English
he teaches what is beautiful in the beginning; in accordance with the trainable, with the non-perversion of the meaning, and with reasons, examples, and logic, he teaches what is beautiful in the middle; and with the acquisition of faith by the listeners and with the conclusion, he teaches what is beautiful in the end. Teaching thus, he proclaims the holy life. And that, because of its clarity of attainment through practice, is “with the meaning”; because of its clarity of tradition through study, is “with the letter”; because it is endowed with the five aggregates of virtue and so on, it is “entirely complete”; because it proceeds for the purpose of liberation from defilements, and is independent of worldly allurements, it is “pure”; and because it is the conduct of those who are supreme, who have become Brahma-like— Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, and disciples of the Buddha— it is called “the holy life.” Therefore, it is said: “He teaches the Dhamma, beautiful in the beginning… proclaims the holy life.” “Indeed, it is good” means “indeed, it is beautiful, beneficial, and brings happiness.” “Of such Arahants” means “of Arahants who are renowned in the world as Arahants due to their attainment of true qualities, just as the Venerable Gotama is.” “There is a sight” means having opened his eyes with serene and gentle gaze, thinking, “even the mere sight is good,” then the brahmin Verañja approached the Blessed One. “Yena” is an instrumental case in the sense of location. Therefore, the meaning here should be understood as: “where the Blessed One was, there he approached.” Or, the meaning here should be understood as: “for whatever reason the Blessed One should be approached by gods and humans, for that reason he approached.” And for what reason should the Blessed One be approached? With the intention of attaining various special qualities, like a great tree constantly bearing fruit, approached by flocks of birds with the intention of enjoying its delicious fruits. “Upasaṅkamī” means “he went.” “Upasaṅkamitvā” indicates the completion of the approach. Or, having gone thus to a closer place, called the vicinity of the Blessed One, having gone It is also said. "He exchanged greetings with the Blessed One" means that just as the Blessed One asked him about his health and so on, so too did he exchange greetings with the Blessed One, becoming one, like cold water mixed with hot water. And the conversation with which he exchanged greetings, such as "Is it well with you, Gotama? Is it bearable? Are you, Gotama, and your disciples free from illness, free from affliction, light in body, strong, and living comfortably?" — that greeting, called joy and delight, is "to be rejoiced in" because it generates joy and is fit to be rejoiced in. It is "to be remembered" because of the sweetness of its meaning and expression, making it worthy of being continuously maintained and remembered for a long time. Or, it is "to be rejoiced in" because of the happiness experienced when it is heard, and "to be remembered" because of the happiness experienced when it is recalled. Similarly, it is "to be rejoiced in" because of the purity of its expression, and "to be remembered" because of the purity of its meaning. Thus, having concluded and finished such a conversation, which was "to be rejoiced in" and "to be remembered" in many ways, he sat down to one side, wishing to ask what he had come for. "To one side" is a neuter noun indicating a state, as in "the moon and sun revolve unevenly" (A.N. 4.70). Therefore, the meaning here should be understood as: he sat down in such a way that he was sitting to one side. Or, this is a locative case usage. "He sat down" means he took a seat. Indeed, wise people, when approaching one worthy of respect, sit down to one side, being skilled in seating. And he was one of them, so he sat down to one side. But how does one sit to one side? By avoiding six faults of sitting. Namely: too far, too near, upwind, on a higher place, too directly in front, and too directly behind. One who sits too far away, if he wishes to speak, has to speak in a loud voice. One who sits too near causes crowding. One who sits upwind bothers with body odor. One who sits on a higher place shows disrespect. One who sits too directly in front If he wishes to see, being seated too close, he must see by bringing eye to eye. If he wishes to see, being seated too far, he must see by stretching out his neck. Therefore, he too avoided these six faults of sitting and sat down. Thus it was said: "He sat down to one side." "Having sat down to one side, the brahmin Verañja spoke thus to the Blessed One"— this shows the meaning now to be spoken. The 'da' is for word-joining. 'Avoca' means he spoke. "I have heard this"— "I have heard this," "this has been heard by me"— this shows the meaning now to be spoken. "Good Gotama"— he addresses the Blessed One by his clan name. Now, showing what he had heard, he said, "The ascetic Gotama does not," and so on. Here is the explanation of the obscure words: 'Brāhmaṇa' means brahmins by birth. 'Jiṇṇa' means worn out, made decrepit by old age, having reached a state of brokenness and so on. 'Vuḍḍha' means having reached the limit of growth of limbs and body parts. 'Mahallaka' means endowed with the greatness of birth, it is said to mean born a long time ago. 'Addhagata' means gone a long way, the meaning is having passed two or three royal generations. 'Vayo anuppatta' means having reached the last stage of life, the last stage of life is the last third of a hundred years. Moreover, 'Jiṇṇa' means ancient, it is said to mean of a lineage that has continued for a long time. 'Vuḍḍha' means endowed with the growth of virtues like morality and conduct. 'Mahallaka' means endowed with great wealth, greatly rich, greatly prosperous. 'Addhagata' means entered upon the path, behaving without transgressing the customs of brahmin observances. 'Vayoanuppatta' means having reached the old age of birth, the final stage of life— this is how the connection should be understood here. Now, "he salutes," and so on, should be connected with "the ascetic Gotama does not" in the way mentioned there, and understood in meaning thus: "He does not bow, nor does he rise from his seat, nor does he invite with a seat, saying, 'Please, sirs, sit here.'" Here, the word 'vā' is in the sense of clarification, as in "form is permanent or impermanent," and so on. Having said this, Then, seeing the Blessed One not performing salutations and so forth to him, he said: "This, good Gotama, is just as I heard." "What I heard, that is just so. My hearing and my seeing agree, they come together, in essence they become one." "Indeed, good Gotama, does not invite with a seat." Thus, concluding what he heard with what he saw, he criticized, saying: "This, good Gotama, is not proper at all!" That non-performance of salutations and so forth is not proper at all. Then the Blessed One, not falling into the fault of self-exaltation and disparaging others, with a heart cool with compassion, dispelling that ignorance, desiring to show the propriety of the matter, said: "I, O brahmin, his head would surely split." Here is the brief meaning: "I, brahmin, even looking with the unobstructed eye of omniscience, do not see that person in this world, including its devas and so forth, whom I should salute, or rise up for, or invite with a seat. And this is not strange, that I, who today have attained omniscience, do not see such a person worthy of such homage. Moreover, when I was just born, facing north, having walked seven steps, I surveyed the entire ten-thousand-world-system; even then, in this world, including its devas and so forth, I did not see that person, whom I should salute, or rise up for, or invite with a seat. Then even the Great Brahmā, whose life span is sixteen thousand aeons, with defilements destroyed, raising his joined hands, with joy arisen, proclaimed me, saying: 'You are the Great Man in the world, you are the foremost, the eldest, the best of the world with its devas, there is none superior to you.' Even then, not seeing anyone superior to myself, I uttered the lion's roar: 'I am the foremost in the world, I am the eldest in the world, I am the best in the world.' Thus, even when I was just born, there was no person worthy of salutation and so forth from me, so now that I have attained omniscience, whom should I salute, or rise up for, or invite with a seat?" or invite with a seat. Therefore, you, brahmin, should not wish for the Tathāgata such a reciprocal act. For if, brahmin, the Tathāgata were to salute, or… (etc.)… or invite with a seat, even the head of that person, at the end of the night, like a ripe, loose-stemmed palm fruit fallen from its stalk, would suddenly break off from the neck and fall to the ground. 3. Even when this was said, the brahmin, due to his foolishness, not recognizing the Tathāgata's supremacy in the world, and merely unable to bear that statement, said: "Venerable Gotama is tasteless." This, it seems, was his intention: that which in the world is called "the taste of harmony" – saluting, rising, the act of respectful greeting, and proper conduct – that Venerable Gotama does not have. Therefore, Venerable Gotama is tasteless, of a tasteless kind, of a tasteless nature. Then the Blessed One, to make his mind gentle, avoiding a direct contradiction, and showing the meaning of his words in a different way concerning himself, said: "Indeed, brahmin, there is a way…" and so on. Here, "pariyāya" means reason; this word "pariyāya" is used for discourse, turn, and reason. For example, in "You should remember it as the discourse on the honey-ball" (MN 1.205), it is used for discourse. In "Whose turn is it today, Ānanda, to instruct the bhikkhunīs?" (MN 3.398), for turn. In "It is good, venerable sir, that the Blessed One should teach another reason, by which this community of bhikkhus