The Numerical Discourses

Chapter 11: The Non-Returner

10. Devadatta (2)

1. Thus I have heard:[1] One time, the Buddha was staying at the Squirrels’ Bamboo Park of Rājagṛha. He was accompanied by a great assembly of five hundred monks.

2. At the time, there was a monk who heard the Tathāgata predict: “Devadatta will receive a punishment for an eon that cannot be cured.”[2] That monk then went to Venerable Ānanda, exchanged greetings with him, and sat to one side. The monk then asked Ānanda, “How is it, Ānanda? Did the Tathāgata examine all of Devadatta’s past before predicting this incurable punishment that he’ll receive for an eon? Or did he derive this prediction from another source?”

3. Ānanda then told him, “What the Tathāgata says is never false. There’s no difference between what he does physically or verbally. The Tathāgata truly predicted how Devadatta will receive a grave punishment for an eon that cannot be cured.”

4. Venerable Ānanda then rose from his seat and went to the Bhagavān. He bowed his head at the Buddha’s feet and stood to one side. Ānanda then said to the Bhagavān, “There was a monk who came to me and said: ‘How is it, Ānanda? Did the Tathāgata examine all of Devadatta’s past before predicting this incurable punishment that he’ll receive for an eon? Or did he derive this prediction from another source?’ After discussing it, we each took our leave.”

5. The Bhagavān told him, “That’s sure to be a monk who was a latecomer to the training when he left home;[3] it just hasn’t been long since he came to my teaching. What the Tathāgata says is never false. How could he be unsure about it?”

6. The Bhagavān then said to Ānanda, “Go and tell that monk, ‘The Tathāgata has summoned you.’”

7. Ānanda replied, “Yes, Bhagavān.” Ānanda then accepted the Bhagavān’s instruction and went to that monk. Arriving there, he said to that monk, “The Bhagavān has summoned you.”

8. That monk replied, “Yes, Venerable.” The monk then got dressed and went with Ānanda to see the Bhagavān. Upon arriving, he bowed his head at the Bhagavān’s feet and sat to one side.

9. The Bhagavān then asked that monk, “How is it, foolish man? Do you not believe what the Tathāgata says? What the Tathāgata says is never false. Are you trying to find something false about the Tathāgata?”

10. That monk then said to the Bhagavān, “The monk Devadatta possessed great spiritual power and great authority. How could the Bhagavān predict that he’ll be punished so severely for an eon?”

11. The Buddha told the monk, “Be careful what you say! Don’t spend a long time experiencing measureless suffering!”

12. The Bhagavān then spoke in verse:

• “Traversing the dhyānas and worldly understanding,
  One will lack liberation at the end.
  Not taking the steps to complete cessation,
  One falls back into Hell.

13. “If I would see that Devadatta had a hair’s breadth of goodness, I’d never predict that he’ll receive a punishment for an eon that cannot be cured. Therefore, foolish man, I don’t see that Devadatta has a hair’s breadth of goodness. Because of that, I predicted that Devadatta will receive a punishment for an eon that cannot be cured.

14. “Why is that? Devadatta was foolish and greedy for profit. He became obsessed, and then he committed the five terrible sins. When his body broke up and his life ended, he went to Hell. Why is that? Thoughts of profit seriously ruin a person’s roots of goodness and prevent them from reaching the place of safety.

15. “Therefore, monks, when thoughts of profit arise, one must seek their cessation. If one doesn’t have these thoughts, then they shouldn’t create these obsessive ideas. Thus, monks, you should train yourselves.”

16. That monk then rose from his seat, adjusted his robes, bowed at the Bhagavān’s feet, and said, “Now, I apologize for this. Please forgive me! I was being foolish and did something unskillful. The Tathāgata’s teaching doesn’t have any duplicity, but I was a fool who had such ideas as this. Please, Bhagavān, accept my apology and restore me so I may continue my cultivation!” He repeated this three times.

17. The Bhagavān told him, “Good, monk! You are sorry for that thought, but that isn’t enough for forgiveness. Don’t produce such ideas about the Tathāgata. Now, I accept your apology. Don’t let it happen again.” He said this three times.[4]

18. The Bhagavān then spoke in verse:

• “If someone commits a serious misdeed,
  And they apologize and don’t do it again,
  This person should observe the precepts
  And root out the source of that misdeed.”

19. When that monks and the fourfold saṅgha heard what the Buddha taught, they rejoiced and approved.

Summary Verse

• Four kinds of non-returning,
  Two on heart, two on alms,
  And two sūtras about Devadatta,
  Which the wise ought to know.

Notes

1. This and the previous sūtra fit the basic theme of SN 17.31-36, but they don’t match any of those suttas directly. This sūtra relates events that follow the previous sūtra. See the notes to the previous sūtra from some comments that apply to this one as well. [back]
2. Devadatta. C. 調達 (EMC. deu-dat = G. de[va]dat[o]). The translator used 婆達 (EMC. bua-dat = G. [de]vadat[o]) as an abbreviation of Devadatta’s name in the uddāna verse at the end of this chapter. 調達 appears to be a similar abbreviation, but here it’s the first and third syllable rather than the second and third. [back]
3. latercomer to the training. C. 晩暮學. The lit. meaning is “sunset training.” Presumably, it was an idiom for becoming a monk late in life. This would imply that, as a result, the monk was set in his ways or views and more likely to object. [back]
4. three times. The Taisho reads: “Up to three or four times” (乃至三四). I assume this is a typo for “repeated three times” (乃至再三) since the monk repeated his apologize thrice. [back]

Translator: Charles Patton

Last Revised: 07 May 2023