English
The Blessed One, having washed his mouth, sat down at that very root of the tree. Thus, when the dawn had risen, the Blessed One was seated. At that time, the merchants Tapussa and Bhallika, two brothers, merchants, from Ukkala, the Ukkala country, were on their way to that region, the region where the Blessed One was dwelling. And in which region was the Blessed One dwelling? In the Middle Country. Therefore, the meaning here is that they were on their way to the Middle Country. Their kinswoman deity, a deity who had been their kinswoman in a former existence. She said this: She, it is said, made all their carts unable to move. Then they thought, "What is this?" and offered a bali offering to the road deities. At the time of their bali offering, that deity, with a visible body, said this. With gruel and honey-cakes, with unmixed flour and with flour mixed with ghee, honey, and jaggery. Serve him, attend upon him. That, for you, that service will be for your long-term welfare and happiness. That which is ours, that acceptance which would be for our long-term welfare and happiness. It occurred to the Blessed One: The bowl which he had at the time of his striving, that had disappeared when Sujata came to offer the milk-rice. Therefore, it occurred to him: "I have no bowl. And former Tathagatas do not receive offerings in their hands. In what then shall I receive the gruel and the honey-cake?" Having understood his thought, before this, the food given by Sujata had remained by way of providing nourishment, for so long there was neither hunger nor thirst nor bodily weakness. But now, with the desire to receive food, the thought arose in him, "Tathagatas do not..." and so on. Having understood that thought, that thought which had thus arisen in his mind, the thought of the Blessed One, from the four directions, bowls made of stone, bowls made of stone of the color of mung beans. This is it. The Blessed One accepted them, it is said with reference to them. But the Four Great Kings first offered bowls made of sapphire, the Blessed One did not accept them. Then these four offered bowls made of mung-bean-colored stone, the Blessed One accepted all four bowls for the sake of preserving their faith, not out of greed. And having accepted them, he willed that the four become as if one bowl, and the fruit of merit for all four was the same. Thus, having made them one and having willed it, the Blessed One accepted the freshly made stone bowls, the gruel and the honey-cake. "Paccagghe" means "in the fresh"; the meaning is "in each one, highly valuable." Or "paccagghe" means "new, just arisen"; the meaning is "produced at that very moment." "Dvevācikā" means "they had two utterances." Or the meaning is "they attained the state of lay followers with two utterances." Having thus declared their state of lay followers, they said to the Blessed One: "To whom, now, O Lord, should we pay homage and rise up from today onwards?" Then the Blessed One touched his head, and hairs stuck to his hand. He gave them to them, saying: "You should keep these." Having received the hair relics, as if sprinkled with nectar, delighted and joyful, they paid homage to the Blessed One and departed. The Story of the Rājāyatana Tree is finished. The Story of Brahmā's Request 7. Then, indeed, the Blessed One, after the lapse of seven days, having arisen from that concentration, and having completed all these aforementioned tasks, from the foot of the Rājāyatana tree, again approached the Ajapāla Banyan tree. "A thought arose" means as soon as he sat down there, this thought arose in his mind, customary for all Buddhas. But why does this arise in all Buddhas? For the sake of reflecting on the greatness, the weightiness, the difficulty of the Dhamma, and out of a desire to teach when requested by Brahmā. For Buddhas know: "When thus reflected upon, Brahmā will come and request the teaching of the Dhamma, then beings will develop reverence for the Dhamma, the world is heavy with Brahma." Thus, this thought arises from these two reasons. Therein, "I have attained this" means "this has been attained by me." "Delighting in attachments" means beings cling to the five strands of sensual pleasure, therefore they are called "attachments." Those who delight in these attachments are "delighting in attachments." Those who are fond of attachments are "fond of attachments." Those who are exceedingly pleased with attachments are "exceedingly pleased with attachments." "Yadidaṃ" is a particle. In reference to its place, it means "that which is this." In reference to dependent origination, it means "that which is this." This is the meaning to be understood. "Idappaccayatāpaṭiccasamuppāda" means "these are the conditions, these conditions themselves are conditionality, and that conditionality is dependent origination." "So mamassa kilamatho" means "that teaching for those who do not know, that would be a weariness for me; that would be a vexation for me." "Bhagavantaṃ" means "of the Blessed One." "Anacchariyā" means "not wonderful." "Paṭibhaṃsu" means "they became objects of knowledge, which is called insight; they reached the state of being ponderable." "Halaṃ" here, the "ha" is merely a particle; the meaning is "enough." "Pakāsituṃ" means "to teach." It is said, "It is enough for me now to teach this Dhamma which I have attained with difficulty." "Paṭisotagāmiṃ" means "going against the stream"; the stream is Nibbāna; the meaning is "going to Nibbāna." "Rāgarattā" means "stained by lust, such as sensual lust, lust for existence, and lust for views." "Na dakkhanti" means "they will not see." "Tamokhandhena āvuṭā" means "overwhelmed by the mass of ignorance." "Appossukkatāya" means "by being without eagerness; by not wishing to teach." 8. "Yatra hi nāma" means "in which world." "Bhagavato purato pāturahosi" means "the Great Brahmas from ten thousand world-systems, having taken and come, appeared before the Blessed One to request the teaching of the Dhamma." "Apparajakkhajātikā" means "those whose eye of wisdom has little dust of lust, hatred, and delusion; such is their nature." "Bhavissanti dhammassa aññātāro" means "they will be penetrators of the Dhamma." "Pāturahosi" means "appeared." "Samalehi ci" "Thought of" means thought of by the six teachers who are defiled with defilements like lust. "Open!" means open this. "The door to the Deathless" means the Noble Path, being the door to the Deathless Nibbāna. "Let them hear the Dhamma understood by the Stainless One" means let these beings hear the Dhamma of the Four Noble Truths, understood by the Stainless, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One, due to the absence of defilements like lust. "As one standing on a mountain peak" means just as a man with sight, standing on the peak of a solid, rocky mountain, would see the people all around; you too, O wise one, O one with beautiful wisdom, O Bhagavan, with all-seeing eye, with the knowledge of omniscience, having ascended the Dhamma-made, wisdom-made palace, yourself free from sorrow, look upon and observe the people plunged in sorrow and overcome by birth and old age. "Arise!" means he says, requesting the Blessed One to wander for the purpose of teaching Dhamma. Among "Heroes" and so on, the Blessed One is a hero due to his possession of energy. He is a conqueror of battles due to having conquered the Māras of devaputta, death, defilement, and formations. He is a caravan leader due to his ability to cross the wilderness of birth and so on. He is debtless due to the absence of the debt of sensual desire. 9. "Request" means a request. "With the Buddha-eye" means with the knowledge of the maturity of faculties and with the knowledge of latent tendencies. Indeed, of these two knowledges, "Buddha-eye" is the name. "Those with little dust" means those for whom the dust of lust and so on is little in the eye of wisdom; they are those with little dust. Those for whom it is great, they are those with great dust. Those for whom the faculties of faith and so on are sharp, they are those with sharp faculties. Those for whom they are soft, they are those with soft faculties. Those for whom these very aspects of faith and so on are beautiful, they are those with beautiful aspects. Those for whom these very aspects of faith and so on are not beautiful, they are those with ugly aspects. Those who discern the stated reason, can be easily instructed; they are easily instructable. Those who see the other world and fault with fear, they are those who see fear in the other world and in fault. "In the lotus pond" means in a lotus forest. In others too, this is the same method. "Those nourished submerged within" means those that nourish themselves while submerged within the water. "Those standing level with the water" means those standing level with the water. "Having risen above the water" means having gone beyond the water, they stand. "Opened" means uncovered. "Door to the Deathless" means the Noble Path. For it is the door to Nibbāna, which is called the Deathless. "Let them release their faith" means let all release their own faith. In the last two phrases, this is the meaning: "For I, having become conscious of weariness of body and speech, will not teach this excellent, supreme Dhamma, which is well-practiced and well-established by myself, to humans, to gods and humans." The discourse on Brahmā's request is finished. Discourse on the Group of Five 10. "Wise" means endowed with wisdom. "Skilful" means endowed with skill. "Intelligent" means endowed with wisdom that arises from circumstances. "Of little dust in their nature" means, due to the suppression by attainment, of a nature free from defilements, a pure being. "They will understand" means they will discern, they will penetrate. "Knowledge arose in the Blessed One" means omniscience arose: "Having passed away at the end of the seventh day from now, he was reborn in the sphere of nothingness."