Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Of the three things a religious teacher can demonstrate, the only one that reaches anybody else is the instruction.
Saṅgārava’s argument, and the answer
The argument is genuinely good and should be presented as such. Sacrifice is a public act with public benefit: the one who sacrifices and the one who encourages it are both doing good for many people. Renunciation looks like the opposite — a man leaves, and tames, calms, and extinguishes himself alone. One person benefited.
The Buddha’s reply is a counter-question rather than a refutation. Suppose a Realized One arises and says: come, this is the path; practicing like this I realized the supreme objective, and I make it known; practice like this and you too will realize it. And others practice accordingly, in their hundreds and thousands, and hundreds of thousands. This being so, is that going forth doing good for one person or many?
Saṅgārava answers immediately and correctly: for many. The argument is settled by pointing out that the going forth being described is not a private withdrawal but the start of a chain of instruction, and Saṅgārava can see it as soon as it is put.
Worth noticing: the answer does not attack sacrifice. Saṅgārava’s claim that sacrifice benefits many is left standing, and only the second half of his contrast is corrected.
Three times, and no answer
Then Ānanda asks the follow-up: which of these two practices do you believe has fewer obligations and undertakings, yet is more fruitful and beneficial?
Saṅgārava replies: those such as the worthies Gotama and Ānanda are honored and praised by me. Ānanda points out that he did not ask who Saṅgārava honors, and repeats the question. He gets the same answer. A third time, the same.
This is a small and very recognizable social disaster. The question is a fair one; the brahmin cannot answer it without conceding something in public that he is not willing to concede, and he retreats into a compliment. Ānanda, correctly and unhelpfully, keeps asking.
The Pāli word the narrator uses for Saṅgārava’s condition is worth having: he falters, sits there unable to proceed. This is a man in a room with two people who have him cornered, and the question he is being asked is one he already knows the answer to.
The way out
“Then it occurred to the Buddha: though Ānanda asked him a sensible question three times, Saṅgārava falters without answering. Why don’t I give him a way out?”
And he changes the subject: brahmin, what came up in the conversation among the king’s retinue today?
It is an ordinary question about court gossip and it releases the pressure completely. Saṅgārava answers at once and at length, and the conversation moves on to the topic he supplies. The question Ānanda asked is never answered by anyone, and nobody returns to it.
This passage deserves more attention than it usually gets, because it is not a teaching and the compilers kept it anyway. The Buddha is described in the act of noticing that somebody is humiliated and doing something about it, and the something is neither a rebuke of Ānanda nor a rescue of the argument. It is a change of subject.
The narration also makes the reason explicit — okāsaṁ karomi, let me make an opening for him — which means the text wants the reader to see the intention rather than merely the move. For anyone who teaches, this is a more useful model than most of what gets written about skillful means, and it costs nothing to imitate.
The three demonstrations
What Saṅgārava supplies is a piece of court talk: formerly there were fewer mendicants but more of them displayed superhuman powers; these days there are more mendicants and fewer displays.
The Buddha does not confirm or deny it. He defines three kinds of demonstration — pāṭihāriya, which means a marvel, a wonder, something that removes opposition.
The demonstration of psychic power: multiplying oneself, materializing and dematerializing, passing through walls, diving into the earth, walking on water, flying cross-legged, touching the sun and moon.
The demonstration of revealing: telling someone what they are thinking — by a sign, by report from humans or non-humans or deities, by hearing the sound of thought, or by comprehending the mind of someone in the immersion beyond thinking.
The demonstration of instruction: think like this, not like that; focus your mind like this, not like that; give up this, and live having achieved that. Three clauses, and that is the whole of it.
Then the Buddha asks Saṅgārava which he considers finest — which is the same technique used on him at the start, and the same one used on Hatthaka in AN 3.35: the conclusion is produced by the person who has to accept it.
Why the brahmin ranks the miracles last
Saṅgārava’s reasoning is precise. The demonstration of psychic power is experienced only by the one who performs it, occurring only to them. This seems to me like an illusion. The same for mind-reading. Only instruction is preferred.
The word is māyā, illusion or conjuring. His objection is not that miracles are impossible; he goes on to say he regards the Buddha as possessing all three. It is that a marvel happens to the performer, and the observer has no way inside it. A conjurer produces the same experience, and from where the audience sits the two are indistinguishable.
Instruction is different in exactly that respect: think like this, not like that is something the listener does themselves, and the result occurs in them. That is the whole argument, and a brahmin makes it rather than a Buddhist.
DN 11 has the Buddha make the same ranking in his own voice and more harshly — there he says he is troubled and repelled by the display of psychic power precisely because a skeptic can attribute it to a spell. The two discourses together are as clear a statement as the canon makes: the powers are not denied and they are not the point.
The closing exchange is worth reading for its tone. Saṅgārava attributes all three demonstrations to the Buddha; the Buddha calls the words invasive and intrusive and then confirms them anyway. Asked whether any other mendicant has all three, he says not one hundred, nor five hundred, but many more — right here, in this Saṅgha of mendicants.
Key terms
The text
Many people, or one
§1Then Saṅgārava the brahmin went up to the Buddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, he sat down to one side and said to the Buddha: “Worthy Gotama, we who are called brahmins make sacrifices and encourage others to make sacrifices. Now, worthy Gotama, both of these people—the one who sacrifices and the one who encourages others to sacrifice—are doing good for many people on account of that sacrifice. But, worthy Gotama, when someone has gone forth from the lay life to homelessness, they tame, calm, and extinguish themselves alone. That being so, they are doing good for just one person on account of that going forth.”
§2“Well then, brahmin, I’ll ask you about this in return, and you can answer as you like. What do you think, brahmin? A Realized One arises in the world, perfected, a fully awakened Buddha, accomplished in knowledge and conduct, holy, knower of the world, supreme guide for those fit for training, teacher of gods and humans, awakened, blessed. He says, ‘Come, this is the path, this is the practice. Practicing like this, I realized the supreme objective of the spiritual life with my own insight, and I make it known. Please, all of you, practice like this, and you too will realize the supreme objective of the spiritual life, and will live having realized it with your own insight.’ So the teacher teaches Dhamma, and others practice accordingly, in their hundreds and thousands, and hundreds of thousands.
§3What do you think, brahmin? This being so, are they doing good for just one person or for many people on account of going forth?” “This being so, worthy Gotama, they are doing good for many people on account of going forth.”
Ānanda asks three times
§4When he said this, Venerable Ānanda said to Saṅgārava, “Brahmin, which of these two practices do you believe has fewer obligations and undertakings, yet is more fruitful and beneficial?” Saṅgārava said to Ānanda, “Those such as the worthies Gotama and Ānanda are honored and praised by me!”
§5–6For a second time, Ānanda said to Saṅgārava, “Brahmin, I didn’t ask you who you honor and praise. I asked you which of these two practices do you believe has fewer obligations and undertakings, yet is more fruitful and beneficial?” For a second time Saṅgārava said to Ānanda, “Those such as the worthies Gotama and Ānanda are honored and praised by me!” For a third time, Ānanda said to Saṅgārava, “Brahmin, I didn’t ask you who you honor and praise. I asked you which of these two practices do you believe has fewer obligations and undertakings, yet is more fruitful and beneficial?” For a third time Saṅgārava said to Ānanda, “Those such as the worthies Gotama and Ānanda are honored and praised by me!”
A way out
§7Then it occurred to the Buddha, “Though Ānanda asked him a sensible question three times, Saṅgārava falters without answering. Why don’t I give him a way out?” So the Buddha said to Saṅgārava, “Brahmin, what came up in the conversation among the king’s retinue today, sitting together in the royal compound?” “Worthy Gotama, this came up: ‘Formerly, it seems, there were fewer mendicants, but more of them displayed superhuman demonstrations of psychic power; while these days, there are more mendicants, but fewer display superhuman demonstrations of psychic power.’ This is what came up in the conversation among the king’s retinue today, while sitting together in the royal compound.”
Three demonstrations
§8“Brahmin, there are three kinds of demonstration. What three? A demonstration of psychic power, a demonstration of revealing, and a demonstration of instruction. And what is the demonstration of psychic power? It’s when someone wields the many kinds of psychic power: multiplying themselves and becoming one again; materializing and dematerializing; going unobstructed through a wall, a rampart, or a mountain as if through space; diving in and out of the earth as if it were water; walking on water as if it were earth; flying cross-legged through the sky like a bird; touching and stroking with the hand the sun and moon, so mighty and powerful. They control the body as far as the realm of divinity. This is called the demonstration of psychic power.
§9–12And what is the demonstration of revealing? In one case, someone reveals by means of a sign: ‘This is what you’re thinking, such is your thought, and thus is your state of mind.’ And even if they reveal this many times, it turns out exactly so, not otherwise. In another case, someone reveals after hearing it from humans or non-humans or deities: ‘This is what you’re thinking, such is your thought, and thus is your state of mind.’ And even if they reveal this many times, it turns out exactly so, not otherwise. In another case, someone reveals by hearing the sound of thought spreading as someone thinks and considers: ‘This is what you’re thinking, such is your thought, and thus is your state of mind.’ And even if they reveal this many times, it turns out exactly so, not otherwise. In another case, someone comprehends the mind of one who has attained the immersion that’s free of placing the mind and keeping it connected. They understand: ‘Judging by the way this worthy’s intentions are directed, immediately after this mind state, they’ll think this thought.’ And even if they reveal this many times, it turns out exactly so, not otherwise. This is called the demonstration of revealing.
§13And what is a demonstration of instruction? It’s when someone instructs others like this: ‘Think like this, not like that. Focus your mind like this, not like that. Give up this, and live having achieved that.’ This is called a demonstration of instruction. These are the three kinds of demonstration. Of these three kinds of demonstration, which do you consider to be the finest?”
Which is finest
§14–16“Regarding this, worthy Gotama, a demonstration of psychic power is experienced only by the one who performs it, occurring only to them. This seems to me like an illusion. And the demonstration where someone reveals something by means of a sign, or after hearing it from humans, non-humans, or deities, or by hearing the sound of thought spreading as someone thinks and considers, or by comprehending the mind of another, is also experienced only by the one who performs it, occurring only to them. This also seems to me like an illusion. But as to the demonstration where someone instructs others: ‘Think like this, not like that. Focus your mind like this, not like that. Give up this, and live having achieved that.’ I prefer this demonstration, worthy Gotama. It’s the finest of the three kinds of demonstration.
§17It’s incredible, worthy Gotama, it’s amazing, how well this was said by the worthy Gotama. We regard the worthy Gotama as someone who possesses these three kinds of demonstration. For the worthy Gotama wields the many kinds of psychic power … controlling the body as far as the realm of divinity. And Mister Gotama comprehends the mind of another who has attained the immersion that is free of placing the mind and keeping it connected. He understands: ‘Judging by the way this worthy’s intentions are directed, immediately after this mind state they’ll think this thought.’ And the worthy Gotama instructs others like this: ‘Think like this, not like that. Focus your mind like this, not like that. Give up this, and live having achieved that.’”
§18“Your words are clearly invasive and intrusive, brahmin. Nevertheless, I will answer you. For I do wield the many kinds of psychic power … controlling the body as far as the realm of divinity. And I do comprehend the mind of another individual who has attained the immersion that is free of placing the mind and keeping it connected. I understand: ‘Judging by the way this worthy’s intentions are directed, immediately after this mind state they’ll think this thought.’ And I do instruct others like this: ‘Think like this, not like that. Focus your mind like this, not like that. Give up this, and live having achieved that.’”
§19“But worthy Gotama, is there even one other mendicant who possesses these three kinds of demonstration, apart from the worthy Gotama?” “There’s not just one hundred mendicants, brahmin, who possess these three kinds of demonstration, nor two, three, four, or five hundred, but many more than that.” “But where are these mendicants now staying?” “Right here, brahmin, in this Saṅgha of mendicants.”
§20“Excellent, worthy Gotama! Excellent! As if he were righting the overturned, or revealing the hidden, or pointing out the path to the lost, or lighting a lamp in the dark so people with clear eyes can see what’s there, worthy Gotama has made the teaching clear in many ways. I go for refuge to the worthy Gotama, to the teaching, and to the mendicant Saṅgha. From this day forth, may the worthy Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.