{"collection":"Majjhima Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_mn92/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_mn92","id":"suttacentral_mn92","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/mn92/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Majjhima Nikaya"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was wandering together with a large Sa\u1e45gha of 1,250 mendicants in the land of the A\u1e45guttar\u0101pans when he arrived at a town of theirs named \u0100pa\u1e47a. The matted-hair ascetic Ke\u1e47iya heard: \u201cIt seems the ascetic Gotama\u2014a Sakyan, gone forth from a Sakyan family\u2014has arrived at \u0100pa\u1e47a, together with a large Sa\u1e45gha of 1,250 mendicants. He has this good reputation: \u2018That Blessed One is perfected, a fully awakened Buddha, accomplished in knowledge and conduct, holy, knower of the world, supreme guide for those fit for training, teacher of gods and humans, awakened, blessed.\u2019 He has realized with his own insight this world\u2014with its gods, M\u0101ras, and divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, gods and humans\u2014and he makes it known to others. He proclaims a teaching that\u2019s good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, meaningful and well-phrased. And he reveals a spiritual practice that\u2019s entirely full and pure. It\u2019s good to see such perfected ones.\u201d So Ke\u1e47iya approached the Buddha and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side. The Buddha educated, encouraged, fired up, and inspired him with a Dhamma talk. Then he said to the Buddha, \u201cWould Worthy Gotama together with the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha please accept tomorrow\u2019s meal from me?\u201d When he said this, the Buddha said to him, \u201cThe Sa\u1e45gha is large, Ke\u1e47iya; there are 1,250 mendicants. And you are devoted to the brahmins.\u201d For a second time, Ke\u1e47iya asked the Buddha to accept a meal offering. \u201cNever mind that the Sa\u1e45gha is large, with 1,250 mendicants, and that I am devoted to the brahmins. Would Worthy Gotama together with the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha please accept tomorrow\u2019s meal from me?\u201d And for a second time, the Buddha gave the same reply. For a third time, Ke\u1e47iya asked the Buddha to accept a meal offering. \u201cNever mind that the Sa\u1e45gha is large, with 1,250 mendicants, and that I am devoted to the brahmins. Would Worthy Gotama together with the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha please accept tomorrow\u2019s meal from me?\u201d The Buddha consented with silence. Then, knowing that the Buddha had consented, Ke\u1e47iya rose from his seat and went to his own hermitage. There he addressed his friends and colleagues, relatives and kin, \u201cMy friends and colleagues, relatives and kin: please listen! The ascetic Gotama together with the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha has been invited by me for tomorrow\u2019s meal. Please help me out with the manual preparations.\u201d \u201cYes, worthy sir,\u201d they replied. Some dug ovens, some chopped wood, some washed dishes, some set up a water jar, and some spread out seats. Meanwhile, Ke\u1e47iya set up the pavilion himself. Now at that time the brahmin Sela was residing in \u0100pa\u1e47a. He had mastered the three Vedas, together with their vocabularies and ritual performance, their phonology and word classification, and the testaments as fifth. He knew them word-by-word, and their grammar. He was well versed in cosmology and the marks of a great man. And he was teaching three hundred young students to recite the hymns. And at that time Ke\u1e47iya was devoted to Sela. Then Sela, while going for a walk escorted by the three hundred young students, approached Ke\u1e47iya\u2019s hermitage. He saw the preparations going on, and said to Ke\u1e47iya, \u201cWorthy Ke\u1e47iya, is your son or daughter being married? Or are you setting up a grand sacrifice? Or has King Seniya Bimbis\u0101ra of Magadha been invited for tomorrow\u2019s meal?\u201d \u201cThere is no marriage, Worthy Sela, and the king is not coming. Rather, I am setting up a grand sacrifice. The ascetic Gotama has arrived at \u0100pa\u1e47a, together with a large Sa\u1e45gha of 1,250 mendicants. He has this good reputation: \u2018That Blessed One is perfected, a fully awakened Buddha, accomplished in knowledge and conduct, holy, knower of the world, supreme guide for those fit for training, teacher of gods and humans, awakened, blessed.\u2019 He has been invited by me for tomorrow\u2019s meal together with the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha.\u201d \u201cDid you say \u2018the awakened one\u2019?\u201d \u201cI said \u2018the awakened one\u2019.\u201d \u201cDid you say \u2018the awakened one\u2019?\u201d \u201cI said \u2018the awakened one\u2019.\u201d Then Sela thought: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to even find the word \u2018awakened one\u2019 in the world. The thirty-two marks of a great man have been handed down in our hymns. A great man who possesses these has only two possible destinies, no other. If he stays at home he becomes a king, a wheel-turning monarch, a just and principled king. His dominion extends to all four sides, he achieves stability in the country, and he possesses the seven treasures. He has the following seven treasures: the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the jewel, the woman, the householder, and the commander as the seventh treasure. He has over a thousand sons who are valiant and heroic, crushing the armies of his enemies. After conquering this land girt by sea, he reigns by principle, without rod or sword. But if he goes forth from the lay life to homelessness, he becomes a perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha, who casts off the veil from the world.\u201d He said, \u201cBut Ke\u1e47iya, where is the Blessed One at present, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha?\u201d When he said this, Ke\u1e47iya pointed with his right arm and said, \u201cThere, worthy Sela, at that line of blue forest.\u201d Then Sela, together with his young students, approached the Buddha. He said to his young students, \u201cCome quietly, gentlemen, tread gently. For the Buddhas are intimidating, like a lion living alone. When I\u2019m consulting with the ascetic Gotama, don\u2019t interrupt. Wait until I\u2019ve finished speaking.\u201d Then Sela went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side, and scrutinized the Buddha\u2019s body for the thirty-two marks of a great man. He saw all of them except two, which he had doubts about: whether the private parts were sheathed in a foreskin, and the largeness of the tongue. Then it occurred to the Buddha, \u201cSela sees all the marks except two, which he has doubts about: whether the private parts are sheathed in a foreskin, and the largeness of the tongue.\u201d The Buddha used his psychic power to will that Sela would see his private parts sheathed in a foreskin. And he stuck out his tongue and stroked back and forth on his ear holes and nostrils, and covered his entire forehead with his tongue. Then Sela thought, \u201cThe ascetic Gotama possesses the thirty-two marks completely, lacking none. But I don\u2019t know whether or not he is an awakened one. I have heard that brahmins of the past who were elderly and senior, the tutors of tutors, said, \u2018Those who are perfected ones, fully awakened Buddhas reveal themselves when praised.\u2019 Why don\u2019t I extoll him in his presence with fitting verses?\u201d Then Sela extolled the Buddha in his presence with fitting verses: \u201cO Blessed One, your body\u2019s perfect, you\u2019re radiant, handsome, lovely to behold; golden colored, with teeth so white; you\u2019re strong. The characteristics of a handsome man, the marks of a great man, are all found on your body. Your eyes are clear, your face is fair, you\u2019re formidable, upright, majestic. In the midst of the Sa\u1e45gha of ascetics, you dazzle like the sun. You\u2019re a mendicant fine to see, with skin that shines like lustrous gold. But with such excellent appearance, what do you want with the ascetic life? You\u2019re fit to be a king, a wheel-turning monarch, chief of charioteers, victorious in the four quarters, lord of the Black Plum Tree Land. Aristocrats, nobles, and kings ought follow your rule. Gotama, may you reign as king of kings, lord of mankind!\u201d \u201cI am a king, Sela, the supreme king of the teaching. By the teaching I roll forth the wheel which cannot be rolled back.\u201d \u201cYou claim to be awakened, the supreme king of the teaching. \u2018I roll forth the teaching\u2019: so you say, Gotama. Then who is your general, the disciple who follows the Teacher\u2019s way? Who keeps rolling the wheel of the teaching you rolled forth?\u201d \u201cBy me the wheel was rolled forth,\u201d said the Buddha, \u201cthe supreme wheel of the teaching. S\u0101riputta, taking after the Realized One, keeps it rolling on. I have known what should be known, and developed what should be developed, and given up what should be given up: and so, brahmin, I am a Buddha. Dispel your doubt in me\u2014 make up your mind, brahmin! The sight of a Buddha is hard to find again. I am a Buddha, brahmin, the supreme surgeon, one of those whose appearance in the world is hard to find again. A manifestation of divinity, unequaled, crusher of M\u0101ra\u2019s army; having subdued all my opponents, I rejoice, fearing nothing from any quarter.\u201d \u201cPay heed, sirs, to what is spoken by the Clear-eyed One. The surgeon, the great hero, roars like a lion in the jungle. A manifestation of divinity, unequaled, crusher of M\u0101ra\u2019s army; who would not be inspired by him, even one born in a dark class? Those who wish may follow me; those who don\u2019t may go. Right here, I\u2019ll go forth in his presence, the one of such outstanding wisdom.\u201d \u201cSir, if you endorse the teaching of the Buddha, we\u2019ll also go forth in his presence, the one of such outstanding wisdom.\u201d \u201cThese three hundred brahmins with cupped palms held up, ask: \u2018May we lead the spiritual life in your presence, Blessed One?\u2019\u201d \u201cThe spiritual life is well explained,\u201d said the Buddha, \u201capparent in the present life, immediately effective. Here the going forth isn\u2019t in vain for one who trains with diligence.\u201d And the brahmin Sela together with his assembly received the going forth, the ordination in the Buddha\u2019s presence. And when the night had passed Ke\u1e47iya had delicious fresh and cooked foods prepared in his own hermitage. Then he had the Buddha informed of the time, saying, \u201cIt\u2019s time, worthy Gotama, the meal is ready.\u201d Then the Buddha robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, went to Ke\u1e47iya\u2019s hermitage, where he sat down on the seat spread out together with the Sa\u1e45gha of mendicants. Then Ke\u1e47iya served and satisfied the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha headed by the Buddha with his own hands with delicious fresh and cooked foods. When the Buddha had eaten and washed his hand and bowl, Ke\u1e47iya took a low seat and sat to one side. The Buddha expressed his appreciation with these verses: \u201cThe foremost of sacrifices <j>is the offering to the sacred flame; the S\u0101vitr\u012b is the foremost of prayer; of humans, the king is the foremost; the ocean\u2019s the foremost of rivers; the foremost of stars is the moon; the sun is the foremost of blazes; for those who sacrifice seeking merit, the Sa\u1e45gha is the foremost.\u201d When the Buddha had expressed his appreciation to Ke\u1e47iya the matted-hair ascetic with these verses, he rose from his seat and left. Then Venerable Sela and his assembly, living alone, withdrawn, diligent, keen, and resolute, soon realized the supreme culmination of the spiritual path in this very life. They lived having achieved with their own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness. They understood: \u201cRebirth is ended; the spiritual journey has been completed; what had to be done has been done; there is nothing further for this place.\u201d And Venerable Sela together with his assembly became perfected. Then Sela with his assembly went to the Buddha. He arranged his robe over one shoulder, raised his joined palms toward the Buddha, and said: \u201cThis is the eighth day since we went for refuge, O Clear-eyed One. In these seven days, Blessed One, we\u2019ve become tamed in your teaching. You are the Buddha, you are the Teacher, you are the sage who has overcome M\u0101ra; you have cut off the underlying tendencies, you\u2019ve crossed over, and you bring humanity across. You have transcended attachments, your defilements are shattered; like a lion free of grasping, with fear and dread given up. These three hundred mendicants stand with cupped palms raised. Stretch out your feet, great hero: let these giants bow to the Teacher.\u201d","title":"With Sela","tradition":"Majjhima Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":2038}