24.9 The Story about the Ājīvaka Upaka
Upakājīvakavatthu
Dhp 353
Burlingame: The Skeptical Ascetic
Compare: Vin Mv 1.6; MN 26; Thīg-a 68
After the Buddha had attained Awakening and decided to teach he set out for Bārāṇasī and on the way came across the Ājīvaka Upaka who expressed his admiration of the Buddha’s appearance, and then asked him who his teacher was; the Buddha gave a reply in a verse.
Keywords: Ājīvakas, Doubts
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“All-Conquering, All-Wise am I,” this Dhamma teaching was given by the Teacher with reference to the Ājīvaka Upaka, whom he met by the way.
For on a certain occasion the Teacher, having attained omniscience, having spent seven weeks at the Throne of Wisdom, took his own bowl and robe, and set out on the road leading to Bārāṇasī eighteen leagues distant, that he might there set in motion the Wheel of the Dhamma.
As he walked along the road, he saw a certain lay disciple of the Ājīvakas. When the Ājīvaka saw the Teacher, he asked him: “Friend, your senses are tranquil, your complexion is bright and clear. In whose name have you gone forth? Who is your teacher? Whose doctrine do you profess?” The Teacher replied: “I have no preceptor or teacher.” So saying, he pronounced the following verse:
353. Sabbābhibhū sabbavidūham-asmi,
sabbesu dhammesu anūpalitto,
sabbañjaho taṇhakkhaye vimutto,
sayaṁ abhiññāya, kam-uddiseyyaṁ.
All-Conquering, All-Wise am I,
undefiled regarding all things,
having given up ev’rything,
liberated through craving’s end,
when having deep knowledge myself,
who should I point to as Teacher?
At the end of the teaching the Ājīvaka Upaka expressed neither approval nor disapproval of the Realised One’s words, but shaking his head and wagging his tongue, set out on a narrow path, and went to the abode of a certain hunter.