The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [146]
“Good, good, Sāriputta. Anuruddha, speaking rightly, should speak just as he did. For with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human, Anuruddha surveys a thousand worlds.”
14. “When this was said, venerable sir, I addressed the venerable Mahā Kassapa thus: ‘Friend Kassapa…What kind of bhikkhu could illuminate this Gosinga Sāla-tree Wood?’ And the venerable Mahā Kassapa replied: ‘Here, friend Sāriputta, a bhikkhu is a forest-dweller himself…(as in §7)…That kind of bhikkhu could illuminate this Gosinga Sāla-tree Wood.’” [218]
“Good, good, Sāriputta. Kassapa, speaking rightly, should speak just as he did. For Kassapa is a forest-dweller himself and speaks in praise of forest dwelling…he has attained to the knowledge and vision of deliverance himself and speaks in praise of the attainment of the knowledge and vision of deliverance.”
15. “When this was said, venerable sir, I addressed the venerable Mahā Moggallāna thus: ‘Friend Moggallāna…What kind of bhikkhu could illuminate this Gosinga Sāla-tree Wood?’ And the venerable Mahā Moggallāna replied: ‘Here, friend Sāriputta, two bhikkhus engage in a talk on the higher Dhamma…(as in §8)…That kind of bhikkhu could illuminate this Gosinga Sālatree Wood.’”
“Good, good, Sāriputta. Moggallāna, speaking rightly, should speak just as he did. For Moggallāna is one who talks on the Dhamma.”
16. When that was said, the venerable Mahā Moggallāna told the Blessed One: “Then, venerable sir, I addressed the venerable Sāriputta thus: ‘Friend Sāriputta…What kind of bhikkhu could illuminate this Gosinga Sāla-tree Wood?’ And the venerable Sāriputta replied: ‘Here, friend Moggallāna, a bhikkhu wields mastery over his mind…[219] (as in §9)…That kind of bhikkhu could illuminate this Gosinga Sāla-tree Wood.’”
“Good, good, Moggallāna. Sāriputta, speaking rightly, should speak just as he did. For Sāriputta wields mastery over his mind, he does not let the mind wield mastery over him. In the morning he abides in whatever abiding or attainment he wants to abide in during the morning; at midday he abides in whatever abiding or attainment he wants to abide in at midday; in the evening he abides in whatever abiding or attainment he wants to abide in during the evening.”
17. When this was said, the venerable Sāriputta asked the Blessed One: “Venerable sir, which of us has spoken well?” “You have all spoken well, Sāriputta, each in his own way. Hear also from me what kind of bhikkhu could illuminate this Gosinga Sāla-tree Wood. Here, Sāriputta, when a bhikkhu has returned from his almsround, after his meal, he sits down, folds his legs crosswise, sets his body erect, and establishing mindfulness in front of him, resolves: ‘I shall not break this sitting position until through not clinging my mind is liberated from the taints.’ That kind of bhikkhu could illuminate this Gosinga Sālatree Wood.”363
That is what the Blessed One said. Those venerable ones were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words.
Mahāgopālaka Sutta
The Greater Discourse on the Cowherd
[220] 1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus.”—“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Blessed One said this:
2. “Bhikkhus, when a cowherd possesses eleven factors, he is incapable of keeping and rearing a herd of cattle. What eleven? Here a cowherd has no knowledge of form, he is unskilled in characteristics, he fails to pick out flies’ eggs, he fails to dress wounds, he fails to smoke out the sheds, he does not know the ford, he does not know what it is to have drunk, he does not know the road, he is unskilled in pastures, he milks dry, and he shows no extra veneration to those bulls who are fathers and leaders of the herd. When a cowherd possesses these eleven factors, he is incapable