The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [359]
28. Then he went to the Blessed One and exchanged greetings with him, and when this courteous and amiable talk was finished, he sat down at one side and looked for the thirty-two marks of a Great Man on the Blessed One’s body. [143] He saw, more or less, the thirty-two marks of a Great Man on the Blessed One’s body, except two; he was doubtful about two of the marks, and he could not decide and make up his mind about them: about the male organ being enclosed in a sheath and about the largeness of the tongue.
29. Then the brahmin Brahmāyu addressed the Blessed One in stanzas:
“The two-and-thirty marks I learned
That are the signs of a Great Man—
I still do not see two of these
Upon your body, Gotama.
Is what should be concealed by cloth
Hid in a sheath, greatest of men?
Though called by a word of feminine gender,861
Perhaps your tongue is a manly one?
Perhaps your tongue is large as well,
According to what we have been taught?
Please put it out a little bit
And so, O Seer, cure our doubt
For welfare in this very life
And happiness in lives to come.
And now we crave for leave to ask
Something that we aspire to know.”
30. Then it occurred to the Blessed One: “This brahmin Brahmāyu sees, more or less, the thirty-two marks of a Great Man on me, except two; he is doubtful and uncertain about two of the marks, and he cannot decide and make up his mind about them: about the male organ being enclosed in a sheath and about the largeness of the tongue.”
Then the Blessed One worked such a feat of supernormal power that the brahmin Brahmāyu saw that the Blessed One’s male organ was enclosed in a sheath. Next the Blessed One extruded his tongue, and he repeatedly touched both ear holes and both nostrils, and he covered the whole of his forehead with his tongue.
31. Then the Blessed One spoke these stanzas in reply to the brahmin Brahmāyu:
“The two-and-thirty marks you learned
That are the signs of a Great Man—
All on my body can be found:
So, brahmin, doubt no more on that.
What must be known I’ve directly known,
What must be developed I have developed,
What must be abandoned I have abandoned,
Therefore, brahmin, I am a Buddha.862 [144]
For welfare in this very life
And happiness in lives to come,
Since leave is given you, please ask
Whatever you aspire to know.”
32. Then the brahmin Brahmāyu thought: “Permission has been granted me by the recluse Gotama. Which should I ask him about: good in this life or good in the lives to come?” Then he thought: “I am skilled in the good of this life, and others too ask me about good in this life. Why shouldn’t I ask him only about good in the lives to come?” Then he addressed the Blessed One in stanzas:
“How does one become a brahmin?
And how does one attain to knowledge?863
How has one the triple knowledge?
And how is one called a holy scholar?
How does one become an arahant?
And how does one attain completeness?
How is one a silent sage?
And how is one called a Buddha?”864
33. Then the Blessed One spoke these stanzas in reply:
“Who knows about his former lives,
Sees heaven and states of deprivation,
And has arrived at birth’s destruction—
A sage who knows by direct knowledge,
Who knows his mind is purified,
Entirely freed from every lust,
Who has abandoned birth and death,
Who is complete in the holy life,
Who has transcended everything—
One such as this is called a Buddha.”865
34. When this was said, the brahmin Brahmāyu rose from his seat, and after arranging his upper robe on one shoulder, he prostrated himself with his head at the Blessed One’s feet, and he covered the Blessed One’s feet with kisses and caressed them with his hands, pronouncing his name: “I am the brahmin Brahmāyu, Master Gotama; I am the brahmin Brahmāyu, Master Gotama.”
35. Those in the assembly wondered and marvelled, and they said: “It is wonderful, sirs, it is