MN 84 · Khotbah di Madhurā

Tokoh, tempat, dan gagasan utamanya

Raja Avantiputta bertanya kepada Mahākaccāna tentang klaim kaum brahmana sebagai kasta tertinggi. Dengan alasan yang tenang, Mahākaccāna menunjukkan bahwa perbuatan dan hukum berlaku sama bagi semua golongan. Inilah Madhura Sutta.

TOKOH

Mahākaccāna

Murid utama yang menjelaskan kesetaraan manusia melalui akibat perbuatan.

TOKOH

Raja Avantiputta

Raja Madhurā yang menguji klaim keunggulan kasta brahmana.

TEMPAT

Madhurā

Kerajaan tempat dialog tentang kasta berlangsung.

GAGASAN

Martabat ditentukan perbuatan

Kelahiran tidak membuat seseorang kebal dari hukum, akibat perbuatan, atau kebutuhan melatih kebajikan.

Visual pengantar Tiga Keranjang · bukan bagian dari teks kanonik.

Sinopsis singkat

Mahākaccāna tinggal di Madhurā ketika Raja Avantiputta datang menemuinya dan mengangkat klaim para brahmana bahwa hanya kasta mereka yang paling tinggi, paling murni dan merupakan anak Brahmā. Mahākaccāna meminta raja melihat kenyataan: orang dari kasta mana pun yang kaya dapat dilayani oleh kasta lain; siapa pun yang melakukan kejahatan menerima akibat buruk; dan siapa pun yang hidup bajik dapat menuju keadaan baik. Bila seseorang meninggalkan kehidupan rumah tangga dan menjadi petapa yang baik, raja sendiri akan menghormatinya tanpa mempersoalkan kasta asalnya. Dengan tanya jawab itu, keunggulan berdasarkan kelahiran digantikan oleh ukuran perbuatan dan kualitas seseorang.

BAGIAN 8

mn84:8.1 What do you think, Great King?

mn84:8.2 Take an aristocrat who breaks into houses, plunders wealth, steals from isolated buildings, commits highway robbery, and commits adultery. Suppose your men arrest him and present him to you, saying:

mn84:8.3 ‘Your Majesty, this man is a bandit, a criminal.

mn84:8.4 Punish him as you will.’

mn84:8.5 What would you do to him?”

mn84:8.6 “I would have him executed, fined, or banished, or dealt with as befits the crime.

mn84:8.7 Why is that?

mn84:8.8 Because he’s lost his former status as an aristocrat, and is just reckoned as a bandit.”

mn84:8.9 “What do you think, Great King?

mn84:8.10 Take a brahmin, peasant, or menial who breaks into houses, plunders wealth, steals from isolated buildings, commits highway robbery, and commits adultery. Suppose your men arrest him and present him to you, saying:

mn84:8.11 ‘Your Majesty, this man is a bandit, a criminal.

mn84:8.12 Punish him as you will.’

mn84:8.13 What would you do to him?”

mn84:8.14 “I would have him executed, fined, or banished, or dealt with as befits the crime.

mn84:8.15 Why is that?

mn84:8.16 Because he’s lost his former status as a brahmin, peasant, or menial, and is just reckoned as a bandit.”

mn84:8.17 “What do you think, Great King?

mn84:8.18 If this is so, are the four classes equal or not?

mn84:8.19 Or how do you see this?”

mn84:8.20 “Certainly, worthy Kaccāna, in this case these four classes are equal.

mn84:8.21 I can’t see any difference between them.”

mn84:8.22 “And here’s another way to understand that the claims of the brahmins are just hearsay in the world.