..续本文上一页uddha for the first time. On arrival they were allotted quarters and started chatting with the resident monks of Catuma. Hearing the noise, the Buddha summoned the resident monks to question them about it, and was told that the commotion was caused by the new arrivals. The text does not say the visiting monks were present at the time, but they must have been, for the Buddha addressed them with the words: "Go away, monks I dismiss you. You should not stay with me."

　　The newly ordained monks left, but some persons intervened in their behalf and they were allowed to return.

　　The Buddha then said to the Venerable Sariputta: "What did you think, Sariputta, when I dismissed that group of monks

　　"

　　The Venerable Sariputta replied: "I thought: ”The Blessed One wishes to remain unconcerned and to abide in the state of happiness here-and-now; so we too shall remain unconcerned and abide in the state of happiness here-and-now."

　　"Hold, Sariputta! Do not allow such a thought ever to arise in you again!" the Buddha said. Then turning to Maha Moggallana, he put the same question.

　　"When the Blessed One dismissed those monks," replied Maha Moggallana, "I thought: ”The Blessed One wishes to remain unconcerned and to abide in the state of happiness here-and-now. Then I and the Venerable Sariputta should now look after the community of monks.”"

　　"Well spoken, Moggallana, well spoken!" said the Master. "It is either myself or Sariputta or Moggallana who should look after the community of monks."

　　The Sutta account is lacking in certain details which would place the story in the proper light necessary for an understanding of all its implications, but it is possible that since the monks who had been dismissed were pupils of Sariputta and Maha Moggallana, the Elder wished to show his displeasure with them and to indicate by his aloofness that they had behaved badly.

　　Once, when the Buddha was residing at Jetavana, the Venerable Sariputta was the victim of a false accusation. It so happened that at the end of the rains the Elder took leave of the Master and departed with his own retinue of monks on a journey. A large number of monks also took leave of Sariputta, and in dismissing them he addressed those who were known by their personal and family names, by those names. Among them there was a monk who was not known by his personal and family name, but a strong desire arose in him that the Chief Disciple should address him by those names in taking his departure.

　　In the great throng of monks, however, the Venerable Sariputta did not give him this distinction, and the monk was aggrieved. "He does not greet me as he does the other monks," he thought, and conceived a grudge against Sariputta. At the same time it chanced that the hem of the Elder”s robe brushed against him, and this added to his grievance. He approached the Buddha and complained; "Lord, the Venerable Sariputta, doubtless thinking to himself, ”I am the Chief Disciple,” struck me a blow that almost damaged my ear. And having done that without so much as begging my pardon, he set out on his journey."

　　The Buddha summoned Sariputta into his presence. Meanwhile, the Venerable Maha Moggallana and the Venerable Ananda, knowing that a calumny was about to be exposed, summoned all the monks, convoking an assembly. "Approach, venerable sirs!" they called. "When the Venerable Sariputta is face to face with the Master, he will roar the roar of a lion!"[40]

　　And so it came about. When the Master questioned the great Elder, instead of denying the charge he said: "O Lord, one who is not firmly established in the contemplation of the body with regard to his body, such a one may be able to hurt a fellow monk and leave without apologizing." Then followed the Venerable Sariputta”s lion”s roar. He compared his fr…

《The Life of Sariputta》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…