The Vow of Pārśva

Text

When Pārśva was ordained at the age of sixty, he made a vow never to lay his side (*pārśva*) upon a bed until he had fully realized liberation. A young monk asked him: 'Is this austerity not simply attachment to practice?' Pārśva said: 'You speak of attachment and non-attachment as though they were two things. My vow is not the door—it is the fire that burns the door away.' Keizan's verse: Sixty years of ordinary life— / then one night, no more lying down. / The body is like a standing mountain. / What is it that never sleeps?

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Attributed To
  Parshva

Lineage: Indian Patriarchs

By Parshva

• What Does 'Buddha' Mean?saying

From Denkoroku

• The Robe That Never Wears Out
• The Fragrance Without a Flower
• The Mind That Is Like Space
• The Auspicious Cloud
• The Wine Jar and the Dharma
• The Star That Does Not Move
• Entering the Gate as a Householder
• The Debate That Ended Without Debate
• Meeting Nāgārjuna
• In Praise of the Perfection of Wisdom

Sources

• contentZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation

  Zen project editorial

  Denkoroku, Case 11

  Denkoroku: The Vow of Pārśva