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104
MAHÂVAGGA.
1, 7, 4.
4. At that time the Blessed One, having arisen in the night, at dawn was walking up and down in the open air. And the Blessed One saw Yasa, the noble youth, coming from afar. And when he saw him, he left the place where he was walking, and sat down on a seat laid out (for him). And Yasa, the noble youth, gave utterance near the Blessed One to that solemn exclamation : 'Alas! what distress; alas! what danger!' And the Blessed One said to Yasa, the noble youth: 'Here is no distress, Yasa, here is no danger. Come here, Yasa, sit down; I will teach you the Truth (Dhamma).'
5. And Yasa, the noble youth, when he heard that there was no distress, and that there was no danger, became glad and joyful; and he put off his gilt slippers, and went to the place where the Blessed One was; having approached him and having respectfully saluted the Blessed One, he sat down near him. When Yasa, the noble youth, was sitting near him, the Blessed One preached to him in due course: that is to say, he talked about the merits obtained by alms-giving, about the duties of morality, about heaven, about the evils, the vanity, and the sinfulness of desires, and about the blessings of the abandonment of desire 1.
6. When the Blessed One saw that the mind of Yasa, the noble youth, was prepared, impressible, free from obstacles (to understanding the Truth), elated, and believing, then he preached what is the principal doctrine of the Buddhas, namely, Suffering,
1 Nekkhamma is neither naishkramya nor naishkarmya, but naishkâmya. Itivuttaka, fol. khi (Phayre MS.): kâmânam etam nissaranam yad idam nekkhammam, râpânam etam nissaranam yad idam aruppam.
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| SR No. | 007684 |
| Book Title | Vinaya Texts |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | T W Rhys Davids, Hermann Oldenberg |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1881 |
| Total Pages | 2523 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 47 MB |