MN71: Tevijjavacchasutta - To Vacchagotta on the Three Knowledges
- © Translated from the Pali by Bhante Sujato. (More copyright information)
mn71:1.1So I have heard.This begins the “Vacchagotta trilogy”, a series of three suttas tracing Vacchagotta’s spiritual development. In this sutta he shows an attitude of curiosity and respect, and gains a degree of faith in the Buddha.
This is not the same person as the lay brahmin Vacchagotta of Venāgapura at AN3.63. At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof.
mn71:2.1Now at that time the wanderer Vacchagotta was residing in the Single Lotus Monastery of the wanderers.Vacchagotta is a clan name; his personal name is not recorded. The Vaccha clan stems from the Vedic seer Vatsa, author of Rig Veda 8.6–11. Several notable figures of this clan are known, including a lineage master in Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.5.3, but there is nothing to identify them with the Vacchagotta of the suttas. Given Vacchagotta’s evident interest in the ascetic traditions, it is noteworthy that a certain Śayyambha Vatsagotra, father of Manaka, was said to be a direct disciple of Mahāvīra (Kalpasūtra 10.3).
mn71:3.1Then the Buddha robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, entered Vesālī for alms. Then it occurred to him, “It’s too early to wander for alms in Vesālī. Why don’t I visit the wanderer Vacchagotta at the Single Lotus Monastery?” So that’s what he did.
mn71:4.1Vacchagotta saw the Buddha coming off in the distance, and said to him, “Let the Blessed One come, sir! Welcome to the Blessed One, sir! It’s been a long time since you took the opportunity to come here. Please, sir, sit down, this seat is ready.”
mn71:4.7The Buddha sat on the seat spread out, while Vacchagotta took a low seat and sat to one side.
Then Vacchagotta said to the Buddha:
mn71:5.1“Sir, I have heard this:At AN3.57 he similarly asks the Buddha to confirm his teachings on generosity. At SN44.9, meanwhile, he asks a somewhat related question about the six ascetic teachers and their divining of afterlife destinies. ‘The ascetic Gotama claims to be all-knowing and all-seeing, to know and see everything without exception, thus:Such extraordinary claims were not unprecedented, as both the Jain leader Mahāvīra (MN14:17.1, MN79:6.6) and Pūraṇa Kassapa (AN9.38) are said to claim omniscience in the Pali canon. Extant Jain texts have no shortage of such claims (eg. Sūyagaḍa1.6, Kalpasūtra 1, Bhagavatisūtra 4.10, etc.), and it seems likely that this was part of Mahāvīra’s teachings. Sources for Pūraṇa Kassapa are slim, but he was regarded as a great teacher of the Ājīvakas, whose founder the bamboo-staffed ascetic Gosāla was said to be omniscient (Basham, History and Doctrines of the Ājīvikas, 275–6). “Knowledge and vision are constantly and continually present to me, while walking, standing, sleeping, and waking.”’ I trust that those who say this repeat what the Buddha has said, and do not misrepresent him with an untruth? Is their explanation in line with the teaching? Are there any legitimate grounds for rebuttal and criticism?”
mn71:5.5“Vaccha, those who say this do not repeat what I have said. They misrepresent me with what is false and untrue.”At AN4.24 the Buddha claims to know whatever is “seen, heard, thought, known, attained, sought, and explored by the mind”, which is a complete knowledge of subjective experience. In the curious dialogue at MN90:8.4 the Buddha denies that anyone “will know” all things simultaneously. The Milindapañha reversed this to the positive statement that the Buddha could know all things, just not simultaneously (Mil 5.1.2:1.2). The Buddha’s omniscience became the standard view of the later books of the Pali canon (Cnd 10:5.2>, Bv 2:55.3, Pp 1.6:2.1, Kv 3.1:5.3 etc.).
mn71:6.1“So how should we answer so as to repeat what the Buddha has said, and not misrepresent him with an untruth? How should we explain in line with his teaching, with no legitimate grounds for rebuttal and criticism?”
mn71:6.2“‘The ascetic Gotama has the three knowledges.’ Answering like this you would repeat what I have said, and not misrepresent me with an untruth. You would explain in line with my teaching, and there would be no legitimate grounds for rebuttal and criticism.The Buddha’s knowledge is specific and functional: it serves the purpose of liberation.
mn71:7.1For, Vaccha, whenever I want, I recollect my many kinds of past lives. That is: one, two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand rebirths; many eons of the world contracting, many eons of the world expanding, many eons of the world contracting and expanding. I remember: ‘There, I was named this, my clan was that, I looked like this, and that was my food. This was how I felt pleasure and pain, and that was how my life ended. When I passed away from that place I was reborn somewhere else. There, too, I was named this, my clan was that, I looked like this, and that was my food. This was how I felt pleasure and pain, and that was how my life ended. When I passed away from that place I was reborn here.’ And so I recollect my many kinds of past lives, with features and details.
mn71:8.1And whenever I want, with clairvoyance that is purified and superhuman, I see sentient beings passing away and being reborn—inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, in a good place or a bad place. I understand how sentient beings pass on according to their deeds.
mn71:9.1And I have realized the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life. I live having realized it with my own insight due to the ending of defilements.
mn71:10.1‘The ascetic Gotama has the three knowledges.’ Answering like this you would repeat what I have said, and not misrepresent me with an untruth. You would explain in line with my teaching, and there would be no legitimate grounds for rebuttal and criticism.”
mn71:11.1When he said this, the wanderer Vacchagotta said to the Buddha, “Worthy Gotama, are there any laypeople who, without giving up the fetter of lay life, make an end of suffering when the body breaks up?”Vacchagotta uses the phrase gihisaṁyojana (“fetter of lay life”) for the inner attachment to lay life, which is not overcome by the mere act of joining a religious order. Compare the Buddha’s term gehasita, the thoughts and memories “of the lay life” (MN21:6.1, MN119:4.1, MN125:23.1, MN137:9.1). See also MN54, where the external “signs” of a householder are connected with the fetters.
mn71:11.3“No, Vaccha.”
mn71:12.1“But are there any laypeople who, without giving up the fetter of lay life, go to heaven when the body breaks up?”
mn71:12.2“There’s not just one hundred laypeople, Vaccha, or two or three or four or five hundred, but many more than that who, without giving up the fetter of lay life, go to heaven when the body breaks up.”
mn71:13.1“Worthy Gotama, are there any Ājīvaka ascetics who make an end of suffering when the body breaks up?”
mn71:13.2“No, Vaccha.”
mn71:14.1“But are there any Ājīvaka ascetics who go to heaven when the body breaks up?”
mn71:14.2“Vaccha, when I recollect the past ninety-one eons, I can’t find any Ājīvaka ascetics who have gone to heaven, except one;This goes back to the time of the Buddha Vipassī (DN14:1.4.1). and he taught the efficacy of deeds and action.”Thus denying the basic doctrines of both Gosāla (DN2:20.1) and Pūraṇa Kassapa (DN2:17.1).
mn71:15.1“In that case, worthy Gotama, that sectarian fold is empty even of the chance to go to heaven.”The Buddha is speaking of the Ājīvakas, who denied moral causality, not of non-Buddhist paths generally.
mn71:15.2“Yes, Vaccha, that sectarian fold is empty even of the chance to go to heaven.”
mn71:15.3That is what the Buddha said. Satisfied, the wanderer Vacchagotta approved what the Buddha said.
1Evaṁ me sutaṁ — ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā vesāliyaṁ viharati mahāvane kūṭāgārasālāyaṁ.
Tena kho pana samayena vacchagotto paribbājako ekapuṇḍarīke paribbājakārāme paṭivasati.
Atha kho bhagavā pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya vesāliṁ piṇḍāya pāvisi. Atha kho bhagavato etadahosi: "atippago kho tāva vesāliyaṁ piṇḍāya carituṁ; yannūnāhaṁ yena ekapuṇḍarīko paribbājakārāmo yena vacchagotto paribbājako tenupasaṅkameyyan"ti.
Atha kho bhagavā yena ekapuṇḍarīko paribbājakārāmo yena vacchagotto paribbājako tenupasaṅkami.
Addasā kho vacchagotto paribbājako bhagavantaṁ dūratova āgacchantaṁ. Disvāna bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:
2"Etu kho, bhante, bhagavā. Svāgataṁ, bhante, bhagavato. Cirassaṁ kho, bhante, bhagavā imaṁ pariyāyamakāsi yadidaṁ idhāgamanāya. Nisīdatu, bhante, bhagavā idamāsanaṁ paññattan"ti.
Nisīdi bhagavā paññatte āsane. Vacchagottopi kho paribbājako aññataraṁ nīcaṁ āsanaṁ gahetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi.
Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho vacchagotto paribbājako bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:
"sutaṁ metaṁ, bhante: ‘samaṇo gotamo sabbaññū sabbadassāvī, aparisesaṁ ñāṇadassanaṁ paṭijānāti, carato ca me tiṭṭhato ca suttassa ca jāgarassa ca satataṁ samitaṁ ñāṇadassanaṁ paccupaṭṭhitan’ti. Ye te, bhante, evamāhaṁsu: ‘samaṇo gotamo sabbaññū sabbadassāvī, aparisesaṁ ñāṇadassanaṁ paṭijānāti, carato ca me tiṭṭhato ca suttassa ca jāgarassa ca satataṁ samitaṁ ñāṇadassanaṁ paccupaṭṭhitan’ti, kacci te, bhante, bhagavato vuttavādino, na ca bhagavantaṁ abhūtena abbhācikkhanti, dhammassa cānudhammaṁ byākaronti, na ca koci sahadhammiko vādānuvādo gārayhaṁ ṭhānaṁ āgacchatī"ti?
3"Ye te, vaccha, evamāhaṁsu: ‘samaṇo gotamo sabbaññū sabbadassāvī, aparisesaṁ ñāṇadassanaṁ paṭijānāti, carato ca me tiṭṭhato ca suttassa ca jāgarassa ca satataṁ samitaṁ ñāṇadassanaṁ paccupaṭṭhitan’ti, na me te vuttavādino, abbhācikkhanti ca pana maṁ asatā abhūtenā"ti.
4"Kathaṁ byākaramānā pana mayaṁ, bhante, vuttavādino ceva bhagavato assāma, na ca bhagavantaṁ abhūtena abbhācikkheyyāma, dhammassa cānudhammaṁ byākareyyāma, na ca koci sahadhammiko vādānuvādo gārayhaṁ ṭhānaṁ āgaccheyyā"ti?
5"‘Tevijjo samaṇo gotamo’ti kho, vaccha, byākaramāno vuttavādī ceva me assa, na ca maṁ abhūtena abbhācikkheyya, dhammassa cānudhammaṁ byākareyya, na ca koci sahadhammiko vādānuvādo gārayhaṁ ṭhānaṁ āgaccheyya.
Ahañhi, vaccha, yāvadeva ākaṅkhāmi anekavihitaṁ pubbenivāsaṁ anussarāmi, seyyathidaṁ — ekampi jātiṁ dvepi jātiyo … pe … iti sākāraṁ sauddesaṁ anekavihitaṁ pubbenivāsaṁ anussarāmi.
Ahañhi, vaccha, yāvadeva ākaṅkhāmi dibbena cakkhunā visuddhena atikkantamānusakena satte passāmi cavamāne upapajjamāne hīne paṇīte suvaṇṇe dubbaṇṇe sugate duggate … pe … yathākammūpage satte pajānāmi.
Ahañhi, vaccha, āsavānaṁ khayā anāsavaṁ cetovimuttiṁ paññāvimuttiṁ diṭṭheva dhamme sayaṁ abhiññā sacchikatvā upasampajja viharāmi.
6‘Tevijjo samaṇo gotamo’ti kho, vaccha, byākaramāno vuttavādī ceva me assa, na ca maṁ abhūtena abbhācikkheyya, dhammassa cānudhammaṁ byākareyya, na ca koci sahadhammiko vādānuvādo gārayhaṁ ṭhānaṁ āgaccheyyā"ti.
7Evaṁ vutte, vacchagotto paribbājako bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: "atthi nu kho, bho gotama, koci gihī gihisaṁyojanaṁ appahāya kāyassa bhedā dukkhassantakaro"ti?
"Natthi kho, vaccha, koci gihī gihisaṁyojanaṁ appahāya kāyassa bhedā dukkhassantakaro"ti.
8"Atthi pana, bho gotama, koci gihī gihisaṁyojanaṁ appahāya kāyassa bhedā saggūpago"ti?
"Na kho, vaccha, ekaṁyeva sataṁ na dve satāni na tīṇi satāni na cattāri satāni na pañca satāni, atha kho bhiyyova ye gihī gihisaṁyojanaṁ appahāya kāyassa bhedā saggūpagā"ti.
9"Atthi nu kho, bho gotama, koci ājīvako kāyassa bhedā dukkhassantakaro"ti?
"Natthi kho, vaccha, koci ājīvako kāyassa bhedā dukkhassantakaro"ti.
10"Atthi pana, bho gotama, koci ājīvako kāyassa bhedā saggūpago"ti?
"Ito kho so, vaccha, ekanavuto kappo yamahaṁ anussarāmi, nābhijānāmi kañci ājīvakaṁ saggūpagaṁ aññatra ekena; sopāsi kammavādī kiriyavādī"ti.
"Evaṁ sante, bho gotama, suññaṁ aduṁ titthāyatanaṁ antamaso saggūpagenapī"ti?
"Evaṁ, vaccha, suññaṁ aduṁ titthāyatanaṁ antamaso saggūpagenapī"ti.
11Idamavoca bhagavā. Attamano vacchagotto paribbājako bhagavato bhāsitaṁ abhinandīti.
Tevijjavacchasuttaṁ niṭṭhitaṁ paṭhamaṁ.