Dilemma the Forty-ThirdBakkula’s Superiority To the Buddha
Buddhaappābādhapañha (Mil 5.5 3)
‘Venerable Nāgasena, it was said by the Blessed One:
“A Brahman am I, O brethren, devoted to self-sacrifice, pure-handed at every time; this body that I bear with me is my last, I am the supreme Healer and Physician.”
‘But on the other hand the Blessed One said:
“The chief, O brethren, among those who are disciples of mine, in the matter of bodily health, is Bakkula.”
‘Now it is well known that diseases arose several times in the body of the Blessed One. So that if, Nāgasena, the Tathāgata was supreme, then the statement he made about Bakkula’s bodily health must be wrong. But if the Elder named Bakkula was really chief among those who were healthy, then that statement which I first quoted must be wrong. This too is a double-edged problem, now put to you, which you have to solve.’
‘Both the quotations you have made, O king, are correct. But what the Blessed One said about Bakkula was said of those disciples who had learnt by heart the sacred words, and studied them, and handed down the tradition, which in reference to the characteristics (each of them in some one point) had in addition to those which were found in him himself. For there were certain of the disciples of the Blessed One, O king, who were “meditators on foot,” spending a whole day and night in walking up and down in meditation. But the Blessed One was in the habit of spending the day and night in meditation, not only walking up and down but also sitting and lying down. So such, O king, of the disciples as were “meditators on foot “ surpassed him in that particular. And there were certain of the disciples of the Blessed One, O king, who were “eaters at one sitting,” who would not, even to save their lives, take more than one meal a day. But the Blessed One was in the habit of taking a second, or even a third. So such, O king, of the disciples as were “eaters at one sitting” surpassed him in that particular. And in a similar way, O king, a number of different things have been told, each one of one or other of the disciples. But the Blessed One, O king, surpassed them all in respect of uprightness, and of power of meditation, and of wisdom, and of emancipation, and of that insight which arises out of the knowledge of emancipation, and in all that lies within the scope of a Buddha. It was with reference to that, O king, that he said:
“A Brahman am I, O brethren, devoted to self-sacrifice, pure-handed at every time; this body that I bear with me is my last, I am the supreme Healer and Physician.”
‘Now one man, O king, may be of good birth, and another may be wealthy, and another full of wisdom, and another well educated, and another brave, and another adroit; but a king, surpassing all these, is reckoned supreme. just in that way, O king, is the Blessed One the highest, the most worthy of respect, the best of all beings. And in so far as the venerable Bakkula was healthy in body, that was by reason of an aspiration (he had formed in a previous birth). For, O king, when Anoma-dassī, the Blessed One, was afflicted with a disease, with wind in his stomach, and again when Vipassī, the Blessed One, and sixty-eight thousand of his disciples, were afflicted with a disease, with greenness of blood, he, being at those times an ascetic, had cured that disease with various medicines, and attained (thereby) to such healthiness of body (in this life) that it was said of him:
“The chief, O brethren, among those who are disciples of mine, in the matter of bodily health, is Bakkula.”
‘But the Blessed One, O king, whether he be suffering, or not suffering from disease; whether he have taken, or not taken, upon himself the observance of special vows—there is no being like unto the Blessed One. For this, O king, has been said by the Blessed One, the god of gods, in the most excellent Saṃyutta Nikāya:
“Whatsoever beings, O brethren, there may be whether without feet, or bipeds, or four-footed things, whether with a body, or without a body, whether conscious or unconscious, or neither conscious nor not—the Tathāgata is acknowledged to be the chief of all, the Arahat, the Buddha Supreme.”’
‘Very good, Nāgasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’
Here ends the problem as to the superiority of Bakkula to the Buddha.
“A Brahman am I, O brethren, devoted to self-sacrifice, pure-handed at every time; this body that I bear with me is my last, I am the supreme Healer and Physician.”
‘But on the other hand the Blessed One said:
“The chief, O brethren, among those who are disciples of mine, in the matter of bodily health, is Bakkula.”
‘Now it is well known that diseases arose several times in the body of the Blessed One. So that if, Nāgasena, the Tathāgata was supreme, then the statement he made about Bakkula’s bodily health must be wrong. But if the Elder named Bakkula was really chief among those who were healthy, then that statement which I first quoted must be wrong. This too is a double-edged problem, now put to you, which you have to solve.’
‘Both the quotations you have made, O king, are correct. But what the Blessed One said about Bakkula was said of those disciples who had learnt by heart the sacred words, and studied them, and handed down the tradition, which in reference to the characteristics (each of them in some one point) had in addition to those which were found in him himself. For there were certain of the disciples of the Blessed One, O king, who were “meditators on foot,” spending a whole day and night in walking up and down in meditation. But the Blessed One was in the habit of spending the day and night in meditation, not only walking up and down but also sitting and lying down. So such, O king, of the disciples as were “meditators on foot “ surpassed him in that particular. And there were certain of the disciples of the Blessed One, O king, who were “eaters at one sitting,” who would not, even to save their lives, take more than one meal a day. But the Blessed One was in the habit of taking a second, or even a third. So such, O king, of the disciples as were “eaters at one sitting” surpassed him in that particular. And in a similar way, O king, a number of different things have been told, each one of one or other of the disciples. But the Blessed One, O king, surpassed them all in respect of uprightness, and of power of meditation, and of wisdom, and of emancipation, and of that insight which arises out of the knowledge of emancipation, and in all that lies within the scope of a Buddha. It was with reference to that, O king, that he said:
“A Brahman am I, O brethren, devoted to self-sacrifice, pure-handed at every time; this body that I bear with me is my last, I am the supreme Healer and Physician.”
‘Now one man, O king, may be of good birth, and another may be wealthy, and another full of wisdom, and another well educated, and another brave, and another adroit; but a king, surpassing all these, is reckoned supreme. just in that way, O king, is the Blessed One the highest, the most worthy of respect, the best of all beings. And in so far as the venerable Bakkula was healthy in body, that was by reason of an aspiration (he had formed in a previous birth). For, O king, when Anoma-dassī, the Blessed One, was afflicted with a disease, with wind in his stomach, and again when Vipassī, the Blessed One, and sixty-eight thousand of his disciples, were afflicted with a disease, with greenness of blood, he, being at those times an ascetic, had cured that disease with various medicines, and attained (thereby) to such healthiness of body (in this life) that it was said of him:
“The chief, O brethren, among those who are disciples of mine, in the matter of bodily health, is Bakkula.”
‘But the Blessed One, O king, whether he be suffering, or not suffering from disease; whether he have taken, or not taken, upon himself the observance of special vows—there is no being like unto the Blessed One. For this, O king, has been said by the Blessed One, the god of gods, in the most excellent Saṃyutta Nikāya:
“Whatsoever beings, O brethren, there may be whether without feet, or bipeds, or four-footed things, whether with a body, or without a body, whether conscious or unconscious, or neither conscious nor not—the Tathāgata is acknowledged to be the chief of all, the Arahat, the Buddha Supreme.”’
‘Very good, Nāgasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’
Here ends the problem as to the superiority of Bakkula to the Buddha.
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