Dhammapada Verse 75
Vanavasitissasamanera Vatthu
Anna hi labhupanisa
anna nibbanagamini
evametam abhinnaya
bhikkhu Buddhassa savako
sakkaram nabhinandeyya
vivekamanubruhaye1.
Verse 75: Indeed, the path that leads to worldly gain is one and the Path
that leads to Nibbana is another. Fully comprehending this, the bhikkhu, the
disciple of the Buddha, should not take delight in worldly gain and honour, but
devote himself to solitude, detachment and the realization of Nibbana.
1.Vivekamanubruhaye (vivekam + anubruhaye): Viveka - solitary
seclusion. According to the Commentary, the three kinds of vivekas are
kayaviveka (seclusion of the body or solitude); cittaviveka
(detachment of the mind from human passions) and upadhiviveka (Nibbana).
The Story of Samanera Tissa of the Forest Monastery
While residing at the Jetavana monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (75) of
this book, with reference to Tissa, a samanera, who dwelt in a forest monastery.
Tissa was the son of a rich man from Savatthi. His father used to offer
alms-food to the Chief Disciple Sariputta in their house and so Tissa even as a
child had met the Chief Disciple on many occasions. At the age of seven he
became a novice (samanera) under the Chief Disciple Sariputta. While he was
staying at the Jetavana monastery, many of his friends and relatives came to see
him, bringing presents and offerings. The samanera found these visits to be very
tiresome; so after taking a subject of meditation from the Buddha, he left for a
forest monastery. Whenever a villager offered him anything, Tissa would just say
'May you be happy, may you be liberated from the ills of life,' ("Sukhita
hotha, dukkha muccatha"), and would go on his own way. While he stayed at
the forest monastery, he ardently and diligently practised meditation, and at
the end of three months he attained arahatship.
After the vassa, the Venerable Sariputta accompanied by the Venerable Maha
Moggallana and other senior disciples paid a visit to Samanera Tissa, with the
permission of the Buddha. All the villagers came out to welcome the Venerable
Sariputta and his company of four thousand bhikkhus. They also requested the
Venerable Sariputta to favour them with a discourse, but the Chief Disciple
declined; instead, he directed his pupil Tissa to deliver a discourse to the
villagers. The villagers, however, said that their teacher Tissa could only say
"May you be happy, may you be liberated from the ills of life", and
asked the Chief Disciple to assign another bhikkhu in his place. But the
Venerable Sariputta insisted that Tissa should deliver a discourse on the
dhamma, and said to Tissa, "Tissa, talk to them about the dhamma and show
them how to gain happiness and how to be liberated from the ills of life."
Thus, in obedience to his teacher, Samanera Tissa went up the platform to
deliver his discourse. He explained to the audience the meaning of the
aggregates (khandhas), sense bases and sense objects (ayatanas),
elements of the perpetuation of the Teaching (Bodhipakkhiya Dhamma), the
Path leading to arahatship and Nibbana, etc. Finally he concluded, "And
thus, those who attain arahatship are liberated from all the ills of life and
have Perfect Peace; all the rest will still wander about in the round of
rebirths (samsara)."
The Venerable Sariputta praised Tissa for having expounded the dhamma so
well. Dawn was approaching when he finished his exposition, and all the
villagers were very much impressed. Some of them were surprised that Samanera
Tissa knew the dhamma so well, but they were also dissatisfied with him because
formerly he had talked so little about the dhamma to them; the others were happy
and contented to find the samanera to be so learned and felt that they were very
lucky to have him amongst them.
The Buddha, with his supernormal power, saw from the Jetavana monastery these
two groups of villagers and appeared before them. His intention in coming to the
village was to clear up the misunderstanding amongst the first group of
villagers. The Buddha arrived while the villagers were preparing alms-food for
the bhikkhus. So, they had the opportunity to offer alms-food to the Buddha as
well. After the meal, the Buddha addressed the villagers, "O lay
disciples, all of you are so lucky to have Samanera Tissa amongst you. It is on
account of his presence here that I myself, my Chief Disciples, senior disciples
and many other bhikkhus now pay you a visit." These words made them
realize how fortunate they were to have Samanera Tissa with them and they were
satisfied. The Buddha then delivered a discourse to the villagers and the
bhikkhus, and consequently, many of them attained Sotapatti Fruition.
After the discourse, the Buddha returned to the Jetavana monastery. In the
evening, the bhikkhus said in praise of Tissa to the Buddha, "Venerable
Sir, Samanera Tissa had performed a very difficult task; he was so well provided
with gifts and offerings of all kinds here in Savatthi, yet he gave up all these
to go and live austerely in a forest monastery." To them the Buddha
replied, "Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu, whether in town or in village, should not
live for the sake of gifts and offerings, if a bhikkhu renounces all good
prospects or worldly gain and diligently practises the dhamma in solitude, he is
sure to attain arahatship."
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows:
| Verse 75: Indeed, the path that leads to worldly gain
is one and the Path that leads to Nibbana is another. Fully
comprehending this, the bhikkhu, the disciple of the Buddha, should
not take delight in worldly gain and honour, but devote himself to
solitude, detachment and the realization of Nibbana.
|
End of Chapter Five: The Fool (Bilavagga)