Cariyāpiṭaka 13

The Conduct Leading to Buddhahood

The Chapter on an Elephant

The Perfection of Ethics (3rd)

The Dragon Campeyyaka’s Conduct

1 “Then again when I was

Campeyyaka, a dragon of great psychic power,

I was just,

furnished with precepts and vows.

2 Then the snake-charmer who caught me

lived righteously,

observing the Sabbath,

and he made me perform at the royal gate.

3 Whatever color he thought of—

blue, yellow, or red—

I conformed to his wish,

taking the appearance of his thought.

4 I could turn dry land to water,

and water to dry land.

If I were upset with him

I could reduce him to ash in an instant.

5 If I was under the sway of my thoughts,

I would have fallen from my ethics.

But one who has fallen from their ethics

does not succeed at the highest goal.

6 Gladly, let this body be broken!

Let it be scattered in this very place!

Not even for that would I break my ethics,

if it were being scattered like hay.”