Chapter XVII - KODHA VAGGA - Anger

THE HARMLESS ATTAIN THE DEATHLESS

Ahimsaka ye munayo niccam kayena samvuta
Te yanti accutam thanam yattha gantva na socare. [225]

XVII: 05 A brahmin greets the Buddha as his son

Once the Buddha with a retinue of bhikkhus entered the town of Saketa for almsfood. An old brahmin, on seeing the Buddha, addressed him, 'O son, you have not come to see us for a long time! Come with me and let your mother also see you.' So saying, he invited the Enlightened One to his house. On reaching the house, the wife of the brahmin also said the same thing and introduced him as 'Your big brother' to her children and made them pay respects to him. From that day, the couple offered almsfood to the Buddha and having heard the Dhamma, both the brahmin and his wife attained the third stage of Sainthood.

The bhikkhus were puzzled as to why the brahmin couple called the Buddha their son. He explained, 'Bhikkhus, they called me son because I had been a son or a nephew to each of them for so many previous existences in the past.' The Buddha stayed near the brahmin couple for three months and during that time both the brahmin and his wife attained Arahanthood and later passed away.

The bhikkhus, not knowing that the brahmin couple had already attained parinibbana, asked the Buddha where they were reborn. The Buddha explained, 'Those who have become Arahants are not reborn anywhere; they have attained Nibbanic bliss.'