THE GREAT CHRONICLE OF BUDDHAS
366
‚My friend SÈtÈgiri, what is He like? Is the mind of the Buddha, whom you
have seen, naturally and entirely free from love and hate for all beings and
steady as befitting one endowed with
tÈdiguÓa
? What is He like? Is Buddha
Gotama, whom you have seen, capable of freeing Himself from or
overcoming
kÈma-vitakka
(sensual thought),
vyÈpÈda
-
vitakka
(malevolent
thought), and
vihiÑsÈ-vitakka
(violent thought) which are apt to generate love
and hate for desirable objects and undesirable objects respectively?‛
Thereupon SÈtÈgiri Deva, having been absolutely convinced that the Buddha was certainly
a
SabbaÒÒ|
Buddha and being desirous of replying to the questions put by Hemavata Deva
regarding the entire set of attributes of the
SabbaÒÒ|
Buddha, answered by reciting this
verse:
Mano c’assa supaÓihito;
sabbabh|tesu TÈdino.
Atho iÔÔhe aniÔÔhe ca;
sa~kappassa vasÊkatÈ.
‚My friend Hemavata, the mind of the Buddha, whom I have seen, is
naturally and entirely free from love and hate for all beings, as befitting one
endowed with
tÈdiguÓa
. (Even at the time when the
pÈramÊs
were being
practised and developed for attainment of Buddhahood, the Bodhisatta was
endowed with
tÈdiguÓa
, not to speak of His
tÈdiguÓa
at present when
Buddhahood has been attained! In His life as Chaddanta Elephant King, he
entertained no animosity towards the hunter Sonuttara who deliberately killed
him, but, instead, he cut off his tusks himself and gave them to him in
charity. In His life as the Monkey King also, he had no hatred even for the
hostile brahmin who struck his head with a stone in order to kill him, but,
instead, he showed the brahmin the wayout (from the forest) without anger.
In His life as Vidhura the Wise also, he had no hatred for the ogre PuÓÓaka
who dragged him by the two legs and very cruelly threw him upside down or
headlong into the ravine at the foot of KÈÄa Mountain which measured sixty
yojanas
; he even preached the Dhamma to him.‛ [That was why SÈtÈgiri
Deva boldly gave the answer: ‚The mind of the Buddha whom I have seen is
naturally and entirely free from love and hate for all beings, as befitting one
endowed with
tÈdiguÓa
.‛ (‚
Mano c'assa supaÓihito
, etc.‛)] My friend
Hemavata, the Buddha whom I have seen is capable of freeing Himself from
or overcoming
kÈma-vitakka
,
vyÈpÈda
-
vitakka
and
vihiÑsÈ-vitakka
which are
apt to generate love and hate for desirable objects and undesirable objects
respectively.‛
Thus, when Hemavata put the question, first with regard to
manodvÈra
(‘mind-door’ or
thought), whether or not the Buddha was fully endowed with
tÈdiguÓa
, he got the
affirmative reply from SÈtÈgiri. Being desirous of questioning again, in order to be more
certain whether or not there was, in the Buddha, purity of the three
dvÈras
(‘doors’ or
actions) at present, or in other words, after hearing the affirmative reply given by SÈtÈgiri
Deva to the question, first put briefly, whether or not the Buddha was endowed with
tÈdiguÓa
with regard to the three
dvÈras
, and being desirous of questioning again in detail
in order to make the answer firmer, Hemavata Deva asked again by reciting this verse:
Kacci adinnaÑ n'Èdiyati;
kacci pÈÓesu saÒÒato.
Kacci ÈrÈ pamÈdamhÈ;
kacci jhÈnaÑ na riÒcati.
My friend SÈtÈgiri, what is He like? The Buddha, whom you have seen, is He
one who is free from taking another's property without being given by the
owner physically or verbally? What is He like? Is He one who completely
abstains from the evil act of killing beings? What is He like? Is He free from