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Majjhima Nikaya 57
THE DOG-DUTY ASCETIC
(//Kukkuravatika Sutta//)
Introduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~
There were some strange people around in the Buddha's days believing
some strange things -- but that is no different from our own days
when people still believe the most odd off-balance ideas. In this
sutta we meet some people who believed that by imitating animals
they would be saved. Maybe they're still with us too!
Belief is often one thing, action another. While beliefs sometimes
influence actions, for other people their beliefs are quite separate
from what they do. But the Buddha says all intentional actions,
whether thoughts, speech or bodily actions, however expressed, are
//kamma// and lead the doer of them to experience a result sooner or
later. In this sutta the Buddha classifies kamma into four groups:
(i) dark with a dark result,
(ii) bright with a bright result,
(iii) dark and bright with a dark and bright result,
(iv) neither dark nor bright with a neither dark nor bright
result.
Dark (evil) kamma does not give a bright (happy) result, nor does
bright (beneficial) kamma lead to dark (miserable) result. Kamma can
be mixed, where an action is done with a variety of motives, some
good, some evil. And that kind of kamma also exists which gives up
attachment to and interest in the other three and so leads beyond
the range of kamma.
* * *
The Dog-Duty Ascetic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living in
the Koliyan country: there is a town of the Koliyans called
Haliddavasana.
2. Then Punna, a son of the Koliyans and an ox-duty ascetic, and
also Seniya a naked dog duty ascetic, went to the Blessed One, and
Punna the ox duty ascetic paid homage to the Blessed One and sat
down at one side, while Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic exchanged
greetings with the Blessed One, and when the courteous and amiable
talk was finished, he too sat down at one side curled up like a dog.
When Punna the ox-duty ascetic sat down, he asked the Blessed One:
"Venerable sir, this naked dog-duty ascetic Seniya does what is hard
to do: he eats his food when it is thrown on the ground. That dog
duty has long been taken up and practiced by him. What will be his
destination? What will be his future course?" [1]
"Enough, Punna, let that be. Do not ask me that."
A second time ... A third time Punna the ox-duty ascetic asked the
Blessed One: "Venerable sir, this naked dog-duty ascetic Seniya does
what is hard to do: he eats his food when it is thrown on the
ground. That dog duty has long been taken up and practiced by him.
What will be his destination? What will be his future course?"
"Well, Punna, since I certainly cannot persuade you when I say
'Enough, Punna, let that be. Do not ask me that,' I shall therefore
answer you.
3. "Here, Punna, someone develops the dog duty fully and
unstintingly, he develops the dog-habit fully and unstintingly, he
develops the dog mind fully and unstintingly, he develops dog
behavior fully and unstintingly. Having done that, on the
dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in the company of
dogs. But if his view is such as this: 'By this virtue or duty or
asceticism or religious life I shall become a (great) god or some
(lesser) god,' that is wrong view in his case. Now there are two
destinations for one with wrong view, I say: hell or the animal
womb. So, Punna, if his dog duty is perfected, it will lead him to
the company of dogs; if it is not, it will lead him to hell."
4. When this was said, Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic wept and
shed tears. Then the Blessed One told Punna, son of the Koliyans and
an ox-duty ascetic: "Punna, I could not persuade you when I said,
'Enough Punna, let that be. Do not ask me that.'"
"Venerable sir, I am not weeping that the Blessed One has spoken
thus. Still, this dog duty has long been taken up and practiced by
me. Venerable sir, there is this Punna, a son of the Koliyans and an
ox duty ascetic: that ox duty has long been taken up and practiced
by him. What will be his destination? What will be his future
course?"
"Enough, Seniya, let that be. Do not ask me that." A second time
... A third time Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic asked the Blessed
One: "Venerable sir, there is this Punna, a son of the Koliyans and
an ox-duty ascetic; that ox duty has long been taken up and
practiced by him. What will be his destination? What will be his
future course?"
"Well, Seniya, since I certainly cannot persuade you when I say
'Enough, Punna, let that be. Do not ask me that,' I shall therefore
answer you."
5. "Here, Seniya, someone develops the ox duty fully and
unstintingly, he develops the ox habit fully and unstintingly, he
develops the ox mind fully and unstintingly, he develops the ox
behavior fully and unstintingly. Having done that, on the
dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in the company of
oxen. But if his view is such as this: 'By this virtue or duty or
asceticism or religious like I shall become a (great) god or some
(lesser) god,' that is wrong view in his case. Now there are two
destinations for one with wrong view, I say: hell or the animal
womb. So, Seniya, if his ox duty is perfected, it will lead him to
the company of oxen; if it is not, it will lead him to hell."
6. When this was said, Punna, a son of the Koliyans and an ox-duty
ascetic, wept and shed tears. Then the Blessed One told Seniya, the
naked dog duty ascetic: "Seniya, I could not persuade you when I
said, 'Enough, Seniya, let that be. Do not ask me that.'"
"Venerable sir, I am not weeping that the Blessed One has spoken
thus. Still, this ox duty has long been taken up and practiced by
me. Venerable sir, I have confidence in the Blessed One thus: 'The
Blessed One is capable of teaching me the Dhamma in such a way that
I may abandon this ox duty and that this naked dog-duty ascetic
Seniya may abandon that dog duty.'"
7. "Then, Punna, listen and heed well what I shall say."
"Yes, venerable sir," he replied. The Blessed One said this:
8. "Punna, there are four kinds of kamma proclaimed by me after
realization myself with direct knowledge. What are the four? There
is dark kamma with dark ripening, there is bright kamma with bright
ripening, there is dark-and-bright kamma with dark-and-bright
ripening, and there is kamma that is not dark and not bright with
neither-dark-nor-bright ripening that conduces to the exhaustion of
kamma.
9. "What is dark kamma with dark ripening? Here someone produces a
(kammic) bodily process (bound up) with affliction, [2] he produces
a (kammic) verbal process (bound up) with affliction, he produces a
(kammic) mental process (bound up) with affliction. By so doing, he
reappears in a world with affliction. When that happens, afflicting
contacts[3] touch him. Being touched by these, he feels afflicting
feelings entirely painful as in the case of beings in hell. Thus a
being's reappearance is due to a being: he reappears owing to the
kammas he has performed. When he has reappeared, contacts touch him.
Thus I say are beings heirs of their kammas. This is called dark
kamma with dark ripening.
10. "And what is bright kamma with bright ripening? Here someone
produces a (kammic) bodily process not (bound up) with affliction,
he produces a (kammic) verbal process not (bound up) with
affliction, he produces a (kammic) mental process not (bound up)
with affliction. By doing so, he reappears in a world without
affliction. When that happens, unafflicting contacts touch him.
Being touched by these, he feels unafflicting feelings entirely
pleasant as in the case of the Subhakinha, the gods of Refulgent
Glory. Thus a being's reappearance is due to a being: he reappears
owing to the kammas he has performed. When he has reappeared,
contacts touch him. Thus I say are beings heirs of their kammas.
This is called bright kamma with bright ripening.
11. "What is dark-and-bright kamma with dark-and-bright ripening?
Here someone produces a (kammic) bodily process both (bound up) with
affliction and not (bound up) with affliction ... verbal process ...
mental process both (bound up) with affliction and not (bound up)
with affliction. By doing so, he reappears in a world both with and
without affliction. When that happens, both afflicting and
unafflicting contacts touch him. Being touched by these, he feels
afflicting and unafflicting feelings with mingled pleasure and pain
as in the case of human beings and some gods and some inhabitants of
the states of deprivation. Thus a being's reappearance is due to a
being: he reappears owing to the kammas he has performed. When he
has reappeared, contacts touch him. Thus I say are beings heirs of
their kammas. This is called dark-and-bright kamma with
dark-and-bright ripening.
12. "What is neither-dark-nor-bright kamma with
neither-dark-nor-bright ripening that leads to the exhaustion of
kamma? As to these (three kinds of kamma), any volition in
abandoning the kind of kamma that is dark with dark ripening, any
volition in abandoning the kind of kamma that is bright with bright
ripening, and any volition in abandoning the kind of kamma that is
dark-and bright with dark-and-bright ripening: this is called
neither-dark-nor-bright kamma with neither-dark-nor-bright ripening.
"These are the four kinds of kamma proclaimed by me after
realization myself with direct knowledge."
13. When this was said, Punna, a son of the Koliyans and an
ox-duty ascetic, said to the Blessed One: "Magnificent, Master
Gotama! Magnificent, Master Gotama! The Dhamma has been made clear
in many ways by Master Gotama as though he were turning upright what
had been overthrown, revealing the hidden, showing the way to one
who is lost, holding up a lamp in the darkness for those with
eyesight to see forms.
14. "I go to Master Gotama for refuge and to the Dhamma and to the
Sangha of bhikkhus. From today let Master Gotama remember me as a
lay follower who has gone to him for refuge for life."
15. But Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic said: "Magnificent,
Master Gotama! ... The Dhamma has been made clear ... for those with
eyesight to see forms.
16. "I go to Master Gotama for refuge and to the Dhamma and to the
Sangha of bhikkhus. I would receive the going forth under Master
Gotama and the full admission." [4]
17. "Seniya, one who belonged formerly to another sect and wants
the going forth and the full admission in this Dhamma and Discipline
lives on probation for four months. At the end of the four months
bhikkhus who are satisfied in their minds give him the going forth
into homelessness and also the full admission to the bhikkhus'
state. A difference in persons has become known to me in this
(probation period)."
"Venerable sir, if those who belonged formerly to another sect and
want the going forth and the full admission in this Dhamma and
Discipline live on probation for four months and at the end of four
months bhikkhus who are satisfied in their minds give them the going
forth into homelessness and the full admission to the bhikkhus'
state, I will live on probation for four years and at the end of the
four years let bhikkhus who are satisfied in their minds give me the
going forth into homelessness and the full admission to the
bhikkhus' state."
18. Seniya the naked dog duty ascetic received the going forth
under the Blessed One, and he received the full admission. And not
long after his full admission, dwelling alone, withdrawn, diligent,
ardent, and self-controlled, the venerable Seniya by realization
himself with direct knowledge here and now entered upon and abode in
that supreme goal of the holy life for the sake of which clansmen
rightly go forth from the home life into homelessness. He had direct
knowledge thus: "Birth is exhausted, the holy life has been lived,
what had to be done has been done, there is no more of this to
come."
And the venerable Seniya became one of the Arahants.
* * *
Notes
~~~~~
1. Of births in samsara, the wandering-on in birth and death.
2. A defiled kamma expressed through the body (speech, mind).
3. Painful "touches" through eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.
4. That is, the novice ordination and the full ordination as a
bhikkhu or monk.
* * * * * * * *