Jāṇussoṇī
Then the brahmin Jāṇussoṇī approached the Blessed One … and said to him:
“Master Gotama, whoever has a sacrifice, a memorial meal, an offering dish, or something to be given should give the gift to brahmins who are masters of the threefold knowledge.”
The Blessed One said: “But how, brahmin, do the brahmins describe a brahmin who is a master of the threefold knowledge?”
“Here, Master Gotama, a brahmin is well born on both sides … as in 3:58 … and skilled in the marks of a great man. It is in this way that the brahmins describe a master of the threefold knowledge.”
“Brahmin, a master of the threefold knowledge in the Noble One’s discipline is quite different from the one that the brahmins describe.”
“But in what way, Master Gotama, is one a master of the threefold knowledge in the Noble One’s discipline? It would be good if Master Gotama would teach me the Dhamma in such a way as to make clear how one is a master of the threefold knowledge in the Noble One’s discipline.”
“Well then, brahmin, listen and attend closely. I will speak.”
“Yes, sir,” the brahmin Jāṇussoṇī replied. The Blessed One said this:
“Here, brahmin, secluded from sensual pleasures … all as in 3:58, down to: … This is the third true knowledge attained by him. Ignorance is dispelled, true knowledge has arisen; darkness is dispelled, light has arisen, as happens when one dwells heedful, ardent, and resolute.
“One consummate in virtue and observances,
who is resolute and composed,
whose mind has been mastered,
one-pointed and well concentrated;
“one who knows his past abodes,
who sees heaven and the plane of misery,
and has reached the destruction of birth
is a sage consummate in direct knowledge.
“Through these three kinds of knowledge
one is a triple-knowledge brahmin.
I call him a triple-knowledge master,
not the other who utters incantations.
“It is in this way, brahmin, that one is a master of the threefold knowledge in the Noble One’s discipline.”
“A master of the threefold knowledge in the Noble One’s discipline, Master Gotama, is quite different from a master of the threefold knowledge according to the brahmins. And a master of the threefold knowledge according to the brahmins is not worth a sixteenth part of a master of the threefold knowledge in the Noble One’s discipline.
“Excellent, Master Gotama! … Let Master Gotama consider me a lay follower who from today has gone for refuge for life.”
- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Editor: Blake Walsh
With Jāṇussoṇi
Then the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. Seated to one side he said to the Buddha:
“Master Gotama, whoever has a sacrifice, an offering of food for ancestors, a dish of milk-rice prepared for an auspicious ceremony, or a gift to give, should give it to the brahmins who have mastered the three Vedic knowledges.”
“But brahmin, how do the brahmins describe a brahmin who is proficient in the three Vedic knowledges?”
“Master Gotama, it’s when a brahmin is well born on both his mother’s and father’s side, of pure descent, irrefutable and impeccable in questions of ancestry back to the seventh paternal generation. He recites and remembers the hymns, and has mastered the three Vedas, together with their vocabularies, ritual, phonology and etymology, and the testament as fifth. He knows philology and grammar, and is well versed in cosmology and the marks of a great man.
That’s how the brahmins describe a brahmin who is proficient in the three Vedic knowledges.”
“Brahmin, a master of three knowledges according to the brahmins is quite different from a master of the three knowledges in the training of the Noble One.”
“But Master Gotama, how is one a master of the three knowledges in the training of the Noble One?
Master Gotama, please teach me this.”
“Well then, brahmin, listen and pay close attention, I will speak.”
“Yes sir,” Jāṇussoṇi replied.
The Buddha said this:
“Brahmin, it’s when a mendicant, quite secluded from sensual pleasures …
enters and remains in the fourth absorption.
When their mind has become immersed in samādhi like this—purified, bright, flawless, rid of corruptions, pliable, workable, steady, and imperturbable—they extend it toward recollection of past lives.
They recollect many kinds of past lives, with features and details.
This is the first knowledge that they attain.
Ignorance is destroyed and knowledge has arisen; darkness is destroyed and light has arisen, as happens for a meditator who is diligent, keen, and resolute.
When their mind has become immersed in samādhi like this—purified, bright, flawless, rid of corruptions, pliable, workable, steady, and imperturbable—they extend it toward knowledge of the death and rebirth of sentient beings.
With clairvoyance that is purified and surpasses the human, they understand how sentient beings are reborn according to their deeds.
This is the second knowledge that they attain.
Ignorance is destroyed and knowledge has arisen; darkness is destroyed and light has arisen, as happens for a meditator who is diligent, keen, and resolute.
When their mind has become immersed in samādhi like this—purified, bright, flawless, rid of corruptions, pliable, workable, steady, and imperturbable—they extend it toward knowledge of the ending of defilements.
They truly understand: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’.
They truly understand: ‘These are defilements’ … ‘This is the origin of defilements’ … ‘This is the cessation of defilements’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of defilements’.
Knowing and seeing like this, their mind is freed from the defilements of sensuality, desire to be reborn, and ignorance.
When they’re freed, they know they’re freed.
They understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is no return to any state of existence.’
This is the third knowledge that they attain.
Ignorance is destroyed and knowledge has arisen; darkness is destroyed, and light has arisen, as happens for a meditator who is diligent, keen, and resolute.
One who is perfect in precepts and observances,
resolute and serene,
whose mind is mastered,
unified, serene;
who knows their past lives,
and sees heaven and places of loss,
and has attained the end of rebirth,
that sage has perfect insight.
Because of these three knowledges
a brahmin is a master of the three knowledges.
That’s who I call a three-knowledge master,
and not some mere reciter.
This, brahmin, is a master of the three knowledges in the training of the Noble One.”
“Master Gotama, the master of three knowledges according to the brahmins is quite different from a master of the three knowledges in the training of the Noble One.
And, Master Gotama, a master of three knowledges according to the brahmins is not worth a sixteenth part of a master of the three knowledges in the training of the Noble One.
Excellent, Master Gotama! Excellent! …
From this day forth, may Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”
