{"id":"mn47","title":"The Inquirer","languageCodes":["en","pi"],"languageNotes":{"en":"Bhikkhu Sujato · CC0","pi":"Mahāsaṅgīti edition · SuttaCentral"},"chapters":[{"id":"mn47","title":"The Inquirer","units":[{"id":"mn47:0","sourceIds":["mn47:0.1","mn47:0.2"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Majjhima Nikāya 47\nVīmaṁsakasutta","en":"Middle Discourses 47\nThe Inquirer"}},{"id":"mn47:1","sourceIds":["mn47:1.1","mn47:1.2","mn47:1.3","mn47:1.4","mn47:1.5","mn47:1.6"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Evaṁ me sutaṁ—\nekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā sāvatthiyaṁ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.\nTatra kho bhagavā bhikkhū āmantesi:\n“bhikkhavo”ti.\n“Bhadante”ti te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ.\nBhagavā etadavoca:","en":"So I have heard.\nAt one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery.\nThere the Buddha addressed the mendicants,\n“Mendicants!”\n“Venerable sir,” they replied.\nThe Buddha said this:"}},{"id":"mn47:2","sourceIds":["mn47:2.1"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"“vīmaṁsakena, bhikkhave, bhikkhunā parassa cetopariyāyaṁ ajānantena tathāgate samannesanā kātabbā ‘sammāsambuddho vā no vā’ iti viññāṇāyā”ti.","en":"“Mendicants, a mendicant who is an inquirer, unable to encompass another’s mind, should scrutinize the Realized One to understand whether he is a fully awakened Buddha or not.”"}},{"id":"mn47:3","sourceIds":["mn47:3.1","mn47:3.2","mn47:3.3","mn47:3.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"“Bhagavaṁmūlakā no, bhante, dhammā, bhagavaṁnettikā bhagavaṁpaṭisaraṇā; sādhu vata, bhante, bhagavantaṁyeva paṭibhātu etassa bhāsitassa attho; bhagavato sutvā bhikkhū dhāressantī”ti.\n“Tena hi, bhikkhave, suṇātha, sādhukaṁ manasi karotha, bhāsissāmī”ti.\n“Evaṁ, bhante”ti kho te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ.\nBhagavā etadavoca:","en":"“Our teachings are rooted in the Buddha. He is our guide and our refuge. Sir, may the Buddha himself please clarify the meaning of this. The mendicants will listen and remember it.”\n“Well then, mendicants, listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.”\n“Yes, sir,” they replied.\nThe Buddha said this:"}},{"id":"mn47:4","sourceIds":["mn47:4.1","mn47:4.2","mn47:4.3","mn47:4.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"“Vīmaṁsakena, bhikkhave, bhikkhunā parassa cetopariyāyaṁ ajānantena dvīsu dhammesu tathāgato samannesitabbo cakkhusotaviññeyyesu dhammesu:\n‘ye saṅkiliṭṭhā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, saṁvijjanti vā te tathāgatassa no vā’ti?\nTamenaṁ samannesamāno evaṁ jānāti:\n‘ye saṅkiliṭṭhā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, na te tathāgatassa saṁvijjantī’ti.","en":"“Mendicants, a mendicant who is an inquirer, unable to encompass another’s mind, should scrutinize the Realized One for two things—things that can be seen and heard:\n‘Can anything corrupt be seen or heard in the Realized One or not?’\nScrutinizing him they find that\nnothing corrupt can be seen or heard in the Realized One."}},{"id":"mn47:5","sourceIds":["mn47:5.1","mn47:5.2","mn47:5.3","mn47:5.4","mn47:5.5"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Yato naṁ samannesamāno evaṁ jānāti:\n‘ye saṅkiliṭṭhā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, na te tathāgatassa saṁvijjantī’ti, tato naṁ uttariṁ samannesati:\n‘ye vītimissā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, saṁvijjanti vā te tathāgatassa no vā’ti?\nTamenaṁ samannesamāno evaṁ jānāti:\n‘ye vītimissā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, na te tathāgatassa saṁvijjantī’ti.","en":"They scrutinize further:\n‘Can anything mixed be seen or heard in the Realized One or not?’\nScrutinizing him they find that\nnothing mixed can be seen or heard in the Realized One."}},{"id":"mn47:6","sourceIds":["mn47:6.1","mn47:6.2","mn47:6.3","mn47:6.4","mn47:6.5"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Yato naṁ samannesamāno evaṁ jānāti:\n‘ye vītimissā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, na te tathāgatassa saṁvijjantī’ti, tato naṁ uttariṁ samannesati:\n‘ye vodātā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, saṁvijjanti vā te tathāgatassa no vā’ti?\nTamenaṁ samannesamāno evaṁ jānāti:\n‘ye vodātā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, saṁvijjanti te tathāgatassā’ti.","en":"They scrutinize further:\n‘Can anything clean be seen or heard in the Realized One or not?’\nScrutinizing him they find that\nclean things can be seen and heard in the Realized One."}},{"id":"mn47:7","sourceIds":["mn47:7.1","mn47:7.2","mn47:7.3","mn47:7.4","mn47:7.5"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Yato naṁ samannesamāno evaṁ jānāti:\n‘ye vodātā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, saṁvijjanti te tathāgatassā’ti, tato naṁ uttariṁ samannesati:\n‘dīgharattaṁ samāpanno ayamāyasmā imaṁ kusalaṁ dhammaṁ, udāhu ittarasamāpanno’ti?\nTamenaṁ samannesamāno evaṁ jānāti:\n‘dīgharattaṁ samāpanno ayamāyasmā imaṁ kusalaṁ dhammaṁ, nāyamāyasmā ittarasamāpanno’ti.","en":"They scrutinize further:\n‘Did the venerable attain this skillful state a long time ago, or just recently?’\nScrutinizing him they find that\nthe venerable attained this skillful state a long time ago, not just recently."}},{"id":"mn47:8","sourceIds":["mn47:8.1","mn47:8.2","mn47:8.3","mn47:8.4","mn47:8.5","mn47:8.6","mn47:8.7"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Yato naṁ samannesamāno evaṁ jānāti:\n‘dīgharattaṁ samāpanno ayamāyasmā imaṁ kusalaṁ dhammaṁ, nāyamāyasmā ittarasamāpanno’ti, tato naṁ uttariṁ samannesati:\n‘ñattajjhāpanno ayamāyasmā bhikkhu yasappatto, saṁvijjantassa idhekacce ādīnavā’ti?\nNa tāva, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno idhekacce ādīnavā saṁvijjanti yāva na ñattajjhāpanno hoti yasappatto.\nYato ca kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu ñattajjhāpanno hoti yasappatto, athassa idhekacce ādīnavā saṁvijjanti.\nTamenaṁ samannesamāno evaṁ jānāti:\n‘ñattajjhāpanno ayamāyasmā bhikkhu yasappatto, nāssa idhekacce ādīnavā saṁvijjantī’ti.","en":"They scrutinize further:\n‘Are certain dangers found in that venerable mendicant who has achieved fame and renown?’\nFor, mendicants, so long as a mendicant has not achieved fame and renown, certain dangers are not found in them.\nBut when they achieve fame and renown, those dangers appear.\nScrutinizing him they find that\nthose dangers are not found in that venerable mendicant who has achieved fame and renown."}},{"id":"mn47:9","sourceIds":["mn47:9.1","mn47:9.2","mn47:9.3","mn47:9.4","mn47:9.5","mn47:9.6","mn47:9.7"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Yato naṁ samannesamāno evaṁ jānāti:\n‘ñattajjhāpanno ayamāyasmā bhikkhu yasappatto, nāssa idhekacce ādīnavā saṁvijjantī’ti, tato naṁ uttariṁ samannesati:\n‘abhayūparato ayamāyasmā, nāyamāyasmā bhayūparato;\nvītarāgattā kāme na sevati khayā rāgassā’ti?\nTamenaṁ samannesamāno evaṁ jānāti:\n‘abhayūparato ayamāyasmā, nāyamāyasmā bhayūparato;\nvītarāgattā kāme na sevati khayā rāgassā’ti.","en":"They scrutinize further:\n‘Is this venerable securely stilled or insecurely stilled?\nIs the reason they don’t indulge in sensual pleasures that they’re free of greed because greed has ended?’\nScrutinizing him they find that\nthat venerable is securely stilled, not insecurely stilled.\nThe reason they don’t indulge in sensual pleasures is that they’re free of greed because greed has ended."}},{"id":"mn47:10","sourceIds":["mn47:10.1","mn47:10.2","mn47:10.3","mn47:10.4","mn47:10.5","mn47:10.6","mn47:10.7","mn47:10.8"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Tañce, bhikkhave, bhikkhuṁ pare evaṁ puccheyyuṁ:\n‘ke panāyasmato ākārā, ke anvayā, yenāyasmā evaṁ vadesi—\nabhayūparato ayamāyasmā, nāyamāyasmā bhayūparato;\nvītarāgattā kāme na sevati khayā rāgassā’ti.\nSammā byākaramāno, bhikkhave, bhikkhu evaṁ byākareyya:\n‘tathā hi pana ayamāyasmā saṅghe vā viharanto eko vā viharanto, ye ca tattha sugatā ye ca tattha duggatā, ye ca tattha gaṇamanusāsanti, ye ca idhekacce āmisesu sandissanti, ye ca idhekacce āmisena anupalittā, nāyamāyasmā taṁ tena avajānāti.\nSammukhā kho pana metaṁ bhagavato sutaṁ sammukhā paṭiggahitaṁ—\nabhayūparatohamasmi, nāhamasmi bhayūparato, vītarāgattā kāme na sevāmi khayā rāgassā’ti.","en":"If others should ask that mendicant,\n‘But what reason and evidence does the venerable have for saying this?’\nAnswering rightly, the mendicant should say,\n‘Because, whether that venerable is staying in a community or alone, some people there are in a good state or a sorry state, some instruct a group, and some are seen among pleasures of the flesh while others remain unsullied. Yet that venerable doesn’t look down on them for that.\nAlso, I have heard and learned this in the presence of the Buddha:\n“I am securely stilled, not insecurely stilled. The reason I don’t indulge in sensual pleasures is that I’m free of greed because greed has ended.”’"}},{"id":"mn47:11","sourceIds":["mn47:11.1","mn47:11.2","mn47:11.3","mn47:11.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Tatra, bhikkhave, tathāgatova uttariṁ paṭipucchitabbo:\n‘ye saṅkiliṭṭhā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, saṁvijjanti vā te tathāgatassa no vā’ti?\nByākaramāno, bhikkhave, tathāgato evaṁ byākareyya:\n‘ye saṅkiliṭṭhā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, na te tathāgatassa saṁvijjantī’ti.","en":"Next, they should ask the Realized One himself about this,\n‘Can anything corrupt be seen or heard in the Realized One or not?’\nThe Realized One would answer,\n‘Nothing corrupt can be seen or heard in the Realized One.’"}},{"id":"mn47:12","sourceIds":["mn47:12.1","mn47:12.2","mn47:12.3"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"‘Ye vītimissā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, saṁvijjanti vā te tathāgatassa no vā’ti?\nByākaramāno, bhikkhave, tathāgato evaṁ byākareyya:\n‘ye vītimissā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, na te tathāgatassa saṁvijjantī’ti.","en":"‘Can anything mixed be seen or heard in the Realized One or not?’\nThe Realized One would answer,\n‘Nothing mixed can be seen or heard in the Realized One.’"}},{"id":"mn47:13","sourceIds":["mn47:13.1","mn47:13.2","mn47:13.3","mn47:13.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"‘Ye vodātā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, saṁvijjanti vā te tathāgatassa no vā’ti?\nByākaramāno, bhikkhave, tathāgato evaṁ byākareyya:\n‘ye vodātā cakkhusotaviññeyyā dhammā, saṁvijjanti te tathāgatassa;\netaṁ pathohamasmi, etaṁ gocaro, no ca tena tammayo’ti.","en":"‘Can anything clean be seen or heard in the Realized One or not?’\nThe Realized One would answer,\n‘Clean things can be seen and heard in the Realized One.\nI am the scope and the range of that, but I am not determined by that.’"}},{"id":"mn47:14","sourceIds":["mn47:14.1","mn47:14.2","mn47:14.3","mn47:14.4"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Evaṁvādiṁ kho, bhikkhave, satthāraṁ arahati sāvako upasaṅkamituṁ dhammassavanāya.\nTassa satthā dhammaṁ deseti uttaruttariṁ paṇītapaṇītaṁ kaṇhasukkasappaṭibhāgaṁ.\nYathā yathā kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno satthā dhammaṁ deseti uttaruttariṁ paṇītapaṇītaṁ kaṇhasukkasappaṭibhāgaṁ tathā tathā so tasmiṁ dhamme abhiññāya idhekaccaṁ dhammaṁ dhammesu niṭṭhaṁ gacchati, satthari pasīdati:\n‘sammāsambuddho bhagavā, svākkhāto bhagavatā dhammo, suppaṭipanno saṅgho’ti.","en":"A disciple ought to approach a teacher who has such a doctrine in order to listen to the teaching.\nThe teacher explains Dhamma with its higher and higher stages, with its better and better stages, with its dark and bright sides.\nWhen they directly know a certain principle of those teachings, in accordance with how they were taught, the mendicant comes to a conclusion about the teachings. They have confidence in the Teacher:\n‘The Blessed One is a fully awakened Buddha! The teaching is well explained! The Saṅgha is practicing well!’"}},{"id":"mn47:15","sourceIds":["mn47:15.1","mn47:15.2","mn47:15.3","mn47:15.4","mn47:15.5","mn47:15.6","mn47:15.7","mn47:15.8"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Tañce, bhikkhave, bhikkhuṁ pare evaṁ puccheyyuṁ:\n‘ke panāyasmato ākārā, ke anvayā, yenāyasmā evaṁ vadesi—\nsammāsambuddho bhagavā, svākkhāto bhagavatā dhammo, suppaṭipanno saṅgho’ti?\nSammā byākaramāno, bhikkhave, bhikkhu evaṁ byākareyya:\n‘idhāhaṁ, āvuso, yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkamiṁ dhammassavanāya.\nTassa me bhagavā dhammaṁ deseti uttaruttariṁ paṇītapaṇītaṁ kaṇhasukkasappaṭibhāgaṁ.\nYathā yathā me, āvuso, bhagavā dhammaṁ deseti uttaruttariṁ paṇītapaṇītaṁ kaṇhasukkasappaṭibhāgaṁ tathā tathāhaṁ tasmiṁ dhamme abhiññāya idhekaccaṁ dhammaṁ dhammesu niṭṭhamagamaṁ, satthari pasīdiṁ—\nsammāsambuddho bhagavā, svākkhāto bhagavatā, dhammo, suppaṭipanno saṅgho’ti.","en":"If others should ask that mendicant,\n‘But what reason and evidence does the venerable have for saying this?’\nAnswering rightly, the mendicant should say,\n‘Reverends, I approached the Buddha to listen to the teaching.\nHe explained Dhamma with its higher and higher stages, with its better and better stages, with its dark and bright sides.\nWhen I directly knew a certain principle of those teachings, in accordance with how I was taught, I came to a conclusion about the teachings. I had confidence in the Teacher:\n“The Blessed One is a fully awakened Buddha! The teaching is well explained! The Saṅgha is practicing well!”’"}},{"id":"mn47:16","sourceIds":["mn47:16.1","mn47:16.2","mn47:16.3","mn47:16.4","mn47:16.5","mn47:16.6","mn47:16.7"],"kind":"text","text":{"pi":"Yassa kassaci, bhikkhave, imehi ākārehi imehi padehi imehi byañjanehi tathāgate saddhā niviṭṭhā hoti mūlajātā patiṭṭhitā, ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, ākāravatī saddhā dassanamūlikā;\ndaḷhā asaṁhāriyā samaṇena vā brāhmaṇena vā devena vā mārena vā brahmunā vā kenaci vā lokasmiṁ.\nEvaṁ kho, bhikkhave, tathāgate dhammasamannesanā hoti.\nEvañca pana tathāgato dhammatāsusamanniṭṭho hotī”ti.\nIdamavoca bhagavā.\nAttamanā te bhikkhū bhagavato bhāsitaṁ abhinandunti.\nVīmaṁsakasuttaṁ niṭṭhitaṁ sattamaṁ.","en":"When someone’s faith is settled, rooted, and planted in the Realized One in this manner, with these words and phrases, it’s said to be grounded faith that’s based on evidence.\nIt is strong, and cannot be shifted by any ascetic or brahmin or god or Māra or divinity or by anyone in the world.\nThat is how there is legitimate scrutiny of the Realized One,\nand that is how the Realized One is legitimately well-scrutinized.”\nThat is what the Buddha said.\nSatisfied, the mendicants approved what the Buddha said."}}]}],"sourceRevision":"afdafa92450cfe7573b280da50382888323666d2","sourceUrl":"https://suttacentral.net/mn47/en/sujato","licence":"CC0 1.0","licenceUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/","editionNote":"Full supplied source file; inherited abbreviations are preserved. Not a reconstructed expansion of every repetition. No Malay or Mandarin translation is implied."}