About Sarakṅni Sarakṅni Sutta (SN 55:25)
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('â', Isnât it amazing, good sirs! Isnât it astounding! Now who here wonât be a stream-winner, in as much as Sarakṅni the Sakyan, having died, has been declared by the Blessed One to be a stream-winner, never again destined for the lower realms, certain, headed for self-awakening? Sarakṅni the Sakyan was one who was incomplete in doing the training!â" "Mahṅnṅma, any lay follower who has, for a long time, gone for refuge in the Awakened One, gone for refuge in the Dhamma, gone for refuge in the Saṃgha: How could he or she go to the lower realms?2 For if one speaking rightly were to say of anyone, ),
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('â', He was a lay follower who had, for a long time, gone for refuge in the Awakened One, gone for refuge in the Dhamma, gone for refuge in the Saṃgha,â it would be of Sarakṅni the Sakyan that, speaking rightly, one would say that. Sarakṅni the Sakyan was a lay follower who had, for a long time, gone for refuge in the Buddha, gone for refuge in the Dhamma, gone for refuge in the Saṃgha. How could he go to the lower realms? "There is the case, Mahṅnṅma, where a certain individual is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Awakened One: ),
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('â', Indeed, the Blessed One is worthy & rightly self-awakened, consummate in clear-knowing & conduct, well-gone, an expert with regard to the cosmos, unexcelled trainer of people fit to be tamed, teacher of devas & human beings, awakened, blessed.â "He is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Dhamma: ),
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('â', The Dhamma is well taught by the Blessed One, to be seen here & now, timeless, inviting verification, pertinent, to be experienced by the observant for themselves.â "He is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Saṃgha: ),
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('â', The Saṃgha of the Blessed Oneâs disciples who have practiced well⦠who have practiced straight-forwardly⦠who have practiced methodically⦠who have practiced masterfully—in other words, the four types of noble disciples when taken as pairs, the eight when taken as individual types—they are the Saṃgha of the Blessed Oneâs disciples: worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, the incomparable field of merit for the world.â "He is one of joyous discernment, swift discernment, and endowed with release. With the ending of effluents, he dwells in the effluent-free awareness-release & discernment-release, having directly known & realized them for himself right in the here-&-now. This individual, Mahṅnṅma, is totally freed from hell, totally freed from the animal womb, totally freed from the state of the hungry ghosts, totally freed from planes of deprivation, the bad destinations, & the lower realms. "There is the case, Mahṅnṅma, where a certain individual is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Awakened One⦠the Dhamma⦠the Saṃgha⦠"He is one of joyous discernment, swift discernment, but not endowed with release. With the ending of the five lower fetters, he is one unbound in between or one unbound on arrival (in a Pure Abode) or one unbound without fabrication (of exertion) or one unbound with fabrication (of exertion) or one going upstream to the Peerless [the Akaniṭṭha heaven, the highest of the Pure Abodes].3 This individual, too, is totally freed from hell, totally freed from the animal womb, totally freed from the state of the hungry ghosts, totally freed from planes of deprivation, the bad destinations, & the lower realms. "There is the case, Mahṅnṅma, where a certain individual is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Awakened One⦠the Dhamma⦠the Saṃgha⦠"He is not one of joyous discernment, swift discernment, and is not endowed with release. With the ending of (the first) three fetters, and with the attenuation of passion, aversion, & delusion, he is a once-returner who—on returning only once more to this world—will put an end to stress. This individual, too, is totally freed from hell, totally freed from the animal womb, totally freed from the state of the hungry ghosts, totally freed from planes of deprivation, the bad destinations, & the lower realms. "There is the case, Mahṅnṅma, where a certain individual is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Awakened One⦠the Dhamma⦠the Saṃgha⦠"He is not one of joyous discernment, swift discernment, and is not endowed with release. With the ending of (the first) three fetters, he is a stream-winner, never again destined for the lower realms, certain, headed for self-awakening. This individual, too, is totally freed from hell, totally freed from the animal womb, totally freed from the state of the hungry ghosts, totally freed from planes of deprivation, the bad destinations, & the lower realms. "There is the case, Mahṅnṅma, where a certain individual is not absolutely devoted to or fully confident in the Awakened One⦠the Dhamma⦠the Saṃgha⦠"He is not one of joyous discernment, swift discernment, and is not endowed with release. But he has these qualities: the faculty of conviction, the faculty of persistence, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, the faculty of discernment. He has accepted the dhammas proclaimed by the Tathṅgata after scrutinizing them with a measure of discernment. This individual, Mahṅnṅma, is one who does not go to hell, does not go to the animal womb, does not go to the state of the hungry ghosts, does not go to planes of deprivation, the bad destinations, & the lower realms.4 "There is the case, Mahṅnṅma, where a certain individual is not absolutely devoted to or fully confident in the Awakened One⦠the Dhamma⦠the Saṃgha⦠"He is not one of joyous discernment, swift discernment, and is not endowed with release. But he has these qualities: the faculty of conviction, the faculty of persistence, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, the faculty of discernment. He has a measure of conviction in and a measure of love for the Tathṅgata. This individual, Mahṅnṅma, is one who does not go to hell, does not go to the animal womb, does not go to the state of the hungry ghosts, does not go to planes of deprivation, the bad destinations, & the lower realms.5 "Suppose, Mahṅnama, that there were a poor field with poor soil and with stumps not removed, with seeds that were broken, rotten, damaged by wind & sun, infertile, not well planted; and the sky would not send rain at the right time. Would those seeds exhibit growth, increase, & proliferation?" "No, lord." "In the same way, Mahṅnṅma, there is the case where a Dhamma is poorly proclaimed, poorly expounded, not leading out, not conducive to calming, expounded by one who is not rightly self-awakened. That, I tell you, is like the poor field. And there a disciple dwells practicing the Dhamma in accordance with [that] Dhamma, practicing masterfully, living in line with [that] Dhamma. That, I tell you, is like the poor seed. "Now, suppose, Mahṅnama, that there were a good field with good soil and with stumps well removed, with seeds that were not broken, not rotten, not damaged by wind & sun, fertile, well planted; and the sky would send rain at the right time. Would those seeds exhibit growth, increase, & proliferation?" "Yes, lord." "In the same way, Mahṅnṅma, there is the case where a Dhamma is well-proclaimed, well-expounded, leading out, conducive to calming, expounded by one who is rightly self-awakened. That, I tell you, is like the good field. And there a disciple dwells practicing the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma, practicing masterfully, living in line with the Dhamma. That, I tell you, is like the good seed. "And how much more, then, Sarakṅni the Sakyan? Sarakṅni the Sakyan, at the time of death, was one who was complete in doing of the training." Notes 1. According to SN 55:24, Sarakṅni broke the fifth precept, against taking intoxicants. 2. This statement is in line with a verse in DN 20: "Those who have gone to the Buddha for refuge will not go to the plane of woe. On discarding the human body, they will fill the hosts of the devas." 3. For discussions of these types of non-returners, see AN 3:88, notes 3 and 4. 4. Aside from one detail, this individual fits the descriptions of the "Dhamma-follower" given in MN 70 and SN 25:1. The one detail is that SN 25:1 describes him/her as incapable of passing away until he/she has realized the fruit of stream-entry. Here, however, the Dhamma-follower is not said to be released from the lower realms, which would be the case with a stream-winner. Instead, he/she simply will not go to the lower realms at the end of this life. 5. Aside for the same detail mentioned in the preceding note, this individual fits the descriptions of the "faith-follower" given in MN 70 and SN 25:1. See also: DN 29; MN 118; AN 3:87; AN 4:123; AN 4:125; AN 10:75 - --> - - - -