Dilemma the Fifty-FirstContradictory Statements As To the Buddha’s Teacher
Ācariyānācariyapañha (Mil 5.5 11)
‘Venerable Nāgasena, this too has been said by the Blessed One:
“I have no teacher, and the man
Equal to me does not exist.
No rival to me can be found
In the whole world of gods and men.”
‘But on the other hand he said:
“Thus then, O brethren, Āḷāra Kālāma, when he was my teacher and I was his pupil, placed me on an equality with himself, and honoured me with exceeding great honour.”
‘Now if the former of these statements be right, then the second must be wrong. But if the second be right, then the first 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 accurate. But when he spoke of Āḷāra Kālāma as his teacher, that was a statement made with reference to the fact of his having been his teacher while he (Gotama) was still a Bodisat and before he had attained to insight and to Buddhahood; and there were five such teachers, O king, under whose tuition the Bodisat spent his time in various places—his teachers when he was still a Bodisat, before he had attained to insight and to Buddhahood. And who were these five?
‘Those eight Brahmans who, just after the birth of the Bodisat, took note of the marks on his body— Rāma, and Dhaja, and Lakkhaṇa, and Mantī, and Yañña, and Suyāma, and Subhoja, and Sudatta —they who then made known his future glory, and marked him out as one to be carefully guarded-these were first his teachers.
‘And again, O king, the Brahman Sabbamitta of distinguished descent, who was of high lineage in the land of Udicca, a philologist and grammarian, well read in the six Vedaṅgas, whom Suddhodana the king, the Bodisat’s father, sent for, and having poured out the water of dedication from a golden vase, handed over the boy to his charge, to be taught—this was his second teacher.
‘And again, O king, the god who raised the agitation in the Bodisat’s heart, at the sound of whose speech the Bodisat, moved and anxious, that very moment went out from the world in his Great Renunciation—this was his third teacher.
‘And again, O king, Āḷāra Kālāma—he was his fourth teacher.
‘And again, O king, Uddaka the son of Rāma—he was his fifth teacher.
‘These, O king, are the five who were his teachers when he was still a Bodisat, before he had attained to insight and to Buddhahood. But they were teachers in worldly wisdom. And in this Doctrine that is transcendental, in the penetrating into the wisdom of the omniscient ones—in that there is no one who is above the Tathāgata to teach him. Self-dependent for his knowledge is the Tathāgata, without a master, and that is why it was said by the Tathāgata:
“I have no teacher, and the man
Equal to me does not exist.
No rival to me can be found
In the whole world of gods and men.”’
‘Very good, Nāgasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’
Here ends the dilemma as to the Buddha’s teachers.
“I have no teacher, and the man
Equal to me does not exist.
No rival to me can be found
In the whole world of gods and men.”
‘But on the other hand he said:
“Thus then, O brethren, Āḷāra Kālāma, when he was my teacher and I was his pupil, placed me on an equality with himself, and honoured me with exceeding great honour.”
‘Now if the former of these statements be right, then the second must be wrong. But if the second be right, then the first 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 accurate. But when he spoke of Āḷāra Kālāma as his teacher, that was a statement made with reference to the fact of his having been his teacher while he (Gotama) was still a Bodisat and before he had attained to insight and to Buddhahood; and there were five such teachers, O king, under whose tuition the Bodisat spent his time in various places—his teachers when he was still a Bodisat, before he had attained to insight and to Buddhahood. And who were these five?
‘Those eight Brahmans who, just after the birth of the Bodisat, took note of the marks on his body— Rāma, and Dhaja, and Lakkhaṇa, and Mantī, and Yañña, and Suyāma, and Subhoja, and Sudatta —they who then made known his future glory, and marked him out as one to be carefully guarded-these were first his teachers.
‘And again, O king, the Brahman Sabbamitta of distinguished descent, who was of high lineage in the land of Udicca, a philologist and grammarian, well read in the six Vedaṅgas, whom Suddhodana the king, the Bodisat’s father, sent for, and having poured out the water of dedication from a golden vase, handed over the boy to his charge, to be taught—this was his second teacher.
‘And again, O king, the god who raised the agitation in the Bodisat’s heart, at the sound of whose speech the Bodisat, moved and anxious, that very moment went out from the world in his Great Renunciation—this was his third teacher.
‘And again, O king, Āḷāra Kālāma—he was his fourth teacher.
‘And again, O king, Uddaka the son of Rāma—he was his fifth teacher.
‘These, O king, are the five who were his teachers when he was still a Bodisat, before he had attained to insight and to Buddhahood. But they were teachers in worldly wisdom. And in this Doctrine that is transcendental, in the penetrating into the wisdom of the omniscient ones—in that there is no one who is above the Tathāgata to teach him. Self-dependent for his knowledge is the Tathāgata, without a master, and that is why it was said by the Tathāgata:
“I have no teacher, and the man
Equal to me does not exist.
No rival to me can be found
In the whole world of gods and men.”’
‘Very good, Nāgasena! That is so, and I accept it as you say.’
Here ends the dilemma as to the Buddha’s teachers.
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