Sn 5.16
Pingiya-manava-puccha
Pingiya's Question
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 1120-1123
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Pingiya:]
I'm old & weak,
my complexion dull.
I've blurry eyes
and trouble hearing,
but may I not perish deluded,
confused!
Teach me the Dhamma
so that I may know
the abandoning here
of birth & aging.
[The Buddha:]
Seeing people suffering
on account of their bodies —
heedless people are oppressed
on account of their bodies —
then heedful, Pingiya,
let go of the body
for the sake of no further becoming.
[Pingiya:]
In the four cardinal directions,
the four intermediate,
above & below
— the ten directions —
there is nothing in the world
unseen, unheard,
unsensed, uncognized by you.
Teach me the Dhamma
so that I may know
the abandoning here
of birth & aging.
[The Buddha:]
Seeing people,
victims of craving —
aflame, overwhelmed with aging —
then heedful, Pingiya,
let go of craving
for the sake of no further becoming.
Showing posts with label Sutta Nipata. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sutta Nipata. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Mogharaja-manava-puccha
Sn 5.15
Mogharaja-manava-puccha
Mogharaja's Question
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 1116-1119
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Mogharaja:]
Twice now, O Sakyan,
I've asked you,
but you, One with vision,
haven't answered me.
When asked the third time
the celestial seer answers:
so I have heard.
This world, the next world,
the Brahma world with its devas:
I don't know how they're viewed
by the glorious Gotama.
So to the one who has seen
to the far extreme,
I've come with a question:
How does one view the world
so as not to be seen
by Death's king?
[The Buddha:]
View the world, Mogharaja,
as empty —
always mindful
to have removed any view
about self.
This way one is above & beyond death.
This is how one views the world
so as not to be seen
by Death's king.
Note
On viewing the world as void, see S.XXXV.85.
Mogharaja-manava-puccha
Mogharaja's Question
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 1116-1119
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Mogharaja:]
Twice now, O Sakyan,
I've asked you,
but you, One with vision,
haven't answered me.
When asked the third time
the celestial seer answers:
so I have heard.
This world, the next world,
the Brahma world with its devas:
I don't know how they're viewed
by the glorious Gotama.
So to the one who has seen
to the far extreme,
I've come with a question:
How does one view the world
so as not to be seen
by Death's king?
[The Buddha:]
View the world, Mogharaja,
as empty —
always mindful
to have removed any view
about self.
This way one is above & beyond death.
This is how one views the world
so as not to be seen
by Death's king.
Note
On viewing the world as void, see S.XXXV.85.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Posala-manava-puccha
Sn 5.14
Posala-manava-puccha
Posala's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1112-1115
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Posala:]
To one who reveals the past
— unperturbed,
his doubts cut through —
who has gone to the beyond
of all phenomena,
I've come with a question.
I ask the Sakyan about the knowledge 1
of one devoid of perception of forms,
who has abandoned all the body,
every body,
who sees, within & without,
'There is nothing':
How is he
to be led further on?
[The Buddha:]
The Tathagata, knowing directly
all stations of consciousness, 2
knows for one stationed in them
release
& the steps leading there.
Knowing directly
the origin of nothingness
to be the fetter of delight,
one then sees there clearly.
That's his genuine knowledge —
the brahman who has lived
to fulfillment.
Notes
1. Posala's question concerning the knowledge of the person in the dimension of
nothingness has a double meaning: He is asking about the Buddha's knowledge
about that person, and also what a person in that dimension of attainment should
do to develop his/her knowledge even further. The Buddha's answer deals with the
question in both its senses.
2. On the seven stations of consciousness, see DN 15. The dimension of
nothingness, discussed in this dialogue, is the seventh and most refined.
Posala-manava-puccha
Posala's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1112-1115
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Posala:]
To one who reveals the past
— unperturbed,
his doubts cut through —
who has gone to the beyond
of all phenomena,
I've come with a question.
I ask the Sakyan about the knowledge 1
of one devoid of perception of forms,
who has abandoned all the body,
every body,
who sees, within & without,
'There is nothing':
How is he
to be led further on?
[The Buddha:]
The Tathagata, knowing directly
all stations of consciousness, 2
knows for one stationed in them
release
& the steps leading there.
Knowing directly
the origin of nothingness
to be the fetter of delight,
one then sees there clearly.
That's his genuine knowledge —
the brahman who has lived
to fulfillment.
Notes
1. Posala's question concerning the knowledge of the person in the dimension of
nothingness has a double meaning: He is asking about the Buddha's knowledge
about that person, and also what a person in that dimension of attainment should
do to develop his/her knowledge even further. The Buddha's answer deals with the
question in both its senses.
2. On the seven stations of consciousness, see DN 15. The dimension of
nothingness, discussed in this dialogue, is the seventh and most refined.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Udaya-manava-puccha
Sn 5.13
Udaya-manava-puccha
Udaya's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1105-1111
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Udaya:]
To the one in jhana
seated dustless,
passionless,
his task done,
effluent-free,
gone to the beyond
of all phenomena,
I've come with a question.
Tell me the gnosis of emancipation,
the breaking open
of ignorance.
[The Buddha:]
The abandoning
both of sensual desires,
& of unhappiness,
the dispelling of sloth,
the warding off of anxieties,
equanimity-&-mindfulness purified,
with inspection of mental qualities
swift in the forefront:
That I call the gnosis of emancipation, 1
the breaking open
of ignorance. 2
[Udaya:]
With what
is the world fettered?
With what
is it examined?
Through the abandoning of what
is there said to be
Unbinding?
[The Buddha:]
With delight
the world's fettered.
With directed thought
it's examined.
Through the abandoning of craving
is there said to be
Unbinding.
[Udaya:]
Living mindful in what way
does one bring consciousness
to a halt?
We've come questioning
to the Blessed One.
Let us hear your words.
[The Buddha:]
Not relishing feeling,
inside or out:
One living mindful in this way
brings consciousness
to a halt. 3
Notes
1. For a discussion of the "gnosis of emancipation" — the state of knowledge
consisting of mental absorption coupled with an analysis of mental states, see
AN 9.36 and Section III.F in The Wings to Awakening.
2. AN 3.33 contains a discussion of this verse. The Buddha tells Ven. Sariputta
that one should train oneself such that "with regard to this conscious body,
there will be no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, such that
with regard to all external themes [topics of concentration] there will be no
'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, and that we will enter &
remain in the awareness-release & discernment-release in which there is no
'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit." When one has trained in
this way, he says, one is called a person who has cut through craving, unraveled
the fetter, who has, through the right penetration of conceit, put an end to
suffering & stress. He then states that it was in connection to this state that
he uttered this verse.
3. For a discussion of "bringing consciousness to a halt" — showing that it is
not an annihilation of consciousness, but rather the ending of its proliferating
activity — see SN 22.53.
Udaya-manava-puccha
Udaya's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1105-1111
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Udaya:]
To the one in jhana
seated dustless,
passionless,
his task done,
effluent-free,
gone to the beyond
of all phenomena,
I've come with a question.
Tell me the gnosis of emancipation,
the breaking open
of ignorance.
[The Buddha:]
The abandoning
both of sensual desires,
& of unhappiness,
the dispelling of sloth,
the warding off of anxieties,
equanimity-&-mindfulness purified,
with inspection of mental qualities
swift in the forefront:
That I call the gnosis of emancipation, 1
the breaking open
of ignorance. 2
[Udaya:]
With what
is the world fettered?
With what
is it examined?
Through the abandoning of what
is there said to be
Unbinding?
[The Buddha:]
With delight
the world's fettered.
With directed thought
it's examined.
Through the abandoning of craving
is there said to be
Unbinding.
[Udaya:]
Living mindful in what way
does one bring consciousness
to a halt?
We've come questioning
to the Blessed One.
Let us hear your words.
[The Buddha:]
Not relishing feeling,
inside or out:
One living mindful in this way
brings consciousness
to a halt. 3
Notes
1. For a discussion of the "gnosis of emancipation" — the state of knowledge
consisting of mental absorption coupled with an analysis of mental states, see
AN 9.36 and Section III.F in The Wings to Awakening.
2. AN 3.33 contains a discussion of this verse. The Buddha tells Ven. Sariputta
that one should train oneself such that "with regard to this conscious body,
there will be no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, such that
with regard to all external themes [topics of concentration] there will be no
'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, and that we will enter &
remain in the awareness-release & discernment-release in which there is no
'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit." When one has trained in
this way, he says, one is called a person who has cut through craving, unraveled
the fetter, who has, through the right penetration of conceit, put an end to
suffering & stress. He then states that it was in connection to this state that
he uttered this verse.
3. For a discussion of "bringing consciousness to a halt" — showing that it is
not an annihilation of consciousness, but rather the ending of its proliferating
activity — see SN 22.53.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Bhadravudha-manava-puccha
Sn 5.12
Bhadravudha-manava-puccha
Bhadravudha's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1101-1104
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Bhadravudha:]
I entreat the one
who is very intelligent,
released, unperturbed —
who has abandoned home,
abandoned delight,
abandoned resemblances,
cut through craving,
crossed over the flood.
Having heard the Great One, they will leave —
the many gathered
from many lands, hero,
in hope of your words.
So tell them, please,
how this Dhamma has
been known to you.
[The Buddha:]
Subdue craving & clinging — all —
above, below,
across, in between. 1
For whatever people cling to in the world,
it's through that
that Mara pursues them.
So a monk, mindful,
seeing these people
clinging to entanglement
as entangled in Death's realm,
should cling to nothing
in all the world,
every world.
Note
1. For Nd.II's discussion of the various meanings of the objects of craving
"above, below, across, in between," see Note 2 to Sn.V.4 (Mettagu's Question).
Bhadravudha-manava-puccha
Bhadravudha's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1101-1104
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Bhadravudha:]
I entreat the one
who is very intelligent,
released, unperturbed —
who has abandoned home,
abandoned delight,
abandoned resemblances,
cut through craving,
crossed over the flood.
Having heard the Great One, they will leave —
the many gathered
from many lands, hero,
in hope of your words.
So tell them, please,
how this Dhamma has
been known to you.
[The Buddha:]
Subdue craving & clinging — all —
above, below,
across, in between. 1
For whatever people cling to in the world,
it's through that
that Mara pursues them.
So a monk, mindful,
seeing these people
clinging to entanglement
as entangled in Death's realm,
should cling to nothing
in all the world,
every world.
Note
1. For Nd.II's discussion of the various meanings of the objects of craving
"above, below, across, in between," see Note 2 to Sn.V.4 (Mettagu's Question).
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Jatukanni-manava-puccha
Sn 5.11
Jatukanni-manava-puccha
Jatukanni's Question
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1096-1100
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Jatukannin:]
Hearing that there was a hero —
desiring no sensuality,
having crossed over the flood —
I've come with a question:
Tell me the state of peace,
O One with quick eyes. O Blessed One,
tell me
as it actually is.
For the Blessed One lives
having surpassed sensuality,
as the radiant sun, in its radiance,
the earth.
Limited my discernment,
O One whose discernment's profound.
Teach me to know the Dhamma,
the abandoning here
of birth
& aging.
[The Buddha:]
Subdue greed for sensual pleasures,
& see renunciation as rest.
Let there be nothing grasped
or rejected by you.
Burn up what's before,
and have nothing for after.
If you don't grasp
at what's in between, 1
you will go about, calm.
One completely devoid of greed
for name & form, brahman,
has
no effluents
by which he would go
under Mara's sway.
Note
1. According to Nd.II, "before" stands for defilements related to the past,
"after" for defilements related to the future, and "in between" for the five
aggregates — form, feeling, perception, thought-fabrications, sensory
consciousness — in the present.
Jatukanni-manava-puccha
Jatukanni's Question
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1096-1100
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Jatukannin:]
Hearing that there was a hero —
desiring no sensuality,
having crossed over the flood —
I've come with a question:
Tell me the state of peace,
O One with quick eyes. O Blessed One,
tell me
as it actually is.
For the Blessed One lives
having surpassed sensuality,
as the radiant sun, in its radiance,
the earth.
Limited my discernment,
O One whose discernment's profound.
Teach me to know the Dhamma,
the abandoning here
of birth
& aging.
[The Buddha:]
Subdue greed for sensual pleasures,
& see renunciation as rest.
Let there be nothing grasped
or rejected by you.
Burn up what's before,
and have nothing for after.
If you don't grasp
at what's in between, 1
you will go about, calm.
One completely devoid of greed
for name & form, brahman,
has
no effluents
by which he would go
under Mara's sway.
Note
1. According to Nd.II, "before" stands for defilements related to the past,
"after" for defilements related to the future, and "in between" for the five
aggregates — form, feeling, perception, thought-fabrications, sensory
consciousness — in the present.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Kappa-manava-puccha
Sn 5.10
Kappa-manava-puccha
Kappa's Question
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1092-1095
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1997
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
Other formats:
[Kappa:]
For one stranded in the middle of the lake,
in the flood of great danger — birth —
overwhelmed with aging & death:
Tell me the island, dear sir,
and show me the island
so that this may not happen again.
[The Buddha:]
For one stranded in the middle of the lake,
in the flood of great danger — birth —
overwhelmed with aging & death,
I will tell you the island, Kappa.
Having nothing,
clinging to no thing:
That is the island,
there is no other.
That's Unbinding, I tell you,
the total ending of aging & death.
Those knowing this, mindful,
fully unbound
in the here & now,
don't serve as Mara's servants,
don't come under Mara's sway.
Kappa-manava-puccha
Kappa's Question
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1092-1095
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1997
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
Other formats:
[Kappa:]
For one stranded in the middle of the lake,
in the flood of great danger — birth —
overwhelmed with aging & death:
Tell me the island, dear sir,
and show me the island
so that this may not happen again.
[The Buddha:]
For one stranded in the middle of the lake,
in the flood of great danger — birth —
overwhelmed with aging & death,
I will tell you the island, Kappa.
Having nothing,
clinging to no thing:
That is the island,
there is no other.
That's Unbinding, I tell you,
the total ending of aging & death.
Those knowing this, mindful,
fully unbound
in the here & now,
don't serve as Mara's servants,
don't come under Mara's sway.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Todeyya-manava-puccha
Sn 5.9
Todeyya-manava-puccha
Todeyya's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1088-1091
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Todeyya:]
One in whom
there dwell no sensualities;
one in whom
no craving is found;
one who has crossed over perplexity —
his emancipation:
what is it like?
[The Buddha:]
One in whom
there dwell no sensualities;
one in whom
no craving is found;
one who has crossed over perplexity —
his emancipation
is not other than that.
[Todeyya:]
Is he without desire,
or desiring?
Discerning or
still acquiring discernment?
Describe the sage to me, Sakyan
with the all-around eye,
so that I may recognize
what he is like.
[The Buddha:]
He's without desire,
not desiring;
discerning,
not still acquiring discernment.
Recognize the sage, Todeyya,
as having nothing,
unentangled
in sensuality
& becoming.
Todeyya-manava-puccha
Todeyya's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1088-1091
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Todeyya:]
One in whom
there dwell no sensualities;
one in whom
no craving is found;
one who has crossed over perplexity —
his emancipation:
what is it like?
[The Buddha:]
One in whom
there dwell no sensualities;
one in whom
no craving is found;
one who has crossed over perplexity —
his emancipation
is not other than that.
[Todeyya:]
Is he without desire,
or desiring?
Discerning or
still acquiring discernment?
Describe the sage to me, Sakyan
with the all-around eye,
so that I may recognize
what he is like.
[The Buddha:]
He's without desire,
not desiring;
discerning,
not still acquiring discernment.
Recognize the sage, Todeyya,
as having nothing,
unentangled
in sensuality
& becoming.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Hemaka-manava-puccha
Sn 5.8
Hemaka-manava-puccha
Hemaka's Question
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1084-1087
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1997
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Hemaka:]
In the past,
before hearing Gotama's teaching,
when anyone explained 'It was,' 'It will be,'
all that was hearsay,
quoted words.
All that promoted conjecture
and gave me no pleasure.
Now, sage, teach me the Dhamma
demolishing craving,
knowing which, living mindfully,
one would cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.
[The Buddha:]
Here, Hemaka,
with regard to things that are dear
— seen, heard, sensed, & cognized —
there is: the dispelling of passion & desire,
the undying state of Unbinding.
Those knowing this, mindful,
fully unbound
in the here & now,
are forever calmed,
have crossed over beyond
entanglement in the world.
Hemaka-manava-puccha
Hemaka's Question
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1084-1087
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1997
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Hemaka:]
In the past,
before hearing Gotama's teaching,
when anyone explained 'It was,' 'It will be,'
all that was hearsay,
quoted words.
All that promoted conjecture
and gave me no pleasure.
Now, sage, teach me the Dhamma
demolishing craving,
knowing which, living mindfully,
one would cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.
[The Buddha:]
Here, Hemaka,
with regard to things that are dear
— seen, heard, sensed, & cognized —
there is: the dispelling of passion & desire,
the undying state of Unbinding.
Those knowing this, mindful,
fully unbound
in the here & now,
are forever calmed,
have crossed over beyond
entanglement in the world.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Nanda-manava-puccha
Sn 5.7
Nanda-manava-puccha
Nanda's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1077-1083
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Nanda:]
There are in the world
sages, they say
— in what way?
Do they call one a sage
for possessing knowledge
or possessing a way of life?
[The Buddha:]
Not on account of his views,
learning,
or knowledge
do the skilled here, Nanda,
call one a sage.
Those who live
disarmed,
undesiring,
untroubled:
those, I say, are called sages.
[Nanda:]
Whatever priests & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
have they, dear sir, living there in that way,
crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
Whatever priests & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
none of them, living there in that way,
I tell you, have crossed over birth & aging.
[Nanda:]
Whatever priests & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
if, sage, as you say,
they've not crossed over the flood,
then who in the world
of beings divine & human
has crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
I don't say that all priests & contemplatives
are shrouded in birth & aging.
Those here who've abandoned
what's seen, heard, & sensed,
precepts & practices 1
— all —
who've abandoned their manifold ways
— again, all —
who, comprehending craving,
are effluent-free:
they are the ones, I tell you,
who've crossed over the flood.
[Nanda:]
I relish, Gotama, the Great Seer's words
well-expounded, without acquisition.
Those here who've abandoned
what's seen, heard, & sensed,
precepts & practices
— all —
who've abandoned their manifold ways
— again, all —
who, comprehending craving,
are effluent-free:
I, too, say they've crossed over the flood.
Note
1. For a discussion of the abandoning of precepts and practices, see The Mind
Like Fire Unbound, Chapters 3 and 4.
Nanda-manava-puccha
Nanda's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1077-1083
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Nanda:]
There are in the world
sages, they say
— in what way?
Do they call one a sage
for possessing knowledge
or possessing a way of life?
[The Buddha:]
Not on account of his views,
learning,
or knowledge
do the skilled here, Nanda,
call one a sage.
Those who live
disarmed,
undesiring,
untroubled:
those, I say, are called sages.
[Nanda:]
Whatever priests & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
have they, dear sir, living there in that way,
crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
Whatever priests & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
none of them, living there in that way,
I tell you, have crossed over birth & aging.
[Nanda:]
Whatever priests & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
if, sage, as you say,
they've not crossed over the flood,
then who in the world
of beings divine & human
has crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
I don't say that all priests & contemplatives
are shrouded in birth & aging.
Those here who've abandoned
what's seen, heard, & sensed,
precepts & practices 1
— all —
who've abandoned their manifold ways
— again, all —
who, comprehending craving,
are effluent-free:
they are the ones, I tell you,
who've crossed over the flood.
[Nanda:]
I relish, Gotama, the Great Seer's words
well-expounded, without acquisition.
Those here who've abandoned
what's seen, heard, & sensed,
precepts & practices
— all —
who've abandoned their manifold ways
— again, all —
who, comprehending craving,
are effluent-free:
I, too, say they've crossed over the flood.
Note
1. For a discussion of the abandoning of precepts and practices, see The Mind
Like Fire Unbound, Chapters 3 and 4.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Upasiva-manava-puccha
Sn 5.6
Upasiva-manava-puccha
Upasiva's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1069-1076
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1997
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
Other formats:
[Upasiva:]
Alone, Sakyan, & with nothing to rely on,
I can't venture across
the great flood.
Tell me, All-around Eye,
the support to rely on
for crossing over this flood.
[The Buddha:]
Mindfully focused on nothingness, 1
relying on 'There isn't,'
you should cross over the flood.
Abandoning sensual pleasures,
abstaining from conversations,
keep watch for the ending of
craving, night & day.
[Upasiva:]
One free from passion
for all sensual pleasures
relying on nothingness, letting go of all else,
released in the highest emancipation of perception:
Does he stay there unaffected?
[The Buddha:]
One free from passion
for all sensual pleasures
relying on nothingness, letting go of all else,
released in the highest emancipation of perception:
He stays there unaffected.
[Upasiva:]
If he stays there, O All-around Eye,
unaffected for many years,
right there
would he be cooled & released?
Would his consciousness be like that?
[The Buddha:]
As a flame overthrown by the force of the wind
goes to an end
that cannot be classified,2
so the sage free from naming activity
goes to an end
that cannot be classified.
[Upasiva:]
He who has reached the end:
Does he not exist,
or is he for eternity
free from dis-ease?
Please, sage, declare this to me
as this phenomenon has been known by you.
[The Buddha:]
One who has reached the end
has no criterion 3
by which anyone would say that —
for him it doesn't exist.
When all phenomena are done away with,4
all means of speaking
are done away with as well.
Notes
1. "Nothingness" here denotes the dimension of nothingness, one of the four
levels of mental absorption on formless themes. One attains this level, after
surmounting the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, by focusing on the
perception, "There is nothing." MN 26 tells us that Alara Kalama, the Buddha's
first teacher when the latter was still a Bodhisatta, had attained this level of
mental absorption and had thought that it was the highest possible attainment.
The Bodhisatta left him upon realizing that it was not true liberation from
stress and suffering. Nevertheless, the dimension of nothingness can be used as
a basis for the insight leading to that liberation. On this point, see Sn.V.14
and AN 9.36.
2. For a discussion of this passage in light of early Buddhist theories of fire,
see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, Chapter 1.
3. For a discussion of the meaning of "criterion" in this passage, see The Mind
Like Fire Unbound, Chapter 1.
4. Although Upasiva refers to the goal as a phenomenon (dhamma), the Buddha
describes it as the transcending of all phenomena. For some of the implications
of this statement, see AN 3.134.
Upasiva-manava-puccha
Upasiva's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1069-1076
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1997
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
Other formats:
[Upasiva:]
Alone, Sakyan, & with nothing to rely on,
I can't venture across
the great flood.
Tell me, All-around Eye,
the support to rely on
for crossing over this flood.
[The Buddha:]
Mindfully focused on nothingness, 1
relying on 'There isn't,'
you should cross over the flood.
Abandoning sensual pleasures,
abstaining from conversations,
keep watch for the ending of
craving, night & day.
[Upasiva:]
One free from passion
for all sensual pleasures
relying on nothingness, letting go of all else,
released in the highest emancipation of perception:
Does he stay there unaffected?
[The Buddha:]
One free from passion
for all sensual pleasures
relying on nothingness, letting go of all else,
released in the highest emancipation of perception:
He stays there unaffected.
[Upasiva:]
If he stays there, O All-around Eye,
unaffected for many years,
right there
would he be cooled & released?
Would his consciousness be like that?
[The Buddha:]
As a flame overthrown by the force of the wind
goes to an end
that cannot be classified,2
so the sage free from naming activity
goes to an end
that cannot be classified.
[Upasiva:]
He who has reached the end:
Does he not exist,
or is he for eternity
free from dis-ease?
Please, sage, declare this to me
as this phenomenon has been known by you.
[The Buddha:]
One who has reached the end
has no criterion 3
by which anyone would say that —
for him it doesn't exist.
When all phenomena are done away with,4
all means of speaking
are done away with as well.
Notes
1. "Nothingness" here denotes the dimension of nothingness, one of the four
levels of mental absorption on formless themes. One attains this level, after
surmounting the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, by focusing on the
perception, "There is nothing." MN 26 tells us that Alara Kalama, the Buddha's
first teacher when the latter was still a Bodhisatta, had attained this level of
mental absorption and had thought that it was the highest possible attainment.
The Bodhisatta left him upon realizing that it was not true liberation from
stress and suffering. Nevertheless, the dimension of nothingness can be used as
a basis for the insight leading to that liberation. On this point, see Sn.V.14
and AN 9.36.
2. For a discussion of this passage in light of early Buddhist theories of fire,
see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, Chapter 1.
3. For a discussion of the meaning of "criterion" in this passage, see The Mind
Like Fire Unbound, Chapter 1.
4. Although Upasiva refers to the goal as a phenomenon (dhamma), the Buddha
describes it as the transcending of all phenomena. For some of the implications
of this statement, see AN 3.134.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Dhotaka-manava-puccha
Sn 5.5
Dhotaka-manava-puccha
Dhotaka's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1061-1068
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Dhotaka:]
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
I hope for your words, Great Seer.
Having heard your pronouncement,
I'll train for my own
Unbinding.
[The Buddha:]
In that case,
be ardent —
astute & mindful right here.
Then, having heard my pronouncement,
train for your own
Unbinding.
[Dhotaka:]
I see in the world of beings
divine & human,
a brahman who lives
possessing nothing.
I pay homage to him
the All-around Eye.
From my doubts, O Sakyan, release me!
[The Buddha:]
No one in the world, Dhotaka,
can I release from doubting.
But knowing the most excellent Dhamma,
you will cross over the flood.
[Dhotaka:]
Teach with compassion, O brahman,
the Dhamma of seclusion
so that I may know —
so that I, unafflicted as space,
may live right here,
independent,
at peace.
[The Buddha:]
I will teach you peace
— in the here & now,
not quoted words —
knowing which, living mindfully,
you'll go beyond
entanglement in the world.
[Dhotaka:]
And I relish, Great Seer,
that peace supreme,
knowing which, living mindfully,
I'll go beyond
entanglement in the world.
[The Buddha:]
Whatever you're alert to,
above, below,
across, in between:
knowing it as a bond in the world,
don't create craving
for becoming or non-.
Note
Craving for becoming and non-becoming (or dis-becoming) are the two most subtle
forms of craving that lead to continued existence — and suffering — in the round
of birth & death.
Dhotaka-manava-puccha
Dhotaka's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1061-1068
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Dhotaka:]
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
I hope for your words, Great Seer.
Having heard your pronouncement,
I'll train for my own
Unbinding.
[The Buddha:]
In that case,
be ardent —
astute & mindful right here.
Then, having heard my pronouncement,
train for your own
Unbinding.
[Dhotaka:]
I see in the world of beings
divine & human,
a brahman who lives
possessing nothing.
I pay homage to him
the All-around Eye.
From my doubts, O Sakyan, release me!
[The Buddha:]
No one in the world, Dhotaka,
can I release from doubting.
But knowing the most excellent Dhamma,
you will cross over the flood.
[Dhotaka:]
Teach with compassion, O brahman,
the Dhamma of seclusion
so that I may know —
so that I, unafflicted as space,
may live right here,
independent,
at peace.
[The Buddha:]
I will teach you peace
— in the here & now,
not quoted words —
knowing which, living mindfully,
you'll go beyond
entanglement in the world.
[Dhotaka:]
And I relish, Great Seer,
that peace supreme,
knowing which, living mindfully,
I'll go beyond
entanglement in the world.
[The Buddha:]
Whatever you're alert to,
above, below,
across, in between:
knowing it as a bond in the world,
don't create craving
for becoming or non-.
Note
Craving for becoming and non-becoming (or dis-becoming) are the two most subtle
forms of craving that lead to continued existence — and suffering — in the round
of birth & death.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Mettagu-manava-puccha
Sn 5.4
Mettagu-manava-puccha
Mettagu's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 1049-1060
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
Other formats:
[Mettagu:]
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
I regard you as knowledgeable,
with your self developed.
From what have the many
forms of stress & suffering
arisen in the world?
[The Buddha:]
If you ask me
the coming-into-being
of stress & suffering,
I will tell it to you
as one who discerns.
From acquisition 1 as cause
the many forms of stress & suffering
come into being in the world.
Whoever, unknowing, makes acquisitions
— the fool —
comes to stress & suffering
again
& again.
So one who's discerning,
focused on the birth
of stress & suffering,
their coming-into-being,
should make no acquisitions.
[Mettagu:]
What we asked, you've expounded.
Now we ask something else.
Please tell us.
How do the prudent
cross over the flood of
birth & aging,
lamentation & sorrow?
Please, sage, declare this to me
as this Dhamma has
been known by you.
[The Buddha:]
I will teach you the Dhamma
— in the here & now,
not quoted words —
knowing which, living mindfully,
you'll cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.
[Mettagu:]
And I relish, Great Seer,
that Dhamma supreme,
knowing which, living mindfully,
I'll cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.
[The Buddha:]
Whatever you're alert to,
above, below,
across, in between:2
dispelling any delight,
any laying claim
to those things,
consciousness should not take a stance
in becoming.
The monk who dwells thus
— mindful, heedful —
letting go of his sense of mine,
knowing right here would abandon
birth & aging,
lamentation & sorrow,
stress & suffering.
[Mettagu:]
I relish, Gotama, the Great Seer's words
well-expounded, without acquisition,
for yes, O Blessed One,
you've abandoned stress & suffering
as this Dhamma has
been known by you.
And they, too, would abandon stress & suffering
those whom you, sage,
would admonish unceasingly.
Having met you, I bow down to you,
Great One.
Perhaps you will admonish me
unceasingly.
[The Buddha:]
Whoever you recognize
as a knowledgeable brahman,
possessing nothing,
unentangled
in sensuality & becoming
yes, he has crossed over the flood.
Having crossed to the far shore,
he is without
harshness or doubt.
And any one who has realized,
who is knowledgeable here,
having unentangled the bond
to becoming and non-, 3
free of craving,
untroubled,
undesiring — he,
I tell you, has crossed over birth
& aging.
Notes
1. The term "acquisition" (upadhi), in its everyday sense, denotes the
possessions, baggage, and other paraphernalia that a nomadic family might carry
around with it in its wanderings. On the psychological level, it denotes
anything for which one might have a sense of "I" or "mine" and which,
consequently, one would carry around as a kind of mental baggage.
2. Nd.II gives six different valid interpretations for "above, below, across, in
between":
above = the future; below = the past; across and in between = the present
above = the deva world; below = hell; across and in between = the human world
above = skillfulness; below = unskillfulness; across and in between =
indeterminate mental qualities
above = the property of formlessness; below = the property of sensuality;
across and in between = the property of form
above = feelings of pleasure; below = feelings of pain; across and in between
= feelings of neither pleasure nor pain
above = the body from the feet on up; below = the body from the crown of the
head on down; across and in between = the middle of the body
3. Becoming and non-becoming (or dis-becoming) are the two most subtle objects
of craving that lead on to continued existence — and suffering — in the round of
birth & death.
Mettagu-manava-puccha
Mettagu's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 1049-1060
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
Other formats:
[Mettagu:]
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
I regard you as knowledgeable,
with your self developed.
From what have the many
forms of stress & suffering
arisen in the world?
[The Buddha:]
If you ask me
the coming-into-being
of stress & suffering,
I will tell it to you
as one who discerns.
From acquisition 1 as cause
the many forms of stress & suffering
come into being in the world.
Whoever, unknowing, makes acquisitions
— the fool —
comes to stress & suffering
again
& again.
So one who's discerning,
focused on the birth
of stress & suffering,
their coming-into-being,
should make no acquisitions.
[Mettagu:]
What we asked, you've expounded.
Now we ask something else.
Please tell us.
How do the prudent
cross over the flood of
birth & aging,
lamentation & sorrow?
Please, sage, declare this to me
as this Dhamma has
been known by you.
[The Buddha:]
I will teach you the Dhamma
— in the here & now,
not quoted words —
knowing which, living mindfully,
you'll cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.
[Mettagu:]
And I relish, Great Seer,
that Dhamma supreme,
knowing which, living mindfully,
I'll cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.
[The Buddha:]
Whatever you're alert to,
above, below,
across, in between:2
dispelling any delight,
any laying claim
to those things,
consciousness should not take a stance
in becoming.
The monk who dwells thus
— mindful, heedful —
letting go of his sense of mine,
knowing right here would abandon
birth & aging,
lamentation & sorrow,
stress & suffering.
[Mettagu:]
I relish, Gotama, the Great Seer's words
well-expounded, without acquisition,
for yes, O Blessed One,
you've abandoned stress & suffering
as this Dhamma has
been known by you.
And they, too, would abandon stress & suffering
those whom you, sage,
would admonish unceasingly.
Having met you, I bow down to you,
Great One.
Perhaps you will admonish me
unceasingly.
[The Buddha:]
Whoever you recognize
as a knowledgeable brahman,
possessing nothing,
unentangled
in sensuality & becoming
yes, he has crossed over the flood.
Having crossed to the far shore,
he is without
harshness or doubt.
And any one who has realized,
who is knowledgeable here,
having unentangled the bond
to becoming and non-, 3
free of craving,
untroubled,
undesiring — he,
I tell you, has crossed over birth
& aging.
Notes
1. The term "acquisition" (upadhi), in its everyday sense, denotes the
possessions, baggage, and other paraphernalia that a nomadic family might carry
around with it in its wanderings. On the psychological level, it denotes
anything for which one might have a sense of "I" or "mine" and which,
consequently, one would carry around as a kind of mental baggage.
2. Nd.II gives six different valid interpretations for "above, below, across, in
between":
above = the future; below = the past; across and in between = the present
above = the deva world; below = hell; across and in between = the human world
above = skillfulness; below = unskillfulness; across and in between =
indeterminate mental qualities
above = the property of formlessness; below = the property of sensuality;
across and in between = the property of form
above = feelings of pleasure; below = feelings of pain; across and in between
= feelings of neither pleasure nor pain
above = the body from the feet on up; below = the body from the crown of the
head on down; across and in between = the middle of the body
3. Becoming and non-becoming (or dis-becoming) are the two most subtle objects
of craving that lead on to continued existence — and suffering — in the round of
birth & death.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Punnaka-manava-puccha
Sn 5.3
Punnaka-manava-puccha
Punnaka's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 1043-1048
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Punnaka:]
To the one unperturbed,
who has seen the root [of all things],
I have come with a question.
Because of what
have many human seers
— noble warriors, brahmans —
offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
Those many human seers
— noble warriors, brahmans —
who have offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world, Punnaka,
hoping for more of this state of being,
offered their sacrifices
because of aging.
[Punnaka:]
Those many human seers
— noble warriors, brahmans —
who have offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world:
Have they, O Blessed One,
heeding the path of sacrifice,
crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
They hoped for, liked,
longed for,
so sacrificed —
they longed for sensuality,
dependent on gain.
I tell you:
those who take on the yoke
of sacrifice,
impassioned with
the passion for becoming,
have not crossed over birth & aging.
[Punnaka:]
If those who take on the yoke of sacrifice
haven't crossed over the flood, dear sir,
then who in the world
of beings divine & human
has crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
He who has fathomed
the far & near in the world,
for whom there is nothing
perturbing in the world —
his vices evaporated,
undesiring, untroubled,
at peace —
he, I tell you, has crossed over birth
& aging.
Note
AN 3.32 and AN 4.41 contain discussions of the last verse in this poem.
In AN 3.32, Ven. Ananda asks the Buddha, "Could it be that a monk could attain a
concentration of such a sort such that, with regard to this conscious body, he
would have no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, such that
with regard to all external themes [topics of concentration] he would have no
'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, and that he would enter &
remain in the awareness-release & discernment-release in which there is no
'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit?"
The Buddha answers that it is possible, and that such a concentration can be
attained when one is percipient in this way: "This is peace, this is exquisite —
the resolution of all mental processes; the relinquishment of all acquisitions;
the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding." He then adds that it
was in connection to this state of mind that he uttered the last verse in this
poem.
In AN 4.41, the Buddha identifies four ways of developing concentration: "There
is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to a
pleasant abiding in the here & now. There is the development of concentration
that, when developed & pursued, leads to the attainment of knowledge & vision.
There is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads
to mindfulness & alertness. There is the development of concentration that, when
developed & pursued, leads to the ending of the effluents." (For details, see AN
4.41) The Buddha then adds that he uttered the last verse of this poem in
connection with these four ways of developing concentration.
Punnaka-manava-puccha
Punnaka's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 1043-1048
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Punnaka:]
To the one unperturbed,
who has seen the root [of all things],
I have come with a question.
Because of what
have many human seers
— noble warriors, brahmans —
offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
Those many human seers
— noble warriors, brahmans —
who have offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world, Punnaka,
hoping for more of this state of being,
offered their sacrifices
because of aging.
[Punnaka:]
Those many human seers
— noble warriors, brahmans —
who have offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world:
Have they, O Blessed One,
heeding the path of sacrifice,
crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
They hoped for, liked,
longed for,
so sacrificed —
they longed for sensuality,
dependent on gain.
I tell you:
those who take on the yoke
of sacrifice,
impassioned with
the passion for becoming,
have not crossed over birth & aging.
[Punnaka:]
If those who take on the yoke of sacrifice
haven't crossed over the flood, dear sir,
then who in the world
of beings divine & human
has crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
He who has fathomed
the far & near in the world,
for whom there is nothing
perturbing in the world —
his vices evaporated,
undesiring, untroubled,
at peace —
he, I tell you, has crossed over birth
& aging.
Note
AN 3.32 and AN 4.41 contain discussions of the last verse in this poem.
In AN 3.32, Ven. Ananda asks the Buddha, "Could it be that a monk could attain a
concentration of such a sort such that, with regard to this conscious body, he
would have no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, such that
with regard to all external themes [topics of concentration] he would have no
'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, and that he would enter &
remain in the awareness-release & discernment-release in which there is no
'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit?"
The Buddha answers that it is possible, and that such a concentration can be
attained when one is percipient in this way: "This is peace, this is exquisite —
the resolution of all mental processes; the relinquishment of all acquisitions;
the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding." He then adds that it
was in connection to this state of mind that he uttered the last verse in this
poem.
In AN 4.41, the Buddha identifies four ways of developing concentration: "There
is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to a
pleasant abiding in the here & now. There is the development of concentration
that, when developed & pursued, leads to the attainment of knowledge & vision.
There is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads
to mindfulness & alertness. There is the development of concentration that, when
developed & pursued, leads to the ending of the effluents." (For details, see AN
4.41) The Buddha then adds that he uttered the last verse of this poem in
connection with these four ways of developing concentration.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Tissa-metteyya-manava-puccha
Sn 5.2
Tissa-metteyya-manava-puccha
Tissa-metteyya's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1040-1042
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Tissa-metteyya:]
Who
here in the world
is contented?
Who
has no agitations?
What thinker
knowing both sides,
doesn't adhere in between?
Whom
do you call a great person?
Who here
has gone past
the seamstress:
craving.
[The Buddha:]
He who
in the midst of sensualities,
follows the holy life,
always mindful, craving-free;
the monk who is
— through fathoming things —
Unbound:
he has no agitations. He,
the thinker
knowing both sides,
doesn't adhere in between. He
I call a great person. He
here has gone past
the seamstress:
craving.
Note
AN 6.61 reports a discussion among several elder monks as to what is meant in
this poem by "both sides" and "in between." Six of the elders express the
following separate opinions:
Contact is the first side, the origination of contact the second side, and the
cessation of contact is in between.
The past is the first side, the future the second, and the present is in
between.
Pleasant feeling is the first side, painful feeling the second, and
neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling is in between.
Name (mental phenomena) is the first side, form (physical phenomena) the
second, and consciousness is in between.
The six external sense media (sights, sounds, aromas, flavors, tactile
sensations, ideas) are the first side, the six internal sense media (eye, ear,
nose, tongue, body, intellect) the second side, and consciousness is in
between.
Self-identity is the first side, the origination of self-identity the second,
and the cessation of self-identity is in between.
The issue is then taken to the Buddha, who states that all six interpretations
are well-spoken, but the interpretation he had in mind when speaking the poem
was the first.
Tissa-metteyya-manava-puccha
Tissa-metteyya's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1040-1042
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Tissa-metteyya:]
Who
here in the world
is contented?
Who
has no agitations?
What thinker
knowing both sides,
doesn't adhere in between?
Whom
do you call a great person?
Who here
has gone past
the seamstress:
craving.
[The Buddha:]
He who
in the midst of sensualities,
follows the holy life,
always mindful, craving-free;
the monk who is
— through fathoming things —
Unbound:
he has no agitations. He,
the thinker
knowing both sides,
doesn't adhere in between. He
I call a great person. He
here has gone past
the seamstress:
craving.
Note
AN 6.61 reports a discussion among several elder monks as to what is meant in
this poem by "both sides" and "in between." Six of the elders express the
following separate opinions:
Contact is the first side, the origination of contact the second side, and the
cessation of contact is in between.
The past is the first side, the future the second, and the present is in
between.
Pleasant feeling is the first side, painful feeling the second, and
neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling is in between.
Name (mental phenomena) is the first side, form (physical phenomena) the
second, and consciousness is in between.
The six external sense media (sights, sounds, aromas, flavors, tactile
sensations, ideas) are the first side, the six internal sense media (eye, ear,
nose, tongue, body, intellect) the second side, and consciousness is in
between.
Self-identity is the first side, the origination of self-identity the second,
and the cessation of self-identity is in between.
The issue is then taken to the Buddha, who states that all six interpretations
are well-spoken, but the interpretation he had in mind when speaking the poem
was the first.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Ajita-manava-puccha
Sn 5.1
Ajita-manava-puccha
Ajita's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 1032-1039
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Ajita:]
With what
is the world shrouded?
Because of what
doesn't it shine?
With what
is it smeared? Tell me.
What
is its great danger & fear?
[The Buddha:]
With ignorance
the world is shrouded.
Because of stinginess,
heedlessness,
it doesn't shine.
With longing
it's smeared — I tell you.
Suffering-stress:
its great danger & fear.
[Ajita:]
They flow every which way,
the streams.
What is their blocking,
what their restraint — tell me —
with what are they finally stopped?
[The Buddha:]
Whatever streams
there are in the world:
their blocking is
mindfulness, mindfulness
is their restraint — I tell you —
with discernment
they're finally stopped.
[Ajita:]
Discernment & mindfulness,
name & form, dear sir:
Tell me, when asked this,
where are they brought to a halt?
[The Buddha:]
This question you've asked, Ajita,
I'll answer it for you —
where name & form
are brought to a halt
without trace:
With the cessation of consciousness
they're brought
to a halt.
[Ajita:]
Those here who have fathomed the Dhamma,
those who are learners,
those who are run-of-the-mill:
When you, dear sir, astute,
are asked this,
tell me their manner of life.
[The Buddha:]
He should not hanker
for sensual pleasures,
should be limpid in mind.
Skilled in all mental qualities,
he, the monk, should live his life
mindfully.
Note
According to the Culaniddesa (Nd.II), the streams that "flow every which way"
are the streams of craving, views, conceit, defilement, corruption, and
ignorance that flow out the six sense media. The first two lines in Ven. Ajita's
second set of questions (the first half-line in the Pali) is identical to the
first half-line in Dhp. 340.
For a more detailed answer to Ajita's last set of questions, see SN 12.31.
Ajita-manava-puccha
Ajita's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 1032-1039
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
[Ajita:]
With what
is the world shrouded?
Because of what
doesn't it shine?
With what
is it smeared? Tell me.
What
is its great danger & fear?
[The Buddha:]
With ignorance
the world is shrouded.
Because of stinginess,
heedlessness,
it doesn't shine.
With longing
it's smeared — I tell you.
Suffering-stress:
its great danger & fear.
[Ajita:]
They flow every which way,
the streams.
What is their blocking,
what their restraint — tell me —
with what are they finally stopped?
[The Buddha:]
Whatever streams
there are in the world:
their blocking is
mindfulness, mindfulness
is their restraint — I tell you —
with discernment
they're finally stopped.
[Ajita:]
Discernment & mindfulness,
name & form, dear sir:
Tell me, when asked this,
where are they brought to a halt?
[The Buddha:]
This question you've asked, Ajita,
I'll answer it for you —
where name & form
are brought to a halt
without trace:
With the cessation of consciousness
they're brought
to a halt.
[Ajita:]
Those here who have fathomed the Dhamma,
those who are learners,
those who are run-of-the-mill:
When you, dear sir, astute,
are asked this,
tell me their manner of life.
[The Buddha:]
He should not hanker
for sensual pleasures,
should be limpid in mind.
Skilled in all mental qualities,
he, the monk, should live his life
mindfully.
Note
According to the Culaniddesa (Nd.II), the streams that "flow every which way"
are the streams of craving, views, conceit, defilement, corruption, and
ignorance that flow out the six sense media. The first two lines in Ven. Ajita's
second set of questions (the first half-line in the Pali) is identical to the
first half-line in Dhp. 340.
For a more detailed answer to Ajita's last set of questions, see SN 12.31.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Sariputta Sutta
Sn 4.16
Sariputta Sutta
To Sariputta
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 955-975
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
"Never before
have I seen or heard
from anyone
of a teacher with such lovely speech
come, together with his following
from Tusita heaven,1
as the One with Eyes
who appears to the world with its devas
having dispelled all darkness
having arrived at delight
all alone.
To that One Awakened —
unentangled, Such, un-
deceptive,
come with his following —
I have come with a question
on behalf of the many
here who are fettered.
For a monk disaffected,
frequenting a place that's remote —
the root of a tree,
a cemetery,
in mountain caves
various places to stay —
how many are the fears there
at which he shouldn't tremble
— there in his noiseless abode —
how many the dangers in the world
for the monk going the direction
he never has gone
that he should transcend
there in his isolated abode?
What should be
the ways of his speech?
What should be
his range there of action?
What should be
a resolute monk's
precepts & practices?2
Undertaking what training
— alone, astute, & mindful —
would he blow away
his own impurities
as a silver smith,
those in molten silver?"
The Buddha:
"I will tell you
as one who knows,
what is comfort
for one disaffected
resorting to a remote place,
desiring self-awakening
in line with the Dhamma.
An enlightened monk,
living circumscribed,
mindful,
shouldn't fear the five fears:
of horseflies, mosquitoes, snakes,
human contact, four-footed beings;
shouldn't be disturbed
by those following another's teaching
even on seeing their manifold
terrors;
should overcome still other
further dangers
as he seeks what is skillful.
Touched
by the touch
of discomforts, hunger,
he should endure cold
& inordinate heat.
He with no home,
in many ways touched by these things,
striving, should make firm his persistence.
He shouldn't commit a theft,
shouldn't speak a lie,
should touch with thoughts of good will
beings firm & infirm.
Conscious of when
his mind is stirred up & turbid,
he should dispel it:
'It's on the Dark One's side.'
He shouldn't come under the sway
of anger or pride.
Having dug up their root
he would stand firm.
Then, when prevailing
— yes —
he'd prevail over his sense of dear & undear.
Yearning for discernment
enraptured with what's admirable,
he should overcome these dangers,
should conquer discontent
in his isolated spot,
should conquer these four
thoughts of lament:
'What will I eat,
or where will I eat.
How badly I slept.
Tonight where will I sleep?'
These lamenting thoughts
he should subdue —
one under training,
wandering without home.
Receiving food & cloth
at appropriate times,
he should have a sense of enough
for the sake of contentment.3
Guarded in regard to these things
going restrained into a village,
even when harassed
he shouldn't say a harsh word.
With eyes downcast,
& not footloose,
committed to jhana,
he should be continually wakeful.4
Strengthening equanimity,
centered within,
he should cut off any penchant
to conjecture or worry.
When reprimanded,
he should — mindful —
rejoice;5
should smash any stubbornness
toward his fellows in the holy life;
should utter skillful words
that are not untimely;
should give no mind
to the gossip people might say.
And then there are in the world
the five kinds of dust
for whose dispelling, mindful
he should train:
with regard to forms, sounds, tastes,
smells, & tactile sensations
he should conquer passion;
with regard to these things
he should subdue his desire.
A monk, mindful,
his mind well-released,
contemplating the right Dhamma
at the right times,
on coming
to oneness
should annihilate
darkness,"
the Blessed One said.
Notes
1. The Buddha spent his next-to-last lifetime in the Tusita heaven, one of the
highest levels on the sensual plane.
2. The fact that the Buddha answers this question in a straightforward manner
illustrates the point that abandoning precepts and practices does not mean
having no precepts and practices. See note 2 to Sn 4.13.
3. See AN 4.37 and AN 7.64.
4. See AN 4.37.
5. See Dhp 76-77.
See also: AN 5.77; AN 8.30.
Sariputta Sutta
To Sariputta
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 955-975
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
"Never before
have I seen or heard
from anyone
of a teacher with such lovely speech
come, together with his following
from Tusita heaven,1
as the One with Eyes
who appears to the world with its devas
having dispelled all darkness
having arrived at delight
all alone.
To that One Awakened —
unentangled, Such, un-
deceptive,
come with his following —
I have come with a question
on behalf of the many
here who are fettered.
For a monk disaffected,
frequenting a place that's remote —
the root of a tree,
a cemetery,
in mountain caves
various places to stay —
how many are the fears there
at which he shouldn't tremble
— there in his noiseless abode —
how many the dangers in the world
for the monk going the direction
he never has gone
that he should transcend
there in his isolated abode?
What should be
the ways of his speech?
What should be
his range there of action?
What should be
a resolute monk's
precepts & practices?2
Undertaking what training
— alone, astute, & mindful —
would he blow away
his own impurities
as a silver smith,
those in molten silver?"
The Buddha:
"I will tell you
as one who knows,
what is comfort
for one disaffected
resorting to a remote place,
desiring self-awakening
in line with the Dhamma.
An enlightened monk,
living circumscribed,
mindful,
shouldn't fear the five fears:
of horseflies, mosquitoes, snakes,
human contact, four-footed beings;
shouldn't be disturbed
by those following another's teaching
even on seeing their manifold
terrors;
should overcome still other
further dangers
as he seeks what is skillful.
Touched
by the touch
of discomforts, hunger,
he should endure cold
& inordinate heat.
He with no home,
in many ways touched by these things,
striving, should make firm his persistence.
He shouldn't commit a theft,
shouldn't speak a lie,
should touch with thoughts of good will
beings firm & infirm.
Conscious of when
his mind is stirred up & turbid,
he should dispel it:
'It's on the Dark One's side.'
He shouldn't come under the sway
of anger or pride.
Having dug up their root
he would stand firm.
Then, when prevailing
— yes —
he'd prevail over his sense of dear & undear.
Yearning for discernment
enraptured with what's admirable,
he should overcome these dangers,
should conquer discontent
in his isolated spot,
should conquer these four
thoughts of lament:
'What will I eat,
or where will I eat.
How badly I slept.
Tonight where will I sleep?'
These lamenting thoughts
he should subdue —
one under training,
wandering without home.
Receiving food & cloth
at appropriate times,
he should have a sense of enough
for the sake of contentment.3
Guarded in regard to these things
going restrained into a village,
even when harassed
he shouldn't say a harsh word.
With eyes downcast,
& not footloose,
committed to jhana,
he should be continually wakeful.4
Strengthening equanimity,
centered within,
he should cut off any penchant
to conjecture or worry.
When reprimanded,
he should — mindful —
rejoice;5
should smash any stubbornness
toward his fellows in the holy life;
should utter skillful words
that are not untimely;
should give no mind
to the gossip people might say.
And then there are in the world
the five kinds of dust
for whose dispelling, mindful
he should train:
with regard to forms, sounds, tastes,
smells, & tactile sensations
he should conquer passion;
with regard to these things
he should subdue his desire.
A monk, mindful,
his mind well-released,
contemplating the right Dhamma
at the right times,
on coming
to oneness
should annihilate
darkness,"
the Blessed One said.
Notes
1. The Buddha spent his next-to-last lifetime in the Tusita heaven, one of the
highest levels on the sensual plane.
2. The fact that the Buddha answers this question in a straightforward manner
illustrates the point that abandoning precepts and practices does not mean
having no precepts and practices. See note 2 to Sn 4.13.
3. See AN 4.37 and AN 7.64.
4. See AN 4.37.
5. See Dhp 76-77.
See also: AN 5.77; AN 8.30.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Attadanda Sutta
Sn 4.15
Attadanda Sutta
The Rod Embraced
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandOlendzkiThanissaro
PTS: vv. 935-954
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1995 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1995
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
"When embraced,
the rod of violence1
breeds danger & fear:
Look at people quarreling.
I will tell of how
I experienced
dismay.
Seeing people floundering
like fish in small puddles,
competing with one another —
as I saw this,
fear came into me.
The world was entirely
without substance.
All the directions
were knocked out of line.
Wanting a haven for myself,
I saw nothing that wasn't laid claim to.
Seeing nothing in the end
but competition,
I felt discontent.
And then I saw
an arrow here,
so very hard to see,
embedded in the heart.
Overcome by this arrow
you run in all directions.
But simply on pulling it out
you don't run,
you don't sink.2
[Here the trainings are recited.] 3
Whatever things are tied down in the world,
you shouldn't be set on them.
Having totally penetrated
sensual pleasures,
sensual passions,4
you should train for your own
Unbinding.
Be truthful, not insolent,
not deceptive, rid
of divisiveness.
Without anger, the sage
should cross over the evil
of greed & avarice.
He should conquer laziness,
weariness,
sloth;
shouldn't consort with heedlessness,
shouldn't stand firm in his pride —
the man with his heart set
on Unbinding.
He shouldn't engage in lying,
shouldn't create a sense of allure in form,
should fully fathom conceit,
and live refraining from impulsiveness;
shouldn't delight in what's old,
prefer what's new,5
grieve over decline,
get entangled in
what's dazzling & bright.6
I call greed
a 'great flood';
hunger, a swift current.
Preoccupations are ripples;
sensuality, a bog
hard to cross over.
Not deviating from truth,
a sage stands on high ground
: a brahman.
Having renounced All,7
he is said to be at peace;
having clearly known, he
is an attainer-of-wisdom;
knowing the Dhamma, he's
independent.
Moving rightly through the world,
he doesn't envy
anyone here.
Whoever here has gone over & beyond
sensual passions —
an attachment hard
to transcend in the world,
doesn't sorrow,
doesn't fret.
He, his stream cut, is free
from bonds.
Burn up what's before,
and have nothing for after.
If you don't grasp
at what's in between,8
you will go about, calm.
For whom, in name & form,
in every way,
there's no sense of mine,
and who doesn't grieve
over what is not:
he, in the world,
isn't defeated,
suffers no loss.9
To whom there doesn't occur
'This is mine,'
for whom nothing is others,'
feeling no sense of mine-ness,
doesn't grieve at the thought
'I have nothing.'
Not harsh,
not greedy, not
perturbed,
everywhere
in tune:
this is the reward
— I say when asked —
for those who are free
from pre-
conceptions.
For one unperturbed
— who knows —
there's no accumulating.
Abstaining, unaroused,
he everywhere sees
security.10
The sage
doesn't speak of himself
as among those who are higher,
equal,
or lower.
At peace, free of selfishness,
he doesn't embrace, doesn't
reject,"
the Blessed One said.
Notes
1. Nd. I: The rod of violence takes three forms: physical violence (the three
forms of bodily misconduct), verbal violence (the four forms of verbal
misconduct), and mental violence (the three forms of mental misconduct). See AN
10.176.
2. Nd. I: "One doesn't run" to any of the destinations of rebirth; "one doesn't
sink" into any of the four floods of sensuality, views, becoming, and ignorance
(see SN 45.171 and AN 4.10).
3. This phrase, a kind of stage direction, seems to indicate that this poem had
a ritual use, as part of a ceremony for giving the precepts.
4. "Sensual pleasure, sensual passions": two meanings of the word kama.
5. Nd. I: "Old" and "new" mean past and present aggregates.
6. Nd. I: "what's dazzling & bright" = craving and other defilements.
7. For the definition of All, see the discussion in The Mind Like Fire Unbound,
pp. 31-32.
8. Nd. I: "Before," "after," and "in between" = past, future, and present.
9. "Isn't defeated, suffers no loss" — two meanings of the Pali phrase, na
jiyyati.
10. See Ud. II.10.
See also: AN 3.38
Attadanda Sutta
The Rod Embraced
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandOlendzkiThanissaro
PTS: vv. 935-954
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1995 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1995
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
"When embraced,
the rod of violence1
breeds danger & fear:
Look at people quarreling.
I will tell of how
I experienced
dismay.
Seeing people floundering
like fish in small puddles,
competing with one another —
as I saw this,
fear came into me.
The world was entirely
without substance.
All the directions
were knocked out of line.
Wanting a haven for myself,
I saw nothing that wasn't laid claim to.
Seeing nothing in the end
but competition,
I felt discontent.
And then I saw
an arrow here,
so very hard to see,
embedded in the heart.
Overcome by this arrow
you run in all directions.
But simply on pulling it out
you don't run,
you don't sink.2
[Here the trainings are recited.] 3
Whatever things are tied down in the world,
you shouldn't be set on them.
Having totally penetrated
sensual pleasures,
sensual passions,4
you should train for your own
Unbinding.
Be truthful, not insolent,
not deceptive, rid
of divisiveness.
Without anger, the sage
should cross over the evil
of greed & avarice.
He should conquer laziness,
weariness,
sloth;
shouldn't consort with heedlessness,
shouldn't stand firm in his pride —
the man with his heart set
on Unbinding.
He shouldn't engage in lying,
shouldn't create a sense of allure in form,
should fully fathom conceit,
and live refraining from impulsiveness;
shouldn't delight in what's old,
prefer what's new,5
grieve over decline,
get entangled in
what's dazzling & bright.6
I call greed
a 'great flood';
hunger, a swift current.
Preoccupations are ripples;
sensuality, a bog
hard to cross over.
Not deviating from truth,
a sage stands on high ground
: a brahman.
Having renounced All,7
he is said to be at peace;
having clearly known, he
is an attainer-of-wisdom;
knowing the Dhamma, he's
independent.
Moving rightly through the world,
he doesn't envy
anyone here.
Whoever here has gone over & beyond
sensual passions —
an attachment hard
to transcend in the world,
doesn't sorrow,
doesn't fret.
He, his stream cut, is free
from bonds.
Burn up what's before,
and have nothing for after.
If you don't grasp
at what's in between,8
you will go about, calm.
For whom, in name & form,
in every way,
there's no sense of mine,
and who doesn't grieve
over what is not:
he, in the world,
isn't defeated,
suffers no loss.9
To whom there doesn't occur
'This is mine,'
for whom nothing is others,'
feeling no sense of mine-ness,
doesn't grieve at the thought
'I have nothing.'
Not harsh,
not greedy, not
perturbed,
everywhere
in tune:
this is the reward
— I say when asked —
for those who are free
from pre-
conceptions.
For one unperturbed
— who knows —
there's no accumulating.
Abstaining, unaroused,
he everywhere sees
security.10
The sage
doesn't speak of himself
as among those who are higher,
equal,
or lower.
At peace, free of selfishness,
he doesn't embrace, doesn't
reject,"
the Blessed One said.
Notes
1. Nd. I: The rod of violence takes three forms: physical violence (the three
forms of bodily misconduct), verbal violence (the four forms of verbal
misconduct), and mental violence (the three forms of mental misconduct). See AN
10.176.
2. Nd. I: "One doesn't run" to any of the destinations of rebirth; "one doesn't
sink" into any of the four floods of sensuality, views, becoming, and ignorance
(see SN 45.171 and AN 4.10).
3. This phrase, a kind of stage direction, seems to indicate that this poem had
a ritual use, as part of a ceremony for giving the precepts.
4. "Sensual pleasure, sensual passions": two meanings of the word kama.
5. Nd. I: "Old" and "new" mean past and present aggregates.
6. Nd. I: "what's dazzling & bright" = craving and other defilements.
7. For the definition of All, see the discussion in The Mind Like Fire Unbound,
pp. 31-32.
8. Nd. I: "Before," "after," and "in between" = past, future, and present.
9. "Isn't defeated, suffers no loss" — two meanings of the Pali phrase, na
jiyyati.
10. See Ud. II.10.
See also: AN 3.38
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Tuvataka Sutta
Sn 4.14
Tuvataka Sutta
Quickly
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 915-934
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1997
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
"I ask the kinsman of the Sun, the great seer,
about seclusion & the state of peace.
Seeing in what way is a monk unbound,
clinging to nothing in the world?"
"He should put an entire stop
to the root of complication-classifications:
'I am the thinker.'1
He should train, always mindful,
to subdue any craving inside him.
Whatever truth he may know,
within or without,
he shouldn't get entrenched
in connection with it,
for that isn't called
Unbinding by the good.
He shouldn't, because of it, think himself
better,
lower, or
equal.
Touched by contact in various ways,
he shouldn't keep conjuring self.
Stilled right within,
a monk shouldn't seek peace from another
from anything else.
For one stilled right within,
there's nothing embraced,
so how rejected?2
As in the middle of the sea
it is still,
with no waves upwelling,
so the monk — unperturbed, still —
should not swell himself
anywhere."
"He whose eyes are open has described
the Dhamma he's witnessed,
subduing danger.
Now tell us, sir, the practice:
the code of discipline & concentration."
"One shouldn't be careless with his eyes,
should close his ears to village-talk,
shouldn't hunger for flavors,
or view anything in the world
as mine.
When touched by contact
he shouldn't lament,
shouldn't covet anywhere any
states of becoming,
or tremble at terrors.
When gaining food & drink,
staples & cloth,
he should not make a hoard.
Nor should he be upset
when receiving no gains.
Absorbed, not foot-loose,
he should refrain from restlessness,
shouldn't be heedless,
should live in a noise-less abode.
Not making much of sleep,
ardent, given to wakefulness,
he should abandon sloth, deception,
laughter, sports,
fornication, & all that goes with it;
should not practice charms,
interpret physical marks, dreams,
the stars, animal cries;
should not be devoted to
practicing medicine or inducing fertility.
A monk shouldn't tremble at blame
or grow haughty with praise;
should thrust aside selfishness, greed,
divisive speech, anger;
shouldn't buy or sell
or revile anyone anywhere;
shouldn't linger in villages,
or flatter people in hopes of gains.
A monk shouldn't boast
or speak with ulterior motive,
shouldn't train in insolence
or speak quarrelsome words;
shouldn't engage in deception
or knowingly cheat;
shouldn't despise others for their
life,
discernment,
precepts,
or practices.
Provoked with many words
from contemplatives
or ordinary people,
he shouldn't respond harshly,
for those who retaliate
aren't calm.
Knowing this teaching,
a monk inquiring
should always
train in it mindfully.
Knowing Unbinding as peace,
he shouldn't be heedless
of Gotama's message —
for he, the Conqueror unconquered,
witnessed the Dhamma,
not by hearsay,
but directly, himself.
So, heedful, you
should always train
in line with that Blessed One's message,"
the Blessed One said.
Notes
1. On complication-classifications and their role in leading to conflict, see Sn
4.11 and the introduction to MN 18. The perception, "I am the thinker" lies at
the root of these classifications in that it reads into the immediate present a
set of distinctions — I/not-I; being/not-being; thinker/thought;
identity/non-identity — that then can proliferate into mental and physical
conflict. The conceit inherent in this perception thus forms a fetter on the
mind. To become unbound, one must learn to examine these distinctions — which we
all take for granted — to see that they are simply assumptions that are not
inherent in experience, and that we would be better off to be able to drop them.
2. This reading follows the version of the verse given in the Thai edition of
Nd.I, as well as an alternative reading given as a footnote to the Sri Lankan
edition of Sn 4.14: n'atthi atta,m kuto niratta,m vaa. The Burmese and Sri
Lankan editions of this verse read, n'atthi attaa kuto nirattaa vaa: "There is
no self, so how what's opposed to self?" The Thai edition reads, n'atthi attaa
kuto niratta,m vaa: "There is no self, so how what's rejected?" This last
reading makes no sense; the Burmese and Sri Lankan readings depend on the notion
that nirattaa is an actual word, although it appears nowhere in the Canon except
in two other verses of the Atthaka Vagga, where it appears as a possible
alternative to niratta (Sn 4.3 and Sn 4.10). Because the Buddha in SN 44.10
refuses to take the position that there is no self, all of the readings of this
verse that say n'atthi attaa would appear to be wrong. Thus I have adopted the
reading given here.
See also: DN 2; AN 4.37.
Tuvataka Sutta
Quickly
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 915-934
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1997 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1997
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
"I ask the kinsman of the Sun, the great seer,
about seclusion & the state of peace.
Seeing in what way is a monk unbound,
clinging to nothing in the world?"
"He should put an entire stop
to the root of complication-classifications:
'I am the thinker.'1
He should train, always mindful,
to subdue any craving inside him.
Whatever truth he may know,
within or without,
he shouldn't get entrenched
in connection with it,
for that isn't called
Unbinding by the good.
He shouldn't, because of it, think himself
better,
lower, or
equal.
Touched by contact in various ways,
he shouldn't keep conjuring self.
Stilled right within,
a monk shouldn't seek peace from another
from anything else.
For one stilled right within,
there's nothing embraced,
so how rejected?2
As in the middle of the sea
it is still,
with no waves upwelling,
so the monk — unperturbed, still —
should not swell himself
anywhere."
"He whose eyes are open has described
the Dhamma he's witnessed,
subduing danger.
Now tell us, sir, the practice:
the code of discipline & concentration."
"One shouldn't be careless with his eyes,
should close his ears to village-talk,
shouldn't hunger for flavors,
or view anything in the world
as mine.
When touched by contact
he shouldn't lament,
shouldn't covet anywhere any
states of becoming,
or tremble at terrors.
When gaining food & drink,
staples & cloth,
he should not make a hoard.
Nor should he be upset
when receiving no gains.
Absorbed, not foot-loose,
he should refrain from restlessness,
shouldn't be heedless,
should live in a noise-less abode.
Not making much of sleep,
ardent, given to wakefulness,
he should abandon sloth, deception,
laughter, sports,
fornication, & all that goes with it;
should not practice charms,
interpret physical marks, dreams,
the stars, animal cries;
should not be devoted to
practicing medicine or inducing fertility.
A monk shouldn't tremble at blame
or grow haughty with praise;
should thrust aside selfishness, greed,
divisive speech, anger;
shouldn't buy or sell
or revile anyone anywhere;
shouldn't linger in villages,
or flatter people in hopes of gains.
A monk shouldn't boast
or speak with ulterior motive,
shouldn't train in insolence
or speak quarrelsome words;
shouldn't engage in deception
or knowingly cheat;
shouldn't despise others for their
life,
discernment,
precepts,
or practices.
Provoked with many words
from contemplatives
or ordinary people,
he shouldn't respond harshly,
for those who retaliate
aren't calm.
Knowing this teaching,
a monk inquiring
should always
train in it mindfully.
Knowing Unbinding as peace,
he shouldn't be heedless
of Gotama's message —
for he, the Conqueror unconquered,
witnessed the Dhamma,
not by hearsay,
but directly, himself.
So, heedful, you
should always train
in line with that Blessed One's message,"
the Blessed One said.
Notes
1. On complication-classifications and their role in leading to conflict, see Sn
4.11 and the introduction to MN 18. The perception, "I am the thinker" lies at
the root of these classifications in that it reads into the immediate present a
set of distinctions — I/not-I; being/not-being; thinker/thought;
identity/non-identity — that then can proliferate into mental and physical
conflict. The conceit inherent in this perception thus forms a fetter on the
mind. To become unbound, one must learn to examine these distinctions — which we
all take for granted — to see that they are simply assumptions that are not
inherent in experience, and that we would be better off to be able to drop them.
2. This reading follows the version of the verse given in the Thai edition of
Nd.I, as well as an alternative reading given as a footnote to the Sri Lankan
edition of Sn 4.14: n'atthi atta,m kuto niratta,m vaa. The Burmese and Sri
Lankan editions of this verse read, n'atthi attaa kuto nirattaa vaa: "There is
no self, so how what's opposed to self?" The Thai edition reads, n'atthi attaa
kuto niratta,m vaa: "There is no self, so how what's rejected?" This last
reading makes no sense; the Burmese and Sri Lankan readings depend on the notion
that nirattaa is an actual word, although it appears nowhere in the Canon except
in two other verses of the Atthaka Vagga, where it appears as a possible
alternative to niratta (Sn 4.3 and Sn 4.10). Because the Buddha in SN 44.10
refuses to take the position that there is no self, all of the readings of this
verse that say n'atthi attaa would appear to be wrong. Thus I have adopted the
reading given here.
See also: DN 2; AN 4.37.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Maha-viyuha Sutta
Sn 4.13
Maha-viyuha Sutta
The Great Array
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 895-914
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
"Those who, dwelling on views,
dispute, saying, 'Only this is true':
do they all incur blame,
or also earn praise there?"
"[The praise:] It's such a little thing,
not at all appeasing.1
I speak of two fruits of dispute;
and seeing this, you shouldn't dispute —
seeing the state
where there's no dispute
as secure.
One who knows
doesn't get involved
in whatever are
commonplace
conventional
views.
One who is uninvolved:
when he's forming no preference
for what's seen, for what's heard,
why would he get
involved?
Those for whom precepts
are ultimate
say that purity's
a matter of self-restraint.
Undertaking a practice,
they devote themselves to it:
'Let's train just in this,
and then there would be purity.'
Those who say they are skilled
are [thus] led on to becoming.
But if one of them falls
from his precepts or practice,
he trembles,
having failed in his actions.
He hopes for, longs for, purity,
like a lost caravan leader
far from home.
But one who's abandoned
precepts & practices2
— all —
things that are blamable, blameless,3
not hoping for 'pure or impure,'4
would live in compassion & peace,
without taking up peace,5
detached.
Dependent
on taboos, austerities,
or what's seen, heard, or sensed,
they speak of purity
through wandering further on
through becoming & not-,
their craving not gone
for becoming & not-.6
For one who aspires has longings
& trembling with regard to preconceptions.
But one who here
has no passing away & arising:
Why would he tremble?
For what would he long?"
"The teaching some say is 'supreme,'
is the very one others call 'lowly.'
Which statement is true
when all of these claim to be skilled?"
"They say their own teaching is perfect
while the doctrine of others is lowly.
Thus quarreling, they dispute,
each saying his agreed-on opinion
is true.
If something, because of an opponent's say-so,
were lowly,
then none among teachings would be
superlative,
for many say
that another's teaching's inferior
when firmly asserting their own.
If their worship of their teaching were true,
in line with the way they praise their own path,
then all doctrines
would be true —
for purity's theirs, according to each.
The brahman has nothing
led by another,
when considering what's grasped
among doctrines.
Thus he has gone
beyond disputes,
for he doesn't regard as best
the knowledge of a teaching,
any other mental state.7
'I know. I see. That's just how it is!' —
Some believe purity's in terms of view.
But even if a person has seen,
what good does it do him?
Having slipped past,
they speak of purity
in connection with something
or somebody else.
A person, in seeing,
sees name & form.
Having seen, he'll know
only these things.
No matter if he's seen little, a lot,
the skilled don't say purity's
in connection with that.
A person entrenched in his teachings,
honoring a preconceived view,
isn't easy to discipline.
Whatever he depends on
he describes it as lovely,
says that it's purity,
that there he saw truth.
The brahman, evaluating,
isn't involved with conjurings,
doesn't follow views,
isn't tied even to knowledge.8
And on knowing
whatever's conventional, commonplace,
he remains equanimous:
'That's what others hold onto.'
Having released the knots
that tie him down,
the sage here in the world
doesn't follow a faction
when disputes have arisen.
At peace among those not at peace,
he's equanimous, doesn't hold on:
'That's what others hold onto.'
Giving up old fermentations,
not forming new,
neither pursuing desire,
nor entrenched in his teachings,
he's totally released
from viewpoints,
enlightened.
He doesn't adhere to the world,
is without self-rebuke;
is enemy-free9
with regard to all things
seen, heard, or sensed.
His burden laid down,
the sage totally released
is improper / is free from conjuring
hasn't stopped / isn't impassioned
isn't worth wanting / doesn't
desire,"10
the Blessed One said.
Notes
1. Or: Not enough to appease (the defilements, says Nd.I).
2. Nd.I: Abandoning precepts & practices in the sense of no longer believing
that purity is measured in terms of them, the view discussed in the preceding
verse.
3. Nd.I: "Blamable, blameless" = black and white kamma (see AN 4.232, 234,
237-238, quoted in The Wings to Awakening, section I/B).
4. Nd.I: Having abandoned impure mental qualities, and having fully attained the
goal, the arahant has no need to hope for anything at all.
5. "In compassion & peace, without taking up peace" — a pun on the word,
santimanuggahaya.
6. The word bhavabhavesu — through/for becoming & not- becoming — here is a
lamp, i.e., a single word functioning in two phrases.
7. "The knowledge of a teaching, any other mental state" — a pun on the word,
dhammamaññam.
8. According to Nd.I, this compound — ñana-bandhu — should be translated as
"tied by means of knowledge," in that the arahant doesn't use the knowledge that
comes with the mastery of concentration, the five mundane forms of psychic power
(abhiñña), or any wrong knowledge to create the bonds of craving or views.
However, the compound may also refer to the fact that the arahant isn't tied
even to the knowledge that forms part of the path to arahantship (see MN 117).
9. See note 7 under Sn 4.4.
10. "Is improper / is free from conjuring, hasn't stopped / isn't impassioned,
isn't worth wanting / doesn't desire" — a series of puns — na kappiyo, nuparato,
na patthiyo — each with a strongly positive and a strongly negative meaning,
probably meant for their shock value. For a similar set of puns, see Dhp 97.
See also: AN 10.93; AN 10.96.
Maha-viyuha Sutta
The Great Array
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 895-914
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1994
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish,
however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available
to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and
other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
"Those who, dwelling on views,
dispute, saying, 'Only this is true':
do they all incur blame,
or also earn praise there?"
"[The praise:] It's such a little thing,
not at all appeasing.1
I speak of two fruits of dispute;
and seeing this, you shouldn't dispute —
seeing the state
where there's no dispute
as secure.
One who knows
doesn't get involved
in whatever are
commonplace
conventional
views.
One who is uninvolved:
when he's forming no preference
for what's seen, for what's heard,
why would he get
involved?
Those for whom precepts
are ultimate
say that purity's
a matter of self-restraint.
Undertaking a practice,
they devote themselves to it:
'Let's train just in this,
and then there would be purity.'
Those who say they are skilled
are [thus] led on to becoming.
But if one of them falls
from his precepts or practice,
he trembles,
having failed in his actions.
He hopes for, longs for, purity,
like a lost caravan leader
far from home.
But one who's abandoned
precepts & practices2
— all —
things that are blamable, blameless,3
not hoping for 'pure or impure,'4
would live in compassion & peace,
without taking up peace,5
detached.
Dependent
on taboos, austerities,
or what's seen, heard, or sensed,
they speak of purity
through wandering further on
through becoming & not-,
their craving not gone
for becoming & not-.6
For one who aspires has longings
& trembling with regard to preconceptions.
But one who here
has no passing away & arising:
Why would he tremble?
For what would he long?"
"The teaching some say is 'supreme,'
is the very one others call 'lowly.'
Which statement is true
when all of these claim to be skilled?"
"They say their own teaching is perfect
while the doctrine of others is lowly.
Thus quarreling, they dispute,
each saying his agreed-on opinion
is true.
If something, because of an opponent's say-so,
were lowly,
then none among teachings would be
superlative,
for many say
that another's teaching's inferior
when firmly asserting their own.
If their worship of their teaching were true,
in line with the way they praise their own path,
then all doctrines
would be true —
for purity's theirs, according to each.
The brahman has nothing
led by another,
when considering what's grasped
among doctrines.
Thus he has gone
beyond disputes,
for he doesn't regard as best
the knowledge of a teaching,
any other mental state.7
'I know. I see. That's just how it is!' —
Some believe purity's in terms of view.
But even if a person has seen,
what good does it do him?
Having slipped past,
they speak of purity
in connection with something
or somebody else.
A person, in seeing,
sees name & form.
Having seen, he'll know
only these things.
No matter if he's seen little, a lot,
the skilled don't say purity's
in connection with that.
A person entrenched in his teachings,
honoring a preconceived view,
isn't easy to discipline.
Whatever he depends on
he describes it as lovely,
says that it's purity,
that there he saw truth.
The brahman, evaluating,
isn't involved with conjurings,
doesn't follow views,
isn't tied even to knowledge.8
And on knowing
whatever's conventional, commonplace,
he remains equanimous:
'That's what others hold onto.'
Having released the knots
that tie him down,
the sage here in the world
doesn't follow a faction
when disputes have arisen.
At peace among those not at peace,
he's equanimous, doesn't hold on:
'That's what others hold onto.'
Giving up old fermentations,
not forming new,
neither pursuing desire,
nor entrenched in his teachings,
he's totally released
from viewpoints,
enlightened.
He doesn't adhere to the world,
is without self-rebuke;
is enemy-free9
with regard to all things
seen, heard, or sensed.
His burden laid down,
the sage totally released
is improper / is free from conjuring
hasn't stopped / isn't impassioned
isn't worth wanting / doesn't
desire,"10
the Blessed One said.
Notes
1. Or: Not enough to appease (the defilements, says Nd.I).
2. Nd.I: Abandoning precepts & practices in the sense of no longer believing
that purity is measured in terms of them, the view discussed in the preceding
verse.
3. Nd.I: "Blamable, blameless" = black and white kamma (see AN 4.232, 234,
237-238, quoted in The Wings to Awakening, section I/B).
4. Nd.I: Having abandoned impure mental qualities, and having fully attained the
goal, the arahant has no need to hope for anything at all.
5. "In compassion & peace, without taking up peace" — a pun on the word,
santimanuggahaya.
6. The word bhavabhavesu — through/for becoming & not- becoming — here is a
lamp, i.e., a single word functioning in two phrases.
7. "The knowledge of a teaching, any other mental state" — a pun on the word,
dhammamaññam.
8. According to Nd.I, this compound — ñana-bandhu — should be translated as
"tied by means of knowledge," in that the arahant doesn't use the knowledge that
comes with the mastery of concentration, the five mundane forms of psychic power
(abhiñña), or any wrong knowledge to create the bonds of craving or views.
However, the compound may also refer to the fact that the arahant isn't tied
even to the knowledge that forms part of the path to arahantship (see MN 117).
9. See note 7 under Sn 4.4.
10. "Is improper / is free from conjuring, hasn't stopped / isn't impassioned,
isn't worth wanting / doesn't desire" — a series of puns — na kappiyo, nuparato,
na patthiyo — each with a strongly positive and a strongly negative meaning,
probably meant for their shock value. For a similar set of puns, see Dhp 97.
See also: AN 10.93; AN 10.96.
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