Aṇguttara Nikāya
VIII. Atthaka Nipāta
IX. Sati-Vagga
The Book of the Gradual Sayings
VIII. The Book of the Eights
Chapter IX: Mindfulness
Sutta 85
Tathāgat-ā-dhivacana Suttaṃ
Recluse
Translated from the Pali by E.M. Hare.
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[1] THUS have I heard:
Once the Exalted One was dwelling near Sāvatthī.
There the Exalted One addressed the monks, saying:
"Monks."
"Yes, lord," they replied, and the Exalted One said:
"'Recluse,'[1] monks, is a term for the Tathāgata,
the arahant,
wholly awakened.
'Brahmāna,' monks, is a term for the Tathāgata,
the arahant,
wholly awakened.
'Discoverer,'[2] monks, is a term for the Tathāgata,
the arahant,
wholly awakened.
'Healer,' monks, is a term for the Tathāgata,
the arahant,
wholly awakened.
'Stainless,' monks, is a term for the Tathāgata,
the arahant,
wholly awakened.
'Pure,' monks, is a term for the Tathāgata,
the arahant,
wholly awakened.
'Knower,' monks, is a term for the Tathāgata,
the arahant,
wholly awakened.
'Freed,' monk, is a term for the Tathāgata,
the arahant,
wholly awakened.
What by recluse should be attained,[3]
By brahmana by god-life[4] won,
What gotten by discoverer.
What unsurpassed by healer found,
What by the pure and stainless won,
What by the knower should be known,
What freedom by the freed attained -
All that in battle I have won;
Set free from bonds I make man free.
Supremely tamed elephant[5]
Am I, adept and wholly cool.[6]
[1] This is quoted at Sn.A. 161.
[2] Vedagū: winner of knowledge; see Ud.A. 119 for definition.
[3] Comy. namely guṇa: virtue, goodness.
[4] Vusīmatā, ibid.'. By having lived the godly life, the brahma-cariya; see Sn.A. 601; cf. Mrs. Rhys Davids' Gotama, p. 95: the god-way.
[5] Nāgo'mhi. The Comy. is silent. Meaning elephant or cobra, nāga stands for mysterious life; cf. Dhp. 320, 329. Cf. also A. iii, 346: Nāgaṃ vo kittayissami, na hi aguṃ karoti so; cf. also Sn. 522; Sn.A. 428; Pss. Brethren, 210; S.B.E. x, ii, 89.
[6] Parinibbuto.
