Chapter 34 - On Leshya

I shall deliver in due order the Lecture on Leśyā; hear the nature of the six Leśyās (produced by) Karman. (1) Hear 1. the names, 2. colours, 3. tastes, 4. smells, 5. touches, 6. degrees, 7. character, 8. variety, 9. duration, 10. result, and 11. life of the Leśyās. (2)

1. They are named in the following order: black, blue, grey, red, yellow, and white. (3)

2. The black Leśyā has the colour of a rain-cloud, a buffalo’s horn, (the fruit of) Riṣṭaka^[1], or the eye of the wagtail. (4)

The blue Leśyā has the colour of the blue Aśoka^[2], the tail of the Casha^[3], or of lapis lazuli. (5)

The grey Leśyā has the colour of the flower of Atasī^[4], the feathers of the Kokila, or the collar of pigeons. (6)

The red Leśyā has the colour of vermilion, the rising sun, or the bill of a parrot. (7)

The yellow Leśyā has the colour of orpiment, turmeric, or the flowers of Śaṇa^[5] and Asana^[6]. (8)

The white Leśyā has the colour of a conch-shell, the aṅka-stone^[7], Kunda-flowers^[8], flowing milk, silver, or a necklace of pearls. (9)

3. The taste of the black Leśyā is infinitely more bitter than that of Tumbaka^[9], (the fruit of the) Nimb-tree^[10], or of Rohiṇī. (10) The taste of the blue Leśyā is infinitely more pungent than Trikaṭuka^[11] and Hastipippalī. (11)

The taste of grey Leśyā is infinitely sourer than that of unripe Mango and Kapittha^[12]. (12)

The taste of red Leśyā is infinitely more pleasant than that of ripe Mango and Kapittha. (13)

The taste of yellow Leśyā is infinitely better than that of excellent wine and various liquors, honey and Maireyaka^[13]. (14)

The taste of white Leśyā is infinitely better than that of dates, grapes, milk, candied and pounded sugar. (15)

The smell of the bad Leśyās (viz. the three first) is infinitely worse than that of the corpse of a cow, dog, or snake. (16)

The smell of the three good Leśyās is infinitely more pleasant than that of fragrant flowers and of perfumes when they are pounded. (17)

5. The touch of the bad Leśyās is infinitely worse than that of a saw, the tongue of a cow, or leaf of the Teak tree. (18)

The touch of the three good Leśyās is infinitely more pleasant than that of cotton, butter, or Śirīṣa-flowers^[14]. (19)

6. The degrees^[15] of the Leśyās are three, or nine, or twenty-seven, or eighty-one, or two hundred and forty-three. (20)

7. A man who acts on the impulse of the five Āsravas^[16], does not possess the three Guptis, has not ceased to injure the six (kinds of living beings), commits cruel acts, is wicked and violent, is afraid of no consequences^[17], is mischievous and does not subdue his senses--a man of such habits develops the black Leśyā. (21, 22)

A man of the following qualities: envy, anger, want of self-control, ignorance, deceit, want of modesty, greed, hatred, wickedness, carelessness, love of enjoyment; a man who pursues pleasures and does not abstain from sinful undertakings, who is wicked and violent--a man of such habits develops the blue Leśyā. (23, 24)

A man who is dishonest in words and acts, who is base, not upright, a dissembler and deceiver^[18], a heretic, a vile man, a talker of hurtful and sinful things, a thief, and full of jealousy--a man of such habits develops the grey Leśyā. (25, 26)

A man who is humble, steadfast, free from deceit and inquisitiveness, well disciplined, restrained, attentive to his study and duties^[19], who loves the Law and keeps it, who is afraid of forbidden things and strives after the highest good--a man of such habits develops the red Leśyā. (27, 28)

A man who has but little anger, pride, deceit, and greed, whose mind is at ease, who controls himself, who is attentive to his study and duties, who speaks but little, is calm, and subdues his senses--a man of such habits develops the yellow Leśyā. (29, 30)

A man who abstains from constant thinking about his misery and about sinful deeds, but engages in meditation on the Law and truth only^[20], whose mind is at ease, who controls himself, who practises the Samitis and Guptis, whether he be still subject to passion or free from passion, is calm, and subdues his senses--a man of such habits develops the white Leśyā. (31, 32)

8. There are as many varieties^[21] of Leśyās as there are Samayas^[22] in the innumerable Avasarpiṇīs and Utsarpiṇīs, and as there are countless worlds. (33)

9. Half a muhūrta is the shortest, and thirty-three Sāgaropamās plus one muhūrta is the longest duration of the black Leśyā. (34)

Half a muhūrta is the shortest, and ten Sāgaropamās plus one Palyopamā and a part of an Asaṃkhyeya is the longest duration of the blue Leśyā. (35)

Half a muhūrta is the shortest, and three Sāgaropamās plus one Palyopamā and a part of an Asaṃkhyeya is the longest duration of the grey Leśyā. (36)

Half a muhūrta is the shortest, and two Sāgaropamās plus one Palyopamā and a part of an Asaṃkhyeya is the longest duration of the red Leśyā. (37)

Half a muhūrta is the shortest, and ten Sāgaropamās plus one muhūrta is the longest duration of the yellow Leśyā. (38) Half a muhūrta is the shortest, and thirty-three Sāgaropamās plus one muhūrta is the longest duration of the white Leśyā. (39)

I have described above the duration of the Leśyās generally; I shall now detail their duration in the four walks of mundane existence^[23]. (40)

The shortest duration of the grey Leśyā (of a denizen of hell) is ten thousand years, the longest three Sāgaropamās plus one Palyopamā and part of an Asaṃkhyeya. (41)

The shortest duration of the blue Leśyā (of a denizen of hell) is three Sāgaropamās plus one Palyopamā and a part of an Asaṃkhyeya, the longest ten Sāgaropamās plus one Palyopamā and a part of an Asaṃkhyeya. (42)

The shortest duration of the black Leśyā (of a denizen of hell) is ten Sāgaropamās plus one Palyopamā and a part of an Asaṃkhyeya, the longest thirty-three Sāgaropamās. (43)

I have described the duration of the Leśyās of denizens of hell; I shall now describe that of animals, men, and gods. (44)

The duration of any of the Leśyās except the best (viz. white one) is less than a muhūrta for (the lowest organisms), animals, and men^[24]. (45)

Half a muhūrta is the shortest duration of the white Leśyā (of animals and men), and the longest a Krore of former years^[25] less nine years. (46) I have described the duration of the Leśyās of animals and men, I shall now describe that of the gods. (47)

The shortest duration of the black Leśyā is ten thousand years, the longest a Palyopamā and (a part of) an Asaṃkhyeya. (48)

The shortest duration of the blue Leśyā is equal to the longest of the black one plus one Samaya; the longest is one Palyopamā plus a (greater part of) an Asaṃkhyeya. (49)

The shortest duration of the grey Leśyā is equal to the longest of the blue one plus one Samaya; the longest is one Palyopamā plus (a still greater part of) an Asaṃkhyeya. (50)

I shall now describe the red Leśyā as it is with gods, Bhavanapatis, Vyantaras, Jyotiṣkas, and Vaimānikas. (51)

The shortest duration of the red Leśyā is one Palyopamā, the longest two Sāgaropamās plus one Palyopamā and a part of an Asaṃkhyeya^[26]. (52)

The shortest duration of the red Leśyā is ten thousand years, the longest two Sāgaropamās plus one Palyopamā and a part of an Asaṃkhyeya. (53)

The longest duration of the red Leśyā plus one Samaya is equal to the shortest of the yellow Leśyā; its longest, however, is ten muhūrtas longer. (54)

The longest duration of the yellow Leśyā plus one Samaya is equal to the shortest of the white Leśyā; the longest, however, is thirty-three muhūrtas longer. (55)

10. The black, blue, and grey Leśyās are the lowest Leśyās; through them the soul is brought into miserable courses of life. (56)

The red, yellow, and white Leśyās are the good Leśyās; through them the soul is brought into happy courses of life. (57)

11. In the first moment of these Leśyās when they are joined (with the soul), the latter is not born into a new existence^[27]. (58)

In the last moment of all these Leśyās when they are joined (with the soul), the latter is not born into a new existence. (59)

While the last muhūrta is running and a part of it is still to come, the souls with their Leśyās developed, go to a new birth. (60)

A wise man should, therefore, know the nature of these Leśyās; he should avoid the bad ones and obtain the good ones. (61)

Thus I say.

Notes regarding Leśyā:

[Note: The leśyās (‘adhyavasāya viśeṣāḥ’) are different conditions produced in the soul by the influence of different Karman; they are therefore not dependent on the nature of the soul, but on the Karman which accompanies the soul, and are, as it were, the reflection of the Karman on the soul, as stated in the following verse from the Avacūri:

kṛṣṇādidravyasācivyāt pariṇāmo ya ātmanaḥ |
spaṭikasyeva tatrāyaṃ leśyāśabdaḥ pravartate ||

“The alteration produced on the soul, just as on a crystal by the presence of black things, &c., is denoted by the word leśyā.”

The leśyā, or, according to the above explanation, what produces Leśyā, is a subtile substance accompanying the soul; to it are attributed the qualities described in this lecture.—The word lesā is derived from kleśa; this etymology appears rather fanciful, but I think it may be right. For the leśyā seem to be the kleśas, which affect the soul, conceived as a kind of substance. The Sanskrit term leśyā is of course a hybrid word. It must, however, be stated that lesā occurs also in the meaning “colour”, e.g. Sūtrakṛt. I, 6, 13, and that the Prākṛt of klesa is kileśa.]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Sapindus Detergens.

[2]:

It is not the common Aśoka, Jonesia Asoka, which has red flowers.

[3]:

Corarias Indica, blue jay; according to some, a kingfisher.

[4]:

Linum Usitatissimum, whose flowers are blue.--The word for grey is kāū = kāpota; in the comm., however, it is described as kiṃcit kṛṣṇā, kiṃcil lohitā, which would be rather brown. But the description given in our verse leaves no doubt that grey colour is intended.

[5]:

Crotolaria Juncea.

[6]:

Terminalia Tomentosa.

[7]:

Aṅka, maṇiviśeṣa.

[8]:

Jasminum Multiflorum.

[9]:

The gourd Lagenaria Vulgaris.

[10]:

Azadirachta Indica.

[11]:

The aggregate of three spices, &c., black and long pepper and dry ginger.

[12]:

Feronia Elephantum.

[13]:

A kind of intoxicating drink, extracted from the blossoms of Lythrum Fructicosum, with sugar, &c.

[14]:

Acacia Sirisa.

[15]:

The Leśyās may possess their qualities in a low, middle, or high degree; each of these degrees is again threefold, viz. low, middle, and high. In this way the subdivision is carried on up to 243.

[16]:

I.e. commits the five great sins.--The following verses give the character--lakṣaṇa--of the Leśyās.

[17]:

This is, according to the comm., the meaning of the word niddhaṃdhasapariṇāmo.

[18]:

Paliuñcaga-uvahiya = pratikuñcaka-upadhika.

[19]:

Yogavān upaḍhānavān.

[20]:

Literally: who avoids the ārta and raudra dhyānas, and practises the dharma and śukla dhyānas. These terms cannot be adequately translated; the reader may therefore be referred for details to Bhandarkar’s Report, p. 110 ff.

[21]:

Ṭhāṇāiṃ sthānāni.

[22]:

Samaya is the smallest division of time = instant, moment.

[23]:

Viz. as denizens of hell, brutes, men, and gods. Only the three first Leśyās lead to being born in hell.

[24]:

The consequence of this statement appears to be that at the expiration of the Leśyā a new one is produced. The commentators, however, are not explicit on this head.

[25]:

About the former years, see above, p. 16, note 1.

[26]:

This verse seems to lay down the duration of the Leśyā in the case of common gods, while the next one applies to Bhavanapatis, &c.

[27]:

The question treated rather darkly in the next three verses is, according to the comm., the following:--Every individual dies in the same Leśyā in which he is born. When his Leśyā ends with his life, then the soul must get a new Leśyā. Our verses state at which time the new Leśyā comes into existence or is joined with the soul.