Chapter 17: The Ordination of the Chief Disciples
(1) Tena kho pana samayena aṭṭhārasakoṭimattā rājagahavāsino. At that time, the inhabitants of Rājagaha, numbering eighteen koṭi[1] (180 million), both those who had seen the Teacher and those who had not yet seen him, men and women alike, all desired to see the glorious, omniscient Blessed One. They crowded into the Laṭṭhivana grove where the Blessed One was staying. The park had no empty space, it was completely filled with a throng of people.
(2) Tena kho pana samayena sakko devānamindo. At that time, Sakka, the lord of the devas, disguised himself as a young man and came before the Supreme Teacher. He cleared a path through the crowd for the Blessed One with his divine power. As the Teacher entered the city of Rājagaha, that young man led the way, singing praises of the Buddha’s virtues as he went. The crowd, seeing him, asked one another, “Oh! What a handsome young man! How delightful to behold! Whose son is he?” The young man then replied in verse:
Yo dhīro sabbadhi danto suddho appaṭipuggalo
arahaṃ sugato loke tassāhaṃ paricārako.
The meaning is: “The wise one, restrained in every way, pure, without an equal, the Arahant, the Well-farer in the world—I am his attendant has gone far from the enemy, that is, defilements, has a good journey in the world; I am the servant of that wise one. “
The Blessed One, together with the community of monks, proceeded to the royal residence of King Bimbisāra of Magadha. The king served the community of monks, with the Buddha at its head, until they were satisfied with delicious hard and soft foods. He then thought to himself, “The Veḷuvana park is not too far and not too near, a place convenient for coming and going. I should offer this park to the community of monks with the Buddha at its head.” He then prostrated himself and said to the Blessed One, “I, your servant, wish to offer the Veḷuvana park to the Blessed One and the community of monks.” The Teacher accepted and stayed in the Veḷuvana park. He then permitted the monks to have a monastery.
(3) Tena kho pana samayena sañjayo paribbājako. At that time, the wanderer Sañjaya was staying in Rājagaha, along with a large company of wanderers numbering 250. The venerable Sāriputta and the venerable Moggallāna were practicing the holy life in the company of the wanderer Sañjaya. Those two had made a pact with each other that whoever should first realize the deathless Dhamma, that person should inform the other.
At that time, the venerable Assaji, having dressed in the morning, taking his bowl and robe, with graceful and serene deportment, entered the city of Rājagaha for alms. The wanderer named Sāriputta saw the venerable Assaji and thought, “Oh! Whoever in the world are Arahants, or have attained the path to Arahantship, this monk must be one of them. I should approach this monk. But now is not a suitable time to question this monk, for he is on his alms round.” Thinking thus, he followed closely behind him. When the venerable Assaji had received his alms and was returning, a wandering ascetic named Sāriputta approached. He offered a joyful and pleasant greeting, enough to create a sense of friendliness, and then asked the Venerable Assaji, “Venerable sir, your faculties are so serene, and your complexion is pure and bright. For whom have you gone forth? Who is your teacher?”
Venerable Assaji replied, “Friend, there is a great ascetic, a son of the Sakyans, who went forth from the Sakyan clan and took up the homeless life. I have gone forth following that great ascetic. The Blessed One is my teacher.”
The wandering ascetic Sāriputta then asked, “And what does your teacher proclaim? What Dhamma does he teach?”
Venerable Assaji replied, “Friend, I am but a newcomer, having only recently entered this Dhamma and Discipline. I am not able to teach the Dhamma in detail, but I can state its meaning in brief for you to hear.”
The wandering ascetic Sāriputta said, “Please, venerable sir, explain it. Whether it is a little or a lot please just show me the essence. There is no need to speak of the letter in great detail.”
(4) Then, the Venerable Assaji recited this summary of the Dhamma:
Ye dhammā hetuppabhavā,
Tesaṃ hetuṃ tathāgato āha;
Tesañca yo nirodho,
Evaṃ vādī mahāsamaṇo.
The meaning is: Of all things that arise from a cause, the Tathāgata has told their cause, and also their cessation and the method for their cessation. Such is the teaching of the Great Ascetic.
Upon hearing this summary of the Dhamma, the wandering ascetic Sāriputta gained the Dhamma-eye—the knowledge of the path of stream-entry—free from dust and stainless. He then went to find the wandering ascetic named Moggallāna. The wandering ascetic Moggallāna saw him coming from afar and asked, “Your faculties are so serene! Have you perhaps realized the Deathless Dhamma?”
The wandering ascetic Sāriputta recounted what had happened. After hearing it, the wandering ascetic Moggallāna also gained the Dhamma-eye, free from dust. Then they agreed, saying, “We will go to the Blessed One; He is our teacher.”
The wandering ascetic Sāriputta replied, “There are 250 wandering ascetics who depend on us. Once they see us, they will go as well. We must first take our leave of them.”
Then Sāriputta and Moggallāna went to the other wandering ascetics. When they arrived, they told them, “We are going to the Blessed One.”
Those wandering ascetics replied, “If you are going to practice the holy life under the Great Ascetic, then all of us will do so as well.”
Sāriputta and Moggallāna then invited them to go to their teacher, the ascetic Sañjaya, to inform him of their intentions. Sañjaya replied, “You should not! Do not go. The three of us will manage this community.”
Sāriputta and Moggallāna pleaded with him two or three times, but the ascetic Sañjaya would not agree. So, Sāriputta and Moggallāna took the 250 wandering ascetics with them to the Veḷuvana Monastery.
As for the ascetic Sañjaya, he was overcome with such burning sorrow that he vomited blood from his mouth.
(5) Addasā kho bhagavā sāriputtamoggallāne dūratova āgacchante disvā. The Blessed One saw Sāriputta and Moggallāna coming from afar. Seeing them approaching, he called the monks and said, “Monks, those two companions, named Kolita and Upatissa, are coming now. They will be the foremost pair of disciples of the Tathāgata, an excellent and prosperous pair.”
(6) Atha kho sāriputtamoggallānā. Then, the Venerable Sāriputta and the Venerable Moggallāna approached the Blessed One and requested the going forth and full ordination, saying, “Venerable Lord, may we receive the going forth and full ordination in the presence of the Blessed One.”
The Blessed One said, “Come, monks. The Dhamma has been well-proclaimed. Live the holy life for the complete ending of suffering.” This very declaration was the full ordination for those venerable ones.
(7) Tena kho pana samayena abhiññātā abhiññātā māgadhikā kulaputtā. At that time, many well-known sons of good families from Magadha were also practicing the holy life under the Blessed One. The people began to criticize, saying, “The ascetic Gotama is practicing to make people childless, to make women widows, and to cut off family lines. Now he has convinced 1,000 matted-hair ascetics, 250 wandering ascetics from Sañjaya’s group, and even the famous sons of good families. Who will he lead away next?”
When the monks heard this, they went and reported it to the Blessed One. He said, “Monks, these words will not last long. At most, they will last for seven days, and after seven days they will disappear on their own. Monks, if they accuse you in this way again, you should reply to them, saying: ‘The Tathāgatas, with great effort, guide beings with the true Dhamma, with excellence. Why, then, is there jealousy towards the wise ones who are guides through the Dhamma?'”
(8) Athāyasmā mahāmoggallāno. Then, the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna, staying in the village of Kallavāḷa in the land of Magadha, on the seventh day after his ordination, having heard the meditation subject on the elements, attained the three higher knowledges and reached the perfection of a disciple’s wisdom. As for the Venerable Sāriputta, half a month after his ordination, while staying in the Sukarakhata cave, he heard the Vedanāpariggaha Sutta, which the Teacher was preaching to his nephew, the wandering ascetic Dīghanakha. He too attained the perfection of a disciple’s wisdom, like a person partaking of food that was served for another.
On that very day, the Supreme Teacher held an assembly of his disciples in the Veḷuvana Monastery. He bestowed the position of Chief Disciples upon the two elders and delivered the Ovāda-pātimokkha on the 15th day of the waxing moon of the month of Māgha[2], in the year of the Rooster.
(End of Chapter 17: The Ordination of the Chief Disciples)
[1] The Vinaya Piṭaka, in the Mahākkhandhaka, states that the brahmin and householder retinue of the king numbered twelve myriads (120,000). The Pāṭhamasambodhi scripture gives the number as eighteen koṭi (180 million), which likely refers to the general public, including onlookers.
[2] This is the day that Buddhists celebrate as Māgha Pūjā, to commemorate the assembly of the disciples and the first recitation of the Pātimokkha by the Blessed One.
