Chapter Three
After the Awakening
I have heard that on one occasion, the Blessed One was dwelling near Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River at the root of the Bodhi tree—the tree of awakening—newly awakened. And on that occasion he sat at the root of the Bodhi tree for seven days in one session, sensitive to the bliss of release. Then, with the passing of seven days, after emerging from that concentration, in the first watch of the night, he gave close attention to dependent co-arising in forward order, thus:
When this is, that is.
From the arising of this comes the arising of that.
In other words:
From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications.
From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness.
From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form.
From name-&-form as a requisite condition come the six sense media.
From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes contact.
From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling.
From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving.
From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance.
From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming.
From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth.
From birth as a requisite condition, then aging-&-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of suffering & stress.41
Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:
“As phenomena grow clear
to the brahman—ardent, in jhāna—
his doubts all vanish
when he discerns
a phenomenon with its cause.”
I have heard that on one occasion, the Blessed One was dwelling near Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River at the root of the Bodhi tree—the tree of awakening—newly awakened. And on that occasion he sat at the root of the Bodhi tree for seven days in one session, sensitive to the bliss of release. Then, with the passing of seven days, after emerging from that concentration, in the second watch of the night, he gave close attention to dependent co-arising in reverse order, thus:
When this isn’t, that isn’t.
From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that.
In other words:
From the cessation of ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications.
From the cessation of fabrications comes the cessation of consciousness. …
From the cessation of birth, then aging-&-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of suffering & stress.
Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:
“As phenomena grow clear
to the brahman—ardent, in jhāna—
his doubts all vanish
when he penetrates the ending
of requisite conditions.”
I have heard that on one occasion, the Blessed One was dwelling near Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River at the root of the Bodhi tree—the tree of awakening—newly awakened. And on that occasion he sat at the root of the Bodhi tree for seven days in one session, sensitive to the bliss of release. Then, with the passing of seven days, after emerging from that concentration, in the third watch of the night, he gave close attention to dependent co-arising in forward and reverse order, thus:
When this is, that is.
From the arising of this comes the arising of that.
When this isn’t, that isn’t.
From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that.42
In other words:
From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications.
From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness. …
From birth as a requisite condition, then aging-&-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of suffering & stress.
Now from the remainderless fading and cessation of that very ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications.
From the cessation of fabrications comes the cessation of consciousness. …
From the cessation of birth, then aging-&-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of suffering & stress.
Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:
“As phenomena grow clear
to the brahman—ardent, in jhāna—
he stands,
routing Māra’s army,
as the sun,
illumining the sky.” — Ud 1:1–3
I have heard that on one occasion, the Blessed One was dwelling near Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River at the root of the Bodhi tree—the tree of awakening—newly awakened. And on that occasion he sat at the root of the Bodhi tree for seven days in one session, sensitive to the bliss of release. Then, with the passing of seven days, after emerging from that concentration, he surveyed the cosmos with the eye of an Awakened One. As he did so, he saw living beings burning with the many fevers and aflame with the many fires born of passion, aversion, & delusion.
Then, on realizing the significance of that, he on that occasion exclaimed:
“This cosmos is burning.
Afflicted by contact,
it calls disease a ‘self.’
By whatever means it supposes [anything],
it becomes otherwise than that.43
Becoming otherwise,
the cosmos is
attached to becoming,
afflicted by becoming,
and yet delights
in that very becoming.
Where there’s delight,
there is fear.
What one fears
is stressful.
This holy life is lived
for the abandoning of becoming.
Whatever contemplatives or brahmans say that liberation from becoming is by means of becoming,44all of them are not liberated from becoming, I say.
And whatever contemplatives or brahmans say that escape from becoming is by means of non-becoming, all of them have not escaped from becoming, I say.
For this stress comes into play
in dependence on every acquisition45
With the ending of every clinging/sustenance,
there’s no stress coming into play.
Look at this cosmos:
Beings, afflicted with thick ignorance,
are unreleased
from passion for what has come to be.
All levels of becoming,
anywhere,
in any way,
are inconstant, stressful, subject to change.
Seeing this—as it’s come to be—
with right discernment,
one abandons craving for becoming
and doesn’t delight in non-becoming.46
From the total ending of craving
comes fading & cessation without remainder:
unbinding.
For the monk unbound
through lack of clinging/sustenance,
there’s no further-becoming.
He has conquered Māra,
won the battle,
having gone beyond becomings
: Such. — Ud 3:10
Then, with the passing of seven days, after emerging from that concentration, the Blessed One went from the root of the Bodhi tree—the tree of awakening—to the Goatherd’s Banyan tree, and sat at the root of the Goatherd’s Banyan Tree for seven days in one session, sensitive to the bliss of release. Then a certain overbearing brahman went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he stood to one side. As he was standing there, he said to the Blessed One, “To what extent, Master Gotama, is one a brahman? And which are the qualities that make one a brahman?”
Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:
Any brahman
who has banished evil qualities,
—not overbearing,
not stained,
his mind controlled—
gone to the end of wisdom,
the holy life completed:
Rightly would that brahman
speak the holy teaching.
He has no swelling of pride
Then, with the passing of seven days, after emerging from that concentration, the Blessed One went from the root of the Goatherd’s Banyan tree to the Mucalinda tree, and sat at the root of the Mucalinda tree for seven days in one session, sensitive to the bliss of release.
And on that occasion a great, out-of-season storm-cloud rose up, with seven days of rainy weather, cold winds, & intense darkness. Then Mucalinda the nāga king—leaving his dwelling place and encircling the Blessed One’s body seven times with his coils—stood with his great hood spread over the Blessed One, (thinking,) “Don’t let the Blessed One be disturbed by cold. Don’t let the Blessed One be disturbed by heat. Don’t let the Blessed One be disturbed by the touch of flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, & creeping things.”
Then, Mucalinda the nāga king, realizing that the sky had cleared and was free of clouds, unraveled his coils from the body of the Blessed One, retracted his own appearance and, assuming the appearance of a young man, stood in front of the Blessed One with hands before his heart, paying homage.
Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:
“Blissful is solitude
for one who’s content,
who has heard the Dhamma,
who sees.
Blissful is non-affliction
with regard to the world,
restraint for living beings.
Blissful is dispassion
with regard to the world,
the overcoming of sensuality.
But the subduing of the conceit “I am”:
That is truly
Then, with the passing of seven days, after emerging from that concentration, the Blessed One went from the root of the Mucalinda tree to the Rājāyatana Tree, and sat at the root of the Rājāyatana Tree for seven days in one session, sensitive to the bliss of release. Now at that time, the merchants Tapussa & Bhallika were traveling on the road from Ukkala to the countryside. Then a devatā who had been a blood-relative of Tapussa & Bhallika said to them, “There is the Blessed One, my dears, dwelling at the root of the Rājāyatana Tree, newly awakened. Go and serve the Blessed One with cooked grain-meal & honey balls. That will be for your long-term welfare & happiness.”
Then the merchants Tapussa & Bhallika, taking cooked grain-meal & honey balls, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, stood to one side. As they were standing there, the merchants Tapussa & Bhallika said to the Blessed One, “Lord, may the Blessed One accept our cooked grain-meal & honey balls, for that will be for our long-term welfare & happiness.”
Then it occurred to the Blessed One, “Tathāgatas do not accept things with their hands. With what shall I accept the cooked grain-meal & honey balls?”
Then the Four Great Kings, having known with their awareness the train of thought in the Blessed One’s awareness, presented four stone bowls from the four directions to the Blessed One, (thinking,) “May the Blessed One accept the cooked grain-meal & honey balls here.”
The Blessed One, having accepted the exquisite stone bowls, then accepted and ate the cooked grain-meal & honey balls.
Then the merchants Tapussa & Bhallika, {knowing that the Blessed One had finished his meal and had rinsed his bowl & hands, they fell down with their heads at the Blessed One’s feet and}47 said to him, “We go to the Blessed One for refuge and to the Dhamma. May the Blessed One remember us as lay followers who have gone for refuge from this day forward, for life.”
And they were the first two-statement48 lay followers in the world. — Mv 1:4
Then, with the passing of seven days, after emerging from that concentration, the Blessed One went from the Rājāyatana Tree to the Goatherd’s Banyan Tree and stayed there at the root of the tree.…
On one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly self-awakened, he was dwelling near Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River, at the foot of the Goatherd's Banyan Tree.
Then, when the Blessed One was alone in seclusion, this train of thought arose in his awareness, “Five faculties, when developed & pursued, gain a footing in the deathless, have the deathless as their goal & consummation. Which five?
“The faculty of conviction, when developed & pursued, gains a footing in the deathless, has the deathless as its goal & consummation. The faculty of persistence… mindfulness… concentration… discernment, when developed & pursued, gains a footing in the deathless, has the deathless as its goal & consummation.
“These five faculties, when developed & pursued, gain a footing in the deathless, have the deathless as their goal & consummation.”
Then Brahmā Sahampati—having known with his own awareness the line of thinking in the Blessed One's awareness—just as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm, disappeared from the Brahmā world and appeared in front of the Blessed One.
Arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, he saluted the Blessed One with his hands palm-to-palm before his heart and said to him: “So it is, O Blessed One! So it is, O One Well-Gone! Five faculties, when developed and pursued, gain a footing in the deathless, have the deathless as their goal & consummation. Which five?
“The faculty of conviction… persistence… mindfulness… concentration… discernment, when developed & pursued, gains a footing in the deathless, has the deathless as its goal & consummation.
“These five faculties, when developed & pursued, gain a footing in the deathless, have the deathless as their goal & consummation.
“Lord, in the past I lived the holy life under the Blessed Kassapa. There they knew me as Sahako Bhikkhu. From the development and pursuit of these same five faculties, having become dispassionate toward sensual desire with regard to sensual pleasures, on the breakup of the body, after death, I arose in a good destination: the Brahmā world. There they know me as Brahmā Sahampati.
“So it is, O Blessed One! So it is, O One Well-Gone! I know, I see, how the five faculties, when developed & pursued, gain a footing in the deathless, have the deathless as their goal & consummation.” — SN 48:57
On one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly self-awakened, he was dwelling near Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River, at the foot of the Goatherd's Banyan Tree.
Then, when the Blessed One was alone in seclusion, this train of thought arose in his awareness, “This is the direct path49 for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of unbinding—in other words, the four establishings of mindfulness.
“Which four? There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. Or he remains focused on feelings… mind… mental qualities in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world.
“This is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of unbinding—in other words, the four establishings of mindfulness.”
Then Brahmā Sahampati—having known with his own awareness the line of thinking in the Blessed One's awareness, just as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm—disappeared from the Brahmā world and appeared in front of the Blessed One. Arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, he saluted the Blessed One with his hands palm-to-palm before his heart and said to him: “So it is, O Blessed One! So it is, O One Well-Gone! Lord, this is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of unbinding—in other words, the four establishings of mindfulness.
“Which four? A monk remains focused on the body in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world. Or he remains focused on feelings… mind… mental qualities in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—subduing greed & distress with reference to the world.
“Lord, this is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of unbinding—in other words, the four establishings of mindfulness.”
That is what Brahma Sahampati said. He then said further:
“One sympathetic for welfare,
who sees the destruction & ending of birth,
discerns the direct path.
By this path,
they have crossed over in the past,
will cross over,
are crossing over
: the flood.” — SN 47:18
I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly self-awakened, he was dwelling near Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River, at the root of the Goatherd's Banyan Tree.
Then, when the Blessed One was alone in seclusion, this train of thought arose in his awareness, “How released I am from that practice of extreme austerities! How good it is that I’m released from that useless practice of extreme austerities! How good it is that I’m released, that I have attained awakening!”
Then Māra the Evil One, having known with his awareness the train of thought in the Blessed One's awareness, went to the Blessed One and addressed him in verse:
“Shrinking from the ascetic acts
by which young brahmans are purified,
impure, you think you’re pure.
You’ve missed the path to purity.”
Then, having understood that “This is Mara the Evil One,” the Blessed One replied to him in verses:
“Having known it to be useless,
any further austerity,
each bringing nothing,
like oars & a rudder on dry land:
Developing virtue, concentration, & discernment,
the path to awakening,
I’ve attained the highest purity.
But you, End-maker, are struck down.”
Then Mara the Evil One—sad & dejected at realizing, “The Blessed One knows me, the One Well-Gone knows me”—vanished right there. — SN 4:1
I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly self-awakened, he was dwelling near Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River, at the root of the Goatherd’s Banyan Tree.
And at that time, Māra the Evil One had been following the Blessed One for seven years, looking for an opening, but unable to find one.
Then Māra the Evil One went to the Blessed One and addressed him in verse:
“Practicing jhāna in the forest—
are you overcome with grief?
Have you lost,
or do you desire, wealth?
Have you done something
blameworthy in the village?
Is it because
you become intimate with people,
but intimacy doesn’t prosper for you
with anyone at all?”
The Buddha:
“Having dug up all the root of grief,
blameless, not grieving, I practice jhāna.
Defeating all greed,
all yearning for becoming,
I, without effluent, practice jhāna—
you, Kinsman of the Heedless.”
Māra:
“Of whatever they say,
‘This is mine,’
and whoever says, ‘mine,’
if your heart is here,
contemplative, you’re not free from me.”
The Buddha:
“Of whatever they speak,
it’s not mine.
And whoever speaks
they are not me.
Know that, Evil One.
You can’t even see my tracks.”
Māra:
“If the path has been awakened to—
secure, leading to the deathless—
then go away! Go alone!
What’s the use of instructing others?”
The Buddha:
“People seeking the far side
ask about the deathless realm.
Asked by them, I explain
the truth that’s acquisition-free.”
Māra:
“Suppose, lord, that not far from a village or town was a pond. There in it was a crab. Then a number of boys & girls, leaving the village or town, would go to the pond and, on arrival, would take the crab out of the water and place it on the ground. And whenever the crab extended a leg, the boys or girls would cut it off, break it, and smash it with sticks or stones right there, so that the crab—with all its legs cut off, broken, & smashed—would be unable to get back in the pond as before.
“In the same way, whatever writhings, capers, & contortions [there are], the Blessed One has cut them off, broken them, and smashed them all. Now I’m unable to approach the Blessed One, looking for an opening.”
Then Māra the Evil One recited these verses of dejection in the Blessed One’s presence:
“A crow circled a stone
the color of fat—
‘Perhaps I’ll find something tender here,
Maybe there’s something delicious’
—but not getting anything delicious there,
the crow went away.
Like a crow attacking the rock,
I weary myself with Gotama.”
Then Māra the Evil One, having recited these verses of dejection in the Blessed One’s presence, left that place and sat on the ground not far from the Blessed One, silent, abashed, with his shoulders drooping, his head down, brooding, at a loss for words, drawing in the dirt with a stick. — SN 4:24
Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went to Māra the Evil One and, on arrival, addressed him in verse:
“What are you depressed about, Daddy?
For which man do you grieve?
We—having bound him
like a wilderness elephant
with a snare of passion—
will bring him to you.
Under your power he’ll be.”
Māra:
“An arahant, well-gone in the world,
isn’t easily brought in by passion.
He’s gone beyond Māra’s sway:
That’s why I’m so exceedingly sad.”
Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, said to him, “We will serve you at your feet, contemplative.”
But the Blessed One paid them no attention, as he was released in the unexcelled ending of acquisitions.
Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went off to one side and considered, “Various are the appetites of men. Why don’t we each assume the form of a hundred girls?”
So Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—having each assumed the form of a hundred girls, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, said to him, “We will serve you at your feet, contemplative.”
Again, the Blessed One paid them no attention, as he was released in the unexcelled ending of acquisitions.
So Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went off to one side and considered, “Various are the appetites of men. Why don’t we each assume the form of a hundred women who have never given birth… a hundred women who have borne one child… a hundred women who have borne two children… a hundred middle-aged women… a hundred older women?” So Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—having each assumed the form of a hundred older women, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, said to him, “We will serve you at your feet, contemplative.” Again, the Blessed One paid them no attention, as he was released in the unexcelled ending of acquisitions.
Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went off to one side and said, “I say: It’s true what our father said:
‘An arahant, well-gone in the world,
isn’t easily brought in by passion.
He’s gone beyond Māra’s sway:
That’s why I’m so exceedingly sad.’
“Any contemplative or brahman who hadn’t gone beyond passion, if we were to approach him with this approach: His heart would split or he would cough up hot blood or he would go mad, out of his mind. Just as a green reed cut down would dry out, wither, & fade, in the same way, he would dry out, wither, & fade.”
Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, stood to one side. As she was standing there, Māra’s daughter Craving addressed the Blessed One with verses:
“Practicing jhāna in the forest—
are you overcome with grief?
Have you lost,
or do you desire, wealth?
Have you done something
blameworthy in the village?
Is it because
you become intimate people,
but intimacy doesn’t prosper for you
with anyone at all?”
The Buddha:
“Having attained the goal—
peace of the heart—
having defeated the army
of dear & beloved forms,
practicing jhāna alone,
I awakened to bliss.
That’s why I don’t become intimate
with people,
why intimacy doesn’t prosper for me
with anyone at all.”
Then Māra’s daughter Discontent addressed the Blessed One in verse:
“How does a monk here often dwell,
who has crossed the five floods50
and also the sixth?
How, while cultivating jhāna,
does he keep perceptions of sensuality far away?”
The Buddha:
“Calmed in body,
well released in mind,
without fabrications,
mindful, homeless,
having known the Dhamma,
practicing jhāna without directed thought,
he’s not provoked,
doesn’t flow, isn’t slothful:
Like this
a monk here often dwells,
who has crossed the five floods
and also the sixth.
Cultivating jhāna like this,
he keeps perceptions of sensuality
far away.”
Then Māra’s daughter Passion addressed the Blessed One in verse:
“Cutting off craving,
practicing with a group:
Yes, many & faithful
they’ll fare.
O, how this homeless one,
having snatched them
from the King of Death,
will lead a great crowd away.”
The Buddha:
“The Tathāgatas, great heroes,
do lead
with the true Dhamma.
For those who know,
who lead by the Dhamma,
what’s the jealousy?”
Then Māra’s daughters—Craving, Discontent, & Passion—went to Māra the Evil One. He saw them coming from afar and, on seeing them, addressed them with verses:
“Fools!
Cleave a mountain
with a lily-stalk.
Dig up a crag
with your fingernails.
Chew on iron
with your teeth.
Raising a rock
above your head,
go over a cliff,
into a pit.
Like striking your chest
on a stump—
you just weary yourselves with Gotama.” — SN 4:25
I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly self-awakened, he was dwelling near Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River, at the foot of the Goatherd’s Banyan Tree. Then, while he was alone and in seclusion, this line of thinking arose in his awareness: “One suffers if dwelling without reverence or deference. Now, on what contemplative or brahman can I dwell in dependence, honoring and respecting him?”
Then the thought occurred to him: “It would be for the sake of perfecting an unperfected aggregate of virtue that I would dwell in dependence on another contemplative or brahman, honoring and respecting him. However, in this cosmos with its devas, Māras, & Brahmās, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & common people, I don’t see another contemplative or brahman more consummate in virtue than I, on whom I could dwell in dependence, honoring and respecting him.
“It would be for the sake of perfecting an unperfected aggregate of concentration… discernment… release… knowledge & vision of release that I would dwell in dependence on another contemplative or brahman, honoring and respecting him. However, in this cosmos with its devas, Māras, & Brahmās, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & common people, I don’t see another contemplative or brahman more consummate in knowledge & vision of release than I, on whom I could dwell in dependence, honoring and respecting him.
“What if I were to dwell in dependence on this very Dhamma to which I have fully awakened, honoring and respecting it?”
Then, having known with his own awareness the line of thinking in the Blessed One’s awareness—just as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm—Brahmā Sahampati disappeared from the Brahma-world and reappeared in front of the Blessed One. Arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, he saluted the Blessed One with his hands before his heart and said to him: “So it is, Blessed One! So it is, One Well-Gone! Those who were Worthy Ones, Rightly Self-awakened ones in the past—they, too, dwelled in dependence on the very Dhamma itself, honoring and respecting it. Those who will be Worthy Ones, Rightly Self-awakened ones in the future—they, too, will dwell in dependence on the very Dhamma itself, honoring and respecting it. And let the Blessed One, who is at present the Worthy One, the Rightly Self-awakened one, dwell in dependence on the very Dhamma itself, honoring and respecting it.”
That is what Brahmā Sahampati said. Having said that, he further said this:
“Past Buddhas,
future Buddhas,
& he who is the Buddha now,
removing the sorrow of many—
all have dwelt,
will dwell, he dwells,
revering the true Dhamma.
This, for Buddhas, is a natural law.
Therefore one who desires his own good,
aspiring for greatness,
should respect the true Dhamma,
recollecting the Buddhas’ message.” — SN 6:2
As the following passage shows, the Buddha at this point became disinclined to teach the Dhamma he had discovered. The Commentary tries to explain his disinclination as feigned: that he fully intended to teach, in line with his aspiration of many lifetimes, but that he wanted to be invited by a Brahmā to teach, as such an invitation would impress the beings of the world. The passage, however, seems to indicate that the disinclination was genuine. Having finally penetrated the Dhamma, he realized how subtle it was, and how hard it would be to train others to attain it. Perhaps a better explanation for this incident is this: Having become totally released, the Buddha was under no compulsion to teach. This would mean that if he did decide to teach, the decision was not forced on him by an aspiration made while he was still unawakened. Instead, it was a choice freely made by a fully awakened and liberated mind.
I have heard that on one occasion, when the Blessed One was newly self-awakened, he was dwelling near Uruvelā on the bank of the Nerañjarā River, at the foot of the Goatherd’s Banyan Tree. Then, while he was alone and in seclusion, this line of thinking arose in his awareness: “This Dhamma that I have attained is deep, hard to see, hard to realize, peaceful, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise. But this generation delights in attachment, is excited by attachment, enjoys attachment. For a generation delighting in attachment, excited by attachment, enjoying attachment, this/that conditionality and dependent co-arising are hard to see. This state, too, is hard to see: the pacification of all fabrications, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; unbinding. And if I were to teach the Dhamma and if others would not understand me, that would be tiresome for me, troublesome for me.”
Just then these verses, unspoken in the past, unheard before, occurred to the Blessed One:
Enough now with teaching
what
only with difficulty
I reached.
This Dhamma is not easily realized
by those overcome
with aversion & passion.
What is abstruse, subtle,
deep,
hard to see,
going against the flow—
those delighting in passion,
cloaked in the mass of darkness,
won’t see.
As the Blessed One reflected thus, his mind inclined to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma.
Then Brahmā Sahampati, having known with his own awareness the line of thinking in the Blessed One’s awareness, thought: “The world is lost! The world is destroyed! The mind of the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Rightly Self-awakened one inclines to dwelling at ease, not to teaching the Dhamma!” Then, just as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm, Brahmā Sahampati disappeared from the Brahma-world and reappeared in front of the Blessed One. Arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, he knelt down with his right knee on the ground, saluted the Blessed One with his hands before his heart, and said to him: “Lord, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma! Let the One Well-Gone teach the Dhamma! There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.”
That is what Brahmā Sahampati said. Having said that, he further said this:
“In the past
there appeared among the Magadhans
an impure Dhamma
devised by the stained.
Throw open the door to the deathless!
Let them hear the Dhamma
realized by the Stainless One!
Just as one standing on a rocky crag
might see people
all around below,
so, intelligent one, with all-around vision,
ascend the palace
fashioned of Dhamma.
Free from sorrow, behold the people
submerged in sorrow,
oppressed by birth & aging.
Rise up, hero, victor in battle!
O Teacher, wander without debt in the world.
Teach the Dhamma, O Blessed One:
There will be those who will understand.”
Then the Blessed One, having understood Brahmā’s invitation, out of compassion for beings, surveyed the cosmos with the eye of an Awakened One. As he did so, he saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace & danger in the other world. Just as in a pond of blue or red or white lotuses, some lotuses—born and growing in the water—might flourish while immersed in the water, without rising up from the water; some might stand at an even level with the water; whereas some might rise up from the water and stand without being smeared by the water—so too, surveying the cosmos with the eye of an Awakened One, the Blessed One saw beings with little dust in their eyes and those with much, those with keen faculties and those with dull, those with good attributes and those with bad, those easy to teach and those hard, some of them seeing disgrace & danger in the other world.
Having seen this, he answered Brahmā Sahampati in verse:
“Open are the doors to the deathless.
Let those with ears show their conviction.
Perceiving trouble, O Brahmā,
I did not tell people the refined,
sublime Dhamma.”
Then Brahmā Sahampati, thinking, “I’m the one who created the opportunity for the teaching of the Dhamma by the Blessed One!” bowed down to the Blessed One, circumambulated him, keeping him to his right, and disappeared right there. — SN 6:1
