This sutta is the final in a series of three accounts of the teachings the ascetic Vaccha received from the Buddha. The first and second discourses are recounted in MN 71and MN 72.

Good and evil

One day, a lay follower of the Vaccha Teaching came to the Blessed One and said to Him: "The Blessed One has not spoken to me for a long time. It would be good if I received brief instructions on what is good and what is evil."

"I can instruct you briefly, and I can do it in detail. But since you ask for brief instructions, listen to them:

Greed, anger, and delusion are unwholesome. The absence of these three is wholesome.

Harming beings, stealing, deluding the mind, lying, slandering, rudeness, idle talk, greed, ill will, and wrong views are unwholesome. The absence of these ten is wholesome.

(wrong views are the views that there are no fruits in good and bad deeds, i.e., the denial of the law of karma; the denial of the existence of self-born beings, i.e., gods; the lack of faith in teachers who have attained the highest knowledge)

Those who have discarded craving, making it like the stump of a palm tree, so that it cannot arise in the future—these are the perfect ones, having fulfilled their sacred duty, having dropped a heavy burden, having destroyed what stained their minds. Their knowledge is final."

Achievements of The Buddha's disciples

After listening to the Buddha's explanations of good and evil, Vaccha asked whether the Blessed One had any disciples who had achieved the goal indicated by the Teacher. After all, if disciples fail to achieve the goal of what their teachers teach them, then such a teaching is considered incomplete.

To this question, the Buddha replied that many of his close disciples had attained the state of nibbana, the extinction of suffering. Among them were both men and women who, through direct knowledge, attained perfect liberation. Among the Buddha's lay followers, there were many men and women who attained the Pure Abodes and never returned to the state of ignorance. Furthermore, all who diligently practice the Buddha's teachings become independent and fearless.

Vaccha asks to be accepted into the Sangha

Vaccha, a lay follower of the Blessed One, had already interacted with the Buddha's disciples and asked his question only to receive confirmation of his impressions from the Teacher. Having received the desired confirmation, the delighted Vaccha compared the Sangha to the Ganges River, which flows to the sea and empties into it—likewise, the Sangha flows and empties into Nibbana. With these words, Vaccha asked to be accepted into the monastic Sangha.

After a certain period of time, Vaccha received the initiations necessary for admission into the Sangha and began to diligently practice the teachings he had received. After some time, Vaccha returned to the Blessed One and asked Him for the final instructions leading to complete liberation.

Supreme Instructions for Vaccha

The Buddha, seeing the purity and quality of Vaccha's mind, gave him the following instructions:

"Develop tranquility of mind and insight. When tranquility and insight are united, they form the foundation for realizing the six highest qualities:

1) the property of illusory form, which consists in overcoming the bonds of the four great elements

2) the property of divine hearing, consisting in the ability to perceive sounds close and far, earthly and heavenly

3) the property of knowing the direction of the minds of other beings by directing one's attention to them

4) the ability to remember one's past lives

5) the ability to see with the Divine Eye the rebirths of beings in accordance with their karma

6) the ability to destroy the qualities that stain the mind and to remain in a state of final liberation

Having received the instructions, Vaccha continued to diligently apply the teachings he had received. Finally, he attained perfection, the purification of the mind from stains, nibbana.

One day, seeing monks leaving the place where he was staying to visit the Buddha, Vaccha asked them: "Tell the Blessed One that Vaccha falls at His feet. And then tell the Blessed One that Vaccha has honored Him."

The monks came to the Buddha and conveyed Vaccha's words to him. Hearing this, the Buddha explained to the monks that Vaccha had attained arhatship, and that the Buddha had already known, having previously grasped Vaccha's heart with his eye, that his awakening had been accomplished.