Dialogues of the Buddha, Part II — trans. T. W. and C. A. F. Rhys Davids (1910)

6. And the venerable Ananda went to the Exalted One and paid him reverence and took his seat beside him. And when he was seated, he addressed the Exalted One, and said:- — ' The brother named Sa/ha has died at Nadika, lord. Where has he been reborn, and what is his destiny ? The sister named Nanda has died, lord, at Nadika. Where is she reborn, and what is her destiny ? ' [92] [And in the same terms he inquired concerning the lay disciple Sudatta, and the devout lady Sugata, the lay disciples Kakudha, and Kalinga, and Nika/a, and Ka/issabha, and Tu/Z/^a, and Santu/Ma, and Bhadda, and SubhaddaA.]

7. ' The brother named Sa/ha, Ananda, by the destruction of the Intoxications has by himself, and in this world, known and realized and attained to Arahantship, to emancipation of heart and to emancipation of mind. The sister named Nanda, Ananda, has, by the complete destruction of the five bonds that bind people to these lower worlds of lust, become an inheritor of the highest heavens, there to pass entirely away, thence never to return. The devout Sudatta, Ananda, by the complete destruction of the three bonds, and by the reduction to a minimum of lust, ill-will, and stupidity, has become a Sakadagamin, who on his first return to this world will make an end of sorrow. The devout

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Sugata, Ananda, by the complete destruction of the three bonds, has become converted, is no longer liable to be reborn in a state of suffering, and is assured of hereafter attaining to the enlightenment [of Arahantship]1. The devout Kakudha, Ananda, by the complete destruction of the five bonds that bind people to these lower worlds of lust, has become an inheritor of the highest heavens, there to pass entirely away, thence never to return. [The same of Kalinga, Nika/a, town, and never an adjective in agreement with the second name. It seems simple enough ; but even the best Sanskritists appear sometimes to be unfamiliar with the force of this Pali idiom.

1 See Rhys Davids's 'Buddhism,' pp. 108-10; above, Vol. I, pp. 190-2; below, at VI. 6, and in the translation of D. II, 201 ; also Divyavadana, pp. 533-4-

p. 99

Ka^issabha, Tutt/ta., Santu///£a, Bhadda, and Subhadda, [93] and with more than fifty devout men in Nadika.] More tiian ninety devout men in Nadika, who have died, Ananda, have by the complete destruction of the three bonds, and by the reduction of lust, ill-will and stupidity, become Sakadagamins, who on their first return to this world will make an end of sorrow. More than five hundred devout men of Nadika who

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have died, Ananda, have by the complete destruction of the three bonds become converted, are no longer liable to be reborn in a state of suffering, and are assured of hereafter attaining the enlightenment [of Arahantship].

8. ' Now there is nothing strange in this, Ananda, that a human being should die ; but that as each one does so you should come to me, and inquire about them in this manner, that is wearisome to me. I will, therefore, teach you a way of truth, called the Mirror of Truth, which if a disciple of the noble ones possess he may, if he should so desire, himself predict of himself:— "Purgatory is destroyed for me, and rebirth as an animal, or a ghost, or in any place of woe. I am converted, I am no longer liable to be reborn in a state of suffering, and am assured of hereafter attaining to the enlightenment [of Arahantship]."

9. ' What then, Ananda, is this Mirror of Truth ? [It is the consciousness that] the disciple of the Arahants is in this world possessed of faith in the Buddha — believing the Exalted One to be the Arahant, the Fully-enlightened One, Wise, Upright, Happy, Worldknowing, Supreme, the Bridler of men's wayward hearts, the Teacher of gods and men, the Exalted and Awakened One. And that he [the disciple] is possessed of faith in the Truth — believing the Truth to have been proclaimed by the Exalted One, of advantage in this world, passing not away, welcoming all, leading to salvation, and to be attained to by the wise, each one for himself. And that he [the disciple] is possessed of faith in the Order — believing the multitude of the disciples of the Exalted One who are walking in the

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IOO XVI. MAHA PARINIBBANA SUTTANTA. D. ii. 93.