In one of the Agama Sutras, the Buddha's
early sermons, there is a very interesting story. Once there was a
man who had four wives. According to the social system and
circumstances of ancient India, it was possible for a man to have
several wives. Also, during the Heian period in Japan, about a
thousand years ago, it was not unusual for a woman to have several
husbands.
The Indian had become ill and was about
to die. At the end of his life, he felt very lonely and so asked the
first wife to
accompany him to the other world.
"My dear wife," he said, "I
loved you day and night, I took care of you throughout my whole life.
Now I am about to die, will you please go with me wherever I go after
my death?"
He expected her to answer yes. But she
answered, "My dear husband, I know you always loved me. And you
are going to die. Now it is time to separate from you. Goodbye, my
dear."
He called his second
wife to his sickbed and begged her to follow him in death.
He said, "My dear second wife, you know how I loved you.
Sometimes I was afraid you might leave me, but I held on to you
strongly. My dear, please come with me."
The second wife expressed herself rather
coldly. "Dear husband, your first wife refused to accompany you
after your death. How can I follow you? You loved me only for your
own selfish sake."
Lying in his deathbed, he called his
third wife, and
asked her to follow him. The third wife replied, with tears in her
eyes, "My dear, I pity you and I feel sad for myself. Therefore
I shall accompany you to the graveyard. This is my last duty to you."
The third wife thus also refused to follow him to death.
Three wives had refused to follow him
after his death. Now he recalled that there was another wife, his
fourth wife,
for whom he didn't care very much. He had treated her like a slave
and had always showed much displeasure with her. He now thought that
if he asked her to follow him to death, she certainly would say no.
But his loneliness and fear were so
severe that he made the effort to ask her to accompany him to the
other world. The fourth wife gladly accepted her husband's request.
'My dear husband,' she said, "I will
go with you. Whatever happens, I am determined to be with you
forever. I cannot be separated from you."
This is the story of the man and his four
wives … Gautama Buddha concluded the story as follows:
Every man and woman has four wives or
husbands. What do these wives signify?
The First Wife
The first "wife" is our body.
We love our body day and night. In the morning, we wash our face, put
on clothing and shoes. We give food to our body. We take care of our
body like the first wife in this story. But unfortunately, at the end
of our life, the body, the first "wife" cannot follow us to
the next world. As it is stated in a commentary, "When the last
breath leaves our body, the healthy colour of the face is
transformed, and we lose the appearance of radiant life. Our loved
ones may gather around and lament, but to no avail. When such an
event occurs, the body is sent into an open field and cremated,
leaving only the white ashes." This is the destination of our
body.
The Second Wife
What is the meaning of the second wife?
The second "wife" stands for our fortune, our material
things, money, property, fame, position, and job that we worked hard
to attain. We are attached to these material possessions. We are
afraid to lose these material things and wish to possess much more.
There is no limit. At the end of our life these things cannot follow
us to death. Whatever fortune we have piled up, we must leave it. We
came into this world with empty hands. During our life in this world,
we have the illusion that we obtained a fortune. At death, our hands
are empty. We can't hold our fortune after our death, just as the
second wife told her husband: "You hold me with your ego-centred
selfishness. Now it is time to say goodbye."
The Third Wife
What is meant by the third wife? Everyone
has a third "wife". This is the relationship of our
parents, sister and brother, all relatives, friends, and society.
They will go as far as the graveyard, with tears in their eyes. They
are sympathetic and saddened ...
Thus, we
cannot depend on our physical body, our fortune, and our society. We
are born alone and we die alone. No one will accompany us
after our death.
The Fourth Wife
Sakyamuni* Buddha mentioned the fourth
wife, who would accompany her
husband after his death. What does that mean? The fourth "wife"
is our mind [or Alaya,
consciousness]. When we deeply observe and recognize that our
minds are filled with anger, greed, and dissatisfaction, we are
having a good look at our lives. The anger, greed, and
dissatisfaction are karma, the law of causation. We
cannot be separated from our own karma. As the fourth wife
told her dying husband, "I will follow you wherever you go."
[To
read this article in German, please go to: | Um diesen Artikel auf
Deutsch zu lesen, besuchen Sie bitte: "Karma – Die Vier Ehefrauen"]
(Source|Quelle: Stony Brook University
Transl.|Übers.: Nicolas von Kospoth)
____
*Śākyamuni: "The wise one [from the people] of Shakya"
