{"collection":"Khuddaka Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_snp5.1/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_snp5.1","id":"suttacentral_snp5.1","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/snp5.1/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Khuddaka Nikaya"],"text":"From the fair city of the Kosalans to the southern region came a brahmin expert in hymns, aspiring to nothingness. He settled in a region under the shared dominion of Assaka and Mu\u1e37aka, where he lived on the bank of the God\u0101var\u012b River, getting by on gleanings and fruit. He was supported by a prosperous village nearby. With the revenue earned from there he performed a great sacrifice. When he had completed the great sacrifice, he returned to his hermitage once more. Upon his return, another brahmin arrived. Foot-sore and thirsty, with grotty teeth and dusty head, he approached the other and asked for five hundred coins. When B\u0101vari saw him, he invited him to sit down, asked of his happiness and well-being, and said the following. \u201cWhatever I had available to give, I have already distributed. Believe me, brahmin, I don\u2019t have five hundred coins.\u201d \u201cIf, good fellow, you do not give me what I ask, then on the seventh day, let your head explode in seven!\u201d After performing a ritual, that charlatan uttered his dreadful curse. When he heard these words, B\u0101vari became distressed. Not eating, he grew emaciated, stricken by the dart of sorrow. And in such a state of mind, he could not enjoy absorption. Seeing him anxious and distraught, a goddess wishing to help, approached B\u0101vari and said the following. \u201cThat charlatan understands nothing about the head, he only wants money. When it comes to heads or head-splitting, he has no knowledge at all.\u201d \u201cThen you, Madam, must know\u2014 please answer my question. Let me hear what you say about heads and head-splitting.\u201d \u201cI too do not know that, I have no knowledge in that matter. When it comes to heads or head-splitting, it is the Victors who have vision.\u201d \u201cSo who then, in all this vast territory, does know about heads and head-splitting? Please tell me, goddess.\u201d \u201cFrom the city of Kapilavatthu the World Leader has gone forth. He is a scion of King Okk\u0101ka, a Sakyan, and a beacon. For he, brahmin, is the Awakened One! He has gone beyond all things; he has attained to all knowledge and power; his eye sees clearly in all things, he has attained the end of all deeds; he is freed with the ending of attachments. That Buddha, the Blessed One in the world, the Clear-eyed One, teaches Dhamma. Go to him and ask\u2014 he will answer you.\u201d When he heard the word \u201cBuddha\u201d, B\u0101vari was elated. His sorrow faded, and he was filled to brimming with joy. Uplifted, elated, and inspired, B\u0101vari questioned that goddess: \u201cBut in what village or town, or in what land is the protector of the world, where we may go and pay respects to the Awakened One, best of men?\u201d \u201cNear S\u0101vatth\u012b, home of the Kosalans, <j>is the Victor abounding in wisdom, vast in intelligence. That Sakyan is indefatigable, free of defilements, that captain of men understands head-splitting.\u201d Therefore he addressed his acolytes, brahmins who had mastered the hymns: \u201cCome, students, I shall speak. Listen to what I say. Today has arisen in the world one whose appearance in the world is hard to find again\u2014 he is renowned as the Awakened One. Quickly go to S\u0101vatth\u012b and see the best of men.\u201d \u201cBrahmin, how then are we to know the Buddha when we see him? We don\u2019t know, please tell us, so we can recognize him.\u201d \u201cThe marks of a great man have been handed down in our hymns. Thirty-two have been described, complete and in order. One upon whose body is found these marks of a great man has two possible destinies, there is no third. If he stays at home, having conquered this land without rod or sword, he shall govern by principle. But if he goes forth from the lay life to homelessness, he becomes an Awakened One, a perfected one, with veil cast off, supreme. Ask him about my birth, clan, and marks, my hymns and acolytes; and further, about heads and head-splitting\u2014 but do so only in your mind! If he is the Buddha of unhindered vision, he will answer with his voice the questions in your mind.\u201d Sixteen brahmin acolytes heard what B\u0101vari said: Ajita, Tissametteyya, Pu\u1e47\u1e47aka and Mettag\u016b, Dhotaka and Upas\u012bva, Nanda and then Hemaka, both Todeyya and Kappa, and Jatuka\u1e47\u1e47\u012b the astute, Bhadr\u0101vudha and Udaya, and the brahmin Pos\u0101la, Moghar\u0101ja the intelligent, and Pi\u1e45giya the great seer. Each of them had their own following, they were renowned the whole world over. Those attentive ones, <j>meditators who love absorption, were redolent with the potential <j>of their past deeds. Having bowed to B\u0101vari, and circled him to his right, they set out for the north, with their dreadlocks and hides. First to Pati\u1e6d\u1e6dh\u0101na of Mu\u1e37aka, then on to the citadel of M\u0101hissat\u012b; to Ujjen\u012b and Gonaddh\u0101, and Vedisa, and Vanasa. Then to Kosamb\u012b and S\u0101keta, and the capital city of S\u0101vatth\u012b; on they went to Setavy\u0101 and Kapilavatthu, and the homestead at Kusin\u0101r\u0101. To P\u0101v\u0101 they went, and Bhoga City, and on to Ves\u0101l\u012b and the Magadhan city. Finally they reached the P\u0101s\u0101\u1e47aka Shrine, fair and delightful. Like a thirsty person to cool water, like a merchant to great profit, like a heat-struck person to shade, they quickly climbed the mountain. At that time the Buddha, at the fore of the mendicant Sa\u1e45gha, was teaching the mendicants the Dhamma, like a lion roaring in the jungle. Ajita saw the Buddha, like the sun shining with a hundred rays, like the moon on the fifteenth day when it has come into its fullness. Then he saw his body, complete in all features. Thrilled, he stood to one side and asked this question in his mind. \u201cSpeak about the brahmin\u2019s birth; of his clan; and his own marks; what hymns is he proficient in; and how many he teaches.\u201d \u201cHis age is a hundred and twenty. By clan he is a B\u0101vari. There are three marks on his body. He is a master of the three Vedas, the teachings on the marks, the testaments, the vocabularies, and the rituals. He teaches recitation to five hundred, and has reached proficiency in his own teaching.\u201d \u201cO supreme man, cutter of craving, please reveal in detail B\u0101vari\u2019s marks\u2014 let us doubt no longer!\u201d \u201cHe can cover his face with his tongue; there is a tuft of hair between his eyebrows; his private parts are sheathed in a foreskin: know them as this, student.\u201d Hearing the answers without having heard any questions, all the people, inspired, with cupped palms, wondered: \u201cWho is it that asked a question with their mind? Was it a god or divinity? Or Indra, Suj\u0101\u2019s husband? To whom does the Buddha reply?\u201d \u201cB\u0101vari asks about heads and head-splitting. May the Buddha please answer, and so, O seer, dispel our doubt.\u201d \u201cKnow ignorance as the head, and knowledge as the head-splitter, when joined with faith, mindfulness, and immersion, and enthusiasm and energy.\u201d At that, the student, full of inspiration, arranged his antelope-skin cloak over one shoulder, and fell with his head to the Buddha\u2019s feet. \u201cGood fellow, the brahmin B\u0101vari together with his acolytes, elated and happy, bows to your feet, O Clear-eyed One!\u201d \u201cMay the brahmin B\u0101vari be happy, together with his acolytes. And may you, too, be happy! May you live long, student. To B\u0101vari and you all I grant the opportunity to clear up all doubt. Please ask whatever you want.\u201d Granted the opportunity by the Buddha, they sat down with cupped palms. Ajita asked the Realized One the first question right there. The introductory verses are finished.","title":"Introductory Verses","tradition":"Khuddaka Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":1265}