Saṃyutta Nikāya
5. Mahā-Vagga
47. Sati-Paṭṭhāna Saṃyutta
2. Nālandā Vagga
Sutta 11
Mahā-Purisa Suttaṃ
The Great Man
Translated from the Pāḷi by Michael M. Olds
Once upon a time Bhagava, Sāvatthi-town revisiting,
Anāthapiṇḍika's Jeta-forest park.
There then Old Man Sāriputta approached The Lucky Man and drew near.
Having drawn near and given salutation,
he took a seat to one side.
Seated to one side then,
Old Man Sāriputta said this to the Lucky Man:
"'A Great Man, a Great Man!'" Bhante,
is what they say.
Now then, what is it, Bhante,
that constitutes a Great Man?"
"A being freed in heart
is what I, Sāriputta, call a Great Man.
A being not freed in heart
is not called 'a Great Man'.
And being free in heart how, Sāriputta?
Here, Sāriputta,
a beggar lives in body overseeing body
ardent,
self-aware,
recollected,
he disciplines worldly ambitions and disappointments.
So living in the body overseeing the body
the heart is lust-free,
released
unassailed by corrupting influences.
Lives in sensation overseeing sensation
ardent,
self-aware,
recollected,
he disciplines worldly ambitions and disappointments.
So living in sensation overseeing sensation
the heart is lust-free,
released
unassailed by corrupting influences.
Lives in the heart overseeing the heart
ardent,
self-aware,
recollected,
he disciplines worldly ambitions and disappointments.
So living in the heart overseeing the heart
the heart is lust-free,
released
unassailed by corrupting influences.
Lives in the Dhamma[1] overseeing the Dhamma
ardent,
self-aware,
recollected,
he disciplines worldly ambitions and disappointments.
So living in the Dhamma overseeing the Dhamma
the heart is lust-free,
released
unassailed by corrupting influences.
This being freed in heart, then, Sāriputta
is what I call 'a Great Man'.
A being not freed in heart
is not called 'a Great Man'."
[1] Dhamma. The principles by which things work. The task, in setting up the mind, is becoming aware of, and making into ones apparatus of perception these principles. Once set up it is the use of these principles to perceive and let go. One uses the Dhamma as a lens through which one understands things and modulate behavior. According to the Satipaṭṭhana method [MN 10, DN 22 (and in parts in many other places) one oversees things (primarily, but not exclusively) through the following Dhammas: Five Involvements, The Five Stockpiles, The Sixfold Realm of the Senses, The Seven Dimensions of Self-awakening, and the Aristocratic Multi-dimensional High Way.
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