{"id":214,"date":"2025-12-29T06:37:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T06:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/?p=214"},"modified":"2026-01-01T10:26:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T10:26:18","slug":"life-of-the-buddha-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/?p=214","title":{"rendered":"Life of the Buddha 17"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chapter 17: The Ordination of the Chief Disciples<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

(1)\u00a0Tena kho pana samayena a<\/em>\u1e6d\u1e6dh\u0101rasako<\/em>\u1e6dimatt\u0101 r\u0101jagahav\u0101sino.<\/em>\u00a0At that time, the inhabitants of R\u0101jagaha, numbering eighteen ko\u1e6di[1]<\/a> (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 La\u1e6d\u1e6dhivana grove where the Blessed One was staying. The park had no empty space, it was completely filled with a throng of people.<\/p>\n\n

(2)\u00a0Tena kho pana samayena sakko dev\u0101namindo.<\/em>\u00a0At 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 R\u0101jagaha, 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:<\/p>\n\n

Yo dh\u012bro sabbadhi danto suddho appa<\/em>\u1e6dipuggalo<\/em>
araha<\/em>\u1e43 sugato loke tass\u0101ha<\/em>\u1e43 paric\u0101rako.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

The meaning is:<\/strong> “The wise one, restrained in every way, pure, without an equal, the Arahant, the Well-farer in the world\u2014I 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. “<\/p>\n\n

The Blessed One, together with the community of monks, proceeded to the royal residence of King Bimbis\u0101ra 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 Ve\u1e37uvana 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 Ve\u1e37uvana park to the Blessed One and the community of monks.” The Teacher accepted and stayed in the Ve\u1e37uvana park. He then permitted the monks to have a monastery.<\/p>\n\n

(3)\u00a0Tena kho pana samayena sa\u00f1jayo paribb\u0101jako.<\/em>\u00a0At that time, the wanderer Sa\u00f1jaya was staying in R\u0101jagaha, along with a large company of wanderers numbering 250. The venerable S\u0101riputta and the venerable Moggall\u0101na were practicing the holy life in the company of the wanderer Sa\u00f1jaya. Those two had made a pact with each other that whoever should first realize the deathless Dhamma, that person should inform the other.<\/p>\n\n

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 R\u0101jagaha for alms. The wanderer named S\u0101riputta 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 S\u0101riputta 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?”<\/p>\n\n

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.”<\/p>\n\n

The wandering ascetic S\u0101riputta then asked, “And what does your teacher proclaim? What Dhamma does he teach?”<\/p>\n\n

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.”<\/p>\n\n

The wandering ascetic S\u0101riputta 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.”<\/p>\n\n

(4) Then, the Venerable Assaji recited this summary of the Dhamma:<\/p>\n\n

Ye dhamm\u0101 hetuppabhav\u0101,<\/em>
Tesa<\/em>\u1e43 hetu<\/em>\u1e43 tath\u0101gato \u0101ha;<\/em>
Tesa\u00f1ca yo nirodho,<\/em>
Eva<\/em>\u1e43 v\u0101d\u012b mah\u0101sama<\/em>\u1e47o.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

The meaning is:<\/strong> Of all things that arise from a cause, the Tath\u0101gata has told their cause, and also their cessation and the method for their cessation. Such is the teaching of the Great Ascetic.<\/p>\n\n

Upon hearing this summary of the Dhamma, the wandering ascetic S\u0101riputta gained the Dhamma-eye\u2014the knowledge of the path of stream-entry\u2014free from dust and stainless. He then went to find the wandering ascetic named Moggall\u0101na. The wandering ascetic Moggall\u0101na saw him coming from afar and asked, “Your faculties are so serene! Have you perhaps realized the Deathless Dhamma?”<\/p>\n\n

The wandering ascetic S\u0101riputta recounted what had happened. After hearing it, the wandering ascetic Moggall\u0101na also gained the Dhamma-eye, free from dust. Then they agreed, saying, “We will go to the Blessed One; He is our teacher.”<\/p>\n\n

The wandering ascetic S\u0101riputta 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.”<\/p>\n\n

Then S\u0101riputta and Moggall\u0101na went to the other wandering ascetics. When they arrived, they told them, “We are going to the Blessed One.”<\/p>\n\n

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.”<\/p>\n\n

S\u0101riputta and Moggall\u0101na then invited them to go to their teacher, the ascetic Sa\u00f1jaya, to inform him of their intentions. Sa\u00f1jaya replied, “You should not! Do not go. The three of us will manage this community.”<\/p>\n\n

S\u0101riputta and Moggall\u0101na pleaded with him two or three times, but the ascetic Sa\u00f1jaya would not agree. So, S\u0101riputta and Moggall\u0101na took the 250 wandering ascetics with them to the Ve\u1e37uvana Monastery.<\/p>\n\n

As for the ascetic Sa\u00f1jaya, he was overcome with such burning sorrow that he vomited blood from his mouth.<\/p>\n\n

(5)\u00a0Addas\u0101 kho bhagav\u0101 s\u0101riputtamoggall\u0101ne d\u016bratova \u0101gacchante disv\u0101.<\/em>\u00a0The Blessed One saw S\u0101riputta and Moggall\u0101na 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 Tath\u0101gata, an excellent and prosperous pair.”<\/p>\n\n

(6)\u00a0Atha kho s\u0101riputtamoggall\u0101n\u0101.<\/em>\u00a0Then, the Venerable S\u0101riputta and the Venerable Moggall\u0101na 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.”<\/p>\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n

(7)\u00a0Tena kho pana samayena abhi\u00f1\u00f1\u0101t\u0101 abhi\u00f1\u00f1\u0101t\u0101 m\u0101gadhik\u0101 kulaputt\u0101.<\/em>\u00a0At 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 Sa\u00f1jaya’s group, and even the famous sons of good families. Who will he lead away next?”<\/p>\n\n

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 Tath\u0101gatas, 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?'”<\/p>\n\n

(8)\u00a0Ath\u0101yasm\u0101 mah\u0101moggall\u0101no.<\/em>\u00a0Then, the Venerable Mah\u0101moggall\u0101na, staying in the village of Kallav\u0101\u1e37a 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 S\u0101riputta, half a month after his ordination, while staying in the Sukarakhata cave, he heard the\u00a0Vedan\u0101pariggaha Sutta<\/em>, which the Teacher was preaching to his nephew, the wandering ascetic D\u012bghanakha. He too attained the perfection of a disciple’s wisdom, like a person partaking of food that was served for another.<\/p>\n\n

On that very day, the Supreme Teacher held an assembly of his disciples in the Ve\u1e37uvana Monastery. He bestowed the position of Chief Disciples upon the two elders and delivered the\u00a0Ov\u0101da-p\u0101timokkha<\/em>\u00a0on the 15th day of the waxing moon of the month of M\u0101gha[2]<\/a>, in the year of the Rooster.<\/p>\n\n

(End of Chapter 17: The Ordination of the Chief Disciples)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> The Vinaya Pi\u1e6daka, in the Mah\u0101kkhandhaka, states that the brahmin and householder retinue of the king numbered twelve myriads (120,000). The P\u0101\u1e6dhamasambodhi scripture gives the number as eighteen ko\u1e6di (180 million), which likely refers to the general public, including onlookers.<\/p>\n\n

[2]<\/a> This is the day that Buddhists celebrate as M\u0101gha P\u016bj\u0101, to commemorate the assembly of the disciples and the first recitation of the P\u0101timokkha by the Blessed One.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Chapter 17: The Ordination of the Chief Disciples (1)\u00a0Tena kho pana samayena a\u1e6d\u1e6dh\u0101rasako\u1e6dimatt\u0101 r\u0101jagahav\u0101sino.\u00a0At that time, the inhabitants of R\u0101jagaha, numbering eighteen ko\u1e6di[1] (180 million), both those who had seen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8],"class_list":["post-214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buddhism","tag-pandit-chhim-sumn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=214"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":420,"href":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214\/revisions\/420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gatewaytoinsight.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}