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Thursday, October 20, 2011

11. Kevatta Sutra from Silakkhandha Atthakatha



11. Kevatta Sutta

The Buddha was residing in the Mango-grove of Pavarika in Nalanda. Then Kevatta, a young householder man of that locality, came to the Buddha and said : “Lord, this town of Nalanda is very prosperous and it is also thickly populated. The inhabitants here are favourably disposed towards you, O Lord. Let the Lord order a Bhikkhu to exhibit some feats of superhuman conduct here in public. For it will be good.” But the Buddha did not approve of such a request; he said : “It is liable to be misunderstood by the people as black magic such as Gandhari and Manika.” It was for such reasons that Buddha did not permit anyone to perform such feats of psychic potency.
Then the Buddha narrated how a certain Bhikkhu had asked the question, “Where do the four elements, earth, water, fire, and air cease without the least remainder ?” By his superhuman powers, the Bhikkhu had approached the divine beings of higher and higher heavens and demanded a definite answer to this question from them. None of them, however, could satisfy him. Ultimately, on the advice of the Maha-Brahma, the Bhikkhu returned to the Buddha for an answer to his question. So spoke the Buddha of that memorable event. The Buddha chided the Bhikkhu for his enquiry elsewhere and explained the matter to him thus : read more
“It is foolish to ask questions in that way. The proper way of putting the question would be this : “Where do these four elements, earth, water, fire, and air, not exist ? Where do they not arise ? Where do the conceptions of long and short, minute and gross, good and bad, and name and form arise not ? With the cessation of consciousness, all these name and form cease.”

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