1At Sāvatthī. There the Venerable [n.381] Upatissa was Sāriputta’s personal name. Sāriputta addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Friends, bhikkhus!"

"Friend!" those bhikkhus replied. The Venerable Sāriputta said this:

2"Here, friends, when I was alone in seclusion, a reflection arose in my mind thus: ‘Is there anything in the world through the change and alteration of which sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair might arise in me?’ Then it occurred to me: ‘There is nothing in the world through the change and alteration of which sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair might arise in me.’"

3When this was said, the Venerable Ānanda said to the Venerable Sāriputta: "Friend Sāriputta, even if the Teacher himself were to undergo change and alteration, wouldn’t sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair arise in you?"

"Friend, [n.382] We should read simply āvuso with Be and Se, as against Ee āvuso Sāriputta. even if the Teacher himself were to undergo change and alteration, still sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair would not arise in me. However, it would occur to me: ‘The Teacher, so influential, so powerful and mighty, has passed away. If the Blessed One had lived for a long time, that would have been for the welfare and happiness of the multitude, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare, and happiness of devas and humans.’" sn.ii.275

"It must be because I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit have been thoroughly uprooted in the Venerable Sāriputta for a long time [n.383] Spk: For a long time: he says this referring to the time that had passed since the Buddha taught the wanderer Dighanakha "The Discourse on the Discernment of Feelings" at the door of the Boar's Cave. For it was on that day that these defilements inherent in the round of existence were uprooted in the elder. See n. 97 above. that even if the Teacher himself were to undergo change and alteration, still sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair would not arise in him."

1Sāvatthinidānaṁ. Tatra kho āyasmā sāriputto bhikkhū āmantesi: "āvuso bhikkhave"ti. "

Āvuso"ti kho te bhikkhū āyasmato sāriputtassa paccassosuṁ. Āyasmā sāriputto etadavoca:

2"Idha mayhaṁ, āvuso, rahogatassa paṭisallīnassa evaṁ cetaso parivitakko udapādi: ‘atthi nu kho taṁ kiñci lokasmiṁ yassa me vipariṇāmaññathābhāvā uppajjeyyuṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā’ti? Tassa mayhaṁ, āvuso, etadahosi: ‘Natthi kho taṁ kiñci lokasmiṁ yassa me vipariṇāmaññathābhāvā uppajjeyyuṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā’"ti.

3Evaṁ vutte, āyasmā ānando āyasmantaṁ sāriputtaṁ etadavoca: "satthupi kho te, āvuso sāriputta, vipariṇāmaññathābhāvā nuppajjeyyuṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā"ti?

"Satthupi kho me, āvuso, vipariṇāmaññathābhāvā nuppajjeyyuṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā, api ca me evamassa: ‘mahesakkho vata bho satthā antarahito mahiddhiko mahānubhāvo. Sace hi bhagavā ciraṁ dīghamaddhānaṁ tiṭṭheyya tadassa bahujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya atthāya hitāya sukhāya devamanussānan’ti.

Tathā hi panāyasmato sāriputtassa dīgharattaṁ ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā susamūhatā. Tasmā āyasmato sāriputtassa satthupi vipariṇāmaññathābhāvā nuppajjeyyuṁ sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupāyāsā"ti.

Dutiyaṁ.