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(Cha-anussati-niddesa)
1. [197] Now, ten recollections were listed next after the ten kinds of foulness
(III.105). As to these:
Mindfulness (sati) itself is recollection (anussati) because it arises again and
again; or alternatively, the mindfulness (sati) that is proper (anurūpa) for a
clansman gone forth out of faith, since it occurs only in those instances where it
should occur, is “recollection” (anussati).
The recollection arisen inspired by the Enlightened One is the recollection of
the Buddha. This is a term for mindfulness with the Enlightened One’s special
qualities as its object.
The recollection arisen inspired by the Law is the recollection of the Dhamma.1
This is a term for mindfulness with the special qualities of the Law’s being well
proclaimed, etc., as its object.
1.
The word dhamma—perhaps the most important and frequently used of Pali
words—has no single equivalent in English because no English word has both a
generalization so wide and loose as the word dhamma in its widest sense (which
includes “everything” that can be known or thought of in any way) and at the same
time an ability to be, as it were, focused in a set of well-defined specific uses. Roughly
dhamma = what-can-be-remembered or what-can-be-borne-in-mind (dhāretabba) as
kamma = what-can-be-done (kātabba). The following two principal (and overlapping)
senses are involved here: (i) the Law as taught, and (ii) objects of consciousness. (i) In
the first case the word has either been left untranslated as “Dhamma” or “dhamma”
or it has been tendered as “Law” or “law.” This ranges from the loose sense of the
“Good Law,” “cosmic law,” and “teaching” to such specific technical senses as the
“discrimination of law,” “causality,” “being subject to or having the nature of.” (ii) In
the second case the word in its looser sense of “something known or thought of” has
either been left untranslated as “dhamma” or rendered by “state” (more rarely by
“thing” or “phenomenon”), while in its technical sense as one of the twelve bases or
eighteen elements “mental object” and “mental datum” have been used. The sometimes
indiscriminate use of “dhamma,” “state” and “law” in both the looser senses is
deliberate. The English words have been reserved as far as possible for rendering
dhamma (except that “state” has sometimes been used to render bhāva, etc., in the
sense of “-ness”). Other subsidiary meanings of a non-technical nature have
occasionally been otherwise rendered according to context.
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The recollection arisen inspired by the Community is the recollection of the
Saṅgha. This is a term for mindfulness with the Community’s special qualities of
being entered on the good way, etc., as its object.
The recollection arisen inspired by virtue is the recollection of virtue. This is a term
for mindfulness with the special qualities of virtue’s untornness, etc., as its object.
The recollection arisen inspired by generosity is the recollection of generosity.
This is a term for mindfulness with generosity’s special qualities of free
generosity, etc., as its object.
The recollection arisen inspired by deities is the recollection of deities. This is a
term for mindfulness with the special qualities of one’s own faith, etc., as its
object with deities standing as witnesses.
The recollection arisen inspired by death is the recollection of death. This is a
term for mindfulness with the termination of the life faculty as its object.
[Mindfulness occupied with the body (kāya-gatā sati—lit. “body-gone
mindfulness”):] it is gone (gata) to the material body (kāya) that is analyzed into
head hairs, etc., or it is gone into the body, thus it is “body-gone” (kāya-gatā). It is
body-gone (kāya-gatā) and it is mindfulness (sati), thus it is “body-gone-
mindfulness” (kāyagatasati—single compound); but instead of shortening [the
vowel] thus in the usual way, “body-gone mindfulness” (kāyagatā sati—
compound adj. + noun) is said. This is a term for mindfulness that has as its
object the sign of the bodily parts consisting of head hairs and the rest.
The mindfulness arisen inspired by breathing (ānāpāna) is mindfulness of
breathing. This is a term for mindfulness that has as its object the sign of in-
breaths and out-breaths.
In order to avoid muddle it is necessary to distinguish renderings of the word
dhamma and renderings of the words used to define it. The word itself is a gerundive
of the verb dharati (caus. dhāreti—“to bear”) and so is the literal equivalent of “[quality]
that is to be borne.” But since the grammatical meanings of the two words dharati (“to
bear”) and dahati (“to put or sort out,” whence dhātu—“element”) sometimes coalesce,
it often comes very close to dhātu (but see VIII n. 68 and XI.104). If it is asked, what
bears the qualities to be borne? A correct answer here would probably be that it is the
event (samaya), as stated in the Dhammasaṅgaṇī (§1, etc.), in which the various
dhammas listed there arise and are present, variously related to each other. The word
dhammin (thing qualified or “bearer of what is to be borne”) is a late introduction as a
logical term (perhaps first used in Pali by Vism-mhṭ, see p. 534).
As to the definitions of the word, there are several. At D-a I 99 four meanings are
given: moral (meritorious) special quality (guṇa), preaching of the Law (desanā), scripture
(pariyatti), and “no-living-being-ness” (nissattatā). Four meanings are also given at
Dhs-a 38: scripture (pariyatti), cause (of effect) as law (hetu), moral (meritorious)
special quality (guṇa), and “no-living-being-ness and soullessness” (nissatta-nijjīvatā).
A wider definition is given at M-a I 17, where the following meanings are distinguished:
scriptural mastery, (pariyatti—A III 86) truth, (sacca—Vin I 12) concentration, (samādhi—
D II 54) understanding, (paññā—J-a I 280) nature, (pakati—M I 162) individual essence,
(sabhāva—Dhs 1) voidness, (suññatā—Dhs 25) merit, (puñña—S I 82) offence, (āpatti—
Vin III 187) what is knowable, (ñeyya—Paṭis II 194) “and so on” (see also VIII n. 68).
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The recollection arisen inspired by peace is the recollection of peace. This is a
term that has as its object the stilling of all suffering.
[(1) RECOLLECTION OF THE ENLIGHTENED ONE]
2. [198] Now, a meditator with absolute confidence2 who wants to develop firstly
the recollection of the Enlightened One among these ten should go into solitary
retreat in a favourable abode and recollect the special qualities of the Enlightened
One, the Blessed One, as follows:
That Blessed One is such since he is accomplished, fully enlightened, endowed
with [clear] vision and [virtuous] conduct, sublime, the knower of worlds, the
incomparable leader of men to be tamed, the teacher of gods and men,
enlightened and blessed (M I 37; A III 285).
3. Here is the way he recollects: “That Blessed One is such since he is
accomplished, he is such since he is fully enlightened, … he is such since he is
blessed”—he is so for these several reasons, is what is meant.
[ACCOMPLISHED]
4. Herein, what he recollects firstly is that the Blessed One is accomplished (arahanta)
for the following reasons: (i) because of remoteness (āraka), and (ii) because of
his enemies (ari) and (iii) the spokes (ara) having been destroyed (hata), and (iv)
because of his worthiness (araha) of requisites, etc., and (v) because of absence of
secret (rahābhāva) evil-doing.3
5. (i) He stands utterly remote and far away from all defilements because he has
expunged all trace of defilement by means of the path—because of such
remoteness (āraka) he is accomplished (arahanta).
A man remote (āraka) indeed we call
From something he has not at all;
The Saviour too that has no stain
May well the name “accomplished” (arahanta) gain.
6. (ii) And these enemies (ari), these defilements, are destroyed (hata) by the
path—because the enemies are thus destroyed he is accomplished (arahanta)
also.
The enemies (ari) that were deployed,
Greed and the rest, have been destroyed (hata)
By his, the Helper’s, wisdom’s sword,
So he is “accomplished” (arahanta), all accord.
7. (iii) Now, this wheel of the round of rebirths with its hub made of ignorance
and of craving for becoming, with its spokes consisting of formations of merit
and the rest, with its rim of ageing and death, which is joined to the chariot of
2.
“‘Absolute confidence’ is the confidence afforded by the noble path. Development
of the recollection comes to success in him who has that, not in any other” (Vism-mhṭ
181). “Absolute confidence” is a constituent of the first three “factors of stream-
entry” (see S V 196).
3.
Cf. derivation of the word ariya (“noble”) at M-a I 21.
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the triple becoming by piercing it with the axle made of the origins of cankers
(see M I 55), has been revolving throughout time that has no beginning. All of
this wheel’s spokes (ara) were destroyed (hata) by him at the Place of
Enlightenment, as he stood firm with the feet of energy on the ground of virtue,
wielding with the hand of faith the axe of knowledge that destroys kamma—
because the spokes are thus destroyed he is accomplished  (arahanta) also.
8. Or alternatively, it is the beginningless round of rebirths that is called the
“wheel of the round of rebirths.” Ignorance is its hub because it is its root.
Ageing-and-death is its rim because it terminates it. The remaining ten states [of
the dependent origination] are its spokes because ignorance is their root and
ageing-and-death their termination.
9. Herein, ignorance is unknowing about suffering and the rest. And ignorance
in sensual becoming [199] is a condition for formations in sensual becoming.
Ignorance in fine-material becoming is a condition for formations in fine-material
becoming. Ignorance in immaterial becoming is a condition for formations in
immaterial becoming.
10.
Formations in sensual becoming are a condition for rebirth-linking
consciousness in sensual becoming. And similarly with the rest.
11.
Rebirth-linking consciousness in sensual becoming is a condition for
mentality-materiality in sensual becoming. Similarly in fine-material becoming.
In immaterial becoming it is a condition for mentality only.
12.
Mentality-materiality in sensual becoming is a condition for the sixfold
base in sensual becoming. Mentality-materiality in fine-material becoming is a
condition for three bases in fine-material becoming. Mentality in immaterial
becoming is a condition for one base in immaterial becoming.
13. The sixfold base in sensual becoming is a condition for six kinds of contact
in sensual becoming. Three bases in fine-material becoming are conditions for
three kinds of contact in fine-material becoming. The mind base alone in
immaterial becoming is a condition for one kind of contact in immaterial
becoming.
14. The six kinds of contact in sensual becoming are conditions for six kinds
of feeling in sensual becoming. Three kinds of contact in fine-material becoming
are conditions for three kinds of feeling there too. One kind of contact in
immaterial becoming is a condition for one kind of feeling there too.
15.
The six kinds of feeling in sensual becoming are conditions for the six
groups of craving in sensual becoming. Three in the fine-material becoming are
for three there too. One kind of feeling in the immaterial becoming is a condition
for one group of craving in the immaterial becoming. The craving in the several
kinds of becoming is a condition for the clinging there.
16. Clinging, etc., are the respective conditions for becoming and the rest. In
what way? Here someone thinks, “I shall enjoy sense desires,” and with sense-
desire clinging as condition he misconducts himself in body, speech, and mind.
Owing to the fulfilment of his misconduct he reappears in a state of loss
(deprivation). The kamma that is the cause of his reappearance there is kamma-
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process becoming, the aggregates generated by the kamma are rebirth-process
becoming, the generating of the aggregates is birth, their maturing is ageing,
their dissolution is death.
17. Another thinks, “I shall enjoy the delights of heaven,” and in the parallel
manner he conducts himself well. Owing to the fulfilment of his good conduct
he reappears in a [sensual-sphere] heaven. The kamma that is the cause of his
reappearance there is kamma-process becoming, and the rest as before.
18. Another thinks, “I shall enjoy the delights of the Brahmā-world,” and with
sense-desire clinging as condition he develops loving-kindness, compassion,
gladness, and equanimity.4 [200] Owing to the fulfilment of the meditative
development he is reborn in the Brahmā-world. The kamma that is the cause of
his rebirth there is kamma-process becoming, and the rest is as before.
19.
Yet another thinks, “I shall enjoy the delights of immaterial becoming,”
and with the same condition he develops the attainments beginning with the
base consisting of boundless space. Owing to the fulfilment of the development
he is reborn in one of these states. The kamma that is the cause of his rebirth there
is kamma-process becoming, the aggregates generated by the kamma are rebirth-
process becoming, the generating of the aggregates is birth, their maturing is
ageing, their dissolution is death (see M II 263). The remaining kinds of clinging
are construable in the same way.
20.
So, “Understanding of discernment of conditions thus, ‘Ignorance is a
cause, formations are causally arisen, and both these states are causally arisen,’
is knowledge of the causal relationship of states. Understanding of discernment
of conditions thus, ‘In the past and in the future ignorance is a cause, formations
are causally arisen, and both these states are causally arisen,’ is knowledge of
the causal relationship of states” (Paṭis I 50), and all the clauses should be given
in detail in this way.
21.
Herein, ignorance and formations are one summarization; consciousness,
mentality-materiality, the sixfold base, contact, and feeling are another; craving,
clinging, and becoming are another; and birth and ageing-and-death are
another. Here the first summarization is past, the two middle ones are present,
and birth and ageing-and-death are future. When ignorance and formations
are mentioned, thentates, became dispassionate towards them, when his greed
faded away, when he was liberated, then he destroyed, quite destroyed, abolished,
the spokes of this wheel of the round of rebirths of the kind just described.
22. Now, the Blessed One knew, saw, understood, and penetrated in all aspects
this dependent origination with its four summarizations, its three times, its
twenty aspects, and its three links. “Knowledge is in the sense of that being
known,5 and understanding is in the sense of the act of understanding that.
4.
“Because of the words, ‘Also all dhammas of the three planes are sense desires
(kāma) in the sense of being desirable (kamanīya) (Cf. Nidd I 1: sabbepi kāmāvacarā
dhammā, sabbepi rūpāvacarā dhammā, sabbepi arūpāvacarā dhammā … kāmanīyaṭṭhena …
kāmā), greed for becoming is sense-desire clinging’ (Vism-mhṭ 184).  See XII.72. For
the “way to the Brahmā-world” see M II 194–96; 207f.
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Hence it was said: ‘Understanding of discernment of conditions is knowledge
of the causal relationship of states’” (Paṭis I 52). Thus when the Blessed One, by
correctly knowing these states with knowledge of relations of states, became
dispassionate towards them, when his greed faded away, when he was liberated,
then he destroyed, quite destroyed, abolished, the spokes of this wheel of the
round of rebirths of the kind just described.
Because the spokes are thus destroyed he is accomplished (arahanta) also.
[201]
The spokes (ara) of rebirth’s wheel have been
Destroyed (hata) with wisdom’s weapon keen
By him, the Helper of the World,
And so “accomplished” (arahanta) he is called.
23.
(iv) And he is worthy (arahati) of the requisites of robes, etc., and of the
distinction of being accorded homage because it is he who is most worthy of
offerings. For when a Perfect One has arisen, important deities and human
beings pay homage to none else; for Brahmā Sahampati paid homage to the
Perfect One with a jewelled garland as big as Sineru, and other deities did so
according to their means, as well as human beings as King Bimbisāra [of
Magadha] and the king of Kosala. And after the Blessed One had finally attained
Nibbāna, King Asoka renounced wealth to the amount of ninety-six million for
his sake and founded eight-four thousand monasteries throughout all
Jambudīpa (India). And so, with all these, what need to speak of others? Because
of worthiness of requisites he is accomplished (arahanta) also.
So he is worthy, the Helper of the World,
Of homage paid with requisites; the word
“Accomplished” (arahanta) has this meaning in the world:
Hence the Victor is worthy of that word.
24.
(v) And he does not act like those fools in the world who vaunt their
cleverness and yet do evil, but in secret for fear of getting a bad name. Because of
absence of secret (rahābhāva) evil-doing he is accomplished (arahanta) also.
No secret evil deed may claim
An author so august; the name
“Accomplished” (arahanta) is his deservedly
By absence of such secrecy (rahābhāva).
25. So in all ways:
The Sage of remoteness unalloyed,
Vanquished defiling foes deployed,
The spokes of rebirth’s wheel destroyed,
Worthy of requisites employed,
Secret evil he does avoid:
For these five reasons he may claim
This word “accomplished” for his name.
5.
Reading “taṃ ñātaṭṭthena ñāṇaṃ” with Vism-mhṭ.
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[FULLY  ENLIGHTENED]
26.
He is fully enlightened (sammāsambuddha) because he has discovered
(buddha) all things rightly (sammā) and by himself (sāmaṃ).
In fact, all things were discovered by him rightly by himself in that he
discovered, of the things to be directly known, that they must be directly known
(that is, learning about the four truths), of the things to be fully understood that
they must be fully understood (that is, penetration of suffering), of the things to
be abandoned that they must be abandoned (that is, penetration of the origin of
suffering), of the things to be realized that they must be realized (that is,
penetration of the cessation of suffering), and of the things to be developed that
they must be developed (that is, penetration of the path). Hence it is said:
What must be directly known is directly known,
What has to be developed has been developed,
What has to be abandoned has been abandoned;
And that, brahman, is why I am enlightened (Sn 558).
27. [202] Besides, he has discovered all things rightly by himself step by step
thus: The eye is the truth of suffering; the prior craving that originates it by being
its root-cause is the truth of origin; the non-occurrence of both is the truth of cessation;
the way that is the act of understanding cessation is the truth of the path. And so too
in the case of the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind.
28. And the following things should be construed in the same way:
the six bases beginning with visible objects;
the six groups of consciousness beginning with eye-consciousness;
the six kinds of contact beginning with eye-contact;
the six kinds of feeling beginning with the eye-contact-born;
the six kinds of perception beginning with perception of visible objects;
the six kinds of volition beginning with volition about visible objects;
the six groups of craving beginning with craving for visible objects;
the six kinds of applied thought beginning with applied thought about visible
objects;
the six kinds of sustained thought beginning with sustained thought about
visible objects;
the five aggregates beginning with the aggregate of matter;
the ten kasiṇas;
the ten recollections;
the ten perceptions beginning with perception of the bloated;
the thirty-two aspects [of the body] beginning with head hairs;
the twelve bases;
the eighteen elements;
the nine kinds of becoming beginning with sensual becoming;6
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the four jhānas beginning with the first;
the four measureless states beginning with the development of loving-
kindness;
the four immaterial attainments;
the factors of the dependent origination in reverse order beginning with
ageing-and-death and in forward order beginning with ignorance (cf. XX.9).
29.
Herein, this is the construction of a single clause [of the dependent
origination]: Ageing-and-death is the truth of suffering, birth is the truth of
origin, the escape from both is the truth of cessation, the way that is the act of
understanding cessation is the truth of the path.
In this way he has discovered, progressively discovered, completely discovered,
all states rightly and by himself step by step. Hence it was said above: “He is fully
enlightened because he has discovered all things rightly and by himself” (§26).7
[ENDOWED WITH CLEAR VISION AND VIRTUOUS CONDUCT]
30. He is endowed with [clear] vision and [virtuous] conduct: vijjācaraṇasampanno
= vijjāhi caraṇena ca sampanno (resolution of compound).
6.
See XVII.253f. The word bhava is rendered here both by “existence” and by
“becoming.” The former, while less awkward to the ear, is inaccurate if it is allowed a
flavour of staticness. “Becoming” will be more frequently used as this work proceeds.
Loosely the two senses tend to merge. But technically, “existence” should perhaps be
used only for atthitā, which signifies the momentary existence of a dhamma “possessed
of the three instants of arising, presence, and dissolution.” “Becoming” then signifies
the continuous flow or flux of such triple-instant moments; and it occurs in three main
modes: sensual, fine-material, and immaterial. For remarks on the words “being” and
“essence” see VIII n. 68.
7.
“Is not unobstructed knowledge (anāvaraṇa-ñāṇa) different from omniscient
knowledge (sabbaññuta-ñāṇa)? Otherwise the words “Six kinds of knowledge unshared
[by disciples]” (Paṭis I 3) would be contradicted? [Note: The six kinds are: knowledge
of what faculties prevail in beings, knowledge of the inclinations and tendencies of
beings, knowledge of the Twin Marvel, knowledge of the attainment of the great
compassion, omniscient knowledge, and unobstructed knowledge (see Paṭis I 133)].—
There is no contradiction, because two ways in which a single kind of knowledge’s
objective field occurs are described for the purpose of showing by means of this
difference how it is not shared by others.
It is only one kind of knowledge; but it is called omniscient knowledge because its
objective field consists of formed, unformed, and conventional (sammuti) [i.e.
conceptual] dhammas without remainder, and it is called unobstructed knowledge
because of its unrestricted access to the objective field, because of absence of
obstruction. And it is said accordingly in the Paṭisambhidā: “It knows all the formed
and the unformed without remainder, thus it is omniscient knowledge. It has no
obstruction therein, thus it is unobstructed knowledge” (Paṭis I 131), and so on. So
they are not different kinds of knowledge. And there must be no reservation, otherwise
it would follow that omniscient and unobstructed knowledge had obstructions and
did not make all dhammas its object. There is not in fact a minimal obstruction to the
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Blessed One’s knowledge: and if his unobstructed knowledge did not have all dhammas
as its object, there would be presence of obstruction where it did not occur, and so it
would not be unobstructed.
“Or alternatively, even if we suppose that they are different, still it is omniscient
knowledge itself that is intended as ‘unhindered’ since it is that which occurs
unhindered universally. And it is by his attainment of that that the Blessed One is
known as Omniscient, All-seer, Fully Enlightened, not because of awareness (avabodha)
of every dhamma at once, simultaneously (see M II 127). And it is said accordingly in
the Paṭisambhidā: ‘This is a name derived from the final liberation of the Enlightened
Ones, the Blessed Ones, together with the acquisition of omniscient knowledge at the
root of the Enlightenment Tree; this name “Buddha” is a designation based on
realization’ (Paṭis I 174). For the ability in the Blessed One’s continuity to penetrate all
dhammas without exception was due to his having completely attained to knowledge
capable of becoming aware of all dhammas.
“Here it may be asked: But how then? When this knowledge occurs, does it do so
with respect to every field simultaneously, or successively? For firstly, if it occurs
simultaneously with respect to every objective field, then with the simultaneous
appearance of formed dhammas classed as past, future and present, internal and
external, etc., and of unformed and conventional (conceptual) dhammas, there would
be no awareness of contrast (paṭibhāga), as happens in one who looks at a painted
canvas from a distance. That being so, it follows that all dhammas become the objective
field of the Blessed One’s knowledge in an undifferentiated form (anirūpita-rūpana),
as they do through the aspect of not-self to those who are exercising insight thus ’All
dhammas are not-self’ (Dhp 279; Th 678; M I 230; II 64; S III 132; A I 286; IV 14; Paṭis II
48, 62; Vin I 86. Cf. also A III 444; IV 88, 338; Sn 1076). And those do not escape this
difficulty who say that the Enlightened One’s knowledge occurs with the characteristic
of presence of all knowable dhammas as its objective field, devoid of discriminative
thinking (vikappa-rahita), and universal in time (sabba-kāla) and that is why they are
called ’All-seeing’ and why it is said, ’The Nāga is concentrated walking and he is
concentrated standing’ (?).
They do not escape the difficulty since the Blessed One’s knowledge would then
have only a partial objective field, because, by having the characteristic of presence as
its object, past, future and conventional dhammas, which lack that characteristic, would
be absent. So it is wrong to say that it occurs simultaneously with respect to every
objective field. Then secondly, if we say that it occurs successively with respect to
every objective field, that is wrong too. For when the knowable, classed in the many
different ways according to birth, place, individual essence, etc., and direction, place,
time, etc., is apprehended successively, then penetration without remainder is not
effected since the knowable is infinite. And those are wrong too who say that the
Blessed One is All-seeing owing to his doing his defining by taking one part of the
knowable as that actually experienced (paccakkha) and deciding that the rest is the
same because of the unequivocalness of its meaning, and that such knowledge is not
Herein, as to [clear] vision: there are three kinds of clear vision and eight kinds
of clear vision. The three kinds should be understood as stated in the
Bhayabherava Sutta (M I 22f.), and the eight kinds as stated in the Ambaṭṭha
Sutta (D I 100). For there eight kinds of clear vision are stated, made up of the six
kinds of direct-knowledge together with insight and the supernormal power of
the mind-made [body].
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inferential (anumānika) since it is free from doubt, because it is what is doubtfully
discovered that is meant by inferential knowledge in the world. And they are wrong
because there is no such defining by taking one part of the knowable as that actually
experienced and deciding that the rest is the same because of the unequivocalness of its
meaning, without making all of it actually experienced. For then that ‘rest’ is not actually
experienced; and if it were actually experienced, it would no longer be ‘the rest.’
“All that is no argument.—Why not?—Because this is not a field for ratiocination;
for the Blessed One has said this: ‘The objective field of Enlightened Ones is
unthinkable, it cannot be thought out; anyone who tried to think it out would reap
madness and frustration’ (A II 80). The agreed explanation here is this: Whatever the
Blessed One wants to know—either entirely or partially—there his knowledge occurs
as actual experience because it does so without hindrance. And it has constant
concentration because of the absence of distraction. And it cannot occur in association
with wishing of a kind that is due to absence from the objective field of something that
he wants to know. There can be no exception to this because of the words, ‘All dhammas
are  available to the adverting of the Enlightened One, the Blessed  One, are available at
his wish, are available to his attention, are available to his thought’ (Paṭis II 195). And
the Blessed One’s knowledge that has the past and future as its objective field is
entirely actual experience since it is devoid of assumption based on inference, tradition
or conjecture.
“And yet, even in that case, suppose he wanted to know the whole in its entirety,
then would his knowledge not occur without differentiation in the whole objective
field simultaneously? And so there would still be no getting out of that difficulty?
“That is not so, because of its purifiedness. Because the Enlightened One’s objective
field is purified and it is unthinkable. Otherwise there would be no unthinkableness in
the knowledge of the Enlightened One, the Blessed One, if it occurred in the same way
as that of ordinary people. So, although it occurs with all dhammas as its object, it
nevertheless does so making those dhammas quite clearly defined, as though it had
a single dhamma as its object. This is what is unthinkable here. ‘
There is as much knowledge as there is knowable, there is as much knowable as
there is knowledge; the knowledge is limited by the knowable, the knowable is limited
by the knowledge’ (Paṭis II l95). So he is Fully Enlightened because he has rightly and
by himself discovered all dhammas together and separately, simultaneously and
successively, according to his wish’ (Vism-mhṭ 190–91).
8.
A possessor of “the seven” has faith, conscience, shame, learning, energy,
mindfulness, and understanding (see D III 252). PED traces saddhamma (as “the true
dhamma,” etc.) to sant + dhamma; but it is as likely traceable to srad + dhamma = (good
ground) for the placing of faith (saddhā).
31.
[Virtuous]  conduct should be understood as fifteen things, that is to say:
restraint by virtue, guarding of the sense faculties, knowledge of the right amount
in eating, devotion to wakefulness, the seven good states,8 and the four jhānas of
the fine-material sphere. For it is precisely by means of these fifteen things that a
noble disciple conducts himself, that he goes towards the deathless. That is why
it is called “[virtuous]  conduct,” according as it is said, “Here, Mahānāma, a
noble disciple has virtue” (M I 355), etc, the whole of which should be understood
as given in the Middle Fifty [of the Majjhima Nikāya].
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[203] Now, the Blessed One is endowed with these kinds of clear vision and
with this conduct as well; hence he is called “endowed with [clear] vision and
[virtuous]  conduct.”
32.
Herein, the Blessed One’s possession of clear vision consists in the
fulfilment of omniscience (Paṭis I 131), while his possession of conduct consists
in the fulfilment of the great compassion (Paṭis I 126). He knows through
omniscience what is good and harmful for all beings, and through compassion
he warns them of harm and exhorts them to do good. That is how he is possessed
of clear vision and conduct, which is why his disciples have entered upon the
good way instead of entering upon the bad way as the self-mortifying disciples
of those who are not possessed of clear vision and conduct have done.9
[SUBLIME]
33. He is called sublime (sugata)10 (i) because of a manner of going that is good
(sobhaṇa-gamana), (ii) because of being gone to an excellent place (sundaraṃ
9.
“Here the Master’s possession of vision shows the greatness of understanding,
and his possession of conduct the greatness of his compassion. It was through
understanding that the Blessed One reached the kingdom of the Dhamma, and through
compassion that he became the bestower of the Dhamma. It was through
understanding that he felt revulsion for the round of rebirths, and through compassion
that he bore it. It was through understanding that he fully understood others’ suffering,
and through compassion that he undertook to counteract it. It was through
understanding that he was brought face to face with Nibbāna, and through compassion
that he attained it. It was through understanding that he himself crossed over, and
through compassion that he brought others across. It was through understanding
that he perfected the Enlightened One’s state, and through compassion that he perfected
the Enlightened One’s task.
“Or it was through compassion that he faced the round of rebirths as a Bodhisatta,
and through understanding that he took no delight in it. Likewise it was through
compassion that he practiced non-cruelty to others, and through understanding that
he was himself fearless of others. It was through compassion that he protected others
to protect himself, and through understanding that he protected himself to protect
others. Likewise it was through compassion that he did not torment others, and
through understanding that he did not torment himself; so of the four types of persons
beginning with the one who practices for his own welfare (A II 96) he perfected the
fourth and best type. Likewise it was through compassion that he became the world’s
helper, and through understanding that he became his own helper. It was through
compassion that he had humility [as a Bodhisatta], and through understanding that
he had dignity [as a Buddha]. Likewise it was through compassion that he helped all
beings as a father while owing to the understanding associated with it his mind
remained detached from them all, and it was through understanding that his mind
remained detached from all dhammas while owing to the compassion associated with
it that he was helpful to all beings. For just as the Blessed One’s compassion was
devoid of sentimental affection or sorrow, so his understanding was free from the
thoughts of ‘I’ and ‘mine’” (Vism-mhṭ 192–93).
10. The following renderings have been adopted for the most widely-used epithets
for the Buddha. Tathāgata, (Perfect One—for definitions see M-a I 45f.) Bhagavant (Blessed
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ṭhānaṃ gatattā), (iii) because of having gone rightly (sammāgatattā), and (iv)
because of enunciating rightly (sammāgadattā).
(i) A manner of going (gamana) is called “gone” (gata), and that in the Blessed
One is good (sobhaṇa), purified, blameless. But what is that? It is the noble path;
for by means of that manner of going he has “gone” without attachment in the
direction of safety—thus he is sublime (sugata) because of a manner of going that
is good.
(ii) And it is to the excellent (sundara) place that he has gone (gata), to the
deathless Nibbāna—thus he is sublime (sugata) also because of having gone to
an excellent place.
34. (iii) And he has rightly (sammā) gone (gata), without going back again to
the defilements abandoned by each path. For this is said: “He does not again
turn, return, go back, to the defilements abandoned by the stream entry path,
thus he is sublime … he does not again turn, return, go back, to the defilements
abandoned by the Arahant path, thus he is sublime” (old commentary?). Or
alternatively, he has rightly gone from the time of [making his resolution] at the
feet of Dīpaṅkara up till the Enlightenment Session, by working for the welfare
and happiness of the whole world through the fulfilment of the thirty perfections
and through following the right way without deviating towards either of the
two extremes, that is to say, towards eternalism or annihilationism, towards
indulgence in sense pleasures or self-mortification—thus he is sublime also
because of having gone rightly.
35.
(iv) And he enunciates11  (gadati) rightly (sammā); he speaks only fitting
speech in the fitting place—thus he is sublime also because of enunciating
rightly.
Here is a sutta that confirms this: “Such speech as the Perfect One knows to be
untrue and incorrect, conducive to harm, and displeasing and unwelcome to
others, that he does not speak. And such speech as the Perfect One knows to be
true and correct, but conducive to harm, and displeasing and unwelcome to
others, that he does not speak. [204] And such speech as the Perfect One knows
to be true and correct, conducive to good, but displeasing and unwelcome to
others, that speech the Perfect One knows the time to expound. Such speech as
the Perfect One knows to be untrue and incorrect, and conducive to harm, but
pleasing and welcome to others, that he does not speak. And such speech as the
Perfect One knows to be true and correct, but conducive to harm, though pleasing
and welcome to others, that he does not speak. And such speech as the Perfect
One knows to be true and correct, conducive to good, and pleasing and welcome
to others, that speech the Perfect One knows the time to expound” (M I 395)—
thus he is sublime also because of enunciating rightly.
One), Sugata (Sublime One). These renderings do not pretend to literalness. Attempts
to be literal here are apt to produce a bizarre or quaint effect, and for that very reason
fail to render what is in the Pali.
11. Gadati—“to enunciate”: only noun gada in PED.
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[KNOWER OF WORLDS]
36. He is the knower of worlds because he has known the world in all ways. For
the Blessed One has experienced, known and penetrated the world in all ways to
its individual essence, its arising, its cessation, and the means to its cessation,
according as it is said: “Friend, that there is a world’s end where one neither is
born nor ages nor dies nor passes away nor reappears, which is to be known or
seen or reached by travel—that I do not say. Yet I do not say that there is ending
of suffering without reaching the world’s end. Rather, it is in this fathom-long
carcass with its perceptions and its consciousness that I make known the world,
the arising of the world, the cessation of the world, and the way leading to the
cessation of the world.
“Tis utterly impossible
To reach by travel the world’s end;
But there is no escape from pain
Until the world’s end has been reached.
It is a sage, a knower of the worlds,
Who gets to the world’s end, and it is he
Whose life divine is lived out to its term;
He is at peace who the world’s end has known
And hopes for neither this world nor the next” (S I 62).
37. Moreover, there are three worlds: the world of formations, the world of
beings, and the world of location. Herein, in the passage, “One world: all beings
subsist by nutriment” (Paṭis I 122), [205] the world of formations is to be
understood. In the passage, “‘The world is eternal’ or ‘The world is not eternal’”
(M I 426) it is the world of beings. In the passage:
“As far as moon and sun do circulate
Shining12 and lighting up the [four] directions,
Over a thousand times as great a world
Your power holds unquestionable sway” (M I 328)—
it is the world of location. The Blessed One has known that in all ways too.
38. Likewise, because of the words: “One world: all beings subsist by nutriment.
Two worlds: mentality and materiality. Three worlds: three kinds of feeling. Four
worlds: four kinds of nutriment. Five worlds: five aggregates as objects of clinging.
Six worlds: six internal bases. Seven worlds: seven stations of consciousness.
Eight worlds: eight worldly states. Nine worlds: nine abodes of beings. Ten worlds:
ten bases. Twelve worlds: twelve bases. Eighteen worlds: eighteen elements” (Paṭis I
122),13 this world of formations was known to him in all ways.
39.
But he knows all beings’ habits, knows their inherent tendencies, knows
their temperaments, knows their bents, knows them as with little dust on their
eyes and with much dust on their eyes, with keen faculties and with dull faculties,
with good behaviour and with bad behaviour, easy to teach and hard to teach,
12. Bhanti—“they shine”: this form is not given in PED under bhāti.
13. To take what is not self-evident in this paragraph, three kinds of feeling are pleasant,
painful and neither-painful-nor-pleasant (see MN 59). Four kinds of nutriment are physical
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nutriment, contact, mental volition, and consciousness (see M I 48, and M-a I 207f.).
The seven stations of consciousness are: (1) sense sphere, (2) Brahmā’s Retinue, (3)
Ábhassara (Brahmā-world) Deities, (4) Subhakiṇṇa (Brahmā-world) Deities, (5) base
consisting of boundless space, (6) base consisting of boundless consciousness, (7)
base consisting of nothingness (see D III 253). The eight worldly states are gain, fame,
praise, pleasure, and their opposites (see D III 260). The nine abodes of beings: (1–4) as in
stations of consciousness, (5) unconscious beings, (6–9) the four immaterial states
(see D III 263). The ten bases are eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, visible object, sound,
odour, flavour, tangible object.
14. Cakkavāḷa (world-sphere or universe) is a term for the concept of a single complete
universe as one of an infinite number of such universes. This concept of the cosmos,
in its general form, is not peculiar to Buddhism, but appears to have been the already
generally accepted one. The term loka-dhātu (world-element), in its most restricted
sense, is one world-sphere, but it can be extended to mean any number, for example,
the set of world-spheres dominated by a particular Brahmā (see MN 120).
As thus conceived, a circle of “world-sphere mountains” “like the rim of a wheel”
(cakka—Vism-mhṭ 198) encloses the ocean. In the centre of the ocean stands Mount
Sineru (or Meru), surrounded by seven concentric rings of mountains separated by
rings of sea. In the ocean between the outermost of these seven rings and the enclosing
“world-sphere mountain” ring are the “four continents.”
“Over forty-two thousand leagues away” (Dhs-a 313) the moon and the sun circulate
above them inside the world-sphere mountain ring, and night is the effect of the sun’s
going behind Sineru. The orbits of the moon and sun are in the sense-sphere heaven
of the Four Kings (Catumahārājā), the lowest heaven, which is a layer extending from
the world-sphere mountains to the slopes of Sineru. The stars are on both sides of
them (Dhs-a 318). Above that come the successive layers of the other five sense-
sphere heavens—the four highest not touching the earth—and above them the
fine-material Brahmā-worlds, the higher of which extend over more than one world-
sphere (see A V 59). The world-sphere rests on water, which rests on air, which rests
on space. World-spheres “lie adjacent to each other in contact like bowls, leaving a
triangular unlit space between each three” (Vism-mhṭ 199), called a “world-interspace”
(see too M-a IV 178). Their numbers extend thus in all four directions to infinity on the
supporting water’s surface.
The southern continent of Jambudīpa is the known inhabited world (but see e.g.
DN 26). Various hells (see e.g. MN 130; A V 173; Vin III 107) are below the earth’s
surface. The lowest sensual-sphere heaven is that of the Deities of the Four Kings
capable and incapable [of achievement] (cf. Paṭis I 121), therefore this world of
beings was known to him in all ways.
40. And as the world of beings so also the world of location. For accordingly
this [world measures as follows]:
One world-sphere14 is twelve hundred thousand leagues and thirty-four
hundred and fifty leagues (1,203,450) in breadth and width. In circumference,
however:
[The measure of it] all around
Is six and thirty hundred thousand
And then ten thousand in addition,
Four hundred too less half a hundred (3,610,350).
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41.
Herein:
Two times a hundred thousand leagues
And then four nahutas as well (240,000):
This earth, this “Bearer of All Wealth,”
Has that much thickness, as they tell.
And its support:
Four times a hundred thousand leagues
And then eight nahutas as well (480,000):
The water resting on the air
Has that much thickness, as they tell.
And the support of that: [206]
Nine times a hundred thousand goes
The air out in the firmament
And sixty thousand more besides (960,000)
So this much is the world’s extent.
42. Such is its extent. And these features are to be found in it:
Sineru, tallest of all mountains, plunges down into the sea
Full four and eighty thousand leagues, and towers up in like degree
Seven concentric mountain rings surround Sineru in suchwise
That each of them in depth and height is half its predecessor’s size:
Vast ranges called Yugandhara, Ìsadhara, Karavīka,
Sudassana, Nemindhara, Vinataka, Assakaṇṇa.
Heavenly [breezes fan] their cliffs agleam with gems, and here reside
The Four Kings of the Cardinal Points, and other gods and sprites beside.15
Himālaya’s lofty mountain mass rises in height five hundred leagues
And in its width and in its breadth it covers quite three thousand leagues,
And then it is bedecked besides with four and eighty thousand peaks.16
(Cātumahārājika). The four are Dhataraṭṭha Gandhabba-rāja (King of the East), Virūḷha
Kumbhaṇḍa-rāja (King of the South), Virūpaka Nāga-rāja (King of the West), and
Kuvera or Vessavaṇa Yakkha-rāja (King of the North—see DN 32). Here the moon
and sun circulate. The deities of this heaven are often at war with the Asura demons
(see e.g. D II 285) for possession of the lower slopes of Sineru. The next higher is
Tāvatiṃsa (the Heaven of the Thirty-three), governed by Sakka, Ruler of Gods (sakka-
devinda). Above this is the heaven of the Yāma Deities (Deities who have Gone to Bliss)
ruled by King Suyāma (not to be confused with Yama King of the Underworld—see M
III 179). Higher still come the Deities of the Tusita (Contented) Heaven with King
Santusita. The fifth of these heavens is that of the Nimmānarati Deities (Deities who
Delight in Creating) ruled by King Sunimmita. The last and highest of the sensual-
sphere heavens is the Paranimmitavasavatti Heaven (Deities who Wield Power over
Others’ Creations). Their king is Vasavatti (see A I 227; for details see Vibh-a 519f.).
Māra (Death) lives in a remote part of this heaven with his hosts, like a rebel with a
band of brigands (M-a I 33f.). For destruction and renewal of all this at the end of the
aeon, see Ch. XIII.
15. “Sineru is not only 84,000 leagues in height but measures the same in width and
breadth. For this is said: ‘Bhikkhus, Sineru, king of mountains, is eighty-four thousand
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The Jambu Tree called Nāga lends the name, by its magnificence,
To Jambudīpa’s land; its trunk, thrice five leagues in circumference,
Soars fifty leagues, and bears all round branches of equal amplitude,
So that a hundred leagues define diameter and altitude.
43.
The World-sphere Mountains’ line of summits plunges down into the sea
Just two and eighty thousand leagues, and towers up in like degree,
Enringing one world-element all round in its entirety.
And the size of the Jambu (Rose-apple) Tree is the same as that of the
Citrapāṭaliya Tree of the Asura demons, the Simbali Tree of the Garuḷa demons,
the Kadamba Tree in [the western continent of] Aparagoyana, the Kappa Tree
[in the northern continent] of the Uttarakurus, the Sirīsa Tree in [the eastern
continent of] Pubbavideha, and the Pāricchattaka Tree [in the heaven] of the
Deities of the Thirty-three (Tāvatiṃsa).17 Hence the Ancients said:
The Pāṭali, Simbali, and Jambu, the deities’ Pāricchattaka,
The Kadamba, the Kappa Tree and the Sirīsa as the seventh.
44. [207] Herein, the moon’s disk is forty-nine leagues [across] and the sun’s
disk is fifty leagues. The realm of Tāvatiṃsa (the Thirty-three Gods) is ten
thousand leagues. Likewise the realm of the Asura demons, the great Avīci
(unremitting) Hell, and Jambudīpa (India). Aparagoyāna is seven thousand
leagues. Likewise Pubbavideha. Uttarakurū is eight thousand leagues. And
herein, each great continent is surrounded by five hundred small islands. And
the whole of that constitutes a single world-sphere, a single world-element.
Between [this and the adjacent world-spheres] are the Lokantarika (world-
interspace) hells.18 So the world-spheres are infinite in number, the world-
elements are infinite, and the Blessed One has experienced, known and penetrated
them with the infinite knowledge of the Enlightened Ones.
45. Therefore this world of location was known to him in all ways too. So he is
“knower of worlds” because he has seen the world in all ways.
leagues in width and it is eighty-four thousand leagues in breadth’ (A IV 100). Each of
the seven surrounding mountains is half as high as that last mentioned, that is,
Yugandhara is half as high as Sineru, and so on. The great ocean gradually slopes
from the foot of the world-sphere mountains down as far as the foot of Sineru, where
it measures in depth as much as Sineru’s height. And Yugandhara, which is half that
height, rests on the earth as Ìsadhara and the rest do; for it is said: ‘Bhikkhus, the
great ocean gradually slopes, gradually tends, gradually inclines’ (Ud 53). Between
Sineru and Yugandhara and so on, the oceans are called ‘bottomless’ (sīdanta). Their
widths correspond respectively to the heights of Sineru and the rest. The mountains
stand all round Sineru, enclosing it, as it were. Yugandhara surrounds Sineru, then
Ìsadhara surrounds Yugandhara, and likewise with the others” (Vism-mhṭ 199).
16. For the commentarial descriptions of Himavant (Himalaya) with its five peaks
and seven great lakes, see M-a III 54.
17. A-a commenting on A I 35 ascribes the Simbali Tree to the Supaṇṇas or winged
demons. The commentary to Ud 5.5, incidentally, gives a further account of all these
things, only a small portion of which are found in the Suttas.
18. See note 14.
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[INCOMPARABLE LEADER OF MEN TO BE TAMED]
46.
In the absence of anyone more distinguished for special qualities than
himself, there is no one to compare with him, thus he is incomparable. For in this
way he surpasses the whole world in the special quality of virtue, and also in the
special qualities of concentration, understanding, deliverance, and knowledge
and vision of deliverance. In the special quality of virtue he is without equal, he
is the equal only of those [other Enlightened Ones] without equal, he is without
like, without double, without counterpart; … in the special quality of
knowledge and vision of deliverance he is … without counterpart, according
as it is said: “I do not see in the world with its deities, its Māras and its
Brahmās, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmans, with its princes
and men,19 anyone more perfect in virtue than myself” (S I 139), with the rest in
detail, and likewise in the Aggappasāda Sutta (A II 34; It 87), and so on, and in
the stanzas beginning, “I have no teacher and my like does not exist in all the
world” (M I 171), all of which should be taken in detail.
47.
He guides (sāreti) men to be tamed (purisa-damme), thus he is leader of
men to be tamed  (purisadammasārathī); he tames, he disciplines, is what is
meant. Herein, animal males (purisā) and human males, and non-human
males that are not tamed but fit to be tamed (dametuṃ yuttā) are “men to be
tamed” (purisadammā). For the animal males, namely, the royal nāga (serpent)
Apalāla, Cūḷodara, Mahodara, Aggisikha, Dhūmasikha, the royal nāga
Áravāḷa, the elephant Dhanapālaka, and so on, were tamed by the Blessed
One, freed from the poison [of defilement] and established in the refuges and
the precepts of virtue; and also the human males, namely, Saccaka the
Nigaṇṭhas’ (Jains’) son, the brahman student Ambaṭṭha, [208] Pokkharasāti,
Soṇadaṇḍa, Kūṭadanta, and so on; and also the non-human males, namely,
the spirits Áḷavaka, Sūciloma and Kharaloma, Sakka Ruler of Gods, etc.,20
were tamed and disciplined by various disciplinary means. And the following
sutta should be given in full here: “I discipline men to be tamed sometimes
gently, Kesi, and I discipline them sometimes roughly, and I discipline them
sometimes gently and roughly” (A II 112).
48. Then the Blessed One moreover further tames those already tamed, doing
so by announcing the first jhāna, etc., respectively to those whose virtue is
purified, etc., and also the way to the higher path to stream enterers, and so on.
19. The rendering of sadevamanussānaṃ by “with its princes and men” is supported
by the commentary. See M-a II 20 and also M-a I 33 where the use of sammuti-deva for
a royal personage, not an actual god is explained. Deva is the normal mode of addressing
a king. Besides, the first half of the sentence deals with deities and it would be out of
place to refer to them again in the clause related to mankind.
20. The references are these: Apalāla (Mahāvaṃsa, p. 242), “Dwelling in the Himalayas”
(Vism-mhṭ 202), Cūḷodara and Mahodara (Mhv pp. 7–8; Dīp pp. 21–23), Aggisikha and
Dhūmasikha (“Inhabitant of Sri Lanka”—Vism-mhṭ 202), Áravāḷa and Dhanapālaka
(Vin II 194–96; J-a V 333–37), Saccaka (MN 35 and 36), Ambaṭṭha (DN 3), Pokkharasāti
(D I 109), Soṇadaṇḍa (DN 4), Kūṭadanta (DN 5), Áḷavaka (Sn p. 31), Sūciloma and
Kharaloma (Sn p. 47f.), Sakka (D I 263f.).
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Or alternatively, the words incomparable leader of men to be tamed can be taken
together as one clause. For the Blessed One so guides men to be tamed that in a
single session they may go in the eight directions [by the eight liberations]
without hesitation. Thus he is called the incomparable leader of men to be tamed.
And the following sutta passage should be given in full here: “Guided by the
elephant-tamer, bhikkhus, the elephant to be tamed goes in one direction …”
(M III 222).
[TEACHER OF GODS AND MEN]
49. He teaches (anusāsati) by means of the here and now, of the life to come, and
of the ultimate goal, according as befits the case, thus he is the Teacher (satthar).
And furthermore this meaning should be understood according to the Niddesa
thus: “‘Teacher (satthar)’: the Blessed One is a caravan leader (satthar) since he
brings home caravans (sattha). Just as one who brings a caravan home gets
caravans across a wilderness, gets them across a robber-infested wilderness,
gets them across a wild-beast-infested wilderness, gets them across a foodless
wilderness, gets them across a waterless wilderness, gets them right across, gets
them quite across, gets them properly across, gets them to reach a land of safety,
so too the Blessed One is a caravan leader, one who brings home the caravans, he
gets them across a wilderness, gets them across the wilderness of birth” (Nidd
I 446).
50. Of gods and men: devamanussānaṃ = devānañ ca manussānañ ca (resolution of
compound). This is said in order to denote those who are the best and also to
denote those persons capable of progress. For the Blessed One as a teacher
bestowed his teaching upon animals as well. For when animals can, through
listening to the Blessed One’s Dhamma, acquire the benefit of a [suitable rebirth
as] support [for progress], and with the benefit of that same support they come,
in their second or third rebirth, to partake of the path and its fruition.
51. Maṇḍūka, the deity’s son, and others illustrate this. While the Blessed One
was teaching the Dhamma to the inhabitants of the city of Campā on the banks
of the Gaggarā Lake, it seems, a frog (maṇḍūka) apprehended a sign in the
Blessed One’s voice. [209] A cowherd who was standing leaning on a stick put
his stick on the frog’s head and crushed it. He died and was straight away
reborn in a gilded, divine palace, twelve leagues broad in the realm of the Thirty-
three (Tāvatiṃsa). He found himself there, as if waking up from sleep, amidst a
host of celestial nymphs, and he exclaimed, “So I have actually been reborn here.
What deed did I do?” When he sought for the reason, he found it was none other
than his apprehension of the sign in the Blessed One’s voice. He went with his
divine palace at once to the Blessed One and paid homage at his feet. Though
the Blessed One knew about it, he asked him:
“Who now pays homage at my feet,
Shining with glory of success,
Illuminating all around
With beauty so outstanding?”
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“In my last life I was a frog,
The waters of a pond my home;
A cowherd’s crook ended my life
While listening to your Dhamma” (Vv 49).
The Blessed One taught him the Dhamma. Eighty-four thousand creatures
gained penetration to the Dhamma. As soon as the deity’s son became established
in the fruition of stream-entry he smiled and then vanished.
[ENLIGHTENED]
52. He is enlightened  (buddha) with the knowledge that belongs to the fruit of
liberation, since everything that can be known has been discovered (buddha) by him.
Or alternatively, he discovered (bujjhi) the four truths by himself and awakened
(bodhesi) others to them, thus and for other such reasons he is enlightened
(buddha). And in order to explain this meaning the whole passage in the Niddesa
beginning thus: “He is the discoverer (bujjhitar) of the truths, thus he is
enlightened (buddha). He is the awakened (bodhetar) of the generation, thus he is
enlightened (buddha)” (Nidd I 457), or the same passage from the Paṭisambhidā
(Paṭis I 174), should be quoted in detail.
[BLESSED]
53. Blessed (bhagavant) is a term signifying the respect and veneration accorded
to him as the highest of all beings and distinguished by his special qualities.21
Hence the Ancients said:
“Blessed” is the best of words,
“Blessed” is the finest word;
Deserving awe and veneration,
Blessed is the name therefore.
54. Or alternatively, names are of four kinds: denoting a period of life, describing
a particular mark, signifying a particular acquirement, and fortuitously arisen,22
which last in the current usage of the world is called “capricious.” Herein, [210]
names denoting a period of life are those such as “yearling calf” (vaccha), “steer
to be trained” (damma), “yoke ox” (balivaddha), and the like. Names describing a
particular mark are those such as “staff-bearer” (daṇḍin), “umbrella-bearer”
(chattin), “topknot-wearer” (sikhin), “hand possessor” (karin—elephant), and
the like. Names signifying a particular acquirement are those such as “possessor of
the threefold clear vision” (tevijja), “possessor of the six direct-knowledges”
(chaḷabhiñña), and the like. Such names are Sirivaḍḍhaka (“Augmenter of
21. For the breaking up of this compound cf. parallel passage at M-a I 10.
22. Ávatthika—“denoting a period in life” (from avatthā, see IV.167); not in PED; the
meaning given in the PED for liṅgika—“describing a particular mark,” is hardly adequate
for this ref.; nemittika—“signifying a particular acquirement” is not in this sense in
PED. For more on names see Dhs-a 390.
23. The commentarial name for the Elder Sāriputta to whom the authorship of the
Paṭisambhidā is traditionally attributed. The Paṭisambhidā text has “Buddha,” not
“Bhagavā.”
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Lustre”), Dhanavaḍḍhaka (“Augmenter of Wealth”), etc., are fortuitously arisen
names; they have no reference to the word-meanings.
55.
This name, Blessed, is one signifying a particular acquirement; it is not
made by Mahā-Māyā, or by King Suddhodana, or by the eighty thousand
kinsmen, or by distinguished deities like Sakka, Santusita, and others. And this
is said by the General of the Law:23 “‘Blessed’: this is not a name made by a
mother … This [name] ‘Buddha,’ which signifies final liberation, is a realistic
description of Buddhas (Enlightened Ones), the Blessed Ones, together with
their obtainment of omniscient knowledge at the root of an Enlightenment [Tree]”
(Paṭis I 174; Nidd I 143).
56. Now, in order to explain also the special qualities signified by this name
they cite the following stanza:
Bhagī bhajī bhāgī vibhattavā iti
Akāsi bhaggan ti garū ti bhāgyavā
Bahūhi ñāyehi subhāvitattano
Bhavantago so bhagavā ti vuccati.
The reverend one (garu) has blessings (bhagī), is a frequenter (bhajī), a partaker
(bhāgī), a possessor of what has been analyzed (vibhattavā);
He has caused abolishing (bhagga), he is fortunate (bhāgyavā),
He has fully developed himself (subhāvitattano) in many ways;
He has gone to the end of becoming (bhavantago); thus is called “Blessed”
(bhagavā).
The meaning of these words should be understood according to the method
of explanation given in the Niddesa (Nidd I 142).24
24. “The Niddesa method is this: ‘The word Blessed (bhagavā) is a term of respect.
Moreover, he has abolished (bhagga) greed, thus he is blessed (bhagavā); he has
abolished hate, … delusion, … views, … craving, … defilement, thus he is blessed.
“‘He divided (bhaji), analyzed (vibhaji), and classified (paṭivibhaji) the Dhamma
treasure, thus he is blessed (bhagavā). He makes an end of the kinds of becoming
(bhavānaṃ antakaroti), thus he is blessed (bhagavā). He has developed (bhāvita) the body
and virtue and the mind and understanding, thus he is blessed (bhagavā).
“‘Or the Blessed One is a frequenter (bhajī) of remote jungle-thicket resting places
with little noise, with few voices, with a lonely atmosphere, where one can lie hidden
from people, favourable to retreat, thus he is blessed (bhagavā).
“‘Or the Blessed One is a partaker (bhāgī) of robes, alms food, resting place, and the
requisite of medicine as cure for the sick, thus he is blessed (bhagavā). Or he is a
partaker of the taste of meaning, the taste of the Law, the taste of deliverance, the
higher virtue, the higher consciousness, the higher understanding, thus he is blessed
(bhagavā). Or he is a partaker of the four jhānas, the four measureless states, the four
immaterial states, thus he is blessed. Or he is a partaker of the eight liberations, the
eight bases of mastery, the nine successive attainments, thus he is blessed. Or he is a
partaker of the ten developments of perception, the ten kasiṇa attainments,
concentration due to mindfulness of breathing, the attainment due to foulness, thus
he is blessed. Or he is a partaker of the ten powers of Perfect Ones (see MN 12), of the
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57. But there is this other way:
Bhāgyavā bhaggavā yutto bhagehi ca vibhattavā.
Bhattavā vanta-gamano bhavesu: bhagavā tato.
He is fortunate (bhāgyavā), possessed of abolishment (bhaggavā), associated
with blessings (yutto bhagehi), and a possessor of what has been analyzed
(vibhattavā).
He has frequented (bhattavā), and he has rejected going in the kinds of
becoming (VAnta-GAmano BHAvesu), thus he is Blessed (Bhagavā).
58.
Herein, by using the characteristic of language beginning with “vowel
augmentation of syllable, elision of syllable” (see Kāøika VI.3.109), or by using
the characteristic of insertion beginning with [the example of] pisodara, etc. (see
Pāṇini, Gaṇapāṭha 6, 3, 109), it may be known that he [can also] be called “blessed”
(bhagavā) when he can be called “fortunate” (bhāgyavā) owing to the
fortunateness (bhāgya) to have reached the further shore [of the ocean of
perfection] of giving, virtue, etc., which produce mundane and supramundane
bliss (See Khp-a 108.).
59.
[Similarly], he [can also] be called “blessed” (bhagavā) when he can be
called “possessed of abolishment” (bhaggavā) owing to the following menaces
having been abolished; for he has abolished (abhañji) all the hundred thousand
kinds of trouble, anxiety and defilement classed as greed, as hate, as delusion,
and as misdirected attention; as consciencelessness and shamelessness, as anger
and enmity, as contempt and domineering, as envy and avarice, as deceit and
fraud, as obduracy and presumption, as pride and haughtiness, as vanity and
negligence, as craving and ignorance; as the three roots of the unprofitable,
kinds of misconduct, defilement, stains, [211] fictitious perceptions, applied
thoughts, and diversifications; as the four perversenesses, cankers, ties, floods,
bonds, bad ways, cravings, and clingings; as the five wildernesses in the heart,
shackles in the heart, hindrances, and kinds of delight; as the six roots of discord,
and groups of craving; as the seven inherent tendencies; as the eight
wrongnesses; as the nine things rooted in craving; as the ten courses of
unprofitable action; as the sixty-two kinds of [false] view; as the hundred and
eight ways of behaviour of craving25—or in brief, the five Māras, that is to say, the
four kinds of perfect confidence (ibid), of the four discriminations, of the six kinds of
direct knowledge, of the six Enlightened Ones’ states [not shared by disciples (see note 7)],
thus he is blessed. Blessed One (bhagavā): this is not a name made by a mother … This
name, Blessed One, is a designation based on realization”’ (Vism-mhṭ 207).
25. Here are explanations of those things in this list that cannot be discovered by
reference to the index: The pairs, “anger and enmity” to “conceit and negligence (M I
16). The “three roots” are greed, hate, and delusion (D III 214). The “three kinds of
misconduct” are that of body, speech, and mind (S V 75). The “three defilements” are
misconduct, craving and views (Ch. I.9,13). The “three erroneous perceptions” (visama-
saññā) are those connected with greed, hate, and delusion (Vibh 368). The three “applied
thoughts” are thoughts of sense-desire, ill will, and cruelty (M I 114). The “three
diversifications” (papañca) are those due to craving, conceit, and [false] views (XVI
n. 17). “Four perversenesses”: seeing permanence, pleasure, self, and beauty, where
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Māras of defilement, of the aggregates, and of kamma-formations, Māra as a
deity, and Māra as death.
And in this context it is said:
He has abolished (bhagga) greed and hate,
Delusion too, he is canker-free;
Abolished every evil state,
“Blessed” his name may rightly be.
60.
And by his fortunateness (bhāgyavatā) is indicated the excellence of his
material body which bears a hundred characteristics of merit; and by his having
abolished defects (bhaggadosatā) is indicated the excellence of his Dhamma body.
Likewise, [by his fortunateness is indicated] the esteem of worldly [people; and
by his having abolished defects, the esteem of] those who resemble him. [And by
his fortunateness it is indicated] that he is fit to be relied on26 by laymen; and [by
his having abolished defects that he is fit to be relied on by] those gone forth into
homelessness; and when both have relied on him, they acquire relief from bodily
and mental pain as well as help with both material and Dhamma gifts, and they
are rendered capable of finding both mundane and supramundane bliss.
61. He is also called “blessed” (bhagavā) since he is “associated with blessings”
(bhagehi yuttattā) such as those of the following kind, in the sense that he “has
those blessings” (bhagā assa santi). Now, in the world the word “blessing” is used
for six things, namely, lordship, Dhamma, fame, glory, wish, and endeavour. He
has supreme lordship over his own mind, either of the kind reckoned as mundane
and consisting in “minuteness, lightness,” etc.,27 or that complete in all aspects,
and likewise the supramundane Dhamma. And he has exceedingly pure fame,
spread through the three worlds, acquired though the special quality of veracity.
And he has glory of all limbs, perfect in every aspect, which is capable of
comforting the eyes of people eager to see his material body. And he has his wish,
in other words, the production of what is wanted, since whatever is wanted and
there is none (Vibh 376). “Four cankers,” etc. (XXII.47ff.). “Five wildernesses” and
“shackles” (M I 101). “Five kinds of delight”: delight in the five aggregates (XVI.93).
“Six roots of discord”: anger, contempt, envy, fraud, evilness of wishes, and adherence
to one’s own view (D III 246). “Nine things rooted in craving” (D III 288–89). “Ten
courses of unprofitable action”: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, slander,
harsh speech, gossip, covetousness, ill will, wrong view (M I 47, 286f.). “Sixty-two
kinds of view”: (D I 12ff.; MN 102). “The hundred and eight ways of behaviour of
craving” (Vibh 400).
26. Abhigamanīya—“fit to be relied on”: abhigacchati not in PED.
27. Vism-mhṭ says the word “etc.” includes the following six: mahimā, patti, pākamma,
īsitā, vasitā, and yatthakāmāvasāyitā. “Herein, aṇimā means making the body minute (the
size of an atom—aṇu). Laghimā means lightness of body; walking on air, and so on.
Mahimā means enlargement producing hugeness of the body. Patti means arriving
where one wants to go. Pākamma means producing what one wants by resolving, and
so on. Isitā means self-mastery, lordship. Vasitā means mastery of miraculous powers.
Yatthakāmāvasāyitā means attainment of perfection in all ways in one who goes through
the air or does anything else of the sort” (Vism-mhṭ 210). Yogabhāåya 3.45.
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needed by him as beneficial to himself or others is then and there produced for
him. And he has the endeavour, in other words, the right effort, which is the
reason why the whole world venerates him.
62. [He can also] be called “blessed” (bhagavā) when he can be called “a possessor
of what has been analyzed” (vibhattavā) owing to his having analyzed [and
clarified] all states into the [three] classes beginning with the profitable; or
profitable, etc., states into such classes as aggregates, bases, elements, truths,
faculties, dependent origination, etc.; [212] or the noble truth of suffering into
the senses of oppressing, being formed, burning, and changing; and that of
origin into the senses of accumulating, source, bond, and impediment; and that
of cessation into the senses of escape, seclusion, being unformed, and deathless;
and that of the path into the senses of outlet, cause, seeing, and predominance.
Having analyzed, having revealed, having shown them, is what is meant.
63. He [can also] be called “blessed” (bhagavā) when he can be called one who
“has frequented” (bhattavā) owing to his having frequented (bhaji), cultivated,
repeatedly practiced, such mundane and supramundane higher-than-human
states as the heavenly, the divine, and the noble abidings,28 as bodily, mental, and
existential seclusion, as the void, the desireless, and the signless liberations,
and others as well.
64. He [can also] be called “blessed” (bhagavā) when he can be called one who
“has rejected going in the kinds of becoming” (vantagamano bhavesu) because in the
three kinds of becoming (bhava), the going (gamana), in other words, craving, has
been rejected (vanta) by him. And the syllables bha from the word bhava, and ga
from the word gamana, and va from the word vanta with the letter a lengthened,
make the word bhagavā, just as is done in the world [of the grammarians outside
the Dispensation] with the word mekhalā (waist-girdle) since “garland for the
private parts” (MEhanassa KHAssa māLÁ) can be said.
65. As long as [the meditator] recollects the special qualities of the Buddha in
this way, “For this and this reason the Blessed One is accomplished, … for this
and this reason he is blessed,” then: “On that occasion his mind is not obsessed
by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion; his mind has rectitude on
that occasion, being inspired by the Perfect One” (A III 285).29
28. The three “abidings” are these: heavenly abiding = kasiṇa jhāna, divine abiding
= loving-kindness jhāna, etc., noble abiding = fruition attainment. For the three kinds
of seclusion, see IV, note 23.
29. Vism-mhṭ adds seven more plays on the word bhagavā, which in brief are these:
he is bhāgavā (a possessor of parts) because he has the Dhamma aggregates of virtue,
etc. (bhāgā = part, vant = possessor of). He is bhatavā (possessor of what is borne)
because he has borne (bhata) the perfections to their full development. He has cultivated
the parts (bhāge vani), that is, he has developed the various classes of attainments. He
has cultivated the blessings (bhage vani), that is, the mundane and supramundane
blessings. He is bhattavā (possessor of devotees) because devoted (bhatta) people
show devotion (bhatti) to him on account of his attainments. He has rejected blessings
(bhage vami) such as glory, lordship, fame and so on. He has rejected the parts (bhāge
vami) such as the five aggregates of experience, and so on (Vism-mhṭ 241–46).
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66.
So when he has thus suppressed the hindrances by preventing obsession
by greed, etc., and his mind faces the meditation subject with rectitude, then his
applied thought and sustained thought occur with a tendency toward the
Enlightened One’s special qualities. As he continues to exercise applied thought
and sustained thought upon the Enlightened One’s special qualities, happiness
arises in him. With his mind happy, with happiness as a proximate cause, his
bodily and mental disturbances are tranquilized by tranquillity. When the
disturbances have been tranquilized, bodily and mental bliss arise in him. When
he is blissful, his mind, with the Enlightened One’s special qualities for its
object, becomes concentrated, and so the jhāna factors eventually arise in a
single moment. But owing to the profundity of the Enlightened One’s special
qualities, or else owing to his being occupied in recollecting special qualities of
many sorts, the jhāna is only access and does not reach absorption. And that
access jhāna itself is known as “recollection of the Buddha” too, because it
arises with the recollection of the Enlightened One’s special qualities as the
means.
67. When a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of the Buddha, he is respectful
and deferential towards the Master. He attains fullness of faith, mindfulness,
understanding and merit. He has much happiness and gladness. He conquers
fear and dread. [213] He is able to endure pain. He comes to feel as if he were
living in the Master’s presence. And his body, when the recollection of the
Buddha’s special qualities dwells in it, becomes as worthy of veneration as a
shrine room. His mind tends toward the plane of the Buddhas. When he
encounters an opportunity for transgression, he has awareness of conscience
and shame as vivid as though he were face to face with the Master. And if he
penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy destiny.
Now, when a man is truly wise,
His constant task will surely be
This recollection of the Buddha
Blessed with such mighty potency.
This, firstly, is the section dealing with the recollection of the Enlightened
One in the detailed explanation.
[(2) RECOLLECTION OF THE DHAMMA]
68. One who wants to develop the recollection of the Dhamma (Law) should go
into solitary retreat and recollect the special qualities of both the Dhamma (Law) of
the scriptures and the ninefold supramundane Dhamma (state) as follows:
As to the word “bhattavā”: at VII.63, it is explained as “one who has frequented
(bhaji) attainments.” In this sense the attainments have been “frequented” (bhatta) by
him Vism-mhṭ (214 f.). uses the same word in another sense as “possessor of
devotees,” expanding it as bhattā daḷhabhattikā assa bahu atthi (“he has many devoted
firm devotees”—Skr. bhakta). In PED under bhattavant (citing also Vism 212) only the
second meaning is given. Bhatta is from the same root (bhaj) in both cases.
For a short exposition of this recollection see commentary to AN 1:16.1.
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30. Anusandhi—“sequence of meaning”: a technical commentarial term signifying
both a particular subject treated in a discourse, and also the way of linking one subject
with another in the same discourse. At M-a I 175 three kinds are distinguished: sequence
of meaning in answer to a question (pucchānusandhi—e.g. M I 36), that to suit a
personal idiosyncrasy, (ajjhāsayānusandhi—e.g. M I 23) and that due to the natural
course of the teaching (yathānusandhi—e.g. the whole development of MN 6).
“The Dhamma is well proclaimed by the Blessed One, visible here and now,
not delayed (timeless), inviting of inspection, onward-leading, and directly
experienceable by the wise” (M I 37; A III 285).
[WELL  PROCLAIMED]
69. Well proclaimed: in this clause the Dhamma of the scriptures is included as
well as the other; in the rest of the clauses only the supramundane Dhamma is
included.
Herein, the Dhamma of the scriptures is well proclaimed because it is good in the
beginning, the middle, and the end, and because it announces the life of purity that
is utterly perfect and pure with meaning and with detail (see M I 179).
Even a single stanza of the Blessed One’s teaching is good in the beginning
with the first word, good in the middle with the second, third, etc., and good in
the end with the last word, because the Dhamma is altogether admirable. A
sutta with a single sequence of meaning30 is good in the beginning with the
introduction, good in the end with the conclusion, and good in the middle with
what is in between. A sutta with several sequences of meaning is good in the
beginning with the first sequence of meaning, good in the end with the last
sequence of meaning, and good in the middle with the sequences of meaning in
between. Furthermore, it is good in the beginning with the introduction [giving
the place of] and the origin [giving the reason for] its utterance. It is good in the
middle because it suits those susceptible of being taught since it is unequivocal
in meaning and reasoned with cause and example. It is good in the end with its
conclusion that inspires faith in the hearers.
70. Also the entire Dhamma of the Dispensation is good in the beginning with
virtue as one’s own well-being. It is good in the middle with serenity and insight
and with path and fruition. It is good in the end with Nibbāna. Or alternatively,
it is good in the beginning with virtue and concentration. [214] It is good in the
middle with insight and the path. It is good in the end with fruition and Nibbāna.
Or alternatively, it is good in the beginning because it is the good discovery
made by the Buddha. It is good in the middle because it is the well-regulatedness
of the Dhamma. It is good in the end because it is the good way entered upon by
the Saṅgha. Or alternatively, it is good in the beginning as the discovery of what
can be attained by one who enters upon the way of practice in conformity after
hearing about it. It is good in the middle as the unproclaimed enlightenment [of
Paccekabuddhas]. It is good in the end as the enlightenment of disciples.
71. And when listened to, it does good through hearing it because it suppresses
the hindrances, thus it is good in the beginning. And when made the way of
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practice it does good through the way being entered upon because it brings the
bliss of serenity and insight, thus it is good in the middle. And when it has thus
been made the way of practice and the fruit of the way is ready, it does good
through the fruit of the way because it brings [unshakable] equipoise, thus it is
good in the end.
So it is “well proclaimed” because of being good in the beginning, the middle
and the end.
72. Now, the life of purity, that is to say, the life of purity of the Dispensation and
the life of purity of the path, which the Blessed One announces, which he shows
in various ways when he teaches the Dhamma, is “with meaning” because of
perfection of meaning, and it is “with detail” because of perfection of detail, as
it is proper that it should be. It is “with meaning” because it conforms to the
words declaring its meaning by pronouncing, clarifying, revealing, expounding,
and explaining it. It is “with detail” because it has perfection of syllables, words,
details, style, language, and descriptions. It is “with meaning” owing to
profundity of meaning and profundity of penetration. It is “with detail” owing
to profundity of law and profundity of teaching. It is “with meaning” because it
is the province of the discriminations of meaning and of perspicuity. It is “with
detail” because it is the province of the discriminations of law and of language
(see XIV.21). It is “with meaning” since it inspires confidence in persons of
discretion, being experienceable by the wise. It is “with detail” since it inspires
confidence in worldly persons, being a fit object of faith. It is “with meaning”
because its intention is profound. It is “with detail” because its words are clear.
It is “utterly perfect” with the complete perfection due to absence of anything
that can be added. It is “pure” with the immaculateness due to absence of
anything to be subtracted.
73.
Furthermore, it is “with meaning” because it provides the particular
distinction31 of achievement through practice of the way, and it is “with detail”
because it provides the particular distinction of learning through mastery of
scripture. It is “utterly perfect” because it is connected with the five
aggregates of Dhamma beginning with virtue.32 It is “pure” because it has
no imperfection, because it exists for the purpose of crossing over [the round
of rebirths’ flood (see M I 134)], and because it is not concerned with worldly
things.
So it is “well proclaimed” because it “announces the life of purity that is
utterly perfect and pure with meaning and with detail.”
Or alternatively, it is well proclaimed since it has been properly proclaimed
with no perversion of meaning. For the meaning of other sectarians’ law suffers
perversion since there is actually no obstruction in the [215] things described
there as obstructive and actually no outlet in the things described there as outlets,
31. Vyatti (byatti)—“particular distinction” (n. fm. vi + añj); not so spelt in PED but
see viyatti. Glossed by Vism-mhṭ with veyyatti.
32.
These “five aggregates” are those of virtue, concentration, understanding,
deliverance, and knowledge and vision of deliverance.
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which is why their law is ill-proclaimed; but not so the Blessed One’s Law,
whose meaning suffers no perversion since the things described there as
obstructions and the things described there as outlets are so in actual fact.
So, in the first place, the Dhamma of the scriptures is “well proclaimed.”
74.
The supramundane Dhamma is well proclaimed since both the way that
accords with Nibbāna and the Nibbāna that accords with the way have been
proclaimed, according as it is said: “The way leading to Nibbāna has been
properly declared to the disciples by the Blessed One, and Nibbāna and the way
meet. Just as the water of the Ganges meets and joins with the water of the
Yamunā, so too the way leading to Nibbāna has been properly declared to the
disciples by the Blessed One, and Nibbāna and the way meet” (D II 223).
75. And here the noble path, which is the middle way since it does not approach
either extreme, is well proclaimed in being proclaimed to be the middle way.
The fruits of asceticism, where defilements are tranquilized, are well proclaimed
too in being proclaimed to have tranquilized defilement.
Nibbāna, whose individual essence is eternal, deathless, the refuge, the shelter,
etc., is well proclaimed too in being proclaimed to have an individual essence that
is eternal, and so on.
So the supramundane Dhamma is also “well proclaimed.”
[VISIBLE HERE AND NOW]
76. Visible here and now: firstly, the noble path is “visible here and now” since it
can be seen by a noble person himself when he has done away with greed, etc.,
in his own continuity, according as it is said: “When a man is dyed with greed,
brahman, and is overwhelmed and his mind is obsessed by greed, then he thinks
for his own affliction, he thinks for others’ affliction, he thinks for the affliction
of both, and he experiences mental suffering and grief. When greed has been
abandoned, he neither thinks for his own affliction, nor thinks for others’
affliction, nor thinks for the affliction of both, and he does not experience mental
suffering and grief. This, brahman, is how the Dhamma is visible here and now”
(A I 156). [216]
77. Furthermore, the ninefold supramundane Dhamma is also visible here and
now, since when anyone has attained it, it is visible to him through reviewing
knowledge without his having to rely on faith in another.
78. Or alternatively, the view (diṭṭhi) that is recommended (pasattha—pp. of root
saṃs) is “proper view” (sandiṭṭhi). It conquers by means of proper view, thus it
“has proper view” (sandiṭṭhika—“visible here and now”). For in this way the
noble path conquers defilements by means of the proper view associated with it,
and the noble fruition does so by means of the proper view that is its cause, and
Nibbāna does so by means of the proper view that has Nibbāna as its objective
field. So the ninefold supramundane Dhamma “has the proper view”
(sandiṭṭhika—“is visible here and now”) since it conquers by means of proper
view, just as a charioteer (rathika) is so called because he conquers by means of
a chariot (ratha).
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79.
Or alternatively, it is seeing (dassana) that is called “the seen” (diṭṭha);
then diṭṭha and sandiṭṭha are identical in meaning as “seeing.” It is worthy of
being seen (diṭṭha), thus it is “visible here and now” (sandiṭṭhika). For the
supramundane Dhamma (law) arrests the fearful round [of kamma, etc.,] as
soon as it is seen by means of penetration consisting in development [of the
path] and by means of penetration consisting in realization [of Nibbāna]. So
it is “visible here and now” (sandiṭṭhika) since it is worthy of being seen
(diṭṭha), just as one who is clothable (vattihika)33 is so called because he is
worthy of clothes (vattha).
[NOT  DELAYED]
80. It has no delay (lit. “takes no time”—kāla) in the matter of giving its own
fruit, thus it is “without delay” (akāla). “Without delay” is the same as “not
delayed” (akālika). What is meant is that instead of giving its fruit after creating
a delay (using up time), say, five days, seven days, it gives its fruit immediately
next to its own occurrence (see Sn 226).
81.
Or alternatively, what is delayed (kālika—lit. “what takes time”) is what
needs some distant34 time to be reached before it can give its fruit. What is that?
It is the mundane law of profitable [kamma]. This, however, is undelayed (na
kālika) because its fruit comes immediately next to it, so it is “not delayed”
(akālika).
This is said with reference to the path.
[INVITING OF INSPECTION]
82. It is worthy of an invitation to inspect (ehipassa-vidhi) given thus: “Come
and see this Dhamma” (ehi passa imaṃ dhammaṃ), thus it is “inviting of
inspection” (ehipassika). But why is it worthy of this invitation? Because it is
found and because of its purity. For if a man has said that there is money or gold
in an empty fist, he cannot say, “Come and see it.” Why not? Because it is not
found. And on the other hand, while dung or urine may well be found, a man
cannot, for the purpose of cheering the mind by exhibiting beauty, say, “Come
33. Vatthika—“clothable”; not in PED.
34. Pakaṭṭha—“distant”; not in PED (= dura—Vism-mhṭ 297).
35.
This passage is only loosely renderable because the exegesis here is based
almost entirely on the substitution of one Pali grammatical form for another (padasiddhi).
The reading opaneyyiko (for opanayiko) does not appear in any Sinhalese text (generally
the most reliable); consequently the sentence “opanayiko va opaneyyiko” (see Harvard
text) is absent in them, being superfluous. Vism-mhṭ’s explanations are incorporated.
This paragraph depends on the double sense of upaneti  (upa + neti, to lead on or
induce) and its derivatives as (i) an attractive inducement and (ii) a reliable guide, and
so the word induce is stretched a bit and inducive coined on the analogy of conducive.
Upanaya (inducement) is not in PED, nor is upanayana (inducing) in this sense (see also
XIV.68). Upanayana means in logic “application,” “subsumption”; and also upanetabba
means “to be added”; see end of §72. For allīyana (“treating as one’s shelter”) see
references in Glossary.
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and see this;” on the contrary, they have to be covered up with grass and leaves.
Why? Because of their impurity. But this ninefold supramundane Dhamma is
actually found as such in its individual essence, and it is as pure as the full
moon’s disk in a cloudless sky, as a gem of pure water on bleached cloth. [217]
Consequently, it is worthy of the invitation to inspect since it is found and pure,
thus it is “inviting of inspection.”
[ONWARD-LEADING]
83.
The word opanayika (“onward-leading”) is [equivalent to the gerund]
upanetabba (“ought to—can—be induced”). Here is an exposition. An inducing
(upanayana) is an inducement (upanaya). [As the four paths and four fruitions]
this [Dhamma] is worth inducing (upanayanaṃ arahati) [that is, arousing] in
one’s own mind [subjectively] by means of development, without any question
of whether or not one’s clothing or one’s head is on fire (see A IV 320), thus it is
“onward-leading” (opanayika). This applies to the [above-mentioned eight]
formed supramundane states (dhammas). But the unformed [dhamma] is worth
inducing by one’s own mind [to become the mind’s object], thus it is “onward-
leading,” too; the meaning is that it is worth treating as one’s shelter by
realizing it.
84.
Or alternatively, what induces (upaneti) [the noble person] onwards to
Nibbāna is the noble path, which is thus inductive (upaneyya). Again, what can
(ought to) be induced (upanetabba) to realizability is the Dhamma consisting in
fruition and Nibbāna, which is thus inductive (upaneyya), too. The word upaneyya
is the same as the word opanayika.35
[IS  DIRECTLY  EXPERIENCEABLE  BY  THE  WISE]
85. Is directly experienceable by the wise: it can be experienced by all the kinds of
wise men beginning with the “acutely wise” (see A II 135) each in himself thus:
“The path has been developed, fruition attained, and cessation realized, by me.”
For it does not happen that when a preceptor has developed the path his co-
resident abandons his defilements, nor does a co-resident dwell in comfort owing
to the preceptor’s attainment of fruition, nor does he realize the Nibbāna realized
by the preceptor. So this is not visible in the way that an ornament on another’s
head is, but rather it is visible only in one’s own mind. What is meant is that it
can be undergone by wise men, but it is not the province of fools.
86.
Now, in addition, this Dhamma is well proclaimed. Why? Because it is
visible here and now. It is visible here and now because it is not delayed. It is not
delayed because it invites inspection. And what invites inspection is onward-
leading.
87. As long as [the meditator] recollects the special qualities of the Dhamma in
this way, then: “On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed
by hate, or obsessed by delusion; his mind has rectitude on that occasion, being
inspired by the Dhamma” (A III 285).
So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described
(§66), the jhāna factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the
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profundity of the Dhamma’s special qualities, or else owing to his being occupied
in recollecting special qualities of many sorts, the jhāna is only access and does
not reach absorption. And that access jhāna itself is known as “recollection of
the Dhamma” too because it arises with the recollection of the Dhamma’s special
qualities as the means.
88.
[218] When a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of the Dhamma, he
thinks: “I never in the past met a master who taught a law that led onward thus,
who possessed this talent, nor do I now see any such a master other than the
Blessed One.” Seeing the Dhamma’s special qualities in this way, he is respectful
and deferential towards the Master. He entertains great reverence for the
Dhamma and attains fullness of faith, and so on. He has much happiness and
gladness. He conquers fear and dread. He is able to endure pain. He comes to
feel as if he were living in the Dhamma’s presence. And his body, when the
recollection of the Dhamma’s special qualities dwells in it, becomes as worthy of
veneration as a shrine room. His mind tends towards the realization of the peerless
Dhamma. When he encounters an opportunity for transgression, he has vivid
awareness of conscience and shame on recollecting the well-regulatedness of
the Dhamma. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy
destiny.
Now, when a man is truly wise,
His constant task will surely be
This recollection of the Dhamma
Blessed with such mighty potency.
This is the section dealing with the recollection of the Dhamma in the detailed
explanation.
[(3) RECOLLECTION OF THE SAÒGHA]
89. One who wants to develop the recollection of the Community should go
into solitary retreat and recollect the special qualities of the community of Noble
Ones as follows:
“The community of the Blessed One’s disciples has entered on the good way,
the community of the Blessed One’s disciples has entered on the straight way,
the community of the Blessed One’s disciples has entered on the true way, the
community of the Blessed One’s disciples has entered on the proper way, that is
to say, the four pairs of men, the eight persons; this community of the Blessed
One’s disciples is fit for gifts, fit for hospitality, fit for offerings, fit for reverential
salutation, as an incomparable field of merit for the world” (A III 286).
[ENTERED ON THE GOOD, STRAIGHT, TRUE, PROPER WAY]
90.
Herein,  entered on the good way (supaṭipanna) is thoroughly entered on the
way (suṭṭhu paṭipanna). What is meant is that it has entered on a way (paṭipanna)
that is the right way (sammā-paṭipadā), the way that is irreversible, the way that is
in conformity [with truth], the way that has no opposition, the way that is
regulated by the Dhamma. They hear (suṇanti) attentively the Blessed One’s
instruction, thus they are his disciples (sāvaka—lit. “hearers”). The community of
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the disciples is the community of those disciples. The meaning is that the total of
disciples forms a communality because it possesses in common both virtue and
[right] view. [219] That right way, being straight, unbent, uncrooked, unwarped,
is called noble and true and is known as proper owing to its becomingness,
therefore the noble community that has entered on that is also said to have entered
on the straight way, entered on the true way, and entered on the proper way.
91. Those who stand on the path can be understood to have entered on the good
way since they possess the right way. And those who stand in fruition can be
understood to have entered on the good way with respect to the way that is now
past since by means of the right way they have realized what should be realized.
92.
Furthermore, the Community has entered on the good way because it has
entered on the way according as instructed in the well-proclaimed Dhamma
and Discipline (dhamma-vinaya), and because it has entered on the immaculate
way. It has entered on the straight way because it has entered on the way avoiding
the two extremes and taking the middle course, and because it has entered on
the way of the abandonment of the faults of bodily and verbal crookedness,
tortuousness and warpedness. It has entered on the true way because Nibbāna is
what is called “true” and it has entered on the way with that as its aim. It has
entered on the proper way because it has entered on the way of those who are
worthy of proper acts [of veneration].
93.
The word yadidaṃ (“that is to say”) = yāni imāni.  The four pairs of men:
taking them pairwise, the one who stands on the first path and the one who
stands in the first fruition as one pair, in this way there are four pairs. The eight
persons: taking them by persons, the one who stands on the first path as one and
the one who stands in the first fruition as one, in this way there are eight persons.
And there in the compound purisa-puggala (persons) the words purisa and puggala
have the same meaning, but it is expressed in this way to suit differing
susceptibility to teaching.
This community of the Blessed One’s disciples: this community of the Blessed
One’s disciples taken by pairs as the four pairs of men (purisa) and individually
as the eight persons (purisa-puggala).
[FIT FOR GIFTS]
94. As to fit for gifts, etc.: what should be brought (ānetvā) and given (hunitabba)
is a gift (āhuna—lit. “sacrifice”); the meaning is, what is to be brought even from
far away and donated to the virtuous. It is a term for the four requisites. The
Community is fit to receive that gift (sacrifice) because it makes it bear great fruit,
thus it is “fit for gifts” (āhuneyya).
95. Or alternatively, all kinds of property, even when the bringer comes (āgantvā)
from far away, can be given (hunitabba) here, thus the Community “can be given
to” (āhavanīya); or it is fit to be given to by Sakka and others, thus it “can be given
to.” And the brahmans’ fire is called “to be given (sacrificed) to” (āhavanīya), for
they believe that what is sacrificed to it brings great fruit. [220] But if something
is to be sacrificed to for the sake of the great fruit brought by what is sacrificed to
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it, then surely the Community should be sacrificed to; for what is sacrificed
(given) to the Community has great fruit, according as it is said:
“Were anyone to serve the fire
Out in the woods a hundred years,
And pay one moment’s homage too
To men of self-development,
His homage would by far excel
His hundred years of sacrifice” (Dhp 107).
And the words āhavanīya (“to be sacrificed to”), which is used in the schools,36
is the same in meaning as this word āhuneyya (“fit for gifts”) used here. There is
only the mere trifling difference of syllables. So it is “fit for gifts.”
[FIT  FOR  HOSPITALITY]
96. Fit for hospitality  (pāhuneyya): “hospitality” (pāhuna) is what a donation to
visitors is called, prepared with all honours for the sake of dear and beloved
relatives and friends who have come from all quarters. But even more than to
such objects of hospitality, it is fitting that it should be given also to the Community;
for there is no object of hospitality so fit to receive hospitality as the Community
since it is encountered after an interval between Buddhas and possesses wholly
endearing and lovable qualities. So it is “fit for hospitality” since the hospitality
is fit to be given to it and it is fit to receive it.
But those who take the text to be pāhavanīya (“fit to be given hospitality to”)
have it that the Community is worthy to be placed first and so what is to be given
should first of all be brought here and given (sabba-Paṭhamaṃ Ánetvā ettha
HUNitabbaṃ), and for that reason it is “fit to be given hospitality to” (pāhavanīya)
or since it is worthy to be given to in all aspects (sabba-Pakārena ÁHAVANAṃ
arahati), it is thus “fit to be given hospitality to” (pāhavanīya). And here this is
called  pāhuneyya in the same sense.
[FIT FOR OFFERING]
97. ”Offering” (dakkhiṇa) is what a gift is called that is to be given out of faith
in the world to come. The Community is worthy of that offering, or it is helpful to
that offering because it purifies it by making it of great fruit, thus it is fit for
offerings  (dakkhiṇeyya).
[FIT FOR SALUTATION]
It is worthy of being accorded by the whole world the reverential salutation
(añjali-kamma) consisting in placing both hands [palms together] above the head,
thus it is fit for reverential salutation  (añjalikaraṇīya).
[AS AN INCOMPARABLE FIELD OF MERIT FOR THE WORLD]
98. As an incomparable field of merit for the world: as a place without equal in the
world for growing merit; just as the place for growing the king’s or minister’s
36. “In the Sarvāstivādin school and so on” (Vism-mhṭ 230).
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rice or corn is the king’s rice-field or the king’s corn-field, so the Community is
the place for growing the whole world’s merit. For the world’s various kinds of
merit leading to welfare and happiness grow with the Community as their
support. Therefore the Community is “an incomparable field of merit for the
world.”
99.
As long as he recollects the special qualities of the Saṅgha in this way,
classed as “having entered on the good way,” etc., [221] then: “On that occasion
his mind is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion;
his mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by the Saṅgha” (A III
286).
So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described
(§66), the jhāna factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the
profundity of the Community’s special qualities, or else owing to his being
occupied in recollecting special qualities of many sorts, the jhāna is only access
and does not reach absorption. And that access jhāna itself is known as
“recollection of the Saṅgha” too because it arises with the recollection of the
Community’s special qualities as the means.
100. When a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of the Community, he is
respectful and deferential towards the Community. He attains fullness of faith,
and so on. He has much happiness and bliss. He conquers fear and dread. He is
able to endure pain. He comes to feel as if he were living in the Community’s
presence. And his body, when the recollection of the Sangha’s special qualities
dwells in it, becomes as worthy of veneration as an Uposatha house where the
Community has met. His mind tends towards the attainment of the Community’s
special qualities. When he encounters an opportunity for transgression, he has
awareness of conscience and shame as vividly as if he were face to face with the
Community. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy
destiny.
Now, when a man is truly wise,
His constant task will surely be
This recollection of the Saṅgha
Blessed with such mighty potency.
This is the section dealing with the recollection of the Community in the
detailed explanation.
[(4) RECOLLECTION OF VIRTUE]
101.
One who wants to develop the recollection of virtue should go into solitary
retreat and recollect his own different kinds of virtue in their special qualities of
being untorn, etc., as follows:
Indeed, my various kinds of virtue are “untorn, unrent, unblotched, unmottled,
liberating, praised by the wise, not adhered to, and conducive to concentration”
(A III 286). And a layman should recollect them in the form of laymen’s virtue
while one gone forth into homelessness should recollect them in the form of the
virtue of those gone forth.
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102.
Whether they are the virtues of laymen or of those gone forth, when no
one of them is broken in the beginning or in the end, not being torn like a cloth
ragged at the ends, then they are untorn. [222] When no one of them is broken in
the middle, not being rent like a cloth that is punctured in the middle, then they
are  unrent. When they are not broken twice or thrice in succession, not being
blotched like a cow whose body is some such colour as black or red with
discrepant-coloured oblong or round patch appearing on her back or belly, then
they are unblotched. When they are not broken all over at intervals, not being
mottled like a cow speckled with discrepant-coloured spots, then they are
unmottled.
103.
Or in general they are untorn, unrent, unblotched, unmottled when they are
undamaged by the seven bonds of sexuality (I.144) and by anger and enmity
and the other evil things (see §59).
104.
Those same virtues are liberating since they liberate by freeing from the
slavery of craving. They are praised by the wise because they are praised by such
wise men as Enlightened Ones. They are not adhered to (aparāmaṭṭha) since they
are not adhered to (aparāmaṭṭhattā) with craving and [false] view, or because of
the impossibility of misapprehending (parāmaṭṭhuṃ) that “There is this flaw in
your virtues.” They are conducive to concentration since they conduce to access
concentration and absorption concentration, or to path concentration and fruition
concentration.
105.
As long as he recollects his own virtues in their special qualities of being
untorn, etc., in this way, then: “On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by
greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion, his mind has rectitude on
that occasion, being inspired by virtue” (A III 286).
So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described
(§66), the jhāna factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the
profundity of the virtues’ special qualities, or owing to his being occupied in
recollecting special qualities of many sorts, the jhāna is only access and does
not reach absorption. And that access jhāna itself is known as “recollection of
virtue” too because it arises with the virtues’ special qualities as the means.
106.
And when a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of virtue, he has respect
for the training. He lives in communion [with his fellows in the life of purity]. He
is sedulous in welcoming. He is devoid of the fear of self-reproach and so on. He
sees fear in the slightest fault. He attains fullness of faith, and so on. He has
much happiness and gladness. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least
headed for a happy destiny.
Now, when a man is truly wise,
His constant task will surely be
This recollection of his virtue
Blessed with such mighty potency.
This is the section dealing with the recollection of virtue in the detailed
explanation. [223]
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[(5) RECOLLECTION  OF  GENEROSITY]
107.
One who wants to develop the recollection of generosity should be
naturally devoted to generosity and the constant practice of giving and sharing.
Or alternatively, if he is one who is starting the development of it, he should
make the resolution: “From now on, when there is anyone present to receive, I
shall not eat even a single mouthful without having given a gift.” And that very
day he should give a gift by sharing according to his means and his ability with
those who have distinguished qualities. When he has apprehended the sign in
that, he should go into solitary retreat and recollect his own generosity in its
special qualities of being free from the stain of avarice, etc., as follows:
“It is gain for me, it is great gain for me, that in a generation obsessed by the
stain of avarice I abide with my heart free from stain by avarice, and am freely
generous and open-handed, that I delight in relinquishing, expect to be asked,
and rejoice in giving and sharing” (A III 287).
108.
Herein, it is gain for me: it is my gain, advantage. The intention is: I surely
partake of those kinds of gain for a giver that have been commended by the
Blessed One as follows: “A man who gives life [by giving food] shall have life
either divine or human” (A III 42), and: “A giver is loved and frequented by
many” (A III 40), and: “One who gives is ever loved, according to the wise man’s
law” (A III 41), and so on.
109.
It is great gain for me: it is great gain for me that this Dispensation, or the
human state, has been gained by me. Why? Because of the fact that “I abide with
my mind free from stain by avarice … and rejoice in giving and sharing.”
110.
Herein, obsessed by the stain of avarice is overwhelmed by the stain of avarice.
Generation: beings, so called owing to the fact of their being generated. So the
meaning here is this: among beings who are overwhelmed by the stain of avarice,
which is one of the dark states that corrupt the [natural] transparency of
consciousness (see A I 10) and which has the characteristic of inability to bear
sharing one’s own good fortune with others.
111.
Free from stain by avarice because of being both free from avarice and from
the other stains, greed, hate, and the rest. I abide with my heart: I abide with my
consciousness of the kind already stated, is the meaning. [224] But in the sutta,
“I live the home life with my heart free” (A III 287; V 331), etc., is said because it
was taught there as a [mental] abiding to depend on [constantly] to Mahānāma
the Sakyan, who was a stream-enterer asking about an abiding to depend on.
There the meaning is “I live overcoming …”
112.
Freely generous: liberally generous. Open-handed: with hands that are
purified. What is meant is: with hands that are always washed in order to give
gifts carefully with one’s own hands. That I delight in relinquishing: the act of
relinquishing (vossajjana) is relinquishing (vossagga); the meaning is, giving up.
To delight in relinquishing is to delight in constant devotion to that relinquishing.
Expect to be asked  (yācayoga): accustomed to being asked (yācana-yogga) because
of giving whatever others ask for, is the meaning. Yājayoga is a reading, in
which case the meaning is: devoted (yutta) to sacrifice (yāja), in other words, to
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sacrificing (yajana).  And rejoice in sharing: the meaning is, he recollects thus: “I
give gifts and I share out what is to be used by myself, and I rejoice in both.”
113.
As long as he recollects his own generosity in its special qualities of
freedom from stain by avarice, etc., in this way, then: “On that occasion his mind
is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion; his mind
has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by generosity” (A III 287).
So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described
(§66), the jhāna factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the
profundity of the generosity’s special qualities, or owing to his being occupied
in recollecting the generosity’s special qualities of many sorts, the jhāna is only
access and does not reach absorption. And that access jhāna is known as
“recollection of generosity” too because it arises with the generosity’s special
qualities as the means.
114.
And when a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of generosity, he
becomes ever more intent on generosity, his preference is for non-greed, he acts
in conformity with loving-kindness, he is fearless. He has much happiness and
gladness. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy
destiny.
Now, when a man is truly wise,
His constant task will surely be
This recollection of his giving
Blessed with such mighty potency.
This is the section dealing with the recollection of generosity in the detailed
explanation. [225]
[(6) RECOLLECTION  OF  DEITIES]
115.
One who wants to develop the recollection of deities should possess the
special qualities of faith, etc., evoked by means of the noble path, and he should
go into solitary retreat and recollect his own special qualities of faith, etc., with
deities standing as witnesses, as follows:
“There are deities of the Realm of the Four Kings (devā cātummahārājikā),
there are deities of the Realm of the Thirty-three (devā tāvatiṃsā), there are deities
who are Gone to Divine Bliss (yāmā) … who are Contented (tusitā) … who Delight
in Creating (nimmānarati) … who Wield Power Over Others’ Creations
(paranimmitavasavatti), there are deities of Brahmā’s Retinue (brahmakāyikā), there
are deities higher than that. And those deities were possessed of faith such that
on dying here they were reborn there, and such faith is present in me too. And
those deities were possessed of virtue … of learning … of generosity … of
understanding such that when they died here they were reborn there, and such
understanding is present in me too” (A III 287).
116.
In the sutta, however, it is said: “On the occasion, Mahānāma, on which a
noble disciple recollects the faith, the virtue, the learning, the generosity, and the
understanding that are both his own and of those deities,” on that occasion his
mind is not obsessed by greed …” (A III 287). Although this is said, it should
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nevertheless be understood as said for the purpose of showing that the special
qualities of faith, etc., in oneself are those in the deities, making the deities stand
as witnesses. For it is said definitely in the Commentary: “He recollects his own
special qualities, making the deities stand as witnesses.”
117.
As long as in the prior stage he recollects the deities’ special qualities of
faith, etc., and in the later stage he recollects the special qualities of faith, etc.,
existing in himself, then: “On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed,
or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion, his mind has rectitude on that
occasion, being inspired by deities” (A III 288).
So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already stated (§66),
the jhāna factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the profundity
of the special qualities of faith, etc., or owing to his being occupied in recollecting
special qualities of many sorts, the jhāna is only access and does not reach
absorption. And that access jhāna itself is known as “recollection of deities” too
because it arises with the deities special qualities as the means. [226]
118.
And when a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of deities, he becomes
dearly loved by deities. He obtains even greater fullness of faith. He has much
happiness and gladness. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for
a happy destiny.
Now, when a man is truly wise,
His constant task will surely be
This recollection of deities
Blessed with such mighty potency.
This is the section dealing with the recollection of deities in the detailed
explanation.
[GENERAL]
119.
Now, in setting forth the detail of these recollections, after the words, “His
mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by the Perfect One,” it is
added: “When a noble disciple’s mind has rectitude, Mahānāma, the meaning
inspires him, the law inspires him, and the application of the law makes him
glad. When he is glad, happiness is born in him” (A III 285–88). Herein, the
meaning inspires him should be understood as said of contentment inspired by
the meaning beginning, “This Blessed One is such since he is …” (§2). The law
inspires him is said of contentment inspired by the text. The application of the law
makes him glad is said of both (cf. M-a I 173).
120.
And when in the case of the recollection of deities inspired by deities is
said, this should be understood as said either of the consciousness that occurs
in the prior stage inspired by deities or of the consciousness [that occurs in the
later stage] inspired by the special qualities that are similar to those of the deities
and are productive of the deities’ state (cf. §117).
121.
These six recollections succeed only in noble disciples. For the special
qualities of the Enlightened One, the Law, and the Community, are evident to
them; and they possess the virtue with the special qualities of untornness, etc.,
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the generosity that is free from stain by avarice, and the special qualities of faith,
etc., similar to those of deities.
122.
And in the Mahānāma Sutta (A III 285 f.) they are expounded in detail by
the Blessed One in order to show a stream-winner an abiding to depend upon
when he asked for one.
123.
Also in the Gedha Sutta they are expounded in order that a noble disciple
should purify his consciousness by means of the recollections and so attain
further purification in the ultimate sense thus: “Here, bhikkhus, a noble disciple
recollects the Perfect One in this way: That Blessed One is such since he is
accomplished … His mind has rectitude on that occasion. He has renounced,
[227] got free from, emerged from cupidity. Cupidity, bhikkhus, is a term for the
five cords of sense desire. Some beings gain purity here by making this
[recollection] their prop” (A III 312).
124.
And in the Sambādhokāsa Sutta taught by the venerable Mahā-Kaccāna
they are expounded as the realization of the wide-open through the susceptibility
of purification that exists in the ultimate sense only in a noble disciple thus: “It
is wonderful, friends, it is marvellous how the realization of the wide-open in the
crowded [house life] has been discovered by the Blessed One who knows and
sees, accomplished and fully enlightened, for the purification of beings, [for the
surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the ending of pain and grief, for the
attainment of the true way], for the realization of Nibbāna, that is to say, the six
stations of recollection. What six? Here, friends, a noble disciple recollects the
Perfect One … Some beings are susceptible to purification in this way” (A III
314–15).
125.
Also in the Uposatha Sutta they are expounded in order to show the
greatness of the fruit of the Uposatha, as a mind-purifying meditation subject for
a noble disciple who is observing the Uposatha: “And what is the Noble Ones’
Uposatha, Visākhā? It is the gradual cleansing of the mind still sullied by
imperfections. And what is the gradual cleansing of the mind still sullied by
imperfections? Here, Visākhā, a noble disciple recollects the Perfect One …” (A
I 206–11).
126.
And in the Book of Elevens, when a noble disciple has asked, “Venerable
sir, in what way should we abide who abide in various ways?” (A V 328), they
are expounded to him in order to show the way of abiding in this way: “One
who has faith is successful, Mahānāma, not one who has no faith. One who is
energetic … One whose mindfulness is established … One who is concentrated
… One who has understanding is successful, Mahānāma, not one who has no
understanding. Having established yourself in these five things, Mahānāma,
you should develop six things. Here, Mahānāma, you should recollect the Perfect
One: That Blessed One is such since …” (A V 329–32).
127.
Still, though this is so, they can be brought to mind by an ordinary man
too, if he possesses the special qualities of purified virtue, and the rest. [228] For
when he is recollecting the special qualities of the Buddha, etc., even only
according to hearsay, his consciousness settles down, by virtue of which the
hindrances are suppressed. In his supreme gladness he initiates insight, and
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he even attains to Arahantship, like the Elder Phussadeva who dwelt at
Kaṭakandhakāra.
128.
That venerable one, it seems, saw a figure of the Enlightened One created
by Māra. He thought, “How good this appears despite its having greed, hate
and delusion! What can the Blessed One’s goodness have been like? For he was
quite without greed, hate and delusion!” He acquired happiness with the Blessed
One as object, and by augmenting his insight he reached Arahantship.
The seventh chapter called “The Description of Six
Recollections” in the Treatise on the Development of
Concentration in the Path of Purification composed for the
purpose of gladdening good people.