Mahavagga, Khandaka 10, Chapter 6

1. And the venerable Upāli^[1] went to the place where the Blessed One was. Having approached him and respectfully saluted the Blessed One, he sat down near him. Sitting near him the venerable Upāli said to the Blessed One: 'Lord, if the Saṃgha, regarding a matter which has given origin to altercations (&c., down to:) to schisms among the Saṃgha, declares the re-establishment of concord, without having inquired into that matter and without having got to the bottom of it, is this declaration, Lord, lawful?'

'If the Saṃgha, Upāli, regarding a matter (&c., down to:) declares the re-establishment of concord, without having inquired into that matter and without having got to the bottom of it,—this declaration, Upāli, is unlawful.'

'But if the Saṃgha, Lord, regarding a matter (&c., down to:) declares the re-establishment of concord, after having inquired -into that matter and after having got to the bottom of it,—is this declaration, Lord, lawful?'

'If the Saṃgha, Upāli, (&c., down to:) declares the re-establishment of concord, after having inquired into that matter and after having got to the bottom of it,—this declaration, Upāli, is lawful.'

2. 'How many kinds are there, Lord, of the re-establishment of concord among a Sāṃgha?'

'There are the following two kinds, Upāli, of re-establishment of concord among a Saṃgha: Con-cord may be re-established, Upāli, in the letter, but not in the spirit, and concord may be' re-established both in the spirit and in the letter.

And in what case, Upāli, is concord re-established in the letter,' but not in the spirit? If the Saṃgha, Upāli, (&c., as above) declares the re-establishment of concord, without having inquired into that matter and without having got to the bottom of it,—in this case, Upāli, concord is said to have been re-established in the letter, but not in the spirit.

'And in what case, Upāli, is concord re-established both in the spirit and in the letter? If the Saṃgha. Upāli, (&c., as above) declares the re-establishment of concord, after having inquired into that matter and after having got to the bottom of it,—in this case, Upāli, concord is said to have been re-established both in the spirit and in the letter. These, Upāli, are the two kinds of re-establishment of concord among a Saṃgha.'

3. And the venerable Upāli rose from his seat, adjusted his upper robe so as to cover one shoulder, bent his clasped hands towards the Blessed One, and addressed the Blessed One in the following stanzas:

'In the affairs of the Saṃgha and in its consultations, in the business that arises and in trials, what sort of man is then most wanted? what Bhikkhu is then most worthy of the leadership?'

'Above all he who is blameless in his moral conduct, who watches over his behaviour, whose senses are well controlled, whom his rivals do not reprove according to the law,—for there is nothing for which they could censure him,

'Such a man, who abides in blameless conduct, is well versed (in the doctrine), and mighty are his words. He is not perplexed, nor does he tremble, when he enters an assembly^[2]. He does not disparage his cause by vain talk.

'So also when he is asked questions in the assemblies, he does not hesitate, and is not troubled. By his timely words, that solve the questions, the clever man gladdens the assembly of the wise.

'Full of reverence for elder Bhikkhus, well versed in what his teacher has taught him, able to find out (the right), a master of speech, and skilled in making his rivals fail,

'By whom his rivals are annihilated, by whom many people receive instruction,—he does not for-sake the cause he has taken up, (nor does he become tired) of answering questions and putting questions without hurting others;

'If he is charged with a mission, he takes it upon himself properly, and in the business of the Saṃgha (he does) what they tell him^[3];—when a number of Bhikkhus despatches him (somewhere), he obeys their command, but he does not think therefrom, "It is I who do this;"—

'In what cases a Bhikkhu commits an offence, what an offence is, and how it is atoned for, both these expositions are well known to him^[4]; he is versed in the rules about offence and atonement;—

'By what deeds a Bhikkhu brings expulsion upon himself, in what cases one has been expelled, and the rehabilitation of a person who has undergone that penance,—all this he also knows, well versed in the Vibhaṅgas;—

'Full of reverence for elder Bhikkhus, for the young, for the Theras, for the middle-aged, bringing welfare to many people, a clever one:—such a Bhikkhu is the one who is then worthy of the leadership.'

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End of the tenth Khandhaka, which contains the story of the Bhikkhus of Kosambī.

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End of the Mahāvagga.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See the note at IX, 6, 1.

[2]:

The same idea is put into the Buddha's mouth in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta I, 23, 24.

[3]:

We propose to read āhu naṃ yathā. This seems more satisfactory than the reading and the explanation found in Buddhaghosa's Aṭṭhakathā: 'yathā nāma āhunaṃ āhutipiṇḍaṃ samuggaṇhanti (sic) evaṃ api so somanassajāten’ eva cetasā saṃghassa kiccesu samuggaho.'

[4]:

For 'Exposition' the text has vibhaṅga, about the technical meaning of which see our Introduction, pp. xv seq. 'Both' refers to the Bhikkhuvibhaṅga and Bhikkhunīvibhaṅga. In the text, ubhayassa must be corrected into ubhay’ assa, i.e. ubhaye assa.