Reading guide
A rare admission of the Buddha's own physical illness
Unlike the confrontations and teachings elsewhere in this saṃyutta, this discourse opens with plain physical vulnerability — the Buddha afflicted by winds, requiring an attendant's care — a detail this reading guide notes without further elaboration, since the text itself treats it matter-of-factly.
Silence read correctly, without needing to be explained
Upavāṇa's silent standing at Devahita's door is immediately recognized for what it is; Devahita doesn't need Upavāṇa to explain that he's come to ask for something, only what specifically he wants — the posture itself was already legible.
Exalted description paired directly with plain illness
Upavāṇa's answering verse doesn't separate praise from need; in the same breath he calls the Buddha ‘esteemed by the estimable’ and states plainly that ‘the sage is afflicted by winds’ — reverence and physical fact stated together, neither softening the other.
A second, separate question after the first concern resolves
The discourse doesn't end once the Buddha's illness subsides; Devahita returns later with an entirely different question about giving, treated as its own occasion rather than folded into the caregiving episode that opened the discourse.
A teaching reused verbatim from an earlier discourse
The answer Devahita receives — knowing past lives, seeing heaven and places of loss, having ended rebirth — matches SN 7.8's redefinition of the three knowledges exactly, here applied to a different question (where to give) rather than the earlier one (who deserves to eat), showing the same core teaching adapted to more than one occasion.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī. Now at that time the Buddha was afflicted by winds. Venerable Upavāṇa was his carer. Then the Buddha said to Upavāṇa, “Go on then, Upavāṇa, find some hot water for me.” “Yes, sir,” replied Upavāṇa. He robed up, and, taking his bowl and robe, went to the home of the brahmin Devahita, and stood silently to one side. Devahita saw him standing there and addressed him in verse:
§2“Silent stands the worthy one, shaven, wrapped in his outer robe. What do you want? What are you looking for? What have you come here to ask for?”
§3“The perfected one, the Holy One in the world, the sage is afflicted by winds. If there’s hot water, give it to the sage, brahmin. I wish to bring it to the one who is esteemed by the estimable, honored by the honorable, venerated by the venerable.”
§4Then Devahita had a man fetch a carrying-pole with hot water. He also presented Upavāṇa with a jar of molasses. Then Venerable Upavāṇa went up to the Buddha and bathed him with the hot water. Then he stirred molasses into hot water and presented it to the Buddha. Then the Buddha’s illness died down.
§5Then the brahmin Devahita 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 addressed the Buddha in verse:
§6“Where should you give an available gift? Where is a gift very fruitful? How does one who is donating ensure the success of their religious donation?”
§7“One who knows their past lives, sees heaven and places of loss, and has attained the ending of rebirth, is a sage of perfect insight. Here you should give an available gift; what’s given here is very fruitful. That’s how a sponsor of sacrifices ensures the success of their religious donation.”
§8When he had spoken, the brahmin Devahita said to the Buddha, “Excellent, worthy Gotama … From this day forth, may the worthy Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge for life.”
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