Aṇguttara Nikāya
Sattaka Nipāta
Avyākata Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Sevens
Chapter VI: The Unexplained
Sutta 53
Tissa[1]
Translated from the Pali by E.M. Hare.
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[1] THUS have I heard:
Once, while the Exalted One dwelt near Rājagaha on Mount Vulture Peak,
two devas of surpassing loveliness,
lighting up almost the whole Peak,
approached the Exalted One at the passing of the night,
saluted him
and stood at one side.
And standing there, one deva said:
'Lord, these nuns are freed!' -
and the other said:
'Lord, these nuns are wholly freed
and without attached remainder.'[2]
Thus spake those devas,
and the Master approved;
and seeing that,
they saluted the Exalted One and,
keeping him on their right,
vanished thence.
■
At dawn the Exalted One told the monks:
Monks, at the passing of the night
two devas of surpassing loveliness,
lighting up almost the whole Peak,
approached me,
saluted
and stood at one side.
And standing there, one deva said:
'Lord, these nuns are freed!' -
and the other said:
'Lord, these nuns are wholly freed
and without attached remainder.'
§
2. Now at that time the venerable Mahā Moggallāna sat near the Exalted One;
and he thought:
'What devas know the partly attached
as partly attached,
the wholly detached
as wholly detached?'
■
About then a monk named Tissa had recently died
and had arisen in one of the Brahmā worlds;
and there they knew him as Brahmā Tissa the mighty,
the very powerful.
■
And[3] the venerable Mahā Moggallāna,
as a strong man might stretch forth his bent arm
or bend his outstretched arm,
vanished from Mount Vulture Peak
and appeared in that Brahmā world.
And Brahmā Tissa saw the venerable one from afar, coming along,
and on seeing him said:
'Come, worthy Moggallāna,
welcome, worthy Moggallāna!
'Tis [44] long indeed since you made this round,
that is to say, came here.
Be seated, worthy sir, here on this seat made ready!'
And the venerable Mahā Moggallāna sat down on the seat made ready,
and Brahmā Tissa, after saluting him,
also sat down - at one side.
§
And the venerable Mahā Moggallāna said to Brahmā Tissa, thus seated:
'To what devas, Tissa, is there this knowledge:
As to being partly unattached, he is that;
as to being wholly unattached, he is that?
'The Brahmā deva-hosts, worthy Moggallāna, have this knowledge:
As to being partly unattached, he is that;
as to being wholly unattached, he is that
■
'What, have they all this knowledge:
As to being partly unattached, he is that;
as to being wholly unattached, he is that?'
3. 'No, worthy sir, they do not all have this knowledge:
As to being partly unattached, he is that;
as to being wholly unattached, he is that.'
Those devas who are satisfied with Brahmā life,
Brahmā beauty,
Brahmā happiness,
Brahmā pomp,
Brahmā power[4]
and know not the escape from it
to the beyond as there really[5] is,
they have not this knowledge:
As to being partly unattached, he is that;
as to being wholly unattached, he is that.
But those devas of the Brahmā hosts
who are not satisfied with Brahmā life,
Brahmā beauty,
Brahmā happiness,
Brahmā pomp,
Brahmā power
and know the escape from it
to the beyond as there really is,
they have this knowledge:
As to being partly unattached, he is that;
as to being wholly unattached, he is that.
■
4. Consider, worthy Moggallāna,
the monk who is freed-both-ways;[6]
of him those devas know thus:
This reverend sir is freed-both-ways,
and so long as his body lasts,
devas and men shall see him,
but on the breaking up of the body
they shall not see him.[7]
And thus it is, worthy sir,
that these devas have the knowledge:
As to being wholly unattached, he is that.
■
5. Again, consider him who is wisdom-freed
of him those devas know thus:
This reverend sir is wisdom-freed,
and so long as his body lasts,
devas and men shall see him,
but on the breaking up of the body
they shall not see him.
And thus it is, worthy sir,
that these devas have the knowledge:
As to being wholly unattached, he is that.
■
6. Consider the monk who is a seer-in-body;
of him they know:
This reverend sir is a seer-in-body;
perhaps by practising things meet
as to sleeping and sitting,[8]
having fellowship with good [45] friends,
controlling the faculties,
he may enter and abide in
that consummation beyond[9] all of the godly life,
realizing it here now by his own knowledge,
for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth
from the home to the homeless life.[10]
And thus it is, worthy sir, that these devas have the knowledge:
As to being partly unattached, he is that.
■
7. Consider him who is a view-winner;
of him they know:
This reverend sir is a view-winner;
perhaps by practising things meet
as to sleeping and sitting,
having fellowship with good friends,
controlling the faculties,
he may enter and abide in
that consummation beyond all of the godly life,
realizing it here now by his own knowledge,
for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth
from the home to the homeless life.
And thus it is, worthy sir, that these devas have the knowledge:
As to being partly unattached, he is that.
■
8. Consider him who is faith-freed;
of him they know:
This reverend sir is faith-freed;
perhaps by practising things meet
as to sleeping and sitting,
having fellowship with good friends,
controlling the faculties,
he may enter and abide in
that consummation beyond all of the godly life,
realizing it here now by his own knowledge,
for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth
from the home to the homeless life.
And thus it is, worthy sir, that these devas have the knowledge:
As to being partly unattached, he is that.
■
9. Consider him who is a Dhamma-follower;
of him they know:
This reverend sir is a Dhamma-follower;
perhaps by practising things meet
as to sleeping and sitting,
having fellowship with good friends,
controlling the faculties,
he may enter and abide in
that consummation beyond all of the godly life,
realizing it here now by his own knowledge,
for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth
from the home to the homeless life.
And thus it is, worthy sir, that these devas have the knowledge:
As to being partly[11] unattached, he is that.'
10. And the venerable Mahā Moggallāna, delighted,
pleased by Brahmā Tissa's words,
as a strong man might bend his arm to and fro,
vanished from the Brahmā world
and appeared on Mount Vulture Peak.
§
And he approached the Exalted One, saluted him and sat down at one side.
And, seated thus, the venerable Mahā Moggallāna related to the Exalted One all that talk he had had with Brahmā Tissa.[12]
'But Brahmā Tissa did not teach you the seventh person, Moggallāna,
the dweller[13] in the signless.'
'Now is the time, O Blessed One,
now is the time, O Well-farer!
Were the Exalted One to teach concerning the dweller in the signless,
the monks would hear and remember.'
'Wherefore, Moggallāna, listen,
pay heed,
I will speak.'
'Yes, lord,' rejoined the venerable Mahā Moggallāna; and the Exalted One said:
11. 'Consider, Moggallāna, the monk who,
by inattention to all signs,
enters and abides in signless mental concentration[14]
[46] of him those devas know:
This reverend sir is a dweller in the signless;
of him they know:
This reverend sir abides in signless mental concentration;
perhaps by practising things meet
as to sleeping and sitting,
having fellowship with good friends,
controlling the faculties,
he may enter and abide in
that consummation beyond all of the godly life,
realizing it here now by his own knowledge,
for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth
from the home to the homeless life.
And thus it is, Moggallāna, that these devas have the knowledge:
As to being partly unattached, he is that.'
[1] See G.S. iii, 233.
[2] Anupādisesa. Comy. upādānasesaṃ agahetvā pañcahi vimuttīhi anavasesāhi vimuttā; and observes that they were Mahāpajāpatī and five hundred others; see below, pp. 181 ff.
[3] All this is stock, see G.S. iii, loc. cit. The simile is, I suppose, the commonest in the Canon, see D. i, 222; M. i, 326; S. i, 137; below, p. 50. We should read pariyāyam for pariyāyamam in this passage.
[4] Cf. D. iii, 146, and below, p. 165, for this set.
[5] Uttariṃ nissaraṇaṃ yathābhūtaṃ; cf. M. i, 326; S. i, 142; A. v, 188; usually uttarṃ is omitted; cf. D. ii, 69; S. ii, 5; A. ii, 10; M. i and S. i, are, as here, concerning devas.
[6] See above, p. 7, for these six types.
[9] Anuttara.
[10] The whole passage recurs at M. i, 477.
[11] The text reads su- for sa-.
[12] The text does not repeat.
[13] Comy. observes that this is the saddhānusārī, see above, p. 7,
[14] Sabba-nimittānaṃ amanasikdrā animittṃ ceto-samaādhiṃ viharati. Comy. sabbesaṃ nicca-nimittādīnaṃ; Comy. ad. D. ii, 100 and M. i, 296, rūpādīnaṃ. ... At Dhp. 92, 93 animitta (with vimokha) comes to mean Nibbāna; DhpA. 172, rāga-dosa-mohānaṃ abhāvena ... tathā rāgādi-nimittābhāvena animittaṃ. ... See DhS. trsl. 92, 142, for this concentration practice; K.S. i, 239; Sisters, 23. It may be noted how the B. is made to use the same words as Brahmā Tissa.
