1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrels’ Sanctuary. Now on that occasion the wanderer Sakuludāyin was staying in the Peacocks’ Sanctuary, the wanderers’ park, with a large assembly of wanderers.

2. Then, when it was morning, the Blessed One dressed, and taking his bowl and outer robe, went to Rājagaha for alms. Then he thought: “It is still too early to wander for alms in Rājagaha. Suppose I went to the wanderer Sakuludāyin in the Peacocks’ Sanctuary, the wanderers’ park.”

3–4. Then the Blessed One went to the Peacocks’ Sanctuary, the wanderers’ park. Now on that occasion the wanderer Sakuludāyin was seated with a large assembly of wanderers who were making an uproar…(as Sutta 77, §§4–5) …“For what discussion are you sitting together here now, Udāyin? And what was your discussion that was interrupted?”

5. “Venerable sir, let be the discussion for which we are now sitting together here. The Blessed One can well hear about it later. Venerable sir, when I do not come to this assembly, then it sits talking many kinds of pointless talk. But when I have come to this assembly, then it sits looking up to me, thinking: ‘We shall hear the Dhamma that the recluse Udāyin will expound to us.’ However, when the Blessed One comes, then both I and this assembly sit looking up to the Blessed One, thinking: ‘We shall hear the Dhamma that the Blessed one will expound to us.’”

6. “Then, Udāyin, suggest something that I should speak about.”

“Venerable sir, in recent days there was one claiming to be omniscient and all-seeing, to have complete knowledge and vision thus: ‘Whether I am walking or standing or sleeping or awake, knowledge and vision are continuously and uninterruptedly present to me.’ When I asked him a question about the past, he prevaricated, led the talk aside, and showed anger, hate, and bitterness. Then rapture regarding the Blessed One arose in me thus: ‘Ah, surely it is the Blessed One, surely it is the Sublime One who is skilled in these things.’”

“But, Udāyin, who was it that claimed to be omniscient and allseeing…yet when asked a question by you about the past, prevaricated, led the talk aside, and showed anger, hate, and bitterness?”

“It was the Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta, venerable sir.”

7. “Udāyin, if someone should recollect his manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births…thus, with their aspects and particulars, should he recollect his manifold past lives, then either he might ask me a question about the past or I might ask him a question about the past, and he might satisfy my mind with his answer to my question or I might satisfy his mind with my answer to his question. If someone with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, should see beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate…and understand how beings pass on according to their actions, then either he might ask me a question about the future or I might ask him a question about the future, and he might satisfy my mind with his answer to my question or I might satisfy his mind with my answer to his question. But let be the past, Udāyin, let be the future. I shall teach you the Dhamma: When this exists, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises. When this does not exist, that does not come to be; with the cessation of this, that ceases.”

8. “Venerable sir, I cannot even recollect with their aspects and particulars all that I have experienced within this present existence, so how should I recollect my manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births…with their aspects and particulars, as the Blessed One does? And I cannot now even see a mud-goblin, so how should I with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, see beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate…and understand how beings pass on according to their actions, as the Blessed One does? But, venerable sir, when the Blessed One told me: ‘But let be the past, Udāyin, let be the future. I shall teach you the Dhamma: When this exists, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises. When this does not exist, that does not come to be; with the cessation of this, that ceases’ — that is even more unclear to me. Perhaps, venerable sir, I might satisfy the Blessed One’s mind by answering a question about our own teachers’ doctrine.”

9. “Well, Udāyin, what is taught in your own teachers’ doctrine?” “Venerable sir, it is taught that in our own teachers’ doctrine:

‘This is the perfect splendour, this is the perfect splendour!’” “But, Udāyin, since it is taught in your own teachers’ doctrine:

‘This is the perfect splendour, this is the perfect splendour!’ — what is that perfect splendour?”

“Venerable sir, that splendour is the perfect splendour which is unsurpassed by any other splendour higher or more sublime.”

“But, Udāyin, what is that splendour which is unsurpassed by any other splendour higher or more sublime?”

“Venerable sir, that splendour is the perfect splendour which is unsurpassed by any other splendour higher or more sublime.”

10. “Udāyin, you might continue for a long time in this way. You say: ‘Venerable sir, that splendour is the perfect splendour which is unsurpassed by any other splendour higher or more sublime,’ yet you do not indicate what that splendour is. Suppose a man were to say: ‘I am in love with the most beautiful girl in this country.’ Then they would ask him: ‘Good man, that most beautiful girl in this country with whom you are in love — do you know whether she is from the noble class or the brahmin class or the merchant class or the worker class?’ and he would reply: ‘No.’ Then they would ask him: ‘Good man, that most beautiful girl in this country with whom you are in love — do you know her name and clan?…Whether she is tall or short or of middle height?…Whether she is dark or brown or golden-skinned?…What village or town or city she lives in?’ and he would reply: ‘No.’ And then they would ask him: ‘Good man, do you then love a girl you have never known or seen?’ and he would reply: ‘Yes.’ What do you think, Udāyin, that being so, would not that man’s talk amount to nonsense?”

“Surely, venerable sir, that being so, that man’s talk would amount to nonsense.”

“But in the same way, Udāyin, you say thus: ‘That splendour is the perfect splendour which is unsurpassed by any other splendour higher or more sublime,’ yet you do not indicate what that splendour is.”

11. “Venerable sir, just as a beautiful beryl gem of purest water, eight-faceted, well cut, lying on red brocade, glows, radiates, and shines, of such splendour is the self [surviving] unimpaired after death.”

12. “What do you think, Udāyin? This beautiful beryl gem of purest water, eight-faceted, well cut, lying on red brocade, which glows, radiates, and shines, or a glowworm in the thick darkness of the night — of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?” — “The glowworm in the thick darkness of the night, venerable sir.”

13. “What do you think, Udāyin? This glowworm in the thick darkness of the night or an oil-lamp in the thick darkness of the night — of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?” — “The oil-lamp, venerable sir.”

14. “What do you think, Udāyin? This oil-lamp in the thick darkness of the night or a great bonfire in the thick darkness of the night — of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?” — “The great bonfire, venerable sir.”

15. “What do you think, Udāyin? This great bonfire in the thick darkness of the night or the morning star towards dawn in a clear cloudless sky — of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?” — “The morning star towards dawn in a clear cloudless sky, venerable sir.”

16. “What do you think, Udāyin? The morning star towards dawn in a clear cloudless sky or the full moon at midnight in a clear cloudless sky on the Uposatha day of the fifteenth — of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?” — “The full moon at midnight in a clear cloudless sky on the Uposatha day of the fifteenth, venerable sir.”

17. “What do you think, Udāyin? The full moon at midnight in a clear cloudless sky on the Uposatha day of the fifteenth, or the full disk of the sun at midday in a clear cloudless sky in autumn in the last month of the rainy season — of these two, which gives off the splendour that is more excellent and sublime?” — “The full disk of the sun at midday in a clear cloudless sky in autumn in the last month of the rainy season, venerable sir.”

18. “Beyond this, Udāyin, I know of very many gods [whose splendour] the radiance of the sun and moon does not match, yet I do not say that there is no other splendour higher or more sublime than that splendour. But you, Udāyin, say of that splendour which is lower and meaner than a glowworm’s: ‘This is the perfect splendour,’ yet you do not indicate what that splendour is.”

19. “The Blessed One has terminated the discussion; the Sublime One has terminated the discussion.”

“But, Udāyin, why do you say that?”

“Venerable sir, it is taught in our own teachers’ doctrine: ‘This is the perfect splendour, this is the perfect splendour.’ But on being pressed and questioned and cross-questioned about our own teachers’ doctrine by the Blessed One, we are found empty, hollow, and mistaken.”

20. “How is it, Udāyin, is there an exclusively pleasant world? Is there a practical way to realise an exclusively pleasant world?”

“Venerable sir, it is taught in our own teachers’ doctrine: ‘There is an exclusively pleasant world; there is a practical way to realise an exclusively pleasant world.’”

21. “But, Udāyin, what is that practical way to realise an exclusively pleasant world?”

“Here, venerable sir, abandoning the killing of living beings, someone abstains from killing living beings; abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given; abandoning misconduct in sensual pleasures, he abstains from misconduct in sensual pleasures; abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech; or else he undertakes and practises some kind of asceticism. This is the practical way to realise an exclusively pleasant world.”

22. “What do you think, Udāyin? On an occasion when he abandons the killing of living beings and abstains from killing living beings, does his self then feel only pleasure or both pleasure and pain?”

“Both pleasure and pain, venerable sir.”

“What do you think, Udāyin? On an occasion when he abandons the taking of what is not given and abstains from taking what is not given…when he abandons misconduct in sensual pleasures and abstains from misconduct in sensual pleasures… when he abandons false speech and abstains from false speech, does his self then feel only pleasure or both pleasure and pain?”

“Both pleasure and pain, venerable sir.”

“What do you think, Udāyin? On an occasion when he undertakes and practises some kind of asceticism, does his self then feel only pleasure or both pleasure and pain?”

“Both pleasure and pain, venerable sir.”

“What do you think, Udāyin? Does the realisation of an exclusively pleasant world come about by following a way of mixed pleasure and pain?”

23. “The Blessed One has terminated the discussion; the Sublime One has terminated the discussion.”

“But, Udāyin, why do you say that?”

“Venerable sir, it is taught in our own teachers’ doctrine: ‘There is an exclusively pleasant world; there is a practical way to realise an exclusively pleasant world.’ But on being pressed and questioned and cross-questioned about our own teachers’ doctrine by the Blessed One, we are found empty, hollow, and mistaken. But how is it, venerable sir, is there an exclusively pleasant world? Is there a practical way to realise an exclusively pleasant world?”

24. “There is an exclusively pleasant world, Udāyin; there is a practical way to realise an exclusively pleasant world.”

“Venerable sir, what is that practical way to realise an exclusively pleasant world?”

25. “Here, Udāyin, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhāna…With the stilling of applied and sustained thought, he enters upon and abides in the second jhāna… in the third jhāna…This is the practical way to realise an exclusively pleasant world.”

“Venerable sir, that is not the practical way to realise an exclusively pleasant world; at that point an exclusively pleasant world has already been realised.”

“Udāyin, at that point an exclusively pleasant world has not yet been realised; that is only the practical way to realise an exclusively pleasant world.”

26. When this was said, the wanderer Sakuludāyin’s assembly made an uproar, saying very loudly and noisily: “We are lost along with our own teachers’ doctrines! We are lost along with our own teachers’ doctrines! We know nothing higher than that!”

Then the wanderer Sakuludāyin quieted those wanderers and asked the Blessed One:

27. “Venerable sir, at what point is an exclusively pleasant world realised?”

“Here, Udāyin, with the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the fourth jhāna, which has neitherpain-nor-pleasure and purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. He dwells with those deities who have arisen in an entirely pleasant world and he talks with them and enters into conversation with them. It is at this point that an exclusively pleasant world has been realised.”

28. “Venerable sir, surely it is for the sake of realising that exclusively pleasant world that bhikkhus lead the holy life under the Blessed One.”

“It is not for the sake of realising that exclusively pleasant world that bhikkhus lead the holy life under me. There are other states, Udāyin, higher and more sublime [than that] and it is for the sake of realising them that bhikkhus lead the holy life under me.”

“What are those higher and more sublime states, venerable sir, for the sake of realising which bhikkhus lead the holy life under the Blessed One?”

29–36. “Here, Udāyin, a Tathāgata appears in the world, accomplished, fully enlightened…(as Sutta 51, §§12–19)…he purifies his mind from doubt.

37. “Having thus abandoned these five hindrances, imperfections of the mind that weaken wisdom, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhāna…This, Udāyin, is a higher and more sublime state for the sake of realising which bhikkhus lead the holy life under me.

38–40. “Again, with the stilling of applied and sustained thought, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the second jhāna…the third jhāna…the fourth jhāna. This too, Udāyin, is a higher and more sublime state for the sake of realising which bhikkhus lead the holy life under me.

41. “When his concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs it to knowledge of the recollection of past lives. He recollects his manifold past lives, that is, one birth, two births…(as Sutta 51, §24)…Thus with their aspects and particulars he recollects his manifold past lives. This too, Udāyin, is a higher and more sublime state for the sake of realising which bhikkhus lead the holy life under me.

42. “When his concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs it to knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings…(as Sutta 51, §25)… Thus with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and reappearing, inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he understands how beings pass on according to their actions. This too, Udāyin, is a higher and more sublime state for the sake of realising which bhikkhus lead the holy life under me.

43. “When his concentrated mind is thus purified, bright, unblemished, rid of imperfection, malleable, wieldy, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he directs it to knowledge of the destruction of the taints. He understands as it actually is: ‘This is suffering’…(as Sutta 51, §26) …He understands as it actually is: ‘This is the way leading to the cessation of the taints.’

44. “When he knows and sees thus, his mind is liberated from the taint of sensual desire, from the taint of being, and from the taint of ignorance. When it is liberated there comes the knowledge: ‘It is liberated.’ He understands: ‘Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being.’ This too, Udāyin, is a higher and more sublime state for the sake of realising which bhikkhus lead the holy life under me.

“These, Udāyin, are those higher and more sublime states for the sake of realising which bhikkhus lead the holy life under me.”

45. When this was said, the wanderer Sakuludāyin said to the Blessed One: “Magnificent, venerable sir! Magnificent, venerable sir! The Blessed One has made the Dhamma clear in many ways, as though he were turning upright what had been overthrown, revealing what was hidden, showing the way to one who was lost, or holding up a lamp in the dark for those with eyesight to see forms. I go to the Blessed One for refuge and to the Dhamma and to the Sangha of bhikkhus. I would receive the going forth under the Blessed One, venerable sir, I would receive the full admission.”

46. When this was said, the wanderer Sakuludāyin’s assembly addressed him thus: “Do not lead the holy life under the recluse Gotama, Master Udāyin. Having been a teacher, Master Udāyin, do not live as a pupil. For Master Udāyin to do so would be as if a water jug were to become a pitcher. Do not lead the holy life under the recluse Gotama, Master Udāyin. Having been a teacher, Master Udāyin, do not live as a pupil.”

That is how the wanderer Sakuludāyin’s assembly obstructed him from leading the holy life under the Blessed One.