Pathama Mahānāma Sutta: First discourse to Mahānāma
By Dr. Ari Ubeysekara
Introduction
All of the discourses delivered by the Lord Gautama Buddha, who lived and preached in India during the 6th and 5th century BC, were grouped into five collections at the first Buddhist council that was held three months after the passing away of the Buddha in 483 BC.
1. Collection of long discourses (dīgha nikāya)
2. Collection of middle length discourses (majjhima nikāya)
3. Collection of connected discourses (samyutta nikāya)
4. Collection of numerical discourses (anguttara nikāya)
5. Collection of minor discourses (khuddaka nikāya)
The collection of the connected discourses (samyutta nikāya), consist of the Buddha’s discourses on related topics grouped into five sections called Vaggas. They are named Sagātā Vagga, Nidāna Vagga, Khanda Vagga, Salāyatana Vagga and Mahā Vagga. Each Vagga is further sub-divided into groups called samyuttas, containing a number of discourses on related topics. Each samyutta is again sub-divided into smaller units called vaggas, each containing around ten discourses. Pathama Mahānāma sutta is included in the Saranāni vagga, of the Sotāpatti samyutta of the Mahā Vagga. (1)
Content of Pathama Mahānāma sutta
On one occasion, the Buddha was residing at the Nigrodhārāma monastery near Kapilavatthu in the region of the Sākyans.
[Kapilavatthu was in the country of the Sākyans and the Buddha’s father King Suddhodana was an elected chief of the Sākyans. It was at the palace of King Suddhodana in Kapilavatthu, that the Buddha grew up as Prince Siddhartha and lived there until the renunciation at the age of 29. When the Buddha visited Kapilavatthu for the first time after enlightenment on the invitation of King Suddhodana, Nigrodhārāma monastery was donated to the Buddha.]
One day Mahānāma the Sākyan went to the Buddha, paid homage and sat to one side.
[Mahānāma was a member of the Sākyan clan that the Buddha also belonged to and happened to be a cousin. He was a devoted disciple of the Buddha and had attained at least the first supra mundane stage of Stream Enterer after listening to the Buddha’s teaching. He used to visit the Buddha frequently and a number of discourses delivered to him by the Buddha are recorded as Mahānāma Sutta’s in the Samyutta Nikāya and the Anguttara Nikāya).]
As he was sitting to one side, he said to the Buddha:
“Venerable Sir, This Kapilavatthu is rich and prosperous, well populated, heavily crowded. Venerable Sir, after visiting the Blessed One or monks who deserve esteem, as I enter Kapilavatthu, I would come across a runaway elephant, a runaway horse, a runaway chariot, a runaway cart, or a runaway person. At that time, Venerable Sir, my mindfulness in regard to the Blessed One gets truly muddled; my mindfulness in regard to the Dhamma gets truly muddled; my mindfulness in regard to the Sangha gets truly muddled. Then the thought occurs to me: ‘If I were to die at this very moment, what would be my destination, what would be my future course’?”
[Here, Mahānāma has referred to his mindfulness about the Triple Gem: The Blessed One (Buddha), the teaching of the Buddha (Dhamma) and the disciples of the Buddha who are either liberated or are on the path of liberation (Sangha).]
“Don’t have such fear, Mahānāma! Don’t have such fear Mahānāma! Your death will not be a bad one; your demise will not be a bad one. For someone whose mind has long been fully developed in faith, fully developed in morality, fully developed in learning, fully developed in charity, fully developed in wisdom, right here, his body composed of the four primary elements, born from the mother and the father, built up on rice and porridge, subject to impermanence, rubbing, pressing, breaking up and crumbling, will be eaten by crows, vultures, hawks, dogs, jackals, or various kinds of creatures. But his mind, that has long been fully developed in faith, fully developed in morality, fully developed in learning, fully developed in charity, fully developed in wisdom, rises upwards, rises to distinction.”
[Here, the Buddha has reassured Mahānāma, that at the time of death, though the physical body will undergo decay and destruction, those who have developed the five positive spiritual qualities of faith (saddhā), morality (sīla), learning (suta), generosity (cāga) and wisdom (paññā) will receive a rebirth in one of the happy planes of existence where one could continue with one’s spiritual journey.]
“Mahānāma, suppose a strong man were to submerge a pot of ghee or a pot of oil into a deep lake of water and break it, all the shards and fragments of the pot would go down, while the ghee or the oil would rise upwards to the top. In the same way, Mahānāma, the mind, that has long been fully developed in faith, fully developed in morality, fully developed in learning, fully developed in charity, fully developed in wisdom, rises upwards, rises to distinction.”
“Don’t have such fear, Mahānāma! Don’t have such fear Mahānāma! Your death will not be a bad one; your demise will not be a bad one.”
In the Pathama Mahānāma sutta, Mahānāma the Sakyan went to the Buddha and expressed his concern about his future spiritual journey, should he die with his mind muddled with regard to his faith in the Buddha, Dhamma and the Sangha. The Buddha has reassured him that as he has already cultivated the five noble qualities of faith, morality, learning, generosity and wisdom, his death in whatever circumstances will result in a positive rebirth. It is stated in the Buddhist scriptures that Mahānāma has attained at least the first supra mundane stage of Stream Entry (Sotāpañña) and the Buddha has declared that a Stream Enterer will not be reborn in any of the realms of suffering and will attain Nibbāna within seven rebirths at most.
References
- Bhikkhu Bodhi 1999, Pathama Mahānāma Sutta, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, A Translation of the Samyutta Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
End.
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