The Illustrious (d)

Translated from the Pali by E.M. Hare.

[1] THUS have I heard:

Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī, at Jeta Grove,
in Anāthapiṇḍika's Park;
and there he addressed the monks, saying:

"Monks."

'Yes, lord,' they replied;
and the Exalted One said:

"Monks, possessed of seven qualities, a monk, skilled in the discipline, is illustrious.

Of wbat seven?

He knows what is an offence;

■

what is not;

■

what is trifling;

■

what is grave;

■

he calls to mind divers dwellings in the past, to wit:
one birth, or two, or three, or four, or five,
or ten, or twenty, or thirty, or forty, or fifty,
or a hundred, or a thousand, or a hundred thousand,
or many an age of rolling on,
or many an age of rolling back,
or many an age of both rolling on and rolling back -
such an one I was by name,
of such a clan,
of such a caste,
such was my food,
such my experience of weal and woe,
such was the end of my life.

Passing away thence,
I arose in such a place.

There, such was my name,
such my clan,
such my caste,
such my food,
such my experience of weal and woe,
such my end.

Passing away from there,
I arose here.

Thus many a previous dwelling
he calls to mind
with its circumstances and details.^[1]

■

With the deva-eye sublime,
surpassing the eye of man
he sees and knows beings
in course of faring on -
beings lowly and exalted,
beautiful and ugly,
happy and in woe,
according to their deeds.

And he thinks:

"These worthies were given over to evil practices
in act, word and thought,
were revilers of the Ariyans,
holders of wrong views,
men who have acquired this karma
from wrong views;
and on the breaking up of the body after death,
have arisen in the untoward way,
the ill way,
the abyss,
hell.

But these good sirs behaved rightly
in act, word and thought,
were no revilers of the Ariyans,
held right views
and have acquired this karma therefrom;
and on the breaking up of the body after death,
have arisen in the blissful heaven world."

Thus with the deva-eye
purified and surpassing the human eye,
he sees and knows beings
in course of faring on -
beings lowly and exalted,
beautiful and ugly,
happy and in woe,
according to their deeds.

■

He enters and abides in the emancipation of the heart and wisdom,
which is cankerless,
and this state he knows and realizes for himself,
even in this life.

Verily, monks, possessed of seven qualities, a monk, skilled in the discipline, is illustrious.

^[1] This passage recurs at D. i, 13; S. ii, 121; M. i, 22; A. i, 164, and passim. Below, p. 121 ff.

Aṇguttara Nikāya Sattaka Nipāta VIII. Vinaya Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings The Book of the Sevens Chapter VIII: The Discipline

Sutta 78

Catuttha Vinayadhara Sobhana Suttaṃ

The Illustrious (d)

Aṇguttara Nikāya
Sattaka Nipāta
VIII. Vinaya Vagga

The Book of the Gradual Sayings
The Book of the Sevens
Chapter VIII: The Discipline