Ud 3.6

Pilindavacchasutta

Evaṁ me sutaṁ— ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā rājagahe viharati veḷuvane kalandakanivāpe. Tena kho pana samayena āyasmā pilindavaccho bhikkhū vasalavādena samudācarati. Atha kho sambahulā bhikkhū yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkamiṁsu; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdiṁsu. Ekamantaṁ nisinnā kho te bhikkhū bhagavantaṁ etadavocuṁ: “āyasmā, bhante, pilindavaccho bhikkhū vasalavādena samudācaratī”ti.

With Pilindavaccha

So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground. Now at that time Venerable Pilindavaccha addressed the mendicants as “lowlifes”. Then several mendicants went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him, “Sir, Venerable Pilindavaccha addresses the mendicants as ‘lowlifes’.”

Atha kho bhagavā aññataraṁ bhikkhuṁ āmantesi: “ehi tvaṁ, bhikkhu, mama vacanena pilindavacchaṁ bhikkhuṁ āmantehi: ‘satthā taṁ, āvuso pilindavaccha, āmantetī’”ti. “Evaṁ, bhante”ti kho so bhikkhu bhagavato paṭissutvā yenāyasmā pilindavaccho tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā āyasmantaṁ pilindavacchaṁ etadavoca: “satthā taṁ, āvuso pilindavaccha, āmantetī”ti.

So the Buddha addressed one of the monks, “Please, monk, in my name tell the mendicant Pilindavaccha that the Teacher summons him.” “Yes, sir,” that monk replied. He went to Pilindavaccha and said to him, “Reverend Pilindavaccha, the Teacher summons you.”

“Evamāvuso”ti kho āyasmā pilindavaccho tassa bhikkhuno paṭissutvā yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinnaṁ kho āyasmantaṁ pilindavacchaṁ bhagavā etadavoca: “saccaṁ kira tvaṁ, vaccha, bhikkhū vasalavādena samudācarasī”ti? “Evaṁ, bhante”ti.

“Yes, reverend,” Pilindavaccha replied. He went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. The Buddha said to him: “Is it really true, Vaccha, that you addressed the mendicants as ‘lowlifes’?” “Yes, sir,” he replied.

Atha kho bhagavā āyasmato pilindavacchassa pubbenivāsaṁ manasi karitvā bhikkhū āmantesi: “mā kho tumhe, bhikkhave, vacchassa bhikkhuno ujjhāyittha. Na, bhikkhave, vaccho dosantaro bhikkhū vasalavādena samudācarati. Vacchassa, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno pañca jātisatāni abbokiṇṇāni brāhmaṇakule paccājātāni. So tassa vasalavādo dīgharattaṁ samudāciṇṇo. Tenāyaṁ vaccho bhikkhū vasalavādena samudācaratī”ti.

Then, having applied his mind to Pilindavaccha’s past lives, the Buddha said to the mendicants, “Mendicants, don’t complain about the mendicant Vaccha. He doesn’t address the mendicants as ‘lowlifes’ out of hate. For five hundred lives without interruption he was reborn in a brahmin family. For a long time, he has addressed people as ‘lowlife’. That’s why he addresses the mendicants as ‘lowlifes’.”

Atha kho bhagavā etamatthaṁ viditvā tāyaṁ velāyaṁ imaṁ udānaṁ udānesi:

Then, understanding this matter, on that occasion the Buddha expressed this heartfelt sentiment:

“Yamhi na māyā vasatī na māno, Yo vītalobho amamo nirāso; Paṇunnakodho abhinibbutatto, So brāhmaṇo so samaṇo sa bhikkhū”ti.

“In whom dwells no deceit or conceit, rid of greed, unselfish, with no need for hope, with anger cast aside, quenched: they are a brahmin, an ascetic, a mendicant.”