Exalted Are The Unblemished
7 (8) The Story of Venerable Sàriputta (Verse 97)
While residing at the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha spoke
this verse, with reference to Venerable Sàriputta.
One day thirty forest-dwellers approached the Buddha,
paid obeisance to him, and sat down. The Buddha, seeing that
they possessed the requisite faculties for attaining arahatship,
addressed Venerable Sàriputta as follows, “Sàriputta, do you
believe that the quality of faith, when it has been developed
and enlarged, is connected with the deathless and terminates
in the deathless?” In this manner the Buddha questioned the
Venerable with reference to the fi ve moral qualities.
Said the Venerable, “Venerable, I do not go by faith in
the Buddha in this matter, that the quality of faith, when it
has been developed and enlarged, is connected with the
deathless and terminates in the deathless. But of course, Ven-
erable, those who have not known the deathless or seen or
perceived or realized or grasped the deathless by the power
of reason, such persons must of necessity go by the faith of
others in this matter; namely, that the faculty of faith, when it
has been developed and enlarged, is connected with the
deathless and terminates in the deathless.” Thus did the Ven-
erable answer his question.
When the monks heard this, they began a discussion:
“Venerable Sàriputta has never really given up false views.
Even today he refused to believe even the supremely Enlight-
ened One.” When the Buddha heard this, he said, “Monks,
why do you say this? For I asked Sàriputta the following ques-
tion, ‘Sàriputta, do you believe that without developing the
fi ve moral qualities, without developing tranquillity and spir-
itual insight, it is possible for a man to realize the paths and
the fruits?’ And he answered me as follows, ‘There is no one
who can thus realize the paths and the fruits.’ Then I asked
him, ‘Do you not believe that there is such a thing as the rip-
ening of the fruit of almsgiving and good works? Do you not
believe in the virtues of the Buddhas and the rest?’ But as a
matter of fact, Sàriputta walks not by the faith of others, for
the reason that he has, in and by himself, attained states of
mind to which the Paths and the Fruits lead, by the power of
spiritual insight induced by ecstatic meditation. Therefore he
is not open to censure.”
He has no faith in anyone but in himself. He is aware of
deathlessness – the unconditioned. He is a breaker of connec-
tions, because he has severed all his worldly links. He has
destroyed all the opportunities for rebirth. He has given up
all desires. Because of all these he – the arahat – is a truly
noble person.
Commentary
assaddho: non-believer; he so fi rmly believes his own view and that
of the Buddha he does not need to believe in any other.
akata¤¤å: literally, ‘ungrateful’; but, in this context, ‘aware of the
unconditioned – that is Nibbàna’.
sandhicchedo: is the term usually given to a burglar, because he
breaks into houses. But, here, it signifi es severing all worldly connec-
tions.
hatàvakàso: a person who has given up all opportunities. But, here it
is meant having given up opportunities for rebirth.
Special Note: All the expressions in this stanza can be interpreted as
applying to persons who are not noble, but to depraved persons. But,
the interpretation of those forms to give positive spiritually whole-
some meanings and not negative ones, is quite intriguing. In other
words, the Buddha has, in this stanza, used a set of expressions used
in general parlance to denote people of mean behaviour. But, due to
the implications attributed to them by the Buddha, these depraved
terms acquire a high signifi cance.
