(Continued from 1-5-1)
The prince went to visit the hermit Alara Kalama.
The celestial beings informed the hermit, saying, “The prince of Kapilavastu has forsaken his kingdom, separated from his father, and is seeking the supreme and true path to save all sentient beings from their suffering. He has come here.”
Upon hearing the divine message, the hermit looked and saw that the prince was exceedingly beautiful. He immediately welcomed him and had him sit down.
The hermit said, “In the past, when kings were in their youth, they acted on their desires, driven by their passions. They never abandoned their kingdom to seek the path. But now, despite your young age, you have renounced your desires and come here. This is truly a rare occurrence.”
The prince replied, “I am honored by your words. Please teach me the path that leads to the cessation of birth, aging, sickness, and death.”
The hermit said, “The origin of suffering in sentient beings arises from pride. From pride, deluded thoughts are born. From deluded thoughts, attachment arises. And from attachment, the five subtle elements come into being. From these five elements, the five great elements are formed, and from the five great elements, the mental afflictions such as greed and anger are produced. This is how beings are caught in the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, and are subject to sorrow, pain, and suffering. I have only summarized this briefly.”
The prince said, “I now understand the root of birth and death that you speak of. So, how can we transcend it?”
The hermit answered, “If you wish to transcend the origin of birth and death, you must renounce the world, observe the precepts, practice patience and forbearance, meditate in a quiet place, and avoid bad desires and evil practices. If you do so, liberation is possible.”
The prince asked, “How old were you when you renounced the world, and how many years have you been practicing?”
The hermit replied, “I renounced the world at the age of sixteen, and I have been practicing for 104 years.”
Upon hearing this, the prince thought, “This person has been practicing for 104 years and has only reached this level of understanding. What I seek is something at a much higher level.”
The prince stood up from his seat and said his farewells to the hermit. As the prince left, the hermit thought, “The prince’s wisdom is so deep that it is beyond comprehension.”
He joined his palms in farewell.
(Continued to 1-5-3)
Siddhartha, having renounced worldly life, visited a renowned hermit to seek his teachings. 2nd century, Gandhara.
[Translation]
Siro Inuzuka
This text was created by using ChatGPT-4o to translate a modern Japanese translation into English, and then making some modifications. There may be errors in the English expressions. Please correct any mistakes.
[Explanation]
Shinichi Kusano / Siro Inuzuka
There is a story like this in the Majjhima Nikāya (an early Buddhist scripture).
A person is suffering after being struck by a poisoned arrow. At that moment, asking questions such as ‘Was the person who shot the arrow tall or short, male or female, fair-skinned or dark-skinned, a Brahmin or a slave?’ is meaningless. While one is asking such questions, the person will die from the poison.” (The Parable of the Poisoned Arrow)
The time when the Buddha appeared was an era of rapid civilizational advancement, during which the ancient Brahmanism (the Vedic religion), which had long supported India, was unable to cope with the changing realities. Many philosophers emerged during this time, and the Buddha was one of them.
Among the philosophers, there were those who made strange arguments. Some seriously discussed that humans are made up of several elements, and if one were to sever the head, the blade would simply pass through the gaps between the elements. While this might be scientifically plausible, it still seems strange.
What the hermit Alara is saying here, I don’t understand at all. If I can’t understand it even though it’s written in Japanese, then I definitely can’t understand it in English. This is probably the most difficult passage in the Konjaku Monogatarishu. Prince Siddhartha may have understood it, but he did not recognize its value. He left.
[Cooperation]
Shinichi Kusano
●Japanese
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