The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 74: The Sower

Bharadvaja, a wealthy Brahman farmer,
was celebrating his harvest-thanksgiving
when the Blessed One came with his alms-bowl,
begging for food. [1]

Some of the people paid him reverence,
but the Brahman was angry and said:
"O samana, it would be more fitting
for thee to go to work than to beg.
I plough and sow, and having ploughed and sown, I eat.
If thou didst likewise,
thou, too, wouldst have something to eat." [2]

The Tathagata answered him and said:
"O Brahman, I too, plough and sow,
and having ploughed and sown, I eat." [3]

"Dost thou profess to be a husbandman?" replied the Brahman.
"Where, then, are thy bullocks? Where is the seed and the plough?" [4]

The Blessed One said:
"Faith is the seed I sow:
good works are the rain that fertilizes it;
wisdom and modesty are the plough;
my mind is the guiding-rein;
I lay hold of the handle of the law;
earnestness is the goad I use,
and exertion is my draught-ox.
This ploughing is ploughed to destroy the weeds of illusion.
The harvest it yields is the immortal fruit of Nirvana,
and thus all sorrow ends." [5]

Then the Brahman poured rice-milk into a golden bowl
and offered it to the Blessed One, saying:
"Let the Teacher of mankind partake of the rice-milk,
for the venerable Gotama ploughs a ploughing
that bears the fruit of immortality." [6]

Continue Reading

• The Gospel of Buddha: Preface
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 01: Rejoice
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 02: Samsara and Nirvana
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 03: Truth the Saviour
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 04: The Bodhisatta's Birth
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 05: The Ties of Life
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 06: The Three Woes
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 07: The Bodhisatta's Renunciation
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 08: King Bimbisara
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 09: The Bodhisatta's Search
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 10: Uruvela, the Place of Mortification
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 11: Mara, the Evil One
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 12: Enlightenment
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 13: The First Converts
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 14: Brahma's Request
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 15: Upaka
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 16: The Sermon at Benares
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 17: The Sangha
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 18: Yasa, the Youth of Benares
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 19: Kassapa
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 20: The Sermon at Rajagaha
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 21: The King's Gift
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 22: Sariputta and Moggallana
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 23: Anathapindika
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 24: The Sermon on Charity
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 25: Jetavana
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 26: The Three Characteristics and the Uncreate
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 27: The Buddha's Father
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 28: Yasodhara
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 29: Rahula
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 30: Jivaka, the Physician
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 31: The Buddha's Parents Attain Nirvana
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 32: Women Admitted to the Sangha
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 33: The Bhikkhus' Conduct Toward Women
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 34: Visakha
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 35: The Uposatha and Patimokkha
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 36: The Schism
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 37: The Re-establishment of Concord
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 38: The Bhikkhus Rebuked
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 39: Devadatta
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 40: Name and Form
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 41: The Goal
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 42: Miracles Forbidden
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 43: The Vanity of Worldliness
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 44: Secrecy and Publicity
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 45: The Annihilation of Suffering
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 46: Avoiding the Ten Evils
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 47: The Preacher's Mission
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 48: The Dhammapada
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 49: The Two Brahmans
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 50: Guard the Six Quarters
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 51: Simha's Question Concerning Annihilation
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 52: All Existence is Spiritual
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 53: Identity and Non-Identity
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 54: The Buddha Omnipresent
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 55: One Essence, One Law, One Aim
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 56: The Lesson Given to Rahula
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 57: The Sermon on Abuse
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 58: The Buddha Replies to the Deva
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 59: Words of Instruction
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 60: Amitabha
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 61: The Teacher Unknown
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 62: Parables
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 63: The Widow's Two Mites and the Parable of the Three Merchants
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 64: The Man Born Blind
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 65: The Lost Son
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 66: The Giddy Fish
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 67: The Cruel Crane Outwitted
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 68: Four Kinds of Merit
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 69: The Light of the World
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 70: Luxurious Living
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 71: The Communication of Bliss
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 72: The Listless Fool
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 73: Rescue in the Desert
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 74: The Sower
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 75: The Outcast
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 76: The Woman at the Well
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 77: The Peacemaker
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 78: The Hungry Dog
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 79: The Despot
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 80: Vasavadatta
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 81: The Marriage-Feast in Jambunada
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 82: A Party in Search of a Thief
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 83: In the Realm of Yamaraja
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 84: The Mustard Seed
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 85: Following the Master Over the Stream
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 86: The Sick Bhikkhu
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 87: The Patient Elephant
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 88: The Conditions of Welfare
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 89: Sariputta's Faith
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 90: Pataliputta
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 91: The Mirror of Truth
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 92: Ambapali
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 93: The Buddha's Farewell Address
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 94: The Buddha Announces His Death
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 95: Chunda, the Smith
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 96: Metteyya
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 97: The Buddha's Final Entering into Nirvana
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 98: The Three Personalities of the Buddha
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 99: The Purpose of Being
• The Gospel of Buddha:Chapter 100: The Praise of All the Buddhas

Source

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