Tagged: Bārāṇasī
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11. Bhaddavaggiyavatthu (The Story of the Bhaddavaggiya Group)
1While traveling, the Bhagavā encountered about thirty Bhaddavaggiya companions searching for a courtesan who had stolen their belongings. He redirected their focus, asking if it was better to search for the woman or for themselves, to which they agreed the latter was preferable. The Bhagavā then delivered a gradual discourse, starting with topics like giving and virtue, progressing to the dangers of sensual pleasures and the benefits of renunciation. When he perceived their minds were receptive, he taught them the core Dhamma: suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. Upon hearing this, the companions attained the `dhammacakkhu` (insight into the Dhamma), understanding that whatever originates is subject to cessation, and subsequently requested and received ordination from the Bhagavā to live the holy life for the complete ending of suffering.
6. Pañcavaggiyakathā (The Account of the Group of Five)
2After realising his first two choices for teaching the Dhamma had passed away, the Buddha (Bhagavā) decided to teach the group of five ascetics who had previously attended him. Journeying to Bārāṇasī, he encountered Upaka, to whom he declared his supreme enlightenment and status as a teacherless Arahant. The five ascetics were initially skeptical of the Buddha, whom they perceived as having reverted to luxury, but he convinced them of his attainment. He then delivered his first discourse, "Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion," teaching them the Middle Way (`Majjhimā Paṭipadā`) which avoids the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification, and the Four Realisations (`caturāriyasaccāni`): suffering, its origin in craving, its cessation, and the path to its cessation: `Ariyo Aṭṭhaṅgiko Maggo` (the Noble Eightfold Path). Koṇḍañña was the first to gain the `dhammacakkhu` (insight into the Dhamma), understanding that whatever is subject to origination is subject to cessation, followed by the other four, all of whom were then ordained. Subsequently, the Buddha taught them the second discourse - the doctrine of anattā (not-self) in relation to the `pañcupādānakkhandhā` or Five Collections (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness), leading to all five ascetics achieving liberation as Arahants.