Aṇguttara-Nikāya
III. Tika Nipāta
VIII. Ānanda Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings
or
More-Numbered Suttas
III. The Book of the Threes
VIII. About Ānanda

Sutta 73

Mahānāma Sakka Suttaṃ

The Sakyan

Translated from the Pali by
F.L. Woodward, M.A.

Copyright The Pali Text Society
Commercial Rights Reserved

For details see Terms of Use.

 

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[198]

[1][than][olds] Thus have I heard:

On a certain occasion the Exalted One was staying among the Sakyans
near Kapilavatthu, in Banyan Park.

Now at that time
the Exalted One was just recovered from sickness,
not long recovered from sickness.

Then Mahānāma the Sakyan^[1] came to see the Exalted One.

On coming to him
he saluted him
and sat down at one side.

So seated
Mahānāma the Sakyan said this to the Exalted One:

[199] "For a long time, lord,
I have known Dhamma which teaches thus: -

'Knowledge belongs to the man of composed mind,
not to the restless-minded.'

Pray, lord, does concentration come first,
then knowledge?

Or does knowledge come first,
then concentration?"

■

2. Now it occurred to the venerable Ānanda:

'Here is the Exalted One
just recovered from sickness,
quite lately recovered,
and here is this Mahānāma the Sakyan
asking him questions on a profound subject.

Suppose I take him aside
and acquaint him with Dhamma.'"

So the venerable Ānanda
took Mahānāma the Sakyan by the arm,
led him aside
and said this to him:

3. "Mahānāma, a learner's morality has been spoken of by the Exalted One,
likewise an adept's morality.

In the same way a learner's concentration
and that of an adept
have been spoken of by the Exalted One.

Also the insight of a learner
and that of an adept
have been spoken of by the Exalted One.

■

4. Now what is
the learner's morality?^[2]

Herein, Mahānāma, a monk is virtuous,
restrained with the restraint of the obligations;
proficient in following the practice of right conduct
he sees danger in the slightest faults:
he takes up and trains himself
in the rules of morality.

This is called
'the learner's morality.'

■

5. And what, Mahānāma, is
the learner's concentration?

Herein. Mahānāma, a monk,
aloof from sense-desires,
aloof from unprofitable states of mind,
enters on the first musing
which is accompanied by thought directed and sustained,
born of seclusion,
zestful and easeful,
and abides therein.

Then, by calming down thought directed and sustained,
he enters on that inward calm,
that single-minded purpose,
apart from thought directed and sustained,
born of mental balance,
zestful and easeful,
which is the second musing,
and abides therein.

Then by the fading out of zest
he becomes balanced
and remains mindful and composed,
and experiences with the body
that happiness of which the Ariyans aver:

'The balanced, thoughtful man lives happily,'

and he enters on the third musing
and abides therein.

Then, by rejecting pleasure and pain alike,
by the coming to an end
of the joy and sorrow which he had before,
he enters and abides in the fourth musing,
free of pain and free of pleasure,
a state of perfect purity
of balance and equanimity.

This is called
'the learner's concentration.'

■

6. And what, Mahānāma, is
the learner's insight?

Herein, Mahānāma, a monk understands,
as it really is,

'This is Ill'.

'This is the arising of Ill'.

'This is the making of Ill to cease'.

'This is the practice
that leads to the ending of III'.

This is called
'the learner's insight.'

■

Now, Mahānāma,
that Ariyan disciple,
thus equipped with morality,
concentration
and insight,^[3]
by the destruction of the āsavas
himself having come to know
thoroughly in this very [200] life
the heart's release
and the release by insight
which is free from the āsavas,
having attained it
abides therein.

(This is the state of the adept.)^[4]

Thus, Mahānāma,
a learner's morality
has been spoken of by the Exalted One,
an adept's morality
has been spoken of by the Exalted One,
a learner's concentration
has been spoken of by the Exalted One,
an adept's concentration
has been spoken of by the Exalted One,
a learner's insight
has been spoken of by the Exalted One,
an adept's insight
has been spoken of by the Exalted One."

 

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^[1] Cf. K.S. v, 290, 320 ff. At the former passage he asks a similar question - viz., Is a learner's way of life the same as a Tathāgata's? Comy. on text, 27, [? 26] says he was born in the ruling family or clan of the Sakyans, and was the Buddha's cousin or, as some say, uncle.

^[2] Cf. text 63.

^[3] Sīla-samādhi-paññā, supra, 107.

^[4] Arahatta- (= asekha)-phalaṃ. Comy.