Aṅguttara-Nikāya
III. Tika Nipāta
VIII. Ānanda Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
or
More-Numbered Suttas
III. The Book of the Threes
VIII. About Ānanda
Sutta 75
Nivesaka Suttaɱ
To Be Advised
Translated from the Pali by
F.L. Woodward, M.A.
Copyright The Pali Text Society
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[1] Thus have I heard:
On a certain occasion the venerable Ānanda was staying near Vesālī,
in Great Grove,
at the House with the Peaked Gable.
Now the venerable Ānanda went to see the Exalted One,
and on coming to him
saluted him
and sat down at one side.
As he sat thus
the Exalted One said this
to the venerable Ānanda:
"Ānanda, one for whom you have fellow-feeling
and those who think you should be listened to,
whether friends
or intimates
or kinsmen
or blood relations, -
such ought to be advised about,
grounded on,
established in three particulars.[1]
Wbat three?
2. They should be advised about,
grounded on,
established in
unwavering loyalty to the Buddha, thus:
'He it is,
the Exalted One,
the Arahant,
who is a Fully Enlightened One,
perfect in knowledge and practice,
a Wellfarer,
World-Knower,
unsurpassed charioteer of beings to be tamed,
Teacher of Devas and mankind,
a Buddha is the Exalted One.'
■
They should be advised about,
grounded on,
established in
unwavering loyalty to Dhamma, thus:
'Well proclaimed by the Exalted One is Dhamma.
It is a real thing, not a matter of time.
It invites one to come and see it.
It leads one onwards.
It is to be understood by the intelligent for themselves.'
■
They should be advised about,
grounded on,
established in
unwavering loyalty to the Order, thus:
'Well conducted
is the Exalted One's Order of disciples,
walking uprightly
is the Exalted One's Order of disciples,
walking in the right way
is the Exalted One's Order of disciples,
walking dutifully
is the Exalted One's Order of disciples,
to wit, the four pairs of human beings,
the eight sorts of human beings:
that Order of disciples of the Exalted One
is worthy of respect,
offerings and gifts,
worthy of being saluted with clasped hands,
a field of merit unsurpassed for the world.'
§
3. There may be change,[2] Ānanda,
in the four great phenomena,
the elements of earth,
of water,
of heat,
and the element of air,[3]
but there can be no change
in the Ariyan disciple
blessed with unwavering loyalty to the Buddha.
By "change" I mean this:
that such an one should be reborn in Purgatory,
in the womb of an animal
or in the Realm of Petas
is an impossibility.
■
[203] 4. There may be change, Ānanda,
in the four great phenomena,
the elements of earth,
of water,
of heat,
and the element of air,
but there can be no change
in the Ariyan disciple
blessed with unwavering loyalty to Dhamma.
By "change" I mean this:
that such an one should be reborn in Purgatory,
in the womb of an animal
or in the Realm of Petas
is an impossibility.
■
5. There may be change, Ānanda,
in the four great phenomena,
the elements of earth,
of water,
of heat,
and the element of air,
but there can be no change
in the Ariyan disciple
blessed with unwavering loyalty to the Order.
By "change" I mean this:
that such an one should be reborn in Purgatory,
in the womb of an animal
or in the Realm of Petas
is an impossibility.
§
5. So, Ānanda, one for whom you have fellow-feeling
and those who think you should be listened to,
whether friends
or intimates
or kinsmen
or blood relations, -
such ought to be advised about,
grounded on,
established in these three particulars."
[1] Cf. K.S. v, 165, 317 ff.
[2] Text should read aññathattañ, lit. 'otherness.'
