1. And the venerable Upâli 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 Upâli said to the Blessed One: 'Lord, if the Samgha, regarding a matter which has given origin to altercations (&c., down to:) to schisms among the Samgha, 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 Samgha, Upâli, 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, Upâli, is unlawful.'
'But if the Samgha, 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 Samgha, Upâli, (&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, Upâli, is lawful.'
2. 'How many kinds are there, Lord, of the re-establishment of concord among a Sâmgha?'
'There are the following two kinds, Upâli, of re-establishment of concord among a Samgha: Con-cord may be re-established, Upâli, 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, Upâli, is concord re-established in the letter,' but not in the spirit? If the Samgha, Upâli, (&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, Upâli, concord is said to have been re-established in the letter, but not in the spirit.
'And in what case, Upâli, is concord re-established both in the spirit and in the letter? If the Samgha. Upâli, (&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, Upâli, concord is said to have been re-established both in the spirit and in the letter. These, Upâli, are the two kinds of re-establishment of concord among a Samgha.'
3. And the venerable Upâli 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 Samgha 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 1. 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 Samgha (he does) what they tell him 2;--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 1; 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 Kosambî.
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End of the Mahâvagga.
322:1 See the note at IX, 6, 1.
324:1 The same idea is put into the Buddha's mouth in the Mahâparinibbâna Sutta I, 23, 24.
324:2 We propose to read âhu nam yathâ. This seems more satisfactory than the reading and the explanation found in Buddhaghosa's Atthakathâ: 'yathâ nâma âhunam âhutipindam samugganhanti (sic) evam api so somanassagâten’ eva ketasâ samghassa kikkesu samuggaho.'
325:1 For 'Exposition' the text has vibhaṅga, about the technical meaning of which see our Introduction, pp. xv seq. 'Both' refers to the Bhikkhuvibhaṅga and Bhikkhunîvibhaṅga. In the text, ubhayassa must be corrected into ubhay’ assa, i.e. ubhaye assa.