SBE 20: Sixth Khandhaka: Chapter 4

4.

1. Now at that time the householder Anâtha Pindika was the husband of the sister of the Râgagaha Setthi. And Anâtha Pindika the householder went to Râgagaha on some business or other. Now at that time the Samgha, with the Buddha at its head, had been bidden by the Setthi of Râgagaha for the morrow's meal. And the Setthi of Râgagaha gave command to his slaves and work-people, saying, 'So get up at early morn, my men, and cook congey, and cook rice, and prepare curries, and pre-pare delicacies 1!'

'Yes, it was "the Buddha" that I said.'

1." Would it be possible for us, at this very time, to go and visit that Blessed One, the Arahat, the very Buddha 2?'

'It is not now, O householder, the proper time to pay a visit to the Blessed One; but early on the morrow you shall go and visit him.'

Then Anâtha Pindika, pondering of the visit he was about to pay, lay down to sleep with his thoughts so bent upon the Buddha that thrice in the night he arose, thinking the daylight had appeared.

3. And Anâtha Pindika the householder went up to the gate leading to the Sîtavana, and celestial beings opened the gate. And as he emerged from the city, the light disappeared and a thick darkness arose, and fear and trembling and consternation sprang up within him, so that a longing came upon him to turn back again from that spot. But Sîvaka the Yakkha, himself the while invisible, caused a sound to be heard, saying:

'A hundred elephants, a hundred steeds, a hundred chariots with mules 3,

'A hundred thousand virgins with their jewelled earrings on,--

1,

1,

'Has broken all the bars (to freedom of the mind) 2, has quenched the anguish in his heart,

'Has fixed peace in his mind, and peaceful, sleeps in peace 3.'

5 4. Then the Blessed One discoursed to Anâtha Pindika the householder in due order; that is to say, he spake to him of giving, of righteousness, of heaven, of the danger, the vanity, and the defilement of lusts, and of the advantages of renunciation. And when the Blessed One saw that Anâtha Pindika the householder had become prepared, softened, unprejudiced, and upraised and believing in heart, then he proclaimed that which is the special doctrine of the Buddhas; that is to say, Suffering, its Origin, its Cessation, and the Path. And just as a clean cloth from which all stain has been washed away will readily take the dye, just even so did Anâtha

1, O householder, for you to provide the Order of Bhikkhus, which has the Buddha at its head, with food.'

'It is not necessary, O householder; I have means sufficient for the purpose.'

[And the townsman of Râgagaha 2, and Seniya Bimbisâra the Râga of Magadha, made the same offer in the same words, and received the same reply.]

7. Then Anâtha Pindika the householder, when the night was far spent, made ready in the house of the Setthi of Râgagaha sweet food both hard and soft, and had the time announced to the Blessed One, saying, 'The time, Lord, has come; and the meal is ready.'

And the Blessed One, when he had dressed himself in the early morning, went duly bowled and

1. And when the Blessed One had finished his meal, and had cleansed his hands and his bowl, Anâtha Pindika took his seat on one side; and, so seated, he said to the Blessed One: 'May the Blessed One consent to spend the rainy season of Was at Sâvatthi, together with the Order of Bhikkhus.'

'The Tathâgatas, O householder, take pleasure in solitude.'

'I understand, O Blessed One; I understand, O Happy One' (was the reply) 2.

Then the Blessed One, after he had instructed and aroused and incited and gladdened Anâtha Pindika the householder with religious discourse, arose from his seat, and departed thence.

8. Now at that time Anâtha Pindika the householder had many friends and' large acquaintance, and his word was held of weight 3. When he had

1, 'Where now shall I fix the place for the Blessed One to stay in, not too far from the town and not too near, convenient for going and for coming, easily accessible for all who wish to visit him, by day not too crowded, by night not exposed to too much noise and alarm, protected from the wind 2, hidden from men, well fitted for a retired life?'

9. And Anâtha Pindika the householder saw that the garden of Geta the Kumâra had [all these advantages]. And when he saw that, he went to Geta the Kumâra, and said to him, 'Sir, let me have your garden to make an Ârâma on it.'

'It is not, Sir, for sale, even for (a sum so great that the pieces of money would be sufficient to cover it if they were) laid side by side.'

'I take, Sir, the garden at the price.'

'No, O householder, there was no bargain meant 3.'

1.

10. Now the gold that he had brought down the first time did not suffice (after the rest of the garden was covered) to cover one small space close by the gateway. So Anâtha Pindika the householder told his servants to go back and fetch more gold, saying he would cover that piece also.

Then thought Geta the Kumâra, 'This can be no ordinary matter 2 for which this householder is ready to lavish so much gold!' And he said to Anâtha Pindika the householder, 'It is enough, O householder. You need not have that space covered. Let me have that space, and it shall be my gift.'

Then Anâtha Pindika the householder thought 3, 'This Geta the Kumâra is a very distinguished and illustrious person. Great would be the efficacy of the adherence of so well known a man as he to this doctrine and discipline.' And he gave up that

1 dwelling-rooms, and retiring-rooms, and store-rooms (over the gateways), and service halls, and halls with fire-places in them, and storehouses (outside the Vihâra) 2, and closets, and cloisters, and halls for exercise, and wells, and sheds for the well 3, and bath-rooms, and halls attached to the bath-rooms, and ponds, and open-roofed sheds 4.

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Footnotes

179:1 Uttari-bhaṅgam. Childers sub voce uttari is in doubt what the meaning of this phrase is. It is no longer uncertain that the word means 'delicacy' of some sort. Whether the term was more 181:1 'Much more so with the reality' is to be understood. Compare Mahâ-parinibbâna Sutta VI, 63 (at the end).

181:2 On this rendering of Sammâ-sambuddham, see Rh. D.'s Hibbert Lectures,' pp. 145-147.

181:3 Assatari. Compare vakkhatarî at Mahâvagga V, 9, 1, 3. The word recurs below at VII, 2, 5.

182:1 Brâhmano parinibbuto. To translate the first of these words by 'Brahman' would mislead English readers. It is constantly used in early Buddhist texts for Arahat. On the use of 183:1 Nirûpadhi, i.e. free from Kâma, Kilesa, and Kamma.

183:2 Sabbâ âsattiyo khetvâ. Having cut or broken all the âsatti's (from the root sañg, 'to hang'), the things which hang on to and burden a man in his spiritual progress. Compare the figure of speech at Gâtaka I, 5 (âsattam kunapam khaddetvâ). Buddhaghosa says sabbâ âsattiyo khetvâ ti . . . . hadaye daratham kitte kilesa-daratham ginetvâ.

183:3 Vineyya and appuya are no doubt gerunds. In a corresponding passage of the Aṅguttara Nikâya the Phayre MS. reads appeyya, which smoothes over a difficulty at the expense of the better reading.

183:4 The following section is in identical terms with Mahâvagga I, 7, 5, 10, V, I, 9, 10, VI, 26, 8, 9.

185:1 Veyyâyikam formed from vyaya, expenditure. Veyyâyikan ti vayakaranam vukkati (B.).

185:2 Râgagahako negamo. This person has been already mentioned, and there also in intimate connection with the Setthi of Râgagaha, in the Mahâvagga VIII, 1, 2, 16. It is tolerably clear from the connection that this is no ordinary citizen, but one holding a distinct and semi-official position. In this respect the word is an exact parallel to its neighbour the Setthi. For instances of the word in its more general sense, see Kakkâyana (ed. Senart), p. 219, and Dâthâvamsa III, 3.

186:1 Compare the note on Mahâvagga I, 8, 4.

186:2 Aññâtam bhagavâ aññâtam sugatâ ti. The first word is the standing expression used when the Buddha or a Thera has signified a request, not in so many words, but in some phrase from which the request may be implied, and the person addressed desires to express that he has perceived the intended implication. Compare Dîpavamsa XIV, 65, XV, 5.

186:3 Adeyyavâko ti tassa vakanam bahuganâ mânetabbam maññantî ti attho (B.). In Puggala III, 11, we have the phrase tassa vakanam âdheyyam gakkhati, which the commentary explains by hadaye âdhâtabbam thapitabbam.

187:1 The following speech is identical with that put into Bimbisâra's mouth on choosing the Veluvana, above Mahâvagga I, 22, 16, 17.

187:2 Viganavâtam, of which neither the reading nor the meaning is certain. See the various forms given from the commentaries in the notes on the text of the passage in the Mahâvagga, loc. cit.

187:3 Na gahito: literally, 'it is not taken.'

188:1 It is evident from the illustration of this story on a bas relief at the Bharhut Tope that these pieces of money were supposed to be square, not round. See Cunningham's 'The Stûpa of Bharhut,' Plate No. LVII and pp. 84-86.

188:2 Na orakam bhavissati. Compare Mahâvagga I, y, I, and the commencement of our next chapter below. The idiom recurs in VII, 3, 3.

188:3 The following phrase is identical with that put into the mouth of Ânanda, at Mahâvagga VI, 36, 3, with respect to Roga the Malla. In the text here there is a slight misprint; the full-stop after ñâtamanusso should be struck out.

189:1 With the following list should be compared the list of things that laymen build for themselves given in Mahâvagga III, 5, 7.

189:2 Kappiya-kutiyo. See Mahâvagga VI, 33.

189:3 Udapâna-sâlâyo. See above, V, 16, 2.

189:4 Mandape. See Mahâvagga VIII, 1, 1, and above, Kullavagga VI, 3, 7.