Sacred and Related Texts :: The To-the-Far-Shore Chapter (Pārāyana Vagga)

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Sutta Nipāta | The Discourse Group
The To-the-Far-Shore Chapter (Pārāyana Vagga)

Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Sutta

5	Introduction

SN 5 Introduction
vv. 976–1031

Sixteen brahman ascetics — students of a teacher named Bāvarī — approach the Buddha with questions on the goal of his teaching and how to attain it. From their questions, it is obvious that some of them, at least, are quite advanced in their meditation practice. Tradition tells us that the first fifteen of the ascetics attained arahantship immediately after the Buddha answered their questions. As for the sixteenth — Piṅgiya — Nd II tells us that after his questions were answered he attained the Dhamma Eye, a term that usually means stream-entry. The commentary to Nd II, however, interprets it as meaning that he became a non-returner.

A recurrent image in these dialogues is of life as a flood — a flood of birth, aging, and death; sorrow and lamentation; stress and suffering. The purpose of spiritual practice is to find a way across the flood to the safety of the far shore. This image explains the frequent reference to finding a way past entanglements — the flotsam and jetsam swept along by the flood that may prevent one’s progress; and to the desire to be without acquisitions — the unnecessary baggage that could well cause one to sink midstream.

There is evidence that these sixteen dialogues were highly regarded right from the very early centuries of the Buddhist tradition. As concise statements of profound teachings particular to Buddhism, they sparked an attitude of devotion coupled with the desire to understand their more cryptic passages. Most of Nd II, a late addition to the Pali Canon, is devoted to explaining them in detail. Five suttas — one in the Saṁyutta Nikāya, four in the Aṅguttara — discuss specific verses in the set, and a sixth sutta (AN 7:53) tells of a lay woman who made a practice of rising before dawn to chant the Pārāyana — apparently the full set of sixteen dialogues. Whether the Prologue and Epilogue had been added to the sixteen dialogues by her time or were added later, no one knows.

Unlike the Aṭṭhaka Vagga, there is no extant version of the Pārāyana Vagga in any other Buddhist Canon. However, several Sanskrit Buddhist texts quote passages from the individual suttas it contains; and the Chinese Canon contains at least thirteen passages that refer to the Pārāyana Vagga and/or quote passages from it.

So the Pārāyana is characterized by many of the same features that are used to argue for the antiquity of the Aṭṭhaka. However, the case for its antiquity is rarely pressed, perhaps because 5:3–4, 5:7, 5:10–11, and 5:16 center on the issue of how to avoid rebirth. If the Aṭṭhaka and Pārāyana are indeed early records of the Buddha’s teachings, the Pārāyana would thus act as a necessary supplement to the Aṭṭhaka in that, unlike the Aṭṭhaka, it explains why clinging and becoming are dangerous: They lead to the suffering of rebirth.

The discussions offered by the five suttas that quote the Pārāyana Vagga show that even in cases where the meaning of a verse seems, on first reading, fairly straightforward, the culture in which they were composed encouraged looking for meanings that were not at all obvious on the surface. For example, the last verse in 5:3 does not explicitly mention concentration practice, and only hints at it in using the phrase “nothing perturbing,” but the interpretations that the Buddha himself offers in AN 3:32 and AN 4:41 state that the verse was actually referring to very advanced states of concentration practiced together with discernment. These explanations should serve as warning that the culture of the time gave a framework for understanding the verses that at present we can only guess at — a chastening thought. To help bridge the cultural gap, the notes to this translation offer extensive quotations from the five suttas mentioned above, along with explanations from Nd II and the commentaries both to Sn and to Nd II where these seem useful.

5	Prologue
A brahman teacher sends his students to the Buddha to see if the latter is truly awakened.

SN 5 Prologue
vv. 976–1031

From the delightful city of the Kosalans,
a brahman [Bāvarī]
who had mastered mantras,
aspiring to nothingness,[1]
went to the Southern country.
He, in the land of Assaka,
the neighborhood of Muḷaka,
on the bank of the Godhāvarī,
lived on gleanings & fruits.
Close by was a large village.
And with the income from that village
he performed a great sacrifice.
Having sacrificed the great sacrifice,
he returned again to his ashram.
As soon as he had entered there,
another brahman came along:
thirsty, with
scratched feet,
dirty teeth,
dusty head.
On arrival, he asked Bāvarī
for five hundred [pieces of money].
Bāvarī, on seeing him, invited him to sit down,
asked after what is pleasant & skillful,
and said these words:
“Whatever of mine
that could be given away,
I have disposed of entirely.
Forgive me, brahman,
I don’t have five hundred.”
“If you don’t hand over
to me when I ask,
within seven days,
may your head split
into seven pieces.”,
Dissembling, the imposter
proclaimed threats.

Hearing his words,
Bāvarī was distressed.
He wasted away, taking no food,
afflicted with the arrow of grief,
and, with his mind this way,
his heart found no delight in jhāna.
Seeing him nervous & distressed,
a devatā wishing his welfare,
approached Bāvarī
and said these words:

“That imposter, wanting money,
doesn’t discern heads;
has no knowledge of heads
or the splitting of heads.”

Bāvarī:

“You, sir, surely know.
Explain to me when asked:
heads & the splitting of heads.
I will listen to your words.”

The devatā:

“I too don’t know that.
I don’t have that knowledge.
Heads & the splitting of heads:
That is surely the insight of Victors.”

Bāvarī:

“Then who knows surely
in this circle of the earth,
heads & the splitting of heads?
Explain that to me, devatā.”

The devatā:

“Gone forth from the city of Kapilavatthu,
the chief of the world,
a descendant of King Okkāka,
a Sakyan-son, a bringer of light:
He, brahman, is Rightly Self-Awakened,
gone to the far shore of all
dhammas;
attainer of all
direct knowledges & strengths,
one with an Eye that sees all
dhammas;
attainer of the end of all
action,
released in the ending of acquisitions.
He, the One with Eyes,
awakened, blessed,
teaches the Dhamma.
Going to him, you ask him.
He will answer you.”

Hearing the word “Self-Awakened,”
Bāvarī was exultant.
His grief subsided,
and he gained abundant rapture.
So Bāvarī, gratified, exultant,
excited, asked the devatā:

“In which village or town,
or in which country
is the protector of the world?
Going where can we pay homage
to the Self-Awakened One,
supreme among two-footed beings?”

The devatā:

“In Sāvatthī, the Kosalan city,
is the Victor of vast discernment,
of foremost deep intelligence.
He, a matchless Sakyan-son,
effluent-free, a bull among men,
is an expert in the splitting of heads.”

Then Bāvarī addressed his students,
brahmans who had mastered the mantras,
“Come, students, I will explain.
Listen to my words.
He whose appearance in the world
is hard often to gain,
has today arisen in the world,
renowned as Self-Awakened.

Going quickly to Sāvatthī,
see the one supreme
among two-footed beings.”

The students:

“But how, brahman, on seeing him,
will we know for sure
that he’s the One Self-Awakened?
Tell us, who don’t know,
how we will know him.”

Bāvarī:

“There have come down in the mantras
the marks of a Great Man.
Thirty-two are described in all,
step by step.
One in whose body
are the marks of a Great Man
has two destinations.
There isn’t a third.

If he dwells in a home,
he will conquer this world
— without rod, without sword,
but with righteousness —
he will rule.

But if he goes forth
from home into homelessness,
with his roof opened up,[2]
he will be Self-Awakened,
a worthy one unexcelled.

Ask just in your heart
about my caste & clan,
mantras, other students,
and about heads
& the splitting of heads.
If he is awakened,
seeing without obstruction,
he will answer in speech
the questions asked in your heart.”

Having heard Bāvarī’s words,
sixteen brahman students —
Ajita, Tissa-metteyya,
Puṇṇaka & Mettagū,
Dhotaka & Upasīva,
Nanda & Hemaka,
Todeyya & Kappa,
the wise Jatukaṇṇin,
Bhadrāvudha & Udaya,
Posāla the brahman,
Mogharāja the intelligent,
and Piṅgiya the great seer —
all with their own groups,
famed in all
the world,
endowed with jhāna,
delighting in jhāna,
enlightened,
perfume with perfumes[3]
from previous lives,
having bowed down to Bāvarī
and performed circumambulation,
left, setting out for the North,
wearing coiled hair & deer-skins:
first to the establishment of Muḷaka,
then to Māhissatī, Ujjenī, Gonaddhā,
Vedisā, Vanasa,
to Kosambī & Sāketa,
to Sāvatthī, the supreme city,
to Setabya, Kapilavatthu,
the city of Kusinārā,
to Pāva, Bhoganagara,
to Vesālī, the city of the Magadhans,
and then to the Pāsāṇaka shrine,
refreshing & lovely.
Like a thirsty man for cool water,
like a merchant for a great profit,
like one burning from heat
for shade,
quickly they climbed the mountain.
And at that time, the Blessed One,
surrounded by the Saṅgha of monks,
was teaching the monks the Dhamma,
like a lion roaring in the forest.

Ajita saw the Self-Awakened One,
like the sun with radiance in beams,[4]
like the moon come to fullness
on the fifteenth day.
Then, seeing the marks
complete in his body,
he stood to one side, overjoyed,
and in his heart asked the questions:
“Speak concerning his birth,
speak of his clan & marks,
speak of his perfection in the mantras,
and how many brahmans
does he teach?”

The Buddha:

“His age is one hundred & twenty,
and by clan, he is a Bāvarī.
Three are the marks in his body,
three the Vedas he’s mastered.
In the marks & oral traditions,
etymologies & rituals,
he teaches five hundred.
In his own doctrine
he has reached perfection.”

Ajita:

“Proclaim them in detail —
Bāvarī’s marks —
O man supreme,
cutter of craving,
don’t leave us in doubt.”

The Buddha:

“He can hide his face with his tongue,
he has a tuft of hair between his brows,
his male organ is in a sheath:

Know this, young brahman.”
Not hearing anything asked,
but hearing the questions answered,
all the people, excited,
with hands palm-to-palm over their hearts,
thought:

“What deva or Brahmā,
or Inda Sujampati[5]
asked those questions in his heart?
To whom did he [the Buddha] reply?”

Ajita:

“Bāvarī asked about heads
and the splitting of heads.
Explain that, Blessed One.
Subdue our doubt, seer.”

The Buddha:

“Know the head to be ignorance,
and the splitting of the head, knowledge
connected with conviction,
mindfulness, concentration,
desire, & persistence.”

Then, with great joy,
the young brahman,
putting himself in order,
arranging his deer-skin over one shoulder,
fell with his head at the Blessed One’s feet:

“Master, One with Eyes,
Bāvarī the brahman,
together with his students, dear sir —
exultant in mind, happy at heart —
venerate your feet.”

The Buddha:

“May he be happy,
Bāvarī the brahman,
together with his students.
And may you, too, be happy,
young brahman,
and live a long time.

All doubts —
Bāvarī’s
and all of yours:
Ask, now that I’ve given leave,
whatever you wish in your heart.”

Given leave by the Self-Awakened One,
having sat to one side, hands palm-to-palm
over his heart,
Ajita there addressed the first question
to the Tathāgata.

1.Reading ākiñcāññaṁ with the Thai text of Nd II and of SnA. The Thai text of the prologue here reads āciññaṁ, “practice, custom.” According to SnA, “nothingness” here means freedom from care. However, it might also mean the meditative state of the dimension of nothingness, and the post-mortem deva realm corresponding to that attainment. This would fit in with the fact that, in the following dialogues, two of his students—Upasīva and Posāla — appear to be familiar with this dimension in their meditation, and quiz the Buddha as to what to do after having attained it.

2.See Sn 2:13, note 3.

3.“Perfume” (vāsanā) here means traces of good qualities.

4.Following GD in interpreting vīta - here as meaning “straight.”

5.“Lord of the Well-born,” an epithet for Sakka, king of the devas of the Thirty-three.

5 : 1	Ajita’s Questions
A brahman questions the Buddha about mindfulness, discernment, and the cessation of name-and-form.

SN 5:1
vv. 1032–1039

With what
is the world shrouded?
Because of what
doesn’t it shine?
With what
is it smeared? Tell me.
What
is its great danger & fear?

The Buddha:

With ignorance
the world is shrouded.
Because of stinginess,
heedlessness,[6]
it doesn’t shine.
With longing
it’s smeared — I tell you.
Suffering - stress:
its great danger & fear.

Ajita:

They flow every which way,
the streams.[7]
What is their blocking,
what their restraint — tell me —
with what are they finally stopped?

The Buddha:

Whatever streams
there are in the world:
Their blocking is
mindfulness, mindfulness
is their restraint — I tell you —
with discernment
they’re finally stopped.

Ajita:

Discernment & mindfulness,
name-&-form, dear sir:
Tell me, when asked this,
where are they brought to a halt?

The Buddha:

This question you’ve asked, Ajita,
I’ll answer it for you —
where name-&-form
are brought to a halt
without trace:
With the cessation of consciousness
they’re brought
to a halt.[8]

Ajita:

Those here who have fathomed the Dhamma,
those who are learners,
those who are run-of-the-mill:
When you, dear sir, astute,
are asked this,
tell me their manner of life.[9]

The Buddha:

He
should not hanker
for sensual pleasures,
should be limpid in mind.
Skilled in all mental qualities,
he, the monk, should wander
mindfully.

6.The Thai edition notes that this word, in terms of the meter of the line, is excessive.

7.According to Nd II, the streams that ‘flow every which way’ are the streams of craving, views, conceit, defilement, corruption, and ignorance that flow out the six sense media. The first two lines in the translation of Ven. Ajita’s second set of questions (the first half-line in the Pali) is identical to the first half-line in Dhp 340.

8.See DN 11, DN 15, MN 49, and SN 12:67. Asaṅga, in the Yogācārabhūmi, quotes a Sanskrit translation of this sutta that inserts at this point the final question and answer, on the topic of how consciousness is brought to a halt, occurring at the end of the Pali version of Sn 5:14. A manuscript found in Turfan contains a Sanskrit version of this sutta that inserts the same question at the same point, and includes traces of other insertions as well.

9.In SN 12:31, the Buddha quotes this question to Ven. Sāriputta and asks him to answer it. With a little prodding, Ven. Sāriputta gives this extended answer, on which the Buddha places his seal of approval:

“One sees with right discernment that ‘this has come into being.’ Seeing with right discernment that ‘this has come into being,’ one practices for disenchantment with, for dispassion toward, for the cessation of what has come into being. One sees with right discernment that ‘it has come into being from this nutriment.’ Seeing with right discernment that ‘it has come into being from this nutriment,’ one practices for disenchantment with, for dispassion toward, for the cessation of the nutriment by which it has come into being. One sees with right discernment that ‘from the cessation of this nutriment, what has come into being is subject to cessation.’ Seeing with right discernment that ‘from the cessation of this nutriment, what has come into being is subject to cessation,’ one practices for disenchantment with, for dispassion toward, for the cessation of what is subject to cessation. This is how one is a learner.

“And how is one a person who has fathomed the Dhamma?

“One sees with right discernment that ‘this has come into being.’ Seeing with right discernment that ‘this has come into being,’ one is — through disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, through lack of clinging/sustenance — released from what has come into being. One sees with right discernment that ‘it has come into being from this nutriment.’ Seeing with right discernment that ‘it has come into being from this nutriment,’ one is — through disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, through lack of clinging/sustenance — released from the nutriment by which it has come into being. One sees with right discernment that ‘from the cessation of this nutriment, what has come into being is subject to cessation.’ Seeing with right discernment that ‘from the cessation of this nutriment, what has come into being is subject to cessation,’ one is — through disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, through lack of clinging/sustenance — released from what is subject to cessation. This is how one is a person who has fathomed the Dhamma.”

5 : 2	Tissa-metteyya’s Questions
Who in the world is truly contented, truly free, truly a great person?

SN 5:2
vv. 1040–1042

Who
here in the world
is contented?
Who
has no agitations?
What thinker
knowing both sides,
doesn’t adhere in between?
Whom
do you call a great person?
Who here
has gone past
the seamstress? —
craving.

The Buddha:

He who
in the midst of sensualities,
follows the holy life,
always mindful, craving-free;
the monk who is
— through fathoming things —
unbound:
He has no agitations. He,
the thinker
knowing both sides,
doesn’t adhere in between.[10] He
I call a great person. He
here has gone past
the seamstress: craving.[11]

10.AN 6:61 reports a discussion among several elder monks as to what is meant in this poem by “both sides” and “in between.” Six of the elders express the following separate opinions:

a) Contact is the first side, the origination of contact the second side, and the cessation of contact is in between.

b) The past is the first side, the future the second, and the present is in between.

c) Pleasant feeling is the first side, painful feeling the second, and neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling is in between.

d) Name (mental phenomena) is the first side, form (physical phenomena) the second, and consciousness is in between.

e) The six internal sense media (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, intellect) are the first side, the six external sense media (sights, sounds, aromas, flavors, tactile sensations, ideas) the second side, and consciousness is in between.

f) Self-identity is the first side, the origination of self-identity the second, and the cessation of self-identity is in between.

The issue is then taken to the Buddha, who states that all six interpretations are well-spoken, but the interpretation he had in mind when speaking the poem was the first.

On the cessation of contact, see SN 35:117.

11.The image of craving as a seamstress also appears in Thag 14:2.

5 : 3	Puṇṇaka’s Questions
Birth and aging can be overcome, not through sacrificial rituals, but through training the mind to go beyond perturbation.

SN 5:3
vv. 1043–1048

To the one unperturbed,
who has seen the roots,[12]
I have come with a question.
Because of what
have many human seers
— noble warriors, brahmans —
offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world?13]
I ask you, Blessed One.
Please tell me.

The Buddha:

Those many human seers
— noble warriors, brahmans —
who have offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world, Puṇṇaka,
hoping for more of this state of being,
offered their sacrifices
because of aging.

Puṇṇaka:

These many human seers
— noble warriors, brahmans —
who have offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world:
Have they, Blessed One,
heeding the path of sacrifice, dear sir,
crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, Blessed One.
Please tell me.

The Buddha:

They hoped for, liked,
longed for,
so they sacrificed —
they longed for sensuality,
dependent on gain.
I tell you:
Those who take on the yoke
of sacrifice,
impassioned with
the passion for becoming,
have not crossed over birth & aging.14]

Puṇṇaka:

If those who take on the yoke of sacrifice
haven’t crossed over birth & aging,
then who in the world, dear sir,
of beings divine & human
has crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, Blessed One.
Please tell me.

The Buddha:

He who has fathomed
the high & low in the world,
for whom there is nothing
perturbing in the world —
evaporated,15] undesiring,
untroubled, at peace —
he, I tell you, has crossed over birth
& aging.16]

12.Nd II cites three main ways in which the Buddha has seen the roots:

a) He has seen that greed, aversion, and delusion are the roots of what is unskillful, and that lack of greed, lack of aversion, and lack of delusion are the roots of what is skillful. Nd II anchors this point with a reference to AN 6:39, although its quote from that sutta contains two phrases not present in the sutta. Where AN 6:39 reads, “It’s through action born of non-greed, action born of non-aversion, action born of non-delusion that devas are discerned, that human beings are discerned, or any other good destinations,” Nd II reads, “It’s through action born of non-greed, action born of non-aversion, action born of non-delusion that devas are discerned, that human beings are discerned, or any other good destinations for the production of a self-state [attabhāva] in a deva or a human being.” Where AN 6:39 reads, “It’s through action born of greed, action born of aversion, action born of delusion that hell is discerned, that the animal womb is discerned, that the realm of hungry ghosts is discerned, or any other bad destinations,” Nd II reads “It’s through action born of greed, action born of aversion, action born of delusion that hell is discerned, that the animal womb is discerned, that the realm of hungry ghosts is discerned, or any other bad destinations for the production of a self-state in hell, in the animal womb, or in the realm of hungry ghosts.” If we assume that the extra phrases were originally not present in AN 6:39, the question arises as to why they were added in Nd II. One possible reason is that the compilers of Nd II may have been bothered by AN 6:39’s suggestion that its list of good and bad destinations was not complete — e.g., that there could be other good destinations aside from the realms of devas and human beings—so they tried to close off that possibility.

b) The Buddha has seen further that all unskillful qualities are rooted in ignorance (here Nd II quotes a passage from SN 20:1: “All qualities that are unskillful, that have a share in what’s unskillful, that side with what’s unskillful, are rooted in ignorance and converge in ignorance. From the uprooting of ignorance, they are all uprooted”). The Buddha has also seen that all skillful qualities are rooted in heedfulness (here Nd II quotes a passage found in SN 45:79–80, SN 45:82, and SN 46:31: “All qualities that are skillful, that have a share in what’s skillful, that side with what’s skillful, are rooted in heedfulness, converge in heedfulness, and heedfulness is foremost among them”).

c) The Buddha has also seen that ignorance is the root of all the factors of dependent co-arising.

For another sense in which the Buddha has seen the root, see MN 1.

13.See Sn 3:4 for another answer to a very similar question.

14.On the issue of rebirth in the suttas, see The Truth of Rebirth.

15.According to Nd II, this means that one’s bodily, verbal, and mental misconduct have evaporated away, along with all one’s defilements.

16.AN 3:32 and AN 4:41 contain discussions of the last verse in this poem.

In AN 3:32, Ven. Ānanda asks the Buddha, “Could it be that a monk could attain a concentration of such a sort such that, with regard to this conscious body, he would have no ‘I’-making or ‘mine’-making or obsession with conceit, such that with regard to all external themes [topics of concentration] he would have no ‘I’-making or ‘mine’-making or obsession with conceit, and that he would enter & remain in the awareness-release & discernment-release in which there is no ‘I’-making or ‘mine’-making or obsession with conceit?”

The Buddha answers that it is possible, and that such a concentration can be attained when one is percipient in this way: “This is peace, this is exquisite — the pacification of all fabrications; the relinquishing of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; unbinding.” He then adds that it was in connection to this state of mind that he uttered the last verse in this poem.

In AN 4:41, the Buddha identifies four ways of developing concentration: “There is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to a pleasant abiding in the here-&-now. There is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to the attainment of knowledge & vision. There is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to mindfulness & alertness. There is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to the ending of the effluents.” The Buddha then adds that he uttered the last verse of this poem in connection with these four ways of developing concentration.

Although the verse does not mention concentration explicitly, the use of the phrase, “nothing perturbing” is apparently a reference to the states of concentration called imperturbable. See MN 102, note 2, and MN 106, note 1.

5 : 4	Mettagū’s Questions
How does one cross the flood of birth and old age, sorrow and grief?

SN 5:4
vv. 1049–1060

I ask you, Blessed One.
Please tell me.
I regard you as an attainer-of-knowledge,
developed in mind.
From what have the many
forms of stress
arisen in the world?

The Buddha:

You ask me
the source of stress.
I’ll tell it to you
as one who discerns.
From acquisition17] as cause
the many forms of stress
come into being in the world.
Whoever, unknowing,
makes acquisitions
— the dullard —
comes to stress
again & again.
Therefore, discerning,
you shouldn’t create acquisitions
as you stay focused on
the birth & origin of stress.18]

Mettagū:

What we asked, you’ve expounded.
Now we ask something else.
Please tell us.
How do the enlightened
cross over the flood of
birth & aging,
lamentation & sorrow?
Please, sage, declare this to me
as this Dhamma has
been known by you.

The Buddha:

I will expound to you Dhamma
—here-&-now,
not quoted words —
knowing which, living mindfully,
you’ll cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.

Mettagū:

And I relish, Great Seer,
that Dhamma supreme,
knowing which, living mindfully,
I’ll cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.

The Buddha:

Whatever you’re alert to,
above, below,
across, in between[19]:
Dispelling any delight,
any entrenchment
in those things,
consciousness should not take a stance
in becoming.[20]
The monk who dwells thus
— mindful, heedful —
letting go of his sense of mine,
knowing right here would abandon
birth & aging,
lamentation & sorrow,
stress.

Mettagū:

I relish, Gotama, the Great Seer’s words
well-expounded, without acquisition,
for yes, Blessed One,
you’ve abandoned stress
as this Dhamma has
been known by you.
And they, too, would abandon stress
those whom you, sage,
would admonish unceasingly.
Having met you, I bow down to you,
Nāga.
Perhaps you will admonish me
unceasingly.

The Buddha:

Whoever you recognize
as a brahman, an attainer-of-knowledge
possessing nothing,
unentangled
in sensuality & becoming —
yes, he has crossed over this flood.
Having crossed to the far shore,
he’s free from rigidity, free
from doubt.

And anyone who has realized,
who is an attainer-of-knowledge here,
having unentangled the bond
to becoming and non-,[21]
free of craving,
untroubled,
undesiring — he,
I tell you, has crossed over birth
& aging.

1.On the meaning of “acquisition,” see Sn 3:12, note 2.

2.This verse is identical with the second set of verses in Sn 3:12.

3.Nd II gives six different valid interpretations for ‘above, below, across, in between’:

a) above = the future; below = the past; across and in between = the present,

b) above = the deva world; below = hell; across and in between = the human world,

c) above = skillfulness; below = unskillfulness; across and in between = indeterminate mental qualities,

d) above = the property of formlessness; below = the property of sensuality; across and in between = the property of form,

e) above = feelings of pleasure; below = feelings of pain; across and in between = feelings of neither pleasure nor pain,

f) above = the body from the feet on up; below = the body from the crown of the head on down; across and in between = the middle of the body.

4.On unestablished consciousness, see SN 12:38, SN 12:63–64, SN 22:53–54, and 22:87. See also the discussion of this topic in The Paradox of Becoming, chapter 7.

5.Becoming and non-becoming (or dis-becoming) are the two most subtle objects of craving that lead on to continued existence — and suffering — in the round of birth and death. See Ud 3:10, Iti 49, and MN 49, note 10. See also, The Paradox of Becoming.

See also: SN 35:197; AN 3:77–78

5 : 5	Dhotaka’s Questions
How can one become freed of all doubt?

SN 5:5
vv. 1061–1068

I ask you, Blessed One.
Please tell me.
I hope for your words, Great Seer.
Having heard your pronouncement,
I’ll train for my own
unbinding.

The Buddha:

In that case,
be ardent —
astute & mindful right here.
Then, having heard my pronouncement,
train for your own
unbinding.

Dhotaka:

I see in the world of beings
divine & human,
a brahman who lives
possessing nothing.
I pay homage to him,
the All-around Eye.[22]
From my perplexities, Sakyan, release me!

The Buddha:

No one in the world, Dhotaka,
can I release from perplexity.
But knowing the most excellent Dhamma,
you will cross over this flood.

Dhotaka:

Teach with compassion, brahman,
the Dhamma of seclusion
so that I may know —
so that I, unafflicted as space,
may go about right here,
independent,
at peace.

The Buddha:

I will expound to you peace
— here-&-now,
not quoted words —
knowing which, living mindfully,
you’ll go beyond
entanglement in the world.

Dhotaka:

And I relish, Great Seer,
that peace supreme,
knowing which, living mindfully,
I’ll go beyond
entanglement in the world.

The Buddha:

Whatever you’re alert to,
above, below,
across, in between:
Knowing it as a bond in the world,
don’t create craving
for becoming or non-.[23]

1.See Sn 2:12, note 2.

2.Craving for becoming and non-becoming are the two most subtle forms of craving that lead to continued existence — and suffering — in the round of birth and death. See Sn 5:4, note 5.

5 : 6	Upasīva’s Questions
What support should one hold on to in order to cross over the flood of craving? Can an awakened person be described?

SN 5:6
vv. 1069–1076

Alone, Sakyan, with nothing to rely on,
I can’t venture across
the great flood.
Tell me, All-around Eye,
the support to rely on
for crossing over this flood.

The Buddha:

Mindfully focused on nothingness,[24]
relying on ‘There isn’t,’
you should cross over the flood.
Abandoning sensuality,
abstaining from conversations,
keep watch for the ending of
craving, night & day.

Upasīva:

One free from passion
for all sensuality
relying on nothingness, letting go of all else,
released in the highest emancipation of perception:
Does he stay there unaffected?

The Buddha:

One free from passion
for all sensuality
relying on nothingness, letting go of all else,
released in the highest emancipation of perception:
He stays there unaffected.

Upasīva:

If, All-around Eye, he stays there,
unaffected for many years,
right there
would he be cooled & released?
Would his consciousness be like that?[25]

The Buddha:

As a flame overthrown by the force of the wind
goes to an end
that cannot be classified,[26]
so the sage freed from the name-body[27]
goes to an end
that cannot be classified.

Upasīva:

One who has reached the end:
Does he not exist,
or is he for eternity
free from dis-ease?
Please, sage, declare this to me
as this phenomenon has been known by you.

The Buddha:

One who has reached the end
has no criterion[28]
by which anyone would say that —[29]
for him it doesn’t exist.
When all phenomena are done away with,[30]
all means of speaking
are done away with as well.

24.“Nothingness” here denotes the dimension of nothingness, one of the four levels of mental absorption on formless themes. One attains this level, after surmounting the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, by focusing on the perception, “There is nothing.” MN 26 tells us that Āḷāra Kālāma, the Buddha’s first teacher when the latter was still a Bodhisatta, had attained this level of mental absorption and had thought that it was the highest possible attainment. The Bodhisatta left him upon realizing that it was not true liberation from stress and suffering. Nevertheless, the dimension of nothingness can be used as a basis for the insight leading to that liberation. On this point, see Sn 5:14, below, and AN 9:36. On the strategy of relying on the formless states to cross over the flood, see MN 52, MN 106, MN 111, and AN 9:36.

25.Reading bhavetha viññāṇaṁ tathāvidhassa with the Thai edition, interpreting tathāvidhassa as an elision of tathāvidhaṁ (of that sort) and assa (his). The Burmese and Sri Lankan editions read cavetha (would fall; would die) instead of bhavetha (would be). It’s also possible to read tathāvidhassa as the genitive form of tathāvidha. Combined with cavetha, this would yield: Would the consciousness of such a one fall?

26.For a discussion of this passage in light of early Buddhist theories of fire, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, chapter 1.

27.Nāma-kāya = mental activities of all sorts.

28.For a discussion of the meaning of “criterion” in this passage, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, chapter 1. On the Tathāgata as being undescribable, see Skill in Questions, chapter 8 and appendix 4.

29.Reading vajjā (he would say/one would say), with the Sri Lankan edition. The Thai has vajju, which is irregular; the Burmese, vajjaṁ (they would say). Vajjā seems to be the best reading here for at least three textual reasons:
(a) It fits into the meter better than vajjaṁ.
(b) There has been no mention of any “they” up to this point in the dialogue.
(c) The same line appears in SN 1:20, and there all the major editions of the Canon read vajjā.

From an interpretive standpoint, vajjā allows for the Buddha’s answer to respond both to Upasīva’s explicit question — does such a person not exist, or is he for eternity free from disease? — and for his implicit one: What has the Buddha’s own experience been of this state? Reading vajjā as meaning “one would say,” the answer tells of how the state of the person in question would appear to someone else. Reading it as meaning “he would say,” the answer tells of how the person himself would describe the experience of that state. In neither case is there any criterion by which anyone could say, looking from within or without, that such a person doesn’t exist or that he exists for eternity free from disease.

30.This is one of the passages in the Canon that treats unbinding, not as a phenomenon (dhamma), but as the end of phenomena. On this point, see AN 3:137, note 1.

5 : 7	Nanda’s Questions
Who deserves to be called a sage? Who has crossed over birth and aging?

SN 5:7
vv. 1077–1083

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 brahmans & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of habits & practices,
describe purity
in terms of manifold ways:
Have they, dear sir, living there in that way,
crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, Blessed One.
Please tell me.

The Buddha:

Whatever brahmans & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of habits & 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 brahmans & contemplatives
describe purity
in terms of views & learning,
describe purity
in terms of habits & 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, dear sir,
has crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, Blessed One.
Please tell me.

The Buddha:

I don’t say that all brahmans & contemplatives
are shrouded in birth & aging.
Those here who’ve abandoned
what’s seen, heard, & sensed,
habits & practices[31]
— 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,
habits & 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.

31.For a discussion of the abandoning of habits and practices, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, chapters 3 and 4, and The Paradox of Becoming, chapter 4.

5 : 8	Hemaka’s Question
How do you cross over entanglements in the world?

SN 5:8
vv. 1084–1087

In the past,
before hearing Gotama’s message,
when anyone explained ‘It is,’ ‘It will be,’
all that was hearsay,
quotation marks.
All that promoted conjecture
and gave me no pleasure.
Now, sage, teach me the Dhamma
demolishing craving,
knowing which, living mindfully,
one would cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.

The Buddha:

Here, Hemaka,
with regard to things dear
— seen, heard, sensed, & cognized —
there is:
the dispelling of passion & desire,
the unfallen, undying[32] state of unbinding.
Those knowing this, mindful,
fully unbound
in the here-&-now,
are always[33] calmed,
have crossed over beyond
entanglement in the world.

32.“Unfallen, undying”: two meanings of the word, accuta.

33.Reading sadā with the Burmese, Sri Lankan, and PTS editions. The Thai edition read satā, mindful, but this is a repetition of satā in the previous line, something that Pali poetry tends to avoid except for purposes of emphasis.

5 : 9	Todeyya’s Questions
How to recognize an emancipated person.

SN 5:9
vv. 1088–1091

One in whom
no sensualities dwell;
in whom
no craving is found;
who has crossed over perplexity —
his emancipation:
What is it like?

The Buddha:

One in whom
no sensualities dwell;
in whom
no craving is found;
who has crossed over perplexity —
his emancipation
is not other than that.[34]

Todeyya:

Is he without desire,
or desiring?
Discerning or
still acquiring discernment?
Describe the sage to me, Sakyan,
All-around Eye,
so that I may recognize
what he is like.

The Buddha:

He’s without desire,
not desiring;
discerning,
not still acquiring discernment.
Recognize the sage, Todeyya,
as having nothing,
unentangled
in sensuality
& becoming.

34.Nd IIA: The ending of craving is, in and of itself, emancipation. See SN 43.

5 : 10	Kappa’s Question
What is the island above the flood of the great danger of birth?

SN 5:10
vv. 1092–1095

For one stranded in the middle of the lake,
in the flood of great danger — birth —
overwhelmed with aging & death:
Tell me the island, dear sir,
and show me the island
so that this may not happen again.

The Buddha:

For one stranded in the middle of the lake,
in the flood of great danger — birth —
overwhelmed with aging & death,
Kappa, I will tell you the island.[35]
Having nothing, free
of clinging:
That is the island,
there is no other.
That’s unbinding, I tell you,
the total ending of aging & death.
Those knowing this, mindful,
fully unbound
in the here-&-now,
don’t serve as Māra’s servants,
don’t come under Māra’s sway.[36]

35.On the Dhamma as an island, see DN 16.

36.On Māra’s sway, see SN 4:19, SN 35:115, SN 35:189, and SN 35:199.

5 : 11	Jatukaṇṇin’s Question
How does one abandon birth and aging?

SN 5:11
vv. 1096–1100

Hearing, hero,
of one with no desire for sensuality,
I’ve come to ask
the one gone beyond the flood,
sensuality-free:
Tell me the state of peace,
Blessed One, Simultaneous Eye.[37]
Tell me
as it actually is.
For the Blessed One lives
having conquered sensuality,
as the radiant sun, in its radiance,
the earth.
Limited my discernment,
O Deeply Discerning.
Teach me to know the Dhamma,
the abandoning here
of birth
& aging.

The Buddha:

Subdue greed for sensuality,
& see renunciation as rest.
Let there be nothing grasped
or rejected by you.
Burn up what’s before,
and have nothing for after.
If you don’t grasp
at what’s in between,[38]
you will go about, calm.
One completely devoid of greed
for name-&-form, brahman,
has
no effluents
by which he would go
under Māra’s sway.

37.According to Nd II, the Buddha is called the Simultaneous Eye because the Eye of his omniscience arose simultaneously with his awakening to Buddhahood. It’s hardly likely, though, that Jatukaṇṇin would have this idea in mind when speaking to the Buddha for the first time. More likely, he might be alluding to the idea that the Buddha is able to see things, and to understand them for what they are, the moment they arise.

2.According to Nd II, ‘before’ stands for defilements related to the past, ‘after’ for defilements related to the future, and ‘in between’ for the five aggregates — form, feeling, perception, thought-fabrications, sensory consciousness — in the present.

5 : 12	Bhadrāvudha’s Question
Bhadrāvudha asks the Buddha: How did you come to know the Dhamma?

SN 5:12
vv. 1101–1104

I entreat the one who has
abandoned home — cutting through craving, unperturbed;
abandoned delight — crossed over the flood, released;
abandoned theory — very intelligent:
Having heard the Nāga, they will leave —
the many gathered
from many lands, hero,
in hopes of your words.
So tell them, please,
how this Dhamma has
been known to you.

The Buddha:

Subdue craving & grasping — all —
above, below,
across, in between.[39]
For whatever people cling to in the world,
it’s through that
that Māra pursues them.
So a monk, mindful,
seeing these people
entangled in grasping
as entangled in Death’s realm,
should cling to nothing
in all the world,
every world.

39.For Nd II’s discussion of the various meanings of the objects of craving “above, below, across, in between,” see Sn 5:4, note 3. For further discussions of the many places where craving can arise, see DN 22 and SN 35:95, note 1.

See also: MN 26; MN 49; SN 4:19; SN 4:21; SN 35:115; SN 35:189; SN 35:199

5 : 13	Udaya’s Questions
How to reach unbinding and bring consciousness to a halt.

SN 5:13
vv. 1105–1111

To the one in jhāna —
seated, dustless,
passionless,
his task done,
effluent-free,
gone to the beyond
of all phenomena —
I’ve come with a desire for 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,[40]
the breaking open
of ignorance.[41]

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 to ask
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.[42]

40.The state of mind described here corresponds to the five-factored noble right concentration described in AN 5:28, and analyzed more fully in AN 9:36. For further discussion, see section III/F in The Wings to Awakening and the essays, “Jhāna Not by the Numbers” and “Silence Isn’t Mandatory.”

41.AN 3:33 contains a discussion of this verse. The Buddha tells Ven. Sāriputta that one should train oneself such that “with regard to this conscious body, there will be no ‘I’-making or ‘mine’-making or obsession with conceit, such that with regard to all external themes [topics of concentration] there will be no ‘I’-making or ‘mine’-making or obsession with 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 with 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 and stress. He then states that it was in connection to this state that he uttered this verse.

42.See DN 11, DN 15, MN 49, and SN 12:67. 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. See also the image in SN 12:64.

5 : 14	Posāla’s Question
How to develop insight after mastering the perception of nothingness.

SN 5:14
vv. 1112–1115

To one who reveals the past
— unperturbed,
his doubts cut through —
who has gone to the beyond
of all phenomena,

I’ve come with a desire for a question.
I ask the Sakyan about the knowledge[43]
of one devoid of perception of forms,
who has abandoned all the body,
every body,
who sees, within & without,
‘There is nothing’:
How is he
to be led further on?

The Buddha:

The Tathāgata, knowing directly
all stations of consciousness,[44]
knows for one stationed in them
release
& the steps leading there.
Knowing directly
the origin of nothingness
to be the fetter of delight,
one then sees there
clearly.
That’s his genuine knowledge —
the brahman who has lived
to fulfillment.

43.Posāla’s question concerning the knowledge of the person in the dimension of nothingness has a double meaning: He is asking about the Buddha’s knowledge about that person, and also what a person in that dimension of attainment should do to develop his/her knowledge even further. The Buddha’s answer deals with the question in both its senses. On delight in nothingness, see MN 106.

44.On the seven stations of consciousness, see DN 15. The dimension of nothingness, discussed in this dialogue, is the seventh and most refined. See Sn 5:6, note 1. On the steps leading to release from being stationed in the formless states, see MN 52, MN 102, MN 106, MN 111, MN 140, and AN 9:36.

5 : 15	Mogharāja’s Question
How should one view the world so as to escape the king of Death?

Sn 5:15
vv. 1116–1119

Twice now, Sakyan,
I’ve asked you,
but you, One with Eyes,
haven’t answered me.“When asked the third time,
the divine seer answers”:
So I have heard.

This world, the next world,
the Brahmā world with its devas:
I don’t know how they’re viewed
by the prestigious Gotama.
So to the one who has seen
to the far extreme,
I’ve come with a desire for a question:
One who regards the world in what way
isn’t seen by Death’s King?

The Buddha:

Always mindful, Mogharāja,[45]
regard the world as
empty,
having removed any view
in terms of self.
This way
one is above & beyond death.
One who regards the world
in this way
isn’t seen by Death’s King.

45.Cited by the Buddha at AN 1:149 (1:234) as foremost among the monks in wearing coarse robes.

See also: DN 15; MN 22; MN 26; MN 49; MN 121; SN 22:1; SN 4:19; SN 5:10; SN 12:15; SN 35:23; SN 35:82; SN 35:85; AN 9:39

5 : 16	Piṅgiya’s Questions
Alarmed by the deterioration of his aging body, Piṅgiya asks the Buddha how to conquer birth and decay.

SN 5:16
vv. 1120–1123

I’m old & weak,
my complexion dull,
I’ve blurry eyes
and trouble hearing —
but may I not perish
while still deluded,
confused!
Teach me the Dhamma
so that I may know
the abandoning here
of birth & aging.

The Buddha:

Seeing people suffering
on account of their bodies —
heedless people are afflicted
on account of their bodies —
then heedful, Piṅgiya,
let go of the body
for the sake of no further becoming.

Piṅgiya:

In the four cardinal directions,
the four intermediate,
above & below
— these ten directions —
there is nothing in the world
unseen, unheard,
unsensed, uncognized by you.
Teach me the Dhamma
so that I may know
the abandoning here
of birth & aging.

The Buddha:

Seeing people,
victims of craving —
inflamed, overwhelmed with aging —
then heedful, Piṅgiya,
let go of craving
for the sake of no further becoming.

5	Epilogue
Piṅgiya, after becoming a non-returner, explains to his former teacher his devotion to the Buddha.

SN5 Epilogue
vv. 1124–1149

That is what the Blessed One said when dwelling among the Magadhans at the Pāsāṇaka shrine. Asked in turn by the sixteen brahmans, he answered their questions. And if one were to practice the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma,[46] knowing the meaning and Dhamma of each of these questions, one would go to the far shore of birth & death. Because these Dhammas lead there, this Dhamma-sequence is called “To the Far Shore.”

Ajita, Tissa-metteyya,
Puṇṇaka & Mettagū,
Dhotaka & Upasīva,
Nanda & Hemaka,
Todeyya & Kappa,
the wise Jatukaṇṇin,
Bhadrāvudha & Udaya,
Posāla the brahman,
Mogharāja the intelligent,
and Piṅgiya the great seer:
They went to the Awakened One,
consummate in conduct, the seer.
They went to the excellent Awakened One,
asking subtle questions.

The Awakened One,
when asked their questions,
answered in line with the truth.
By answering their questions, the sage
delighted the brahmans.
They, delighted by the One with Eyes —
Awakened, Kinsman of the Sun —
lived the holy life
in the presence of the one
of foremost discernment.

Whoever would practice
as the Awakened One taught
concerning each of these questions,
would go from the near shore to the far —
would go from the near shore to the far
developing the path supreme.
The path is for going beyond,
and so it’s called “To the Far Shore.”

Ven. Piṅgiya:[47]

“I will recite ‘To the Far Shore.’
As he saw, so he taught—
stainless, of deep intelligence,
the Nāga with
no sensuality,
no forest[48]:

For what reason would he tell a lie?
His delusion & stains
left behind; left behind,
his hypocrisy, conceit:
Let me praise his beautiful words.
He who is truly described
as
dispeller of darkness,
awakened,

All-around Eye,
gone to the end of the cosmos,[49]
all his becoming transcended,
effluent-free,
his stress all abandoned:
He is served by me.
As a bird leaving a scrubby grove
would dwell in a forest abundant in fruit,
even so, I have left those of next-to-no vision,
have arrived
like a swan at a large lake.

In the past,
before hearing Gotama’s message,
when anyone explained ‘It is,’ ‘It will be,’
all that was hearsay,
quotation marks.
All that promoted conjecture
and gave me no pleasure.[50]

Sitting alone —
the dispeller of darkness,
shining, bringer of light,
Gotama of deep knowledge,
Gotama of deep intelligence:
He taught me the Dhamma
timeless, visible here-&-now,
the ending of craving,
calamity-free,
whose likeness is nowhere at all.”

Bāvarī:

“Piṅgiya, for even a moment
can you stay apart from him —
Gotama of deep knowledge,
Gotama of deep intelligence,
who taught you the Dhamma
timeless, visible here-&-now,
the ending of craving,
calamity-free,
whose likeness is nowhere at all?”

Ven. Piṅgiya:

“No, brahman, not even for a moment
can I stay apart from him —
Gotama of deep knowledge,
Gotama of deep intelligence,
who taught me the Dhamma
timeless, visible here-&-now,
the ending of craving,
calamity-free,
whose likeness is nowhere at all.
I see him with my heart
as if with my eye —
heedful, brahman, by day & by night.
I spend the night paying homage to him,
and that way, as it were,
not staying apart.
My conviction, rapture,
mindfulness, & heart,
don’t stray from Gotama’s message.

To whatever direction he goes,
the one deeply discerning,
to that direction I bow down.
I am old, my stamina frail,
which is why my body doesn’t run away to there.
But through the machine of my resolves
I constantly go,
for my heart, brahman, is connected to him.
Floundering in the mud,
I swam from island to island,
but then I saw the One Self-Awakened,
crossed over the flood, effluent-free.

‘As Vakkali has shown his conviction[51] —
as Bhadrāvudha & Āḷavi Gotama too —
so will you show your conviction, Piṅgiya.
You will go beyond the realm of death.’
I feel confidence all the more,
having heard the words of the sage,
his roof opened-up, self-awakened,
quick-witted, free from rigidity.
Knowing the supreme devas,[52]
he knows all dhammas, from high to low:
the Teacher who puts an end
to the questions
of those admitting
their doubt.

To the untaken-in, unshaken,[53
whose likeness is nowhere at all:
Yes, I will go there.
I’ve no doubt about that.
Remember me thus
as one whose mind
is decided.

46.See SN 22:39–42.

47.According to SnA, the sixteen brahmans, after their questions were answered, requested and received the Going-forth and Acceptance. After that, Piṅgiya, now Ven. Piṅgiya, received permission from the Buddha to return to Bāvarī to report the results of their trip.

48.Reading nikkāmo nibbano nāgo with the Sri Lankan and Burmese versions, a reading confirmed by Nd II. The Thai version has nibbuto, “unbound,” instead of nibbano. The PTS version has nātho, “protector,” instead of nāgo.

According to Nd II, “no forest” here means free from the forests of passion, aversion, delusion, resentment, and all other unskillful mental fabrications. See Dhp 283.

49.See SN 35:82, SN 35:116, and AN 4:45.

50.The phrase, “and gave me no pleasure,” appears in the Thai edition but not the others.

51.According to Nd IIA, to show conviction means to attain arahantship through the strength of conviction. The expression also occurs in SN 6:1, where it seems to have a more general meaning. Ven. Vakkali’s story appears in SN 22:87. At AN 1:147 (1:208) the Buddha cites him as foremost among the monks in being decisive in his conviction. Bhadrāvudha is apparently the same Bhadrāvudha in Sn 5:12. Āḷavi Gotama is mentioned nowhere else in the Canon.

52.In AN 8:71 (AN 8:64 in the PTS reckoning), the Buddha states that he did not claim full awakening until his knowledge of the deva world was complete.

53.See MN 131.

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