AN 6.51

Ānandasutta

Atha kho āyasmā ānando yenāyasmā sāriputto tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā āyasmatā sāriputtena saddhiṁ sammodi. Sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā ānando āyasmantaṁ sāriputtaṁ etadavoca:

With Ānanda

Then Venerable Ānanda went up to Venerable Sāriputta, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, Ānanda sat down to one side, and said to Sāriputta:

“Kittāvatā nu kho, āvuso sāriputta, bhikkhu assutañceva dhammaṁ suṇāti, sutā cassa dhammā na sammosaṁ gacchanti, ye cassa dhammā pubbe cetasā samphuṭṭhapubbā te ca samudācaranti, aviññātañca vijānātī”ti? “Āyasmā kho ānando bahussuto. Paṭibhātu āyasmantaṁyeva ānandan”ti. “Tenahāvuso sāriputta, suṇāhi, sādhukaṁ manasi karohi; bhāsissāmī”ti. “Evamāvuso”ti kho āyasmā sāriputto āyasmato ānandassa paccassosi. Āyasmā ānando etadavoca:

“Reverend Sāriputta, how does a mendicant get to hear a teaching they haven’t heard before? How do they remember those teachings they have heard? How do they keep exercising the teachings with which they are already familiar? And how do they come to understand what they haven’t understood before?” “Well, Venerable Ānanda, you’re very learned. Why don’t you clarify this yourself?” “Well then, Reverend Sāriputta, listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.” “Yes, reverend,” Sāriputta replied. Ānanda said this:

“Idhāvuso sāriputta, bhikkhu dhammaṁ pariyāpuṇāti— suttaṁ geyyaṁ veyyākaraṇaṁ gāthaṁ udānaṁ itivuttakaṁ jātakaṁ abbhutadhammaṁ vedallaṁ. So yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena paresaṁ deseti, yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena paresaṁ vāceti, yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena sajjhāyaṁ karoti, yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ cetasā anuvitakketi anuvicāreti manasānupekkhati. Yasmiṁ āvāse therā bhikkhū viharanti bahussutā āgatāgamā dhammadharā vinayadharā mātikādharā tasmiṁ āvāse vassaṁ upeti. Te kālena kālaṁ upasaṅkamitvā paripucchati paripañhati: ‘idaṁ, bhante, kathaṁ; imassa kvattho’ti? Te tassa āyasmato avivaṭañceva vivaranti, anuttānīkatañca uttānīkaronti, anekavihitesu ca kaṅkhāṭhāniyesu dhammesu kaṅkhaṁ paṭivinodenti. Ettāvatā kho, āvuso sāriputta, bhikkhu assutañceva dhammaṁ suṇāti, sutā cassa dhammā na sammosaṁ gacchanti, ye cassa dhammā pubbe cetasā samphuṭṭhapubbā te ca samudācaranti, aviññātañca vijānātī”ti.

“Reverend Sāriputta, take a mendicant who memorizes the teaching— statements, mixed prose & verse, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and elaborations. Then, just as they learned and memorized it, they teach others in detail, make them recite in detail, they rehearse it themselves in detail, and they think about and consider the teaching in their heart, examining it with the mind. They enter the rains retreat in a monastery with senior mendicants who are very learned, inheritors of the heritage, who have memorized the teachings, the monastic law, and the outlines. From time to time they go up to those mendicants and ask them questions: ‘Why, sir, does it say this? What does that mean?’ Those venerables reveal what is hidden, clarify what is unclear, and dispel doubt regarding the many doubtful matters. This is how a mendicant gets to hear a teaching they haven’t heard before. It’s how they remember those teachings they have heard. It’s how they keep exercising the teachings with which they are already familiar. And it’s how they come to understand what they haven’t understood before.”

“Acchariyaṁ, āvuso, abbhutaṁ, āvuso, yāva subhāsitañcidaṁ āyasmatā ānandena. Imehi ca mayaṁ chahi dhammehi samannāgataṁ āyasmantaṁ ānandaṁ dhārema. Āyasmā hi ānando dhammaṁ pariyāpuṇāti— suttaṁ geyyaṁ veyyākaraṇaṁ gāthaṁ udānaṁ itivuttakaṁ jātakaṁ abbhutadhammaṁ vedallaṁ. Āyasmā ānando yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena paresaṁ deseti, āyasmā ānando yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena paresaṁ vāceti, āyasmā ānando yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena sajjhāyaṁ karoti, āyasmā ānando yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ cetasā anuvitakketi anuvicāreti manasānupekkhati. Āyasmā ānando yasmiṁ āvāse therā bhikkhū viharanti bahussutā āgatāgamā dhammadharā vinayadharā mātikādharā tasmiṁ āvāse vassaṁ upeti. Te āyasmā ānando kālena kālaṁ upasaṅkamitvā paripucchati paripañhati: ‘idaṁ, bhante, kathaṁ; imassa kvattho’ti? Te āyasmato ānandassa avivaṭañceva vivaranti, anuttānīkatañca uttānīkaronti, anekavihitesu ca kaṅkhāṭhāniyesu dhammesu kaṅkhaṁ paṭivinodentī”ti.

“It’s incredible, reverend, it’s amazing! How well said this was by Venerable Ānanda! And we will remember Venerable Ānanda as someone who possesses these six qualities. For Ānanda memorizes the teaching … statements, mixed prose & verse, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and elaborations. Those venerables reveal to Ānanda what is hidden, clarify what is unclear, and dispel doubt regarding the many doubtful matters.”