[504] 65. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Rājagaha, on Mount Gijjhakūṭa. Now on that occasion the wanderer (paribbājaka) named Sarabha had not long since departed from this Dhamma and Discipline. In an assembly at Rājagaha he was speaking thus: "The Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan has been understood by me; and it is because I have understood the Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan that I have thus departed from that Dhamma and Discipline."
Then a number of bhikkhus, having dressed in the morning and taking bowl and robe, entered Rājagaha for alms. Those bhikkhus heard the wanderer Sarabha speaking thus in an assembly at Rājagaha: "The Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan has been understood by me; and it is because I have understood the Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan that I have thus departed from that Dhamma and Discipline." Then those bhikkhus, having walked for alms in Rājagaha, after the meal, on returning from the alms round, approached the Blessed One; having approached and paid homage to the Blessed One, they sat down to one side. Sitting to one side, those bhikkhus said to the Blessed One: "Venerable sir, the wanderer named Sarabha, not long since departed from this Dhamma and Discipline, is speaking thus in an assembly at Rājagaha: 'The Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan has been understood by me; and it is because I have understood the Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan that I have thus departed from that Dhamma and Discipline.' It would be good, venerable sir, if the Blessed One, out of compassion, would go to the wanderers' park on the bank of the Sappinī, where the wanderer Sarabha is." The Blessed One consented in silence.
Then in the evening, having emerged from seclusion, the Blessed One went to the wanderers' park on the bank of the Sappinī, where the wanderer Sarabha was; having approached, he sat down on the seat that had been prepared. Sitting there, the Blessed One said to the wanderer Sarabha: "Is it true, Sarabha, as they say, that you speak thus: 'The Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan has been understood by me; and it is because I have understood the Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan that I have thus departed from that Dhamma and Discipline'?" When this was said, the wanderer Sarabha was silent. A second time the Blessed One said to the wanderer Sarabha: "Speak, Sarabha: in what way has the Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan been understood by you? If your understanding is incomplete, I will complete it; but if your understanding is complete, I shall rejoice in it." A second time the wanderer Sarabha was silent. A third time the Blessed One said to the wanderer Sarabha: "Sarabha, the Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan is known by me. Speak, Sarabha: in what way has the Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan been understood by you? If your understanding is incomplete, I will complete it; but if your understanding is complete, I shall rejoice in it." A third time the wanderer Sarabha was silent.
Then those wanderers said to the wanderer Sarabha: "Friend Sarabha, whatever you might ask of the ascetic Gotama, that very thing the ascetic Gotama offers you. Speak, friend Sarabha: in what way has the Dhamma of the ascetics who are sons of the Sakyan been understood by you? If your understanding is incomplete, the ascetic Gotama will complete it; but if your understanding is complete, the ascetic Gotama will rejoice in it." When this was said, the wanderer Sarabha sat silent, dismayed, with shoulders drooping and head down, brooding, at a loss for words.
Then the Blessed One, knowing that the wanderer Sarabha sat silent, dismayed, with shoulders drooping and head down, brooding, at a loss for words, said to those wanderers: "Wanderers, if anyone should say of me: 'Though you claim to be fully self-enlightened (sammāsambuddha), you have not fully awakened to these dhammas,' I would question him closely about that matter, cross-examine him, and press him; and being closely questioned, cross-examined, and pressed by me, it is impossible, there is no chance, that he would not come to one or another of these three positions: either he will evade the question with something else and lead the talk aside to an outside subject; or he will display anger, hatred, and displeasure; or he will sit silent, dismayed, with shoulders drooping and head down, brooding, at a loss for words — just like the wanderer Sarabha.
"Wanderers, if anyone should say of me: 'Though you claim to be one whose taints (āsava) are destroyed, these taints of yours are not destroyed,' I would question him closely about that matter, cross-examine him, and press him; and being closely questioned, cross-examined, and pressed by me, it is impossible, there is no chance, that he would not come to one or another of these three positions: either he will evade the question with something else and lead the talk aside to an outside subject; or he will display anger, hatred, and displeasure; or he will sit silent, dismayed, with shoulders drooping and head down, brooding, at a loss for words — just like the wanderer Sarabha.
"Wanderers, if anyone should say of me: 'The Dhamma taught by you for the sake of some goal does not lead one who acts upon it to the complete destruction of suffering (dukkha),' I would question him closely about that matter, cross-examine him, and press him; and being closely questioned, cross-examined, and pressed by me, it is impossible, there is no chance, that he would not come to one or another of these three positions: either he will evade the question with something else and lead the talk aside to an outside subject; or he will display anger, hatred, and displeasure; or he will sit silent, dismayed, with shoulders drooping and head down, brooding, at a loss for words — just like the wanderer Sarabha."
Then the Blessed One, having roared his lion's roar (sīhanāda) three times in the wanderers' park on the bank of the Sappinī, departed through the air.
Then, not long after the Blessed One had departed, those wanderers assailed the wanderer Sarabha on all sides with the goad of their words: "Friend Sarabha, just as an old jackal in a great forest, thinking, 'I will roar a lion's roar,' howls only a jackal's howl, yelps only a bheraṇḍa's yelp, so too you, friend Sarabha, apart from the ascetic Gotama, thinking, 'I will roar a lion's roar,' howl only a jackal's howl, yelp only a bheraṇḍa's yelp. Just as, friend Sarabha, a little hen, thinking, 'I will crow a cock's crow,' utters only a hen's cry, so too you, friend Sarabha, apart from the ascetic Gotama, thinking, 'I will crow a cock's crow,' utter only a hen's cry. Just as, friend Sarabha, a bull in an empty cow-shed fancies that he should bellow deeply, so too you, friend Sarabha, apart from the ascetic Gotama, fancy that you should bellow deeply." Thus those wanderers assailed the wanderer Sarabha on all sides with the goad of their words.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.