Dhammapada 25.7.p2

25.7.p2

Ekasmiñhi samaye āyasmante mahākaccāne avantijanapade kuraragharaṃ nissāya pavattapabbate viharante soṇo nāma koṭikaṇṇo upāsako therassa dhammakathāya pasīditvā therassa santike pabbajitukāmo therena ‘‘dukkaraṃ kho, soṇa, yāvajīvaṃ ekabhattaṃ ekaseyyaṃ brahmacariya’’nti vatvā dve vāre paṭikkhittopi pabbajjāya ativiya ussāhajāto tatiyavāre theraṃ yācitvā pabbajitvā appabhikkhukattā dakkhiṇāpathe tiṇṇaṃ vassānaṃ accayena laddhūpasampado satthāraṃ sammukhā daṭṭhukāmo hutvā upajjhāyaṃ āpucchitvā tena dinnaṃ sāsanaṃ gahetvā anupubbena jetavanaṃ gantvā satthāraṃ vanditvā katapaṭisanthāro satthārā ekagandhakuṭiyaṃyeva anuññātasenāsano bahudeva rattiṃ ajjhokāse vīthināmetvā rattibhāge gandhakuṭiṃ pavisitvā attano pattasenāsane taṃ rattibhāgaṃ vītināmetvā paccūsasamaye satthārā ajjhiṭṭho soḷasa aṭṭhakavaggikāni (su. ni. 772 ādayo) sabbāneva sarabhaññena abhaṇi. Athassa bhagavā sarabhaññapariyosāne abbhānumodento – ‘‘sādhu sādhu, bhikkhū’’ti sādhukāraṃ adāsi. Satthārā dinnasādhukāraṃ sutvā bhūmaṭṭhakadevā nāgā supaṇṇāti evaṃ yāva brahmalokā ekasādhukārameva ahosi.

For once upon a time, while Venerable Kaccāna the Great was in residence in the Avanti country on a mountain near the city of Kuraraghara, a lay disciple named Soṇa Kuṭikaṇṇa, convinced of the truth of the Law by the preaching of the Elder, expressed a desire to retire from the world and become a monk under the Elder. Said the Elder, “Soṇa, it is a difficult matter to eat alone and lodge alone and live a life of chastity,” and twice turned him away.

But Soṇa was determined to become a monk, and on asking the Elder the third time, succeeded in obtaining admission to the Order. On account of the scarcity of monks in the South, he spent three years in that country, and then made his full profession as a member of the Order. Desiring to see the Teacher face to face, he asked leave of his preceptor, and taking a message from him, set out for Jetavana. On reaching Jetavana, he saluted the Teacher, who greeted him in a friendly manner and permitted him to lodge in the Perfumed Chamber alone with himself.

Soṇa spent the greater part of the night in the open air, and then, entering the Perfumed Chamber, spent the rest of the night on the couch assigned to him for his own use. When the dawn came, he intoned by command of the Teacher all of the Sixteen Octads. When he had completed his recitation of the text, the Teacher thanked him and applauded him, saying, “Well done, well done, monk!” Hearing the applause bestowed upon him by the Teacher, the deities, beginning with deities of earth, Nāgas and the Supaṇṇas, and extending to the World of Brahmā, gave one shout of applause.