#devadatta

Devadatta - Hates Buddha's ass

Ananda - Literally Buddha's assistant

Yasodhara - Married Buddha's ass

The Quest for Buddhism (37)

The family of Siddhartha (Buddha)

Siddhartha and Devadatta (Ref) as children - the story of the wounded swan

Prince Siddhartha (later Buddha) was very kind to people, animals and other living things.

One lovely spring morning, Siddhartha was playing by the river that flowed through the palace gardens. Suddenly an arrow came whizzing out of the air, and pierced a beautiful of the swan. Siddhartha offered his hand to the wounded bird, held the bird tenderly in his arms and gently pulled out an arrow stuck in its wing. Siddhartha cared for the swan, using a stick as a brace and a piece of cloth torn from his own clothes as a bandage.

Meanwhile, his cousin Devadatta came running up in search of his arrow. He too had seen the swans from a distance, and had decided to practice his shooting skills on the beautiful birds.

“That swan belongs to me. I shot it, not you,” said Devadatta.

“No, it belongs to me. I saved it,” said Siddhartha.

“Very well, let us go to our guru. He will tell you that the swan is mine because it is my arrow that hit it!’ said Devadatta.

The two children took the injured swan to their guru. Then, Shiddhartha answered the guru; “I will not let him have it, he will hurt it again. I have made it well – so now it is mine.”

The guru smiled when he heard what Siddhartha had to say; “The swan belongs to Siddhartha,’ he said. ‘Siddhartha has saved its life, and cared for it and made it well. Devadatta has hurt it, and sought to destroy it. Nobody can own a living being, except the one who loves it. So the swan remains with Siddhartha.”

仏教の探求 (37)

お釈迦さまの家族

幼少時代のシッダールタとデーヴァダッタ(参照)〜傷ついた白鳥のお話

シッダールタ王子(後のブッダ)は、人や動物など生きものにとても親切でした。

ある美しい春の朝、シッダールタが宮殿の庭園を流れる川のほとりで遊んでいると、突然、空中から矢が飛んできて、白鳥の美しい姿に突き刺さったのだそうです。シッダールタは傷ついた鳥に手を差し出し、優しく抱きかかえて、翼に刺さった矢をそっと引き抜いて、棒を支えに、自分の服からちぎった布を包帯にして、白鳥を介抱しました。その間に、いとこのデーヴァダッタが自分の矢を探しに駆け寄ってきました。彼も遠くから白鳥を見ていて、美しい鳥を射る練習をしようと思ったのです。

「あの白鳥は僕のものだ。君ではなく、僕が射たんだ」とデーヴァダッタは言いました。

「違うよ、それは僕のものだ。僕が助けたんだ」とシッダールタは言いました。

「よくわかった。グルのところへ行こう。彼は、その白鳥は僕のものだと言うだろう。なぜなら、その白鳥に命中したのは僕の矢だから。」とデーヴァダッタは言いました。

二人の子供は怪我をした白鳥をグルのところに連れて行きました。そして、シッダールタはグルに答えました。「彼にこの白鳥は渡せません。彼はまたこの白鳥を傷つけるでしょう。私は白鳥をよくしてあげたのだから、もう私のものだ。」

Kalki with his white horse Devadatta, India, ca. 1730

RIJKS Amsterdam

Provenance: donated by S.K. Chirimar 1996

h 269 mm × b 193 mm

Kalki, also called Kalkin or Karki, is the tenth avatar of Hindu god Vishnu to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of existence (krita) in Vaishnavism cosmology. He is described in the Puranas as the avatar who rejuvenates existence by ending the darkest and destructive period to remove adharma and ushering in the Satya Yuga, while riding a white horse with a fiery sword.

I miss the old eyelashes....

The Quest for Buddhism (36)

The family of Siddhartha (Buddha)

Devadatta - Cousin, brother-in-law, disciple and transgressor [Part1]

Looking round to see whom he could convince to honour him, Devadatta decided to approach Prince Ajatasattu, the heir to the Magadhan throne. Having psychic power he assumed the form of a young boy clad in snakes and sat in the Prince's lap, which very much impressed the prince, who became his disciple. The Prince began to send great offerings to Devadatta.

When told about the offerings that Devadatta was receiving, the Buddha remarked that all these gains were only going towards his destruction, just as a plantain or a bamboo is destroyed by its fruit.

Shortly thereafter, Devadatta further suggested that Buddha retire and take over the running of the Sangha, which Buddha retorted.

Seeing the danger in this, Devadatta repeatedly attempted to kill Buddha. He then tried to kill the Buddha himself by throwing a rock at him from on high, while the Buddha was walking on the slopes of a mountain. As this also failed, he decided to have the elephant Nalagiri intoxicated and released the rampaging elephant on the Buddha while he was on alms round. However, Nalagiri was overwhelmed by the divine power and authority of the Buddha. The power of the Buddha's loving-kindness overcame the elephant.

Devadatta regrets his actions and goes to apologise to Buddha, but the ground breaks near the lotus pond at the entrance to Jetavana and he is engulfed in fire that erupts from hell.

Chanting, "With all my bones, with all my life, I take refuge in the Supreme One, the God of Gods, the One who regulates people, the One who sees everything in all directions, the One who possesses 100 blessed aspects, that Buddha for as long as I live ", and he then fell into Avici (Infinite hell: Ref) with 500 family attendants who followed him.

Devadatta took refuge in Buddha by uttering the aforementioned verses before his death, so that after allowed escaping from the hell, he became a Pratyeka Buddha (one who has awakened alone; a saint who is quiet and solitary and does not preach for others) named Atthissara.

From the beginning, Buddha dared to allow Devadatta to be ordained, knowing that if he was ordained under him, he would eventually escape suffering, although he would temporarily fall into hell.

This anecdote about Buddha and Devadatta may be teaching us that accept even the unfavourable. You will learn nothing if you devalue what is inconvenient for you.

仏教の探求 (36)

お釈迦さまの家族

提婆達多 (だいばだった、梵, 巴: デーヴァダッタ)〜従弟、義理の兄弟、弟子そして違背者 [ その１]

自分の名誉を守るために誰を説得できるかと考えた結果、デーヴァダッタはマガダン王国の王位継承者であるアジャータサットゥ王子に近づくいた。霊力を持つ彼は、蛇をまとった少年の姿になり、王子の膝に座ったところ、王子は非常に感銘を受け、彼の弟子となった。王子はデーヴァダッタに多大な供物を送るようになった。

デーヴァーダッタが受けている供養の話を聞くと、ブッダは、これらの利益はすべて自分の破滅に向かうだけだ、ちょうどプラタナスや竹がその実によって破壊されるように、と述べた。さらに、デーヴァダッタはブッダの引退とサンガの運営の引き継ぎを提案し、ブッダはこれに反論した。

このことを危険視したデーヴァダッタは、何度もブッダの殺害を試みている。彼は、ブッダが山の斜面を歩いているとき、高いところから石を投げつけてブッダを殺そうとした。これも失敗したので、象のナーラーギリを酔わせ、ブッダが托鉢(たくはい)している間にその暴れ狂った象を放した。しかし、ナーラーギリはブッダの神通力と威光に圧倒され、ブッダの慈愛の力が暴れ象に勝った。

デーヴァダッタの末路については、自らの所業を後悔してブッダに謝罪しに行くものの、祇園精舎 (ぎおんしょうじゃ)の入り口にあった蓮池の付近で地面が裂け、地獄から噴き出た火に包まれる。デーヴァダッタは「全身全霊をもって、かの最勝の者、神々に超えすぐれた神、調御をうける人の御者、普く見る眼をもつ者、百の善福の特徴をもつ者、そのブッダに、わたしは生命のあらん限り帰依します」と唱えて、彼に従っていた家族の侍者500人と一緒に、阿鼻地獄 (あびじごく、梵: アヴィチ、無限地獄 参照)に落ちた。

デーヴァダッタは死ぬ前に前述の詩を述べてブッダに帰依したため、地獄を脱したのちにアッティッサラという名前の「独覚(どっかく、梵:プラティエーカ・ブッダ、独りで覚った者・静かに孤独を楽しんで、利他のための説法をしない聖者のこと)」になった。

初めから、ブッダはデーヴァダッタが自分の元で出家した場合、一時は地獄に落ちるものの最終的に苦しみから脱することを知っていて、あえて出家を許した。