Mahā Vacchagotta Sutta: Greater Discourse to Vacchagotta
By Dr. Ari Ubeysekara
Introduction
Lord Gautama Buddha who lived and preached in India during the 6th and 5th century BC, delivered a vast number of discourses during the ministry of forty five years from enlightenment to passing away at the age of eighty years. Those discourses have been divided into five collections.
- Collection of long discourses (dīgha nikāya)
- Collection of middle length discourses (majjhima nikāya)
- Collection of connected discourses (samyutta nikāya)
- Collection of numerical discourses (anguttara nikāya)
- Collection of minor discourses (khuddaka nikāya)
The collection of the middle length discourses (majjhima nikāya) contain 152 discourses delivered by the Buddha and the Buddha’s chief disciples. The 152 discourses are divided into three parts consisting of 50, 50 and 52 discourses respectively. Mahā Vacchagotta sutta is the 73rd discourse included in the second part. (1)
Content of Mahā Vacchagotta sutta
Thus have I heard.
[All the discourses of the Buddha contained in the five collections were narrated by Venerable Arahant Ānanda from memory at the first Buddhist council that was held three months after the Buddha’s passing away. He was the chief attendant of the Buddha and was known as the “guardian of the Dhamma” due to his excellent skill in remembering the Buddha’s discourse. At the Buddhist council, each discourse was begun by him with the same phrase found at the beginning of this discourse too, “evaṁ me sutaṁ” meaning “Thus have I heard”.]
At one time, the Buddha was staying at Rajagaha, in the Bamboo Grove near the Squirrels’ Feeding Place.
[Rajagaha was the capital city of the old kingdom of Magadha in India at the time of the Buddha. Soon after the enlightenment, the Buddha, accompanied by one thousand monks, visited the city of Rajagaha as per the request of king Bimbisāra. The king became a disciple of the Buddha after listening to the Buddha’s teaching and donated the Bamboo Groove (Veluvana Park) to be used as a monastery. It was the very first monastery that was donated to the Buddha where the Buddha is believed to have stayed during the three rainy retreats following the donation when a number of discourses were preached to various audiences.]
Then the wanderer Vacchagotta went to the Buddha, exchanged friendly greetings and sat to one side. While sitting to one side, the wanderer Vacchagotta said to the Buddha: “I have had conversations with Master Gotama for a long time. It would be good if Master Gotama would teach me the wholesome and the unwholesome in brief.”
[In the Buddhist scriptures, several wanderers named Vacchagotta have been mentioned. The wanderer Vacchagotta mentioned in this discourse is most probably Vacchagotta who was a resident of Rajagaha. He was an intelligent person who was interested in the teaching of the Buddha and had on many occasions approached the Buddha and the senior disciples of the Buddha to question and discuss spiritual matters. As a result, there are several discourses in the scriptures linked to Vacchagotta.]
“Vaccha, I can teach you the wholesome and the unwholesome in brief, I can also teach you the wholesome and the unwholesome in detail. But, Vaccha, I will teach you the wholesome and the unwholesome in brief. Listen well and pay close attention, I will speak.”
“Yes, Master Gotama.” He replied.
The Buddha said this: “Greed, Vaccha, is unwholesome; non-greed is wholesome. Hatred is unwholesome; non-hatred is wholesome. Delusion is unwholesome; non-delusion is wholesome. In this way, three things are unwholesome and the other three things are wholesome.”
[Here, the Buddha has described the three unwholesome roots and the three wholesome roots which are the bases of all unwholesome and wholesome bodily, verbal and the mental volitional actions respectively. The three unwholesome roots are: Greed (lobha), hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha), while the three wholesome roots are: Non-greed (alobha), non-hatred (adosa) and non-delusion (amoha).]
“Vaccha, killing living beings is unwholesome; abstaining from killing living beings is wholesome; taking what is not given is unwholesome; abstaining from taking what is not given is wholesome; sexual misconduct is unwholesome; abstaining from sexual misconduct is wholesome; false speech is unwholesome; abstaining from false speech is wholesome; malicious speech is unwholesome; abstaining from malicious speech is wholesome; harsh speech is unwholesome; abstaining from harsh speech is wholesome; idle chatter is unwholesome; abstaining from idle chatter is wholesome; covetousness is unwholesome; abstaining from covetousness is wholesome; ill-will is unwholesome; abstaining from ill-will is wholesome; wrong view is unwholesome; right view is wholesome. In this way, ten things are unwholesome and the other ten things are wholesome.”
“Vaccha, when a monk has abandoned craving, cut it off at the root, made it like a palm stump, done away with it so that it is no longer subject to future arising, then that monk is an Arahant with taints destroyed, one who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through right knowledge.”
“Other than Master Gotama, is there any one monk, a disciple of Master Gotama, who, having realised by himself with direct knowledge here and now, attained and dwelled in the liberation of the mind and liberation by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the taints?”
“Vaccha, not one, not one hundred, not two hundred, not three hundred, not four hundred, not five hundred, but far more monks, who are my disciples, who, having realised by themselves with direct knowledge here and now, attained and dwelled in the liberation of the mind and liberation by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the taints.”
“Other than Master Gotama, other than the monks, is there any one nun, a disciple of Master Gotama, who, having realised by herself with direct knowledge here and now, attained and dwelled in the liberation of the mind and liberation by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the taints?”
“Vaccha, not one, not one hundred, not two hundred, not three hundred, not four hundred, not five hundred, but far more nuns, who are my disciples, who, having realised by themselves with direct knowledge here and now, attained and dwelled in the liberation of the mind and liberation by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the taints.”
“Other than Master Gotama, other than the monks, other than the nuns, is there any one layman, a disciple of Master Gotama, a householder dressed in white, leading a celibate life, who, with the destruction of the five lower fetters, will arise spontaneously in the Pure Abodes and attain final Nibbana there without ever returning from that world?”
“Vaccha, not one, not one hundred, not two hundred, not three hundred, not four hundred, not five hundred, but far more laymen, my disciples, householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, who, with the destruction of the five lower fetters, will arise spontaneously in the Pure Abodes and attain final Nibbana there without ever returning from that world.”
“Other than Master Gotama, other than the monks, other than the nuns, other than the laymen, disciples of Master Gotama, householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, is there any one layman, a disciple of Master Gotama, a householder dressed in white, who enjoys sense pleasures, who practises the teaching, follows the instructions, has gone beyond doubt, free from uncertainties, gained fearless confidence, and independent of others, dwells in the teaching?”
“Vaccha, not one, not one hundred, not two hundred, not three hundred, not four hundred, not five hundred, but far more laymen, who are my disciples, householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures, who practise the teaching, follow the instructions, have gone beyond doubt, free from uncertainties, gained fearless confidence, and independent of others, dwell in the teaching.”
“Other than Master Gotama, other than the monks, other than the nuns, other than the laymen, disciples of Master Gotama, householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, other than laymen, householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures, is there any one laywoman, a disciple of Master Gotama, a householder dressed in white, leading a celibate life, who, with the destruction of the five lower fetters, will arise spontaneously in the Pure Abodes and attain final Nibbana there without ever returning from that world?”
“Vaccha, not one, not one hundred, not two hundred, not three hundred, not four hundred, not five hundred, but far more laywomen, my disciples, householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, who, with the destruction of the five lower fetters, will arise spontaneously in the Pure Abodes and attain final Nibbana there without ever returning from that world.”
“Other than Master Gotama, other than the monks, other than the nuns, other than the laymen, disciples of Master Gotama, householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, other than laymen, householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures, other than the lay women, householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, is there any one laywoman, a disciple of Master Gotama, a householder dressed in white, who enjoys sense pleasures, who practises the teaching, follows the instructions, has gone beyond doubt, free from uncertainties, gained fearless confidence, and independent of others, dwells in the teaching?”
“Vaccha, not one, not one hundred, not two hundred, not three hundred, not four hundred, not five hundred, but far more laywomen, who are my disciples, householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures, who practise the teaching, follow the instructions, have gone beyond doubt, free from uncertainties, gained fearless confidence, and independent of others, dwell in the teaching.”
[When a disciple cultivates the Buddhist path of liberation as described by the Buddha with diligence, one will sooner or later gain full enlightenment or Nibbāna passing through four progressive stages of spiritual development.
1. Stream Enterer (sotāpañña)
2. Once Returner (sakadāgāmi)
3. Non-Returner (anāgāmi)
4. Arahant (arhat)
“Master Gotama, if only Master Gotama is accomplished in the Dhamma, but no monks were accomplished, then this holy life will be deficient on that account. But, Master Gotama, because Master Gotama and the monks are accomplished in the Dhamma, this holy life is complete on that account.”
“Master Gotama, if only Master Gotama and the monks were accomplished in the Dhamma, but no nuns were accomplished, then this holy life will be deficient on that account. But, Master Gotama, because Master Gotama, the monks, and the nuns are accomplished in the Dhamma, this holy life is complete on that account.”
“Master Gotama, if only Master Gotama, the monks, and the nuns were accomplished in the Dhamma, but no laymen, disciples of Master Gotama, householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, were accomplished in the Dhamma, then this holy life will be deficient on that account. But, Master Gotama, because Master Gotama, the monks, the nuns, and laymen, disciples of Master Gotama, householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, are accomplished in the Dhamma, this holy life is complete on that account.”
“Master Gotama, if only Master Gotama, the monks, the nuns, and the laymen householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, were accomplished in the Dhamma, but no laymen householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures, were accomplished, then this holy life will be deficient on that account. But, Master Gotama, because Master Gotama, the monks, the nuns, the laymen, disciples of Master Gotama, householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, and laymen householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures, are accomplished in the Dhamma, this holy life is complete on that account.”
“Master Gotama, if only Master Gotama, the monks, the nuns, the laymen householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, and the laymen householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures were accomplished in the Dhamma, but no laywomen householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, were accomplished, then this holy life will be deficient on that account. But, Master Gotama, because Master Gotama, the monks, the nuns, the laymen, disciples of Master Gotama, householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, laymen householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures, and laywomen householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, are accomplished in the Dhamma, this holy life is complete on that account.”
“Master Gotama, if only Master Gotama, the monks, the nuns, the laymen householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, the laymen householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures, and the laywomen householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, were accomplished in the Dhamma, but no laywomen householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures, were accomplished, then this holy life will be deficient on that account. But, Master Gotama, because Master Gotama, the monks, the nuns, the laymen, disciples of Master Gotama, householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, laymen householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures, laywomen householders dressed in white, leading a celibate life, and laywomen householders dressed in white, who enjoy sense pleasures, are accomplished in the Dhamma, this holy life is complete on that account.”
“Master Gotama, just as the river Ganges slopes towards the sea, inclines towards the sea, flows towards the sea, so too this assembly of Master Gotama, with it’s recluses and householders slopes towards Nibbana, inclines towards Nibbana, flows towards Nibbana and merges with Nibbana.”
“Excellent, Master Gotama! Excellent, Master Gotama! Just as one were to set upright what had been overturned, or what had been closed is opened, or were to show the way to one who has lost his way, or as one who holds an oil lamp in the dark so that those with eyes may see things, in similar manner, by the Buddha, in various ways, the Dhamma has been declared. I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. May I receive the going forth before Master Gotama; may I receive the ordination.”
“Vaccha, anyone who was a follower of another teaching wishes to go forth in this teaching and discipline and receive ordination, has to go on probation for four months. At the end of four months, if the monks are satisfied with him, they give him the going forth and the full ordination as a monk. But I recognise a difference among individuals here.”
“Venerable Sir, if anyone who was a follower of another teaching wishes to go forth in this teaching and discipline and receive ordination, has to go on probation for four months and at the end of four months, if the monks are satisfied with him, they give him the going forth and the full ordination as a monk, then I will go on probation for four years. At the end of four years, if the monks are satisfied with me, let them give me the going forth and the full ordination as a monk.”
Then the wanderer Vacchagotta received the going forth and the ordination in the presence of the Buddha. Not long after he was ordained, half a month after his ordination, Venerable Vacchagotta went to the Buddha, paid homage to the Buddha and sat to one side. While sitting to one side, he said to the Buddha: “Venerable Sir, I have attained whatever can be attained by the knowledge of a disciple in training. May the Blessed One teach me a higher teaching.”
“In that case, Vaccha, cultivate two higher teachings: Serenity and insight. When these two things are cultivated further, they will lead to the penetration of many elements.”
“Vaccha, to the extent that you may wish: ‘May I wield various psychic powers: having been one, may I become many; having been many, may I become one; may I appear and disappear; may I go unhindered through the walls, through ramparts, through mountains as if through space. May I dive in and out of the earth as if it were water. May I walk on water without sinking as if it were earth. Seated cross-legged, may I fly through the air like a bird. May I, with my hand, touch and stroke the moon and the sun so mighty and powerful. May I have power over my body as far as the Brahma world’. You will gain the ability to witness any aspect therein, whenever the conditions are suitable.”
“Vaccha, to the extent that you may wish: ‘May I with the divine ear element, purified and surpassing the human, hear divine and human sounds, whether they are far or near’. You will gain the ability to witness any aspect therein, whenever the conditions are suitable.”
“Vaccha, to the extent that you may wish: ‘May I know the minds of other people having encompassed them with my own mind. May I know a mind affected with lust as a mind with lust, and a mind without lust as a mind without lust. May I know a mind affected with ill-will as a mind with ill-will, and a mind without ill-will as a mind without ill-will. May I know a mind affected with delusion as a mind with delusion, and a mind without delusion as a mind without delusion. May I know a contracted mind as a contracted mind, and a distracted mind as a distracted mind. May I know an exalted mind as an exalted mind, and an unexalted mind as an unexalted mind. May I know a surpassed mind as a surpassed mind with lust, and an unsurpassed mind as an unsurpassed mind. May I know a concentrated mind as a concentrated mind, and an unconcentrated mind as an unconcentrated mind. May I know a liberated mind as a liberated mind, and an unliberated mind as an unliberated mind’. You will gain the ability to witness any aspect therein, whenever the conditions are suitable.”
“Vaccha, to the extent that you may wish: ‘May I recollect my manyfold past lives, that is one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births, ten births, twenty births, thirty births, forty births, fifty births, hundred births, thousand births, hundred thousand births, many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of cosmic expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction and expansion thus: There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance, such was my food, such was my experience of happiness and pain, such was the end of my life. Passing away from there, I arose there. There also I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance, such was my food, such was my experience of happiness and pain, such was the end of my life. Passing away from there I arose there….’. You will gain the ability to witness any aspect therein, whenever the conditions are suitable.”
“Vaccha, to the extent that you may wish: ‘May I with the divine eye, purified and surpassing the human, see beings passing away and re-arising, inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, in the heavens, in the suffering worlds, according to their actions: “Those beings who performed evil actions through the body, speech and the mind, who reviled the noble ones, had wrong views, and performed actions under the influence of wrong views, after death, with the break up of the body, have arisen in a realm of misery, a bad destination, a lower realm, in hell. But those beings who performed skillful actions through the body, speech and the mind, who did not revile the noble ones, had right views, and performed actions under the influence of right views, after death, with the break-up of the body, have arisen in a happy destination, in heaven. You will gain the ability to witness any aspect therein, whenever the conditions are suitable.”
“Vaccha, to the extent that you may wish: ‘May I, by realising for myself with direct knowledge, right here and now, enter upon and abide in the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the taints’. You will gain the ability to witness any aspect therein, whenever the conditions are suitable.”
Then Venerable Vacchagotta, having delighted and rejoiced in the Buddha’s word, rose from his seat, paid homage to the Buddha and going right-wise, departed. Then Venerable Vacchagotta, before long, dwelling alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent, and resolute, having realised for himself with direct knowledge, here and now, entered upon and abided in the supreme goal of the holy life, for the sake of which sons of family rightly go forth from the household life into homelessness. He directly knew: “Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more of this state of being.” And Venerable Vacchagotta became one of the Arahants.
Now at that time, some monks were going to see the Buddha. Venerable Vacchagotta saw them coming from the distance. Seeing the monks, he went to them and asked: “Where are the venerables going?” “We are going to see the Blessed One, friend.”
“In that case, may the venerables pay homage in my name with their heads at the Blessed One’s feet, saying: ‘Venerable Sir, monk Vacchagotta pays homage with his head at the Blessed One’s feet’. Then say: ‘The Blessed One has been worshipped by me! The Sublime One has been worshipped by me’.”
“Yes, friend,” those monks replied.
Then the monks went to the Buddha, paid homage and sat to one side, While sitting to one side, they said to the Buddha: “Venerable Sir, Venerable Vacchagotta pays homage with his head at the Blessed One’s feet, and he says: ‘The Blessed One has been worshipped by me! The Sublime One has been worshipped by me’.”
“Monks, having read his mind with my own mind, I already knew of monk Vacchagotta: ‘Monk Vacchagotta has attained the three knowledges and has great super normal power, great might’. And, the deities also told me: ‘Monk Vacchagotta has attained the three knowledges and has great super normal power, great might’.”
The Buddha said this. Those monks were satisfied and delighted in the words of the Buddha.
In the Mahā Vacchagotta sutta, the wanderer named Vacchagotta, who claims to have had conversations with the Buddha for a long time, has requested the Buddha to give a brief teaching on the wholesome and the unwholesome. In response, the Buddha gave a brief teaching on the unwholesome and wholesome roots as well as the ten unwholesome and ten wholesome actions based on those roots. The Buddha also stated that by completely eradicating craving (tanhā), one can become enlightened as an Arahant. Having questioned the Buddha about the disciples of the Buddha who had attained stages of the path of liberation, Vacchagotta requested the Buddha to admit him to the Buddha’s dispensation as an ordained monk.
A short while after becoming a monk, Venerable Vacchagotta went back to the Buddha requesting further instruction to practise, when the Buddha advised him to practise concentration meditation (samatha bhāvanā) and insight meditation (vipassanā bhāvanā). The Buddha also stated the six higher knowledges that a meditator can attain through meditation, including the final knowledge of the freedom from all taints (āsava), which means one has attained full enlightenment. Having followed the Buddha’s instructions diligently, Venerable Vacchagotta, the previous wanderer who became a disciple of the Buddha, soon gained enlightenment as an Arahant.
References
- Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi1995, Mahā Vacchagotta sutta, Translation of the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, Wisdom Publications.
End.
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