[Buddha-l] Re: Truth

[Dhammanando Bhikkhu]

Richard Nance:

> Given the mention of A'soka on this thread, it might be worth noting
> that this quotation (which appears in the 'Sik.saasamuccaya, snagged
> from the Adhyaa'sayasa.mcodanasuutra):
>
> "Anything, Maitreya, that is well said, is a word of Buddha." (yat
> ki~ncin maitreya subhaa.sita.m sarva.m tad buddhabhaa.sita.m)
>
> ...in fact transforms a line found in the A'sokan inscriptions:
>
> "All that which... is said by the Blessed One, the Buddha, is well
> said." (e keci... bhagavataa buddhena bhaasite savve subhaasite vaa).

I think the form of the saying found in the `Sik.saasamuccaya is likely 
to be the earlier one, for it is found also in the Pali Uttaravipatti 
Sutta (AN. iv. 164). Here the god Sakka is informed of by one of his 
minions of a teaching just given by the arahant Uttara. Not having 
heard such a teaching before, Sakka pays a visit to Uttara to ask him 
if he was teaching the Buddha-word or merely an exposition of his own 
(sakapa.tibhaana). In the course of his reply Uttara says:

"Whatsoever is well-spoken, all that is the speech of the Blessed 
One... etc."
(ya.m ki~nci subhaasita.m sabba.m ta.m tassa bhagavato vacana.m arahato 
sammaasambuddhassa)

Best wishes,
Dhammanando