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ONE ACCEPTS THE TRUTH ONLY THROUGH PERSONAL REALISATION
The 423 verses are divided into 26 chapters or vagga each with a particular heading. The seventh chapter is named “Arahanta vagga” meaning the chapter on “The Worthy”, which contains 10 verses said by the Buddha. The background story of the 97th verse, which is the eighth verse of the Arahanta vagga, is about a group of thirty monks who became Arahants after listening to a Dhamma discussion between the Buddha and Arahant Sariputta.
The background story of verse 97
At one time the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana monastery in Sāvatti which was donated to the Buddha by the chief benefactor Anāthapindika.
One day thirty monks residing in an outside village arrived at the Jetavana monastery in Sāvatti to pay homage to the Buddha. The Buddha saw that the thirty monks were ready to gain enlightenment as Arahants. The Buddha then sent a message to Arahant Sāriputta to come and when he arrived, the Buddha asked him:
“Sāriputta, do you accept the fact that by meditating on the senses, one could attain Nibbana?”
“Venerable Sir, about the realization of Nibbana through meditating on the senses, it is not that I accept it because of my faith in you; it is only those who have not personally realized it, that accept that fact from others.”
The answer given by Arahant Sāriputta to the Buddha was incorrectly understood by the monks and they thought: “Perhaps, Sāriputta has not given up his wrong views yet; even now, he has no faith in the Blessed One”.
Knowing that the Buddha then explained to them the real meaning of Arahant Sāriputta’s answer:
“Monks, Sāriputta’s answer is like this; he accepts the fact that one realizes Nibbana through meditation on the senses, but one accepts it due to his realization and not merely because I have said it or someone else has said it. Sāriputta has faith in me; he also has faith in the consequences of good and bad actions.”
Then the Buddha recited the following verse which is recorded as the 97th verse of the Dhammapada.
“Assaddho akataññū ca,
sandhicchedo ca yo naro,
hatāvakāso vantāso,
sa ve uttamaporiso.”
“One who is beyond faith has realized the Unconditioned,
breaks all links with existence,
destroys all possibilities of rebirth,
such a one indeed is the supreme person.”
At the end of the discourse, all those bhikkhus attained arahatship.
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CUNDA SUTTA: DISCOURSE WITH VENERABLE CUNDA
At one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatti in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapindika’s monastery.
At that time, Venerable Sāriputta was staying among the Magadhans, near the small village of Nalaka. He was sick, suffering and gravely ill. The novice monk Venerable Cunna was his attendant. Because of that illness, Venerable Sāriputta passed away and attained final Nibbana.
When Venerable Sāriputta became aware that he would soon be passing away, he wanted to visit his mother to teach her the doctrine and for the final passing away to take place in the same room in his family home where he was born. Having bid farewell to the Buddha and received permission to leave, Venerable Sāriputta accompanied by his attendant Venerable Cunda and five hundred monks left the Buddha and arrived at his mother’s house. It is said that as soon as he settled down on his bed in the same room where he was born, Venerable Sāriputta developed severe dysentery. After listening to a discourse from Venerable Sāriputta, his mother attained the first stage of Stream Enterer (sotapanna). Then having gathered the five hundred monks who had accompanied him and pleading for their forgiveness if any of his physical or verbal actions were unpleasant to them, Venerable Sāriputta entered deep meditation and passed away peacefully at the age of eighty-four years. His body was cremated in the city of Rajagaha and his relics were taken to the Buddha who had arranged for the relics to be deposited in a stupa in Sāvatti.
Venerable Cunda was Venerable Sāriputta’s younger brother in his lay life who also ordained as a Buddhist monk. He remained the carer of Venerable Sāriputta until the passing away and final Nibbāna.
- Another example of the immense qualities of Venerable Arahant Sariputta. He paid his debt to his mother Rūpasārī just before his parinibbānna; she became sotāpanna after listening to his discourse. For those who don’t know Sariputta’s mother was a Brahmin who hated the Triple Gem. She abused the monks and disrespected Venerable Sariputta in front of several bhikkhus. She hated the fact that her son had become a bhikkhu. It was only at the age of 100 that she became Sotāpanna. This shows that even if people seem to reject the Dhamma, they may eventually change after an event. Nothing is static in this samsāra.
- We have all been like the mother of Venerable Sariputta an infinite number of times. Right now in this life, we are interested in the Dhamma and we know people who are not interested even though we tell them about the benefits of the Dhamma. They will understand one day. The story also shows the importance of establishing our loved ones in the Dhamma. Of course, this must be done if they are sufficiently open otherwise it is counterproductive. People think that they will make their loved ones happy by giving them fortunes, cars, mansions and so on. This kind of action is the result of a distorted vision of happiness. The best way to make your loved ones happy is to contribute to their establishments in magga phala.
- There is a sutta (I forgot which one, it would be good if someone finds it) where Lord Buddha says that even if we carry our parents on our backs for 100 years we will not be able to pay them our debts. Debts are paid when they get magga phala through our efforts. If this is not possible we can at least transfer their merits upon their death. They could be petas (hungry ghosts). It’s hard to imagine but let’s not forget that the majority of beings are reborn in the 4 apayas. Imagine how many of our loved ones from past lives or even this life are in these worlds of pain. There is a story(Sariputta Bhante’s Mother) where Venerable Sariputta transfers merits to a hungry ghost who was his mother in a previous life. This merit allowed them to be fed and well-clothed. Of course, she can’t achieve magga phala as a peta. But she will die in a pleasant state of mind and can then be reborn in a higher world. Eventually, in these worlds, she could become at least sotāpanna.
- Even people who seem to hate the Dhamma may become sotāpanna at some point. It is important to do our best to contribute to the well-being of our living or deceased loved ones like Venerable Sariputta. For more information: Animisa Lōcana Bōdhi Poojā – A Prelude to Acts of Gratitude
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PATISALLĀNA SUTTA: DISCOURSE ON SECLUSION
There, the Buddha addressed the monks,
“Monks”,
“Yes, Venerable Sir”, the monks replied.
Then the Buddha said:
“Monks, devote yourself to the practice of seclusion. Monks, a monk in seclusion understands true reality. And what is the true reality that he understands? The arising and passing away of form; the arising and passing away of feeling; the arising and passing away of perception; the arising and passing away of mental formation and the arising and passing away of consciousness.”
[In the Mahā Niddesa of the Niddesa, which is the 11th book of the Khuddaka Nikāya (collection of the Buddha’s minor discourses), three types of seclusion have been mentioned:
1. Kāya Viveka – Physical seclusion
2. Citta viveka – Mental seclusion
3. Upadhi Viveka – Seclusion from the substrates
Physical seclusion can be described as keeping away from one’s physical environment: people, things, and activities, that can disturb and distract a meditator from the practice of meditation and contemplation. Mental seclusion is the seclusion from the mental defilements known as the mental hindrances (nīvarana) which hinder the development of the mind during meditation. The five mental hindrances are Sensual desire (kāmacchanda), ill-will (vyāpāda), sloth and torpor (thīna-middha), restlessness and remorse (uddhacca-kukkucca) and skeptical doubt (vicikiccā). They can obstruct the development of the concentration of the mind (samādhi) and weaken the development of insight into the reality of phenomena. Seclusion from substrates means liberation from the burdens of all attachments and objects of clinging which happens when one gains enlightenment through the eradication of all mental defilements.
- First seclusion is the most challenging for lay people due to their family or societal obligations, which can cause a lot of stress. This step is easier for Bhikkhus. Being isolated from the first seclusion makes it easier to be isolated from the other as well. This is why it’s easier to achieve arahant stage as a Bhikkhu. A person who has achieved arahant status will naturally want to distance themselves from worldly matters such as family, business, wealth, and fame. The second seclusion becomes easier as one progresses through the magga phala. At the sotāpanna and sakadagamin stage, we are isolated from micchādiṭṭhi (wrong views), skeptical doubt (vicikiccā), and the extreme agitation that leads to committing apayagami acts. In the anagami stage, we are isolated from Kāmacchanda (sensual desire) and ill-will (vyāpāda). In the arahant stage, we are isolated from all hindrances. The third seclusion is only reached at the arahant stage.
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The word “upadhi” has a deeper meaning. See the two top search results below:
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“Jīvaka, if anyone kills a living being especially for the Tathāgata or a Tathāgata’s disciple, he makes many demerits( Akusalas) for five reasons:
1. When he says: ‘Go and fetch that living being’, that is the first reason for which he makes many demerits.
2. When that living experiences physical pain and mental suffering on being led along with a neck-halter, this is the second reason for which he makes much demerit.
3. When he says: ‘Go and kill that living being’, this is the third reason for which he makes many demerits.
4. When that living being experiences physical pain and mental suffering on being killed, this is the fourth reason for which he makes much demerit.
5. When he provides the Tathāgata or his disciple with food that is not allowable, this is the fifth reason for which he makes much demerit.
Sutta centrale: Jīvakasutta
- Here is a sutta discussing the impact of offering inappropriate food to Bhikkhus during almsgiving. Those people accumulate many akusalas. The sutta also discusses the topic of eating meat. This remains a complex issue even today. For instance, my teacher didn’t eat meat, but other bhikkus did. Ultimately, it’s up to each person to decide what is best for them based on their own circumstances. But we must remember that it is immoral to kill living beings and that we could end up in apayas if our taste for meat leads us to commit akusalas. This is another trap caused by the distorted sanna. He makes us believe that there is a delicious taste in this meat. Because of this attachment to taste we are willing to kill animals to satisfy our desires. See Sotapanna Stage via Understanding Perception (Saññā)
- There was an anagami who had a father who ended up in Avīci hell, the worst of the Nirayas because he was a butcher and died in great suffering. His mind was in extreme Dosa. There are many cases where killing an animal can have devastating consequences. The story is in the Goghatakaputta Vatthu.
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THE WISE BECOME SERENE AFTER LISTENING TO BUDDHA’S TEACHING
At one time the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana monastery in Sāvatti which was donated to the Buddha by the chief benefactor Anāthapindika.
There was a female lay devotee of the Buddha named Kanamātā, whose daughter named Kana was married to a man from another village. Kana had come to visit her mother and had been staying with her mother for some time. Her husband sent her a message to return home, but her mother asked her to stay for another day as the mother wanted to make and send some sweets for her husband. On the following day, the mother made some sweets, but when four monks stood in front of her house during their alms round, she offered some of the sweets to the monks. When the other monks came to know from those four monks, about the sweets offered by Kanamātā, they also visited her house one after another. Kanamātā offered sweets to all the monks who visited her house until she had offered all the sweets that she had made on that day. She asked her daughter to stay for another day so that she could make some more sweets, and for the next two days, the same thing happened as monks kept visiting her house for alms and she offered all the sweets that she had made to the monks. So Kana could not return to her husband on the two following days too.
Then her husband sent her an ultimatum saying that if she failed to return on the following day, he would find another wife. Kana could not return on the following day too, as her mother had offered all the sweets that she had made to the monks visiting their house. So Kana could not return and her husband found another wife. Kana then became very bitter towards the monks and began verbally abusing the monks who visited their house. Because of her continuing abuse, the monks were kept away from their houses.
When the Buddha came to know about what had happened, the Buddha visited Kanamātā’s house and after the meal that Kanamātā offered, said to Kana:
“Did my monks take what was offered to them or what was not offered to them?”
Kana replied that the monks took only what was offered to them. She also said to the Buddha that she was in the wrong and not those monks. She acknowledged her own mistake and paid homage to the Buddha. The Buddha delivered a sermon to Kana and after listening to the Buddha’s teaching she attained Stream Entry (Sotāpañña), the first of the four supramundane stages of enlightenment.
While returning to the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha met King Pasenadi of Kosala. When the king was told about Kana and her anger towards the monks, the king asked whether the Buddha was able to teach her the Dhamma so that she could see the Truth. The Buddha said to the king that Kana was taught the teaching and made her rich in her next existence. Then the king said to the Buddha that he would make her rich even in this life. The king arranged to send some men to bring Kana to the palace in a palanquin and told the king’s ministers that whoever could keep Kana in comfort could take her. One of the king’s ministers offered to adopt her as his daughter. He gave all his wealth to Kana and said to her that she could give as much as she liked to charity. So Kana made arrangements to make offerings to the monks every day at the four city gates.
When the Buddha was told that Kana was making offerings to the monks daily at the four city gates, the Buddha said:
“Monks, Kana’s mind was foggy and muddled, but after listening to my words, her mind became clear and calm”.
Then the Buddha recited the following verse, which is recorded as the 82nd verse of the Dhammapada.
“Yathā pi rahado gambhīro,
vippasanno anāvilo,
evaṁ dhammāni sutvāna,
vippasīdanti panditā.”
“Like a lake that is deep,
clear and calm,
the wise become serene,
on hearing the Dhamma.”
- This is a story that demonstrates how even a person who is extremely hostile to the Dhamma can become a sotāpanna! Lord Buddha had to personally go and teach her. If he hadn’t gone, she would probably still be a puthujana. I believe that there are many people today who would become sotāpanna or even more if Lord Buddha were present in our times.
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THE VIRTUOUS AND THE WISE DO NO EVIL FOR ANY GAIN
At one time the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana monastery in Sāvatti which was donated to the Buddha by the chief benefactor Anāthapindika.
In Savatti, there was a householder named Dhammika who was living with his pregnant wife. One day, he said to his wife that he wished to become a monk. But his wife pleaded with him to stay at home until their child was born. When the child was born, he again said to his wife that he wished to be a monk. His wife then pleaded with him to wait until the child began walking. Dhammika thought that there was no point in asking his wife’s permission to become a monk and that he should work for his own liberation. Then he left home and became a monk. He obtained instruction from the Buddha on a suitable meditation object and by meditating diligently, he soon gained enlightenment as an Arahant.
A few years after becoming an Arahant, he visited his home to teach the doctrine to his wife and son. After listening to his teaching, his son became a monk and gained enlightenment as an Arahant. Then his former wife thought now that both her husband and son had left home to become monks, she should also leave home and become a nun. So she also left home and became a nun and soon gained enlightenment as an Arahant.
On one occasion, the Buddha attended the congregation of the monks when the monks said to the Buddha how Dhammika left home to become a monk and soon became an Arahant, and how with his help, his son and wife also became Arahants. Then the Buddha said to the monks:
“Monks, a wise man does not wish for wealth and prosperity by doing any evil, whether it is for himself or anyone else. He only works for his own liberation from the cycle of birth and death (samsāra), by comprehending the Dhamma and living according to the Dhamma.”
Then the Buddha recited the following verse which is recorded as the 84th verse of the Dhammapada.
“Na attahetu na parassa hetu,
na puttamicche na dhanaṁ na ratthaṁ,
na iccheyya adhammena samiddhimattano,
sa sīlavā paññavā dhammiko siyā.”
“Not for one’s own sake or another’s sake,
not desiring a child, wealth or a kingdom,
he should not wish for success through unfair ways,
such a one is indeed virtuous, wise and righteous.”
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PUTTAMAMSA SUTTA: DISCOURSE ON A SON’S FLESH
Thus have I heard.
At one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatti in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapindika’s monastery.
[All the discourses of the Buddha contained in the five collections were narrated by Venerable Arahant Ānanda from memory at the first Buddhist council that was held three months after the Buddha’s passing away. He was the chief attendant of the Buddha and was known as the “guardian of the Dhamma” due to his excellent skill in remembering the Buddha’s discourses.
“Monks, there are these four kinds of nutriment for the maintenance of beings who have come into being and for the support of those who are seeking a birth. What four? Physical food, gross or subtle, contact is the second, mental volition is the third, and consciousness is the fourth. These monks, are the four kinds of nutriment for the maintenance of beings who have come into being and for the support of those who are seeking a birth.”
[In another discourse too called Aththirāga sutta of the Samyutta Nikāya (collection of the Buddha’s connected discourses), the Buddha has described the four types of nutriments: nutriment of physical food (kabalinkāhāra), nutriment of contact (phassāhāra), nutriment of mental volition (mano sancetanāhāra) and the nutriment of consciousness (viññānāhāra).]
In the Puttamamsa sutta, the Buddha has given a very significant and powerful sermon on the four kinds of nutriments, one external and three internal, that sustain all sentient beings. Then the Buddha used four similes to describe the dangers of each nutriment unless they are properly and reflectively used. The similes are so strong, particularly the simile of the parents killing their only baby son to consume his flesh, that they should create a sense of revulsion and disenchantment in anyone. Buddhist monks and nuns are expected to reflect each time they consume physical food and other requisites offered by their lay devotees. The Buddha has also stated how a disciple can gain enlightenment and liberation from all suffering by fully comprehending each of the four nutriments.
- An excellent sutta on the 4 types of food. Sir Lal had already written an article on Āhāra (Food) in Udayavaya Ñāna. However, this is the first time I have read this sutta. If I’m not mistaken, the desire for the first type of food is eliminated at the anagami stage. The other 3 desires are eliminated at the arahant stage. Even though an arahant or an anagami with a human body needs food, these two individuals will never eat food for pleasure.
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RESPECT THE TEACHER FROM WHOM ONE LEARNS THE DHAMMA
The Brāhmana”, which contains 41 verses said by the Buddha. The background story of the 392nd verse, which is the tenth verse of the Brāhmana vagga is about Arahant Sāriputta, who continued to pay homage daily to Arahant Assaji, from who he first learnt the Buddha’s teaching.
The background story of verse 392
Arahant Sāriputta was named Upatissa in his lay life as he was born into the chief family of a village named Upatissa. He had a very close friend named Kolita and both of them completed their education satisfactorily mastering the Vedic doctrines. They attended an annual festival called Hilltop Festival in the town of Rajagaha and enjoyed the entertainment. But they became disenchanted with the material world with a strong sense of the impermanence of things in their life and decided to leave the domestic life to become ascetics. They first went to a teacher named Sanjaya Bellatthiputta but were not happy with his teaching. Then they walked all around India looking for a teacher who could provide them with the correct teaching but could not find one. They decided to go their separate ways but promised each other that if one were to find the truth first he would immediately come and inform the other.
One day, Upatissa happened to see Arahant Assaji who was doing his alms round for food in the city of Rajagaha, and was quite impressed with the calm and serene appearance of Arahant Assaji. He thought to himself that this ascetic must be either an Arahant already or on his way to becoming one. He asked Arahant Assaji who his teacher was and what the teacher’s teaching was. Arahant Assaji informed Upatissa that he was a pupil of Gautama Buddha and that he could not describe the teaching in detail as he had not been a monk for long. But, when Upatissa requested that the teaching be mentioned in brief, Arahant Assaji recited the verse:
“Ye dhammā hetuppabhavā,
Tesaṁ hetuṁ tathāgato āha;
Tesanca yo nirodho,
Evaṃvādi mahāsamaṇo”
“Of things that proceed from a cause, their cause, the Tathagata has told, and also their cessation, thus teaches the great ascetic.”
On hearing the first two lines of the verse, Upatissa realized the Dhamma and became a Stream Enterer (Sotāpañña), the first noble stage of the Buddhist path of liberation. Having obtained the details of where the Buddha was residing, he went to Kolita to tell him of his discovery of the truth and when he repeated the same verse, Kolita too became a Stream Enterer. They went to the Buddha and were ordained as monks and soon both became Arahants and were appointed as the two chief disciples of the Buddha.
Arahant Sāriputta never failed to remember his very first teacher Arahant Assaji from whom he first heard the Buddha’s teaching in brief and became a Stream Enterer. If they both happened to be residing in the same monastery, Arahant Sāriputta would first visit the Buddha and then visit Arahant Assaji to pay homage to him. If Arahant Assaji was residing elsewhere, each day before going to sleep, he would find out where Arahant Assaji was and pay homage to that direction and would sleep with his head in the same direction.
At one time, the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana monastery in Sāvatti, and Arahant Sāriputta was also staying there at that time. When the other monks at the monastery witnessed Arahant Sāriputta paying homage in some direction or other, they mistook it as worshiping the various directions as Brahmins do. They reported to the Buddha that Arahant Sāriputta had not given up the old habit of worshiping the various directions. The Buddha sent for Arahant Sāriputta and when asked about it, he explained to the Buddha that he was only paying homage to his teacher Arahant Assaji and was not worshiping various directions. The Buddha was quite satisfied with that answer and said to the other monks:
“Monks, Sāriputta was not worshiping in various directions; he was only paying homage to his teacher Arahant Assaji, from whom he first learned about the Dhamma and it is quite proper for him to pay homage to such a teacher.”
Then the Buddha recited the following verse which is recorded as the 392nd verse of the Dhammapada.
“Yamhā Dhammaṁ vijāneyya,
Sammāsambuddhadesitaṁ,
Sakkaccaṁ taṁ namasseyya,
Aggihuttaṁ va brāhmano.”
“One from whom one learned the Dhamma, taught by the Sammā Sambuddha, should be revered like a Brahmin reveres the sacrificial fire.”
- Venerable Arahant Sariputta is considered the wisest disciple of Lord Buddha. His wisdom surpasses all other arahants except for Lord Gautama. Despite this, he continued to pay homage to his first master. It’s important to follow this example and show respect to those who introduced us to the Dhamma, regardless of whether they use mundane interpretations. Understanding mundane concepts is essential for comprehending deeper teachings. Even Lord Buddha would have wanted to pay homage to his anariya masters (Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta) by teaching them the Dhamma first. Unfortunately, they had already passed away and been reborn in the arupa loka(is impossible for an anariya Brahma to learn the Dhamma, in the Arupa loka). We must continue paying homage to our initial Dhamma teachers.
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SIGNIFICANCE OF CONCEIT (MĀNA)
Conceit (māna)
The literal meaning of the Pali word “Māna” is measuring, but generally, it refers to conceit, self-pride or arrogance. It is one’s tendency to arrive at valued judgments about oneself by comparing with others. In the Buddha’s higher teaching (Abhidhamma), conceit has been described as one of the fourteen unwholesome mental factors (akusala cetasika) as they are associated with one or more of the three unwholesome roots of greed (lobha), hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha). The fourteen unwholesome mental factors (Kilesa) are:
1. Delusion (moha)
2. shamelessness of wrongdoing (ahirika)
3. fearlessness of wrongdoing (anotappa)
4. restlessness (uddacca)
5. greed (lobha)
6. wrong view (Micchādiṭṭhi)
7. conceit (mana)
8. ill-will (dosa)
9. envy (issa)
10. avarice (macchariya)
11. worry (kukkucca)
12. sloth (thīna)
13. torpor (middha)
14. doubt (vicikiccā)
In the Anusaya sutta of the Anguttara Nikāya (collection of the Buddha’s numerical discourses), the Buddha has described a group of mental defilements called the latent tendencies (anusaya) as they tend to remain dormant in the mind life after life until they are completely eradicated by attaining the state of Nibbāna. The Buddha named conceit as one of the seven latent tendencies:
1. Latent tendency of desire for sense pleasures (kāmarāganusaya)
2. Latent tendency of aversion (patighanusaya)
3. Latent tendency of conceit (mānanusaya)
4. Latent tendency of wrong view (ditthanusaya)
5. Latent tendency of doubt (vicikiccānusaya)
6. Latent tendency of desire for existence (bhava-rāganusaya)
7. Latent tendency of ignorance (avijjānusaya)
Conceit (māna), along with the two mental defilements of craving (tanhā) and wrong view (ditthi), is responsible for the development of a self-identification view in an unenlightened person.
Craving, conceit and wrong views lead us to develop that false identification as follows:
1 .“This is mine” is due to craving (tanhā)
2. “This I am” is due to conceit (māna)
3. “This is me” is due to the wrong view (Micchādiṭṭhi)
Identification with a self has been described as responsible for the development of mental defilements such as egoism, attachment, selfishness, ill-will, hatred etc. These mental defilements can lead one to engage in unwholesome and unskilful behaviour which can result in suffering to oneself as well as others. Unwholesome and immoral actions performed due to the self-identification view will lead one to inevitable rebirth in the four planes of suffering: the plane of immense suffering (niraya), the plane of animals (tiracchāna yoni), the plane of hungry ghosts (peta loka) and the plane of demons and titans (asura loka).
When one reflects on the word conceit in general, one may think that through conceit one is always likely to consider oneself superior or more important than others. However according to Buddhist teaching, the feeling of equality as well as inferiority in comparison to others can also be manifestations of the defilement of conceit.
In the Vattha sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya, the Buddha has described sixteen unwholesome qualities that can defile the mind. The Buddha described conceit (māna) and arrogance (athimāna) as two of those sixteen unwholesome qualities which can lead to a bad destiny.
There are so many factors based on which one is likely to develop conceit comparing oneself with others. One can develop conceit based on: one’s race, one’s country, one’s nationality, one’s religion, one’s birth, one’s family name, one’s good health, one’s youth, one’s age, one’s honour and respect, one’s politeness and respect for others, one’s followers, one’s wealth, one’s beauty, one’s physical build, one’s education, one’s earning ability, one’s effort, one’s mental cleverness, one’s seniority, one’s possessions, one’s blameless character, one’s good manners, one’s success, one’s popularity, one’s ethics, one’s ability to develop concentration (samadhi) during meditation and mental absorptions (Jhana) etc.
Three justified types of conceit (yathāva māna):
1. The conceit of I am superior to others when one is superior to others.
2. The conceit of I am equal to others when one is equal to others.
3. The conceit of I am inferior to others when one is inferior to others.
Six unjustified types of conceit (ayathāva māna):
1. The conceit of I am superior to others when one is equal to others.
2. The conceit of I am superior to others when one is inferior to others.
3. The conceit of I am equal to others when one is superior to others.
3. The conceit of I am equal to others when one is inferior to others.
5. The conceit of I am inferior to others when one is equal to others.
6. The conceit of I am inferior to others when one is superior to others.
- This subject is very interesting but often misunderstood by me and others. In the arahant stage, mana is eliminated. Even an anagami still possesses this taint. However, when an arahant describes their qualities and achievements, it is not considered pride. In the suttas, we see Lord Buddha and other venerable arahants talking about their abilities in various fields. Why would this not be considered pride in this case?
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I missed the following question from Jittananto yesterday:
“In the suttas, we see Lord Buddha and other venerable arahants talking about their abilities in various fields. Why would this not be considered pride in this case?”
- The Buddha (and Arahants) always tried to inspire others by pointing out the possibilities (what could be achieved if one puts in the effort).
- That is not pride; it was done with compassion.
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VISĀKHUPOSATHA SUTTA: DISCOURSE TO VISĀKHĀ ON OBSERVING THE EIGHT PRECEPTS
It is a sutta about the 8 precepts. The Sutta centrale version: Uposathasutta
There are, Visākhā, these three sabbaths.
“Tayo khome, visākhe, uposathā.
What three?
Katame tayo?
The sabbath of the cowherds, the sabbath of the Jains, and the sabbath of the noble ones.
Gopālakuposatho, nigaṇṭhuposatho, ariyuposatho.
- I don’t know if the English translation expresses well what Lord Buddha meant. It would be better if Sir Lal or someone else checks this.
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“Uposata” is to dedicate a day once a week or once a month (usually a full Moon day) to try to live like an Arahant, i.e., to abstain from immoral deeds or even engage in “sensual/pleasurable activities,” including sex.
- This is a common practice in Asian Buddhist countries. People spend the whole day in a temple, although it can also be done at home.
Such a practice existed even before Prince Siddhartha attained Buddhahood. It is stated that Queen Mahamaya Devi (Prince Siddhartha’s mother) regularly practiced it.
- It is clear that such a practice originated with Buddha Kassapa, the Buddha before Buddha Gotama.
- Just like concepts like kamma/kamma vipaka also propagated with mundane meanings, that practice was performed with different variations/adoptions by various groups when Prince Siddhartha was born. For example, “nigaṇṭhuposatho” was the practice/rituals adopted by the Jains (followers of Nigaṇṭanathaputta) at that time.
- Apparently, Lady Visākhā followed an incorrect version, and the Buddha explained to her the correct way to practice Uposata in this sutta.
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Of course. Even a Sotapanna may follow rituals they are used to unless it involves immoral deeds. It is likely that some practices did not make sense but were not immoral.
- I don’t know the details of what types of procedures were involved.
- But I think the sutta explains how to engage in Uposata correctly.
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Here is an example of another lay arahant Paññāvimutta. Uggasena became an arahant while he was still on top of a pole!
Give up the past, future and the present to attain liberation
The background story of the 348th verse, which is the fifteenth verse of the Tanhā vagga is about a skilful acrobat named Uggasena who became an Arahant after listening to a short discourse from the Buddha.
At one time the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana monastery in Sāvatti which was donated to the Buddha by the chief benefactor Anāthapindika.
At that time, a touring theatre group of five hundred dancers and a few acrobats visited the city of Rajagaha and presented a performance on the grounds of the royal palace of King Bimbisara. They performed continuously for seven days. One of the dancers who was the daughter of an acrobat sang and danced on top of a long bamboo pole. In the audience was a young man named Uggasena who was the son of a wealthy man in Rajagaha. When he saw the daughter of the acrobat singing and dancing, he became infatuated and fell in love with her. When he went home, he told his parents that he wanted to marry the daughter of the acrobat. They tried to dissuade him by offering to find a suitable young lady for him from a wealthy family of similar status to them. But Uggasena insisted that he would live only if he could marry the Acrobat’s daughter. Unable to get his son to change his mind, the father contacted the acrobat and offered money to allow his daughter to be married to Uggasena. The acrobat insisted that he would let Uggasena marry his daughter only if Uggasena was prepared to travel around with the group of dancers and acrobats. Uggasena agreed and having married the acrobat’s daughter travelled with the group from place to place. As he could not dance or perform any acrobatics, he did some menial work for the group such as driving their carts and carrying their luggage.
In due course, Uggasena’s wife gave birth to a baby son. His wife used to cuddle the baby by singing a song to humiliate her husband. The song contained certain mocking phrases such as:
“Please go to sleep, the son of the man who can only watch over the carts.”
“Please go to sleep, the son of the man who can only carry the luggage.”
“Please go to sleep, the son of the ignorant man who can do nothing.”
When Uggasena heard this song which was repeatedly sung by his wife, he became upset and depressed. It made him decide to learn acrobatics and requested his father-in-law, the acrobat, to teach him acrobatics. He studied the art of acrobatics earnestly and within one year became an expert acrobat. He then went around villages and towns performing his acrobatics and during his tour arrived back in his native city of Rajagaha. He made a public announcement that in seven days he will stage a show in which he will perform his acrobatics including somersaults.
On the appointed day, a large number of people assembled to watch his acrobatics and gathered around the stage that was set up for his performance. A long bamboo pole was put up for him to climb and do his acrobatics. He climbed the long bamboo pole and stood on it to begin his acrobatics and the people were eagerly waiting to see his somersaults.
Early in the morning on that day, the Buddha, through great compassion for the world, was surveying the world to see who could be helped that day to benefit from the Buddhist spiritual path of liberation from suffering. Uggasena appeared in the Buddha’s super normal vision and the Buddha knew that Uggasena had the potential to eradicate all his mental defilements and attain enlightenment on that day itself. While Uggasena was just about to perform his acrobatics, the Buddha accompanied by monks entered the city for the regular alms round. Uggasena began his acrobatic show and made seven somersaults in the air and stood back on top of the pole attracting great admiration from the audience. As the Buddha arrived where Uggasena was doing his acrobatic performance, the Buddha determined supernormal power that the audience would pay exclusive attention to the Buddha instead of applauding Uggasena. When Uggasena noticed that the audience was neglecting him and was paying all their attention to the Buddha, he felt downhearted and depressed.
At that moment, the Buddha addressed Uggasena and said to him:
“Uggasena, a wise man should give up all attachment to the five aggregates of clinging and strive to gain liberation from the cycle of birth and death.”
Then the Buddha recited the following verse which is recorded as the 348th verse of the Dhammapada.
“Muñca pure muñca pacchato,
majjhe muñca bhavassa pāragū,
sabbattha vimuttamānaso,
na punaṁ jāti jaraṁ upehisi.”
“Give up the past, give up the future,
give up the present, after crossing all existence,
by freeing yourself from all attachments,
you will not return to birth and decay.”
At the end of the discourse, Uggasena, still on top of the pole, attained Arahatship. He came down and was soon admitted to the Order by the Buddha.
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Hatred can be pacified only by not harbouring thoughts of hatred
The background story of verses 3 and 4
At one time the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana Monastery in Sāvatti which was donated to the Buddha by the chief benefactor Anāthapindika.
At that time, a monk named Tissa was also staying at the Jetavana Monastery. He happened to be the son of the sister of the Buddha’s father King Suddhodana, and had been ordained as a monk during his old age. It is said that he was fat and used to wear robes that were always very smooth. He used to pose as a senior monk and sat in the centre of the monastery hall at the Jetavana Monastery. He was very happy when monks visiting the monastery offered to do some services for him, but he failed to do the duties that he was expected to perform as a junior monk. He often used to quarrel with the younger monks and if he was told off by them for some reason, he would get upset and run to the Buddha complaining about the other monks.
One day some monks visited the Jetavana Monastery to see and pay homage to the Buddha and believing the monk Tissa to be a senior monk, offered to rub his feet which he accepted by remaining quiet. When those monks asked him how many rain retreats he had spent, he said none and disclosed to them that he was ordained as a monk in his old age. Having heard that, the visiting monks got angry and told him off by saying that he was a wretched old monk who overestimated his importance and that he did not show the slightest regret for his wrong behaviour. As usual, he went to the Buddha upset and weeping, to complain about the visiting monks. The visiting monks too went to the Buddha, paid homage to the Buddha and sat to one side. When the Buddha asked the monk Tissa as to why he was upset, he said that those visiting monks were abusing him. The visiting monks also complained to the Buddha calling monk Tissa an obstinate old monk. The Buddha then told them not to harbour thoughts of hatred, because hatred can only be pacified by not harbouring thoughts of hatred.
The Buddha then recited the following two verses which are recorded as the verses 3 and 4 of the Dhammapada.
“Akkocchi maṁ avadhi maṁ,
ajini maṁ ahāsi me,
ye ca taṁ upanayhanti,
veraṁ tesaṁ na sammati.”
“He abused me, he beat me,
he overcame me, he robbed me,
in those who harbour such thoughts,
hatred is not appeased.”
“Akkocchi maṁ avadhi maṁ,
ajini maṁ ahāsi me,
ye ca taṁ na upanayhanti,
veraṁ tesūpasammati.”
“He abused me, he beat me,
he overcame me, he robbed me,
in those who do not harbour such thoughts,
hatred is appeased.”
At the end of the discourse, one hundred thousand bhikkhus attained Sotapatti Fruition.
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Attadīpa Sutta: Discourse on being an island to oneself
In the Attadipa sutta, the Buddha has instructed the monks to live with themselves as an island and a refuge and also with Dhamma as an island and a refuge. Living that way, one can investigate the source of sorrow, lamentation, physical pain, mental pain and despair. Then the Buddha has said that when an ordinary person considers the five aggregates of clinging: Form (rūpa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saññā), mental formations (sankhāra) and consciousness (viññāna), as self or considers self as possessing them, or considers the control to be in them, or considers them to be in control when they change by their very nature, it leads to the arising of sorrow, lamentation, physical pain, mental pain and despair. Then the Buddha has stated how when one truly understands the inability to maintain at our liking and the changeable nature of the five aggregates, one will abandon any sorrow, lamentation, physical pain, mental pain and despair, and will live happily in a state of temporary liberation.
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Hatred is pacified not by hatred, but only by loving-kindness
At one time the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana Monastery in Sāvatti which was donated to the Buddha by the chief benefactor Anāthapindika.
There was a certain young man who lived with his parents and when his father passed away, he looked after his mother while attending to the household work as well as work on his farm on his own. Though he was unwilling to find a wife, as his mother was insisting that he must get married, he gave in and married a certain woman who turned out to be infertile. His mother thought that if there were no children, the family line would not be continued and hence proposed to his son that he should find another woman who could bear children. He was not happy about it, but the mother repeatedly insisted that he find a second wife who could have children. When his first wife overheard their conversation, she was alarmed and offered to find another wife herself who would be a woman of her choice. So she went to a certain family and persuaded the parents to let her bring their daughter to be her husband’s second wife.
When the second wife became pregnant with a child, the first wife was afraid that her position in the family would be lost if the other woman bore a child and hence decided to cause an abortion. This she did twice by giving food mixed with poison to the second wife causing her to lose two children through miscarriage. When the second wife was pregnant for the third time, the first wife did the same as before to cause a miscarriage but this time the second wife also died while aborting her unborn baby. But having realized that it was the other woman who caused her to abort three babies and that she was also going to die this time, she developed a hatred towards the other woman and vowed to be reborn as an ogress so that she could eat the children of the other woman.
She was reborn as a cat and the other woman who was the first wife was reborn as a hen. The hen laid eggs and the cat ate them three times. The hen made a vow to be reborn so that she could eat the cat and her offspring and was reborn as a leopardess while the cat was reborn as a doe. The doe gave birth to three offspring and the leopardess ate all three of them. As the doe was dying, she took a vow to eat the leopardess and her offspring in her future birth and was reborn as an ogress, while the leopardess was reborn as a young woman in the city of Savatti.
The young woman eventually got married and moved to live with her husband. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and the ogress disguised as a close friend visited the family and ate the newborn baby. The ogress did the same when the young woman gave birth to her second son. When the third son was born, one day the ogress was pursuing them to eat that baby too, but learning that the Buddha was giving a sermon to a congregation at the Jetavana Monastery, the young woman fled to the monastery with the baby and placed the baby at the feet of the Buddha. The ogress could not enter the monastery as she was stopped at the gate by the guardian spirit of the monastery.
The Buddha then got the ogress also to come in and reprimanded both the young woman and the ogress for continuing with their hatred for each other, eating each other’s offspring life after life. The Buddha said that had they not come face to face with a Buddha-like him, they would have continued with their hatred towards each other for an eon. The Buddha advised both of them that hatred is pacified not by hatred but only by loving-kindness. Then the Buddha recited the following verse which is recorded as the 5th verse of the Dhammapada.
“Nahi verena verāni,
sammantīdha kudacanaṁ,
averena ca sammanti,
esa dhammo sanantano.”
“Hatred is indeed, never appeased by hatred it is appeased by loving kindness, this is an eternal law.”
At the end of the discourse, the ogress was established in Sotapatti Fruition and the long-standing feud came to an end.
- We have all been in countless cycles of hatred, in this infinite Samsarā. Even today, we have people who want to hurt us and who don’t like us and vice versa. By reaching at least the sotāpanna stage, we can stop having mortal hatred for others. In the Sakadāgāmi stage this anger is weakened and in the Anagami stage all anger, even a small one, disappears without a trace.
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Ten special powers (dasabala) of Lord Gautama Buddha
Lord Gautama Buddha being a Samma Sambuddha, having realised the four Noble Truths by his own effort with no assistance from any teacher, is believed to have possessed several supernormal knowledge. Patisambhidāmagga, the twelfth of the fifteen books of the collection of the Buddha’s minor discourses (Khuddaka Nikāya) which is believed to have been composed by Arahant Sāriputta, the chief disciple of the Buddha, contains a detailed description of the knowledge that the Buddha had possessed. It has a list of seventy-three different knowledge which includes both mundane and supra-mundane knowledge. Out of them, there is six special super normal knowledge that only a fully enlightened Sammā Sambuddha such as Lord Gautama can possess. They are:
1. Knowledge of the maturity levels of the five spiritual faculties (indriya paropariyatte nāna)
2. Knowledge of the dispositions and underlying tendencies of beings (āsayānusaya nāna)
3. Knowledge of the twin miracle (yamakapātihāra nāna)
4. Knowledge of the attainment of great compassion (mahā karunāsamāpattiya nāna)
5. Knowledge of Omniscience (sabbannuta nāna)
6. Knowledge of un-obstructiveness (anāvarana nāna)
Buddha’s declaration of the ten special powers
As recorded in the Mahā Sīhanāda sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya (collection of the Buddha’s middle-length discourses), at one time the Buddha was staying in a forest near a city called Vesāli. At that time, a certain man called Sunakkhatta who had been a monk before and had even served the Buddha as the Buddha’s attendant, had been talking to the people in Vesāli disparaging and denouncing the Buddha. He has been saying to them that the Buddha lacked any superhuman states or qualities of a liberated saint, the Buddha was merely teaching what he has thought out, and that the Buddha’s teaching was only for the complete ending of suffering. One morning, Arahant Sāriputta, who was one of the two chief disciples of the Buddha, went to Vesāli for the day’s alms round. While on the alms round, Arahant Sāriputta overheard Sunakkhatta addressing a group of people saying: “The recluse Gotama has neither the superhuman states nor the distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.”
On his return from the alms round, Arahant Sāriputta went to see the Buddha and reported the disparaging words that Sunakkhatta had been saying. The Buddha responded by saying that Sunakkhatta was speaking out of malice and that he did not know the Buddha’s true state. Then the Buddha gave a sermon which is recorded as the Mahā Sīhanāda Sutta. In that discourse, the Buddha spoke about the ten special powers of the Tathagata, four kinds of intrepidity, knowledge of the eight assemblies, four kinds of birth, the five destinies and the Nibbana, and the austerities of the Buddha aspirant (Bodhisatta). In this discourse as well as in several other discourses, the Buddha has used the term “Tathāgata” to refer to himself and the previous Buddhas.
The ten special powers (dasabala) of the Buddha (Tathāgata)
The first special power: The Buddha has the ability and the mental power to know and understand as it actually is, why and how the possible is possible and why and how the impossible is impossible. The Buddha knows and understands the underlying causes and conditions that will determine whether it is possible or impossible for something to happen. This is the power of the possible and the impossible.
The second special power: The Buddha has the ability and the mental power to know and understand as it actually is, the results of volitional actions (kamma), performed by anyone in the past, the present and the future, in detail, with reasons and in the exact way. This is the power of knowing the retribution of volitional actions.
The third special power: The Buddha has the ability and the mental power to know and understand as it actually is, how the birth of any sentient being takes place and what causes and conditions lead to that particular birth. The Buddha is aware of all the paths leading to the birth of any sentient being in the four worlds of suffering, human world or the celestial worlds.
The fourth special power: The Buddha has the ability and the mental power to know and understand as it actually is, the world with it’s many and different elements (dhātu). Here, the elements may refer to the five aggregates of clinging (form or matter (rūpa), feeling or sensation (vedanā), perception (saññā), mental formation (sankhāra) and consciousness (viññāna), the six sense bases (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and the mind), the six sense objects (visual objects, sounds, smells, tastes, touches and ideas), and the six types of sense consciousness (eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness and mind consciousness) etc.
The fifth special power: The Buddha has the ability and the mental power to know and understand as it actually is, the diversity of beings with regard to their emotions, desires and behaviour. With that understanding, the Buddha is able to deliver the teaching to them so that the listeners will be able to understand it to their best advantage.
The sixth special power: The Buddha has the ability and the mental power to know and understand as it actually is, the disposition of the spiritual faculties of other beings. The five spiritual faculties are: Faith (saddhā), effort (viriya), mindfulness (sati), concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (paññā). This helps the Buddha to know their potential to understand and practise the teaching.
The seventh special power: The Buddha has the ability and the mental power to know and understand as it actually is, the exact nature of deep mental absorptions or Jhana, various types of concentrations, liberations, and meditative attainments. The Buddha also knows the reasons for the deterioration of those meditative states and how to develop them again in the exact way.
The eighth special power: The Buddha has the ability and the mental power to recollect many kinds of his past births. That is: one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, a hundred births, a thousand births, a hundred thousand births, many eons of the world contracting, many eons of the world expanding, many eons of the world contracting and expanding. The Buddha remembers: ‘There, I was so named, such was my clan, I looked like this, such was my food, such was my experience of pleasure and pain, such was my life span, passing away from there, I was reborn somewhere else. There too, I was so named, such was my clan, I looked like this, such was my food, such was my experience of pleasure and pain, such was my life span, passing away from there, I was reborn here’. Thus the Buddha is able to recollect many kinds of his past births, with features and details. Though others could also develop this power through meditation, the Buddha’s ability surpasses them with regard to the extent that the Buddha is able to look back into the past lives.
The ninth special power: The Buddha has the ability and the mental power to see with the divine eye, which is purified and superhuman, the sentient beings passing away and being reborn inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, in a good place or a bad place. The Buddha understands how sentient beings are reborn according to their volitional actions: ‘These beings who engaged in bodily, verbal and mental misconduct, reviled the noble ones, had wrong view and acted based on wrong view, with the breakup of the body, after death, have been reborn in the plane of misery, in a bad destination, in the lower world, in hell. But these beings who engaged in good bodily, verbal and mental conduct, who did not revile the noble ones, held right view, and acted based on right view, with the breakup of the body, after death, have been reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world’. Thus the Buddha has the special power to see sentient beings passing away and being reborn inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, in a good place or a bad place according to their volitional actions (kamma).
The tenth special power: With the destruction of all mental defilements, the Buddha has realized for himself, with direct knowledge, with no assistance from any teacher, in this very life, undefiled liberation of mind (ceto vimutti) and liberation by wisdom (paññā vimutti), and having entered upon it, he remains in it.
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If one can endure abuse without anger, he is a real Brāhmana
The background story of the 399th verse, which is the seventeenth verse of the Brāhmana vagga is about four Brahmin brothers who came and abused the Buddha, but eventually became Buddha’s disciples due to Buddha’s patient endurance and attained enlightenment as Arahants.
The background story of verse 399
At one time, the Buddha was staying at the Veluvana monastery in Rajagaha, which was donated to the Buddha by King Bimbisāra.
At that time, there was a Brahmin named Bhāradvāja whose wife named Dhananjāni was a disciple of the Buddha. She had attained the first supra mundane stage of Stream Enterer (Sotāpañña), and whenever she happened to sneeze, cough or stumble, she would utter the solemn utterance: “Homage to the Exalted One, the Worthy One, the Supremely Enlightened One” (Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammā sambuddhassa). One day as she was serving the food to some invited brahmins in her house, she stumbled and as usual uttered the solemn utterance: “Homage to the Exalted One, the Worthy One, the Supremely Enlightened One” in a loud voice. When this was said by her, the Brahmin Bhāradvāja said to her:
“You, outcaste woman, while living in my house, are you making utterances praising that shaven-headed monk? I will go right now and argue against the teaching of your teacher.”
“Brahmin, I do not know of anyone in this world with its gods, Maras, Brahmas, recluses and humans, who can argue against the teaching of the Exalted One, the worthy One, the Supremely Enlightened One. But anyway, you can go and find out for yourself.”
Then the Brahmin Bhāradvāja, angry and upset, went to the Buddha. He exchanged friendly greetings with the Buddha and sat to one side. Having sat to one side, he said this to the Buddha in verse.
“Cutting up what, can one sleep well?
cutting up what, does one not feel sadness?
what is the one thing, whose destruction, you would approve?”
“Cutting up anger, one sleeps well,
cutting up anger, one does not feel sadness,
brahmin, anger has a poisonous root and a sweet top,
the noble ones praise the destruction of anger, for when anger is destroyed, there is no sadness.”
After hearing the Buddha’s response, the Brahmin Bhāradvāja was so impressed and satisfied that he asked the Buddha for permission to go forth and receive higher ordination as a monk. Having received the going forth and higher ordination in the presence of the Buddha, within a very short time he gained enlightenment as an Arahant.
His younger brother named Akkosa Bhāradvāja, became extremely angry when he heard that his brother had become a monk under the Buddha. He went to the Buddha and verbally abused the Buddha with foul and harsh words. The Buddha quietly asked the brahmin Akkosa Bhāradvāja:
“Well, brahmin, do friends, colleagues, blood relatives and other guests visit you?”
“Yes, sometimes friends, colleagues, blood relatives and other guests do visit me.”
“What do you think brahmin, do you offer them solid food, food snacks or delicacies?”
“Yes, sometimes, I do offer them solid food, food snacks or delicacies.”
“But, if brahmin, they do not accept them, who do those foods belong to?”
“If they do not accept them, those foods belong to me”
“In the same way, brahmin, you are abusing us who do not abuse, you are angry with us who do not get angry, you are insulting us who do not insult. All of this, we do not accept from you. You alone will get them back. All of this, brahmin, belongs to you.”
He instantly realized the Buddha’s message and requested permission to go forth and receive higher ordination as a monk. Within a very short time, he too gained enlightenment as an Arahant.
Akkosa Bhāradvāja’s two younger brothers named Sundarī Bhāradvāja and Bilangika Bhāradvāja also went and abused the Buddha, who subdued them both patiently. They also went forth and received higher ordination as monks and soon gained enlightenment as Arahants.
Following these incidents, one day the monks were discussing among themselves at their congregation: “How wonderful and how great are the virtues of the Blessed One! The four Brahmin brothers came here to abuse the Blessed One; and instead of arguing with them, the Blessed One made them see the light and became a refuge to them.” At that moment, the Buddha arrived there and asked what they were discussing about. The monks reported what they were discussing about and then the Buddha said:
“Monks, because I have patience and do no wrong to those who do me wrong, I have become a refuge to many.”
Then the Buddha recited the following verse which is recorded as the 399th verse of the Dhammapada.
“Akkosaṁ vadhabandhan ca,
aduttho yo titikkhati,
khantībalaṁ balānikaṁ,
tamahaṁ brūmi brāhmanaṁ.“
“When abused, beaten and being bound,
whoever endures it with no anger,
who has patience as his power and army,
that one I say is a true brahmana.”
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One Who Commits Evil Acts Will Suffer In This Life And In Future Lives
The first chapter is named “Yamaka vagga” meaning the chapter of “The Twin Verses”, which contains 20 verses said by the Buddha. The background story of the verse 15, which is the 15th verse of the Yamaka vagga is about a cruel pig butcher during the time of the Buddha, who faced a painful death behaving like a pig and was reborn in hell.
The background story of verses 15
At one time, the Buddha was staying at the Veluvana monastery in Rajagaha donated by King Bimbisāra.
In a certain village outside Rajagaha, there lived a pig butcher named Cunda, who was a pig butcher for fifty-five years. He used to kill the pigs in an extremely cruel manner either to eat the flesh or to sell it to others. He had never performed any meritorious action during all his life. The Buddha was staying in the Veluvana monastery which was not far from him, but he never visited the Buddha to pay homage or to make any offering to the Buddha.
He was then affected by a certain serious illness, and for seven days before his death, he suffered from excruciating pain grunting like a pig and crawling on his hands and knees like a pig. His family members had to barricade him in the house to prevent him from leaving the house. Finally, on the eighth day, he died and was reborn in the hell called Avīci Niraya. During their alms rounds, some monks had heard the grunting noise of pigs coming from the house with its doors locked and had thought that pigs were being killed in the house during those seven days. They reported to the Buddha that the door of the house of Cunda the pig butcher, had been closed for seven days and that perhaps he had been killing pigs in his house. Then the Buddha said to them that Cunda had not been killing pigs in those seven days but had suffered torment as the result of his cruel acts of killing pigs for fifty-five years and that he had been grunting like a pig and crawling on his hands and knees like a pig until he died on that day to be reborn in the Avīci Niraya. The Buddha said to the monks that those who commit evil acts will suffer in this world and would be reborn in a suffering world thus having to face suffering in both worlds.
Then the Buddha recited the following verse which is recorded as the 15th verse of the Dhammapada.
“Idha socati pecca socati,
pāpakārī ubhayattha socati,
so socati so vihaññati,
disvā kamma kilitthamattano.”
“Here he grieves, hereafter he grieves,
the evil-doer grieves in both places,
he grieves and he suffers anguish,
seeing the impurity of his own deeds.”
- The text explains that sometimes when someone is destined to be reborn in an apaya, their mental state begins to align with that realm. Many people die troubled and afraid because they did not take refuge in the Triple Gem. There are several types of Nirayas. Some are ice and cold, some are thick darkness, some are acid, Some are hot and incandescent, some are sharp and many others. Avīci Maha Niraya is considered the worst of the hells, the scariest and most painful. This is why it is called Maha Niraya, the Great Hell, in the commentaries. Most of those who are reborn there have committed extremely immoral actions or an anantariya Kamma. Devadatta is currently in Avīci for many Kappas. However, even those who have not committed such actions can be reborn there if they have not reached the sotāpanna stage. In a sutta (I forget the name), Lord Buddha said that once someone falls into Avīci Niraya, it is extremely difficult to escape and they may be trapped there for Kappas. When they finally manage to come out, they are reborn in another niraya and so on. However, there are a few exceptions, like Queen Mallika, who was only in Avīci for 7 days before being reborn in the Tusita paradise.
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Significance of gratitude in Theravada Buddhism
The ability to experience a positive feeling of gratitude can vary from person to person. While it can spontaneously arise in some people more frequently than in others, others may need to put some effort to help it arise and others find it difficult to feel a sense of gratitude for things done to oneself by others. When one looks around, one is likely to find out that those who have a natural tendency to feel and express gratitude are rare while the vast majority of people do not have that natural tendency in themselves. The fact that gratitude is a rare human quality has been said by the Buddha himself in the Dullabha sutta of the Anguttara Nikāya (collection of the Buddha’s numerical discourses) as follows:
“Monks, the appearance of three people is rare in the world. What three? A Realised One, a perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha. A person who teaches the teaching and training proclaimed by a Realised One. A person who is grateful and thankful. The appearance of these three people is rare in the world.”
In the Pingiyānī sutta of the Anguttara Nikāya, addressing a group of five hundred Licchavi householders, the Buddha described a person who is grateful and thankful as one of the five rare treasures in the world. The Buddha said:
“Licchavis, the appearance of five treasures is rare in the world. What five?
1. A Realised One, a perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha.
2. A person who explains the teaching and training proclaimed by a Realised One.
3. A person who understands the teaching and training proclaimed by a Realised One.
4. A person who practises in line with the teaching.
5. A person who is grateful and thankful.”
It can be seen that disciples of the Buddha, both lay and monastic, make various offerings to the Buddha as a part of their religious practice. They are aware that they cannot expect to attain their liberation from suffering through these offerings because according to the Buddha’s teaching, one has to work towards one’s liberation and even the Buddha cannot liberate someone else. The main purpose of making such offerings to the Buddha is to pay homage and show gratitude to the great teacher who selflessly struggled to discover the path of liberation from suffering with no assistance from any teacher, and then taught it to the world so that others can also practise the same path and attain their liberation. Buddhist disciples are also encouraged to show gratitude to one’s teachers, monastics, spiritual friends and anyone else who has helped and supported them even in a very small manner. Another common religious practice among the Buddhist disciples is to perform various meritorious actions and transfer the merit earned from them to relatives, friends and others both living and dead. This practice can also be seen as a gesture of showing one’s appreciation and gratitude to them for whatever they may have done to help and support in one way or the other.
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Arahant Sopāka: Enlightened at seven years of age
Early back ground of Arahant Sopāka
During the time of the Buddha, there was a seven-year-old boy named Sopāka. When his natural father died, his mother remarried another man. His stepfather was not a very good man who scolded and beat Sopāka regularly despite his mother’s pleas not to do so. After some time, another baby boy was born to his mother. Since the birth of his younger brother, step father’s attitude towards Sopāka became worse. One day the stepfather decided to get rid of Sopāka for good and while his mother was away from the house, the stepfather took Sopāka to a cemetery ground and tied him to a freshly brought dead body. Sopāka cried pleading with his stepfather not to leave him tied up, but the stepfather turned a deaf ear and went home.
During the night, Sopāka heard the cries of jackals, tigers, leopards and other animals who were coming to the cemetery to feed on the dead bodies. Hearing the cries of those animals, Sopāka became terrified. Shivering in the cold and terrified, Sopāka cried for help but as the cemetery ground was away from the city, no one could hear his cries.
Becoming a Stream Enterer (Sotāpanna)
As the Buddha was surveying the world through the Buddha’s super normal divine vision to see who could be spiritually helped on that day, Sopāka came into the Buddha’s vision. The Buddha saw that young Sopāka who was tied to a dead body in the cemetery was terrified and crying and that he also possessed matured spiritual faculties to gain enlightenment on that day. The Buddha appeared before Sopāka displaying a light of halo rays and said to Sopāka:
“Son, don’t cry. Don’t be afraid. I will help you escape”.
When Sopāka heard the Buddha’s ensuring voice and contemplated the Buddha’s kindness, he attained the first supra mundane stage of Stream Entry (Sotāpanna). The ropes that tied Sopāka to the dead body were broken through the Buddha’s will. The Buddha then consoled and comforted Sopāka and holding his hand, took him to the Jetavana monastery where the Buddha arranged for him to be cleaned and bathed.
Enlightenment and ordination as a novice monk
In the meantime, Sopāka’s mother who had gone out returned to the house and not been able to see her son, enquired from her husband as to where Sopāka was. When he said he did not where Sopāka was, she went out looking for Sopāka but could not find him anywhere. The mother could not sleep the whole night worrying about her son and in her desperation, early next morning she went to the Jetavana Monastery to seek the Buddha’s advice as she had heard that the Buddhas knew all, past, future and present. When she arrived at the monastery, the Buddha through supernormal power, made Sopāka invisible to his mother.
When Sopāka’s mother said to the Buddha: “Venerable Sir, I cannot find my son anywhere”, the Buddha gave the following brief sermon to her.
“Sons are no shelter nor father, nor any kinsfolk.
For one overtaken by death, blood bond is no refuge.”
When the mother heard the Buddha’s brief sermon, she became a Stream Enterer (Sotāpanna), while Sopāka having heard the same sermon given to his mother, gained enlightenment as an Arahant. Then the Buddha made Sopāka visible to his mother who was overjoyed to see her son. When the mother was told that Sopāka had gained enlightenment as an Arahant, she consented for him to go forth and ordain as a novice monk.
Higher ordination
Shortly afterwards, the Buddha wanted to consider offering higher ordination (upasampadā) to novice Sopāka and asked him ten questions which are recorded in the Khuddaka pātha of the Khuddaka Nikāya (collection of the Buddha’s minor discourses as the “Boy’s questions (Kumāra panha). The ten questions asked by the Buddha and the answers given by novice Sopāka are as follows:
What is one?
All beings subsist on food.
[The Buddha has described four types of food: Physical food (kabalinkāhāra), sense impression (phassāhāra), volitional thoughts (mano sancetanāhāra) and consciousness (viññānāhāra)]
What is two?
Name and form.
[All mental and physical phenomena (nāma rūpa)]
What is three?
The three types of feeling.
[Pleasant feeling (sukha vedanā), painful feeling (dukkha vedanā), neutral feeling (upekhā vedanā)]
What is four?
The four Noble Truths.
[Truth of suffering (dukkha sacca), the truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya sacca), the truth of the cessation of suffering (nirodha sacca) and the truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering (magga sacca).]
What is five?
The five aggregates of clinging.
[Form (rūpa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saññā), mental formation (sankhāra) and consciousness (viññāna).]
What is six?
The six internal sense doors.
[Eye (cakku), ear (sota), nose (ghāna), tongue (jivhā), body (kāya) and mind (mana).]
What is seven?
The seven factors of enlightenment.
[Mindfulness (sati), analysis of qualities (dhamma vicaya), effort (viriya), rapture (pīti), tranquillity (passaddhi), concentration (samādhi) and equanimity (upekhā).]
What is eight?
The Noble Eightfold Path.
[Right view (sammā-ditthi), right intention (sammā-sankappa), right speech (sammā-vācā), right action (sammā-kammanta), right livelihood (sammā-ājīva), right effort (sammā-vāyāma), right mindfulness (sammā-sati) and right concentration (sammā-samādhi)]
What is nine?
The nine abodes of beings.
[Beings with diversity of body and diversity of perception, beings with diversity of body and singularity of perception, beings with singularity of body and diversity of perception, beings with singularity of body and singularity of perception, dimension of the infinitude of space, dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, dimension of nothingness, dimension of non-percipient beings, dimension of neither perception nor non-perception.]
What is ten?
One endowed with ten qualities is called an Arahant.
[Right view (sammā-ditthi), right intention (sammā-sankappa), right speech (sammā-vācā), right action (sammā-kammanta), right livelihood (sammā-ājīva), right effort (sammā-vāyāma), right mindfulness (sammā-sati), right concentration (sammā-samādhi), right knowledge (sammā nāna) and right liberation (sammā vimutti).]
Novice Sopāka gave all the right answers to the ten questions asked by the Buddha, and making that the basis, the Buddha offered him the higher ordination. The following are the verses by Arahant Sopāka recorded in Theragāthā, one of the fifteen books of the Khuddaka Nikāya.
480. The shadow of the Buddha’s hut fell on his walking path. The best of men, the Buddha, was doing walking meditation there. I went up to him. I worshiped him, the best of men, the Buddha.
481. I arranged in my robe, putting it over one shoulder. Placing my hands together, I too started walking behind the Buddha, the one who is freed from defilements, the best of all beings.
482. The Buddha who is extremely skilled in answering questions asked me questions. At that time, I was not scared or terrified at all to answer. I answered all the questions.
483. The Tathāgata Buddha was pleased with the way I answered the questions. Looking at the community of monks, the Buddha said this about me:
484. “The people of Ānga and Magadha offer robes, food, resting places and medicine to this young monk Sopāka. This young Sopāka uses them. It’s a great gain for those people. Those people, having seen this young monk, get up from their seats and pay respect to him. It’s a great gain for those people. Those people have Dhamma discussions with this young monk. It’s a great gain for them.
485. Dear Sopāka, from today onwards you should come to see me. Dear Sopāka, just your answering of my questions is your higher ordination.”
486. I was just seven years old when I received a higher ordination. I too attained the Triple Knowledge. Ah! See the excellence of this Dhamma.
These verses by Arahant Sopāka state in his own words that he answered the questions from the Buddha and received higher ordination at the age of seven years. By stating that he attained the triple knowledge, he has also confirmed that he gained enlightenment as an Arahant at the age of seven years.
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