Reading guide
An accusation resolved by knowledge unavailable to the accusers
The mendicants' complaint is entirely reasonable given what they can observe — a monk appearing idle while others work; the Buddha's correction depends entirely on knowledge of the monk's inner state that the complaining mendicants have no way of accessing themselves.
The monk's own defense left minimal and unexplained
When directly questioned, the monk offers only a brief, almost dismissive answer — I am doing my own work — without elaborating or defending himself further, leaving the Buddha's subsequent revelation to supply all the missing context.
A vindication delivered to the group, not privately to the monk
The Buddha's explanation of the monk's actual attainment is addressed to the assembled mendicants, correcting their misjudgment publicly, rather than being a private reassurance offered only to the monk himself.
A stark contrast between apparent laziness and genuine attainment
The gap between how the monk's conduct looks (passive, unhelpful, self-absorbed) and what it actually reflects (effortless mastery of all four absorptions, the supreme culmination of the path) is deliberately extreme, making the point about appearances as sharp as possible.
A closing verse repeating language used elsewhere in this saṃyutta
The verse's closing image — bearing the final body, having vanquished Māra with his legions — recurs nearly verbatim in several other discourses in this collection, functioning as this saṃyutta's standard way of declaring someone's full attainment.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī. Now at that time a certain junior monk, after his meal, on his return from almsround, entered his dwelling, where he adhered to passivity and silence. And he didn’t help the mendicants out when it was time to sew robes. Then several mendicants went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and told him what had happened.
§2So the Buddha addressed one of the monks, “Please, monk, in my name tell that monk that the Teacher summons him.” “Yes, sir,” that monk replied. He went to that monk and said to him, “Reverend, the teacher summons you.” “Yes, reverend,” that monk replied. He went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. The Buddha said to him: “Is it really true, monk, that after your meal, on your return from almsround, you entered your dwelling, where you adhered to passivity and silence, and you didn’t help the mendicants out when it was time to sew robes?” “Sir, I am doing my own work.”
§3Then the Buddha, knowing that monk’s train of thought, addressed the mendicants: “Mendicants, don’t complain about this monk. This monk gets the four absorptions—blissful meditations in this life that belong to the higher mind—when he wants, without trouble or difficulty. He has realized the supreme culmination of the spiritual path in this very life, and lives having achieved with his own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness.”
§4That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:
§5“Not by being slack, or with little strength may this be realized—extinguishment, the release from all suffering.
§6This young monk, this best of men, bears his final body, having vanquished Māra with his legions.”
Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.