The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [149]
22. “How does a bhikkhu know the ford? Here a bhikkhu goes from time to time to such bhikkhus who have learned much, who are well versed in the tradition, who maintain the Dhamma, the Discipline, and the Codes, and he enquires and asks questions of them thus: ‘How is this, venerable sir? What is the meaning of this?’ These venerable ones reveal to him what has not been revealed, clarify what is not clear, and remove his doubts about the numerous things that give rise to doubt. That is how a bhikkhu knows the ford.
23. “How does [224] a bhikkhu know what it is to have drunk? Here, when the Dhamma and Discipline proclaimed by the Tathāgata is being taught, a bhikkhu gains inspiration in the meaning, gains inspiration in the Dhamma, gains gladness connected with the Dhamma. That is how a bhikkhu knows what it is to have drunk.
24. “How does a bhikkhu know the road? Here a bhikkhu understands the Noble Eightfold Path as it actually is. That is how a bhikkhu understands the road.
25. “How is a bhikkhu skilled in pastures? Here a bhikkhu understands the four foundations of mindfulness as they actually are. That is how a bhikkhu is skilled in pastures.
26. “How does a bhikkhu not milk dry? Here, when faithful householders invite a bhikkhu to take as much as he likes of robes, almsfood, resting places, and medicinal requisites, the bhikkhu knows moderation in accepting. That is how a bhikkhu does not milk dry.
27. “How does a bhikkhu show extra veneration to those elder bhikkhus of long-standing who have long gone forth, the fathers and leaders of the Sangha? Here a bhikkhu maintains bodily acts of loving-kindness both openly and privately towards those elder bhikkhus; he maintains verbal acts of loving-kindness towards them both openly and privately; he maintains mental acts of loving-kindness towards them both openly and privately. That is how a bhikkhu shows extra veneration to those elder bhikkhus of long-standing who have long gone forth, the fathers and leaders of the Sangha.
“When a bhikkhu possesses these eleven qualities, he is capable of growth, increase, and fulfilment in this Dhamma and Discipline.”
That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words.
Cūḷagopālaka Sutta
The Shorter Discourse on the Cowherd
[225] 1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living in the Vajjian country at Ukkācelā on the banks of the river Ganges. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus.”—“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Blessed One said this:
2. “Bhikkhus, there was once a foolish Magadhan cowherd who, in the last month of the rainy season, in the autumn, without examining the near shore or the further shore of the river Ganges, drove his cattle across to the other shore in the Videhan country at a place that had no ford. Then the cattle bunched together in mid-stream in the river Ganges, and they met with calamity and disaster. Why was that? Because that foolish Magadhan cowherd, in the last month of the rainy season, in the autumn, without examining the near shore or the further shore of the river Ganges, drove his cattle across to the other shore in the Videhan country at a place that had no ford.
3. “So too, bhikkhus, as to those recluses and brahmins who are unskilled in this world and the other world, unskilled in Māra’s realm and what is outside Māra’s realm, unskilled in the realm of Death and what is outside the realm of Death—it will lead to the harm and suffering for a long time of those who think they should listen to them and place faith in them.
4. “Bhikkhus, there was once a wise Magadhan cowherd who, in the last month of the rainy season, in the autumn, after examining the near shore and the further shore of the river Ganges, drove his cattle across to the other shore in the Videhan country at a place that had a ford. He made the bulls, the fathers and leaders of the herd, enter first, and they breasted