About Sarakāni
Sarakāni Sutta (SN 55:25)
At Kapilavatthu. Now, on that occasion Sarakāni the Sakyan had died and was declared by the Blessed One to be a stream-winner, never again destined for the lower realms, certain, headed for self-awakening. Then a number of Sakyans, having met & assembled, were indignant, annoyed, & complained, “Isn’t it amazing, good sirs! Isn’t it astounding! Now who here won’t be a stream-winner, in as much as Sarakāni 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? Sarakāni the Sakyan was one who was incomplete in doing the training!”1
Then Mahānāma the Sakyan went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to the Blessed One, “Just now, lord, when Sarakāni the Sakyan had died, he was declared by the Blessed One to be a stream-winner, never again destined for the lower realms, certain, headed for self-awakening. Then a number of Sakyans, having met & assembled, were indignant, annoyed, & complained, ‘Isn’t it amazing, good sirs! Isn’t it astounding! Now who here won’t be a stream-winner, in as much as Sarakāni 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? Sarakāni the Sakyan was one who was incomplete in doing the training!’”
“Mahānāma, 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 Saṅgha: How could he or she go to the lower realms?2 For if one speaking rightly were to say of anyone, ‘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 Saṅgha,’ it would be of Sarakāni the Sakyan that, speaking rightly, one would say that. Sarakāni 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 Saṅgha. How could he go to the lower realms?
“There is the case, Mahānāma, where a certain individual is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Awakened One: ‘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.’
“He is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Dhamma: ‘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.’
“He is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Saṅgha: ‘The Saṅgha of the Blessed One’s 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 Saṅgha of the Blessed One’s disciples: worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, the incomparable field of merit for the world.’
“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, Mahānāma, 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, Mahānāma, where a certain individual is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Awakened One… the Dhamma… the Saṅgha…
“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, Mahānāma, where a certain individual is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Awakened One… the Dhamma… the Saṅgha…
“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, Mahānāma, where a certain individual is absolutely devoted to and fully confident in the Awakened One… the Dhamma… the Saṅgha…
“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, Mahānāma, where a certain individual is not absolutely devoted to or fully confident in the Awakened One… the Dhamma… the Saṅgha…
“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 Tathāgata after scrutinizing them with a measure of discernment. This individual, Mahānāma, 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, Mahānāma, where a certain individual is not absolutely devoted to or fully confident in the Awakened One… the Dhamma… the Saṅgha…
“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 Tathāgata. This individual, Mahānāma, 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, Mahānama, 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, Mahānāma, 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, Mahānama, 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, Mahānāma, 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, Sarakāni the Sakyan? Sarakāni the Sakyan, at the time of death, was one who was complete in doing of the training.”
Notes
1. According to SN 55:24, Sarakāni 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
