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Of the forty-nine works in the Ratnakūṭa (Heap of Jewels) section of the Kangyur, this text is one of only five (the others being Toh 45, 46, 82, and 87) whose titles include the Sanskrit term parivarta, le’u in Tibetan. The term is usually rendered “chapter” when it denotes a defined section of a larger text, but here we have translated it, in the long version of the Tibetan title, as “episode,” as it seems to refer to a “part” or “section” of something other than a text—perhaps the Buddha’s teachings, or his life story. In fact, in the Degé and other Kangyurs, all the works in the Ratnakūṭa have both a preamble and an explicit in which they are identified as this or that numbered le’u (chapter or section) among the hundred thousand of the Mahāratnakūṭa, even though all the works in the section are clearly considered to be independent texts in their own right. Only in these five, however, does the term le’u also figure in the individual title that then follows, and these instances, it can be surmised, do not refer simply to the text being a section of the Ratnakūṭa. Indeed this particular text, in most Kangyurs, does not even have the appellation “sūtra.” There are also four works in the General Sūtra section (Tohs 97, 222, 223, and 224) that, likewise, have le’u in their titles without reference to a larger work. The Śikṣāsamuccaya, however, simply refers to this work by the name Udayanavatsarājaparipṛcchā (King Udayana of Vatsa's Questions), and partly for this reason we have used this title as the main one for this work.
The story is part of the introduction to the eighty-second offense in the Vinayavibhaṅgha (Toh 3) and is found in the Degé Kangyur vol. 8 (’dul ba, nya), folios 170.a–202.a.
The Tibetan term rma which often translates the Sanskrit vraṇa, primarily means “wound” or “sore,” but can also refer to the orifices of the body, as it does below with the term rma sgo.
This previous half verse or a close variant is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 83): śrutvedṛśaṃ tu saṃvegaṃ na teṣāṃ bhavati nirvṛtiḥ.
K, Y, and S read khyi in place of khyim, which might suggest an alternative translation of this line as “like the rotting, stinking corpse of a dog.”
This verse is preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 80): dṛṣṭvā vraṇaṃ dhāvati makṣikā yathā | dṛṣṭvāśuciṃ dhāvati gardabho yathā | śvānaśca śūnā iva māṃsakāraṇāt | tathaiva dhāvantyabudhāḥ striye ratāḥ || The Tibetan has phag, “pig”, whereas the Sanskrit has gardabha, “donkey” or “ass.” The Sanskrit has aśuci, “filth,” whereas the Tibetan supplies ngan skyugs, which can mean “vomit” but also “feces.”
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 83): yasyedṛśaṃ dharmanayaṃ viditvā | strīṣu prasādaḥ puruṣasya no bhavet | viśodhitaḥ svargapatho ’sya nityam | na durlabhā tasya varāgrabodhiḥ. In the second line, the Tibetan text translated here reads rab tu bag med, “carelessness,” which suggests that the Tibetan translators read an underlying Sanskrit pramādaḥ, rather than prasādaḥ, “trust,” which is what we find preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya. Both readings are plausible, however, and it is probable that the similarity between the characters for mā and sā accounts for the development of the variant readings.
The Tibetan rgyags pa probably translates the Sanskrit term mada, which means both “pride” or “arrogance” as well as “wine” or “liquor.” So, the Sanskrit reading contains a nice pun here.
The Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 82) quotes this and several following sentences, as well. There may be some minor differences or possible variant readings in the Tibetan, but the passage largely scans well with the Sanskrit.
This verse is preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 81): avidyāpidhitā bālās tamaḥskandhena āvṛtāḥ| strīṣu saktās tathā mūḍhā amedhya iva vāyasāḥ.
This verse is preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 81): mārasya gocaro hy eṣa prasthitā yena durgatiḥ | āsvādasaṃjñino gṛddhā mīḍhasthāne yathā krimiḥ. The corrected reading of mīḍha instead of mīṭa is given in Wogihara & Bendall 1904.
A close variant of the first half of this verse seems to be preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, where it is prefixed to the second half of the next verse, thus forming a single verse. This first half-verse reads kīṭakumbho yathā citro yatra yatraiva dṛśyate (Bendall 1902, p. 81).
The second half of this verse is preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, where it is affixed to the first half of the previous verse, thus forming a single verse. This second half of the verse reads pūrṇo mūtrapurīṣeṇa dṛtir vā vātapūritā (Bendall 1902, p. 81). The Buddha uses a similar description in the opening verse of the Māgaṇḍiyasutta of the Suttanipāta: muttakarīsapuṇṇaṃ, “[this thing], which is filled with urine and excrement.”
This verse is preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 81): siṅghāṇakakaphālālāḥ śleṣmaṇi klinnamastakāḥ | daurgandhyaṃ sravate kāyād bālānāṃ tadyathā madhu.
This verse is preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 81): asthipūrṇaṃ mukhadvāraṃ māṃsacarmādibhiścitaṃ| gaṇḍabhūto hy ayaṃ kāyaḥ kutsito hy āmagandhikaḥ.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 81): nānāprāṇibhiḥ saṃpūrṇo mukhagaṇḍo yathā bhavet | evam eva hy ayaṃ kāyo viṣṭhādyaśucibhājanam.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 81): antyāntrākulaṃ hy udaraṃ sayakṛtphupphuṣākulaṃ| vṛkkau vilohitaṃ pittaṃ mastaluṅgāsthimajjakam.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 81): aśītiṃ krimikulasahasrāṇi yāni tiṣṭhanti antare | atha bālā na paśyanti mohajālena āvṛtāḥ.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 82): navavraṇamukhaiḥ prasravanty aśuciṃ pūtigandhikam | bālā nimittaṃ gṛhṇanti vacane darśane ’pi ca.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 82): raktāḥ paścān na jānanti yo deśaḥ sarvakutsitaḥ | uccāragocarā bālāḥ kheṭasiṅghāṇabhojinaḥ. Wogihara & Bendall 1904, p. 100, corrects Bendall’s earlier reading of uktāḥ to raktāḥ.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 82): jugupsanīye rajyante vraṇaṃ dṛṣṭveva mukṣikāḥ| kakṣāsv āgharate svedo gandho vāyati kutsitaḥ.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 82): kurvanti duṣkṛtaṃ karma yena gacchanti durgatim | hīnān kāmān niṣevante hīnān dharmān niṣevya ca. There is a play on words here regarding the word niṣev, translated into Tibetan with the versatile verb sten, and in English above first as “indulge in” and next as “follow.” The same term can also mean “enjoy” (sexually), “honor,” “serve,” or “practice.” At the same time, the translation tries to convey a semantic play on the terms hīna, “inferior,” or “lowly”; duṣkṛta “low, immoral deed”; and durgati “lower or bad realm of rebirth.”
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 82): gatvā avīciṃ duṣprajñāḥ duṣkhāṃ vindanti vedanām | uccāra iva durgandhāḥ striyo buddhaiḥ prakīrtitāḥ.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 82): tasmād dhīnasya hīnābhiḥ strībhir bhavati saṅgatiḥ| uccārabhastrāṃ yo gṛhya bālo vāsaṃ nigacchati.
The first half of this verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall, 1902, p. 82): yādṛśaṃ kurute karma tādṛśaṃ labhate phalam.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 83): bhūyaḥ kurvanti saṃsargaṃ strībhiḥ sārddhaṃ pramoditāḥ | duṣkhakāmān niṣevante bhāṣante ca jugupsitāḥ.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 83): dharmaṃ śrutvārthasaṃmūḍhā bhāṣante ca subhāṣitam| strīgataṃ cāsya taccittaṃ biḍālasyeva mūṣike.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 83): muhūrtaṃ bhavati saṃvegaḥ śrutvātha jinabhāṣitaṃ | punaḥ kupyati rāgo ’sya viṣahālāhalaṃ yathā.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 83): sūkarasyeva uttrāso muhūrtam anuvartate | dṛṣṭvā vai atha uccāraṃ gṛddhatāṃ janayaty asau.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 83): evaṃ sukhārthino bālāḥ prahāya jinaśāsanaṃ | hīnān kāmān niṣevante yena gacchanti durgatim.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 83): raktāḥ pramattāḥ kāmeṣu kṛtvā karma supāpakam | śīlavattāṃ visaṃvādya paścād gachanti durgatim.
This verse is also preserved in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 83): labdhvā kṣaṇaṃ hi sa prājño dharmaṃ śrutvā ca īdṛśam | sarvān kāmān vivarjyeha pravrajyāṃ niṣkramed budhaḥ.
One of King Udayana’s wives and the daughter of Mākandika.
A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).
Yeshé Dé (late eighth to early ninth century) was the most prolific translator of sūtras into Tibetan. Altogether he is credited with the translation of more than one hundred sixty sūtra translations and more than one hundred additional translations, mostly on tantric topics. In spite of Yeshé Dé’s great importance for the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet during the imperial era, only a few biographical details about this figure are known. Later sources describe him as a student of the Indian teacher Padmasambhava, and he is also credited with teaching both sūtra and tantra widely to students of his own. He was also known as Nanam Yeshé Dé, from the Nanam (sna nam) clan.
Second of the eight hot hells. Named for the lines drawn on the bodies of its inhabitant before being cut apart.
One of the neighboring hells, literally “river that is difficult to cross.”
In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).
Third of the eight hot hells.
The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”
An unordained female practitioner who observes the five precepts not to kill, lie, steal, be intoxicated, or commit sexual misconduct.
Seventh of the eight hot hells.
A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”
A female gandharva.
In Indian mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like bird that is regarded as the king of all birds, normally depicted with a sharp, owl-like beak, often holding a snake, and with large and powerful wings. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth. Garuḍa can also be used as a proper name for a king of such creatures.
An epithet of the Buddha referencing his family name, Gautama.
Fifth of the eight hot hells.
A deadly poison. In Indian mythology, this poison was created when the gods churned the oceans and, in order to save the world, the god Śiva drank it, turning his throat forever blue.
One of the neighboring hells.
The lowest hell, eighth of the eight hot hells.
One of the neighboring hells. Named after the trees Bombax ceiba, also known as silk-cotton trees or kapok trees. They are covered by large woody thorns. Inhabitants of this hell are made to climb the thorny trees.
One of the neighboring hells.
Sixth of the eight hot hells.
Fourth of the eight hot hells.
Jinamitra was invited to Tibet during the reign of King Tri Songdetsen (khri srong lde btsan, r. 742–98 ᴄᴇ) and was involved with the translation of nearly two hundred texts, continuing into the reign of King Ralpachen (ral pa can, r. 815–38 ᴄᴇ). He was one of the small group of paṇḍitas responsible for the Mahāvyutpatti Sanskrit–Tibetan dictionary.
One of the translators of this work
The capital city of the kingdom of Vatsa.
An epithet of the Buddha.
Literally “great serpents,” mahoragas are supernatural beings depicted as large, subterranean beings with human torsos and heads and the lower bodies of serpents. Their movements are said to cause earthquakes, and they make up a class of subterranean geomantic spirits whose movement through the seasons and months of the year is deemed significant for construction projects.
An ascetic from the village of Kalmāṣadamya whose daughter, Anupamā, is married to King Udayana. In Buddhist narrative literature, he offers his daughter to the Buddha and, later, to King Udayana. In the Divyāvadāna version of the story, he then becomes a minister of the king.
An unordained male practitioner who observes the five precepts not to kill, lie, steal, be intoxicated, or commit sexual misconduct.
Māra, literally “death” or “maker of death,” is the name of the deva who tried to prevent the Buddha from achieving awakening, the name given to the class of beings he leads, and also an impersonal term for the destructive forces that keep beings imprisoned in saṃsāra:
(1) As a deva, Māra is said to be the principal deity in the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (paranirmitavaśavartin), the highest paradise in the desire realm. He famously attempted to prevent the Buddha’s awakening under the Bodhi tree—see The Play in Full (Toh 95), \1\221.1—and later sought many times to thwart the Buddha’s activity. In the sūtras, he often also creates obstacles to the progress of śrāvakas and bodhisattvas. (2) The devas ruled over by Māra are collectively called mārakāyika or mārakāyikadevatā, the “deities of Māra’s family or class.” In general, these māras too do not wish any being to escape from saṃsāra, but can also change their ways and even end up developing faith in the Buddha, as exemplified by Sārthavāha; see The Play in Full (Toh 95), \1\221.14 and \1\221.43. (3) The term māra can also be understood as personifying four defects that prevent awakening, called (i) the divine māra (devaputramāra), which is the distraction of pleasures; (ii) the māra of Death (mṛtyumāra), which is having one’s life interrupted; (iii) the māra of the aggregates (skandhamāra), which is identifying with the five aggregates; and (iv) the māra of the afflictions (kleśamāra), which is being under the sway of the negative emotions of desire, hatred, and ignorance.
A garden in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the highest of the heavens.
Vigna mungo, also known as black gram.
Vigna radiata, also known as green gram.
A class of nonhuman beings who live in subterranean aquatic environments, where they guard wealth and sometimes also teachings. Nāgas are associated with serpents and have a snakelike appearance. In Buddhist art and in written accounts, they are regularly portrayed as half human and half snake, and they are also said to have the ability to change into human form. Some nāgas are Dharma protectors, but they can also bring retribution if they are disturbed. They may likewise fight one another, wage war, and destroy the lands of others by causing lightning, hail, and flooding.
A female nāga.
The second highest of the heavens.
A garden in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the highest of the heavens. The garden is named, presumably, for the prevalence of Grewia asiatica, a berry bush known as phalsa.
Literally, “buddha for oneself” or “solitary realizer.” Someone who, in his or her last life, attains awakening entirely through their own contemplation, without relying on a teacher. Unlike the awakening of a fully realized buddha (samyaksambuddha), the accomplishment of a pratyekabuddha is not regarded as final or ultimate. They attain realization of the nature of dependent origination, the selflessness of the person, and a partial realization of the selflessness of phenomena, by observing the suchness of all that arises through interdependence. This is the result of progress in previous lives but, unlike a buddha, they do not have the necessary merit, compassion or motivation to teach others. They are named as “rhinoceros-like” (khaḍgaviṣāṇakalpa) for their preference for staying in solitude or as “congregators” (vargacārin) when their preference is to stay among peers.
A female rākṣasa, a class of Indic spirit deities generally considered malevolent and demonic.
First of the eight hot hells.
A sacred post or pillar used in Vedic ritual in ancient India. Animals were, typically, tied to it before being sacrificed. By extension, something to which offerings are made.
The name of a garden in Kauśāmbī.
One of the translators of this work
One of King Udayana’s wives.
A historical king and contemporary of the Buddha. He was ruler of the kingdom of Vatsa, but few historical details are known about his life.
Vigna mungo, also known as black gram.
Vigna radiata, also known as green gram.
A smaller kingdom during the time of the Buddha. Vatsa was located east of the city of Vārāṇasī and to the south of the Ganges river. Its capital was the city of Kauśāmbī.
A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the rule of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.
Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.
bad sa’i rgyal po ’char byed kyis zhus pa’i le’u (Udayanavatsarājaparipṛcchāparivarta) Toh 73, Degé Kangyur vol. 43 (dkon brtsegs, ca), folios 204.b–215.a.
bad sa’i rgyal po ’char byed kyis zhus pa’i le’u. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 43, pp. 583–610.
bad sa’i rgyal po ’char byed kyis zhus pa’i le’u. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 39 (dkon brtsegs, ca) folios 349.b–365.a.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan [/lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Degé Tengyur, vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa (Toh 4347). Degé Tengyur, vol. 204 (co), folios 131b–160a.
Śāntideva. bslab pa kun las btus pa (Śikṣāsamuccaya). Toh 3940, Degé Tengyur vol. 111 (dbu ma, khi), folios 3.a–194.b.
Shabkar (zhabs dkar tshogs drug rang grol). rmad byung sprul pa’i glegs bam [The Wondrous Emanated Scriptures]. In gsung ’bum/ tshogs drug rang grol. TBRC W1PD45150. Vol. 7: pp. 9–222. zi ling: mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2002.
84000. Advice to a King (2) (Rājadeśa, Toh 215). Translated by the Sakya Pandita Translation Group. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
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H Lhasa
K Kangxi
N Narthang
S Stok Palace
Y Yongle
Manipulated into a murderous rage by the jealous Queen Anupamā, King Udayana launches a barrage of arrows at Queen Śyāmāvatī. King Udayana is terrified when Queen Śyāmāvatī pays homage to the Buddha, cultivates loving kindness, and the arrows are repelled. Awestruck by such a spectacle and inspired by Queen Śyāmāvatī’s words of praise for the Buddha, King Udayana approaches the Buddha and requests a teaching on the inadequacies of women. The Buddha tells King Udayana that he must first understand his own faults and proceeds to deliver a discourse on the four faults of men, such as attachment to sense pleasures and failure to take care of elderly parents. The teaching is delivered with a plethora of analogies and striking imagery to turn the mind away from sensual desires. The work concludes with King Udayana giving up his weapons and going for refuge in the Three Jewels, filled with love for all beings.
The translation and introduction were prepared by Ben Ewing and Lowell Cook.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. David Fiordalis edited the translation and introduction, and incorporated the evidence from the portions preserved in Sanskrit. Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions is a cautionary discourse on the dangers of sense desires and the consequences of acting on them. In this work, King Udayana is driven into a murderous rage when his jealous wife, Queen Anupamā, deceives him with lies about Queen Śyāmāvatī engaging in infidelities with the Buddha and his monastic community. Queen Śyāmāvatī is a female lay disciple of the Buddha, however, and when the king attempts to kill her, she pays homage to the Buddha and cultivates loving kindness, and the king’s arrows are miraculously repelled. This miraculous display, along with Queen Śyāmāvatī’s own words of faith in the Buddha, convinces the king to seek him out and ask for his guidance. King Udayana asks the Buddha to explain the faults of women, such that they could lead him to commit murder, but the Buddha responds that he must first understand his own faults. The rest of the work consists of the Buddha explaining the four faults of men who indulge in sense pleasures, causing them to fall under the sway of women, and the hellish fates that await them as a result.
The four faults concern ignorant attachment to objects of desire: reckless indulgence in sense pleasures; shameful neglect of one’s parents, especially in their old age; immoral actions due to a failure to heed the teachings of the wise; and miserly failure to give donations to those who deserve them, such as renunciants, the Buddhist monastic community, and the poor. Throughout the work, women are given as the primary example of objects of sensual desire. The work goes into highly colorful descriptions, both in prose and poetic verse, of the impure nature of the human body and of the female body in particular, seemingly as a way of instilling a sense of aversion and disgust for sensual pleasures like sexual activity. The Buddha also analyzes the delusive nature of desire and the mental conditions under which people become addicted to sensual pleasures. He gives extensive descriptions of the terrible deeds men are driven to commit under the influence of their desire for women, as well as the terrible fates that await the men who commit such deeds. Their behaviors are condemned in no uncertain terms. The text gives vivid descriptions of the punishments one will undergo in many of the specific hell realms into which one may be reborn, providing the names of many of them.
This text has received attention throughout the centuries for its descriptions of the dangers of sexual desire toward women and of the impure nature of the human body. Several passages from King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions, comprising about two to three pages in all, are quoted in Śāntideva’s eighth-century work, the Śikṣāsamuccaya. Śāntideva uses this work, among others, as a scriptural basis for a discussion of the harms of desire. King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions is also quoted extensively by the yogi Shabkar (zhabs dkar tshogs drug rang grol, 1781–1851) in his work The Wondrous Emanated Scriptures (rmad byung sprul pa’i glegs bam). In this case, as well, King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions is used as scriptural evidence for the dangers of desiring women. The sections quoted by Shabkar appear to match those in the Degé Kangyur. In modern scholarship, Diana Paul has translated a version of this work from Chinese and discussed it in her book Women in Buddhism.
The narrative framework of the Buddha’s discourse in this work builds on the old story of Mākandika (Māgaṇḍiya in Pali), who offers his beautiful daughter, Anupamā, to the Buddha. That a version of the Buddha’s dialogue with Māgaṇḍiya is found in the Suttanipāta of the Pali Canon suggests that the story is among the oldest in Buddhist literature, and the Pali commentary on that text, which is also part of the Pali Canon, provides one version of the backstory for the dialogue. Another version of this tale, found in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya (and also in the closely related Divyāvadāna), starts earlier than the episode related in the present text and ends later. Earlier, we learn, Mākandika had given his daughter to King Udayana after the Buddha had refused her. And later, whereas King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions concludes when King Udayana becomes a lay disciple of the Buddha, the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya version goes on to describe how Queen Anupamā, undeterred in her murderous intent, subsequently conspires with her father, Mākandika, who had become King Udayana’s chief minister, to set fire to the queens’ quarters; that ultimately results in the deaths of the morally pure Śyāmāvatī and the rest of King Udayana’s five hundred wives, all of whom willingly cast themselves into the flames.
King Udayana seems to be portrayed in these stories as a powerful but impulsive, passionate, and sometimes belligerent person who is led by the Buddha to reflect and change. Another text in the Kangyur featuring King Udayana of Vatsa that follows this pattern is Advice to a King (2) (Toh 215). In its brief framing story, the king is about to set out on a military campaign of conquest when he meets the Buddha. At first angry about being intercepted, he shoots an arrow at the Buddha, but the arrow is miraculously prevented from meeting its target—just as, in the present text, the arrow he shoots at Queen Śyāmāvatī is stalled and turned back. This startling event arouses his respect and he becomes receptive to the advice the Buddha then gives him on combating the great enemy of belief in a self.
King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions is included in all extant versions of the Kangyur as the 29th member of the Ratnakūṭa, or Heap of Jewels, section. All versions agree that it was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan by the Indian scholars Jinamitra and Surendrabodhi along with the Tibetan translator-editor Yeshé Dé, all of whom were prolific in their translation activity. Given this translation team, along with the fact that it is included in both the Phangthangma and Denkarma imperial catalogs, we can be confident that this work was translated into Tibetan between the late eighth and early ninth centuries. The work was also translated into Chinese on three different occasions: between 290–306
Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in the Sarasvatī grove in Kauśāmbī with a great assembly of some five hundred monks and numerous bodhisattva great beings. At that time, Queen Anupamā, daughter of Mākandika, was overcome with jealousy and envy toward Queen Śyāmāvatī.
Queen Anupamā, daughter of Mākandika, addressed King Udayana of Vatsa: “Your Majesty, five hundred women, including Queen Śyāmāvatī, have committed dishonorable acts with Gautama the mendicant. I humbly request Your Majesty to act as you see fit with regard to this situation.”
With these lies, Queen Anupamā, daughter of Mākandika, sowed her discord. Rage, aggression, and wrath toward the Blessed One and the assembly of disciples welled up in King Udayana of Vatsa. Miserable and overcome with a wrathful fury, he drew his bow and shot a razor-sharp arrow at Queen Śyāmāvatī with murderous intent.
In that instant, Queen Śyāmāvatī called out, “Homage to the Blessed One, the thus-gone, worthy, perfect Buddha!” She prostrated herself to the Blessed One, praised him, and entered into meditative absorption on loving-kindness. Through the power of the Buddha, the razor-sharp arrow turned back and burst into flames directly above King Udayana of Vatsa’s head. As it burned and blazed, it became a single flame, sometimes moving about and sometimes standing still. Then, moving toward King Udayana of Vatsa, the arrow remained on his right side without touching his body.
King Udayana of Vatsa shot two or three more arrows with the same result before Queen Śyāmāvatī said to him, “Great King, in this situation, if you were to prostrate to the Thus-Gone One, you too would find well-being.”
Full of terror and fear, King Udayana of Vatsa became weak, and his hair stood on end. Falling to the ground, he spoke these verses to Queen Śyāmāvatī:
Queen Śyāmāvatī responded in verse to King Udayana of Vatsa:
Inspired by Queen Śyāmāvatī, King Udayana of Vatsa, surrounded by a great assembly of people and his royal power and wealth, went to meet the Blessed One with great speed and haste. He saw the Blessed One, elegant and beautiful. The Blessed One’s sense faculties and mind were calmed, and he was completely controlled. He had perfected the most sublime tranquility meditations and the most sublime meditative concentrations. He rose above the crowd like a golden sacrificial post resplendent with glory. The Blessed One’s body was brilliant, vibrant, and beautifully adorned with the thirty-two marks of a great being. Surrounded by an assembly of monks, nuns, laymen, laywomen, and bodhisattvas, the Blessed One was venerated by gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and non-humans. Having seen that, the king approached the Blessed One and bowed at his feet.
Addressing the Blessed One, he said, “Blessed One, I have witnessed wonders the likes of which I have never seen before. Will the Blessed One grant me the opportunity to make a request?”
The Blessed One replied to King Udayana of Vatsa, “Great King, make a request as you wish. Speak!”
King Udayana of Vatsa then said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One because I am attached to my desires and their cause and basis, today I was overcome with wrath and fury by the words of Queen Anupamā, daughter of Mākandika. I was overcome with thoughts of rage and anger toward the Blessed One and his assembly of disciples and shot a razor-sharp arrow at my wife Śyāmāvatī with murderous intent. When I did, it burst into flames in the sky, and as it burned and blazed, it became a single flame. As if the arrow were counteracted, it returned back to remain on my right side, without touching my body.
“Blessed One, I bowed at the feet of my wife Śyāmāvatī, and asked her, ‘Are you a goddess, nāginī, gandharvī, piśācī, rākṣasī, or something else?’ She told me, ‘I am not a goddess, nāginī, gandharvī, piśācī, or rākṣasī. Rather, I am a disciple of the Blessed One, the thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect Buddha. Out of love for you, I have rested my mind in equipoise.’ My wife Śyāmāvatī then sang the praise of the Blessed One in various ways.
“Then, Blessed One, I had this thought: ‘If a disciple of the Blessed One, the thus-gone, worthy, perfectly awakened Buddha, is so full of compassion, loving-kindness, great superhuman power, and great marvelous strength, and is of such great distinction, then what must the Blessed One, the thus-gone, worthy, perfectly awakened Buddha himself be like?’
“Blessed One, in that way, because I was like a fool—ignorant, unclear, and unwise—I felt rage and hatred toward the Thus-Gone One and the assembly of disciples. For this, I request your forgiveness. In the presence of the assembly of disciples, I confess my errors. In the hope that you may show me compassion, I confess my errors. I request you, Blessed One, to treat me with kindness. I vow to practice restraint from this day forward.”
The Blessed One said, “Great King, rise and be seated,” and he accepted with kindness King Udayana of Vatsa who had confessed his faults. King Udayana of Vatsa bowed his head at the feet of the Blessed One and sat to one side.
King Udayana of Vatsa, sitting to one side, addressed the Blessed One: “Blessed One, because of how cruel, obstinate, and quick to anger I was, I have been driven to negative actions by the words of women. Because of that, Blessed One, I will go to the hell realms. Blessed One, out of compassion for me, I request the Blessed One to describe thoroughly and correctly the faults of women so that, from today onward, I will not, by any means, fall under the sway of women and be driven to negative deeds that will lead me to fall into the hell realms. It would be for the long-term benefit of myself and all sentient beings, so that we may be helped and happy. Please describe thoroughly and correctly the behaviors of women, the characteristics of women, the treachery of women, the deceitfulness of women, the dishonesty of women, the unsteadiness of women, the fickleness of women, the dependencies of women, the words of women, and the deceptiveness of women.”
The Blessed One asked King Udayana of Vatsa, “Great King, what is your purpose in asking such questions?”
King Udayana of Vatsa responded, “Blessed One, I fall under the sway of women because they are vicious, hateful, fierce, and quick to anger. Blessed One, it is women who will lead me to the hell realms. Thus, Blessed One, please heed this request of mine.”
The Blessed One said to King Udayana of Vatsa, “Great King, you must first understand your own faults and then you will come to understand the faults of women.”
King Udayana of Vatsa responded to the Blessed One, “Excellent, Blessed One, excellent! When men possess certain faults, they fall under the sway of women. Please, Blessed One, explain these faults of men to me.”
The Blessed One responded to King Udayana of Vatsa, “Yes, Great King, listen carefully and pay attention. I will now explain.”
King Udayana of Vatsa said, “Very well, Blessed One,” and he listened as the Blessed One had instructed.
The Blessed One addressed him, saying, “Great King, when men possess four particular faults, they fall under the sway of women. What are the four? They are as follows:
“Great King, men are attached to the objects of their desire and become reckless in pursuit of them. Intoxicated by sense pleasures, they ignore the morally disciplined, virtuous, and wise mendicants and brahmins and, instead, only desire to gaze upon women again and again. They do not serve, follow, or venerate the morally disciplined, virtuous, and wise mendicants and brahmins when they see them. By abandoning the morally disciplined, virtuous, and wise mendicants and brahmins, they also abandon their own faith, moral discipline, generosity, and wisdom. Those men are faithless, their discipline is faulty, they lack learning, and they are stingy. They behave like hungry spirits; they are weak-minded, attracted to open sores, and involved with excrement. They delight in the smell of backsides, they enjoy filth, and they have a craving for women. They do not seek peace, they are occupied with their attachments, and they go to places where they should not. They are contemptible, they resemble maggots in excrement, and they welcome defilement. They lust after the objects of their desire, abandoning all shame and modesty. They violate the laws of gods and men, lead despicable lives, are detested by the wise, and keep company with foolish beings. They entertain negative thoughts, keep company with bad friends, are constantly engaging in bad actions, and are inclined toward bad actions.
“They become controlled by women and enslaved by them. They fall under the sway of women as they become dedicated to them and live beside them. They are fixated upon orifices, dependent on orifices, and reliant on orifices. They are occupied with saliva, mucus, phlegm, snot, pus, fetid excretions, cerebral secretions, and excrement. They behave like sheep, cows, chickens, dogs, pigs, jackals, and asses. They make their living by harming others. They do not cherish their parents, nor do they cherish mendicants, brahmins, or others worthy of receiving offerings. They lose their faith in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha; they lose nirvāṇa. They enter the hells, the animal realm, and the realm of the Lord of Death—they fall to that level. They take up the bodies of lions and garuḍas. They sink to the level of the Hell of Iron-Thorn Trees and the Hell of Burning Coals. They enter the Reviving Hell, Black Line Hell, Crushing Hell, Howling Hell, Great Howling Hell, Hot Hell, Fiercely Hot Hell, and the Hell of Endless Torment.
“Even after hearing about these faults of women, these men feel neither anxiety nor disgust when they reflect on how they laughed, cried, and felt like shouting aloud, and how they danced, sang, and played music while desiring women and keeping company with them.
“Great King, such is the conduct of foolish beings. Beings with these behaviors will be reborn in the lower realms. Great King, attachment to sense pleasures is the first fault of men whereby they fall under the influence of women and are reborn in the lower realms.”
The Blessed One then spoke the following verses:
“Furthermore, Great King, one’s parents undergo hardship. For nine or ten months, your mother carries you in the womb, enduring much pain to raise you. She wipes away your urine and excrement and nurses you on her lap. She helps you to grow and nurtures you. Parents show you the world and teach you all about it. They are concerned about you and wish for your well-being. They desire your benefit and wish you well. They desire your success and happiness. They desire to help you out in the world. As such they are worthy of generosity.
“Out of desire to help their son and for him to be happy, they use the wealth they have saved to find him a bride from a different family. The son then becomes attached and intoxicated; he lusts after her to the point of fainting. He becomes fixated on her and remains infatuated. Attached to and intoxicated by this girl from a different family, he neglects his parents who are worthy of generosity and who have grown old, frail, weak, and blind. He kicks them out of their own home, banishing them without resources or wealth.
“Great King, one should constantly, at all times, and with genuine happiness, honor one’s kind and venerable parents. One should revere, venerate, and worship them. And yet, men kick their parents out of their own homes, banishing them, as they give their respect and honor to the girl taken from another family, presenting her food, drink, and clothing. They cherish, esteem, worship, and respect her with genuine happiness, yet not their parents. Just look at these heartless and inconsiderate people with their wicked minds!
“Great King, look at these people who forsake the Dharma that leads to the higher realms as they adopt the way of life that leads to the lower realms. Great King, indulging in objects of one’s desire and falling under the sway of women, such men neglect their parents and proceed to the lower realms. This is the second fault of men.”
The Blessed One then spoke the following verses:
“Great King, inferior people are those who perform the acts of inferior people and tenaciously adhere to wrong views. Such people wonder about virtue and nonvirtue and do not understand how to act in their own self-interest. Because they are insecure, they are disliked by many beings and delight in the praises of foolish beings. Deluded by desire and aversion, they are despised by the wise, consumed by anger, and perform nonvirtuous deeds. They are forsaken by the buddhas and the bodhisattvas. They are intoxicated by the pride of wealth. They are miserly, delight in harming others, and despise cultivating the Dharma.
“Great King, look how these inferior people delight in the acts of inferior people and despise the acts of superior people. Great King, this is the third fault of men who indulge in the objects of desire and proceed to the lower realms.”
The Blessed One then spoke the following verses:
“Great King, men make their living from a variety of occupations and professions. Great King, they may be scribes, astrologers, accountants, palmists, armorers, royal servants, farmers, merchants, or herdsmen. From these occupations and professions, they make their livelihood. For the sake of wealth, they travel where there are no roads or where the roads are poor; they cross canyons, rivers, war zones, and oceans; they endure the icy winds of winter and the heat of summer; they suffer from hunger and thirst, and, all the while they delight in such journeys. They endure such suffering as this for the sake of their own livelihood, yet they will not donate any of the wealth they earn to mendicants, brahmins, the destitute, the poor, or beggars, because they are under the sway of women, controlled by them, enthralled by them, and enslaved by them. Because of this same love for women, these men are unable to give gifts even to support their women or to practice moral discipline. Infatuated by their women, they will endure their chatter, and even put up with their abuse, evil looks, and reprimands. When abused by women, those men will voluntarily accept it and still regard those same women without ill will. Those men fall under the sway of women who are the objects of their desire.
“Great King, this is the fourth fault of men who crave women, consider filth to be the highest bliss, delight in foulness, and act without awareness. Thereby, they indulge in women and proceed to the lower realms. Great King, a man who possesses these faults comes under the power of sense pleasure.”
The Blessed One then spoke these verses:
Manipulated into a murderous rage by the jealous Queen Anupamā, King Udayana launches a barrage of arrows at Queen Śyāmāvatī. King Udayana is terrified when Queen Śyāmāvatī pays homage to the Buddha, cultivates loving kindness, and the arrows are repelled. Awestruck by such a spectacle and inspired by Queen Śyāmāvatī’s words of praise for the Buddha, King Udayana approaches the Buddha and requests a teaching on the inadequacies of women. The Buddha tells King Udayana that he must first understand his own faults and proceeds to deliver a discourse on the four faults of men, such as attachment to sense pleasures and failure to take care of elderly parents. The teaching is delivered with a plethora of analogies and striking imagery to turn the mind away from sensual desires. The work concludes with King Udayana giving up his weapons and going for refuge in the Three Jewels, filled with love for all beings.
The translation and introduction were prepared by Ben Ewing and Lowell Cook.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. David Fiordalis edited the translation and introduction, and incorporated the evidence from the portions preserved in Sanskrit. Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions is a cautionary discourse on the dangers of sense desires and the consequences of acting on them. In this work, King Udayana is driven into a murderous rage when his jealous wife, Queen Anupamā, deceives him with lies about Queen Śyāmāvatī engaging in infidelities with the Buddha and his monastic community. Queen Śyāmāvatī is a female lay disciple of the Buddha, however, and when the king attempts to kill her, she pays homage to the Buddha and cultivates loving kindness, and the king’s arrows are miraculously repelled. This miraculous display, along with Queen Śyāmāvatī’s own words of faith in the Buddha, convinces the king to seek him out and ask for his guidance. King Udayana asks the Buddha to explain the faults of women, such that they could lead him to commit murder, but the Buddha responds that he must first understand his own faults. The rest of the work consists of the Buddha explaining the four faults of men who indulge in sense pleasures, causing them to fall under the sway of women, and the hellish fates that await them as a result.
The four faults concern ignorant attachment to objects of desire: reckless indulgence in sense pleasures; shameful neglect of one’s parents, especially in their old age; immoral actions due to a failure to heed the teachings of the wise; and miserly failure to give donations to those who deserve them, such as renunciants, the Buddhist monastic community, and the poor. Throughout the work, women are given as the primary example of objects of sensual desire. The work goes into highly colorful descriptions, both in prose and poetic verse, of the impure nature of the human body and of the female body in particular, seemingly as a way of instilling a sense of aversion and disgust for sensual pleasures like sexual activity. The Buddha also analyzes the delusive nature of desire and the mental conditions under which people become addicted to sensual pleasures. He gives extensive descriptions of the terrible deeds men are driven to commit under the influence of their desire for women, as well as the terrible fates that await the men who commit such deeds. Their behaviors are condemned in no uncertain terms. The text gives vivid descriptions of the punishments one will undergo in many of the specific hell realms into which one may be reborn, providing the names of many of them.
This text has received attention throughout the centuries for its descriptions of the dangers of sexual desire toward women and of the impure nature of the human body. Several passages from King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions, comprising about two to three pages in all, are quoted in Śāntideva’s eighth-century work, the Śikṣāsamuccaya. Śāntideva uses this work, among others, as a scriptural basis for a discussion of the harms of desire. King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions is also quoted extensively by the yogi Shabkar (zhabs dkar tshogs drug rang grol, 1781–1851) in his work The Wondrous Emanated Scriptures (rmad byung sprul pa’i glegs bam). In this case, as well, King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions is used as scriptural evidence for the dangers of desiring women. The sections quoted by Shabkar appear to match those in the Degé Kangyur. In modern scholarship, Diana Paul has translated a version of this work from Chinese and discussed it in her book Women in Buddhism.
The narrative framework of the Buddha’s discourse in this work builds on the old story of Mākandika (Māgaṇḍiya in Pali), who offers his beautiful daughter, Anupamā, to the Buddha. That a version of the Buddha’s dialogue with Māgaṇḍiya is found in the Suttanipāta of the Pali Canon suggests that the story is among the oldest in Buddhist literature, and the Pali commentary on that text, which is also part of the Pali Canon, provides one version of the backstory for the dialogue. Another version of this tale, found in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya (and also in the closely related Divyāvadāna), starts earlier than the episode related in the present text and ends later. Earlier, we learn, Mākandika had given his daughter to King Udayana after the Buddha had refused her. And later, whereas King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions concludes when King Udayana becomes a lay disciple of the Buddha, the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya version goes on to describe how Queen Anupamā, undeterred in her murderous intent, subsequently conspires with her father, Mākandika, who had become King Udayana’s chief minister, to set fire to the queens’ quarters; that ultimately results in the deaths of the morally pure Śyāmāvatī and the rest of King Udayana’s five hundred wives, all of whom willingly cast themselves into the flames.
King Udayana seems to be portrayed in these stories as a powerful but impulsive, passionate, and sometimes belligerent person who is led by the Buddha to reflect and change. Another text in the Kangyur featuring King Udayana of Vatsa that follows this pattern is Advice to a King (2) (Toh 215). In its brief framing story, the king is about to set out on a military campaign of conquest when he meets the Buddha. At first angry about being intercepted, he shoots an arrow at the Buddha, but the arrow is miraculously prevented from meeting its target—just as, in the present text, the arrow he shoots at Queen Śyāmāvatī is stalled and turned back. This startling event arouses his respect and he becomes receptive to the advice the Buddha then gives him on combating the great enemy of belief in a self.
King Udayana of Vatsa’s Questions is included in all extant versions of the Kangyur as the 29th member of the Ratnakūṭa, or Heap of Jewels, section. All versions agree that it was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan by the Indian scholars Jinamitra and Surendrabodhi along with the Tibetan translator-editor Yeshé Dé, all of whom were prolific in their translation activity. Given this translation team, along with the fact that it is included in both the Phangthangma and Denkarma imperial catalogs, we can be confident that this work was translated into Tibetan between the late eighth and early ninth centuries. The work was also translated into Chinese on three different occasions: between 290–306
Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in the Sarasvatī grove in Kauśāmbī with a great assembly of some five hundred monks and numerous bodhisattva great beings. At that time, Queen Anupamā, daughter of Mākandika, was overcome with jealousy and envy toward Queen Śyāmāvatī.
Queen Anupamā, daughter of Mākandika, addressed King Udayana of Vatsa: “Your Majesty, five hundred women, including Queen Śyāmāvatī, have committed dishonorable acts with Gautama the mendicant. I humbly request Your Majesty to act as you see fit with regard to this situation.”
With these lies, Queen Anupamā, daughter of Mākandika, sowed her discord. Rage, aggression, and wrath toward the Blessed One and the assembly of disciples welled up in King Udayana of Vatsa. Miserable and overcome with a wrathful fury, he drew his bow and shot a razor-sharp arrow at Queen Śyāmāvatī with murderous intent.
In that instant, Queen Śyāmāvatī called out, “Homage to the Blessed One, the thus-gone, worthy, perfect Buddha!” She prostrated herself to the Blessed One, praised him, and entered into meditative absorption on loving-kindness. Through the power of the Buddha, the razor-sharp arrow turned back and burst into flames directly above King Udayana of Vatsa’s head. As it burned and blazed, it became a single flame, sometimes moving about and sometimes standing still. Then, moving toward King Udayana of Vatsa, the arrow remained on his right side without touching his body.
King Udayana of Vatsa shot two or three more arrows with the same result before Queen Śyāmāvatī said to him, “Great King, in this situation, if you were to prostrate to the Thus-Gone One, you too would find well-being.”
Full of terror and fear, King Udayana of Vatsa became weak, and his hair stood on end. Falling to the ground, he spoke these verses to Queen Śyāmāvatī:
Queen Śyāmāvatī responded in verse to King Udayana of Vatsa:
Inspired by Queen Śyāmāvatī, King Udayana of Vatsa, surrounded by a great assembly of people and his royal power and wealth, went to meet the Blessed One with great speed and haste. He saw the Blessed One, elegant and beautiful. The Blessed One’s sense faculties and mind were calmed, and he was completely controlled. He had perfected the most sublime tranquility meditations and the most sublime meditative concentrations. He rose above the crowd like a golden sacrificial post resplendent with glory. The Blessed One’s body was brilliant, vibrant, and beautifully adorned with the thirty-two marks of a great being. Surrounded by an assembly of monks, nuns, laymen, laywomen, and bodhisattvas, the Blessed One was venerated by gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and non-humans. Having seen that, the king approached the Blessed One and bowed at his feet.
Addressing the Blessed One, he said, “Blessed One, I have witnessed wonders the likes of which I have never seen before. Will the Blessed One grant me the opportunity to make a request?”
The Blessed One replied to King Udayana of Vatsa, “Great King, make a request as you wish. Speak!”
King Udayana of Vatsa then said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One because I am attached to my desires and their cause and basis, today I was overcome with wrath and fury by the words of Queen Anupamā, daughter of Mākandika. I was overcome with thoughts of rage and anger toward the Blessed One and his assembly of disciples and shot a razor-sharp arrow at my wife Śyāmāvatī with murderous intent. When I did, it burst into flames in the sky, and as it burned and blazed, it became a single flame. As if the arrow were counteracted, it returned back to remain on my right side, without touching my body.
“Blessed One, I bowed at the feet of my wife Śyāmāvatī, and asked her, ‘Are you a goddess, nāginī, gandharvī, piśācī, rākṣasī, or something else?’ She told me, ‘I am not a goddess, nāginī, gandharvī, piśācī, or rākṣasī. Rather, I am a disciple of the Blessed One, the thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect Buddha. Out of love for you, I have rested my mind in equipoise.’ My wife Śyāmāvatī then sang the praise of the Blessed One in various ways.
“Then, Blessed One, I had this thought: ‘If a disciple of the Blessed One, the thus-gone, worthy, perfectly awakened Buddha, is so full of compassion, loving-kindness, great superhuman power, and great marvelous strength, and is of such great distinction, then what must the Blessed One, the thus-gone, worthy, perfectly awakened Buddha himself be like?’
“Blessed One, in that way, because I was like a fool—ignorant, unclear, and unwise—I felt rage and hatred toward the Thus-Gone One and the assembly of disciples. For this, I request your forgiveness. In the presence of the assembly of disciples, I confess my errors. In the hope that you may show me compassion, I confess my errors. I request you, Blessed One, to treat me with kindness. I vow to practice restraint from this day forward.”
The Blessed One said, “Great King, rise and be seated,” and he accepted with kindness King Udayana of Vatsa who had confessed his faults. King Udayana of Vatsa bowed his head at the feet of the Blessed One and sat to one side.
King Udayana of Vatsa, sitting to one side, addressed the Blessed One: “Blessed One, because of how cruel, obstinate, and quick to anger I was, I have been driven to negative actions by the words of women. Because of that, Blessed One, I will go to the hell realms. Blessed One, out of compassion for me, I request the Blessed One to describe thoroughly and correctly the faults of women so that, from today onward, I will not, by any means, fall under the sway of women and be driven to negative deeds that will lead me to fall into the hell realms. It would be for the long-term benefit of myself and all sentient beings, so that we may be helped and happy. Please describe thoroughly and correctly the behaviors of women, the characteristics of women, the treachery of women, the deceitfulness of women, the dishonesty of women, the unsteadiness of women, the fickleness of women, the dependencies of women, the words of women, and the deceptiveness of women.”
The Blessed One asked King Udayana of Vatsa, “Great King, what is your purpose in asking such questions?”
King Udayana of Vatsa responded, “Blessed One, I fall under the sway of women because they are vicious, hateful, fierce, and quick to anger. Blessed One, it is women who will lead me to the hell realms. Thus, Blessed One, please heed this request of mine.”
The Blessed One said to King Udayana of Vatsa, “Great King, you must first understand your own faults and then you will come to understand the faults of women.”
King Udayana of Vatsa responded to the Blessed One, “Excellent, Blessed One, excellent! When men possess certain faults, they fall under the sway of women. Please, Blessed One, explain these faults of men to me.”
The Blessed One responded to King Udayana of Vatsa, “Yes, Great King, listen carefully and pay attention. I will now explain.”
King Udayana of Vatsa said, “Very well, Blessed One,” and he listened as the Blessed One had instructed.
The Blessed One addressed him, saying, “Great King, when men possess four particular faults, they fall under the sway of women. What are the four? They are as follows:
“Great King, men are attached to the objects of their desire and become reckless in pursuit of them. Intoxicated by sense pleasures, they ignore the morally disciplined, virtuous, and wise mendicants and brahmins and, instead, only desire to gaze upon women again and again. They do not serve, follow, or venerate the morally disciplined, virtuous, and wise mendicants and brahmins when they see them. By abandoning the morally disciplined, virtuous, and wise mendicants and brahmins, they also abandon their own faith, moral discipline, generosity, and wisdom. Those men are faithless, their discipline is faulty, they lack learning, and they are stingy. They behave like hungry spirits; they are weak-minded, attracted to open sores, and involved with excrement. They delight in the smell of backsides, they enjoy filth, and they have a craving for women. They do not seek peace, they are occupied with their attachments, and they go to places where they should not. They are contemptible, they resemble maggots in excrement, and they welcome defilement. They lust after the objects of their desire, abandoning all shame and modesty. They violate the laws of gods and men, lead despicable lives, are detested by the wise, and keep company with foolish beings. They entertain negative thoughts, keep company with bad friends, are constantly engaging in bad actions, and are inclined toward bad actions.
“They become controlled by women and enslaved by them. They fall under the sway of women as they become dedicated to them and live beside them. They are fixated upon orifices, dependent on orifices, and reliant on orifices. They are occupied with saliva, mucus, phlegm, snot, pus, fetid excretions, cerebral secretions, and excrement. They behave like sheep, cows, chickens, dogs, pigs, jackals, and asses. They make their living by harming others. They do not cherish their parents, nor do they cherish mendicants, brahmins, or others worthy of receiving offerings. They lose their faith in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha; they lose nirvāṇa. They enter the hells, the animal realm, and the realm of the Lord of Death—they fall to that level. They take up the bodies of lions and garuḍas. They sink to the level of the Hell of Iron-Thorn Trees and the Hell of Burning Coals. They enter the Reviving Hell, Black Line Hell, Crushing Hell, Howling Hell, Great Howling Hell, Hot Hell, Fiercely Hot Hell, and the Hell of Endless Torment.
“Even after hearing about these faults of women, these men feel neither anxiety nor disgust when they reflect on how they laughed, cried, and felt like shouting aloud, and how they danced, sang, and played music while desiring women and keeping company with them.
“Great King, such is the conduct of foolish beings. Beings with these behaviors will be reborn in the lower realms. Great King, attachment to sense pleasures is the first fault of men whereby they fall under the influence of women and are reborn in the lower realms.”
The Blessed One then spoke the following verses:
“Furthermore, Great King, one’s parents undergo hardship. For nine or ten months, your mother carries you in the womb, enduring much pain to raise you. She wipes away your urine and excrement and nurses you on her lap. She helps you to grow and nurtures you. Parents show you the world and teach you all about it. They are concerned about you and wish for your well-being. They desire your benefit and wish you well. They desire your success and happiness. They desire to help you out in the world. As such they are worthy of generosity.
“Out of desire to help their son and for him to be happy, they use the wealth they have saved to find him a bride from a different family. The son then becomes attached and intoxicated; he lusts after her to the point of fainting. He becomes fixated on her and remains infatuated. Attached to and intoxicated by this girl from a different family, he neglects his parents who are worthy of generosity and who have grown old, frail, weak, and blind. He kicks them out of their own home, banishing them without resources or wealth.
“Great King, one should constantly, at all times, and with genuine happiness, honor one’s kind and venerable parents. One should revere, venerate, and worship them. And yet, men kick their parents out of their own homes, banishing them, as they give their respect and honor to the girl taken from another family, presenting her food, drink, and clothing. They cherish, esteem, worship, and respect her with genuine happiness, yet not their parents. Just look at these heartless and inconsiderate people with their wicked minds!
“Great King, look at these people who forsake the Dharma that leads to the higher realms as they adopt the way of life that leads to the lower realms. Great King, indulging in objects of one’s desire and falling under the sway of women, such men neglect their parents and proceed to the lower realms. This is the second fault of men.”
The Blessed One then spoke the following verses:
“Great King, inferior people are those who perform the acts of inferior people and tenaciously adhere to wrong views. Such people wonder about virtue and nonvirtue and do not understand how to act in their own self-interest. Because they are insecure, they are disliked by many beings and delight in the praises of foolish beings. Deluded by desire and aversion, they are despised by the wise, consumed by anger, and perform nonvirtuous deeds. They are forsaken by the buddhas and the bodhisattvas. They are intoxicated by the pride of wealth. They are miserly, delight in harming others, and despise cultivating the Dharma.
“Great King, look how these inferior people delight in the acts of inferior people and despise the acts of superior people. Great King, this is the third fault of men who indulge in the objects of desire and proceed to the lower realms.”
The Blessed One then spoke the following verses:
“Great King, men make their living from a variety of occupations and professions. Great King, they may be scribes, astrologers, accountants, palmists, armorers, royal servants, farmers, merchants, or herdsmen. From these occupations and professions, they make their livelihood. For the sake of wealth, they travel where there are no roads or where the roads are poor; they cross canyons, rivers, war zones, and oceans; they endure the icy winds of winter and the heat of summer; they suffer from hunger and thirst, and, all the while they delight in such journeys. They endure such suffering as this for the sake of their own livelihood, yet they will not donate any of the wealth they earn to mendicants, brahmins, the destitute, the poor, or beggars, because they are under the sway of women, controlled by them, enthralled by them, and enslaved by them. Because of this same love for women, these men are unable to give gifts even to support their women or to practice moral discipline. Infatuated by their women, they will endure their chatter, and even put up with their abuse, evil looks, and reprimands. When abused by women, those men will voluntarily accept it and still regard those same women without ill will. Those men fall under the sway of women who are the objects of their desire.
“Great King, this is the fourth fault of men who crave women, consider filth to be the highest bliss, delight in foulness, and act without awareness. Thereby, they indulge in women and proceed to the lower realms. Great King, a man who possesses these faults comes under the power of sense pleasure.”
The Blessed One then spoke these verses: