The Episode of Dridhadhyashaya

The Episode of Drdhadhashaya (Skt. Dṛḍhādhyāśayaparivarta; Tib. ལྷག་པའི་བསམ་པ་བརྟན་པའི་ལེའུ།, Wyl. lhag pa’i bsam pa brtan pa’i le’u) is a relatively short sutra that begins by introducing the bodhisattva-monk Drdhadhashaya, who instantly falls in love with a merchant’s daughter while on an alms round. He tries to remedy his desire with thoughts of the unpleasantness of her body but fails, and so removes himself from her presence without receiving alms. The Buddha, who is nearby, is aware of Drdhadhashaya's situation and, in order to tame him, chases him with an apparition of the beautiful girl. The bodhisattva flees in fright, but the apparition catches up with him and tells him that fleeing will not help—only relinquishing his desire will. Distressed, the bodhisattva Drdhadhashaya goes to the Buddha to request a teaching through which he can understand the nature of these events.

Now that the bodhisattva Drdhadhashaya is primed for such a teaching, the Buddha delivers a concise yet uncompromising and profound discourse on non-duality using the analogies of a magical illusion, a dream, a mirage, a reflection, the son of a barren woman, and a visual hallucination. Each analogy is used to indicate the erroneous way certain bhikshus, bhikshunis, laymen, and laywomen present in the audience perceive things that do not really exist, and how they analyze whether they should take up or discard them, affirm or negate them. Of such practitioners the Buddha repeatedly states, “I do not say of such foolish people that they are cultivating the path; they should be said to be on the wrong course.” He declares that only a non-dualistic approach is the correct way to practise: from the standpoint of the dharmadhatu one should not take up, discard, negate, or affirm any phenomenon.

Text

There is no extant Sanskrit manuscript.

The Tibetan translation of this sutra can be found in the General Sutra section of the Tibetan Dergé Kangyur, Toh 224

• English translation: The Episode of Dṛḍhādhyāśaya