Aṇguttara Nikāya
VIII. Aṭṭhaka Nipāta
II: Mahā Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Eights
II. The Great Chapter
Sutta 20
Pahārāda Suttaṃ
The Observance Day
Translated from the Pali by E.M. Hare.
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[1] [1][bodh] Thus have I heard:
Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī,
in Eastern Park,
at the' terraced house of Migara's[2] mother.
Now at that time the Exalted One was seated surrounded by monks of the Order,
it being the Observance day.[3]
Then the venerable Ānanda,
when the night was far spent
and the first watch was gone by,
arose from his seat
and placing his upper robe over one shoulder,
bent his hands to the Exalted One and said:
'Lord, the night is far spent;
the first watch is gone by
and long have the monks of the Order been seated.
Lord, let the Exalted One recite the Obligations to the monks!'
Thus spoke the venerable Ānanda,
but the Exalted One remained silent.
■
[141] And the venerable Ānanda, when the night was far spent
and the middle watch was gone by,
arose from his seat a second time
and placing his upper robe over one shoulder,
and bent his hands to the Exalted One, and said:
'Lord, the night is far spent;
the middle watch is gone by
and long have the monks been seated.
Lord, let the Exalted One recite the Obligations to the monks!'
A second time even the Exalted One remained silent.
■
Then, when the night was passed,
when the last watch was gone by,
when the sun was getting up,[4]
gladdening the face of night,[5]
a third time the venerable Ānanda arose from his seat
and said to the Exalted One:
'Lord, the night is passed;
the last watch is gone by;
the sun rises
and the face of night brightens.
Lord, long have the monks been sitting;
let the Exalted One recite the Obligations to the monks!'
'Ānanda, the assembly is not pure.'
§
Then thought the venerable MahāMogallāna:
'Of what person, I wonder, does the Exalted One say:
"The assembly, Ānanda, is not pure"?'
And he fixed his thought intently upon all the monks of the Order there,
compassing their minds with his.[6]
■
Now the venerable Mahā Moggallāna saw a person,
seated in the midst of the monks,
who was wicked,
evil,
unclean,
of suspicious conduct,
full of secret actions,
no recluse though vowed thereto,
unchaste though vowed to chastity,
rotten to the core,
lustful
and vile;
and rising from his seat,
he approached him and said:
'Get up, sir!
The Exalted One has seen you.
For you there is no fellowship with the monks.'
But when he had thus spoken,
that person remained silent.
■
A second time he addressed him [7]and said:
'Get up, sir!
The Exalted One has seen you.
For you there is no fellowship with the monks.'
But when he had thus spoken,
that person remained silent.
■
A third time he addressed him and said:
'Get up, sir!
The Exalted One has seen [142] you.
For you there is no fellowship with the monks.'
But when he had thus spoken,
that person remained silent.
■
At that the venerable Mahā Moggallāna seized the man by the arm
and thrust him outside the porch
and bolted the door.
■
Then the venerable Mahā Moggallāna went to the Exalted One and said:
'Lord, that person has been expelled by me.
The assembly is pure.
Lord, let the Exalted One recite the Obligations.'
■
'It is very strange, Moggallāna,
that that foolish person should have waited till he was seized by the arm.'
§
Then spake the Exalted One to the monks, saying:
'Now, monks, may you keep the Observance.[8]
Now may you recite the Obligations.
Henceforth from today,
I shall not recite the Obligations;
for it is impossible, monks,
nor can it happen,
that the Tathāgata should recite the Obligations
in an assembly which is not perfectly pure.'
§
[ed1]'Monks, there are these eight wondrous marvels,
which the asuras delight to see and see.
What eight?
Monks, the mighty ocean slopes away gradually,
falls away gradually,
shelves away gradually,
with no abruptness like a precipice.
Monks, that the mighty ocean slopes away gradually,
falls away gradually,
shelves away gradually,
with no abruptness like a precipice -
this is the first wondrous marvel,
which the asuras delight to see and see.
■
Monks, the ocean is fixed.
It does not overrun its bounds.
Monks, that the mighty ocean is fixed,
does not overrun its bounds -
this is the second marvel,
which the asuras delight to see and see.
■
Monks, the mighty ocean does not sort with a dead body,
a corpse.
Whatsoever dead body there be in the ocean,
it will quickly just force ashore
and pile up on the land.
Monks, that the mighty ocean does not sort with a dead body,
a corpse.
That whatsoever dead body there be in the ocean,
it will quickly just force ashore
and pile up on the land -
this is the third marvel,
which the asuras delight to see and see.
■
Monks, all the great rivers:
the Gangā,
the Yamunā,
the Aciravatī,
the Sarabhū
and the Mahī,
on reaching the mighty ocean,
lose their former names and identities
and are reckoned simply as the ocean.
That all the great rivers:
the Gangā,
the Yamunā,
the Aciravatī,
the Sarabhū
and the Mahī,
on reaching the mighty ocean,
lose their former names and identities
and are reckoned simply as the ocean -
this is the fourth marvel,
which the asuras delight to see and see.
■
Monks, though all the streams in the world flow into the ocean
and the rains that fall from the sky,
yet by that neither the emptiness
nor the fullness of the ocean is affected.
That all the streams in the world flow into the ocean
and the rains that fall from the sky,
yet by that neither the emptiness
nor the fullness of the ocean is affected -
this is the fifth marvel,
which the asuras delight to see and see.
■
Monks, the mighty ocean has one taste,
the taste of salt.
That the mighty ocean has one taste,
the taste of salt -
this is the sixth marvel,
which the asuras delight to see and see.
■
Monks, the mighty ocean has many and diverse treasures;
there is the pearl,
the crystal,
the lapis lazuli,
the shell,
quartz,
coral,
silver,
gold,
the ruby
and the cat's eye.
That the mighty ocean has many and diverse treasures;
there is the pearl,
the crystal,
the lapis lazuli,
the shell,
quartz,
coral,
silver,
gold,
the ruby
and the cat's eye -
this is the seventh marvel,
which the asuras delight to see and see.
■
Monks, the mighty ocean is the home of vast beings.
There are the fabulous fishy monsters,
the timis,
the timingalas
and the timitimingalas;
there are the asuras,
the nagas
and the gandharvas.
There are in the mighty ocean creatures a hundred leagues (long),
two hundred,
three,
four
and five hundred leagues long.
Monks, that the mighty ocean is the abode of vast beings:
timis,
timingalas,
timitimingalas,
asuras,
nagas
and gandharvas
and creatures leagues long
two hundred,
three,
four
and five hundred leagues long -
this is the eighth wondrous marvel,
which asuras delight to see and see.
These, Monks, are the eight wondrous marvels,
which asuras delight to see and see.
§
'Even so, Monks, there are eight, wondrous marvels,
in this discipline of Dhamma,
which the monks delight to see and see.
What eight?
Monks, just as the mighty ocean slopes away gradually,
falls away gradually,
shelves away gradually,
with no abruptness like a precipice;
even so in this discipline of Dhamma
there is a graduated training,
a graduated practice,
a graduated mode of progress,
with no abruptness,
such as a penetration of gnosis.
That in this discipline of Dhamma
there is a graduated training,
a graduated practice,
a graduated mode of progress,
with no abruptness,
such as a penetration of gnosis -
this is the first wondrous marvel
in this discipline of Dhamma,
which the monks delight to see and see.
■
Monks, just as the ocean is fixed
and does not overpass its bounds;
even so, when the code of training
is made known by me to my disciples,
they will not transgress it,
even for life's sake.
That in this discipline of Dhamma
when the code of training
is made known by me to my disciples,
they will not transgress it,
even for life's sake -
this is the second wondrous marvel
in this discipline of Dhamma,
which the monks delight to see and see.
■
Monks, just as the ocean does not sort with a dead body,
a corpse,
but will quickly just force it ashore
and pile it on the land;
even so, whosoever is wicked,
of evil nature,
unclean,
of suspicious conduct,
full of secret actions,
no recluse though vowed thereto,
unchaste though vowed to chastity,
rotten to the core,
lustful and vile,
not with him will the Order sort;
but quickly assembling,
it will cast him forth.
Though he be seated
in the midst of the assembled monks,
yet is he far from the Order
and the Order is far from him.
That in this discipline of Dhamma
whosoever is wicked,
of evil nature,
unclean,
of suspicious conduct,
full of secret actions,
no recluse though vowed thereto,
unchaste though vowed to chastity,
rotten to the core,
lustful and vile,
not with him will the Order sort;
but quickly assembling,
it will cast him forth.
Though he be seated
in the midst of the assembled monks,
yet is he far from the Order
and the Order is far from him -
this is the third wondrous marvel
in this discipline of Dhamma,
which the monks delight to see and see.
■
Monks, just as the great rivers:
the Gangā,
the Yamunā,
the Aciravatī,
the Sarabhū
and the Mahī,
entering the mighty ocean,
lose their former names and identities
and are termed simply ocean;
even so these four castes:
kshatriyas,
brāhmans,
vaishyas
and sudras,
going forth from the world into the homeless life,
into the discipline of Dhamma
proclaimed by the Tathāgata,
lose their former names and lineages
and are reckoned simply recluses,
sons of the Sakya.
That in this discipline of Dhamma
these four castes:
kshatriyas,
brāhmans,
vaishyas
and sudras,
going forth from the world into the homeless life,
into the discipline of Dhamma
proclaimed by the Tathāgata,
lose their former names and lineages
and are reckoned simply recluses,
sons of the Sakya -
this is the fourth wondrous marvel
in this discipline of Dhamma,
which the monks delight to see and see.
■
Monks, just as all the streams that flow into the ocean,
all the rains that fall from the sky,
affect neither the emptiness
nor the fullness of the ocean;
even so, though many monks become completely cool
in the cool element to which naught attaches,
yet neither the emptiness
nor the fullness of that cool element is affected.
That in this discipline of Dhamma
though many monks become completely cool
in the cool element to which naught attaches,
yet neither the emptiness
nor the fullness of that cool element is affected -
this is the fifth wondrous marvel
in this discipline of Dhamma,
which the monks delight to see and see.
■
Monks, just as the ocean has but one taste,
the taste of salt;
even so this discipline of Dhamma
has but one flavour,
the flavour of release.
That in this discipline of Dhamma
this discipline of Dhamma
has but one flavour,
the flavour of release -
this is the sixth wondrous marvel
in this discipline of Dhamma,
which the monks delight to see and see.
■
Monks, just as the ocean has many and diverse treasures:
the pearl,
the crystal,
the lapis lazuli,
the shell,
quartz,
coral,
silver,
gold,
the ruby
and the cat's eye -
even so this discipline of Dhamma
has many and diverse treasures,
that is to say:
the four arisings of mindfulness,
the four right efforts,
the four bases of psychic power,
the five faculties,
the five powers,
the seven parts in awakening
and the eightfold Ariyan Way.
That this discipline of Dhamma
has many and diverse treasures,
that is to say:
the four arisings of mindfulness,
the four right efforts,
the four bases of psychic power,
the five faculties,
the five powers,
the seven parts in awakening
and the eightfold Ariyan Way -
this is the seventh wondrous marvel
in this discipline of Dhamma,
which the monks delight to see and see.
■
Monks, just as the mighty ocean is the home of vast beings:
the timi,
the timingala,
timitimingalas,
asuras,
nagas
and gandharvas
and creatures leagues long
two hundred,
three,
four
and five hundred leagues long;
even so this discipline of Dhamma
is the home of great beings,
that is to say:
the Streamwinner
and he who attains to the realization of the fruit of the Streamwinner,
the Once-retumer
and he who attains to the fruit thereof,
the Non-retumer
and he who attains to the fruit thereof,
the Arahant
and he who attains Arahantsbip.
Monks, that this discipline of Dhamma
is the home of great beings:
the Streamwinner
and he who attains to the realization of the fruit of the Streamwinner,
the Once-retumer
and he who attains to the fruit thereof,
the Non-retumer
and he who attains to the fruit thereof,
the Arahant
and he who attains Arahantsbip -
this is the eighth wondrous marvel,
which the monks delight to see and see.
Verily, Monks, these are the eight wondrous marvels,
which the monks delight to see and see.'[9]
[1] This sutta recurs at Vin. ii, 236 {S.B.E. xx, 299). It is referred to at Sn.A. 312.
[2] Cf. above, p. 5.
[4] The text reads uddhaste aruṇe, so also Comy. observing uggate aruṇasīse; v.l. uddhate with Vin. i, 288; ii, 236; Ud. 27.
[5] See UdA. 186.
[6] Moggallāna was, of course, clairvoyant; see K.S. i, 247; ii, 170 f.; Vism. trsl. 432; also Mrs. Rhys Davids' Gotama 110.
[7] The text repeats in full. [Ed. Reconstructed for this edition.]
[8] Uposatha.
[9] At the end of the Ud. and Vin. suttas there is the following gāthā, which the Aṇguttara - repeater seems to have forgotten:
Hard rains the rain on covered things,
No rains rain hard on open things;
So open ye the covered thing,
Then no hard rain will rain on that!
The Ud. commentator observes that the covered thing is the hidden fault. At Th. i, 447 this verse recurs and is there ascribed to the elder Sirimaṇḍa; cf. Brethr. 225.
[ed1] Hare abridges with the following comment: (Then follows, abridged in the text, the portion of the preceding sutta, starting from: The mighty ocean slopes away gradually ... but as related by the Buddha to the monks.) The whole has been restored here.
