Majjhima Nikaya - Maha Saropama Sutta

29. Maha Saropama Sutta - English 1Majjhima Nikàya I
3. 9. Mahàsàropamasuttaü
(29) The Major Discourse on Heartwood

I heard thus.
At one time the Blessed One lived on vultures' peak in Ràjagaha soon after
Devadatta had left the dispensation and the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus
on account of Devadatta.
ßHere, bhikkhus, a certain son of a clansman victimised by birth, decay and
death leaves the household out of faith and becomes a homeless thinking I am
submerged in grief, lament, unpleasantness, displeasure, distress and death,
saying only a few declare the complete ending of this mass of unpleasantness.
Gone forth thus, he is reborn in gain, honour and fame. Satisfied with it, his
desires fulfilled with that gain, honour and fame, he praises himself and
disparages others. I am a gainer of hospitality, these other bhikkhus are
impotent and not wise. He becomes intoxicated and negligent on account of that
gain honour and fame and abides in unpleasantness. [1] Like a man in need of
heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, coming to a standing tree with
heartwood would ignore the heartwood, sapwood, bark and shoots, and cutting the
branches and leaves would carry them away thinking it's the heartwood. - A wise
man seeing him would say: This good man does not know the heartwood, sapwood,
bark, shoots, branches or leaves. So this man in need of heartwood, wandering in
search of heartwood, coming to a standing tree with heartwood has ignored the
heartwood, sapwood, bark and shoots. He has cut the branches and leaves and is
carrying them away thinking that it is the heartwood, Whatever work he has to do
with the heartwood, to that he would not come. Bhikkhus, in the same manner, a
certain son of a clansman, victimised by birth, decay and death leaves the
household out of faith. He becomes homeless thinking I am submerged in grief,
lament unpleasantness, displeasure, distress and death and says only a few
declare the complete ending of this mass of unpleasanatness. Gone forth he is
reborn in gain, honour and fame. Satisfied with that, and his desires fulfilled
he praises himself and disparages others. I am a gainer of hospitality, these
other bhikkhus are impotent and not wise. Thus he becomes intoxicated and
negligent on account of that gain, honour and fame and lives in unpleasanatness.
Bhikkhus, to this is said, the bhikkhu has come to the end of the holy life
among the branches and leaves.
Here, bhikkhus, a certain son of a clansman victimised by birth, decay and death
leaves the household out of faith and becomes a homeless thinking I am submerged
in grief, lament, unpleasantness, displeasure, distress and death. He says only
a few declare the complete ending of this mass of unpleasantness. Gone forth
thus he is reborn in gain, honour and fame. Satisfied with it desires not
fulfilled with that gain, honour and fame he does not praise himself or
disparage others. He is not intoxicated and not negligent on account of that
gain honour and fame and takes upon himself to observe the virtues. Satisfied
with it and desires fulfilled he praises himself and disparages others. Saying
my virtues are pure, these others are evil, and become intoxicated and negligent
abides in unpleasantness*. Like a man in need of heartwood wandering in search
heartwood, coming to a standing tree with heartwood would ignore the heartwood
and sapwood. Cutting the shoots would carry them away thinking that is the
heartwood. A wise man seeing him would say: This good man does not know the
heartwood, sapwood, bark, shoots, branches or leaves. So this man in need of
heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, coming to a standing tree with
heartwood has ignored the heartwood, sapwood, and bark. Cutting the shoots he is
carrying them away thinking that it is heartwood. Whatever work he has to do
with the heartwood, to that he would not come. Bhikkhus, in the same manner, a
certain son of a clansman, victimised by birth, decay and death would leave the
household out of faith. Becoming a homeless, thinking I am submerged in grief,
lament unpleasantness, displeasure, distress and death, would say only a few
make known the complete ending of this mass of unpleasantness. Having gone forth
thus is reborn in gain, honour and fame. Satisfied with it and his desires not
fulfilled he would not praise himself nor disparage others. He would ñake upon
himself to observe the virtues. Satisfied with it and his desires fulfilled he
would praise himself and disparage others. My virtues are pure, these others are
evil without virtues. Become intoxicated and negligent, he abides in
unpleasanatness. *. Bhikkhus, to this said, the bhikkhu has come to the end of
the holy life among the shoots.
Here, bhikkhus, a certain son of a clansman victimised by birth, decay and death
leaves the household out of faith. Become a homeless he thinks, I am submerged
in grief, lament, unpleasantness, displeasure, distress and death, only a few
make known the complete ending of this mass of unpleasantness Having gone forth
thus is reborn in gain, honour and fame. Satisfied with it, yet his desires not
fulfilled with that gain, honour and fame does not praise himself or disparage
others. Not intoxicated and not negligent on account of that gain honour and
fame takes upon himself to observe the virtues. Satisfied with it and his
desires not fulfilled with the endowment of virtues, does not praise himself and
disparage others. Not intoxicated and not negligent takes upon himself the
endowment of concentration. Satisfied and his desires fulfilled with the
endowment of concentration, praises himself and disparages others-I am
concentrated with the mind in one point other bhikkhus are with distracted
minds, intoxicated and negligent, on account of the endowment of concentration
abides in unpleasantness*. Like a man in need of heartwood wandering in search
of heartwood, coming to a standing tree with heartwood ignoring the heartwood
and the sapwood would cut the bark and carry it away thinking that is the
heartwood. - A wise man seeing him would say: This good man does not know the
heartwood, sapwood, bark, shoots, and the branches and leaves. So this man in
need of heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, coming to a standing tree
with heartwood has ignored the heartwood and the sapwood has cut the bark and is
carrying it away thinking it's the heartwood. Whatever work he has to do with
the heartwood, he would not come to that. Bhikkhus, in the same manner, a
certain son of a clansman, victimised by birth, decay and death would leave the
household out of faith and become a homeless thinking I'm submerged in grief,
lament unpleasantness, displeasure, distress and death. He would say, only a few
declare the complete ending of this mass of unpleasanatness. Gone forth thus is
reborn in gain, honour and fame. Satisfied with it and his desires not fulfilled
with that gain, honour and fame, he wouldn't praise himself nor disparage
others. He would take upon himself to observe the virtues. Satisfied with it and
his desires not fulfilled with the endowment of virtues would not praise himself
nor disparage others. Not intoxicated and not negligent would take upon himself
the endowment of concentration Satisfied and his desires fulfilled with the
endowment of concentration would praise himself and disparage others. Saying I,
m concentrated with the mind in one point, other bhikkhus are with distracted
minds. Intoxicated and negligent on account of the endowment of concentration
would abide in unpleasanatness. Bhikkhus, to this said, the bhikkhu has come to
the end of the holy life in the bark.
Here, bhikkhus, a certain son of a clansman victimised by birth, decay and death
would leave the household out of faith and would become a homeless, thinking I
am submerged in grief, lament, unpleasantness, displeasure, distress and death,
saying only a few declare the complete ending of this mass of unpleasantness.
Having gone forth thus, he is reborn in gain, honour and fame. Satisfied with it
and his desires unfulfilled would not praise himself or disparage others, and
not intoxicated nor negligent on account of that gain honour and fame, would
diligently takes upon himself to observe the virtues. Satisfied with it and his
desires not fulfilled with the endowment of virtues, would not praise himself
and disparage others. Not intoxicated nor negligent would take upon himself the
endowment of concentration. Satisfied and his desires not fulfilled with the
endowment of concentration would not praise himself or disparage others. Not
intoxicated and not negligent would take upon himself to attain knowledges and
vision. Satisfied and his desires fulfilled with the endowment of knowledges and
vision would praise himself and disparages others. Saying I abide knowing and
seeing. Other bhikkhus abide not knowing and not seeing, intoxicated and
negligent on account of the endowment of knowledges and vision would abide in
unpleasantness*. Like a man in need of heartwood wandering in search of
heartwood, coming to a standing tree with heartwood would ignore the heartwood,
cut the sapwood and carry it away thinking, it is the heartwood. A wise man
seeing him would say: This good man does not know the heartwood, sapwood, bark,
shoots, the branches and leaves. So this man in need of heartwood, wandering in
search of heartwood, coming to a standing tree with heartwood ignoring the
heartwood has cut the sapwood and is carrying it away thinking it is the
heartwood. Whatever work he has to do with the heartwood, to that he would not
come. Bhikkhus, in the same manner, a certain son of a clansman, victimised by
birth, decay and death would leave the household out of faith and become a
homeless. Thinking I am submerged in grief, lament, unpleasantness, displeasure,
distress and death. Only a few declare the complete ending of this mass of
unpleasantness. Gone forth thus, is reborn in gain, honour and fame. Satisfied
with it, yet desires not fulfilled with that gain, honour and fame would not
praise himself or disparage others. He would take upon himself to observe the
virtues. Satisfied with it and desires unfulfilled, with the endowment of
virtues would not praise himself nor disparage others. Not intoxicated and not
negligent would take upon himself the endowment of concentration Satisfied with
it and his desires not fulfilled with the endowment of concentration would not
praise himself nor disparage others. Not intoxicated and not negligent would
take upon himself to develop knowledges and vision. Satisfied, and desired
fulfilled he would thinks. I abide knowing and seeing, these other bhikkhus
abide not knowing and not seeing. Intoxicated and negligent on account of the
endowment of knowledges and vision would abide in unpleasanatness. Bhikkhus, to
this is said, the bhikkhu has come to the end of the holy life in the sapwood.
Here, bhikkhus, a certain son of a clansman victimised by birth, decay and death
would leave the household out of faith and become a homeless thinking I am
submerged in grief, lament, unpleasantness, displeasure, distress and death.
Saying only a few declare the complete ending of this mass of unpleasantness
Gone forth thus is reborn in gain, honour and fame. Satisfied with it, and his
desires unfulfilled with that gain, honour and fame would not praise himself or
disparage others. Not intoxicated nor negligent on account of that gain honour
and fame would take upon himself to observe the virtues. Satisfied with it and
his desires not fulfilled with the endowment of virtues, would not praise
himself and disparage others. Not intoxicated and not negligent would take upon
himself the endowment of concentration. Satisfied with it and his desires
unfulfilled with the endowment of concentration would not praise himself or
disparage others. Not intoxicated and not negligent would take upon himself to
attain knowledges and vision. Satisfied with it and desires not fulfilled with
the endowment of knowledges and vision would not praise himself nor disparage
others. Not intoxicated nor negligent on account of the endowment of knowledges
and vision would take upon himself to attain the timeless release of mind.
Bhikkhus, it is not possible that the bhikhu should fall from the timeless
release of mind. Like a man in need of heartwood wandering in search of
heartwood, coming to a standing tree with heartwood would cut the heartwood and
carry it away knowing it is heartwood. A wise man seeing him would say: This
good man, knows the heartwood, sapwood, bark, shoots, branches and leaves. So
this man in need of heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood, coming to a
standing tree with heartwood, has cut the heartwood and is carrying it away
knowing that it is the heartwood. Whatever work he has to do with the heartwood,
to that he would come. Bhikkhus, in the same manner, a certain son of a
clansman, victimised by birth, decay and death would leave the household out of
faith. Become a homeless would think I'm submerged in grief, lament
unpleasantness, displeasure, distress and death. Saying only a few declare the
complete ending of this mass of unpleasantness. Gone forth thus, is reborn in
gain, honour and fame. Satisfied with it and his desires not fulfilled with that
gain, honour and fame, would not praise himself nor disparage others. Wouldñake
upon himself to observe the virtues. Satisfied with it and his desires not
fulfilled with the endowment of virtues would not praise himself nor disparage
others. Not intoxicated nor negligent, would take upon himself the endowment of
concentration Satisfied with it and his desires not fulfilled with the endowment
of concentration would not praise himself nor disparage others. Not intoxicated
and not negligent would take upon himself to develop knowledges and vision
Satisfied with it and desired unfulfilled with the endowment of knowledges and
vision would take upon himself to attain the timeless release of mind. Bhikkhus,
it is not possible that the bhikkhu should fall from the timeless release of
mind. [2]
So then, bhikkhus, the holy life is led not for, gain, honour and fame, not for
the endowment of virtues, not for the endowment of concentration, not for the
endowment of knowledges and vision. Bhikkhus, it is for the unshakeable release
of mind that is the essence and end of the holy life, .
The Blessed One said thus and those bhikkhus delighted in the words of the
Blessed One.



[1] Intoxicated and negligent on account of the endowment of concentration
abides in unpleasantness. `so tàya samàdhisampadàya majjati pamajjati pamàdaü
àpajjati pamatto samàno dhukkhaü viharati' We see the bhikkhu abiding in
unpleasàntness on several occasions when he is intoxicated and negligent over
his gain honour and fame, attainment of virtues, attainment of concentration,
attainment of knowledges and vision. The person who has realised the timeless
release of mind only does not abide in unpleasànatness. The lessening of
unpleasàntness starts with the attainment of the entry into the stream of the
Teaching and reaches the climax with the attainment of extinction. Arahatta.
[2] The timeless release of mind, the unshakeable release of mind. `asamaya
vimokkhaü àràdeti' `akuppàcetovimutti' This is the attainment of extinction,
when attained to it, unpleasàntness is not experienced any more.