Dhammapada Verse 413
Candabhatthera Vatthu
Candamva vimalam suddham
vippasannamanavilam
nandibhavaparikkhinam1
tamaham brumi brahmanam.
Verse 413: Him I call a brahmana, who, like
the moon (in a cloudless sky), is pure, clear and serene, and in whom craving
for existence is extinct.
1. nandibhavaparikkhinam: one in whom craving far
continued existence either in the current sensual existence or in a better and
higher plane of existence in the rupa (fine material) or arupa (non-material)
brahma realms, is extinct.
The Story of Thera Candabha
While residing at the Jetavana
monastery, the Buddha uttered Verse (413) of this book, with reference to Thera
Candabha.
Candabha had, in a previous
existence, made offerings of sandalwood to a stupa where the relics of Kassapa
Buddha were enshrined. For this good deed, he was reborn in a brahmin family in
Savatthi. He was born with a distinguishing mark, viz., a circle of light
radiating from around his navel. As this circle of light resembled the moon he
came to be known as Candabha. Some brahmins, taking advantage of this unusual
feature, put him on a cart and took him round the town for exhibition and only
those who paid a hundred or a thousand were allowed to touch him. On one
occasion, they stopped at a place between the town and the Jetavana monastery.
To ariyas going to the Jetavana monastery, they said, 'What is the use of
your going to the Buddha and listening to his discourses? There is no one who is
as powerful as Candabha. One who touches him will get rich; why don't you come
and see ?" The ariyas then said to them, "Only our teacher is
powerful; he is unrivalled and matchless."
Then the brahmins took Candabha
to the Jetavana monastery to compete with the Buddha. But when Candabha was in
the presence of the Buddha, the ring of light went out by itself. When Candabha
was taken out of sight of the Buddha, the ring of light returned automatically;
it again disappeared when taken back to the presence of the Buddha. Candabha
then asked the Buddha to give him the mantra (words of incantation) that would
make the ring of light disappear from around his navel. The Buddha told him that
the mantra could be given only to a member of his Order. Candabha told the
brahmins that he was getting a mantra from the Buddha and that after mastering
the mantra he would be the greatest person in the whole of Jambudipa. So the
brahmins waited outside the monastery.
Meanwhile, Candabha became a
bhikkhu. He was instructed to contemplate the body, i.e., to reflect on the
repulsiveness and impurity of the thirty-two constituents of the body. Within a
few days, Candabha attained arahatship. When the brahmins who were waiting
outside the monastery came to enquire whether he had acquired the mantra,
Candabha replied. "You people had better go back now; as for me I am no
longer in a position to go along with you." Other bhikkhus, hearing him,
went to the Buddha and said, "Candabha is falsely claiming that he has
become an arahat." To them the Buddha replied, "Candabha speaks the
truth; he has eradicated all moral intoxicants."
Then the Buddha spoke in verse as
follows:
Verse 413: Him I call
a brahmana, who, like the moon (in a cloudless sky), is pure, clear
and serene, and in whom craving for existence is extinct. |