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Linked Discourses · SN 21.11

  • Linked Discourses 21.11Saṁyutta Nikāya 21.11
  • 1. Monks1. Bhikkhuvagga

With MahākappinaMahākappinasutta

At Sāvatthī.Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.

Then Venerable Mahākappina went to the Buddha.Atha kho āyasmā mahākappino yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami.

The Buddha saw him coming off in the distance,Addasā kho bhagavā āyasmantaṁ mahākappinaṁ dūratova āgacchantaṁ. and addressed the mendicants:Disvāna bhikkhū āmantesi: “Mendicants, do you see that monk coming—white, thin, with a pointy nose?”“passatha no tumhe, bhikkhave, etaṁ bhikkhuṁ āgacchantaṁ odātakaṁ tanukaṁ tuṅganāsikan”ti?

“Yes, sir.”“Evaṁ, bhante”.

“That mendicant is very mighty and powerful.“Eso kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu mahiddhiko mahānubhāvo. It’s not easy to find an attainment that he has not already attained.Na ca sā samāpatti sulabharūpā yā tena bhikkhunā asamāpannapubbā. And he has realized the supreme culmination of the spiritual path in this very life. He lives having achieved with his own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness.”Yassa catthāya kulaputtā sammadeva agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajanti tadanuttaraṁ brahmacariyapariyosānaṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja viharatī”ti.

That is what the Buddha said.Idamavoca bhagavā. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:Idaṁ vatvāna sugato athāparaṁ etadavoca satthā:

“The aristocrat is best among people“Khattiyo seṭṭho janetasmiṁ, who take clan as the standard.ye gottapaṭisārino; But one accomplished in knowledge and conductVijjācaraṇasampanno, is best among gods and humans.so seṭṭho devamānuse.

The sun blazes by day,Divā tapati ādicco, the moon radiates at night,rattimābhāti candimā; the aristocrat shines in armor,Sannaddho khattiyo tapati, and the brahmin shines in absorption.jhāyī tapati brāhmaṇo; But all day and all night,Atha sabbamahorattiṁ, the Buddha blazes with glory.”buddho tapati tejasā”ti.

Similar passages elsewhere

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

  1. SN 21.12 Companions 0.65near 0.1Linked Discourses 21.12 1. Monks Companions At Sāvatthī. Then two mendicants who were companions, protégés of Venerable Mahākappina, went to the Buddha. The Buddha saw them coming off in the distance, and addressed the m…
  2. SN 21.6 With Bhaddiya the Dwarf 0.62near 0.1Linked Discourses 21.6 1. Monks With Bhaddiya the Dwarf At Sāvatthī. Then Venerable Bhaddiya the Dwarf went to the Buddha. The Buddha saw him coming off in the distance, and addressed the mendicants: “Mendicants, do you…
  3. SN 21.5 With Sujāta 0.60near 0.1Linked Discourses 21.5 1. Monks With Sujāta At Sāvatthī. Then Venerable Sujāta went to the Buddha. The Buddha saw him coming off in the distance, and addressed the mendicants: “This gentleman shines in both ways. He’s at…