| 50. (The brahma Ghatikara said)
"Seven bhikkhus
have been reborn in the AvihaBrahma realm, and have been released from all
defilements (through attainment of arahatship). Extinct in them are attachment
and hatred. They have transcended Craving in the world of sentient beings.
"Who are the
bhikkhus that have crossed over the mire (of defilements), death's domain, very
difficult of transversing? Who are the ones that have left behind the human
frame1 and (also) have destroyed bonds that cause rebirth in the
deva realms2?
"Upaka,
Palagandha, Pukkusati, the trio, and then Bhaddiya, Khandhadeva, Bhahuraggi and
Singiya - these seven have left behind then human frame and (also) have
destroyed the bonds that cause rebirth in the deva realms"
(The Bhagava said)
"You speak of
the faultlessness of these bhikkhus who have have been able to do away with
Mara's snare. Knowing whose teaching have they been able to break up the bonds
of existence?"
(The brahma said)
"Without the
Bhagava they would not have been able to break up the bonds of existence.
Without the Bhagava's teaching they would not have been able to break up the
bonds of existence. It was only after knowing the Bhagava's teaching that they
have been able to break up the bonds of existence.
"In Nibbana mind and matter cease utterly. In
this Teaching these bhikkhus comprehend that Nibbana and have (accordingly)
been able to break up the bonds of existence."
(The Bhagava said)
"You say what
is profound, what is difficult to know what is particularly subtle to be
perceived. Knowing whose teaching do you speak in such terms?"
(The brahma said:)
"In the past I had
been a potter by the name of Ghatikara in the village of Vekalinga. I looked
after my parents. And I was a lay disciple of Kassapa Buddha. I abstained from
sex and led a pure life being devoid of sensual desire. 3I was of
the same village as yourself and was an old friend of yours."
"I know of these
seven bhikkhus who have been released form defilements (through attainment of
arahatship) in whom attachment and hatred are extinct, and who have transcended
Craving in the world of sentient beings."
(The Bhagava said:)
"Bhagava,4
what you said is just as what had taken place in the past. You had been a
potter in the village of Vekalinga. You looked after your parents. And you were
then a lay disciple of Kassapa Buddha.
"We belonged to
the same village and were old friends. You abstained form sex and led a pure
life being free from sensual desire"
(Addendum by the Theras of the First Synod.)
Thus took place the reunion of two persons
who were friends in a former existence and who both had cultivated their minds
and who were bearers of their last mortal frames.
End of the Ghatikara Sutta, the tenth in this vagga
End of the Aditta Vagga, the fifth in this samyutta.
1. the human frame manusam deham: Here this
term includes the devas of the sensuous realms. Five lower fetters cause
rebirth in the sensuous realms.
2. (a) destroyed: In the Pali text -
upaccagum, lit , went over, fig., passed beyond, overcome, transcended, (b) the
deva realms: Here this term means the brahma realms.
3. Ghatikara was then an anagami.
4. Bhaggava: The personal name of the potter
in the previous existence of Brahma Ghatikara Ghatikflra means 'jar-maker',
potter
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