With Ānanda Ānandasutta

Then Venerable Ānanda went up to Venerable Sāriputta, and exchanged greetings with him. Atha kho āyasmā ānando yenāyasmā sāriputto tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā āyasmatā sāriputtena saddhiṁ sammodi. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, Ānanda sat down to one side, and said to Sāriputta: Sammodanīyaṁ kathaṁ sāraṇīyaṁ vītisāretvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā ānando āyasmantaṁ sāriputtaṁ etadavoca:

“Reverend Sāriputta, how does a mendicant get to hear a teaching they haven’t heard before? How do they remember those teachings they have heard? How do they keep exercising the teachings with which they are already familiar? And how do they come to understand what they haven’t understood before?” “Kittāvatā nu kho, āvuso sāriputta, bhikkhu assutañceva dhammaṁ suṇāti, sutā cassa dhammā na sammosaṁ gacchanti, ye cassa dhammā pubbe cetasā samphuṭṭhapubbā te ca samudācaranti, aviññātañca vijānātī”ti?

“Well, Venerable Ānanda, you’re very learned. “Āyasmā kho ānando bahussuto. Why don’t you clarify this yourself?” Paṭibhātu āyasmantaṁyeva ānandan”ti.

“Well then, Reverend Sāriputta, listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.” “Tenahāvuso sāriputta, suṇāhi, sādhukaṁ manasi karohi; bhāsissāmī”ti.

“Yes, reverend,” Sāriputta replied. “Evamāvuso”ti kho āyasmā sāriputto āyasmato ānandassa paccassosi. Ānanda said this: Āyasmā ānando etadavoca:

“Reverend Sāriputta, take a mendicant who memorizes the teaching—“Idhāvuso sāriputta, bhikkhu dhammaṁ pariyāpuṇāti—statements, mixed prose & verse, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and elaborations. suttaṁ geyyaṁ veyyākaraṇaṁ gāthaṁ udānaṁ itivuttakaṁ jātakaṁ abbhutadhammaṁ vedallaṁ.

Then, just as they learned and memorized it, they teach others in detail, make them recite in detail, they rehearse it themselves in detail, and they think about and consider the teaching in their heart, examining it with the mind. So yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena paresaṁ deseti, yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena paresaṁ vāceti, yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena sajjhāyaṁ karoti, yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ cetasā anuvitakketi anuvicāreti manasānupekkhati.

They enter the rains retreat in a monastery with senior mendicants who are very learned, inheritors of the heritage, who have memorized the teachings, the monastic law, and the outlines. Yasmiṁ āvāse therā bhikkhū viharanti bahussutā āgatāgamā dhammadharā vinayadharā mātikādharā tasmiṁ āvāse vassaṁ upeti. From time to time they go up to those mendicants and ask them questions: Te kālena kālaṁ upasaṅkamitvā paripucchati paripañhati: ‘Why, sir, does it say this? What does that mean?’ ‘idaṁ, bhante, kathaṁ; imassa kvattho’ti? Those venerables reveal what is hidden, clarify what is unclear, and dispel doubt regarding the many doubtful matters. Te tassa āyasmato avivaṭañceva vivaranti, anuttānīkatañca uttānīkaronti, anekavihitesu ca kaṅkhāṭhāniyesu dhammesu kaṅkhaṁ paṭivinodenti.

This is how a mendicant gets to hear a teaching they haven’t heard before. It’s how they remember those teachings they have heard. It’s how they keep exercising the teachings with which they are already familiar. And it’s how they come to understand what they haven’t understood before.” Ettāvatā kho, āvuso sāriputta, bhikkhu assutañceva dhammaṁ suṇāti, sutā cassa dhammā na sammosaṁ gacchanti, ye cassa dhammā pubbe cetasā samphuṭṭhapubbā te ca samudācaranti, aviññātañca vijānātī”ti.

“It’s incredible, reverend, it’s amazing! How well said this was by Venerable Ānanda! “Acchariyaṁ, āvuso, abbhutaṁ, āvuso, yāva subhāsitañcidaṁ āyasmatā ānandena. And we will remember Venerable Ānanda as someone who possesses these six qualities. Imehi ca mayaṁ chahi dhammehi samannāgataṁ āyasmantaṁ ānandaṁ dhārema.

For Ānanda memorizes the teaching … Āyasmā hi ānando dhammaṁ pariyāpuṇāti—statements, mixed prose & verse, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and elaborations. suttaṁ geyyaṁ veyyākaraṇaṁ gāthaṁ udānaṁ itivuttakaṁ jātakaṁ abbhutadhammaṁ vedallaṁ. Āyasmā ānando yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena paresaṁ deseti, āyasmā ānando yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena paresaṁ vāceti, āyasmā ānando yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ vitthārena sajjhāyaṁ karoti, āyasmā ānando yathāsutaṁ yathāpariyattaṁ dhammaṁ cetasā anuvitakketi anuvicāreti manasānupekkhati. Āyasmā ānando yasmiṁ āvāse therā bhikkhū viharanti bahussutā āgatāgamā dhammadharā vinayadharā mātikādharā tasmiṁ āvāse vassaṁ upeti. Te āyasmā ānando kālena kālaṁ upasaṅkamitvā paripucchati paripañhati: ‘idaṁ, bhante, kathaṁ; imassa kvattho’ti? Those venerables reveal to Ānanda what is hidden, clarify what is unclear, and dispel doubt regarding the many doubtful matters.” Te āyasmato ānandassa avivaṭañceva vivaranti, anuttānīkatañca uttānīkaronti, anekavihitesu ca kaṅkhāṭhāniyesu dhammesu kaṅkhaṁ paṭivinodentī”ti.