The Connected Discourses of the Buddha

by Bhikkhu Bodhi

  436 Be and Ee1 & 2 read pāda a: ubhinnaṃ tikicchantānaṃ, which Spk (Be) includes in the lemma and glosses ubhinnaṃ tikicchantaṃ, adding: “Or the latter is itself the reading.” In Se and Spk (Se) the readings are exactly the reverse. As the sense requires an accusative singular, the reading ubhinnaṃ tikicchantaṃ taṃ, found at Th 444a, offends against neither grammar nor metre. Ee2 has adopted this reading for the exact parallel v. 882 below, but strangely reverts to ubhinnaṃ tikicchantānaṃ in the third parallel, v. 891.

  437 He was the youngest of the Bhāradvāja brothers.

  438 Spk: “For one who understands the excellence of endurance, this victory—patient endurance—is his alone (yā titikkhā vijānato adhivāsanāya guṇaṃ vijānantassa titikkhā adhivāsanā, ayaṃ tassa vijānato va jayo).” Note that neuter jayaṃ is here nominative.

  439 Spk: He was another of the Bhāradvāja brothers. The name Bilaṅgika was assigned to him by the redactors because he became rich by selling delicious conjee (kañjika, a synonym for bilaṅga).

  440 Spk: He was so angry his three brothers had been ordained as monks that he could not speak.

  441 Spk says that the name Ahiṃsaka may have been assigned to him by the redactors because he “asked a question” (i.e., made an assertion) about harmlessness; or, alternatively, Ahiṃsaka may have been his given name. From his opening statement and the Buddha’s reply the second alternative seems more likely.

  442 Spk-pṭ explains the sīla referred to in pāda bas pañcavidhaniyama , an obvious allusion to the second limb of Patañjali’s Yoga system.Spk: By knowledge (vijjā) he means the Three Vedas, by conduct (caraṇa) the conduct of one’s clan (gottacaraṇa; Spk-pṭ: the clan itself, called conduct).

  As vijjācaraṇasampanna is one of the nine chief epithets of the Buddha and is also used to describe the arahant (see v. 596), the second couplet, if read apart from the commentarial explanation, expresses the Buddhistic rather than the brahmanical point of view. See too the Buddha’s argument with the brahmin youth Ambaṭṭha at DN I 99,19-100,16.

  443 A brahmin of this name is encountered in the Vasala Sutta (Sn I, 7; p. 21), but he seems to be a different person. According to Spk, this brahmin was given the soubriquet “Aggika” because he tended the sacred fire.

  444 Spk: He speaks of one endowed “with the triple knowledge” (tīhi vijjāhi) with reference to the Three Vedas. By “proper birth” (jātimā) he means one of pure birth through seven generations.

  445 The Buddha’s reply refers to the tevijjā of his own system of training: pāda a, to knowledge of the recollection of past abodes; pāda b, to the divine eye, i.e., the knowledge of the passing away and rebirth of beings; and pāda c, to the knowledge of the destruction of the taints.

  446 Spk paraphrases the idea behind vv. 636-37 thus: “Though I stood for such a long time waiting for alms, you would not give me even a spoonful; but now, after I have revealed all the Buddha-qualities to you as though spreading out sesamum seeds on a mat, (you wish to give). This food has been gained, as it were, by chanting a song; therefore, because it has been ‘chanted over with verses’ (gāthābhigīta) it is not fit to be eaten by me. As such a principle exists (dhamme sati), out of regard for the Dhamma, established on the Dhamma, the Buddhas sustain their life. This is their rule of conduct; this is their way of livelihood (esā vutti ayaṃ ājīvo). Such food is to be discarded and only what is righteously gained is to be eaten.”The Buddha’s practice is discussed at Mil 228-32. CPD (s.v. abhigīta) suggests that the reason the Buddha rejects such food is because it has been “spoken over with mantras”—by the brahmin while chanting the sacrificial hymns—but to me it is doubtful the Buddha would reject food for such a reason. Further, according to MW, gāthā is not used with reference to the verses of the Vedas, and thus here the word more likely refers to the Buddha’s own verses.

  Spk does not comment on kevalinaṃ, “the consummate one,” in pāda a, but Pj II 153,9-10 (to Sn 82) says: Kevalinan ti sabbaguṇaparipuṇṇaṃ sabbayogavisaṃyuttaṃ vā; “a consummate one is one complete in all excellent qualities or one detached from all bonds.” Spk II 276, 32-277, 1 (to SN III 59,34) explains: Kevalino ti sakalino katasabbakiccā; “the consummate ones are entire, they have completed all their tasks.” For a further selection of relevant passages, see GD, p. 161, n. to 82. For reflections on the implications of the term, see Ñāṇananda, SN-Anth 2:100-1.

  Spk explains kukkuccavūpasantaṃ thus: hatthakukkuccādīnaṃ vasena vūpasantakukkuccaṃ; “one in whom remorse has been stilled by the stilling of fidgety behaviour with the hands, etc.” Here kukkucca is understood in the literal sense of “bad activity” or “fidgety behaviour” rather than in the extended sense of remorse or worry, one of the five hindrances.

  447 Spk: This was his thought: “The portion of milk-rice placed in the fire has been eaten by Mahābrahmā. If this remainder is given to a brahmin, one born from the mouth of Brahmā, my father and son would be pleased and I will clear the path to the brahmā world.” See Deussen, Sixty Upaniṣads of the Veda, 1:148: “The residue (ucchiṣṭaṃ) of the offering, i.e., what remains in the ladle, in the saucepan, or vessel, is to be eaten only by a brāhmaṇa, not in his own house; no kṣatriya or vaiśya is to eat it.” This explains why the brahmin, just below, is so concerned about the Buddha’s caste.

  448 Fire is indeed produced from any wood (kaṭṭhā have jāyati jātavedo). Spk: This is the purport: “It is not the case that only fire produced from a pure type of wood, such as sal-tree logs, can perform the work of fire, but not fire produced from the wood of a dog’s trough, etc. Rather, by reason of its flame, etc., fire produced from any kind of wood can do the work of fire. So you should not think that only one born in a brahmin family is worthy of offerings, but not one born in a caṇḍāla family, etc. Whether from a low family or a high family, an arahant sage is a thoroughbred—resolute, restrained by a sense of shame.” See in this connection the arguments at MN II 129-30, 151-53.

  449 Spk explains one who has reached the end of knowledge (vedāntagū) in pāda b thus: “one gone to the end of the four path knowledges, or one gone to the end of defilements by the four path knowledges” (catunnaṃ maggavedānaṃ antaṃ, catūhi vā maggavedehi kilesānaṃ antaṃ gato). Evidently, the Buddha is here deliberately using brahmanical terminology in order to adjust the Dhamma to the mental disposition of the brahmin.

  450 Spk: Why does he say this? It is said that when the brahmin presented the food to the Buddha, the devas from the four world-regions, etc., suffused the food with nutritive essence (ojā) produced by their celestial power. Thus it became extremely subtle. It was too subtle for the coarse digestive systems of ordinary human beings to digest properly; yet, because the food had a base of coarse material food, it was too coarse for the devas to digest. Even dry-insight arahants could not digest it. Only arahants who obtain the eight meditative attainments could digest it by the power of their attainment, while the Blessed One could digest it by his own natural digestive power.

  451 Spk: This did not occur through the power of the food itself but through the Buddha’s power. The Buddha had made such a determination so that the brahmin would be favourably disposed to hear the Dhamma.

  452 Khāribhāra, “shoulder-load,” is a carrying device commonly used in South Asia, consisting of two trays at each end of a pole borne across the shoulder.Spk: “Conceit, O brahmin, is your shoulder-load: When a shoulder-load is being carried, with each step the weight of the load brings the trays into contact with the ground; similarly, though conceit props one up on account of birth, clan, family, etc., it causes envy to arise and thereby pulls one down to the four realms of misery. Anger the smoke: because the fire of knowledge does not shine when defiled by the smoke of anger. False speech the ashes : because the fire of knowledge does not burn when covered by false speech. The tongue is the ladle: my [the Buddha’s] tongue is a ladle offering the Dhamma sacrifice. The
heart the altar: the hearts of beings are the altar, the fireplace, for my offering of the Dhamma sacrifice. The self (attā) is the mind.”

  453 Spk: “Just as, after you have worshipped the fire, you enter the Sundarikā River and wash the ashes, soot, and sweat from your body, so for me the Dhamma of the eightfold path is the lake where I bathe thousands of living beings. The lake is limpid (anāvila) because, unlike your river which becomes muddy when four or five bathe in it at the same time, the lake of the Dhamma remains limpid and clear even when hundreds of thousands enter it to bathe.” On “the bath without water,” see v. 198ef and n. 119.

  454 Spk suggests several alternative schemes by which the three terms in pāda a—sacca, dhamma, and saṃyama—can be correlated with the eightfold path: e.g., sacca = right speech; saṃyama = right action and right livelihood; dhamma = the other five factors. Spk explains brahmacariya as if it were equivalent to the entire eightfold path (magga-brahmacariya ), but it seems more likely that here the term was originally intended in the specific sense of celibacy, to be understood as a fourth item alongside the preceding three and not as an umbrella term comprising them.In pāda b, the attainment of Brahmā (brahmapatti): the attainment of the best (seṭṭhapatti). Based on the middle (majjhesitā): avoiding the extremes of eternalism and annihilationism. [Spk-pṭ: That is, based on the development of the middle way by avoiding all extremes such as sluggishness and restlessness, of which the pair eternalism and annihilationism is merely one instance.]

  In pāda c, the upright ones (ujjubhūtesu): the arahants. Spk explains that the sat here represents tvaṃ, the -t- being a mere conjunct consonant (padasandhi). Though not as common as its use to convey a first person meaning, the third person demonstrative pronoun is occasionally used with a second person sense.

  455 In pāda c, ajjasaṭṭhiṃ na dissanti is glossed by Spk, “they are not seen for six days from today,” indicating that saṭṭhi here is an alternative form of chaṭṭha, sixth. Spk-pṭ: Ajjasaṭṭhiṃ is an accusative used to indicate a continuing passage of time (accantasaṃyoge c’etaṃ upayogavacanaṃ).

  456 Spk: As long as the brahmin was affluent, even though his daughters were widows, their parents-in-law allowed them to stay in their husbands’ homes. But when he became poor their parents-in- law sent them to their father’s home. Then, when he would take his meals, their children would put their hands in his plate and he would not find sufficient room for his own hand.

  457 Spk appends a story which relates how the Buddha took the brahmin (after his novice ordination) to King Pasenadi. The king repaid his debts, provided for the welfare of his daughters, and placed his wife in the position of his own grandmother, thereby removing the obstacles to his higher ordination as a bhikkhu.

  458 This sutta is also found at Sn I, 4 (pp. 12-16), but the prose portion adds the wonder of the sizzling cake described in 7 : 9 . It also has the brahmin request ordination as a bhikkhu and attain arahantship. It must have been a common subject for sermons, as the commentary to it is long and elaborate. It is also included in the Maha Pirit Pota, “The Great Book of Protection,” the standard collection of protective suttas used in Sri Lanka.

  459 Spk: He was called thus because he earned his living by ploughing. This occasion was not an ordinary work day but a special festival which marked the inception of the light-soil sowing (paṃsuvappa). Spk gives a detailed account of the preparations and the festival activities.

  460 Spk: At the food distribution (parivesanā) five hundred ploughmen had taken silver vessels, etc., and were sitting while the food was being distributed to them. Then the Buddha arrived and stood in a high place within range of the brahmin, close enough so that they could easily converse.

  461 Spk: Why did the Blessed One begin with faith? Because this brahmin was reputed to be intelligent (paññavā) but was deficient in faith. Thus a talk on faith would be helpful to him. Why is faith called the seed (saddhā bījaṃ)? Because it is the foundation of all wholesome qualities. When a seed is planted in the ground, it becomes established by its root and sends up a sprout. Through the root it absorbs the soil’s nutrients and water, and it grows through the stalk in order to yield the grain. Coming to growth and maturity, it finally produces a head bearing many rice grains. So faith becomes established with the root of virtue and sends up the sprout of serenity and insight. Absorbing the nutrients of serenity and insight through the root of virtue, it grows through the stalk of the noble path to yield the crop of the noble fruits. Finally, after coming to growth through six stages of purification, and producing the sap of purification by knowledge and vision, it culminates in the fruit of arahantship bearing many discriminating knowledges and direct knowledges (anekapaṭisambhidābhiññā). Therefore it is said, “Faith is the seed.” On austerity (tapa), see n. 119. Spk: Here sense restraint is intended. Wisdom (paññā) is insight together with path-wisdom. Just as the brahmin has a yoke and plough, so the Blessed One has the twofold insight and (path-)wisdom. Spk devotes several pages to the analogy between path factors and ploughing implements. I adopt the renderings of ploughing terms from GD, p. 9.

  462 Spk: In some places gentleness (soracca) denotes bodily and verbal nontransgression, but this is not intended here. Here the fruit of arahantship is intended, for that is called soracca (the abstract noun of su + rata) because it finds delight in the good Nibbāna (sundare nibbāne ratattā). What he is saying is this: “By attaining arahantship at the foot of the Bodhi Tree, I am released, and never again must I come under the yoke.”

  463 Spk explains yogakkhema as Nibbāna “because it is secure from the bonds” (yogehi khemattā). The four bonds are identical with the four floods, on which see n. 1. For a discussion of the literary history of yogakkhema, see EV I, n. to 32.To where, having gone, one does not sorrow (yattha gantvā na socati). Spk: It goes to the unconditioned state known as Nibbāna, which is the extraction of all the darts of sorrow.

  464 Spk explains that the phrases “a second time” and “a third time” mean the next day and the day after that. Although the text itself conveys the impression that the Buddha went to the same house for alms three times on the same morning, this would be contrary to proper monastic etiquette, so Spk must be reliable on this point.

  465 Pakaṭṭhaka < Skt prakarṣaka, “harasser, disquieter,” from prakṛṣ, to trouble, to disturb (SED). Spk glosses with rasagiddha, “greedy for tastes.” Spk-pṭ explains: “He is dragged forward by craving for tastes” (rasataṇhāya pakaṭṭho).

  466 That is, he was afflicted by an illness arisen from the wind humour, one of the three bodily humours according to the ancient Indian system of ayurvedic medicine; on wind as one of the eight causes of illness, see 36:21.Spk: The Buddha was prone to occasional gastric ailments as a consequence of his six years of ascetic practices before his enlightenment.

  467 For a full analysis of the two questions, see 3:24 and nn. 253, 254. I take kathaṃ in pāda d here, and evaṃ in v. 678d, to be mere metrical fillers.

  468 A much more elaborate version of the same encounter is found at Dhp-a IV 7-15, where it forms the background story to Dhp 324; see BL 3:201-5. The story is incorporated into Spk.

  469 Th-a II 179-80 relates exactly the same story about the elder Jenta (Th 423-28), the son of the king of Kosala’s chaplain. In his youth he was stiff with conceit (mānatthaddha, used as a description, not a name), but was humbled by the Buddha with exactly the same exchange of verses as is related here. He became a stream-enterer on hearing the Buddha’s verses, went forth as a bhikkhu, and attained arahantship.

  470 Spk: He thought, “When a brahmin of high birth like myself has arrived, this ascetic does not show me any special courtesy; therefore he does not know anything.”

  471 In pāda a, it seems better to read mānabrūhaṇā, with Se and Ee2, as against mānaṃ brāhmaṇa in Be and Ee1. The version at Th-a reads brāhmaṇa in all three eds. available to me.

  472 Evarūpaṃ paramanipaccāk
āraṃ karoti. The expression occurs at MN II 120,6, referring to the same kind of action (shown by King Pasenadi towards the Buddha); see too 48:58, which discusses the reason an arahant shows “supreme honour” towards the Buddha and his teaching.

  473 Spk : He was called Navakammika (“New Works”) because he earned his living by felling timber in the forest, seasoning the wood for construction work, and selling it in the city.

  474 In pāda b, ucchinnamūlaṃ appears often in a stock formula describing the arahant’s liberation from defilements (e.g., 12:35 (II 62,20-63,11); 22:3 (III 10,27, 33); 35:104 (IV 85,9, 14); 54:12 (V 327,26-328,6)); thus the allusion, already obvious, is made explicit by Spk: “The woods of defilements is cut down at its root.” In pāda b, I follow the SS reading visukkhaṃ, “dried up,” also adopted by Ee2, over Be and Se visūkaṃ and Ee1 visukaṃ.Spk glosses nibbanatho in pāda c with nikkilesavano. This involves a pun difficult to reproduce in translation. Literally, vanatha means a woods, but the word is often used to signify, metaphorically, “the woods of defilements,” particularly craving. Here I have translated nibbanatha as “woodless” to preserve the pun. At v. 712, however, where the literal meaning has little bearing on the verse as a whole, I have rendered nibbanatha by way of its metaphorical meaning. Analogous puns on vana and vanatha are at 14:16 (see too II, n. 245), and also at Dhp 283-84 and 344 (which, incidentally, answer Norman’s puzzling observation at EV I, n. to 338, that the canon seems not to include any example of a pun on the double meaning of vanatha to match the puns upon vana). The Buddha is “dartless” (visallo) because he has extracted the dart of craving (see v. 214c).