1. And the venerable Upâli 1 went to the place where the Blessed One was. Having
approached him and respectfully saluted the Blessed One, he sat down near him.
Sitting near him the venerable Upâli said to the Blessed One: 'Lord, if the
Samgha, regarding a matter which has given origin to altercations (&c., down
to:) to schisms among the Samgha, declares the re-establishment of concord,
without having inquired into that matter and without having got to the bottom of
it, is this declaration, Lord, lawful?'
'If the Samgha, Upâli, regarding a matter (&c., down to:) declares the
re-establishment of concord, without having inquired into that matter and
without having got to the bottom of it,--this declaration, Upâli, is unlawful.'
'But if the Samgha, Lord, regarding a matter (&c., down to:) declares the
re-establishment of concord, after having inquired -into that matter and after
having got to the bottom of it,--is this declaration, Lord, lawful?'
'If the Samgha, Upâli, (&c., down to:) declares the re-establishment of concord,
after having inquired
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into that matter and after having got to the bottom of it,--this declaration,
Upâli, is lawful.'
2. 'How many kinds are there, Lord, of the re-establishment of concord among a
Sâmgha?'
'There are the following two kinds, Upâli, of re-establishment of concord among
a Samgha: Con-cord may be re-established, Upâli, in the letter, but not in the
spirit, and concord may be' re-established both in the spirit and in the letter.
And in what case, Upâli, is concord re-established in the letter,' but not in
the spirit? If the Samgha, Upâli, (&c., as above) declares the re-establishment
of concord, without having inquired into that matter and without having got to
the bottom of it,--in this case, Upâli, concord is said to have been
re-established in the letter, but not in the spirit.
'And in what case, Upâli, is concord re-established both in the spirit and in
the letter? If the Samgha. Upâli, (&c., as above) declares the re-establishment
of concord, after having inquired into that matter and after having got to the
bottom of it,--in this case, Upâli, concord is said to have been re-established
both in the spirit and in the letter. These, Upâli, are the two kinds of
re-establishment of concord among a Samgha.'
3. And the venerable Upâli rose from his seat, adjusted his upper robe so as to
cover one shoulder, bent his clasped hands towards the Blessed One, and
addressed the Blessed One in the following stanzas:
'In the affairs of the Samgha and in its consultations, in the business that
arises and in trials, what sort of man is then most wanted? what Bhikkhu is then
most worthy of the leadership?'
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'Above all he who is blameless in his moral conduct, who watches over his
behaviour, whose senses are well controlled, whom his rivals do not reprove
according to the law,--for there is nothing for which they could censure him,
'Such a man, who abides in blameless conduct, is well versed (in the doctrine),
and mighty are his words. He is not perplexed, nor does he tremble, when he
enters an assembly 1. He does not disparage his cause by vain talk.
'So also when he is asked questions in the assemblies, he does not hesitate, and
is not troubled. By his timely words, that solve the questions, the clever man
gladdens the assembly of the wise.
'Full of reverence for elder Bhikkhus, well versed in what his teacher has
taught him, able to find out (the right), a master of speech, and skilled in
making his rivals fail,
'By whom his rivals are annihilated, by whom many people receive
instruction,--he does not for-sake the cause he has taken up, (nor does he
become tired) of answering questions and putting questions without hurting
others;
'If he is charged with a mission, he takes it upon himself properly, and in the
business of the Samgha (he does) what they tell him 2;--when a number of
Bhikkhus despatches him (somewhere), he obeys
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their command, but he does not think therefrom, "It is I who do this;"--
'In what cases a Bhikkhu commits an offence, what an offence is, and how it is
atoned for, both these expositions are well known to him 1; he is versed in the
rules about offence and atonement;--
'By what deeds a Bhikkhu brings expulsion upon himself, in what cases one has
been expelled, and the rehabilitation of a person who has undergone that
penance,--all this he also knows, well versed in the Vibhaṅgas;--
'Full of reverence for elder Bhikkhus, for the young, for the Theras, for the
middle-aged, bringing welfare to many people, a clever one:--such a Bhikkhu is
the one who is then worthy of the leadership.'
__________________
End of the tenth Khandhaka, which contains the story of the Bhikkhus of Kosambî.
__________________
End of the Mahâvagga.
Footnotes
322:1 See the note at IX, 6, 1.
324:1 The same idea is put into the Buddha's mouth in the Mahâparinibbâna Sutta
I, 23, 24.
324:2 We propose to read âhu nam yathâ. This seems more satisfactory than the
reading and the explanation found in Buddhaghosa's Atthakathâ: 'yathâ nâma
âhunam âhutipindam samugganhanti (sic) evam api so somanassagâten’ eva ketasâ
samghassa kikkesu samuggaho.'
325:1 For 'Exposition' the text has vibhaṅga, about the technical meaning of
which see our Introduction, pp. xv seq. 'Both' refers to the Bhikkhuvibhaṅga and
Bhikkhunîvibhaṅga. In the text, ubhayassa must be corrected into ubhay’ assa,
i.e. ubhaye assa.
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