Contents

Sutta Nipata -- "The Sutta Collection"
For free distribution only.
(selected suttas)

The Sutta Nipata ("The Sutta Collection"), the fifth book of the Khuddaka Nikaya, consists of 71 short suttas divided into five chapters.
Two useful printed translations of the Sutta Nipata are K.R. Norman's The Rhinoceros Horn (Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1985) and H. Saddhatissa's The Sutta Nipata (London: Curzon Press, 1985). Some of the passages listed below originally appeared in John Ireland's The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata, (BPS "Wheel" Publication No. 82).
An anthology of selected suttas from the Khuddaka Nikaya (including the Sutta Nipata), translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, is also available in Microsoft Word 6 (Macintosh/Windows) format. See the Theravada Text Archives for more information.
The braces {} following the sutta descriptions contain the verse numbers from the original Pali text.

Contents
I. Uragavagga -- The Snake Chapter
II. Culavagga -- The Lesser Chapter
III. Mahavagga -- The Great Chapter
IV. Atthaka Vagga -- The Octet Chapter
V. Parayanavagga -- The Chapter on the Way to the Far Shore

I. Uragavagga -- The Snake Chapter
- Uraga Sutta (Sn i.1) -- The Snake [Nyanaponika Thera, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. One who advances far along the path sheds unwholesome states of mind, as a snake sheds its dried up old skin. {vv. 1-17}
- Dhaniya Sutta (Sn i.2) -- Dhaniya the Cattleman [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. A poetic dialogue contrasting the wealth and security of lay life with the wealth and security of a person who has lived the renunciate life to its culmination. If you have trouble relating to someone like Dhaniya who measures his wealth in cattle, then when reading this poem substitute stocks and bonds for cows and bulls, and economic downturn for rain. {vv. 18-34}
- Khaggavisana Sutta (Sn i.3) -- A Rhinoceros Horn [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. On the value of living the solitary wandering life of a forest monk. {vv. 35-75}
- Kasi Bharadvaja Sutta (Sn i.4) -- To the Plowing Bharadvaja [Piyadassi Thera, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The Buddha answers a farmer who asserts that monks do no useful work, and thus don't deserve to eat. {vv. 76-82}
- Cunda Sutta (Sn i.5) -- To Cunda [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Four different types of contemplatives and how to recognize them. {vv. 83-90}
- Parabhava Sutta (Sn i.6) -- Downfall [Piyadassi Thera, trans. | Piyadassi Thera, trans.]. On the various causes of spiritual decline that the aspirant must avoid. {vv. 91-115}
- Vasala Sutta (Sn i.7) -- Discourse on Outcasts [Piyadassi Thera, trans.]. The Buddha explains to a brahman what qualities really make one worthy of being branded an "outcast". {vv. 116-142}
- Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn i.8) -- The Discourse on Loving Kindness [Acharya Buddharakkhita, trans. | Piyadassi Thera, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The Buddha's words on cultivating a heart filled with loving-kindness (metta) towards all beings. {vv. 143-152}
- Alavaka Sutta (Sn i.10) -- To the Alavaka Yakkha [Piyadassi Thera, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. A yakkha challenges the Buddha with riddles and threatens to beat him up. (This sutta also appears at SN 10.12.) {vv. 181-192}
- Vijaya Sutta (Sn i.11) -- Victory [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Reflecting on the unattractiveness of the body as a way to gain insight. {vv. 193-206}
- Muni Sutta (Sn I.12) -- The Sage [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The Buddha describes the characteristics of the ideal sage, who finds greater happiness and security not in relationships but in living the solitary contemplative life. This is one of the suttas selected by King Asoka (r. 270-232 BCE) to be studied and reflected upon frequently by all practicing Buddhists. {vv. 207-221}

II. Culavagga -- The Lesser Chapter
- Ratana Sutta (Sn II.1) -- Treasures [Piyadassi Thera, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The Buddha enumerates the many treasures to be found within the Triple Gem. {vv. 222-238}
- Hiri Sutta (Sn II.3) -- On Friendship [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. What is a true friend? {vv. 253-257}
- Maha-mangala Sutta (Sn II.4) -- The Highest Protection [Piyadassi Thera, trans. | Piyadassi Thera, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. An enumeration of the blessings that result from leading a skillful life. {vv. 258-269}
- Dhammacariya Sutta (Sn II.6) -- Wrong Conduct [John D. Ireland, trans.]. The monks are encouraged to avoid monks who conduct their lives in unwholesome ways. {vv. 274-283}
- Nava Sutta (Sn II.8) -- A Boat [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. A teacher, like a skilled boatman, is one who knows firsthand how to cross to the opposite shore. {vv. 316-323}
- Kimsila Sutta (Sn II.9) -- With What Virtue? [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The attitudes and behavior that enable one best to learn and benefit from the Dhamma. {vv. 324-330}
- Utthana Sutta (Sn II.10) -- Initiative [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. A stirring exhortation to rekindle your efforts. Wake up! {vv. 331-334}
- Rahula Sutta (Sn II.11) -- Advice to Rahula [John D. Ireland, trans.]. The Buddha recommends the recluse way of life to his son, Rahula. {vv. 345-342}
- Dhammika Sutta (Sn II.14) -- Dhammika [John D. Ireland, trans.]. A lay follower asks the Buddha how a disciple should act virtuously. The Buddha explains. {vv. 376-404}

III. Mahavagga -- The Great Chapter
- Pabbaja Sutta (Sn III.1) -- The Going Forth [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. King Bimbisara, struck by the young Buddha's radiant demeanor, follows him to the mountains to discover who he is and whence he comes. {vv. 405-424}
- Padhana Sutta (Sn III.2) -- Exertion/The Great Struggle [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The ten armies of Mara approach the Bodhisatta (Buddha-to-be) in an unsuccessful attempt to lure him from his meditation seat. {vv. 425-449}
- Subhasita Sutta (Sn III.3) -- Well-spoken [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Four characteristics of well-spoken speech. {vv. 450-454}
- Salla Sutta (Sn III.8) -- The Arrow [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Death and loss are inevitable, but is grief? {vv. 574-593}
- Nalaka Sutta (Sn III.11) -- To Nalaka [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. A sutta in two parts. The first part gives an account of events soon after the birth of the Bodhisatta (Buddha-to-be). The second part describes the way of the sage. {vv. 679-723}
- Dvayatanupassana Sutta (Sn III.12) -- The Contemplation of Dualities [John D. Ireland, trans. (excerpt) | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans. (complete)]. Not all dualities are misleading. This sutta teaches ways to contemplate the duality of the origination and cessation of stress and suffering so as to reach Awakening. {vv. 724-765}

IV. Atthaka Vagga -- The Octet Chapter
Skip Introduction
Introduction by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
The Atthaka Vagga[1] is a set of sixteen poems on the theme of non-clinging. The poems cover all four types of clinging -- clinging to sensuality, to views, to practices and precepts, and to doctrines of the self -- with a special emphasis on the first two. They describe what constitutes the nature of the clinging in each particular case, the drawbacks of the clinging, the advantages of abandoning clinging, ways to abandon clinging, and the subtle paradoxes of what it means not to cling.
This last point is touched on in many discourses in the Pali Canon, as the Buddhist teachings on non-clinging all contain a central paradox: the objects of clinging that must ultimately be abandoned form part of the path to their abandoning. A certain amount of sensual pleasure is needed in the path to go beyond sensual pleasure; Right View is needed to overcome attachment to views; a regimen of precepts and practices is needed to overcome attachment to precepts and practices; a strong sense of self-responsibility is needed to overcome attachment to doctrines of the self.[2] Other passages in the Pali Canon offer clear analogies to explain these paradoxes, often in terms of movement toward a goal -- taking a raft across a river, walking to a park, taking a series of relay coaches from one city to another -- in which the motive and means of transport are abandoned on reaching the goal. The Atthaka, however, sometimes presents these paradoxes in as mystifying a manner as possible. In fact, some of the paradoxes -- particularly in the discussions of abandoning clinging to views -- are stated in terms so stark that, on the surface, they are hard to reconcile with teachings in other Pali discourses or with other passages in the Atthaka itself. The question is thus whether these paradoxes should be taken at face value or further interpreted. Or, to put the question in terms used by the Buddha himself (AN 2.25): Is their meaning, as stated, already fully drawn out or does it have to be inferred? Readers of the poems have offered arguments for both sides.
The argument for taking the paradoxes at face value is based on a major assumption: that the Atthaka is historically prior to the rest of the Pali Canon. From this assumption, the argument goes on to conclude that these poems contain the earliest recorded teachings of the Buddha, and that if they conflict with other passages in the Canon, that is simply because those other passages are less true to the Buddha's original message. This argument, however, contains several weaknesses. To begin with, only two pieces of evidence are offered for the relative age of these poems: (1) the Atthaka Vagga, as a set, is mentioned at three other points in the Canon, at Ud V.6, Mv. V, and SN 22.3;[3] and (2) the language of the poems is more archaic than that of the other discourses. However, neither piece of evidence can carry the weight of what it's supposed to prove. The first piece shows simply that an Atthaka Vagga predates the three passages in question, not necessarily that the Atthaka Vagga as we have it predates the entire remainder of the Canon. As for the archaic nature of the language, that is common to a great deal of the poetry throughout the Pali Canon. Just as Tennyson's poetry contains more archaisms than Dryden's prose, the fact that a Pali poem uses archaic language is no proof of its actual age.
The arguments for taking the Atthaka's paradoxes at face value contain other weaknesses as well. They commonly state that the paradoxes teach a view of no views and a practice of no goals, yet the people who advance this argument are the first to admit that such doctrines are totally impractical. These doctrines are also inconsistent with other passages in the Atthaka itself, such as the clear-cut view explaining the sources of conflict, presented in Sn IV. 11, and the frequent references to Unbinding (nibbana/nibbuti) as the goal of the practice. Thus even if the Atthaka is appreciably older than the other Pali discourses, we would have to assume gross inconsistencies in its message if we were to take its paradoxes at face value.
The argument that the meaning of the Atthaka's paradoxes must be inferred -- that they were intentionally stated in obscure terms -- is based on firmer ground. To begin with, this is the interpretation that Buddhist tradition has advanced from its earliest centuries. An extended commentary, entitled the Mahaniddesa (Nd.I), reconciling the content of the poems with the teachings in the rest of the discourses, was compiled early enough to be included in the Canon itself. Although some of the explanations given in the Mahaniddesa may seem a little too pat and pedantic, they make clear the point that Buddhists near the time of the Buddha found many useful levels of meaning below the surface level of the poems.
Even if we disregard arguments from tradition, there are other good reasons for maintaining that the meaning of the Atthaka's paradoxes was designed to be inferred. To begin with there is the question, already mentioned, of the internal consistency of the poems themselves: they make better sense, when taken as a whole, if the paradoxes are explored for meanings not obvious on the surface. A prime example is the passage toward the beginning of Sn IV. 9, in which the Buddha seems to be saying that an awakened person would regard purity as being found neither by means of views, precepts and practices, etc., nor through lack of views, precepts and practices, etc. Magandiya, the Buddha's listener, states understandably that such a teaching is confused. Readers who have acquired a taste for Mahayana non-dualities, and who would take the Buddha's statement at face value, might scoff at Magandiya's narrow-mindedness. But, if the words are taken at face value, Magandiya would be right, for there are many passages in the Atthaka that recommend views, precepts, and practices as part of the path to purity. However, if we take the Buddha's statements as puns on the instrumental case -- which can be interpreted not only as "through" or "by means of," but also as "in terms of" or "in connection with," the Buddha's statements to Magandiya make sense in and of themselves, and fit with the rest of the Atthaka: an awakened person would not define purity in terms of views, precepts and practices, etc., but would also realize that purity cannot be attained through a lack of these things.
A second reason for regarding the paradoxes as requiring interpretation is that, in their use of puns and grammatical word-play, they follow an ancient Indian genre -- the philosophical enigma -- that by its very nature called for extensive interpretation. Evidence in the Rig Veda shows that ancient Vedic ritual included contests in which elder brahmans used puns and other word-play to express philosophical teachings as riddles that contestants were then challenged to solve.[4] The purpose of these contests was to teach the contestants -- usually students studying to become ritual experts -- to use their powers of ingenuity in thinking "outside the box," in the justified belief that the process of searching for inspiration and being illuminated by the answer would transform the mind in a much deeper way than would be achieved simply by absorbing information. [5]
Although the Atthaka poems advise against engaging in intellectual contests, they imitate the Vedic enigmas in the way they use language to challenge the reader. Individual words -- sometimes whole lines and stanzas -- in the poems can be interpreted in a variety of ways, and it's up to the reader to explore and consider all the various meanings to decide which ones are most helpful. Although our culture associates word-play with jokes, the Atthaka stands at the head of a long line of Buddhist texts -- both Theravada and not -- that use word-play with a serious purpose: to teach the reader to think independently, to see through the uncertainties of language and so to help loosen any clinging to the structures that language imposes on the mind.[6] This type of rhetoric also rewards anyone who takes the text seriously enough to re-read and re-think what it has to say.
Thus, the obscurity of some of the Atthaka's language can be regarded as a function, not of the poems' age, but of the genre to which they belong. The proper reading of a text like this requires that you question your assumptions about its message and clarify the intention behind your efforts at reaching an understanding. In this way, the act of reading is meant not only to inform but to transform. The more you give to it, the more it opens up new possibilities in the mind.
Translating word-play of this sort presents enormous challenges; even when those challenges are surmounted, the act of reading such word games in translation can never be quite the same as reading them in the original language and cultural setting. Fortunately, aside from the more controversial passages, much of the Atthaka is perfectly straightforward -- although Ven. Maha Kaccana's commentary on one of the simpler verses in IV.9 should serve as warning that even the straightforward passages can contain hidden meanings. In passages where I have detected multiple meanings, I've included all the detected meanings in the translation -- although I'm sure that there are instances of double meanings that I haven't detected. Wherever the Pali seems ambiguous, I've tried to use English equivalents that convey the same ambiguity. Wherever this has proven beyond my abilities, I've resorted to explanatory notes. I have also used the notes to cite interpretations from the Mahaniddesa and other passages from earlier parts of the Canon that help explain paradoxes and other obscure points -- both as an aid to the serious reader and as a way of showing that the gulf assumed to separate the Atthaka from the rest of the discourse collection is more imagined than real.
Two final notes on reading the Atthaka:
1. Although these poems were originally composed for an audience of wandering, homeless monks, they offer valuable lessons for lay people as well. Even the passages referring directly to the homeless life can be read as symbolic of a state of mind. Ven. Maha Kaccana's commentary, mentioned above, shows that this has been done ever since canonical times. Addressing a lay person, and commenting on a verse describing the behavior of a sage who has abandoned home and society, he interprets "home" as the khandhas and "society" as sense impressions. Thus in his hands the verse develops an internal meaning that lay people can apply to their lives without necessarily leaving their external home and society. Other verses in the poems can be interpreted in similar ways.
2. The poems center on descriptions of sages (muni) and enlightened people (dhira), but these words don't have fixed meanings from verse to verse. In some contexts, they denote arahants; in others, nothing more than intelligent run-of-the-mill people. So be alert to context when reading descriptions about sages and enlightened people, to see whether they're describing people following the path or those who have already reached the goal.
Notes
1. The name of the Atthaka (Octets) derives from the fact that the first four poems in the set -- three of which contain the word atthaka in their titles -- are composed of eight verses. From this fact, some scholars have argued that these four poems constitute the original collection, and that the other poems are later additions, but this is not necessarily the case. Many of the vaggas (chapters) in the discourse and Vinaya collections are named after the first few members of the chapter, even though the remaining members may contain material that differs radically from what would be suggested by the title of the chapter. Thus there is no way of knowing the relative ages of the different poems in the collection.
2. For a discussion of the four types of clinging, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, chapter 3.
3. Ven. Maha Kaccana -- praised by the Buddha as foremost among his disciples in his ability to draw out the meaning of concise statements -- is mentioned in connection with the Atthaka in all three locations. As a well-educated brahman, he would have been trained in detecting and resolving philosophical enigmas. His personal reputation indicates that he enjoyed doing so.
4. On this point, see Willard Johnson's book, Poetry and Speculation of the Rig Veda, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.
5. By the Buddha's time, these contests had left the ritual arena and had become public philosophical debates much closer to our current notion of a formal debate. However, they were driven by an assumption -- derived from the belief in the spiritual transformation that accompanied the correct solution of the philosophical enigma -- that holding a winning view was, in and of itself, the measure of a person's high spiritual attainment. The paradoxes in the Atthaka attack this assumption by -- paradoxically -- making use of the genre of philosophical enigma from which it ultimately derived.
6. Other examples of such word-play in the Pali Canon include SN 1.1 and Dhp 97. For more modern examples of Buddhist texts using word play with a serious purpose, see A Heart Released and The Ballad of Liberation from the Khandhas, both by Phra Ajn Mun Bhuridatto.
* * *
- Kama Sutta (Sn IV.1) -- Sensual Pleasure [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The drawbacks of sensual desires. {vv. 766-771}
- Guhatthaka Sutta (Sn IV.2) -- The Cave of the Body [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Those who remain attached to the body and to sensuality will have a hard time freeing themselves from fear of death and from further becoming. {vv. 772-779}
- Dutthatthaka Sutta (Sn IV.3) -- Corrupted [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Freedom isn't to be found by boasting of your precepts and practices or by debating your views. {vv. 780-787}
- Suddhatthaka Sutta (Sn IV.4) -- Pure [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Although freedom is found by means of knowledge and meditation, in ultimate terms it lies beyond both. {vv. 788-795}
- Paramatthaka Sutta (Sn IV.5) -- Supreme [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The conceit that comes from identifying with practices or views -- even if they're supreme -- is a fetter preventing full freedom. {vv. 796-803}
- Jara Sutta (Sn IV.6) -- Old Age [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Life is short. Possessiveness brings grief. Freedom comes from abandoning any sense of mine. {vv. 804-813}
- Tissa Metteyya Sutta (Sn IV.7) -- Tissa Metteyya [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The drawbacks of falling away from the celibate life. {vv. 814-823}
- Pasura Sutta (Sn IV.8) -- To Pasura [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The Buddha points out the drawbacks of disputes, for winners and losers, alike. {vv. 824-834}
- Magandiya Sutta (Sn IV.9) -- To Magandiya [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Magandiya offers the Buddha his daughter in marriage. The Buddha refuses and further subdues Magandiya's pride by describing the attainment of highest purity in terms that Magandiya can't yet understand. {vv. 835-847}
- Purabheda Sutta (Sn IV.10) -- Before the Break-up of the Body [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. What enables a person to live at peace? {vv. 848-861}
- Kalaha-vivada Sutta (Sn IV.11) -- Quarrels & Disputes [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The Buddha is questioned on the source of quarrels and disputes, and on the highest level of spiritual attainment. {vv. 862-877}
- Cula-viyuha Sutta (Sn IV.12) -- The Lesser Array [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. If there is one truth, how should a person behave in a world where many different truths are taught? {vv. 878-894}
- Maha-viyuha Sutta (Sn IV.13) -- The Great Array [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. How to maintain freedom in a world full of disputes. {vv. 895-914}
- Tuvataka Sutta (Sn IV.14) -- Quickly [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. A detailed description of the attitudes and behavior of a monk training for the sake of total liberation. {vv. 915-934}
- Attadanda Sutta (Sn IV.15) -- The Rod Embraced [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The Buddha speaks in poignant terms of the samvega that led him to abandon the home life. He concludes with recommendations for practice and a description of the person who has attained the goal of true peace and security. {vv. 935-954}
- Sariputta Sutta (Sn IV.16) -- To Sariputta [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. When a monk, disaffected with the world, takes up the life of seclusion, what fears should he overcome? How should he train to annihilate the darkness in his heart? {vv. 955-975}

V. Parayanavagga -- The Chapter on the Way to the Far Shore
Skip Introduction
Introduction by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Sixteen brahman ascetics -- students of a teacher named Bavari -- approach the Buddha with questions on the goal of his teaching and how to attain it. From their questions, it is obvious that some of them, at least, are quite advanced in their meditation practice. Tradition tells us that the first fifteen of the ascetics attained arahantship immediately after the Buddha answered their questions. As for the sixteenth -- Pingiya -- the Cula Niddesa tells us that, after his questions were answered, he attained the Dhamma Eye, a term that usually means stream-entry. The commentary to the Cula Niddesa, however, interprets it as meaning that he became a non-returner.
A recurrent image in these dialogues is of life as a raging flood -- a flood of birth, aging, and death; sorrow and lamentation; stress and suffering. The purpose of spiritual practice is to find a way across the flood to the safety of the far shore. This image explains the frequent reference to finding a way past entanglements -- the flotsam and jetsam swept along by the flood that may prevent one's progress; and to the desire to be without acquisitions -- the unnecessary baggage that could well cause one to sink midstream.
There is evidence that these sixteen dialogues were highly regarded right from the very early centuries of the Buddhist tradition. As concise statements of profound teachings particular to Buddhism, they sparked an attitude of devotion coupled with the desire to understand their more cryptic passages. Most of the Cula Niddesa, a late addition to the Pali Canon, is devoted to explaining them in detail. Five discourses -- one in the Samyutta Nikaya, four in the Anguttara -- discuss specific verses in the set, and a sixth discourse tells of a lay woman who made a practice of rising before dawn to chant the full set of sixteen dialogues.
The notes to this translation include material drawn from the Cula Niddesa, together with extensive quotations from the five discourses mentioned above.
* * *
- Ajita-manava-puccha (Sn V.1) -- Ajita's Questions [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The Buddha summarizes the essence of Dhamma training: "Not craving for sensual pleasures, and with a mind that is pure and tranquil." {vv. 1032-1039}
- Tissa-metteyya-manava-puccha (Sn V.2) -- Tissa-metteyya's Questions [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Who in the world is truly contented, truly free, truly a great person? {vv. 1040-1042}
- Punnaka-manava-puccha (Sn V.3) -- Punnaka's Questions [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. The Buddha explains that birth and aging can never be transcended by performing hopeful rituals, but only by extinguishing the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion. {vv. 1043-1048}
- Mettagu-manava-puccha (Sn V.4) -- Mettagu's Questions [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. How does one cross the flood of birth and old age, sorrow and grief? {vv. 1049-1060}
- Dhotaka-manava-puccha (Sn V.5) -- Dhotaka's Questions [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. How can one become freed of all doubt? {vv. 1061-1068}
- Upasiva-manava-puccha (Sn V.6) -- Upasiva's Questions [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. What support should one hold on to in order to cross over the raging flood of craving? {vv. 1069-1076}
- Nanda-manava-puccha (Sn V.7) -- Nanda's Questions [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Who, exactly, may be truly called "wise": One who is learned? One who observes certain precepts and practices? Who? {vv. 1077-1083}
- Hemaka-manava-puccha (Sn V.8) -- Hemaka's Question [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. How can we demolish craving and free ourselves from entanglement with the world? {vv. 1084-1087}
- Toddeya-manava-puccha (Sn V.9) -- Toddeya's Question [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. So -- what's it like, being emancipated, anyway? {vv. 1088-1091}
- Kappa-manava-puccha (Sn V.10) -- Kappa's Question [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Is there an island for us to stand on so that we're not swept away by aging and death? {vv. 1092-1095}
- Jatukanni-manava-puccha (Sn V.11) -- Jatukannin's Question [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. How does one abandon birth and aging? {vv. 1096-1100}
- Bhadravudha-manava-puccha (Sn V.12) -- Bhadravudha's Question [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Bhadravudha asks of the Buddha: How did you come to know the Dhamma? {vv. 1101-1104}
- Udaya-manava-puccha (Sn V.13) -- Udaya's Questions [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. In what way should one live mindfully, so as to bring about Awakening? {vv. 1105-1111}
- Posala-manava-puccha (Sn V.14) -- Posala's Questions [Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. How does one develop insight after mastering the higher levels of jhana? {vv. 1112-1115}
- Mogharaja-manava-puccha (Sn V.15) -- Mogharaja's Questions [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. How should one view the world so as to escape Death's grasp? {vv. 1116-1119}
- Pingiya-manava-puccha (Sn V.16) -- Pingiya's Questions [John D. Ireland, trans. | Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans.]. Alarmed by the deterioration of his aging body, Pingiya asks the Buddha how to conquer birth and decay. {vv. 1120-1123}

Revised: Mon 21 January 2002
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/index.html

Sn I.1

Sutta Nipata I.1
Uraga Sutta
The Snake
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Translator's note: A comparative study among the records of various early Buddhist schools suggests that the verses here, like those in Sn I.3, were originally separate poems, spoken on separate occasions, and that they have been gathered together because they share the same refrain.

The monk who subdues his arisen anger
as, with herbs, snake-venom once it has spread,
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who has cut off passion
without leaving a trace,
as he would plunging into a lake, a lotus,
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who has cut off craving
without leaving a trace,
as if he had dried up a swift-flowing stream,
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who has demolished conceit
without leaving a trace,
as a great flood, a very weak bridge made of reeds,
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk seeing
in states of becoming
no essence,
as he would,
when surveying a fig tree,
no flowers,
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk with no inner anger,
who has thus gone beyond
becoming & not-,
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk whose discursive thoughts are dispersed,
well-dealt with inside
without leaving a trace,
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who hasn't slipped past or turned back,
transcending all
this complication,
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who hasn't slipped past or turned back,
knowing with regard to the world
that "All this is unreal,"
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who hasn't slipped past or turned back,
without greed, as "All this is unreal,"
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who hasn't slipped past or turned back,
without aversion, as "All this is unreal,"
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who hasn't slipped past or turned back,
without delusion, as "All this is unreal,"
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk in whom there are no obsessions
-- the roots of unskillfulness totally destroyed --
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk in whom there's nothing born of distress
that would lead him back to this shore,
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk in whom there's nothing born of desire
that would keep him bound to becoming,
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.
The monk who's abandoned five hindrances,
who, untroubled, unwounded,
has crossed over doubt,
sloughs off the near shore & far --
as a snake, its decrepit old skin.

Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-01.html

Sn I.1a

Sutta Nipata I.1
Uraga Sutta
The Serpent
Translated from the Pali by Nyanaponika Thera.
For free distribution only.

From The Worn-out Skin: Reflections on the Uraga Sutta (WH 241), translated by Nyanaponika Thera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1989). Copyright ©1989 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

He who can curb his wrathas soon as it arises,
as a timely antidote will checksnake's venom that so quickly spreads,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who entirely cuts off his lust
as entering a pond one uproots lotus plants,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who entirely cuts off his craving
by drying up its fierce and rapid flow,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who entirely blots out conceit
as the wind demolishes a fragile bamboo bridge,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who does not find core or substance
in any of the realms of being,
like flowers which are vainly sought
in fig trees that bear none,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who bears no grudges in his heart,
transcending all this "thus" and "otherwise,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who has burned out his evil thoughts,
entirely cut them off within his heart,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as the serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who neither goes too far nor lags behind,
entirely transcending the diffuseness of the world,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who neither goes too far nor lags behind
and knows about the world: "This is all unreal,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who neither goes too far nor lags behind,
greedless he knows: "This is all unreal,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who neither goes too far nor lags behind,
lust-free he knows: "This is all unreal,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who neither goes too far nor lags behind,
hate-free he knows: "This is all unreal,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who neither goes too far nor lags behind,
delusion-free he knows: "This is all unreal,"
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who has no dormant tendencies whatever,
whose unwholesome roots have been expunged,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
States born of anxiety he harbors none
which may condition his return to earth,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
States born of attachment he harbors none
which cause his bondage to existence,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
He who has the five hindrances discarded,
doubt-free and serene, and free of inner barbs,
-- such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.

Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-01a.html

Sn I.2

Sutta Nipata I.2
Dhaniya Sutta
Dhaniya the Cattleman
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Dhaniya the cattleman:[1]
"The rice is cooked,
my milking done.
I live with my people
along the banks of the Mahi;
my hut is roofed, my fire lit:
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
The Buddha:
"Free from anger,
my stubbornness gone,[2]
I live for one night
along the banks of the Mahi;
my hut's roof is open, my fire out:[3]
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
Dhaniya:
"No mosquitoes or gadflies are to be found.
The cows range in the marshy meadow where the grasses flourish.
They could stand the rain if it came:
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
The Buddha:
"A raft, well-made,
has been lashed together.[4]
Having crossed over,
gone to the far shore,
I've subdued the flood.
No need for a raft is to be found:[5]
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
Dhaniya:
"My wife is compliant, not careless,
is charming, has lived with me long.
I hear no evil about her at all:
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
The Buddha:
"My mind is compliant, released,
has long been nurtured, well tamed.
No evil is to be found in me:
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
Dhaniya:
"I support myself on my earnings.
My sons live in harmony, free from disease.
I hear no evil about them at all:
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
The Buddha:
"I'm in no one's employ,[6]
I wander the whole world
on the reward [of my Awakening].
No need for earnings is to be found:
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
Dhaniya:
"There are cows, young bulls,
cows in calf, & breeding cows,
& a great bull, the leader of the herd:
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
The Buddha:
"There are no cows, no young bulls,
no cows in calf or breeding cows,
no great bull, the leader of the herd:[7]
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
Dhaniya:
"The stakes are dug-in, immovable.
The new muñja-grass halters, well-woven,
not even young bulls could break:
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
The Buddha:
"Having broken my bonds
like a great bull,like a great elephant tearing a rotting vine,
I never again
will lie in the womb:
so if you want, rain-god,
go ahead & rain."
The great cloud rained down
straightaway,
filling the lowlands & high.
Hearing the rain-god pour down,
Dhaniya said:
"How great our gain
that we've gazed on the Blessed One!
We go to him, the One with vision,
for refuge.
May you be our teacher, Great Sage.
My wife & I are compliant.
Let's follow the holy life
under the One Well-gone.
Gone to the far shore
of aging & death,
let's put an end
to suffering & stress."
Mara:[8]
"Those with children
delight
because of their children.
Those with cattle
delight
because of their cows.
A person's delight
comes from acquisitions,
since a person with no acquisitions
doesn't delight."
The Buddha:
"Those with children
grieve
because of their children.
Those with cattle
grieve
because of their cows.
A person's grief
comes from acquisitions,
since a person with no acquisitions
doesn't grieve."

Notes
1. Dhaniya Gopa: Literally, one whose wealth is in cattle. According to the Commentary, his herd consisted of 30,000 head of cattle.
2. The first line in the Buddha's verse plays on words in the first line of Dhaniya's. "Free from anger" (akkodhano) plays on "rice is cooked" (pakkodano); and "stubbornness"(khilo) plays on "milk"(khiro).
3. "Open" means having a mind not covered or concealed by craving, defilement, or ignorance. This image is also used in Ud V.5 and Sn IV.4. "My fire out" refers to the fires of passion, aversion, & delusion; birth, aging, & death; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. See SN 35.28; Iti 93; and The Mind Like Fire Unbound.
4. The raft stands for the noble eightfold path. See passages 113 and 114 in The Wings to Awakening.
5. As this verse doesn't seem to be a direct response to the preceding one, the Commentary suggests that we are missing part of the conversation here. An alternative possibility is that the Buddha is engaging in word play -- the word "crossed over" (tinna) being a pun on Dhaniya's reference to grass(tina).
6. According to the Commentary, the Buddha is not in anyone else's employ nor even in his own employ -- i.e., he is not in the employ of craving.
7. The Buddha may be speaking literally here -- he has no cattle, so there is no way that a heavy rain could cause him harm -- but he may also be speaking metaphorically. See SN 4.19.
8. According to the Commentary, Mara suddenly comes on the scene to try -- unsuccessfully -- to prevent Dhaniya and his wife from going forth. His verses here, together with the Buddha's response, are also found at SN 4.8.
See also: AN 3.35; AN 7.6; AN 7.7; Ud II.10

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-02.html

Sn I.3

Sutta Nipata I.3
Khaggavisana Sutta
A Rhinoceros Horn
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Translator's note: The refrain in this sutta is a subject of controversy. The text literally says, "Wander alone like a 'sword-horn,' which is the Pali term for rhinoceros. The commentary, however, insists that this term refers not to the animal but to its horn, for the Indian rhinoceros, unlike the African, has only one horn. Still, some scholars have noted that while the Indian rhinoceros is a solitary animal, rhinoceros horns don't wander, and that in other verses in the Pali canon, the phrase "wander alone like..." takes a person or an animal, not an animal part, for its object. Thus, for example, in Dhp 329 (repeated below), one is told to "wander alone like a king renouncing his kingdom, like the elephant in the Matanga woods, his herd." It's possible that the rhinoceros was chosen here as an example of solitary wandering both because of its habits and because of its unusual single horn. However, in a translation, it's necessary to choose one reading over the other. Thus, because wandering "like a rhinoceros" sounds more natural than wandering "like a horn," I have chosen the former rendering. Keep in mind, though, that the singularity of the rhinoceros' horn reinforces the image.
As noted under I.1, there is evidence suggesting that the verses here were originally separate poems, composed on separate occasions, and that they have been gathered together because of their common refrain.

Renouncing violence
for all living beings,
harming not even a one,
you would not wish for offspring,
so how a companion?
Wander alone like a rhinoceros.
For a sociable person
there are allurements;
on the heels of allurement, this pain.
Seeing allurement's drawback,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
One whose mind is enmeshed in sympathy for friends & companions,
neglects the true goal.
Seeing this danger in intimacy,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Like spreading bamboo,
entwined,
is concern for offspring & spouses.
Like a bamboo sprout,
unentangling,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
As a deer in the wilds,
unfettered,
goes for forage wherever it wants:
the wise person, valuing freedom,
wanders alone like a rhinoceros.
In the midst of companions
-- when staying at home,
when going out wandering --
you are prey to requests.
Valuing the freedom
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
There is sporting & love
in the midst of companions,
& abundant fondness for offspring.
Feeling disgust
at the prospect of parting
from those who'd be dear,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Without resistance in all four directions,
content with whatever you get,
enduring troubles with no dismay,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
They are hard to please,
some of those gone forth,
as well as those living the household life.
Shedding concernfor these offspring of others,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Cutting off the householder's marks,[1]
like a kovilara tree
that has shed its leaves,
the prudent one, cutting all household ties,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
If you gain a mature companion,
a fellow traveler, right-living & wise,
overcoming all dangers
go with him, gratified,
mindful.
If you don't gain a mature companion,
a fellow traveler, right-living & wise,
wander alone
like a king renouncing his kingdom,
like the elephant in the Matanga wilds,
his herd.
We praise companionship
-- yes!
Those on a par, or better,
should be chosen as friends.
If they're not to be found,
living faultlessly,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Seeing radiant bracelets of gold,
well-made by a smith,
clinking, clashing,
two on an arm,
wander alone like a rhinoceros,
[Thinking:]"In the same way,
if I were to live with another,
there would be careless talk or abusive."
Seeing this future danger,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Because sensual pleasures,
elegant, honeyed, & charming,
bewitch the mind with their manifold forms
-- seeing this drawback in sensual strands --
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
"Calamity, tumor, misfortune,
disease, an arrow, a danger for me."
Seeing this danger in sensual strands,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Cold & heat, hunger & thirst,
wind & sun, horseflies & snakes:
enduring all these, without exception,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
As a great white elephant,
with massive shoulders,
renouncing his herd,
lives in the wilds wherever he wants,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
"There's no way
that one delighting in company
can touch even momentary release."
Heeding the Solar Kinsman's words,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Transcending the contortion of views,
the sure way attained,
the path gained,[realizing:]
"Unled by others,I have knowledge arisen,"
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
With no greed, no deceit,
no thirst, no hypocrisy --
delusion & blemishes
blown away --
with no inclinations for all the world,
every world,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Avoid the evil companion
disregarding the goal,
intent on the out-of-tune way.
Don't take as a friend
someone heedless & hankering.
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Consort with one who is learned,
who maintains the Dhamma,
a great & quick-witted friend.
Knowing the meanings,
subdue your perplexity,
[then] wander alone like a rhinoceros,
Free from longing, finding no pleasure
in the world's sport, love, or sensual bliss,
abstaining from adornment,
speaking the truth,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Abandoning offspring, spouse,
father, mother,
riches, grain, relatives,
& sensual pleasures
altogether,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
"This is a bondage, a baited hook.
There's little happiness here,
next to no satisfaction,
all the more suffering & pain."
Knowing this, circumspect,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Shattering fetters,
like a fish in the water tearing a net,
like a fire not coming back to what's burnt,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Eyes downcast, not footloose,
senses guarded, with protected mind,
not oozing -- not burning -- with lust,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Taking off the householder's marks,[2]
like a coral tree
that has shed its leaves,
going forth in the ochre robe,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Showing no greed for flavors, not careless,
going from house to house for alms,
with mind unenmeshed in this family or that,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Abandoning barriers to awareness,
expelling all defilements
-- all --
non-dependent, cutting aversion,
allurement,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Turning your back on pleasure & pain,
as earlier with sorrow & joy,
attaining pure equanimity,
tranquillity,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
With persistence aroused
for the highest goal's attainment,
with mind unsmeared, not lazy in action,
firm in effort, with steadfastness & strength arisen,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Not neglecting seclusion, absorption,
constantly living the Dhamma
in line with the Dhamma,
comprehending the danger
in states of becoming,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Intent on the ending of craving & heedful,
learned, mindful, not muddled,
certain -- having reckoned the Dhamma --
& striving,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Unstartled,
like a lion at sounds.
Unsnared,
like the wind in a net.
Unsmeared,
like a lotus in water:
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Like a lion -- forceful, strong in fang,
living as a conqueror, the king of beasts --
resort to a solitary dwelling.
Wander alonelike a rhinoceros.
At the right time consorting
with the release through good will,
compassion,
appreciation,
equanimity,
unobstructed by all the world,
any world,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
Having let go of
passion,
aversion,
delusion;
having shattered
the fetters;
undisturbed
at the ending of life,
wander alone like a rhinoceros.
People follow & associate
for a motive.
Friends without a motive these days
are rare.
They're shrewd for their own ends, & impure.
Wander alone like a rhinoceros.

Notes
1. Hair and beard.
2. Lay clothing.
Revised: Wed 12 December 2001
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Sn I.4

Sutta Nipata I.4
Kasi Bharadvaja Sutta
To the Plowing Bharadvaja
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was living among the Magadhans at Dakkihagiri in the brahman village of Ekanala. Now at that time approximately 500 of the brahman Kasi Bharadvaja's plows were yoked at the sowing time. Then, in the early morning, putting on his lower robe and taking his bowl & robes, the Blessed One went to where Kasi Bharadvaja was working. Now at that time Kasi Bharadvaja's food-distribution was underway. so the Blessed One went to Kasi Bharadvaja's food-distribution and, on arrival, stood to one side. Kasi Bharadvaja saw the Blessed One standing for alms, and on seeing him, said to him, "I, contemplative, plow & sow. Having plowed & sown, I eat. You, too, contemplative, should plow & sow. Having plowed & sown, you (will) eat."
"I, too, brahman, plow & sow. Having plowed & sown, I eat."
"But, contemplative, I don't see the Master Gotama's yoke or plow, plowshare, goad, or oxen, and yet the Master Gotama says this: 'I, too, brahman, plow & sow. Having plowed & sown, I eat.'"
Then the Kasi Bharadvaja addressed the Blessed One with a verse:
You claim to be a plowman,but I don't see your plowing.Being asked, tell us about your plowingso that we may know your plowing.
[The Buddha:]
Conviction is my seed,
austerity
my rain,
discernment my yoke & plow,
conscience
my pole,mind
my yoke-tie,
mindfulness my plowshare & goad.
Guarded in body,
guarded in speech,
restrained in terms of belly & food,
I make truth a weeding-hook,
and composure my unyoking.
Persistence, my beast of burden,
bearing me toward rest from the yoke,
takes me, without turning back,
to where, having gone,
one doesn't grieve.
That's how my plowing is plowed.
It has
as its fruit
the deathless.
Having plowed this plowing
one is unyoked
from all suffering
& stress.
Then Kasi Bharadvaja, having heaped up milk-rice in a large bronze serving bowl, offered it to the Blessed One, [saying,] "May Master Gotama eat [this] milk-rice. The master is a plowman, for the Master Gotama plows the plowing that has as its fruit the deathless."
What's been chanted over with verses
shouldn't be eaten by me.
That's not the nature, brahman,of one who's seen rightly.
What's been chanted over with verses
Awakened Ones reject.
That being their nature, brahman,
this is their way of life.
Serve with other food & drink
a fully-perfected great seer,
his fermentations
ended,
his anxiety
stilled,
for that is the field
for one looking for merit.
"Then to whom, Master Gotama, should I give this milk-rice?"
"Brahman, I don't see that person in this world -- with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas, in this generation with its royalty & commonfolk -- by whom this milk-rice, having been eaten, would be rightly digested, aside from a Tathagata or a Tathagata's disciple. In that case, brahman, throw the milk-rice away in a place without vegetation, or dump it in water with no living beings."
So Kasi Bharadvaja dumped the milk-rice in water with no living beings. And the milk-rice, when dropped in the water, hissed & sizzled, seethed & steamed. Just as an iron ball heated all day, when tossed in the water, hisses & sizzles, seethes & steams, in the same way the milk-rice, when dropped in the water, hissed & sizzled, seethed & steamed.
Then Kasi Bharadvaja -- in awe, his hair standing on end -- went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, throwing himself down with his head at the Blessed One's feet, said to him, "Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has Master Gotama -- through many lines of reasoning -- made the Dhamma clear. I go to Master Gotama for refuge, to the Dhamma, and to the Community of monks. May Master Gotama remember me as a lay follower who has gone to him for refuge, from this day forward, for life. Let me obtain the going forth in Master Gotama's presence, let me obtain admission."
Then the brahman Kasi Bharadvaja obtained the going forth in the Blessed One's presence, he obtained admission. And not long after his admission -- dwelling alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, & resolute -- he in no long time reached & remained in the supreme goal of the celibate life, for which clansmen rightly go forth from home into homelessness, knowing & realizing it for himself in the here & now. He knew: "Birth is ended, the celibate life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for the sake of this world." And so Ven. Bharadvaja became another one of the arahants.

See also: SN 7.17; Thig XIII.2.

Revised: Fri 21 September 2001
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Sn I.4a

Sutta Nipata I.4
Kasi Bharadvaja Sutta
Discourse to Bharadvaja, the Farmer
Translated from the Pali by Piyadassi Thera.
For free distribution only.

From The Book of Protection, translated by Piyadassi Thera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1999). Copyright ©1999 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

Thus have I heard:
On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Dakkhinagiri (monastery), in the brahmana village Ekanala, in Magadha. Now at that time, it being the sowing season, five hundred plows of the brahman Kasibharadvaja were put to use. Then in the forenoon the Blessed One having dressed himself, took bowl and (double) robe, and went to the place where brahman Kasibharadvaja's work was going on. It was the time of food distribution by the brahman, and the Blessed One drew near, and stood at one side. Bharadvaja seeing the Blessed One standing there for alms said to him:
"Recluse, I do plow, and do sow, and having plowed and sown I eat. You also, recluse should plow and sow; having plowed and sown you should eat."
"I, too, brahman, plow and sow; having plowed and sown, I eat."
"We do not see the Venerable Gotama's yoke, or plow, or plowshare, or goad or oxen. Nevertheless the Venerable Gotama says: 'I, too, brahman, plow and sow; having plowed and sown, I eat.'"
Thereupon the brahman addressed the Blessed One in a stanza:
1. "You profess to be a plowman, yet your plow we do not see; asked about your plow and the rest, tell us of them that we may know."
[The Buddha:] 2. "Faith is my seed, austerity the rain, wisdom my yoke and plow, modesty is the pole, mind the strap, mindfulness is my plowshare and goad.
3. "Controlled in speech and conduct, guarded in deed and speech, abstemious in food,[1] I make truth my weed cutter; Arahantship, my deliverance complete.
4. "Exertion, my team in yoke, draws me to Nibbana's security, and on it goes without stopping, wither gone one does not suffer.
5. "Thuswise is this plowing plowed which bears the fruit of Deathlessness; having plowed this plowing one is freed from every ill."
Then brahman Kasibharadvaja filling a golden bowl with milk-rice offered it to the Blessed One saying: "May the Venerable Gotama partake of this milk rice; a plowman, indeed, is Venerable Gotama who plows a plow for the fruit of Deathlessness (Nibbana)."
[The Buddha:] 6. "What I receive by reciting verses, O brahman, I should not eat. It is not the tradition of those who practice right livelihood. The Buddhas reject what is received by reciting verses. This brahman, is the conduct (of the Buddhas) as long as Dhamma reigns.
7. "To those wholly consummate, taintless, and well-disciplines great sages, should thou offer other food and drink; sure field is that for merit-seeking men."
"To whom, then Venerable Gotama, shall I give this milk rice?"
"Brahman, in the world of Devas, Maras, and Brahmas or among the generation of recluses, brahmanas, deities, and humans, there is no one by whom this milk rice, if eaten, could be wholly digested except by the Tathagata (the Buddha), or the disciple of a Tathagata. Therefore, brahman, either cast this milk rice where there is no grass, or into water where there are no living creatures."
Thereupon the brahman flung that milk rice into water where there were no living creatures, and the milk rice thrown into the water smoked and steamed making the noise "cicchita, citicita," just like a plowshare heated during the day, when thrown into water, smokes, and steams making the noise "cicchita, citicita."
Then the brahman Kasibharadvaja, alarmed, with hair standing on end, approached, and fell with his head at the Blessed One's feet and said as follows.
"Most excellent, O Gotama, is thy teaching, most excellent. Just as a man would set upright what is overturned, reveal what is concealed, point out the way to one gone astray, bring an oil lamp into the darkness so that those with eyes could see objects, even so the Dhamma (doctrine) has been declared in many a manner by the Venerable Gotama. I take refuge in the Venerable Gotama (the Buddha), in the Dhamma and in the Sangha (the Order). I wish to receive the novice's ordination (pabbajja) and higher ordination (upasampada)."
Brahman Kasibharadvaja duly received both the pabbajja and upasampada from the Blessed One. Not long after his upasampada the Venrable Bharadvaja dwelling alone and aloof, diligent, strenuous, and resolute, ere long, by his own insight, here and now, realized and attained the highest perfection (Arahantship), the end of the Noble Life -- for the sake of which men of good family go forth from home to live the homeless life. Birth is destroyed, lived is the noble life, done is what has to be done, there is no more of this state. The Venerable Bharadvaja became one of the Arahants.

Note
1. In the use of the four requisites: robes, food, lodging, medicine, Comy.
Revised: Fri 21 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-04a.html

Sn I.5

Sutta Nipata I.5
Cunda Sutta
To Cunda
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

[Cunda the smith:]
"I ask the sage of abundant discernment,
awakened, lord of the Dhamma, free
of craving,
supreme among two-legged beings,
best
of charioteers:
"How many contemplatives
are there in the world?
Please tell me."
[The Buddha:]
"Four contemplatives, Cunda. There isn't a fifth.
Being asked face-to-face, I'll explain:
the Victor of the path,
the teacher of the path,
one who lives by the path,
& one who corrupts the path."
[Cunda:]
"Whom do the Awakened call the Victor of the path
[&] one who is an unequalled teacher of the path?
Tell me the one who lives by the path,
and explain to me one who corrupts the path."
[The Buddha:]
"He's crossed over perplexity,
his arrow removed,
delighting in Unbinding, free
of greed,
the leader of the world with its devas:
one like this
the Awakened
call the Victor
of the path.
He here knows the foremost as foremost,
who right here shows & analyzes the Dhamma,
that sage, a cutter-of-doubt unperturbed:
he's called the second of monks,
the teacher of the path.
Mindful, restrained,
he lives by the well-taught
Dhamma-principles,
path,
associating with principles without blame:
he's called the third of monks,
one who lives by the path.
Creating a counterfeity
of those with good practices,
self-asserting, a corrupter of families,[1] intrusive,
deceitful, unrestrained, chaff,
going around in disguise:
he's one who corrupts the path.
Any householder, having ferreted these out
-- a discerning disciple of those who are noble --
knowing they aren't all the same,
seeing this, his conviction's not harmed.
For how could the corrupt with the un-
corrupt,
the impure with the pure,
be put on a par?"

Note
1. A corrupter of families is a monk who ingratiates himself into a family's affections by performing services for them that are inappropriate for a monk to do, thus diverting their faith away from those who live by the Dhamma and Vinaya. For more on this term, see The Buddhist Monastic Code, Sanghadisesa 13.
Revised: Sun 30 September 2001
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Sn I.6

Sutta Nipata I.6
Parabhava Sutta
Downfall
Translated from the Pali by Narada Thera.
For free distribution only.

From Everyman's Ethics: Four Discourses by the Buddha (WH 14), translated by Narada Thera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1985). Copyright ©1985 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

Translator's note: While the Mangala Sutta deals with the way of life conducive to progress and happiness, the Parabhava Sutta supplements it by pointing out the causes of downfall. He who allows himself to become tarnished by these blemishes of conduct blocks his own road to worldly, moral and spiritual progress and lowers all that is truly noble and human in man. But he who is heedful of these dangers keeps open the road to all those thirty-eight blessings of which human nature is capable.

Thus have I heard. Once the Exalted One was dwelling at Anathapindika's monastery, in the Jeta Grove, near Savatthi.
Now when the night was far spent a certain deity whose surpassing splendor illuminated the entire Jeta Grove, came to the presence of the Exalted One and, drawing near, respectfully saluted Him and stood at one side. Standing thus, he addressed the Exalted One in verse:
The Deity: Having come here with our questions to the Exalted One, we ask thee, O Gotama, about man's decline. Pray, tell us the cause of downfall!
The Buddha: Easily known is the progressive one, easily known he who declines. He who loves Dhamma progresses; he who is averse to it, declines.
The Deity: Thus much do we see: this is the first cause of one's downfall. Pray, tell us the second cause.[1]
The Buddha: The wicked are dear to him, with the virtuous he finds no delight, he prefers the creed of the wicked -- this is a cause of one's downfall.
Being fond of sleep, fond of company, indolent, lazy and irritable -- this is a cause of one's downfall.
Though being well-to-do, not to support father and mother who are old and past their youth -- this is a cause of one's downfall.
To deceive by falsehood a brahman or ascetic or any other mendicant -- this is a cause of one's downfall.
To have much wealth and ample gold and food, but to enjoy one's luxuries alone -- this is a cause of one's downfall.
To be proud of birth, of wealth or clan, and to despise one's own kinsmen -- this is a cause of one's downfall.
To be a rake, a drunkard, a gambler, and to squander all one earns -- this is a cause of one's downfall.
Not to be contented with one's own wife, and to be seen with harlots and the wives of others -- this is a cause of one's downfall.
Being past one's youth, to take a young wife and to be unable to sleep for jealousy of her -- this is a cause of one's downfall.
To place in authority a woman given to drink and squandering, or a man of a like behavior -- this is a cause of one's downfall.
To be of noble birth, with vast ambition and of slender means, and to crave for rulership -- this is a cause of one's downfall.
Knowing well these causes of downfall in the world, the noble sage endowed with insight shares a happy realm.

Note
1. These lines are repeated after each stanza, with the due enumeration.
Revised: Fri 21 September 2001
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Sn I.6a

Sutta Nipata I.6
Parabhava Sutta
Discourse on Downfall
Translated from the Pali by Piyadassi Thera.
For free distribution only.

From The Book of Protection, translated by Piyadassi Thera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1999). Copyright ©1999 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

Thus have I heard:
On one occasion the Blessed One was living near Savatthi, at Jetavana, at Anathapindika's monastery. Now when the night was far advanced, a certain deity, whose surpassing radiance illuminated the whole of Jetavana, came to the presence of the Blessed One, respectfully saluted him, and stood beside him. Standing thus he addressed the Blessed One in verse:
[The Deity:] 1. About the declining man we question thee, Gotama. We have come to ask the Blessed One: What is the cause of his downfall?
[The Buddha:] 2. Easily known is the progressive one, easily known is the declining one. The lover of the Dhamma prospers. The hater of the Dhamma declines. 3. We understand this as explained (by thee); this is the first cause of his downfall. Tell us the second, O Blessed One. What is the cause of his downfall? 4. The vicious are dear to him. He likes not the virtuous; he approves the teachings of the ill-natured -- this is the cause of his downfall. 5. We understand this as explained by thee; this is the second cause of his downfall. Tell us the third, O Blessed One. What is the cause of his downfall? 6. The man who is fond of sleep and company, inactive and lazy, and manifesting anger- this is the cause of his downfall. 7. We understand this as explained by thee; this is the third cause of his downfall. Tell us the fourth, O Blessed One. What is the cause of his downfall? 8. Whoever being affluent, does not support his mother and father who are old, and past their prime -- this is the cause of his downfall. 9. We understand this as explained by thee; this is the fourth cause of his downfall. Tell us the fifth, O Blessed One. What is the cause of his downfall? 10. Whoever by falsehood deceives either a brahmana, or a samana (a holy man), or any other mendicant -- this is the cause of his downfall. 11. We understand this as explained by thee; this is the fifth cause of his downfall. Tell us the six, O Blessed One. What is the cause of his downfall? 12. The person who is possessed of much wealth, who has gold, and who has an abundance of food, but enjoys his delicacies all by himself -- this is the cause of his downfall. 13. We understand this as explained by thee; this is the sixth cause of his downfall. Tell us the seventh, O Blessed One. What is the cause of his downfall? 14. The man who, proud of his birth, of his wealth, and of his clan, despises his relations -- this is the cause of his downfall.
15. We understand this as explained by thee; this is the seventh cause of his downfall. Tell us the eighth, O Blessed One. What is the cause of his downfall?
16. The man who is addicted to women (given to a life of debauchery), is a drunkard, a gambler, and a squanderer of his earnings -- this is the cause of his downfall.
17. We understand this as explained by thee; this is the eighth cause of his downfall. Tell us the ninth, O Blessed One. What is the cause of his downfall?
18. Not satisfied with one's own wives,[2] he is seen among the whores and the wives of others -- this is the cause of his downfall.
19. We understand this as explained by thee; this is the ninth cause of his downfall. Tell us the tenth, O Blessed One. What is the cause of his downfall?
20. A person past his youth takes as wife, a girl in her teens, and sleeps not being jealous of her[3] -- this is the cause of his downfall.
21. We understand this as explained by thee; this is the tenth cause of his downfall. Tell us the eleventh, O Blessed One. What is the cause of his downfall?
22. He who places in authority a woman given to drink and squandering, or a man of similar nature -- this is the cause of his downfall.
23. We understand this as explained by thee; this is the eleventh cause of his downfall. Tell us the twelfth, O Blessed One. What is the cause of his downfall?
24. He who having but little possessions but great ambition (greed), is of warrior birth and aspires selfishly to (an unattainable) sovereignty -- this is the cause of his downfall.
25. Fully realizing these (twelve) causes of downfall in the world, the sage, endowed with ariyan insight, shares a realm of security (Nibbana).

Notes
2. Apparently during the Buddha's time, in Indian society, a man could legally have more than one wife if he could maintain them. Kings had harems. What was prohibited was illegal sexual relations.
3. By reason of his anxiety as to whether she would long for young men in preference to him. Comy.
Revised: Fri 21 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-06a.html

Sn I.7

Sutta Nipata I.7
Vasala Sutta
Discourse on Outcasts
Translated from the Pali by Piyadassi Thera.
For free distribution only.

From The Book of Protection, translated by Piyadassi Thera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1999). Copyright ©1999 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

Thus have I heard:
On one occasion the Blessed One was living near Savatthi at Jetavana at Anathapindika's monastery. Then in the forenoon the Blessed One having dressed himself, took bowl and (double) robe, and entered the city of Savatthi for alms. Now at that time a fire was burning, and an offering was being prepared in the house of the brahman Aggikabharadvaja. Then the Blessed One, while on his alms round, came to the brahman's residence. The brahman seeing the Blessed One some way off, said this: "Stay there, you shaveling, stay there you wretched monk, stay there you outcast." When he spoke thus the Blessed One said to the brahman: "Do you know, brahman, who an outcast is and what the conditions are that make an outcast?" "No, indeed, Venerable Gotama, I do not know who an outcast is nor the conditions that make an outcast. It is good if Venerable Gotama were to explain the Dhamma to me so that I may know who an outcast is and what the conditions are that make an outcast."[1]
"Listen then, brahman, and pay attention, I will speak."
"Yes, Venerable Sir," replied the brahman.
1. "Whosoever is angry, harbors hatred, and is reluctant to speak well of others (discredits the good of others), perverted in views, deceitful -- know him as an outcast.
2. "Whosoever in this world kills living beings, once born or twice born,[2] in whom there is no sympathy for living beings -- know him as an outcast.
3. "Whosoever destroys and besieges villages and hamlets and becomes notorious as an oppressor -- know him as an outcast.
4. "Be it in the village, or in the forest, whosoever steals what belongs to others, what is not given to him -- know him as an outcast.
5. "Whosoever having actually incurred a debt runs away when he is pressed to pay, saying, 'I owe no debt to you' -- know him as an outcast.
6. "Whosoever coveting anything, kills a person going along the road, and grabs whatever that person has -- know him as an outcast.
7. "He who for his own sake or for the sake of others or for the sake of wealth, utters lies when questioned as a witness -- know him as an outcast.
8. "Whosoever by force or with consent associates with the wives of relatives or friends -- know him as an outcast.
9. "Whosoever being wealthy supports not his mother and father who have grown old -- know him as an outcast.
10. "Whosoever strikes and annoys by (harsh) speech, mother, father, brother, sister or mother-in-law or father-in-law -- know him as an outcast.
11. "Whosoever when questioned about what is good, says what is detrimental, and talks in an evasive manner- know him as an outcast.
12. "Whosoever having committed an evil deed, wishes that it may not be known to others, and commits evil in secret -- know him as an outcast.
13. "Whosoever having gone to another's house, and partaken of choice food, does not honor that host by offering food when he repays the visit -- know him as an outcast.
14. "Whosoever deceives by uttering lies, a brahman or an ascetic, or any other mendicant -- know him as an outcast.
15. "Whosoever when a brahman or ascetic appears during mealtime angers him by harsh speech, and does not offer him (any alms) -- know him as an outcast.
16. "Whosoever in this world, shrouded in ignorance, speaks harsh words (asatam) or falsehood[3] expecting to gain something -- know him as an outcast.
17. "Whosoever debased by his pride, exalts himself and belittles other -- know him as an outcast.
18. "Whosoever is given to anger, is miserly, has base desires, and is selfish, deceitful, shameless and fearless (in doing evil) -- know him as an outcast.
19. "Whosoever reviles the Enlightened One (the Buddha), or a disciple of the Buddha, recluse or a householder -- know him as an outcast.
20. "Whosoever not being an Arahant, a Consummate One, pretends to be so, is a thief in the whole universe -- he is the lowest of outcasts.
21. "Not by birth is one an outcast; not by birth is one a brahman. By deed one becomes an outcast, by deed one becomes a brahman.
22. "Know ye by the example I now cite (the fact that by birth one is not an outcast). There was an outcast's son, Sopaka, who became known as Matanga.
23. "This Matanga attained the highest fame so difficult to gain. Many were the warriors (kshatriyas) and brahmans who went to attend on him.
24. "Mounting the celestial chariot (the Noble Eightfold path, and driving) along the passion-free high road, (Sopaka, now a monk), reached the Brahma realm having given up sense desires.
25. "His (lowly) birth did not prevent him from being reborn in the Brahma realm. There are brahmans born in the family of preceptors, kinsmen of (veda) hymns.
26. "They are often seen committing evil deeds. In this life itself they are despised, in the next they are born in an evil state of existence. High birth does not prevent them from falling into a woeful state, or from censure.
27. "Not by birth is one an outcast; not by birth is one a brahman. By deed one becomes an outcast, by deed one becomes an brahman."
When the Buddha had thus spoken, the Brahman Aggikabharadvaja said to the Blessed One: "Excellent, O Venerable Gotama, excellent! Just as, O Venerable Gotama, a man were to set upright what had been overturned, or were to reveal what had been hidden, or were to point the way to one who had gone astray, or were to hold an oil lamp in the dark so that those with eyes may see things, even so in many ways has the Venerable Gotama expounded the Dhamma, the doctrine. I take refuge in the Venerable Gotama, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, the Order. May the Venerable Gotama accept me as a lay follower who has taken refuge from this day onwards while life lasts."

Notes
1. The abusive terms used by the brahman and the respectful address that follows need a word of explanation. The brahman had just prepared his offering to the great Brahma, his God, when his eyes fell on Buddha. To the brahman the sight of a samana, a shaven-headed recluse, was an unlucky sign. Hence he burst into angry words. The Buddha, however, was unruffled and spoke to him quietly in words of soft cadence. The brahman apparently was ashamed, and repenting of his folly, addressed the Buddha courteously. Comy. It is interesting to note the Buddha's stress on anger and hatred in his very first stanza.
2. dvijam, birds. Twice-born is a reference to birds since they first come out as an egg, and when hatched a complete bird is born.
3. asantamtipi patho, SnA.
Revised: Fri 21 September 2001
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Sn I.8

Sutta Nipata I.8
Karaniya Metta Sutta
Good Will
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Note: This sutta also appears at Khp 9.
This is to be done by one skilled in aims
who wants to break through to the state of peace:
Be capable, upright, & straightforward,
easy to instruct, gentle, & not conceited,
content & easy to support,
with few duties, living lightly,
with peaceful faculties, masterful,
modest, & no greed for supporters.
Do not do the slightest thing
that the wise would later censure.
Think: Happy, at rest,
may all beings be happy at heart.
Whatever beings there may be,
weak or strong, without exception,
long, large,
middling, short,
subtle, blatant,
seen & unseen,
near & far,
born & seeking birth:
May all beings be happy at heart.
Let no one deceive another
or despise anyone anywhere,
or through anger or irritation
wish for another to suffer.
As a mother would risk her life
to protect her child, her only child,
even so should one cultivate a limitless heart
with regard to all beings.
With good will for the entire cosmos,
cultivate a limitless heart:
Above, below, & all around,
unobstructed, without enmity or hate.
Whether standing, walking,sitting, or lying down,
as long as one is alert,
one should be resolved on this mindfulness.
This is called a sublime abidinghere & now.
Not taken with views,
but virtuous & consummate in vision,
having subdued desire for sensual pleasures,
one never again
will lie in the womb.

Revised: Mon 21 January 2002
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-08.html

Sn I.8a

Sutta Nipata I.8
Karaniya Metta Sutta
The Discourse on Loving-kindness
Translated from the Pali by Piyadassi Thera.
For free distribution only.

Note: This sutta also appears at Khp 9.
From The Book of Protection, translated by Piyadassi Thera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1999). Copyright ©1999 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

Translator's Introduction
While the Buddha was staying at Savatthi, a band of monks, having received subjects of meditation from the master, proceeded to a forest to spend the rainy season (vassana). The tree deities inhabiting this forest were worried by their arrival, as they had to descend from tree abodes and dwell on the ground. They hoped, however, the monks would leave soon; but finding that the monks would stay the vassana period of three months, harassed them in diverse ways, during the night with the intention of scaring them away.
Living under such conditions being impossible, the monks went to the Master and informed him of their difficulties. Thereon the Buddha instructed them in the Metta sutta and advised their return equipped with this sutta for their protection.
The monks went back to the forest, and practicing the instruction conveyed, permeated the whole atmosphere with their radiant thoughts of metta or loving-kindness. The deities so affected by this power of love, henceforth allowed them to meditate in peace.
The discourse gets divided into two parts. The first detailing the standard of moral conduct required by one who wishes to attain Purity and Peace, and the second the method of practice of metta.

1. "He who is skilled in (working out his own) well being, and who wishes to attain that state of Calm (Nibbana) should act thus: he should be dexterous, upright, exceedingly upright, obedient, gentle, and humble.
2. "Contented, easily supportable, with but few responsibilities, of simple livelihood, controlled in the senses, prudent, courteous, and not hanker after association with families.
3. "Let him not perform the slightest wrong for which wise men may rebuke him. (Let him think:) 'May all beings be happy and safe. May they have happy minds.'
4.& 5. "Whatever living beings there may be -- feeble or strong (or the seekers and the attained) long, stout, or of medium size, short, small, large, those seen or those unseen, those dwelling far or near, those who are born as well as those yet to be born -- may all beings have happy minds.
6. "Let him not deceive another nor despise anyone anywhere. In anger or ill will let him not wish another ill.
7. "Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all beings.
8. "Let him radiate boundless love towards the entire world -- above, below, and across -- unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.
9. "Standing, walking, sitting or reclining, as long as he is awake, let him develop this mindfulness. This, they say, is 'Noble Living' here.
10. "Not falling into wrong views -- being virtuous, endowed with insight, lust in the senses discarded -- verily never again will he return to conceive in a womb."

Revised: Mon 21 January 2002
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-08a.html

Sn I.8b

Sutta Nipata I.8
Karaniya Metta Sutta
The Buddha's Words on Loving Kindness
Translated from the Pali by the Amaravati Sangha
For free distribution only.
This sutta also appears at Khp 9.

From Chanting Book: Morning and Evening Puja and Reflections (Hemel Hempstead: Amaravati Publications, 1994). Used with permission of the English Sangha Trust, Ltd.
This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech,
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied,
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm and wise and skillful,
Not proud or demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in safety,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born --
May all beings be at ease!
Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world:
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.
Revised: Fri 2-Jul-2004
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Sn I.10

Sutta Nipata I.10
Alavaka Sutta
To the Alavaka Yakkha
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Note: This sutta also appears at SN 10.12.
Translator's note: This discourse is the source of many proverbs frequently quoted in Theravadin countries. In 1982, when Thailand was celebrating the 200th anniversary of the founding of the current dynasty, His Majesty the King structured his chief address to the Thai people around the four qualities mentioned in the Buddha's last verse.

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying at Alavi in the haunt of the Alavaka yakkha. Then the Alavaka yakkha went to the Blessed One and on arrival said to him: "Get out, contemplative!"
[Saying,] "All right, my friend," the Blessed One went out.
"Come in, contemplative!"
[Saying,] "All right, my friend," the Blessed One went in.
A second time... A third time, the Alavaka yakkha said to the Blessed One, "Get out, contemplative!"
[Saying,] "All right, my friend," the Blessed One went out.
"Come in, contemplative!"
[Saying,] "All right, my friend," the Blessed One went in.
Then a fourth time, the Alavaka yakkha said to the Blessed One, "Get out, contemplative!"
"I won't go out, my friend. Do what you have to do."
"I will ask you a question, contemplative. If you can't answer me, I will possess your mind or rip open your heart or, grabbing you by the feet, hurl you across the Ganges."
"My friend, I see no one in the cosmos with its deities, Maras & Brahmas, its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk, who could possess my mind or rip open my heart or, grabbing me by the feet, hurl me across the Ganges. But nevertheless, ask me what you wish."
[Alavaka:]
What
is a person's highest wealth?
What, when well-practiced, brings bliss?
What
is the highest of savors?
Living in what way
is one's life called the best?
[The Buddha:]
Conviction
is a person's highest wealth.
Dhamma,
when well-practiced, brings bliss.
Truth is the highest of savors.[1]
Living with discernment,
one's life is called best.
[Alavaka:]
How
does one cross over the flood?
How
cross over the sea?
How
does one overcome suffering & stress?
How
is a person purified?
[The Buddha:]
Through conviction
one crosses over the flood.
Through heedfulness,
the sea.
Through persistence
one overcomes
suffering & stress.
Through discernment
a person is purified.
[Alavaka:]
How
does one gain discernment?
How
does one find wealth?
How
does one attain honor?
How
bind friends to oneself?
Passing from this world
to
the next world,
how
does one not grieve?
[The Buddha:]
Convinced of the arahants' Dhamma
for attaining Unbinding,
-- heedful, observant --
one listening well
gains discernment.
Doing what's fitting,
enduring burdens,
one with initiative
finds wealth.
Through truth
one attains honor.
Giving
binds friends to oneself.
Endowed with these four qualities,
-- truth,
self-control,
stamina,
relinquishment --
a householder of conviction,
on passing away, doesn't grieve.
Now, go ask others,
common priests & contemplatives,
if anything better than
truth,
self-control,
endurance,
& relinquishmen
there can be found.
[Alavaka:]
How could I go ask
common priests & contemplatives? --
now that today I understand
what benefits
the next life.
It was truly for my well-being
that the Awakened One came
to stay in Alavi.Today I understand
where what is given
bears great fruit.
I will wander from village to village,
town to town,
paying homage
to the Self-awakened One
& the true rightness
of the Dhamma.

Note
1. This is apparently a reference to the concept of "savor"(rasa) in Indian aesthetic theory. For more on this topic, see the Introduction to Dhammapada: A Translation.
Revised: Fri 21 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-10.html

Sn I.10a

Sutta Nipata I.10
Alavaka Sutta
Discourse to Alavaka
Translated from the Pali by Piyadassi Thera.
For free distribution only.

Note: This sutta also appears at SN 10.12.
From The Book of Protection, translated by Piyadassi Thera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1999). Copyright ©1999 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

Thus have I heard:
On one occasion the Blessed One was living in the abode of Alavaka, the Yakka (demon), at Alavi. Then Alavaka approached the Blessed One and said: "Get out, recluse (samana)." -- "Very well, friend," so saying the Blessed One went out.
"Come in, recluse." -- "Very well, friend," so saying the Blessed One entered.
"Get out, recluse," said Alavaka to the Blessed One a second time. -- "Very well, friend," so saying the Blessed One went out.
"Come in, recluse." -- "Very well, friend," so saying the Blessed One entered.
"Get out, recluse," said Alavaka to the Blessed One a third time. -- "Very well, friend," so saying the Blessed One went out.
"Come in, recluse." -- "Very well, friend," so saying the Blessed One entered.
"Get out recluse," said Alavaka to the Blessed One a fourth time. -- "No, O friend, I will not get out. Do what you will."
"I will ask you a question, recluse. If you do not answer me, I will confound your mind (thoughts), or cleave your heart, or take you by your feet and fling you over to the further shore of the ocean (para gangaya).
"Well, friend, I do not see anyone in the world of Devas, Maras, Brahmas, or among the generation of recluses, brahmanas, deities, and humans, who could either confound my mind or cleave my heart, or take me by the feet and fling me over to the further shore of the ocean; nevertheless, friend, ask what you will."
Then Alavaka addressed the Blessed One in verse:
1. What wealth here is best for man?
What well practiced will happiness bring?
What taste excels all other tastes?
How lived is the life they say is best?
[The Buddha:] 2. Faith is the wealth here best for man;
Dhamma well practiced shall happiness bring;
Truth indeed all other tastes excels;
Life wisely lived they say is best.
[Alavaka:] 3. How does one the currents[1] cross?
How is ocean's[2] existence crossed?
How is one's suffering quelled?
How is one purified?
[The Buddha:] 4. By faith are currents crossed;
By diligence is the ocean crossed;
By effort is one's suffering quelled;
By wisdom is one purified;
[Alavaka:] 5. How does one wisdom win?
How does one wealth obtain?
How does one come to fame?
How does one friendship win?
How does one without sorrow fare
When from this world to another he's gone?
[The Buddha:] 6. The mindful and discerning one,
Who in the Dhamma plead his faith;
By his will to hear that Dhamma
Wins the wisdom of Nibbana.
[Alavaka:] 7. Who is tactful and energetic,
And gains wealth by his own effort;
Fame will he acquire by truth,
And friendship by his giving.
[The Buddha:] 8. He who has faith and is also truthful,
virtuous, firm, and fond of giving;
By virtue of these four conditions
Will never in the hereafter grieve.
[Alavaka:] 9. Truth and Restraint,
Charity and Forbearance,
Are the great reformers of man;
If there be any better
Ask of other samanas and brahmanas.
[The Buddha:] 10. Why should I now try to ask
From other samanas and brahmanas
When this day I came to learn
What weal is here and hereafter?
[Alavaka:] 11. This for my weal indeed
The Buddha to Alavi came;
A gift always bears a fruit;
This too I learned today.
[The Buddha:] 12. From village to village and town to town
I shall now wander along
Praising that Supreme Buddha
And the Dhamma well preached by him.
Having thus spoken, Alavaka said to the Blessed One:
"Most excellent, O Gotama, is thy teaching, most excellent. Just as a man would set upright what is overturned, reveal what is concealed, point out the way to one gone astray, bring an oil lamp into the darkness so that those with eyes could see objects; even so the Dhamma (doctrine) has been declared in many a manner by the Venerable Gotama. I take refuge in the Venerable Gotama (the Buddha), in the Dhamma and in the Sangha (the Order). May the Venerable Gotama accept me as a disciple who has taken refuge, from this day forth while life lasts."

Notes
1. "Current" stands for the Pali word 'ogha' which is fourfold -- sense pleasures, becoming, wrong views and ignorance (kama-ogha, bhava-o., ditthi-o., avijja-o).
2. "Ocean" stands for the Pali word 'annavam' which is metaphorically used to signify repeated existence, orsamsara.
Revised: Fri 21 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-10.html

Sn I.11

Sutta Nipata I.11
Vijaya Sutta
Victory
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Whether walking, standing,
sitting, or lying down,
it flexes & stretches:
this is the body's movement.
Joined together with tendons & bones,
plastered over with muscle & skin,
hidden by complexion,
the body isn't seen
for what it is:
filled with intestines, filled with stomach,
with the lump of the liver,
bladder, lungs, heart,
kidneys, spleen,
mucus, sweat, saliva, fat,
blood, synovial fluid, bile, & oil.
On top of that,
in nine streams,
filth is always flowing from it:
from the eyes : eye secretions,
from the ears : ear secretions,
from the nose : mucus,
from the mouth : now vomit,
now phlegm,
now bile.
from the body : beads of sweat.
And on top of that,
its hollow head is filled with brains.
The fool, beset by ignorance,
thinks it beautiful.
But when it lies dead,
swollen, livid,
cast away in a charnel ground,
even relatives don't care for it.
Dogs feed on it,
jackals, wolves, & worms.
Crows & vultures feed on it,
along with any other animals there.
Having heard the Awakened One's words,
the discerning monk
comprehends, for he sees it
for what it is:
"As this is, so is that.
As that, so this."
Within & without,
he should let desire for the body
fade away.
With desire & passion faded away,
the discerning monk arrives here:
at the deathless,
the calm,
the undying state
of Unbinding.
This two-footed, filthy, evil-smelling,
filled-with-various-carcasses,
oozing-out-here-&-there body:
Whoever would think,
on the basis of a body like this,
to exalt himself or disparage another:
What is that
if not blindness?

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-11.html

Sn I.12

Sutta Nipata I.12
Muni Sutta
The Sage
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

From That the True Dhamma Might Last a Long Time: Readings Selected by King Asoka, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

Danger is born from intimacy,[1]
society gives birth to dust.[2]
Free from intimacy,
free from society:
such is the vision of the sage.
Who, destroying what's born
wouldn't plant again
or nourish what will arise:
They call him the wandering, singular sage.
He has seen the state of peace.
Considering the ground,
crushing the seed,
he wouldn't nourish the sap[3]
-- truly a sage -- seer of the ending of birth,
abandoning conjecture,
he cannot be classified.
Knowing all dwellings,[4]
not longing for any one anywhere
-- truly a sage -- with no coveting, without greed,
he does not build,[5]
for he has gone
beyond.
Overcoming all
knowing all,
wise.
With regard to all things:
unsmeared. Abandoning all,
in the ending of craving,
released:
The enlightened call him a sage.
Strong in discernment,
virtuous in his practices,
centered,
delighting in jhana,
mindful,
freed from attachments,
no constraints :: no fermentations:[6]
The enlightened call him a sage.
The wandering solitary sage,
uncomplacent, unshaken by praise or blame.
Unstartled,
like a lion at sounds.
Unsnared,
like the wind in a net.
Unsmeared,
like a lotus in water.
Leader of others, by others unled:
The enlightened call him a sage.
Like the pillar at a bathing ford,[7]
when others speak in extremes.
He, without passion,
his senses well-centered:
The enlightened call him a sage.
Truly poised, straight as a shuttle,[8]
he loathes evil actions.
Pondering what is on-pitch and off:[9]
The enlightened call him a sage.
Self-restrained, he does no evil.
Young and middle-aged,
the sage self-controlled,
never angered, he angers none:
The enlightened call him a sage.
From the best
the middling
the leftovers
he receives alms.
Sustaining himself on what others give,
neither flattering
nor speaking disparagement:
The enlightened call him a sage.
The wandering sage
abstaining from sex,
in youth bound by no one,
abstaining from
intoxication[10]
complacency
totally apart:
The enlightened call him a sage.
Knowing the world,
seeing the highest goal,
crossing the ocean,[11] the flood,[12]
-- Such -- [13]
his chains broken,
unattached
without fermentation:
The enlightened call him a sage.
These two are different,
they dwell far apart:
the householder supporting a wife
and the unselfish one, of good practices.
Slaying other beings, the householder
is unrestrained.
Constantly the sage protects other beings,
is controlled.
As the crested,
blue-necked peacock,
when flying,
never matches
the wild goose
in speed:
Even so the householder
never keeps up with the monk,
the sage secluded,
doing jhana
in the forest.

Notes
1. Dangers in intimacy: Craving and views.
2. Dust: Passion, aversion, and delusion.
3. Ground, seed, and sap: The khandhas (body, feelings, perceptions, thought formations, and consciousness), sense spheres, and elements form the ground in which grows the seed of constructive consciousness -- the consciousness that develops into states of being and birth. The sap of this seed is craving and views.
4. Dwellings: States of becoming and birth.
5. He does not build: He performs none of the good or bad deeds that give rise to further states of becoming and birth.
6. No fermentations (asava): He has none of the forms of defilement -- sensual desire, views, states of becoming, or ignorance -- that "flow out" of the mind and give rise to the flood of the cycle of death and rebirth.
7. The pillar at a bathing ford: The Cullavagga (V.l) describes this as an immovable pillar, standing quite tall and buried deep in the ground near a bathing place, against which young villagers and boxers would rub their bodies while bathing so as to toughen them. The "extremes" in which others speak, according to the Commentary, are extremes of praise and criticism: These leave the sage, like the pillar, unmoved.
8. Straight as a shuttle: Having a mind unprejudiced by favoritism, dislike, delusion, or fear.
9. On-pitch and off (sama and visama): Throughout ancient cultures, the terminology of music was used to describe the moral quality of people and acts. Discordant intervals or poorly-tuned musical instruments were metaphors for evil; harmonious intervals and well-tuned instruments were metaphors for good. In Pali, the term sama -- "even" -- described an instrument tuned on-pitch: There is a famous passage where the Buddha reminds Sona Kolivisa -- who had been over-exerting himself in the practice -- that a lute sounds appealing only if the strings are neither too taut or too lax, but 'evenly' tuned. This image would have special resonances with the Buddha's teaching on the middle way. It also adds meaning to the term samana -- monk or contemplative -- which the texts frequently mention as being derived from sama. The word samañña -- "evenness," the quality of being in tune -- also means the quality of being a contemplative. This concept plays an important role in the Instructions to Rahula, below. The true contemplative is always in tune with what is proper and good.
10. Intoxication: The three intoxications are intoxication with youth, with good health, and with life.
11. Ocean: The way defilement splashes into undesirable destinations (so says the Commentary).
12. Flood: The flow of defilement: sensual desires, views, states of becoming, and ignorance.
13. Such: Unchanging; unaffected by anything.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp1-12.html

Sn II.1

Sutta Nipata II.1
Ratana Sutta
Treasures
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Note: This sutta also appears at Khp 6.

Whatever spirits have gathered here,
-- on the earth, in the sky -- may you all be happy
& listen intently to what I say.
Thus, spirits, you should all be attentive.
Show kindness to the human race.
Day & night they give offerings,
so, being heedful, protect them.
Whatever wealth
-- here or beyond --
whatever exquisite treasure in the heavens,
does not, for us, equal the Tathagata.
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Buddha.
By this truth may there be well-being.
The exquisite Deathless
-- ending, dispassion --
discovered by the Sakyan Sage in concentration:
There is nothing to equal that Dhamma.
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Dhamma.
By this truth may there be well-being.
What the excellent Awakened One extolled as pure
and called the concentration
of unmediated knowing:
No equal to that concentration can be found.
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Dhamma.
By this truth may there be well-being.
The eight persons
-- the four pairs --
praised by those at peace:
They, disciples of the One Well-Gone, deserve offerings.
What is given to them bears great fruit.
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.
By this truth may there be well-being.
Those who, devoted, firm-minded,
apply themselves to Gotama's message,
on attaining their goal, plunge into the Deathless,
freely enjoying the Liberation they've gained.
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.
By this truth may there be well-being.
An Indra pillar,[1] planted in the earth,
that even the four winds cannot shake:
that, I tell you, is like the person of integrity,
who -- having comprehendedthe noble truths -- sees.
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.
By this truth may there be well-being.
Those who have seen clearly the noble truths
well-taught by the one of deep discernment
-- regardless of what [later] might make them heedless --
will come to no eighth state of becoming.[2]
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.
By this truth may there be well-being.
At the moment of attaining sight,
one abandons three things:
identity-views, uncertainty,
& any attachment to precepts & practices.[3]
One is completely released
from the four states of deprivation,[4]
and incapable of committing
the six great wrongs.[5]
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.
By this truth may there be well-being.
Whatever bad deed one may do
-- in body, speech, or in mind --
one cannot hide it:
an incapability ascribed
to one who has seen the Way.
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.
By this truth may there be well-being.
Like a forest grove with flowering tops
in the first month of the heat of the summer,
so is the foremost Dhamma he taught,
for the highest benefit, leading to Unbinding.
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Buddha.
By this truth may there be well-being.
Foremost,
foremost-knowing,
foremost-giving,
foremost-bringing,
unexcelled, he taught theforemost Dhamma.
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Buddha.
By this truth may there be well-being.
Ended the old, there is no new taking birth.
dispassioned their minds toward further becoming,
they,
with no seed, no desire for growth,
the prudent,
go out like this flame.
This, too, is an exquisite treasure in the Sangha.
By this truth may there be well-being.
Whatever spirits have gathered here,
-- on the earth, in the sky --
let us pay homage to the Buddha,
the Tathagata worshipped by beings
human & divine.
May there be
well-being.
Whatever spirits have gathered here,
-- on the earth, in the sky --
let us pay homage to the Dhamma
& the Tathagata worshipped by beings
human & divine.
May there be
well-being.
Whatever spirits have gathered here,
-- on the earth, in the sky --
let us pay homage to the Sangha
& the Tathagata worshipped by beings
human & divine.
May there be
well-being.

Notes
1. Indra-pillar: A tall hardwood pillar, planted at the entrance to a village.
2. The person who has reached this stage in the practice will be reborn at most seven more times.
3. These three qualities are the fetters abandoned when one gains one's first glimpse of Unbinding at Stream-entry (the moment when one enters the stream to full Awakening).
4. Four states of deprivation: rebirth as an animal, a hungry shade, an angry demon, or a denizen of hell. In the Buddhist cosmology, none of these states is eternal.
5. The six great wrongs: murdering one's mother, murdering one's father, murdering an Arahant (fully Awakened individual), wounding a Buddha, causing a schism in the Sangha, or choosing anyone other than a Buddha as one's foremost teacher.
Revised: Sun 16 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-01.html

Sn II.1a

Sutta Nipata II.1
Ratana Sutta
The Jewel Discourse
Translated from the Pali by Piyadassi Thera.
For free distribution only.

Note: This sutta also appears at Khp 6.
From The Book of Protection, translated by Piyadassi Thera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1999). Copyright ©1999 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

The occasion for this discourse, in brief, according to the commentary, is as follows: The city of Vesali was afflicted by a famine, causing death, especially to the poor folk. Due to the presence of decaying corpses the evil spirits began to haunt the city; this was followed by a pestilence. Plagued by these three fears of famine, non-human beings and pestilence, the citizens sought the help of the Buddha who was then living at Rajagaha.
Followed by a large number of monks including the Venerable Ananda, his attendant disciple, the Buddha came to the city of Vesali. With the arrival of the Master, there were torrential rains which swept away the putrefying corpses. The atmosphere became purified, the city was clean.
Thereupon the Buddha delivered this Jewel Discourse (Ratana sutta[1]) to the Venerable Ananda, and gave him instructions as to how he should tour the city with the Licchavi citizens reciting the discourse as a mark of protection to the people of Vesali. The Venerable Ananda followed the instructions, and sprinkled the sanctified water from the Buddha's own alms bowl. As a consequence the evil spirits were exorcised, the pestilence subsided. Thereafter the Venerable Ananda returned with the citizens of Vesali to the Public hall where the Buddha and his disciples had assembled awaiting his arrival. There the Buddha recited the same Jewel Discourse to the gathering:

1. "Whatever beings (non-humans) are assembled here, terrestrial or celestial, may they all have peace of mind, and may they listen attentively to these words:
2. "O beings, listen closely. May you all radiate loving-kindness to those human beings who, by day and night, bring offerings to you (offer merit to you). Wherefore, protect them with diligence.
3. "Whatever treasure there be either in the world beyond, whatever precious jewel there be in the heavenly worlds, there is nought comparable to the Tathagata (the perfect One). This precious jewel is the Buddha.[2] By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
4. "That Cessation, that Detachment, that Deathlessness (Nibbana) supreme, the calm and collected Sakyan Sage (the Buddha) had realized. There is nought comparable to this (Nibbana) Dhamma. This precious jewel is the Dhamma.[3] By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
5. "The Supreme Buddha extolled a path of purity (the Noble Eightfold Path) calling it the path which unfailingly brings concentration. There is nought comparable to this concentration. This precious jewel is the Dhamma. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
6. "The eight persons extolled by virtuous men constitute four pairs. They are the disciples of the Buddha and are worthy of offerings. Gifts given to them yield rich results. This precious jewel is the Sangha.[4] By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
7. "With a steadfast mind, and applying themselves well in the dispensation of the Buddha Gotama, free from (defilements), they have attained to that which should be attained (arahantship) encountering the Deathless. They enjoy the Peace of Nibbana freely obtained.[5] This precious jewel is the Sangha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
8. "As a post deep-planted in the earth stands unshaken by the winds from the four quarters, so, too, I declare is the righteous man who comprehends with wisdom the Noble Truths. This precious jewel is the Sangha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
9. "Those who realized the Noble Truths well taught by him who is profound in wisdom (the Buddha), even though they may be exceedingly heedless, they will not take an eighth existence (in the realm of sense spheres).[6] This precious jewel is the Sangha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
10. "With his gaining of insight he abandons three states of mind, namely self-illusion, doubt, and indulgence in meaningless rites and rituals, should there be any. He is also fully freed from the four states of woe, and therefore, incapable of committing the six major wrongdoings.[7] This precious jewel is the Sangha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
11. "Any evil action he may still do by deed, word or thought, he is incapable of concealing it; since it has been proclaimed that such concealing is impossible for one who has seen the Path (of Nibbana).[8] This precious jewel is the Sangha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
12. "As the woodland groves though in the early heat of the summer month are crowned with blossoming flowers even so is the sublime Dhamma leading to the (calm) of Nibbana which is taught (by the Buddha) for the highest good. This precious jewel is the Buddha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
13. "The Peerless Excellent one (the Buddha) the Knower (of Nibbana), the Giver (of Nibbana), the Bringer (of the Noble Path), taught the excellent Dhamma. This precious jewel is the Buddha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
14. "Their past (kamma) is spent, their new (kamma) no more arises, their mind to future becoming is unattached. Their germ (of rebirth-consciousness) has died, they have no more desire for re-living. Those wise men fade out (of existence) as the flame of this lamp (which has just faded away). This precious jewel is the Sangha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness.
15. "Whatever beings (non-human) are assembled here, terrestrial or celestial, come let us salute the Buddha, the Tathagata (the perfect One), honored by gods and men. May there be happiness.[9]
16. "Whatever beings are assembled here terrestrial or celestial, come let us salute the perfect Dhamma, honored by gods and men. May there be happiness.
17. "Whatever beings are assembled here terrestrial or celestial, come let us salute the perfect Sangha, honored by gods and men. May there be happiness."
Notes
1. Ratana means precious jewel. Here the term is applied to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.
2. Literally, in the Buddha is this precious jewel.
3. Literally, in the Dhamma is this precious jewel.
4. Literally, in the Sangha is this precious jewel.
5. Obtained without payment; 'avyayena' (KhpA).
6. The reason why it is stated that there will be no eighth existence for a person who has attained the stage of sotapatti or the first stage of sanctity is that such a being can live at the most for only a period of seven existences in the realm of sense spheres.
7. Abhithanani; i. matricide, ii. patricide, iii. the murder of Arahants (the Consummate Ones), iv. the shedding of the Buddha's blood, v. causing schism in the Sangha, and vi. pernicious false beliefs (niyata micca ditthi).
8. He is a sotapanna, stream-enterer, one who has attained the first stage of sanctity.
9. The last three stanzas were recited by Sakka, the chief of Devas (gods) (KhpA).
Revised: Tue 18 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-01a.html

Sn II.3

Sutta Nipata II.3
Hiri Sutta
Conscience
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

One who,
flouting, despising
a sense of conscience,
saying, "I am your friend,"
but not grasping
what he could do [to help]:
know him as
"Not my friend."
One who,
among friends,
speaks endearing words
to which he doesn't conform,
the wise recognize
as speaking without doing.
He's not a friend
who's always wary,
suspecting a split,
focusing just on your weakness.
But him on whom you can depend,
like a child on its parent's breast:
that's a true friend
whom others can't split from you.
Carrying one's manly burden,
the fruits & rewards develop
the conditions that make for joy,
the bliss that brings praise.
Drinking the nourishment,
the flavor,
of seclusion & calm,
one is freed from evil, devoid
of distress,
refreshed with the nourishment
of rapture in the Dhamma.[1]

Note
1. This last verse = Dhp 205.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn II.3a

Sutta Nipata II.3
Hiri Sutta
On Friendship
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"One who, overstepping and despising a sense of shame, says, 'I am your friend,' but does not take upon himself any tasks he is capable of doing, is to be recognized as no friend. One who speaks amiably to his companions, but whose actions do not conform to it, him the wise know for certain as a talker not a doer. He is no friend who, anticipating conflict, is always alert in looking out for weaknesses. [1] But he on whom one can rely, like a child sleeping on its mother's breast, is truly a friend who cannot be parted from one by others.
"One who bears the human burden of responsibility, with it fruits and blessings in mind, he cultivates a cause [2] of joy and happiness worthy of praise. Having tasted the flavor of solitude and peace one is free from fear and wrong-doings imbibing the rapture of Dhamma." -- vv. 253-257

Notes
1. Such a person dislikes to be reproved, and when an occasion for this occurs he would wish to have a weapon with which to retaliate, and therefore, he takes note of one's weaknesses.
2. According to the Commentary, this joy-producing cause is strenuous effort (viriya).
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-03a.html

Sn II.4

Sutta Nipata II.4
Maha-mangala Sutta
The Highest Protection
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Note: This sutta also appears at Khp 5.

I have heard that at one time the Blessed One was staying in Savatthi at Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's park. Then a certain deva, in the far extreme of the night, her extreme radiance lighting up the entirety of Jeta's Grove, approached the Blessed One. On approaching, having bowed down to the Blessed One, she stood to one side. As she stood to one side, she addressed him with a verse.
Many devas and humans beings
give thought to protection,desiring well-being.
Tell, then, the highest protection.
The Buddha:
Not consorting with fools,
consorting with the wise,
paying homage to those worthy of homage:
This is the highest protection.
Living in a civilized land,
having made merit in the past,
directing oneself rightly:
This is the highest protection.
Broad knowledge, skill,
well-mastered discipline,
well-spoken words:
This is the highest protection.
Support for one's parents,
assistance to one's wife and children,
consistency in one's work:
This is the highest protection.
Generosity, living in rectitude,
assistance to one's relatives,
deeds that are blameless:
This is the highest protection.
Avoiding, abstaining from evil;
refraining from intoxicants,
being heedful of the qualities of the mind:
This is the highest protection.
Respect, humility,
contentment, gratitude,
hearing the Dhamma on timely occasions:
This is the highest protection.
Patience, composure,
seeing contemplatives,
discussing the Dhamma on timely occasions:
This is the highest protection.
Austerity, celibacy,
seeing the Noble Truths,
realizing Unbinding:
This is the highest protection.
A mind that, when touched
by the ways of the world,
is unshaken, sorrowless, dustless, at rest:
This is the highest protection.
Everywhere undefeated
when acting in this way,
people go everywhere in well-being:
This is their highest protection.

Revised: Mon 21 January 2002
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-04.html

Sn II.4a

Sutta Nipata II.4
Maha-mangala Sutta
Blessings
Translated from the Pali by Narada Thera.
For free distribution only.

Note: This sutta also appears at Khp 5.
From Everyman's Ethics: Four Discourses by the Buddha (WH 14), translated by Narada Thera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1985). Copyright ©1985 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

Thus have I heard.[1] On one occasion the Exalted One was dwelling at Anathapindika's monastery, in Jeta's Grove,[2] near Savatthi.[3] Now when the night was far spent, a certain deity whose surpassing splendor illuminated the entire Jeta Grove, came to the presence of the Exalted One and, drawing near, respectfully saluted him and stood at one side. Standing thus, he addressed the Exalted One in verse:
"Many deities and men, yearning after good, have pondered on blessings.[4] Pray, tell me the greatest blessing!"
[The Buddha:] "Not to associate with the foolish,[5] but to associate with the wise; and to honor those who are worthy of honor -- this is the greatest blessing.
To reside in a suitable locality,[6] to have done meritorious actions in the past and to set oneself in the right course[7] -- this is the greatest blessing.
To have much learning, to be skillful in handicraft,[8] well-trained in discipline,[9] and to be of good speech[10] -- this is the greatest blessing.
To support mother and father, to cherish wife and children, and to be engaged in peaceful occupation -- this is the greatest blessing.
To be generous in giving, to be righteous in conduct,[11] to help one's relatives, and to be blameless in action -- this is the greatest blessing.
To loathe more evil and abstain from it, to refrain from intoxicants,[12] and to be steadfast in virtue -- this is the greatest blessing.
To be respectful,[13] humble, contented and grateful; and to listen to the Dhamma on due occasions[14] -- this is the greatest blessing.
To be patient and obedient, to associate with monks and to have religious discussions on due occasions -- this is the greatest blessing.
Self-restraint,[15] a holy and chaste life, the perception of the Noble Truths and the realisation of Nibbana -- this is the greatest blessing.
A mind unruffled by the vagaries of fortune,[16] from sorrow freed, from defilements cleansed, from fear liberated[17] -- this is the greatest blessing.
Those who thus abide, ever remain invincible, in happiness established. These are the greatest blessings."[18]

Notes(Derived mainly from the Commentaries)
1. This Sutta appears in the Sutta-Nipata (v.258ff) and in the Khuddakapatha. See Maha-mangala Jataka (No. 453). For a detailed explanation see Life's Highest Blessing by Dr. R.L. Soni, WHEEL No. 254/256.
2. Anathapindika, lit., 'He who gives alms to the helpless'; his former name was Sudatta. After his conversion to Buddhism, he bought the grove belonging to the Prince Jeta, and established a monastery which was subsequently named Jetavana. It was in this monastery that the Buddha observed most of his vassana periods (rainy seasons -- the three months' retreat beginning with the full-moon of July). Many are the discourses delivered and many are the incidents connected with the Buddha's life that happened at Jetavana. It was here that the Buddha ministered to the sick monk neglected by his companions, advising them: "Whoever, monks, would wait upon me, let him wait upon the sick." It was here that the Buddha so poignantly taught the law of impermanence, by asking the bereaved young woman Kisagotami who brought her dead child, to fetch a grain of mustard seed from a home where there has been no bereavement.
3. Identified with modern Sahet-Mahet, near Balrampur.
4. According to the Commentary, mangala means that which is conducive to happiness and prosperity.
5. This refers not only to the stupid and uncultured, but also includes the wicked in thought, word and deed.
6. Any place where monks, nuns and lay devotees continually reside; where pious folk are bent on the performance of the ten meritorious deeds, and where the Dhamma exists as a living principle.
7. Making the right resolve for abandoning immorality for morality, faithlessness for faith and selfishness for generosity.
8. The harmless crafts of the householder by which no living being is injured and nothing unrighteous done; and the crafts of the homeless monk, such as stitching the robes, etc.
9. Vinaya means discipline in thought, word and deed. The commentary speaks of two kinds of discipline -- that of the householder, which is abstinence from the ten immoral actions (akusala-kammapatha), and that of the monk which is the non-transgression of the offences enumerated in the Patimokkha (the code of the monk's rules) or the 'fourfold moral purity' (catu-parisuddhi-sila).
10. Good speech that is opportune, truthful, friendly, profitable and spoken with thoughts of loving-kindness.
11. Righteous conduct is the observance of the ten good actions (kusala-kammapatha) in thought, word and deed: freeing the mind of greed, ill-will and wrong views; avoiding speech that is untruthful, slanderous, abusive and frivolous; and the non- committal acts of killing, stealing and sexual misconduct.
12. Total abstinence from alcohol and intoxicating drugs.
13. Towards monks (and of course also to the clergy of other religions), teachers, parents, elders, superiors, etc.
14. For instance, when one is harassed by evil thoughts.
15. Self-restraint (tapo): the suppression of lusts and hates by the control of the senses; and the suppression of indolence by the rousing of energy.
16. Loka-dhamma, i.e., conditions which are necessarily connected with life in this world; there are primarily eight of them: gain and loss, honor and dishonor, praise and blame, pain and joy.
17. Each of these three expressions refers to the mind of the arahant: asoka: sorrowless; viraja: stainless, i.e., free from lust, hatred and ignorance; khema: security from the bonds of sense desires (kama), repeated existence (bhava), false views (ditthi) and ignorance (avijja).
18. The above-mentioned thirty-eight blessings.
Revised: Fri 4 January 2002
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-04a.html

Sn II.6

Sutta Nipata II.6
Dhammacariya Sutta
Wrong Conduct
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"The practice of Dhamma, [1] the practice of continence, [2] mastery of this is said to be best if a person has gone forth from home to the homeless life. But if he is garrulous and, like a brute, delights in hurting others, his life is evil and his impurity increases.
"A quarrelsome bhikkhu shrouded by delusion, does not comprehend the Dhamma taught by the Awakened One when it is revealed. Annoying those practiced in meditation, being led by ignorance, he is not aware that his defiled path leads to Niraya-hell. Falling headlong, passing from womb to womb, from darkness to (greater) darkness, such a bhikkhu undergoes suffering hereafter for certain.
"As a cesspool filled over a number of years is difficult to clean, similarly, whoever is full of impurity is difficult to make pure. Whoever you know to be such, bhikkhus, bent on worldliness, having wrong desires, wrong thoughts, wrong behavior and resort, being completely united avoid him, sweep him out like dirt, remove him like rubbish. Winnow like chaff the non-recluses. Having ejected those of wrong desires, of wrong behavior and resort, be pure and mindful, dwelling with those who are pure. Being united and prudent you will make an end to suffering." -- vv. 274-283

Notes
1. Dhammacariya.
2. Brahmacariya, the divine-life, the practice of purity or chastity. Dhammacariya and Brahmacariya are two closely related terms. "Dhamma" being used here in the sense of virtue or good conduct.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-06.html

Sn II.8

Sutta Nipata II.8
Nava Sutta
The Simile of the Boat
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"He from whom a person learns the Dhamma should be venerated, as the devas venerate Inda, their Lord. [1] He, (a teacher) of great learning, thus venerated, will explain the Dhamma, being well-disposed towards one. Having paid attention and considered it, a wise man, practicing according to Dhamma, becomes learned, intelligent and accomplished by associating himself diligently with such a teacher.
"But by following an inferior and foolish teacher who has not gained (fine) understanding of the Dhamma and is envious of others, one will approach death without comprehending the Dhamma and unrelieved of doubt.
"If a man going down into a river, swollen and swiftly flowing, is carried away by the current -- how can he help others across?
"Even so, he who has not comprehended the Dhamma, has not paid attention to the meaning as expounded by the learned, being himself without knowledge and unrelieved of doubt -- how can he make others understand?
"But if (the man at the river) knows the method and is skilled and wise, by boarding a strong boat equipped with oars and a rudder, he can, with its help, set others across. Even so, he who is experienced and has a well-trained mind, who is learned and dependable, [2] clearly knowing, he can help others to understand who are willing to listen and ready to receive.[3]
"Surely, therefore, one should associate with a good man who is wise and learned. By understanding the meaning of what one has learned and practicing accordingly one who has Dhamma-experience [4] attains (supreme) happiness." [5] -- vv. 316-323

Notes
1. "Inda" (Sanskrit "Indra") is another name for Sakka, the ruler of the gods.
2. He has a character which remains unperturbed by the vicissitudes of life (Comy).
3. Possessing the supporting conditions for attaining the Paths and Fruits of Stream-winning, Once-returning, Never-returning and Final Sainthood (Arahatta).
4. One who has fully understood or experienced the Dhamma by penetrating to its essence through the practice taught by a wise teacher (Comy).
5. The transcendental happiness of the Paths and Fruits and of Nibbana.
Revised: Tue 18 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-08.html

Sn II.8a

Sutta Nipata II.8
Nava Sutta
A Boat
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Translator's Note: Although it is often lost in translation, this poem in the Pali has a clearly articulated over-all structure. The first seven verses -- coming under the "because" (yasma) -- state reasons, while the last verse, under the "so" (tasma), draws the conclusion: find a good teacher and practice the Dhamma.

Because:
when you honor
-- as the devas, Indra --
one from whom
you might learn the Dhamma,
he, learned, honored,
confident in you,
shows you the Dhamma.
You, enlightened, heedful,
befriending a teacher like that,
practicing the Dhamma in line with the Dhamma,
pondering,
giving it priority,
become
knowledgeable,
clear-minded,
wise.
But if you consort with a piddling fool
who's
envious,
hasn't come to the goal,
you'll go to death
without
having cleared up the Dhamma right here,
with
your doubts unresolved.
Like a man gone down to a river
--turbulent, flooding, swift-flowing --
and swept away in the current:
how can he help others across?
Even so:
he who hasn't
cleared up the Dhamma,
attended to the meaning
of what the learned say,
crossed over his doubts:
how can he get others
to comprehend?
But as one who's embarked
on a sturdy boat,
with rudder & oars,would
-- mindful, skillful,
knowing the needed techniques --
carry many others across,
even so
an attainer-of-knowledge, learned,
self-developed, unwavering
can get other people to comprehend --
if they're willing to listen,
ready to learn.

So:
you should befriend
a person of integrity --
learned, intelligent.
Practicing so
as to know the goal,
when you've experienced the Dhamma,
you get bliss.

Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
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Sn II.9

Sutta Nipata II.9
Kimsila Sutta
With What Virtue?
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Translator's note: This discourse mentions the metaphorical notion of "heartwood" (sara) three times. Although sara as a metaphor is often translated as "essence," this misses some of the metaphor's implications. When x is said to havey as its heartwood, that means that the proper development of x yieldsy, and that y is the most valuable part of x -- just as a tree, as it matures, develops heartwood, and the heartwood is the most valuable part of the tree.

"With
what virtue,
what behavior,nurturing
what actions,
would a person become rightly based
and attain the ultimate goal?"
"One should be respectful
of one's superiors[1]
& not envious;
should have a sense of the time
for seeing teachers[2];
should value the opportunity
when a talk on Dhamma's in progress;
should listen intently
to well-spoken words;
should go at the proper time,
humbly, casting off stubborness,
to one's teacher's presence;
should both recollect & follow
the Dhamma, its meaning,
restraint, & the holy life.
Delighting in
Dhamma,savoring
Dhamma,
established in
Dhamma,
with a sense of how to investigate
Dhamma,
one should not speak in ways
destructive
of Dhamma,[3]
should guide oneself
with true, well-spoken words.
Shedding laughter,
chattering,
lamentation,
hatred,
deception,
deviousness,
greed,
pride,
confrontation,
roughness,
astringency,
infatuation,
one should go about free
of
intoxication,
steadfast within.
Understanding's the heartwood
of well-spoken words;
concentration, the heartwood
of learning & understanding.
When a person is hasty & heedless
his discernment & learning
don't grow.
While those who delight in the doctrines taught by the noble ones,
are unexcelled in word, action, & mind.
They, established in
calm,
composure, &
concentration,
have reached what discernment & learning
have as their heartwood."[4]

Notes
1. According to the Commentary, one's superiors include those who have more wisdom than oneself, more skill in concentration and other aspects of the path than oneself, and those senior to oneself.
2. The Commentary says that the right time to see a teacher is when one is overcome with passion, aversion, and delusion, and cannot find a way out on one's own. This echoes a passage in AN 6.26, in which Ven. Maha Kaccana says that the right time to visit a "monk worthy of esteem" is when one needs help in overcoming any of the five hindrances or when one doesn't yet have an appropriate theme to focus on to put an end to the mind's fermentations.
3. The Commentary equates "words destructive of the Dhamma" with "animal talk." See the discussion under Pacittiya 85 in The Buddhist Monastic Code.
4. The heartwood of learning & discernment is release.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-09.html

Sn II.9a

Sutta Nipata II.9
Kimsila Sutta
Right Conduct
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"By developing what habit, what conduct, what actions may man be correctly established in and arrive at the highest goal?
"He should respect his elders and not be envious of them. He should know the right time for seeing his teacher. [1] If a talk on Dhamma has started he should know the value of the opportunity and should listen carefully to the well-spoken words. [2]
"When the time is right let him go to his teacher's presence, unassuming, putting aside stubbornness. Let him keep in mind and practice (what he has learned): the meaning and the text (of the Teaching), self-control and (the other virtues of) the Holy Life. [3] Delighting in the Dhamma, devoted to the Dhamma, established in the Dhamma, skilled in investigating the Dhamma, [4] let him not indulge in talk harmful to the (practice of) Dhamma. Let him be guided by well-spoken truths.
"Abandoning the uttering of laughter and lamentations; giving up anger, fraud, hypocrisy, longing, conceit, violence, harshness, moral taints and infatuation; let him live without pride, self controlled. Understanding is essential (for listening) to a well-spoken word. Learning and understanding are essential to meditation, but a man who is hasty and heedless does not increase his wisdom and learning.
"Those who are devoted to the Dhamma made known by the Noble Ones (ariya) are unsurpassed in speech, thought and action. They are established in peace, gentleness and concentration, and have reached the essence of learning and wisdom." -- vv. 324-330

Notes
1. That is when needing their advice for dispelling mental defilements.
2. The phrase "well-spoken" (subhasita) is a technical term in the Pali Canon. It refers to sayings connected with Dhamma and concerning one's well-being, happiness and progress on the path.
3. The rendering follows the Commentary.
4. Or, "having discriminative knowledge of the Dhamma."
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-09a.html

Sn II.10

Sutta Nipata II.10
Utthana Sutta
Initiative
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Get up!
Sit up!
What's your need for sleep?
And what sleep is there for the afflicted,
pierced by the arrow,
oppressed?
Get up!
Sit up!
Train firmly for the sake of peace,
Don't let the king of death,
-- seeing you heedless --
deceive you,
bring you under his sway.
Cross over the attachment
to which human & heavenly beings,
remain
desiring
tied.
Don't let the moment pass by.
Those for whom the moment is past
grieve, consigned to hell.

Heedless is
dust, dust
comes from heedlessness
has heedlessness
on its heels.
Through heedfulness & clear knowing
you'd remove
your own sorrow.

See also: Dhp 21-32; Dhp 315; SN 3.17; AN 4.37.

Revised: Sun 14 October 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-10.html

Sn II.10a

Sutta Nipata II.10
Utthana Sutta
On Vigilance
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"Rouse yourself! Sit up! What good is there in sleeping? For those afflicted by disease (suffering), struck by the arrow (craving), what sleep is there?
"Rouse yourself! Sit up! Resolutely train yourself to attain peace.[1] Do not let the king of death,[2] seeing you are careless, lead you astray and dominate you.
"Go beyond this clinging,[3] to which devas and men are attached, and (the pleasures) they seek. Do not waste your opportunity. When the opportunity has passed they sorrow when consigned to Niraya-hell.
"Negligence is a taint, and so is the (greater) negligence growing from it. By earnestness and understanding withdraw the arrow (of sensual passions)." -- vv. 331-334

Notes
1. "Peace" is a synonym for Nibbana, the final goal.
2. The king of death (maccuraja), or Mara (death), is the personification of everything that binds us to this world and prevents the gaining of deliverance.
3. This clinging to pleasures of the senses.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-10a.html

Sn II.11

Sutta Nipata II.11
Rahula Sutta
Advice to Rahula
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"Renouncing the five pleasures of sense that entrance and delight the mind, and in faith departing from home, become one who makes an end of suffering!
"Associate with good friends and choose a remote lodging, secluded, with little noise. Be moderate in eating. Robes, alms-food, remedies and a dwelling, -- do not have craving for these things; do not be one who returns to the world. [1] Practice restraint according to the Discipline, [2] and control the five sense-faculties.
"Practice mindfulness of the body and continually develop dispassion (towards it). Avoid the sign of the beautiful connected with passion; by meditating on the foul [3] cultivate a mind that is concentrated and collected.
"Meditate on the Signless [4] and get rid of the tendency to conceit. By thoroughly understanding and destroying conceit [5] you will live in the (highest) peace."
In this manner the Lord repeatedly exhorted the Venerable Rahula. -- vv. 337-342

Notes
1. By being dragged back to it again by your craving for these things (Comy).
2. The Vinaya, or disciplinary code of the community of Bhikkhus.
3. The "foul," or asubha-kammatthana, refers to the practice of contemplating a corpse in various stages of decay and the contemplation on the thirty-two parts of the body, as a means of developing detachment from body and dispassion in regard to its beautiful (or, "the sign of the beautiful," subha-nimitta).
4. The Signless (animitta) is one of the three Deliverances (vimokkha) by which beings are liberated from the world. The other two are Desirelessness (appanihita) and Emptiness (sunnata). The Signless is connected with the idea of impermanence of all conditioned things (cf. Visuddhi Magga, XXI 67f).
5. The word "mana" means both conceit and misconceiving.
Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
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Sn II.14

Sutta Nipata II.14
Dhammika Sutta
Dhammika
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

Thus have I heard. At one time the Lord was staying near Savatthi in the Jeta Grove at Anathapindaka's monastery. Now the lay-follower Dhammika with five hundred other lay-followers approached the Lord. Having drawn near and having saluted the Lord respectfully he sat down at one side. Sitting there the lay-follower Dhammika addressed the Lord as follows:
"I ask Gotama [1] of extensive wisdom this: How acting is a disciple virtuous -- both the disciple who has gone from home to the homeless state and the followers who are householders? For you clearly understand the behavior [2] of the world with the devas and the final release. There is none equal to you who are skilled in seeing what is profound. You are an illustrious Awakened One (Buddha). Having investigated all knowledge and being compassionate towards beings you have announced the Dhamma, a revealer of what is hidden, of comprehensive vision, stainless, you illuminate all the worlds.
"This Dhamma, subtle and pleasing and taught so clearly by you, Lord, it is this we all wish to hear. Having been questioned, foremost Awakened One, tell us (the answer). All these bhikkhus and also the layfollowers who have come to hear the truth, let them listen to the Dhamma awakened to (anubuddham) by the Stainless One as the devas listen to the well-spoken words of Vasava." [3]
(The Lord:) "Listen to me, bhikkhus, I will teach you the ascetic practice (dhamma dhutam), the mode of living suitable for those who have gone forth. Do you all bear it in mind. One who is intent upon what is good and who is thoughtful should practice it.
"A bhikkhu should not wander about at the wrong time but should walk the village for food at the right time, as one who goes about at the wrong time is (liable to be) obsessed by attachment, therefore Awakened Ones do not walk (for alms) at the wrong time. [4] Sights, sounds, tastes, scents and bodily contacts overwhelm (the minds of) beings. Being rid of desire for these sense objects, at the right time, one may enter (the village) for the morning meal. Having duly obtained food, going back alone and sitting down in a secluded place, being inwardly thoughtful and not letting the mind go out to external objects, a bhikkhu should develop self-control.
"If he should speak with a lay-disciple, with someone else or with another bhikkhu, he should speak on the subtle Dhamma, not slandering others nor gossiping. Some set themselves up as disputants in opposition to others; those of little wisdom we do not praise; attachments bind them and they are carried away by their emotions. [5]
"Having heard the Dhamma taught by the Sugata [6] and considered it, a disciple of Him of excellent wisdom should wisely make use of food, a dwelling, a bed, a seat and water for washing the robe. But a bhikkhu should not be soiled by (clinging to) these things, as a lotus is not wetted by a drop of water.
"Now I will tell you the layman's duty. Following it a lay-disciple would be virtuous; for it is not possible for one occupied with the household life to realize the complete bhikkhu practice (dhamma).
"He should not kill a living being, nor cause it to be killed, nor should he incite another to kill. Do not injure any being, either strong or weak, in the world.
"A disciple should avoid taking anything from anywhere knowing it (to belong to another). He should not steal nor incite another to steal. He should completely avoid theft.
"A wise man should avoid unchastity as (he would avoid falling into) a pit of glowing charcoal. If unable to lead a celibate life, he should not go to another's wife.
"Having entered a royal court or a company of people he should not speak lies. He should not speak lies (himself) nor incite others to do so. He should completely avoid falsehood.
"A layman who has chosen to practice this Dhamma should not indulge in the drinking of intoxicants. He should not drink them nor encourage others to do so; realizing that it leads to madness. Through intoxication foolish people perform evil deeds and cause other heedless people to do likewise. He should avoid intoxication, this occasion for demerit, which stupefies the mind, and is the pleasure of foolish people. Do not kill a living being;do not take what is not given;do not speak a lie;do not drink intoxicants;abstain from sexual intercourse;do not eat food at night, at the wrong time;do not wear flower-garlands nor use perfumes;use the ground as a bed or sleep on a mat. "This is called the eight-factored observance made known by the Awakened One who has reached the end of suffering.
"With a gladdened mind observe the observance day (uposatha), complete with its eight factors, on the fourteenth, fifteenth and eighth days of the (lunar) fortnight and also the special holiday of the half month. In the morning, with a pure heart and a joyful mind, a wise man, after observing the uposatha, should distribute suitable food and drink to the community of bhikkhus. He should support his mother and father as his duty and engage in lawful trading. A layman who carries this out diligently goes to the devas called "Self-radiant." [7] -- vv. 376-378, 383-404

Notes
1. Gotama is the Buddha's clan or family name.
2. According to the commentary, the Pali term "gati" translated here as "behavior" means either "trend of character" or "the destination of beings after death.
3. "Vasava" is one of the several names for Sakka, ruler of the devas or gods. This is a poetical way of saying they should listen very attentively.
4. The right time for going into the village to collect almsfood is in the forenoon. If a bhikkhu went about indiscriminately, "at the wrong time," he might see things or have experiences that would endanger his life of purity and cause him to revert to the lay life.
5. Literally, "they send the mind far."
6. Sugata, literally "well-gone," sometimes translated as the "Happy One," is an epithet of the Buddha.
7. A class of heavenly beings (deva). A layman who practices this will, after death, be reborn as one of them.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp2-14.html

Sn III.1

Sutta Nipata III.1
Pabbaja Sutta
The Going Forth
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

I will describe the Going Forth,
how he, the One-with-Vision, went forth,
how he reasoned and chose the Going Forth.
"Household life is crowded,
a realm of dust,
while going forth
is the open air."Seeing this, he went forth.
On going forth,
he avoided evil deeds in body.
Abandoning verbal misconduct,
he purified his livelihood.
Then he, the Buddha, went to Rajagaha,
the mountain fortress of the Magadhans,
and wandered for alms,
endowed with all the foremost marks.
King Bimbisara, standing in his palace, saw him,
and on seeing him, consummate in marks,
said: "Look at this one, sirs.
How handsome, stately, pure!
How consummate his demeanor!
Mindful, his eyes downcast,l
ooking only a plow-length before him,
as one who's not from a lowly lineage:
Send the royal messengers at once
to see where this monk will go."
They -- the messengers dispatched -- followed behind him.
"Where will this monk go?
Where will his dwelling place be?"
As he went from house to house
-- well-restrained, his sense-doors guarded,
mindful, alert --
his bowl filled quickly.
Then he, the sage, completing his alms round,
left the city, headed for Mount Pandava.
"That's where his dwelling will be."
Seeing him go to his dwelling place,
three messengers sat down,
while one returned to tell the king."
That monk, your majesty,
on the flank of Pandava,
sits like a tiger, a bull,
a lion in a mountain cleft."
Hearing the messenger's words,
the noble warrior king
straight away went by royal coach,
out to Mount Pandava.
Going as far as the coach would go,
he got down, went up on foot,
and on arrival sat down.
Sitting there,
he exchanged courteous greetings,
then said:"You are young, youthful,
in the first stage of youth,
endowed with the stature & coloring
of a noble-warrior.
You would look glorious
in the vanguard of an army,
arrayed with an elephant squadron.
I offer you wealth : enjoy it.
I ask your birth : inform me."
"Straight ahead, your majesty,
by the foothills of the Himalayas,
is a country consummatein energy & wealth,
inhabited by Kosalans:
Solar by clan,
Sakyans by birth.
From that lineage I have gone forth,
but not in search of sensual pleasures.
Seeing the danger in sensual pleasures
-- and renunciation as rest --
I go to strive.
That's where my heart delights."

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp3-01.html

Sn III.2

Sutta Nipata III.2
Padhana Sutta
Exertion
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

To me --
resolute in exertion
near the river Nerañjara,
making a great effort,
doing jhana
to attain rest from the yoke --
Namuci[1] came,
speaking words of compassion:
"You are ashen, thin.
Death is in
your presence.
Death has 1,000 parts of you.
Only one part is your life.
Live, good sir! Life is better.
Alive,
you can do
acts of merit.
Your living the holy life,
performing the fire sacrifice,
will heap up much merit.
What use is exertion to you?
Hard to follow
-- the path of exertion --
hard to do, hard
to sustain."
Saying these verses,
Mara stood in the Awakened One's presence.
And to that Mara, speaking thus,
the Blessed One said this:
"Kinsman of the heedless,
Evil One,
come here for whatever purpose:
I haven't, for merit,
even the least bit of need.
Those who have need of merit:
those are the ones
Mara's fit to address.
In me are
conviction,
austerity,
persistence,
discernment.
Why, when I'm so resolute do you petition me
to live?
This wind could burn up
even river currents.
Why, when I'm resolute
shouldn't my blood dry away?
As my blood dries up
gall & phlegm dry up.
As muscles waste away,
the mind grows clearer;
mindfulness, discernment,
concentration stand
more firm.
Staying in this way,
attaining the ultimate feeling,[2]
the mind has no interest in sensual passions.
See:
a being's
purity!
Sensual passions are your first army.
Your second
is called Discontent.
Your third
is Hunger & Thirst.
Your fourth
is called Craving.
Fifth
is Sloth & Drowsiness.
Sixth
is called Terror.
Your seventh
is Uncertainty.
Hypocrisy & Stubbornness, your eighth.
Gains, Offerings, Fame, & Status
wrongly gained,
and whoever would praise self
& disparage others.
That, Namuci, is your army,
the Dark One's commando force.
A coward can't defeat it,
but one having defeated it
gains bliss.
Do I carry muñja grass?[3]
I spit on my life.
Death in battle woud be better for me
than that I, defeated,
survive.
Sinking here, they don't appear,
some priests & contemplatives.
They don't know the path
by which those with good practices
go.
Seeing the bannered force
on all sides
-- the troops, Mara along with his mount --
I go into battle.
May they not budge me
from
my spot.
That army of yours,
that the world with its devas
can't overcome,
I will smash
with discernment
-- as an unfired pot
with a stone.
Making
my resolve mastered,
mindfulness well-established,
I will go about, from kingdom to kingdom,
training many disciples.
They -- heedful, resolute
doing my bidding -- despite your wishes, will go
where, having gone,
there's no grief."
Mara:
"For seven years, I've dogged
the Blessed One's steps,
but haven't gained an opening
in the One Self-awakened
& glorious.
A crow circled a stone
the color of fat
-- 'Maybe I've found
something tender here.
Maybe there's something delicious'
-- but not getting anything delicious there,
the crow went away.
Like the crow attacking the rock,
I weary myself with Gotama."
As he was overcome with sorrow,
his lute fell from under his arm.
Then he, the despondent spirit,
right there
disappeared.

Notes
1. Mara
2. The highest equanimity that can be attained through jhana.
3. Muñja grass was the ancient Indian equivalent of a white flag. A warrior expecting that he might have to surrender would take muñja grass into battle with him. If he did surrender, he would lie down with the muñja grass in his mouth. The Buddha, in asking this rhetorical question, is indicating that he is not the type of warrior who would carry muñja grass. If defeated, he would rather die than surrender.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp3-02.html

Sn III.2a

Sutta Nipata III.2
Padhana Sutta
The Great Struggle
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"When, near the river Nerañjara, I exerted myself in meditation for attaining to security from bondage,[1] there came Namuci[2] speaking words of compassion:
"'You are emaciated and ill-looking, you are near to death! A thousand parts of you belong to death and only a fraction of you is alive. Live, good Sir! It is better to live. Living you may perform meritorious deeds. From practicing celibacy and tending the sacrificial fire much merit is made, but what is obtained from striving? It is difficult to enter the path of exertion, it is difficult to do, difficult to maintain.'"
Mara spoke these words whilst standing in the presence of the Awakened One. To Mara speaking thus, the Lord replied:
"You who are the friend of the negligent, O Evil One, for what reason have you come here? Those who still have use for merit Mara may consider worthwhile addressing. I have faith and energy and wisdom. Being thus bent on striving why do you ask me to live? This wind will wither the currents of the rivers, why should not my exertion dry up even the blood? When the blood dries up, the bile and phlegm wither. On the wasting away of the flesh the mind becomes more and more serene and my mindfulness, wisdom and concentration are established more firmly. In me, who abides enduring such an extreme experience, the mind does not long for sensual pleasures. See the purity of a being!
"Sensual desire is your first army, the second is called discontent, the third is hunger and thirst, the fourth craving, the fifth sluggishness and laziness, the sixth fear, the seventh indecision, and the eighth disparagement of others and stubbornness: gain, fame, honor, prestige wrongly acquired and whoever praises himself and despises others -- these, Namuci, are your armies, the Dark One's[3] striking forces. A lazy, cowardly person cannot overcome them, but by conquering them one gains bliss.
"I wear muñja-grass![4] Shame on life here in this world! It is better for me to die in battle than to live defeated. Some recluses and brahmanas are not seen (exerting themselves) here, so immersed are they (in worldliness). They are not aware of that path by which those of perfect conduct walk.
"Seeing the surrounding army ready and Mara mounted (on his elephant), I am going out to fight so that he may not shift me from my position. This army of yours which the world together with the devas is unable to subdue, that I will destroy with wisdom, like an unbaked clay-bowl with a stone. Having mastered the mind and firmly established mindfulness I shall wander from country to country guiding many disciples. And they will be diligent and energetic in practicing my teaching, the teaching of one without sensual desire, and they will go where, having gone, one does not grieve."
Mara: "For seven years I followed the Lord step by step but did not find an opportunity to defeat that mindful Awakened One. A crow flew around a stone having the color of fat: 'Can we find even here something tender? May it be something to eat?'
"Not finding anything edible the crow left that place. As with the crow and the stone, we leave Gotama, having approached and become disheartened."
Overcome by sorrow his lute fell from his arm and thereupon the unhappy spirit disappeared from that place. -- vv. 425-449

Notes
1. Yogakkhema, a name for Nibbana.
2. Namuci, meaning "He who does not let go" (his hold over beings easily) is a name for Mara, the Evil One.
3. The "Dark One" or Kanha (Sanskrit: Krishna), is another name for Mara. He is the Indian Cupid (Kamadeva) and personifies sensual passions. He carries a lute (vina), mentioned at the close, with which he captivates beings by his playing. His other equipment includes a bow, arrows, a noose and a hook.
4. Indian warriors used to wear a tuft of a certain grass, called muñja, on their head or headgear, for indicating that they were prepared to die in battle and determined not to retreat.
Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp3-02a.html

Sn III.3

Sutta Nipata III.3
Subhasita Sutta
Well-Spoken
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying in Savatthi at Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's park. There he addressed the monks, "Monks!"
"Yes, lord," the monks replied.
The Blessed One said: "Monks, speech endowed with four characteristics is well-spoken, not poorly spoken -- faultless & not to be faulted by the wise. Which four? There is the case where a monk says only what it well-spoken, not what is poorly spoken; only what is just, not what is unjust; only what is endearing, not what is unendearing; only what is true, not what is false. Speech endowed with these four characteristics is well-spoken, not poorly spoken -- faultless & not to be faulted by the wise."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said this, the One Well-Gone, the Teacher, said further:
The calm say that what is well-spoken is best;
second, that one should say
what is just, not unjust;
third,
what's endearing, not unendearing;
fourth,
what is true, not false.
Then Ven. Vangisa, rising from his seat, arranging his robe over one shoulder, faced the Blessed One with his hands palm-to-palm in front of his heart and said, "An inspiration has come to me, Blessed One! An inspiration has come to me, One Well-Gone!"
"Let the inspiration come to you, Vangisa," the Blessed One said.
Then Ven. Vangisa praised the Blessed One to his face with these attractive verses:
Speak only the speech
that neither torments self
nor does harm to others.
That speech is truly well spoken.
Speak only endearing speech,
speech that is welcomed.
Speech when it brings no evil
to others
is pleasant.
Truth, indeed, is deathless speech:
This is an ancient principle.
The goal and the Dhamma
-- so say the calm --
are firmly established on truth.
The speech the Awakened One speaks,
for attaining Unbinding,
rest,
for making an end
to the mass of stress:
That is the speech unexcelled.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp3-03.html

Sn III.8

Sutta Nipata III.8
Salla Sutta
The Arrow
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Without sign,
unknown
-- the life here of mortals --
difficult,
short,
tied up with pain.
For there's no way
by which those who are born
will not die.
Beings are subject
to death
even when they attain
old age.
Like ripe fruits
whose downfall, whose danger
is falling,
so for mortals, once born,
the constant danger
is death.
As a potter's clay vessels
large & small
fired & unfired
all end up broken,
so too life
heads to death.
Young & old
wise & foolish
rich & poor:
all
come under the sway of death,
all
have death as their end.
For those overcome by death,
gone to the other world,
father cannot shelter son,
nor relatives a relative.
See: even while relatives are looking on,
wailing heavily,
mortals are
one
by
one
led away
like cows to the slaughter.
In this way is the world afflicted
with aging & death,
and so the enlightened don't grieve,
knowing the way of the world.
"You don't know the path
of his coming or going:
seeing neither end,
you lament in vain."
If, by lamenting,
-- confused,
harming yourself --
any use could be gained
the prudent would do it as well.
But not by weeping & grief
do you gain peace of awareness.
Pain
arises all the more. Your body
is harmed.You grow thin,
pale,
harming yourself
by yourself.
Not in that way
are the dead protected.
Lamentation's in vain.
Not abandoning grief, a person
suffers all the more pain.
Bewailing one whose time is done,
you fall under the sway of grief.
Look at others
going along,
people arriving
in line with their actions:
falling under the sway of death,
beings simply
shivering here.
For however they imagine it,
it always turns out
other than that.
That's the type of (their) separation.
See the way of the world.
Even if a person lives a century
-- or more --
he's parted
from his community of relatives,
he abandons his life
right here.
So, having heard the arahant,
subduing lamentation,
seeing the dead one whose time is done,
[think,] "I can't fetch him back." [1]
Just as one would put out
a burning refuge
with water,
so does the enlightened one
-- discerning,
skillful,
& wise --
blow away any arisen grief,
like the wind, a bit of cotton fluff.
Seeking your own happiness,
you should pull out your own arrow:
your own
lamentation,
longing,
& sorrow. [2]
With arrow pulled out,
independent,
attaining peace of awareness,
all grief transcended,
griefless you are
unbound.

Notes
1. These lines can also be translated as follows:
So, having heard the arahant,
subdue lamentation,
seeing the dead one whose time is done,
[and thinking,] "I can't fetch him back."
2. These lines can also be translated as follows:
Just as one would put out
a burning refuge
with water,
so does the enlightened one --
discerning,
skillful,
& wise
--blow away any arisen grief,
his own lamentation, longing, & sorrow,
like the wind, a bit of cotton fluff.
Seeking your own happiness,
you should pull out your own arrow.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp3-08.html

Sn III.8a

Sutta Nipata III.8
Salla Sutta
The Arrow
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"Unindicated and unknown is the length of life of those subject to death. Life is difficult and brief and bound up with suffering. There is no means by which those who are born will not die. Having reached old age, there is death. This is the natural course for a living being. With ripe fruits there is the constant danger that they will fall. In the same way, for those born and subject to death, there is always the fear of dying. Just as the pots made by a potter all end by being broken, so death is (the breaking up) of life.
"The young and old, the foolish and the wise, all are stopped short by the power of death, all finally end in death. Of those overcome by death and passing to another world, a father cannot hold back his son, nor relatives a relation. See! While the relatives are looking on and weeping, one by one each mortal is led away like an ox to slaughter.
"In this manner the world is afflicted by death and decay. But the wise do not grieve, having realized the nature of the world. You do not know the path by which they came or departed. Not seeing either end you lament in vain. If any benefit is gained by lamenting, the wise would do it. Only a fool would harm himself. Yet through weeping and sorrowing the mind does not become calm, but still more suffering is produced, the body is harmed and one becomes lean and pale, one merely hurts oneself. One cannot protect a departed one (peta) by that means. To grieve is in vain.
"By not abandoning sorrow a being simply undergoes more suffering. Bewailing the dead he comes under the sway of sorrow. See other men faring according to their deeds! Hence beings tremble here with fear when they come into the power of death. Whatever they imagine, it (turns out) quite different from that. This is the sort of disappointment that exists. Look at the nature of the world! If a man lives for a hundred years, or even more, finally, he is separated from his circle of relatives and gives up his life in the end. Therefore, having listened to the Arahant,[1] one should give up lamenting. Seeing a dead body, one should know, "He will not be met by me again." As the fire in a burning house is extinguished with water, so a wise, discriminating, learned and sensible man should quickly drive away the sorrow that arises, as the wind (blows off) a piece of cotton. He who seeks happiness should withdraw the arrow: his own lamentations, longings and grief.
"With the arrow withdrawn, unattached, he would attain to peace of mind; and when all sorrow has been transcended he is sorrow-free and has realized Nibbana. -- vv. 574-593

Note
1. The Perfect One, i.e., the Buddha.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp3-08a.html

Sn III.11

Sutta Nipata III.11
Nalaka Sutta
To Nalaka
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Asita the seer, in his mid-day meditation,
saw the devas of the Group of Thirty
-- exultant, ecstatic --
dressed in pure white, honoring Indra,
holding up banners, cheering wildly,
& on seeing the devas so joyful & happy,
having paid his respects, he said:
"Why is the deva community
so wildly elated?
Why are they holding up banners
& waving them around?
Even after the war with the Asuras
-- when victory was the devas',
the Asuras defeated --
even then there was no excitement like this.
Seeing what marvelare the devas so joyful?
They shout,
they sing,
play music,
clap their hands,
dance.
So I ask you, who live on Mount Meru's summit.
Please dispel my doubt quickly, dear sirs."
"The Bodhisatta, the foremost jewel,
unequaled,
has been born for welfare & ease
in the human world,
in a town in the Sakyan countryside,
Lumbini.
That's why we're all so wildly elated.
He, the highest of all beings,
the ultimate person,
a bull among men, foremost of all people,
will set turning the Wheel [of Dhamma]
in the grove named after the seers,
like a strong, roaring lion,
the conqueror of beasts."
Hearing these words,
Asita quickly descended [from heaven]
and went to Suddhodana's dwelling.
There, taking a seat, he said to the Sakyans:
"Where is the prince?
I, too, want to see him."
The Sakyans then showed
to the seer named Asita
their son, the prince,
like gold aglow,
burnished by a most skillful smith
in the mouth of the furnace,
blazing with glory, flawless in color.
On seeing the prince blazing like flame,
pure like the bull of the stars
going across the sky
-- the burning sun,
released from the clouds of autumn --
he was exultant, filled with abundant rapture.
The devas held in the sky
a many-spoked sunshade
of a thousand circles.
Gold-handled whisks
waved up & down,
but those holding the whisks & the sunshade
couldn't be seen.
The matted-haired seer
named Dark Splendor,
seeing the boy, like an ornament of gold
on the red woolen blanket,
a white sunshade held over his head,
received him, happy & pleased.
And on receiving the bull of the Sakyans,
longingly, the master of mantras & signs
exclaimed with a confident mind:
"This one is unsurpassed,
the highest of the biped race."
Then, foreseeing his own imminent departure,
he, dejected, shed tears.
On seeing him weeping,
the Sakyans asked:
"But surely there will be
no danger for the prince?"
On seeing the Sakyans' concern
he replied, "I foresee for the prince
no harm.
Nor will there be any danger for him.
This one isn't lowly: be assured.
This prince will touch
the ultimate self-awakening.
He, seeing the utmost purity,
will set rolling the Wheel of Dhamma
through sympathy for the welfare of many.
His holy life will spread far & wide.
But as for me,
my life here has no long remainder;
my death will take place before then.
I won't get to hear
the Dhamma of this one with the peerless role.
That's why I'm stricken,
afflicted, & pained."
He, having brought the Sakyans
abundant rapture,
the follower of the holy life
left the inner chamber and,
out of sympathy for his nephew,
urged him on toward the Dhamma
of the one with the peerless role:"
When you hear from another the word,
"Awakened One,"
or "Attaining self-awakening,
he lays open the path of the Dhamma,"
go there & ask him yourself.
Follow the holy life
under that Blessed One."
Instructed by the one
whose mind was set on his benefit,
Such,
seeing in the future the utmost purity,
Nalaka, who had laid up a store of merit,
awaited the Victor expectantly,
guarding his senses.
On hearing word of the Victor's
turning of the foremost wheel,
he went, he saw
the bull among seers. Confident,
he asked the foremost sage
about the highest sagacity,
now that Asita's forecast
had come to pass.
[Nalaka:]
Now that I know
Asita's words to be true,
I ask you, Gotama,
you who have gone
to the beyond of all things.
I'm intent on the homeless life;
I long for the almsround.
Tell me sage, when I ask you,
the utmost state of sagacity.
[The Buddha:]
I'll explain to you
a sagacity
hard to do,
hard to endure.
Come now, I'll tell you.
Be steadfast. Be firm.
Practice even-mindedness,
for in a village
there's praise & abuse.
Ward off any flaw in the heart.
Go about calmed & not haughty.
High & low things will come up
like fire-flames in a forest.
Women seduce a sage.
May they not seduce you.[1]
Abstaining from sexual intercourse,
abandoning various sensual pleasures,
be unopposed, unattached,
to beings moving & still.
'As I am, so are these.
As are these, so am I.
'Drawing the parallel to
yourself,
neither kill nor get others to kill.
Abandoning the wants & greed
where people run-of-the-mill are stuck,
practice with vision,
cross over this hell.
Stomach not full,
moderate in food,
having few wants,
not being greedy,
always not hankering after desire:
one without hankering,
is one who's unbound.
Having gone on his almsround, the sage
should then go to the forest,
standing or taking a seat
at the foot of a tree.
The enlightened one, intent on jhana,
should find delight in the forest,
should practice jhana at the foot of a tree,
attaining his own satisfaction.
Then, at the end of the night,
he should go to the village,
not delighting in an invitation
or gift from the village.
Having gone to the village,
the sage should not carelessly
go among families.
Cutting off chatter,
he shouldn't utter a scheming word.
'I got something,
that's fine.
I got nothing,
that's good.'
Being such with regard to both,
he returns to the very same tree.
Wandering with his bowl in hand
-- not dumb,
but seemingly dumb --
he shouldn't despise a piddling gift
nor disparage the giver.
High & low are the practices
proclaimed by the contemplative.
They don't go twice to the further shore.
This [Unbinding] isn't sensed only once.[2]
In one who has no attachment
-- the monk who has cut the stream,
abandoning what is
& isn't a duty --
no fever is found.
I'll explain to you
sagacity:
be like a razor's edge.
Pressing tongue against palate,
restrain your stomach.
Neither be lazy in mind,
nor have many thoughts.
Be committed to taintlessness,
independent,
having the holy life as your aim.
Train in
solitude
& the contemplative's task,
Solitude
is called
sagacity.
Alone, you truly delight
& shine in the ten directions.
On hearing the fame of the enlightened
-- those who practice jhana,
relinquishing sensual pleasures --
my disciple should foster
all the more
conviction & conscience.
Know from the rivers
in clefts & in crevices:
those in small channels flow
noisily,
the great
flow silent.
Whatever's not full
makes noise.
Whatever is full
is quiet.
The fool is like a half-empty pot;
one who is wise, a full lake.
A contemplative who speaks a great deal
endowed with meaning:
knowing, he teaches the Dhamma,
knowing, he speaks a great deal.But he who,
knowing, is restrained,
knowing, doesn't speak a great deal:he is a sage
worthy of sagehood;he is a sage,
his sagehood attained.

Notes
1. For an instance of a man who tried to seduce a nun, see Therigatha XIV.
2. According to the Commentary, the high and low practices taught by the Buddha are, respectively, the practice-mode of pleasant practice and quick intuition, and the practice-mode of painful practice and slow intuition (see AN 4.162; The Wings to Awakening, passage 84). These modes of practice don't go twice to the further shore in the sense that each of the four paths -- to stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning, and Arahantship -- abandons whatever defilements it is capable of abandoning once and for all. There is no need to repeat the path. Unbinding is not attained only once in the sense that it is touched as the result of each of the four paths.
See also: AN 3.123.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp3-11.html

Sn III.12

Sutta Nipata III.12
Dvayatanupassana Sutta
The Contemplation of Dualities
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi in the Eastern Monastery, the palace of Migara's mother. Now on that occasion -- the Uposatha day of the fifteenth, the full-moon night -- the Blessed One was sitting in the open air surrounded by the community of monks. Surveying the silent community of monks, he addressed them: "Monks, if there are any who ask, 'Your listening to teachings that are skillful, noble, leading onward, going to self-awakening is a prerequisite for what?' they should be told, 'For the sake of knowing qualities of dualities as they actually are.' 'What duality are you speaking about?' 'This is stress. This is the origination of stress': this is one contemplation. 'This is the cessation of stress. This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
Those who don't discern stress,
what brings stress into play,
& where it totally stops,
without trace;
who don't know the path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
lowly
in their release of awareness
& release of discernment,
incapableof making an end,
they're headed
to birth & aging.
But those who discern stress,
what brings stress into play,
& where it totally stops,
without trace;
who discern the path,
the way to the stilling of stress:
consummate
in their release of awareness
& release of discernment,
capableof making an end,
they aren't headed
to birth & aging.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from acquisition as a requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very acquisition, there is no coming into play of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
The manifold stresses
that come into play in the world,
come from acquisition as their cause.
Anyone not knowing [this]
creates acquisition.
The fool, he comes to stress
again & again.
Therefore, discerning [this],
you shouldn't create acquisition
as you contemplate birth
as what brings stress
into play.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from ignorance as a requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very ignorance, there is no coming into play of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
Those who journey the wandering-on
through birth & death, again & again,
in this state here
or anywhere else,
that destination is simply through ignorance.
This ignorance is a great delusion
whereby they have wandered-on
a long, long time.
While beings immersed in clear knowing
don't go to further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from fabrication as a requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very fabrication, there is no coming into play of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from fabrication
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of fabrication,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback
--that stress comes from fabrication
as a requisite
condition --
with the tranquilizing of all fabrication,
with the stopping of perception:
that's how there is
the ending of stress.
Knowing this as it actually is,
an attainer-of-wisdom
sees rightly.
Seeing rightly,
the wise
--overcoming the fetter of Mara --
go to no further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from consciousness as a requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very consciousness, there is no coming into play of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from consciousness
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of consciousness,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback
--that stress comes from consciousness
as a requisite
condition --
with the stilling of consciousness, the monk
free from hunger
is totally unbound.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from contact as a requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very contact, there is no coming into play of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
For those overcome by contact,
flowing along in the stream of becoming,
following a miserable path,
the ending of fetters
is far away.
While those who comprehend contact,
delighting in stilling through discernment,
they, by breaking through contact,
free from hunger,
are totally unbound.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from feeling as a requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very feeling, there is no coming into play of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
Knowing that
whatever is felt
--pleasure, pain,
neither pleasure nor pain,
within or without --
is stressful,
deceptive,
dissolving,
seeing its passing away
at each contact,
each
contact,
he knows it right there:
with just the ending of feeling,
there is no stress
coming into play.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from craving as a requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very craving, there is no coming into play of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
With craving his companion, a man
wanders on a long, long time.
Neither in this state here
nor anywhere else
does he go beyond
the wandering-on.
Knowing this drawback
--that craving brings stress into play --
free from craving,
devoid of clinging,
mindful, the monk
lives the wandering life.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from clinging as a requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very clinging, there is no coming into play of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
From clinging as a requisite condition
comes becoming.
One who has come into being
goes
to stress.
There is death
for one who is born.
This is the coming into play
of stress.
Thus, with the ending of clinging, the wise
seeing rightly,
directly knowing
the ending of birth,
go to no further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from disturbance as a requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very disturbance, there is no coming into play of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from disturbance
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of disturbance,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback
--that stress comes from disturbance
as a requisite
condition --
with the relinquishing
of all disturbance,
a monk released in non-disturbance,
his craving for becoming
crushed,
his mind at peace,
his wandering-on in birth totally ended:
he has no further becoming.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from nutriment as a requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very nutriment, there is no coming into play of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from nutriment
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of nutriment,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback
--that stress comes from nutriment
as a requisite
condition --
comprehending all nutriment,
independent
of all nutriment,
rightly seeing
freedom from disease
through the total ending
of fermentations,
judiciously associating,
a judge,
he, an attainer-of-wisdom,
goes beyond judgment,
beyond classification.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever stress comes into play is all from what is perturbed as a requisite condition': this is one contemplation. 'From the remainderless fading & cessation of what is perturbed, there is no coming into play of stress': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
Any stress that comes into play
is all from what is perturbed
as a requisite
condition.
With the cessation of what is perturbed,
there is no stress
coming into play.
Knowing this drawback
--that stress comes from what is perturbed
as a requisite
condition --
the monk thus renouncing perturbance,
putting a stop to fabrications,
free from perturbance, free
from clinging,mindful he lives
the wandering life.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'For one who is dependent, there is wavering': this is one contemplation. 'One who is independent doesn't waver': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
One who's independent
doesn't
waver.
One who's dependent,
clinging
to this state here
or anywhere else,
doesn't go beyond
the wandering-on.
Knowing this drawback
-- the great danger in
dependencies --
in-dependent,
free from clinging,
mindful the monk
lives the wandering life.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Formless phenomena are more peaceful than forms': this is one contemplation. 'Cessation is more peaceful than formless phenomena': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
Those beings headed to forms,
and those standing in the formless,
with no knowledge of cessation,
return to further becoming.
But, comprehending form,
not taking a stance in formless things,
those released in cessation
are people who've left death
behind.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever is considered as "This is true" by the world with its deities, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk, is rightly seen as it actually is with right discernment by the noble ones as "This is false"': this is one contemplation. 'Whatever is considered as "This is false" by the world with its deities, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk, is rightly seen as it actually is with right discernment by the noble ones as "This is true"': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
See the world, together with its deities,
conceiving not-self to be self.
Entrenched in name & form,
they conceive that 'This is true.'
In whatever terms they conceive it
it turns into something other than that,
and that's what's false about it:
changing,
it's deceptive by nature.
Undeceptive by nature
is Unbinding:
that the noble ones know
as true.
They, through breaking through
to the truth,
free from hunger,
are totally unbound.
"Now, if there are any who ask, 'Would there be the right contemplation of dualities in yet another way?' they should be told, 'There would.' 'How would that be?' 'Whatever is considered as "This is bliss" by the world with its deities, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk, is rightly seen as it actually is with right discernment by the noble ones as "This is stressful"': this is one contemplation. 'Whatever is considered as "This is stressful" by the world with its deities, Maras, & Brahmas, with its contemplatives & priests, its royalty & commonfolk, is rightly seen as it actually is with right discernment by the noble ones as "This is bliss"': this is a second contemplation. For a monk rightly contemplating this duality in this way -- heedful, ardent, & resolute -- one of two fruits can be expected: either gnosis right here & now, or -- if there be any remnant of clinging-sustenance -- non-return."
That is what the Blessed One said. Having said that, the One Well-gone, the Teacher, said further:
All sights, sounds, smells, tastes,
tactile sensations, & ideas
that are
welcome,
appealing,
agreeable
--as long as they're said
to exist,
are supposed by the world
together with its deities
to be bliss.
But when they cease,
they're supposed by them
to be stress.
The stopping of self-identity
is viewed by the noble ones
as bliss.
This is contrary
to what's seen
by the world as a whole.
What others say is blissful,
the noble ones say is stress.
What others say is stressful,
the noble know as bliss.
See the Dhamma, hard to understand!
Here those who don't know
are confused.
For those who are veiled,
it's
darkness,
blindness
for those who don't see.
But for the good it is blatant,
like light
for those who see.
Though in their very presence,
they don't understand it
--dumb animals, unadept in the Dhamma.
It's not easy
for those overcome
by passion for becoming,
flowing along
in the stream of becoming,
falling under Mara's sway,
to wake up
to this Dhamma.
Who, apart from the noble,
is worthy to wake upto this state? --
the state that,
through rightly knowing it,
they're free from fermentation,
totally
unbound.
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks delighted in the Blessed One's words. And while this explanation was being given, the minds of 60 monks, through lack of clinging, were fully released from fermentation.

See also: DN 15; Iti 16; Iti 51; Iti 73; Iti 103

Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.3.12.than.html

Sn III.12a

Sutta Nipata III.12
Dvayatanupassana Sutta
The Noble One's Happiness
(excerpt)
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"See how the world together with the devas has self-conceit for what is not-self. Enclosed by mind-and-body it imagines, 'This is real.' Whatever they imagine it to be, it is quite different from that. It is unreal, of a false nature and perishable. Nibbana, not false in nature, that the Noble Ones[1] know as true. Indeed, by the penetration of the true, they are completely stilled and realize final deliverance.
"Forms, sounds, tastes, scents, bodily contacts and ideas which are agreeable, pleasant and charming, all these, while they last, are deemed to be happiness by the world with its devas. But when they cease that is agreed by all to be unsatisfactory. By the Noble Ones, the cessation of the existing body[2] is seen as happiness. This is the reverse of the outlook of the whole world.
"What others call happiness, that the Noble Ones declare to be suffering. What others call suffering, that the Noble Ones have found to be happiness. See how difficult it is to understand the Dhamma! Herein those without insight have completely gone astray. For those under the veil (of ignorance) it is obscured, for those who cannot see it is utter darkness. But for the good and the wise it is as obvious as the light for those who can see. Even though close to it, the witless who do not know the Dhamma, do not comprehend it.
"By those overcome by attachment to existence, those who drift with the stream of existence, those in the realm of Mara, this Dhamma is not properly understood. Who other than the Noble Ones, are fit to fully understand that state, by perfect knowledge of which they realize final deliverance, free from defilements?[3] -- vv. 756-765

Notes
1. The Noble Ones or ariya are the Buddhas and their disciples.
2. The "existing body" (sakkaya) is a term for the five aggregates as objects of grasping.
3. Anusava; the defilements or asava, literally "out-flows," are dissipations of energy in the form of sensual desire, becoming (the perpetuation of existence), views and ignorance and are the same as the four "floods" mentioned earlier. One who has destroyed the defilements (khinasava) is another name for an Arahant or Perfected One.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp3-12a.html

Sn IV.1

Sutta Nipata IV.1
Kama Sutta
Sensual Pleasure
For free distribution only.

If one, longing for sensual pleasure,
achieves it, yes,
he's enraptured at heart.
The mortal gets what he wants.
But if for that person
-- longing, desiring --
the pleasures diminish,
he's shattered,
as if shot with an arrow.
Whoever avoids sensual desires
-- as he would, with his foot,
the head of a snake --
goes beyond, mindful,
this attachment in the world.
A man who is greedy
for fields, land, gold,
cattle, horses,
servants, employees,
women, relatives,
many sensual pleasures,
is overpowered with weakness
and trampled by trouble,
for pain invades him
as water, a cracked boat.
So one, always mindful,
should avoid sensual desires.
Letting them go,
he'd cross over the flood
like one who, having bailed out the boat,
has reached the far shore.

See also: MN 13; Ud VII.3-4; AN 6.63

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp4-01.html

Sn IV.2

Sutta Nipata IV.2
Guhatthaka Sutta
The Cave of the Body
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Staying attached to the cave,
covered heavily over,[1]
a person sunk in confusion
is far from seclusion
-- for
sensual pleasures
sensual desires[2]
in the world
are not lightly let go.
Those chained by desire,
bound by becoming's allure,
aren't easily released
for there's no liberation by others.
Intent, in front or behind,[3]
on hunger for sensual pleasures
here or before --
greedy
for sensual pleasures,
busy, deluded, ungenerous,
entrenched in the out-of-tune way,[4]
they -- impelled into pain -- lament:
"What will we be
when we pass on from here?"
So a person should train
right here & now.
Whatever you know
as out-of-tune in the world,
don't, for its sake, act out-of-tune,
for that life, the enlightened say,
is short.
I see them,
in the world, floundering around,
people immersed in craving
for states of becoming.
Base people moan in the mouth of death,
their craving, for states of becoming & not-,[5]
unallayed.
See them,
floundering in their sense of mine,
like fish in the puddlesof a dried-up stream
-- and, seeing this,
live with no mine,
not forming attachment
for states of becoming.
Subdue desire
for both sides,[6]
comprehending[7] sensory contact,
with no greed.
Doing nothing for which
he himself
would rebuke himself,
the enlightened person doesn't adhere
to what's seen,
to what's heard.
Comprehending perception,
he'd cross over the flood
-- the sage not stuck
on possessions.
Then, with arrow removed,
living heedfully, he longs for neither --
this world,
the next.

Notes
1. Nd.I: "Covered heavily over" with defilements and unskillful mental qualities.
2. "Sensual desires/sensual pleasures": two possible meanings of kama. According to Nd.I, both meanings are intended here
.
3. Nd.I: "In front" means experienced in the past (as does "before" two lines down); "behind" means to-be-experienced in the future.
4. Nd.I: "The out-of-tune way" means the ten types of unskillful action (see AN 10.176).
5. States of not-becoming are oblivious states of becoming that people can get themselves into through a desire for annihilation, either after death or as a goal of their religious striving (see Iti 49). As with all states of becoming, these states are impermanent and stressful.
6. According to Nd.I, "both sides" here has several possible meanings: sensory contact and the origination of sensory contact; past and future; name and form; internal and external sense media; self-identity and the origination of self-identity. It also might mean states of becoming and not-becoming, mentioned in the previous verse and below, in Sn IV.5.
7. Nd.I: Comprehending sensory contact has three aspects: being able to identify and distinguish types of sensory contact; contemplating the true nature of sensory contact (e.g., inconstant, stressful, and not-self); and abandoning attachment to sensory contact. The same three aspects would apply to comprehending perception, as mentioned in the following verse.
See also: AN 4.184

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp4-02.html

Sn IV.3

Sutta Nipata IV.3
Dutthatthaka Sutta
Corrupted
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

There are some who dispute
corrupted at heart,
and those who dispute
their hearts set on truth,
but a sage doesn't enter
a dispute that's arisen,
which is why he is
nowhere constrained.
Now, how would one
led on by desire,
entrenched in his likes,
forming his own conclusions,
overcome his own views?
He'd dispute in line
with the way that he knows.
Whoever boasts to others, unasked,
of his practices, precepts,
is, say the skilled,
ignoble by nature --
he who speaks of himself
of his own accord.
But a monk at peace,
fully unbound in himself,
who doesn't boast of his precepts
-- "That's how I am" -- he,
say the skilled,
is noble by nature --
he with no vanity
with regard to the world.
One whose doctrines aren't clean
-- fabricated, formed, given preference
when he sees it to his own advantage --
relies on a peace
dependent
on what can be shaken.
Because entrenchments[1] in views
aren't easily overcome
when considering what's grasped
among doctrines,
that's why
a person embraces or rejects a doctrine --
in light of these very
entrenchments.
Now, one who is cleansed[2]
has no preconceived view
about states of becoming
or not-
anywhere in the world.
Having abandoned conceit[3] & illusion,
by what means would he go?[4]
He isn't involved.
For one who's involved
gets into disputes
over doctrines,
but how
-- in connection with what[5] --
would you argue
with one uninvolved?
He has nothing
embraced or rejected,
has sloughed off every view
right here -- every one.

Notes
1. Entrenchments: a rendering of the Pali term, nivesana, which can also be rendered as abode, situation, home, or establishment.
2. Nd.I: Cleansed through discernment.
3. Nd.I explains a variety of ways of understanding the word "conceit," the most comprehensive being a list of nine kinds of conceit: viewing people better than oneself as worse than oneself, on a par with oneself, or better than oneself; viewing people on a par with oneself as worse than oneself, on a par with oneself, or better than oneself; viewing people worse than oneself as worse than oneself, on a par with oneself, or better than oneself. In other words, the truth of the view is not the issue here; the issue is the tendency to compare oneself with others.
4. Nd.I: "By what means would he go" to any destination in any state of becoming.
5. In connection with what: a rendering of the instrumental case that attempts to cover several of its meanings, in particular "by what means" and "in terms of what." For a discussion of the use of the instrumental case in the Atthaka Vagga, see note 1 to Sn IV.9.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn IV.4

Sutta Nipata IV.4
Suddhatthaka Sutta
Pure
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

"I see the pure, the supreme,
free from disease.
It's in connection
with what's seen
that a person's purity
is."[1]
Understanding thus,
having known the "supreme,"
& remaining focused
on purity,
one falls back on that knowledge.
If it's in connection
with what is seen
that a person's purity is,
or if stress is abandoned
in connection with knowledge,
then a person with acquisitions
is purified
in connection with something else,[2]
for his view reveals that
in the way he asserts it.
No brahman[3]says purity
comes in connection
with anything else.
Unsmeared with regard
to what's
seen, heard, sensed,
precepts or practices,
merit or evil,
not creating
anything here,
he's let go
of what he had embraced,
he's let go of self.
Abandoning what's first,they depend on
what's next.[4]
Following distraction,
they don't cross over attachment.
They embrace & reject
-- like a monkey releasing a branch
to seize at another[5] --
a person undertaking practices on his own,
goes high & low,
latched onto perception.
But having clearly known
through vedas,[6] having encountered
the Dhamma,
one of profound discernment
doesn't go
high & low.
He's enemy-free[7]with regard to
all things
seen, heard, or sensed.
By whom, with what,[8]should he
be pigeonholed
here in the world?
-- one who has seen in this way,
who goes around
open.[9]
They don't conjure, don't yearn,
don't proclaim "utter purity."
Untying the tied-up knot of grasping,
they don't form a desire for
any
thingat all in the world.
The brahman
gone beyond territories,[10]
has nothing that
-- on knowing or seeing --
he's grasped.
Unimpassionate
for passion,not impassioned
for dis-,[11]
he has nothing here
that's he's grasped as supreme.

Notes
1. An ancient Indian belief, dating back to the Vedas, was that the sight of certain things or beings was believed to purify. Thus "in connection with what's seen" here means both that purity is brought about by means of seeing such a sight, and that one's purity is measured in terms of having such a sight. This belief survives today in the practice of darshan.
2. In other words, if purity were simply a matter of seeing or knowing something, a person could be pure in this sense and yet still have acquisitions (= defilements), which would not be true purity.
3. "Brahman" in the Buddhist sense, i.e., a person born in any caste who has become an arahant.
4. Nd.I: Leaving one teacher and going to another; leaving one teaching and going to another. This phrase may also refer to the mind's tendency to leave one craving to go to another.
5. "Like a monkey releasing a branch to seize at another" -- an interesting example of a whole phrase that functions as a "lamp," i.e., modifying both the phrase before it and the phrase after it.
6. Vedas -- Just as the word "brahman" is used in a Buddhist sense above, here the word veda is given a Buddhist sense. According to the Commentary, in this context it means the knowledge accompanying four transcendent paths: the paths to stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning, and arahantship.
7. Nd.I: The enemies here are the armies of Mara -- all unskillful mental qualities. For a detailed inventory of the armies of Mara, see Sn III.2.
8. By whom, with what -- two meanings of the one Pali word, kena.
9. Nd.I: "Open" means having a mind not covered or concealed by craving, defilement, or ignorance. This image is used in Ud V.5. It is in contrast to the image discussed in note 1 to Sn IV.2. An alternative meaning here might be having one's eyes open.
10. Nd.I: "Territories" = the ten fetters (samyojana) and seven obsessions (anusaya).
11. Nd.I: "Passion" = sensuality; "dispassion" = the jhana states that bring about dispassion for sensuality.
See also: MN 24

Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
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Sn IV.4a

Sutta Nipata IV.4
Suddhatthaka Sutta
On Purity
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"'Here I see one who is pure, entirely free of sickness. By seeing him a man may attain to purity!'
"Convinced of that and thinking it 'the highest,' he believes it to be knowledge when he contemplates 'the pure one.'[1] But if by sights man can gain purification or if through such knowledge he could leave suffering behind, then, one who still has attachments could be purified by another.[2] However, this is merely the opinion of those who so assert.
"The (true) brahmana[3] has said one is not purified by another, nor by what is seen, heard or perceived (by the other senses), nor, by the performance of ritual observances. He (the true brahmana) is not defiled by merit or demerit. Having given up what he had (previously) grasped at, he no longer engages in producing (any kamma). Having left a former (object) they attach themselves to another, dominated by craving they do not go beyond attachment. They reject and seize, like a monkey letting go of a branch to take hold of another.
"A person having undertaken a ritual act goes this way and that, fettered by his senses. But one with a wide wisdom, having understood and gone into the Dhamma with his experience, does not go this way and that. For a person indifferent towards all conditions, whatever is seen, heard or cognized, he is one who sees it as it really is and lives with clarity (of mind). With what could he be identified in the world?
"They do not speculate nor pursue (any notion), they do not claim perfect purity. Loosening the knot (of clinging) with which they are bound, they do not have longing anywhere in the world. The (true) brahmana who has gone beyond limitations, having understood and seen there is no longer any assumption for him, he is neither disturbed by lust nor agitated by revulsion. For him there is nothing upheld as 'the highest.'" -- vv. 788-795

Notes
1. This refers to the old Indian belief in "auspicious sights" (dittha-mangala), the belief that by merely beholding something or someone regarded as a holy object or person, purity, or whatever else is desired, may be gained.
2. By another method, other than that of the Noble Eightfold Path (Comy.); but it could also mean, "by the sight of another person."
3. I.e., the Buddha.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn IV.5

Sutta Nipata IV.5
Paramatthaka Sutta
Supreme
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

When dwelling on views
as "supreme,"
a person makes them
the utmost thingin the world,
&, from that, calls
all others inferior
and so he's not free
from disputes.
When he sees his advantage
in what's seen, heard, sensed,
or in precepts & practices,
seizing it there
he sees all else
as inferior.
That, too, say the skilled,
is a binding knot: that
in dependence on which
you regard another
as inferior.
So a monk shouldn't be dependent
on what's seen, heard, or sensed,
or on precepts & practices;
nor should he conjure a view in the world
in connection with knowledge
or precepts & practices;
shouldn't take himself
to be "equal";
shouldn't think himself
inferior or superlative.
Abandoning
what he had embraced,
abandoning
self,[1]
not clinging,
he doesn't make himself dependent
even in connection with knowledge;
doesn't follow a faction
among those who are split;
doesn't fall back
on any view whatsoever.
One who isn't inclined
toward either side
-- becoming or not-,
here or beyond --
who has no entrenchment
when considering what's grasped among doctrines,
hasn't the least
preconceived perception
with regard to what's seen, heard, or sensed.
By whom, with what,
should he be pigeonholed
here in the world?
-- this brahman
who hasn't adopted views.
They don't conjure, don't yearn,
don't adhere even to doctrines.
A brahman not led
by precepts or practices,
gone to the beyond
-- Such --
doesn't fall back.

Note
1. Self... what he had embraced: two meanings of the Pali word, attam.
See also: MN 72; AN 10.93

Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
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Sn IV.5a

Sutta Nipata IV.5
Paramatthaka Sutta
On Views
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"A person who associates himself with certain views, considering them as best and making them supreme in the world, he says, because of that, that all other views are inferior; therefore he is not free from contention (with others). In what is seen, heard, cognized and in ritual observances performed, he sees a profit for himself. Just by laying hold of that view he regards every other view as worthless. Those skilled (in judgment)[1] say that (a view becomes) a bond if, relying on it, one regards everything else as inferior. Therefore a bhikkhu should not depend on what is seen, heard or cognized, nor upon ritual observances. He should not present himself as equal to, nor imagine himself to be inferior, nor better than, another. Abandoning (the views) he had (previously) held and not taking up (another), he does not seek a support even in knowledge. Among those who dispute he is certainly not one to take sides. He does not [have] recourse to a view at all. In whom there is no inclination to either extreme, for becoming or non-becoming, here or in another existence, for him there does not exist a fixed viewpoint on investigating the doctrines assumed (by others). Concerning the seen, the heard and the cognized he does not form the least notion. That brahmana[2] who does not grasp at a view, with what could he be identified in the world?
"They do not speculate nor pursue (any notion); doctrines are not accepted by them. A (true) brahmana is beyond, does not fall back on views." -- vv. 796-803

Notes
1. I.e., the Buddhas and their disciples who have realized the goal.
2. I.e., a perfected one.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn IV.6

Sutta Nipata IV.6
Jara Sutta
Old Age
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

How short this life!
You die this side of a century,
but even if you live past,
you die of old age.
People grieve
for what they see as mine,
for
nothing possessed is constant,
nothing is constantly possessed.[1]
Seeing this separation
simply as it is,
one shouldn't follow the household life.
At death a person abandons
what he construes as mine.
Realizing this, the wise
shouldn't incline
to be devoted to mine.
Just as a man doesn't see,
on awakening,
what he met in a dream,
even so he doesn't see,
when they are dead
-- their time done --
those he held dear.
When they are seen & heard,
people are called by this name or that,
but only the name remains
to be pointed to
when they are dead.
Grief, lamentation, & selfishness
are not let go
by those greedy for mine,
so sages
letting go of possessions,
seeing the Secure,
go wandering forth.
A monk, living
withdrawn,
enjoying a dwelling
secluded:
they say it's congenial for him
he who wouldn't, in any realm,
display self.
Everywhere
the sage
independent
holds nothing dear or undear.
In him
lamentation & selfishness,
like water on a white lotus,
do not adhere.
As a water bead on a lotus leaf,
as water on a red lily,
does not adhere,
so the sage
does not adhere
to the seen, the heard, or the sensed;
for, cleansed,
he doesn't construe
in connection
with the seen, the heard, or the sensed.
In no other way
does he wish for purity,
for he neither takes on passion
nor puts it away.[2]

Notes
1. "Nothing possessed is constant, nothing is constantly possessed" -- two readings of the phrase, na hi santi nicca pariggaha.
2. Nd.I: An arahant has put passion totally away once and for all, and so has no need to do it ever again.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn IV.6a

Sutta Nipata IV.6
Jara Sutta
On Decay
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"Short indeed is this life, this side of a hundred years one dies; whoever lives long even he dies from old age. People grieve for things they are attached to, yet there exist no permanent possessions but just a state of (constant) separation. Seeing this one should no longer live the household life. That which a man imagines to be his will disappear at death. Knowing this a wise man will have no attachment (to anything).
"As a man awakened from sleep no longer sees what happened in his dream, similarly one does not see a loved one who is dead. Those people who were seen and heard and called by their names as such and such, only their names remain when they have passed away. Those greedy for objects of attachment do not abandon sorrow, grief and avarice, but sages having got rid of possessions, live perceiving security. For a bhikkhu with a detached mind, living in a secluded dwelling, it is right, they say, that he no longer shows himself in the abodes (of existence).[1]
"A sage who is completely independent does not make close friends or enemies. In him sorrow and selfishness do not stay, like water on a lotus leaf. As a lotus is not wetted by water, so a sage is not affected by what is seen or heard, nor by what is perceived by the other senses. A wise man is not deluded by what is perceived by the senses. He does not expect purity by any other way.[1] He is neither pleased nor is he repelled (by the six sense-objects)." -- vv. 804-813

Notes
1. There is a play on words here: "bhavana," besides meaning "an abode of existence" also means "a house". So as well as saying, he is not reborn into any realm of existence, the passage also indicates he lives secluded and does not associate with people in the village.
2. By any way other than the Noble Eightfold Path (Comy).
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn IV.7

Sutta Nipata IV.7
Tissa Metteyya Sutta
Tissa Metteyya
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

"Tell the danger, dear sir,
for one given over
to sexual intercourse.
Having heard your teaching,
we'll train in seclusion."
The Buddha:
"In one given over
to sexual intercourse,
the teaching's confused
and he practices wrongly:
this is ignoble
in him.
Whoever once went alone,
but then resorts
to sexual intercourse
-- like a carriage out of control --
is called vile in the world,
a person run-of-the-mill.
His earlier honor & dignity:
lost.
Seeing this,
he should train himself
to abandon sexual intercourse.
Overcome by resolves,
he broods
like a miserable wretch.
Hearing the scorn of others,
he's chagrined.
He makes weapons,
attacked by the words of others.
This, for him, is a great entanglement.
He
sinks
into lies.
They thought him wise
when he committed himself
to the life alone,
but now that he's given
to sexual intercourse
they declare him a fool.
Seeing these drawbacks, the sage
here -- before & after --
stays firm in the life alone;
doesn't resort to sexual intercourse;
would train himself
in seclusion --
this, for the noble ones, is
supreme.
He wouldn't, because of that,
think himself
better than others:
He's on the verge
of Unbinding.
People enmeshed
in sensual pleasures,
envy him:
free,
a sage
leading his life
unconcerned for sensual pleasures
-- one who's crossed over the flood."

See also: AN 4.159; AN 5.75; AN 5.76

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn IV.8

Sutta Nipata IV.8
Pasura Sutta
To Pasura
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

"Only here is there purity"
-- that's what they say --
"No other doctrines are pure"
-- so they say.
Insisting that what they depend on is good,
they are deeply entrenched in their personal truths.
Seeking controversy, they plunge into an assembly,
regarding one another as fools.
Relying on others' authority,
they speak in debate.
Desiring praise, they claim to be skilled.
Engaged in disputes in the midst of the assembly,
-- anxious, desiring praise --
the one defeated is
chagrined.
Shaken with criticism, he seeks for an opening.
He whose doctrine is [judged as] demolished,
defeated, by those judging the issue:
He laments, he grieves -- the inferior exponent.
"He beat me," he mourns.
These disputes have arisen among contemplatives.
In them are
elation,
dejection.
Seeing this, one should abstain from disputes,
for they have no other goal
than the gaining of praise.
He who is praised there
for expounding his doctrine
in the midst of the assembly,
laughs on that account & grows haughty,
attaining his heart's desire.
That haughtiness will be his grounds for vexation,
for he'll speak in pride & conceit.
Seeing this, one should abstain from debates.
No purity is attained by them, say the skilled.
Like a strong man nourished on royal food,
you go about, roaring, searching out an opponent.
Wherever the battle is,
go there, strong man.
As before, there's none here.
Those who dispute, taking hold of a view,
saying, "This, and this only, is true,"
those you can talk to.
Here there is nothing --
no confrontation
at the birth of disputes.
Among those who live above confrontation
not pitting view against view,
whom would you gain as opponent, Pasura,
among those here
who are grasping no more?
So here you come,
conjecturing,
your mind conjuring
viewpoints.
You're paired off with a pure one
and so cannot proceed.

See also: DN 16 (the Buddha's answer to Subhadda's question); MN 18; AN 3.73; AN 5.159

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn IV.9

Sutta Nipata IV.9
Magandiya Sutta
To Magandiya
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

[Magandiya offers his daughter to the Buddha, who replies:]
On seeing [the daughters of Mara]
-- Discontent, Craving, & Passion --
there wasn't even the desire for sex.
So what would I want with this,
filled with urine & excrement?
I wouldn't want to touch it
even with my foot.
Magandiya:
If you don't want
this gem of a woman, coveted
by many kings,
then for what sort of view
point,precept, practice, life,
attainment of [further] becoming
do you argue?
The Buddha:
'I argue for this'
doesn't occur to one
when considering what's grasped
among doctrines.
Looking for what is
ungrasped
with regard to views,
and detecting inner peace,
I saw.
Magandiya:
Sage, you speak
without grasping
at any preconceived judgments.
This 'inner peace':
what does it mean?
How is it,
by an enlightened person,
proclaimed?
The Buddha:
He doesn't speak of purity
in connection with
view,
learning,
knowledge,
precept or practice.
Nor is it found by a person
through lack of view,
of learning,
of knowledge,
of precept or practice.[1]
Letting these go, without grasping,
at peace,
independent,
one wouldn't long for becoming.
Magandiya:
If he doesn't speak of purity
in connection with
view,
learning,
knowledge,
precept or practice.
and it isn't found by a person
through lack of view,
of learning,
of knowledge,
of precept or practice,
it seems to me that this teaching's
confused,
for some assume a purity
in terms of
-- by means of --
a view.
The Buddha:
Asking questions
dependent on view,
you're confused
by what you have grasped.
And so you don't glimpse
even
the slightest
notion[of what I am saying].
That's why you think
it's confused.
Whoever construes
'equal,'
'superior,' or
'inferior,'
by that he'd dispute;
whereas to one unaffectedby these three,
'equal,'
'superior,'
do not occur.
Of what would the brahman say 'true'
or 'false,'
disputing with whom:
he in whom 'equal,' 'unequal' are not.
Having abandoned home,
living free from society,
the sage
in villages
creates no intimacies.
Rid of sensual passions, free
from yearning,
he wouldn't engage with people
in quarrelsome debate.[2]
Those things
aloof from which
he should go about in the world:
the great one
wouldn't take them up
& argue for them.
As the prickly lotus
is unsmeared by water & mud,
so the sage,
an exponent of peace,
without greed,
is unsmeared by sensuality &
the world.
An attainer-of-wisdom isn't measured
made proud[3]
by views or
by what is thought,
for he isn't affected by them.
He wouldn't be led
by action,[4] learning;
doesn't reach a conclusion
in any entrenchments.
For one dispassionate toward perception
there are no ties;
for one released by discernment,
no
delusions.
Those who grasp at perceptions & views
go about butting their heads
in the world.

Notes
1. The Pali of the first sentence puts the words for "view, learning, knowledge, precept, & practice" in the instrumental case. This case stands for the relationship "by means of" or "because of" but it also has an idiomatic meaning: "in terms of." (To keep the translation neutral on this point, I have translated with the idiom, "in connection with," which can carry both possibilities.) The second sentence puts the words for lack of view, etc., in the ablative case, which carries the meaning "because of" or "from."
If we assume that the instrumental case in the first sentence is meant in the sense of "by means of," then we are dealing -- as Magandiya asserts -- with plain nonsense: the first sentence would say that a person cannot achieve purity by means of views, etc., while the second sentence would be saying that he cannot achieve purity by means of no view, etc. The fact that the two sentences place the relevant terms in different grammatical cases, though, suggests that they are talking about two different kinds of relationships. If we take the instrumental in the first sentence in the sense of "in terms of," then the stanza not only makes sense but also fits in with teachings of the rest of the Pali discourses: a person cannot be said to be pure simply because he/she holds to a particular view, body of learning, etc. Purity is not defined in those terms. The second sentence goes on to say that a person doesn't arrive at purity from a lack of view, etc. Putting the two sentences together with the third, the message is this: One uses right views, learning, knowledge, precepts, & practices as a path, a means for arriving at purity. Once one arrives, one lets go of the path, for the purity of inner peace, in its ultimate sense, is something transcending the means by which it is reached.
In the stanza immediately following this one, it's obvious that Magandiya has not caught this distinction.
For further illustrations of the role of Right View in taking one to a dimension beyond all views, see AN 10.93, AN 10.96, and MN 24. (The analogy of the relay coaches in MN 24 actually seems more tailored to the issues raised by the Buddha's remarks in this discourse than it does to the question it addresses in that discourse.) See also sections III/H and III/H/i in The Wings to Awakening.
2. An explanation of this stanza, attributed to Ven. Maha Kaccana, is contained in SN 22.3.
3. "Measured... made proud" -- two meanings of the Pali word manameti.
4. "Action" here can mean either kamma in its general sense -- i.e., the attainer-of-wisdom has gone beyond creating kamma -- or in a more restricted sense, as ritual action. According to Nd.I, it refers to the factor of "fabrication" (sankhara) in the analysis of dependent co-arising (see SN 12.2).
See also: SN 1.1; Sn V.7

Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
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Sn IV.10

Sutta Nipata IV.10
Purabheda Sutta
Before the Break-up of the Body
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

"Seeing how,
behaving how,
is one said to be
at peace?
Gotama, tell me about
-- when asked about --
the ultimate person."
The Buddha:
"Free from craving
before the break-up
[of the body],independent
of before
& the end,[1]
not classified in between,[2]
no yearning is his.
Un-
angered,un-
startled,un-
boastful,un-
anxious,
giving counsel unruffled,
he is a sage,
his speech
under control.
Free from attachment
with regard to the future,
not sorrowing
over the past,
he sees seclusion
in the midst of sensory contacts.[3]
He can't be led
in terms of views.[4]
Withdrawn, un-
deceitful, not
stingy, not
miserly, not
insolent, in-
offensive,
he doesn't engage in
divisive speech.
Not intoxicated with alluring things,
nor given to pride,
he's gentle, quick-witted,
beyond conviction & dispassion.[5]
Not in hopes of material gain
does he take on the training;
when without material gain
he isn't upset.
Unobstructed
by craving,
he doesn't
through craving[6]
hunger for flavors.
Equanimous -- always -- mindful,
he doesn't conceive himself asequal,
superior,
inferior,
in the world.
No swellings of pride
are his.
Whose dependencies
don't exist
when, on knowing the Dhamma,
he's in-dependent;
in whom no craving is found
for becoming or not-:
he is said
to be at peace,
un-intent
on sensual pleasures,
with nothing at all
to tie him down:
one who's crossed over attachment.
He has no
children
cattle,
fields,
land.
In him you can't pin down
what's embraced
or rejected,
what's self
or opposed to self.[7]
He has no yearning
for that which people run-of-the-mill
or priests & contemplatives
might blame --
which is why
he is unperturbed
with regard to their words.
His greed gone,
not miserly,
the sage
doesn't speak of himself
as among those who are higher,
equal,
or lower.
He,
conjuring-free,
doesn't submit
to conjuring,
to the cycling of time.[8]
For whom
nothing in the world
is his own,
who doesn't grieve
over what is not,
who doesn't enter into
doctrines
phenomena:[9]
he is said
to be
at peace."

Notes
1. Nd.I: "Independent of before & the end" = no craving or view with regard to past or future.
2. For discussions of how the awakened one cannot be classified even in the present, see MN 72 and SN 22.85-86.
3. Nd.I: "He sees seclusion in the midst of sensory contacts" = he sees contact as empty of self. This passage may also refer to the fact that the awakened person experiences sensory contact as if disjoined from it. On this point, see MN 140 and MN 146, quoted in The Mind Like Fire Unbound, pp. 116 and 113.
4. See AN 10.93.
5. Beyond conviction & dispassion -- The Pali here can also mean, "A person of no conviction, he does not put away passion." This is an example of the kind of pun occasionally used in Pali poetry for its shock value. Other examples are at Dhp 97 and the end of Sn IV.13. For an explanation of what is meant by being beyond dispassion, see note 2 to Sn IV.6.
6. The Pali word tanhaya -- by/through craving -- here is a "lamp," i.e., a single word that functions in two separate phrases.
7. "Embraced/rejected, what's self/what lies against self" -- a pun on the pair of Pali words, attam/nirattam.
8. "Conjuring, the cycling of time" -- two meanings of the Pali word, kappam.
9. "Doctrines, phenomena" -- two meanings of the Pali word, dhamma.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp4-10.html

Sn IV.11

Sutta Nipata IV.11
Kalaha-vivada Sutta
Quarrels & Disputes
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

"From where have there arisen
quarrels, disputes,
lamentation, sorrows, along with selfishness,
conceit & pride, along with divisiveness?
From where have they arisen?
Please tell me."
"From what is dear
there have arisen
quarrels, disputes,
lamentation, sorrows, along with selfishness,
conceit & pride, along with divisiveness.
Tied up with selfishness
are quarrels & disputes.
In the arising of disputes
is divisiveness."
"Where is the cause
of things dear in the world,
along with the greeds that go about in the world?
And where is the cause
of the hopes & fulfillments
for the sake of a person's next life?"
"Desires are the cause
of things dear in the world,
along with the greeds that go about in the world.
And it too is the cause
of the hopes & fulfillments
for the sake of a person's next life."
"Now where is the cause
of desire in the world?
And from where have there arisen
decisions, anger, lies, & perplexity,
and all the qualities
described by the Contemplative?"
"What they call
'appealing' &
'unappealing'
in the world:
in dependence on that
desire arises.
Having seen becoming & not- with regard to forms,
a person gives rise to decisions in the world;
anger, lies, & perplexity:
these qualities, too, when that pair exists.
A person perplexed
should train for the path of knowledge,
for it's in having known
that the Contemplative has spoken
of qualities/dhammas."[1]
"Where is the cause
of appealing & un-?
When what isn't
do they not exist?
And whatever is meant
by becoming & not- :
tell me,
Where is its cause?"
"Contact is the cause
of appealing & un-.
When contact isn't
they do not exist.
And whatever is meant
by becoming & not- :
this too is its cause."
"Now where is the cause
of contact in the world,
and from where have graspings,
possessions, arisen?
When what isn't
does mine-ness not exist.
When what has disappeared
do contacts not touch?"
"Conditioned by name & form
is contact.
In longing do graspings,
possessions have their cause.
When longing isn't
mine-ness does not exist.
When forms have disappeared
contacts don't touch."
"For one arriving at what
does form disappear?
How do pleasure & pain disappear?
Tell me this.
My heart is set
on knowing how
they disappear."
"One not percipient of perceptions
not percipient of aberrant perceptions,
not unpercipient,
nor percipient of what's disappeared:[2]
for one arriving at this,
form disappears --
for complication-classifications[3]
have their cause in perception."
"What we have asked, you have told us.
We ask one more thing.
Please tell it.
Do some of the wise
say that just this much is the utmost,
the purity of the spirit[4] is here?
Or do they say
that it's other than this?"
"Some of the wise
say that just this much is the utmost,
the purity of the spirit is here.
But some of them,
who say they are skilled,
say it's the moment
with no clinging remaining.
Knowing,
'Having known, they still are dependent,'[5]
the sage, ponders dependencies.
On knowing them, released,
he doesn't get into disputes,
doesn't meet with becoming & not-
: he's enlightened."

Notes
1. As other passages in this poem indicate (see note 5, below), the goal is not measured in terms of knowledge, but as this passage points out, knowledge is a necessary part of the path to the goal.
2. According to Nd.I, this passage is describing the four formless jhanas, but as the first three of the formless jhanas involve perception (of infinite space, infinite consciousness, and nothingness), only the fourth of the formless jhanas -- the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception -- would fit this description.
3. Complication-classifications (papañca-sankha): The mind's tendency to read distinctions and differentiations even into the simplest experience of the present, thus giving rise to views that can issue in conflict. As Sn IV.14 points out, the root of these classifications is the perception, "I am the thinker." For further discussion of this point, see note 1 to that discourse and the introduction to MN 18.
4. "Spirit" is the usual rendering of the Pali word, yakkha. According to Nd.I, however, in this context the word yakkha means person, individual, human being, or living being.
5. In other words, the sage knows that both groups in the previous stanza fall back on their knowledge as a measure of the goal, without comprehending the dependency still latent in their knowledge. The sages in the first group are mistaking the experience of neither perception nor non-perception as the goal, and so they are still dependent on that state of concentration. The sages in the second group, by the fact that they claim to be skilled, show that there is still a latent conceit in their awakening-like experience, and thus it is not totally independent of clinging. (For more on this point, see MN 102, quoted in The Mind Like Fire Unbound, pp. 81-82.) Both groups still maintain the concept of a "spirit" that is purified in the realization of purity. Once these dependencies are comprehended, one gains release from disputes and from states of becoming and not-becoming. It is in this way that knowledge is a means to the goal, but the goal itself is not measured or defined in terms of knowledge.
See also: DN 21; MN 18; Sn V.14

Revised: Sun 14 October 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp4-11.html

Sn IV.11a

Sutta Nipata IV.11
Kalaha-vivada Sutta
Further Questions
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"From what arise contentions and disputes, lamentations and sorrows, along with selfishness and conceit, and arrogance along with slander? From where do these various things arise? Come tell me this."
"From being too endeared (to objects and persons) arise contentions and disputes, lamentations and sorrows along with avarice, selfishness and conceit, arrogance and slander. Contentions and disputes are linked with selfishness, and slander is born of contention."

"What are the sources of becoming endeared in the world? What are the sources of whatever passions prevail in the world, of longings and fulfillments that are man's goal (in life)?"
"Desires are the source of becoming endeared (to objects and persons) in the world, also of whatever passions prevail. These are the sources of longings and fulfillments that are man's goal (in life)."[1]

"Now what is the source of desire in the world? What is the cause of judgments[2] that arise; of anger, untruth, doubts and whatever other (similar) states that have been spoken of by the Recluse (i.e., the Buddha)?"
"It is pleasant, it is unpleasant," so people speak in the world; and based upon that arises desire. Having seen the appearing and disappearing of material things a man makes his judgments in the world.[3] Anger, untruth and doubts, these states arise merely because of the existence of this duality.[4] Let a doubter train himself by way of insight to understand these states as taught by the Recluse."

"What is the source of thinking things as pleasant or unpleasant? When what is absent are these states not present? What is the meaning of appearing and disappearing? Explain the source of it to me."
"The pleasant and the unpleasant have their source in sense-impression. When this sense-impression is absent, these states are not present. The idea of appearing and disappearing is produced from this, I say."

"What is the source of sense-impression? From what arises so much grasping? By the absence of what is there no selfish attachment? By the disappearance of what is sense-impression not experienced?"
"Sense-impression is dependent upon the mental and the material. Grasping has its source in wanting (something). What not being present there is no selfish attachment. By the disappearance of material objects sense-impression is not experienced."

"For whom does materiality disappear? How do pleasure and discomfort cease to be? Tell me how it ceases so that I may be satisfied in my mind that I have understood it."
"His perception is not the ordinary kind, nor is his perception abnormal;[5] he is not without perception nor is his perception (of materiality) suspended.[6] -- to such an one immateriality ceases.[7] Perception is indeed the source of the world of multiplicity."

"What we asked, you have explained. We now ask another question. Tell us the answer to it. Do not some of the learned declare purification of the spirit[8] as the highest state to be attained? And do not others speak of something else as the highest?"[9]
"Some of the learned do declare purification of the spirit as the highest. But contrary to them some teach a doctrine of annihilation. Those clever ones declare this to be (final liberation) without basis of life's fuel remaining. Knowing that these (theorists) rely on (mere opinions for their statements) a sage investigates that upon which they rely. Having understood and being free (from theories) he will not dispute with anyone. The wise do not enter into any existence." -- vv. 862-877

Notes
1. Man's longings, hopes and aspirations and their satisfaction are his refuge giving him an aim in life.
2. Judgments or evaluations of things motivated by craving for them or by opinions of them as being desirable or otherwise.
3. The "appearing" of the pleasant and the "disappearing" of the unpleasant is judged to be "good." The "appearance" of the unpleasant and the "disappearance" of the pleasant is judged to be "bad."
4. I.e., of the pleasant and the unpleasant.
5. He is neither insane nor mentally disturbed (Comy).
6. He has not attained the state of cessation of perception and feeling (sanna-vedayita nirodha) nor the immaterial absorptions (arupajjhana) (Comy). In the former perception completely ceases, but in the latter there is still the perception of an immaterial object.
7. According to the commentary what remains after these four negations is the state of one who has reached the highest of the fine-material absorptions (rupajjhana) and is in the process of attaining the first immaterial absorption. This answers the question "for whom does (the perception of) materiality disappear?" And as "pleasure and discomfort" have previously been stated to "have their source in sense-impression," in other words, the Perception of material objects, the second question is answered too.
8. The term "spirit" (yakkha) is equivalent here to "being" or "man."
9. An alternative rendering of this sentence could be: "Do not some of the learned declare (the immaterial attainments) as the highest state, as man's purification?"
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp4-11a.html

Sn IV.12

Sutta Nipata IV.12
Cula-viyuha Sutta
The Lesser Array
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

"Dwelling on
their own views,
quarreling,
different skilled people say:
'Whoever knows this, understands Dhamma.
Whoever rejects this, is
imperfect.'
Thus quarreling, they dispute:
'My opponent's a fool & unskilled.
'Which of these statements is true
when all of them say they are skilled?"
"If, in not accepting
an opponent's doctrine,
one's a fool, a beast of inferior discernment,
then all are fools
of inferior discernment -- all of these
who dwell on their views.
But if, in siding with a view,
one's cleansed,
with discernment made pure,
intelligent, skilled,
then none of them
are of inferior discernment,
for all of them
have their own views.
I don't say, 'That's how it is,'
the way fools say to one another.
They each make out their views to be true
and so regard their opponents as fools."
"What some say is true
-- 'That's how it is' --
others say is 'falsehood, a lie.'
Thus quarreling, they dispute.
Why can't contemplatives
say one thing & the same?"
"The truth is one,[1]
there is no second
about which a person who knows it
would argue with one who knows.
Contemplatives promote
their various personal truths,
that's why they don't say
one thing & the same."
"But why do they say
various truths,
those who say they are skilled?
Have they learned many various truths
or do they follow conjecture?"
"Apart from their perception
there are no
many
various
constant truths
in the world.[2]
Preconceiving conjecture
with regard to views,
they speak of a pair: true
& false.
Dependent on what's seen,
heard,
& sensed,
dependent on precepts & practices,
one shows disdain [for others].
Taking a stance on his decisions,
praising himself, he says,
'My opponent's a fool & unskilled.'
That by which
he regards his opponents as fools
is that by which
he says he is skilled.
Calling himself skilled
he despises another
who speaks the same way.
Agreeing on a view gone out of bounds,
drunk with conceit, thinking himself perfect,
he has consecrated, with his own mind,
himself
as well as his view.
If, by an opponent's word,
one's inferior,
the opponent's
of inferior discernment as well.
But if, by one's own word
one's an attainer-of-wisdom, enlightened,
no one
among contemplative's
a fool.
'Those who teach a doctrine other than this
are lacking in purity,
imperfect.'
That's what the many sectarians say,
for they're smitten with passion
for their own views.
'Only here is there purity,'
that's what they say.
'In no other doctrine
is purity,' they say.
That's how the many sectarians
are entrenched,
speaking firmly there
concerning their own path.
Speaking firmly concerning your own path,
what opponent here would you take as a fool?
You'd simply bring quarrels on yourself
if you said your opponent's a fool
with an impure doctrine.
Taking
a stance on your decisions,
& yourself as your measure,
you dispute further down
into the world.
But one who's abandoned
all decisions
creates in the world
quarrels no more."

Notes
1. "The truth is one": This statement should be kept in mind throughout the following verses, as it forms the background to the discussion of how people who preconceive their conjectures speak of the pair, true and false. The Buddha is not denying that there is such a thing as true and false. Rather, he is saying that all entrenched views, regardless of how true or false their content might be, when considered as events in a causal chain behave in line with the truth of conditioned phenomena as explained in the preceding discourse. If held to, they lead to conceit, conflict, and states of becoming. When they are viewed in this way -- as events rather than as true or false depictions of other events (or as events rather than signs) -- the tendency to hold to or become entrenched in them is diminished.
2. On the role of perception in leading to conflicting views, see the preceding discourse.
See also: AN 10.93; AN 10.96

Revised: Fri 4 January 2002
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp4-12.html

Sn IV.13

Sutta Nipata IV.13
Maha-viyuha Sutta
The Great Array
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

"Those who, dwelling on views,
dispute, saying, 'Only this is true':
do they all incur blame,
or also earn praise there?"
"[The praise:] It's such a little thing,
not at all appeasing.[1]
I speak of two fruits of dispute;
and seeing this, you shouldn't dispute --
seeing the state
where there's no dispute
as secure.
One who knows
doesn't get involved
in whatever are
commonplace
conventional
views.
One who is uninvolved:
when he's forming no preference
for what's seen, for what's heard,
why would he get
involved?
Those for whom precepts
are ultimate
say that purity's
a matter of self-restraint.
Undertaking a practice,
they devote themselves to it:
'Let's train just in this,
and then there would be purity.'
Those who say they are skille
dare [thus] led on to becoming.
But if one of them falls
from his precepts or practice,
he trembles,
having failed in his actions.
He hopes for, longs for, purity,
like a lost caravan leader
far from home.
But one who's abandoned
precepts & practices[2]
-- all --
things that are blamable, blameless,[3]
not hoping for 'pure or impure,'[4]
would live in compassion & peace,
without taking up peace,[5]
detached.
Dependenton taboos, austerities,
or what's seen, heard, or sensed,
they speak of purity
through wandering further on
through becoming & not-,
their craving not gone
for becoming & not-.[6]
For one who aspires has longings
& trembling with regard to preconceptions.
But one who here
has no passing away & arising:
Why would he tremble?
For what would he long?"
"The teaching some say is 'supreme,'
is the very one others call 'lowly.'
Which statement is true
when all of these claim to be skilled?"
"They say their own teaching is perfect
while the doctrine of others is lowly.
Thus quarreling, they dispute,
each saying his agreed-on opinion
is true.
If something, because of an opponent's say-so,
were lowly,
then none among teachings would be
superlative,
for many say
that another's teaching's inferior
when firmly asserting their own.
If their worship of their teaching were true,
in line with the way they praise their own path,
then all doctrines
would be true --
for purity's theirs, according to each.
The brahman has nothing
led by another,
when considering what's grasped
among doctrines.
Thus he has gone
beyond disputes,
for he doesn't regard as best
the knowledge of a teaching,
any other mental state.[7]
'I know. I see. That's just how it is!'
-- Some believe purity's in terms of view.
But even if a person has seen,
what good does it do him?
Having slipped past,
they speak of purity
in connection with something
or somebody
else.
A person, in seeing,
sees name & form.
Having seen, he'll know
only these things.
No matter if he's seen little, a lot,
the skilled don't say purity's
in connection with that.
A person entrenched in his teachings,
honoring a preconceived view,
isn't easy to discipline.
Whatever he depends on
he describes it as lovely,says
that it's purity,
that there he saw truth.
The brahman, evaluating,
isn't involved with conjurings,
doesn't follow views,
isn't tied even to knowledge.[8]
And on knowing
whatever's conventional, commonplace,
he remains equanimous:
'That's what others hold onto.'
Having released the knots
that tie him down,
the sage here in the world
doesn't follow a faction
when disputes have arisen.
At peace among those not at peace,
he's equanimous, doesn't hold on:
'That's what others hold onto.'
Giving up old fermentations,
not forming new,
neither pursuing desire,
nor entrenched in his teachings,
he's totally releasedfrom viewpoints,
enlightened.
He doesn't adhere to the world,
is without self-rebuke;
is enemy-free[9]
with regard to all things
seen, heard, or sensed.

His burden laid down,
the sage totally released
is improper / is free from conjuring
hasn't stopped / isn't impassioned
isn't worth wanting / doesn't
desire,"[10]
the Blessed One said.

Notes
1. Or: Not enough to appease (the defilements, says Nd.I).
2. Nd.I: Abandoning precepts & practices in the sense of no longer believing that purity is measured in terms of them, the view discussed in the preceding verse.
3. Nd.I: "Blamable, blameless" = black and white kamma (see AN 4.232, 234, 237-238, quoted in The Wings to Awakening, section I/B.
4. Nd.I: Having abandoned impure mental qualities, and having fully attained the goal, the arahant has no need to hope for anything at all.
5. "In compassion & peace, without taking up peace" -- a pun on the word, santimanuggahaya.
6. The word bhavabhavesu -- through/for becoming & not- becoming -- here is a lamp, i.e., a single word functioning in two phrases.
7. "The knowledge of a teaching, any other mental state" -- a pun on the word,dhammamaññam.
8. According to Nd.I, this compound -- ñana-bandhu -- should be translated as "tied by means of knowledge," in that the arahant doesn't use the knowledge that comes with the mastery of concentration, the five mundane forms of psychic power (abhiñña), or any wrong knowledge to create the bonds of craving or views. However, the compound may also refer to the fact that the arahant isn't tied even to the knowledge that forms part of the path to arahantship (see MN 117).
9. See note 7 under Sn IV.4.
10. "Is improper / is free from conjuring, hasn't stopped / isn't impassioned, isn't worth wanting / doesn't desire" -- a series of puns -- na kappiyo, nuparato, na patthiyo -- each with a strongly positive and a strongly negative meaning, probably meant for their shock value. For a similar set of puns, see Dhp 97.

See also: AN 10.93; AN 10.96

Revised: Fri 4 January 2002
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp4-13.html

Sn IV.14

Sutta Nipata IV.14
Tuvataka Sutta
Quickly
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

"I ask the kinsman of the Sun, the great seer,
about seclusion & the state of peace.
Seeing in what way is a monk unbound,
clinging to nothing in the world?"
"He should put an entire stop
to the root of complication-classifications:
'I am the thinker.'[1]
He should train, always mindful,
to subdue any craving inside him.
Whatever truth he may know,
within or without,
he shouldn't get entrenched
in connection with it,
for that isn't called
Unbinding by the good.
He shouldn't, because of it, think himself
better,
lower, or
equal.
Touched by contact in various ways,
he shouldn't keep conjuring self.
Stilled right within,
a monk shouldn't seek peace from another
from anything else.
For one stilled right within,
there's nothing embraced,
so how rejected?
Nothing that's self,
so from whence would there be
against-self?[2]
As in the middle of the sea
it is still,
with no waves upwelling,
so the monk
-- unperturbed, still --
should not swell himself
anywhere."
"He whose eyes are open has described
the Dhamma he's witnessed,
subduing danger.
Now tell us, sir, the practice:
the code of discipline & concentration."
"One shouldn't be careless with his eyes,
should close his ears to village-talk,
shouldn't hunger for flavors,
or view anything in the world
as mine.
When touched by contact
he shouldn't lament,
shouldn't covet anywhere any
states of becoming,
or tremble at terrors.
When gaining food & drink,
staples & cloth,
he should not make a hoard.
Nor should he be upset
when receiving no gains.
Absorbed, not
foot-loose,
he should refrain
from restlessness,
shouldn't be
heedless,
should live
in a noise-less abode.
Not making much of sleep,
ardent, given to wakefulness,
he should abandon sloth, deception,
laughter, sports,
fornication, & all that goes with it;
should not practice charms,
interpret physical marks, dreams,
the stars, animal cries;
should not be devoted to
practicing medicine or inducing fertility.
A monk shouldn't tremble at blame
or grow haughty with praise;
should thrust aside selfishness, greed,
divisive speech, anger;
shouldn't buy or sell
or revile anyone anywhere;
shouldn't linger in villages,
or flatter people in hopes of gains.
A monk shouldn't boast
or speak with ulterior motive,
shouldn't train in insolence
or speak quarrelsome words;
shouldn't engage in deception
or knowingly cheat;
shouldn't despise others for their
life,
discernment,
precepts,
or practices.
Provoked with many words
from contemplatives
or ordinary people,
he shouldn't respond harshly,
for those who retaliate
aren't calm.
Knowing this teaching,
a monk inquiring
should always
train in it mindfully.
Knowing Unbinding as peace,
he shouldn't be heedless
of Gotama's message
-- for he, the Conqueror unconquered,
witnessed the Dhamma,
not by hearsay,
but directly, himself.
So, heedful, you
should always train
in line with that Blessed One's message,"
the Blessed One said.

Notes
1. On complication-classifications and their role in leading to conflict, see Sn IV.11 and the introduction to MN 18. The perception, "I am the thinker" lies at the root of these classifications in that it reads into the immediate present a set of distinctions -- I/not-I; being/not-being; thinker/thought; identity/non-identity -- that then can proliferate into mental and physical conflict. The conceit inherent in this perception thus forms a fetter on the mind. To become unbound, one must learn to examine these distinctions -- which we all take for granted -- to see that they are simply assumptions that are not inherent in experience, and that we would be better off to be able to drop them.
2. "Embraced/rejected, self/against-self" -- a pun on the pair of Pali words, atta/nirattam.
See also: DN 2; AN 4.37

Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
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Sn IV.15

Sutta Nipata IV.15
Attadanda Sutta
The Rod Embraced
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

"When embraced,
the rod of violence[1]
breeds danger & fear:
Look at people quarreling.
I will tell of how
I experienced
dismay.
Seeing people floundering
like fish in small puddles,
competing with one another --
as I saw this,
fear came into me.
The world was entirely
without substance.
All the directions
were knocked out of line.
Wanting a haven for myself,
I saw nothing that wasn't laid claim to.
Seeing nothing in the end
but competition,I felt discontent.
And then I saw
an arrow here,
so very hard to see,
embedded in the heart.
Overcome by this arrow
you run in all directions.
But simply on pulling it out
you don't run,
you don't sink.[2]
[Here the trainings are recited.] [3]
Whatever things are tied down in the world,
you shouldn't be set on them.
Having totally penetrated
sensual pleasures,
sensual passions,[4]
you should train for your own
Unbinding.
Be truthful, not insolent,
not deceptive, rid
of divisiveness.
Without anger, the sage
should cross over the evil
of greed & avarice.
He should conquer laziness,
weariness,
sloth;
shouldn't consort with heedlessness,
shouldn't stand firm in his pride --
the man with his heart set
on Unbinding.
He shouldn't engage in lying,
shouldn't create a sense of allure in form,
should fully fathom conceit,
and live refraining from impulsiveness;
shouldn't
delight in what's old,
prefer what's new,[5]
grieve over decline,
get entangled in
what's dazzling & bright.[6]
I call greed
a 'great flood';
hunger, a swift current.
Preoccupations are ripples;
sensuality, a bog
hard to cross over.
Not deviating from truth,
a sage stands on high ground
: a brahman.
Having renounced All,[7]
he is said to be at peace;
having clearly known, he
is an attainer-of-wisdom;
knowing the Dhamma, he's
independent.
Moving rightly through the world,
he doesn't envy
anyone here.
Whoever here has gone over & beyond
sensual passions -- an attachment hard
to transcend in the world,
doesn't sorrow,
doesn't fret.
He, his stream cut, is free
from bonds.
Burn up what's before,
and have nothing for after.
If you don't grasp
at what's in between,[8]
you will go about, calm.
For whom, in name & form,
in every way,
there's no sense of mine,
and who doesn't grieve
over what is not:
he, in the world,
isn't defeated,
suffers no loss.[9]
To whom there doesn't occur
'This is mine,'
for whom nothing is others',
feeling no sense of mine-ness,
doesn't grieve at the thought
'I have nothing.'
Not harsh,
not greedy, not
perturbed,
everywhere
in tune:
this is the reward
-- I say when asked --
for those who are free
from pre-
conceptions.
For one unperturbed
-- who knows --
there's no accumulating.
Abstaining, unaroused,
he everywhere sees
security.[10]
The sage
doesn't speak of himself
as among those who are higher,
equal,or lower.
At peace, free of selfishness,
he doesn't embrace, doesn't
reject,"
the Blessed One said.

Notes
1. Nd.I: The rod of violence takes three forms: physical violence (the three forms of bodily misconduct), verbal violence (the four forms of verbal misconduct), and mental violence (the three forms of mental misconduct). See AN 10.176.
2. Nd.I: "One doesn't run" to any of the destinations of rebirth; "one doesn't sink" into any of the four floods of sensuality, views, becoming, and ignorance (see SN 45.171 and AN 4.10).
3. This phrase, a kind of stage direction, seems to indicate that this poem had a ritual use, as part of a ceremony for giving the precepts.
4. "Sensual pleasure, sensual passions": two meanings of the word kama.
5. Nd.I: "Old" and "new" mean past and present aggregates.
6. Nd.I: "what's dazzling & bright" = craving and other defilements.
7. For the definition of All, see the discussion in The Mind Like Fire Unbound, pp. 31-32.
8. Nd.I: "Before," "after," and "in between" = past, future, and present.
9. "Isn't defeated, suffers no loss" -- two meanings of the Pali phrase, na jiyyati.
10. See Ud. II.10.
See also: AN 3.39

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn IV.15a

Sutta Nipata IV.15
Attadanda Sutta
The Training
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

"Violence breeds misery; [1] look at people quarreling. I will relate the emotion agitating me.
"Having seen people struggling and contending with each other like fish in a small amount of water, fear entered me. The world is everywhere insecure, every direction is in turmoil; desiring an abode for myself I did not find one uninhabited. [2] When I saw contention as the sole outcome, aversion increased in me; but then I saw an arrow [3] here, difficult to see, set in the heart. Pierced by it, once runs in every direction, but having pulled it out one does not run nor does one sink. [4]
"Here follows the (rule of) training:
"Whatever are worldly fetters, may you not be bound by them! Completely break down sensual desires and practice so as to realize Nibbana for yourself!
"A sage should be truthful, not arrogant, not deceitful, not given to slandering others, and should be without anger. He should remove the evil of attachment and wrongly directed longing; he should conquer drowsiness, lassitude and sloth, and not dwell in indolence. A man whose mind is set on Nibbana should not be arrogant. He should not lapse into untruth nor generate love for sense objects. He should thoroughly understand (the nature of) conceit and abstain from violence. He should not delight in what is past, nor be fond of what is new, nor sorrow for what is disappearing, nor crave for the attractive.
"Greed, I say, is a great flood; it is a whirlpool sucking one down, a constant yearning, seeking a hold, continually in movement; [5] difficult to cross is the morass of sensual desire. A sage does not deviate from truth, a brahmana [6] stands on firm ground; renouncing all, he is truly called 'calmed.'
"Having actually experienced and understood the Dhamma he has realized the highest knowledge and is independent. [7] He comports himself correctly in the world and does not envy anyone here. He who has left behind sensual pleasures, an attachment difficult to leave behind, does not grieve nor have any longing; has cut across the stream and is unfettered.
"Dry out that which is past, [8] let there be nothing for you in the future. [9] If you do not grasp at anything in the present you will go about at peace. One who, in regard to this entire mindbody complex, has no cherishing of it as 'mine,' and who does not grieve for what is non-existent truly suffers no loss in the world. For him there is no thought of anything as 'this is mine' or 'this is another's'; not finding any state of ownership, and realizing, 'nothing is mine,' he does not grieve.
"To be not callous, not greedy, at rest and unruffled by circumstances -- that is the profitable result I proclaim when asked about one who does not waver. For one who does not crave, who has understanding, there is no production (of new kamma). [10] Refraining from initiating (new kamma) he sees security everywhere. A sage does not speak in terms of being equal, lower or higher. Calmed and without selfishness he neither grasps nor rejects." -- vv. 935-954

Notes
1. Attadanda bhayam jatam: "Violence" (attadanda, lit.: "seizing a stick" or "weapons") includes in it all wrong conduct in deeds, words and thoughts. Bhaya is either a subjective state of mind, "fear," or the objective condition of "fearfulness," danger, misery; and so it is explained in the Comy. as the evil consequences of wrong conduct, in this life and in future existence.
2. Uninhabited by decay and death, etc. (Comy).
3. The arrow of lust, hate, delusion and (wrong) views.
4. That is, sink into the four "floods" of sensual desire, continual becoming, wrong views and ignorance. These are the two contrasting dangers of Samsara, i.e., restless running, ever seeking after sensual delights, and sinking, or passively clinging to the defilements, whereby one is overwhelmed by the "flood." In the first discourse of the Samyutta-nikaya the Buddha says: "If I stood still, I sank; if I struggled, I was carried away. Thus by neither standing still nor struggling, I crossed the flood."
5. According to the commentary these four phrases, beginning with a "whirlpool sucking down," are all synonyms for craving (tanha) or greed (gedha) called the "great flood."
6. In Buddhism the title "Brahmana" is sometimes used for one who has reached final deliverance. The Buddha himself is sometimes called "the Brahmana."
7. Independent of craving and views.
8. "Dry out" (visodehi) your former, and not your matured kamma, i.e., make it unproductive, by not giving room to passions that may grow out of the past actions.
9. Do not rouse in kamma-productive passions concerning the future.
10. Volitional acts, good or bad, manifesting in deeds of body, speech and mind leading to a future result.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn IV.16

Sutta Nipata IV.16
Sariputta Sutta
To Sariputta
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

"Never beforehave I seen or heard
from anyone
of a teacher with such lovely speech
come, together with his following
from Tusita heaven,[1]
as the One with Eyes
who appears to the world with its devas
having dispelled all darkness
having arrived at delight
all alone.
To that One Awakened --
unentangled, Such,
un-deceptive,
come with his following
-- I have come with a question
on behalf of the many
here who are fettered.
For a monk disaffected,
frequenting a place that's remote --
the root of a tree,
a cemetery,
in mountain caves
various places to stay
-- how many are the fears there
at which he shouldn't tremble --
there in his noiseless abode
-- how many the dangers in the world
for the monk
going the direction
he never has gone
that he should transcend
there in his isolated abode?
What should be
the ways of his speech?
What should be
his range there of action?
What should be
a resolute monk's
precepts & practices?[2]
Undertaking what training
-- alone, astute, & mindful --
would he blow away
his own impurities
as a silver smith,
those in molten silver?"
The Buddha:
"I will tell you
as one who knows,
what is comfort
for one disaffected
resorting to a remote place,
desiring self-awakening
in line with the Dhamma.
An enlightened monk,
living circumscribed,
mindful,shouldn't fear the five fears:
of horseflies, mosquitoes, snakes,
human contact, four-footed beings;
shouldn't be disturbedby those following another's teaching
even on seeing their manifold
terrors;
should overcome still other
further dangers
as he seeks what is skillful.
Touched
by the touch
of discomforts, hunger,
he should endure cold
& inordinate heat.
He with no home,
in many ways touched by these things,
striving, should make firm his persistence.
He shouldn't commit a theft,
shouldn't speak a lie,
should touch with thoughts of good will
beings firm & infirm.
Conscious of when
his mind is stirred up & turbid,
he should dispel it:
'It's on the Dark One's side.'
He shouldn't come under the sway
of anger or pride.
Having dug up their root
he would stand firm.
Then, when prevailing
-- yes --
he'd prevail over his sense of dear & undear.
Yearning
for discernmenten
raptured
with what's admirable,
he should overcome these dangers,
should conquer
discontent
in his isolated spot,
should conquer
these four
thoughts of lament:
'What will I eat,
or where will I eat.
How badly I slept.
Tonight were will I sleep?'
These lamenting thoughts
he should subdue -- one under training,
wandering without home.
Receiving food & cloth
at appropriate times,
he should have a sense of enough
for the sake of contentment.[3]
Guarded in regard to these things
going restrained into a village,
even when harassed
he shouldn't say a harsh word.
With eyes downcast,
& not footloose,
committed to jhana,
he should be continually wakeful.[4]
Strengthening equanimity,
centered within,
he should cut off any penchant
to conjecture or worry.
When reprimanded,
he should -- mindful --
rejoice;[5]
should smash any stubbornness
toward his fellows in the holy life;
should utter skillful words
that are not untimely;
should give no mind
to the gossip people might say.
And then there are in the world
the five kinds of dust
for whose dispelling, mindful
he should train:
with regard to forms, sounds, tastes,
smells, & tactile sensations
he should conquer passion;
with regard to these things
he should subdue his desire.
A monk, mindful,
his mind well-released,
contemplating the right Dhamma
at the right times,
on coming
to oneness
should annihilate
darkness,"
the Blessed One said.

Notes
1. The Buddha spent his next-to-last lifetime in the Tusita heaven, one of the highest levels on the sensual plane.
2. The fact that the Buddha answers this question in a straightforward manner illustrates the point that abandoning precepts and practices does not mean having no precepts and practices. See note 2 to Sn IV.13.
3. See AN 4.37 and AN 7.64.
4. See AN 4.37.
5. See Dhp 76-77.
See also: AN 5.77; AN 8.30

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.1

Sutta Nipata V.1
Ajita-manava-puccha
Ajita's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Ajita:
With what
is the world shrouded?
Because of what
doesn't it shine?
With what
is it smeared? Tell me.
What
is its great danger & fear?
The Buddha:
With ignorance
the world is shrouded.
Because of stinginess,
heedlessness,
it doesn't shine.
With longing
it's smeared -- I tell you.
Suffering-stress:
its great danger & fear.
Ajita:
They flow every which way,
the streams.
What is their blocking,
what their restraint
-- tell me --
with what are they finally stopped?
The Buddha:
Whatever streams
there are in the world:
their blocking is
mindfulness, mindfulness
is their restraint
-- I tell you --
with discernment
they're finally stopped.
Ajita:
Discernment & mindfulness,
name & form, dear sir:
Tell me, when asked this,
where are they brought to a halt?
The Buddha:
This question you've asked, Ajita,
I'll answer it for you
-- where name & form
are brought to a halt
without trace:
With the cessation of consciousness
they're brought
to a halt.
Ajita:
Those here who have fathomed the Dhamma,
those who are learners,
those who are run-of-the-mill:
When you, dear sir, astute,
are asked this,
tell me their manner of life.
The Buddha:
He should not hanker
for sensual pleasures,
should be limpid in mind.
Skilled in all mental qualities,
he, the monk, should live his life
mindfully.
Note
According to the Culaniddesa (Nd.II), the streams that "flow every which way" are the streams of craving, views, conceit, defilement, corruption, and ignorance that flow out the six sense media. The first two lines in Ven. Ajita's second set of questions (the first half-line in the Pali) is identical to the first half-line in Dhp. 340.
For a more detailed answer to Ajita's last set of questions, see SN 12.31.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.1a

Sutta Nipata V.1
Ajita-manava-puccha
Ajita's Questions
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

The Venerable Ajita: "By what is the world enveloped? Because of what is it not known? With what do you say it is soiled? What is its great fear?"
The Lord: "The world is enveloped by ignorance, Ajita. Because of wrongly directed desire and heedlessness it is not known (as it really is). It is soiled by longings and its great fear is suffering."
Ajita: "Everywhere flow the streams.[1] What is the obstruction for the streams, tell me the restricting of them, by what are they cut off?"
The Lord: "Whatever streams are in the world, it is mindfulness that obstructs them and restricts them, and by wisdom they are cut off."
Ajita: "It is just wisdom and mindfulness. Now mind-and-body, sir, explain this: where does it cease?"
The Lord: "This question you have asked, Ajita, I will answer for you: where mind-and-body completely cease. By the cessation of consciousness they cease."[2]
Ajita: "Those who have fully understood the Dhamma, those who are training and the other individuals here,[3] explain their (rule of) conduct."
The Lord: "Not craving for sensual pleasures and with a mind that is pure and tranquil[4] a bhikkhu should mindfully go forth, skillful in all situations." -- vv. 1032-1039

Notes
1. "The streams" are cravings flowing out towards pleasurable and desirable objects in the world.
2. This question and answer refers to the doctrine of dependent-arising (paticca-samuppada). Where rebirth-consciousness (pati-sandhi-vinnana) does not arise there is no establishment of an individual (mind-and-body, namarupa) in a realm of existence, nor the consequent appearance of old age and death and the other sufferings inherent in life.
3. "Those who have fully understood" are Arahants (perfected ones) who have reached the highest goal. "Those who are training" are those noble beings (ariya) who are working towards and are assured of that goal. The other individuals are ordinary beings (puthujjana) who have not yet reached assurance.
4. The word anavilo means pure, clear, tranquil, unagitated, unmuddied, etc. In the Dhammapada v. 82, the wise are compared to a deep lake with this quality.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.2

Sutta Nipata V.2
Tissa-metteyya-manava-puccha
Tissa-metteyya's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Tissa-metteyya:
Who
here in the world
is contented?
Who
has no agitations?
What thinker
knowing both sides,
doesn't adhere in between?
Whom
do you call a great person?
Who here
has gone past
the seamstress:
craving.
The Buddha:
He who
in the midst of sensualities,
follows the holy life,
always mindful, craving-free;
the monk who is
-- through fathoming things --
Unbound:
he has no agitations. He,
the thinker
knowing both sides,
doesn't adhere in between. He
I call a great person. He
here has gone past
the seamstress:
craving.

Note
AN 6.61 reports a discussion among several elder monks as to what is meant in this poem by "both sides" and "in between." Six of the elders express the following separate opinions:
- Contact is the first side, the origination of contact the second side, and the cessation of contact is in between.
- The past is the first side, the future the second, and the present is in between.
- Pleasant feeling is the first side, painful feeling the second, and neither-pleasant-nor-painful feeling is in between.
- Name (mental phenomena) is the first side, form (physical phenomena) the second, and consciousness is in between.
- The six external sense media (sights, sounds, aromas, flavors, tactile sensations, ideas) are the first side, the six internal sense media (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, intellect) the second side, and consciousness is in between.
- Self-identity is the first side, the origination of self-identity the second, and the cessation of self-identity is in between.
The issue is then taken to the Buddha, who states that all six interpretations are well-spoken, but the interpretation he had in mind when speaking the poem was the first.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.3

Sutta Nipata V.3
Punnaka-manava-puccha
Punnaka's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Punnaka:
To the one unperturbe
d,who has seen the root [of all things],
I have come with a question.
Because of what
have many human seers
-- noble warriors, brahmans --
offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
The Buddha:
Those many human seers
-- noble warriors, brahmans --
who have offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world, Punnaka,
hoping for more of this state of being,
offered their sacrifices
because of aging.
Punnaka:
Those many human seers
-- noble warriors, brahmans --
who have offered sacrifices to devas
here in the world:
Have they, O Blessed One,
heeding the path of sacrifice,
crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
The Buddha:
They hoped for, liked,
longed for,
so sacrificed
-- they longed for sensuality,
dependent on gain.
I tell you:
those who take on the yoke
of sacrifice,
impassioned with
the passion for becoming,
have not crossed over birth & aging.
Punnaka:
If those who take on the yoke of sacrifice
haven't crossed over the flood, dear sir,
then who in the world
of beings divine & human
has crossed over birth & aging?
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
The Buddha:
He who has fathomed
the far & near in the world,
for whom there is nothing
perturbing in the world --
his vices evaporated,
undesiring, untroubled,
at peace -- he, I tell you, has crossed over birth
& aging.

Note
AN 3.32 and AN 4.41 contain discussions of the last verse in this poem.
In AN 3.32, Ven. Ananda asks the Buddha, "Could it be that a monk could attain a concentration of such a sort such that, with regard to this conscious body, he would have no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, such that with regard to all external themes [topics of concentration] he would have no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, and that he would enter & remain in the release of awareness & release of discernment in which there is no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit?"
The Buddha answers that it is possible, and that such a concentration can be attained when one is percipient in this way: "This is peace, this is exquisite -- the resolution of all mental processes; the relinquishment of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding." He then adds that it was in connection to this state of mind that he uttered the last verse in this poem.
In AN 4.41, the Buddha identifies four ways of developing concentration: "There is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to a pleasant abiding in the here & now. There is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to the attainment of knowledge & vision. There is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to mindfulness & alertness. There is the development of concentration that, when developed & pursued, leads to the ending of the effluents." (For details, see AN 4.41) The Buddha then adds that he uttered the last verse of this poem in connection with these four ways of developing concentration.

Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
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Sn V.3a

Sutta Nipata V.3
Punnaka-manava-puccha
Punnaka's Questions
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

The Venerable Punnaka: "To him who is free from craving, who has seen the root (of things)[1] I have come with a question: for what reason did sages, warriors, brahmanas and other men prepare, here in this world, various sacrificial gifts for the gods (devata)? I ask the Lord this, let him tell me the answer."
The Lord: "Whatever sages, warriors, brahmanas and other men, Punnaka, prepared various sacrificial gifts for the gods, they did so in the hope of this or that (future) existence, being induced by (the fact of) old age and decay."
Punnaka: "By preparing various sacrificial gifts for the gods, being zealous in sacrificing, do they cross beyond birth and decay, Lord?"
The Lord: "They hope and extol, pray and sacrifice for things of the senses, Punnaka. For the sake of such reward they pray. These devotees of sacrifice, infatuated by their passion for existence,[2] do not cross beyond birth and decay, I say."
Punnaka: "If these devotees of sacrifice do not cross beyond birth and decay through sacrifice, Sir, then by what practice does one cross beyond birth and decay in this world of gods and men?"
The Lord: "He who has comprehended in the world the here and the beyond, in whom there is no perturbation by anything in the world, who is calm, free from the smoldering fires,[3] untroubled and desireless, -- he has crossed beyond birth and decay, I say." -- vv. 1043-1048

Notes
1. "The root of unwholesome actions, etc." (Comy). There are six roots or basic conditions in a person leading to the performance of unwholesome (unskilled) and wholesome (skilled) actions: greed, aversion, delusion, non-greed (renunciation, detachment), non-aversion (love) and non-delusion(wisdom). The Buddha has seen and understood this as it really is.
2. Or, "burning with lust for life."
3. The three "fires" of greed, aversion and delusion. This is a punning reference, also to be seen in the previous note, to the brahmana's sacrificial fire.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.4

Sutta Nipata V.4
Mettagu-manava-puccha
Mettagu's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Mettagu:
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
I regard you as knowledgeable,
with your self developed.
From what have the many
forms of stress & suffering
arisen in the world?
The Buddha:
If you ask me
the coming-into-being
of stress & suffering,
I will tell it to you
as one who discerns.
From acquisition [1] as cause
the many forms of stress & suffering
come into being in the world.
Whoever, unknowing, makes acquisitions
-- the fool --
comes to stress & suffering
again
& again.
So one who's discerning,
focused on the birth
of stress & suffering,
their coming-into-being,
should make no acquisitions.
Mettagu:
What we asked, you've expounded.
Now we ask something else.
Please tell us.
How do the prudent
cross over the flood of
birth & aging,
lamentation & sorrow?
Please, sage, declare this to me
as this Dhamma has
been known by you.
The Buddha:
I will teach you the Dhamma
-- in the here & now,
not quoted words --
knowing which, living mindfully,
you'll cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.
Mettagu:
And I relish, Great Seer,that Dhamma
supreme,
knowing which, living mindfully,
I'll cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.
The Buddha:
Whatever you're alert to,
above, below,
across, in between: [2]
dispelling any delight,
any laying claim
to those things,
consciousness should not take a stance
in becoming.
The monk who dwells thus
-- mindful, heedful --
letting go of his sense of mine,
knowing right here would abandon
birth & aging,
lamentation & sorrow,
stress & suffering.
Mettagu:
I relish, Gotama, the Great Seer's words
well-expounded, without acquisition,
for yes, O Blessed One,
you've abandoned stress & suffering
as this Dhamma has
been known by you.
And they, too, would abandon stress & suffering
those whom you, sage,
would admonish unceasingly.
Having met you, I bow down to you,
Great One.
Perhaps you will admonish me
unceasingly.
The Buddha:
Whoever you recognize
as a knowledgeable brahman,
possessing nothing,
unentangled
in sensuality & becoming
yes, he has crossed over the flood.
Having crossed to the far shore,
he is without
harshness or doubt.
And any one who has realized,
who is knowledgeable here,
having unentangled the bond
to becoming and non-, [3]
free of craving,
untroubled,
undesiring -- he,I tell you, has crossed over birth
& aging.

Notes
1. The term "acquisition" (upadhi), in its everyday sense, denotes the possessions, baggage, and other paraphernalia that a nomadic family might carry around with it in its wanderings. On the psychological level, it denotes anything for which one might have a sense of "I" or "mine" and which, consequently, one would carry around as a kind of mental baggage.
2. Nd.II gives six different valid interpretations for "above, below, across, in between":
- above = the future; below = the past; across and in between = the present
- above = the deva world; below = hell; across and in between = the human world
- above = skillfulness; below = unskillfulness; across and in between = indeterminate mental qualities
- above = the property of formlessness; below = the property of sensuality; across and in between = the property of form
- above = feelings of pleasure; below = feelings of pain; across and in between = feelings of neither pleasure nor pain
- above = the body from the feet on up; below = the body from the crown of the head on down; across and in between = the middle of the body
3. Becoming and non-becoming (or dis-becoming) are the two most subtle objects of craving that lead on to continued existence -- and suffering -- in the round of birth & death.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp5-04.html

Sn V.4a

Sutta Nipata V.4
Mettagu-manava-puccha
Mettagu's Questions
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

The Venerable Mettagu: "I ask the Lord this question, may he tell me the answer to it. I know him to be a master of knowledge and a perfected being. From whence have arisen these many sufferings evident in the world?"
The Lord: "You have asked me the source of suffering. Mettagu, I will tell it to you as it has been discerned by me. These many sufferings evident in the world have arisen from worldly attachments. Whoever ignorantly creates an attachment, that stupid person comes upon suffering again and again. Therefore a man of understanding should not create attachment, seeing it is the source of suffering."
Mettagu: "What I did ask you have explained, now I ask another question. Come tell me this: how do the wise cross the flood, birth and old age, sorrow and grief? Explain it thoroughly to me, O sage, for this Dhamma has been understood[1] by you."
The Lord: "I will set forth the Dhamma, Mettagu, a teaching to be directly perceived,[2] not something based on hearsay, by experiencing which and living mindfully one may pass beyond the entanglements of the world."
Mettagu: "I rejoice in the thought of that highest Dhamma, great sage, by experiencing which and living mindfully one may pass beyond the entanglements of the world."
The Lord: "Whatever you clearly comprehend, Mettagu, above, below, across and in between, get rid of delight in it. Rid yourself of habitual attitudes[3] and (life affirming) consciousness.[4] Do not continue in existence. Living thus, mindful and vigilant, a bhikkhu who has forsaken selfish attachments may, by understanding, abandon suffering, birth and old age, sorrow and grief, even here in this life."
Mettagu: "I rejoice in the words of the great sage. Well explained, O Gotama, is the state of non-attachment.[5] The Lord has surely abandoned suffering as this Dhamma has been realized by him. They will certainly abandon suffering who are constantly admonished by you, O Sage. Having understood, I venerate it, Noble One. May the Lord constantly admonish me also."
The Lord: "Whom you know as a true brahmana, a master of knowledge, owning nothing, not attached to sensual (-realm) existence, he has certainly crossed this flood. Having crossed beyond he is untainted and freed from doubt. One who has discarded this clinging (leading) to renewal of existence is a man who has realized the highest knowledge. Free from craving, undistressed, desireless, he has crossed beyond birth and old age, I say." -- vv. 1049-1060

Notes
1. The Pali word "vidito" also means, found out, discovered.
2. Ditthe dhamme: to be seen for oneself in this life or here and now. It is an expression used of Nibbana.
3. Or, "fixed views."
4. Or, "kamma-producing consciousness."
5. I.e., Nibbana.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.5

Sutta Nipata V.5
Dhotaka-manava-puccha
Dhotaka's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Dhotaka:
I ask you, O Blessed One.
Please tell me.
I hope for your words, Great Seer.
Having heard your pronouncement,
I'll train for my own
Unbinding.
The Buddha:
In that case,
be ardent -- astute & mindful right here.
Then, having heard my pronouncement,
train for your own
Unbinding.
Dhotaka:
I see in the world of beings
divine & human,a brahman who lives
possessing
nothing.
I pay homage to him
the All-around Eye.
From my doubts, O Sakyan, release me!
The Buddha:
No one in the world, Dhotaka,
can I release from doubting.
But knowing the most excellent Dhamma,
you will cross over the flood.
Dhotaka:
Teach with compassion, O brahman,
the Dhamma of seclusion
so that I may know
-- so that I, unafflicted as space,
may live right here,
independent,
at peace.
The Buddha:
I will teach you peace
-- in the here & now,
not quoted words --
knowing which, living mindfully,
you'll go beyond
entanglement in the world.
Dhotaka:
And I relish, Great Seer,that peace
supreme,
knowing which, living mindfully,
I'll go beyond
entanglement in the world.
The Buddha:
Whatever you're alert to,
above, below,
across, in between:
knowing it as a bond in the world,
don't create craving
for becoming or non-.

Note
Craving for becoming and non-becoming (or dis-becoming) are the two most subtle forms of craving that lead to continued existence -- and suffering -- in the round of birth & death.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.6

Sutta Nipata V.6
Upasiva-manava-puccha
Upasiva's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Upasiva:
Alone, Sakyan, & with nothing to rely on,
I can't venture acrossthe great flood.
Tell me, All-around Eye,
the support to rely on
for crossing over this flood.
The Buddha:
Mindfully focused on nothingness, [1]
relying on 'There isn't,
'you should cross over the flood.
Abandoning sensual pleasures,
abstaining from conversations,
keep watch for the ending of
craving, night & day.
Upasiva:
One free from passion
for all sensual pleasures
relying on nothingness, letting go of all else,
released in the highest emancipation of perception:
Does he stay there unaffected?
The Buddha:
One free from passion
for all sensual pleasures
relying on nothingness, letting go of all else,
released in the highest emancipation of perception:
He stays there unaffected.
Upasiva:
If he stays there, O All-around Eye,
unaffected for many years,
right there
would he be cooled & released?
Would his consciousness be like that?
The Buddha:
As a flame overthrown by the force of the wind
goes to an end
that cannot be classified,[2]
so the sage free from naming activity
goes to an end
that cannot be classified.
Upasiva:
He who has reached the end:
Does he not exist,
or is he for eternity
free from dis-ease?
Please, sage, declare this to me
as this phenomenon has been known by you.
The Buddha:
One who has reached the end
has no criterion [3]
by which anyone would say that --
for him it doesn't exist.
When all phenomena are done away with,
all means of speaking
are done away with as well.

Notes
1. "Nothingness" here denotes the dimension of nothingness, one of the four levels of mental absorption on formless themes. One attains this level, after surmounting the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, by focusing on the perception, "There is nothing." MN 26 tells us that Alara Kalama, the Buddha's first teacher when the latter was still a Bodhisatta, had attained this level of mental absorption and had thought that it was the highest possible attainment. The Bodhisatta left him upon realizing that it was not true liberation from stress and suffering. Nevertheless, the dimension of nothingness can be used as a basis for the insight leading to that liberation. On this point, see Sn.V.14 and AN 9.36.
2. For a discussion of this passage in light of early Buddhist theories of fire, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, Chapter 1.
3. For a discussion of the meaning of "criterion" in this passage, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, Chapter 1.
Revised: Sun 14 October 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp5-06.html

Sn V.7

Sutta Nipata V.7
Nanda-manava-puccha
Nanda's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

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

Note
1. For a discussion of the abandoning of precepts and practices, see The Mind Like Fire Unbound, Chapters 3 and 4.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.8

Sutta Nipata V.8
Hemaka-manava-puccha
Hemaka's Question
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Hemaka:
In the past,
before hearing Gotama's teaching,
when anyone explained 'It was,' 'It will be,'
all that was hearsay,
quoted words.
All that promoted conjecture
and gave me no pleasure.
Now, sage, teach me the Dhamma
demolishing craving,
knowing which, living mindfully,
one would cross over beyond
entanglement in the world.
The Buddha:
Here, Hemaka,
with regard to things that are dear
-- seen, heard, sensed, & cognized --
there is:
the dispelling of passion & desire,
the undying state of Unbinding.
Those knowing this, mindful,
fully unbound
in the here & now,
are forever calmed,
have crossed over beyond
entanglement in the world.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.9

Sutta Nipata V.9
Todeyya-manava-puccha
Todeyya's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Todeyya:
One in whom
there dwell no sensualities;
one in whom
no craving is found;
one who has crossed over perplexity --
his emancipation:
what is it like?
The Buddha:
One in whom
there dwell no sensualities;
one in whom
no craving is found;
one who has crossed over perplexity --
his emancipation
is not other than that.
Todeyya:
Is he without desire,
or desiring?
Discerning orstill acquiring discernment?
Describe the sage to me, Sakyan
with the all-around eye,
so that I may recognize
what he is like.
The Buddha:
He's without desire,
not desiring;
discerning,
not still acquiring discernment.
Recognize the sage, Todeyya,
as having
nothing,unentangled
in sensuality
& becoming.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.10

Sutta Nipata V.10
Kappa-manava-puccha
Kappa's Question
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Kappa:
For one stranded in the middle of the lake,
in the flood of great danger
-- birth --
overwhelmed with aging & death:
Tell me the island, dear sir,
and show me the island
so that this may not happen again.
The Buddha:
For one stranded in the middle of the lake,
in the flood of great danger
-- birth --
overwhelmed with aging & death,
I will tell you the island, Kappa.
Having nothing,
clinging to no thing:
That is the island,
there is no other.
That's Unbinding, I tell you,
the total ending of aging & death.
Those knowing this, mindful,
fully unbound
in the here & now,
don't serve as Mara's servants,
don't come under Mara's sway.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp5-10.html

Sn V.11

Sutta Nipata V.11
Jatukanni-manava-puccha
Jatukannin's Question
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Jatukannin:
Hearing that there was a hero
-- desiring no sensuality,
having crossed over the flood --
I've come with a question:
Tell me the state of peace,
O One with quick eyes. O Blessed One,
tell me
as it actually is.
For the Blessed One lives
having surpassed sensuality,
as the radiant sun, in its radiance,
the earth.
Limited my discernment,
O One whose discernment's profound.
Teach me to know the Dhamma,
the abandoning here
of birth
& aging.
The Buddha:
Subdue greed for sensual pleasures,
& see renunciation as rest.
Let there be nothing grasped
or rejected by you.
Burn up what's before,
and have nothing for after.
If you don't grasp
at what's in between, [1]
you will go about, calm.
One completely devoid of greed
for name & form, brahman,has
no effluents
by which he would go
under Mara's sway.

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

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp5-11.html

Sn V.12

Sutta Nipata V.12
Bhadravudha-manava-puccha
Bhadravudha's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Bhadravudha:
I entreat the one
who is very intelligent,
released, unperturbed
-- who has
abandoned home,
abandoned delight,
abandoned resemblances,
cut through craving,
crossed over the flood.
Having heard the Great One, they will leave
-- the many gathered
from many lands, hero,
in hopes of your words.
So tell them, please,
how this Dhamma has
been known to you.
The Buddha:
Subdue craving & clinging
-- all --
above, below,
across, in between. [1]
For whatever people cling to in the world,
it's through that
that Mara pursues them.
So a monk, mindful,
seeing these people
clinging to entanglement
as entangled in Death's realm,
should cling to nothing
in all the world,
every world.

Note
1. For Nd.II's discussion of the various meanings of the objects of craving "above, below, across, in between," see Note [2] to Sn.V.4 (Mettagu's Question).
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.13

Sutta Nipata V.13
Udaya-manava-puccha
Udaya's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

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

Notes
1. For a discussion of the "gnosis of emancipation" -- the state of knowledge consisting of mental absorption coupled with an analysis of mental states, see AN 9.36 and Section III.F in The Wings to Awakening.
2. AN 3.33 contains a discussion of this verse. The Buddha tells Ven. Sariputta that one should train oneself such that "with regard to this conscious body, there will be no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, such that with regard to all external themes [topics of concentration] there will be no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit, and that we will enter & remain in the release of awareness & release of discernment in which there is no 'I'-making or 'mine'-making or obsession of conceit." When one has trained in this way, he says, one is called a person who has cut through craving, unraveled the fetter, who has, through the right penetration of conceit, put an end to suffering & stress. He then states that it was in connection to this state that he uttered this verse.
3. For a discussion of "bringing consciousness to a halt" -- showing that it is not an annihilation of consciousness, but rather the ending of its proliferating activity -- see SN 22.53.
Revised: Mon 10 September 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp5-13.html

Sn V.14

Sutta Nipata V.14
Posala-manava-puccha
Posala's Questions
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Posala:
To one who reveals the past
-- unperturbed,
his doubts cut through --
who has gone to the beyond
of all phenomena,
I've come with a question.
I ask the Sakyan about the knowledge [1]
of one devoid of perception of forms,
who has abandoned all the body,
every body,
who sees, within & without,
'There is nothing':
How is he
to be led further on?
The Buddha:
The Tathagata, knowing directly
all stations of consciousness, [2]
knows for one stationed in them
release
& the steps leading there.
Knowing directly
the origin of nothingness
to be the fetter of delight,
one then sees there clearly.
That's his genuine knowledge --
the brahman who has lived
to fulfillment.

Notes
1. Posala's question concerning the knowledge of the person in the dimension of nothingness has a double meaning: He is asking about the Buddha's knowledge about that person, and also what a person in that dimension of attainment should do to develop his/her knowledge even further. The Buddha's answer deals with the question in both its senses.
2. On the seven stations of consciousness, see DN 15. The dimension of nothingness, discussed in this dialogue, is the seventh and most refined.
Revised: Wed 12 December 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp5-14.html

Sn V.15

Sutta Nipata V.15
Mogharaja-manava-puccha
Mogharaja's Question
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Mogharaja:
Twice now, O Sakyan,
I've asked you,
but you, One with vision,
haven't answered me.
When asked the third time
the celestial seer answers:
so I have heard.
This world, the next world,
the Brahma world with its devas:
I don't know how they're viewed
by the glorious Gotama.
So to the one who has seen
to the far extreme,
I've come with a question:
How does one view the world
so as not to be seen
by Death's king?
The Buddha:
View the world, Mogharaja,
as void -- always mindful
to have removed any view
about self.
This way one is above & beyond death.
This is how one views the world
so as not to be seen
by Death's king.

Note
On viewing the world as void, see S.XXXV.85.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
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Sn V.15a

Sutta Nipata V.15
Mogharaja-manava-puccha
Mogharaja's Question
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

The Venerable Mogharaja: "Twice have I asked Sakka [1] but the Seeing One has not answered me. I have heard a divine sage replies when asked a third time. I do not know the view of the greatly famous Gotama concerning this world, the next world and the Brahma-world with its deities. To him of supreme vision I have come with a question: how should one regard the world so that one is not seen by the King of Death?"
The Lord: "Look upon the world as empty,[2] Mogharaja, ever mindful; uprooting the view of self you may thus be one who overcomes death. So regarding the world one is not seen by the King of Death." -- vv. 1116-1119

Notes
1. The name "Sakka" is used here as a title for the Buddha. It means, "a man of the Sakya clan." The Buddha is also sometimes called Sakyamuni, "the sage of the Sakyas."
2. In the Samyutta-nikaya (vol. iv, p. 54) the Venerable Ananda asks: "How is the world empty, venerable sir?" And the Lord replies: "Because, Ananda, it is empty of a self or what belongs to a self, therefore it is said, 'the world is empty.'"
The "world," here and elsewhere, is not to be understood in the way we usually think of it, but is defined as the five aggregates (khandha) of material form, feeling, perception, activities and consciousness, or as the eye and visible objects, the ear and sounds, etc., that is to say, the whole of our subjective and objective experience.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp5-15a.html

Sn V.16

Sutta Nipata V.16
Pingiya-manava-puccha
Pingiya's Question
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

Pingiya:
I'm old & weak,
my complexion dull.
I've blurry eyes
and trouble hearing,
but may I not perish deluded,
confused!
Teach me the Dhamma
so that I may know
the abandoning here
of birth & aging.
The Buddha:
Seeing people suffering
on account of their bodies --
heedless people are oppressed
on account of their bodies
-- then heedful, Pingiya,
let go of the body
for the sake of no further becoming.
Pingiya:
In the four cardinal directions,
the four intermediate,
above & below
-- the ten directions --
there is nothing in the world
unseen, unheard,
unsensed, uncognized by you.
Teach me the Dhamma
so that I may know
the abandoning here
of birth & aging.
The Buddha:
Seeing people,
victims of craving --
aflame, overwhelmed with aging
-- then heedful, Pingiya,
let go of craving
for the sake of no further becoming.

Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp5-16.html

Sn V.16a

Sutta Nipata V.16
Pingiya-manava-puccha
Pingiya's Question
Translated from the Pali by John D. Ireland.
For free distribution only.

From The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipata (WH 82), translated by John D. Ireland (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983). Copyright ©1983 Buddhist Publication Society. Used with permission.

The Venerable Pingiya: "I am old and feeble, the comeliness of youth has vanished. My sight is weak and I am hard of hearing. I do not wish to perish whilst still confused. Teach me the Dhamma by understanding which I may abandon birth and decay."[1]
The Lord: "Seeing heedless people afflicted and suffering through their bodies, Pingiya, you should be heedful and renounce body so as to not come again to birth."
Pingiya: "In the ten directions -- the four quarters, four between, and those above and below -- there is nothing in the world not seen, heard, sensed or understood by you. Teach me the Dhamma by understanding which I may abandon birth and decay."
The Lord: "Seeing men caught in craving, Pingiya, tormented and afflicted by old age, you should be heedful and renounce craving so as to not come again to birth." -- vv. 1120-1123

Note
1. Jara: decay, decrepitude, old age.
Revised: Wed 16 May 2001
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/suttanipata/snp5-16a.html