Six Recollections#
§1 186/244 197 Now, ten recollections were listed next after the ten kinds of foulness (III.105). As to these:
Mindfulness (sati) itself is recollection (anussati) because it arises again and again; or alternatively, the mindfulness (sati) that is proper (anurūpa) for a clansman gone forth out of faith, since it occurs only in those instances where it should occur, is “recollection” (anussati).
The recollection arisen inspired by the Enlightened One is the recollection of the Buddha. This is a term for mindfulness with the Enlightened One’s special qualities as its object.
The recollection arisen inspired by the Law is the recollection of the Dhamma. [1] This is a term for mindfulness with the special qualities of the Law’s being well proclaimed, etc., as its object. 187/245 The recollection arisen inspired by the Community is the recollection of the Saṅgha. This is a term for mindfulness with the Community’s special qualities of being entered on the good way, etc., as its object.
The recollection arisen inspired by virtue is the recollection of virtue. This is a term for mindfulness with the special qualities of virtue’s untornness, etc., as its object.
The recollection arisen inspired by generosity is the recollection of generosity. This is a term for mindfulness with generosity’s special qualities of free generosity, etc., as its object.
The recollection arisen inspired by deities is the recollection of deities. This is a term for mindfulness with the special qualities of one’s own faith, etc., as its object with deities standing as witnesses.
The recollection arisen inspired by death is the recollection of death. This is a term for mindfulness with the termination of the life faculty as its object.
[*Mindfulness occupied with the body (kāya-gatā sati—*lit. “body-gone mindfulness”):] it is gone (gata) to the material body (kāya) that is analyzed into head hairs, etc., or it is gone into the body, thus it is “body-gone” (kāya-gatā). It is body-gone (kāya-gatā) and it is mindfulness (sati), thus it is “body-gone-mindfulness” (*kāyagatasati—*single compound); but instead of shortening [the vowel] thus in the usual way, “body-gone mindfulness” (*kāyagatā sati—*compound adj. + noun) is said. This is a term for mindfulness that has as its object the sign of the bodily parts consisting of head hairs and the rest.
The mindfulness arisen inspired by breathing (ānāpāna) is mindfulness of breathing. This is a term for mindfulness that has as its object the sign of in-breaths and out-breaths.
188/246 The recollection arisen inspired by peace is the recollection of peace. This is a term that has as its object the stilling of all suffering.
1 (1) Recollection of the Enlightened One#
§2 198 Now, a meditator with absolute confidence [2] who wants to develop firstly the recollection of the Enlightened One among these ten should go into solitary retreat in a favourable abode and recollect the special qualities of the Enlightened One, the Blessed One, as follows:
That Blessed One is such since he is accomplished, fully enlightened, endowed with [clear] vision and [virtuous] conduct, sublime, the knower of worlds, the incomparable leader of men to be tamed, the teacher of gods and men, enlightened and blessed (M I 37; A III 285).
§3 Here is the way he recollects: “That Blessed One is such since he is accomplished, he is such since he is fully enlightened, … he is such since he is blessed”—he is so for these several reasons, is what is meant.
1.1 Accomplished#
§4 Herein, what he recollects firstly is that the Blessed One is accomplished (arahanta) for the following reasons: (i) because of remoteness (āraka), and (ii) because of his enemies (ari) and (iii) the spokes (ara) having been destroyed (hata), and (iv) because of his worthiness (araha) of requisites, etc., and (v) because of absence of secret (rahābhāva) evil-doing. [3]
§5 (i) He stands utterly remote and far away from all defilements because he has expunged all trace of defilement by means of the path—because of such remoteness (āraka) he is accomplished (arahanta).
§6 (ii) And these enemies (ari), these defilements, are destroyed (hata) by the path—because the enemies are thus destroyed he is accomplished (arahanta) also.
§7 (iii) Now, this wheel of the round of rebirths with its hub made of ignorance and of craving for becoming, with its spokes consisting of formations of merit and the rest, with its rim of ageing and death, which is joined to the chariot of 189/247 the triple becoming by piercing it with the axle made of the origins of cankers (see M I 55), has been revolving throughout time that has no beginning. All of this wheel’s spokes (ara) were destroyed (hata) by him at the Place of Enlightenment, as he stood firm with the feet of energy on the ground of virtue, wielding with the hand of faith the axe of knowledge that destroys kamma—because the spokes are thus destroyed he is accomplished (arahanta) also.
1.2 Dependent origination#
§8 Or alternatively, it is the beginningless round of rebirths that is called the “wheel of the round of rebirths.” Ignorance is its hub because it is its root. Ageing-and-death is its rim because it terminates it. The remaining ten states [of the dependent origination] are its spokes because ignorance is their root and ageing-and-death their termination.
§9 Herein, ignorance is unknowing about suffering and the rest. And ignorance in sensual becoming 199 is a condition for formations in sensual becoming. Ignorance in fine-material becoming is a condition for formations in fine-material becoming. Ignorance in immaterial becoming is a condition for formations in immaterial becoming.
§10 Formations in sensual becoming are a condition for rebirth-linking consciousness in sensual becoming. And similarly with the rest.
§11 Rebirth-linking consciousness in sensual becoming is a condition for mentality-materiality in sensual becoming. Similarly in fine-material becoming. In immaterial becoming it is a condition for mentality only.
§12 Mentality-materiality in sensual becoming is a condition for the sixfold base in sensual becoming. Mentality-materiality in fine-material becoming is a condition for three bases in fine-material becoming. Mentality in immaterial becoming is a condition for one base in immaterial becoming.
§13 The sixfold base in sensual becoming is a condition for six kinds of contact in sensual becoming. Three bases in fine-material becoming are conditions for three kinds of contact in fine-material becoming. The mind base alone in immaterial becoming is a condition for one kind of contact in immaterial becoming.
§14 The six kinds of contact in sensual becoming are conditions for six kinds of feeling in sensual becoming. Three kinds of contact in fine-material becoming are conditions for three kinds of feeling there too. One kind of contact in immaterial becoming is a condition for one kind of feeling there too.
§15 The six kinds of feeling in sensual becoming are conditions for the six groups of craving in sensual becoming. Three in the fine-material becoming are for three there too. One kind of feeling in the immaterial becoming is a condition for one group of craving in the immaterial becoming. The craving in the several kinds of becoming is a condition for the clinging there.
§16 Clinging, etc., are the respective conditions for becoming and the rest. In what way? Here someone thinks, “I shall enjoy sense desires,” and with sense-desire clinging as condition he misconducts himself in body, speech, and mind. Owing to the fulfilment of his misconduct he reappears in a state of loss (deprivation). The kamma that is the cause of his reappearance there is kamma-process 190/248 becoming, the aggregates generated by the kamma are rebirth-process becoming, the generating of the aggregates is birth, their maturing is ageing, their dissolution is death.
§17 Another thinks, “I shall enjoy the delights of heaven,” and in the parallel manner he conducts himself well. Owing to the fulfilment of his good conduct he reappears in a [sensual-sphere] heaven. The kamma that is the cause of his reappearance there is kamma-process becoming, and the rest as before.
§18 Another thinks, “I shall enjoy the delights of the Brahmā-world,” and with sense-desire clinging as condition he develops loving-kindness, compassion, gladness, and equanimity. [4] 200 Owing to the fulfilment of the meditative development he is reborn in the Brahmā-world. The kamma that is the cause of his rebirth there is kamma-process becoming, and the rest is as before.
§19 Yet another thinks, “I shall enjoy the delights of immaterial becoming,” and with the same condition he develops the attainments beginning with the base consisting of boundless space. Owing to the fulfilment of the development he is reborn in one of these states. The kamma that is the cause of his rebirth there is kamma-process becoming, the aggregates generated by the kamma are rebirth-process becoming, the generating of the aggregates is birth, their maturing is ageing, their dissolution is death (see M II 263). The remaining kinds of clinging are construable in the same way.
§20 So, “Understanding of discernment of conditions thus, ‘Ignorance is a cause, formations are causally arisen, and both these states are causally arisen,’ is knowledge of the causal relationship of states. Understanding of discernment of conditions thus, ‘In the past and in the future ignorance is a cause, formations are causally arisen, and both these states are causally arisen,’ is knowledge of the causal relationship of states” (Paṭis I 50), and all the clauses should be given in detail in this way.
§21 Herein, ignorance and formations are one summarization; consciousness, mentality-materiality, the sixfold base, contact, and feeling are another; craving, clinging, and becoming are another; and birth and ageing-and-death are another. Here the first summarization is past, the two middle ones are present, and birth and ageing-and-death are future. When ignorance and formations are mentioned, thentates, became dispassionate towards them, when his greed faded away, when he was liberated, then he destroyed, quite destroyed, abolished, the spokes of this wheel of the round of rebirths of the kind just described.
§22 Now, the Blessed One knew, saw, understood, and penetrated in all aspects this dependent origination with its four summarizations, its three times, its twenty aspects, and its three links. “Knowledge is in the sense of that being known, [5] and understanding is in the sense of the act of understanding that. 191/249 Hence it was said: ‘Understanding of discernment of conditions is knowledge of the causal relationship of states’” (Paṭis I 52). Thus when the Blessed One, by correctly knowing these states with knowledge of relations of states, became dispassionate towards them, when his greed faded away, when he was liberated, then he destroyed, quite destroyed, abolished, the spokes of this wheel of the round of rebirths of the kind just described.
Because the spokes are thus destroyed he is accomplished (arahanta) also.
§23 (iv) And he is worthy (arahati) of the requisites of robes, etc., and of the distinction of being accorded homage because it is he who is most worthy of offerings. For when a Perfect One has arisen, important deities and human beings pay homage to none else; for Brahmā Sahampati paid homage to the Perfect One with a jewelled garland as big as Sineru, and other deities did so according to their means, as well as human beings as King Bimbisāra [of Magadha] and the king of Kosala. And after the Blessed One had finally attained Nibbāna, King Asoka renounced wealth to the amount of ninety-six million for his sake and founded eight-four thousand monasteries throughout all Jambudīpa (India). And so, with all these, what need to speak of others? Because of worthiness of requisites he is accomplished (arahanta) also.
§24 (v) And he does not act like those fools in the world who vaunt their cleverness and yet do evil, but in secret for fear of getting a bad name. Because of absence of secret (rahābhāva) evil-doing he is accomplished (arahanta) also.
§25 So in all ways:
1.3 Fully Enlightened#
§26 192/250 He is fully enlightened (sammāsambuddha) because he has discovered (buddha) all things rightly (sammā) and by himself (sāmaṃ).
In fact, all things were discovered by him rightly by himself in that he discovered, of the things to be directly known, that they must be directly known (that is, learning about the four truths), of the things to be fully understood that they must be fully understood (that is, penetration of suffering), of the things to be abandoned that they must be abandoned (that is, penetration of the origin of suffering), of the things to be realized that they must be realized (that is, penetration of the cessation of suffering), and of the things to be developed that they must be developed (that is, penetration of the path). Hence it is said:
§27 202 Besides, he has discovered all things rightly by himself step by step thus: The eye is the truth of suffering; the prior craving that originates it by being its root-cause is the truth of origin; the non-occurrence of both is the truth of cessation; the way that is the act of understanding cessation is the truth of the path. And so too in the case of the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind.
§28 And the following things should be construed in the same way:
the six bases beginning with visible objects;
the six groups of consciousness beginning with eye-consciousness;
the six kinds of contact beginning with eye-contact;
the six kinds of feeling beginning with the eye-contact-born;
the six kinds of perception beginning with perception of visible objects;
the six kinds of volition beginning with volition about visible objects;
the six groups of craving beginning with craving for visible objects;
the six kinds of applied thought beginning with applied thought about visible objects;
the six kinds of sustained thought beginning with sustained thought about visible objects;
the five aggregates beginning with the aggregate of matter;
the ten kasiṇas;
the ten recollections;
the ten perceptions beginning with perception of the bloated;
the thirty-two aspects [of the body] beginning with head hairs;
the twelve bases;
the eighteen elements; the nine kinds of becoming beginning with sensual becoming; [6]
193/251 the four jhānas beginning with the first;
the four measureless states beginning with the development of loving-kindness;
the four immaterial attainments;
the factors of the dependent origination in reverse order beginning with ageing-and-death and in forward order beginning with ignorance (cf. XX.9).
§29 Herein, this is the construction of a single clause [of the dependent origination]: Ageing-and-death is the truth of suffering, birth is the truth of origin, the escape from both is the truth of cessation, the way that is the act of understanding cessation is the truth of the path.
In this way he has discovered, progressively discovered, completely discovered, all states rightly and by himself step by step. Hence it was said above: “He is fully enlightened because he has discovered all things rightly and by himself” (§26). [7]
1.4 Endowed With Clear Vision and Virtuous Conduct#
§30 He is endowed with [clear] vision and [virtuous] conduct: vijjācaraṇasampanno = vijjāhi caraṇena ca sampanno (resolution of compound). 194/252 Herein, as to [clear] vision: there are three kinds of clear vision and eight kinds of clear vision. The three kinds should be understood as stated in the Bhayabherava Sutta (M I 22f.), and the eight kinds as stated in the Ambaṭṭha Sutta (D I 100). For there eight kinds of clear vision are stated, made up of the six kinds of direct-knowledge together with insight and the supernormal power of the mind-made [body].
§31 195/253 [Virtuous] conduct should be understood as fifteen things, that is to say: restraint by virtue, guarding of the sense faculties, knowledge of the right amount in eating, devotion to wakefulness, the seven good states, [8] and the four jhānas of the fine-material sphere. For it is precisely by means of these fifteen things that a noble disciple conducts himself, that he goes towards the deathless. That is why it is called “[virtuous] conduct,” according as it is said, “Here, Mahānāma, a noble disciple has virtue” (M I 355), etc, the whole of which should be understood as given in the Middle Fifty [of the Majjhima Nikāya]. 196/254 203 Now, the Blessed One is endowed with these kinds of clear vision and with this conduct as well; hence he is called “endowed with [clear] vision and [virtuous] conduct.”
§32 Herein, the Blessed One’s possession of clear vision consists in the fulfilment of omniscience (Paṭis I 131), while his possession of conduct consists in the fulfilment of the great compassion (Paṭis I 126). He knows through omniscience what is good and harmful for all beings, and through compassion he warns them of harm and exhorts them to do good. That is how he is possessed of clear vision and conduct, which is why his disciples have entered upon the good way instead of entering upon the bad way as the self-mortifying disciples of those who are not possessed of clear vision and conduct have done. [9]
1.5 Sublime#
§33 He is called sublime (sugata) [10] (i) because of a manner of going that is good (sobhaṇa-gamana), (ii) because of being gone to an excellent place (sundaraṃ 197/255 ṭhānaṃ gatattā), (iii) because of having gone rightly (sammāgatattā), and (iv) because of enunciating rightly (sammāgadattā).
(i) A manner of going (gamana) is called “gone” (gata), and that in the Blessed One is good (sobhaṇa), purified, blameless. But what is that? It is the noble path; for by means of that manner of going he has “gone” without attachment in the direction of safety—thus he is sublime (sugata) because of a manner of going that is good.
(ii) And it is to the excellent (sundara) place that he has gone (gata), to the deathless Nibbāna—thus he is sublime (sugata) also because of having gone to an excellent place.
§34 (iii) And he has rightly (sammā) gone (gata), without going back again to the defilements abandoned by each path. For this is said: “He does not again turn, return, go back, to the defilements abandoned by the stream entry path, thus he is sublime … he does not again turn, return, go back, to the defilements abandoned by the Arahant path, thus he is sublime” (old commentary?). Or alternatively, he has rightly gone from the time of [making his resolution] at the feet of Dīpaṅkara up till the Enlightenment Session, by working for the welfare and happiness of the whole world through the fulfilment of the thirty perfections and through following the right way without deviating towards either of the two extremes, that is to say, towards eternalism or annihilationism, towards indulgence in sense pleasures or self-mortification—thus he is sublime also because of having gone rightly.
§35 (iv) And he enunciates [11] (gadati) rightly (sammā); he speaks only fitting speech in the fitting place—thus he is sublime also because of enunciating rightly.
Here is a sutta that confirms this: “Such speech as the Perfect One knows to be untrue and incorrect, conducive to harm, and displeasing and unwelcome to others, that he does not speak. And such speech as the Perfect One knows to be true and correct, but conducive to harm, and displeasing and unwelcome to others, that he does not speak. 204 And such speech as the Perfect One knows to be true and correct, conducive to good, but displeasing and unwelcome to others, that speech the Perfect One knows the time to expound. Such speech as the Perfect One knows to be untrue and incorrect, and conducive to harm, but pleasing and welcome to others, that he does not speak. And such speech as the Perfect One knows to be true and correct, but conducive to harm, though pleasing and welcome to others, that he does not speak. And such speech as the Perfect One knows to be true and correct, conducive to good, and pleasing and welcome to others, that speech the Perfect One knows the time to expound” (M I 395)—thus he is sublime also because of enunciating rightly.
1.6 Knower of Worlds#
§36 198/256 He is the knower of worlds because he has known the world in all ways. For the Blessed One has experienced, known and penetrated the world in all ways to its individual essence, its arising, its cessation, and the means to its cessation, according as it is said: “Friend, that there is a world’s end where one neither is born nor ages nor dies nor passes away nor reappears, which is to be known or seen or reached by travel—that I do not say. Yet I do not say that there is ending of suffering without reaching the world’s end. Rather, it is in this fathom-long carcass with its perceptions and its consciousness that I make known the world, the arising of the world, the cessation of the world, and the way leading to the cessation of the world.
§37 Moreover, there are three worlds: the world of formations, the world of beings, and the world of location. Herein, in the passage, “One world: all beings subsist by nutriment” (Paṭis I 122), 205 the world of formations is to be understood. In the passage, “‘The world is eternal’ or ‘The world is not eternal’” (M I 426) it is the world of beings. In the passage:
it is the world of location. The Blessed One has known that in all ways too.
§38 Likewise, because of the words: “One world: all beings subsist by nutriment. Two worlds: mentality and materiality. Three worlds: three kinds of feeling. Four worlds: four kinds of nutriment. Five worlds: five aggregates as objects of clinging. Six worlds: six internal bases. Seven worlds: seven stations of consciousness. Eight worlds: eight worldly states. Nine worlds: nine abodes of beings. Ten worlds: ten bases. Twelve worlds: twelve bases. Eighteen worlds: eighteen elements” (Paṭis I 122), [13] this world of formations was known to him in all ways.
§39 But he knows all beings’ habits, knows their inherent tendencies, knows their temperaments, knows their bents, knows them as with little dust on their eyes and with much dust on their eyes, with keen faculties and with dull faculties, with good behaviour and with bad behaviour, easy to teach and hard to teach, 199/257 capable and incapable [of achievement] (cf. Paṭis I 121), therefore this world of beings was known to him in all ways.
§40 And as the world of beings so also the world of location. For accordingly this [world measures as follows]:
One world-sphere [14] is twelve hundred thousand leagues and thirty-four hundred and fifty leagues (1,203,450) in breadth and width. In circumference, however:
And its support:
And the support of that: 206
§42 Such is its extent. And these features are to be found in it:
Sineru, tallest of all mountains, plunges down into the sea Full four and eighty thousand leagues, and towers up in like degree Seven concentric mountain rings surround Sineru in suchwise That each of them in depth and height is half its predecessor’s size: Vast ranges called Yugandhara, Īsadhara, Karavīka, Sudassana, Nemindhara, Vinataka, Assakaṇṇa. Heavenly [breezes fan] their cliffs agleam with gems, and here reside The Four Kings of the Cardinal Points, and other gods and sprites beside. [15] Himālaya’s lofty mountain mass rises in height five hundred leagues And in its width and in its breadth it covers quite three thousand leagues, And then it is bedecked besides with four and eighty thousand peaks. [16]
201/259 The Jambu Tree called Nāga lends the name, by its magnificence, To Jambudīpa’s land; its trunk, thrice five leagues in circumference, Soars fifty leagues, and bears all round branches of equal amplitude, So that a hundred leagues define diameter and altitude.
§43 The World-sphere Mountains’ line of summits plunges down into the sea
Just two and eighty thousand leagues, and towers up in like degree, Enringing one world-element all round in its entirety.
And the size of the Jambu (Rose-apple) Tree is the same as that of the Citrapāṭaliya Tree of the Asura demons, the Simbali Tree of the Garuḷa demons, the Kadamba Tree in [the western continent of] Aparagoyana, the Kappa Tree [in the northern continent] of the Uttarakurus, the Sirīsa Tree in [the eastern continent of] Pubbavideha, and the Pāricchattaka Tree [in the heaven] of the Deities of the Thirty-three (Tāvatiṃsa). [17] Hence the Ancients said:
The Pāṭali, Simbali, and Jambu, the deities’ Pāricchattaka, The Kadamba, the Kappa Tree and the Sirīsa as the seventh.
§44 207 Herein, the moon’s disk is forty-nine leagues [across] and the sun’s disk is fifty leagues. The realm of Tāvatiṃsa (the Thirty-three Gods) is ten thousand leagues. Likewise the realm of the Asura demons, the great Avīci (unremitting) Hell, and Jambudīpa (India). Aparagoyāna is seven thousand leagues. Likewise Pubbavideha. Uttarakurū is eight thousand leagues. And herein, each great continent is surrounded by five hundred small islands. And the whole of that constitutes a single world-sphere, a single world-element. Between [this and the adjacent world-spheres] are the Lokantarika (world-interspace) hells. [18] So the world-spheres are infinite in number, the world-elements are infinite, and the Blessed One has experienced, known and penetrated them with the infinite knowledge of the Enlightened Ones.
§45 Therefore this world of location was known to him in all ways too. So he is “knower of worlds” because he has seen the world in all ways.
1.7 Incomparable Leader of Men to be Tamed#
§46 202/260 In the absence of anyone more distinguished for special qualities than himself, there is no one to compare with him, thus he is incomparable. For in this way he surpasses the whole world in the special quality of virtue, and also in the special qualities of concentration, understanding, deliverance, and knowledge and vision of deliverance. In the special quality of virtue he is without equal, he is the equal only of those [other Enlightened Ones] without equal, he is without like, without double, without counterpart; … in the special quality of knowledge and vision of deliverance he is … without counterpart, according as it is said: “I do not see in the world with its deities, its Māras and its Brahmās, in this generation with its ascetics and brahmans, with its princes and men, [19] anyone more perfect in virtue than myself” (S I 139), with the rest in detail, and likewise in the Aggappasāda Sutta (A II 34; It 87), and so on, and in the stanzas beginning, “I have no teacher and my like does not exist in all the world” (M I 171), all of which should be taken in detail.
§47 He guides (sāreti) men to be tamed (purisa-damme), thus he is leader of men to be tamed (purisadammasārathī); he tames, he disciplines, is what is meant. Herein, animal males (purisā) and human males, and non-human males that are not tamed but fit to be tamed (dametuṃ yuttā) are “men to be tamed” (purisadammā). For the animal males, namely, the royal nāga (serpent) Apalāla, Cūḷodara, Mahodara, Aggisikha, Dhūmasikha, the royal nāga Āravāḷa, the elephant Dhanapālaka, and so on, were tamed by the Blessed One, freed from the poison [of defilement] and established in the refuges and the precepts of virtue; and also the human males, namely, Saccaka the Nigaṇṭhas’ (Jains’) son, the brahman student Ambaṭṭha, 208 Pokkharasāti, Soṇadaṇḍa, Kūṭadanta, and so on; and also the non-human males, namely, the spirits Āḷavaka, Sūciloma and Kharaloma, Sakka Ruler of Gods, etc., [20] were tamed and disciplined by various disciplinary means. And the following sutta should be given in full here: “I discipline men to be tamed sometimes gently, Kesi, and I discipline them sometimes roughly, and I discipline them sometimes gently and roughly” (A II 112).
§48 Then the Blessed One moreover further tames those already tamed, doing so by announcing the first jhāna, etc., respectively to those whose virtue is purified, etc., and also the way to the higher path to stream enterers, and so on. 203/261 Or alternatively, the words incomparable leader of men to be tamed can be taken together as one clause. For the Blessed One so guides men to be tamed that in a single session they may go in the eight directions [by the eight liberations] without hesitation. Thus he is called the incomparable leader of men to be tamed. And the following sutta passage should be given in full here: “Guided by the elephant-tamer, bhikkhus, the elephant to be tamed goes in one direction …” (M III 222).
1.8 Teacher of Gods and Men#
§49 He teaches (anusāsati) by means of the here and now, of the life to come, and of the ultimate goal, according as befits the case, thus he is the Teacher (satthar). And furthermore this meaning should be understood according to the Niddesa thus: “‘Teacher (satthar)’: the Blessed One is a caravan leader (satthar) since he brings home caravans (sattha). Just as one who brings a caravan home gets caravans across a wilderness, gets them across a robber-infested wilderness, gets them across a wild-beast-infested wilderness, gets them across a foodless wilderness, gets them across a waterless wilderness, gets them right across, gets them quite across, gets them properly across, gets them to reach a land of safety, so too the Blessed One is a caravan leader, one who brings home the caravans, he gets them across a wilderness, gets them across the wilderness of birth” (Nidd I 446).
§50 Of gods and men: devamanussānaṃ = devānañ ca manussānañ ca (resolution of compound). This is said in order to denote those who are the best and also to denote those persons capable of progress. For the Blessed One as a teacher bestowed his teaching upon animals as well. For when animals can, through listening to the Blessed One’s Dhamma, acquire the benefit of a [suitable rebirth as] support [for progress], and with the benefit of that same support they come, in their second or third rebirth, to partake of the path and its fruition.
§51 Maṇḍūka, the deity’s son, and others illustrate this. While the Blessed One was teaching the Dhamma to the inhabitants of the city of Campā on the banks of the Gaggarā Lake, it seems, a frog (maṇḍūka) apprehended a sign in the Blessed One’s voice. 209 A cowherd who was standing leaning on a stick put his stick on the frog’s head and crushed it. He died and was straight away reborn in a gilded, divine palace, twelve leagues broad in the realm of the Thirty-three (Tāvatiṃsa). He found himself there, as if waking up from sleep, amidst a host of celestial nymphs, and he exclaimed, “So I have actually been reborn here. What deed did I do?” When he sought for the reason, he found it was none other than his apprehension of the sign in the Blessed One’s voice. He went with his divine palace at once to the Blessed One and paid homage at his feet. Though the Blessed One knew about it, he asked him:
The Blessed One taught him the Dhamma. Eighty-four thousand creatures gained penetration to the Dhamma. As soon as the deity’s son became established in the fruition of stream-entry he smiled and then vanished.
1.9 Enlightened#
§52 He is enlightened (buddha) with the knowledge that belongs to the fruit of liberation, since everything that can be known has been discovered (buddha) by him.
Or alternatively, he discovered (bujjhi) the four truths by himself and awakened (bodhesi) others to them, thus and for other such reasons he is enlightened (buddha). And in order to explain this meaning the whole passage in the Niddesa beginning thus: “He is the discoverer (bujjhitar) of the truths, thus he is enlightened (buddha). He is the awakened (bodhetar) of the generation, thus he is enlightened (buddha)” (Nidd I 457), or the same passage from the Paṭisambhidā (Paṭis I 174), should be quoted in detail.
1.10 Blessed#
§53 Blessed (bhagavant) is a term signifying the respect and veneration accorded to him as the highest of all beings and distinguished by his special qualities. [21] Hence the Ancients said:
§54 Or alternatively, names are of four kinds: denoting a period of life, describing a particular mark, signifying a particular acquirement, and fortuitously arisen, [22] which last in the current usage of the world is called “capricious.” Herein, 210 names denoting a period of life are those such as “yearling calf” (vaccha), “steer to be trained” (damma), “yoke ox” (balivaddha), and the like. Names describing a particular mark are those such as “staff-bearer” (daṇḍin), “umbrella-bearer” (chattin), “topknot-wearer” (sikhin), “hand possessor” (*karin—*elephant), and the like. Names signifying a particular acquirement are those such as “possessor of the threefold clear vision” (tevijja), “possessor of the six direct-knowledges” (chaḷabhiñña), and the like. Such names are Sirivaḍḍhaka (“Augmenter of 205/263 Lustre”), Dhanavaḍḍhaka (“Augmenter of Wealth”), etc., are fortuitously arisen names; they have no reference to the word-meanings.
§55 This name, Blessed, is one signifying a particular acquirement; it is not made by Mahā-Māyā, or by King Suddhodana, or by the eighty thousand kinsmen, or by distinguished deities like Sakka, Santusita, and others. And this is said by the General of the Law: [23] “‘Blessed’: this is not a name made by a mother … This [name] ‘Buddha,’ which signifies final liberation, is a realistic description of Buddhas (Enlightened Ones), the Blessed Ones, together with their obtainment of omniscient knowledge at the root of an Enlightenment [Tree]” (Paṭis I 174; Nidd I 143).
§56 Now, in order to explain also the special qualities signified by this name they cite the following stanza:
The reverend one (garu) has blessings (bhagī), is a frequenter (bhajī), a partaker (bhāgī), a possessor of what has been analyzed (vibhattavā);
He has caused abolishing (bhagga), he is fortunate (bhāgyavā),
He has fully developed himself (subhāvitattano) in many ways;
He has gone to the end of becoming (bhavantago); thus is called “Blessed” (bhagavā).
The meaning of these words should be understood according to the method of explanation given in the Niddesa (Nidd I 142). [24]
§57 206/264 But there is this other way:
He is fortunate (bhāgyavā), possessed of abolishment (bhaggavā), associated with blessings (yutto bhagehi), and a possessor of what has been analyzed (vibhattavā).
He has frequented (bhattavā), and he has rejected going in the kinds of becoming (VAnta-GAmano BHAvesu), thus he is Blessed (Bhagavā).
§58 Herein, by using the characteristic of language beginning with “vowel augmentation of syllable, elision of syllable” (see Kāśika VI.3.109), or by using the characteristic of insertion beginning with [the example of] pisodara, etc. (see Pāṇini, Gaṇapāṭha 6, 3, 109), it may be known that he [can also] be called “blessed” (bhagavā) when he can be called “fortunate” (bhāgyavā) owing to the fortunateness (bhāgya) to have reached the further shore [of the ocean of perfection] of giving, virtue, etc., which produce mundane and supramundane bliss (See Khp-a 108.).
§59 [Similarly], he [can also] be called “blessed” (bhagavā) when he can be called “possessed of abolishment” (bhaggavā) owing to the following menaces having been abolished; for he has abolished (abhañji) all the hundred thousand kinds of trouble, anxiety and defilement classed as greed, as hate, as delusion, and as misdirected attention; as consciencelessness and shamelessness, as anger and enmity, as contempt and domineering, as envy and avarice, as deceit and fraud, as obduracy and presumption, as pride and haughtiness, as vanity and negligence, as craving and ignorance; as the three roots of the unprofitable, kinds of misconduct, defilement, stains, 211 fictitious perceptions, applied thoughts, and diversifications; as the four perversenesses, cankers, ties, floods, bonds, bad ways, cravings, and clingings; as the five wildernesses in the heart, shackles in the heart, hindrances, and kinds of delight; as the six roots of discord, and groups of craving; as the seven inherent tendencies; as the eight wrongnesses; as the nine things rooted in craving; as the ten courses of unprofitable action; as the sixty-two kinds of [false] view; as the hundred and eight ways of behaviour of craving [25]—or in brief, the five Māras, that is to say, the 207/265 Māras of defilement, of the aggregates, and of kamma-formations, Māra as a deity, and Māra as death.
And in this context it is said:
§60 And by his fortunateness (bhāgyavatā) is indicated the excellence of his material body which bears a hundred characteristics of merit; and by his having abolished defects (bhaggadosatā) is indicated the excellence of his Dhamma body. Likewise, [by his fortunateness is indicated] the esteem of worldly [people; and by his having abolished defects, the esteem of] those who resemble him. [And by his fortunateness it is indicated] that he is fit to be relied on [26] by laymen; and [by his having abolished defects that he is fit to be relied on by] those gone forth into homelessness; and when both have relied on him, they acquire relief from bodily and mental pain as well as help with both material and Dhamma gifts, and they are rendered capable of finding both mundane and supramundane bliss.
§61 He is also called “blessed” (bhagavā) since he is “associated with blessings” (bhagehi yuttattā) such as those of the following kind, in the sense that he “has those blessings” (bhagā assa santi). Now, in the world the word “blessing” is used for six things, namely, lordship, Dhamma, fame, glory, wish, and endeavour. He has supreme lordship over his own mind, either of the kind reckoned as mundane and consisting in “minuteness, lightness,” etc., [27] or that complete in all aspects, and likewise the supramundane Dhamma. And he has exceedingly pure fame, spread through the three worlds, acquired though the special quality of veracity. And he has glory of all limbs, perfect in every aspect, which is capable of comforting the eyes of people eager to see his material body. And he has his wish, in other words, the production of what is wanted, since whatever is wanted and 208/266 needed by him as beneficial to himself or others is then and there produced for him. And he has the endeavour, in other words, the right effort, which is the reason why the whole world venerates him.
§62 [He can also] be called “blessed” (bhagavā) when he can be called “a possessor of what has been analyzed” (vibhattavā) owing to his having analyzed [and clarified] all states into the [three] classes beginning with the profitable; or profitable, etc., states into such classes as aggregates, bases, elements, truths, faculties, dependent origination, etc.; 212 or the noble truth of suffering into the senses of oppressing, being formed, burning, and changing; and that of origin into the senses of accumulating, source, bond, and impediment; and that of cessation into the senses of escape, seclusion, being unformed, and deathless; and that of the path into the senses of outlet, cause, seeing, and predominance. Having analyzed, having revealed, having shown them, is what is meant.
§63 He [can also] be called “blessed” (bhagavā) when he can be called one who “has frequented” (bhattavā) owing to his having frequented (bhaji), cultivated, repeatedly practiced, such mundane and supramundane higher-than-human states as the heavenly, the divine, and the noble abidings, [28] as bodily, mental, and existential seclusion, as the void, the desireless, and the signless liberations, and others as well.
§64 He [can also] be called “blessed” (bhagavā) when he can be called one who “has rejected going in the kinds of becoming” (vantagamano bhavesu) because in the three kinds of becoming (bhava), the going (gamana), in other words, craving, has been rejected (vanta) by him. And the syllables bha from the word bhava, and ga from the word gamana, and va from the word vanta with the letter a lengthened, make the word bhagavā, just as is done in the world [of the grammarians outside the Dispensation] with the word mekhalā (waist-girdle) since “garland for the private parts” (MEhanassa KHAssa māLĀ) can be said.
§65 As long as [the meditator] recollects the special qualities of the Buddha in this way, “For this and this reason the Blessed One is accomplished, … for this and this reason he is blessed,” then: “On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion; his mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by the Perfect One” (A III 285). [29]
§66 209/267 So when he has thus suppressed the hindrances by preventing obsession by greed, etc., and his mind faces the meditation subject with rectitude, then his applied thought and sustained thought occur with a tendency toward the Enlightened One’s special qualities. As he continues to exercise applied thought and sustained thought upon the Enlightened One’s special qualities, happiness arises in him. With his mind happy, with happiness as a proximate cause, his bodily and mental disturbances are tranquilized by tranquillity. When the disturbances have been tranquilized, bodily and mental bliss arise in him. When he is blissful, his mind, with the Enlightened One’s special qualities for its object, becomes concentrated, and so the jhāna factors eventually arise in a single moment. But owing to the profundity of the Enlightened One’s special qualities, or else owing to his being occupied in recollecting special qualities of many sorts, the jhāna is only access and does not reach absorption. And that access jhāna itself is known as “recollection of the Buddha” too, because it arises with the recollection of the Enlightened One’s special qualities as the means.
§67 When a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of the Buddha, he is respectful and deferential towards the Master. He attains fullness of faith, mindfulness, understanding and merit. He has much happiness and gladness. He conquers fear and dread. 213 He is able to endure pain. He comes to feel as if he were living in the Master’s presence. And his body, when the recollection of the Buddha’s special qualities dwells in it, becomes as worthy of veneration as a shrine room. His mind tends toward the plane of the Buddhas. When he encounters an opportunity for transgression, he has awareness of conscience and shame as vivid as though he were face to face with the Master. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy destiny.
This, firstly, is the section dealing with the recollection of the Enlightened One in the detailed explanation.
2 (2) Recollection of the Dhamma#
§68 One who wants to develop the recollection of the Dhamma (Law) should go into solitary retreat and recollect the special qualities of both the Dhamma (Law) of the scriptures and the ninefold supramundane Dhamma (state) as follows: 210/268 “The Dhamma is well proclaimed by the Blessed One, visible here and now, not delayed (timeless), inviting of inspection, onward-leading, and directly experienceable by the wise” (M I 37; A III 285).
2.1 Well Proclaimed#
§69 Well proclaimed: in this clause the Dhamma of the scriptures is included as well as the other; in the rest of the clauses only the supramundane Dhamma is included.
Herein, the Dhamma of the scriptures is well proclaimed because it is good in the beginning, the middle, and the end, and because it announces the life of purity that is utterly perfect and pure with meaning and with detail (see M I 179).
Even a single stanza of the Blessed One’s teaching is good in the beginning with the first word, good in the middle with the second, third, etc., and good in the end with the last word, because the Dhamma is altogether admirable. A sutta with a single sequence of meaning [30] is good in the beginning with the introduction, good in the end with the conclusion, and good in the middle with what is in between. A sutta with several sequences of meaning is good in the beginning with the first sequence of meaning, good in the end with the last sequence of meaning, and good in the middle with the sequences of meaning in between. Furthermore, it is good in the beginning with the introduction [giving the place of] and the origin [giving the reason for] its utterance. It is good in the middle because it suits those susceptible of being taught since it is unequivocal in meaning and reasoned with cause and example. It is good in the end with its conclusion that inspires faith in the hearers.
§70 Also the entire Dhamma of the Dispensation is good in the beginning with virtue as one’s own well-being. It is good in the middle with serenity and insight and with path and fruition. It is good in the end with Nibbāna. Or alternatively, it is good in the beginning with virtue and concentration. 214 It is good in the middle with insight and the path. It is good in the end with fruition and Nibbāna. Or alternatively, it is good in the beginning because it is the good discovery made by the Buddha. It is good in the middle because it is the well-regulatedness of the Dhamma. It is good in the end because it is the good way entered upon by the Saṅgha. Or alternatively, it is good in the beginning as the discovery of what can be attained by one who enters upon the way of practice in conformity after hearing about it. It is good in the middle as the unproclaimed enlightenment [of Paccekabuddhas]. It is good in the end as the enlightenment of disciples.
§71 And when listened to, it does good through hearing it because it suppresses the hindrances, thus it is good in the beginning. And when made the way of 211/269 practice it does good through the way being entered upon because it brings the bliss of serenity and insight, thus it is good in the middle. And when it has thus been made the way of practice and the fruit of the way is ready, it does good through the fruit of the way because it brings [unshakable] equipoise, thus it is good in the end.
So it is “well proclaimed” because of being good in the beginning, the middle and the end.
§72 Now, the life of purity, that is to say, the life of purity of the Dispensation and the life of purity of the path, which the Blessed One announces, which he shows in various ways when he teaches the Dhamma, is “with meaning” because of perfection of meaning, and it is “with detail” because of perfection of detail, as it is proper that it should be. It is “with meaning” because it conforms to the words declaring its meaning by pronouncing, clarifying, revealing, expounding, and explaining it. It is “with detail” because it has perfection of syllables, words, details, style, language, and descriptions. It is “with meaning” owing to profundity of meaning and profundity of penetration. It is “with detail” owing to profundity of law and profundity of teaching. It is “with meaning” because it is the province of the discriminations of meaning and of perspicuity. It is “with detail” because it is the province of the discriminations of law and of language (see XIV.21). It is “with meaning” since it inspires confidence in persons of discretion, being experienceable by the wise. It is “with detail” since it inspires confidence in worldly persons, being a fit object of faith. It is “with meaning” because its intention is profound. It is “with detail” because its words are clear. It is “utterly perfect” with the complete perfection due to absence of anything that can be added. It is “pure” with the immaculateness due to absence of anything to be subtracted.
§73 Furthermore, it is “with meaning” because it provides the particular distinction [31] of achievement through practice of the way, and it is “with detail” because it provides the particular distinction of learning through mastery of scripture. It is “utterly perfect” because it is connected with the five aggregates of Dhamma beginning with virtue. [32] It is “pure” because it has no imperfection, because it exists for the purpose of crossing over [the round of rebirths’ flood (see M I 134)], and because it is not concerned with worldly things.
So it is “well proclaimed” because it “announces the life of purity that is utterly perfect and pure with meaning and with detail.”
Or alternatively, it is well proclaimed since it has been properly proclaimed with no perversion of meaning. For the meaning of other sectarians’ law suffers perversion since there is actually no obstruction in the 215 things described there as obstructive and actually no outlet in the things described there as outlets, 212/270 which is why their law is ill-proclaimed; but not so the Blessed One’s Law, whose meaning suffers no perversion since the things described there as obstructions and the things described there as outlets are so in actual fact.
So, in the first place, the Dhamma of the scriptures is “well proclaimed.”
§74 The supramundane Dhamma is well proclaimed since both the way that accords with Nibbāna and the Nibbāna that accords with the way have been proclaimed, according as it is said: “The way leading to Nibbāna has been properly declared to the disciples by the Blessed One, and Nibbāna and the way meet. Just as the water of the Ganges meets and joins with the water of the Yamunā, so too the way leading to Nibbāna has been properly declared to the disciples by the Blessed One, and Nibbāna and the way meet” (D II 223).
§75 And here the noble path, which is the middle way since it does not approach either extreme, is well proclaimed in being proclaimed to be the middle way.
The fruits of asceticism, where defilements are tranquilized, are well proclaimed too in being proclaimed to have tranquilized defilement.
Nibbāna, whose individual essence is eternal, deathless, the refuge, the shelter, etc., is well proclaimed too in being proclaimed to have an individual essence that is eternal, and so on.
So the supramundane Dhamma is also “well proclaimed.”
2.2 Visible Here and Now#
§76 Visible here and now: firstly, the noble path is “visible here and now” since it can be seen by a noble person himself when he has done away with greed, etc., in his own continuity, according as it is said: “When a man is dyed with greed, brahman, and is overwhelmed and his mind is obsessed by greed, then he thinks for his own affliction, he thinks for others’ affliction, he thinks for the affliction of both, and he experiences mental suffering and grief. When greed has been abandoned, he neither thinks for his own affliction, nor thinks for others’ affliction, nor thinks for the affliction of both, and he does not experience mental suffering and grief. This, brahman, is how the Dhamma is visible here and now” (A I 156). 216
§77 Furthermore, the ninefold supramundane Dhamma is also visible here and now, since when anyone has attained it, it is visible to him through reviewing knowledge without his having to rely on faith in another.
§78 Or alternatively, the view (diṭṭhi) that is recommended (*pasattha—*pp. of root saṃs) is “proper view” (sandiṭṭhi). It conquers by means of proper view, thus it “has proper view” (sandiṭṭhika—“visible here and now”). For in this way the noble path conquers defilements by means of the proper view associated with it, and the noble fruition does so by means of the proper view that is its cause, and Nibbāna does so by means of the proper view that has Nibbāna as its objective field. So the ninefold supramundane Dhamma “has the proper view” (sandiṭṭhika—“is visible here and now”) since it conquers by means of proper view, just as a charioteer (rathika) is so called because he conquers by means of a chariot (ratha).
§79 213/271 Or alternatively, it is seeing (dassana) that is called “the seen” (diṭṭha); then diṭṭha and sandiṭṭha are identical in meaning as “seeing.” It is worthy of being seen (diṭṭha), thus it is “visible here and now” (sandiṭṭhika). For the supramundane Dhamma (law) arrests the fearful round [of kamma, etc.,] as soon as it is seen by means of penetration consisting in development [of the path] and by means of penetration consisting in realization [of Nibbāna]. So it is “visible here and now” (sandiṭṭhika) since it is worthy of being seen (diṭṭha), just as one who is clothable (vattihika) [33] is so called because he is worthy of clothes (vattha).
2.3 Not Delayed#
§80 It has no delay (lit. “takes no time”—kāla) in the matter of giving its own fruit, thus it is “without delay” (akāla). “Without delay” is the same as “not delayed” (akālika). What is meant is that instead of giving its fruit after creating a delay (using up time), say, five days, seven days, it gives its fruit immediately next to its own occurrence (see Sn 226).
§81 Or alternatively, what is delayed (*kālika—*lit. “what takes time”) is what needs some distant [34] time to be reached before it can give its fruit. What is that? It is the mundane law of profitable [kamma]. This, however, is undelayed (na kālika) because its fruit comes immediately next to it, so it is “not delayed” (akālika).
This is said with reference to the path.
2.4 Inviting of Inspection#
§82 It is worthy of an invitation to inspect (ehipassa-vidhi) given thus: “Come and see this Dhamma” (ehi passa imaṃ dhammaṃ), thus it is “inviting of inspection” (ehipassika). But why is it worthy of this invitation? Because it is found and because of its purity. For if a man has said that there is money or gold in an empty fist, he cannot say, “Come and see it.” Why not? Because it is not found. And on the other hand, while dung or urine may well be found, a man cannot, for the purpose of cheering the mind by exhibiting beauty, say, “Come 214/272 and see this;” on the contrary, they have to be covered up with grass and leaves. Why? Because of their impurity. But this ninefold supramundane Dhamma is actually found as such in its individual essence, and it is as pure as the full moon’s disk in a cloudless sky, as a gem of pure water on bleached cloth. 217 Consequently, it is worthy of the invitation to inspect since it is found and pure, thus it is “inviting of inspection.”
2.5 Onward-Leading#
§83 The word opanayika (“onward-leading”) is [equivalent to the gerund] upanetabba (“ought to—can—be induced”). Here is an exposition. An inducing (upanayana) is an inducement (upanaya). [As the four paths and four fruitions] this [Dhamma] is worth inducing (upanayanaṃ arahati) [that is, arousing] in one’s own mind [subjectively] by means of development, without any question of whether or not one’s clothing or one’s head is on fire (see A IV 320), thus it is “onward-leading” (opanayika). This applies to the [above-mentioned eight] formed supramundane states (dhammas). But the unformed [dhamma] is worth inducing by one’s own mind [to become the mind’s object], thus it is “onward-leading,” too; the meaning is that it is worth treating as one’s shelter by realizing it.
§84 Or alternatively, what induces (upaneti) [the noble person] onwards to Nibbāna is the noble path, which is thus inductive (upaneyya). Again, what can (ought to) be induced (upanetabba) to realizability is the Dhamma consisting in fruition and Nibbāna, which is thus inductive (upaneyya), too. The word upaneyya is the same as the word opanayika. [35]
2.6 Is Directly Experienceable by the Wise#
§85 Is directly experienceable by the wise: it can be experienced by all the kinds of wise men beginning with the “acutely wise” (see A II 135) each in himself thus: “The path has been developed, fruition attained, and cessation realized, by me.” For it does not happen that when a preceptor has developed the path his co-resident abandons his defilements, nor does a co-resident dwell in comfort owing to the preceptor’s attainment of fruition, nor does he realize the Nibbāna realized by the preceptor. So this is not visible in the way that an ornament on another’s head is, but rather it is visible only in one’s own mind. What is meant is that it can be undergone by wise men, but it is not the province of fools.
§86 Now, in addition, this Dhamma is well proclaimed. Why? Because it is visible here and now. It is visible here and now because it is not delayed. It is not delayed because it invites inspection. And what invites inspection is onward-leading.
§87 As long as [the meditator] recollects the special qualities of the Dhamma in this way, then: “On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion; his mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by the Dhamma” (A III 285).
So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described (§66), the jhāna factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the 215/273 profundity of the Dhamma’s special qualities, or else owing to his being occupied in recollecting special qualities of many sorts, the jhāna is only access and does not reach absorption. And that access jhāna itself is known as “recollection of the Dhamma” too because it arises with the recollection of the Dhamma’s special qualities as the means.
§88 218 When a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of the Dhamma, he thinks: “I never in the past met a master who taught a law that led onward thus, who possessed this talent, nor do I now see any such a master other than the Blessed One.” Seeing the Dhamma’s special qualities in this way, he is respectful and deferential towards the Master. He entertains great reverence for the Dhamma and attains fullness of faith, and so on. He has much happiness and gladness. He conquers fear and dread. He is able to endure pain. He comes to feel as if he were living in the Dhamma’s presence. And his body, when the recollection of the Dhamma’s special qualities dwells in it, becomes as worthy of veneration as a shrine room. His mind tends towards the realization of the peerless Dhamma. When he encounters an opportunity for transgression, he has vivid awareness of conscience and shame on recollecting the well-regulatedness of the Dhamma. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy destiny.
This is the section dealing with the recollection of the Dhamma in the detailed explanation.
3 (3) Recollection of the Saṅgha#
§89 One who wants to develop the recollection of the Community should go into solitary retreat and recollect the special qualities of the community of Noble Ones as follows:
“The community of the Blessed One’s disciples has entered on the good way, the community of the Blessed One’s disciples has entered on the straight way, the community of the Blessed One’s disciples has entered on the true way, the community of the Blessed One’s disciples has entered on the proper way, that is to say, the four pairs of men, the eight persons; this community of the Blessed One’s disciples is fit for gifts, fit for hospitality, fit for offerings, fit for reverential salutation, as an incomparable field of merit for the world” (A III 286).
3.1 Entered on the Good, Straight, True, Proper Way#
§90 Herein, entered on the good way (supaṭipanna) is thoroughly entered on the way (suṭṭhu paṭipanna). What is meant is that it has entered on a way (paṭipanna) that is the right way (sammā-paṭipadā), the way that is irreversible, the way that is in conformity [with truth], the way that has no opposition, the way that is regulated by the Dhamma. They hear (suṇanti) attentively the Blessed One’s instruction, thus they are his disciples (*sāvaka—*lit. “hearers”). The community of 216/274 the disciples is the community of those disciples. The meaning is that the total of disciples forms a communality because it possesses in common both virtue and [right] view. 219 That right way, being straight, unbent, uncrooked, unwarped, is called noble and true and is known as proper owing to its becomingness, therefore the noble community that has entered on that is also said to have entered on the straight way, entered on the true way, and entered on the proper way.
§91 Those who stand on the path can be understood to have entered on the good way since they possess the right way. And those who stand in fruition can be understood to have entered on the good way with respect to the way that is now past since by means of the right way they have realized what should be realized.
§92 Furthermore, the Community has entered on the good way because it has entered on the way according as instructed in the well-proclaimed Dhamma and Discipline (dhamma-vinaya), and because it has entered on the immaculate way. It has entered on the straight way because it has entered on the way avoiding the two extremes and taking the middle course, and because it has entered on the way of the abandonment of the faults of bodily and verbal crookedness, tortuousness and warpedness. It has entered on the true way because Nibbāna is what is called “true” and it has entered on the way with that as its aim. It has entered on the proper way because it has entered on the way of those who are worthy of proper acts [of veneration].
§93 The word yadidaṃ (“that is to say”) = yāni imāni. The four pairs of men: taking them pairwise, the one who stands on the first path and the one who stands in the first fruition as one pair, in this way there are four pairs. The eight persons: taking them by persons, the one who stands on the first path as one and the one who stands in the first fruition as one, in this way there are eight persons. And there in the compound purisa-puggala (persons) the words purisa and puggala have the same meaning, but it is expressed in this way to suit differing susceptibility to teaching.
This community of the Blessed One’s disciples: this community of the Blessed One’s disciples taken by pairs as the four pairs of men (purisa) and individually as the eight persons (purisa-puggala).
3.2 Fit for Gifts#
§94 As to fit for gifts, etc.: what should be brought (ānetvā) and given (hunitabba) is a gift (*āhuna—*lit. “sacrifice”); the meaning is, what is to be brought even from far away and donated to the virtuous. It is a term for the four requisites. The Community is fit to receive that gift (sacrifice) because it makes it bear great fruit, thus it is “fit for gifts” (āhuneyya).
§95 Or alternatively, all kinds of property, even when the bringer comes (āgantvā) from far away, can be given (hunitabba) here, thus the Community “can be given to” (āhavanīya); or it is fit to be given to by Sakka and others, thus it “can be given to.” And the brahmans’ fire is called “to be given (sacrificed) to” (āhavanīya), for they believe that what is sacrificed to it brings great fruit. 220 But if something is to be sacrificed to for the sake of the great fruit brought by what is sacrificed to 217/275 it, then surely the Community should be sacrificed to; for what is sacrificed (given) to the Community has great fruit, according as it is said:
And the words āhavanīya (“to be sacrificed to”), which is used in the schools, [36] is the same in meaning as this word āhuneyya (“fit for gifts”) used here. There is only the mere trifling difference of syllables. So it is “fit for gifts.”
3.3 Fit for Hospitality#
§96 Fit for hospitality (pāhuneyya): “hospitality” (pāhuna) is what a donation to visitors is called, prepared with all honours for the sake of dear and beloved relatives and friends who have come from all quarters. But even more than to such objects of hospitality, it is fitting that it should be given also to the Community; for there is no object of hospitality so fit to receive hospitality as the Community since it is encountered after an interval between Buddhas and possesses wholly endearing and lovable qualities. So it is “fit for hospitality” since the hospitality is fit to be given to it and it is fit to receive it.
But those who take the text to be pāhavanīya (“fit to be given hospitality to”) have it that the Community is worthy to be placed first and so what is to be given should first of all be brought here and given (sabba-Paṭhamaṃ Ānetvā ettha HUNitabbaṃ), and for that reason it is “fit to be given hospitality to” (pāhavanīya) or since it is worthy to be given to in all aspects (sabba-Pakārena ĀHAVANAṃ arahati), it is thus “fit to be given hospitality to” (pāhavanīya). And here this is called pāhuneyya in the same sense.
3.4 Fit for Offering#
§97 ”Offering” (dakkhiṇa) is what a gift is called that is to be given out of faith in the world to come. The Community is worthy of that offering, or it is helpful to that offering because it purifies it by making it of great fruit, thus it is fit for offerings (dakkhiṇeyya).
3.5 Fit for Salutation#
It is worthy of being accorded by the whole world the reverential salutation (añjali-kamma) consisting in placing both hands [palms together] above the head, thus it is fit for reverential salutation (añjalikaraṇīya).
3.6 As an Incomparable Field of Merit for the World#
§98 As an incomparable field of merit for the world: as a place without equal in the world for growing merit; just as the place for growing the king’s or minister’s 218/276 rice or corn is the king’s rice-field or the king’s corn-field, so the Community is the place for growing the whole world’s merit. For the world’s various kinds of merit leading to welfare and happiness grow with the Community as their support. Therefore the Community is “an incomparable field of merit for the world.”
§99 As long as he recollects the special qualities of the Saṅgha in this way, classed as “having entered on the good way,” etc., 221 then: “On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion; his mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by the Saṅgha” (A III 286).
So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described (§66), the jhāna factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the profundity of the Community’s special qualities, or else owing to his being occupied in recollecting special qualities of many sorts, the jhāna is only access and does not reach absorption. And that access jhāna itself is known as “recollection of the Saṅgha” too because it arises with the recollection of the Community’s special qualities as the means.
§100 When a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of the Community, he is respectful and deferential towards the Community. He attains fullness of faith, and so on. He has much happiness and bliss. He conquers fear and dread. He is able to endure pain. He comes to feel as if he were living in the Community’s presence. And his body, when the recollection of the Sangha’s special qualities dwells in it, becomes as worthy of veneration as an Uposatha house where the Community has met. His mind tends towards the attainment of the Community’s special qualities. When he encounters an opportunity for transgression, he has awareness of conscience and shame as vividly as if he were face to face with the Community. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy destiny.
This is the section dealing with the recollection of the Community in the detailed explanation.
4 (4) Recollection of Virtue#
§101 One who wants to develop the recollection of virtue should go into solitary retreat and recollect his own different kinds of virtue in their special qualities of being untorn, etc., as follows:
Indeed, my various kinds of virtue are “untorn, unrent, unblotched, unmottled, liberating, praised by the wise, not adhered to, and conducive to concentration” (A III 286). And a layman should recollect them in the form of laymen’s virtue while one gone forth into homelessness should recollect them in the form of the virtue of those gone forth.
§102 219/277 Whether they are the virtues of laymen or of those gone forth, when no one of them is broken in the beginning or in the end, not being torn like a cloth ragged at the ends, then they are untorn. 222 When no one of them is broken in the middle, not being rent like a cloth that is punctured in the middle, then they are unrent. When they are not broken twice or thrice in succession, not being blotched like a cow whose body is some such colour as black or red with discrepant-coloured oblong or round patch appearing on her back or belly, then they are unblotched. When they are not broken all over at intervals, not being mottled like a cow speckled with discrepant-coloured spots, then they are unmottled.
§103 Or in general they are untorn, unrent, unblotched, unmottled when they are undamaged by the seven bonds of sexuality (I.144) and by anger and enmity and the other evil things (see §59).
§104 Those same virtues are liberating since they liberate by freeing from the slavery of craving. They are praised by the wise because they are praised by such wise men as Enlightened Ones. They are not adhered to (aparāmaṭṭha) since they are not adhered to (aparāmaṭṭhattā) with craving and [false] view, or because of the impossibility of misapprehending (parāmaṭṭhuṃ) that “There is this flaw in your virtues.” They are conducive to concentration since they conduce to access concentration and absorption concentration, or to path concentration and fruition concentration.
§105 As long as he recollects his own virtues in their special qualities of being untorn, etc., in this way, then: “On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion, his mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by virtue” (A III 286).
So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described (§66), the jhāna factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the profundity of the virtues’ special qualities, or owing to his being occupied in recollecting special qualities of many sorts, the jhāna is only access and does not reach absorption. And that access jhāna itself is known as “recollection of virtue” too because it arises with the virtues’ special qualities as the means.
§106 And when a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of virtue, he has respect for the training. He lives in communion [with his fellows in the life of purity]. He is sedulous in welcoming. He is devoid of the fear of self-reproach and so on. He sees fear in the slightest fault. He attains fullness of faith, and so on. He has much happiness and gladness. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy destiny.
This is the section dealing with the recollection of virtue in the detailed explanation. 223
5 (5) Recollection of Generosity#
§107 220/278 One who wants to develop the recollection of generosity should be naturally devoted to generosity and the constant practice of giving and sharing. Or alternatively, if he is one who is starting the development of it, he should make the resolution: “From now on, when there is anyone present to receive, I shall not eat even a single mouthful without having given a gift.” And that very day he should give a gift by sharing according to his means and his ability with those who have distinguished qualities. When he has apprehended the sign in that, he should go into solitary retreat and recollect his own generosity in its special qualities of being free from the stain of avarice, etc., as follows:
“It is gain for me, it is great gain for me, that in a generation obsessed by the stain of avarice I abide with my heart free from stain by avarice, and am freely generous and open-handed, that I delight in relinquishing, expect to be asked, and rejoice in giving and sharing” (A III 287).
§108 Herein, it is gain for me: it is my gain, advantage. The intention is: I surely partake of those kinds of gain for a giver that have been commended by the Blessed One as follows: “A man who gives life [by giving food] shall have life either divine or human” (A III 42), and: “A giver is loved and frequented by many” (A III 40), and: “One who gives is ever loved, according to the wise man’s law” (A III 41), and so on.
§109 It is great gain for me: it is great gain for me that this Dispensation, or the human state, has been gained by me. Why? Because of the fact that “I abide with my mind free from stain by avarice … and rejoice in giving and sharing.”
§110 Herein, obsessed by the stain of avarice is overwhelmed by the stain of avarice. Generation: beings, so called owing to the fact of their being generated. So the meaning here is this: among beings who are overwhelmed by the stain of avarice, which is one of the dark states that corrupt the [natural] transparency of consciousness (see A I 10) and which has the characteristic of inability to bear sharing one’s own good fortune with others.
§111 Free from stain by avarice because of being both free from avarice and from the other stains, greed, hate, and the rest. I abide with my heart: I abide with my consciousness of the kind already stated, is the meaning. 224 But in the sutta, “I live the home life with my heart free” (A III 287; V 331), etc., is said because it was taught there as a [mental] abiding to depend on [constantly] to Mahānāma the Sakyan, who was a stream-enterer asking about an abiding to depend on. There the meaning is “I live overcoming …”
§112 Freely generous: liberally generous. Open-handed: with hands that are purified. What is meant is: with hands that are always washed in order to give gifts carefully with one’s own hands. That I delight in relinquishing: the act of relinquishing (vossajjana) is relinquishing (vossagga); the meaning is, giving up. To delight in relinquishing is to delight in constant devotion to that relinquishing. Expect to be asked (yācayoga): accustomed to being asked (yācana-yogga) because of giving whatever others ask for, is the meaning. Yājayoga is a reading, in which case the meaning is: devoted (yutta) to sacrifice (yāja), in other words, to 221/279 sacrificing (yajana). And rejoice in sharing: the meaning is, he recollects thus: “I give gifts and I share out what is to be used by myself, and I rejoice in both.”
§113 As long as he recollects his own generosity in its special qualities of freedom from stain by avarice, etc., in this way, then: “On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion; his mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by generosity” (A III 287).
So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already described (§66), the jhāna factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the profundity of the generosity’s special qualities, or owing to his being occupied in recollecting the generosity’s special qualities of many sorts, the jhāna is only access and does not reach absorption. And that access jhāna is known as “recollection of generosity” too because it arises with the generosity’s special qualities as the means.
§114 And when a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of generosity, he becomes ever more intent on generosity, his preference is for non-greed, he acts in conformity with loving-kindness, he is fearless. He has much happiness and gladness. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy destiny.
This is the section dealing with the recollection of generosity in the detailed explanation. 225
6 (6) Recollection of Deities#
§115 One who wants to develop the recollection of deities should possess the special qualities of faith, etc., evoked by means of the noble path, and he should go into solitary retreat and recollect his own special qualities of faith, etc., with deities standing as witnesses, as follows:
“There are deities of the Realm of the Four Kings (devā cātummahārājikā), there are deities of the Realm of the Thirty-three (devā tāvatiṃsā), there are deities who are Gone to Divine Bliss (yāmā) … who are Contented (tusitā) … who Delight in Creating (nimmānarati) … who Wield Power Over Others’ Creations (paranimmitavasavatti), there are deities of Brahmā’s Retinue (brahmakāyikā), there are deities higher than that. And those deities were possessed of faith such that on dying here they were reborn there, and such faith is present in me too. And those deities were possessed of virtue … of learning … of generosity … of understanding such that when they died here they were reborn there, and such understanding is present in me too” (A III 287).
§116 In the sutta, however, it is said: “On the occasion, Mahānāma, on which a noble disciple recollects the faith, the virtue, the learning, the generosity, and the understanding that are both his own and of those deities,” on that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed …” (A III 287). Although this is said, it should 222/280 nevertheless be understood as said for the purpose of showing that the special qualities of faith, etc., in oneself are those in the deities, making the deities stand as witnesses. For it is said definitely in the Commentary: “He recollects his own special qualities, making the deities stand as witnesses.”
§117 As long as in the prior stage he recollects the deities’ special qualities of faith, etc., and in the later stage he recollects the special qualities of faith, etc., existing in himself, then: “On that occasion his mind is not obsessed by greed, or obsessed by hate, or obsessed by delusion, his mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by deities” (A III 288).
So when he has suppressed the hindrances in the way already stated (§66), the jhāna factors arise in a single conscious moment. But owing to the profundity of the special qualities of faith, etc., or owing to his being occupied in recollecting special qualities of many sorts, the jhāna is only access and does not reach absorption. And that access jhāna itself is known as “recollection of deities” too because it arises with the deities special qualities as the means. 226
§118 And when a bhikkhu is devoted to this recollection of deities, he becomes dearly loved by deities. He obtains even greater fullness of faith. He has much happiness and gladness. And if he penetrates no higher, he is at least headed for a happy destiny.
This is the section dealing with the recollection of deities in the detailed explanation.
7 General#
§119 Now, in setting forth the detail of these recollections, after the words, “His mind has rectitude on that occasion, being inspired by the Perfect One,” it is added: “When a noble disciple’s mind has rectitude, Mahānāma, the meaning inspires him, the law inspires him, and the application of the law makes him glad. When he is glad, happiness is born in him” (A III 285–288). Herein, the meaning inspires him should be understood as said of contentment inspired by the meaning beginning, “This Blessed One is such since he is …” (§2). The law inspires him is said of contentment inspired by the text. The application of the law makes him glad is said of both (cf. M-a I 173).
§120 And when in the case of the recollection of deities inspired by deities is said, this should be understood as said either of the consciousness that occurs in the prior stage inspired by deities or of the consciousness [that occurs in the later stage] inspired by the special qualities that are similar to those of the deities and are productive of the deities’ state (cf. §117).
§121 These six recollections succeed only in noble disciples. For the special qualities of the Enlightened One, the Law, and the Community, are evident to them; and they possess the virtue with the special qualities of untornness, etc., 223/281 the generosity that is free from stain by avarice, and the special qualities of faith, etc., similar to those of deities.
§122 And in the Mahānāma Sutta (A III 285 f.) they are expounded in detail by the Blessed One in order to show a stream-winner an abiding to depend upon when he asked for one.
§123 Also in the Gedha Sutta they are expounded in order that a noble disciple should purify his consciousness by means of the recollections and so attain further purification in the ultimate sense thus: “Here, bhikkhus, a noble disciple recollects the Perfect One in this way: That Blessed One is such since he is accomplished … His mind has rectitude on that occasion. He has renounced, 227 got free from, emerged from cupidity. Cupidity, bhikkhus, is a term for the five cords of sense desire. Some beings gain purity here by making this [recollection] their prop” (A III 312).
§124 And in the Sambādhokāsa Sutta taught by the venerable Mahā-Kaccāna they are expounded as the realization of the wide-open through the susceptibility of purification that exists in the ultimate sense only in a noble disciple thus: “It is wonderful, friends, it is marvellous how the realization of the wide-open in the crowded [house life] has been discovered by the Blessed One who knows and sees, accomplished and fully enlightened, for the purification of beings, [for the surmounting of sorrow and lamentation, for the ending of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way], for the realization of Nibbāna, that is to say, the six stations of recollection. What six? Here, friends, a noble disciple recollects the Perfect One … Some beings are susceptible to purification in this way” (A III 314–315).
§125 Also in the Uposatha Sutta they are expounded in order to show the greatness of the fruit of the Uposatha, as a mind-purifying meditation subject for a noble disciple who is observing the Uposatha: “And what is the Noble Ones’ Uposatha, Visākhā? It is the gradual cleansing of the mind still sullied by imperfections. And what is the gradual cleansing of the mind still sullied by imperfections? Here, Visākhā, a noble disciple recollects the Perfect One …” (A I 206–211).
§126 And in the Book of Elevens, when a noble disciple has asked, “Venerable sir, in what way should we abide who abide in various ways?” (A V 328), they are expounded to him in order to show the way of abiding in this way: “One who has faith is successful, Mahānāma, not one who has no faith. One who is energetic … One whose mindfulness is established … One who is concentrated … One who has understanding is successful, Mahānāma, not one who has no understanding. Having established yourself in these five things, Mahānāma, you should develop six things. Here, Mahānāma, you should recollect the Perfect One: That Blessed One is such since …” (A V 329–332).
§127 Still, though this is so, they can be brought to mind by an ordinary man too, if he possesses the special qualities of purified virtue, and the rest. 228 For when he is recollecting the special qualities of the Buddha, etc., even only according to hearsay, his consciousness settles down, by virtue of which the hindrances are suppressed. In his supreme gladness he initiates insight, and 224/282 he even attains to Arahantship, like the Elder Phussadeva who dwelt at Kaṭakandhakāra.
§128 That venerable one, it seems, saw a figure of the Enlightened One created by Māra. He thought, “How good this appears despite its having greed, hate and delusion! What can the Blessed One’s goodness have been like? For he was quite without greed, hate and delusion!” He acquired happiness with the Blessed One as object, and by augmenting his insight he reached Arahantship.
The seventh chapter called “The Description of Six Recollections” in the Treatise on the Development of Concentration in the Path of Purification composed for the purpose of gladdening good people.
Footnotes