English
There, "they were weary" does not mean weary from laziness, for indeed, for Buddhas, there is no laziness or diminished energy. For Buddhas, whether teaching the Dhamma to one, or two, or to the entire universe, they teach the Dhamma with the same enthusiasm. They do not become diminished in energy seeing a small assembly, nor do they become excessively energetic seeing a large assembly. Just as a lion, the king of beasts, having gone out to hunt after seven days, runs with the same speed at small or large animals. For what reason? "Lest my swiftness decline." Thus, Buddhas teach the Dhamma with the same enthusiasm to a small or a large assembly. For what reason? "Lest our reverence for the Dhamma decline." For Buddhas are reverent towards the Dhamma, they respect the Dhamma. But just as our Blessed One taught the Dhamma extensively, as if filling the great ocean, they did not teach in such a way. Why? Because beings had little dust (defilements). It is said that in their time, long-lived beings had little dust (defilements). They, hearing even one verse connected with the Four Noble Truths, comprehended the Dhamma. Therefore, they did not teach extensively. For that very reason, their suttas were few... ...and vedallas. There, the diversity of suttas and so on has already been stated in the description of the First Council. "The training rules for disciples were not laid down" means that due to the blamelessness of the disciples, the prohibitive training rule, which should be laid down according to the offense, in terms of the seven groups of offenses, was not laid down. "The Pātimokkha was not recited" means that the prohibitive Pātimokkha was not recited every half-month. They recited only the Exhortation Pātimokkha; and that too, not every half-month. Thus, the Blessed One Vipassī recited the Exhortation Pātimokkha once every six years; and that, indeed, by himself. But his disciples, of their own... They did not recite in their own dwelling places. In the entire Jambudīpa, in one single place, in the safe deer park of Bandhumatī, the capital, at the dwelling place of Vipassī the Blessed One, the entire community of bhikkhus performed the Uposatha. And that was indeed a Saṅgha-Uposatha; not a group-Uposatha, not an individual-Uposatha, not a purification-Uposatha, not a determination-Uposatha. At that time, it is said, there were eighty-four thousand monasteries in Jambudīpa. In each and every monastery, ten or twenty thousand bhikkhus dwelt, or even more. Devas who announced the Uposatha went here and there and announced: “Sirs, one year has passed, two, three, four, five years have passed, this is the sixth year. On the coming full moon day, you must go to see the Buddha and perform the Uposatha! Your time for assembly has arrived.” Then the powerful bhikkhus went by their own power, others by the power of devas. How? It is said that those bhikkhus, standing at the eastern ocean's edge, or at the western, northern, or southern ocean's edge, having completed their journeying duties, taking their bowl and robe, generated the thought, “Let us go!”; with the arising of that thought, they were already at the Uposatha hall. They saluted Vipassī the Perfectly Self-Awakened One and sat down. The Blessed One also recited this Exhortation-Pātimokkha to the assembled community. “Patience, supreme austerity, is forbearance; Nibbāna, supreme, say the Buddhas; Not indeed a renunciant, one who harms others; Not a recluse, one who troubles others. “Not doing any evil, acquiring skillfulness; Purifying one's own mind, this is the teaching of the Buddhas. “Not reviling, not harming, restraint in the Pātimokkha; Moderation in food, and a secluded dwelling; Devotion to higher thought, this is the teaching of the Buddhas.” By this same method, the recitation of the Pātimokkha of other Buddhas should also be understood. For all Buddhas, these three exhortations... There are verses of the Exhortation Pātimokkha. These come to be recited by Buddhas of long life until the end of the Dispensation; by Buddhas of short life only at the first enlightenment. But from the time the training rules were laid down, the Commandment Pātimokkha alone is recited. And this is recited by monks, not by Buddhas. Therefore, our Fortunate One also recited this Exhortation Pātimokkha for only about twenty years at the first enlightenment. Then one day, seated in the Migāramātupāsāda in the Pubbārāma, he addressed the monks: "Monks, from now on, I will not perform the Uposatha, I will not recite the Pātimokkha. You yourselves, monks, from now on, should perform the Uposatha, should recite the Pātimokkha. It is impossible, monks, there is no occasion for a Tathāgata to perform the Uposatha or recite the Pātimokkha in an impure assembly." (Cūḷava. 386) From then on, the monks recite the Commandment Pātimokkha. This Commandment Pātimokkha was not recited by them. Therefore it is said: "The Pātimokkha not recited." "Of those Buddhas" means of those three Buddhas, Vipassī and so forth. "By disappearance" means by the disappearance of the aggregates; it is said to mean by their final Nibbāna. "Of Buddhas and their chief disciples" means by the disappearance of the aggregates of those chief disciples who were enlightened after those Buddhas. "Those later disciples" means those later disciples who went forth in the presence of those chief disciples. "Of various names" means of various names such as "Buddharakkhita, Dhammarakkhita" and so on. "Of various clans" means of various clans such as "Gotama, Moggallāna" and so on. "Of various castes" means of various castes such as "Khattiya, Brāhmaṇa" and so on. "Gone forth from various families" means having left various families, such as Khattiya families and so on, or high, low, rich, poor, etc., families, they went forth. "That holy life" means because those later disciples went forth with one name, one clan, one caste, one family, they took it upon themselves, saying: "Our Dispensation is a tradition, a lineage." They protect the holy life, for a long time they preserve the doctrine of study. But these are not such. Therefore, harming one another, taking the opposite view, saying, "Such and such an elder will know, such and such an elder will know," making it lax, they quickly made that holy life disappear, they did not protect it by making a collection. "Just as" is an illustration of that meaning. "Scatters" means disperses. "Destroys" means brings to another state. "Demolishes" means removes from its established place. "Because it is not collected by the Sutta" means because it is not collected by the Sutta, not bound, not tied, it scatters in this way, just as things not collected by the Sutta are scattered, it is said to scatter in this way. "Even so" is the comparison. "Made to disappear" means not collecting them into groups, or into fifties, etc., they took whatever pleased them, and destroyed the rest, made it disappear. And those Buddhas were tireless in advising their disciples, comprehending mind with mind. Moreover, Sāriputta, those Buddhas were tireless in advising their disciples, comprehending and discerning their minds with their own minds. They did not see knowing another's mind and giving instruction as a burden or a proliferation. "Formerly, Sāriputta," and so on, was said to declare their tireless nature. "Frightening" means terrifying, fear-inducing. "Think thus" means think the three thoughts such as the thought of renunciation. "Do not think thus" means do not think the three unwholesome thoughts such as the thought of sensual desire. "Pay attention thus" means pay attention to "impermanent, suffering, non-self, impure." "Do not pay attention thus" means do not pay attention to "permanent, pleasure, self, pure." "Abandon this" means abandon the unwholesome. "Abide having attained this" means abide having attained and accomplished the wholesome. "Their minds were liberated from the defilements without clinging" means they were liberated without grasping. For their minds, by which They were freed from the defilements, they were not freed by grasping them. But by the cessation of non-arising, they were freed without grasping. Therefore it was said: "Their minds were freed from the defilements without grasping." All of them, having attained arahantship, had minds that blossomed like a lotus pond touched by the sun's rays. There, indeed, Sāriputta, in that terrifying forest grove, it is in its terrifying aspect. "There" refers to the previous statement. "Indeed" is a particle merely for filling out the phrase. "Sāriputta" is an address. The meaning here is this: "There," as it was said, "in a certain terrifying forest grove," in that which was called "terrifying," it is in the terrifying aspect of that terrifying forest grove, meaning, it is in its terrifying action. What is it? This is it: whoever is not free from passion... ...their hairs stand on end. Alternatively, "there" is in the sense of possession, locative. "Indeed" is a particle, as in "What indeed are those venerable ascetics and brahmins?" "This" is a word showing, as if directly, the intended meaning. "Suidaṃ" becomes "sudaṃ" by elision of the 'i' vowel due to sandhi. As in "eye faculty," "female faculty," "faculty of knowing the unknown," "What indeed is wealth here?" The meaning here is this: Sāriputta, in the terrifying aspect of that terrifying forest grove, this indeed occurs. "In its terrifying aspect" means in its terrifying nature. The elision of one 't' should be understood. Or the reading is "bhiṃsanakattasmiṃ" itself. Or, "bhiṃsanakatāya" should have been said, but there is a gender inversion. And this locative case is in the sense of a sign, therefore the connection should be understood thus: in its terrifying nature, this indeed occurs; as a sign of its terrifying nature, as a cause of its terrifying nature, as a condition for its terrifying nature, this indeed occurs.