130 (1)
“Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu endowed with faith, rightly aspiring, should aspire thus: ‘May I become like Sāriputta and Moggallāna!’ This is the standard and criterion319 for my bhikkhu disciples, that is, Sāriputta and Moggallāna.”
131 (2)
“Bhikkhus, a bhikkhunī endowed with faith, rightly aspiring, should aspire thus: ‘May I become like the bhikkhunīs Khemā and Uppalavaṇṇā!’ This is the standard and criterion for my bhikkhunī disciples, that is, the bhikkhunīs Khemā and Uppalavaṇṇā.”320
132 (3)
“Bhikkhus, a male lay follower endowed with faith, rightly aspiring, should aspire thus: ‘May I become like Citta the householder and Hatthaka of Āḷavī!’ This is the standard and criterion for my male lay disciples, that is, Citta the householder and Hatthaka of Āḷavī.”321
133 (4)
“Bhikkhus, a female lay follower endowed with faith, rightly aspiring, should aspire thus: ‘May I become like the female lay followers Khujjuttarā and Veḷukaṇṭakī Nandamātā!’ [89] This is the standard and criterion for my female lay disciples, that is, the female lay followers Khujjuttarā and Veḷukaṇṭakī Nandamātā.”322
134 (5)323
“Bhikkhus, possessing two qualities, the foolish, incompetent, bad person maintains himself in a maimed and injured condition; he is blameworthy and subject to reproach by the wise; and he generates much demerit. What two? Without investigating and scrutinizing, he speaks praise of one who deserves dispraise. Without investigating and scrutinizing, he speaks dispraise of one who deserves praise. Possessing these two qualities, the foolish, incompetent, bad person maintains himself in a maimed and injured condition; he is blameworthy and subject to reproach by the wise; and he generates much demerit.
“Bhikkhus, possessing two qualities, the wise, competent, good person preserves himself unmaimed and uninjured; he is blameless and beyond reproach by the wise; and he generates much merit. What two? Having investigated and scrutinized, he speaks dispraise of one who deserves dispraise. Having investigated and scrutinized, he speaks praise of one who deserves praise. Possessing these two qualities, the wise, competent, good person preserves himself unmaimed and uninjured; he is blameless and beyond reproach by the wise; and he generates much merit.”
135 (6)324
“Bhikkhus, possessing two qualities, the foolish, incompetent, bad person maintains himself in a maimed and injured condition; he is blameworthy and subject to reproach by the wise; and he generates much demerit. What two? Without investigating and scrutinizing, he believes a matter that merits suspicion. Without investigating and scrutinizing, he is suspicious about a matter that merits belief. Possessing these two qualities, the foolish, incompetent, bad person maintains himself in a maimed and injured condition; he is blameworthy and subject to reproach by the wise; and he generates much demerit. [90]
“Bhikkhus, possessing two qualities, the wise, competent, good person preserves himself unmaimed and uninjured; he is blameless and beyond reproach by the wise; and he generates much merit. What two? Having investigated and scrutinized, he is suspicious about a matter that merits suspicion. Having investigated and scrutinized, he believes a matter that merits belief. Possessing these two qualities, the wise, competent, good person preserves himself unmaimed and uninjured; he is blameless and beyond reproach by the wise; and he generates much merit.”
136 (7)
“Bhikkhus, behaving wrongly toward two persons, the foolish, incompetent, bad person maintains himself in a maimed and injured condition; he is blameworthy and subject to reproach by the wise; and he generates much demerit. What two? His mother and his father. Behaving wrongly toward these two persons, the foolish, incompetent, bad person maintains himself in a maimed and injured condition; he is blameworthy and subject to reproach by the wise; and he generates much demerit.
“Bhikkhus, behaving rightly toward two persons, the wise, competent, good person preserves himself unmaimed and uninjured; he is blameless and beyond reproach among the wise; and he generates much merit. What two? His mother and his father. Behaving rightly toward these two persons, the wise, competent, good person preserves himself unmaimed and uninjured; he is blameless and beyond reproach by the wise; and he generates much merit.”
137 (8)
“Bhikkhus, behaving wrongly toward two persons, the foolish, incompetent, bad person maintains himself in a maimed and injured condition; he is blameworthy and subject to reproach by the wise; and he generates much demerit. What two? The Tathāgata and a disciple of the Tathāgata.325 Behaving wrongly toward these two persons, the foolish, incompetent, bad person maintains himself in a maimed and injured condition; he is blameworthy and subject to reproach by the wise; and he generates much demerit. [91]
“Bhikkhus, behaving rightly toward two persons, the wise, competent, good person preserves himself unmaimed and uninjured; he is blameless and beyond reproach among the wise; and he generates much merit. What two? The Tathāgata and a disciple of the Tathāgata. Behaving rightly toward these two persons, the wise, competent, good person preserves himself unmaimed and uninjured; he is blameless and beyond reproach by the wise; and he generates much merit.”
138 (9)
“Bhikkhus, there are these two things. What two? Cleansing one’s own mind and one does not cling to anything in the world.326 These are the two things.”
139 (10)
“Bhikkhus, there are these two things. What two? Anger and hostility. These are the two things.”
“Bhikkhus, there are these two things. What two? The removal of anger and the removal of hostility. These are the two things.”
319 Esā bhikkhave tulā etaṃ pamāṇaṃ. Mp: “Just as one weighing gold or grain uses a scale, taking that as the standard, the measure, or criterion, so this is the standard and criterion for my bhikkhu disciples, namely, Sāriputta and Moggallāna. It is possible to weigh or measure oneself by aspiring, ‘May I be like them in regard to wisdom or psychic potency!’ But not in any other way.”
320 The two chief bhikkhunī disciples respectively in regard to wisdom and psychic potency. See 1:236, 1:237.
321 See 1:250, 1:251.
322 See 1:260, 1:262. The latter’s name is also spelled Veḷukaṇṭakiyā and Veḷukaṇdakī.
323 Ce divides each statement about the fool and the wise person in 2:134–37 into two suttas, whereas Be and Ee treat them as contrasting parts of a single sutta. Thus where Be and Ee count four suttas here, Ce counts eight. Parallels in later nipātas (3:9, 4:3, 10:225–28) even in Ce support Be and Ee, which I therefore follow.
324 Ce mistakenly numbers the first paragraph of this sutta as 6 within the vagga, thus assigning 6 to two successive suttas. This should be corrected to 7, and the following sutta numbers in the vagga should all be increased by one.
325 Mp mentions Devadatta in relation to the Tathāgata and Kokālika in relation to the chief disciples (see 10:89; also SN 6:9–10, I 149– 53; Sn 3:10, pp. 123–31; Vin II 196–200). On the positive side, Mp mentions respectively Ānanda, and the cowherd Nanda and the financier’s son.
326 Sacittavodānañca na ca kiñci loke upādiyati. I mirror the text’s dissonant mixture of grammatical forms.