Buddhist Dhammapadha the Thirty bhikkhus who suddenly disappeared

Chapter XIII - LOKA VAGGA - The World

THE WISE SEEK AN ESCAPE FROM THIS WORLD

THE WISE SEEK AN ESCAPE FROM THIS WORLD

Hamsadicca pathe yanti akase yanti iddhiya
Niyanti dhira lokamha jetva maram savahinim. [175]

Swans wing along on the path of the sun. (Men) go through air by psychic powers.¹ The wise are led away from the world ² having conquered Mara and his host. ³ [175]

XIII:08 Thirty bhikkhus who suddenly disappeared

Once, thirty bhikkhus came to pay homage to the Buddha. When they came in, the Venerable Ananda, who was then attending to the Buddha, left the room and waited outside. After sometime, Ananda went in, but he did not find any of the bhikkhus and he asked where they had all gone.

The Buddha replied, 'All those bhikkhus have gone.' 'By what path did they go, Venerable Sir?' 'Through the air, Ananda.' 'But Venerable Sir, have they attained Arahanthood?' 'Yes, Ananda. After hearing the Dhamma, they have attained Arahanthood with supernormal powers.'

At that moment the Buddha saw some swans flying through the air. He commented, 'Ananda, those who have attained Sainthood, fly through the air like swans.'

Notes:

Iddhi. By mental development it is possible to fly through the air, walk on water, dive into the earth, etc. Such kinds of powers are psychic and supernormal, but not miraculous.

That is, the Arahants attain Parinibbana without coming into birth again.

The host of Mara, the Evil One, is described as comprising ten kinds of passions (kilesa).

They are:
1. material pleasures (kama).
2. aversion for the Holy Life (arati),
3. hunger and thirst (khuppipasa),
4. craving (tanha),
5. sloth and torpor (thina middha),
6. fear (bhaya),
7. doubt (vicikiccha),
8. detraction and obstinacy (makkhathambha),
9. gain (labha), praise (siloka) honour (sakkara) and ill-gotten fame (yasa),
10. Extolling of oneself and contempt for others (attukkamsana-para-vambhana).