Khuddaka Nikaya - Sutta Nipata - Udaya-manava-puccha

Sn 5.13
Udaya-manava-puccha
Udaya's Questions
Translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro BhikkhuPTS: Sn 1105-1111



Source: Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.



Copyright © 1994 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
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[Udaya:]
To the one in jhana
seated dustless,
passionless,
his task done,
effluent-free,
gone to the beyond
of all phenomena,
I've come with a question.
Tell me the gnosis of emancipation,
the breaking open
of ignorance.
[The Buddha:]
The abandoning
both of sensual desires,
& of unhappiness,
the dispelling of sloth,
the warding off of anxieties,
equanimity-&-mindfulness purified,
with inspection of mental qualities
swift in the forefront:
That I call the gnosis of emancipation, 1
the breaking open
of ignorance. 2
[Udaya:]
With what
is the world fettered?
With what
is it examined?
Through the abandoning of what
is there said to be
Unbinding?
[The Buddha:]
With delight
the world's fettered.
With directed thought
it's examined.
Through the abandoning of craving
is there said to be
Unbinding.
[Udaya:]
Living mindful in what way
does one bring consciousness
to a halt?
We've come questioning
to the Blessed One.
Let us hear your words.
[The Buddha:]
Not relishing feeling,
inside or out:
One living mindful in this way
brings consciousness
to a halt. 3



Notes
1. For a discussion of the "gnosis of emancipation" — the state of knowledge
consisting of mental absorption coupled with an analysis of mental states, see
AN 9.36 and Section III.F in The Wings to Awakening.
2. AN 3.33 contains a discussion of this verse. The Buddha tells Ven. Sariputta
that one should train oneself such that "with regard to this conscious body,
there will be no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, such that
with regard to all external themes [topics of concentration] there will be no
'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, and that we will enter &
remain in the awareness-release & discernment-release in which there is no
'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit." When one has trained in
this way, he says, one is called a person who has cut through craving, unraveled
the fetter, who has, through the right penetration of conceit, put an end to
suffering & stress. He then states that it was in connection to this state that
he uttered this verse.
3. For a discussion of "bringing consciousness to a halt" — showing that it is
not an annihilation of consciousness, but rather the ending of its proliferating
activity — see SN 22.53.