Dighanikaya 22.373

22.373

Evaṃ me sutanti mahāsatipaṭṭhānasuttaṃ. Tatrāyamapubbapadavaṇṇanā – ekāyano ayaṃ, bhikkhave, maggoti kasmā bhagavā idaṃ suttamabhāsi? Kururaṭṭhavāsīnaṃ gambhīradesanāpaṭiggahaṇasamatthatāya. Kururaṭṭhavāsino kira bhikkhū bhikkhuniyo upāsakā upāsikāyo utupaccayādisampannattā tassa raṭṭhassa sappāyautupaccayasevanena niccaṃ kallasarīrā kallacittā ca honti. Te cittasarīrakallatāya anuggahitapaññābalā gambhīrakathaṃ paṭiggahetuṃ samatthā honti. Tena nesaṃ bhagavā imaṃ gambhīradesanāpaṭiggahaṇasamatthataṃ sampassanto ekavīsatiyā ṭhānesu kammaṭṭhānaṃ arahatte pakkhipitvā idaṃ gambhīratthaṃ mahāsatipaṭṭhānasuttaṃ abhāsi. Yathā hi puriso suvaṇṇacaṅkoṭakaṃ labhitvā tattha nānāpupphāni pakkhipeyya, suvaṇṇamañjūsaṃ vā pana labhitvā sattaratanāni pakkhipeyya, evaṃ bhagavā kururaṭṭhavāsiparisaṃ labhitvā gambhīradesanaṃ desesi. Tenevettha aññānipi gambhīratthāni imasmiṃ dīghanikāye mahānidānaṃ majjhimanikāye satipaṭṭhānaṃ, sāropamaṃ, rukkhopamaṃ, raṭṭhapālaṃ, māgaṇḍiyaṃ, āneñjasappāyanti aññānipi suttāni desesi.

"Thus have I heard": this is the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. Here, this is the explanation of the unfamiliar terms: "This is the direct path, monks": why did the Blessed One deliver this discourse? Because the inhabitants of the Kuru country were capable of receiving a profound teaching. For the monks, nuns, male lay followers, and female lay followers inhabiting the Kuru country, on account of the excellence of the climate, food, and other conditions in that country, were always sound in body and sound in mind through resorting to a wholesome climate and suitable requisites. Their power of wisdom being supported by the soundness of their minds and bodies, they were capable of receiving profound discourse. Therefore, seeing this capacity of theirs to receive a profound teaching, the Blessed One delivered this Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta of profound meaning, having cast the meditation subject into arahantship at twenty-one places. For just as a man, having obtained a golden basket, might put various flowers into it, or having obtained a golden casket, might put the seven jewels into it, so too the Blessed One, having obtained an assembly of inhabitants of the Kuru country, taught a profound teaching. For that very reason, he also taught other discourses of profound meaning here: in this Dīghanikāya, the Mahānidāna; in the Majjhimanikāya, the Satipaṭṭhāna, the Sāropama, the Rukkhopama, the Raṭṭhapāla, the Māgaṇḍiya, and the Āneñjasappāya.