1 Samawa-br&hmaw£, which compound may possibly mean Samaras and Brahmans as it has usually been rendered, but I think not necessarily. Not one of those here specified were Brdhmans by caste, as is apparent from the Sumangala Vilasint on the Sa- mara Phala Sutta, p. 114. Compare the use of Kshatriya- brahma;*o, 'a soldier priest/ a Kshatriya who offered sacrifice; and of Brdhmawo, absolutely, as an epithet of an Arahat. In the use of the word samara there seems to me to be a hopeless confusion between, a complete mingling of the meanings of, the two roots s ram and jam (which, in Pali, would both become sam). It connotes both asceticism and inward peace, and might best be rendered 'devotee,' were it not for the intellectual inferiority im- plied by that word in our language. A Samara Brahman should therefore mean a man of any caste, who by his saintliness of life, by his renunciation of the world, and by his reputation as a reli- gious thinker, had acquired the position of a quasi Brahman, and
I06 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
are heads of companies of disciples and students,
teachers of students, well known, renowned, founders
of schools of doctrine, esteemed as good men by the
multitude — to wit, Pfiraraa Kassapa, Makkhali of the
cattle-pen, A^ita of the garment of hair, Kavfc£&yana
of the Pakudha tree, Sa^aya the son of the Be-
XdittJiA slave-girl, and Niga^Ma of the N&tha clan
— have they all, according to their own assertion,
thoroughly understood things ? or have they not ?
or are there some of them who have understood,
and some who have not 1 ? '
6 1. 'Enough, Subhadda! Let this matter rest
whether they, according to their own assertion,
have thoroughly understood things, or whether
they have not, or whether some of them have
understood and some have not ! The truth, Ananda,
will I teach you. Listen well to that, and give
ear attentively, and I will speak/
' Even so, Lord ! ' said the mendicant Subhadda, in assent, to the Blessed One.
62. And the Blessed One spake : ' In whatso-
ever doctrine and discipline, Subhadda, the noble
eightfold path is not found, neither in it is there
found a man of true saintliness of the first or of
the second or of the third or of the fourth degree 2 .
was looked up to by the people in the same way as that in which they looked up to a Brahman by caste. Compare further my ' Buddhist Birth Stories/ vol. i. p. 260 ; and also Mr. Beat's remarks in the Indian Antiquary for May, 1880; and Professor Max Mailer's note on Dhammapada, verse 265.
1 Buddhaghosa has an exegetical note on abbha##amsu, but passes over those celebrated Six Teachers in silence. The little that is thus far known of them will be discussed in another place.
2 This refers to the four divisions of the Noble Eightfold Path. See above, chap. II, § 8, where their characters are described. The
And in whatsoever doctrine and discipline, Su-
bhadda, the noble eightfold path is found, is found
the man of true saintliness of the first and the
second and the third and the fourth degree. Now
in this doctrine and discipline, Subhadda, is found
the noble eightfold path, and in it alone, Subhadda,
is the man of true saintliness. Void are the sys-
tems of other teachers — void of true saints. And
in this one, Subhadda, may the brethren live the
Life that's Right, so that the world be not bereft of
Arahats \
word translated ' man of true saintliness/ or ' true saint/ is in the text Samawo, on which see the note on page 105. I am at a loss how to render the word adequately here.
1 Arahats are those who have reached Nirvana, the 'supreme goal/ the 'highest fruit' of the Noble Eightfold Path. To live ' the Life that's Right' (s am ma) is to live in the Noble Path, each of the eight divisions of which is to be samm&, round, right and perfect, normal and complete. To live right (sammd) is therefore to have — 1. Right views, free from superstition. 2. Right aims, high and worthy of the intelligent and earnest man. 3. Right speech, kindly, open, truthful. 4. Right conduct, in all concerns of life. 5. Right livelihood, bringing hurt or danger to no living thing. 6. Right perseverance, in all the other seven. 7. Right mindfulness, the watchful, active mind. 8. Right contemplation, earnest thought on the deep mysteries of life. In each of these the word right is sammd, and the whole paragraph being on the Noble Path, the allusion is certainly to this central doctrine of the Buddhist Dhamma.
Buddhaghosa says that that bhikkhu sammd viharati, who, having himself entered the Noble Path, leads his brother into it, and this is, no doubt, good Buddhism. But it is a practical appli- cation of the text, a theological exegesis, and not a philological explanation. Even so it seems to lay the stress too much on 'bereft/ and too little on 'Arahats.'
In the last words of the prose we seem to have a reminiscence
of what were once verses, which may have run —
Su##a pavddd samawehi a##e;
I08 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
' But twenty-nine was I when I renounced
The world, Subhadda, seeking after good.
For fifty years and one year more, Subhadda,
Since I went out, a pilgrim have I been
Through the wide realms of virtue and of truth,
And outside these no really " saint" can be 1 !
* Yea, not of the first, nor of the second, nor of the
third, nor of the fourth degree. Void are the systems
of other teachers — void of true saints. But in this
one, Subhadda, may the brethren live the perfect
life, that the world be not bereft of those who have
reached the highest fruit/
63. And when he had thus spoken, Subhadda,
the mendicant, said to the Blessed One : ' Most
excellent, Lord, are the words of thy mouth, most
excellent! Just as if a man were to set up that
which is thrown down, or were to reveal that which
is hidden away, or were to point out the right road
to him who has gone astray, or were to bring a
lamp into the darkness, so that those who have eyes
can see external forms ; — just even so, Lord, has
the truth been made known to me, in many a figure,
by the Blessed One. And I, even I, betake myself,
Lord, to the Blessed One as my refuge, to the
truth, and to the order. May the Blessed One
accept me as a disciple, as a true believer, from this
day forth, as long as life endures !'
Ime £a samma vihareyyu bhikkhu, Asu##o loko 'rahatehi assa. 1 I have followed, though with some doubt, Childers's punctua- tion. Buddhaghosa refers padesa-vatti to samawo; and ito, not to padesa, but to magga, understood; and it is quite pos- sible that this is the correct explanation. On sam£dhikani see the comment at G&taka II, 383.
maha-parinibbAna-sutta.
64. ' Whosoever, Subhadda, that has formerly been
a follower of another doctrine and then desires to be
received into the higher or the lower grade in this
doctrine and discipline, he remains on probation
for the space of four months ; and at the end of the
four months, the brethren, exalted in spirit, receive
him into the lower or into the higher grade of the
order. Nevertheless in this case I acknowledge the
difference in persons/
65. * If, Lord, whosoever that has formerly been
a follower of another doctrine and then desires
to be received into the higher or the lower grade
in this doctrine and discipline, — if, in that case,
such a person remains on probation for the space
of four months ; and at the end of the four
months, the brethren, exalted in spirit, receive
him into the lower or into the higher grade of the
order— I too, then, will remain on probation for the
space of four months ; and at the end of the four
months let the brethren, exalted in spirit, receive
me into the lower or into the higher grade of the
order!'
66. But the Blessed One called the venerable
-Ananda, and said: 4 As it is, Ananda, receive ^Su-
thadda into the order!'
4 Even so, Lord!' said the venerable Ananda, in assent, to the Blessed One.
67. And Subhadda, the mendicant, said to the vene-
rable Ananda : ' Great is your gain, friend Ananda,
great is your good fortune, friend Ananda, that you
all have been sprinkled with the sprinkling of dis-
cipleship in this brotherhood at the hands of the
Master himself!'
68. So Subhadda, the mendicant, was received
IIO THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE. CH.
into the higher grade of the order under the Blessed
One ; and from immediately after his ordination the
venerable Subhadda remained alone and separate,
earnest, zealous, and resolved. And e'er long he
attained to that supreme goal of the higher life 1 for
the sake of which men go out from all and every
household gain and comfort to become houseless
wanderers — yea, that supreme goal did he, by him-
self, and while yet in this visible world, bring him-
self to the knowledge of, and continue to realise, and
to see face to face ! And he became conscious that
birth was at an end, that the higher life had been
fulfilled, that all that should be done had been
accomplished, and that after this present life there
would be no beyond !
69. So the venerable Subhadda became yet another
among the Arahats ; and he was the last disciple
whom the Blessed One himself converted 2 .
End of the Hira##avatiya portion, being the Fifth Portion for Recitation.
1 That is, Nirvana. Compare Mahgala Sutta V, 11, and the Dhammapada, verses 180, 354, and above Chap. I, § 7.
2 Buddhaghosa says that the last five words in the text (the last twelve words in my translation) were added by the Theras who held the Council. On Subhadda's ordination he has the following interesting note: 'The Thero (that is, Ananda), they say, took him on one side, poured water over his head from a water vessel, made him repeat the formula of meditation on the impermanency of the body(Ta£a-pa#£aka-kamma/Mana/0; see my "Buddhist Birth Stories," p. 161), shaved off his hair and beard, clad him in the yellow robes, made him repeat the " Three Refuges," and led him back to the Blessed One. The Blessed One himself admitted him then into the higher rank of the brotherhood, and pointed out to him a subject for meditation (kamma/Mdnaw; see "Buddhist
MAHA-FARINIBBANA-SUTTA.
Birth Stories," p. 147). He accepted this, and walking up and down in a quiet part of the grove, he thought and meditated upon it, till overcoming the Evil Spirit, he had acquired Arahatship, and with it the discriminating knowledge of all the Scriptures (Pa/i- sambhida). Then, returning, he came and took his seat beside the Blessed One/
According to this, no set ceremony for ordination (Sarigha- kamma/rc), as laid down in the Vinaya, took place ; and it is other- wise probable that no such ceremony was usual in the earliest days of Buddhism.
112 THE BOOK OF THE GREAT DECEASE.
Chapter VI.
1. Now the Blessed One addressed the venerable
Ananda, and said : 4 It may be, Ananda, that in some
of you the thought may arise, "The word of the
Master is ended, we have no teacher more!" But
it is not thus, Ananda, that you should regard it.
The truths and the rules of the order which I
have set forth and laid down for you all, let them,
after I am gone, be the Teacher to you/
2. 1 Ananda ! when I am gone address not one
another in the way in which the brethren have
heretofore addressed each other — with the epithet,
that is, of "Avuso" (Friend). A younger brother
may be addressed by an elder with his name, or his
family name, or the title " Friend." But an elder
should be addressed by a younger brother as " Lord "
or as " Venerable Sir."'
3. 'When I am gone, Ananda, let the order, if
it should so wish, abolish all the lesser and minor
precepts V
4. 'When I am gone, Ananda, let the higher penalty be imposed on brother KkaxmaJ
' But what, Lord, is the higher penalty ?'