..續本文上一頁nd in those regions is rough and hard on the feet. (3) Monks are permitted to bathe frequently, as the people of Avanti attach great importance to bathing. (4) Sheepskins and goatskins, etc., could be used as coverlets. (5) Robes could be accepted on behalf of a monk who has left the district, and the ten days” period during which (under the rule) an extra robe could be kept would begin only when the robe actually reaches his hands.
4. Various Incidents
Neither the suttas nor the commentaries offer us abundant biographical information about the Venerable Maha Kaccana”s life in the Sangha. They focus, rather, on his role as teacher, especially on his detailed expositions of the Buddha”s brief statements. From the settings (nidana) to the suttas in which Maha Kaccana appears, we can infer that after his ordination he spent most of his time in Avanti. Usually, it seems, he dwelt quietly in seclusion, though when occasion arose he gave instruction to others. Periodically he would go to visit the Buddha at his main places of residence, and it seems likely that he also sometimes accompanied him on his preaching tours. The three suttas of the Majjhima Nikaya in which Maha Kaccana appears in the role of expositor open at three different locales — in Kapilavatthu, Rajagaha, and Savatthi. As these cities were, relative to the geographical extent of the Ganges Valley, widely separated from each other, and as all were far from Avanti, this suggests either that the Venerable Maha Kaccana spent long periods accompanying the Buddha on his journeys or that he would travel to the different monastic centers where the Buddha resided when he heard that the Master intended to stay there for some time.
We do not find in the texts indications that Maha Kaccana entered into close friendships with the other leading monks, as for instance Sariputta, Maha Moggallana, and Ananda did with one another. He seems to be one who generally lived aloof, though he did not place a strict emphasis on seclusion in the manner of one like the Venerable Maha Kassapa, nor did he seem especially stern in his asceticism.[10] He was ready to assume teaching duties on request, as we shall see, but we find that he always appears in the suttas in the role of expositor and elucidator of the Dhamma to others. We do not see the Venerable Maha Kaccana engage in person-to-person dialogues with other monks, as we see in the case of all the above-mentioned elders; neither do we see him address inquiries to the Buddha, as even the wisest of the bhikkhus, the Venerable Sariputta, often did. His absence is conspicuous in the Mahagosinga Sutta (MN 32), wherein the other outstanding disciples gather on a full-moon night to discuss the ideal bhikkhu who could illuminate the forest. On that occasion six great elders — Sariputta, Moggallana, Ananda, Maha Kassapa, Anuruddha, and Revata — each describe the ideal bhikkhu according to their particular dispositions, and at the end the Buddha offers his own picture of the most worthy monk. Surely if Maha Kaccana was present on that occasion he would have described such a monk as one skilled in the detailed exposition of brief sayings.
Maha Kaccana did grant ordination, as we saw above in the case of Sona, though his pupils were probably not very numerous, despite the words of the Anguttara Commentary. One of his pupils was the bhikkhu Isidatta, who even while very young had impressed many of the older monks with his incisive replies to difficult questions on the Dhamma.[11] There can be little doubt that Isidatta”s adroitness in tackling subtle points of doctrine reflects the rigorous training he must have received from the Venerable Maha Kaccana.
On one occasion when the Venerable Maha Kaccana visited the Buddha he received special homage fr…
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