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^DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA'
PART IV
FURTHER
DIALOGUES OF THE
BUDDHA
rRANSLATED FROM THE PALI OF THE MAJJHIMA NIK AT A
BY
LORD CHALMERS
G.C.B.
SOMETIME GOVERNOR OF CEYLON
IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I
LONDON
HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, AMEN CORNER, E.G.
1926
5L ItlO
Si
Printed in Great Britain
CONJUGI
D. D. D.
CONJUNX SUPERSTES
PREFACE.
A QUARTER of a century ago I began a translation of the Majjhima Nikaya after editing the second half of the Pali text. On retirement from the public service, I resumed the task, and spent much time not only on the study of Buddhaghosa*s commentary (now happily available in print in the Siamese edition), but also on detailed collation with other books ^of the Pali canon, till the annotations exceeded in length the translation proper, and four volumes would have been needed instead of two. Very deliberately I have excised practically all the notes and nearly all the copious repetitions, — in the sure belief that what is immediately needed is the presentment in an English dress of the 152 philosophico-psychological chapters of this fundamental (and biographical) Buddhist scrip- ture, without tacking on an exposition of Buddhism.
With the late Professor Rhys Davids, I believe that substantially the Digha and the Majjhima Nikayas form one book, and together present the essentials of early Buddhism in their oldest extant form. I take leave to add that, before the illuminating labours of Mrs. Rhys Davids in interpreting philosophical terms and ideas, no adequate translation of this difficult book was possible.
In my Introduction I have essayed briefly to outline the main ideas of Gotama's forerunners, as a back- ground to the study of Gotama's own teachings in the Digha and the Majjhima.
The second volume will conclude with an index to both volumes of this translation.
C.
Peterhouse Lodge, Cambridge,
Decembev 31, 1925.
vii
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
NTRODUCTION
PAGE
XV
A. MULA-PANNASA. (The first fifty Suttas, in five Vaggas or sections of ten.)
I. Miila-pariyaya Vagga.
SUTTA
1. MULA-PARIYAYA
How states of consciousness originate.
2. Sabb-asava
Coping with Cankers.
3. Dhamma-dayada
Unworldly goods.
Bhaya-bherava Of braving fears.
Anangana . Of blemishes.
Akankheyya
Of yearnings.
Vatthupama
On fulling.
8. Sallekha .
Of expunging.
9. Samma-ditthi
Right ideas.
10. Sati-patthana Of mindfulness.
4
9
12
18
23
26
29 41
IX
FURTHER DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA.
11. Sihanada Vagga. SDTTA II. CULA-SIHANADA The short challenge. |
PAGE . 42 |
|
12. |
Maha-sihanada The long challenge. |
• 45 |
13- |
Maha-dukkha-kkhandha . The longer story of 111. |
• 59 |
14. |
Cula-dukkha-kkhandha . . . The brief story of 111. |
. 66 |
15- |
Anumana Reflection. |
. 69 |
16. |
Ceto-khila ..... The heart's fallows and bondages. |
• 71 |
17. |
Vana-pattha . . . Ubi bene — |
74 |
18. |
Madhu-pindika Honeyed lore. |
• 75 |
19. |
Dvedha-vitakka .... On counter-irritants. |
79 |
20. |
VlTAKKA-SANTlIANA .... The governance of thoughts. |
. 82 |
III. {Opamma) Vagga.
21. Kakacupama ....
The parable of the saw.
2 2. ALAGADDtJPAMA .... The venomous snake.
23. Vammika
The smouldering ant-hill.
24. Ratha-vinita ....
On relays.
85
90
100
103
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I,
XI
SUTTA 25. NiVAPA ..... Gins and snares. |
PAGE . 108 |
26. Ariya-pariyesana The noble quest. |
. 113 |
27. Cula-hatthi-padopama The short trail. |
. 125 |
28. Maha-ha'ithi-padopama The long trail. |
. . 133 |
29. Maha-saropama . . . . Timber : or Discoveries. |
. . 138 |
30. CULA-SAROPAMA . More about Timber. |
• 143 |
IV. Maha-yamaka Vagga.
31. CtJLA-GOSINGA
In Gosinga Wood.
32. Maha-gosinga .
The shining light.
2iZ. Maha-gopalaka . Pastoral duties.
34. CULA-GOPALAKA .
Pastors, good and bad.
35. Cula-Saccaka .
Saccaka's onslaught.
36. Maha-Saccaka .
Saccaka again.
37. Cula-tanha-sankhaya
Deliverance from cravings
38. Maha-tanha-sankhya
Consciousness a process only.
39. Maha-Assapura
The ideal recluse,
148
162 170 180
i33 191
xu
FURTHER DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA.
40. CULA-ASSAPURA ....
The recluse's regimen.
V. Cula-yamaka Vagga
4 1 . Saleyyaka .
Our weird.
42. Veranjaka
Our weird.
43. Maha-vedalla .
The long miscellany.
44. Cula-vedalla
The short miscellany.
45. Cula-dhamma-samadana
On living up to professions — I
46. Maha-dhamma-samadana
On living up to professions — II
47. ViMAMSAKA
Study of the Truth-finder.
4S. KOSAMBIYA .
Amity and its root.
49. Brahma-nimantanika
Brahma's appeal.
50. Mara-tajjaniya .
The rebuke to Mara.
199
202 207 207 213 219 222 227 230
239
B. Majjhima-pannasa. (The second fifty Suttas, in five Vaggas or sections of ten.)
I. Gahapati Vagga.
51. Kandaraka ...... 246
Against asceticism.
52. Atthaka-nagara . . . -251
The portals of Nirvana.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
XllI
r SUTTA ^53. Sekha How to become an adept |
PAGE • 254 |
|
54- |
POTALIYA . . . . True retirement. |
• 259 |
55- |
JiVAKA Lawful and unlawful meats. |
. 264 |
56. |
Upali A Jain's conversion. |
. 267 |
57- |
KUKKURA-VATIKA . . . . Of emulating dogs. |
. 278 |
58. |
Abhaya-rajakumara .... Of choosing one's words. |
. 282 |
59. |
Bahu-vedaniya Pleasant and unpleasant. |
. 286 |
60. |
Apannaka . The sound doctrine. II. Bhikkhu Vagga. |
. 289 |
61. |
Ambalatthika-Rahul-ovada Against lying. |
• 297 |
62. |
Maha-Rahul-ovada . . . . Breathing exercises. |
. 300 |
63. |
Cula-Malunkya . . . . Of the irrelevant. |
• 304 |
64. |
Maha-Malunkya . . . . Of bursting bonds asunder. |
• -308 |
65. |
Bhaddali Of obedience. |
• 3" |
66. |
Latukikopama The parable of the quail. |
. 318 |
67. |
Catuma . . . Of land sharks. |
• 324 |
XIV
FURTHER DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA.
SUTTA 68. Nalakapana .... The stimulus of example. |
PAGE • 329 |
69. GULISSANI Of rusticity. |
• 332 |
70. KiTAGIRI Implicit obedience. |
• 334 |
III. Paribbajaka Vagga.
7 1 . Tevijja- Vacchagotta
The true three-fold lore.
72. Aggi- Vacchagotta
Of fuel.
']l, M AHA- Vacchagotta .
The meed of service.
74. DiGHANAKHA
Consistency in outlook.
75. Magandiya
Of keeping watch and ward.
76. Sandaka . . .
Of false guides.
339 341
345
351
362
INTRODUCTION.
A LATE-COMER in the Indian renascence, Gotama the Buddha restated — and enlarged — the current re- ligious thought of India some six centuries B.C. For the purpose of approaching the Majjhima Nikaya, or indeed any treatise of canonical Buddhism, it is first of all necessary to take cognisance of the main lines on which, in Gotama s day, India's current thought was developing out of early brahminism. It would require at the least a separate volume adequately to trace that development ; and for this the full facts are not as yet definitely ascertained. The more restricted aim of this Introduction is to sketch what Gotama found awaiting him ; and this may conveniently be considered under the two heads of (i) physical asceticism and (ii) intellectual tenets.
I. Asceticism.
Not long before Gotama's day, the passionate search for something to supplement the mantras and sacri- ficial rites of formal brahminism, had found its primary inspiration in a faith in a Supreme Self — embracing and including all human personality — whereby the road to Deliverance from all mortal ills was opened up to mankind. In India, as elsewhere, the ascetic life made an irresistible appeal to dawning aspiration, and had grown, long before Gotama's day, to be the accepted mode of religious culture. It was thus to a public opinion convinced that present discomfort is the pathway to bliss hereafter, and convinced too that austerities are the outward and visible sign of holiness within, that Indian reformers and teachers had perforce to make their appeal. Without the credentials of asceti- cism, no new doctrine or speculation could hope to win acceptance or indeed a respectful hearing.
XV
XVI FURTHER DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA.
As an ascetic, Gotama always claimed that, though he had been reared in luxury (vide Sutta 75), yet, when the call came to him to go forth from home to homelessness as a Pilgrim of the Higher Life, he had gone further with austerity than the most fanatical of devotees. The catalogue of his ' fourfold ' austeri- ties in our 12th Sutta, even if it be too highly coloured for historic fact, yet presents in * grisly ' synopsis con- temporary ideals of mortification of the flesh. In that synopsis there are included, so far as can be judged from the older books of the Buddhist Canon, the salient practices of all schools of recognized austerity, from the orthodox Jatila to the Jain. Over and above these, there were the 'freak' practices (Sutta 57) of those naked devotees who, in the words of Gibbon, "aspired to reduce themselves to the rude and miserable state in which the human brute is scarcely distinguished above his kindred animals " and (e.g.) as * bovines ' anticipated by a thousand years those ySocr/col or Christian anchorites who "derived their name from their humble practice of grazing in the fields of Meso- potamia with the common herd."
Gotama tried it all and found it wanting. The con- secrated life, as he says in our 40th Sutta, is not a matter of raiment, or of going naked, or of dirt, or of bathing, or of living under a tree or in the open, or of never sitting down, or of chanting mantras like a brahmin hermit, or of wearing matted hair like the Jatila. As the declared enemy of self-torture, no less than of the torture of others, Gotama pronounced bodily austerities as such to be not only futile but positively hurtful. The only sane thing for a man to do was to school the mind to ' live greatly ' — with the body as the mind's obedient servant. Gotama's own distinctive contribution to the religious practice of his day was that, in lieu of asceticism, he preached the simple life of studied and purposeful temperance in all mere bodily matters. In the words of his own first sermon {S.B.E. xiii, 94) : " There are two extremes, O Almsmen, which he who has given up the world
INTRODUCTION. XVll
ought to avoid. What are those two extremes ? — A life given to pleasures, devoted to pleasures and lusts ; this is degrading, sensual, vulgar, ignoble and profit- less. And a life given to mortifications ; this is pain- ful, ignoble and profitless. By avoiding these two extremes, the Truth-finder has gained the knowledge of the Middle Path which leads to insight, which leads to wisdom, which conduces to calm, to knowledge, to Enlightenment, to Nirvana."
Although Gotama incurred censure from his con- temporary rdligieux for dangerous laxity, it would be an anachronism to interpret by modern European ideas Gotamas standard of temperate living for his Con- fraternity. For, the religious life, as every Almsman was to be told, after his Confirmation (Vin. I, 58), had the following * Four Endeavours ' to inspire it ; —
1. '* In the matter of food, the Pilgrim's life is based on alms-scraps. Thus you must endeavour to live all your life. — Meals given to the Confraternity, to individuals, invitations, food distributed by ticket, meals given each sabbath . . . are extras."
2. "In the matter of raiment, the Pilgrim's life is based on rags taken from a dustheap. Thus you must endeavour to live all your life. — Linen, cotton, silk, woollen garments, and cloth are extras."
3. "In the matter of housing, the Pilgrim's life is based on dwelling at the foot of a tree. Thus you must endeavour to live all your life. — Cells, houses, mansions and huts are extras."
4. " In the matter of medicaments, the Pilgrim's life is based on decomposing urine (see infra, p. 226). Thus you must endeavour to live all your life. — Ghee, butter, oil, honey and molasses are extras."
Clearly, these extra allowances were later conces- sions. Indeed, the whole Vinaya teems with departures from primitive simplicity — so much so that a perplexed disciple asked (in our 65th Sutta) why it was that, in the beginning, with fewer rules there were more saints, and now fewer saints but more rules ! The explana- tion attributed to Gotama was that rules are not
h
XVIU FURTHER DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA.
prescribed till they prove necessary, and that they become necessary when, pari passu with corporate success in the world, later recruits introduce repre- hensible tendencies. The Vinaya furnishes abundant evidence of unworthy recruits. Among them was (e.g.) a brahmin who joined because "the precepts which these Sakyaputtiya samanas keep and the life they live are commodious ; they have good meals and lie on beds protected from the wind." But, when it came to going round for alms, he flatly refused. If food was supplied, so well and good ; otherwise, he would go back to the world which avowedly he had only renounced for his belly's sake. Others joined (temporarily) to get cured of leprosy, boils, consumption and fits by the honorary physician of the Confraternity; and, to escape active service, " many distinguished warriors" took Orders, as did fugitives from justice, debtors, runaway slaves and impecunious old gentle- men. "This will not do, O Almsmen (said the sagacious Gotama), for converting the unconverted and for augmenting the number of the converted ; — it will result in the unconverted being repelled and in many of the converted being estranged,"
Estrangement from within did actually come, and that in the shape of the most serious revolt against his authority which Gotama had to face. For (as is re- lated in detail at S.B.E. xx, 252-271), his cousin Devadatta headed a schismatic movement — doubtless stimulated by the austerer practice of the rival Jains, with whom he had relations — to restore pristine sim- plicity by positive and specific enactment of * Five Points,' — three of which were identical with the first three of the ' Four Resources' enumerated above.
*' No, Devadatta," was Gotama's answer, —
*' (i) Whosoever wishes to do so, let him dwell in the forest ; — whosoever wishes to do so, let him dwell in the neighbourhood of a village.
(ii) Whosoever wishes to do so, let him live by alms ; — whosoever wishes to do so, let him accept invitations from the laity.
INTRODUCTION. XIX
(iii) Whosoever wishes to do so, let him dress in rags ; — whosoever wishes to do so, let him receive gifts of robes from laymen.
(iv) Sleeping under trees has been allowed by me, Devadatta, for eight months in the year, and
(v) the eating of fish that is pure in the three points — to wit, that the eater has not seen, or heard, or suspected that it has been caught for his eating."
As will be seen from (e.g.) the 77th Sutta infra, this measure of liberty was retained ; and each individual was left free, within generous limits, to choose the mode of living which suited his own particular needs, — even if it included austerities which Gotama neither recommended to others nor practised in his own person. Thus in Buddhism asceticism was admissiim but not perinissum, a domestic settlement of a vexed question which was at once expedient and wise in its broad tolerance, — though it did not silence outside criticism.
II. Tenets.
For present purposes, and particularly with a view to avoiding as far as possible the anachronism of jumbling together later developments with primitive conceptions, the current thought of Gotama's day is here deduced, for the specific purpose of interpreting the Majjhima Nikaya, from the Majjhima Nikaya itself, — supplemented, where necessary, from the (probably) contemporary Digha Nikaya and the Vinaya.
Naturally, current brahmin tenets (their ceremonial and even their arrogant pretensions are not relevant here) are the first matter to set out. The brahmins' fivefold code for achieving the ideal (by brahmins) is formulated in our 99th Sutta as consisting of —
1. The Truth (sacca).
2. Austerities (tapas).
3. Chastity (brahmacariya).
4. Study (of Vedic lore), and
5. Munificence (caga) — i.e., to brahmins.
These five avenues to the higher life, Gotama
XX FURTHER DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA.
scouted as being merely the heart's apprenticeship and propaedeutic, serving only to purge men from wrath and malevolence. So, when the conversation turns (as it very often does turn, with brahmin interlocutors) on how to attain ' union with Brahma,'^ Gotama affirms that this, rightly understood, is approached not by the foregoing f[VQ avenues, but through the moral virtues of universal goodwill and pity, compassion and equanimity. * Union with Brahma' is really a poor thing, based on groundless assumptions con- cerning * God ' and the divine governance of the universe, and wholly unsatisfying to the thinking mind, though helpful possibly as a stepping-stone for weaker brethren (Sutta 97).
The like criticisms apply also to the Jatilas, who were orthodox brahmin ascetics, tending the sacred fire and bathing thrice a day in order to wash away the evil within (Vin. I, 31 et seqq).
Among sects not exclusively brahmin the pioneers were the Paribbajakas, or * Wanderers ' (of both sexes), whose creed is formulated — e.g. in the 78th and 79th Suttas of the Majjhima Nikaya — as a belief in perfect bliss hereafter for the purged self, and as a conviction that this bliss can be won in the ' peerless ' life, by freedom from all evil in (i) acts, (ii) words, (iii) aims and (iv) mode of livelihood (Majjhima II, 24). All these four standards of conduct were incorporated bodily in Gotama's Noble Eightfold Path ; and the last of the four gave to the separate sect of the Ajlvakas {' Mendicants ') their specific name. As will be seen from (e.g.) our iith and 13th Suttas, the Wanderers claimed to be identical with Buddhists in tenets and teaching. Gotama's rejection of their claim is indicated at Vin. I, 39, in connection with the
1 Brahmanam sahavyataya maggo (Majjhima II. 195), lit. ' path to union with Brahmas.' In contradistinction to the Upanishads, the Buddhist Nikayas (see Dialogues I. 298) ignore the neuter and impersonal brahman, here substituting the mas- culine and personal Brahma. (Cf. M. III. loi : — Brahmuno sahavyatarh uppajjeyyam.)
INTRODUCTION. XXI
conversion of the brahmins Sariputta and Moggallana, who were Wanderers under Sanjaya and aimed at the goal of Deathlessness (amata), — which to them then probably meant the Brahma heavens. Their con- version followed on the recognition that Gotama dealt not with effects but with causes, and that he went to the root of the matter by teaching how causal states of consciousness arose and could be banished for ever.
Throughout the Nikayas, Gotama's polemic is focussed (outside Wanderers and brahminism) on six non-orthodox sects, — the heads of which were (i) Parana Kassapa, (ii) Makkhali Gosala (the Ajlvaka), (iii) Ajita Kesakamball, (iv) Pakudha Kaccayana, (v) Nataputta the Nigantha or Jain, and (vi) Sanjaya Belatthiputta. Their respective tenets — which are set out, but without names, in (e.g.) our 76th Sutta — are most conveniently studied in detail in the Samanfia- phala Sutta of the Digha Nikaya {Dial. I, 66-75). The names are there given in each case with the following (Buddhist) summaries of their views: —
(i) Parana Kassapa taught that it did not matter whether actions were good or bad.
(ii) Makkhali the Ajlvaka taught "purification through transmigration," i.e. pain ends only when the allotted term of successive existences has been completed.
(iii) Ajita held the theory of '* annihilation " of the individual at his physical death.
(iv) Pakudha held the theory of ''seven elementary substances" (earth, water, fire, air, ease, pain, and the soul), which are eternal and aloof, so that " there is neither slayer nor causer of slaying, hearer nor speaker, knower nor explainer."
(v) Nataputta the Jain held the theory of " the four- fold bond " of self-restraint whereby evil is washed away and kept at bay. As elaborated in (e.g.) our 1 01 St Sutta, the Jains held that each individual's lot follows from his former actions. Hence, by expiation and purge of former misdeeds and by not committing fresh misdeeds, nothing accrues for the future ; and as nothing accrues for the future, former misdeeds
XXll FURTHER DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA.
die away, and so eventually all 111 passes away. (Cf. Sutta 56.)
(vi) Safijaya showed "his manner of prevarication'* by committing himself to nothing, i.e. he was an agnostic pure and simple.
Gotama's attitude to rival creeds is indicated by the rules laid down for admitting converts. The general rule, as enunciated in (e.g.) our 73rd Sutta, was to require a probation of four months before enrolling as a Buddhist bhikkhu or ' Almsman ' a proselyte from another sect. But an exception was made (see Vin. I, yi=S.B.E. xiii, 190) in favour of converted Jatilas. These ascetic brahminical ' fire worshippers ' were to be enrolled as Almsmen forth- with, without probation, — on the express ground that they " hold the doctrine that actions receive their reward, and that our deeds have their result." This exception was extended— perhaps later — to all brah- mins, as will be seen from Suttas 7 and 92. Mental, and therefore moral (D. I, 124), responsibility was the keystone to Gotama*s position ; nor did he ever hold parley with any who denied this fundamental principle of his teaching. Thus, at the end of the 71st Sutta, Gotama, in affirming the spiritual barrenness of the primarily ascetic Ajlvakas (to whom in all probability he had originally attached himself in his early ascetic days), could not * call to mind ' a single Ajlvaka throughout the aeons who had risen to Arahatship, and only one solitary individual who even ' got to heaven,' — that solitary individual being, like the orthodox Jatilas, a karnma-vadin and kiriya-vddin.
For Gotama (p. 304, etc.) teleology and philosophic speculation had no message. On this side, he was avowedly an agnostic, refusing to waste his time on things irrelevant to the " grand business " of right living, based on right thinking ; the good life was the only thing that mattered. Mortal Ills were the dominant fact of life ; and his claim for himself (infra, p. 99) was that from the outset he had consistently preached his own original doctrine, known as the Four Noble Truths of
INTRODUCTION. XXIU
(i) 111, (ii) the uprisin,^ of 111, (iii) the ending of 111, and (iv) the course by which 111 could be ended here and now. That course was the Noble Eightfold Path, — (i) right outlook, (ii) right aims, (iii) right speech, (iv) right action, (v) right mode of livelihood, (vi) right effort, (vii) right mindfulness, and (viii) right concen- tration. Of these the second, third, fourth and fifth, as has been seen, were borrowed from the Wanderers en bloc. The significant departure is in the first of Gotama's categories — right outlook, — deliberately- placed in the forefront in order to affirm the sovereignty of mind and thought. Right thinking was the preface and the key to everything else in the higher life, and ignorance, or lack of understanding, was the root of all evil. The first duty of man was to comprehend and see all phenomena of life as a process of causal law (pp. 187-8) : — If this is, that comes about ; if this arises — or passes away — so does that too. The Deliverance for which men yearned in a hereafter was to be won here and now, through the mind, by right thinking, by * seeing and knowing ' phenomena aright, by those right states of conscious- ness which are the theme of the first Sutta of this book. And in the forefront here came the extirpation of the asavaSy or ' Cankers ' (see infra, p. 2 note 4 and p. 15, note i). Originally three in number in early Buddhism, the ' Cankers ' — sensuous pleasure, belief in personal immortality, and blank ignorance of the causal truth of things — forbade all possibility of newness of mental life, as being not a^i(Tei<^ but deadly €^€19. With their extirpation right conduct followed almost as a corollary, with Arahatship as the crown of a strenuous life of mental and moral culture.
One other matter requires mention, and it is a matter of significance. While the term asava (but not its connotation) may well have been borrowed from or through the Jains, the inclusion in Buddhism of metta ( = carltas, or active goodwill towards mankind and all creation) cannot be assigned with probability to a pre-Buddhist source, but marks an
XXIV FURTHER DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA.
original and independent contribution to the evolution of India's religious thought. Unlike the early rishis of Majjhima I. 378 and II. 155, whose psychic powers might be exercised in anger to blast a country-side or to burn to a cinder an unwelcome visitor, the Buddhist Almsman was trained — as a condition precedent to attaining Arahatship — to embrace the whole universe in radiant thoughts of goodwill and of pity and com- passion,— an ideal stedfastly to be maintained even during death by torture, as in the striking ' Parable of the Saw ' at p. 90 infra. The significance, present and future, of this spirit of altruism in Buddhism has been set forth with much cogency in Dr. K. T. Saunders' Epochs of Bitddhisni,
Remote as is this doctrine from either formal brah- minism, with its ritual of worship of Brahma, or from the Wanderers' passion for union with a Supreme Self in bliss everlasting, Gotama (or his followers for him) did not hesitate to appropriate to his teachings the nomenclature of his forerunners. With practical sagacity, he (or they) appropriated current terms and familiar nomenclature. Thus, while retaining the ac- cepted doctrines of transmigration and of ' gods,' he was the true ' brahmin ' and master of the ' threefold lore ' ; he was the true ' superman ' (maha-purisa), the true victor (jina), the true saint (arahant), and the veritable Truth- finder (tathagata). He borrowed from brahminism the title of Almsman (bhikkhu) for his enrolled followers, and called their enrolment (pabbajja) after the parib- bajakas (Wanderers). But in each instance he altered the connotation of the familiar terms which he retained from the past, while importing into them his own novel content of meaning. The old labels were reassuring, even though the wine was a new brand.
:. MDLA-PARIYAYA-SUTTA.
HOW STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS ORIGINATE.
[1] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Ukkattha in the Subhaga grove under the great sal-tree, he addressed the Almsmen, saying : — Almsmen ! Lord, said they in answer. Then said the Lord : — I will expound to you how all states of consciousness originate ; listen with attention and I will speak. Yes, sir, said they in response to the Lord, who then spoke as follows : —
Take the case of an uninstructed every-day man, who takes no count of the Noble and is unversed and un- trained in INJoble Doctrine ; who takes no count of the Excellent ^ and is unversed and untrained in Excellent Doctrine. Such a man (simply) perceives earth as earth and, so perceiving it, conceives ideas of earth, ideas of — in earth, from earth, my earth; and is content with * earth.' And why ? — I say it is because he does not comprehend it.
So too he perceives water as water, and, so per- ceiving it, conceives ideas of water, ideas of — in water, from water, my water; — and is content with 'water.' And why.^ — I say it is because he does not com- prehend it.
In just the same way originate his ideas about —
(i)fire, (2) air, [2J( 3) creatures, (4) gods, (5) Pajapati,^ (6) Brahma, (7) Abhassara deities, (8) Subhakinna deities, (9) Vehapphala deities, (10) Abhibhu, [3] (11) the Realm of Infinite Space, (12) the Realm of Infinite
^ The Noble and the Excellent (synonymous terms according to Buddhaghosa) are simply Arahats (M. I, 280, 402, etc.), and are not to be restricted (as Bu.) to Buddhas, Pacceka Buddhas, and the (chief) disciples of Buddhas.
^ Identified by Bu. as Mara. For the following classes of beings, see the 33rd Sutta of the Digha Nikaya, and cf. Sutta No. 49 infra.
2 I. MtLA-PARIYAYA-SUTTA. M. i. 4.
Mind, (13) the Realm of Naught, (14) the Realm of neither perception nor non-perception, (15) what is seen, (16) what is heard, (17) what is sensed,^ (18) what is discerned,^ (19) unity, (20) multiplicity, (21) universality, and (22) Nirvana.
[4] Then too there is the Almsman who is still under training and has not yet won Arahatship, but lives in earnest yearning for utter immunity from the four Attachments. He recognizes earth as earth ; but, having so recognized it, — ah ! let him not conceive ideas of earth, ideas of — in earth, from earth, my earth ; let him not rest content with ' earth.' And why ? — I say it is because he must bring himself to comprehend it.
[Here follow similar paragraphs about water, fire, air . . . etc. . . ., and (22) Nirvana.]
Then there is the Almsman who is an Arahat,^ in whom the Cankers^ are no more, who has greatly lived, whose task is done, who has shed his burthens and has won his weal, whose bonds to life are now no more, who by utter knowledge has found final Deliverance. He too recognizes earth as earth ; but, having so recognized it, he conceives no ideas of earth, in earth, from earth, my earth ; nor does he rest content with * earth.' And why i^ — I say it is because he has come to comprehend it.
So too he recognizes water and the rest of these
^ Interpreted as representing the three other senses of smell, taste and touch. Cf. Dialogues of the Buddha III, 127, n. 2.
2 I.e., grasped by the mind (m a n a s a) as a sixth sense.
^ Lit. worshipful. See Dial. Ill, 3, et seq., for the history of this word, — used of non-Buddhists in Sutta 84 (II. 86). Cf. infra p. 175.
^ For the four asavas (of pleasure, continuing existence, and ignorance, with error superadded), see e.g. D. II, 84. (In our 2nd Sutta, as at the end of Suttas Nos. 4 and 9, the asavas are three in number, i.e. without the outlook of error superadded.)
The asavas, so called (says Bu.) because they flow, would seem to be running sores, or neoplasms of character, with their metas- tases of evil, like physical cancers. I have called them * cankers,' because of the metaphorical connotation which attaches to this word, though not to ' cancer.'
M. i. 5. STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 3
things ; he recognizes Nirvana as Nirvana, but, having so recognized it, he conceives no ideas of Nirvana, no ideas of — in Nirvana, from Nirvana, my Nirvana ; nor does he rest content with ' Nirvana.' And why ? — I say it is because he has come to com- prehend it.
The Almsman who is an Arahat, in whom . . . (etc., as in preceding paragraph, down to) . . . [5] nor does he rest content with 'earth,' or ' water' and so forth. And why ? — Because, say I, by the extirpation of lusts he is freed from lusts ; because by the extirpation of hate he is freed from hate ; because by the extirpation of delusion he is freed from delusion.
The Truth-finder^ too, the Arahat all-enlightened, also recognizes earth as earth ; but^ having so recognized it, he conceives no ideas of earth, no ideas of — in earth — from earth — my earth ; nor is he content with * earth,' or with * water ' and so forth. [6] And why ? — Because, say I, he has comprehended it to the full.^
The Truth-finder too . . . (etc., as in preceding paragraph, down to) . . . And why? — Because, having seen pleasure to be the root of 111, he sees how continuing existence entails rebirths and that what- ever has continuing existence is dogged by decay and death. Therefore it is, say I, that by extirpating all cravings, by lusting not after them, but by destroying and abandoning and renouncing them all, the Truth-finder has become all-enlightened, with utter enlightenment.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
^ For this rendering of tathagata see J.R.A.S., 1898, Bud- dhist Psychological Ethics (2nd edit., p. 270, n. 6), and Dialogues I, 40, 263, etc. Just as J i n a is a title of the Buddha, so tatha- gata is a synonym of the Jain titthakara, or ford-maker (S.B.E. XLV, p. 320), — both terms being pre-buddhistic, like arahant, bhagavant, etc.
At e.g. M. I, 140 tathagata is used as a synonym of arahat. Cf. D. I, 27 (hoti tathagato param marana), on which Bu. says : sat to tathagato ti adhippeto.
2 Reading parihnat-antarii, with Bu. (M.A. I, 52}.
II. SABB-ASAVA-SUTTA. M. i. 7.
II. SABB-ASAVA-SUTTA.
COPING WITH CANKERS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi In Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, the Lord addressed the Almsmen, saying — Almsmen! Lord, said they in answer. Then the Lord spoke these words : I will expound to you how to subdue all the Cankers ; listen with [7] attention and I will speak. Yes, sir, said they in response to the Lord, who then spoke as follows : —
I say that it is only in him who knows and sees, and not in him who neither knows nor sees, that there is extirpation of the Cankers. Now, what does he know and see whose Cankers are extirpated ? Why, he knows and sees what thinking is founded aright and what is wrongly founded. If a man's thinking is wrong, then not only do Cankers arise which had not arisen before, but also those which had already risen now grow apace. If, however, his thinking is right, then not only do those Cankers not arise now which had not arisen before, but also those which had already arisen are now got rid of.
Cankers are to be got rid of (i) some by scrutiny, (2) some by restraint, (3) some by use, (4) some by endurance, (5) some by avoidance, (6) some by removal, and (7) others by culture.
I. What are the Cankers which are to be got rid of by scrutiny ? — Take the case of the uninstructed every- day man, who, having no vision of them that are Noble and of them that are Excellent, and being unversed and untrained in their Doctrine, does not understand either what mental states are, or what mental states are not, proper to be entertained. Accordingly, as he does not understand either, he entertains mental states which he should not entertain and fails to entertain those he should. Now, what are the mental states which he entertains though he should not ? — Why,
M. i. 8. COPING WITH CANKERS. 5
those States by the entertainment of which the Cankers — of sensuous pleasure or of continuing existence or of ignorance — either arise where they had not arisen before or grow apace where they had arisen already. What, now, are the mental states which he does not entertain though he should ? — Why, those states by the entertainment of which those three Cankers either arise where they had not arisen before or grow apace where they had arisen already. Thus, [8] by enter- taining mental states which he should not entertain and by not entertaining those which he should, not only do fresh Cankers arise but also the old ones grow apace. In his wrong-headedness, he asks himself — (i.) Was I in ages past ? (ii.) Was I not in ages past ? (iii.) What was I then ? (iv.) How was I then ? (v.) From what did I pass to what ? (vi.) Shall I be in ages to come ? (vii.) Shall I not be in ages to come? (viii.) What shall I then be ? (ix.) How shall I then be ? (x.) From what shall I pass to what ? Or, again, it is Self to-day about which he is in doubt, asking himself — (i.) Am I ? (ii.) Am I not? (iii.) What am I ? (iv.) How am I ? (v.) Whence came my being ? (vi.) Whither will it pass? In his wrong-headedness one or other of six wrong outlooks emerges as true and trustworthy : — (i.) I have a Self, (ii.) I have not a Self, (iii.) By Self I perceive Self, (iv.) By Self I perceive non-self. (v.) By non-self I perceive Self, (vi.) Or his error is to hold that this speaking and sentient Self of his — which is experiencing the fruits of good and of bad conduct in this or that earlier existence — has always been, and will always be, an everlasting and changeless Self, which will stand fast so long as heaven and earth stand fast. This is called perversion to error, seizure by error, the jungle of error, the schism of error, the writhing in error, the bondage of error. While he is fast in the bondage of error, I say that the uninstructed everyday man is never freed from birth, decay, and death, from sorrow, lamentation and tribulation, is never freed from 111. Now the instructed disciple of the Noble, who has vision of the Noble and Excellent
6 II. SABB-ASAVA-SUTTA. M. i. 9.
and is versed and well-trained in their Doctrine, under- stands what mental states his mind should entertain and what states it should not entertain ; and accord- ingly [9] he does not entertain those states he should not entertain but does entertain those he should. Now, what are the mental states which he should not, and does not, entertain ? — Why, those states by enter- tainment of which the Cankers of sensual pleasure, continuing existence or of ignorance either arise where they had not arisen before or grow apace where they had already arisen. And what are the mental states he should, and does, entertain ? — Why, those states by entertainment of which those same Cankers either do not arise if they have not arisen before or, having arisen before, now pass away. If he entertains not the mental states which he should not entertain but does entertain those he should, then not only will the Cankers which have not arisen before not arise now, but also those which had before arisen now pass away. His mind is engaged aright with entertaining the Four Noble Truths, namely : — This is 111 ; this is the origin of 111 ; this is the cessation of 111 ; this is the way that leads to the cessation of 111. He rids himself of the three Bonds — of individuality, doubt and the virus of ' good works.' These are called the Cankers which are to be got rid of by scrutiny.
2. What are the Cankers to be got rid of by restraint ? — Take the case of a Brother who has got his eye under restraint. Whereas lack of restraint of the eye would entail the arising of Cankers that destroy and consume, no such Cankers arise for him who has his eye under restraint. [Similar sentences follow about hearing, smell, taste, touch and mind.] [10] These are called the Cankers which are to be got rid of by restraint.
3. What are the Cankers to be got rid of by use ? Take the case of an Almsman who, duly and advisedly, exercises the use of robes — only to keep off cold, heat, gadflies, mosquitoes, scorching winds, and contact with creeping things, and to veil the parts of shame. Duly
M. i. II. COPING WITH CANKERS. 7
and advisedly he exercises the use of alms received — neither for pleasure nor for delight, neither for ostenta- tion nor for display, but only to support and sustain his body, to save it from hurt and to foster the higher life, thereby putting from him the old feelings and not breeding new feelings, but ensuring progress and the blameless lot and well-being. Duly and advisedly he exercises the use of lodging — only to keep off cold, heat, gadflies, mosquitoes, scorching winds and contact with creeping things, to dispel the dangers which the seasons bring, and to enjoy seclusion. Duly and advisedly he exercises the use of medical comforts and of his supply of medicaments — only to keep off pain felt and to minimize harm. Whereas shortcomings in use would entail the arising of Cankers that destroy and consume, no such Cankers arise for him whose use is in the right. These are called the Cankers to be got rid of by use.
4. What are the Cankers to be got rid of by endurance ? — Take the case of an Almsman who, duly and advisedly, has grown patient of cold and heat, of hunger and thirst, patient of gadflies, mosquitoes, scorching winds and contact with creeping things, patient of abusive and hurtful language, inured to endurance of the advent of all those bodily feelings which are painful, acute, sharp, severe, wretched, miserable, or deadly. Whereas lack of endurance would entail the arising of Cankers that destroy and consume, no such Cankers arise for him who has endurance. These are called the Cankers which are to be got rid of by endurance.
5. What are the Cankers to be got rid of by avoid- ance ? — Take the case of an Almsman who, duly and advisedly, avoids a savage elephant or horse or steer or dog, or avoids a snake, the stump of a tree, a briar patch, [11] a tank, a precipice, a refuse-pool or rubbish shoot. Duly and advisedly, he avoids either sitting in such unseemly places, or frequenting such unseemly resorts, or cultivating such bad friends as would lead the discreet among his fellows in the higher life to con-
8 II. SABB-ASAVA-SUTTA. M. i. 12.
elude he had gone astray. Whereas failure to avoid would entail the arising of Cankers that destroy and consume, no such Cankers arise for him who knows how to avoid. These are called the Cankers which are to be got rid of by avoidance.
6. What are the Cankers to be got rid of by removal ? Take the case of an Almsman who, duly and advisedly, rejects, discards, dispels, extinguishes and annihilates all those thoughts of sensual pleasure, malevolence and malice that have already arisen ; who rejects, dis- cards, dispels, extinguishes and annihilates all evil and wrong mental states which have not yet arisen within him. Whereas failure to remove these would entail the arising of Cankers that destroy and consume, no such Cankers arise for him who knows how to remove them. These are called the Cankers which are to be got rid of by removal.
7. What are the Cankers to be got rid of by culture ? Take the case of an Almsman who, duly and advisedly, cultivates the factors of enlightenment — to wit, self- collectedness, study of the Doctrine, strenuous effort, zest, tranquillity, rapt concentration, and poised equanimity — based each and all on aloofness, passion- lessness and cessation, with renunciation as the crown. Whereas failure to cultivate these things would entail the arising of Cankers that destroy and consume, no such Cankers arise for him who cultivates them aright. These are called the Cankers which are to be got rid of by culture.
The Almsman in whom the Cankers are gone which are severally to be got rid of by scrutiny, by restraint, by use, by endurance, by avoidance, [12] by removal and by culture — he it is who is said to have all the Cankers in restraint ; he has cut off craving, shed his bonds, and, by fathoming false pride, has made an end of 111.
Thus spoke the Lord. * Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
M. i. 13. UNWORLDLY GOODS. 9
III. DHAMMA-DAYADA-SUTTA.
UNWORLDLY GOODS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the attentive Almsmen as follows : —
Seek to be partakers, Almsmen, not of the world's goods but of my Doctrine ; in my compassion for you, I am anxious to ensure this. Should you be partakers of the world's goods and not of my Doctrine, then not only will you, my disciples, be blamed for so doing, but also I, as your teacher, shall be blamed on your account. If, on the other hand, you partake of my Doctrine and not of the world's goods, then not only will you, my disciples, escape blame for so doing, but also I, as your teacher, shall escape blame too. Therefore, be partakers of my Doctrine and not of the world's goods ; out of compassion for them, I would have all my disciples partake of my Doctrine and not of the world's goods.
Suppose my meal is over and that I have finished and ended, after having had my fill and enough ; and assume that of my alms there is some over, to be thrown away, when there arrive two Almsmen, [13] half dead with hunger and exhaustion, to whom I say that I have finished my own meal and do not want any more, but that of my alms there is some over, to be thrown away ; that they can eat it if they like, but that, if they do not, I shall either throw it away where no grass grows or fling it into water where no living things dwell. ^ Suppose now one Almsman thinks : The Lord has finished eating all he wants but has left some food which, if we do not eat it, he will now throw away. Now the Lord has told us to partake of his Doctrine and not of the world's g-oods — of which alms
^ I.e. so as not to harm life in any form. See S.B.E. XX, 219, and cf. Jainism.
lO III. DHAMMA-DAYADA-SUTTA. M. i. 14.
is one ; and I had better not eat but fast on till the morrow, notwithstanding my hunger and exhaustion. Suppose then that, not partaking of the alms over, this first Almsman patiently fasts on till the morrow comes. But suppose the second Almsman thinks : The Lord has had his own meal but there remains food over which he will only throw away if we do not eat it. Why should not I, by eating thereof, pass the night and next morning in relief from my hunger and ex- haustion ? Assume, now, that this second Almsman does eat, and so relieves his hunger and exhaustion before the morrow comes. Albeit he does so and re- lieves his necessity, yet I should hold the first Almsman in greater honour and esteem. And why ? — Because the first Almsman's abstention will long con- duce to curtailment of wants, to contentment, to pur- gation of evil, to virtuous satisfaction and to the strenuous life. Therefore, Almsmen, be ye partakers not of the world s goods but of my Doctrine ; in my compassion for you all, I am anxious to ensure this.
Thus spoke the Lord, who thereupon rose and passed to his own cell.
The Lord had not long been gone when the reverend Sariputta addressed the Almsmen, saying : Your reverences. Reverend sir, [14] said they in response. Then said Sariputta : In what respects, while their teacher leads the Life Apart, do his disciples either cultivate, or not cultivate, the same detachment of the inner life ?
We would have travelled from afar to learn the meaning of this from Sariputta's lips. Pray, vouchsafe to explain it, and we will treasure up your words.
Then, reverend sirs, hearken and pay attention and I will speak.
Yes, reverend sir, said they in response to Sari- putta, who went on to speak as follows : —
Take the case that, while their teacher leads the life apart, his disciples fail to cultivate the same aloofness of the inner life, do not put from them those states of mind which their teacher has bidden them put
M. i. 15. UNWORLDLY GOODS. I I
from them, but are luxurious and have but a loose grip of the truth, are foremost in backsliding, and in- tolerant of Renunciation's yoke. Herein, first the seniors are trebly blameworthy, — first, that, while their teacher leads the life apart, his disciples do not cultivate the same detachment in the inner life ; secondly, that they do not put from them those states of mind which their teacher has bidden them put from them ; and thirdly, that they are luxurious and have only a loose grip of truth, are to the forefront in back- sliding and intolerant of Renunciation's yoke. Blame attaches to the seniors in these three ways. And the like threefold blame attaches also to those of middle standing and to the juniors. These are the respects in which, while their teacher leads the life apart, his disciples do not cultivate the same aloofness of the inner life.
Next, what are the respects in which, while their teacher leads the life apart, his disciples [15] cultivate the like aloofness of the inner life ? — Take the case that, while their teacher leads the life apart, his disciples also cultivate aloofness in the inner life, put from them those states of mind which their teacher bids them put from them, are not luxurious, have no loose grip of the truth, are intolerant only of backsliding and are fore- most in Renunciation. Herein, first the seniors are trebly praiseworthy, — firstly, that while their teacher leads the life apart, they cultivate the same aloofness In the inner life ; secondly, that they put from them those states of mind which their teacher has bidden them put from them ; and thirdly, that they are not luxurious, have no looseness of grip on the truth, are intolerant only of backsliding, but are to the forefront in Re- nunciation. Praise attaches to the seniors in these three ways. And the like threefold praise attaches also to those of middle standing and to the juniors. These are the respects in which, while their teacher leads the life apart, his disciples cultivate the like aloofness of the inner life.
Yes, sirs, greed is vile, and vile is resentment. To shed this greed and this resentment, there is
12 III. DHAMMA-DAYADA-SUTTA. M. i. l6.
the Middle Way which gives us eyes to see and makes us know, leading us on to peace, insight, enlightenment and Nirvana. What is this Middle Way ? — Why, it is naught but the Noble Eightfold Path of right outlook, right aims, right speech, right action, right means of livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration ; this, Almsmen, is the Middle Way. Yes, sirs ; anger is vile and malevolence is vile, envy and jealousy are vile, niggardliness and avarice are vile, hypocrisy and deceit are vile, imperviousness [16] and temper are vile, pride and arrogance are vile, inflation is vile, and indolence is vile ; for the shedding of inflation and indolence there is the Middle Way — giving us eyes to see, making us know, and leading us on to peace, insight, enlightenment and Nirvana — which is naught but that Noble Eightfold Path.
Thus spoke the reverend Sariputta. Glad at heart, those Almsmen rejoiced in what he had said.
IV. BHAYA-BHERAVA-SUTTA.
OF BRAVING FEARS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove, in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, there came to him the brahmin Janussoni yvho, after due exchange of the greetings and compli- ments of politeness and courtesy, seated himself to one side and said : —
These young men who, following the reverend Gotama and believing in him, have gone forth as Pilgrims from home to homelessness, — all of them have him as their leader, warden and guide ? And the whole company of them are adherents of his tenets ?
Quite so, brahmin ; quite so ; it is just as you say.
It is hard, Gotama, to brave life in the wilds and depths of the forest, far from the haunts of men; solitude is hard to endure ; to live alone is joyless ;
M. i. 17. OF BRAVING FEARS I 3
and methinks forests are killing to the mind of an Almsman who does not attain to rapt concentration.
[17] Quite, so, brahmin ; quite so ; it is just as you say. I myself thought the very same thing in the days before my full Enlightenment when as yet I was not fully enlightened but was only a Bodhisatta. But, even so, I bethought me that : Recluses and brahmins who without purity — of act — of word — of thought — or of livelihood — take to living in the wilds, all of them, by reason of their impurity and its attendant corruption, evoke fear and dread from within themselves. But it is not in impurity but in purity that I take to a life of solitude in the wilds ; I am one of the Noble Brotherhood who in purity enter on such life. This consciousness of purity within, brahmin, braced me with confidence to live in the wilds.
I bethought me that : Recluses and brahmins living in the wilds are beset with fear and dread if they are covetous and pleasure-loving, and accordingly corrupt — [18] or malevolent and malignant, and corrupt accordingly — or are corrupt either by being given over to sloth and torpor, or by being puffed-up and disordered in mind, or by harbouring perplexity and doubts, or by [19] exalting themselves and disparaging others, or by being aghast and affrighted, or by acquisitiveness and love of distinction, or by being indolent and slack, [20] or by being bewildered and flustered, or by being unstable and wandering, or wit- less and drivelling. With me it is not so ; none of these defects are mine as I take to a life of solitude in the wilds ; I am one of the Noble Brotherhood who, without any one of these defects and without their attendant corruption, enter on the solitary life in the wilds and depths of the forest, far from the haunts of men. This consciousness braced me with confidence to live in the wilds.
There came to me the thought that, on the special and outstanding nights of each fortnight, I would seek out haunted shrines and altars in woodland or forest or under tutelary trees and there abide, in those awesome
14 IV. BHAYA-BHERAVA-SUTTA. M. i. 21.
and grisly scenes, — perchance there to discover fear and dread. So, in due season, on such nights, I took up my abode in those awesome and grisly scenes. As I abode there, either an animal passed along, or a peacock [21] knocked off a branch, or the wind rustled the fallen leaves, so that I thought this must surely be fear and dread coming. Thought I : — Wherefore am I doing nothing but await the coming of fear and dread.'* Come as they may, I, just as they find me, will even so overcome them, without changing my posture for them. I was pacing to and fro when fear and dread came upon me ; 1 continued to pace to and fro till I had overcome them, neither standing still nor sitting nor lying down. If I was standing still when fear and dread came upon me, I continued to stand still, and neither paced to and fro nor sat nor lay down, until I had overcome them. If I was seated when they came upon me, sitting I remained till I had overcome them, neither lying down nor standing still nor pacing to and fro. If I was lying down when fear and dread came upon me, lying down I remained till I had overcome them, — neither sitting down nor stand- ing still nor pacing to and fro.
Now, brahmin, there are some recluses and brahmins who say night is day and day is night ; ^ but I say this shews the delusion in which they live. Night to me is night, and day is day. Of me, if of anyone, it can truly be affirmed that, in me, a being without delusions has arisen in the world, for the w^al and welfare of many, out of compassion towards the world, for the good, the weal, and the welfare of gods and men.
Strenuous effort won for me perseverance that never flagged ; there arose in me mindfulness that knew no distraction, perfect tranquillity of body, stedfastness of mind that never wavered. Divested of pleasures of sense, divested of wrong states of consciousness, I entered on, and abode in, the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, — a state bred of inward aloofness
^ I.e. by Kasina meditations on white and black, respectively. Cf. Sutta No. 77,— M. II, 14-15.
M. i. 22. OF BRAVING FEARS I 5
but not divorced from observation and reflection. As I rose above reasoning and reflection, I entered on, and abode in, the Second Ecstasy [22] with all its zest and satisfaction, — a state bred of rapt concentration, above all observation and reflection, a state whereby the heart is focussed and tranquillity reigns within. By shedding the emotion of zest, I entered on, and abode in, the Third Ecstasy, with its poised equanimity, mindful and self-possessed, feeling in my frame the satisfaction of which the Noble say that poise and mindfulness bring abiding satisfaction. By putting from me both satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and by shedding the joys and sorrows I used to feel, I entered on, and abode in, the Fourth Ecstasy, — the state that, knowingneithersatisfaction nor dissatisfaction, is the con- summate purity of poised equanimity and mindfulness. With heart thus stedfast, thus clarified and purified, clean and cleansed of things impure, tempered and apt to serve, stablished and immutable, — it was thus that I applied my heart to the knowledge which recalled my earlier existences. I called to mind my divers exist- ences in the past, — a single birth, then two . . , [and so on to~\ , , , 2. hundred thousand births, many an aeon of disintegration of the world, many an aeon of its redintegration, and again many an aeon both of its disintegration and of its redintegration. In this or that former existence, I remembered, such and such was my name, my sept, my class, my diet, my joys and sorrows, and my term of life. When I passed thence, I came by such and such subsequent existence, wherein such and such was my name and so forth. Thence I passed to my life here. Thus did I call to mind my divers existences of the past in all their details and features. — This, brahmin, was the first knowledge attained by me, in the first watch of that night,^ — ignorance dispelled and know-
^ According to the Vinaya version (S.B.E. XIII, 75), only the Chain of Causation occupied the Buddha's mind during all three watches of the seventh night after attaining Buddhahood. According, however, to the (later) Jataka (I, 75), this night was
1 6 IV. BHAYA-BHERAVA-SUTTA. M. i. 23.
ledge won, darkness dispelled and illumination won, as befitted my strenuous and ardent life, purged of self.
That same stedfast heart I now applied to knowledge of the passage hence, and re-appearance elsewhere, of other beings. With the Eye Celestial, which is pure and far surpasses the human eye, I saw beings in the act of passing hence and of re-appearing elsewhere, — beings high and low, fair or foul to view, in bliss or woe ; I saw them all fai'ing according to their past. Here were beings given over to evil in act word and thought, who decried the Noble and had a wrong outlook and became what results from such wrong out- look ;— -these, at the body's dissolution after death, made their appearance in states of suffering, misery and tribulation and in purgatory. Here again were beings given to good in act [23] word and thought, who did not decry the Noble, who had the right out- look and became what results from right outlook ; — these, at the body's dissolution after death, made their appearance in states of bliss in heaven. All this did I see with the Eye Celestial ; and this, brahmin, was the second knowledge attained by me, in the second watch of that night, — ignorance dispelled and knowledge won, darkness dispelled and illumination won, as be- fitted my strenuous and ardent life, purged of self.
That same stedfast heart I next applied to know- ledge of the eradication of Cankers. I comprehended, aright and to the full. 111, the origin of 111, the cessation of 111, and the course that leads to the cessation of 111. I comprehended, aright and to the full, what the Cankers were, with their origin, cessation, and the course that leads to their cessation. When I knew this and when I saw this, then my heart was delivered
the actual night of attaining Buddhahood and the first two watches of this night were absorbed (as in this Sutta) by the pubbe-ni vasa-fiana and the dibba-cakkh u-n a na of this and the next paragraph. In the Jataka version the third watch alone is reserved for the Chain of Causation, — here replaced (as at I Digha 93) by the Four Noble Truths and by a parallel series of four truths concerning the three Cankers.
M. i. 24. OF BRAVING FEARS I 7
from the Canker of sensuous pleasure, from the Canker of continuing existence, and from the Canker of ignor- ance ; and to me thus delivered came the knowledge of my Deliverance in the conviction — Rebirth is no more ; I have lived the highest life ; my task is done ; and now for me there is no more of what I have been. This, Brahmin, was the third knowledge attained by me, in the third watch of that night. — ignorance dispelled and knowledge won, darkness dispelled and illumina- tion won, as befitted my strenuous and ardent life, purged of self.
Yet it may be, brahmin, that you imagine that even to-day the recluse Gotama is not void of passion, hate and delusion, and therefore takes to living in the wilds and depths of the forest, far from the haunts of men. Not so. I live the solitary life because therein I see a twofold good ; — I see my own well-being here and now, and I have compassion on them that come after.
Compassion indeed, Gotama, for them that come after, — [24] befitting the Arahat all-enlightened ! Excellent, Gotama; excellent! It is just as if a man should set upright again what had been cast down, or reveal what was hidden away, or tell a man who had gone astray which was his way, or bring a lamp into darkness so that those with eyes to see might see the things about them, — even so, in many a figure, has the reverend Gotama made his Doctrine clear. I come to Gotama as my refuge and to his Doctrine and to his Confraternity ; I ask him to accept me as a follower who has found an abiding refuge from this day on- ward while life shall last.
V. AxNANGANA-SUTTA.
OF BLEMISHES.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, the reverend Sariputta addressed the Almsmen as follows : —
There are four types of individuals in the world : — (i.) The blemished man who does not realize aright the blemish within him ; (ii.) the blemished man who does realize it aright; (iii.) the unblemished man who does not realize aright that he is unblemished within ; and (iv.) the unblemished man who does realize it aright. In the first pair— of the blemished— the second ranks high and the first low ; and similarly [25] in the second pair the second ranks high and the first low.
Hereupon the reverend Maha-Moggallana asked Sariputta what was the cause and what were the con- ditions whereby one of the two with blemishes, and one of the two without blemishes, was ranked high and the other low.
Reverend sir, answered Sariputta, it is to be expected of the man who is blemished but does not realize it, that he will not develop will-power, will not exert him- self nor work to shed his blemishes ; he will die with heart corrupt and with his blemishes still upon him, a prey to passion, hate and delusion. It is just like a brass bowl brought home from bazaar or stithy covered with dust and dirt, never to be used or scoured by its owners, but just flung aside among the dust. Pray, would such a bowl grow fouler and fouler till it became filthy ? — Yes, sir. — Just in the same way the man with blemishes which he does not realize aright, may be expected not to develop will-power . . . delusion.
On the other hand, it is to be expected of the man with blemishes which he does realize aright, that he will develop will-power, will exert himself, will work to
i8
M. i. 26. OF BLEMISHES. 19
shed his blemishes, and will die with heart uncorrupt and without blemish, quit of passion, hate and delusion. It is just like a brass bowl brought home from bazaar or stithy covered with dust and dirt, to be used and scoured by its owners and not to be flung aside among the dust. [26j Pray, would such a bowl grow cleaner and cleaner till it became spotless ? — Yes, sir. — Just in the same way the man with blemishes which he realizes aright, may be expected to develop will-power . . . quit of passion, hate and delusion.
Of the man who is without blemish but does not realize it aright, it is to be expected that his mind will dwell on seductive ideas and that in consequence passion will degrade his heart ; he will die with heart corrupt and with his blemishes still upon him, a prey to passion, hate and delusion. It is just like a brass bowl brought home from bazaar or stithy clean and bright, never to be used or scoured by its owners but just flung aside among the dust. Pray, would such a bowl grow fouler and fouler till it became filthy ? — Yes, sir. — Just in the same way the man who is with- out blemish but does not recognize it aright, may be expected to let his mind dwell on seductive ideas and in consequence to have his heart degraded by passion, so that he will die with heart corrupt and with his blemishes still upon him, a prey to passion, hate and delusion.
Lastly, it is to be expected of the man without blemish who realizes it aright, that his mind will not dwell on seductive ideas, and therefore that passion will not degrade his heart, and that he will die with heart uncorrupt and without blemish, quit of passion, hate, and delusion. It is just like a brass bowl brought home from bazaar or stithy clean and bright, to be used and scoured by its owners and not to be flung aside among the dust. Pray, would such a bowl grow cleaner and cleaner till it became spotless ? — Yes, sir. — Just in the same way it is to be expected of the man without blemish who realizes it aright, that his mind will not dwell . . . quit of passion, hate, and delusion.
20 V. ANANGANA-SUTTA. M. i. 27.
This, reverend Moggallana, [27] is the cause and these are the conditions whereby one of the two with blemishes, and one of the two without blemishes, is ranked high and the other low.
Blemish is simply called blemish, reverend sir (said Moggallana). What does the term connote ?
Blemish, reverend sir, connotes the domain of bad and wrong desires. The case may arise of an Alms- man who conceives the desire that, should he commit an offence, his fellows should not know of it ; and who, when they do come to know of it, waxes angry and wroth at their knowing it. This anger and dissatisfac- tion are both blemishes.
Or he may conceive the desire that, should he commit an offence, his fellows should reprove him in private and not in conclave ; and when they reprove him in conclave, he waxes angry and wroth at their doing so. This anger and dissatisfaction are both blemishes.
Or he may conceive the idea that, should he commit an offence, he may be reproved by an equal and not by one on an inequality with him ; and when reproof comes from one not his equal, he waxes angry and wroth. This anger and dissatisfaction are both blemishes.
Or he may conceive the desire that the Master should expound the Doctrine to the Confraternity through a series of questions addressed to him alone and to no other Almsman ; and, if the questions are ad- dressed not to him but to another, [28] he waxes angry and wroth at being passed over. This anger and dis- satisfaction are both blemishes.
Blemishes too are his anger and dissatisfaction if he is disappointed in the desire —
to be the centre figure — he and no other — to
lead a train of Almsmen into the village for alms ;
to be given, after the meal, the principal seat,
the water first (to handsel the donation, as senior),
and the best of everything going ;
to return thanks after the meal ;
to be the preacher in the pleasaunce to the
M. i. 29. OF BLEMISHES. 21
Almsmen, [29] or to the Almswomen, or to the laymen, or to the lay-women ;
to be the sole recipient — he and no other — of the other Almsmen's respect and reverence, de- votion and worship ;
to have to himself the pick of robes, [30] alms, lodging, and medicaments. — Blemish, reverend sir, connotes the domain of all these bad and wrong desires. If they are seen, and heard, to be immanent, in an Almsman, then — albeit his abode be in the depths of the forest, albeit he begs his food from door to door just as the houses come, and is coarsely clad in rags from the dust-heap — not unto him do his fellows in the higher life shew respect and reverence, devotion and worship. And why ? — Because bad and wrong desires are seen and heard to be immanent in him. It is just as if a brass bowl, clean and bright, were brought home from bazaar or stithy and were first filled by its owners with a dead snake or a dead dog or human carrion, and then taken back to the bazaar enclosed within a second bowl, making people wonder what wonderful treasure was here, until, on opening it and looking in, they were filled at the sight with such repugnance and loathing and disgust as to banish appetite from the hungry, let alone from those who had already fed ; even so, sir, if these bad and wrong desires are seen, or heard, to be immanent in a Brother, then — albeit . . . [31] immanent in him.
But if these bad and wrong desires are seen, and heard, to have been put from him by an Almsman, then — albeit he lives on the outskirts of a village and accepts invitations to meals and is clad in lay attire — yet unto him do his fellows in the higher life shew respect and reverence, devotion and worship. And why ? — Because he has put from him bad and wrong desires. It is just as if a brass bowl, clean and bright, were brought home from bazaar or stithy, and its owners were first to fill it with the choicest boiled rice of picked varieties together with divers sauces and
22 V. ANANGANA-SUTTA. M. i. 32.
curries, and were then to hie back to the bazaar with it enclosed within a second bowl, making people wonder what wonderful treasure was here, until, on opening it and looking in, they were filled at the sight with such pleasure and delight as to give appetite to those who had already fed, let alone the hungry ; — even so, sir, if these bad and wrong desires are seen, and heard, to have been put from him by an Almsman, then — albeit he lives . . . and wrong desires.
At this point the reverend Maha-Moggallana remarked to Sariputta that an illustration had occurred to him and, on being invited to cite it, said : — Early one morning, when I was staying once on the heights that encircle Rajagaha, I went for alms into the city, duly robed and bowl in hand, at a time when Samiti, the waggon-builder, was shaping a felloe ; and by him there was standing Pandu-putta the Mendicant (ajlvika) — him- self come of a waggon-building stock in bygone days — in whom arose the wish that Samiti might shape the felloe without crook or twist or blemish, so that, free from crook, twist and blemish, the felloe might turn out clean and of the best ; [32] and while this thought was passing through the mind of Pandu-putta, the old waggon-builder, all the time Samiti was shaping away crook, twist and blemish. At last Pandu-putta in his joy burst out with the joyous cry — His heart, me- thinks, knows my heart, as he shapes that felloe ! Even so is it here. First, take first those persons who, not for their belief but for a livelihood and with- out believing, go forth from home to homelessness as Pilgrims, — cunning and deceitful tricksters, vain and puffed-up, raucous babblers who keep no watch over the portals of sense, intemperate in their eating, devoid of vigilance, taking no thought of their vocation nor keen for its discipline, acquisitive and with only a loose grip of truth, foremost in backsliding and intolerant of Renunciation's yoke, indolent and slack, bewildered and flustered, unstable and wandering, witless and drivel- ling.— Sariputta's heart, methinks, knows the heart of
M. i. 33. OF BLEMISHES. 23
all these persons and is at work in his exposition to shape them aright. Take next those young men who, for beliefs sake, go forth from home to homeless- ness as Pilgrims, — in whom these shortcomings find no place but only their counterparts m virtue — , these, as they hear the reverend Sariputta's exposition drink it in, methinks, and feed upon it, methinks, with words of thanksgiving from grateful hearts. Right well has Sariputta raised up his fellows in the higher life from what is wrong and established them in what is right. It is just as if, after the bath, a woman or a lad young and fond of finery were to be given a chaplet of lotuses or jasmine or other blossoms and were to clutch it eagerly with both hands and set it gladly on the brow, — even so do these young men who, for belief's sake, go forth . . . established them in what is right.
In such wise did that noble pair of Arahats rejoice together in what each had heard the other say so well.
VI. AKANKHEYYA-SUTTA.
OF YEARNINGS.
[33] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove, in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the Almsmen as follows : —
Let your lives conform to the codes of Virtue and of Obligations ; let your lives be restrained by the restraint of the Obligations and ordered on the plane of right behaviour ; be scrupulous in observing the precepts of conduct, seeing peril in small offendings.
Should an Almsman yearn to be dear to his fellows in the higher life and beloved by them, revered and famed among them, — let him fulfil the whole code of virtue, calm his heart within him, cultivating the Ecstasies, fostering Insight, and perfecting himself in inward detachment. Let him do this too, if his yearn- ing is either that he may be given robes, food, lodging and medicaments ; — or that the donors of such gifts to
24 VI. AKANKHEYYA-SUTTA. M. i. 34.
him may reap a rich reward and blessing therefrom ; — or that such of his own kith and kin departed in the faith who keep him in mind, may reap a rich reward and blessing therefrom ; — or that he may overcome, and not be overcome by, discontent and sensuality, and fear and dread ; — or that, without toil and travail, he may have fruition of the Four Ecstasies with their illumination and the satisfaction they bring here and now ; — or that he may enter on and abide in physical experience of those excellent Deliverances^ which transcend visible form and are formless ; [34] — or that, by destroying the (first) three Bonds, he may enter on conversion's first stage, secure thenceforth against rebirth in any state of woe and assured of ultimate Enlightenment ; — or that, by destroying the three Bonds and reducing to small dimensions passion, hate and delusion, he may enter on conversion's second stage and have to return but once more to this world in order to make an end of 111; — or that, by destroying all five Bonds which bind him to this lower world, he may be translated elsewhere (to the higher Brahma world), there to pass utterly away without any return thence ; — or that it may be his to enjoy in turn each and every form of psychic power, — from being one to become manifold, from being manifold to become one, to be visible or invisible, to pass at will through wall or fence or hill as if through air ; to pass in and out of the solid earth as if it were water, to walk on the water's unbroken surface as if it were the solid earth, to glide in state through the air like a bird on the wing, to touch and to handle the moon and sun in their power and might, and to extend the sovereignty of his body right up to the Brahma world ; — or that, with the Ear Celestial which is pure and far surpasses the ear of men, he may hear both heavenly and human sounds, sounds near and sounds afar ; — or that he may comprehend with his own heart the hearts of other creatures and of other men so as to know them for just
^ See Dialogues II, 119.
M. i. 35. OF YEARNINGS. 25
•what they are, — filled with passion or free from passion, hating or free from hate, filled with delusion or free therefrom, focussed or wandering, large-minded or small-minded, inferior or superior, stedfast [35] or unstedfast, Delivered or lacking Deliverance ; — or that he may recall to mind his divers existences in the past, — a single birth, then two . . . \_and so on /^] . . . a hundred thousand births, many an aeon of disintegra- tion of the world, many an ^on of its redintegration, and again many an seon both of its disintegration and of its redintegration, — remembering, in every detail and feature, that in this or that former existence such and such was his name, his sept, his class, his diet, his joys and sorrows, and his term of life, ere, passing thence, he came by such and such subsequent exist- ence, wherein such and such was his name and so forth, right up to the time when he passed to his present life here ; — or that with the Eye Celestial, which is pure and far surpasses the human eye, he may see creatures in the act of passing hence and re-appearing elsewhere, — creatures high and low, fair or foul to view, in bliss or woe, all faring according to their past (etc, as in Sutta No, 4) ; — or that, by eradicating the Cankers, he may — here and now, of and by himself — comprehend, realize, enter on, and abide in, the Deliverance of heart and mind which knows no Cankers.
[36] It was to this intent that I have said : — * Let your lives conform to the codes of Virtue and of Obliga- tions ; let your lives be restrained by the restraint of the Obligations and ordered on the plane of right behaviour ; be scrupulous in observing the precepts of conduct, seeing peril in small offendings.'
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
26 VII. VATTHUPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 37.
VII. VATTHUPAMA-SUTTA.
ON FULLING.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthl in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika^s pleasaunce, he addressed the Almsmen as follows : —
Even as a foul and dirty piece of cloth, if dipped by the fuller in blue, yellow, red, or pink dye, would take the dye badly and not come out a good colour, and that because of the cloth's impurity, — even so. Brethren, when a man's heart is impure, woe must be expected to ensue ; and, conversely, just as cloth in the fuller's hands takes the dye well if it be pure and clean, so, when a man's heart is pure, bliss may be expected to ensue.
Now, what are the heart's impurities ? — They are avarice and covetise, malevolence, anger, malice, rivalry, jealousy, grudging, envy, hypocrisy, deceit, imperviousness, outcry, pride, arrogance, inflation, and [37] indolence. Recognizing that each in turn of these is an impurity of the heart, an Almsman puts them from him ; and when at last he has put them all from him, he comes to full belief in the Enlightened One and to recognition of him as the Lord, Arahat all- enlightened, walking by knowledge, blessed, under- standing all worlds, the matchless tamer of the human heart, teacher of gods and men, the Lord of Enlighten- ment ; he comes to full belief in the Doctrine and to recognition of it as having been excellently expounded by the Lord, as being here and now and immediate, with a welcome to all and with salvation for all, to be comprehended of each man of understanding ; he comes to belief in the Lord's Confraternity and to recognition of it as schooled aright and as walking up- rightly, trained in all propriety and in duty, the Brotherhood of the conversion with its four pairs making up the eight classes of the converted,^ right
^ The Confraternity — which, of course, does not include the laity — is here divided into eight classes, each of the Four Paths
M. i. 38. ON FULLING. 27
worthy to receive alms, hospitality, oblations and reverence, unrivalled throughout the world as the field for garnering merit. To the uttermost, every form of self-seeking is renounced, spewed out, discharged, dis- carded and abandoned. Realizing that he has come to full belief in the Enlightened One — and in his Doctrine — and in his Confraternity, — the Brother reaches fruition of spiritual welfare and of its causes together with the gladness attendant thereon ; from such gladness is born zest, bringing tranquillity to the body ; with his body now tranquil, he experiences satisfaction, wherein he finds peace for his heart. [38] An Almsman who has reached this pitch in virtue, character and lore, may, without harm or hurt, indulge in the choicest rice with all manner of sauces and curries. Just as a foul and filthy cloth, if plunged in clear water, becomes pure and clean ; and just as silver, if passed through the furnace, becomes pure and clean ; — even so can such an Almsman eat as he will without harm or hurt.
With radiant thoughts of love — of compassion — of sympathy — and of poise — his mind pervades each of the world's four quarters,- — above, below, across, everywhere ; the whole length and breadth of the wide world is pervaded by the radiant thoughts of a mind all-embracing, vast, and boundless, in which no hate dwells nor ill-will.
Thus much is so, says he to himself; there is a lower and there is yet a higher stage ; Deliverance^ lies beyond this realm of consciousness. When he knows and sees this, his heart is delivered from the Cankers of sensuous pleasure, of continuing existence, of ignorance ; and to him thus Delivered comes know- ledge of his Deliverance in the conviction : — Rebirth
in conversion being subdivided into entrants and adepts (m a g g a and phala).
^ Bu. interprets these four stages as the recognition succes- sively of the Four Noble Truths. In a separate category, ex- tirpation of the Cankers — for the Arahat here, as for the Buddha himself in Sutta No. 4 — precedes triumphant Deliverance.
28 VII. VATTHUPAMA-SUTTA. M. . 39
is no more ; I have lived the highest life ; my task is done ; there is now no more of what I have been. [39] — Such an Almsman is said to be inly washen.
Now at this time there was sitting close by the brahmin Sundarika-Bharadvaja who asked whether the Lord went to the river Bahuka to bathe.
What boots the river Bahuka, brahmin ? What can it do ?
It is reputed to cleanse^ and give merit ; many have their burthen of evil borne away in its waters.
Thereupon, the Lord addressed the brahmin in these lines : —
In Bahuka^ at Adhikdkkas ghdt^
Gay a, Sunddrika^ Sar assail^
Bdhumatl, Paydga^ — the^x the fool
may bathe and bathe, yet never Cleanse his Heart,
Of what avail are all these ghats a^id streams ?
— They cleanse not heart or hand of guilt.
For him whose heart is Cleansed^ each day is blest,
each day is hallowed ; pure of heart and mind^
he hallows each new day with vows renewed.
So hither, brah?nin^ come and Bathe as I :
L ove all that lives, speak truth, slay not nor steal,
no niggard be but dwell in faith, and then —
why seek Gay a ? — Your well at home 's Gay a !
Hereupon the brahmin said to the Lord : — Excellent, Gotama; excellent! It is just as if a man should set upright again what had been cast down, or reveal what had been hidden away, or tell a man who had gone astray which was his way, or bring a lamp into dark- ness so that those with eyes to see might see the things about them, — even so, in many a figure, has the reverend Gotama made his Doctrine clear. I come to Gotama as my refuge and to his Doctrine and to his
^ Reading 1 ok hyas°, with Bu.
^ Bu. remarks that, while Bahuka, Sundarika, Sarassati, and Bahumati are rivers, the rest are t i 1 1 h a s only, or ghats, on the Ganges.
M. i. 40. ON FULLING. 29
Confraternity. I ask him to admit me as a Pilgrim in his train and to confirm me therein !
Admitted and confirmed accordingly, the reverend Bharadvaja was not long [40] before, dwelling alone and aloof, strenuous, ardent and purged of self, he won the prize in quest of which young men^ go forth from home to homelessness as Pilgrims, that prize of prizes which crowns the highest life, — even this did he think out and realize for himself, enter on, and abide in, here and now ; and to him came the conviction that for him rebirth was now no more ; that he had lived the highest life ; that his task was done ; and that now for him there was no more of what he had been. Thus the reverend Bharadvaja too was numbered among the Arahats.
VIII. SALLEKHA-SUTTA.
OF EXPUNGING.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, the reverend Maha-Cunda, rising towards evening from his meditations, came to the Lord, saluted him, and took his seat to one side, saying — In order to get quit and rid of the various false views current about self and the universe,^ should an Alms- man start by taking thought of them ?
The way, Cunda, to get quit and rid of those false views and of the domains in which they arise and crop up and obtain, is by seeing with right comprehension that there is no *mine,' no 'this is I,' no 'this is my self.'
The case may arise of an Almsman who, divested of pleasures of sense, divested of wrong states of con-
^ Kulaputta (translated sts. as clansmen) are of two kinds, according to Bu. — scions of noble families and those who behave and act as such. The latter are doubtless grafted on to the earlier brahminical idea.
2 Por a detailed list of these speculative views see Dialogues I, 26 and III, 129.
30 VIII. SALLEKHA-SUTTA. M. i. 41.
sciousness, has entered on, and abides in, the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, — a state bred of inward solitude but not divorced from observation and reflection. He may think that expunging is his. But, in the Rule of him that is Noble, the Ecstasies are called not expungings but states of satisfaction here and now. [41] The case may arise of an Almsman who, rising above observation and reasoning, has entered on, and abides in, the Second Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, — a state bred of rapt concentration above all observation and reflection, a state whereby the heart is focussed and tranquillity reigns within. He may think . . . here and now. The case may arise of an Almsman who, by shedding the emotion of zest, has entered on, and abides in, the Third Ecstasy, with its poised equanimity, mindful and alive to every- thing, feeling in his frame the satisfaction of which the Noble say that poise and mindfulness bring abiding satisfaction. He may think . . . here and now. The case may arise of an Almsman who, putting from him both satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and by shedding the joys and sorrows he used to feel, has entered on, and abides in, the Fourth Ecstasy, — the state that knows neither the pleasant nor the unpleasant, the clarity that comes of poised equanimity and alert mind- fulness. He may think . . . here and now. The case may arise of a Brother who — by passing alto- gether beyond perception of things visible and by ceasing to perceive sense-reactions and by not taking thought of distinctions — has attained to the idea of Infinity of Space and has entered on and abides in that plane of thought. He may think . . . here and now. The like thought may come too at each stage to the Almsman who, passing altogether beyond that plane, has successively come to the ideas of Infinity of Mind — of Naught — of Neither-perception-nor imperception ; he may successively think that ex- punging is now his. [42] But, in the Rule of him that is Noble, each of these planes is called not an ex- punging but an excellent state.
M. i. 43- OF EXPUNGING. 31
Here is the way to expunge. — You are to expunge by resolving that, though others may be harmful, you will be harmless ; that, though others may kill, you will never kill ; that, though others may steal, you will not ; that, though others may not lead the higher life, you will ; that, though others may lie, traduce, denounce, or prattle, you will not ; that, though others may be covetous, you will covet not ; that, though others may be malignant, you will be benignant, that, though others may be given over to wrong views, wrong aims, wrong speech, wrong actions, wrong modes of livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong concentration, you must follow (the Noble Eightfold Path in) right outlook, right aims, right speech, right actions, right mode of livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration ; that, though others are wrong about the truth and wrong about Deliverance, you will be right about truth and right about Deliverance ; that, though others may be possessed by sloth and torpor, you will free yourselves therefrom ; that, though others may be puffed up, you will be humble-minded ; that, though others may be perplexed by doubts, you will be free from them ; that, though others may harbour wrath, malevolence, [43] envy, jealousy, niggardliness, avarice, hypocrisy, deceit, imperviousness, arrogance, frowardness, association with bad friends, slackness, un- belief, shamelessness, unscrupulousness, lack of instruc- tion, inertness, bewilderment, and unwisdom, — you will be the reverse of all these things ; and that, though others may clutch at and hug the temporal nor loose their hold thereon, you will clutch and hug the things that are not temporal, and will ensue Re- nunciation.— That is the way to expunge.
I say it is the development of the will which is so efficacious for right states of consciousness, not to speak of act and speech. And therefore, Cunda, there must be developed the will to all the foregoing resolves I have detailed.
It is just as if there were both a rough, uneven
32 VIII. SALLEKHA-SUTTA. M. i. 44.
road and also a smooth, level road as an alternative route ; or as if there were the choice of a rough and a smooth ford; — [44] even so the harmful man has harmlessness as his alternative, he who kills has his alternative in innocence of blood, he who steals has his alternative in honesty [and so forth through the whole of the foregoing list].
As all wrong states of consciousness must lead downwards and all right states must lead upwards, so the harmful man has harmlessness for the higher state, the man who kills has innocence of blood for the higher state [and so forth through the whole of the foregoing list].
[45] Now it is impossible for a man who is bogged, himself to extricate another who is bogged too ; but it is possible for a man who is himself not bogged, to extricate another who is. It is impossible for a man who is himself not broken-in, schooled and emanci- pated to break-in, school and emancipate another. But the converse is possible. — So the hurtful indi- vidual has harmlessness for his emancipation, he who slays has innocence of blood for his emancipation, the thief has honesty [and so forth through the whole of the foregoing list].
[46] So I have taught how to expunge, how to develop the will, how to effect the alternative approach, how to rise upwards, and how to find emancipation. All that a fond and compassionate teacher can do for his disciples in his compassion, that have I done for you. Here, Cunda, are trees under which to lodge ; here are solitude*s abodes ; plunge into deepest thought and never flag ; lay not up for yourself remorse hereafter ; — this is my injunction to you.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Maha-Cunda rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
M. i. 47. RIGHT IDEAS. 33
IX. SAMMA-DITTHI-SUTTA.
RIGHT IDEAS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta s grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, the reverend Sariputta addressed the Almsmen as follows : —
The man of right ideas is hailed as such. Now, in what respects does the disciple of the Noble become right in his ideas ? In what respects are his ideas impeccable ? In what respects has he gained absolute clarity in the doctrine and mastered its truth ?
We would have journeyed from afar, reverend sir, to learn the meaning of this utterance from the reverend Sariputta's lips. Pray, vouchsafe to set forth its meaning for us to treasure up in our memories.
Then listen, reverend sirs, and pay attention ; and I will speak.
Yes, reverend sir, said they in response, and Sari- putta spoke as follows : —
When the disciple of the Noble comprehends that which is wrong and the root from which it springs, when he comprehends that which is right and the root from which it springs, [47] thereby he becomes right in his ideas, his ideas are impeccable, he has gained absolute clarity in the Doctrine and mastered its truth.
Now what is the wrong and the right ? and what are their respective roots ?
Killing is wrong, theft is wrong, sensuality is wrong, lying is wrong, calumny is wrong, reviling is wrong, chattering is wrong, covetise is wrong, harm- fulness is wrong, and wrong ideas are wrong. — All this is called that which is wrong ; and its roots are — greed, hate and delusion.
And what is that which is right i^ — To keep from killing, theft, sensuality, lying, calumny, reviling, and chattering ; to be void of covetise and harmful-
3
34 IX. SAMMA-DITTHI-SUTTA. M. i. 48.
ness, and to hold right views. — This is what is called right ; and its roots are freedom from greed, freedom from hate, and freedom from delusion.
When the disciple of the Noble has this under- standing of what is wrong and of what is right, and of their respective roots, then — by putting from him every tendency to passion, by dispelling every tendency to repugnance, by venting every tendency to the idea and conceit * I am,' by shedding ignorance, and by developing knowledge — he makes an end of 111 here and now. — That is how he is right in his ideas, that is how his ideas are impeccable, that is how he gains absolute clarity in the Doctrine and masters its truth.
After expressing their satisfaction and gratitude to Sariputta, those Almsmen put to him the further question whether there was yet another way by which the disciple became right in his ideas.
Yes, answered Sariputta. — When he understands Sustenance, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to its cessation. [48] Now what are these ? — There are four Sustenances which either maintain existing creatures or help those yet to be. First of these is material sustenance, coarse or delicate ; contact is the second ; intention is the third ; and the fourth is consciousness. From the rise of craving comes the rise of Sustenance, and with the cessation of craving comes also the cessation of Sustenance, the course to which is the Noble Eightfold Path, — namely right outlook, right aims, right speech, right action, right mode of livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. When the disciple thus understands Sustenance, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to its cessation, then ... its truth.
After expressing their satisfaction and gratitude to Sariputta, those Almsmen put to him the further question whether there was yet another way by which the disciple became right in his ideas.
Yes, answered Sariputta. — When he understands
M. i. 49. RIGHT IDEAS. 35
111, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to its cessation. Now what are these ? — 111 is birth, decay, sickness, and death ; sorrow, wailing, depres- sion of body and mind ; also not getting what one desires ; together with, in brief, the fivefold attach- ments to existence. That is what 111 is. Now, first, what is the origin of 111 ? — This denotes every craving that leads to rebirth, that has to do with delight and passion, delighting now in this object and now in that, — namely, cravings for pleasures of sense, for continu- ing existence, or [49] for annihilation. Next, what is the cessation of Illi^ — This denotes the absolute and passionless cessation of the self-same cravings, their abandonment and renunciation, deliverance from them, and aversion for them. Lastly, what is the course that leads to the cessation of 111 ? — It is pre- cisely the Noble Eightfold Path, namely, right outlook, right aims . . . right concentration. When the disciple thus understands 111, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to the cessation of 111, then . . . its truth.
After expressing their satisfaction and gratitude to Sariputta, those Almsmen put to him the further ques- tion whether there was yet a further way by which the disciple became right in his ideas.
Yes, answered Sariputta. When the disciple under- stands decay and death, their origin, their cessation, and the course that leads to their cessation. Now what are these ? Decay is when in any creature in its class decay and decadence set in with broken teeth, grey hair, and wrinkles, when the term of life is drawing to a close and the faculties are spent. Death is when any creature deceases from its class, goes hence, breaks up, departs, expires and dies, when the elements break up and the corpse is buried. From the arising of birth comes the arising of decay and death; from the cessation of birth comes the cessation of decay and death, the course whereto is just the Noble Eightfold Path, — namely, right ideas, right aims . . . right concentration. When the disciple thus understands decay and death
36 IX. SAMMA-DITTHI-SUTTA. M. i. 50.
their origin, their cessation, and the course that leads to their cessation, then, — by putting from him every tendency ... its truth.
After expressing . . . further . . . right in his ideas.
[50] Yes, answered Sariputta. When the disciple understands birth, its origin, its cessation, and the course that leads to its cessation. Now what are these ? — Birth is when any creature comes to be born^ or produced, to issue or appear in this or that class, when the factors of existence make their appearance and senses are acquired. From the arising of exist- ence comes the arising of birth ; from the cessation of existence comes the cessation of birth ; and the course which leads to the cessation of birth is precisely the Noble Eightfold Path, namely, right outlook . . . right concentration. When the disciple thus under- stands birth, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to its cessation, then ... its truth.
After expressing . . . further . . . right in his ideas.
Yes, answered Sariputta. W^hen the disciple under- stands existence, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to its cessation. Now what are these ? — There are three planes of existence, — sensuous, corporeal, and incorporeal. It is from the arising of attachment^ that their existence takes its rise, and from attachment's cessation comes the cessation of existence, the course whereto is just the Noble Eight- fold Path, — namely, right ideas . . . right concentra- tion. When the disciple thus understands^ existence, its origin, its cessation and the course which leads to its cessation, then ... its truth.
Was there yet another way ? — Yes, answered Sari- putta ; when the disciple understands attachment, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to its cessation. Now what are these ? — There are four
^ Bu. takes j a t i here as conception and the next term (sanjati) as parturition ; he limits issue to emerging from egg and womb, and understands ' appear ' as birth either from moisture (s a m s e d a - y o n i) or without ostensible parents (opapatika- yoni). See Dialogues I, 201, II, 338. ^ Upadana.
M. i. 51. RIGHT IDEAS. 37
[51] attachments, — to sensuous pleasure, to speculative ideas, to 'good works/ and to soul-theories. It is from the arising of craving that attachment takes its rise, and from the cessation of craving comes the cessation of attachment, the course whereto is just the Noble Eightfold Path. When the disciple thus understands attachment ... its truth.
Was there yet another way ? — Yes, answered Sari- putta ; when the disciple understands craving, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to its cessation. Now what are these? — There are six kinds of craving, — for forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, and mental objects. It is from the arising of feeling that craving takes its rise, and from feeling's cessation comes the cessation of craving, the course whereto is just the Noble Eightfold Path. When the disciple thus understands craving . . . and masters its ^ truth.
Was there yet another way ? — Yes, answered Sari- putta ; when the disciple understands feeling, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to its cessa- tion. Now what are these ? — There are six kinds of feelings, — ocular, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and mental. It is from the arising of contact that feelings take their rise, and from contact's cessation that there comes the cessation of feeling, the course whereto is just the Noble Eightfold Path. [52] When the disciple thus understands feelings ... its truth.
Was there yet another way i* — Yes, answered Sari- putta ; when the disciple understands contact, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to its cessation. Now, what are these ? — There are six kinds of contact, — ocular, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and mental. It is from the arising of the six spheres of sense that contact arises and from their cessation that there comes the cessation of contact, the course whereto is just the Noble Eightfold Path. When the disciple thus understands contact ... its truth.
Was there yet another way ? — Yes, answered Sari-
38 IX. SAMMA-DITTHI-SUTTA. M. i. 53.
putta ; when the disciple understands the six spheres of sense, their origin, their cessation, and the course which leads to their cessation. Now, what are these ? — There are six spheres, — vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and cognition. It is from the arising of name- and-shape that these six spheres arise and from the cessation of name-and-shape that there comes the cessation of the six spheres, the course whereto is just the Noble Eightfold Path. When the disciple thus understands the six spheres ... its truth.
[53] Was there yet another way ? — Yes, answered Sariputta ; when the disciple understands name-and- shape, their origin, their cessation, and the course which leads to their cessation. Now, what are these ? — Name denotes feeling, perception, volition, contact, and attention ; shape denotes the four great elements and any material form derived therefrom ; and name- and-shape is these two together. It is from the arising of consciousness that name-and-shape arise, and from the cessation of consciousness that there comes the cessation of name-and-shape, the course whereto is just the Noble Eightfold Path. When the disciple thus understands name-and-shape ... its truth.
Was there yet another way i* — Yes, answered Sari- putta ; when the disciple understands consciousness, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to its cessation. Now, what are these ?^ — There are six kinds of consciousness, — ocular, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, and mental. It is from the arising of the plastic forces (sankhara)^ that consciousness
^ On this * elusive ' term sankhara (variously rendered syn- theses, conditions, confections and conditions precedent in the Dialogues; and elsewhere as activities and synergies), see Buddhist Psych. Ethics, 2nd edition, p. x. Bu. here observes as follows : — abhisankharana-lakkhano sankharo. At Digha III, 211, occurs the passage: sabbe satta ahara- tthitika, sabbe satta sankhara-tthitika, — on which Bu. observes: imasmim pi visajjane hettha vutta- paccayo va attano phalassa sankharanato san- kharo ti vutto; iti hettha ahara-paccay o kathito,
M. i. 54. RIGHT IDEAS. 39
arises, and from their cessation comes the cessation of consciousness, the course whereto is just the Noble Eightfold Path. When the disciple thus understands consciousness ... its truth.
[54] Was there yet another way ? — Yes, answered Sariputta ; when the disciple understands the plastic forces, their origin, their cessation, and the course which leads to their cessation. Now, what are these ? — There are three kinds of plastic forces, — namely, of the body, of speech, and of the heart. It is from the arising of ignorance that these forces arise, and from the cessation of ignorance that there comes the cessa- tion of plastic forces, the course whereto is just the Noble Eightfold Path. When the disciple thus under- stands plastic forces ... its truth.
Was there yet another way ? Yes, answered Sari- putta ; when the disciple understands ignorance, its origin, its cessation, and the course which leads to its cessation. Now what are these ? — Ignorance denotes lack of knowledge of 111, of its origin, its cessation, and of the course which leads to its cessation. It is from the arising of the Cankers that ignorance arises, and from their cessation comes the cessation of ignor- ance, the course whereto is just the Noble Eightfold Path. When the disciple thus understands ignorance . . .its truth.
Was there yet another [55] way ? — Yes, answered Sariputta ; when the disciple understands a Canker, its origin, its cessation, and the course leading to its cessation. Now what are these ? — There are three Cankers, — the Canker of sensuous pleasure, the Canker of continuing existence, and the Canker of ignorance.
idha sankhara-paccayo ti ayam ettha hetthimato viseso; hettha nippariyay-aharo gahito, idha pariyay-aharo ti evarh gahito (i.e. the second clause in the Digha quotation is a particularized version of the preceding general expression that all creatures persist through food). I take sankhara therefore to be the subsequent elaboration or digestion of the Sustenance till it becomes an integral part of the organism ; by metabolism, occasioned by plastic forces.
40 IX. SAMMA-DITTHI-SUTTA. M. i. 55.
It is from the arising of ignorance that Cankers arise, and from its cessation comes their cessation, the course whereto is just the Noble Eightfold Path. When the disciple of the Noble has this understanding of Cankers, of their origin, of their cessation, and of the course which leads to their cessation, then — by putting from him every tendency to passion, by dispelling every tendency to repugnance, by venting every tendency to the idea and conceit * I am,' by shedding ignorance, and by developing knowledge — he makes an end of 111 here and now. That is how the disciple is right in his ideas, that is how his ideas are impeccable, that is how he gains absolute clarity in the Doctrine and masters its truth.
Thus spoke the reverend Sariputta. Glad at heart, those Almsmen rejoiced in what he had said.
Note. — On this scholastic compilation, here at- tributed to Sariputta, see the 14th and 15th Suttas (attributed to Gotama himself) of the Digha Nikaya and the Introductions to the translations of those Suttas at the beginning of the second volume of the Dialogues, It will be noted that avijja figures both as a cause and as a result of the asavas ; according to Bu. it is equivalent to moha (or illusion) supra, where it is defined as lack of knowledge.
M.i. 56-63. MINDFULNESS. 4I
X. SATI-PATTHANA-SUTTA.
OF MINDFULNESS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying among the Kurus — a township of theirs Is called Kammassadhamma — , he addressed the Alms- men as follows : —
There is but one way, Almsmen, to purify creatures [56] to pass beyond sorrow and lamentation, to shed ills of body and of mind, to find the right way, and to realize Nirvana ; — It is by the fourfold mustering of mindfulness. . . .
[For the remainder of this Sutta, see (at Dialogues II, 327 et seqq.) the translation of the 22nd Sutta of the Digha Nikaya, which Is Identical with this Majjhima Sutta, except that towards the end It Interpolates paragraphs — which in the Majjhima Nikaya form our separate Sutta No. 141 — explaining In detail the Four Noble Truths, and accordingly is distinguished from ours here as *the hong' or MaM'Sa-ti-patthsLnai-suttan^a.
XI. CULA-SIHANADA-SUTTA.
THE SHORT CHALLENGE.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the Almsmen as follows :—
We have in our very midst a recluse, yes and a second, third, and fourth recluse who are empty and heretical [64] — no true recluses ! — in these words let your indictment ring out like a lion s roar.
If now it happens that Wanderers (paribbajaka) of other sects than yours ask you by what inspiration and on what authority you say this, then your answer to such should be this : — Unto us, reverend sirs, the Lord who knows and sees, the Arahat all- enlightened, has revealed four states of mind which we have realized and therefore speak thus ; and those four states of mind are that we (i) believe in our Teacher, (ii) believe in his Doctrine, (iii) have fulfilled the code of virtue, and (iv) love all our dear fellow- believers, be they lay or be they Pilgrims. These four states we have realized, and that is why we speak thus.
If now the Wanderers of other sects were to rejoin that, in like manner, they believed in a teacher of their own and in his doctrine, had fulfilled their own code of virtue, and loved their own dear fellow-believers ; and if they went on to ask you what was the distinction or divergence or difference between them and you ; — then, you should ask them whether the GoaP was one or many. If they answer aright, they will say the Goal
^ Nittha. Bu. observes that, while all alike professed ' Arahat- ship ' as their goal, brahmins aimed at the brahmaloka, tapas ascetics at the abhassara heaven, paribbajakas at the subhakinna heaven, the a j i v i k a s at the heaven of Infinity
42
M. i. 65. THE SHORT CHALLENGE. 43
is one and not many. Is it, you will ask, the Goal of the man with, or of the man without, passion — hate — illusion ? If they answer aright, they will say it is the Goal of the man without passion, hate, or illusion, — as they will also say, in answer to your further questions, that it is the Goal of the man without cravings, [65] without attachments, of the man who is without fractiousness and without a combative spirit, and who is free from obsessions.
There are the two speculative ideas, — of eternalism and of annihilationism. Every recluse or brahmin who is attached, devoted, and given over to the first view is an opponent of the other ; and vice versa. Recluses or brahmins who know not the real nature of the rise and wane of these two speculative ideas, who know not their lure, their perils, and their outcome, — harbour passion, hate, illusion, cravings and attach- ments, are empty of lore, are foes to peace, take pleasure and delight in obsessions, nor do they win deliverance from birth, decay, death, sorrow, lamenta- tion, depression of body and mind, or from tribulation ; — they win, say I, no deliverance from 111. Whereas, all recluses and brahmins who do know the real nature of the rise and wane of these two speculative ideas, their lure, perils and outcome, — are void of passion, hate and illusion, void of cravings and attachments, are rich in lore, combat not the unpeaceful, take no pleasure or delight in obsessions, and win Deliverance from birth, decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, depres- sion of body and mind, and from tribulation ; — these win, say I, Deliverance from 111.
\p^ There are four attachments, — to sensuous pleasure, to speculative ideas, to works, and to soul- theories. Some recluses and brahmins profess to understand them all, but fail to show understanding of the whole set of four ; for example, they show an
of mind. Really, they all wanted some (unconscious) future (cf. Digha I, 28, and Dialogues I, 41, n. 2), whereas in Buddhism the goal is Arahatship pure and simple, with no after-life.
44 XI. CULA-SIHANADA-SUTTA. M. i. 67.
understanding of attachment to sensuous pleasures, but not of the other attachments. And why ? — Because these good people do not understand aright what the others are. In such a creed and rule as theirs, it is clear their belief in their teacher is not perfect, or their belief in his plan, or fulfilment of the code of virtue, or love for their fellow-believers. And why ? — Because this must be so [67] in any creed and rule which has been wrongly revealed and wrongly preached, which does not bring salvation and peace, which has not been preached by the All-enlightened.
Now the Truth-finder, Arahat all-enlightened, not only professes to understand all attachments but also communicates to others his understanding of all four. In such a creed and rule as ours, Almsmen, it is clear that belief in the Master is perfect, as belief in his Doctrine is perfect, and as fulfilment of the code of virtue and love for fellow-believers are perfect. And why ? — Because this must be so in a creed and rule which has been rightly revealed and rightly preached, which brings salvation and peace, which has been preached by the All-Enlightened.
Now whence come the four attachments ? What is their origin ? What is their parentage ? How are they produced ? — They come from craving ; they originate in craving ; they are born of craving ; and by craving they are produced. Craving in its turn comes from feeling ; it originates in feeling ; it is born of feeling ; and by feeling it is produced. Similarly, feeling comes from contact, contact from the six spheres of sense, these six spheres from name-and-shape, name- and-shape from perception, perception from plastic forces, plastic forces from ignorance. When ignorance has passed away and when knowledge (of the true goal) has arisen in an Almsman, then^ with this purg- ing of ignorance and the uprising of knowledge, he attaches himself no longer to sensuous pleasure, or to speculative ideas, or to works, or to soul-theories ; being void of attachment, he trembles not ; trembling not, he wins Nirvana for himself, — sure in his convic-
M. i. 68. THE LONG CHALLENGE. 45
tion that for him rebirth is no more, that he has lived the highest life, that his task is done, and that now for him what he was is no more.
[68] Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Almsmen rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XIL MAHA-SIHANADA-SUTTA.
THE LONG CHALLENGE.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was stay- ing at Vesali, outside the town in the dense forest to the west, Sunakkhatta the Licchavi, who had recently left this creed and rule, was telling people there was nothing superhuman about the recluse Gotama's ennobling gifts of knowledge and insight, that it was Gotama's own reasoning which had ham- mered out a Doctrine of his own evolving and of his personal invention, such that whoso hears it preached for his good has only to act up to it to be guided to the utter ending of 111.
Now in the morning early the reverend Sariputta, duly robed and bowl in hand, went for alms into Vesali, where he heard Sunakkhatta saying this. On his return after his meal, Sariputta came to the Lord and with due obeisance took a seat aside, telling the Lord what Sunakkhatta was saying, Sunakkhatta — was the Lord s reply — is a man of wrath and folly ; wrath prompted his remarks ; yet, though dispraise is his object, the foolish person is actually singing the Truth- finder's praises. [69] For, praise it is when a man says : Whoso hears it preached for his good has only to act up to it to be guided to the utter ending of 111.
Never, Sariputta, will this foolish person attain to the Doctrine's teaching about myself that — He is the Lord, Arahat all-enlightened, walking by knowledge, blessed, knowing all worlds, the matchless tamer of the human heart, teacher of gods and men, the Lord of
46 XII. MAHA-SIHANADA-SUTTA. M. i. 70.
enlightenment. Never will this foolish person attain to the Doctrine's teaching about myself that — He is the Lord in whom reside all psychic powers : from being one to become manifold, from being manifold to become one, to be visible or invisible, to pass at will through wall or fence or hill as if through air, to pass in and out of the solid earth as if it were water, to walk on the water's unbroken surface as if it were the solid earth, to glide in state through the air like a bird on the wing, to touch and to handle the moon and sun in their power and might, and to extend the sovereignty of his body right up to the Brahma world. Never will this foolish person attain to the Doctrine's teaching about myself that — He is the Lord who, with the Ear Celestial, which is pure and far surpasses the human ear, hears both heavenly and human sounds. Never will this foolish person attain to the Doctrine's teaching about myself that — He is the Lord who with his own heart comprehends the heart of other creatures and of other men so as to know them for just what they are, — filled with passion or free from passion, . . . focussed or wandering, large-minded or small-minded, inferior or superior, stedfast or unstedfast, Delivered or lacking Deliverance.
Ten in number, Sariputta, are a Truth-finder's powers, whereby he knows his precedence as leader of the herd, issues his lion-like challenges in public assemblies ■'■ and sets a- rolling the excellent Wheel of Truth. And the ten powers are these :
(i) The Truth-finder knows precisely both what is and what is not a specific cause ;
(ii) [70] he knows the precise nature of the conse- quences that must inevitably result from everything done in the past, present and future ;
^ From D. I, 175, it will be seen that Gotama had been unjustly criticized for roaring like a lion only in safe privacy, where he could not be answered.
M. i. 71. THE LONG CHALLENGE. 47
(iii) he knows the precise nature of the future to which every course leads ;
(iv) he knows the precise nature of the manifold and diverse physical factors which make up the world ; (v) he knows the precise nature of each creature's particular bent ;
(vi) he knows the precise nature of all that is going on in the hearts of others ;
(vii) he knows the precise nature of the imperfec- tions, the specific stage, or the uprising of the several achievements of Ecstasy, De- liverance, and Rapt Concentration ; (viii) he recalls to mind his divers existences in the past, — a single birth . . . (etc. as in Sutta No. 4) right up to the time when he passed to his present life here ;
(ix) he sees — with the Eye Celestial, which is pure and far surpasses the human eye — creatures in the act of passing hence and re-appearing elsewhere, creatures high and low . . . (etc. as in Sutta No. 4) ; (x) [71] by eradicating the Cankers, he — here and now, of and by himself — comprehends, realizes, enters on, and abides in the De- liverance of heart and mind which knows no Cankers.
Such are the Truth-finder's ten powers, whereby he knows his precedence as leader of the herd, issues his lion-like challenge in public assemblies and sets a-roll- ing the excellent Wheel of Truth. Now, if of me who know and see all this anyone were to say that there is nothing superhuman about the recluse Gotama's ennobling gifts or his knowledge and insight, and that it is Gotama's own reasoning which has hammered out a Doctrine of his own evolving and personal invention, — if such a one does not recant these words of his, change his heart, and renounce his view, he will find himself hauled off to purgatory. Just as an Almsman
4^ XII. MAHA-SIHANADA-SUTTA. M. i. 72.
who is equipped with virtue, concentration, and insight will here and now come to (the Arahat's) plenitude of knowledge, so this other equipment — if the man does not recant his words, change his heart, and renounce his view — will end in his being hauled off to purga- tory.
Four in number are a Truth-finder's assurances whereby he knows his precedence as leader of the herd, issues his lion-like challenge in public assemblies, and sets a-rolling the Excellent Wheel of Truth ; and the four are these : —
(i) I see nothing to indicate that anyone — be he recluse or brahmin or god or Mara or Brahma or any- one else in the wide world — [72] will, with justice, charge me with lacking enlightenment on those states of mind on which I profess to be all-enlightened. And, as I see nothing to indicate this, my state is one of tranquillity, fearlessness, and assurance.
(ii) I see nothing to indicate that anyone . . . will, with justice, charge me with not having extirpated the Cankers as I profess. And, as I see nothing to indicate this, my state is one of tranquillity, fearless- ness, and assurance.
(iii) I see nothing to indicate that anyone . . . will, with justice, charge it against me that the states of mind which I have declared to be stumbling-blocks, are not such at all, to him who indulges in them. And, as I see nothing to indicate this, my state is one of tranquillity, fearlessness, and assurance.
(iv) I see nothing to indicate that anyone . . . will, with justice, charge it against me that the Doctrine I have preached for the profit of whomsoever it be, fails, if he acts up to it, to guide him to the utter ending of 111. And, as I see nothing to indicate this, my state is one of tranquillity, fearlessness, and assurance.
Such are the Truth-finder's four assurances whereby he knows his precedence as leader of the herd, issues his lion-like challenge in public assemblies, and sets a-rolling the excellent Wheel of Truth. Now, if of me who know and see all this anyone were to say there is
M. i. -Ji. THE LONG CHALLENGE. 49
nothing superhuman about the recluse Gotama . . . will end in his being hauled off to purgatory.
Eight in number are the assemblies, namely the assemblies of nobles, brahmins, heads of houses, re- cluses, the four Great Regents, the Thirty-three gods, Mara and Brahma. Strong in the aforesaid four assurances, I have experience of going to some hun- dreds of each of these eight assemblies, sitting and talking with them and holding converse. Yet never did I see anything to indicate that fear or nervousness would come upon me. And, as I saw nothing to indicate this, my state is one of tranquillity, fearlessness, and assurance. [73] Now, if of me who know and see all this anyone were to say that there is nothing super- human about the recluse Gotama . . . will end in his being hauled off to purgatory.
Four in number are the modes in which life is engendered, — from the ^^<g, from the womb, from moisture, and by translation. From the ^^^ are those creatures said to be born who at birth break the shell that contains them. From the womb are those creatures said to be born who at birth break the womb. From moisture are those creatures said to be born who are born in putrid fish, corpses, or rice, or in refuse- pools or rubbish-shoots. By translation come gods, denizens of purgatory, some human beings and some dwellers in the four states of woe. Now, if of me who know and see all this anyone were to say that there is nothing superhuman about the recluse Gotama . . . will end in his being hauled off to purgatory.
Five in number are the destinies after life, — in purgatory, as an animal, as a ghost, as a human being, and as a god. Purgatory I know, the road thereto, the courses that lead to it, and what courses a man pursues to pass, at the body's dissolution after death, to rebirth in some unhappy state of misery or woe or purgatory. The animal world I know, and the worlds of ghosts and men, together with the roads to each, the courses that lead to each and what courses a man pursues to pass to each, at the body's dissolution after
4
50 XII. MAHA-SIHANADA-SUTTA. M. i. 74.
death. Gods I know, the road thereto, and the courses that lead to their world, and what courses a man pursues to pass, at the body's dissolution after death, to a state of blessedness in heaven. I know too Nirvana, the road leading thereto, the courses that lead to it, [74] and what courses a man pursues to dwell — here and now — by the extirpation of the Cankers, in that Deliverance of heart and mind which knows no Cankers, a Deliverance which he has, for and by himself, thought out and realized, so as to enter and to abide therein.
Suppose that my heart's knowledge of the heart of a given man tells me that his courses and behaviour and the road he has taken are such as will bring him at the body's dissolution after death to a state of suffer- ing and woe or purgatory. Later on, with the Eye Celestial which is pure and far surpasses the human eye, I duly see him, at the body's dissolution after death, in some state of suffering and woe or purgatory, there experiencing violent, acute and racking pain. It is just as if there were a pit, over a man's height deep, filled with embers showing neither flame nor smoke ; and if there drew near a man overcome and overpowered by the midsummer heat, exhausted and beside himself with thirst, making straight for the ember-pit ahead of him ; and if a man with eyes to discern were to observe him and say his course and behaviour and the road he was taking would surely bring him to that very pit of embers ; and if later that observer were to see the wayfarer fallen into the pit of embers, there experiencing violent, acute and racking pain ; — even so does my heart's knowledge of the heart of a given man tell me that his courses and behaviour . . . and racking pain.
Suppose, again, that my heart's knowledge of the heart of a given man tells me that his courses and behaviour and the road he has taken are such as will bring him at the body's dissolution after death to rebirth as an animal. Later on, with the Eye Celestial which is pure and far surpasses the human eye, I duly
M. i. 75- THE LONG CHALLENGE. 5I
see him, at the body's dissolution after death, reborn as an animal and experiencing, as such, violent, acute and racking pain. It is just as if there were a Jakes, a man's height deep, full up with ordure, and if there drew near a man overcome [75] and overpowered by the midsummer heat . . . (etc. as in previous para- graph, substituting ordure for embers) . . . racking pain.
Or, suppose that my heart's knowledge of . . . reborn as a ghost, there experiencing, as such, violent, acute and racking pain. It is just as if on rugged ground there grew a tree with but the tiniest leaves and foliage and with but meagre strips of shade beneath ; and if there drew near a man overcome and overpowered by the midsummer heat, exhausted and beside himself with thirst, making straight for the tree ahead of him ; and if a man with eyes to discern were to observe him and to say that his course and behaviour and the road he was taking would surely bring him to that very tree ; and if later that observer were to see the wayfarer seated or lying under that tree's shade, experiencing violent, acute and racking pain ; — even so does my heart's knowledge of the heart of a given man tell me that his courses and behaviour and the road he has taken are such as to bring him, at the body's dissolution after death, to rebirth as a ghost, there to experience violent, acute and racking pain.
Or, suppose that my heart's knowledge of . . . reborn as a man, there experiencing much felicity. It is just as if on level ground there grew a tree with thick luxuriant foliage and with dense shade beneath ; and if there drew near a man overcome . . . (etc. as in previous paragraph) . . . see the wayfarer seated or lying in the shade of the tree, there experiencing much felicity ; — even so does my heart's knowledge of the heart of a given man tell me that his courses and behaviour and the road he has taken are such as to bring him, at the body's dissolution after death, to rebirth among mankind, there to experience much felicity.
52 XII. MAHA-SIHANADA-SUTTA. M. i. 76.
[76] Or, fourthly, suppose that my heart's knowledge of . . . reborn in bliss in heaven, there experiencing exceedingly great felicity. It is just as if there were a palace and in it a gabled pavilion, plastered within and without, sheltered from winds, complete with well- barred doors, and windows that fasten ; and if within this pavilion there were a divan, spread with white cover- lets of fleecy wool embroidered with flowers, strewn over with rare antelope-skins as rugs, and furnished with counterpanes and a red cushion at either end ; and if there drew near a man overcome . . . see the wayfarer seated or lying on that divan in exceedingly great felicity ; — even so does my heart's knowledge . . . there to experience exceedingly great felicity.
Or, lastly, suppose that my heart's knowledge of the heart of a given man tells me that his courses and behaviour and the road he has taken are such as will, by the extirpation of the Cankers, ensure his dwelling — here and now — in that Deliverance of heart and mind which knows no Cankers, a Deliverance which he has, for and by himself, thought out and realized, so as to enter and abide therein. Later on, with the Eye Celestial which is pure and far surpasses the human eye, I duly see him with his Deliverance achieved, experiencing exceedingly great felicity. It is just as if there were a lotus-pond of clear pleasant cool gleaming water with firm banks and in every way delightful, with a dense wood hard by ; and if there drew near a man overcome . . . see the wayfarer — after going down to the pond and there bathing and drinking and easing his weary frame of all its fatigue and distress — come out of the w^ater and sit or [77] lie down in the dense wood in exceedingly great felicity ; — even so does my heart's knowledge . . . with his Deliverance achieved, experiencing exceedingly great felicity.
Such are the five destinies hereafter. Now, if of me who know and see all this anyone were to say that there is nothing superhuman about the recluse Gotama's ennobling gifts or his knowledge and insight, and that
M. i. 73. THE LONG CHALLENGE. 53
it is Gotama's own reasoning which has hammered out a Doctrine of his own evolving and personal invention, — if such a one does not recant these words of his, change his heart, and renounce his view, he will find himself hauled off to purgatory. Just as a Brother who is equipped with virtue, concentration, and insight will — here and now — come to the (Arahat's) plenitude of knowledge, so this other equipment — if the man does not recant his words, change his heart, and renounce his view — will end in his being hauled off to purgatory.
Aye, Sariputta, I have lived the fourfold higher life ; — I have been an ascetic of ascetics ; loathly have I been, foremost in loathliness ; scrupulous have I been, foremost in scrupulosity ; solitary have I been, foremost in solitude.
(i.) To such a pitch of asceticism have I gone that^ naked was I, flouting life's decencies, licking my hands after meals, never heeding when folk called to me to come or to stop, never accepting food brought to me before my rounds or cooked expressly for me, never accepting an invitation, never receiving food direct from pot or pan or within the threshold or among the faggots or pestles, never from (one only of) two people messing together, never from a pregnant woman or a nursing mother or a woman in coitu^ never from gleanings (in time of famine) nor from where a dog is ready at hand or where (hungry) flies congregate, never touching flesh or fish or spirits or strong drink or brews of grain. I have visited only one house a day and there taken only one morsel ; [78] or I have visited but two or (up to not more than) seven houses a day and taken at each only two or (up to not more than) seven morsels ; I have lived on a single saucer of food a day, or on two, or (up to) seven saucers ; I have had but one meal a day, or one every two days, or (so on, up to) every seven days, or only once a fort-
^ Cf. infra Suttas No. 36, 45, 51, etc. ; and see Dialogues I, 227, for these — and one or two more — ascetic practices (of Ajivakas) and their interpretation (by Buddhists).
54 XII. MAHA-SIHANADA-SUTTA. M. i. 79.
night, on a rigid scale of rationing. My sole diet has been herbs gathered green, or the grain of wild millets and paddy, or snippets of hide, or water-plants, or the red powder round rice-grains within the husk, or the discarded scum of rice on the boil, or the flour of oil- seeds, or grass, or cow-dung. I have lived on wild roots and fruit, or on windfalls only. My raiment has been of hemp or of hempen mixture, of cerements, of rags from the dust-heap, of bark, of the black antelope's pelt either whole or split down the middle, of grass, of strips of bark or wood, of hair of men or animals woven into a blanket, or of owls' wings. In fulfilment of my vows, I have plucked out the hair of my head and the hair of my beard, have never quitted the upright for the sitting posture,^ have squatted and never risen up, moving only a-squat, have couched on thorns, have gone down to the water punctually thrice before night- fall to wash (away the evil within). After this wise, in divers fashions, have I lived to torment and to torture my body ; — to such a length in asceticism have I gone.
(ii.) To such a length have I gone in loathliness that on my body I have accumulated the dirt and filth of years till it dropped off of itself, — even as the rank growths of years fall away from the stump of a Tinduka-tree. But never once came the thought to me to clean it off with my own hands or to get others to clean it off for me ; — to such a length in loathliness have I gone.
(iii.) To such a length in scrupulosity have I gone that my footsteps out and in were always attended by a mindfulness so vigilant as to awake compassion within me over even a drop of water lest I might harm tiny creatures in crevices ; — to such a length have I gone in scrupulosity.
(iv.) To such a length have I gone as a solitary that, [79] when my abode was in the depths of the forest, the mere glimpse of a cowherd or neatherd or grass-
^ Jain practices, see Sutta No. 14.
M. i. 79- THE LONG CHALLENGE. 55
cutter, or of a man gathering firewood or edible roots in the forest, was enough to make me dart from wood to wood, from thicket to thicket, from dale to dale, and from hill to hill, — in order that they might not see me or I them. As a deer at the sight of man darts away over hill and dale, even so did I dart away at the mere glimpse of cowherd, neatherd, or what not, in order that they might not see me or I them ; — to such a length have I gone as a solitary.
When the cowherds had driven their herds forth from the byres, up I came on all fours to find a sub- sistence on the droppings of the young milch-cows. So long as my own dung and urine held out, on that I have subsisted. So foul a filth-eater was I.^
I took up my abode in the awesome depths of the forest, depths so awesome that it was reputed that none but the passion-less could venture in without his hair standing on end. When the cold season brought chill wintry nights, then it was that, in the dark half of the months when snow was falling, I dwelt by night in the open air and in the dank thicket by day. But when there came the last broiling month of summer before the rains, I made my dwelling under the baking sun by day and in the stifling thicket by night. Then there flashed on me these verses, never till then uttered by any : —
A/'ow scorched, now frore^ in forest dread, alotie, naked and firelesSy set upon his quest, the hermit battles purity to win.
In a charnel ground I lay me down with charred bones for pillow. When the cowherds' boys came along, they spat and staled upon me, pelted me with dirt, and stuck bits of wood into my ears. Yet I declare that never did I let an evil mood against them arise within me. — So poised in equanimity was I.^
* Less detail is given at Dialogues I, 232 (note i), and the 94th Jataka (which contains the verses following, with a com- mentary which is fuller and — I think — later than Buddhaghosa's commentary on them in this Sutta).
2 This bojjhanga addition (see Sutta No. 2) does not appear in the Digha catalogue of asceticisms.
56 XII. MAHA-SIHANADA-SUTTA. M. i. 80.
[80] Some recluses and brahmins there are who say and hold that purity cometh by way of food, and ac- cordingly proclaim that they live exclusively on jujube- fruits, which, in one form or other, constitute their sole meat and drink. Now I can claim to have lived on a single jujube-fruit a day. If this leads you to think that this fruit was larger in those days, you would err ; for, it was precisely the same size then that it is to-day. When I was living on a single fruit a day, my body grew emaciated in the extreme ; because I ate so little, my members, great and small, grew like the knotted joints of withered creepers ; like a buffalo's hoof were my shrunken buttocks ; like the twists in a rope were my spinal vertebrae ; like the crazy rafters of a tumble- down roof, that start askew and aslant, were my gaunt ribs ; like the starry gleams on water deep down and afar in the depths of a well, shone my gleaming eyes deep down and afar in the depths of their sockets ; and as the rind of a cut gourd shrinks and shrivels in the heat, so shrank and shrivelled the scalp of my head, — and all because I ate so little. If I sought to feel my belly, it was my backbone which I found in my grasp ; if I sought to feel my backbone, I found myself grasping my belly, so closely did my belly cleave to my backbone ; — and all because I ate so little. When I wanted to retire for the calls of nature, down I fell on my face ; — and all because I ate so little. If for ease of body I chafed my limbs, the hairs of my body fell away under my hand, rotted at their roots ; — and all because I ate so little.
Other recluses and brahmins there are who, saying and holding that purity cometh by way of food, proclaim that they live exclusively on beans — or sesamum — or rice — as their sole meat and drink. [81] Now I can claim to have lived on a single bean a day — on a single sesamum seed a day — or a single grain of rice a day ; and [the result was still the same]. Never did this practice or these courses or these dire austerities bring me to the ennobling gifts of super-
M. i. 82. THE LONG CHALLENGE. 57
human knowledge and insight. And why ? — Because none of them lead to that noble understanding which, when won, leads on to Deliverance and guides him who lives up to it onward to the utter extinction of all 111.
Again, there are other recluses and brahmins who say and hold that purity cometh by way of successive transmigrations, [82] — or of a particular rebirth — or particular abode. Now, it would not be easy to find the transmigration or rebirth or abode that has not been mine in all this long past of mine, — save and except the heaven of the pure abode. ^ And even if I were to transmigrate to — or be reborn in — or abide among the gods of that particular heaven, I could never more return to earth.
Again, there are recluses and brahmins who say and hold that purity cometh by sacrificing or by fire-ritual. Now it would not be easy to find either the sacrifice which I have not offered or the fire-ritual which I have not performed, — whether as a king anointed as such from among the nobles, or as a brahmin magnate.
Lastly, there are recluses and brahmins who say and hold that, as long as a man is in the prime of his youth and early manhood, with a wealth of coal-black hair untouched by grey, and in all the beauty of his prime, — so long only are the powers of his mind at their best ; but that when he has grown broken and old, aged and stricken in years, and draws to his life's close, then the powers of his mind are in decay. This is not so. I myself am now broken and old, aged and stricken in years and at the close of my life, being now round about eighty. Imagine now that I had four disciples — each living to be a full hundred, each of perfect alertness, resolve, and power to reproduce and expound, — four disciples as perfect in their
^ This heaven is deliberately ignored in Sutta No. i. At Digha II, 50 (v. Dialogues II, 39, note 2), Gotama paid a visit of curiosity to this heaven, which is only dragged in here per contumeliam, to pour contempt on all the pride of brahmins in their purity and its apotheosis.
5 8 XII. MAHA-SIHANADA-SUTTA. M. i. 83.
scope as a mighty archer of renown, so skilled and dexterous with his bow and so schooled in its use that he can with ease shoot even a feather-weight shaft right over a towering palm. [83] Imagine further that these four gifted disciples ply me with questions (say) about mustering-up mindfulness, receive my answers, take in my exposition as expounded to them, never put to me a single subsidiary question, and never pause in their questioning except for meals, for the calls of nature, and for necessary repose. — Still uncom- pleted withal would be the Truth-finder's teaching, still uncompleted would be his exposition of the Sayings, still uncompleted would be his answers to their questions ; but meantime my four disciples would have lived out their allotted century and would have expired. If you have to carry me about on a litter, Sariputta, yet will my mind still retain its powers.
Of me, if of anyone, it may truly be said that in me a being without delusions has appeared in the world for the welfare and good of many, out of compassion towards the world, for the profit, welfare and good of gods and men.
At the time the venerable Nagasamala was standing behind the Lord, fanning him ; and he said to the Lord : — Wonderful, sir ; marvellous ! As I listened to this discourse, the hairs of my body stood on end. What is the title of this discourse ?
Well, then, Nagasamala, treasure it up in your memory as 'the Grisly discourse.'^
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Nagasamala rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
1 As this Maha-sihanada-sutta is also thus styled the Lomahamsa-pariy aya, so the Sigal-ovada-sutta of the Digha was also (Dialogues III, 171) known as the layman's Vinaya. So the Anumana-sutta (infra. No. 15) was known as the Bhikkhu-patimokkha; and the Ariya-pariyesana- sutta (infra, No. 26) is alternatively styled by Bu. Pasarasi- sutta. See also the penultimate paragraph of Sutta No. 115 for five alternative titles, all attributed to Gotama himself.
M. i. 84. THE LONGER STORY OF ILL. 59
XIII. MAHA-DUKKHA-KKHANDHA- SUTTA.
THE LONGER STORY OF ILL.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, a number of Almsmen, duly robed and bowl in hand, went early in the day [84] into the city for alms. But, thinking it somewhat early for this, they thought they would go to the (neighbouring) pleasaunce assigned to the Wanderers of other creeds. Arrived there and seating themselves after due exchange of civil greetings, they were addressed as follows by these sectaries : — Reverend sirs, the recluse Gotama teaches how to transcend pleasures of sense ; — so do we. He teaches how to transcend visible forms ; — so do we. He teaches how to transcend feelings ; — so do we. Where then is the distinction, divergence or difference between him and us in tenets or teaching .'*
The Almsmen who had listened to this, neither applauded nor objected, but simply rose up without a word and departed, to hear the truth on the matter from the Lord's lips. So, when they had gone their rounds for alms and had got back after their meal, they went to him and, seating themselves after due saluta- tions, related what had passed.
[85] Sectaries who say that should be asked what satisfaction, what perils, and what Deliverance attend pleasures of sense, or visible forms, or feelings, respec- tively. To this they will not succeed in replying, and will be annoyed to boot. And why ? — Because it is beyond their scope. I see no one in the whole universe — with all its gods, Maras, Brahmas, recluses and brahmins, gods and men — who can win hearts with his answer to these questions, save only a Truth-finder, or a disciple of the Truth-finder, or one who has been told by them.
What is the satisfaction that attends pleasures of sense? Fivefold are pleasures of sense: — (i.) forms
6o XIII. MAHA-DUKKHA-KKHANDHA-SUTTA. M. i. 86.
perceived by the eye, (ii.) sounds perceived by the ear, (iii.) odours perceived by the nose, (iv.) tastes perceived by the tongue, and (v.) touch perceived by the body, — all of them desirable, agreeable, pleasant, and attractive, all of them pleasurable and exciting to passion. The satisfaction that attends pleasures of sense is the gratification and contentment which arises from these fivefold pleasures.
What are the perils which attend pleasures of sense ? — Take the case of a respectable young man who makes his living by being clerk of the signet, clerk of accompt, computer, estate-agent, purveyor, herd- manager, archer, member of the royal household, or in some other calling, — therein braving heat and cold, harassed by gnats, mosquitoes, wind, blazing sun, and contact with snakes, and tormented to death by hunger and thirst. — These are among the perils that attend pleasures of sense, here and now, with all that makes up the sum of 111, — all because of pleasure, from pleasure, by reason of pleasure, verily [86] with pleasure, and pleasure only, as the cause.
If, now, active, energetic and pushing though he be, this respectable young man fails to make his fortune, he grieves and laments and weeps, beats his breast and is distracted that his efforts have been in vain and his activities fruitless. — These are among the perils that attend . . . the cause.
If on the other hand success attends his efforts and he does make his fortune, he is beset by anxiety and tribulation to retain it, — always wondering whether kings or thieves will despoil him, or whether he will be stripped by fire or flood or by heirs he detests. And if, despite all his watch and ward, one or other of these calamities befalls him, then he grieves and laments . . . the cause.
It is equally because of pleasure — from pleasure, by reason of pleasure, verily with pleasure, and pleasure only, as the originating cause — that kings contend with kings, nobles with nobles, brahmins with brahmins, citizens with citizens, mother with son, son with mother,
M. i. 87. THE LONGER STORY OF ILL. 6 1
father with son, son with father, brother with brother, brother with sister, sister with brother, friend with friend, till, in their quarrels, contentions and strife, they fall on one another with fists, clods, cudgels, and knives, whereby they come by their death or deadly hurt. — These are among the perils that attend . . . the cause.
It is equally because of pleasure that, girding on sword and buckler, bow and sheaf of arrows, men charge in battle array, while arrows and javelins hurtle through the air and swords flash and hack ; with arrows and spear they deal wounds, with their swords they hew off heads, so that men come by their deaths or deadly hurt. — These are among the perils that attend . . . the cause.
It is equally because of pleasure that, girding on sword and buckler, bow and sheaf of arrows, men charge up slippery bastions, while arrows and javelins hurtle through the air [87] and swords flash and hack ; with arrows and spear they deal wounds ; (the besieged) pour down blazing embers (on their besiegers) and crush them with the falling portcullis ; heads are hewn off by swords ; so that men come by their deaths or deadly hurt. — These are among the perils . . . the cause.
It is equally because of pleasure that men turn into burglars, robbers, brigands, highwaymen, or adulterers. On arrest, these are punished by the authorities in divers ways, — by flogging, by bastinado, by bludgeon- ing ; by cutting off hands or feet, hands and feet, ears or nose, ears and nose ; or they are subjected to the tortures of the saucepan,^ the chank-shave, or the lanthorn,^ the wreath of fire,^ the fiery hand, the hay-
^ The skull was first trepanned and then a red-hot ball of iron was dropped in, so that the brains boiled over like porridge. For this and other tortures see S.B.E., XXXV, 276.
2 The mouth was fixed open with a skewer and a lighted lamp put inside. This torture was called the mouth of Rahu because Rahu, the Asura, was supposed, at an eclipse, to swallow the sun.
3 Bu. says that the whole body was oiled before ignition ; but
62 XIII. MAHA-DUKKHA-KKHANDHA-SUTTA. M. i. 87.
band,^ the bark-robe, the black hart,^ the meat-hooks,^ the pennies,^ the pickle,^ bolting the door,^ or the palliasse ;^ or they are sprayed with boiling oil, or are given to starved dogs to devour, or are impaled alive, or have their heads chopped off; so that men come by their deaths or deadly hurt. — These are among the perils . . , the cause.
Lastly, it is equally because of pleasure — from pleasure, by reason of pleasure, verily with pleasure, and pleasure only, as the cause — that men go astray in act word and thought ; and thereby, at the body's dissolution after death, they pass to states of suffering, woe and tribulation and to purgatory. — These are the perils that — in the hereafter — dog pleasures of sense with all that makes up 111, — all because of pleasure, from pleasure, by reason of pleasure, verily with pleasure, and pleasure only, as the cause.
Next, what is the deliverance from pleasures of sense ? — To subdue and to shed all desire and appetite for them, this is deliverance from pleasures of sense.
Almsmen, i( recluses or brahmins lack this real knowledge of the true nature of the satisfaction and perils of, and of deliverance from, pleasures of sense, they cannot possibly either comprehend such pleasures
mall suggests a coronal of flames, just as the next torture is localized to the hands.
^ From the neck downwards, the skin was flayed into strips not severed at the ankles but there plaited like a hay- band to suspend him till he fell by his own weight. In the next torture the strips formed a kilt.
2 The victim was skewered to the ground through elbows and knees, with a fire lighted all round him so as to char his flesh.
3 The victims were slung up by double hooks through flesh and tendons.
4 With a razor little discs of flesh were shaved off" all over the body.
^ Into gashes salt or alkali was rubbed, — with combs.
^ The head was nailed to the ground by a skewer through both ear-holes.
^ The skin being left intact, the bones and inwards were pounded till the whole frame was as soft as a straw mattress.
M. i. 88. THE LONGER STORY OF ILL. 63
for themselves or instruct another by what course to comprehend the truth about them. Only those can possibly do this who [88] know pleasures of sense for what they truly are.
Take (the particular case of) visible forms. What is the satisfaction they give ? — It is as if there were a maiden of a noble or brahmin or citizen family, between fifteen and sixteen years old, not too tall and not too short, not too plump and not too thin, not too dark and not too pale ; — is she then in the flower of her charm and beauty }
Yes, sir.
Well, anything agreeable and pleasurable that arises from charm and beauty is the satisfaction that visible forms give.
Next, what are the perils of visible forms ? — Suppose that, later on, one saw that same lady when she was eighty or ninety or a hundred years old, a crone bent double and propping her bowed frame with a staff as she totters along, decrepit, with her youth gone and her teeth broken, with hair grey or scanty or none, all wrinkly or blotchy ; — what think you ? Has the flower of her charm and beauty gone and calamity set in ?
Yes, sir.
Well, this is among the perils which dog visible forms.
Now suppose one saw that same lady sick and suffering and very ill, lying in her own ordure and urine, dependent on others to lift and dress her ; — what think you, Brethren ? Has the flower of her charm and beauty gone and calamity set in ?
Yes, sir.
Well, this too is among the perils which dog visible forms.
Lastly, suppose that, after that same lady's body has been cast into the charnel-ground, one saw it either lying there bloated and black and festering after one to three days' exposure there, — or being de- voured by crows or hawks or vultures or dogs or jackals or divers worms — or [89] showing as a chain
64 XIII. MAHA-DUKKHA-KKHANDHA-SUTTA. M. i. 90.
of bones, either still with flesh and blood and sinews to hold them together, or with only smears of flesh and blood left with the bones and sinews, or with sinews gone and only the bare bones left scattered about, here a hand and there a foot, here a leg and there an arm, here the pelvis, there the spine, and there the skull — or with the bones whitening like sea-shells, or piled in a heap as years roll by, or crumbled to dust; — what think you ? Has the flower of her charm and beauty gone and calamity set in ?
Yes, sir.
Well, these things too are among the perils which dog visible forms.
Next, what is the deliverance from visible forms ? — To subdue and shed all desire and appetite for them, — this is deliverance from visible forms.
Almsmen, if recluses or brahmins lack this real knowledge of the true nature of the satisfactions and perils of, and deliverance from, visible forms, they cannot possibly either comprehend visible forms for themselves or instruct another by what course to comprehend the truth about them. Only those can possibly do this who know visible forms for what they truly are.
What are the satisfactions that feelings bring? — Take the case of an Almsman who, divested of pleasures of sense, divested of wrong states of consciousness, has entered on and abides in the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection. When it is thus with him, harm is not in his heart, either towards himself or to others or towards both together ; [90] he experiences the feeling of harbouring no harm at all. This perfect innocence of harm I count as the true satisfaction which feelings bring. When he has risen above reasoning and reflection, he enters into and abides in the Second Ecstasy, with all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of rapt con- centration, above all reasoning and reflection, a state whereby the heart is focussed and tranquillity reigns
M. i. 90. THE LONGER STORY OF ILL. 65
within. And so he passes to the Third and the Fourth Ecstasy ; and when, by putting from him both satisfac- tion and dissatisfaction, and by shedding the joys and sorrows he used to feel, that Almsman enters into and abides in that Fourth Ecstasy — the state that knows neither the pleasant nor the unpleasant, the clarity that comes of poised equanimity and alert mindful- ness,— harm is not in his heart, either towards him- self or to others or to both together ; he experiences the feeling of harbouring no harm at all. This sense of perfect innocence of harm I count as the true satisfaction which feelings bring.
What are the perils which feelings entail ? — Inas- much as feelings are transitory, fraught with 111, and the creatures of change, — these are the perils which dog them.
What is the deliverance from feelings ? — To subdue and to shed all desire and appetite for them, — this is deliverance from feelings.
Almsmen, if recluses or brahmins lack this real knowledge of the true nature of the satisfactions and perils of, and deliverance from, feelings, they cannot possibly either comprehend feelings for themselves or instruct another by what course to comprehend the truth about them. Only those can possibly do this who know feelings for what they really are.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Almsmen rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XIV. COLA-DUKKHA-KKHANDHA-SUTTA.
THE BRIEF STORY OF ILL.
[91] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying among the Sakyans at Kapilavatthu in the Banyan pleasaunce, there came to him (his elder cousin) MahanSma the Sakyan who, after salutations, seated himself to one side and spoke as follows : — Though I have long understood the Lord's teaching that greed, hate and illusion were vices that beset the heart, yet at times each of these vices invades my heart and takes up its abode there, so that I wonder what undiscarded state of consciousness it is that causes this invasion.
Yes, Mahanama, it is an undiscarded state of con- sciousness which causes the trouble ; and this would be dislodged from within you, if you were to quit house and home and renounce all pleasures of sense. It is because this state of mind persists in you, that you keep living on at home in comfort. If, though a disciple of the Noble has a sound and true grasp and comprehension of the truth that pleasures of the sense, while yielding little satisfaction but much 111 and much tribulation, are dogged by perils greater still, he yet fails to find zest and satisfaction — or something Higher than that — without pleasures of sense and without wrong states of consciousness, — then he is in pleasure's snares. But if to that grasp and comprehension he adds this zest and satisfaction — or something Higher — without pleasures of sense and without wrong states, then he is not ensnared by pleasure.
I myself, [92] Mahanama, in the days before my Enlightenment, when I was still but a Bodhisatta not yet fully enlightened, although I had a sound and true grasp and comprehension of the truth about pleasures of
66
M. i. 93- THE BRIEF STORY OF ILL. 6"]
sense, yet I failed to find zest and satisfaction, or some- thing Higher, without pleasures of sense and wrong dis- positions; and I was conscious that I was still in pleasure's snares. But when to grasp and comprehension I added a zest and satisfaction, and something Higher, into which pleasure and wrong dispositions did not enter, then I be- came conscious of being no longer ensnared by pleasure.
What is the satisfaction that attends pleasures of sense ? Fivefold . . . (etc. as in preceding Sutta) . . . Verily with pleasure, and pleasure only, as the cause.
Once on a time, when I was staying at Rajagaha on the Vultures' Peak, there were a number of Niganthas at Blackrock on the slopes of Mt. Isigili, — upright men who would never sit down, and were undergoing paroxysms of acute pain and agony. Arising towards evening from my meditations, I went to Blackrock and asked those Niganthas why it was they subjected themselves to all these pains by maintaining the upright posture and never sitting down. Their answer to me was that Nataputta the Nigantha — 'who was all- knowing and all-seeing, with nothing beyond his ken and vision, and who claimed that, whether he was walking or standing still, sleeping or [93] awake, continuous and unruffled ken and vision were always his '—had taught them as follows : — Niganthas, you have done evil in the past ; — extirpate it by these severe austerities. Every present restraint on body, speech and mind will hereafter undo the evildoings of the past. Hence, by expelling through penance all past misdeeds, and by not committing fresh misdeeds, the future becomes cleared ; with the future cleared, the past is wiped out; with the past wiped out, 111 is no more ; with 111 no more, (painful) feelings are no more ; and, with painful feelings now no more, all 111 will be outworn. — This teaching commends and approves itself to us, and we rejoice in it.
Thereupon, I said to those Niganthas : — Do you know, reverend sirs, whether you had an existence before this and were not non-existent .-^
68 XIV. CULA-DUKKHA-KKHANDHA-SUTTA. M. i. 94.
No, sir.
Do you know that, in a former existence, you were guilty, and not guiltless, of misdeeds ?
No.
Do you know that (in that former existence) you were guilty, and not guiltless, of this or that specific misdeed ?
No.
Do you know that a precise amount of 111 has already been outworn, or that a precise amount of 111 has to be outworn, or that, when a precise amount of 111 has been outworn, all 111 has become outworn ?
No.
Do you know how, here and now, to shed wrong dispositions and to acquire right dispositions ?
No.
So I gather, sirs, that you Niganthas have no know- ledge whether you had an existence before this ; whether you were guilty of misdeeds, either generally or specifically ; how much 111 is already outworn or how much has still to be outworn or how much has to be outworn before all 111 has become outworn ; nor how, here and now, to shed wrong dispositions and to acquire right dispositions. This being so, pray, do those who, having been reborn as men, are hunters or have hands stained with blood or cruelty, flock to be Pilgrims with the Niganthas ?
True weal, Gotama, must be won not by weal and comfort but by woe. If weal [94] were the means to win weal, then the King of Magadha, Seniya Bimbisara, would win weal, for there is more weal in his life than in the reverend Gotama's.
Surely this is a somewhat hasty remark. It is I who ought to be asked which of the two of us enjoys the greater weal, — the King or I.
Yes, it was somewhat hasty ; but let that pass, and let us now put to you the question whether it is the King or you who enjoys the greater weal in his life.
Then, sirs, I will ask you a question in return, to be answered by you as you see fit : — Can the King
M. i. 95- THE BRIEF STORY OF ILL. 69
rest motionless and not utter a word for seven days and nights on end, and yet abide in Weal beyond compare ?
No.
Can he do so for six days and nights, — or for five, four, three, two days and nights, or for just one single night and day ?
No.
Well, sirs, I can rest motionless and not speak a word for a night and a day and yet abide all the time in W^eal beyond compare. I can do so for two nights and days, — for three, four, five, six and seven nights and days on end. What think you, Niganthas ? — On this shewing, who enjoys the greater Weal in his life, King Seniya Bimbisara of Magadha, or I ?
On this showing, it is the reverend [95] Gotama who enjoys greater Weal in his life than the King does.
So spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, Mahanama the Sakyan rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XV. ANUMANA-SUTTA.^
REFLECTION.
Thus have I heard. Once when the venerable Maha-Moggallana was staying in the Bhagga country at Crocodile Peak in the Bhesakala wood, in the deer- park there, he addressed the Almsmen as follows : —
If, despite his invitation to his seniors to teach him and despite his professed anxiety to learn, an Almsman proves unruly and obstreperous in temper, fractious and unreceptive of instruction, — then his fellows in the higher life deem him unfit to be taught or instructed or trusted. Now what are the states of mind that make a man obstreperous in temper ? — Take the case of an Almsman who is evilly inclined and is the thrall of evil
^ Bu. records that this Sutta was known to the Ancients as the Bhikkhu-patimokkha, and adds that this self-examination should take place three times each day.
yo XV. ANUMANA-SUTTA. M. i. 96.
inclinations ; — or who lauds himself and runs down others ; — or who is wrathful and the slave of wrath ; — or who is wrathful and because of his wrath bears grudges ; — or who is wrathful and because of his wrath takes offence ; — or who is wrathful and because of his wrath utters words of unbridled wrath ; — or who, being reproved, argues with his reprover ; — or who, being reproved, resents the reproof; — [96] or who, being reproved, retorts with charges against his reprover ; — or who, being reproved, wraps one thing up in another, turns the talk off to something irrelevant, displaying ill-temper, malice, and distrust ; — or who, being reproved, fails to explain his proceedings ; — or who is a hypocrite and impostor ; — or who harbours envy and jealousy ; — or who is full of guile and deceit ; — or who is stubborn and arrogant ; — or who hugs the temporal, nor looses his grip and hold thereon ; — all these are states of mind that make a man obstreperous in temper.
But if an Almsman who invites his seniors to teach him and professes anxiety to learn, proves humble and meek, docile and receptive, — then his fellows in the higher life deem him fit to be taught and instructed and trusted. Now, what are the states of mind that make for meekness ? — Almsmen, they are [point for point the precise opposites of the foregoing list].
[97] In connection with the foregoing states of mind, an Almsman ought to argue about himself as follows : — The man of evil inclinations is displeasing and disagreeable to me ; and if I incline to evil, others will regard me likewise as displeasing and disagreeable. Realizing this, he must school his heart never to give way to evil inclinations. Similarly, realizing that, just as he dislikes each of the other shortcomings in others, so their presence in himself will make him disliked likewise, the Almsman must school his heart never to give way to any single one of them.
[98] He ought to reflect within himself whether he is evilly inclined and so forth. If this reflection tells him that he has got evil inclinations and
M. i. loo. REFLECTION. 7 1
SO forth, then he must strive to get rid of them. But, if reflection tells him he has not got evil in- clinations or the other evil states of mind, then let his life be filled with zest and holy joy as he trains himself by day and by night in right states of mind.
[100] If his reflection tells him that each and every one of these evil and wrong states of mind persists within him, he must strive to get rid of them all. But, if reflection tells him he has got rid of them all, then let his life be filled with zest and holy joy as he trains himself by day and by night in right states of mind.
Sirs, it is just like a woman or man or lad young and dressy, to whom the reflection of their features in a bright clean mirror or in a bowl of clear water reveals a smut or pimple, so that they strive to get rid of it ; but if the reflection revealed nothing of the kind, they rejoice that all is right and that their faces are clean and clear ; — even so is it with an Almsman ; if reflection tells him that these evil and wrong states of mind persist within him, he must strive to get rid of them all ; but if he is conscious of having got rid of all of them, then let his life be filled with zest and holy joy as he trains himself by day and by night in right states of mind.
Thus spoke the reverend Maha-Moggallana. Glad at heart, those Almsmen rejoiced in what he had said.
XVI. CETO-KHILA-SUTTA.
THE HEART'S FALLOWS AND BONDAGES.
[101] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anatha- pindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the listening Almsmen as follows : — While the five Fallows of his heart are left untilled and its five Bondages are un- shattered, no Almsman can possibly shew growth, increase and progress in this Doctrine and Rule.
What are the five Fallows he leaves untilled i* — Take the case of an Almsman who feels doubts and
72 XVI. CETO-KHILA-SUTTA. M. i. io2.
misgivings about the Master, without either certainty or conviction, so that in this frame of mind, his heart has no bent towards ardour, zeal, perseverance, and exertion ; this marks the first Fallow untilled. Or suppose he feels these same doubts and misgivings about the Doctrine — or the Confraternity — or his course of training, with the same lack of bent towards ardour, zeal, perseverance, and exertion ; — this marks the second — the third — and the fourth Fallow untilled. The fifth is when he is angry with his fellows in the higher life, is displeased with them, is upset about them, and fallow — as it were — in his relations to them, so that he has no bent towards ardour, zeal, perseverance, and exertion.
What are the five Bondages he leaves unshattered ? — Take the case of an Almsman who, in the matter of sensuous pleasure, is not void of passion and appetite, fondness and yearning, thirsting, feverish longings and craving ; in this frame of mind, his heart has no bent towards ardour and so forth. This marks the first Bondage unshattered. If he is in like case in the matter of the body — or of visible forms, — this marks the second [102] and the third, respectively, of the heart's Bondages unshattered. Or, again, if after eating as much as ever his belly will hold, an Almsman is fond of his chair or bed or of slumber, then his heart's bent is not towards ardour, zeal, perseverance, and exertion ; and this marks the fourth Bondage un- shattered. Or, lastly, an Almsman's ambition in the higher life may be for some particular order of gods ; and so his virtue, conversation, austerities and higher life aim at ensuring his becoming a god, or some par- ticular god. If such be his aims and ambition, then his hearths bent is not to ardour, zeal, perseverance, and exertion ; and this marks the fifth Bondage un- shattered.
If, Almsmen, these five Fallows of his heart are left untilled, and if these five Bondages are unshattered, no Almsman can possibly shew growth, increase and pro- gress in this Doctrine and Rule.
M. i. 103. THE HEART S FALLOWS AND BONDAGES. 73
If, on the other hand, an Almsman has the five Fallows of his heart tilled and its five Bondages shattered, then it is quite possible for him to shew growth, increase and progress in the Doctrine and Rule.
What are the five tilled Fallows of the heart ? — Take the case of an Almsman who feels no doubts or misgivings about the Master but feels certainty and conviction, so that his heart is bent on ardour, zeal, perseverance, and exertion, — this marks the first Fallow tilled. If he feels no doubts or misgivings about the Doctrine — or about the Confraternity — or about his course of training, — and if his heart is bent on ardour, zeal, perseverance, and exertion, — this marks the second — the third — and the fourth Fallow tilled. The fifth is when he is not angered against his fellows, is not displeased or upset by them, nor is he fallow — as it were — in his relations to them ; [103] — this marks the heart's fifth and last Fallow tilled.
And similarly with shattering the heart's five Bondages.
He develops the four bases of psychic power, in which purpose, will, thought, and study respectively inspire what moulds and fashions vigorous concentra- tion. Strenuousness itself is a fifth.
The Almsman who is equipped with these fifteen^ factors of the strenuous character [I04j has the capacity for breaking through, the capacity for full Enlighten- ment, and the capacity for the Peace beyond compare.
It is like a hen with a clutch of eight or ten or a dozen eggs, on which she has sat closely, keeping them as warm as may be with all her pains and care ; albeit the wish may arise within her that her chicks with claw or beak would break through the shell and win forth, yet that hen's chicks are capable of breaking the shell and winning forth quite safely ; — even so, the
^ I.e. the five tilled Fallows plus the five shattered Bondages plus the four psychic bases ; with strenuousness itself added on to the latter as a fifth (Bu.).
74 XVII. VANA-PATTHA-SUTTA. M. i. 105.
Almsman who is equipped with these fifteen factors of the strenuous character is capable of breaking through, is capable of full Enlightenment, and is capable of the Peace beyond compare.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XVII. VANA-PATTHA-SUTTA.
UBI BENE,
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the Almsmen, saying: — I will expound to you the principles of the forest life. Give ear and pay attention, and I will speak. — Yes, Lord, was their response to the Lord, who then went on to speak as follows : —
Take the case of an Almsman who, dwelling in the forest, finds that the mindfulness which was not his before is still not his, that the stedfastness of heart which was not his before is still not his, that the Cankers which had not passed before are not passing away from him now, that the Peace beyond compare which he had not won before is still to win, and that in the forest it is hard to satisfy a Pilgrim's needs in the matter of clothing, food, bed, and medicaments. In such case, the Brother [105] should ponder this over and — be it by night or be it by day — should quit that forest and reside there no longer.
Next, take an Almsman who, dwelling in the forest, has just the same experiences except that he has no difficulty there in satisfying a Pilgrim's needs. He too should ponder this over and reflect that it was not for clothing and the like that he went forth from home to homelessness but that here he is acquiring neither mindfulness nor stedfastness of heart, is not getting rid of the Cankers nor winning the Peace beyond com-
M. i. io6. UBI BENE. 75
pare. Realizing this, he should quit that forest and reside there no longer.
Take now an Almsman who, dwelling in the forest, finds that the mindfulness which was not his before is now his, that the stedfastness of heart which was not his before is now his, that the Cankers which had not passed away before have now passed away from him, and that he is now winning that Peace beyond compare which he had not won before, — but that he finds it hard there to satisfy a Pilgrim's needs in the matter of clothing, food, bed, and medicaments. Pondering over this, he should reflect [106] that it was not for these latter things that he went forth from home to homeless- ness but that by residing in that forest the mindfulness which was not his before is now his . . . not won before. Realizing this, he should dwell on in that forest and not quit it.
Lastly, if, in addition to growth in mindfulness and so forth, he finds no difficulty there in satisfying a Pilgrim's needs, he should similarly dwell on in that forest and not quit it.
(The same considerations should guide him) if his abode is near a village, a township, a city, a country, [107-8] or an individual. ... If all goes well with his growth Within, he will cleave to that individual while life lasts ; he will not quit him, although hounded away.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XVIIL MADHU-PINDIKA-SUTTA.
HONEYED LORE.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying among the Sakyans at Kapilavatthu in the Banyan pleasaunce, he went, duly robed and bowl in hand, into the city ifor alms. At the end of his round, when his meal was over and he was on his way back, he came to Great Wood and entering it seated
76 XVIII. MADHU-PINDIKA-SUTTA. M. i. 109.
himself for the noontide at the foot of a young Vilva tree. So too Dandapani the Sakyan, who was on his wanderings and peregrinations afoot in the forest, came also to Great Wood and, entering it, drew near to the Lord under his tree, and, after exchange of civil greetings, stood to one side with his hands leaning on his staff, to ask : — What are your tenets, recluse ? What is your gospel ?
Tenets, sir, whereby not only is a man at strife with no world whatsoever throughout the whole universe — with its gods, Maras, Brahmas, recluses and brahmins, embracing all gods and mankind, — but also he as (a true) Brahmin dwells above all pleasures of sense, without perplexities and with a clear conscience, without any cravings to be reborn either here or there, immune from assaults of the perceptions. — These, sir, are my tenets ; and this is my gospel.
At these words Dandapani shook his head, [109] waggled his tongue and departed, still leaning on his staff, with his brow puckered into three wrinkles.
Towards evening, arising from his meditations, the Lord made his way to the Banyan pleasaunce. There, seating himself on the seat set for him, he told the Almsmen the incident in full detail. When he had done so, a certain Almsman asked what precisely were the tenets whereby the Lord was at strife with no world and how he as the true Brahmin dwelt above all pleasures of sense without perplexities . . . assaults of the perceptions.
Whatever be the origin, Almsman, of the several obsessions, bred of perceptions, which beset a man's path, yet, if they find neither approval nor welcome nor adherence, then here at once is an end of all pro- pensities to passion, to resentment, [110] to specu- lative ideas, to doubts, to pride, to passion for con- tinuing existence, and to ignorance ; it is the end of taking up cudgel or knife, of quarrels, of contentions, of strife, of wrangling, slander, and lies. — Herein, all these evil and wrong states of mind are quelled and pass away entirely.
M. i. III. HONEYED LORE. ^^
So Spoke the Lord. Then, getting up from his seat, the Blessed One went to his cell.
He had not been gone long when those Almsmen bethought them how tersely and without detailed exposition the Lord had propounded this theme ere withdrawing to his cell ; and they were wondering who would expound to them the meaning of the Lord's pregnant utterance, when the idea came to them that the reverend Maha-Kaccana, who was praised by the Master and was held in high honour among the most able of his fellows in the higher life, could give them that detailed exposition. So to Maha-Kaccana they went, laid the whole matter before him, and asked him to expound accordingly.
[Ill] Really, sirs, said he, it is as if a man who was in need and search and quest of choice timber were to come on just the fine upstanding tree for his purpose but were to disregard its root and trunk and to imagine he could find his choice timber among the branches and foliage. For, this is just what your reverences have come to, in that, with the Master there in front of you, you have ignored him and come to ask me what he meant. Sirs, the Lord knows with all knowing and sees with all seeing, — being the embodiment of vision, insight, the Doctrine, and all excellence ; he is the propounder and expounder and unfolder of meanings, the giver of Nirvana's ambrosia, lord of the Doctrine, the Truth-finder. Then was the time to address your questions to the Lord in person, in order to treasure up what he might reveal.
Admitting all this, the Almsmen still pressed Maha- Kaccana to consent to expound and elucidate it for them. And he, consenting, spoke as follows : — I take, sirs, the detailed meaning of the Lord's pregnant utterance to be this. — It is because of the eye and of visible forms that visual consciousness arises ; the meeting of these three things is contact ; contact con- ditions feeling ; what a man feels, he perceives ; [112] what he perceives, he reasons about ; what he reasons about, he is obsessed by ; from what obsesses him
78 XVIII. MADHU-PINDIKA-SUTTA. M. i. 113.
originate the several obsessions, bred of perceptions, which beset a man's path in respect of visible forms, past present or future, which are cognizable by the eye. So too, it is because of ear and sounds that auditory consciousness arises ; — because of nose and odours that olfactory consciousness arises ; — because of tongue and tastes that gustatory consciousness arises ; because of body and tangible things that there arises tactile con- sciousness ; — because of mind and mental objects that there arises mental consciousness ; the meeting of these three things is contact ; contact conditions feeling . . . mental objects, past, present or future, which are cognizable by the mind.-^ Where eye and visible form are present with visual consciousness, there a man may recognize the manifestation of contact ; where there is the manifestation of contact, there a man may recognize the manifestation of feeling — and so of perception, reasoning, and obsession. But the three factors must all be present together, or there can be no manifesta- tion to recognize. And the like holds good of each of the other senses, including mind. — This, sirs, [113] is what I take to be the detailed meaning of the Lord's pregnant utterance. But, should your reverences so desire, you can go to the Lord himself and address your questions to him in person, in order to treasure up what he may reveal.
After expressing their gratification and gratitude to the reverend Maha-Kaccana, those Almsmen rose and went to the Lord, to whom they explained at length how, to get a detailed interpretation of his pregnant utterance, they had betaken themselves to the reverend Maha-Kaccana [114] and how in what sentences and words he had expounded the meaning to them.
Maha-Kaccana, said the Lord, has learning and
1 Here, as infra at M. Ill, 223, this scholastic formula is attributed, not to Gotama but to Kaccana, as, in the 28th and 43rd Suttas, it is attributed to Sariputta.
See M. I, 295, for Sariputta's dictum that, while the first five (ordinary) senses have domains separate and distinct from one another, mind enters into the domain of each of them.
M. i. 115. HONEYED LORE. 79
great insight. If you were to put your question to me, my explanation would tally with his ; for this is the right meaning and you should so treasure it up.
Hereupon, the venerable Ananda said to the Lord : — Just as a man who, being half-dead with hunger and exhaustion, should come on a honeyed cake, each bit he tastes bringing in on him more and more its sweet delicious savour, — even so, the further the mind of a competent Almsman penetrates into the import of the lore of the exposition of the Doctrine, the greater grows his gratification and gladness of heart. What, sir, is the name of this exposition ?
Well, Ananda, let it be known as the exposition of 'the honeyed cake.'
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Ananda rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XIX. DVEDHA-VITAKKA-SUTTA.
ON COUNTER-IRRITANTS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was stay- ing at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the listening Almsmen as follows : —
In the days before my full enlightenment, when I was as yet only a Bodhlsatta and not yet all-enlightened, the idea came to me to sort out my thoughts into two separate and distinct groups. Into one category I put thoughts about pleasures of sense, about harm, and about hurt ; and in a second category came thoughts about Renunciation, about hurting not nor harming. When, in my life of strenuous earnestness purged of self, [115] there arose within me a thought about pleasures of sense, I recognized that it had arisen and that it conduced to harm — harm to myself, to others, and both to myself and to others — as being subversive of insight, allied to overthrow, and no help towards Nirvana. The reflection that they conduced to harm
8o XIX. DVEDHA-VITAKKA-SUTTA. M. i. Ii6.
— to myself or to others or to both — caused thoughts about pleasures of sense to vanish away, as did reflections that these thoughts were subversive of insight, allied to overthrow, and no help towards Nirvana. As each such thought severally arose, I drove it away, discarded it, and rooted it out. And in just the same way I dealt with each thought of harm and hurt.
Now, whatsoever an Almsman thinks much about and dwells on, gradually moulds his mind. If he thinks much about pleasures of sense and dwells thereon, he has thereby driven away thoughts of Renunciation, has fostered the growth of thoughts on pleasure, and has applied his heart to thoughts on pleasure. And the same thing happens with thoughts of harm and of hurt. Just as in the last month of the monsoon towards autumn, when the crops stand thick on the ground, a cowherd looks sharply after his cattle, beating them off here with his stick, heading them off there, checking them at this point and blocking their way at that point, — because he dreads stripes or imprisonment or mulcts or censure to himself; — even so did I see the perils, fatuity, and defilement arising from wrong states of mind, and the blessings of Renunciation, with sanctification as their ally, which flow from right states of mind.
[116] When, in my life of strenuous earnestness purged of self, there arose within me a thought of Renunciation, I recognized that it had arisen and that it conduced to no harm, either to myself or to others or to both, seeing that it fostered insight, was arrayed against overthrow, and helped on towards Nirvana, If by night — or by day — or by night and by day continuously — I thought much about Renunciation and dwelt thereon, never did I discern anything to breed fear. But, if I were to go on thinking these thoughts too long, would my body grow weary ? With bodily weariness, would my heart be defiled ? With its defilement, would my heart be sundered from con- centration ? At this thought, I stilled and composed
M. i. 117. ON COUNTER-IRRITANTS. 8 1
my heart within, focussed and concentrated it, — lest haply it should become defiled. And as with thoughts of Renunciation, so did I deal with thoughts of good- will and of benignity. Now, Brethren, whatsoever a Brother thinks much about and dwells on, gradually moulds his mind. If he thinks and dwells much on thoughts of Renunciation — or goodwill — or benignity, — he has thereby driven away thoughts about pleasures of sense and about harm and about hurt. Just as in the last month of the hot season, when all the crops have been carried and are garnered on the confines of the village, the cowherd in the discharge of his duties [117] has only to see — from beneath a tree's shade or in the open — that his cows are all there, — even so, Almsmen, all that I had to see was that all (right) states of mind were there.
Strenuous effort won for me perseverance that never flagged ; there arose in me mindfulness that knew no distraction, perfect tranquillity of body, stedfastness of mind that never wavered. Divested of pleasures of sense, divested of wrong states of mind, 1 entered on, and abode in, the First Ecstasy . . . {etc., as in Sutta No. 4). . . . This was the third knowledge attained by me, in the third watch of that night, — ignorance dispelled and knowledge won, darkness dis- pelled and illumination won, as befitted my strenuous and ardent life, purged of self.
It is just as if in the heart of the jungle there was a great pond in a valley, with a large herd of deer living there, and there should come along a man bent on their harm, with no kind thought for them and with no regard for their well-being. If now he were to block up the peaceful, safe, and happy road, to open up a treacherous way, to plant a decoy, ^ and to tether there a tame hind as a lure, — that great herd of deer would thus in time come to dire calamity and dwindle
1 O k a c a r o (home-pasture, cf. g o c a r o) seems to be a decoy in the sense in which we speak of a duck-decoy, and okacarika to be its lure. (Cf. Jat. VI, 416, okacarenati okacarikaya, with no suggestion of a tame stag — as Bu. here — as an added attraction.)
6
82 XIX. DVEDHA-VITAKKA-SUTTA. M. i. n8.
away. But, if another man appeared, who meant well by the herd and was kindly towards them and had re- gard to their well-being, he would open up that peaceful, safe and happy road, close the treacherous way, break up the decoy, get rid of the hind, — whereby the herd later on would grow and increase and multiply.
This, Almsmen, is a similitude framed by me for your edification ; [118] and here is its meaning : — The great pond in the valley is another name for pleasures of sense ; mankind is the herd of deer ; the first man stands for Mara the Evil One ; the treacherous way is the evil eightfold path — of wrong outlook, wrong aims and so forth ; the decoy represents sensual passion and the hind ignorance. The second man — he of the good-will and kind heart, who had regard to the deers' well-being — stands for the Truth-finder, Arahat all- enlightened. What was styled the peaceful, safe and happy road, is the Noble Eightfold Path of right out- look, right aims, right speech, right action, right mode of life, right effort, and right concentration. Yes, Brethren, I have opened up the peaceful, safe and happy road, closed the treacherous way, broken up the decoy, and got rid of the lure of the hind. All that a teacher can do for his disciples out of his love and compassion, that, for compassion's sake, have I done for you. Here are trees under which to lodge ; here are solitude's abodes ; plunge into deepest thought and never flag ; lay not up for yourselves remorse hereafter ; — this is my injunction to you.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, these Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XX. VITAKKA-SANTHANA-SUTTA.
THE GOVERNANCE OF THOUGHTS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the listening Almsmen as follows : —
M. i. iig. THE GOVERNANCE OF THOUGHTS. 83
[119] An Almsman who applies himself to the higher thought should pass in review from time to time five phases of mind ; and these are they : —
(i.) When, by reason of a phase of mind, there arise in a Brother bad and wrong thoughts associated with appetite, hatred and delusion, then he should divert his mind from that to another phase associated with what is right ; and, by his doing so, those bad and wrong thoughts pass away and disappear, so that his heart stands firm, is stedfast, is focussed and concen- trated. Just as a skilled artizan or his apprentice will with a little peg knock and drive out and expel a big peg, so, when, by reason of a phase of mind, there arise in an Almsman bad and wrong thoughts . . . focussed and concentrated.
(ii.) If, though the Almsman diverts his mind from the former to the latter phase, there still arise in him the same bad and wrong thoughts as before, then he should study the perils these entail, marking how wrong and depraved such thoughts are and how they ripen unto 111. As he studies them, these bad and wrong thoughts pass away and disappear, so that his heart stands firm, is stedfast, is focussed and concen- trated. Just as a woman or man or dressy lad, [120] if the carcase of snake or dog or human being be slung round their necks, are filled with horror, loathing and disgust, — even so is it with this Almsman in his scrutiny.
(iii.) If, for all his scrutiny of their perils, these bad and wrong thoughts still keep on arising, then he should ignore them and not let his mind dwell on them. As he ignores them, they will pass away and disappear, so that his heart stands firm, is steadfast, is focussed and concentrated. Just as a man with eyes to see, will, if he does not want to view visible forms that come within his field of vision, close his eyes or look another way, — even so is it with the Almsman in his ignoring of bad and wrong thoughts.
(iv.) If, for all his ignoring of them, these bad and wrong thoughts still keep on arising, then he must
84 XX. VITAKKA-SANTHANA-SUTTA. M. i. 121.
bethink him how to allay all that moulds and fashions thoughts. As he does so, these thoughts will pass away and disappear, so that his heart stands firm, is stedfast, is focussed and concentrated. Just as a man who is running fast, may decide to walk slowly — or stand still — or sit down — or lie down — and thereby passes from the more violent to the easier posture, — even so is it with this Almsman in his allaying of all that moulds and fashions thoughts.
(v.) But, if, allay as he may, these thoughts continue to arise, then, with his teeth clenched and with his tongue pressed against his palate, he should, by sheer force of mind, restrain, coerce and dominate his heart. [121] As he does so, these thoughts will pass away and disappear, so that his heart stands firm, is sted- fast, is focussed and concentrated. Just as a strong man, taking a weaker man by the head or shoulders, restrains and coerces and dominates him, — even so, if, allay as he may, these thoughts . . . focussed and concentrated.
When at last, whether (i.) by diverting his mind elsewhere or (ii.) by scrutiny of the perilous con- sequences or (iii.) by ignoring bad and wrong thoughts or (iv.) by allaying what moulds them or (v.) by sub- duing them, the Almsman is victorious over bad and wrong thoughts associated with appetite, hatred and delusion, so that they pass away and disappear and his heart stands firm and is stedfast, is focussed and con- centrated,— [122] then indeed has he earned the style of master of the ordering of his thoughts, for, he will think only such thoughts as he wishes and not those he wishes not to think ; he has hewn away cravings, has shed his fetters, and — by fathoming propensities to pride — has made an end of 111.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
M. i. 123.
XXI. KAKACUPAMA-SUTTA.
THE PARABLE OF THE SAW.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was stay- ing at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, the reverend Moliya - Phagguna was always in the society of the Almswomen, so much so indeed that, if in his presence any Ahnsmen ever said a word against those Almswomen, he was annoyed and displeased and made a fuss about it. With the Alms- women it was just the same ; — they were annoyed and displeased and made a fuss, if in their presence any Almsman ever said a word against him. Such were the terms he was on with the Almswomen.
Now, a certain Almsman reported all this to the Lord, who bade an Almsman [123] summon Moliya- Phagguna to his presence. In obedience to the summons, the Elder came, with due obeisance took his seat to one side, and, being questioned about the report concerning him and the Almswomen, admitted its truth.
Was it not for faith's sake, Phagguna, that you went forth from a comfortable home to homelessness as a Pilgrim ?
Yes, sir.
Then it becomes you not, having so gone forth on Pilgrimage, to associate so much with Almswomen. Even if you hear things said in your presence against them, you should put from you every mundane impulse and thought, schooling yourself never to let your heart be led away, never to let wicked words pass your lips, but always to be kindly and compassionate, with your heart full of love and void of enmity. You should be the same, if in your presence anyone were
85
86 XXI. KAKACUPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 124.
to Strike those Almswomen with fist, clod, cudgel or knife. You should school yourself to be the same, too, if you yourself were reviled [124] or struck.
Turning to the Almsmen, the Lord said : — I was much pleased with the Almsmen once, when I told them how, personally, I only sat down to food once a day and found that on this regimen I was healthful and well, buoyant, hale, and hearty. I urged them to do likewise and they would benefit therefrom as I had. I had no need to instruct them in this ; all I had to do was to draw their attention to it.^ It was just like a carriage — with thoroughbreds harnessed to it and with the goad lying ready to hand, on level ground at the crossroads, — into which there mounts a skilled driver who knows how to manage horses ; he takes the reins in his left hand and the goad in his right, and away he drives, up and down, where he likes and as he likes ; — even so, I had no need to instruct those Almsmen in this ; all I had to do was to draw their attention to it.
So put from you what is wrong and yoke yourselves to right states of mind, because thereby you will develop and grow and increase in this Doctrine and Rule. It is just like a great grove of Sal-trees near a village or township, which is overgrown with creepers, and to which there comes a man who wants the grove to thrive and flourish and has amiable and kindly feeling towards it ; he cuts out and carries off all crooked and hurtful growths so that the grove is cleaned and clean within ; he tends with every care whatever wood grows straight and fair, so that later on the grove may develop and grow and increase. — Even so should you put from you what is wrong and yoke yourselves to right states of mind, because [125] thereby you will develop and grow and increase in this Doctrine and Rule.
Once on a time in this same Savatthi there was a lady named Videhika, who was reputed gentle, and
^ But in the 65th Sutta he had trouble with B h a d d a 1 i on this.
M. i. 126. THE PARABLE OF THE SAW. 87
meek, and mild. She had a maid-servant named Darkie, a bright girl, an early riser and a good worker. I wonder, thought Darkie, whether my mistress, who is so well spoken of, has really got a temper of her own which she does not show or whether she has got no temper at all ? Or do I do my work so well that, though she has got a temper, she does not show it ? I will try her.
So next morning she got up late. Darkie ! Darkie ! — cried the mistress. — Yes, madam, answered the girl. — Why did you get up so late i^ — Oh, that's nothing, madam. — Nothing, indeed, the naughty girl ! thought the mistress, frowning with anger and displeasure.
So she has got a temper, though she does not show it, thought the maid ; it is because I do my work so well that she does not show it ; I will try her further. So she got up later next morning. Darkie ! Darkie ! cried the mistress. — Yes madam, answered the girl. — Why did you get up so late.^ — Oh, that's nothing, madam. — Nothing, indeed, you naughty girl ! ex- claimed the mistress, giving vent in words to her anger and displeasure.
Yes, thought the maid ; she has got a temper, though she does not show it because I do my work so well ; I will try her yet further. So next morning she got up later still. [126] Darkie! Darkie! cried her mistress. — Yes, madam, answered the girl. — Why did you get up so late ? — Oh, that's nothing, madam. — Nothing indeed, you naughty girl, to get up so late ! exclaimed the mistress ; and in her anger and dis- pleasure she snatched up the lynch-pin and struck the girl on the head with it, drawing blood. With her broken head streaming with blood, Darkie roused the neighbourhood with shrieks of — See, lady, what the gentle one has done ! See, lady, what the meek one has done ! See, lady, what the mild one has done ! What for ? Just because her only maid got up late, she was so angry and displeased that she must up with the lynch-pin to strike her on the head and break it.
88 XXI. KAKACUPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 127.
In the result the lady Videhika got the repute of being violent and anything but meek and mild.
— In like manner an Almsman may be gentle, and meek, and mild enough so long as nothing unpleasant is said against him. It is only when unpleasant things are said against him that you can begin to dub him gentle, and meek, and mild. I do not call that Alms- man docile who is docile and evinces docility only to get clothes and food and so forth. For, if he fails to get these things, he is not docile and evinces no docility. Him only do I call docile whose docility springs from honouring and venerating and revering the Doctrine. Be it your task, Almsmen, to become docile and to evince docility by honouring and venerat- ing and revering the Doctrine.
There are five ways in which you may be ad- dressed,— (i.) in or out of season, (ii.) truthfully or un- truthfully, (iii.) mildly or harshly, (iv.) profitably or unprofitably, and (v.) in love or in hate ; people may speak to you from time to time in each of these ways. [127] Your task should be to preserve your hearts un- moved, never to allow an ill word to pass your lips, but always to abide in compassion and goodwill, with no hate in your hearts, enfolding in radiant thoughts of love the person addressing you and pro- ceeding thence to enfold the whole world in your radiant thoughts of love, — thoughts like the solid earth beneath thoughts great, vast and beyond measure, in which no hatred is or thought of harm.
It is like a man who comes with basket and shovel to do away with the solid earth ! So here he digs and there he digs ; dumps it down here and dumps it down there ; spits here and stales there ; — confident that the earth is being got rid of bit by bit ! Do you think he will succeed in doing away with the earth ?
No, sir ; — because the solid earth is so deep and so measureless, that it will not readily cease to exist before the man is tired out and worn out himself
— Even so (futile) are the five ways in which others may address you, — . . . thoughts of love, — thoughts
M. i. 128. THE PARABLE OF THE SAW. 89
like the solid earth, great, vast and beyond measure, in which no hatred is or thought of harm.
It is like a man who comes with lac and colours, yellow or blue or madder, to paint pictures on the air. Do you think he could do so ?
No, sir ; because the air is void of form and attributes, so that pictures will not readily be painted on it before the man himself is [128] tired out and worn out.
— Even so (futile) are the five ways in which others may address you . . . thoughts of love, thoughts like the air above, great, vast and beyond measure, in which no hatred is or thought of harm.
It is like a man who comes with a blazing wisp of bracken to set the river Ganges on fire and burn it all up. Do you think he could do so ?
No, sir ; because the Ganges is so deep and so measureless that it will not readily be fired and burnt up by wisps of bracken before the man himself is tired out and worn out.
— Even so (futile) are the five ways in which others may address you . . . thoughts of love, thoughts like the Ganges, great, vast and beyond measure, in which no hatred is or thought of harm.
It is like a wallet of cat's skin that has been rubbed and scrubbed until it is as supple as supple can be, and as soft now as gossamer, with never a purr or a hiss left in it ; and if there came along a man with a chip of wood or a potsherd, professing therewith to start it purring and hissing again ; — do you think he could succeed ?
No, sir ; because that cat's skin has been rubbed and scrubbed till it is as supple as supple can be, and as soft now as gossamer, with never a purr or a hiss left in it ; so that it will not readily be started purring and hissing again, with his chip or potsherd, before the man himself is tired out and worn out.
— Even so (futile) are the five ways in which others may address you . . . [129] thoughts of love, thoughts like that supple and tempered wallet of cat's
90 XXI. KAKACtJPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 130.
skin, thoughts great, vast and beyond measure, in which no hatred is or thought of harm.^
If villainous bandits were to carve you limb from limb with a two-handled saw, even then the man that should give way to anger would not be obeying my teaching. Even then be it your task to preserve your hearts unmoved, never to allow an ill word to pass your lips, but always to abide in compassion and good- will, with no hate in your hearts, enfolding in radiant thoughts of love the bandit (who tortures you) and pro- ceeding thence to enfold the whole world in your radiant thoughts of love, thoughts great, vast and beyond measure, in which no hatred is or thought of harm.
If, Almsmen, you were to ponder again and again over this parable of the saw, do you perceive anything, great or small, which you could not endure to have said to you ? — No, sir. — Then, Almsmen, ponder again and again on this parable of the saw ; it will make for your abiding good and welfare.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XXII. ALAGADDUPAMA-SUTTA.
THE VENOMOUS SNAKE.
[130] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anatha- pindika's pleasaunce, an Almsman named Arittha who had originally been a vulture-catcher had come to hold the pernicious heresy that, as he understood the Lord's exposition of the Doctrine, the states of mind declared by the Lord to be the stumbling-blocks are not such at all to him who indulges in them.^
1 As the cat cannot be brought back to life, nor can its dressed skin rustle or crackle when handled, so is the Arahat who * answers not again.'
2 Cf. I, 72. The whole Arittha episode occurs verbatim in Vinaya Texts, II, 377. See Vinaya Texts, I, 47 for the penalty
M. i. 131. THE VENOMOUS SNAKE. 9 1
As soon as this reached their ears, a number of Almsmen went to ask Arittha whether he was correctly- reported as holding a heresy so pernicious ; and, on learning from him that he undoubtedly did hold it, they sought to wean him from it by enquiry, expostu- lation, and remonstrance. Do not, said they, mis- represent the Lord ; it is not right to impute this to him, for he would not say so ; (on the contrary) it has been by the Lord laid down in many a figure that the states of mind declared by him to be stumbling-blocks are veritable stumbling-blocks to him who indulges in them. Pleasures of sense he has described as giving little satisfaction, much 111 and much tribulation, and as being dogged by perils greater still. He has described these pleasures of sense in the (ten) Parables,^ — of the bare bone, the lump of carrion, the hay-torch, the pit of embers, the dream, the loan, the hanging fruit, the slaughter-house, the impaling stake, the snake's head, — always as giving little satisfaction, much 111, and much tribulation, and always as being dogged by perils greater still. But say what they might, Arittha would not yield to their expostulations but stoutly maintained and upheld his pernicious heresy. So, when Arittha could not [131] be got to recede from his position, those Almsmen went to the Lord and recounted all that passed ; and he sent an Almsman to summon Arittha to his presence.
[132] When Arittha had obediently come and had taken his seat to one side after due obeisance, the Lord asked him whether he was correctly reported as having come to hold that, as he understood the Doctrine taught by the Lord, the states of mind declared to be stumbling-blocks were not such at all to him who in- dulged in them. — Yes, he undoubtedly did so hold. — Then said the Lord : — To whom, foolish man, do you aver that I ever so taught the Doctrine.^ Have I not,
of excommunication for maintaining that a Saint cannot fall from grace. It will be noted that here, as in Sutta 38, the recalcitrant is branded as belonging by origin to a murderous calling. ^ See Sutta No. 54 for the first seven of these in detail.
92 XXII. ALAGADDUPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 133.
foolish man, laid it down in many a figure that the states of mind declared by me to be stumbling-blocks are veritable stumbling-blocks to him who indulges in them ? Pleasures of sense I have described as giving little satisfaction, much 111, and much tribulation, and as being dogged by perils greater still ; I have so described pleasures of sense in ten Parables. Yet you, foolish man, employ what you yourself misunderstand not only to misrepresent me but also to undermine yourself and to lay up a store of demerit, — to your lasting hurt and harm.
Turning then to the Almsmen, the Lord said : — Do you think this Brother Arittha, the vulture-catcher of the past, has got even a spark of illumination in this Doctrine and Rule ?
How could he, sir ? For, it is not the fact.
Hereat, Arittha sat silent and glum, with his shoulders hunched up and eyes downcast, much exercised in his mind but finding no words to utter. Marking his plight, the Lord said : — And now, foolish man, you shall be shewn up in respect of this pernicious view ; I will question the Almsmen on the point.
^Accordingly the Lord addressed the Almsmen as follows : — [133] Now do you too, Almsmen, understand me to have taught the Doctrine in the fashion in which Arittha here, this whilom vulture-catcher, employs what he himself misunderstands, not only to misrepre- sent me but also to undermine himself and to lay up a store of demerit ?
No, sir ; for, in many a figure we have heard from the Lord that the states of mind declared by him to be stumbling-blocks are veritable stumbling-blocks to him who indulges in them ; pleasures of sense the Lord has described as giving little satisfaction, much 111, and much tribulation, and as being dogged by perils greater still.
Quite right, Almsmen ; you rightly understand my teaching ; for, indeed, I have, as you say, so taught in many a figure and parable. Yet here is this former vulture-catcher, Arittha, employing what he himself
M. i. 134. THE VENOMOUS SNAKE. 93
misunderstands, not only to misrepresent me but also to undermine himself and to lay up a store of demerit, — to his lasting hurt and 111. No one can possibly indulge in pleasures of sense without harbouring sensuality within himself or without perceiving it and thinking about it.
Take the case of some foolish persons who have learned by heart the Doctrine, — the Suttas^ in prose or in prose and verse, with the Poems and the Triumphant Utterances and the Quotations and the Jatakas and the Miracles and the Miscellanies, — yet, though they have learned it all by heart, fail to study its import for the comprehension of all it embodies, and consequently find no joy in it, profiting by their learning by rote solely for strictures on others or for bandying verbal quotations, and quite missing the real object of their memorizing ; so that these divers aspects of the Doctrine which they have failed to grasp conduce to their lasting hurt and 111. And why ? — Because they have grasped it all wrong.
It is just like a man who is in quest of a serpent for his needs and who in the course of his searching finds a big serpent, which he seizes by its coils or tail, with the result that it turns on him and bites him on hand or arm or elsewhere on his body, so that he [134] comes thereby by his death or deadly hurt. And why i^ — Because he has wrongly grasped his snake. And it is just the same with those foolish persons who have learned by heart . . . wrongly grasped them.
Take now the case of young men who have likewise learned the Doctrine by heart in all its aspects but study its import for the comprehension of all it embodies, and consequently find joy in it, — learning it
^ In this stock passage — here naively put into the mouth of the still living and preaching Buddha by later recensionists — Bu. interprets Sutta as including the Vinaya and Abhidhamma, and therefore as signifying the Pitakas at large, — not being either exclusively in verse (like the Dhammapada and the Thera- and Theri-gathas) or purely expository (like Sutta No. 9 above or the Vedalla Suttas Nos. 43 and 44 infra) or florilegia (like the Udana).
94 XXII. ALAGADDUPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 135.
by heart not for strictures on others or for bandying verbal quotations, but for securing the real object of their memorizing, so that the divers aspects of the Doctrine which they have succeeded in mastering conduce to their lasting good and welfare. And why ? — Because they have grasped it all aright.
It is just like a man who is in quest of a serpent for his needs and who in the course of his searching finds a big serpent which he pins securely down with a forked stick before grasping it tightly by its neck. Coil itself as the serpent may round his hand or arm or other part of his body, the man does not come thereby by his death or deadly hurt. And why ? — Because he has grasped it aright. And it is just the same with those young men who have likewise learned by heart . . . grasped it all aright.
Therefore, Almsmen, when you understand the import of what I say, so treasure it up in your memories ; but if you fail to understand, then ask me or some outstanding Almsmen.
By the parable of the raft I will teach how to abandon and not to retain. Listen and pay attention ; and I will speak. Yes, sir, said they in response ; and the Lord began : — It is like a man who after travelling a long way finds the floods out, with danger and peril on the hither side and with security and safety on the further side, but with no ferry or suspen- sion-bridge ; and to him comes the thought [I35j to win his way across the floods to safety from the perils which encompass him by collecting grass and sticks and branches and boughs wherewith to fashion a raft on which to paddle himself safely across with his hands and feet ; and to him, when he has done all this and has paddled himself safely across, the thought comes that the raft had been so useful that he might do well to take it along with him packed on his head or shoulders. Think you he would be doing the right thing with the raft ? — No, sir. — How should he act so as to do the right thing with his raft ? Well, suppose that, when he was safely over, he, recognizing how
M. i. 136. THE VENOMOUS SNAKE. 95
useful the raft had been, were to deem it well, before going on his way, either to beach it or to leave it afloat ; — clearly thus he would be doing the right thing with his raft. In this wise I have taught you by the parable of the raft how to abandon and not to retain. If you understand this parable of the raft, you have to discard good things, and a fortiori bad things.
Speculative tenets are sixfold. Take the case of an uninstructed everyday man who takes no count of the Noble, who is unversed and untrained in the Doctrine of the Noble, who takes no count of the Excellent, — who is unversed in the Doctrine of the Excellent, — who regards as * mine ' or ' I am this ' or ' this is my Self,' either (i) visible form, — or (ii) feeling — or (iii) perception — or (iv) the plastic forces — or (v) whatso- ever he sees, hears, touches, is aware of, or by the mind attains, seeks out, and reflects on, — or (vi) the speculative tenet that * the world around me is the Self which I shall hereafter become, — eternal and permanent, everlasting and unchangeable, [136] stand- ing fast like heaven and earth.'
But the instructed man, the disciple of the Noble who does take count of the Noble and is both versed and trained in their Doctrine, who does take count of the Excellent and is both versed and trained in their Doctrine, — he refuses to regard visible form — or the rest of the six — as mine or I am this, or this is my Self. Refusing so to regard these things, he is not worried over the non-existent.
At this point an Almsman asked whether there could be worry over the externally non-existent.
Yes, answered the Lord. Suppose a Brother thinks he once had something which he now has not got, or that he would like to have something he cannot get ; he grieves and mourns and laments, he beats his breast and is distraught. — That is how there comes worry over the externally non-existent.
Being asked further if there could be an absence of worry over the externally non-existent, the Lord said : — Yes ; suppose an Almsman never thinks that
96 XXII. ALAGADDUPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 137.
he once had something which he now has not got, or that he would like to have something he cannot get ; he does not grieve and mourn and lament, he does not beat his breast nor is he distraught. — That is how there is an absence of worry over the externally non-existent.
Being asked further if there could be worry over the internally non-existent, the Lord said : — Yes ; as for instance in the case of an Almsman who comes to hold the speculative idea that the world around me is the Self, which I shall hereafter become, — eternal and permanent, everlasting and unchangeable, standing fast like heaven and earth. From the Truth-finder or a disciple of his he hears preached the Doctrine to remove all tendency, inclination, and bias towards speculative tenets, to still all plastic forces, to discard all the material of rebirth, to extirpate cravings, in the passionless calm of Nirvana. Thinks he to himself: "137] ' Then I shall be cut off and perish utterly, there will be an end of me for ever '; and at the thought he grieves and mourns and laments, beats his breast, and is distraught. — That is how there is worry over the internally non-existent.
Being asked further whether there could be an absence of worry over the internally non-existent, the Lord : — Yes ; as for instance in the case of an Alms- man who, holding no speculative idea that the world around him is the Self, into which he will hereafter merge for ever and ever, hears the Doctrine preached by the Truth-finder or a disciple of his, without a thought that this means he will be cut off and perish utterly and be ended for ever ; so he does not grieve and mourn and lament, he does not beat his breast nor is he distraught. — That is how there is an absence of worry over the internally non-existent.
You would like to possess something that was eternal and permanent, everlasting and unchangeable, standing fast like heaven and earth ; — but, can you see any such possession ?
No, sir.
Quite right, Almsmen ; — nor do L
M. i. 138. THE VENOMOUS SNAKE. 97
You would like to have a grip on personal immor- tality such that thereby you would escape all grief, lamentation, sorrow, woe and tribulation; — but, can you see any such grip ? No, sir.
Quite right, Almsmen ; — nor do I. You would like a foundation for speculative beliefs so sure that thereby you would escape all grief, lamen- tation, sorrow, woe, and tribulation ; — but, can you see any such foundation ? No, sir.
Quite right. Almsmen ; — nor do I. [138] If there were a Self, would there be something of the nature of a ' Self of mine ' ? Yes, sir.
And if there were something of the nature of a Self of mine, would there be a * my-self ' ? Yes, sir.
But, if really and truly there is to be found neither Self nor anything of the nature of Self, is it not mere absolute folly to hold the speculative view that the world around me is 'the Self, into which I shall pass hereafter, — eternal and permanent, everlasting and unchangeable, standing fast like heaven and earth ? How, sir, could it not be mere absolute folly? What do you think, Almsmen.'^ Is visible form per- manent or impermanent ? Impermanent, sir.
And is the impermanent a weal or a woe ? A woe, sir.
But can a woe that is impermanent and changeable properly be regarded as mine, or as I am this, or as this is my Self? No, sir.
[And the same argument applies also to feelings, perception, plastic forces, and consciousness.]
From which it results, Almsmen, that all visible forms — or feelings — or perceptions — or plastic forces — or consciousness — all this, whether past, present, or future, whether internal or external, [139] whether
7
98 XXII. ALAGADDUPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 140.
gross or subtle, high or low, far or near, have all to be viewed — if their real nature is comprehended aright — as 'not mine', as *I am not this', and as *this is no Self of mine'.
So viewing all these things, the instructed disciple of the Noble grows aweary of visible forms and the rest of them ; weariness leads him to passionlessness, and passionlessness to Deliverance, wherein he comes to know his Deliverance in the sure conviction : Rebirth is no more ; I have lived the highest life ; my task is done ; and now there is no more of what I have been. Such an Almsman is known as one who is quit of bolt and bar, has filled in his moat, has got rid of the itch of wanting, is cribbed and cabined no more ; he is known as the Noble who has flung away pride's banner, has cast off his burthen, and is emancipate.
Now, how is he quit of bolt and bar? — When ignorance has passed away, grubbed up by the roots, like the cleared site where once a palm-tree grew, a thing that once has been and now can be no more.
How does he fill in his moat ? — When the round of birth and rebirth has passed away ... no more.
How does he get rid of the itch of wanting.^ — When craving has passed away ... no more.
How is he cribbed and cabined no more i^ — When the five worldly bonds have passed away ... no more.
How is he the Noble who has flung away pride's banner, has cast off his burthen, and is emancipate ? — When the pride in an Ego^ has passed away ... no more.
[140] When his heart is thus Delivered, not Indra or Brahma or PajapatI, with all their trains of gods, can succeed in tracking down aught on which depends a truth-finder's consciousness. And why? — Because, say I, already, here and now, the truth-finder^ is untrace-
1 So in the earliest days of his Buddhahood, Gotama (Vinaya Texts, I, 81) preached that supreme bliss came from the putting away of the conceit which comes from the thought * I am.'
2 Here, clearly, tathagata means not a Buddha but simply an arahat.
M. i. 141. THE VENOMOUS SNAKE. 99
able. Though this is what I affirm and what I preach, yet some recluses and brahmins — wrongly, erroneously, and falsely — charge me, in defiance of facts, with being an annihilationist and with preaching the disintegration, destruction and extirpation of existing creatures. It is just what I am not, and what I do not affirm, that is wrongly, erroneously, and falsely charged against me by these good people who would make me out to be an annihilationist. Both in the past and to-day, I have consistently preached 111 and the ending of 111. If therein people denounce and abuse and revile the truth- finder, — this begets in him no resentm.ent or annoyance or dissatisfaction. Nor, again, if people shew the truth-finder honour and reverence, devotion and worship, — does that bring him pleasure, satisfaction or elation ; he only thinks that such homage is consequent on the truth he mastered long ago. Therefore, if people denounce and abuse and revile you too, let this breed in you no resentment or annoyance or dissatis- faction. Nor, if people shew you too honour and reverence, devotion or worship, let that not bring you pleasure, satisfaction, or elation ; let your sole thought be that such homage is consequent on the truth you mastered long ago.
Put from you then what is not yours ; and thereby you will come to lasting w^l and well-being. Now what. Almsmen, is that which is not yours ? — Visible forms are not yours ; and so put them from you and ensure thereby your lasting weal and well-being. Similarly, put from you feelings, [141] perceptions, the plastic forces, and consciousness ; and ensure thereby your lasting weal and well-being. What think you ? If a man were to collect or burn or otherwise do what he liked with the grass, sticks, branches and foliage in this grove of Jeta's, — would it occur to you that it was you whom he was collecting or burning or otherwise doing what he liked with ?
No, sir ; and why? — Because nothing of all this is either our Self or anything of the nature of a Self of ours.
lOO XXII. ALAGADDdPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 142.
Just in the same way put from you what is not yours, — visible forms, feeHngs, and the rest ; and ensure thereby your lasting weal and well-being.
In this wise has the Doctrine been by me set forth aright, the Doctrine which is clear, open, luminous, and flawless, wherein and whereby —
there is no tracing of the course of those Almsmen who are Arahats, in whom the Cankers are no more, who have greatly lived, whose task is done, who have cast off their burthens, who have won their weal, and who by utter knowledge have won deliverance ;
all those who have thrown off the five fetters of this world, will all be translated to realms above, from which they will never return to earth ;
all those who have thrown off the three fetters and have also reduced passion, hate and folly to a minimum will return only once more to this world and will then make an end of 111 ;
all those who have simply thrown off three fetters, have entered the stream of sanctification, will escape all future states of misery, [142], have their future assured, and are destined to win the fullest enlightenment ;
all those whose life accords with the Doctrine and with faith, are all destined to win the fullest enlighten- ment ; and
all who have but faith in me and love for me, have heaven as their destiny.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XXIII. VAMMIKA-SUTTA.
THE SMOULDERING ANT-HILL.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, the reverend Kumara-Kassapa was staying in the Andha-vana, to whom towards dawn there came a deity of dazzling beauty, flooding the whole woodland with radiance. Standincr to one side,
M. i. 143. THE SMOULDERING ANT-HILL. lOI
the deity said : — Almsman, Almsman ! — There's an ant-hill which smokes by day and flames up at night. The brahmin said : — Take your tool, sage/ and dig. The sage dug away till he found a bar and cried : Here's a bar. Lord. Said the brahmin : Cast it out, sage, and dig on. As the sage dug on, he came on a frog. Cast it out, sage, and dig on, said the brahmin. As the sage dug, he came on a passage which forked. Said the brahmin : Cast it out, sage, and dig on. As he dug on, he came successively on — a strainer — [143] a tortoise — a cleaver — and a joint of meat ; all of which he was successively told to cast out and dig on. At last he came on a cobra.^ Sage, leave the cobra alone, said the brahmin ; do not harm the cobra ; pay homage to the cobra.
Now, Almsman, take these questions to the Lord and treasure up his explanations. I see no one in the whole universe — with all its gods, Maras, Brahmas, with its recluses and brahmins, and all gods and man- kind— whose interpretation of these questions can prove convincing, save only the Truth-finder or a disciple of the Truth-finder or from someone who has been told by him or them.
With these words the deity vanished from sight.
When the night was at an end, the reverend Kumara-Kassapa came to the Lord and after saluta- tions sat down to one side, there to relate the whole story and to end with the following questions : — What is the ant-hill ? — What is the smoking by night ? — What is the flaming by day ? — Who is the brahmin ? — Who is the sage ? — What is his tool ? — What is his digging ? — What is the bar ? — What is the frog ? — What is the passage which forked ? — What is the strainer? — What is the tortoise ? — What is the cleaver ? — What is the joint of meat ? — What is the cobra ?
1 The title Su-medha, here used of an Almsman, is given by Brahma to the Buddha in Sutta 26 (infra p. 119).
2 Cobras (says Bu.) guard buried treasure for seven genera- tions, a beUef which perhaps dictated the story here turned into an allegory.
I02 XXIII. VAMMIKA-SUTTA. M. i. 144.
[144] The ant-hill, Almsman, typifies the body, which is made up of the four elements, starts from a mother and father, is sustained by rice and other foods, and is impermanent, being subject to attrition, abrasion, erasion, decay, and dispersal.
The smoking by night is what by night a man thinks about, and ponders on, with reference to the day's doings.
The flames by day are what, after thinking and pondering by night, a man executes by day, with body, voice, or mind.
The brahmin typifies the Truth-finder, the Arahat all-enlightened.
The sage is an Almsman under training.
His tool is noble wisdom.
His digging is perseverance in effort.
The bar signifies ignorance, which he is bidden to cast out and fling away.
The frog is the emblem of the unrest arising from wrath, which he is bidden to cast out and fiing away.
The passage which forked typifies doubting, which he is bidden to cast out and fiing away.
The strain represents the five hindrances, — of pas- sion, ill-will, torpor, worry, and doubting.
The tortoise means the five-fold grip on continuing existence — through visible forms, feelings, perceptions, plastic forces, and consciousness — which he is bidden to cast out and fling away.
The cleaver indicates the five pleasures of sense — proceeding from sights, sounds, odours, tastes, and touch, all of them pleasant, agreeable and delightful, all of them bound up with passion and lust — which he is bidden to cast out and fling away.
[145] The joint typifies passion's delights, which he is bidden to cast out and fiing away.
Lastly, the cobra is the symbol of the Almsman in whom the Cankers are no more. Leave him alone, harm him not, pay him homage.^
^ Cf, the end of the next Sutta and of Sutta No. 5 for styling an Arahat nag a (cobra or elephant); and cf. the designation of manussa-naga for Maha-Kassapa at Vinaya Texts I, 121.
M. i. 146. ON RELAYS. IO3
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Kumara-Kassapa rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XXIV. RATHA-VINITA-SUTTA.
ON RELAYS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Rajagaha in the Bamboo grove where the squirrels were fed, there came to the Lord many- Almsmen of the locality who had been passing the rainy season there ; and these, after due obeisance, seated themselves to one side, and were thus addressed by the Lord : — Who among the Almsmen from here- abouts is by his fellows in the higher life who come also from here, esteemed — as wanting little himself and as urging Almsmen too to want but little ; as being contented in himself and also preaching contentment to Almsmen ; as living aloof in the inner life himself and also preaching it to Almsmen ; as eschewing mundane society and also urging Almsmen to eschew it ; as being strenuous himself and also inciting Alms- men to be strenuous ; as leading a virtuous life himself and also inciting Almsmen to virtue ; as having won rapt concentration for himself and also exhorting Almsmen thereto ; as having won wisdom for himself and also exhorting Almsmen thereto ; as having found Deliverance for himself and also encouraging Alms- men thereto ; as having himself attained to the full Vision of Deliverance and also urging Almsmen thereto ; as one who exhorts, informs, instructs, en- lightens, [146] cheers onward, and helps forward his fellows on the higher life ?
Punna, sir, was the answer ; the venerable Punna Mantani-putta ; — he is esteemed as being all this by his fellows in the higher life who come, like him, from round here.
Now, at that time, near the Lord there was sitting the reverend Sariputta, to whom the thought came how
I04 XXIV. RATHA-VINITA-SUTTA. M. i. 147.
great a thing, how very great a thing, it was for the reverend Punna Mantani-putta that, in the presence of the Master, his well-informed fellows in the higher life should thus extol him, point after point, and that the Master should so appreciate him ; it would be good to meet Punna somewhere some day and have a talk with him.
When the Lord had stayed at Rajagaha as long as he wished to, he set out on an alms-pilgrimage for Savatthi and, arriving there in due course, stayed in J eta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce. Hearing of the Lord's movements, Punna packed away his bedding, took his bowl and robes, and set out on an alms-pilgrimage for Savatthi, and in the pleasaunce found the Lord, by whom he seated himself after due obeisance. As he sat there, the Lord discoursed to him on the Doctrine, informing, enlightening, cheering him forward and helping him onwards, after which Punna, rejoicing greatly in what he had heard from the Lord, rose up and with deep obeisance withdrew to Andha grove, there to stay during the noontide heat.
Hereupon, an Almsman went and told Sariputta that Punna Mantani-putta, of whom he was always speaking so highly, had [147] just left the Lord after a heartening discourse on the Doctrine and was off to Andha grove there to stay during the noontide heat. Snatching up his mat hurriedly, Sariputta followed Punna up closely from behind, never letting him get out of sight. Entering the grove, Punna sat down under a tree for the noontide ; and Sariputta found a tree for himself. When at even Sariputta rose up from his meditations, he moved towards Punna and after exchange of greetings took his seat to one side, saying — Do you, reverend sir, lead the higher life with our Lord? — Yes, reverend sir. — Is this in order to purify your life ? — No, sir. — Is it to purify your heart ? — No, sir. — Is it to purify your views i* — No, sir. — Is it to ensure purity by dispelling doubts ? — No, sir. — Is it to ensure purity by fullest insight into paths right and wrong ? — No, sir. — Is it to ensure by fullest insight
M. i. 148. ON RELAYS. IO5
into the way by which to walk ? — No, sir. — What is it for then, as you answer no to all these questions ?
[148] To attain absolute Nirvana, sir.
Is that purity of life ? — No, sir. — Is it purity of heart? — No, sir.— Is it purity of view ? — No, sir. — Is it the purity which comes from dispelling doubts i* — No, sir. — Is it the purity which comes from fullest insight into paths right and wrong ? — No, sir. — Is it the purity which comes from fullest insight into the way by which to walk ? — No, sir. — Is it the purity which insight gives-f^ — No, sir. — Does absolute Nirvana lack these states of mind ? — No, sir. — As you answer no to all these questions, pray how is the meaning of your words to be understood ?
If, sir, the Lord were to explain absolute Nirvana asN purity of life or as any other of the purities you name, ( then he would make it contingent and not absolute ; / and if absolute Nirvana simply meant the lack of those [ states of mind, then the ordinary man would have \ Nirvana, — for, he has none of those states of mind, ^y
Consequently, sir, I will give you an illustration ; — by an illustration some men of understanding apprehend the meaning of a statement. It is just as i(, while King Pasenadi of Kosala was in residence here in Savatthi, [149] some emergency were to arise in Saketa and his people were to arrange seven carriages for him in relays along the road between Savatthi and Saketa. Suppose now the King were to get into the first carriage at the palace door and to drive along in it till he came to the second carriage, and were then to dismiss the first and get into the second carriage, and so on until the seventh carriage brought him to the door of his palace in Saketa ; and suppose within the palace he were asked by his entourage and kinsfolk whether it was in that last relay he had come from Savatthi to the door of his palace in Saketa, — what would be the correct answer for his majesty to give ?
His correct answer would be that, on an emergency requiring him to leave for Saketa, his people arranged seven carriages in relays for him along the road ; that
I06 XXIV. RATHA-VINITA-SUTTA. M. i. 150.
at the door of his palace in Savatthi he got into the
first carriage, in which he drove along till he came to
the second carriage into which he changed, and so on
till at last the seventh carriage brought him to the door
of his palace in Saketa.
/' In just the same way, sir, purity of life takes a man
V as far as purity of heart and no further ; purity of heart
} takes him only up to purity of views ; [150] and so on
"^f till fullest insight carries him on to absolute Nirvana, —
/ for which it is that I lead the higher life with the
L;Lord.
Hereupon, the reverend Sari-putta said to the reverend Punna Mantani-putta : — What is your reverence's name, and how are you known to your fellows in the higher life ?
Punna, reverend sir, is my name ; and as Mantani- putta (son of the brahmin lady, Mantani) am I known to my fellows in the higher life.
Wonderful, sir ! Marvellous, sir ! How like a well- instructed disciple who understands the Master's teach- ing to the full, has the reverend Punna Mantani-putta answered, point by point, questions deep and profound ! It is a great thing, a very great thing, that his fellows in the higher life have the reverend Punna to see and to consort with. Yes, it would be a great thing for them, a very great thing, to see and to consort with him, even if they had to carry him about upon a cushion on their heads. A great thing too, a very great thing, is it for me that it has been mine to see and to consort with the reverend Punna Mantani- putta.
Thereupon, the reverend Punna Mantani-putta said to the reverend Sariputta : — What is your reverence's name, and how are you known to your fellows in the higher life P
Upatissa, reverend sir, is my name ; and as Sari- putta (son of the brahmin lady Sari) am I known to my fellows in the higher life.
And here have I been talking, without knowing it was Sariputta, to the disciple whom men liken to the
M. i. 151. ON RELAYS. IO7
Master himself! Had I but known it was Sariputta, I should certainly not have presumed to answer him at such length. Wonderful, sir! Marvellous, sir! How like a well-instructed disciple who understands the Master's teaching to the full, has the reverend Sariputta, point by point, put questions deep and profound ! It is a great thing, a very great thing, that his fellows in the higher life have the reverend Sariputta to see and consort with. Yes, it would be a great thing for them, a very great thing, to see and to consort with him, even if they had to carry him about on a cushion on their heads. [151] A great thing too, a very great thing, is it for me that it has been mine to see and to consort with the reverend Sariputta.
In such wise did each of that noble pair of Arahats (maha-naga) applaud what the other had said so well.
XXV. NIVAPA-SUTTA.
GINS AND SNARES.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapincjika's pleasaunce, he addressed the Hstening Almsmen as follows : It is with no idea of providing deer with a crop grown solely to keep them in good condition for many a long day, that the trapper sows his crop ; no, it is with the quite different object that, with an in- fatuated inrush on the crop, the deer will browse on the fodder, and that, as they browse, they will lose their heads and thereby get off their guard, so that being off their guard, they can be dealt with as he pleases amid the crop.
And this is just what a first herd of deer did, so that they escaped not from the trapper's mastery of craft.
Realizing precisely how the first herd [152] had met their doom, a second herd concluded to keep quite clear of the crop and to retire to the depths of the jungle, leaving that fearsome pasturage untouched. This they did, until, with the coming of the last month of the hot season, grass and water gave out and their bodies grew emaciated in the extreme, so that their hearts and spirits failed them, — and back they came to the crop the trapper had sown. With an infatuated inrush, they fell to browsing on the fodder, and, as they browsed, lost their heads and got off their guard, so that, being off their guard, they could be dealt with by the trapper as he pleased amid the crop. That is how the second herd too escaped not from the trapper's mastery of craft.
Realizing precisely how the first and second herds had come to their doom, a third herd of deer resolved
io8
M. i. 153. GINS AND SNARES. IO9
instead to [153] take up their abode hard by the standing crop, but, making no mad rush in, to browse on it with circumspection and without losing their heads and without getting off their guard, — so as not to be at the trapper's mercy amid the crop. And this they did, thereby escaping him.
Hereupon, the trapper and his people thought to themselves : — This third herd is guileful and wily, diabolically clever and outlandish ; they graze on our crop, but we know nothing of their comings or of their goings ; it would be well to put high stake-nets round the whole crop, to see if we can find out what lair they disappear to. So they staked in the whole crop all round about, till they discovered the lair the deer disappeared to. And that is how the third herd too escaped not from the trapper's mastery of craft.
Realizing precisely how the first three herds had respectively come to their doom, [154] a fourth herd resolved to make their lair where the trapper and his people could not penetrate, and, from this security, making no mad rush in, to browse on the crop with circumspection and without losing their heads and with- out getting off their guard, and so [155] not to be at the trapper's mercy amid the crop. And this they did, thereby escaping him.
Hereupon, the trapper and his people thought to themselves : — This fourth herd is guileful and wily, diabolically clever and outlandish ; they graze on our crop, but we know nothing of their comings or of their goings ; it would be well to put high stake nets round the whole crop, to see if we can find out what lair they disappear to. So they staked in the whole crop all round about, — but failed to discover the lair the deer disappeared to. Then the trapper and his people thought to themselves: — If we upset this fourth herd, they in turn will upset their neighbours and so on all along the line, so that no deer at all will ever come near our crop ; we had better take no notice of them at all. So they took no notice of that fourth herd, — which thus succeeded in escaping the trapper's mastery in craft.
I lO XXV. NIVAPA-SUTTA. M. i. 156.
This is an allegory, Almsmen, framed by me to illustrate my meaning, which is as follows : — The crop typifies the five pleasures of sense ; the trapper stands for Mara, the Evil One ; the trapper's people are Mara's train ; and the deer represent recluses and brahmins.
Here, a first set of recluses and brahmins, wildly rushing in on the crop Mara had sown and on what the world can bestow, [156] have taken their fill thereof, thereby losing their heads and thus getting off their guard, so that, being ofT their guard, they can be dealt with by Mara as he pleases amid the crop he has sown and amid what the world can bestow. . And this is how the first set of recluses and brahmins failed to escape from Mara's mastery of craft ; — they, say I, are like the first herd of deer.
Realizing precisely how the first set of recluses and brahmins came by their fate, a second set resolved to keep quite clear of the lure of what the world could bestow, leaving untouched so fearsome a diet, and to retire to the forest, there to subsist on green herbs, the grain of wild millets and paddy, snippets of hides, water-plants, the red dust that lines the rice husk, the discarded scum of boiling rice, the flour of oil-seeds, grass, cowdung, wild roots and fruits, or on windfalls alone. This they did until, with the coming of the last month of the hot season, when grass and water gave out and their bodies grew emaciated in the extreme, their heart's Deliverance failed, and back they came to the crop Mara had sown and what the world can bestow. With an infatuated inrush, they took their fill, thereby losing their heads and getting off their guard, so that, being off their guard, they could be dealt with by Mara as he pleased amid the crop he had sown and amid what the world had to bestow. That is how the second set of recluses and brahmins failed [157] to escape from Mara's mastery of craft; — they, say I, are like the second herd of deer.
Realizing precisely how the first and second sets of
M. i. 158. GINS AND SNARES. Ill
recluses and brahmins had come by their fate, a third set resolved instead to take up their abode hard by the crop Mara had sown and what the world could bestow, but, making no mad rush in, to partake thereof with circumspection and without losing- their heads and without getting off their guard, so as not to be at Mara's mercy amid the crop he had sown and amid what the world could bestow. This they did. But they came to entertain such speculative views as the following : — The world is everlasting, — the world is not everlasting, — the world is finite, — the world is in- finite, the body is the life (jiva), — the body is one thing and the life another, — a truth-finder exists after death, — a truth-finder does not exist after death, — he both exists and does not exist after death, — he neither exists nor does not exist after death. [158] That is how the third set of recluses and brahmins failed to escape from Mara's mastery of craft ; — they, say I, are like the third herd of deer.
Realizing precisely how the first three sets of recluses and brahmins had respectively come by their fate, a fourth set resolved instead to take up their abode where Mara and his train could not penetrate, and, from this security, making no mad rush in, to partake of Mara's crop and what the world could bestow, but with circumspection and without losing their heads and without getting off their guard, so as not to be at Mara's mercy amid the crop he had sown and what the world had to bestow. This they did. [159] And that is how the fourth set of recluses and brahmins succeeded in escaping Mara's mastery of craft ; — they, say I, are like the fourth herd of deer.
But, how find a retreat where Mara and his train cannot penetrate ?
Take an Almsman who, divested of pleasures of sense, divested of wrong states of mind, has entered on, and abides in, the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, — a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection. Such a Brother is said to have hoodwinked Mara and to have
112 XXV. NIVAPA-SUTTA. M. i. i6o.
put Mara's sight out of gear, so as to have passed out of range of vision of the Evil One. — Further, by rising above observation and reflection the Almsman enters on, and abides in, the Second Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, — a state bred of rapt concentration, above all observation and reflection, a state whereby the heart is focussed and tranquillity reigns within. Such an Almsman is said to have hoodwinked . . . the Evil One. — Further, by shedding the emotions of zest and satisfaction, the Almsman enters on, and abides in, the Third Ecstasy with its poised equani- mity, mindful and alive to everything, feeling in his frame the satisfaction of which the Noble say that poise and mindfulness bring abiding satisfaction. Such an Almsman is said to have hoodwinked . . . the Evil One. — Further, by putting from him both satis- faction and dissatisfaction, and by shedding the joys and sorrows he used to feel, the Almsman enters on, and abides in, the Fourth Ecstasy, — the state that knows neither the pleasant nor the unpleasant, the clarity that comes of poised equanimity and alert mind- fulness. Such an Almsman is said to have hood- winked . . . the Evil One. — Further, by passing altogether beyond perception of visible forms, by ceasing from perception of sense-reactions, by not heeding perception of diversified impressions, he enters on, and abides in, the plane of infinity of space. Such an Almsman is said to have hoodwinked . . . the Evil One. — Further, by passing altogether beyond the plane of infinity of space, he enters on, and abides in, the plane of infinity of consciousness. Such an Alms- man is said to have hoodwinked . . . the Evil One. — Further, by passing altogether beyond the plane of infinity of consciousness, [160] he enters on, and abides in, the plane of Naught. Such an Almsman is said to have hoodwinked . . . the Evil One. — Further, by passing altogether beyond the plane of Naught, he enters on, and abides in, the plane of neither percep- tion nor non-perception. Such an Almsman is said to have hoodwinked . . . the Evil One. — Further, by
M. i. i6i. THE NOBLE QUEST. II3
passing altogether beyond the plane of neither percep- tion nor non-perception, he enters on, and abides in, the plane where feeling and perception cease, and where, because wisdom gives him vision, the Cankers become eradicated. Siich an Almsman is said to have hoodwinked Mara and to have put Mara's sight out of gear, so as to have passed out of range of vision of the Evil One and to have passed — here and now — beyond desires.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XXVL ARIYA-PARIYESANA-SUTTA.
THE NOBLE QUEST.
Thus have I heard. Once, when staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, the Lord, early in the morning, duly robed and bowl in hand, went into the city for alms. To the reverend Ananda there came a number of Almsmen to represent that it was a long time since they had heard a discourse on the Doctrine from the Lord and that they would like to listen to one from his own lips. In reply, Ananda told them to repair to the hermitage of the brahmin Rammaka, where their wishes might perhaps be gratified ; and to this they assented.
Having gone his round for alms in Savatthi, the Lord, on his return after his meal, said to Ananda that they would go to the Eastern pleasaunce and the mansion of (Visakha) the Mother of Migara. Yes, sir, said Ananda in assent. [161] So thither the Lord went with Ananda to pass the noontide.
Rising towards evening from his meditations, the Lord told Ananda they would now go to the Eastern bath to bathe. Ananda assenting, they went there ; and, after bathing, the Lord came out of the water and stood in a single garment to dry himself. Then said Ananda : — The hermitage of the brahmin Rammaka is
8
114 XXVI. ARIYA-PARIYESANA-SUTTA. M. i. 162.
hard by ; and a pleasant, agreeable place it is. Pray, sir, be pleased to proceed thither. Silently consenting, the Lord went to the hermitage, in which a number of Almsmen were then seated, discoursing of the Doc- trine. Standing outside the door till he knew their discourse was at an end, the Lord coughed and tapped on the bar of the door. They opened unto him, and he went in, seating himself on the seat set for him. Being seated, he asked them what had been their theme and what was the topic of their previous talk. They answered that it was on the Lord himself that their discourse about the Doctrine had centred, — when he arrived in person.
Quite right. Almsmen, said he ; it is meet that you young men who have gone forth on Pilgrimage from home to homelessness for faith's sake should sit talking of the Doctrine. When you meet together, you have the choice of two things, — either to talk about the Doctrine or else to preserve a noble silence.
There are two quests, Almsmen, — the noble and the ignoble. First, what is the ignoble quest ? — Take the case of a man who, being in himself subject to rebirth, pursues what is no less subject thereto ; who being in himself subject to decay, [162] pursues what is no less subject thereto ; who, being himself subject thereto, pursues what is subject to disease — death — sorrow — and impurity. What, you ask, is subject to the round of rebirth ? — Why, wives and children, bondmen and bondwomen, goats and sheep, fowls and swine, elephants, cattle, horses and mares, together with gold and coins of silver. Although subjection to birth marks all these ties, yet a man — himself subject to birth — pursues these things with blind and avid appetite.
[The same applies (i), in full, to decay and impurity and also (ii) to disease, death and sorrow, with the exception of inanimate gold and coins of silver.]
Secondly, what is the noble quest i* — Take the case of a man who, being himself subject to the round of re- birth— decay — disease — death — sorrow — and impurity.
M. i. 163. THE NOBLE QUEST. 1 1 5
sees peril in what is subject thereto, and so [163] pursues after the consummate peace of Nirvana, which knows neither rebirth nor decay, neither disease nor death, neither sorrow nor impurity. — This is the Noble Quest.
Yes, I myself too, in the days before my full enlightenment, when I was but a Bodhisatta, and not yet fully enlightened, — I too, being subject in myself to rebirth, decay and the rest of it, pursued what was no less subject thereto. But the thought came to me : — Why do I pursue what, like myself, is subject to rebirth and the rest ? Why, being myself subject thereto, should I not, with my eyes open to the perils which these things entail, pursue instead the consummate peace of Nirvana, — which knows neither rebirth nor decay, neither disease nor death, neither sorrow nor impurity ?
^ There came a time when I, being quite young, with a wealth of coal-black hair untouched by grey and in all the beauty of my early prime — despite the wishes of my parents, who wept and lamented — cut off my hair and beard, donned the yellow robes and went forth from home to homelessness on Pilgrimage. A pilgrim now, in search of the right, and in quest of the excellent road to peace beyond compare, I came to Alara Kalama and said : — It is my wish, reverend Kalama, to lead the higher life in this your Doctrine and Rule. Stay with us, venerable sir, was his answer ; my Doctrine is such that ere long an intelligent man [164] can for himself discern, realize, enter on, and abide in, the full scope of his master's teaching. Before long, indeed very soon, I had his Doctrine by heart. So far as regards mere lip-recital and oral repetition, I could say off the (founder's) original message and the elders' exposition of it, and
1 Cf. also Suttas Nos. 36, 85, and 100 for this biographical record, which — as is noted at page 118 infra — is in part repeated in the Vinaya and Digha. The austerities of our 12th Sutta presumably preceded his study under Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta ; but they may be the austerities practised at Uruvela with the Five Brethren (see infra, p. 122).
Il6 XXVI. ARIYA-PARIYESANA-SUTTA. M. i. 165.
could profess, with others, that I knew and saw it to the full. Then it struck me that it was no Doctrine merely accepted by him on trust that Alara Krdama, preached, but one which he professed to have entered on and to abide in after having discerned and realized it for himself; and assuredly he had real knowledge and vision thereof. So I went to him and asked him up to what point he had for himself discerned and realized the Doctrine he had entered on and now abode in.
Up to the plane of Naught, answered he.
Hereupon, I reflected that Ajara Kalama was not alone in possessing faith, perseverance, mindfulness, rapt concentration, and intellectual insight ; for, all these were mine too. Why, I asked myself, should not I strive to realize the Doctrine which he claims to have entered on and to abide in after discerning and realizing it for himself? Before long, indeed very soon, I had discerned and realized his Doctrine for myself and had entered on it and abode therein. Then I went to him and asked him whether this was the point up to winch he had discerned and realized for himself the Doctrine which he professed. He said yes ; and I said that I had reached the same point for myself. It is a great thing, said he, a very great thing for us, that in you, reverend sir, we find such a fellow in the higher life. That same Doctrine which I for myself have discerned, realized, entered on, and profess, — that have you for yourself discerned, realized, entered on and abide in ; and that same [165] Doctrine which you have for yourself discerned, realized, entered on and profess, — that have I for myself discerned, realized, entered on, and profess. The Doctrine which I know, you too know ; and the Doctrine which you know, I too know. As I am, so are you ; and as you are, so am I. Pray, sir, let us be joint wardens of this company! In such wise did Alara Kalama, being my master, set me, his pupil, on precisely the same footing as himself and show me great worship. But, as I bethought me that his Doctrine merely led to attaining the plane of Naught
M. i. i66. THE NOBLE QUEST. II7
and not to Renunciation, passionlessness, cessation, peace, discernment, enlightenment and Nirvana, — I was not taken with his Doctrine but turned away from it to ^o my way.
Still in search of the right, and in quest of the excellent road to peace beyond compare, I came to Uddaka Ramaputta and said : — It is my wish, reverend sir, to lead the higher life in this your Doctrine and Rule. Stay with us, . . . vision thereof. So I went to Uddaka Ramaputta and asked him up to what point he had for himself discerned and realized the Doctrine he had entered on and now abode in.
Up to the plane of neither perception nor non- perception, answered he.
Hereupon, I reflected that Uddaka Ramaputta was not alone in possessing faith [166] . . . show me great worship. But, as I bethought me that his Doctrine merely led to attaining the plane of neither perception nor non-perception, and not to Renunciation, passion- lessness, cessation, peace, discernment, enlightenment and Nirvana, — I was not taken with his Doctrine but turned away from it to go my way.
Still in search of the right, and in quest of the excel- lent road to peace beyond compare, I came, in the course of an alms-pilgrimage through Magadha, to the Camp township at Uruvela and there took up my abode. Said I to myself on surveying the place : — Truly a delightful spot, with its goodly groves and clear flowing river with ghats and amenities, hard by a village for sustenance. What more for his striving can a young man need whose heart is set on striving ? So there I sat me down, needing nothing further for my striving.
Subject in myself to rebirth — decay — disease — death — sorrow — and impurity, and seeing peril in what is subject thereto, I sought after the consummate peace of Nirvana, which knows neither rebirth nor decay, neither disease nor death, neither sorrow nor impurity ; — this I pursued, and this I won ; and there arose within me the conviction, the insight, that now
V
Il8 XXVI. ARIYA-PARIYESANA-SUTTA. M. i. i68.
my Deliverance was assured, that this was my last birth, nor should I ever be reborn again.
^I have attained, thought I, to this Doctrine pro- found, recondite, hard to comprehend, serene, excel- lent, beyond dialectic, abstruse, and only to be perceived by the learned. But mankind delights, takes delight, and is happy in what it clings on to, so that for it, being thus minded, it is hard to understand casual relations and the chain of causation, — hard to understand the stilling of all plastic forces, or the re- nunciation of all worldly ties, the extirpation of craving, passionlessness, peace, and Nirvana. [168] Were I to preach the Doctrine, and were others not to under- stand it, that would be labour and annoyance to me ! Yes, and on the instant there flashed across my mind these verses, which no man had heard before : —
Must I now p7^each what I so hardly won ? Men sunk in sin and lusts would find it hard to plumb this Doctrine^ — up stream all the way, abstruse, profound, most subtle, hard to grasp. Dear lusts will blind them that they shall not see, — in densest mists of ignorance befogged.
As thus I pondered, my heart inclined to rest quiet and not to preach my Doctrine. But, Brahma Sahampati's^ mind came to know what thoughts were passing within my mind, and he thought to himself : — The world is undone, quite undone, inasmuch^ as the heart of the Truth-finder^ inclines to rest quiet and not
1 Here the Vinaya (I, 4, translated at S.B.E. XIII, 84) and the Digha Nikaya (II, 36, translated at Dialogues II, 29) have versions practically identical with this. All agree, as do later compilations like the Introduction to the Jatakas, in recording the initial reluctance of Gotama to preach his new gospel to others.
^ The Digha speaks merely of one of the Great Brahmas, — the specific reference to Sahampati being regarded as a later gloss by Rhys Davids (Dialogues II, 70), though there is no justification for assigning seniority here to the Digha over the Majjhima and Vinaya versions.
^ Bu. understands yatra hi nama as yasmim nama loke.
* This, the first use of the term Tathagata in the Buddha's
M. i. 169. THE NOBLE QUEST. 1 19
to preach his Doctrine ! Hereupon, as swiftly as a strong man might stretch out his arm or might draw back his outstretched arm, Brahma Sahampati vanished from the Brahma-world and appeared before me. To- wards me he came with his right shoulder bared, and with his clasped hands stretched out to me in reverence, saying : — May it please the Lord, may it please the Blessed One, to preach his doctrine ! Beings there are whose vision is but little dimmed, who are perishing because they do not hear the Doctrine ; — these will understand it! And Brahma Sahampati went on to say :
^An unclean Doctrine reigns in Magadha, by impiire man devised. Ope thou the door of Deathless truth. Let all the Doctrine hear from his pure lips who first conceived its thought. As from a mou?Uains rocky pinnacle the folk around are clear to view^ so, Sage, from thy truth! s palace, from its topmost height, survey with eye all- seeing folk beneath, — poor thralls of birth and swift decay, whose doom is that same sorrow thou no Tnore wilt know, [169] So up, great hero, victor in the fight ! Thy debt is paid. Lead on thy Pilgrim train through all the world. Thy Doctrine preach ; — among thy hearers some will understand.
Thereupon, Almsmen, heeding Brahma's entreaties and moved by compassion for all beings, I surveyed the world with the eye of Enlightenment and therewith saw beings with vision dimmed little or much, beings with acute or dull faculties, beings of dispositions good or . bad, beings docile or indocile, with some among
life-history, follows immediately on his attaining Buddhahood and is designedly put into the mouth of Maha-Brahma himself, the supreme deity of the superseded cosmology.
^ These verses are somewhat differently arranged in D. II, 39, and Vin. I, 5, — the Digha version omitting the first four lines. In the Digha and Vinaya versions, Brahma thrice repeats his entreaties, in stereotyped fashion.
1 20 XXVI. ARIYA-PARIYESANA-SUTTA. M. i. 170.
them alive to the terrors hereafter, of present wrong- doing. As in a pond of lotuses, blue or red or white, some lotuses of each kind are born and grow in the water, never rising above the surface but flourishing underneath ; while others, born and growing in the water, either rise level with the surface or stand right out of the water and are not wetted by it ; — even so with the eye of Enlightenment did I see beings with vision dimmed . . . wrong-doing now. Thereon, I made answer to Brahma Sahampati in these verses ;
C
Nirvanas doors stand open wide to all with ears to hear. Discard your outworn creeds ! J. The weary task ahead made me forbear \jo preach to men my Doctrines virtues rare.
Mine has it been to secure from the Lord the preaching of the Doctrine ! said Brahma Sahampati, and, so saying, with due obeisance and reverently keeping his right side towards me as he passed, he vanished there and then.
I now asked myself to whom first I should preach the Doctrine, and who would understand it quickly. The thought came to me that there was Alara Kalama, who was learned, able, and intelligent, whose vision had long been but little dimmed ; suppose I chose him [170] to be my first hearer, for he would be quick to understand ? Word, however, was brought to me by deities that he had died seven days before, and insight assured me this was so. Great nobility, thought I, was his ! Had he heard my Doctrine, he would have understood it quickly.
Again I asked myself to whom first I should preach the Doctrine, and who would understand it quickly. The thought came to me that there was Uddaka Ramaputta, who was learned . . . Word, however, was brought me by deities that he had died yesterday at midnight, and insight . . . understood it quickly.,
Again I asked myself to whom first I should preach the Doctrine and who would understand it quickly. The thought came to me that there were the ^v^
M. i. 171. THE NOBLE QUEST. 121
Almsmen who had served me so well in my struggles to purge myself of self; suppose I chose them to be my first hearers? Wondering where they were dwelling now, I saw with the Eye Celestial — which is pure and far surpasses the human eye — those Five Almsmen dwelling at Benares in the Isipatana deer- park. So, when I had stayed as long as pleased me at Uruvela, I set out on an alms - pilgrimage for Benares.
On the highway from the Bo-tree to Gay a, Upaka the Mendicant (ajivika) saw me and said : — Reverend sir, your faculties are under control, and your complexion is clear and bright. . To follow whom have you gone forth on pilgrimage ? Or who is your teacher ? Or whose Doctrine [171] do you profess .f* Him I answered in these verses : —
All-vanquishing^ all- knowings lo I am /, from all wrong thinking wholly purged and free. All things discarded^ cravings rooted out^ — whom should I follow ? — / have found out all. No teacher 's mine, no equal. Counterpart to m>e there 's none throughout the whole wide world. The Arahat am /, teacher supreme^ utter Enlightenment is ^nine alone ; unf ever d calm, is mine^ Nirvanas peace. I seek the Kasis' city, there to start my Doctrine s wheel, a world purblind to save^ sounding the tocsin s call to Deathlessness.
According to your claim, sir, said Upaka, you should be the Universal Conqueror.
Like me, those conquer who the Cankers quell ; — by conquering bad thoughts, Fm Conqueror.
When I had thus answered, Upaka the Mendicant said : Mebbe,^ sir, and, shaking his head, took a different road and went his way.
In the course of my alms-pilgrimage, I came at last
^ Huveyya is a dialectical form for b h a v e y y a.
1 2 2 XXVI. ARIYA-PARIYESANA-SUTTA. M. i. 172.
to Benares and the deerpark of Isipatana, in which were the Five Almsmen. From afar the five saw me coming and agreed among themselves as follows : — Here come the recluse Gotama, the man of surfeits, who has abandoned the struggle and reverted to surfeiting. We must not welcome him, nor rise to receive him, nor relieve him of bowl and robes. Yet let us put out a seat ; he can sit on it if he wants to. But, as I drew nearer and nearer, those Five Almsmen proved less and less able to abide by their compact ; — some came forward to relieve me of my bowl and robes ; others indicated my seat ; while others brought water for me to wash my feet. But they addressed me by my name and by the style of reverend. So I said to the Five Almsmen : Almsmen, do not address the Truth-finder by his name or by the style of reverend. Arahat all enlightened is the Truth-finder. [172] Hearken to me, Almsmen. The Deathless has been won ; I teach it ; I preach the Doctrine. Live up to what I enjoin, and in no long time you will come — of yourselves, here and now — to discern and realize, to enter on and to abide in, that supreme goal of the higher life, for the sake of which young men go forth from home to homelessness on Pilgrimage.
Said the Five Almsmen : — Reverend Gotama, the life you led, the path you trod, and the austerities you practised, — all failed to make you transcend ordinary human scope and rise to special heights of discernment of the truly Noble Knowledge. How now shall you rise to those heights when you surfeit, abandon the struggle, and revert to surfeiting ? To which I made answer : — Arahat all enlightened is the Truth-finder. Hearken to me, Almsmen. The Deathless has been won ; I teach it ; I preach the Doctrine. Live up to what I enjoin, and in no long time you will come — of yourselves, here and now — to discern and realize, to enter on and to abide in, that supreme goal of the higher life, for the sake of which young men go forth from home to homelessness on Pilgrimage.
A second time did the Five Brethren repeat their
M. i. 173- THE NOBLE QUEST. I 23
words to me ; and a second time did I return them the same answer. But when they repeated their words yet a third time, I asked these Five whether they agreed that I had never heretofore spoken like that ; and they admitted that I had not.
Arahat all enlightened — repeated I — is the Truth- finder. Hearken . . . homelessness on Pilgrimage.
[173] I succeeded in convincing the Five. I in- structed two of their number, while the three others went abroad for alms ; and what those three brought back from their round, maintained all six of us. Or, I instructed three, while two went abroad for alms ; and what those two brought back from their round, main- tained all six of us.
In the course of receiving this teaching and instruc- tion from me, those Five Almsmen — being themselves subject to rebirth, decay, disease, death, sorrow, and impurity — saw peril in what is thereto subject, and so sought after the consummate peace of Nirvana, which knows neither rebirth nor decay, neither disease nor death, neither sorrow nor impurity ; and there arose within them the conviction, the insight, that their Deliverance was now assured, that this was their last birth, nor would they ever be reborn again.
Fivefold are the pleasures of sense, Almsmen, namely, visible shapes apparent to the eye, sounds apparent to the ear, odours apparent to the nostrils, tastes apparent to the tongue, touch apparent to the body ; — all of them pleasant, agreeable, and delightful, all of them bound up with passion and lusts. All recluses or brahmins who partake of these pleasures with avid greed and blind appetite, without seeing the perils which dog them and without realizing that they afford no refuge, — all such people are to be conceived of as having fallen into misery and into calamity, and as being at the mercy of the Evil One. Even as a deer of the forest in the toils of the baited trap it has found, would be conceived of as having fallen into misery and into calamity, as being at the trapper's mercy, and as being unable to escape at will when the
124 XXVI. ARIYA-PARIYESANA-SUTTA. M. i. 174.
trapper comes, — even so are all recluses or brahmins who . . . mercy of the Evil One. But all those other recluses or brahmins who partake of the fivefold pleasures of sense without avid greed and blind ap- petite, but with discernment of the perils which dog them and [174] with a realization that these things afford no refuge, — all these are to be conceived of as not having fallen into misery or into calamity and as not being at the mercy of the Evil One. Even as a deer of the forest which is not in the toils of the baited trap it has found, would be conceived of as having fallen into no misery or calamity, and as not being at the trapper's mercy, but as being able to escape at will when the trapper comes ; — even so all these other recluses or brahmins who . . . and as not being at the mercy of the Evil One.
Even as a deer of the forest roaming the forest s fastnesses is confident and secure as it walks or stands, reclines or slumbers, — because the trapper cannot get to it, even so, divested of pleasures of sense, divested of wrong states of mind, an Almsman enters on and abides in the First Ecstasy, with all its zest and satisfaction, — a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection. Such an Almsman is said to have hoodwinked Mara . . . (etc., as at pp. 111-3 of Sutta 25) . . . [175] the Cankers become eradicated. Such an Almsman is said to have hoodwinked Mara and to have put Mara s eyes out of gear, so as to have passed out of range of vision of the Evil One and to have passed — here and now — beyond desires. He is confident and secure as he walks or stands, sits or slumbers, — because the Evil One cannot get to him.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
M. i. 176. THE SHORT TRAIL. 125
XXVII. CULA-HATTHI-PADOPAMA-SUTTA.
THE SHORT TRAIL.
Thus have I heard. Once while the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, the brahmin Janussoni was coming out of the city early in the day in a carriage which was all white and was drawn by four white mares, when at a distance he espied the Wanderer Pilotika returning to the city and asked : — Whence, pray, comes Vacchayana so early in the day ?
I am on my way back from the recluse Gotama.
And what is your view of him, Vacchayana ? Has he got depth of thought ? Is he learned, do you think ?
Who, who am I to comprehend the depth of the recluse Gotama's thought ? Only his peer could com- prehend that.
It is lofty praise indeed that you accord him.
Who, who am I to praise him ? Naught but praise upon praise is his, that foremost among gods and men.
What rich blessing did you find in the recluse Gotama to make you so ardent an adherent of his ?
It is as if to an elephant forest there came an expert elephant-tracker, who should see there [176] a long and broad footprint of an elephant and should conclude it indicated a really big elephant. Even so, when I saw the four footprints of the recluse Gotama, I con- cluded that the Lord was all-enlightened, that he had well and truly revealed his Doctrine, and that his Con- fraternity walked aright.
What are his four footprints ?
From the class of learned Nobles there have come, as I have seen, keen and tried disputants, verbal archers skilled in hair-splitting, and journeying about to split in twain by their lore, methinks, any views propounded. These, hearing that the recluse Gotama would be at this or that village or township, frame a question to ask him, calculating to confute him one way if his answer be in this sense, and another way if
126 XXVII. CULA-HATTHI-PADOPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 177.
his answer be in that sense. When they hear that he has come, they go to him ; and then, he, by a discourse on his Doctrine, so informs and enlightens them, so cheers them forward and helps them onwards, that in the end they never put their question at all, much less do they confute him, but actually become Gotama's disciples. — When I saw this first footprint of the recluse Gotama, I concluded that the Lord was all- enlightened, that he had well and truly revealed his Doctrine, and that his Confraternity walked aright.
From the class too of learned brahmins there have come . . . become Gotama's disciples. — When I saw this second footprint . . . walked aright.
From the class of learned heads of houses there have come . . . become Gotama's disciples. — When I saw this third footprint . . . walked aright.
From the class of learned recluses there have come . . . [177] much less do they confute him, but have actually begged him to let them leave home for home- lessness as Pilgrims ; and he has admitted them as such. So admitted, and dwelling alone and aloof, strenuous, ardent, and purged of self, they, after no great while, come — of themselves, here and now — to discern and realize, to enter on and abide in, that supreme goal of the higher life, for the sake of which young men go forth from home to homelessness on Pilgrimage. Say they : We were near to being undone, quite undone ! For, we that before were no true recluses, now know we are recluses indeed ; we that before were no true brahmins, now know we are brahmins indeed; we that before were *un-worthy' (an- arahants) now know we have * Worth ' indeed (are Arahats). To-day we are in very truth recluses and brahmins of real Worth. — When I saw this fourth footprint of the recluse Gotama, I concluded that the Lord was all-enlightened, that he had well and truly revealed his Doctrine, and that his Confraternity walked aright.
Such were the four footprints of the recluse Gotama, the sight of which led me to this conclusion.
M. i. 178. THE SHORT TRAIL. I2j
Thereupon, the brahmin Janussoni alighted from his carriage so white, and, with right shoulder reverently- bared and with clasped hands stretched out towards the Lord, thrice burst forth with this utterance : * Homage to the Lord, the Arahat all-enlightened! Homage to the Lord, the Arahat all-enlightened! Homage to the Lord, the Arahat all-enlightened ! May it be mine some day [178] and somewhere to meet the reverend Gotama and to have speech with him !'
Then the brahmin proceeded to the Lord and, after friendly greetings, related the talk he had had with the Wanderer Pilotika.
Said the Lord : — At this point, brahmin, the allegory of the elephant's footprint is not complete in all its details. Give ear and hearken, and I will tell you what will complete it. Certainly, sir, said the brahmin in assent ; and the Lord spoke as follows : —
It is as if to an elephant forest there came an elephant-tracker, who should see there long and broad footprints of an elephant, but, being an expert in track- ing elephants, should not conclude that this indicated a really big elephant. And why ? — Because in an elephant forest there are stunted cow-elephants who have large feet ; and it might also be their footprints. So on he goes till he comes on long and broad foot- prints making a deep lane through the underwood. Still the expert tracker does not conclude that this indicates a really big elephant. And why ? — Because in an elephant forest there are cow-elephants with tushes, who have large feet ; and it might be one of these. So on he goes till he comes on long and broad footprints making a deep lane through the underwood and with marks of slashing tusks high up. Still he does not conclude that this indicates a really big elephant. And why? — Because in an elephant forest there are cow-elephants with stumpy tusks, who have large feet ; and it might be one of these. So on he goes till he comes on long and broad footprints making a deep lane through the underwood and with marks of
128 XXVII. CtJLA-HATTHI-PADOPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 179.
slashing tusks high up and also with high branches torn off; and there he espies that elephant beneath a tree or in the open, walking or standing still, couch- ing or reclining. Then at last he concludes that here is his big elephant.
Even so, [179] brahmin, there arises in the world here a Truth-finder, Arahat all-enlightened, walking by knowledge, blessed, understanding all worlds, the matchless tamer of the human heart, teacher of gods and men^ the Lord of Enlightenment. This universe — with its gods, Maras, Brahmas, recluses and brahmins, embracing all gods and mankind, — all this he has dis- cerned and realized for himself, and makes known to others. He preaches his Doctrine, which is so fair in its outset, its middle, and its close, with both text and import ; he propounds a higher life that is wholly complete and pure. This Doctrine is heard by the head of a house or his son or by one of other birth, who hearing it puts his trust in the Truth-finder, and in this trust bethinks him that — A hole and corner life is all a home can give, whereas Pilgrimage is in the open ; it is hard for a home-keeping man to live the higher life in all its full completeness and full purity and perfection ; what if I were to cut off hair and beard, don the yellow robes, and go forth from home to homelessness as a Pilgrim ? Later, parting from his substance, be it small or great, parting too from the circle of his kinsfolk, be they few or many, he cuts off hair and beard, dons the yellow robes, and goes forth from home to homelessness as a Pilgrim.
A Pilgrim now, schooled in the Almsmen's precepts and way of life, he puts from him all killing and abstains from killing anything. Laying aside cudgel and sword, he lives a life of innocence and mercy, full of kindliness and compassion for everything that lives. Theft he puts from him and eschews ; taking only what is given to him by others, and waiting till it is given, he lives an honest and clean life. Putting from him all that does not belong to the higher life, he leads the higher life in virtue, abstaining from low sensuality.
M. i. i8o. THE SHORT TRAIL. 129
Putting from him and abstaining from all lying, he speaks the truth, cleaves to the truth, and is staunch and leal, never deceiving the world with his lips. Calumny he puts from him and eschews, not repeating elsewhere to the harm of people here what he hears there, nor repeating here to the harm of people else- where what he hears elsewhere ; thus he heals divisions and cements friendship, seeking peace and ensuing it ; for in peace is his delight and his words are ever the words of a peacemaker. Reviling he puts from him, and abstains from reviling people ; his words are without gall, pleasant, friendly, going home to the heart, courteous, agreeable and welcome to all. [180] Tattle he puts from him and abstains therefrom, he speaks, in season and according to the facts, words of help concerning the Doctrine and the Rule, words to be stored in the heart, words duly illustrated, fraught with purpose, and pithy. He sedulously avoids hurt- ing the seeds or plants of a village. He takes but one meal a day, never eating at night or after hours. He refrains from looking on at shows of dancing, singing, and music. He eschews all use and employment of smart garlands, scents and perfumes. He sleeps on no tall or broad beds. He refuses to accept gold or coins of silver, — uncooked grain or meat, — women or girls, — bondwomen or bondmen, — sheep or goats, — fowls or swine, — elephants or cattle or horses or mares, — fields or land. He refrains from the practice of send- ing or going on messages. He neither buys nor sells. He never cheats with weights, coins, or measures. He takes no part in bribery, cozening, cheating, or other crooked ways. He never joins in wounding, murdering, and manacling, or in highway robbery, brigandage, and fraud. Contented is he with what- ever robes are given him as clothing, and with what- ever alms are given for his belly's needs. Wheresoever he goes, he takes all his belongings with him. Just as a winged bird, wheresoever it goes, carries with it its feathers and all, — so, wheresoever he goes, he takes all his belongings with him.
9
130 XXVII. CULA-HATTHI-PADOPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. l8i.
A master of this noble code of virtue, he enjoys un- sullied well-being within. — When with his eye he sees a visible shape, he is not absorbed by either its general appearance or its details ; but, since the eye uncon- trolled might lead to covetousness and discontent, to evil and wrong states of mind, he schools himself to control it, to keep watch and ward over it, and to establish control. And he does the like with his five other faculties of sense.
[181] A master of this noble control over his faculties, he enjoys unalloyed well-being within. Pur- poseful is he in all his doings, — whether in coming in or going out, in looking ahead or around, in stretching out his arm or in drawing it back, in wearing his clothes or carrying his bowl, in eating or drinking, in chewing or savouring food, in attending to the calls of nature, in walking or standing or sitting, in sleeping or waking, in speech or in silence ; — he is always pur- poseful in all he does.
A master of this noble code of virtue, a master of this noble code of control of his faculties of sense, and a master of noble mindfulness and purpose in all he does, he resorts to a lonely lodging, — in the forest under a tree, in the wilds in cave or grot, in a charnel- ground, in a thicket, or on bracken in the open. After his meal, when he is back from his round for alms, he seats himself cross-legged and with body erect, with his heart set on mindfulness. His life is purged (i.) of appetite for things of the world, for he has put from him all appetite therefor ; — (ii.) of all spiteful thoughts, for he is filled only with loving-kindness and compas- sion for all that lives ; — (iii.) of all torpor, for all torpor has left him, driven out by clarity of vision, by mind- fulness, and by purpose in all he does ; — (iv.) of ail flurry and worry, for he is serene, and his heart within is at peace and quit of all worries ; — and (v.) of all doubts, for his life is unclouded by doubt, he is troubled by no questionings, right states of mind have purged his heart of all doubting. When he has put from him these Five Hindrances, those defilements of
M. i. i82. THE SHORT TRAIL. I3r
the heart which weaken a man's insight, then, divested of pleasures of sense and divested of wrong states of consciousness, he enters on, and abides in, the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection.
This, brahmin, is known as the Truth-finder's foot- print, the Truth-finder's track, the Truth-finder's slash.
But it is not yet that the disciple of the Noble [182] concludes that the Lord is all- enlightened, that he has well and truly revealed his Doctrine, and that his Con- fraternity walks aright.
Nor does he so conclude as he successively attains to the three other Ecstasies, — each of which is called the Truth-finder's footprint, the Truth-finder's track, the Truth-finder's slash.
With heart thus stedfast . . . (etc., as in Sutta No. 4) . . . divers existences of the past in all their details and features. This too is called the Truth-finder's footprint, the Truth-finder's track, the Truth-finder's slash. But not yet does he conclude that the Lord is all-enlightened, that he has well and truly revealed his Doctrine, and that his Confraternity walks aright.
[183] That same stedfast heart he now applies . . . (etc., as in Sutta 4) . . . appeared after death in states of bliss and in heaven. This too is called the Truth-finder's footprint . . . walks aright.
That same stedfast heart he next applies to the knowledge of the eradication of the Cankers . . . (etc., as in Sutta 4) . . . course that leads to their cessation. This too is called . . . walks aright.
When he knows this and sees this, his heart is [184] delivered from the Canker of sensuous pleasure, from the Canker of continuing existence, and from the Canker of ignorance ; and to him thus delivered comes the knowledge of his Deliverance in the conviction — Rebirth is no more ; I have lived the highest life ; my task is done ; and now for me there is no more of what I have been.
132 XXVII. CULA-HATTHI-PADOPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 184.
This is known as the Truth-finder's footprint, the Truth -finder's track, the Truth-finder's slash. And now at last the disciple of the Noble concludes that the Lord is all-enlightened, that he has well and truly revealed his Doctrine, and that his Confraternity walks aright.
And now at last, brahmin, the allegory of the ele- phant's footprints has been completed in all its details.
Thereupon, the brahmin Janussoni said to the Lord : — Excellent, Gotama ! most excellent ! Just as if a man should set upright again what had been cast down, or reveal what was hidden away, or tell a man who had gone astray which was his way, or bring a lamp into darkness so that those with eyes to see might see the things about them, — even so, in many a figure, has Gotama made his Doctrine clear. I come to the reverend Gotama as my refuge, and to his Doctrine, and to his Confraternity. May the reverend Gotama accept me as a follower who has found an abiding refuge from this day onward while life lasts.
XXVIII. MAHA-HATTHI-PADOPAMA- SUTTA.
THE LONG TRAIL.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, the reverend Sariputta addressed the Almsmen, saying, Reverend sirs ! Yes, reverend sir, said they in response. The reverend Sariputta spoke as follows : — Just as the foot of every creature that walks the earth will go into the elephant's footprint, which is pre-eminent for size, — even so, sirs, are all right states of mind comprised within the Four Noble Truths,— which are the Noble Truth of 111, [185] the Noble Truth of the origin of 111, the Noble Truth of the cessation of 111, and the Noble Truth of the way that leads to the cessation of 111.
This is the Noble Truth of 111 :— 111 is birth. 111 is decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, depression of body and of mind, failure to get what one desires, — together, in brief, with all that makes up the Five Attachments to existence, namely, the Attachments of visible shapes, of feeling, of perception, of the plastic forces, and of consciousness.
What makes up the Attachment of visible shapes ? — The four principal elements (i.e. earth, water, fire, and air) and whatever visible shapes are derivative therefrom.
Now, as to the nature of the earth-element ; it is either personal or external. If personal, it embraces everything personal and referable to an individual which is hard or solid or derived therefrom, — such as the hair of the head or body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura,
133
r34 XXVIII. MAHA-HATTHI-PADOPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. i86.
Spleen, lungs, inwards, bowels, stomach, faeces, to- gether with everything else personal and referable to an individual which is hard or solid or derived there- from. All this is called the personal earth-element, and, in combination with the external earth-element, makes up the totality of the earth-element. The right way to regard this as it really is, and to comprehend it aright, is to say : This is not mine, This is not I, This is no self of mine. So regarding and so compre- hending it, a man turns from it in disgust and loathing of heart. There comes a time when the external water-element is wroth and the external earth-element disappears before it. Then will this external earth- element, ancient though it be, reveal how transient is its nature, how subject to dissolution and decay, how mutable ! And what of this short-lived body, bred of cravings ? No * I ' is here, no * mine,' no * I am,' — nothing at all. Therefore, if others revile or defame, assail or harry an Almsman, he knows well that it is through his sense of hearing that he has experienced these painful feelings, and that they come to him as effects, with a cause behind them [186], — which cause is Contact. H e is clear that Contact is transient. So are feelings ; so are perceptions ; so are the plastic forces ; and so is consciousness This relativity of the elements attracts and satisfies him ; he takes his stand on it and holds to it. If others act harshly, unpleasantly, and disagreeably towards an Almsman, if they deal him blows with fist or clod or cudgel or sword, he is clear that the nature of this body of his is such that it is affected by such blows. He remembers that in the Saw Homily (Sutta 21) the Lord taught that, even if villainous bandits were to carve us limb from limb with a two-handled saw, even then the mind that should harbour enmity would not be obedient to his teaching. He resolves, therefore, that indomitable and unflagging shall his resolution be, with a steady mindfulness that knows no distraction, with a tranquil body that has found rest, and with a stedfast heart that never wavers; — let them deal their blows, if they
M. i. i87. THE LONG TRAIL. I3S
will, with fist, clod, cudgel, or sword ; the command- ments of the Buddhas are being fulfilled! If, with this present remembrance of the Buddha^ and his Doctrine and his Confraternity, there is not strong within him the equanimity which is founded on the right, then is he deeply moved and in his emotion he cries : — Failure is mine, instead of success ; I have failed and not succeeded, in that, with this present re- membrance of the Buddha and his Doctrine and his Confraternity, equanimity is not strong within me. Just as a young wife is deeply moved in the presence of her husband's father, so if, with the present remembrance . . . not strong within me. But if, with that same present remembrance of the Buddha and his Doctrine and his Confraternity, there is strong within him the equanimity which is founded on the right, then [187] he rejoices thereat. At this stage the Almsman has achieved much.
Next as to the nature of the water-element, which may be either personal or external. If personal, it embraces everything personal and referable to an individual which is water or watery or derived there- from,— such as bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, serum, saliva, mucus, synovial fluid and urine, together with everything else personal and referable to an individual, which is water or watery or derived therefrom. All this is called the personal water- element, and, in combination with the external water- element, makes up the totality of the water-element. The right way to regard this as it really is, and to com- prehend it aright, is to say : This is not mine. This is not I, This is no self of mine. So regarding and so comprehending it, a man turns from it in disgust and loathing of heart. There comes a time when the external water-element is wroth, sweeping away village, township and city, countries and whole continents.
* Here, it will be noted, the style of * Buddha ' is used by Sari- putta of his master (who does not use it of himself) in lieu of Tathagata, etc. (See Dialogues II, 6.) The plural is used in the line immediately above.
136 XXVIII. MAHA-HATTHI-PADOPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 188.
There comes a time when the ocean will be a hundred leagues deep, yea, two, three . . . seven hundreds of leagues deep. There comes a time when the depth of ocean's waters will equal only seven, six . . . two palmyra-trees' height, or a single tree. There comes a time when the depth of ocean's waters will equal only seven, six . . . two men's height, or the height of but one man. There comes a time when ocean's waters will reach only to a man's waist, then only to his loins, then only to his knees, then only to his ankles. There comes a time when ocean's waters will not cover a single joint of a man's finger. Then will this external water-element, ancient though it be, [188] reveal how transient is its nature, how subject to dissolution and decay . . . (etc., as above) ... he rejoices thereat. At this stage too the Brother has achieved much.
Next as to the nature of the fire-element, which may be personal or external. If personal, it embraces everything personal and referable to an individual which is fire or fiery or is derived therefrom, — such as whatever heats, consumes or burns up, or whatever wholly transmutes food and drink in digestion ; together with everything else that, being personal and referable to an individual, is fire or fiery or is derived therefrom. All this is called the personal fire-element, and, in combination with the external fire-element, makes up the totality of the fire-element. The right way to regard this as it really is, and to comprehend it aright, is to say: This is not mine, This is not I, This is no self of mine. So regarding and so compre- hending it, a man turns from it in disgust and loathing of heart. There comes a time when the external fire- element is wroth and burns up village, township and city, countries and whole continents ; nor will it stop till, spreading to green growths or roads or rocks or water or verdant scenes, it fails for lack of sustenance. There comes a time when people try to light fires with fowls' feathers or snippets of sinews and shrivelled hide. Then will the external fire-element, ancient though it be, reveal how transient ... he rejoices
M. i. i89. THE LONG TRAIL. 137
thereat. At this stage too the Almsman has achieved much.
Next as t6 the nature of the air-element, which may be either personal or external. If personal, it embraces everything personal and referable to an individual which is air or airy or derived therefrom, — such as wind discharged upwards or downwards, wind in the abdomen or belly, vapours that traverse the several members, inhalings and exhalings of breath, together with everything else that, being personal and referable to an individual, is air or airy or derived therefrom. All this is called the personal air-element, and, in com- bination with the external air-element, makes up the totality of the air-element. The right way to regard this as it really is, and to comprehend it aright, is to say : This is not mine, This is not I, This is no self of mine. So regarding and so comprehending it, a man turns from it in disgust and with loathing of heart. [189] There comes a time when the external air-element is wroth and sweeps away before it village, township, and city, countries and whole continents. There comes a time when, in the last month of the hot season before the rains break, men try to create a current of air with fans and the like, nor do they now look to see grass growing even on the thatch. Then will the air-element, ancient though it be, reveal how transient . . . [190] he rejoices thereat. At this stage too an Almsman has achieved much.
Just as it is by and because of wattle and withies, grass and clay, that a space is enclosed which is called a house, so it is by and because of bones and sinews, flesh and skin that a space is enclosed which is called a visible shape. If the eye within is intact but if visible shapes external to it do not come to focus and there is developed no pertinent material to sustain it, then there is developed no manifestation of the pertinent section of consciousness. If the eye within is intact and visible shapes external to it do come to focus, but if there is developed no pertinent material to
I3B XXVIII. MAHA-HATTHI-PADOPAMA-SUTTA. M. r. 191.
sustain it, again there is developed no manifestation of the pertinent section of consciousness. But when the eye within is intact and visible shapes external to it do come to focus, and when there is developed pertinent material to sustain it, then there is developed a manifestation of the pertinent section of conscious- ness. Any visible shape that appertains to a man so conscious, unites with all that goes to make up the Attachment of Form ; feelings unite with all that goes to make up the Attachment to feelings ; and so too with perceptions, plastic forces, and consciousness.
And what is true of visible objects, is equally true of sounds, smells, tastes, touch, and mind.
Thus the Almsman recognizes that : — This is how all that makes up the Five Attachments is collected, assembled, and brought together. Now, the Lord has laid it down that whoso sees the Chain of Causation [191] sees the Doctrine, and whoso sees the Doctrine sees the Chain of Causation. It is the Chain of Causation which entails all that makes up these Five Attachments. The origin of 111 is the yearning for, and the resort to, these Five, the appetite for them and the cleaving to them. And the cessation of 111 is the avoidance and the rejection of all such yearn- ings and appetites. At this stage too the Almsman has achieved much.
Thus spoke the reverend Sariputta. Glad at heart, those Almsmen rejoiced in w^hat the reverend Sariputta had said.
XXIX. MAHA-SAROPAMA-SUTTA.
TIMBER: OR DISCOVERIES
[192] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Rajagaha on the heights of the Vulture's Peak, not long after Devadatta's secession,^ he addressed the Almsmen on the subject of Devadatta :
^ See Vinaya Texts III, 238 at seqq.
M. i. 193- timber: OR DISCOVERIES. 139
Take the case, Almsmen, of a young man who for faith's sake goes forth from home to homelessness on Pilgrimage, — feeling himself beset by birth and decay and death, by sorrow and lamentation, by ills of body and of mind, and by tribulation ; feeling himself beset by ills, spent with ills ; and asking to be shewn how to make an end of all that makes up 111. A Pilgrim now, he finds himself the recipient of presents, esteem, and repute, all of which things so rejoice him and so satisfy his aspirations that thereby he becomes puffed-up and disparages others. It is I, says he to himself, who get things given to me and who am thought so much of, while these other Almsmen are little known and rank nobodies. Intoxicated, very much intoxicated, with the presents, esteem, and repute which he enjoys, he grows remiss and, having become remiss, lives a prey to 111.
It is just as if a man who was in need, search, and quest of the best of wood, were to come on just the fine upstanding tree for his purpose, but were to dis- regard not only the best but also the poorer timber and the bark and the wood that had fallen to the ground, and were to cut the leafy foliage and go off with that in the belief that he had got the pick of the wood. At the sight, an observer with eyes to see would say this good man understood nothing about grades of wood and had gone off with the twiggage to the disregard of all the rest, — in the vain belief that he had got the pick of the wood ; — nor would what he had got ever be any good to him where the best of wood was needed. — Just the same is it with our Pilgrim who finds him- self the recipient .... [1 93] a prey to 111. Of such an Almsman it is said that he has got the twiggage of the higher life and has ended there.
Take now the case of a young man who for faith's sake goes forth . . . that makes up 111. A Pilgrim now, he finds himself the recipient of presents, esteem, and repute, none of which things either rejoices his heart or satisfies his aspirations, or makes him puffed-up to the disparagement of others ; nor is he so intoxicated therewith as to grow remiss ; with unremitting zeal he
140 XXIX. MAHA-SAROPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 194.
succeeds in living the life of virtue. This success in living the life of virtue so rejoices him and so satisfies his aspirations that thereby he becomes puffed-up and disparages others, saying — I am the man of virtue, I am the man of fine character, while these other Alms- men lack virtue and are of evil character. Intoxicated, very much intoxicated, with his success in the life of virtue, he grows remiss, and, having become remiss, lives a prey to 111.
It is just as if a man who was in need, search, and quest . . . and the bark, and were to cut up the wood that had fallen to the ground and were to go off with this in the belief that he had got the pick of the wood. At the sight, an observer with eyes to see would say that the good man knew nothing about grades of wood and had gone off with the fallen wood to the disregard of all the rest, in the vain belief that he had got the pick of the wood ; — nor would what he had got ever be of any good to him where the best of wood was needed. — Just the same is it with our second Pilgrim who for faith's sake . . . intoxicated with his success in the life of virtue, he grows remiss, and, having become remiss, lives a prey to 111. [194] Of such an Almsman it is said that he has got the windfalls of the higher life and has ended there.
Take next the case of a young man who for faith's sake goes forth . . . succeeds in living the life of virtue. This success in living the life of virtue does not so rejoice him and so satisfy his aspirations as to make him puffed-up to the disparagement of others, nor is he so intoxicated therewith as to grow remiss ; with unremitting zeal he succeeds in winning rapt con- centration. This success so rejoices him and so satis- fies his aspirations that thereby he becomes puffed-up and disparages others, saying — I am the man of sted- fastness, I am the man with focussed heart, while these other Almsmen are not stedfast but all in a whirl. Intoxicated, very much intoxicated, with winning rapt concentration, he grows remiss, and, having become remiss, lives a prey to 111.
M. i. 195- timber: OR DISCOVERIES. I4I
It is just as if a man who was in need, search, and quest . . . but also the poorer timber, and were to cut off the bark and go off with this in the belief that he had got the pick of the wood. At the sight, an observer with eyes to see would say the good man knew nothing about grades of wood and had gone off with the bark in the belief that he had got the pick of the wood ; nor would what he had got ever be any good to him where the best of wood was needed. Just the same is it with our third Pilgrim who for faith's sake . . . intoxicated with winning rapt concentra- tion, he grows remiss, and, having become remiss, lives a prey to 111. Of such [195] an Almsman it is said that he has got the bark of the higher life and has ended there.
Take next the case of a young man who for faith's sake . . . succeeds in winning rapt concentration. This success rejoices him but does not so satisfy his aspirations as to make him puffed-up to the disparage- ment of others, nor is he so intoxicated therewith as to grow remiss ; with unremitting zeal he succeeds in winning Mystic Insight.^ This success so rejoices his heart and so satisfies his aspirations that thereby he becomes puffed-up and disparages others, saying — I know and see, while these other Brethren neither know nor see. Intoxicated, very much intoxicated, with winning this Insight, he grows remiss, and, having become remiss, lives a prey to 111. It is just as if a man who was in need, search, and quest . . . were to disregard the best timber, and were to cut out the poorer timber and go off with this in the belief that he had got the pick of the wood. At the sight, an ob- server with eyes to see would say the good man knew nothing about grades of wood and had gone off with the poorer timber in the belief that he had got the pick
^ Bu. explains nana-dassana in this Sutta as meaning the Eye Celestial of Sutta 6, i.e. the highest of the five Psychic Powers, of which (alone) Devadatta was master. See Vinaya Texts III, 230 for the ignoble iddhi of Devadatta; and cf. Dialogues I, 56-64.
142 XXIX, MAHA-SAROPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 196.
of the wood ; nor would what he had got ever be any good to him where the best of wood was wanted. [196J Just the same is it with our fourth Pilgrim who for faith's sake . . . intoxicated with winning Mystic Insight, grows remiss, and, having become remiss, lives a prey to 111. Of such an Almsman it is said that he has got the poorer timber of the higher life and has ended there.
Next, take the case of the young man who for faith's sake . . . succeeds in winning Mystic Insight. This success rejoices him but does not so satisfy his aspira- tions as to make him puffed-up to the disparagement of others, nor is he so intoxicated therewith as to grow remiss ; with unremitting zeal he succeeds in attaining Temporary^ Deliverance. But it is possible he may fall from this Temporary Deliverance. It is just as if a man who was in need, search, and quest of the best of timber were to come on just the fine upstanding tree for his purpose and were to cut out the heart of the timber and to go off with this in the sure knowledge that he had got the heart of the timber. At the sight, an observer with eyes to see would say that this good man knew quite well what was the heart of the timber, what was the poorer timber, what was the bark, what was fallen wood, and what was leafy foliage ; that, being in need, search, and quest of the heart of timber, [197] he had cat out only the choicest timber and had gone off with that, in the full knowledge it was the really best ; and that what he had got would be of good to him where the best of timber was needed. Just the same is it with the young man who goes forth from home to homelessness on Pilgrimage, — feeling himself beset by birth and decay and death, by sorrow and lamentation, by ills of body and of mind, and by
^ This, according to Bu., consists of the Four Ecstasies and the four (other) arupa-samapattis of the next Sutta. The Four Noble Paths and the four fruits of the life of the recluse (see 2nd Digha Sutta), together with Nirvana, make the nine constituents of the timeless or Eternal Deliverance mentioned infra. See Dialogues I, 56-64.
M. i. 198. timber: OR DISCOVERIES. 143
tribulation ; feeling himself beset by ills and spent with ills ; and asking to be shewn how to make an end of all that makes up 111. A Pilgrim now, he finds himself the recipient of presents, esteem, and repute, none of which so rejoices his heart and so satisfies his aspira- tions that thereby he becomes puffed-up and disparages others. Not intoxicated with his presents, esteem, and repute, he grows not remiss but with unremitting zeal wins success first in the life of virtue, next in rapt con- centration, and then in Mystic Insight ; but his success herein, while it rejoices his heart, does not satisfy his aspirations or puff him up or lead him to disparage others ; it does not intoxicate him or make him remiss ; with unremitting zeal he succeeds in winning the De- liverance which is Eternal. Now it is wholly impossible that he should fall from Eternal Deliverance.
Therefore, Brethren, the guerdon of the higher life is not to be found in presents, esteem, and repute, nor in a life of virtue, nor in rapt concentration, nor in Mystic Insight. It is immutable Deliverance which is the prize and the heart and the goal of the higher life.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XXX. CULA-SAROPAMA-SUTTA.
MORE ABOUT TIMBER.
[198] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anathapin- dika's pleasaunce, there came to him the brahmin Pingala-Koccha, who, after exchange of courteous greetings, took his seat to one side, saying : — As touching those recluses and brahmins with Confrater- nities and followings, who are known and famous teachers of followers, and are founders of sects ^ of wide-
^ Tittha-karo (explained by Bu. here, as at Sum. Vil. I, 143, by 1 a d d h i - k a r o or tenet-maker) literally means one who makes a ford across a stream ; the figurative sense is set out in
144 XXX. CULA-SAROPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 199.
spread renown, — such as Purana Kassapa, Makkhali Gosala, Ajita Kesa-Kambali, Pakudha Kaccayana, Sanjaya Belatthi-putta and Nata-putta the Nigantha, — is it by reason of their own professed creed that all of them have, or have not, discerned truth, or that some have discerned it, while others have not ?
Let be, brahmin ; let that question pass. I will ex- pound the Doctrine to you. Hearken and pay atten- tion, and I will speak. Then to the listening brahmin the Lord spoke as follows : —
It is just as if a man in need, search, and quest of the best of wood, were to come on just the fine up- standing tree for his purpose, but were to disregard not only the best but also the poorer timber and the bark and the wood that had fallen to the ground, and were to cut the leafy foliage and go off with that in the belief that he had got the pick of the wood. At the sight, an observer with eyes to see would say the good man understood nothing about grades of wood and had gone off with the twiggage to the disregard of all the rest, — in the vain belief that he had got the pick of the wood ; nor would what he had got ever be any good to him where the best of wood was needed.
And the observer with eyes to see would pass the same judgment if he saw the man going off [199] either with fallen wood — or with the bark — or with the poorer timber, — in the vain belief that he had secured the pick of the wood ; — nor would the observer say that what the man had got could ever be any good to him where the best of wood was needed.
But if the man were to go off with the best of the wood, in the knowledge that it was really the best, then the observer with eyes to see would say the good
e.g. the 34th Sutta infra. To the Jain, tittha-kara is equiva- lent to tathagata in Buddhism.
For these six contemporary teachers and their respective tenets, see the Introduction, and the second Sutta of the Digha at Dialogues I, 58-64. Here Bu. simply reproduces verbatim what he says about these six teachers at Sum. Vil. I, 142-4.
M. i. 200. MORE ABOUT TIMBER. 1 45
man really understood about grades of wood and had [200] gone off with the choicest timber, in the know- ledge that it was really the best ; — and what he had got would be of good to him where the best of timber was needed.
Even so, brahmin, is the case of an individual who for faith's sake goes forth from home to homelessness on Pilgrimage, — feeling himself beset by birth and decay and death, by sorrow and lamentation, by ills of body and of mind, and by tribulation ; feeling himself beset by ills, spent with ills, and asking to be shewn how to make an end of all that makes up 111. A Pilgrim now, he finds himself the recipient of presents, esteem, and repute, all of which things so rejoice him and so satisfy his aspirations that thereby he becomes puffed-up and disparages others. It is I, says he to himself, who get things given to me and who am thought so much of, while these other Brethren are little known and rank as nobodies. Consequently, he fails to develop either desire for, or effort to realize, those other states of mind which are higher and more excellent than mere presents and esteem and repute ; — he grows reprobate and slack. He is like the man who — being in need, search, and quest of the best of wood, and coming on just the fine upstanding tree for his purpose — disregarded not only the best but also the poorer timber and the bark and the fallen wood, but cut the leafy foliage and went off with that in the belief that he had got the pick of the wood, though what he had got could never be any good to him where the best of timber was needed. — That, brahmin, is my similitude for this first individual.
Take next the case of an individual who for faith's sake goes forth . . . presents, esteem, and repute, none of which things either rejoices his heart or satisfies his aspirations. He develops desire for, and effort to realize, those other states of mind which are higher and more excellent than mere presents and esteem and repute; — he does not grow reprobate or slack. He succeeds in living the life of virtue, and his success
10
146 XXX. CULA-SAROPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 201.
therein so rejoices his heart and so satisfies his aspira- tions that thereby he becomes puffed-up and disparages others, saying — I am the man of virtue, I am the man of fine character, while these other Almsmen lack virtue and are of evil character. So here he fails to develop desire for, and effort to realize, those other [201] states of mind which are higher and more excellent than a life of virtue ; — and here he grows reprobate and slack. He is like the man who went off with wood that had fallen down, though what he had got could never be any good to him where the best of timber was needed. — That, brahmin, is my similitude for this second individual.
Now take the individual who, though rejoiced at heart by his success in the life of virtue, is not thereby satisfied in his aspirations but still presses onward till he succeeds in attaining rapt concentration, and his success therein so rejoices his heart and so satisfies his aspirations that thereby he becomes puffed-up and disparages others, saying — I am the man of sted- fastness, I am the man with focussed heart, while these other Almsmen are not stedfast but are all in a whirl. So here he fails to develop desire for, and effort to realize, those other states of mind which are higher and more excellent than rapt concentration ; — and here he grows reprobate and slack. He is like the man who went off with the bark, though what he had got could never be any good to him where the best of timber was needed. — That, brahmin, is my similitude for this third individual.
Take now the individual who, [202] though rejoiced at heart by his success in rapt concentration, is not thereby satisfied but still presses onward till he succeeds in winning Mystic Insight, and his success therein so rejoices his heart and so satisfies his aspirations that thereby he becomes puffed-up and disparages others, saying — I know and see, while these other Almsmen neither know nor see. So here he fails to develop desire for, and effort to realize, those other states of mind which are higher and more excellent than Mystic
M. i. 203. MORE ABOUT TIMBER. 147
Insight. He is like the man who went off with the poorer timber, though what he had got could never be any good to him where the best of timber was needed. — That, brahmin, is my similitude for this fourth individual.
Lastly, take the individual [203] who, though rejoiced at heart by his success in winning Mystic Insight, is not thereby satisfied in his aspirations, nor does it puff him up and make him disparage others. He develops desire for, and effort to realize, those other states of mind which are higher and more excellent than Mystic Insight; he is neither reprobate nor slack.
Now, what are the states of mind which are higher and more excellent than Mystic Insight.-*
Take an Almsman who, divested of pleasures of sense, divested of wrong states of consciousness, enters on, and abides in, the First Ecstasy — and then the Second — and then the Third — [204] and lastly the Fourth Ecstasy. — Each of these four states of mind is higher and more excellent than Mystic Insight. Or, again, by passing altogether beyond perceptions of material objects, and by ceasing from perceptions of sense-reactions, and by withdrawing attention from multiplicity, the Almsman enters on, and abides in, the plane of infinity of space, or, successively, the planes of infinity of mind — or of Naught — or of neither perception nor non-perception. — Each of these planes too represents a state of mind higher and more excellent than Mystic Insight. Or, lastly, by passing altogether beyond the plane of neither perception nor non-percep- tion, the Almsman enters on, and dwells in, the cessa- tion of all perception of things felt. Plenitude of knowledge gives him vision, and the Cankers within him are extirpated. — This too is a state of mind higher and more excellent than Mystic Insight.
Such are the states of mind which are higher and more excellent than Mystic Insight.
He is like the man who, being in need, search, and quest of the best of timber, came on just the fine up-
148 XXX. CULA-SAROPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 205.
Standing tree for his purpose and cut out the heart of the timber, going off with this in the sure knowledge that he had got the heart of the timber ; and what he had got would be of good to him where the best of timber was needed. — That, brahmin, is my similitude for this fifth individual.
Therefore, brahmin, the guerdon of the higher life is not to be found in presents, esteem, and repute, nor in a life of virtue, nor in rapt concentration, nor in Mystic Insight. It is [205] immutable Deliverance which is the prize and the heart and the goal of the higher life.
Thereupon the brahmin Pingala-Koccha said to the Lord : — Excellent, Gotama ; most excellent ! Just as if a man should set upright again what had been cast down, or reveal what was hidden away, or tell a man who had gone astray which was his way, or bring a lamp into darkness so that those with eyes to see might see the things about them, — even so, in many a figure, has the reverend Gotama made his Doctrine clear ! I come to Gotama as my refuge, and to his Doctrine, and to his Confraternity. I ask the reverend Gotama to accept me as a follower who has found an abiding refuge from this day onward while life lasts.
XXXI. CULA-GOSINGA-SUTTA.
IN GOSINGA WOOD.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying in the Ginjak-avasatha (brick-hall) at Nadika, the reverend Anuruddha, Nandiya, and Kimbila^ were staying in Gosinga wood where the sal-trees stand. At eventide the Lord, rising up from his meditations, went to Gosinga, but the keeper, seeing
^ These three were living together (elsewhere) at III, 155. See also I, 462 and the Vinaya account (S.B.E. XX, 228) of Gotama's six early converts (including his cousins Ananda and Devadatta) from his own clan.
M. i. 2o6. IN GOSINGA WOOD. 1 49
him approaching at a distance, said to the Lord : Don't go into this wood, recluse. Three young men are living there for their souls' good. Do not disturb them. Hearing the keeper cautioning the Lord, Anuruddha said : Good keeper, do not warn off the Lord. It is the Lord, our master, who has come ! Then Anuruddha went and told the two others to come along, for their master, the Lord, [206] had come. So all three advanced to meet him, — one relieving him of his bowl and robe, while another set a seat for him, and the third brought water for his feet. Sitting down on the seat set for him, the Lord bathed his feet ; and when, after due obeisance, the three had taken their seats to one side, the Lord spoke thus to the reverend Anuruddha : — Pray, is all well with you three ? Are you getting on all right ? Is there no shortage of alms ?
Yes, Lord ; all is well with us ; we are getting on all right ; there is no shortage of alms.
Pray, do you all live together in concord and amity, without quarrels, in harmony and unison, viewing one another with eyes of affection ?
Yes, sir, we do.
How.?
I feel, sir, that it is a great thing for me, a very great thing, to have such fellows in the higher life. I minister to my two reverend associates — both openly and in secret — with acts of love, with words of love, and with thoughts of love. My yearning — and indeed my practice, too — is to surrender my own will and to live according to the will of my reverend associates. We have more than one body but only one will, methinks.
And the venerable Nandiya and the venerable Kimbila answered the Lord's question in precisely the same words.
[207] Good, very good, said the Lord to the three, — going on to ask whether their lives were strenuous and ardent and purged of self.
Yes, sir, was their answer.
How.?
150 XXXI. CtJLA-GOSINGA-SUTTA. M. i. 208.
^ Among us, the first back from collecting alms in the village sets the seats ready, and gets water to drink and to wash up with, together with the bowl for the pieces. Should he find any rice over, the last back eats it if he wants to, or, if he does not want to, throws it away where no grass grows or in water where there are no living creatures. He puts away the seats and the water and the bowl for the pieces, and sweeps the refectory. Whoso sees empty the vessels for water to drink, or to wash up with, or for ablution after an occasion, sees to filling them ; but if the weight is too heavy for him alone, we sign with our hands for another to help, without uttering a word for this purpose. — This is how our lives are strenuous, ardent, and purged of self.
Good, very good, said the Lord to the three. But, tell me, he added, in living lives thus strenuous, ardent, and purged of self, have you risen beyond the ordinary to any wholly noble excellence of well-being }
How, sir, could it be otherwise with us ? For as long as we will, it is ours, divested of pleasures of sense and divested of wrong states of consciousness, to enter on, and abide in, the First — [208] the Second — the Third — and the Fourth Ecstasy. — Each of these is, beyond the ordinary, a wholly noble excellence of well- being, each in turn superior to its forerunner.
Pressed further by question after question, the three told how, by passing altogether beyond perceptions of material objects, and by ceasing from perceptions of sense-reactions, and by withdrawing attention from multiplicity, it was theirs, for as long as they would, to enter on, and abide in, the plane of infinity of space, [209] or, successively, the planes of infinity of mind — or of Naught — or of neither perception nor non- perception ; — or, lastly, by passing altogether beyond the plane of neither perception nor non-perception, to enter on, and abide in, the cessation of all perception of
^ For this paragraph, see S.B.E. XIII, 325, where the slightly- fuller account in the Vinaya of procedure during the rainy season is given.
M. i. 2IO. IN GOSINGA WOOD. I5I
things felt, plenitude of knowledge giving them vision and the Cankers within them being extirpated. — Each of these, said they, is, beyond the ordinary, a wholly noble excellence of well-being, each in turn superior to its forerunner. But beyond the last we discern no other stage of well-being higher or more excellent.
Good, very good, said the Lord ; — higher stage there is none. Then he proceeded by homily to instruct, inform, help onward, and cheer forward those three, — after which he arose and went his way. After they had escorted the Lord on his way and had come back again, Nandiya[210] and Kimbilasaid to Anuruddha: — Have we ever told the reverend Anuruddha of our reaching this or that attainment, that he represented all this to the Lord up to the extirpation of the Cankers ?
No ; you never told me of your attainments, but my heart read the secrets of your hearts and saw that it was so. Moreover, deities reported it to me. So I announced the fact to the Lord, when questioned by him.
There came to the Lord the outlandish fairy named Digha,^ who, after due obeisance, stood to one side, saying : — It is a great thing for the Vajjians, a very great thing for the Vajjian race, to have dwelling (in their country) the Truth-finder, Arahat all-enlightened, and these three young men, the venerable Anuruddha, Nandiya, and Kimbila! These words of his were taken up in turn and shouted aloud by the gods of earth, by the gods of the Four Great Regents, by the gods of the Thirty-three, by the gods of Yama, by the Tusita gods, by the Nimmana-rati gods, by the Para- nimmita-Vasavatti gods, and lastly by the train of gods in the world of Brahma.^
Thus, in that single moment, in that very instant,
^ Or perhaps Digha (i.e. long) means a snake. Bu. thinks para-jana (outlandish) was the yakkha's name. The rendering fairy for yakkha is borrowed from Dialogues III, 188, note 6.
2 See Dialogues I, 280 for this list.
152 XXXI. CULA-GOSINGA-SUTTA. M. i. 211.
these three reverend men became known right up to the world of Brahma.
Quite so, Digha; quite so. If the family from which they went forth from home to homelessness, will remember these three with believing hearts, then long will that family too enjoy weal and welfare, — as also will their group of families, [211] their village, their township, their city, and their country ; yea, also the whole of the Nobles, and of the brahmins, and of the middle-classes (vessa), and of the peasantry (sudda) ; yea, the whole universe with its gods, Maras, Brahmas, recluses and brahmins, embracing all gods and man- kind. See, Digha, how, walking for the weal and welfare of folk and in compassion for the world, these three young men enure to the good and weal and welfare of gods and men.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the outlandish fairy named Digha rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XXXII. MAHA-GOSINGA-SUTTA.
THE SHINING LIGHT.
[212] Thus have I heard. Once the Lord was staying in Gosinga wood where the sal-trees stand, in the company of the reverend Sariputta, the reverend Maha-Moggallana, the reverend Maha-Kassapa, the reverend Anuruddha, the reverend Revata, the reverend Ananda, and many other Elders and disciples of eminence. Rising up at eventide from his medita- tions, Maha-Moggallana went to Maha-Kassapa with the suggestion that they should go to hear Sariputta expound. Accordingly, with Anuruddha, these went off; and Ananda, seeing their reverences start off, got Revata to follow with him to hear Sariputta. Seeing Ananda and Revata approaching at a distance, Sariputta bade Ananda draw near, welcoming him as the Lord's attendant and companion, and saying : — Fair is Gosinga wood in the clear moonlight, with the sal- trees loaded with blossom, with heaven's perfumes, methinks, wafted around ! What type of Almsman would illumine Gosinga wood ?
Take [213] an Almsman, answered Ananda, who has been taught much, who treasures and hoards what he has been taught, who learns and knows by heart the ideas which, beginning aright and proceeding aright and ending aright, both in letter and in spirit, declare the higher life in all its perfection and purity, who with his lips repeats these ideas, scrutinizes them with his mind, plumbs them with his philosophy, and preaches them both to Almsmen and Almswomen and to the faithful laity of both sexes with an exposition which is at once comprehensive, precise, and fluent, so as to eradicate propensities. — Such an Almsman, reverend Sariputta, would illumine Gosinga wood.
153
154 XXXII. MAIIA-GOSINGA-SUTTA. M. i. 214.
Hereupon, Sariputta said to Revata : — Ananda has expressed his view ; what would be your answer to my question ?
Take an Almsman, answered Revata, who delights in meditation and whose delight is therein, who is set on tranquillizing his heart within him, who scorns not the Ecstasies, who is endowed with discernment, and has his habitation in the abodes of solitude ; — such an Almsman, reverend Sariputta, would illumine Gosinga wood.
With the same question put to him, Anuruddha made this answer : — Take an Almsman who with the Eye Celestial, which is pure and excels the human eye, surveys a thousand worlds, even as a man with eyes to see might mount to the topmost height of a palace and survey thence a thousand concentric distances girdling him round ; — such an Alms- man, reverend Sariputta, would illumine Gosinga wood.
In his turn, Maha-Kassapa made this answer : — [214] Take an Almsman who, himself living in the forest, commends the forest life to others ; who, himself subsisting on alms begged, commends subsistence on alms to others ; who, himself clad in rags from the dust-heap, commends to others the wearing of such rags ; who, himself owning but three garments, com- mends the like limitation to others ; who, himself having few wants, commends the like temperance to others ; who, contented himself, commends content- ment to others ; who, a solitary himself, commends solitude to others ; who, himself shunning lay society, commends the like reserve to others ; who, strenuous himself, commends the strenuous life to others ; who, virtuous himself, commends the life of virtue to others ; who, having won rapt concentration for himself, ex- horts others to win it too ; who, having won wisdom for himself, exhorts others to win it too ; who, having won Deliverance for himself, exhorts others to win it too ; who, having himself won the knowledge and the vision which Deliverance gives, exhorts others to win
M. i. 215. THE SHINING LIGHT. I55
the same. — Such an Almsman, reverend Sariputta, would illumine Gosinga wood.
Lastly, turning to Maha-Moggallana, Sariputta put the same question to him, and he made this answer : — Take two Almsmen who hold discourse on quintes- sential Doctrine (abhidhamma) ; they put questions one to the other, furnishing answers and not collapsing, but gaining edification by their talk on doctrine ; — such an Almsman, reverend Sariputta, would illumine Gosinga wood.
Moggallana added that, now all of them had ex- pressed their views, they would like to hear Sariputta's.
Moggallana, said he, let us take an Almsman who is master of his heart and is not under its mastery. He chooses the plane of thought in which he wishes [215] to dwell in the morning, and in that precise plane in the morning he dwells ; — and so for the midday and for the eventide. It is just as if a King or great noble, with a clothes-chest filled with clothes of divers colours, were in the morning to wear the suit he had selected for morning wear ; at midday to wear the suit he had selected for midday wear ; and at eventide to wear the suit he had chosen for the evening ; — in just the same way the Almsman is master of his heart . . . for the eventide. — Such an Almsman, reverend Mog- gallana, would illumine Gosinga wood.
Now that we have all of us expressed our views, added Sariputta, let us go to the Lord and lay the matter before him, treasuring up as final what he may declare. The others assenting, to the Lord they went and after due obeisance took their seats to one side, while Sariputta described the visit of the others to hear him expound, and [216] repeated his question to Ananda as to the Brother who would illumine Gosinga wood, together with Ananda's answer.
Good, Sariputta, very good. _ Ananda has given the best answer he could. For, Ananda is one who has been taught much, who treasures ... to eradicate propensities.
Then Sariputta gave Revata s answer, and the Lord
156 XXXII. MAHA-GOSINGA-SUTTA. M. i. 217.
said : — Good, Sariputta, very good. Revata has given the best answer he could. For, Revata is one who de- lights in meditation . . . abodes of solitude.
[217] Next, Sariputta gave Anuruddha's answer, and the Lord said : — Good, Sariputta, very good. Anuruddha has given the best answer he could. For, Anuruddha is one who with the Eye Celestial . . . girdling him round.
Hereupon, Sariputta gave Maha-Kassapa's answer, and the Lord said : — [218] Good, Sariputta, very good. Kassapa has given the best answer he could. For, Kassapa is one who, himself living in the forest, . . . exhorts others to win the same.
Lastly, Sariputta gave Maha-Moggallana's answer, and the Lord said : — Good, Sariputta, very good. Moggallana has given the best answer he could. For, Moggallana expounds doctrine.
Then M aha- Moggallana related to the Lord how, when they had all expressed their several views, they had asked Sariputta for his own answer ; and he re- peated to the Lord the answer Sariputta had given. Said the Lord : — Good, Moggallana, very good. Sariputta has given the best answer he could. For, Sariputta is master of his heart . . . [219] for the eventide.
At this point the venerable Sariputta asked who had spoken well.
All of you, said the Lord, have spoken well, each in his turn. Now hear from me what type of Almsman would illumine Gosinga wood. Take an Almsman who, after his meal on return from his round for alms, seats himself, with legs crossed, with body upright, with mindfulness on the alert, and with the resolve not to leave his seat till, by starving them of subsistence, his heart is Delivered from Cankers. — Such an Alms- man, Sariputta, would illumine Gosinga wood.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, these reverend ones rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
M. i. 220. PASTORAL DUTIES. 157
XXXIII. MAHA-GOPALAKA-SUTTA.
PASTORAL DUTIES.
[220] Thus have I heard. Once, when staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, the Lord addressed the listening Almsmen as follows : — Eleven qualities disable a herdsman from looking after his herd and from promoting its increase ; and here are the eleven : — A herdsman (i) is ignorant of form, (ii) has no eye for marks, (iii) does not get out ticks, (iv) does not dress sores, (v) does not smoke out (the lairs), (vi) knows nothing either of fords or (vii) watering-places or (viii) roads or (ix) pastures, (x) milks dry, and (xi) fails to tend with special attention the bulls that are the sires and leaders of the herd.
So too eleven qualities disable an Almsman from shewing growth, increase, and progress in this Doctrine and Rule ; and here are the eleven : — An Almsman (i) is ignorant of form, (ii) . . . (xi) fails to tend with special attention those of the Brotherhood who are experienced and senior Elders, the sires and leaders of the Confraternity.
How is an Almsman ignorant of form ? — Why, by not really comprehending that each and every form consists of the four prime elements or is derivative therefrom.
How has an Almsman no eye for marks ? — Why, by not really comprehending what marks the doings of the fool and the doings of the wise.
How does an Almsman not get out ticks ? — Why, either by giving in to a thought that has arisen about sensuous pleasures — or about hurt — or about cruelty, — or by giving in to evil and wrong states of mind as they arise from time to time, [221] instead of putting them from him, instead of discarding and destroying them so as to make them cease to exist.
How does an Almsman not dress sores ? — Why, when, seeing with his eye a visible shape, he is taken
158 XXXIII. MAHA-GOPALAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 222.
Up with its detailed characteristics and marks, and — albeit, if he lives with eye uncontrolled, appetite and depression, together with evil and wrong states of mind, might stream in upon him — he yet lives not to con- trol his faculty of sight, keeps no watch and ward over it, and fails to develop control over his faculty of sight. [And so likewise with the other five senses.]
How does he not smoke out the lairs .^^ — Why, by not expounding to others the Doctrine which he has himself heard and learned.
How does he know nothing of fords ? — Why, by not going from time to time to learned Almsmen — the channels of the word and the repositories of the Doctrine and Rule and text — to ask and enquire of them how this is, or what that means. In conse- quence, they do not open up what is closed to him, do not clear up for him what was not clear, nor remove his doubts in divers ideas of perplexity.
How does he know nothing of watering-places i* — Why, by failing, when there is preaching of the Truth- finder's Doctrine and Rule, to take in knowledge of welfare and of the Doctrine, or to get the gladness which the Doctrine brings.
How does he know nothing of roads ? — Why, by having no real comprehension of the Noble Eightfold Path.
How does he know nothing of pastures ? — Why, by having no real comprehension of the fourfold muster- ing up of mindfulness.
[222] How does he milk dry ? — Why, when believ- ing householders bring out and offer him robes and the other requisites, he knows no bounds in what he takes.
How does he fail to tend with special attention those of the Brotherhood who are experienced and senior Elders, the sires and leaders of the Confraternity ? — Why, by not ministering to them — both openly and in secret — with acts of love, with words of love, and with thoughts of love.
Eleven qualities bring the herdsman success in
I
^M. i.
1.223. PASTORAL DUTIES. 1 59
looking after his herd and in promoting its increase ; and here are the eleven : — A herdsman (i) has know- ledge of form (ii) has an eye for marks, (iii) gets out ticks, (iv) dresses sores, (v) smokes out the lairs, (vi) knows about fords and (vii) watering-places and (viii) roads and (ix) pastures, (x) does not milk dry, and (xi) tends with special attention the bulls that are the sires and leaders of the herd.
So too eleven qualities enable an Almsman to shew growth, increase, and progress in the Doctrine and Rites ; and here are the eleven : — An Almsman (i) has [223] knowledge of form, (ii) . . . (xi) tends with special attention those of the Brotherhood who are experienced and senior Elders, the sires and leaders of the Confra- ternity. [In each and every one of these respects he is, and does, the precise opposite of the foregoing Brother.]
[224] Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Almsmen rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XXXIV. COLA-GOPALAKA-SUTTA.
PASTORS, GOOD AND BAD.
[225] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying among the Vajjians at Ukka-cela on the banks of the Ganges, he addressed the listening Almsmen as follows : —
In bygone days an incompetent herdsman of Magadha, in autumn when it was the very last month of the rainy season, without considering either the hither or the further shore of the Ganges, started — from where there was no ford at all — to drive his cattle across to the Videha side. Huddled together in midstream, they came there to trouble and disaster, — all because of this incompetence of the herdsman. It is just the same with any recluses and brahmins who are wrong about this world and the hereafter, wrong about what is and what is not the realm of Mara, wrong about what is and what is not the realm of
l6o XXXIV. CULA-GOPALAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 226.
Death ; — all who imagine they ought to hearken to, and trust in, such recluses and brahmins, will long suffer and smart for it.
In bygone days, a competent herdsman of Magadha, in autumn when it was the very last month of the rainy season, after due scrutiny of both the hither and the further shores of the Ganges, started — from where there was a ford — to drive his cattle across to the Videha side. First of all he drove over the bulls, the sires and leaders of the herd, who crossed the stream to the further shore in safety. Next he drove over the sturdy steers and cows, who also crossed the stream to the further shore in safety. Then he drove over the half-grown bull-calves and heifers, who also crossed the stream to the further shore in safety. Then he drove over the weaker calves, who also crossed the stream to the further shore in safety. In those bygone days there was a tiny new-born buU-calf, which, helped along by the lowing of its mother, also crossed the stream to the further shore in safety. And why ? — Because that [226] competent herdsman of Magadha had carefully considered both banks before he drove his herd across the stream of the Ganges. It is just the same with any recluses or brahmins who are right about this world and about the hereafter, right about what is and what is not the realm of Mara, right about what is and what is not the realm of Death ; — all who imagine they ought to hearken to, and trust in, these recluses and brahmins, will long enjoy weal and welfare.
Just as those bulls, sires and leaders of the herd, crossed the stream of the Ganges to the further shore in safety, so too those Almsmen who are Arahats, in whom the Cankers are no more, who have greatly lived, whose task is done, who have cast off their burthens, who have won their weal, and who, fettered no more to existence, have by utter knowledge won Deliverance, — these have crossed the stream of Mara to the further shore in safety. Just too as those sturdy steers and cows crossed the stream of the Ganges in
M.i. 227. PASTORS, GOOD AND BAD. l6l
safety, so also those Almsmen who, having destroyed the Five Fetters of this world, will be translated here- after to realms from which they will never be reborn to earth, — these too will cross the stream of Mara to the further shore in safety. Just too as the half-grown bull-calves and heifers crossed the stream of the Ganges to the further shore in safety, so also those Almsmen who, having destroyed the Three Fetters and having reduced passion, hate and folly to a minimum, will return but once more to this world and then will make an end of 111 ; — these too will cross the stream of Mara to the further shore in safety. Just too as those weaker calves crossed the stream of the Ganges to the further shore in safety, so also those Almsmen who, having destroyed the Three Fetters and entered the stream, will escape all future states of misery, possess an assured future, and are destined to win Enlightenment ; — these too will cross the stream of Mara to the further shore in safety. Just too as that tiny new-born bull-calf, helped along by the lowing of its mother, crossed the stream of the Ganges to the further shore in safety, so also those Almsmen who live in accord with the Doctrine and trust therein, — these too will cross the stream of Mara to the further shore in safety.
It is I, Almsmen, [227] who am right about this world and about the hereafter, it is I who am right about what is and what is not the realm of Mara, it is I who am right about what is and what is not the realm of Death. All who imagine they ought to hearken to, and trust in, me, will long enjoy weal and welfare.
Thus spoke the Lord ; and when the Blessed One had thus spoken he went on, as the Master, to say this : —
This world and worlds beyond, where Mara reigns
and where Death comes not, — this I knew and preached ;
in utter knowledge and Enlightenment,
I oped Nirvanas door of deathless peace.
At last o^er Mdrds stream^ death^s roots uptorn^
— rejoice I rejoice I Nirvafid s peace is won I
II
l62 XXXV. CU;.A-SACCAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 228.
XXXV. CULA-SACCAKA-SUTTA.
SACCAKA'S ONSLAUGHT.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Vesali in the Gabled Hall in Great Wood, there was living in that city Saccaka, son of the Jain (woman), a great controversialist, who gave himself out as learned and was held in high popular repute. He used to go about Vesali, saying to people there : — I see no recluse or brahmin — founder of a Confraternity or following, with followers to teach, even though he be hailed as 'Arahat all-enlio^htened' — who, when taken in hand by me point by point, would not fall a- trembling and be all of a tremble, and quake, with the sweat streaming from his arm pits. Why, if I were to take in hand, point by point, an insensate post, even that would fall a-trembling and be all of a tremble and quake, — let alone a human being.
Now early one morning the reverend Assaji, duly robed and bowl in hand, went into Vesali for alms. Seeing him coming some way off, Saccaka, who was wandering up and down the city, [228] went up to him and, after exchange of civil greetings, stood to one side, saying : — How does the recluse Gotama train his disciples ? In what divisions does his teaching mostly run ?
After this wise and in the following divisions, Aggivessana^ : — Visible shape, Almsmen, is imper- manent ; feeling is impermanent ; perception is imper- manent ; the plastic forces are impermanent ; and consciousness is impermanent. There is no Self in visible shapes, feelings, perceptions, plastic forces, or
1 The Agnivesyayanas were a brahmin gotra ; and Kshatriyas who were so styled doubtless took the name from their brahmin purohitas. Cf. Suttas Nos. 74 and 125 and Anguttara II, 180 (Aggivessa). This Saccaka, who boasts of success in controversy with the great Jain, Nata-putta himself, was of Jain parentage on both sides according to Bu. The v.l. Niganthi-putta (the lectio difficilior) indicates that his mother was a Jain.
M.i. 229. SACCAKa's ONSLAUGHT. 1 63
consciousness. All plastic forces are impermanent, and there is no Self in any mental states. — After this wise and in those divisions does the Lord's teaching mostly run.^
I am sorry to hear that the recluse Gotama holds this. Perhaps, some time or other, I may meet your worthy Gotama and have a talk with him ; I might wean him from those wrong views of his.
Just then five hundred of the Licchavis were met together in their moot-house on some business or other, and to them came Saccaka, saying : — Come along, good Licchavis ; come along with me ! To-day I am going to have a talk with the recluse Gotama. If he takes up his stand against me on the lines taken up by his well-known follower, the Almsman Assaji, — why, point by point, I will shake him to and fro and haul him about even as a lusty fellow would tug and haul about a fleecy ram he had got by its fleece ; or, as a lusty brewer, with his crate plunged into a deep pool of water, would take it by its handles and shake it to and fro as he hauled it about ; or, as a brewer's lusty varlet [229], holding his rinser by its handle, would shake it up and down and toss it about ; — even so, point by point, will I shake up and down and toss about the recluse Gotama ; or, as in a deep tank a full- grown elephant in his prime disports himself as with what is called ' the merry washing day', so will I disport myself with the recluse Gotama. So come along, good Licchavis, come along with me ! To-day I am going to have a talk with the recluse Gotama.
Some Licchavis said Saccaka was bound to win ; but others said the Lord would triumph over the inflated Saccaka. So, with a following of five hundred Licchavis, Saccaka came to the Gabled Hall in Great Wood, and, finding a number of the Almsmen pacing up and down in the open air, went up to them, asking — Where is the reverend Gotama at the present time ? We should like to see him.
^ Cf. S.B.E. XIII, 100 for this doctrine as preached to Gotama's first five converts, — of whom Assaji was one.
164 XXXV. CULA-SACCAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 230.
The Lord, was the answer, is in Great Wood, sitting under a tree during the heat of the day, Aggivessana.
Thereupon Saccaka, with his great train of Licchavis, went into Great Wood to the Lord, and, after exchange of civil greetings, took a seat to one side, — as also did the Licchavis, some after obeisance, some after greet- ings, some with joined palms outstretched in salutation, some with mention of their names and clans, and others again in silence.
From his seat Saccaka said to the Lord : — There is a small point on which I should like to question the reverend Gotama, if he will allow me.
Ask, Aggivessana, [230] whatever you will.
How, then, does the reverend Gotama train his disciples ? In what divisions does his teaching mostly run ?
After this wise and in the following divisions, Aggivessana : Visible shape. Almsmen, is imper- manent ; feeling is impermanent ; perception is imper- manent ; the plastic forces are impermanent ; and consciousness is impermanent. There is no Self in visible shapes, feelings, perceptions, plastic forces, or consciousness. All plastic forces are impermanent, and there is no Self in any mental states. — After this wise and in those divisions my teaching mostly runs.
A comparison occurs to me, Gotama.
Pray let us hear it, Aggivessana.
Just as the growth, increase, and development of every seed and of all vegetation depends always on the earth and is based on the earth ; just as the accom- plishment of all tasks involving strength depends always on the earth and is based on the earth ; — just the same is it with an individual's material Self (rup- atta) which, because it is based on matter, produces merit or demerit ; and the same applies to the individual Self of feeling, of perception, of the plastic forces, and of consciousness.
Do you not affirm, Aggivessana, that your material shape is your Self, that your feelings are your Self, that
M. i. 231. SACCAKa's ONSLAUGHT. 1 65
your perceptions are your Self, that your plastic forces are your Self, and that your consciousness is your Self?
Yes, that is precisely what I do affirm ; — and so does this great gathering.
What will ' this great gathering ' avail ? Pray, Aggi- vessana, confine yourself to your own argument.
I affirm that my material shape is my Self, that my feelings are my Self, that my perceptions are my Self, that my plastic forces are my Self, and that my consciousness is my Self.
Then, Aggivessana, I will here ask you a return question, to which you will make such answer as seems good to you. What say you ? — [231] Would a Noble, being an anointed King, like King Pasenadi of Kosala or like King Ajatasattu of Magadha, the son of the Videha lady, have power — within his own realm — to put to death or to mulct or to exile those of his own subjects who deserve those respective punishments ?
Yes, he would. Why, even confederations and federations such as the Vajjians or Mallians possess this power — within their own realms — ; and of course a monarch like King Pasenadi or King Ajatasattu, possesses it ; he would have this power and ought to have it.
What say you, Aggivessana ? — When you say your material shape is your Self, have you the power to make it become, or not become, what you order ?^
On this Saccaka became silent.
A second time the Lord asked the question, but still Saccaka was silent.
Answer, said the Lord ; this is no time to be silent. If thrice a person is asked a doctrinal question by the Truth-finder and answers not, his skull is then and there cloven into seven pieces.
At that moment (Sakka) the fairy of the thunderbolt.
^ Cf. Second Sermon to the Five Brethren at Vinaya Texts, and see Old Creeds and New Needs (1923), by Mrs. Rhys Davids.
1 66 XXXV. CULA-SACCAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 232.
grasping his iron thunderbolt all afire, all a-glow, all a-blaze, took his stand in the air over Saccaka, to cleave his head into seven pieces if he failed the third time to return an answer to the Lord's question. And this fairy of the thunderbolt was visible to the Lord and to Saccaka. In dread and dismay, with every hair on his body standing erect, Saccaka [232] — now seeking protection and shelter and refuge with the Lord ! — said : — Let the reverend Gotama put his question to me, and I will answer it.
What say you, Aggivessana ?^ — When you say your material shape is your Self, have you the power to make it become, or not become, what you order ?
No.
Think before you answer, Aggivessana ; for your former utterance does not accord with your last, nor your last with the former.
[Similar paragraphs about feelings, perceptions, the plastic forces, and consciousness.]
What say you, Aggivessana ? — Is material shape permanent or impermanent ?
Impermanent.
Is that which is impermanent an 111 or the reverse ?
An 111.
Is it proper to regard what is impermanent and an 111 and the creature of change, as being mine, or I, [233] or my Self.^
No.
[Similar paragraphs about feelings and the rest.]
What say you, Aggivessana? — Can a man who so clings to 111, who has so gone over to 111, and who so cleaves to 111, that he regards 111 as mine, I, my Self, — can he either of himself fathom 111 or cast it out of his life ?
How could that be ? It is not the fact.
It is just like, Aggivessana, a man in need, search and quest of the best of timber, who should go with a keen axe into the forest and there, seeing a great banana-tree, straight and young and towering aloft, should cut its roots through, chop off its head, and then
M. i. 234. SACCAKa's ONSLAUGHT. 1 67
proceed to unroll the ensheathing leaves, yet should never come on even second-rate timber, much less on the best of timber ; — just in the same way, when ex- amined and pressed and interrogated on your own statements, you are found empty and vain and faulty. What you said to people in Vesali was this : — I see no recluse or brahmin — founder of a Confraternity or fol- lowing, with followers to teach, even though he be hailed as ' Arahat all-enlightened' — who, when taken in hand by me point by point, would not fall a-trembling and be all of a tremble and quake, with the sweat streaming from his arm-pits. Why, (you went on to observe) if I were to take in hand, point by point, an insensate post, even that would fall a-trembling and be all of a tremble and quake, — let alone a human being. It is from your brow that the sweat has streamed down your robe on to the ground ; while I have no sweat at all on my body. And so saying the Lord bared his golden body to the gaze of the assemblage.
[234] At these words Saccaka sat silent and upset, with his shoulders hunched up and with his eyes down- cast, much exercised in his mind but finding no words to utter.
Seeing Saccaka's sorry plight, the Licchavi Dum- mukha said to the Lord that a comparison occurred to him, and, being bidden to state it, said : — It is just like a crab in a pond near a village or township, which is fished out on to dry land by the neighbouring boys or girls who with sticks and stones break and smash and pound each successive claw that the crab thrusts forth in turn, until, when all his claws have been broken, smashed and pounded, the crab is unable to get to his pond as he used. Just in the same way the Lord has broken, smashed and pounded Saccaka's every succes- sive trick, wriggle, and squirm until Saccaka can never again come to the Lord as a controversialist.
Go away, Dummukha ! go away ! I am conferring with Gotama, not with you, said Saccaka, — who went on to say to the Lord : — Let us pass from what I, with many other recluses and brahmins, have said on these
1 68 XXXV. CULA-SACCAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 235.
lines. — all so much idle chatter, methinks. In what respects, now, does a disciple of yours carry out your doctrines and practise your teaching, living by the Doctrine of his master and of no one else, beyond doubts and perplexities, in confident assurance ?
Take the case, Aggivessana, of a disciple of mine who sees in the plenitude of knowledge and reality that no material shape whatsoever, — past, present, or future, internal or external, gross or delicate, lowly or choice, far or near — is mine, or I, or my Self; and [235] who sees the like concerning feelings — percep- tions— the plastic forces — and consciousness. These are the respects in which a disciple of mine carries out my doctrines and practises my teaching, living by the Doctrine of his master and of no one else, beyond doubts and perplexities, in confident assurance.
In what respects does an Almsman become an Arahat, — in whom the Cankers are no more, who has greatly lived, who has shed his burthen and won his weal, who is no longer fettered to existence, and who by utter knowledge has won Deliverance ?
Take the case of a Brother who, from seeing, in the plenitude of knowledge and reality, that no material shape — or feeling and so forth — is mine or I, or my Self, becomes Delivered in absolute emancipation. — These are the respects in which an Almsman becomes an Arahat . . . has won Deliverance. The Almsman whose heart is thus Delivered possesses three excel- lences,— excellence in vision, excellence in practice, excellence in Deliverance. So Delivered, he pays to the Truth-finder alone honour and reverence, devotion and worship, saying : — Enlightened himself, the Lord preaches the doctrine for enlightenment. Self-con- trolled himself, the Lord preaches the doctrine for self- control. At peace himself, the Lord preaches the doctrine for finding peace. Having crossed the flood himself, he preaches the doctrine for crossing. Winner of Nirvana for himself, he preaches to others the doctrine for winning Nirvana.
This said, Saccaka said to the Lord : — [236] I was
M. i. 237. SACCAKa's ONSLAUGHT. 1 69
arrogant and presumptuous to imagine that, point by point, I could cope with the reverend Gotama. A man might perhaps face with impunity a rutting elephant, — but not the reverend Gotama. With impunity perhaps a man might face a blazing conflagration, — but not the reverend Gotama. With impunity perhaps a man might face a deadly venomous snake, — but not the reverend Gotama. Yes ; I was arrogant and pre- sumptuous to imagine that, point by point, I could cope with the reverend Gotama, — who, I beg, will, with the Confraternity, take his meal with me to-morrow.
By his silence the Lord intimated his assent, where- upon Saccaka informed the Licchavis and asked them to make due provision. Accordingly, when night had passed away, they furnished him with five hundred cauldrons of boiled rice as a gift ; and Saccaka made ready in his pleasaunce an excellent meal of food both hard and soft, and sent word to the Lord that the repast was now ready. Thither in the morning came the Lord, duly robed and bowl in hand, and sat down on the seat set for him, he and the Confraternity. Then with his own hands Saccaka served the Confra- ternity, headed by the Buddha, with that excellent meal without stint till all had eaten their fill, after which he sat himself down on a lower seat to one side of the Lord, saying : — May the merit of this gift, and of this field for reaping merit, bring welfare to the donors !
Unto them, Aggivessana, shall accrue whatsoever merit attaches to a recipient of gifts like yourself — not free from passion, hate, and delusion. [237] Unto thee shall accrue whatsoever merit attaches to a recipient like myself who am free from passion, hate, and delusion.
1 70 XXXVI. MAHA-SACCAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 238
XXXVI. MAHA-SACCAKA-SUTTA.
SACCAKA AGAIN.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Vesfili in the Gabled Hall in Great Wood, he had dressed himself early and was minded to go, duly robed and bowl in hand, into the city for alms, when Saccaka, son of the Jain (woman), came, in the course of his wanderings, to the Gabled Hall in Great Wood. Having seen him coming some way off, the venerable Ananda had said to the Lord : — Sir, here comes Saccaka, son of the Jain (woman), that great controversialist, who gives himself out as learned and is held in high popular repute ; his aim is to discredit the Buddha and the Doctrine and the Confraternity. Pray, sir, be so good as to be seated awhile. The Lord sat down on the seat set for him, and up came Saccaka, who, after civil greetings, took his seat to one side, saying to the Lord : — There are some recluses and brahmins, Gotama, who are always schooling their bodies, but not their minds, — experiencing feelings of bodily pain, which may paralyse the legs, or burst the heart, or make warm blood gush from the mouth, or render men demented and distraught. Here we have the mind conforming to the body and being dominated by the body. And why ? — [238] Because the mind is left unschooled. Or again there are some recluses and brahmins who are always schooling their minds, but not their bodies, — experiencing feelings of mental pain, which may paralyse . . . and distraught. Here we have the body conforming to the mind and being dominated by the mind. And why ? — Because the body is left unschooled. My belief is that the reverend Gotama's disciples are always schooling their minds, but not their bodies.
What have you heard about schooling the body ?
For example, Nanda Vaccha, Kisa Sankicca, and Makkhali Gosala ; — all the three of them go naked, flout life's decencies, lick their hands after meals, never
i. 239. SACCAKA AGAIN. 1 7 1
leed when folk call to them to come or to stop, never iccept food brought to them before their rounds or :ooked expressly for them, never accept an invitation, lever receive food direct from pot or pan or within the ireshold or among the faggots or pestles, never from [one only) of two people messing together, never from pregnant woman or a nursing mother or a woman in ntu, never from gleanings (in time of famine) nor from where a dog is ready at hand or where (hungry) lies congregate, never touch flesh or fish or spirits or itrong drink or brews of grain ; or they either visit mly one house a day and there take only one morsel ; ►r they visit but two or (up to not more than) seven louses a day, and take at each only two or (up to not lore than) seven morsels ; or they live on a single Lucer of food a day, or on two, or on (up to not more fhan) seven saucers ; or they have but one meal a day, >r one every two days, or (so on, up to) every seven lays, or only once a fortnight, — on a rigid scale of Ltioning.
And do they get along on it, Aggivessana ? No, Gotama. At times they partake of very good Food both hard and soft, with very good curries and ^ery good drinks, which strengthen their bodies and ►uild them up and put fat on them.
So they revert subsequently to what they had ischewed before, and so there is this ebb and flow in •ulk. What have you heard about schooling the iind ?
But concerning schooling of the mind [239] Saccaka did not succeed in answering the Lord's question.
Then said the Lord to Saccaka : — The schooling of the body to which you referred just now, is no school- ing of the body according to doctrine in the Rule of the Noble. You did not understand the schooling of the body ; much less can you know the schooling of the mind. Hear now how body and mind, respectively, either go unschooled, or are schooled. Pay attention and 1 will speak. Then to the assenting Saccaka the Lord spoke as follows :
172 XXXVI. MAHA-SACCAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 240.
First, as to the unschooled body and mind. Take an ordinary uninstructed man who has a pleasant feeling, so that he gets a passion for things pleasant and is passionately attached to them. Later, that pleasant feeling passes ; and with its passing there arises an unpleasant feeling, at the advent of which he grieves, mourns, laments, beats his breast and gets distraught. The pleasant feeling takes possession of his mind, because his body is not schooled ; it is because his mind is not schooled that the unpleasant feeling takes possession of it ; — and the man to whom both these things happen is neither schooled in body nor schooled in mind.
Next, as to the schooled body and mind. Take an instructed disciple of the Noble who has a pleasant feeling but gets therefrom no passion for things pleasant nor is passionately attached to them. Later, that pleasant feeling passes ; and with its passing there arises an unpleasant feeling, but at its advent he does not grieve, mourn, lament, beat his breast, or get dis- traught. It is because his body is schooled that the pleasant feeling does not take possession of his mind ; it is because his mind is schooled that the unpleasant feeling does not take possession of it ; — and the man to whom these two things happen [240] is both schooled in body and schooled in mind.
The reverend Gotama, I feel sure, is schooled both in body and in mind.
Offensive though your insinuation undoubtedly is, Aggivessana, nevertheless I will give you an answer. — From the day I cut off my hair and beard and donned the yellow robes to pass from home to homelessness as a Pilgrim, it is simply not the fact that either any pleasant or any unpleasant feeling could take possession of my mind.
Could it perhaps be that you have never had feelings, either pleasant or unpleasant, which were such as to take possession of your mind ?
How could there be no such feelings ? In the days before my Enlightenment, when as yet I was but a
M. i. 241. SACCAKA AGAIN. 173
Bodhisatta without fullest Enlightenment, I bethought me that — A hole-and-corner life is all a home can give, whereas Pilgrimage is in the open ; it is hard for a home-keeping man to live the higher life in all its full completeness and full purity and perfection ; what if I were to cut off hair and beard, don the yellow robes, and go forth from home to homelessness as a Pilgrim ? Then came a time when I — being quite young, with a wealth of coal-black hair untouched by grey . . . (etc., as in Sutta 26) . . . needing nothing further for my striving.
Howbeit, there flashed in on me spontaneously three alleofories, unknown till then : —
It is just as if there were a green sappy stick in the water, and a man came along with his drill-stick, set on lighting a fire and making a blaze. Do you think he could succeed by rubbing with his drill-stick that green sappy stick from the water }
[241] Toil and moil as he may, he couldn't ; — because the stick is green and sappy in itself, and moreover had been in the water.
It is just the same with all recluses or brahmins whose life is not lived aloof from pleasures of sense in the matter of their bodies, and who have not inwardly discarded and rightly quelled the appetite, taste, in- fatuation, thirst, and feverish longing for pleasures of sense ; — they are alike incapable of understanding, vision, and the plenitude of Enlightenment, whether or not paroxysms of unpleasant, acute, and painful feelings assail them. This was the first allegory, un- known till then, which flashed in on me.
The second allegory was of a green sappy stick lying on dry land. Do you think the man could light his fire with that ?
Toil and moil as he may, he couldn't ; — because, though the stick had been thrown not into the water but on dry land, yet it is green and sappy in itself.
It is just the same with all recluses or brahmins whose life is not lived aloof . . . painful feelings assail
174 XXXVI. MAHA-SACCAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 242.
them. This was the second allegory, till then un- known, which flashed in on me.
The third allegory was [242] of a dry stick, with the sap out of it, lying on dry ground, with a man coming along with his drill-stick, bent on lighting a fire and making a blaze. Do you think he could light his fire with that dry stick ?
Yes, he could ; — because the stick is dry and sapless in itself and moreover had not been in the water but was lying on dry ground.
It is just the same with all recluses or brahmins whose life is lived aloof from pleasures of sense in the matter of their bodies, and who have inwardly dis- carded and rightly quelled the appetite, taste, infatua- tion, thirst, and feverish longing for pleasures of sense; — they are alike capable of understanding, vision, and the plenitude of Enlightenment, whether or not paroxysms of unpleasant, acute and painful feelings assail them. This was the third and last of the three allegories, till then unknown, which flashed in on me.
Thought I then to myself : — Come, let me, with teeth clenched and with tongue pressed against my palate, by sheer force of mind restrain, coerce, and dominate my heart. And this I did, till the sweat streamed from my armpits. Just as a strong man, taking a weaker man by the head or shoulders, re- strains and coerces and dominates him, even so did I, with teeth clenched and with tongue pressed against my palate, by sheer force of mind restrain, coerce, and dominate my heart, till the sweat streamed from my armpits. Resolute grew my perseverance which never quailed ; there was established in me a mindfulness which knew no distraction, — though my body was [243] sore distressed and afllicted, because I was harassed by these struggles as I painfully struggled on. — Yet even such unpleasant feelings as then arose did not take possession of my mind.
Thought 1 to myself : — Come, let me pursue the Ecstasy that comes from not breathing. So I stopped breathing, in or out, through mouth and nose ; and
SACCAKA AGAIN. I 75
then great was the noise of the air as it passed through my ear-holes, like the blast from a smith's bellows. Resolute grew my perseverance . . . did not take possession of my mind.
Thought I to myself : — Come, let me pursue further the Ecstasy that comes from not breathing. So I stopped breathing, in or out, through mouth and nose and ears ; and then violent winds wracked my head, as though a strong man were boring into my skull with the point of a sword. Resolute grew my perse- verance . . . did not take possession of my mind.
Thought I to myself : — Come, let me pursue still further the Ecstasy that comes from not breathing. So I kept on stopping all breathing, in or out, through mouth and nose and ears ; and then violent pains attacked my head, as though a strong man [244] had twisted a leather thong round my head. Resolute grew my perseverance . . . did not take possession of my mind.
Thought I to myself: — Come, let me go on pursuing the Ecstasy that comes from not breathing. So I kept on stopping breathing, in or out, through mouth and nose and ears ; and then violent winds pierced my in- wards through and through, — as though an expert butcher or his man were hacking my inwards with sharp cleavers. Resolute grew my perseverance . . . did not take possession of my mind.
Thought I to myself: — Come, let me still go on pursuing the Ecstasy that comes from not breathing. So I kept on stopping all breathing, in or out, through mouth and nose and ears ; and then there was a violent burning within me, — as though two strong men, taking a weaker man by both arms, were to roast and burn him up in a fiery furnace. Resolute grew my perse- verance . . . did not take possession of my mind.
[245] At the sight of me, some gods said I was dead ; others said I was not dead but dying ; while others again said that I was an Arahat and that Arahats^ lived like that !
1 See p. 2 (n.) and Dial. Ill, 3-6 for the history and use of this pre- Buddhist term, adopted with changed connotation by Gotama
176 XXXVI. MAHA-SACCAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 246.
Thought I to myself : — Come, let me proceed to cut off food altogether. Hereupon, gods came to me begging me not so to do, or else they would feed me through the pores with heavenly essences which would keep me alive. If, thought I to myself, while I profess to be dispensing with all food whatsoever, these gods should feed me all the time through the pores with heavenly essences which keep me alive, that would be imposture on my part. So I rejected their offers, peremptorily.
Thought I to myself : — Come, let me restrict myself to little tiny morsels of food at a time, namely the liquor in which beans or vetches, peas or pulse, have been boiled. I rationed myself accordingly, and my body grew emaciated in the extreme. My members, great and small, grew like the knotted joints of withered creepers . . . (etc., as in Sutta 12) . . . [246] rotted at their roots ; and all because I ate so little.
At the sight of me, some men said I was black ; others said I was brown ; while others again said I was neither black nor brown, but dusky like a fish. To such a sorry pass had my pure clear complexion been reduced, — all because I ate so little.
Thought I to myself : — Of all the spasms of acute and severe pain that have been undergone through the ages past — or will be undergone through the ages to come — or are now being undergone — by recluses or brahmins, mine are pre-eminent ; nor is there aught worse beyond. Yet, with all these severe austerities, I fail to transcend ordinary human limits and to rise to the heights of noblest understanding and vision. Could there be another path to Enlightenment ?
A memory came to me of how once, seated in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree on the lands of my father the Sakyan,^ I, divested of pleasures of sense
(cf. Suttas 26 and 27). The passage here is a significant instance of the vogue of the term, before Buddhism, to indicate a man of worth, and therefore an ascetic Saint.
1 The amplified legend of the infant Gotama's Ecstasy will be found at Jataka I, 57.
M. i. 247. SACCAKA AGAIN. I 77
and of wrong states of mind, entered upon, and abode in, the First Ecstasy, with all its zest and satisfaction, — a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection. Could this be the path to Enlightenment ? In prompt response to this memory, my consciousness told me that here lay the true path to Enlightenment.
Thought I to myself : — [247] Am I afraid of a bliss which eschews pleasures of sense and wrong states of mind ? — And my heart told me I was not afraid.
Thought I to myself: — It is no easy matter to attain that bliss with a body so emaciated. Come, let me take some solid food, rice and junket ; and this I ate accordingly.
With me at the time there were the Five Almsmen, looking for me to announce to them what truth I attained ; but when I took the rice and junket, they left me in disgust, saying that luxuriousness had claimed me and that, abandoning the struggle, I had reverted to luxuriousness.^
Having thus eaten solid food and regained strength, I entered on, and abode in, the First Ecstasy. — Yet, such pleasant feelings as then arose in me did not take possession of my mind ; nor did they as I successively entered on, and abode in, the Second, Third, and Fourth Ecstasies.
With heart thus stedfast, thus clarified and purified, clean and cleansed of things impure, tempered and apt to serve, stedfast and immutable, — [248] it was thus that I applied my heart to the knowledge which re- called my earlier existences. I called to mind . . . (etc., as in Sutta 4) . . . purged of Self. — Yet, such pleasant feelings as then arose within me did not take possession of my mind.
That same stedfast heart I now applied to know- ledge of the passage hence and re-appearance else-
* Here, as against Sutta 26, the Five Brethren pass their stricture on Gotama (and indeed here actually quit him in disgust), not after his attainment of Buddhahood, but before the Four Ecstasies.
12
178 XXXVI. MAHA-SACCAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 249.
where of other creatures. With the Eye Celestial . . . {etc, as in Sutta 4) . . . [249] purged of Self. — Yet, such pleasant feelings as then arose within me did not take possession of my mind.
That same stedfast heart I next applied to know- ledge of the eradication of Cankers. I comprehended . . . [etc.^ as in Sutta 4) . . . purged of Self. — Yet, such pleasant feelings as then arose within me did not take possession of my mind.
I am aware, Aggivessana, that, when I preach the Doctrine to some hundreds of people, each individual imagines I am preaching for his separate behoof. But that is not the way to look at it, when the Truth- finder is preaching the Doctrine to people for general edification. At the close of my discourse, I still and compose my heart, focus and concentrate it, with all the marks of that precedent rapture of concentration in which I always dwell, unceasingly.
That may be believed for the recluse Gotama, as an Arahat all-enlightened. But, does he admit that he ever sleeps in the daytime "^
I am aware that, in the last month of the hot season, before the rains set in, when, after my meal, I am back from my round for alms, my robe is folded in four for me and I, lying on my right side, pass into slumber, — but in full mindfulness, and fully alive to what I am doing.
This is what some recluses and brahmins call stupor.
[250] So far, Aggivessana, stupor is neither present nor absent. Now hear how there is, and how there is not, real stupor. Give me your attention and I will speak.
Certainly, said Saccaka in assent.
The Lord said : — The man who has not put from him the Cankers — which are of impurity, lead to re- birth, entail suffering, ripen unto sorrow, and leave a heritage of birth, decay, and death, — this is the man who is in a real stupor ; for his stupor comes from not being quit of the Cankers. But the man who is quit of them, is in no stupor, because he is beyond stupor
[. i. 251. SACCAKA AGAIN. I 79
>y being quit of the Cankers. In the Truth-finder, jAggivessana, all these Cankers have been put away, have been grubbed up by the roots, like a bare cleared site where once a palm-tree grew, things that once [have been and now can be no more. Just as a palm with its head chopped off is incapable of growing, so lin the Truth-finder all the Cankers — which are of im- tpurity, lead to re-birth, entail suffering, ripen unto sorrow, and leave a heritage of birth, decay, and death — 'have been grubbed up by the roots, like a bare cleared isite where once a palm-tree grew, things that once fliave been and now can be no more.
After these words, Saccaka, son of the Jain (woman), said to the Lord : — It is wonderful, it is marvellous, ^how, while you were being spoken to so offensively and with such insinuations, you have not changed colour nor has your countenance altered ; — quite like an Arahat all-enlightened. I am aware, Gotama, that I have taken in hand, point by point, Makkhali Gosala, Ajita Kesambala, Pakudha Kaccayana, Safijaya Belatthi-putta, and Nata-putta the Jain ; and each in turn, being taken in hand by me point by point, [251] wandered off from one thing to another, switching the discussion on to something else, exhibiting annoyance, bad temper, and resentment. But the reverend Gotama, while he was being spoken to so offensively and with such insinuations, never changed colour nor did his countenance alter ; — quite like an Arahat all- enlightened.
And now, he added, I ought to go ; for, I have much to do and attend to.
At your good pleasure, Aggivessana.
Having expressed his gratification and thanks for what he had heard, Saccaka got up and went his way.
XXXVII. CULA-TANHA-SANKHAYA- SUTTA.
DELIVERANCE FROM CRAVINGS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in the Old Pleasaunce in the palace of Migara's Mother, there came to him Sakka, king of gods, who, taking a seat to one side after salutations, asked how, briefly, an Almsman became Delivered by the extirpation of cravings, so as to become consummate in perfection, consummate in his union with peace, consummate in the higher life, con- summate in his bourne,^ foremost among gods and men.
Take the case, king of gods, of an Almsman who has been taught that there should never be any in- clination towards any mental state whatsoever. So taught, he apprehends all such mental states, and, by apprehending, comprehends them, and, by compre- hending, views every feeling which he experiences — be it pleasant, or unpleasant or neither — with a sense of its impermanence, without passion for them, with an eye to their cessation, and with an eye to renouncing them all, so that, in the result, he clings on to nothing in the world and thereby is undismayed, and, being undis- mayed, individually wins Nirvana for himself [252] — with the conviction that for him re-birth is no more ; that he has greatly lived ; that his task is done ; and that there is no more of what he has been.
That, king of gods, is how, briefly, an Almsman
1 Of. Digha II, 283 for the like question by Sakka, amplified at Samyutta III, 13 by the five words which conclude this sentence (words usually reserved to describe the Tathagata, or Truth- finder as a supreme Buddha).
180
M. i. 253- DELIVERANCE FROM CRAVINGS. l8l
becomes Delivered . . . foremost among gods and men.
Hereupon, expressing satisfaction and gratitude for what he had heard, Sakka, king of gods, saluted the Lord with deep reverence and vanished then and there.
The reverend Maha-Moggallana, who at the time was seated near the Lord, inwardly wondered whether or not that fairy, in expressing gratitude, had really grasped what the Lord had told him, and resolved to find out. Swiftly as a strong man might stretch out his arm or draw back his outstretched arm, Moggallana vanished from the palace of Migara's Mother and appeared among the Thirty-Three gods. Sakka, who at the moment was taking his pleasure in the Lotus Pleasaunce with five hundred instruments discoursino- heavenly music around him, no sooner saw the reverend Maha-Moggallana in the distance than he stopped the music and going towards him said : — Approach, Your Excellency ; welcome to Your Excel- lency ; it is a long time since Your Excellency managed to come here ; pray be seated, Your Excel- lency ; here is a seat set for you. Moggallana took his seat accordingly, and then Sakka, king of gods, seated himself on a lower seat to one side.
When they were thus seated, Moggallana said to Sakka : — How did the Lord, Kosiya,^ briefly expound to you Deliverance by the extirpation of cravings ? Pray let me too share in that discourse so that I may hear it.
I have much to do and attend to, Your Excellency, both on my own account and on that of the Thirty- Three. I duly heard it all and took it in ; [253J I duly pondered it over and stored it up in my memory ; nor will it soon fade away. Time was, Your Excel- lency, when war arose between the gods and the
* For this (? tribal) designation of Sakka see Dialogues II, 296 and 305 ; the word also means an owl. Bu. adds a long account of the vicissitudes in the conflict of the Devas with the Asuras.
1 82 XXXVII. CtJLA-TANHA-SANKHAYA-SUTTA. M. i. 254.
Asuras (titans) ; and in the conflict the gods won, and the Asuras were worsted. On my triumphant return from that conflict, I called into being the Palace of Victory (Vejayanta), — which has a hundred towers, each seven hundred stories high, and in each story there are seven nymphs, each with her seven attend- ants.— Would not Your Excellency like to see the delights of the Palace of Victory ?
Moggallana having expressed assent by silence, Sakka, king of gods, and King Vessavana,^ preceded by Moggallana, proceeded to the Palace of Victory. At the sight of Moggallana in the distance, Sakka's handmaidens fled in fear and shame each to her own apartment, — just as a young wife is filled with fear and shame at the sight of her husband's father. Then Sakka and Vessavana conducted Moggallana through the palace and walked him all over it, point- ing out its successive delights to His Excellency.
Yes, said Moggallana, it is as splendid as it should be, in view of the venerable Kosiya's merit in the past. Mortals, too, jubilantly exclaim, at sight of anything delightful, that it is as splendid as the Thirty-Three ; and this is as splendid as it should be, in view of the venerable Kosiya's merit in the past.
Then thought Moggallana : — This fairy is inflated (about his palace) ; I had better give him a shock. So he wrought a work of magic whereby his big toe set the Palace of Victory shaking and quaking and rock- ing. [254] At this, Sakka, King of gods, and King Vessavana, and all the gods of the heaven of the Thirty-Three, wondered and marvelled, saying : — A wonder and a marvel indeed is the magic power and potency of this recluse, who with his big toe can set this heavenly mansion shaking and quaking and rocking.
Marking how agitated Sakka was and how his hair was standing on end, Moggallana said : — Now how did
1 Cf. Digha II, 220 and 257, and III, 194 for this Regent of the North, Kuvera, the ruler over yakkhas or fairies.
M. i. 255- DELIVERANCE FROM CRAVINGS. 183
the Lord, Kosiya, briefly expound to you Deliverance by the extirpation of cravings ? Pray let me too share in that discourse so that I may hear it.
Then, at last, Sakka, king of gods, told — word for word — how he had gone to question the Lord and what answer had been given him. Hereupon, the reverend Maha-Moggallana [255], after expressing his satisfaction and thanks to Sakka, vanished away to reappear in the Old Pleasaunce in the palace of Migara's Mother, — as readily as a strong man might stretch out his arm or draw back his outstretched arm.
Soon after Moggallana had gone, Sakka's hand- maidens asked the king of gods, whether that was the Lord, his master.
No, he replied ; it was one who is a fellow with me in the higher life.
It is a great thing, Your Excellency, to have in the higher life a fellow-seeker of such magical power and potency. Ah ! what a Master you have in the Lord !
Approaching and saluting the Lord, Moggallana took his seat to one side, asking whether the Lord was aware of having briefly expounded lately to a fairy of distinction Deliverance by the extirpation of cravings. Yes, the Lord remembered it quite well ; and ... re- counted— word for word — to Moggallana Sakka's question and the answer he had himself given — to shew how, briefly, an Almsman becomes Delivered . . . [256] foremost among gods and men.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Maha-Moggallana rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XXXVin. MAHA-TANHA-SANKHYA- SUTTA.
CONSCIOUSNESS A PROCESS ONLY.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anathapincjika's pleasaunce, an Almsman named Sati, a fisherman's son,
184 XXXVIII. MAHA-TANHA-SANKHYA-SUTTA. M. i. 257.
came to entertain the pernicious view that, as he understood the Lord's teaching of the Doctrine, our consciousness runs on and continues without break of identity.
Hearing of this, a number of Almsmen went to ask Sati whether he was correctly reported as entertaining a view so pernicious. Certainly he did, was his avowal. Then those Almsmen plied Sati with ques- tion, enquiry, and argument so as to wean him from his error. Do not, they said, do not say this ; do not misrepresent the Lord ; there are no grounds whatever for such a charge ; the Lord would not say such a thing. (On the contrary), in many a figure has it been laid down by the Lord that consciousness only arises by causation and that, [257] without assignable condi- tions, consciousness does not come about. But, say what they would, Sati would not yield to their expostu- lations but stoutly held and clung to his pernicious view that, as he understood the Lord's teaching of the Doctrine, our consciousness ran on and continued without break of identity.
So when they had failed to wean Sati from his error, the Almsmen went to the Lord and laid the whole of the facts before him ; and he sent an Almsman [258] to summon Sati to his presence.
When Sati had duly come and had taken his seat to one side after due obeisance, the Lord asked him whether he was correctly reported as entertaining this pernicious view. Yes, Sati certainly did hold it. Said the Lord : — What, Sati, is the nature of this con- sciousness ?
Sir, it is that speaking and sentient (Self) which experiences the ripened fruits of good and bad conduct in this or that earlier existence.
Pray, to whom, foolish man, do you aver that I ever so taught the Doctrine ? Have I not, foolish man, laid it down in many a figure that consciousness only arises by causation and that, without assignable condi- tions, consciousness does not come about ? And yet you, foolish man, employ what you have misunderstood
M. i. 259- CONSCIOUSNESS A PROCESS ONLY. 1 85
not only to misrepresent me but also to undermine yourself and breed for yourself a store of demerit, — to your lasting hurt and harm.
Turning then to the Almsmen, the Lord said : — What think you ? Has this Sati, the fisherman's son, got even a spark of illumination in this Doctrine and Rule?
How could he, sir ? For, it is not the fact.
Hereat, Sati sat silent and glum, with his shoulders hunched up and eyes downcast, much exercised in his mind but finding no words to utter. Seeing him in this plight, the Lord said to him : — And now, foolish man, you shall be shewn up in respect of this pernicious view of yours ; I will question the Almsmen.
Accordingly, the Lord said to them : — Do you understand me ever to have preached the Doctrine in the sense of this Almsman Sati, [259] who employs what he has misunderstood not only to misrepresent me but also to undermine himself and to breed for himself a store of demerit, — to his lasting hurt and harm?
No, sir. For in many a figure has the Lord taught us that consciousness only arises by causation and that, without assignable conditions, consciousness does not come about.
Quite right ; you rightly understand my teaching ; for, indeed, I have, as you say, so taught in many a figure. Yet here is this Sati, the fisherman's son, who employs . . . hurt and harm.
Whatsoever form of consciousness arises from an assignable condition, is known by that condition's name. — If the eye and visible shapes condition con- sciousness, that is called visual consciousness ; and so on with the senses and objects of hearing, smelling, tasting, and touch, and of mind with its mental objects. It is just like a fire, where that which makes the fire burn gives the fire its name. Wood makes a wood-fire, sticks a stick-fire, grass a grass-fire, cowdung a cow- dung-fire, husks a husk-fire, and rubbish a rubbish-fire. In just the same way, every form of consciousness
l86 XXXVIII. MAHA-TANHA-SANKHYA-SUTTA. M. i. 260.
arising from an assignable cause is known by that condition's name.
[260] Do you recognize, Almsmen, an organism as such ?
Yes, sir.
Do you recognize it as the product of a particular sustenance ?
Yes, sir.
Do you recognize that, by the cessation of its particular sustenance, the organism's nature makes for cessation ?
Yes, sir.
Does doubt of the fact of each of these three points lead to perplexity thereon ?
Yes, sir.
Does recognition of the fact as it really is, in the fulness of knowledge, dispel that perplexity in each case?
Yes, sir.
In each of the three cases, is there right recognition, if it be in the fulness of knowledge of the fact as it really is ?
Yes, sir.
If you insist on hugging and cherishing this pure and undefiled conception and if you refuse to relinquish or part with it, — could you realize a state of conscious- ness to cross with, but not to keep, as (Sutta 22) in the Allegory of the Raft ?
No, sir.
Could you realize that Allegory, if, while hugging and cherishing your conception, you were yet ready to relinquish and part with it ?
[261] Yes, sir.
There are four Sustenances which either maintain existing organisms or help those yet to be. First of these is material sustenance, coarse or delicate ; Con- tact is the second ; cogitation is the third ; and percep- tion is the fourth. The derivation, origin, birth, and production of all four Sustenances alike is Craving. Craving in its turn arises from feeling, feeling from Contact, Contact from the sensory domains, sensory
M. i. 262. CONSCIOUSNESS A PROCESS ONLY. 1 87
domains from Name and Form, Name and Form from consciousness, consciousness from plastic forces, and these latter from ignorance. Thus, ignorance condi- tions plastic forces, which condition consciousness, which conditions Name and Form, which condition the sensory domains, which condition Contact, which conditions feeling, which conditions Craving, which Conditions dependence, which conditions becoming, which conditions birth, which conditions decay and death, with the distractions of grief, tribulation, and pain of body and mind. — This is the uprising of all that makes up the sum of 111.
I have said that birth conditions decay and death. Does it, or does it not, condition them ? Or how stands the matter ?
Birth, sir, does condition decay and death ; and that is how the matter stands.
I have said that becoming conditions birth. Does it, or does it not ? Or how stands the matter ?
[262] Becoming, sir, does condition birth ; and that is how the matter stands.
[Similar paragraphs for dependence, etc., down to ignorance.] Good, Almsmen ; very good. You and 1 then agree in affirming that : — ^ This being so, that comes about ; [263] if this arises, so does that ; — thus, ignorance conditions plastic force . . . (etc., as above) . . . the sum of 111.
So too it is by the entire and passionless cessation of ignorance that the plastic forces cease . . . (etc., for the successive links in the chain, down to) . . . the dis- tractions of grief, tribulation, and pain of body and mind. — This is the cessation of all that makes up the sum of 111.
I have said that by the cessation of birth, decay and death cease. Do they, or do they not ? Or how stands the matter ?
1 There is perhaps no more succinct statement than this of the fundamental Buddhist doctrine of the process of things. Cf. II, 32 and Assaji's stanza (which converted Sariputta and Moggallana) at S.B.E. XIII, 146.
1 88 XXXVIII. MAHA-TANHA-SANKHYA-SUTTA. M. i. 264.
By the cessation of birth, decay and death also cease, sir ; and that is how the matter stands.
[Similar paragraphs for becoming, etc., down to ignorance.] [264] Good ; very good. You and I then agree in affirming that : — This not being so, that comes not about ; if this ceases, so does that ; — thus with the cessation of ignorance the plastic forces cease . . . (etc., for the successive links in the chain, down to) . . . cessation of all that makes up the sum of 111.
Now, Almsmen, would you, knowing and seeing all this, [265] hark back to the past, wondering (i) whether you were, or whether you were not, in existence during bygone ages, (ii) what you were in those ages, (iii) how you fared then, and (iv) from what you passed on to what else ?
No, sir.
Or, would you, knowing and seeing all this, hark for- ward to the future, wondering (i) whether you will, or whether you will not, be in existence during the ages to come, (ii) what you will be in those ages, (iii) how you will fare then, and (iv) from what you will pass on to what else ^
No, sir.
Or, again, would you, knowing and seeing all this, be perplexed in the present about whether or not you exist, what and how you are, whence your being came, and whither it will go ?
No, sir.
Would you, knowing and seeing all this, say : — We revere our teacher, and it is because of our reverence for him that we affirm this ?
No, sir.
Would you, knowing and seeing all this, say : — Oh, we were told this by a recluse or recluses ; we do not affirm it ourselves ?
No, sir.
Would you, knowing and seeing all this, look out for another teacher .«*
No, sir.
Would you, knowing and seeing all this, frequent
M. i. 266. CONSCIOUSNESS A PROCESS ONLY. 1 89
the ritual and shows and functions of the ordinary run of recluses and brahmins as being of the essence ?
No, sir.
Do you not affirm only what you have of yourselves known, seen, and discerned ?
Yes, sir.
Quite right. Almsmen. You have by me been intro- duced to this Doctrine, which is immediate in its gifts here and now, which is open to all, which is a guide Onwards, which can be mastered for himself by every intelligent man. All I have said was to bring out that this Doctrine was immediate in its gifts here and now, open to all, a guide Onwards to be mastered for him- self by every intelligent man.
It is by the conjunction of three things that concep- tion comes about. If there is coitus of parents but if that is not the mother's period and if there is no presiding deity of generation (gandhabba) present, — then [266] no conception takes place. Or if there be coitus of parents at the mother's period but with no presiding deity present, — again there is no conception. But if there be a conjunction of all three factors, then and only then does conception take place. For nine or ten months the mother carries the heavy burden of the foetus in her womb with great anxiety ; and with great anxiety does she at the end of her time bring forth her child. When it is born, she feeds it with her life-blood, — as a mother's milk is termed in the Rule of the Noble. As the boy grows and develops his faculties, he plays childish games — such as toy ploughs, tip-cat, head-over-heels, windmills, pannets, little carts, and toy bows.^ As he grows older and as his faculties develop, pleasures of sense take hold and possession of him, visible shapes through the eye, sounds through the ear, and so on for odours, tastes, and touch, — all of them desirable, agreeable, pleasing and attractive. The sight of
1 Cf. D. I, 6 and D.A. I, 86 for these (and other) games (Dial. I, 9-1 1).
190 XXXVIII. MAHA-TANHA-SANKHYA-SUTTA. M. i. 267.
shapes awakens a passion for attractive shapes and a repugnance to the unattractive ; his Hfe has no collectedness as regards the body, and mental poverty is his ; he knows not that real Deliverance of heart and mind whereby evil and wrong states of consciousness cease. A prey thus to fascinations and to dislikes, he rejoices in, and welcomes, and cleaves to, every feeling — pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent — which he experiences, so that feelings bring delight ; delight brings dependence ; dependence conditions becoming ; becoming conditions birth ; birth conditions decay and death, with the distractions of grief, tribulation, and pain of body and mind. — This is the uprising of all that makes up the sum of 111.
And as with visible shapes, so too . . . with sounds, odours, tastes, touch and mental objects.
[267] Take the case. Almsmen, that here in the world there appears a Truth-finder, Arahat all-en- lightened, . . . [268-9] . . . (etc, as in Sutta 27, down to) , , . right states of consciousness have purged his heart of all doubting.
[270] When he has put from him the Five Hindrances, those defilements of the heart which weaken a man's insight, then, divested of pleasures of sense and divested of wrong states of mind, he enters on, and abides in, the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection. And in succession he wins the Second, the Third, and the Fourth Ecstasies.
No shapes, or sounds, or odours, or tastes, or touch, or mental objects now awaken in him either likes or dis- likes ; he neither rejoices in, nor welcomes, nor cleaves to any feeling — pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent — which he experiences, so that feelings cease to delight him and consequently all dependence ceases and there ceases the whole succession of becoming, birth, decay, and death, with the distractions of grief, tribulation, and pain of body and mind. — This is the cessation of all that makes up the sum of 111.
M. i. 271. THE IDEAL RECLUSE. 19 1
Treasure in your memories, Almsmen, this succinct account of Deliverance by the Extirpation of Craving, — and also Sati, [271] the fisherman's son, fast in Crav- ing's meshes and in the doom which Craving entails.
XXXIX. MAHA-ASSAPURA-SUTTA.
THE IDEAL RECLUSE.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying in the Angas' country, where they have a township named Assapura, he addressed the listening Almsmen as follows : —
Recluses ! Recluses ! — that is the name by which people know you and by which you would describe yourselves, if asked who you were. Such being your vocation and profession as recluses, you must train yourselves to embrace and shew forth in your lives the states of consciousness which really make the recluse and brahmin — so as to prove your vocation true and your profession a reality, and to see to it that the charity you enjoy in the shape of clothing and food and other requisites enures to fruit and profit in yourselves, making your Pilgrimage not barren but fruitful unto its harvest.
What are the states of consciousness which really make the recluse and the brahmin ? — Train yourselves to be conscientious and scrupulous. It may be that, feeling yourselves to be conscientious and scrupulous, you may rest content in the idea that this is enough, that you have done enough, that you have realized the recluse's ideal, and that you have nothing still ahead of you to accomplish. But I say unto you, and rejoin, that in your quest for recluse-ship, you must not fall short of the recluse's ideal, while there is something still ahead.
What is ahead of you ? — You must train yourselves [272] in deed — in word — in thought — and in mode of livelihood — to be pure and frank and open, without flaw and without reserve, yet not so as to be puffed up
192 XXXIX. MAHA-ASSAPURA-SUTTA. M. i. 273.
and to run down others. It may be that, feeling your- selves to be thus trained, as well as conscientious and scrupulous, you may rest content in the idea that each successive stage [273] is enough, that you have done enough, . . . something still ahead.
What is ahead ? — You must train yourselves to guard the portals of the senses. When with the eye you see a visible shape, you must resolve not to be taken with its detailed marks and signs, since, uncon- trolled, the eye might lead to appetite and distress, and to evil and wrong states of consciousness ; your resolve will be to control the sense of sight, to keep watch and ward over it, and to bring the eye under control. . . . And similarly with all the other senses. ... It may be that, with each fresh achieve- ment in turn, you may rest content, — in the idea that each successive stage is enough, that you have done enough, . . . something still ahead.
What is ahead ? — You must train yourselves to moderation in food, taking food with deliberate pur- posefulness, not for pleasure or delight, not for ostenta- tion or display, but only to the extent required to support and maintain the body, to shield it from hurt, and to foster the higher life, — with the resolve on your part to destroy the old feelings and not to allow any new feelings to arise, to the end that the blameless lot may be yours and well-being. It may be that — feel- ing you are conscientious and scrupulous, pure in deed, word, thought and mode of livelihood, and moderate in food, — you may rest content in the idea that this is enough, that you have done enough . . , something still ahead.
What is ahead ? — You must train yourselves to vigilance. Purge your hearts of besetting states of consciousness, — by day as you either pace to and fro or are seated, — in the first watch of the night [274] as you either pace to and fro or are seated ; in the middle watch of the night as you lie couched lion-like on your right side, foot resting on foot, mindful and self- possessed, with your thoughts set on the appointed
M. i. 275. THE IDEAL RECLUSE. I 93
time to get up ; or, again, during the last watch of the night when you have risen and either pace to and fro or are seated. It may be that — feeling you are con- scientious and scrupulous, pure in deed, word, thought, and mode of livelihood, moderate in food, and resolute in vigilance — you may rest content in the idea that this is enough, that you have done enough . . . something still ahead.
What is ahead ? — You must train yourselves to be mindful and self-possessed, — in going out or coming back, in looking ahead or around you, in stretching out your arm or in drawing it back, in wearing your robes or carrying your bowls, in eating or drinking, in chew- ing or savouring, in attending to nature's wants, in walking or standing or sitting, asleep or awake, in speech or in silence. It may be that — feeling you are conscientious and scrupulous, pure in deed, word, thought, and mode of livelihood, moderate in food, resolute in vigilance, and also mindful and alert — you may rest content in the idea that this is enough, that you have done enough, that you have realized the recluse's ideal, and that you have nothing still ahead of you to accomplish. But I say unto you, and rejoin, that, in your quest for recluse-ship, you must not fall short of the recluse's ideal, while there is something still ahead.
What is still ahead i* — Take the case of an Almsman who chooses him a lonely lodging — in the forest under a tree, in the wilds in cave or grot, in a charnel- ground, in a thicket or on bracken in the open. When he is back from his round for alms, he seats himself, after his meal, cross-legged and with body erect, alert in mindfulness. Putting appetite from him, he lives without appetite for things of the world and purges his heart of appetite. Putting from him all malice, he lives without a thought of malice, [275] purging him- self of malice by good-will and compassion for all that lives. All torpor has he put from him ; all torpor has gone out of his life ; by clarity of vision, mindfulness, and self-possession, he purges his heart of torpor.
13
194 XXXIX. MAHA-ASSAPURA-SUTTA. M. i. 276.
Worry is his no longer, for he has put worry out of his life and his heart within is serene, with all worry purged away. Doubt he has shed and outgrown ; no question arises now as to what are right states of con- sciousness ; he has purged his heart of all doubt.
1 1 is like a man who borrows money to start a business, — in which he is so successful that he can not only wipe out the original debt but have enough over to keep a wife. Reviewing his success, he would rejoice and be glad of heart.
Or, it is like a man who falls sick and becomes very ill and in grievous pain, taking no pleasure in his food, and with no strength left in his body ; but who subsequently gets over his illness, takes pleasure in his food and regains his strength. He too, reviewing his recovery, would rejoice and be glad of heart.
Or, it is like a man who is in bonds in prison but is subsequently set at liberty, safe and sound and un- mulcted in estate. He too, reviewing his release from durance, would rejoice and be glad of heart.
Or, again, it is like a slave, not independent but de- pendent on a master, and with no liberty to go where he liked, who should subsequently be set free and become his own master with full liberty now to go wherever he liked. He too, reviewing his gain of freedom, would rejoice and be glad of heart.
[276] Or, again, it is like a rich and wealthy man on a long journey through the wilds who should eventually emerge safe and sound, without loss of goods. He too, reviewing his safe passage, would rejoice and be glad of heart.
Just in the selfsame way an Almsman views the foregoing Five Hindrances, while they persist in him, as tantamount to the debt, the disease, the prison, the slavery, and the journey through the wilds. But, when he has put from him those Five Hindrances, he views them as tantamount to freedom from debt, disease, prison, slavery, and as tantamount to the traveller's bourne.
When he has put from him the Five Hindrances
M. i. 277. THE IDEAL RECLUSE. I95
which defile the heart and weaken insight, then, divested of pleasures of sense and of wrong states of consciousness, he enters on, and abides in, the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observa- tion and reflection. His very body does he so sluice and drench and permeate and suffuse with the zest and satisfaction bred of aloofness, that there is no part of his body which is not suffused thereby. Just as an expert bath-attendant or his apprentice will sprinkle soap-powder on a metal slab and knead it up with the water which he keeps on sprinkling over it, until the whole of the soap-powder is one mass of lather, permeated by the lather both in and out, with not a trickle of moisture left ; — in just the same way does the Almsman so sluice and drench and permeate and suffuse his very body with the zest and satisfaction bred of aloofness, that there is no part of his body which is not suffused thereby.
Further, rising above observation and reflection, he enters on, and abides in, the Second Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction — a state bred of rapt concen- tration, above all observation and reflection, a state whereby the heart is focussed and tranquillity reigns within. His very body does he so sluice and drench and permeate and suffuse with the zest and satisfaction bred of rapt concentration, that there is no part of his body which is not suffused thereby. It is like a lake fed from below by a spring, [277] with no other influx of water from east or west or north or south, a lake on which the heavens should send no showers from time to time ; yet from the spring below there would well up cool waters into the lake, so sluicing and drenching and permeating and suffusing that lake that there is no part of that lake which is not suffused thereby ; — in just the same way does this Almsman so sluice and drench and permeate and suffuse his very body with the zest and satisfaction bred of rapt concentration, that there is no part of his body which is not suffused thereby.
196 XXXIX. MAHA-ASSAPURA-SUTTA. M. i. 278.
Further, by shedding the emotion of zest, he enters on, and abides in, the Third Ecstasy, with its poised equanimity, mindful and self-possessed, feeling in his frame that satisfaction of which the Noble say that poise and mindfulness bring abiding satisfaction. His very body does he so sluice and drench and permeate and suffuse with satisfaction, without zest, that there is no part of his body which is not suffused by this satis- faction without zest. Just as in a pond of lotuses, blue or red or white, some lotuses of each kind are born and grow in the water, never rising above the surface but flourishing beneath it ; and these from root to tip are so sluiced and drenched and permeated and suffused by the cool waters that there is not a lotus, blue or red or white, which is not suffused from root to tip by the cool waters : — in just the same way does the Almsman so sluice and drench and permeate and suffuse his very body with satisfaction without zest, that there is no part of his body which is not suffused thereby.
Further, by putting from him both satisfaction and dissatisfaction and by shedding the joys and sorrows he used to feel, he enters on, and abides in, the Fourth Ecstasy, — the state that, knowing neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction, is the consummate purity of poised equanimity and mindfulness. H is very body does he so suffuse with a heart made pure and clean that, as he sits, there is no single part of his body which is not suffused by his pure and clean heart. Just as if a man were sitting wrapped head and all in a garment of white, with not a single part [278] of his body not wrapped in it, — in just the same way does the Alms- man so suffuse his very body with a heart made pure and clean that, as he sits, there is no single part of his body which is not suffused by his pure and clean heart.
With heart thus stedfast, thus clarified and purified, . . . the Almsman . . . {etc, as in Sutta 4, down to) . . . his divers existences of the past in all their details and features. Just as if a man who had passed from his own village to a second and thence to a third and finally back to his own village, might think how in
M. 1.279. THE IDEAL RECLUSE. 197
his absence from home he had visited these other villages and how in each he had stood, sat, spoken, been silent ; — in just the same way does the Almsman call to mind his former existences ... his divers existences of the past in all their details and features.
That same stedfast heart he now applies . . . {etc., as in Sutta 4, down to) . , , [279] in states of bliss and in heaven. Just as if there were two houses with doors and a man with eyes to see were to stand between those two houses and observe men going in and out and passing to and fro ; — in just the same way, with the Eye Celestial which is pure and far surpasses the human eye, does the Almsman see creatures in act of passing hence and re-appearing elsewhere, creatures either lowly or debonair, fair or foul to view, happy or unhappy ; and he is aware that they fare according to their deserts.
That same stedfast heart he next applies to know- ledge of the eradication of Cankers . . . (etc., as in Sutta 4, down to) . , . now for me there is no more of what I have been. Just as if on the heights there were a lake with clear pellucid waters as of crystal, and a man with eyes to see should espy from the bank where he was standing oysters and other shells, gravel and pebbles, together with shoals of fish swimming about or lying up ; — ^just as such a man would recognize all that was before his eyes, [280] in just the same manner does the Alms- man comprehend, aright and to the full, 111, the origin of 111, . . . no more of what I have been.
Such an Almsman is styled (i) recluse, (2) brahmin, (3) washen (nahataka), (4) versed (vedagu), (5) purged (sottiyo), (6) noble (ariya), and (7) saintly (arahant).
(i) How does an Almsman become a recluse ? — By excluding evil and wrong states of consciousness which are depraved and tend to re-birth, which are burthen- some and ripen unto 111, and which will hereafter entail birth, decay, and death. That is how he becomes a recluse.
(ii) He becomes a brahmin by precluding evil and wrong states.
198 XXXIX. MAHA-ASSAPURA-SUTTA. M. i. 280.
(iii) He becomes washen by washing away evil and wrong states.
(iv) He becomes versed by being versed in all about evil and wrong states.
(v) He becomes purged because he is purged of evil and wrong states.
(vi) He becomes noble, and (vii) saintly, because he keeps at bay evil and wrong states of consciousness which are depraved and tend to re-birth, which are burthensome and ripen unto 111, and which will here- after entail birth, decay, and death.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XL. CULA-ASSAPURA-SUTTA.
THE RECLUSE'S REGIMEN.
[281] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying in the Angas' country, where they have a township named Assapura, he addressed the listening Almsmen as follows :
Recluses ! — that is the name by which people know you and by which you would describe yourselves, if asked who you were. Such being your vocation and profession as recluses, you must train yourselves to embrace and shew forth in your lives the recluse's path of duty, so as to prove your vocation true and your profession a reality, and to see to it that the charity you enjoy in the shape of clothing and food and other requisites enures to fruit and profit in yourselves, making your Pilgrimage not barren but fruitful unto its harvest.
How does an Almsman not tread the recluse's path of duty ? — The Almsman who is greedy and has not put greed from him, or who is malicious of heart and has not put malice from him, or who is wrathful and has not put wrath from him, or who is revengeful and has not put revenge from him, or who is a hypocrite and has not put hypocrisy from him, or is fraudulent and has not put fraud from him, or who is jealous and has not put jealousy from him, or who is a niggard and has not put niggardliness from him, or who is treacherous and has not put treachery from him, or who is deceitful and has not put deceit from him, or whose desires are evil nor has he put evil desires from him, or who is wrong in his outlook and has not put wrong outlooks from him, — of such an Almsman I say that he fails to tread the recluse's path of duty, because
199
200 XL. CULA-ASSAPURA-SUTTA. M. i. 282.
he has not put from him these dispositions which are blots and blemishes and defects in a recluse, leading to woe hereafter and to a doom of pain. It is just as if, hidden away and concealed beneath his robes, the Brother had got a deadly stiletto, two-edged and whetted keen ; — unto this do I liken that Almsman's Pilgrimage.
I say it is not the robe which makes the recluse, nor nakedness, nor dust and dirt, nor bathing thrice a day, nor living under a tree, [282] nor living in the open, nor never sitting down, nor punctilio in regimen, nor intoning texts, nor a shock head of matted hair. If the mere wearing of the robe could banish greed, malice, and so forth, then, as soon as a child was born, his friends and kinsfolk would make him wear the robe and would press him to wear it, saying : — Come, thou favoured of fortune ! Come, wear the robe ; for, by the mere wearing of it, the greedy will put from them their greed, the malicious their malice, . . . and those of wrong outlook will put from them their wrong out- look.— It is because I see robe -wearers who are greedy and malicious . . . and wrong in their outlook, that I say the mere wearing of the robe does not make the recluse.
[Similar paragraphs about nakedness, dust and dirt . . . shock head of matted hair.]
[283] How, on the other hand, does an Almsman tread the recluse's path of duty ? — The Almsman who is not greedy but has put greed from him, who is not malicious but has put malice from him . . . who is not wrong in outlook but has put wrong outlooks from him, — of such an Almsman I say that he succeeds in treading the recluse's path of duty, because he has put from him those dispositions which are blots and blemishes and defects in a recluse, leading to woe hereafter and a doom of pain. Such an Almsman realizes that he is cleansed and Delivered from all those evil and wrong states of consciousness ; when he realizes this, there is bred in him gladness of heart, which in turn breeds zest, which brings tranquillity to
M.i. 284. THE recluse's REGIMEN. 20I
the body, which inspires those feelings of satisfaction whereby the heart wins rapt concentration. He dwells with radiant thoughts of good-will pervading first one quarter of the world — then the second — then the third — and then the fourth quarter ; he dwells with radiant good-will pervading the whole length and breadth of the world, above, below, around, and everywhere, — with radiant good-will all-embracing, vast, boundless, wherein no hate or malice finds a place. And as with good-will, so, in turn, with radiant compassion, sympathy, and poised equanimity, does he pervade the whole length and breadth of the world. It is just as if there were a lake of clear bright water, limpid, easy to get down to, and in every way delightful ; [284] and as if from the east — or the west — or from the north — or from the south — there should come a man over- come and overpowered with the blazing heat of summer, exhausted and beside himself with thirst, who should quench in that lake's waters the thirst and the fever which parched his frame ; — just in the same way, if a noble — or a brahmin — or a middle-class man — or a peasant — leaving his home for homelessness as a Pilgrim and coming to the Doctrine and Rule preached by the Truth-finder, so develops good-will, compassion, sympathy and poised equanimity as to win inward peace, then, by reason of his winning such inward peace, he — say I — treads the recluse's path of duty.
If a noble — or a brahmin- — or a middle- class man — or a peasant — leaves home for homelessness as a Pilgrim and if he, by extirpating the Cankers, enters on, and abides in, that Deliverance of heart and mind, from Cankers free, which he has of and for himself discerned and realized here and now, — then he be- comes a recluse by the extirpation of the Cankers.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Almsmen rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
202 XLI SALEYYAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 285.
XLI. SALEYYAKA-SUTTA.
OUR WEIRD.
[285] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was on an alms-pilgrimage in Kosala, with a great train of Almsmen, he came to a brahmin village of the Kosalans named Sala.
It came to the ears of the brahmin heads of families in Sala that the recluse Gotama, a Sakyan who had gone forth as a Pilgrim from a Sakyan family, had come to their village in the course of an alms- pilgrimage in Kosala, with a great train of Almsmen. Such, they heard, was the high repute noised abroad concerning the reverend Gotama that he was said to be — The Lord, Arahat all-enlightened, walking by knowledge, blessed, understanding all worlds, the matchless tamer of the human heart, teacher of gods and men, the Lord of Enlightenment. This universe — with its gods, Maras, Brahmas, recluses and brahmins, embracing all gods and mankind — , all this he has discerned and realized for himself and makes known to others. He preaches a Doctrine, which is so fair in its outset, its middle, and its close, with both text and import ; he propounds a higher life that is wholly complete and pure. It is good to go and visit Arahats like him. So the brahmins of Sala went to the Lord and, after exchanging civil greetings, took their seats to one side, — some after salutations, some after greetings, some with joined palms respectfully outstretched, some after mention of their names and family, and others again in silence. Being seated, they put this question to the Lord : — Why and where- fore is it that, after death, at the body's dissolution, some creatures come to re-birth in states of suffering or woe or purgatory, while others are reborn in some happy state or heaven ?
M. i. 286. OUR WEIRD. 2O3
Because, householders, they walk not in righteous- ness but in wickedness, some creatures pass to states of suffering ; others because they walk in righteous- ness and in goodness, are reborn in happy states in heaven.
[286] This utterance is too condensed for us to take it in without explanation. Would the reverend Gotama be so good as to expand his utterance and bring out its meaning for us ?
Listen then, sirs, and pay attention ; I will speak.
So to the attentive brahmins the Lord began : — There are three forms of unrighteousness and wicked- ness for the body ; four for speech ; and three for thoughts.
As regards bodily unrighteousness, a man (i) may take life, — as a hunter with hands bathed in blood, given to killing and slaying, merciless to living creatures ; or (ii) may take what is not his, — by appropriating to himself in thievish fashion the belongings of other people in village and jungle ; or (iii) may be a fornicator, having intercourse with girls under the charge of mother or father or brother or sister or relations, yes, with girls affianced and plighted, and even wearing the very garlands of betrothal.
As regards unrighteousness of speech, a man (i) may be a liar ; — when cited to give testimony before assembly or village-meeting or family council or royal household or his guild, he may say that he knows when he does not know, or that he does not know when he does know, or that he saw when he did not see, or that he did not see when he did see, — de- liberately lying in the interests either of himself or of other people or for some trifling gain. Or (ii) he may be a slanderer ; — repeating here what he has heard elsewhere so as to set one set of people by the ears, and repeating elsewhere what he has heard here so as to set another set of people by the ears ; he is a dissolver of harmony and a fomenter of strife ; discord prompts his utterances, discord being his pleasure, his
204 XLL SALEYYAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 287.
joy, and his delight. Or (iii) he may be bitter of tongue ; — what he says is rough and harsh, hurtful and wounding to others, provocative of anger, and leading to distraction. [287] Or (iv) he may be a tattler, — talking out of season, without heed to fact, always talking of the unprofitable, never of the Doctrine, never of the Rule, but ever of the trivial, of the ill- timed, of the frivolous, of things leading nowhere, and unprofitable.
As regards unrighteousness of thought, a man (i) may be covetous, coveting other people's gear with the yearning that it were all his own. Or (ii) he may be malevolent and wicked of heart, — wishing that creatures around him might be killed, destroyed, annihilated, or cease to be. Or (iii) he may be wrong in outlook and erroneous in his conceptions, — holding that there are no such things as alms or sacrifice or oblations, that there is no such thing as the fruit and harvest of deeds good and bad, that there is no such thing as this world or any other, that there are no such things as either parents or translation elsewhere, that there are no such things in the world as recluses and brahmins who, having trodden the right path and walked aright, have, of and by themselves, comprehended and realized this and other worlds and made it all known to others too.
Yes, it is because some creatures walk thus not in righteousness but in wickedness that they pass after death at the body's dissolution to re- birth in states of suffering or woe or purgatory.
Contrariwise, there are three forms of righteousness and goodness for the body ; four for speech ; and three for thoughts.
As regards bodily righteousness, a man (i) puts from him all killing and abstains from killing anything ; laying aside cudgel and sword, he lives a life of innocence and mercy, full of kindliness and compassion for everything that lives, (ii) Theft he puts from him and eschews ; taking from others only what is given to him by them, he lives an honest life, (iii) Putting
M. i. 288. OUR WEIRD. 205
from him all sensual misconduct, he abstains from fornication ; he has no intercourse with girls under the charge of mother or father or brother or sister or relations, no intercourse with girls affianced and plighted and with the garlands of betrothal upon them.
[288] As regards righteousness in speech, (i) a man puts lying from him and abstains from lies ; when cited to give testimony before assembly or village-meeting or family council or royal household or his guild he says that he does not know when he does not, and that he does know when he does, says that he did not see when he did not see and that he saw when he did see, — never deliberately lying in the interests of himself or of other people or for some trifling gain, (ii) All slander he puts from him and from slandering he ab- stains ; what he hears here he does not repeat elsewhere so as to set one set of people by the ears, nor does he repeat here what he hears elsewhere so as to set another set of people by the ears ; he is a promoter of harmony and a restorer of amity, for concord is his pleasure, his joy, and his delight, (iii) There is no bitterness in his tongue and he abstains from bitter speech ; what he says is without gall, pleasant, friendly, hearty, urbane, agreeable, and welcome to all. (iv) No tattler, he abstains from tattle, speaking in season, according to fact, always of the profitable, of the Doctrine and Rule, in speech which is seasonable and memorable, illuminating, well-marshalled, and of great profit.
As regards righteousness in thoughts, (i) a man is devoid of covetousness, never coveting other people's gear with the yearning that it were all his own. (ii) He harbours no malevolence or wickedness of thought ; his wish is that creatures around him may live on in peace and happiness, safe from all enmity and oppres- sion, (iii) He is right in outlook and correct in his conceptions ; he affirms that there are indeed such things as alms, sacrifice, and oblations, — as the fruit and harvest of deeds good and bad, — as this and other
206 XLI. SALEYYAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 289.
worlds, — as parents and translation elsewhere — as recluses and brahmins who, having trodden the right path and walked aright, have, of and by themselves, comprehended and realized this and other worlds and made it all known to others too.
It is because some creatures walk thus in righteous- ness and goodness that they pass after death at the body's dissolution to re-birth in some happy state in heaven.
[289] If the desire of a righteous and good man be to be reborn after death at the body's dissolution as a great noble, this may very well come to pass, — because of his righteousness and goodness here. Or, if such be his desire, he might become a magnate among brahmins or heads of houses, — because of his righteous- ness and goodness here. Or, again, if such be his desire, he might be reborn among the Four Regents, or the Thirty-three gods, or the Yamas, or the Tusitas, or the Nimmanaratis, or the _Paranimmita-vasavattis, the Corporeal Brahmas, the Abhas, the Paritt-abhas, the Appamana-subhas, the Subha-kinnas, the Vehap- phalas, the Avihas, the Atappas, the Sudassas, the Sudassis, the Akanitthas, the gods of Infinity of Space, the gods of Infinity of Mind, the gods of the Realm of Naught, the gods of the Realm of Neither Perception nor Non-perception. Or, again, if it be the righteous and good man's desire, by extirpating the Cankers, here and now to enter on, and abide in, Deliverance of heart and mind where no Cankers are, a Deliverance which he, of and by himself, has comprehended and realized, — then it may well be that to such Deliverance he will come ; and all because of his righteousness and good- ness here.
[290] At the close of this discourse, the brahmin householders of Sala said to the Lord : — Excellent, Gotama ; most excellent ! It is just as if a man should set upright again what had been cast down, or reveal what had been hidden away, or tell a man who had gone astray which was his way, or bring a lamp into darkness, so that those with eyes to see might
M. i. 291. OUR WEIRD. 207
discern the things about them ; — even so, in many a figure, has the reverend Gotama made his Doctrine clear. We come to him as our refuge, and to his Doctrine, and to his Confraternity. We ask the reverend Gotama to accept us as followers who have found an abiding refuge from this day onward while life lasts.
XLII. VERANJAKA-SUTTA.
OUR WEIRD.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, there were brahmins from Verafija who were stopping in Savatthi on some business or other ; and it came to their ears that the recluse Gotama, a Sakyan who had gone forth as a Pilgrim . . . [291] {etc., as in the foregoing Sutta^ to the end).
XLIII. MAHA-VEDALLA-SUTTA.
THE LONG MISCELLANY.
[292] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anatha- pindika's pleasaunce, the reverend Maha-Kotthita, rising up at eventide from his meditations, went to the reverend Sariputta and, after greetings, took his seat to one side and spoke thus : — We speak of a man as lacking understanding. Now, in what respects does he lack understanding }
It is because he does not understand, that he is said to lack understanding. — He does not understand what 111 is, or its origin, or its cessation, or the way that leads to its cessation. That is why he is said to lack
208 XLIII. MAHA-VEDALLA-SUTTA. M. i, 293.
understanding, — because he does not understand these things.
With an expression of his grateful thanks to Sariputta, Maha-Kotthita put this further question : — We speak of a man as having understanding (pafifia). Now, in what respects has he got understanding ?
It is because he understands, that he is said to have got understanding. — He understands what 111 is, and its origin, and its cessation, and the way that leads to its cessation. That is why he is said to have got understanding, — because he understands these things.
We speak of consciousness (vifinana). Why is it so called ?
It is because he is conscious, that we speak of con- sciousness.— He is conscious that a thing is pleasant, or unpleasant, or neither. It is because he is conscious, that consciousness is so called.
Are understanding and consciousness associated or dissociated ? Can a differentia between the two states be shewn by persistent analysis ?
They are associated, not dissociated ; a differentia between them cannot be shewn by persistent analysis. For, what a man understands, he is conscious of; and what he is conscious of, he understands. [293] There- fore these two states are associated, not dissociated ; analysis cannot shew their differentia.
What is the differentia ?
In understanding we have to develop ; in conscious- ness we have to apprehend ; — that is what differentiates them.
We speak of feeling. — In what sense?
A man feels and therefore it is called feeling, — of the pleasant or unpleasant or indifferent.
We speak of perception. — In what sense ?
He perceives and therefore it is called perception, — of blue, or yellow, or red, or white.
Are feeling, perception, and consciousness associ- ated or dissociated ? Can a differentia between these states be shewn by persistent analysis :
M. i. 294. THE LONG MISCELLANY. 209
They are associated, not dissociated ; a differentia between them cannot be shewn by persistent analysis. What is felt is perceived, and there is consciousness of what is perceived ; consequently these states are associated, not dissociated ; analysis cannot shew their differentia.
What is knowable by pure mental consciousness (mano-vinnana), isolated from the five faculties of bodily sense ?
The ideas of Infinity of Space, of Infinity of Mind, and of the Realm of Naught, are knowable by pure mental consciousness, isolated from the five faculties of bodily sense.
By what are these knowable ideas known ?
By the eye of understanding (pafifia-cakkhu).
What does understanding promote ?
The higher and precise knowledges and Renuncia- tion.
[294] How many conditions are required to create a right outlook ?
Two, — instruction imparted, and systematized thought.
How many factors help a right outlook to win the fruit, and the guerdon of the fruit, of Deliverance alike of heart and mind ?
Five, — virtue, study, converse, tranquiUization, and discernment.
How many types of re-birth are there?
Three, — sensuous, corporeal, and incorporeal.
How does re-birth come to pass hereafter in a sub- sequent existence ?
By creatures — hampered by ignorance and clogged by cravings — revelling now in this object, now in that.
And how does re-birth not come to pass ?
By the disappearance of the passion that Ignorance brings, by the uprising of knowledge, and by the cessation of cravings.
What is the First Ecstasy ?
When, divested of pleasures of sense, divested of wrong states of mind, an Almsman enters on, and abides
H
2IO XLIII. MAHA-VEDALLA-SUTTA. M. i. 295.
in, the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, — a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection, — that is called the First Ecstasy.
How many factors are there in it ?
Five, — observation, reflection, zest, satisfaction, and a focussed heart.
How many factors has the First Ecstasy put from it, and how many does it retain ?
Five of each. Gone are lusts, malevolence, torpor, worry, [295] and doubt. Observation, reflection, zest, satisfaction, and a focussed heart persist.
Take the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, — each with its own particular province and range of function separate and mutually distinct. What ultimate base have they ? Who enjoys all their five provinces and ranges ?
Mind (mano).^
On what do these five faculties of sense depend ?
On vitality.
On what does vitality depend ?
On heat.
On what does heat depend ?
On vitality.
You say that vitality depends on heat ; you say that heat depends on vitality. What precisely is the meaning to be attached to this ?
I will give you an illustration ; an illustration often- times serves to bring home the meaning of a remark to persons of intelligence. Just as in the case of a lighted lamp the light reveals the flame and the flame the light, — so vitality depends on heat and heat on vitality.
Now, as to plastic forces of vitality, — are they simply objects of sense ? Or are they different from them ?
They are not sensible objects. [296] Were they sensible, then the emergence of an Almsman who had
^ See hereon Mrs. Rhys Davids' Buddhist Psychology, pp.
68-73.
M. i. 297. THE LONG MISCELLANY. 211
passed into trance without perception and without feeling, could never be witnessed ; it can be witnessed just because the plastic forces of vitality are different from sensible objects.
How many things must quit the body before it is flung aside and cast away like a senseless log ?
Three, — vitality, heat, and consciousness.
What is the difference between a lifeless corpse and an Almsman in trance, in whom perception and feeling are stilled ?
In the corpse not only are the plastic forces of the body and speech and mind^ stilled and quiescent but also vitality is exhausted, heat is quenched, and the faculties of sense broken up ; — whereas in the Almsman in trance vitality persists, heat abides, and the faculties are clear, although respiration, observation and percep- tion are stilled and quiescent.
How many conditions are needed to produce that ecstatic state of the heart's Deliverance wherein there is neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction ?
Four. — By putting from him both satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and by shedding the joys and sorrows he used to feel, the Almsman enters on, and abides in, the Fourth Ecstasy, — the state that, knowing neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction, is the consummate purity of poised equanimity and mindfulness.
How many conditions are needed for that ecstatic state of the heart's Deliverance which is void of phenomenal relations ?
Two, — (i) Keeping the mind off all that is phe- nomenal, and (2) fixing it on what is not phenomenal.
How many conditions make this Deliverance persist ?
Three, — [297] (i) Keeping the mind off all that is phenomenal, (2) fixing it on what is not phenomenal, and (3) precedent preparation.
How many conditions are needed for emerging from this Deliverance?
^ Defined in the next Sutta as respiration, etc.
2 I 2 XLIII. MAHA-VEDALLA-SUTTA. M. i. 298.
Two, — (i) fixing the mind on the phenomenal and (2) keeping the mind off the non-phenomenal.
As touching those Deliverances of the heart which are boundless (appamana), Naught (akificafina), emptied (sunnata), and non-phenomenal (animitta), — do all these states of consciousness differ both in con- notation and in denotation, or are they identical in connotation while differing in denotation ?
In one sense their connotation is different, in another sense identical.
In what sense do these four states of consciousness differ in connotation as well as in denotation ?
It is called boundless Deliverance of heart when an Almsman dwells with radiant good-will pervading first one quarter of the world — then the second — then the third — and then the fourth quarter ; when he dwells with radiant good-will pervading the whole length and breadth of the world, above, below, around, and every- where, with radiant good-will all-embracing, vast, boundless, wherein no hate or malice finds a place. And as with good-will, so, in turn, with radiant com- passion, and sympathy, and poised equanimity does he pervade the whole length and breadth of the world.
It is called Naught Deliverance when, wholly transcending the realm of consciousness, the Almsman enters on, and abides in, the Realm of Naught.
It is called emptied Deliverance when, in the wilds or under a tree or in an empty dwelling, he reflects that Emptiness is here, — no Self nor anything apper- taining to a Self.
[298] It is called non-phenomenal Deliverance when by keeping his mind off all that is phenomenal, an Almsman enters on, and dwells in, the serenity of heart which is beyond the phenomenal.
The foregoing is the sense in which both the connotation and the denotation of these several Deliverances differ from one another. In what sense, now, is their connotation identical while their denota- tion differs ?
It is passion, it is malevolence, it is illusion, which
M. i. 299. THE SHORT MISCELLANY. 213
impose bounds ; in the Arahat who has extirpated the Cankers these three have been put away, have been grubbed and stubbed, like the bare cleared site where once a palm-tree grew, — they have been and now can be no more. In so far as boundless Deliverances are sure, the Deliverance they bring is unsurpassed, — sure because empty of passion, of malevolence, and of illusion.
It is passion, it is malevolence, it is illusion, which harbour aught which clogs ; in the Arahat who . . . be no more. In so far as Naught Deliverances are sure . . . and of illusion.
It is passion, it is malevolence, it is illusion, which create the phenomenal ; in the Arahat ... be no more. In so far as non-phenomenal Deliverances are sure, the Deliverance they bring is unsurpassed, — sure because void of passion, of malevolence, and of illusion.
This is the sense in which these several Deliverances are identical in their connotation, while differing in denotation.
Thus spoke the reverend Sariputta. Glad at heart, the reverend Maha-Kotthita rejoiced in what the reverend Sariputta had said.
XLIV. CULA-VEDALLA-SUTTA.
THE SHORT MISCELLANY.
[299] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Rajagaha in the Bamboo grove where the squirrels were fed, the lay-disciple Visakha came to the Almswoman Dhammadinna^ — and after saluta- tions took his seat to one side, saying : — As regards what is known as personality (sakkaya), madam, how has the Lord described its nature ?
1 They had been husband and wife before his conversion, which was followed by hers. For her story see Psalms of the Sisters, p. 16.
214 XLIV. CULA-VEDALLA-SUTTA. M. i. 300.
He has described it, sir, as the Five Attachments to existence, — namely, visible shape, feeling, perception, plastic forces, and consciousness.
After thanking her, Visakha put to her this further question : — And what, madam, does the Lord say of the origin of personality ?
He says, sir, that the origin of personality is from cravings, — craving for pleasures of sense, craving for continued existence, craving for annihilation, — all entailing re-birth, all imbued with passion's delights, all seeking pleasure here or there.
And what, madam, does the Lord say of the cessa- tion of personality ?
He says, sir, that its cessation is the complete and passionless cessation of just this selfsame craving, — its discarding, its abandonment, its dismissal, and its ejection.
And what does he say about the way that leads to such cessation of personality ?
He says, sir, that the way is the Noble Eightfold Path, — namely, right outlook, right aims, right speech, right action, right means of livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right rapture of concentration.
Does attachment consist of just the Five Attach- ments you have particularized, madam ? Or is there attachment apart from them ?
Attachment, sir, does not consist solely of those five ; [300] nor yet is there attachment wholly apart from them ; — the desire and passion that dwells in the Five Attachments is attachment.
How, madam, does the personality theory arise ?
Take, sir, the case of an uninstructed everyday man, who has no regard for the Noble and is unversed and untrained in their Doctrine, and who pays no regard to the Excellent and is unversed and untrained in their Doctrine ; — he views material Form as Self, or Self as having Form, or Form as in Self, or Self as in Form. And these views concerning Form he extends equally to feelings, perceptions, the plastic forces, and con- sciousness.— That is how the personality theory arises.
M. i. 301. THE SHORT MISCELLANY. 2 I 5
And how, madam, does the personality theory not arise ?
Take, sir, the case of an instructed disciple who has got regard for the Noble and is versed and trained in their Doctrine, and who has got regard for the Excellent and is versed and trained in their Doctrine ; — he does not view material Form as Self, or Self as having Form, or Form as in Self, or Self as in Form ; nor does he so view feelings, perceptions, and the like. — That is how the personality theory does not arise.
What, madam, is the Noble Eightfold Path ?
Just this, sir, — right outlook, right aims, right speech, right action, right means of livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right rapture of concentration.
Is the Noble Eightfold Path create or uncreate ?
It is create.
[301] Are three groups included in the Noble Eight- fold Path, or is the Path included in the groups ?
They are not included in it ; it is included in them. Right speech, right action, and right means of liveli- hood are included in the virtue-group ; right effort, right mindfulness, and right rapture of concentration are included in the concentration-group ; while right outlook and right aims are included in the knowledge- group.
What is rapt concentration ? What are its phenomena ? What are its requisites ? What cultivates it ?
Rapt concentration is the focussing of the heart ; its phenomena are the fourfold mustering of mindful- ness ; its requisites are the four right exertions ; and the practice and cultivation and increase of these states of consciousness cultivate rapt concentration.
How many plastic forces are there ?
Three, — those of the body, of speech, and of the mind.
What are these, severally ?
Respiration in the case of the body, observation and reflection for speech, and for the mind perception and feeling.
How is this, in each of the three cases ?
2l6 XLIV. CULA-VEDALLA-SUTTA. M. i. 302.
Respiration is a bodily thing bound up with the body and therefore is the plastic force for the body. It is because observation and reflection precede subsequent utterance that they are the plastic forces of speech. Perception and feeling are mental things bound up with the mind and therefore are the plastic forces of the mind.
How comes the ecstatic state wherein perception and feeling cease ?
It is not while an Almsman is passing into this ecstatic state that the thought comes to him that he will pass into it, or that he is passing into it, or that he has passed into it. No ; ere that, he has so cultivated his mind that it leads him to this result.
While he is [302] passing into this ecstatic state, what plastic forces cease first, — those of the body or of speech or of mind ?
Those of speech first, then those of the body, and lastly those of the mind.
How does he emerge from this ecstatic state ?
It is not while he is emerging therefrom that the thought comes to him that he will emerge, or is emerging, or has emerged from this ecstatic state. No ; ere that, he has so cultivated his mind that it leads him to this result.
While he is so emerging, what plastic forces revive first ?
Those of the mind first, then those of the body, and lastly those of speech.
When he has emerged from this ecstatic state, how many Contacts affect him ?
Three, — the emptied, the non-characterized, and the unsought (appanihita).
When he has emerged, towards what is the inclina- tion, bent and trend of his mind ?
Towards inward aloofness.
How many kinds of feelings are there ?
Three, — pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral.
What are they, respectively ?
Whatever either mind or body has felt as pleasant
M. i. 303. THE SHORT MISCELLANY. 2 I 7
and agreeable, is a pleasant feeling ; whatever either mind or body has felt as unpleasant and disagreeable, is an unpleasant feeling ; and whatever either mind or body has felt as neither pleasant nor unpleasant, neither agreeable nor disagreeable, is [303] neutral feeling.
What kind of pleasantness or unpleasantness is there in each of the three ?
A pleasant feeling is pleasant while it lasts and un- pleasant when it passes. An unpleasant feeling is unpleasant while it lasts and pleasant when it passes. A neutral feeling is pleasant if comprehended, un- pleasant if not comprehended.
What propensity lurks in each of the three kinds of feeling ?
Passion in pleasant feelings, repugnance in un- pleasant feelings, and ignorance in neutral feelings.
Do these several propensities always lurk in every instance of their respective feelings ?
No.
In these several feelings, what should be shed, respectively ?
In pleasant feelings, the propensity to passion ; in unpleasant feelings, the propensity to repugnance ; and in neutral feelings, the propensity to ignorance.
Have these several propensities always to be shed in every instance of their respective feelings ?
Not in every instance. Take the case of an Alms- man who, divested of pleasures of sense and divested of wrong states of consciousness, has entered on, and abides in, the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satis- faction,— a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection. Thereby he ■ sheds passion ; and here there exists no lurking propensity to passion. When, oh when, asks he of himself, shall I enter on, and abide in, that region where the Noble ^ are even now abiding.'* He develops such a yearning for utter Deliverance [304] that by reason thereof he is distressed. Thereby he
* I.e. Arahats. See p. i, n. i
2 1 8 XLIV. CtJLA-VEDALLA-SUTTA. M. i. 305.
sheds repugnance ; and here there exists no lurking propensity to repugnance. Or, take the case of an Almsman who, by putting from him both satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and by shedding the joys and sorrows he used to feel, has entered on, and abides in, the Fourth Ecstasy, — the state that, knowing neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction, is the consummate purity of poised equanimity and mindfulness. Thereby he sheds ignorance ; and here there exists no lurking propensity to ignorance.
What is the counterpart to pleasant feelings ?
Unpleasant feelings.
What is the counterpart to unpleasant feelings ?
Pleasant feelings.
What is the counterpart to neutral feelings ?
Ignorance.
What is the counterpart to ignorance ?
Knowledge.
What is the counterpart to knowledge ?
Deliverance.
What is the counterpart to Deliverance ?
Nirvana.
What is the counterpart to Nirvana, madam ?
You push your question too far, sir ; you can never get to an end of your questionings. For, in Nirvana the higher life merges to find its goal and its con- summation.— If you so desire, sir, seek out the Lord and ask him, treasuring up the answer he gives.
With grateful thanks to the Almswoman Dhamma- dinna, Visakha, the lay-disciple, rose up, took his leave of her with salutations and profound homage. Coming to the Lord and taking his seat to one side after due salu- tation, he related the whole of the talk he had had with the Almswoman Dhammadinna. Hereupon, the Lord said to him : — Learning and great knowledge dwell in Dhammadinna. Had you asked me, I should make answer precisely [305] as she did. Her answer was correct, and you should treasure it up accordingly.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, Visakha, the lay-disciple, rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
M. i. 3o6. ON LIVING UP TO PROFESSIONS — I. 2ig
XLV. CULA-DHAMMA-SAMADANA-SUTTA
ON LIVING UP TO PROFESSIONS-I.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the Hstening Almsmen as follows : —
There are four ways to profess a Doctrine. The first is pleasant for the time being but ripens to pain thereafter ; the second is unpleasant for the time being and ripens to pain thereafter ; the third is unpleasant for the time being but ripens to be pleasant thereafter ; and the fourth is not only pleasant for the time being but ripens to be pleasant thereafter.
As touching the first of the four, there are some recluses and brahmins who maintain and hold that — There is nothing wrong in pleasures of sense. So they give way to indulgence in pleasures of sense ; they disport themselves with top-knotted girl- Wanderers;^ and they say : — Why is it that recluses and brahmins, detecting future peril from pleasures of sense, call on people to eschew them, and insist on their real nature ? Pleasant are the tender, young, downy arms of my girl-Wanderer ! So they give way to indulgence in pleasures of sense, with the result that, after death at the body's dissolution, they pass to states of woe and suffering or to purgatory, where they ex- perience anguish and torment. Here they realize why recluses and brahmins, detecting future peril from pleasures of sense, called on people to eschew them, and insisted on their real nature I For, here they find themselves [306] experiencing feelings of anguish and torment, — solely because, and by reason, of these pleasures of sense.
It is just as if, in the last month of the hot season of
^ Ace. to Bu., these were non-buddhist ' ascetic (tapasa) women- paribbajikas who tied up their hair like the top-knot ' (of brahmin ascetics).
220 XLV. CULA-DHAMMA-SAMADANA-SUTTA. M. i. 307.
the year, a creeper's seed-pod should burst open and one of the seeds should fall at the foot of a sal-tree, — to the great alarm and consternation of the deity residing in the tree ; and just as if that deity's friends and kinsfolk — deities resident in pleasaunce and grove, in trees and medicinal herbs and woodlands — should gather together and assemble to allay that deity's alarm with cheerful hopes that no doubt the creeper's seed would be pecked up by a peacock, or munched by a deer, or consumed by a forest fire, or be taken away by woodmen, or eaten by white ants, — or perhaps might never germinate. Suppose now that none of these things happened to that seed, and suppose that it did germinate, and that the monsoon made it grow apace, so that a creeper sprouted — tender, young, downy, and clinging — which fastened on to that sal- tree. Why, the resident deity might then think, did my friends and kinsfolk assemble to allay my alarm with cheerful . . . might never germinate ? Pleasant indeed are the embraces of this tender, young, downy, and clinging creeper ! Suppose now that creeper should enfold the tree, growing into a canopy over the top and into a dense growth beneath, till it had strangled every mighty branch and stem. Well might that deity then think that this was what prompted his friends and kinsfolk to assemble to allay his alarm with their cheerful hopes that . . . [307] might never germinate. For, here the tree would find itself ex- periencing anguish and torment, all because of that creeper's seed.
It is just the same with those recluses and brahmins who maintain and hold . . . because and by reason of these pleasures of sense. — This is the first way of pro- fessing a Doctrine, — the way which is pleasant for the time being but ripens unto 111 thereafter.
As touching the second way of professing a Doctrine, the way which is unpleasant both now and hereafter, take the case of a devotee, naked, flouting the decencies of life . . . (etc, as in Sutta 12) . . . [308] down to the water punctually thrice before night-
M. i. 309. ON LIVING UP TO PROFESSIONS — I. 22 1
fall to wash (away the evil within). After this wise, in divers fashions, does the devotee live to torment and to torture his body ; and after death at the body's dis- solution he passes to states of woe and suffering or to purgatory, where he experiences anguish and torment. — This is the second way of professing a Doctrine, the way which is unpleasant for the time being and ripens to pain thereafter.
As touching the third way, take the case of a man by nature prone to passion — to wrath — to delusion — , who time after time suffers the pains of body and mind which each of these three things continually breeds, but yet — albeit with pain of body and mind, albeit with tears and wailing — lives the higher life in all its con summate purity. Such a man, after death, at the body's dissolution, passes to a happy state in heaven. — This is the third way of professing a Doctrine, the way which is unpleasant for the time being but ripens to be pleasant thereafter.
Lastly, take a man who is by nature not prone to passion or wrath or delusion and who suffers there- from no pains of body or mind, [309] but, divested of pleasures of sense, and divested of wrong states of consciousness, enters on, and abides in, the First Ecstasy . . . {etc,^ as in Sutta 4) . . . the Fourth Ecstasy, the state that, knowing neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction, is the consummate purity of poised equanimity and mindfulness. Such a man, after death, at the body's dissolution, passes to a happy state in heaven. — This is the fourth way of professing a Doctrine, the way which is both pleasant for the time being and ripens to be pleasant thereafter.
These, Brethren, are the four ways to profess a Doctrine.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XLVI. MAHA-DHAMMA-SAMADANA- SUTTA.
ON LIVING UP TO PROFESSIONS— II.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in J eta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the Hstening Almsmen as follows : —
In general, people's wishes and desires and aims are for a decrease in what is undesirable, disagreeable, and unpleasant, and for an increase in what is desirable, agreeable, and pleasant. In people with such aims that which is undesirable, disagreeable, and unpleasant waxes apace, while that which is desirable, agreeable and pleasant wanes. — What do you take to be the cause of this ?
[310] The Lord is the root and the guide and the basis of all our ideas. We beg that the Lord may be moved to expound the meaning of his utterance, so that we may treasure up what we hear from him.
Then listen and pay attention, and I will speak, said the Lord, who then went on to address the listening Almsmen as follows : —
Take the case of an uninstructed everyday man, who takes no count of the Noble and is unversed and untrained in Noble doctrine ; who takes no count of the Excellent and is unversed and untrained in Excellent doctrine ; — such a one does not know what to cultivate and what not to cultivate ; he does not know what to foster and what not to foster ; he cultivates and fosters what he should not, and fails to cultivate and foster what he ought to cultivate and foster, — with the result that, within him, that which is undesirable, disagreeable, and unpleasant waxes apace, while that which is desirable, agreeable, and pleasant
222
M. i. 311- ON LIVING UP TO PROFESSIONS — II. 223
wanes. And why ? — Because this is what happens to one who comprehends not.
Take now an instructed disciple of the Noble, who does take count of the Noble and is trained and versed in Noble doctrine, who does take count of the Excellent and is trained and versed in Excellent doctrine ; — such a one knows what to cultivate and what not to cultivate ; he knows what to foster and what not to foster ; and so he does not cultivate and foster what he should not, but cultivates and fosters what he ought to cultivate and foster, — with the result that, within him, that which is undesirable, disagreeable, and unpleasant wanes, while that which is desirable, agreeable, and pleasant waxes apace. And why ? — Because this is what happens to one who comprehends.
There are four ways of professing a Doctrine. The first is unpleasant for the time being and also ripens to pain thereafter; [311] the second is pleasant for the time being but ripens to pain thereafter ; the third is unpleasant for the time being but ripens to be pleasant thereafter ; and the fourth both is pleasant for the time being and also ripens to be pleasant thereafter.
In the first case, a man knows it not, has no knowledge of it, and fails to discern its real nature as unpleasant for the time being and ripening to pain thereafter ; he cultivates it, and does not shun it. The result is that what is undesirable, disagreeable, and unpleasant waxes apace, while what is desirable, agreeable, and pleasant wanes. And why ? — Because this is what happens to one who comprehends not.
[And the like is the case too with regard to the second profession, where what is pleasant for the time being ripens to pain thereafter.] And why ? — Because this is what happens to one who comprehends not.
In the third case, the man knows it not, has no know- ledge of it, and fails to discern its real nature as un- pleasant for the time being but ripening to be pleasant thereafter ; he does not cultivate it but shuns it. The result is that what is undesirable, disagreeable, and
224 XLVI. MAHA-DHAMMA-SAMADANA-SUTTA. M. i. 312.
unpleasant waxes apace, while what is desirable, agreeable, and pleasant wanes. And why ? — Because this is what happens to one who comprehends not.
[And the like happens with regard to the fourth profession, where what is pleasant for the time being also ripens to be pleasant thereafter.] [312] And why ? — Because this is what happens to one who comprehends not.
To return to the first profession. If a man knows it, has knowledge of it, and discerns its real nature as being unpleasant for the time being and ripening to pain thereafter ; and if he accordingly does not cultivate it but shuns it ; — the result is that what is desirable, agreeable, and pleasant waxes apace, while what is undesirable, disagreeable, and unpleasant wanes. And why ? — Because this is what happens to one who comprehends.
[And the foregoing is the case too with regard to the second profession, where what is pleasant for the time being ripens to pain thereafter.] And why ? — Because this is what happens to one who comprehends.
As regards the third profession, if a man knows it, has knowledge of it, and discerns its real nature as being unpleasant for the time being but ripening to be pleasant thereafter ; and if he cultivates it and does not shun it ; — the result is that what is desirable, agreeable, and pleasant waxes apace, while what is undesirable, disagreeable, and unpleasant wanes. And why ? — Because this is what happens to one who comprehends.
[And the foregoing is the case too with regard to the fourth profession, where what is pleasant for the time being also ripens to be pleasant thereafter.] And why ? — Because this is what happens to one who comprehends.
[31 3] What is the nature of the first profession ? — Take the case of a man who, to the accompaniment of pain alike of body and of mind, slays, and, as a con- sequence of slaying, experiences pain alike of body and of mind ; or who steals — or fornicates — or lies — or slanders — or reviles — or tattles — or covets — or is
M.i. 3M- ON LIVING UP TO PROFESSIONS — II. 225
malignant of heart — or who, to the accompaniment of pain alike of body and of mind, has a wrong outlook, and, as a consequence of his wrong outlook, ex- periences pain alike of body and mind. Such a man, after death at the body's dissolution, passes to a state of woe and misery or to purgatory. — Such is what is called the profession of the Doctrine which is unpleasant for the time being and ripens to pain thereafter.
What is the nature of the second profession ? — Take the case of a man who, to the accompaniment of pleasure alike of body and of mind, slays, and, as a consequence of his slaughter, experiences pleasure alike of body and mind ; or who steals . . . (etc., as in the preceding paragraph) . . . [314] purgatory. — Such is what is called the profession of the Doctrine where what is pleasant for the time being ripens to pain thereafter.
What is the nature of the third profession ? — Take a man who, to the accompaniment of pain alike of body and of mind, refrains from slaying and, as a result of his abstinence, experiences pain alike of body and of mind ; or who refrains from stealing . . . [315] or who, to the accompaniment of pain alike of body and of mind, gets a right outlook, and, as a consequence of that right outlook, experiences pain alike of body and of mind. Such a man, after death at the body's dissolution, passes to a happy state or to heaven. — Such is what is called the profession of the Doctrine which is unpleasant for the time being but ripens to be pleasant thereafter.
What is the nature of the fourth profession ? — Take the case of a man who, to the accompaniment of pleasure of body and of mind, refrains from slaying . . . (etc., as in the preceding paragraph) ... a happy state or to heaven. — Such is what is called the profession of the Doctrine which is both pleasant for the time being and also ripens to be pleasant thereafter.
Such, Almsmen, are the four ways of professing the Doctrine.
It is just as if there were a bitter gourd with poison
15
2 26 XLVI. MAHA-DHAMMA-SAMADANA-SUTTA. M. i. 316.
in it, and a man came along who wanted to live and not to die, who wanted to be comfortable and disliked pain ; and if people were to say to him : — There is poison in this bitter gourd, my good man. Drink it if you will ; [316] but, in drinking it, you won't like its colour and odour and taste, and, when you have drunk it, you will come by your death or deadly pain. Suppose now that heedlessly he drank it and did not turn away from it, disliking its colour, odour, and taste while he was drinking it, and coming by his death or deadly pain when he had drunk it down. — Unto this do I liken the first profession, which is unpleasant for the time being and ripens to pain thereafter.
Again, it is just as if there were a goblet of liquor, all right in colour, odour, and taste, but with poison in it, and a man should come along who wanted to live and not to die, who wanted to be comfortable and dis- liked pain ; and if people were to say to him : — This goblet of liquor is all right in colour, odour, and taste, but has poison in it. Drink it if you will ... or deadly pain. Suppose now that heedlessly he drank it and did not turn away from it, liking its colour, odour, and taste while he was drinking it, but coming by his death or deadly pain when he had drunk it down. — Unto this do I liken the second profession, which is pleasant for the time being but ripens to pain there- after.
Again, it is just as if there were decomposing urine ^ with divers medicaments in it, and a man with jaundice should come along ; and if people were to say to him : — This is decomposing urine with divers medica- ments in it. Drink it if you will ; but, in drinking it, you won't like its colour or odour or taste, but, when you have drunk it, you will get well. Suppose now that, heedfully and without turning away from it, he were to drink it, disliking its colour and odour and taste while he was drinking it, but getting well after he
^ Cf. Vinaya Texts (S.B.E: XIII, 174), and see Introduction supra, p. xvii.
M. i. 317. ON LIVING UP TO PROFESSIONS — II. 227
had drunk it down. — Unto this do I liken the third profession, which is unpleasant for the time being but ripens to be pleasant thereafter.
Lastly, it is just as if there were a mixture of curds and honey and ghee, and a man with dysentery should come along, and people were to say to him : — [317] Here is a mixture of curds and honey and ghee. Drink it if you will ; and, in drinking it, you will like its colour and odour and taste, and, when you have drunk it, you will get well. — Unto this do I liken the fourth profession, which both is pleasant for the time being and also ripens to be pleasant thereafter. Just as, at harvest time at the close of the rainy season, the sun shines forth and blazes in full glory, scattering and putting to flight the clouds of the air as he rises high in the heavens and drives before him all murk and gloom from the skies, — even so. Almsmen, does this last profession of the Doctrine, which blesses both the present and the future, shine forth and blaze in full glory as it overpowers the Vv'rangles of the warring hosts of recluses and brahmins.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XLVIL ViMAMSAKA-SUTTA.
STUDY OF THE TRUTH-FINDER.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the listening Almsmen as follows : — The enquiring Almsman who searches the hearts of others, ought to study the truth-finder.
The Lord is the root and the guide and the basis of all our ideas. We beg that the Lord may be moved to expound the meaning of his utterance, so that we may treasure up what we hear from him.
Then listen and pay attention, [318] and I will
228 XLVII. VIMAMSAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 319.
speak, said the Lord, who then went on to address the listening Almsmen, as follows : — The enquiring Alms- man who searches the hearts of others ought to study the truth-finder in respect of the two states of con- sciousness which come through eye and ear, so as to ascertain whether in the truth-finder they occur in a corrupt form or not. As he studies, he comes to know that no corrupt forms of these occur. Pursuing his study, he comes to know that in the truth-finder such states do not occur in a mixed form. By pursuing his study still further, he comes to know that in the truth-finder these states of consciousness alone occur which are wholly pure. He proceeds to examine whether this reverend man^ has risen long since or only recently to this excellence ; and he comes to know that he rose thereto long ago. Thence he goes on to examine whether this reverend man has grown popular and is famous, and whether certain perils beset him. — For, Almsmen, such perils do not beset an Almsman, so long as he has not grown popular and so long as he is not famous ; they beset him only after he has grown popular and is famous. — Examination shows that this reverend man is popular and famous, but that these perils do not beset him. [319] Then comes the further examination to settle whether the reverend man refrains in fearlessness or through fear, or whether it is solely by reason of passionlessness that he eschews pleasures of sense, having eradicated all passion ; and this examination shows that the eradication of passion is the reason why he eschews pleasures of sense. Should the enquiring Almsman be asked by others what facts and evidence lead him to aver that this reverend man eschews pleasures of sense in fearlessness and not from motives of fear, but because of the eradication of passion, then he would give the right answer by replying that, whether living
1 It will be noted that the general style of a y a s m a is here given to him who has previously been recognized as tathagata,! but is subsequently referred to as merely a bhikkhu — i.e. tc a.n Arahat. Cf. supra, p. 98.
M. i. 320. STUDY OF THE TRUTH-FINDER. 2 29
in the Confraternity or alone, this reverend man — aHke in deaHng with rich and poor, with teachers of confraternities, with those patently covetous or with those by covetise undefiled — never looks down on a man for that. Face to face, and from the Lord's own lips, have I been assured that he refrains in fearlessness, and not through fears, and that it is solely by reason of passionlessness that he eschews pleasures of sense, having eradicated all passion.
Moreover, the truth-finder himself should be asked the direct questions whether in him the states of con- sciousness which come through sight and hearing occur (a) in a corrupt form, (d) in a mixed form, or (c) in entire purity. And, answering aright, the truth- finder will answer that these states occur never in a corrupt or mixed form but always in entire purity ; — this is the track I tread, this is the realm in which I move, and therewithal I harbour no cravings.
When such are a teacher's words, a disciple is right to go to him for instruction in his Doctrine, That teacher expounds the Doctrine, — more and more, higher still and higher, until at last it embraces all that is foul and all that is fair, with all their mutual antagonism. And as the teacher gradually thus ex- pounds the Doctrine, so gradually therein does that Almsman, by insight into this or that state of conscious- ness, [320] reach perfection in them all, and win the belief in his teacher that — the Lord is all-enlightened ; right well has he made his Doctrine known ; his Con- fraternity walks in righteousness. If others should ask him on what facts and evidence he bases this belief, then, if he gives the right answer, he would reply that, as the teacher gradually expounded the Doctrine, so gradually therein had he, by insight into this or that state of consciousness, reached perfection in them all and won the belief in his teacher which made him say that the Lord was all-enlightened, that right well had he made his Doctrine known, and that his Confraternity walked in righteousness. If any man's faith in the truth-finder is planted, rooted, and
230 XLVIII. KOSAMBIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 321.
established by the foregoing researches and in the foregoing sentences and in the foregoing words, then such faith is styled reasoned, based on insight, assured, — impregnable to recluse or brahmin, god, Mara, Brahma or anyone else in the universe.
This, Almsmen, is the way to study a truth-finder's states of consciousness ; and it is thus that the truth- finder is studied aright in the laws of his being.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XLVIII. KOSAMBIYA-SUTTA.
AMITY AND ITS ROOT.
Thus have I heard. Once, when the Lord was staying at Kosambi in the Ghosita pleasaunce, dis- putes were rife in Kosambi among the Almsmen, who were living in a state of uproar and contention, hurling taunts at one another ; — they could not win one another over, nor would they themselves be won over, to accord and agreement. This having been [321J reported by an Almsman to the Lord, he bade an Almsman summon those Almsmen in his name to his presence. When they had duly come and had taken their seats to one side after due salutation, he asked them whether the report of their disputes was true ; and, on their admitting it, he said : — ^While you are thus disputing, are you instant — both overtly and privily — in acts and in words and in thoughts of good- will towards your fellows in the higher life ?
No, sir.
So it comes to this : that disputes are rife among you ; that you are living in a state of uproar and con- tention, hurling taunts at one another ; and that, mean- while, you are not instant — both overtly and privily — in acts or words or thoughts of goodwill towards your fellows in the higher life. What, oh what, can you know and see, you foolish people, that you dispute like
M. i. 322. AMITY AND ITS ROOT. 23 I
this and [322] never come to accord and agreement ? Long will this enure to your hurt and harm.^
Almsmen, there are six states of consciousness — the Lord went on to say — which, being in themselves endearing, friendly, and respectful, conduce to accord, harmony, concord, and unity.
(i) If an Almsman is instant in acts of goodwill — both overtly and privily — towards his fellows in the higher life, — this is a state, in itself endearing, friendly, and respectful, which conduces to accord, harmony, concord and unity.
(ii) If he is instant in words of goodwill . . . and unity.
(iii) If he is instant in thoughts of goodwill . . . and unity.
(iv) If he shares equally and without favour among all his virtuous fellows in the higher life everything" given him that is lawful and lawfully received, down to the last crumb in his bowl, — this too is a state, in itself endearing, friendly, and respectful, which con- duces to accord, harmony, concord, and unity.
(v) If, both overtly and privily, an Almsman lives among his fellows in the higher life in the exercise of these virtues, in their unbroken entirety, and without flaw, spot, or blemish, virtues which bestow freedom, are lauded by sages, are unmarred (by unworthy motives), and conduce to rapt concentration, — this too is a state, in itself endearing, friendly, and respectful, which conduces to accord, harmony, concord, and unity.
(vi) If — both overtly and privily — an Almsman lives, among his fellows in the higher life, seized of the noble and saving creed which guides him who lives up to it unto the utter destruction of all 111, — this too is a state, in itself endearing, friendly, and respectful, which conduces to accord, harmony, concord, and unity.
1 Cf. Sutta No. 128 (infra); and see Vinaya I, 341 and II, i (et seqq.) for sterner disciplinary measures against refractory Almsmen.
232 XLVIII. KOSAMBIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 323.
Such are the six states of consciousness which, being in themselves endearing, friendly, and respectful, con- duce to accord, harmony, concord, and unity ; and of the six the roof-tie which on high knits the six together is the possession of the noble and saving creed which guides him who lives up to it unto the utter destruction of all 111.
Just as in a gabled palace the gable is the roof-tie on high which knits the whole structure together, — so [323] of these six states of consciousness the roof-tie which on high knits them all together is the possession of this noble and saving creed which guides him who lives up to it unto the destruction of all 111.
How does that noble idea affect this ? — Take the case of an Almsman who — in jungle or beneath a tree or in a home of solitude — examines himself to see whether he harbours any still lurking predisposition which can so predispose his heart as to debar him from knowing and discerning things as they really are. His heart is so predisposed, if he harbours a predis- position to a passion for pleasure — to malevolence — to sloth and torpor — to worry — to doubt — to centring his thoughts on this or on other worlds — or to living in a state of disputes and uproar, contention and the hurling of taunts. He emerges convinced not only that he harbours no such predisposition as would debar him from knowing and discerning things as they really are, but also that his mind is on the right lines for enlighten- ment in the (Four) Truths. — This is the first know- ledge he wins, — a knowledge noble and transcendental, not shared by the vulgar.
Further, the disciple of the Noble asks himself whether, by fostering and developing and enlarging this noble and saving creed, he is gaining for himself calm and gaining peace. Yes, he answers ; I am. — This is the second knowledge . . . the vulgar.
Further, the disciple of the Noble asks himself whether — outside — there is found any recluse or brahmin who has got the noble and saving creed he
M. i. 324. AMITY AND ITS ROOT. 233
has. No, he answers; not one. — [324] This is the third knowledge . . . the vulgar.
Further, the disciple of the Noble asks himself whether he comports himself like one who is seized of that noble creed. Now, one seized thereof, should he be guilty of an offence which obviously has occurred, straightway declares it and lays it open and bare to his master or to sage comrades in the higher life ; and, having so confessed his offence, keeps a watch on himself thereafter. Just as a tiny babe that lies help- less on its back needs but to touch a live ember with foot or hand in order straightway to draw back the limb, — even so one seized of the noble and saving creed, should he be guilty . . . watch on himself thereafter. Thus he comes to know that he does comport himself like one who is seized of that noble creed. — This is the fourth knowledge . . . the vulgar.
Further, the disciple of the Noble asks himself (anew) whether he comports himself like one who is seized of the noble and saving creed. Now, one seized thereof, while zealous in the discharge of his several duties — great and small — towards his comrades in the higher life, also has a keen yearning to master the higher virtues, the higher thinking, and the higher love. Just as a cow with a calf always has her eye on her calf as she browses, — even so one seized of the noble creed, while zealous . . . higher love. Thus he comes to know that he does comport himself like one who is seized of that noble creed. — This is the fifth knowledge . . . the vulgar.
[325] Further, the disciple of the Noble asks him- self whether his is the strength of one seized of the noble creed. Now the strength of one seized thereof consists in recognizing and appreciating, when the truth-finder's Doctrine and Law are being preached, the import and the significance of the Doctrine, with his whole heart and ears absorbed in drinking in what he hears. Thus he comes to know that he has got the strength of one seized of the noble creed. — This is the sixth knowledge . . . the vulgar.
234 XLVIII. KOSAMBIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 326.
Again, the disciple of the Noble asks himself whether his is the strength of one seized of the noble creed. Now the strength of one seized thereof con- sists in this that, when the truth-finder's Doctrine and Law are being preached, he takes in knowledge of welfare and of the Doctrine and gets the gladness which the Doctrine brings. Thus he comes to know that he has got the strength of one seized of the noble creed. — This is the seventh knowledge . . . the vulgar.
In this way is due examination made of the de- meanour of a disciple of the Noble with his sevenfold endowment, for the realizing of conversion's fruits ; and those fruits appertain to a disciple of the Noble with his sevenfold endowment.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
XLIX. BRAHMA-NIMANTANIKA-SUTTA.
BRAHMA'S APPEAL.
[326] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Sfivatthl in J eta's grove in Anatha- pindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the listening Alms- men as follows : — ^ While I was staying once at Ukkattha in the Subhaga grove under the great sal- tree, Baka the Brahma conceived the pernicious view that his world was everlasting, permanent, eternal, complete in itself, with no rebirth thence ; that in his world there was no birth, decay, death, rebirth thence, or further existences, nor was there any other salvation beyond it. Reading his thoughts, I vanished from beneath that sal-tree to reappear in his particular Brahma-world, — as readily as a strong man might stretch forth his bent arm or draw back his outstretched
1 Cf. Samyutta I, 142 for the beginning of this Sutta (translated in Vol. I, 179-182 of Kindred Sayings), See also Dialogues I, 30 and III, 26.
M. i. 327. BRAHMA S APPEAL. 235
arm. Seeing me coming some distance off, Baka said — Come, your Excellency ; your Excellency is welcome indeed ; it is a long time since your Excel- lency managed to come here. This world is ever- lasting, permanent . . . salvation beyond it.
In answer I said : — The worthy Baka the Brahma is in error, quite in error, should he affirm that the transitory is everlasting, that the impermanent has per- manence, that the temporal is eternal, that the incom- plete is complete ; that here is no birth, decay, death, rebirth hence, or further existences, — when the exact opposite is the case ; or should he affirm that there is no other salvation beyond this, — when there is another salvation beyond it.
Hereon Mara the Evil One entered into one of the Brahma conclave and said to me : — Almsman ! Alms- man ! forbear ; forbear ; for this Brahma is the Great Brahma, [327] vanquisher and unvanquished, all- seeing and all-subduing lord, paramount disposer of life, abiding for ever, father of all creatures that are or are to be I Before your time. Almsman, the world has seen recluses and brahmins who have scorned and contemned earth, water, fire, air, creatures, gods, Pajapati, and Brahma ; — and these, at the body's dis- solution, when their lives were cut off, have passed thereafter to mean existences. Before your time, Almsman, the world has seen recluses and brahmins who have lauded and revelled in earth . . . Brahma ; — and these, at the body's dissolution, when their lives were cut off, have passed thereafter to excellent existences. Therefore, I advise you to conform to what Brahma has told you and not to be recalcitrant. Should you be recalcitrant, it will fare with you as with a man who with a stick tries to beat back the radiance which is enveloping him, or who strains at the earth for a foothold or handhold as he is in act to fall into hell's maw. Conform to everything Brahma has said, and do not be recalcitrant. See you not, Almsman, his hosts seated around ?
I rejoined : — I know you, Evil One ; do not imagine
236 XLIX. BRAHMA-NIMANTANIKA-SUTTA. M. i. 328.
that I know you not. You are Mara, the Evil One ; you have got into your grasp and into your power Brahma and Brahma's host and Brahma's conclave ; and you think to get me too into your grasp and into your power ; — but I am not in your grasp, E vil One ; I am not in your power.
Hereupon, Baka the Brahma said to me : — I, your Excellency, affirm that the everlasting is everlasting, [328] that the permanent is permanent, that the eternal is eternal, that the complete is complete, that freedom from rebirth hence is freedom from rebirth hence ; I affirm that a realm exists where there is no birth, decay, death, rebirth thence, or further existences, — for, here is no birth, decay, rebirth hence, or further existences ; and I affirm that, there being not any other salvation beyond this, no other salvation exists. Before your time, Almsman, the world has seen recluses and brahmins who — for a term as long as the whole of your life — have devoted themselves to austerities ; and they would know whether or not there was another salvation beyond this. Therefore, Alms- man, I tell you that, toil and moil as long as ever you will, you will never find any other salvation beyond this. If you will recognize earth, water, fire, air, creatures, gods, Pajapati, and Brahma, then will you become mine own, reposing on me, to do as I will, and to be my elect.
I too know, Brahma, said I, that by recognizing earth, water, and the rest, I should be yours as you say. Yes, and also I know full well how you have progressed to your pomp and state as the mighty, powerful, and sovereign Baka the Brahma.
What knowledge has your Excellency of this ?
The realms of sun and moon ^ where er their rays illumine, — yea, a thousand worlds thy sway acknowledge, Buty — isi thine to know the lot of beings good and bad, their whence and where ?
— I have this knowledge, Brahma, of your progress to your pomp and state as the mighty, [329] powerful, and sovereign Baka the Brahma.
M. i. 329- BRAHMA S APPEAL. 237
Now, there are three other planes of existence, Brahma, which you do not know or discern, — though I do. First, there is the Abhassara plane, from which you came hither, though your long residence here has made you forget it so that you do not know or discern it, — as I do. Consequently, in higher knowledge, I am not on a mere equality with you, much less at a disadvantage ; — I have the advantage of you. Then there is the Subha-Kinna plane and the Vehapphala plane, neither of which you know or discern, — though I do. Here again, in higher knowledge, I am not on a mere equality with you, much less at a dis- advantage ; — I have the advantage of you.
Because, Brahma, I have realized the earth to be the earth it really is and have realized that something else which is in no wise reached by earth's earthi- ness ; — no ideas occur of earth, in the earth, from the earth, my earth ; nor do I pay homage to earth. Here again . . , advantage of you. And the like . . . applies to water, fire, air, creatures, gods, Pajapati, Brahma, the Abhassaras, the Subhakinnas, the Vehap- phalas, the Vanquisher, the All ; — no such ideas about them occur, nor do I pay homage to any of them. Here again . . . advantage of you.
If that something else of your Excellency's is in no wise reached by the all-ness of the All, take heed it prove not merely empty and vain. — Consciousness, for instance, which is invisible and boundless and all- illumined, is not reached by earth's earthiness, or by water's wateriness, or by anything else in your list ! — And now I vanish from your Excellency's view.
Vanish if you can, Brahma.
But, for all his protestations, Baka could not vanish !
Hereupon, I told him that I would vanish from his sight.
Vanish, if you can, — said he.
Then, Almsmen, by the exercise of such magical powers as would let Brahma and his host and conclave hear me without seeing me, I disappeared, repeating these lines : —
238 XLIX. BRAHMA-NIMANTANIKA-SUTTA. M. i. 330.
Marking what dangers life beset^ how life still dogs the nihilist, no further court paid I to life nor craved for life on life.
Astounded at the marvel and wonder, Brahma with his host and conclave exclaimed : — Marvellous and wonderful is the magic power and might of the recluse Gotama! Never before was seen or reported any- other recluse or brahmin of such power and might as Gotama, the Sakyan who left his Sakyan home to be a Pilgrim. A generation that delights in living and is given over to delighting and revelling in living, has seen him grub and stub up existence by the roots !
Entering now into one of Brahma s conclave, Mara, the Evil One, said to me: — If your Excellency has come to this knowledge and to this enlightenment, do not communicate it to followers or Pilgrims ; do not expound your Doctrine to them ; yearn not for fol- lowers or Pilgrims. Before you, there have been recluses and brahmins in the world who, professing to be Arahats all-enlightened, communicated and ex- pounded their Doctrine to the followers and Pilgrims for whom they yearned ; and the result of this has been that, at the body's dissolution when their life was cut off, they passed thereafter to mean existences. Before you, there have been recluses and brahmins in the world who. professing to be Arahats all-enlightened, [331] refused to communicate and expound their Doctrine to followers and Pilgrims, for whom they had no yearning ; and the result of this has been that, at the body's dissolution when their life was cut off, they passed thereafter to excellent existences. Therefore, Almsman, I advise you not to trouble but to live com- fortably here and now. Silence is best ; do not preach to others.
I rejoined : — I know you. Evil One ; do not imagine that I know you not. You are Mara, the Evil One. It is out of no goodwill, but out of ill-will, that you give me this advice, — because you think that those to whom I preach my gospel will pass out of your range.
M. i. 332. THE REBUKE TO MARA. 239
Though they professed to be all-enlightened, those recluses and brahmins of yours were not so ; — I pro- fess to be all-enlightened, — and am. Evil One, the truth-finder is one and the same, whether preaching his Doctrine to followers or not, whether communi- cating it or not. And why i* — Because in the truth- finder all those Cankers which are of impurity, which lead to re-birth, entail suffering, ripen unto sorrow, leaving behind a heritage of birth, decay, and death, — all these have been grubbed up by the roots, like a bare cleared site where once a palm-tree grew, things which once have been and now can be no more.
Such, Almsmen, was Mara's failure to cajole me and Brahma's appeal. So this homily's title is Brahma's appeal.
L. MARA-TAJJANIYA-SUTTA.
THE REBUKE TO MARA.
[832] Thus have I heard. Once while the vener- able Maha Moggallana was staying in the Bhagga country at Surhsumara-gira in Bhesakala wood in the deer-park, he was pacing to and fro in the open when Mara, the Evil One, entered his belly and got into his stomach. Wondering to himself why his belly should feel as heavy as if he had had a meal of beans, Moggallana, his walk over, went to his cell and sat down to think it out by himself. Detecting Mara's presence in his inside, he exclaimed : — Begone, Evil Mara ; begone ! Do not annoy a truth-finder or a truth-finder's disciple, lest you lay up for yourself enduring hurt and harm.
Thought Mara to himself : — This recluse says all this without knowing or discerning that it is I. Why, even his master would take time to know it was I ; and how should this disciple know ?
Hereon, Moggallana said : — Yes, I know you, Evil One. Imagine not that I do not. You are Mara, Evil One ; and you are thinking that it was without
240 L. MARA-TAJJANIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 333.
knowing or discerning that it was you, that I bade you begone and not annoy a truth-finder or a truth- finders disciple, lest you should lay up for yourself enduring hurt and harm ; but you imagine that even my master would take time to know it was you ; and how should a disciple know ?
So this recluse really does know and discern that it is I, thought Mara ; and he [333] issued from Mog- gallana's mouth and perched on the crutch to hold the door-bar. Seeing him perched there, and informing him that there too his presence was detected, Mog- gallana said : — In bygone days. Evil One, I myself was a Mara, Dusi by name ; Kali was my sister s name ; you were her son and so my nephew. Now in those days Kakusandha had appeared in the world as the Arahat all-enlightened, — with Vidhura and Sanjiva as his two chief disciples, a noble pair. Among all Kakusandha's disciples there were none who could compare with the reverend Vidhura as a preacher of the Doctrine ; and so he got his name of Vidhura (the peerless). The reverend Sanjiva, on the other hand, dwelling in the wilds or beneath trees or in the homes of solitude, attained without difficulty to cessation of feelings and perception, and in this ecstatic state was sitting under a tree. Here, as he sat without feelings or perception, he was seen by neatherds, goatherds, ploughmen, and wayfarers, who marvelled exceedingly at the sight of the recluse — sitting there dead, as they deemed — and set about burning the body. So they collected bracken and sticks and dry cowdung which they heaped over Sanjiva's body, lit the pile, and went their way. Rising from his trance when night had passed away, Sanjiva shook his raiment and in the morning early, duly robed and bowl in hand, went into the village for alms. At the sight of him on his rounds, the neatherds, goatherds, ploughmen, and way- farers marvelled exceedingly to see the recluse whom they had deemed to be sitting there dead, now alive again and quick once more ; [334] and thus he got the name of Sanjiva (Quick).
M. i. 335- THE REBUKE TO MARA. 24 1
Thought Dusi the Mara : — I know neither the whence nor the whither of these virtuous and good Almsmen. Come, let me enter Into the brahmin- householders and Incite them to denounce, abuse, revile, and harry these virtuous and good Almsmen so that, being thus despitefully treated, they may haply change to another frame of mind and thus give me my opening. So DusI the Mara entered into those brahmin-householders and incited them accordingly ; and they then proceeded to denounce, abuse, revile, and harry those virtuous and good Brethren in these terms : These shavelings of recluses — who are only black riff-raff, sprung from the feet of our kinsman Brahma — while professing to be plunged in ecstasies, hunch up their shoulders and cast down their gaze in their befuddlement as they trance and en-trance and un-trance and de-trance. Yes ! they trance away like the owl in trance on a bouofh — on the look-out for a mouse ; or like the jackal in trance on the river s bank — on the look-out for fish ; or like the cat In trance by scrap-heap or midden — on the look-out for a mouse ; or like the donkey, when at last his yoke is off, in trance by the side of scrap-heap or midden. That's the way these shavelings trance and en-trance and un-trance and de-trance.
Evil One, the people who die in such a belief, all of them, at the body's dissolution after death, pass to re-birth in a doom of suffering and woe or purgatory.
[335] Then Kakusandha the Lord, Arahat all- enlightened, addressed the Almsmen, saying : — It is DusI the Mara who has entered into the brahmin- householders to Incite them to denounce, abuse, revile, and harry virtuous and good Almsmen so that, being thus despitefully treated, they may haply change to another frame of mind and thus give him his opening. Be It yours to dwell with radiant good-will pervading first one quarter of the world — then the second — then the third — and then the fourth quarter — yea, pervading the whole length and breadth of the world, above, below, around, everywhere, with radiant good-will all-
16
242 L. MARA-TAJJANIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 336.
embracing, vast, boundless, wherein no hate or malice finds a place. And, as with good-will, so, in turn, be it yours to pervade with radiant pity, and sympathy, and poised equanimity the whole length and breadth of the world.
Thus exhorted and instructed by Kakusandha the Lord, Arahat all-enlightened, those Almsmen, Evil One, retired to the wilds or under trees or to homes of solitude there to dwell with radiant good-will pervading . . . poised equanimity the whole length and breadth of the world.
Thought Dusi the Mara now : — I still know naught of the whence or the whither of these virtuous and good Almsmen. Come, let me enter into the brahmin- householders and incite them to pay these Almsmen honour and reverence, devotion and [336] worship, so that, being thus exalted, they may haply change to another frame of mind and thus give me my opening. And this he did. When now he had entered into the brahmin-householders accordingly, they paid those virtuous and good Brethren honour and reverence, devotion and worship.
Evil One, the people who die in such a belief, all of them, at the body's dissolution after death, pass to re-birth in states of bliss in heaven.
Then Kakusandha the Lord, Arahat all-enlightened, addressed the Almsmen, saying : — It is Dusi the Mara who has entered into the brahmin-householders to incite them to pay virtuous and good Almsmen honour and reverence, devotion and worship, so that, being thus exalted, they may haply change to another frame of mind and thus give him his opening. Yours be it to realize the foulness of the body, and to perceive how disgusting a thing food is, how empty of delight the world is, and how fleeting and transitory all things are.
Early in the day, Kakusandha the Lord, Arahat all- enlightened, duly robed and bowl in hand, went into the village for alms, followed by the reverend Vidhura as his Almsman in attendance. Entering into a
M. i. zyi' THE REBUKE TO MARA. 243
brahmin lad, Dfisi the Mara flung a potsherd which hit Vidhura's head and broke it. Albeit with broken head streaminor with blood, the reverend Vidhura [337] still kept following steadily on in Kakusandha's wake. Turning full round, as an elephant turns to gaze, Kakusandha the Lord, Arahat all-enlightened, exclaimed — This Mara Diisi knows no bounds !
Even as he gazed, DusI passed out of that existence and was reborn in Great Purgatory.
Evil One, Great Purgatory bears three names, — Sixfold Contact, Meeting Spikes, and Pang-upon- pang. Said the wardens of Purgatory to me : When barb meets barb inside your heart, then your Excel- lency will know you have been in torment for a thousand years. Tormented was I, Evil One, in Great Purgatory for many a long year, — for many hundreds of years and thousands of years ; for ten thousand years was I tormented in the heart of Great Purgatory, suffering pangs that grew and grew. My body was like a man's, but my head was like the head of a fish.
^ You ask what helly what tormenty Dust knew, who durst assail disciple Vidhiira and holy Kdkicsdndha, brahmin true ? A hundred barbs of steel it had, and each wrought its own griding agony of pain ; — such hell, such torment. Dust came to know, who durst assail disciple Vidhura and holy Kakusandha, brahmin true. — For thine assault on me, who know so much, who Buddhds leal disciple am, there waits, foul fiend of darkness, vengeance dire and sure.
I know where, ageless, through the ages stand gods Jewell' d mansions, in mid-ocean set, shining^ resplendent, bright with dancing ny7nphs. — For thine assault . . . vengeance dire and sure.
^ These lines occur also at Theragatha, p. 106 (transd. at p. 391 of Psalms of the Early Buddhists),
244 L- MARA-TAJJANIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 338.
At His command, while Almsmen watched around^ my toe Visakha's palace rudely shook, -^ — For thi7ie assault , . . vengeance dire and sure,
[338] By magic might, while godlings quaked with dreadj my toe the l^ejayanta palace rocked? — For thine assault . . . vengeance dire and sure.
In Vej ay anta palace Sakkas self I straitly questioned: Understandeth thou how Cravings quelled Deliver heart of man ? And he ^ proud Sakka, answer huinbly made, ^For thine assault . , , vengeance dire and sure,
I know who, face to face in Brahma! s halls? thus straitly questioned Brahma : Holdest thou today thy former views ? Or see'st thou now how all thy heaven s glories fade away ? And he, great Brahma, answer humbly made that he such views no longer held, but saw how all his heaven s glories fade and pass, and how he erred, erred grievously, of old^ to claim eternal, everlasting life. — For thine assault , . . vengeajice dire and sure.
I know who Merus summit won in trance^ and saw the four great continents of earth^^ with all the peoples that on earth do dwell. — For thine assault , , . vengeance dire and sure.
No malice yet drove fire to burn a fool ; 'tis still the fool who first assails the fire and feeds the flames his folly first provoked. So, Mara, thou who durst assail a Saint, ^ shall burn thyself, like fools who play with fire.
^ Cf. Therdgathd, p. 105 (trans, at p. 392 of Psalms of the Early Buddhists).
2 See Sutta 37. ^ See Sutta 49.
* Bu. refers to the Nandopananda-damana {see Jdtaka V, 65).
^ See Digha, Sutta No. 32,transd.at Dialogues III, 188 et seqq.
^ Bu. is here silent on the meaning in the text oftathagata — " here clearly, and in the Commentary [of Dhammapala on the Theragatha] explicitly, applied to a Thera Arahant " {Psalms, p. 393, n. 4).]
M. i. 338. THE REBUKE TO MARA. 245
Evil thou didst who durst assail a Saint, imagining — how fondly ! — eviCs curse to flee. Thine evil-doing garner d stands ; and woe, 0 Death, through ages shall thy portion be I Leave then the Buddha ; let his Almsmen be I
Thus i?i those woodlands did that Almsman rate fell Mara, till the cowed and abject fiend, quitting the contest, vanished out of sight.
LI. KANDARAKA-SUTTA.
AGAINST ASCETICISM.
[339] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Campa by the banks of the lake (of Queen) Gaggara with a great following of Almsmen, there came to him Pessa, the elephant trainer's son, and Kandaraka the Wanderer. Saluting the Lord, Pessa took a seat to one side, while Kandaraka, after ex- changing courteous greetings, remained standing. Marking the universal silence of the Confraternity as he stood there, Kandaraka said : — It is wonderful, Gotama, it is marvellous, how you have schooled your Confraternity, — even to that perfection which Arahats all-enlightened reached of yore and Arahats all- enlightened will reach in ages to come.
Yes, Kandaraka ; as it is now, so it has been of yore and so it will be in ages to come. For, in this Con- fraternity there are Almsmen who are Arahats, — in whom the Cankers are eradicated, who have greatly lived, whose task is done, who have cast off their burthens, who have won their weal, whose bonds are no more, who by utter knowledge have found Deliver- ance. Here too there are Almsmen still under training, uniformly virtuous and uniformly good in their lives, men of understanding, with understanding shown forth in their lives, whose hearts are stablished in the four applications of mindfulness, as in the case [340] of an Almsman who — realizing (i) body, (ii) feelings, (iii) heart, and (iv) states of consciousness to be just what they respectively are — lives the strenuous life, purposeful and mindful, quelling all worldly hankerings and frets.
Hereupon Pessa said: — It is wonderful, it is
246
M. i. 341. AGAINST ASCETICISM. 247
marvellous how well the Lord has indicated the four applications of mindfulness so as to cleanse men's hearts, to raise them above sorrow and lamentation, to annihilate pain of body and of mind, to achieve the system, and to realize Nirvana. Even we who live in houses and wear the white clothes of the layman, even we from time to time have our hearts stablished in the four applications of mindfulness and — realizing body, feelings, heart, and states of consciousness to be just what they respectively are — live the strenuous life, purposeful and mindful, quelling all worldly hanker- ings and frets. Yes, it is wonderful and marvellous how — in this human tangle with all its bitterness and guile — the Lord knows man's weal and woe. For men are indeed a tangle, whereas animals are a simple matter. I myself can train a young elephant to remember, whensoever he is going in or out of Campa, to display every naughty and roguish trick he possibly can. But those that are styled our slaves and messengers and servants do one thing, say another, and think a third. Yes, it is wonderful and marvellous . . . animals are a simple matter.
Quite right, Pessa [341]. Men are indeed a tangle, whereas animals are a simple matter. There are four types of individuals to be found in the world. — One torments himself and is given to self-torment ; a second torments others and is given to tormenting others ; a third torments himself and others, and is given to tormenting both ; while the fourth torments neither, and is given to tormenting neither, — dwelling, here and now, beyond appetites, consummate, unfevered, in bliss, and in holiness. Now which of the four, Pessa, commends himself most to you ?
I am not drawn, sir, either to the self-tormenter or to the tormenter of others ; nor can I commend him who does both. The individual who commends himself most to me out of the four is the fourth, the man who neither torments himself nor others, who dwells, here and now, beyond appetites, consummate, unfevered, in bliss, and in holiness.
248 LI. KANDARAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 342.
And why, Pessa, do you not approve of the first three ?
I do not approve of the first, sir, because he torments and tortures himself, despite his yearnings for pleasure and despite his repugnance to pain ; nor do I approve of the second, because he torments and tortures others, despite their yearnings for pleasure and repugnance to pain ; nor of the third, because he torments and tortures both himself and others, despite his and their yearnings for pleasure and repugnance to pain. But [342] I do approve of the fourth, because, tormenting and torturing neither himself nor others, he dwells, here and now, beyond appetites, consummate, unfevered, in bliss, and in holiness. — And now, sir, I must be going, for I have much to do and attend to.
Do not let me detain you, Pessa.
So, with grateful thanks to the Lord for what he had heard, Pessa, the elephant trainer's son, rose up, saluted, and withdrew with deep veneration.
Pessa had not been gone long when the Lord said : — Pessa, Almsmen, is informed and has great under- standing. Had he but sat on a little longer, while I set out in detail the distinctions between the four types of individual, he would have carried away with him what would have profited him greatly.
Now, Lord, is the time for that ; now is the time. Blessed One ; the Almsmen will treasure up the Lord's utterance.
Then the Lord proceeded to address the listening Almsmen, as follows :
What kind of individual is he who torments himself and is given to self-torment i^ — Take the case of an individual who, naked, flouting the decencies of life, . . . (etc, as in Sutta No. 12) . . . [343] to wash (away the evil within). — Such are the divers ways in which he is given to tormenting his body. Such a man is said to torment himself and to be given to self-torment.
What kind of individual is he who torments others and is given to tormenting others i^ — Take the case of the individual who butchers sheep or sticks pigs, or
M. i. 344. AGAINST ASCETICISM. 249
who is a fowler, deer-stalker, hunter, fisherman, robber, €ut-throat, or gaoler, or who follows any other cruel trade.— Such a man is said to torment others and to be given to tormenting others.
What kind of individual is he who torments himself and others too ? —
^ Take the case of an individual who becomes an anointed king of Noble race, or a brahmin magnate. East of the town, he orders the building of a new sacrificial hall, into which — after first cutting off his hair and beard and donning the rough pelt of a black antelope — he goes with his queen-consort and his brahmin chaplain, with his body anointed with ghee and oil, and scratching his itching back with an antler. His bed is grass and leaves strewn on the bare ground. For the whole party, there is only one solitary cow, with a calf by her side, which must be coloured precisely like its mother ; and on this solitary cow's milk [344] the king has the first call, the queen- consort takes the second turn, the brahmin the third, the fourth makes the fire-oblation, while the calf has to get along on what is left. Says the king :
Let there be slain for the sacrifice so many bulls, so many steers, heifers, goats, and rams. Let there be felled so many trees for sacrificial posts. Let so much kusa grass be cut to strew round the sacrificial spot. And all persons known as slaves, messengers, and servants, harried by stripes and fear, then set about the preparations with tearful faces and voices of lamentation. — Such a man is said to torment himself and others, and to be given to tormenting both.
Lastly, what kind of individual is he who, tormenting neither himself nor others, dwells, here and now, beyond appetites, consummate, unfevered, in bliss, and in holiness? — Take the case that there appears here in the world a truth-finder, Arahat all-en-
^ This Buddhist satire depicts, not unfaithfully, the brahmin ritual enjoined for a yajamana who wishes to perform Soma- sacrifices, — as described by Hillebrandt in his Ritual-litteratur <in Biihler's Grundriss) p. 125 ff.
250 LI. KANDARAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 345.
lightened . . . (etc., as in Sutta No. 27) . . , [345-7] enters on, and abides in, the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection ; — and he successively attains to the Second, Third, and Fourth Ecstasies.
With heart thus stedfast, thus clarified and purified, clean and cleansed of things impure, tempered and apt to serve, stablished and immutable, — it is thus that he applies his heart to the knowledge which recalls his own earlier existences. He calls to mind his divers existences in the past, — a single birth, and then two . . . (and so on to) a hundred thousand births, many an aeon of disintegration of the world, many an aeon of its redintegration, and again many an aeon both of its disintegration and of its redintegration. In this or that existence, he remembers, such and such was his name, his clan, his class, his diet, his joys and sorrows, and his term of life. When he passed thence, he came by such and such subsequent existence, wherein such and such was his name and so forth ; [348] and thence he passed to his life here. — Thus does he call to mind his divers existences of the past in all their details and features.
That same stedfast heart he now applies to know- ledge of the passage hence, and re-appearance else- where, of other beings. With the Eye Celestial . . . (etc., as in Sutta No. 4) . . . made their appearance in states of bliss in heaven.
That same stedfast heart he next applies to the knowledge of the extirpation of Cankers. He com- prehends, aright and to the full. 111, the origin of 111, the cessation of 111, and the course that leads to the cessation of 111 ; he comprehends, aright and to the full, which the Cankers are, with their origin, cessation, and the course that leads to their cessation. When he knows this and when he sees this, then his heart is Delivered from the Canker of sensuous pleasure, from the Canker of continuing existence, and from the Canker of ignorance ; and to him thus Delivered comes
M. i. 349- THE PORTALS OF NIRVANA. 25 I
the knowledge of his Deliverance in the conviction — Rebirth is no more ; I have lived the highest life ; my task is done ; and now for me there is no more of what I have been. — Such a man is said to torment neither himself nor others, and not to he given [349] to tormenting either himself or others, but to dwell, here and now, beyond appetites, consummate, unfevered, in bliss and in holiness.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LIL ATTHAKA-NAGARA SUTTA.^
THE PORTALS OF NIRVANA.
Thus have I heard. Once when the reverend Ananda was staying at Vesali in the hamlet of Beluva, the householder Dasama of Atthaka Town, who had gone to Pataliputta on some business or other, came to an Almsman in the Kukkutapleasaunceand, seating himself after salutations, asked where Ananda was staying, as he would like to see him. Being informed that Ananda was staying at Vesali in the hamlet of Beluva, Dasama, after finishing his business at Patali- putta, proceededto Vesali and the hamlet of Beluva, where he found Ananda. Seating himself after saluta- tions, Dasama asked Ananda this question :— Has the Lord who knows and sees, the Arahat all-enlightened, indicated one particular state of consciousness whereby an Almsman who lives the strenuous life purged of self, either finds Deliverance for his prisoned heart, or sees the extirpation of Cankers hitherto rampant, or wins at last that utter peace which was not his before ?
Yes, he has.
[350] What is it ?
Take the case, householder, of an Almsman who, divested of pleasures of sense, and divested of wrong
* Identical with the Sutta at Anguttara V, 342-7.
252 LII. ATTHAKA-NAGARA-SUTTA. M. i. 351.
States of consciousness, enters on, and dwells in, the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from obser- vation and reflection. Reflecting that this First Ecstasy is only a product, evolved by thought, he comes to know that all products evolved by thought are fleeting and must cease. Taking his stand on this, he attains to extirpation of Cankers, or, if he does not attain this, then by his passion for righteousness and by his delight in righteousness he destroys the Five Fetters which entail re-birth and is translated hereafter to realms above, from which he will never return again to earth but will there win his Nirvana. — This is a state of consciousness indicated by the Lord who knows and sees, the Arahat all-enlightened, whereby an Almsman who lives the strenuous life purged of self both finds Deliverance for his prisoned heart, and sees the extirpation of Cankers hitherto rampant, and wins at last that utter peace which was not his before. Further, an Almsman, rising above observation and reasoning, successively enters on, and abides in, the Second — the Third — and the Fourth Ecstasies. Re- flecting that each of these also is only a product, evolved by thought, he comes to know that all pro- ducts . . . utter peace which was not his before.
[351] Further, an Almsman dwells with radiant good-will pervading one quarter of the world — a second — a third — and then the fourth quarter, pervading the whole length and breadth of the world — above, below, around, everywhere — with radiant good-will, all-em- bracing, vast, boundless, wherein no hate or malice finds a place. And, as with good-will, so in turn he pervades with radiant pity — and sympathy — and poised equanimity the whole length and breadth of the world. Reflecting that each of these four also is only a pro- duct, evolved by thought, he comes to know that all products . . . [352] utter peace which was not his before.
Further, by passing altogether beyond perception of material objects, by ceasing from perception of sense-
M. i. 353- THE PORTALS OF NIRVANA. 253
reactions, and by not heeding perception of differences, an Almsman comes to hold space to be infinite and so enters on, and abides in, the plane of infinity of space. Or, by passing altogether beyond this plane, the Almsman comes to hold consciousness to be infinite and so enters on, and abides in, the plane of infinity of consciousness. Or, by passing altogether beyond this plane, the Almsman comes to hold that Naught is and so enters on, and abides in, the plane of Naught. Reflecting that each of these three planes also is only a product, evolved by thought, he comes to know that all products . . . utter peace which was not his before.
At the close of these words, the householder Dasama from Atthaka Town said to Ananda : — Just as a man who, being in quest of a single treasure-trove, should at one haul find eleven, [353] even so have I, in my quest for a single portal to Nirvana, been told of eleven portals. Just as a man with an eleven-doored house, could, if a fire broke out, escape to safety by any single one of those eleven doors, even so shall I be able to escape to safety by any single one of these eleven portals of Nirvana. Those of other creeds will always look for a fee for the teacher ; so why should not I show worship to the reverend Ananda ?
So, assembling together the Almsmen from Patali- putta and Vesali, Dasama provided them with an excel- lent meal of food both hard and soft, which he served to them with his own hands, till all had had their fill. Moreover, he presented two lengths of cloth to each Almsman for apparel, but a suit of three robes to the reverend Ananda, for whom further he caused a cell to be built at a cost of five hundred pieces.
254 LHI. SEKHA-SUTTA. M. i. 354.
LIII. SEKHA-SUTTA.
HOW TO BECOME AN ADEPT.
^Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying among the Sakyans at Kapilavatthu in the Banyan pleasaunce, the Sakyans of that city, who had got a new hall, never occupied so far by recluse or brahmin or any human being, came to the Lord, and, after salutations, took their seats to one side, telling him of their brand-new hall and inviting him to use it first, and then they would use it afterwards themselves ; if he would only consent, that would long enure to their [354] weal and welfare. By silence the Lord consented ; and, on his consenting, those Sakyans rose and with deep obeisance withdrew to complete pre- paring the hall for occupation, — setting out seats, plantmg tubs of water about, and getting lamps and oil ready. When they had finished, they came and stood by him to tell the Lord they awaited his pleasure. Duly robed and bowl in hand, the Lord, with the Con- fraternity, proceeded to the hall, bathed his feet, went in, and took his seat by the centre-post with his face towards the East. He was followed by the Confra- ternity who, entering the hall after bathing their feet, seated themselves by the western wall, facing east and with the Lord in fi-ont of them. Then came the Sakyans who, entering the hall after bathing their feet, seated themselves by the eastern wall, facing west and with the Lord in front of them. Far into the night the Lord by homily instructed, informed, helped onward, and cheered forward those Sakyans of Kapilavatthu, till at last he said to Ananda : Tell them, please, about him who is in training to become an adept, and the path he treads. Ananda assenting, the Lord had his robe folded in four and lay down on it on his
1 The preamble of this Sutta occurs also verbatim at Samyittta IV, 182, — ending before Ananda's lecture to the Sakyans, and continuing instead with an address to the Almsmen by Moggal- lana.
M. i. 355- HOW TO BECOME AN ADEPT. 255
right side in the lion-posture, foot resting on foot, mindful and self-possessed, awaiting the moment ap- pointed for his arising.
Addressing Mahanama the Sakyan, Ananda said : — Take the case of a disciple of the Noble, who is virtuous, who keeps watch and ward over the portals of sense, is temperate in eating, vigilant, established in the seven virtuous qualities, and is able at will — without difficulty or trouble — to induce the Four Ecstasies which transcend thought and confer well- being here and now.
How, Mahanama, [355] does the disciple of the Noble become virtuous ? — Why, by following virtue's code, by controlling himself by the control of the public confession ot transgressions, by keeping to the plane of right behaviour, by viewing even trifling offences as perilous, and by embracing and training himself in the (ten) moral precepts. — That is how he becomes virtuous.
How, Mahanama, does the disciple of the Noble keep watch and ward over the portals of sense ? — Why, by refusing, when he sees with the eye a visible shape, to be led away by its general appearance or particular marks, inasmuch as lack of control over sight might let in appetites and frets, with evil and wrong states of consciousness ; and therefore he schools himself to keep the sense of sight under control and under guard, and develops his control of it. And he does the like with the five other senses. — That is how he keeps watch and ward over the portals of sense.
How is he temperate in eating ? — Why, by taking his food duly and advisedly, not for pleasure or delight, nor for ostentation or display, but only to the extent necessary to support and sustain his physical frame, in order to shield it from hurt and to further the higher life, resolving to put from him the old feelings and not to let any new feelings arise, to the end that the blame- less lot may be his and well-being. — That is how he is temperate in eating.
How is he vigilant.'^ — Why, by purging his heart of
256 LIII. SEKHA-SUTTA. M. i. 356.
besetting tendencies, — whether by day as he paces ta and fro or sits down, or during the first watch of the night as he paces to and fro or sits down, or during the middle watch of the night as he lies couched lion- like on his right side, foot resting on foot, mindful and self-possessed, awaiting the moment appointed for his arising.
How is he [356] established in the seven virtuous qualities ? — Why, (i) by faith, by that faith in the Truth-finder's enlightenment whereby he avers that this is indeed the Lord, Arahat all-enlightened, walking by knowledge, blessed, understanding all worlds, the matchless tamer of the human heart, teacher of gods and men, the Lord of Enlightenment! (ii) Shame- faced is he, — inwardly ashamed of wrongful acts or words or thoughts, inwardly ashamed of harbouring evil and wrong states of consciousness, (iii) Sensitive is he to reproach from without, — dreading reproach for wrongful acts or words or thoughts or for harbour- ing evil and wrong states of consciousness, (iv) Well- informed is he, a repository and a treasury of all he hears ; all doctrines — beginning aright, proceeding aright, and ending aright — which in letter and in spirit proclaim the higher life in all its perfection and purity, all these he learns and knows by heart ; his lips repeat them ; his mind examines them ; his gaze pene- trates them through and through, (v) Strenuous is he to put away wrong states of consciousness and tO' develop such states as are right, — always striving, always sturdy in endeavour, always resolute in states of consciousness which are right. (vi) Retentive of memory is he, with a richly stored memory that recol- lects and recalls both the doings and the sayings of long ago. (vii) Lore is his, the lore which embraces life's ebb and flow, the noble, penetrating lore which leads on to the utter cessation of all 111. — That is how he is established in the seven virtuous qualities.
And how is he able at will to induce the Four Ecstasies ? — Why, by divesting himself of pleasures of sense, by divesting himself of wrong states of con-
M. i. 357. HOW TO BECOME AN ADEPT. 257
sciousness, so that he enters on, and abides in, the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from obser- vation and reflection ; by rising above observation and reflection, so that he enters on, and abides in, the Second Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of rapt concentration — above all observation and reflection — whereby the heart is focussed and tranquillity reigns within. And so on to the Third and Fourth Ecstasies. — That is how the disciple of the Noble is able at will — without difficulty or trouble — to induce the Four Ecstasies which transcend thought and confer well-being here and now.
The disciple of the Noble who has achieved this much [357] is said to be in training to become an adept whose development is assured, who is able to win forth, able to reach enlightenment, able to attain to the peace beyond compare. It is just like a hen with a clutch of eight, ten, or a dozen eggs, on which she sits closely to keep them warm and hatch them out. Even though no wish arises within her that her chicks with beak or claw may break through the shell and come out all right, yet they are quite able to break through their shells and win forth all right. Even so the disciple of the Noble who has achieved . . . peace beyond compare.
Having won that perfection of poise and mindfulness (which the Fourth Ecstasy brings), the disciple of the Noble calls to mind his previous existences — a single birth, then two . . . (etc., as in Sutta No. 4) . . . in all their details and features. — This is the first way in which, like the chick from the shell, he wins forth.
Having won that perfection of poise and mindfulness (which the Fourth Ecstasy brings), the disciple of the Noble, with the Eye Celestial which is pure and far surpasses the human eye, sees beings in the act of passing hence and re-appearing elsewhere . . . (etc., as in Sutta No. 4) . . . in states of bliss in heaven. — This is the second way in which, like the chick from the shell, he wins forth.
17
258 LIII. SEKHA-SUTTA. M. i. 358.
Having won that perfection of poise and mindfulness (which the Fourth Ecstasy brings), the disciple of the Noble, by eradicating the Cankers, comes to the Deliverance of heart and mind in which no Cankers are ; here and now he enters on, and abides in, a Deliverance which of and by himself he has discerned and realized. [358] — This is the third way in which, like the chick from the shell, he wins forth.
His conduct shows that the disciple of the Noble is virtuous, keeps watch and ward over the portals of sense, is temperate in eating, is vigilant, is established in the seven virtuous qualities, and is able at will — — without difficulty or trouble — to induce the Four Ecstasies which transcend thought and confer well- being here and now.
His lore shows that the disciple of the Noble can recall to mind his own previous existences, can read with the Eye Celestial the future destinies of beings in act to pass hence and re-appear elsewhere, and has won for himself Deliverance of heart and mind by eradicating the Cankers.
A disciple of the Noble who has achieved all this is said to be endowed with lore, with conduct, and with the conduct that flows from lore.
It was a Brahma named the Ever-young^ who was the author of these lines —
Witk such as prize descent, the Nobleman
stands first ; first place ''mong gods and men is his
who walks in virtue and excels i?i lore.
Now these lines, Mahanama, were rightly and not wrongly sung and uttered by that Brahma the Ever- young ; full of meaning and not empty are they ; and the Lord has approved them.
Here, the Lord rose and commended what Ananda
^ For Sanankumara (interpreted here by Bu. as por- anaka, of old) see Dialogues I, 121 and III, 93. In the verses (which occur in each of the three other Nikayas) the possible substitution of khattiyo for brahmano would account for this reversion of normal brahminical doctrine and g a t h a s .
M.i. 359- TRUE RETIREMENT. 259
had told these Sakyans of Kapilavatthu concerning training.
[359] Thus spoke the reverend Ananda with the Master's approval. Glad at heart, those Sakyans of Kapilavatthu rejoiced in what Ananda had said.
LIV. POTALIYA-SUTTA.
TRUE RETIREMENT.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying in the Anga country across the river where there is a township named Apana, he went early in the day, duly robed and bowl in hand, into town for alms ; and, after his meal, on his way back from his round, went into a wood to rest under a tree during the heat of the day. Thither too, in the course of his walk, came the householder Potaliya, in full attire of long tunic and long cloak, with umbrella and sandals ; and after courteous greetings stood to one side. As he stood there, the Lord said to him : — There is sitting room, householder ; be seated, if you will. Indignant and angry at being styled a householder, Potaliya made no answer ; nor did he answer when the Lord repeated his invitation. But when so invited by the Lord for the third time, the indignant and angry Pota- liya rejoined that [360] it was neither seemly nor proper to address him thus.
Well, householder, you have all the indications and characteristics and marks of a householder.
But, Gotama, I have retired and given over.
How have you managed that, householder ?
Why, I have handed over to my sons as their inheritance all my wealth and substance, all my gold and coins of silver, — in connexion with which I no longer issue orders what to do and what not to do, but get just my food and clothing. That is how I have retired and given over.
There is a difference, householder, between what
26o LIV. POTALIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 361.
you call giving over and the giving-up under the Law of the Noble.
What, pray, is that giving-up ? — Will the Lord be so good as to expound it to me ?
Hearken, then, householder, and pay attention ; and I will tell you, — said the Lord, who then spoke as follows to the listening Potaliya : —
In the Law of the Noble, there are eight states of consciousness which conduce to giving up according to the Law of the Noble ; and these are the eight : — All killing should be banned by holding life sacred ; theft should be banned by never taking what is not a free gift ; lying should be banned by strict adherence to truthfulness ; calumny should be banned by never stooping to calumniate ; covetise should be banned by uncovetousness ; taunts should be banned by never taunting ; angry rage should be banned by placidity ; and arrogance should be banned by humility. Such, briefly and without detailed exposition, are the eight states conducing to this giving up.
Would you, sir, be so good as to expound these in detail ?
Hearken then, householder, and pay attention ; and I will tell you, — said the Lord, who then spoke as follows to the listening Potaliya : —
[361] When I said that all killing should be banned by holding life sacred, I meant this, namely that the disciple of the Noble reflects that, as his life now aims at putting from him and renouncing those Fetters which might lead him to take away life, he would — were he now to take life — not only stand self- condemned but would be censured by men of intelli- gence, and must also, at the body's dissolution after death, look to pass hereafter to a state of woe for his guilt. Killing is a Fetter ; killing is an Obstacle ; but he whose hands are innocent of blood, thereby escapes all the destroying and consuming Cankers which blood- guilt would entail. — That is what I meant by saying all killing should be banned by holding life sacred. And what is true of innocence of blood is likewise true
M. 1. 362. TRUE RETIREMENT. 26 1
in all respects of the other seven states of conscious- ness [362/3].
[364] These then, householder, are, in detailed exposition, the eight states of consciousness, at first only briefly indicated by me, which, in the Law of the Noble, conduce to giving up. But, in themselves alone they do not make up the plenitude of universal giving- up, according to the Law of the Noble.
What does make up that plenitude of universal giving-up according to the Law of the Noble ? Would the Lord please explain this ?
Hearken then, householder, and pay attention ; and I will tell you, — said the Lord, who then spoke as follows to the listening Potaliya : —
1. It is just as if a famished, starveling dog were to make his way to a slaughter-house and the butcher were there to fling him a bare bone, — scraped and scraped till it was quite clean, without a scrap of meat on it and with only the merest trace of blood left. Would that dog be able therewith to allay the pangs of his hunger ? — No, sir ; not with a bare bone like that, toil and moil as he may. — Just in the same way the disciple of the Noble reflects that to a bare bone his Lord has likened pleasures of sense with all their present discomforts and tribulation and with worse to follow. W^hen he has seen and realized this in its full truth, then he sheds any equanimity which is scattered and diffused and develops only that real poise which is one-centred and concentrated, wherein all attach- ments to material things of the world cease for ever and none remain.
2. It is just as if a vulture or heron or kite were to fly up with a lump of meat and other vultures and herons and kites were to keep on attacking it to tear and rend it. How think you, householder? If the bird does not promptly let go the meat, will it not be the death of him or deadly hurt to him ? — Yes, sir. — Just in the same way the disciple of the Noble reflects that to a lump of meat his Lord has likened pleasures of sense . . . [365] and none remain.
262 LIV. POTALIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 366.
3. It is just as if a man were to carry a blazing hay- torch against the wind. How think you, householder ? If he does not very quickly drop it, will the flame not burn either his hand or his arm or one of his members and so bring him death or deadly hurt ? — Yes, sir. — Just in the same way the disciple of the Noble reflects that to a hay-torch his Lord has likened pleasures of sense . . . and none remain.
4. It is just as if there were a pit, a man's height deep, filled with white-hot embers showing neither flame nor smoke ; and a man came along who was fond of life and did not want to die, being fond of pleasure and averse from pain ; and as if two stalwart men each took him by an arm and dragged him towards the embers. How think you, householder? Would not the man twist and turn his body now this way, now that ? — Yes, sir ; because he would realize he would be cast into the pit of embers and there would come by his death or deadly hurt. — Just in the same way the disciple of the Noble reflects that to a pit of embers his Lord has likened pleasures of sense . . . and none remain.
5. It is just as if in a dream a man were to behold delightful pleasaunces, delightful woodlands, delightful prospects, and delightful lakes, none of which he could see when he awoke. Just in the same way the disciple of the Noble reflects that to a dream his Lord has likened pleasures of sense . . . and none remain.
6. It is just as if, having besought the loan of other people s wealth — [366] a smart carriage and rare jewels and ear-rings — , a man were to appear in all this bor- rowed splendour and bravery in the bazaar, making folk say he must be a wealthy man, for wealthy men employ their wealth like that ; and then the veritable owners were to take back their property from him when and where they met him. How think you, householder ? Would the fellow have had enough of change of state ? — Yes, sir ; for the owners would have taken their property away from him. — Just in the same way the disciple of the Noble reflects that to a loan his
M. i. 367. TRUE RETIREMENT. 26
O
Lord has likened pleasures of sense . . . and none remain.
7. It is just as if there were a wood near a village or township and in it a tree laden with ripe and ripen- ing fruit but with no fallen fruit on the ground beneath ; and a man came along who, being in need, search, and quest of fruit, should enter the wood, and see that loaded tree with no fruit on the ground beneath, and bethink him that he could climb trees and so might eat his fill and also stuff his pouch ; and if, when he had done so, a second man, coming on a like errand to the same tree with a sharp axe, were to bethink him that, though he could not climb, he might fell the tree and so eat his fill and also stuff his pouch. How think you, householder? Would the man up the tree climb down very quickly lest in its fall the tree should crush his hand or foot or other member, with [367] consequent death to him or deadly hurt ? — Yes, sir. — Just in the same way the disciple of the Noble reflects that to fruit hanging on a tree his Lord has likened pleasures of sense . . . and none remain.
Arrived now at this perfection of mindfulness and poise, the disciple of the Noble recalls to mind his divers existences in the past, — a single birth, then two . . . (etc. as in Sutta No. 4) ... in all their details and features.
Arrived now at this perfection of mindfulness and poise, the disciple of the Noble, with the Eye Celestial which far surpasses the human eye, sees beings in the act of passing hence and re-appearing elsewhere . . . (etc. as in Sutta No. 4) ... in states of bliss in heaven.
Arrived now at this perfection of mindfulness and poise, the disciple of the Noble, by eradicating the Cankers, here and now, enters into, and abides in, the Deliverance of heart and mind, which knows no Cankers, and which, for and by himself, he has discerned and realized.
And thus, householder, there comes about the pleni- tude of universal giving-up, according to the Law of the Noble. — Do you detect this in your own case ?
264 LIV. POTALIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 368.
Who am I, sir, by the side of this plenitude of universal giving-up, according to the Law of the Noble? Far, far am I from that! Hitherto, sir, I had imagined that the Wanderers of other creeds, inferior though they are, were superior ; I fed them, inferior though they are, on superior food ; and set them, inferior though they are, in the superior place. Hitherto, I had imagined that the superiors were inferior ; fed them, superior though they are, on inferior food ; and set them, superior though they are, in the inferior place. But now, sir, I shall recognize [368] that the Wanderers of other creeds are the inferiors which they are ; I will feed them, as being inferiors, on inferior food ; and I will set them, as being inferiors, in the inferior place. The Almsmen, on the other hand, I shall now recognize as the superiors which they are ; I will feed them, as superiors, on superior food ; and I will set them, as superiors, in the superior place. The Lord has inspired me with love for the Recluses, with belief in the Recluses, and with reverence for the Recluses. Excellent, sir; excellent! Just as a man might set upright again what had been cast down, or reveal what w^as hidden away, or tell a man who had gone astray which was his way, or bring a lamp into darkness so that those with eyes to see might see the things about them, — even so, in many a figure, has the Lord made his Doctrine clear. I come to the Lord as my refuge, and to his Doctrine, and to his Confra- ternity. I ask the Lord to accept me as a follower who has found an abiding refuge from this day onward while life lasts.
JIVAKA-SUTTA.
LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL MEATS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was stay- ing at Rajagaha in the mango-grove of Jivaka Komarabhacca, Jivaka came to the Lord and, after salutations, took his seat at one side, saying : — I hear
M. i. 369. LAWFUL AND UNLAWFUL MEATS. 265
it is being said, sir, that people slay animals expressly for the recluse Gotama, who wittingly eats meat expressly meant for him and deliberately provided for him. Now, in so saying, are people accurately quoting the Lord's own words and not misrepresenting him ? Are they stating what is congruent with the Doctrine ? And is there no plausible version of your utterance which provokes criticism ?
[369] Those who talk like that are not accurately quoting words of mine, Jivaka, but are wrongfully misrepresenting me in defiance of fact. I forbid the eating of meat in three cases, — if there is the evidence either of your eyes or of your ears or if there are grounds of suspicion. And in three cases I allow it, — if there is no evidence either of your eyes or of your ears and if there be no grounds of suspicion.
Take the case, Jivaka, of an Almsman, supported by a village or a township, who dwells with radiant goodwill pervading one quarter of the world — a second — a third — and then the fourth quarter, pervading the whole length and breadth of the world — above, below, around, everywhere — with radiant goodwill all- embracing, vast, boundless, wherein no hate or malice finds a place. To this Almsman comes a householder or his son with an invitation to to-morrow's meal. If he so desires, the Almsman accepts, and next morning, when the night is over, duly robed and bowl in hand, he makes his way to the house, takes the seat set for him, and is served with an excellent meal. No thought comes to him that he could have wished his host either to desist now, or to desist in future, from furnishing so excellent a meal ; he eats his food with- out greed or blind desire but with a full consciousness of the dangers it involves and with full knowledge that it affords no refuge. Do you think that at such a time that Almsman's thoughts are set on hurting himself, or others, or both ?
No, sir.
Is not that Almsman then eating food to which no blame attaches .'*
266 LV. JIVAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 370.
Yes, sir. I had heard that Brahma's state is one of good-will, and now I have direct testimony of my own ; — for the Lord's state is one of good-will.
In the truth-finder all passion, [370] all hatred, and all delusion that could breed hurtfulness have all been grubbed up by the roots, like the cleared site where once a palm-tree grew, a thing that once has been and now can be no more. If this was the purport of your remark, Jivaka, I agree.
Yes, sir ; that was what I meant.
Take the case of an Almsman, supported by a village or a township, who dwells with radiant pity — sympathy — poised equanimity — pervading one quarter of the world — a second — . . . food to which no blame attaches ?
Yes, sir. I have heard that Brahma's state is one of poise. I have the testimony of my own eyes for the Lord that his state is one of poise.
In the truth-finder all passion, all hatred, and all delusion which could breed annoyance or dislikes or aversions have all been grubbed up ... I agree.
[371] Yes, sir ; that was what I meant.
Whoso takes life expressly for the truth-finder or for a disciple of his, is storing up much demerit for himself in five respects. First, in that he orders a particular living creature to be fetched. Secondly, in that this living creature, by being fetched, experiences pain of mind and body. Thirdly, in that he orders it to be killed. Fourthly, in that, in being killed, that living creature experiences pain of mind and body. And fifthly, in that he offends the truth-finder or a disciple of his by offering him what is improper.
Hereupon, Jivaka Komarabhacca said : It is won- derful, sir ; it is marvellous ! Strictly correct is the Almsman's eating, strictly correct and blameless. Excellent, sir; excellent! Just as a man might set upright again what had been cast down .• . . I ask the Lord to accept me as a follower who has found an abiding refuge from this day onward while life lasts.
LVI. UPALI-SUTTA.
A JAIN'S CONVERSION.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Nalanda in Pavarika's mango-grove, Nata- putta the Nigantha was at Nalanda with a great fol- lowing of Niganthas.
After his round for alms in the city, the Nigantha Digha Tapassi, having finished his meal, betook him to the grove where the Lord was, [372] and there after courteous greetings stood to one side. As he stood, the Lord said to him : — There is sitting room, Tapassi; be seated, if you will. So the Nigantha sat down on a low seat and was addressed by the Lord as follows : —
How many kinds of acts, Tapassi, effect and start Demerit, according to Nataputta the Nigantha ?
It is not his usage, Gotama, to employ the term acts ; he speaks of inflictions (danda^).
How many kinds of inflictions, according to him, effect and start Demerit ?
Three, Gotama, — those of deed, word, and mind.
Are these three distinct each from the other two ?
Yes.
Which of the three kinds in this classification does Nataputta declare to be the most criminal in effecting and starting Demerit ?
Those of deed, — the other two being less criminal.
Those of deed you say, Tapassi ? — Yes.
Those of deed you say ? — Yes.
Those of deed you say ? — Yes.
^ Lit. stick, and so penalty. At S.B.E. XLV, pp. xvi-xvii, Jacobi suggests sins, while Jaini at p. xxxi of Outlines speaks of hurtful acts. Bu. here says the Jain idea was that citta (the mano- danda) did not come into bodily acts or into words, — which were irresponsible and mechanical, like the stirring and soughing of boughs in the wind.
267
268 LVI. UPALI-SUTTA. M. i. 373-
In this wise did the Lord three times pin the Nigantha down to the issue.
[373] At this point Digha TapassI the Nigantha said to the Lord : — And how many kinds of inflictions, according to you, Gotama, effect and start Demerit ?
It is not the Truth-finder's usage, TapassI, to em- ploy the term inflictions ; he speaks of acts.
How many kinds of acts, according to you, effect and start Demerit ?
Three, TapassI, — those of deed, word, and mind.
Are these three distinct each from the other two ?
Yes.
Which of the three kinds in this classification do you declare to be the most criminal, Gotama, in effecting and starting Demerit ?
Those of mind, — the other two being less criminal.
Those of mind you say, Gotama ? — Yes.
Those of mind you say ? — Yes.
Those of mind you say i* — Yes.
In this wise did Digha TapassI the Nigantha pin the Lord down to the issue. Then he rose up and went off to Nataputta the Nigantha, who was sitting among a large gathering of lay-folk from the village of Balaka (noodle) with Upali at their head. When Nataputta saw Digha TapassI a little way off, he asked where he had come from in the heat of the day and was told he had been with the recluse Gotama. Asking next whether he had had a talk with him, [374] and learning that he had, Nataputta enquired what had been their topic. On being told the whole conversation, Nata- putta said : — Quite right, TapassI ; quite right. You answered Gotama like a well-informed disciple who understands his master's teachings. For, what show can mind's infliction make as compared with the stupendous inflictions of deed ? Yes ; the inflictions of deed are the most criminal in effecting and starting Demerit, — those of word and mind being less criminal I
Said the householder Upali at this point : — Quite right, TapassI ; quite right. You answered Gotama like a well-informed disciple . . . less criminal. And
M. i. 375. A JAIN's conversion. 269
now I am off to refute Gotama on this issue. If he takes his stand with me on the lines taken up by him with the right reverend TapassI, then, point by point, will 1 shake him to and fro and haul him about . . . (etc., as in Sutta No. 35) . . . [375] so will I disport myself with the recluse Gotama. I am off to refute him on this issue.
Go then, householder, and refute him on the issue. — I or Digha TapassI or you can do that.
Said TapassI at this point : — I do not like Upali's going to refute Gotama, who is a cozening person, expert in seducing others' disciples over to himself.
It is quite impossible and inconceivable, Tapassi, that Upali should go over to be a disciple of Gotama ; what is possible is that Gotama will come over to be a disciple of Upali ! Go then, householder, and refute him on the issue. — I or Digha Tapassi or you can do that.
A second time, and even a third time did Tapassi remonstrate, — only to be met by the same rejoinder from Nataputta.
Yes, sir, I will go and refute him, said the house- holder Upali, as he rose from his seat, with salutations and profound obeisance to Nataputta the Nigantha, to betake himself to the Lord in Pavarika's mango-grove. [376j Arrived there, he made his salutations to the Lord and took his seat to one side, enquiring whether Digha TapassI the Nigantha had been there, and whether he had had a talk, and what it had been about. Having been told by the Lord all that had passed between them, Upali said : — TapassI, sir, was right, quite right. His answer to the Lord was that of a well-informed disciple who understands his master's teachings. For, what show can mind's infliction make as compared with the stupendous in- flictions of deed ? Yes ; the inflictions of deed are the most criminal in effecting and starting Demerit, — those of word and mind being less criminal !
If, householder, you were to speak as one grounded in the Truth, we might have a talk about it.
270 LVI. UPALI-SUTTA. M. i. 377-
I will speak as one grounded in the Truth, sir ; let us have a talk about it.
What think you, householder? Take the case of a Nigantha who, being sick and ill, very ill indeed, refuses cold water ^ and will only take warm water, so that he dies in the act of refusing to touch cold water. Where, according to Nataputta the Nigantha, will he be reborn next ?
There are gods, sir, called Mind's devotees ; and it is among these that he is reborn. And why i^ — Because he dies in devotion to an idea.
Householder! householder! Take heed what you are saying. What went before does not tally with what comes later, nor does what comes later tally with what went before. And yet you represented you could speak as one grounded in the Truth and able to dis- cuss it.
Albeit the Lord says this, yet the inflictions of deed a7^e the most criminal in effecting and starting Demerit, — those of word and mind being less criminal.
What think you, [377] householder i^ — Take the case of a Nigantha who, being restrained with the restraint of the fourfold check, resists evil with every form of resistance, is absorbed in resisting evil, has shaken off evil by resistance, and is instinct with the spirit of resistance to evil. Suppose now that, in going out or in coming in, he destroys the lives of numerous tiny creatures. What, according to Nataputta, is the result to which this ripens ?
He says it is unintentional and therefore not criminal.
But if it be intentional ?
Then it is criminal indeed.
Where does Nataputta classify intention ?
In inflictions of mind.
Householder! Householder! . . . being less criminal.
^ The Jains do not drink cold water because of the j i v a s, or souls in it. See Dial, i, 74-5 for this and for what follows. Bu. explains sabba-vari-varito here not only with reference to cold water, but also (alternatively) as sabbena papa- varanena, which is adopted in the translation infra.
M. i. 378. A JAINS CONVERSION. 27 1
What think you, householder? — Is this city of Nalanda rich and wealthy, populous and crowded with folk?
Yes, sir, it is.
What think you, householder ? Suppose there came a man with a drawn sword who declared that he would — in an instant, in a second — make all Nalanda's living beings into one heap and one mass of flesh. Could he do it ?
Why, ten, or twenty, or thirty, or forty, or fifty men could not do it. What kind of a show could one sorry individual make alone ?
What think you, householder ? Suppose there came along a recluse or brahmin of super-normal powers and psychic attainments who said he would make Nalanda into a cinder by a single paroxysm of mental wrath. Could he do it ?
[378] Yes, — ten, twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty Nalandas. What kind of a show could one sorry Nalanda make alone?
Householder ! Householder ! . . . being less criminal.
What think you, householder? Have you ever heard tell who made the wildernesses of Dandaka and Kalinga and Mejjha and Matanga ?
I have heard it was done by sages' paroxysms of mental wrath.
Householder ! Householder ! Take heed what you are saying. What went before does not tally with what comes later, nor does what comes later tally with what went before. And yet you represented you could speak as one grounded in the Truth and able to dis- cuss it.
I was pleased and won over by the very first of the Lord's illustrations ; it was only because I wanted to listen to his nimble versatility in questioning that I thought I must maintain a hostile attitude. Wonderful, sir ; wonderful ! Just as a man might set upright again what had been cast down . . . [379] while life lasts.
Proceed circumspectly, householder ; it behoves well-known men like yourself to be circumspect.
272 LVI. UPALI-SUTTA. M. i. 380.
Still more am I pleased and won over by the Lord's last remark. For, if those of other creeds had secured me as an adherent, they would keep on parading their banner round Nalanda to announce that I had joined them. But all the Lord does is to counsel me to proceed circumspectly, as it behoves well-known men like myself to be circumspect ! For the second time I betake myself to the Lord as my refuge and to his Doctrine and to his Confraternity, asking him to accept me as a follower who has found an abiding refuge from this day onward while life lasts.
For a long time, householder, your family has been an unfailing well-spring for Niganthas; you will bethink you to continue your alms to them when they come to your doors.
Still more am I pleased and won over by the Lord's last remark. What I had heard was that you had laid it down that gifts were to be given exclusively to you and your disciples but never to others and their disciples, and that, while there was an abundant blessing on what was bestowed on you and yours, no blessing on what was bestowed elsewhere. Yet, now the Lord is urging me to include the Niganthas as well in my bounty, — a matter in which I shall observe the proper occasion. For the third time I betake myself . . . while life lasts.
Then the Lord delivered a progressive discourse to Upali, namely, on giving, on virtue, on heaven, on the perils of vanity and foulness of pleasures of sense, and on the gains to be won by renouncing worldly things. As soon as the Lord recognized Upali's heart to have become [380] sound and malleable and free from the Hindrances, uplifted and believing, then he unfolded the exposition of the Doctrine which only the En- lightened have elaborated, — regarding 111 and its origin and its cessation and the Path. Just as spotless cloth without speck or stain will readily take the dye, even so, while he was sitting there, did the house- holder Upali come by the pure and spotless Eye of Truth so that he realized how whatsoever has a
M. 1. 38i. A JAIN's conversion. 273
beginning must have an end. When that he had thus seen, won, grasped, and penetrated the Doctrine, when he had passed beyond all doubt and had left all questionings behind him, when certitude was his and a direct personal conviction in the Master's teachings, — Upali said to the Lord that now he must be going, as he had much to do and attend to.
At your own good time, answered the Lord.
Then with grateful thanks to the Lord, Upali rose, saluted him, and with profound obeisance betook him- self to his own abode. Arrived there, he said to the porter : — From to-day onward I close my doors to male and female Niganthas ; they are open only to men and women who are the Lord's disciples or lay- followers. If any Nigantha comes here, stop him and don't let him in, but tell him that I have from to-day gone over to be a follower of the recluse Gotama ; that I have closed my doors to male and female Niganthas ; that my doors are open only to men and women who are the Lord's disciples or lay-followers ; and that, if he wants alms, he should stop where he is and it will be brought to him.
Very good, sir, replied the porter to his master Upali.
When it reached the ears of the Nigantha Digha TapassI that Upali had gone over to be a follower of the recluse Gotama, away he went to Nataputta with the news.
It is quite impossible, TapassI, said Nataputta, that this could happen ; what is possible is for the recluse Gotama to go over to be a disciple of the householder Upali.
[381] A second time, and yet a third time, did TapassI report the fact, only to be scouted as before by Nataputta. Shall I go, sir, said TapassI, and ascertain for myself whether or no Upali has gone over ?
Yes, do, said Nataputta.
So Tapassi betook him to Upali's abode. Seeing him coming some way off, Upali's porter stopped him and would not let him in, telling that his master had
274 LVI. UPALI-SUTTA. M. i. 382.
from to-day gone over to be a follower of the recluse Gotama ; that he had closed his doors to male and female Niganthas; that his doors were open only to men and women who were the Lord's disciples or lay- followers ; but that, if Tapassi wanted alms, he should stop where he was and food would be brought to him.
No, sir ; I do not want alms, rejoined Tapassi, who then turned back to Naiaputta and reported that as follows : — It is quite true, sir, that Upali has gone over to Gotama. I told you I did not like the idea of Upali's going to refute Gotama— who is a cozening person, expert in seducing others' disciples over to himself, and has indeed succeeded with Upali.
It is quite impossible and inconceivable, Tapassi, that Upali should go over to be a disciple of Gotama ; what is possible is that Gotama will come over to be a disciple of Upali.
A second time, and yet a third time, did Tapassi repeat his statement, only to be answered as before by Nataputta, [382] — who at last added that he would go and ascertain for himself whether or no Upali had gone over.
Hereupon^ Nataputta betook him with a large train of Niganthas to Upali's abode. Seeing him coming some way off, Upali's porter . . . food would be brought him.
My good porter, go to the householder Upali and tell him that Nataputta the Nigantha with a large train of Niganthas is standing in the gateway to see him.
Yes, sir, said the porter and took the message to his master, who directed him to put seats in the hall by the middle door of the house. When this had been duly done and reported to him, Upali [383] proceeded to that hall and sat himself on the finest, best, and choicest seat there, telling the porter now to tell Nata- putta he could come in if he wanted to. This message having been faithfully conveyed to him, Nataputta made his way into the hall with his large train of Niganthas. As he saw Nataputta advancing, the
M. i. 384. A JAINS CONVERSION. 275
householder Upali went to meet him and invite him to be seated, ostentatiously dusting with his robe the finest, best, and choicest seat, and then promptly sitting down on it himself — as he said to Nataputta : There are seats available, sir ; be seated, if you will.
Hereon Nataputta said to Upali : — You are a dolt and a dullard, householder. After proclaiming that you would go and refute the recluse Gotama, you retired from the encounter in great discomfiture. When you sallied forth you were going to refute Gotama and to return triumphant like a gelder who successfully returns with a pair of testicles removed or the gouger who returns with a pair of eyeballs excised ; — instead of which you retire from the encounter in great discomfiture yourself, cozened by Gotama's wizardry.
Excellent, sir, and lovely is that wizardry of his ! Were my dear kith and kin but cozened by that same wizardry, it would be to their abiding weal and welfare too! If all Nobles were so cozened, it would be to their abiding [384] weal and welfare too, — as also it would be for all brahmins and middle-class men and peasants too, yea for all the world, with its gods, Maras, Brahmas, recluses and brahmins, embracing all gods and mankind I Accordingly, I will give you an illustration ; for, an illustration often helps an intelligent person to understand the meaning of what is said.
Once on a time, sir, there was an old and aged brahmin, well advanced in years, who had a young brahmin wife who was with child and nearing her confinement. She besought her husband to buy in the bazaar, and bring home, a young monkey to amuse her child.
You had better wait, my dear, replied the brahmin, till your baby has been born. Then, if it is a boy, I will buy you a young male monkey for him to play with, or a young female monkey, if you have a girl.
A second time the wife pressed her request and a second time got the same answer from her husband. But when she asked him a third time, he, because of
276 LVI. UPALI-SUTTA. M. i. 385.
his passion for his young wife, went away to the bazaar and bought a young male monkey which [385] he presented to his wife for her baby boy to play with.
Now go, said she, to Ratta-pani the dyer and tell him you want this young monkey dyed a bright yellow, thoroughly pressed all over, and suppled both inside and out.
Because of his passion for his young wife, the brahmin took the monkey to the dyer's and asked that all this should be done, — only to receive the answer that, though the monkey could be dyed, it could not stand being pressed and suppled. — It is just the same, sir, with the doctrine of the foolish Niganthas, which will take colour from fools though not from the wise, but will not stand practice or suppling. — Later on, sir, that same brahmin came to that dyer with a couple of lengths of new cloth to be dyed a bright yellow, thoroughly pressed all over, and suppled both inside and out. And the dyer told him that his new cloth could not only be dyed but also pressed and suppled inside and out. — It is just the same, sir, with the Doctrine of the Lord, Arahat all-enlightened, which will not only take colour — from the wise, though not from fools — but will also stand practice and suppling.
Householder, this gathering, including the rulers present, was under the impression you were a follower of Nataputta the Nigantha. Whose follower are we to consider you ?
At these words the householder Upali arose from his seat and, with his outer robe over one shoulder and the other bared, [386] stretched forth folded palms of obeisance in the direction where the Lord was, and said to Nataputta the Nigantha : — Hear then whose follower I am !
I follow him, high Wisdoms faultless lord, whose mind is tiird, triumphant o''er his foes, purged of besetting III, stedfast in poise, in virtue stablished, wisest of the wise, trampling down passion. Lord immaculate.
M. i. 386. A JAIN's CONVERSION. 277
I follow him, whose tranquil mind serene, by doubts untroubled, earthly joys disdains, saintly and sainted, human, Tnade like men, yet peerless, Lor d of utter purity .
I follow him, the certain guide and sure^ foremost of teachers, matchless charioteer, pride s potent que Her, Victor^ Lord of all,
I follow him of boundless might, profound in insight, banging peace, in lore adept, selfmasterd^ freedom's Lord emancipate,
I follow him, who lives aloof, alone, whose bonds a7^e broken, who in freedom dwells^ erf^ors refuter, spotless, meek, unstained by passion. Lord of high self-mastery,
I follow him, of seven Sages last} Being consummate,, vef^sed in threefold lore, thought's schooled accomplished master absolute, the potent Lord who storms the citadel?'
I follow him whose noble culture won perfection, truth's exponent, quick to see and store, — eschewing pleasure^ not its thrall, the Lord beyond all cravings, passion-free,
I follow him, the blameless, rapt in thought, whose undefiled heart no t^^ammels knows nor bondage, void of littleness, detaclid, consummate Lord who o'er the Flood has passed and pilots in his train mankind across.
I follow him, th' unshackled,^ infinite in wisdom, covetous of naught, who comes to bless, Truth-finder without peer, the sole and peerless. Lord of subtle 7nind abstruse.
I follow him of all- enlighten d mind, from cravings cleansed,, unclouded^ clear ^ undimmed,
^ See list of the seven Buddhas in the 14th Sutta of the Digha Nikaya {J)ial. II, 2-7). This pioneer list was amplified later {Jataka I, 44) by inventing eighteen extra predecessors for Gotama, so that he became the twenty-fifth. The Jain Mahavira had twenty-three predecessors.
2 I.e. Indra or Sakka. The Buddhist commy. interprets this as Sakka who gave gifts in one earlier existence after another. Cf. Burlinghame's Buddhist Legends, Part I, p. 3^4*
278 LVII. KUKKURA-VATIKA-SUTTA. A', i. 387.
of meet oblations worthy^ chief of men ^ t/i tiJiequaird Lord of 1720/ e sty supreme.
Pray, when, householder, did you compose this eulogy of the recluse Gotama ?
Like [387] a vast heap of divers flowers, sir, from which a skilled garland-maker or his apprentice might weave a garland manifold, — even so in the Lord there is full many a beauty, yes, many hundreds of beauties, to praise. Who will refuse praise where praise is due ?
Then and there, from the mouth of Nataputta the Nigantha, who could riot bear to hear the Lord ex- tolled,— there gushed hot blood. ^
LVIL KUKKURA-VATIKA-SUTTA.
OF EMULATING DOGS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying among the Kojiyas — Halidda-vasana is the name of a township of theirs — there came to him Punna KoHyaputta who was a Bovine,^ and Seniya, a naked ascetic (acela) who was a Canine. Punna, after saluting the Lord, took a seat to one side, while Seniya, after greetings of courtesy and civility, squatted down like a dog. Said Purina to the Lord : — this naked ascetic Seniya the Canine has set himself an austere task ; he subsists by scavenging, and has for a long time punctually discharged the vows of his
^ Lit. a yakkha (or fairy) worthy to receive oblations, — the term yakkha being applied to Gotama here as it is applied to the great Sakka in Sutta No. 37.
^ Here, as elsewhere, the Buddhist Canon makes Nataputta predecease Gotama. These symptoms, like those of the equally ascetic Devadatta, suggest rupture of the pulmonary blood- vessels. Bu. says here that Nataputta was carried away on a litter to Pava, where he died shortly afterwards.
^ To support his bovine character, says Bu., he wore horns and a tail and affected to browse on grass. See Dhammasangani translation, p. 261.
M. i. 388. OF EMULATING DOGS. 279
Canine vocation. What future state and what destiny- await him ?
Stop, Punna ; proceed no further ; question me not hereon.
A second time and yet a third time Punna repeated his enquiry, receiving the third time this answer from the Lord : — Though I told you I disapproved and asked you to stop and proceed no further with your enquiry, yet I will tell you the answer. If, Punna, a man fully and completely develops the dog's habits, the dog's principles of conduct, the dog's mind and [388] the dog's behaviour, then at the body's dissolu- tion after death he will pass to be with dogs thereafter. But, if he holds the view that by such principles or practices or austerities or higher life he will become a greater or a lesser god, then he holds a false view : and I say that the man of false views has before him one of two future states, — namely purgatory or rebirth as an animal. If he is lucky, he becomes a dog ; if he is unlucky, he goes to purgatory.
At these words Seniya, the naked ascetic who was a Canine, burst into tears and wept. Then said the Lord to Punna : — I told you to stop and proceed no further with your enquiries.
Said Seniya : — It is not because the Lord spoke as he did concerning me that I weep. But oh! I have so long and so punctually discharged the vows of my Canine vocation ! Punna here, the Bovine, has for a long time punctually discharged his Bovine vows. What future state and what destiny await him ?
Said the Lord : — Stop, Seniya; proceed no further; question me not hereon.
A second time and yet a third time Seniya repeated his enquiry, receiving the third time this answer from the Lord : — Thoui^h I told you I disapproved and asked you to proceed no further with your enquiry, yet I will tell you the answer. If, Seniya, a man fully and completely develops the habits of kine, the principles of conduct of kine, the mind of kine and the behaviour
28o LVII. KUKKURA-VATIKA-SUTTA. M. i. 389.
of kine, then at the body's dissolution. . . . [389] kine, if he is unlucky, he goes to purgatory.
At these words Punna Koliyaputta the Bovine burst into tears and wept. Then said the Lord to Seniya : — I told you to stop and proceed no further with your enquiries.
Said Punna: — It is not because the Lord spoke as he did concerning me that I weep. But oh! I have so long and so punctually discharged the vows of my Bovine vocation ! I have faith in the Lord that he can so preach the Doctrine that I shall renounce my bovine practices and Seniya his canine practices.
Give ear then, Punna, and hearken ; and I will speak. Then to the listening Punna the Lord began : —
I affirm four kinds of actions (kamma) which I have independently discovered and proved. What are the four ? — There are (i) actions which are black, with black outcome, (ii) actions which are bright, with bright outcome, (iii) actions which are both black and bright, with both a black and a bright outcome, and (iv) actions which are neither black nor bright, with an outcome neither black nor bright, conducing to the destruction of karma (kamma).
(i) What action is black, with black outcome ? — Take a man who evolves a harmful complex of body, speech or thought and passes in consequence to a harmful realm where harmful impressions beset him, so that he experiences feelings of harm which are painful in the extreme, — as do beings [390] in purgatory. Thus, from the creature proceeds its own future state ; what it does determines what it passes to, and the impressions which then beset it. So I say creatures are the heirs of their own actions. — This is action which is black, with black outcome.
(ii) What action is bright, with bright outcome i^ — Take a man who evolves a harmless complex of body, speech or thought and passes in consequence to a harmless realm where harmless impressions beset him, so that he experiences feelings devoid of harm which
M. i. 391- OF EMULATING DOGS. 28 I
are pleasant in the extreme, — as do the Subha-Kinna gods. Thus from the creature proceeds . . . heirs of their own actions. — This is action which is bright, with bright outcome.
(iii) What action is both black and bright, with both a black and a bright outcome ? — Take a man who evolves complexes of body, speech, and thought which are both harmful and harmless, and passes in con- sequence to a realm at once harmful and harmless, where both harmful and harmless impressions beset him, so that he experiences mixed feelings, some harmful and some harmless, — as do human beings, some gods and some whose lot embraces suffering.-^ Thus from the creature proceeds . . . heirs of their own actions. — This is action which is both black and bright, with both a black and a bright outcome.
(iv) [391] Lastly, what action is neither black nor bright, with an outcome which is neither black nor bright, conducing to the destruction of Karma ? — In this case, it is the mental resolve to discard all action of the three foregoing types which is called action which is neither black nor bright, with an outcome which is neither black nor bright, conducing to the destruction of Karma.
Such, Punna, are the four types of action affirmed by me, which I have independently discerned and proved.
Hereupon, Punna the Bovine said to the Lord: — Wonderful, sir; wonderful! Just as . . . etc. down to . . . may the Lord accept me as a disciple from this day forth while life lasts.
And Seniya, the naked ascetic who was a Canine, said the same but ended by saying : — I come to the Lord as my refuge and to his Doctrine and to his confraternity. Be it mine to receive admission and confirmation as an Almsman with the Lord.
^ Bu. explains that the devas here referred to are earth's devatas, and that the vinipdtikas in question are the vemanika- petas.
282 LVII. KUKKURA-VATIKA-SUTTA. M. i. 392.
A former sectary of another school, Seniya, who seeks admission and confirmation in this Doctrine and Rule, first resides for four months, at the end of which four months proved Almsmen admit and confirm him as an Almsman. This is the distinction between persons which I recognize.
If, sir, former sectaries of other schools have first to undergo this four months' probation before their admis- sion here, then I will reside for four months, at the end of which period let proved Almsmen admit and confirm me as an Almsman.
So the naked ascetic Seniya the Canine was admitted and confirmed as an Almsman of the Lord. And not long after his confirmation the reverend Seniya, dwelling alone and aloof, strenuous, [392] ardent and purged of self, after no long time won that prize in quest of which young men go forth from home to homelessness as Pilgrims, that prize of prizes which crowns the higher life,— even this did he think out for himself, realize and attain, and in this did he dwell, convinced that for him rebirth was no more, that he had lived the highest life, thai his task was done, and that now for him there was no more of what he had been. So the reverend Seniya was numbered among the Arahats.
LVIII. ABHAYA-RAJAKUMARA-SUTTA.
OF CHOOSING ONE^S WORDS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Rajagaha in the Bamboo-grove where the squirrels are fed, Prince Abhaya went to Nataputta the Nigantha and after salutations took his seat to one side and was thus addressed by Nataputta: — Go, prince, and confute the recluse Gotama ; it will greatly redound to your credit and repute when people say that Prince Abhaya has confuted him, despite all his power and might.
M. i. 393- OF CHOOSING ONe's WORDS. 283
But how am I to do it ?
Go to him, prince, and ask hini this question : — Would a truth-finder say anything which would be displeasing and disagreeable to others ? If, on the one hand, he says yes, ask him how then he differs from the ordinary man, — who does say what is dis- pleasing and disagreeable to others. But if he says no, [393] then ask him how then it was that he declared Devadatta to be a reprobate, a child of perdition, doomed to purgatory for ages,^ and beyond all hope of redemption, — words which angered and upset Devadatta. This two-edged question which you will put to him, prince, is more than he will be able either to spew out or to swallow down. Just like a bar of iron fastened on a man's neck which he can neither spew out nor swallow down, even so will this two-edged question prove to the recluse Gotama ; he will not be able either to spew or to swallow it.
Yes, sir, said Prince Abhaya obediendy. Then, rising from his seat he took his leave reverently of Nataputta and betook him to the Lord, whom he saluted before taking his seat to one side. But when he was seated, a glance at the sun suggested to the prince that the hour was not well-timed for achieving his purpose that day and that he had better defer confuting the recluse Gotama till the morrow and under his own roof. So he invited the Lord with three others to a meal next day ; and when by his silence the Lord intimated his consent, the prince rose up and departed with a reverent leave-taking. At that night's close the Lord, duly robed and bowl in hand, made his way early to the prince's abode and sat down on the seat set for him. The prince provided an excellent meal of food both solid and soft, which he served with his own hands till the Lord had had his fill. The Lord's meal over and done. Prince Abhaya seated himself to one side on a lower seat and said : — Would a truth-finder, sir, say anything which would be displeasing and disagreeable to others ?
2 cf. Vinaya Texts III, 25^1.
284 LVIII. ABHAYA-RAJAKUMARA-SUTTA. M. i. 394.
This needs qualification, prince.
Then, sir, the Niganthas would be at fault.^
Why do you say that ?
[394] Well, sir, when I was sitting with Nataputta the Nigantha, he said to me : — Go, prince, and confute the recluse Gotama . . . (etc., as above) . . . Gotama will not be able either to spew or to swallow it.
Now at that time the prince was nursing his little boy, a babe who could not yet stand. Said the Lord: — What [395] think you, prince.'* If, from in- attention on your part or his nurse's, he were to get a stick or a pebble into his mouth, what would you do with him ?
I should remove it from him, sir. If I could not get it away at once, I should grasp his head with my left hand, crook a finger of my right hand and pull it out, — even if blood flowed. And why ? — Out of pity for the child.
Precisely in the same spirit, prince, the truth-finder never says anything which he knows to be false, untrue and unprofitable, and also displeasing and dis- agreeable to others ; never says anything which he knows to be a fact and true, but unprofitable and also displeasing and disagreeable to others ; but, should it be a fact and true and profitable, but also displeasing and disagreeable to others, then the truth-finder knows the due season to state it. He never says anything which he knows to be false, untrue and unprofitable, albeit pleasing and agreeable to others to hear ; never says anything which he knows to be a fact and true but unprofitable, albeit pleasing and agreeable to others to hear ; but, if it be a fact and true and profitable, while pleasing and agreeable to others to hear, then the truth-finder knows the due season when to state it. And why ? — Out of pity for creatures.
When, sir, learned scholars — who are Nobles or brahmins or heads of houses or recluses — come to the
1 So Bu. (nattha Nigantha). But the P.T.S. Diet, derives a n a s s u m (see sub v.) from anusuyati, in which case the meaning would be : That is what I heard from the Nigantha.
M i. 396. OF CHOOSING ONe's WORDS. 285
truth-finder with a question which they have elaborated, has the Lord previously reflected what their question will be and what his answer will be ? Or does he answer offhand ?
Then, prince, I will ask you a question in reply, for such answer as you may see fit to give. What think you ? Do you know all about the several parts of a chariot ?
Yes, sir ; I know all about that.
What think you, prince.^ If people come to ask you what a particular part is, have you previously reflected [396] what their question and your answer will be .'* Or would you answer oflliand ?
As a charioteer of repute, I am versed in all the parts of a chariot, and my answer would come to me off- hand.
Just in the same way, prince, when learned scholars come to the truth-finder with a question which they have elaborated, his answer comes to him offhand. And why ? Because, prince, I have plumbed that particular constituent of the Doctrine and because my answer therefore comes to me offhand.
Hereupon, Prince Abhaya said to the Lord : — Wonderful, sir! wonderful ! Just as a man might set upright again what has been cast down, or reveal what had been hidden away, or tell a man who had gone astray which was his way, or bring a lamp into dark- ness so that those with eyes to see might see the things about them, — even so, in many a figure, has the Lord made his Doctrine clear. I come to the Lord as my refuge and to his Doctrine and to his Confraternity. I ask the Lord to accept me as a disciple who has found his refuge from this day forth while life lasts.
286 LIX. BAHU-VEDANIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 397-
LIX. BAHU-VEDANIYA-SUTTA.^
PLEASANT AND UNPLEASANT.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, Paficakanga the carpenter came to the reverend Udayi, and, having seated himself after saluta- tions, asked, How many classes of feelings does the Lord specify ?
Three, sir, — pleasant, unpleasant and indifferent.
[397] No, Udayi, he specifies not three but only two classes of feelings, — the pleasant and the unpleasant ; — the indifferent he accounts as the supremely pleasant in the case of him who has found peace. For the second and for a third time Udayi affirmed there were the three classes ; and a second and a third time the carpenter insisted there were only two ; neither could convince the other.
Their talk was heard by the reverend Ananda, who went off to the Lord and, seating himself after saluta- tions, related the whole of the talk Udayi and the carpenter had had together. Said the Lord to Ananda: — It was a quite correct statement by Udayi which the carpenter rejected, and it was a quite correct statement by the carpenter which Udayi rejected. I have specified two classes of feelings ; [398] I have specified three, five, six, eighteen, thirty-six and a hundred and eight. I have so enuntiated the Doctrine. Those who refuse to accept, receive and welcome from others correct statements of it as enuntiated by me, must be expected to come to live together in quarrels, strife and contentions, assailing one another with shafts of wounding speech ; whereas those who accept, receive and welcome from others correct and accurate statements of it as I have enuntiated it, may be expected to live together in amity, harmony and con- cord, without quarrelling, in happy union, viewing one another with eyes of affection.
* Reproduced verbatim in the Sarhyutta Nikaya, IV, 223-8.
M. i. 399- PLEASANT AND UNPLEASANT. 287
Five in number, Ananda, are the pleasures of sense, namely, material shapes apparent to the eye, sounds, smells, taste and touch, — all of them pleasant and agreeable and delightful, all of them bound up with passion and lust. Every pleasant gratification which arises from these five pleasures of sense is called sensual pleasure.
But, I do not agree with him who should say this is the highest pleasure creatures can experience. Why do I not agree ? — Because, beyond this, there is a pleasure far choicer and more excellent, — which comes when, divested of lusts and of wrong dispositions, an Almsman enters on and dwells in the First Ecstasy in all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection.
Nor do I agree with him who should say that this latter is the highest pleasure. [399] Why not ? — Because, beyond this, there is a pleasure far choicer and more excellent, — which comes when an Almsman, rising above observation and reasoning, enters on and dwells in the Second Ecstasy. . . .
... in the Third Ecstasy. . . .
... in the Fourth Ecstasy, the state that knows naught pleasant or unpleasant, the clarity that comes of poise and collectedness.
Nor do I agree with him who should say that this last is the highest pleasure. Why not i^ — Because, beyond this, there is a pleasure far choicer and more excellent, — which comes when, by passing altogether beyond perception of material objects, by ceasing from perception of sense-reactions, and by not heeding per- ception of differences, an Almsman comes to hold space to be infinite and so enters on and dwells in the plane of infinity and space.
. . . plane of infinity of consciousness.
. . . plane of Naught.
[400] . . . plane of neither consciousness nor un- consciousness.
Nor yet do I agree with him who should say this
288 LIX. BAHU-VEDANIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 400.
last is the highest pleasure. Why not ? — Because, beyond this, there is a pleasure far choicer and more excellent, — which comes when, by passing altogether beyond the plane of neither consciousness nor uncon- sciousness, an Almsman enters on and dwells in the state in which feelings and perceptions are stilled and laid to rest for ever.
It may be, Ananda, that Wanderers belonging to other schools will say : — The recluse Gotama speaks of the stilling of feelings and perceptions, and accounts this pleasure. Why ? and how ? Your answer to such should be that the Lord does not restrict pleasure to pleasant feelings only ; the truth-finder ranks under pleasure all that is pleasant wheresoever he descries it..
Thus spake the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Ananda rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LX. APANNAKA-SUTTA.
THE SOUND DOCTRINE.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was on an alms-pilgrimage in Kosala with a great company of Almsmen, he came to a brahmin village of the Kosaians named Sala. It came to the ears of the heads of houses there that the recluse Gotama [^101] . , . (etc., as in Sutta No. 41) . . . and others again in silence.
When they were seated, the Lord asked these brahmins whether they had got a favourite teacher in whom they had confidence.
No, sir, was their answer.
Well, as you have not got a favourite teacher of your own, you should embrace and fulfil the Sound Doctrine, to your lasting happiness and welfare. And in what does it consist ?
Among recluses and brahmins some there are who hold and affirm that there is no such thing as alms or sacrifice or oblations ; no such thing as the fruit and harvest of actions good or bad ; no such thing as this world or the next ; no such thing as either parents or spontaneous generation ; no such thing in this world as recluses and brahmins who have achieved success and walk aright, who have, of and by themselves, apprehended and realized this world and the next and make it all known to others. Others again [402] maintain that there are indeed such things as these.
What think you, sirs ? Are not these two schools of recluses and brahmins diametrically opposed, one to the other ?
Yes, sir.
Of those who hold and affirm that there are no such things as the foregoing, it may be predicated that, scouting the three right principles of good behaviour in body, word and thought they will embrace and follow the three wrong principles of bad behaviour in body,
289 19
290 LX. APANNAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 403.
word and thought. And why ? — Because such recluses and brahmins see neither the peril, vanity and foulness of the wrong qualities nor the blessing which comes of Renunciation allied to sanctity. Although there is in- deed a next world, he holds the view there is not, and this is his wrong view ; he resolves there is not, and this is his wrong resolve ; he says there is not, and this is his wrong speech ; he insists there is not, and therein goes counter to Arahats who are versed in worlds beyond this ; he persuades others there is no next world, and so diffuses false doctrine ; and in diffusing it he exalts himself and disparages others. Consequently, his earlier virtues are shed and vices are now installed ; and this wrong view, this wrong resolve, this wrong speech, this antagonism to the Noble,^ this diffusion of false doctrine, this self-exaltation and this disparage- ment of others, — all these several bad and wrong principles thrive apace because of his wrong views.
[403] In this case a man of intelligence says to him- self that, if there be no world to come, then this in- dividual, at the body's dissolution after death, will fare well ; but, if there be a world to come, will pass to a doom of tribulation and woe or to purgatory. If, how- ever, it be granted that there is no other world and if it be assumed that the negative view is true, then the individual stands condemned here and now by men of intelligence as a bad liver, a holder of wrong views and an apostle of vanity. But, if there is another world, then this individual loses both ways, first by being — here and now — condemned by men of intelligence and secondly by passing at death to a doom of tribulation and woe or to purgatory ; so the sound doctrine is not embraced and followed by him ; he is one-sided ; he misses the right conclusion.
Of those, on the other hand, who hold and affirm that there are indeed such things as the foregoing, it may be predicated that, scouting the three wrong
^ Here clearly the plural Ariya is a synonym for the Arahats supra.
M. i. 404. THE SOUND DOCTRINE. 29 1
principles of bad behaviour in body, word and thought, they will embrace and follow the three right principles of good behaviour in body, word and thought. And why ? — Because such recluses and brahmins see both the peril, vanity and foulness of the wrong principles and the blessing which comes of Renunciation allied to sanctity. There being a next world, he holds the view that there is, and this is his right view ; he resolves that there is, and this is his right resolve ; he insists that there is, and therein goes not counter to Arahats who are versed in worlds beyond this ; he [404] persuades others that there is a next world, and so diffuses right doctrine, and in diffusing it neither exalts himself nor disparages others. Consequently, his earlier vices are shed and virtue is now installed ; and this right view, this right resolve, this right speech, this unison with the Noble, this diffusion of right doctrine, this absence alike of self-exaltation and of disparagement of others, — all these several right principles thrive apace because of his right views.
In this case a man of intelligence says to himself that, if there is a world to come, then this individual, at the body's dissolution after death, will pass to a happy state or to heaven. If, however, it be granted that there is no other world and if it be assumed that the negative view is true, then the individual is here and now extolled by men of intelligence as living a good life, holding right views, and preaching what is salutary. But, should there be a world to come, then this individual gains both ways, first by being here and now extolled by the intelligent, and secondly by passing at death to a happy state or to heaven ; so the sound doctrine is embraced and followed by him ; he is two-sided ; he seizes on the right conclusion.
Other recluses and brahmins there are who hold and affirm that no evil is wrought by him who either himself acts or causes another to act, who maims or causes another to maim, who causes grief or misery, who tortures or causes another to torture, who sets folk quaking or causes another to do so, who slays.
292 LX. APANNAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 405.
who Steals, who is a burglar or a dacoit or a house- breaker or a foot-pad or an adulterer or a liar. If, say they, with a cleaver as sharp as a razor he were to make a single heap and mound of flesh out of all that lives on earth, no guilt proceeds therefrom and no consequence of guilt ensues ; nor does guilt proceed or ensue if he were to march to the southern bank of the Ganges killing and slaughtering, maiming and causing to be maimed, torturing and causing to be tortured. Nor again, say they, if he were to march to the northern bank of the Ganges distributing alms and causing alms to be distributed, offering sacrifices and causing sacrifices to be offered, — no virtue proceeds therefrom and no consequence of virtue ensues ; no virtue pro- ceeds or ensues from alms-giving or self-control or temperance or from speaking truth.
Other recluses and brahmins there are who hold and affirm [405] on the contrary that guilt does proceed in the former case and virtue in the latter.
What think you, sirs? Are not these two schools of recluses and brahmins diametrically opposed one to the other ?
Yes, sir.
Of those who hold and affirm that neither guilt nor virtue proceeds from what I have described, it may be predicated that scouting the three right principles. . . . Renunciation allied to sanctity. Although there is indeed an after-effect, he holds the view there is not, and this is his wrong view ; . . . [406] all these several bad principles thrive apace because of his wrong views
In this case a man of intelligence says to himself that, if there be no after-effect, then this individual, at the body's dissolution after death, will fare well ; but if . . . misses the right conclusion.
Of those, on the other hand, who hold and affirm that there are indeed such things as after-effects, it may be predicated . . . [407] all these several right principles thrive apace because of his right views.
In this case a man of intelligence says to himself
M. i. 407. THE SOUND DOCTRINE. 293
that, if after-effects there are, then this individual . . . seizes on the right conclusion.
Other recluses and brahmins, again, there are who hold and affirm that there is neither cause nor reason either for the depravity or for the purity of creatures ; that it is without reason or cause that they grow depraved or pure ; that there is no such thing as strength or will, no human courage or stedfastness ; all creatures, all beings, all that has life, — they are all impotent weaklings with no power of will, they are engendered as what fate dictates, encountering pleasure or pain within one or other of life's Six Environments.^
^ See Charpentier on * The Lesya-theory of the Jainas and Ajivikas ' in the Sartryk in honour of K. J. Johannson (Goteborg, igio). But the Jain 'colours' arose as the direct product of Karma, which Makkhali is here represented as flouting. At D. Ill, 250 only two abhijatis are particularized as colours (the 'black' and the 'white'), but at D.A. I, 162 Bu. completes the six (as colours) by adding blue, red, yellow and very white. The Cy. (here) goes on to explain that — in an ascending scale — the black or lowest are bird-fowlers, pig-stickers, fishermen, robbers, robbers' executioners, and all others who follow cruel callings. Buddhist almsmen are ' blue.' — It is said that these, putting ' thorns * in the Four Requisites (of an Almsman), eat them, and so an Almsman is a * thorn-liver,' this being their creed ; or 'thorn-livers' are certain Pilgrims (pabbajita), for, in their belief, recluses (s a man as) are 'thorn-livers.' — The 'red' are Niganthas who wear one garment, and are reputed to be whiter than the foregoing two classes. The ' yellow ' are lay folk who are followers of the unclad (gihi-acela-savaka); thus they make their own donors of requisites higher than the Niganthas. Nanda Vaccha and Sankicca are classed as ' white,' being spoken of as whiter than the foregoing four classes. The Ajivakas are spoken of as 'whitest of all,' being reputed whiter than all the others.
On our Majjhima passage, Bu. concludes his exegesis by saying that : — first of all (p a t h a m a rh) all people are bird- fowlers etc. In the successive stages of being purified (tato visujjhamana) they become Sakya Recluses ; then Niganthas, then disciples of the Ajivakas ; then Nanda etc. ; and then Ajivakas. Such is the doctrine held. The ' white ' class is to be explained as the converse to what has been said (of the othei classes).
In the Sumangala-Vilasini version (I, 162), apart from minor differences, Makkhali Gosala is added to Nanda Vaccha and
294 LX. APANNAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 408.
Other recluses and brahmins there are who hold and affirm on the contrary that there is a cause and a reason for depravity and for purity and that creatures are not impotent weaklings without power of will, dominated by fate and bound by life's hard and fast environment.
What think you, sirs ? [408] Are not these two schools diametrically opposed one to the other ?
Yes, sir ?
Of those who hold and affirm the hard and fast barriers of environment, it may be predicated that, scouting the three right principles. . . . Renuncia- tion allied to sanctity. Although there is indeed a cause and a reason for depravity and for purity, he holds the view that there is not, and this is his wrong view ; . . . all these several bad principles thrive apace because of his wrong views.
In this case a man of intelligence says to himself that, if there be no cause or reason, then this individual, at the body's dissolution after death, will fare well ; but if . . . [409] misses the right conclusion.
Of those, on the other hand, who hold and affirm that a cause and a reason exists alike for depravity and purity, it may be predicated ... all these several right principles thrive apace because of his right views.
In this case a man of intelligence says to himself that if there be a cause, then this individual . . . [410] seizes on the right conclusion. . . .
Some recluses and brahmins, moreover, hold and
[Kisa] Sankicca, — the trio being raised from the white category to the whitest of all, while ajivakas [and female ajiviniyo] descend to the merely * white '; and there is no specific mention of Samanas (as above) in connection with bhikkhus.
In adopting the two colours, black and white. Buddhism characteristically adopts also the familiar number of six a b h i- jatis (D. Ill, 250-1), but transmutes their meaning ethically. Thus, a man born into a black (or dark) environment may evolve therein (i) a black character and life or (ii) a white character and life or (iii) Nirvana. And so also threefold possibilities lie before the man born into a white (or bright) environment.
M. i. 411. THE SOUND DOCTRINE. 295
affirm that there exist no Incorporeal Brahma-realms at all, while others assert the contrary.
What think you, sirs ? Are not these two schools diametrically opposed one to the other ?
Yes, sir.
In this case a man of intelligence says to himself that he personally has neither seen what those affirm who deny the existence of Incorporeal Realms, nor discovered what those others affirm who preach the existence of such Realms ; nor does he feel it proper, without knowing or seeing for himself, definitely to commit himself to one side or the other as representing the absolute truth while all else is error. If, he says, those speak truly who deny the existence of Incorporeal Realms, it may be that I shall surely get hereafter to the Corporeal Gods who are the product of mentality (mano- maya) ; whereas if the exponents of Incorporeal Realms speak truly, it may be that I shall surely get to the Incorporeal Gods who are the product of perception (sanfia-maya) ; at any rate we see that the Corporeal results in assaults with clubs and swords, in wrangles, strife, contentions and quarrels, and in slander and lies, whereas nothing of the kind occurs with the In- corporeal. Led by these reflections, he sets his course towards viewing the Corporeal without interest and without zest, and towards stilling it for ever.
Some recluses and brahmins there are who hold and affirm that there is no such thing as the stilling of continuing existence, while others again assert the contrary.
[411] What think you, sirs ? Are not these two schools diametrically opposed one to the other ?
Yes, sir.
In this case a man of intelligence says to himself that he personally has neither seen what those affirm who deny that existence can be stilled, nor discovered what those others affirm who assert that it can ; nor does he feel it proper, without knowing or seeing for himself, definitely to commit himself to one side or the other as representing the absolute truth while all else
296 LX. APANNAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 412.
is error. If, he says, those speak truly who deny that existence can be stilled, I shall surely get to the Incor- poreal Gods who are the product of perception ; whereas, if those are right who say existence can be stilled for ever, I may win Nirvana here and now ; as regards the negative view, it is the neighbour of passion, attachment, of cherished delight, of cleaving and clinging to things ; while the positive view has the precise opposites of all these things for its neighbours. Led by these reflections, he sets his course towards viewing all continuing existence without interest and without zest, and towards stilling it for ever.
There are four types of individuals to be found in the world. — First, there is he who tortures himself and is given up to self-torture. Then there is he who tortures others and is set on torturing them. Next, there is he who tortures both himself and others ; while, lastly, there is the man who tortures neither himself nor others. And this [412] last individual, who tortures neither himself nor others, dwells — here and now — beyond all appetites, consummate, unfevered, blissful and perfected.
Now, what kind of individual is he who tortures him- self and is given up to self-torture ? — Take the case of the individual who goes naked and flouts the decencies of life . . . etc., as in the Kandaraka-Sutta (No. 51). Such are the various ways in which he tortures his own body ; and such a man is called a self-torturer, given up to self-torture.
What kind of individual is he who tortures others and is given up to torturing them ? — Take the case of the individual who butchers sheep or swine . . . (etc., as in No. 51) . . . other cruel trade. Such a man is called a torturer of others, given up to torturing them.
What kind of individual is he who tortures both himself and others too ? — Take the case of the indi- vidual who is an anointed king of the race of Nobles . . . (etc. as in No. 51) . . . and voices of lamentation. Such a man is called a torturer both of himself and of others.
M. i. 413 THE SOUND DOCTRINE. 297
Lastly, what kind of individual is he who, torturing neither himself nor others, and given to torturing neither himself nor them, dwells — here and now — beyond all appetites, consummate, unfevered, blissful and perfected ?
There appears in the world here a Truth-finder, A rahat all-enlightened . . . (etc., as in No. 51) . . . [413] and now for me there is no more of what I have been ! Such a man is called one who tortures neither himself nor others and is given to torturing neither himself nor them, but lives — here and now — beyond all appetites, consummate, unfevered, blissful and perfected.
At the close of these words, the brahmins of Srda said to the Lord : — Wonderful, Gotama ; wonderful ! Just as a man might set upright again what had been cast down, or reveal what had been hidden away, or tell a man who had gone astray which was his way, or bring a lamp into darkness so that those with eyes to see might see things about them, — even so, in many a figure, has the reverend Gotama made his Doctrine clear. To him as our refuge we come and to his Doctrine and to his Confraternity. We ask him to accept us as his followers from this day forth while life lasts.
LXL AMBALATTHIKA-RAHUL-OVADA- SUTTA.^
AGAINST LYING.
[414] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Rajagaha in the Bamboo-grove where the squirrels were fed, and the reverend Rahula was staying at Ambalatthika, the Lord, arising towards eventide from his meditations, went over to Rahula, who, seeing the Lord some way off, set a seat for him
^ This is doubtless the Sutta which Asoka commends in the Bhabra Edict.
298 LXI. AMBALATTHIKA-RAHUL-OVADA. M. i. 415.
and water to wash his feet. Seating himself on the seat set for him, the Lord poured water over his feet,, while Rahula after salutations took his seat to one side.
Having still a minute drain of water in the water- jar, the Lord said to Rahula : — Do you see this minute drain of water ?
Yes, sir.
Minute, likewise, is the recluse-ship of those who shrink not from deliberate lying.
Then throwing away the water, the Lord said to Rahula : — Do you see this minute drain of water now thrown away ?
Yes, sir.
Thrown away, likewise, is the recluse-ship of those who shrink not from deliberate lying.
Upsetting the jar, the Lord said to Rahula : — Da you see this jar upset ?
Yes, sir.
Upset, likewise, is the recluse-ship of those who shrink not from deliberate lying.
Setting the jar upright again, the Lord said ta Rahula : — Do you see this jar empty and void ?
Yes, sir.
Empty and void, likewise, is the recluse-ship of those who shrink not from deliberate lying.
It is like, Rahula, a king's elephant with tusks as long as the pole of a plough, a vast beast of noble lineage, which has seen many battles and, when it comes into battle, goes to work with its fore feet and its hind feet, with its fore-quarters and its hind-quarters, with its head and its ears and its tail, — but [415] keeps its trunk out of danger. Noting this, the mahout feels the elephant's life is not lost. But when the elephant goes to work with its trunk too, then the mahout feels the elephant's life is lost, for it has left undone nothing it could do. — Just in the same way, Rahula, he who does not shrink from deliberate lying has not — say I — left undone any evil thing which he could do. There- fore, you must school yourself never to lie even in jest.
What think you, Rapula ? What is a mirror for ?
M. i. 416. AGAINST LYING. 299
To reflect, sir,
In just the same way you must reflect again and again in doing every act, in speaking every word and in thinking every thought. When you want to do anything, you must reflect whether it would conduce to your or others' harm or to both, and so is a wrong act, productive of woe and ripening unto woe. If reflection tells you this is the nature of that contem- plated fact, assuredly you should not do it [416j. But if reflection assures you there is not harm but good in it, then you may do it. If while you are doing that act, reflection tells you it is harmful to you or to others or to both and is a wrong act productive of woe and ripening unto woe, abandon it. But if reflection assures you there is not harm but good in it, then you may go forward with it. If when you have done that act, reflection assures you that it has conduced to your or others' harm or to both and is a wrong act pro- ductive of woe and ripening unto woe, then you should declare and disclose and unfold it to your master or to the discreet among your fellows in the higher life, and you should henceforth develop self-control [417]. But if reflection assures you there is not harm but good in it, then joy and gladness shall be yours as you school yourself by day and by night in the things that are right.
And the same holds good for speech and [418-9] for thoughts also.
[420] All recluses and brahmins, Rahula, who in past ages were pure in deed, word and thought, won that purity by constant reflection. So in ages to come will their successors win their purity, even as it is won by recluses and brahmins to-day. Therefore, school yourselves by constant reflection to win purity in deed, word and thought.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Rahula rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
300 LXII. MAHA-RAHUL-OVADA-SUTTA. M. i. 421.
LXII. MAHA-RAHUL-OVADA-SUTTA.
BREATHING EXERCISES.
Thus have I heard. One morning when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's Grove in Anatha- pindika's pleasaunce, he went, duly robed and bowl in hand, into the city for alms. Behind followed the reverend Rahula, [421] duly robed and bowl in hand. Without looking round, the Lord addressed Rahula as follows : — All matter (rupa) — past present or future, within or without, gross or subtile, high or low, far or near — should be regarded with full comprehension that ' this is not mine ' — ' not I ' — * no self of mine.'
Matter only, Lord ? Only matter, Blessed One ?
Not only matter, Rahula, but also feeling, percep- tion, the constituents and consciousness.
Who possibly, said Rahula, could go to the village for alms on the day he has heard an exhortation from the Lord's own lips ? And thereupon he turned back and seated himself under a tree, cross legged and with body erect, alert in mindfulness. Seeing him so seated, the reverend Sariputta addressed him, saying — Aim, Rahula, at developing the mindfulness which comes from inhaling and exhaling, for this, if developed and fostered, yields a rich harvest and proves of great avail. Rising up towards evening from his meditations, Rahula sought out the Lord and after salutations took a seat to one side, asking how that mindfulness which comes from inhaling and exhaling was produced and fostered so as to yield a rich harvest and prove of great avail.
Rahula, everything personal and referable to an individual which is hard or solid or derived therefrom — such as the hair of the head or body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, inwards, bowels, stomach, faeces, together with everything else personal and referable to an individual which is hard or solid or derived there- from— all this makes up what is called the personal
M. i. 422. BREATHING EXERCISES. 3OI
earth-element, and, in combination with the external earth-element makes up the totality of the earth- element. The right way to regard this as it really is and to comprehend it aright, is to say — This is not mine, This is not I, This is no self of mine. [422] So regarding and comprehending it, a man turns from the earth-element in disgust and loathing of heart.
What next is the water -element ? It may be either personal or external. If personal and referable to an individual, it embraces everything which is water or watery or derived therefrom — such as bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, serum, saliva, mucus, synovial fluid and urine, together with everything else personal and referable to an individual, which is water or watery or derived therefrom. All this makes up what is called the personal water-element, and, in combination with the external water-element, makes up the totality of the water-element. The right way to regard this as it really is and to comprehend it aright is to say — This is not mine, This is not I, This is no self of mine. So regarding and comprehending it, a man turns from the water-element in disgust and loathing of heart.
The fire-element similarly is either personal or external. If personal, it embraces everything which is fire or fiery or derived therefrom, — such as whatever heats, consumes or burns up, or whatever wholly transmutes food and drink in digestion, or anything else which, being personal and referable to an individual, is fire or fiery or is derived therefrom. All this is called the personal fire-element, and, in com- bination with the external fire-element, makes up the totality of the fire-element. The right way to regard . . . loathing of heart.
Likewise, the air-element is either personal or external. If personal, it embraces everything personal and referable to an individual which is air or airy or derived therefrom, — such as wind discharged upwards or downwards, wind in the abdomen or belly, vapours that traverse the several members, inhalings and
302 LXII. MAHA-RAIIUL-OVADA-SUTTA. M. i. 423.
exhalings of breath, together with everything else which, being personal and referable to an individual, is air or airy or derived therefrom. All this is called the personal air-element, and, in combination with the external air-element, makes up the totality of the air- element. The right way to regard . . . [423] loathing of heart.
Lastly, there is the space-element/ which is also personal or external. If personal, it is either space or spacious or derived therefrom, — such as the auditory or nasal orifices, or the portals of the mouth, or the channels by which victuals and drink are either swallowed or repose or pass out of the body lower down, or aught else, that, being personal and referable to an individual, is space or spacious or derived there- from. All this is called the personal space-element, and, in combination with the external space-element, makes up the totality of the space element. The right way to regard . . . loathing of heart.
Grow like unto the earth, Rahula ; for, as you do so, no sensory impressions, agreeable or disagreeable, will grip hold of your heart and stick there. Just as men cast on the earth's surface things clean and things unclean, ordure, urine, spittle, pus and gore, and yet the earth is not troubled thereby nor moved to disgust and loathing, — even so should you grow like unto the earth ; for, as you do so, no sensory impressions, agree- able or disagreeable, will lay hold of your heart and stick there.
Grow like unto water ; for, as you do so . . . stick there. Just as men cast into water things clean and things unclean . . . [424] and stick there.
Grow like unto fire ; for, as you do . . . and stick there.
Grow like the wind ; for, as you do, no sensory impressions, agreeable or disagreeable, will grip hold
^ This does not occur in Sutta No. 28, which gives only the pre- ceding four elements (cattari mah a-b h u t a). Infra, in Suttas Nos. 112, 115 and 140 (cf. D. Ill, 247, A. I, 175 and A. III. 290) V i n fi a n a-d h a t u is added to the five elements here specified.
M. i. 425. BREATHING EXERCISES. 3O3
of your heart and stick there. Just as the wind blows away things clean and unclean, ordure, urine, spittle, pus and gore, and yet the wind is not troubled thereby nor moved to disgust and loathing, — even so should you grow like unto the wind ; for, as you do so, no sensory impressions, agreeable or disagreeable, will grip hold of your heart and stick there.
Grow like space ; for, as you do so, no sensory impressions, agreeable or disagreeable, will grip hold of your mind and stick there. For, just as space abides nowhere, even so should you grow like space ; for, as you do so, no sensory impressions, agreeable or dis- agreeable, will grip hold of your mind and stick there.
Grow in loving-kindness ; for, as you do so, male- volence will pass away.
Grow in compassion ; for, as you do so, vexation will pass away.
Grow in gladness over others' welfare ; for, as you do so, aversions will pass away.
Grow in poised equanimity ; for, as you do so, all repugnance will pass away.
Grow in contemplation of the body's corruption ; for, as you do so, passion will pass away.
Grow in perception of the fleeting nature of things ; [425] for, as you do, the pride of self will pass away.
Grow in the mindfulness which comes from ordered breathing ; for, this, if developed and fostered, yields a rich harvest and proves of great avail. — Take the case of an Almsman who, betaking himself to the jungle or the foot of a tree or to some abode of solitude, there sits cross-legged and with body erect, alert in mindful- ness. Mindfully he inhales, and mindfully he exhales his breath. When exhaling a deep breath, he knows precisely what he is doing, as he does too when inhal- ing a deep breath, or when exhaling or inhaling a shallow breath. In the process of drawing his breath either in or out, he schools himself either to be alive to all bodily impressions — or to still the several factors of body — or to take zest therein — or to have a sense of well-being ; he schools himself either to be alive to the
304 LXIII. CULA-MALUNKYA-SUTTA. M. i. 426.
heart's several factors — or to still them — or to be alive to the heart (as a whole) — or to still the heart — or to give it full play — or to calm it — or to bring it Deliver- ance ; he schools himself in breathing to dwell on the impermanence of things, or on passionlessness, or on elimination, or on Renunciation. — This, Rahula, is how mindfulness in ordered breathing is fostered and developed so as to yield a rich harvest and to prove of great avail. With mindfulness in breathing so fostered [426] and developed, a man breathes his last wittingly and not unwittingly.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Rahula rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LXIIL CULA-MALUNKYA-SUTTA.
OF THE IRRELEVANT.
Thus have I heard. Once the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce. To the reverend Malunkya-putta, in the course of his private meditations, there came the follow- ing reflection : — The Lord does not expound to me the views — which he has left unexpounded, omitted and dismissed without answer — such as : The world is eternal, — The world is not eternal — The world is finite — The world is infinite — Life and the body are one and the same thing — Life and the body are dis- tinct entities — A truth-finder^ passes to another ex- istence after death — A truth-finder passes to no further existence after death — A truth-finder both passes and does not pass to a further existence after death — A truth-finder neither passes nor does not pass to a further existence after death. I do not like his not expounding these things to me ; I resent it ; I will go to him and
^ Tathagato ti satto, says Bu. ; i.e. here 'tathagata means simply creature.' I have however retained my ordinary trans- lation of the word, to connote all Arahats, whether Buddhas or not.
M. i. 427. OF THE IRRELEVANT. 305
question him hereon. If he definitely either accepts or rejects any of these propositions, I will follow the higher life under the Lord ; but if he fails to expound, then I will throw up my training as an Almsman and will revert to the lower plane of a layman.
[427] Rising up towards evening from his medita- tions, the reverend Malunkya-putta betook him to the Lord, saluted him, seated himself, related his reflec- tions and the decision he had reached, ending up by saying : — If the Lord knows that the world is eternal, let him tell me so. If the Lord knows that the world is not eternal, let him tell me so. If the Lord does not know whether the world is eternal or not, then the only straightforward thing for one who knows not nor dis- cerns is to avow that he knows not nor discerns.
(And he dealt similarly with each of the other problems above enumerated.)
[428] Did I ever promise you, Malunkya-putta, that, if you followed the higher life under me, I would tell you whether the world was eternal, and all the rest of it ?
No, sir.
Or did you on your part stipulate that, if you followed the higher life under me, then I should tell you all this ?
No, sir.
It comes to this then that I never promised, nor did you stipulate, that, as a condition of your following the higher life under me, I should expound these matters to you. This being so, who are you — to reject whom ?
If, Malunl^ya-putta, a man were to say he would not follow the higher life under the Lord until the Lord had answered all the questions you enumerate, [429] he would get no answer from the Truth-finder before death overtook him. It is just as if a man were trans- fixed by an arrow heavily coated with poison, and his friends and kinsfolk were to get him a leech expert in dealing with arrow-wounds, but the man were to declare he would not have the arrow taken out until he knew whether the archer who had shot him was a Noble or
20
305 LXIII. CULA-MALUNKYA-SUTTA. M. i. 430.
a brahmin or a middle-class man or a peasant, — what the archer s name and lineage was — whether he was tall or short or of medium height — whether he was black or dark or fair — what particular village or town- ship or city he hailed from — whether his bow was a long-bow or a cross-bow — whether his bow-string was made from swallow-wort or bamboo or sinew or hemp or the leaves of Calotropis gigantea — whether the shaft of the arrow was a wild reed or a planted shoot — whether the shaft was feathered with the plumage of a vulture or a heron or a falcon or a peacock or other fowl — whether the gut binding that shaft came from an ox or a buffalo or a hart or a monkey — whether the arrow was a plain arrow or was barbed with horn or iron or a calf s tooth or with an oleander thorn. [430] The man would never get to. know all this before death overtook him. And just in the same way, if a man were to say he would not follow the higher life under the Lord until the Lord had answered this pack of questions, he would get no answer from the Truth- finder before death overtook him.
The higher life is not contingent on the truth of any thesis that the world either is or is not eternal. In either case, as in each of the other theses you adduce, there still abides the fact of birth, decay and death ; there still abide the facts of grief and tribulation, of ill, sorrow and distraction ; — of all of which I proclaim the extirpation here and now.
[431] Take therefore what I have not taught as being left untaught by me, and take as my teaching what I have specifically taught. ^
What have I left untaught i^ — I have not taught that the world either is or is not eternal ; that it is finite or infinite ; that life and the body are either identical or distinct ; that after death a truth-finder either passes or does not pass to a further existence, or does both or neither. And why have I left these things untaught ? — Because they are unprofitable and not fundamental to the higher life ; because they do not conduce to weari- ness with mundane things, to passionlessness, to purga-
M. i. 432. OF THE IRRELEVANT. 307
tion, to tranquillity, to insight, to full enlightenment, and to Nirvana.
What have I specifically taught ? — I have taught of 111, of its origin, of its cessation, and of the path that leads to its cessation. And why have I taught this ? — Because this is profitable and fundamental to the higher life ; because this does conduce to weariness with mundane things . . . Nirvana.
Wherefore, Malunkya-putta, [432] take what I have not taught as being left untaught by me, and take as my teaching what I have specifically taught.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Malunkya-putta rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LXIV. MAHA-MALUNKYA-SUTTA.
OF BURSTING BONDS ASUNDER.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the Almsmen, saying : — Do you know the Five Bonds which chain men to the lower life here, as taught by me ?
Yes, I do, said the reverend Malunkya-putta.
And what is your knowledge of them ?
One is views on personality ; another is doubt ; another is attachment to observances ; fourth come lusts of the flesh ; and the fifth is malevolence.
To whom do you hear that I so taught the Five Bonds.'* Would not Wanderers who profess other creeds confute you with the illustration from infancy ? For, a new-born babe, helpless on its back, is not conscious of personality at all, [433] much less can it hold views on personality, its propensity to views on personality being latent only. Such an infant is not conscious of doctrines, much less can it have doubts about them, its propensity to doubt being latent only. Such an infant is not conscious of rules of conduct, much less can it be attached to observances, its propensity to such attachment being latent only. Such an infant is not conscious of lusts of the flesh, much less can passion arise within it, its sensual propensities being latent only. Such an infant is not conscious of fellow-creatures, much less can it harbour malevolence towards them, its malevolent propensities being latent only. Would not Wanderers who profess other creeds confute you, Malunkya-putta, with this illustration from infancy ?
At this point the reverend Ananda exclaimed : — Now is the time for this, Lord ; now is the time, Blessed One, for the Lord to impart teaching about
308
M. i. 434. OF BURSTING BONDS ASUNDER. 3O9
the Five Bonds, to be treasured up from his lips by the Almsmen.
Give ear then, Ananda, and listen, said_ the Lord ; and I will speak. Then to the listening Ananda the Lord began : —
Take an uninstructed everyday man, who has no vision of the Noble and is unversed and untrained in their noble doctrine, who has no vision of the Excellent and is unversed and untrained in their excellent doctrine. Such a man's mind is beset and obsessed by delusions about personality ; he knows no real escape therefrom ; and these delusions about personality, if left to grow in strength, are a Bond to chain him to this lower life here. Just the same, too, happens with doubt — with attachment to rites — with sensuality — [434] and with malevolence ; all of which are likewise Bonds to chain him to this lower life here.
On the other hand, the instructed disciple of the Noble — who has vision of the Noble and Excellent and is versed and trained in noble and excellent doctrine — has a mind beset and obsessed by no delusions about personality and the rest of the Five Bonds ; he knows the real escape therefrom ; he discards each and all of them, with all propensities thereto.
Without first treading the path and the course for getting rid of these Five Bonds, it is quite impossible for a man to know or discern or to get rid of them, — any more than it is possible, without first cutting away bark and foliage, to cut the choice timber of a fine upstanding timber-tree.
But, if he has first trodden the path and the course for getting rid of these Five Bonds, [435] it is possible for a man to know and discern and get rid of them, — just as it is possible, after first cutting away bark and foliage, to cut the choice timber of the tree.
Just as a weakling, coming to the Ganges in spate, and thinking his arms can bear him across in safety to the further shore, would fail in the attempt, — in just the same case is whosoever fails, when the doctrine of
3IO LXIV. MAHA-MALUNKYA-SUTTA. M. i. 436.
Stilling personality is being preached, to embrace it, welcome it, cleave to it, and stand fast therein. This is the case of such men.
But just as a strong man, coming to the Ganges in spate and thinking his arms can bear him across in safety to the further shore, would succeed in the attempt, — in just the same case is whosoever succeeds, when the doctrine of stilling personality is being preached, in embracing it, welcoming it, cleaving to it, and standing fast therein. This is the case of such men.
Now, what is the path and what is the course unto riddance of these Five Bonds which chain men to this lower world here ? — Take an Almsman who, by aloof- ness from all ties, by eschewing wrong states of con- sciousness, and by quelling all lewdness of body, becomes divested of pleasures of sense and of wrong states of consciousness so that he develops and dwells in the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, — a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection. Whatsoever occurs as a visible shape, or feeling, or perception, or factors of being, — all such mental phenomena he regards as transitory, as 111, as disease, as pustulences, as pangs, as anguish, as maladies, as extraneous, as fleeting, as hollow, as non-self. He purges his mind of all such mental phenomena and [436] applies it, so purged, to the state which is deathless, confident that what is really good and really excellent is the stilling of all factors of being, riddance from all ties, destruction of cravings, passionlessness, peace. Nirvana. From this platform he attains to the extirpation of the Cankers ; or, if he does not attain to their definite extirpation, yet by his very passion for righteousness and by his very delight therein, he destroys the Five Bonds which chain him to this lower world here so that he will be translated hereafter to realms above, from which he will never return to earth. — Such is the path and such is the course unto riddance of these Five Bonds,
M. i. 437. OF BURSTING BONDS ASUNDER. 3 I I
Rising above observation and reflection, the Alms- man enters on, and abides in, the Second Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, — a state bred of rapt concentration, above all observation and reflection, a state whereby the heart is focussed and tranquillity reigns within. And then follow the Third and Fourth Ecstasies. Whatsoever occurs as a visible shape ... riddance of these Five Bonds.
Rising next altogether beyond perception of the visible, by ceasing to perceive sense-reactions, and by not heeding perception of differences, the Almsman reaches the idea of infinite space and so develops, and abides in, the plane of infinite space, and, in succession, the plane of infinite mind. Whatsoever occurs as a visible shape . . . [437] riddance of these Five Bonds which chain men to the lower life here.
If this, sir, be the path and the course unto riddance of these Five Bonds, how comes it that Deliverance is found by some through the heart and by others through the intellect ? ^
I say it results from difference in their respective faculties.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Ananda rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LXV. BHADDALI-SUTTA.
OF OBEDIENCE.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's grove in Anathapindika's pleasaunce, he addressed the listening Almsmen as follows : — I have only one meal each morning and find that on this regimen I am healthy and well, buoyant, hale and hearty. Do like me and you too will benefit in the same way.
^ Cf. Dial. II, 70 (note). The Commy. says that S a r i p u 1 1 a was an instance of the former, and Maha-Moggallana of the latter, mode of Deliverance.
3!2 LXV. BHADDALI-SUTTA. M. i. 438.
Hereupon, the reverend Bhaddali told the Lord he could not do this, because, in so eating, he would be a prey to scruples and misgivings/
Well then, Bhaddali, eat a portion only at your place of entertainment and take a portion away with you to eat later on. Eating on this plan, [438] you will get along all right.
No, sir, I could riot do this, because here too 1 should be a prey to scruples and misgivings.
So, while the Lord was laying down a rule of conduct and the Confraternity was vowing obedience, the reverend Bhaddali protested his inability and for three whole months never came near the Lord, as one who was not conducting himself according to the Master's teaching.
At the end of the time a number of Almsmen were busied on making up robes for the Lord, expecting that, when his robes were ready at the end of the three months, the Lord would set out on an alms-pilgrimage. To them came Bhaddali and seated himself after greet- ings, to learn from them their expectation and to be urged by them to lay the Lord's monition to heart lest worse should befall him hereafter. Accepting their advice, Bhaddali betook him to the Lord and after due salutation took a seat to one side, saying : — I confess my fault, sir ; — foolish and misguided and wrong that I was to protest my inability to conform while the Lord was laying down a rule of conduct and the Confraternity was vowing obedience thereto. 1 ask the Lord to pardon my transgression as such, with a view to my keeping watch and ward in future.
Yes, Bhaddali ; you did transgress, foolish and mis- guided and wrong that you were in protesting your in- ability to conform while I was laying down a rule of conduct and the Brotherhood was vowing obedience thereto.
1 Apparently he was afraid of not finishing his meal within the prescribed hours, and so of eating at the wrong time, i.e. after the meridian. (Cf. Vinaya Texts I, 40.)
M. i. 439. OF OBEDIENCE. 3 I 3
You failed too to realize the circumstances, Bhaddali. You failed to realize, firstly, that the Lord was in resi- dence at Savatthi and would know you were not con- ducting yourself according to the Master's teachings ; secondly, that a number of [439] Almsmen — and of Almswomen too — were spending the rainy season in the city and would also know it ; thirdly, that in the city there were living a number of lay disciples — both men and women — who would also know it ; and, fourthly, that there were a number of recluses and brahmins of divers schools also spending the rainy season in the city, all of whom would know that the Almsman Bhaddali, a senior disciple of the recluse Gotama, was not conducting himself according to the Master's teachings.
I confess my fault, sir ; — foolish and misguided . . . vowing obedience thereto.
What do you think, Bhaddali ? Take the case of an Almsman who has found the twofold Deliverance, both through the heart and the intellect. If I bid him make himself a bridge for me across the mire, would he do so ? Or would he turn in a different direction, or flatly refuse to do my bidding ?
He would not refuse, sir.
Take the case of Almsmen who have found De- liverance through the intellect — or by comprehending the body — or by sheer vision — or by trust — or by living up to the Doctrine — or by living up to their trust. If I bid any one of these six make himself a bridge for me across the mire, would he do so ? Or would he turn in a different direction, or flatly refuse to do my bidding ?
He would not refuse, sir.
What do you think, Bhaddali ? When this happened, had you found the two-fold Deliverance [440] or any of the six other forms of Deliverance ?
No, sir.
Were you not at the time empty and vain and blameworthy ?
Yes, sir. — I confess my fault, sir ; foolish and mis-
314 LXV. BHADDALI-SUTTA. M. i. 441.
guided and wrong that I was to protest my inability to conform when the Lord was laying down a rule of con- duct and the Almsmen were vowing obedience thereto. Yes, Bhaddali ; you did transgress, foolish and mis- guided and wrong that you were to protest your in- ability . . . obedience thereto. But, inasmuch as you see your transgression as such and duly atone, we pardon it unto you. It marks progress in the Rule of the Noble when a man, seeing his transgression as such, atones and keeps watch and ward over himself for the future.
Take the case of an Almsman, Bhaddali, who does not conduct himself according to the Master's teachings. To him comes the yearning to resort to some solitary habitation — in the forest under a tree, in the wilds, in cave or grot, in a charnel-ground, in a thicket, or on bracken in the open — in the hope of realizing some height of noblest knowledge or vision transcending the ordinary. So to the solitary habitation of his choice he betakes himself and dwells aloof and alone there, — contemned by his Master, contemned by the judgment of the discreet among his fellows in the higher life, contemned by the local sprites, and contemned by him- self. Thus universally contemned, he fails to realize knowledge or vision transcending the ordinary. And why ? — Because this is what comes to all who do not conduct themselves according to the Master's teachings.
Take now the case of an Almsman who does con- duct himself according to the Master's teachings, to whom comes the same yearning to resort to solitude [441] with the same hopes. Dwelling aloof there, he is contemned neither by his Master, nor by his fellows, nor by the local sprites, nor by himself. Not con- temned of anyone, he succeeds in realizing a height of noble knowledge and vision transcending the ordinary. Divested of pleasures of sense and wrong states of consciousness, he develops and dwells in the First Ecstasy, with all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation
M. i. 442. OF OBEDIENCE. 3 I 5
and reflection. And why ? — Because this is what comes to all who conduct themselves according to the Master's teachings. And so in succession, and for the same reason, he develops and dwells in the Second, Third and Fourth Ecstasies.
With his heart thus stedfast, thus clarified and puri- fied, clean and cleansed of things impure, tempered and apt to serve, stablished and immutable, — it is thus that he applies his heart to the knowledge which recalls his earlier existences. He calls to mind his divers existences in the past, — a single existence, then two . . . (etc., as in Sutta No. 4) ... in all their details and features. And why ? — Because this is what [442] comes to one who conducts himself according to the Master's teachings.
That same stedfast heart he now applies to the knowledge of the passing and re-appearance of other creatures. With the Celestial Eye . . . (etc., as in Sutta No. 4) , . . and heaven. And why i^ — Because this is what comes to one who conducts himself accord- ing to the Master's teachings.
That same .stedfast heart he now applies to the knowledge of destroying the Cankers. He has absolute comprehension of 111, the origin of 111, the cessation of 111, and the course that leads to the cessation of 111 ; he has the like absolute comprehension of the Cankers. When he knows and discerns this, his heart is delivered from the Canker of sensuality, from the Canker of continuing existence, and from the Canker of ignorance; and to him thus delivered comes the knowledge of his deliverance in the confidence that he has lived the highest life, that his task is done, and that now for him there is no more of what he once was. And why ? — Because this is what comes to one who conducts him- self according to the Master's teachings.
Hereupon Bhaddali asked the Lord what was the cause and reason why the Almsmen prolong proceed- ings against one Almsman longer than against another.
Take the case, answered the Lord, of a frequent and habitual offender who, when spoken to by his brethren,
3l6 LXV. BHADDALI-SUTTA. M. i. 443-
skips off to something irrelevant, changes the subject, evinces rage and hatred and resentment, does not take it well, bristles with indignation, fails to atone, and does not declare himself willing to do what the Confra- ternity pleases. In such a case his brethren, who have duly noted all this, [443] deem it well to conduct such an enquiry into his case as to preclude any speedy settlement of it.
Take now the case of another frequent and habitual offender who, when spoken to by his brethren, does not skip off to something irrelevant, does not change the subject, does not evince rage and hatred and resent- ment, but takes it well, is humble, atones, and declares himself willing to do what the Confraternity pleases. In such a case, his brethren, who have duly noted all this, deem it well so to restrict their enquiry into his case as to ensure a speedy settlement.
Next take the case of a casual and not habitual offender, who, when spoken to by his brethren, skips off to something irrelevant . . . [444] preclude any speedy settlement of it.
Next take the case of a casual and not habitual offender, who, when spoken to by his brethren, does not skip off to something irrelevant . . . ensure a speedy settlement.
Lastly, take the case of an Almsman who gets along just by trust and affection. Recognizing this, his brethren deem it well not to protract the proceedings lest he lose even his trust and affection. Just as if a man possessed only a single eye and his friends and kinsfolk guarded that one eye of his lest he should lose even that too, — even so do the Almsmen take heed lest he should lose even his trust and affection.
Such, Bhaddali, is the cause and the reason why the Almsmen prolong proceedings against one Almsman longer than against another.
What, sir, is the cause and the reason why in bygone days [445] there were fewer rules of conduct and more Arahats, whereas nowadays there are more rules and fewer Arahats ?
M. i. 446. OF OBEDIENCE. 3 I 7
It is because, when men fall away and the truth wanes, rules are multiplied and there are fewer Arahats. The Master does not prescribe rules for his disciples so long as there is no sign in the Confraternity of states of consciousness bred of the Cankers. But as soon as he sees signs of this, he prescribes rules to combat those states of consciousness. Such states occur only when the Confraternity has grown big, and then it is that rules against them must be prescribed. They do not appear till the Confraternity has risen to wealth, fame, learning, and standing ; but, when it has got standing, then there occur states of conscious- ness bred of the Cankers and the Master prescribes rules to combat them.
Few were ye when I preached the homily with the parable of the thorough-bred Colt. Do you remember it, Bhaddali.^
No, sir.
To what cause do you attribute that ?
I have not been conducting myself according to the Master's teachings for a long time.
That is not the cause or the reason. For some time past my heart has been fathoming yours, seeing how, while I was expounding the Doctrine, you, in your folly, were not listening intently, with grip and grasp and whole-hearted apprehension. Well, I will tell you that homily with the parable of the Colt. Hearken and give ear [446] and I will speak. Then to the attentive Bhaddali the Lord began thus : —
Just as an expert horse-breaker, when a fine thorough- bred is put in his hands, first schools it to the bit, and during the process the colt exhibits every twist, wriggle and contortion you would expect from one constrained to do something wholly novel, until he is perfected by constant use and gradual practice therein. After the bit comes the yoke and in this process too the colt exhibits . . . practice herein. Next the colt is schooled successively to the ring, to being clipped, to gallop, to neigh (defiance), to bear himself like a royal charger of birth and breeding, peerless in speed, in points, and in
3l8 LXV. BHADDALI-SUTTA. M. i. 447.
manners ; and in this process too the colt exhibits . . . practice herein. Lastly, the horse-breaker grooms and braids the colt to perfection and so it becomes with its ten points a charger for a king to be proud of, and is styled a royal treasure.
Just in the same way an Almsman who has his ten points grows worthy of oblations and offerings and gifts and homage and is the richest field in which to sow the seed of merit. What are these ten points ? — His are the Arahat's right views, the Arahat's right aspirations, the Arahat's right speech, the Arahat's right action, the Arahat's right mode of livelihood, the Arahat's right effort, the Arahat's [447] right mindful- ness, the Arahat's right rapture of concentration, together with the Arahat's right knowledge and right Deliverance. The Almsman, Bhaddali, who has these ten points is worthy of oblations and offerings and gifts and is the richest field in which to sow the seed of merit.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Bhaddali rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LXVL LATUKIKOPAMA-SUTTA.
THE PARABLE OF THE QUAIL.
Thus have I heard. Once the Lord was staying in the Anga country, where there is a township named Apana. In the morning early, duly robed and bowl in hand, he went into town for alms and, after his meal, on his way back from his round, went into a wood to rest during the heat of the day and seated himself at the foot of a tree. Likewise, the reverend Udayi had been into town for alms and on his way back had gone into that same wood to rest during the heat of the day, and was sitting under a tree in solitary meditation when there came to him the reflection that their Lord had dispelled many an unhappy state of consciousness and had implanted many a happy one, had dispelled
M. i. 448. THE PARABLE OF THE QUAIL. 319
many a wrong state and implanted many a right one. Arising towards evening from his meditations, Udayl betook him to the Lord and, taking [448] his seat to one side after due salutations, first related how there had come to him the foregoing reflection and then went on to say : — In former times, sir, we had meals in the evening and in the morning and in the afternoon, in contravention of all proper hours. Time came when the Lord bade Almsmen give up having meals out of hours in the afternoon ; and personally I felt it a painful wrench, when the faithful laity came with excellent meals in the afternoon out of hours, to realize that by our Lord's bidding they were to be rejected and by our Blessed One's bidding to be renounced. Well, sir, out of our love and veneration for the Lord and in our sense of duty and obligation, we gave up these afternoon meals, out of hours ; and we ate morning and evening. Then came a time when the Lord bade i\lmsmen give up eating at night, out of hours. Here again it was a painful wrench to realize that by our Lord's bidding the better meal of the two was to be rejected and by our Blessed One's bidding to be renounced. The old custom had been, when a man was given curry in the afternoon, for him to say : Carry it away and we will have it for supper together. For, dainty dishes, sir, all come at night, — rarely by day. Well, out of our love and veneration for the Lord and in our sense of duty and obligation, we gave up eating at night, out of hours. Time was when, going in quest of alms when it was too dark to see. Almsmen used to walk straight into the village-pond or the cesspool, or stray into a hedge, or blunder over a cow asleep, or associate with young fellows before or after crimes, or were solicited by women. I remember once being out for alms after dark when a woman espied me for a flash as she was scouring a pot and screamed out : Woe is me ! A goblin is after me ! I told her I was not a goblin but an Almsman [449] standing there for alms. Then you must be a poor orphan with no father or mother left alive ; you would
320 LXVI. LATUKIKOPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 450.
do better to cut your belly out once for all than to let it drive you to prowl about for alms in the dark like this. When I remember this, sir, the reflection comes, to me that our Lord has dispelled many an unhappy state of consciousness and has implanted many a happy one, has dispelled many a wrong state and implanted many a right one !
Yet, in their folly, Udayi, there are silly people who, when told by me to give something up, think that it is- an insignificant matter of no moment and that I am too particular, — with the result that they do not give it up but grow dissatisfied with me and with the Alms- men who desire to be trained. This insignificant thing grows into a bond strong enough to hold them fast, a stout and solid bond, a bond that rots not away,, a massive log round their necks. It is like a quail caught in a springe, there to abide slaughter or captivit)^ or death. Would it be correct to say that to the bird in this plight the withy which holds it is a bond without strength or might, a bond that is flimsy and unsub- stantial.
No, sir ; to the quail it is a bond strong enough to- hold her fast, a stout and solid bond to her, a bond that rots not away, a very log round her neck.
Just in the same way, Udayi, there are silly people ... a log round their necks.
Take now the case of young men who, when told by me to give something up, [450] think that in itself it is an insignificant matter of no moment, but that their Lord, the Blessed One, has bidden them to give it up and renounce it. So they give it up, without growing dissatisfied with me or with the Almsmen who- wish to be trained ; and the result is that, unruffled,, they live in meekness and contentment, with hearts as free as wild things. Unto these the bonds prove to be without strength or might, flimsy and unsubstantial. It is like a king's elephant — with tusks like the stilts of a plough, the huge scion of a noble race, the hero of many a battle — who may be bound with stout straps and thongs, but has only to give quite a little heave of his
M. i. 451- THE PARABLE OF THE QUAIL. 32 1
body in order to burst his bonds asunder and go forth where he lists. Would it be correct to say that to the elephant his bonds are strong enough to hold him fast, — stout, solid bonds that rot not away, a massive log round his neck ?
No, sir ; to such an elephant these bonds which he can burst asunder by a slight heave of his body, are to him without strength or might, flimsy and unsubstantial.
Just in the same way, Udayi, the young men who, when told by me to give something up, . . . flimsy and unsubstantial.
It is like a poor wretch with just a single crazy hovel open to the crows and squalid to view, with just a single crazy pallet squalid to view, [451] with no store of grain beyond just his sorry seed-corn in a solitary crock, and with just his one ill-favoured wife. If such a poor wretch sees an Almsman from a pleas- aunce with clean hands and feet seated after a good dinner meditating in the cool shade, he might think it a pleasant and healthful thing to be a recluse and might like to become a Pilgrim too, cutting off his hair and beard, donning the yellow robe and going forth from home to homelessness. But suppose he could not bring himself, as the first step to becoming a Pilgrim, to give up his poor hovel and pallet, his poor crock of seed-corn and wife. Would it be correct to say of him that the bonds which keep him from giving up his sorry belongings in order to become a Pilgrim, are to him weak bonds, without strength or might, flimsy and unsubstantial ?
No, sir ; to him they are bonds strong enough to hold him fast, stout, solid bonds that rot not away, a massive log round his neck.
It is just the same, Udayi, with those silly people who, when told by me to give something up, think that it is an insignificant matter of no moment and that I am too particular, — with the result that they do not give it up but grow dissatisfied with me and with the Almsmen who desire to be trained. This insignificant thing grows into a bond strong enough to hold them
21
322 LXVI. LATUKIKOPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 452.
fast, a stout, solid bond, a bond that rots not away, a massive log round their necks.
Or it is like a rich man, or his son, [452] of great wealth and possessions, with abounding treasure and substance and lands and raiment and wives and slaves both male and female. If he, likewise, sees an Alms- man from a pleasaunce with clean hands and feet seated after a good dinner meditating in the cool shade, he too might think it a pleasant and a healthful thing to be a recluse and might like to become a Pilgrim too, cutting off his hair and beard, donning the yellow robe and going forth from home to homelessness. And suppose he could bring himself, as the first step to becoming a Pilgrim, to give up all these riches and to go forth from home to homelessness. Would it be correct to say of him that his bonds were strong enough to hold him fast, stout solid bonds that rot not away, a massive log round his neck ?
No, sir ; to him they are flimsy and unsubstantial.
It is just the same with those young men who, when told by me to give something up, think that in itself it is an insignificant matter of no moment but that their Lord . . . [453] flimsy and unsubstantial.
There are four types of individuals to be found in the world, Udayl.
The first is progressing towards giving up ties and renouncing them, but in his progress is assailed by thoughts and ideas into which ties enter ; he gives in to them, does not give them up, does not dispel and eject them, does not annihilate them. Him I call not detached but attached. And why i^ — Because I have gauged his individuality.
The second is similarly progressing and is similarly assailed, but does not give in to such thoughts and ideas, he gives them up ; he dispels, ejects and annihilates them. Him too do I call not detached but attached. And why ? — Because I have gauged his individuality.
The third is similarly progressing but in his progress is from time to time assailed by distraction in mindful-
M. i. 454- THE PARABLE OF THE QUAIL. 323
ness. Mindfulness is slow of growth, but he is quick to give up such distraction, quick to dispel, eject and annihilate it. It is like a man who lets fall two or three drops of water into an iron pot heated all day- long ; the drops of water are slow in falling but quick to disappear and vanish. And it is just the same with this third man who is progressing . . . and annihilate it. Him also do I call not detached but attached. [454] And why ? — Because I have gauged his individuality.
Last comes the man who, recognizing that ties are a root of 111, frees himself from ties and is Delivered by destroying ties. Him do I call detached and not attached. And why ? — Because I have gauged his individuality.
Five in number are the pleasures of sense, namely, visible shapes, sounds, odours, tastes, and touch, — all of them pleasant, agreeable and delightful, all of them bound up with passion and lusts. The satisfaction and the gratification derived from these five pleasures of sense is called sensual pleasure, filthy pleasure, vulgar pleasure, ignoble pleasure, not to be practised, not to be developed, not to be fostered, but to be dreaded, say I.
Take the case of an Almsman who, divested of pleasures of sense and of wrong states of conscious- ness, develops and dwells in the First Ecstasy . . . and successively in the Third and Fourth Ecstasies. This is called the pleasure of renunciation, the pleasure of solitude, the pleasure of tranquillity, the pleasure of utter enlightenment,^ — to be practised, to be developed, to be fostered, and not to be dreaded, say I.
Take the case of an Almsman who has developed and dwells in the First Ecstasy. Here there is no fixity, — in that observation and reflection are not yet stilled. Nor is there fixity in the Second Ecstasy, — in that
^ Sambodha-sukha , — a term ordinarily restricted to the Buddha, but here used of Arahats in general.
324 LXVI. LATUKIKOPAMA-SUTTA. M. i. 455.
zest and satisfaction are not yet stilled. Nor again is there fixity in the Third Ecstasy, — in that [455] the bliss of rapt concentration survives. But when the Brother has developed and dwells in the Fourth Ecstasy, then I say there is fixity.
Of the First Ecstasy I say that it sufficeth not ; I tell you to give it up and pass beyond it, — to the Second Ecstasy. Of the Second Ecstasy I say that it sufficeth not ; I tell you to give it up and pass beyond it, — to the Third Ecstasy. Of the Third Ecstasy I say that it sufficeth not ; I tell you to give it up and pass beyond it, — to the Fourth Ecstasy. Of the Fourth Ecstasy I say that it sufficeth not ; I tell you to give it up and pass beyond it — to the plane of Infinity and Space — by passing beyond all perception of things material, by eliminating perception of sense- reactions, and by not heeding perception of differences. This too sufficeth not and you must give it up and pass beyond it, — to the plane of Infinity of Conscious- ness and thence successively to the planes of Naught and of Neither-perception-nor-non-perception, [456] till at last the Almsman develops and dwells in the state where perceptions and sensations cease to be
Can you point, Udayi, to any bond, big or small, which I have omitted to order to be given up ?
No, sir.
Thus spake the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Udayl rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LXVII. CATUMA-SUTTA.
OF LAND SHARKS.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Catuma in the myrobalan wood, there came to visit him five hundred Almsmen headed by Sariputta and Moggallana. These newcomers, while they were being greeted by the resident Almsmen and were being shown their billets and while they were
M. i. 457. OF LAND SHARKS. 325
putting away their bowls and robes, talked loud and rnade a great noise. Said the Lord to the reverend Ananda: Who pray are these loud-voiced noisy persons, like so many fishermen over their catch ?
There have come to visit you, sir, five hundred Almsmen headed ... a great noise.
Tell them from me, Ananda, that the Master desires thejr presence.
Ananda having duly done so, those Almsmen obediently [457] came to the Lord and with proper salutations took their seats to one side, there to be asked why there was all this clamour and noise, as of so many fishermen over their catch.
It was these five hundred Almsmen, sir, headed . . . a great noise.
Depart, Almsmen ; I bid you begone ; you cannot dwell near me.
Yes, sir, said they obediently, as, rising up from their seats, they took reverential leave of the Lord, folded up their bedding, took their bowls and robes, and went away.
At that time the Sakyans of Catuma were met together in their moot-hall on some business or other ; and, when from a distance they observed these Alms- men going away, they went up to them and asked where they were going.
The Lord, sirs, has bidden us all begone.
Sit down for a while, reverend sirs ; we may be able to mollify the Lord.
So these Almsmen sat down while the Sakyans of Catuma went off to the Lord and, seating themselves after salutations, spoke thus : — Let the Lord show favour to the Almsmen and extend a welcome to them. As in the past the Lord has been kindly to the Con- fraternity, so let him be kindly to them now. Among them, sir, are young recruits that have but recently joined and are fresh to this Doctrine and Law ; to these it would be a shock and a set-back, if they fail to see the Lord, — just as drought to young crops [458] or as losing sight of its mother to a young calf. As in
326 LXVII. CATUMA-SUTTA. M. i. 459-
the past the Lord has been kindly to them, so let him be kindly to them now, — showing favour to the Alms- men and extending a welcome to them.
Then Brahma Sahampati, divining with his own heart the thoughts of the Lord's heart, vanished from out of his heaven to re-appear in the Lord's presence, — as easily as a strong man might stretch out his arm or draw back his outstretched arm. With his rigrht shoulder respectfully bared, Brahma stretched forth folded palms in homage towards the Lord, saying, as the Sakyans had said : — Let the Lord shew favour ... a welcome to them.
[459] Now the Sakyans of Catuma and Brahma Sahampati by their illustrations from young crops and the young calf succeeded in mollifying the Lord.
Said the reverend Maha-Moggallana to those Alms- men : — Arise, sirs, and take up your bowls and robes ; the Sakyans of Catuma and Brahma Sahampati have succeeded in mollifying the Lord by illustrations from young crops and the young calf. So at his bidding the Almsmen arose, took up their bowls and robes, went to the Lord, saluted him and took their seats to one side.
Sariputta was sitting hard by, and the Lord asked him what he had thought when those Almsmen were sent away.
I thought, said Sariputta, that the Lord did not want to be troubled just then but to enjoy present bliss, and that we too would do the same.
Go away, Sariputta ; go away and never let such an idea cross your mind again.
Turning to Moggallana, the Lord asked him the same question and received the answer that he had thought, when those Almsmen were sent away, that the Lord did not want to be troubled just then but to enjoy present bliss, and accordingly that he and Sariputta would look after the Confraternity.
Quite right, Moggallana ; for, either I or you two must look after the Confraternity.
Then, addressing the Almsmen, the Lord said : —
M. i. 46o. OF LAND SHARKS. 327
Four terrors await a man who goes into the water, — namely waves, crocodiles, whirlpools and sharks. And just the same four terrors await the man who goes forth from home to homelessness as a Pilgrim.
[460] First, what is the terror from waves ? — Take the case of a young man who for faith's sake has gone forth from home to homelessness as a Pilgrim, feeling beset by birth, decay and death, by grief, lamentation, ills, woes and tribulation, beset by ills and spent with ills, and asking to be shown how to make an end of all that makes up the sum of 111. When enrolled ac- cordingly as a Pilgrim, he is plied by his fellows in the higher life with orders and with directions, — how to approach and how to withdraw, how to look in front of him and how to look behind him, how to stretch out his arm and how to draw it back, and how to carry his bowl and robes. Thinks he to himself: — In the old days before I left home, it was I who gave orders and directions to others ; but these people here seem to think they must order me about and direct me like my own children and grandchildren. So he throws up his training and reverts to the lower state of a layman. — Such a man is said to be so terrified by waves that he throws up his training and reverts to the lower state. Terror of waves signifies temper.
What is terror of crocodiles ? — Take the case ot a young man . . . sum of 111. When enrolled accord- ingly as a Pilgrim, he is plied by his fellows in the higher life with orders and directions — to eat this but not that, to touch this but not that, to drink this but not that, and each according to rule at an appointed hour only, and never out of hours. [461] Thinks he to himself: — In the old days before I left home, I used to eat and drink what I liked and not to eat or drink what I did not like, without any regard to rules and hours at all. Nowadays, however, when faith moves people to give me a good meal to eat late in the day out of hours, methinks these people here bolt and bar my mouth. So he throws up his training and reverts to the lower state of a layman. Such a man is said to
328 LXVII. CATUMA-SUTTA. M. i. 462.
do SO from terror of crocodiles. Terror of crocodiles signifies gluttony.
What is terror of whirlpools ? — Take the case of a young man . . . sum of 111. When enrolled accord- ingly as a Pilgrim, he goes for alms in the morning, duly robed and bow! in hand, into a village or town- ship, unguarded of body and speech, without having mustered up mindfulness, and with his faculties not under control. There he sees a householder or his son indulging in the five pleasures of sense to which they are addicted and devoted ; and the thought comes to him that in the old days before he left home he too used to indulge in these pleasures to which he was likewise addicted and devoted and that, as his family has plenty of substance, he could enjoy that substance while doing good works. So he throws up his training and reverts to the lower state of a layman. Such a man is said to do so from terror of whirlpools. Terror of whirlpools signifies the five pleasures of sense.
Lastly, what is terror of sharks ? — Take the case [462] of a young man . . . sum of 111. When enrolled accordingly as a Pilgrim, he goes for alms in the morning, duly robed and bowl in hand, into a village or township, unguarded of body and speech, without having summoned up mindfulness, and with his facul- ties not under control. There he sees a woman not fully dressed and attired, at the sight of whom passion defiles his heart so that he throws up his train- ing and reverts to the low^er state of a layman. Such a man is said to do so from terror of sharks. Terror of sharks signifies women.
Such are the four terrors which await those who, in this Doctrine and Rule, go forth from home to home- lessness as Pilgrims.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LXVIII. NALAKAPANA-SUTTA.
THE STIMULUS OF EXAMPLE.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying in Kosala at Nalaka-pana in the Butea grove, there were a number of highly distinguished young men who for the Lord's sake through faith in him had gone from home to homelessness as Pilgrims, — the reverend Anuruddha, Nandiya, Kimbila, Bhagu, Kundadhana, Revata, and Ananda, together with other highly distinguished young men. At the time the Lord [463], sitting in the open air in the midst of the Confraternity, asked the Almsmen whether those young men, as Almsmen, found joy in the higher life. The Almsmen were silent, and silent they remained though asked the same question a second and a third time. Then it occurred to the Lord to put the ques- tion direct to those young men themselves, and he asked Anuruddha whether they found joy in the higher life.
Certainly we do, was the answer.
Good, very good, Anuruddha and the others of you. It is meet and right that you should do so. You have left home for homelessness as Pilgrims when quite young — with black hair untouched by grey and in all the beauty of your early prime — at the very age when you might have been leading a life of pleasure. It was under no stress from kings or robbers, or debt or fear, or poverty that you left your homes ; — did you not in faith go forth as Pilgrims because — feeling beset by birth, decay and death, by grief, lamentation, ills, woes and tribulation, beset by ills and spent with ills, — you were asking to be shown how to make an end of all that makes up the sum of 111 ?
Yes, sir.
And what, when enrolled as a Pilgrim, has that young man to do ? — If, on the one hand, he attains not
329
33^ LXVIII. NALAKAPANA-SUTTA. M. i. 464.
to that zest and satisfaction which is divested of pleasures of sense and all wrong states of conscious- ness, if he attains not to this or to something higher still, his heart is possessed by covetise, malevolence, torpor, flurry and worry, doubts, [464] dislikes and slackness. But if he does attain to such zest and satis- faction, or to something higher still, his heart is not possessed by any of these things. That zest and that satisfaction are his.
What is your idea about myself? As touching the Cankers — which are depraved and entail re-birth, which are burthensome and ripen unto 111, with birth, decay and death in their train — , do you think that these have not been put away from him by the Truth- finder and that this is why he knows that this Canker is dealt with by practice, that by endurance, this by avoidance and that by removal ?
No, sir ; we do not think this. What we think is that the Truth-finder has put away from him all Cankers and that this is why he knows how Cankers are severally to be dealt with.
Right, quite right. The Truth-finder has indeed put from him all these evil Cankers, has grubbed and stubbed them, like a palm-tree that has been rooted out from where it stood, a thing that once has been and now can be no more. Just as a palm with its crown lopped off can never grow again, even so have all these evil Cankers been grubbed and stubbed, like a palm that has been rooted out from where it stood, a thing that once has been and now can be no more. And therefore it is that the Truth-finder knows how Cankers are severally to be dealt with. What think ye ? — With what end in view does the Truth-finder indicate the states hereafter of his disciples dead and gone, declaring that this one has passed to one, and that one to an other future state?
[465] All our ideas are derived from the Lord,, guided by him and fortified by him. We pray that the Lord may be pleased to explain what he has said, so that the Almsmen may treasure up his words.
M. i. 466. THE STIMULUS OF EXAMPLE. 33 I
My end in view is not to cajole or delude folk, nor is it to get for myself gains or repute or fame or profit, nor is it to advertise myself as revealing the respective states hereafter of my disciples dead and gone. No ; it is because there are young men who believe and are filled with enthusiasm and with gladness, who, on hearing this revelation, concentrate their whole hearts on imitating it all, — to their own abiding good and welfare.
An Almsman hears that such and such an Almsman has died and has been declared by the Lord to have been stablished in knowledge. From personal observa- tion or from hearsay he knows what was this departed Almsman's conduct, peace of heart, lore, life, and Deliverance ; and when he recalls the faith, virtue, learning, renunciation and lore of the departed, he concentrates his whole heart on becoming like him, so that his life is blessed.
Or the Almsman hears the Lord has declared that, by having burst asunder the Five Bonds which bound him to the world, the Almsman departed has been translated to a heaven never to come back thence to earth. From personal observation . . . life is blessed.
Or he hears the Lord has declared that, by having burst asunder the Three Bonds, and by also reducing passion, hatred and delusion to a minimum, the Alms- man departed will come back only once more to earth, and will, when he comes back that last time, make an end of 111. From personal observation . . . [466] life is blessed.
Or he hears the Lord has declared that, by having simply burst asunder the Three Bonds, the Almsman departed has embarked on the stream of salvation, is safe from future states of punishment, is sure of his future and destined to win full enlightenment. From his personal observation . . . life is blessed.
Similarly, an Almswoman hears the Lord has de- clared that such and such an Almswoman has died and has been declared by the Lord (etc., as in all the four foregoing cases of the Almsman departed).
332 LXVIII. NALAKAPANA-SUTTA. M. i. 467.
[467] Similarly a lay-follower — man or woman — hears that such and such a lay-follower has died and that the Lord has declared that, by having burst asunder the Five Bonds which bound him — or her — to the world, the departed has been translated to a heaven never to come back thence to earth . . . (etc., as in the 2nd., 3rd. and 4th. cases of the Almsman departed) . . . [468] his— or her — whole heart is concentrated on becoming like him — or her — , so that his — or her — life is blessed.
Thus the Truth-finder's end in view is not to cajole or delude folk, nor is it to get for himself gains or repute or fame or profit, nor is it to advertise himself as re- vealing the respective states hereafter of his disciples dead and gone. No ; it is because there are young men who believe and are filled with enthusiasm and gladness, who, on hearing this revelation, concentrate their whole hearts on becoming like these, — to their own abiding good and welfare.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the reverend Anuruddha rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LXIX. GULISSANI-SUTTA.
OF RUSTICITY.
[469] Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Rajagaha in the Bamboo grove where the squirrels are fed, there appeared among the Con- fraternity on some business or other an uncouth Alms- man from the wilds, named Gulissani, concerning whom the reverend Sariputta held forth to the Alms- men as follows: —
An Almsman who comes in from the wilds to the Confraternity and lives with them should show respect and consideration to his fellows in the higher life. If he does not, there will be talk of what to do with his reverence from the wilds, who has lived alone in his wilds and done what he liked there, and shows no respect
M. i. 470. OF RUSTICITY. 333
or consideration here for his fellows in the higher life. That is what will be said. And therefore an Almsman from the wilds, when he comes in to the Confraternity and lives with them, should show respect and considera- tion to his fellows.
Such an Almsman from the wilds should be correct in the matter of seats, punctilious neither to displace seniors nor to oust juniors. If he shows himself the reverse, there will be talk of what to do with this Almsman from the wilds who is deficient even in the common decencies which the Doctrine prescribes. That is what will be said. And therefore an Almsman from the wilds when he comes in to the Confraternity and lives with them, should be correct in the matter of seats.
Similarly, and for the like reasons, an Almsman from the wilds should not visit the village for alms at too early an hour, nor return ahead of the others ; he ought not to call on families [470] either before or after the midday meal ; he ought to be composed and sedate ; he ought to be reserved and not loquacious ; he ought to be pleasant spoken and amiable ; he ought to keep watch and ward over his faculties ; [471] he should be moderate in his eating, ever vigilant, strenu- ous, mindful, stedfast, and profound in goodwill ; [472] he should be a zealous student of the higher branches of the Doctrine and the Law. He will be asked questions thereon, and if he can find nothing to say, there will be talk of what is to be done with this Almsman from the wilds, where he lived alone and did what he pleased, who, on being asked questions about the higher branches of the Doctrine and the Law, can find nothing to say. That is what will be said. And therefore an Almsman from the wilds ought to be a zealous student of the higher branches of the Doctrine and the Law.
For like reasons, he oupfht to be a zealous student too both of those excellent Deliverances which transcend the visible and are incorporeal, and also of transcendental states of consciousness, lest it be said of
334 LXX. KITAGIRI-SUTTA. M. i. 473.
him that he knows nothing of that for which he became a Pilgrim.
Hereupon, the reverend Maha-Mogallana asked the reverend Sariputta whether these states of conscious- ness were incumbent only on an Almsman from the wilds or [473] whether they were the business also of an Almsman from the confines of a village.
They are incumbent on the Almsman from the wilds, sir, and still more are they the business of an Almsman from the confines of a village.
LXX. KlTAGIRI-SUTTA.
OF IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was on an alms-pilgrimage in KasI with a large train of Alms- men, he addressed them as follows : — I go without a meal at night and find that on this regimen^ I am healthy and well, buoyant, hale and hearty. Do like me, and you too will benefit in the same way.
Yes, sir, said those Almsmen dutifully.
In the course of that alms-pilgrimage through Kasi, the Lord came to a township of theirs called Kitagiri, where he stayed. Resident there, were two Almsmen Assaji and Punabbasuka,^ to whom there came a number of Almsmen to say that the Lord himself ate no meal at night and that the Confraternity were doing the same and were hale and well on it ; and they urged the two to conform to a regimen which would suit them too.
[474] Thereupon Assaji and Punabbasuka made answer that they took meals in the evening and early in the morning and at noon, outside prescribed hours, and found that on this regimen they were healthy and
^ Cf. Suttas No. 21 and 65.
^ Two leaders, says the Commentator, of the six recalcitrants of the Vinaya.
M. i. 475. OF IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE. 335
well, buoyant, hale and hearty. Why should they sacrifice to-day for hereafter ? They would continue to take meals in the evening and early in the morning and at noon outside prescribed hours.
Failing to win the two over, the Almsmen went to the Lord and after salutations took their seats to one side, narrated all that had passed, ending up by saying that, as they could not prevail with the two, they had come to inform the Lord. He thereupon bade an Almsman to go to the two with the message that the Lord desired their presence. On receipt of this message, the two dutifully appeared and after saluta- tions took their seats to one side, to be asked by him [475] whether what was reported to him was true.
Quite true, sir ; was their answer.
Is it in your knowledge, Almsmen, that I ever taught that — no matter what the feelings a man experiences, whether agreeable or disagreeable or neutral — his wrong states of consciousness wane while his right states wax apace ?
No, sir.
Is it not in your knowledge that my teaching has been that right and wrong states of consciousness depend on the particular feeling experienced ; that according to the nature of the specific feelings — be they agreeable or disagreeable or neutral — wrong states of conscious- ness wax apace while right states wane, or vice versa ?
Yes, sir.
Quite right. If I had not known, seen, discerned, realized, and apprehended by comprehension that, with a given agreeable feeling experienced by a man, wrong states of consciousness wax apace and right states wane, — if I had not this knowledge, should I say, would it beseem me to say, that you should eschew that agreeable feeling ?
No, sir.
It is just because I have that knowledge that I [47c] bid you eschew it.
Also, if I had not known, seen, discerned, realized and apprehended by comprehension that, with a given
^^6 LXX. KiTAGIRI-SUTTA. M. i. 477.
agreeable feeling experienced by a man, wrong states wane and right states wax apace, — if I had not this knowledge, should I say, would it beseem me to say, that you should develop and abide in that agreeable feeling ?
No, sir.
It is just because I have that knowledge that I bid you develop it and abide therein.
[Similar paragraphs ^ about (a) disagreeable and (d) neutral feelings.]
[477] I do not aver that all Almsmen alike need to toil on with diligence ; nor do I aver that all Almsmen alike have no such need. Those Almsmen who are Arahats, in whom the Cankers are dead, who have greatly lived, whose task is done, who have shed their burthen, who have won their weal, whose bonds are no more, who by utter knowledge have won Deliver- ance,— of such Almsmen as these I do not aver that they need to toil on with diligence. And why ? — Because they have already achieved all that toil can achieve and now are incapable of slackness. But of those Almsmen who are still under training and have not won their hearts' desire but live in earnest yearning for that utter peace, — of such Almsmen as these I do aver that they need to toil on with dili- gence. And why ? — I do so because the fruit of diligence which I can see for such Almsmen is that — , in suitable surroundings, wath a picked circle of good friends, and with faculties duly regulated — they will surely win that for the sake of which young men go forth from home to homelessness as Pilgrims and will surely reach the goal of the higher life, discerning it of and by themselves here and now, realizing it, de- veloping it and abiding therein.
Here are seven types found in the world : — (i) he that is Delivered both ways, (2) he that is Delivered by intellect, (3) he that has fathomed the corporeal, (4) he that has come to see, (5) he that is Delivered by faith, (6) he that lives up to the Doctrine, and (7) he that lives up to faith.
M. i. 478. OF IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE. 337
(i) Delivered both ways is he who (a) has reached through the medium of his physical senses those tranquil Deliverances which are immaterial and tran- scend all that is material, and (d) has destroyed Cankers through intellectual vision. Of such an Almsman I do not say that he needs still to toil on with diligence, — because he has already achieved all that toil can achieve and now is incapable of slackness.
(ii) Delivered by the intellect is he who, though he has not reached through the medium of his physical senses those tranquil Deliverances which are im- material and transcend all that is material, has destroyed Cankers through intellectual vision. [478] Of such an Almsman, too, I do not say that he needs still . . . incapable of slackness.
(iii) He has fathomed the corporeal who {a) has reached through the medium of his physical senses those tranquil Deliverances which are immaterial and transcend all that is material, and (d) has destroyed some Cankers by intellectual vision. Of such an Almsman I do say that he needs still to toil on with diligence, — because the fruit of diligence which I can see for such an Almsman is that, in suitable surround- ings, with a picked circle of good friends, and with faculties duly regulated, he will surely win . . . and abiding therein.
(iv) He has come to see who, not having reached these Deliverances through the medium of his physical senses, has destroyed some Cankers by intellectual vision, and by intellect has plumbed and fathomed those states of consciousness which the Truth-finder has preached. Of such an Almsman,* too, I do aver that he needs still to toil on . . . and abiding therein.
(v) Delivered by faith is he who, not having reached these Deliverances through the medium of his physical senses, has destroyed some Cankers by intellectual vision, but has his faith In the Truth-finder fixed, rooted and stablished. Of such an Almsman, too, I do aver that he needs still to toil on . . . [479] and abiding therein.
22
33^ LXX. KITAGIRI-SUTTA. M. i. 480.
(vi) He lives up to the Doctrine who, having neither reached these Deliverances through the medium of his physical senses nor destroyed the Cankers, has through the intellect a message of delight in the states of consciousness which the Truth-finder preaches, — possessing faith, effort, mindfulness, rapt concentration and understanding. Of such an Almsman, too, I do aver that he needs still to toil on . . . and abiding therein.
(vii) Lastly, he lives up to faith who, having neither reached these states of Deliverance through the medium of his physical senses nor destroyed the Cankers, just reposes faith and affection in the Truth- finder, — possessing faith, effort, mindfulness, rapt con- centration and understanding. Of such an Almsman, too, I do aver that he needs still to toil on . . . and abiding therein.
I do not say that the plenitude of knowledge comes straightaway ; — it comes by gradual training, by gradual attainment and by gradual progress. [480] — Take the case of a man with faith who first draws near, then attends constantly, then pays attention, then hears the Doctrine, then carries it away with him, then examines the import of the ideas he has carried away, then is in an ecstasy of delight over those ideas, then grows to ardour, is emboldened by his ardour, be- coming emboldened, weighs it all, and, weighing it, strives, till, void of self, he, through the medium of his bodily senses, realizes the truth sublime and by his intellect penetrates it and sees it clear. Had that faith not been there, he would not have drawn near, nor come again, nor would any of the other things have happened, nor would he have striven at all.
Almsmen, ye have gone far astray ; ye have erred grievously. Ah, how very far have these foolish persons departed from this Doctrine and Rule!
There is a fourfold exposition, the import of which, when it is propounded, can speedily be mastered by the intellect of a man of intelligence. This I will pro- pound to you and you shall understand it from me.
M. i. 481. OF IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE. 339
Who, sir, are we ? And who are they who know the Doctrine ?
Why, Almsmen, even a master who put store on things material who made them his heritage and cherished them, — even he is not met by higgling and haggling stipulations that, if they like a thing, his fol- lowers will do it, but will not do it if they do not like it. How can this chaffering beseem the Truth-finder who dwells wholly apart from things material ? To the follower with faith and in unison with his Master's teachings, it is a principle that the Lord is his Master, and he his disciple ; that the Lord knows and he does not. To the follower with faith, in unison with his Master's teachings, those teachings impart strength and affection. To the follower with faith, in unison with his Master s teachings, [481] it is a principle that — let only skin and sinews and bone persist and let flesh and blood dry up, there still shall be no slackening of effort till what a man's strength and a man's per- severance and a man's energy can win for him, has been won.
From the follower with faith, in unison with his Master's teachings, one of two fruits may be looked for, — either Knowledge here and now or — if the stuff of life be not wholly spent — no return to life on earth.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LXXL TEVIJJA-VACCHAGOTTA-SUTTA.
THE TRUE THREE-FOLD LORE.
Thus have I heard. Once the Lord was staying at Vesall in the Great Wood in the Gabled Hall, and at the same time the Wanderer Vaccha-gotta was resident in the Wanderers' Pleasaunce where the White Mango stands alone. Early in the morning, duly robed and bowl in hand, the Lord came into Vesall for alms, but, reflecting that it was too early yet,
340 LXXI. TEVIJJA-VACCHAGOTTA-SUTTA. M. i. 482.
settled to go to the Wanderers' Pleasaunce and visit Vaccha-gotta, — as he did. From some way off the Wanderer saw the Lord coming and said : — Sir, let the Lord be pleased to draw near ; the Lord is right welcome ; it is a very long time since the Lord managed to come here. Let the Lord be seated ; here is a seat set for him. The Lord having seated himself accordingly, Vaccha-gotta the Wanderer [482] took a low seat for himself to one side and thus began : —
I have heard it said that the recluse Gotama^ is all- knowing and all-seeing, with nothing outside his ken and vision, and that he claims that, whether he is walking or standing still, whether he is asleep or awake, his ken and vision stand ready, aye ready. Pray, sir, is this witness true, not misrepresenting the Lord and not mis-stating the gist of his Doctrine .''
The witness, Vaccha, is not true ; it imputes to me what is false and untrue.
Well, sir, what account ought we to give of the Lord, so as not to misrepresent him or misinterpret the gist of his Doctrine or entail the censure of an orthodox expositor thereof ?
He would bear true witness, neither misrepresenting me nor misinterpreting the gist of my Doctrine nor entailing the censure of an orthodox expositor thereof, — who should say : — The recluse Gotama has the three- fold lore (te-vijja). For, Vaccha, (i) as long as I please, I can call to mind all my own past existences, from a single one onwards, in all their details and features, (ii) As long as I please, I can see — with the Eye Celestial, which is pure and far surpasses the eye of man — creatures in act to pass hence and re-appear elsewhere (etc., as in Sutta No. 4). (iii) By destroying the Cankers, I have won that Deliverance ot heart and mind in which no Cankers are ; here and now have 1 entered on and abide in this Deliverance, which of and by myself I have discerned and realized. So it would
^ This is the claim of the Jain Nathaputta in (e.g.) the 14th Sutta. Cf. Sutta No. 76
M. i. 483. THE TRUE THREE-FOLD LORE. 34 1
be a true witness, Vaccha, to say that I have the three- fold lore.
[483] At this point Vaccha-^otta the Wanderer put this question * Is there any layman, Gotama, who, without shedding the trammels of house and home, has, at the body's dissolution, made an end of 111 ?
Not one, Vaccha.
Is there any layman who, without shedding the shackles of house and home, has, at the body's disso- lution, got to heaven ?
Not one hundred, not two or three or four or five hundred, have achieved this ; there are many more laymen than that who, without discarding the trammels of house and home, have, at the body's dissolution, got to heaven.
Has any Mendicant (ajivaka) at death ever made an end of 111 ?
Not one.
Has any Mendicant at death got to heaven ?
Going back in memory for ninety - one aeons, I can only recall one single Mendicant who did ; — and he preached a gospel of Karma and the after-con- sequences of actions.
On this showing, Gotama, that school's efficacy is wholly impotent to get a man even to heaven.
Yes, Vaccha ; it is so.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, the Wanderer Vaccha-gotta rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LXXII. AGGI-VACCHAGOTTA-SUTTA.
OF FUEL.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Savatthi in Jeta's wood in the pleasaunce of Anathapindika, there came to him the Wanderer Vaccha-gotta, who, [484] after salutations, took his seat to one side and thus began : —
Do you hold, Gotama, that the world is eternal, and
342 LXXII. AGGI-VACCHAGOTTA-SUTTA. M. i. 485.
that this is the only true view, all other views being false ?
No, Vaccha.
Well then, do you hold that the world is non-eternal, and that that is the only true view, all other views being false ?
No, Vaccha.
Do you hold that the world is finite, and that this is the only true view, all other views being false ?
No, Vaccha.
Do you hold, then, that the world is non-finite, and that that is the only true view, all other views being false ?
No, Vaccha.
[Similar questions and answers follow about — Life and the body are identical, Life and the body are dis- tinct ; The truth-finder passes to another existence after death here. The truth-finder does not pass to another existence after death here, The truth-finder both does and does not pass to another existence after his death here, [485] The truth-finder neither passes nor does not pass to another existence after his death here.]
To each and all of my questions, Gotama, you have answered in the negative. What, pray, is the danger you discern in these views which makes you scout them all ?
To hold that the w^orld is eternal — or to hold that it is not, or to agree to any other [486] of the propositions you adduce, Vaccha, — is the thicket of theorizing, the wilderness of theorizing, the tangle of theorizing, the bondage and the shackles of theorizing, attended by 111, distress, perturbation and fever ; it conduces not to aversion, passionlessness, tranquillity, peace, illu- mination and Nirvana. This is the danger I discern in these views, which makes me scout them all.
Is there any view which you have adopted, Gotama ?
The adoption of views is a term discarded for the truth-finder, who has had actual vision of the nature, orgin and cessation of things material — of feelings — of
M. i. 487. OF FUEL. 343
perception — of plastic forces — and of consciousness. Therefore it is that, by destroying, stilling, suppressing, discarding and renouncing all supposings, all imagin- ings, and all tendencies to the pride of saying I or mine, the truth-finder is Delivered because no fuel is left to keep such things going.
When his heart is thus Delivered, Gotama, where is an Almsman^ reborn hereafter?
Reborn does not apply to him.
Then he is not reborn.
Not reborn does not apply.
Then he is both reborn and not reborn.
Reborn and not reborn does not apply.
Then he is neither reborn nor not-reborn.
Neither reborn nor not - reborn does not apply to him.
To each and all of my questions, Gotama, you have replied in the negative. [487] I am at a loss and be- wildered ; the measure of confidence you inspired by our former talk has disappeared.
You ought to be at a loss and bewildered, Vaccha. For, this Doctrine is profound, recondite, hard to com- prehend, rare, excellent, beyond dialectic, subtle, only to be understanded of the wise. To you it is difficult, — who hold other views and belong to another faith and objective, with a different allegiance and a different master. So I in turn will question you, for such answer as you see fit to give. What think you, Vaccha ? — If there were a fire blazing in front of you, would you know it ?
Yes.
If you were asked what made that fire blaze, could you give an answer ?
I should answer that what made it blaze was the fuel consisting of bracken and sticks.
If the fire went out, would you know it had gone out ?
Yes.
^ The interlocutor, it will be noted, assumes that, here, tat h a- g a t a means not the Buddha but a Saint, or Arahat in general.
344 LXXII. AGGI-VACCHAGOTTA-SUTTA. M. i. 488.
If now you were asked In what direction the fire had gone, whether to east, west, north or south, could you give an answer ?
The question does not apply. Since the fire was kept alight by bracken and sticks, and since it had con- sumed its supply of fuel and had received no fresh sup- plies, it is said to have gone out for lack of fuel to sustain it.
Just in the same way, Vaccha, all things material [488] — all feelings — all perception — all plastic forces — all consciousness — everything by which the truth-finder might be denoted has passed away for him, — grubbed and stubbed, leaving only the bare cleared site where once a palm-tree towered, — a thing that once has been and now can be no more. Profound, measure- less, unfathomable, is the truth-finder even as the mighty ocean ; reborn does not apply to him nor not- reborn nor any combination of such terms ; everything by which the truth-finder might be denoted, has passed away for him, utterly and for ever.
At the close of these words, the Wanderer V^accha- gotta said to the Lord : — It is like a giant Sal-tree on the outskirts of a village or township which, by the course of change, loses its leaves and foliage, sheds its bark and rotten stuff and poorer wood, so that in time, when all that Is gone, it stands in the clean strength of its choice timber alone. Wonderful, Gotama ; quite wonderful ! Just as a man might set upright again what had been cast down, or reveal what had been hidden away, or tell a man who had gone astray which was his way, or [489] bring a lamp into darkness so that those with eyes to see might see the things about them, — even so, in many a figure, has Gotama made his Doctrine clear. To the reverend Gotama I come as my refuge, and to his Doctrine and to his Confra- ternity. I ask him to accept me as a disciple from this day forth while life lasts.
M. i. 490. THE MEED OF SERVICE. 345
LXXIII. MAHA-VACCHAGOTTA-SUTTA.
THE MEED OF SERVICE.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying at Rajagaha in the Bamboo grove where the squirrels were fed, the Wanderer Vaccha-gotta came to him and after salutations took his seat to one side, saying : — It is a long time since I have had a talk with the reverend Gotama. I should like him briefly to expound right and wrong to me.
I could expound them either in brief or at large, Vaccha, but will confine myself here to an exposition in brief. Hearken and pay attention, and I will speak. Then to the attentive Wanderer the Lord began : —
Greed is wrong ; freedom from greed is right. Hatred is wrong ; not to hate is right. Delusion is wrong ; to be free from delusion is right. — The one triad is wrong, the other right.
To take life is wrong ; to refrain from taking life is right. Theft is wrong ; to shun theft is right. In- dulgence in pleasures of sense is wrong ; to refrain from such indulgence is right. Lying is wrong ; to refrain from lies is right. Slander [490] is wrong ; to refrain from slandering is right. Reviling is wrong ; not to revile is right. Idle chatter is wrong ; to refrain therefrom is right. To covet is wrong ; not to covet is right. To be malevolent is wrong ; not to be male- volent is right. Erroneous views are wrong ; sound views are right. — The one set of ten is right, the other set is wrong.
So soon as Craving is eliminated — grubbed up by the roots, leaving only the bare cleared site where once a palm-tree towered, a thing that once has been and now can be no more — then that Almsman becomes an Arahat, in whom the Cankers are dead, who has greatly lived, whose task is done, who has shed his burthen, who has won his weal, whose bonds to
34^ LXXIII. MAHA-VACCHAGOTTA-SUTTA. M. i. 491.
life are no more, who by utter Knowledge has won Deliverance.
Apart from the reverend Gotama, — is there a single Almsman in his following who has entered on and dwells here and now in that Deliverance of heart and mind which is without Cankers because Cankers are eradicated, a Deliverance which of and by himself he has apprehended and realized ?
Not a mere hundred of my followers, not two or three or four or five hundred, but many more than that have achieved this.
Apart from the reverend Gotama and the Alms- men,— is there a single Almswoman in his following who has achieved this ?
Not a mere hundred of my women followers, not two or three or four or five hundred of them, but many more than that have achieved this.
Apart from the reverend Gotama and the Almsmen and the Almswomen, — is there a single white-robed layman of his following in the higher life who, by destruction of the Five Fetters that bind people to this world, has been translated to higher realms, never to revert thence to this world ?
Not a mere hundred of my laymen, not two or three or four or five hundred of them, but many more than that have [491] achieved this.
Apart from the reverend Gotama and the Almsmen and the Almswomen and the laymen of the higher life, — is there a single layman who, though not denying himself pleasures of sense, conforms and practises what he is taught, without any doublings or search- ings of heart, and in absolute confidence and personal conviction lives by his Master's teaching ?
Not a mere hundred such laymen, not two or three or four or five hundred of them, but many more than that have achieved this.
Apart from the reverend Gotama and the Almsmen and the Almswomen and the laymen whether of the higher life or of the world still, can you say as much of lay-women both in the higher life and in the world ?
M. 1. 492. THE MEED OF SERVICE. 347
Not a mere hundred lay-women, not two or three or four or five hundred of them, but many more than that have achieved these results.
Had the reverend Gotama alone achieved success in the Doctrine, without the Almsmen, [492] this higher life of his founding would have been incomplete by this constituent. Inasmuch, however, as not only he but the Almsmen too have succeeded, this constituent is not lacking. Had success come only to him and the Almsmen, without the Almswomen, the latter con- stituent would have been wanting, — as it is not. Had success come only to him and the Almsmen and the Almswomen, without laymen of the higher life — or laymen of the world still — or lay-women of the higher life — or lay-women of the world still — , in each case this higher life of his founding would have been incom- plete by that particular constituent. [493] Inasmuch, however, as success has come to each and all of these classes, not a single one of these constituents of com- pleteness is lacking.
Even as the river Ganges streams and flows to the ocean as its bourne and finds repose only in the ocean, so does Gotama's whole congregation, laity as well as Pilgrims, stream and flow to Nirvana as its bourne, finding repose only in Nirvana. Wonderful, Gotama ; quite wonderful ! Just as a man might set upright again what had been cast down, or reveal what had been hidden away, or tell a man who had gone astray which was his way, or bring a lamp into darkness so that those with eyes to see might see the things about them, even so in many a figure has the reverend Gotama made his Doctrine clear. To the reverend Gotama I come as my refuge, and to his Doctrine, and to his Confraternity. I ask to be admitted as a Pilgrim under him, with confirmation therein.
[494] Vaccha, a former adherent of another sect who desires admission to, and confirmation in, this Doctrine and Rule, has first to reside for four months, at the end of which. period discreet Almsmen admit and confirm
34^ LXXIII. MAHA-VACCIIAGOTTA -SUTTA. M. i. 495.
him as a member of the Confraternity. This is the qualification I have recognized.
If this is so, sir, I will reside for the probationary four months accordingly with a view to membership of the Confraternity.
In due course, the Wanderer Vaccha-gotta was ad- mitted and confirmed of the Lord's following.
Soon after his confirmation, indeed within a fort- night's time, the reverend Vaccha-gotta came to the Lord and after salutations took his seat to one side, saying — I have attained all that is to be attained by a non-Arahat's understanding and a non-Arahat's know- ledge. I ask the Lord to expound the Doctrine to me further.
Then, Vaccha, develop further two frames of mind, calm and insight, the development of which will help you to fathom various elements of sense-consciousness.
To the full of your desire to have at command the divers types of psychic power — from being one to become manifold, from being manifold to become one, to pass at will through wall or fence or hill as if it were air, to pass in and out of the solid earth as if it were water, to walk on the water's unbroken surface as if it were the solid earth, to glide, as you sit serene, through the air, like a winged bird, to touch and to handle the sun and moon in their power and might, and to extend the sway of your body right up to the heavens of Brahma — each and all of these manifesta- tions of psychic power shall be yours to experience as your mind shall dictate.
To the full of your desire to hear, with the Ear Celestial, [495] which is pure and far surpasses the human ear, twofold sounds — both the celestial and the human, sounds both far and near, — all this shall be yours to experience as your mind shall dictate.
To the full of your desire, that your heart should read the hearts of others, — knowing the heart where passion dwells as passionate, and the passionless heart as passionless, the unkind heart as unkind, and the kind heart as kind, the deluded heart as deluded, and
M. i. 496. THE MEED OF SERVICE. 349
the undeluded heart as undeluded, the focussed heart as focussed, and the unfocussed heart as unfocussed, the great heart as great, and the little heart as little, the inferior heart as inferior, and the superior heart as superior, the stedfast heart as stedfast, and the un- stedfast heart as unstedfast, the heart Delivered as De- livered, and the heart undelivered as undelivered — all this shall be yours to experience as your mind shall dictate.
To the full of your desire to recall your divers ex- istences in the past — a single birth, then two . . . right up to your rebirth here, — all this shall be yours to experience as your mind shall dictate.
[496J To the full of your desire to see, with the Eye Celestial which is pure and far surpasses the human eye, creatures in act to pass hence, in act to reappear elsewhere, creatures either lowly or debonair ... in states of bliss and in heaven, — all this shall be yours to experience as your mind shall dictate.
To the full of your desire — here and now, and of and by yourself — to know, realize, enter on, and abide in Deliverance of heart and mind which is without Cankers because Cankers have been eradicated, — all this shall be yours to experience as your mind shall dictate.
Thereupon the venerable Vaccha-gotta, glad and grateful to the Lord for his words, arose and with salutations and deep reverence withdrew. Nor was it long before he, dwelling alone and aloof, strenuous, ardent and purged of self, won the prize in quest of which young men go forth from home to homelessness as Pilgrims, that prize of prizes which crowns the highest life ; — even this did he think out and realize of and by himself, entering on it and dwelling therein here and now ; and to him came the knowledge clear that for him rebirth was no more ; that he had lived the highest life ; that his task was done ; and that now for him there was no more of what he had been. The reverend Vaccha-gotta was numbered among the Arahats.
At that time a large number of Almsmen were on
350 LXXIII. MAHA-VACCHAGOTTA-SUTTA. M. i. 497.
their way to visit the Lord. Seeing them some way off, Vaccha-gotta went up to them, [497] and, on learning their intention to visit the Lord, asked them to bow down at the Lord's feet on his behalf and in his name to say : — The Lord has been served ; the Blessed One has been served. Accordingly those Almsmen conveyed his message faithfully to the Lord, who remarked that already his own heart had read Vaccha- gotta's heart and that this Almsman had won the threefold lore and had come to great powers and might. Also, deities (he added) had brought him the same tidings.
Thus spoke the Lord. Glad at heart, those Alms- men rejoiced in what the Lord had said.
LXXIV. DIGHANAKHA-SUTTA.i
CONSISTENCY IN OUTLOOK.
Thus have I heard. Once when the Lord was staying in Boar's Cave on Vulture Peak at Rajagaha, the Wanderer Digha-nakha came to him and after salutations took his stand to one side, saying : — All^ fails to satisfy me ; that is what I say, and that is the view I hold.
When you say, Aggivessana, that all fails to satisfy you, does your own view as just expressed also fail to satisfy you ?
If it did satisfy me, then all else would follow suit.
[498] In one class, there are very many people in the world who, admitting that all else should follow suit, yet refuse to discard their old view while adopt- ing another. In another class, there are very few who, admitting that all else should follow suit, discard their old view and do not tack on another.
There are some recluses and brahmins, Aggivessana, who affirm and hold that all satisfies them, while others take the contrary view, and others again partly take the former and partly the latter view.
Those who are satisfied with all, hold a view which is allied to passion, to bondage, to pleasure, to attach- ments and to all that sustains continuing existence.
Those who are dissatisfied with all, hold a view which is allied to passionlessness and freedom, aloof from pleasure and attachments, and with nothing to keep existence continuing.
^ This Sutta is referred to as Vedana-pariggaha-suttanta at p. 96 of the first volume of the Commentary on the Dhamma- pada (P. T. S. 1906).
^ Bu. explains sabbaiii (all, everything) as meaning re-birth and transmigration, in the mouth of Dlghanakha, who, subse- quently perceiving that Gotama is using the word in its literal sense, tries to safeguard his original contention.
351
352 LXXIV. DIGHANAKHA-SUTTA. M. i. 500.
Here Dighanakha intervened to say: — The reverend Gotama is complimentary, most complimentary to the view I hold !
Lastly, the Lord went on to say, those who are partly satisfied and partly dissatisfied, hold a view which, so far as it is one of satisfaction, is allied to passion and so forth, while, so far as it is one of dissatisfaction, is allied to passionlessness and so forth.
In these circumstances an intelligent person would say that, if he whole-heartedly stuck to and dis- seminated the satisfied view as wholly and exclusively true, he would be at issue with both the other camps, which would lead to disputes, and so to vexation and so to trouble. Consequently, he discards this view and takes up with no other. And the same happens to an intelligent person with regard to both the dissatisfied and the partly-satisfied views, so that in all three cases alike there is a discarding and a renouncing of these views by the intelligent.
[500] This body — which has visible shape, which is made up of the four primary elements, starts from parents, is sustained by victuals, is transitory and subject to attrition, abrasion, dissolution and dispersal — , this body is to be regarded as transitory, as 111, as a disease, as a pustulence, as a pang, as anguish, as a malady, as alien, as a flux, as void, as non-self ; and he who so regards the body, loses thereby all liking and affection for a body, all subordination to a body.
There are the following three classes of feelings, — pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. While a man is experiencing a pleasant feeling, he does not con- comitantly experience the unpleasant or the neutral, but the pleasant alone. Similarly, an unpleasant or a neutral feeling is not concomitant with either of the two other classes. All three classes alike have this in common that they are transitory, that they are products and effects, that they are perishable and evanescent, and that they can be purged of passion and stilled. When he sees this clearly, a well-informed disciple of the Noble, grows aweary of all feelings — pleasant,
M. i. 501. CONSISTENCY IN OUTLOOK. 353
unpleasant and neutral — and, being aweary, purges himself of passion and by passionlessness finds Deliver- ance, so that, being Delivered, he comes to realize his Deliverance in the conviction that — Rebirth is no more ; I have lived the highest life ; my task is done ; and now for me there is no more of what I have been. An Almsman whose heart is Delivered thus, neither concurs nor disputes with anyone; he employs the current phraseology of the world without accepting its ideas.
At this point there came to the reverend Sariputta, who was [501] standing behind the Lord fanning him, the thought : — These then are the several states of consciousness which the Lord has bidden us realize and discard, which the Blessed One has bidden us renounce. And even as Sariputta so reflected, his heart was Delivered from Cankers by leaving nothing to sustain them in being.
In the Wanderer Dighanakha, on the other hand, there arose the pure and stainless Eye of Truth, whereby he saw that in whatsoever has a beginning, cessation is also inherent. Seeing and grasping the Doctrine, comprehending and fathoming it, Dighanakha — with doubts all gone, freed from all questionings of heart, strong now in confidence, per- sonally and independently assured of the Master's gospel — said to the Lord : — Wonderful, Gotama ; quite wonderful ! Just as a man might set upright again . . . (etc. as at end of Sutta No. 72) ... as a disciple from this day forth while life lasts.
LXXV. MAGANDIYA-SUTTA.
OF KEEPING WATCH AND WARD.
Thus have I heard. Once the Lord was staying in the Kuru country — Kammassadhamma is the name of a township of theirs — in the fire-hut of the brahmin Bharadvaja-gotta, in which a grass mat was laid. In
23
354 LXXV. MAGANDIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 502.
the morning early, duly robed and bowl in hand, the Lord went into the township for alms and was on his way back after his meal when he came to a wood into which he went to spend the noontide, seating himself under a tree for the heat of the day.
[502] Now the Wanderer Magandiya, in the course of his roamings and peregrinations afoot, came to this fire-hut and, seeing the grass mat laid, asked the brahmin whom it was for, observing that it suggested the pallet of a recluse.
It has been laid, Magandiya, for the recluse Gotama, the Sakyan, who has gone forth from a Sakyan home on Pilgrimage. Such is the high repute noised abroad concerning him that he is styled the Lord, Arahat all- enlightened, walking by knowledge, blessed, under- standing all worlds, the matchless tamer of the human heart, teacher of gods and men, the Lord of Enlightenment.
It is an annoyance to set eyes on the pallet of Gotama, that rigid repressionist.^
Take care what you say, Magandiya ; take care what you say ; for, many are the sages among Nobles, brahmins, householders and recluses who are earnest believers in him and trained in Noble knowledge, in the Doctrine, and in what is right.
If I could see him face to face, I would tell him to his face, Bharadvaja, that he is a repressionist, — because our Scriptures say so.
If you do not mind my doing so, I will tell this to the recluse Gotama.
Pray do not scruple to tell him what you have been told.
1 B h u n a h u (an archaic word purposely put into the mouth of this paribbajaka, as huveyya was put into the mouth of Upaka the aj ivaka at I., p. 171, vide supra, p. 121), is here interpreted by Bu. as hata-vaddhin and mariyada-karaka, i.e. "re- pressing growth and regulation-making." He explains that, v/hereas the Buddha prescribed watch and ward over the senses, this Wanderer believed in giving them full scope, advocating not * a cloistered virtue ' but complete experience (* tout savoir ') as a stage to ultimate mastery.
M. i. 503. OF KEEPING WATCH AND WARD. 355
With the Ear Celestial, which is pure and far sur- passes the human ear, the Lord heard the conversation between these two.
Rising up towards evening from his meditations, the Lord betook him to the brahmin's fire-hut and sat down on the grass mat laid out for him. To him came the brahmin, who, after salutations, took his seat to one side and was thus by the Lord addressed : — There was some talk, Bharadvaja, between you and the Wanderer Magandiya [503] as touching this same mat.
Greatly surprised and startled, the brahmin said : — Why that is precisely what I was about to tell you, sir, when you anticipated me !
Their talk was interrupted by the return of the Wanderer to the hut, who, after salutations, sat down to one side, to be thus addressed by the Lord : — The eye, Magandiya — of which visible shapes are the domain and the delight and the satisfaction — has been subjugated, shielded, safe-guarded and kept under v/atch and ward by the Truth-finder, who preaches the Doctrine of its watch and ward. Was it with reference to the eye that you said the recluse Gotama is a rigid repressionist ?
Yes, it was ; — because our Scriptures say so.
Was your remark made with reference to the ear — which has sounds for its domain — , to smell — which has odours for its domain — , to the tongue — which has tastes for its domain — , to the body — which has touch for its domain — , to consciousness — which has states of mind for its domain ? Was it with reference to these — all of which have been subjugated by the Truth-finder, who preaches the Doctrine for their watch and ward — that you said the recluse Gotama is a rigid repressionist ?
Yes, it was ; — because it is on these lines that you criticize our tenets.
What do you think of this, Magandiya ? — Take a man who [504] aforetime revelled in the visible shapes of which the eye takes cognizance, — shapes which are desirable, agreeable, pleasant and attractive, bound up
35^ LXXV. MAGANDIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 505.
with pleasures of sense, and exciting. Suppose that later on, through coming to know them for what they really are — through coming to know their origin and cessation, the satisfaction and the troubles they entail, and their final outcome — , he discards all craving for them, dispels the fever they bring, loses all appetite for them, so that he dwells with his heart at peace within him. What have you to lay to his charge ?
Nothing, Gotama.
Or take the case of a man who similarly discards sounds, odours, tastes, or touch. What have you to lay to his charge ?
Nothing.
Now, I myself, Magandiya, in those days when I had a home, was lapped in the pleasures of the five senses and revelled in sights, sounds, odours, tastes and touch, — which are desirable, agreeable, pleasant and attractive, bound up with pleasures of sense, and ex- citing. Three palaces were mine, one for the rainy season, another for the winter, and another for the summer. In the palace for the rainy reason I lived during the four months of the rains, ministered to by bands of women musicians, never coming down to the lower floors. Later on, through coming to know these pleasures for what they really are — through coming to know their origin and cessation, the satisfaction and the troubles they entail, and their final outcome — , I discarded all 'craving for them, dispelled the fever they bring, lost all appetite for them, so that I dwelt with my heart at peace within me. I observed others still held by pleasure in passion's meshes, still the prey of pleasure, still afire with the fever of pleasure, still the votaries of pleasure ; I envied them not nor took delight in such things. And why ? — Because there is a delight which is aloof from pleasures of sense and from things which are wrong and is based on the attainment of bliss Celestial ; [505] and it was in the enjoyment of this delight that I neither envied the lower nor took delight therein.
It is like a wealthy householder or his son, of great
M. i. 5o6. OF KEEPING WATCH AND WARD. 357
treasures and substance, who, while living a life lapped in these divers pleasures of the five senses that are so desirable, agreeable, . . . and exciting, lives aright in deed, word and thought so that at his body's dissolution after death he passes to bliss celestial to consort with the Thirty-three gods, and there, surrounded by a throng of nymphs in the Grove of Gladness, is lapped in every celestial pleasure of the five senses. Sup- posing now that he sees a householder or his son on earth lapped in divers pleasures of sense. What do you think, Magandiya ? Would that new deity, who lives surrounded by a throng of nymphs in the Grove of Gladness, lapped in every celestial pleasure of the five senses, — would he envy that earthly householder or his son or their earthly pleasures ? Would he turn again to earthly pleasure ?
No, Gotama ; he would not ; — because celestial pleasures are choicer and more excellent than human pleasures.
It was just the same with me who in bygone days, Magandiya, when I had a home, was lapped in the pleasures of the five senses but later on, through coming to know. . . . [506] I neither envied the lower nor took delight therein.
It is like a leper who, with his limbs all sores and rottenness, is being eaten alive by worms and tears his open wounds with his nails and scorches his frame over a pit of hot embers. Suppose now his friends and kinsfolk bring him a leech who makes him up a medicine whereby he is cured of his leprosy and is hale and well, able to get about and go where he will. If now he sees another leper in the selfsame plight, — do you think he would envy that leper either his pit of embers or his course of medicine ?
No, — because medicines are wanted not in health but in illness.
It was just the same with me, Magandiya, who, in those days when I had a home, was lapped in all pleasures of the five senses and revelled in desirable and agreeable sights, but later on, through coming to
35^ I.XXV. MAGANDIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 507
know those pleasures for what they really are ... I neither envied the lower nor took delig^ht therein.
[507] It is like a leper who, with his limbs all sores . . . able to get about and go where he will. Suppose now two strong men dragged him along by the arms towards a pit of embers, — do you suppose he would struggle and resist ?
Yes, Gotama ; — because the fire and contact with it would greatly torture and scorch him.
Is this something new, or was it all there before.'^
The fire and the contact and the scorching are no different now to what they were. The difference is that, in the former instance the leper, — when his limbs were all sores and rottenness, and when he was being eaten alive by worms and was tearing his open wounds with his nails and was beside himself — actually found in the pain of contact with the fire a change of sensation to what seemed bliss.
Precisely in the same way, Magandiya, pleasures of sense always have been, always will be, and always are painful in contact, always torturing and scorching. And those who are held by pleasure in passion's meshes, who are still the prey of pleasure, still afire with the fever of pleasure, still the votaries of pleasure and beside themselves, — all these actually find in the pain of contact with pleasures of sense a change of sensation to what to them seems bliss.
It is like a leper who, with his limbs all sores and rottenness, while he is being eaten alive by worms, and while he tears his open wounds with his nails, scorches his frame over a pit of embers. The more that leper does so, the more do his open sores [508] stink with the noisome stench of putrefaction, and he finds but sorry relief and satisfaction from scratching their itching surface. It is just the same with those who, being held by pleasure in passion's meshes, who, being still the prey of pleasure, still afire with the fever of pleasure, and still the votaries of pleasure, continue on with pleasures of sense ; — the longer they go on, the stronger grows their craving for passion, and the hotter
M. i. 509. OF KEEPING WATCH AND WARD. 359
rages the fever of passion within them, and they find but sorry relief and satisfaction from their indulgences.
Have you either seen or heard of a prince or great lord who, being lapped in pleasure, has ever lived — or is now living — or indeed will ever live — with his heart at peace within him, unless he has first discarded all craving for sensuous pleasures, has dispelled the fever they bring, and has lost all appetite for them ?
No, Gotama.
Quite right, Magandiya ; — nor have I. But all recluses and brahmins who have been — or now are — or hereafter will be — triumphant over pleasures of sense, with their hearts at peace within them, — all, all, achieve their triumph through realizing how pleasure originates and how it ends, and what are its satisfac- tions, perils and vanity.
This was the occasion of the Lord's solemn utterance : —
Chief boon is Health ; Nirvana's bliss stands first ; Of Deathless Paths the Eightfold leads to Peace,
Hereupon, Magandiya said to the Lord : — It is wonderful, Gotama, it is marvellous how truly you say that —
[509] Chief boon is Health ; Nirvanas bliss comes first.
I myself have also heard it said by the Wanderers of old, teachers themselves and the teachers of teachers, that —
Chief boon is Health ; Nirvanas bliss stands first.
There is complete accord here, Gotama.
In this line which you have heard from the Wan- derers of old, Magandiya, what is Health } and what is Nirvana?
Here the Wanderer stroked his own limbs and said : — This is Health, Gotama ; this is Nirvana. For, at the present time I am in health and well-being, without any ailments at all.
It is just like a man blind from birth, Magandiya, who
360 LXXV. MAGANDIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 510.
cannot see dark and light things, or blue or yellow or red or pink things ; who cannot see level or rough ground, the stars, or the sun and moon. Suppose, on hearing a man with sight say that a goodly white robe without blemish was a fine thing to possess, this blind man were to sally forth to get one for himself, only to be fobbed off with greasy, grimy, trashy stuff which was vouched for as all right. Suppose now he took it, put it on, and expressed his delight by saying that a goodly white robe without blemish was a fine thing to possess. Do you suppose that, if the man blind from birth had had knowledge and vision, he would have taken that greasy, grimy, trashy stuff and have been so pleased with it ? Or did he take it on trust from the man who could see ?
Only from lack of knowledge and vision, and out of trust in him who could see, would the blind man have been deluded like that.
[510] Just in the same way non-conformist Wan- derers, being blind and without eyes, lacking know- ledge of Health and Vision of Nirvana^ yet utter the verse —
Chief boon is Health ; Nirvanas bliss stands first.
It was the Arahats all-enlightened of old who uttered the verses —
Chief boon is Health ; NiTuancHs bliss stands first ; Of Deathless Paths the Eightfold leads to Peace,
By degrees it has now filtered down to the everyday man. Though this body, Magandiya, is a disease, a pustulence, a pang, an anguish, an ailment, you say that here is Health and Nirvana. For, you have not that Noble Eye wherewith to know Health and to have vision of Nirvana.
I believe the reverend Gotama can teach me how to know Health and have vision of Nirvana.
It is just like a man blind from birth, Magandiya, unable to see dark and light things ... or the sun and moon, to whom his friends and kinsfolk bring a
M. i. 511. OF KEEPING WATCH AND WARD. 36 1
leech who makes him up a medicine whereby he fails to give him eyes or to clarify them. Do you not suppose the leech will have taken a lot of toil and trouble over it ?
Yes, Gotama.
Just in the same way, Magandiya, I might teach you what Health and Nirvana are, but you would not either know Health or have vision of Nirvana; — but I should have trouble and travail.
[511] I believe the reverend Gotama can teach me how to know Health and have vision of Nirvana.
It is just like a man blind from birth, Magandiya, unable to see anything, who hears a man with sight say that a goodly white robe without blemish . . . vouched for as all right. Suppose now that he takes it and puts it on ; and suppose further that his friends and kinsfolk bring him a leech, who makes him up a medicament for application above and beneath, and solvents, and cooling ointments, and nasal injections, so that he gives the blind man his eyes and clarifies them, — with the consequence that he quite loses his passion for that grimy, greasy, trash and regards the fellow who sold it him as no friend but as an enemy who ought to be put to death for having cheated, tricked and deluded him by saying that greasy, grimy trash was a goodly white robe without blemish.
Just in the same way, Magandiya, if I were to teach you what Health is and what Nirvana is, and if you came to knowledge and vision of them, then, so soon as you got eyes to see with, you would quite discard your passion for what breeds the five-fold maintenance of existence, and your thought would then be : — Long have I been cheated, tricked and deluded by this heart of mine ; for, I was for ever engaged in encouraging things material, feelings, perceptions, plastic forces, and consciousness, so that this encouragement led to existence, which led to birth, which led to decay and death with sorrow and lamentation, 111 and tribulation. — [512] Thus originates all that makes up the sum of 111.
362 LXXV. MAGANDIYA-SUTTA. M. i. 513.
I believe the reverend Gotama can teach me how I shall be blind no more when I rise from this seat.
Then, Magandiya, consort with the good. Con- sorting with the good, you will hear sound doctrine, and so will walk in accordance with the Doctrine, and thereby will come — of and by yourself — to know and to see that these things are diseases, pustulences and pangs ; that here they are stilled for ever ; that to still the stuff that makes them leads on for you to the stilling of continued existence, which in turn leads on to the stilling of birth and so of decay with sorrow and lamentation, 111 and tribulation. — Thus ends all that makes up the sum of 111.
Hereupon, the Wanderer Magandiya said to the Lord : — Marvellous, Gotama ; quite marvellous. Just as a man might set upright again . . . (etc., as in Sutta No, y2)) • • • [^1^] ^^s admitted and confirmed of the Lord's following. Nor was it long before the reverend Magandiya, dwelling alone and aloof, . . . (etc., as in Sutta No. y2>) • • • was numbered among the Arahats.
LXXVL SANDAKA-SUTTA.
OF FALSE GUIDES.
Thus have I heard. Once while the Lord was staying at Kosambi in the Ghosita pleasaunce, the Wanderer Sandaka was living at Pilakkha-guha with a great company of Wanderers, some five hundred in number. Rising from his meditations towards evening, the reverend Ananda proposed to the Alms- men to go to Deva-Kata Pool to visit the cavern. They agreeing, Ananda took a number of them there with him. At the time, Sandaka was sitting with his great company of Wanderers, who were making a great noise with their voices raised and loud in all manner of low and beastly talk, — about princes, bandits, great lords' armies, terrors, battles, meats and drinks, clothes, beds, garlands, perfumes, relations, villages.
M.i. 514- OF FALSE GUIDES. 363
townships, cities, countries, women, warriors, roads, wells, kinsfolk departed, and all the rest of it, with chatter about world and ocean, and [514] about being and not-beinof.
When from some way off Sandaka saw Ananda coming, he hushed his company by saying : — Be quiet, sirs ; do not make a noise ; here comes the recluse Ananda, the disciple of the recluse Gotama. All the time disciples of Gotama have been staying at the Kosambi, Ananda has been one of them. These recluses are lovers of quiet, are trained to quiet, and commend the quiet ; if he observes quiet reigning in this gathering, he may decide to approach. So they became quiet, and Ananda came up. Said Sandaka : — I beg the reverend Ananda to join us ; he is truly welcome ; it is a long time since last he managed to get here. Pray be seated ; here is a seat for your reverence.
Ananda sat down accordingly, asking Sandaka, who took a low seat to one side, what had been their theme and what was the discussion which had been inter- rupted. Let that pass for the moment, answered Sandaka ; you can easily gather that later on. What I should like, would be i( you would think of some discourse on your own teacher's tenets.
Well then, Sandaka, listen and pay attention, and I will speak. Certainly, answered Sandaka; and Ananda began : —
The Lord who knows and sees, the Arahat all- enlightened, has specified four antitheses to the higher life, and four comfortless vocations, wherein a man of intelligence will assuredly not follow the higher life, or, if he does follow it there, will not advance to knowledge, the Doctrine, and what is right.
What are the four antitheses, Ananda ?
[515] First, ^ there is the teacher who affirms and holds that there is no such thing as alms, or sacrifice, or oblations ; no such things as the fruit and harvest of
^ Cf. Saleyyaka-sutta (No. 4) for these heresies.
364 LXXVI. SANDAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 516.
deeds good or bad ; no such thing- as this world or the next ; no such thing as parents, or beings translated to another sphere ; no such thing in this world as a recluse or brahmin who has triumphantly walked aright, so that, of and by himself, he has comprehended this world and the next and makes them known to others. A man — he avers — is composed of the four Elements. At his death the earth resumes and absorbs his earthy elements, water his watery elements, fire his fiery elements, and space his faculties. A bier and four bearers go off with the dead man, whose remains are visible as far as the charnel-ground where his bones whiten and bleach. Oblations are words and nothing more ; alms-giving is nonsense ; — it is a sham and a lie and idle chatter to assert the contrary. At the body's dissolution sages and fools alike are cut off and perish, without any future after death.
In a hearer of intelligence, this pronouncement awakens the following reflections : — If all this teacher says is true, then, without my doing a stroke, my task is done, and I have lived the higher life without essaying it at all. The pair of us are on precisely the same level of recluse-ship, — though for my part I do not aver that at the body's dissolution we shall both be cut off and perish, with no future after death. It is all superero- gation for this reverend teacher to go naked, to shave his head, to hop about a-squat, and to pluck out his hair and beard by the roots ; while I, — living with a host of sons around me, revelling in sandal from Kasi, decked out with garlands and scents and per- fumes, not refusing gold and silver — shall yet fare hereafter no whit worse than he. What do I see or know in this teacher that I should follow the higher life under him ? — And, when it is recognized that this is an antithesis to the higher life, off goes the man in disgust.
Such is the first antithesis to the higher life, as specified by the Lord.
[516] Secondly, there is the teacher who affirms and holds that no evil is done by him who either acts him- self or causes another to act, who mutilates or causes
M. i. 517. OF FALSE GUIDES. 365
another to mutilate, who punishes or causes another to punish, who is the author of grief or torment or terror, or causes another to terrify, who takes life, steals, is a burglar, robber, house-breaker, footpad, adulterer or liar. If with a cleaver as sharp as a razor he were to slay earth's living creatures and pile up their corpses in a single heap and mound of flesh, no guilt proceeds and no result of guilt ensues. If he were to make his way up to the southern bank of the Ganges killing and wounding, maiming and causing to be maimed, punishing and causing to be punished, — no guilt pro- ceeds nor any result of guilt ensue. If he were to make his way up to the northern bank of the Ganges distributing alms and causing alms to be distributed, offering sacrifices and causing sacrifices to be offered, — no virtue proceeds and no result of virtue ensues. No merit proceeds nor does any result of virtue ensue from alms-givingor temperance or self-control or truthfulness.
In a hearer of intelligence, this pronouncement awakens the following reflections : — If all this teacher says is true, then, without my doing a stroke, my task is done, and I have lived the higher life without essay- ing it at all. The pair of us are on precisely the same level of recluse-ship, — though for my part I do not aver that the actions of the two of us work no evil. It is all supererogation . . . off goes the man in disgust.
Such is the second antithesis to the higher life, as specified by the Lord.
Thirdly, there is the teacher who affirms and holds that there is no cause or reason for either depravity or purity ; — it is without either cause or reason that some are depraved and some pure. There is no such thing as intrinsic strength or energy or human [517] might or human endeavour. All creatures, all living things, all beings, all that has life, — all are devoid of power, strength and energy ; all are under the compulsion of the individual nature to which they are linked by destiny ; and it is solely by virtue of what they are born as in the six environments that they experience their pleasure or pain.
366 LXXVI. SANDAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 517.
In a hearer of intelligence, this pronouncement awakens the following reflections : — If all this teacher says is true, then, without my doing a stroke, my task is done, and I have lived the higher life without essaying it at all. The pair of us are on precisely the same level of recluse-ship, — though for my part I do not aver that both of us will become pure without cause or reason. It is all supererogation . . . off goes the man in disgust.
Such is the third antithesis to the higher life, as specified by the Lord.
Lastly, there is the teacher who affirms and holds that, — There are seven substances which are neither made nor commanded to be made, neither created nor commanded to be created, engendering nothing, im- movable as mountain-peaks or massive columns ; they neither budge nor change ; they neither molest one another nor can they impart to one another either pleasure or pain or both. These seven substances are earth, water, fire, air, pleasure, pain, and life. With them there is neither killer nor slayer, neither teller nor told, neither teacher nor taught. No one^ who with a keen blade chops a head in twain, thereby robs anyone of life ; all that happens is that in its descent the blade has opened up a passage between just these seven substances. Of principal forms of life there are fourteen hundred thousand, with another three score hundreds, and a further six hundred to boot ; actions (kammuno) are five hundred in number ; there are five acts and another three acts ; and there are activities and half activities ;^ there are three score and two paths to tread ; three score and two aeons of time ; six environments ;^ eight Ages of Man ;^ nine and forty
1 There are traces of archaic dialect throughout this con- temptuous synopsis, with its sneer at kamma (in three declen- sions, tentatively indicated by actions, acts, and activities).
2 Some (says Bu.) assigned one kamma to each of the five senses. He indicates that the three acts represent the triad of deed, word, and thought, though some ranked thought as only half a K a m m o.
3 See hereon note at p. 293 supra. ^ See note 2 at Dial. I, 72.
M. i. 518. OF FALSE GUIDES. 367
hundreds of livelihoods (ajlva), and as many classes of Wanderers (paribbaja) [518] and of abodes of Nagas ; a score of hundreds of faculties (indriya), ' thrutty ' hundreds of purgatories ; six and thirty homes of filth ; seven types of a conscious foetus,^ seven of an uncon- scious foetus,^ and seven propagations by striking slips f seven kinds of gods, of men, and of goblins ; seven Great Lakes ; seven Sages ;^ seven major Pre- cipices, and seven hundred other Precipices ; seven major dreams and seven hundred other dreams ; eighty-four hundreds of thousands of aeons through which, birth by birth, wise and simple alike must pass in transmigration before they make an end of 111. Herein, there is no chance, whether by virtue or observances or austerities or the higher life, of ripening unripe karma or of getting rid of ripened karma by continually interfering with it. Pleasure and pain are meted out in full measure ; there is nothing over, no more or less, when transmigration ends. Just as a ball of twine, when hurled from you, continues on its course as long as there is string to unwind, even so will wise and simple make an end of 111 only when they have dreed their weird of transmigrations.
In a hearer of intelligence, this pronouncement awakens the following reflections : — If all this teacher says is true, then, without my doing a stroke, my task is done and I have lived the higher life without essay- ing it at all. The pair of us are on precisely the same level of recluse-ship, — though for my part I do not aver that the pair of us have only to transmigrate in order to end 111. It is all supererogation . . . off goes the man in disgust.
Such is the fourth antithesis to the higher life, as specified by the Lord who knows and sees, the Arahat all-enlightened.
^ E.g. cattle (Bu.). ^ E.g. cereals (Bu.).
3 E.g. canes (Bu.).
* On p a V u t a Dhammarama's Colombo edition of the Com- mentary adds the note : — Pamuta ti paliyam pabuta ti pandita B. Pavuta ti niganthi ka Ai. M.3.
3^8 LXXVI. SANDAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 519.
[519] Wonderful, Ananda, marvellous, how the Lord has specified these four antitheses. What now are those four comfortless vocations he speaks of?
Take the case of a teacher who is ' all-knowing and all-seeing, with nothing outside his ken and vision, who claims that, whether he is walking or standing still, whether he is asleep or awake, his ken and vision stand ready, aye ready.' This teacher goes to a house which is empty and gets no alms given him ; is bitten by a dog ; encounters a violent elephant or horse or bullock ; asks a man or woman their name and clan ; or needs to ask the name of, or the way to, a village or township. When asked how he explains this, he answers that he had to do each of these things and was constrained to do as he did.
In a hearer of intelligence, this pronouncement awakens the following reflections : — All-knowing and all-seeing though he is, this reverend teacher yet does all these things and must ! So, observing this to be a comfortless form of the higher life, off he goes in disgust.
Such, Sandaka, is the first comfortless vocation which the Lord who knows and sees, Arahat all-enlightened, has indicated as one [520] wherein a man of intelligence will not follow the higher life, or, if he does follow it, will not advance to knowledge, the doctrine, and what is right.
Then, there is the teacher who derives from tradi- tion and holds by traditional truth, preaching a doc- trine which is traditional, which has been handed down the line, and is scriptural. Now traditional orthodoxy is partly sound and partly unsound, right here and wrong there.
In a hearer of intelligence, this awakens the reflec- tions that it is all hearsay, and a comfortless vocation ; and off he goes in disgust.
Such is the second comfortless vocation indicated by the Lord.
Next there is the teacher who is a rationalist of pure reason and criticism, preaching a doctrine of his own
M.i. 521. OF FALSE GUIDES. 369
devising evolved for him by his own reasoning. Now your rationalist teacher reasons sometimes well and sometimes badly, being right here and wrong there.
In a hearer of intelligence, this awakens the reflec- tion that it is individual speculation, partly right and partly wrong, and a comfortless vocation ; and off he goes in disgust.
Such is the third comfortless vocation indicated by the Lord.
Lastly, there is the teacher who is stupid and defi- cient, so that he [521] meets this or that question by equivocation and tortuosity, — saying : I do not affirm this, I do not affirm that, I do not affirm other- wise, I do not affirm the negative, nor do I deny the negative.
In a hearer of intelligence, this awakens the reflec- tions that the teacher is stupid and deficient, that he is sitting on the fence, that this is a comfortless vocation ; and so off he goes in disgust.
Such is the fourth of the comfortless vocations in- dicated by the Lord who knows and sees, the Arahat all-enlightened, as those wherein a man of intelligence will assuredly not follow the higher life, or, if he does follow it there, will not advance to knowledge, the Doctrine, and what is right. __
It is wonderful and marvellous, Ananda, how the Lord has exposed the futility of these four comfortless vocations. Tell me now his owm gospel of the higher life and of the advance to knowledge, the Doctrine, and what is right.
There appears in the world here, Sandaka, a Truth- finder, Arahat all-enlightened — and so forth as in the Kandaraka Sutta (No. 51) — dwells in the First Ecstasy with all its zest and satisfaction, a state bred of inward aloofness but not divorced from observation and reflection. Under whatever teacher a disciple attains to this degree of excellence, [522] there indeed will a man of intelligence follow the higher life, and, if he does, there will he advance to knowledge, to the Doctrine and what is right.
24
370 LXXVI. SANDAKA-SUTTA. M. i. 523.
And so too in succession with the Second, Third and Fourth Ecstasies.
With heart thus stedfast, thus clarified and puri- fied, clean and cleansed of things impure, tempered and apt to serve, stedfast and hnmutable, — it is thus that he now applies his heart to the knowledge of re- calling his former existences; he calls to mind his divers existences in the past . . . (etc., as in Sutta No. 4) , . . in all their details and features. Under whatever teacher . . . and what is right.
That same stedfast heart he now applies to the knowledge of the passing hence, and the reappearance elsewhere, of other creatures. With the Eye Celestial , . . (etc., as in Sutta No. 4) . . . states of happiness in heaven. Under whatever teacher . . . and what is right.
That same stedfast heart he next applies to the knowledge of the eradication of Cankers. He comes to know as what they really are — 111, the origin of 111, the cessation of 111, and the path which leads to the cessation of 111 ; he comes to know for what they really are — Cankers, the origin of Cankers, the cessation of Cankers, and the path which leads to the cessation of Cankers. When he knows and sees this, his heart is delivered from the Canker of lusts, from the Canker of continuing existence, and from theCanker of ignorance ; and to him thus Delivered comes the knowledge of his Deliverance in the conviction that — Rebirth is no more ; I have lived the highest life ; my task is done ; and now for me there is no more of what I have been ! At the feet of whatever teacher a disciple attains to this degree of excellence, there indeed will a man of intel- ligence follow the higher life, and, if he does, there will he advance to knowledge, the Doctrine, and what is right.
Would the Almsmap, Ananda, who is an Arahat — in whom Cankers are dead, who has greatly lived, whose task is done, who has cast off his burthen, who has won his weal, whose bonds are no more, and who by utter knowledge has been entirely Delivered—, would he [523] indulge in pleasures of sense ?
M. i. 524. OF FALSE GUIDES. 37 I
There are five things, Sandaka, which the Arahat of entire Deliverance is incapable of having truck with ; — he is incapable of taking life wittingly, of stealing, of fornication, of deliberate lying, or of revelling in pleasures of sense as in the days when he still had a home.
In the Almsman of Entire Deliverance — whether he is walking or standing still, asleep or awake — is his ken and vision ready, aye ready, to assure him that his Cankers are extirpated ?
I will give you an illustration, — which often helps a man of intelligence to comprehend. It is just like a man whose hands and feet have been cut off ; whether walking or standing still, whether asleep or awake, his hands and feet remain always off, — as observation assures him. It is just the same with that Arahat of Entire Deliverance; whether walking or standing still, whether asleep or awake, his Cankers remain always extirpated, — as observation assures him.
How many such shining lights are there in this Doctrine and Rule, Ananda ?
Not a mere hundred ; not two, three, four or five hundreds ; we have many more of them than that.
Wonderful and marvellous, Ananda! And there- withal no extolling of fellow-believers, no disparaging of non-believers ! Let the scope of the teaching but be example enough, [524] and there will appear many a shining light ! As for these Mendicants, they are children of a childless mother; they extol themselves and disparage others, yet have only produced three shining lights, to wit Nanda Vaccha, Kisa Sankicca, and Makkhali Gosala. Addressing then his own follow- ing, Sandaka said : — Come, sirs ; our higher life is with the recluse Gotama, though it is no light matter for us to abandon presents, repute and fame. With these words the Wanderer Sandaka counselled his followers to lead the higher life with the Lord.
END OF VOLUxME I.
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