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“ Then that brother, Kevaddha, went up to the realm of the Four Great Kings; and said to the gods thereof: “Where, any friends, do the four great elements-earth, water, fire, and wind-cease, leaving no trace behind?
‘And when he had thus spoken the gods in the heaven of the Four Great Kings said to him: “We, brother, do not know that. But there are the Four Great Kings, more potent and more glorious than we. They will know it.” ”

“ Suppose he should think, “Strange is it and wonderful, this issue of meritorious deeds, this result of merit! Here is this king of Magadha, Ajātasattu, the son of the Videha princess—he is a man, and so am I. But the king lives in the full enjoyment and possession of the five pleasures of sense—a very god, methinks—and here am I a slave, working for him, rising before him and retiring earlier to rest, keen to carry out his pleasure, anxious to make myself agreeable in deed and word, watching his very looks. Would that I were like him, that I too might earn merit. ”

“ For from the time, O Kassapa, when a Bhikkhu has cultivated the heart of love that knows no anger, that knows no ill will—from the time when, by the destruction of the deadly intoxications (the lusts of the flesh, the lust after future life, and the defilements of delusion and ignorance) , he dwells in that emancipation of heart, in that emancipation of mind, that is free from those intoxications, and that he, while yet in this visible world, has come to realise and know-from that time, O Kassapa, is it that the Bhikkhu is called a Samaṇa, is called a Brāhmaṇa !’
[171] 18. ”

“ Full of hindrances is household life, a path defiled by passion: free as the air is the life of him who has renounced all worldly things. How difficult it is for the man who dwells at home to live the higher life in all its fullness, in all its purity, in all its bright perfection! ”

“ Consciousness, Sirs, is a man’s soul. It is the soul that comes and goes. When the soul comes into a man then he becomes conscious, when the soul goes away out of a man then he becomes unconscious.” Thus do others explain the cessation of consciousness. [10]
‘On that another said: “That, Sirs, will never be as you say. But there are certain Samaṇas and Brahmans of great power and influence. It is they who infuse consciousness into a man, and draw it away out of him. When they infuse it into him he becomes conscious, when they draw it away he becomes unconscious.” ”

“ Each calls on the other to make way for a king. Both are kings! How to settle the point? ‘I have it,’ says one charioteer: ‘Let the younger give way. The kings turn out to be exactly of an age. ‘Then let the lord of the lesser realm go back.’ Their kingdoms are exactly equal in size. And so on, in succession, are found to be the strength of their two armies, the amount of their treasure, the glory of their renown, the fame of their realms, the distinction of their caste, and tribe, and family. Then at last comes the solution. The king of Kosala overcomes evil by evil. ”

“ Such a teacher may be rebuked, setting out these facts, and adding: “You are like a man who, having broken through an old bond, should entangle himself in a new one. Like that, do I say, is this lust of yours (to go on teaching when you have not trained yourself to teach) . For what, then, can one man do for another?”
‘This, Lohicca, is the third sort of teacher in the world worthy of blame. And whosoever should blame such a one, his rebuke would be justified, in accord with the facts and the truth, not improper. ”

“ For wisdom, oh Gotama, is purified by uprightness, and uprightness is purified by wisdom. Where there is uprightness, wisdom is there, and where there is wisdom, uprightness is there. To the upright there is wisdom, to the wise there is uprightness, and wisdom and goodness are declared to be the best thing in the world. [24] Just, oh Gotama, as one might wash hand with hand, or foot with foot, just even so, oh Gotama, is wisdom purified by uprightness, and uprightness is purified by wisdom. Where there is uprightness, wisdom is there, and where there is wisdom, uprightness is there. ”

“ It would be quite possible for a householder, or for the son of a householder, or for any one down to the slave girl who carries the water-jar, to know: “This man goes naked, or is of loose habits, or licks his fingers with his tongue,” and so on through all the items of those three lists of yours. But since, Kassapa, quite apart from these matters, quite apart from all kinds of penance, it is hard to recognise a Samaṇa, hard to recognise a Brāhmaṇa, therefore is it fitting to say: “Hard is it to know when a man is a Samaṇa, to know when a man is a Brāhmaṇa!” ”

“ Now when King Wide-realm was once sitting alone in meditation he became anxious at the thought: “I have in abundance all the good things a mortal can enjoy. The whole wide circle of the earth is mine by conquest to possess. “Twere well if I were to offer a great sacrifice that should ensure me weal and welfare for many days.”
‘And he had the Brahman, his chaplain, called; and telling him all that he had thought, [135] he said: “So I would fain, O Brahman, offer a great sacrifice—let the venerable one instruct me how—for my weal and my welfare for many days.” ”

“ Do we not daily see Brahman women with child and bearing sons just like other folk? How can they then say that they are born of God? And as to their origin, when the evolution of the world began, beings were at first immaterial, feeding on joy, giving light from themselves, passing through the air. ”

“ Then that subtle, but yet actual, consciousness, that he just had, of the joy and peace born of concentration, passes away. And thereupon there arises a subtle, but yet actual, consciousness of the bliss of equanimity. And he becomes a person conscious of that.
‘Thus also is it that through training one idea, one sort of consciousness, arises; and through training another passes away. This is the training I spoke of,’ said the Exalted One. ”

“ We could leave out colour. [21] For what does colour matter? [121] If he have the other four—good birth, technical training, virtue, and wisdom, as just set forth [22] —Brahmans would still declare him to be a Brahman; and he could rightly, without danger of falsehood, claim to be one.’
15.’ But of these four things, oh Brahman, is it possible to leave one out, and to declare the man who has the other three to be a Brahman, to be one who can rightly, and without falling into falsehood, claim to be a Brahman?’
‘Yes, Gotama, that could be done. We could leave out the verses. ”

“ In each heaven, as he mounts ever higher, the gods confess their ignorance, and send him on to the gods above, more potent and more glorious than they. And so he comes at last to the great god of gods, the Mahā Brahmā himself, only to be taken discreetly aside, and told in confidence, so that the gods may not hear it, that he too, the Mahā Brahmā, does not know the answer! ”

“ May the Blessed One accept me as a disciple, as one who, from this day forth, as long as life endures, has taken his refuge in them. Sin has overcome me, Lord, weak and foolish and wrong that I am, in that, for the sake of sovranty, I put to death my father, that righteous man, that righteous king! ”

“ But putting obstacles in their way he would be out of sympathy for their welfare; being out of sympathy for their welfare his heart would become established in enmity; and when one’s heart is established in enmity, that is unsound doctrine. Now if a man hold unsound doctrine, Lohicca, I declare that one of two future births will be his lot, either purgatory or rebirth as an animal. ”

“ When speaking on sacrifice to a sacrificial priest, on union with God to an adherent of the current theology, on Brahman claims to superior social rank to a proud Brahman, on mystic insight to a man who trusts in it, on the soul to one who believes in the soul theory, the method followed is always the same. Gotama puts himself as far as possible in the mental position of the questioner. He attacks none of his cherished convictions. ”

“ INTRODUCTION TO THE KŪṬADANTA SUTTA WHOEVER put this Sutta together must have been deeply imbued with the spirit of subtle irony that plays no less a part in the Suttas than it does in so many of the Jātakas. I have already called attention to the great importance for the right understanding of early Buddhist teaching of a constant appreciation of this sort of subtle humour. [1] It has been hitherto, so far as I am aware, entirely overlooked that is, in the Suttas; every one recognises it in the Jātaka tales. The humour is not at all intended to raise a laugh, scarcely even a smile. ”

“ But history shows, notably in the case of the Reformation in Europe, how powerfully the contact of two diverse views of life tends to widen the thoughts of men. Both India and Europe in the twentieth century may be fairly expected to afford fresh examples of the same influence. And in India the powerful aid of the new methods of science and of historical criticism will lend their invaluable aid to the party endeavouring, now once again, to place the ideal, not in birth, but in character and wisdom. ”

“ He sets himself to restrain that which might give occasion for evil states, covetousness and dejection, to flow in over him so long as he dwells unrestrained as to his mental (representative) faculty. He keeps watch upon his representative faculty, and he attains to mastery over it. And endowed with this self-restraint, so worthy of honour, as regards the senses, he experiences, within himself, a sense of ease into which no evil state can enter [44] . Thus is it, O king, that the Bhikshu becomes guarded as to the doors of his senses. ”

“ But so far as regards the really noblest, the highest emancipation, I am aware of no one else who is equal to myself, much less superior. And it is I who have gone the furthest therein; that is, in the most complete emancipation (of the Path) .
[175] 22. ‘Now it may well be, Kassapa, that the recluses of adverse schools may say: “The Samaṇa Gotama utters forth a lion’s roar; but it is in solitude that he roars, not where men are assembled.” Then should they be answered: “Say not so. The Samaṇa Gotama utters his lion’s roar, and that too in the assemblies where men congregate.” ”

“ And him resolute, able in method, Threefold in knowledge, dispelling the darkness, the conqueror of Death, who Lived for the weal of gods and of men delivered from folly, Him of the threefold lore, mindful and self-possessed, Him do they honour, the Buddha, our Gotama, wearing now, Conqueror, too, of Birth, the last of his mortal frames!’ ‘Tis he who is a Brāhmaṇa indeed Who knows the births that he has lived before; And sees (with Heavenly Eye) the states of bliss, And states of woe, that other men pass through ”

“ Allowing for all the earnestness undeniably animating both the story-teller and the hearers, it is clear that they enjoyed, all the time, the dry humour of the exaggeration and grotesqueness of the details of the story as it went along. Now the details are given only in the Sutta; and omitted, as well-known, in the Jātaka. They build up a gorgeous fairy tale in which the ancient mythology of the sun-myth is brought into play in order to show how the greatest possible majesty and glory of the greatest and best of all possible kings is, after all, but vanity. ”

“ In generosity, in self-mastery, in control of the senses, in speaking truth there is neither merit, nor increase of merit.” Thus, Lord, did Pūraṇa Kassapa, when asked what was the immediate advantage in the life of a recluse, expound his theory of non-action, [24] just, Lord, as if a man, when asked what a mango was, should explain what a bread fruit is, just so did Pūraṇa Kassapa, when asked what was the fruit, in this present state of being, of the life of a recluse, expound his theory of non-action. ”

“ Those conditions of heart, Sirs, which are good or accounted as such among you, which are blameless or accounted as such among you, which suffice to lead a man to Arahatship or are accounted as sufficient among you, which are pure or accounted as such among you—who is it who conducts himself as one who has more completely taken them upon him, the Samaṇa Gotama, or the other venerable ones, the teachers of schools? ”

“ Then Soṇadaṇḍa thought: [120] ‘What I wished and desired and had in my mind and hoped for—that the Samaṇa Gotama should put to me some question on my own subject, on the threefold Vedic lore—that he now does. Oh! that I may be able to satisfy his heart with my exposition thereof!’
13. And drawing his body up erect, and looking round on the assembly, he said to the Blessed One: ‘The Brahmans, Gotama, declare him to be a Brahman who can accurately say " I am a Brahman " without being guilty of falsehood, who has five things. ”

“ The Buddha’s answer is to tell him a wonderful legend of a King Wide-realm, and of the sacrifice he offered—truly the most extraordinary sacrifice imaginable. All its marvellous details, each one settled, be it noted, on the advice of a Brahman, are described with a deliberate extravagance none the less delicious because of the evident earnestness of the moral to be inferred. ”