The elder Kakudha

I heard thus. At one time The Blessed One was living in Gosita's monastery in Kosambi. At that time a son of the Koliyas named Kakudha attended on venerable Mahāmoggallāna and he had passed away recently. He was reborn as a spiritual being in the form of two or three Magadhan farmers in a field. With that spiritual form he does not trouble himself or others.

Kakudha the son of gods approached venerable Mahāmoggallāna, worshipped and stood on a side and said to venerable Mahāmoggallāna: This desire arose to Devadatta. `I will conduct the Community of bhikkhus. ' Venerable sir, as soon as that desire arose to him his psychic powers vanished. Saying this Kakudha the son of the gods worshipped venerable Mahāmoggallāna, circumambulated him and vanished. Then venerable ManaMoggallāna approached The Blessed One, worshipped and sat on a side and said to The Blessed One: Venerable sir, the son of the Koliyas named Kakudha who attended on me passed away recently. He was reborn as a spiritual being in the form of two or three Magadhan farmers in a field. With that spiritual form he does not trouble himself or others.

Kakudha the son of gods approached me, worshipped and stood on a side and said - This desire arose to Devadatta. `I will conduct the Community of bhikkhus. ' Venerable sir, as soon as that desire arose to him his psychic powers vanished. Saying this Kakudha the son of the gods worshipped me circumambulated me and vanished. Moggallāna, have you penetrated and seen the mind of Kakudha, the son of the gods with your mind, and are his words the truth or is it different? “ Venerable sir, I have penetrated and seen the mind of Kakudha the son of the gods, and his words are real and not false.

Moggallāna, be careful of those words. Here, the foolish man makes himself manifest. Moggallāna, these five teachers are evident in the world. What five?

Here Moggallāna, a certain Teacher is not virtuous and he acknowledges `I am virtuous, of pure virtues. His disciples know him thus our good teacher is not virtuous but he acknowledges, I am virtuous, my virtues are not blemished. We too will inform this to the lay people without destroying his pleasure. If he be displeased, how shall we abide? How will we get robes, morsel food, dwellings and requisites when ill. Whatever he does, he will be manifested by that. Moggallāna, the disciples of such a teacher protect the virtues of the teacher. Such a teacher desires the protection of his virtues through his disiples.

Again, Moggallāna, a certain Teacher is of impure livelihood and he acknowledges `My livelihood is pure and unblemished. His disciples know him thus our good teacher is not of right livelihood but he acknowledges, I am of right livelihood, it is not blemished. We too will inform this to the lay people without destroying his pleasure. If he be displeased, how shall we abide? How will we get robes, morsel food, dwellings and requisites when ill. Whatever he does, he will be manifested by that. Moggallāna, the disciples of such a teacher protect the livelihood of the teacher. Such a teacher desires the protection of his livelihood through his disciples.

Again, Moggallāna, a certain Teacher is of impure Teaching and he acknowledges `My teaching is pure. His disciples know him thus our good teacher's way of teaching is impure, he acknowledges, my way of teaching is not impure and not blemished. We too will inform this to the lay people without destroying his pleasure. If he be displeased, how shall we abide? How will we get robes, morsel food, dwellings and requisites when ill. Whatever he does, he will be manifested by that. Moggallāna, the disciples of such a teacher protect his way of teaching. Such a teacher desires the protection of his way of teaching through his disiples.

Again, Moggallāna, a certain Teacher's explanations are wrong and he acknowledges `My explanations are correct and pure. His disciples know him thus our good teacher's explanations are wrong but he acknowledges, my explanations are correct. We too will inform this to the lay people without destroying his pleasure. If he be displeased, how shall we abide? How will we get robes, morsel food, dwellings and requisites when ill. Whatever he does, he will be manifested by that. Moggallāna, the disciples of such a teacher protect the teacher's explanations. Such a teacher desires the protection of his explanations through his disiples.

Again, Moggallāna, a certain Teacher's knowledge and vision is impure and he acknowledges `My knowledge and vision is pure. His disciples know him thus our good teacher's knowledge and vision is incorrect but he acknowledges, my knowledge and vision are not incorrect not blemished. We too will inform this to the lay people without destroying his pleasure. If he be displeased, how shall we abide? How will we get robes, morsel food, dwellings and requisites when ill. Whatever he does, he will be manifested by that. Moggallāna, the disciples of such a teacher protect the teacher's knowledge and vision. Such a teacher desires the protection of his knowledge and vision through his disiples.

Moggallāna, as for me, my virtues are pure, I acknowledge that my virtues are pure and unblemished. I am not protected for my virtues by my disciples and I do not expect that protection of virtues from my disciples. My livelihood is pure, I acknowledge that my livelihood is pure and unblemished. I am not protected for my livelihood by my disciples and I do not expect that protection of livelihood from my disciples. My method of teaching is pure, I acknowledge that my method of teaching is pure and unblemished. I am not protected for my method of teaching by my disciples and I do not expect that protection of the method of teaching from my disciples. My explanations are pure, I acknowledge that my explanations are pure and unblemished. I am not protected for my explanations by my disciples and I do not expect that protection from my disciples. My knowledge and vision is pure, I acknowledge the purity and unblemished nature of my knowledge and vision. I am not protected for my knowledge and vision by my disciples and I do not expect that protection from my disciples.