Mahānāma Sutta 1 - 7

1. Mahānāma the Sākyan visits the Buddha at Nīgrodhārāma and confesses his worry as to where he would be reborn if he were to meet with an accident while passing through the crowded streets of Kapilavatthu! The Buddha assures him that he need not distress himself as he has for long practised faith and virtue, learning, renunciation and insight. His mind will soar aloft like a jar of butter or of oil, broken in a deep pool of water, where the fragments of the jar will sink but the butter and the oil float. S.v.370.

2. The circumstances are similar to those of the above sutta. The noble disciple, possessed of unwavering loyalty to the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, and who cultivates virtues dear to the Ariyans, such a one is destined to Nibbāna. Mahānāma is such a one. S.v.371; 404.

3. See Godha Sutta.

4. Mahānāma asks the Buddha, at Nigrodhārāma, as to how a man becomes a disciple, how virtuous and a believer, how far is he given to generosity and blessed with insight? The Buddha answers his questions. S.v.395f.

5. The Buddha tells Mahānāma, in answer to his question, that the noble disciple who has won the fruit (āgataphala) and grasped the teaching (viññātasāsana), lives a life of abundance, his mind occupied with thoughts of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, the virtues he practises, his liberality and the devas. Thus among uneven folk he lives evenly and untroubled. A.iii.284ff.

6. On six qualities which are developed in a monk who is faithful, energetic, mindful, concentrated and wise. His thoughts dwell on the Tathāgata, the Dhamma and the Sangha, on his own generosity and on the devas. Thus his mind is free from thoughts of ill will, lust, folly; it is direct, And he realises the attha and dhamma and the joy associated with dhamma; his body is serene and his mind filled with joy. A.v.328ff.; cp. No. 5 above.

7. Very similar to sutta No. 6. A.v.332ff.