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 :

Jaliya Sutra & Mahasihanada Sutra From Silakkhanda Atthakatha

7. Jaliya Sutta

The Buddha was staying in the Monastery built by Ghosita near Kosambi. There were two wanderering ascetics named Mundiya and Jaliya, disciples of a guru who, because of his wooden begging bowl was known as Darupattika. They went to the Buddha and asked him : “Venerable Gotama, is the the soul was the physical body, or the physical body the soul, or whether the soul was one thing and the physical body another ?”

The Buddha replied that such a question would occur only to those who are in the darkness of ignorance. He further preached to them that the question of whether the soul and the body are the same or different did not trouble an Arhat, one who is liberated of all defilements.

8. Mahasihanada Sutta

The Buddha was dwelling near the town of Urunna, in Kannakatthala Migadaya, an area reserved for the Deer Park. At that time a naked ascetic, named Kassapa of the wanderers’ sect, was living in the same place. This ascetic went to visit the Buddha and asked him : “I have heard, Oh Gotama, that the ascetic Gotama denounces all austerities. Is this a fact or not ?”

A synoptic outline of the Suttas contained in the Digha Nikaya (a) Silakkhandha Vagga

2. Sãmaññaphala Sutta

The Buddha was dwelling, with a great assembly of twelve hundred and fifty Bhikkhus in the Mango-grove of Jivaka, the Royal Physician.

On the night of the full-moon night of the month of Kartika, Ajatasattu, the King of Magadha, was sitting on the topmost terrace of his royal palace with his courtiers. The king exclaimed : “What a beautiful night it is ! Which of the saintly renunciants or Brahmans should be approached this day in order to listen to his spiritual discourse; a discourse which will readily gladden my mind ?”

Having heard what the king said, each one of the ministers praised his own teacher and advised the king to approach him. In all, six teachers were proposed by the king’s ministers : Purana Kassapa : Makkhali Gosala; Ajita Kesakambala; Pakudha Kaccayana; Sanjaya Belattaputta; and Nigantha Nataputta.

The king, however, addressed Jivaka, who had remained silent: “Dear Jivaka, why do you remain silent ?”

Thereupon Jivaka said to the king “The Exalted One, the homage Worthy, the perfectly Self Enlightened is at present dwelling in my mango grove. If he is approached by Your Majesty, he will surely gladden your mind.”

The king, having heard what Jivaka had to say, ordered him to make the necessary arrangements, which the physician quickly did. The king then set out for the place where the Buddha was said to be staying.

The king asked this question of the Buddha : “Lord, we who are in the world, earn merit by giving alms; thus, we make ourselves, parents, wives and children, friends and relatives content and happy by means of various sorts of business and professions. Even so, is there any directly observable fruit of the renunciated life to be obtained in this very life ?”

The Buddha asked the king what replies the others had given, when the king had put these same questions to them. Thereupon King Ajatasattu told him the answers which others had given in accordance to their respective doctrines. The king also admitted to the Buddha that their answers had left him dissatisfied.

( 5 ) The Buddha gave the king an example of an obedient slave : “If a slave of yours, after renouncing the household life, should enter the order of Bhikkhus, would Your Majesty wish to force him to return to the household life ?” The Buddha thus put the question to the king himself. The king answered : “We would, rather reverence or render service to him.”

Even if such is not so important materially, it is one fruit of the renunciated life directly observable to the naked eye.

The Buddha then presented an accurate picture of the renunciant’s life gradually, by answering these questions:

(I)                 How is the renunciated life to be assumed by a house-holder who has listened to the preaching of the Tathagata and renounced his former life ?

(II)               How is he to be possessed of the primary conduct, secondary conduct, and higher conduct by following its rules ?

(III)             How is he to be well contented by becoming fully aware of memory and bringing this awareness to bear on even the least operation of his mind after achieving the discipline of his six senses ?

(IV)           How is he to maintain mindfulness in Samadhi after attaining mental joy through eradication of the five Nivaranas, which are obstructions of Samadhi ? How is he to obtain the first, the second, the third, the fourth Jhana ?

(V)              How is he to be gradually possessed by discriminatory knowledge, (Vipassana Nana), mental supernormal knoledge (manomayiddhi Nana), knowledge of psychic powers (Iddhivida Nana), knowledge of Divine power of hearing (Dibbasota Nana), the ability to penetrate the mind of others, (Cetopariya Nana), the remembrance of past lives, (Pubbenevasanussati Nana), the knowledge that consists of supernormal sight (Dibbachakkhu Nana), etc. and then how is he finally to be liberated from birth, old age, and death by attaining the Nibbana Dhamma whereby he attains knowledge of being free form impurities and experiencing actual liberation from them in which there are no such defects; and how is he thus to experience liberation with the knowledge of the extinction of fundamental defects ? These were the serial precepts the Buddha preached that day to the assembly, including the king.

TIPITAKADHARA SAYADAWS OF MYANMAR ( BURMA ) IN FIVE DECADES

TIPITAKA TITLES 1.     Tipitakadhara=Bearer of the Tipitaka ('recitation or oral'), 2.     Tipitakadhara Tipitakakawida =Bearer of the Tipitaka ('oral' and 'written'), 3.     Maha Tipitakakawida=Passing the 'oral' and 'written' with distinction, 4.     Dhammabhandagarika=Keeper of the Dhamma Treasure. The above Titles are being awarded to the successful Buddhist monks out of over 400,000 members of the Sangha in the Union of Myanmar (Burma) if the candidates can recite Pali Texts of (8026) pages of Tipitaka canons (more than 2.4 million words in Myanmar Pali) and the written portion of over (200) books of Pali Texts, Athakatha (Commentaries) and Tika (Sub-Commentaries) of Tipitaka Canons respectively Other yearly examinations being held regularly in Myanmar (Burma) with a view to promoting and flourishing the Pariyatti Sasana (Learning the Buddha's teachings) mainly contributing to the purification, perpetuation and propagation of the Buddha Sasana throughout the world are : — (2) Dhammacariya Examination (3) Pathamagyi Examination (4) Pathamalat Examination (5) Pathamange Examination (6) Abhidhamma/Visudhimagga Examination (only for Laymen and Nuns) and (7) Five Nikaya Examination. The Tipitakadhara Tipitakakovida Selection Examination is the most extensive, most difficult and profound and highest, and so it has been separately held since 1949 (1310 ME). Buddhist monks who wish to sit for this Sacred Tipitakadhara Tipitakakovida Selection Examination must have passed at least the Pathamagyi Examination. In fact, the Sacred Tipitakadhara Tipitakakovida Selection Examination is quite different from other religious Examinations because the candidates who will sit for this examination must have to take (33) days. They have to meet both oral and written portions as prescribed. Only candidates who have got through both oral and written portions of the Sacred Tipitakadhara Tipitakakovida Selection Examination will be presented the Title of Tipitakadhara Tipitakakovida and candidates who have got through the oral portion will be presented the Title of Tipitakadhara. It is further learnt that only (11) Sasana Azanis (Religious Heroes) distinctively emerged during (56) years of the Sacred Tipitakadhara Tipitakakovida Selection Examination from 1949 to 2004 (1310 to 1366 ME). In fact, over ten-thousand Buddhist monks appeared for this sacred Examination during the period of (56) years. Out of them, only (11) distinctively got through the oral and the written portion of Pali Canons and other Pali Texts during the period of (56) years. Tipitakadhara Selection Examination is the most extensive, most difficult and profound and highest. No one passed any of the categories in 1948 when it was first held in Rangoon (now Yangon) just after the country gained Independence from British Rule. The aim of the examination was to promote the emergence of the outstanding personalities who can memorize and recite the whole of the Tipitaka.