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Numbered Discourses · AN 10.84

  • Numbered Discourses 10.84Aṅguttara Nikāya 10.84
  • 9. Senior Mendicants9. Theravagga

DeclarationByākaraṇasutta

There Venerable Mahāmoggallāna addressed the mendicants:Tatra kho āyasmā mahāmoggallāno bhikkhū āmantesi: “Reverends, mendicants!”“āvuso bhikkhave”ti.

“Reverend,” they replied.“Āvuso”ti kho te bhikkhū āyasmato mahāmoggallānassa paccassosuṁ. Venerable Mahāmoggallāna said this:Āyasmā mahāmoggallāno etadavoca:

“Take a mendicant who declares enlightenment:“Idhāvuso, bhikkhu aññaṁ byākaroti: ‘I understand: “Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.”’‘khīṇā jāti, vusitaṁ brahmacariyaṁ, kataṁ karaṇīyaṁ, nāparaṁ itthattāyāti pajānāmī’ti. They’re pursued, pressed, and grilled by the Realized One, or by one of his disciples who is a meditator skilled in attainments, in the minds of others, and in encompassing another’s mind.Tamenaṁ tathāgato vā tathāgatasāvako vā jhāyī samāpattikusalo paracittakusalo paracittapariyāyakusalo samanuyuñjati samanuggāhati samanubhāsati. Grilled in this way they get stuck or lose their way. They fall to ruin and disaster.So tathāgatena vā tathāgatasāvakena vā jhāyinā samāpattikusalena paracittakusalena paracittapariyāyakusalena samanuyuñjiyamāno samanuggāhiyamāno samanubhāsiyamāno irīṇaṁ āpajjati vicinaṁ āpajjati anayaṁ āpajjati byasanaṁ āpajjati anayabyasanaṁ āpajjati.

The Realized One or one of his disciples encompasses their mind and investigates:Tamenaṁ tathāgato vā tathāgatasāvako vā jhāyī samāpattikusalo paracittakusalo paracittapariyāyakusalo evaṁ cetasā ceto paricca manasi karoti: ‘Why does this venerable declare enlightenment, saying:‘kiṁ nu kho ayamāyasmā aññaṁ byākaroti—

“I understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place’”?’khīṇā jāti, vusitaṁ brahmacariyaṁ, kataṁ karaṇīyaṁ, nāparaṁ itthattāyāti pajānāmī’ti?

They understand:Tamenaṁ tathāgato vā tathāgatasāvako vā jhāyī samāpattikusalo paracittakusalo paracittapariyāyakusalo evaṁ cetasā ceto paricca pajānāti:

‘This venerable gets irritable,‘Kodhano kho ayamāyasmā; and often lives with a heart full of anger.kodhapariyuṭṭhitena cetasā bahulaṁ viharati. But being full of anger means decline in the teaching and training proclaimed by the Realized One.Kodhapariyuṭṭhānaṁ kho pana tathāgatappavedite dhammavinaye parihānametaṁ.

This venerable is acrimonious …Upanāhī kho pana ayamāyasmā;

prone to disdain …Makkhī kho pana ayamāyasmā;

contemptuous …Paḷāsī kho pana ayamāyasmā;

jealous …Issukī kho pana ayamāyasmā;

stingy …Maccharī kho pana ayamāyasmā;

devious …Saṭho kho pana ayamāyasmā;

deceitful …Māyāvī kho pana ayamāyasmā;

This venerable has corrupt wishes,Pāpiccho kho pana ayamāyasmā; and often lives with a heart full of desire.icchāpariyuṭṭhitena cetasā bahulaṁ viharati. But being full of desire means decline in the teaching and training proclaimed by the Realized One.Icchāpariyuṭṭhānaṁ kho pana tathāgatappavedite dhammavinaye parihānametaṁ.

When there is still more to be done, this venerable stopped half-way after achieving some trifling distinction.Sati kho pana ayamāyasmā uttari karaṇīye oramattakena visesādhigamena antarā vosānaṁ āpanno. But stopping half-way means decline in the teaching and training proclaimed by the Realized One.’Antarā vosānagamanaṁ kho pana tathāgatappavedite dhammavinaye parihānametaṁ’.

It is quite impossible for a mendicant to achieve growth, improvement, or maturity in this teaching and training without giving up these ten qualities.So vatāvuso, bhikkhu ‘ime dasa dhamme appahāya imasmiṁ dhammavinaye vuddhiṁ virūḷhiṁ vepullaṁ āpajjissatī’ti netaṁ ṭhānaṁ vijjati. It is quite possible for a mendicant to achieve growth, improvement, or maturity in this teaching and training after giving up these ten qualities.”So vatāvuso, bhikkhu ‘ime dasa dhamme pahāya imasmiṁ dhammavinaye vuddhiṁ virūḷhiṁ vepullaṁ āpajjissatī’ti ṭhānametaṁ vijjatī”ti.

Similar passages elsewhere

Found by meaning, not by citation: the passages in other texts whose wording sits closest to a passage here.

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