AN 2.37 AN 2.37

Text

AN 2.37
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato
Source: https://suttacentral.net/an2.37/en/sujato
License: CC0-1.0

37
So I have heard. At one time Venerable Mahākaccāna was staying at Varaṇā, on the bank of the Kaddama Lake.
Then the brahmin Ārāmadaṇḍa went up to Mahākaccāna, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to Mahākaccāna:
“What is the cause, worthy Kaccāna, what is the reason why aristocrats fight with aristocrats, brahmins fight with brahmins, and householders fight with householders?”
“It is because of their insistence on sensual desire, their shackles, avarice, and attachment, that aristocrats fight with aristocrats, brahmins fight with brahmins, and householders fight with householders.”
“What is the cause, worthy Kaccāna, what is the reason why ascetics fight with ascetics?”
“It is because of their insistence on views, their shackles, avarice, and attachment, that ascetics fight with ascetics.”
“Worthy Kaccāna, is there anyone in the world who has gone beyond the insistence on sensual desire and the insistence on views?”
“There is, brahmin.”
“Who in the world has gone beyond the insistence on sensual desire and the insistence on views?”
“In the eastern lands there is a city named Sāvatthī. There the Blessed One is now staying, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. He, brahmin, has gone beyond the insistence on sensual desire and the insistence on views.”
When this was said, the brahmin Ārāmadaṇḍa rose from his seat, arranged his robe over one shoulder, knelt on his right knee, raised his cupped palms toward the Buddha, and expressed this heartfelt sentiment three times:
“Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!
Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!
Homage to him, the blessed one, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha!
He who has gone beyond the insistence on sensual desire and the insistence on views.
Excellent, worthy Kaccāna! Excellent! As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what’s there, the worthy Kaccāna has made the teaching clear in many ways. I go for refuge to the worthy Gotama, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Saṅgha. From this day forth, may the worthy Kaccāna remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”