SUTTA 144

[^1307]: This is an elliptical expression for committing suicide.

[^1308]: By making this statement he is implicitly claiming arahantship, as will be made clear at §13. Whether his claim at this point was valid or not is uncertain, the commentary regarding it as a case of self-overestimation.

[^1309]: MA says that Ven. Mahā Cunda gave him this instruction thinking that he must still be an ordinary person, since he could not endure the deadly pains and wanted to commit suicide.

[^1310]: The sense of this instruction might be explained with the help of MA thus: One is dependent because of craving and views and becomes independent by abandoning them with the attainment of arahantship. Bias (nati, lit. bending) comes about through craving, and its absence means there is no inclination or desire for existence. There is no coming and going by the ending of rebirth and death, no here nor beyond nor in between by the transcendence of this world, the world beyond, and the passage between one and the other. This is the end of the suffering of defilements and the suffering of the round.

[^1311]: MA: He cut his throat, and just at that moment the fear of death descended on him and the sign of future rebirth appeared. Recognising that he was still an ordinary person, he was aroused and developed insight. Comprehending the formations, he attained arahantship just before he expired.

[^1312]: MA: Although the Ven. Channa was still an ordinary person at the time he made the declaration, because he attained final Nibbāna immediately afterwards, the Buddha spoke thus referring to that same declaration.

[^1313]: Upavajjakulāni. It seems from MA and MT that Channa had associated closely with his lay supporters in ways that were not proper for a monk, and even though he was intent on the right practice, this intimacy had aroused suspicion within the Sangha.

[^1314]: This statement seems to imply that Channa was an arahant at the time he committed suicide, though the commentary explains otherwise.