The conversion of Aṅgulimāla
Translation of BZA 016. First version published in Buddhist Studies Review vol. 23-1 (2006).
Thus have I heard, once, the Buddha traveled in Magadha in the Tao-he forest.
[On his way] he met a herdsman who said: ‘In this forest lives the bandit Aṅgulimāla, who might kill you’. The Buddha told the herdsman: ‘I don’t think I will be harmed by this bandit’, and went along. He met another herdsman who told him the same and the Buddha answered as before. This happened three times, and the Buddha said: ‘This evil person will never harm me’. When he had entered the depth of the forest, Aṅgulimāla saw him coming from afar and, scabbard in the left hand, sword in the right, charged forward. But though he was running quickly and the Buddha calmly walked along, he could not reach him. When Aṅgulimāla became exhausted, he called to the Buddha: ‘Stop! Renunciant, stop!’. The Buddha replied: ‘I have already stopped, it is you who haven’t stopped’.
There Aṅgulimāla spoke a verse:
This renunciant keeps on walking / but says: ‘I have already stopped’. //
I now have stopped / and he says I have not. //
Why does he say he has stopped / and I keep going? //
There the Buddha spoke a verse:
For long have I abstained / from harming other beings by knife or cudgel. //
You trouble them / persist in your evil ways. //
So I say I have stopped / and you have not. //
I have abandoned causing, out of spite and evil / harm to all endowed with form. //
It is you who do not cease your evil ways / always doing unwholesome deeds. //
So I say I have stopped / and you have not. //
I have abandoned all forms of hatred / towards living beings. //
You harm the living / have not abandoned the dark ways. //
So I say I have stopped / and you have not. //
I enjoy my state / the mind concentrated tirelessly. //
You don’t see the four truths / and cannot find a place to stop. //
So I say that it is me who has stopped / and you have not. //
There Aṅgulimāla spoke a verse:
Long have I dwelt in this wilderness / never have I seen such a man; //
the Bhagavant has come here / to teach me the good Dhamma. //
Long have I followed evil ways / today I will abandon them. //
Now that I have heard you speak / I follow the Dhamma and cut off all evil. //
[Having spoken thus he] sheathed the sword / and cast it into a deep pit //
and bowed his head to pay homage / and took refuge with the World-honored One //
filled with deep faith / he set his mind on going forth. //
There the Buddha let compassion arise / for the benefit of all worlds //
invited him: ‘Come’/ so he became a renunciant. //
There Aṅgulimāla, son of a good family, cut off his hair, put on the robes and went forth. [From then on] he took his abode in silent emptiness, his mind striving tirelessly, focused on his practice, diligent in his efforts, by concentration he focused his mind in true insight. He practised supreme abstinence, reached the end of suffering and attained realization within this present world, within his own very body. He clearly understood his nature. He knew: birth had come to an end, the holy abode is established, done is what had to be done, there will be no further rebirth [for me]. When the venerable Ahiṃsaka became an Arahat and attained the joy of liberation he spoke this verse:
My name is Ahiṃsaka [one who does no harm] / but later I committed great cruelties. //
Now however my name has come true / truth is not to harm. //
Now I abstain from doing harm with body / speech and mind. //
Who never harms others / is truly called Ahiṃsaka. //
I was steeped in blood / they called me Aṅgulimāla. //
[like one] carried away by a strong current / only now that I have taken refuge in the Buddha //
and received ordination / I grasped the three knowledges, //
fully understanding the teachings of the Buddha / I respect and practise it. //
In this world, those who tame / or control use knife and staff and cudgel, //
use iron hooks and whips and bridles / dealing cuffs and blows. //
The World-honored One, the great tamer / has done away with evil methods, //
has cast away knife, staff and cudgel / this is the true way of taming. //
Crossing water, one needs a bridge or a boat / to straighten arrows, one needs a fire, //
the carpenter needs an axe / knowledge is adjusted by wisdom. //
A person who at first committed evil / then stops, not continuing doing so: //
he shines upon the world / like the moon when the clouds have disappeared. //
A person who was slothful at first / then stops being lazy: //
whole-heartedly he abandons thorns and poison / focusing on crossing to the other shore. //
Once the evil deeds are done / one is bound to be reborn in evil realms. //
Meeting the Buddha purged my guilt / I could avoid [the fruit of] my evil actions. //
All those who grasp what I say / liberate their minds from the bonds of hatred, //
by patient suffering attain the pure vision / being victorious without fighting is the teaching of the Buddha. //
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