6.
The First Discourse on Anāthapiṇḍika
1022.
At Sāvatthī.
Now at that time the householder Anāthapiṇḍika was sick, afflicted, severely ill.
Then the householder Anāthapiṇḍika addressed a certain man -
"Come, my good man, go to where the Venerable Sāriputta is;
having approached, in my name pay respect with your head at the Venerable Sāriputta's feet -
'The householder Anāthapiṇḍika, venerable sir, is sick, afflicted, severely ill.
He pays respect with his head at the Venerable Sāriputta's feet.'
And say this:
'It would be good, venerable sir, if the Venerable Sāriputta would approach the dwelling of the householder Anāthapiṇḍika, out of compassion.'"
"Yes, venerable sir," that man replied to the householder Anāthapiṇḍika and approached the Venerable Sāriputta; having approached, he paid respect to the Venerable Sāriputta and sat down to one side. Seated to one side, that man said this to the Venerable Sāriputta -
"The householder Anāthapiṇḍika, venerable sir, is sick, afflicted, severely ill. He pays respect with his head at the Venerable Sāriputta's feet. And he says thus - 'It would be good, venerable sir, if the Venerable Sāriputta would approach the dwelling of the householder Anāthapiṇḍika, out of compassion.'" The Venerable Sāriputta consented by silence.
Then the Venerable Sāriputta, having dressed in the earlier period of the day, taking his bowl and robe, with the Venerable Ānanda as his attendant monk, approached the dwelling of the householder Anāthapiṇḍika; having approached, he sat down on the prepared seat. Having sat down, the Venerable Sāriputta said this to the householder Anāthapiṇḍika - "Is it bearable for you, householder, is it endurable? Are unpleasant feelings receding, not advancing; is their receding evident, not their advancing?" "It is not bearable for me, venerable sir, not endurable. Excessive unpleasant feelings are advancing for me, not receding; their advancing is evident, not their receding."
"Whatever distrust in the Buddha, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such distrust in the Buddha is not present in you. But there is in you, householder, unwavering confidence in the Buddha - 'Thus indeed is the Blessed One, etc. Teacher of gods and humans, the Enlightened One, the Blessed One.' And when you regard that unwavering confidence in the Buddha within yourself, your feelings may be allayed with reason and cause.
"Whatever distrust in the Teaching, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such distrust in the Teaching is not present in you. But there is indeed in you, householder, unwavering confidence in the Teaching - 'Well proclaimed by the Blessed One is the Teaching, etc. to be individually experienced by the wise.' And when you regard that unwavering confidence in the Teaching within yourself, your feeling would be allayed with reason and cause.
"Whatever distrust in the Community, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such distrust in the Community is not present in you. But there is indeed in you, householder, unwavering confidence in the Community - 'The Community of the Blessed One's disciples is practising well, etc. an unsurpassed field of merit for the world.' And when you regard that unwavering confidence in the Community within yourself, your feeling would be allayed with reason and cause.
"Whatever immorality, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such immorality is not present in you. But there is indeed in you, householder, morality pleasing to the noble ones, etc. conducive to concentration. And when you regard that morality pleasing to the noble ones within yourself, your feeling would be allayed with reason and cause.
"Whatever wrong view, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such wrong view is not present in you. But there is indeed in you, householder, right view. And when you regard that right view within yourself, your feeling would be allayed with reason and cause.
"Whatever wrong thought, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such wrong thought is not present in you. But there is indeed in you, householder, right thought. And when you regard that right thought within yourself, your feeling would be allayed with reason and cause.
"Whatever wrong speech, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such wrong speech is not present in you. But there is indeed in you, householder, right speech. And when you regard that right speech within yourself, your feeling would be allayed with reason and cause.
"Whatever wrong action, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such wrong action is not present in you. But there is indeed in you, householder, right action. And when you regard that right action within yourself, your feeling would be allayed with reason and cause.
"Whatever wrong livelihood, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such wrong livelihood is not present in you. But there is indeed in you, householder, right livelihood. And when you regard that right livelihood within yourself, your feeling would be allayed with reason and cause.
"Whatever wrong effort, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such wrong effort is not present in you. But there is indeed in you, householder, right effort. And when you regard that right effort within yourself, your feeling would be allayed with reason and cause.
"Whatever wrong mindfulness, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such wrong mindfulness is not present in you. And there is indeed in you, householder, right mindfulness. And when you regard that right mindfulness as present in yourself, with reason and cause your feelings may be allayed.
"Whatever wrong concentration, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such wrong concentration is not present in you. And there is indeed in you, householder, right concentration. And when you regard that right concentration as present in yourself, with reason and cause your feelings may be allayed.
"Whatever wrong knowledge, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such wrong knowledge is not present in you. And there is indeed in you, householder, right knowledge. And when you regard that right knowledge as present in yourself, with reason and cause your feelings may be allayed.
"Whatever wrong liberation, householder, possessed of which an ignorant worldling, upon the body's collapse at death, is reborn in a realm of misery, an unfortunate realm, a nether world, in hell - such wrong liberation is not present in you. And there is indeed in you, householder, right liberation. And when you regard that right liberation as present in yourself, with reason and cause your feelings may be allayed."
Then the householder Anāthapiṇḍika's feelings were allayed with reason and cause. Then the householder Anāthapiṇḍika served the Venerable Sāriputta and the Venerable Ānanda with his own dish of boiled rice. Then the householder Anāthapiṇḍika, when the Venerable Sāriputta had finished eating and had removed his hand from the bowl, having taken a certain low seat, sat down to one side. To the householder Anāthapiṇḍika seated to one side, the Venerable Sāriputta gave thanks with these verses -
And whose morality is good, dear to the noble ones, praised.
They call him 'not poor', his life is not in vain.
The wise one should pursue, remembering the Buddhas' instruction."
Then the Venerable Sāriputta, having given thanks to the householder Anāthapiṇḍika with these verses, rose from his seat and departed.
Then the Venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One; having approached, he paid respect to the Blessed One and sat down to one side. To the Venerable Ānanda seated to one side, the Blessed One said this: "Well then! From where are you coming, Ānanda, in the middle of the day?" "The householder Anāthapiṇḍika, venerable sir, has been exhorted by the Venerable Sāriputta with this and that exhortation." "Sāriputta is wise, Ānanda; Sāriputta is of great wisdom, Ānanda, since indeed he will analyse the four factors of stream-entry in ten ways." The sixth.