Mahākhandhako The Great Chapter - Ancient Buddhist Texts

I. The First Teachings - 43
“Abhidosakālaṅkato Bhante Uddako Rāmaputto,” ti
“Uddaka Rāmaputta died yesterday evening, 100 venerable Sir,”
Bhagavato pi kho ñāṇaṁ udapādi: “Abhidosakālaṅkato Uddako Rāmaputto.” ti
and this knowledge arose in the Gracious One: “Uddaka Rāmaputta died yesterday
evening.”
Atha kho Bhagavato etad-ahosi:
Then this occurred to the Gracious One:
“Mahājāniyo kho Uddako Rāmaputto,
“Uddaka Rāmaputta had great understanding,
sace hi so imaṁ Dhammaṁ suṇeyya khippam-eva ājāneyyā.” ti
if he had heard this Dhamma he would have understood it quickly.”
Atha kho Bhagavato etad-ahosi:
Then this occurred to the Gracious One:
“Kassa nu kho ahaṁ paṭhamaṁ Dhammaṁ deseyyaṁ
“To whom should I first teach the Dhamma
Ko imaṁ Dhammaṁ khippam-eva ājānissatī” ti
Who will be able to understand the Dhamma quickly”
Atha kho Bhagavato etad-ahosi:
Then this occurred to the Gracious One:
“Bahūpakārā kho me pañcavaggiyā bhikkhū,
“The group-of-five monks 101 were very helpful to me,
ye maṁ padhānapahitattaṁ upaṭṭhahiṁsu.
they attended on me when I was striving resolutely.
Yan-nūnāhaṁ pañcavaggiyānaṁ bhikkhūnaṁ paṭhamaṁ Dhammaṁ deseyyan”-ti
Now, what if I first teach the Dhamma to the group-of-five monks”
100 According to Mahāvastu and Lalitavistara he had died three days earlier. The Pāḷi
commentary says he had been reborn in the Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana (the Sphere of
Neither-Pereception-nor-Non-Perception), again the level of meditation he had reached, the
‘8th level’ of absorption. Part of the Ārūpaloka (Formless Worlds), it is the highest level in
the Universe, 17 levels higher than the Mahābrahmā Worlds, from which Brahmā
Sahampati had descended.
101 It is interesting that even here the group-of-five are referred to as monks (bhikkhū), before
they were Awakened or had even been ordained by the Buddha, this is not the case in
Mahāvastu.