At the city of Sāvatthī…
One day in the morning the Blessed One dressed, took his bowl and double-layered robe, and went to Udaya of the brahmin caste. Then Udaya offered food to the Buddha’s bowl. The next day … and the day after that … Udaya offered food to the Buddha’s bowl.
But when he had offered food to the Buddha’s bowl for a third time, he said to the Buddha, “This greedy monk Gotama keeps coming back again and again!”
The Buddha:
“Again and again, farmers sow seeds.
Again and again, rainy clouds give rain.
Again and again, farmers plow fields.
Again and again, harvests are produced for the people.
“Again and again, the beggars beg.
Again and again, the donors give.
Again and again, when the donors have given,
Again and again, they go to heaven.
“Again and again, dairy farmers milk.
Again and again, a calf goes to its mother.
Again and again, beings become weary and tremble.
The fool is reborn again and again.
“Again and again, the person is reborn and dies.
Again and again, he gets carried to a graveyard.
But when people with sharp wisdom
have met the noble path which leads to the ending of rebirth,
they are not reborn again and again.”
When the Buddha taught the Dhamma like this, Udaya said to the Buddha “Excellent, Master Gotama! Excellent! Just as if someone turned upright, what was upside down, revealed what was hidden, pointed out the path to whoever was lost, or lit a lamp in the dark so people with good eyes could see what’s there, Master Gotama taught me the Dhamma, which is clear in many ways. I go for refuge to Master Gotama, to the Dhamma, and to the Saṅgha. From this day forth, may Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge to the Triple Gem for as long as I live.”
