Knowing The Buddha by His Words

The Buddha's Words

DoṇasuttaAN 4.36 https://suttacentral.net/an4.36

On one occasion the Blessed One was traveling along the highway between Ukkaṭṭhā and Setavya. The brahmin Doṇa was also traveling along the highway between Ukkaṭṭhā and Setavya. The brahmin Doṇa then saw the thousand-spoked wheels of the Blessed One’s footprints, with their rims and hubs, complete in all respects, and thought: “It is astounding and amazing! These surely could not be the footprints of a human being!”

Then the Blessed One left the highway and sat down at the foot of a tree, folding his legs crosswise, straightening his body, and establishing mindfulness in front of him. Tracking the Blessed One’s footprints, the brahmin Doṇa saw the Blessed One sitting at the foot of the tree—graceful, inspiring confidence, with peaceful faculties and peaceful mind, one who had attained to the highest taming and serenity, like a tamed and guarded bull elephant with controlled faculties. He then approached the Blessed One and said to him:

“Could you be a deva, sir?”

“I will not be a deva, brahmin.”

“Could you be a gandhabba, sir?”

“I will not be a gandhabba, brahmin.”

“Could you be a yakkha, sir?”

“I will not be a yakkha, brahmin.”

“Could you be a human being, sir?”

“I will not be a human being, brahmin.”

“When you are asked: ‘Could you be a deva, sir?’ you say: ‘I will not be a deva, brahmin.’ When you are asked: ‘Could you be a gandhabba, sir?’ you say: ‘I will not be a gandhabba, brahmin.’ When you are asked: ‘Could you be a yakkha, sir?’ you say: ‘I will not be a yakkha, brahmin.’ When you are asked: ‘Could you be a human being, sir?’ you say: ‘I will not be a human being, brahmin.’ What, then, could you be, sir?”

“Brahmin, I have abandoned those taints because of which I might have become a deva; I have cut them off at the root, made them like palm stumps, obliterated them so that they are no longer subject to future arising.

I have abandoned those taints because of which I might have become a gandhabba; I have cut them off at the root, made them like palm stumps, obliterated them so that they are no longer subject to future arising.

I have abandoned those taints because of which I might have become a yakkha; I have cut them off at the root, made them like palm stumps, obliterated them so that they are no longer subject to future arising.

I have abandoned those taints because of which I might have become a human being; I have cut them off at the root, made them like palm stumps, obliterated them so that they are no longer subject to future arising. Just as a blue, red, or white lotus flower, though born in the water and grown up in the water, rises above the water and stands unsoiled by the water, even so, though born in the world and grown up in the world, I have overcome the world and dwell unsoiled by the world. Remember me, brahmin, as a Buddha.

“I have destroyed those taints by which I might have been reborn as a deva or as a gandhabba that travels through the sky; by which I might have reached the state of a yakkha, or arrived back at the human state: I have dispelled and cut down these taints.

“As a lovely white lotus is not soiled by the water, I am not soiled by the world: therefore, O brahmin, I am a Buddha.”