Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Nanda-manava-puccha

Sn 5.7
Nanda-manava-puccha
Nanda's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1077-1083



Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.



Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
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[Nanda:]
There are in the world
sages, they say
— in what way?
Do they call one a sage
for possessing knowledge
or possessing a way of life?
[The Buddha:]
Not on account of his views,
learning,
or knowledge
do the skilled here, Nanda,
call one a sage.
Those who live
disarmed,
undesiring,
untroubled:
those, I say, are called sages.
[Nanda:]
Whatever priests & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
have they, dear sir, living there in that way,
crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
Whatever priests & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
none of them, living there in that way,
I tell you, have crossed over birth & aging.
[Nanda:]
Whatever priests & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of precepts & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
if, sage, as you say,
they've not crossed over the flood,
then who in the world
of beings divine & human
has crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
[The Buddha:]
I don't say that all priests & contemplatives
are shrouded in birth & aging.
Those here who've abandoned
what's seen, heard, & sensed,
precepts & practices 1
— all —
who've abandoned their manifold ways
— again, all —
who, comprehending craving,
are effluent-free:
they are the ones, I tell you,
who've crossed over the flood.
[Nanda:]
I relish, Gotama, the Great Seer's words
well-expounded, without acquisition.
Those here who've abandoned
what's seen, heard, & sensed,
precepts & practices
— all —
who've abandoned their manifold ways
— again, all —
who, comprehending craving,
are effluent-free:
I, too, say they've crossed over the flood.



Note
1. For a discussion of the abandoning of precepts and practices, see The Mind
Like Fire Unbound, Chapters 3 and 4.