Sarabha untranslated

Sarabha. A Paribbājaka who joined the Saṅgha and soon after left it. He then went about proclaiming in Rājagaha that he knew the Dhamma and Vinaya of the Sākyaputta monks, and that was why he had left their Saṅgha. The Buddha, being told of this, visited the Paribbājakārāma, on the banks of the Sappinikā, and challenged Sarabha to repeat his statement. Three times the challenge was uttered, but Sarabha sat silent. The Buddha then declared to the Paribbājakas that no one could say that his claim to Awakening was unjustified, or that his Dhamma, if practised, did not lead to the destruction of suffering. After the Buddha’s departure, the Paribbājakas taunted and abused Sarabha (AN.i.185ff).

It is said (AN­a.i.412 f) that Sarabha joined the Saṅgha at the request of the Paribbājakas. They had failed to find any fault with the Buddha’s life, and thought that his power was due to an “āvattanīmāyā,” conversion magic, which he and his disciples practised once a fortnight behind closed doors. Sarabha agreed to find it out and learn it. He therefore went to Gijjhakūṭa, where he showed great humility to all the resident monks. An Elder, taking pity on him, ordained him. In due course he learned the Pātimokkha, which, he realized, was what the Paribbājakas took to be the Buddha’s “māyā.” Having learned it, he went back to the Paribbājakas, taught it to them, and with them went about in the city boasting that he knew the Buddha’s teaching and had found it worthless.