sn.1.50 Saṁyutta Nikāya (Linked Discourses)

Ghaṭikara

The devatā Ghaṭikara:

“Seven bhikkhus reborn in Aviha
Have been fully liberated.
With lust and hatred utterly destroyed,
They have crossed over attachment to the world.”

The Blessed One:

“And who are those who crossed the swamp,
The realm of Death so hard to cross?
Who, having left the human body,
Have overcome the celestial bond?”

Ghaṭikara:

“Upaka and Palagaṇḍa,
With Pukkusati—these are three.
Then Bhaddiya and Bhaddadeva,
And Bahudanti and Piṅgiya.
These, having left the human body,
Have overcome the celestial bond.”

The Blessed One:

“Good is the word you speak of them,
Of those who have abandoned Mara’s snares.
Whose Dhamma was it that they understood
Whereby they cut through the bondage of existence?”

Ghaṭikara:

“It was not apart from the Blessed One!
It was not apart from your Teaching!
By having understood your Dhamma
They cut through the bondage of existence.

“Where name-and-form ceases,
Stops without remainder:
By understanding that Dhamma here
They cut through the bondage of existence.”

The Blessed One:

“Deep is the speech you utter,
Hard to understand, very hard to grasp.
Having understood whose Dhamma
Do you utter such speech?”

Ghaṭikara:

“In the past I was the potter,
Ghaṭikara in Vehaḷiṅga.
I supported my mother and father then
As a lay follower of the Buddha Kassapa.

“I abstained from sexual intercourse,
I was celibate, free from carnal ties.
I was your fellow villager,
In the past I was your friend.

“I am the one who knows
These seven liberated bhikkhus,
Who with lust and hatred utterly destroyed
Have crossed over attachment to the world.”

The Blessed One:

“Just so it was at that time,
As you say, O Bhaggava:
In the past you were the potter,
Ghaṭikara in Vehaḷiṅga.
You supported your mother and father then
As a lay follower of the Buddha Kassapa.

“You abstained from sexual intercourse,
You were celibate, free from carnal ties.
You were my fellow villager,
In the past you were my friend.”

Such was the meeting that took place
Between those friends from the past,
Both now inwardly developed,
Bearers of their final bodies.

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

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With Ghaṭīkāra

“Seven mendicants reborn in Aviha
have been freed.
With the complete ending of greed and hate,
they’ve crossed over clinging to the world.”
“Who are those who’ve crossed the bog,
Death’s domain so hard to pass?
Who, after leaving behind the human body,
have risen above celestial yokes?”
“Upaka and Palagaṇḍa,
and Pukkusāti, these three;
Bhaddiya and Bhaddadeva,
and Bāhudantī and Piṅgiya.
They, after leaving behind the human body,
have risen above celestial yokes.”
“You speak well of them,
who have let go the snares of Māra.
Whose teaching did they understand
to cut the bonds of rebirth?”
“None other than the Blessed One!
None other than your instruction!
It was your teaching that they understood
to cut the bonds of rebirth.
Where name and form
cease with nothing left over;
understanding this teaching,
they cut the bonds of rebirth.”
“The words you say are deep,
hard to understand, so very hard to wake up to.
Whose teaching did you understand
that you can say such things?”
“In the past I was a potter
in Vebhaliṅga called Ghaṭīkāra.
I took care of my parents
as a lay follower of Buddha Kassapa.
I refrained from sexual intercourse,
I was celibate, spiritual.
We lived in the same village;
in the past I was your friend.
I am the one who understands
that these seven mendicants have been freed.
With the complete ending of greed and hate,
they’ve crossed over clinging to the world.”
“That’s exactly how it was,
just as you say, Bhaggava.
In the past you were a potter
in Vebhaliṅga called Ghaṭīkāra.
You took care of your parents
as a lay follower of Buddha Kassapa.
You refrained from sexual intercourse,
you were celibate, spiritual.
We lived in the same village;
in the past you were my friend.”
“That’s how it was
when those friends of old met again.
Both of them are evolved,
and bear their final body.”