SN 21.2

Upatissasutta

Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Tatra kho āyasmā sāriputto bhikkhū āmantesi: “āvuso bhikkhave”ti. “Āvuso”ti kho te bhikkhū āyasmato sāriputtassa paccassosuṁ. Āyasmā sāriputto etadavoca:

With Upatissa

At Sāvatthī. There Sāriputta addressed the mendicants: “Reverends, mendicants!” “Reverend,” they replied. Sāriputta said this:

“Idha mayhaṁ, āvuso, rahogatassa paṭisallīnassa evaṁ cetaso parivitakko udapādi: ‘atthi nu kho taṁ kiñci lokasmiṁ yassa me vipariṇāmaññathābhāvā uppajjeyyuṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā’ti? Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, etadahosi: ‘natthi kho taṁ kiñci lokasmiṁ yassa me vipariṇāmaññathābhāvā uppajjeyyuṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā’”ti.

“Just now, reverends, as I was in private retreat this thought came to mind: ‘Is there anything in the world whose decay and perishing would give rise to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress in me?’ It occurred to me: ‘There is nothing in the world whose decay and perishing would give rise to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress in me.’”

Evaṁ vutte, āyasmā ānando āyasmantaṁ sāriputtaṁ etadavoca: “satthupi kho te, āvuso sāriputta, vipariṇāmaññathābhāvā nuppajjeyyuṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā”ti? “Satthupi kho me, āvuso, vipariṇāmaññathābhāvā nuppajjeyyuṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā, api ca me evamassa: ‘mahesakkho vata bho satthā antarahito mahiddhiko mahānubhāvo. Sace hi bhagavā ciraṁ dīghamaddhānaṁ tiṭṭheyya tadassa bahujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya atthāya hitāya sukhāya devamanussānan’ti. Tathā hi panāyasmato sāriputtassa dīgharattaṁ ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā susamūhatā. Tasmā āyasmato sāriputtassa satthupi vipariṇāmaññathābhāvā nuppajjeyyuṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā”ti.

When he said this, Venerable Ānanda said to him, “Even if the Teacher were to decay and perish? Wouldn’t that give rise to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress in you?” “Even if the Teacher were to decay and perish, that wouldn’t give rise to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress in me. Still, I would think: ‘Oh lord, the illustrious Teacher, so mighty and powerful, has vanished! If the Buddha was to remain for a long time, that would be for the welfare and happiness of the people, out of sympathy for the world, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans.’” “That must be because Venerable Sāriputta has long ago totally eradicated I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit. So even if the Teacher were to decay and perish, it wouldn’t give rise to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress in him.”