Ven. Piyadassi Thera (trans.), Alavaka Sutra: "Discourse to Alavaka" (Sn 1.10 PTS: Sn 181-192 and SN 10.12) edited by Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly
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| The beautiful Buddha and the beast or yakkha Alavaka: meeting a monster |
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Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Buddha (or Blessed One) was staying in the forest abode of Alavaka the Yakkha [ogre, monster, yeti, Bigfoot, demon, jinn] at Alavi.
Then Alavaka approached the Buddha and said: "Get out of here, recluse!"
— "Very well, friend," said the Buddha and went out.
"Get in here, recluse!"
— "Very well, friend," said the Buddha and entered.
"Get out of here, recluse!" repeated Alavaka a second time.
— "Very well, friend," said the Buddha and went out again.
"Get in here, recluse!"
— "Very well, friend," answered the Buddha and re-entered.
"Get out of here, recluse!" demanded Alavaka a third time.
— "Very well, friend," said the Buddha and went out.
"Get in here, recluse!"
— "Very well, friend," said the Buddha and re-entered.
"Get out of here, recluse!" growled Alavaka to the Buddha a fourth time.
— "No, O friend, I will not get out. Do what you will."
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| (English Fairy Tales) The seduction of Beauty by a Yakkha/Beast with dad's help |
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| The ogre (yakkha, monster, shapeshifter, genie, Bigfoot) Alavaka was living in a cave with human wives and weapons of advanced technology as of another more advanced world than earth. |
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| He was hideous but human and kind and smart. |
"Friend, I do not see anyone in this whole world-system of devas, maras, brahmas [shining ones (light beings), killers, or divinities], or among this generation of recluses, Brahmins, [earthbound-] devas, or humans who could either confound my mind or pierce my heart, or take me by the feet and fling me over to the further shore of the ocean. Nevertheless, friend, ask what you will."
Then Alavaka addressed the Buddha in verse:
1. What wealth here is best for a human?
What well practiced will bring happiness?
What taste excels all other tastes?
How lived is the life one could call the best?
[The Buddha answered:]
2. Confidence (faith) is the wealth here best for a human;
Dharma well practiced shall happiness bring;
Truth indeed excels all other tastes;
A life wisely lived one could say is best.
[The Yakkha Alavaka:]
3. How does one the currents [Note 1] cross?
How is ocean's [2] existence crossed?
How is one's suffering quelled?
How is one purified?
[The Buddha:]
4. By confidence are currents crossed;
By diligence is the ocean crossed;
By effort is one's suffering quelled;
By wisdom is one purified;
[The Yakkha Alavaka:]
5. How does one wisdom win?
How does one wealth obtain?
How does one come to fame?
How does one friendship win?
How does one without sorrow fare
When from this world to another one has gone?
[The Buddha:]
6. The mindful and wise (discerning) one,
Who in the Dharma places one's faith;
By one's will to hear that Dharma
Wins the wisdom of nirvana.
7. Who is tactful and energetic,
And gains wealth by one's own effort;
Fame will one acquire by truth,
And friendship by one's giving [sharing].
8. One who has confidence and is also truthful,
virtuous, firm, and fond of giving;
By virtue of these four conditions
Will never in the hereafter grieve.
9. Truth and Restraint,
Charity and Forbearance,
Are the great reformers of humans;
If there be any better
Ask of other recluses and Brahmins.
[The Yakkha Alavaka:]
10. Why should I now try to ask
From other recluses and Brahmins
When this day I came to learn
What weal is here and hereafter?
11. This for my weal indeed
The Buddha to Alavi came;
A gift always bears a fruit;
This, too, I learned today.
12. From village to village and town to town
I shall now wander along
Praising that Supremely Awakened One (the Buddha)
And the Dharma well preached by him.
Having thus spoken, Alavaka said to the Blessed One:
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| Yakkhas are real and still here. |
"I go for guidance (sarana) to the Venerable Gautama (the Buddha), to the Dharma, and in the [accomplished] Sangha (enlightened/noble disciples)!
"May the Venerable Gautama accept me as a disciple who has gone for guidance from this day forth so long as life lasts!"
NOTES
1. "Current" or "flood" stands for the Pali word ogha, which is fourfold: sense pleasures, becoming [continued existence, dynamic being], wrong views, and ignorance (kama-ogha, bhava-ogha ditthi-ogha, avijja-ogha).
2. "Ocean" stands for the Pali word annavam, which is metaphorically used to signify repeated rebirths or samsara, the Wheel of Life and Death or the Round of Suffering in Cyclical Existence.
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