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Godhasakka Sutta

v.l. Mahānāma Sutta.– Mahānāma the Sakyan visits Godha the Sakyan at Kapilavatthu and asks him what qualities, possessed by a Stream-winner (sotāpanna), will secure for him ultimate enlightenment. There are three, answers Godha: unwavering loyalty to the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Saṅgha. When Godha, in his turn, asks the same question of Mahānāma, the latter answers that there are four, and adds the former three, the possession of the virtues beloved by the Noble Ones (ariyakantasīla).

The two seek the Buddha to ask his opinion. Mahānāma declares to the Buddha that he would accept the Buddha’s decision in face of the opinion of everyone else in the universe. In answer to a question of the Buddha, Godha answers that of a person who holds such a view he has nothing but good to say, the conclusion evidently being that he accepts Mahānāma’s opinion in preference to his own. S.v.371 f.