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SN 28.1PTS SN 3.2351 min read

Born of Seclusion

Vivekajasutta

Sāriputta goes to Mirkwood for meditation, and afterwards Ānanda asks why his face is so radiant. Sāriputta replies that he was practicing first absorption without any thought of self.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 28.1Linked Discourses 28.1
  • 0.21. Sāriputtavagga1. With Sāriputta

0.3VivekajasuttaBorn of Seclusion

1.1Ekaṁ samayaṁ āyasmā sāriputto sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.At one time Venerable Sāriputta was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.11.2Atha kho āyasmā sāriputto pubbaṇhasamayaṁ nivāsetvā pattacīvaramādāya sāvatthiṁ piṇḍāya pāvisi.Then Venerable Sāriputta robed up in the morning and, taking his bowl and robe, entered Sāvatthī for alms.1.3Sāvatthiyaṁ piṇḍāya caritvā pacchābhattaṁ piṇḍapātapaṭikkanto yena andhavanaṁ tenupasaṅkami divāvihārāya.He wandered for alms in Sāvatthī. After the meal, on his return from almsround, he went to the Dark Forest for the day’s meditation,1.4Andhavanaṁ ajjhogāhetvā aññatarasmiṁ rukkhamūle divāvihāraṁ nisīdi.plunged deep into it, and sat at the root of a tree to meditate.

2.1Atha kho āyasmā sāriputto sāyanhasamayaṁ paṭisallānā vuṭṭhito yena jetavanaṁ anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāmo tenupasaṅkami.Then in the late afternoon, Sāriputta came out of retreat and went to Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.2.2Addasā kho āyasmā ānando āyasmantaṁ sāriputtaṁ dūratova āgacchantaṁ.Venerable Ānanda saw him coming off in the distance,2.3Disvāna āyasmantaṁ sāriputtaṁ etadavoca:and said to him:

2.4“vippasannāni kho te, āvuso sāriputta, indriyāni; parisuddho mukhavaṇṇo pariyodāto.“Reverend Sāriputta, your faculties are so very clear, and your complexion is pure and bright.22.5Katamenāyasmā sāriputto ajja vihārena vihāsī”ti?What meditation were you practicing today?”

3.1PTS 3.236“Idhāhaṁ, āvuso, vivicceva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṁ savicāraṁ vivekajaṁ pītisukhaṁ paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharāmi.“Reverend, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, I entered and remained in the first absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of seclusion, while placing the mind and keeping it connected.3.2Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, na evaṁ hoti:But it didn’t occur to me:3.3‘ahaṁ paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ samāpajjāmī’ti vā ‘ahaṁ paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ samāpanno’ti vā ‘ahaṁ paṭhamā jhānā vuṭṭhito’ti vā”ti.‘I am entering the first absorption’ or ‘I have entered the first absorption’ or ‘I am emerging from the first absorption’.”

3.4Tathā hi panāyasmato sāriputtassa dīgharattaṁ ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā susamūhatā.“That must be because Venerable Sāriputta has long ago totally eradicated I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit.3.5Tasmā āyasmato sāriputtassa na evaṁ hoti:That’s why it didn’t occur to you:3.6“‘ahaṁ paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ samāpajjāmī’ti vā ‘ahaṁ paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ samāpanno’ti vā ‘ahaṁ paṭhamā jhānā vuṭṭhito’ti vā”ti.‘I am entering the first absorption’ or ‘I have entered the first absorption’ or ‘I am emerging from the first absorption’.”

3.7Paṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Sāriputta, personal name Upatissa (MN 24:17.3), was the foremost in wisdom (AN 1.189), the “general of the Dhamma” (Ud 2.8:16.2) who was like unto the Teacher himself (MN 24:17.5, Snp 3.7:22.4, MN 111:22.2). He was known for his magnificent expositions of fundamental teachings (MN 9, MN 141), his ready conversation on profound matters (MN 24, MN 43), his guidance for fellow monastics (MN 5), his humility (Kd 16:6.1.4), his expertise in meditation (AN 7.41) even to the deepest levels (AN 11.21:1.2), his consolation of those in distress (MN 97:27.1, MN 143, MN 144:3.2), and his personal qualities of gentleness and forgiveness (AN 9.11). His verses are at Thag 17.2. He went forth together with his great friend Moggallāna (Kd 1:23.1.1; see note on MN 74:1.2). Together they were hailed as the Buddha’s “chief disciples” (SN 15.20:5.7). They were leaders of the Saṅgha under the Buddha (MN 67:13.7), entrusted with serious disciplinary matters (Bu Ss 13:1.6.24). Although they were heirs apparent to the Buddha (Kd 17:3.1.12), they both predeceased him (SN 47.14:2.4).

    Tradition holds that his mother was named Rūpasārī, his father the brahmin Vaṅganta, and that his younger siblings—Cunda, Upasena, Revata, Cālā, Upacālā, and Sisūpacālā—all joined the Saṅgha.

    ↩ sn28.1:1.1

  2. Here “faculties” refers to visible features such as bright eyes. Compare Chāndogya Upaniṣad 4.14.2, where a student’s face is seen as bright and glowing due to their recent insights.

    ↩ sn28.1:2.4