Adapted from the Sutra of Wise and Foolish, translated by Stanley Frye
There was an old woman who did all sorts of evil deeds. She was ridiculed and punished. Yet, when she met the great monk Mahakatyayana, her fortunes were reversed.
Once, there was an old woman. She did all sorts of evil and non-virtue. Thus, she became a slave. Due to her past misdeeds, her owner did not give her food or clothing. Moreover, she was beaten regularly. She was left in a miserable state.
One day, she had enough of her suffering. She decided to kill herself. So, with this thought, she went to the river, brought her water jug, and cried loudly.
Just then, the monk Mahakatyayana passed by the river. He heard the old woman crying. He approached her and asked, “Why are you crying in this manner?”
SELLING POVERTY
The woman told her endless miseries to him. She decided to end them all by killing herself. The monk then asked, “Would you like to sell your poverty?”
The woman was shocked! “How can poverty be sold?”
The monk Mahakatyayana said three times, “Poverty can be sold”.
The woman still doubted him. So, the monk said, “You can sell your poverty. But you must do as I tell you.” The woman promised to do everything that she was told.
“First of all, you must wash your hands. Then, you make a gift,” he advised.
“I don’t even have proper clothes to wear. This jug is even owned by my owner. I don’t have anything to offer,” she replied.
“Fill the jug with water. And offer it to me. I shall say a blessing”.
The woman did this, and the monk received the water offering. After saying a blessing, he invoked the Buddha’s name. He then told the woman to think single-pointedly on the Buddha’s virtues. She were to fill her mind only with the Buddha’s virtues.
He then asked her if she has a place to live. She said no, but she sometimes work in one part of her owner’s house. The monk then said, “You must strive to end all thoughts connected with resentment and suffering. At night, you may go inside, spread clean grass in a corner, sit on it, thinking constantly of the Buddha, and pray.”
REBIRTH IN THE HEAVENS
The old woman did this, and one night, she died and was reborn in the Heavens of the Thirty Three Gods. There, 500 goddesses were playing with the gods. Some of the wise gods knew why she was born there. Some did not. Even the old woman did not know the reason.
During that time, Shariputra was staying in that Heaven. He asked the reason from the woman. When she could not, he used his divine eye to see the reason. He then made this reason known to the 500 goddesses.
The 500 goddesses went to the burial ground, and offered celestial flowers to the woman’s corpse. The place was filled with celestial light and smell. The owner, seeing this, went to the burial ground and asked the goddesses why they were honoring the bones of an evil person.
The goddesses explained that the woman had been born in the Heavens of the Thirty Three Gods. They then proceeded to the Monk Mahakatyayana. There, he taught charity, virtue, rebirth in higher states, and the Supreme Dharma.
Some removed all their defilements. Others attained the fruits of Arhatship, from first to forth.
(In some sources, the monk Mahakatyayana is said to be one of the 10 principal disciples of Buddha Shakyamuni. He was the foremost disciple in explaining the Dharma.)