Musīla is mentioned only here. | Saviṭṭha may also appear at AN 3.21, but it may be a different person, as that monk’s name is also spelled Samiddha, and the time, place, and people are all different. | Nārada appears in AN 5.50. | This monastery was favored by Ānanda, who was the teacher of Ghosita, the monastery’s donor (SN 35.129). He stayed there following the Buddha’s passing and the First Council (SN 22.90:4.2). Many, perhaps all, of the discourses featuring Ānanda here were set in the period after the Buddha’s death, including this one.

This is a standard set of grounds for belief, which play a limited role in supporting the search for truth, but do not yield any definitive answers (MN 95, MN 101, MN 102, SN 35.153, AN 3.65, AN 3.66, AN 4.193). | Parivitakka means “train of thought”, as when the Buddha reads Kāpaṭika’s thoughts (MN 95:12.6). Ākāra in this context means “reason”, as at MN 47:10.2. | Khanti is usually better rendered “acceptance” than the common “patience”.

This emphasizes that dependent origination is directly known through experience.

This is a particularly blunt expression for Nibbana.

The question of who, exactly, qualified as perfected became critical in the Saṅgha when the Buddha was no longer present to decide such matters. It was the decisive issue leading to the first schism between the ancestral Sthavira and Mahāsaṅghika schools, which happened after Ashoka, perhaps two centuries after the Buddha.

Silence is usually taken as assent, and the commentary says this is the case here: Musīla was in fact an arahant.

Saviṭṭha’s error lay in assuming that seeing cessation implies arahantship. To “truly see” and similar terms signify stream-entry (or above), while the end of grasping signifies perfection.

The question of who is an arahant has the potential to tear apart a community, as followers align with their preferred saint. Ānanda, aware of this, is swift to restore harmony.