                                           
                                           
                                           
                           Majjhima Nikaya 57
                                           
                          THE DOG-DUTY ASCETIC
                       (//Kukkuravatika Sutta//)
                                           
   
   
   
                              Introduction
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                           
   There were some strange people around in the Buddha's days believing 
   some strange things -- but that is no different from our own days 
   when people still believe the most odd off-balance ideas. In this 
   sutta we meet some people who believed that by imitating animals 
   they would be saved. Maybe they're still with us too!
   
     Belief is often one thing, action another. While beliefs sometimes 
   influence actions, for other people their beliefs are quite separate 
   from what they do. But the Buddha says all intentional actions, 
   whether thoughts, speech or bodily actions, however expressed, are 
   //kamma// and lead the doer of them to experience a result sooner or 
   later. In this sutta the Buddha classifies kamma into four groups:
     
         (i)   dark with a dark result,
         (ii)  bright with a bright result,
         (iii) dark and bright with a dark and bright result,
         (iv)  neither dark nor bright with a neither dark nor bright 
               result.
         
     Dark (evil) kamma does not give a bright (happy) result, nor does 
   bright (beneficial) kamma lead to dark (miserable) result. Kamma can 
   be mixed, where an action is done with a variety of motives, some 
   good, some evil. And that kind of kamma also exists which gives up 
   attachment to and interest in the other three and so leads beyond 
   the range of kamma. 
   
   
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                          The Dog-Duty Ascetic
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                           
   1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living in 
   the Koliyan country: there is a town of the Koliyans called 
   Haliddavasana.
   
   
     2. Then Punna, a son of the Koliyans and an ox-duty ascetic, and 
   also Seniya a naked dog duty ascetic, went to the Blessed One, and 
   Punna the ox duty ascetic paid homage to the Blessed One and sat 
   down at one side, while Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic exchanged 
   greetings with the Blessed One, and when the courteous and amiable 
   talk was finished, he too sat down at one side curled up like a dog. 
   When Punna the ox-duty ascetic sat down, he asked the Blessed One: 
   "Venerable sir, this naked dog-duty ascetic Seniya does what is hard 
   to do: he eats his food when it is thrown on the ground. That dog 
   duty has long been taken up and practiced by him. What will be his 
   destination? What will be his future course?" [1]
     
     "Enough, Punna, let that be. Do not ask me that." 
     
     A second time ... A third time Punna the ox-duty ascetic asked the 
   Blessed One: "Venerable sir, this naked dog-duty ascetic Seniya does 
   what is hard to do: he eats his food when it is thrown on the 
   ground. That dog duty has long been taken up and practiced by him. 
   What will be his destination? What will be his future course?"
     
     "Well, Punna, since I certainly cannot persuade you when I say 
   'Enough, Punna, let that be. Do not ask me that,' I shall therefore 
   answer you.
     
     
     3. "Here, Punna, someone develops the dog duty fully and 
   unstintingly, he develops the dog-habit fully and unstintingly, he 
   develops the dog mind fully and unstintingly, he develops dog 
   behavior fully and unstintingly. Having done that, on the 
   dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in the company of 
   dogs. But if his view is such as this: 'By this virtue or duty or 
   asceticism or religious life I shall become a (great) god or some 
   (lesser) god,' that is wrong view in his case. Now there are two 
   destinations for one with wrong view, I say: hell or the animal 
   womb.  So, Punna, if his dog duty is perfected, it will lead him to 
   the company of dogs; if it is not, it will lead him to hell."
     
     
     4. When this was said, Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic wept and 
   shed tears. Then the Blessed One told Punna, son of the Koliyans and 
   an ox-duty ascetic: "Punna, I could not persuade you when I said, 
   'Enough Punna, let that be. Do not ask me that.'"
     
     "Venerable sir, I am not weeping that the Blessed One has spoken 
   thus. Still, this dog duty has long been taken up and practiced by 
   me. Venerable sir, there is this Punna, a son of the Koliyans and an 
   ox duty ascetic: that ox duty has long been taken up and practiced 
   by him. What will be his destination? What will be his future 
   course?"
     
     "Enough, Seniya, let that be. Do not ask me that." A second time 
   ... A third time Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic asked the Blessed 
   One: "Venerable sir, there is this Punna, a son of the Koliyans and 
   an ox-duty ascetic; that ox duty has long been taken up and 
   practiced by him. What will be his destination? What will be his 
   future course?"
     
     "Well, Seniya, since I certainly cannot persuade you when I say 
   'Enough, Punna, let that be. Do not ask me that,' I shall therefore 
   answer you."
     
     
     5. "Here, Seniya, someone develops the ox duty fully and 
   unstintingly, he develops the ox habit fully and unstintingly, he 
   develops the ox mind fully and unstintingly, he develops the ox 
   behavior fully and unstintingly. Having done that, on the 
   dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in the company of 
   oxen. But if his view is such as this: 'By this virtue or duty or 
   asceticism or religious like I shall become a (great) god or some 
   (lesser) god,' that is wrong view in his case. Now there are two 
   destinations for one with wrong view, I say: hell or the animal 
   womb. So, Seniya, if his ox duty is perfected, it will lead him to 
   the company of oxen; if it is not, it will lead him to hell."
     
     
     6. When this was said, Punna, a son of the Koliyans and an ox-duty 
   ascetic, wept and shed tears. Then the Blessed One told Seniya, the 
   naked dog duty ascetic: "Seniya, I could not persuade you when I 
   said, 'Enough, Seniya, let that be. Do not ask me that.'"
     
     "Venerable sir, I am not weeping that the Blessed One has spoken 
   thus. Still, this ox duty has long been taken up and practiced by 
   me. Venerable sir, I have confidence in the Blessed One thus: 'The 
   Blessed One is capable of teaching me the Dhamma in such a way that 
   I may abandon this ox duty and that this naked dog-duty ascetic 
   Seniya may abandon that dog duty.'"
     
     
     7. "Then, Punna, listen and heed well what I shall say." 
     
     "Yes, venerable sir," he replied. The Blessed One said this:
     
     
     8. "Punna, there are four kinds of kamma proclaimed by me after 
   realization myself with direct knowledge. What are the four? There 
   is dark kamma with dark ripening, there is bright kamma with bright 
   ripening, there is dark-and-bright kamma with dark-and-bright 
   ripening, and there is kamma that is not dark and not bright with 
   neither-dark-nor-bright ripening that conduces to the exhaustion of 
   kamma.
     
     
     9. "What is dark kamma with dark ripening? Here someone produces a 
   (kammic) bodily process (bound up) with affliction, [2] he produces 
   a (kammic) verbal process (bound up) with affliction, he produces a 
   (kammic) mental process (bound up) with affliction. By so doing, he 
   reappears in a world with affliction. When that happens, afflicting 
   contacts[3] touch him. Being touched by these, he feels afflicting 
   feelings entirely painful as in the case of beings in hell. Thus a 
   being's reappearance is due to a being: he reappears owing to the 
   kammas he has performed. When he has reappeared, contacts touch him. 
   Thus I say are beings heirs of their kammas. This is called dark 
   kamma with dark ripening.
     
     
     10. "And what is bright kamma with bright ripening? Here someone 
   produces a (kammic) bodily process not (bound up) with affliction, 
   he produces a (kammic) verbal process not (bound up) with 
   affliction, he produces a (kammic) mental process not (bound up) 
   with affliction. By doing so, he reappears in a world without 
   affliction. When that happens, unafflicting contacts touch him. 
   Being touched by these, he feels unafflicting feelings entirely 
   pleasant as in the case of the Subhakinha, the gods of Refulgent 
   Glory. Thus a being's reappearance is due to a being: he reappears 
   owing to the kammas he has performed. When he has reappeared, 
   contacts touch him. Thus I say are beings heirs of their kammas. 
   This is called bright kamma with bright ripening.
     
     
     11. "What is dark-and-bright kamma with dark-and-bright ripening? 
   Here someone produces a (kammic) bodily process both (bound up) with 
   affliction and not (bound up) with affliction ... verbal process ... 
   mental process both (bound up) with affliction and not (bound up) 
   with affliction. By doing so, he reappears in a world both with and 
   without affliction. When that happens, both afflicting and 
   unafflicting contacts touch him. Being touched by these, he feels 
   afflicting and unafflicting feelings with mingled pleasure and pain 
   as in the case of human beings and some gods and some inhabitants of 
   the states of deprivation. Thus a being's reappearance is due to a 
   being: he reappears owing to the kammas he has performed. When he 
   has reappeared, contacts touch him. Thus I say are beings heirs of 
   their kammas. This is called dark-and-bright kamma with 
   dark-and-bright ripening.
     
     
     12. "What is neither-dark-nor-bright kamma with 
   neither-dark-nor-bright ripening that leads to the exhaustion of 
   kamma? As to these (three kinds of kamma), any volition in 
   abandoning the kind of kamma that is dark with dark ripening, any 
   volition in abandoning the kind of kamma that is bright with bright 
   ripening, and any volition in abandoning the kind of kamma that is 
   dark-and bright with dark-and-bright ripening: this is called 
   neither-dark-nor-bright kamma with neither-dark-nor-bright ripening.
     
     "These are the four kinds of kamma proclaimed by me after 
   realization myself with direct knowledge."
     
     
     13. When this was said, Punna, a son of the Koliyans and an 
   ox-duty ascetic, said to the Blessed One: "Magnificent, Master 
   Gotama! Magnificent, Master Gotama! The Dhamma has been made clear 
   in many ways by Master Gotama as though he were turning upright what 
   had been overthrown, revealing the hidden, showing the way to one 
   who is lost, holding up a lamp in the darkness for those with 
   eyesight to see forms.
     
     
     14. "I go to Master Gotama for refuge and to the Dhamma and to the 
   Sangha of bhikkhus. From today let Master Gotama remember me as a 
   lay follower who has gone to him for refuge for life."
     
     
     15. But Seniya the naked dog-duty ascetic said: "Magnificent, 
   Master Gotama! ... The Dhamma has been made clear ... for those with 
   eyesight to see forms.
     
     
     16. "I go to Master Gotama for refuge and to the Dhamma and to the 
   Sangha of bhikkhus. I would receive the going forth under Master 
   Gotama and the full admission." [4]
     
     
     17. "Seniya, one who belonged formerly to another sect and wants 
   the going forth and the full admission in this Dhamma and Discipline 
   lives on probation for four months. At the end of the four months 
   bhikkhus who are satisfied in their minds give him the going forth 
   into homelessness and also the full admission to the bhikkhus' 
   state. A difference in persons has become known to me in this 
   (probation period)."
     
     "Venerable sir, if those who belonged formerly to another sect and 
   want the going forth and the full admission in this Dhamma and 
   Discipline live on probation for four months and at the end of four 
   months bhikkhus who are satisfied in their minds give them the going 
   forth into homelessness and the full admission to the bhikkhus' 
   state, I will live on probation for four years and at the end of the 
   four years let bhikkhus who are satisfied in their minds give me the 
   going forth into homelessness and the full admission to the 
   bhikkhus' state."
     
     
     18. Seniya the naked dog duty ascetic received the going forth 
   under the Blessed One, and he received the full admission. And not 
   long after his full admission, dwelling alone, withdrawn, diligent, 
   ardent, and self-controlled, the venerable Seniya by realization 
   himself with direct knowledge here and now entered upon and abode in 
   that supreme goal of the holy life for the sake of which clansmen 
   rightly go forth from the home life into homelessness. He had direct 
   knowledge thus: "Birth is exhausted, the holy life has been lived, 
   what had to be done has been done, there is no more of this to 
   come."
     
     And the venerable Seniya became one of the Arahants.
     
     
                                 * * *
                                           
                                           
                                 Notes
                                 ~~~~~
                                           
   1. Of births in samsara, the wandering-on in birth and death.
   
   2. A defiled kamma expressed through the body (speech, mind).
   
   3. Painful "touches" through eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.
   
   4. That is, the novice ordination and the full ordination as a 
      bhikkhu or monk.
   
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