Skip to reading
← Saṃyutta Nikāya

Companions

SN 21.12 · Sahāyakasutta

Golden bamboo leaves rest among living green stems in a shaded grove.

At Sāvatthī.

Then two mendicants who were companions, protégés of Venerable Mahākappina, went to the Buddha.

The Buddha saw them coming off in the distance, and addressed the mendicants: “Mendicants, do you see those monks coming who are companions, protégés of Venerable Mahākappina?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Those mendicants are very mighty and powerful. It’s not easy to find an attainment that they have not already attained. And they’ve realized the supreme culmination of the spiritual path in this very life. They live having achieved with their own insight the goal for which gentlemen rightly go forth from the lay life to homelessness.”

That is what the Buddha said. Then the Holy One, the Teacher, went on to say:

“These companion mendicants have been together for a long time. The true teaching has brought them together, the teaching proclaimed by the Buddha.

They’ve been well trained by Kappina in the teaching proclaimed by the Noble One. They bear their final body, having vanquished Māra with his legions.”

The Linked Discourses on monks are complete.

The Book of Causality is finished.

Connections

Collection & context

Books

About this edition

Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato · SuttaCentral · CC0

This translation is an expression of an ancient spiritual text that has been passed down by the Buddhist tradition for the benefit of all sentient beings. It is dedicated to the public domain via Creative Commons Zero (CC0). You are encouraged to copy, reproduce, adapt, alter, or otherwise make use of this translation. The translator respectfully requests that any use be in accordance with the values and principles of the Buddhist community. In particular, please do not use this work in AI training datasets, for the development of any AI model or algorithm, or in any AI-derived technologies.

Published source. Translation wording and order are preserved; source headings and notes are retained, with navigation and formatting adapted for this reader.

The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork for Buddhist Atlas, an evocative companion rather than a historical depiction.