Reading guide
A relayed conversation, growing testier by the exchange
Too ill to travel, Khemaka is questioned through Venerable Dāsaka, who carries each question and answer back and forth between Khemaka's dwelling and the senior mendicants. After several rounds, Khemaka's patience visibly runs out: “enough, Reverend Dāsaka! What's the point in running back and forth? Bring my staff, I'll go to see the senior mendicants myself” — a small, human touch of irritation from a gravely ill man determined to be understood correctly.
Not self, not belonging to self — and yet not an arahant
Khemaka's first clear answer already unsettles a simple equation: he does not regard anything among the five grasping aggregates as self or as belonging to self — which the seniors reasonably take to mean he must be a perfected one. Khemaka corrects them directly: “I am not a perfected one…for when it comes to the five grasping aggregates I'm not rid of the conceit 'I am'. But I don't regard anything as 'I am this'.”
A scent belonging to the whole flower, not any one part
Pressed on what exactly he means by “I am” — is it form, or apart from form, and likewise for each aggregate — Khemaka answers with neither, for any aggregate. He then offers the discourse's first simile: would it be right to say the scent of a lotus belongs to its petals, its stalk, or its pistil specifically? No — it would be right to say the scent belongs to the flower as a whole. The lingering “I am” conceit relates to the five aggregates the same way — not locatable in any single one, yet not separate from all of them together.
A cloth washed clean, still faintly scented until stored away
Khemaka's second simile addresses how this lingering residue is finally eradicated: a dirty cloth, thoroughly kneaded with salt, lye, and cow dung and rinsed clean, may look and be genuinely clean, yet still carry a faint lingering scent of what cleaned it — until it is stored in a fragrant casket, and that trace, too, finally disappears. A noble disciple who has given up the five lower fetters, Khemaka says, similarly retains a lingering residue of the conceit, desire, and underlying tendency “I am”, eradicated only through continued meditation observing the rise and fall of the five grasping aggregates over time. The discourse closes with the senior mendicants' own gratitude, and the striking detail that while Khemaka was explaining this, sixty senior mendicants and Khemaka himself were all freed from the defilements by not grasping.
Key terms
The text
§1“Enough, Reverend Dāsaka! What’s the point in running back and forth? Bring my staff, I’ll go to see the senior mendicants myself.”
§2When you say ‘I am’, what is it that you’re talking about?”
§3“Reverends, I don’t say ‘I am’ with reference to form, or apart from form. I don’t say ‘I am’ with reference to feeling … perception … choices … consciousness, or apart from consciousness. For when it comes to the five grasping aggregates I’m not rid of the conceit ‘I am’. But I don’t regard anything as ‘I am this’.
§4It’s like the scent of a blue water lily, or a pink or white lotus. Would it be right to say that the scent belongs to the petals or the stalk or the pistil?” “No, reverend.” “Then, reverends, how should it be said?” “It would be right to say that the scent belongs to the flower.” “In the same way, reverends, I don’t say ‘I am’ with reference to form, or apart from form.
§5Although a noble disciple has given up the five lower fetters, they still have a lingering residue of the conceit ‘I am’, the desire ‘I am’, and the underlying tendency ‘I am’ which has not been eradicated. After some time they meditate observing rise and fall in the five grasping aggregates. ‘Such is form, such is the origin of form, such is the ending of form. Such is feeling … Such is perception … Such are choices … Such is consciousness, such is the origin of consciousness, such is the disappearance of consciousness.’ As they do so, that lingering residue is eradicated.
§6Suppose there was a cloth that was dirty and soiled, so the owners give it to a launderer. The launderer kneads it thoroughly with salt, lye, and cow dung, and rinses it in clear water. Although that cloth is clean and bright, it still has a lingering scent of salt, lye, or cow dung that had not been eradicated. The launderer returns it to its owners, who store it in a fragrant casket. And that lingering scent would be eradicated. In the same way, although a noble disciple has given up the five lower fetters, they still have a lingering residue of the conceit ‘I am’, the desire ‘I am’, and the underlying tendency ‘I am’ which has not been eradicated. After some time they meditate observing rise and fall in the five grasping aggregates. ‘Such is form, such is the origin of form, such is the disappearance of form. Such is feeling … Such is perception … Such are choices … Such is consciousness, such is the origin of consciousness, such is the disappearance of consciousness.’ As they do so, that lingering residue is eradicated.”
§7That’s what Venerable Khemaka said. Satisfied, the senior mendicants approved what Venerable Khemaka said. And while this discourse was being spoken, the minds of sixty senior mendicants and of Venerable Khemaka were freed from defilements by not grasping.
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