Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c36.2318

v2.c36.2318

In the assembly of monks and nuns, Sāriputta was declared by the Buddha foremost among those who possessed wisdom (etadaggaṃ mahāpaññānaṃ⁶). He was considered by the Buddha as inferior only to himself in wisdom.⁷ The Buddha would frequently merely suggest a topic, and Sāriputta would preach a sermon on it in detail, and thereby win the Buddha’s approval.⁸ The Buddha is recorded⁹ as speaking high praise of him: “Wise art thou, Sāriputta, comprehensive and manifold thy wisdom, joyous and swift, sharp and fastidious. Even as the eldest son of a Cakkavatti king turns the Wheel as his father hath turned it, so dost thou rightly turn the Wheel Supreme of the Dhamma, even as I have turned it.” He thus came to be called Dhammasenāpati, just as Ānanda was called Dhammabhaṇḍāgārika. The Anupada Sutta is one long eulogy of Sāriputta by the Buddha. He is there held up as the supreme example of the perfect disciple, risen to mastery and perfection in noble virtue, noble concentration, noble perception, noble deliverance.¹⁰ In the Saccavibhaṅga Sutta¹¹ he is compared to a mother-teacher, while Moggallāna is like a child’s wet nurse; Sāriputta trains in the fruits of conversion, Moggallāna trains in the highest good. In the Piṇḍapātapārisuddhi Sutta¹² the Buddha commends Sāriputta for the aloofness of his life and instructs him in the value of reflection. Other instances are given of the Buddha instructing and examining him on various topics—e.g., on bhūtam (“what has come to be”),¹³ on the five indriyas,¹⁴ and on sotāpatti.¹⁵