Saṃyutta Nikāya
I. Sagātha Vagga
8. Vaṇgīsa-Thera-Saṃyutta
The Book of the Kindred Sayings
I. Kindred Sayings with Verses
8. The Vaṇgisa Suttas
Sutta 7
Pavāraṇā Suttam
Invitation
Translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids
Assisted by Sūriyagoḍa Sumangala Thera
Copyright The Pali Text Society. Public Domain.
[7.1]THUS HAVE I HEARD: —
The Exalted One was once staying near Sāvatthī,
in the East Park,
at the Terraced House of Migāra's Mother.[1]
And with him was a great company of bhikkhus,
even five hundred,
all of them Arahants.
Now on that occasion the Exalted One,
[presiding] on the fortnightly festival day
at the Pavāraṇā ceremony,[2]
was seated in the open.
And surveying the silent company of brethren,
he addressed them:
"Well then, bhikkhus, I invite you:
have ye not aught wherein you blame me,
in deed or word?"
When he had thus said, the venerable Sāriputta,
rising from his seat,
and draping his outer robe over one shoulder,
bent his clasped hands saluting toward the Exalted One
and said:
"Nay, lord, we blame the Exalted One
in naught
either in deed or in word.
For the Exalted One doth cause a Way to arise
where none had arisen,
doth produce a Way
that had not been brought about,
doth declare a Way
that had not been declared;
he knoweth a Way,
understandeth a Way,
is expert in a Way,
and now, lord,
thy disciples following after thee,
have made that Way their own.[3]
I too, lord, invite the Exalted One:
is there not aught wherefore he blames me,
in deed or in word?"
"Nay, Sāriputta,
naught is there for which I blame thee,
in deed or in word.
Wise art thou, Sāriputta,
comprehensive and manifold is thy wisdom,
joyous and swift is thy wisdom,
sharp and fastidious is thy wisdom.
Even as the eldest son
of a king whose is the Wheel of Conquest
rightly turns the Wheel
as his father hath turned it,
so, Sāriputta,
dost thou rightly turn the Wheel Supreme of the Norm,
even as I have turned it."[4]
[243] "If indeed, lord, the Exalted One have naught wherefore he blameth me,
in deed or word,
is there naught in these five hundred brethren wherefore the Exalted One blames them,
in deed or word?"[5]
"There is naught, Sāriputta,
for which I blame these five hundred, brethren,
in deed or word.
Of these brethren,
sixty have threefold lore,[6]
sixty have sixfold supernormal knowledge,[7]
sixty are emancipated in both ways,
and the others are emancipated by insight [alone]."[8]
Then the venerable Vaṇgīsa,
arising from his seat,
and draping his outer robe over one shoulder,
bent his clasped hands saluting toward the Exalted One, and said:
"It is revealed to me, Exalted One!
it is revealed to me, Blessed One!"
And the Exalted One said:
"Be it revealed to thee, Vaṇgīsa."
Then the venerable Vaṇgīsa extolled the Exalted One in his presence with suitable verses: —
"To-day on feast-day, for full purity,
Five hundied brethren are together come.
Such as have cut their fetters, cut their bondsr
Seers who are free from rebirth and from ill.
And as a king who ruleth all the world,
Surrounded by his councillors of state,
Toureth around his empire everywhere,
Driving throughout this earth that ends in sea,
So him, who is our victor in the war,[9]
The peerless Master of our caravan,[10]
We followers attend and wait upon,
[244] Who hold the triple lore, slayers of death.
All we are sons of the Exalted One;
No sterile chaff[11] may amongst us be found.
I worship him who strikes down craving's dart.
I greet the offspring of the sun's great line."
[1] See III, 2, § 1.
[2] Cf Vin. Texts, i, 325 ff. A meeting held at the end of the rainy season, during which, members having dwelt cheek by jowl for three months, grievances might have made themselves felt. Mutual confession was invited (pavāreti) on this valedictory occasion.
[3] This is a formula of the Canon. Cf. S. iii, 66; M. iii, 8.
[4] Cf Pss. of the Brethren, vers. 826, 827; = Sn. vers. 556, 557.
Mental states are not blameable in the sense of having offended others though they may be unskillful and though thoughts are apparent they do not belong to the individual and are therefore not blameable unless they have been identified with and given momentum by intent at which point they become words and/or bodily deeds.
— p.p.
[5] 'But not in thought' (mano), remarks B., 'the faults of mind are not apparent as are those of word and deed' (or rather, are only apparent as words or acts).
[6] See above, p, 184.
[7] See above, VII, 1, § 8, and VI, 1, § 5, n. 4.
[8] Cf. Dialogues, ii, 68, 70; Puggala-Paññatti, p. 14; JPTS, 1913-14. 190.
[9] Against lust, hate, and ignorance. Comy.
[10] 'Borne is he in the chariot of the Eightfold Path.' Comy.
[11] See Pss. of the Brethren, p. 403, n. 1. Palāpo is, according to B., within empty and vicious. It also means prattle, chatter, but cannot well mean both, so I have withdrawn the double rendering.
