Vammika Sutta, Vammīka-sutta: 2 definitions

Introduction:

Vammika Sutta means something in Buddhism, Pali. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.

In Buddhism

Theravada (major branch of Buddhism)

[«previous next»] — Vammika Sutta in Theravada glossary
Source: Pali Kanon: Pali Proper Names

A deity appeared before Kumarakassapa in Andhavana and propounded a riddle:

There is an anthill burning day and night. The brahmin said: Take your tool, Sumedha (sage), and dig. As the brahmin dug, he came across, successively, a bar, a frog, a forked passage, a strainer, a tortoise, a cleaver, a joint of meat- all of which he was told to cast out and dig on. He then came across a cobra, which he was asked not to harm, but to worship.

At the suggestion of the deity, Kassapa related the story to the Buddha, who solved the riddle. The anthill is the body, the brahmin the arahant, the tool wisdom, digging perseverance, the bar ignorance, the forked passage doubting, the strainer the five nivaranas, the tortoise the fivefold upadanakkhandhas, the cleaver the fivefold pleasures of sense, the joint of meat passions delights (nandiraga), and the cobra (naga) the arahant monk (M.i.142ff).

According to the Commentary (MA.i.340), Kumarakassapa was not an arahant at the time of the preaching of the sutta. The deity was a deity of the Suddhavasa brahma world. He was one of five friends who, in the time of Kassapa Buddha, had entered the Order and who, in order to meditate uninterruptedly, had climbed a rock by means of a ladder which they had then removed, thus cutting off their return. The eldest became an arahant in three days, the second (anuthera) was this deity, who had become an anagami. The third was Pukkusati, the fourth Bahiya Daruciriya and the last Kumarakassapa. This deity was responsible for the arahantship both of Bahiya and Kassapa, for Kassapa took the Vammika Sutta as the subject of his meditations and thus developed insight.

context information

Theravāda is a major branch of Buddhism having the the Pali canon (tipitaka) as their canonical literature, which includes the vinaya-pitaka (monastic rules), the sutta-pitaka (Buddhist sermons) and the abhidhamma-pitaka (philosophy and psychology).

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