..续本文上一页o questions about those who proclaim truth: about the purpose of the Holy Life; about those who have found true solace. He explains feeling, ignorance, the taints, personality, etc. and speaks on what is difficult in the Buddha”s Doctrine and Discipline.
INDRIYA SAMYUTTA
44:
Questioned by the Buddha, Sariputta says that not out of faith in him, but from his own experience, he knows that the five spiritual faculties (confidence, etc.) lead to the Deathless.
48-50:
On the five spiritual faculties. (These texts are translated in Wheel No. 65/66, The Way of Wisdom, pp. 47f, 49f)
SOTAPATTI SAMYUTTA
55:
On the four conditioning factors of stream-entry (sotapattiyanga).
Part V Sariputta in the Jatakas
As might be expected, the Venerable Sariputta makes frequent appearances in the Jatakas, the stories of the Buddha”s previous lives. In these, the Bodhisatta and Sariputta assume various roles; in some existences we find Sariputta as the teacher and the Bodhisatta as pupil, as for example in the Susima (163), Cula Nandiya (223), Silavimamsa (305), Karandiya (356) and Maha Dhammapala (447) Jatakas. In the last-mentioned Jataka, however, the Bodhisatta, as pupil, gives his teacher, Sariputta, a valuable lesson: not to give the Five Precepts indiscriminately to those who have no desire to accept them nor the intention to observe them.
In several births Sariputta appears as a human being and the Bodhisatta an animal. Some examples are the Cula Nandiya Jataka (223), the Romaka Jataka (277) — where Sariputta, as a wise ascetic, instructs a partridge, the Bodhisatta — the Bhojajaniya Jataka (23) and the Dummedha Jataka (122).
In other stories the roles are reversed, as in the Jarudapana (256) and Kundakakucchi Sindhava (254) Jatakas (for the latter, see below), where Sariputta is an animal and the Bodhisatta human. Sometimes, as in the Kurungamiga Jataka (206), both are animals.
The following are summaries of Jatakas in which the Venerable Sariputta”s previous personalities appear.
Lakkhana Jataka (11):
As the wise one of two brother stags, each leader of a herd, Sariputta brings his herd safely back to the hills from a dangerous track, while his foolish brother (Devadatta) loses his whole herd.
Bhojajaniya Jataka (23):
The Bodhisatta is a superb warsteed, while Sariputta is a knight entrusted with the task of capturing seven hostile kings. He succeeds, thanks to the endurance and sacrificing spirit of the steed.
Visavanta Jataka (69):
Sariputta is a snake which refuses to suck back its poison from a man bitten by it, preferring death. This Jataka was told when Sariputta, the Great Disciple, gave up the eating of meal cakes, which he enjoyed, and never went back on his resolution.
Parosahassa Jataka (99):
Sariputta, as pupil of a hermit teacher, is able to understand short, enigmatic sayings. A comment on his penetrative mind.
Dummedha Jataka (122):
Sariputta, as a king of Benares, is able to appreciate excellence when he sees it. The Bodhisatta is a superb white elephant. Devadatta, as king of Magadha, had owned that elephant but lost it through jealousy.
Rajovada Jataka (151):
Sariputta and Maha Moggallana are both charioteers of powerful kings. Meeting one another on a narrow road, each expects the other to give way, and they decide the issue by proclaiming the virtues of their respective monarchs. Sariputta, whose king is the Bodhisatta, wins the contest by showing that his master”s virtue is superior: he is not only good to those who are good, he is good to the bad as well.
Alinacitta Jataka (156):
Sariputta, as an elephant, shows the virtue of gratitude.
Kurungamiga Jataka (206):
Sariputta as a woodpecker and Maha Moggallana as a tortoise save the life of the Bodhisatta, who is an antelope, from a hunter (Devadatta). Later, the woodp…
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