Adoration Of Relics
Buddhapūjanapañha (Mil 5.3 7)
‘Venerable Nāgasena, the Tathāgata said: “Hinder not yourselves, Ānanda, by honouring the remains of the Tathāgata.” And on the other hand he said:
“Honour that relic of him who is worthy of honour,
Acting in that way you go from this world to heaven.”
‘Now if the first injunction was right the second must be wrong, and if the second is right the first must be wrong. This too is a double-edged problem now put to you, and you have to solve it.’
‘Both the passages you quote were spoken by the Blessed One. But it was not to all men, it was to the sons of the Conqueror that it was said: “Hinder not yourselves, Ānanda, by honouring the remains of the Tathāgata “. Paying reverence is not the work of the sons of the Conqueror, but rather the grasping of the true nature of all compounded things, the practice of thought, contemplation in accordance with the rules of Satipaṭṭhāna, the seizing of the real essence of all objects of thought, the struggle against evil, and devotion to their own (spiritual) good. These are things which the sons of the Conqueror ought to do, leaving to others, whether gods or men, the paying of reverence.’
‘And that is so, O king, just as it is the business of the princes of the earth to learn all about elephants, and horses, and chariots, and bows, and rapiers, and documents, and the law of property, to carry on the traditions of the Khattiya clans, and to fight themselves and to lead others in war, while husbandry, merchandise, and the care of cattle are the business of other folk, ordinary Vessas and Suddas.—Or just as the business of Brahmins and their sons is concerned with the Rig-veda, the Yajur-veda, the Sama-veda, the Atharva-veda, with the knowledge of lucky marks (on the body), of legends, Purānas, lexicography, prosody, phonology, verses. grammar, etymology, astrology, interpretation of omens, and of dreams, and of signs, study of the six Vedāṅgas, of eclipses of the sun and moon, of the prognostications to be drawn from the flight of comets, the thunderings of the gods, the junctions of planets, the fall of meteors, earthquakes, conflagrations, and signs in the heavens and on the earth, the study of arithmetic, of casuistry, of the interpretation of the omens to be drawn from dogs, and deer, and rats, and mixtures of liquids, and the sounds and cries of birds-while husbandry, merchandise, and the care of cattle are the business of other folk, ordinary Vessas and Suddas. So it was, O king, in the sense of “Devote not yourselves to such things as are not your business, but to such things as are so” that the Tathāgata was speaking when he said: “Hinder not yourselves, Ānanda, by honouring the remains of the Tathāgata.” And if, O king, he had not said so, then would the Bhikkhus have taken his bowl and his robe, and occupied themselves with paying reverence to the Buddha through them!’
‘Very good, Nāgasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’
Here ends the dilemma as to reverence to relics.
“Honour that relic of him who is worthy of honour,
Acting in that way you go from this world to heaven.”
‘Now if the first injunction was right the second must be wrong, and if the second is right the first must be wrong. This too is a double-edged problem now put to you, and you have to solve it.’
‘Both the passages you quote were spoken by the Blessed One. But it was not to all men, it was to the sons of the Conqueror that it was said: “Hinder not yourselves, Ānanda, by honouring the remains of the Tathāgata “. Paying reverence is not the work of the sons of the Conqueror, but rather the grasping of the true nature of all compounded things, the practice of thought, contemplation in accordance with the rules of Satipaṭṭhāna, the seizing of the real essence of all objects of thought, the struggle against evil, and devotion to their own (spiritual) good. These are things which the sons of the Conqueror ought to do, leaving to others, whether gods or men, the paying of reverence.’
‘And that is so, O king, just as it is the business of the princes of the earth to learn all about elephants, and horses, and chariots, and bows, and rapiers, and documents, and the law of property, to carry on the traditions of the Khattiya clans, and to fight themselves and to lead others in war, while husbandry, merchandise, and the care of cattle are the business of other folk, ordinary Vessas and Suddas.—Or just as the business of Brahmins and their sons is concerned with the Rig-veda, the Yajur-veda, the Sama-veda, the Atharva-veda, with the knowledge of lucky marks (on the body), of legends, Purānas, lexicography, prosody, phonology, verses. grammar, etymology, astrology, interpretation of omens, and of dreams, and of signs, study of the six Vedāṅgas, of eclipses of the sun and moon, of the prognostications to be drawn from the flight of comets, the thunderings of the gods, the junctions of planets, the fall of meteors, earthquakes, conflagrations, and signs in the heavens and on the earth, the study of arithmetic, of casuistry, of the interpretation of the omens to be drawn from dogs, and deer, and rats, and mixtures of liquids, and the sounds and cries of birds-while husbandry, merchandise, and the care of cattle are the business of other folk, ordinary Vessas and Suddas. So it was, O king, in the sense of “Devote not yourselves to such things as are not your business, but to such things as are so” that the Tathāgata was speaking when he said: “Hinder not yourselves, Ānanda, by honouring the remains of the Tathāgata.” And if, O king, he had not said so, then would the Bhikkhus have taken his bowl and his robe, and occupied themselves with paying reverence to the Buddha through them!’
‘Very good, Nāgasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’
Here ends the dilemma as to reverence to relics.
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