Sariputta- Buddhist FigureMortal"Foremost in Wisdom"

The Wanderers' Pact

Sariputta, "son of Sari," grew up near Rajagaha in a brahmin household. He and Moggallana were friends from youth, and together they moved from teacher to teacher, looking for something none could provide. They studied under the skeptic Sanjaya Belatthiputta, mastered his system, and still felt hollow. So they made a pact: whoever found the truth first would tell the other at once.

The Verse on Alms Round

One morning in Rajagaha, Sariputta noticed a monk walking through the streets with his bowl. Something in Assaji's composure stopped him. He asked who this monk's teacher was and what he taught. Assaji said he was new to the path and could only manage a summary. He recited a single verse on dependent origination: "Of those phenomena that arise from causes, the Tathagata has stated their causes and their cessation." That was enough. Sariputta became a stream-enterer on the spot. He ran to Moggallana and repeated the verse. Moggallana attained stream-entry too. Together they brought 250 of Sanjaya's former students to the Buddha and were ordained.

Moggallana reached arhatship within seven days. Sariputta took two weeks. He needed to turn each link of the path over in his mind before he could release it. The Buddha declared him foremost in wisdom among all disciples and entrusted him with training his own son, Rahula. Where the Buddha shaped each teaching to the listener before him, Sariputta sorted the doctrine into categories that could be memorized and transmitted. The Abhidharma tradition traces its roots to his work.

The Room Where He Was Born

About six months before the Buddha's own death, Sariputta fell ill. He knew what was coming. He returned to his birthplace and asked to die in the room where he had been born. His mother, a brahmin who had never accepted his teacher's path, was there. He taught her the Dharma, and she understood. Then he died. His attendant Cunda brought the robe and the relics to the Buddha. The Buddha held them and said: "All that is dear and pleasing to us must change, must become otherwise."