THE BLESSED NOBLE AWAKENED ONE - THE TATHAGATA
contagiousness of evil
This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: “Aspiring to these three forms of bliss, a wise person should guard his virtue. Which three? [Thinking,] ‘May praise come to me,’ a wise person should guard his virtue. [Thinking,] ‘May wealth come to me,’ a wise person should guard his virtue. [Thinking,] ‘At the break-up of the body, after death, may I reappear in a good destination, in heaven,’ a wise person should guard his virtue. Aspiring to these three forms of bliss, a wise person should guard his virtue.”
Intelligent, you should guard your virtue, aspiring to three forms of bliss: praise; the obtaining of wealth; and, after death, rejoicing in heaven. Even if you do no evil but seek out one who does, you're suspected of evil. Your bad reputation grows. The sort of person you make a friend, the sort you seek out, that's the sort you yourself become β for your living together is of that sort. The one associated with, the one who associates, the one who’s touched, the one who touches another β like an arrow smeared with poison β contaminates the quiver. So, fearing contamination, the awakened should not be comrades with evil people. A man who wraps rotting fish in a blade of kusa grass makes the grass smelly: so it is if you seek out fools. But a man who wraps powdered incense in the leaf of a tree makes the leaf fragrant: so it is if you seek out the awakened. So, knowing your own outcome as like the leaf-wrapper’s, you shouldn’t seek out those who aren’t good. The wise would associate with those who are. Those who aren’t good lead you to hell. The good help you reach a good destination.
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A Battle (2)
Staying at Savatthi. Then King Ajatasattu of Magadha, the son of Queen Videha, raising a fourfold army, marched toward Kasi against King Pasenadi Kosala. King Pasenadi heard, “King Ajatasattu of Magadha, the son of Queen Videha, they say, has raised a fourfold army and is marching toward Kasi against me.” So King Pasenadi, raising a fourfold army, launched a counter-attack toward Kasi against King Ajatasattu. Then King Ajatasattu & King Pasenadi fought a battle, and in that battle King Pasenadi defeated King Ajatasattu and captured him alive.
The thought then occurred to King Pasenadi: “Even though King Ajatasattu has wronged me when I have done him no wrong, still he is my nephew. What if I, having confiscated all his elephant troops, all his cavalry, all his chariots, & all his infantry, were to let him go with just his life?” So King Pasenadi β having confiscated all his elephant troops, cavalry, chariots, & infantry β let King Ajatasattu go with just his life.
Then in the early morning, a large number of True Followers of The Path Shown by The Awakened One-The Tathagata, having put on their robes and carrying their bowls & outer robes, went into Savatthi for alms. Having gone for alms in Savatthi, after the meal, returning from their alms round, they went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As they were sitting there, they [reported these events to the Blessed One].
Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:
A man may plunder as long as it serves his ends, but when others are plundered, he who has plundered gets plundered in turn. A fool thinks, ‘Now’s my chance,’ as long as his evil has yet to ripen. But when it ripens, the fool falls into pain. Killing, you gain your killer. Conquering, you gain one who will conquer you; insulting, insult; harassing, harassment. And so, through the cycle of action, he who has plundered gets plundered in turn.