(c) Paribbājaka Vagga

Tevijjavaccha Sutta
Vacchagotta, the wandering ascetic, questioned the Buddha whether it would be true to say that sabbaññuta ñāṇa was constantly and continuously present to him all the time, while walking or standing, asleep or awake. The Buddha replied that it would not be true to say so. It would be true to say only that the Buddha was accomplished in the three kinds of knowledge, namely, knowledge of the past, power of divine seeing, and knowledge of liberation.

Aggivaccha Sutta
This discourse was given by the Buddha at Sāvatthi in connection with Vacchagotta who approached the Buddha quite often to ask many questions about atta. On this occasion too he asked the Buddha whether there was atta; whether atta was permanent, etc. The Buddha told him he held no theories about atta because he had seen the nature of things as they really were. Then he explained to him the Dhamma in some detail.

Mahāvaccha Sutta
This discourse was given by the Buddha to Vacchagotta at Rājagaha. On his visit to the Buddha after a long interval, Vacchagotta no longer troubled the Buddha with his speculations about atta, loka, etc. Instead, he requested to be taught on good and bad deeds (kusalākusalaṃ kammaṃ) in brief. The Buddha explained to him the Dhamma on good and bad deeds in brief as well as in detail.

Vacchagotta became a disciple of the Buddha and received admission into the order. Then, practising the Dhamma as instructed, he ultimately attained arahatship, realizing nibbāna. The problems of atta, loka, etc., no longer obsessed him.

Dīghanakha Sutta
This important discourse was given by the Buddha in the Sūkarakhata Cave near Rājagaha to Dīghanakha, the wandering ascetic and a nephew of the Venerable Sāriputta, in order to remove his wrong views of annihilation. As the Buddha taught him the dhamma on contemplation of the body and contemplation of sensation (sukha, dukkha, adukkhamasukha), his uncle the Venerable Sāriputta was standing behind the Buddha, fanning him. It was only fifteen days ago that the Venerable Sāriputta had been admitted into the order by the Buddha. While following the progress of the discourse, as though sharing the food prepared for another, the Venerable Sāriputta advanced rapidly from the stage of a sotāpanna, which he had already reached, and attained the perfect state of arahatship with the fourfold analytical knowledge (paṭisambhidā ñāṇa). At the end of the discourse his nephew, the wandering ascetic Dīghanakha, became a sotāpanna.

Māgandiya Sutta
This discourse was given by the Buddha at the market town of Kammāsadhamma in the Kuru country in connection with Māgandiya, the wandering ascetic, who resented the Buddha’s criticism of his wrong beliefs. The Buddha exhorted him to practise control of the senses and sensuous thoughts. He told the wandering ascetic the story of his renunciation, how he had left his luxurious palaces and how, on discovering the truth, he found happiness in arahattaphala which was far superior to any of the sensuous pleasures. Māgandiya gave up his wrong views to become a disciple of the Buddha.

Sandaka Sutta
This discourse was given at Kosambī to Sandaka, the wandering ascetic, and his followers by the Venerable Ānanda. The Venerable Ānanda explained to them the four wrong views of sect-leaders who held that there was no existence after death, that there was neither evil nor good, no cause for any phenomena, and that there were only aggregates of seven elements. Finally he taught the wandering ascetics the Dhamma as expounded by the Buddha. As a consequence of his teaching Sandaka and his followers abandoned their wrong views and became disciples of the Buddha.

Mahāsakuludāyī Sutta
At one time the Buddha and his company of bhikkhus were residing at Rājagaha where six leaders of sects were also spending the rains with their respective followers. Then Udāyī, the wandering ascetic, who was visited by the Buddha, extolled the virtues of the Buddha saying that other leaders were sometimes criticized even by their followers, whereas the Buddha was the exception. Even if the Buddha’s disciples left the order, they did not find fault with the Buddha or the Dhamma. They only blamed themselves for not being able to follow his teaching. Udāyī attributed this difference in reverential respect enjoyed by the Buddha to five aspects of his virtues. The Buddha rejected Udāyī’s enumeration of his virtues which were mostly attributed to ascetic practices, and explained to him the real cause of the total veneration bestowed on him by his followers.

Samaṇamuṇḍika Sutta
The wandering ascetic Uggāhamāna, son of Samaṇamuṇḍika, was teaching that any recluse who refrained from wrong deed, wrong word, wrong thought, and wrong livelihood was a fully accomplished arahat. The Buddha rejected his assertion, saying that in that case, even an infant sleeping innocently upon his bed could claim to the state of arahatship. He then explained that it was only the Noble Path of Eight Constituents leading to Right Knowledge and Right Liberation that could bring about realization of arahatship.

Cūḷasakuludāyī Sutta
This discourse was given at Rājagaha. The wandering ascetic Sakuludāyī asked the Buddha many questions about atta and sīla, and the Buddha explained to him the practice of the teaching beginning with the precept of not taking the life of a being and ending with the realization of nibbāna.

Vekhanasa Sutta
This discourse was given at Sāvatthi. The Buddha explained to Vekhanasa, the wandering ascetic, how happiness accruing from spiritual attainments was superior to that derived from sensuous pleasures. The Buddha also gave the assurance that any honest worker who would follow his instructions sincerely could enjoy the bliss of spiritual attainments.