Sacred and Related Texts
Buddhist Texts
This Text should be seen as textually merely a mirror of the Text at
dhammatalks.org,
The reason for duplicating those pages here is simply
for future cross-referencing with other Texts held at MiscellanieSutta Nipāta | The Discourse Group
The Snake Chapter (Uraga Vagga)
Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Sutta
| 1 : 1 |
The Snake |
| One who advances far along the path sloughs off the near shore and far, like a snake who sloughs off its skin |
SN1:1
vv. 1–17
Alternative versions of this poem — a Sanskrit version included in the Udānavarga, and a Gāndhārī version included in the Gāndhārī Dharmapada — have many of the same verses included here, but arranged in a different order. This suggests that the verses originally may have been separate poems, spoken on separate occasions, and that they were gathered together because they share the same refrain.
The monk who subdues his arisen anger
as, with herbs, snake-venom once it has spread,
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who has cut off passion
without leaving a trace,
as he would, plunging into a lake, a lotus,
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who has cut off craving
without leaving a trace,
drying up the swift-flowing flood,[
1]
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who has uprooted conceit
without leaving a trace,
as a great flood, a very weak bridge made of reeds,
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk seeing
in states of becoming
no essence,
as he would,
when examining fig trees,
no flowers,
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk with no inner anger,
who has thus gone beyond
becoming & not -,
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk whose discursive thoughts are dispersed,
well-dealt with inside
without leaving a trace,
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who hasn’t slipped past or held back,[
2]
transcending all
this objectification,[
3]
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who hasn’t slipped past or held back,
knowing with regard to the world
that “All this is unreal,”
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who hasn’t slipped past or held back,
without greed, as “All this is unreal,”
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who hasn’t slipped past or held back,
without aversion, as “All this is unreal,”
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who hasn’t slipped past or turned back,
without delusion, as “All this is unreal,”
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk in whom
there are no obsessions[
4]
— the roots of unskillfulness totally destroyed —
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk in whom
there’s nothing born of disturbance[
5]
that would lead him back to this shore,
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk in whom
there’s nothing born of the underbrush[
6]
that would act as a cause
for binding him to becoming,
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who’s abandoned five hindrances,
who, untroubled, de-arrowed,[
7]
has crossed over doubt,
sloughs off the near shore & far —
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
| 1 : 2 |
Dhaniya the Cattleman |
| A poetic dialogue contrasting the wealth and security of lay life with the wealth and security of a person who has lived the renunciate life to its culmination. If you have trouble relating to someone like Dhaniya who measures his wealth in cattle, then when reading this poem substitute stocks and bonds for cows and bulls, and economic downturn for rain |
SN1:2
vv.18–34
Dhaniya the cattleman:[
1]
“The rice is cooked,
my milking done.
I live with my people
along the banks of the Mahi;
my hut is roofed, my fire lit:
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”
The Buddha:
“Free from anger,
my rigidity gone,[
2]
I live for one night
along the banks of the
Mahi;
my hut’s roof is open, my fire out.[
3]
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”
Dhaniya:
“No mosquitoes or gadflies
are to be found.
The cows range in the marshy meadow
where the grasses flourish.
They could stand the rain if it came:
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”
The Buddha:
“A raft, well-made,
has been lashed together.[
4]
Having crossed over,
gone to the far shore,
I’ve subdued the flood.
No need for a raft
is to be found[
5]:
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”
Dhaniya:
“My wife is composed, not wanton,
is charming, has lived with me long.
I hear no evil about her at all:
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”
The Buddha:
“My mind is composed, released,
has long been nurtured, well tamed.
No evil is to be found in me:
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”
Dhaniya:
“I support myself on my earnings.
My sons live in harmony,
free from disease.
I hear no evil about them at all:
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”
The Buddha:
“I’m in no one’s employ,[
6]
I wander the whole world
on the reward [of my Awakening].
No need for earnings
is to be found:
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”
Dhaniya:
“There are cows, young bulls,
cows in calf, & breeding cows,
& a great bull, the leader of the herd:
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”
The Buddha:
“There are no cows, no young bulls,
no cows in calf or breeding cows,
no great bull, the leader of the herd[
7]:
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”
Dhaniya:
“The stakes are dug-in, immovable.
The new muñja-grass halters, well-woven,
not even young bulls could break:
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”
The Buddha:
“Having broken my bonds
like a great bull,
like a great elephant
tearing a rotting vine,[
8]
I never again
will lie in the womb:
So if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain.”[
9]
The great cloud rained down
straightaway,
filling the lowlands & high.
Hearing the rain-god pour down,
Dhaniya said:
“How great our gain
that we’ve gazed
on the Blessed One!
We go to him,
the One with Eyes,[
10]
for refuge.
May you be our teacher, Great Sage.
My wife & I are composed.
Let’s follow the holy life
under the One Well-Gone.
Gone to the far shore
of aging & death,
let’s put an end
to suffering & stress.”
“Those with children
delight
because of their children.
Those with cattle
delight
because of their cows.
A person’s delight
comes from acquisitions,
for a person with no acquisitions
doesn’t delight.”
The Buddha:
“Those with children
grieve
precisely because of their children.
Those with cattle
grieve
precisely because of their cows.
A person’s grief
comes from acquisitions,
for a person with no acquisitions
doesn’t grieve.”[
12]
| 1 : 3 |
A Rhinoceros |
| If you can’t find a good teacher, it’s better to wander alone |
SN1:3
vv. 35–75
The refrain in this sutta is a subject of controversy. The text literally says, “Wander alone like a ‘sword-horn,’ which is the Pali term for rhinoceros. SnA, however, insists that this refers not to the animal but to its horn, because the Indian rhinoceros, unlike the African, has only one horn. Still, some scholars have noted that while the Indian rhinoceros is a solitary animal, rhinoceros horns don’t wander, and that in other verses in the Pali Canon, the phrase “wander alone like…” takes a person or an animal, not an animal part, for its object. Thus, for example, in
Dhp 329 (repeated below), one is told to “wander alone like a king renouncing his kingdom, like the elephant in the Mataṅga woods, his herd.” It’s possible that the rhinoceros was chosen here as an example of solitary wandering both because of its habits and because of its unusual single horn. However, in a translation, it’s necessary to choose one reading over the other. Thus, because wandering ”like a rhinoceros” sounds more natural than wandering “like a horn,” I have chosen the former rendering. Keep in mind, though, that the singularity of the rhinoceros horn reinforces the image.
Other versions of this poem exist in Sanskrit: a short Sanskrit version in the Mahāvastu, and a Gāndhārī version in a manuscript discovered in Central Asia. The Gāndhārī version contains many of the same verses given here, but in a different order. The Mahāvastu version contains only 12 verses, but it is followed by a statement that the full version of the sutta contained 500 verses. How that number was achieved is suggested by the fact that, of the 12 verses, several contain only minor variations from one another. All of this suggests that the verses here originally may have been separate poems, composed on separate occasions, and that they were gathered together because of their common refrain.
Like the Pārānaya Vagga, this poem is given a detailed interpretation in Nd II. Nd II ends its discussion of this sutta by saying that it was spoken by a Private Buddha, i.e., one who gains awakening on his own but is unable to formulate the Dhamma in such a way as to teach others to gain awakening. This assertion, however, is contradicted by the content of some of the verses, such as the one beginning, “Consort with one who is learned, who maintains the Dhamma, a great & quick-witted friend.” Such a friend would not have existed in the time of a Private Buddha.
There is evidence suggesting that in the centuries after the rule of King Asoka, monastery-dwelling monks began to look askance at forest-dwelling monks, and in some cases even forbade them from entering the precincts around the stupas of their monasteries. Because Nd I and Nd II were most likely composed by monastery-dwelling monks, it might be the case that they tried to blunt the message of this sutta by attributing it to a Private Buddha rather than to our Buddha, the implication being that its advice was not appropriate for monks of their day and age.
Renouncing violence
for all living beings,
harming not even one of them,
you would not wish for offspring,
so how a companion?
Wander alone[
1]
like a rhinoceros.
For a person by nature entangled
there are affections;
on the heels of affection, this pain.
Seeing the drawback born of affection,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
One whose mind
is enmeshed in sympathy
for friends & companions,
neglects the goal.
Seeing this danger in intimacy,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Like spreading bamboo,
entwined,
is concern for offspring & spouses.
Like a bamboo sprout,
unentangling,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
As a deer in the wilds,
unfettered,[
2]
goes for forage wherever it wants:
The observant person, valuing freedom,
wanders alone
like a rhinoceros.
In the midst of companions
— when staying at home,
when going out wandering —
you are prey to requests.
Valuing the freedom
that no one else covets,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
There is sporting & love
in the midst of companions,
& abundant love for offspring.
Feeling disgust
at the prospect of parting
from those who’d be dear,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Without resistance in all four directions,
content with whatever you get,
enduring troubles without panic,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
They are hard to please,
some of those gone forth,
as well as those living the household life.
Being unconcerned
with the offspring of others,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Cutting off the householder’s marks,[
3]
like a
kovilara tree
that has shed its leaves,
the enlightened one, cutting all household ties,
wanders alone
like a rhinoceros.
If you gain an astute companion,
a fellow traveler, right-living, enlightened,
overcoming all troubles,
go with him, gratified,
mindful.
If you don’t gain an astute companion,
a fellow traveler, right-living & wise,
wander alone
like a king renouncing his kingdom,
like the elephant in the
Mataṅga wilds,
[his herd].[
4]
We praise companionship
— yes!
Those on a par, or better,
should be chosen as friends.
If they’re not to be found,
living faultlessly,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Seeing radiant bracelets of gold,
well-made by a smith,
clinking, clashing,
two on an arm,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros,
[Thinking:]
“In the same way,
if I were to live with another,
there would be conversation or attachment.”
Seeing this future danger,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Because sensual pleasures,
elegant, honeyed, & charming,
bewitch the mind with their manifold forms —
seeing this drawback in sensual strings[
5] —
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
“Calamity, tumor, misfortune,
disease, an arrow, a danger for me.”
Seeing this danger in sensual strings,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Cold & heat, hunger & thirst,
wind & sun, horseflies & snakes:
Enduring all these, without exception,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
As a great white elephant,
with massive shoulders,
renouncing his herd,
lives in the wilds wherever he wants,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
“There’s no way
that one delighting in company
can touch even momentary release.”[
6]
Heeding the words
of the Kinsman of the Sun,[
7]
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Transcending the contortion of views,[
8]
the sure way attained,
the path gained,
[realizing:]
“Unled by others,
I have knowledge arisen,”
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
With no greed, no deceit,
no thirst, no hypocrisy —
delusion & blemishes
blown away —
with no inclinations for all the world,
every world,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Avoid the evil companion
disregarding the goal,
intent on the discordant[
9] way.
Don’t associate yourself
with someone heedless & hankering.
Wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Consort with one who is learned,
who maintains the Dhamma,
a great & quick-witted friend.
Knowing the meanings,
subdue your perplexity,
[then] wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Free from longing, finding no pleasure
in the world’s sport, ardor, or sensual bliss,
abstaining from adornment,
speaking the truth,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Abandoning offspring, spouse,
father, mother,
riches, grain, relatives,
& sensual pleasures
altogether,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
“This is a bondage.
There’s little happiness here,
next to no enjoyment,
all the more suffering & pain.[
10]
This is a boil”[
11]:
Knowing this, circumspect,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Shattering fetters,
like a fish in the water tearing a net,
like a fire not coming back to what’s burnt,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Eyes downcast, not footloose,
senses guarded, with protected mind,
not soggy, not burning,[
12]
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Taking off the householder’s marks,[
13]
like a coral tree
that has shed its leaves,
going forth in the ochre robe,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Showing no greed for flavors, not wanton,
going from house to house for alms
with mind unenmeshed in this family or that,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Abandoning barriers to awareness,
expelling all defilements — all —
non-dependent, cutting aversion,
affection,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Turning your back on pleasure & pain,
as earlier with sorrow & joy,
attaining pure
equanimity,
tranquility,[
14]
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
With persistence aroused
for the highest goal’s attainment,
with mind unsmeared, not lazy in action,
firm in effort, with steadfastness & strength arisen,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Not neglecting seclusion, jhāna,
constantly living the Dhamma
in line with the Dhamma,
comprehending the danger
in states of becoming,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Intent on the ending of craving & heedful,
neither drooling nor dumb,
but learned, mindful,
— having reckoned the Dhamma —
certain & striving,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Unstartled, like a lion at sounds.
Unsnared, like the wind in a net.
Unsmeared, like a lotus in water[
15]:
Wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Like a lion — forceful, strong in fang,
living as a conqueror, the king of beasts —
resort to a solitary dwelling.
Wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
At the right time consorting
with the release through goodwill,
compassion,
empathetic joy,
equanimity,
unobstructed by all the world,
any world,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
Having let go of passion,
aversion,
delusion;
having shattered the fetters;
unfazed at the ending of life,
wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
People follow & associate
for a motive.
Friends without a motive these days
are rare.
They’re shrewd for their own ends, & impure.
Wander alone
like a rhinoceros.
| 1 : 4 |
To Kasi Bhāradvāja |
| The Buddha answers a farmer who claims that monks do no useful work and so don’t deserve to eat |
SN1:4
vv. 76–82
This sutta is nearly identical with SN 7:11—“nearly,” because the incident reported here of Kasi’s throwing away the milk-rice, and its sizzling in the water, is not included in that version.
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Magadhans in Dakkhiṇāgiri near the brahman village of Ekanāḷā. Now at that time approximately 500 of the brahman Kasi [Plowing] Bhāradvāja’s plows were yoked at the sowing time. Then, in the early morning, after adjusting his lower robe and carrying his bowl & outer robe, the Blessed One went to where Kasi Bhāradvāja was working. Now at that time Kasi Bhāradvāja’s food-distribution was underway. So the Blessed One went to Kasi Bhāradvāja’s food-distribution and, on arrival, stood to one side. Kasi Bhāradvāja saw the Blessed One standing for alms, and on seeing him, said to him, “I, contemplative, plow & sow. Having plowed & sown, I eat. You, too, contemplative, should plow & sow. Having plowed & sown, you (will) eat.”
“I, too, brahman, plow & sow. Having plowed & sown, I eat.”
“But, contemplative, we don’t see the Master Gotama’s yoke or plow, plowshare, goad, or oxen, and yet the Master Gotama says this: ‘I, too, brahman, plow & sow. Having plowed & sown, I eat.’”
Then Kasi Bhāradvāja addressed the Blessed One with a verse:
You claim to be a plowman,
but we don’t see your plowing.
Being asked, tell us about your plowing
so that we may know your plowing.
The Buddha:
Conviction’s my seed,
austerity my rain,
discernment my yoke & plow,
shame my pole,
mind my yoke-tie,
mindfulness my plowshare & goad.
Guarded in body,
guarded in speech,
restrained in terms of belly & food,
I make truth a weeding-hook,
and composure my unyoking.
Persistence, my beast of burden,
bearing me toward rest from the yoke,
takes me, without turning back,
to where, having gone,
one doesn’t grieve.
That’s how my plowing is plowed.
It has
as its fruit
the deathless.
Having plowed this plowing,
one is unyoked
from all suffering
& stress.
Then Kasi Bhāradvāja, having heaped up milk-rice in a large bronze serving bowl, offered it to the Blessed One, [saying,] “May Master Gotama eat [this] milk-rice. The master is a plowman, for the Master Gotama plows the plowing that has as its fruit the deathless.”
The Buddha:
What’s been chanted over with verses
shouldn’t be eaten by me.
That’s not the nature, brahman,
of one who’s seen rightly.
What’s been chanted over with verses
Awakened Ones reject.
That being their Dhamma, brahman,
this is their way of life.
Serve with other food & drink
a fully-perfected great seer,
his effluents ended,
his anxiety stilled,
for that is the field
for one looking for merit.
“Then to whom, Master Gotama, should I give this milk-rice?”
“Brahman, I don’t see that person in this world — with its devas, Māras, & Brahmās, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & commonfolk — by whom this milk-rice, having been eaten, would be rightly digested, aside from a Tathāgata or a Tathāgata’s disciple. In that case, brahman, throw the milk-rice away in a place without vegetation, or dump it in water with no living beings.”
So Kasi Bhāradvāja dumped the milk-rice in water with no living beings. And the milk-rice, when dropped in the water, hissed & sizzled, seethed & steamed. Just as an iron ball heated all day, when tossed in the water, hisses & sizzles, seethes & steams, in the same way the milk-rice, when dropped in the water, hissed & sizzled, seethed & steamed.
Then Kasi Bhāradvāja — in awe, his hair standing on end — went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, throwing himself down with his head at the Blessed One’s feet, said to him, “Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has Master Gotama — through many lines of reasoning — made the Dhamma clear. I go to Master Gotama for refuge, to the Dhamma, & to the Saṅgha of monks. May Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from this day forward, for life. Let me obtain the Going-forth in Master Gotama’s presence, let me obtain Acceptance (into the Bhikkhu Saṅgha).”
Then the brahman Kasi Bhāradvāja obtained the Going-forth in the Blessed One’s presence, he obtained Acceptance. And not long after his Acceptance — dwelling alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, & resolute — he in no long time reached & remained in the supreme goal of the holy life, for which clansmen rightly go forth from home into homelessness, knowing & realizing it for himself in the here-&-now. He knew: “Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for the sake of this world.” And so Ven. Bhāradvāja became another one of the arahants.
| 1 : 5 |
Cunda |
| Four different types of contemplatives and how to recognize them |
SN1:5
vv. 83–90
Cunda the smith:
I ask the sage of abundant discernment,
awakened, lord of the Dhamma, free
of craving,
supreme
among two-legged beings,
best
of charioteers:
How many contemplatives
are there in the world?
Please tell me.
The Buddha:
Four contemplatives, there is no fifth.
Being asked in person, I disclose them to you:
the path-victor, the path-explainer,
one who lives by the path,
and the path-corrupter.
Cunda:
Whom do the awakened call
the path-victor?
How is one unequaled
in pointing out the path?
When asked, tell me about
the one who lives by the path.
Then disclose the path-corrupter to me.
The Buddha:
Whoever, de-arrowed,
has crossed over doubt,
is refreshed in unbinding,
devoid of greed,
a guide to the world along with its devas:
The awakened call such a person
path-victor.
Whoever here knowing
the foremost as foremost,
who points out,
who analyzes the Dhamma right here,
he, the cutter of doubt, the sage unperturbed,
is called the second of monks:
path-explainer.
Whoever lives by the path,
the Dhamma-way well-explained,
restrained, mindful,
partaking of blameless ways,
is called the third of monks:
with the path as his life.
Making a façade of good practices,
brash, reckless, a corrupter of families,[
1]
idle, deceitful, unrestrained,
& going about as a counterfeit:
He is a path-corrupter.
And when any householder
— an instructed disciple of the noble ones,
discerning —
understands these,
knowing, “Not all are like that one,”[
2]
seeing one like that
doesn’t kill his conviction.
For how would one equate
the corrupt with the uncorrupt,
the impure with the pure?
| 1 : 6 |
Decline |
| The various actions and attitudes that lead to spiritual decline |
SN 1:6
vv. 91–115
I have heard that at one time the Blessed One was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then a certain deva, in the far extreme of the night, her extreme radiance lighting up the entirety of Jeta’s Grove, went to the Blessed One. On arrival, having bowed down to him, she stood to one side. As she was standing there, she addressed him with a verse:
About the man in decline
we ask Gotama,
having come to question the Blessed One:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
Easily known is the one of good prospects;
easily known,[
1] the one in decline.
The one of good prospects
loves the
Dhamma,
the one in decline
detests it.
The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the first one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the second:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
The wicked are dear to him,
the good he doesn’t hold dear.
He approves of the ideas of the wicked:
That is the way leading to decline.
The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the second one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the third:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
Prone to sleep, prone to company,
the man with no initiative,
lazy & known for his anger:
That is the way leading to decline.
The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the third one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the fourth:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
Though capable, one doesn’t support
one’s mother or father
— old, their youth over & done:
That is the way leading to decline.
The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the fourth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the fifth:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
Whoever deceives with a lie
a brahman, contemplative,
or other mendicant:
That is the way leading to decline.
The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the fifth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the sixth:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
The man of great wealth,
with gold & food,
enjoys his luxuries alone:
That is the way leading to decline.
The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the sixth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the seventh:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
The man proud of his birth,
proud of his wealth,
proud of his clan,
despises his own relatives:
That is the way leading to decline.
The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the seventh one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the eighth:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
The man debauched with women,
debauched in drink,
debauched in gambling,
squanders his earnings:
That is the way leading to decline.
The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the eighth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the ninth:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
One uncontent with his own wives,
misbehaves with prostitutes
& the wives of others[
2]:
That is the way leading to decline.
The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the ninth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the tenth:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
His youth past,
a man takes a young woman
with timbara-fruit breasts,
and, jealous of her, doesn’t sleep:
That is the way leading to decline.
The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the tenth one in decline.
May the Blessed One tell the eleventh:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
To place in authority
a woman given to drink & squandering
or a man of that sort:
That is the way leading to decline.
The deva:
We know, indeed, that that is so.
That’s the eleventh one in decline
.
May the Blessed One tell the twelfth:
What is the way leading to decline?
The Buddha:
One of meager means
but great craving,
born into a noble family,
who aspires to kingship:
That is the way leading to decline.,
Contemplating
these ones in decline
in the world,
the wise one,
consummate in noble view,
heads to a world
auspicious.
| 1 : 7 |
An Outcaste |
| Being an outcaste is a matter of behavior, not birth |
SN 1:7
vv. 116–142
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near
Sāvatthī in
Jeta’s Grove,
Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. Then, in the early morning, after adjusting his lower robe and carrying his bowl & outer robe, he entered
Sāvatthī for alms. Now at that time, in the house of the
brahman Aggika Bhāradvāja, a (sacrificial) fire was burning and an offering was lifted up. Then the Blessed One, going through
Sāvatthī on a methodical almsround,[
1] approached the house of
Aggika Bhāradvāja.
Aggika Bhāradvāja saw the Blessed One coming from afar and, on seeing him, said to him: “Stop right there, you little shaveling! Right there, you little contemplative! Right there, you little outcaste!”
When this was said, the Blessed One said to the brahman Aggika Bhāradvāja, “But do you know, brahman, what an outcaste is, or the actions that make one an outcaste?”
“No, in fact, Master Gotama, I don’t know what an outcaste is, or the actions that make one an outcaste. It would be good if Master Gotama taught me the Dhamma so that I would know what an outcaste is and the actions that make one an outcaste.”
“In that case, brahman, listen and pay close attention. I will speak.”
“As you say, master,” the brahman Aggika Bhāradvāja responded to the Blessed One.
The Blessed One said:
Whatever man is angry, resentful,
evil, merciless,
deceitful, and defective in his views:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever here harms a living being
once-born or twice-born,[
2]
who has no sympathy for a living being:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever destroys or besieges
villages or towns,
a notorious oppressor:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever, from village or wilderness,
takes in a manner of theft
what others claim as ‘mine’:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever, actually incurring a debt,
when pressed to pay, evades,
(saying,) ‘I’m in no debt to you’:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever, desiring whatever-the-thing,
strikes a person going along a road,
to take whatever-the-thing:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whatever man, for his own sake,
the sake of another,
or the sake of wealth,
tells a lie when asked to bear witness:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever misbehaves
with the wives of relatives or friends,
by force or with their consent:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever, though capable, doesn’t support
his mother or father
— old, their youth over & done:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever strikes
and reviles with his speech
mother or father,
sister or brother,
or mother-in-law:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever, asked about what’s beneficial,
teaches what’s not
and gives counsel concealing some points:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever, doing an evil deed,
wishes, ‘May I not be known,’
acting in hiding:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever, having gone to another’s house,
being offered pure food,
doesn’t honor (the host) in return
when he comes (to one’s house):
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever deceives with a lie
a brahman, contemplative,
or other mendicant:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever, when a
brahman or contemplative
appears at mealtime,
reviles him with speech and doesn’t give:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’[
3]
Whoever, wrapped in delusion,
speaks here what is untrue,
greedy for whatever-the-thing:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever exalts himself
and disparages others,[
4]
debased by his own pride:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Angry, mean, evil in his desires,
miserly, dishonest,
devoid of shame & compunction:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever heaps verbal abuse
on an Awakened One
or his disciple,
wanderer or householder:
He should be known as ‘outcaste.’
Whoever, though not an
arahant,
claims to be an
arahant:
He is the thief in this world with its
Brahmās.[
5]
He is the vilest of outcastes.
These are said to be outcastes,
as I have proclaimed them to you.
Not by birth is one an outcaste,
not by birth a
brahman.
By action one is an outcaste.
By action is one a
brahman.[
6]
Know, too, by this,
as I give an example:
Sopāka, the son of an outcaste,
was well-known as
Mātaṅga:
He,
Mātaṅga,
attained the highest prestige,
hard to gain.
They came into his service,
many noble warriors &
brahmans.
Mounting the divine chariot,[
7]
and the great, stainless road,
dispassioned for sensual passion,
he reached the world of the
Brahmās.
His birth didn’t prevent him
from reaching the world of the
Brahmās.
Though born into a family of scholars,
brahmans, with chants as their kinsmen,
are repeatedly seen with evil deeds:
blameworthy in the here-&-now,
with a bad destination in the afterlife.
Their birth doesn’t prevent them
from blame & a bad destination.
Not by birth is one an outcaste,
not by birth a brahman.
By action one is an outcaste.
By action is one a brahman.
When this was said, the brahman Aggika Bhāradvāja said to the Blessed One: “Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has Master Gotama — through many lines of reasoning — made the Dhamma clear. I go to Master Gotama for refuge, to the Dhamma, & to the Saṅgha of monks. May Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone for refuge from this day forward, for life.”
| 1 : 8 |
Goodwill |
| The practice of developing universal goodwill: the practices that form a foundation for the practice, the attitude of universal goodwill itself, and the steps that lead from goodwill to awakening |
SN 1:8
vv. 143–152
(This sutta is identical with Khp 9.)
This is to be done by one skilled in aims
appreciating the state of peace
:
Be capable, upright, & straightforward,
easy to instruct, gentle, & not conceited,
content & easy to support,
with few duties, living lightly,
with peaceful faculties, astute,
modest, & no greed for supporters.
Do not do the slightest thing
that the observant would later censure.
Think: Happy, at rest,
may all beings be happy at heart.
Whatever beings there may be,
weak or strong, without exception,
long, large,
middling, short,
subtle, gross,
seen & unseen,
living near & far away,
born or seeking birth:
May all beings be happy at heart.
Let no one deceive another
or despise anyone anywhere,
or, through anger or resistance-perception,
wish for another to suffer.
As a mother would risk her life
to protect her child, her only child,
even so should one cultivate the heart limitlessly
with regard to all beings.[
1]
With goodwill for the entire cosmos,
cultivate the heart limitlessly:
above, below, & all around,
unobstructed, without hostility or hate.
Whether standing, walking,
sitting, or lying down,
as long as one has banished torpor,
one should be resolved on this mindfulness.[
2]
This is called a
Brahmā abiding
here.
Not taken with views,
but virtuous & consummate in vision,
having subdued greed for sensuality,
one never again
will lie in the womb.
| 1 : 9 |
Hemavata |
| The Buddha explains to a yakkha how one crosses over the flood |
SN 1:9
vv. 153–180
Sātāgira the yakkha:
Today is the fifteenth,
the uposatha day.
A divine night is at hand.
Let’s go see Gotama,
the Teacher perfectly named.
Hemavata the yakkha:
Is his mind well-directed,
Such,[
1] toward all beings?
Are his resolves mastered
regarding what’s desirable & not?
Sātāgira the yakkha:
His mind is well-directed
and Such toward all beings.
And his resolves are mastered
regarding what’s desirable & not.
Hemavata the yakkha:
Does he not take what’s not given?
Is he restrained toward beings?
Is he far from complacency?
Does he not neglect
jhāna?[
2]
Sātāgira the yakkha:
He doesn’t take what’s not given,
and he’s restrained toward beings.
He’s far from complacency and,
awakened, he does not neglect jhāna.
Hemavata the yakkha:
Does he not tell lies?
Do his ways of speaking not cut things off?
Does he not speak destructively?
Does he not speak idly?[
3]
Sātāgira the yakkha:
He doesn’t tell lies.
His ways of speaking don’t cut things off.
He doesn’t speak destructively.
Deliberating, he speaks what’s of benefit.
Hemavata the yakkha:
Is he not passionate for sensuality?
Is his mind unmuddied?
Has he gone beyond delusion?
Does he have an Eye
with regard to phenomena?
Sātāgira the yakkha:
He’s not passionate for sensuality.
His mind is unmuddied.
He has gone beyond all delusion.
Awakened, he has an Eye
with regard to phenomena.
Hemavata the yakkha:
Is he consummate in clear-knowing?
Is he pure in his conduct?[
4]
Are his effluents ended?
Does he have no further becoming?
Sātāgira the yakkha:
He is both consummate in clear-knowing
& pure in his conduct.
All his effluents are ended.
He has no further becoming.
Hemavata the yakkha:
Consummate the mind of the sage
in action & in ways of speech,
you rightly praise him
as consummate in clear-knowing & conduct.
Consummate the mind of the sage
in action & in ways of speech,
you rightly rejoice in him
as consummate in clear-knowing & conduct.
Consummate the mind of the sage
in action & in ways of speech,
let’s go see
Gotama,
consummate in clear-knowing & conduct.
Come, let’s go see
Gotama,
enlightened,
with legs like an antelope, thin,
eating little, not greedy,
doing
jhāna in the forest.
Having gone to the
nāga,[
5]
the lion wandering alone,
indifferent to sensuality,
let’s ask him
about release from Death’s snare.
Let’s ask
Gotama,
proclaimer, preacher,
attained to the far shore
of all phenomena:
awakened,
gone past animosity
& fear.
* * *
Hemavata the yakkha:
In what has the world arisen
In what does it make acquaintance?
From clinging to what
is the world?
In what is the world
afflicted?
The Buddha:
In six has the world arisen.[
6]
In six does it make acquaintance.
From clinging just to six
is the world,
in six is the world[
7]
afflicted.
Hemavata the yakkha:
Which is that clinging
where the world is afflicted?
When asked the way leading out, please tell
how is one released
from suffering & stress.
The Buddha:
The five strings of sensuality in the world,[
8]
with the heart described as the sixth:
Being dispassioned for desire there:
That’s how one’s released
from suffering & stress.
That is the way leading out of the world
proclaimed to you as it really is,
I have proclaimed to you:
That’s how one is released
from suffering & stress.
Hemavata the yakkha:
Who here crosses
over the flood?
Who here crosses
over the ocean?
Unestablished,
without support,[
9]
who doesn’t sink
into the deep?
The Buddha:
Always consummate in virtue,
discerning, well-centered,
internally percipient,[
10] mindful,
one crosses over the flood
hard to cross.
Abstaining from perceptions of sensuality,
overcoming all fetters,
having totally ended delight in becoming,
one doesn’t sink
into the deep.[
11]
Hemavata the yakkha:
The one deeply discerning,
seeing the subtle goal,
having nothing,
unattached in sensual becoming:
See him, everywhere released,[
12]
the great seer, going the divine way!
Perfectly named,
seeing the subtle goal,
granting discernment,
unattached to sensual nostalgia:
See him, all-knowing, wise,
the great seer, going the noble way!
Truly, it was well-seen today,
well-dawned, well-arisen,
that we saw the One Self-Awakened,
crossed over the flood,
effluent-free.
These ten hundred yakkhas,
powerful, prestigious,
all go to you for refuge.
You are our teacher unexcelled.
We will wander from village to village,
town to town,
paying homage to the One Self-Awakened
& to the Dhamma’s true rightness.
| 1 : 10 |
Āḷavaka |
| A yakkha challenges the Buddha with riddles and threatens to “hurl out his mind, rip open his heart, or hurl him across the River Ganges” if he doesn’t solve the riddles to the yakkha’s satisfaction |
SN 1:10
vv. 181–192
(This sutta is identical with SN 10:12.)
I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Āḷavī in the haunt of the Āḷavaka yakkha. Then the Āḷavaka yakkha went to the Blessed One and on arrival said to him: “Get out, contemplative!”
[Saying,] “All right, my friend,” the Blessed One went out.
“Come in, contemplative!”
“All right, my friend,” the Blessed One went in.
A second time.… A third time, the Āḷavaka yakkha said to the Blessed One, “Get out, contemplative!”
“All right, my friend,” the Blessed One went out.
“Come in, contemplative!”
“All right, my friend,” the Blessed One went in.
Then a fourth time, the Āḷavaka yakkha said to the Blessed One, “Get out, contemplative!”
“I won’t go out, my friend. Do what you have to do.”
“I will ask you a question, contemplative. If you can’t answer me, I will hurl out your mind or rip open your heart or, grabbing you by the feet, hurl you across the Ganges.”
“My friend, I see no one in the cosmos with its devas, Māras, & Brahmās, in this generation with its contemplatives & brahmans, its royalty & commonfolk, who could hurl out my mind or rip open my heart or, grabbing me by the feet, hurl me across the Ganges. But nevertheless, ask me what you wish.”
Āḷavaka:
What is a person’s highest wealth here?
What, when well-practiced, brings bliss?
What is the most excellent of savors?
Living in what way
is one’s life called the best?
The Buddha:
Conviction is a person’s highest wealth here.
Dhamma, well-practiced, brings bliss.
Truth is the most excellent of savors.[
1]
Living with discernment,
one’s life is called best.
Āḷavaka:
How does one cross over the flood?
How over the sea?
How does one overcome suffering & stress?
How is a person purified?
The Buddha:
Through conviction one crosses over the flood.
Through heedfulness, the sea.
Through persistence one overcomes
suffering & stress.
Through discernment a person is purified.
Āḷavaka:
How does one gain discernment?
How does one find wealth?
How does one attain honor?
How bind friends to oneself?
Passing from this world
to
the next world,
how does one not grieve?
The Buddha:
Convinced of the arahants’ Dhamma
for attaining unbinding,
— heedful, investigating —
one listening well
gains discernment.
Doing what’s fitting,
enduring burdens,
one with initiative
finds wealth.
Through truth
one attains honor.
Giving
binds friends to oneself.
Endowed with these four qualities,
— truth,
self-control,
stamina,
generosity —
a householder of conviction,
on passing away, doesn’t grieve.
Now, go ask others,
common brahmans & contemplatives,
if anything better than
truth,
self-control,
stamina,
& generosity
here can be found.
Āḷavaka:
How could I go ask
common brahmans & contemplatives? —
now that today I discern
what benefits
the next life.
It was truly for my well-being
that the Awakened One came
to stay in Āḷavī.
Today I discern
where what is given
bears great fruit.
I will wander from village to village,
town to town,
paying homage to the One Self-Awakened
& to the Dhamma’s true rightness.
| 1 : 11 |
Victory |
| Victory over the defilements through contemplation of the unattractiveness of the body |
SN 1:11
vv. 193–206
Whether walking, standing,
sitting, or lying down,
it flexes & stretches:
This is the body’s movement.
Joined together with tendons & bones,
plastered over with muscle & skin,
hidden by complexion,
the body isn’t seen
for what it is:
filled with intestines, filled with stomach,
with the lump of the liver,
bladder, lungs, heart,
kidneys, spleen,
mucus, sweat, saliva, fat,
blood, synovial fluid, bile, & oil.
On top of that,
in nine streams,
filth is always flowing from it —
from the eyes : eye secretions,
from the ears : ear secretions,
from the nose : mucus,
from the mouth it vomits:
now vomit,
now phlegm,
now bile;
from the body : beads of sweat.
And on top of that,
its hollow head is filled with brains.
The fool, beset by ignorance,
thinks it beautiful,
but when it lies dead,
swollen, livid,
cast away in a charnel ground,
even relatives don’t care for it.
Dogs feed on it,
jackals, wolves, & worms.
Crows & vultures feed on it,
along with any other animals there.
Having heard the Awakened One’s words,
the discerning monk
comprehends, for he sees it
for what it is:
“As this is, so is that.
As that, so this.”
Within & without,
he should let desire for the body
fade away.
With desire & passion faded away,
the discerning monk arrives here:
at the deathless,
the calm,
the unfallen, undying[
1] state
of unbinding.
This two-footed thing is cared for,
filthy, evil-smelling,
filled with various carcasses,
oozing out here & there:
Whoever would think,
on the basis of a body like this,
to exalt himself or disparage another —
What is that
if not blindness?
| 1 : 12 |
The Sage |
| The characteristics of the ideal sage, who finds happiness and security in living the solitary life. (This sutta is apparently one of the series of passages that King Asoka recommended for study and reflection by all practicing Buddhists.) |
SN 1:12
vv. 207–221
Danger is born from intimacy,[
1]
a home gives birth to dust.[
2]
Free from a home,
free from intimacy:
Such is the vision of the sage.[
3]
Who, destroying what’s born,
wouldn’t plant (again)
or nourish what’s taking birth:
They call him the wandering, solitary sage.
He, the great seer
has seen
the state of peace.
Considering the ground,
crushing the seed,
he wouldn’t nourish the sap[
4]
— truly a sage —
seer of the ending of birth,
abandoning conjecture,
he cannot be classified.
Knowing all dwellings,[
5]
not longing for any one anywhere
— truly a sage —
with no coveting, without greed,
he does not build,[
6]
for he has gone beyond.
Conquering all
knowing all,
wise.
With regard to all things:
unsmeared.
Abandoning all,
in the ending of craving,
released:
The enlightened call him a sage.
With discernment his strength,
well-endowed in habit & practice,
centered,
delighting in
jhāna,
mindful,
released from attachments,
free from rigidity, free
from effluent[
7]:
The enlightened call him a sage.
The solitary wandering sage,
uncomplacent, unshaken by praise or blame —
unstartled, like a lion at sounds,
uncaught, like the wind in a net,
unsmeared, like a lotus in water,[
8]
leader of others, by others unled:
The enlightened call him a sage.
Who becomes
like the pillar at a bathing ford,[
9]
when others speak in extremes;
he, without passion,
his senses well-centered:
The enlightened call him a sage.
Truly poised, straight as a shuttle,[
10]
he loathes evil actions.
Pondering what is consonant & discordant[
11]:
The enlightened call him a sage.
Restrained in mind, he does no evil.
Young & middle-aged,
the sage self-controlled,
never angered, he angers none:
The enlightened call him a sage.
From the best
the middling
the leftovers
he receives alms.
Sustaining himself on what others give,
neither flattering
nor speaking disparagement:
The enlightened call him a sage.
The wandering sage
abstaining from sex,
in youth bound by no one,
abstaining from intoxication[
12]
complacency,
totally apart:
The enlightened call him a sage.
Knowing the world,
seeing the highest goal,
crossing the ocean,[
13] the flood,[
14]
— Such[
15] —
his chains broken,
unattached,
without effluent:
The enlightened call him a sage.
These two are different,
they dwell far apart:
the householder supporting a wife
and the unselfish one, of good practices.
Slaying other beings, the householder
is unrestrained.
Constantly the sage protects other beings,
is controlled.
Just as the crested,
blue-necked peacock,
when flying,
never matches
the wild goose
in speed,
even so the householder
never keeps up with the monk —
the sage secluded
in the forest,
doing jhāna.