7.8 The Story about the Question and Answer to the Elder Sāriputta
Sāriputtattherassa Pañhavissajjanavatthu

“The one who is beyond mere faith,” this Dhamma teaching was given by the Teacher while he was in residence at Jetavana with reference to Elder Sāriputta. {2.186}

For one day thirty forest-dwellers approached the Teacher, worshipped him, and sat down. The Teacher, seeing that they possessed the supporting conditions for attaining Arahatship, addressed Elder Sāriputta as follows: “Sāriputta, do you believe that the quality of faith, when it has been developed and enlarged, is connected with the deathless and terminates in the deathless?” In this manner the Teacher questioned the elder with reference to the five faculties. AJ: see SN 48.44. The faculties (indriya): faith (saddhā), energy (viriya), mindfulness (sati) concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (paññā).

The elder said: “Venerable Sir, I do not go by the faith of the Fortunate One in this matter, that the quality of faith, when it has been developed and enlarged, is connected with the deathless and terminates in the deathless. But of course, venerable Sir, those who have not known the deathless or seen or perceived or realized or grasped the deathless by the power of reason, such persons {2.187} must of necessity go by the faith of others in this matter; namely, that the faculty of faith, when it has been developed and enlarged, is connected with the deathless and terminates in the deathless.” Thus did the elder answer his question.

When the bhikkhus heard this, they began a discussion: “Elder Sāriputta has never really given up wrong views. Even today he refused to believe even the Sambuddha.” When the Teacher heard this, he said: “Bhikkhus, why do you say this? For I [29.209] asked Sāriputta the following question: ‘Sāriputta, do you believe that, without developing the five faculties, without developing tranquillity and spiritual insight, it is possible for a man to realize the paths and the fruitions?’ And he answered me as follows: ‘There is no one who can thus realize the paths and the fruitions.’ Then I asked him: ‘Do you not believe that there is such a thing as the ripening of the fruit of almsgiving and good works? Do you not believe in the virtues of the Buddhas and the rest?’ But as a matter of fact, Sāriputta walks not by the faith of others, for the reason that he has, in and by himself, attained states of mind to which the paths and the fruitions lead, by the power of spiritual insight induced by absorption. Therefore he is not open to censure.” So saying, he joined the connection, and teaching the Dhamma, pronounced the following verse:

97. Assaddho akataññū ca sandhicchedo ca yo naro,
hatāvakāso vantāso, sa ve uttamaporiso.

The one who is beyond mere faith,
who knows that which is unmade,
who has cut off rebirth-linking,
who has destroyed the occasion,
who has thrown out hope and desire,
is surely the person supreme. {2.188}

At the end of the verse those thirty forest-dwelling bhikkhus reached Arahatship together with the analytic knowledges, and the rest of the people had benefit from the Dhamma teaching.

last updated: August 2024