Part 3 - Kālāsavesiyaputra’s questions to the elderly monks

At that time, in that period, a monk named Kālāsavesiya-putra, a leading monk of the order of Arhat Pārsva, arrived at the same place where was Mahāvīra. Having arrived there he said thus to the elderly monks¹⁶⁶:

296. Monks! Knoweth not ye sāmāyika, nor its import; knoweth not ye renunciation, nor its import; knoweth not ye restraint, nor its import; knoweth not ye checking karma influx, nor its import; knoweth not ye conscience, nor its import; knoweth not ye detachment, nor its import.

At this, the elderly monks made the following reply to monk Kālāsavesiya-putra:

—Ārya! We know sāmāyika, and know we its import,...till know we detachment and its import.

At this, monk Kālāsavesiya-putra said thus to the monks:

Q. 297. Ārya! If ye knoweth sāmāyika and knoweth its import,...till ye knoweth detachment and its import, then stateth ye what is sāmāyika and its import,...till detachment and its import.

At this, the elderly monks made the following reply to the monk Kālāsavesiya-putra:

A. 297. Ārya! Our soul is sāmāyika, and our soul is the import of sāmāyika,...till our soul is the import of detachment¹⁶⁷.

Then monk Kālāsavesiya-putra said this to the monks:

Q. 298. Ārya! If thy soul be sāmāyika, and if thy soul be its import,...till thy soul be the import of detachment, then, having given up anger, pride, attachment, greed, why do ye censure them?

A. 298. Oh Kālāsavesiya-putra! For the sake of restraint.

Q. 299. Bhante! Is censure restraint? Is non-censure restraint?

A. 299. Kālāsavesiya-putra! Censure is restraint, not non-censure. Censure wipes out all imperfections, all foolishness, through knowledge. Thus our soul is dedicated to restraint, our soul grows in restraint, our soul is fixed in restraint.

On hearing the words of the elderly monks, monk Kālāsavesiya-putra got enlightened, paid homage and obeisance to them and made the following submission:

300. Bhante! Because of my ignorance about them, because I had never heard of them, never knew them, never had knowledge of them, never had seen them, never considered them, never acquired them, never had thoroughness about them, never had been told of them, never determined them, never had mention of them, never been in possession of them, never did I have respect for this import of them, nor faith in them, nor taste for them.

But, Bhante! having acquired knowledge of them, having seen them, considered them, acquired them, being thorough about them, having been told of them, having determined them, having been mentioned about them, and being in possession of them, do I now have respect for this import of them, have faith in them and taste for them.

Bhante! What you say is true. They are so.

Then the elderly monks said to Kālāsavesiya-putra:

—Ārya! They are as we say. Have respect for them, have faith in them, have taste for them.

At this, monk Kālāsavesiya-puttra paid homage and obeisance to the monks, and having paid homage and obeisance, made the following submission:

—Bhante! In the past, I have been initiated into a religion based on Four Vows; henceforth I crave to acquire, from thee religion based on Five Vows, with pratikramaṇa added, and practise it¹⁶⁸.

—Oh beloved of the gods! Do as it pleases thee. Delay not.

After this, monk Kālāsavesiya-putra paid homage and obeisance to the elderly monks, and having paid homage and obeisance, accepted the religion based on Five Vows, with pratikramaṇa added, in place of religion based on Four Vows, and practised it. He led for long years the life of a monk in the order; and as a monk, he remained nude and got tonsured; desisted from bath, cleaning teeth and using umbrella and footwear; lay on the ground on a plank or wood; uprooted hairs; practised total celibacy; visited households for begging; bore with equanimity gain or loss, words harsh and thorn-like to the senses, all situations, favourable as well as unfavourable; and all these he fulfilled in right manner, and strove sincerely for the ultimate goal. He practised these in all their imports, and having done so, (in the end), through final respirations, he became perfected, enlightened, liberated, wholly free from all bondage, and from all misery.

Notes (based on commentary of Abhayadeva Sūri):

166. Sthaviras are the senior monks, of whom three types are distinguished as follows: senior in age, i. e., about 60 years old, senior in the knowledge of the scriptures and senior in initiation, i.e., those who have spent about 20 years in the holy order.

167. The reply of the elderly monks, viz., that sāmāyika, mini-vows, restraint, control of senses and of mind, conscience, vyutsarga and their import are the soul, is given from the stand-point of niścaya naya. From the standpoint of vyavahāra naya, the items may be interpreted as follows:

Sāmāyika—equanimity; concentrating on things spiritual for 48 minutes.

Its import—checking influx and exhausting past karma.

Pratyākhyāna—mini-vows practised daily.

Its import—checking fetters to the soul.

Saṃyama—restraint towards all living beings.

Its import—to be free from fetters to the soul.

Saṃvara—full control of organs of senses and mind.

Its import—checking their inclination.

Viveka—knowledge of what is fit to be discarded and fit to be accepted.

Its import—to discard the unworthy, and to accept the worthy.

Vyutsarga—same as kāyotsarga, or restraining physical movement.

Its import—to be free from all movement and attachments.

168. The four great vows at the time of Pārśva were: desisting from injury or slaughter, desisting from untruth, desisting from usurpation or improper acceptance, and desisting from what was called bahiddhādāna which covered two items, viz., desisting from possession and desisting from sex. When these two items were separated and made distinct by Mahāvīra, the four vows became five. The emphasis on desisting from sex behaviour had become particularly important at the time of Mahāvīra, since people had become more crafty by this time.