Sn 4.11
Kalaha-vivada Sutta
Quarrels & Disputes
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 862-877
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:
"From where have there arisen
quarrels, disputes,
lamentation, sorrows, along with selfishness,
conceit & pride, along with divisiveness?
From where have they arisen?
Please tell me."
"From what is dear
there have arisen
quarrels, disputes,
lamentation, sorrows, along with selfishness,
conceit & pride, along with divisiveness.
Tied up with selfishness
are quarrels & disputes.
In the arising of disputes
is divisiveness."
"Where is the cause
of things dear in the world,
along with the greeds that go about in the world?
And where is the cause
of the hopes & fulfillments
for the sake of a person's next life?"
"Desires are the cause
of things dear in the world,
along with the greeds that go about in the world.
And it too is the cause
of the hopes & fulfillments
for the sake of a person's next life."
"Now where is the cause
of desire in the world?
And from where have there arisen
decisions, anger, lies, & perplexity,
and all the qualities
described by the Contemplative?"
"What they call
'appealing' &
'unappealing'
in the world:
in dependence on that
desire arises.
Having seen becoming & not-
with regard to forms,
a person gives rise to decisions in the world;
anger, lies, & perplexity:
these qualities, too, when that pair exists.
A person perplexed
should train for the path of knowledge,
for it's in having known
that the Contemplative has spoken
of qualities/dhammas."1
"Where is the cause
of appealing & un-?
When what isn't
do they not exist?
And whatever is meant
by becoming & not- :
tell me,
Where is its cause?"
"Contact is the cause
of appealing & un-.
When contact isn't
they do not exist.
And whatever is meant
by becoming & not- :
this too is its cause."
"Now where is the cause
of contact in the world,
and from where have graspings,
possessions, arisen?
When what isn't
does mine-ness not exist.
When what has disappeared
do contacts not touch?"
"Conditioned by name & form
is contact.
In longing do graspings,
possessions have their cause.
When longing isn't
mine-ness does not exist.
When forms have disappeared
contacts don't touch."
"For one arriving at what
does form disappear?
How do pleasure & pain disappear?
Tell me this.
My heart is set
on knowing how
they disappear."
"One not percipient of perceptions
not percipient of aberrant perceptions,
not unpercipient,
nor percipient of what's disappeared:2
for one arriving at this,
form disappears —
for complication-classifications3
have their cause in perception."
"What we have asked, you have told us.
We ask one more thing.
Please tell it.
Do some of the wise
say that just this much is the utmost,
the purity of the spirit4 is here?
Or do they say
that it's other than this?"
"Some of the wise
say that just this much is the utmost,
the purity of the spirit is here.
But some of them,
who say they are skilled,
say it's the moment
with no clinging remaining.
Knowing,
'Having known, they still are dependent,'5
the sage, ponders dependencies.
On knowing them, released,
he doesn't get into disputes,
doesn't meet with becoming & not-
: he's enlightened."
Notes
1. As other passages in this poem indicate (see note 5, below), the goal is not
measured in terms of knowledge, but as this passage points out, knowledge is a
necessary part of the path to the goal.
2. According to Nd.I, this passage is describing the four formless jhanas, but
as the first three of the formless jhanas involve perception (of infinite space,
infinite consciousness, and nothingness), only the fourth of the formless jhanas
— the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception — would fit this
description. On this point, see AN 10.29.
3. Complication-classifications (papañca-sankha): The mind's tendency to read
distinctions and differentiations even into the simplest experience of the
present, thus giving rise to views that can issue in conflict. As Sn 4.14 points
out, the root of these classifications is the perception, "I am the thinker."
For further discussion of this point, see note 1 to that discourse and the
introduction to MN 18.
4. "Spirit" is the usual rendering of the Pali word, yakkha. According to Nd.I,
however, in this context the word yakkha means person, individual, human being,
or living being.
5. In other words, the sage knows that both groups in the previous stanza fall
back on their knowledge as a measure of the goal, without comprehending the
dependency still latent in their knowledge. The sages in the first group are
mistaking the experience of neither perception nor non-perception as the goal,
and so they are still dependent on that state of concentration. The sages in the
second group, by the fact that they claim to be skilled, show that there is
still a latent conceit in their awakening-like experience, and thus it is not
totally independent of clinging. (For more on this point, see MN 102, quoted in
The Mind Like Fire Unbound, pp. 81-82.) Both groups still maintain the concept
of a "spirit" that is purified in the realization of purity. Once these
dependencies are comprehended, one gains release from disputes and from states
of becoming and not-becoming. It is in this way that knowledge is a means to the
goal, but the goal itself is not measured or defined in terms of knowledge.
See also: DN 21; MN 18; Sn 5.14.
Showing posts with label Sutta Nipata. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sutta Nipata. Show all posts
Monday, May 9, 2011
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Purabheda Sutta
Sn 4.10
Purabheda Sutta
Before the Break-up of the Body
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 848-861
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.
"Seeing how,
behaving how,
is one said to be
at peace?
Gotama, tell me about
— when asked about —
the ultimate person."
The Buddha:
"Free from craving
before the break-up
[of the body],
independent
of before
& the end,1
not classified in between,2
no yearning is his.
Un- angered,
un- startled,
un- boastful,
un- anxious,
giving counsel unruffled,
he is a sage,
his speech
under control.
Free from attachment
with regard to the future,
not sorrowing
over the past,
he sees seclusion
in the midst of sensory contacts.3
He can't be led
in terms of views.4
Withdrawn, un-
deceitful, not
stingy, not
miserly, not
insolent, in-
offensive,
he doesn't engage in
divisive speech.
Not intoxicated with enticements,
nor given to pride,
he's gentle, quick-witted,
beyond conviction & dispassion.5
Not in hopes of material gain
does he take on the training;
when without material gain
he isn't upset.
Unobstructed by craving,
he doesn't through craving6
hunger for flavors.
Equanimous — always — mindful,
he doesn't conceive himself as
equal,
superior,
inferior,
in the world.
No swellings of pride
are his.
Whose dependencies
don't exist
when, on knowing the Dhamma,
he's in-
dependent;
in whom no craving is found
for becoming or not-:
he is said
to be at peace,
un-intent
on sensual pleasures,
with nothing at all
to tie him down:
one who's crossed over attachment.
He has no children
cattle,
fields,
land.
In him you can't pin down
what's embraced
or rejected.7
He has no yearning
for that which people run-of-the-mill
or priests & contemplatives
might blame —
which is why
he is unperturbed
with regard to their words.
His greed gone,
not miserly,
the sage
doesn't speak of himself
as among those who are higher,
equal,
or lower.
He,
conjuring-free,
doesn't submit
to conjuring,
to the cycling of time.8
For whom
nothing in the world
is his own,
who doesn't grieve
over what is not,
who doesn't enter into
doctrines
phenomena:9
he is said
to be
at peace."
Notes
1. Nd.I: "Independent of before & the end" = no craving or view with regard to
past or future.
2. For discussions of how the awakened one cannot be classified even in the
present, see MN 72 and SN 22.85-86.
3. Nd.I: "He sees seclusion in the midst of sensory contacts" = he sees contact
as empty of self. This passage may also refer to the fact that the awakened
person experiences sensory contact as if disjoined from it. On this point, see
MN 140 and MN 146, quoted in The Mind Like Fire Unbound, pp. 116 and 113.
4. See AN 10.93.
5. Beyond conviction & dispassion — The Pali here can also mean, "A person of no
conviction, he does not put away passion." This is an example of the kind of pun
occasionally used in Pali poetry for its shock value. Other examples are at Dhp
97 and the end of Sn 4.13. For an explanation of what is meant by being beyond
dispassion, see note 2 to Sn 4.6.
6. The Pali word tanhaya — by/through craving — here is a "lamp," i.e., a single
word that functions in two separate phrases.
7. This reading follows the Thai and PTS editions: atta,m vaa-pi niratta,m vaa.
The Burmese and Sri Lankan editions read, attaa vaa-pi nirattaa vaa: "self or
what's opposed to self." The first reading seems preferable for two reasons:
First, it follows the theme established in Sn 4.3 and Sn 4.4 (and also followed
in Sn 4.15 and Sn 5.11) that the awakened person has gone beyond embracing or
rejecting views. Second, the word nirattaa is found nowhere else in the Canon
aside from the two other verses in the Sutta Nipata (Sn 4.3 and Sn 4.14) where
it is offered as a possible alternative for niratta (released, rejected). As
niratta is clearly the preferable alternative in Sn 4.3, I have adopted it here
and in Sn 4.14 as well.
8. "Conjuring, the cycling of time" — two meanings of the Pali word, kappam.
9. "Doctrines, phenomena" — two meanings of the Pali word, dhamma.
Purabheda Sutta
Before the Break-up of the Body
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 848-861
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.
"Seeing how,
behaving how,
is one said to be
at peace?
Gotama, tell me about
— when asked about —
the ultimate person."
The Buddha:
"Free from craving
before the break-up
[of the body],
independent
of before
& the end,1
not classified in between,2
no yearning is his.
Un- angered,
un- startled,
un- boastful,
un- anxious,
giving counsel unruffled,
he is a sage,
his speech
under control.
Free from attachment
with regard to the future,
not sorrowing
over the past,
he sees seclusion
in the midst of sensory contacts.3
He can't be led
in terms of views.4
Withdrawn, un-
deceitful, not
stingy, not
miserly, not
insolent, in-
offensive,
he doesn't engage in
divisive speech.
Not intoxicated with enticements,
nor given to pride,
he's gentle, quick-witted,
beyond conviction & dispassion.5
Not in hopes of material gain
does he take on the training;
when without material gain
he isn't upset.
Unobstructed by craving,
he doesn't through craving6
hunger for flavors.
Equanimous — always — mindful,
he doesn't conceive himself as
equal,
superior,
inferior,
in the world.
No swellings of pride
are his.
Whose dependencies
don't exist
when, on knowing the Dhamma,
he's in-
dependent;
in whom no craving is found
for becoming or not-:
he is said
to be at peace,
un-intent
on sensual pleasures,
with nothing at all
to tie him down:
one who's crossed over attachment.
He has no children
cattle,
fields,
land.
In him you can't pin down
what's embraced
or rejected.7
He has no yearning
for that which people run-of-the-mill
or priests & contemplatives
might blame —
which is why
he is unperturbed
with regard to their words.
His greed gone,
not miserly,
the sage
doesn't speak of himself
as among those who are higher,
equal,
or lower.
He,
conjuring-free,
doesn't submit
to conjuring,
to the cycling of time.8
For whom
nothing in the world
is his own,
who doesn't grieve
over what is not,
who doesn't enter into
doctrines
phenomena:9
he is said
to be
at peace."
Notes
1. Nd.I: "Independent of before & the end" = no craving or view with regard to
past or future.
2. For discussions of how the awakened one cannot be classified even in the
present, see MN 72 and SN 22.85-86.
3. Nd.I: "He sees seclusion in the midst of sensory contacts" = he sees contact
as empty of self. This passage may also refer to the fact that the awakened
person experiences sensory contact as if disjoined from it. On this point, see
MN 140 and MN 146, quoted in The Mind Like Fire Unbound, pp. 116 and 113.
4. See AN 10.93.
5. Beyond conviction & dispassion — The Pali here can also mean, "A person of no
conviction, he does not put away passion." This is an example of the kind of pun
occasionally used in Pali poetry for its shock value. Other examples are at Dhp
97 and the end of Sn 4.13. For an explanation of what is meant by being beyond
dispassion, see note 2 to Sn 4.6.
6. The Pali word tanhaya — by/through craving — here is a "lamp," i.e., a single
word that functions in two separate phrases.
7. This reading follows the Thai and PTS editions: atta,m vaa-pi niratta,m vaa.
The Burmese and Sri Lankan editions read, attaa vaa-pi nirattaa vaa: "self or
what's opposed to self." The first reading seems preferable for two reasons:
First, it follows the theme established in Sn 4.3 and Sn 4.4 (and also followed
in Sn 4.15 and Sn 5.11) that the awakened person has gone beyond embracing or
rejecting views. Second, the word nirattaa is found nowhere else in the Canon
aside from the two other verses in the Sutta Nipata (Sn 4.3 and Sn 4.14) where
it is offered as a possible alternative for niratta (released, rejected). As
niratta is clearly the preferable alternative in Sn 4.3, I have adopted it here
and in Sn 4.14 as well.
8. "Conjuring, the cycling of time" — two meanings of the Pali word, kappam.
9. "Doctrines, phenomena" — two meanings of the Pali word, dhamma.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Magandiya Sutta
Sn 4.9
Magandiya Sutta
To Magandiya
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 835-847
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.
[Magandiya offers his daughter to the Buddha, who replies:]
On seeing [the daughters of Mara]
— Discontent, Craving, & Passion —
there wasn't even the desire for sex.
So what would I want with this,
filled with urine & excrement?
I wouldn't want to touch it
even with my foot.
Magandiya:
If you don't want
this gem of a woman, coveted
by many kings,
then for what sort of viewpoint,
precept, practice, life,
attainment of [further] becoming
do you argue?
The Buddha:
'I argue for this'
doesn't occur to one
when considering what's grasped
among doctrines.
Looking for what is ungrasped
with regard to views,
and detecting inner peace,
I saw.
Magandiya:
Sage, you speak
without grasping
at any preconceived judgments.
This 'inner peace':
what does it mean?
How is it,
by an enlightened person,
proclaimed?
The Buddha:
He doesn't speak of purity
in connection with view,
learning,
knowledge,
precept or practice.
Nor is it found by a person
through lack of view,
of learning,
of knowledge,
of precept or practice.1
Letting these go, without grasping,
at peace,
independent,
one wouldn't long for becoming.
Magandiya:
If he doesn't speak of purity
in connection with view,
learning,
knowledge,
precept or practice.
and it isn't found by a person
through lack of view,
of learning,
of knowledge,
of precept or practice,
it seems to me that this teaching's
confused,
for some assume a purity
in terms of
— by means of —
a view.
The Buddha:
Asking questions
dependent on view,
you're confused
by what you have grasped.
And so you don't glimpse
even
the slightest
notion
[of what I am saying].
That's why you think
it's confused.
Whoever construes
'equal,'
'superior,' or
'inferior,'
by that he'd dispute;
whereas to one unaffected
by these three,
'equal,'
'superior,'
do not occur.
Of what would the brahman say 'true'
or 'false,'
disputing with whom:
he in whom 'equal,' 'unequal' are not.
Having abandoned home,
living free from society,
the sage
in villages
creates no intimacies.
Rid of sensual passions, free
from yearning,
he wouldn't engage with people
in quarrelsome debate.2
Those things
aloof from which
he should go about in the world:
the great one
wouldn't take them up
& argue for them.
As the prickly lotus
is unsmeared by water & mud,
so the sage,
an exponent of peace,
without greed,
is unsmeared by sensuality &
the world.
An attainer-of-wisdom isn't measured
made proud3
by views or what's thought,
for he isn't fashioned of them.
He wouldn't be led
by action,4 learning;
doesn't reach a conclusion
in any entrenchments.
For one dispassionate toward perception
there are no ties;
for one released by discernment,
no
delusions.
Those who grasp at perceptions & views
go about butting their heads
in the world.
Notes
1. The Pali of the first sentence puts the words for "view, learning, knowledge,
precept, & practice" in the instrumental case. This case stands for the
relationship "by means of" or "because of" but it also has an idiomatic meaning:
"in terms of." (To keep the translation neutral on this point, I have translated
with the idiom, "in connection with," which can carry both possibilities.) The
second sentence puts the words for lack of view, etc., in the ablative case,
which carries the meaning "because of" or "from."
If we assume that the instrumental case in the first sentence is meant in the
sense of "by means of," then we are dealing — as Magandiya asserts — with plain
nonsense: the first sentence would say that a person cannot achieve purity by
means of views, etc., while the second sentence would be saying that he cannot
achieve purity by means of no view, etc. The fact that the two sentences place
the relevant terms in different grammatical cases, though, suggests that they
are talking about two different kinds of relationships. If we take the
instrumental in the first sentence in the sense of "in terms of," then the
stanza not only makes sense but also fits in with teachings of the rest of the
Pali discourses: a person cannot be said to be pure simply because he/she holds
to a particular view, body of learning, etc. Purity is not defined in those
terms. The second sentence goes on to say that a person doesn't arrive at purity
from a lack of view, etc. Putting the two sentences together with the third, the
message is this: One uses right views, learning, knowledge, precepts, &
practices as a path, a means for arriving at purity. Once one arrives, one lets
go of the path, for the purity of inner peace, in its ultimate sense, is
something transcending the means by which it is reached.
In the stanza immediately following this one, it's obvious that Magandiya has
not caught this distinction.
For further illustrations of the role of Right View in taking one to a dimension
beyond all views, see AN 10.93, AN 10.96, and MN 24. (The analogy of the relay
coaches in MN 24 actually seems more tailored to the issues raised by the
Buddha's remarks in this discourse than it does to the question it addresses in
that discourse.) See also sections III/H and III/H/i in The Wings to Awakening.
2. An explanation of this stanza, attributed to Ven. Maha Kaccana, is contained
in SN 22.3.
3. "Measured... made proud" — two meanings of the Pali word manameti.
4. "Action" here can mean either kamma in its general sense — i.e., the
attainer-of-wisdom has gone beyond creating kamma — or in a more restricted
sense, as ritual action. According to Nd.I, it refers to the factor of
"fabrication" (sankhara) in the analysis of dependent co-arising (see SN 12.2).
See also: SN 1.1; Sn 5.7.
Magandiya Sutta
To Magandiya
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 835-847
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.
[Magandiya offers his daughter to the Buddha, who replies:]
On seeing [the daughters of Mara]
— Discontent, Craving, & Passion —
there wasn't even the desire for sex.
So what would I want with this,
filled with urine & excrement?
I wouldn't want to touch it
even with my foot.
Magandiya:
If you don't want
this gem of a woman, coveted
by many kings,
then for what sort of viewpoint,
precept, practice, life,
attainment of [further] becoming
do you argue?
The Buddha:
'I argue for this'
doesn't occur to one
when considering what's grasped
among doctrines.
Looking for what is ungrasped
with regard to views,
and detecting inner peace,
I saw.
Magandiya:
Sage, you speak
without grasping
at any preconceived judgments.
This 'inner peace':
what does it mean?
How is it,
by an enlightened person,
proclaimed?
The Buddha:
He doesn't speak of purity
in connection with view,
learning,
knowledge,
precept or practice.
Nor is it found by a person
through lack of view,
of learning,
of knowledge,
of precept or practice.1
Letting these go, without grasping,
at peace,
independent,
one wouldn't long for becoming.
Magandiya:
If he doesn't speak of purity
in connection with view,
learning,
knowledge,
precept or practice.
and it isn't found by a person
through lack of view,
of learning,
of knowledge,
of precept or practice,
it seems to me that this teaching's
confused,
for some assume a purity
in terms of
— by means of —
a view.
The Buddha:
Asking questions
dependent on view,
you're confused
by what you have grasped.
And so you don't glimpse
even
the slightest
notion
[of what I am saying].
That's why you think
it's confused.
Whoever construes
'equal,'
'superior,' or
'inferior,'
by that he'd dispute;
whereas to one unaffected
by these three,
'equal,'
'superior,'
do not occur.
Of what would the brahman say 'true'
or 'false,'
disputing with whom:
he in whom 'equal,' 'unequal' are not.
Having abandoned home,
living free from society,
the sage
in villages
creates no intimacies.
Rid of sensual passions, free
from yearning,
he wouldn't engage with people
in quarrelsome debate.2
Those things
aloof from which
he should go about in the world:
the great one
wouldn't take them up
& argue for them.
As the prickly lotus
is unsmeared by water & mud,
so the sage,
an exponent of peace,
without greed,
is unsmeared by sensuality &
the world.
An attainer-of-wisdom isn't measured
made proud3
by views or what's thought,
for he isn't fashioned of them.
He wouldn't be led
by action,4 learning;
doesn't reach a conclusion
in any entrenchments.
For one dispassionate toward perception
there are no ties;
for one released by discernment,
no
delusions.
Those who grasp at perceptions & views
go about butting their heads
in the world.
Notes
1. The Pali of the first sentence puts the words for "view, learning, knowledge,
precept, & practice" in the instrumental case. This case stands for the
relationship "by means of" or "because of" but it also has an idiomatic meaning:
"in terms of." (To keep the translation neutral on this point, I have translated
with the idiom, "in connection with," which can carry both possibilities.) The
second sentence puts the words for lack of view, etc., in the ablative case,
which carries the meaning "because of" or "from."
If we assume that the instrumental case in the first sentence is meant in the
sense of "by means of," then we are dealing — as Magandiya asserts — with plain
nonsense: the first sentence would say that a person cannot achieve purity by
means of views, etc., while the second sentence would be saying that he cannot
achieve purity by means of no view, etc. The fact that the two sentences place
the relevant terms in different grammatical cases, though, suggests that they
are talking about two different kinds of relationships. If we take the
instrumental in the first sentence in the sense of "in terms of," then the
stanza not only makes sense but also fits in with teachings of the rest of the
Pali discourses: a person cannot be said to be pure simply because he/she holds
to a particular view, body of learning, etc. Purity is not defined in those
terms. The second sentence goes on to say that a person doesn't arrive at purity
from a lack of view, etc. Putting the two sentences together with the third, the
message is this: One uses right views, learning, knowledge, precepts, &
practices as a path, a means for arriving at purity. Once one arrives, one lets
go of the path, for the purity of inner peace, in its ultimate sense, is
something transcending the means by which it is reached.
In the stanza immediately following this one, it's obvious that Magandiya has
not caught this distinction.
For further illustrations of the role of Right View in taking one to a dimension
beyond all views, see AN 10.93, AN 10.96, and MN 24. (The analogy of the relay
coaches in MN 24 actually seems more tailored to the issues raised by the
Buddha's remarks in this discourse than it does to the question it addresses in
that discourse.) See also sections III/H and III/H/i in The Wings to Awakening.
2. An explanation of this stanza, attributed to Ven. Maha Kaccana, is contained
in SN 22.3.
3. "Measured... made proud" — two meanings of the Pali word manameti.
4. "Action" here can mean either kamma in its general sense — i.e., the
attainer-of-wisdom has gone beyond creating kamma — or in a more restricted
sense, as ritual action. According to Nd.I, it refers to the factor of
"fabrication" (sankhara) in the analysis of dependent co-arising (see SN 12.2).
See also: SN 1.1; Sn 5.7.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Pasura Sutta
Sn 4.8
Pasura Sutta
To Pasura
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 824-834
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.
"Only here is there purity"
— that's what they say —
"No other doctrines are pure"
— so they say.
Insisting that what they depend on is good,
they are deeply entrenched in their personal truths.
Seeking controversy, they plunge into an assembly,
regarding one another as fools.
Relying on others' authority,
they speak in debate.
Desiring praise, they claim to be skilled.
Engaged in disputes in the midst of the assembly,
— anxious, desiring praise —
the one defeated is
chagrined.
Shaken with criticism, he seeks for an opening.
He whose doctrine is [judged as] demolished,
defeated, by those judging the issue:
He laments, he grieves — the inferior exponent.
"He beat me," he mourns.
These disputes have arisen among contemplatives.
In them are elation,
dejection.
Seeing this, one should abstain from disputes,
for they have no other goal
than the gaining of praise.
He who is praised there
for expounding his doctrine
in the midst of the assembly,
laughs on that account & grows haughty,
attaining his heart's desire.
That haughtiness will be his grounds for vexation,
for he'll speak in pride & conceit.
Seeing this, one should abstain from debates.
No purity is attained by them, say the skilled.
Like a strong man nourished on royal food,
you go about, roaring, searching out an opponent.
Wherever the battle is,
go there, strong man.
As before, there's none here.
Those who dispute, taking hold of a view,
saying, "This, and this only, is true,"
those you can talk to.
Here there is nothing —
no confrontation
at the birth of disputes.
Among those who live above confrontation
not pitting view against view,
whom would you gain as opponent, Pasura,
among those here
who are grasping no more?
So here you come,
conjecturing,
your mind conjuring
viewpoints.
You're paired off with a pure one
and so cannot proceed.
See also: DN 16 (the Buddha's answer to Subhadda's question); MN 18; AN 3.67; AN
3.72; AN 5.159.
Pasura Sutta
To Pasura
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 824-834
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.
"Only here is there purity"
— that's what they say —
"No other doctrines are pure"
— so they say.
Insisting that what they depend on is good,
they are deeply entrenched in their personal truths.
Seeking controversy, they plunge into an assembly,
regarding one another as fools.
Relying on others' authority,
they speak in debate.
Desiring praise, they claim to be skilled.
Engaged in disputes in the midst of the assembly,
— anxious, desiring praise —
the one defeated is
chagrined.
Shaken with criticism, he seeks for an opening.
He whose doctrine is [judged as] demolished,
defeated, by those judging the issue:
He laments, he grieves — the inferior exponent.
"He beat me," he mourns.
These disputes have arisen among contemplatives.
In them are elation,
dejection.
Seeing this, one should abstain from disputes,
for they have no other goal
than the gaining of praise.
He who is praised there
for expounding his doctrine
in the midst of the assembly,
laughs on that account & grows haughty,
attaining his heart's desire.
That haughtiness will be his grounds for vexation,
for he'll speak in pride & conceit.
Seeing this, one should abstain from debates.
No purity is attained by them, say the skilled.
Like a strong man nourished on royal food,
you go about, roaring, searching out an opponent.
Wherever the battle is,
go there, strong man.
As before, there's none here.
Those who dispute, taking hold of a view,
saying, "This, and this only, is true,"
those you can talk to.
Here there is nothing —
no confrontation
at the birth of disputes.
Among those who live above confrontation
not pitting view against view,
whom would you gain as opponent, Pasura,
among those here
who are grasping no more?
So here you come,
conjecturing,
your mind conjuring
viewpoints.
You're paired off with a pure one
and so cannot proceed.
See also: DN 16 (the Buddha's answer to Subhadda's question); MN 18; AN 3.67; AN
3.72; AN 5.159.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Tissa Metteyya Sutta
Sn 4.7: Tissa Metteyya SuttaHome » Tipitaka » Sutta » Khuddaka » Sutta
Nipata » About| Index | Abbrev | Glossary | Help |
Sn 4.7
Tissa Metteyya Sutta
Tissa Metteyya
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 814-823
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.
"Tell the danger, dear sir,
for one given over
to sexual intercourse.
Having heard your teaching,
we'll train in seclusion."
The Buddha:
"In one given over
to sexual intercourse,
the teaching's confused
and he practices wrongly:
this is ignoble
in him.
Whoever once went alone,
but then resorts
to sexual intercourse
— like a carriage out of control —
is called vile in the world,
a person run-of-the-mill.
His earlier honor & dignity:
lost.
Seeing this,
he should train himself
to abandon sexual intercourse.
Overcome by resolves,
he broods
like a miserable wretch.
Hearing the scorn of others,
he's chagrined.
He makes weapons,
attacked by the words of others.
This, for him, is a great entanglement.
He
sinks
into lies.
They thought him wise
when he committed himself
to the life alone,
but now that he's given
to sexual intercourse
they declare him a fool.
Seeing these drawbacks, the sage
here — before & after —
stays firm in the life alone;
doesn't resort to sexual intercourse;
would train himself
in seclusion —
this, for the noble ones, is
supreme.
He wouldn't, because of that,
think himself
better than others:
He's on the verge
of Unbinding.
People enmeshed
in sensual pleasures,
envy him: free,
a sage
leading his life
unconcerned for sensual pleasures
— one who's crossed over the flood."
Nipata » About| Index | Abbrev | Glossary | Help |
Sn 4.7
Tissa Metteyya Sutta
Tissa Metteyya
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 814-823
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.
"Tell the danger, dear sir,
for one given over
to sexual intercourse.
Having heard your teaching,
we'll train in seclusion."
The Buddha:
"In one given over
to sexual intercourse,
the teaching's confused
and he practices wrongly:
this is ignoble
in him.
Whoever once went alone,
but then resorts
to sexual intercourse
— like a carriage out of control —
is called vile in the world,
a person run-of-the-mill.
His earlier honor & dignity:
lost.
Seeing this,
he should train himself
to abandon sexual intercourse.
Overcome by resolves,
he broods
like a miserable wretch.
Hearing the scorn of others,
he's chagrined.
He makes weapons,
attacked by the words of others.
This, for him, is a great entanglement.
He
sinks
into lies.
They thought him wise
when he committed himself
to the life alone,
but now that he's given
to sexual intercourse
they declare him a fool.
Seeing these drawbacks, the sage
here — before & after —
stays firm in the life alone;
doesn't resort to sexual intercourse;
would train himself
in seclusion —
this, for the noble ones, is
supreme.
He wouldn't, because of that,
think himself
better than others:
He's on the verge
of Unbinding.
People enmeshed
in sensual pleasures,
envy him: free,
a sage
leading his life
unconcerned for sensual pleasures
— one who's crossed over the flood."
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Jara Sutta
Sn 4.6
Jara Sutta
Old Age
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 804-813
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.
How short this life!
You die this side of a century,
but even if you live past,
you die of old age.
People grieve
for what they see as mine,
for nothing possessed is constant,
nothing is constantly possessed.1
Seeing this separation
simply as it is,
one shouldn't follow the household life.
At death a person abandons
what he construes as mine.
Realizing this, the wise
shouldn't incline
to be devoted to mine.
Just as a man doesn't see,
on awakening,
what he met in a dream,
even so he doesn't see,
when they are dead
— their time done —
those he held dear.
When they are seen & heard,
people are called by this name or that,
but only the name remains
to be pointed to
when they are dead.
Grief, lamentation, & selfishness
are not let go
by those greedy for mine,
so sages
letting go of possessions,
seeing the Secure,
go wandering forth.
A monk, living withdrawn,
enjoying a dwelling secluded:
they say it's congenial for him
he who wouldn't, in any realm,
display self.
Everywhere
the sage
independent
holds nothing dear or undear.
In him
lamentation & selfishness,
like water on a white lotus,
do not adhere.
As a water bead on a lotus leaf,
as water on a red lily,
does not adhere,
so the sage
does not adhere
to the seen, the heard, or the sensed;
for, cleansed,
he doesn't construe
in connection
with the seen, the heard, or the sensed.
In no other way
does he wish for purity,
for he neither takes on passion
nor puts it away.2
Notes
1. "Nothing possessed is constant, nothing is constantly possessed" — two
readings of the phrase, na hi santi nicca pariggaha.
2. Nd.I: An arahant has put passion totally away once and for all, and so has no
need to do it ever again. An alternative explanation is that, as Sn 5.6 points
out, the arahant has gone beyond all dhammas, dispassion included.
Jara Sutta
Old Age
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 804-813
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.
How short this life!
You die this side of a century,
but even if you live past,
you die of old age.
People grieve
for what they see as mine,
for nothing possessed is constant,
nothing is constantly possessed.1
Seeing this separation
simply as it is,
one shouldn't follow the household life.
At death a person abandons
what he construes as mine.
Realizing this, the wise
shouldn't incline
to be devoted to mine.
Just as a man doesn't see,
on awakening,
what he met in a dream,
even so he doesn't see,
when they are dead
— their time done —
those he held dear.
When they are seen & heard,
people are called by this name or that,
but only the name remains
to be pointed to
when they are dead.
Grief, lamentation, & selfishness
are not let go
by those greedy for mine,
so sages
letting go of possessions,
seeing the Secure,
go wandering forth.
A monk, living withdrawn,
enjoying a dwelling secluded:
they say it's congenial for him
he who wouldn't, in any realm,
display self.
Everywhere
the sage
independent
holds nothing dear or undear.
In him
lamentation & selfishness,
like water on a white lotus,
do not adhere.
As a water bead on a lotus leaf,
as water on a red lily,
does not adhere,
so the sage
does not adhere
to the seen, the heard, or the sensed;
for, cleansed,
he doesn't construe
in connection
with the seen, the heard, or the sensed.
In no other way
does he wish for purity,
for he neither takes on passion
nor puts it away.2
Notes
1. "Nothing possessed is constant, nothing is constantly possessed" — two
readings of the phrase, na hi santi nicca pariggaha.
2. Nd.I: An arahant has put passion totally away once and for all, and so has no
need to do it ever again. An alternative explanation is that, as Sn 5.6 points
out, the arahant has gone beyond all dhammas, dispassion included.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Paramatthaka Sutta
Sn 4.5
Paramatthaka Sutta
Supreme
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 796-803
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.
When dwelling on views
as "supreme,"
a person makes them
the utmost thing
in the world,
&, from that, calls
all others inferior
and so he's not free
from disputes.
When he sees his advantage
in what's seen, heard, sensed,
or in precepts & practices,
seizing it there
he sees all else
as inferior.
That, too, say the skilled,
is a binding knot: that
in dependence on which
you regard another
as inferior.
So a monk shouldn't be dependent
on what's seen, heard, or sensed,
or on precepts & practices;
nor should he conjure a view in the world
in connection with knowledge
or precepts & practices;
shouldn't take himself
to be "equal";
shouldn't think himself
inferior or superlative.
Abandoning what he had embraced,
abandoning self,1
not clinging,
he doesn't make himself dependent
even in connection with knowledge;
doesn't follow a faction
among those who are split;
doesn't fall back
on any view whatsoever.
One who isn't inclined
toward either side
— becoming or not-,
here or beyond —
who has no entrenchment
when considering what's grasped among doctrines,
hasn't the least
preconceived perception
with regard to what's seen, heard, or sensed.
By whom, with what,
should he be pigeonholed
here in the world?
— this brahman
who hasn't adopted views.
They don't conjure, don't yearn,
don't adhere even to doctrines.
A brahman not led
by precepts or practices,
gone to the beyond
— Such —
doesn't fall back.
Note
1. Self... what he had embraced: two meanings of the Pali word, attam.
See also: MN 72; AN 10.93.
Paramatthaka Sutta
Supreme
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 796-803
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.
When dwelling on views
as "supreme,"
a person makes them
the utmost thing
in the world,
&, from that, calls
all others inferior
and so he's not free
from disputes.
When he sees his advantage
in what's seen, heard, sensed,
or in precepts & practices,
seizing it there
he sees all else
as inferior.
That, too, say the skilled,
is a binding knot: that
in dependence on which
you regard another
as inferior.
So a monk shouldn't be dependent
on what's seen, heard, or sensed,
or on precepts & practices;
nor should he conjure a view in the world
in connection with knowledge
or precepts & practices;
shouldn't take himself
to be "equal";
shouldn't think himself
inferior or superlative.
Abandoning what he had embraced,
abandoning self,1
not clinging,
he doesn't make himself dependent
even in connection with knowledge;
doesn't follow a faction
among those who are split;
doesn't fall back
on any view whatsoever.
One who isn't inclined
toward either side
— becoming or not-,
here or beyond —
who has no entrenchment
when considering what's grasped among doctrines,
hasn't the least
preconceived perception
with regard to what's seen, heard, or sensed.
By whom, with what,
should he be pigeonholed
here in the world?
— this brahman
who hasn't adopted views.
They don't conjure, don't yearn,
don't adhere even to doctrines.
A brahman not led
by precepts or practices,
gone to the beyond
— Such —
doesn't fall back.
Note
1. Self... what he had embraced: two meanings of the Pali word, attam.
See also: MN 72; AN 10.93.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Suddhatthaka Sutta
Sn 4.4
Suddhatthaka Sutta
Pure
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 788-795
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.
"I see the pure, the supreme,
free from disease.
It's in connection
with what's seen
that a person's purity
is."1
Understanding thus,
having known the "supreme,"
& remaining focused
on purity,
one falls back on that knowledge.
If it's in connection
with what is seen
that a person's purity is,
or if stress is abandoned
in connection with knowledge,
then a person with acquisitions
is purified
in connection with something else,2
for his view betrays that
in the way he asserts it.
No brahman3
says purity
comes in connection
with anything else.
Unsmeared with regard
to what's seen, heard, sensed,
precepts or practices,
merit or evil,
not creating
anything here,
he's let go
of what he had embraced.4
Abandoning what's first,
they depend on what's next.5
Following distraction,
they don't cross over attachment.
They embrace & reject
— like a monkey releasing a branch
to seize at another6 —
a person undertaking practices on his own,
goes high & low,
latched onto perception.
But having clearly known
through vedas,7 having encountered
the Dhamma,
one of profound discernment
doesn't go
high & low.
He's enemy-free8
with regard to all things
seen, heard, or sensed.
By whom, with what,9
should he
be pigeonholed
here in the world?
— one who has seen in this way,
who goes around
open.10
They don't conjure, don't yearn,
don't proclaim "utter purity."
Untying the tied-up knot of grasping,
they don't form a desire for
any
thing
at all in the world.
The brahman
gone beyond territories,11
has nothing that
— on knowing or seeing —
he's grasped.
Unimpassionate for passion,
not impassioned for dis-,12
he has nothing here
that he's grasped as supreme.
Notes
1. An ancient Indian belief, dating back to the Vedas, was that the sight of
certain things or beings was believed to purify. Thus "in connection with what's
seen" here means both that purity is brought about by means of seeing such a
sight, and that one's purity is measured in terms of having such a sight. This
belief survives today in the practice of darshan.
2. In other words, if purity were simply a matter of seeing or knowing
something, a person could be pure in this sense and yet still have acquisitions
(= defilements), which would not be true purity.
3. "Brahman" in the Buddhist sense, i.e., a person born in any caste who has
become an arahant.
4. Lines such as this may have been the source of the confusion in the different
recensions of the Canon — and in Nd.I — as to whether the poems in this vagga
are concerned with letting go of views that have been embraced (atta) or of self
(attaa). The compound here, attañjaho, read on its own, could be read either as
"he's let go of what has been embraced" or "he's let go of self." However, the
following image of a monkey seizing and releasing branches as it moves from tree
to tree reinforces the interpretation that the first interpretation is the
correct one.
5. Nd.I: Leaving one teacher and going to another; leaving one teaching and
going to another. This phrase may also refer to the mind's tendency to leave one
craving to go to another.
6. "Like a monkey releasing a branch to seize at another" — an interesting
example of a whole phrase that functions as a "lamp," i.e., modifying both the
phrase before it and the phrase after it.
7. Vedas — Just as the word "brahman" is used in a Buddhist sense above, here
the word veda is given a Buddhist sense. According to the Commentary, in this
context it means the knowledge accompanying four transcendent paths: the paths
to stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning, and arahantship.
8. Nd.I: The enemies here are the armies of Mara — all unskillful mental
qualities. For a detailed inventory of the armies of Mara, see Sn 3.2.
9. By whom, with what — two meanings of the one Pali word, kena.
10. Nd.I: "Open" means having a mind not covered or concealed by craving,
defilement, or ignorance. This image is used in Ud 5.5. It is in contrast to the
image discussed in note 1 to Sn 4.2. An alternative meaning here might be having
one's eyes open.
11. Nd.I: "Territories" = the ten fetters (samyojana) and seven obsessions
(anusaya).
12. Nd.I: "Passion" = sensuality; "dispassion" = the jhana states that bring
about dispassion for sensuality.
See also: MN 24.
Suddhatthaka Sutta
Pure
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:IrelandThanissaro
PTS: Sn 788-795
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.
"I see the pure, the supreme,
free from disease.
It's in connection
with what's seen
that a person's purity
is."1
Understanding thus,
having known the "supreme,"
& remaining focused
on purity,
one falls back on that knowledge.
If it's in connection
with what is seen
that a person's purity is,
or if stress is abandoned
in connection with knowledge,
then a person with acquisitions
is purified
in connection with something else,2
for his view betrays that
in the way he asserts it.
No brahman3
says purity
comes in connection
with anything else.
Unsmeared with regard
to what's seen, heard, sensed,
precepts or practices,
merit or evil,
not creating
anything here,
he's let go
of what he had embraced.4
Abandoning what's first,
they depend on what's next.5
Following distraction,
they don't cross over attachment.
They embrace & reject
— like a monkey releasing a branch
to seize at another6 —
a person undertaking practices on his own,
goes high & low,
latched onto perception.
But having clearly known
through vedas,7 having encountered
the Dhamma,
one of profound discernment
doesn't go
high & low.
He's enemy-free8
with regard to all things
seen, heard, or sensed.
By whom, with what,9
should he
be pigeonholed
here in the world?
— one who has seen in this way,
who goes around
open.10
They don't conjure, don't yearn,
don't proclaim "utter purity."
Untying the tied-up knot of grasping,
they don't form a desire for
any
thing
at all in the world.
The brahman
gone beyond territories,11
has nothing that
— on knowing or seeing —
he's grasped.
Unimpassionate for passion,
not impassioned for dis-,12
he has nothing here
that he's grasped as supreme.
Notes
1. An ancient Indian belief, dating back to the Vedas, was that the sight of
certain things or beings was believed to purify. Thus "in connection with what's
seen" here means both that purity is brought about by means of seeing such a
sight, and that one's purity is measured in terms of having such a sight. This
belief survives today in the practice of darshan.
2. In other words, if purity were simply a matter of seeing or knowing
something, a person could be pure in this sense and yet still have acquisitions
(= defilements), which would not be true purity.
3. "Brahman" in the Buddhist sense, i.e., a person born in any caste who has
become an arahant.
4. Lines such as this may have been the source of the confusion in the different
recensions of the Canon — and in Nd.I — as to whether the poems in this vagga
are concerned with letting go of views that have been embraced (atta) or of self
(attaa). The compound here, attañjaho, read on its own, could be read either as
"he's let go of what has been embraced" or "he's let go of self." However, the
following image of a monkey seizing and releasing branches as it moves from tree
to tree reinforces the interpretation that the first interpretation is the
correct one.
5. Nd.I: Leaving one teacher and going to another; leaving one teaching and
going to another. This phrase may also refer to the mind's tendency to leave one
craving to go to another.
6. "Like a monkey releasing a branch to seize at another" — an interesting
example of a whole phrase that functions as a "lamp," i.e., modifying both the
phrase before it and the phrase after it.
7. Vedas — Just as the word "brahman" is used in a Buddhist sense above, here
the word veda is given a Buddhist sense. According to the Commentary, in this
context it means the knowledge accompanying four transcendent paths: the paths
to stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning, and arahantship.
8. Nd.I: The enemies here are the armies of Mara — all unskillful mental
qualities. For a detailed inventory of the armies of Mara, see Sn 3.2.
9. By whom, with what — two meanings of the one Pali word, kena.
10. Nd.I: "Open" means having a mind not covered or concealed by craving,
defilement, or ignorance. This image is used in Ud 5.5. It is in contrast to the
image discussed in note 1 to Sn 4.2. An alternative meaning here might be having
one's eyes open.
11. Nd.I: "Territories" = the ten fetters (samyojana) and seven obsessions
(anusaya).
12. Nd.I: "Passion" = sensuality; "dispassion" = the jhana states that bring
about dispassion for sensuality.
See also: MN 24.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Dutthatthaka Sutta
Sn 4.3
Dutthatthaka Sutta
Corrupted
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 780-787
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1998
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.
There are some who dispute
corrupted at heart,
and those who dispute
their hearts set on truth,
but a sage doesn't enter
a dispute that's arisen,
which is why he is
nowhere constrained.
Now, how would one
led on by desire,
entrenched in his likes,
forming his own conclusions,
overcome his own views?
He'd dispute in line
with the way that he knows.
Whoever boasts to others, unasked,
of his practices, precepts,
is, say the skilled,
ignoble by nature —
he who speaks of himself
of his own accord.
But a monk at peace,
fully unbound in himself,
who doesn't boast of his precepts
— "That's how I am" —
he, say the skilled,
is noble by nature —
he with no vanity
with regard to the world.
One whose doctrines aren't clean —
fabricated, formed, given preference
when he sees it to his own advantage —
relies on a peace
dependent
on what can be shaken.
Because entrenchments1 in views
aren't easily overcome
when considering what's grasped
among doctrines,
that's why
a person embraces or rejects a doctrine —
in light of these very
entrenchments.
Now, one who is cleansed2
has no preconceived view
about states of becoming
or not-
anywhere in the world.
Having abandoned conceit3 & illusion,
by what means would he go?4
He isn't involved.
For one who's involved
gets into disputes
over doctrines,
but how — in connection with what — 5
would you argue
with one uninvolved?
He has nothing
embraced or rejected,6
has sloughed off every view
right here — every one.
Notes
1. Entrenchments: a rendering of the Pali term, nivesana, which can also be
rendered as abode, situation, home, or establishment.
2. Nd.I: Cleansed through discernment.
3. Nd.I explains a variety of ways of understanding the word "conceit," the most
comprehensive being a list of nine kinds of conceit: viewing people better than
oneself as worse than oneself, on a par with oneself, or better than oneself;
viewing people on a par with oneself as worse than oneself, on a par with
oneself, or better than oneself; viewing people worse than oneself as worse than
oneself, on a par with oneself, or better than oneself. In other words, the
truth of the view is not the issue here; the issue is the tendency to compare
oneself with others.
4. Nd.I: "By what means would he go" to any destination in any state of
becoming.
5. In connection with what: a rendering of the instrumental case that attempts
to cover several of its meanings, in particular "by what means" and "in terms of
what." For a discussion of the use of the instrumental case in the Atthaka
Vagga, see note 1 to Sn 4.9.
6. This reading follows the Thai, Sri Lankan, and PTS editions: atta,m
niratta,m. The Burmese edition reads, attaa nirattaa: "He has no self, nor
what's opposed to self." As K. R. Norman points out in the notes to his
translation of this verse, the first reading is probably the correct one, as it
relates to the poem's earlier reference to the unawakened person embracing or
rejecting a doctrine. The fact that an awakened person is free from both
embracing and rejecting is a recurring theme in this vagga and the next; the
confusion in the various recensions as to whether similar lines should read
atta,m/niratta,m or attaa/nirattaa is a recurring theme as well. (See Sn 4.4,
note 4; Sn 4.10, note 7; Sn 4.14, note 2.)
Dutthatthaka Sutta
Corrupted
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 780-787
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1998
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.
There are some who dispute
corrupted at heart,
and those who dispute
their hearts set on truth,
but a sage doesn't enter
a dispute that's arisen,
which is why he is
nowhere constrained.
Now, how would one
led on by desire,
entrenched in his likes,
forming his own conclusions,
overcome his own views?
He'd dispute in line
with the way that he knows.
Whoever boasts to others, unasked,
of his practices, precepts,
is, say the skilled,
ignoble by nature —
he who speaks of himself
of his own accord.
But a monk at peace,
fully unbound in himself,
who doesn't boast of his precepts
— "That's how I am" —
he, say the skilled,
is noble by nature —
he with no vanity
with regard to the world.
One whose doctrines aren't clean —
fabricated, formed, given preference
when he sees it to his own advantage —
relies on a peace
dependent
on what can be shaken.
Because entrenchments1 in views
aren't easily overcome
when considering what's grasped
among doctrines,
that's why
a person embraces or rejects a doctrine —
in light of these very
entrenchments.
Now, one who is cleansed2
has no preconceived view
about states of becoming
or not-
anywhere in the world.
Having abandoned conceit3 & illusion,
by what means would he go?4
He isn't involved.
For one who's involved
gets into disputes
over doctrines,
but how — in connection with what — 5
would you argue
with one uninvolved?
He has nothing
embraced or rejected,6
has sloughed off every view
right here — every one.
Notes
1. Entrenchments: a rendering of the Pali term, nivesana, which can also be
rendered as abode, situation, home, or establishment.
2. Nd.I: Cleansed through discernment.
3. Nd.I explains a variety of ways of understanding the word "conceit," the most
comprehensive being a list of nine kinds of conceit: viewing people better than
oneself as worse than oneself, on a par with oneself, or better than oneself;
viewing people on a par with oneself as worse than oneself, on a par with
oneself, or better than oneself; viewing people worse than oneself as worse than
oneself, on a par with oneself, or better than oneself. In other words, the
truth of the view is not the issue here; the issue is the tendency to compare
oneself with others.
4. Nd.I: "By what means would he go" to any destination in any state of
becoming.
5. In connection with what: a rendering of the instrumental case that attempts
to cover several of its meanings, in particular "by what means" and "in terms of
what." For a discussion of the use of the instrumental case in the Atthaka
Vagga, see note 1 to Sn 4.9.
6. This reading follows the Thai, Sri Lankan, and PTS editions: atta,m
niratta,m. The Burmese edition reads, attaa nirattaa: "He has no self, nor
what's opposed to self." As K. R. Norman points out in the notes to his
translation of this verse, the first reading is probably the correct one, as it
relates to the poem's earlier reference to the unawakened person embracing or
rejecting a doctrine. The fact that an awakened person is free from both
embracing and rejecting is a recurring theme in this vagga and the next; the
confusion in the various recensions as to whether similar lines should read
atta,m/niratta,m or attaa/nirattaa is a recurring theme as well. (See Sn 4.4,
note 4; Sn 4.10, note 7; Sn 4.14, note 2.)
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Guhatthaka Sutta
Sn 4.2
Guhatthaka Sutta
The Cave of the Body
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 772-779
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.
Staying attached to the cave,
covered heavily over,1
a person sunk in confusion
is far from seclusion —
for sensual pleasures
sensual desires2
in the world
are not lightly let go.
Those chained by desire,
bound by becoming's allure,
aren't easily released
for there's no liberation by others.
Intent, in front or behind,3
on hunger for sensual pleasures
here or before —
greedy
for sensual pleasures,
busy, deluded, ungenerous,
entrenched in the out-of-tune way,4
they — impelled into pain — lament:
"What will we be
when we pass on from here?"
So a person should train
right here & now.
Whatever you know
as out-of-tune in the world,
don't, for its sake, act out-of-tune,
for that life, the enlightened say,
is short.
I see them,
in the world, floundering around,
people immersed in craving
for states of becoming.
Base people moan in the mouth of death,
their craving, for states of becoming & not-,5
unallayed.
See them,
floundering in their sense of mine,
like fish in the puddles
of a dried-up stream —
and, seeing this,
live with no mine,
not forming attachment
for states of becoming.
Subdue desire
for both sides,6
comprehending7 sensory contact,
with no greed.
Doing nothing for which
he himself
would rebuke himself,
the enlightened person doesn't adhere
to what's seen,
to what's heard.
Comprehending perception,
he'd cross over the flood —
the sage not stuck
on possessions.
Then, with arrow removed,
living heedfully, he longs for neither —
this world,
the next.
Notes
1. Nd.I: "Covered heavily over" with defilements and unskillful mental
qualities.
2. "Sensual desires/sensual pleasures": two possible meanings of kama. According
to Nd.I, both meanings are intended here.
3. Nd.I: "In front" means experienced in the past (as does "before" two lines
down); "behind" means to-be-experienced in the future.
4. Nd.I: "The out-of-tune way" means the ten types of unskillful action (see AN
10.176).
5. States of not-becoming are oblivious states of becoming that people can get
themselves into through a desire for annihilation, either after death or as a
goal of their religious striving (see Iti 49). As with all states of becoming,
these states are impermanent and stressful.
6. According to Nd.I, "both sides" here has several possible meanings: sensory
contact and the origination of sensory contact; past and future; name and form;
internal and external sense media; self-identity and the origination of
self-identity. It also might mean states of becoming and not-becoming, mentioned
in the previous verse and below, in Sn 4.5.
7. Nd.I: Comprehending sensory contact has three aspects: being able to identify
and distinguish types of sensory contact; contemplating the true nature of
sensory contact (e.g., inconstant, stressful, and not-self); and abandoning
attachment to sensory contact. The same three aspects would apply to
comprehending perception, as mentioned in the following verse.
See also: AN 4.184.
Guhatthaka Sutta
The Cave of the Body
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 772-779
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.
Staying attached to the cave,
covered heavily over,1
a person sunk in confusion
is far from seclusion —
for sensual pleasures
sensual desires2
in the world
are not lightly let go.
Those chained by desire,
bound by becoming's allure,
aren't easily released
for there's no liberation by others.
Intent, in front or behind,3
on hunger for sensual pleasures
here or before —
greedy
for sensual pleasures,
busy, deluded, ungenerous,
entrenched in the out-of-tune way,4
they — impelled into pain — lament:
"What will we be
when we pass on from here?"
So a person should train
right here & now.
Whatever you know
as out-of-tune in the world,
don't, for its sake, act out-of-tune,
for that life, the enlightened say,
is short.
I see them,
in the world, floundering around,
people immersed in craving
for states of becoming.
Base people moan in the mouth of death,
their craving, for states of becoming & not-,5
unallayed.
See them,
floundering in their sense of mine,
like fish in the puddles
of a dried-up stream —
and, seeing this,
live with no mine,
not forming attachment
for states of becoming.
Subdue desire
for both sides,6
comprehending7 sensory contact,
with no greed.
Doing nothing for which
he himself
would rebuke himself,
the enlightened person doesn't adhere
to what's seen,
to what's heard.
Comprehending perception,
he'd cross over the flood —
the sage not stuck
on possessions.
Then, with arrow removed,
living heedfully, he longs for neither —
this world,
the next.
Notes
1. Nd.I: "Covered heavily over" with defilements and unskillful mental
qualities.
2. "Sensual desires/sensual pleasures": two possible meanings of kama. According
to Nd.I, both meanings are intended here.
3. Nd.I: "In front" means experienced in the past (as does "before" two lines
down); "behind" means to-be-experienced in the future.
4. Nd.I: "The out-of-tune way" means the ten types of unskillful action (see AN
10.176).
5. States of not-becoming are oblivious states of becoming that people can get
themselves into through a desire for annihilation, either after death or as a
goal of their religious striving (see Iti 49). As with all states of becoming,
these states are impermanent and stressful.
6. According to Nd.I, "both sides" here has several possible meanings: sensory
contact and the origination of sensory contact; past and future; name and form;
internal and external sense media; self-identity and the origination of
self-identity. It also might mean states of becoming and not-becoming, mentioned
in the previous verse and below, in Sn 4.5.
7. Nd.I: Comprehending sensory contact has three aspects: being able to identify
and distinguish types of sensory contact; contemplating the true nature of
sensory contact (e.g., inconstant, stressful, and not-self); and abandoning
attachment to sensory contact. The same three aspects would apply to
comprehending perception, as mentioned in the following verse.
See also: AN 4.184.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Kama Sutta
Sn 4.1
Kama Sutta
Sensual Pleasure
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 766-771
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.
If one, longing for sensual pleasure,
achieves it, yes,
he's enraptured at heart.
The mortal gets what he wants.
But if for that person
— longing, desiring —
the pleasures diminish,
he's shattered,
as if shot with an arrow.
Whoever avoids sensual desires
— as he would, with his foot,
the head of a snake —
goes beyond, mindful,
this attachment in the world.
A man who is greedy
for fields, land, gold,
cattle, horses,
servants, employees,
women, relatives,
many sensual pleasures,
is overpowered with weakness
and trampled by trouble,
for pain invades him
as water, a cracked boat.
So one, always mindful,
should avoid sensual desires.
Letting them go,
he'd cross over the flood
like one who, having bailed out the boat,
has reached the far shore.
See also: MN 13; Ud 7.3-4; AN 6.63.
Kama Sutta
Sensual Pleasure
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 766-771
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.
If one, longing for sensual pleasure,
achieves it, yes,
he's enraptured at heart.
The mortal gets what he wants.
But if for that person
— longing, desiring —
the pleasures diminish,
he's shattered,
as if shot with an arrow.
Whoever avoids sensual desires
— as he would, with his foot,
the head of a snake —
goes beyond, mindful,
this attachment in the world.
A man who is greedy
for fields, land, gold,
cattle, horses,
servants, employees,
women, relatives,
many sensual pleasures,
is overpowered with weakness
and trampled by trouble,
for pain invades him
as water, a cracked boat.
So one, always mindful,
should avoid sensual desires.
Letting them go,
he'd cross over the flood
like one who, having bailed out the boat,
has reached the far shore.
See also: MN 13; Ud 7.3-4; AN 6.63.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Dvayatanupassana Sutta
Sn 3.12
Dvayatanupassana Sutta
The Contemplation of Dualities
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:Ireland (excerpt)Olendzki (excerpt)Thanissaro
PTS: vv. 724-765
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 2000 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 2000
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 have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi in
the Eastern Monastery, the palace of Migara's mother. Now on that occasion — the
Uposatha day of the fifteenth, the full-moon night — the Blessed One was sitting
in the open air surrounded by the community of monks. Surveying the silent
community of monks, he addressed them: "Monks, if there are any who ask, 'Your
listening to teachings that are skillful, noble, leading onward, going to
self-awakening is a prerequisite for what?' they should be told, 'For the sake
of knowing qualities of dualities as they actually are.' 'What duality are you
speaking about?' 'This is stress. This is the origination of stress': this is
one contemplation. 'This is the cessation of stress. This is the path of
practice leading to the cessation of stress': this is a second contemplation.
For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way — heedful, ardent, &
resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or
— if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Those who don't discern stress,
what brings stress into play,
& where it totally stops,
without trace;
who don't know the path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
lowly
in their awareness-release
& discernment-release,
incapable
of making an end,
they're headed
to birth & aging.
But those who discern stress,
what brings stress into play,
& where it totally stops,
without trace;
who discern the path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
consummate
in their awareness-release
& discernment-release,
capable
of making an end,
they aren't headed
to birth & aging.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from acquisition as a
requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading
& cessation of that very acquisition, there is no coming into play of stress':
this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in
this way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected:
either gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of
clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
The manifold stresses
that come into play in the world,
come from acquisition as their cause.
Anyone not knowing [this]
creates acquisition.
The fool, he comes to stress
again & again.
Therefore, discerning [this],
you shouldn't create acquisition
as you contemplate birth
as what brings stress
into play.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from ignorance as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very ignorance, there is no coming into play of stress': this
is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Those who journey the wandering-on
through birth & death, again & again,
in this state here
or anywhere else,
that destination is simply through ignorance.
This ignorance is a great delusion
whereby they have wandered-on
a long, long time.
While beings immersed in clear knowing
don't go to further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from fabrication as a
requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading
& cessation of that very fabrication, there is no coming into play of stress':
this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in
this way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected:
either gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of
clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from fabrication
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of fabrication,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from fabrication
as a requisite
condition —
with the tranquilizing of all fabrication,
with the stopping of perception:
that's how there is
the ending of stress.
Knowing this as it actually is,
an attainer-of-wisdom
sees rightly.
Seeing rightly,
the wise —
overcoming the fetter of Mara —
go to no further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from consciousness as a
requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading
& cessation of that very consciousness, there is no coming into play of stress':
this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in
this way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected:
either gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of
clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from consciousness
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of consciousness,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from consciousness
as a requisite
condition —
with the stilling of consciousness, the monk
free from hunger
is totally unbound.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from contact as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very contact, there is no coming into play of stress': this is
a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
For those overcome by contact,
flowing along in the stream of becoming,
following a miserable path,
the ending of fetters
is far away.
While those who comprehend contact,
delighting in stilling through discernment,
they, by breaking through contact,
free from hunger,
are totally unbound.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from feeling as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very feeling, there is no coming into play of stress': this is
a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Knowing that
whatever is felt —
pleasure, pain,
neither pleasure nor pain,
within or without —
is stressful,
deceptive,
dissolving,
seeing its passing away
at each contact,
each
contact,
he knows it right there:
with just the ending of feeling,
there is no stress
coming into play.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from craving as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very craving, there is no coming into play of stress': this is
a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
With craving his companion, a man
wanders on a long, long time.
Neither in this state here
nor anywhere else
does he go beyond
the wandering- on.
Knowing this drawback —
that craving brings stress into play —
free from craving,
devoid of clinging,
mindful, the monk
lives the wandering life.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from clinging as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very clinging, there is no coming into play of stress': this
is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
From clinging as a requisite condition
comes becoming.
One who has come into being
goes
to stress.
There is death
for one who is born.
This is the coming into play
of stress.
Thus, with the ending of clinging, the wise
seeing rightly,
directly knowing
the ending of birth,
go to no further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from disturbance as a
requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading
& cessation of that very disturbance, there is no coming into play of stress':
this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in
this way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected:
either gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of
clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from disturbance
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of disturbance,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from disturbance
as a requisite
condition —
with the relinquishing
of all disturbance,
a monk released in non-disturbance,
his craving for becoming crushed,
his mind at peace,
his wandering-on in birth totally ended:
he has no further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from nutriment as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very nutriment, there is no coming into play of stress': this
is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from nutriment
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of nutriment,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from nutriment
as a requisite
condition —
comprehending all nutriment,
independent of all nutriment,
rightly seeing
freedom from disease
through the total ending
of fermentations,
judiciously associating,
a judge,
he, an attainer-of-wisdom,
goes beyond judgment,
beyond classification.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from what is perturbed as a
requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading
& cessation of what is perturbed, there is no coming into play of stress': this
is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from what is perturbed
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of what is perturbed,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from what is perturbed
as a requisite
condition —
the monk thus renouncing perturbance,
putting a stop to fabrications,
free from perturbance, free
from clinging,
mindful he lives
the wandering life.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'For one who is dependent, there is wavering': this is one
contemplation. 'One who is independent doesn't waver': this is a second
contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way —
heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis
right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
One who's independent
doesn't
waver.
One who's dependent,
clinging
to this state here
or anywhere else,
doesn't go beyond
the wandering-on.
Knowing this drawback —
the great danger in
dependencies —
in-
dependent,
free from clinging,
mindful the monk
lives the wandering life.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Formless phenomena are more peaceful than forms': this is one
contemplation. 'Cessation is more peaceful than formless phenomena': this is a
second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way
— heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis
right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Those beings headed to forms,
and those standing in the formless,
with no knowledge of cessation,
return to further becoming.
But, comprehending form,
not taking a stance in formless things,
those released in cessation
are people who've left death behind.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever is considered as "This is true" by the world with its devas,
Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk,
is rightly seen as it actually is with right discernment by the noble ones as
"This is false"': this is one contemplation. 'Whatever is considered as "This is
false" by the world with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives &
priests, its royalty & commonfolk, is rightly seen as it actually is with right
discernment by the noble ones as "This is true"': this is a second
contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way —
heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis
right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
See the world, together with its devas,
conceiving not-self to be self.
Entrenched in name & form,
they conceive that 'This is true.'
In whatever terms they conceive it
it turns into something other than that,
and that's what's false about it:
changing,
it's deceptive by nature.
Undeceptive by nature
is Unbinding:
that the noble ones know
as true.
They, through breaking through
to the truth,
free from hunger,
are totally unbound.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever is considered as "This is bliss" by the world with its
devas, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty &
commonfolk, is rightly seen as it actually is with right discernment by the
noble ones as "This is stressful"': this is one contemplation. 'Whatever is
considered as "This is stressful" by the world with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas,
with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk, is rightly seen as
it actually is with right discernment by the noble ones as "This is bliss"':
this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in
this way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected:
either gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of
clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
All sights, sounds, smells, tastes,
tactile sensations, & ideas
that are welcome,
appealing,
agreeable —
as long as they're said
to exist,
are supposed by the world
together with its devas
to be bliss.
But when they cease,
they're supposed by them
to be stress.
The stopping of self-identity
is viewed by the noble ones
as bliss.
This is contrary
to what's seen
by the world as a whole.
What others say is blissful,
the noble ones say is stress.
What others say is stressful,
the noble know as bliss.
See the Dhamma, hard to understand!
Here those who don't know
are confused.
For those who are veiled,
it's darkness,
blindness
for those who don't see.
But for the good it is blatant,
like light
for those who see.
Though in their very presence,
they don't understand it —
dumb animals, unadept in the Dhamma.
It's not easy
for those overcome
by passion for becoming,
flowing along
in the stream of becoming,
falling under Mara's sway,
to wake up
to this Dhamma.
Who, apart from the noble,
is worthy to wake up
to this state? —
the state that,
through rightly knowing it,
they're free from fermentation,
totally
unbound.
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks delighted in the Blessed
One's words. And while this explanation was being given, the minds of 60 monks,
through lack of clinging, were fully released from fermentation.
See also: DN 15; Iti 16; Iti 51; Iti 73; Iti 103
Dvayatanupassana Sutta
The Contemplation of Dualities
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:Ireland (excerpt)Olendzki (excerpt)Thanissaro
PTS: vv. 724-765
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 2000 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 2000
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 have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi in
the Eastern Monastery, the palace of Migara's mother. Now on that occasion — the
Uposatha day of the fifteenth, the full-moon night — the Blessed One was sitting
in the open air surrounded by the community of monks. Surveying the silent
community of monks, he addressed them: "Monks, if there are any who ask, 'Your
listening to teachings that are skillful, noble, leading onward, going to
self-awakening is a prerequisite for what?' they should be told, 'For the sake
of knowing qualities of dualities as they actually are.' 'What duality are you
speaking about?' 'This is stress. This is the origination of stress': this is
one contemplation. 'This is the cessation of stress. This is the path of
practice leading to the cessation of stress': this is a second contemplation.
For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way — heedful, ardent, &
resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or
— if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Those who don't discern stress,
what brings stress into play,
& where it totally stops,
without trace;
who don't know the path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
lowly
in their awareness-release
& discernment-release,
incapable
of making an end,
they're headed
to birth & aging.
But those who discern stress,
what brings stress into play,
& where it totally stops,
without trace;
who discern the path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
consummate
in their awareness-release
& discernment-release,
capable
of making an end,
they aren't headed
to birth & aging.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from acquisition as a
requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading
& cessation of that very acquisition, there is no coming into play of stress':
this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in
this way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected:
either gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of
clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
The manifold stresses
that come into play in the world,
come from acquisition as their cause.
Anyone not knowing [this]
creates acquisition.
The fool, he comes to stress
again & again.
Therefore, discerning [this],
you shouldn't create acquisition
as you contemplate birth
as what brings stress
into play.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from ignorance as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very ignorance, there is no coming into play of stress': this
is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Those who journey the wandering-on
through birth & death, again & again,
in this state here
or anywhere else,
that destination is simply through ignorance.
This ignorance is a great delusion
whereby they have wandered-on
a long, long time.
While beings immersed in clear knowing
don't go to further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from fabrication as a
requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading
& cessation of that very fabrication, there is no coming into play of stress':
this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in
this way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected:
either gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of
clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from fabrication
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of fabrication,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from fabrication
as a requisite
condition —
with the tranquilizing of all fabrication,
with the stopping of perception:
that's how there is
the ending of stress.
Knowing this as it actually is,
an attainer-of-wisdom
sees rightly.
Seeing rightly,
the wise —
overcoming the fetter of Mara —
go to no further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from consciousness as a
requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading
& cessation of that very consciousness, there is no coming into play of stress':
this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in
this way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected:
either gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of
clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from consciousness
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of consciousness,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from consciousness
as a requisite
condition —
with the stilling of consciousness, the monk
free from hunger
is totally unbound.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from contact as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very contact, there is no coming into play of stress': this is
a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
For those overcome by contact,
flowing along in the stream of becoming,
following a miserable path,
the ending of fetters
is far away.
While those who comprehend contact,
delighting in stilling through discernment,
they, by breaking through contact,
free from hunger,
are totally unbound.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from feeling as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very feeling, there is no coming into play of stress': this is
a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Knowing that
whatever is felt —
pleasure, pain,
neither pleasure nor pain,
within or without —
is stressful,
deceptive,
dissolving,
seeing its passing away
at each contact,
each
contact,
he knows it right there:
with just the ending of feeling,
there is no stress
coming into play.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from craving as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very craving, there is no coming into play of stress': this is
a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
With craving his companion, a man
wanders on a long, long time.
Neither in this state here
nor anywhere else
does he go beyond
the wandering- on.
Knowing this drawback —
that craving brings stress into play —
free from craving,
devoid of clinging,
mindful, the monk
lives the wandering life.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from clinging as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very clinging, there is no coming into play of stress': this
is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
From clinging as a requisite condition
comes becoming.
One who has come into being
goes
to stress.
There is death
for one who is born.
This is the coming into play
of stress.
Thus, with the ending of clinging, the wise
seeing rightly,
directly knowing
the ending of birth,
go to no further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from disturbance as a
requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading
& cessation of that very disturbance, there is no coming into play of stress':
this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in
this way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected:
either gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of
clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from disturbance
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of disturbance,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from disturbance
as a requisite
condition —
with the relinquishing
of all disturbance,
a monk released in non-disturbance,
his craving for becoming crushed,
his mind at peace,
his wandering-on in birth totally ended:
he has no further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from nutriment as a requisite
condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading &
cessation of that very nutriment, there is no coming into play of stress': this
is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from nutriment
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of nutriment,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from nutriment
as a requisite
condition —
comprehending all nutriment,
independent of all nutriment,
rightly seeing
freedom from disease
through the total ending
of fermentations,
judiciously associating,
a judge,
he, an attainer-of-wisdom,
goes beyond judgment,
beyond classification.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from what is perturbed as a
requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading
& cessation of what is perturbed, there is no coming into play of stress': this
is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this
way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either
gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from what is perturbed
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of what is perturbed,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback —
that stress comes from what is perturbed
as a requisite
condition —
the monk thus renouncing perturbance,
putting a stop to fabrications,
free from perturbance, free
from clinging,
mindful he lives
the wandering life.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'For one who is dependent, there is wavering': this is one
contemplation. 'One who is independent doesn't waver': this is a second
contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way —
heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis
right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
One who's independent
doesn't
waver.
One who's dependent,
clinging
to this state here
or anywhere else,
doesn't go beyond
the wandering-on.
Knowing this drawback —
the great danger in
dependencies —
in-
dependent,
free from clinging,
mindful the monk
lives the wandering life.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Formless phenomena are more peaceful than forms': this is one
contemplation. 'Cessation is more peaceful than formless phenomena': this is a
second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way
— heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis
right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
Those beings headed to forms,
and those standing in the formless,
with no knowledge of cessation,
return to further becoming.
But, comprehending form,
not taking a stance in formless things,
those released in cessation
are people who've left death behind.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever is considered as "This is true" by the world with its devas,
Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk,
is rightly seen as it actually is with right discernment by the noble ones as
"This is false"': this is one contemplation. 'Whatever is considered as "This is
false" by the world with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives &
priests, its royalty & commonfolk, is rightly seen as it actually is with right
discernment by the noble ones as "This is true"': this is a second
contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way —
heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis
right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance —
non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
See the world, together with its devas,
conceiving not-self to be self.
Entrenched in name & form,
they conceive that 'This is true.'
In whatever terms they conceive it
it turns into something other than that,
and that's what's false about it:
changing,
it's deceptive by nature.
Undeceptive by nature
is Unbinding:
that the noble ones know
as true.
They, through breaking through
to the truth,
free from hunger,
are totally unbound.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of
dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would
that be?' 'Whatever is considered as "This is bliss" by the world with its
devas, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty &
commonfolk, is rightly seen as it actually is with right discernment by the
noble ones as "This is stressful"': this is one contemplation. 'Whatever is
considered as "This is stressful" by the world with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas,
with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk, is rightly seen as
it actually is with right discernment by the noble ones as "This is bliss"':
this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in
this way — heedful, ardent, & resolute — one of two fruits can be expected:
either gnosis right here & now, or — if there be any remnant of
clinging-sustenance — non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the
Teacher, said further:
All sights, sounds, smells, tastes,
tactile sensations, & ideas
that are welcome,
appealing,
agreeable —
as long as they're said
to exist,
are supposed by the world
together with its devas
to be bliss.
But when they cease,
they're supposed by them
to be stress.
The stopping of self-identity
is viewed by the noble ones
as bliss.
This is contrary
to what's seen
by the world as a whole.
What others say is blissful,
the noble ones say is stress.
What others say is stressful,
the noble know as bliss.
See the Dhamma, hard to understand!
Here those who don't know
are confused.
For those who are veiled,
it's darkness,
blindness
for those who don't see.
But for the good it is blatant,
like light
for those who see.
Though in their very presence,
they don't understand it —
dumb animals, unadept in the Dhamma.
It's not easy
for those overcome
by passion for becoming,
flowing along
in the stream of becoming,
falling under Mara's sway,
to wake up
to this Dhamma.
Who, apart from the noble,
is worthy to wake up
to this state? —
the state that,
through rightly knowing it,
they're free from fermentation,
totally
unbound.
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks delighted in the Blessed
One's words. And while this explanation was being given, the minds of 60 monks,
through lack of clinging, were fully released from fermentation.
See also: DN 15; Iti 16; Iti 51; Iti 73; Iti 103
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Nalaka Sutta
Sn 3.11
Nalaka Sutta
To Nalaka
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:OlendzkiThanissaro
PTS: vv. 679-723
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1998
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.
Asita the seer, in his mid-day meditation,
saw the devas of the Group of Thirty
— exultant, ecstatic —
dressed in pure white, honoring Indra,
holding up banners, cheering wildly,
& on seeing the devas so joyful & happy,
having paid his respects, he said:
"Why is the deva community
so wildly elated?
Why are they holding up banners
& waving them around?
Even after the war with the Asuras
— when victory was the devas'.
the Asuras defeated —
even then there was no excitement like this.
Seeing what marvel
are the devas so joyful?
They shout,
they sing,
play music,
clap their hands,
dance.
So I ask you, who live on Mount Meru's summit.
Please dispel my doubt quickly, dear sirs."
"The Bodhisatta, the foremost jewel,
unequaled,
has been born for welfare & ease
in the human world,
in a town in the Sakyan countryside,
Lumbini.
That's why we're all so wildly elated.
He, the highest of all beings,
the ultimate person,
a bull among men, foremost of all people,
will set turning the Wheel [of Dhamma]
in the grove named after the seers,
like a strong, roaring lion,
the conqueror of beasts."
Hearing these words,
Asita quickly descended [from heaven]
and went to Suddhodana's dwelling.
There, taking a seat, he said to the Sakyans:
"Where is the prince?
I, too, want to see him."
The Sakyans then showed
to the seer named Asita
their son, the prince,
like gold aglow,
burnished by a most skillful smith
in the mouth of the furnace,
blazing with glory, flawless in color.
On seeing the prince blazing like flame,
pure like the bull of the stars
going across the sky
— the burning sun,
released from the clouds of autumn —
he was exultant, filled with abundant rapture.
The devas held in the sky
a many-spoked sunshade
of a thousand circles.
Gold-handled whisks
waved up & down,
but those holding the whisks & the sunshade
couldn't be seen.
The matted-haired seer
named Dark Splendor,
seeing the boy, like an ornament of gold
on the red woolen blanket,
a white sunshade held over his head,
received him, happy & pleased.
And on receiving the bull of the Sakyans,
longingly, the master of mantras & signs
exclaimed with a confident mind:
"This one is unsurpassed,
the highest of the biped race."
Then, foreseeing his own imminent departure,
he, dejected, shed tears.
On seeing him weeping,
the Sakyans asked:
"But surely there will be
no danger for the prince?"
On seeing the Sakyans' concern
he replied, "I foresee for the prince
no harm.
Nor will there be any danger for him.
This one isn't lowly: be assured.
This prince will touch
the ultimate self-awakening.
He, seeing the utmost purity,
will set rolling the Wheel of Dhamma
through sympathy for the welfare of many.
His holy life will spread far & wide.
But as for me,
my life here has no long remainder;
my death will take place before then.
I won't get to hear
the Dhamma of this one with the peerless role.
That's why I'm stricken,
afflicted, & pained."
He, having brought the Sakyans
abundant rapture,
the follower of the holy life
left the inner chamber and,
out of sympathy for his nephew,
urged him on toward the Dhamma
of the one with the peerless role:
"When you hear from another the word,
"Awakened One,"
or "Attaining self-awakening,
he lays open the path of the Dhamma,"
go there & ask him yourself.
Follow the holy life
under that Blessed One."
Instructed by the one
whose mind was set on his benefit,
Such,
seeing in the future the utmost purity,
Nalaka, who had laid up a store of merit,
awaited the Victor expectantly,
guarding his senses.
On hearing word of the Victor's
turning of the foremost wheel,
he went, he saw
the bull among seers. Confident,
he asked the foremost sage
about the highest sagacity,
now that Asita's forecast
had come to pass.
[Nalaka:]
Now that I know
Asita's words to be true,
I ask you, Gotama,
you who have gone
to the beyond of all things.
I'm intent on the homeless life;
I long for the almsround.
Tell me sage, when I ask you,
the utmost state of sagacity.
[The Buddha:]
I'll explain to you
a sagacity hard to do,
hard to endure.
Come now, I'll tell you.
Be steadfast. Be firm.
Practice even-mindedness,
for in a village
there's praise & abuse.
Ward off any flaw in the heart.
Go about calmed & not haughty.
High & low things will come up
like fire-flames in a forest.
Women seduce a sage.
May they not seduce you.1
Abstaining from sexual intercourse,
abandoning various sensual pleasures,
be unopposed, unattached,
to beings moving & still.
'As I am, so are these.
As are these, so am I.'
Drawing the parallel to
yourself,
neither kill nor get others to kill.
Abandoning the wants & greed
where people run-of-the-mill are stuck,
practice with vision,
cross over this hell.
Stomach not full,
moderate in food,
having few wants,
not being greedy,
always not hankering after desire:
one without hankering,
is one who's unbound.
Having gone on his almsround, the sage
should then go to the forest,
standing or taking a seat
at the foot of a tree.
The enlightened one, intent on jhana,
should find delight in the forest,
should practice jhana at the foot of a tree,
attaining his own satisfaction.
Then, at the end of the night,
he should go to the village,
not delighting in an invitation
or gift from the village.
Having gone to the village,
the sage should not carelessly
go among families.
Cutting off chatter,
he shouldn't utter a scheming word.
'I got something,
that's fine.
I got nothing,
that's good.'
Being such with regard to both,
he returns to the very same tree.
Wandering with his bowl in hand
— not dumb,
but seemingly dumb —
he shouldn't despise a piddling gift
nor disparage the giver.
High & low are the practices
proclaimed by the contemplative.
They don't go twice to the further shore.
This [Unbinding] isn't sensed only once.2
In one who has no attachment —
the monk who has cut the stream,
abandoning what is
& isn't a duty —
no fever is found.
I'll explain to you
sagacity: be like a razor's edge.
Pressing tongue against palate,
restrain your stomach.
Neither be lazy in mind,
nor have many thoughts.
Be committed to taintlessness,
independent,
having the holy life as your aim.
Train in solitude
& the contemplative's task,
Solitude
is called
sagacity.
Alone, you truly delight
& shine in the ten directions.
On hearing the fame of the enlightened
— those who practice jhana,
relinquishing sensual pleasures —
my disciple should foster
all the more
conviction & conscience.
Know from the rivers
in clefts & in crevices:
those in small channels flow
noisily,
the great
flow silent.
Whatever's not full
makes noise.
Whatever is full
is quiet.
The fool is like a half-empty pot;
one who is wise, a full lake.
A contemplative who speaks a great deal
endowed with meaning:
knowing, he teaches the Dhamma,
knowing, he speaks a great deal.
But he who,
knowing, is restrained,
knowing, doesn't speak a great deal:
he is a sage
worthy of sagehood;
he is a sage,
his sagehood attained.
Notes
1. For an instance of a man who tried to seduce a nun, see Therigatha XIV.
2. According to the Commentary, the high and low practices taught by the Buddha
are, respectively, the practice-mode of pleasant practice and quick intuition,
and the practice-mode of painful practice and slow intuition (see AN 4.162; The
Wings to Awakening, passage 84). These modes of practice don't go twice to the
further shore in the sense that each of the four paths — to stream-entry,
once-returning, non-returning, and arahantship — abandons whatever defilements
it is capable of abandoning once and for all. There is no need to repeat the
path. Unbinding is not attained only once in the sense that it is touched as the
result of each of the four paths.
See also: AN 3.120.
Nalaka Sutta
To Nalaka
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Alternate translation:OlendzkiThanissaro
PTS: vv. 679-723
Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.
Copyright © 1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Access to Insight edition © 1998
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.
Asita the seer, in his mid-day meditation,
saw the devas of the Group of Thirty
— exultant, ecstatic —
dressed in pure white, honoring Indra,
holding up banners, cheering wildly,
& on seeing the devas so joyful & happy,
having paid his respects, he said:
"Why is the deva community
so wildly elated?
Why are they holding up banners
& waving them around?
Even after the war with the Asuras
— when victory was the devas'.
the Asuras defeated —
even then there was no excitement like this.
Seeing what marvel
are the devas so joyful?
They shout,
they sing,
play music,
clap their hands,
dance.
So I ask you, who live on Mount Meru's summit.
Please dispel my doubt quickly, dear sirs."
"The Bodhisatta, the foremost jewel,
unequaled,
has been born for welfare & ease
in the human world,
in a town in the Sakyan countryside,
Lumbini.
That's why we're all so wildly elated.
He, the highest of all beings,
the ultimate person,
a bull among men, foremost of all people,
will set turning the Wheel [of Dhamma]
in the grove named after the seers,
like a strong, roaring lion,
the conqueror of beasts."
Hearing these words,
Asita quickly descended [from heaven]
and went to Suddhodana's dwelling.
There, taking a seat, he said to the Sakyans:
"Where is the prince?
I, too, want to see him."
The Sakyans then showed
to the seer named Asita
their son, the prince,
like gold aglow,
burnished by a most skillful smith
in the mouth of the furnace,
blazing with glory, flawless in color.
On seeing the prince blazing like flame,
pure like the bull of the stars
going across the sky
— the burning sun,
released from the clouds of autumn —
he was exultant, filled with abundant rapture.
The devas held in the sky
a many-spoked sunshade
of a thousand circles.
Gold-handled whisks
waved up & down,
but those holding the whisks & the sunshade
couldn't be seen.
The matted-haired seer
named Dark Splendor,
seeing the boy, like an ornament of gold
on the red woolen blanket,
a white sunshade held over his head,
received him, happy & pleased.
And on receiving the bull of the Sakyans,
longingly, the master of mantras & signs
exclaimed with a confident mind:
"This one is unsurpassed,
the highest of the biped race."
Then, foreseeing his own imminent departure,
he, dejected, shed tears.
On seeing him weeping,
the Sakyans asked:
"But surely there will be
no danger for the prince?"
On seeing the Sakyans' concern
he replied, "I foresee for the prince
no harm.
Nor will there be any danger for him.
This one isn't lowly: be assured.
This prince will touch
the ultimate self-awakening.
He, seeing the utmost purity,
will set rolling the Wheel of Dhamma
through sympathy for the welfare of many.
His holy life will spread far & wide.
But as for me,
my life here has no long remainder;
my death will take place before then.
I won't get to hear
the Dhamma of this one with the peerless role.
That's why I'm stricken,
afflicted, & pained."
He, having brought the Sakyans
abundant rapture,
the follower of the holy life
left the inner chamber and,
out of sympathy for his nephew,
urged him on toward the Dhamma
of the one with the peerless role:
"When you hear from another the word,
"Awakened One,"
or "Attaining self-awakening,
he lays open the path of the Dhamma,"
go there & ask him yourself.
Follow the holy life
under that Blessed One."
Instructed by the one
whose mind was set on his benefit,
Such,
seeing in the future the utmost purity,
Nalaka, who had laid up a store of merit,
awaited the Victor expectantly,
guarding his senses.
On hearing word of the Victor's
turning of the foremost wheel,
he went, he saw
the bull among seers. Confident,
he asked the foremost sage
about the highest sagacity,
now that Asita's forecast
had come to pass.
[Nalaka:]
Now that I know
Asita's words to be true,
I ask you, Gotama,
you who have gone
to the beyond of all things.
I'm intent on the homeless life;
I long for the almsround.
Tell me sage, when I ask you,
the utmost state of sagacity.
[The Buddha:]
I'll explain to you
a sagacity hard to do,
hard to endure.
Come now, I'll tell you.
Be steadfast. Be firm.
Practice even-mindedness,
for in a village
there's praise & abuse.
Ward off any flaw in the heart.
Go about calmed & not haughty.
High & low things will come up
like fire-flames in a forest.
Women seduce a sage.
May they not seduce you.1
Abstaining from sexual intercourse,
abandoning various sensual pleasures,
be unopposed, unattached,
to beings moving & still.
'As I am, so are these.
As are these, so am I.'
Drawing the parallel to
yourself,
neither kill nor get others to kill.
Abandoning the wants & greed
where people run-of-the-mill are stuck,
practice with vision,
cross over this hell.
Stomach not full,
moderate in food,
having few wants,
not being greedy,
always not hankering after desire:
one without hankering,
is one who's unbound.
Having gone on his almsround, the sage
should then go to the forest,
standing or taking a seat
at the foot of a tree.
The enlightened one, intent on jhana,
should find delight in the forest,
should practice jhana at the foot of a tree,
attaining his own satisfaction.
Then, at the end of the night,
he should go to the village,
not delighting in an invitation
or gift from the village.
Having gone to the village,
the sage should not carelessly
go among families.
Cutting off chatter,
he shouldn't utter a scheming word.
'I got something,
that's fine.
I got nothing,
that's good.'
Being such with regard to both,
he returns to the very same tree.
Wandering with his bowl in hand
— not dumb,
but seemingly dumb —
he shouldn't despise a piddling gift
nor disparage the giver.
High & low are the practices
proclaimed by the contemplative.
They don't go twice to the further shore.
This [Unbinding] isn't sensed only once.2
In one who has no attachment —
the monk who has cut the stream,
abandoning what is
& isn't a duty —
no fever is found.
I'll explain to you
sagacity: be like a razor's edge.
Pressing tongue against palate,
restrain your stomach.
Neither be lazy in mind,
nor have many thoughts.
Be committed to taintlessness,
independent,
having the holy life as your aim.
Train in solitude
& the contemplative's task,
Solitude
is called
sagacity.
Alone, you truly delight
& shine in the ten directions.
On hearing the fame of the enlightened
— those who practice jhana,
relinquishing sensual pleasures —
my disciple should foster
all the more
conviction & conscience.
Know from the rivers
in clefts & in crevices:
those in small channels flow
noisily,
the great
flow silent.
Whatever's not full
makes noise.
Whatever is full
is quiet.
The fool is like a half-empty pot;
one who is wise, a full lake.
A contemplative who speaks a great deal
endowed with meaning:
knowing, he teaches the Dhamma,
knowing, he speaks a great deal.
But he who,
knowing, is restrained,
knowing, doesn't speak a great deal:
he is a sage
worthy of sagehood;
he is a sage,
his sagehood attained.
Notes
1. For an instance of a man who tried to seduce a nun, see Therigatha XIV.
2. According to the Commentary, the high and low practices taught by the Buddha
are, respectively, the practice-mode of pleasant practice and quick intuition,
and the practice-mode of painful practice and slow intuition (see AN 4.162; The
Wings to Awakening, passage 84). These modes of practice don't go twice to the
further shore in the sense that each of the four paths — to stream-entry,
once-returning, non-returning, and arahantship — abandons whatever defilements
it is capable of abandoning once and for all. There is no need to repeat the
path. Unbinding is not attained only once in the sense that it is touched as the
result of each of the four paths.
See also: AN 3.120.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Kokaliya Sutta
10. KOKALIYASUTTA.
Kokaliya abuses Sariputta and Moggallana to Buddha; therefore as soon as he
has left Buddha, he is struck with boils, dies and goes to the Paduma hell,
whereupon Buddha describes to the Bhikkhus the punishment of backbiters in
hell.
So it was heard by me:
At one time Bhagavat dwelt at Savatthî, in Getavana, in the park of
Anathapindika. Then the Bhikkhu Kokaliya approached Bhagavat, and after having
approached and saluted Bhagavat he sat down apart; sitting down apart the
Bhikkhu Kokaliya said this to Bhagavat: "O thou venerable one, Sariputta and
Moggallana have evil desires, they have fallen into the power of evil desires.'
When this had been said, Bhagavat spoke to the Bhikkhu Kokaliya as follows:
'(Do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; (do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; appease, O Kokaliya,
(thy) mind in regard to Sariputta and Moggallana: Sariputta and Moggallana are
amiable[1].'
A second time the Bhikkhu Kokaliya said this to Bhagavat: 'Although thou, O
venerable Bhagavat, (appearest) to me (to be) faithful and trustworthy, yet
Sariputta and Moggallana have evil desires, they have fallen into the power of
evil desires.'
A second time Bhagavat said this to the Bhikkhu Kokaliya: '(Do) not (say) so,
Kokaliya; (do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; appease, O Kokaliya, (thy) mind in regard
to Sariputta and Moggallana: Sariputta and Moggallana are amiable.'
A third time the Bhikkhu Kokaliya said this to Bhagavat: 'Although thou, O
venerable Bhagavat, (appearest) to me (to be) faithful and trustworthy,
[1. Pesala ti piyasîla. Commentator.]
p. 119
yet Sariputta and Moggallana have evil desires, Sariputta and Moggallana have
fallen into the power of evil desires.'
A third time Bhagavat said this to the Bhikkhu Kokaliya: '(Do) not (say) so,
Kokaliya; (do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; appease, O Kokaliya, (thy) mind in regard
to Sariputta and Moggallana: Sariputta and Moggallana are amiable.'
Then the Bhikkhu Kokaliya, after having risen from his seat and saluted
Bhagavat and walked round him towards the right, went away; and when he had been
gone a short time, all his body was struck with boils as large as mustard seeds;
after being only as large as mustard seeds, they became as large as kidney
beans; after being only as large as kidney beans, they became as large as chick
peas; after being only as large as chick peas, they became as large as a
Kolatthi egg (?); after being only as large as a Kolatthi egg, they became as
large as the jujube fruit; after being only as large as the jujube fruit, they
became as large as the fruit of the emblic myrobalan; after being only as large
as the fruit of the emblic myrobalan, they became as large as the unripe beluva
fruit; after being only as large as the unripe beluva fruit, they became as
large as a billi fruit (?); after being as large as a billi fruit, they broke,
and matter and blood flowed out. Then the Bhikkhu Kokaliya died of that disease,
and when he had died the Bhikkhu Kokaliya went to the Paduma hell, having shown
a hostile mind against Sariputta and Moggallana. Then when the night had passed
Brahman Sahampati of a beautiful appearance, having lit up all Getavana,
approached Bhagavat, and having approached and saluted Bhagavat,
p. 120
he stood apart, and standing apart Brahman Sahampati said this to Bhagavat: 'O
thou venerable one, Kokaliya, the Bhikkhu, is dead and after death, O thou
venerable one, the Bhikkhu Kokaliya is gone to the Paduma hell, having shown a
hostile mind against Sariputta and Moggallana.'
This said Brahman Sahampati, and after saying this and saluting Bhagavat, and
walking round him towards the right, he disappeared there.
Then Bhagavat, after the expiration of that night, addressed the Bhikkhus
thus: 'Last night, O Bhikkhus, when the night had (nearly) passed, Brahman
Sahampati of a beautiful appearance, having lit up all Getavana, approached
Bhagavat, and having approached and saluted Bhagavat, he stood apart, and
standing apart Brahman Sahampati said this to Bhagavat: "O thou venerable one,
Kokaliya, the Bhikkhu, is dead; and after death, O thou venerable one, the
Bhikkhu Kokaliya is gone to the Paduma hell, having shown a hostile mind against
Sariputta and Moggallana." This said Brahman Sahampati, O Bhikkhus, and having
said this and saluted me, and walked round me towards the right, he disappeared
there.'
When this had been said, a Bhikkhu asked Bhagavat: 'How long is the rate of
life, O venerable one, in the Paduma hell?'
'Long, O Bhikkhu, is the rate of life in the Paduma hell, it is not easy to
calculate either (by saying) so many years or so many hundreds of years or so
many thousands of years or so many hundred thousands of years.'
'But it is possible, I suppose, to make a comparison, O thou venerable one?'
p. 121
'It is possible, O Bhikkhu;' so saying, Bhagavat spoke (as follows): 'Even
as, O Bhikkhu, (if there were) a Kosala load of sesamum seed containing twenty
kharis, and a man after the lapse of every hundred years were to take from it
one sesamum seed at a time, then that Kosala load of sesamum seed, containing
twenty kharis, would, O Bhikkhu, sooner by this means dwindle away and be used
up than one Abbuda hell; and even as are twenty Abbuda hells, O Bhikkhu, so is
one Nirabbuda hell; and even as are twenty Nirabbuda hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one
Ababa hell; and even as are twenty Ababa hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Ahaha hell;
and even as are twenty Ahaha hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Atata hell; and even as
are twenty Atata hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Kumuda hell; and even as are twenty
Kumuda hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Sogandhika hell; and even as are twenty
Sogandhika hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Uppalaka hell; and even as are twenty
Uppalaka hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Pundarîka hell; and even as are twenty
Pundarîka hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Paduma hell; and to the Paduma hell, O
Bhikkhu, the Bhikkhu Kokaliya is gone, having shown a hostile mind against
Sariputta and Moggallana.' This said Bhagavat, and having said this Sugata, the
Master, furthermore spoke as follows:
1. 'To (every) man that is born, an axe is born in his mouth, by which the
fool cuts himself, when speaking bad language. (657)
2. 'He who praises him who is to be blamed or blames him who as to be
praised, gathers up sin in his mouth, and through that (sin) he will not find
any joy. (658)
p. 122
3. 'Trifling is the sin that (consists in) losing riches by dice; this is a
greater sin that corrupts the mind against Sugatas. (659)
4. 'Out of the one hundred thousand Nirabbudas (he goes) to thirty-six, and
to five Abbudas; because he blames an Ariya he goes to hell, having employed his
speech and mind badly. (660)
5. 'He who speaks falsely goes to hell, or he who having done something says,
"I have not done it;" both these after death become equal, in another world
(they are both) men guilty of a mean deed[1]. (661)
6. 'He who offends an offenceless man, a pure man, free from sin, such a fool
the evil (deed) reverts against, like fine dust thrown against the wind[2].
(662)
7. 'He who is given to the quality of covetousness, such a one censures
others in his speech, (being himself) unbelieving, stingy, wanting in
affability, niggardly, given to backbiting. (663)
8. 'O thou foul-mouthed, false, ignoble, blasting, wicked, evil-doing, low,
sinful, base-born man, do not be garrulous in this world, (else) thou wilt be an
inhabitant of hell[3]. (664)
9. 'Thou spreadest pollution to the misfortune (of others), thou revilest the
just, committing sin (yourself), and having done many evil deeds thou wilt go to
the pool (of hell) for a long time. (665)
[1. Comp. Dhp. v. 306.
2. Comp. Dhp. v. 125.
3. Mukhadugga vibhûta-m-anariya
Bhûnahu[*] papaka dukkatakari
Purisanta kalî avagata
Ma bahubhani dha nerayiko si.
*. Bhûnahu bhûtihanaka vuddhinasaka. Commentator.]
p. 123
110. 'For one's deeds are not lost, they will surely come (back to you),
(their) master will meet with them, the fool who commits sin will feel the pain
in himself in the other world[1]. (666)
11. 'To the place where one is struck with iron rods, to the iron stake with
sharp edges he goes; then there is (for him) food as appropriate, resembling a
red-hot ball of iron. (667)
12. 'For those who have anything to say (there) do not say fine things, they
do not approach (with pleasing faces); they do not find refuge (from their
sufferings), they lie on spread embers, they enter a blazing pyre. (668)
13. 'Covering (them) with a net they kill (them) there with iron hammers;
they go to dense darkness[2], for that is spread out like the body of the earth.
(669)
14. 'Then (they enter) an iron pot, they enter a blazing pyre, for they are
boiled in those (iron pots) for a long time, jumping up and down in the pyre.
(670)
15. 'Then he who commits sin is surely boiled in a mixture of matter and
blood; whatever quarter he inhabits, he becomes rotten there from coming in
contact (with matter and blood). (671)
16. 'He who commits sin will surely be boiled in the water, the
dwelling-place of worms; there it is not (possible) to get to the shore, for the
jars (are) exactly alike[3]. (?) (672)
[1. Comp. Revelation xiv. 13.
2. Andham va Timisam ayanti.
3. Pulavavasathe salilasmim
Tattha kim pakkati kibbisakarî,
Gantum na hi tîram p' atthi
Sabbasama hi samantakapalla.]
p. 124
17. 'Again they enter the sharp Asipattavana with mangled limbs; having
seized the tongue with a hook, the different watchmen (of hell) kill (them).
(673)
18. 'Then they enter Vetaranî, that is difficult to cross and has got streams
of razors with sharp edges; there the fools fall in, the evil-doers after having
done evil. (674)
19. 'There black, mottled flocks of ravens eat them who are weeping, and
dogs, jackals, great vultures, falcons, crows tear (them). (675)
20. 'Miserable indeed is the life here (in hell) which the man sees that
commits sin. Therefore should a man in this world for the rest of his life be
strenuous, and not indolent. (676)
21. 'Those loads of sesamum seed which are carried in Paduma hell have been
counted by the wise, they are (several) nahutas and five kotis, and twelve
hundred kotis besides[1]. (677)
22. 'As long as hells are called painful in this world, so long people will
have to live there for a long time; therefore amongst those who have pure,
amiable, and good qualities one should always guard speech and mind.' (678)
Kokaliyasutta is ended.
Kokaliya abuses Sariputta and Moggallana to Buddha; therefore as soon as he
has left Buddha, he is struck with boils, dies and goes to the Paduma hell,
whereupon Buddha describes to the Bhikkhus the punishment of backbiters in
hell.
So it was heard by me:
At one time Bhagavat dwelt at Savatthî, in Getavana, in the park of
Anathapindika. Then the Bhikkhu Kokaliya approached Bhagavat, and after having
approached and saluted Bhagavat he sat down apart; sitting down apart the
Bhikkhu Kokaliya said this to Bhagavat: "O thou venerable one, Sariputta and
Moggallana have evil desires, they have fallen into the power of evil desires.'
When this had been said, Bhagavat spoke to the Bhikkhu Kokaliya as follows:
'(Do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; (do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; appease, O Kokaliya,
(thy) mind in regard to Sariputta and Moggallana: Sariputta and Moggallana are
amiable[1].'
A second time the Bhikkhu Kokaliya said this to Bhagavat: 'Although thou, O
venerable Bhagavat, (appearest) to me (to be) faithful and trustworthy, yet
Sariputta and Moggallana have evil desires, they have fallen into the power of
evil desires.'
A second time Bhagavat said this to the Bhikkhu Kokaliya: '(Do) not (say) so,
Kokaliya; (do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; appease, O Kokaliya, (thy) mind in regard
to Sariputta and Moggallana: Sariputta and Moggallana are amiable.'
A third time the Bhikkhu Kokaliya said this to Bhagavat: 'Although thou, O
venerable Bhagavat, (appearest) to me (to be) faithful and trustworthy,
[1. Pesala ti piyasîla. Commentator.]
p. 119
yet Sariputta and Moggallana have evil desires, Sariputta and Moggallana have
fallen into the power of evil desires.'
A third time Bhagavat said this to the Bhikkhu Kokaliya: '(Do) not (say) so,
Kokaliya; (do) not (say) so, Kokaliya; appease, O Kokaliya, (thy) mind in regard
to Sariputta and Moggallana: Sariputta and Moggallana are amiable.'
Then the Bhikkhu Kokaliya, after having risen from his seat and saluted
Bhagavat and walked round him towards the right, went away; and when he had been
gone a short time, all his body was struck with boils as large as mustard seeds;
after being only as large as mustard seeds, they became as large as kidney
beans; after being only as large as kidney beans, they became as large as chick
peas; after being only as large as chick peas, they became as large as a
Kolatthi egg (?); after being only as large as a Kolatthi egg, they became as
large as the jujube fruit; after being only as large as the jujube fruit, they
became as large as the fruit of the emblic myrobalan; after being only as large
as the fruit of the emblic myrobalan, they became as large as the unripe beluva
fruit; after being only as large as the unripe beluva fruit, they became as
large as a billi fruit (?); after being as large as a billi fruit, they broke,
and matter and blood flowed out. Then the Bhikkhu Kokaliya died of that disease,
and when he had died the Bhikkhu Kokaliya went to the Paduma hell, having shown
a hostile mind against Sariputta and Moggallana. Then when the night had passed
Brahman Sahampati of a beautiful appearance, having lit up all Getavana,
approached Bhagavat, and having approached and saluted Bhagavat,
p. 120
he stood apart, and standing apart Brahman Sahampati said this to Bhagavat: 'O
thou venerable one, Kokaliya, the Bhikkhu, is dead and after death, O thou
venerable one, the Bhikkhu Kokaliya is gone to the Paduma hell, having shown a
hostile mind against Sariputta and Moggallana.'
This said Brahman Sahampati, and after saying this and saluting Bhagavat, and
walking round him towards the right, he disappeared there.
Then Bhagavat, after the expiration of that night, addressed the Bhikkhus
thus: 'Last night, O Bhikkhus, when the night had (nearly) passed, Brahman
Sahampati of a beautiful appearance, having lit up all Getavana, approached
Bhagavat, and having approached and saluted Bhagavat, he stood apart, and
standing apart Brahman Sahampati said this to Bhagavat: "O thou venerable one,
Kokaliya, the Bhikkhu, is dead; and after death, O thou venerable one, the
Bhikkhu Kokaliya is gone to the Paduma hell, having shown a hostile mind against
Sariputta and Moggallana." This said Brahman Sahampati, O Bhikkhus, and having
said this and saluted me, and walked round me towards the right, he disappeared
there.'
When this had been said, a Bhikkhu asked Bhagavat: 'How long is the rate of
life, O venerable one, in the Paduma hell?'
'Long, O Bhikkhu, is the rate of life in the Paduma hell, it is not easy to
calculate either (by saying) so many years or so many hundreds of years or so
many thousands of years or so many hundred thousands of years.'
'But it is possible, I suppose, to make a comparison, O thou venerable one?'
p. 121
'It is possible, O Bhikkhu;' so saying, Bhagavat spoke (as follows): 'Even
as, O Bhikkhu, (if there were) a Kosala load of sesamum seed containing twenty
kharis, and a man after the lapse of every hundred years were to take from it
one sesamum seed at a time, then that Kosala load of sesamum seed, containing
twenty kharis, would, O Bhikkhu, sooner by this means dwindle away and be used
up than one Abbuda hell; and even as are twenty Abbuda hells, O Bhikkhu, so is
one Nirabbuda hell; and even as are twenty Nirabbuda hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one
Ababa hell; and even as are twenty Ababa hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Ahaha hell;
and even as are twenty Ahaha hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Atata hell; and even as
are twenty Atata hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Kumuda hell; and even as are twenty
Kumuda hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Sogandhika hell; and even as are twenty
Sogandhika hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Uppalaka hell; and even as are twenty
Uppalaka hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Pundarîka hell; and even as are twenty
Pundarîka hells, O Bhikkhu, so is one Paduma hell; and to the Paduma hell, O
Bhikkhu, the Bhikkhu Kokaliya is gone, having shown a hostile mind against
Sariputta and Moggallana.' This said Bhagavat, and having said this Sugata, the
Master, furthermore spoke as follows:
1. 'To (every) man that is born, an axe is born in his mouth, by which the
fool cuts himself, when speaking bad language. (657)
2. 'He who praises him who is to be blamed or blames him who as to be
praised, gathers up sin in his mouth, and through that (sin) he will not find
any joy. (658)
p. 122
3. 'Trifling is the sin that (consists in) losing riches by dice; this is a
greater sin that corrupts the mind against Sugatas. (659)
4. 'Out of the one hundred thousand Nirabbudas (he goes) to thirty-six, and
to five Abbudas; because he blames an Ariya he goes to hell, having employed his
speech and mind badly. (660)
5. 'He who speaks falsely goes to hell, or he who having done something says,
"I have not done it;" both these after death become equal, in another world
(they are both) men guilty of a mean deed[1]. (661)
6. 'He who offends an offenceless man, a pure man, free from sin, such a fool
the evil (deed) reverts against, like fine dust thrown against the wind[2].
(662)
7. 'He who is given to the quality of covetousness, such a one censures
others in his speech, (being himself) unbelieving, stingy, wanting in
affability, niggardly, given to backbiting. (663)
8. 'O thou foul-mouthed, false, ignoble, blasting, wicked, evil-doing, low,
sinful, base-born man, do not be garrulous in this world, (else) thou wilt be an
inhabitant of hell[3]. (664)
9. 'Thou spreadest pollution to the misfortune (of others), thou revilest the
just, committing sin (yourself), and having done many evil deeds thou wilt go to
the pool (of hell) for a long time. (665)
[1. Comp. Dhp. v. 306.
2. Comp. Dhp. v. 125.
3. Mukhadugga vibhûta-m-anariya
Bhûnahu[*] papaka dukkatakari
Purisanta kalî avagata
Ma bahubhani dha nerayiko si.
*. Bhûnahu bhûtihanaka vuddhinasaka. Commentator.]
p. 123
110. 'For one's deeds are not lost, they will surely come (back to you),
(their) master will meet with them, the fool who commits sin will feel the pain
in himself in the other world[1]. (666)
11. 'To the place where one is struck with iron rods, to the iron stake with
sharp edges he goes; then there is (for him) food as appropriate, resembling a
red-hot ball of iron. (667)
12. 'For those who have anything to say (there) do not say fine things, they
do not approach (with pleasing faces); they do not find refuge (from their
sufferings), they lie on spread embers, they enter a blazing pyre. (668)
13. 'Covering (them) with a net they kill (them) there with iron hammers;
they go to dense darkness[2], for that is spread out like the body of the earth.
(669)
14. 'Then (they enter) an iron pot, they enter a blazing pyre, for they are
boiled in those (iron pots) for a long time, jumping up and down in the pyre.
(670)
15. 'Then he who commits sin is surely boiled in a mixture of matter and
blood; whatever quarter he inhabits, he becomes rotten there from coming in
contact (with matter and blood). (671)
16. 'He who commits sin will surely be boiled in the water, the
dwelling-place of worms; there it is not (possible) to get to the shore, for the
jars (are) exactly alike[3]. (?) (672)
[1. Comp. Revelation xiv. 13.
2. Andham va Timisam ayanti.
3. Pulavavasathe salilasmim
Tattha kim pakkati kibbisakarî,
Gantum na hi tîram p' atthi
Sabbasama hi samantakapalla.]
p. 124
17. 'Again they enter the sharp Asipattavana with mangled limbs; having
seized the tongue with a hook, the different watchmen (of hell) kill (them).
(673)
18. 'Then they enter Vetaranî, that is difficult to cross and has got streams
of razors with sharp edges; there the fools fall in, the evil-doers after having
done evil. (674)
19. 'There black, mottled flocks of ravens eat them who are weeping, and
dogs, jackals, great vultures, falcons, crows tear (them). (675)
20. 'Miserable indeed is the life here (in hell) which the man sees that
commits sin. Therefore should a man in this world for the rest of his life be
strenuous, and not indolent. (676)
21. 'Those loads of sesamum seed which are carried in Paduma hell have been
counted by the wise, they are (several) nahutas and five kotis, and twelve
hundred kotis besides[1]. (677)
22. 'As long as hells are called painful in this world, so long people will
have to live there for a long time; therefore amongst those who have pure,
amiable, and good qualities one should always guard speech and mind.' (678)
Kokaliyasutta is ended.
Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Vasettha Sutta
9. VASETTHASUTTA.
A dispute arose between two young men, Bharadvaga and Vasettha, the former
contending man to be a Bramana by birth, the latter by deeds. They agreed to
go and ask Samana Gotama, and he answered that man is a Bramana by his work
only. The two young men are converted.--Text (from Magghimanikaya) and
translation in Alwis's Buddhist Nirvana, p. 103.
So it was heard by me:
At one time Bhagavat dwelt at Ikkhanamkala, in the Ikkhanamkala forest. At
that time many distinguished,
[1. Etadiso vinabhavo.]
p. 109
wealthy Bramanas lived at Ikkhanamkala, as the Bramana Kamkin, the Bramana
Tarukkha, the Bramana Pokkharasati, the Brahmana Ganussoni, the Bramana Todeyya,
and other distinguished, wealthy Bramanas.
Then this dialogue arose between the young men Vasettha and Bharadvaga while
walking about:
'How does one become a Bramana?'
The young man Bharadvaga said: 'When one is noble by birth on both sides, on
the mother's and on the father's side, of pure conception up to the seventh
generation of ancestors, not discarded and not reproached in point of birth, in
this way one is a Bramana.'
The young man Vasettha said: 'When one is virtuous and endowed with (holy)
works, in this way he is a Bramana.'
Neither could the young man Bharadvaga convince the young man Vasettha, nor
could the young man Vasettha convince the young man Bharadvaga. Then the young
man Vasettha addressed the young man Bharadvaga: 'O Bharadvaga, this Samana
Gotama, the Sakya son, gone out from the Sakya family, dwells at Ikkhanamkala,
in the forest of Ikkhanamkala, and the following good praising words met the
venerable Gotama: "And so he is Bhagavat, the venerable, the enlightened, the
glorious, let us go, O venerable Bharadvaga, let us go (to the place) where the
Samana Gotama is, and having gone there let us ask the Samana Gotama about this
matter, and as the Samana Gotama replies so will we understand it."'
'Very well, O venerable one;' so the young man Bharadvaga answered the young
man Vasettha.
p. 110
Then the young men Vasettha and Bharadvaga went (to the place) where Bhagavat
was, and having gone, they talked pleasantly with Bhagavat, and after having had
some pleasant and remarkable conversation (with him) they sat down apart.
Sitting down apart the young man Vasettha addressed Bhagavat in stanzas:
1. 'We are accepted and acknowledged masters of the three Vedas[1], I am (a
pupil) of Pokkharasati, and this young man is (the pupil) of Tarukkha. (594)
2. 'We are accomplished in all the knowledge propounded by those who are
acquainted with the three Vedas, we are padakas (versed in the metre),
veyyakaranas (grammarians?), and equal to our teachers in recitation (gappa)[2].
(595)
3. 'We have a controversy regarding (the distinctions of) birth, O Gotama!
Bharadvaga says, one is a Bramana by birth, and I say, by deeds; know this, O
thou clearly-seeing! (596)
4. 'We are both unable to convince each other, (therefore) we have come to
ask thee (who art) celebrated as perfectly enlightened. (597)
5. 'As people adoring the full moon worship (her) with uplifted clasped
hands, so (they worship) Gotama in the world. (598)
6. 'We ask Gotama who has come as an eye to the world: Is a man a Brahmana by
birth, or is he so
[1. Anuññatapatiññata
Tevigga mayam asm' ubho.
2. Tevigganam[*] yad akkhatam
Tatra kevalino 'smase,
Padak' asma veyyakarana,
Gappe[+] akariyasadisa.
*. Tevigganam = tivedanam. Commentator; but compare v. 63.
+. Gappe = vede. Commentator.]
p. 111
by deeds? Tell us who do not know, that we may know a Bramana.' (599)
7. 'I will explain to you, O Vasettha,'--so said Bhagavat,--'in due order the
exact distinction of living beings according to species, for their species are
manifold. (600)
8. 'Know ye the grass and the trees, although they do not exhibit (it), the
marks that constitute species are for them, and (their) species are manifold.
(601)
9. 'Then (know ye) the worms, and the moths, and the different sorts of ants,
the marks that constitute species are for them, and (their) species are
manifold. (602)
10. 'Know ye also the four-footed (animals), small and great, the marks that
constitute species are for them, and (their) species are manifold. (603)
11. 'Know ye also the serpents, the long-backed snakes, the marks that
constitute species are for them, and (their) species are manifold. (604)
12. 'Then know ye also the fish which range in the water, the marks that
constitute species are for them, and (their) species are manifold. (605)
13. 'Then know ye also the birds that are borne along on wings and move
through the air, the marks that constitute species are for them, and (their)
species are manifold. (606)
14. 'As in these species the marks that constitute species are abundant, so
in men the marks that constitute species are not abundant. (607)
15. 'Not as regards their hair, head, ears, eyes, mouth, nose, lips, or
brows, (608)
16. 'Nor as regards their neck, shoulders, belly, back, hip, breast, female
organ, sexual intercourse, (609)
p. 112
17. 'Nor as regards their hands, feet, palms, nails, calves, thighs, colour,
or voice are there marks that constitute species as in other species. (610)
18. 'Difference there is in beings endowed with bodies, but amongst men this
is not the case, the difference amongst men is nominal (only)[1]. (611)
19. 'For whoever amongst men lives by cowkeeping,--know this, O Vasettha,--he
is a husbandman, not a Bramana.' (612)
20. 'And whoever amongst men lives by different mechanical arts,--know this,
O Vasettha,--he is an artisan, not a Bramana. (613)
21. 'And whoever amongst men lives by trade,--know this, O Vasettha,--he is a
merchant, not a Bramana. (614)
22. And whoever amongst men lives by serving others,--know this, O
Vasettha,--he is a servant, not a Brahmana. (615)
23. 'And whoever amongst men lives by theft,--know this, O Vasettha,--he is a
thief, not a Brahmana. (616)
24. 'And whoever amongst men lives by archery,--know this, O Vasettha,--he is
a soldier, not a Bramana. (617)
25. 'And whoever amongst men lives by performing household ceremonials,--know
this, O Vasettha,--he is a sacrificer, not a Bramana. (618)
26. 'And whoever amongst men possesses villages and countries,--know this, O
Vasettha,--he is a king, not a Bramana. (619)
[1. Pakkattam sasarîresu,
Manussesv-etam na viggati,
Vokarañ ka manussesu
Samaññaya pavukkati.]
p. 113
27. 'And I do not call one a Bramana on account of his birth or of his origin
from (a particular) mother; he may be called bhovadi, and he may be wealthy,
(but) the one who is possessed of nothing and seizes upon nothing, him I call a
Brahmana[1]. (620)
28. 'Whosoever, after cutting all bonds, does not tremble, has shaken off
(all) ties and is liberated, him I call a Bramana. (621)
29. 'The man who, after cutting the strap (i.e. enmity), the thong (i.e.
attachment), and the rope (i.e. scepticism) with all that pertains to it, has
destroyed (all) obstacles (i.e. ignorance), the enlightened (buddha), him I call
a Bramana. (622)
30. 'Whosoever, being innocent, endures reproach, blows, and bonds, the man
who is strong in (his) endurance and has for his army this strength, him I call
a Bramana. (623)
31. 'The man who is free from anger, endowed with (holy) works, virtuous,
without desire, subdued, and wearing the last body, him I call a Brahmana. (624)
32. 'The man who, like water on a lotus leaf, or a mustard seed on the point
of a needle, does not cling to sensual pleasures, him I call a Brahmana. (625)
33. 'The man who knows in this world the destruction of his pain, who has
laid aside (his) burden, and is liberated, him I call a Bramana. (626)
34. 'The man who has a profound understanding, who is wise, who knows the
true way and the wrong way, who has attained the highest good, him I call a
Bramana. (627)
[1. Comp. Dhp. v. 396, &c.]
p. 114
35. 'The man who does not mix with householders nor with the houseless, who
wanders about without a house, and who has few wants, him I call a Brahmana.
(628)
36. 'Whosoever, after refraining from hurting (living) creatures, (both)
those that tremble and those that are strong, does not kill or cause to be
killed, him I call a Bramana. (629)
37. 'The man who is not hostile amongst the hostile, who is peaceful amongst
the violent, not seizing (upon anything) amongst those that seize (upon
everything), him I call a Bramana. (630)
38. 'The man whose passion and hatred, arrogance and hypocrisy have dropt
like a mustard seed from the point of a needle, him I call a Bramana. (631)
39. 'The man that utters true speech, instructive and free from harshness, by
which he does not offend any one, him I call a Bramana. (632)
40. 'Whosoever in the world does not take what has not been given (to him),
be it long or short, small or large, good or bad, him I call a Brahmana. (633)
41. 'The man who has no desire for this world or the next, who is desireless
and liberated, him I call a Bramana. (634)
42. 'The man who has no desire, who knowingly is free from doubt; and has
attained the depth of immortality, him I call a Bramana. (635)
43. 'Whosoever in this world has overcome good and evil, both ties, who is
free from grief and defilement, and is pure, him I call a Bramana. (636)
44. 'The man that is stainless like the moon, pure, serene, and undisturbed,
who has destroyed joy, him I call a Bramana. (637)
p. 115
45. 'Whosoever has passed over this quagmire difficult to pass, (who has
passed over) revolution (samsara) and folly, who has crossed over, who has
reached the other shore, who is meditative, free from desire and doubt, calm
without seizing (upon anything), him I call a Bramana. (638)
46. 'Whosoever in this world, after abandoning sensual pleasures, wanders
about houseless, and has destroyed the existence of sensual pleasures
(kamabhava), him I call a Bramana. (639)
47. 'Whosoever in this world, after abandoning desire, wanders about
houseless, and has destroyed the existence of desire (tanhabhava), him I call a
Bramana. (640)
48. 'Whosoever, after leaving human attachment (yoga), has overcome divine
attachment, and is liberated from all attachment, him I call a Brahmana. (641)
49. 'The man that, after leaving pleasure and disgust, is calm and free from
the elements of existence (nirupadhi), who is a hero, and has conquered all the
world, him I call a Bramana. (642)
50. 'Whosoever knows wholly the vanishing and reappearance of beings, does
not cling to (anything); is happy (sugata), and enlightened, him I call a
Bramana. (643)
51. 'The man whose way neither gods nor Gandhabbas nbr men know, and whose
passions are destroyed, who is a saint, him I call a Bramana. (644)
52. 'The man for whom there is nothing, neither before nor after nor in the
middle, who possesses nothing, and does not seize (upon anything), him I call a
Bramana. (645)
53. 'The (man that is undaunted like a) bull, who
p. 116
is eminent, a hero, a great sage (mahesi), victorious, free from desire,
purified, enlightened, him I call a Bramana. (646)
54. 'The man who knows his former dwellings, who sees both heaven and hell,
and has reached the destruction of births, him I call a Bramana. (647)
55. 'For what has been designated as "name" and "family" in the world is only
a term, what has been designated here and there is understood by common
consent[1]. (648)
56. 'Adhered to for a long time are the views of the ignorant, the ignorant
tell us, one is a Bramana by birth. (649)
57. 'Not by birth is one a Bramana, nor is one by birth no Bramana; by work
(kammana) one is a Bramana, by work one is no Bramana. (650)
58. 'By work one is a husbandman, by work one is an artisan, by work one is a
merchant, by work one is a servant. (651)
59. 'By work one is a thief, by work one is a soldier, by work one is a
sacrificer, by work one is a king. (652)
60. 'So the wise, who see the cause of things and understand the result of
work, know this work as it really is[2]. (653)
61. 'By work the world exists, by work mankind
[1. Samañña h' esa lokasmim
Namagottam pakappitam,
Sammukka samudagatam
Tattha tattha pakappitam.
2. Evam etam yathabhûtam
Kammam passanti pandita
Patikkasamuppadadasa
Kammavipakakovida.]
p. 117
exists, beings are bound by work as the linch-pin of the rolling cart (keeps the
wheel on)[1]. (654)
62. 'By penance, by a religious life, by self-restraint, and by temperance,
by this one is a Bramana, such a one (they call) the best Bramana. (655)
63. 'He who is endowed with the threefold knowledge[2], is calm, and has
destroyed regeneration,--know this, O Vasettha,--he is to the wise Brahman and
Sakka.' (656)
This having been said, the young men Vasettha and Bharadvaga spoke to
Bhagavat as follows:
'It is excellent, O venerable Gotama! It is excellent, O venerable Gotama! As
one raises what has been overthrown, or reveals what has been hidden, or tells
the way to him who has gone astray, or holds out an oil lamp in the dark that
those who have eyes may see the objects, even so by the venerable Gotama in
manifold ways the Dhamma has been illustrated; we take refuge in the venerable
Gotama, in the Dhamma, and in the Assembly of Bhikkhus; may the venerable Gotama
receive us as followers (upasaka), who from this day for life have taken refuge
(in him).'
Vasetthasutta is ended.
[1. Kammana vattatî loko,
Kammana vattatî paga,
Kammanibandhana satta
Rathasanîva yayato.
2. Tîhi viggahi sampanno.]
A dispute arose between two young men, Bharadvaga and Vasettha, the former
contending man to be a Bramana by birth, the latter by deeds. They agreed to
go and ask Samana Gotama, and he answered that man is a Bramana by his work
only. The two young men are converted.--Text (from Magghimanikaya) and
translation in Alwis's Buddhist Nirvana, p. 103.
So it was heard by me:
At one time Bhagavat dwelt at Ikkhanamkala, in the Ikkhanamkala forest. At
that time many distinguished,
[1. Etadiso vinabhavo.]
p. 109
wealthy Bramanas lived at Ikkhanamkala, as the Bramana Kamkin, the Bramana
Tarukkha, the Bramana Pokkharasati, the Brahmana Ganussoni, the Bramana Todeyya,
and other distinguished, wealthy Bramanas.
Then this dialogue arose between the young men Vasettha and Bharadvaga while
walking about:
'How does one become a Bramana?'
The young man Bharadvaga said: 'When one is noble by birth on both sides, on
the mother's and on the father's side, of pure conception up to the seventh
generation of ancestors, not discarded and not reproached in point of birth, in
this way one is a Bramana.'
The young man Vasettha said: 'When one is virtuous and endowed with (holy)
works, in this way he is a Bramana.'
Neither could the young man Bharadvaga convince the young man Vasettha, nor
could the young man Vasettha convince the young man Bharadvaga. Then the young
man Vasettha addressed the young man Bharadvaga: 'O Bharadvaga, this Samana
Gotama, the Sakya son, gone out from the Sakya family, dwells at Ikkhanamkala,
in the forest of Ikkhanamkala, and the following good praising words met the
venerable Gotama: "And so he is Bhagavat, the venerable, the enlightened, the
glorious, let us go, O venerable Bharadvaga, let us go (to the place) where the
Samana Gotama is, and having gone there let us ask the Samana Gotama about this
matter, and as the Samana Gotama replies so will we understand it."'
'Very well, O venerable one;' so the young man Bharadvaga answered the young
man Vasettha.
p. 110
Then the young men Vasettha and Bharadvaga went (to the place) where Bhagavat
was, and having gone, they talked pleasantly with Bhagavat, and after having had
some pleasant and remarkable conversation (with him) they sat down apart.
Sitting down apart the young man Vasettha addressed Bhagavat in stanzas:
1. 'We are accepted and acknowledged masters of the three Vedas[1], I am (a
pupil) of Pokkharasati, and this young man is (the pupil) of Tarukkha. (594)
2. 'We are accomplished in all the knowledge propounded by those who are
acquainted with the three Vedas, we are padakas (versed in the metre),
veyyakaranas (grammarians?), and equal to our teachers in recitation (gappa)[2].
(595)
3. 'We have a controversy regarding (the distinctions of) birth, O Gotama!
Bharadvaga says, one is a Bramana by birth, and I say, by deeds; know this, O
thou clearly-seeing! (596)
4. 'We are both unable to convince each other, (therefore) we have come to
ask thee (who art) celebrated as perfectly enlightened. (597)
5. 'As people adoring the full moon worship (her) with uplifted clasped
hands, so (they worship) Gotama in the world. (598)
6. 'We ask Gotama who has come as an eye to the world: Is a man a Brahmana by
birth, or is he so
[1. Anuññatapatiññata
Tevigga mayam asm' ubho.
2. Tevigganam[*] yad akkhatam
Tatra kevalino 'smase,
Padak' asma veyyakarana,
Gappe[+] akariyasadisa.
*. Tevigganam = tivedanam. Commentator; but compare v. 63.
+. Gappe = vede. Commentator.]
p. 111
by deeds? Tell us who do not know, that we may know a Bramana.' (599)
7. 'I will explain to you, O Vasettha,'--so said Bhagavat,--'in due order the
exact distinction of living beings according to species, for their species are
manifold. (600)
8. 'Know ye the grass and the trees, although they do not exhibit (it), the
marks that constitute species are for them, and (their) species are manifold.
(601)
9. 'Then (know ye) the worms, and the moths, and the different sorts of ants,
the marks that constitute species are for them, and (their) species are
manifold. (602)
10. 'Know ye also the four-footed (animals), small and great, the marks that
constitute species are for them, and (their) species are manifold. (603)
11. 'Know ye also the serpents, the long-backed snakes, the marks that
constitute species are for them, and (their) species are manifold. (604)
12. 'Then know ye also the fish which range in the water, the marks that
constitute species are for them, and (their) species are manifold. (605)
13. 'Then know ye also the birds that are borne along on wings and move
through the air, the marks that constitute species are for them, and (their)
species are manifold. (606)
14. 'As in these species the marks that constitute species are abundant, so
in men the marks that constitute species are not abundant. (607)
15. 'Not as regards their hair, head, ears, eyes, mouth, nose, lips, or
brows, (608)
16. 'Nor as regards their neck, shoulders, belly, back, hip, breast, female
organ, sexual intercourse, (609)
p. 112
17. 'Nor as regards their hands, feet, palms, nails, calves, thighs, colour,
or voice are there marks that constitute species as in other species. (610)
18. 'Difference there is in beings endowed with bodies, but amongst men this
is not the case, the difference amongst men is nominal (only)[1]. (611)
19. 'For whoever amongst men lives by cowkeeping,--know this, O Vasettha,--he
is a husbandman, not a Bramana.' (612)
20. 'And whoever amongst men lives by different mechanical arts,--know this,
O Vasettha,--he is an artisan, not a Bramana. (613)
21. 'And whoever amongst men lives by trade,--know this, O Vasettha,--he is a
merchant, not a Bramana. (614)
22. And whoever amongst men lives by serving others,--know this, O
Vasettha,--he is a servant, not a Brahmana. (615)
23. 'And whoever amongst men lives by theft,--know this, O Vasettha,--he is a
thief, not a Brahmana. (616)
24. 'And whoever amongst men lives by archery,--know this, O Vasettha,--he is
a soldier, not a Bramana. (617)
25. 'And whoever amongst men lives by performing household ceremonials,--know
this, O Vasettha,--he is a sacrificer, not a Bramana. (618)
26. 'And whoever amongst men possesses villages and countries,--know this, O
Vasettha,--he is a king, not a Bramana. (619)
[1. Pakkattam sasarîresu,
Manussesv-etam na viggati,
Vokarañ ka manussesu
Samaññaya pavukkati.]
p. 113
27. 'And I do not call one a Bramana on account of his birth or of his origin
from (a particular) mother; he may be called bhovadi, and he may be wealthy,
(but) the one who is possessed of nothing and seizes upon nothing, him I call a
Brahmana[1]. (620)
28. 'Whosoever, after cutting all bonds, does not tremble, has shaken off
(all) ties and is liberated, him I call a Bramana. (621)
29. 'The man who, after cutting the strap (i.e. enmity), the thong (i.e.
attachment), and the rope (i.e. scepticism) with all that pertains to it, has
destroyed (all) obstacles (i.e. ignorance), the enlightened (buddha), him I call
a Bramana. (622)
30. 'Whosoever, being innocent, endures reproach, blows, and bonds, the man
who is strong in (his) endurance and has for his army this strength, him I call
a Bramana. (623)
31. 'The man who is free from anger, endowed with (holy) works, virtuous,
without desire, subdued, and wearing the last body, him I call a Brahmana. (624)
32. 'The man who, like water on a lotus leaf, or a mustard seed on the point
of a needle, does not cling to sensual pleasures, him I call a Brahmana. (625)
33. 'The man who knows in this world the destruction of his pain, who has
laid aside (his) burden, and is liberated, him I call a Bramana. (626)
34. 'The man who has a profound understanding, who is wise, who knows the
true way and the wrong way, who has attained the highest good, him I call a
Bramana. (627)
[1. Comp. Dhp. v. 396, &c.]
p. 114
35. 'The man who does not mix with householders nor with the houseless, who
wanders about without a house, and who has few wants, him I call a Brahmana.
(628)
36. 'Whosoever, after refraining from hurting (living) creatures, (both)
those that tremble and those that are strong, does not kill or cause to be
killed, him I call a Bramana. (629)
37. 'The man who is not hostile amongst the hostile, who is peaceful amongst
the violent, not seizing (upon anything) amongst those that seize (upon
everything), him I call a Bramana. (630)
38. 'The man whose passion and hatred, arrogance and hypocrisy have dropt
like a mustard seed from the point of a needle, him I call a Bramana. (631)
39. 'The man that utters true speech, instructive and free from harshness, by
which he does not offend any one, him I call a Bramana. (632)
40. 'Whosoever in the world does not take what has not been given (to him),
be it long or short, small or large, good or bad, him I call a Brahmana. (633)
41. 'The man who has no desire for this world or the next, who is desireless
and liberated, him I call a Bramana. (634)
42. 'The man who has no desire, who knowingly is free from doubt; and has
attained the depth of immortality, him I call a Bramana. (635)
43. 'Whosoever in this world has overcome good and evil, both ties, who is
free from grief and defilement, and is pure, him I call a Bramana. (636)
44. 'The man that is stainless like the moon, pure, serene, and undisturbed,
who has destroyed joy, him I call a Bramana. (637)
p. 115
45. 'Whosoever has passed over this quagmire difficult to pass, (who has
passed over) revolution (samsara) and folly, who has crossed over, who has
reached the other shore, who is meditative, free from desire and doubt, calm
without seizing (upon anything), him I call a Bramana. (638)
46. 'Whosoever in this world, after abandoning sensual pleasures, wanders
about houseless, and has destroyed the existence of sensual pleasures
(kamabhava), him I call a Bramana. (639)
47. 'Whosoever in this world, after abandoning desire, wanders about
houseless, and has destroyed the existence of desire (tanhabhava), him I call a
Bramana. (640)
48. 'Whosoever, after leaving human attachment (yoga), has overcome divine
attachment, and is liberated from all attachment, him I call a Brahmana. (641)
49. 'The man that, after leaving pleasure and disgust, is calm and free from
the elements of existence (nirupadhi), who is a hero, and has conquered all the
world, him I call a Bramana. (642)
50. 'Whosoever knows wholly the vanishing and reappearance of beings, does
not cling to (anything); is happy (sugata), and enlightened, him I call a
Bramana. (643)
51. 'The man whose way neither gods nor Gandhabbas nbr men know, and whose
passions are destroyed, who is a saint, him I call a Bramana. (644)
52. 'The man for whom there is nothing, neither before nor after nor in the
middle, who possesses nothing, and does not seize (upon anything), him I call a
Bramana. (645)
53. 'The (man that is undaunted like a) bull, who
p. 116
is eminent, a hero, a great sage (mahesi), victorious, free from desire,
purified, enlightened, him I call a Bramana. (646)
54. 'The man who knows his former dwellings, who sees both heaven and hell,
and has reached the destruction of births, him I call a Bramana. (647)
55. 'For what has been designated as "name" and "family" in the world is only
a term, what has been designated here and there is understood by common
consent[1]. (648)
56. 'Adhered to for a long time are the views of the ignorant, the ignorant
tell us, one is a Bramana by birth. (649)
57. 'Not by birth is one a Bramana, nor is one by birth no Bramana; by work
(kammana) one is a Bramana, by work one is no Bramana. (650)
58. 'By work one is a husbandman, by work one is an artisan, by work one is a
merchant, by work one is a servant. (651)
59. 'By work one is a thief, by work one is a soldier, by work one is a
sacrificer, by work one is a king. (652)
60. 'So the wise, who see the cause of things and understand the result of
work, know this work as it really is[2]. (653)
61. 'By work the world exists, by work mankind
[1. Samañña h' esa lokasmim
Namagottam pakappitam,
Sammukka samudagatam
Tattha tattha pakappitam.
2. Evam etam yathabhûtam
Kammam passanti pandita
Patikkasamuppadadasa
Kammavipakakovida.]
p. 117
exists, beings are bound by work as the linch-pin of the rolling cart (keeps the
wheel on)[1]. (654)
62. 'By penance, by a religious life, by self-restraint, and by temperance,
by this one is a Bramana, such a one (they call) the best Bramana. (655)
63. 'He who is endowed with the threefold knowledge[2], is calm, and has
destroyed regeneration,--know this, O Vasettha,--he is to the wise Brahman and
Sakka.' (656)
This having been said, the young men Vasettha and Bharadvaga spoke to
Bhagavat as follows:
'It is excellent, O venerable Gotama! It is excellent, O venerable Gotama! As
one raises what has been overthrown, or reveals what has been hidden, or tells
the way to him who has gone astray, or holds out an oil lamp in the dark that
those who have eyes may see the objects, even so by the venerable Gotama in
manifold ways the Dhamma has been illustrated; we take refuge in the venerable
Gotama, in the Dhamma, and in the Assembly of Bhikkhus; may the venerable Gotama
receive us as followers (upasaka), who from this day for life have taken refuge
(in him).'
Vasetthasutta is ended.
[1. Kammana vattatî loko,
Kammana vattatî paga,
Kammanibandhana satta
Rathasanîva yayato.
2. Tîhi viggahi sampanno.]
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