{"collection":"Khuddaka Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_ud6.4/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_ud6.4","id":"suttacentral_ud6.4","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/ud6.4/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Khuddaka Nikaya"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near S\u0101vatth\u012b in Jeta\u2019s Grove, An\u0101thapi\u1e47\u1e0dika\u2019s monastery. Now at that time several ascetics, brahmins, and wanderers who followed various other religions were residing in S\u0101vatth\u012b, holding different views, beliefs, and opinions, relying on different views. There were some ascetics and brahmins who had this doctrine and view: \u201cThe cosmos is eternal. This is the only truth, anything else is futile.\u201d Others held views such as the following, each regarding their own view as true and others as silly. \u201cThe cosmos is not eternal.\u201d \u201cThe cosmos is finite.\u201d \u201cThe cosmos is infinite.\u201d \u201cThe soul and the body are one and the same.\u201d \u201cThe soul is one thing, the body another.\u201d \u201cA realized one still exists after death.\u201d \u201cA realized one no longer exists after death.\u201d \u201cA realized one both still exists and no longer exists after death.\u201d \u201cA realized one neither still exists nor no longer exists after death.\u201d They were fighting, quarreling, and disputing, continually wounding each other with barbed words: \u201cSuch is Truth, such is not Truth! Such is not Truth, such is Truth!\u201d Then several mendicants robed up in the morning and, taking their bowls and robes, entered S\u0101vatth\u012b for alms. Then, after the meal, when they returned from almsround, they went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and told him what was happening. The Buddha said: \u201cThe wanderers of other religions are blind and sightless. They don\u2019t understand what is beneficial or what is not beneficial, nor what is the truth and what is not the truth. That\u2019s why they are fighting, quarreling, and disputing, continually wounding each other with barbed words. Once upon a time, mendicants, right here in S\u0101vatth\u012b there was a certain king. Then the king addressed a man, \u2018Please, my man, gather all those blind from birth throughout S\u0101vatth\u012b and bring them together in one place.\u2019 \u2018Yes, Your Majesty,\u2019 that man replied. He did as the king asked, then said to him, \u2018Your Majesty, the blind people throughout S\u0101vatth\u012b have been gathered.\u2019 \u2018Well then, lad, show them an elephant.\u2019 \u2018Yes, Your Majesty,\u2019 that man replied. He did as the king asked. To some of the blind people he showed the elephant\u2019s head, saying, \u2018Here is the elephant.\u2019 To some of them he showed the elephant\u2019s ear, saying, \u2018Here is the elephant.\u2019 To some of them he showed the elephant\u2019s tusk, saying, \u2018Here is the elephant.\u2019 To some of them he showed the elephant\u2019s trunk, saying, \u2018Here is the elephant.\u2019 To some of them he showed the elephant\u2019s flank, saying, \u2018Here is the elephant.\u2019 To some of them he showed the elephant\u2019s leg, saying, \u2018Here is the elephant.\u2019 To some of them he showed the elephant\u2019s thigh, saying, \u2018Here is the elephant.\u2019 To some of them he showed the elephant\u2019s tail, saying, \u2018Here is the elephant.\u2019 To some of them he showed the tip of the elephant\u2019s tail, saying, \u2018Here is the elephant.\u2019 Then he approached the king and said, \u2018Your Majesty, the blind people have been shown the elephant. Please go at your convenience.\u2019 Then the king went up to the blind people and said, \u2018Have you seen the elephant?\u2019 \u2018Yes, Your Majesty, we have been shown the elephant.\u2019 \u2018Then tell us, what kind of thing is an elephant?\u2019 The blind people who had been shown the elephant\u2019s head said, \u2018Your Majesty, an elephant is like a pot.\u2019 Those who had been shown the ear said, \u2018An elephant is like a winnowing fan.\u2019 Those who had been shown the tusk said, \u2018An elephant is like a ploughshare.\u2019 Those who had been shown the trunk said, \u2018An elephant is like a draft-pole.\u2019 Those who had been shown the flank said, \u2018An elephant is like a storehouse.\u2019 Those who had been shown the leg said, \u2018An elephant is like a pillar.\u2019 Those who had been shown the thigh said, \u2018An elephant is like a mortar.\u2019 Those who had been shown the tail said, \u2018An elephant is like a pestle.\u2019 Those who had been shown the tip of the tail said, \u2018An elephant is like a broom.\u2019 Saying, \u2018Such is an elephant, not such! Such is not an elephant, such is!\u2019 they punched each other with their fists. At that, the king was pleased. In the same way, mendicants, the wanderers of other religions are blind and sightless. They don\u2019t understand what is beneficial or what is not beneficial, nor what is the truth and what is not the truth. That\u2019s why they are fighting, quarreling, and disputing, continually wounding each other with barbed words. \u2018Such is Truth, such is not! Such is not Truth, such is!\u2019\u201d Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment: \u201cSome ascetics and brahmins, it seems, cling to these things. Arguing, they dispute, the folk who see just one part.\u201d","title":"Followers of Various Other Religions (1st)","tradition":"Khuddaka Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":809}