The Sūtra of Ānanda’s Fellow Student

Taishō no. 149

Translation into Chinese spuriously attributed to the Parthian Trepiṭaka An Shigao (c. 148-170), but actually an anonymous translation of a sūtra from a lost variant of the Ekottarāgama (The Increasing-by-One Āgama Sūtras)

Translated into English by Shaku Shingan (8.2.2026)

Thus have I heard:

At one time, the Bhagavān was in Śrāvastī, at Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park.

At that time, in Śrāvastī City, there was a bhikṣu named Gupta, who was the Venerable Ānanda’s young fellow student. He was deeply loved, respected, and thought of; they were intimate, never having harboured anger toward one another. Yet, he did not delight in cultivating noble conduct, wishing to abandon the precepts and return to being a white-robed [layperson].

At this time, Ānanda went to the Bhagavān’s presence. Having arrived, he bowed to his feet and stood to one side. Then Ānanda said to the Bhagavān:

“In this Śrāvastī City, there is a bhikṣu named Gupta who is my young fellow student. He cannot bear to cultivate noble conduct and wishes to abandon the precepts and return to being a white-robed [layperson]. May the Bhagavān speak the Dharma to Bhikṣu Gupta, causing him, within this present life, to purely cultivate noble conduct!”

Then, the Bhagavān told Ānanda:

“Ānanda! You go personally to that Bhikṣu Gupta’s presence.”

He replied: 

“Yes! O Bhagavān!”

Ānanda received the instruction from the Buddha, then went to Bhikṣu Gupta’s presence.

[Gupta asked]: 

“Does the Bhagavān summon?”

He replied: 

“Yes!”

Then, Bhikṣu Gupta followed Ānanda’s instruction and went to the Bhagavān’s presence. Having arrived, he bowed to his feet and sat to one side.

Then, the Bhagavān addressed Bhikṣu Gupta, saying:

“Why, Bhikṣu, do you truly not delight in cultivating noble conduct, wishing to abandon the precepts to return to being a white-robed [layperson]?”

The bhikṣu replied, saying:

“It is truly so, O Bhagavān! Why is it so? My body is blazing, and my mind is also blazing; I cannot bear to cultivate noble conduct purely.”

[Translator's Note: The following must be understood as being intended as a provisional contemplation for a male monastic whose mind is overcome by lust, not as a teaching on the nature of women.]

The Bhagavān said:

"Bhikṣu! [You should contemplate] women as having five unwholesome conducts. What are the five? Bhikṣu! A woman is foul and filthy, her speech is coarse and rude, and with no consistency in her mind, she is just like a viper, always harbouring venom. Such a woman increases the armies of māras, making it challenging [for a bhikṣu] to attain liberation, and is like a hook and chain.

"A woman should not be approached, just as various venoms should not be eaten; a woman cannot be digested, just like a diamond, which will destroy the human body. Bhikṣu! She is also like a fire’s flame, like that Avīci Hell. Bhikṣu! You should not contemplate women, [for they are] just like foul dung. Bhikṣu! You should not hear about women, [for it is] just like the echo of death. Bhikṣu! A woman is like a prison, just like Vemacitra’s prison (the Asura binding wheel). Bhikṣu! A woman is an enemy, just like a viper; the bhikṣu should stay far away, as if they were a malicious friend. Bhikṣu! A woman is a terror, just like a town of thieves.

"Bhikṣu! The human body is difficult to obtain, like the uḍumbara flower. Bhikṣu! The human body is extremely difficult to obtain, like a board with one hole which, pushed into the water, [a turtle might] find only after tens of thousands of years. Bhikṣu! The right time is also difficult to encounter, and it is outside the eight [inopportune] times. You, Bhikṣu, have already obtained a human body; it is all the result of former deeds.

“Bhikṣu! The Buddha, the Bhagavān, appearing in the world is extremely difficult to encounter, just like a barren woman having a child. Bhikṣu! The Tathāgata appearing in the world is extremely difficult to encounter, just like the uḍumbara flower. Bhikṣu! You have already obtained a human body, have already received the full precepts, and have also obtained entry into the saṅgha—like being favoured by a king who also speaks the Dharma for people—resting in śamatha and vipaśyanā up to the nirvāṇa realm. Reaching that place, the Tathāgata well speaks this Dharma. If you, Bhikṣu, purely cultivate noble conduct, you shall exhaust the source of suffering.”

Then, that bhikṣu received this instruction from the Buddha, and immediately, while sitting on his seat, being without dust or filth, obtained the purification of the Dharma-eye.

Then, that bhikṣu immediately rose from his seat, bowed with his head to the Bhagavān’s feet, and withdrew and departed. At that time, that bhikṣu, having heard the Bhagavān speak this instruction, was in a solitary place enjoying himself. Being in the solitary place and enjoying himself, he therefore—as a son of good family who shaved off his beard and hair, wearing the kaṣāya robe—cultivated the unexcelled noble conduct in the Tathāgata’s presence, exhausting the cause of birth and death. Having already established himself in noble conduct, what was to be done was done, and he would no longer be born in a mother’s womb. At that time, that bhikṣu immediately became an arhat.

Then, the Venerable Gupta went to the Bhagavān’s presence. Having arrived, he bowed to his feet and sat to one side. Then, the Venerable Gupta said to the Bhagavān:

“O Bhagavān! I have already awakened to the instruction given; may the Bhagavān permit my parinirvāṇa!"

Then, the Bhagavān was silent and did not reply.

The Venerable Bhikṣu Gupta said to the Bhagavān a second and third time:

“O Bhagavān! I have already awakened to the instruction given; may the Bhagavān permit my parinirvāṇa!"

Then, the Bhagavān said:

“Bhikṣu! Now is exactly the time.”

That bhikṣu immediately rose from the seat, bowed his head to his feet, circumambulated the Bhagavān three times, then withdrew and departed, returning to his own room. Having arrived, he took out his sitting mat, spread the sitting mat on the open ground, and then ascended into the air, manifesting various transformations: either transforming one body into various bodies, or transforming various bodies into one body; or becoming stone and iron, or becoming diamond, or becoming walls and city ramparts, or becoming high mountains and stone cliffs, passing through all without obstruction, emerging and sinking into the earth, just like flowing water without hindrance.

Sitting in the cross-legged posture, filling the sky, just like a great fire’s flame, also like a flying bird, just like this sun and moon, having a great majestic spirit, having great power and influence; touching and stroking [the sun and moon] with his hand, transforming his body to reach up to the Brahmā Heaven. While in the sky, he was sitting, lying down, and walking, or manifesting smoke and flames: emitting smoke from his lower body and fire from his upper body; or emitting smoke from his upper body and fire from his lower body; or the left emitting smoke and the right fire; or the right emitting smoke and the left fire; or the front emitting smoke and the back fire; or the back emitting smoke and the front fire; or the whole body emitting smoke; or the whole body emitting flames; or the whole body emitting fire.

Then, that bhikṣu gathered back his supernormal powers, his body proceeding to sit alone. Sitting in the cross-legged posture, straightening the body and establishing right mindfulness, he set his mindfulness to the fore, then entered the first dhyāna. Rising from the first dhyāna, he entered the second dhyāna; rising from the second dhyāna, he entered the third dhyāna; rising from the third dhyāna, he entered the fourth dhyāna; rising from the fourth dhyāna, he entered the sphere of space; rising from the sphere of space, he entered the sphere of consciousness; rising from the sphere of consciousness, he entered the sphere of nothingness; rising from the sphere of nothingness, he entered the sphere of neither perception nor no perception; rising from the sphere of neither perception nor no perception, he entered the samādhi of the extinction of perception and cognition.

Rising from the samādhi of the extinction of perception and cognition, he entered [the sphere of] perception, [the sphere of] non-perception, the sphere of nothingness, the sphere of consciousness, the sphere of space, the fourth dhyāna, the third dhyāna, the second dhyāna, and the first dhyāna; again rising from the first dhyāna, he entered the second dhyāna and third dhyāna. Then, the Venerable Gupta, rising from the fourth dhyāna, abandoned bodily life, and in the nirvāṇa realm without remainder, he attained parinirvāṇa.

Then, Ānanda made offerings to the Venerable Gupta’s śarīras and went to the Bhagavān’s presence; having arrived, he bowed to his feet and stood to one side. Then Ānanda said to the Bhagavān:

“That Bhikṣu Gupta received the instruction from the Tathāgata and is enjoying himself in a solitary place; he therefore, as a son of good family who shaved off his beard and hair, wearing the three Dharma robes, with faith already firm, left home to study the Path, cultivating the unexcelled noble conduct; he exhausted the cause of birth and death. Having already established himself in noble conduct, what was to be done was done, and he will no longer be born in a mother’s womb. O Bhagavān! That Venerable Gupta has already attained parinirvāṇa.”

The Bhagavān said:

“Very wonderful! Very special! Ānanda! The Buddha, the Bhagavān, accomplishes immeasurable wisdom that enables Bhikṣu Gupta to cross the abyss of birth and death. This, Ānanda, is already achieved by the Tathāgata. How much more so the liberation of countless hundreds of thousands of sentient beings from the abyss of birth and death, and others who should be rescued? In this way, Ānanda, you should think regarding the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. Thus, Ānanda, you should train in this way.”

At that time, the Venerable Ānanda heard what the Buddha said, rejoiced in it, and sincerely practised.

Translator's note:

Modern scholarship rejects the traditional attribution of T149 to An Shigao, recognising it as a text previously listed as anonymous. Instead, Mizuno Kōgen identifies T149 as a surviving remnant of a lost "alternate Ekottarikāgama," likely translated by Zhu Fonian, based on specific stylistic features shared with a distinct group of other independent sūtras.