Well-Trained Mind Excels People
The Story of Soreyya
Chapter 3: The Mind • Verse 11
The Story of Soreyya
Chapter 3: The Mind • Verse 11
Neither mother, father, nor any other relative can do one greater good than one's own well-directed mind.
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke this verse with reference to Soreyya, the son of a rich man of the city of Soreyya.
One day, Soreyya was riding out in a carriage with a friend and attendants to bathe. At that moment, the monk Mahakaccayana was adjusting his robes outside the city on his way in for alms. Seeing the monk's youthful complexion, Soreyya thought, "How I wish the monk were my wife, so that my wife's complexion would be like his." As the wish arose, his sex changed, and he became a woman.
Deeply ashamed, he got down from the carriage and fled toward Taxila. His companions searched for him but could not find him. Now a woman, Soreyya offered her signet ring to some travellers headed to Taxila in exchange for a place in their carriage.
Upon arrival, her companions told a young rich man of Taxila about the woman who had travelled with them. Finding her beautiful and of a suitable age, he married her, and two sons were born of this marriage, in addition to the two sons Soreyya already had from his previous marriage as a man.
One day, a rich man's son from the city of Soreyya arrived in Taxila with a caravan of five hundred carts. Lady Soreyya, recognizing him as an old friend, sent for him, though he was puzzled by the invitation, since he did not recognize her.
When he admitted he did not know her, she said she knew him well and asked after his family and others in the city of Soreyya. He then told her about the mysterious disappearance of a rich man's son from Soreyya during an outing to bathe.
At this, Lady Soreyya revealed her identity, explaining the wrongful thought about the monk Mahakaccayana, the change of sex that followed, and her subsequent marriage in Taxila. The man from Soreyya advised her to seek the monk's pardon.
Monk Mahakaccayana was invited to the house and offered alms-food. Afterward, Lady Soreyya was brought before him, and the man from Soreyya explained how she had once been a young man of that city, turned into a woman by his disrespectful thought toward the monk. Lady Soreyya then respectfully asked the monk's forgiveness.
The monk said, "Get up, I forgive you," and as soon as the words were spoken, the woman changed back into a man. Reflecting on how, within a single existence and a single body, he had undergone a change of sex and fathered sons in both forms, Soreyya felt deep weariness and revulsion, and decided to leave the householder's life to join the Sangha under the monk.
Afterward, he was often asked which sons he loved more, the two born to him as a man or the two born to him as a woman, and each time he answered that his love for those born as a woman was greater. Growing annoyed and ashamed at being asked this so often, he withdrew by himself and diligently contemplated the decay and dissolution of the body, soon attaining arahatship together with analytical insight.
When the old question was put to him again, he replied that he now had no particular affection for anyone, and the other monks, hearing this, suspected he was lying. When this was reported to the Buddha, he said, "My son is not telling lies; he is speaking the truth."
The Story of Soreyya
Chapter 3: The Mind • Verse 11
Neither mother, father, nor any other relative can do one greater good than one's own well-directed mind.
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke this verse with reference to Soreyya, the son of a rich man of the city of Soreyya.
One day, Soreyya was riding out in a carriage with a friend and attendants to bathe. At that moment, the monk Mahakaccayana was adjusting his robes outside the city on his way in for alms. Seeing the monk's youthful complexion, Soreyya thought, "How I wish the monk were my wife, so that my wife's complexion would be like his." As the wish arose, his sex changed, and he became a woman.
Deeply ashamed, he got down from the carriage and fled toward Taxila. His companions searched for him but could not find him. Now a woman, Soreyya offered her signet ring to some travellers headed to Taxila in exchange for a place in their carriage.
Upon arrival, her companions told a young rich man of Taxila about the woman who had travelled with them. Finding her beautiful and of a suitable age, he married her, and two sons were born of this marriage, in addition to the two sons Soreyya already had from his previous marriage as a man.
One day, a rich man's son from the city of Soreyya arrived in Taxila with a caravan of five hundred carts. Lady Soreyya, recognizing him as an old friend, sent for him, though he was puzzled by the invitation, since he did not recognize her.
When he admitted he did not know her, she said she knew him well and asked after his family and others in the city of Soreyya. He then told her about the mysterious disappearance of a rich man's son from Soreyya during an outing to bathe.
At this, Lady Soreyya revealed her identity, explaining the wrongful thought about the monk Mahakaccayana, the change of sex that followed, and her subsequent marriage in Taxila. The man from Soreyya advised her to seek the monk's pardon.
Monk Mahakaccayana was invited to the house and offered alms-food. Afterward, Lady Soreyya was brought before him, and the man from Soreyya explained how she had once been a young man of that city, turned into a woman by his disrespectful thought toward the monk. Lady Soreyya then respectfully asked the monk's forgiveness.
The monk said, "Get up, I forgive you," and as soon as the words were spoken, the woman changed back into a man. Reflecting on how, within a single existence and a single body, he had undergone a change of sex and fathered sons in both forms, Soreyya felt deep weariness and revulsion, and decided to leave the householder's life to join the Sangha under the monk.
Afterward, he was often asked which sons he loved more, the two born to him as a man or the two born to him as a woman, and each time he answered that his love for those born as a woman was greater. Growing annoyed and ashamed at being asked this so often, he withdrew by himself and diligently contemplated the decay and dissolution of the body, soon attaining arahatship together with analytical insight.
When the old question was put to him again, he replied that he now had no particular affection for anyone, and the other monks, hearing this, suspected he was lying. When this was reported to the Buddha, he said, "My son is not telling lies; he is speaking the truth."