Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
A mendicant who is perfected does not represent themselves as being among superiors, inferiors, or equals in any direction — not by claiming such comparisons exist for them, and not by claiming such comparisons don't exist — because for someone truly awakened, the whole framework of self-comparison no longer applies.
Two statements that sound opposed, but are not
Read quickly, Khema's “does not think 'there is someone better, equal, or worse than me'” and Sumana's “does not think 'there is no-one better, equal, or worse than me'” look like a direct contradiction — one denying comparison exists, the other denying comparison doesn't exist. The Buddha's later comment resolves this: both statements deny that the awakened mind engages in ranking at all, whether the ranking concludes in the mendicant's favor, against them, or as absent.
Speaking of the goal without involving the self
The Buddha's own gloss is precise: “this is how gentlemen declare enlightenment. The goal is spoken of, but the self is not involved.” Khema and Sumana both describe the attainment accurately without smuggling in any self-referential comparison — not even the comparison that denies comparison. Their statements work as declarations precisely because neither requires the speaker to locate themselves on a scale relative to anyone.
A warning against false declaration
Immediately after praising Khema and Sumana's manner of speaking, the Buddha adds an unusually sharp aside: “it seems that there are some futile men here who declare enlightenment as a joke. Later they will fall into distress.” The praise of the correct form is paired directly with a warning about its abuse, distinguishing genuine declaration from performance.
Why two mendicants, arriving separately, matters
The discourse's structure — two speakers, arriving one after the other, each unaware of what the other said — is doing real work. If either statement alone had been approved, a reader might mistake it for the single correct formula. Presenting both, independently approved, in apparently opposite phrasing, forces the recognition that the content approved of is not the specific wording but the underlying absence of self-comparison.
Key terms
The text
Khema's statement
§1“Sir, a mendicant who is perfected—with defilements ended, who has completed the spiritual journey, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, achieved their heart’s goal, utterly ended the fetter of continued existence, and is rightly freed through enlightenment—does not think: ‘There is someone better than me, or equal to me, or worse than me.’” That is what Khema said, and the teacher approved. Then Khema, knowing that the teacher approved, got up from his seat, bowed, and respectfully circled the Buddha, keeping him on his right, before leaving.
Sumana's statement
§2And then, not long after Khema had left, Sumana said to the Buddha: “Sir, a mendicant who is perfected—with defilements ended, who has completed the spiritual journey, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, achieved their heart’s goal, utterly ended the fetter of continued existence, and is rightly freed through enlightenment—does not think: ‘There is no-one better than me, or equal to me, or worse than me.’” That is what Sumana said, and the teacher approved. Then Sumana, knowing that the teacher approved, got up from his seat, bowed, and respectfully circled the Buddha, keeping him on his right, before leaving.
The Buddha's explanation, in prose and verse
§3And then, soon after Khema and Sumana had left, the Buddha addressed the mendicants: “Mendicants, this is how gentlemen declare enlightenment. The goal is spoken of, but the self is not involved. But it seems that there are some futile men here who declare enlightenment as a joke. Later they will fall into distress. They don’t represent themselves as being among superiors, inferiors, or equals. Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed. They live freed from fetters.”
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