English
"Come, monk, let us go by this path." He said, "Well, Blessed One, take your bowl and robe, I will go by this path," and began to place the bowl and robe on the ground. Then the Blessed One said, "Bring it, monk," and taking the bowl and robe, he went. As that monk was going by the other path, thieves stole his bowl and robe, and broke his head. He thought, "Now the Blessed One is my refuge, no other," and with blood flowing, he came to the Blessed One. When asked, "What is this, monk?" he reported that incident. Then the Blessed One said to him, "Do not worry, monk, we prevented you from this very matter," and comforted him. One Then the Blessed One, together with Elder Meghiya, went to Jantugāma in Pācīnavaṃsamigadāya. There too, Meghiya, having wandered for alms in Jantugāma, and seeing a delightful mango grove by the river, said: "Blessed One, take your bowl and robe, I will practice the ascetic's way in this mango grove." Though prevented three times by the Blessed One, he went, was assailed by unwholesome thoughts, returned, and reported that incident. The Blessed One, saying, "It was for this very reason that we foresaw and prevented you," gradually went to Sāvatthī. There, in the Perfumed Chamber's precinct, seated on the excellent Buddha-seat prepared, surrounded by the community of bhikkhus, he addressed the bhikkhus: "Bhikkhus, now I am old. Some bhikkhus, when told, 'Let's go this way,' go another way. Some cast my bowl and robe on the ground. Know a bhikkhu who is my constant attendant." A sense of urgency regarding the Dhamma arose among the bhikkhus. Then Venerable Sāriputta, rising, and bowing to the Blessed One, said: "Bhante, desiring only you, I fulfilled perfections for an immeasurable aeon, more than a hundred thousand aeons. Surely, an attendant like me, of great wisdom, is suitable? I will attend you." The Blessed One rejected him, saying: "Enough, Sāriputta. The direction in which you dwell is indeed not empty. Your instruction is like the instruction of Buddhas. I have no need for your service as an attendant." In the same manner, starting with Mahāmoggallāna, eighty great disciples rose. The Blessed One rejected them all. But Elder Ānanda remained silent. Then the bhikkhus said to him: "Friend, the community of bhikkhus is asking for the position of attendant. You too, ask!" "Friend, what kind of position is it that is obtained by asking? Does the Teacher not see me? If he approves, he will say, 'Let Ānanda attend me.'" Then the Blessed One said: "Bhikkhus, Ānanda is not to be urged by another. He himself, knowing, will attend me..." will stand by.” Then the bhikkhus said, “Arise, friend Ananda, arise, friend Ananda, ask for the position of attendant to the Ten-Powered One.” The Elder arose and asked for eight boons: four rejections and four requests. The four rejections are: “If, venerable sir, the Blessed One, will not give me a fine robe he has received, will not give me almsfood, will not allow me to dwell in a single perfume chamber, will not go to an invitation I have accepted, then I will attend upon the Blessed One.” When asked, “What fault, Ananda, did you see in this?” he said, “If, venerable sir, I were to receive these things, there would be those who would say, ‘Ananda enjoys the fine robe received by the Ten-Powered One, enjoys the almsfood, dwells in a single perfume chamber, goes to a single invitation. Receiving these gains, he attends upon the Tathagata. What burden is there for one who attends in this way?’” He asked for these four rejections. The four requests are: “If, venerable sir, the Blessed One, will go to an invitation I have accepted, if I can show the Blessed One immediately to an assembly that has come from other districts, from other countries, to see the Blessed One, whenever a doubt arises in me, I can approach the Blessed One at that very moment, and if the Dhamma that the Blessed One teaches in my absence, he will come and tell me, then I will attend upon the Blessed One.” When asked, “What advantage, Ananda, do you see in this?” he said, “Here, venerable sir, faithful young men of good family, not getting an opportunity with the Blessed One, say to me, ‘Tomorrow, venerable Ananda, may you take almsfood with the Blessed One at our house.’ If the Blessed One does not go there, I will not get an opportunity to show the assembly at the desired moment, nor to dispel their doubts. There will be those who say, ‘Why does Ananda attend upon the Ten-Powered One? The Blessed One does not even grant him this much favor, 'he does.' And after the Blessed One's passing, they will ask me, 'Friend Ānanda, where was this verse, this discourse, this Jātaka taught?' If I cannot answer them, there will be those who say, 'Friend, you do not even know this much! Why did you wander for so long, for a long time, like a shadow, never leaving the Blessed One?' Therefore, I wish for the teaching that was taught in his absence to be repeated again." He made these four requests. And the Blessed One granted them to him. Thus, having received these eight boons, he became the constant attendant. For the sake of that very position, he attained the fruit of perfections fulfilled for a hundred thousand aeons, and having attained it, he became the foremost of attendants and attended the Blessed One. Indeed, from the time he obtained the position of attendant, the Elder attended the Blessed One with two kinds of water, three kinds of tooth-sticks, foot service, back service, sweeping the Perfumed Chamber's precincts, and other such duties, thinking, "At this time, it is fitting for the Master to receive this, it is fitting for him to do this," and bringing about each of these things, he would take a large torch and circle the Perfumed Chamber's precincts nine times in one night. For he thought, "If drowsiness and torpor were to overcome me, I would not be able to answer if the Blessed One were to call." Therefore, he did not release the torch from his hand all night. It is with reference to his not having obtained this position of constant attendant that it was said, "but he had not obtained the position of attendant." There is no such thing as a "constant attendant," meaning there is no "fixed attendant." However, there were many unfixed attendants for the Blessed One at the time of his first enlightenment, and showing them, it is said, "Sometimes the Elder Nāgasamāla," and so on. And he was a kinsman, and by virtue of his most praised qualities, he was excellent, thus a kinsman-excellent. In such situations, this one alone is suitable, and in times of distress, the offering of alms, having prepared food, is more fitting to be done by a kinsman— this is the intention. yo. "By the turning of Māra" means by the turning of the mind caused by Māra, it is said to be the bewilderment of the mind arisen by Māra's power. Therefore it is said, "having turned, having bewildered," and so on. Let them stand... (etc.)... Māra might even turn that, because of the unwholesome kamma accumulated in the time of the Buddha Phussa, which had an opportunity to arise then. This is stated in the Apadāna: "In the teaching of Phussa, I slandered the disciples; 'Eat barley, consume it, but do not eat rice.' "By the ripening of that kamma, I ate barley for three months; Invited by a brahmin, I then resided in Verañjā." "With a mind surrounded" means with a mind enveloped, meaning with a mind overcome. "They came at the end of the turning" means they came after Māra had turned them and they had gone. "By inability" means by not being able. "By the brought alms" means by the alms cooked and brought. "Of the constant offering" means of the offering set aside, having determined, "For this much time we will give to the Blessed One," as a regular meal. "Of the dedicated item" means of the item brought to the monastery and given, "This is for the Buddha's use of the four requisites." "Is not able" means is not capable. "By the curtailment of the brought alms" means by the removal of the brought alms. "By the fathom-light" means by the light extending a fathom all around. Here, the obscuring of the minor marks and the fathom-light should be seen as an obstacle. Therefore it is said, "even of the moon, sun, devas, and Brahmās," and so on. Because the minor marks and the fathom-light are inseparable, it is said, "having reached the area of the minor marks and the fathom-light." An obstacle to omniscience is an obstruction to knowable phenomena. "The Blessed One heard the sound of the mortar" means, did he hear a mortar sound that arose by itself? And so it is said, "of those pounding husked grain," and so on. "Connected with meaning" means accomplishing a purpose. "Connected with meaninglessness" means in words dependent on meaninglessness. "With an expectation of killing" is a locative case. In which, and by which, killing is brought about. And by that, a destruction was made by him, he said, "It is said that the destruction of such a statement is its utter eradication by the path itself." Or, understanding it as a locative case in the sense of ownership, it should be seen that he spoke thus. And the eradication of the statement should be understood as the eradication of the defilements rooted in it. "It produces a result that is appropriate, limited, and defined according to oneself," thus 'ākāra' is a cause, he said, "by 'ākāras' means by causes." "Connected with the origin of the matter" means arisen based on the present event. "Having made the transgression evident by that question" means having revealed the transgression committed by that bhikkhu with the question "Is it true, O bhikkhu...?" and the revelation of the transgression is for the purpose of allowing it to be known why this training rule is laid down. "There is nothing to be said" shows that, because it was said before, there is nothing new to be said here. Therefore, he said, "Indeed, it was said before," and so on.