Aṅguttara Nikāya
VIII. Aṭṭhaka Nipāta
VII. Bhūmi-Cāla Vagga
VIII. The Book of the Eights
Chapter VII: On Earthquakes
Sutta 64
Adhideva-Ñāṇa-Dassana Suttaṃ
At Gayā1
[201]
Thus have I heard:
Once the Exalted One was staying on Gaya Head at Gaya;
and there he addressed the monks, saying:
"Monks."
'Lord,' they replied.
And the Exalted One said:
"Monks, before my awakening,
while I was not yet completely awakened
and but a being awakening,2
I perceived auras,3 but I saw no forms.
Monks, to me there came the thought:
"If I were both to perceive auras
and to see forms,
knowledge and vision4 within me
would thus be better purified."
Monks, later on,
living zealous,
earnest,
resolute,
I both perceived the auras
and saw the forms,
but I did not stand with,
talk to
or engage in conversation
any of those devas.
■
Monks, to me came the thought:
"If I were to perceive the auras,
see the forms,
stand with,
talk to
and engage those devas in conversation,
knowledge and vision within me
would thus be better purified."ed1
Monks, later on,
living zealous,
earnest,
resolute,
I perceived the auras,
saw the forms,
stood with,
talked to
and engaged those devas in conversation,
but I knew not of those devas:
These devas are from such and such a deva community.
■
Monks, to me came the thought:
"If I were to perceive the auras,
see the forms,
stand with,
talk to
and engage those devas in conversation,
and know that these devas are from such and such a community,
knowledge and vision within me
would thus be better purified."
Monks, later on,
living zealous,
earnest,
resolute,
I perceived the auras,
saw the forms,
stood with,
talked to
and engaged those devas in conversation,
and knew that these devas were from such and such a community,
but I knew not of those devas:
These devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there;
those devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there.
■
Monks, to me came the thought:
"If I were to perceive the auras,
see the forms,
stand with,
talk to
and engage those devas in conversation,
and to know that these devas are from such and such a community,
these devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there;
those devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there
knowledge and vision within me
would thus be better purified."
Monks, later on,
living zealous,
earnest,
resolute,
I perceived the auras,
saw the forms,
stood with,
talked to
and engaged those devas in conversation,
and knew that these devas were from such and such a community,
these devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there;
those devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there
but I knew not of those devas:
Such is the food of these devas,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe;
of those devas such is the food,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe.
■
Monks, to me came the thought:
"If I were to perceive the auras,
see the forms,
stand with,
talk to
and engage those devas in conversation,
and to know that these devas are from such and such a community,
these devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there;
those devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there
such is the food of these devas,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe;
of those devas such is the food,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe
knowledge and vision within me
would thus be better purified."
Monks, later on,
living zealous,
earnest,
resolute,
I perceived the auras,
saw the forms,
stood with,
talked to
and engaged those devas in conversation,
and knew that these devas were from such and such a community,
these devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there;
those devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there
such is the food of these devas,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe;
of those devas such is the food,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe
but I knew not of those devas:
These devas live so long,
they have a life-span of such length
[202] those devas live so long,
they have a life-span of such length.
■
Monks, to me came the thought:
"If I were to perceive the auras,
see the forms,
stand with,
talk to
and engage those devas in conversation,
and to know that these devas are from such and such a community,
these devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there;
those devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there
such is the food of these devas,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe;
of those devas such is the food,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe
these devas live so long,
they have a life-span of such length
those devas live so long,
they have a life-span of such length
knowledge and vision within me
would thus be better purified."
Monks, later on,
living zealous,
earnest,
resolute,
I perceived the auras,
saw the forms,
stood with,
talked to
and engaged those devas in conversation,
and knew that these devas were from such and such a community,
these devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there;
those devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there
such is the food of these devas,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe;
of those devas such is the food,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe
these devas live so long,
they have a life-span of such length
those devas live so long,
they have a life-span of such length
but I knew not of those devas
whether I had dwelt5 with those devas formerly or not.
■
Monks, to me came the thought:
"If I were to perceive the auras,
see the forms,
stand with,
talk to
and engage those devas in conversation,
and to know that these devas are from such and such a community,
these devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there;
those devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there
such is the food of these devas,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe;
of those devas such is the food,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe
these devas live so long,
they have a life-span of such length
those devas live so long,
they have a life-span of such length
and whether I had dwelt with those devas formerly or not
knowledge and vision within me
would thus be better purified."
Monks, later on,
living zealous,
earnest,
resolute,
I perceived the auras,
saw the forms,
stood with,
talked to
and engaged those devas in conversation,
and knew that these devas were from such and such a community,
these devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there;
those devas as the result of their deeds
passed away from here
and arose there
such is the food of these devas,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe;
of those devas such is the food,
such their experiences,
such their weal and woe
these devas live so long,
those devas live so long,
they have a life-span of such length
they have a life-span of such length
and whether I had dwelt with those devas formerly or not.
Monks, so long as this eightfold series6
of knowledge and vision of the higher7 devas
was not fully purified in me,
I did not realize
as one wholly awakened to the highest awakening,
unsurpassed in the world of devas,
with its Māras and its Brahmās,
or in the world of mankind
with its recluses and godly men,
devas and men.
But when the eightfold series
of knowledge and vision of the higher devas
was fully purified in me,
then, monks, I realized
as one wholly awakened to the highest awakening,
unsurpassed in the world of devas,
with its Māras and its Brahmās,
or in the world of mankind
with its recluses and godly men,
devas and men.
Then knowledge and vision arose in me,
and I knew:
Sure is my heart's release;
this is my last birth;
there is now no more becoming for me.'
1 In Magadha, see Chwang ii, 111 f; Fa Hsien 53; C.H.I. i, 182; Sisters 132.
2 This is a stock phrase; see M. i, 17; S. ii, 5; A. iii, 240; below, p. 294, and passim.
3 Obhasaṃ sañjānāmi. Comy. Rays known to the clairvoyant; see M. iii, 157. Four other obhāsa are given at A. ii, 139.
4 Ñāṇa-dassanaṃ. Comy. ñāṇa-sankhātaṃ dassanaṃ. At Vin. iii, 91 thus: 'yaṃ ñāṇaṃ taṃ dassanaṃ, yaṃ dassanaṃ taṃ ñāṇaṃ'; so perhaps we could translate: vision, which is knowledge.
5 Sanni-vuttha-pubbaṃ; see G.S. iii, p. x, on nivāsa.
6 Aṭṭha-parivaṭṭaṃ; cf. K.S. iii, 50 n.
7 Adhideva.
ed1 The Hare translation made the best of a confused PTS Pali which was, as we have it, abridged without so indicating and was a mess, the BJT Pali was similarly messed up. I have put the Pali into the form I believe was originally intended and have reconstructed Hare's translation accordingly.