THE SUTRA OF FORTY-TWO CHAPTERS

HAVING attained Buddhahood, the World-honored One thought thus: "To be free from the passions and to be calm, this is the most excellent Way."

He was absorbed in Great Meditation, subdued all evil ones, and in Deer Park caused to revolve the Wheel of Dharma, which was the Fourfold Truth, and converted the five Bhikshus, Kaudinya, etc., inducing them to attain Enlightenment.

Again, there were other Bhikshus who implored the Buddha to remove their doubts which they had concerning his doctrine. The World-honored One illumined all their minds through his authoritative teachings. The Bhikshus,

joining their hands and reverentially bowing, followed his august instructions.

(1) The Buddha said: "Those who leave their parents, go out of the home, understand the mind, reach the source, and comprehend the immaterial, are called Cramana.

"Those who observe the two hundred and fifty precepts of morality, who are pure and spotless in their behavior, and who exert themselves for the attainment of the four fruits of saintship, are called Arhats.

"The Arhat is able to fly through space and assume different forms; his life is eternal, and there are times when he causes heaven and earth to quake.

"Next is the Anagamin. At the end of his life, the spirit of the Anagamin ascends to the nineteenth heaven and obtains Arhatship.

"Next is the Skridagamin. The Skridagamin

ascends to the heavens [after his death], comes back to the earth once more, and then attains Arhatship.

"Next is the Srotaapanna. The Srotaapanna dies seven times and is born seven times, when he finally attains Arhatship.

"By the severance of the passions is meant that like the limbs severed they are never again made use of."

(2) The Buddha said: "The homeless Cramana cuts off the passions, frees himself of attachments, understands the source of his own mind, penetrates the deepest doctrine of Buddha, and comprehends the Dharma which is immaterial. He has no prejudice in his heart, he has nothing to hanker after. He is not hampered by the thought of the Way, nor is he entangled in karma. No prejudice, no compulsion, no discipline, no enlightenment, and no going up through the grades, and yet in possession of all honors in itself,--this is called the Way."

(3) The Buddha said: "Those who shaving their heads and faces become Cramanas and who receive instruction in the Way, should surrender all worldly possessions and be contented with whatever they obtain by begging. One meal a day and one lodging under a tree, and neither should be repeated. For what makes one stupid and irrational is attachments and the passions.