1 jffetiyani, which Sum. Vil. explains as Yakkha-^etiyani.
2 The commentator adds that this was a vihdra erected on the site of a former temple of the Yakkha Sarandada.
3 'Overcome' is literally 'done' (akarawiyd), but the word evidently has a similar sense to that which ' done ' occasionally has
maha-parinibbAna sutta.
'Whatever you think most fitting, O Brahman,'
was the reply. And the Brdhman Vassaldira, de-
lighted and pleased with the words of the Blessed
One, rose from his seat, and went his way.
6. Now soon after he had gone the Blessed One
addressed the venerable Ananda, and said : ' Go now,
Ananda, and assemble in the Service Hall such of
the Brethren 1 as live in the neighbourhood of
RS^agaha/
in colloquial English. The Sum. Vil. (fol. /i) says akarawryji, akatabba agahetabbd: yadidah, nip&ta-mattan : yudd'has- sati, karawatthe sami-va£anan, abhimukhena yuddhena gahetuh na sakka* ti attho. Upalapana, which I have only met with here, must mean ' humbug, cajolery, diplomacy ; ' see the use of the verb upa-l&peti, at Mah& VaggaV, 2, 21 ; Gat. II, 266, 267 ; Pdt. in the 70th P&£. Sum. Vil. explains it, at some length, as making an alliance, by gifts, with hostile intent, which comes to much the same thing. The root I think is li.
1 The word translated ' brethren ' throughout is in the original bhikkhu, a word most difficult to render adequately by any word which would not, to Christians and in Europe, connote something different from the Buddhist idea. A bhikkhu, literally 'beggar,' was a disciple who had joined Gotama's order ; but the word refers to their renunciation of worldly things, rather than to their conse- quent mendicancy; and they did not really beg in our modem sense of the word. Hardy has 'priests;' I have elsewhere used 4 monks ' and sometimes ' beggars ' and ' members of the order/ This last is, I think, the best rendering ; but it is too long for con- stant repetition, as in this passage, and too complex to be a really good version of bhikkhu. The members of the order were not priests, for they had no priestly powers. They were not monks, for they took no vow of obedience, and could, leave the order (and constantly did so and do so still) whenever they chose. They were not beggars, for they had none of the mental and moral qualities associated with that word. ' Brethren ' connotes very much the position in which they stood to one another ; but I wish there were a better word to use in rendering bhikkhu.
6 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
And he did so ; and returned to the Blessed One, and informed him, saying :
'The company of the Brethren, Lord, is assem- bled, let the Blessed One do as seemeth to him fit/
And the Blessed One arose, and went to the
Service Hall ; and when he was seated, he addressed
the Brethren, and said :
' 1 will teach you, O mendicants, seven conditions
of the welfare of a community. Listen well and
attend, and I will speak/
' Even so, Lord/ said the Brethren, in assent, to the Blessed One ; and he spake as follows :
'So long, O mendicants, as the brethren meet
together in full and frequent assemblies — so long
as they meet together in concord, and rise in con-
cord, and carry out in concord the duties of the
order — so long as the brethren shall establish
nothing that has not been already prescribed, and
abrogate nothing that has been already established,
and act in accordance with the rules of the order as
now laid down — so long as the brethren honour and
esteem and revere and support the elders of expe-
rience and long standing, the fathers and leaders
of the order, and hold it a point of duty to hearken
to their words — so long as the brethren fall not
under the influence of that craving which, springing"
up within them, would give rise to renewed exist-
ence 1 — so long as the brethren delight in a life
of solitude — so long as the brethren so train their
minds 2 that good and holy men shall come to
them, and those who have come shall dwell at ease
1 ' Ponobhavika' punabbhava-d&yika. (S. V. fol. /ti.)
2 'Pa££attaw yeva satiw upa/Mapessanti ' ti attano ab- bhantare satiw upa/Mapessanti. (S. V. fol. /ft.)
mahA-parinibbana-sutta.
— so long may the brethren be expected, not to
decline, but to prosper. So long as these seven con-
ditions shall continue to exist among the brethren, so
long as they are well-instructed in these conditions,
so long may the brethren be expected not to decline,
but to prosper/
7. * Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach
you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I
will speak/
And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows :
'So long as the brethren shall not engage in,
or be fond of, or be connected with business — so
iong- as the brethren shall not be in the habit
°t or be fond of, or be partakers in idle talk — so
Jongr- as the brethren shall not be addicted to, or
fond of, or indulge in slothfulness — so long
as tlie brethren shall not frequent, or be fond of,
or indulge in society — so long as the brethren
sha.ll neither have, nor fall under the influence of,
sia-ful desires — so long as the brethren shall not
become the friends, companions, or intimates of
sUYriers — so long as the brethren shall not come
to a stop on their way [to Nirv&^a 1 ] because they
^Oramattakend' tiavaramattakena appamattakena. 'An-
tara' ti arahattaw appatva'va etth* antare. 'Vos&nan' ti
osakkanam ida/» vuttaw hotL Y&va sila-parisuddhi-mat- tena va vipassana-mattena vd sotapanna-bhava-mattena va sakadagdmi-bh&va-mattena va anag&mi-bh&va-mattena va 'vosanara' na 'apa^issanti' nama 1 vuddhi yeva bhikkhft- naw paVikawkha no parih&ni.' S. V. (fol. trt). This is an inter- esting analogue to Philippians iii. 13 : ' I count not myself to have apprehended : but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark/ &c. See also below, Chap. V, § 68.
have attained to any lesser thing — so long may the
brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper
'So long as these conditions shall continue to
exist among the brethren, so long as they are in-
structed in these conditions, so long may the brethren
be expected not to decline, but to prosper/
8. 4 Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach
you,. O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I
will speak/
And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows :
' So long as the brethren shall be full of faith,
modest in heart, afraid of sin x , full of learning, strong
in energy, active in mind, and full of wisdom, so
long may the brethren be expected not to decline,
but to prosper.
' So long as these conditions shall continue to
exist among the brethren, so long as they are in-
structed in these conditions, so long may the brethren
be expected not to decline, but to prosper/
9. ' Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach
you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I
will speak/
And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows :
1 The exact distinction between hiri and ottappa is here ex- plained by Buddhaghosa as follows :
'Hirimana' ti papa-^igu^^ana-lakkhatfaya hiriyd yut- ta£itt&. 'Ottapi'ti papato bhaya-lakkhawena ottappena sa- manndgatd: that is, loathing sin as contrasted with fear of sin. But this is rather a gloss than an exact and exclusive definition. Ahirikd is shamelessness, anotappazra frowardness. At Gat. I, 207 we find hiri described as subjective, and ottappa as objec- tive, modesty of heart as contrasted with decency in outward behaviour.
maha-parinibbAna-sutta.
' So long as the brethren shall exercise themselves
in the sevenfold higher wisdom, that is to say, in
mental activity, search after truth, energy, joy, peace,
earnest contemplation, and equanimity of mind, so
long may the brethren be expected not to decline,
but to prosper.
'So long as these conditions shall continue to
exist among the brethren, so long as they are in-
structed in these conditions, so long may the brethren
be expected not to decline, but to prosper.'
10. ' Other seven conditions of welfare will I teach
you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I
will speak/
And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows :
* So long as the brethren shall exercise themselves
in the sevenfold perception due to- earnest thought,
that is to say, the perception of impermanency, of
non-individuality 1 , of corruption, of the danger of sin,
of sanetification,. of purity of heart, of Nirvd^a, so
long may the brethren be expected not to decline,
but to prosper.
* So long as these conditions shall continue to exist
among the brethren, so long as they are instructed
in these conditions,, so long may the brethren be
expected not to decline, but to prosper/
11. 4 Six conditions of welfare will I teach you, O brethren. Listen well, and attend, and I will speak/
And on their expressing their assent, he spake as follows :
1 For a further explanation of the meaning of anattaw see Gotama's second discourse in the Mahd Vagga I, 6 : 38-47. Buddhaghosa makes no special comment here on either of the seven perceptions.
Io
4 So long as the brethren shall persevere in kind-
ness of action, speech, and thought amongst the
saints, both in public and in private— so long as
they shall divide without partiality, and share in
common with the upright and the holy, all such
things as they receive in accordance with the
just provisions of the order, down even to the mere
contents of a begging bowl — so long as the brethren
shall live among the saints in the practice, both
in public and in private, of those virtues which (un-
broken, intact, unspotted, unblemished) are produc-
tive of freedom x , and praised by the wise ; which are
untarnished by the desire of future life, or by the
belief in the efficacy of outward acts 2 ; and which
are conducive to high and holy thoughts — so long as
the brethren shall live among the saints, cherishing,
both in public and in private, that noble and saving
faith which leads to the complete destruction of the
sorrow of him who acts according to it — so long
may the brethren be expected not to decline, but
to prosper.
' So long as these six conditions shall continue to
1 Buddhaghosa takes this in a spiritual sense, 't&ni pan' et&ni (silani) tawha-dasavyato mo£etv& bhu^issa-bhdva-kara- «ato bhu^iss&ni : ' that is, ' These virtues are bhu^is's&ni be- cause they bring one to the state of a free man by delivering him from the slavery of craving/
2 Ta»ha-di/Mihi apar&ma/Matt&, idam nama tvaw apan- napubbo ti kena^i parama/Mutfz asakku# eyyattd £a, 'apa- rama/Mani' (S. V. fol. //u), that is, 'These virtues are called aparama/Mani ' because they are untarnished by craving or de- lusion, and because no one can say of him who practises them, " you have been already guilty of such and such a sin:'' ' Craving is here the hope of a future life in heaven, and delusion the belief in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies (the two nissayas) which are condemned as unworthy inducements to virtue.
MA H A-P ARINTBB AN A-SUTTA .
exist among the brethren, so long as they are in-
structed in these six conditions, so long may the
brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper.'
12. And whilst the Blessed One stayed there at
Ra£agaha on the Vultures Peak he held that com-
prehensive religious talk with the brethren on the
nature of upright conduct, and of earnest contem-
plation, and of intelligence. * Great is the fruit,
great the advantage of earnest contemplation when
set round with upright conduct. Great is the fruit,
great the advantage of intellect when set round with
earnest contemplation. The mind set round with
intelligence is freed from the great evils, that is
to say, from sensuality, from individuality, from
delusion, and from ignorance 1 /