The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [525]
36. Then a number of bhikkhus went to the Blessed One, and after paying homage to him, they sat down at one side and told him: “Venerable sir, the clansman Pukkusāti, who was given brief instruction by the Blessed One, has died. What is his destination? What is his future course?”
“Bhikkhus, the clansman Pukkusāti was wise. He practised in accordance with the Dhamma and did not trouble me in the interpretation of the Dhamma. With the destruction of the five lower fetters, the clansman Pukkusāti has reappeared spontaneously [in the Pure Abodes] and will attain final Nibbāna there without ever returning from that world.”1287
That is what the Blessed One said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One’s words.
Saccavibhanga Sutta
The Exposition of the Truths
[248] 1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Benares in the Deer Park at Isipatana. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus.”—“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Blessed One said this:
2. “At Benares, bhikkhus, in the Deer Park at Isipatana the Tathāgata, accomplished and fully enlightened, set rolling the matchless Wheel of the Dhamma,1288 which cannot be stopped by any recluse or brahmin or god or Māra or Brahmā or anyone in the world—that is, the announcing, teaching, describing, establishing, revealing, expounding, and exhibiting of the Four Noble Truths. Of what four?
3. “The announcing, teaching, describing, establishing, revealing, expounding, and exhibiting of the noble truth of suffering. The announcing, teaching, describing, establishing, revealing, expounding, and exhibiting of the noble truth of the origin of suffering…of the noble truth of the cessation of suffering…of the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering.
4. “At Benares, bhikkhus, in the Deer Park at Isipatana the Tathāgata, accomplished and fully enlightened, set rolling the matchless Wheel of the Dhamma, which cannot be stopped by any recluse or brahmin or god or Māra or Brahmā or anyone in the world—that is, the announcing, teaching, describing, establishing, revealing, expounding, and exhibiting of these Four Noble Truths.
5. “Cultivate the friendship of Sāriputta and Moggallāna, bhikkhus; associate with Sāriputta and Moggallāna. They are wise and helpful to their companions in the holy life. Sāriputta is like a mother; Moggallāna is like a nurse. Sāriputta trains others for the fruit of stream-entry, Moggallāna for the supreme goal.1289 Sāriputta, bhikkhus, is able to announce, teach, describe, establish, reveal, expound, and exhibit the Four Noble Truths.”
6. So the Blessed One said. Having said this, the Sublime One rose from his seat and went into his dwelling. [249]
7. Then, soon after the Blessed One had gone, the venerable Sāriputta addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Friends, bhikkhus.”—“Friend,” the bhikkhus replied to the venerable Sāriputta. The venerable Sāriputta said this:
8. “At Benares, friends, in the Deer Park at Isipatana the Tathāgata, accomplished and fully enlightened, set rolling the matchless Wheel of the Dhamma…and exhibiting of the Four Noble Truths. Of what four?
9. “The announcing…and exhibiting of the noble truth of suffering…of the noble truth of the origin of suffering…of the noble truth of the cessation of suffering…of the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering.
10. “And what, friends, is the noble truth of suffering? Birth is suffering; ageing is suffering; death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering; not to obtain what one wants is suffering; in short, the five aggregates affected by clinging are suffering.
11. “And what, friends, is birth?1290 The birth of beings into the various orders