Saṃyutta Nikāya
II. Nidāna Vagga
21. Bhikkhu Saṃyutta
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
Part II.
The Book of Causation Nidāna-Vagga
21. Connected Discourses with Bhikkhus
Sutta 11
Mahā Kappina Suttaṃ
Mahā Kappina
Translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Copyright Bhikkhu Bodhi 2000, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000)
This selection from The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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Then the Venerable Mahā Kappina approached the Blessed One.
The Blessed One saw him coming in the distance and addressed the bhikkhus thus:
"Bhikkhus, do you see that bhikkhu coming, fair-skinned, thin, with a prominent nose?"
"Yes, venerable sir."
"That bhikkhu is of great spiritual power and might.
It is not easy to find an attainment which that bhikkhu has not already attained.
And he is one who, by realizing it for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life enters and dwells in that unsurpassed goal of the holy life for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the household life into homelessness."
This is what the Blessed One said.
Having said this, the Fortunate One, the Teacher, further said this:
"The khattiya is the best among people
For those whose standard is the clan,
But one accomplished in knowledge and conduct
Is best among devas and humans.
"The sun shines by day,
The moon glows at night,
The khattiya shines clad in armour,
The meditative brahmin shines.
But all the time, day and night,
The Buddha shines with glory."
