A Brahman Tests the Buddha's Omniscience

(T25.114b1-11 [fasc.7])
Question: How many grains of sand are there in the Ganges
River? [*]

Response: Their number is so great that it is unknowable by any
numerary categories. Only the buddhas and Dharma- body bodhisattvas are
capable of knowing their number. Buddhas and Dharma- body bodhisattvas
are even able to calculate how many atoms are arising and perishing
throughout all of Jambudvipa, how much the more so are they able to know
the number of sands in the Ganges.

For example, once, when the Buddha was sitting beneath a tree in
the forest beyond the Jetavana grove, a brahman arrived where the Buddha
was and asked of the Buddha, "How man leaves are there on the trees of
this forest?"

The Buddha immediately replied, stating a particular number of
leaves. The Brahman thought doubtfully to himself, "Who would be able
to corroborate this?" Then the Brahman went over to a tree and,
removing a number of leaves, stashed them away and then returned to the
Buddha, asking, "Precisely how many leaves are there in the forest,
now?"

The Buddha then immediately replied that now the number of
leaves had been reduced by a certain number, noting precisely the number
of leaves which had been removed. When the Brahman realized this his
mind was filled with reverence and faith. He requested that the Buddha
allow him to become a monk, after which he gained the way of the Arhat.
We can know from this that the Buddha can know the number of sands in
the Ganges.

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End Note:
[*] The number of sands in the Ganges was commonly used by the Buddha in representing inconceivably large numbers, hence the question.

Why the Buddha Shows His Tongue


(T25.115a4-c2 [fasc.8])


Sutra:
At that time, the World Honored One put forth his
characteristically broad and long tongue, extending it so that it
entirely covered the great trichiliocosm and then he smiled happily.
From the root of his tongue he sent forth innumerable tens of millions
of ko.tis of light rays. Each of these light rays transformed into a
thousand- petalled golden- colored lotus blossom. Atop each of these
flowers, there sat a transformation buddha who had assumed the full-
lotus posture and who was proclaiming the six paaramitaas. Those beings
who heard this became certain thereby to realize
anuttarasamyaksa.mbodhi. Likewise, this [supernatural transformation]
extended in the same manner to reach a Ganges' sands number of
buddhalands throughout the ten directions.

Upade'sa:
Question: How is it that one of such great virtue, venerability
and solemnity as the Buddha, the World Honored One, would stick out his
broad, long tongue? It seems rather like a mark of contemptuousness.

Reply: In the above three instances of emitting light, the
illumination reached to beings throughout the ten directions and caused
them to gain liberation. Now, [the Buddha] wishes to speak the
Mahaaprajnaapaaramitaa.++The+Mahaaprajnaapaaramitaa is extremely
profound, difficult to understand, difficult to comprehend, and
difficult to believe in and accept. For this reason, [the Buddha]
extends his broad and long tongue as a form of certification [of
believability]. Where one possesses a tongue with characteristics such
as this, one's words are necessarily veracious.

[Buddha, the Servant & the Doubting Brahman]


As an example, once, some time ago, when the Buddha had
concluded the rains retreat in 'Sraavastii, Aananda followed the Buddha
in travelling about from state to state. They were about to arrive at a
particular brahman city. [It happened that] the king of that city was
well aware of the Buddha's spiritual virtues, and that he was able to
convert multitudes of people and influence the minds of the masses.
[That king thought], "If now [the Buddha] comes here, who would find any
further satisfaction with me?" Then he issued a restrictive decree:
"Whosever donates food to the Buddha or listens to the words of the
Buddha is thereby bound to pay a levy of five hundred gold pieces."
Having arrived in that [king's] state after the restrictive
decree had been laid down, the Buddha led Aananda, with almsbowls in
hand, into the city to collect alms. The people of the city had all
shut their doors and did not respond, whereupon the Buddha left with his
bowl empty.
At that time, one household's old servant came out the door
carrying a cracked clay bowl brimming with spoiled gruel, intending to
dispose of it. She noticed the Buddha, the World Honored One, coming
with an empty bowl. The old servant saw the Buddha's major features and
minor characteristics, his golden color, the white hair mark [between
his eyebrows], the cowl [on the crown of his head], his ten foot halo,
his empty bowl, and saw that he had no food. When she had seen this she
thought, "A person of such spiritual stature as this deserves to dine on
the fare of the heavenly kitchens. That he now voluntarily condescends
to [allow] his body [to appear] carrying an almsbowl and walking along
on alms rounds is certainly on account of his great lovingkindness and
compassion for everyone." Her thoughts of faith were pure and although
she desired to present a fine offering to him, she had no means to
accord with her wish. Feeling much abashed, she addressed the Buddha,
"Although I wish I could provide a [suitable] offering, I am unable to
obtain anything more than this. If the Buddha has need of this lowly
fare, he may take it."
The Buddha was aware that her thoughts were imbued with a pure
faith and reverence and so extended his hand and accepted with his
almsbowl the food which she had given. The Buddha thereupon smiled and
emitted five- colored rays of light which everywhere illumined heaven
and earth and then returned, entering through that characteristic
feature on his brow.
nanda placed his palms together, knelt, and addressed the
Buddha, "Pray, may the World Honored consent [to explain] the causes and
conditions whereby he now smiles. I wish to hear his reasons."
The Buddha asked nanda, "Did you or did you not notice that
this elderly woman, with a mind imbued with faith, made an offering of
food to the Buddha?"
Aananda said, "I did see that."
The Buddha said, "Because this elderly woman made an offering of
food to the Buddha, she shall enjoy a period of fifteen kalpas in the
heavens and among people, wherein she shall be the recipient of
blessings and bliss and shall not fall into the states of woe.
Thereafter, she shall be reborn as a man, shall leave behind the
homelife, shall study the Way, shall realize pratyekabuddhahood, and
shall enter the nirvaa.na without residue.
At that time, there was a brahman standing alongside the Buddha
who uttered a verse, saying:

You Sir are [a scion] of the K.satriyan Solar clan
And a prince of the house of the Pure Rice king,
And yet, to gain food, you now tell a great lie.
As reward for what crime do you reap such rank
fare?

At that time, the Buddha extended his broad and long tongue
until it covered his face up to his hairline. He then asked the
brahman, "In your perusal of The Classics have you or have you not found
any indication that a person could have a tongue like this and yet still
tell a lie?"
The brahman replied, "If a person's tongue is capable of
covering the nose alone, then there will be no falseness in his words,
how much the less [could there be any false speech] where it can reach
up to the hairline. Although, I [now] believe that the Buddha
definitely does not speak falsely, still, I do not understand how such a
small offering could have a retribution so great as this."

[The Nyagrodha Tree Simile]

The Buddha asked the brahman, "Have you or have you not ever
seen anything in this world which only rarely occurs and which is only
seldom seen?"
The brahman replied, "I have indeed seen such a thing. I once
was travelling on the road with other brahmans when I saw a single
nyagrodha tree the shadow of which was still not used up even when
shading a caravan of five hundred merchant wagons. This was a
phenomenon which occurs but rarely and which is but rarely encountered."
The Buddha asked, "Is the seed of that tree large or is it
small?"
He replied, "It is but one third the size of a mustard seed."
The Buddha asked, "But who could believe you when you say that
there is a tree of such great size but which has a seed so extremely
small?"
The brahman replied, "It is actually so, World Honored One. I
have seen it with my own eyes. This is not a falsehood."
The Buddha said, "So too it is that I have seen that this
elderly woman by making a faithful offering thereby gains such a grand
resultant retribution. It is just like the tree where the cause is
minor but the effect is great and is [a result] brought about by the
Thus Come One's magnificent field of merit.
The brahman's mind awakened (lit. "opened") and he understood.
He made a full reverential prostration (lit. "threw his five extremities
to the ground") and repented of his error before the Buddha, saying, "My
thoughts have been uncivil and thus I have stupidly failed to believe in
the Buddha."
The Buddha spoke Dharma for him in various ways whereupon he
gained the initial resultant stage of the Way. He immediately raised
his arm into the air and cried out loudly, "Everyone! The gate of sweet
dew has been opened! Why don't you all come out?!"
Each of the brahmans in the city then remitted five hundred gold
pieces to the king. They welcomed the Buddha and made offerings to him.
They all exclaimed, "We have gained the flavor of sweet dew. Who would
want to be sparing of five hundred gold pieces?" Then everyone came out
whereupon the restrictive decree became entirely unenforceable. This
brahman king himself together with his ministers and subjects took
refuge in the Buddha and the Dharma. All of the people of the city
developed a pure faith. In just this fashion, the Buddha extended his
characteristically broad and long tongue for the sake of those who did
not yet believe


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End Notes:

A ko.ti is a very large number which, if taken literally, is equal to
10,000,000. [Back to text.]

The six paaramitaas or "perfections" are: giving, patience, moral
ethics, vigor, dhyaana (meditative absorption), and praj right and perfect enlightenment
of the Buddha [Back to text.].

There were two other instances of the Buddha emitting light in the
section of Sutra text just prior to that quoted above [Back to text.].

The Mahaaprajnaapaaramitaa is "the great perfection of transcendental
wisdom," and is the name of this Sutra which Nagarjuna explains herein
[Back to text.].

"The initial resultant stage" refers here to the stage of the srota-
aapanna, otherwise known as the "stream winner," "stream- enterer," or
"first- stage arhat."


[The Monk, the King & the Naked Ascetics]

(T25.119a12-b5 [fasc.8])

Once, in South India, there was a Dharma Master who was holding
forth from the high seat on the meaning of the five precepts. Within
the Assembly, there were many followers of other paths who had come to
listen. It happened that at this time the King himself challenged [the
monk] with a difficult question, saying, "If it's really as you claim,
then those who serve liquor to others as well as those who drink it
themselves bring down upon themselves the retribution of being 'crazy'
and dull- minded. [If that were so], then it ought to be the case that
in this present age those who are crazy are in the majority whereas
those who are normal are in the minority. However, those who are now
crazy are very few, whereas those who are not crazy are the more
numerous. Why is this the case?"
At this time, those followers of other paths [who had come to
listen] chorused their approval, "Ah, good indeed! This difficulty is
quite a profound one. On account of the King's incisive wisdom, this
bald pate fellow in the high seat will definitely be unable to reply."
At that time, the Dharma Master responded by simply raising his
arm and pointing to those followers of other paths, whereupon he
proceeded to discourse on an entirely different topic. Then the King
immediately understood. But those followers of other paths reacted by
exclaiming to the King, "The King's difficult question was extremely
profound and this fellow didn't know any way to respond to it. He was
embarrassed by knowing no answer and so just stuck up his finger and
then changed the subject."
The King said to those followers of other paths, "The Dharma
Master on the high seat gave his answer by pointing. Because he wished
to spare all of you the embarrassment, he chose not to reply with words.
He was pointing in your direction and indicating thereby that all of you
are crazy, and that therefore the crazy ones are not in the minority.
"You all smear your bodies with ashes, go around naked and
shameless, fill skulls with excrement which you then eat, pull out your
hair, lie down on thorns, suspend your bodies upside down, subject your
noses to smoke, plunge into the water in the winter and then roast
yourselves before a fire in the summer. All of these things like this
which you practice are contrary to the Way and are indications of mental
derangement.
"Moreover, the practice which you all engage in of peddling meat
and salt constitutes a direct miscarriage of brahmanical dharma. During
the ceremonial offerings to the heavens, you receive cattle as donations
and then immediately turn around and sell them off and yet say of
yourselves that you are in accord with the Dharma. These cattle are
[sold to be consumed as] meat. How could deceiving people in this way
be anything but a transgression?
"What's more, you say that when one goes into the auspicious
river, the filth of one's offenses is all gotten rid of. This amounts
to claiming that there are no causes and conditions inherent in offenses
or merit. What a crime it is to deal in beef and profiteer in salt! As
for claiming that by going into the auspicious river one can get rid of
one's offenses,--if one is able to get rid of one's offenses that way
then one is also able to get rid of one's merit that way. Wherein does
this auspiciousness lie?
"All of these [supposedly efficacious] behaviors are devoid of
[valid] causes and [valid] conditions and yet by forced interpretation
you claim that these represent [effectual] causes and conditions. This
all amounts to mental derangement. All such different indications of
mental derangement apply to you. Because the Dharma Master wished to
spare you embarrassment, he simply pointed and did not speak."

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End Notes:


The five precepts are the standard minimum ethical guidelines for the
laity. They include proscriptions against lying, killing, stealing,
sexual misconduct and intoxicants. The Buddha indicated that, all other
things being equal, adherence to them guarantees that one will at least
avoid rebirth in the states of woe. As rebirth in the human realm is
considered essential to the ability to continue one's progress on the
Path, one cannot over-emphasize the pivotal importance of taking these
proscriptions seriously.