SN 12.16

Dhammakathikasutta

Sāvatthiyaṁ … Atha kho aññataro bhikkhu yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho so bhikkhu bhagavantaṁ etadavoca: “‘dhammakathiko dhammakathiko’ti, bhante, vuccati. Kittāvatā nu kho, bhante, dhammakathiko hotī”ti?

A Dhamma Speaker

At Sāvatthī. Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Sir, they speak of a ‘Dhamma speaker’. How is a Dhamma speaker defined?”

“Jarāmaraṇassa ce bhikkhu nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya dhammaṁ deseti, ‘dhammakathiko bhikkhū’ti alaṁvacanāya. Jarāmaraṇassa ce bhikkhu nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya paṭipanno hoti, ‘dhammānudhammappaṭipanno bhikkhū’ti alaṁvacanāya. Jarāmaraṇassa ce bhikkhu nibbidā virāgā nirodhā anupādāvimutto hoti, ‘diṭṭhadhammanibbānappatto bhikkhū’ti alaṁvacanāya.

“If a mendicant teaches Dhamma for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding old age and death, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who speaks on Dhamma’. If they practice for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding old age and death, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who practices in line with the teaching’. If they’re freed by not grasping, by disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding old age and death, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who has attained extinguishment in this very life’.

Jātiyā ce bhikkhu …pe… bhavassa ce bhikkhu … upādānassa ce bhikkhu … taṇhāya ce bhikkhu … vedanāya ce bhikkhu … phassassa ce bhikkhu … saḷāyatanassa ce bhikkhu … nāmarūpassa ce bhikkhu … viññāṇassa ce bhikkhu … saṅkhārānañce bhikkhu … avijjāya ce bhikkhu nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya dhammaṁ deseti, ‘dhammakathiko bhikkhū’ti alaṁvacanāya. Avijjāya ce bhikkhu nibbidāya virāgāya nirodhāya paṭipanno hoti, ‘dhammānudhammappaṭipanno bhikkhū’ti alaṁvacanāya. Avijjāya ce bhikkhu nibbidā virāgā nirodhā anupādāvimutto hoti, ‘diṭṭhadhammanibbānappatto bhikkhū’ti alaṁvacanāyā”ti.

If a mendicant teaches Dhamma for disillusionment regarding rebirth … continued existence … grasping … craving … feeling … contact … the six sense fields … name and form … consciousness … choices … If a mendicant teaches Dhamma for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding ignorance, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who speaks on Dhamma’. If they practice for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding ignorance, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who practices in line with the teaching’. If they’re freed by not grasping, by disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding ignorance, they’re qualified to be called ‘a mendicant who has attained extinguishment in this very life’.”