Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge c13.45

c13.45

(644) Some Canonical texts are referred to in the sequel apparently intended to show that the Buddha claimed omniscience and/or was acclaimed omniscient. There is a reference to the Kevaddha Sutta, where the Buddha claimed to know the answer to a question, which even Brahmā was ignorant of (D. I 223). The parable of the elephant and the blind men (*v. supra*, 599) is mentioned with the remark, 'human wisdom always falls short in some point. To be saved one must refer to the Omniscient' (*loc. cit.*) Lastly, there is a reference to a passage in the Anguttara Nikāya (presumably A. IV.163 ff.), where the Buddha is compared to a granary, whence men bring every good word, followed by the remark that 'they show beyond doubt that Buddhism is a faith and creed' (*loc. cit.*). Keith quotes these same passages to make the same point.¹