Sarada Sutta
“Just as in the autumn, monks,
After the rains, when the rain clouds split
and dissipate from the heavens, [1]
The sun rises up and ascends the sky
Dispelling all darkness
By its radiance and luminous effulgence. [2]
Similarly monks,
For the wise Ariya,
The flawless, stainless,
Vision of the Dhamma arises;[3]
Following the arising of vision,
A wise meditator has given up three fetters–[4]
Belief in personal self;
Doubt in the Dhamma;
And adherence to [blind] observances and practices.[5]
Afterwards,
One does away with two things:
Sensory yearning,
And anger.[6]
As one lets go of sensory engagement,
And lets go of unwholesome states of mind
Still thinking and reflecting,
With the blissful ease that arises from letting go,
One understands and abides
in the first level of meditation.
At that time monks,
If the lifetime of this wise Ariya were to come to its end,[7]
There are no fetters that could bind this wise meditator
To return to this world[8] again.[9]
[1] “Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, saradasamaye viddhe vigatavalāhake deve
[2] ādicco nabhaṃ abbhussakkamāno sabbaṃ ākāsagataṃ tamagataṃ abhivihacca bhāsate ca tapate ca virocati ca.
[3] Evamevaṃ kho, bhikkhave, yato ariyasāvakassa virajaṃ vītamalaṃ dhammacakkhuṃ uppajjati,
[4] saha dassanuppādā, bhikkhave, ariyasāvakassa tīṇi saṃyojanāni pahīyanti—
[5] sakkāyadiṭṭhi, vicikicchā, sīlabbataparāmāso.
[6] Athāparaṃ dvīhi dhammehi niyyāti abhijjhāya ca byāpādena ca. One has to abandon these two permanently to be called a ‘Non-Returner’ but these are also left behind to enter the very first jhāna, therefore, one might deduct that a person in the first jhāna lives as an anāgamī.
[7] Tasmiñce, bhikkhave, samaya ariyasāvako kālaṃ kareyya,
[8] natthi taṃ saṃyojanaṃ yena saṃyojanena saṃyutto ariyasāvako puna imaṃ lokaṃ āgaccheyyā”ti.
[9] The commentary explains this as being a jhānānagāmī, a once-returner due to his prior Seeing of the Dhamma and attaining the first jhāna at the time of passing.
Here is the aṭṭhakathā (commentary): 3. Saradasuttavaṇṇanā: 95. Tatiye viddheti valāhakavigamena dūrībhūte. Deveti ākāse. Abhivihaccāti abhivihanitvā. Yatoti yasmiṃ kāle. Virajanti rāgarajādirahitaṃ. Tesaṃyeva malānaṃ vigatattā vītamalaṃ. Dhammacakkhunti catusaccadhammapariggāhakaṃ sotāpattimaggacakkhuṃ. Natthi taṃ saṃyojananti duvidhamevassa saṃyojanaṃ natthi, itarampi pana puna imaṃ lokaṃ ānetuṃ asamatthatāya natthīti vuttaṃ. Imasmiṃ sutte jhānānāgāmī nāma kathitoti.
