[^292]: This sutta marks a turning point where the Buddha's teachings were embraced by the leading brahmin Pokkharasāti. The suttas that follow reverberate with the consequences of this encounter. He was one of the most influential brahmins of his time, although the Buddha elsewhere denied that he had any special knowledge (MN 99:15.5). Brahmanical texts confirm that he was a real person, an influential teacher around the time of the Buddha known as Pauṣkarasādi in Sanskrit. He is cited on grammar by Kātyāyana and Patañjali, and in the Taittirīya-prātiśākhya; on allowable food and theft in the Āpastamba Dharmasūtra; and on Vedic ritual in the Śāṅkhāyana-Āraṇyaka. His name identifies him as descended from a man of Puṣkarāvati, capital of Gandhāra. MN 99:10.3 clarifies that he is of the Upamañña lineage.
[^293]: Icchānaṅgala was a center east of Sāvatthī for the innovative brahmins of the Kosala region.
[^294]: Ukkaṭṭhā is mentioned only rarely, and always in the context of extraordinary teachings and events that emphasize the cosmic grandeur of the Buddha against the brahmins (DN 14:3.29.1, MN 1:1.2, MN 49:2.1). Sanskrit sources call it a droṇamukha, a leading market town accessible by land and water (Divyāvadāna 319.010). At MN 99:10.3 Pokkharasāti is said to be "of the Subhaga Forest". | "Royal park" is rājadāya (cp. migadāya, "deer park"). | A brahmadeyya is a gift of land by a king to a brahmin, which was an outstanding feature of Indian feudalism.
[^295]: Contrast with his rejection of this possibility at MN 99:10.7.
[^296]: Pokkharasāti does not care whether the Buddha identified as a follower of the Vedas. The wise do not concern themselves with religious identity.
[^297]: "Vocabularies" is nighaṇḍu (Sanskrit nighaṇṭu), known from the Nirukta of Yāska. | Keṭubha lacks an obvious Sanskrit form. The commentary explains, "The study of proper and improper actions for the assistance of poets." This suggests a connection with ritual performance, which is the special area of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa. There we often find phrases such as kṛtam bhavati, "it is performed", of which keṭubha is perhaps a contraction. | Akkhara (literally "syllable") is explained by the commentary as sikkhā (Sanskrit śikṣā), which is the study of pronunciation. This can be traced back to Pāṇinī, and is sometimes referred to as akṣara-samāmnāya, "collation of syllables". | Pabheda is found in Buddhist Sanskrit texts as padaprabheda, "classification of words", such as into the different parts of speech. The commentary identifies it with nirutti. | Padaka is one skilled in the padapāṭha recitation of Vedas, which separates the individual words. | For "testaments" (itihāsa) see itihāsa-purāṇa in Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 11.5.6.8, explained by the commentator there as legends of creation and olden times. | For "cosmology" (lokāyata), see note on DN 1:1.25.2. | For "authorized as a master" (anuññātapaṭiññāta) see MN 98:7.1 and Snp 3.9:6.1. | For "scriptural heritage of the three Vedas" (tevijjake pāvacane) see MN 95:12.2.
[^298]: Almost the same words are spoken to the bodhisatta by his first teachers, Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta (MN 36:14.9). This connects Pokkharasāti with Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta, and suggests that the anointing of a talented student in this way was a regular practice of wise brahmins.
[^299]: Following PTS and BJT editions of the parallel phrase at MN 91:4.9, which read tayā for tathā.
[^300]: The thirty-two marks are detailed in DN 14:1.32.7, DN 30:1.2.4, and MN 91:9.1. In Buddhist texts they are presented as the fulfillment of Brahmanical prophecy, but they are not found in any Brahmanical texts of the Buddha's time. However, later astrological texts such as the Gārgīyajyotiṣa (1st century BCE?) and Bṛhatsaṁhitā (6th century CE?) contain references to many of these marks, albeit in a different context, so it seems likely the Buddhist texts are drawing on now-lost Brahmanical scriptures. | The notion of a two-fold course for a great hero---worldly success or spiritual---can be traced back as far as the epic of Gilgamesh.
[^301]: The idea of the wheel-turning monarch draws from the Vedic horse sacrifice, which establishes the authority of a king from sea to sea. The Buddhist telling is divested of all coarse and violent elements. The wheeled chariot gave military supremacy to the ancient Indo-Europeans, allowing them to spread from their ancient homeland north of the Black Sea. In Buddhism, the wheel, which also has solar connotations, symbolizes unstoppable power. For a legendary account of such a king, see the Mahāsudassanasutta (DN 17).
[^302]: The sacrificial horse on its journey across the land is protected by a hundred sons.
[^303]: The relation between Pokkharasāti and Ambaṭṭha is similar to that between the Buddha and his followers. They share the same understanding, but the Buddha is distinguished as the teacher.
[^304]: In this sutta, māṇava is always applied to Ambaṭṭha and māṇavaka to the rest. It seems that the diminutive māṇavaka means "young student". | There are said to be sambahula students, a word that is often translated as "many". But later we see that they all fit inside the Buddha's hut, so the sense must be "several".
[^305]: This is the practice of walking meditation. Meditators pace mindfully up and down a smooth path, keeping attention on their body.
[^306]: Bho is a respectful term of address used by brahmins. The forms of address used in Pali are complex, and it is rarely possible to map them to modern English with any precision.
[^307]: The parallel passage at MN 35:7.4 has a different phrase here.
[^308]: The term kulaputta (literally, "son of a family") typically refers to someone from a well-to-do or respected family, a "gentleman". It is a gendered term which assumes the social status of men.
[^309]: The introduction has told us that the Buddha was staying in a forest at this time. Nonetheless, this was not a wilderness, but was developed enough to have huts with latched doors.
[^310]: The Buddha draws attention to Ambaṭṭha's rude behavior. Throughout the suttas, the manner in which people greet the Buddha gives us a hint as to their attitudes and qualities.
[^311]: Note the racial connotations of using kaṇha ("black") as a slur. The brahmin caste hailed from the (relatively) fair-skinned Indo-Europeans who entered India from the north. Vedic texts indicate that there was Brahmanical prejudice against dark-skinned natives, but also that they were assimilated and raised to positions of honor.
[^312]: Ambaṭṭha is "qualified" (vusita) in scripture, but far from "qualified" in spiritual development. Vusita is normally an expression of arahantship: vusitaṁ brahmacariyaṁ ("the spiritual journey has been completed").
[^313]: The PTS reading rabhasa means "violent, aggressive". But the commentary reads bhassa, explained as "speaking much". Moreover, the story below does not demonstrate violence.
[^314]: Ambaṭṭha despises the Sakyans as "primitives" (ibbha) who do not respect Vedic culture. The word ibbha ("primitive") stems from a non-Aryan word for "elephant" (ibha). It originally referred to the native inhabitants who tamed elephants; see eg. Chāndogya Upaniṣad 1.10. At Snp 3.1:18.4 the Buddha describes his own people as "natives" (niketino), those who have a long connection with the land.
[^315]: The Buddha's use of āyasmā is noteworthy here: he is taking a conciliatory tone.
[^316]: The Ambaṭṭhas were a people in the north-west of greater India (eg. Mahābhārata 7.4.5c, 7.132.23a). They were evidently the Abastanians whose rout at the hands of Alexander is recorded by Arrian (The Anabasis of Alexander, chapter 15). They were probably located near what is today the northern Sindh province in Pakistan. Later texts such as Manusmṛti 1.8 say that an ambaṣṭha is born of a brahmin father and vaiśya mother.
[^317]: Kaṇhāyana means "descendant of the dark one (kaṇha)". Since no clan of that name is attested it is perhaps a confusion with the Kāṇvāyanas of Rig Veda 8.55.4. But the confusion, if it is such, has an old history, for Rig Veda 1.117.8 refers to "Dark Kaṇva" (Śyāva Kaṇva).
[^318]: Normally I take ayyaputta as a simple honorific, but here the sense is not that the Sakyans were the masters, but were descended from them.
[^319]: Okkāka (Sanskrit Ikṣvāku) was the legendary son of the first man, Manu, and the founder of the solar dynasty of Kosala. It is a Munda name, which may be associated with the introduction of cane sugar (ikṣuḥ) from eastern Asia, a theory endorsed by the 9th century Jain scholar Jinasena (Natubhai Shah, Jainism, the World of Conquerors, 2004, vol. 1, pg. 15).
[^320]: The words for "teak" (sāka) and "sal" (sāla) have evidently been confused from the Munda root sarja (both appear at MN 93:11.6). But teak does not grow so far north, so the sal must be meant here. To maintain the pun I use sakhua, which is an alternate Hindi name for the sal tree. This story suggests that when they settled in their northern home in the shadow of the Himalayas, harvesting sal was a primary source of wealth. Compare Gilgamesh, for whom Lebanese cedar was the foundation of his royal capital.
[^321]: "Own" is saka, the second pun on the Sakyan name. Incest is, of course, common among royal families for exactly the reason stated here. Marriage between cousins persisted even in the Buddha's day. | For sambheda in the sense of "dissolving, leaking", see AN 2.9:1.5 = DN 26:20.2, AN 5.103:6.4, AN 10.45:4.1.
[^322]: For this sense of sammati, see SN 11.9, SN 11.10.
[^323]: This draws on both the puns above. But the commentary also explains sakya here as "capable" (samatthā, paṭibalā) in reference to their survival against all odds, thus connecting Sakya with sakka ("able").
[^324]: Vedic dāsa ("slave, bondservant") refers to the "dark-wombed" (kṛṣṇayoni, Rig Veda 2.20.7) foes of the Aryan peoples (Rig Veda 10.22.8) who upon defeat were enslaved (Rig Veda 10.62.10). The name disā therefore probably means "foe" (Sanskrit dviṣa).
[^325]: The passage wavers between treating kaṇha (Sanskrit kṛṣṇa, i.e. Krishna) as a personal name, a description, and a word for a goblin. I try to capture this ambiguity by using variations of "black boy". | The passage does not say who the father was. According to Arthaśāstra 3.13, a female slave is protected against sexual harassment by the master, but should she have a child by him, both mother and child are to be set free, and if the sex was not consensual, he must pay her a fine.
[^326]: Like Siddhattha, he spoke as soon as he was born. The boy was no common child, but had a larger destiny. His words are a dramatic contrast with Siddhattha's words of confident proclamation, and his birth which was devoid of filth or impurity.
[^327]: Lineage was important to brahmins, but the Brāhmaṇa and Upaniṣad literature shows that, as here, many were more concerned with conduct and wisdom than with birth.
[^328]: The threat of losing one's head is found at eg. Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 1.3.24, or at 3.9.26 when it actually did fall off. I cannot trace the detail of heads being split in seven to any early Sanskrit texts, but it is found in later texts such as Rāmāyaṇa 7.26.44c and Mahābhārata 14.7.2c.
[^329]: Vajirapāṇī ("lightning-bolt in hand") appears here and in the parallel passage at MN 35:14.1. The synonymous Vajrahasta (Pali vajirahattha, DN 20:12.1) is a frequent epithet of Indra in the Vedas (eg. Rig Veda 1.173.10a: indro vajrahastaḥ), confirming the commentary's identification with Sakka. Much later, Mahayana texts adopted the name for a fierce Bodhisattva who was protector of the Dhamma.
[^330]: The contemptuous senses of "black boy" represent the conservative brahmanical view, presented not as endorsement, but as a rhetorical means to undermine Ambaṭṭha's pride. The Buddha now shows how a man of a supposedly low birth rose to great spiritual eminence.
[^331]: "Divine Spell" is brahmamanta, a term of unique occurrence in Pali. In modern Hinduism it is used for a verse of praise for Brahmā, but that is not what is meant here. Kaṇha is one of several "dark hermits" who accrued mighty and lineage-busting powers in the south.
[^332]: The Hindu deity Krishna won the hand of his seventh wife Lakṣmaṇā, also known as Madrī, at an archery contest. This detail is too precise to be a coincidence, and proves there must be some shared basis between the two figures.
[^333]: This draws on the ancient belief that the king's acts affect the natural order of things.
[^334]: This sequence seems to be an etiological myth explaining certain rites of kingship and succession, providing an origin story for this prayer.
[^335]: National prosperity is ensured through symbolic regicide. This example was omitted from Frazer's accounts of such substitute sacrifices. Here there is a double substitution: the prince substitutes for the king, then a threat substitutes for the act of killing. This suggests that, even from the legendary perspective of this story within a story, the rite was an ancient one that had evolved through multiple stages.
[^336]: The use of the bare personal name for the king is unusual.
[^337]: "Divine punishment" is brahmadaṇḍa, harking back to the Divine Spell (brahmamantra). The Buddha had his own version of the brahmadaṇḍa, which was to give the silent treatment (DN 16:6.4.1).
[^338]: In MN 56:19.2āvaṭa/anāvaṭa is used in reference to Upāli "shutting his gate" against the Jains and opening it for the Buddhists. In DN 17:1.23.2anāvaṭa means "open to the public".
[^339]: Sanaṅkumāra ("Everyoung") became a Hindu deity closely associated with the worship of Krishna. He first appears in the seventh chapter of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad. There he teaches the learned Nārada what lies beyond the mere surface of words (nāma) by giving a progressive meditation that ultimately reveals the highest Self. Thus he is a perfect foil for Ambaṭṭha. The occasion he spoke this verse is recorded at SN 6.11, and it is repeated several times in the suttas.
[^340]: To his credit, after that thorough humiliation, Ambaṭṭha is ready to learn.
[^341]: Reading anuttarāya vijjācaraṇasampadāya as locative, in agreement with yattha below.
[^342]: The Buddha emphasizes that his "knowledge and conduct" rejects the notion of birth that is so essential to Brahmanism.
[^343]: The Pali text abbreviates the gradual training in this sutta and those that follow. The reader is expected to understand it as in DN 2. Note, however, that the suttas sometimes have small differences in their perspective that make reconstruction tricky.
[^344]: In later Theravada, apāyamukha refers to deeds that cause rebirth in lower realms. However this does not apply in the early texts; the acts described here are not evil. Rather, it means an "opening" (mukha) for "departure" (apāya).
[^345]: A common practice of pre-Buddhist hermits, who avoided the slightest harm to plants. Buddhist mendicants may also not harm plants, but they rely on alms and only eat fallen fruit in case of famine.
[^346]: The Buddha inverts Ambaṭṭha's earlier claim that the other three castes only succeed in serving brahmins (DN 3:1.14.7).
[^347]: They are less strict than the previous ascetics, for they dig the soil and harm the plants.
[^348]: "Tradition" renders sācariyaka, "that which stems from one's own teacher".
[^349]: This practice is not elsewhere attested in early Pali.
[^350]: Ugga is a rare word whose root sense is "mighty", but here it must be a noun. Given that it is a military man who consults with the king, I translate as "warrior-chief". | Rājañña is used occasionally in the suttas; it is an archaic synonym for khattiya.
[^351]: Taking this and the next as one sentence, despite the punctuation of the Mahāsaṅgīti text.
[^352]: The "hymns" (mantā) are the verses of the Rig Veda. The ten names here all correspond with Vedic authors according to the Brahmanical tradition (for details, see note on DN 13:13.1). Note that in Sanskrit the names of the rishis are distinguished from the lineage holders, which take the patronymic. For example, Bharadvāja is the rishi, the Bhāradvājas are his descendants; Vasiṣṭha is the rishi, the Vāsiṣṭhas are his descendants. Pali texts do not make this distinction, but use the patronymic, although the two forms are not always readily distinguishable. | "Seer" is isi (Sanskrit ṛṣi). It is of uncertain etymology, but was taken to mean that they had "seen" the Vedas (mantradraṣṭa) or directly "heard" them from Brahmā through divine inspiration, rather than "composing" them like ordinary authors. Here, however, the Buddha says they were "authors" (kattāro). The Buddha adopted isi in the sense "enlightened sage".
[^353]: Veṭhakanatapassāhi is otherwise unattested. At MN 55:12.4veṭhaka evidently means "collar". In the Lokuttaravāda Bhikṣuṇī Vinaya, the brazen nun Thullānandā gets out of the water and wraps herself in a veṭhaka, which here seems synonymous with paṭṭaka, a strip of cloth. It is allowable if used to tie a basket (Lo Bi Pn 3). Nata is "curve", passa is "side, flank". Walshe has "flounces and furbelows", Rhys Davids has "fringes and furbelows round their loins". These are prissy descriptions of what is evidently stripper gear.
[^354]: The Buddha calls back to earlier in the sutta, where Ambaṭṭha drove a mare-drawn chariot (DN 3:1.6.1). | The verbs here (vitudenti vitacchenti) are elsewhere applied to the pecking and slashing of vultures, crows, or hawks (SN 19.1:3.2, MN 54:16.2, etc.). The Buddha was disgusted with this maltreatment of the mares.
[^355]: Remembering that Pokkharasāti lived in a wealthy property that was a royal endowment. Just as today, excessive wealth breeds insecurity.
[^356]: The Buddha has been hard on Ambaṭṭha, but he is not unfair. He invites the same level of scrutiny for himself.
[^357]: This transition occurs nowhere else.
[^358]: Finally he remembers what his teacher Pokkharasāti told him in DN 3:1.5.2: he will know the Buddha by his marks.
[^359]: This exceedingly strange "miracle" is also found at MN 91:7.1, MN 92:14.1, and Snp 3.7:11.5.
[^360]: The diminutive ending for paṇḍitaka is the same as in samaṇaka, which Ambaṭṭha used of the Buddha. | For re ("bloody"), compare cara pi re at Bu Pc 70:1.35 and he je kāḷī at MN 21:9.13. Hard as the Buddha was on Ambaṭṭha, his own teacher was harder.
[^361]: Pokkharasāti shows his astuteness, for in many other dialogues the Buddha engaged with brahmins perfectly politely, as he does in the next sutta (DN 4).
[^362]: Illustrating the lack of restraint of even a senior brahmin teacher.
[^363]: Given Pokkharasāti's mood, this was probably a diplomatic move.
[^364]: Khādanīya and bhojanīya are food categories commonly mentioned in Pali. Etymologically they stem from "hard and soft". Bhojanīya is defined in Bu Pc 37:2.1.10 as grain, porridge, flour products, fish, and meat, thus being foods that are typically eaten cooked and "mooshed up" in with the fingers in the bowl. Khādanīya is not so readily defined, being essentially everything not included in other categories. But it would have included such "crunchy" things as fruit and vegetables, which may be eaten uncooked.
[^365]: Pokkharasāti makes sure he hears both sides of the story.
[^366]: So far has Ambaṭṭha fallen from the learned sage we were introduced to at the start of the sutta.
[^367]: The Buddha bears no ill will. Sukhī hotu is one of the most recognizable Pali phrases, but in early texts it is spoken only a few times: by the Buddha at DN 21:1.8.8 and Snp 5.1:54.1; by Punabbasu's Mother at SN 10.7:10.1; and by various women at Bu Ss 5:1.4.8.
[^368]: "Robed up" because inside the monastery, monks would normally wear just a lower robe, and would don the upper and (sometimes) outer robes when visiting a layperson's home.
[^369]: While all these teachings feature commonly in the suttas, there is no text that depicts this framework in detail.
[^370]: This is the briefest expression of the four noble truths.
[^371]: This indicates that he became a stream-enterer (sotāpanna), the first of four stages of Awakening. Such details of personal attainment are typically found in the narrative rather than the teaching attributed to the Buddha, and hence were added by redactors at some point. They vary considerably in different versions. In this case, the parallel at DA 20 says that he became a stream-enterer and later a non-returner. T 20 said that he understood the teaching and went for refuge, and agrees that he became a non-returner before his death.
[^372]: This is the insight into universal impermanence and dependent origination.
[^373]: When wandering for alms, mendicants would often roam randomly through the village (sapadānacārī). However if an invitation such as this were issued, the mendicant may visit that place for a meal. It was considered a special ascetic practice to refuse such invitations. The same invitation was issued by Lohicca to Mahākaccāna at SN 35.132:14.7.
[^374]: Māṇavikā is also mentioned at MN 56:27.1 and Ud 2.6:1.3 of a young married woman; and at AN 5.192:8.5 of a baby being born. Thus it does not seem that it meant "female student of the Vedas".
[^375]: Kalyāṇaṁ vuccati is a politely ambiguous phrase. It is spoken twice elsewhere in the Pali, and both times the mendicant who said it immediately departed and never returned (SN 41.3:7.13, SN 41.4:6.7).