A Buddhist "Genesis" (sutra)

Maurice O'C. Walshe (trans.), Agganna Sutra (Digha Nikaya 27) from The Long Discourses of the Buddha, Wisdom Publications (Boston); edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly PART 1/3

Space beings, divine beings, devas, shining ones, like the Tuatha De Danann, Tribes of Danu

  

SUTRA: On Beginnings

[80] 1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. Once the Buddha [the Bhagavān, the Teacher] was staying at Savatthi, at the mansion of Migara's mother in the East Park. And at that time Vasettha and Bharadvaja were living among the monastics, hoping to become monastics themselves. And in the evening, the Buddha rose from his secluded meditation and came out of the mansion and started walking up and down in its shade.

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2. Vasettha noticed this, and he said to Bharadvaja: 'Friend Bharadvaja, the Buddha has come out and is walking up and down. Let us approach him. We might be fortunate enough to hear a talk on Dharma from the Buddha himself."

"'Yes, indeed,' said Bharadvaja, so they went up to the Buddha, saluted him, and fell into step with him.

In the Golden Age devas landing were radiant

3. Then the Buddha said to Vasettha: [81] 'Vasettha, you two are Brahmins born and bred, and you have gone forth from the household life into the left-home life from Brahmin families. Do the Brahmins not revile and abuse you?"

"'Indeed, venerable sir, the Brahmins do revile and abuse us. They do not hold back with their usual flood of reproaches.'

"Well, Vasettha, what kind of reproaches do they fling at you?"

"'Venerable sir, what the Brahmins say is this:

• 'The Brahmin caste is the highest caste, other castes are base;
• the Brahmin caste is fair, other castes are dark;
• Brahmins are purified, non-Brahmins are not;
• the Brahmins are the true children of Brahma, born from his mouth, born of Brahma, created by Brahma, heirs of Brahma.

"'And you, you have deserted the highest class and gone over to the base class of petty shaveling [wandering] ascetics, servants, dark fellows born of Brahma's foot! It's not right, it's not proper for you to mix with such people!" That is the way the Brahmins abuse us, venerable sir.'

 

4. "Then, Vasettha, the Brahmins have forgotten their ancient [Vedic] tradition when they say that. Because we can see Brahmin women, the wives of Brahmins, who menstruate and become pregnant, [82] have babies and breast feed them.

"And yet these womb-born Brahmins talk about being born from Brahma's mouth. These Brahmins misrepresent Brahma, tell lies, and earn much demerit.

 

5. "There are, Vasettha, these four castes:

1. the warriors [nobles, administrators, khattiyas],
2. the Brahmins [privileged temple priests],
3. the merchants [agriculturalists, traders], and
4. the laborers [artisans, menial servants, slaves].

The "gods" and "demigods" (devas) of earth

"And sometimes a warrior [1] takes life, [2] takes what is not given, [3] commits sexual misconduct, [4] engages in [false speech which means] perjury, slander, harsh speech, or idle chatter [that, along with consuming intoxicants, violate the Five Precepts], is grasping, malicious, or of wrong views.

"Thus such things as are immoral and considered so, blameworthy and considered so, to be avoided and considered so, ways unbefitting a noble one (aryan) and considered so, dark with dark result, and blamed by the wise, are sometimes to be found among the warriors, and the same applies to Brahmins, merchants, and laborers.

 

6. "Sometimes, too, a warrior refrains from taking life...is not grasping, malicious, or of wrong views. Thus such things as are moral and considered so, blameless and considered so, to be followed and considered so, ways befitting a noble one and considered so, bright with bright results, and praised by the wise, are sometimes to be found among the warriors, and [83] likewise among Brahmins, merchants, and laborers.

 

7. "Now since both dark and bright qualities, which are blamed and praised by the wise, are scattered indiscriminately among the four castes, the wise do not recognize the claim about the Brahmin caste being the highest. Why is that?

"It is because, Vasettha, anyone from the four castes who becomes a monastic, an arhat who has destroyed the corruptions, who has lived the life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the highest goal, destroyed the fetter of becoming, and become emancipated through super-knowledge -- that person is proclaimed supreme by virtue of Dharma and not of non-Dharma.

Dharma is the best thing for people

In this life and the next as well.

8. "This illustration will make clear to you how Dharma is best in this world and in the next. King Pasenadi of Kosala knows: "The ascetic Gautama has gone forth from the neighboring clan [in Shakya Land, Scythia, Sakastan, now Afghanistan] of the Sakyans.' Now the Sakyans are vassals of the King of Kosala.

"They offer him humble service and salute him, rise and do him homage, and pay him fitting service. And, just as the Sakyans offer the King humble service..., [84] so likewise does the King offer humble service to the Tathagata [the Buddha, lit. the "Wayfarer," "Welcome One," "Well Gone One"] thinking:

"'If the ascetic Gautama is well-born, I am ill-born; if the ascetic Gautama is strong, I am weak; if the ascetic Gautama is pleasant to look at, I am ill-favored; if the ascetic Gautama is influential, I am of little influence.' Now it is because of honoring the Dharma, making much of the Dharma, esteeming the Dharma, doing reverent homage to the Dharma that King Pasenadi does humble service to the Tathagata and pays him fitting service:

Dharma's the best thing for people

In this life and the next as well.

9. "Vasettha, all of you, though of different birth, name, clan, and family, who have gone forth [and become Buddhist ascetics] from the household life into homelessness, if you are asked who you are, should reply:

"'We are ascetics, followers of the Sakyan.'' He whose confidence in the Tathagata is settled, rooted, established, solid, unshakeable by any [wandering] ascetic or Brahmin [priest], any deva, or mara or brahma [there are many], or anyone else in the world, can truly say:

"'I am a true offspring of the Blessed One [the Buddha], born of his mouth, born of Dharma, created by Dharma, an heir of Dharma.' Why is that? It is because, Vasettha, this designates the Tathagata: 'The Body of Dharma,' that is, 'The Body of Brahma,' or 'Become Dharma,' that is, 'Become Brahma.'

• [Brahma = the "Supreme."]

[Dissolution, Re-evolution of World Systems]

10. "There comes a time, Vasettha, when, sooner or later after a long period, this world contracts. At a time of contraction, beings are mostly born in the Abhassara Brahma world. And there they dwell, mind-made, feeding on delight, self-luminous, moving through the air [akasha, space], glorious -- and they stay like that for a very long time.

"But sooner or later, after a very long period, this world begins to expand again. At a time of expansion, the beings from the Abhassara Brahma world, [85] having passed away from there, are mostly reborn in this world. Here they dwell, mind-made, feeding on delight [joy], self-luminous, moving through the air, glorious -- and they stay like that for a very long time.

  

[In the Beginning...A Buddhist Genesis]

In the beginning...earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep

.

11. "At that period, Vasettha, there was just one mass of water, and all was darkness, blinding darkness. Neither moon nor sun appeared, no constellations or stars appeared, night and day were not distinguished, nor months and fortnights [two-week periods], no years or seasons, and no male and female, beings being reckoned just as 'beings.'

"And sooner or later, after a very long period of time, savory earth spread itself over the waters where those beings were. It looked just like the skin that forms itself over hot milk as it cools [mycelium, fruiting body mushroom, fungus, algae, spirulina?].

"It was endowed with color, smell, and taste. It was the color of fine ghee or butter, and it was very sweet, like pure wild honey.

 

12. "Then some being of a greedy nature said: 'I say, what can this be?" and tasted the savory earth on its finger. In so doing, it became taken with the flavor, and craving arose in it. Then other beings, taking their cue from that one, also tasted the stuff with their fingers. They too were taken with the flavor, and craving arose in them.

"So they set to with their hands, breaking off pieces of the stuff in order to eat it. And [86] the result of this was that their self-luminance disappeared. And as a result of the disappearance of their self-luminance, the moon and the sun appeared, night and day were distinguished, months and fortnights appeared, and the year and its seasons. To that extent the world re-evolved [or, more correctly, newly began to devolve].

 

Then the devas devolved, lost their self-luminosity

13. "And those beings continued for a very long time feasting on this savory earth, feeding on it and being nourished by it. And as they did so, their bodies became coarser, and a difference in looks developed among them.

"Some beings became good-looking, others ugly. And the good-looking ones despised the others, saying: 'We are better-looking than they are.' And because they became arrogant and conceited about their looks, the savory earth disappeared. At this they came together and lamented, crying:

"'Oh that flavor! Oh that flavor!' And so nowadays when people say: 'Oh that flavor!' when they get something nice, they are repeating an ancient saying without realizing it.

14. "And then, when the savory earth had disappeared, [87] a fungus cropped up, in the manner of a mushroom. It was of a good color, smell, and taste. It was the color of fine ghee or butter, and it was very sweet, like pure wild honey.

"And those beings set to and ate the fungus. And this lasted for a very long time. And as they continued to feed on the fungus, so their bodies became coarser still, and the difference in their looks increased still more. And the good-looking ones despised the others... And because they became arrogant and conceited about their looks, the sweet fungus disappeared.

 

"Next, creepers appeared, shooting up like bamboo..., and they too were very sweet, like pure wild honey.

 

Just as this world is so, too, are there countless such worlds in all directions.

.

15. "And those beings set to and fed on those creepers. And as they did so, their bodies became even coarser, and the difference in their looks increased still more... [88] And they became still more arrogant, and so the creepers disappeared too. At this they came together and lamented, crying:

 "'Alas, our creeper's gone! What have we lost!' And so now today when people, on being asked why they are upset, say: 'Oh, what have we lost!' they are repeating an ancient saying without realizing it.

 

16. "And then, after the creepers had disappeared, rice appeared in open spaces, free from powder and from husks, fragrant and clean-grained.

Come on, let's do it! No one's looking.

"And what they had taken in the evening for supper had grown again and was ripe in the morning, and what they had taken in the morning for breakfast was ripe again by evening, with no sign of reaping. And these beings set to and fed on this rice, and this lasted for a very long time. And as they did so, their bodies became coarser still, and the difference in their looks became even greater. More (as sex and lust begin)