Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 55.30

With Nandaka the Licchavi

Licchavisutta — Saraṇānivagga

Setting
Vesālī, the Great Wood, the hall with the peaked roof
Speakers
The Buddha and Nandaka the Licchavi chief minister
Form
The four factors extended to five further benefits, then a closing vignette about literal and figurative bathing
Length
1–2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★★★ — closes Vagga 3 (10 discourses), confirmed by direct reading of the colophon and uddāna, with Nandaka's own celebrated declaration refusing an offered bath for "interior bathing"

Why this discourse

Confirmed by direct reading of its own root colophon (“Saraṇānivaggo tatiyo”) and uddāna, this discourse closes Vagga 3 at ten discourses, matching this project's own SN 55.21-30 exactly. The Buddha extends the four factors' own benefits well beyond stream-entry itself — to long life, beauty, happiness, fame, and sovereignty, both human and heavenly — stating this from his own direct realization. When someone then tells Nandaka it is time to bathe, he declines: “this interior bathing will do for me…confidence in the Buddha.”

Reading guide

Five further benefits, not merely stream-entry

Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse names benefits genuinely broader than the “not liable to be reborn in the underworld” formula met throughout this saṃyutta: long life, beauty, happiness, fame, and sovereignty, each said to apply “both human and heavenly” — worldly flourishing attributed to the same four factors that also secure a good rebirth.

A claim grounded in direct knowledge, not report

Confirmed by direct reading, the Buddha explicitly distinguishes his own basis for this claim: “I don't say this because I've heard it from some other ascetic or brahmin. I only say it because I've known, seen, and realized it for myself” — an epistemic marker this project has confirmed recurs at points of unusually strong claim throughout this book.

Interior bathing, chosen over the exterior kind

Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse closes with a vivid, almost anecdotal moment: someone tells Nandaka it is time for his own bath, and he replies, “enough now…this interior bathing will do for me, that is, confidence in the Buddha” — a spontaneous declaration turning a mundane household moment into a statement of spiritual priority.

Key terms

dīghāyukena ca samannāgato hoti mānusakena ca dibbena ca — “endowed with long life, both human and heavenly” — the first of five worldly benefits this discourse attributes to the four factors
nāhaṁ etaṁ aññassa samaṇassa vā brāhmaṇassa vā sutvā vadāmi; api ca yadeva mayā sāmaṁ ñātaṁ sāmaṁ diṭṭhaṁ sāmaṁ viditaṁ tadevāhaṁ vadāmi — “I don't say this because I've heard it…I only say it because I've known, seen, and realized it for myself” — the Buddha's own explicit epistemic marker for this claim
kālo te, bhante, nhānāyāti — “sir, it is time to bathe” — the mundane prompt that occasions this discourse's own closing declaration
alamidaṁ bāhiraṁ nahānaṁ — “enough now, I must say, with that exterior bath” — Nandaka's own decline of the literal bath
ajjhattaṁ nahānaṁ...bhagavati pasādo — “interior bathing…confidence in the Buddha” — Nandaka's own reframing, closing both this discourse and Vagga 3

The text

Every genuinely translated fragment given in the consulted English source. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī, at the Great Wood, in the hall with the peaked roof. Then Nandaka the Licchavi chief minister went up to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. The Buddha said to him: “Nandaka, a noble disciple who has four things is a stream-enterer, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, assured, destined for awakening. What four? It’s when a noble disciple has experiential confidence in the Buddha … the teaching … the Saṅgha … And they have the ethical conduct loved by the noble ones … leading to immersion. A noble disciple who has these four things is a stream-enterer, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, assured, destined for awakening.

Five further benefitsA noble disciple who has these four things is endowed with long life, both human and heavenly … beauty … happiness … fame … and sovereignty, both human and heavenly. Now, I don’t say this because I’ve heard it from some other ascetic or brahmin. I only say it because I’ve known, seen, and realized it for myself.”

Interior bathingWhen he had spoken, a certain person said to Nandaka: “Sir, it is time to bathe.” “Enough now, I must say, with that exterior bath. This interior bathing will do for me, that is, confidence in the Buddha.”

· · ·

Self-check quiz

3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 3
What five further benefits does the Buddha attribute to the four factors in this discourse?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — worldly flourishing extended well beyond the usual stream-entry formula.
Question 2 of 3
How does the Buddha ground this particular claim, according to his own explicit statement?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — an explicit epistemic marker distinguishing personal realization from report.
Question 3 of 3
How does Nandaka respond when told it is time to bathe?
Correct: A. Confirmed by direct reading — a spontaneous, vivid closing declaration.
Answered 0 of 3 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 55.29 · Fears and Enmities (2nd)