The Sutra on What is Most Precious to a Monk
In Sanskrit, Bhikṣuprarejusῡtranāma.
In Tibetan, dge slong rab tu gces pa’i mdo zhes bya ba.
[In English, The Sutra on What is Most Precious to a Monk.]
Homage to the Omniscient One.
Thus have I heard at one time. The Blessed One was residing in “Fully Blossomed Lotus” vihara in the great city of Śrāvastī, surrounded by an assembly of fully-ordained monks,1 five hundred and thirteen altogether. At that time, one among that assembly of the Blessed One known as Ārya Upāli, whose senses were completely disciplined, who was well-learned, who had profound wisdom and who was specially devoted to and held paramount the Vinaya teachings that were well-spoken by the Blessed One, arose from his seat, put his upper robe over one shoulder, and having knelt on his right knee joined his hands together in añjali at his heart, smiled, and spoke these words to the Blessed One:
“The Sage’s body, a lotus rising from the mires of saṃsāra,
Immovable like a refuge-granting mountain,
Adorned with the ornaments of the minor signs and embellished by the blossoms of the major marks,
Is so glorious that one’s thirst for viewing it is unquenchable.
To you, Supreme One, I prostrate.
Since only full-ordained monks are residing here,
We request you, oh Sage,
To teach to us, gathered here at this time,
The four: the nature, divisions, meanings of the term and proper activity of ‘fully-ordained monk.’”
Then, the Blessed One, being very pleased,
Looking at Upāli, spoke these words:
“Listen well, Upāli, my son!
That which is said by me
Is for the sake of pleasing your mind
And for the benefit of all fully-ordained monks.
The ‘fully-ordained monk’ is the victory banner of the Dharma;
The ‘fully-ordained monk’ is an adamantine life-tree;
The ‘fully-ordained monk’ has abandoned all suffering;
The ‘fully-ordained monk’ is a son of the Conqueror;
The ‘fully-ordained monk’ has slain the afflictions;
The ‘fully-ordained monk’ goes to the grove of liberation.
The very nature of a fully-ordained monk is one of restraint.
The four root vows and so forth, the 250 additional, are his proper activity—
Completely pure ethical discipline.
As for divisions, in addition to ‘monk-in-name-only,’
There is ‘one-possessed-of-the-marks,’ and an ‘authentic monk.’
Regarding the term,
Because one ‘completely exhausts the afflictions,’
‘Begs for virtue,’ ‘begs for food,’
‘Abides peacefully,’ ‘resides on the path,’
‘Correctly practices,’ ‘abandons desire’ and
‘Is pleasing to the mind,’ one is a ‘fully-ordained monk.’2
The fully-ordained monk is exquisitely beautified—
Abandoning jewelry, he is greatly beautified by adornments.
Renouncing desire, he practices with great attachment.
Ointments, bathing, food,
Adornments, clothing, colors, and,
Moreover, supreme riding mounts
Such as horses, oxen and traveling in palanquins,
Those who engage these are fully-ordained monks,
Those who do not engage these are not fully-ordained monks.”
Then Upāli spoke
These words to the Blessed One:
“How so? This concealed language
Spoken by the Sugata is difficult to grasp.
Pray, may the Sugata’s speech,
Be a lamp which clears away
The darkness of these very words.”
The Blessed One replied:
“Gold, and so forth, are worldly ornaments;
Through shunning them
One is beautified by the most supreme ornament of compassion.
Wearing the clothing of listening to transcendental teachings,
That is the most excellent, beautiful clothing.
It is not camphor, and so forth, by which one is anointed
But by moral discipline, the most supreme of ointments.
It is not by white and red, and so forth,
But by the color of faith that one is completely embellished.
Joyful perseverance in transcendental activities
Is the unsurpassable, fastest mount.
The Dharma activity of meditative concentration is the most delicious food;
Being a wholesome meal, it has the supreme of tastes.
The inestimable mansion of the sangha assembly
Is completely enjoyed upon a seat of peaceful-abiding.
He who is endowed with these, unable to be turned back,
He is an authentic monk.
That one endowed with the three chiefs and the five companions,
Together with a mendicant’s bowl and staff,
Completely restrained in the three, body, speech and mind,
One whose behavior is shown to be a disciplined conduct;
He is an authentic monk.
Those two authentic monks approach the city of salvation,
The unsurpassable bliss of liberation.
As for the other two, which are inauthentic,
That which falls in their begging bowls, and so forth,
Blazing like a flaming river of molten metal in hell,
Roasts them for four thousand eons.
The moral discipline of some is the cause of happiness,
The moral discipline of others is the cause of suffering.
Being endowed with moral discipline is unsurpassable bliss,
Degenerated moral discipline is suffering.
That monk bound by thoroughly excellent moral discipline
Is an attractive figure;
Such a person, who abides closely by his monastic commitments3
And has personal conviction in the trainings on moral discipline
But for a single day,
That person will gather an immeasureable heap of merit
And will produce the fruit of buddhahood.
However, such a person who deceives even himself,
Who doesn’t abide by the trainings, and
Wears the costume of a monk,4
And having depended merely on that appearance
Proclaims, “I am a fully-ordained monk”
But for a single day,
Like a crazed elephant whose nose has been pierced by a chain,
Or a passionate woman drunk on wine,
That one gathers immeasureable seeds of non-virtue and
Only brings about myriad harm to oneself.5
Whoever does not abide by the trainings
While wearing the robes of a monk,
The very moment he wavers from the trainings
He is fit to be a house-holding layman.
The inauthentic monk characterized by not abiding in the trainings,
A worldly person,
Fails to capture the hearts of all,
And is the object of every ridicule.6
For example, in the same way that branches
Grow on a beautiful tree trunk over a long period of time,
It is taught that if such a person remains a mere token-monk for a long time,
His perverted speech will increase
And his negative karmas will increase.
Moral discipline is unsurpassed bliss;
Moral discipline is the path of liberation;
Moral discipline is a field of excellent qualities;
Moral discipline is the cause of buddhahood;
Moral discipline is paramount.
In the same way that one protects one’s eyeball
One should protect this moral discipline,
Even at the cost of one’s life;
To discard it is foolish and unwise.
Although one may die protecting his moral discipline,
It is a cause for future happy rebirths.
If one dies having abandoned his moral discipline,
It is a cause for unhappy future rebirths.
It is not otherwise.
Therefore, Upāli and others, you must firmly grasp this very point.”
Thus was spoken by the Blessed One. Then, Upāli and the other fully-ordained monks greatly praised what had been spoken by the Blessed One. This completes the Sutra on What is Most Precious to a Monk.
Translator’s Colophon: This text was translated by Ven. Gyalten Lekden at Sera Je Monastery during the first month of the Female Water Snake year (February/March 2013). The input of Ven. Tenzin Gyurme Rinpoche, Andy Francis and Thupten Phuntsog was invaluable, I owe them great thanks. With that said all errors are my fault alone, and for those I sincerely apologize. This translation is dedicated and offered to Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the pinnacle of an “authentic monk,” without whose great kindness I would never have had the occasion to understand a single syllable of Dharma much less attempt a translation. May any benefit from the translation and contemplation of this text be dedicated to the perfect, complete enlightenment of all mother sentient beings.
Notes
1. Throughout the text, including the title, the Tibetan term consistently used is dge slong, equivalent to the Sanskrit bhikṣu, which is a “fully-ordained monk,” in contradistinction to a dge tshul, a novice monk, or a rab byung, one who has just gone forth from the householder life and lives in monastic morality without having yet taken the vows. For aesthetic purposes I have occasionally rendered this term as “monk” throughout this translation, most notably in the title, though this is somewhat incorrect. The Tibetan term dge sbyong, “one striving in/toward virtue,” is the umbrella term encompassing all three varieties of monastic engagement referenced above, śramaṇa in Sanskrit. Technically, this term is best translated as the general “monk.” My use of the abbreviated “monk,” hoping to avoid the bloat of continually repeating the lengthy English terminology, distorts what is clear in the original, that this text is only referencing fully-ordained monks. I hope this footnote somewhat helps rectify that distortion.
2. This list conveys a series of various etymological interpretations for the term “fully ordained monk,” which is lost in English, and even in Sanskrit and Tibetan some of the variations require commentary to be clearly understood. Suffice it to say it is understood that in the very language of “fully-ordained monk” all of these concepts and identities are implicitly understood.
3. This verse is a play on words lost in the English. The monk Upāli is famous for having repeated all of the teachings of the Buddha on monastic discipline (Vinaya), and his name is roughly translated from the Tibetan as “one who abides close.”
4. The actual phrase used is “one who grasps the victory banner of the Sugata,” which is a euphemism for wearing the robes of a follower of the Buddha. In this context I have translated it as “costume” as it is referencing an inauthentic monk, but the same euphemism is used in respectful contexts as well. The same phrase can also be interpreted as one who promotes or serves as a standard for the Buddha’s teachings.
5. These lines are referencing a “monk-in-name-only.”
6. These lines are referencing “one-possessed-of-marks.”