THE GREAT CHRONICLE OF BUDDHAS
356
MÈdisÈ ve jinÈ honti;
ye pattÈ ÈsavakkhayaÑ.
JitÈ me pÈpakÈ dhammÈ;
tasmÈ 'ham Upaka Jino.
Upaka, the Buddhas who are of the same nature like myself are named
Conqueror (
jina
) since they have attained the
arahatta-magga-ÒÈÓa
, the
extinction of the four
Èsava
s, and got rid of unwholesome factors (
akusala
-
dhamma
s). I am also known by the name of
jina
, for, like these Buddhas, I
have attained the Knowledge of the extinction of
Èsava
s,
Èsavakkhaya
(
arahatta-magga
)
ÒÈÓa
, and abandoned the
akusala
-
dhamma
s.
Thereupon, the ascetic Upaka saying, ‚My friend, what you have said may be true!‛
nodded his head and took another route to go to Va~kahÈra county. The opportunity of
having such a dialogue and discussion with the Buddha proved to be a helpful factor in his
renouncing the world later on. True! Upaka was in fact one who possessed extraordinary
merit (
adhikÈra
). For this very reason, the Buddha had taken the journey on foot to meet
him on the way.
(Those who listened to the Buddha's words of the Dhamma before He delivered the
Sermon of
Dhammacakka
did not attain
magga-phala
. They just acquired a
tendency (
vÈsanÈ
) for applying themselves to the realisation of the Dhamma. It is a
dammatÈ
; and so Upaka did not attain
magga-phala
although he had listened to
such profound words of the Dhamma relating to the qualities of the Buddha. He
just enjoyed the benefit of having an inclination to become a
bhikkhu
afterwards.)
The Story of Upaka in brief.
The ascetic Upaka lived in a small hermitage in a hamlet of hunters in Va~kahÈra county
and was held in high esteem and looked after by the leading hunter of the hamlet. (As there
were plenty of wild gnats in the said county, Upaka was made to spend his time inside a
large pitcher.)
As the hunter wanted to go to a distant deer-forest, he left word with his daughter CÈpÈ:
‚Daughter, look after and serve well our reverend teacher who is an
arahat
. Don't fail to
do so!‛ (Cf.
ChÈvÈ,
Sutta nipÈta Commentary: Majjhima NikÈya Commentary). And then
he left for the forest in company of his sons and younger brothers.
CÈpÈ, the daughter of the chief hunter, had pleasant, beautiful looks. She possessed
perfect bodily form with features becoming to a women. The day after the father-hunter
had left, the ascetic Upaka went to the chief hunter's house. On seeing the hunter's daughter
CÈpÈ as she approached close to him to offer alms food which she had prepared, he
became overwhelmed by lust. So, without even being able to take the food, he went back to
his place carrying the alms-food in a dish. Keeping the dish of alms-food in a suitable
place, and thinking, ‚I will remain alive only if I can have CÈpÈ! I will die if I cannot get
her!‛ he lay down without taking food.
On the seventh day, when the chief hunter returned home, he enquired from CÈpÈ about
teacher Upaka. On being told by CÈpÈ: ‚Father, your teacher Upaka came to the house only
one day and had not come again,‛ he went straight to teacher Upaka (without even
changing his clothes) in the very guise that he had on from the forest, and asked him:
‚What ails you, Venerable Sir?‛ feeling and massaging his legs at the same time. The
ascetic Upaka, without yet giving an answer, remained lying, rolling to the left and to the
right and groaning. When the hunter pressed him for an answer, saying: ‚Just tell me sir. I
will do everything I can possibly do for you.‛ The ascetic Upaka replied: ‚I can be alive
only if l can have CÈpÈ. If not, it is better for me to die even here.‛
When the hunter asked: ‚Venerable Sir, do you possess any skill?‛ the ascetic Upaka
replied: ‚I possess none.‛ Again, when the hunter said: ‚Venerable Sir, one who is not
skilled in anything will not be able to manage domestic affairs,‛ the ascetic Upaka replied:
‚I am not skilled in anything. Nevertheless, I will carry the carcass obtained by you. I will