6.11 The Story about Five Hundred Visiting Bhikkhus
Pañcasata-āgantukabhikkhūnaṁ Vatthu
Dhp 87-89
CST4: Pañcasataāgantukabhikkhuvatthu
Burlingame: Abandon the Dark State
Fifty bhikkhus who passed the Rains Retreat in Kosala visited the Buddha in Sāvatthī after the Retreat and this is the inspiring teaching the Buddha gave them on that occasion.
Keywords: Renunciation, Monastics
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“Having abandoned the dark state,” this Dhamma teaching was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Jetavana with reference to fifty visiting bhikkhus. AJ: the title says it is about 500, but the text says 50.
Fifty bhikkhus who had passed the rainy season in the kingdom of Kosala came to Jetavana at the close of the rainy season for the purpose of seeing the Teacher; and having worshipped the Teacher, sat down respectfully on one side.
The Teacher, after listening to the story of their experiences, instructed them in the Dhamma by pronouncing the following verses:
87. Kaṇhaṁ dhammaṁ vippahāya, sukkaṁ bhāvetha paṇḍito,
okā anokaṁ āgamma; viveke yattha dūramaṁ,
Having abandoned the dark state,
the wise should develop the bright,
having gone forth to homelessness
from home, living in solitude,
where it is hard to find delight.
88. Tatrābhiratim-iccheyya, hitvā kāme akiñcano,
pariyodapeyya attānaṁ cittaklesehi paṇḍito.
One should take delight in that place,
having given up sense pleasures,
and having no possessions,
the wise one should then purify
the self of defilements of mind.
89. Yesaṁ sambodhi-aṅgesu sammā cittaṁ subhāvitaṁ,
ādānapaṭinissagge anupādāya ye ratā,
khīṇāsavā jutimanto, te loke parinibbutā.
For those who have well developed
the factors of Awakening,
having given up grasping, those who
delight in being unattached,
pollutant-free and shining forth,
are emancipated here.
At the end of the teaching many reached the fruition of Stream-entry and so on.
