Anathapindika’s Death

MN 143

This is what I heard. One time the Buddha was staying near Savatthi, in Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s monastery.

At that time the householder Anathapindika was very sick. He sent a person to see Sariputta and tell him, ‘Sir, Anathapindika is very ill, he bows to your feet. Please sir, since you care for him, won’t you visit?’

Sariputta silently agreed and the next morning he went over to see Anathapindika along with Ananda. Then he sat next to Anathapindika and said,

“Sir, I hope you’re doing well and that you’re not in pain.”

“I’m not doing very well sir,” said Anathapindika, “the pain is terrible and it is getting worse. I feel as if someone is drilling into my head, or as if they were tightening a strap around it. The pain in my belly is so bad it feels as if a butcher was carving it up. My body is burning, as if I had been thrown into a pit of hot coals.”

Sariputta said, “Well then, this is how you should train yourself:

I will not cling to the eye. My consciousness will not depend on the eye.

I will not cling to the ear, nose, tongue or body. I will not cling to the mind. My consciousness will not depend on them.

I will not cling to sight, smell, taste, touch or thought. My consciousness will not depend on these.

I will not cling to the awareness that arises based on the eye or any of the other senses. I will not cling to mental consciousness. My consciousness will not depend on any of these.

I will not cling to any contact of the senses, including mind contact. My consciousness will not depend on any form of contact.

I will not cling to feeling tones that arise from sense contact. My consciousness will not depend any feeling tone.

I will not cling to the properties of solidity, liquidity, heat, air, space or consciousness. My consciousness will not depend on any property.

I will not cling to form, feeling tone, perception, decisions and consciousness. My consciousness will not depend on these five heaps.

I will not cling to the dimensions of infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness or neither perception nor non-perception. My consciousness will not depend on these formless dimensions.

I will not cling to this world or the next. My consciousness will not depend on this world or the next.

I will not cling to anything seen, heard, thought, known, wanted and explored by my mind. My consciousness will not depend on any of that.”

When he heard this, Anathapindika burst into tears.

Ananada said, “Are you dying?”

“No sir. It’s just that I have been honoring the Buddha and his seekers for a long time. Yet I have never heard such a Dharma talk before.”

“Householder, we don’t usually teach such a Dharma talk to white clothed laypeople. We teach like this to those who have gone forth.”

“Master Satiputta, you should teach this Dharma to laypeople too! There are those with little dust in their eyes who are lost because they haven’t heard the Dharma. They will understand!”

After this, Sariputta and Ananda left. Not long after, Anathapindika passed away and was reborn in the realm of the Joyful Gods.

Then, late at night, he came down to Jeta’s Grove, lighting it up. He bowed to the Buddha and recited these verses,

Blessed is Jeta’s Grove

Home to the seers

And the King of Dharma

My source of joy!

Mortals are purified

By actions, knowledge and Dharma

Virtue, and a good livelihood,

Not by clan or wealth.

A wise person

Seeing what’s good for them,

Studies the Dharma

And so are purified.

Anyone who has crossed over,

Could only be Sariputta’s equal

In wisdom, virtue and peace.

The Buddha approved and Anathapindika bowed and circled him, before vanishing away. Afterwards the Buddha told the seekers what had happened and Ananda said,

“That god must have been Anathapindika, since he was devoted to Sariputta.”

The Buddha agreed that this was the rational conclusion and Ananda was happy with this.