can see when others kill or steal, and if there is sexual misconduct, people can see that as well. These three bodily actions are visible to everyone. In the case of wrong speech, such as false speech, harsh speech, divisive speech, and frivolous speech, these four types of harmful speech can be heard by all. But the three evil thoughts in the mind are not heard by the ears, nor seen by the eyes. Therefore, sentient beings think that what is seen by the eyes and heard by the ears is the most important. Now, after hearing the Buddha’s teachings, I understand that the mind is the most important, and that bodily and verbal actions are of lesser importance. Therefore, both bodily and verbal actions are bound by the mind.”
The Buddha asked the king again, “How do you know that the mind’s influence is the greatest, and that both bodily and verbal actions are bound by the mind?”
The king replied, “This rumor-monger woman, who wanted to slander, first thought to herself: ‘I will hide a wooden bucket under my clothes to make my belly appear swollen, and spread false rumors about the Buddha in front of the public.’ After hearing the Buddha’s teachings, I now know that the power of the mind is the greatest, and bodily and verbal actions are of lesser importance.”
The Buddha then said to the king, “How do you now understand that the power of the mind is the greatest, and that bodily and verbal actions are of lesser importance?”
The king replied, “If one wishes to perform any action, the thought must first arise in the mind, and then the body and speech will follow to execute it. Therefore, I understand that the power of the mind is the greatest, and bodily and verbal actions are of lesser importance.”
The Buddha said, “Well done! Well done! O King, you have understood well. You should always learn this principle: the power of the mind is the greatest, and bodily and verbal actions are of lesser importance.”
At that moment, eighty Bhikkhus in the assembly attained the destruction of the mental defilements; two hundred Bhikkhus attained the Anagami path; four hundred Bhikkhus attained the Sakadagami path; eight hundred Bhikkhus attained the Sotapanna path; eighty thousand humans and devas attained the pure Dharma eye; one hundred thousand humans and non-humans took the Five Precepts; and two hundred thousand ghosts and spirits took the Three Refuges.
Then, the World-Honored One spoke the following verse about past karmic conditions:
“In the time of All-Victory Tathagata, I was the Joy-seeker Bhikkhu,
I slandered Indomitable, and fell into heck for a long, long time.
Because of the residual karmic result, a rumor-monger woman came,
And stood in front of the assembly, slandering me.
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.
Now, I have become the honored Buddha, the leader of the three realms,
And in the Anavatapta Spring, I personally recount the karmic causes of my past lives.”
The Buddha then said to Sariputta, “Look at the Tathagata. All evil has been eradicated, all virtues are complete. the Heavenly beings, Nāgas, gods and spirits, kings, ministers, common people, and all beings desire to be guided to the other shore. Yet, even I cannot avoid the retribution for past wrongs. How much more so for ignorant beings who have not yet attained the Way? Sariputta, you should diligently protect the three practices of body, speech, and 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 