Cp 12

Bhūridattacariya

“Punāparaṁ yadā homi, bhūridatto mahiddhiko; Virūpakkhena mahāraññā, devalokamagañchahaṁ.

The Dragon Bhūridatta’s Conduct

“Then again when I was Bhūridatta, a dragon of great psychic power, together with Virūpakkha the Great King I went to a heavenly realm.

Tattha passitvāhaṁ deve, ekantaṁ sukhasamappite; Taṁ saggagamanatthāya, sīlabbataṁ samādiyiṁ.

There I saw gods wholly given over to pleasure. For the sake of going to that heaven, I undertook the observance of ethics.

Sarīrakiccaṁ katvāna, bhutvā yāpanamattakaṁ; Caturo aṅge adhiṭṭhāya, semi vammikamuddhani.

After tending to my physical needs, and eating enough to get by, I resolved on the four factors, and lay down atop a termite mound, thinking:

‘Chaviyā cammena maṁsena, Nahāruaṭṭhikehi vā; Yassa etena karaṇīyaṁ, Dinnaṁyeva harātu so’.

‘My outer skin and inner, flesh, sinews and bones: whoever has use for these, they are already given, please take them.’

Saṁsito akataññunā, ālampāyano mamaggahi; Peḷāya pakkhipitvāna, kīḷeti maṁ tahiṁ tahiṁ.

While lying there the ingrate Ālampāyana grabbed me. He threw me in a basket and made me perform in places all over.

Peḷāya pakkhipantepi, sammaddantepi pāṇinā; Ālampāyane na kuppāmi, sīlakhaṇḍabhayā mama.

Though thrown in a basket and crushed by his hands, I did not get upset with Ālampāyana, for fear of breaking my ethics.

Sakajīvitapariccāgo, tiṇato lahuko mama; Sīlavītikkamo mayhaṁ, pathavīuppatanaṁ viya.

To give up my own life was as light as a blade of grass. To transgress my ethical principles was like overturning the earth.

Nirantaraṁ jātisataṁ, cajeyyaṁ mama jīvitaṁ; Neva sīlaṁ pabhindeyyaṁ, catuddīpāna hetupi.

In a hundred successive lives I would give up my own life. I would not even violate my ethics for the sake of the four continents.

Api cāhaṁ sīlarakkhāya, Sīlapāramipūriyā; Na karomi citte aññathattaṁ, Pakkhipantampi peḷake”ti.

For the sake of protecting ethics, and fulfilling my perfection of ethics, I did not let my mind change, even when thrown in a basket.”