{"collection":"Khuddaka Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_snp3.4/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_snp3.4","id":"suttacentral_snp3.4","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/snp3.4/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Khuddaka Nikaya"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the Kosalan lands on the bank of the Sundarik\u0101 River. Now at that time the brahmin Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja of Sundarik\u0101 was serving the sacred flame and performing the fire sacrifice on the bank of the Sundarik\u0101. Then he rose from his seat and surveyed the four quarters, wondering, \u201cNow who might eat the leftovers of this oblation?\u201d He saw the Buddha meditating at the root of a certain tree with his robe pulled over his head. Taking the leftovers of the oblation in his left hand and a pitcher in the right he approached the Buddha. When he heard Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja of Sundarik\u0101\u2019s footsteps the Buddha uncovered his head. Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja of Sundarik\u0101 thought, \u201cThis man is shaven, he is shaven!\u201d And he wanted to turn back. But he thought, \u201cEven some brahmins are shaven. Why don\u2019t I go to him and ask about his birth?\u201d Then the brahmin Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja of Sundarik\u0101 went up to the Buddha, and said to him, \u201cSir, what are you by birth?\u201d Then the Buddha addressed Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja of Sundarik\u0101 in verse: \u201cI am no brahmin, nor am I a ruler, nor peasant nor anything else. Fully understanding the clan of ordinary people, I wander in the world owning nothing, reflective. Clad in my cloak, I wander without home, my hair shorn, quenched. Since I\u2019m unburdened by sons of Manu, it\u2019s inappropriate to ask me about clan.\u201d \u201cActually sir, when brahmins meet they politely ask each other whether they are brahmins.\u201d \u201cWell, if you say that you\u2019re a brahmin, and that I am not, I shall question you on that S\u0101vitr\u012b Prayer, with its three lines and twenty-four syllables.\u201d \u201cOn what grounds have seers and men, aristocrats and brahmins here in the world performed so many different sacrifices to the gods?\u201d \u201cDuring a sacrifice, should a past-master, <j>a knowledge master, receive an oblation, it profits the donor, I say.\u201d \u201cThen clearly my oblation will be profitable,\u201d said the brahmin, \u201csince I have met such a knowledge master. It\u2019s because I\u2019d never met anyone like you that others ate the sacrificial cake.\u201d \u201cSo then, brahmin, since you have approached me as a seeker of the good, ask. Perhaps you may find here someone intelligent, peaceful, unclouded, untroubled, <j>with no need for hope.\u201d \u201cWorthy Gotama, I like to sacrifice and wish to perform a sacrifice. Please advise me, for I do not understand where an oblation is profitable; tell me this.\u201d \u201cWell then, brahmin, listen up, I will teach you the Dhamma. Don\u2019t ask about birth, ask about conduct; for the fire of J\u0101taveda is born from sticks. A steadfast sage, even though from a low class family, is a thoroughbred checked by conscience. Tamed by truth, fulfilled by taming, a complete knowledge master <j>who has completed the spiritual journey\u2014 that is where a brahmin seeking merit should bestow a timely oblation as sacrifice. Those who have left sensuality behind, <j>wandering homeless, self-controlled, straight as a shuttle\u2014 that is where a brahmin seeking merit should bestow a timely oblation as sacrifice. Those freed of greed, with senses stilled, like the moon released from the eclipse\u2014 that is where a brahmin seeking merit should bestow a timely oblation as sacrifice. They wander the world unobstructed, always mindful, calling nothing their own\u2014 that is where a brahmin seeking merit should bestow a timely oblation as sacrifice. Having left sensuality behind, <j>wandering triumphant, knowing the end of rebirth and death, quenched and cool as a lake: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake. Good among the good, far from the bad, the Realized One has infinite wisdom. Unsullied in this life and the next: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake. In whom dwells no deceit or conceit, rid of greed, unselfish, <j>with no need for hope, with anger cast aside, quenched, a brahmin rid of sorrow\u2019s stain: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake. He has given up the mind\u2019s home, and has no possessions at all. Not grasping to this life or the next: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake. Serene, he has crossed the flood, and has understood the teaching with ultimate view. With defilements ended, bearing his final body: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake. In whom desire to be reborn, and caustic speech are cleared and ended, and are no more; that knowledge master, everywhere free: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake. He has slipped his chains, he\u2019s chained no more, among those caught in conceit he is free of conceit; he has fully understood suffering <j>with its field and ground: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake. Not relying on hope, seeing seclusion, well past the views proclaimed by others. In him there are no supporting conditions at all: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake. He has comprehended all things, high and low, cleared them and ended them, so they are no more. Peaceful, freed in the ending of grasping: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake. He sees the ending of rebirth\u2019s fetter, and has cast aside all manner of desire. Pure, stainless, immaculate, flawless: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake. Not seeing himself in terms of a self, he is stilled, sincere, and steadfast. Imperturbable, kind, wishless: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake. He harbors no delusions within at all, he has insight into all things. He bears his final body, attained to the state of grace, the supreme awakening. That\u2019s how the purity of a spirit is defined: the Realized One is worthy of the sacrificial cake.\u201d \u201cLet my oblation be a true offering, since I have found such a knowledge master! I see divinity in person! <j>Accept my offering, Blessed One: please eat my sacrificial cake.\u201d \u201cFood enchanted by a verse isn\u2019t fit for me to eat. That\u2019s not the principle of those who see, brahmin. The Buddhas cast aside things enchanted with verses. Since there is such a principle, brahmin, <j>that\u2019s how they live. Serve with other food and drink the consummate one, the great seer, with defilements ended and remorse stilled. For he is the field for the seeker of merit.\u201d \u201cPlease, Blessed One, help me understand: now that I have found your teaching, when I look for someone during a sacrifice, who should eat the <j>religious donation of one like me?\u201d \u201cOne who is rid of aggression, whose mind is unclouded, who is liberated from sensual pleasures, and who has cast aside dullness. One who has erased perimeters and limits, expert in birth and death, a sage, blessed with sagacity. When such a person comes to the sacrifice, get rid of your scowl! Honor them with cupped palms, and venerate them with food and drink, and in this way your religious donation will succeed.\u201d \u201cThe Buddha is worthy of the sacrificial cake, he is the supreme field of merit, recipient of gifts from the whole world; what\u2019s given to the worthy one is very fruitful.\u201d Then the brahmin Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja of Sundarik\u0101 said to the Buddha, \u201cExcellent, worthy Gotama! Excellent! As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what\u2019s there, worthy Gotama has made the teaching clear in many ways. I go for refuge to the worthy Gotama, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha. May I receive the going forth, the ordination in the worthy Gotama\u2019s presence?\u201d And the brahmin Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja of Sundarik\u0101 received the going forth, the ordination in the Buddha\u2019s presence. And soon after, he became one of the perfected.","title":"With Bh\u0101radv\u0101ja of Sundarik\u0101 on the Sacrificial Cake","tradition":"Khuddaka Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":1297}