17.2 The Story about a Certain Bhikkhu

Dhp 222

Burlingame: The Tree Devatā and the Monk

Compare: Vin Pāc 11

Against the pleas of a Devatā a bhikkhu cut down a tree thereby injuring her child at the same time; the Devatā at first thought to kill him, but restrained her anger and reported the matter to the Buddha instead, who spoke a verse and gave her a new tree to live in, and laid down a rule that bhikkhus should not injure trees and plants.

Keywords: Devatās, Rich Men, Discipline

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“Whoever should hold back anger,” this Dhamma teaching [30.98] was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Aggāḷava Shrine with reference to a certain bhikkhu.

For after the Teacher had given permission to the Saṅgha of bhikkhus to lodge without the walls of the monastery, and while the rich man of Rājagaha and others were busy providing such lodgings, a certain bhikkhu of Āḷavi decided to build himself a lodging, and seeing a tree which suited him, {3.300} began to cut it down. Thereupon a certain Devatā who had been reborn in that tree, and who had an infant child, appeared before the bhikkhu, carrying her child on her hip, and begged him not to cut down the trees, saying: “Master, do not cut down my home; it will be impossible for me to take my child and wander about without a home.” But the bhikkhu said: “I shall not be able to find another tree like this,” and paid no further attention to what she said.

The Devatā thought to herself: “If he but look upon this child, he will desist,” and placed the child on a branch of the tree. The bhikkhu, however, had already swung his axe, was unable to check the force of his upraised axe, and cut off the arm of the child. Furious with anger, the Devatā raised both her hands and exclaimed: “I will strike him dead.” In an instant, however, the thought came to her: “This bhikkhu is a righteous man; if I kill him, I shall go to Niraya Hell. Moreover, if other Devatās see bhikkhus cutting down their own trees, they will say to themselves: ‘Such and such a Devatā killed a bhikkhu under such circumstances,’ and will follow my example and kill other bhikkhus. Besides, this bhikkhu has a master; I will therefore content myself with reporting this matter to his master.”

Lowering her upraised hands, she went weeping to the Teacher, and having saluted him, stood on one side. The Teacher said: “What is the matter, Devatā?” The Devatā replied: “Venerable Sir, your disciple did this and that to me. I was sorely tempted to kill him, but I thought this and that, refrained from killing him, and came here.” So saying, she told him the story in all its details.

When the Teacher heard her story, {3.301} he said to her: “Well done, well done, [30.99] Devatā! you have done well in holding in, like a swift-speeding chariot, your anger when it was thus aroused.” So saying, he pronounced the following verse:

222. Yo ve uppatitaṁ kodhaṁ rathaṁ bhantaṁ va dhāraye,
tam-ahaṁ sārathiṁ brūmi rasmiggāho itaro jano.

Whoever should hold back anger
just like a swerving chariot,
that one is a charioteer,
other people just rein-holders.

At the end of the teaching the Devatā was established in the fruition of Stream-entry, and those who had assembled also had benefit from the Dhamma teaching.

But even after the Devatā had become a Stream-enterer, she stood weeping. The Teacher asked her: “What is the matter, Devatā?” – “Venerable Sir,” she replied, “my home has been destroyed; what am I to do now? The Teacher said: “Enough, Devatā; be not disturbed; I will give you a place of abode.” With these words he pointed out near the Perfumed Chamber at Jetavana a certain tree from which a Devatā had departed on the preceding day and said: “In such and such a place is a tree which stands by itself; enter therein.” Accordingly the Devatā entered into that tree. Thenceforth, because the Devatā had received her place of abode as a gift from the Buddha, although Devatās of great power {3.302} approached that tree, they were unable to shake it. The Teacher took this occasion to lay down and enjoin upon the bhikkhus the observance of the precept regarding the injuring of plants and trees. AJ: see Vin Pāc 11.