Thag 18 Mahṅ Kassapa
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('â', Iâm better than they.â Not better, he thinks himself better, the fool: The wise donât praise him, the stiff-necked man. But whoever isnât stirred by the modes of ),
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('â', Iâm better, not better. Iâm worse. Iâm like thatâ; one whoâs discerning, who acts as he says, well-centered in virtues, committed to tranquility of awareness, he is the one the wise would praise. One with no respect for his fellows in the holy life, is as far from true Dhamma as the earth from the sky. But those whose sense of shame & compunction are always rightly established: They have flourished in the holy life. For them thereâs no further becoming. A monk conceited & vain, even though clad in a robe of cast-off rags, like a monkey in a lionâs skin, doesnât shine because of it. But a monk not conceited or vain, masterful, his faculties restrained, shines because of his robe of cast-off rags, like a lion in the cleft of a mountain. *Â *Â * These many devas, powerful, prestigious —10,000 devas— all of Brahmṅâs retinue, stand with their hands over their hearts, paying homage to Sṅriputta, the Dhamma-general, enlightened,4 centered, great master of jhṅna, [saying:] ),
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('â', Homage to you, O thoroughbred man. Homage to you, O superlative man— of whom we have no direct knowledge even of that in dependence on which you do jhṅna. ),
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('â', How very amazing: the awakened onesâ very own deep range— of which we have no direct knowledge, though we have come as hair-splitting archers.â Seeing Sṅriputta, a man worthy of worship, worshipped by deva retinues, Kappina smiled.5 * * * As far as this buddha-field6 extends —except for the great sage himself— Iâm the one outstanding in ascetic qualities. Thereâs no one else like me. The Teacher has been served by me; the Awakened Oneâs bidding, done; the heavy load,       laid down; the guide to becoming,   uprooted. Neither to robe, nor dwelling, nor food does he cling: Gotama, like a lotus unspotted by water, inclining to renunciation,   detached from the three planes of becoming.7 He, the great sage, has the establishings of mindfulness as his neck, conviction as hands, discernment as head.8 Having great knowledge, he goes about always unbound. Notes 1. This passage has often been misread as saying that the leperâs finger fell into Mahṅ Kassapaâs bowl, and that Mahṅ Kassapa actually ate the finger. Nothing in the verse, though, indicates that this is so. It simply says that the finger fell off, and that Mahṅ Kassapa ate the food. Furthermore, there is a rule in the Mahṅvagga—Mv.VI.23.9—that imposes a grave offense on any monk who eats human flesh. So itâs highly unlikely that Mahṅ Kassapa ate the leperâs finger. 2. Reading tattha with the Thai and Sinhalese editions. 3. Reading sikkhato with the Thai edition. 4. Reading dhīraṃ with the Thai and PTS editions. The Burmese and Sinhalese editions read vīraṃ, "hero." 5. Ven. Sṅriputta was foremost among the monks in terms of discernment (AN 1:183); Ven. Kappina, foremost among the monks in exhorting other monks (AN 1:231). The Buddha praises him at SN 21:11 for his attainment of psychic powers, and at SN 54:7 for the solidity of his concentration based on mindfulness of breathing. 6. This appears to be one of the earliest references to "buddha-field," a concept that was to play a large role in the Apadṅna literature and, through that, in the Mahṅyṅna concept of the Pure Land. Here it appears to mean the sphere of the current Buddhaâs influence. In the Apadṅnas it takes on two other meanings: as (1) a field for producing merit, on the lines of the traditional image of the Saṃgha as the unexcelled field of merit; and (2) a heavenly realm where a particular Buddha dwells. These two meanings were influential in the early Mahṅyṅna sūtras that formed the basis for Pure Land practice. 7. The three planes of becoming are the sensual, form, and formlessness. See AN 3:77–78. 8. See Thag 15:2. See also: SN 1:10; AN 3:35; AN 4:28; AN 5:77–78; AN 5:98; AN 5:114; AN 6:42; AN 11:10; Ud 2:10; Ud 4:4; Sn 4:14 - --> - - - -