Aṇguttara Nikāya
Chakka-Nipāta
III: Anuttariya-Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Sixes
Chapter III: Above All
Sutta 26
Mahā Kaccāna Suttaṃ
Kaccāna[1]
Translated from the Pali by E.M. Hare.
Copyright The Pali Text Society
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[1] Thus have I heard:
Once the venerable Mahā Kaccāna was dwelling near Sāvatthī.
There the venerable Mahā Kaccāna addressed the monks, saying:
"Monks, reverend sirs!.'
'Reverend sir!' they rejoined;
and the venerable one said:
'It[2] is wonderful, reverend sirs;
it is amazing
how the escape from the noose[3]
was conceived by that Exalted One,
knower,
seer,
arahant,
fully awake -
to purge man,
overcome grief and woe,
clear away pain and distress,
win truth,[4]
realize Nibbāna -
I mean the six states of ever minding.
What six?
Consider, reverend sirs, the Ariyan disciple who is ever minding the Tathāgata:
'He is the Exalted One,
arahant,
fully enlightened,
perfected in knowledge and way of life,
one well-gone,
a knower of the worlds,
none higher,
a tamer of tamable men,
a teacher,
the awake among devas and men,
the Exalted One!'
When he so minds him,
his heart is not lust-obsessed,
nor hate-obsessed,
nor obsessed by infatuation;
upright in heart is he at that time,
moved,
freed,
raised from greed;
and this greed, monks,
is a name for the fivefold sensuous pleasures;
and, sirs, that Ariyan disciple
lives at all times
with heart spacious,
large,
lofty,
boundless,
free of hatred and ill-will.
Verily, reverend sirs,
by making this thought their object,
some men thereby become pure in nature.
■
Again, the Ariyan disciple ever minds Dhamma:
"Well declared by the Exalted One is Dhamma,
a view for this life,
nor for this only,
bidding come and see,
a guide,
to be known by the wise
each for himself."
Monks, what time the Ariyan disciple minds the Dhamma,
his heart is not lust-obsessed,
nor hate-obsessed,
nor obsessed by infatuation;
upright in heart is he at that time,
moved,
freed,
raised from greed;
and this greed, monks,
is a name for the fivefold sensuous pleasures;
and, sirs, that Ariyan disciple
lives at all times
with heart spacious,
large,
lofty,
boundless,
free of hatred and ill-will.
Verily, reverend sirs,
by making this thought their object,
some men thereby become pure in nature.
■
Again, the Ariyan disciple ever minds the Order:
"The Exalted One's Order of disciples
has rightly stepped the way,
has straightly stepped the way,
has fitly stepped the way,
has wholly stepped the way,
that is:
the four pairs among men,
the eight persons among mankind;
and this Order of disciples of the Exalted One
is worthy of offerings,
worthy of gifts,
worthy of oblations,
meet to be reverently saluted,
the world's peerless field for merit."
Monks, what time the Ariyan disciple minds the Order,
his heart is not lust-obsessed,
nor hate-obsessed,
nor obsessed by infatuation;
upright in heart is he at that time,
moved,
freed,
raised from greed;
and this greed, monks,
is a name for the fivefold sensuous pleasures;
and, sirs, that Ariyan disciple
lives at all times
with heart spacious,
large,
lofty,
boundless,
free of hatred and ill-will.
Verily, reverend sirs,
by making this thought their object,
some men thereby become pure in nature.
■
Again, the Ariyan disciple ever minds the virtues in himself:
"They are unbroken,
without a flaw,
spotless,
without blemish;
they bring freedom
and are praised by wise men;
they are incorruptible
and lead to concentration."
Monks, what time the Ariyan disciple mindsvirtues in himself,
his heart is not lust-obsessed,
nor hate-obsessed,
nor obsessed by infatuation;
upright in heart is he at that time,
moved,
freed,
raised from greed;
and this greed, monks,
is a name for the fivefold sensuous pleasures;
and, sirs, that Ariyan disciple
lives at all times
with heart spacious,
large,
lofty,
boundless,
free of hatred and ill-will.
Verily, reverend sirs,
by making this thought their object,
some men thereby become pure in nature.
■
Again, the Ariyan disciple ever minds liberality in himself:
"It is indeed a gain for me,
indeed I have greatly gained,
I who among folk, overwhelmed by the taint of stinginess,
live the home-life heart-free of the stingy taint,
giving freely,
open-handād,
loving bounty,
within reach of all,
finding joy in alms-distribution."
Monks, what time the Ariyan disciple mindsvirtues in himself,
his heart is not lust-obsessed,
nor hate-obsessed,
nor obsessed by infatuation;
upright in heart is he at that time,
moved,
freed,
raised from greed;
and this greed, monks,
is a name for the fivefold sensuous pleasures;
and, sirs, that Ariyan disciple
lives at all times
with heart spacious,
large,
lofty,
boundless,
free of hatred and ill-will.
Verily, reverend sirs,
by making this thought their object,
some men thereby become pure in nature.
■
Or the Ariyan diseiple ever minds the devas:
"There are the Four Royal devas,
there are the devas of the Thirty,
the Yama devas,
the Tusita devas,
the devas who delight in creating,
the devas who have power over others' creations,
the Brahma-world devas,
and there are the devas beyond that;
because their faith was such,
those devas fared hence and arose there,
I also have such faith;
because their virtue was such,
those devas fared hence and arose there,
I also have such virtue;
because their learning was such,
those devas fared hence and arose there,
I also have such learning;
because their liberality was such,
those devas fared hence and arose there,
I also have such liberality;
because their wisdom was such,
those devas fared hence and arose there,
I also have such wisdom.'
Monks, what time the Ariyan disciple minds
faith,
virtue,
learning,
liberality
and wisdom,
both in himself
and in those devas
his heart is not lust-obsessed,
nor hate-obsessed,
nor obsessed by infatuation;
upright in heart is he at that time,
moved,
freed,
raised from greed;
and this greed, monks,
is a name for the fivefold sensuous pleasures;
and, sirs, that Ariyan disciple
lives at all times
with heart spacious,
large,
lofty,
boundless,
free of hatred and ill-will.
Verily, reverend sirs,
by making this thought their object,
some men thereby become pure in nature.
■
It is wonderful, reverend sirs;
it is amazing
how the escape from the noose
was conceived by that Exalted One,
knower,
seer,
arahant,
fully awake -
to purge man,
overcome grief and woe,
clear away pain and distress,
win truth,
realize Nibbāna -
I mean the six states of ever minding.
[1] See above VI, § 17.
[2] This is a stock para.; see A. iv, 426, where Ānanda uses it. Our Comy. is much the same as on A. iv.
[3] Sambādha.
[4] Ñāya.
