Gateway to Insight
Chapter 13: The Brahma’s Entreaty
(1) Atha kho bhagavā tasmā rājāyatanā mūlā uṭṭhahitvā. Then the Blessed One, rising from the foot of the Rajayatana tree, went and sat again under the Ajapala Banyan tree. While sitting there, this thought occurred to him: “This Dhamma that I have realized is profound, hard to see, hard to understand, peaceful, sublime, beyond the sphere of reasoning, subtle, to be experienced by the wise. Beings have accumulated this Dhamma, yet it is a Dhamma that is difficult for them to see, difficult to awaken to. This Dhamma is subtle, exceedingly refined, supremely excellent, and complete without remainder. It is what the wise should teach.” Having thought thus, a sense of hesitation arose in his heart, and he felt no desire to teach the Dhamma to beings, remaining silent and indifferent.
(2) Atha kho sahampati brahmā. Then, Sahampati Brahmā, knowing the thought in the Blessed One’s mind, uttered this cry three times, saying: “O virtuous one, the world is surely heading for ruin and destruction.” The Mahābrahmās in ten thousand world systems heard this and came to inquire about the matter. Sahampati Brahmā explained the reason and then led them, flying down to the Teacher’s presence. Upon arriving, he knelt with his right knee on the ground, placed his folded hands, adorned with the ten radiant fingernails, upon his head like a lotus flower. He then looked up at the face of the Blessed One, which shone with the six-colored radiance, and pleaded with him in verse, beginning with “Santīdha sattā apparajakkhajātikā” (“There are beings here with little dust in their eyes”).
(3) Atha bhagavā. Then, the Blessed One, his heart filled with compassion, having heard the Brahma’s plea, spoke these words, “O Brahma, Sahampati Brahma, the Tathagata has considered that the Dhamma is profound, which the Tathagata has realized. Beings who delight in craving cannot make the end of suffering, which is Nibbāna. The law of Dependent Origination (Paticcasamuppāda) with its twelve links is also hard for beings to see. The calming of all formations, the relinquishing of all defilements, the destruction of craving, and the attainment of Nibbāna are also hard for beings to know. If the Tathagata were to teach the Dhamma, beings would not believe the Tathagata’s words. Only weariness and fruitless trouble would befall the Tathagata. For this reason, the Tathagata feels little inclination to teach the Dhamma to beings.
(4) Evaṃ yāva tatiyaṃ pi bhagavā. When Sahampati Brahmā had thus pleaded for the third time, the Blessed One surveyed the world with his divine eye. He saw beings with little dust of passion, aversion, and delusion in their eyes, and other beings with much dust in their eyes. Having understood this clearly, the Blessed One uttered these words:
Apārutā tesaṃ amatassa dvārā
ye sotavanto pamuñcantu saddhaṃ
vihiṃsasaññī paguṇaṃ na bhāsiṃ
dhammaṃ paṇītaṃ manujesu brahmāti.
“O Brahmā, the Tathāgata, perceiving the weariness (of body and speech), has not yet taught the sublime Dhamma, which the Tathāgata has mastered, to humans and devas. (But now) the doors to Nibbāna are open. Let those beings who have receptive ears release their faith (and listen to the Dhamma).”
Sahampati Brahmā, having heard the Buddha’s words granting the opportunity to teach the Dhamma to beings, raised his clasped hands in homage, took his leave, and, leading his retinue of Brahmās, flew back to the Brahma world.
(End of the Chapter of the Brahma’s Entreaty, Chapter 13)
